Description of Holland

A Country that draws fifty foot of water, In which men live as in the hold of nature; And when the sea does in upon them break, And drown a province, does but spring a leak; That always ply the pump, and never think They can be safe, but at the rate they stink; That live as if they had been run aground, And when they die, are cast away and drown'd; That dwell in ships, like swarm of rats, and prey Upon the goods all nations fleets convey; And, when their merchants are blown up and crackt, Whole towns are cast away in storms, and wreckt; That feed, like Cannibals, on other fishes, And serve their cousin-germans up in dishes: A land, that rides at anchor, and is moor'd; In which they do not live, but go aboard.