NETHERLANDS 



ITili r.-iitury was the Net hei lands' 



L'lilell IIL'I 1 , With tile hlMoll.lll, 



1'ieter (Wnelis/.iMin ll.M.tl, .he 

 eniiii.- |i|.i\ \\ iii'lit, (Jerbrand Adri- 

 aanszoon Brederoo, and tlie great 

 Jooet van den Vondel, its slmmr.- 

 figures; beside whom M HP! the 

 In inn 'ly fabulist, Jacob Cats, popu- 

 larly most influential at ipMin-.mil 

 best known abroad. Of 18tli etn 

 tu'ry writers need only be men- 

 tioned Willem Bilderdijk; his 

 il.'imslmiL' time extended into the 

 19th, \Mili the |>oets, Christiaan 

 St.nmu (1767-1840), Hendrick 

 Tullens (1780-1856), and Pieter 

 An: Mistus de Genestet (1803-01), 

 as contemporaries. 



Literature and Journalism 



A magazine, De Gida, founded 

 early in the 19th century, was nn 

 incit ing force to a revival of letters ; 

 just as, at the end of it (Oct., 1885), 

 appeared De Nieuwe Gida, to be a 

 rallying ground for young writers 

 \\\\ have revolutionised Dutch 

 literature. In the first group were 

 the romantic and mystical poet, 

 Everhard Johannes Potgieter 

 (1808-75); the playful humorist, 

 Nikolaas Beets ( Hildebrand," 

 1814-1903) ; historical romancers 

 like Jacob van Lennep, Madame 

 Bosboom-Toussaint, H. J. Schim- 

 mel, and Adele Opzoomer, later; 

 philosophical and critical writers 

 like Carel Vosmaer (1826-88), who 

 edited The Spectator, and Conrad 

 Busken-Huet (1826-86); and in a 

 place by himself, Eduard Douwes 

 Dckker (q.v.). 



The Nieuwe Gida band with 

 whom must be mentioned the 

 pioneer of the modern lyric, 

 Jacques Perk (1859-81), who was 

 with it in spirit included the 

 poet, Willem Kloos, the poet and 

 novelist, Marcellus Emants, and 

 the leader of the naturalistic 

 novel, K. J. L. Alberdingk Thijm 

 (" Lodewijk van Deyssel"). With 

 its claim for art as the most in- 

 dividual expression of the most in- 

 dividual emotions, it has since in- 

 spired many movements and re- 

 actions. The realistic dramatist, 

 Herman Heijermans, the lyrist, 

 Albert Verwey, Louis Couperus, 

 and the poets, Herman Gorter and 

 P. C. Boutens, are a few con- 

 tributors to the copious and very 

 " modern " literature which De 

 Nieuwe Gida may be said to have 

 initiated. 



The press of the Netherlands is 

 well informed and independent, and 

 admirably free from sensation. The 

 Nieuwe Rotterdamache CourarU and 

 Algemeen Handelsblad of Amster- 

 dam share journalistic efficiency 

 with half a dozen others, and dis- 

 play a conspicuous excellence in 

 their foreign correspondence and 

 treatment of the arts. The great 



5685 



NETHERLANDS 



NETHERLANDS 



(Ml. I* M,l.i 



Netherlands. Map showing the waterways and canals, and the administrative 

 divisions of Holland 



majority of readers are regular sub- 

 scribers, a fact which consolidates 

 the authority of newspapers as 

 organs of political opinion ; this 

 is especially so in such cases aa 

 the Tyd (R.C.), Standaart (Anti- 

 Revolutionary), and Nederlander 

 (Old Conservative). 



Language and Education 



Bearing significantly on the 

 literature, art, and culture gen- 

 erally of the Netherlands is the fact 

 that its language is little known 

 beyond its own frontiers. As a 

 result an unusually large number 

 of its inhabitants speak, read, 

 write, and even become authors in 

 foreign tongues. The newspaper 

 racks in the cafes and the circu- 

 lating portfolios of books and 

 magazines in the houses give ample 

 evidence of this command of 

 languages. Hence the exotic in- 

 fluences manifest in native liter- 

 ature and art, and a tendency to 

 run after strange gods in both; 

 but hence, also, an increasingly 

 remarkable efficiency in most 

 Dutch activities. 



Education is becoming increas- 

 ingly practical, and gains much 



from a zealous public interest At- 

 tendance at school has been com- 

 pulsory since 1900; the obligatory 

 age is 6 to 13, and there is careful 

 provision for continuation classes. 

 Primary education is practically 

 free, and, wherever necessary, en- 

 tirely so. On the century-long 

 contentions over the separation of 

 religious and secular instruction a 

 workable compromise appears to 

 have been reached, at least tem- 

 porarily, in accord with a marked 

 preference by parents for private 

 over public schools. It has long 

 been the law that in private 

 schools above infant grade, with- 

 out any exceptions, those impart- 

 ing instruction must pass the re- 

 curring and exacting testa imposed 

 on teachers under public authority. 



Under the head of intermediate 

 education come innumerable pro- 

 fessional, technical, trade, com- 

 mercial, and industrial schools, and 

 schools for special local and in- 

 dustrial needs. The provision is 

 ample, and in most cases efficient 

 Among the first are the High 

 (Higher Burgher) schools for both 

 boys and girls ; in some there is 



