ing
that monks, naturally interested and avaricious, judged others
by themselves." This repudiation of Neyen's suspicious conduct
seems to have satisfied the stern resentment of Barneveldt; and
the party which so earnestly labored for peace. In spite of all
the opposition of Maurice and his partisans, the negotiation
went on.

In the month of January, 1608, the various ambassadors were assembled
at The Hague. Spinola was the chief of the plenipotentiaries
appointed by the king of Spain; and Jeannin, president of the
parliament of Dijon, a man of rare endowments, represented France.
Prince Maurice, accompanied by his brother Frederick Henry, the
various counts of Nassau his cousins, and a numerous escort,
advanced some distance to meet Spinola, conveyed him to The Hague
in his own carriage, and lavished on him all the attentions
reciprocally due between two such renowned captains during the
suspension of their rivalry. The president Richardst was, with
Neyen and Verreiken, ambassador from the archdukes; but Barneveldt
and Jeannin appear to have played the chief parts in the important
transaction which now filled all Europe with anxiety. Every state
was more or less concerned in the result; and the three great
monarchies of England, France, and Spain, had all a vital interest
at stake. The conferences were therefore frequent; and the debates
assumed a great variety of aspects, which long kept the civilized
world in suspense.

King James was extremely jealous of the more prominent part taken
by the French ambassadors, and of the sub-altern consideration
held by his own envoys, Winwood and Spencer, in consequence of
the disfavor in which he himself was held by the Dutch people.
It appears evident that, whether deservedly or the contrary,
England was at this period unpopular in the United Provinces,
while France was looked up to with the greatest enthusiasm. This
is not surprising, when we compare the characters of Henry IV.
and James I., bearing in mind how much of national reputation
at the time depended on the personal conduct of kings; and how
political situations influence, if they do not create, the virtues
and vices of a people. Independent of the suspicions of his being
altogether unfavorable to the declaration required by the United
Provinces from Spain, to which James's conduct had given rise, he
had established some exactions which greatly embarrassed their
fishing expeditions on the coasts of England.

The