441 



CHAPTER XII 



CHARLES II. 

 THE SECOND DUTCH WAR. 



THE Restoration, in 1660, made no change either in the national 

 sentiment or the national policy of England concerning the 

 sovereignty of the sea. Charles II. encouraged the pretension 

 with as much zeal as had been shown by his father, or by the 

 Commonwealth and the Lord Protector; and he was more 

 astute than any of his predecessors in taking advantage of the 

 national feeling with regard to it in order to carry out his own 

 selfish policy. Under the pretence of maintaining the dominion 

 of the sea, a base and treacherous war was waged against the 

 United Provinces in circumstances which will for ever sully 

 the reputation of the king. The measures at first taken were, 

 however, of a peaceful kind. Commercial jealousy of the 

 Dutch was still a strong factor in England. As firmly as ever 

 the opinion was held that the primary source of their great 

 trade, shipping, and wealth lay in their fisheries, which also 

 formed a great "nursery" of seamen for the navy. 



As in the reign of Charles I., it was therefore towards the 

 development of British fisheries that efforts were first directed. 

 The means taken with this view were twofold : the taxation of 

 imported fish which had been caught by foreigners, and the 

 creation of great fishery associations like those which had been 

 established earlier in the century. The Navigation Act, which 

 was passed a few months after the Restoration, while more 

 oppressive to Dutch commerce and shipping than the Act of 

 1651, was less stringent in this particular. The measure of the 

 Rump Parliament prohibited the importation or exportation of 



