Britain as the dangerous and insidious rival of their trade, but at the Hague and other places where the personal influence of the Prince of Orange might be supposed to be considerable.
These discontents, shortly after the restoration of peace, ripened into open insurrection, and the stadtholder would have been dismissed with ignominy from his government, had not Prussia and Great Britain interfered for the preservation of his authority. The arms of one of these powers, and the threats of the other, maintained the Prince of Orange in his offices, and even procured for him an accession of power. But his forcible re-establishment in the stadtholderate by the violent interference of foreign powers, gave great offence to the moderate as well as to the republican party, and in proportion as the prince's authority was augmented, the respect to his character was diminished. The zealous republicans, who with difficulty would have tolerated a stadtholder of the most profound talents, beheld with vivid indignation that high dignity, at a crisis
