There was also no doubt whatever--and the circumstance was a source of constant complaint and of frequent ineffective legislation--that the rebellious Provinces were driving a most profitable trade with Spain and the Spanish possessions, in spite of their revolutionary war.

The mines of Peru and Mexico were as fertile for the Hollanders and Zeelanders as for the Spaniards themselves.

The war paid for the war, one hundred large frigates were constantly cruising along the coasts to protect the fast-growing traffic, and an army of twenty thousand foot soldiers and two thousand cavalry were maintained on land.

There were more ships and sailors at that moment in Holland and Zeeland than in the whole kingdom of England.
While the sea-ports were thus rapidly increasing in importance, the towns in the interior were advancing as steadily.

The woollen manufacture, the tapestry, the embroideries of Gelderland, and Friesland, and Overyssel, were becoming as famous as had been those of Tournay, Ypres, Brussels, and Valenciennes.