'Tis nothing."
What, however, began as little more than the desperate deed of some
hungry pirates, to satisfy their immediate needs, was soon turned
into a very far-reaching "something," by the action of Flushing,
whose burghers, under the Seigneur de Herpt, on hearing the news of
the rebellion of Brill, drove the Spanish garrison from the town. A
number of Spanish ships chancing to arrive on the same day, bringing
reinforcements, were just in time to find the town in arms. Had they
landed, the whole revolt might have been quelled, but a drunken loafer
of the town, in return for a pot of beer, offered to fire a gun at the
fleet from the ramparts. He was allowed to do so, and without a word
the fleet fell into a panic and sailed away. The day was won. It might
almost be said that that shot--that pot of beer--secured the freedom
of the Netherlands. Let this be remembered when John Barleycorn is
before his many judges.
A little later Brill sent help, and Flushing's independence was
secure. Motley describes this band of assistants in a picturesque
passage:--
"The expedition seemed a fierce but whimsical masquerade. Every man in
the little fleet was attired in the gorgeous vestments of the plundered
churches, in gold-embroidered cassocks, glittering mass-garments, or
the more sombre cowls and robes of Capuchin friars.
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