420 



BARNEVELDT BARNEY. 



rut. AfuT the flight of t!ir kiii>. In- was nl- 

 most the only one who remained c.ilm. lie defended 

 I^afayette against Uie charge of being privy to tltis 

 step, ami, after the arrest of the royal family, was 

 sent, with 1'etion and Latour Mnulxnirg, to meet 

 Uiem, and to conduct them to Paris. '1 lie sight of 

 their misfortunes, and the profanation of the royal 

 dignity, seemed to liave made a profound impn 

 on his mind. He treated his captives with the re- 

 spect due to their rank and misfortunes, and his rc- 

 1 -Hi-is were unaccompanied with remarks. From this 

 moment a visible change in his principles was observ- 

 ed. He defended the inviolability of the royal per- 

 son, and painted the fatal disasters which threatened 

 the state. He opposed the ordinance which enjoined 

 htrong measures against the refractory priests; and 

 succeeded, though with difficulty, in obtaining the 

 repeal of the severe decree relating to the colonies. 

 His influence continually declined, and he was entire- 

 ly given up by the revolutionary party. When the 

 correspondence of the court fell into the hands of the 

 victorious party, Aug. 10, 1792, they pretended to 

 liave found documents which showed him to have been 

 secretly connected with it, and he was guillotined 

 Nov. 29, 1793. 



BARNKVKLPT, John Van Olden ; grand pensionary 

 of Holland; a man of eminent talents and the sim- 

 plest manners ; a martyr to duty and republican prin- 

 ciple ; an example of virtue, such as history seldom 

 presents us. He was born in 1549, and early showed 

 himself zealous for the independence of the United 

 Provinces, which had thrown off the yoke of Spain. 

 As advocate-general of the province of Holland, he 

 displayed profound views and great skill in business. 

 The sen-ices of 30 years established his high reputa- 

 tion. He preserved his country against the ambition 

 of Leicester ; penetrated the secret plans of Maurice 

 of Nassau, whom his fellow citizens had elevated to 

 the post of stadtholder ; and his marked distrust of 

 this prince placed him at the head of the republican 

 party, which aimed to make the stadtholder sulx>rdi- 

 nate to the legislative power. Spain, at tliat time, 

 made proposals for peace through the archduke, go- 

 vernor of the Netherlands. B. was appointed pleni- 

 potentiary on this occasion, and evinced alike the 

 skill of a statesman and the firmness of a republi- 

 can. Maurice of Nassau, whose interest led him to 

 prefer war, laboured to prevent the establishment of 

 peace ; and B., perceiving this, was induced only by 

 the most urgent solicitations of the states to retain 

 the office which had been assigned to him, and at 

 last concluded, in 1609, an armistice with Spain for 

 the term of 12 years, in which the independence of 

 Holland was acknowledged. His influence now be- 

 came still greater, and he was more and more an ob- 

 ject of jealousy to the house of Nassau. The hostile 

 spirit of the opposite parties in the state was further 

 increased by theological difficulties. In order to pre- 

 vent a civil war, B. proposed an ecclesiastical council, 

 which resolved upon a general toleration in respect 

 to the points in question. The states acceded, at first, 

 to this wise measure ; but, at a later period, the machi- 

 nations of the Nassau party persuaded them to adopt 

 other views. This party represented the Arminians 

 (q. v.) as secret friends of Spain. B. was now attack- 

 ed in pamphlets, and, even in the assembly of the 

 states, was insulted by the people, of whom Maurice 

 had become the idol. As he. conld not hope any 

 longer to stay the torrent, and foresaw the fate which 

 awaited him, he again determined to resign his office ; 

 but the solicitations of his friends, and his love for 

 his country, prevailed anew over all other considera 

 tions. Maurice insisted upon a general synod, with 

 a view, as he pretended, of putting an end to all re- 

 ligious quarrels ; but B. persuaded the states to op- 



pose this measure, the consequences of which were 

 evident. Troops were now levied, without the con- 

 sent of Maurice, to re-establish order in the cities 

 vhere the (iomarists (see Arminiunn) had excited dis- 

 turbances. On the other side, the Nassau party 

 redoubled its attacks upon B., who, in answer to I hem, 

 published that celebrated memorial, in which he warns 

 the United Provinces of the danger which threatened 

 them from the other party. Maurice, however, pro- 

 cured the assembling of a synod at Dort, in Hil8, to 

 which almost all the Calvinistic churches of Europe 

 sent deputies. They condemned the Arminians with 

 the most unjust severity, and Maurice was encouraged 

 by their sentence to adopt violent measures. Against 

 the wishes of the states, he caused B., and other lead- 

 ing men of the Arminians, to be arrested ; and 2f> 

 bribed judges condemned to death, as a traitor, the. 

 man to whom his country owed its political existence, 

 and who disdained to implore mercy. Vain were the. 

 remonstrances of the widowed princess of Orange 

 and of the French ambassador; in vain did the friemls 

 and relations of the patriot exclaim against the sen- 

 tence ; Maurice remained firm in his evil purpose. 

 On the 13th of May, 1619, the old man of 72 ascend- 

 ed the scaffold, witJi the words of Horace, iii. 3, 



Justum ac tenarem propositi \irtmi, 

 Nou vultus iu.stantis t>runni, 

 Non ciriuni ardor prava jubcntium 

 Mente quatit solida, 



and suffered death with the same firmness which he 

 had evinced under all the circumstances of his life. 

 His two sons formed a conspiracy against the. tyrant 

 William, the principal agitator, escaped; but Keinicr 

 was taken and executed. His mother, after his con- 

 demnation, threw herself at the feet of Maurice to 

 beg for mercy, and to his question, why she hum- 

 bled herself thus for the sake of her son, when she 

 had not done it for her husband, made this memor- 

 able reply : " I did not ask pardon for my husband, 

 because he was innocent : 1 ask it for my son, he- 

 cause he is guilty." 



BARNEY, Joshua, a distinguished naval commander 

 in the service of the United States, was bom in Balti- 

 more, Maryland, July 6, 1759. His parents lived on a 

 farm between the town and North point, where he was 

 sent to school until ten years of age. He was then 

 put into a retail shop at Alexandria, but, soon be- 

 coming tired of that occupation, returned to Baltimore 

 in 1771, and insisted on going to sea. He first went 

 out in a pilot-boat with a friend of his father, and 

 afterwards made several voyages to different places 

 in Ireland and the continent of Europe. In the last 

 of them, the care of the ship devolved upon him, 

 though but sixteen years of age, in consequence of 

 the illness of the captain and the discharge of the, 

 mate. He remained in the command eight months, 

 and finally returned to Baltimore, after passing 

 through some difficult scenes. At that period, the 

 war having commenced between Great Britain and 

 the colonies, B. offered his services to the latter, and 

 obtained the situation of master's mate in the sloop 

 of war Hornet, commanded by captain William 

 Stone. He carried the first flag of the United States 

 seen in the state of Maryland, whilst beating up for 

 volunteers for the vessel. In 1775, the Hornet 

 joined the fleet of commodore Hopkins, which sailed 

 to New Providence, one of the Bahama islands, cap- 

 tured the town and fort, and the vessels in the bar 

 bour, and returned to the Delaware, having given 

 the island up again, after securing the cannon, pow- 

 der, shells, mortars, &c. In 1776, when not yet 

 seventeen years of age, he, was presented with a 

 lieutenant's commission by Robert Morris, president 

 of the marine committee, on account of his conduct 





