The Peril of the Republic of the United States of America - Percy T. Magan

from eternal salvation.”[3]
To the famous William of Orange, better
known as William the Silent, or Father William,
the great work of leading the revolt for freedom
was by right assigned. His is one of the most noble
characters of which all history boasts. In 1564 he
took the ground that the time for speaking out had
arrived, and that brave and honest men could no
longer keep still. He argued that an envoy of high
rank should be sent to the king of Spain in his
native land, and that he should be told in
unequivocal terms how the people of the
Netherlands felt toward him and his rule. “Let
him,” were his words, “be unequivocally informed
that this whole machinery of placards and
scaffolds, of new bishops and old hangmen, of
decrees, inquisitors, and informers, must once and
forever be abolished.”
Even while the envoy was absent in Spain, the
oppressive measures were pushed forward with
unabated fury. Such a state of things was produced
by this great wickedness, that the ordinary business
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