Holland - Thomas Colley Grattan
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All these and many other triumphs of civilization, which we see
now in objective form, were present in potency at the beginning
of this century, though, as we have said, they were not duly
taken into account by the framers of the agreement which sought
to make Holland and Belgium one flesh. Had the sun not yet risen
upon the human horizon, the attempt might have had a quasi success;
but the light was penetrating the darkened places, and men were
no longer willing to accept subjection as their inevitable doom.
It might be conducive to the comfort of the rest of Europe that
Batavian and Belgian should dwell together under one political
roof; but it did not suit the parties themselves; and therefore
they soon began to make their incompatibility known. But nothing
was heard beyond the grumblings of half-awakened discontent until,
in 1830, the new revolution in Paris sent a sympathetic thrill
through all the dissatisfied of Europe. A generation had now
passed since the first great upheaval, and men had had time to
digest the lesson which it conveyed, and to draw various more or
less reasonable inferences as to future possibilities. It had been
determined that, broadly speaking, what the people heartily wanted,
the people might have; and the disturbances in Paris indicated
that the people were prepared to resent any attempt on the part
of their rulers to bring back the old abuses. When the Pentarchy,
in 1815, had made its division of the spoils of Napoleon, the
Bourbons were reseated on the throne which Louis XIV. had made
famous; but Louis XVIII. was but a degenerate representative
of the glories that had been. He adopted a reactionary policy
against the Napoleonic (or imperialist), the republican and the
Protestant elements in France; and outrages and oppressions occurred.
As a consequence, secret societies were formed to counteract
the ultra-royalist policy. When Louis died, it was hoped that
his successor, Charles X., might introduce improvements; but
on the contrary he only made matters worse. The consequence was
the gradual growth of a liberal party, seeking a monarchy based
on the support of the great middle class of the population. In
1827 Charles disbanded the National Guard; and in the following
year the liberals elected a majority in the Chamber. Charles
foolishly attempted to meet this step by making the prince de
Polignac his minister, who stood for all that the people had
in abhorrence. The prince issued ordinances declaring the late
elections illegal, narrowing down the rights of suffrage to the
large landowners, and forbidding all liberty to the press. Hereupon
the populace of Paris erected barricades and took up arms; and
in the "Three Days" from the 27th to the 29th of July, 1830,
they defeated the forces of the king, and after capturing the
Hotel de Ville and the Louvre, sent him into exile, and made
the venerable and faithful Lafayette commander of the National
Guard. But the revolutionists showed forbearance; and instead of
beheading Charles, as they might have done, they let him go, and
punished the ministers by imprisonment only. This put an end to
the older line of the Bourbons in France, and the representative
of the younger branch, Louis Philippe ("Philippe Egalite"), was
set on the throne, in the hope that he would be willing to carry
out the people's will.
All this was interesting to the Belgians, and they profited by
the example. They regarded William as another Charles, and deemed
themselves justified in revolting against his rule. They declared
that they were no longer subject to his control, and issue was
joined on that point. But the Powers were not ready to permit the
dissolution of their anxiously constructed edifice; and they met
together with a view to arranging some secure modus vivendi. The
issue of their deliberations took the form of proposing that the
duchy of Luxemburg, at the southeast corner of Belgium, should be
ceded to Holland on the north. This suggestion was favorably received
by the Hollanders, but was not so agreeable to the Belgians; and an
assembly at Brussels devised and adopted a liberal constitution,
and invited Leopold of Saxe-Coburg to occupy their throne. Leopold
was at this time about forty years of age; he was the youngest
son of Francis, duke of Saxe-Coburg; he had married, in 1816,
the daughter of George IV. of England, the princess Charlotte,
and had, a few months before the Belgians' proposal, been offered
and had refused the crown of Greece. But the Belgian throne was
more to his liking; and after taking measures to sound the Powers
on the subject, and to assure himself of their good will, he
accepted the proffer, and was crowned under the title of Leopold
I. His reign lasted thirty-four years, and was comparatively
uneventful and prosperous.
But the Dutch refused to tolerate this change of sovereignty
without a struggle; William raised an army and suddenly threw
it into Belgium; and the chanees are that he would have made
short work of Belgian resistance had the two been permitted to
fight out their quarrel undisturbed. This, however, could not
happen; since the independence of Belgium had been recognized by
England, Austria, Russia, and Prussia; and the triumphal march
of the Dutch was arrested by a French army which happened to
be in the place where they could be most effective in the
circumstances. The Dutch had occupied Antwerp, a town on the
borderland of Belgium and Holland. It had been in the possession
of the French in 1794, but had been taken from them at the
Restoration in 1814. The French now laid siege to it, being under
the command of Gerard, while the Dutch were led by Chasse. The
citadel was taken in 1832, and the resistance of the Dutch to
the decree of Europe was practically at an end, though William
the Obstinate refused for several years to accept the fact. The
duchy of Luxemburg had sided with the Belgians all along, as
might have been anticipated from its position and natural
affiliations; and though no immediate action was taken relative
to its ownership till 1839, it remained during the interval in
Belgian hands. Matters remained in this ambiguous condition for
some time; but though the Dutch might grumble, they could not
fight. At length the treaty of 1839 was signed in London, on
the 19th of April, according to the terms of which part of the
duchy of Luxemburg was retained by the Belgians, and part was
ruled by the king of Holland as grand duke. In other respects,
the status quo ante was preserved, and the partition of Holland
and Belgium was confirmed, as it has ever since remained. The
history of Belgium thenceforward has been almost wholly devoid of
incidents; the little nation may quite too apothegm as applying
to themselves, "Short are the annals of a happy people!" Their
insignificance and their geographical position secure them against
all disturbance. They live in their tiny quarters with economy
and industry; the most densely populous community in Europe, and
one of the most prosperous. Around their borders rises the sullen
murmur of threatening armies and hostile dynasties; but Belgium
is free from menace, and their sunshine of peace is without a
cloud. It is of course conceivable that in the great struggle which
seems impending, the Belgian nation may suddenly vanish from the
map, and become but a memory in the minds of a future generation;
but their end, if it come, is likely to be in the nature of a
euthanasia, and so far as they are physically concerned, they
will survive their political annihilation. The only ripples which
have varied the smooth surface of their career since the treaty,
have been disputes between the liberal and clerical parties on
questions of education, and disturbances and occasional riots
instigated by socialists over industrial questions. Leopold,
dying at the age of seventy-six, was succeeded by his son as
Leopold II., and his reign continued during the remainder of the
century.
The treaty of 1839, in addition to its provisions already mentioned,
gave Limburg, on the Prussian border, to the Dutch, and opened
the Scheldt under heavy tolls. In October of the year following
the treaty, William I. abdicated the throne of Holland in favor
of his son. He had not enjoyed his reign, and he retired in an
ill humor, which was not without some excuse. His career had
been a worthy one; he had been a soldier in the field from his
twenty-first year till the battle of Wagram in 1809, when he was
near forty; after that he dwelt in retirement in Berlin until
he was called to the throne of the Netherlands. At that time
he had exchanged his German possessions for the grand duchy of
Luxemburg; and was therefore naturally reluctant to be deprived
of the latter. The old soldier survived his abdication only a
few years, dying in 1843 at Berlin.
William II. was a soldier like his father. He had gained distinction
under Wellington in the Spanish campaign, and in the struggle
against Napoleon during the Hundred Days he commanded the Dutch
contingent. He married Anne, sister of Alexander I. of Russia,
in 1816, and at the outbreak of the revolution of 1830 he was
sent to Belgium to bring about an arrangement. On the 16th of
October of that year he took the step, which was repudiated by
his rigid old father, of acknowledging Belgian independence; but
he subsequently commanded the Dutch army against the Belgians,
and was forced to yield to the French in August, 1832. After his
accession, he behaved with firmness and liberality, and died
in 1849 leaving a good reputation behind him.
Meanwhile, the new revolution of 1848 was approaching. Insensibly,
the states of Europe had ranged themselves under two principles.
There were on one side the states governed by constitutions,
including Great Britain, France, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland,
Sweden and, Norway, Denmark, and, for the time being, Spain and
Portugal. On the other side were Russia, Prussia, Austria, the
Italian States, and some of those of Germany, who held that the
right of rule and the making of laws belonged absolutely to certain
dynasties, which were, indeed, morally bound to consult the interests
of their populations, yet were not responsible to their subjects
for the manner in which they might choose to do it. In the last
mentioned states there existed a chronic strife between the people
and their rulers. It was an irrepressible conflict, and its crisis
was reached in 1848.
It was in France that things first came to a head. Louis Philippe
and his minister, Guizot, tried to render the government gradually
independent of the nation, in imitation of the absolutist empires;
and the uneasiness caused by this policy was emphasized by the
scarcity that prevailed during the years 1846 and 1847. The Liberals
began to demand electoral reform; but the king, on opening the
Chambers, intimated that he was convinced that no reform was
needed. Angry debates ensued, and finally the opposition arranged
for a great banquet in the Champs Elysee on February 22, 1848,
in support of the reform movement. This gathering, however, was
forbidden by Guizot. The order was regarded as arbitrary, and
the Republicans seized the opportunity. Barricades appeared in
Paris, the king was forced to abdicate, and took refuge with
his family in England. France was thereupon declared to be a
Republic, and the government was intrusted to Lamartine and others.
There was now great danger of excesses similar to those of the
first great revolution; but the elements of violence were kept
under by the opposition of the middle and higher classes. The
communistic clubs were overawed by the National Guards, and on
April 16th the Communistic party was defeated. General Cavaignac,
who had been made dictator during the struggle, laid down his
office after the battle which began on the 23d of June between
the rabble of idle mechanics, eighty thousand in number, and
the national forces had been decided in favor of the latter,
who slew no less than sixteen thousand of the enemy. Cavaignac
was now appointed chief of the Executive Commission with the
title of President of the Council. A reaction favoring a monarchy
was indicated; but meanwhile a new constitution provided for
a quadriennial presidency, with a single legislature of seven
hundred and fifty members. Louis Napoleon, the nephew of the
great emperor, was chosen by a majority vote for the office in
December of 1848. Four years later he was declared emperor under
the title of Napoleon III.
The revolutionary movement spread to other countries of Europe,
with varying results. In Hungary, Kossuth in the Diet demanded
of the emperor-king a national government. Prince Metternich,
prime minister, attempted to resist the demand with military
force, but an insurrection in Vienna drove him into exile, and
the Hungarians gained a temporary advantage, and were granted
a constitution. The Slavs met at Prague, at the instigation of
Polocky, and held a congress; but it was broken up by the impatience
of the inhabitants, and a success of the imperialists was followed
by the rising of the southern Slavs in favor of the emperor.
A battle took place in Hungary on September 11, 1848, but the
imperialists under Jellachich were routed and driven toward the
Austrian frontier. The war became wider in its scope; the
insurrectionists at first met with success; but in spite of their
desperate valor the Hungarian forces were finally overthrown by the
aid of a Russian army; and their leader, Goergy, was compelled to
surrender to the Russians on August 13, 1849. It was thought that
the Czar might annex Hungary; but he handed it back to Francis
Joseph, who, by way of vengeance, permitted the most hideous
cruelties.
In Germany, the issue had no definite feature. The people demanded
freedom of the Press and a German parliament, and the various
princes seemed acquiescent; but when it was proposed that Prussia
should become Germany, there was opposition on all sides; a Diet
of the Confederation was held, but Frederick William IV., king
of Prussia, refused to accept the title of hereditary emperor
which was offered him. Austria and Prussia came into opposition;
two rival congresses were sitting at the same time in 1850; and
war between the two states was only averted by the interference
of Russia. Czar Nicholas, then virtually dictator of Europe,
ordered Prussia's troops back, and the Convention of Olmutz, in
November, seemed to put a final end to Prussia's hopes of German
hegemony.
All the local despotisms of Italy collapsed before the breath
of revolution; but the country then found itself face to face
with Austria. Charles Albert of Sardinia had the courage to head
the revolt; but was defeated, and abdicated in favor of his son
Victor Emmanuel. Venice was taken after a severe siege by the
Austrians; and King Bomba managed to repossess himself of Naples,
after a terrible massacre. Sicily was subdued. In the Papal States,
Pio Nono was deposed; but after a time a reaction set in, the
provisional government under Mazzini was overthrown, and the
French occupied Rome and recalled the Pope.
The question as to the Danish or German ownership of the duchies
of Schleswig-Holstein had already been agitated, and they became
acute at this time; but the spirit of the new revolution had no
direct bearing upon the matter. By the end of the first half
of the nineteenth century, Europe was outwardly quiet once more.
And what part had Holland taken in these proceedings? A very
small one. The phlegmatic Dutchmen found themselves fairly well
off, and were nowise tempted to embark in troubles for sentiment's
sake. The constitution given them in 1814 was revised, with the
consent of the king, and the changes, which involved various
political reforms, went into effect on April 17, 1848. William
II. died just eleven months afterward, and was succeeded by his
son William III., at that time a man of two-and-thirty. He favored
the reforms granted by his father, and showed himself to be in
harmony with such sober ideas of progress as belonged to the
nation over which he ruled. His aim in all things was peace, and
the development of the resources of the country; he understood his
people, and they placed confidence in him, and Holland steadily
grew in wealth and comfort. In 1853, after the establishment by
the papacy of Catholic bishoprics had been allowed, there was
a period of some excitement; for Roman Catholicism had found a
stern and unconquerable foe in the Dutch; when it had come with
the bloody tyranny of Spain. But those evil days were past, and
the Dutch, who had pledged themselves to welcome religious freedom
in their dominions, were disposed to let bygones be bygones, and
to permit such of their countrymen as preferred the Catholic
ceremonial to have their way. It was evident that no danger existed
of Holland's becoming subject to the papacy; and, indeed, the
immediate political sequel of the establishment of the bishoprics
was the election of a moderate, liberal, Protestant cabinet,
which thoroughly represented the country, and which represented
its tone thereafter, with such modifications as new circumstances
might suggest. The Dutch were philosophic, and were victims to
no vague and costly ambitions. They felt that they had given
sufficient proofs of their quality in the past; the glory which
they had won as champions of liberty could never fade; and now
they merited the repose which we have learned to associate with
our conception of the Dutch character. Their nature seems to
partake of the scenic traits of their country; its picturesque,
solid serenity, its unemotional levels, its flavor of the antique:
and yet beneath that composure we feel the strength and steadfastness
which can say to the ocean, Thus far and no further, and can build
their immaculate towns, and erect their peaceful windmills, and
navigate their placid canals, and smoke their fragrant pipes on
land which, by natural right, should be the bottom of the sea.
Holland is a perennial type of human courage and industry, common
sense and moderation. As we contemplate them to-day, it requires
an effort of the imagination to picture them as the descendants
of a race of heroes who defied and overcame the strongest and
most cruel Power on earth in their day, and then taught the rest
of Europe how to unite success in commerce with justice and honor.
But the heroism is still there, and, should need arise, we need
not doubt that it would once more be manifested.
Because Holland is so quiet, some rash critics fancy that she
may be termed effete. But this is far from the truth. The absence
of military burdens, rendered needless by the intelligent
selfishness, if not the conscience, of the rest of Europe, implies
no decadence of masculine spirit in the Dutch. In no department
of enterprise, commercial ability, or intellectual energy are
they inferior to any of their contemporaries, or to their own
great progenitors. "Holland," says Professor Thorold Rogers, "is
the origin of scientific medicine and rational therapeutics. From
Holland came the first optical instruments, the best mathematicians,
the most intelligent philosophers, as well as the boldest and most
original thinkers. Amsterdam and Rotterdam held the printing
presses of Europe in the early days of the republic; the Elzevirs
were the first publishers of cheap editions, and thereby aided
in disseminating the new learning. From Holland came the new
agriculture, which has done so much for social life, horticulture
and floriculture. The Dutch taught modern Europe navigation. They
were the first to explore the unknown seas, and many an island
and cape which their captains discovered has been renamed after
some one who got his knowledge by their research, and appropriated
the fruit of his predecessor's labors. They have been as much
plundered in the world of letters as they have been in commerce
and politics. Holland taught the Western nations finance--perhaps
no great boon. But they also taught commercial honor, the last
and hardest lesson which nations learn. They inculcated free
trade, a lesson nearly as hard to learn, if not harder, since
the conspiracy against private right is watchful, incessant,
and, as some would make us believe, respectable. They raised
a constant and for a long time ineffectual protest against the
barbarous custom of privateering, and the dangerous doctrine of
contraband of war, a doctrine which, if carried out logically,
would allow belligerents to interdict the trade of the world. The
Dutch are the real founders of what people call international law,
or the rights of nations. They made mistakes, but they made fewer
than their neighbors made. The benefits which they conferred were
incomparably greater than the errors they committed. There is nothing
more striking than the fact that, after a brief and discreditable
episode, the states were an asylum for the persecuted. The Jews,
who were condemned because they were thrifty, plundered because
they were rich, and harassed because they clung tenaciously to
their ancient faith and customs, found an asylum in Holland;
and some of them perhaps, after they originated and adopted,
with the pliability of their race, a Teutonic alias, have not
been sufficiently grateful to the country which sheltered them.
The Jansenists, expelled from France, found a refuge in Utrecht,
and more than a refuge, a recognition, when recognition was a
dangerous offence.
"There is no nation in Europe," continues the professor, "which
owes more to Holland than Great Britain does. The English were
for a long time, in the industrial history of modern civilization,
the stupidest and most backward nation in Europe. There was, to
be sure, a great age in England during the reign of Elizabeth
and that of the first Stuart king. But it was brief indeed. In
every other department of art, of agriculture, of trade, we learned
our lesson from the Hollanders. I doubt whether any other small
European race, after passing through the trials which it endured
after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle to the conclusion of the
continental war, ever had so entire a recovery. The chain of its
history, to be sure, was broken, and can never, in the nature
of things, be welded together. But there is still left to Holland
the boast and the reality of her motto, 'Luctor et emergo.'"
The events of Holland's history since the Catholic concessions
can be briefly told. In 1863 slavery was abolished in the Dutch
West Indies, the owners being compensated; and forty-two thousand
slaves were set free, chiefly in Dutch Guiana. In the same year
the navigation of the Scheldt was freed, by purchase from Holland
by the European powers, of the right to levy tolls. In 1867, Louis
Napoleon raised the question of Luxemburg by negotiating to buy
the grand duchy from Holland; but Prussia objected to the scheme,
and the matter was finally settled by a Conference in London; the
Prussian garrison evacuating the fortifications, which were then
dismantled, and Luxemburg was declared neutral territory. Capital
punishment was abolished in 1869; and on the 15th of July of the
same year the Amsterdam National Exposition was opened by Prince
Henry. In 1870, at the outbreak of war between Germany and France,
the neutrality of Holland as to both belligerents was secured by
the other Powers. In 1871 the Hollanders ceded Dutch Guinea to
England, and in 1876 the canal between Amsterdam and the North
Sea, which had been begun in 1865, was completed, and the passage
through it was accomplished by a monitor. Another Exposition was
opened in 1883, and in the same year the constitution underwent
a further revision. On the 24th of June, 1884, the Prince of
Orange, heir-apparent to the throne, died, and the succession
thus devolved upon the princess Wilhelmina, then a child of four
years. William III. himself died in 1890, and Queen Emma thereupon
assumed the regency, which she was to hold until Wilhelmina came
of age in 1898; an agreeable consummation which we have just
witnessed.
A word may here be said concerning the physical and political
constitution of the present kingdom of Holland. The country is
divided into eleven provinces--North and South Holland, Zealand,
North Brabant, Utrecht, Limburg, Gelderland, Overyssel, Drenthe,
Groningen, and Friesland. There are three large rivers--the Rhine,
the Meuse, and the Scheldt. The inhabitants are Low Germans (Dutch),
Frankish, Saxon, Frisian, and Jews, the latter numbering some
sixty thousand, though their influence is, owing to their wealth
and activity, larger than these figures would normally represent.
The leading religion of the country is Lutheran; but there are
also many Catholics and persons of other faiths, all of whom
are permitted the enjoyment of their creeds. Holland was at one
time second to no country in the extent of its colonies; and
it still owns Java, the Moluccas, part of Borneo, New Guinea,
Sumatra and Celebes, in the East; and in the West, Dutch Guiana
and Curacoa. In Roman times the Low Countries were inhabited by
various peoples, chiefly of Germanic origin; and in the Middle
Ages were divided into several duchies and counties--such as
Brabant, Flanders, Gelderland, Holland, Zealand, etc. The present
government is a hereditary monarchy, consisting of a king or
queen and states-general; the upper chamber of fifty members,
the lower of one hundred. It is essentially a country of large
towns, of five thousand inhabitants and upward. The Frisians are
in North Holland, separated by the river Meuse from the Franks;
the Saxons extend to the Utrecht Veldt. The Semitic race is
represented by the Portuguese Jews; and there is an admixture
of other nationalities. In no part of the country do the Dutch
present a marked physical type, but, on the other hand, they
are sharply differenced, in various localities, by their laws,
their customs, and particularly by their dialects; indeed the
Frisians have a distinct language of their own.