rotherhithe in the year of 1572 differed very widely from the rotherhithe of today. it was then a scattered village, inhabited chiefly by a seafaring population. it was here that the captains of many of the ships that sailed from the port of london had their abode. snug cottages with trim gardens lay thickly along the banks of the river, where their owners could sit and watch the vessels passing up and down or moored in the stream, and discourse with each other over the hedges as to the way in which they were handled, the smartness of their equipage, whence they had come, or where they were going. for the trade of london was comparatively small in those days, and the skippers as they chatted together could form a shrewd guess from the size and appearance of each ship as to the country with which she traded, or whether she was a coaster working the eastern or southern ports.

most of the vessels, indeed, would be recognized and the captains known, and hats would be waved and welcomes or adieus shouted as the vessels passed. there was something that savoured of holland in the appearance of rotherhithe; for it was with the low countries that the chief trade of england was carried on; and the mariners who spent their lives in journeying to and fro between london and the ports of zeeland, friesland, and flanders, who for the most part picked up the language of the country, and sometimes even brought home wives from across the sea, naturally learned something from their neighbours. nowhere, perhaps, in and about london were the houses so clean and bright, and the gardens so trimly and neatly kept, as in the village of rotherhithe, and in all rotherhithe not one was brighter and more comfortable than the abode of captain william martin.

it was low and solid in appearance; the wooden framework was unusually massive, and there was much quaint carving on the beams. the furniture was heavy and solid, and polished with beeswax until it shone. the fireplaces were lined with dutch tiles; the flooring was of oak, polished as brightly as the furniture. the appointments from roof to floor were dutch; and no wonder that this was so, for every inch of wood in its framework and beams, floor and furniture, and had been brought across from friesland by william martin in his ship, the good venture. it had been the dowry he received with his pretty young wife, sophie plomaert.

sophie was the daughter of a well-to-do worker in wood near amsterdam. she was his only daughter, and although he had nothing to say against the english sailor who had won her heart, and who was chief owner of the ship he commanded, he grieved much that she should leave her native land; and he and her three brothers determined that she should always bear her former home in her recollection. they therefore prepared as her wedding gift a facsimile of the home in which she had been born and bred. the furniture and framework were similar in every particular, and it needed only the insertion of the brickwork and plaster when it arrived. two of her brothers made the voyage in the good venture, and themselves put the framework, beams, and flooring together, and saw to the completion of the house on the strip of ground that william martin had purchased on the bank of the river.

even a large summer house that stood at the end of the garden was a reproduction of that upon the bank of the canal at home; and when all was completed and william martin brought over his bride she could almost fancy that she was still at home near amsterdam. ever since, she had once a year sailed over in her husband's ship, and spent a few weeks with her kinsfolk. when at home from sea the great summer house was a general rendezvous of william martin's friends in rotherhithe, all skippers like himself, some still on active service, others, who had retired on their savings; not all, however, were fortunate enough to have houses on the river bank; and the summer house was therefore useful not only as a place of meeting but as a lookout at passing ships.

it was a solidly built structure, inclosed on the land side but open towards the river, where, however, there were folding shutters, so that in cold weather it could be partially closed up, though still affording a sight of the stream. a great dutch stove stood in one corner, and in this in winter a roaring fire was kept up. there were few men in rotherhithe so well endowed with this world's goods as captain martin. his father had been a trader in the city, but william's tastes lay towards the sea rather than the shop, and as he was the youngest of three brothers he had his way in the matter. when he reached the age of twenty-three his father died, and with his portion of the savings william purchased the principal share of the good venture, which ship he had a few months before come to command.

when he married he had received not only his house but a round sum of money as sophie's portion. with this he could had he liked have purchased the other shares of the good venture; but being, though a sailor, a prudent man, he did not like to put all his eggs into one basket, and accordingly bought with it a share in another ship. three children had been born to william and sophie martin--a boy and two girls. edward, who was the eldest, was at the time this story begins nearly sixteen. he was an active well built young fellow, and had for five years sailed with his father in the good venture. that vessel was now lying in the stream a quarter of a mile higher up, having returned from a trip to holland upon the previous day. the first evening there had been no callers, for it was an understood thing at rotherhithe that a captain on his return wanted the first evening at home alone with his wife and family; but on the evening of the second day, when william martin had finished his work of seeing to the unloading of his ship, the visitors began to drop in fast, and the summer house was well nigh as full as it could hold. mistress martin, who was now a comely matron of six-and-thirty, busied herself in seeing that the maid and her daughters, constance and janet, supplied the visitors with horns of home brewed beer, or with strong waters brought from holland for those who preferred them.

"you have been longer away than usual, captain martin," one of the visitors remarked.

"yes," the skipper replied. "trade is but dull, and though the good venture bears a good repute for speed and safety, and is seldom kept lying at the wharves for a cargo, we were a week before she was chartered. i know not what will be the end of it all. i verily believe that no people have ever been so cruelly treated for their conscience' sake since the world began; for you know it is not against the king of spain but against the inquisition that the opposition has been made. the people of the low countries know well enough it would be madness to contend against the power of the greatest country in europe, and to this day they have borne, and are bearing, the cruelty to which they are exposed in quiet despair, and without a thought of resistance to save their lives. there may have been tumults in some of the towns, as in antwerp, where the lowest part of the mob went into the cathedrals and churches and destroyed the shrines and images; but as to armed resistance to the spaniards, there has been none.

"the first expeditions that the prince of orange made into the country were composed of german mercenaries, with a small body of exiles. they were scarce joined by any of the country folk. though, as you know, they gained one little victory, they were nigh all killed and cut to pieces. so horrible was the slaughter perpetrated by the soldiers of the tyrannical spanish governor alva, that when the prince of orange again marched into the country not a man joined him, and he had to fall back without accomplishing anything. the people seemed stunned by despair. has not the inquisition condemned the whole of the inhabitants of the netherlands--save only a few persons specially named--to death as heretics? and has not philip confirmed the decree, and ordered it to be carried into instant execution without regard to age or sex? were three millions of men, women, and children ever before sentenced to death by one stroke of the pen, only because they refused to change their religion? every day there are hundreds put to death by the orders of alva's blood council, as it is called, without even the mockery of a trial."

there was a general murmur of rage and horror from the assembled party.

"were i her queen's majesty," an old captain said, striking his fist on the table, "i would declare war with philip of spain tomorrow, and would send every man who could bear arms to the netherlands to aid the people to free themselves from their tyrants.

"ay, and there is not a protestant in this land but would go willingly. to think of such cruelty makes the blood run through my veins as if i were a lad again. why, in mary's time there were two or three score burnt for their religion here in england, and we thought that a terrible thing. but three millions of people! why, it is as many as we have got in all these islands! what think you of this mates?"

"it is past understanding," another old sailor said. "it is too awful for us to take in."

"it is said," another put in, "that the king of france has leagued himself with philip of spain, and that the two have bound themselves to exterminate the protestants in all their dominions, and as that includes spain, france, italy, the low countries, and most of germany, it stands to reason as we who are protestants ought to help our friends; for you may be sure, neighbours, that if philip succeeds in the low countries he will never rest until he has tried to bring england under his rule also, and to plant the inquisition with its bonfires and its racks and tortures here."

an angry murmur of assent ran round the circle.

"we would fight them, you may be sure," captain martin said, "to the last; but spain is a mighty power, and all know that there are no soldiers in europe can stand against their pikemen. if the low countries, which number as many souls as we, cannot make a stand against them with all their advantages of rivers, and swamps, and dykes, and fortified towns, what chance should we have who have none of these things? what i say, comrades, is this: we have got to fight spain--you know the grudge philip bears us--and it is far better that we should go over and fight the spaniards in the low countries, side by side with the people there, and with all the advantages that their rivers and dykes give, and with the comfort that our wives and children are safe here at home, than wait till spain has crushed down the netherlands and exterminated the people, and is then able, with france as her ally, to turn her whole strength against us. that's what i say."

"and you say right, captain martin. if i were the queen's majesty i would send word to philip tomorrow to call off his black crew of monks and inquisitors. the people of the netherlands have no thought of resisting the rule of spain, and would be, as they have been before, philip's obedient subjects, if he would but leave their religion alone. it's the doings of the inquisition that have driven them to despair. and when one hears what you are telling us, that the king has ordered the whole population to be exterminated--man, woman, and child--no wonder they are preparing to fight to the last; for it's better to die fighting a thousand times, than it is to be roasted alive with your wife and children!"

"i suppose the queen and her councillors see that if she were to meddle in this business it might cost her her kingdom, and us our liberty," another captain said. "the spaniards could put, they say, seventy or eighty thousand trained soldiers in the field, while, except the queen's own bodyguard, there is not a soldier in england; while their navy is big enough to take the fifteen or twenty ships the queen has, and to break them up to burn their galley fires."

"that is all true enough," captain martin agreed; "but our english men have fought well on the plains of france before now, and i don't believe we should fight worse today. we beat the french when they were ten to one against us over and over, and what our fathers did we can do. what you say about the navy is true also. they have a big fleet, and we have no vessels worth speaking about, but we are as good sailors as the spaniards any day, and as good fighters; and though i am not saying we could stop their fleet if it came sailing up the thames, i believe when they landed we should show them that we were as good men as they. they might bring seventy thousand soldiers, but there would be seven hundred thousand englishmen to meet; and if we had but sticks and stones to fight with, they would not find that they would have an easy victory."

"yes, that's what you think and i think, neighbour; but, you see, we have not got the responsibility of it. the queen has to think for us all. though i for one would be right glad if she gave the word for war, she may well hesitate before she takes a step that might bring ruin, and worse than ruin, upon all her subjects. we must own, too, that much as we feel for the people of the low countries in their distress, they have not always acted wisely. that they should take up arms against these cruel tyrants, even if they had no chance of beating them, is what we all agree would be right and natural; but when the mob of antwerp broke into the cathedral, and destroyed the altars and carvings, and tore up the vestments, and threw down the manes and the saints, and then did the same in the other churches in the town and in the country round, they behaved worse than children, and showed themselves as intolerant and bigoted as the spaniards themselves. they angered philip beyond hope of forgiveness, and gave him something like an excuse for his cruelties towards them."

"ay, ay, that was a bad business," captain martin agreed; "a very bad business, comrade. and although these things were done by a mere handful of the scum of the town the respectable citizens raised no hand to stop it, although they can turn out the town guard readily enough to put a stop to a quarrel between the members of two of the guilds. there were plenty of men who have banded themselves together under the name of 'the beggars,' and swore to fight for their religion, to have put these fellows down if they had chosen. they did not choose, and now philip's vengeance will fall on them all alike."

"well, what think you of this business, ned?" one of the captains said, turning to the lad who was standing in a corner, remaining, as in duty bound, silent in the presence of his elders until addressed.

"were i a dutchman, and living under such a tyranny," ned said passionately, "i would rise and fight to the death rather than see my family martyred. if none other would rise with me, i would take a sword and go out and slay the first spaniard i met, and again another, until i was killed."

"bravo, ned! well spoken, lad!" three or four of the captains said; but his father shook his head.

"those are the words of hot youth, ned; and were you living there you would do as the others--keep quiet till the executioners came to drag you away, seeing that did you, as you say you would, use a knife against a spaniard, it would give the butchers a pretext for the slaughtering of hundreds of innocent people."

the lad looked down abashed at the reproof, then he said: "well, father, if i could not rise in arms or slay a spaniard and then be killed, i would leave my home and join the sea beggars under la marck."

"there is more reason in that," his father replied; "though la marck is a ferocious noble, and his followers make not very close inquiry whether the ships they attack are spanish or those of other people. still it is hard for a man to starve; and when time passes and they can light upon no spanish merchantmen, one cannot blame them too sorely if they take what they require out of some other passing ship. but there is reason at the bottom of what you say. did the men of the sea coast, seeing that their lives and those of their families are now at the mercy of the spaniards, take to their ships with those dear to them and continually harass the spaniards, they could work them great harm, and it would need a large fleet to overpower them, and that with great difficulty, seeing that they know the coast and all the rivers and channels, and could take refuge in shallows where the spaniards could not follow them. at present it seems to me the people are in such depths of despair, that they have not heart for any such enterprise. but i believe that some day or other the impulse will be given--some more wholesale butchery than usual will goad them to madness, or the words of some patriot wake them into action, and then they will rise as one man and fight until utterly destroyed, for that they can in the end triumph over spain is more than any human being can hope."

"then they must be speedy about it, friend martin," another said. "they say that eighty thousand have been put to death one way or another since alva came into his government. another ten years and there will be scarce an able bodied man remaining in the low country. by the way, you were talking of the beggars of the sea. their fleet is lying at present at dover, and it is said that the spanish ambassador is making grave complaints to the queen on the part of his master against giving shelter to these men, whom he brands as not only enemies of spain, but as pirates and robbers of the sea."

"i was talking with master sheepshanks," another mariner put in, "whose ships i sailed for thirty years, and who is an alderman and knows what is going on, and he told me that from what he hears it is like enough that the queen will yield to the spanish request. so long as she chooses to remain friends with spain openly, whatever her thoughts and opinions may be, she can scarcely allow her ports to be used by the enemies of philip. it must go sorely against her high spirit; but till she and her council resolve that england shall brave the whole strength of spain, she cannot disregard the remonstrances of philip. it is a bad business, neighbours, a bad business; and the sooner it comes to an end the better. no one doubts that we shall have to fight spain one of these days, and i say that it were better to fight while our brethren of the low countries can fight by our side, than to wait till spain, having exterminated them, can turn her whole power against us."

there was a general chorus of assent, and then the subject changed to the rates of freight to the northern ports. the grievous need for the better marking of shallows and dangers, the rights of seamen, wages, and other matters, were discussed until the assembly broke up. ned's sisters joined him in the garden.

"i hear, constance," the boy said to the elder, "there has been no news from our grandfather and uncles since we have been away."

"no word whatever, ned. our mother does not say much, but i know she is greatly troubled and anxious about it."

"that she may well be, constance, seeing that neither quiet conduct nor feebleness nor aught else avail to protect any from the rage of the spaniards. you who stay at home here only hear general tales of the cruelties done across the sea, but if you heard the tales that we do at their ports they would drive you almost to madness. not that we hear much, for we have to keep on board our ships, and may not land or mingle with the people; but we learn enough from the merchants who come on board to see about the landing of their goods to make our blood boil. they do right to prevent our landing; for so fired is the sailors' blood by these tales of massacre, that were they to go ashore they would, i am sure, be speedily embroiled with the spaniards.

"you see how angered these friends of our father are who are englishmen, and have no dutch blood in their veins, and who feel only because they are touched by these cruelties, and because the people of the low country are protestants; but with us it is different, our mother is one of these persecuted people, and we belong to them as much as to england. we have friends and relations there who are in sore peril, and who may for aught we know have already fallen victims to the cruelty of the spaniards. had i my will i would join the beggars of the sea, or i would ship with drake or cavendish and fight the spaniards in the indian seas. they say that there englishmen are proving themselves better men than these haughty dons."

"it is very sad," constance said; "but what can be done?"

"something must be done soon," ned replied gloomily. "things cannot go on as they are. so terrible is the state of things, so heavy the taxation, that in many towns all trade is suspended. in brussels, i hear, alva's own capital, the brewers have refused to brew, the bakers to bake, the tapsters to draw liquors. the city swarms with multitudes of men thrown out of employment. the spanish soldiers themselves have long been without pay, for alva thinks of nothing but bloodshed. consequently they are insolent to their officers, care little for order, and insult and rob the citizens in the streets. assuredly something must come of this ere long; and the people's despair will become a mad fury. if they rise, constance, and my father does not say nay, i will assuredly join them and do my best.

"i do not believe that the queen will forbid her subjects to give their aid to the people of the netherlands; for she allowed many to fight in france for conde and the protestants against the guises, and she will surely do the same now, since the sufferings of our brothers in the netherlands have touched the nation far more keenly than did those of the huguenots in france. i am sixteen now, and my father says that in another year he will rate me as his second mate, and methinks that there are not many men on board who can pull more strongly a rope, or work more stoutly at the capstan when we heave our anchor. besides, as we all talk dutch as well as english, i should be of more use than men who know nought of the language of the country."

constance shook her head. "i do not think, ned, that our father would give you leave, at any rate not until you have grown up into a man. he looks to having you with him, and to your succeeding him some day in the command of the good venture, while he remains quietly at home with our mother."

ned agreed with a sigh. "i fear that you are right, constance, and that i shall have to stick to my trade of sailoring; but if the people of the netherlands rise against their tyrants, it would be hard to be sailing backwards and forwards doing a peaceful trade between london and holland whilst our friends and relatives are battling for their lives."

a fortnight later, the good venture filled up her hold with a cargo for brill, a port where the united rhine, waal, and maas flow into the sea. on the day before she sailed a proclamation was issued by the queen forbidding any of her subjects to supply de la marck and his sailors with meat, bread, or beer. the passage down the river was slow, for the winds were contrary, and it was ten days afterwards, the 31st of march, when they entered the broad mouth of the river and dropped anchor off the town of brill. it was late in the evening when they arrived. in the morning an officer came off to demand the usual papers and documents, and it was not until nearly two o'clock that a boat came out with the necessary permission for the ship to warp up to the wharves and discharge her cargo.

just as captain martin was giving the order for the capstan bars to be manned, a fleet of some twenty-four ships suddenly appeared round the seaward point of the land.

"wait a moment, lads," the captain said, "half an hour will make no great difference in our landing. we may as well wait and see what is the meaning of this fleet. they do not look to me to be spaniards, nor seem to be a mere trading fleet. i should not wonder if they are the beggars of the sea, who have been forced to leave dover, starved out from the effect of the queen's proclamation, and have now come here to pick up any spaniard they may meet sailing out."

the fleet dropped anchor at about half a mile from the town. just as they did so, a ferryman named koppelstok, who was carrying passengers across from the town of maaslandluis, a town on the opposite bank a mile and a half away, was passing close by the good venture.

"what think you of yon ships?" the ferryman shouted to captain martin.

"i believe they must be the beggars of the sea," the captain replied. "an order had been issued before i left london that they were not to be supplied with provisions, and they would therefore have had to put out from dover. this may well enough be them."

an exclamation of alarm broke from the passengers, for the sea beggars were almost as much feared by their own countrymen as by the spaniards, the latter having spared no pains in spreading tales to their disadvantage. as soon as the ferryman had landed his passengers he rowed boldly out towards the fleet, having nothing of which he could be plundered, and being secretly well disposed towards the beggars. the first ship he hailed was that commanded by william de blois, lord of treslong, who was well known at brill, where his father had at one time been governor.

his brother had been executed by the duke of alva four years before, and he had himself fought by the side of count louis of nassau, brother to the prince of orange, in the campaign that had terminated so disastrously, and though covered with wounds had been one of the few who had escaped from the terrible carnage that followed the defeat at jemmingen. after that disaster he had taken to the sea, and was one of the most famous of the captains of de la marck, who had received a commission of admiral from the prince of orange.

"we are starving, koppelstok; can you inform us how we can get some food? we have picked up two spanish traders on our way here from dover, but our larders were emptied before we sailed, and we found but scant supply on board our prizes."

"there is plenty in the town of brill," the ferryman said; "but none that i know of elsewhere. that english brig lying there at anchor may have a few loaves on board."

"that will not be much," william de blois replied, "among five hundred men, still it will be better than nothing. will you row and ask them if they will sell to us?"

"you had best send a strongly armed crew," koppelstok replied. "you know the english are well disposed towards us, and the captain would doubtless give you all the provisions he had to spare; but to do so would be to ruin him with the spaniards, who might confiscate his ship. it were best that you should make a show of force, so that he could plead that he did but yield to necessity."

accordingly a boat with ten men rowed to the brig, koppelstok accompanying it. the latter climbed on to the deck.

"we mean you no harm, captain," he said; "but the men on board these ships are well nigh starving. the sieur de treslong has given me a purse to pay for all that you can sell us, but thinking that you might be blamed for having dealings with him by the authorities of the town, he sent these armed men with me in order that if questioned you could reply that they came forcibly on board."

"i will willingly let you have all the provisions i have on board," captain martin said; "though these will go but a little way among so many, seeing that i only carry stores sufficient for consumption on board during my voyages."

a cask of salt beef was hoisted up on deck, with a sack of biscuits, four cheeses, and a side of bacon. captain martin refused any payment.

"no," he said, "my wife comes from these parts, and my heart is with the patriots. will you tell sieur de treslong that captain martin of the good venture is happy to do the best in his power for him and his brave followers. that, ned," he observed, turning to his son as the boat rowed away, "is a stroke of good policy. the value of the goods is small, but just at this moment they are worth much to those to whom i have given them. in the first place, you see, we have given aid to the good cause, in the second we have earned the gratitude of the beggars of the sea, and i shall be much more comfortable if i run among them in the future than i should have done in the past. the freedom to come and go without molestation by the sea beggars is cheaply purchased at the price of provisions which do not cost many crowns."

on regaining the sieur de treslong's ship some of the provisions were at once served out among the men, and the rest sent off among other ships, and william de blois took koppelstok with him on board the admiral's vessel.

"well, de blois, what do you counsel in this extremity?" de la marck asked.

"i advise," the lord of treslong replied, "that we at once send a message to the town demanding its surrender."

"are you joking or mad, treslong?" the admiral asked in surprise. "why, we can scarce muster four hundred men, and the town is well walled and fortified."

"there are no spanish troops here, admiral, and if we put a bold front on the matter we may frighten the burghers into submission. this man says he would be willing to carry the summons. he says the news as to who we are has already reached them by some passengers he landed before he came out, and he doubts not they are in a rare panic."

"well, we can try," the admiral said, laughing; "it is clear we must eat, even if we have to fight for it; and hungry as we all are, we do not want to wait."

treslong gave his ring to koppelstok to show as his authority, and the fisherman at once rowed ashore. stating that the beggars of the sea were determined to take the town, he made his way through the crowd of inhabitants who had assembled at the landing place, and then pushed on to the town hall, where the magistrates were assembled. he informed them that he had been sent by the admiral of the fleet and the lord of treslong, who was well known to them, to demand that two commissioners should be sent out to them on behalf of the city to confer with him. the only object of those who sent him was to free the land from the crushing taxes, and to overthrow the tyranny of alva and the spaniards. he was asked by the magistrates what force de la marck had at his disposal, and replied carelessly that he could not say exactly, but that there might be five thousand in all.

this statement completed the dismay that had been caused at the arrival of the fleet. the magistrates agreed that it would be madness to resist, and determined to fly at once. with much difficulty two of them were persuaded to go out to the ship as deputies, and as soon as they set off most of the leading burghers prepared instantly for flight. the deputies on arriving on board were assured that no injury was intended to the citizens or private property, but only the overthrow of alva's government, and two hours were given them to decide upon the surrender of the town.

during this two hours almost all the inhabitants left the town, taking with them their most valuable property. at the expiration of the time the beggars landed. a few of those remaining in the city made a faint attempt at resistance; but treslong forced an entrance by the southern gate, and de la marck made a bonfire against the northern gate and then battered it down with the end of an old mast. thus the patriots achieved the capture of the first town, and commenced the long war that was to end only with the establishment of the free republic of the netherlands. no harm was done to such of the inhabitants of the town as remained. the conquerors established themselves in the best of the deserted houses; they then set to work to plunder the churches. the altars and images were all destroyed; the rich furniture, the sacred vessels, and the gorgeous vestments were appropriated to private use. thirteen unfortunates, among them some priests who had been unable to effect their escape, were seized and put to death by de la marck.

he had received the strictest orders from the prince of orange to respect the ships of all neutral nations, and to behave courteously and kindly to all captives he might take. neither of these injunctions were obeyed. de la marck was a wild and sanguinary noble; he had taken a vow upon hearing of the death of his relative, the prince of egmont, who had been executed by alva, that he would neither cut his hair nor his beard until that murder should be revenged, and had sworn to wreak upon alva and upon popery the deep vengeance that the nobles and peoples of the netherlands owed them. this vow he kept to the letter, and his ferocious conduct to all priests and spaniards who fell into his hands deeply sullied the cause for which he fought.

upon the day after the capture of the city, the good venture went into the port. the inhabitants, as soon as they learned that the beggars of the sea respected the life and property of the citizens, returned in large numbers, and trade was soon re-established. having taken the place, and secured the plunder of the churches and monasteries, de la marck would have sailed away upon other excursions had not the sieur de treslong pointed out to him the importance of brill to the cause, and persuaded him to hold the place until he heard from the prince of orange.