Observations upon the United Provinces of the Netherlands/Preface
Having lately seen the State of the United Provinces, after a prodigious growth in Riches, Beauty, extent of Commerce, and number of Inhabitants, arrived at length to such a height, (by the strength of their Navies, their fortified Towns, and standing-Forces, with a constant Revenue, proportion'd to the support of all this Greatness,) as made them the Envy of some, the Fear of others, and the Wonder of all their Neighbours.
We have, this Summer past, beheld the same State, in the midst of great appearing Safety, Order, Strength, and Vigor, almost ruin'd and broken to pieces, in some few days, and by very few blows; And reduced in a manner to its first Principles of Weakness, and Distress; exposed, opprest, and very near at Mercy. Their Inland Provinces swallowed up by an Invasion, almost as sudden, and unresisted, as the Inundations to which the others are subject. And the remainders of their State rather kept alive by neglect, or disconcert of its Enemies, than by any strength of Nature, or Endeavours at its own recovery.
Now, because such a Greatness and such a Fall of this State seem Revolutions unparallel'd in any Story, and hardly conceived, even by those who have lately seen them; I thought it might be worth an idle Man's time, to give some account of the Rise and Progress of this Commonwealth, The Causes of their Greatness, And the steps towards their Fall: Which were all made by motions, perhaps, little taken notice of by common Eyes, and almost undiscernible to any Man, that was not placed to the best advantage, and something concerned, as well as much enclin'd, to observe them.
The usual Duty of employments abroad, imposed not only by Custom, but by Orders of State, made it fit for me to prepare some formal Account of this Country and Government, after Two years Ambassy, in the midst of great Conjunctures and Negotiations among them. And such a Revolution as has since happen'd there, though it may have made these Discourses little important to his Majesty, or His Council; Yet it will not have render'd them less agreeable to common Eyes, who, like Men that live near the Sea, will run out upon the Cliffs to gate at it in a Storm, though they would not look out of their Windows, to see it in a Calm.
Besides, at a time when the Actions of this Scene take up, so generally, the Eyes and Discourses of their Neighbours; And the Maps of their Country grow so much in request: I thought a Map of their State and Government would not be unwelcome to the World, since it is full as necessary as the others, to understand the late Revolutions, and Changes among them. And as no Man's Story can be well written till he is dead; so the account of this State could not be well given till its fall, which may justly be Dated from the Events of last Summer, (whatever Fortunes may further attend them,) since therein we have seen the sudden and violent dissolution of that more Popular Government, which had continued, and made so much noise, for above Twenty Years in the World, without the exercise, or influence, of the Authority of the Princes of Orange, a Part so Essential in the first Constitutions of their State. Nor can I wholly lose my pains in this Adventure, when I shall gain the ease of answering this way, at once, those many Questions I have lately been used to, upon this occasion: Which made me first observe, and wonder, how ignorant we were, generally, in the Affairs and Constitutions of a Country, so much in our Eye, the common road of our Travels, as well as subject of our Talk; and which we have been of late, not only curious, but concerned, to know.
I am very sensible, how ill a Trade it is to write, where much is ventur'd, and little can be gain'd; since, whoever does it ill is sure of contempt; and the justliest that can be, when no Man provokes him to discover his own follies, or to trouble the World, if he writes well, he raises the envy of those Wits that are possest of the Vogue, and are jealous of their Preferment there, as if it were in Love, or in State; And have found, that the nearest way to their own Reputation lies, right or wrong, by the derision of other Men. But, however, I am not in pain, for 'tis the affectation of Praise, that makes the fear of Reproach; And l write without other design than of entertaining very idle Men, and, among them, my self. For I must confess, that being wholly useless to the Publique; And unacquainted with the Cares of encreasing Riches, (which busie the World:) Being grown cold to the pleasures of younger or livelier Men; And having ended the Entertainments of Building, and Planting, (which use to succeed them;) finding little taste in common Conversation, and trouble in much Reading, from the care of my Eyes (since an illness contracted by many unnecessary diligences in my Employments abroad;) there can hardly be found an idler Man, than I; Nor consequently, one more excuseable for giving way to such amusements, as this: Having nothing to do, but to enjoy the ease of a private Life and Fortune; which, as I know no Man envies, so (I thank God,) no Man can reproach.
I am not ignorant, that the vein of Reading never ran lower than in this Age; and seldom goes, further than the design of raising a Stock to furnish some Calling, or Conversation. The Desire of Knowledge being either laught out of doors by the Wit, that pleases the Age; or beaten out by Interest, that so much possesses it : And the amusement of Books giving way to the liberties or refinements of Pleasure, that were formerly less known, or less avowed, than now. Yet some there will always be found in the World, who ask no more at their idle hours, than to forget themselves. And, whether that be brought about by Drink or Play, by Love or Business, or by some diversions, as idle as this, 'tis all a case.
Besides, it may possibly fall out, at one time or other, that some Prince, or great Minister, may not be ill pleased in these kind of Memorials, (upon such a Subject,) to trace the steps of Trade and Riches, of Order and Power in a State; and those likewise of weak or violent Counsels; of corrupt, or ill, Conduct; of Faction or Obstinacy, which decay and dissolve the firmest Governments: That so, by Reflections upon Foreign Events, they may provide the better and the earlier against those at home, and raise their own Honour and Happiness, by equal degrees with the Prosperity and Safety of the Nations, they Govern.
For, under favour of those who would pass for Wits in our Age, by saying things, which David tells us, the Fool said in His; And set up with bringing those Wares to Market, which (God knows) have been always in the World, though kept up in corners, because they used to mark their Owners, in former Ages, with the Names of Buffoons, Prophane, or Impudent, Men; Who deride all Form and Order, as well as Piety and Truth; And, under the notion of Fopperies, endeavour to dissolve the very Bonds of all Civil Society; though by the Favour and Protection thereof, they themselves enjoy so much greater proportions of Wealth, and of Pleasures, than would fall to their share, if all lay in common, as they seem to design, (for then such Possessions would belong of right to the strongest and bravest among us.)
Under favour of such Men, I believe, it will be found, at one time or other, by all who shall try, That whilst Human Nature continues what it is, The same Orders in State, The same Discipline in Armies, The same Reverence for things Sacred, And Respect of Civil Institutions, The same Virtues and Dispositions of Princes and Magistrates, derived by Interest, or Imitation, into the Customs and Humors of the People, will ever have the same Effects upon the Strength and Greatness of all Governments, and upon the Honour and Authority of those that Rule, as well as the Happiness and Safety of those that Obey.
Nor are we to think Princes themselves losers, or less entertain'd, when we see them employ their Time, and their Thoughts, in so useful Speculations, and to so Glorious Ends: But that rather, thereby they attain their true Prerogative of being Happier, as well as Greater, than Subjects can be. For all the Pleasures of Sense, that any Man can enjoy, are within the reach of a private Fortune, and ordinary Contrivance; Grow fainter with Age, and duller with use; Must be revived with intermissions, and wait upon the returns of Appetite, which are no more at call of the Rich, than the Poor. The flashes of Wit and good Humour, that rise from the Vapours of Wine, are little different from those that proceed from the heats of Blood in the first approaches of Fevers, or Frenzies; And are to be valued, but as (indeed) they are, the effects of Distemper. But the pleasures of Imagination, as they heighten and refine the very pleasures of Sense, so they are of larger extent, and longer duration. And if the most sensual Man will confess there is a Pleasure in Pleasing, He must likewise allow, there is Good to a Man's Self, in doing Good to others; And the further this extends, the higher it rises, and the longer it lasts. Besides, there is Beauty in Order; and there are Charms in well-deserved Praise : And both are the greater, by how much greater the Subject; As the first appearing in a well framed and well-governed State; And the other arising from Noble and Generous Actions. Nor can any veins of good Humour be greater than those, that swell by the success of wise Counsels, and by the fortunate Events of publique Affairs; since a Man that takes pleasure in doing good to Ten thousand, must needs have more, than he that takes none, but in doing Good to Himself.
But these Thoughts lead me too far, and to little purpose: Therefore I shall leave them for those I had first in my Head, concerning the State of the United-Provinces.
And whereas the Greatness of their Strength, and Revenues, grew out of the vastness of their Trade, into which, their Religion, their Manners, and Dispositions, their Scituation, and the Form of their Government, were the chief Ingredients. And this last had been raised partly upon an old Foundation, And partly with Materials brought together, by many and various Accidents; It will be necessary for the Survey of this great Frame, to give some account of the Rise and Progress of their State, by pointing out the most remarkable Occasions of the first, and Periods of the other. To discover the Nature and Constitutions of their Government in its several parts, and the motions of it, from the first and smallest Wheels. To observe, what is peculiar to them in their Scituation, or Dispositions, And what in their Religion. To take a Survey of their Trade, and the Causes of it; Of the Forces and Revenues, which composed their Greatness; And the Circumstances, and Conjunctures, which conspired to their Fall. And these are the Heads, that shall make the Order and Arguments in the several parts of these Observations.