THE DUTCH REVOLT

With these words, the Estates General of the Netherlands declared to the world that Philip II, King of Spain, Duke of Burgundy, and Lord of the Netherlands, was a tyrant whom they could no longer obey. The Act of Abjuration recited the familiar Calvinist resistance arguments. “The prince of a country is established by God as his subjects' sovereign in order to defend and protect them against all injury, force, and violence, just as a shepherd's duty is to keep his sheep safe.” He is established “for his subjects' sake,” and must “govern them by law and reason and to protect and love them as a father does his children.” The Dutch provinces and people have always accepted “their princes and lords under [these] set conditions.”