THE THIRD DUTCH WAR 487 



his Majesty shall be at peace and his neighbours at war." 

 He declared that no hostile act of the Dutch, supposing them 

 the aggressors, could involve a stranger not party to it, before 

 a public declaration of war; and as he threatened to resign 

 his office if the course was persisted in, the Council gave 

 way, and restitution was made of the property of neutrals. 1 



The iniquity of this shameful and deliberate attack on Dutch 

 shipping in time of peace was not extenuated or obscured by 

 the plea of the English Ministry that it had been caused by the 

 obstinacy of the Dutch in refusing to strike the flag. The 

 opinion of Europe was expressed in the remark of a French 

 diplomatist at one of the German Courts, that " when the king, 

 his master, made war on the States-General, he would not do 

 so like a pirate." An immediate result of the onslaught on the 

 Smyrna fleet was to convince not only the States-General, but 

 the French Court, that Charles was in earnest, and the formal 

 declaration of war could not be longer delayed. On 17th March 

 1672, the day after Churchill brought the tidings to London, 

 an Order in Council was issued to print and publish the declara- 

 tion of war against the States-General. In this long, verbose, 

 and rhetorical document of eight pages Charles tried hard to 

 justify his flagrant violation of treaties. The real reason of 

 the war could not be avowed, but every complaint that had 

 at any time been levelled against the Dutch was now dragged 

 forth, accusation being piled on accusation. The accumulated 

 charges connected with the East Indies, the West Indies, and 

 Surinam were revived and aggravated ; the safety of trade, 

 upon which the wealth and prosperity of the English people 

 depended, was in danger ; the king and nation were declared to 

 have been insulted by lampoons and caricatures. But, as was 

 to be expected from the antecedents, a principal ground of 

 rupture was found in the flouting by the Dutch of the right 

 of England to the honour of the flag and the sovereignty of 

 the sea. "The right of the flag," the king declared, "is so 

 ancient that it was one of the first prerogatives of our royal 

 predecessors, and ought to be the last from which this kingdom 

 should ever depart. It was never questioned, and it was 



1 Pontalis, op. cit., ii. 239. Hume, loc. cit. State Papers, Horn., Entry Book, 

 24, f. 57; ibid., 34, f. 164; cccii. 130; ccciii. 26, 72, 211-218; ccciv. 9, 11, 20, 

 21, 25, 36 ; cccvii. 169 ; Foreign Entry Book, 21, ff. 1, 9. 



