Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 December 1898 — How a Dog Saved a Republic. [ARTICLE]

How a Dog Saved a Republic.

The Hon. Charles Francis Adams writes the Boston Herald as follows: “Most persons hare heard of tlhe great William of Orange, called 'The Silent.’ If the dog enemies will turn to Motley’s ‘History of the ltise of the Dutch Republic’ (vol. ii., page 198), they'U find this little incident related: On the night of Sept. 12,1572, a body of Alva's Spanish troops surprised Dutch William’s camp. And ‘for two long hours the Suaniards butchered their foes.’ Then Motley goes on to describe what happened: “ 'The boldest, led by Julian in person, made at once for the Prince’s tent. His guards and himself were in a profound sleep, but a small spaniel, which " always passed the night upon his bed, was & more faithful sentinel. “ *The little creature sprang forward, barking furiously at the sound of hostile footsteps, and scratching his master’s face wkh his paws. There was but just time for the Prince to mount a horse, which was ready saddled, and to effect his escape before his enemies sprang into the tent. “ 'His servants were cut down, and two of his secretaries, who gained their saddles a moment later, also lost their lives; and but for a little dog’s watchfulness Willianf of Orange, upon whose shoulders the whole weight of his country’s fortunes depended, would have ben led within a week to an ignominious death. To his dying day the Prince ' ever afterward kept a spaniel of the same race in his bed chamber.’ And in the church at Delft may be seen, to this day, at the foot of the recumbent statue A>f the great Hollander, a figure in stone of that ‘little spaniel.’ ”