ested the council
of state with the general direction of the military concerns of the
nation. A war with England, which was then governed by Cromwell, soon
followed; it was the commencement of the naval glory of the United
States. But the government was distracted by the contests and
dissensions between the republican and the Orange factions. The former
were headed by John de Witt. He possessed transcendent abilities, was a
true lover of his country, and, on every occasion, advised the wisest
measures. Some of the military operations of the States proving
unsuccessful, the Orange faction endeavoured to persuade the people,
that this reverse of fortune was owing to the want of a Stadtholder; and
exhorted them to confer this dignity on the young prince, to be
exercised, during his minority, by one of the family. This proposition
was successfully resisted by De Witt. Peace between England and the
United Provinces being concluded, Cromwell endeavoured to unite them to
England by a federative alliance; but they rejected the proposition. At
the suggestion of De Witt, the States of Holland passed an Act, by which
they bound themselves never to appoint the Prince of Orange, or any of
his descendants, to the office of Stadtholder, or Captain General; and
to prevent, to their utmost power, the other States from making such an
appointment. This measure displeased the other States. In 1665, the
office of Commander in Chief becoming vacant, the opposite party
endeavoured to procure it for one of the Orange family; this attempt
also proved abortive. In 1661 a war broke out between England,--which
was then governed by Charles II., and the United States; these displayed
in it, chiefly under the command of De Ruyter, prodigies of valour and
naval skill; the year 1667 was famous in their annals, by their fleet's
sailing up the river Thames, and burning the English fleet at Chatham.
The peace of Breda immediately followed.

[Sidenote: XIV. 1. William III.]

Still, the civil discord continued. The States of Holland renewed the
_Edict of Exclusion_, with the addition of a clause, that, whenever a
person should be invested, with the office of Captain, or Admiral
General, he should swear never to aspire to the office of Stadtholder,
and to refuse it, if it should be offered to him.

[Sidenote: CHAP. XIV 1650--1702.]

The year 1671 is remarkable for the league entered into by Louis XIV.
and Charles II. against the United States, and by the