Page:The silent prince - a story of the Netherlands (IA cu31924008716957).pdf/287

Rh spurned the proffered hand of majesty. "There can be no friendship between the destroyer and the protector of a people," he said.

At the instigation of Cardinal Granvelle, whose hatred of the Prince of Orange was of ancient date, Philip very readily consented to set a price upon the head of Orange.

"It will be well," he wrote Parma, "to offer thirty thousand crowns or so to any one who will deliver the Prince, dead or alive. Thus the country will be rid of a man so pernicious." Accordingly, the famous Ban was fulminated against the foremost statesman of the age, and would-be assassins vied with each other for the coveted reward.

The Silent Prince treated this official document with the contempt it deserved. He replied to it in his "Apology," which was one of the most memorable documents of history.

In 1582, at a public festival, in which the Prince took an active part, his life was attempted. A young man approached him and handed him a petition. As William began to read it, the youth drew a pistol and discharged it at the head of Orange. The ball passed into his neck, and entering the mouth came out under the left jawbone. For four weeks the condition of the Prince was critical, but he recovered.

When William was restored to consciousness, his first words were, "Do not kill him! I forgive