The Rise of the Dutch Kingdom - 1795 1813; A Short Account of the Early Development of the Modern Kingdom of the Netherlands #262898

His foreword is an afterthought. It was written when the first proofs of the book had gone back to the printer. And this is how it took its origin: A few days ago I received a copy of a Dutch historical magazine containing a violent attack upon one of my former books. The reviewer, who evidently neither had taken the time to read my book nor had taken the trouble to understand what I was trying to say, accused me among other things of a haughty contempt for my forefathers during their time of decline. Haughty con tempt, indeed! Nay, Brother of the Acrid Pen, was it not the truth which hurt thee so unexpectedly rather than my scornful irony?