'After I had written this there came to me the English Envoy
Extraordinary, Lord Leicester.... He says, that Northumberland
(to whom he is nearly related) is again about to disturb the
Dutch in their liberty of using the sea, unless the Dutch
purchase it by great services to the Palatine house and by
declarations not injurious to English rights. I, restraining
myself from a definite declaration about the controversy, have
been content to demonstrate, how necessary liberty of fishing
was to that Republic and how necessary the Republic itself to
the security of all Europe.[39]
[39] _Rikskansleren Axel Oxenstierna's Skrifter och Brefvexling,
Hugo Grotii bref_, ii. 1633-9, pp. 335-58.
Such being the feelings and the relations subsisting between the
two countries, it can excite no astonishment that the States were
exceedingly cautious before committing themselves to an alliance,
which might entail further sacrifice upon them, and tie their hands
in a matter of primary importance to their welfare. According to
Grotius, proposals were made for holding the conference at the Hague
instead of Hamburg, in order to make sure of Dutch co-operation.
But they came to nothing. Charles, however, in the spring of 1638
appears to have been really in earnest. Again and again the English
Resident at the Hague appeared before the States-General to urge
them to send a representative to the conference. Not, however, until
fresh pressure had been put upon them in the name of France and
Sweden by the French ambassador, D'Estampes, were definite orders
sent to Van Cracauw to go to Hamburg, April 8. Even now he did not
have any powers given to him to negotiate as plenipotentiary, but
was required to refer all matters to the States-General for their
decision. Already, on March 4, a new treaty had been concluded
between France and Sweden for the joint prosecution of the war, but
the quadruple alliance was never accomplished. Difficulties and
intrigues prevented the ratification either of the Anglo-French or
Anglo-Swedish Treaties, and the States were more than half-hearted
in the business. The ill success of the young Elector Palatine, who
had taken the field in the spring of this year at the head of a
force raised by the help of his uncle Charles I, virtually brought
the conference to an end. Charles Lewis's army was completely
defeated at Lemco on October 8. Differences, which had been for
some little time endangering the friendly relations of England and
France, now came to a head.[40] The representatives of the powers
gathered at Hamburg, only to disperse without result. The long drawn
out negotiations gave birth to nothing but sterile discussions.
The outbreak, indeed, of the troubles in Scotland regarding
'Laud's Liturgy', and the resistance that was being offered to
the collection of ship-money, effectually crippled Charles's
efforts on behalf of his nephew in Germany. Richelieu no longer
saw any advantage in tying his hands by entering into an alliance
which promised so little. He preferred therefore to cut himself
adrift from the English connexion, and to trust to his alliances
with Sweden and the United Provinces[41] for pushing on the war
vigorously. It was not for Protestantism that he was fighting,
but for the aggrandizement of France at the cost of the House of
Habsburg.
[40] _Grotii bref_, April 9, 1639, p. 595, 'video cum dolore inter
Anglos et Gallos veteres recrudescere inimicitias.'
[41] _Grotii bref_, April 23, 1639, p. 602, 'Haud equidem
affirmaverim, quod suspicantur Angli, Gallicis pecuniis sustentari
Scoticam factionem pauperiorem ceteroqui quam ut bello diu
sufficiat. Creduntur autem id facere Galli, non tantum ex aemulatu
vetere, verum etiam quod cum Batavi nunc consilia socient ad
capienda Flandriae oppida maritima, quod cum solus prohibere possit
Anglus, domestico ob id negotio distinendus sit.'
This failure of his efforts to bring about, in conjunction with
France, a coalition of the Protestant powers for the reconquest of
the Palatinate and the restoration of his nephew to his electoral
dignity and possessions, made Charles turn his eyes once more to
Spain. The presence at the English Court of Mary de Medicis and
the Duchess de Chevreuse in 1638 gave fresh life to that party,
who had always favoured a Spanish alliance. The news that the
Spaniards were making great preparations for a determined attack
upon the United Provinces led the King to hope that, despite
previous disappointments, he might be able to forward by friendly
negotiations with Spain the cause of Charles Lewis. The help of
the English fleet could not but be serviceable to a Spanish naval
expedition, and possibly Charles had visions of being able to attain
through this means that undisputed sovereignty of the British seas
which, since the publication of Selden's book, he had set before
himself, as we have seen, as one of the chief and unchangeable
objects of his policy, and at the same time, perhaps, the pecuniary
assistance he so much needed for the suppression of the Scottish
rebellion against his authority. With characteristic uncertainty
and wavering, however, while negotiating with Spain, the King did
not cease his endeavours to gain French support for his nephew. The
Spanish preparations caused uneasiness in Paris, as well as at the
Hague, and the English fleet was an asset not to be despised in
the event of a Spanish armada threatening to dominate the Channel.
The death of Duke Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar in July, 1639, left
the powerful force of mercenaries which he had commanded without
a leader. Charles wished to buy their services for the Elector
Palatine, but he could only do this through the good offices of
Richelieu, who was already offering good terms to the 'Bernardines'
to enter the French service. A treaty between the French Government
and the chief officers of the 'Bernardine' army was in fact on the
point of being concluded, when Charles Lewis made his appearance at
the head-quarters with a supply of English money and tried to induce
the leaders to place themselves under his command, as an independent
force. The result was his immediate arrest by Richelieu's command,
October, 1639. He was imprisoned at Vincennes for several months.
This act was a final breach of good relations between France and
England.
Meanwhile Charles's approaches to Spain had been equally
unfortunate. The Cardinal Infant, Ferdinand, the victor of
Nördlingen, had, as Governor-General of the Netherlands, been
successful in the conduct of the war against the Dutch and French in
the years 1638 and 1639. In the latter year Olivares determined to
dispatch a powerful Spanish reinforcement by sea to the Netherlands
to take part in the next campaign. Accordingly, early in September,
a fleet left the Spanish ports consisting of seventy-seven vessels,
many of them of the largest size, commanded by a veteran admiral
who had seen much service, Antonio de Oquendo. Its object was
to disembark at Dunkirk an expeditionary force of 10,000 men. A
Dutch squadron had been cruising in the Channel all the summer,
keenly on the look-out for the Spaniards, under the command of
Lieutenant-Admiral Martin Harpertzoon Tromp. On September 16 he
sighted the armada. He had with him at the moment only thirteen
ships. But without hesitation he fiercely attacked the Spaniards,
and after a tremendous fight he forced Oquendo to fly for refuge
to the English coast. Oquendo, after passing through the Straits
of Dover, anchored under the lee of the Downs, side by side with
an English squadron of ten ships under Vice-Admiral Pennington.
Tromp sent at once urgent messages to Holland for reinforcements.
With a squadron that joined him from Dunkirk he lay in the offing
blockading the Spanish fleet in the Downs. In all the harbours of
Holland and Zeeland the greatest efforts were now made to send every
available ship to sea at the earliest moment. Day by day Tromp's
fleet increased in number. His orders were uncompromising. He was
to attack the Spaniards wherever he found them, as soon as he was
in a position to do so with success. Accordingly, on October 21,
being now at the head of a fleet of 105 sail with 12 fireships,
the Dutch admiral, although the Spaniards still lay in English
waters, resolved to take the offensive. Detaching thirty ships under
Vice-Admiral De With to watch Pennington, he sailed straight for the
enemy's galleons as they sheltered under the cliffs between Dover
and Deal. The contest was sharp, but decisive. Under cover of a fog,
Oquendo himself with seven vessels made his way to Dunkirk. All the
rest were captured or destroyed. Some 15,000 Spaniards perished,
about 1,800 were taken prisoners. The Dutch only lost two ships and
about 100 killed and wounded. Tromp had won one of the most crushing
of naval victories, and had annihilated the power of Spain upon the
sea.
This daring infringement of English neutrality could not but give
deep offence to King Charles, and be hurtful to the feelings of
the English people. It was at once felt in the States that an
explanation must be offered for the instructions given to Tromp,
which had been so successfully carried out. It was accordingly
resolved to dispatch a special envoy to London, and Francis van
Aerssen (now generally known as Lord of Sommelsdijk) was himself
chosen to undertake the difficult mission. His instructions were
that he should complain of the help frequently afforded to the
Spaniards by the English, and plead that the attack of Tromp at the
Downs was a necessary sequel to the previous encounter from which
the Spanish fleet had fled to seek refuge in English waters, and
that it was justified by Art. 15 of the Treaty of Southampton. He
was further to express the readiness of the States to conclude with
the King a fresh treaty of alliance. Sommelsdijk found everything
against him. The King was very angry at the gross affront to his
honour and his sovereignty of the seas, and the most influential
of his counsellors, among them Strafford and Laud, were strongly
anti-Dutch. The affair was made an excuse for pressing forward the
collection of ship-money, and the Spanish party continually gained
strength. The Queen-Mother of France and Madame Chevreuse, who were
then at the English Court, did their utmost to further the cause of
Spain, and there was talk of cementing an alliance by the marriage
of the Princess Royal with the heir to the Spanish crown.
Sommelsdijk, finding he could effect no good result, asked
permission to return to Holland.[42] He probably knew that Charles
was anxious not to break with the States, for his request brought
about a change in the King's demeanour. Charles requested him
to remain, and showed himself more friendly. On January 16 the
ambassador, whose correspondence with Frederick Henry at this
time is of great interest, wrote to the Stadholder that he was
not without some hopes now of soothing the resentment of the King
by abstaining as far as possible from the irritating topic of the
Downs, and letting it fall into oblivion by drawing his attention to
other subjects of discussion. Sommelsdijk had persuasive manners,
and by the exercise of patience, tact, and conciliation, he did
succeed to a large extent in his aim. He was much helped in his task
by another negotiation which was now set on foot. Frederick Henry,
in this same month of January, 1640, sent over a secret envoy, Jan
van der Kerkhoven, Lord of Heenvliet, to propose a marriage between
his only son and an English princess. The matter had been first
suggested by Marie de Medicis during a visit to the Hague in 1638.
The proposal was favourably received, and became the ground for a
long-continued struggle between the Spanish and the Franco-Dutch
factions at Court. In the meantime, gradually 'the bitterness of
the pill' of the Downs was 'sweetened' by marriage negotiations, and
the 'scandal' of the infringement of the King's sovereignty over his
own waters was, if not forgiven, at least overlooked.
[42] _Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau_, 2nd ser., iii. 171,
'dès aussitôt que j'auray endormi le faict des Duyns, qui est le
seul object de ma commission.'
The King saw in fact that it was wiser to keep silence. Spain was
clearly a broken reed, and the Dutch had given a signal proof of
their possession of a naval strength that it would be dangerous to
challenge. Sommelsdijk was quite content on his part to let the
matter drop. On February 8, 1646, he wrote to the Stadholder[43]:--
'The scandal of the Downs has been so thoroughly justified, that
the greater part of the Council, in the presence of the King,
has sustained that we both could and were obliged to do it; so
it is sufficiently lulled to sleep, seeing that up to now there
has not been made any further complaint. As long as I remain I
will take good care that neither on one occasion nor another
shall it be revived.'[43]
[43] _Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau_, 2nd ser., iii. 200,
201.