HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



191 



'Ipjarded neutrality. Happy in a 

 inild government, and an industrious 

 population, she profited of the 

 distressed condition of the neigh- 

 bouring states, and every day saw 

 her commerce more flourishing, her 

 dominions more prosperous at home, 

 and her government more respected 

 abroad. 



Holland, the once proud rival of 

 Great Britain for the mastery of 

 the seas; the intrepid asscrter of her 

 liberties, for ages, against the mighty 

 power of Spaiti : the country of the 

 • Nassaus, the Ruyters, the Dc Wits, 

 and the Barnareldts, presents little, 

 irithin this year, worthy of record 

 in the historic page. Completely 

 subjected to France, and forced by 

 her into a M'ar with Great Britain, 

 those resources which her commer- 

 cial industry had formerly supplied 

 in abundance, fls well to the wants 

 •f the state, as to the individual 

 wealth of ihe ci(izen, were now 

 cut off, and universal penury and 

 dejection prevailed throughout alt 

 parts of (he Belgian republic. As 

 it yet retained a shew of the popular 

 form of governPient, an opportu- 

 nity occasionally presented itself for 

 the promulgation of public opinion. 

 The expences of the war, and the 

 maintenance of the French troops 

 had, in the course of the last 

 year, necessitated the imposition 

 of very heavy imposts, which were 

 exacted, with undeviating harshness, 

 from ail ranks of the people. When 

 these measures were debated in the 

 tommittec of the legislative body, 

 •elected for the purpese, they gave 

 rise to much animated and warm 

 discussion, in which the wretched 

 state of the country was often feel- 

 ' ingly and in the most pointed man- 

 ner adverted to. Two of the mem- 

 beri of this body, the niiist discon- 



tented apparently \rith the pre- 

 sent order of things, afterwards pub- 

 lished their opinions to the world. 

 In this popular appeal they depre- 

 cated the making any additional 

 sacrifices, to the vast many thoy 

 had before done, until it were 

 made clear to the nation, that these 

 sacrifices coald save it from absolute 

 annihilation and erasure form the 

 list of European powers- They enu- 

 merated a^l they had already dono, 

 and painted the wretchedness of their 

 ill-fated country' in the most glow- 

 ing colours, adilncing that fact as 

 the best proof of the ineflRcacy of 

 further sacrifices, and concluding 

 fay earnestly entreating their felloe 

 citizens to contemplate the dreadful 

 situation in which thoy were place- 

 ed, and conjuring them to unite io 

 some effectual means for its relief. 



It may be easily supposed that 

 such a publication as that, to which 

 we have adverted, gave serious um- 

 brage to the executive government, 

 or in other words to the French fac- 

 tion in Holland. It betrayed too 

 much freedom of sentiment, elicited 

 too many bold truths, and led to too 

 many dangerous inferences, not to 

 give serious alarm to her task-mas- 

 ter. Accordingly we find that it was 

 made matter of formal complaint by 

 the executive government, in their 

 address to the legislative body, al- 

 though it docs not appear that anj 

 steps were taken against. Messieurs 

 de Lange Wyngaardcn, and Van 

 Hasscit, the offending members. 

 Probably such a mode of inter- 

 fereucc might not have been alto- 

 gether prudent ; certainly it was not 

 resorted to ; but, from (his period 

 it became rvidcnt that the republi- 

 can form of government was in the 

 wane,and that Holland, following the 

 example of her Italian sister, would 



speedily 



