The King's opponents averred that the quarrels with the Dutch over the honour due to the flag were fomented only for the purpose of forming an excuse for extorting more money by the objectionable ship-money, whose proceeds, they alleged, were expended for very different purposes than the maintenance of the navy. So the people resisted, while the King persisted. Later on, during the Civil War, English ships, manned by Royalist supporters of the King, were engaged in fighting against English ships manned by supporters of the Parliament, and each party was preying upon the merchant adherents of the other. Meantime, the Dutch maritime power continued to grow. The struggle between the Parliament and the King resulted in the defeat and execution of Charles, and the weakening of the fleet by these dissensions brought on the humiliation of the English flag during the first Dutch war. Under Cromwell, in 1648, the St. George cross had been restored. The Council of State took heart, and showed by their actions that once more the homage due the national flag was held by them in as great esteem as it had been by the King and his party in the royal days. The orders to their naval commanders were explicit: "And, whereas, the dominion of these seas has, time out of mind, undoubtedly belonged to this nation, and the ships of all other nations, in acknowledgment of that dominion, have used to take down their flags upon sight of the Admiral of England, and not to bear it in his presence, you are, as much as in you lies, to endeavour to preserve the dominion of the sea, and to cause the ships of all other nations to strike their flags and not to bear them up in your presence, and to compel such as are refractory therein by seizing their ships and sending them to be punished, according to the Laws of the Sea, unless they yield obedience and make such repair as you approve."[51] [51] Bloomfield: "The National Flag." The Commonwealth of England, in self-defence of their shipping, and as a direct blow against the Dutch, enacted the celebrated Navigation Act of 1651, directing that all goods imported into the Kingdom of Britain, or into her colonies, must be carried either in English ships or in those of the country whence the cargo was obtained.