History of Protestantism in the Netherlands - James Aitken Wylie

could not have been more astounded although the
earth had suddenly yawned at his feet; however, he
carried the secret in his breast from that dark wood,
without permitting the French king to read, by
word or look of his, the shock the disclosure had
given him. And he retained it in his breast for
years, without speaking of it to any one, although
from the moment of his coming to the knowledge
of it, it began to shape his conduct. It is from this
circumstance that he received the significant name
of "William the Silent."
All three -- the rumors from Bayonne, the
tidings from the Council of Trent, and the dark
secret imparted to William in the Forest of
Vincennes -- -pointed to a storm now gathering, of
more than usual severity, and which should burst
over all Christendom, in which the Netherlands
could not miss having their full share. But what
had been plotted at Trent among the Fathers was
nearly as little known as what had been agreed on
at Bayonne, between Catherine and Alva. The full
truth -- -the definite plan -- was locked up in the
archives of the Vatican, whence it is probable its
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