es that he had learned of and expressed no disapproval of
their severity. The King of France never learned what an error he had
made. But William, from his attitude on this matter and the way that he
conducted himself, gained the nickname of "William the Silent" which
clung to him throughout his life and has been attached to him in
history ever since.

William was well liked in the Netherlands or the "Low Countries" as
they were then called. He was the son of a nobleman, Count William of
Nassau, and succeeded to the principality of Orange on the death of his
cousin Rene of Nassau who was killed in battle. Rene was an ardent
Catholic, and stipulated that to gain the principality William would
have to be brought up in the Catholic faith. So young William went to
the Court of Charles the Fifth, Emperor of Spain and Germany, and
became a page in Charles' establishment in the city of Brussels.

When a youth of eighteen William married a girl of high birth named
Anne of Edgemont and lived happily with her until he went to the wars
with the Spanish army. He did not like military life, but none the less
he did so well that before he was twenty-one he was made a General. His
record was creditable to the utmost, but through all his life William
never showed any great military ability. He was slow to come to
decisions and too deliberate to make a military leader of the highest
order.

When William returned to the Netherlands after his sojourn in the
French court he was made Governor of the principalities of Zeeland,
Utrecht and Holland. And here, in his efforts to help the Protestants
from the harsh decrees that were being carried out against them, he
first came in collision with the cruel and cold-blooded Philip of
Spain.

Philip believed in the instrument of justice called the Holy
Inquisition and for years this had been in operation in his own kingdom
of Spain. It was a body of Priests and wise men who judged and
condemned all persons who were accused of heresy, as any difference
from the Catholic religion was called. The punishments dealt out by the
Holy Inquisition were most severe and brought great suffering. For the
Inquisition employed the most inhuman tortures, not only for those who
were convicted of guilt, but also for unfortunate people who were
accused, maintaining that under torture nobody could refrain from
telling the truth, nor conceal any wickedness that he had ever
committed. As a result of this, confession