Andrew Marvell and the Dutch Fifth Column:New Evidence from a Copy of Mr Smirke with Authorial Annotations

This essay discusses a previously-unknown copy of Andrew Marvell’s Mr Smirke, which features annotations in his hand. We argue that the recipient of the volume was the Anglo- Dutch agent ‘William Freeman’, who was closely involved with a Dutch fifth column, set up by William of Orange and his spymaster Pierre Du Moulin, which lobbied Parliament during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. The essay discusses further archival evidence of Marvell’s links to Freeman, and argues that their connection persisted after the end of the Third Anglo-Dutch war. Finally, the essay argues that these links throw new li... Mehr ...