J. Scheltema - De afschudding van het Fransche juk - 1813

Jacobus Scheltema - Comparison of the overthrow of the Spanish Yoke in 1572 with that of the French in 1813. By Mr. Jacobus Scheltema, Member of the Dutch Institute, etc., and of several Societies of Sciences - Amsterdam, H. Gartman, 1814.

The historian Jacobus Scheltema (1767-1835) wrote this work after Napoleon Bonaparte lost the Battle of Leipzig and the Netherlands was liberated from French rule by the Cossacks. The French were not entirely defeated yet, Scheltema writes: 'Already, the great plunderers of the allies are advancing towards the Rhine. Will France and Napoleon withstand this united power?' He only knew the answer after Waterloo, in June 1815.

The pen of the writer, with its pointedness, depicts the hostility of French violence with strokes, whose truth must be acknowledged as no less than terrifying. In all respects, our affairs are now more favorable than those of our ancestors, who shook off the Spanish yoke. And they did not falter, nor did they fail to overcome all difficulties; indeed, they soon became that blessed people, who for two centuries inspired admiration and envy among the mightiest nations. Should we then be discouraged? Far from it! The sword is drawn, the sheath has been cast aside. Hell yawns behind us, and only forward lies the path of salvation!