At the death of William IV. William, his son, and afterwards his successor in the Stadtholderate, was an infant, in very tender years. His mother was named by the states Governess of the United Provinces. She appointed the Duke of Brunswick to the command of their armies; thus, after all their exertions and sacrifices for liberty, the United Provinces became subject to the government of an English princess and a German prince; and an English party became predominant in their politics; William V. married a princess of Prussia, and thus the Orange party was strengthened by Prussian influence.
XIV. 3. From the death of William IV. till the erection of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
These opposite, and conflicting interests, filled every province, with dissension; and, on some occasions, armed one body of citizens against another. The English party, sided with the Orange faction; the French, with the republicans. At first the latter prevailed; they led the states into measures, which forced England to declare war against them. In 1782, they acknowledged the independence of the United States of America. Still, the dissensions continued. After a long conflict, the republican party acquired the ascendant; they suspended the Prince of Orange from his functions, and filled all the principal places of trust with their own adherents. But the Orange party soon rallied; the Duke of Brunswick entered Holland at the head of a victorious army, and, in 1787, re-established the Stadtholderate.
CHAP. XIV. 1749-1816.
His victorious career, was soon terminated. In 1799, the revolutionary army of France made themselves masters of the whole territory of the United States; and established The Batavian Republic. It was successively governed, but always under the overpowering controul of France, by a Convention, a Directory, and a Consul, with the appellation of Grand Pensionary. In 1806, even these forms of her antient government were abolished; Napoleon sending Louis, one of his brothers, to reign over the United Provinces, with the title and powers of royalty; but with an intimation, that France was entitled to his first attentions and a priority of duty. The demands of Napoleon for attentions and duties were so exorbitant, that rather than be instrumental in the infliction of the miseries which a compliance with them must occasion, Louis resigned his throne. Napoleon then incorporated the United Provinces into his empire, "as an alluvion," for such he termed them, "to the Rivers of France." Scenes of the most grinding oppression followed: the Batavians were relieved from it by the fall and abdication of Napoleon.
XIV. 3. Establishment of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Before this event, William V. died, leaving a son, called from his pretensions to the stadtholderate, William VI. We have seen that, on the death of the Emperor Charles V. all the seventeen provinces, composing the Netherlands, devolved to Philip II. his son; the successful defection of the Seven United Provinces has been mentioned; the ten remaining provinces were afterwards transferred to the House of Austria, and were inherited by the Emperor Joseph II. The French made an easy conquest of them in an early stage of the Revolution.
We now reach the ultimate fate of both the divisions of the Netherlands. The congress of Vienna, by an act of the 9th June 1815, created and conferred upon this prince, THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS, consisting of the seventeen provinces, and a portion of Luxemburgh. It is confessedly the first among the kingdoms of the second order.
It was our wish to present our readers with a sketch of the literary history of the Netherlands, during the period treated of in this chapter; but after most diligent and extensive searches, both in the British and foreign markets, we have not been able to discover materials for it; persons of acknowledged learning, both in Germany and the Netherlands, have assured us that no such history exists.