106 CHARLES II. 



though peace had been declared with Holland in 1667, the 

 result of his own understanding with Louis of France must 

 be to render inevitable a renewed outbreak of the struggle, 

 and that it was futile to attempt to raise up the national 

 fishery until that struggle had passed and there was safety 

 for fishing vessels in the North Sea. Meanwhile, Charles' 

 desire to establish Roman Catholicism in England weighed 

 far more heavily with him than the wish for the prosperity 

 of his country ; the Royal Fishery, along with every other 

 branch of English commerce and industry, was sacrificed 

 for the sake of his schemes, which included an alliance 

 with France and demanded for their success the downfall of 

 Holland. The renewed outbreak of war which the king sought 

 came in 1672 ; not till 1674 did Charles find it politic to 

 yield to the wishes of his subjects and make peace with the 

 Dutch. 



During these ten years of trouble from 1664 to 1674 

 for during the period, whether England and Holland were 

 technically at peace or at war, there was no cessation of 

 hostilities between the rival fishing fleets fishing in the 

 North Sea was very much at a standstill. The fact that 

 fishing boats and their gear deteriorate rapidly when left 

 idle impelled some of the more hardy fishermen to set 

 out for the fishing grounds, in defiance of all dangers, but the 

 number of these was comparatively small. Thus, even 

 in 1669, when England and Holland were at peace, at any 

 rate so far as the governments of the two countries were 

 concerned, only twenty-three vessels left Yarmouth for the 

 North Sea fishing grounds. 1 Throughout the period, 

 the fishermen never ceased to complain of annoyance from 

 the Dutch war vessels, whom success had rendered more 

 arrogant than ever ; the danger of capture was admittedly 

 great, and a convoy was regularly appointed to accompany 

 such fishing vessels as did venture to sail. In spite 



1 Col. S.P. Dom. Car. II., vol. 257, No. 25. 



