To De Witt the war had been from the outset distasteful; and he had been much disturbed by the constant intrigues of the Orangist party to undermine his position.  He was aware that in this hour of the country’s need the eyes of a considerable part of the people, even in Holland, were more and more directed to the young prince.  There was a magic in his name, which invested the untried boy with the reflected glory of his ancestor’s great deeds.  The council-pensionary, a past-master in the arts of expediency, was driven to avert the danger which threatened the supremacy of the States party, by proposing to the Princess Amalia that the province of Holland should not only charge themselves with William’s education, but should adopt him as “a Child of State.”  It was a short-sighted device for, as the princess shrewdly saw, this exceptional position assigned to her grandson must ensure, when he grew to man’s estate, the reversion of his ancestral dignities.  She willingly assented; and in April, 1666, the Estates of Holland appointed a Commission, of which John de Witt was himself the head, which was entrusted with the religious and political instruction of the prince.  A few months later De Witt was to discover that Orangist intrigues were being still clandestinely carried on.  An officer of French extraction, the lord of Buat, though an Orange partisan, had been employed by the pensionary to make tentative proposals of peace to the English court through Lord Arlington.  In August a packet of intercepted letters showed that Buat had played him false and was seeking to compass his overthrow.  Buat was brought to trial, condemned to death, and executed on October 11.

This strong action by the council-pensionary did not prevent, however, the preliminaries of a peaceful settlement being discussed both at the Hague and in London during the winter months, with the result that a conference of delegates representing Great Britain, the United Provinces and France, met at Breda in May, 1667, to discuss the terms of peace.  But the negotiations did not progress.  The English envoys raised afresh all the old questions, while the Dutch were not ready to concede anything unless the Navigation Act was largely modified.  In these circumstances De Witt determined by bold action to try to expedite the negotiations in a sense favourable to Holland.  He knew that the English were unprepared.  Charles II, in opposition to the advice of Rupert, Monk and the Duke of York, had refused to spend money in preparation for a campaign at sea, which he felt confident would never take place.  The ravages of the plague and of the Great Fire of London had made the year 1666 one of the darkest in English history and had caused the heavy financial drain and losses of the war to be more severely felt.  There was widespread discontent in the country; and the king in sore financial distress was immovable in his resolve that no steps should be taken for refitting the fleet.  The ships remained laid up in port, although the Dutch despatched in April a squadron to the Firth of Forth and dominated the Channel.