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Page 11
"Are there many persons down before the prison."
"Yes, my brother, there are."
"But then, to come here to me ---- "
"Well?"
"How is it that they have allowed you to pass?"
"You know well that we are not very popular, Cornelius,"
said the Grand Pensionary, with gloomy bitterness. "I have
made my way through all sorts of bystreets and alleys."
"You hid yourself, John?"
"I wished to reach you without loss of time, and I did what
people will do in politics, or on the sea when the wind is
against them, -- I tacked."
At this moment the noise in the square below was heard to
roar with increasing fury. Tilly was parleying with the
burghers.
"Well, well," said Cornelius, "you are a very skilful pilot,
John; but I doubt whether you will as safely guide your
brother out of the Buytenhof in the midst of this gale, and
through the raging surf of popular hatred, as you did the
fleet of Van Tromp past the shoals of the Scheldt to
Antwerp."
"With the help of God, Cornelius, we'll at least try,"
answered John; "but, first of all, a word with you."
"Speak!"
The shouts began anew.
"Hark, hark!" continued Cornelius, "how angry those people
are! Is it against you, or against me?"
"I should say it is against us both, Cornelius. I told you,
my dear brother, that the Orange party, while assailing us
with their absurd calumnies, have also made it a reproach
against us that we have negotiated with France."
"What blockheads they are!"
"But, indeed, they reproach us with it."
"And yet, if these negotiations had been successful, they
would have prevented the defeats of Rees, Orsay, Wesel, and
Rheinberg; the Rhine would not have been crossed, and
Holland might still consider herself invincible in the midst
of her marshes and canals."
"All this is quite true, my dear Cornelius, but still more
certain it is, that if at this moment our correspondence
with the Marquis de Louvois were discovered, skilful pilot
as I am, I should not be able to save the frail barque which
is to carry the brothers De Witt and their fortunes out of
Holland. That correspondence, which might prove to honest
people how dearly I love my country, and what sacrifices I
have offered to make for its liberty and glory, would be
ruin to us if it fell into the hands of the Orange party. I
hope you have burned the letters before you left Dort to
join me at the Hague."
"My dear brother," Cornelius answered, "your correspondence
with M. de Louvois affords ample proof of your having been
of late the greatest, most generous, and most able citizen
of the Seven United Provinces. I rejoice in the glory of my
country; and particularly do I rejoice in your glory, John.
I have taken good care not to burn that correspondence."
"Then we are lost, as far as this life is concerned,"
quietly said the Grand Pensionary, approaching the window.
"No, on the contrary, John, we shall at the same time save
our lives and regain our popularity."
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