In the present crisis of Belgian affairs there is much to remind the
historical student of the events which led to the fall of Antwerp in
1585, and the outrageous invasion of the Southern Netherlands by the
army of Parma. Then, as now, Holland opened her arms to her wounded and
captive sister. The best Flemish scholars and men of letters emigrated
to the land where Cornheert and Spieghel welcomed them.
Merchants and artisans flocked to a new sphere of energy in Amsterdam.
Several of the professorial chairs in that city, and in the great
universities of Leyden and Harderwijk, were filled by learned
Flemings, and the arts, that had long been flourishing in Brussels,
fled northward to escape from the desolating Spanish scourge. The
grim pencil of Raemaekers becomes tender whenever he touches upon
the relation of the tortured Belgium to her sister, Holland, his own
beloved fatherland.
We do not know yet, in this country, a tithe of the sacrifices which
have been made in Holland to staunch the tears of Belgium. “Your
sufferings are mine, and so are your fortunes,” has been the motto of
the loyal Dutch.