But though tranquillity was restored in Piedmont, Cromwell was still unwilling to conclude the treaty till he had ascertained what impression had been made on the king of Spain by the late attempt on Hispaniola. To Philip, already engaged in war with France, it was painful to add so powerful an adversary to the number
[Footnote 1: Thurloe, iii. 469, 470, 475, 535, 568, 706, 724, 742, 745.
Siri, xv. 843.]
[Footnote 2: The Protestant cantons of Switzerland had sent Colonel Mey to England, offering to raise an army in aid of the Vaudois, if Cromwell would furnish a subsidy of ten thousand pounds per month.—Siri, Mercurio, xv. 472. In consequence Downing was despatched as envoy to these cantons; but the pacification was already concluded; and on his arrival at Geneva, he received orders, dated Aug. 30, to return immediately.—Thurloe, iii. 692, 694; iv. 31. Still the design was not abandoned, but intrusted to Morland, who remained at Geneva, to distribute the money from England. What were his secret instructions may be seen, ibid. p. 326.]
[Footnote 3: The conditions may be seen in Morland, 652; Dumont, vi. part ii. p. 114; and Leger, 216. The subscription for the Vaudois, of which two thousands pounds was given by the protector, amounted to thirty eight thousand two hundred and twenty-eight pounds four shillings and twopence. Of this sum twenty-five thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight pounds eight shillings and ninepence was sent at different times to the valleys; four hundred and sixty-three pounds seventeen shillings was charged for expenses; and about five hundred pounds was found to be clipt or counterfeit money.—Journals, 11 July, 1559.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1656. August 8.]
of his enemies; but the affront was so marked, so unjust, so unprovoked, that to submit to it in silence was to subscribe to his own degradation. He complained,[a] in dignified language, of the ingratitude and injustice of the English government; contrasted with its conduct his own most scrupulous adhesion both to the letter and the spirit of the treaties between the kingdoms; ordered that all ships, merchandize, and property belonging to the subjects of the commonwealth should be seized and secured in every part of his dominions, and instructed his ambassador in London to remonstrate and take his leave.[1] The day after the passport was delivered to Don Alonzo, Cromwell consented to the signature of the treaty with France. It provided that the maritime hostilities, which had so long harassed the trade of the two nations, should cease, that the relations of amity and commerce should be restored; and, by a separate, and therefore called a secret, article, that Barriere, agent for the prince of Condé, and nine other Frenchmen, equally obnoxious to the French ministry, should be perpetually excluded from the territory of the commonwealth; and that Charles Stuart, his brother the duke of York, Ormond, Hyde, and fifteen other adherents of the exiled prince, should, in the same manner, be excluded from the kingdom of France.[2] The protector had persuaded
[Footnote 1: Thurloe, iv. 19, 20, 21, 82, 91.]
[Footnote 2: Dumont, vi. part ii. p. 121. In the body of the treaty, neither the king nor the protector is named; all the articles are stipulated between the commonwealth of England and the kingdom of France. In the preamble, however, the king of France is mentioned, and in the first place, but not as if this arose from any claim of precedency; for it merely relates, that the most Christian king sent his ambassador to England, and the most serene lord, the protector, appointed commissioners to meet him. When the treaty was submitted to Bordeaux, previously to his signature, he discovered an alteration in the usual title of his sovereign, Rex Gallorum (the very title afterwards adopted by the National Assembly), instead of Rex Galliarum, and on that account refused to sign it. After a long contestation, he yielded to the arguments of the Dutch ambassador.—Thurloe, iv. 115.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1656. Sept. 1.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1656. Oct. 24.]
himself that, if the house of Stuart was to be restored, it must be through the aid of France; and he hoped, by the addition of this secret article, to create a bitter and lasting enmity between the two families. Nor was he content with this. As soon as the ratifications had been exchanged, he proposed a more intimate alliance between England and France. Bordeaux was instructed to confine himself in his reply to general expressions of friendship. He might receive any communications which were offered; he was to make no advances on the part of his sovereign.