in India, and Tangiers in the Straits of Gibraltar, which was reputed
an excellent port. We see here a French king, in his eagerness for
extension by land, inviting England to the Mediterranean, and
forwarding her alliance with Portugal. The latter was the more
curious, as Louis already foresaw the failure of the Spanish royal
house, and should rather have wished the union of the peninsular
kingdoms. As a matter of fact, Portugal became a dependent and outpost
of England, by which she readily landed in the Peninsula down to the
days of Napoleon. Indeed, if independent of Spain, she is too weak not
to be under the control of the power that rules the sea and so has
readiest access to her. Louis continued to support her against Spain
and secured her independence. He also interfered with the Dutch, and
compelled them to restore Brazil, which they had taken from the
Portuguese.

On the other hand, Louis obtained from Charles II. the cession of
Dunkirk on the Channel, which had been seized and used by Cromwell.
This surrender was made for money and was inexcusable from the
maritime point of view. Dunkirk was for the English a bridge-head into
France. To France it became a haven for privateers, the bane of
England's commerce in the Channel and the North Sea. As the French sea
power waned, England in treaty after treaty exacted the dismantling of
the works of Dunkirk, which it may be said in passing was the home
port of the celebrated Jean Bart and other great French privateersmen.

Meanwhile the greatest and wisest of Louis' ministers, Colbert, was
diligently building up that system of administration, which, by
increasing and solidly basing the wealth of the State, should bring a
surer greatness and prosperity than the king's more showy enterprises.
With those details that concern the internal development of the