THE THIRD DUTCH WAR 479 



who was in the secret, tersely put it to his Court, " the captain 

 is to use all his powder, so as to give good cause for a quarrel." 

 The Merlin on her way to Holland passed through the 

 Dutch fleet, but owing to a heavy gale she could not get 

 near enough to execute the king's commands. She appears, 

 however, to have met two Dutch men-of-war convoying the 

 herring - busses, who exchanged guns with her but did 

 not strike their flag. 1 But in returning, early in August, 

 with Lady Temple on board, the Merlin, with the royal 

 standard flying, came upon the States' fleet lying at anchor 

 beyond the Goodwins, six leagues from the coast of Zealand 

 and sixteen leagues from England. The little yacht, while 

 still at a distance, began to fire at the Dutch flagship. De 

 Ruyter did not reply at once, but the Lieutenant -Admiral, 

 Van Ghent, thinking that it was merely a question of the 

 salute, returned the guns in the usual manner, and was not 

 a little surprised to receive for his pains a discharge of cannon- 

 balls. He sent an officer on board the yacht for an explana- 

 tion, and Captain Crow, the commander of the Merlin, in- 

 formed him that he had been sent to bring the English 

 ambassadress with her family from Holland, and had orders 

 to make the Dutch fleet lower their colours wherever he met 

 with it. On hearing this, Van Ghent, on the pretext of pay- 

 ing a compliment to Lady Temple, whom he had frequently 

 met at The Hague, went himself on board the Merlin. He 

 told Captain Crow that the point he had raised was one on 

 which he had received no orders from the States, and that 

 he could not concede the claim without express commands. 

 He declared his willingness to pay due respect to the English 

 flag according to the former practice, but he thought it 

 could scarcely be contended that the admiral and the whole 

 fleet should strike on their own coast to a single vessel, and 

 that vessel a yacht, which was only a pleasure-boat, or at 

 least served only for a passage, and could not pass for a 



1 Brit. Mus. Add. MSS., 30,221, fol. 476. The affidavits of three English 

 sailors who witnessed the meeting of the Merlin and the two Dutch conveyers 

 off Flamborough. The sailors swore "that they exchanged guns but did not 

 strike their flags, but went away with their flags abroad." This evidence was 

 obtained to magnify the offence; the position assigned, "off the Flamborough," 

 makes its value doubtful. 



