Belgium in Holland
In the present crisis of Belgian affairs there is much to remind the historical student of the events which led to the fall of Antwerp in 1585, and the outrageous invasion of the Southern Netherlands by the army of Parma. Then, as now, Holland opened her arms to her wounded and captive sister. The best Flemish scholars and men of letters emigrated to the land where Cornheert and Spieghel welcomed them.
Merchants and artisans flocked to a new sphere of energy in Amsterdam. Several of the professorial chairs in that city, and in the great universities of Leyden and Harderwijk, were filled by learned Flemings, and the arts, that had long been flourishing in Brussels, fled northward to escape from the desolating Spanish scourge. The grim pencil of Raemaekers becomes tender whenever he touches upon the relation of the tortured Belgium to her sister, Holland, his own beloved fatherland.
We do not know yet, in this country, a tithe of the sacrifices which have been made in Holland to staunch the tears of Belgium. “Your sufferings are mine, and so are your fortunes,” has been the motto of the loyal Dutch.
EDMUND GOSSE
BELGIUM IN HOLLAND
“Your sufferings are mine as are your fortunes.”