Sivert.  Isn’t there any seacoast to France, then?

Franz.  Certainly not.  A Frenchman who has not travelled abroad has never heard about ships and boats.  Just ask Master Herman.  Is it not as I say, Master Herman?

Herman.  I shall settle the dispute at once.  Henrich, give us the map of Europe—­Danckwart’s map.

Jens.  Here is one, but it is a bit torn.

Herman.  That makes no difference.  I know well enough where Paris is, and I only need the map to convince the others.  Now, look, Sivert, here is Germany.

Sivert.  That’s right.  I can see that by the Danube, which is here.  (As he points out the Danube he upsets a mug with his elbow, and the map is flooded.)

Jens.  The Danube is flowing too strongly. (All laugh.)

Herman.  Listen, my friends.  We are talking too much about foreign affairs.  Let us discuss Hamburg for a while—­that subject will give us material enough.  I have often pondered on the question of how it happens that we own no cities in India, but are forced to buy the wares of others.  That is a matter that the burgomaster and council ought to consider.

Richard.  Don’t speak of the burgomaster and council.  If we wait until they think of it, we shall wait a long time.  Here in Hamburg a burgomaster is commended for nothing but holding the law-abiding burgesses in subjection.

Herman.  I believe, my good friends, that it is not too late:  for why should not the king of India trade with us as well as with the Hollanders, who have nothing to send out there but cheese and butter, which usually spoil on the way?  I maintain that we should do well to send a proposal to the council to that effect.  How many of us are here?

Jens.  We are only six, for I don’t believe the other six are coming.

Herman.  That is enough.  What is your opinion, Mr. Tavern-keeper?  Let us vote.

Jens.  I am entirely opposed to that plan, because such voyages take away from the city a great many good men from whom I get my daily penny.

Sivert.  I hold that we ought to consider the development of the city rather than our own interests, and that Master Herman’s proposal is the most admirable that can ever be made.  The more trade we have, the more the city must flourish; the more ships that come in, the better for us minor officials.  But the latter is not the main reason I have for favoring this plan.  The city’s need and its progress are the only things that persuade me to support such a scheme.

Gert.  I can by no means agree to this proposal.  I advise instead the founding of a company in Greenland and on Davis Strait, for that trade is much better and more useful to the state.

Franz.  I see that Gert’s vote regards his own advantage more than the welfare of the republic; for people do not need a furrier so much on the voyages to India as on voyages to the North.  For my part, I contend that India surpasses all in importance; in India you can often trade a knife, a fork, or a pair of scissors with the savages for its full weight in gold.  We must contrive it so that the plan we put before the council will not smell of self-interest, or else we shall get nowhere with it.