An entirely new direction was thus given to his energy of temperament, which forced an outlet for itself into public life, and eventually became the dominating influence in England for a period of nearly twenty years.
The heroic princes of the House of Nassau were all distinguished for the same qualities of self-control, self-denial, and determination of purpose.

William the Silent was so called, not because he was a taciturn man--for he was an eloquent and powerful speaker where eloquence was necessary--but because he was a man who could hold his tongue when it was wisdom not to speak, and because he carefully kept his own counsel when to have revealed it might have been dangerous to the liberties of his country.

He was so gentle and conciliatory in his manner that his enemies even described him as timid and pusillanimous.

Yet, when the time for action came, his courage was heroic, his determination unconquerable.

"The rock in the ocean," says Mr.Motley, the historian of the Netherlands, "tranquil amid raging billows, was the favourite emblem by which his friends expressed their sense of his firmness." Mr.Motley compares William the Silent to Washington, whom he in many respects resembled.