ABSTRACT
Like the members of Roe's committee discussed in the preceding chapter, at times Charles I appears to have been seduced by similar dreams of a world without costs. However, frequently the king's executive responsibilities forced him to face the harsh realities of the world in which the resources of his realm were often too slender to support the desires of his subjects or his government. England was not a great power like France, Spain, or even the United Provinces. The royal purse was inadequate and the country unwilling to build and maintain the sort of navy that included powerful warships able to stand up to the men-of-war of the continental naval powers and smaller, faster vessels fit to protect trade against pirates and privateers. By the early 1630s, if not earlier, it was evident that action against pirates and privateers as well as defence of sovereignty and national interests required the navy to be expanded greatly.
