ary to recur to another
such league? Was not the union of France and Spain under one monarch, or
even under one family, the most alarming contingency that ever had
threatened the liberty of Europe?

_William_.--I thought so, and I am sure I did not err in my judgment. But
folly is blind, and faction wilfully shuts her eyes against the most
evident truths that cross her designs, as she believes any lies, however
palpable and absurd, that she thinks will assist them.

_De Witt_.--The only objection which seems to have any real weight
against your system of policy, with regard to the maintenance of a
balance of power in Europe, is the enormous expense that must necessarily
attend it; an expense which I am afraid neither England nor Holland will
be able to bear without extreme inconvenience.

_William_.--I will answer that objection by asking a question. If, when
you were Pensionary of Holland, intelligence had been brought that the
dykes were ready to break and the sea was coming in to overwhelm and to
drown us, what would you have said to one of the deputies who, when you
were proposing the proper repairs to stop the inundation, should have
objected to the charge as too heavy on the Province? This was the case
in a political sense with both England and Holland. The fences raised to
keep out superstition and tyranny were all giving way; those dreadful
evils were threatening, with their whole accumulated force, to break in
upon us and overwhelm our ecclesiastical and civil constitutions. In
such circumstances to object to a necessary expense is folly and madness.

_De Witt_.--It is certain, sir, that the utmost abilities of a nation can
never be so well employed as in the unwearied, pertinacious defence of
their religion and freedom. When these are lost, there remains nothing
that is worth the concern of a good or wise man. Nor do I think it
consistent with the prudence of government not to guard against future
dangers, as well as present; which precaution must be often in some
degree expensive. I acknowledge, too, that the resources of a commercial
country, which supports its trade, even in war, by invincible fleets, and
takes care not to hurt it in the methods of imposing or collecting its
taxes, are immense, and inconceivable till the trial is made; especially
where the Government, which demands the supplies, is agreeable to the
people. But yet an unlimited and continued expense will in the end be
destructiv