Olivares had every reason to speak with confidence, for there could be no doubt that Portugal, weakened by her long subjection, could do little or nothing to resist the power of Spain, if it could be fully employed. But, fortunately for the independence of Portugal, Spain was distracted by the Catalan rebellion and foreign war, and was unable to exert her strength for the time being. Both the new king and his advisers felt, however, that it would not be wise to count too much or too long upon this fortunate circumstance, and he sent ambassadors all over Europe to inform the foreign sovereigns of the revolution, and to beg for their help and alliance. The old Chancellor Oxenstiern, who governed Sweden after the death of her warrior monarch, Gustavus Adolphus, during the minority of Queen Christina, promptly recognized the accession of the new dynasty, and welcomed it as another breach in the power of Spain. Charles I. of England, after some delay, also recognized John IV., but he was too much occupied by his quarrels with the Parliament to pay much attention to foreign politics. The Dutch received the news of the revolution with joy, and compared it to their own successful rebellion against Spain, and they at once concluded a treaty with Portugal, and promised to send assistance. But it was to France that John IV. looked with most confidence for help; he remembered the secret emissaries of Richelieu and their lavish promises; and on January 22, 1641, three days after his coronation, he sent two of his most accomplished courtiers, Francisco de Mello and Antonio Coelho de Carvalho, on a special mission to Paris. They were received with much cordiality by the great cardinal, who understood how thoroughly Spain must be crippled by the Catalan and Portuguese rebellions, and, to their surprise, also by the Queen of France, Anne of Austria, the sister of Philip IV. De Mello ventured to hint his surprise at this hearty reception, when the queen made a famous reply: “True it is, that I am the sister of his Catholic Majesty, but am I not also the mother of the Dauphin?” Their negotiations ended in the conclusion of an offensive and defensive treaty between France and Portugal, signed on June 1, 1641, by which the King of France promised to make no peace with Spain until the independence of Portugal was fully recognized. These embassies and treaties ended in the arrival of a strong French fleet, under the command of the Chevalier de Brézé, in the Tagus, on August 7, 1641, followed by a Dutch fleet, under Admiral Gylfels, on September 10th.