funds were raised for the support of an army. In 1579, seven of the northern provinces separated from the southern, under the denomination of the

Seven United Provinces, and signed the alliance which formed the basis of their commonwealth. To assist them in the recovery and preservation of their independence, Elizabeth, Queen of England, sent to the States General 20,0007. sterling.

Was not the Prince of Orange basely assassinated by one of Philip's adherents?-He was, in 1584, and his death excited the greatest grief; every one mourning as for the father of his country.

Whom did the States elect to succeed him?Maurice, his second son, as Stadtholder, who de feated Philip's forces, and displayed superior military talents. Philip, however, succeeded in detaching the other ten provinces from the former seven, and preserving them for the House of Austria; and in 1600, he sent deputies to the Hague to treat with the United Provinces as a free people. A truce was entered into between the two powers; and in the course of twenty years the naval power and com

mercial wealth of the United Provinces arose to an astonishing height.

Who succeeded Prince Maurice ?-Prince Henry, his brother; who raised the republic to a yet higher pitch of greatness than did either his brother or father in consequence of which, the stadtholdership was made hereditary in his family. He formed alliances with France, England, and Sweden. The celebrated Van Tromp, under his administration, secured to the Dutch almost the empire of the sea. Henry died in 1647, celebrated for his great political

abilities, and for his unremitted application to the welfare of the State.

By whom was he succeeded?-By his son, Prince William the Second, in 1650; who died of the small pox three years afterwards. De Witt, a minister of state, was then appointed to conduct awhile the affairs of the commonwealth, in which he displayed great abilities and integrity.

When did William the Third, Prince of Orange, resume the title of Stadtholder?-In 1672. William married Mary, the daughter of the Duke of York, afterwards James the Second. This alliance paved his way, at the abdication of James, to the British throne in 1688; and the Prince and Princess of Orange were declared King and Queen of England.

Who succeeded to the Stadtholdership on the demise of William?-His nephew, William Charles Henry, in 1702, who married the Princess Royal of Prussia. This prince joined with England, Savoy, and Portugal, against France and Spain, in the war to settle the Spanish succession.

During his reign the democratical party was de sirous either to abolish, or greatly to reduce the power of the Stadtholder, and the flame extended through all the provinces. In consequence of this, in 1785, the Stadtholder withdrew from the Hague to gain assistance from Prussia; nor was he reinstated in his prerogatives, till he obtained the aid of the Duke of Brunswick, who commanded the Prussian forces.

Was not Holland affected by the Revolution in France?-Deeply so. The first attempt of the French upon Holland was repulsed, by the assist→

ance of the British arms; but in a second attempt of the French, under Pichegru, the tree of liberty was planted at Amsterdam, and a revolution was effected through the Seven United Provinces. The Stadtholder took refuge in England, where he ended his days; but at the termination of the revolutionary war, his son was restored to the throne of his an cestors.

Did not Bonaparte force a king upon the Dutch? -He did, in the person of his brother Louis, in 1806; but finding his government both unwelcome to the States, and unsatisfactory to the Emperor, Louis abdicated the throne in 1810, and the kingdom was annexed to the French empire.

Were the Dutch long under the galling yoke of France ?-Till 1813; when the disasters of the French at Moscow, and their defeat at the battle of Leipsic, inspired the Hollanders with resolution to hoist the Orange colours, dismiss the French authorities, and invite the Prince of Orange, as before observed, to the supreme dignity of the State.

Did not the Prince assume the title of King, instead of that of Stadtholder?-He did, at the close of the war, by the treaty of Vienna in 1814, when the Seven United Provinces, and the ten Belgic, were made to form one sovereignty, to be termed the kingdom of the Netherlands. In 1815, the battle of Waterloo, near Brussels, terminated the sanguinary war of twenty-six years, and restored the Bourbons to the throne of France.

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ABSTRACT OF GERMANY.

What appears to have been the primitive government of the ancient Germans?-A kind of military democracy, under a general or chieftain. They were a brave and independent nation, had at all times a national council, a Wittenagemot, or assembly of the wise men.

Were the Germans subdued by the Romans?— Attempts were made by Julius Cæsar; but in the year A.D. 9, the Roman legions were cut to pieces in Germany, and the Germans opposed the Roman Empire in its full vigour; but the western and southern parts of Germany were at length reduced to a Roman province.

How long did the Romans retain possession of Germany?-Till towards the end of the fourth century, when the Roman power began to decline. After which the Franks over-ran the country. But there is nothing worthy of very particular notice till the time of Charlemagne, towards the close of the eighth century.

Who was Charlemagne ?—The son of Pepin, King of France; and on the death of his father, in 772, he succeeded to the throne; and carrying war into Germany and Italy, he subdued the Saxons, and put an end to the kingdom of the Lombards and thus became master not only of France, but of Germany and Italy. He also made an expedition into Spain, and took Saragossa and Pampeluna, and was universally acknowledged as Emperor of the West.

What has been said of his character?-Though his cruelty to the Saxon leaders has scarcely a

parallel in history; and though his cruelty towards the heathen nations which he conquered might fill us with horror, yet he has been eulogized as possessing every princely virtue; and as the phoenix of the age, possessing a liberal and comprehensive mind, that› would have done honour to the most enlightened period.

What is meant by the Carlovingian line?—The posterity of Charlemagne, who inherited this country till the demise of Lewis the Fourth, in 911; including a period of more than a century.

Mention the Kings of this line.-Lewis, Lotharius, Lewis the Second, Charles the Bald, Lewis the Third, the Stammerer, Charles the Fat, Arnold, and Lewis the Fourth. But the history of Europe during this. period is little more than a catalogue of crimes and a register of the debasing effects of ignorance and superstition.

Who succeeded Lewis the Fourth ?-Conrad the First, Duke of Franconia, in 912. He reigned about seven years. In him the Saxon race was restored, as the empire had departed from the family of Charlemagne to those Saxons whom he had subdued.. The reign of Conrad was a scene of troubles, but. he retained the sceptre till his death.

By whom was Conrad succeeded?-By Henry, surnamed the Fowler. He was universally allowed to be the ablest statesman and the greatest Prince of Europe in his time; but his successor, Otho, afterwards styled the Great, surpassed him both in power and renown, though not, perhaps, in valour and abilities.

When did Otho the First begin his reign ?—In 936, and with the intention to govern uprightly, and to

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