For this reason William was a general, and Louis never more than an
adventurer; a sure and powerful arm, if only it were directed by a wise
head. Louis' pledge once given was good forever; his alliances survived
every vicissitude, for they were mostly formed in a pressing moment of
necessity, and misfortune binds more firmly than thoughtless joy. He
loved his brother as dearly as he did his cause, and for the latter he
died.
Henry of Brederode, Baron of Viane and Burgrave of Utrecht, was
descended from the old Dutch counts, who formerly ruled that province as
sovereign princes. So ancient a title endeared him to the people, among
whom the memory of their former lords still survived and was the more
treasured the less they felt they had gained by the change. This
hereditary splendor increased the self-conceit of a man upon whose
tongue the glory of his ancestors continually hung, and who dwelt the
more on former greatness, even amid its ruins, the more unpromising the
aspect of his own condition became. Excluded from the honors and
employments to which in his opinion his own merits and his noble
ancestry fully entitled him--a squadron of light cavalry being all that
was intrusted to him--he hated the Government, and did not scruple
boldly to canvass and to rail at its measures.
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