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The National Geographic Magazine 



another, but did not interfere with their 

 united stand against a common foe. 



Philip the Good obtained by inherit- 

 ance the two provinces of Flanders and 

 Artois ; he purchased Namur ; he 

 usurped the Duchy of Brabant, and he 

 dispossessed his cousin Jacqueline of 

 Holland, Zealand, Hainault, and Fries- 

 land. His dominion extended from the 

 foot of the Alps to the German Ocean, 

 and comprised what was then the 

 wealthiest part of northern Europe. The 

 Netherlands at this time had reached 

 the heights of its prosperity and the full 

 enjoyment of its chartered liberties. The 

 sovereign had his authority. The nobles 

 had their place in the council ; but the 

 municipal authorities, though checked by 

 these two forces, had a substantial influ- 

 ence over both. 



In the assemblies of the estates the 

 authority of the prince was, in his ab- 

 sence, represented by the stadthouder. 

 When the Netherlands were united 

 under one sovereign, the stadthouder be- 

 came a permanent institution as well as 

 a convenient substitute. When grants 

 of money were asked, the nobles voted 

 on the request. The cities, if they had 

 received instructions to do so, bargained 

 as to the grant ; if not, they adjourned to 

 consult their constituency. The in- 

 grained habit of municipal isolation ex- 

 plains why the general liberties of the 

 Netherlands were imperiled, why the 

 larger part of the country was ultimately 

 ruined, and why the war of independ- 

 ence was conducted with so much risk 

 and difficulty, even in the face of the 

 most serious perils. 



We sympathize with William the Si- 

 lent when he waited in feverish anxiety 

 for the vote of funds sufficient to pay his 

 needy soldiers, and applaud his patriot- 

 ism when he sold his family silver to 

 meet urgent demands. We are tempted 

 to condemn as narrow and inefficient 

 such insistence upon the prerogatives of 

 local authorities. But when we see the 

 beneficial results that come from our sys- 

 tem of township, county, and state gov- 

 ernment, each independent of all others 

 of its class and subservient to the type 



immediately higher, we give thanks that 

 the system passed through the fires of 

 the Dutch revolution and sustained the 

 shock of civil strife. 



SUCCESSFUL ROVERS OF THE DEEP 



In another respect we see in the polit- 

 ical fate of the Netherlands the effect of 

 local conditions. Owing to the absence 

 of nearly all kinds of winter food for 

 animals, it was difficult to keep stock in 

 good condition for slaughtering; thus 

 the consumption of salted fish was enor- 

 mous. The fisheries of the German 

 Ocean became a mine of wealth and 

 served as the nursery of the Dutch navy, 

 of those amphibious mariners who struck 

 the first blow for Dutch independence 

 and became the ancestors of that succes- 

 sion of brave sea captains who crushed 

 the maritime supremacy of Spain, 

 founded the Batavian empire of Holland 

 in the tropics, engaged in an unequal 

 struggle with England, and sustained 

 for a century the reputation of Holland 

 after its real commercial greatness had 

 declined. 



Because of the clever skippers ever 

 available and the demand for greater 

 opportunities in which Dutch energy 

 might display itself, voyages of discov- 

 ery became popular, and for many years 

 the Dutch flag claimed the farthest north 

 and flew to the breezes in the south and 

 distant east. Spitzbergen and Barentz 

 Sea were of Dutch discovery, Van Die- 

 man's Land originally belonged to Hol- 

 land, and the Dutch East India Com- 

 pany for many years monopolized the 

 Oriental trade. 



Coming down to the present day, 

 many of those who go down to the sea 

 in ships are comforted to know, when 

 the winds roar and the waves run high, 

 that their vessel's crew are Dutch, and 

 that there is in command the skillful, 

 cautious Van der See, Bonjer, Potjer, or 

 Roggeveen. "This is a hurricane," you 

 may say. "A bit of a blow," is the re- 

 assuring reply of the captain. The ship 

 will turn turtle, you think; "A slight 

 roll," says he. Attentive to his duties, 

 he has no time to be loquacious. He 



