The Life of Hugo Grotius Part 3

V. 1.

_Antient and Modern Geography of the Netherlands._

We have thus brought down our historical deduction of the German Empire to the accession of the Emperor Charles the Fifth.

About 160 years before this event, that portion of the empire, to which its situation has given the appellation of THE NETHERLANDS, began to have a separate history, and both a separate and important influence on the events of the times. To them we shall now direct our attention.

These s.p.a.cious territories are bounded on the north, by the German Ocean; on the west, by the British Sea and part of Picardy; on the south, by Champagne or Lorraine; on the east, by the archbishoprics of Triers and Treves, the dutchies of Juliers and Cleves, the bishopric of Munster, and the county of Embden or East Friesland.

[Sidenote: V. 1. Antient and Modern Geography of the Netherlands.]

When the Romans invaded Gaul, it was divided among three princ.i.p.al clans: the Rhine then formed its western boundary. The left banks of this river were occupied by the Belgians: this tract of land now comprises the catholic Netherlands, and the territory of the United States; the right bank of the Rhine was then filled by the Frisians, and now comprises the modern Groningen, east and west Friesland, a part of Holland, Gueldres, Utrecht, and Overyssell: the Batavians inhabited the island which derives its name from them; it now comprises the upper part of Holland, Utrecht, Gueldres, and Overyssell, the modern Cleves between the Lech and the Waal.

In antient geography, the Netherlands were separated into the Cisrhenahan and Transrhenahan divisions: the Cisrhenahan lay on the western side of the Rhine, and included the Belgic Gaul; it was bounded by the Rhenus, the Rhoda.n.u.s, the Sequana, the Matrona, and the Ocea.n.u.s Britannicus: the Transrhenahan lay on the eastern side of the Rhine; it was a part of Lower Germany, and bounded on the north by the eastern Frisia, Westphalia, the Ager-Colonensis, the Juliacensis-Ducatus, and the Treveri. The cla.s.sical reader will have no difficulty in a.s.signing to these denominations, their actual names in the language of modern geography.

The whole of these territories is called the Netherlands by the English; and Flanders by the Italians, Spaniards, and French.

V. 2.

_The formation of the different Provinces of the Netherlands into one State_.

In 1363, John the Good, the king of France, gave to Philip the Bold, his third son, the dutchy of Burgundy: it then comprised the county of Burgundy, Dauphine, and a portion of Switzerland. The monarch at the same time created his son duke of Burgundy. Thus Philip, became the patriarch of the second line of that ill.u.s.trious house.

History does not produce an instance of a family, which has so greatly aggrandized itself by marriage, as the house of Austria. The largest part by far of the Netherlands was derived to it, 1st, from Margaret of Franche Comte; 2dly, from Margaret of Flanders; 3dly, from Jane of Brabant; 4thly, from Mary of Burgundy; 5thly, from Jacqueline of Holland; and 6thly, from Elizabeth of Luxemburgh.

[Sidenote: Formation of the Provinces of the Netherlands into one State.]

The possessions of the three first of these splendid heiresses, descended to Margaret of Flanders. She married Phillip the Bold, who, as we have just mentioned, was the first of the modern Dukes of Burgundy.

By this marriage, he acquired, in right of his wife, the provinces of Flanders, Artois, Mechlin, and Rhetel; and transmitted them and his own dukedom of Burgundy to his son Charles the Intrepid. From Charles, they descended to his son Philip the Good. He purchased Namur; and by a transaction with Jacqueline of Holland, acquired that province, Zealand, Hainault, and Friesland. By other means, he obtained Brabant, Antwerp, Luxemburgh, Limburgh, Gueldres, and Zutphen. On the failure of issue male of Philip the Good, all these fourteen provinces descended to Mary his only daughter. She married the Emperor Maximilian. He had two sons by her, the Emperor Charles V. and Ferdinand. The former acquired, by purchase or force, Utrecht, Overyssell and Groningen.

These territories formed what are generally called the SEVENTEEN PROVINCES OF THE NETHERLANDS.

In the language of the middle ages, they consisted of the Dutchies of Brabant, Limburgh, Luxemburgh, and Gueldres; the Earldoms of Flanders, Artois, Hainault, Holland, Zealand, Namur, Zutphen, Antwerp, (sometimes called the Marquisate of the Holy Empire) and the Lordships of Friesland, Mechlin, Utrecht, Overyssell, and Groningen. Cambrai, the Cambresis, and the County of Burgundy, though a separate territory, were considered to be appendages, but not part of them.

V. 3.

_Brief View of the History of the Netherlands, till the acknowledgement of the Independence of the Seven United Provinces by the Spanish Monarch._

The laws, the customs, and the government of all these provinces were nearly alike: each had its representative a.s.sembly of the three orders, of the clergy, n.o.bility, and burghers: each had its courts of justice; and an appeal from the superior tribunal of each lay to the supreme court at Mechlin.

Public and fiscal concerns of moment fell under the cognizance of the sovereign. The people enjoyed numerous and considerable privileges: the most important of them was the _Droit de Joyeuse entree_, the right of not being taxed without the consent of the three estates. Commerce, agriculture, and the arts, particularly music and painting, flourished among them. The people were honest, frugal, regular and just in their general habits; more steady than active; not easily roused; but, when once roused, not easily appeased.

[Sidenote: Brief View of the History of the Netherlands.]

Charles V. made over his hereditary territories in Germany to his brother Ferdinand; but retained the Netherlands, and annexed them to the crown of Spain.

With that crown, they descended to Philip the Second, the only son of Charles.

Unwise and unjust measures of that monarch drove the inhabitants into rebellion.

On the 5th of April 1566, a deputation of 400 gentlemen, with Lewis of Na.s.sau, a brother of the prince of Orange, at their head, presented a pet.i.tion to Margaret of Austria, the Governor of the Netherlands. From the coa.r.s.eness of their dress, they acquired the name of _gueux_ or _beggars_, and retained it throughout the whole of the troubles which followed.

[Sidenote: Brief View of the History of the Netherlands.]

Calvinism had, before this time, made great progress in these countries, and gained over to it numbers of the discontented party. Philip proceeded to the most violent measures, and sent the Duke of Alva, with an army of 20,000 men, into the Netherlands. William, Prince of Orange, placed himself at the head of the malcontents, and raised an army. At an a.s.sembly of the States of Holland and Zealand in 1559, he was declared Stadtholder, or Governor of Holland, Friesland, and Utrecht: Calvinism was declared to be the religion of the States. In 1579, the three provinces were joined by those of Gueldres, Zutphen, Overyssell, and Groningen. All signed, by their deputies, the TREATY OF UNION; it became the basis of their const.i.tution: still, however, they acknowledged Philip for their sovereign. But in 1581, the deputies of the United States a.s.sembled at Amsterdam, subscribed a solemn act, by which they formally renounced allegiance to Philip and his successors, and a.s.serted their independence. They declared in their manifesto, that "the prince is made for the people, not the people for the prince;" that "the prince, who treats his subjects as slaves, is a tyrant, whom his subjects have a right to dethrone, when they have no other means of preserving their liberty;" that "this right particularly belongs to the Netherlands; their sovereign, being bound by his coronation oath to observe the laws, under pain of forfeiting his sovereignty."

In 1584, the Prince of Orange was a.s.sa.s.sinated by Balthazar Gerard, a Catholic fanatic: the war was continued till 1609, when it was suspended by a truce of twelve years. At the expiration of it, the war burst forth with fresh fury: it was finally terminated by the peace of Munster, or Westphalia, in 1648, when the King of Spain acknowledged, in the fullest manner, the INDEPENDENCE OF THE SEVEN UNITED PROVINCES, and of all their possessions in Asia, Africa, and America.

V.4.

_Their Const.i.tution and princ.i.p.al Officers._

[Sidenote: Const.i.tution of the Netherlands.]

Thus the United Provinces became a confederacy of seven independent princ.i.p.alities, called in the aggregate the States General. Several years elapsed before their const.i.tution was finally settled. Then, the supreme sovereignty of the whole was considered to be vested in the people of every province represented by the States. These consisted of deputies appointed to them from the different provinces. Each province might send to the a.s.sembly more than one deputy; but, whatever was the number of deputies sent by them, they had one vote only in the proceedings of the a.s.sembly. The government of each province was vested in its states: these were composed of two orders, the deputies from the towns, and those from the equestrian order.

Each province contained several independent republics.

The States General could not make war or peace, or enter into alliances, or raise money, without the consent of all the seven provinces; nor did the decrees of any one of the States bind the const.i.tuent parts of it, without their consent.

[Sidenote: Const.i.tution of the Netherlands.]

The Stadtholder was appointed by the States General, and held his office at their will. The offices of captain-general and admiral were united in him: thus he had the appointment of all military commands, both by sea and land; and had considerable influence and power in the nomination to civil offices. Three officers,--the _treasurer, the conservator of the peace, and the grand pensionary,_ were appointed by the States General, and were immediately subject to their controul; they were wholly independent of the Stadtholder. The grand pensionary was always supposed to be profoundly versed in civil, ecclesiastical, and consuetudinary law; and in foreign diplomacy. All transactions between subjects or foreigners with the States General, pa.s.sed through his hands. He attended the deliberations of the States; he was not ent.i.tled to vote, but was expected to sum up the arguments on each side, and to deliver his opinion upon them. Each province had its advocate, syndic or pensionary; a public officer who superintended their public concerns; and represented them, but only with a deliberative voice, in the a.s.sembly of the States.