y, but who had not resigned his authority. Of these
mutineers the most eminent was Diedrich Sonoy, governor of North Holland,
a soldier of much experience, sagacity, and courage, who had rendered
great services to the cause of liberty and Protestantism, and had defaced
it by acts of barbarity which had made his name infamous. Against this
refractory chieftain it was necessary for Hohenlo and Maurice to lead an
armed force, and to besiege him in his stronghold--the important city of
Medenblik--which he resolutely held for Leicester, although Leicester had
definitely departed, and which he closed against Maurice, although
Maurice was the only representative of order and authority within the
distracted commonwealth. And thus civil war had broken out in the little
scarcely-organized republic, as if there were not dangers and bloodshed
enough impending over it from abroad. And the civil war was the necessary
consequence of the Earl's departure.

The English forces--reduced as they were by sickness, famine, and abject
poverty--were but a remnant of the brave and well-seasoned bands which
had faced the Spaniards with success on so many battle-fields.

The general who now assumed chief command over them--by direction of
Leicester, subsequently confirmed by the Queen--was Lord Willoughby. A
daring, splendid dragoon, an honest, chivalrous, and devoted servant of
his Queen, a conscientious adherent of Leicester, and a firm believer in
his capacity and character, he was, however, not a man of sufficient
experience or subtlety to perform the various tasks imposed upon him by
the necessities of such a situation. Quick-witted, even brilliant in
intellect, and the bravest of the brave on the battle-field, he was
neither a sagacious administrator nor a successful commander. And he
honestly confessed his deficiencies, and disliked the post to which he
had been elevated. He scorned baseness, intrigue, and petty quarrels, and
he was impatient of control. Testy, choleric, and quarrelsome, with a
high sense of honour, and a keen perception of insult, very modest and
very proud, he was not likely to feed with wholesome appetite upon the
unsavoury annoyances which were the daily bread of a chief commander in
the Netherlands. "I ambitiously affect not high titles, but round
dealing," he said; "desiring rather to be a private lance with
indifferent reputation, than a colonel-general spotted or defamed with
wants." He was not the politician to be