dykes, which kept out
the water; upon the level, were many villages, together with a chain of
sixty-two forts, which completely occupied the land. All these Villages
and fortresses were held by the veteran, troops of the King; the
besieging force, being about four times as strong as that which was
coming to the rescue.

The Prince had given orders that the Land-Scheiding, which was still
one-and-a-half foot above water, should be taken possession of; at every
hazard. On the night of the 10th and 11th of September this was
accomplished; by surprise; and in a masterly manner. The few Spaniards
who had been stationed upon the dyke were all, despatched or driven off,
and the patriots fortified themselves upon it, without the loss of a man.
As the day dawned the Spaniards saw the fatal error which they had
committed in leaving thus bulwark so feebly defended, and from two
villages which stood close to the dyke, the troops now rushed
inconsiderable force to recover what they had lost. A hot action
succeeded, but the patriots had too securely established themselves. They
completely defeated the enemy, who retired, leaving hundreds of dead on
the field, and the patriots in complete possession of the Land-scheiding.
This first action was sanguinary and desperate. It gave a earnest of what
these people, who came to relieve; their brethren, by sacrificing their,
property and their lives; were determined to effect. It gave a revolting
proof, too, of the intense hatred which nerved their arms. A Zealander;
having struck down a Spaniard on the dyke, knelt on his bleeding enemy,
tore his heart from his bosom; fastened his teeth in it for an instant,
and then threw it to a dog, with the exclamation, "'Tis too bitter." The
Spanish heart was, however, rescued, and kept for years, with the marks
of the soldier's teeth upon it, a sad testimonial of the ferocity
engendered by this war for national existence.

The great dyke having been thus occupied, no time was lost in breaking it
through in several places, a work which was accomplished under the very
eyes of the enemy. The fleet sailed through the gaps, but, after their
passage had been effected in good order, the Admiral found, to his
surprise, that it was not the only rampart to be carried. The Prince had
been informed, by those who claimed to know, the country, that, when once
the Land-scheiding had been passed, the water would flood the country as
far as Leyden, but the "Green-way,"