or at least to abstain.  Thus the king could always rely on a small but constant majority, and by its aid he did not hesitate to force through financial and legislative proposals in the teeth of Belgian opposition.  It is only fair, however, to the arbitrary king to point out how earnestly he endeavoured to promote the material and industrial welfare of the whole land, and to encourage to the best of his power literary, scientific and educational progress.  In Holland the carrying-trade, which had so long been the chief source of the country’s wealth, had been utterly ruined by Napoleon’s Continental System.  On the other hand, Belgian industries, which had been flourishing through the strict embargo placed upon the import of British goods, were now threatened with British competition.  The steps taken by the energy and initiative of the king were, considering the state of the national finances, remarkable in the variety of their aims and the results that they achieved.  The old Amsterdam Bank was transformed into a Bank of the Netherlands.  A number of canals were planned and constructed.  Chief among these was the North Holland Canal, connecting Amsterdam with the Helder.  The approaches to Rotterdam were improved, so that this port became the meeting-point of sea-traffic from England and river-traffic by the Rhine from Germany.  But both these ports were quickly overshadowed by the rapid recovery of Antwerp, now that the Scheldt was free and open to commerce.  Other important canals, begun and wholly or in part constructed, during this period were the Zuid-Willemsvaart, the Zederik, the Appeldoorn and the Voorne canals.  Water communication was not so necessary in the south as in the north, but care was there also bestowed upon the canals, especially upon the canal of Terneuzen connecting Ghent with the western Scheldt, and many highways were constructed.  To restore the prosperity of the Dutch carrying-trade, especially that with their East Indies, in 1824 a Company—­de Nederlandsche Handekmaatschappij—­was founded; and at the same time a commercial treaty was concluded with Great Britain, by which both nations were to enjoy free trade with each other’s East Indian possessions.  The Handekmaatschappij had a capital of 37 million florins; to this the king contributed four millions and guaranteed to the shareholders for 20 years a dividend of 4 1/2 per cent.  The Company at first worked at a loss, and in 1831 William had to pay four million florins out of his privy purse to meet his guarantee.  This was partly due to the set-back of a revolt in Java which lasted some years.