THE NAVY AND THE STUARTS 



Huguenots would not co-operate with their relievers until we had given 

 some definite grounds for them to hope that the expedition would be 

 successful. As a matter of fact it was a miserable failure, and with the 

 enemy and disease taking huge toll retreat was the only thing possible. 

 It must be admitted that in this expedition Buckingham proved himself 

 a sporting loser and took all the blame to himself. In addition promised 

 help from England did not arrive. 



The Second La Rochelle Expedition. 



No sooner had the remnants of this enterprise arrived home than 

 preparations were made for a second, although there was nothing really 

 to be gained by the relief of the town and the whole enterprise was a 

 mixture of Buckingham's swashbuckling and the Royal obstinacy which 

 subsequently cost Charles his head. The French were having ships 

 built for them in Holland and we had a certain preliminary success in 

 capturing a big man-of-war that was practically completed at the Texel, 

 but in the meantime we were suffering badly from the hornets which 

 sailed from Dunkirk in swarms. The murder of Buckingham on the 

 23rd of August, 1628, prevented further waste on the scheme. 



The Dark Days. 



After the death of Buckingham the Na\^ embarked on a very dark 

 period of its history. The Turkish pirates ravaged the Channel and 

 English coasts, the peaces that we concluded with France and Spain, 

 the latter including a secret clause against the Dutch, could not be said 

 to increase our dignity, while the Dutch captured the greater part of 

 the herring trade, fishing on our coasts with the utmost contempt for 

 royal regulations or Charles's demand for licences. A fleet was raised 

 by means of Ship Money for the suppression of piracy, and it must be 

 noted that it was only when the tax was made a regular part of the 

 King's income in peace time that such strong objections were raised 

 to it. A fleet was fitted out for sea in 1635 but it did very little and the 

 general level of the service was low. 



The Ship Money Fleet. 



The real trouble about ship money arose when a new writ was 

 issued in August, 1635, levying the tax on the inland as well as the 

 maritime counties and towns. Many of the agricultural districts had 

 not the slightest interest in ships and shipping, and the demand caused 

 the greatest discontent among them. The third writ for ship money in 

 October, 1636, made it evident that the demands on the inland dis- 

 tricts were to be permanent and it was against this that John Hampden 

 and others took the stand which indirectly led to the Civil War. In the 

 meantime, however, a fleet had contrived to get to sea and the moral 

 effect of its existence was considerable. It did not extend, however, 

 to the Dutch herring fishers who stubbornly refused to take out licences, 

 in spite of the repeated demands of the impecunious King. 



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