e, but after the close of the 17th century they ceased
to be a world power of any consequence.

The persistent enmity of the French king for the Dutch gained nothing
for France but everything for England. Unwittingly he poured out his
resources in money and men to the end that England should become
the great colonial and maritime rival of France. As a part of her
spoils England had gained New York and New Jersey, thus linking her
northern and southern American colonies, and she had taken St. Helena
as a base for her East Indies merchantmen. She had tightened her
hold in India, and by repeatedly chastising the Barbary pirates had
won immunity for her traders in the Mediterranean. At the beginning
of the Second Dutch War Monk had said with brutal frankness, "What
matters this or that reason? What we want is more of the trade
which the Dutch have." This, the richest prize of all, fell from
the hands of the Dutch into those of the English. During the long
drawn war which went on after the English peace of 1674, while
Holland with her allies fought against Louis XIV, the great bulk
of the Dutch carrying trade passed from the Dutch to the English
flag. The close of the 17th century, therefore, found England fairly
started on her career as an ocean empire, unified by sea power.
Her navy, despite the vices it had caught from the Stuart regime,
had become firmly established as a permanent institution with a
definite organization. By this time every party recognized its
essential importance to England's future.

Nevertheless, whatever satisfaction may be felt by men of English
speech in this rapid growth of England's power and prestige as
a result of the three wars with the Dutch, one cannot avoid the
other side of the picture. A people small in numbers but great
in energy and genius was hounded to the point of extinction by
the greed of its powerful neighbors. Peace-loving, asking merely
to be let alone, the only crime of the Dutch was to excite the
envy of the English and the French.

REFERENCES

See next chapter, page 221.

CHAPTER X

RISE OF ENGLISH SEA POWER [_Continued_]. WARS WITH FRANCE TO THE
FRENCH REVOLUTION

The effect of the expulsion of James II from the throne of England
coupled with the accession of the Dutch prince, William of Orange,
was to make England change sides and take the leadership in the
coalition opposed to Louis XIV. From this time on, for over 125
years, England was involved in a ser