I. As the States and the deputies from the surrounding towns convened in the town of Dordrecht by 15 July, intend to discuss the common government of the country, His Highness's deputy will insist that they unanimously decide to recognise His Highness as governor-general and stadholder of the king over Holland, Zeeland, Friesland and the bishopric of Utrecht. This is the office to which he was lawfully and duly appointed by His Royal Majesty, and from which he was never dismissed in the manner required by the customs and rights of the country.

II. That they shall also determine how to reach an agreement in this matter with the other countries and provinces which have never had His Highness as their governor but should recognise him (who in his capacity of chief member of the States General of the country is responsible for protecting the country from foreign tyrants and oppressors according to its old rights and privileges) as their protector and in the absence of His Royal Majesty, as their head.

We must discover what is hidden under the cloak of the one and only Roman Catholic religion considered to be guaranteed by the Pacification of Ghent. The Pacification is held in such esteem that some of the most patriotic-minded and the greater part of the simple, honest people are blinded by the subterfuges and pretexts based on it. Their zeal for the common liberty subsides and comes completely to an end, and they dare not undertake anything against the tyranny for fear of burdening their conscience by harming the Roman Catholic religion in however small degree. This scruple, though small, these champions of the one and only Roman Catholic religion put on a par with the highest mountains.

Maintaining the one and only Roman Catholic religion in this country and maintaining tyranny there, comes to the same thing. I say that maintaining the one and only Roman Catholic religion in this country and maintaining a tyranny greater than that which prevails among the Barbarians and Turks, is one and the same thing.

Seeing that supplications and remonstrances have for so long now been vain and dangerous, you have in your extremity had recourse to extreme remedies, that is, to arms and war, and thus you have made clear in a straightforward manner that you refused any longer to accept the tyrant or his accomplices, or any one who bears the name of his country. If this does not mean deposing as unworthy a king from his kingship by public authority I do not know how otherwise to define it. And matters standing thus I cannot see why you should be in fear of what you have already done, and how you can have forgotten so soon that you actually wished to do what you are still doing every day not because you like it, but because you are driven by the impulse that naturally drives men to seek their self-preservation. Indeed, your safety and salvation are at stake, for as you know, the places have already been appointed where the greater part of those people who are still alive after the civil war will be transported and the towns where new inhabitants from abroad will be sent.

EMAN.: If we agree that because of the inequality of the inhabitants a popular government is impossible here, would there be any objection to the States governing the country in an aristocratic manner?

ERN.: I have already given you part of my answer, Sir Emanuel, but will now develop it further. If the Spaniards estimate the time this state can be expected to last by looking at the corruption of the people, they may set their greatest hope on the corruption of the States. I was in Cologne when the States General assembled in the town of Antwerp. All worthy men rejoiced at it, the Germans even said that almost the whole of Christendom looked forward to the outcome of this honourable and very solemn assembly. But the king's adherents held quite a different opinion. They maintained that the assembly would turn out to the king's advantage. Firstly, the States would spend nearly all their time there in disputes and contentions; the niggardliness of some and the cowardice of others would prevent effective decisions on war-finances; the provinces, jealous as usual, would not agree to establishing one single Council of State, but would have several with equal authority in several places.

[Having studied the limitations of the king's power in matters concerning religion] we must now consider the question whether there are also secular rights and reasons which make it permissible to oppose and resist a king, prince or lord of the country if, contrary to the oath he has sworn to the provinces and subjects, he wants to rob them of all their possessions and deprive them of their rights and privileges and reduce them to everlasting servitude, slavery and bondage. The vital point here is that before taking possession of his power a king, prince or lord swears to allow the provinces and their inhabitants to preserve their privileges and rights. And after a king, prince or lord has taken possession of his power, he does not govern these provinces or subjects absolutely or alone; he has co-rulers and coregents, who have also taken the oath, and govern with him. These are, for instance, the States of the provinces, the provincial courts and councils, the magistrates, judges etc.

The States General of the United Netherlands greet all those who will see or hear this read.

It is common knowledge that the prince of a country is appointed by God to be the head of his subjects to protect and shield them from all iniquity, trouble and violence as a shepherd is called to protect his sheep, and that the subjects are not created by God for the benefit of the prince, to submit to all that he decrees, whether godly or ungodly, just or unjust, and to serve him as slaves. On the contrary, the prince is created for the subjects (without whom he cannot be a prince) to govern them according to right and reason and defend and love them as a father does his children and a shepherd does his sheep when he risks his body and life for their safety. It is clear therefore that if he acts differently and instead of protecting his subjects endeavours to oppress and molest them and to deprive them of their ancient liberty, privileges and customs and to command and use them like slaves, he must be regarded not as a prince but as a tyrant. And according to right and reason his subjects, at any rate, must no longer recognise him as a prince (notably when this is decided by the States of the country), but should renounce him; in his stead another must be elected to be an overlord called to protect them.

c.: We have now agreed that Moses never commanded that heretics should be killed and that such a command is not to be found in the Old Testament generally, either in clear and explicit terms or couched in the form of a metaphor or a story. We see too that when Paul expressly mentioned a heretic, he clearly indicated how he should be punished, namely by keeping out of his way and avoiding him after admonishing him once or twice. This is undeniably a law on the punishment of heretics given to us by the apostle inspired by the Holy Ghost. Moses never wrote down a law about this. Nevertheless you do not hesitate to ignore the clear evangelical law about heretics given by Paul and to look for one in Moses, or even to invent one which is not there. This is what the Ebionites did. It means ignoring and failing to keep God's law, rejecting the Holy Scripture and following one's own pleasure and human reason. Is this what you want to be called following God's commandments? Obeying God and seeking God's honour? What else is this than despising God, repudiating His Word, offending, defaming and humiliating His Name?

Nevertheless, dear brethren, considering how matters stand at present, you may see that the Lord reaches out His hand and will not let us become objects of plunder or of disgrace. Why do you not gird yourselves up with manly courage and join us at last in shaking off this unjust and unbearable yoke from our necks in concerted action? For if the duke has been able to accomplish so little up till now, although we were set against each other and the greater part of the country helped him, what will he be able to accomplish if in perfect harmony and due obedience to his Royal Majesty, our gracious lord, we co-operate in chasing these foreign tyrants and rulers out of the country and in good earnest together protect our old rights and privileges? And if he has not been able to subdue the small country of Holland with part of Zeeland over such a long time and with all the forces he has raised in Italy, Spain, Germany, France as well as in the Netherlands, what will he be able to accomplish, when Brabant, Flanders, Gelderland, Friesland, Overijssel, Artois, Hainault, Luxemburg and other provinces of the Netherlands or part of them, join Holland and Zeeland and together offer him resistance? We are indeed in no doubt that with the help of God we should soon be masters of the situation and shall restore our oppressed fatherland to its former prosperity.

Monsieur my brother, the last day of last month I received your letters of the 25th inst. and was very sad to hear that, despite your great diligence, you have not succeeded in getting reliable information about the lot of His Highness duke Christopher or of my brothers. In truth great injustice is done to you as well as to me, if their death is being concealed from us - if indeed the Lord God decided to let them die. I wish to assure you that this secrecy has done more harm than good to our cause and I personally have been much blamed for it, because all those who ask me about it, think that I conceal the truth from them because I feel uneasy about the future and, suspecting that this is the reason, every one talks of it as they list, and the greater number of them think that the situation is entirely hopeless because their death is kept a secret.

I will not conceal from you, gentlemen, that next year we shall get into even greater trouble for much the same reasons. For two months have passed already, it is now winter, two full months since the States should have assembled in this town and yet to all appearances we shall not see them here soon and they will not establish order in our affairs. They act as if we had no enemy at all! Nevertheless we can hear even in this distant place the cannon which are battering Tournay and, as it were, visualise the assaults made upon that city. And yet (blind as we are) we take no notice of the surprises which the enemy is preparing for us for the coming year. This negligence, gentlemen, is a tremendous evil. It is caused not so much by lack of understanding or of industry, but by the fact that everyone has his private rather than the public interest at heart. With regard to the people, I am conscious that the cause of this evil is that they do not understand that this war is their war.

After previous discussions among the nobles and in the town-councils about the current state of these provinces and after receiving reports of their opinions, the knights, nobles and towns of Holland and West Friesland, well and gravely representing the estates of this country, have considered it necessary, in accordance with their oath and duty, to make clear in the present document the constitutional position of Holland and West Friesland, firmly convinced that every one reading this will judge it in the impartial and conciliatory spirit which is required in the sad state of these provinces.

It is well-known that for 800 years the countries of Holland, West Friesland and Zeeland have been governed by counts and countesses to whom the rule and sovereignty over these countries was legally entrusted and granted by the knights, nobles and towns, representing the estates of the country. They displayed such great discretion and moderation in their government, that they never decided to declare war or make peace, levy taxes or contributions on the countries, or take any other measures concerning the state of the country (although as a rule they received good counsel from the nobles and natives of the country) without hearing the opinion and obtaining the consent of the nobles and towns of the country who were on all such occasions convoked and assembled for that purpose.

We know that the only reason why this war was started was to ensure that the liberties of the country would be respected so that no one might in violation of law and justice be oppressed on the pretext of religion. Undoubtedly to invoke the pretext of religion is the right way to go about abolishing all a country's liberties, rights and privileges. The example of the kingdom of Naples, the Indies and Spain itself bears this out. And we know that in the Netherlands the introduction of the inquisition disturbed first liberty and then the entire state of the fatherland. For as long as he has one single enemy who would destroy him none of us or of our posterity can be confident of not becoming a victim of the false accusations which the inquisitors use. This is as clear as daylight, and does not need proof, for every one sees it and experience daily shows it.

I know that they promise freedom of conscience provided there is no public worship and no offence is given, but this is only to trap and ensnare us. For it is well known that conscience which resides in people's minds, is always free and cannot be examined by other men and still less be put under their control or command.

Long before my time and without my knowledge the council of this city decided to offer the sovereignty to the queen of England on condition that the true reformed religion alone should be recognised, our freedoms, rights, privileges and traditional customs maintained while fully respecting Her Majesty's highness. I agree with the council that humanly speaking these provinces cannot survive in their struggle with a domestic foe in possession of sovereign power without a sovereign head of their own. We all know that our nature is corrupt, that we have for a long time been accustomed to the rule of one supreme command and that distrust, quarrels and discord have been caused among us because numerous provinces hold equal power. But even if we do not emphasise these factors it is obvious that, although we should strengthen ourselves in every way in view of our war against so superior an enemy, rule by many weakens us too much for us to equal him in the very thing that is most important, that is, the best form of government.

Each man called to take part in the urban elections must remember God's words. Then he will not restrict his choice to nobles or notables, to people exercising a particular craft or trade, to burghers of the town or men born in the country. He will make his choice out of the whole population, out of all God-fearing men, who observe God's law and shun Mammon's commandments, who trust in Christ alone in true faith, ardent love and firm hope and despise the Antichrist, who are adherents of the reformed religion and hostile to the popish heresy, who cherish virtue, abhor vice, are gentle and not resentful nor envious, but peaceful and meek, not bumptious nor ambitious, but friendly and merciful, not hard nor cruel, but steady, not wavering nor double-hearted, but truth-loving and lie-hating, not miserly nor avaricious, but who are faithful, not false swearers nor grasping, not frequenters of laden tables, but who seek the prosperity of the town and its inhabitants more than their own profit, in short people who are not tainted by any evil passion.

Undoubtedly some will object to this statement and say that we started this war to maintain the privileges and that I would be wrong if I wished to neglect or abolish these. I agree that we do indeed wage our just war for the sake of the privileges.

Is it not ridiculous that the States of the united provinces (and especially those of Brabant, where most of the enemy forces are concentrated) are so slow in coming to decisions, although in war it is necessary to react with the utmost speed? Is it not more than six months since the deputies of the States General began to deliberate day after day at Antwerp? But so far they have not decided whether or not they will accept His Highness again, a decision on which so much depends. Why were the king of Spain's interests here so damaged? It was because the king did not appoint a new governor quickly after the death of the Great Commander but allowed the Netherlands to be ruled by the States, who because of their jealousy for each other quickly started to quarrel among themselves in total disorder.

Is it not obvious that all our money or at least the greater part of it, is used to pay the unreasonable fees of the deputies and a vast number of useless commissaries? We must realise that people who can earn money so easily, do not want a short war; they seek rather to run up their expense accounts with travelling expenses or rather fees, travelling to and fro to their constituents as long as money is to hand, to fill their purses.

To prevent the venomous cuttle from hiding under its black ink, and contaminating and deceiving you in its flight, you must prove that we were wrong to accuse you of complicity in all the cruel deeds recently carried out. We are prepared to receive you back into favour but you must not take such risks again if you wish us to take you under our protection when to the common weal of the fatherland you surrender your towns to us and drive out the tyrant. The finest towns, harbours, rivers and their mouths have, as you may see, set an example by throwing off their yoke with unprecedented courage and accepting my fleet and garrison, so that I am now in a position to defend their newly won liberty. I am ready with well equipped auxiliaries and bear no grudge at all for the ingratitude I received in the past and I assure you that up till the final battle I shall fulfil the duty of loyalty, which I owe to the fatherland, to the hereditary countries and especially to those, over whom the king has given me authority, from which I have never been dismissed up till now.

We do not think it necessary, gentlemen, to expatiate on the articles of peace sent to you, for all the provinces together have unanimously and without any objections judged that these should not be adopted or approved of as they are not in any way conducive to the safety or prosperity of the country. Therefore we shall (as we should) regard them as a matter on which your masters, the provincial States, have taken a definitive decision; at present, we do not want to oppose this resolution nor contest it, but feel obliged to declare that we think it praiseworthy and useful. Because after mature consideration and deliberation you have resolved not to approve of these articles whereas the articles sent by you have been rejected by the enemy, it is obvious and already manifest, that the enemies want to attack you openly and to persecute you by main force. As peace is out of the question, gentlemen, it will be necessary to take the other course and protect ourselves by force of arms. It is not necessary to waste more words on this, as we believe and have understood that at present you make no objections to this conclusion.

The Protestants cannot immediately make generally known their great wish to live peacefully and quietly with their fellow-citizens and compatriots but they hope to produce a very convincing proof of this in course of time when suspicion and distrust has been removed, and they promise before God to do so. Meanwhile they pray your Highness and you, gentlemen, very humbly that you may be pleased to propose such measures for their security as you may think suitable and they will be willing to conform to your good counsels and obey you in everything to the best of their ability. They hope that they will find some princes, great lords and friends of these provinces, who will do them the honour of vouching for the truth and constancy of their promise.

And all things considered, the said Protestants pray very humbly with all their hearts and in all submissiveness that Your Highness and you gentlemen, to whom this state has been entrusted, and for which you are obliged to account to God and men, may be pleased to take away all reasons for suspicion and distrust among the poor inhabitants of these Netherlands who raise their eyes to you.