

CHARLES I. I THE NAVY 321 



he sent him a few days later a handsome diamond ring. 1 But 

 even if Charles had been moved by no special desire to concil- 

 iate the Republic, the preparations which were being made in 

 Holland to guard the fishermen from molestation might have 

 given pause to the attempt to repeat the operations of the 

 year before. The Dutch Government were perfectly aware of 

 Boswell's intrigues about the licenses, and they put little faith 

 in the assurances received through the Queen of Bohemia. 

 They resolved to err on the safe side by equipping a powerful 

 fleet to protect the busses. In April and May, Pennington re- 

 ported to the Admiralty that Van Dorp (not yet cashiered) was 

 cruising between the Downs and Dunkirk with twenty sail of 

 stout men-of-war, and that he heard that six French warships 

 were bound for the north to aid in guarding the fishermen. 2 



Fielding departed on his mission in the Unicorn, one of the 

 ships furnished by London, and on the morning of 18th July 

 he came among the busses fishing off Buchan Ness, Aberdeen- 

 shire. They numbered between six and seven hundred, and 

 were convoyed by twenty-three men-of-war. Fielding, accord- 

 ing to his account, " found the busses very willing " to take the 

 licenses, and two did so. Then one of the Dutch warships 

 came up and lay by him, and the captain asked him to speak to 

 his Admiral before sending for the busses; "but it blew hard 

 that day and the next, so that no boat could pass." On the 

 20th he spoke with the Admiral of South Holland and the 

 Commander of North Holland, and explained his mission ; but 

 they would not then give their answer. On the following day 

 all the commanders of North and South Holland and of Zea- 

 land, with three other captains, told him "that they durst not 

 let his boat pass among the busses to give out his Majesty's 

 licenses before they had orders from their Masters." This was 

 their answer, but they declined to give it in writing. The 

 Unicorn then made sail for England to report the rebuff. 3 



The result of his manoeuvre was mortifying to the king. 

 Fielding, sailor -like, did not conceal the outcome of his 

 mission in diplomatic reserve. The story soon spread through- 



1 " Diamentenring van tamelijcke groote," Verbaal van Beveren. Muller, 

 op. cit., 297. 



2 State Papers, Dom., cccliv. 16 ; ccclv. 22. 



3 Report of Fielding, 24th July. Ibid., ccclxiv. 45. 



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