He was hampered in his means, but he was assisted by what now seems the incredible supineness of the Netherlanders.

Even Sainte Aldegonde did not believe in the possibility of erecting the bridge; not a man in Antwerp seemed to believe it.

"The preparations," said one who lived in the city, "went on before our very noses, and every one was ridiculing the Spanish commander's folly." A very great error was, moreover, committed in abandoning Herenthals to the enemy.

The city of Antwerp governed Brabant, and it would have been far better for the authorities of the commercial capital to succour this small but important city, and, by so doing, to protract for a long time their own defence.

Mondragon saw and rejoiced over the mistake.