ABSTRACT
The anonymously published Satyr Against the French from 1690 contains in a nutshell the many forms of representing cultural exchange with France which I have investigated in this study. The text documents the close relationship between England and France which was on the verge of becoming even closer and developing into one of acculturation towards the end of the seventeenth century. Paradoxically, the threat of violence and war is now no longer only subliminally present, but mentioned explicitly. Fittingly, for the way war was fought in the period, the author employs naval images and appeals to ‘all hands’ who should act on board the ‘ship’. When a leak is sprung – perhaps a ‘leak’ in the national vessel which leads to a loss of identity – even writers (‘the Pen’) need to join forces with the other hands on deck:
When the Sword is drawn, ‘tis not fit the Pen should lie Idle; the tenderest hand on board a Vessel, must lend its assistance in case of a Leak, and I think it the Duty of every Man to arm against the Common Enemy.1
