 Charles and his ministers appreciated that an unprovoked war against the Protestant Netherlands an alliance with Catholic France would probably be unpopular, and that the Stop of the Exchequer of 2 January 1672 would make financiers in the City of London cautious about providing funds to the government to prosecute such a war.It was partly to increase the government's popularity among Nonconformist merchants he issued Declaration of Indulgence in 15 March.In the event, the Declaration of Indulgence, which removed restrictions on Catholics as well as Nonconformists, did little to decrease hostility to the French alliance.