History and Language
moment in the existence of the Dutch nation there arose a man whose name is revered in Holland to this very day, and the descendants of his subjects have transferred to his descendants the affection and gratitude their forebears felt for him. Like Lincoln he was the “Father of his People,” and like him he was foully assassinated. William of Nassau, “the Silent,” Prince of Orange, was born at Dillenburg, in the Duchy of Nassau, in 1533.
His appellation of “the Silent” is thus explained: One day while hunting in the forest of Vincennes with Henry II. the Prince of Orange and the King became separated from the rest of the party. Henry's mind was full of the scheme formed between himself and Philip of Spain to extirpate heresy by a general massacre of Protestants in France and the Netherlands. Believing that the Prince of Orange was in
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