The year was 1672.
The protestant Netherlands had been invaded by the vastly superior army of the Catholic king of France, Louis XIV. After many calamitous defeats, the Holland turned to Prince William of Orange for help. On July 11, the French camp raised a flag of truce. After agreeing to the truce, Prince William rode to meet the envoy. In charge of negotiations on the French side was the Stuart crony, the Duke of Buckingham. After promising the protestant prince wealth if he capitulated, he said wonderingly ,”Don’t you see that your country is lost?” William replied: “It is indeed in great danger, but there is a sure way never to see my country lost, and that is to die in the last ditch!”
The last ditch refers to the ditches that run along the base of the dikes in the Netherlands. William of Orange was saying that he would break the dikes and die, drowning the country with water rather than submit to the tyrannical rule of the Roman Catholic King of France. Through the providence of God, “the tide turned” and William of Orange defeated the French in two campaigns, preserving Calvinism in the Netherlands for all time. He would continue on to bring religious liberty to England during the Glorious Revolution.