but in the spoils which they wrested from the enemy and. 

 in the trade which they were continually extending they found 

 the means for their country to carry on the conflict. England, 

 almost equally in danger from Spanish designs, made common 

 cause against the enemy. Even when the countries were not 

 at open war, Drake and the English seamen acknowledged no 

 peace with Spain beyond the Line, but captured her ships and 

 sacked her settlements on the Spanish Main, returning home 

 laden with treasure. Foiled in his disastrous attempt to 

 conquer England with his Great Armada, Philip was equally 

 unsuccessful in his efforts to destroy the Dutch commerce. 

 In vain did he prohibit the Hollanders from trading with 

 his dominions. In vain did he from time to time lay embar- 

 goes on their ships, and send thousands of their sailors to 

 languish in the dungeons of the Inquisition. The bold 

 Hollanders only replied by vigorous reprisals. They mocked 

 at his prohibitions, and continued to carry on an ever increas- 

 ing and enormously profitable illicit trade. Dutch and English 

 privateers triumphantly swept the seas and harried the 

 Spaniards at their pleasure. Subjugated Flanders had become 

 an obedient Spanish province ; her rich merchants had fled, 

 and her people were starving in a desolated country. But the 

 unconquered United Provinces of the north were actually 

 profiting by the war, and every day growing richer and more 

 powerful. 



The long struggle on the seas, and its successful issue, 

 roused both in England and Holland an insatiable spirit of 

 adventure. In England this spirit found its outlet in priva- 

 teering or piratical exploits, such as those of Hawkins and 

 Drake ; or in romantic expeditions, such as that of Raleigh 

 to Guiana ; and led, in its ultimate development, to the estab- 

 lishment of our Colonial and Indian Empire. 



In Holland the adventurous spirit received a strong stimulus 

 from the blind and stupid policy of the Spanish king. For a 

 hundred years — ever since the discovery of the Cape route to 

 the East Indies — Lisbon had been the great centre of the 

 eastern trade. It was thither the Dutch traders came to bring 

 wheat, fish, and other products of Northern Europe, and to 

 carry away in return and distribute the spices and merchandise 

 of the East. In 1594 Philip — who had some time before 

 acquired the crown of Portugal — closed the port of Lisbon, 

 and prohibited Dutch and English ships, even under a neutral 

 flag, from trading with any part of his empire. The blow 

 not only failed of its effect, but recoiled on the striker. It 

 ruined Lisbon ; crippled Spain ; and made the Dutch East 

 Indian Empire. With a sagacious daring the Hollanders 

 immediately formed the steady resolve to find these eastern 



