History,—The early history of the Netherlands has nothing in it very interesting or peculiar. Like that of most European states, it commences with an account of thcir subjugation. The Romans had penetrated into those countries, and conquered them all before the be ginning of the Christian era. The people had not yielded tamely. The Belgx, inhabiting the left bank of the Rhine, are described by Cxsar as the only Gallic tribe brave enough to withstand the irruptions of the Teu tones and Cimbri ; the Frisians, occupying the right bank of the same river, made a stubborn opposition in the middle of their swamps ; and the Batavians, who dwelt upon the islands of Zealand, were honoured as the boldest of all the neighbouring clans. Their oppo sition was vain, however; and their gallant attempt to cast off the yoke in Vespasian's tirne was equally vain. They submitted to the Romans, and participated in the improvements which that people usually communicated to the nations it conquered. The canal of Drusus, from the Rhine to the Flevo or Zuyder Zee, still exists, though its character is altered ; and the first dykes, which protected Ilolland froin the ocean, are ascribed to the enterprising industry of those governors. The stout spirit of resistance shown by the Batavians had procured them respect in the eyes of their conquerors. The tribute of the province was paid in soldiers : Bata vians formed the body-guard of the Emperor, as Swiss have done in later times; and the valour which had been displayed on the banks of the Rhine \vas equally conspi cuous in other quarters of the empire. Agricola was accompanied and powerfully aided by them in his pro gress through our island ; and thc Dacian hosts re coiled when Batavians, in full armour, swam across the Danube to attack them.
During four eentui ies we find Batavians enumerated among the Roman armies; but after the time of Hono rius, their name vanishes from history. The eruption of the northern nations swept over their country in its coursc, and destroyed all the monuments of Roman power and ingenuity. 'fhe monarchy of the Franks, which arose on the ruins of Gaul, had, in the sixth and seventh centuries, embraced all the provinces of the Netherlands, and planted the Chi istian faith in them. After an obstinate struggle, Charles Martel overcame Friesland the last of all; and Charleniagne united the whole of those countrics with the wide empire, w hich he had formed for himself out of Gerimmy, France, and Lombardy. When Charlemagne's possessions were again divided among his successors, the Netherlands became at one time provinces of Germany, at another of France ; and we find them at last designated by the names ol Friesland and Lower Lorraine.
With the Franks arrived also the constitution of the north ; and here, as elsewhere, it gradually degenerated. The stronger vassals separated in process or time from the crown; and the royal officers laid hold of the dis tricts over which they were sent to preside, and ren dered them hereditary in their families. But those re
volted vassals could not hope to resist their king, ex cept by the help of their inferior retainers; and the support thus required was repaid by fresh infeudations. The priesthood, in the mean time, also, growing wealthy and powerful, bad extorted for itself an independent ex istence in its abbeys and episcopal sees. And thus, in the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, the I•Tetherlands were split down into a number of petty sovereignties, the heads of which held partly of the em pire, partly of France. By purchase, marriage, inhe ritance, or conquest, several of these lordships were fre quently united under one master; and in the fifteenth century we find the house of Burgundy in possession of almost the whole. Philip the Good, by prosecuting va rious claims, just and the contrary, had at last succeeded in uniting eleven of the provinces under his authority; and Charles the Bold, his son, increased them by the conquest of other two. And thus a new state had si lently arisen in Europe, to which nothing but the name was wanting to make it the most flourishing kingdom in that quarter of the world. Such extensive possessions made the duke of Burgundy a suspicious neighbour to the king of France ; and inspired the restless spirit of Charles the Bold with the plan of a conquest, destined to include the whole tract of country extending between Alsace and the mouths of the Rhine. The duke's in exhaustible resources justified, in some measule, this proud chimera: a powerlul army threatened to realize it ; and Switzerland already trembled for its freedom. But fortune forsook Charles at the battles of C;ranson, of Morat, of Nancy : hc fell hy an unknown hand; and his very corpse was all but lost among the carnage of his followers.
The future husband of his sole daughter and heiress, Maria, would now become the richest prince of the timc. duke, afterwards emperor of Aus tria, and Louis XI of France, were rivals for this ho nour, and excluded the claims of humbler competitors. The States of the Netherlands dreaded the power and the tyranny of Louis : 1N-as weaker and more distant ; they decided for him. Their political forcsight corresponded ill with the event. Philip the Fair, Maximilian's and Maria's son, acquired with his Spanish bride, the extensive monarchy which Ferdi nand and Isabella had lately founded; Charles V. the next heir, augmented this inheritance by his grandfa ther's imperial crown; and the Netherlands, thus be come the province or an overwhelming empire, had soon cause to experience and repent the change in their si tuation. During the succeeding age, this connexion with Spain gave rise to the most terrible, as well as the most glorious event of their history.