As yet, however, in 1660, no indications of the coming fall were remarked.

The republic was still in the front rank of the great powers of Europe.
If, in 1654, the war with England had shown a state of unreadiness wonderful in a navy that had so long humbled the pride of Spain on the seas, on the other hand the Provinces, in 1657, had effectually put a stop to the insults of France directed against her commerce; and a year later, "by their interference in the Baltic between Denmark and Sweden, they had hindered Sweden from establishing in the North a preponderance disastrous to them.

They forced her to leave open the entrance to the Baltic, of which they remained masters, no other navy being able to dispute its control with them.

The superiority of their fleet, the valor of their troops, the skill and firmness of their diplomacy, had caused the prestige of their government to be recognized.

Weakened and humiliated by the last English war, they had replaced themselves in the rank of great powers.