and understanding, and for at least a thousand years after his death he was regarded by the descendants of the ancient Britons as a prophet or something more. The poems which he produced procured for him the title of "Bardic King." They display much that is vigorous and original, but are disfigured by mysticism and extravagant metaphor. When Elis Wyn represents him as sitting by a cauldron in Hades, he alludes to a wild legend concerning him, to the effect that he imbibed awen or poetical genius whilst employed in watching "the seething pot" of the sorceress Cridwen, which legend has much in common with one of the Irish legends about Fin Macoul, which is itself nearly identical with one in the Edda describing the manner in which Sigurd Fafnisbane became possessed of supernatural wisdom.'

It is curious enough that the legend about deriving wisdom from sucking the scalded finger should be found in Wales, Ireland, and Scandinavia. But so it is, and Mr. Borrow is clearly entitled to the credit of having been the first to point out to the world this remarkable fact. In his work called the Romany Rye,' published some years ago, a story is related containing parts of the early history of the Irish mythic hero Fion Mac Comhail, or Fin Mac Coul, in which there is an account of his burning his thumb whilst smoothing the skin of a fairy salmon which is broiling over a fire, and deriving supernatural knowledge from thrusting his thumb into his mouth and sucking it; and Mr. Borrow tells the relater of that legend, his amusing acquaintance Murtagh, that the same tale is told in the Edda of Sigurd, the Serpent-Killer, with the difference that Sigurd burns his finger, not whilst superintending the broiling of a salmon, but whilst roasting the heart of Fafnir, the man-serpent, whom he had slain. Here, in his note on Taliesin, he shows that the same thing in substance is said of the ancient Welsh bard. Of the three versions of the legend, the one of which Sigurd Fafnisbane is the hero is probably the most original, and is decidedly the most poetical.

* In a late number of the Transactions of the Dublin Ossianic Society-a most admirable institution-there is an account of the early life of Fin ma Coul, in which the burnt finger is mentioned; but that number did not appear till more than a year subsequent to the publication of the Romany Rye,' and contains not the slightest allusion either to Fafnisbane, i.e. the slayer of Fafnir, or Taliesin -to the Eddacal or the Cumric legend.

ART.

ART. III.-1. The Rise of the Dutch Republic. A History. By John Lothrop Motley. London, 1858.

2. History of the United Netherlands. By John Lothrop Motley. London, 1860.

Mpublic' is already known and valued for the grasp of

R. MOTLEY'S History of the Rise of the Dutch Re

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mind which it displays, for the earnest and manly spirit in which he has communicated the results of deep research and careful reflection. Again he appears before us, rich with the spoils of time, to tell the story of the United Netherlands from the death of William the Silent to the end of the eventful year of the Spanish Armada, and we still find him in every way worthy of this great argument.' Indeed it seems to us that he proceeds with an increased facility of style, and with a more complete and easy command over his materials. Those materials are indeed splendid, and of them most excellent use has been made. The English State-paper Office, the Spanish archives from Simancas, and the Dutch and Belgian repositories, have all yielded up their secrets; and Mr. Motley has enjoyed the advantage of dealing with a vast mass of unpublished documents, of which he has not failed to avail himself to an extent which places his work in the foremost rank as an authority for the period to which it relates. By means of his labour, and his art, we can sit at the council-board of Philip and Elizabeth, we can read their most private despatches. Guided by his demonstration, we are enabled to dissect out to their ultimate tissues the minutest ramifications of intrigue. We join in the amusement of the popular lampoon; we visit the prison-house; we stand by the scaffold; we are present at the battle and the siege. We can scan the inmost characters of men, and can view them in their habits as they lived.

The years commencing from the assumption of sovereignty in the Low Countries by Philip II. belong to an epoch the events of which concern all succeeding generations. They are marked by incidents, and illustrated by characters, which yield in interest to none that could be furnished by the annals of any country or time. In the Netherlands took place one of the greatest struggles for religious and political life which it has ever been the function of history to record. On one side was the obstinate will of Philip II. wielding the forces of one-half of the habitable globe; on the other, the determination of a people, few in number, contemptible as regards material resources. None can be indifferent to the history of such a contest; and the closer intercourse between England and the Low Countries which began

in the time of Leicester's governorship-the common danger and common sympathy of the two peoples, when jointly threatened by, and together resisting the vast and long-prepared project of permanent Spanish conquest-will give to English readers a still higher interest in the pregnant pages which relate to the time when it seemed as if the liberties and religion of Europe hung upon the combined efforts of Dutch and English sagacity and courage to resist the great Roman-Spanish conspiracy against them. The issue was a glorious one; but through what hidden perils and doubts the cause of freedom passed towards its triumph can only be known by such an examination of contemporary papers as Mr. Motley has for the first time made, and by such conclusions from them as those which he has so ably and attractively placed before us.

On the abdication of Charles V. the destinies of three millions of people in the Netherlands were handed over to his son. Philip II. reigned in his stead. In no part of his vast dominions was the change of rulers so momentous. Yet for four or five years no considerable alteration took place in the fortunes of the country. The principles of the Reformation were gradually spreading, and taking deeper and deeper hold among a prosperous and well-educated people. Commerce flourished. The nobles hunted, hawked, feasted, and flaunted in rich clothes as before. Philip was engaged with England, and busy with his Italian and French wars. A change was soon to come. At the peace of Cateau Cambresis in 1559, the Kings of Spain and France bound themselves to maintain the Catholic religion, and to use all means to extirpate heresy in their dominions. Philip was now at leisure to strengthen his own authority in his Flemish dominions, and to fulfil the great object of his life, by applying to them the same policy of repression, and, if necessary, of extermination, which in fact did succeed in crushing the nascent Protestantism of Spain. He had a thorough and relentless purpose to support the old faith; and he was, no doubt, perfectly in earnest when repeating his favourite and well-known maxim, that it were better not to reign at all than to reign over heretics.

Under Margaret of Parma a form of government was arranged which would ostensibly include some of the leading nobles of the land, while it really left them nothing but the joint responsibility for measures over which they had little or no control. All authority was lodged in the hands of a committee of the State Council; but it was Granvelle, Bishop of Arras, who in fact governed the country. A body of fine cavalry formed the only legal standing army of the Low Countries. An additional force of foreign Vol. 109.-No. 217.

soldiers

soldiers still remained in the Provinces, for whose presence since the conclusion of peace there was no valid excuse. It was their continued maintenance in their different garrisons which gave the first occasion for suspicion and discontent.

The government of the Duchess of Parma was inaugurated by Philip in person with great pomp before the States-General, convoked at Ghent. The last Chapter that ever assembled of the renowned Order of the Fleece was held, and the occasion was celebrated, according to the way of the country, with splendid festivities. Philip descanted on the growing evil of various new, reprobate, and damnable sects,' and looked forward to the strict enforcement of all the existing edicts and decrees for the extirpation of heresy. Nothing was promised as to a withdrawal of the Spanish troops, nor of any reduction in the enormous taxation of the provinces. On the contrary, a request had been made for a fresh supply. The Estates were ready to furnish the money, but in return they stipulated for the removal of the foreign troops; and a formal remonstrance, signed by Orange, Egmont, and others, was presented to the King, in which the licence and oppression of the soldiery were set forth, and immediate relief from them was desired. Philip furiously broke up the assembly; but in a few days behaved in a manner more characteristic of himself and of his own prudent saying, 'Time and myself against any two.' He was not fond of speaking, or of sudden action; but he revelled in writing, and understood all the advantages of delay. A paper was soon afterwards communicated, giving plausible reasons for the retention of the Spanish infantry, promising that they should be kept in order, and saved from the temptation of plundering those whom it was their duty to protect, by the liquidation of their long arrears of pay; and that in three or four months at the latest they should be all marched elsewhere. The King left the Netherlands-never to return to them. He had been met with resistance, when he looked for absolute submission; and from that time it must have been clear to him that the removal of certain leading men must be accomplished before the country could be governed after his own heart. The tall flowers whose heads were to be lopped off, for an example to the others, must have been already marked out for destruction at the first opportunity. At the very moment of departure the King's displeasure was too strong for his discretion. Orange was loyally in attendance to pay his last respects. The King turned upon him with bitter language of personal reproach; and when Orange alleged, in self-defence, that all had been regularly done by the Estates, Philip seized him by the wrist, and said, Not the Estates, but you-you-you!' The silent possessor of

the

the secret and sweeping design of the two monarchs against Huguenots, carelessly blurted out to him by the French King in the hunting-field near Paris, had received another warning of danger, and imbibed a further lesson of circumspection.

A vast increase was now made in the public ecclesiastical establishment of the Low Countries. At Arras, Cambray, Tournay, and Utrecht alone were bishops seated. Philip created fifteen bishoprics and three archbishoprics. The nominations were to be in the hands of the King. Revenues were to be provided by confiscating the estates of the religious houses. The Pope's Bull erecting the new sees further provided for an extension of the courts of the Inquisition. The design involved some obvious points of unpopularity, independently of its direct religious bearing. The nobles were jealous of so large an influx of foreign-made prelates. Those interested in the abbeylands were naturally averse to the proposed change. The community at large preferred to retain the monasteries, with their native and unambitious occupants, and resented the introduction of additional inquisitors.

The Netherlanders had their ancient charters, to which appeal might be made against the invasion of their rights in the matter of the new bishoprics, and the continued presence of the Spanish forces. Granvelle became alarmed at the expression of popular feeling, and he represented the necessity for the final departure of the troops. They went, and for the moment one source of discontent was over. Meanwhile he added a seat in the Sacred College to his former dignities, and the new Cardinal's overbearing demeanour gave great offence to the Flemish lords. A quarrel with Egmont, on the refusal of his claim to certain pieces of patronage, led the Count to draw his dagger upon the insolent prelate in the very presence of the Regent. In Orange Granvelle had another and a far more prudent and powerful antagonist. The two had been intimate, and it was not politic for either to discontinue the external appearances of friendly intercourse. A comparatively slight matter brought on the crisis; an explosion took place; and the Cardinal was left in a state of open hostilities with him and the rest of the Flemish nobles.

At a dinner-party given at Antwerp at the close of 1563, the feeling against Granvelle took an amusing turn; and in a scene of riotous frolic, a merry device was adopted for showing contempt of the Prime Minister. His gorgeous equipages and liveries became the subject of conversation and of ridicule; and it was proposed, by way of opposition to him, to adopt the

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plainest