370 



STADTHOLDER. 



ladtlK)lderate by the act of exclusion agreed to )>y 

 the province of Holland, in a treaty with Cromwell, 

 in 11554, and in ltit>7 bv the /nr/nYmi/ edict, as it 

 was called. But, in l(i~2, when Louis XIV. at- 

 tacked the united Netherlands, the Magistrates of 

 the Dutch cities wi re forced, by popular insurrec- 

 ui repeal the perpetual edict, and to declare 

 William III., prince of Orange, stadtholder. The 

 same scene was acted over again in Zealand, Guel- 

 ders, Utrecht and Overyssel; and, in these five 

 provinces, the Btadtholdenhip was declared to be 

 hereditary in the male line of William III. He 

 retained his authority after he was made king of 

 England, in 1688. But, as he died without chil- 

 dren, in 1702, the place was vacant for many years. 

 In 172-2, William Charles Henry Friso (a son of 

 John William Friso, prince of Nassau and Orange, 

 and stadtholder of Friesland and Groningen) was 

 elected stadtholder by the province of Guelders, 

 Holland, Zealand, Utrecht and Overyssel retained 

 their former government till 1747, when France 

 invaded the lands of the generalty. The states of 

 Zealand and Holland were now compelled, by a 

 general insurrection, to appoint the above-named 

 prince, William Charles Henry Friso, stadtholder, 

 and Friesland and Overyssel soon followed the ex- 

 ample. William IV. was thus the first stadtholder 

 of all the seven provinces. The dignity was de- 

 clared hereditary both in the male and female lines ; 

 but kings and electors, and all persons out of the 

 pale of the Reformed church, were excluded, 

 whether male or female. In case the stadtholderate 

 should devolve upon a minor, the mother was to 

 preside, under the title of governess, as long as she 

 remained a widow and a resident of the states ; and, 

 in case of war, she was to have the privilege of 

 nominating a general to the states. If the mother 

 were absent, or not living, the states were to have 

 the right of electing a guardian. On the death of 

 William IV. he was succeeded by his son William 

 V., then three years old, under the guardianship of 

 his mother, a daughter of George II. of England, 

 who, on the day of her husband's death, assumed 

 the office of governess. She died in 1759, and 

 Louis, prince of Brunswick, who had been, from 

 1750, field-marshal-general in the Dutch service, 

 was chosen guardian of the young prince ; and, in 

 1766, at the age of eighteen years, William took 

 upon himself the discharge of his office. 



The authority of the stadtholder was not the 

 same in all the provinces ; for he was appointed by 

 each province separately, and received from them 

 more or fewer privileges. With the general stadt- 

 holderate was connected the dignity of captain- 

 general and admiral of the state ; and his authority 

 consisted in the exercise of sundry high privileges 

 with regard to the affairs of government, and the 

 military and naval forces. In regard to the former, 

 he might appoint from a certain number of persons 

 nominated by the states of a province various judicial 

 and other officers, and could appoint and remove 

 the magistrates of some cities, according to circum- 

 stances. This right he exercised, particularly in 

 the provinces of Utrecht, Guelders and Overyssel, 

 because they were excluded from the union in 1672, 

 on account of their feeble opposition to the French, 

 and, in 1674, were readmitted only on condition 

 that the civil magistrates should be appointed by 

 the stadtholder. In Holland, he had the right of 

 advising in regard to the persons proper to be ap- 

 pointed to office. He presided, by virtue of his 

 office, over the states-general and provincial assem- 



blies, and had an important influence on the legisla- 

 tion. He administered, likewise, those parts of the 

 executive government which most concerned the 

 general interests. He had the right of pardoning 

 criminals not guilty of murder or any heinous crime. 

 By the terms of the union of Utrecht, he was also 

 made umpire of all disputes between the provinces. 

 It was his duty to defend the rights and im- 

 munities of the provinces and cities, to exerul. 

 the laws and ordinances of the states, and to main- 

 tain peace and good order in the provinces. The 

 military force was under his direction; for, as cap- 

 tain-general, he was commander-in-chief of the 

 troops ; and they were required to swear allegiance 

 to the stadtholder as well as to the states-general 

 and the provincial estates. He appointed all officers 

 up to the colonel, and from a list presented to him, 

 selected the governors of the forts. Wlien at the 

 head of the army, he might often appoint a general 

 absolutely: but he could not undertake any cam- 

 paign, or other military enterprise, without the 

 consent of the states-general; and they often sent 

 commissioners to the army, whose assent was re- 

 quisite to every movement. He could station the 

 troops, however, in the provinces and fortifications, 

 wherever he pleased. As high-admiral, he com- 

 manded the naval force of the state, and presided 

 over the college of admiralty, where he nominated 

 his deputies, and performed many duties connected 

 with the naval service. The tenth part of the 

 spoil gained in naval actions belonged to his office ; 

 and, formerly, this was exceedingly valuable. These 

 important rights, which, in many respects, amount- 

 ed to sovereignty, were made still greater in 1747, 

 by the institution of the general hereditary stad- 

 tholdership. 



In 1748, William IV. was appointed by the 

 states-general captain-general and admiral of the 

 lands of the generalty. The East India company 

 elected him their president an office which no 

 stadtholder had ever before enjoyed; and the West 

 India company soon after chose him to a similar 

 office. This gave him great influence in both, and 

 the authority of the stadtholder became greater 

 than ever before. His revenue was derived from 

 numerous sources, and was very great; his court 

 exhibited a royal splendour. In the war between 

 France and Britain, in 1778 (the American war), 

 in which the republic of the Netherlands became 

 involved, the people grew dissatisfied with William 

 V. ; and he was accused of not protecting the Dutch 

 ships from the violences of the British, of neglect- 

 ing to use the navy of the republic to the best ad- 

 vantage during the war, and of encouraging and 

 promoting its inactivity. The party which opposed 

 him, and was made up of merchants and magistrates, 

 attributed his conduct to the restrictions of the 

 stadtholder's power. As William V. had married 

 a niece of Frederick the Great, the court of Berlin 

 advocated the rights of the stadtholder with the 

 greatest zeal, and the Prussian ambassador at the 

 Hague was instructed to provide expressly against 

 their diminution. But the states, notwithstanding, 

 stripped the stadtholder of his authority in the 

 Hague, and suspended him from his office as cap- 

 tain-general. By the aid of Prussian troops, the 

 contest at length turned in favour of the stadthol- 

 der. He recovered the rights and privileges which 

 had been taken from him, and obtained the power 

 of making such changes in the governments of the 

 Dutch cities as secured him a majority. In 1788, 

 the stadtholderate, with all its rights, was declared 



