Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

William the Silent
William the Silent
William the Silent
Ebook238 pages3 hours

William the Silent

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

"WHEN we study the foundation of the United Provinces," says a great French writer, "we learn how a State, from an origin almost unnoticed, rapidly rose into greatness, was formed without design, and in the end belied all human forecast. Those large and wealthy provinces of the mainland which began the revolution --Brabant, Flanders, and Hainault--failed to achieve their freedom. In the meantime, a small corner of Europe, which had been won from the sea by infinite labour, and had maintained itself by its herring-fishery, rose suddenly to be a formidable power, held its own against Philip II., despoiled his successors of almost all their possessions in the East Indies, and ended by taking under its protection the monarchy of Spain" (Voltaire, Essai sur les Mœurs, cap. 164).


The man who inspired, founded, and made possible this marvellous development was William, Count of Nassau, titular Prince of Orange, surnamed the Silent.


The eloquent epigram of Voltaire records the result of his achievement. His career, like his nature and his circumstances, was made up of anomalies and filled with complex elements. The man who organised the national rebellion of Holland, by birth a German count, became by inheritance a Flemish magnate and a sovereign prince. A Lutheran by family, he was brought up a Catholic, and died a Calvinist. His early years were passed as a soldier and minister of the Empire, as ambassador and lieutenant of the King of Spain, and as a grandee of boundless magnificence. Himself the mainspring of a national and religious insurrection, his best energies were spent in moderating the political and religious passions which were at once the cause and the result of the struggle. Personally a devout man, he professed in succession all the three great forms of Christian belief, whilst steadily opposing all that was extreme and all that was violent in each. His memory is still passionately cherished in his adopted fatherland: first as the founder of an illustrious Commonwealth, then as the father of a long line of able statesmen and ruling princes, and finally as a martyr to the cause of national independence and liberty of conscience...

LanguageEnglish
PublisherPublishdrive
Release dateAug 8, 2017
William the Silent

Read more from Frederic Harrison

Related to William the Silent

Related ebooks

Historical Biographies For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for William the Silent

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    William the Silent - Frederic Harrison

    Q2^book_preview_excerpt.html|rǖԛe(J"$~L@uB7&|kZ;3@31>G"2uw//=o_~(ˬ-6۾Z_no/β ~㭟_|:}>{~}q>?{tq{~u?./~.ߟe_|9xsK$^pvyvO7g>,w__ݞ..o߮.xoyٻs۳ kS/,.~[v?>x{?sȏg\q~jF/77/0.óK=aq}C 3|Du{]@WW1gv~Zo^~q3#}u{ճW_Jo7Վ_>h_.%g47w~szu_W(7O kޞ`0<~$~ss~y~x^>xq\N/h0Ӌ/7fL?h?LDvFgg]?䇬l uf|nmz/Y]M]o}fO cһζl6U2|3WVMgC]7},kݮC6ϊoYwV̾gM=Ú9v=evAWO-.]zk]o./rE]m-Zߔ$n~糾l/~>_Vps(ϛ$;U+e BrYWq竦} mol'[:c(˖a]P_8Z qz}˵F-|]taf<54/!) ݲٮS[_jC ]~eOfTήEWn״pP=i5]_C]Rjݻ;lk ^W҉Ԯ]A;~[SB-$yuZXi}۝ ¿$[Dmna\y!e3t*_eYjbt0`3!sպzbh7hmsشVQ`5wr񃕃MBeqD57_WEw:?ѺBWz~s?!W>N8iXEW+8'.Cؔtu,Z+{W<f\hx= 6Xk}9`8I.|kW&S.fFA]vzbegѣ$:_d>%jxyL>`e=  w@4pۍH$ ZPa_duڏE\G1h17j 56Thpߪgb!,o 0DGR,xlZ餡 |vlJ3.w ;:LCC`X{ !F͇,tmDV-qZ尌y:[Ǚs} 7ULq_4eۙTjZ+Bco€+1-o͛L N2vc6KƱ IʧMhng3 S"A诌evWqjm(y`skL;D2aRɞ lo.ϔI/=^C+0 -EJ%2u>rYWN7%>xDN'9t@hPj\\7zR(߬ d&ͭtu;F)@s_Yb mM~v!εnga߅T֘  PdQ7SFE9˾t,ػ6+UQ*ˡn+s<򵬿Pw\e):#Q{f|EU]h]z['sy-ʞ~-z,C6"iZ1{4軧䈳b HhY>c@n¶|C=v!FBt[DUCxCh'mvJHS92Ll f!Íq0}}ukQ8i  40`FN3 +GR6ۚgR.ѯ hņAb&bZʰaV;RXX-Qtz- ά@γ5Dk!f'm(_KY0erVnkԀ U@j$n,}IG<DT a$AOTӵ @{f ENb\kؒ0i}+,-5 Kjy ,3 wc$n DՐ "0T`|>isyXK$T4 Y鑁r DB4{ߖ[@`;Þ3=H{K²?ۀq yN%֧R;Yg4jIHPjn[<A5_uY̚H% ҷ"ovH(~zғ쪇XݎZM>ءNTO 0&lB^ S>6/~r3=vWJ 3ZG0{2;XU/bGg ~Rʇ/BO$f>wi_>ڨ*Dh/4 f6Y6V4ɨ| K"mI*>׎^΍Z S[oqZ +oTuԎFn ?YmJwPm5$W ΋]T]?R{_R x7Y MɐUCѹ> "J͏ cdF!Q{h"{cs U} ?RZ6XifY@yKeT #&?7b"o#Eb[h |өkUr~5\n?QE(Y₌V# o='X@mp,q]@b|nhnI r$#mڙ0IzRtpL,{@w5yJ u[{ X2?ݺo K44Vv6M?1y끙k\6$-Tli^ml:S Ԍ#P{%k+D!-D7X}Y'שn .qJQ6?߀9&"4mqNع*TƢmXEȢ1%I=^>#s1mB8-9֪rh۽B T7*i՞ En:xlٳ̭ZDjz6H/"cBlw=5fgs$@4Z{rq n 1e_ieS*EHGj)>=5}Q [X`VJ_j#]EMd# uT?֭{_B'ʧ#D&nvQ̀]QYdd3 r'"1ce4ɰ H}#Fg~j0IE([10V,̀o'r7_%еMxzQ$×89%ۗNiHzbaƨŰA,##`tʰ@X! 1,f )s᥽6vMy Eٍ ( lWzL իYa'ձ&^ȾEԟ\7H{LY`6((3>yIOn|UGp tJI,eNέ6DuJF&P!*|OQT' yggb oQsLjrD=$B6n"dZ#(?j*#ȧOȥ"[G7t 䱩u16';jw*WD+Rk鬶 "MjPЩSfֲ u`F >\2s}0/l$ 崣ј9tPQ-"~7P&fo8̥cYK6~9 b~~Ё]I^[ WM|6rl{! aXe״K-lllNzDOR$4rexXcs{ Y 4mnܙc= /'wò,VG=H~yov5J\ Tc-4̨V= I(KCh +!zc%Ŀ=$ؓ<py췫KKOhD.D:Ær5mu`/D\nur﹄5g\8&^3iG^BGݹk=vK#+RI75RKX`߸ jKҴC/ "v;lHCJN({Ma/}\8^झ@lOP(d&;i<$`SOh,˴on޶vPRBi'ԚIkRtGʛ#Չ4Qq:/k+%eEH[865„|ou:& NRoRgE5tɇBZG%+P ?9 ą~2vod9_V?I^^r1lHRٱ}IUdPbƚλheρvgeaF1aC%k~ aAJZ涉Y|BםX85F&DVOƫ'ٗ`HCeH#fd(AsLLB&ee܅Y"j48Ӝ͎9a wN"Bhl񁞦q`CaZ2ݡb{5GT2Uo+r r`lrz"`8xe`\DFbth6֟fB5p4F-$F)-r8Yd|☧F{L* \?#l&31`9`́[rnu$  RM0j={Rs]@ZPoJUDA3PVU/j<~yu;N x )rJ"<\I}2QQP}k껐%:δ6ngَ(#b`kObM$8iBvxk&џ8IkXu VR:5FoZDHXy:voh/3#,TvM! p$lU pэ=z]3iC;y!Co~}?~w1ZمUS̅|m~4}##ND KG5!Y"iY֍r*+T`U0軑+Qwz=*GX@+JBC,Cn WHla8;|!$k)ndlĎUK1zgRn]ڿYAxTG%社82s8oSUFrFa1JlNxu[, k[M{T 1TM`!v7Ԡ7PG f[2$lYYim??}/$[SWV"EӪDpğ|Yv&o͇S,iѱk>5!k2mQ?RCd?10ޑZ}iIhN^0μc;7N}k([}SDF\I?qIQa>EWF,+p/in {I̅XX&n-{:倬7(2NEӻR!>!u4(yG%6A hO^^ /TY.SZcЈU$""XBw>)s"2l]l6MFo4<-򻈑oF -t$ T~Jp[lչh6aqHt(`Ϙ$q*M99̬tST$%;Ȩ2h"P uA!Fgn颍+r`̱r*8? nd눈 "ty1`C}bVTKOQ/s{]ūhOo 4]RgT|J XsJՁ*ڪ$Ixp!'4נDe34.t?*6+2> rI;/l>M9$Wɣ+6gFkw;9)t9$SLomU*XK˂/ݟҮ`eKݵx2YYeJjxZGvzDx2:^_VNZImzr5K'0׿b?@+Og0Eɒ4ΙG(-QQ_TVl'Tf]#4gMգk1F΋z~*'XG >_3lY["]yV?͆Jj^19C&50Vmv2;`nD="桁mq;A.dJKmU kxUzj$ÿR5Մ2fj{[2b@x\s0  Bcq:p[8iVKa kZWVRgQwᲡ uw}`R3<޸`
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1