Such a victory would be the most cruel wound ever inflicted on the national pride of one of the proudest of nations.

The crown so won would never be worn in peace or security: The hatred with which the High Commission and the Jesuits were regarded would give place to the more intense hatred which would be inspired by the alien conquerors; and many, who had hitherto contemplated the power of France with dread and loathing, would say that, if a foreign yoke must be borne, there was less ignominy in submitting to France than in submitting to Holland.
These considerations might well have made William uneasy; even if all the military means of the United Provinces had been at his absolute disposal.

But in truth it seemed very doubtful whether he would be able to obtain the assistance of a single battalion.

Of all the difficulties with which he had to struggle, the greatest, though little noticed by English historians, arose from the constitution of the Batavian republic.

No great society has ever existed during a long course of years under a polity so inconvenient.