Chap. II. between the Inhabitants 
« Oaths \ As for the Aft of the five and twentieth of Fe- 
« hruary , which this Author hath here tranfcribed, it can- 
ts not be a true Aft ; for therein it is faid, that that Day 
44 all the Englijh were examined one by one, and feme 
44 before Torture, and fome after, confefled the Faft : 
Whereas it appeareth not only by the Englijh Relation* 
44 but by this very Author in the precedent Page, that 
44 they were not all examined the fame five and twentieth 
44 Day of February , but that the Examination continued fix 
44 Days together, even to the third of March inclufive. 
44 How then could the Aft of the five and twentieth of 
44 February have all their Confeflions ? By this may appear 
44 what Credit may be given to thofe Afts, or elfe to this 
44 Author. 
44 Plere alfo by the way, he tells us of the Deliberation 
44 of their Council, whether the Punifhment of the Faft 
44 might be refpited, or the Caufe removed, wherein it 
44 was refolved, that Execution mull needs be done in the 
44 Place of the Delift for Examples fake, and might not 
44 be refpited, for fear left the Confpirators, as he terms 
44 them, might have more Dependencies than yet were 
44 known, and in particular the Farnatanes , and other ln- 
44 dians about Amboyna •, a poor Pretext, as if having all 
44 the Englijh in Irons aboard their feveral Ships, they 
44 fhould need to fear their joining with the Farnatanes ; 
44 but it may be, they feared fome Englijh Ships alfo to 
44 come thither, for fo they had made their own People 
44 believe, and therefore two Ships being clefcried at Sea, 
44 the Butch and their free Burghers cried out, that there 
44 were the Englijh that fhould have holpen to take the 
44 Caftle ; but when they arrived, they proved to be two 
44 Ships of the Butch come from J act atm , wherein was a 
44 Letter from the Prefident of the Englijh there to call 
44 away Captain Fowerfon , and all the Englijh from Am- 
44 boyna to Jaccatra-, which Letter was opened and read 
44 by the Butch Governor, v/hile our People were yet in 
44 Prifon, and not executed, and might well have fecured 
44 him, that there was no further Danger to be feared of 
44 the Englijh Aids of Shipping, whatever the Englijh Pri- 
44 foners had through Torture confefled. At laft the Aii- 
64 thor comes to the Sentence itfelf, tranferibing out of the 
44 Afts of the ninth of March , that the College of Judges 
44 being then competent, and calling upon the Name of 
44 the Lord to aflift them in this mournful Affembly to 
44 prefide in their Hearts* and infpire them with Equity 
44 and Juftice, proceeded to Sentence, CL. 
44 Who knoweth not but the Aft may be thus formed, 
44 and yet no Prayer at all made ? Or, if there wery any 
44 fuch Prayer, yet the Proceedings, well weighed, will 
fhew it to be but like Jezabel’s Faft, the Preparative to 
44 the faife Judgment againft Naboth. Neither will the 
44 wife and indifferent Judges of this whole Matter con- 
44 ceive the better of the Caufe, for the hypocritical For- 
44 malities therein obferved. Laft of all, he concludes his 
44 Treatife with a Juftification, Yea, an Elogy and Com- 
44 mendation of the whole Proceedings of the Butch at 
44 Amboyna againft the Englijh , not finding the leaft to be 
44 blamed to the Butch , but aggravating the Crime of the 
44 Englijh very ridiculoufiy, becaufe, forfooth, that this 
44 Plot, amongft other Things, was againft the great 
44 Means of the Netherlands Eajt- India Company, as if a 
44 Confpiracy to rob them muft needs be Treafon ; or if 
44 the Intent only, in any Crime but Treafon, were capital. 
44 Thus have we examined this ftrained Juftification of 
44 that bafe and execrable Procefs of Amboyna , confiftingof 
44 a Preamble full of faife and forged Suspicions ; a Nar- 
14 ration of the Faft, fraught with ridiculous Abfurdities, 
44 Contrarieties, and Impoffibilities, and of a Difpute of 
44 Impertinences, with Concealment of the main Grounds 
44 of the Englijh Griefs : All which verifieth that of Pa- 
44 pinian , that Paricides are more eafily committed than 
44 defended.” This Anfwer is fo dear and full, and we 
have already fpent fo much Time, though I think not 
more than it deferved, upon this Affair of Amboyna , that 
I am very willing to conclude it, which I fhall do with this 
fingle Remark, which I conceive has not been made be- 
fore, and which I perfuade myfelf will fet the whole Affair 
in a much clearer Light than it has hitherto flood in. 
The Genius of the Butch Nation, and of their Eaft- India 
of Great-Britain, & J c. 89 
Company* was Gain at all Events, and no Matter at: whole 
Expence. The Genius of the Butch Government at 
home, was ;to live fair with her Neighbours, and by 
fmooth Language, high Profeflions of Friend fhip and rea- 
dy Compliance in Trifles, to fecure their Prbteftion, and 
command their Affiftance. It was this Diipofition in the 
latter, that engaged them to make the Treaty with Great- 
Britain in 1619* by which there was a fort of Union made 
between the two Eajl- India Companies. 
This Was what the Butch Company difliked, and re- 
folved not to bear, which induced them to frame and exe- 
cute that barbarous and bloody Contrivance at Amboyna , 
which anfwered their Ends effectually. For, firft, it abfo- 
lutely dipped the States-General in their Quarrel* trie 
firft Queftion in the Difpute being this, whether the Go- 
vernor of Amboyna , by Virtue of the Authority derived 
to him from them, had any Right to proceed againft the 
Englijh •, and next, it totally deftroyed all Confidence in 
the Treaty, and obliged the Englijh Eajl- India Company 
to abandon the Methods preferibed by it, which turned 
them out of the Spice Trade entirely, the great Thing 
aimed at by the Dutch , and which they never otherwife 
could have accomplifhed. 
9. The Death of King James happened in a very fliort 
Time after this Misfortune, and the Troubles of various 
kinds* which very early difturbed the Reign of King 
Charles I. put it out of his Power to purfue that Matter as 
he feems to have intended ; for, in the Beginning of his 
Reign, he granted Letters of Requeft to the States-Gene- 
ral for obtaining Satisfaction, which, however, had noC 
their Effect, neither did the King purfue that Point any 
farther ; the Reafon of which I prefume to have been this* 
that, finding other Caufes of Complaint againft the Butch, 
he abfolutely determined to leffeh their Strength as a ma- 
ritime Power, the rather, becaufe he found them joining 
with the French , in order to the Execution of a Scheme 
which they have had always in View, of dividing the Spa- 
nip Low-Countries with France , and then difputing, in 
Confederacy with her, the Sovereignty which the Englijh 
claim over the Narrow Seas. This King Charles L 
faw, and determined to prevent; and in order thereto, found 
it neceffary to fit out a Fleet, which induced him to de- 
mand Ship-Money ; and that began thofe Confufions, 
which ended in the Ruin of our Government, and leaving 
the Butch in Poffeflion of all that Trade, which they had 
acquired at our Expence. This Language may feem new 
and ftrange to fome People ; but it is, nevertheless. Mat- 
ter of Faft* in Proof of which I fhall cite what is faid by 
Sir William Monfon * who lived at that Time* was an Eye- 
witnefs of what he wrote, and underftood the Subjeft as 
well as any Man that ever lived. This Gentleman* after 
afligning the Reafons why the King did not refent the In- 
juries done his Subjefts by the Butch faoner than the Year 
1635, when he fitted out a Royal Fleet, under the Com- 
mand of the Earl of Lindfy , and having likewife touched 
the Reafons which had compelled his Majefty to it, then 
proceeds thus i 
44 After much Working, and Embaffadors often paff- 
4 ing between them and France, at laft they concluded on 
44 an Offenfive and Defenfive League, by which France 
44 was to declare War againft Spain ; the Confequences of 
44 fuch a League being dangerous, and an unlimited 
44 Ambition never with Safety to be trufted, his Majefty 
44 had juft Caufe to be fufpicious of thefe Innovations ; 
44 he had Reafon to weigh thefe Things, and to confidef 
44 why Holland and France fhould lb ftriftjy combine 
44 and league together, both of them being Neighbours 
44 to him, and why it fhould be now haftened more 
44 than in former Times, when France and England gave 
44 a fufficient Relief to Holland by Confent. The King 
44 alfo feeing the ambitious Enterprizes of France , affifted 
44 and animated by Holland , to difturb the Chriftian and 
44 peaceable Commonwealth of Europe, and unjuftly to feize 
44 upon his neighbouring Territories, without Cauie given, 
44 yea, not fparing, by Treachery and Force, to enjoy the 
44 Countries of his weakeft and neareft Friends the anci- 
44 ent State of Lorrain, which lay in his Way to hinder 
44 his unlawful Defigns. Thefe were fufficient Motives 
45 and 
