of Amsterdam and the other towns,
and they at length declared for the Prince of Orange.

But this somewhat tardy determination seemed to be the signal for
various petty events, which at an epoch like that were magnified
into transactions of the most fatal import. A reinforcement of one
thousand five hundred French troops reached Gorcum from Antwerp:
a detachment of twenty-five Dutch, with a piece of cannon, were
surprised at one of the outposts of Woerden, which had been
previously evacuated by the French, and the recapture of the town
was accompanied by some excesses. The numbers and the cruelties of
the enemy were greatly exaggerated. Consternation began to spread
all over the country. The French, who seemed to have recovered
from their panic, had resumed on all sides offensive operations.
The garrison of Gorcum made a sortie, repulsed the force under
General Van Landas, entered the town of Dordrecht, and levied
contributions; but the inhabitants soon expelled them, and the
army was enabled to resume its position.

Still the wind continued adverse to arrivals from the English
coast; the Cossacks, so often announced, had not yet reached
The Hague; and the small unsupported parties in the neighborhood
of Amsterdam were in daily danger of being cut off.

In this crisis the confederates were placed in a most critical
position. On the eve of failure, and with the certainty, in such
a result, of being branded as rebels and zealots, whose rashness
had drawn down ruin on themselves, their families, and their
country, it required no common share of fortitude to bear up
against the danger that threatened them. Aware of its extent,
they calmly and resolutely opposed it; and each seemed to vie
with the others in energy and firmness.

The anxiety of the public had reached the utmost possible height.
Every shifting of the wind was watched with nervous agitation.
The road from The Hague to the sea was constantly covered with
a crowd of every age and sex. Each sail that came in sight was
watched and examined with intense interest; and at length, on the
26th of November, a small boat was seen to approach the shore,
and the inquiring glances of the observers soon discovered that
it contained an Englishman. This individual, who had come over
on a mercantile adventure, landed amid the loudest acclamation,
and was conducted by the populace in triumph to the governor's.
Dressed in an English volunteer uniform, he showed himself in