History of the United Netherlands, 1584-86 | Page 4

late than
never." Sir Edward Stafford, English envoy in Paris, wrote to his
government--so soon as the news of the murder reached him--that,
according to his information out of the Spanish minister's own house,

"the same practice that had been executed upon the Prince of Orange,
there were practisers more than two or three about to execute upon her
Majesty, and that within two months." Without vouching for the
absolute accuracy of this intelligence, he implored the Queen to be
more upon her guard than ever. "For there is no doubt," said the envoy,
"that she is a chief mark to shoot at; and seeing that there were men
cunning enough to inchant a man and to encourage him to kill the
Prince of Orange, in the midst of Holland, and that there was a knave
found desperate enough to do it, we must think hereafter that anything
may be done. Therefore God preserve her Majesty."
Invisible as the Grand Lama of Thibet, clothed with power as extensive
and absolute as had ever been wielded by the most imperial Caesar,
Philip the Prudent, as he grew older and feebler in mind and body
seemed to become more gluttonous of work, more ambitious to extend
his sceptre over lands which he had never seen or dreamed of seeing,
more fixed in his determination to annihilate that monster Protestantism,
which it had been the business of his life to combat, more eager to put
to death every human creature, whether anointed monarch or humble
artizan, that defended heresy or opposed his progress to universal
empire.
If this enormous power, this fabulous labour, had, been wielded or
performed with a beneficent intention; if the man who seriously
regarded himself as the owner of a third of the globe, with the
inhabitants thereof, had attempted to deal with these extensive estates
inherited from his ancestors with the honest intention of a thrifty
landlord, an intelligent slave-owner, it would have yet been possible for
a little longer to smile at the delusion, and endure the practice.
But there was another old man, who lived in another palace in another
remote land, who, in his capacity of representative of Saint Peter,
claimed to dispose of all the kingdoms of the earth--and had been
willing to bestow them upon the man who would go down and worship
him. Philip stood enfeoffed, by divine decree, of all America, the East
Indies, the whole Spanish Peninsula, the better portion of Italy, the
seventeen Netherlands, and many other possessions far and near; and
he contemplated annexing to this extensive property the kingdoms of
France, of England, and Ireland. The Holy League, maintained by the
sword of Guise, the pope's ban, Spanish ducats, Italian condottieri, and

German mercenaries, was to exterminate heresy and establish the
Spanish dominion in France. The same machinery, aided by the pistol
or poniard of the assassin, was to substitute for English protestantism
and England's queen the Roman Catholic religion and a foreign
sovereign. "The holy league," said Duplessis-Mornay, one of the
noblest characters of the age, "has destined us all to the name sacrifice.
The ambition of the Spaniard, which has overleaped so many lands and
seas, thinks nothing inaccessible."
The Netherland revolt had therefore assumed world-wide proportions.
Had it been merely the rebellion of provinces against a sovereign, the
importance of the struggle would have been more local and temporary.
But the period was one in which the geographical land-marks of
countries were almost removed. The dividing-line ran through every
state, city, and almost every family. There was a country which
believed in the absolute power of the church to dictate the relations
between man and his Maker, and to utterly exterminate all who
disputed that position. There was another country which protested
against that doctrine, and claimed, theoretically or practically, a liberty
of conscience. The territory of these countries was mapped out by no
visible lines, but the inhabitants of each, whether resident in France,
Germany, England, or Flanders, recognised a relationship which took
its root in deeper differences than those of race or language. It was not
entirely a question of doctrine or dogma. A large portion of the world
had become tired of the antiquated delusion of a papal supremacy over
every land, and had recorded its determination, once for all, to have
done with it. The transition to freedom of conscience became a
necessary step, sooner or later to be taken. To establish the principle of
toleration for all religions was an inevitable consequence of the Dutch
revolt; although thus far, perhaps only one conspicuous man in advance
of his age had boldly announced that doctrine and had died in its
defence. But a great true thought never dies--though long buried in the
earth--and the day was to come, after long years, when