accomplished politicians. To circumvent at once both their negotiators
and their men-at-arms was his appointed task. Had it not been for the
courage, the vigilance, and the superior intellect of a single
antagonist, the whole of the Netherlands would have shared the fate which
was reserved for the more southern portion. Had the life of William of
Orange been prolonged, perhaps the evil genius of the Netherlands might
have still been exorcised throughout the whole extent of the country.
As for religion, Alexander Farnese was, of course, strictly Catholic,
regarding all seceders from Romanism as mere heathen dogs. Not that he
practically troubled himself much with sacred matters--for, during the
life-time of his wife, he had cavalierly thrown the whole burden of his
personal salvation upon her saintly shoulders. She had now flown to
higher spheres, but Alexander was, perhaps, willing to rely upon her
continued intercessions in his behalf. The life of a bravo in time of
peace--the deliberate project in war to exterminate whole cities full of
innocent people, who had different notions on the subject of image-
worship and ecclesiastical ceremonies from those entertained at Rome, did
not seem to him at all incompatible with the precepts of Jesus. Hanging,
drowning, burning and butchering heretics were the legitimate deductions
of his theology. He was no casuist nor pretender to holiness: but in
those days every man was devout, and Alexander looked with honest horror
upon the impiety of the heretics, whom he persecuted and massacred. He
attended mass regularly--in the winter mornings by torch-light--and would
as soon have foregone his daily tennis as his religious exercises.
Romanism was the creed of his caste. It was the religion of princes and
gentlemen of high degree. As for Lutheranism, Zwinglism, Calvinism, and
similar systems, they were but the fantastic rites of weavers, brewers,
and the like--an ignoble herd whose presumption in entitling themselves
Christian, while rejecting the Pope; called for their instant
extermination. His personal habits were extremely temperate. He was