When the Romans invaded Gaul, it was divided among three principal
clans: the Rhine then formed its western boundary. The left banks of
this river were occupied by the Belgians: this tract of land now
comprises the catholic Netherlands, and the territory of the United
States; the right bank of the Rhine was then filled by the Frisians,
and now comprises the modern Gröningen, east and west Friesland, a part
of Holland, Gueldres, Utrecht, and Overyssell: the Batavians inhabited
the island which derives its name from them; it now comprises the upper
part of Holland, Utrecht, Gueldres, and Overyssell, the modern Cléves
between the Lech and the Waal.

In antient geography, the Netherlands were separated into the
Cisrhenahan and Transrhenahan divisions: the Cisrhenahan lay on the
western side of the Rhine, and included the Belgic Gaul; it was bounded
by the Rhenus, the Rhodanus, the Sequana, the Matrona, and the Oceanus
Britannicus: the Transrhenahan lay on the eastern side of the Rhine; it
was a part of Lower Germany, and bounded on the north by the eastern
Frisia, Westphalia, the Ager-Colonensis, the Juliacensis-Ducatus, and
the Treveri. The classical reader will have no difficulty in assigning
to these denominations, their actual names in the language of modern
geography.

The whole of these territories is called the Netherlands by the English;
and Flanders by the Italians, Spaniards, and French.