In short, heresy made great
progress; and the Duke of Alva was despatched with a large army, to
prove to the Hollanders that the Inquisition was the very best of all
possible arrangements, and that it was infinitely better that a man
should be burnt for half-an-hour in this world than for eternity in
the next. This slight difference of opinion was the occasion of a war, which
lasted about eight years, and which, after having saved some hundreds
of thousands the trouble of dying in their beds, at length ended in
the Seven United Provinces being declared independent. Now we must go
back again. For a century after Vasco de Gama had discovered the passage round the
Cape of Good Hope, the Portuguese were not interfered with by other
nations. At last the adventurous spirit of the English nation was
roused. The passage to India by the Cape had been claimed by the
Portuguese as their sole right, and they defended it by force. For a
long time no private company ventured to oppose them, and the trade
was not of that apparent value to induce any government to embark in
a war upon the question. The English adventurers, therefore, turned
their attention to the discovery of a north-west passage to India,
with which the Portuguese could have no right to interfere, and in
vain attempts to discover that passage, the best part of the fifteenth
century was employed. At last they abandoned their endeavours, and
resolved no longer to be deterred by the Portuguese pretensions. After one or two unsuccessful expeditions, an armament was fitted out
and put under the orders of Drake. This courageous and successful
navigator accomplished more than the most sanguine had anticipated. He
returned to England in the month of May, 1580, after a voyage which
occupied him nearly three years; bringing home with him great riches,
and having made most favourable arrangements with the king of the
Molucca Islands. His success was followed up by Cavendish and others in 1600. The
English East India Company, in the meanwhile, received their first
charter from the government, and had now been with various success
carrying on the trade for upwards of fifty years. During the time that the Dutch were vassals to the crown of Spain, it
was their custom to repair to Lisbon for the productions of the East,
and afterwards to distribute them through Europe; but when they
quarrelled with Philip, they were no longer admitted as retailers of
his Indian produce: the consequence was, that, while asserting, and
fighting for, their independence, they had also fitted out expeditions
to India. They were successful; and in 1602 the various speculators
were, by the government, formed into a company, upon the same
principles and arrangement as those which had been chartered in
England. At the time, therefore, to which we are reverting, the English and
Dutch had been trading in the Indian seas for more than fifty years;
and the Portuguese had lost nearly all their power, from the alliances
and friendships which their rivals had formed with the potentates of
the East, who had suffered from the Portuguese avarice and cruelty. Whatever may have been the sum of obligation which the Dutch owed to
the English for the assistance they received from them during their
struggle for independence, it does not appear that their gratitude
extended beyond the Cape; for, on the other side of it, the
Portuguese, English, and Dutch fought and captured each other's
vessels without ceremony; and there was no law but that of main force. The mother countries were occasionally called upon to interfere, but
the interference up to the above time had produced nothing more than a
paper war; it being very evident that all parties were in the wrong. In 1650, Cromwell usurped the throne of England, and the year
afterwards, having, among other points, vainly demanded of the Dutch
satisfaction for the murder of his regicide ambassador, which took
place in this year, and some compensation for the cruelties exercised
on the English at Amboyne some thirty years before he declared war
with Holland. To prove that he was in earnest, he seized more than two
hundred Dutch vessels, and the Dutch then (very unwillingly) prepared
for war. Blake and Van Tromp met, and the naval combats were most
obstinate. In the "History of England" the victory is almost
invariably given to the English, but in that of Holland to the Dutch. By all accounts, these engagements were so obstinate, that in each
case they were both well beaten. However, in 1654, peace was signed;
the Dutchman promising "to take his hat off" whenever he should meet
an Englishman on the high seas--a mere act of politeness which Mynheer
did not object to, as it _cost nothing_. And now, having detailed
the state of things up to the time of Philip's embarkation, we shall
proceed with our story. As soon as Philip was clear of his own threshold, he hastened away as
though he were attempting to escape from his own painful thoughts. In two days he arrived at Amsterdam, where his first object was to
procure a small, but strong, steel chain to replace the ribbon by
which the relic had hitherto been secured round his neck. Having done
this, he hastened to embark with his effects on board of the _Ter
Schilling_. Philip had not forgotten to bring with him the money which
he had agreed to pay the captain, in consideration of being received
on board as an apprentice rather than a sailor. He had also furnished
himself with a further sum for his own exigencies. It was late in the
evening when he arrived on board of the _Ter Schilling_, which lay at
single anchor, surrounded by the other vessels composing the Indian
fleet. The captain, whose name was Kloots, received him with kindness,
showed him his berth, and then went below in the hold to decide a
question relative to the cargo, leaving Philip on deck to his own
reflections. And this, then, thought Philip, as he leaned against the taffrail and
looked forward--this, then, is the vessel in which my first attempt is
to be made. First and--perhaps, last. How little do those with whom I
am about to sail imagine the purport of my embarkation? How different
are my views from those of others? Do _I_ seek a fortune? No! Is it to
satisfy curiosity and a truant spirit? No! I seek communion with the
dead. Can I meet the dead without danger to myself and those who sail
with me? I should think not, for I cannot join it but in death. Did
they surmise my wishes and intentions, would they permit me to remain
one hour on board? Superstitious as seamen are said to be, they might
find a good excuse, if they knew my mission, not only for their
superstition, but for ridding themselves of one on such an awful
errand. Awful indeed! and how to be accomplished? Heaven alone, with
perseverance on my part, can solve the mystery. And Philip's
thoughts reverted to his Amine. He folded his arms and, entranced in
meditation, with his eyes raised to the firmament, he appeared to
watch the flying scud.