LIGIOUS OPINIONS.]

In Holland the nobles and merchants mutually bound themselves to stand
by one another in asserting the right of freedom of conscience.[864]
Levies went forward briskly in Germany, under the direction of Count
Louis of Nassau. It was attempted, moreover, to interest the Protestant
princes of that country so far in the fate of their brethren in the
Netherlands as to induce them to use their good offices with Philip to
dissuade him from violent measures. The emperor had already offered
privately his own mediation to the king, to bring about, if possible, a
better understanding with his Flemish subjects.[865] The offer made in
so friendly a spirit, though warmly commended by some of the council,
seems to have found no favor in the eyes of their master.[866]

The princes of Germany who had embraced the Reformation were Lutherans.
They had almost as little sympathy with the Calvinists as with the
Catholics. Men of liberal minds in the Netherlands, like William and his
brother, would gladly have seen the two great Protestant parties which
divided their country united on some common basis. They would have had
them, in short, in a true Christian spirit, seek out the points on which
they could agree rather than those on which they differed,--points of
difference which, in William's estimation, were after all of minor
importance. He was desirous that the Calvinists should adopt a
confession of faith accommodated in some degree to the "Confession of
Augsburg,"--a step which would greatly promote their interests with the
princes of Germany.[867]

But the Calvinists were altogether the dominant party in the Low
Countries. They were thoroughly organized, and held their consistories,
composed of a senate and a sort of lower house, in many of the great
towns, all subordinate to the great consistory at Antwerp. They formed,
in short, what the historian well calls an independent Protestant
republic.[868] Strong in their power, sturdy in their principles, they
refused to bend in any degree to circumstances, or to make any
concession, or any compromise with the weaker party. The German princes,
disgusted with this conduct, showed no disposition to take any active
measures in their behalf, and, although they made some efforts in favor
of the Lutherans, left their Calvinistic brethren in the Netherlands to
their fate.

It was generally understood, at this time, that the prince of Orange had
embraced Lutheran opinions.