INTRODUCTION 13 



of respect, thinking that it might be construed as an ac- 

 knowledgment on their part that the Republic of the Nether- 

 lands was inferior to the Republic of England. They had 

 dallied with the subject when it was brought before them 

 in connection with the instructions to their fleets, and had 

 refrained deliberately from giving precise orders about it. 

 The Commonwealth, on the other hand, assigned as much 

 importance to the striking of the flag as Charles had ever 

 done, considering that it touched their dignity as well as 

 their sovereignty in the seas, and the instructions they issued 

 to the naval commanders were practically the same as those 

 that had been given to the ship-money fleets. Even the godly 

 Barebones' Parliament of 1653, which looked upon the Dutch 

 as a carnal and worldly people, held it necessary that the seas 

 should be secured and preserved as peaceable as the land, as 

 a preparation for the coming of Christ and the personal reign. 

 The traditional sentiment of the English nation respecting 

 supremacy at sea had never been stronger; their jealousy of 

 the commercial pre-eminence of the Dutch was never keener. 

 In the prolonged negotiations that preceded the conclusion 

 of peace, Cromwell, who, until he became Lord Protector, 

 acted as spokesman for the Council, put the questions relating 

 to the dominion of the sea in the foreground. The draft 

 articles which he submitted to the Dutch for their acceptance, 

 while permitting their merchant vessels to navigate the British 

 seas (a provision offensive in itself), proposed to limit the 

 number of their men-of-war that might be allowed to pass 

 through those seas, and if occasion arose for a larger number, 

 the Dutch Government were to give three months' notice to 

 the Commonwealth and obtain consent before they put them 

 forth. Their men-of-war, as well as their merchant vessels, 

 were to submit to be visited and searched. The Dutch were 

 to have liberty to fish upon the British coasts on payment 

 of an annual sum for the privilege. They were to render 

 the honour of the flag to any ship of the Parliament. Of 

 all these demands the only one that was conceded was the 

 last, and it was a small triumph for Cromwell that he was 

 able, for the first time, to bind another nation to this ceremony 

 by the formal stipulation of a treaty. The Dutch, however, 

 were able to eliminate from the article the words representing 



