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.
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