THE THIRD DUTCH WAR 485 



the capture of the salt fleet would thus overwhelm them in 

 ruin even greater than would the loss of their East Indian 

 fleet. But ships were apparently not ready for this venture 

 and, besides, it was not salt that Charles wanted. On 18th 

 February orders were sent to the Mediterranean to take and 

 sell, or to destroy, all Dutch shipping. On 5th March Charles 

 wrote to the Duke of York commanding that, as he had 

 received many indignities from the States-General, and his 

 demand for reparation against one of their subjects who 

 refused to strike his flag remained unanswered, such men- 



o 



-of -war as were ready at Portsmouth should immediately put 

 to sea and seize and bring into port, with their cargoes intact, 

 any Dutch vessels they met with, and destroy those that 

 resisted. Another royal command on the following day 

 included Hamburg vessels in the piratical order, since Dutch 

 ships often sailed under that flag; and in this missive, as 

 a sort of moral salve, the king announced that he had resolved 

 to make war on the States-General. 



The first capture was made on 8th March, and when Boreel 

 demanded restitution, he was told, boldly but incautiously, 

 that the Dutch ships would be seized everywhere. The 

 Cadiz fleet returning to the United Provinces had a very 

 narrow escape, having passed up Channel on the day Holmes 

 received his instructions. On the next day. 13th March, off 

 the Isle of Wight, he fell in with the Smyrna fleet of fifty- 

 six merchant vessels returning home from the Mediterranean 

 with rich cargoes of silks, plate, cochineal, gums, &c., esti- 

 mated to be worth over a million pounds. It was upon 

 this fleet that Charles had been counting. Eleven States' 

 men-of-war acted as convoy to the merchantmen, many of 

 which were also heavily armed as fighting ships. To deal 

 with this formidable force Holmes at first had only five ships, 

 having failed to effect a junction with Spragge's squadron, 

 from the selfish design, it was alleged, of keeping the prize- 

 money among as few as possible. The Dutch fleet, which 

 had been warned of their danger by Boreel, were on the 

 alert. On the approach of the English the armed vessels 

 moved into line to protect the defenceless merchantmen. 

 Lord Ossory, in the Resolution, bore up to the Dutch vice- 

 admiral and gave him a " warning piece " to strike his flag, 



