E P I S T L E

...together, that of a very capable man and that of a very virtuous man. The affairs of the Low Countries Pays-bas; the Netherlands, which were at this time engaged in a long war for independence from Spanish rule were then so entangled that no less vigor nor less skill than that of the Incomparable William of Nassau William the Silent (1533–1584), Prince of Orange, who led the Dutch Revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs and is considered the founding father of the Netherlands. was required to untangle them. To oppose a tyranny the most formidable that has been since the ruin of the Roman Empire; to break the heaviest yoke that could oppress a People naturally an enemy to servitude; to draw millions of souls from a long and cruel captivity; to found, almost without means, a powerful Republic The Dutch Republic, or the United Provinces, which emerged as a major world power during this era.; and, what is most admirable, to wish to be nothing more than its Citizen. These are, MY LORD, the affairs which occupied this noble Prince, when this wise Minister Referring to Philippe de Mornay, who served as a key diplomat and advisor. had the honor of negotiating with him, and with My Lords the States General Eftats Generaux; the parliamentary body representing the provinces of the Netherlands, regarding the interests of the true Religion original: "vraye Religion"; here referring to the Reformed or Protestant faith during the European Wars of Religion., and those of the great Henry Henry of Navarre, the future King Henry IV of France, who was the political and military leader of the French Huguenots at the time., who was then its Protector; and it is easy to judge if a Prince who was able to conceive such great designs, and who executed them with such glory, could The text continues on the next page with the catchword "tromper" (be deceived), likely suggesting the Prince could not be easily fooled by a man's character.