The Rise of the Dutch Kingdom, 1795-1813: A Short Account of the Early Development of the Modern Kingdom of the NetherlandsVan Loon, Hendrik Willem
History
The Rise of the Dutch Kingdom, 1795-1813: A Short Account of the Early Development of the Modern Kingdom of the Netherlands
Van Loon, Hendrik Willem
Netherlands -- History -- 1795-1815
_The Regents_: The old plutocratic oligarchy. Disappear with the triumph
of the Patriots. Continue opposition to the centralizing process, but
for all intents and purposes they have played their little rôle when the
old republic ceases to be.
_The Federalists_: Combine all the opposition elements in the new
Batavian Republic which work to maintain the old decentralization.
_Daendels_: Lawyer, cart-tail orator, professional exile. Fallen hero of
the Patriotic struggles; flees to Belgium when the Prussians in 1787
restore William V to his old dignities. Returns in 1795 as quite a hero
and a French major-general. Later with French help organizes a number of
_coups d'état_ which finally remove the opposing Federalists and give
the power to the Unionists. A capable man in many ways. An enthusiast
who spared others as little as he did himself.
_Krayenhoff_: Doctor, physicist, experiments in new medical theories
with same cheer he does in the new science of politics. Able and
efficient in everything he undertakes. Too much of a man of principle
and honesty to make much of a career during revolutionary days.
_Pieter Paulus_: The sort of man who twenty years before might have
saved the Republic if only the Stadholder had known how to avail himself
of such a simple citizen possessed of so much common sense. Trained
thoroughly in the intricate working of the Republic's government.
Scrupulously honest. So evidently the One and Only Man to lead the new
Batavian Republic that he was killed immediately by overwork.
_Schimmelpenninck_: Lawyer, man of unselfish patriotism, honest,
careful, no sense of humour, but a very sober sense of the practically
possible. No lover of extremes, but in no way blind to the
impossibility of maintaining the old, outworn system of government.
Tries at his own private inconvenience to save the country, but when he
fails keeps the everlasting respect of both his enemies and those who
were supposed to be his friends.
_France_, or, rather, the French Revolution, regards the Republic in the
same way in which a poor man looks upon a rich man with a beefsteak.
Being possessed of a strong club, it hits the rich man on the head,
grabs his steak, his clothes, everything he possesses, and then makes
him turn about and fight his former friends.
_Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity_: Trademark patented by the French
Republic between the years 1790 and 1809. The goods covered by this
trademark soon greatly deteriorate and finally cover a rank imitation of
the original article.
_Napoleon Bonaparte_: Chief salesman of the above article for the
territory abroad. Further references unnecessary. Gets a controlling
hold of the firm in which at first he was a subordinate. Removes the
article which made him successful from the market and introduces a new
brand, covered merely with a big N. Firm fails in 1815. The involuntary
customers pay the deficit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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