Peace of 1654.
- prehension of war. Nor is it surprising that booty
so valuable should have whetted the appetite of the English people for war. But happily, on the 5th of April 1654, a treaty of peace was concluded. Cromwell's enemies complained that in the treaty no mention was made of the sole right of the English to the fishing on their own coast, nor of any annual tribute to be paid by the Dutch for that privilege, which had been the case in the reign of Charles. They were displeased also that he gave up the right of search which Parliament had insisted upon; and, further, that he did not limit the number of Dutch men-of-war to be thereafter employed for the protection of their commerce. Cromwell, however, required in the treaty an admission of the English sovereignty of the seas, and the Dutch consented to strike their flag to the ships of the Commonwealth.[1] We may add that this treaty made no reference to the obnoxious Navigation Act, although this was in all probability the actual cause of the war; as on this point neither Cromwell, the Parliament, nor the nation felt disposed to yield in the smallest degree.
Alleged complaints against the Navigation Acts of Cromwell. It has been asserted that these laws at first occasioned loud complaints, to the effect "that while our own people (the English) had not shipping enough to import from all parts the goods they wanted, they were, nevertheless, by the Navigation Act debarred from receiving new supplies of merchandise from other nations, who only could, and till then, did import them."[2] At a later period it was said "No
