Rise of the Dutch Republic, the — Complete (1555-84) eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 2,010 pages of information about Rise of the Dutch Republic, the — Complete (1555-84).

Rise of the Dutch Republic, the — Complete (1555-84) eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 2,010 pages of information about Rise of the Dutch Republic, the — Complete (1555-84).
of cannon, and by the blaze of beacons, throughout the Netherlands.  Another event added to the satisfaction of the hour.  The country so recently, and by deeds of such remarkable audacity, conquered by the Spaniards in the north, was recovered almost simultaneously with the conclusion of the Ghent treaty.  It was a natural consequence of the great mutiny.  The troops having entirely deserted Mondragon, it became necessary for that officer to abandon Zierickzee, the city which had been won with so much valor.  In the beginning of November, the capital, and with it the whole island of Schouwen, together with the rest of Zealand, excepting Tholen, was recovered by Count Hohenlo, lieutenant-general of the Prince of Orange, and acting according to his instructions.

Thus, on this particular point of time, many great events had been crowded.  At the very same moment Zealand had been redeemed, Antwerp ruined, and the league of all the Netherlands against the Spaniards concluded.  It now became known that another and most important event had occurred at the same instant.  On the day before the Antwerp massacre, four days before the publication of the Ghent treaty, a foreign cavalier, attended by a Moorish slave and by six men-at-arms, rode into the streets of Luxemburg.  The cavalier was Don Ottavio Gonzaga, brother of the Prince of Melfi.  The Moorish slave was Don John of Austria, the son of the Emperor, the conqueror of Granada, the hero of Lepanto.  The new Governor-general had traversed Spain and France in disguise with great celerity, and in the romantic manner which belonged to his character.  He stood at last on the threshold of the Netherlands, but with all his speed he had arrived a few days too late.

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     A common hatred united them, for a time at least
     A most fatal success
     All claimed the privilege of persecuting
     Blessing of God upon the Devil’s work
     Daily widening schism between Lutherans and Calvinists
     Dying at so very inconvenient a moment
     Eight thousand human beings were murdered
     Everything was conceded, but nothing was secured
     Fanatics of the new religion denounced him as a godless man
     Glory could be put neither into pocket nor stomach
     He would have no Calvinist inquisition set up in its place
     He would have no persecution of the opposite creed
     In character and general talents he was beneath mediocrity
     Indecision did the work of indolence
     Insinuate that his orders had been hitherto misunderstood
     King set a price upon his head as a rebel
     No man could reveal secrets which he did not know
     Of high rank but of lamentably low capacity
     Pope excommunicated him as a heretic
     Preventing wrong, or violence, even towards an enemy
     They could not invent or imagine toleration
     Uunmeaning phrases of barren benignity

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Rise of the Dutch Republic, the — Complete (1555-84) from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.