Spain, and taken hold,
as we have seen, of the middle and southern provinces of the kingdom.

A contemporary of the period, who reflected on the onward march of the
new religion over every obstacle in its path, who had seen it gather
under its banners states and nations once the most loyal and potent
vassals of Rome, would have had little reason to doubt that, before the
end of the century, the Reform would have extended its sway over the
whole of Christendom. Fortunately for Catholicism, the most powerful
empire in Europe was in the hands of a prince who was devoted with his
whole soul to the interests of the Church. Philip the Second understood
the importance of his position. His whole life proves that he felt it to
be his especial mission to employ his great resources to restore the
tottering fortunes of Catholicism, and stay the progress of the torrent
which was sweeping away every landmark of the primitive faith.

We have seen the manner in which he crushed the efforts of the
Protestants in Spain. This was the first severe blow struck at the
Reformation. Its consequences cannot well be exaggerated; not the
immediate results, which would have been little without the subsequent
reforms and increased activity of the Church of Rome itself. But the
moral influence of such a blow, when the minds of men had been depressed
by a long series of reverses, is not to be estimated. In view of this,
one of the most eminent Roman Catholic writers does not hesitate to
remark, that "the power and abilities of Philip the Second afforded a
counterpoise to the Protestant cause, which prevented it from making
itself master of Europe."[491] The blow was struck; and from this
period little beyond its present conquests was to be gained for the
cause of the Reformation.

[Sidenote: REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS.]

It was not to be expected that Philip, after having exterminated heresy
in one part of his dominions, should tolerate its existence in any
other, least of all, in a country so important as the Netherlands. Yet a
little reflection might have satisfied him that the same system of
measures could hardly be applied with a prospect of success to two
countries so differently situated as Spain and the Netherlands. The
Romish faith may be said to have entered into the being of the Spaniard.
It was not merely cherished as a form of religion, but as a principle of
honor. It was part of the national history. For eight centuries the
Span