Holland - The History of the Netherlands | Page 5

of York
vainly resists the French Army--Abdication of the
Stadtholder--Batavian Republic--War with England--Unfortunate
Situation of Holland--Naval Fight--English Expedition to the
Helder--Napoleon Bonaparte--Louis Bonaparte named King of
Holland--His popular Conduct--He abdicates the Throne--Annexation
of Holland to the French Empire--Ruinous to the Prosperity of the
Republic--The people desire the Return of the Prince of
Orange--Confederacy to effect this Purpose--The Allied Armies
advance toward Holland--The Nation rises to throw off the Yoke of
France--Count Styrum and his Associates lead on that Movement, and
proclaim the Prince of Orange, who lands from England--His first
Proclamation--His second Proclamation.
CHAPTER XXIII
FROM THE INSTALLATION OF WILLIAM I. AS
PRINCE-SOVEREIGN OF THE NETHERLANDS TO THE BATTLE
OF WATERLOO
A.D. 1813--1815
Rapid Organization of Holland--The Constitution formed--Accepted by
the People--Objections made to it by some Individuals--Inauguration of
the Prince-Sovereign--Belgium is occupied by the Allies--Treaty of
Paris--Treaty of London--Formation of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands--Basis of the Government--Relative Character and
Situation of Holland and Belgium--The Prince-Sovereign of Holland
arrives in Belgium as Governor-General--The fundamental

Law--Report of the Commissioners by whom it was framed--Public
Feeling in Holland, and in Belgium--The Emperor Napoleon invades
France, and Belgium--The Prince of Orange takes the Field--The Duke
of Wellington--Prince Blucher--Battle of Ligny--Battle of Quatre
Bras--Battle of Waterloo--Anecdote of the Prince of Orange, who is
wounded--Inauguration of the King.
SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER (A.D. 1810--1899).

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
HOLLAND
The Duke of Alva Deposes Margaret of Parma.
Storming the Barricades at Brussels During the Revolution of 1848.
William the Silent of Orange.
A Holland Beauty.
CHAPTER I
FROM THE INVASION OF THE NETHERLANDS BY THE
ROMANS TO THE INVASION BY THE SALIAN FRANKS
B.C. 50--A.D. 200
The Netherlands form a kingdom of moderate extent, situated on the
borders of the ocean, opposite to the southeast coast of England, and
stretching from the frontiers of France to those of Hanover. The
country is principally composed of low and humid grounds, presenting
a vast plain, irrigated by the waters from all those neighboring states
which are traversed by the Rhine, the Meuse, and the Scheldt. This
plain, gradually rising toward its eastern and southern extremities,
blends on the one hand with Prussia, and on the other with France.
Having, therefore, no natural or strongly marked limits on those sides,

the extent of the kingdom could only be determined by convention; and
it must be at all times subject to the arbitrary and varying influence of
European policy. Its greatest length, from north to south, is about two
hundred and twenty English miles; and its breadth, from east to west, is
nearly one hundred and forty.
Two distinct kinds of men inhabit this kingdom. The one occupying the
valleys of the Meuse and the Scheldt, and the high grounds bordering
on France, speak a dialect of the language of that country, and
evidently belong to the Gallic race. They are called Walloons, and are
distinguished from the others by many peculiar qualities. Their most
prominent characteristic is a propensity for war, and their principal
source of subsistence the working of their mines. They form nearly
one-fourth of the population of the whole kingdom, or about one
million three hundred thousand persons. All the rest of the nation speak
Low German, in its modifications of Dutch and Flemish; and they offer
the distinctive characteristics of the Saxon race--talents for agriculture,
navigation, and commerce; perseverance rather than vivacity; and more
courage than taste for the profession of arms. They are subdivided into
Flemings--those who were the last to submit to the House of Austria;
and Dutch--those who formed the republic of the United Provinces. But
there is no difference between these two subdivisions, except such as
has been produced by political and religious institutions. The physical
aspect of the people is the same; and the soil, equally law and moist, is
at once fertilized and menaced by the waters.
The history of this last-mentioned portion of the nation is completely
linked to that of the soil which they occupy. In remote times, when the
inhabitants of this plain were few and uncivilized, the country formed
but one immense morass, of which the chief part was incessantly
inundated and made sterile by the waters of the sea. Pliny the naturalist,
who visited the northern coasts, has left us a picture of their state in his
days. "There," says he, "the ocean pours in its flood twice every day,
and produces a perpetual uncertainty whether the country may be
considered as a part of the continent or of the sea. The wretched
inhabitants take refuge on the sand-hills, or in little huts, which they
construct on the summits of lofty stakes, whose elevation is

conformable to that of the highest tides. When the sea rises, they appear
like navigators; when it retires, they seem as though they had been
shipwrecked. They subsist on the fish left