History of the Revolt of the Netherlands

History of the Revolt of the Netherlands appears in a volume headed The Works of Friedrich Schiller, translated from the German by E. B. Eastwick and A. J. W. Morrison. The text says that at last, at the end of half a century, master and pupil separated, unsubdued, and equal in the fight.

The text names Duke Alva’s inflexible sternness, the mildness of his successor Requescens, Don John of Austria’s insidious cunning, and the active and imperious mind of the Prince of Parma as giving as many opposite directions to the war. William the Silent, a watchful observer, is said to have failed not to improve every advantage which the faulty policy of his adversary presented. The text quotes an edict that the heads and teachers of sects, as well as those who conceal heretical meetings or cause any other public scandal, shall be punished with the gallows. The text describes thirty-two flat-bottomed vessels, each sixty-six feet long and twenty broad, fastened together with strong cables and iron chains.