refused at first to receive the petition, as it was contrary to their ordinance for the people to assemble; but the fear of exasperating the immense and irresistible multitude — which filled the avenues of the stadthouse, the square, and the adjacent streets, and maintained, during the conference of their deputies with the regents, a profound and terrible silence — by any unseasonable act of authority, subdued the legal scruples of the magistrates, and the remonstrance was read. The answer to the petitioners briefly stated, that the question of the expediency of inundating the country, to prevent the further progress of the French army, had not yet been discussed in the council, and no measures were taken respecting the admission of foreign troops into Amsterdam. With this reply the citizens were satisfied, and quietly dispersed, leaving, however, on the minds of the magistrates an impression of danger and resistance, which probably materially influenced their future operations.
The regents of Amsterdam, finding themselves
