rously on, when suddenly Maurice, in full military attire, was seen rushing into the apartment and flinging his sword into the scale with the Institutes. The civic and legal trumpery was of course made to kick the beam.

The patriotic Advocate was finally arrested by order of Maurice, and imprisoned. "You have taken from us our head, our tongue, and our hand, said Matenesse, in the States of Holland. But the States-General took the part of Maurice, and looked up all the accusations to the discredit of the Advocate on which to form something like a bill of indictment. The shower of pamphlets began afresh, filled with scandalous statements and dark allusions to horrible discoveries and promised revelations. The clergy upheld Maurice, because having been excluded from political office they were in active opposition to the civil authorities. They introduced into their sermons the strange story that Spain had bribed Barneveld to sign the truce and kill the West India Company; and also that the Advocate had plotted to sell the whole country and drive the Prince of Orange into exile. The nobles who dared to defend Barneveld, the States, and the municipal governments, were each in turn accused of being stipendiaries of Spain. Maurice meanwhile was vigorously at work, and the Synod of Dordtrecht was secured. It met, and it made short work of the Arminians. The decrees of this religious council bore directly upon the fate of the great advocate, who after seven months' incarceration, was brought to trial before the session closed. He was not permitted the aid of a lawyer, clerk, or man of business, or the use of his books, papers, pen, ink, or writing materials. He had faith in the law, and made his defence with indignant eloquence, but it availed him nothing. Four days after the termination of the Synod he was sentenced to die.

On an artificial island in the centre of the beautiful Dutch city known as the Hague--a name derived from the "Haeg" or hedge surrounding the ancient park of the counts of Holland-stands, encircling three sides of a spacious quadrangle, known as the Binnenhof or Inner Court, a number of quaint old castellated buildings, of various eras, the remains of the ancient palace of the feudal princes. Directly opposite the residence of Maurice was a lofty and venerable Gothic Hall, the rival of Westminster, in which were held the stately meetings of the States-General. In front of its lower window-its gothic archway converted into a door-a platform was built, and on the morning of the 13th of May, 1819, the majestic Advocate, John of Barneveld, was led to this scaffold and beheaded.

His principal adherents were imprisoned for life. Hugh Grotius, an illustrious Dutch jurist and author, who was a powerful opponent to the prospective West India Company, was tried and sent to the Castle of Loev

enstein, where he was closely guarded. After a while his wife was permitted to share his fate. In her society, and in close study, he passed two years, during which time he wrote some important works. His wife had been for some time in the habit of receiving books for his use in a large cumbersome chest; and, finding that the guard had grown slightly careless in its examination, she ingeniously managed one morning to have Grotius carried out in it. He disguised himself as a mason, and with trowel and rule made his escape to Antwerp.

Immediately after the execution of Barneveld a subscription list was started for the West India Company. The leader in this movement was William Usselincx, a Belgian merchant of noble descent, whose ready pen had been keeping the political life of Holland in one perpetual ferment for years. He made little headway with the new company during the first twelve months, for the States-General, however much they were under the influence of Maurice, were unwilling that a foreign element should create to itself so mighty an arm. They had no sympathy with its grand purpose to combat and worry Spain and gather recompense from the spoils. They were heartily tired of war in any event. But the English unwittingly turned the scale. They meddled with Dutch affairs by instructing their minister at the Hague to remonstrate with the States-General concerning the impropriety of allowing Dutch vessels to visit Manhattan Island and vicinity for purposes of traffic. An animated correspondence followed, each government trying to justify its own acts and establish its own rights. No definite results were reached save that the Dutch statesmen were sharpsighted enough to discover that the only power by which they could possibly hold New York (then called New Netherland) was absolute possession. A new constitution was drafted for the West India Company, and a clause was deftly inserted by which the corporation would be obligated to people the so-called Dutch territory in America. Maurice lent the project his determined support, and it was suddenly regarded with interest by some of its hitherto most violent enemies. Within a few weeks large sums of money had been subscribed, and it had received direct encouragement from the Dutch government. Presently it became an accomplished fact.

It was fashioned after the East India Company. It was guaranteed the same privileges concerning the trade of the American and African shores of the Atlantic, that the East India Company had been in their right to send ships to Asia to the exclusion of other inhabitants of the Dutch provinces. It was divided, like the East India Company, into five chambers or boards--located in the five cities, Amsterdam, North Holland, the Meuse, Zealand, and Friesland. Each chamber was a separate organiza

tion, with members, directors and vessels of its own. The capital was $2,500,000. The general affairs of the company were conducted by nineteen representative directors, styled the "College of the Nineteen." The democratic principles of the Belgians were adopted and shareholders accorded a voice in all important proceedings, which was a constant reproach to the East India Company and created no little jealousy and mischief.

Probably no private corporation was ever invested with such enormous powers. It was almost a distinct and separate government. Its fleets frequently numbered as many as seventy armed vessels each. It might make contracts and alliances with the princes and natives comprehended within the limits of its charter; it might build forts; it might appoint and discharge governors, soldiers, and public officers; and it might administer justice. Its admirals on distant seas were empowered to act independently of the administration. It was expected to inform the Dutch government from time to time as to the progress it was making in American conquests and settlements, and to apply to the States-General for all high commissions. But these were matters of form chiefly. It really shouldered one of the greatest of public burdens, independent of the gov ernment-and without properly appreciating its magnitude-naval war against a powerful enemy. It was endowed with the vast and valuable lands in America by the States-General, but its right to them was not legally established, and endless trouble naturally followed. The East India Company bitterly opposed its great rival, and created at one time a panic in regard to the character and credit of the new corporation. these difficulties were adjusted after a little time.

But

It started out boldly. Within a month after its incorporation armed expeditions were on their way to the West Indies and to Brazil. It met with many brilliant successes. Spanish prizes were captured of such value that during the first few years the shareholders received from twenty-five to seventy-five per cent. on their investments. It seemed as if it was destined to outshine the East India Company in material prosperity.

It bestowed upon the little germ of New York the first years only just enough attention to satisfy the States-General that it would ultimately be settled according to contract. In 1625 it lost one of its most zealous and important champions-Prince Maurice, commander-in-chief of the national army, who in that year died at the Hague. About the same time the death of James I. of England, and the accession of Charles I. to the throne, resulted in a treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive, between the English and the Dutch, each nation agreeing to furnish fleets for the purpose of destroying the Spanish commerce in the East Indies. It be