476 



NESMITH, JOHN. 



NETHERLANDS. 



larged credit would warrant the adventure, the 

 brothers removed to New York and built up 

 an extensive and highly-remunerative trade. 

 In 1831, foreseeing the future importance of 

 Lowell, Mass., as a manufacturing centre, they 

 settled in that place, invested largely in real- 

 estate, and identified themselves with every 

 measure calculated to advance the growth and 

 prosperity of the home of their adoption. Mr. 

 Nesmith's peculiar tastes and talents soon en- 

 listed him in the manufacture of blankets, flan- 

 nels, printing-cloths, sheeting, and other textile 

 fabrics, and from thenceforth that was his 

 principal pursuit. He became agent for, or as 

 owner was interested in, mills at Lowell, Dra- 

 cut, Ghelmsford, Hookset, and other places, 

 and managed all those enterprises with almost 

 unvarying success. In the celebrated Merri- 

 mack Woollen Mills Company he was a large 

 stockholder. Appreciating more than any 

 other man, the natural advantages of the wa- 

 ter-power which has made Lowell what she is, 

 he bethought himself of securing the supply of 

 water in Winnipiseogee and Squam Lakes, in 

 New Hampshire, as reservoirs for the Lowell 

 mills in dry seasons, and letting it into the 

 Merrimack by artificial channels. This bril- 

 liant conception was at first scouted as im- 

 practicable by manufacturers along the river ; 

 but Mr. Nesmith, satisfied that they would at 

 last require the additional water, bought the 

 right to use both those lakes for the purpose 

 named, and the manufacturers were before 

 long obliged to purchase it from him. Mr. 

 Nesmith was the first to discern the natural fit- 

 ness of the site now occupied by the flourish- 

 ing city of Lawrence, on the Merrimack, for a 

 manufacturing point, and made heavy pur- 

 chases of lands there on both sides of the river, 

 securing also the necessary charter to control 

 the water-power. About 1844 his bold scheme 

 attracted the attention that it deserved from 

 Boston capitalists, and factories began to rise 

 at Lawrence as if by magic, and that city 

 has since most amply vindicated the wis- 

 dom of its real founder. While Mr. Nesmith 

 was carrying on these multifarious and ardu- 

 ous undertakings, he devoted odd hours to 

 philosophical and mechanical studies, in which 

 he became much more than an amateur. Sev- 

 eral of his discoveries and inventions were of 

 great importance and value among others 

 the well-known machinery for making wire- 

 fence and shawl-fringe. Though naturally 

 averse to mingling in politics, and never stoop- 

 ing to the arts by which popularity is often 

 won, he was elected to various offices in the 

 city government of Lowell, where his sound, 

 practical sense and extraordinary business ca- 

 pacity were acknowledged and prized by his 

 fellow-citizens without distinction of party. 

 He was presidential elector in the college 

 which chose Mr. Lincoln for both terms, was 

 Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts in 1862, 

 declined a reelection in 1863, and was after- 

 ward appointed United States collector of in- 



ternal revenue for his district, which office he 

 filled ably and acceptably until his resignation, 

 twenty days before his death. His attachment 

 to the principles of his party was that of the 

 moralist rather than the partisan, and he never 

 ceased to command the respect of his political 

 opponents. The temperance cause in Massa- 

 chusetts early engaged his hearty support and 

 liberal contributions, and he was for some time 

 a vice-president of the State Alliance. From 

 the large fortune acquired by his tact and in- 

 dustry, he made generous donations to many 

 objects of charity and benevolence which won 

 upon his sympathy, and was invariably hos- 

 pitable and kind to his friends and neighbors. 

 In his domestic relations he was especially 

 tender and affectionate. His will made hand- 

 some provision for the foundation of a " Nes- 

 mith Fund " for the aid, support, education, and 

 maintenance of the indigent blind of New 

 Hampshire, and also a public park in the town 

 of Franklin in that State. The secrets of Mr. 

 Nesmith's career may easily be found not more 

 in his high mental endowments than in his un- 

 flagging industry, his indomitable persever- 

 ance, his strict integrity, and the concentration 

 of all his faculties and energies upon the suc- 

 cessive objects in hand, and those temperate 

 and well-ordered habits of life, which, down to 

 its close, preserved his mind in all its youth- 

 ful strength and buoyancy. He offered a rare 

 illustration of what an active intellect may 

 accomplish, aided by courage and fixity of 

 purpose, and animated by principles of truth, 

 justice, and honor. 



NETHERLANDS, THE, a kingdom in Eu- 

 rope. King, William III., born February 19, 

 1817; succeeded his father, March 17, 1849. 

 Area, 13,890 English square miles; popula- 

 tion (according to the calculation of the Royal 

 Statistical Bureau), at the close of 1867, 3,'592,- 

 416 ; * on December 31, 1868, 3,628,468. The 

 population of the large cities, in 1868, was as 

 follows: Amsterdam, 271,764; Rotterdam, 

 118,837; the Hague, 90,058. The population 

 of the Dutch colonies was, in 1867, as follows : 

 East Indies, 20,523,742 ; West Indies, 84,486 ; 

 coast of Guiana, about 120,000; total, 20,728,- 

 228. In the Dutch East Indies there was, in 

 1867, a European population of 35,845 (of 

 whom 28,941 were born in the colonies) ; ex- 

 clusive of 11,873 soldiers and their descend- 

 ants (1,013). The number of Chinese in the 

 same colonies was 248,347. The budget for 

 1869 fixes the expenditures at 96,657,781 guil- 

 ders, and the receipts at 97,181,006 guilders. 

 The public debt, in 1869, was 967,7X)8,913 

 guilders. The army, in 1869, consisted of 61,- 

 775 men ; the army in the East India colonies, 

 of 26,922 men. The fleet, on July 1, 1869, 

 consisted of 131 vessels, with 1,303 guns. The 

 imports, in 1867, amounted to 439,030,000 

 guilders, and the exports to 450,220,000 guil- 

 ders. The merchant navy, on December 31, 



* The results of official ceneuscs from 1829 to 1859. 



