384 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SEA 



now about to enter on a new phase, which culminated in the 

 first Dutch war. So long as the ambitious and energetic Prince 

 William II. of Orange was alive, the relations between the 

 United Provinces and the Parliament were strained and men- 

 acing. The States-General, under Orange influence, refused to 

 enter into diplomatic communication with the English Govern- 

 ment, or to admit their ambassador, Strickland, to audience. The 

 execution of Charles I. had raised strong feelings of repro- 

 bation and horror in the Netherlands, even amongst the 

 Hollanders and Zealanders, who sympathised with the Puri- 

 tans; and it was believed in England that the Prince of 

 Orange was contemplating war against them for the restora- 

 tion of his brother-in-law, Charles II., to the throne. The 

 death of the Prince, on 27th October 1650, produced a great 

 change. It was followed by a political revolution in the 

 United Provinces, the chief outcome of which was the pre- 

 dominance of the States of Holland and of the party opposed 

 to the Orange faction, and most favourably inclined to maintain 

 good relations with the English Commonwealth. 1 It was 

 therefore agreed at The Hague to send back Joachimi, who 

 had been dismissed by the Parliament in the previous year, 

 with credentials as ambassador from the States-General to 

 the Parliament. 



In London the accession to power of the republican party in 

 the Netherlands had been watched with keen interest. The 

 time, it was believed, was come for a close alliance between 

 the two great Protestant Republics for safeguarding their 

 religious and political liberties ; perhaps, it was thought by 

 some, for even a closer union than was implied in the strictest 

 alliance known to diplomacy. The Parliament accordingly 

 lost no time in opening negotiations with the States-General. 

 On 17th March, 1651, Lord Chief-Justice St John and Walter 

 Strickland entered The Hague with great pomp and splendour 

 as ambassadors from the Commonwealth, attended by an 

 imposing retinue of 246 persons. They were greeted in the 

 street with insulting cries from Orange partisans and royalist 

 refugees. On the following days their suite only ventured 

 abroad in parties, and with their rapiers in their hands. The 



1 Geddes, History of the Administration of John de Witt, i. 102, 106, 150-157. 

 Gardiner, History of the Commonwealth and Protectorate, i. 353, 356. 



