dead, and Charles II. sat on the
throne of his father, this king, false to the English people, was yet
true to England's greatness and to the traditional policy of her
government on the sea. In his treacherous intrigues with Louis XIV.,
by which he aimed to make himself independent of Parliament and
people, he wrote to Louis: "There are two impediments to a perfect
union. The first is the great care France is now taking to create a
commerce and to be an imposing maritime power. This is so great a
cause of suspicion with us, who can possess importance only by our
commerce and our naval force, that every step which France takes in
this direction will perpetuate the jealousy between the two nations."
In the midst of the negotiations which preceded the detestable attack
of the two kings upon the Dutch republic, a warm dispute arose as to
who should command the united fleets of France and England. Charles
was inflexible on this point. "It is the custom of the English," said
he, "to command at sea;" and he told the French ambassador plainly
that, were he to yield, his subjects would not obey him. In the
projected partition of the United Provinces he reserved for England
the maritime plunder in positions that controlled the mouths of the
rivers Scheldt and Meuse. The navy under Charles preserved for some
time the spirit and discipline impressed on it by Cromwell's iron
rule; though later it shared in the general decay of _morale_ which
marked this evil reign. Monk, having by a great strategic blunder sent
off a fourth of his fleet, found himself in 1666 in presence of a
greatly superior Dutch force. Disregarding the odds, he attacked
without hesitation, and for three days maintained the fight with
honor, though with loss. Such conduct is not war; but in the single
eye that looked to England's naval prestige and dictated his action,
common as it was to England's people as well as to her government, has
lain the secret of final success following many blunders through the
centuries. Charles's successor, James II., was himself a seaman, and
had commanded in two great sea-fights. When William III. came to the
throne, the governments of England and Holland were under one hand,
and continued united in one purpose against Louis XIV. until the Peace
of Utrecht in 1713; that is, for a quarter of a century. The English
government more and more steadily, and with conscious purpose, pushed
on the extension of her sea dominion and fostered t