e states bore great resemblance to one
another, and especially in the extent of the immunities conceded to the
citizens as compared with those enjoyed in most of the countries of
Christendom. No tax could be imposed, without the consent of an assembly
consisting of the clergy, the nobles, and the representatives of the
towns. No foreigner was eligible to office, and the native of one
province was regarded as a foreigner by every other. These were insisted
on as inalienable rights, although in later times none were more
frequently disregarded by the rulers.[369]

[Sidenote: THEIR CIVIL INSTITUTIONS.]

The condition of the commons in the Netherlands, during the Middle Ages,
was far in advance of what it was in most other European countries at
the same period. For this they were indebted to the character of the
people, or rather to the peculiar circumstances which formed that
character. Occupying a soil which had been redeemed with infinite toil
and perseverance from the waters, their life was passed in perpetual
struggle with the elements. They were early familiarized to the dangers
of the ocean. The Flemish mariner was distinguished for the intrepid
spirit with which he pushed his voyages into distant and unknown seas.
An extended commerce opened to him a wide range of observation and
experience; and to the bold and hardy character of the ancient
Netherlander was added a spirit of enterprise, with such enlarged and
liberal views as fitted him for taking part in the great concerns of the
community. Villages and towns grew up rapidly. Wealth flowed in from
this commercial activity, and the assistance which these little
communities were thus enabled to afford their princes drew from the
latter the concession of important political privileges, which
established the independence of the citizen.

The tendency of things, however, was still to maintain the distinct
individuality of the provinces, rather than to unite them into a common
political body. They were peopled by different races, speaking different
languages. In some of the provinces French was spoken, in others a
dialect of the German. Their position, moreover, had often brought these
petty states into rivalry, and sometimes into open war, with one
another. The effects of these feuds continued after the causes of them
had passed away; and mutual animosities still lingered in the breasts of
the inhabitants, operating as a permanent source of disunion.

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