people by reason of a gracious manner that he had of saluting and addressing in a fascinating and familiar way all whom he met.
Orange had become a widower at twenty-five, but
two years later he married again; his bride was Anne
of Saxony, the daughter of a great German Lutheran
magnate. The marriage met with great opposition
from the Catholics, and this seemed to make Orange
only more determined. There was nothing to recommend
Anne except her wealth and lands. She was
lame and had no charm, and became later an odious
and impossible woman who made her husband very
unhappy.
King Philip meanwhile continued to shower honors upon Orange. He made him a Councilor of State and Stadtholder or Governor of Holland, Zeeland, and Utrecht, and head of the troops in those provinces. If Orange had been content to do as he was told, his prosperous, pleasant life might have continued. Fortune from his birth had smiled upon him, and everything that the heart of man could desire seemed to lie within the hollow of his hand. But at the risk of losing everything—his high honors and worldly position—he was to speak and to act as his heart and conscience told him to, which was in direct opposition to the King and to his own material welfare. From this time onwards Orange, in a quiet, determined way, resisted Philip and his commands. His resistance was so far guarded, as he could not as
