THE SECOND DUTCH WAR 



471 



proposed to Charles that new regulations should be arranged 

 with respect to the " salutes and civilities " at sea between the 

 men-of-war of the two nations. Charles declined the invitation. 

 He did not think it fit, he said, to make any new regulation on 

 the salutes at sea, "since there has never been any question 

 made of the constant practice in that matter, which we shall 

 always observe." l 



A renewed attempt to convince the French that it was to 

 their interest to curtail the English claim to the sovereignty 

 of the sea had consequences little dreamt of by De Witt. The 

 Dutch Minister, clinging to his principle, urged at Paris that 

 Charles, who wished to be the supreme ruler of the sea, ought 

 to be forced to modify his pretension and to give the salute 

 in return. It had indeed been rumoured in London that the 

 French king had decided to forbid his naval commanders to 

 strike to the English, and even to compel both English and 

 Dutch to strike to his own flag.' 2 Louis certainly raised the 

 question at the Court of St James's, but in a different way. 

 Colbert, his ambassador there, secretly revealed to Charles 

 the confidential negotiations which the States -General had 

 opened at Paris, in the hope that this mark of confidence would 

 make more easy his policy of detaching the King of England 

 from the Triple Alliance. 3 By this time Charles and Louis 

 were drawing closer together, and in order to prevent chance 

 disputes about the flag, a verbal arrangement was made through 

 Colbert, in the summer of 1669, that no salutes should be 

 exchanged between English and French men-of-war in the 

 Mediterranean, nor should the ship of one be expected to go 

 to leeward of the other. Instructions of this tenour were 

 given to Sir Thomas Allin, who was on the point of leaving 

 with a squadron to chastise the Barbary pirates. 4 



About this time the Duke of York and the officials of the 



1 The king to the Duke of York, 31st Oct. 1669. State Papers, Entry Book, 

 31, fol. 37. 



2 Pepys' Diat-y, 20th Dec. 1668, via. 184. 



3 Pontalis, op. cit., ii. 24. 



4 The king to the Duke of York, 26th June 1669. State Papers, Entry Book, 

 31, fol. 29. Instructions by the Duke of York to Sir Thomas Allin, 6th July 

 1669. Ibid., cclxii. 120. A marginal memorandum on the latter document says, 

 " This rule was adjusted with Colbert, the French Ambassador here, but nothing 

 passed in writing but this. " 



