trade of England and the colonies should be carried only in
English or colonial ships. They thus gave a logical expression to
the policy of imperial trade monopoly which had been in the minds
of those who were interested in colonial questions from the
outset; and they also opened a period of acute trade rivalry and
war with the Dutch. The first of the Dutch wars, which was waged
by the Commonwealth, was a very even struggle, but it secured the
success of the Navigation Act. Cromwell, though he hastened to
make peace with the Dutch, was a still stronger imperialist than
his parliamentary predecessors; he may justly be described as the
first of the Jingoes. He demanded compensation from the Dutch for
the half-forgotten outrage of Amboyna in 1623. He made a quite
unprovoked attack upon the Spanish island of Hispaniola, and
though he failed to conquer it, gained a compensation in the
seizure of Jamaica (1655). And he insisted upon the obedience of
the colonies to the home government with a severity never earlier
shown. With him imperial aims may be said to have become, for the
first time, one of the ruling ends of the English government.

But it was the reign of Charles II. which saw the definite
organisation of a clearly conceived imperial policy; in the
history of English imperialism there are few periods more
important. The chief statesmen and courtiers of the reign, Prince
Rupert, Clarendon, Shaftesbury, Albemarle, were all enthusiasts
for the imperial idea. They had a special committee of the Privy
Council for Trade and Plantations, [Footnote: It was not till
1696, however, that this Board became permanent.] and appointed
John Locke, the ablest political thinker of the age, to be its
secretary. They pushed home the struggle against the maritime
ascendancy of the Dutch, and fought two Dutch wars; and though the