Things Seen in Holland
the secret, the French King revealed the matter to the Prince, who was prudent enough to be silent, and not to reveal his feelings, thus earning his title of “the Silent.” The appellation would seem a more appropriate one in the case of Philip II. of Spain, who seldom spoke, and whose stern lineaments never revealed that which was in his thoughts. William could, indeed, speak, and eloquently when circumstances demanded, but he was a great statesman who knew when to keep his own counsel, and who knew the Dutch—a people who required of him deeds, and not mere words.
It is, perhaps, difficult to say why, in the first instance, the Dutch so concentrated their trust in William of Orange, rather than in any other man, at the time they were trying to overthrow the Spanish domination. Indeed, it was not he who was the instigator of the fight against the
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