418 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SEA 



other, but they agreed that another word might be chosen and 

 a "good regulation" made. The objection was curious, because 

 during the negotiations of 1673 the envoys of the States and 

 the same able Beverning was the chief of them themselves 

 proposed that the striking of the flag should be done " by way 

 of respect " ; and when that word, respect, was inserted in the 

 treaty of 1674, it was said in England that the Dutch had 

 scored a great diplomatic victory, since to show respect was 

 not to acknowledge sovereignty. 



When the two absent deputies returned to London they 

 brought back with them the old instructions for a "close 

 alliance and strict union," nothing being said about the pro- 

 posal to fuse the two nations into one. Their memorandum 

 was submitted to the new Council of State, on which Cromwell 

 had a working majority ; the only coalition suggested was a 

 "coalition of interests," and a "brotherhood" of the peoples. 

 Cromwell at once called it a mutilated coalition, and some of 

 the Council are said to have expressed strong opinions as to 

 the " contumelious " tactics of the Dutch. If they refused real 

 coalition, it was our duty, they said, to make them and keep 

 them our inferiors, so that they might never attempt this nation 

 again ; they must pay for liberty to fish on our coasts ; render 

 the usual submission at sea ; give up their own wafters and pay 

 us for convoys, since we were the proper guardians of the British 

 sea ; they must not equip many great ships, without explaining 

 their intentions and asking leave to pass through our seas ; and 

 they must pay the costs of the war. Such were the opinions 

 attributed to the Council by a well-informed author who wrote 

 a little later, 1 and they indicate tolerably well the demands 

 which were subsequently made. The Council then prepared 

 draft articles for a treaty on the lines the Dutch desired, and 

 Cromwell informed them that since they were averse to a 

 coalition which would have made the privileges of both coun- 

 tries equal, it would be necessary first of all to define clearly 

 their respective rights, so that disputes might be avoided in 

 future. And in the first place, he said, they must settle their 

 right and dominion in the narrow sea and the question of the 



1 Stubbe, A Further Justification, 92. Stubbe says he had an account of part 

 of the proceedings from one of the English commissioners ; he had also the use of 

 official manuscripts. 



