FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 40: In fifteen days 110 men and women were assassinated in
the capital alone, some of them persons of distinction. Cánovas,
Decadencia de España, Libro VI.]




CHAPTER XXI

BRITISH ATTACKS ON PUERTO RICO--SIEGE OF SAN JUAN BY SIR RALPH
ABERCROMBIE

1678-1797

The _entente cordiale_ which had existed between England under Charles
I and Spain under Philip IV ceased with the tragic death of the
first-named monarch.[41]

Immediately after Cromwell's elevation both France and Spain made
overtures for an alliance with England. But the Protector well knew
that in the event of war with either power, Spain's colonies and
treasure-laden galleons offered a better chance for obtaining booty
than the poor possessions of France. He favored an alliance with Louis
XIV, and ended by signing a treaty with him in 1657.

The first result of the hostilities that ensued was the capture by the
English Admirals Blake and Stayner of several richly laden galleons.