DOMINIUM MAKES 75 



some fifteen men-of-war. The Dutch vessels had, as 

 Northumberland expressed it, shown some unwillingness 

 to come near the English fleet, and this " found them enter- 

 tainment for eight days together in following them, but now 

 very few of them are unprovided with His Majesty's 

 License." 1 Northumberland's voyage had lasted from 15th 

 May to 9th October ; his journal during this time shows 

 him to have collected 999 of convoy money, and 

 501 15s. 2d. of " acknowledgment money from the Dutch 

 fishermen." 2 



In spite of Northumberland's success, it had not been the 

 intention of the Dutch authorities to submit, without 

 resistance, to all these demands of Charles. In August, 

 1636, they sent a fleet of fifty-seven warships under Admiral 

 Van Dorp, to the North Sea, with the significant orders to 

 protect the fishing fleet " against the Spaniards and all 

 others inclined to molest them." Van Dorp, upon his 

 arrival at the fishing grounds, found that he had been 

 forestalled by the British Admiral, Northumberland, who 

 declared that he likewise had been sent by his government 

 to protect the fishermen. Unfortunately for Van Dorp, 

 the Dutch fishermen had submitted to the demands of the 

 British Admiral for payment of the stipulated price for 

 protection; they had without question accepted the 

 licenses and paid the duty. Northumberland's sailing orders 

 directed him to fight if any obstructed him. Van Dorp, 

 who had no such definite orders, hesitated as to his course 

 of action, and finally sailed away. Upon returning to 

 Holland in the following year, he was so severely censured 

 by his government for his failure to sufficiently protect 

 the fishermen from the exactions of the English, that he 

 retired from the navy. The English people, however, 

 claimed that a precedent had now been established, and 



1 Cal. S.P. Dom. Car. I., vol. 333, No. 26. 



2 Ibid. vol. 343, No. 72. 



