object of which was to dethrone the emperor, and seize the government.  The jealousy of the Japanese, however, soon revived; so that by the end of the seventeenth century, the lucrative commerce which the Dutch carried on with this island for fine tea, porcelaine, lacquered or Japan ware, silk, cotton, drugs, coral, ivory, diamonds, pearls, and other precious stones, gold, silver, fine copper, iron, lead, and tin; and in exchange for linen, and woollen cloths, looking-glasses, and other glass ware; and the merchandize of India, Persia, and Arabia, was almost annihilated.

Before proceeding to narrate the events which arose from the arrival of the English in the East Indies, and the effects produced on the Dutch power and commerce there, by their arrival, it will be proper to take a short notice of the commerce of the Dutch to the other parts of the world.  As their territories in Europe were small and extremely populous, they were in a great measure dependent on foreign nations for the means of subsistence:  in exchange for these, they had few products of their manufactures to give.  The sources of their wealth, therefore, as well as of the means of their existence, were derived from the exchange of their India commodities, and from their acting as the great carriers of Europe.  From these two circumstances, their cities, and especially Amsterdam, became the great mart of Europe:  its merchants had commercial transactions to an immense amount with all parts of the world.  In consequence of the vastness and extent of their commerce, they found great payments in specie very inconvenient.  Hence arose the bank of Amsterdam.  It is foreign to our purpose, either to describe the nature of this bank, or to give a history of it; but its establishment, at once a proof, and the result of the immense commerce of Amsterdam, and the cause of that commerce becoming still more flourishing, and moreover, as the principal of those establishments, which have changed the character of the commerce of Europe, could not be passed over without notice.  It was formed in the year 1609.

In this year, the Dutch had extended their trade to the west coast of Africa so much, that they had about 100 ships employed in the gold coast trade.  About the same time, they formed a colony in North America, in that province now called New York.  In 1611, having formed a truce with Spain, they resolved to venture into the Mediterranean, and endeavour to partake in the lucrative trade with the Levant:  for this purpose, they sent an ambassador to Constantinople, where he concluded a favourable treaty of commerce.  But by far the most extensive and lucrative commerce which the Dutch possessed in Europe, was in the Baltic:  there they had gradually supplanted the Hanseatic League, and by the middle of the seventeenth century, nearly all the commodities of the countries lying on, or communicating with this sea, were supplied to the rest of Europe by the Dutch.  In the year 1612, they first engaged in the whale fishery at Greenland.  In 1648, taking advantage of the civil troubles in England, and having by this time acquired a powerful influence at the Russian court, they interfered with the trade of the English Russian Company at Archangel; and this new branch of trade they pushed with their national industry and perseverance, so that in 1689 they had 200 factors in this place.