History of Protestantism in the Netherlands - James Aitken Wylie

Chapter 24
Administration of Don John
and First Synod of Dort
THE great battles of religion and liberty have,
as a rule, been fought not by the great, but by the
little countries of the world. History supplies us
with many striking examples of this, both in
ancient and in modern times. The Pacification of
Ghent is one of these. It defined the territory which
was to be locked in deadly struggle with Spain, and
greatly enlarged it. By the side of the little Holland
and Zealand it placed Brabant and Flanders, with
their populous towns and their fertile fields. With
this vast accession of strength to the liberal side,
one would have expected that henceforth the
combat would be waged with greater vigor,
promptitude, and success. But it was not so, for
from this moment the battle began to languish.
William of Orange soon found that if he had
widened the area, he had diminished the power of
the liberal cause. An element of weakness had
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