sum, on condition that he would deliver the fortress into the hands of the English; or of the same sum, with the aid of a military force to the cardinal, if he preferred to treat in the name of his patron.  The governor complained of the insult offered to his honour; but intimated[a] that, if the English wished to purchase Dunkirk, the proposal might be addressed to his sovereign.  The hint was taken, and the offer was made, and debated in the royal council at Poictiers.  The cardinal, who returned to France at the very time, urged its

[Footnote 1:  See the instructions to Popham.  “In respect that many of the English so spoiled are not able to undergo the charge of setting forth ships of their own to make seizures by such letters-of-marque; ... you shall, as in the way and execution of justice, seize, arrest, &c. such ships and vessels of the said French king, or any of his subjects, as you shall think fit,... and the same keep in your custody, till the parliament declare their further resolution concerning the same.”—­Thurloe, i. 144.]

[Sidenote a:  A.D. 1652.  Feb.]

acceptance;[1] but the queen-mother and the other counsellors were so unwilling to give the English a footing in France, that he acquiesced in their opinion, and a refusal was returned.  Cromwell did not fail to resent the disappointment.  By the facility which he afforded to the Spanish levies in Ireland, their army in Flanders was enabled to reduce Gravelines, and, soon afterwards, to invest[a] Dunkirk.  That fortress was on the point of capitulating when a French flotilla of seven sail, carrying from twenty to thirty guns each, and laden with stores and provisions, was descried[b] stealing along the shore to its relief.  Blake, who had received secret orders from the council, gave chase; the whole squadron was captured, and the next day[c] Dunkirk opened its gates.[2] By the French court this action was pronounced an unprovoked and unjustifiable injury; but Mazarin coolly calculated the probable consequences of a war, and, after some time, sent[d] over Bordeaux, under the pretence of claiming the captured ships, but in reality to oppose the intrigues of the agents of Spain, of the prince of Conde, and of the city of Bordeaux, who laboured to obtain the support of the commonwealth in opposition to the French court.[3]

Bordeaux had been appointed[e] ambassador to the parliament; after the inauguration of Cromwell, it became necessary to appoint him ambassador to his

[Footnote 1:  Here Louis XIV., to whom we are indebted for this anecdote observes; that it was the cardinal’s maxim de pourvoir, a quelque prix qu’il fut, aux affaires presentes, persuade que les maux a venir, trouveroient leur remede dans l’avenir meme.—­Oeuvres de Louis XIV. i. 170.]

[Footnote 2:  Ibid. 168-170.  See also Heath, 325; Thurloe, i. 214; Whitelock, 543.]

[Footnote 3:  Journals, 14 Dec. 1652.  Clar.  Pap. iii. 105, 123, 132.  Thurloe, i. 436.]