ince of Orange, "who,
so long as he lived, seemed like to remain a rebel against the Catholic
King, and to make every effort to disturb the repose of the Roman
Catholic apostolic religion."

When but twenty years of age he had struck his dagger with all his might
into a door, exclaiming as he did so, "Would that the blow had been in
the heart of Orange!" For this he was rebuked by a bystander, who told
him it was not for him to kill princes, and that it was not desirable to
destroy so good a captain as the Prince, who, after all, might one day
reconcile himself with the King.

The "inveterate deliberation," thus thoroughly matured, Gerard now
proceeded to carry into effect. He came to Delft, obtained a hearing of
Villers, the clergyman and intimate friend of Orange, and was somewhat
against his will sent to France, to Marechal Biron, who, it was thought,
was soon to be appointed governor of Cambray. Through Orange's
recommendation the Burgundian was received into the suite of Noel de
Caron, Seigneur de Schoneval, then setting forth on a special mission to
the Duke of Anjou. While in France Gerard could rest neither by day nor
night, so tormented was he by the desire of accomplishing his project,
and at length he obtained permission, upon the death of the Duke, to
carry this important intelligence to the Prince of Orange. The
despatches having been intrusted to him, he travelled post-haste to
Delft, and, to his astonishment, the letters had hardly been delivered
before he was summoned in person to the chamber of the Prince. Here was
an opportunity such as he had never dared to hope for. The arch-enemy to
the Church and to the human race, whose death would confer upon his
destroyer wealth and nobility in this world, besides a crown of glory in
the next, lay unarmed, alone, in bed, before the man who had thirsted
seven long years for his blood.

Balthazar could scarcely control his emotions sufficiently to answer the
questions which the Prince addressed to him concerning the death of
Anjou, but Orange, deeply engaged with the despatches, and with the
reflections which their deeply important contents suggested, did not
observe the countenance of the humble Calvinist exile, who had been
recently recommended to his patronage by Villers. Gerard had, moreover,
made no preparation for an interview so entirely unexpected, had come
unarmed, and had formed no plan for escape. He was obliged to forego his
prey when most within hi