John de Witt

Statesman lf the "True Freedom"

Herbert H. Rowen

If the combination of inpeth political skills and a powerful intelligence were enough to make a philosopher king such as Plato dreamed of, the Dutch "Grand Pensionary" John de Wit (1625-72) would fit the prescription as well as any statesman in history. A mathematician-admired by Newton, he was the political leader of the Dutch Republic for evadecades whose administration was marked by extraordinary successes, in patricular the defear of the English during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Under his guidance the Republic of the United Provinces was governed without a Prince of Orange in office as stadholder (of five provinces) and captain and admiral general, despite the continuing commitment of a large majority of the population to the cause of Orange restoration. He maintained the predominance of the province of Holland within the Republic, making its complicated and cumbersome federal system work with great effectiveness. Maneuvering among the powers of Europe in the period of Spain's fall from preponderance and France's rise to her place, and facing the bitter commercial and political rivalry of the English, he managed to preserve the eminent position the United Provinces had reached when Spain recognized their independence at Munster in 1648. Not until the kings of France and England combined against the Republic in 1672 did De Witt's political system, called the "True Freedom" and consisting of the maximum autonomy of the provinces and the exclusion of Prince William III of Orange from high office, collapse during the French invasion. A rioting populace brought William back into office in July, while De Witt was bedridden after an assault in the streets of The Hague. A month later De Witt and his brother Cornelius were murdered in the square outside the city prison, in one of the worst horrors of Dutch history.

The story is briskly told by one of the leading historians of the Dutch Republic. Professor Herbert H. Rowen, who was elected a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in recognition of his writings in Dutch history.