By Englands Aid

By England's Aid

The Project Gutenberg EBook of By England's Aid, by G. A. Henty
Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing
this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how
the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of
Volunteers!*****
Title: By England's Aid
Author: G. A. Henty
Release Date: August, 2005 [EBook #8679] [This file was first posted
on July 31, 2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, BY
ENGLAND'S AID ***

E-text prepared by Charles Franks, Michelle Shephard, and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team

By England's Aid
Or, Or, the Freeing of the Netherlands, 1585-1604
BY
G. A. HENTY

[Illustration: GEOFFREY AND LIONEL SAVE FRANCIS VERE'S
LIFE]

PREFACE.
In my preface to By Pike and Dyke I promised in a future story to deal
with the closing events of the War of Independence in Holland. The
period over which that war extended was so long, and the incidents
were so numerous and varied, that it was impossible to include the
whole within the limit of a single book. The former volume brought the
story of the struggle down to the death of the Prince of Orange and the
capture of Antwerp; the present gives the second phase of the war,
when England, who had long unofficially assisted Holland, threw
herself openly into the struggle, and by her aid mainly contributed to
the successful issue of the war. In the first part of the struggle the scene
lay wholly among the low lands and cities of Holland and Zeeland, and
the war was strictly a defensive one, waged against overpowering odds.
After England threw herself into the strife it assumed far wider
proportions, and the independence of the Netherlands was mainly
secured by the defeat and destruction of the great Armada, by the
capture of Cadiz and the fatal blow thereby struck at the mercantile
prosperity of Spain, and by the defeat of the Holy League by Henry of
Navarre, aided by English soldiers and English gold. For the facts
connected with the doings of Sir Francis Vere and the British

contingent in Holland, I have depended much upon the excellent work
by Mr. Clement Markham entitled the Fighting Veres. In this full
justice is done to the great English general and his followers, and it is
conclusively shown that some statements to the disparagement of Sir
Francis Vere by Mr. Motley are founded upon a misconception of the
facts. Sir Francis Vere was, in the general opinion of the time, one of
the greatest commanders of the age, and more, perhaps, than any other
man--with the exception of the Prince of Orange--contributed to the
successful issue of the struggle of Holland to throw off the yoke of
Spain.
G. A. HENTY.

CONTENTS
CHAP.
I. AN EXCURSION II. A MEETING IN CHEPE III. IN THE LOW
COUNTRY IV. THE SIEGE OP SLUYS V. AN HEROIC DEFENCE
VI. THE LOSS OF THE "SUSAN" VII. A POPISH PLOT VIII. THE
SPANISH ARMADA IX. THE ROUT OF THE ARMADA X. THE
WAR IN HOLLAND XI. IN SPAIN XII. RECRUITING THEIR
FUNDS XIII. THE FESTA AT SEVILLE XIV. THE SURPRISE OF
BREDA XV. A SLAVE IN BARBARY XVI. THE ESCAPE XVII. A
SPANISH MERCHANT XVIII. IVRY XIX. STEENWYK XX.
CADIZ XXI. THE BATTLE OF NIEUPORT XXII. OLD FRIENDS
XXIII. THE SIEGE OF OSTEND

ILLUSTRATIONS
Geoffrey And Lionel Save Francis Vere's Life The Four Pages Carry
Down The Wounded Soldier The Next Few Minutes It Was A Wild
Struggle For Life Geoffrey Carried Overboard By The Falling Mast
Geoffrey Gives Inez Her Lover's Note Geoffrey Falls Into The Hands
Of The Corsairs Crossing The Bridge Of Boats Over The Haven Vere's
Horse Shot Under Him At The Fight Before Ostend
* * * * *
Plan of Sluys and the Castle, to illustrate the Siege of 1587
Plan of Breda and its Defences, illustrating its surprise and capture in
1590

Map of Cadiz and Harbour at the time of its capture in 1596, showing
the position of the English and Spanish Ships
Plan