"United States", 1719 and probably 1695 -- the U.S.A.?

[Joel S. Berson]

Discovered while GBooking "liberty and equality".  (Which I see now
can also be found in Locke, Pufendorf, Spinoza, Milton, and Polybius
the Megalopolitan, all before 1730, although some in translation.)

"It is the fashion to call the United States the land of liberty and equality."

Rene Le Bossu, _Monsieur Bossu's treatise of the epick poem ..._,
1719.  The title and date are genuine, and there is an edition from
1695.  In quotes, and so presumably quoting someone else.  This is a
snippet, and I can't tell what the context is, who is quoted, or the
page number.

Is "United States" the United States of America?  Calling it/them
"the land of liberty and equality" would seem to suggest so.  But
there was no U.S.A. in 1719, let alone 1695 (which is even before
William III of Orange ensured the liberty of the Protestant English
people, safeguarding the Protestant colonies).

Or is "United States" the Dutch Republic (the "United Provinces") of
1581 to 1795?

I'll have to go to the library for ECCO and EEBO to investigate this question.

Joel

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