History and Language
swallowed up by a larger one, a fate they dread.
There is hardly a city in the Netherlands which does not call forth grim recollections. To be besieged was for many years a matter of course for Dutch cities. These sieges gave birth to heroes. In 1573 Leyden was besieged by Valdez, the Spanish General, and defended by Van der Voes and Adrian van der Werf, the Burgomaster who, to those who suggested surrender, replied: “My own fate is indifferent to me; not so of the city entrusted to my care. I know that we shall starve if not soon relieved, but starvation is preferable to the dishonoured death which is the only alternative. Your menaces move me not. My life is at your disposal. Here is my sword; plunge it into my breast, and divide my flesh among you. Take my body to appease your hunger, but expect no surrender so long as I am alive.”
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