FAILURE OF ANGLO-DUTCH NEGOTIATIONS 83 States-General regarded the East Indian trade as a cardinal point in their national policy, and that they assisted the Dutch Company with great sums to main- tain it by force of arms. The English, on the other hand, thought that the Dutch capital was wasted in wars and on an army of ten thousand soldiers in the East. Nothing remained but for our commissioners to come away. The negotiations of 1615 broke down at The Hague, as those of 1613 - 1614 had proved fruitless in London. King James felt annoyed that he had failed in his part of royal peacemaker, and the Dutch were aware of the fact. They saw their advantage in a union which should compel the English to share in the Protestant defence of the Indies, and they had confidence in their own ability to retain the lion's share of the trade. They therefore transferred the scene of operations once more to England, and their ambassador urged as a " groundwork " for the amalgamation of the two Com- panies that they should jointly subscribe £1,200,000 to a common stock. The English Company had by this time broken the Spanish-Portuguese power on the In- dian coast, and saw their way to trade without shar- ing in the costly armaments and island-defences of the Dutch. In August, 1615, they declared that they were content that Holland should surcease from her wars with Spain in the East, being themselves " confident that in time they will eat the Spaniard out of that trade, only by underselling him in all parts of Christen- dom." So with " good words " they thanked the Dutch
