NETHERLANDS, OR BELGIUM. 



THOUGH the provinces of the Netherlands, which were formerly- 

 subject to the house of Austria, and afterwards were annexed to 

 France, have now become part of the dominions of the house of 

 Orange, yet as that event is so recent, and as they are still distin- 

 guished by the name of Belgium, as well as by the natural charac- 

 teristics of the country and its inhabitants, we shall here describe 

 them in a separate article. 



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EXTENT AND SITUATION. 

 Mies. 



Length 180> C49° 20 and 51° 30 North latitude. 



Breadth 170 5 between £ 2° 30 and 6° 30 East longitude. 



Containing 10,572 square miles, with 285 inhabitants to each. 



Name. ...The country formerly divided into seventeen provinces, 

 and known by the name of the Netherlands, was formerly part of 

 Gallia Belgica, and afterwards of the circle of Belgium, or Burgun- 

 dy, in the German empire. They obtained the general name of the 

 Netherlands, or Low Countries, from their low situation with respect 

 to Germany. 



Boundaries... .That part of these provinces, which is now usually 

 called the Netherlands or Belgium, is bounded on the north by Hol- 

 land ; on the east* by Germany, on the south by the French depart- 

 ments of the Moselle, Ardennes and the North ; and on the west by 

 the North or English sea. 



Division. ...The Netherlands, in the full extent of the term, an- 

 ciently consisted of seventeen provinces, of which seven constituted 

 the seven united provinces, usually known by the name of Holland. 

 The remaining ten, till they were ceded by Austria to France, were 

 divided between the Dutch, the Austrians, and the French. Austria 

 possessed the whole of the provinces of Antwerp, Malines, and Na- 

 mur; and the French the whole of those of Artois and Cambresis. 

 Brabant and Limburg were possessed partly by Austria and partly by 

 Holland ; and*Hainault and Luxemburg were in like manner divided 

 between Austria and France. The province of Flanders was shared 

 between all these three powers, under the names of Austrian, Dutch, 

 and French Flanders. The whole of these ten provinces is now in- 

 corporated with Holland. 



Face of the country... .The Netherlands are a flat country, con- 

 taining no mountains, and but few hills. " The rural scene," says 

 Mr. Shaw, " presents here pleasing prospects on all sides : fields 

 crowned with fruitful crops, meadows covered with numerous herds, 

 neat and commodious farm-houses set singly or in groups, cheerful 

 and extended villages embowered among trees, and divided from 



Vol, I. 3 F 



