gundy, about the middle of the fifteenth century. Previous to this event, we find only unconnected duchies, counties, lordships, and towns, with innumerable rights, claims, and privileges, advanced and enforced now by subjects and vassals against each other or against their lords; and now by lords and vassals against the monarch, without the expression of any collective idea of Belgium as a nation. Under the Burgundian dynasty the commercial and manufacturing towns of the Low Countries enjoyed a remarkable prosperity. The famous order of the Golden Fleece was instituted in 1430; and before the end of the fifteenth century the city of Ypres had 4,000 looms, and the city of Ghent 50,000 weavers. Bruges and Antwerp were the great marts of the commercial world, and contained each about 200.000 inhabitants. In the Flemish court of the duke of Burgundy, named Philip the Good, about 1455, luxurious living was carried to a vicious and foolish excess. The wealthy were clad in gorgeous velvets, satins, and jewelry, and their banquets were given with almost incredible splendour.

"This luxury produced depravity and crime to such an extent that, in one year, 1,400 murders were committed in Ghent, in the gambling-houses and other resorts of debauchery. The arts were cultivated with great success. Van Dyck invented the beautiful oil colours for which the Flemish school is renowned. Painting on glass, polishing diamonds, lace, tapestry, and chimes were also invented in Belgium at this period. Most of the magnificent cathedrals and town-halls in the country were built in the 13th and 14th centuries. History, poetry, and learning were much cultivated; and the University of Louvain was the most celebrated in Europe. In 1477 Belgium passed under the dynasty of the empire of Austria; and after many years of contest between the despotic Maximilian and the democratic Flemings, the government, in 1519, descended to his grandson. Charles V., king of Spain and emperor of Germany. In his reign the affluence of the Flemish burghers attained its highest point The city of Ghent contained 175,000 inhabitants, of whom 100,000 were engaged in weaving and other industrial arts. Bruges annually exported stuffs of English and Spanish wool to the value of 8,000,000 florins. The Scheldt at Antwerp often contained 2,500 vessels, waiting their turn to come to the wharfs; her gates were daily entered by 500 loaded wag. gons; and her exchange was attended, twice a day, by 5,000 merchants, who expended 130,000 golden crowns in a single banquet given to Philip II., son of Charles V. The value of the wool annually imported from England and Spain exceeded 4,000,100 pieces of gold. This amazing prosperity experienced a rapid and fatal decline under the malignant tyranny and bigotry of Philip. The doctrines of the protestant reformation had found very numerous adherents in Belgium; Lutheranism was preached with phrenzied zeal by several popular fanatics, who drew around them crowds amounting sometimes to 10,000 or 15,000. Parties of iconoclasts also appeared, and demolished the ornamental property of four hundred churches. Protestant persecution by the Inquisition had been commenced by Charles V.; but by Philip 1. it was established in its most diabolical extravagance. He filled the country with Spanish soldiers, and commissioned the duke of Alva to extirpate, without mercy, every protestant heretic in Belgium. Volumes have been written to describe the proceedings of this able soldier, but sanguinary persecutor, who boasted that in less than six years he had put to death 18,000 men and women by the sword, the gibbet, the rack, and the flames. Ruin and. dread of death in its most hideous forms drove thousands of artisans to England, where they introduced the manufacturing skill of Bruges and Ghent. Commerce and trade in Flanders dwindled away, many of the rich merchants were reduced to beg for bread, the great cities were half deserted, and forest wolves often devoured the scattered inhabitants desolated villages."

These oppressions being exercised with the most tyrannical fury by Ferdinand of Toledo, duke of Alva, whom Philip had created governor, the Netherlands made a strong effort for their freedom, and William, prince of Orange, in conjunction with his brother, Count Louis of Nassau, undertook the defence of the inhabitants, in their noble struggles for religious and civil liberty. Accordingly, the states of Holland, in their own names conferred the stadtholdership, a title equivalent to lieutenant, on the former, and several other towns and provinces declared for him. He first united them, in 1576, in one general association, under the title of "The Pacification of Ghent." But this union being soon dissolved, the prince laboured to the utmost of his power to form a more durable alliance, which he happily accomplished in 1579. In that year the celebrated league of Utrecht was concluded, which gave name to the United Provinces and became the basis and plan of the constitution.

The prince of Orange was afterwards on the point of being nominated the sovereign of these countries, but was treacherously shot by an assas sin named Belthazar Gerhard, who had assumed the name of Francis Guyon. This man was supposed to have been hired to perpetrate the murder by the Spanish ministry, but no tortures could force a confession from him. The United Netherlands, however, continued to maintain, sword in hand, that liberty to which they had raised themselves; and Elizabeth of England took them under her protection, and rendered them essential assistance. When the earl of Leicester, the favourite of the queen, was sent over by her to the Netherlands in the year 1665, the states appointed him governor and captain-general of the United Provinces, or in other words the stadtholder; but his haughty carriage, and unskilful manner of conducting the war, soon rendered him unpopular, and the next year he returned to England. The Dutch, being afterwards better supported by the English, baffled all the attempts of the Spaniards; and their commerce arrived at such a height, that in 1602 their celebrated East India company was established. Spain, being both weakened and discouraged by the ill success of a tedious war, in 1609 agreed to an armistice for twelve years, and in the very first article of the treaty acknowledged the United Netherlands to be a free and independent state. During this truce the republic attained to a degree of power which it has never since exceeded.

Compelled by necessity to make war against the Spanish fleets, the republicans soon became excellent sailors, and enterprising, indefatigable merchants, who visited every sea, and to whom no port was too distant, no obstacle too discouraging. The commerce of Cadiz, Antwerp, and Lisbon, fell into their hands; and in this way the United Netherlands were, in the middle of the 17th century, the first commercial state and the first maritime power in the world; for, with about one hundred vessels of war, they bade defiance to every rival, while England and France rejoiced in the humiliation of the dreaded monarchy of Spain. The Dutch East India Company, established in 1602, conquered islands and kingdoms in Asia; and with about two hundred ships, they carried on a trade with China and even with Japan. They alone supplied Europe with the productions of the spice islands. The gold, the pearls, the precious jewels of the East, all passed through their hands. The West India Company was not so successful, on account of the jealousy of England and France. Holland, nevertheless, for a long time maintained the dominion of the Van Tromp and De Ruyter were victorious, and Louis XIV., who had laid a deep plan for humbling the daring republic, was finally exhausted, and obliged to sue for peace.

sea.

These signal successes were principally obtained by the able conduct of Prince Maurice of Nassau, the second son of the first stadtholder; and to the same dignity this prince was chosen when only twenty-one years

of age. He conducted the affairs of the states, during twenty years, with great ability and success. The latter part of this prince's government was sullied by cruelty and ingratitude; for he procured the condemnation and death of the pensionary Barnevelt, to whose influence he owed his elevation- This man, who was an Armenian in religion and a republican in politics, was sacrificed to his opinions; but his death caused the political principles for which he suffered to spread more widely. Those who opposed the stadtholder were afterwards called "the Louvestein party," from De Wilt, burgomaster of Dort, and five other members of the states-general, being imprisoned in the castle for maintaining such sentiments.

In 1621 the war was again renewed, during which the stadtholder Prince Frederic Henry, youngest son of the first William (who succeeded on the death of his half-brother, Prince Maurice, in 1625) greatly distin guished himself. This war was brought to a period in 1648, by the peace of Minster, by which treaty Philip IV., king of Spain, renounced all claim to the United Netherlands. Frederic was succeeded by his only son William, who was fourth stadtholder, being twenty one years of age. He appears to have been ambitious, as was his father. In 1652 a war broke out between the United Provinces and England, the latter country being under a republican form of government: this war was terminated two years after, by a treaty, in which the states of Holland engaged forever to exclude the house of Orange from the stadtholdership of their province. In 1665 another war was kindled with England, at which time that country had regained its regal constitution; this war continued until the treaty of Breda. The states of Holland and West Friesland then passed. an edict, by which they abolished the stadtholdership in their province. This was effected by the grand pensionary De Witt. When France formed a design to seize on the Spanish Netherlands, the United Pro vinces entered into an alliance with the crowns of England and Sweden for the defence of those countries; by which France was, in 1668, compelled to agree to the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle; but soon took a severe revenge by breaking that alliance, and inducing England, with some other powers, to enter into a league against the United Provinces; on which a war ensued. In this critical juncture, the republic, in 672, nominated William, the young prince of Orange, captain and admiral general; and the populace compelled the states of Holland to invest him with the stadtholdership, which two years after was declared hereditary in his family. He was the fifth stadtholder and the third of that name; he married the princess Mary, eldest daughter of James II. of England, and became king of England.

In the year 1678 a peace was concluded with France, at Nimeguen; but it was of no long continuance, for, in 1688, the states supporting their stadtholder in his expedition to England, with a fleet and a large body of troops, France declared war against them, which was terminated by the the peace of Ryswick in 1697. At length, on the death of Charles II. king of Spain, in the year 1700, the Spanish provinces fell to the share of the house of Austria, and the republic became involved in a war respect ing that succession, which continued till the peace of Utrecht, in 1713.

William died king of England and stadtholder of the United Provinces, in 1702. He appointed John William Frizo, prince of Nassau Dietz, his sole heir, who was born 1687, and was drowned in crossing an arm of the sea at Mardyke, 14th July, 1711. Three months after his death his widow was delivered of a son, who was christened William, and afterwards became stadtholder; but on the death of William III. that office was laid aside, until, in 1722, the province of Guelders elected him their stadtholder, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the other provinces.

On the decease of the emperor Charles VI. the Dutch assisted the queen of Hungary against France, which drew on them the resentment of that

power; and in 1747, the French making an irruption into Dutch Flanders the republic unanimously declared the above mentioned William, prince of Orange, stadtholder, captain-general, and admiral-in-chief, making those dignities hereditary in his family, even in the female and collateral branches. In the general war which broke out in Europe in 1756, the Dutch, taking no part in the quarrel, were perhaps the greatest gainers, by supplying the belligerent powers with naval and military stores; and when the dispute between Great Britain and the American colonies re kindled the flames of war, the most essential assistance was procured both to America and France, by means of the Dutch settlement at St. Eusta tius, and of the freights brought by their ships. At length it was discovered by the capture of an American packet, that a treaty between the American States and the province of Holland was actually adjusted, and that Mr. Laurens, formerly of the congress, was appointed to reside at Amsterdam in a public capacity. This occasioned the court of London first to cancel all treaties of commerce and alliance which then subsisted between that kingdom and the United States, and soon after, in December, 1780, to issue a declaration of hostilities against the republic. The resentment of Great Britain proved extremely fatal to the possessions and wealth of the Dutch; the island of St. Eustatius, with a large fleet of valuable merchant ships, fell an easy prey to a naval and military force under the command of Admiral Rodney and General Vaughan; several homeward-bound East India ships, richly laden, were either taken by the English or destroyed; Negapatam, on the Coromandel coast, and their chief settlement on the Island of Ceylon, were wrested from them; and a fleet of merchant ships bound to the Baltic, convoyed by a squadron of Dutch men-of-war, under the command of Admiral Zoutman, were obliged to return to the Texel, and one of the 74 gun ships was sunk in a very sharp action which happened with a British squadron under the command of Admiral Hyde Parker.

In the mean time the emperor of Germany, attentive to the improvement of his dominions in the Low Countries, and desirous of procuring for his subjects the advantages to be derived from the extension of their commerce, determined to oblige the Dutch to allow a free navigation on the Scheldt, which river, by the treaty of Munster, in the year 1648, they pos. sessed exclusively. To procure this, a ship, bearing the imperial flag, proceeded down the Scheldt from Antwerp; the captain being ordered not to submit to any detention or examination whatever from the ships belonging to republic of the Seven United Provinces, or to make any declaration at the custom-houses belonging to the republic on that river, or to acknowledge them in any manner whatever. At the same time another vessel was ordered to sail from Ostend up the Scheldt to Antwerp. They were both stopped by the Dutch on their passage, which the emperor construed into a declaration of war on the part of the republic, although by the 14th article of the treaty of Munster, entered into with Philip IV. of Spain, it was stipulated that the Scheldt should remain shut; in consequence of which that river had remained guarded by two forts, Lillo and Lieskenshock, assisted by guard-ships. An army of eighty thousand men was now assembling; and some imperial troops, with a train of artillery, advancing towards Lillo, the governor ordered the sluices to be opened in November, 1784, which laid a large extent of circumjacent country under water. A war between the emperor and the republic seemed to be inevitable; but the interposition of the courts of Versailles and Berlin prevented that evil; and the emperor at length agreed to give up his claims, on receiving a very large sum of money from the Dutch, to indemnify him for the expenses which had been incurred by his preparations for war.

William V., the seventh stadtholder, on the death of his father in 1751.

succeeded to that dignity when only three years of age; the princess-dowager, his mother, who was princess-royal of England, (being the eldest daughter of George II.), was appointed governess and guardian to the young prince; the prince of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel acted as captaingeneral and lord-high-admiral during the minority, which continued until the year 1766, when the prince having attained to the age of eighteen, took upon himself the administration of public affairs. The year following he married the princess Frederica Wilhelmina of Prussia.

The amiable manners and benign disposition of this prince procured him general esteem, while the absolute ascendancy which the duke of Brunswick hod acquired, during so long a minority, over the mind of a prince in whom gentleness and acquiescence were such prevailing qualities, caused him still to retain his plenitude of power. It was not long, however, before the people began to complain that the most undisguised partiality was shown to foreigners in the appointments to offices. One of the chief favourites about the person of the prince of Orange was Capellan Vander Marsh, who had been advanced from a low origin to the sta tion of chamberlain, and ennobled. This man having continual opportunities of conversing with the prince in private, represented to him the necessity there was for him to interfere, by exerting that authority which the states had vested in him, and no longer to delegate it in so unqualified a manner. The prince acknowledged the justice of the suggestion, and promised to act upon it; but when instances were pointed out in which he might render himself highly popular by appointing certain persons to vacant offices, he found the restraints in which he had ever been accustomed to be held too strong to be broken. This led Capellan to desert the cause of his master, and to join the republican party. Soon after the duke of Brunswick resigned his employment and quitted the country.

The republican, or anti-stadtholderian party, which, as we have already seen, had subsisted in the provinces ever since the year 1647, or from the death of Maurice, the second stadtholder, found in the ministry of France the most effectual support which intrigue and a lavish distribution of money could render. More than a million of money had been issued from the treasury of the court of Versailles to further the interests of this party. However secretly these practices might be carried on, they were not concealed from the courts of London and Berlin, who were no less strenuous to support the Orange party. Dissensions thus fomented by foreign interference, rose to a destructive height; and each party imbibed the most rancorous spirit against the other, insomuch that it was thought to be no longer safe for the prince and princess, with their family, to reside at the Hague; they therefore, in September, 1786, retired to Nimeguen. In this posture of affairs, the princess of Orange, who possessed an elevated mind, great abilities, and an enterprising spirit, determined on a very bold and decisive measure; which was, to proceed, without the prince, and with only two or three attendants to the Hague, to make the experiment how far her presence and address could be rendered serviceable to the cause of the prince her husband. As she was proceeding on her journey on the 28th of June, 1787, she was stopped near Schoonhoven, by a commandant acting under the republican party, detained there during the succeeding night, and absolutely restricted from proceeding any farther. This indignity determined her to return to Nimeguen, and a representation of the treatment she had received was immediately transmitted to the king of Prussia, her brother, who had succeeded "the great Frederic " on that throne. The king supported the cause of his sister with great warmth; but the states of Holland not being disposed to make any concessions, the reigning duke of Brunswick, nephew to the duke who had filled the high offices in Holland, was placed at the head of an army of Prussians, amounting to eighteen thousand effective men, whom he