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* supineness in the Dutch army, where the influence of the stadtholder might be supposed to be considerable, it will not occasion wonder that many towns and cities of the republic openly avowed a disposition hostile to his cause. At a time when the further progress of the French was dubious, and the career of their arms might have been arrested, had the Dutch cordially united to defend their country, the sick and wounded of the British army were refused admission into Delft, and a corps of burghers was formed at Amsterdam to prevent the entrance of foreign troops (by which were exclusively meant the English) into that city. Other instances equally strong might be brought forward.

A short time before the French crossed the Waal, which passage decided the fate of the republic, the stadtholder was invested with additional powers, which in some sort resembled those of the ancient dictators of Rome. But in obtaining the paramount object of his ambition, he alienated more and more the affections of his countrymen, and his proclamation commanding the people to