54

PROGRESS OF DUTCH COMMERCE.

[CHAP. XXVIII. were killed by dogs and wolves in the neighbourhood of Ghent. Nobles and wealthy citizens had been reduced to beggary, and peasants and artizans were forced to turn soldiers or brigands.' Antwerp had been completely ruined by the closing of the Scheld. Meanwhile the Dutch, being no longer able, on account of the Spanish conquest of Portugal in 1580, to convey the commodities of the East from the Portuguese ports to those of northern Europe, resolved to trade on their own account with the East Indies, and with this view secured the services of one Cornelis Houtman, a Fleming, who, having made several voyages to India with the Portuguese, was well acquainted not only with the navigation, but also with the ports best adapted for trade. The merchants of Amsterdam now entered into an association called the Company of Distant Countries, and despatched, under Houtman's command, four ships of small burden, carrying 250 men, with 100 guns, and laden with commodities suitable for the Indian market. After an absence of about two and a half years, Houtman, with three of his ships, returned to the Texel in August, 1597, having penetrated as far as Bantam, in Java; but the Portuguese merchants settled there set the natives against the Dutch, and the profits of the voyage scarcely repaid the expenses of the outfit. It was found, however, that the influence of the Portuguese in the Indies had very much declined since the conquest of Portugal by Philip II.; the rapacity, tyranny, and bad faith of their governors and merchants had disgusted the natives -circumstances which encouraged the Dutch to persevere, especially as they had acquired a good knowledge of those seas, and had brought home with them some native Indians who might be useful in another expedition. Various trading companies were formed, and, in 1598, eighty vessels were despatched to the East and West Indies, to the coast of Africa, and even to the Pacific Ocean, in squadrons of from four to eight vessels, completely armed, and some provided with troops; so that they were alike ready to fight or trade. But as these divided associations were not found to yield much profit, they were, in the year 1602, amalgamated into one, under the name of the East India Company, with a joint-stock capital of between six and seven million guilders, or about six hundred thousand pounds sterling; and power was conferred upon this society to trade beyond the Cape of Good Hope and Straits of Magellan, to appoint governors, administer

See the authorities collected by Mr. Motley, Un. Netherl. vol. ii. p. 129.

CHAP. XXVIII.]

FRENCH TRADE AND NAVIGATION.

55

justice, build forts, raise troops, &c. Their trade was secure from molestation through the maritime superiority which the Dutch navy had begun to assert.1 We shall not pursue in detail the history of their settlements in the East, contenting ourselves with remarking that in time they planted factories and settlements along the coasts of Asia and Bussorah on the Persian Gulf as far as Japan, and in particular they established themselves in the island of Java, where they made Batavia the central emporium of all their eastern trade. They also appropriated the Molucca and other spice islands, and became at length so powerful in the East as to send out fleets of forty or fifty large ships, and an army of thirty thousand men. In short, the foreign commerce of Holland grew so large as quite to overshadow that of England, and to excite the jealousy of our merchants and adventurers, as may be seen in the Observations' addressed to James I. by Sir Walter Raleigh shortly before his execution.

3

France also appeared as a competitor in the race of colonization; but that nation does not seem to be well fitted for such enterprises, which, instead of giving birth at once to brilliant and striking results, must be fostered and brought to maturity by long years of patient care and industry. It is, at all events, certain, that the attempts of the French in this way were not crowned with any remarkable success. Sully, observing this characteristic in the national genius, dissuaded Henry from renewing the attempts to form plantations in New France. But Henry was not to be discouraged. He resolved to compete with Spain and England in the foundation of trans-atlantic colonies; but in order to avoid disputes with those Powers, he confined the researches of his navigators to the regions beyond the fortieth degree N. latitude. These efforts resulted in the foundation by Champlain of the colonies of Port-Royal in Acadia (1607) and Quebec in Canada (1608). The Gallic race obtained a permanent footing in the New World, though destined at length to fall under the dominion of their English rivals in that hemisphere. Henry also attempted in 1604 to establish a French East India Company; but there was not commercial enterprise enough in the country to carry out his views. The company remained in abeyance till 1615, when Louis XIII. gave them a new charter,

I See Watson's Philip III. bk. iv.; Macpherson, vol. i'. p. 226.

2 See abstract in Macpherson, ibid.

p. 233.

3 Letter of Sully to the President Jeannin (1608), ap. Martin, t. x. p. 464.

56

THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.

[CHAP. XXVIII.

and they took possession of the vast island of Madagascar.

But

it was soon found not to answer their expectations, and the company sank into oblivion.1

The Ottoman Empire, as already hinted, was beginning, towards the close of the sixteenth century, to feel the approaches of decay. The wars of Selim II. had so exhausted the treasure which had previously been kept in the ancient Byzantine castle, called the "Seven Towers," that he caused it to be removed to his private treasury. In the palmy days of the Empire, each of these seven towers had its appropriate use: one contained the gold, another the silver money; a third the gold and silver plate and jewels; valuable remains of antiquity were deposited in the fourth; in the fifth were preserved ancient coins and other objects, chiefly collected by Selim I. during his expeditions into Persia and Egypt; the sixth was a sort of arsenal, and the seventh was appropriated to the archives. After the time of Selim II. the Seven Towers were used as a prison for distinguished persons and as an arsenal. Amurath III., whose avarice was prodigious, retained and improved upon the custom of his predecessor. He caused, it is said, a vault to be built, with treble locks, in which his treasure was deposited, and over which he slept every night; it was opened only four times a year to receive fresh heaps of wealth, which have been estimated at twelve million ducats annually; but two millions are perhaps nearer the truth.*

More than a century of Turkish despotism had at length done its work. Ragazzoni describes the Christians in the Ottoman Empire in 1571 as so depressed and degraded that they dared hardly look a Turk in the face: the only care of their listless existence was to raise enough for their maintenance, and to pay their karatsh, or poll-tax-all beyond would be seized by the Turks. Constantinople, however, still afforded a secure place of residence, whither the Greeks flocked in great numbers; so that towards the end of the sixteenth century it was reckoned that there were 100,000 of them in that capital. Many of these acquired great wealth, either by trade or by farming certain branches of the Grand-Signor's revenue. Among them one Michael Kantakuzenus was conspicuous both for his enormous wealth and his intrigues, which procured him the name of the "Devil's Son" (Seitan Oglie), although it was thought that he

1 Letter of Sully to the President Jeannin (1608), ap. Martin, t. x. p. 465; Macpherson, ibid. p. 282.

2 Inform. Pol. ap. Zinkeisen, B. iii. S. 353.

3 Relatione, in Alberi, ii. p. 100 (ser. iii.).

CHAP. XXVIII.]

CHRISTIANS AND JEWS IN TURKEY.

57

was no true Greek, but an Englishman by birth, and belonging to the family of an English ambassador. The fate of whole provinces lay in his hands; he could fit out twenty or thirty galleys at his own expense, and the splendour of his palace at Anchioli rivalled the seraglio of the Grand-Signor. Kantakuzenus had gained his influence through the favour and friendship of Mohammed Sokolli; but even that powerful Vizier could not at last save him from the wrath of Amurath III.; and he was hanged before the gate of his own palace (March, 1578). The Jews also occupied an important position in the Ottoman Empire. From the earliest period the physicians of the Sultan were of the Hebrew race; they monopolized most branches of commerce, they were the chief musical performers, and acted obscene comedies for the entertainment of the Grand Signor.1

Gerlach's Tagebuch contains much information on the state of Constantinople.

58

POLICY OF HENRY IV.

[CHAP. XXIX.

TH

CHAPTER XXIX.

HE peace of Vervins, recorded in Chapter XXVII., was not very well observed on the part of France. The ruling idea which guided the foreign policy of Henry IV. was, to curb the power of the House of Austria: a plan incompatible with the letter of the treaty. In pursuance of this policy Henry became the supporter of Protestantism; not, perhaps, from any lingering affection for his ancient faith-his indifference in such matters has been already seen-but because the Protestants were the natural enemies of the Austrian House. Hence he was determined to support the independence of Holland. He annually paid the Dutch large sums of money; he connived at the recruiting for them in France; and in spite of a royal prohibition, granted at the instance of the Spanish ambassador in 1599, whole regiments passed into the service of the United Provinces. In aid of these plans Henry fortified himself with alliances. He courted the Protestant Princes of Germany, and incited them to make a diversion in favour of the Dutch; he cultivated the friendship of Venice, reconciled himself with the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and attached the House of Lorraine to his interests by giving his sister, Catharine, in marriage to the Duke of Bar (January 31st, 1599); who, formerly, when Marquis of Pont-àMousson, had been his rival for the French Crown, and who in 1608 succeeded his father as Duke of Lorraine. The Porte was propitiated by Savary de Brèves, an able diplomatist; and the vanity of France was gratified by obtaining the protectorate of the Christians in the East. The Pope was gained through his temporal interests as an Italian Prince. Henry had promised, on his absolution, to publish in France the decrees of Trent; and, as he had refrained from doing so out of consideration for the Hugonots, he had, by way of compensation, offered to support Clement VIII. in his design of uniting Ferrara to the immediate dominions of the Church; although the House of Este had often been the faithful ally of France. The direct line of the reigning