Holland: The History of the Netherlands

Thomas Colley Grattan

Thomas Colley Grattan was an Irish novelist, poet, dramatist, travel writer, historian and diplomat. Born in Dublin, he was educated for the law, but did not practise. He wrote a few novels, including The Heiress of Bruges ; but his best work was Highways and Byways, a description of his Continental travels, of which he published three series, amounting to eight volumes. He also wrote a history of the Netherlands and books on America. He was for some time British Consul at Boston in the United States and assisted in the negotiations leading to the Webster–Ashburton Treaty in 1842.