a victim to oppreffion, yet for the prefent he appeared rather in the character of a friendly neighbour to both, and an amicable mediator, wishing to reconcile the differences and misunderstandings between the parties, than the direct advocate of either.

A hint was, however, about this time thrown out by his minifters, which feemed capable of infpiring fome prefent caution in the governing powers of Holland, by fhewing the open grounds for ferious claim and difcuffion which he poffeffed in his own right, whenever he chofe to occupy them; and the ease with which they might be applied to give a fanction to fudden move. ments, and to afford a cover for alarming measures, if their contefts with the prince fhould be carried to fuch an extremity as might render them neceffary. It was intimated to the ftates, that the king, in his own right, had matters of difcuffion of a long standing to fettle with them, and which nothing but a forbearance founded on friendship could have permitted to remain fo long in a state of fufpenfion. That as they had now found it neceffary to enter into a regulation and fettle ment of their limits in Brabant and Flanders with the emperor, it would be no lefs proper and neceffary, that they condefcended to pay a fimilar regard to him, by an adjustment of the difputed limits in Eaft Friezeland and Guelderland; in order thereby to prevent a renewal of those differences which had heretofore taken place upon thefe fubjects, and to pay that attention to his claims and demands, which their nature and juftness required.

As this was merely an intima

tion, it probably produced no formal reply. Nor does it appear to have produced any ceflation in the violence of the measures pursued against the prince. The ruling powers at the Hague, who reprefented the ftates of Holland and West Friezeland, in their answer to the king's manifefto or memorial upon that fubject, took care to lose no part of that high dignity appertaining to the moft fupreme fovereignty. In thanking him for the regards he expreffed to, and the intereft he took in the affairs of the republic, after taking care to re-, mind him that thofe two provinces form the principal part of that conftituent body, they proceed further to obferve, that it was owing entirely to their particular refpect for him, and to the mutual regards and friendship fubfitting between them, that they could at all enter into any explanation of their conduct upon the prefent occafion; but that from thefe motives, and to convince the king that no duplicity was intended on their part, but that their views, like their conduct, were open, manly, and confiftent (as it became fovereigns in all transactions with any of their fervants, however highly exalted by posts or privileges they might be) they would inform him, that they could not in any manner recede from their refolutions with refpect to the government of the Hague: that in other refpects, in all cafes of conteft with foreign powers, they should at all times be defirous to accept the king's friendly intervention and mediation; but that in what related to internal government, to the fecurity of the ftate, to public tranquillity, and particularly to the appointment, fuperintendance, or difcharge of

their own officers or fervants, they could on no account derogate from their character of independent ftates, by admitting of any interference; and that he was himself too good a judge, and too ftrict a maintainer of the rights of fovereignty, to expect or to approve of fuch a derogation.

In other anfwers upon the fame occafion, and about the fame time, they difclaimed, in very loose and general terms, all oppreffive and illegal acts or defigns, either againft the stadtholder, or any other of their fervants; with the evidently implied refervation, of being themfelves the fole judges of what conftituted oppreffion or illegality. They attributed the king's applications to misinformation and mifrepresentation, hoping (with an apparent fneer) that the ftadtholder could not poffibly have been fo forgetful of the relation in which he ftood with the republic, as to be the means of conveying them; and adding, that it would be placing all the parties in a ftrange relative fituation indeed, if he were to make complaints of them to the king; a meafure which in its confequences, if admitted, would tend to leave them nothing more than an empty name and very shadow of fovereignty. They spoke in the fame general manner of civil commotions, of measures expedient for, their own fecurity, and of the neceffity of putting an effectual ftop to feveral abufes and encroachments which tended to the "detriment of the country.

As a proof of the fmall Dec. 19, regard which they paid 1785. to the king of Pruffia's remonftrances, they iffued an order, that the military honours ufually

6

paid to the ftadtholder, in all his different capacities of captain general, governor of the Hague, and commander of the garrifon, fhould in future be paid only to the prefident of their committee, as the reprefentative of the states, and to the grand penfionary of Holland. This was in fome time followed by an order to discharge all the troops in general of the province from their oath of fidelity to the stadtholder, and to prescribe a new oath, by which they were bound to the ftates only. All these innovations were fubmitted to by the troops in general, both officers and foldiers, with the greatest reluctance, and in numerous inftances with apparent indignation. As the differences increafed, the ftadtholder's power of difpofing of the regimental commiffions was fufpended for an unlimited time, and this effential branch of his prerogative ufurped. The caufe affigned, in anfwer to his remonftrances, for this meafure, was not fo much a juftification of a right to affume, as a reason for the use of power, "that the influence which

he derived from that authority in the army was not, in the pre"fent fituation of affairs, deemed "confonant with the fecurity of the " ftate."

The domineering party no longer contained themselves within any fort of bounds; they laid the heaviest. hand of power over all thofe who gave marks of attachment to the stadtholder's intereft. The virulence and malice of the contention was fo great, that tumults were almost continual; and while the rioters on one fide were feverely punished, even for petty exceffes, thofe on the other were protected in the groffeft violence and outrage. They pro

ceeded

ceeded without reftraint, and without regard to general law, or particular conftitutions, to weed the magiftracies of all those who were even fufpected of any attachment to the Orange intereft, filling up their places with the most turbulent of their own party; and even fubmitted to the democratic encroachments of the armed burghers, and thereby totally changed the nature of the old constitution, in order to carry that favourite point. They had taken the prefs entirely into their hands while the moft fcurrilous invectives were every day publifhed, not only with impunity, but apparent encouragement against the ftadtholder, the moft temperate writings in defence of his rights, or bare ftatement of their nature, fubjected the publishers and the writers to fevere and certain punishment.

Not that the Orange party was even then entirely devoid of a difpofition to excefs and outrage, nor perhaps in their hour are they more refpectful of individual or conftitutional rights. Certain it is, however unfortunately, that the first operation of civil diffenfions is to fufpend thofe very laws of which each party affumes to be the affertor. To judge truly of the merits of po litical queftions, we must refort to the original caufe of quarrel, and not look too minutely to the occafional infringements of right which intervene, and are in a manner inevitable in violent contests. The difputed territory is trampled by those who defend as well as thofe who invade it. We must not therefore, as many are apt to do, form too hafty a conclufion to the difad. vantage of mankind, and fuppofe, from the exceffes that arife on all fides, nor even becaufe a departure

from the principles fet out upon is obferved in many controverfies, that all pretences are falfe, and all motives unjuft. Without prefuming to direct the judgment of our readers, we only point out the criterion, and we apprehend it is to be fought in those grand objects, and that general line of policy, which characterizes each contending party; and we are perfuaded that all English readers entertain a favourable difpofition towards that which cements the natural union between the maritime powers and free conftitutions of England and the united ftates, and which tends to fecure in a chief magiftrate an effective authority, but limited by law.

Although the republican party carried their conftitutional innovations; and the violation of corporate and private rights with little comparative refiftance, the courfe of their affairs was not entirely fmooth. Man is fo indefinable a being, that he frequently engages, in contempt of all dangers and hazards, in the defence of trifles, at the fame time that he gives up objects of the greatest moment to his fecurity and happiness, and fubmits to oppreffions that embitter his existence, with fcarcely a murmur. In the prefent inftance, the wearing and prohibiting of orange coloured cockades and ribbons feemed for a time to be the great object of conteft and animofity between the rival factions. Even the military, both officers and private men, notwithftanding their habits of implicit fubmiffion, became eager parties in this conteft; and, in defiance of proclamations and punishments, were continually flying in the face of their employers and paymasters, by wearing of this interdicted colour;

fo that it seemed for a time doubt ful, whether the very harsh exercise of very ftrong powers of government could have fuppreffed the difplay of this enfign of party zeal, without ftriking directly at the exiftence of the manufacture.

The prince ftadtholder and his family, after fojourning for fome confiderable time at Middleburgh in Zealand, when he found that the faction in Holland were proceeding to the utmost extremities againft him, and that it became every day more apparent, that nothing lefs than an appeal to the laft refort of princes could preferve thofe remains of his authority which were ftill left, had he even fubmitted to the lofs already fuftained, removed at length to the province of Guelderland. This was the moft judicious measure that he could poffibly have 'taken; for, befides that the ftates of that province, as well as of its neighbour Utrecht, were entirely on his fide, and the little country of OverYffel, from its fituation, entirely within his power whenever he found exertion abfolutely neceffary, he was likewife within fuch a distance of the turbulent city of Utrecht, as at least to protect the states of that province, whom they had already obliged to retire to Amersfort, from any obftruction or disturbance in their proceedings at that place. These were, however, but fecondary objects, when compared with the great advantages which that fituation would afford, if matters were brought to a certain degree of extremity, through the nearness of the Pruffian territories, which inclofed Gueldres on two fides, with limits fo mixed and open, that the intercourfe could not be interrupted.

Obvious as these advantages were,

they feemed to escape the obfervation of the adverfe faction in Holland, until they began to be perceived in their confequences. The prince ftill retained the command of the forces of five provinces, which were about equal in ftrength to thofe of Holland; fo that from his retreat to Guelderland he lay no longer at the mercy of his enemies. From the attachment of the troops to him, it was doubtful how far they might obey even the orders of their refpective ftates, in with-. drawing from his command, if fuch a fcene of diforder was once opened as might afford a colour for diferetionary conduct, or hold out a fanction to disobedience.

We are now, however, to look to feveral matters that preceded and led to this laft refource which the prince adopted, of retiring with a military force to his ftrong hold in Guelderland. Great expectations had been formed on both fides, from the affemblage of the states of Holland and Weft Friezeland, which was to take place at the Hague in the middle of March. Although the stadtholder had no vote in that affembly, it would have been his duty to have attended, in order to give his advice, and to lay fuch propofals and matters relative to pub. lic affairs as he thought fitting, before them for regular difcuffion, had not the late affronts which he received put it out of his power to return to that place, until he was restored to his former dignities and authority. The ftates themfelves feemed to entertain no fmall apprehenfion of the tumults which might take place upon that occafion, from the great and general attachment of the inhabitants to the prince,. and the ftrong fenfations of grief

and

and indignation, which the novelty and cause of his abfence, with the public difplay of his degradation, were likely to produce.

To obviate thefe difagreeable effects, after a day of public prayer and fafting had been fuppofed to diffufe a ferious difpofition among the people, they iffued a proclamation a few days previous to the meeting, ftrictly forbidding, under the fevereft penalties, all the ufual popular marks of rejoicing, upon any public days or occafions whatever, particularly prohibiting the hoifting of flags upon steeples or other places, and the felling or wearing of any badges of diftinction, efpecially of orange coloured cockades and ribbands; which being a colour, they obferve, not fanctioned by authority, could only be worn from the fpirit of party; the delinquents, whether fellers or wearers, being fubjected to the heavy arbitrary penalties of imprisonment, corporal punishment, and even death, to be difcretionally inflicted: encouragement was held out to the most odious of men, informers; and in a degrading, arbitrary, and probably injudicious exertion of power, it was declared that those who did not inform should be found equally guilty for the mifprision, and punished as principals.

The ftates at their

March 15th, firft meeting difap1786. pointed the public, when a prodigious crowd was alrea dy affembled, by an adjournment to the following day. On that morning, to fix an idea of the majefty of their fovereign affembly, as well as to awe the people, the garrifon were drawn out armed, and arrayed in their beft uniforms, oppofite the hall of the ftates. A crowd of three or four thoufand peoVOL. XXVIII.

ple fhewed fuch ftrong marks of diffatisfaction, and disposition to tumult, that the fixed bayonets, and firm conduct and countenance of the foldiers, were abfolutely neceffary to keep them in order. But a new and very peculiar fource of difcord remained ftill to be opened. A gate, which derived its name from the ftadtholder's office, and the particular use it was affigned to, poffeffed the fingular privilege (at least in modern times) of never being opened, excepting when that firft magiftrate of the ftate was to pafs through it upon public occafions, fuch as the prefent. The prefident of the affembly, to fhew the fullnefs of power, and to prepare the people for fubmiffion and acquiefcence in all other novelties, ordered this interdicted gate to be opened, and a detachment of grenadiers were affigned to the important fervice. This invidious measure was beheld with the highest indignation by the people; but the terror of the foldiers weapons, together with the fatisfaction of feeing that no attempt was made to pass through the gate, (the prevention of which was now made the point of honour, when the firft was given up) ferved to prevent their proceeding to any actual violence.

The burghers of the Orange party, confidering this first invafion of privilege as the prelude to farther outrage, held a meeting in the night, where, after deep debate, it was determined to preferve, at all events and hazards, the purity of their favourite gate from the laft degree of violation. On the third morning the stadtholder's gate was again opened, and matters were conducted with a reasonable degree of tranquillity through the day; [F]

but