The Holland Society of New York - Yearbook (New York, NY)

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r Prime bntflbu. Life and DI' ngls ex. Serious 1.6 hub, ure, of HS the all the 1' now. C years fmind -score ade in public of re- old little 292 , and eefold d re- emain o red, could C of upon slow, nd of ether' h,.or d do 27 not know how to bend their necks to the yoke, To-day, amid the sun-burned hills and weary veldtg of South Africa, the two tiny Dutch Republics are standing up alone against the world's mightiest monarchy, fearless, desperate, indomitable, because the descendants of the old Beggars of the Sea would rather perish than part with their liberty. QLoud applause and cheers.j C But I should fail in my duty as presiding officer to-night, if I did not make an attempt to remind you, as members of the Holland Society, of some of the quiet and valuable work -which your society has done, during the sixteen years of its life, for the promotion of its objects. Let me enumerate briefly. 1. It has called out a number of eloquent ad- dresses, from speakers of authority and distinction, paying a long withheld tribute to I-lolland's contri- butions to civilization and freedom throughout the world, and especially in America. I 2. It has begun the translation and publication of the records of Early Dutch Churches, and of .documents relating to our own city. 2 3. It has brought to America, through the .generosity of Dr. Coster, of Holland, I-Ion. R. B.. Roosevelt, of New York, and others, and through the efforts of the society, a better collection of Dutch books than was ever here before, and has made a large part of them accessible to the public in the library of Columbia University. 4. It has established our first public lectureship in Dutch Literature, a course of lectures delivered for two years by Dr. L. C. Van Noppen at C0lUH1b1H, 'and to be continued this year, under the same aus- pices, in the Dutch Church at 5th Avenueand 43th Street.

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26 , dinner, a loving cup, and a friendly jest, their prime Object is to recognize and perpetuate the contribu- tion made by the Dutch Republic to the life and liberties of the AmC1'iC3U PCOPIQ' This was a service much needed. For fifty years or more people had been taking Irving's ex. cellent fooling with the Knickerbockers as a serious history. Boston had presented itself as the hub, and the spokes, and the rim, and the tire, of America. Plymouth Rock was described as the source of the corner-stone, the cap-stone, and all the other stones of the building. We know better now. We know that the Pilgrim Fathers, in twelve years of Dutch education, grew more, in breadth of mind and girth of waist, than they had grown in two-score years before. Plymouth Rock pants were made in Holland! The first public school, the first public hospital, the first practical establishment of re- ligious liberty on this. continent came from old Amsterdam to New Amsterdam. When the little Half Moon sailed into Manhattan. Bay 292 years ago, with the banner of orange, white, and blue flying at her mast, she brought the threefold gift of popular education, public charity, and re- ligious freedom. The white and the blue remain with us. The orange has been deepened into red, with the blood of heroes who could die, but could not surrender liberty. This passionate and unconquerable love of freedom has always shed a ray of glory upon the character of the Dutch. They may be slow, they may be conservative, they may be fond of Comfort? but try to subjugate them, and whether Y0l1I: Conquering empire be Roman, or Spanish,.or British, you will find that the sons of Holland do T fandt b w ww rofdl30,mrd sh yfiofllh Standing ,Carle monilfiseiindants e imma? flood 3PPlaulii But l Shou d. t0'nighr,1f l r amber. aS In mwmmm done during lliimoti0H of ife C L lf has Calle dresses, from sp? ooios a low burions to civrlrz. world, and CSPCC' 2, lt has begu ol the records 0 :documents relatin i 3. It has bro generosity of Dr. Roosevelt, of N es the efforts of the sc books than was es llftt part of then library of Columbi I 4' M185 establi so Dutch Literatur for two years by D, 0 e C0lltlIlue i Pitts, in th Street' e Dutch xt L, , ' xr., 'E' - 1 'f U-. m ix .

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28 5, lt has sent friendly gifts and messages to Holland, benefactions to the .Leyden Society for the relief of the poor, congratulations to the young ueen on her inaugugatign, and EO on? thus the bon s op amity etween tw lands that have much in common. 0 6. It has awakened new interest in the study gf Dutch principles and influence, an interest which has resulted in the production of such invaluable historical works as those of Douglass Campbell, William Eliot Griffis, and John Fiske. This is quite a generous amount of actual achieve- ment. And when we remember that the Societ has done it without quarreling or putting on airdj without losing its temper' or its appetite, we may claim that it has begun its work well. We may hope, also, that it will continue its labors with Dutch persistence, until the ideal of the typical Dutchman has its rightful pla.ce in American history, and the statue of the typical Dutchman adorns New York. New York !'That was I-Iolland's discovery, Hol- land's gift to the New World. The leading city, the cosmopolitan city, the tolerant, generous, broad-hearted, much-enduring, hard-working, open- handed city. She suffered most in the cause of the Revolution. She gave most in the cause of the Union. She has been the centre of those influences which have held the nation together in peaceful progress, and saved it from rigid provincialism and rabid fanaticism. New York has her faults and She has Pfkid heavily for them. .She is too tol- erant to be alWaYS Vigilant, too prosperous to be always prudent g. too patient always to guard her gjgfiigfxf aglil mtC1'CS1Z-. She is plundered by de- - C groans under absentee rule, from Q . strengthening i United Ti Tioga OiJiI'C21 cannot W f ults et he htf 3 I le d 5 innent from th duct if as an f stand Out as 5 nanirn0U5 HS f our 2111565 rho dmwdAm foiled 35 mem York. ,, fr 4 NOW, Gentle ant part of the matter of inter attend to. A9 Queen of the 1' is to be wedded fied by her peoi this Society sh greeting of adrr ant of a House Scotland, Irelal Orange has don The followin, engros Wilhelmina in ti T0 H67 Majks Omit-Nassa 'WMWF Goa' 4 HsHnm, es . , gr, -..,