l Frondsberger, commanding in Breda,
was in this missive earnestly solicited to hold out two months longer,
within which time a certain relief was promised. In place of this letter,
deciphered with much difficulty, a new one was substituted, which the
celebrated printer, William Sylvius, of Antwerp, prepared with great
adroitness, adding the signature and seal of Don John. In this
counterfeit epistle; the Colonel was directed to do the best he could for
himself, by reason that Don John was himself besieged, and unable to
render him assistance. The same captain who had brought the real letter
was bribed to deliver the counterfeit. This task he faithfully performed,
spreading the fictitious intelligence besides, with such ardor through
the town, that the troops rose upon their leader, and surrendered him
with the city and their own arms, into the custody of the estates. Such
was the result of the attempt by Don John to secure the citadel--of
Antwerp. Not only was the fortress carried for the estates, but the city
itself, for the first time in twelve years, was relieved from a foreign
soldiery.

The rage and disappointment of the Governor-General were excessive. He
had boasted to Marolles a day too soon. The prize which he thought
already in his grasp had slipped through his fingers, while an
interminable list of demands which he dreamed not of, and which were
likely to make him bankrupt, were brought to his door. To the states, not
himself, the triumph seemed for the moment decreed. The "dice" had taken
a run against him, notwithstanding his pains in loading and throwing.
Nevertheless, he did not yet despair of revenge. "These rebels," he wrote
to the Empress-dowager, his sister, "think that fortune is all smiles for
them now, and that all is ruin for me. The wretches are growing proud
enough, and forget that their chastisement, some fine morning, will yet
arrive."

On the 7th of August he addressed another long letter to the estates.
This document was accompanied, as usual, by certain demands, drawn up
categorically in twenty-three articles. The estates considered his terms
hard and strange, for in their opinion it was themselves, not the
Governor, who were masters of the situation. Nevertheless, he seemed
inclined to treat as if he had gained, not missed, the citadel of
Antwerp; as if the troops with whom he had tampered were mustered in the
field, not shut up in distant towns, and already at the mercy of the
states p