from the Belgian States, on the ground, it appears, of its not having formed part of Belgium, but a constituent part of the Germanic empire. Whatever there may be in this, and whatever may be the destination of Luxemburg, the province in question, it is necessary to describe it here, Germany having been already described, and our continental labours closing with the following book. BOOK CL. The superfices of the grand dutchy of Luxemburg, about 230 square leagues, is peopled by 292,000 inhabitants, which makes the population equal to 1269 individuals for each square league. If we except the capital, this territory contains no city of importance. At the foot of the mountains which separate the Ourthe from the Lesse, we perceive Saint Saint-HuHubert, a small city, where are preserved the remains of the bert. patron of sportsmen, whose chapel is frequently visited by such of the peasantry as wish to place their persons and their flocks under his protection. The position of Bouillon, Bouillon. in a narrow defile through which the Semoy takes a winding course, gives it a melancholy but yet romantic aspect. The old castle, which commands this old capital of the dutchy, would prove no defence against a powerful enemy, because it is itself commanded by the surrounding mountains. In the midst of forests, upon one of the hills where the Semoy has its origin, we see the small city of Arlon, which Arlon. carries on a trade in iron and grain, an ancient city, mentioned under the name of Orolaunum in the Itinerary of Antoninus. Frequently, when its soil is turned up, are antiquities found. Twice in 1793 and 1794, did the French, in this place, put the Austrians to flight. burg. Advancing towards the east, and on the banks of the small Luxemriver Alzette, stands the important fortress of Luxemburg, which, for twenty years, was the capital of the French departments of Des Forets.' The lower city is watered by the river, which divides it into two parts. It may be considered as properly the suburbs of the place: a road sinuous and cut in the rock conducts to the summit of the rock on which stands the upper city; it is so steep that carriages cannot ascend it without difficulty. Large fosses, eighty feet in depth, would be enough for the defence of the city, and yet, BOOK CL. besides these, a double row of exterior works defend the approach to it. It is then no exaggeration to say that Luxemburg is one of the strongest places in Europe: in a military point of view, it has been viewed as more than merely a part of the kingdom of the Netherlands, the nomination of the governor being subject to the approbation of the Germanic Confederation. The strength of Luxemburg alone constitutes its importance; it would be a matter of difficulty to mention, among its edifices, one single building worthy of the rank which this city occupies. BOOK CLI. EUROPE. Description of Europe Continued.-Holland, or the Seven United Provinces. BOOK CLI. Glance at THE early history of Holland is the same with that of Belgium, down to the war of Independence and Existence, as it may also be called, with Spain. In Holland, a spirit of inquiry had kept alive the ancient love of independence the History and liberty, in preserving from the attempts of Charles V, of Holland. himself, a system of national representation which placed the principal strength of government in the Assembly of the States; and when the tyranny of his son thought it had found in the doctrines of a blind fanaticism, a solid support against the ideas of civil and religious liberty that were becoming predominant in the age, his yoke only became the more insupportable to a people possessing courage enough to be free, and sufficiently enlightened to comprehend the advantages of religious toleration. The Hollanders, by seventy years of resistance, conquered their independence, and founded a republic equally formidable and industrious. The treaty of Munster in 1648 drew from the reluctant Spaniards an entire recognition of the Independence of the Seven United Provinces, while the Belgic provinces, divided among themselves, and not possessed of that love of freedom, which led their more northern neighbours to overcome every obstacle, remained submissive to Spain and to the Roman Catholic Church. Conquered by the French in See Book CL. BOOK Govern ment. Ancient Physical 1795, it was allowed to retain a nominal independence, till Napoleon, in 1810, made it an integral part of his empire. The losses of Napoleon in the campaigns of 1812 and 1815, led to the emancipation of Holland at the close of the last mentioned year; and this was followed by the ill-assorted union of Belgium and Holland in the Nassau family, under the name of the kingdom of the Netherlands, a union which very recent events in Belgium have broken up and dissolved. The government of the Seven United Provinces, previous to their conquest by the French in 1795, is now a matter of past history, a tale that is told. Yet it may be right to refer to it, and a very few words will suffice. It was a confederation of seven independent republics, which were united by the bonds of similarity of manners and pursuits, and especially by the remembrance of the long-protracted and bloody struggle, which they had maintained together for liberty and life against the whole power of the Spanish monarchy, and in which, as already noticed, they at last succeeded. The States-General and Senate were composed of deputies from the seven provinces, whose business it was to take charge of all matters, involving the interests of the whole, such as war, peace, the laying on of taxes, &c, but in all matters of importance no steps could be taken by these bodies, without a reference to the States of the Provinces, and these again required to consult their constituents in the cities and country. The Stadtholder's office was merely executive, and even that was much limited, though his rank and influence were often productive of inroads upon the constitution of the States, and induced jealousies that proved the means more than once of abolishing the office. Of the government established in 1814, after the expulsion of the French and union of the Dutch provinces with Belgium, we have already spoken in our account of the Belgian provinces, and to that we beg to refer the reader. It is presumed, that so far as Holland is concerned, the same form of government will subsist, without being at all affected by the defection and separation of Belgium. The most ancient accounts of Holland represent it as one extended swamp, alternately covered and relinquished by the advancing and retiring waters of the ocean and yet it appears from the Roman natural historian,* that miserable, and to all appearance uninhabitable, as a country like this. was, it was not destitute of inhabitants, who, subsisting on the produce of the sea, endeavoured to find habitations on every bit of land not taken possession of by the waves. It has been a question among enquirers into matters of this kind, at what time the inhabitants began the erection of dikes to preserve themselves from the inundations of the sea; and there is strong ground to believe that, so early as the first or second century of the Christian era, this great work was commenced, and since that time there has been a contention between the inhabitants and the ocean, which has ended however in the country being brought to its present state of high improvement and cultivation, and comparative safety from the attacks of its powerful assailer. A great part of Holland, it is calculated, is between twenty and forty feet below high water mark on the surrounding coast; but the inhabitants seem to have no fear of their safety. At different times, however, the ocean has burst the barriers raised to control his waters, and, on such occasions, the effects have been disastrous in the extreme. As we proceed, we shall have occasion to notice some of the most remarkable of these inundations. BOOK CLI. In Holland, it may be said, there are no mountains: we Mountains. see nothing but plains, interrupted occasionally by rising grounds, not even deserving the name of hills, and much smaller than those that are to be found in Belgium. We must refer to our account of Belgium for an account Rivers, of the principal rivers of Holland, there being few that deserve the name but those already noticed there, the Rhine, the Waal, the Meuse, and the Scheld. To these may be added, the Issel, which proceeding, by an artificial cut, from the Rhine above Arnheim, takes a north-east direction to Döesberg, where it is joined by the Old Yssel, the proper channel of the stream, flowing from Westphalia. It then passes by Zutphen and Deventer, and after receiving a number of smaller tributary streams, falls into the east side of * Plin. Hist. Nat. Lib. 16. |