Page:A Tour Through the Batavian Republic.djvu/325

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THE BATAVIAN REPUBLIC
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As the spring advanced, large bodies of the French troops, which had been cantoned in the United Provinces, were, to the great relief of the inhabitants, marched out of the territories of the republic. In requisitions, contributions of various kinds, forced and voluntary, the French were thought to have levied in a short period a sum amounting to near four millions sterling. This, with the exertions that the Dutch were making to put their navy on a respectable footing, and the severe losses they sustained by the detention of their ships and property in England, would have occasioned considerable financial embarrassments, and consequently much discontent, had not the nation approved of the new government, and seconded <references>

    Copenhagen, by the Swedes. The castles of Cronenburg and Elsineur, which were thought to command the passage of the Sound, were garrisoned by Swedish troops; but, notwithstanding the vigorous opposition which they made, the Dutch fleet sailed triumphantly through the Sound, and defeating the Swedish navy before Copenhagen, obliged Sweden to grant a peace to Denmark on equitable terms.