762 ii 
of baize or light woollen stuffs, containing 2000 inha- 
hitants, and about 44 leagues south-west of Leeuwar- 
den; Workum, a small open town, surrounded by a 
ditch, and celebrated as the birth-place of Lambert de 
Bos, about 7 miles south-west of Bolswert; Staveren, 
anciently the residence of the Frisian kings, now an 
inconsiderable place in. a. marshy country, near, the 
south-west point, of the province, and about. 7 leagues 
south of Harlingen ; and Slooten, a small, but regular, 
and trading town, surrounded by. lakes, and. 4, leagues 
east of Stavereme oop iin oy po oat toa! , 
The ancient inhabitants of. Friesland ‘were: distin- 
guished by the obstinate defence which they made of 
their liberty, against the power of the Roman emperors, 
and by their repeated attempts to shake off the yoke of 
their conquerors. After the death of Drusus, by whom 
they had been compelled to submit, and after having 
been 40 years in subjection, they expelled the Romans 
from their province, and even made encroachments on 
the territories of the empire. ‘Their ambassadors re- 
paired, with the utmost boldness, to the court of Nero ; 
asserted in his presence that they were excelled by uu 
nation in equity and valour ; \professed’ their’ desire to 
live in friendship with the Romans, but not’ in subjec- 
tion; and even demanded a place in the publie thea- 
tres, to which they understood they had a right as am- 
bassadors. . Though driven back by the Romans, and 
obliged to confine themselves within their ancient boun- 
daries, they continued for:a long series of years to main- 
tain their independence asa state; but, towards the 
decline of the empire, they fell under the dominion of 
the Franks, About the beginning of the 8th century, 
Adalgise, who is considered as the first Christian, ki 
of Friesland, refused to pay homage to the Franks, an 
a war ensued... Radbode, his son, was defeated, by Pe- 
pin ;. but so recommended himself by his valour to. the 
esteem of the conqueror, that he received, his daughter 
in marriage. Charles Martel, afterwards attempting to 
reduce the Frieslanders, was routed with great slaugh- 
ter, and Jeft them for a time unmolested. Returning, 
however, with a numerous army, and wearing them 
out by a succession of bloody battles, he compelled them 
at length to acknowledge his superiority, but not his 
sovereignty. Under Charlemagne they were still far- 
ther subdued, and obliged by pay an annual tribute of 
thirty pounds of ‘silver, As now a proyince of the 
Franks, the country was governed wy counts or lieute~ 
nants, with the title of Potestas or Podestad ; but, un- 
der their first governor Forteman the Great, they ren- 
dered such essential services against the Saxons, that 
Charlemagne exempted them from every mark of ser- 
vitude, and left them free to choose their own form of 
government. » They made no alteration, but continued 
Forteman in his office. About the middle of the ninth 
century, the province» was repeatedly ravaged by the 
Normans and the Danes; but'the valour of the people 
finally prevailed, and cleared their coasts of every in- 
vader. In the year 935, William, Earl of Holland and 
King of the Romans, bestowed many valuable privi- 
leges upon the inhabitants of Friesland, in hopes. of 
ing their affections, and persuading them to ac- 
nowledge his sovereignty. But the Podestad Sier- 
dama, fepported by a powerful body of his country- 
men, d that they would never betray their coun- 
try to Bratify an. emperor, and struck a medal expres- 
sive of their determination to be free. This was con- 
strued as an affront by William, who twice led his ar- 
my into the province, and was slain in his second ex~ 
_ 
FRIESDAND. 
Friesland. g small but ancient town, celebrated for its manufacture 
ray 
pedition: One of the most warlike of the Friesland Friesland. 
‘odestads was Martena,.from whom many of the noble ““~" 
families in the province trace their descent, This ac- 
tive chief baliane. a exertions -e the Hollanders to 
a puhanneinen cif stzins 4 
ie wekatmhesmedats sha toe aicion the invaders. 
After his.death, the election of a suecessor rise to 
two mulevcleraenes mere euaeeniene> _ the coun« 
try with.confusion,; i er wi pressure of 
a war with Albert of eg reduced the province to 
so low a state, that several persons to accept 
the office of Podestad. At length, to. please both par- 
ties, He Rovere dg eae yan’ ue each fac- 
tion; but this measure, instead of prom reconci i. 
liation, served only to aggravate their arlehpce till 
at last they had recourse to arms, and seemed to be 
bent only upon extirpating one another. These dis- 
sensions reduced Friesland to the verge of destruction, 
and were the means of its becoming subject, in 1417, 
to Sigismund, Emperor of Germany. At the termina- 
tion of a long war between Joan of Bavaria, and Phi- 
lip the Good ‘of Burgundy, the province of Friesland 
was gained by the houec uf Dourbon. It became sub- 
ject afterwards to the house of Austria ; and never re- 
covered its freedom till the general revolt in the Ne- 
therlands gave birth to the republic of the United 
States,:of which, since that period, it has formed one 
of the seven provinces. The inhabitants are said still 
to retain that ardent love.of freedom, by which their 
ancestors: were so distinguished, with ma 
of their ancient customs and modes of living. E 
their dialect and accent are said to be peculiar, and 
the language of the peasantry, in’ particular, is. often 
unintalgili to the other inhabitants of the Low Coun- 
tries. brik: ideo zt 
The proyince of Friesland is a flat country, and the 
north-west coast particularly being. below the leyel.of 
the sea, is, secured against the encroachments of, the 
ocean by very. strong dikes, constructed and preser- 
ved at a vast expence. In former times, when the 
care of these dikes was left to the proprietors of the 
adjoining estates, they were often, suffered to fall into 
decay, and the most destructive inundations were fre« 
quently the consequence of this neglect. In order to 
preserve themselves and their effects in such calamities, 
the inhabitants, in the want of matural sand hills, con- 
structed circular eminences about twenty or twenty- 
five feet in height, upon which at length they gradual. 
ly built their habitations, so that many of the towns 
and villages of the province are now situated on these 
artificial mounds. | Since the year 1570, when the 
dikes were all raised and strengthened at the public 
expence, these irruptions of the sea have been less fre« 
quent and fatal. : her 
Friesland very much resembles the provinces of Hol« 
land in its climate and soil. The country has been ori- 
ginally full of marshes ; and many lakes are still found 
in the south-west districts; but in the south-east are 
several extensive heaths and woods, The whole coun- 
Be yp tpn tne agree which at once carry _ 
oO 
the superfluous water to the sea, and facilitate the 
intercourse of traffic. One of them extends from Har« 
dings to Lieuwarden, and thence by smaller branches 
to Groningen ; and another from Slooten to a 
small on the south coast. The north-west dis- 
tricts-abound in excellent h paabanness and, in these quar- 
ters, immense quantities of butter and cheese are pro- 
duced. The cow-pock is said to have here been known 
among the peasantry from time immemorial. Besides 
4 
