to play that scientific game of which he was so profound a master,
without risking any loss of respect or authority. He was no enthusiast.
Although he doubtless felt sufficiently confident of overcoming the
Prince in a pitched battle, he had not sufficient relish for the joys
of contest to be willing to risk even a remote possibility of defeat.
His force, although composed of veterans and of the best musketeers and
pikemen in Europe, was still somewhat inferior in numbers to that of his
adversary. Against the twenty thousand foot and eight thousand, horse of
Orange, he could oppose only fifteen or sixteen thousand foot and fifty-
five hundred riders. Moreover, the advantage which he had possessed in
Friesland, a country only favorable to infantry, in which he had been
stronger than his opponent, was now transferred to his new enemy. On the
plains of Brabant, the Prince's superiority in cavalry was sure to tell.
The season of the year, too, was an important element in the calculation.
The winter alone would soon disperse the bands of German mercenaries,
whose expenses Orange was not able to support, even while in active
service. With unpaid wages and disappointed hopes of plunder, the rebel
army would disappear in a few weeks as totally as if defeated in the open
field. In brief, Orange by a victory would gain new life and strength,
while his defeat could no more than anticipate, by a few weeks, the
destruction of his army, already inevitable. Alva, on the contrary,
might lose the mastery of the Netherlands if unfortunate, and would gain
no solid advantage if triumphant. The Prince had everything to hope, the
Duke everything to fear, from the result of a general action.

The plan, thus deliberately resolved upon, was accomplished with
faultless accuracy. As a work of art, the present campaign of Alva
against Orange was a more consummate masterpiece than the, more brilliant
and dashing expedition into Friesland. The Duke had resolved to hang
upon his adversary's skirts, to follow him move by move, to check him at