The works of John Dryden, $c now first collected in eighteen volumes. $p Volume 05 by John Dryden
page 45 of 530 (08%)
page 45 of 530 (08%)
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_Fisc._ 'Tis true, you gave us aid in our time of need, but you paid
yourselves with our cautionary towns: And, that you have since delivered them up, we can never give sufficient commendation, either to your honesty, or to your wit; for both which qualities you have purchased such an immortal fame, that all nations are instructed how to deal with you another time. _Beam._ A most grateful acknowledgment; sweet sir, go on. _Fisc._ For your trade abroad, if you should obtain it, you are so horribly expensive, that you would undo yourselves and all Christendom; for you would sink under your very profit, and the gains of the universal world would beggar you: You devour a voyage to the Indies, by the multitude of mouths with which you man your vessels: Providence has contrived it well, that the Indies are managed by us, an industrious and frugal people, who distribute its merchandise to the rest of Europe, and suffer it not to be consumed in England, that the other members might be starved, while you of Great Britain, as you call it, like a rickety head, would only swell and grow bigger by it. _Jul._ I have heard enough of England; have you nothing to return upon the Netherlands? _Beam._ Faith, very little to any purpose; he has been beforehand with us, as his countrymen are in their trade, and taken up so many vices for the use of England, that he has left almost none for the Low Countries. _Jul._ Come, a word, however. |
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