Tweede scheeps-togt, van de Engelse Oost-Indische Maatschappy, onder den Hr. Hendrik Middleton, generaal,...

such reports sprang from malice. Here to this was added that, not long after, our General sent Mr. Grave aboard the Dutch Admiral, who was received there quite coldly, as they claimed that we had assisted the Portuguese in the recent wars against the King of Ternate and them
The Dutch speak very poorly of the English.

with artillery and other military supplies; but our General proved the opposite through some Portuguese who had been captured in that battle, upon which the Dutch General, ashamed of his slander, said that he had heard it from a Gujarati renegade a deserter from one's faith or cause, but that he did not believe it. And to really fill the measure, it was not long after that, because the King of Ternate seemed well-disposed toward our nation, they threatened to abandon him and join his deadly enemy, the King of Tydor, in the event that they allowed the English a factory or the least bit of trade there; they said at the same time that the English were thieves and robbers, and that no one would find them otherwise, and also that the King of Holland was stronger and more powerful at sea than all of Christendom besides him, to which they added many foul and scornful words about our nation and all other Christian Princes, a matter to which all nations ought to pay attention, and from which one can judge what to expect
Resolute answer from Middleton.

from that proud scum of a people (Note: Purchas says: do not understand this as applying to the entire country or the good people in Holland, but to the merchants who go on trade, or rather to war. Those who are losing take the liberty to speak, and one merchant looks at the other with envious eyes) should one expect if they were to become masters in the East Indies. To these proud words, our General let them be told that the Dutchman, whoever he was, who gave such a report, lied like a scoundrel, and that he would maintain this against anyone who gave such a report, and that the Dutch...