cited article of the treaty of Paris might at
first sight seem to imply; nor was Holland allotted to Belgium.
But they were grafted together, with all the force of legislative
wisdom; not that one might be dominant and the other oppressed,
but that both should bend to form an arch of common strength,
able to resist the weight of such invasions as had perpetually
periled, and often crushed, their separate independence.

SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER

A.D. 1815--1899

In the preceding chapters we have seen the history of Holland
carried down to the treaty which joined together what are now
known as the separate countries of Holland and Belgium. And it is
at this point that the interest of the subject for the historian
practically ceases. The historian differs from the annalist in
this--that he selects for treatment those passages in the career
of nations which possess a dramatic form and unity, and therefore
convey lessons for moral guidance, or for constituting a basis
for reasonable prognostications of the future. But there are in
the events of the world many tracts of country (as we might term
them) which have no special character or apparent significance, and
which therefore, though they may extend over many years in time,
are dismissed with bare mention in the pages of the historian;
just as, in travelling by rail, the tourist will keep his face
at the window only when the scenery warrants it; at other times
composing himself to other occupations.

The scenery of Dutch history has episodes as stirring and instructive
as those of any civilized people since history began; but it
reached its dramatic and moral apogee when the independence of
the United Netherlands was acknowledged by Spain. The Netherlands
then reached their loftiest pinnacle of power and prosperity;
their colonial possessions were vast and rich; their reputation
as guardians of liberty and the rights of man was foremost in the
world. But further than this they could not go; and the moment
when a people ceases to advance may generally be regarded as
the moment when, relatively speaking at least, it begins to go
backward. The Dutch could in no sense become the masters of Europe;
not only was their domain too small, but it was geographically at
a disadvantage with the powerful and populous nations neighboring
it, and it was compelled ever to fight for its existence against
the attacks of nature itself. The stormy waves of the North Sea
were ever moan