THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



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and Protestant and all spoke Flemish or Frisian. 

 The southern provinces were industrial and 

 Roman Catholic and a large proportion of the 

 people spoke French. These conflicting inter- 

 ests resulted in separation. The northern be- 

 came the States General of Holland. The 

 southern remained under Spanish or Austrian 

 rule until the French Revolution. Forced to- 

 gether on the fall of Napoleon, the southern or 

 Belgian provinces broke away in 1830 and 

 formed themselves into the kingdom of Bel- 

 gium. 



There were in 19 16 about 6,600,000 Dutch. 

 The old Frisian element is still strong in the 

 north, though partly assimilated by the pre- 

 dominant Dutch. Despite the influx of for- 

 eigners, the character of the people and the 

 racial stock have been little modified. Hugo 

 Grotius, the father of international law, and 

 Erasmus were Dutch. 



The Netherlands had a prominent share in 

 discovery and in the settlement of the New 

 World. New York was long the province of 

 New Netherlands ; the city was New Amster- 

 dam. Dutch influence was one of the strong- 

 est factors in shaping American political insti- 

 tutions. Two Presidents of the United States 

 were of Dutch ancestry. 



THE SWISS* 



The Swiss of today present a more interest- 

 ing subject of study than does the unsolved 

 problem of their remote ancestors, and of the 

 occupants of the pile dwellings in their lakes. 

 They are the direct descendants of the Latin- 

 ized Celtic Helvetii, of the warlike Alemanni 

 who pushed into their mountains from the 

 north, of Burgundians coming from the west 

 after sojourn in France, of Rhaetii on the east 

 and of Italians fleeing from the south. Di- 

 versity and tolerance were their characteristics 

 from the first. It was the "Men" of Uri, the 

 "Community" of Schwytz and the "Associa- 

 tion" of Unter-Walden who drew up in Latin 

 their "Everlasting League" in 1291. 



The story of William Tell and the Oath of 

 Rutli, though they disappear from authentic 

 history, are instinct with the spirit which 

 won "the small battles of immortal memory," 

 Morgarten, Sembach, Nsefels, Morat, Keppel, 

 and innumerable more. Zurich and Geneva 

 have since been centers of culture, but the 

 three Forest Cantons are the synonyms of 

 heroism and liberty. 



The Cantons have slowly increased from 

 three before 1300, ten before 1500, all in the 

 valley of the Aar, to the present twenty-two. 

 Valais, Neuchatel and Geneva in 1815 were 

 the last additions. 



* See also, in National Geographic Maga- 

 zine, "In Valais," by Louise Murray (March, 

 1910) ; "A Woman's Climbs in the High Alps," 

 by Dora Keen (July, 191 1) ; "Mont Blanc and 

 the Swiss Alps," by W. W. Hyde (August, 

 1913), and "The Citizen Army of Switzerland" 

 (November, 1915). 



Fifty-seven per cent of the inhabitants are 

 Protestants and forty-three per cent Roman 

 Catholic. Seventy per cent are German-speak- 

 ing, twenty-two per cent French-speaking, 

 nearly seven per cent Italian, and slightly over 

 one per cent Romansch, all equally Swiss. In 

 the Canton of Grisons, and nowhere else, 

 Ladin is spoken, "a laggard sister of French 

 and Italian." German, French and Italian are 

 equally official languages. Of the 3,880.000' 

 inhabitants, 550,000 are foreign residents. The 

 area of Switzerland is about the same as that 

 of Maryland and Delaware united. 



Adjustment of cantonal, individual, and 

 racial interests has not been easy. The Swiss, 

 until within the last seventy years, have ex- 

 perienced internal dissensions and civil war. 

 But the goal of a well-nigh perfect union has 

 been reached. 



Their "twenty-two small States, differing 

 from each other in nearly every point, re- 

 ligious, political, social, industrial, physical, 

 and linguistic," constitute a federal republic 

 which in maintenance of public welfare, in- 

 dividual rights and general harmony is unsur- 

 passed among the political creations of all 

 time. 



THE ITALIANS* 



One of the marvels of human history is the 

 extraordinary Italian race that for 2,000 years- 

 has blessed the world with one succession of 

 geniuses — inventors, musicians, authors, crea- 

 tors of inspiration and advancement — from 

 which all other peoples have benefited. 



The Italians, like the Americans, are a most 

 composite people. Nowhere else in Europe 

 have so many foreign elements fused with the 

 native element to produce a modern nation. 

 Successive _ fusion was the practice at Rome 

 from the time the city comprised hardly more 

 than the Palatine Hill, even down to the time 

 it became a world empire. Since then cir- 

 cumstances rather than a basic principle have 

 determined fusion. 



Roman citizens were the direct ancestors of 

 the Italians. But not they alone. At the time 

 of Christ very many of the inhabitants of Italy 

 were slaves. They were the strongest, most 

 perfect physically, and most capable from 

 among the peoples the Romans subdued. 



* See also, in National Geographic Maga- 

 zine, "Austro-Italian Mountain Frontiers"" 

 (April, 1915) ; "Frontier Cities of Italv," by 

 Florence Craig Albrecht (June, 1915) ; "Italy, 

 the Gifted Mother of Civilization," by Arthur 

 Stanley Riggs (October, 1916) ; "Our Littlest 

 Ally" (San Marino), by Alice Rohe (August, 

 T918) ; "Little Known Sardinia," by Helen 

 Dunstan Wright (August, 1916) ; "A Country 

 Where Going to America Is an Industry"" 

 (Sicily), by Arthur H. Warner (December, 

 1909) ; "Gems of the Italian Lakes," by A. E. 

 Mayer (August, 1913), and "The Battle-field 

 of Nations and of Nature" (Sicily), by Mrs. 

 George C. Bosson, Jr. (Janr.ary, 1909). 



