, 1879-02-01

Their commercial prosperity had bccn csta,-
lshett ton1 hciorc, whcn the dtscoTerf Of tltp
s"a o H e rs,. 1: s' "aM aea f"1 to to T.: G:ps soa
mcsce OF tho world. But the religious strug-
CLOS Of the time, so r'otnentous In Their lsage',
gavc to tho lts'c confrteracy which 1t first
It's powerful foes the unity Of pnrposc which
Erentnrss. Nothing Ia molcrn history is
than tho growth of thu Dutch power, With tts
achievements in var md politics, fn commerce
ad material prosperity, u srts and l!,era.nss.
Huring 'he century Which fol'oTed tS :vI,,ta e.!al
The Silent died In 1854, stricken b. the l,and of
tho tanattral baltsazar Gerard. his lust words
weEe, 20. ny o9d. haye me.cY upon tll1s poor
IT., became King Of England IL ieso this
tpoor reonlcn had become one Of tho foremost
u Europe. Il Ind sce9mplished tts own free
battling The power of France under Louis XIV,
its univers!tlcs were among the hrst In Europe,
It's colonies were IN all l.ntla and It's shlps On
every sea, Its literature bad given Il Gruttus, its
art i Ncu,btandt, to the world. t,ne Of tic cnr-
| ltcst Arctic explorers was tho Dutchruan Ba-
| rcntz; another nutchsnan VIVA the first to
lo,'bio Cape lforn nnd TO discover the mar
est land 70 tho Southern role., In. North
! America Holland had plantcd colony Ia the
centre OF what Is now the unitcl statoa aud fta
Gapitaf, New Amsterdam. afterwards called
| oE1ukG1 H1f ilEAL EMllEA NEW 1QEM Al&EE ~ 4Ek1
into English ha.s,ls. In South America t'1s act
tetlcuss of tijuana, iB Afrrn tint OF Tie Cape,
| In Aea tho.e lit India, IN ccrion, Java, sunatra,
'h.t New t1ntnea, infested t,u fertility Of llol-
| lalnl as 4 founder O{ eolUntes. Dutch toyDGer&
| discovered 1!!a AustralnslaD World. At lloInt,
while entn,nrryc lfourshcd, md the wealth of
,he globe nus dAployed On !ic aaays Of kottsr.
eo.r na 9e,rsat 81 .1 sar,na md te he
ecat OF M abundant and vigorous native art.
ASnny SCHOLAR Of European fnne, like scalgrr,
the prince uf teatcra In lte titi,c, a 2at1naslus
OF whom 1t was sata tllat whatever ho did nor
know was beyond the reach Of learning, was
called hy tho Alb!lc Yoco To teach III ia schools,
aud Tue prcsscR of Amsterdam, Of Leydct, md
q Otrecbt tesinsd with y1lnuinous nnd erl'dito
1iteraturc In aptuoza tue country produced n
| philosopher wllase writings mar bc said to
hayc Influenced the whole eurrent Of European
Thought; while II. att the Dutch scfooI not unfS
when the arttsttc impulse Of Other nations was
very ncnrly exhausted, but iaitt the foundation
Of the modern school Ut lAndscane. These wuro
no sli9ht aehiey.,ncnts fos. snall natlon IN sla
has tho history Ut Holland down to tho present
day been unworthy If Its heroic beginnings. II
the Kingdom has lost man! Of tts tolonles, md
herewith some Of its political weight among
the Powers OF Europe, It Inns lost none Of tho
qualities wh!cl, oncc gave 1t prc.cmuencc. The
country is prosperous, contcntc3. a1l1 well GOV
erncd It's eon,n,erse L. ~ actiTe q. cretofofe1
racc. Even iu literature, though It ha4 to con.
tend aganst tho disadvantage Of language
which has lost soma ot It's importance In the
world, it sttI htfls lts own, AM. ita schools nro
still a,nunG the most actiyo as we'll IA the most
1carneu In Europe.
| is the beginning Of this great prosperity,
md Of what Is far more Important Than tnerc
.natcsInl prosperity, Ut this great contribution
10 tho clvIltziar forrcs ot Europe md tue world,
.tAt the Dutch pcoplo are 10 celebrate next
week on the anniversary OF tho Union of
Utrecht. It an occasioii on which icy will
layu the sympat1ly Of all tint IL liberal mud en-.
tghtcncd In Eurupe; for It Is certainly true, as
their latest historian, himself worthy son Ut
stl yotgcr lsupubltc, has satd, that lhc riso OF
tho Dutch Ilcp,ibiic muat ever bc regarded as
one OF tho tcuitnx events Of .noticru times. 1t
Is alwaYs so,ncWiat tlle TO Speculate on what
The co,irsu of htstory might haYs boon ii eoulo.
tltug different had happened at ono Of Its
critical n,otuepts, but thcro can 10 no doubt
ihni lie rrcat struggle between the fcthcr-
jau,s ami Snalp ID thu Sixteenth Century
| md tn issua in The UnIon al Utrcrht
|