1920 DUTCH MISSIONS TO ENGLAND IN 1689 533 prosperity, perhaps even protestant unity. It denies that William will become too powerful in the Dutch republic, that his absence will be bad for the country, that as a presbyterian he will ha v^ trouble in England. As for the past, the writer main- tains that the wars between the two sea-powers were brought about by political and religious causes rather than by any deep conflict of interests '.^ ' in a word, all that they and their brothers have suffered for fifty years past, is due to the machinations of the French Court, two Cardinals, and the Jesuits.' ^ He passes over very lightly the differences of interest between the two countries. The treaty of Breda, he says, has sufficiently dealt with the question of the flag, and not only with that, but with the herring fishery and even with ' the export of goods '. The quarrels of the two East India Companies seem of greater impor- tance, but yet they might well be amicably arranged and this stone of stumbling removed, either by an incorporation of the two or by some other means, which it is not for him to prescribe.^ Oddly enough the differences for which he suggests this heroic remedy were to cause, during the period of the war, hardly any trouble at all. If one or two of the Dutch pamphleteers hoped vaguely that the rivalry of commercial policy between the two nations might be brought to an end, there were others who expected a different result. In 1689 there were circulated in the United Provinces some manuscript pamphlets of French origin or inspiration. Believe me [says one], we shall soon find ourselves as to trade in the same slavery as the Irish. Like them we shall find ourselves bound to deliver our cargoes in England, and, in a short time, this will lead to the entire annihilation of our trade and the exaltation of England's.* William, says another, will not be able to retain the favour of the English unless he promises to benefit British trade at the expense of Dutch ; the Dutch will lose their freedom and will be unable to maintain their trade even in the low state to which it has fallen. The stadtholder's becoming king means the incor- poration of the United Provinces in his kingdom, or rather their subjection. ' In one word : the interests of England and Holland cannot be reconciled.' ^ A third maintains that the declaration of war by the states general will stop the trade of all other > p. 12.
- ' Met een word al wat zy en hare breeders, van vyftig jaren af, geleden hebben
uitbroeizelen zijn van 't Fransse Hof , twee Cardinaalen en de Jezuiten ' (p. 14).
- pp. 12-13.
- Translaet van twee Brieven (Bibliotheca Thyssiana, Leyden, no. 5003).
- Ibid. Second letter dated in one place ' Livorno ', in another ' Lisbunne, 10 Mar.,
1689'.
