New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-02-04
HOLLAND.
rHEsruRY or TIE NATIONS.

q s+aen descent and long one. Those VINO nave
rad the former may indeed follow the os!oihleu,
fragnentary ana iIiproportaoned skeleton WORK u
,bA latter without being absolutely conIuseu' ouS
q, such "a have not enjoyed the volumes VI
Mo+lev the Story of Holland can scarcely proVo
snliehtening. 1t is fair to Professor Rogers 70
state ut once that the most serious oelec'S
his work may without palpable STRAIN DC cnei
rron the plan of the SERIES for which he is noO
-.snonsibh. In the limits assigned it was not
possible to do justice to the suoJecH anu '"e
recassity of emitting at frequent Intervals eA-
lanatorv digressons concerning correlated events
has compelled the author to confine himself even
Mt important points, to dogmatc assertions Ueho-
ing TO misnterpretaton. PGolessor hogelS 70
Won ., strong likes and disfikes, and he oiten
EMPLOYS a tone which is perhaps partly due W MS
,,,.otiors Init seems none the less intemperate or
.x,ra,,acant He had no special qualifications
Cor the present literary undertaking. and ne mas
apparently done no more than to condenSe d lew
of the best known standard authorizes oucn
work is of course compilation rather than creauo
and usually unless it is done by writer Oh rare
tact and Judgment and an excellent style, it is apt
N he both uneven and tedious. Professor Rogers
sbas not particularly good style. and he has nao
:. riro,larIv careless proof-reader The mistakes
noted in passing are often quite inexcusabe mus
An one plaoe we find Louis XIV spoken OF as De
LONGING n the eighteenth century. In another
nlaoe a sentence has been cut In two IN the niluuS
with the effect of completely pervert1ng It's NEAL
ing. False punctuation and biographies erroi
are far more frequent than should be the CASE anu
here and there are evidences OF hasse-one nlsu'
oI,nost say a slovenliness-in composition winch
,nust we fear. be ascribed rather TO the autfor
than to the printer and his correctors
II would, however. be impossible TO d1vesO 'ne
history of Holland of interest, and IL froi'o'O.
Rogers has not succeeded in doing the pes' .'"'
could have been done with his material MS i",i
ure Is only relative. In one respecb noreo'", ~
has shown himself superior to most f-nEISH -
,oyians He has characterized the policy OF ofe''V
,,ra+oi, toward the Dutch Republic candidly ana
o,rloitlv irving il the condemnation 1t deserves
To the American reader the fortunes OF the brave
and bbertv-loyins Dutch must ever prove oeepiy
,ntsr.sting. for in them may be seen the natural
A. NAV probably be said the inevitaofe-conSe-
orences of a system of government escape non
which. by federation, gave a soma lounuauon ~
,ha Tinted States The weakness Oh the Dutcu
Republic from the beginning to the end was Cne
looseness of IT'S union. 1t was compactea WIN inc
,rinciple of State sovereignty as It's domln"nO
,n,.ive II Is true that other influences came IN
oneratfon to weaken the confederation anu 60
rec,aIly TO separate and ahenate the tlenlsn enc
nents II cannot be doubted that radlcal ulner-
ene4s had their effect in this estrangemenb Or
that the bitter and crushing persecution OF AVA
rooted out some of the most energetic ana Ngor-
ous elements Of the community Inc s"eepins
,oassacres perpetrated by Philips ferocious leu
4ayan+ oould not but alter the character of the
,oDnlation. for the people so destroyed were the
elect Of the nation. and their rmoval must have
baer equivalent 70 a wholesale emigration OF the
ao,ver Of the commonwealth But after tnese
slsu0hters had been measurabl2 recovereu ron-
and. as Schopenhauer long ago pointed OUT naOOi0
a. ,,.b cases makes unusual efforts TO repair losses
NJ population-there can be no question as 10 thc
similar results Of the States Rights system upon
the destinies of the Republic. Again ana again
the shortsighted selflshness Of particular members
of the federation-now cities. again provinces
interfered to prevent concerted action az eritlcal
iunctures. and thus either eopardized the liberties
- the whole nation or prolonged campaigns and
wars which might and should have been ended
summarily.
There is another interesting study In the rela-
1ions of the House of Orange to the Dutch Repup-
he. and here we do not think Professor Rogers mas
indred with sufficient breadth. Because IN the
end the ambition of the Orange princes LED hoiFnu
into monarchy he appears to think that 1t would
have been better for the Dutch had they lacked
the services of that noble house altogether In
that view it is impossible to concur But Tor the
House of Orange there might never have been
Dutch Republic. 1t Is Impossible
conceive of an adequate resistance
the Spanish rule having oeeh oi
fered IN the absence Of William the siienh lor
example; and Prince Maurice in his turn uphela
the fortunes of the Republic at a time when, but
for hi. military genius, it would probably have
been impossible to avert fatal disasters NOT
aoes IL appear TO us that Professor Rogers makes
snfHcient account of the pressure exertcd on
Holland by her continental neighbors, on OF the
radical change in social commercial and poIucal
conditions which followed the close Of the last
long wars The truth seems TO be that the Dutcn
suffered the fate which always comes to nation
essaying liberal system amid absoluust sur
roundings and which is equally inevitably, quick
ened by the decline in national stamina conse-
ouent uuon the substitution of peace and pros
neritv for the discipline Of peril and prfvation
TAe Dutch who took a king were not the Dutch
who opened the dykes to battle Louis. and stlh
less were they the Dutch who made the mex
name a. The Beggars" famous throughout the
world Successful trade had put Selfinterest
above patriotism; increase of possessions had oreo
incivism. Beyond these influences, too, was the
prestige of the House of Orange, ingratitude to
which must have seemed-and in one sense would
have been-the basest Of laches the part Of
the people they had served so splendidly and
faithfully. And outside of this strong bias again
was the ceaseless pressure and eonstraint OF
European opinion and example.
Professor Rogers optimistically declares that at
present Holland is protected by the public con-
science of Europe What the public conscience
Of Europe is worth as a protective agent his
own history SO conclusively demonstrates that
this sanguine anticipation seems rather out OF
place. AS matter Of fact no European Power
has ever refrained from the most fragrant acts OF
injustice toward Holland toward any other
actually or supposedly weak nation, when such
acts were melted By greed or the aggressive In
stinct First Spain. then France, then Ger