II. sat on the throne of his father, this king, false to the English
people, was yet true to England's greatness and to the traditional
policy of her government on the sea. In his treacherous intrigues with
Louis XIV., by which he aimed to make himself independent of
Parliament and people, he wrote to Louis. "There are two impediments
to a perfect union. The first is the great care France is now taking
to create a commerce and to be an imposing maritime power. This is so
great a cause of suspicion with us, who can possess importance only by
our commerce and our naval force, that every step which France takes
in this direction will perpetuate the jealousy between the two
nations." In the midst of the negotiations which preceded the
detestable attack of the two kings upon the Dutch republic, a warm
dispute arose as to who should command the united fleets of France and
England. Charles was inflexible on this point. "It is the custom of
the English," said he, "to command at sea;" and he told the French
ambassador plainly that, were he to yield, his subjects would not obey
him. In the projected partition of the United Provinces he reserved
for England the maritime plunder in positions that controlled the
mouths of the rivers Scheldt and Meuse. The navy under Charles
preserved for some time the spirit and discipline impressed on it by
Cromwell's iron rule; though later it shared in the general decay of
morale which marked this evil reign. Monk, having by a great strategic
blunder sent off a fourth of his fleet, found himself in 1666 in
presence of a greatly superior Dutch force. Disregarding the odds, he
attacked without hesitation, and for three days maintained the fight
with honor, though with loss. Such conduct is not war; but in the
single eye that looked to England's naval prestige and dictated his
action, common as it was to England's people as well as to her
government, has lain the secret of final success following many
blunders through the centuries. Charles's successor, James II., was