Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/81

69 COMMUNICATION.] HOLLAND 69 jt- I .e ti tele- is the centre both of the country and of the railway system, may Le approached by six different lines. From Amorsfoort, Zutphen, Zwolle, Hengelo, Boxtel, Rosendaal, Venlo, and Macstriclit lines stretch out in four directions, while Groningen, Leeuwarden, Meppel, Enschede, Hilversum, Amsterdam, Haarlem, Uitgeest, the Hague, Rotterdam, Moerdijk, Breda, Tilburg, and Eindhoven are each the meeting place of three lines. With foreign countries the Netherlands communicate from Groningen by the Winschoten and Niemve Schans line ; from Overyssel by the Almelo-Salx.berg line ; from Guelderland by the Arnhem-Emmerik and Nimeguen-Cleves lines, from Limburg by the Gennep-Goch, Venlo-Gladbach, and Maestricht-Aix-la-Chapelle lines ; and in the south with Belgium by the Terneuzen-Ghent, Hulst-St-Nikolaas, Rosendaal-Antwerp, Tilburg-Turnhout, Eindhoveu-Hasselt, Maestricht- Liege, &e. Among the lines at present projected or in construction m.iy be mentioned the works at Amsterdam by which the Holland Railway along the Y is to be brought into connexion with the Eastern Rail way and the Rhine Railway ; the line between Zaandam and Enkhuizen via Purmerend and Hoorn ; the Groningen-Dulfzijl line; and those from Zwolle to Almelo, and from Rotterdam or Schiedam by Vlaardingen to Maassluisand the mouth of the New Waterway. The extent of the mail service routes was 26,898 miles in 1873, and 29,773 miles in 1877; and in the same years the post-office staff numbered 3026 and 3525 respectively. The number of letters (exclusive of newspapers, printed matter, and official letters), which in 1850 was only 7,000,000, had increased by 1877 to 50,000,000. The number of inland post-cards rose from 4,000,000 in 1871 to about 10,000.000 in 1877 ; the number of inland newspapers was in 1860 about 5,000,000, and in 1877 about 27,000,000. The follow ing are the statistics for 1853 and 1877 of the national telegraph system, originated in 1852 : Miles Line. Miles Wire. Messages. Receipts. Expenditure. 1853 1877 208 346 21SB 80,050 45,700 2,985,000 4,325 65,900 17,775 104,775 . The Dutch colonies, originally mere trading communities, have so much increased in importance, through the cultivation of their Various vegetable products, the reclaiming of their waste lands, and the working of their mines, that they cannot be left altogether out of view in considering the trade and finances of the mother country. The Dutch colonies in the East Indies, situated between 30 N. lat. and 6 S lat., and between 95 and 141 E. long. , comprise an area of 600,000 square miles, with a population of about 23,000,000, among which are 35,000 Europeans, 319,000 Chinese, 15,000 Arabs, and 10,000 other immigrant Asiatics. For convenience of super vision they are divided into the Great Sunda (Soenda) Islands, the Smaller Sunda Islands, and the Moluccas a division which is based neither on political nor on ethnological considerations, nor on the phenomena of animal or vegetable distribution. The Great Sunda j Islands arc Java. Sumatra, Celebes, and Borneo, all with subsidiary islands ; the Smaller Sunda Islands comprise Bali, Lombok, Soein- bawa, Flores, Sandalwood Island, and Timor; the Moluccas include Halmaheira, Ceram, Burn (Boeroe), Amboyna, Banda, and the south-eastern groups, besides Western New Guinea. The West Indian possessions of Holland include Dutch Guiana or the govern ment of Surinam, and the Dutch Antilles or the government of Curacoa and its dependencies (St Eustatius, Saba, the southern half of St Martin, Curacoa, Bonaire, and Aruba), a total area of 60,000 square miles, with 90,000 inhabitants, of whom a small portion are Europeans, and the rest negroes and other people of colour, Chinese, and other emigrants. The East Indian possessions yield an annual average contribution, as already stated, of over 800,000 ; the West Indian, on the other hand, require aid to the amount of 500,000 or 600,000 yearly. The character of the Dutch people may be largely explained National by their history, the conformation of the country, their means of charac- subsistence, their strife with the sea, and their struggles to maintain ter. their independence against Spain and against hostile neighbours. The love of freedom and independence is the leading element in their character ; the peculiarity of their soil has constrained them to be industrious and economical ; their contest against the sea, their wars, and their distant expeditions, have trained them to bravery and self-possession ; and their liberality has been stimulated by the disasters which, falling upon one to-day, might be the lot of j any other to-morrow: Of couise the virtues of the Dutch are apt ! to be distorted to vices : their composure not seldom becomes iu- i difference; their tendency to reflexion makes them laggard inaction j extravagant sense of independence that is more concerned about I rights than about duties. Sociability is by no means a dominant I characteristic of the Dutch ; they speak little and laugh less. But ling qualities. Their general sincerity and uprightness are evident to every one whose own respectability gains him admission, on terms of familiar intercourse, to the respectable circles of Dutch society. Bibliography. The first place in a bibliography of Holland is due to the Alge- meeneStatiftiekvan AV/erfan&amp;lt;/(Leyden,lst part. 1870, 2d part, 1873). a work of much vaster compass than is indicated by its title, consisting, as it does, of separate articles (in every scientific aspect of the country, contributed by specialists of high authority. The geodetic portion, for example is furnished by J. H. A. Kuijper ; Or H. Hurtogh Hcys van Zoutevecn t tats of the soil, rivers, islands, Ac., the geology, and the fauna- the flora is described by Professor Hugo de Vries, I)r C. M. van der Sande Lacosta. and Professor W F. R. Suringar; the meteoro logy is by Piofi-ssor C. H. 1). Buys Ballot, the account of the provinces and communes by Professor S. Visseiing, and the vital statistics by M. von Baum- Imucr. As supplements to this, their greatest work, the Goveinment Society for Statistics lso publish Bijdrayen en Mededetlinym voor die Stat. van het Kon. der Ifeiterlande n ; Staatkundig en Staalhuishoudkundig Jaarboekje^ and Stat. Jaar- buek voor het Kim. d^r Xeile.iiand&amp;lt;n. The following are convenient manual.-- : l)r A. A. van Hcusden. Haiidliock der Aardrijkakunde. ttc. van het KOI/, der Niderlanden, Haailem, ISGti, J. Kuijper, A cderland, zijne I rovincien en Kolonien, Leeuwarden, 1878, Knkens, Aardrijkskunde van A cder/and, Groningen, 1.S79; M. H. J. Plautenga. Alihtaire Aardrijkskunde ran A ederlanti, new ed., 1880; J Craandijk mid P A. Schipperus, Sc/te/stn met pen en potlood, Haarlem, 1874. The excellent works of V. C. A Staring De Bodem van A r eder!and, Haar lem, 1856-60, Natuurkunde &amp;lt;n Volkfvhjt run Xederland. Amsterdam, 1870; ami Voormaals i : n tlianx, Haarlem, 1877 aie of a more descriptive cast. For the fauna and flora of the country the reader may consult Professor Schlegel, De dicren van Nedtrland, Haarlem. 18(i 2. C. A. J. A. Oudcmans, De F/oraran Xeder land, Haarlem, 1871-74 . Van Halls, ffeerlunds finntenseltat. Grim., 1855. Among tint more red nt. of foreign publications in ic^aril to Holland the following rank high- Alph. Ksqm.os. L&amp;lt;i A ctr/aiiile et la vie HoUandaise, Paris, 1859 (English tianslation, Dvt -h at Jlome. London. 1863): J G. Kohl, Reisen in den Niederlatlden, Lcipsic, 1850. I&amp;gt;r A. Wild, Die Xttdfrlande: thre Veryangen eit vnd Gtgenwart, Leipsic, 1802: Henrv Ilavaid, La Hullande Pit tort sque: Voyaya tni.r i-i//i-s mortes du Zuiderzee. Finis. 1S74, Les Fi-ittiercs Menace es. Paiis, 1876; and A u cwur du /., Pans I87K, and Eitnmmlo de Amicis. Olaiida (Dutch translation by 1). Lodccsen, Xideiliind tn zijne. boconers, Leyden, 1x76). The most important maps and atlases are tin; tppegraphic maps of the kingdom of the Netherlands, i sued by the W..r DcpainiH nt, the Hague, 62 sheets, li hegr. scale 1:50,000; the Walerftaatf Kanrt ton Xederland (1:50,000). issued by th Ministry of the In erior under the supervision of P Caland and H. Kodi &amp;lt;!e l.oo, W. C. H. Staring s Gcoioyisrhe Kuart. executed by the topographical office of the War Department (I:200,0o0,, Kaarl voor de Xatuurkunde en Volksvlijt ;, and Landbovirkaart ran hat Ken. d&amp;lt;-r Xfdi-rlatiden (1:200,000); J. Kuijper, (iemetnle Atlaf ran tffdertand,.naar officirele irunnen onttrorpeti (1205 communal maps and one large general map); and A litintr en Staathuiskoudkundige Atlas van Xfile.rlund. There are three g&quot;o&amp;lt;l gazetleers; A. J. van der Aa, Aardrijksk. Woordmboek. Gouda. 1855: S. Gilie Heringa, Ilanduoordenbuek van Xeiterland. 3d cd., Utrecht, 1874; and P. 11. Witkamp Aardrijksk. ~oorden- botk can Xederland. Thiel, 1871-76. (C. M. K.) PART II HISTORY. The oldest inhabitants of Holland of whom anything is known were of Celtic origin ; so much may be gathered from scanty remains found in cairns, from a few proper names, such as Nimeguen (Nimwegen) and Walcheren, and from the Druid altars found in that island. In Caesar s day the whole district between the Rhine and the Scheldt was occupied by Belgo), the bravest of Celts, while the Betaw, the &quot;good meadow,&quot; the Insula Batavorum, was peopled by a portion of the Germanic tribe of the Cliatti, and pro vided first the stoutest foes and then the most serviceable allies of the Roman empire. But if the Batavi were the most distinguished of the Germanic tribes in the country, the &quot;free Frisians&quot; (see FRISIANS), who filled the whole northern portion of it, were by far the most important ; in addition to them, and mostly on the borderland, were others, Usipetes, Bructeri, Sicambri, Chamavi, Eburones, and the like, of whom we know little but the names. From 28 to 47 A.D. a struggle went on between the Their Romans arid the Frisians, which ended in the latter year in struggles the complete reduction of the tribe by the vigour of!! Domitius Corbulo ; the Batavi and Frisians were probably, in the earlier days of their connexion with Rome, admitted, if not to the more honourable position of &quot;socii,&quot; at least to the lower grade of &quot;auxilia,&quot; their relation to the empire doubtless varying from time to time. This friendly state of things did not last long; for in 70 A.D. Rome had dis missed her Batavian cohorts, and had turned Claudius Civilis, the &quot; Mithridates of the West,&quot; into a bitter foe. This remarkable patriot had served for many years in the armies of Rome, and had learnt the secrets of the imperial strength and weakness. Taking advantage of the wrongs of Germans and Gauls, and skilfully using the divisions within the empire, he displayed high statesmanlike ability, whila his energy and success in war placed him in the
 * and deficient in enterprise ; their love of liberty degenerates into an
 * their appearance and expression give a poor indication of their ster