ad so long humbled the pride of Spain on the
seas, on the other hand the Provinces, in 1657, had effectually put a
stop to the insults of France directed against her commerce; and a
year later, "by their interference in the Baltic between Denmark and
Sweden, they had hindered Sweden from establishing in the North a
preponderance disastrous to them. They forced her to leave open the
entrance to the Baltic, of which they remained masters, no other navy
being able to dispute its control with them. The superiority of their
fleet, the valor of their troops, the skill and firmness of their
diplomacy, had caused the prestige of their government to be
recognized. Weakened and humiliated by the last English war, they had
replaced themselves in the rank of great powers. At this moment
Charles II. was restored."

The general character of the government has been before mentioned, and
need here only be recalled. It was a loosely knit confederacy,
administered by what may not inaccurately be called a commercial
aristocracy, with all the political timidity of that class, which has
so much to risk in war. The effect of these two factors, sectional
jealousy and commercial spirit, upon the military navy was disastrous.
It was not kept up properly in peace, there were necessarily rivalries
in a fleet which was rather a maritime coalition than a united navy,
and there was too little of a true military spirit among the officers.
A more heroic people than the Dutch never existed; the annals of Dutch
sea-fights give instances of desperate enterprise and endurance
certainly not excelled, perhaps never equalled, elsewhere; but they
also exhibit instances of defection and misconduct which show a lack
of military spirit, due evidently to lack of professional pride and
training. This professional training scarcely existed in any navy of
that day, but its place was largely supplied in monarchical countries
by the feeling of a military caste. It remains to be noted that the
government, weak enough from the causes named, was yet weaker from the
division of the people into two great factions bitterly hating each
other. The one, which was the party of the merchants (burgomasters),
and now in power, favored the confederate republic as described; the
other desired a monarchical government under the House of Orange. The
Republican party wished for a French alliance, if possible, and a
strong navy; the Orange party favored England, to whose royal house
th