""But this was a time of slavery and war too. Slavery was
illegal in the Netherlands, but Dutch ships carried and sold slaves in Africa
and Surinam, and Dutch fortunes waxed rich from the profits of the trade. The
Dutch were renowned in China for their violence, and their arms industry – still
the sixth-largest in the world today – was formidable. By modern standards,
Dutch justice was anything but enlightened. Two ghoulish Rembrandt drawings of
the public strangulation of a female murderer depict one of the many dark sides
of the golden age.""