ment.

Nor were their contentions confined to the sea alone. On land many a bloody scene was enacted; but the tragedy at Ambayna,—which from the ill feeling it stirred up in English breasts, was undoubtedly one of the exciting causes (7) of the wars between England and the United Provinces,-alone can claim a place in this history; and, in order that the reader may form an unbiassed judgment of it, I shall give both versions of the story. The English account is that, in 1619, a treaty was made between Great Britain and the United Provinces, wherein it was stipulated that, to avoid further disputes, the Dutch should enjoy two thirds of the trade of Ambayna and the English one third. In pursuance of this the English erected a factory in the island while the Dutch built a strong fort there.

In 1623, however, the Dutch, desiring to monopolize the spice trade, pretended that the English had formed a conspiracy with certain Japanese to capture the fort, and thereupon seized upon them all, and "without having other witnesses than themselves present," put them to horrible tortures, for the purpose of forcing them to avow that which they were determined they should avow. These tortures were as fearful as those of the Inquisition: the breasts of some of the accused "being filled with air until they were almost strangled, and their eyes ready to pop out of their heads, and the sides of others pierced with bars of red-hot iron which penetrated even to their entrails; others again had the soles of their feet burned with lighted candles." Having in this way extorted a confession from the sufferers, which they forced them to sign, they cut off the heads of ten of them (who with their latest breath asserted their innocence) and, "under a specious show of clemency," discharged the rest.

The absurdity of the charge made against their countrymen, say the English, is shown by the fact that, while they and the Japanese combined did not constitute a force of over fifty men, the Dutch had two hundred soldiers in their fort, and eight stout ships riding in the harbor; and that, even if they had had the foolhardiness to attempt such an act, they would have been deterred from it, from their certain knowledge that its comsummation must bring upon them "eternal iufamy and the loss of all their goods, since their sovereign, who hated to the last degree a violation of faith, had consented that the Dutch should hold the island and build a fort on it." Furthermore they declare that the subsequent conduct of the Dutch, in seizing not only upon the factory at Ambayna, but of every other English factory in the spice islands, too clearly demonstrates that their intent, from the

beginning, was to get the whole spice trade into their hands; and that avarice alone led to the accusation against the English, and all the enormities that followed it.

On the other hand the Dutch allege that their countrymen of Ambayna had for some time observed that the Indians of the neighboring islands were carrying on a secret correspondence with each other, contrary to the promise they had given, and without informing a single officer of the Dutch East India Company of their action. That, finally, they had become so bold as to threaten to attack the Dutch and pillage their factories, and that many of them had been heard to declare that the fort at Ambayna would not be much longer in Dutch hands. This induced the Governor of Ambayna to proceed to Loehoe, with a number of armed shallops, for the purpose of overawing the nations and bringing them into subjection; but when he arrived there he found them with a fleet of boats, more powerful than his own, drawn up in battle array; and, far from giving him satisfaction for the insults offered to his people, they endeavored to provoke him to attack them, and, finally, forced him to retreat to Ambayna without effecting anything.

This boldness of theirs caused the Dutch to suspect that a plot was forming for their overthrow in the East, and that some European nation was at the bottom of it. Close observation convinced them that the Indians of Loehoe, Cambello, and other places, were entirely under the influence of the English: and, continuing their investigations with great secrecy, they learned, in February, 1623, from a Japanese who was concerned in the intrigue, that a conspiracy had been formed against the fort of Ambayna and against the whole Dutch establishment on that island. He named Captain Towerson, the head of the English factory, and Abel Prys, an English surgeon, as the prime movers in the affair, in which all the English were concerned, aud declared that the fort was to be carried through the treachery of thirty Japanese soldiers, who were in the service of the Dutch East India Company and formed part of its garrison. The Japanese were now disarmed, and they, as well as the English, seized and imprisoned. They all acknowledged the conspiracy and signed their acknowledgement, "which one can see at length in their declaration, where, among other things, it is admitted that they intended to kill the Dutch gov

ernor."

When Towerson was asked what had induced him to engage in such a wicked design, he answered-"Honor and Profit." Being asked from

whom he expected to receive honor and profit and why he wished to seize the fort, he replied "I expected to be honored and rewarded by my country, as it was for her advancement that I was willing to peril my life in the enterprise." After his examination was concluded the governor said to him—"Is this, then, your recompense to me for all the friendship I have shown you?" "If the thing were to be done over again" he replied with a sigh, "I would not do it," which (if the relation be true) was certainly, as the Dutch say, "an admission of his crime."

At this distance of time it is impossible to form a correct judgment of the matter. The argument of the English that it would have been impossible for the conspirators to take the fort is certainly not sound, since, with thirty of their number already within its walls, nothing would have been easier.

It seems probable, then, that a conspiracy did exist, of which the Dutch were only too happy to take advantage as a pretext for seizing the English factories everywhere. Le Clerc indeed asserts that, according to the English historian Wilson, the Court of England attached more faith (plus de foi) to the Dutch than to the English narration; but in this he is not borne out by the text; Wilson's exact words being,-"This cruelty had made an incurable wound betwixt the two Nations (the Noise of it giving Animosity enough) but that it was new skin'd over, the bloody Garment taken off by Dutch Apologies, and presented at Court with a Face of justice; For nothing must come thither but in such Attire, as the Great Ones about the King will please to put upon it; who might be wrought to any temper by that Forge that could frame such flagitious Actions; For they that had Barbarism enough to perpetrate the one, had Baseness enough to practice the other."

While such was the state of feeling between the two countries the Parliament in England passed the celebrated navigation act (Oct. 9th, 1651) whereby all nations were prohibited from importing in their vessels any commodity "not the growth and manufacture of their own country." This act, although general in its terms, was levelled entirely at the Dutch, who, producing little, were the common carriers of the world; and yet the Parliament went further and granted letters of reprisal to Robert and William Pawlet (who declared they had sustained a loss of twenty thousand nine hundred and seventy pounds sterling from the cruisers of Holland) authorizing them to collect that amount, by the seizure of Dutch merchantmen and their cargoes,

whenever they might chance to fall in with them in "the narrow seas." This high handed measure produced such an outcry in the United Provinces that the States General found it necessary to dispatch a special embassy to England to remonstrate against it.

The ambassadors, who were granted an audience by Parliament, on Dec. 29th, were at once convinced that Cromwell, who had shortly before "longed for a coalition between the two republics which should make their interests inseparable," now as earnestly longed for war; still they had interview after interview with the Parliament, and did not wholly despair of peace until news reached them on the 19th of May that a collision had actually taken place between Van Tromp and the English admiral Blake, when, from the intense excitement of the populace, which made it necessary for the Council of state to provide them with a guard of cavalry for their protection, it was easy to perceive that hostilities could not much longer be avoided.

Van Tromp, it seems, when about to sail from Holland, with a fleet of forty vessels, for the protection of his country's commerce, was instructed by The States General, to use his discretion about lowering his sails and colors to any English men of war he might chance to fall in with, "provided he did nothing derogatory to the honor of The Seven United Provinces"; but he was expressly directed to prevent, at all hazards, Dutch merchantmen from being visited and searched by the cruisers of any foreign power whatever. Being driven by stress of weather upon the coast of Kent, he anchored in the Downs, and finding a British squadron there dispatched two of his captains to its commander-in-chief, Major Bourne, to inform him that the storm had forced him to seek that anchorage and that as soon at it moderated he would put to sea again-Major Bourne sent a polite message to the admiral in return, say the Dutch, and invited the captains to take a glass of wine with him; but, according to Campbell, Allen, and other British authors, he had the rudeness to reply "that the truth of his story would best appear from the shortness of his stay." However this may be, Tromp left the Downs on the 18th of May, and steered to the eastward, intending, after a few days cruise in the North sea, to return to Holland for the purpose of providing himself with anchors and cables, of which many of his vessels were greatly in need; but he had not gone far when he met "two Amsterdam vessels, whose captains informed him that they had just parted company with seven merchant-men off Dover, which they feared would fall a prey to the English, as they * See Basnage annales des Provinces Unies, Tom. 1, p. 253. .

had observed twelve of the Parliament's war ships bearing down to communicate with them." Upon this, Tromp, in strict obedience to his instructions relative to the protection of Dutch shipping, stood for Dover Roads, where he observed an English fleet of thirteen vessels at anchor, the largest of which, the James, carrying the flag of rearadmiral Robert Blake, afterward so famous in English history, got underway and stood toward him. The situation was critical, and one of grave responsibilty—for in the excited state of men's minds both in England and in Holland a single false step might lead to war-yet Tromp acted with singular judgment, prudence and calmness, signalling to his fleet to furl all light sails and reef top-sails (that his vessels might be readily handled in case he should be forced to an engagement), and at the same time stationing men by his own ensign and flag in readiness to lower them when he should get within the proper distance of Blake. He was, indeed, he says in his letter to the States General, "about to give the order to lower away' when a ball from the James whistled above his head." To this he made no reply; but, upon being fired at a second time, he sent a ball across the James's fore foot, which was answered by a whole broadside, when the two flagships, the James and the Brederode became instantly engaged, (9) and the English fleet got underway. The action now became general, and the English were roughly handled until reinforced by Major Bourne with twelve vessels, when the combatants fought on more equal terms. (10) The battle was very hot, lasting from four to nine p. m., darkness at last putting an end to it. The English were terribly shattered in hull, masts, rigging and sails, and their loss in killed and wounded was quite as great as that of the Dutch, yet they properly claimed the victory as they took two Dutch vessels, while not, one of theirs fell into the enemy's hands. One of their prizes, however, was retaken by Tromp, the morning after the fight; the prize-crew which had been thrown aboard of her, having abandoned her, through fear of her foundering.

The people residing along the sea-board of Kent were so alarmed when they witnessed the engagement, which, judging of the strength of the fleet from numbers alone, they supposed must inevitably result in the defeat of their countrymen, and a descent of the Dutch upon the coast, that they deserted their homes and fled into the interior; nor would they return to them until Cromwell himself appeared among them, with a large body of troops which he distributed throughout the county, placing strong detachments in Greenwich,