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The History of the Revolt of the Netherlands
The History of the Revolt of the Netherlands Author:Friedrich Schiller General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1895 Original Publisher: Harvard publishing co. Subjects: Netherlands Drama / Continental European History / General History / Europe / Western Travel / Europe / Benelux Countries (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the ... more »original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: BOOK III. CONSPIRACY OF THE NOBLES. 1565. Up to this point the general peace had it appears been the sincere wish of the Prince of Orange, the Counts Egmont and Horn, and their friends. They had pursued the true interests of their sovereign as much as the general weal; at least their exertions and their actions had been as little at variance with the former as with the latter. Nothing had as yet occurred to make their motives suspected, or to manifest in them a rebellious spirit. What they had done they had done in discharge of their bounden duty as members of a free state, as the representatives of the nation, as advisers of the king, as men of integrity and honor. The only weapons they had used to oppose the encroachments of the court had been remonstrances, modest complaints, petitions. They had never allowed themselves to be so far carried away by a just zeal for their good cause as to transgress the limits of prudence and moderation which on many occasions are so easily overstepped by party spirit. But all the nobles of the republic did not now listen to the voice of that prudence ; all did not abide within the bounds of moderation. While in the council of state the great question was discussed whether the nation was to be miserable or not, while its sworn deputies summoned to their assistance all the arguments of reason and of equity, and while the middle-classes and the people conte...« less