[1]
[Footnote 1: Thurloe, vi. 528, 529. Carrington apud Noble, i. 360-369. The
charge for black cloth alone on this occasion was six thousand nine hundred
and twenty-nine pounds, six shillings, and fivepence,--Biblioth. Stow. ii.
448. I do not notice the childish stories about stealing of the protector's
body.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1658. Nov. 23.]
Before the reader proceeds to the more important transactions at home, he
may take a rapid view of the relations existing between England and foreign
states. The war which had so long raged between the rival crowns of France
and Spain was hastening to its termination; to Louis the aid of England
appeared no longer a matter of consequence; and the auxiliary treaty
between the two countries, which had been renewed from year to year, was
suffered to expire at the appointed[a] time. But in the north of Europe
there was much to claim the attention of the new protector; for the king
of Sweden, after a short peace, had again unsheathed the sword against his
enemy, the king of Denmark. The commercial interests of the maritime states
were deeply involved in the issue of this contest; both England and Holland
prepared to aid their respective allies; and a Dutch squadron joined the
Danish, while an English division, under the command of Ayscue, sailed to
the assistance of the Swedish monarch.
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