l for this purpose. Monsieur d'Affry, the French
king's minister at the Hague, having received intimation of this demand,
produced a counter-memorial from his master, charging the English as the
aggressors, and giving the states-general plainly to understand, that,
should they grant the succours demanded by Great Britain, he would
consider their compliance as an act of hostility against himself. The
Dutch, though divided among themselves by faction, were unanimously
averse to any measure that might involve them in the approaching war.
Their commerce was in a great measure decayed, and their finances
were too much exhausted to admit of an immediate augmentation of their
forces, which for many other reasons they strove to avoid. They foresaw
a great increase of trade in their adhering to a punctual neutrality;
they were afraid of the French by land, and jealous of the English by
sea; and perhaps enjoyed the prospect of seeing these two proud and
powerful nations humble and impoverish each other. Certain it is, the
states-general protracted their answer to Mr. Yorke's memorial by such
affected delays, that the court of London perceived their intention,
and, in order to avoid the mortification of a flat denial, the king
ordered his resident to acquaint the princess regent, that he would not
insist upon his demand. The states, thus freed from their perplexity, at
length delivered an answer to Mr. Yorke, in which they expatiated on the
difficulties they were laid under, and thanked his Britannic majesty for
having freed them by his declaration from that embarrassment into which
they were thrown by his first demand and the counter-memorial of the
French minister. The real sentiments of those people, however, more
plainly appeared in the previous resolution delivered to the states of
Holland by the towns of Amsterdam, Dort, Haerlem, Gouda, Rotterdam,
and Enckhuysen, declaring flatly that England was uncontrovertibly the
aggressor in Europe, by seizing a considerable number of French vessels;
that the threatened invasion of Great Britain did not affect the
republic's guarantee of the protestant succession, inasmuch as it was
only intended to obtain reparation for the injury sustained by the
subjects of his most christian majesty; finally, that the succours
demanded could be of no advantage to the king of England, as it appeared
by the declaration of his most christian majesty; that their granting
these succours would immediately l