The Fall of the Dutch Republic

KMWlMWHUWi kmUf^ l~^/S Hi Ml MEMBmmmmB CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBR4P,X,. .. FROM The Estate of G.L.Burr Cornell University Library \1 The original of this bool< is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 92402851 3475 Cornell University Library DJ 202.V26 Fall of the Dutch republic 3 1924 028 513 475 THE FALL OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC WILLIAM V After a mezzotint by Hodges THE FALL OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC BT HENDRIK WILLEM VAN LOON WITH ILLUSTKATIONS BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY ^f)t Stiber^ibe pwi^ <Cam6c)b0e 1913 COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY HENDRIK WILLED! VAN LOON ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Published March IQ23 TO THE MEMORY OP MY MOTHER "The best History is hut like the art of Rembrandt; it casts a vivid light on certain selected causes, on those which were best and greatest; it leaves all the rest in shadow and unseen." BusKEN HuET, in Eel Land van Rembrandt. " TO THE READER The following conversation is not uncommon: The well-intentioned Patron of Arts and Letters asks the Author what he is doing. "Writing a History." f* "That is good. Very good. A History of what. "The Fall of the Dutch Republic." "Splendid! That is what Motley has done, too, and we need some new light on the subject. Look at it from a modern, up-to-date point of view — show us how the People . Hold on, now. I am wrong. You said, 'The Fall of the Dutch Repub- lic'.'' Motley wrote the Rise. Why, I did not know that the thing had ever fallen." And then, most welcome Reader, it appeared that out of a hundred interested inquirers, ninety-nine had none but the very vaguest conceptions of the adventures of the Dutch Republic from the moment it had ceased to be chronicled by the Great Amer- ican Historian. Some few, who had taken English history in college, had dim recollections of a certain Wilham of Orange who as the husband of Queen Mary had played some sort of a r61e in the works of the late Lord Macaulay. But the untimely death of that famous English X TO THE READER author made it uncertain, how, when, and where said WiUiam had departed from this world. As to most students, their stream of knowledge about Dutch history starts fresh and bright among the heroic deeds of the sixteenth century, follows a less impetuous course during the seventeenth, and runs itself to death among the dry sands of the eighteenth. They are aware of the undeniable fact that at the present moment there exists a Kingdom of the Netherlands. But what lies between the days of William III (of Macaulay fame) and the foundation of the modern kingdom, is a subject of quite as much speculation as the mediaeval history of Greece or China. It has been my intention to supply the missing link for the benefit of American readers. My fellow countrymen are fully informed about this subject. At least, they ought to be. Next to the excellent general history of the eighteenth century in Professor Blok's History of the Dutch People, they have in the special studies of Dr. Colenbrander a work which, measured by our deficient human standards, is well-nigh perfect. For the writing of a book of such scope, the present writer possesses neither the energy nor the pa- tience nor the ability. He can only aspire to write a short story of the main events which brought about the ruin of the old Dutch Republic, in the hope that some day a more able pen will write the history of this debacle as it deserves to be written. TO THE READER xi This book, therefore, does not pretend to give a finished picture. It is merely a preHminary sketch. The Author has faithfully tried to make it as short as possible. He has endeavored to omit as much as could possibly be discarded without spoiling a certain impression which he wanted to leave upon his Reader. Dates and names, which on the whole do not tell most readers anything, have been referred to only when necessary. A full set of notes will tell the more inquisitive Brethren where they can find the groimds upon which the Author has based his opin- ions. There remains the question of literary style and even correct English. For the better part of his life the Author has not been familiar with the intricacies and peculiarities of that curious institution known as the English language. A kind friend has hunted through the pages of the manuscript and has eradicated the more evident solecisms. For the remaining semi and entire absurdities, the Author begs the Reader's kind indulgence and his pardon. But before he ends this peroration, allow him one more remark. The present work, with all its imper- fections, would never have been written if it had not been for the friendly encouragement and sup- port of a host of kind people, on whom the Author xii TO THE READER had no claim whatsoever. Since printing is expens- ive in this country, he will not try to enumerate them in a complete list. But when next in contemporary literature and public print you have it clearly demonstrated that your good country is going to constitutional dissolution and economic ruin, take courage. For the Lord must have his own most special plans for a country which treats the stranger within its gates as well as it has treated the Reader's most humble servant, Hendrik Willem van Loon. The Camp House Dublin, N. H., 31 October, 1912. CONTENTS ' I. Political Development . 1 II. Economic and Social Development .... 42 m. William IV 116 IV. The Peincess Anna 142 V. The Duke of Bhunswick 158 VI. The American Revolution 174 VII. The Last English Wah 217 Vm. The Patbiots 288 IX. Last Ybabs 373 Epilogue 400 Appendix 409 Notes 411 Bebliographt 415 Index 425 ILLUSTRATIONS WnjJAM V Frontispiece After a mezzotint by Hodges. The PAiiACE OF the Stadholdeks at the Hague dubing the Annual Fair 100 After an engraving by D. Marot. Illumination of Amsterdam Town Hall foh the State Visit of William V and his Wife, Mat 3, 1768 . 138 After an engraving by S. Fokke. William V and the Princess Wilhelmina leave Amsterdam after their First Official Visit, June 4, 1768 . 170 After an engraving by S. Fokke. Joan Debck van der Capellen van de Poll . 200 After an engraving by L. J. Cathelin. Dress Parade of the Amsterdam Volunteer Corps called "Tot Nut deb Schuttert" 250 After an engraving by J. S. van der Meer. Violent Encounter between Patriotic Militia and Citi- zens IN Rotterdam on April 3, 1784 300 The Princess Wilhelmina 350 After a bust by M. A. Falconnet. Map op the Central Part of the Dutch Eepublic End Papers Drawn by the author. THE FALL OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC CHAPTER I POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT In December of the year of our Lord 1794, the re- volutionary French armies crossed the frozen rivers of Brabant to attack the Dutch Republic. During the first days of January, 1795, they crossed the Maas and the Waal and entered Dutch territory.^ Wherever they came, towns and villages fell into their hands, and the few fortifications they met were surrendered without the firing of a single gun. On January 16, the strong town of Utrecht opened its gates to the invaders. On the evening of the next day, the States General assembled in the Hague de- cided that under the circumstances further opposi- tion was impracticable and that surrender was the only possibility. At midnight of the next day, the 18th, William V, the last hereditary Stadholder of the Republic of the United Netherlands, left the country and fled to England. A few weeks more and the Republic had ceased to exist. Her place was taken by the "Batavian Republic," a political de- pendency of victorious France. So, in a few days, 2 FALL OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC a work was destroyed which it had taken centuries to build up. To the contemporary the end came in no way as a surprise. If there was occasion for surprise it was in the fact that the Repubhc had managed to exist as long as it had. For many years it had been on the road towards poKtical and economical bank- ruptcy. But the respect which the Republic as a rich and well-managed community had enjoyed for many centuries had enabled it to survive long after its affairs had ceased to be sound. Like many another business (and as matter of fact it was little more than a large business house with a small ad- mixture of pohtics), it had been living on its old reputation, contented to vegetate in peace, striving with all its might to put off the day when the true state of its affairs should be discovered. But now a new power had sprung up in Europe, a power which respected neither hereditary rights nor old traditions, and which, having put its own house in order after its own fashion, had started out to bring its own particular salvation to its im- mediate neighbors and the world in general, whether they wanted it or not. And behold, a very little shock and the old es- tablished Republic fell to pieces! The board of directors with their president at their head fled for their lives, and the stockholders permitted them- selves to be reorganized upon an entirely new basis.

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