Spain alone, without a single dependency, ought to have been a kingdom of the first rank; and Spain was but the nucleus of the Spanish monarchy.

The outlying provinces of that monarchy in Europe would have sufficed to make three highly respectable states of the second order.

One such state might have been formed in the Netherlands.

It would have been a wide expanse of cornfield, orchard and meadow, intersected by navigable rivers and canals.

At short intervals, in that thickly peopled and carefully tilled region, rose stately old towns, encircled by strong fortifications, embellished by fine cathedrals and senate-houses, and renowned either as seats of learning or as seats of mechanical industry.