Influence of Holland among the northern powers of Europe.

quarter of Europe. In consequence of these relations and this influence, it has, more than once, become the guarantee, or armed mediator, in the wars of the north; and it has always retired with the honour and the advantage of having preserved an equilibrium, and a mutual independence between these northern powers. This wise and generous policy enabled Holland to save Denmark, at the brink of ruin, under Frederick III. to repress the turbulent ambition of Charles Gustavus, by a maritime diversion, that raised Poland, just ready to sink under his power; to secure to Dantzick the condition it enjoys to the present day, and to produce those circumstances which led to the peace of Oliva, in 1760. Denmark was desirous of attacking Sweden and the house of Holstein-Gottorp. Holland knew how to check, by similar means, this spirit of usurpation, and to reestablish the balance among the northern powers, in 1700, by the treaty of Traventahl.

5. This republic, led astray, by the war of succession, from its only true policy, gradually lost all its influence in the north of Europe, while it acquired none in the south. Spain, claimed by the house of Austria, and almost wrested from Philip V. was about to reunite, on the brow of Charles VI. the crowns worn by Charles V. The English who saw, with jealousy, that Holland disputed with them the empire of the sea, drew her into that famous coalition, and succeeded in overwhelming her with debt. She dearly

Holland takes part in the wars of the south.-Decay of her power.

purchased the barrier treaty, in 1709. She was afterwards repayed with ingratitude by the court of Vienna, and compelled to sign the treaty of 1715, which that court has since trodden under foot. England, by taking on itself two-thirds of the maritime expenses, and throwing upon Holland the same proportion of the expenses of the land service, so far diminished the naval forces of that republic, while its own were augmented in equal proportion. "From that "time," says the judicious author of the work, entitled, The Wealth of Holland, "the Dutch did noth

ing worthy of the maritime reputation they had "acquired. In 1712, their colonies were laid under "contribution by the French; the Swedes captured "their merchant ships, without any appearance of

opposition on the part of the republic. It was not " till 1715, that it joined the English fleet of twenty "sail, with twelve ships of war, in order to protect "the commerce of the two nations in the Baltic, per"petually harrassed by the Swedes, who, in the war

against Russia, continued to seize all vessels bound "to that country. The Dutch had even to suffer "from the Algerines. In 1721, it was calculated "that those pirates had taken more than forty valu"able ships, with their cargoes, worth above six millions, besides nine hundred seamen, reduced to slavery." From this period, the fleets of Holland are no more to be seen, and the excellent marine discipline of the Batavians has fallen into neglect. A Van Tromp, a Ruyter, or Evertson, has not again appear

Parallel between England and France.

ed; England, alone, with her squadrons, covers every sea, where she rules with the most disgusting tyranny.(115)

ARTICLE V.

Parallel between England and France, in regard to their Claims to the Empire of the Sea.*

§ 1. IN this article will be comprised all that was intended to be said of England and France, in order to bring into comparison the spirit by which these two powers have long been actuated. At the same time, I shall submit to the judgment of the reader, the inordinate pretensions of the first,

(115) See La politiques de tous les Cabinets de l'Europe, with the learned notes of M. Segur, the elder, vol. 2, from which the above facts have been taken.

* It may be proper to inform the reader, that the following article, as well as the former part of this chapter, excepting twelve pages has been added by the author, since the former edition of his work, printed in 1796. If, instead of a partial discussion of the political conduct of two great and rival nations, our author had confined himself to a concise and luminous description of the progress and present state of their marine, it would not have been thought an unnecessary digression from the subject of his work. The zeal, not to say, partiality, which he has manifested in the cause of France, induces a suspicion, that he has not been careful to hold the balance with an even hand, nor to preserve that spirit of moderation and justice which belongs to a neutral character.......T.

England has abused her power.-The ancient Britons.

who, in contempt of all laws, has, for ages, used every means to obtain the empire of the sea, and the moderation of the second, who has always resisted those pretensions, and has endeavoured to maintain the freedom of navigation by an uniform opposition to her rival. England has consulted nothing but her maritime strength, and in proportion as she has felt its greatness, she has thought herself authorised to engage in every enterprise. So absolute has this power at length appeared to her, that she has believed herself exempted from the observance of the most solemn engagements, and of the most sacred principles of the universal law of nations. History will be consulted in search of facts to support the truth of these assertions, and to enable us to form a closer comparison between the conduct of the two nations, from which the most important conclusions will flow.

2. The ancient Britons, dwelling in caverns, with which the interior of their island abounded, were not in a situation to oppose any resistance to the invasion of the Romans, under the command of Cæsar.(116) According to Pliny, (117) they possessed, at that time,

(116) Jul. Cæsar, de bell. gall. lib. 4, c. 22.

(117) Plin. hist. nat. lib. 4, c. 3. " England," says the Abbe Raynal, "finding herself at the present day, the first maritime power, "readily imagines that she has always possessed the empire of the "" sea. At one time, her maritime superiority is traced as far back "as the time of Julius Cæsar; at another, the date of her domin❝ion over the sea is, at least, in the ninth century. At some future day, perhaps, the Corsicans, who are of no consequence at pre

Offa, king of Mercia, the first who claimed the empire of the British sea.

only light canoes, made of osier, and lined with leather, similar to those still used by the Greenlanders. The Saxons, the Jutlanders, the Angles, and other northern nations, who successively ravaged their coasts, and who often pursued the natives into their gloomy retreats, did not inspire them with the idea of opposing these attacks, by armed ships. The Angles finally succeeded in establishing themselves permanently in the greater part of the island, and gave their name to the country, which they divided into seven kingdoms.

3. Offa, king of Mercia, the most powerful prince in the heptarchy, distinguished for the wars he carried on against the neighbouring kings, and for his solicitude to maintain a considerable fleet to guard the coast, appears to be the first who had any pretensions to the empire of the sea. He disputed it with Charlemagne; and this great monarch, who had not time to form a marine, seeing the advantages to be derived from the naval forces of Offa, in guarding his dominions against the attacks of the Normans, who, with powerful squadrons, sometimes with fleets of 120 and 200 sail, exercised piracy, and every kind of robbery, on the sea, did not disdain the alliance of the Mercian king. Char

"sent, when they become a maritime nation, will inscribe in their "records, that they have always possessed the dominion of the "Mediterranean sea. Such is the vanity of man; it seeks to aggrandize its nothingness in past, as well as in future times."

Tableau de l'Europe, p. 70.