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 Cal. S.P. Dom. Car. II., vol. 257, No. 26. 
