THE KING'S SPEECH. 149 "Nor could Holland be considered in that state in later times, when the elevation of ideas, and the general agitation of Europe, so long suspended the repose of nations. "After so many vicissitudes, so much agitation, so many calamities; and at a time when the great states were enlarging themselves, ameliorating and concentrating their governments and their forces, this country could enjoy no real safety nor independence, but in a moderate monarchical state; a form which had been acknowledged during a long period, and by each nation, in its turn, as the most perfect, and if not absolutely so, yet as much so as the nature of man will admit. But, doubtless, if perfection were the lot of humanity, we might then dispense with a government of this kind. Laws would then be founded in wisdom, and obeyed without reluctance or obstacle; virtue would reign triumphant, and ensure its own reward; vice would be banished, and wickedness rendered impotent; but illusions which favour such romantic ideas of human nature, are transient; and experience soon brings us back to positive facts. "However, even monarchy itself is not sufficient for a country, which, though powerful and important, is not sufficiently so for its position, which requires forces of the first rank both by land and sea. It will, therefore, be necessary for it to form a connection with one of the great powers of Europe, with which its amity may be eternally assured, without any alteration of its independence. "This, gentlemen, is what your nation has done; this is the object of its constitutional laws, and also that of my taking upon me an employment so glorious; this is my object in my placing myself in the midst of a people who are, and ever shall be mine, by my affection and my solicitude. With pride I perceive two of the principal means of government and confidence offering themselves to me; the honour and the virtue of the inhabitants. "Yes, gentlemen, these shall be the real supporters of the throne-I wish for no other guides. For my part, I know no distinctions of religion or party-distinctions can only arise from merit and services. My design is only to remedy the evils which the country has suffered. The duration of these evils, and the difficulty of remedying them, will only increase and realise my glory. "To effect these objects, I have occasion for the entire confidence of the nation, their complete devotion, and all the talents of the distinguished men whom it contains, but particularly of you, gentlemen, whose zeal, talents, and patriotism, are well known. 150 THE KING'S SPEECH. "I am at this moment appealing to the good and faithful Hollanders, before the deputies of the provinces and principal cities of the kingdom. I see them around me with pleasure. Let them bear to their fellow-citizens the assurance of my solicitude and affection: let them carry the same testimony of these sentiments to Amsterdam; that city, which is the honor of commerce, and of the country: that city, which I wish to call my good and faithful capital, though the Hague will always remain the residence of the sovereign. Let them also carry the same assurances to their fellow-citizens, and the deputies of that neighbouring city, the prosperity of which I hope very soon to renew, and whose inhabitants I distinguish. "It is by these sentiments, gentlemen; it is by the union of all orders of people in the state, and by that of my subjects among themselves; it is by the devotion of each individual to his duties, the only basis of real honor assigned to men; but principally by the unanimity which has hitherto preserved these provinces from all dangers and calamities, and which has ever been their shield, that I expect the tranquillity, safety, and glory of the nation, and the happiness of my life." The king has given general satisfaction by the choice he has made of the persons he has nominated to fill the public offices; and if the wishes of one who trespassed a little irregularly upon their shores can avail, the brave, frugal, and indefatigable Hollanders will derive happiness, and, when peace is restored to Europe, prosperity under their new government. The revenue attached to the stadtholderate was nominally 18,000l. per annum; but by the great patronage and influence belonging to it, no doubt it must have been considerably augmented, as also by the revenues arising from other hereditary territories of the stadtholder; but after دز ANECDOTE OF ROYAL ECONOMY. 151 all, the income of the stadtholderate was scarcely sufficient to support the dignity of the situation, powerful and important as it at last became. The king, in addition to his revenue, has an enormous private fortune: the savings which he has effected in the state reconcile the Dutch to this liberal, but perhaps not excessive allowance made for the support of his dignity. How the Hague could be called a village, in all its meridian splendor, is a matter of surprise : it derived its name from s'Cravenhage, or the Count's Wood, on account of a wood which formerly grew here, and which formed, some centuries since, a part of the domains of the Counts of Holland. The following anecdote will shew the simplicity which reigned in this great and beautiful city in former times. When Louisa de Coligni was coming to be married to Prince William at the Hague, the Dutch sent an open post-waggon to meet her, and she entered the city seated on a plank : towards the latter end of Prince Maurice's days, and during Frederic-Henry's lifetime, the Hague became a very agreeable place, and the resort of people of the first distinction. In my my rambles round this city, I was much impressed with the elegance and spaciousness of the buildings; every object seemed to have partaken of the spirit and magnificence of a court. But there was a solemnity in the splendor. It reminded one of looking into a magnificent ball-room after the greater part of the company had departed, and the lustres were dying away. If the Orange family had been entitled to sympathy, the scene would have led me to feel and think for them. Its noble buildings, its spacious streets, gracefully built, shaded with trees, and divided by canals, the variety of surrounding scenery, its proximity to the sea, its elevated situation, and the purity of its air, renders the Hague the most charming town in Holland. The first place I visited was the palace of the last of the stadtholders. It is a vast pile of houses, many of them somewhat antient, surrounded by a canal, without which and a pipe, paradise itself would have no charms for a Dutchman: over the canal are several drawbridges; and the whole has a very pleasing effect seen from the spot where I took the view of it. On one side of a quadrangle is part of a new palace, built by the late stadtholder, and which, had it been finished, would have been handsome and princely; but the troubles in Holland have prevented its completion. In part of this building there is a noble gothic hall, much resembling Westminster-hall, and very large; on each side little shops were arranged, similar to those in Exeter Change it is converting into a chapel for the king. There were here formerly the prince's cabinet of natural history and museum of rarities, consisting of a tolerable collection of shells, petrefactions, precious stones, fossils, minerals, and birds. This collection has been removed to Paris, although, from all I could learn, scarcely worthy of so much trouble: it, however, furnished the first elements of knowledge to Camper, one of the most profound geniuses which the United Provinces ever produced, and also Professor Pallas, who has been called the Pliny of Russia. The French offered to re-sell this cabinet to the Dutch government, who declined becoming the purchasers; a tolerable proof of its inferiority. The prince's cabinet of pictures was very select and valuable, and was enriched by the productions of Titian, Holbein, Rembrandt, Vandyk, Gerard Dow, Metzio, Polemburgh, and other illustrious artists. On the confiscation of the property of the exiled Stadtholder, the Dutch government, for the purpose of promoting the polite arts, formed this collection of pictures, esteemed one of the most valuable in Europe, into a national gallery, set apart an annual sum for the augmentation of it, and deposited it in a fine suite of apartments in the House in the Wood, where a director of ability, and assistants, were appointed to superintend it: but the French soon afterwards transferred the best of them to that magnificent depot of the fruits of conquest, the Louvre at Paris. The first person sent by Napoleon X |