f

RILSL^CK’s TftAVliJLS THROUGH GERMANY. 285.

vice of the other hates of the country they direftly call themfelves fovereigns. The ai-fcrnblies of the States General themfelves are nothing lefs than a body reprefenting onefndependent fovereign. 'l’he members of it, though conftanily together, are no morethan/ ambaffadors for the moment, who muff inform- their refpcftive provinces ofevery event that falls out, and direct their deliberations by the whilom of the multitudein thefe.

Immenfe as the anarchy appears in the contexture of the whole, it is- Hill greater ineach fingle ftate and did rift. There the colliiion of oppofite interefls, the variety offpirits and'humours, and the clownifh ftupidity of the common burghers, allow the de*xnagogues to make their advantage of every thing, that falls out. Each particular go- -vernment is the theatre of ever-contending- factions, the heads of which have no thoughtwhatever but of their own private interefl. This war has furnifhed innumerable in*fiances of protection afforded by faction to the greateff criminals. Here, in Amiterdam,,there are four or five hordes, who can do exaftly what they pleafe ; whilft the public isdeluded by falfe news; venal journaliits, and every fpecies of political deception. Inproportion as the one city gets more from England, or the other more from France , ;they become entirely French or Englilh, without any attention whatever to the well-being of the whole. The intereft of thole cities which fubfilt by navigation,is altogetherdifferent, from that of thole on the main land, which depend only on agriculture, and in-ckutry. As the nobility look entirely to the Stadthoider. for advancement,.’for. the famereafon the burghers are conftantly united againft him, and-fo the war betwixt them isendlefs. The confcioufnefs of the difadvantages which the date muff fufferfrom thefecontroverfies, in cafes where concord and.activity are neceflary,. are the reafons why theDutch have never been able to do without the Stadtholderfhip, as. they have frequentlywifhed to do; but though they have got it, the evil genius of the republic has alwayscontrived to render it of no ufe in thofe very cafes where it was calculated.to do the ■mofl good. As in time of war the fpirits of men are mod heated, and people are aptto Teethings in the falfe lights in which their own paiiions or the glofs of faction repre-fent them ; it- has always- happened, that the time pitched upon to curb the power of theStadthoider, has been that in which alone the extenfion of the diftatorial power mighthave been of fervice to the country ; the confeq.uence is,..that the republic bears-all theburthen, without enjoying any of the conveniences of the office. It is abfohuely ridi-culous to hear and to read all the reproaches which are made to< the Stadtholderate, .entirely arifing from foolifh fufpicions, or the falfe reports of intereffed demagogues.Were the people cool enough to-fee things in the right, point of view,.there are feveralphyfieal and moral confiderations fully fufficient to make them eafy, exclufive of theperfonal qualities of the prei'ent Stadrholder., At.one time he is. reproached with his fe--cret underftanding with the court of St. Jameses;, at another, they fuppofe that he wants-the abfolute dominion over his country. It is certain, that the Prince wilhes to beupon good terms with England ; but he is not therefore a traitor to the country from,which he derives the greateft part of his fupport: his wifhes in this, refpeft,were fuchas the beft interefts of the republic diftated, and his object was to put it in a fituation to -preferve the neutrality •, but the people were deaf to all his reprefentations, and he hasbeen compelled to expiate the fins of others;. the confequences of.which he would, had.it been poffible, have prevented. Long before the breach, he reprefented to the States .General the urgent neceffity there was for-them to iricreafe their forces byfeaand land;,tut his remonftrances were vain, and the only effeft produced by them has heen, thatnow ill-difpofed perfons revenge themfelves on him and the- Duke of Brunfwick, who >has done the ungrateful republic fpacial fervice, for die good advice they gave. They

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