 This increased when Charles appointed his Catholic, pro-French brother James was naval commander, in place of his Protestant, anti-French uncle, Prince Rupert.Not only were merchants and Nonconformists unenthusiastic about the prospect of war, but the Royal Navy found it difficult to recruit sufficient sailors to fully man the fleet.His chief minister, Lord Arlington, was instructed to "break with (the Dutch), yet to lay the breach at their door".