The army of the Netherlands was now
22,000 strong, of whom 2000 were cavalry. It was well disciplined, well
equipped, and regularly paid, and was soon to prove that the pains
bestowed upon it had not been thrown away. In the course of the
eighteen years that had followed the capture of Brill and the
commencement of the struggle with Spain, the wealth and prosperity of
Holland had enormously increased. The Dutch were masters of the sea-
coast, the ships of the Zeelanders closed every avenue to the interior,
and while the commerce of Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, and the other cities
of the provinces that remained in the hands of the Spaniards was for
the time destroyed, and their population fell off by a half, Holland
benefited in proportion.
From all the Spanish provinces men of energy and wealth passed over in
immense numbers to Holland, where they could pursue their commerce and
industries--free from the exactions and cruelty under which they had
for so many years groaned. The result was that the cities of Holland
increased vastly in wealth and population, and the resources at the
disposal of Prince Maurice enormously exceeded those with which his
father had for so many years sustained the struggle.
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