E are too apt to regard the discovery of the beautiful and pic

WE turesque island of Manhattan as the great starting point in the

history of the metropolis of the western world. In point of fact, it was only one of the early mile-stones. For thirty or more years prior to that interesting event-an epoch as troubled and fertile as any in human history-the forces were actively at work in another part of the world which were to result in the marvelous city of to-day (1887), with its boundless wealth, and its affairs of interest and influence affecting the whole continent.

It has been sagely remarked that the value of events are not seen at the time they take place. They can only be estimated in the light of their consequences. The future was a sealed volume to the Europeans of three centuries ago. Could the outcome of their work have been foreshadowed, they would have been incredulous, indeed. The two great European wars which successively established the independence of Holland and the disintegration of Germany, were really but one-a long, mournful tragedy of eighty years' duration. In connection with its tragic scenes of carnage and bloodshed, originated two Dutch commercial corporations of extraordinary magnitude. When, in 1580, Philip II. united Portugal to Spain, and presently began his war upon England, all Spanish and Portuguese ports were closed against English vessels. Therefore England was forced to buy her silks, spices, and other India produce of the Dutch. The revolt of the Netherlands following swiftly, Dutch vessels were excluded from Lisbon, then the great source of supplies from the Orient. It was a severe shock to Dutch industry, for that people had begun already to reap large profits from English trade. Prices had gone up on India goods-on pepper, for instance two hundred per cent. The emancipation of the seven Dutch provinces from the grasp of Spain had resulted in a sort of irregular democracy. The province of Holland, being richer and more powerful than all its six sister provinces combined, imposed a genuine supremacy

VOL. XVIII.-No. 4.-19

FRONT VIEW OF THE WEST INDIA COMPANY'S FIRST HOUSE, 1628-1647.

[From an old print engraved in 1693.]

over the whole that was practically conceded. The Union of Utrecht, established in 1579, was really the foundation of the commonwealth.

But Dutch opulence was of little account without a revenue; and Dutch genius and public spirit, outwitting Spain, conceived the bold project of opening an ocean avenue of its own to China and the East Indies. Thus the East India Company was founded, and its vessels followed in the track of the Portuguese around Africa. Its directors were for the most part noblemen of the old school. The name and interests of Holland's great advocate, John of Barneveld, were identified with it, and his administrative sagacity was one of the principal elements in its marvelous success. Within the first twenty years of its existence it divided upwards of four times its original capital among its shareholders, and accumulated immense possessions in colonies and vessels. It absolutely founded an empire in the East. In a stately mansion at home, a dozen private gentlemen, in the gorgeous costume of the period, gathered around a little table in a charming Dutch parlor controlled fifty or more ships of war on the ocean, and numerous fortresses in far-away lands that were guarded by not less than four thousand pieces of artillery and ten thousand soldiers and sailors. The profits of each trading voyage were enormous, and the shareholders grew rich beyond their wildest imaginings. It was in the employ of this wonderful company that Henry Hudson stumbled upon Manhattan Island. America, however, was not its objective point, and unless there was a passage to be found through it to the treasure of the East, the corporation would not give it a thought. The East India Company made no effort to possess the new country or profit by its possibilities.

But the turmoil from which the East India Company had been evolved was to bear further fruit of importance to the world. When the Spaniards ruined the ancient trade and prosperity of Belgium, more than a hundred Protestant families the very pith of that nation, fled to Holland. They breathed into the atmosphere a new element of commercial strength, and at the same time they were shrewdly at work devising a method by which Belgium might be delivered from the Spanish yoke. These people were opposed to peace with Spain under any circumstances. They knew, too, just how the wide possessions of Spain were open to the resolute attacks of a vigorous foe; and they studied out and pushed into notice a scheme for the organization of a warlike company of private adventurers, who should conquer and ruin the Spanish settlements, seize the Spanish transports, and cut off all communication with her South American dependencies-to be called the West India Company.

Maurice, Prince of Orange, favored the scheme. He craved more power. He felt grievously wronged at not being seated on the throne of Holland. When his father died he had been considered too young to occupy the place made vacant. The Netherlands drifted into a republic because no king, foreign or native, was available. During the war Maurice had been the central figure in modern Europe, the successful commander of armies, and a renowned military scientist. That he should have aspired to sovereignty, and hated the man who stood in his way, under the peculiar circumstances of his birth and training, is by no means remarkable. Thwarted in his ambitious notions, the limited authority vouchsafed him soured his temper. He found himself not a king, not the leader of a nominal republic even, but the servant of the States-General, and the statholder of only five out of seven separate provinces. He was extremely popular among the lower classes, who worshiped him as a brilliant military leader, and were at enmity with Barneveld for his aristocratic proclivities. The subject of the West India Company was seriously considered, and violently opposed by all who were directly or indirectly interested in the East India Company. The partisans of Maurice sustained the new scheme fearlessly, nevertheless, and influential men from the other Dutch provinces gave it the benefit of their sympathy and support. Its actual existence dates from 1606; that is, commissioners from the assembly were appointed in that year, and discussions were frequent in regard to it. But Barneveld, who was virtually the States-General, made this concession for the purpose of using it as a threat for the intimidation of Spain in the peace he was just then trying to secure. He never for a moment intended to confirm the corporation. The bitterness of the two parties for and against the proposed West India Company-who were also divided on almost every question of public interest-culminated as the details of the peace negotiations became known. Holland was in imminent danger of civil war. After a memorable struggle Barneveld carried his point triumphantly, and humble Spain, in the spring of 1609, signed the truce for twelve years. Of course, no warlike company could be formed with the sanction of the Dutch government during that period. But the spirit of war was not subdued, and the outlook for peace was hardly less stormy than that of the conflict just suspended. The outward shape of the strife henceforward was religious. Theological disputes had arisen from the ruins of popular delusion, even among the Protestants themselves. Arminius, appointed to the professorship of theology at the University of Leyden, had undertaken the difficult task of justifying before the tribunal of human reason the doctrine of the condemnation of sinners predestined to

evil. He publicly taught also that the ministers of the Church ought to be dependent on the civil authority. The municipalities caught at the cleverly thrown bait, and attempted to free themselves from the pretensions of the established clergy. Gomarus, a celebrated scholar and a religious fanatic, also a professor at Leyden, denounced the terrible heresy, and defended the doctrines of the established Protestant Church, and its principles of ecclesiastical polity. Religion became so curiously mixed with politics as to offer problems of the most puzzling character. The question of church property was embarrassing in the extreme, and at that time the separation of church and state seemed impossible. To those who saw the intrigues and entanglements, and the religious dogmas which furnished so much material out of which wide-reaching schemes of personal ambition could be spun, it must have been obvious that the interval of truce was necessarily but a brief interlude between two tragedies.

Maurice was no theologian, although he attended church regularly. He said he knew nothing about predestination, whether it was green or whether it was blue;" he only knew that "his pipe and the Advocate's were not likely to make music together." And the discord waxed more and more fierce as time rolled on. Plainly there was no room in the commonwealth for the two strong men—the Advocate and the Statholder. Arrogant, honest, courageous and austere, Barneveld still firmly opposed the West India Company as likely to bring on prematurely and unwisely a renewed conflict with Spain. But the shafts of malice were finally turned against him squarely in the contest, and he was charged with being a traitor bought with Spanish gold. This monstrous charge was repeated by Maurice in haughty anger. Poisonous pamphlets appeared day after day, until there was hardly a crime in the calendar that was not laid at his door. The Belgians were determined to get rid of him, believing that he was the only formidable obstacle in the way of the formation of the West India Company. Maurice had other reasons. Internal disturbances helped forward the crisis. The religious disputes became more heated and envenomed, and serious riots alarmed the country.

"I will grind the Advocate and all his party into fine meal," said the Prince on one occasion.

A clever caricature of the time represented a pair of scales hung up in a great hall. In the one was a heap of parchments, gold chains, and magisterial robes; the whole bundle was marked the holy right of each city. In the other scale lay a big, square, solid, iron-clasped volume, marked Institutes of Calvin. Each scale was respectively watched by Arminius and Gomarus. The judges, gowned, furred, and ruffed, were looking deco