History of Protestantism in the Netherlands - James Aitken Wylie

to him, it was possible to drive out the Spaniards
and raise the siege; and in spite of his illness he
issued from his sick-bed continual orders
respecting the execution of that project. No force at
his disposal was sufficient to enable him to break
through the Spanish lines, and throw provisions
into the starving city, in which the suffering and
misery had now risen to an extreme pitch. In this
desperate strait he thought of having recourse to a
more terrible weapon than cannon or armies. He
would summon the ocean against the Spaniards. He
would cut the dykes and sink the country beneath
the sea. The loss would be tremendous; many a
rich meadow, many a fruitful orchard, and many a
lovely villa would be drowned beneath the waves;
but the loss, though great, would be recoverable:
the waves would again restore what they had
swallowed up; whereas, should the country be
overwhelmed lay the power of Spain, never again
would it be restored: the loss would be eternal.
What the genius and patriotism of William had
dared his eloquence prevailed upon the States to
adopt.
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