and resolution; they returned to their duties with cheerfulness, and endured the most pressing extremities of famine with heroic fortitude. When every article of subsistence was consumed, the bodies of the dead furnished a horrid food for the support of the living, and still the citizens of Leyden defended with invincible resolution their town. At length the Dutch confederates, having no other means of relieving their distressed countrymen, broke down the dykes of the Maese and the Yssel, and inundated the Spanish camp, and the beautiful country which surrounds Leyden. This desperate measure obliged the Spanish general to evacuate his camp; and the besieged town, after having suffered the most terrible distress, was relieved. This siege, which commenced shortly after Easter, was raised the third of October, and the same day a supply of provisions was brought to the famished inhabitants of the place, who for upwards of five months had suffered unspeakable distress.
The university of Leyden, which is the
