New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-07-28

broken by word or comment, ana IL Is sdiu Una
| his tacIturnity on this occasion was what earned
/ for him the name Of The Silent. which chung to
! him all the rest Of his life In the pamphlet
! which he wrote many years afterward and called
bis "Ar,,logv' he alluded to the incident and de-
J cIared that re was touched with pity for all the
neon]e who are thus doomed to destruction. and
especially for the land in which he had spent
nearly the whole Of his life. and with which his
interests were so closely Identified He saw
clearly that these kings. reckless OF corseqnences
calmly proposed 10 set up in the North an IN
ou,sition far moro cruel than that of Spain. and
ito spread nets in which might be ensnared
every one who CHANGED 10 look crosswise al an
Image" He added in the exuberance OF MIS- AFTER
thought. Seeing. say. these things. confess
that from that moment determined In earnest
10 chase the Spanish vermn from the land' ana
never repented Of my resolution
The author OF these volumes doupts II 'he
Princes conversion to the cause OF the people
. uas ca sudden and complete as he asserted. and
she Is doubtless right. 1t must be remembered
that the man who Gays these things was al the
time of his meeting with the kins OF France
In Vincennes Forest a Catholic correct In all the
external observances Of an eXacting ceremonial
that In fact he was reckoned almost 100 risid
Papist to marry into a Protestant famiiy' hu'
he was already far-seeing pohuciah' anu lie
must have thought within himself that the 'hi"e
rrono.sed nv the Kings could not be done. on
,hich s,de did his own interest lie. must have
been a question that pressed upon MN lor'"-
with The echo OF IT can be heard IN the re-
mark that he was closely Identified with the ia'i'
which would suffer most from the atrocious ~
rannv these royal conspirators proposed to eX-
ercise. Undoubtedly he sa" future io' n'''se"
in the Netherlands. not the one which he was
hut N
az a courtier and soldier under Charles led MIN
TO forecast This completely destroyed ny
the disclosure which Henry II saw Mt to make
If it WIS impossible to suppress heresy In the
North of Europe and TO establish the lnquisi-
tion among the lberty-lovng Dutch II was equal
IL inpossible that William should become the
leading man in the Low Countries ana AZ 'he
same time persist in his loyalty TO the ahcien'
Church and to the successor OF his beloved mas
ter. Charles V. He must have thought '"ese
things or he must have been BIND 10 ever! s's"
., tho times in the countries to which he be-
longed by adoption. The people themselves III
vned the nature OF the crisis as soon as Inc
peace was made. For the seven years oil WAL
had not ended with both parties exhausted Inc
armies were never in better condition as 20 mum
bers and fighting power than they were "he'
they were no longer needed Nothihs was IAN
ing to the machine OF oppression whicn haa Dee"
created for the two Kings except money. AS far
as Henry II was concerned. there was no more
70 saw after his death from injuries received in
tournament shortly after the peace. But fhiIip
aimed to make the Low Countries pay for their
ovn destruction. He said as politely as he could
10 the States General Il want 100000 forms.
The States General replied. with a courtesy 10
which Philip was stranger: Certainly sire. but
We want to see the backs OF your troopers frs'.
They saw Philips own back right away. but II
vas many a sorry day before they got ria OF MS
soldiers. Curiously enough. Philip laiu me niaihe
for the obstinacy OF the states all upon the SAou'
ders OF william though the Prince does not seem
IN have been exceptionally prominent IN the mat
ter.
Meanwhile William showed no sign ~ chahge
in the matter OF religion He promised the rope
TO see that heresy was stamped out IN the prlh-
cipality Of Orange. But he neglected the severe
methods TO which other faithful sons OF the
! Church were addicted. and besides ne married
the Protestant Anne Of saxony under an agree
ment which left her free In the observance Of her
religion. little later he had to tell tho Holy
Father that Orange was dominated by France.
| and that az the new fashion was one OF leniency
he must also be lenient. Allowing for changes
! NJ time and manners william was. In fact, treat
] ing Church questions much as Lincoln treated
4
the question Of slavery. He waited on the
! thought OF the people. But he differed from Lin
| colin in that like a Prince and born aristocrat.
ne was inclined to consider the nobility ana inc
| people az synonymous terms Signs are not want
| ing TO show that II Philip OF Spain had conceded
| the demands which the Netherlands nobiHty
made upon him. William would never have be
come a rebel At the outset the Prince woiId
have been satisfied with three points t"o OF
which increased the power Of the well-born class.
namely the reunion Of the States-Gcnera, ana
| the augmentation Of the power OF the Councii OF
, State while the third barely mitigaicd the woes
OF humble heretics by moderatng instead OF et-
| facing altogether the pacards against noncon-
| formity II was only after affairs had gone Tor
| ward TO point where he felt the power OF the
| people behind him that William avowed himself
Protestant. 1t is useless 10 raise the question OF
! hypocrisy against such man. The strength OF
| his nature and OF his convictions lies not in the
direction Of religion. but In that OF politics VIII
lam OF Orange would not have cared TO Ole Tor
any religious creed, but he was willing enough
10 sacrifice his life 10 the vain nope OF un'ty
| among the States OF the Netherlands.
Ill
This dream Of union was the thought that
guided and actuated his period OF mature actVl'y.
Other men not so far in advance Of the times as