In 1657 he was appointed to command the fleet in the Downs, and in the following year, on the death of Oliver, had command of the great fleet sent to the North to preserve the tranquillity of Europe; returning from whence he gave an account of his conduct to parliament, and then retired to his own estate. On the restoration of Charles II. he was made Earl of Sandwich, admiral of the narrow seas, and lieutenant-admiral to the Duke of York as Lord High-admiral of England. The story of his career from this time forward has been told in the successive stories of the Dutch wars, and it only remains now to record the last honours done to his remains. His body was found, nearly a fortnight after his death, floating in the sea; and the king testified, by the honours he paid to his remains, how much he admired the man, how sensible he was of his hard fate, and how willing he was to mingle with the dust of his ancestors the ashes of such as died gloriously in their country's service. The facts stand thus recorded in the _Gazette_ of June 13th, 1672:-- "HARWICH, _June 10th_. "This day the body of the Right Honourable Edward, Earl of Sandwich, being, by the order upon his coat, discovered floating on the sea, by one of His Majesty's ketches was taken up and brought into this port; where Sir Charles Littleton, the governor, receiving it, took immediate care for its embalming and honourable disposing, till His Majesty's pleasure should be known concerning it; for the obtaining of which His Majesty was attended at Whitehall, the next day, by the master of the said vessel, who, by Sir Charles Littleton's order, was sent to present His Majesty with the George found about the body of the said earl, who remained, at the time of its taking up, in every part unblemished, saving some impressions made by the fire upon his face and breast: upon which His Majesty, out of his princely regard to the great deservings of the said earl, and his unexampled performances in this last act of his life, hath resolved to have his body brought up to London, there, at his charge, to receive the rites of funeral due to his great quality and merits.