and their territory forms part of the extensive country called Deutschland, though we English restrict the term to a portion of the latter. The appellation Holland is derived from the German word hohl, synonymous with the English term hollow, and together with the adjunct land, denoting a hollow or very low country. Netherlands, or Low Countries as they are sometimes called, have obtained this name from their relative situation with respect to high Germany. The 68. The metropolis of the kingdom of the Netherlands is Brussels, although it is only alternately with The Hague, the residence of the king and the legislature. Brussels is situated near the banks of the little river Senne, which is a tributary of the Scheldt it is one of the neatest and best built cities in Europe, but though possessed of many advantages, it is only the second city in the country, being much inferior both in extent and population to Amsterdam. About seven miles to the S. of Brussels, upon the edge of the Forest of Soigné, stands the little village of Waterloo, where the Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon Buonaparte, A. D. 1815, and put an end to the war which had grown out of the French revolution, and which had convulsed all Europe for more than 20 years. The Hague is in the North Western part of Holland, scarcely two miles from the shores of the North Sea; it is an open town, and has no municipal rights, owing to which circumstances it is frequently termed a village. About a mile and a half to the S. E. of it, is the castle of Ryswick, where the well known treaty of peace was concluded in 1697, between England, Germany, Holland, France, and Spain. To the S. E. of The Hague, is the famous port of Rotterdam, situated on the northern bank of the Maas, where it receives the waters of the little R. Rotte; the harbour is very convenient, of easy access from the German Ocean, and so deep, that vessels of any burden can enter it: with regard to commerce, Rotterdam ranks next to Amsterdam, amongst the towns of Holland. Amsterdam is the commercial capital of Holland, and the largest city in the whole kingdom, it's population amounting in 1821 to 221,000 souls: it is situated on an arm of the Zuyder Zee, about five miles from the main body of the gulf, where it receives the waters of the two little rivers Amstel and Ye. It derives its name from Amstel and dam, being, as it were, the dam or dike of the Amstel. In the beginning of the 13th century it was only the residence of a few fishermen; but growing populous soon after, the Earls of Holland gave it the title and privileges of a city. Before the French revolution, it was esteemed the second city in Europe, in point of commerce; but it suffered very materially during the desolating times which followed that horrible massacre. The whole of the city is built upon piles. 69. The Dutch possess many settlements in different parts of the world. In Asia they claim the islands of Java, Sumatra, Madura, Billiton, Celebes, Borneo, Sumbawa, Timor, Ternate, Tidore, Butchian, Amboyna, Booro, Ceram, New Guinea, and several others of little consequence: but, with the exception of the first of these islands, which is completely under their control, they rather claim the dominion over most of them, than actually possess it. They likewise have factories at Malacca, on the peninsula of Malacca; and at Sadras, on the coast of Coromandel, in India. In Africa they have several small forts on the coast of Guinea, the chief of which is the castle of El Mina. In America, they possess the colony of Surinam, in Guyana, the islands of Curaçao, Oruba, Buen Ayre, St. Eustathius, Saba, and the Southern part of St. Martin's, the Northern part of the latter island belonging to the French. 70. THE REPUBLIC OF SWITZERLAND, or the Helvetic Confederacy as it is sometimes called, is bounded on the W. by France, on the S. by the continental dominions of the King of Sardinia, and by the Empire of Austria, on the E. by the latter power, and on the N. by the kingdom of Wurtemburg and the grand duchy of Baden, being separated from the two last by the L. of Constance and the R. Rhine. It contains 12.800 square miles, and it's estimated population in 1821 was about 1,945,000 souls. Switzerland was formerly divided into a number of petty states or principalities, each of which aspired to sovereignty; the inferior barons fortified themselves in castles and strong holds, and by their tyranny and feuds overwhelmed the whole country with faction and civil discord. At last, however, the foundation of the liberty of Switzerland was laid by William Tell; and the three mountainous cantons, Schweiz, Uri, and Unterwalden, were first formed into a confederacy, A. D. 1308. In the course of a few years these were joined by five other cantons, and in the beginning of the 16th century by five more, thus giving to the Helvetic Confederacy the form, by which it is known in history, viz. that of 13 cantons: they also entered into alliances with several neighbouring states, as the Grisons, St. Gallen, Valais, Geneva, and Tessin. During the dominion of the French, six more cantons were added to the confederacy, and after the overthrow of Napoleon, three others, so that their number now amounts to 22. 71. The names of these are given in the following table, in the order in which they joined the federal body : 72. Switzerland is a union of petty states, differing exceedingly from each other in their respective constitutions. Each canton is an independent republic, but for general security they are all united into a confederacy, governed by a Diet or general assembly. In some of them the form of government is democratic, but in most of them it is oligarchic. The Diet is composed of deputies from each of the cantons, and meets in rotation at Bern, Zurich, and Lucerne. About two-thirds of the inhabitants profess the Protestant Religion, and the remainder the Roman Catholic. There are only two universities, one at Geneva, and one at Basel: but there are colleges or academies at Bern, Zurich, Lausanne, Schaffhausen, St. Gallen, Neufchatel, Chur, Friburg and Lucerne. German is the prevailing language of the country, but French is spoken on the borders of France, Italian on the borders of Italy, and the Romanesk, or Romana rustica in a part of the Grisons. 73. Switzerland is by far the most mountainous country in Europe; it has the Alps, not only along the whole of it's Southern and Eastern frontiers, towering above them to the height of from ten to fifteen thousand feet, but extending in various ramifications over the chief part of the interior of the country. The plains or hollows between the peaks of the highest mountains are occupied by glaciers; these are lakes of frozen snow, accumulated to a vast depth, and detaching from time to time enormous masses, called avalanches, which roll down with a frightful noise into the plains below, and sometimes overwhelm a whole village with destruction. The surface of the glaciers is in some cases smooth and unbroken, but in others it is marked by deep chasms, and by pinnacles of ice rising in the most fantastic forms above the sea of snow with which they are surrounded. Their depth is supposed to vary from 100 to 600 feet, and the total extent of surface which they cover, is estimated to be nearly 1,500 miles. Their formation requires such an intensity of cold, that none are found in any other parts of Europe, except in a few elevated spots of the Pyrenees, and the bleakest mountains of Sweden and Norway. Switzerland is likewise remarkable for the number of it's lakes, the scenery round which is exceedingly beautiful and romantic. The principal ones are those of Geneva, Constance, Neufchatel, Lucerne, Zurich, Thun, Brienz, Zug, Bienne, Wallenstadt, Sempach, and Greiffen. Most of them are navigable, and thus become very important features in so broken and uneven a country, where land-carriage is both difficult and expensive; it is owing to this circumstance that many of the Swiss towns are built upon their shores. 74. The city of Geneva is situated at the Western extremity of the lake of the same name, and upon the borders of France and the King of Sardinia's dominions: the R. Rhone, which here issues from the lake, receives on its left bank the waters of the Arre, and thus divides the city into three parts. Geneva is remarkable as having been long the residence of the reformer Calvin, many of whose manuscripts are still preserved in the public library there. Bern stands on a declivity near the banks of the R. Aare, which forms part of the town into a peninsula, and flows afterwards with a N. E. course, past Solothurn and Aarau into the Rhine, about midway between Basel and Schaffhausen. Basel is situated in the N. W. corner of the country, close upon the borders of France, and upon that part of the R. Rhine, where it changes it's direction from West to North; it is celebrated as having been for many years the residence of the learned Erasmus, who lies buried in it's cathedral. Schaffhausen is situated in the Northernmost part of the country, on the right bank of the Rhine, and not far from it's egress from the lake of Constance: it derives all it's interest and importance from the magnificent cataract in the Rhine, called Laufen, which is about one league below it, and which, though not the highest, is in the mass of it's waters the greatest, as it is the most famous, in the whole of civilized Europe: the great fall is about 50 feet in depth. CHAPTER XI. HISPANIA ET INSULE. 1. HISPANIA was bounded on the N. by the Oceanus Cantabricus B. of Biscay, and the Montes Pyrenæi, on the E. and S. by the Mediterranean Sea, and on the W. by the Atlantic Ocean: it was called Iberia1 by the Greeks, from the Iberus fl. or Ebro, which was the first great river they reached in the Peninsula, and Hesperia Ultima by the Romans, from it's extreme Western situation. 2. The epithet of Ultima was added to distinguish it from Italy, which the Greeks also named Hesperia, on account of it's situation with respect to them; they likewise called Spain Celtica, or rather included it in this appellation, which they assigned as a general one to the whole of Western Europe: from the Celta, a great 1 Which name was also used by the Roman poets: Te non paventis funera Galliæ, Hor, Carm. IV. xiv. 50. part of Spain was denominated Celtiberia, which is a compound of their own name, and that of the people among whom they settled. The Greek colonies in Spain were few and unimportant, Emporia and Saguntum excepted. 3. The name of Hispania was derived from the Phoenicians, who, in very early times planted colonies on it's Southern shores. The Carthaginians invaded it next; they founded several cities on the Southern coast, and held it long in subjection. At the end of the second Punic war it was wrested from them by the Romans, who, having also reduced the native tribes to obedience, divided it into two provinces, Citerior and Ulterior; the latter, in the time of Augustus, was subdivided into Lusitania and Bætica, whilst the Citerior province received the name of Tarraconensis, from it's capital Tarraco Tarra gona. 4. The principal mountains of Hispania are the Pyrenæi3 Pyrenees, extending from the Mediterranean to the B. of Biscay, the continuation of which Westward was called Vinnius Mons Santillanos. Mons Sacer Quadramon, in Galicia, was the Western extremity of these mountains; and the names of Ladicus and Medullus, applied to that spur of them running between the rivers Minho and Douro, may still be found in Monte Ladoco and Las Medulas. Idubeda Mons detaches itself from the Pyrenees near the springs of the Ebro, and traverses with a winding course the Eastern part of Spain, till it reaches the Mediterranean at Ferraria Pr. C. S. Martin: it is now called by the various names of Ms. de Burgos, M. Albarracin, Sierra Albayda, &c., and is the only range running in a North and South direction, the others trending generally East and West. The continuation of this range to Gibraltar, was in a general way called Orospeda M. La Sagra Sierra, Sierra Nevada, &c. 5. Ilipula M. was a name especially given to the Sierra Nevada, as Solorius was to La Sagra Sierra, although the existence of a Sierra di Solorio, near the sources of the Douro, seems to indicate a more extensive application of the latter. Argentarius M., where is the source of the Bætis Guadalquivir, was only a part of Orospeda, and said to be synonymous with it. Carpetanus M. Castilian Ms., separating the rivers Durius and Tagus, strikes out from Idubeda Westward, and under the names of Aphrodisius Estrella, and Tagrus Junto, reaches the sea at Magnum Pr. C. Roca, the Westernmost land of the continent of Europe. Hermiaius M. Sierra de Toledo and Sierra Arminno, running in a direction nearly parallel with the preceding, and separating the Tagus and Anas, proceeds also from Idubeda, and reaches the Atlantic at Sacrum Pr. C. S. Vincent. Marianus Mons Sierra Morena, issues from Orospeda M., profugique a gente vetustâ Gallorum, Celta miscentes nomen Iberis. * Passed by Hannibal, in his expedition against the Romans: Additur imperiis Hispania: Pyrenæum Lucan. IV. 10. Sil. Ital. III. 340. Liv. XXI. 23, 24. Jur. Sat, X. 151. and proceeding Westward, separates the rivers Anas and Bætis; it's Western part, Arucitanus M. is still called Sierra de Aroche. 6. The most remarkable promontories of Spain on the Atlantic Ocean are Trileucum Pr. C. Ortegal, in Galicia, the Northernmost point of the peninsula; Artabrum Pr. C. Finisterra, called also Nerium and Celticum, the most Western cape of Galicia; Magnum Pr. C. Roca, the Westernmost land of the continent of Europe, called also Olisiponense from the neighbouring city Olisipo Lisbon; Sacrum Pr. C. S. Vincent, the South Western point of Portugal and Lusitania, opposite to which the Sun, terminating his course, plunged into the sea; and Junonis Pr. C. Trafalgar, the South Western cape of Seville. On the Mediterranean Sea are Charidemum Pr. C. Gata, the South Eastern point of Granada; Scombraria or Saturni Pr. C. Palos, the South Eastern extremity of the Peninsula; Ferraria Pr. C. S. Martin, in Valencia, opposite to the island of Iviza; and Pyrenæum Pr. C. Creux, the Eastern termination of the Pyrenees. 7. The chief rivers of Spain are the Iberus Ebro, the most Northern, which rises in the angle formed by the mountains Vinnius and Idubeda; hence it runs with a South Eastern course into the Mediterranean, not far from Dertosa Tortosa, and opposite to the Balearic Isles; it's length is 370 miles, and it is the only great Spanish river which finds it's way to the Mediterranean Sea. 8. At the end of the first Punic war, the Iberus was settled as the line of separation between the Roman and Carthaginian possessions in Spain, the Romans agreeing not to pass the right bank of the river, and obtaining the protection of the Zacynthian colony of Saguntum Murviedro, although it was in the Punic territory. About 70 miles from it's mouth, the Iberus receives on it's left bank, the Sicoris Segre, rising in the Pyrenees, and supposed to be the same with the Sicanus, whence the oppressed Sicani are said to have retreated to Sicily; but some learned men are of opinion, that by the Sicanus was meant the Iberus itself, or perhaps a more Eastern Variously expressed by the Roman poets: Nî roseus fessos jam gurgite Phoebus Ibero Presserat occiduus Tartessia litora Phoebus: Virg. Æn. XI. 913. |