CHAPTER XIII.

CHARLES II.--_continued._

THE THIRD DUTCH WAR.

Policy of Louis XIV.--The Triple Alliance--Secret compact of Charles and Louis against the Dutch--Parliament deceived--Pretexts for a fleet--Ill-feeling against Dutch fomented--Inquiries by Sir Leoline Jenkins as to striking and extent of British seas--The king’s yacht, _Merlin_, sent to pick a quarrel about the flag--The scheme miscarries--Downing’s mission to The Hague--Capture of Dutch shipping--Attack on Smyrna fleet--Declaration of war--The dominion of the seas flouted--The English to salute the French--The war and the fisheries--The Dutch sue for peace--The terms offered--Tribute for fishing asked--Meeting of Parliament--Shaftesbury on the sovereignty of the sea--The war most unpopular--Attempts to arouse public feeling as to dominion of the sea--Prynne--Smith--Roger Coke--Henry Stubbe--Charles forced to negotiate for peace--The Congress at Cologne--Prolonged discussions about the flag, the fisheries, and the sovereignty of the seas--Charles requires the salute between Cape Finisterre and the North Cape--Dutch assume a firmer attitude--Refuse to ask for liberty to fish--Offer to strike in all seas--Congress breaks up--Strong attitude of Parliament in favour of the Dutch--Separate peace made in London--Sir William Temple--The claim to the fishery dropped--Article regarding the salute--A diplomatic triumph for the Dutch--Disputes at sea about striking--The incidents of the _Cleveland_, the _Charles_, the _Cambridge_--English commander condemned to death for striking to the Spaniards--Masters of foreign merchantmen prosecuted in Admiralty Court for refusing to strike--Works on the sovereignty of the sea--Evelyn--Molloy--Further schemes to promote the fisheries 474