ally, a very grave view of the situation. They held that it would be impossible for them to continue their trade "except the Dutch make real restitution for damages, execute justice upon those who had in so great fury and tyranny tortured and slain the English, and give security for the future." These views were in due course laid formally before the King, who promised to secure redress, and, meanwhile, strongly advised the Company in no circumstances to abandon its trade.
James's pledge to the Company came to little. He may have honestly intended to uphold the righteous demands for the wiping out of a foul stain upon the country's honour, but when the first fever of indignation had worn out he allowed the question to drop into a diplomatic groove which led it ultimately into a morass of fruitless negotiations. It was suspected at the time, probably with good reason, that the Duke of Buckingham, the King's favourite minister, was bought over to the Dutch interest by enormous bribes, which the Dutch Company was well able to pay. Whether that was t he case or not, the years slipped by without any satisfaction being given for the heinous act of the government of Amboina. Not until the days of the Commonwealth was the long outstanding account adjusted. Then, with the aid of Cromwell's strong arm, the Dutch East Company was forced to make amends by the Treaty of Westminster, concluded in 1658, for the bitter wrongs perpetrated thirty-five years previously. Meanwhile, most of the chief actors in the tragedy had passed to their rest. Van Speult died at Surat a few years after the occurrences at Amboina, and his remains were interred in the Dutch graveyard there in what, strange irony of fate, is to-day British soil.
