They form nearly one-fourth of the population of the whole kingdom, or about one million three hundred thousand persons.

All the rest of the nation speak Low German, in its modifications of Dutch and Flemish; and they offer the distinctive characteristics of the Saxon race--talents for agriculture, navigation, and commerce; perseverance rather than vivacity; and more courage than taste for the profession of arms.

They are subdivided into Flemings--those who were the last to submit to the House of Austria; and Dutch--those who formed the republic of the United Provinces.

But there is no difference between these two subdivisions, except such as has been produced by political and religious institutions.

The physical aspect of the people is the same; and the soil, equally law and moist, is at once fertilized and menaced by the waters.
The history of this last-mentioned portion of the nation is completely linked to that of the soil which they occupy.