32 



MODERN" HISTORY. 



[Part VI. 



CHAP. 11. 



DUTCH TERIOD. 



A.D. 

 1G17. 



About the same time — a.d. 1580, — that Phihp II. 

 acqiin-ed the kingdom of Portugal in addition to his here- 

 ditary possessions, the United Provinces of the Nether- 

 hmds, exasperated to revolt by his unendurable tyranny, 

 consummated their revolt by abjuring tlieu' allegiance to 

 the Spanish Crown. ^ 



During their struggles for independence, the Dutch 

 organised with surprising rapidity not only a mercantile 

 marine, but also a navy of surpassing gallantry for its 

 protection ; and engaging with energy in a branch of 



^ The principal autliorities for tlie 

 liistory of the Dutch administration 

 in Ceylon are the Heschri/vim/ der 

 Oostindischen Landsaapcii, Mcdahar, 

 Coromandel, Ceylon, t^'-c.,byBALDJEtrs, 

 an English version of which will be 

 found in CHTTRCniLL's Collection, 

 vol. iii. p. 500 ; under the title of A 

 tnie and exact Description of 3Iala- 

 har, Coromandel, and also of the is- 

 land of Ceylon, Sfc, by Philip Bal- 

 BJEirs, Minister of the Word of God 

 in Ceylon, Amsterdam, 1672 ; and 

 Valentyn's Beschryviny van Oifd en 

 Niemo Oost-Indien, o vols. fol. Dor- 

 drecht and Amsterdam, 1726. The 

 gT(uit work of Valentyn lias never, I 

 believe, been published in any other 

 languafre than Dutch, in which it 

 was written ; so that it is compara- 

 tively unknown in Europe, and is 

 aptly described by Pinkerton as " a 

 treasure locked up in a chest, of 

 which few have the key." Sir 

 Alexandee Johxston, when Chief 



Justice of Ceylon, caused a very 

 incorrect and imperfect translation 

 to be made of the jiarf which refers 

 to that island ; but it still remains 

 in MS. amongst the collections of 

 the Royal Asiatic Society. Of the 

 volumes which relate to continental 

 India and the Eastern Archipelago, 

 I am not competent to judge ; but 

 the portion which treats of Ceylon 

 seems to be scarcely worthy of the 

 high reputation of the work. The 

 official documents of which it ia 

 mainly composed are of imquestion- 

 able value, although it ia more than 

 doubtful that their statistics are fal- 

 sified to conceal the frauds of the 

 Dutch officials (see Lord Valentia's 

 Travels, vol. i. ch. vi. p. 310). As 

 to the general information supplied 

 by YalentvTi himself, it is both meagre 

 and incorrect. Some of tlie mate- 

 rials of ]iis later chapters are taken 

 from Knox's narrative of his own 

 captivity. 



