monopoly of the trade to Japan, since the expulsion of their hated rivals the Portuguese, and the utter extirpation of the Japanese converts. They obtained this monopoly by means the most disgraceful to their character as Christians; and maintain it by submitting to the most abject compliances with Japanese tyranny and jealousy. The Indian commerce, when in its zenith, employed 15,000 sailors in constant pay; and 180 ships, from 30 to 60 guns, were stationed as a naval force in different ports to protect their commerce. The States General derived a great revenue from the company,- -a duty of 3 per cent. being laid upon all exports, bullion excepted; and at every renewal of the charter a handsome bonus was given, sometimes amounting to several millions of guilders. The Dutch West India Company was incorporated in 1621, but the shares did not pay nearly so well as those of the East India Company, the proprietors dividing no more upon their stock than 2 per cent. The Dutch West India islands, though of little consequence as agricultural colonies, were of much use to the national trade. The general neutrality of Holland in the wars between France, Spain, and England, caused the otherwise insignificant islands of Curacoa and St Eustatia to become the general depots of the produce of the French and Spanish West Indies, from whence it was shipped under the Dutch flag for Europe. Of the Dutch colonies on the continent of America, Surinam alone was of consequence for its exports of sugar, coffee, and cotton. Besides other objects, the Dutch settlements on the west coasts of Africa supplied above 12,000 slaves annually. But when the adventitious circumstances that favoured the Dutch power and wealth, gradually ceased to operate, their trade and commerce began to decline. The French, the Danes, the Swedes, and above all the English, became their rivals in the commerce of the East; and increasing competition narrowed their sales and diminished their profits. Even in the days of Sir W. Temple, their commerce was beginning to decline in consequence of the peace of Munster, in 1648, by which other nations were left at liberty to follow their own interests, and apply themselves to commerce. But the greatest blow to their trade was occasioned by the insane policy of the Louvestein faction, which successively embroiled them with the most powerful of all their commercial rivals,-Great Britain. The opposition of that party to the Stadtholder, and their jealousy of Great Britain and Prussia as his partisans, naturally led them to look to France for support; and when the French, having successfully defeated the allies, were on the very borders of the country, to throw themselves completely into the arms of France. This infatuated act consummated the ruin of Dutch trade; as it necessarily involved Holland in a war with her powerful commercial rival, which gradually but rapidly annihilated her foreign commerce, and destroyed her once powerful navy, which in 1784 consisted of 40 ships of from 50 to 70 guns, 43 frigates, and 11 sloops of war. The empire which the Dutch, by extraordinary valour, policy, and enterprise, had founded in the East, upon the ruin of the Portuguese power, but which they had maintained by a system at once sordid and cruel, was overthrown, and nothing was retained of what had been gained by the wisdom and courage of a Broeck, a Koen, a Hulst, and a Spielman, but the melancholy remembrance of what they had lost.

Present State of Dutch Trade and Commerce.] United in an independent State, with the population doubled by the accession of the Belgic provinces and Liege, the colonies restored, and the monopoly of the East Indian company abolished, there is every reason to believe that the com

merce of the northern and southern provinces of this kingdom will again revive. The manufactures of this country still exceed, both in the number of hands which they employ, and the excellence of their productions, those of any other country except Britain. The Dutch linens are still unrivalled in beauty; and several thousand families are supported by the manufacture of the matchless thread-lace of Brussels and Mechlin. Woollen manufactures have greatly declined, but are still extensively produced in Verviers, Eupen, Hodemont, Leyden, and Utrecht. The cloth of Liege rivals that of England; and at Brussels and Doornick there are extensive manufactures of the finest carpets. Cotton goods are chiefly manufactured at Ghent, Brussels, Bruges, Doornick, and Antwerp. Haarlem and Amsterdam retain silk-manufactures; Leyden, Alkmaar, and Liege, extensive tanneries. The tobacco and snuff-manufactures of Amsterdam and Rotterdam employ 24,000 persons, and the fabrication of tobacco-pipes in the town of Gouda alone occupies 5000 hands. There are 70 sugar-refiners in Amsterdam, 18 in Rotterdam, 12 in Dort, and several others in Antwerp, Ghent, and Ostend. The breweries are numerous, but are inferior in scale to the distilleries which supply that corn-spirit which, when flavoured with juniper berries, is known throughout the world by the name of Geneva or gin. In a country where there are so few mines, the manufacture of hardware must be inconsiderable; but the cutlery and fire-arms of Liege are much esteemed. At Brussels there is a large manufactory of carriages. The inland trade with Germany, by the canals and the Rhine, was the only branch that escaped the ravages war, and may even now be regarded as considerable. Of this, the most remarkable feature consists in the vast floats of timber, which arrive at Dort from Andernach and other places on the Rhine. The length of each raft is from 700 to 1000 feet, the breadth from 50 to 90 feet; 500 labourers guide the floating island, and the navigation is conducted with the strictest regularity. On their arrival at Dort, the sale of one raft occupies several months, and frequently produces more than £30,000 sterling; the other branches of inland traffic still remain; and the Rhine may be said to supply Holland with insular advantages, safe from the depredations of maritime war.6 In 1790, out of 9,734 ships which passed the Sound 2,009 were Dutch. Since 1815, the average number of vessels that have passed the Sound under the Netherland flag, has amounted to about 1,600 annually. At present the external commerce amounts to about £10,000,000 per annum, and the annual produce of manufactures throughout the kingdom to nearly £12,000,000.

of

Monies, Weights, and Measures.] In the Dutch provinces accounts are kept in pfenningers, stivers, gilders, and ducats. A pfenninger is the sixteenth part of a stiver, which is equal in value to about 1d. British currency. The gilder or florin contains 20 stivers, or 2 Flemish groats, and is worth 1s. 9d. sterling. The gold ducat is equal to 20 florins, or £1 168. sterling. In Belgium the greater part of the currency is French

The Bulletin des Sciences gives the number of ships which arrived at the following ports in 1827:

Amsterdam,
Rotterdam,

Antwerp,

Harlingen,
Dort,

1982

1731

831

457

202

In the same year, 252 vessels belonging to the Netherlands, entered the port of Dantzic, and 6 that of Elbing.

money. The common weight of commerce is the schippoond of 3 cwt. There are 19 Dutch miles in a degree of the equator. The Amsterdam foot contains 125.5 French lines, and the Rheinland foot 139.6 French lines.

CHAP. IV.-POPULATION-MANNERS AND CUSTOMS-
RELIGION-LITERATURE-STATE OF EDUCATION.

Population.] The population of the United Netherlands in 1820, was 5,642,552; and in 1827, 6,059,566, of whom 1,690,000 were Dutch, 145,000 Frisians, 300,000 Germans, 3,360,000 Walloons or Belgians, and 80,000 Jews. The proportion of deaths to births in this population, is nearly as 27 to 43.8, or as 1 to 0.6164. The mean increase of population in 5 years, has been 18 of the total population, or about in one year. The annual proportion of marriages to the population for the whole kingdom is as one to 132; but a considerable difference is observable here betwixt the Catholic and Protestant provinces, for while in the former there is 1 marriage among every 148 souls, in the latter there is 1 in every 123 souls. The proportion of male births to that of females, is stated by M. Verhulst to be as 1000 to 947 in this country; in France it is as 1000 to 938; and in Naples as 1000 to 956.

meet.

The Dutch.] The Dutch may be divided into the Dutch properly so called, and the Frises who speak Dutch and Frisian, which two languages are derived from the German. The Dutch is the written language; the Frisian is a rare dialect, still spoken in a part of Friesland, but daily disappearing. The Dutch, considered as a nation, and overlooking some local distinctions between the provinces, are a vigorous people, hardened against the influence of climate, and capable of long and severe exertion. Their temperament is phlegmatic in the extreme; their passions are not violent, but when once excited are apt to run into every excess. They are easily led by reason, especially when treated with gentleness; but are reserved and rather distant, dull in their general demeanour, and of a grave and heavy appearance. One of the latest and best-informed travellers in Holland, has thus admirably sketched the Dutch character: "The national sobriety and quietude of the Dutch is painted on every face you Young boys are as staid and as cautious as the men of other countries; and even the pretty damsels one encounters have their very smiles checked-if not clouded-by habitual sedativeness. Under this snowy mantle, at first so cold and so repulsive, there is much to admire and to love-much to study and to learn. It is difficult to penetrate into the domestic arcana; but once admitted, a Dutch house is the templethe neat and quiet temple-of peace and happiness. Few compliments are wasted there, even upon the visitor, who cannot see the workings of the social system unless he be on such terms of intimacy as not to disturb it by his presence. Yet no people are more alive to the opinions of others than the Dutch; and many instances of extreme and unreasonable sensitiveness have fallen under my observation. As a people they have been vituperated by this witling and that poetaster, who have thought it a grand exploit to wound the feelings of a whole country, as Voltaire did, by some light and frivolous jest. I do not think the Dutch are liberal in precisely the same way that some other nations may be. They look more closely at their daily expenditure; they do, and suffer to be done, many little things which

sides these two principal nations there are in the Netherlands a considerable number of Frenchmen, Germans, and Jews.

Religion.] While the religion of the late seven United Provinces is Protestantism in the Calvinistic form, both as to doctrine, worship, and government, that of the Netherlands properly so called, is Roman Catholicism. Various attempts were indeed made to introduce the principles of the Reformation into this quarter of the United Netherlands, but without success. However, in spite of all the endeavours of the Jesuits, the majority of the Flemish Catholics adopted the sentiments of Michael Baius, a doctor of Louvain, and Cornelius Jansen, bishop of Ypres, respecting predestination and grace. Under the milder sway of the House of Austria, the Protestants enjoyed a toleration. The Flemings are, in general, very zealous and ignorant Catholics, much under the influence of their clergy, who are possessed of vast wealth and immense revenues. The bishopric of Liege swarms with clergymen; and has been called 'the paradise of priests.' The declaration of the king of the United Netherlands, establishing religious freedom, the entire liberty of the press, the admission of all into civil and political employments whatever be their religious belief, and the exclusion of the clergy and prelates from political power, by not allowing them a seat in the States-general, much irritated the Catholic clergy, and produced a strong remonstrance to his majesty, which however happily failed in its object. There are about 3,500,000 Catholics, including Jansenists, in the United Netherlands. On the 17th of September 1826 his holiness, by an allocution pronounced in full consistory, explained the Concordat lately concluded with the king of the Netherlands, in substitution of that formerly made by Pius VII. of happy memory, with him who at that time held the Government of France.' The subjects of the Concordat are to give the benefit of its operations to the Northern provinces of Belgium; to allow a chapter and a seminary for each diocese ; and to regulate the election of bishops on vacancies, which is to be made by the chapter, and confirmed by the Pope, but if his holiness shall object to the nominee, the chapters are to proceed to a new election.

Their brethren in Holland have all along acted a quite different part; for from the first foundation of the Dutch republic, the door of religious toleration was thrown open to all religious sects. No man had any reason in this republic to complain of being oppressed on account of his religious principles, nor could he hope by means of religion to form a political party in the States; and therefore in Holland men lived together as citizens of the world, their religious differences made none in their social relations, and they were associated together by the common ties of humanity and bonds of peace under the impartial protection of the State. The religious system of Calvin however was publicly adopted in 1571;

8

and by the

The articles of the national creed, 37 in number, are contained in the Belgic Confession of Faith, drawn up in 1571, and are entirely Calvinistic. However, the divines of Holland were not bound by any express law to conform their sentiments to those that were publicly taught and inculcated at Geneva; and, consequently, many of them received and taught these doctrines, with considerable modifications and restrictions. They were divided into two classes, namely, supra-lapsarians or ante-lapsarians, and sub or post-lapsarians. These differences were, however, almost merely verbal, and affected not so much the nature, as the mode or manner of representing and explaining the doctrine of the divine decrees. A most deplorable schism, however, took place amongst them about the beginning of the 17th century, through the instrumentality of James Arminius, or Jacob Harmensen or Hermann. This eminent personage was born in 1560, and received his education at Geneva; but very early in life he began to be offended at the doctrines of absolute decrees, unconditional election, and partial re

articles of union, in 1579, it was stipulated that Calvinists only should enjoy the principal offices of state, and that the Protestant system should be maintained. The States of Holland, more zealous than the rest, in 1583, proposed that no other form of Protestantism but Calvinism should be tolerated; happily however for the country this proposal was over-ruled. By the eruption of the French into Holland, the Dutch ecclesiastical government was dissolved, and the established clergy or Calvinists deprived of their stipends which were wont to be paid by the State. The same fate befel the professors of the universities. But the late revolution has placed religion in Holland in the same state as before; and Calvinism

demption, as he was pleased to term the doctrine of particular redemption. The change of his opinions began to evidence itself, in 1591, in a letter to Grynæus; and when desired by Balthasar Lydius in 1595, to write a defence of the supra-lapsarian tenets of Theodore Beza, instead of complying with the request he fell into the contrary extreme. In 1598, he entered the lists of controversy with the learned and pious Mr Perkins, of Cambridge, and afterwards with Francis Junius or Young, professor of theology at Leyden. Upon the death of Junius, in 1602, Arminius, contrary to the judgment of the presbytery of Amsterdam, was raised by the influence of his party to the theological chair, after a public conference with Gomarus, in which he declared his acquiescence in the received doctrine. In order to lull suspicion, he undertook to defend what before he had attacked, in public disputations. But in a year or two after, he publicly maintained the contrary; and did not conduct himself with that ingenuous candour, which becomes an honest inquirer after truth; for while, in order to save appearances, he taught Calvinism in the divinity hall, he privately, in manuscript, and in his own chamber, inculcated his own peculiar views on the students. His disciples daily increased; and being supported by the faction of Oldenbarneveldt, or the Louvestein party, who cunningly fomented these divisions, in order to lessen the power of the House of Orange, which they maintained was dangerous to the republic, they prevented the calling of a national synod, and made use of every evasion to hinder the ecclesiastical courts from taking cognizance of this business. The breach became wider every day, but Arminius died in 1609, at the juncture when his sentiments were beginning to involve his country in contention and discord.

Arminius, however, left able and determined defenders, who carried on the polemical warfare against the Gomarists, as the Calvinists were then called, from their great leader Gomarus, a man of multifarious erudition, and the powerful and resolute antagonist of Arminius. The Arminians claimed toleration; conferences were repeatedly held between the conflicting parties, first at the Hague in 1611, and at Delft, in 1613; and a pacific exhortation was issued by the States of Holland, exhorting to peace and charity. But the conferences were ineffectual, and the exhortations were vain. The Calvinists were daily more firmly persuaded that the latitudinarian tenets of the Arminians tended to the introduction of Socinianism, and the subversion of all religious truth; and hence censured the magistrates with warmth and freedom for interposing their authority in matters in which they had no concern, and which properly came under the jurisdiction of the church and not that of the civil magistrate. If we are to judge from the conduct of the Arminians in latter times, and the opinions of their leading men, as Grotius, Vorstius, Episcopius, Curcellæus, Le Clerc, and Wetstein-who have all more or less verged to Socinian and Arian tenets, and especially Vorstius, the successor of Arminius, who died a confirmed Socinian, in 1622-it is manifest that the suspicions of the Calvinists were but too well-founded, and that the Arminians meant a great deal more than they at first expressed. At length, upon the downfall of the Louvestein party, headed by Oldenbarneveldt, Uytenbogard, Hoogeberts, and Hugo Grotius, the Arminians lost their protectors, and the Calvinists obtained their wish of having the whole matter in dispute referred to a National Synod, which was accordingly held at Dort, on the 13th of November, 1618, and sat till the 9th of May, 1620. As might be expected, from a synod who were all Calvinists, the Arminians were condemned; and their tenets being declared contrary to the word of God and the confessions and eatechisms of the whole reformed churches, they were deprived of all their churches, and banished the United Provinces. The canons of the synod were approved by the States-general, as also the Belgic confession, and the Palatine catechism, formerly made use of in the Netherlands for the instruction of youth. All professors of theology, candidates for the ministry, and elders of the church, were ordained to sign these canons, and their acquiescence in the doctrines there maintained; thus Calvinism was, by a solemn act, declared the religion of the State, in opposition to Arminianism. The Arminians, however, upon the death of Prince Maurice, obtained a toleration under his milder successor, Prince Henry Frederic, in 1625; and have always since been recognized as a distinct sect, having their own ministers, congregations, and professors. Their congregations are not numerous, amounting only to 84; besides a church at Frederickstadt, in the duchy of Holstein.