The Dutch took no part in the seven years war. A long period of outward tranquillity was only disturbed by contests between the people and the Stadtholder, whose office had been declared hereditary in the Orange family in the year 1747. The French Revolution, and the vie tories of Dumouricr, took Belgium from Austria in 1792; it was recovered next summer, but the recovery was only for a year, and confirmed the victors in their conquest. Those apostles of change were eagerly wel comed by the Dutch people soon after. But the latter had quickly reason to repent of this predilection. The French oppressed Holland with every species of tyranny; even Louis Buonaparte, for whom it had been erected into a kingdom, gave it up in despair. Various attempts to relieve it failed,. till at last, in 1814, the successes of the allied sovereigns put the Low Countries into their hands. The British cabinet accomplished its often pro jected scheme ; Belgium was united with the seven provinces into the KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS ; and the Prince of Orange, who had taken refuge in England, now ascended the throne, where he has since continued undisturbed.
The kingdom thus newly formed extends over a space of about 24,000 British square miles, 13,400 of them be ing Belgic territory, the rest Dutch ; and contains a po pulation of 5,226.000 inhabitants, which, (excluding the military) are distributed among the various provinces as follows.
The resources of the Netherlands, so long in a de clining condition, have not yet had time to recover per ceptibly. The annual revenue scarcely exceeds seven millions Sterling ; and the expenditure fully equals it. The navy, which could once cope with that of England, has now shrunk into 12 ships of the line, with 24 fri gates, and costs only 500,000/. a year. An additional 2,000,000/. of the national income is devoted to support a military establishment of 50,000 regular troops ; the services of religion all paid from the public treasury, require 270,000/. ; and a government debt of 140,000,000/. consumes nearly all the rest. The interest of the latter is moderate, or the country could not bear it : at 2 or 21, per cent. its amount does not reach far beyond 3,000,000/.
Fifty thousand soldiers may seem a force dispropor tionate to the means of so small a state. They are ren dered necessary, however, by the long and defenceless frontier of the kingdom, and by the number of colonies yet subject to it in various quarters of the world. None of those settlements is at present very flourishing or im portant : some are in a state of permanent decay. In Asia, there are Java, vvith the lesser governments of Amboyna, Ternate, Malacca, Macassar, and some facto ries on the coasts of Coromandel and Persia ; in Africa, thirteen small forts on the Guinea coast ; in the West Indies, Surinam on the mainland ; Curacoa, St. Eusta
tius, and St. NIartin. Demerara, F,ssequibo, and Ber bice, still permitted to trade with their Mother country, are now under the dominion or Great Britain.
The political machinery by which those resources are managed, the form of government in tne Netherlands, beats a close resemblance to that of Britain. A king possessed of all the executive authority ; two houses of parliament possessed of all the legislative ; the sove reigh's inviolability; the responsibility of his ministers,— sufliciently point out the model according to which the whole has been constructed. At the same time, seve ral weighty distinctions occur ; so weighty, indeed, as to render this general similarity more formal than substan tial. One leading distinction is the existence of provin cial States, whose office it is to superintend the execu tion of the laws in their several districts, the expendi tuie of local magistrates, of religious functionaries; to take charge of the public works,—and, what is more important than all, to elect the members of the lower house of Parliament, a third of whom are thus changed annually ; the States themselves being filled up by the people. This lower house of Parliamint, so differently nominated, differs equally from our House of Commons in its functions and dignity. The members accept a petty salary, (220/.0 they can originate no motion; their number is small ;* their influence comparatively in considerable. The upper house is still more strongly contrasted with our House of Lords. The Belgic Peers (between 40 and 60 in number) are not hereditary ; they are nominated by the king for life ; can bring in no bill on their own authority any more than the Commons ; and, like them, receive a paltry wage (270/.) The crown being thus invested with the power of re gulating the deliberations of its poor and feeble Parlia ment, and excluding all importunate discussions, the popular branch of the Belgic government has but a slen der influence, compared with that of the British : the mode of its election, the character and rank of its mem bers, must alike conspire to render its limitation of the sovereign's proceedings feeble at any time ; altogether ineffectual, if the sovereign were enterprising and ambi tious of arbitrary power. The Orange family, however, shows no such sinister desire ; a system of equal laws is administered by judges appointed ad vitam aut cul pain ; the taxes are not more heavy than is seen to be indispensably necessary ; the press is free ; and the people feel no inclination to repine at their condition.