Excerpt from The Open Court, Vol. 31: October, 1917 The restoration of the archaic system in the United Netherlands naturally broke the back of the French alliance, and allied the Dutch republic once more with England and also with Prussia. A state so constituted could not for-ever delay its fall, nor could foreign aid prevent the final catastrophe. The last period, from 1787 to 1795, was a time pregnant with mighty events and portentous warnings. The French revolution Of 1789 was casting its shadow before, encouraging the Dutch patriots and causing gloomy forebodings among the regents and all adherents of the old system. Every province was divided against itself, and only the danger of Holland's supremacy kept the rest of the provinces in common accord at all. There was no feeling of a national and indivisible unity which made them forget their separate existences this feeling was to be instilled through many bitter years of French Oppression. The army was without leaders and discipline, the navy had practically ceased to exist. Foreign commerce was declining, while colonial trade was at its lowest level. Thanks to the treaties with Prussia and England, however, the foreign position of the republic was somewhat improved, as these two powers virtually became its pro tectors. The last days of its existence were further brightened bv the fact that in Van de Spiegel, the state pensionary, it possessed a man of uncommon intelligence, great moderation, fine patriotism and spotless integrity. The stadtholder, too, more conscious of his responsibility, applied himself with great diligence to affairs of state, while the new appointees in the government were all firm adherents of the house of Orange and of the traditional scheme of government. If the republic could be saved, then its present con dition was hopeful and not beyond promise of recovery. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.