Grand River times. [volume] (Grand Haven, Mich.) 1851-18??, 1852-04-13
DUTCHMAN AND HOLLANDER.

DUTCHMAN AND HOLLANDER.
l am gratified to see the kind feelings of the
gentleman across the lake for our people, and he
has my thanks for the historical recollections in
regard to our nation on this continent; but con-
slider it now duty, the question being publicly
moved in English tongue, to state why the sons
of the old Republic of the seven United Provin-
ces of the Netherlands, (now the kingdom of
the Netherlands during more than century the
pride and the wonder Of the world, make some
times objections against the good name of
Dutchman
II is said in few words: They want it under
stood, that they come from the Netherlands, ,erro-
neously called in this country Z" the Kingdom of
Holland" that they are of the same stock with
the Pioneers of the Empire State and that they
claim a kindred with such men as Gen. Philip
Schuyler, De Witt Clinton, Van Ness, Martin
Van Buren, Hoffman, Gul. c. Verplanck and
hundreds Of the same good old race
Not one ever felt ashamed of his nation and
the country of his birth. Their just pride is the
cause of their objections! A nation which is
ashamed of itself is not worth to enjoy, yea is
not able to maintain its freedom and independ-
ence. It either never had any, or has wholly
lost its energy. Not so the people of the Meth
erlands! In numbers only fragment over
three millions, living in a country hardly visible
on The maps of the world, they are in free insti-
tutions and civilization, again foremost amongst
the few in Europe, extending their commerce
over the world, with fleet of 125 vessels Of
war to defend and maintain themselves on the
Ocean; they are devoted to science and litera-
ture, they cherish the fine arts; they are pious
and moral, liberal supporters of all institutions
of benevoence and humanity; and they have a
history of the past, which sets at defiance the
greatest countries of the Universe. Such ma
tion how or why should it feel ashamed Of its
name? The annals of history never recorded
any such fact. | will attempt to develop the
matter more closely; but do not wish to be
misunderstood, and therefore | acknowledge
freely at the outset, that hold in the highest
estimation the whole German or Teutonc race,
of which even the people Of the Netherlands,
the Bataves, Frisians, Lower Saxons, Sicambers
&C., were some of the warike and influential
tribes. Iglory in our common origin with those
who are now called Germans. No man, who
knows Europe, will deny, that Philosophy, Lit
erature, old and modern in all its branches that
all solid science,are in our days for the far great
er proportion most profoundly cultivated in
lands of German tongue; Theology, Jurispru-
dence, Medicine, Chemistry, Astronomy, Lin
guistic, and history, where would they stand
without the aid of Germany for the last hundred
years? The German nation is n great nation
and am the last, to attempt even, to throw a
shadow over its glory but we TOO, have our
ownl We don't want or wish for foreign lau-
rels; we are conscious of our merits for the hu-
man kind.
In the United States all people of Middle Eu-
rope, even the nations of the North, the Danes
Swedes and Norwegians, are often indiscrimin-
ately called Germans or Dutch but more espe-
cially so the people Of the old German Empire
and those Of the Netherlands. For the cause of
the last mentioned fact we have to look in the
history of times long gone by.
The inhabitants of Prussia, Austria, Bavaria
Wirtemberg, Saxony, Hanover and good num-
ber of the smaller principaities are of the Ger
man or Teutonic race; they call themselves
Deutsch or Ieutsch, which is pronounced about
and means the same as Dutch. The Netherlan-
ders are in origin of the selfsame stock. Once
before our Christian era commenced, the fathers
of the different tribes lived together in Middle.
Asia, speaking, perhaps with slight variety in
dialect one and the same language. They en-
igrated from there in smaller or larger numbers
and at different times, and invaded Europe, fight
ing and subduing, wherever they found them
the older inhabitants, and they settled in their
countries. The older tribes went as far as the
Northern or German Sea and some of them, oi
which part of the Saxons and Angles were the
predominant, went even across the waters tc
Great Britain, where they founded the Anglo
Saxon Heptarchy. They all were Dutch by
lapse of time distinguished in two great parts, il
High and Low Dutch the former in the interior
the latter in the North and along Seashore, bu
in more recent period the name of Low-Dutcl
was more generally given to the whole of the
people Of Netherlands alone. The old Eng
Iish therefore were perfectly right in calling the
whole Teutonic race Dutch, but they made Q
great mistake, when they gave in the 18th and
18th century the general name to that part
! which inhabited the seven United PROVINCES and