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ally, a very grave view of the situation. They held that
it would be impossible for them to continue their trade
“ except the Dutch make real restitution for damages,
execute justice upon those who had in so great fury and
tyranny tortured and slain the English, and give security
for the future.” These views were in due course laid
formally before the King, who promised to secure redress,
and, meanwhile, strongly advised the Company in no
circumstances to abandon its trade.
James’s pledge to the Company came to little. He
may have honestly intended to uphold the righteous de­
mands for the wiping out of a foul stain upon the country’s
honour, but when the first fever of indignation had worn
out he allowed the question to drop into a diplomatic
groove which led it ultimately into a morass of fruitless
negotiations. It was suspected at the time, probably
with good reason, that the Duke of Buckingham, the King’s
favourite minister, was bought over to the Dutch interest by
enormous bribes, which the Dutch Company was well able
to pay. Whether that was the case or not, the years slipped
by without any satisfaction being given for the heinous
act of the government of Amboina. Not until the days
of the Commonwealth was the long outstanding account
adjusted. Then, with the aid of Cromwell’s strong arm,
the Dutch East Company was forced to make amends
by the Treaty of Westminster, concluded in 1658, for the
bitter wrongs perpetrated thirty-five years previously.
Meanwhile, most of the chief actors in the tragedy had
passed to their rest. Van Speult died at Surat a few
years after the occurrences at Amboina, and his remains
were interred in the Dutch graveyard there in what,
strange irony of fate, is to-day British soil.

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