had appalled
the soul of every Spaniard. Like a thunderbolt the son of William the
Silent smote that army of Philip, and in an instant it lay blasted on the
heath of Tiel. At least it could hardly be called sagacious generalship
on the part of the stadholder. The chances were all against him, and if
instead of Varax those legions had been commanded that morning by old
Christopher Mondragon, there might perhaps have been another tale to
tell. Even as it was, there had been a supreme moment when the Spanish
disaster had nearly been changed to victory. The fight was almost done,
when a small party of Staten' cavalry, who at the beginning of the action
had followed the enemy's horse in its sudden retreat through the gap,
came whirling back over the plain in wild confusion, pursued by about
forty of the enemy's lancers. They swept by the spot where Maurice, with
not more than ten horsemen around him, was directing and watching the
battle, and in vain the prince threw himself in front of them and strove
to check their flight. They were panic-struck, and Maurice would himself
have been swept off the field, had not Marcellus Bax and Edmont, with
half a dozen heavy troopers, come to the rescue. A grave error had been
committed by Parker, who, upon being ordered by Maurice to cause Louis
Laurentz to charge, had himself charged with the whole reserve and left
the stadholder almost alone upon the field. Thus the culprits--who after
pursuing the Spanish cavalry through the pass had been plundering the
enemy's baggage until they were set upon by the handful left to guard it,
and had become fugitives in their turn--might possibly have caused the
lose of the day after the victory had been won, had there been a man on
the Spanish side to take in the situation at a glance. But it is probable
that the rout had been too absolute to allow of any such sudden turning
to account of the serious errors of the victors. The cavalry, except this
handful, had long disappeared, at least half the infantry lay dead or
wounded in the field, while the remainder, throwing away pipe and
matchlock, were running helter-skelter for their lives.

Besides Prince Maurice himself, to whom the chief credit of the whole
expedition justly belonged, nearly all the commanders engaged obtained
great distinction by their skill and valour. Sir Francis Vere, as usual,
was ever foremost in the thickest of the fray, and had a horse killed
under him. Parker erred by too much