Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837/A Dutch Interior
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PEASANTS PLAYING CARDS IN A TAVERN.
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A DUTCH INTERIOR.
They were poor, and by their cabin,
Pale want sat at the door;
And the summer to their harvest
Brought insufficient store.
On one side, the fierce ocean
Proclaimed perpetual war;
On the other, mighty nations
Were threatening from afar.
Foes and seas denied a footing,
On the very ground they trod;
But they had their native courage,
And they had their trust in God.
They made the sea defender
Of the lately threatened shore,
And their tall and stately vessels
Sailed the conquered waters o’er.
To the poor and scanty cabin,
Poured wealth from East and West;
And Freedom came with commerce,
From all old times her guest.
Dyke by dyke they beat their enemies,
As they had beat the sea;
Till Faith stood by her altar,
Secure—triumphant—free.
The brilliant theory of a republic has never been reduced to more rational practice than in the history of Holland. Commerce, religious toleration, security of life and property, and universal instruction—these have been the principles of the States from the very first. Liberty can have no securer foundations. We know of nothing finer in all history, than their unequal but triumphant struggle with le Grand Monarque. The spirit which animated the young and gallant Prince of Orange, was that of the whole nation. "You will see the ruin of your country," was the prophecy of those who looked to the inferior means, not to the superior spirit. "Never," was the heroic reply, "for I will die in her last ditch."