He had exorcised the evil demon of religious bigotry by which the body politic had been possessed so many years; for the Ghent treaty, largely interpreted, opened the door to universal toleration.

In the Perpetual Edict the Prince saw his work undone.

Holland and Zealand were again cut adrift from the other fifteen provinces, and war would soon be let loose upon that devoted little territory.

The article stipulating the maintenance of the Ghent treaty he regarded as idle wind; the solemn saws of the State Council and the quiddities from Louvain being likely to prove but slender bulwarks against the returning tide of tyranny.

Either it was tacitly intended to tolerate the Reformed religion, or to hunt it down.