Taking into consideration the extensive commerce and interest in navigation of the United Provinces in this period, it does not occasion surprise that Galileo, after having offered in vain to Philip III his plan for a new method of determining longitude, should decide to present the same to the States General of the Provinces.[20] This plan he based upon his discovery in 1610 of the satellites of Jupiter and the valuable data furnished him through a study of the eclipses of these satellites. Galileo himself tells us of his negotiations with Philip of Spain, stating that the King informed him of the many inventions which had been sent to him, and which he had accepted, only to find afterward that they were of no practical value. Having been so often deceived, he had come to the conclusion that a great deal of money had been wasted, and had, therefore, decided to be more careful in future. It was not until August, 1636, that Galileo decided upon presenting his plan to the States General, as he informed Hugo Grotius, then Swedish consul at the French Court, and not until November of that year that Laurens Reael handed to the States a letter from him containing an explanation of his method, with an offer of the plan to that distinguished body. Blaeu is again chosen as one of four experts to examine and report on the invention. Galileo’s plan was well adapted for the determination of longitude on land, but because of the ship’s motion on the high seas it did not prove to be practical for navigators, though he suggested the placing of his instruments and the observer in a vessel of water on the ship’s deck, thinking thus to counterbalance the ship’s motion. By resolution of April 25, 1637, he was to receive a reward for the new method he had suggested, but it does not appear that it was paid to him. Blaeu’s training admirably fitted him to serve his country in matters pertaining to its maritime interests, and its calls as well as its rewards for his services were not infrequent. As further proof of the confidence that his contemporaries had in his knowledge of geography and navigation, the States General of Amsterdam, January 3, 1633, by resolution appointed Blaeu map maker of the Republic, an honorable position held by him until his death, being then successively passed on to his son and to his grandson. In a resolution of October 23, 1666, we read that no house engaged in commerce will be allowed to send any marine maps to India, or have them taken by captains of vessels, except those made by Blaeu; and in a resolution of 1670 it is stated that to Willem Jansz. Blaeu, map maker in ordinary of the Company, instruction has been given to examine the journals of the pilots and to correct and improve the maps.