ly, Switzerland and England, and on his
return he took up his residence at the Hague, as an advocate. In 1650 he
was appointed pensionary of Dort, an office which made him the leader
and spokesman of the town's deputation in the state of Holland. In this
same year the states of Holland found themselves engaged in a struggle
for provincial supremacy, on the question of the disbanding of troops,
with the youthful prince of Orange, William II. William, with the
support of the states-general and the army, seized five of the leaders
of the states-right party and imprisoned them in Loevestein castle;
among these was Jacob de Witt. The sudden death of William, at the
moment when he had crushed opposition, led to a reaction. He left only a
posthumous child, afterwards William III. of Orange, and the principles
advocated by Jacob de Witt triumphed, and the authority of the states of
Holland became predominant in the republic.

At this time of constitutional crisis such were the eloquence, sagacity
and business talents exhibited by the youthful pensionary of Dort that
on the 23rd of July 1653 he was appointed to the office of grand
pensionary (_Raadpensionaris_) of Holland at the age of twenty-eight. He
was re-elected in 1658, 1663 and 1668, and held office until his death
in 1672. During this period of nineteen years the general conduct of
public affairs and administration, and especially of foreign affairs,
such was the confidence inspired by his talents and industry, was
largely placed in his hands. He found in 1653 his country brought to the
brink of ruin through the war with England, which had been caused by the
keen commercial rivalry of the two maritime states. The Dutch were
unprepared, and suffered severely through the loss of their carrying
trade, and De Witt resolved to bring about peace as soon as possible.
The first demands of Cromwell were impossible, for they aimed at the
absorption of the two republics into a single state, but at last in the
autumn of 1654 peace was concluded, by which the Dutch made large
concessions and agreed to the striking of the flag to English ships in
the narrow seas. The treaty included a secret article, which the
states-general refused to entertain, but which De Witt succeeded in
inducing the states of Holland to accept, by which the provinces of
Holland pledged themselves not to elect a stadtholder or a
captain-general of the union. This Act of Seclusion, as it was called,
was aimed at