History of Protestantism in the Netherlands - James Aitken Wylie

panic were over, the spirit of the fallen hero
asserted itself in Holland. The Estates of that
Province passed a resolution, the very day of his
murder, "to maintain the good cause, by God's
help, to the uttermost, without sparing gold or
blood," and they communicated their resolve to all
commanders by land and sea. A State Council, or
provisional executive board, was established for
the Seven Provinces of the Union. At the head of it
was placed Prince Maurice, William's second son,
a lad of seventeen, who already manifested no
ordinary decision and energy of character, and who
in obedience to the summons of the States now
quitted the University of Leyden, where he had
been pursuing his studies, to be invested with many
of his father's commands and honors. The
blandishments of the Duke of Parma the States
strenuously repelled, decreeing that no overture of
reconciliation should be received from "the tyrant;
" and the city of Dort enacted that whoever should
bring any letter from the enemy to any private
person "should forthwith be hanged."
It was Protestantism that had fired Holland and
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