De Marre (b. 1696), among numerous writers of tragedy, occupies the first place. From his twelfth year he was engaged in the merchant marine service, and besides his tragedies his voyages inspired many other works, the chief of which, a poem entitled "Batavia," celebrates the Dutch domination in the Asiatic archipelago. Feitama (1694-1758), with less poetic merit than De Marre, had great excellence. He was the first translator of the classics who succeeded in imparting to his verse the true spirit of his originals.
Huydecoper (d. 1778) was the first grammarian of merit, and he united great erudition with true poetic power. His tragedies are still represented.
Onno Zwier Van Haren (1713-1789) was also a writer of tragedy, and the author of a long poem in the epic style, called the Gueux (beggars), a name given in derision to the allied noblemen of the Netherlands in the time of Philip, and adopted by them. This poem represents the great struggle of the country with Spain, which ended in the establishment of the Dutch republic, and is distinguished for its fine episodes, its brilliant pictures, and its powerful development of character.
The only strictly epic poem that Holland has produced is the "Friso" of William Van Haren (1710-1758), the brother of the one already named. Friso, the mythical founder of the Frisons, is driven from his home on the shores of the Ganges, and, after many adventures, finds an asylum and establishes his government in the country to which he gives his name. This work with many faults is full of beauties. The brothers Van Haren were free from all foreign influence, and may justly be regarded as the two great poets of their time. The poems of Smits (1702-1750) are full of grace and sentiment, but, like those of almost all the Dutch poets, they are characterized by a seriousness of tone nearly allied to melancholy. Ten Kate (1676-1723) stands first among the grammarians and etymologists, and his works are classical authorities on the subject of the language.
Preëminent among the crowd of historians is Wagenaar (1709-1773), the worthy successor of Hooft and Brandt, whose "History of the United Provinces" is particularly valuable for its simplicity of style and truthfulness of detail.
Of the lighter literature, Van Effen, who had visited England, produced in French the "Spectator," in imitation of the English periodical, and, like that, it is still read and considered classical.
Towards the conclusion of the century, other periodicals were established, which, in connection with literary societies and academies, exercised great influence on literature. The contemporary writers of Germany were also read and translated, and henceforth in some degree they counterbalanced French influence.
First among the writers who mark the close of the eighteenth century are Van Winter (d. 1795), and his distinguished wife, Madame Van Merken (d. 1789). They published conjointly a volume of tragedies in which the chief merit of those of Van Winter consists in their originality and in the expression of those sentiments of justice, humanity, and equality before the law, which were just then beginning to find a voice in Europe.
Madame Van Merken, who, late in life, married Van Winter, has been called the Racine of Holland. To masculine energy and power she united all the virtues and sweetness of her own sex. Besides many long poems, she was the author of several tragedies, many of which have remarkable merit. Madame Van Merken gave a new impulse to the literature of her country, of which she is one of the classic ornaments, and prepared the way for Feith and Bilderdyk.
The Baroness De Lannoy, the contemporary of Madame Van Merken, was, like her, eminent in tragedy and other forms of poetry, though less a favorite, for in that free country an illustrious birth has been ever a serious obstacle to distinction in the republic of letters.