[Footnote 1:  See on this subject a multitude of original papers in Thurloe, i. 268, 284, 302, 308, 315, 316, 340, 362, 370, 372, 381, 382, 394, 401.]

[Sidenote a:  A.D. 1653.  July 26.] [Sidenote b:  A.D. 1653.  July 31.]

Dutch began to waver; in a short time they fled, and the pursuit continued till midnight.  That which distinguished this from every preceding action was the order issued by Monk to make no prizes, but to sink or destroy the ships of the enemy.  Hence the only trophies of victory were the prisoners, men who had been picked up after they had thrown themselves into the water, or had escaped in boats from the wrecks.  Of these, more than a thousand were brought to England, a sufficient proof that, if the loss of the enemy did not amount to twenty sail, as stated by Monk, it exceeded nine small vessels, the utmost allowed by the States.[1]

During the absence of the other ambassadors, Cromwell sought several private interviews with the third who remained, Beverning, the deputy from the States of Holland; and the moderation with which he spoke of the questions in dispute, joined to the tears with which he lamented the enmity of two nations so similar in their political and religious principles, convinced the Dutchman that an accommodation might be easily and promptly attained.  At his desire his colleagues returned; the conferences were resumed; the most cheering hopes were indulged; when suddenly the English commissioners presented seven-and-twenty articles, conceived in a tone of insulting superiority, and demanding sacrifices painful and degrading.  A few days later the parliament was dissolved; and, as it was evident that the interests of the new protector required a peace, the ambassadors began to affect indifference on the subject, and demanded passports to depart.  Cromwell, in his turn, thought proper to yield; some claims

[Footnote 1:  Le Clerc, i. 335.  Basnage, i. 313.  Several Proceedings, No. 197.  Perfect Diurnal, No. 187.  Thurloe, i. 392, 420, 448.]

were abandoned; others were modified, and every question was adjusted, with the exception of this, whether the king of Denmark, the ally of the Dutch, who, to gratify them, had seized and confiscated twenty-three English merchantmen in the Baltic,[1] should be comprehended or not in the treaty.  The ambassadors were at Gravesend on their way home, when Cromwell proposed[a] a new expedient, which they approved.  They proceeded, however, to Holland; obtained the approbation of the several states, and returned[b] to put an end to the treaty.  But here again, to their surprise, new obstacles arose.  Beverning had incautiously boasted of his dexterity; he had, so he pretended compelled the protector to lower his demands by threatening to break off the negotiation; and Cromwell now turned the tables upon him by playing a similar game.  At the same time that he rose in some of his demands, he equipped a fleet of one hundred sail, and ordered several regiments to embark.  The ambassadors, aware that the States had made no provision to oppose this formidable armament, reluctantly acquiesced;[c] and on the 5th of April, after a negotiation of ten months, the peace was definitively signed.[2]