In
obedience to his instructions, he revenged himself on the Portuguese trade,
and Don John, by way of reprisal, arrested the English merchants, and
took possession of their effects. Alarmed, however, by the losses of his
subjects, he compelled[a] Rupert to quit the Tagus,[1] and despatched[b]
an envoy, named Guimaraes, to solicit an accommodation. Every paper which
passed between this minister and the commissioners was submitted to the
parliament, and by it approved, or modified, or rejected. Guimaraes
subscribed[c] to the preliminaries demanded by the council, that the
English merchants arrested in Portugal should be set at liberty, that they
should receive an indemnification for their losses, and that the king of
Portugal should pay a sum of money towards the charges of the English
fleet; but he protracted the negotiation, by disputing dates and details,
and was haughtily commanded[d] to quit the territory of the commonwealth.
Humbling as it was to Don John, he had no resource; the Conde de Camera was
sent,[e] with the title of ambassador extraordinary; he assented to every
[Footnote 1: Thurloe, i. 134, 142, 155. Heath, 254, 256, 275. Whitelock,
406, 429, 449, 463, 475. Clarendon, iii. 338. Rupert sailed into the
Mediterranean, and maintained himself by piracy, capturing not only English
but Spanish and Genoese ships.
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