rk is pervaded by a mysticism which is
sometimes obscure and austere, by a discord between Christian ideas
and pagan forms. The lyrical element predominates over the dramatic,
good taste is often offended, and, above all, the thought and feeling,
though aiming at the sublime, rise too high above this earth, and
elude the comprehension of the human heart and mind. Nevertheless,
historical precedence, originality, ardent patriotism, and a noble and
patient life have made Vondel a great and venerated name in his
country, where he is regarded as the personification of national
genius, and is placed in the enthusiasm of affection next to the first
poets of other lands.

Vondel is the greatest, Jacob Catz is the truest, personification of Dutch
genius. He is not only the most popular poet of his nation, but his
popularity is such that it may be affirmed that there is no other writer
of any land, not excluding even Cervantes in Spain and Manzoni in Italy,
who is more generally known and more constantly read, while at the same
time there is perhaps no other poet in the world whose popularity is more
necessarily limited to the boundaries of his own country. Jacob Catz was
born in 1577 of a noble family in Brouwershaven, a town of Zealand. He
studied law, became pensionary of Middelburg, went as ambassador to
England, was Grand Pensionary of Holland, and, while he performed the
duties of these offices with zeal and rectitude, he devotedly cultivated
poetry. In the evening, after he had transacted affairs of state with the
deputies of the provinces, he would retire to his home to write verses. At
seventy-five years of age he asked to be released from further service,
and when the stadtholder told him with appreciative words that his
request had been granted, he fell on his knees in the presence of the
Assembly of the States and thanked God, who had always protected him
during the course of his long and exacting political life. A few days
later he retired to one of his villas, where he enjoyed a peaceful and
honorable old age, studying and writing up to the year 1660, when he died,
in the eighty-first year of his life, mourned by all Holland. His poems
fill several large volumes, and consist of fables, madrigals, stories from
history and mythology, abounding in descriptions, quotations, sentences,
and precepts. His work is pervaded with goodness, honesty, and sweetness,
and he writes with frank simplicity and delicate humor. His vol