which thus sustained the Prince in the unequal conflict to which he had
devoted his life, we shall find it in the one pervading principle of his
nature--confidence in God. He was the champion of the political rights
of his country, but before all he was the defender of its religion.
Liberty of conscience for his people was his first object. To establish
Luther's axiom, that thoughts are toll-free, was his determination. The
Peace of Passau, and far more than the Peace of Passau, was the goal for
which he was striving. Freedom of worship for all denominations,
toleration for all forms of faith, this was the great good in his
philosophy. For himself, he had now become a member of the Calvinist,
or Reformed Church, having delayed for a time his public adhesion to
this communion, in order not to give offence to the Lutherans and to
the Emperor. He was never a dogmatist, however, and he sought in
Christianity for that which unites rather than for that which separates
Christians. In the course of October he publicly joined the church at
Dort.

The happy termination of the siege of Alkmaar was followed, three
days afterwards, by another signal success on the part of the patriots.
Count Bossu, who had constructed or collected a considerable fleet
at Amsterdam, had, early in October, sailed into the Zuyder Zee,
notwithstanding the sunken wrecks and other obstructions by which the
patriots had endeavored to render the passage of the Y impracticable.
The patriots of North Holland had, however, not been idle, and a fleet
of five-and-twenty vessels, under Admiral Dirkzoon, was soon cruising in
the same waters. A few skirmishes took place, but Bossu's ships, which
were larger, and provided with heavier cannon, were apparently not
inclined for the close quarters which the patriots sought. The Spanish
Admiral, Hollander as he was, knew the mettle of his countrymen in a
close encounter at sea, and preferred to trust to the calibre of his