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


In Two Volumes. Vol: /. PIP. xxi. Ssl; Vol. H. PIP.
tx 400 G. p Putnams Sons.
These volumes supplement rather than rival the
brilliant work Of Motley. There is no attempt in
them toward grandeur of style, and striking cpl
sodes which Motley dwelt upon with the literary
skill of which he was master are merely touched
on here. But vast quantity Of material for the
study OF the career of William the Silent Is no"
in print. and his own letters and those OF MS
brothers reveal aspects of his character worthy OF
a Jealous biographer. Williams character ike
that OF Washington. grows more interesting the
more Il is studied and these volumes VIII enable
the reader to examine 1t more mlnuteiy IMAM lie
could do without going TO original sources Inc
maps and illustrations are useiui aoditioh "
the narrative. End the book as whole must take
bigb rank among American historical writings
According TO the testimony of these volumes,
the life of William the Silent falls quite naturally
into four divisions The first OF these comprises
his youthful exploits SIS noolemah OF '"e "''
pire attached TO the person OF Charles v by
sor,es Of accidents he had risen to higher rank
and a larger inheritance than that when ne h"o
attained by birth. The early death Of an uncle
transferred to him. who had hitherto been mere
" the eldest son OF Count William Of Nassau the
right 70 declare himself by the grace OF God
Prince of Orange.
The will which placed William in possession OF
his unclcs estates was consented to by Charles
V only on the stipulation that the heir should be
educated at his court Thus ii came about that
the son of Protestant nobleman grew up IN the
midst of an aristocracy permeated by the ola re-
Ngion Count William of Nassau was apparent
" one Of those upon whom religious preferences
sat lightly. The worldly beneht to MS mousse anu
the hopes for the advancement OF MS son were
more important to him than questions OF rehgious
observance The result was that the son grew up
10 manhood with no prejudces for or against an!
of the forms of worship which divided Europe
What he might have been was to be observed IN
the life of his brother. Count John OF Nassau
who was reared on the ancestral estate anu
after imbibng the Protestant convictions tha'
colored his environment was never able 20 SYM
pathize with Williams ideas of liberation Mean
while William grew up careless of all such mat
ters His tastes were gratifed by the courtiy HE
which he shared. He may we'll have learned as
a mage in the train of Charless sister. Mar! Oh
Hungary. regent in the Emperors absence. the
rudments of that political knowledge which was
the wonder of his contemporaries. There is little
evidence Of his studies except in results But a
youth could hardly have been idle who learned
m sneak five languages and 10 write them with
an orthographic consistency rare In his times
Rv way of contrast ii is 10 he noted tnat
Charles's heir whom he fondly hoped TO raise not
only to the Spanish royalty. but TO the Imperial
throne never acquired anything IN adoi'ioh 10
Spanish except a little Dad Latin But th's oo!'
Philip was to be Williams greatest enemy ana
was in the end 10 gain an apparent victory over
him and the cause of religious and political free
dom in Europe by The aid of a fanatical assassin.
In these early years William betrayed no pre-
monition of what was to be the task OF MS mature
yeans He gratefully acct pied the nonor OF mt
mate companionship which Charles accorded MIN
and shared with the people the reverence wh'cn
the Emperor's intellect and achievements IN
spired The author Of these volumes VIII not al
low that either in those early days or later Will
lam deserved the reputation wnlch was given
him our Dutch hero" she says. william OF
Nassau. known as the Prince OF orange the 81
lent One. is an odd instance Of a man whose APP
violations do not fifty describe his person. He
was not native Of Holland. he never saw
Orange and he was certainly not silent" What
ever he may have become In his mature years
,here are more or less dubious anecdotes to show
that as q young man he was not averse to gayety
The author describes them as myths, but IL is the
peculiarly of myth that ii is often true 70 nat
ure while indifferent 10 historic fact For eN-
ample. an apocryphal French narrative OF a GER
tain diplomatic meeting ends with the account OF
ball In which old-fashoned German dances al
ternated with French galllards. the whole aHair
eliminating in a performance by the Prince OF
Orange alone who acquitted himself very dex-
terously ard would have won the prize FOR the
galliard If. with his pastures. capers, turns ana
evoutions. his countless four.shes gambols, agile
bounds and springs. he had only kept time 10 the
music" This was certainly no. out OF character
for when William. having lost his hrst WE Anne
of Egmont negotiated for match with Anne Oh
Saxony ne was tersely described by Phihp OF
Hesse as "a nice enough young man as Workings
went" but added Philip. IAN out-and-out Roman
list. who followed every bidding OF the Church' a'e
no meat on fast days" and besides was very ex-
travagant. spared no expense in nis amusemehts'
and had given one banquet In which even 'ie
tabecloth made OF sugar
These are the tricks Of gay young courtier
with money 10 spend and place to make Tor
himself in the world But also in the more seri-
ous affairs OF life he showed that he was well
ADAPTED to the snowy regime OF Charles " AT
the age of eighteen he a captain OF horse,
with company OF two hundred men, and year
later a colonel Of foot with ten companies IN ac-
tive service continually tormented by the lack OF
money and supplies and by d warfare In which
the fighting was constant. but never important
In a series Of irritating campaigns william ac-
Quilted himself in such manner that ne was
general-in-chief Of the troops throughout con-
siderable region Of the Netherlands before he was
twenty -one years Of age. This advancement was
tho moro remarkable as he had to bear all his
life the charge Of cowardice His most note
worthy achievement as an imperial general was
the construction Of line Of forts in the face OF
French soldiers OF experience like Congny and
the Duke OF Nevers. with an army sadly weak
ened by the pest.
Though he served in the campaigns against the
French which marked the opening OF Philip s
reign his attention was soon turned to civil az