12 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SEA 



umberland succeeded in the latter mission, against which 

 the Dutch Government strongly protested, and there is no 

 doubt that if the policy had been persisted in, the first 

 Dutch war would have been antedated by some fifteen 

 years. 



At this period and during nearly all the remainder of the 

 century the greatest prominence was given to the striking 

 of the flag, which had continued to be a matter of small 

 importance in the reign of James. It was now claimed as 

 a token and acknowledgment of England's sovereignty of 

 the sea, and it was insisted on with the utmost arrogance. 

 The "honour of the flag" burned like a fever in the veins 

 of the English naval commanders, who vied with one another 

 in enforcing the ceremony, not merely in the Channel or 

 near the English coast, but in the roads and off the ports 

 on the Continent; and the records relating to their achieve- 

 ments in this respect were treasured up in the archives of 

 the Admiralty, to be used again and again in later diplomatic 

 negotiations as to the rights of England to the sovereignty 

 of the sea. Dutch ships, and in particular the men-of-war, 

 made little scruple about performing the " homage." The 

 Government of the United Provinces were keenly concerned 

 about their commerce and fisheries, and so long as the English 

 pretension did not menace these substantial interests they 

 were willing to show "respect" to the English flag never, 

 however, as an acknowledgment of any supposed sovereignty 

 of the sea. 



While Charles was on the throne no serious international 

 consequences resulted from the enforcement of the salute. 

 The Dutch, as has been said, readily rendered it, and by 

 the prudent policy of Richelieu the French ships were kept 

 out of the way; and not very long thereafter Charles was 

 stripped of his sovereignty on land as well as on the sea. 

 But a little later it had noteworthy results. It was the 

 reluctance of Lieu tenant -Admiral Tromp to lower his flag 

 to Blake in their historic meeting in the Straits of Dover 

 in 1652 that precipitated the first Dutch war. By this 

 time the States -General of the United Provinces, and the 

 State of Holland in particular, had considerably abated their 

 readiness to render the "homage of the flag," even as a mark 



