ad not dreamed of tragical events. It was not encouraging that
there should be distraction in the counsels of the two States so
immediately threatened; that the Queen of England should be at variance
with her wisest and most faithful statesmen as to their course of action,
and that deadly quarrels should exist between the leading men of the
Dutch republic and the English governor, who had assumed the
responsibility of directing its energies against the common enemy.

The blackest night that ever descended upon the Netherlands--more
disappointing because succeeding a period of comparative prosperity and
triumph--was the winter of 1587-8, when Leicester had terminated his
career by his abrupt departure for England, after his second brief
attempt at administration. For it was exactly at this moment of anxious
expectation, when dangers were rolling up from the south till not a ray
of light or hope could pierce the universal darkness, that the little
commonwealth was left without a chief. The English Earl departed, shaking
the dust from his feet; but he did not resign. The supreme authority--so
far as he could claim it--was again transferred,--with his person, to
England.

The consequences were immediate and disastrous. All the Leicestrians
refused to obey the States-General. Utrecht, the stronghold of that
party, announced its unequivocal intention to annex itself, without any
conditions whatever, to the English crown, while, in Holland, young
Maurice was solemnly installed stadholder, and captain-general of the
Provinces, under the guidance of Hohenlo and Barneveld. But his authority
was openly defied in many important cities within his jurisdiction by
military chieftains who had taken the oaths of allegiance to Leicester as
governor, and who refused to renounce fidelity to the man who had
deserted their country, 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, altho