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upon the advancing vessels, so as to render the landing of the remaining troops impossible; and as no pro spect of assistance from the town ap peared, the Zealanders, after a short conflict, were overpowered, and driven down from the dyke of which they were in possession. The victorious Spaniards hunted them through the water as far as the ships, drowned many of them, and compelled them to retire with great loss. Count Hohenlohe laid the blame of this defeat upon the inhabitants of Antwerp, who had deceived him by a false signal, and, in fact, it was entirely owing to the want of co-operation in their respective plans that this attempt was unsuccessful.

It was at last resolved to make a concerted attempt with their united forces upon the enemy, and by a desperate attack, both on the dyke and the bridge, to put an end to the blockade at once. The sixteenth of May 1585 was fixed on for carrying the attempt into execution, and every thing was done on both sides to ren der its results decisive. The force of the Hollanders and Zealanders, united to that of Antwerp, exceeded two hundred ships, to man which, they had stripped the town and ci tadel, and with this force they determined to assault the dyke of Couvenstein on both sides. The bridge was at the same time to be attacked by new engines of Gianibelli's invention, and the Duke of Parma thus prevented from assisting the defenders of the dyke.

Alexander, informed of the danger that threatened him, spared nothing on his side to meet it with energy. Immediately after the capture of the dyke, he had ordered redoubts to be built upon it, at five different places, and given the command of these to the most experienced officers of his army. The first, named the Cross Battery, was erected at the place where the dyke of Couvenstein sinks into the great wall of the Schelde, and forms with it the figure of a cross: and the defence of this fort was entrusted to the Spanish General Mondragone. A thousand paces farther on, and in the neighbourhood of the Castle of Couvenstein, was placed Fort St. Jacob, commanded by Camillo di Monte.

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At an equal distance from this lay Fort St. George, and a thousand paces farther the Pile Battery, under the command of Gamboa, so called from the piles on which it was erected. At the farthest end of the dyke, not far from Stabroek, lay a fifth battery, of which Count Mansfeld and an Italian named Capizucchi, were commanders. All these forts the Prince had lately strengthened with artillery and men, besides erecting piles on both sides of the dyke, and along its whole length, both to give stability to the wall itself, and to render more laborious the efforts of the pioneers to cut it through.

Early in the morning of the sixteenth of May the whole force was in motion. With break of day four fire-ships advanced from Lillo along the inundation, which so terrified the Spanish sentinels upon the dyke, who recollected the terrible consequences of the former explosion, that they hastened to take refuge This in the neighbouring fort. was exactly what the enemy had calculated upon. Within these vessels, which appeared to be fire-ships, but which in reality were not so, soldiers were concealed, who immediately landed, and succeeded in mounting the dyke, at the undefended spot between Fort St. George and the Pile Battery. Immediately after, appeared the Zealand fleet with numerous ships of war, provision-ships, and a crowd of smaller boats, loaded with large sacks of earth, wool, fascines, and gabions, to erect breastworks where they might be neces→ sary. The ships of war were furnished with a strong train of artillery, and numerous and brave crews, accompanied by a whole army of pioneers, to break down the dyke as soon as it should be in their possession.

Scarcely had the Zealanders begun one side, to mount the dyke on when the fleet of Antwerp approached from Osterveel and attacked it on the other. A high breast-work was speedily erected between the two nearest of the enemy's redoubts, so as to separate them from each other, and at the same time to protect the pioneers. These, to the number of more than five hundred, immediately commenced their operations on the

dyke with their spades, and laboured so assiduously, that hopes were entertained that the two seas would very shortly be united. In the meantime, however the Spaniards had advanced from the neighbouring batteries, and commenced a bold attack upon the Netherlanders, while the cannon of Fort St. George played without obstruction upon their fleet. The Zealanders had drawn a strong line around their pioneers, to prevent the enemy from interrupting their operations; and amidst the alarm of battle, exposed to a shower of bullets, often up to the breast in water, among the dying and the dead, the pioneers continued their labour, urged to the utmost exertion by the merchants, who waited with impatience to see the dyke opened, and their ships in safety. The importance of the result, which depended, perhaps entirely, on their exertions, seemed itself to inspire these common labourers with heroic courage. Attending only to the labour of their hands, they neither heard nor saw the death that surrounded them; and still, as the foremost ranks fell, those behind pressed forward to supply their place. Their operations were much impeded by the piles which had been driven along the dyke, but still more by the attack of the Spaniards, who burst with desperate courage through the enemy, stabbing the pioneers in their excavations where they stood, and closing with their dead bodies the breaches which had been made by the living. But at last, most of their officers being either killed or wounded, the number of the enemy still increasing, and fresh pioneers advancing to supply the place of those who had fallen, the courage of these brave troops began to give way, and they deemed it advisable to retreat to their batteries. The Zealanders and Antwerpers now saw themselves masters of the whole of that part of the dyke which lies between Fort St. George and the Pile Battery. As it would, however, have occupied too much time to wait till the dyke was completely broke through, a Zealand vessel was rapidly unloaded, and its cargo transported into one of the Antwerp vessels, with which Count Hohenlohe immediately sailed in triumph to Antwerp.

The sight of the provisions filled the anxious city with the most flattering hopes, and as if the victory had been already complete, they gave themselves up immediately to boisterous rejoicing. The bells were rung, the cannon fired, and the inhabitants, transported with their unexpected success, hurried to the Osterweel gate, to greet the arrival of the provision-ships, which were thought to be at hand.

In truth, the fortune of the besieged had never appeared so favourable as at that moment. The ene my, discouraged and exhausted, had thrown themselves into their batteries, and, far from being able to dispute with the conquerors the possession of the captured forts, they saw themselves besieged even in their places of refuge. Some companies of Scots, under the command of their brave Colonel, Balfour, attacked the battery of Fort St. George, which had been reinforced by Camillo di Monte, who, not without great loss, had advanced to its assistance from St. Jacob. The Pile Battery was in a still worse condition, being strongly attacked by the ships, and threatening every moment to fall to pieces. Gamboa, who commanded, wounded within, and artillery was unfortunately wanting to keep at a distance the hostile fleet. The wall, too, which the Zealanders had erected between it and Fort St. George, cut off all prospect of assistance from the Schelde. Had the enemy taken advantage of this exhaustion and inactivity on the part of the Spaniards to proceed with activity and steadiness in the demolition of the dyke, there can be no doubt that they would have succeeded in opening a passage, and thus put an end to the whole blockade; but the same inattention to consequences was visible here which had marked the conduct of the Antwerpers during the whole progress of the siege.

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The activity with which they had commenced their labours seemed to decline in proportion as their success appeared more decided. They soon began to find it too laborious and tedious a matter to demolish the dyke; and it was deemed more advisable to place the cargoes of the large ships in smaller vessels, whieh

might be dispatched towards the town with the rising tide. St. Aldegonde and Hohenlohe, instead of remaining to animate the workmen by their personal presence, left the scene of action at the decisive moment, to sail with a provision-ship to the city, there to receive from their countrymen the favours which they thought were due to their wisdom and bravery.

While this hard-fought contest had taken place on both sides of the dyke, the bridge upon the Schelde had been attacked with new machines from Antwerp, in order to give employment to the vigilance of the Prince in that quarter. But the sound of the firing from the dyke soon apprised him of what was going on there, and he hastened, as soon as he saw the bridge in safety, to reinforce the troops upon the dyke. Accompanied by two hundred Spanish pikemen, he flew to the place of attack, and appeared upon the scene just in time to save his troops from total destruction. He rapidly placed some cannon he had brought with him in the two nearest batteries, and from thence commenced a vigorous fire upon the enemy's ships. He placed himself at the head of his troops, and with his sword in one hand, and a shield in the other, led them against the foe. The news of his arrival, which soon spread from one end of the dyke to the other, reanimated the drooping spirits of his troops, and the contest, which the local nature of the field of battle rendered more murderous, was resumed with new energy. Upon the narrow top of the dyke, which in many places did not exceed nine paces in breadth, five thousand combatants were engaged; within this narrow space, the power of both parties was concentrated; upon its possession depended the whole fate of the blockade. With the Antwerpers, the last bulwark of their city was at stake, with the Spaniards, the whole issue of their enterprise; and both parties fought with that courage which nothing but desperation can inspire. From both extremities of the dyke the current of war streamed towards the middle, where the Zealanders and Antwerpers had the advantage, and where their whole

VOL. XVIII.

strength was collected. From Stabroek, the Italians and Spaniards pressed forward, contending with each other in bravery on this occasion: from the Schelde, the Walloons and Spaniards, with their General at their head. While the former attempted to relieve the PileBattery, which was strongly pressed by the enemy both by sea and land, the latter charged with irresistible impetuosity upon the breastwork which they had erected between Fort St. George and the Pile-Battery. Here the flower of the Netherlanders fought behind the shelter of a strong wall, and covered by the cannon of both fleets. The Duke was already preparing with his small force to attack this wall, when he received intelligence that the Italians and Spaniards, under Capizucchi and Agulia, had carried the Pile-Battery by storm, and were advancing on the other side against the hostile breast-work. Before this last defence the strength of both armies was now collected, and on both sides every effort was made, either to carry or to defend the position. The Netherlanders leaped ashore from their vessels, that they might not remain idle spectators of the contest. Alexander attacked the breast-work on one side, Count Mansfeld on the other: five assaults were made and repelled. The Netherlanders, in this decisive moment, excelled all their former efforts; never, in the whole course of the war, had they fought with so much firmness. The Scots and English, in particular, by their brave defence, baffled the efforts of the enemy. At last, when none would venture an assault in the quarter where the Scots fought, the Duke threw himself, with a javelin in his hand, into the water, which rose to his breast, to shew his troops the example. After a tedious and exhausting confliet, the troops under Mansfeld succeeded, by the aid of their pikes and halbards, in effecting a breach in the breast-work, while others mounted on the shoulders of their comrades, to gain the top of the wall. Bartholomew Toralva, a Spanish captain, was the first who was seen above the wall; and almost at the 'same instant, the Italian Capizucchi

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appeared upon the edge of the breastwork, and thus the contest of bravery was decided with equal honour to both nations. It is worthy of remark, how the Prince of Parma, who had been made the umpire in this contest, humoured this delicacy of feeling, in points of honour, among his troops. He embraced Capizucchi before the eyes of the troops, and publicly admitted, that it was to the bravery of this officer, in particular, that the capture of the breast-work was owing. The Spanish captain, Toralva, who was severely wounded, he ordered to be conveyed to his own quarters at Stabroek, to be placed in his own bed, and covered with the same cloak which he had worn the day before the action.

After the breast-work was carried, the contest no longer remained doubtful. The troops of Holland and Zealand, who had landed to take a part in the contest, lost courage at once, when they looked around them, and saw the ships, their last place of refuge, retiring from the shore. The flood had now began to ebb, and the leaders of the fleet, afraid of remaining too near the shore with their heavy vessels, and thus, in the event of the unsuccessful issue of the contest, becoming a prey to the enemy, retired from the dyke, and endeavoured to gain the open sea. No sooner did Alexander perceive this, than he pointed out to his troops the flying ships, and animated them at once to put an end to an enemy who had abandoned himself. The auxiliaries from Holland were the first that gave way, and the Zealanders soon followed their example. They precipitated themselves from the dyke, endeavouring to gain their ships by wading or swimming, but from the disorderly nature of their flight, they impeded each other, and fell in heaps beneath the sword of the victorious pursuers. Even at the ships many of them perished, each endeavouring to get before the other, and several vessels sinking under the weight of those who threw themselves into them. The Antwerpers, who fought for their freedom, their homes, and their religious belief, were the last to give way; but their very perseverance rendered their fate more unfortunate.

Many of their ships were overtaken by the ebbing of the flood, and ran aground, so that they lay within the range of the enemy's cannon, and were destroyed, with all their crews. The flying crowds endeavoured, by swimming, to gain the other vessels which had got beyond the reach of the ebb; but such was the rage and boldness of the Spaniards, that they swam after the fugitives with their swords between their teeth, and dragged many of them even from the ships. The victory of the King's troops was complete, though bloody. About eight hundred of the Spaniards, and several thousand of the Netherlanders, (not including those who were drowned,) remained upon the spot; and upon both sides many of the principal nobility perished. More than thirty ships, with their whole cargoes of provisions intended for Antwerp, with a hundred and fifty cannon, and other warlike stores, fell into the hands of the conquerors. The dyke, the possession of which had been so dearly obtained, was pierced in thirteen different places, and the bodies of its defenders were now employed to fill up the openings. The next day, a vessel of uncommon size, and singular construction, fell into the hands of the King's troops, which formed a sort of floating fortress, and was intended to have been employed against the dyke of Couvenstein. The inhabitants of Antwerp had prepared it at an immense expence, at the very time they rejected the plans of the engineer, Gianibelli, on account of their expensive nature, and had given to this ridiculous and monstrous engine the name of "The End of the Wa:," an appellation which was afterwards exchanged for the_more appropriate one of "Money Lost." When this ship was launched, it was found, as had been foreseen by every intelligent person, that it could not be guided, on account of its extravagant size, and scarcely could be floated even by the highest tide. With great difficulty it was brought down as far as Ordam, where it was left aground by the ebbing of the tide, and fell into the hands of the enemy.

The attack upon the dyke of Couvenstein was the last attempt made

for the relief of Antwerp. From this time the courage of the besieged failed them, and the magistracy of the town endeavoured in vain to raise the spirits of the populace, upon whom the present necessity more peculiarly pressed, by distant hopes. Until now, they had always obtained bread, though at a dear rate; but by degrees the provisions drew towards a close, and famine visibly approached. They still had hopes of being able to maintain the town long enough to allow them to reap the corn which grew between the outer works and the town, and which was already in full ear; but ere that time ar rived, the enemy were in possession of all the external defences of the town, and had appropriated the whole harvest to themselves. At last, the neighbouring confederate

town of Mechlin fell into the enemy's hands, and with it vanished their last hope of succour from Brabant. As there was no longer any means of increasing the stock of provisions, the only course left was to diminish the number of the consu

mers.

All persons incapable of assisting, all strangers, and even women and children, must have been banished from the town; but this project was too revolting to humanity to be carried into effect. Another plan, that of driving out the Catholic inhabitants, inflamed them so much, that it almost led to an open mutiny. And thus St. Aldegonde saw himself compelled to yield to the stormy impatience of the populace; and on the 17th August, 1585, to make proposals to the Duke of Parma for the surrender of the town.

SECOND LETTER FROM AN AMERICAN FARMER TO A FRIEND IN

MY DEAR SIR,

EDINBURGH.

or

You are aware, I presume, of the daily increasing importance of the question concerning the Blacks in this quarter of the world. It begins to be too evident, that this baselycalumniated race must, sooner later, form a powerful nation in the West Indies. Our slave-owners are beginning to express their fears and weaknesses most indiscreetly, and so, I think, are yours: both will, most probably, bring on the final catastrophe, by the very means they take to prevent it. This is nothing new in the annals of tyranny and injustice. A good deal of interest has been excited here lately, by the emigration of some of the free Blacks to Hayti; and, partly in consequence of this, Dr -, whose property adjoins mine, a man of talent and erudition, liberal in his views, and every way calculated for such an undertaking, went to Hayti, at his own expense, last winter, to visit the country, and to ascertain the state of the people. He travelled about 1000 miles over the French part of the island. He had letters to Boyer, Inginac, and others, and was highly gratified with all he saw. manuscript is now nearly ready for

His

near Philadelphia, March 26, 1826. publication, and will, if I mistake not, clearly show that men with black and yellow skins can conduct their own affairs quite as well as those with white ones. His work, which will form a moderate octavo volume, will speedily appear.

My brother has just sent me the last Number of the Edinburgh Review. The accounts of your Mechanics' Institutions are delightful: your Church and State must prepare for the effects of them. I thought of the same thing eighteen years ago, when I knew nothing of Dr Birkbeck's proceedings; but I went further than he does, and proposed introducing Lectures to the women upon domestic economy, management of children, diseases, moral duties, &c. &c., with a previous good elementary education. I mentioned my plans to a few, and was laughed at. I think the education of women is of more consequence than that of men: the effects of the want of it here are truly lamentable. Mechanics' Institutions are going on among us, true, but there is too much aristocratic feeling in the country for them to increase very rapidly; and the people are too much engaged

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