sent day; that the French should be placed in command
of all the important entrances to Holland, both by sea and land, and
should be exempted from paying any duty upon the goods they should
enter; that the Catholic religion should be established every where
through the realm; and that every year the republic should send to
Louis XIV. an embassador, with a golden medal, upon which there should
be impressed the declaration that the republic held all its privileges
through the favor of Louis XIV. To these conditions were to be added
such as the States-General should be compelled to make with the other
allies engaged in the war.

The nations of Europe have been guilty of many outrages, but perhaps
it would be difficult to find one more atrocious than this. In
reference to the cause of the war, Voltaire very truly remarks, "It is
a singular fact, and worthy of record, that of all the enemies, there
was not one that could allege any pretext whatever for the war." It
was an enterprise very similar to that of the coalition of Louis XII.,
the Emperor Maximilian, and Spain, who conspired for the overthrow of
the Venetian republic simply because that republic was rich and
prosperous.

These terms, dictated by the insolence of the conqueror, were quite
intolerable. They inspired the courage of despair. The resolution was
at once formed to perish, if perish they must, with their arms in
their hands. The Prince of Orange had always urged the vigorous
prosecution of the war. Guided by his energetic counsel, they pierced
the dikes, which alone protected their country from the waters of the
sea. The flood rushed in through the opened barriers, converting
hundreds of leagues of fertile fields into an ocean. The inundation
flooded the houses, swept away the roads, destroyed the harvest,
drowned the flocks; and yet no one uttered a murmur. Louis XIV., by
his infamous demands, had united all hearts in the most determined
resistance. Amsterdam appeared like a large fortress rising in the
midst of the ocean, surrounded by ships of war, which found depth of
water to float where ships had never floated before. The distress was
dreadful. It was the briny ocean whose waves were now sweeping over
the land. It was so difficult to obtain any fresh water that it was
sold for six cents a pint.

Maritime Holland, though weak upon the land, was still powerful on the
sea. The united fleet of the allies did not exceed that of the
republic. The Dutch A