History of Protestantism in the Netherlands - James Aitken Wylie

It was in the Northern Provinces only, happily
under the scepter of William, who had rescued
them. from the general shipwreck of the
Netherlands, that order prevailed, and that anything
like steady progress could be traced. But now the
time was come when these States must lose the
wisdom and courage to which they owed the
freedom they already enjoyed, and the yet greater
degree of prosperity and power in store for them.
Twenty years had William the Silent "judged" the
Low Countries: now the tomb was to close over
him. He had given the labors of his life for the
cause of the Fatherland: he was now to give his
blood for it. Not fewer than five attempts had been
made to assassinate him. They had failed; but the
sixth was to succeed. Like all that had preceded it,
this attempt was directly instigated by Philip's
proscription, In the summer of 1584, William was
residing at Delft, having married Louisa de
Coligny, the daughter of the admiral, and the
widow of Teligny, who perished, as we have seen,
in the St. Bartholomew. A young Burgundian, who
hid great duplicity and some talent under a mean
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