DOMINIUM MARIS 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. 
