66
WILLIAM THE SILENT
chap.
the dying down of theological dogmatism in the course of centuries are astonishing examples of his political genius, and stamp him as the one statesman very far in advance of his age. Intellectually, he could dream of a fusion of the best elements of the Catholic and Protestant faiths. As a statesman, he thought they might agree to differ by local separation.
He continues (as if foreseeing the long struggle and the Thirty-Years War):—
The resort to force must be both short-lived and ruinous to the country, for it inyolves the use of foreign mercenaries with aU the cruelty, rapacity, and wanton oppression they always bring in their train. We have seen the horrors and outrages they inflict on man and woman, and the ruin to the welfare of our land. As to the banishment of a vast body of Reformers, even if it could be carried out without resorting to force, it would strip the country of its best workers and chief traders—our country which is "the market of Christendom." It might seem more reasonable to allow the private freedom of conscience without public worship, but this would end in atheism and irreligion altogether, like the brute beasts. As to permitting unlimited toleration, we know that the King, his Council, and all Spain would rather see half this land destroyed before they will consent to it. The conclusion is that there must be a compromise whereby the safety of person and property, churches and institutions, be guaranteed to the Catholics; and that there should be secured to the New Faith an exercise of their worship under conditions and limits of place. Thus only can we avoid great eflusion of blood and ruin to the country, together with the possible destruction of the Catholic Faith. There is no real obstacle to tolerating a religion other than our own, if we only trust that error must ultimately disappear. The Arian heresy was not suppressed by bloodshed; but after centuries of active life, it was ultimately overcome by the diligence, learning, and devotion to duty of the Catholic teachers themselves. A very large part of our people have embraced the new views, and rather than forsake them they will give up their lives and homes. To crush them into orthodoxy by force is impossible or intolerable. If their opinions are false, if the Catholic Faith be based on eternal truth, their
