THE PARLIAMENT, THE COMMONWEALTH, AND THE PROTECTORATE--_continued_.
THE PEACE NEGOTIATIONS.
The importance of the questions connected with the claim to the
sovereignty of the sea was revealed in the long negotiations with the
Dutch which preceded the conclusion of peace. These were begun at a
very early stage of the contest. From the first the war had been as
distasteful to Cromwell as it was to John de Witt and the leading
men in the States of Holland, and so soon as the beginning of August
1652, within three months of Tromp’s encounter with Blake, clandestine
negotiations were set on foot, with the approval of Cromwell, Vane,
Whitelock, and other leaders in England, with the object of bringing
about peace; and though nothing came of them at the time, they
were resumed early in 1653. The Speaker informed the Parliament on
22nd March that he had received a formal letter from the States of
Holland desiring that the negotiations might be resumed, and on 1st
April the Parliament replied favourably, offering to take up the
negotiations at the point at which they had been broken off when the
special ambassador, Pauw, quitted London in the previous year.[748]
This implied payment to the Parliament of the expense incurred in
consequence of the Dutch naval preparations and of Tromp’s fight with
Blake, and “security” for a close alliance,--conditions unacceptable by
the ruling oligarchy at The Hague.
In order to find some more satisfactory basis for the negotiations, the
States-General in June 1653, immediately after the two days’ battle,
and when the English fleet was blockading the Dutch ports, sent four
deputies to London. One of them, Hieronymus van Beverning, a trusty
friend of De Witt’s and a representative of the States of Holland, came
on in advance, reaching London on June 17; the others, Nieuport, van
de Perre, and Jongestal, following a few days later.[749] The deputies
arrived at a time when Cromwell, having dissolved the Long Parliament
and the old Council of State, was dictator, and the new Council was
composed of his own nominees; and Cromwell, as is well known, had
been against the war and was favourable to peace.[750] Nevertheless,
a stiff attitude was adopted towards the envoys. To their request
that negotiations might be resumed on the basis of the thirty-six
articles the Council turned a deaf ear, putting forward the demands for
reparation and security, and refusing to proceed with the negotiations
until they had received a satisfactory answer.[751] Cromwell, however,
sent a private message to Nieuport, on 30th June, that the Council
would not insist on satisfaction and security. He suggested that
Tromp should be suspended for a few months; that a binding treaty
and alliance should be concluded; and that for security two or three
Englishmen should sit in the States-General or Council of State in the
Netherlands, and the same number of Dutchmen in the English Council. If
these conditions were agreed to, little difficulty would be made about
the thirty-six articles, the Dutch would be allowed to carry on their
herring fishery in the British seas, and a truce probably granted.[752]
But by the next day Cromwell, after discussion with the Council, had
changed his mind, and the debate went on about reparation and security.
The deputies were told that the Council did not ask for a great sum,
but that the “security” meant “uniting both states together in such
manner as they may become one people and Commonwealth, for the good of
both,”[753]--a scheme apparently much the same as St John had taken
with him to The Hague.
This extraordinary proposal for a union, closer even than that which
existed among the seven United Provinces themselves, astonished the
envoys of the many-headed Government. They pretended at first not to
understand it, and went on talking of “alliance” and the Intercursus
Magnus; but the Council pointedly declared that what they meant was
not the mere “establishing of a league and union between two sovereign
states and neighbours, but the making of two sovereign states one,”
under a joint Government, all the subjects to possess equal privileges
and freedom in either country “in respect of habitations, possessions,
trade, ports, fishing, and all other advantages whatsoever.”[754] The
deputies considered such a scheme “absurd,”--nothing of the kind had
ever been heard of in history; it was opposed to the constitution of
the United Provinces and was impossible; and they hinted that if the
proposal was pressed they would have to return home. They thought it
was far better to take as a basis for the negotiations the treaty of
1496, which was a perfect, true, and sincere alliance, league, and
confederation by land and sea. To this the Council replied that they
had desired a coalescence of the two countries as the best security
for the future of both, and especially of the United Provinces; and
that the deputies offered nothing more than they did at first, by which
they demanded free trade to the English colonies and the suspension of
the Navigation Act; “nay,” the Council continued, “they do in effect
demand to share with this state in the sovereignty of the narrow seas,
and in their right of fishing,” whereas these advantages could only be
obtained by such a coalescence as had been proposed.[755]
The negotiations had now come to such a pass that the Dutch
commissioners judged it to be necessary to report verbally to the
States, and Nieuport and Jongestal left for home with this object on
3rd August. They did not return until the end of October; and while the
official conferences with the Council were suspended in the interval,
the two deputies who remained in London carried on important private
negotiations with Cromwell, mostly through an intermediary. At first
Cromwell descanted on the advantages to the United Provinces of the
proposed coalescence, including the complete liberty they would have of
fishing on the British coasts. Later he put forward the extraordinary
schemes which remind one of the dreams of Napoleon--a confederation
of the Protestant states of Europe for the propagation of the Gospel;
the partition of the rest of the world, Asia to fall to the share of
the Dutch and America to England; a war of conquest against Spain and
Portugal, and then there would be complete freedom of commerce and of
fishery in all seas, without molestation or disturbance.[756] A less
extravagant alternative offered was an alliance of the Protestant
states, without the partition of the globe or the war of conquest;
but this smaller scheme was not to carry with it either freedom of
commerce or liberty of fishing. And now, for the first time since the
negotiations began, a formal stipulation was asked that all ships of
war of the Dutch Republic, on meeting “on the sea” with the ships of
war of the Commonwealth, should show them the same respect and do them
the same honour as had been practised in any former time.[757]
The two deputies in London could do nothing with these proposals until
the States-General had decided about the original project of coalition,
with reference to which Nieuport and Jongestal had gone to The Hague.
But they expressed their own opinion on the twelve articles which had
been submitted to them; and with regard to the striking of the flag,
they thought the word “respect” conveyed the impression of too great
a sovereignty on one side and of submission on the other, but they
agreed that another word might be chosen and a “good regulation” made.
The objection was curious, because during the negotiations of 1673
the envoys of the States--and the same able Beverning was the chief
of them--themselves proposed that the striking of the flag should be
done “by way of respect”; and when that word, respect, was inserted in
the treaty of 1674, it was said in England that the Dutch had scored a
great diplomatic victory, since to show respect was not to acknowledge
sovereignty.
When the two absent deputies returned to London they brought back with
them the old instructions for a “close alliance and strict union,”
nothing being said about the proposal to fuse the two nations into one.
Their memorandum was submitted to the new Council of State, on which
Cromwell had a working majority; the only coalition suggested was a
“coalition of interests,” and a “brotherhood” of the peoples. Cromwell
at once called it a mutilated coalition, and some of the Council are
said to have expressed strong opinions as to the “contumelious” tactics
of the Dutch. If they refused real coalition, it was our duty, they
said, to make them and keep them our inferiors, so that they might
never attempt this nation again; they must pay for liberty to fish
on our coasts; render the usual submission at sea; give up their own
wafters and pay us for convoys, since we were the proper guardians
of the British sea; they must not equip many great ships, without
explaining their intentions and asking leave to pass through our
seas; and they must pay the costs of the war. Such were the opinions
attributed to the Council by a well-informed author who wrote a little
later,[758] and they indicate tolerably well the demands which were
subsequently made. The Council then prepared draft articles for a
treaty on the lines the Dutch desired, and Cromwell informed them
that since they were averse to a coalition which would have made the
privileges of both countries equal, it would be necessary first of all
to define clearly their respective rights, so that disputes might be
avoided in future. And in the first place, he said, they must settle
their right and dominion in the narrow sea and the question of the
fishery, remarking that if these points were adjusted the work in hand
would be much facilitated.[759]
In putting the question of the sovereignty of the sea and the fishery
in the foreground of the negotiations, Cromwell placed the envoys
in a difficulty. In conformity with their traditional policy on
like occasions, the States-General had expressly instructed their
representatives to avoid discussion on these thorny subjects,--a
circumstance no doubt well known to Cromwell. They therefore fenced
with them. With regard to the “honour of the sea,” they had never
desired to dispute with the Parliament of the Republic of England any
honour or dignity which had been rendered to former Governments, and
they declared their willingness to pay the same “honour and respect”
to the English flag as had been previously shown to it. They thought
it would be better to defer consideration of the fishery question
until the articles of a “strict union” had been adjusted, when the
whole business of commerce, fishery, and the immunities on both sides
might be dealt with. But Cromwell was not to be turned from his
purpose. On the following day, after a long and remarkable speech on
the advantages of coalition--which the Dutch once more put aside,--he
again declared that the matter of the sea and the fishery must be
first of all settled; and he ended the discussion by handing to the
deputies the draft articles which the Council had prepared.[760] The
articles were twenty-seven in number. Some of them provided for a
defensive alliance and arranged details of peace. Freedom of trade was
to be allowed, provided the laws in force--the Navigation Act--were
observed; the rebels of the one were not to be assisted by the other,
and so forth. But the Dutch were to pay a sum to be agreed upon, by
way of reparation, and there were several articles dealing with the
sovereignty of the sea and the fisheries.
The article[761] on the fishery was framed on the model of the
proclamations of James and Charles relating to unlicensed fishing.
It was as follows: “The people and inhabitants of the said United
Provinces, of what condition or quality soever they be, shall with
their busses and other vessels fitted to that purpose, have liberty
from time to time, for the term of one and twenty years, next coming,
to sail and fish as well for herrings, as all other sort of fish, great
and small, upon any of the coasts or seas of Great Britain and Ireland
and the rest of the Isles adjacent, where and in such manner as they
have been formerly permitted to fish. In consideration whereof, the
States-General of the United Provinces shall during that term pay into
the public treasury of this Commonwealth at the City of London the sum
of ... at two equal payments upon every 24 day of June and 24 day of
December; the first payment to begin on the 24 day of June next.” When
it is remembered that the Dutch in the reign of James, and again in the
reign of Charles, were prepared to go to war with England rather than
surrender their liberty of fishing, the objectionable nature of this
article is apparent. No glimpse is obtained throughout the negotiations
of the sum that was to be asked for the liberty of fishing, possibly
because it was never definitely fixed by the Council. It is, however,
stated by Stubbe, who had special sources of information, that it was
the intention of the Council to demand £100,000, as well as payment
for constant wafters or convoys,[762]--a statement which is credible
only on the supposition that it was desired utterly to ruin the Dutch
herring fishery.
Some of the other articles were equally or even more objectionable.
That concerning the striking of the flag,[763] though not feasible in
its original form, was capable of adjustment. It provided “that the
ships and vessels of the said United Provinces, as well men-of-war as
others, be they single ships or in fleets, meeting at sea with any of
the ships of war of the State of England, or in their service, and
wearing their flag, shall strike their flag and lower their top-sail,
until they be passed by, and shall likewise submit themselves to
be visited, if thereto required, and perform all other respects
due to the said Commonwealth of England, to whom the dominion and
sovereignty of the British sea belong.” By this article the whole
of the Dutch fleet would be bound to strike to a single ship in the
English service anywhere on the sea, and, what was a far more serious
matter, to submit to be visited and searched. A stipulation of that
kind was unacceptable. Tromp’s fleet had been fitted out before the war
expressly to prevent the visitation and search of merchant vessels;
if no conflict had occurred with Blake about the flag, it would
almost certainly have happened on this other point.[764] And now the
States were asked to confirm in a formal treaty the right claimed by
England; and above all to make it applicable to their ships of war.
Another article with reference to the measures to be taken against
pirates embodied the old doctrine attributed to the Plantagenets. The
Commonwealth of England, it stated, had declared their resolution
“to put upon these seas a convenient number of armed ships, for the
defence and safeguard thereof, and to maintain and preserve all
lawful navigation, trade, and commerce therein, against pirates and
sea-rovers.”[765] Another article which raised the strongest objections
provided that the Dutch fleet passing through the British seas should
be limited to a certain number, to be agreed upon in the treaty, and
that if the States had occasion for a larger number to pass than that
agreed to, they should first give the Commonwealth three months’ notice
and obtain their consent. The article also provided that Dutch merchant
vessels should be allowed freely to navigate the British seas, as if
the right of permitting or forbidding navigation there belonged to
England.[766]
Such conditions could only have been imposed on a nation hopelessly
vanquished. They were conditions, the ambassadors declared, which would
not be demanded from rebels or slaves. On the English side there was a
strong feeling that since coalition had been rejected, the “security”
for the future ought to be rigorous and complete. It was still firmly
believed by the mass of men, and doubtless by many in the Council, that
Tromp had attacked Blake in overwhelming force in order to destroy the
English fleet; and that too by the implicit or express orders of the
States. There was doubtless also a desire to cripple Dutch commerce
and power as far as was possible. Commercial jealousy had long been
simmering, and now that the English thought they had the power they
were resolved to use it to their own advantage.[767]
The Dutch deputies were astonished and indignant at the English
demands, which, as they sarcastically noted in their journal, they
could scarcely reconcile with the professions of friendship and
the pious words of Cromwell. Had they communicated them to the
States-General all thoughts of peace would have been at an end, for it
had required the most adroit diplomacy of John de Witt to induce that
body to allow the negotiations to be set agoing. They therefore sent
home only an imperfect official account of them, pleading that Cromwell
had tied them down to the utmost secrecy,[768] and then proceeded
to consider the articles themselves. Those dealing with reparation,
the Prince of Orange, the visitation of ships, and the fishery, they
decided absolutely to reject as inadmissible, for reasons to be given
later. The one which proposed to limit their naval power in the
adjacent seas they resolved indignantly to refuse, and to break off
the negotiations rather than to agree even to discuss it, believing
that it was a matter in which all Christian princes in Europe were
also interested, who would condemn the English Government for their
extravagant claims to special maritime rights and to the fishery.
Their conclusions were embodied in a paper which was submitted to the
Council of State on 22nd November. In this they said that the visiting
and searching of merchant vessels and ships of war was contrary to the
practice of the United Provinces, was subject to innumerable disorders
and disputes, and was injurious in point of sovereignty, since it was
not reciprocal. As to the fishery, they declared that they had been in
immemorial possession of complete liberty of fishing. They denounced
the article concerning the limitation of the number of their ships of
war, which they said they could hardly persuade themselves had been put
forward seriously, since it struck at the root of their existence as an
independent sovereign state, and they declined to discuss it.[769]
Cromwell throughout the whole negotiations, until he became Lord
Protector, acted as spokesman for the Council at the conferences; and
he now stated that the visitation of Dutch ships was an undoubted right
of sovereignty possessed by the English Commonwealth. The limitation
of their ships of war passing through the British seas was also a
consequence of the same right of dominion; and the English had now
more than ever reason to maintain it, both on account of their ancient
prerogative and the recent injuries committed by the Dutch. The right
to the fishery was of the same nature. No other nation in Europe had
attempted to carry it on without the consent of England; the Dutch
were the only people, he said, who sought a separate interest in it--a
statement which was quite inaccurate. But the deputies took their stand
on the obnoxious article which proposed to clip their naval power and
interfere with their liberty of navigation, and threatened to return
home unless it was withdrawn. After standing firm for a time Cromwell
withdrew the article, asserting at the same time that England had
jurisdiction on both sides of the sea, and that it was perilous to
allow a fleet of sixty or eighty men-of-war to come into our rivers
or ports without our knowledge or consent,--a reference, no doubt, to
Tromp’s action before the war.
This concession facilitated the negotiations. Frequent conferences were
held in the following week, Cromwell and his Council strongly asserting
the right of the Commonwealth to the fisheries and the dominion of the
sea. At this period there were four subjects chiefly in dispute--the
arrangements relating to the striking of the flag, the visitation of
ships of war, the preliminary part of the sixteenth article as to the
guarding of the seas, and the fishery. On none of these was Cromwell
inclined as yet to give way. The deputies repeated their offer as to
the flag, and requested that a joint commission of old and experienced
naval officers should be appointed to draw up regulations for the
guidance of both sides in future. To this Cromwell replied that such
a commission was unnecessary, their rights and the custom being well
understood and clearly expressed in the article. There was, however,
uncertainty as to the places where the right could be claimed, and
the Dutch deputies said they wished to make it clear in what seas
and on what coasts the flag ought to be struck, urging that it was
better to be guided by a regulation than to compel it by force. But
Cromwell was inflexible. To yield would be to admit that the claim
was doubtful in point of right or mode, and it would stultify their
whole action; he may also have thought it would open a door for some
form of reciprocity. The article was therefore postponed, as was also
the sixteenth article, the deputies insisting on the deletion of the
introductory sentence as to a fleet to be put forth to guard the sea,
which Cromwell refused to do.[770]
The keenest dispute at this time was about the herring fishery. There
were two principles in the article, Cromwell said, which required
attention: first, the recognition of England’s right to the fishery;
secondly, compensation for allowing the use of it. Unable to avoid
the discussion, the envoys pleaded their immemorial possession and
their treaties, and said that their liberty of fishing had never
been disputed; besides, they asked, was it a friendly thing to make
a proposal of the kind when they were about to conclude a strict and
close alliance between the two countries? Cromwell, who had obviously
been well posted up in the arguments in _Mare Clausum_, then entered
upon a lengthy disquisition on the subject. He said the English could
prove by authentic documents that they had had possession of the
fishery from all time, and that other nations sought their permission
to fish; that the clause in the treaty of 1496 (the Intercursus Magnus)
upon which the Dutch relied, was omitted in later treaties; and that
the treaties had expired owing to the subsequent wars between Queen
Elizabeth and Spain, and had never been since renewed; they were not
the same people with whom the treaties had been made, since they were
now alienated from the House of Burgundy. And they could not establish
their right by prescription, for by the civil law it required a hundred
years for a just prescription, and the States had not existed so long
as an independent nation. Moreover, long before the treaty of 1496,
licenses for fishing had been sought and granted. Even King Philip II.
in Queen Mary’s time had asked permission to fish for twenty-one years,
and had paid £1000 a-year for the privilege. King James, too, had
issued a proclamation in 1610 (_sic_) forbidding unlicensed fishing,
while King Charles had demanded and received through the Earl of
Northumberland an acknowledgment from their herring-busses.
To this long argument the deputies replied with arguments as long. With
respect to the treaties, they said that the treaty of 1496 was not
between prince and prince, but between states and towns, as specified
in it; and that the article which provided for mutual liberty of
fishing had been confirmed in later treaties, notably in the treaty
of Binche, in 1541, between the Emperor Charles and the King of
Scotland; in that of 1550 with Queen Mary of Scotland; and in that
between the United Provinces and King James of Scotland in 1594.[771]
Moreover, in the treaty between England and Spain in 1630, there were
certain words which confirmed the ancient treaties of intercourse and
commerce.[772] They expressed the opinion that Cromwell had not been
well informed in saying that licenses for fishing had been granted
before the Intercursus Magnus was concluded, because it was doubtful
if the invention of the salting and casking of herrings was much
before that date.[773] As to the alleged lease of the fishings by King
Philip, there was nothing to compel him to take such a lease, and
they saw no reason why he should have done so; while the proclamation
of James, so far from being an argument against them, was entirely
in their favour, because, as they could prove from papers in their
hands, it was never put into execution, but was suspended on the
representations of the States. The action of the Earl of Northumberland
they described as simple extortion, since he had compelled a few
defenceless fishermen, without the knowledge of the States, to pay
him some money. The deputies concluded their arguments by saying they
had no further instructions on the matter, and that if the Council
pressed the article, they would require to return and report to their
Government: there was, they said, a high and mighty Lord in heaven who
knew the hearts and rights of all, and He would judge. Cromwell assured
them that the article had not been inserted in the draft treaty with
the object of breaking off the negotiations, but only that they might
maintain their just rights. Why, he asked, should the States object to
acknowledge the right of the Commonwealth to the fisheries, when other
Powers like France and Sweden, who had as much claim to liberty as
they, had not scrupled to acknowledge it?[774]
As Cromwell was immovable, and the deputies equally obdurate, the
negotiations came to a stop, and the latter on 5th December formally
requested their passports to return to The Hague. In the interval
they asked the French ambassador if France had requested permission
from England to fish in the sea, as Cromwell averred. He told them
nothing had been said to him on the matter since he came to England,
but that his papers showed that the Duke of Guise had formerly asked
that certain fishermen of Treport should not be molested in their
fishing.[775] They also learned that the Swedish ambassador had sought
to obtain from England free commerce in general, free fishery, and
freedom of trading to the Barbadoes. It was indeed the case that
Sweden had made such proposals. In the negotiations for a treaty with
the Commonwealth, the queen expressed her desire to obtain liberty
for her subjects to fish for herrings in the British seas,[776] and
in the preceding August the Council of State, at the request of her
ambassador, had actually issued a license to four Swedish vessels to
fish in the narrow seas and upon the British coasts.[777] In a treaty
concluded in 1656 between the King of Sweden and the Lord Protector,
the privilege, it may be said, was carried much further. The treaty
provided that Swedish subjects should be free to fish for herrings
and other fish in the seas and on the coasts under the dominion of
the Republic, provided the number of ships so employed did not exceed
a thousand; and no charges (such as the assize-herring) were to be
demanded of the Swedish fishermen, who were to be treated courteously
and amicably, allowed to dry their nets on the shore, and to purchase
necessaries at a fair price.[778]
It may be noted as remarkable that, throughout the long discussions
with Cromwell about the fishery, the Dutch deputies never made use
of the argument, so frequently employed by their predecessors at the
Court of James, that the English claims were opposed to the law of
nations. They probably shrank from using an argument of that kind to
the great dictator who had ruthlessly trampled on the laws of England;
perhaps they were deterred by the abrupt intimation made earlier,
that the Council had not come to listen to scholastic subtleties,
but to consider the real legal rights of England. The obstinacy of
Cromwell in refusing at this stage to modify the fishery article is
also noteworthy. No doubt he was moved by a sincere desire to benefit
England. The belief was still prevalent that the herring fishery which
the Dutch carried on along the British coasts was the foundation
of their commerce, wealth, and naval power. It, moreover, provided
them with a great “seminary of seamen” to recruit their fleets--a
consideration which must have had a special force at a time when we
had only the ships in the coal trade between Newcastle and London to
draw upon for ours, and when the most rigorous system of pressing
failed to provide sufficient men for the navy.[779] But Cromwell had
other reasons for insisting on the English claims, even to the point
of rupture of the negotiations. It was by this time obvious that the
Barebones or nominated Parliament had only a short life before it, and
it was desirable that its dissolution should be free from violence
and as far as possible voluntary. The majority of the members were
strongly opposed to the Dutch, and to the conclusion of peace except
on humiliating terms to the enemy; and it is probable that Cromwell’s
insistence was partly due to his desire to conciliate them. He was now
about to put on the mantle of the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of
England.
When the Dutch envoys wrote to the Council for their passports, they
received no answer. On repeating their request two days later, they got
a hint of what was impending,--that the Parliament which was against
them would soon be dissolved, and the management of affairs placed in
the hands of a council of ten or twelve.[780] Then on the 9th December
they were asked by Viscount Lisle, in the name of the Council, to delay
their departure, as commissioners would soon be appointed to treat
with them and conclude the treaty. Cromwell took the oath as Lord
Protector on the 16th; the new Council of State met on the 19th; and
the conferences on the treaty were resumed four days later.[781]
Cromwell did not now attend the conferences, the negotiations being
entrusted to four members of the Council--Viscount Lisle, Sir Charles
Wolseley, Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, and Walter Strickland, who had
accompanied St John to The Hague in 1651. The discussions on the
questions affecting the claim to the sovereignty of the sea were
continued: the striking of the flag, the visitation of ships, and the
declaration that the dominion of the sea belonged to England. The
former arguments on both sides were repeated, and the Dutch proposed
the following article with reference to the flag: “That the ships and
vessels of the United Provinces, as well men-of-war as others, meeting
with any of the ships of war of the State of England shall honour and
dignify them with the striking of the flag and lowering the top-sail,
in such a manner as ever under any form of government in times past
they have been honoured and dignified; and to prevent all quarrels for
the future the particulars thereof shall be regulated by the advice of
the generals and commanders.”[782] The English commissioners reiterated
the objections previously made, but now stated that they had been
referring only to the narrow seas;[783] and it was agreed to refer the
points in dispute to the Lord Protector.
Another difficulty arose on the third article, which fixed the dates
on which the peace should take effect on the sea, after which dates
the capture of prizes would be illegal. The part was as follows:
“Excepting such depredations as shall be committed in the British Seas
(_Maria Britannica_) after the space of twelve days, and betwixt the
British Seas and the Line after the space of ten weeks,” &c. At the
first, the phrase “British Seas” had caught the eye of the envoys; but,
thinking it was merely an ordinary appellation such as might appear on
a chart, and that no deep design lurked beneath it, they decided that
it would not be desirable to raise “the business of the sea” on such a
point.[784] They now took exception to these words, and suggested that
it would be better to begin, “in the narrow sea, which was called the
British Sea” after twelve days, from there to Cape St Vincent after
six weeks, &c. This matter also was referred to the Protector.
Cromwell, who was now settled in his new dignity, gave close attention
to the peace negotiations. On 26th December the deputies were handed
a paper in his name, in which he gave up the demand for a money
payment in reparation for the war; agreed to the stipulation about
the exclusion of the Prince of Orange--which was the corner-stone
of the treaty--being put in a secret article; agreed to some new
articles which the Dutch had proposed, after slight modifications;
and at the same time introduced a new element of trouble and debate
by formulating three additional articles requiring justice to be done
for the “murder” of the English at Amboyna in 1623, and concerning
the settlement of disputes and wrongs committed in the East Indies,
Brazil, and Greenland. Important concessions were at the same time
made on the maritime question. The article respecting the fishery was
dropped. “Concerning the fishing,” wrote the Protector, “the Lords
Deputies having by their former papers desired that freedom of fishing
in these seas might be declared in this treaty, the 17 article was
thereupon propounded, whereby license is granted to the people of the
United Provinces to fish freely in these seas upon the terms therein
expressed, notwithstanding as in their Lordships’ power either to
accept or refuse, but it cannot be admitted that anything should be
inserted in this treaty that may prejudice the right of this state in
their fishery.”[785] The Dutch thus again scored a diplomatic victory
and preserved their liberty of fishing on the British coasts, just as
they had done in the reigns of James and Charles. They did not succeed
in getting the clause in the Intercursus Magnus inserted or confirmed,
as they desired, but it still remained in force. Later writers
accused Cromwell of having surrendered the rights to the fishery,
and much else, as a _quid pro quo_ for the stipulation regarding the
exclusion of the Orange family in the Netherlands, which was his main
object;[786] but there is no doubt at all that the States-General
would never have agreed to the English proposal.
Concessions were also made as to the striking of the flag. “The 15
article,” said Cromwell, “to be as following: that the ships and
vessels of the United Provinces, as well men-of-war as others, meeting
at sea with any of the ships of war of the State of England, shall
strike their flag and lower their top-sail, and perform the other
respects due to this State until they be passed by”; but the request
that a naval commission should draw up a “regulation” on the subject
was not acceded to. On the other hand, the clauses which stipulated
for a right of visitation of Dutch ships at sea, and the declaration
that the dominion and sovereignty of the sea belonged to England,
were entirely withdrawn; but the Protector would not yet part with
the clause which provided for an English fleet to guard the seas and
protect commerce. Surely, he said in effect, since the article limiting
the number of warships has been withdrawn, you will not contest our
dominion of the sea in this?--and at this stage it was retained, with
the remark, “this article is insisted on.” One of the new clauses
provided that not more than eight men-of-war at a time were to enter
any port of the other Power, unless constrained by force of tempest,
without having obtained consent to do so; and when compelled to enter
by danger of the sea, they were immediately to signify to the chief
magistrate the cause of their coming, and to leave when he required
them to depart.[787]
On the subject of striking the flag, the deputies were not yet
satisfied. They still continued to urge that a “regulation” should be
prepared; and they now raised a new point. Cromwell had always used
the words “at sea,” which might mean any sea or any part of the sea.
They now desired that the ceremony should be restricted to the narrow
seas, “which,” they said, “are called the British seas.”[788] To this
proposal Cromwell assented in so far that the words “in the British
seas” were inserted later. It is curious to notice how the meaning of
the term “British Sea” thus became confused even within the compass
of a single treaty. In reference to this article, the Protector made
the important admission that the narrow seas and the British seas
were synonymous.[789] In the third article, as we have seen, the same
term was used, and it was natural for the Dutch to suppose that it
there had the same significance and meant the narrow seas or Channel.
Since the clause dealt with a matter of great practical importance,
namely, the restitution of vessels that might be captured after a
specified date, and the term “British seas” appeared to be restricted
to the Channel, they wished specifically to include in it the North
Sea and the East Sea (or Baltic), both regions of great traffic. The
envoys were accordingly instructed later by the States-General to have
these words added, so that the clause would read, “excepting such
depredations as shall be committed in the British Sea, the East Sea,
and the North Sea.”[790] By this addition, moreover, the objectionable
phrase “the British seas” would be formally restricted to the narrow
seas or Channel, with the consent of England. The proposed change was
instantly rejected. When Beverning brought it forward, Thurloe resisted
it with great warmth,[791] and the qualifying words confining the term
British seas to the narrow seas, which the Dutch had inserted, were
also deleted.[792] When it was verbally agreed that the striking of
the flag should be restricted to the narrow sea,[793] the deputies
made a new proposal. It was to the effect that Dutch ships, without
any distinction, not only in the narrow seas but throughout the whole
world, on meeting English men-of-war should give them the first salute
by striking the flag and top-sails and firing guns, provided that the
English ships immediately returned the salute in precisely the same
manner. This, doubtless, was the proposition which lurked behind the
reiterated suggestion for a “regulation”; but the English commissioners
would not agree to any form of reciprocity. The Dutch again raised
objections to the part of the sixteenth clause concerning pirates,
on the ground that it contained an implication of the claim to the
dominion of the seas, which they had constantly opposed, and they
cited the treaties with Elizabeth in 1585, and with Charles in 1625,
as having assigned to them the protection of the sea off the Flemish
coast and neighbouring coasts. They declared they would prefer it to be
dropped altogether unless it was amended or made reciprocal.[794]
The differences as to the sovereignty of the sea or the phraseology of
the maritime articles were now, however, of little actual importance.
The progress of the negotiations, secret and otherwise, had narrowed
the real ground of contention to two crucial points--the exclusion
of the Prince of Orange from office, and the inclusion of Denmark in
the treaty. The former had been secretly agreed upon by Cromwell and
Beverning, the latter acting in conjunction with De Witt;[795] but the
Protector was obdurate as to the inclusion of Denmark, and the deputies
decided to return home to report the state of the negotiations. They
left London on 3rd (13th) January, and though a message from Cromwell
overtook them at Gravesend conceding the point in dispute as to
Denmark, they thought it better to continue their homeward journey. The
treaty, so far as it had been officially arranged and made known, was
received with approbation in Holland, the vital stipulation respecting
the exclusion of the Prince of Orange being concealed. Beverning
came back to London on 25th January, but was refused audience by the
Protector until he had obtained proper credentials recognising the new
Government. He was joined by Nieuport and Jongestal a month later, but
it was not till 15th March that the conferences were resumed.[796]
By this time the Protector had in substance conceded almost everything
concerning the dominion of the seas that the Dutch had asked for, and
the ambassadors--they had returned with the title of extraordinary
ambassadors--were anxious to avoid any more discussion about it.
For this reason Beverning disapproved of the resolution of the
States-General, above referred to, for the amendment of the third
article by specifying the North Sea and Baltic, and after his first
interview with Cromwell he wrote to them expressing his opinion that
it would occasion new disputes about the fisheries and the sovereignty
of the sea. We have seen how it was received by Thurloe; and from
what followed it would appear that Cromwell had either heard of the
rumours going about that he had sacrificed the rights of England to the
sovereignty of the seas in order to gain the exclusion of the Orange
family, or that he was determined to keep the matter open until the
secret arrangement for that exclusion had been officially accepted in
the United Provinces--a task in which De Witt was struggling against
enormous difficulties. At all events, after the treaty had been
signed by the negotiators and ratified by the States-General, and
when Cromwell was on the point of ratifying it, he suddenly reopened
the question as to the extent of the British seas. Thurloe began by
asking the ambassadors what was meant by the distinction drawn in
the third article between the British seas and Cape St Vincent. Such
a distinction seemed to prejudice the limits of the British seas,
and might besides give rise to disputes later as to the seizure of
vessels. He then treated the ambassadors to a discourse on the extent
of the British seas, the particulars of which are, unfortunately, not
recorded. They were, however, told that they extended to and along the
coast of France, “Xaintonge” (Saintonge, an old French province) and
round about there. It had not been thought, he said, to limit or define
any seas in stating the districts, and he asked them for a declaration
on the subject. They suspected that the design was to extract from
them an explicit statement as to the southward limit of the British
seas, and they said they had now no power either to alter the article
or even to interpret it. The treaty had been signed on both sides and
ratified by the States-General, and their instructions and commission
were at an end. The proposal to alter it, they now alleged, came from
themselves alone, without instructions from the States-General, and
they had willingly and immediately withdrawn it when objection was
made. Cromwell then asked if it had ever been their intention to define
in any way the limits of the seas by that article. They replied that
they believed not, and added that they had never thought of yielding
anything with regard to right or jurisdiction or limits of the seas;
and they failed to see what prejudice his Highness could suffer from
the extension of the article, unless it was to be maintained that
the whole of the French and Portuguese coasts to Cape St Vincent
were within the narrow seas, as they had defined in the fourteenth
article, which was withdrawn.[797] Cromwell then angrily told them that
he would not exchange the ratification of the treaty unless he got
the explanation and interpretation requested.[798] It was only, the
ambassadors reported home, by their earnest insistence to the Protector
that the articles had been signed with perfect knowledge on both sides
of their contents, that he passed from the point. Whatever the object
may have been in thus raising a discussion at the last moment as to the
extent of the British seas, there is little doubt that the circumstance
would prove useful to De Witt in his difficult and manifold manœuvres
to get the Act of exclusion of the House of Orange adopted.
The treaty of peace, which had been signed by the plenipotentiaries on
5th April, was ratified by the Protector on 19th April, and proclaimed
with due solemnity on the 26th May. It was received with rejoicing both
in this country and the Netherlands.[799]
Comparison of the treaty as completed[800] with the original draft
shows how thoroughly the Dutch plenipotentiaries had eviscerated the
parts dealing with the sovereignty of the sea, and stripped it of
almost all the phraseology which might imply such sovereignty. The
articles imposing tribute for the liberty of fishing; stipulating for
the visitation and search of vessels; restricting the number of their
men-of-war in the British seas; the Plantagenet claim for the guarding
of the sea; the declaration that the dominion of the British seas
belonged to England,--all had been wiped out. Cromwell indeed succeeded
in retaining the term “British seas” in its original ambiguity; but
both he and his commissioners admitted (verbally) that it meant, in
reference to the salute, only the narrow sea--a statement which was in
contradiction to the instructions issued to the naval officers, and to
the practice both before and afterwards. The clause providing for the
striking of the flag was saved, but only in a mutilated form. It ran
as follows: “That the ships and vessels of the said United Provinces,
as well those of war as others which shall meet any of the men-of-war
of this Commonwealth in the British Seas, shall strike their flag and
lower the top-sail, in such manner as the same has ever been observed
at any time heretofore under any other form of government.”[801]
This, as the States-General took care to point out to their
fellow-countrymen, was no more than they had voluntarily agreed to do,
and had instructed Tromp to perform, previous to the declaration of
war. It was, however, the first time the custom had been recognised in
a treaty.
After the conclusion of peace, the English naval commanders took
pleasure in vigorously enforcing their right to the “honour of the
flag,” and, as above stated, notwithstanding the verbal limitation made
by Cromwell and Thurloe, they did not confine the demand to the narrow
sea. Within a few weeks of the proclamation of the treaty, and before
its details were known to the fleet, Vice-Admiral Lawson encountered
the “bellicose” De With off the north coast of Scotland. The Dutch
admiral with three men-of-war was convoying seventy sail bound for
Greenland, and he at once struck his flag and fired a salute, which the
English returned. He also “submitted to a search,” though stating that
it was not customary for men-of-war to do so. “De With,” wrote Lawson,
“begins to know his duty, being very submissive, acknowledging the
sovereignty of England in the seas, and yielding as much as could have
been required of any merchant ships.”[802]
In the south the Dutch were not always so compliant, and disputes with
the English officers sometimes arose as to whether the place where the
striking of the flag was demanded was or was not within the British
seas. Thus, Captain Cockraine, in the _Old Warwick_, met a fleet of
Holland merchantmen under convoy of a man-of-war between the Lizard and
Ushant. The merchant vessels struck their top-sails, but the man-of-war
refused to strike, on the ground that he was not in the British but
in the Spanish seas. Cockraine refrained from firing, as the ship was
surrounded by others and there was “much wind.” Instead, he wrote to
the Admiralty. “I want to know,” he said, “how far is intended by the
British Seas, and how far our power reaches, so that we may make no
unnecessary broils.” There is nothing to show what answer he got; but a
week later he encountered twenty-six Dutch merchant vessels bound for
the Mediterranean, who refused to strike, and he had to fire thirty
guns among them before they submitted.[803] About the same time, a
States’ man-of-war convoying a fleet of Hollander merchantmen met
Captain Heaton, in the _Sapphire_, and did not strike until a shot was
fired. Heaton sent a message to the commander saying that he had not
fulfilled the articles of peace, and that the keeping of his flag and
top-sail aloft when within shot of one of the ships of the State of
England was a great abuse, and a gross affront by the States of Holland
to the Commonwealth. To which the Dutch captain replied that if he
had shot back at the _Sapphire_ he would have been quite justified,
as, being on his own coast, he was not bound to strike, and had done
so not out of duty, but from “brotherly love,” and he then re-hoisted
his top-sails and flag. Heaton deliberated whether or not he should
fight the Dutchman for doing this, but refrained. He, too, wrote to the
Admiralty asking how he should act in similar cases in future.[804]
The authorities at the Admiralty were always sparing in advice on such
matters. They showed the same reticence as the Government in defining
the extent of the British seas, and for the same reason--that they did
not know themselves. This reluctance was shown, and a partial glimpse
afforded, in a letter to General Montague (afterwards Earl of Sandwich)
which Richard, Cromwell’s son, wrote during his brief tenure of the
Protectorate. Telling him to demand “the flag” of such foreign ships
of war as he might encounter in the British seas, he remarked that
there had been “some doubt” as to how far the British seas extend. Not
unnaturally, “Tumble-down Dick” shrank from plunging into a matter
which had puzzled the great Oliver and every one else. “Not being
willing,” he said, “to determine that in our instructions, we rather
put in general terms the ‘British Seas’ only. We judge there is no
question of all the sea on this side the Shagenriffe;[805] on the other
side [the Baltic] you have need be tender, and to avoid all disputes
of this nature, if it be possible, because war and peace depend on
it.”[806]
Disputes about the flag were not the only differences that arose on
the sea. At the end of September 1654 complaints came from Yarmouth
that the English fishermen were being molested by the Dutch in the
herring fishery there. They had come, it was alleged, with a multitude
of busses, “far above a thousand sail,” and, contrary to the custom
before the war, “and against the laws of this nation,” shot their nets
so close to the sands that the English were crowded out and hindered
in their usual fishing. The Dutch busses occupied a space of more than
forty miles adjacent to the coast, and the English fishermen were
afraid to use their nets lest they lost them. When they remonstrated
with the foreigners for coming so near the shore, they were vilified,
and muskets and “great guns” were shot at them.[807] By the direction
of Cromwell and the Council, the complaints were transmitted to
the ambassadors, who were still in London, and they requested the
States-General and the commanders of the ships guarding the busses to
make every effort to avoid giving cause for complaint. In the inquiry
which followed, the Dutch fishermen denied the charges against them,
and in turn accused some of the Englishmen of shooting at them, cutting
their ropes, and calling them dogs, rogues, and devils. They stated
that they had carried on the fishing in the old accustomed way, the
English usually fishing peacefully along with them.[808]
Under the Commonwealth and Protectorate very little was heard of
schemes for establishing fishery societies, such as appeared and
disappeared so frequently in the preceding reigns and afterwards.
That the Puritan spirit was not antagonistic to projects of the kind
was shown by proposals made in 1649. One of these contemplated the
employment of Dutchmen to establish “a fishing trade” in England. It
was referred by the Council of State to Sir Henry Vane and Alderman
Wilson, with what result does not appear. Another, briefly described,
was to set up a fishing trade for the English nation;[809] and about
this time the attention of some writers on commercial matters was
directed to the same end. The only thing apparently effected was the
gift to the Corporation of the Poor in London of some of the Dutch
busses captured in the war, to be used in fishing on the English coast.
During this period of our history the Government had other things to
think about than the launching of fishery schemes. Cromwell, however,
at the conclusion of the war, renewed the licenses to the fishermen of
Dieppe and Calais to fish in the seas between England and France, at
the usual times and places.[810]