The grants of Parliament made it possible to resume in the summer the war against Holland; but its other decisions subjected the conduct of the war to considerable restraints.

As the Test Act prevented the Duke of York from filling the post of admiral, the chief command of the fleet was assigned to Prince Rupert, expressly because he was a zealous Protestant, for which faith his family had suffered so much. He thus obtained a high and brilliant position, such as he had always desired, at the head of the great squadrons of England and France, which numbered 150 sail. But the opposite party in the King's Council was still very powerful; the powers granted to the Prince were restricted; he did not enjoy, for example, the right of nominating even one of his officers, and the accustomed authority of the Duke was not at one stroke set aside. The manning of the fleet was made difficult by the exemptions which the watermen had acquired; all preparations advanced slowly and proved insufficient.

In the Dutch Republic, on the other hand, the conflict of the two parties was not at this time noticeable: the experienced De Ruyter, who belonged to one party, and the stout-hearted Tromp, who belonged to the other, worked together most admirably; the motives of religion, of patriotism, of honour and advantage, animated the whole people.