The warnings and the lamentations of Barneveld sound to us out of that far distant time like the voice of an inspired prophet.

It is possible that a portion of the wrath to come might have been averted had there been many men in high places to heed his voice.

I do not wish to exaggerate the power and wisdom of the man, nor to set him forth as one of the greatest heroes of history.

But posterity has done far less than justice to a statesman and sage who wielded a vast influence at a most critical period in the fate of Christendom, and uniformly wielded it to promote the cause of temperate human liberty, both political and religious.

Viewed by the light of two centuries and a half of additional experience, he may appear to have made mistakes, but none that were necessarily disastrous or even mischievous.