under a joint guarantee of the signatories of the treaty.' On being thrown out by a small hostile vote, Thorbecke declined office, but by his advice the King called P. van Bosse to form a Cabinet. It is chiefly remembered by the law which it passed for the abolition of the death penalty. The Franco-German War of 1870, however, called for a stronger Government; and the veteran Thorbecke once more became First Minister, and continued in office during this critical period until his death in 1872. The period of Dutch history which followed the death of Thorbecke is uninteresting. The Liberals, though they retained a majority in the States-General, were divided amongst themselves; and a succession of weak Ministries held office. Gerrit de Vries (1872-4) was followed by Jan Heemskerk, who had already been First Minister (1866-8). Heemskerk was an able man and clever politician, and for three years by dexterous opportunism he remained at the head of affairs in the face of the combined opposition of the advanced Liberals, the Calvinist anti-revolutionaries, and the Catholics. Groen van Prinsterer, leader of the antirevolutionary party, died in 1876, and his place was taken by Dr. Abraham Kuyper." Kuyper was an eloquent speaker and a trenchant jour nalist, who knew how to infuse into the formerly aristocratic and Conservative anti-revolutionary party his own democratic enthusiasm for reform and progress upon religious lines. That religious teaching should be recognised by the State as an essential part of primary education was the fundamental principle of the policy he advocated. 2 1 The Luxemburg question (1867) is fully treated in the special paper on Luxemburg, No. 27 of this Series. Born 1837. After a number of years as a Calvinist pastor, he undertook the editorship of the anti-revolutionary paper, De Standaard, in 1872, and in addition that of De Heraut in 1878. He was elected member for Gouda in 1874, but resigned immediately, that he might devote himself to editorial work. His political career in the States-General began in 1896. The support of this principle was a bond of union between the anti-revolutionary party and the Catholics, who were under the leadership of Dr. Schaepman,' and had now severed their connection with the Liberal party. An advanced Liberal Ministry held office from 1872 to 1879. It was displaced by that of Count van Lynden van Sandenburg, whose tact and resourcefulness enabled him, with a Ministry formed of men of all parties, to carry on the Government in a period (1879-83) of much disquietude and uncertainty. A series of misfortunes fell at this time upon the House of Orange. In 1877 Queen Sophie died; in 1879 Prince Henry, the King's brother, for many years Stadholder of Luxemburg; a few months later, the Prince of Orange; in 1881 Prince Frederick, the King's uncle; and in 1884 Prince Alexander, his younger and sole surviving son. Not one of these princes left an heirmale to succeed to the throne. In these circumstances the now sexagenarian King married the youthful Emma, Princess of Waldeck-Pyrmont (January 1879); and the birth of a daughter, Wilhelmina (August 31, 1880), caused general rejoicing throughout the country. During the administration of Van Lynden public opinion in Holland was deeply stirred by the revolt of the Boers in the Transvaal against British rule, which ended in the restoration of their independence as the South African Republic (1880-81). The Van Lynden Ministry fell in February 1883 on a proposed modification of the electoral franchise, and Heemskerk for the third time became First Minister at the head of a Coalition Cabinet of neutral character. One of its acts was to provide for a Regency in case of the King's death during his daughter's minority; and provision was made for Queen Emma to exercise that office with full powers. There had long been an agitation for a revision of the Fundamental Law and for an 1 Born in 1844, the Abbé Schaepman was elected member for Breda in 1880. He, like Kuyper, devoted himself largely to journalism, contributing to De Tijd, De Katholiek, and many other papers and reviews. extension of the suffrage. The Chamber was divided into many groups, but there was a general agreement that revision was necessary; and, after long debates, the Fundamental Law was altered in a democratic direction, though no violent changes were made. It was determined that the First Chamber should consist of fifty members, chosen as before by the Provincial States; the Second Chamber of a hundred members, by an electorate of all males of twenty-five years having a residential qualification and possessing "signs of fitness and social well-being," a phrase reserved for definition by a later law. By this reform the electorate was raised from (about) 100,000 to (about) 350,000. 66 The general election which followed in 1888 was fought on the question of primary education. In 1857 a law had been passed by which the State declined to give subsidies to any private schools, but only to public mixed" schools, which were to be "neutral," i.e., to receive no instruction in any specific religious belief or doctrine. This law was revised in 1878, when the Liberals had a large majority in the States-General, and further restrictions were placed upon the teaching of religion, while State assistance was denied to the "free" private schools, supported by the various denominations. The Catholics, who had at first, in gratitude for their emancipation in 1848, voted with the Liberals, were driven into opposition by the Education Bill of 1857 and drawn closer to the anti-revolutionary party of Groen van Prinsterer.' The more stringent law of 1878 brought the two groups into still more intimate co-operation; and when, with the election of 1888, a first appeal was made to the largely increased electorate, the two" Christian" parties, under their two eloquent and talented leaders (the Calvinist pastor, Dr. Kuyper, and the Catholic priest, Dr. Schaepman), combined their forces. The result was a decided Coalition triumph. The Liberals were defeated, and a 1 For an account of the Dutch political parties after 1848 see infra, p. 68. 66 Ministry under Baron Mackay, an anti-revolutionary of moderate and conciliatory views, was formed, in which two Catholics had portfolios. The first task of this Ministry was a revision of the education law of 1878. The "Mackay Law," as it is generally called, aimed at a settlement which would pacify" both parties and be permanent. The "neutral" schools were not touched, but subsidies were extended to the "free" private schools, under condition that every such school should have at least twenty-five scholars, should conform to the official regulations, and be organised by a society or body recognised by the law. (iv) Death of William III. Regency of Queen The death of the King (November 23, 1890), after a prolonged period of ill-health, was deeply regretted by the Dutch people, who saw in him the last male representative of that House of Orange-Nassau, to which they were strongly attached. He was succeeded by his daughter, Wilhelmina, under the regency of the QueenMother, Emma. An attempt of the Mackay Ministry to introduce a system of compulsory military service, with substitution, alienated the Catholic section of its supporters; and owing to their withdrawal from the alliance, and to a split in the anti-revolutionary party, the Liberals at the election of 1891 obtained a majority. The new Ministry of Van Tienhoven contained two men of special ability-the Finance Minister, Pierson, and the Minister of the Interior, Tak van Portvliet. Pierson succeeded in the task, in which his predecessors had failed, of so reorganising the system of taxation as to avoid a deficit in the Budget and at the same time make sufficient provision for the national defences and for social reforms. But the question of an enlargement of the electorate once more rent the Liberal party. Tak van Portvliet brought in a proposal for practically universal suffrage. The moderate Liberals, 66 under the leadership of Samuel van Houten, opposed it. The conservative section of the anti-revolutionary party, headed by A. F. de Savornin-Lohman, and the bulk of the Catholics went with Van Houten; the "democratic" followers of Dr. Kuyper and Dr. Schaepman supported Tak. The ordinary parties being thus broken into fragments, the election became a contest between Takkians and anti-Takkians:" The Takkians were beaten. A new Ministry under Jonk heer J. Roëll was formed, and the duty of preparing an alternative project of electoral reform fell upon Van Houten as Minister of the Interior. His proposals were finally accepted in 1896, and contained the following provisions. The numbers of the Second Chamber were fixed at 100, to be elected by single-member districts. All males of twenty-five years of age and over received the vote, provided they came under one of these comprehensive categories (1) payers of at least one guilder in direct taxation; (2) householders or lodgers paying a certain minimum rent and having a residential qualification; (3) proprietors or hirers of vessels of twenty-four tons at least; (4) earners of a certain specified amount of wage or salary; (5) investors of 100 guilders in the public funds or 50 guilders in the savings bank; (6) persons holding certain educational diplomas. By this law the number of electors was raised to about 700,000. The election of 1897 gave a small Liberal majority, and a change of Ministry followed. In 1898 personal military service was estab lished, students and ecclesiastics being alone excepted. (v) Reign of Queen Wilhelmina Queen Wilhelmina attained her majority on August 31, 1898, and herself assumed those duties of sovereignty which the Queen-Regent had discharged admirably for eight years. The first Peace Congress at The Hague, convoked on the initiative of the Tsar Nicholas II, was held from May 18 to June 29, 1899. The outbreak of the Boer |