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YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

From the Books of Willi.. \M Rose Benet
Beqiieatlied by His Wife M .\ r j o R I E F L .\ c K

ROBERT BLAKE

BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO.
EDINBURGH AND LONDON

7

crjY)

ROBERT BLAKE

ADMIRAL AND GENERAL AT SEA

BASED ON FAMILY AND STATE PAPERS

BY
WILLIAM HEPWORTH DIXON
A NEW EDITION
WITH TEN ILLUSTRATIONS IN PERMANENT
PHOTOGRAPHY

LONDON
BICKERS AND SON, LEICESTER SQUARE
i88s

TO

HIS EXCELLENCY
SIR WILLIAM REID, K.C.B.,

governor of MALTA,

AUTHOR OP "THB THEORY OF THE LAW OF STORMS,'

©ijis J^tstotg is tiiscDibcB.

PREFACE.

I TEKY willingly meet the flattering request — pre
ferred by many correspondents unknown to me — for
the issue of a cheap edition of 'Robert Blake.' My
unknown friends are pleased to think its wider perusal
wiU do good : if so, the whole merit is due to the
theme. Blake is the very model of a British sailor —
gentle, pious, resolute, and fearless. My purpose in
writing the book was to make known to a wider circle
the simple virtue, the deep religious feeling, and the
moderate views of a man whose supreme military and
naval genius place him in the highest class of great
captains. Pew readers have leisure for the perusal of
manuscript state, papers and family records, or even for
a study of the brighter and more amusing procession
of satires, eulogies, and proclamations of a past age.
Pew, therefore, have known anything of Blake beyond
the vague and slender outline drawn by Clarendon and
the royalist writers ; and the man who, next to Crom
well, was the foremost personage in England during the

viii PREFACE.
most troubled and glorious part of the seventeentli
century, has been little more than a colossal name.
The defender of Lyme and Taunton — the chastiser of
Rupert — the conqueror of Van Tromp, De Ruiter, and
De Witt — the hero of Porto Perino and Santa Cruz —
the negociator with Italy — the liberator of Christian
slaves — deserved to be better known. The detail of
his life was as beautiful as the aggregate was glorious.
Blake's ruling principle — like that, of a man equaUy
illustrious in our own day — was duty. When some
of his captains wished to revolt against CromweU, he
replied, "It is not our business to mind State affairs,
but to keep foreigners from fooling us." Blake dis
approved of Cromwell's usurpation ; but he was watch
ing Tromp, then at the head of a powerful fleet, and any
hesitation in the navy would have been disastrous to his
country. His words became as famous in the navy
of that time, as the device "England expects every
man will do his duty" became in the days of our
fathers. One part of the naval career of Blake is of striking
interest. He was the first man who broke through the
old delusion that ships could not attack batteries. On
three memorable occasions Blake attacked stone walls —
at St. Mary's, at Porto Perino, and at Santa Cruz — and
each time with complete success. Contemporaries a<
first thought him mad, as contemporaries often think
men of genius; and the enemies whom he destroyed
behind their granite walls, consoled themselves with
saying he was the devil. Even after his death, the

PREFACE. ix
wonder did not cease. Clarendon, a political opponent,
says of him : —
" He was the first man that declined the old track,
and made it manifest that the science might be attained
in less time than was imagined ; and despised those
rules which had long been in practice, to keep his ship
and his men out of danger, which had been held in
former times a point of great ability and circumspection,
as if the principal art requisite in the captain of a ship
had been to be sure to come home safe again. He was
the first man who brought the ships to contemn castles
on shore, which had been thought ever very formidable,
and were discovered by him only to make a noise, and to
fright those who could rarely be hurt by them. He was
the first that infused that proportion of courage into the
seamen, by making them see by experience what mighty
things they could do if they were resolved, and taught
them to fight in fire as well as upon water : and though
he hath been very well imitated and followed, he was
the first that drew the copy of naval courage, and bold
and resolute achievement."
There are officers who still think it madness to oppose
ships to batteries, though steam has added wings to the
man-of-war, enabhng it to attack how and when it
pleases, to retire from the range, to return at will, to
shift the position, to defy winds and tides. Tliere are
stUl ofiicers who think their chief business to lie in
coming "home safe again." Blake was of another
mind ; Nelson was of another mind ; Dundonald, I
believe, is of another mind. Santa Cruz was Blake's

X PREFACE.
Cronstadt — one of the strongest fortresses of the seven
teenth century : when Blake attacked it with his worn
and rotting ships, it was strengthened by an enormous
fleet — a fleet carrying nearly as many guns, and far more
men, than his own. The Spaniards were as confident as
the Muscovites in the impregnability of their fortress.
Yet he entered the harbour, silenced the batteries, and
burnt the fleet.
The royalist writers were overpowered by this briUiant
feat of arms.
Bates, who speaks of the " unparalleled boldness " of
the action, says : — "He found the harbour in shape of a
crescent, defended by seven forts lying round it, and
two castles placed at the points, with seventeen ships
riding therein, their heads standing towards the mouth
of the harbour, that they might fire with greater
certainty upon those that offered to enter : nor could
the Governor forbear to jeer and flout at the English.
Blake, therefore, entering the mouth of the harbour with
his frigates, thunders broadsides and small shot against
the castles, till the soldiers flying from thence, he
manned his boats with seamen and sent them in, who
burnt and destroyed aU the Spanish ships that were
there." Warwick says : — " Blake's rash and daring attempt
proved very fortunate and glorious."
" Of all the desperate enterprises," says Heath, " that
ever were made in the world against an enemy at sea,
this of the noble Blake's is not inferior to any."
Clarendon speaks still more admiringly: — "The whole

PREFACE. xi
action was so miraculous, that all men who knew the
place concluded that no sober man, with what courage
soever endued, would ever undertake it ; and they could
hardly persuade themselves to believe what they had
done : whilst the Spaniards comforted themselves with
the belief that they were devils, and not men, who had
destroyed them in such a manner. So much a strong
resolution of bold and courageous men can bring to
pass, that no resistance and advantage of ground can
disappoint them. And it can hardly be imagined how
small loss the English sustained in this unparalleled
action — not one ship being left behind, and the killed
and wounded not exceeding two hundred men; when
the slaughter on board the Spanish ships and on the
shore was incredible."
Common men, of course, adhere to the common
opinion : but uncommon men see that Blake was
right, as well as successful, in attacking Santa Cruz.
The most briUiant seaman of our generation — ^the true
successor of Blake and Nelson — Lord Dundonald (who
has done me the very great honour of revising the naval
part ofthis narrative), has written some brief and pregnant
notes on Blake's most celebrated actions. This was
before the Russian war broke out, and long before the
question of attacking Helsingfors and Cronstadt arose.
With respect to Blake's attack on Santa Cruz, Lord
Dundonald says, in a profound and characteristic
passage : — " On the principle which I have never found
to fail — that the more impracticable a task appears, the
more easily it may be achieved, under j udicious manage-

.xii PREFA CE.
ment — the attack on Santa Cruz was founded on a correct
estimate of the probable result."
With this testimony of a man of genius, I commit my
work to the reader; adding, that I have very carefuUy
revised the new edition, in the hope of making it less
unworthy of its illustrious subject, and of the favour
with which it has been received by the public.
W. H. D.

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CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. The Soholae. 1599-1625.
West of England iu the seventeenth century — Taunton and Bristol —
The Severn merchants — Admiral Blake's ancestry — Humphrey
Blake of Plansfield— Sara WilUams — Birth of Robert Blake —
His brothers aud sisters — Bridgwater in the seventeenth cen
tury — Home of the Blake family — Perils of the merchant-
service — Piracy in the South of Europe — Blake at school — At
Oxford — Decline of the family fortunes — College efforts at inde
pendence — William Blake at Oxford — Death of Humphrey
Blake — Pamily matters — Development of character , . 1
CHAPTER II. The Revoluiiou. 1625-1645.
The coming revolution — Laud aud his party — ^Remonstrance from
Somersetshire — Charles marries a Papist—State of affairs in
Ireland and Scotland — Revolt of the Covenanters — ^Meeting of
Short Parliament — Blake retumed for Bridgwater — Rebellion
in Ireland — The Royal standard raised at Nottingham — The
two parties in the field — ^Battle of Edgehill — ^Blake astir in
Somersetshire — Prince Rupert — Siege of Bristol — ^Blake com
mands at Prior's HOI fort — The town surrenders — ^Rupert
threatens to hang Blake — ^Rapid progress of the Royalists —
Blake at Bridgwater — Death of his brother — Lyme — ^Invested
by Prince Maurice — Brilliant and successful defence by Blake
— Maurice retires ........ 17
CHAPTER m. TAUtfToif. 1645-1649.
Essex advances into the west — Blake's daring conception — Cap
ture of Taunton — Battle of Marstou Moor — Charles marches
towards Exeter — ^Determines to avoid Taunton — Capitulation
of Essex's army — ^Blake harasses the royal army — Position of
Taunton — Sir Francis Doddington — ^Wyndham before the town
— Blake's letter — Means of defence — ^Wyndham repulsed —
Blockade — Tandruske breaks the cordon — G-oring's crew —

xiv CONTENTS. PAGl
Quarrels in the Royalist camp — Cavaliers resolve to recover
Taunton— Sir John GrenviUe in the leaguer — Concentration of
troops — The siege renewed — Welliugton House burnt — Distress
of the defenders — Blake appeals to Parliament — Relief sent
down — The stratagem — The storm — Retreat of the Royalists —
Effect on the garrison — Rejoicings in London — Goring before
Taunton — Cavalier blunder — Blake's practical sarcasm —
Welden in danger — Battle of Naseby — Final relief of Taunton
— The Club-men — Capture of Dnnster Castle — Blake's poKtical
views — Cromwell's jealousy — A new career opening . . 53
CHAPTER IT. Naval Command. 1649-1650.
Part taken by the navy in the civil war — ^Batten — Commotions in
the fleet — Batten goes over to the Royalists with his ships —
Prince of Wales in the Downs — Rupert made admiral of the
revolted fleet — State of the exile court — Rupert's proposal —
He turns pirate — Blake made General at Sea — Change of flag
— The new system — Distribution of the Parliamentary fleets —
Rupert at Kinsale — Hopes of the Royalists iu Ireland — Blake
sails for Ireland — Kinsale blockaded — Roundhead triumphs —
Rupert escapes to sea — His piracies — Arrives in Portugal —
Blake in pursuit — His instructions — John, king of Portugal —
Blake off Belim Castle — Party spirit in Lisbon — Rupert courts
the mob and the priests — Attempts to assassinate Blake — ^Por
tugal declares for Rupert — ^Blake's vig(5rous policy — Captures
the Brazil fleet — John sues for peace — The princes leave the
Tagus — Treaty with Portugal  91
CHAPTER Y. Cataliek-Coksaiks. 1650-1651.
Rupert as a corsair — He Fortifies the Channel Islands — Isles
of SciUy — Sir John Grenville — Rupert's intentions — How
the exiled court was supplied with money — Lawless adven
tures — A new fleet sent to the south under Penn — Blake's
orders from homf' — ^Rupert at Malaga — At Veles Malaga —
Burns six English ships — Blake in full chase — ^Incident at
Carthagena — Murder of Ascham at Madrid — Corsair fleet
destroyed — The two princes received at Toulon — They escape
to South America — Reprisals against France — Romantic com-
' bat — Blake returns to England — Attacks the Isles of Scilly
— Captures Tresco — Preparations for an attack ou St. Mary's —
Battle between frigates and batteries — Grenville surrenders —
Sir George Carteret — Daring of Jersey pirates — Strength of
the island — Elizabeth Castle — Blake's advice to the Navy
Commission — State of the fleet — Wrongs of the seamen — Sails

CONTENTS. XV
PAOA
for Jersey — Attempts to land — New dispositions — Landing
effected — Elizabeth Castle cannonaded — Carteret's gallant de
fence — Surrender of the islands . ..... 120
CHAPTER VL The Duioh War. 1652.
Desire of an alliance with Holland — The Orange party — Events in
the United Provinces — St. John at the Hague — Navigation
Act — ^Dutch carrying-trade — Sudden opening of the war —
Tromp attacks Blake in the Downs — ^A drawn battle — Expla
nations aud negociations — Blake captures Dutch prizes —
Augmentation of the Navy — Merchants in danger — The
northem fisheries — Kew disposition of the fleet — Blake in the
north — Tromp in the Downs — Capture of herring-boats —
Tromp sails for the north — A terrible storm — ^Blake master
at sea — De Witt — ^Vandome's fleet taken — Fall of Dunkirk —
Battle of the North Foreland — The Dutch retreat — Effects of
the victory in England  153
CHAPTER VII. Tromp. 1652-1653.
De Witt disgraced — Tromp' s youth and education — Again in com
mand — Frederick III., King of Denmark — The fleets in winter
quarters — Tromp appears in the Downs — Battle off Dover —
Complaints of the English ofiicers — Three commissioners sent
to the fleet — New equipments — Royalists in command of ships
— Project of the exiles — Several captains broken — New fleet in
the Channel — Great battle of Portland — Blake wounded —
Second day's battle — Third day's battle — Tromp escapes into
Zealand — Killed and wounded — Cromwell disperses the Long
Parliament — Blake's opinions on that event — Contrasts and
resemblances — ^Blake declares to stand by the service — Battle
of the Gable — Blake expeoted-^Arrives — A glorious victory —
Humiliation of Holland — Condition of the two fleets — Letter
from Blake — English capture numerous vessels from the enemy
— Sickness in the fleet — Blake dangerously ill — Put on shor&~
Final action of the war — Rewards of the English Admirals . 179
CHAPTER VIIL The Mediterranean. 1654.
Blake stiU sick at KnoU — Way of life — Goes on board at Spithead
— The Brest Pirates — Preparation of a secret armament —
France and Spain await the thunderbolt — Two fleets sail from
the Solent — The expedition — Blake in the south of Europe —

xvi CONTENTS. PAOE
Storm and perU — The fleet at Tunis — Preparations for defence
— Negociation — Return to Cagliari for bread — The Dey's
defiance — Blake's ruse — BriUiant attack on Porto Ferine —
Explanations sent to Constantinople — Venetian coui-tesy — The
Knights of Malta — Treaty with Algiers — A noble incident —
Effects of this cruise in the Mediterranean .... 220
CHAPTER IX. Spanish War. 1654-1656.
Penn's treasonous offer — War with Spanish America — The reasons
for it — Diplomacy of Cardinal Mazarine — Peace with France —
Affaii'S of the Vaudois — A fray at Malaga — A priest surren
dered to heretics — Blake at Cadiz — Failure of Penn's expedi
tion — Philip declares war — Cadiz blockaded — Spaniards
venture out to sea — The fleets in presence — Blake sails for
Lisbon — His health failing rapidly — -Return to England — The
great admirals out of service — Dangers increasing — Fresh
services — Blake goes on board the Naseby — His faa'ewell
letter — He sails for Spain — Blake's plans — Blockade of
Cadiz — Skirmishing at sea — Affairs of Portugal — The EngUsh
ambassador shot at iu public — Blake near Lisbon — Instant
reparation demanded and obtained — Ludicrous alarm in Rome
— Cromwell's suggestions — Can Gibraltar be stormed ? — New
proposals from London — A terrible storm — Blake in great
peril — Six ships put out of service — Brilliant exploit at Malaga
— The fleet sa,ils for Aviero Bay — Stayner captures the Mexican
fleet — Tragic story of the Badajoz family — General Montagu
returns to England  243
CHAPTER X. Santa Cruz. 1656-1657.
Blake's design — A winter campaign — Spaniards make new pre
parations — Receive secret aid from Holland — The Barbary
corsairs — Effects of the war on mercantile interests — Deplor
able state of the EngUsh fleet — Welcome news — SUver fleets
at Santa Cruz — Blake at the Canaries — The Dutchman's
w;aming — The attack begun — The Spanish fleet annihilated 
EngUsh retire from the harbour — Criticisms on Santa Cruz 
Effect of the inteUigence in London — CromweU's letter  Timo
rous proceedings against the Dutch — Blake confined to his
cabin — His last pubUc service — Liberation of Christian slaves
— The passage home — Dies in Plymouth Sound — The corpse
carried to Greenwich — Magnificence of his funeral — The Stuarts
disinter his remains  273

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

OBERT BLAKE
PRINCE RUPERT
CROMWELL AT MARSTON MOOR

Frontispiece

LORD GORING . 
CHARLES THE FIRST AT NASEHY
ELIZABETH CASTI.E, JERSEY ....
JOHN DE WITT . 
ADMIRAL TROMP . ...
CROMWELL DISPERSING THE LONG PARLIAMENT
GEORGE MONK, DUKE OK ALBEMARLE

28 57
6583
141171
179
203206

ROBERT BLAKE

ROBERT BLAKE.

CHAPTER L

1599—1625.
THE SCHOLAR.
Iir the early part of the seventeenth century the country
lying between the South Channel and the river Severn
was the most beautiful and important part of England.
While Liverpool was still a swamp, and Manchester
a straggling hamlet, when Leeds was a cluster of mud
huts, and the romantic valley of the Calder a desolate
gorge, the streets of Taimton, Exeter and Danater
resounded with arts and industry ; and the merchant-
ships of Bridgwater and Bristol were going out or coming
in from the remotest corners of the globe. The fairest
fields, the richest cities, the proudest strongholds lay iu
this region. The vales of Stroud, Honiton and Evesham
are stiU. unrivalled. When the vine grew in our latitudes
it attained its highest perfection on the sunny slopes of
Somerset and Devon ; and a royal sybarite, whose taste
at least has never been impugned, declared that in those
days the south-west coast was the only part of England
fit for the habitation of a gentleman.
The towns were in equal repute with the country.
B

2, ROBERT BLAKE.
Taunton was famous for its woollens while the Plan
taganets were yet on the throne ; in later times a band
ofindustrious Flemings, flying from the persecutions of
the Duke of Alva, brought their knowledge, enterprise
and capital into the town, and under their teaching it
soon obtained an equal reputation for serges. Parlia
ment fostered these rising trades, and " Tauntons " were
then as well known in the markets as are now Manches
ter cottons and Spitalfields silks. While the Yorkshire
breeder of sheep was either too indolent or too ignorant
to convert the wool of his native downs into an article
of trade, the workmen of the western city obtained by
the process wealth, cultivation and political power.
Bristol, inferior in population and maritime resources
only to London, had long aspired to the honours of a
western metropolis. Its history looked back to the
remotest times. Its docks, its streets, its religious
edifices, its gates and decaying fortifications, all bore
testimony to its ancient grandeur. Only the city
of London yielded a larger return to the royal ex
chequer. Commissions, commissioners and pursuivants
levied money under many pretexts from its opulent
traders, and the armies of Ireland and Scotland were
frequently recruited among its hardy and adventurous
population. Prom its situation as a point of depar
ture for the west and south, it had gradually obtained
a monopoly of Irish commerce. Its vessels visited the
harbours of Portugal and Spain, whence they brought
home the treasures of two worlds in exchange for the
wooUen cloths which constituted our sole manufac
ture. As its great houses increased in means, their
enterprises took a bolder range. No longer satisfied to
share their gains with the Iberian, they sought by new
discoveries to win for their own port such advantages as
Columbus had won for the Spaniard and Vasco de Gama

ROBERT BLAKE. 3
for the Portuguese. Cabot had sailed from their river
on his first adventure, and four of the five small vessels
which composed his fieet were supplied by the Severn
merchants. In voyages undertaken at their expense, he
had added Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and North
America as far as the inlet of the Chesapeake, to the
known regions of the world, and estabhshed a connexion
with Hispaniola, Porto Eico and the coasts of Brazil,
which was not abandoned even when the government, in
virtue of a treaty to that end, gave up the rights of
EngHsh discovery in those regions to the crown of
Arragon and Castile. Inspired by these successes in the
far west, they fitted out an expedition for the Arctic
Ocean, and sent it forth to search for a new passage
northward to China and Hindustan. These spirited
men pursued their enterprise with admirable zeal ; and
only failed to rival the fame of more celebrated dis
coverers because nature had left them no outlet to find
in that direction.
One of the most active of the Severn merchants in
the latter part of the sixteenth century was Humphrey
Blake of Plansfield and Bridgwater, father of the re
nowned Admiral. Humphrey's father, Robert Blake, the
first of his family to step out of the narrow circle of a
country life, removed at an early age from Tuxwell, the
seat of his ancestors for several generations, to Bridg
water, where he hoped to share the abundant harvests
of the Spanish trade. Where the family of this Eobert
Blake was first settled is unknown. Tradition gives it a
home in Northumberland and derives the name from the
river Aplacke in that county. The first of the Somerset
shire Blakes whose name I have found, is Humphrey
Blake who lived in the reign of Henry VIII., and held
the estate of Tuxwell, in the parish of Bishop's Lydyard,
in capite, by the payment of the fortieth part of the

4 ROBERT BLAKE.
knight's fee. He had three sons, John, Thomas, and
Eobert ; to the last of whom, when he died in 1558, he
left the manor of Tuxwell. This Eobert Blake was he
who removed to Bridgwater, where he married Margaret
Symonds, improved his scanty fortunes by commerce,
and during a long life retained the respect and confidence
of his fellow-citizens. He had the honour to serve as
chief magistrate in his adopted town three times, iu 1573,
in 1579 and in 1587, as appears by inscriptions stOl pre
served on panels in the Town-hall of Bridgwater. At his
death, which occurred in October 1592, he bequeathed
the large sum of 240L, to relieve the poor and repair
the causeways ; setting an example of liberality to his
townsmen and descendants which the latter at least
piously followed. His son, Humphrey, succeeded to the
estate and business. The property was not inconsiderable.
He married a lady of good family and fortune ; Sara
Williams, widow of a gentleman named Smithers, and on
her he settled at his marriage the lordship of Puriton
together with divers lands and messuages in Puriton,
Catcote, Bawdrippe, and Wollamington. Plansfield, which
has always been described aa the original seat of the
Admiral's ancestors, was probably the dower of his mother.
It had belonged to her family for generations ; had been
granted by Henry VII., to Sir John Williams after the
Perkin Warbeck troubles, and had descended from him to
Eeginald Williams, John Williams and Sir Nicholas
Williams, at whose death it reverted to the crown for
lack of male issue ; and it had been restored by Queen
Elizabeth to Mabel, hia widow. The Admiral's father
was certainly the first of the Blakes who owned the
manor of Plansfield. In the Heralds' Visitation of
Somerset in lt>23, he is styled Humphrey Blake of
Plansfield, son of Eobert Blake of Bridgwater.
Sara WilUams, like Cromwell's mother, also a widow

ROBERT BLAKE. 5
brought blood to the family. Robert, the Admiral, was
her first son. He was born towards the end of August,
1598, and received the rite of baptism at the parish
church of Bridgwater, on the 27th of September in that
year. He was called Eobert, in pious remembrance of
his grandfather. Many children followed ; in all twelve
boys — Humphrey in 1600 ; William in 1603 ; George,
who died in infancy, in 1604 ; George, the second of
that name, in 1606 : Samuel in 1608 ; Nicholas in 1609 ;
Edward, who died in infancy, in 1611; Benjamin, who
died in infancy, in 1612 ; Edward, the second of that
name (he also died in infancy), in 1613 ; Benjamin,
second of the same name, in 1 614 ; John, who died in
infancy, in 1617 ; aud Alexander in 1619. The number
of girls is not ascertainable, in consequence of irregu
larities in the registers ; but the Admiral's will mentions
two of his sisters — Bridget, who married Mr. Bowdich,
of Chard, and another not referred to by her maiden
name. The Heralds' Visitation speaks of a Mrs.
Burrage as being one of Humphrey Blake's daughters ;
but this is probably a misspelling of Bowdich. The
other sister mentioned in Blake's will married Thomas
Smythes, of Cheapside, a celebrated goldsmith and
banter. After a lapse of two centuries and a half, it may still
be possible to recover an idea, more or less faint, of the
way in which the family lived in the west of England,
and of the infiuences under which the Admiral passed
the fifteen years of his childhood and early youth.
Bridgwater, on the river Barrett, stands in the centre
of a rich plain, now sparkling with orchards and corn
fields, but in the seventeenth century little more than a
morass, bounded on one side by the Quantock hills, and
on the other, at a less distance, by the wooded slopes of
the Poldons. The valley, about three miles in width.

6 ROBERT BLAKE.
includes several spots famous in English story. There
the victorious armies of the King of Wessex had been
arrested. There our own Alfred had found shelter from
the Danes. There, in later times, Monmouth lost the
battle of Sedgemoor. The town was built, as it is now,
on both sides of the river ; but at that time the eastern
suburb, joined to the main body of the town by an
ancient and solid stone bridge of three arches, was
inhabited almpst exclusively by the opulent traders and
gentry. High Street, leading through the corn-market,
— where there was a famous inn, the Swan, and a pic
turesque old market-cross, — was gay with shops; and,
between the carrying trade and the shipping trade, the
little town had an air of ceaseless bustle and business.
Lying on the highway from Gloucester and Bristol to
Taunton, Exeter and Plymouth, the western trafiic aU
passed through the town. Pack-horses, laden with
Yorkshire wool, tinkled their bells along its streets
and over its old bridge night and day. Its port was
crowded with vessels. Yet even then the town seemed
to have passed its prime. Grass already grew in some
of its streets, and many of its houses wore a dim and
faded aspect. In former times it had been defended
by a wall and gates ; but nearly every trace of these
defences had been swept away. The Castle, once a
royal appanage, held by the Queens of England aa a
dower, kept watch and ward over the surrounding
country ; but, although an imposing structure in the
feudal times, it had lost its former splendour. Eays of
light from a distant past still lingered on its decaying
turrets : in the Wars of the Eoses it had often withstood
siege and storm ; and in spite of its decay, it could stOl
boast the honours of a virgin fortress.
The first object to catch a stranger's eye aa he now
stands on the iron bridge, which has replaced the old

ROBERT BLAKE. 7
stone edifice, is a row of chesnuts and poplars on the left
bank of the stream. They grow in what was formerly
Humphrey Blake's garden. The house in which the
Admiral was born, in which he passed his youth, and in
which, when at Bridgwater, he lived in the fuU blaze of
his renown, still stands in what was formerly a part of
St. Mary's Street; a house two stories high, built of
blue lias stone, with walls of immense thickness, heavy
stone stairs, oak wainscots, and decorated ceUings ; a
habitation of the Tudor days, and of unmistakeable
importance in its time. The gardens, bounded by
Durleigh brook, the river Barrett, and the highway,
were about two acres in extent, mingling fruit-trees
and flower-beda, scented plants and vegetables for the
table. Though the house stood within a few steps
of the church and the Corn HiU, it enjoyed a complete
seclusion; and the windows looked out over a wide
sweep of valley to the sunny slopes and summits of the
Quantocks. In this secluded garden, by that old stone
bridge, among the ships, native and foreign, lying at
anchor in the river, and under the guns of the grim
fortress, the ruddy-faced and curly-haired boy, Eobert
Blake, played and pondered, aa was his habit, untU the
age of sixteen. Erom his father's garden he would
daily witness the extraordinary flow of tide known as a
Bore — a phenomenon only seen in the Ganges, the
Severn, and two or three other streams ; and the con
versation of his father and of his father's friends must
have helped to fix his mind on the sea and on maritime
afiairs. When it is said that Humphrey Blake was a merchant
trading with Spain, it is not meant that his daya were
spent in the routine of the desk and the exchange.
The life of a trader was then a life of peril and adven
ture. He manned his own ships and saUed with his

8 ROBERT BLAKE.
argosy. Like later cruisers among the Pacific islands,
his course and his destdnation was rarely known before
he quitted port. Palling in one harbour to dispose of his
cargo, he spread his canvas in search of richer markets.
He saw strange lands and strange people ; and he had
to hold his own, not merely against the dues, fines,
and exactions of legitimate powers, but against the still
more formidable corsair. Piracy was not, in the six
teenth century, the despicable calling it is now : in the
opinion of that age, a pirate was but a soldier of fortune
on another element. Prance, Germany and Italy were
overrun with mercenary heroes, eager to seU their swords
in any cause where pay was sure and profiigacy aUowed.
Hundreds of distressed English gentlemen, when the
civil wars left them stranded, took to the sea for bread.
In some parts of Europe the people of entire districts
lived on plunder ; persons now Uving can remember a
time when the daring valour of the Greek and Biscayan
freebooters was the theme of winter tales and popular
ballads. Nor were theae imlicensed spoilers the worst
enemies whom the peaceful merchant had to encounter
at sea. The Moors of Africa had erected piracy into a
national system. Por ages the Salee rover had been a
terror to the south of Europe ; and the Tunisian and
the Algerine, equal to him in skill, daring and fanaticism,
had still finer ports and larger privateers. No coast in
Christendom was free from their incursions ; but their
favourite stations were the bays and harbours of Por
tugal and Spain, as in these ports they found it easy to
attack and capture stragglers from the fieets of both
worlds. To the ordinary motives of the pirate, adventure
and greed of gold, the Moor added the fiercer spurs of
reUgious difference and hereditary hate. Europeans, it
may be justly said, had forced the Moors into piracy as
fl measure of defence. Their expulsion from Granada

ROBERT BLAKE. 9
in the fifteenth century roused in them the worst
passions of human nature ; and that band of armed
priests, nestled behind the impregnable ramparts of
Malta, and sworn to hold no truce with their race and
faith, — a vow which they kept to the last letter, by
piratical descents on the coasts of Africa, marking their
path along the shore with burning villages, slaughtered
peasants, and captive women and children, soon to be ex
posed by these Christian missionaries in the slave-markets
of Venice, SevUle and Genoa, — left them no policy but
that of revenge and retaliation. In their undiacrimi-
nating rage, the followers of Mohammed waged war
against the commerce of all civilised countries ; when
the opportunity offered, they seized both fleets and
cargoes ; and, Uke the Knights of Malta, carried ofi'
their prisoners for sale to the bazaars of Tunis, Tripoli
and Algiers.
For protection against these formidable enemies, the
merchant had to trust to his own bold heart and steady
hand. His vessel, however small, carried some means
of defence. The crew were well armed. Aids to escape
were kept in readiness. Prom the British Channel to
the Straits of Gibraltar the course of the Severn adven
turer lay through continual perils. Every rock and
inlet along the coast had to be carefully examined before
the little barque could venture on. The adventurer
Uved on deck, and he ate, drank and slept with his mind
alert and his hand on his sword. At the return from a
voyage, many were the tales of perilous encounter,
chance-escape and valorous deed which he had to tell
hia friends and children on the dark winter nights : —
and such stories were, no doubt, a part, of the food
on which the imagination of young Blake, silent and
thoughtful from his childhood, was fed in the old
mansion at Bridgwater.

13 ROBERT BLAKE.
The rudiments of a more regular education he obtained
at the grammar-school, then considered one of the best
foundations of its kind in England. This edifice has
long disappeared from the streets of Bridgwater ; and
it has been replaced by another school of similar aims
aud character, conducted in the house in which the
Admiral was born and in which he lived. At the
grammar-school he made some progress with his
Greek and Latin ; something of navigation, ship-build
ing and the routine of sea duties he probably learned
from his father or from his father's factors and servants.
His own taste however, his habit of mind and the bent
of hia ambition, led to literature. He was the first of
hia race who had shown any vocation to letters and
learning, and his father, proud of his talents and his
studies, resolved that he should have some chance of
rising to eminence. Nor was this early culture thrown
away. At sixteen he was aUeady prepared for the
university, and at hia earneat desire was sent to Oxford,
where he matriculated as a member of St. Alban's HaU
in Lent Term 1615, in company with Edward Eeynolds,
who afterwards became bishop of Worcester, and John
Earl, subsequently bishop of Salisbury.
Little ia known of Blake's coUege life. It is recorded
of him that he rose early, and was extremely assiduous
at his books, lectures and devotiona ; that he took great
delight in field-sports, particularly in fishing and shoot
ing. If any credit ia due to ancient gossip, which,
whether false or true, is traceable to his own age, and
is preserved to us as a contemporary scandal by a writer
who revered his name and was intimate with members
of the family, — his aquatic sports were sometimes irre
gular. "He would snare swans," says old Aubrey.
Most writers have rejected this report.
He had not been long at Oxford before his ambition

ROBERT BLAKE. n
prompted him to try his strength against Robert Hegge
and Eobert Newlin in a contest for a scholarship then
vacant at Christ Church. He soon found that a student
without friends or influence had little chance of success
in that aristocratic coUege. The failure of his first
effort did not, however, cast him down: — he kept to
his books and looked steadily towards the future.
Nevertheless, willing to accept such friendly support
as came in his way unsought, he removed from St.
Alban's Hall, where he had found and felt himself a
stranger, to Wadham College, at the request of his
father's friend, Nicholas Wadham, a Somersetshire man,
who had recently founded the noble edifice which bears
his name. In this new college Blake remained several
years ; there he took the usual honours and completed
his education : — and in the great dining-hall of Wadham,
among the effigies of poets, divines and antiquaries, a
portrait of the Admiral is still shown with pride as that
of its moat illustrious scholar.
During the years which he remained at Wadham
CoUege, waiting to estabUsh himself in some permanent
position in the University, the family prospects were
graduaUy growing dark at Bridgwater. Humphrey
Blake, his father, possessed the daring spirit of hia class.
The Severn adventurers gained money fast and lost it
fast. With corsairs lying in every creek, it was easy
to be rich to-day and poor to-morrow. Sometimes pros
perous, sometimes nearly prostrate, Humphrey Blake
had carried on his enterprises for many years, standing
weU with his feUow-merchants and honoured with
the confidence of his feUow-citizens. He was twice
elected to the chief magistracy of Bridgwater. But
fortune turned more and more against him. Many
of his ventures had failed. In some of these his
losses had been severe. Much of his own and his wife's

12 ROBERT BLAKE.
property was gone ; and in the decline of life he
found himself for the firat time in serious trouble.
Want of means chafed his ardent and ambitious mind ;
the more as his misfortunes had fallen on him when the
energy of youth was passed, but not the cares of early
manhood. He had married somewhat late in life ; his
family had increased rapidly ; and at fifty-seven he found
himself an old man with ten children, of whom the eldest,
Eobert, was only twenty, and the youngest, Alexander,
was in the arms of his nurse. His troubles preyed on his
spirits, and with the increasing darkness of his fortunes
his health began to fail,
Eobert, in his rooms at Wadham CoUege, shared
the family afflictions. He felt acutely the position
in which his father stood, embarrassed with debts and
surrounded with so many responsibilities ; and the
feeling gave a new and higher impulse to his desire to
obtain a feUowship. A vacancy occurred at Merton,
and he off'ered himself — not as in the earlier period of
his college life, from a boyish ambition to achieve
honours and place, but from a sacred wish to be useful
to his brothers, and to relieve his father of the modest
expense of his maintenance at Oxford. Alexander
Eisher, John Earl, Edward Eeynolds, his old comrades
at St. Alban's Hall, and several other young men of
parts and learning were in the Usts. Had Blake's
efforts been successful, the life of the renowned Admiral
might have been paaaed iu the seclusion of a college,
among the books and studies he already loved so weU
and in that case Taunton would in aU human probabUity
have remained in royalist hands, the battle of Naseby
would not have been fought, Tromp would have remained
unconquered, Spain unscathed, Tunis and Santa Cruz
uncelebrated ! How little did Sir Henry SavUe, theu
warden of Merton CoUege, dream that in rejecting Blake

ROBERT BLAKE. 13
from his petty senate, he was turning back on the world
one of those master-spirits who were to overthrow the
government, humiliate his adored sovereign, and elevate
England to the height of human grandeur ! But so it
was. Savile, a man of sense and acquirements, as
witness his fine edition of St. Chrysostom, had an
eccentric distaste for men of low stature, and chose his
senators, as the Prussian king did his grenadiers, by
their height. The young Somersetshire student, thick
set, fair-complexioned, and only five feet six, fell below
his standard of manly beauty. His infiuence was
adverse, and Blake lost his election.
He remained five years at Oxford after this incident,
and in good time took his degree of Master of Arts.
There seems to be no ground for supposing that want of
learning was the bar to his advancement in the Uni
versity. He had read the beat authors in Greek and
Latin, and wrote the latter language sufficiently weU
for verse or epigram. Even in the busiest days of his
public Ufe, he made it a point of pride not to forget his
old studies. When chasing the enemy or fiercely
cruising before a foreign station, his grave humour — and
never man had finer sense of sarcasm, or used that
briUiant weapon with greater effect — loved to find ex
pression for its scorn and merriment in the satires of
Horace and Juvenal ; thus in some degree reUeving the
stern fervour of Puritan piety with the easy graces of
scholarship. His brother William, smitten also with
love of letters, entered himself a student at Wadham,
where, in 1624, he was already a Bachelor of Arts, and
on the death of the antiquary, Camden, furnished a
Latin epigraph to the book published by the University.
In the ninth year of his reaidence at Oxford, and in
the twenty-seventh of his age, Eobert Blake was called
to his father's bedside. The old man had grown worse

14- ROBERT BLAKE.
in health, and was no longer able to manage his affairs.
At last his son abandoned the idea of a college life, gave
up his rooms at Wadham, and took up his abode in the
old house at Bridgwater. On the 19th of November
Humphrey Blake died, leaving to his sons Eobert and
Humphrey, the care of his widow, and hia famUy of
young children.
The estate was encumbered with debts. Puriton,
Catcote, Bawdrippe, and Wollamington had been con
veyed away to trustees, for the mother's sole use during
her life ; the only property mentioned in the recital of
the will, ia the house and gardens in St. Mary's Street,
Bridgwater, and these were bequeathed to Eobert and
Humphrey, and their heirs for ever, subject to the one
condition that their mother, Sara, should have the use of
them during her widowhood. To whatever family pro
perty remained, to all the lands, leases, debts, difficulties,
and responsibilities which survived the broken merchant,
Eobert was heir.
Humphrey, William and George were of age or near
it ; Samuel was seventeen, Nicholas sixteen, Benjamin
eleven, and Alexander six, at the time of their father's
death. Not one of them, with the possible exception of
William, was settled in life ; and the four youngest had
stiU to be in some measure educated as weU as started
in the world. The young girls had also to be sup
ported out of the wreck. The first thing, then, was
to ascertain the residue after paying aU debts ; and in
order to clear off some of these claims, it may be that
Plansfield was at this time sold. When the debts were
paid, it would seem that property, exclusive of the house
in St. Mary's Street, of about two hundred pounds a
year remained. The means were sUght, the respon
sibilities heavy ; yet Eobert accepted, and in due course
achieved, the task of rearing, educating, and placing the

ROBERT BLAKE. 15
whole of that numerous famUy. Humphrey Uved with
him, and foUowed his fortunes to the last, becoming in
due time a public servant and a commissioner of naval
prizes. WiUiam went to London, where he became
a learned and successful man ; he attracted the notice of
scholars, was created a doctor of civil law by the Uni
versity of Padua, and when he died, followed the example
of hia brother and grandfather in leaving a legacy to the
poor of his native town. He also left a number of legacies
to his brothers, nephews and nieces. George went to
London, and became a goldsmith and banker 6f Cheap-
side. In after life he retired to Plymouth, where some
of his children married and remained, though he himself
subsequently settled at Minehead, on the Severn. One
of his sons, Benjamin, had a taste for letters ; and a copy
of verses written by him oh the death of his uncle. Dr.
WiUiam Blake, is stiU extant. Samuel married early
in Ufe, and took to agriculture. A farm, consisting of a
house and about one hundred and fifty acres of land,
orchard, garden, meadows, and pasturage, at Pawlett, a
vUlage about four miles below Bridgwater, on the river
Parrett, had been made over to him by his eldest
brother. When the civil war broke out he joined his
brother's company, and was one of the first martyrs of
the good cause in the west of England. Nicholas
engaged in the Spanish trade like his father and grand
father. He resided chiefly at Dunster and Minehead,
successfuUy cultivated business, and acquired a moderate
estate, which his descendants of Venne House still
enjoy. Benjamin was at first a farmer ; but he also
turned soldier when the wars began; afterwards went
to sea, served against Eupert and Tromp in his brother's
fleet, took part iu the expedition against Hispaniola
under Penn and Venablea, and waa raiaed by the
former, when he returned to Europe, to the rank of

1 6 ROBERT BLAKE.
vice-admiral. Of Alexander it is only known that he
Uved till 1693, and was then buried in the church of
Eaton Socon, in Bedfordshire, where there is a tablet
erected to his memory.
During the nine years spent at Oxford, Blake's cha
racter was slowly but soundly developed. When he
returned to his native town and again took up his resi
dence in the family mansion, he was remarkable for that
iron wiU, that grave humour, that free aud dauntless
spirit for which after-events found employment. Simple
in his tastes and habita, there was a dignity and refine
ment in every line of his countenance which bespoke
command. His manners, though austere for one so
young, were relieved by a certain bluntness of address,
while his peculiar sense of humour and great vehemence
of passion rendered his conversation at once agreeable,
emphatic, and picturesque. The abuses in Church and
State afforded themes for satire ; the profligacy which
reigned at court, the moral laxity and doctrinal into
lerance of so many religious professors excited his
intense scorn, and in public and private places he
inveighed against them with bitter sarcasm and solid
argument. The weak worldliness of the prelates, the
mean subservience of the Church to royal vices and
foUies, drove young Blake, as they drove thousands of
the ardent and uncorrupted young men of that time, into
Puritanism: the despicable pedantry, faithlessness and
profligacy of the King, his favourites and his courtiers,
insulting from their high station the moral sense of a
virtuous, domestic and religious people, made him sigh
for a republic Uke that of Pericles or of Scipio.

CHAPTER II.
1625—1645.
THE REVOLUTION.
Foe several years after his return from college,
Blake's time was chiefiy occupied with the care of his
aged mother — who outlived her huaband thirteen years,
seeing her youngest son Alexander arrive at the age of
manhood, — and iu the education and settlement of his
brothers and sisters. But he was a keen observer of
public events, a politician by nature and early training ;
and as the action of the court became suspicious to good
Protestants and menacing to the nation's civil Uberties,
he bent the force of his genius to create in his native
county a party of resistance. Nor was the task difficult.
Commercial habits and superior education had given a
Uberal bias to the men of that district ; and whatever
instinct of ancient and unreasoning loyalty still sur
vived was rudely tried by the King's friends. Laud, ap
pointed to the see of Bath and WeUs shortly after Blake
left Oxford, in two vv three years, contrived by his zeal
for episcopacy and royal right, his absence from the see,
except as a persecutor of conscience, and his fierce denun
ciation of aU classes and degrees of non-conformity, how
ever sUght — to rouse a stern spirit of opposition to the
governing powers in Church and State. Possessed of
the King's ear. Laud felt no scruple in turning the

i8 ROBERT BLAKE.
executive arm against his spiritual opponents, and even
attempted to coerce the judges into instruments of epis
copal vengeance. On one occasion, when Lord Chief-
Justice Eichardaon returned to London from the
Somerset assizes, where he had heard and disposed of
cases in which the bishop took an interest, with a
moderation worthy of the bench in its better days, he
was attacked with so much fury at the Council-board,
that on retiring he remarked to his friends, he had been
almost choked with a pair of lawn sleeves. Such a policy,
carried out in the vicinity of Bridgwater, and finding
its victims in men generaUy respected, gave force and
edge to Blake's keen invective. The more famous pro
ceedings of the same prelate, after his translation to
Canterbury, in bringing Prynne, Burton, Bastwick, and
other men more pious and learned than himself before
the Star-Chamber and Court of High Commiaaion, — the
cUpping of ears, the branding of temples, the slitting of
noses, the burning of tongues, the prisons, pUlories, and
pubUc scourgings to which he resorted for the main
tenance of his Popish rites, — continued in the years
which foUowed that event to caU forth his indignant
denunciation. Nor was the spur of private resentment
long wanting. Bishop Pierce, who after an interval
succeeded Laud in the see of Bath and WeUs, resolved
to put down the famous Lectures, and suspended Mr.
Deverish, minister of Bridgwater, for preaching the
usual Lecture in his own church on market-day, and
using a short prayer. Nor did this act satisfy the
prelate. Humphrey Blake was the churchwarden ; and
Pierce enjoined him to do penance for the crime of not
presenting Deverish for ecclesiastical censure. Blake
could plead the usage of the church. Since the days of
Queen Elizabeth theae Lectures had been used by all
zealous and pious clergymen. But Pierce was in-

ROBERT BLAKE. 19
exorable. A bold remonstrance against such prostitu
tion of the powers exercised by the courts of conscience
was signed by many leading liberals of Somerset, and by
Eobert Blake one of the first.
The remonatrants prayed the King to put an end to
reUgious persecution, and inveighed against the Popish
rites and ceremonies which Laud was trying to intro
duce into the Church. Two Puritan divines, Deverish
and Norman, were the clerical leaders of the movement
party in Bridgwater ; but their lay ally was its real
leader, and by his genius and activity the local influence
of the StaweUs and Wyndhams, strong royalist famUies,
was overthrown, and a commanding position was
obtained for the new opinions.
The aspect of affairs at court was lowering. Charles
had not only married a French woman and a Papist —
causes of deep offence to a people jealous of foreign in
trigues — but had entered into iUegal and insulting
engagements with the wily minister who then directed
the policy of Versailles. As the price of Henrietta
Maria's hand, Richelieu had demanded that the young
Queen and her court should have a right to exercise
her reUgion — that the children iaauing from the mar
riage should be under the control of their mother and
her advisers until the age of thirteen — and that for the
future all English Catholics should be allowed to perform
the services of their Church. These stipulations,
granted by Charles to gain the honour of an aUiance
with the blood of St., Louis, were agreed to in a series of
secret articles ; but their purport was soon known, and
the King's treason to the law of the land and the strong
Protestant instincts of the people alarmed and enraged
the country. Nor was the popular mistrust unjusti
fied by events : — the chUdren of this unhappy marriage
were so trained in early Ufe as eventually to forsake the
o2

20 ROBERT BLAKE.
religion of their country, and with that lapse to forfeit
the splendid inheritance of their race. Seeing Popery
enthroned at WhitehaU, the people resented every incU-
nation towards Eome in the clergy — whether that
inclination showed itself in the lofty character of their
spiritual pretensions, in the pomp and circumstance of
their way of life, or in the boldness of their hostUity to
freedom of thought. On aU these points Laud was ob
noxious to the more ardent Eeformers ; and Charles
himself was scarcely less hateful. His origin waa bad.
The disgust created by his father's claim to govern
England — ^not by a semi-divine right of genius, Uke the
first and last of the Tudor sovereigns, but by a divine
right of birth — a disgust which outlived the poor pedant
and weighed heavily on his son, — was not aUayed by any
act of manly sincerity or generous explanation. Questions
of finance also arose to embarrass parties and embitter the
contest about principles of govemment. Ireland and
Scotland were even less tranquil than the supreme
country, though from different causes. Beyond the
Tweed, the religious question alone occupied the field of
controversy. By law, Charles was not the head of the
Church in Scotland, and his attempts — aided by his com
plaisant Archbishop of Canterbury — ^to bring its clergy
under control, to rob them of their spiritual rights, to
meddle with their church government, and to impose on
their unwilling congregations his own ritual, periUed
his secular power and alienated from his person the
friends to whom he might otherwise have looked in the
worst extremities of his fortune. In Ireland the
elementa of diacontent were more numerous, but they
nearly aU had their origin in the religious disabilities
imposed on the Catholic masses. When pressed for
money, Charles had sold certain graces or indulgences
to a body of men in the western counties of the island

ROBERT BLAKE. 21
for 120,000Z., though well aware that the very word
indidgence would have a startling and papistical sound
in English ears. For this sum he consented to re
move from the purchasers aU penal laws enacted against
their creed, to allow them a right to practiae at the bar,
and to exercise other functions at that time prohibited
by statute. To the original infamy of this sale, Charles
added the still deeper infamy of taking the money and
refusing to fulfil the contract. When the poor dupes
complained, he sent Strafford into Ireland with orders to
repress diacontent with a atrong arm, to aaaimilate the
Irish to the English Church, and finally to over-ride the
ancient constitution and mate the King's power abso
lute. Strafford succeeded in this task as only a man of
genius can succeed. Attacking the Catholics in their
opinions, their liberties and their properties, he frus
trated every measure taken in their defence ; and by
harassing suits and galUng disabUities, invented by an
intelUgence infinite in resources and carried out with a
vigour which knew no pause and counted no obstacle, he
achieved such a success with the higher classes and in
the rich towns as intoxicated his royal master. The old
nobles of the country were brought over, some by
threats, some by cajolery, still more by fashion, policy,
and personal ambition. But the Deputy's fierce and
unscrupiUous course of conversion fired the passions of
the Irish people — and dread of his vigorous policy
arrayed against him the whole liberal and constitutional
party in England.
The armed revolt against Charles began in his native
land. Harassed by Laud's agents, the Scotch Pres
byterians took an oath and covenant to maintain their
religious independence at aU hazards ; and when the
King threatened them with the punishment due to
rebels, instead of stealing back to their homes to escape

22 ROBERT BLAKE.
the royal wrath, they flew to arms, boldly crossed the
border into England, and offered to put the issues of
their quarrel to the ordeal of battle. The court raged
with passion and insulted pride. But its contortions
were as vain as they were undignified, for the reforming
House of Commons made the cause of the Scotch Cove
nanters their own, and the royalist policy received its
first sudden and serious check. Strafford was impeached.
Laud was lodged in the Tower. Finch the Lord-keeper
and Secretary Windebank were driven into exUe. Con-
ceaaiona were obtained for the EngUah people ; and in
the northern kingdom Charles was stript of his most
coveted prerogative.
In the heat of his resentment against the Scots, the
King had summoned the two Houses to meet again
after a separation of many years ; the step had created
an immense sensation in the country ; and the most
active and liberal of the country gentlemen were
returned for nearly aU the large towns. Blake went
up as member for Bridgwater. Vane, Hampden, Crom
well, Pym, and EUiot were retumed to Westminster.
Their legislative labours were, however, of brief dura
tion — this meeting of the Houae being that which is
known in history as the Short Parliament. Charles
wanted money to fight the Covenanters ; but when
he asked for money in hia usual peremptory manner,
the House replied with a long list of grievances, and
insisted that before any money-biUs were laid on the
table, an inquiry should be made into the state of the
nation, especially in regard to the attempted innova
tions in religion, interference with the rights of private
property, and invasion of the privileges of Parlia
ment. Neither threats nor cajoleries could overcome
their resistance. After a vain trial of his strength on
the constitutional ground, Charles suddenly dissolved

ROBERT BLAKE. 23
the House in a fit of anger. Pym and Elliot were
conspicuous during the brief session. But the great
fighting-men were silent. Blate said not a word.
Cromwell said not a word. Events, however, soon com
peUed Charles to issue writs for a new election; and
before the year was out, the Long Parliament, fated
to see and to survive so many governments, was sitting
at Westminster. Of this famous assembly Blate was
not a member until 1645, when he was returned for
Taunton in the room of Sir WUUam Portman, his seat
for Bridgwater being occupied by Colonel Wyndham,
governor of the castle, and a haughty opponent of the
popular party.
The strife had not yet died away beyond the Tweed
when it arose in the sister country. There, a long-
cherished hatred of the Saxon race embittered the
quarrel about lands and religions. Under the powerful
rule of Strafford, the Celtic population had been made
to feel its inferiority in a thousand gaUing forms ; that
statesman treating the country as a conquered province,
subject to no law save the law of the sword, and capable
of no rights but such as the prince might bestow and
revoke at pleasure. Yet in spite of Stafford's cruelty
and his own bad faith, the person and government of the
King were popular among the light-hearted people : those
papistical rites and doctrines which rendered him so
suspicious in other parts of his dominions won for him
the confidence and affection of his Irish subjects. In tbe
King's name, and as they pretended with his approval,
they fiew to arms. Treachery of a confederate caused
the failure of an attempt to seize DubUn Castle ; but
the insurrection spread into the remotest districts, and
in one weet from the outbreat, the open country and
many of the chief towns in Longford, Leitrim, Cavan,
Donegal, Derry, Monaghan, and other counties were

24 ROBERT BLAKE.
possessed by the insurgents. The leaders declared by
proclamation that their object in rising was to support
the King against the popular members of the House
of Commons, who had invaded the royal prerogative,
intercepted the favours granted by the Crown to its
subjects in Ireland, and designed to root out the
CathoUc faith from that part of the empire. The
King's cause was adopted as their cause. Their fury
was directed against the very men who had brought
the great oppressor to the scaffold. In the drunken
ness of unexpected success, their followers committed
atrocities at which nature and history must shudder.
The English settlers, whether of ancient or of modem
standing, were cast into prison, their goods and lands
seized and divided, their chUdren torn from them, their
women ravished before their eyes, and their whole body,
the grace, the soul, the sustaining element of the
country, was treated with every barbarity which hate
could devise and victorious passion inflict. In this
outburst of popular insanity, more than forty thousand
Protestant settlers were butchered in cold blood.
Preparations were instantly made to check these
atrocities. But who was to command the forces sent
against the rebels ? Those rebels openly declared that
they had the King's sanction for what they had done : —
a moat unhappy declaration for the man in whose
interests they professed to devastate and murder. The
two Houses dared not entrust him with the means of
repression. Charles himself felt how disastrous was
the position made for him by his friends. He was
compelled either to admit that the rising had taken
place at his instigation, or to transfer to his new
Parliament the general conduct of the war. He chose
the latter evil, and in one day his enemies became
masters of a fleet and an army. That day the contest

ROBERT BLAKE. 25
between the two powers began. After he had ceded
control over the forces necessary to suppress the
rebellion, Charles, alarmed at his defeneelessness, made
efforts to get his creature. Sir John Pennington,
appointed chief admiral iu the Irish seas, a post of
supreme importance at that moment. His requests
were denied. Parliament had reason to suspect that
officer of an intention to employ the force undtr his
command against the national movement ; they refused
therefore to accept the King's nomination, and sent the
Earl of Warwick as their vice-admiral into those waters.
Soon after this event, Charles raised the royal standard
at Nottingham, and called the gentry of England to his
aid. The two parties now in presence of each other,
arming to dispute poaaeasion of the realm, and determine
the principles on which it should be governed, were as
distinct in character as in cause. On the King's side,
notwithstanding his personal meanness, a large majority
of the men of old family was arrayed. Men of the
highest birth and the gentlest nurture flew to the
standard of their King. Brave by nature, and loyal
from long habit, they were attached by ancient tradition
or private interest to the forms of monarchy and episco
pacy. But these loyal gentlemen, though hardy, heed
less, and romantic, possessed no strong convictions, little
of the sustained energy so needful in revolutions, and
stiU less moral reputation. On the popular side were
ranged a few men of the highest rank, separated from
their peers by greater purity of life and by wider cul
ture, together with the whole body of merchants, and
the more sober, stem, and religious of the country gen
tlemen — the EngUsh Commons. A gay demeanour, a
light heart, a passion for wine and women, marked the
Cavalier. The Roundhead was distinguished by a grave
aspect, an austere life, fiery enthusiasm, and fixed beUefs.

26 ROBERT BLAKE.
Between such opponents the contest could not have
been prolonged beyond a single summer, had they com
menced it in equal numbers and with equal means. But
their condition as soldiers was as various as their
opinions. The royalists rode into the camp almost
ready for the field. Many of them had been long famUiar
with the use of arms ; and nearly all had been accus
tomed to a country life, to hunting, sporting, and the
exercises which best prepare men for the hardships of a
camp and the terrors of a battle-field. The rank and
file of the Roundhead forces consisted of students, small
farmers, and city tradesmen. To their hands, books and
implements of trade or husbandry were more famiUar
than pikes and muskets. Devotion, courage, enthusiasm,
they could bring to the contest, but they had the art
and practice of war to learn from its very rudiments.
Charles quitted Nottingham for the west bf England
at the head of six thousand men. Enthusiasm for his
cause in the opening days of the confiict was boundless.
At Shrewsbury his army had increased to nearly twenty
thousand. This sudden accession of strength induced
him to turn on London, the head-quarters of his most
active and powerful enemies, in the hope of crushing
them at a single blow ; but he had scarcely quitted
his halting-place when the Earl of Essex was descried
hovering with a considerable force on his fiank and
rear, ready to cut off stragglers, intercfept suppUes, and
enclose him between two fires, should he advance on
the capital. He waa forced to retreat or to give battle
and he chose the latter in confidence. Six thousand
men were left dead on the field of Edgehill : Essex
retired towards Coventry, and the King advanced his
head-quarters to Oxford, whence he sent out fiying
squadrons of horse under Prince Rupert to spread terror
to the suburbs of London. For a few days the city was

ROBERT BLAKE 27
distracted with reports, and the popular leaders showed
a desire to treat ; but unfortunately for the royal cause,
while terms were being discussed under cover of an
armistice, Ruthen, the Royalist General, assaulted
Brentford. The cry of treachery was raised. The
citizens flew to arms. The trained bands marched out
of London and encamped before the captured town. By
rapid marches Essex brought up his army from the
midland counties ; and instead of seizing Whitehall and
the Tower, as he intended, Charles was compeUed to
throw himself beyond the Thames ; flying like a fugitive
across the bridge at Kingston toward Reading and
Oxford, in the latter of which cities he resolved to pass
the wdnter months, after fortifying with hasty works and
strong garrisons all the more important places in the
immediate vicinity.
Meanwhile Blake was on the alert in Somersetshire.
Taking the King's hasty dissolution of the Short Parlia
ment as a signal for action, he began, with the aid of his
young and fiery brothers Samuel and Benjamin, to count
his friends, to prepare arms and horses, to concoct watch
words, and to keep a keen eye on the movements of the
King's partisans. His troop was one of the first in the
field, and both the horse and foot played a conspicuous
part in the first action of any importance in the west of
England, when Sir John Horner routed the newly raised
forces of the Marquis of Hertford at WeUs. From that
date he was in almost every action of importance in the
western counties, fighting his way into mUitary notice.
He distinguished himself in the sharp encounter at
Bodmin ; and gained the confidence of his chief. Sir
WiUiam Waller, by his conduct on the fiercely disputed
field of Lansdown. Detached from the army to
strengthen the garrison at Bristol, he missed the dis
astrous retreat at Roundway Down. Blake's attention

28 ROBERT BLAKE.
was not, however, confined to the war. His knowledge
of business, his activity, and his severe integrity pointed
him out for other employments, and he was made one of
the Committee for seizing, and sequestrating the Estates
of Delinquents in Somerset : — a thankless office, the
duties of which he nevertheless discharged for several
years without giving rise to a single accusation of par
tiality, or making for himself one personal enemy. But
the camp was his field of action ; his superiority to other
men about him lay in the marveUous fertUity, energy,
and comprehensiveness of his mUitary genius. Before
the field of action was as yet occupied by large armies,
he scoured the country with his intrepid dragoons,
rousing the spirit of his friends, carrying terror to the
hearths of his enemies, and levying contributions of
money and horses on such towns and hamlets as were
known to be disaffected to the national cause. In the
royalist camp Prince Eupert could alone be compared
with him as a partisan soldier ; and that briUiant cavalry
officer, fated to be foUed so often on land and sea by
Blake, firat made the acquaintance of his redoubtable
enemy at the siege of Bristol.
Rupert's youth had passed Uke that of a hero of
romance. The son of a Bohemian king and an EngUsh
princess, he was coimected in blood with half the
reigning families in Europe, and his long pedigree
stretched back through Charlemagne to Attila. Yet as
a boy he had known nothing of the grace of boyhood.
Storms raged round his cradle from his birth. In an
ante-chamber of the Hradachin he waa one day snatched
up by his nurse while sleeping in the midst of fiashing
fires and booming artillery ; Austrian and Bavarian
troops were thundering at the gates of Prague ; and iu
the hurry of mortal fear the menial dropt her charge on
the floor, and there he was found by a chamberlain of

jigiV ¦¦ ' !,:
,c'.»b";:! : -i'
fc.W-.'S'rt.'-il.4,;*.*^¦/l•J;

iMuE RUPE

.ROBERT BLAKE. 29
the palace, and flung into the last carriage that foUowed
the unhappy court in its flight to Breslau. Army after
army rose to avenge the dethronement of his mother, the
famous Queen of Hearts, but they struggled in vain
against . the more prosperous fortunes of the southern
Germans. Eupert and his brother Maurice wandered
from court to court, but dread of the imperial arms
silenced every sentiment of pity in the royal palaces of
Europe ; and HoUand alone, in its pride of Uberty and
power, dared to offer an asylum to the unhappy fugitives.
There Rupert passed his youth. A hard student at the
University of Leyden, a hunter and hawker over the flat
fields of the Zuyder Zee, the hero of many a courtly
tournament, a volunteer at the siege of Rhynberg, — at
the age of fifteen he was a man of the world, and a
soldier who had won his spurs in actual service. A brief
visit to England, where Laud proposed to make him a
bishop, the Queen to marry him to a rich heiress, and
the King, his uncle, to send him out as viceroy to
Madagascar, — led to an insane enterprise of his own for
the recovery of his father's famUy dominions on the
Rhine. Defeated and taken prisoner, he passed three
heavy years in the fortress of Linz, varied only by a love-
affair with the young Countess of Kuffstein, whom he
abandoned for ever the moment he obtained his freedom.
His temper soured and his passions infiamed by adversity,
he turned soldier of fortune, repaired to England, where
his uncle's troubles opened a field for his mUitary talents,
and he was immediately made master of the royal horse.
The Cavaliers were companions after his own heart. No
sooner did he meet the easy, dashing, courteous gentle
men of England than he became their leader. Brave,
active, impetuous, no foe could withstand the vigour of
his onset or escape the celerity of hia purauit. Three
months after his arrival his name waa already a word of

30 ROBERT BLAKE.
terror in the country. But if his daring spirit and
indomitable activity made him a dangerous enemy, — it is
also certain that his cold heart, his lust of money, his
ruthless cruelty, his contempt of law, made him a stUl
more fatal friend. In spite of his valour, his vigUance,
and his success, history muat deacribe the King's warlike
nephew as the evU genius of hia cause.
From his camp at Oxford, Charles ruled about a third
of the territory of England. Wales and the border land
adhered steadfastly to his banner; and his dashing
master of the horse, after taking the important town of
Cirencester by surprise, proposed to consolidate the
royal power in the west by the capture of Bristol and
the line of fortresses along the Severn. With his uncle's
consent, he tried to win the town by treaaon, but the
faithleas citizens who would have made themselves his
instruments and accomplices were betrayed to the
authorities. Treachery faUing, he advanced at the head
of fourteen thousand foot and six thousand horse, and
summoned Colonel Fiennes, the commander, to yield up
the place to his King's officers. Though torn with
factions, as were moat towns at that time, Bristol was
capable of a long, if not a permanent defence. Of regular
troopa within its walls, in cavalry and infantry, there
were not less than two thousand men ; many of the
citizens were armed ; the store of provisions was abun
dant and of excellent quality ; shot and powder were
plentiful; and a powerful park of brass ordnance was
distributed among the forts and works. The lines, it
is true, were incomplete. In many places the breast
works had not been carried to the proper elevation, and
the ditch at some points required greater width and
depth. But the castle within the town was a hold
of some strength, and the minor forts along the line —
one of the most important of which, Prior's HUl, was

ROBERT BLAKE. .31
entrusted by Fiennes to Captain Blate — offered centres
of support to the garrison. Had the chief command
been in the hands of an able and resolute soldier, the
city would probably not have fallen, and if so, not
ingloriously. On Sunday morning, July 23, Rupert and Maurice sat
down before the waUs, their force supported by a con
siderable train of artUlery, and from their head-quarters
at Clifton — a charming suburb even at that time — they
summoned the garrison to surrender. This summons
leading to no result, they spent a day and night iu
reconnoitring the position, exchanging a few shots with
the outposts, and driving in foragers. Next day Fiennes
issued an order that all citizens not actuaUy engaged
in the defence, should teep within doors, leaving the
streets free for the soldiers. At the same time Rupert
drew out his army in two lines, and marched them in
order of battle within view of the forts, hoping to
intimidate the citizens by his immense means of offence.
But the display failing of effect, he fixed his positions,
and began to erect batteries. In the afternoon Lord
Grandison and a body of cavalry took possession of a
rising ground, covered by a thick hedge, over-against
Prior's Hill, where Blake was stationed with a smaU
body of men ; and the labourers threw up in haste a
rude breastwork, on which, under cover of the dark
ness, they planted their field-pieces unseen. At mid
night two cannon-shots from Grandison's position
lighted the sky and broke the deep silence with their
echoes. Blake quietly answered from Prior's HiU with
a discharge of mustetry and grape-shot. On the instant
Ughts were seen moving in the beleaguering lines, and
a nocturnal cannonade commenced, spread rapidly to
adjacent parts, and lasted for about an hour. Next day
preparations were made by the RoyaUsts to storm the

32, ROBERT BLAKE.
works ; and when aU was ready they advanced to the
assault in six lines, the officers and soldiers wearing
green boughs for recognition in the disorder of the
expected sack. The men in the first line bore fagots on
their backs ; those in the second drove carts laden with
earth to fill the ditch; the third line was armed with
muskets ; the fourth bore long pikes with wild-fire at
the points ; the fifth carried hand-grenades ; the sixth
was armed like the third with muskets. The charge was
made with Rupert's usual intrepidity. Parts of the
shallow ditch were filled — the worts were sealed in
several places at the same moment — and Cavalier and
Roundhead met hand to hand in single encounters ; but
after a long and fierce struggle, the assailants were
repulsed with loss at every point. WhUe the infantry
were storming, a squadron of the royal horse swept
round the outer Unes, and made an unexpected appear
ance before Frome Gate, with orders to cut down the
sentries, and advance at a gallop on the rear of the
garriaon then engaged with the main body of the royal
infantry. This attempt also faUed. The guard at
Frome Gate was on the alert, and a hot fire from
behind their sheltered positions put the horsemen to
rout. The fighting went on simultaneously at the forts.
Two demi-cannon had been directed by Lord Grandison
with some effect against the old waUs at Prior's HUl ;
but Plate's vigorous fire tept the assailants at bay, and
when night came down, and the combatants had time
to count their losses, besides the usual casualties,
Grandison had to deplore the death of his chief
cannoneer ; Blake, the mutUation of one of his three
guns, and serious damage to his works.
The garrison of Prior's HiU had little breathing time.
Before three o'clock in the morning, the grey dawn was
streaked with bursting lights, and the sleep of the tired

ROBERT BLAKE. 33
soldiers was broken by the cracking muskets of the
Comish division. Rupert was already awake in hia
tent ; and on catching the first signal, he drew out his
troops, and disposed some squadrons of horse under
cover of the rising grounds, — ready to second the
infantry in case of need, to check sallies, and enter
the lines as soon as the foot had forced a way. His
design was to break the curtain between Prior's Hill
and the next position, a small redoubt, strengthened by
two fortified houses ; but finding his flank tom by
Blake's steady fire, he sent Grandison with a body of
picked men to storm the post, while he advanced with
the main body against the intervening curtain: — the
attack on Prior's HiU thus became the centre of ope
rations for that day. Dividing his force, Grandison
sent fifty muaqueteers to alarm the line a little to the
right of Blake's position, and fifty others to make a
demonstration on the left. Within gunshot of Prior's
HUl, the highway entered Bristol through the rude
defences, the point of intersection being covered by a
spur with a low breastwork, and barricaded by a gate of
strong timbers. While the garrison at the Hill was
distracted with the movements of the musqueteers,
Colonel Lunsford, at the head of three hundred men,
feU on the curtain, — but after a sharp struggle, was
driven back with loss. Major Sandara was then sent
forward with two hundred and fifty men to storm the
spur, and bravely rushing through the fire from the
works up to the gate, came to a pike and pistol contest
with its defenders. Nine hand-grenades were thrown
into the works. Captain Fawcett fastened a petard t6
the timbers of the gate, but the explosion only shattered
a few bars, without opening a practicable breach. After
an hour and a half lost in fighting a series of skirmishes,
in which he saw Captain Howell and many of his most

34 ROBERT BLAKE.
gallant commanders fall in vain, Grandison was con
vinced that so long as Prior's Hill remained in Blake's
hands, the curtain could not be forced at that point; and
he drew out his whole strength against the proved key
of the position. Elated by success, the little garrison
prepared to receive the foe. The RoyaUsts, led by their
impetuous and exasperated chief, pushed into the shaUow
ditch surrounding the fort again and again, but always
to retire in confusion and with loss. Finding his
ammunition about to faU, Blake ordered his men to
hurl stones on the aasaUants below, whUe the best
marksmen kept up a steady and destructive fire from
the embrasures. Lunsford at one moment placed a
ladder against the wall, and mounted as high as the
paUsades, but was then forced back. Lieutenant ElUs
gained the line, but was instantly shot through the
heart. Again the whole body advanced to an assault;
again the little garrison repulsed them with slaughter.
As the Royaliata retired in confusion, Blake, feeUng,
with the untaught instinct of genius, that the decisive
moment had come, lowered the drawbridge, and sallied
at the head of his Uttle troop. Rage and shame seized
the royalist officers on seeing their troops turn from the
fire of a mere handful of men ; and mounting a horse
that stood near, Grandison shouted to them to foUow
him. At the sound of his voice the fugitives rallied,
and were led a third time to the assault. At the ditch
they met the Roundheads, Blake in front ; the struggle
was renewed, pistol and pike, sword and musket.
Grandison was shot in the leg and disabled. Colonel
Owen advanced to take his place ; he received the
contents of a musket in his head. Hotly pressed in
front, their leaders out of action, without plan or direct
ing mind, the Royalists at last fell back in disorder to
their old position. Having completely swept the Une,

ROBERT BLAKE. 35
and cleared the hUl, so far as they came within range of
his fire, Blake retired with his exhausted troops to their
little fort.
At other points the fortunes of the day had been less
favourable to the Roundheads. Between Brandon Hill
and Windmill Fort, where the curtain was incomplete,
and the defence weakest. Colonel Washington broke
over with his regiment of horse ; and the defenders
faUing back rapidly, he advanced at a brisk pace
through the suburbs up to Frome Gate : but being
unsupported by the prince, his ardour exposed his men
to the risk of being enclosed and cut off. From the
windows and roofs of houses a flanting fire gaUed and
thinned his rants ; and some of hia bravest officers
feU at his side. Rupert hesitated to enter the broten
Une, and tept his troops waiting in a meadow at the
foot of Brandon HiU, out of range from its guns. Had
Fiennes made a vigorous movement at this time, he might
have captured or cut to pieces the whole of Washing
ton's regiment, seriously damaging the reputation of
Rupert's redoubtable cavalry. But the governor's heart
faded him aa soon as the enemy appeared before Frome
Gate. To the astonishment of the Cavaliers he made
signs for a parley ; and before midnight, he had already
agreed to that surrender which blasted an honourable
reputation, and brought his head within an inch of the
block. Rupert undertook that the inhabitants should
not be plundered, and that the garrison should depart
without their arms. Blake's indignation was loudly and
fiercely expressed. At first he could not believe that a
man, who had evinced no want of courage in the House
of Commons, could give up the second city in the empire
after a few hours of not very serious fighting ; and for
his own part he refused to admit the terms of capitu
lation, and threatened to hold his Uttle stronghold to
d2

36 ROBERT BLAKE.
the last man. In the confusion of his preparation for
departure on the morrow, Fiennes omitted to acquaint
the commanders of Prior's HUl and Brandon Hill forts
with the nature of the important act concluded with the
prince ; and this negligence afterwards became a serious
charge against him, as putting many valuable Uves in
peril. When, therefore, at sunrise a body of RoyaUsts
appeared before the ditch to take possession of the Uttle
fort which they had vainly assailed the previous day,
Blake replied to their summons with a volley of
musketry. On hearing that the commander at Prior's
HUl refused to admit the articles of surrender, Eupert
declared that he would hang him on the spot: — how
different might have been his own career had he carried
this threat into execution ! Twenty-four hours longer
Blake held his post, and kept the CavaUers at bay ; but
then leaming, from persons on whom he could rely, the
exact nature of the agreement with Fiennes, and that
the Eoundhead garrison was already on its march, he.
reluctantly quitted the position he had shown himself so
weU able to defend. Fiennes was brought before a
court-martial at St. Alban's, where he waa tried for
cowardice, convicted and sentenced to death, — ^but his
life was spared by the lord general Essex. Blake did
not appear as a witness against him on the trial.
The loss of Bristol waa one of a series of misfortunes.
Ten days before the capitulation, WaUer had been
worsted at Eoundway Down ; a fortnight before that
disaster, the Fairfaxes had fought and lost a great battle
on Adderton Moor, and were then shut up in HiUl.
Even CromweU's genius had failed to keep down the
Lincolnshire Eoyalists ; Gainsborough was taken by their
partisans ; Lincoln itself had to be abandoned. Hopton
had encountered and dispersed the Eoundheads at
fctratton in Cornwall. With the exception of London,

ROBERT BLAKE 37
the Associated Eastern Counties, and a few isolated
towns, the whole country appeared to be reduced to
obedience. Liberty appeared to be iu its last throes,
and one more decisive victory might have put an end
to constitutions and parliaments in England for many
years. With no fear of an enemy by the way, Charles
passed from Oxford to Bristol, where he caUed a council
to deliberate on the next movement. Eupert and the
war-party advised the King to march on London and
finish the war. But more timorous councUs prevaUed,
and it was first resolved to reduce Gloucester, the only
city of importance in the west of England stUl faithful
to the national cause : — a fatal determination for the
King, as it gave the Eoundheads time to recover from
the alarm of so many disasters. Eising to the height of
the occasion, the London train-bands once more marched
with Essex and his levies against the victorious Cavaliers.
At their approach, Charles burnt his huts and raiaed the
siege of Gloucester, and the battle of Newbury, though
undecisive, restored in some degree the equality of the
two powers.
Meantime Blake received new employments from the
Parliament. He was named one of the Somerset Com
mittee for Ways and Means, and appointed, as a reward
for his exploits at Bristol, Lieut.-Colonel to Popham's
regiment, one of the finest bodies of militia in the
country. The corps was fifteen hundred strong, weU
equipped, and firmly attached to Eoundhead principles.
With a part of this force, in which his brother Samuel
had command of a company, Blake made a dash into
Bridgwater, with the hope of surprising its castle and
securing that town for the good cause. Eiding in by the
old stone bridge on which he had so often played as a
child, he stationed his men on the Corn-hUl and market
place, and made the Swan Inn his head-quarters. But

3S ROBERT BLAKE.
Wyndham was alert. The guns of the castle, forty in
number, were prepared for action ; the royalist garrison
was at least equal in strength to his own regiment ; and
swayed by the Luttrels, Trevelyans, and other county
famiUes, supported by a majority of the clergy, the
townsmen themselves evinced no eagerness to throw off
the Cavalier yoke. Without ordnance, field-stores, or
other necessary supplies, Blake would not venture to sit
down before the castle; so caUing in his scouts and
patrols, he gave marching orders for the south coast,
where his regiment had been already destined for
service in defence of Lyme. A melancholy incident
marked the departure from his native town. Samuel,
his younger brother, a gallant but imprudent officer, had
left his quarters on a flying visit to his wife and chUdren
at Pawlett, four miles down the river. At the Shoulder
of Mutton, a vUlage ale-house stiU in existence, he heard
that a captain of array and one of his followers were
crossing the river at Combwich passage to beat up
recruits for the King's service. This inteUigence he
ought to have carried at once to his brother, instead of
which his zeal induced him to mount his horse and ride
after the two officers. He came up with them at
Streachill, a quarrel ensued, and he was killed in the
fray, leaving behind him a widow and two young chU
dren. Blake was terribly shocked at this family disaster,
but he bore it in the true spirit of a Eoundhead. " When
the news came to Bridgwater," says one who lived in his
family and often heard the circumstance referred to,
" the officers of the regiment were seen to cabal together
in little companies, five or six at a place, and talk of it
very seriously, none of them being forward to tell
Colonel Blake what they were talking about. At last he
asked one of them very earnestly, and the gentleman
replied with some emotion, Your Irother Sam is killed.

ROBERT BLAKE. 39
explaining how it came to pass. The colonel, having
heard him out, aaid, Sam had no business there. And, as
if he took no further notice of it, turned from the Corn-
hiU or market-place into the Swan Inn, of chief note in
that town, and shutting himself in a room gave way to
the calls of nature and brotherly love, saying, Died
Abner as a fool dieth ! " The same writer adds : " But
the sorrow of heroic minds, as it is more powerful than
that of the general, ao it is sooner spent ; and collecting
his own great soul within itself, and remembering the
duty and resignation to the Divine wUl, he was in a short
time composed both in thought and look, and leaving the
Swan room, conversed with his officers on the Corn-hill
about their march to the south coast. After thia guah of
grief, he was never known to bewail his brother's
untimely death, or let it dwell in his memory." But to
the end of his career he never ceased to think with kind
ness and regret of poor Sam, — the only one of his
brothers who resembled himself in contempt of obstacles ;
and to the orphan children thus suddenly committed to
his charge he became a father. The elder boy, Eobert,
evinced at an early age a longing for the sea ; he
entered the navy, and served with distinction in the
fleets of his uncle ; the younger, Samuel, showed a more
pacific disposition. It was to the young seaman, Captain
Eobert Blake, that the Admiral bequeathed, as the true
heir to his naval glories, the gold chain bestowed on him by
ParUament for his eminent services to the Commonwealth.
After the fall of Bristol, the royal army, increased by
new levies, separated into two grand divisions. Eupert
and the King turned northward, Maurice went into the
west with orders to reduce the few towns on the south
west coast still holding out for Parliament. Lord Car
narvon led the advanced guard of the western army, a
powerful squadron of horse, and in a few weeks swept the

40 ROBERT BLAKE.
country from the Severn to the sea. Dorchester struck
without a blow. Weymouth, Corfe Castle and Portland
Island fell into Cavalier hands ; and these great losses
were foUowed by the loss of Barnstaple, Dartmouth and
Exeter. The natural strength of Plymouth set the land-
forces at defiance ; but with the exception of two or three
insignificant places, like Poole and Lyme, it was the only
position of infiuence still retained by the Eoundheads in
the west of England. Maurice, flushed with the glories
of a triumphant march, tried an assault of Plymouth ;
but faiUng in the attempt, he left a detachment of his
army to blockade the great fortress, and with a force
of nearly twenty thousand men moved along the coast,
intending to punish the petty garrisons of Lyme and
Poole, on his way towards London.
Lyme was a little fishing town with nine hundred or
a thousand inhabitants. Built in a narrow vaUey, at
the dip between two hUls, it was overlooked on three
sides from the heights, and the cUffs commanded the
whole inner line of the bay. Three narrow lanes, lead
ing towards Charmouth, Axminster and Sidmouth, cut
by a few irregular streets, formed the heart of the town.
GeneraUy the houses were built of soft stone and
covered with thatch, the better sort having curious
gables and balconies opening out pleasantly to the sea.
The church, dedicated to St. Michael, stood on a rising
ground on the left, but every part of the grave-yard,
roof, and steeple was overlooked from the brow of
Colway hill. As a port Lyme was of smaU importance,
the water being shaUow and the shore dangerous. Only
vessels of the smallest tonnage could run in for shelter
behind its ancient Cobb, — a low sea-wall built out four
or five hundred yards from the town to break the
tremendous force of the Atlantic waves, — ^yet as no
other place of refuge offered itself for several leagues

ROBERT BLAKE. 41
along that stormy coast, its roadstead sometimes
swarmed with small vessels, the property of London
merchants, and therefore good prize for Eoyalists. The
town-defences conaiated of a dry ditch, a few earth
works hastily thrown up, and three smaU batteries, —
Davies' fort, standing a little above Church Cliffs on a
high mound looking towards Uplyme, but which has
since faUen into the sea — Gun Cliff, and the fort at
Cobb Gate, the two latter being smaU batteries on
the sea-shore, covering the bay, but useless against an
enemy making his attack from the hiUs. Into this
cluster of poor cottages Blate threw himself with part
of Popham's regiment to protect the ships from
marauding Cavaliers. Colonel Ceely, the civU governor
of the town, had won distinction against the fiying corps
of EoyaUsts ; his brother-in-law, Harvey, a man of means,
lent the assistance of his purse ; and they were seconded
by the zeal and devotion of Kerridge the mayor. Nor
was Parliament unmindful of the town. A committee
had been named to watch over its safety in conjunction
with Poole and Plymouth. Money had been voted for
arms, and powder had been sent from Plymouth. But
the most sanguine member of the London committee
never dreamt that Lyme would repulse the great army
under Maurice, aud that Plate's hold of this obscure
and unfortified town would become one of the remark-"
able events of the war.
As the prince came down from the hUls of Somerset,
Blake counted his forces, and found the number did not
exceed five hundred men. The town, though its spirit
was good, afforded little aid, for its whole population
fell short of a thousand souls ; but with the assistance of
the mayor and Governor Ceely, a body of volunteers,
some of them from Charmouth and other neighbouring
vUlages, was drilled for service. Earth-works, hastUy

42 ROBERT BLAKE.
thrown up, connected the points of the defence from
Davies' fort, on the High Cliff, along the slopes beyond
the town to Holme Bush fields, near that arm of the
Cobb which connects the sea-wall with the shore.
Two large houses, standing on opposite sides of the
valley, about a mile from the line — Colway House, an
ancient residence of the Cobham family, and Haye, a
substantial farm, were occupied as outposts. Foraging
parties were sent out in all directions, with orders to
bring back fodder, cattle and other necessaries, for
which receipts were duly given. Blake's comrades were
still working at the rude defences when the glittering
array of the royal army suddenly appeared above the
brow of Uplyme Hill. The vast expanse of sea, the
green slopes of that secluded valley, broten to the view
by clumps of trees, orchards and corn-fields, and the
white houses of the town, as they lay, serene and pic
turesque, in the morning sun, touched some chords of
sentiment even in the grim bosom of civU war, and
the Cavalier host rent the air with shouts of surprise
and admiration. It was not untU evening that Maurice
descended into the vaUey, drove the outposts from Haye
and Colway House, and summoned Blake and Ceely to
surrender. The extreme weakness of the place was well known
to the Eoyalists ; so that when the prince found his sum
mons answered with a haughty defiance, he impetuously
called his trumpeters to sound a general charge. The
infantry hurled a shower of hand-grenades into the town,
and in the disorder caused by their explosion, a squadron
of horse rode down on the lines, expecting to carry them
lance in hand at the first onset. But the tactics which
had baffied the Eoyalista at Prior's HiU prevailed again
at Lyme ; after a fierce struggle between lance and
musket, the horse, unable to force an entrance, drew off,

ROBERT BLAKE. 43
and retired up the valley. The foot then advanced in
deep columns to storm ; again and again they advanced ;
but always to faU back with loss of men and character
before an unwavering and deadly fire. Furious at this
sudden check to his career of arms, Maurice rode to the
scene of confusion, rallied the broken ranks, and gave
the word to charge once more ; but the men refused to
obey the word, until he wheeled round his cavaby and
drove them on by pistol-shots in the rear. It was aU in
vain. VoUeys of case-shot met them in front from an
enemy protected by cover from their fire ; and as their
ranks thinned, the line staggered, broke, and the men
turned and fled beyond hope of recal that day. The
prince then changed his plan ; convinced by the firm
ness of the first day's resistance, that, contemptible as
Lyme would appear to the Eling and his councU, he
must either sit down to the labours of a regular siege,
or march away with his great army, leaving this vigilant
enemy in his rear and with the stain of discomfiture
on hia hitherto victorious banner. Between these two
courses there was no choice ; so he took up his resi
dence at Colway House, and threw up works on which
to plant his siege artUlery. More than eight weeks
that fine army lay on the slopes over Lyme, baffied by
an enemy with only a handful of men, and mud-works
for ramparts. At Oxford, the affair was a marvel and
mystery. Every hour the Court expected to hear that
the "little vile fishing-town," as Clarendon contemp
tuously caUs it, had faUen, and that Maurice had
marched away to enterprises of greater moment ; but
every post brought word to the wondering council, that
Colonel Blake still held out, and that his defence waa
rouaing and rallying the dispersed adherents of ParUa
ment in those parts. While the weatern diviaion of the
Eoyalists was wasting its time and strength in an obscure

44 ROBERT BLAKE.
corner, — neither port, nor fortress, nor highway, — the
most important towns and castles lay open to the Eound
heads, and some of them actually feU into their hands.
Lyme itself remained unshaken. Day after day, week
after week, storm, stratagem, blockade, failed to subdue
the little garriaon. Maurice felt the humUiation of his
position ; unable to account to his uncle and his brother
for the delay of its capture, he made a prodigal sacrifice
of life to secure success. How often would the thought
occur to him — if Eupert had only hung that Captain
Blake at Bristol ! In London the press was filled with
the wonders of this remarkable defence ; and Eoundhead
writers uaed it aa a set-off against their own prolonged
faUures at Latham House. Yet the CavaUers fought
before the breastworks at Lyme with the most
resolute gallantry, and some of the best blood in the
west of England flowed into its trenches. After the
siege was raised, and the Eoyalists had time to count up
and compare their losses, they found to their surprise
and horror that more men of gentle blood had died
before Lyme, than had fallen in all the other sieges and
skirmishes in the western counties since the opening of
the war.
Within the town, aU was activity, confidence, enthu
siasm. The volunteers from Uplyme, Charmouth, and
the viUages along the sea-coast, raised the effective force
of the garrison to nearly a thousand men ; many of
them rude of speech, unused to arms, unbroken by
discipUne, but hardy, fearless, and devoted to the good
cause. After a few days' service in that fierce school,
under that steady command, they stood fire like veteran
soldiers ; and they brought into the camp a spbit of
disinterestedness quite unusual iu men of the sword.
Under pressure of the defence, they served without pay,
and Uved on short commons ; many of them had no

ROBERT BLAKE. 45
shirts or other Unen, few wore shoes and stockings, and
stUl fewer could boast of a fuU suit of clothes. Yet no
murmur was ever heard: — each man felt some portion
of the greatness of the issue, and ordinary sufferings
seemed as nothing when borne in the name of freedom
and of God. Nor was this martial ardour confined to
the hardier sex ; women not only tended the sick, and
waited on the wounded, but wrought at the ditch and
barricades, loaded the bandoliers with powder and shot,
and even learned to handle the musket with effect. One
heroine stood in the ranks during a furious attempt to
storm, and fired sixteen rounds of shot at the enemy's
columns. Possessed of a regular siege-train, Maurice had a
great superiority in the more distant fighting. His
batteries, placed on the cliffs and slopes above the line
of defence, gradually silenced the little forts in the town.
Cobb Gate was destroyed by a battery erected at Holme
Bush, which battery also swept the bay, and prevented
the arrival of vessels, except under cover of night. A
powerful battery was erected on Colway HUl to act
against Davies' fort — the key of the defence, — but the
earth-walls on that side being hastily strengthened six
or eight feet, the cannon-shot spent its force on them in
vain. In the narrow streets and lanes of the town,
destruction went on slowly but certainly. Hand-
grenades were picked up in every yard ; many houses
were soon rendered uninhabitable ; those on the hdl-
side near the road to Sidmouth were utterly destroyed ;
the vessels in the harbour suffered much from the land
batteries ; but not an inch of the line was lost by the
garrison. About seven at night on May 6th a grand
attack was made by surprise. Six days the Eoyalists
had been quiet in their tents, and the town-people had
been employed in securing their fishing-boats from the

46 ROBERT BLAKE.
rage of a tempest ; the soldiers, a little off guard, were
at supper — and the approach of the storming party —
three separate columns, supported by musqueteers, —
was concealed by a thick fog. Roused, however, by
the enemy's signals, the Roundheads fiew to arms,
and met theb assailants with valour and impetuosity
superior to their own. Some companies of Royalists,
fighting as if they had resolved to take the place that
night, forced their way through the rude works, and
preaaed on with shouts towards the market square ; but
the defenders closed behind them, and cut off from
their comrades, in the narrow alleys of an unknown
town, the enemy in front, flank and rear, they perished
almost to a man. The surprise having faUed, the fog
and darkness came in aid of the defence; and in less
than an hour after the signal to storm the breastwork
had been given, the Cavaliers were driven off from every
part of the crescent, leaving behind them a heap of
pikes, muskets, hand-grenades, and ladders. A himdred
men lay dead in the trenches. By death, wounds and
desertion, Maurice lost between four and five hundred
men that night. Colonel Blewett, one of the best
soldiers in the royal camp, feU, pierced with three balls,
while gallantly leading his column across the works.
The day he joined the camp before Lyme, the generals
told him it was a mere breakfast matter, and that they
would carry the town before they dined ! Captain
Pawlett and many other officers were left dead in the
fields. Next morning, Maurice sent to beg the body of
his friend Blewett, and Blake at once consented to
restore it if his men were not disturbed while searching
for the body, and picking up the spoil. He would
not, he said, in such a case make conditions, but he
would appeal to the prince's magnanimity to set at
liberty Ceely' a brother-in-law, Harvey, who had been

ROBERT BLAKE. 47
seized when going about his affairs, and was then a
prisoner in the camp. Blewett's corpse was found,
washed and put into a new shroud and coffin ; but
Maurice refused to restore Harvey, and told the defenders
they might teep the dead body if they pleased. Indignant
at this reply, Blate had the coffin carried to the line
opposite the entry on Holme Bush, where he signalled
the heralds to come for it. " Have you," said he,
scornfully, as the men approached, " have you any
command to pay for the shroud and coffin?" They
answered, " No." Curling his whiskers with his finger,
he added with disdain: — "Nevertheless, take them:
we are not so poor but that we can give them to you."
The news of this gaUant repulse flew to Plymouth.
Thence it was despatched to London, where it created
the most lively joy. In the House of Commons it was
read by Richard Rose, one of the burgesses for Lyme ;
and the House at once voted an aid of 300Z., and thanked
the garriaon and its chiefs in the warmest terms. Blake
was urgent in his appeals to Parliament for succour.
Proviaions and ammunition were both failing ; some of
his most active partisans had fallen at his side in the
daUy encounters, and his little garrison was rapidly
losing its strength by death, wounds and sickness. But
to the Cavaliers" he still presented the same resolute
front. Late one night his scouts brought word that
early next morning the enemy intended a surprise ;
against this plot he resolved to use counter-plot ; there
fore, when the assailants, moving with great caution,
came to the works, they found them more deaerted than
they had dared to hope; the few men on guard fled
before them into the town, and Cavaliers to the number
of four hundred followed them into the net of close and
intricate alleys where Blake had laid hia ambush. Not
a single man escaped. Cut off from their friends and

48 ROBERT BLAKE.
enclosed in a ring of fire, poured on them from the cover
of windows, doors and parapets, as weU as from the
soldiers in the streets, they struggled gallantly to gain
some open space, but after a great part of their body
had fallen in heaps, choking the way and rendering it
stiU more difficult to advance or retreat, the rest laid
down their arms and were made prisoners of war. A
parley took place soon after this signal disaster, when
Blake told one of the Royalist generals that he did not
wish for advantage of position : the officer, then stand
ing on the low breastwork, pointed out its weakness,
and spoke with the confidence of an old soldier of its
speedy capture. "Here," said the commander of the
garrison characteristically, " you see how weak our
works are ; they are not things wherein we trust ; there
fore teU the prince that if he wishes to come into the
town with his army to fight, we wiU puU down ten or
twelve yards, ao that he may come in with ten men
abreaat, and we wUl fight him." The RoyaUsts repUed
that they would come into the town when they could do
so to theb own advantage : — which did not happen so
long as Blake commanded.
The twenty-third of May found the civU and mUitary
governors anxiously counting up the store of bread and
powder. A crisis was nigh ; in two weeks the last sack
of flour would be consumed, and if no relief came in by
sea the garriaon would be starved out, and either forced
to surrender or cut their way through the beleaguering
hosts. But on that very evening they descried a sail
rounding Portland Point ; and when morning dawned
the fleet of the Earl of Warwick was seen in the
ofiing, lying as near shore as the dangerous form of
the coast would allow. He had brought by order of
Parliament a small relief of provisions and some military
stores. The saUors sent on land with these supplies

ROBERT BLAKE. 49
were so shocked to see the naked and deplorable con
dition of the Uttle garrison of whose prowess they had
heard so much, that they immediately returned to the
ships and spread the touching details of the story
among theb comrades. Theae noble fellows at once
made a collection of aU the articles they could spare;
and many a man that day gave up his best shoes, his
warmest shirt, and more than half his ration to the de
fenders of Lyme. They contributed from their scanty
stores, thirty pair of boots, a hundred pair of shoes,
a hundred and sixty pair of stockings, a heap of
old clothes, a good round number of shirts, and a
considerable quantity of bread and flsh. Nor waa this
the largest part of their generous sacrifice : — they
proposed to the commissariat to give up for the same
purposes a fourth of their daily allowance of bread for
the next four months, in all nine thousand pounds
weight. While these arrangements were being made
on board, the garrison waa fighting bravely in the
afreets. Blake, at the head of a sallying party, was
about to issue from the gate, when Captain Southern,
sent by Maurice to make another effort to carry the
town by assaiUt before Warwick could throw reinforce
ments on shore, began the attack. The action was brief
but terrific. Colonel Weir, Blake's moat active and
efficient officer, was shot in the abdomen ; Captain Pyne,
his gallant master of the horse, received a mortal wound ;
Blake himself was hurt in the foot, enough to make him
lame for life. Sixty Cavalier corpses strewed the ground ;
among them was the corpse of Captain Southern, who for
a freak had dressed himself in Lord Pawlett' s armour
— a man most hateful to the people of Lyme, and who
was heavily mulcted for his share in these transactions
for the express benefit of the town.
Few men had done so much for the defence as Captain

so ROBERT BLAKE.
Pyne ; and Blake ordered a solemn funeral to be per
formed in hia honour. Unfortunately, the voUeys fired
over his grave informed the Cavaliers, who from Black
Venne and Colway Hill could look down into the very
churchyard, that some mournful act of the drama was in
progress and the attention of the citizens drawn off
from the defence ; and when the people in theb mourning
attire were turning from the chancel where they had
paid the last duties to their old companion in arms, a
cry of attack was raised along the streets, and a can
nonade, louder, fiercer, and more sustained than uaual,
commenced from all the batteries. After thundering at
the works until noon, tearing away the earth-walls in
several places, bursting through roofs and knocting down
chimneys, the Cavaliers advanced with their scaling-
ladders, hand-grenades, and long pikes, from Charmouth
road, from Uplyme, and from the high grounds above
Holme Bush. The Roundheads met the attacking
parties with the fury of men sufi'ering under a sense
of outrage, — aud that day blood flowed down the steep
gutters, and the rivulet and the town-water were both
dyed crimson. The Royalist gentlemen held theb ground
stoutly, but their ardour was no longer seconded by the
common soldiers, and they were three times driven back
with shame and loss to their entrenchments. Yet these
repulses were dearly bought, and in the diary of the
defence this day was marked as that on which the town
suffered most severely in its garrison.
When all was still again, Blake went o.n board the
fleet, and arranged with Warwick the detaUs of an
operation for the ensuing day. In pursuance of his
scheme three hundred men were secretly landed from
the ships ; the Ueet then weighed anchor and stood away
eastward towards Charmouth, making feints of a design
to throw men on shore at some favourable point.

ROBERT BLAKE. 51
Maurice, anxiously watching this movement from the
heights, concluded that the Earl had taken part of the
garrison on board with the intention of attacking him on
his rear or flank ; and under this impression he sent his
cavaby, attended by a few hundred foot, along the brow
of the cUffs, to wait on this suspicious movement, and if
possible prevent a landing. By firing a few broadsides
towards the cUffs, Warwick drew this force to the east of
Seatown, seven or eight miles from Lyme, where he
commenced a more steady cannonade, as if he designed
to send a body of men towards Cbideock Castle. The
RoyaUsts threw up a breastwork. Meanwhile, as Blake
had foreseen, the Priuce resolved to make a final attempt
to carry the works. Three thousand men were chosen
from the Cavalier ranks ; they were arranged in three
solid columns, and ordered to support and succeed each
other in the attack. On the other side, by the acces
sion of the three hundred seamen, Blake could now
muster within his lines about twelve hundred men ; and
as Maurice's formidable cavalry was away among the
hills beyond Seatown, the two forces approached nearer
equality of numbers than they had been in any previous
encounter ; with the advantages for the defenders of con
centration, narrow streets, houaea, every one of which
waa a little fortress, and the works in advance, such as
they were. At six in the evening, while there were stUl
three hours of daylight, the ibst shots were exchanged,
and until past eight the slope leading to Uplyme was
like a battle-field, and the firing ao swift and fierce as to
give the town an appearance of being wrapt in flames.
Some houses were set on fire and destroyed, others were
battered down with shot ; but the sight of burning thatch
and faUing rafters only served to inflame the courage ot
the people. A full thbd of the town waa already in
ruina, and even had he succeeded, Maurice would have
k2

52 ROBERT BLAKE.
gained nothing at Lyme beyond glory and a heap of
stones. The first column fought gallantly for half an
hour ; it retired, and the second column occupied its
post. By half-past seven this was also broken ; and the
last column advanced with tremendous shouts on the
now almost exhausted garrison. Falling back a little, so
as to recover breath under the cross fire from the nearest
houses, the defenders made a vigorous stand, and in half
an hour the result was no longer doubtful. Blake then
gave his final orders. Advancing from all sides, as if
quickened with new life, his officers appeared on both
flanks of the enemy, while he pressed them steadUy in
front. A little after eight o'clock the attacking column
was cut through, and the soldiers fled in disorder to their
entrenched quarters. Stragglers continued to fire their
pieces at intervals until night-faU ; but the contest was
already over. That day cost King Charles five hundred
of his bravest followers.
Maurice had made his last effort, and it had failed.
Cannonades were repeated again and again, but the
day of hope for him was now past. Essex was moving
westward with a large army, and the Prince felt that his
position before Lyme was no longer tenable. As a
parting salute he fired into the town a quantity of red-
hot balls and bars of twisted lead. Poor Maurice ! His
rage, though vain, was not unnatural : for his fortunes
and his military reputation were both broken on the
rocky beach at Lyme. The loss of the Cavaliers in men
amounted to two thousand : — more than had fallen in
the conquest of both the two western capitals, Exeter
and Bristol. Theb loss in time, material, moral infiuence,
and military character were more considerable and more
breparable.

CHAPTER IIL
1644—1649. TAUNTON.
The long detention of the royal army in the vaUey
of Lyme, enabled Essex to march by slow stages from
London to Dorset, without meeting an enemy, and with
the advantage of being able to recruit his forces and
strengthen the interests of his party by the way.
Without great military talents, barren in conception as
he was slow in execution, Essex had yet the good fortune
to be everywhere popular. His name was a pledge of
order. A regiment of raw levies is seldom kept imder
the curb of discipline, but the legions of Essex con
trasted most favourably with Goring's crew and
Maurice's marauders. Many of those who had hitherto
been neutral in the quarrel, and comparatively in
different to the issue, so that it should come speedUy
and relieve their houses from piUage and their women
from insult, received Essex with open arms. Hundreds
flocked to his camp, anxious to serve under so chivabous
a leader. Thus, whUe the Royalists were wasting their
strength to no purpose in an obacure corner of Doraet-
shbe, their enemies, recently broken, dispersed and di-
spbited almost beyond hope, were gaining in moral and
material power. Alarmed for his own safety, Maurice
had anxiously watched the movements of this new army ;

54 ROBERT BLAKE.
and as soon as he heard of the dexterous turn which
restored Weymouth to the Roundheads without the loss
of a single man, he drew to his tents a great part of the
Taunton garrison, and abandoning to the enemy aU the
trophies of his former march, fled away, with his reduced
but still magnificent army, towards Exeter.
Essex, moving in the wake of Maurice, toot the road
towards Cornwall, in the hope of cutting off the western
division of the grand army, — ^but leaving nearly aU the
important towns of Somerset and Devon in the King's
hands, and separating his troops from their natural base
of operations. His error was fatal. Every step west
ward led him deeper into an untnovm country, with in
habitants either neutral or unfriendly, and in which all
the strong places were possessed by Royalists. With
the exception of Plymouth, still held in, a state of
blockade, aU the great fortresses owned the King :
Poole, Lyme, and Weymouth had been maintained or
recovered by the national party, but between the sea-
coast and the head waters of the Severn, they had not a
single town or castle of real miUtary importance. The
Cavaliers possessed Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Bridgwater,
Langport, and Ikhester, — and they had powerful garri
sons in such atrongholds as Ninney Castle, Chideock
House, Dunater Caatle, Corfe Castle, Portland Island,
Farley Castle, and the ScUly Islands. Essex, on his
part, possessed no more of the country than his patrols
covered with theb mustets. StUl he pressed on.
NaturaUy brave, he could not see his enemy in full
retreat without the wish to hang ou his rear and compel
him to hazard daily skirmishes. At Oxford his im
prudence was soon understood, and Charles proposed to
march into the west with aU the forces at his disposal,
place the Roundhead Earl between two fires, and compel
him to fight a battle at a great disadvantage.

ROBERT BLAKE. 55
Affairs were in this position, when Blake, now master
of hia own movements, executed one of those bold and
happy strokes which equal in importance the gain of a
great battle. His idea was to break the formidable line
of royal fortresses in the midst, — to cut off the suppUes
and interrupt the most direct communication between
the RoyaUst camps, — to cover, at least for some days,
the rear of Essex, now entangled in the Cornish hills,
unable to force a battle or to retreat, — and, finally, to
secure for himself and for the good cause a new and com
manding centre of operations. Theae objects were aU
to be achieved by the capture of Taunton. A glance at
any old map wiU show how that town waa placed. It was
surrounded by castles and garrisons. It stood on and
controUed the great western highway. All letters, levies,
stores and ammunition sent from Charles to Maurice, or
from the generals and officers in the west to the King
and to each other, had to pass through it. With the
exception of cross-country roads, out of the way and
almost impracticable for cavalry and artUlery, no other
route existed between Oxford, Briatol, and Exeter.
But, beaides its central position, Taunton was of sin
gular importance to the Roundheads. The inhabitants —
rich, brave, devoted, numerous — were for the most part
well affected to their cause. The farmers, artisans and
peasants of the neighbouring hamlets were mostly
Puritans in reUgion. A large pile of arms seized in
Roundhead houses by Sir William Portman, the borough
member, was laid up in the old castle, together with ten
thousand pounds in ready money, extorted from rich and
poor of the same party. The Cavalier generals never
imagined Taunton to be in danger. It was unwaUed
and surrounded at no great distance by strong fortresses
and garrisons, Bridgwater and Langport, either of them
within an hour's hard riding, Dunster and Ilchester

56 ROBERT BLAKE.
also within easy reach, and no enemy nearer than the
exhausted little troop at Lyme. But Blate, who had
friends in the place, was well informed of the state of
public feeling, of the exact strength of the garrison, of
the irresolute character of the military governor; and
notwithstanding the hazards of such an attempt with the
small force at his command, the prize being of supreme
importance in that stage of the war, he resolved to try
the effect of a sudden attact. His men were inured to
danger, and had never tnown defeat. His Taunton
friends assured him that he had nothing to fear from the
inhabitants, and that Colonel Reeves's garrison was
unequal to the defence of so large a town. Blate fore
saw that his great difficulty would lie, not in seizing the
position, but in holding it afterwards against so many
enemies. Taunton was not lite Lyme. No aid could
come to it by sea ; on every side it was shut in by hiUs ;
every road from it led to a royal stronghold. Yet once
master of the town, he did not despair of being able to
maintain himself long enough to give Essex time to
create a diversion in the west ; and at the moment this
seemed sufficient. Joining his fiying corps with the
regiment of Sir Eobert Pye — afterwards governor of
Leicester, when Eupert stormed that unhappy town, —
he suddenly appeared before the gates of Taunton, sum
moned the garrison to surrender, and offered them
honourable terms. Startled at this unexpected appa
rition, unaware of the exact strength of his assadants,
and not willing to throw himself on popular support.
Colonel Eeeves asked for a parley, in which he agreed to
give up hia post on condition of being allowed to march
away with his men to Bridgwater. As soon as the
Royalists had marched out in silence at the east gate of
the town, Blake and Pye entered with their respective
corps, amidst the peal of St. Mary's beUs and the up-

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ROBERT BLAKE 57
roarious joy of the Puritan people. A demi-culverin,
ten smaU pieces of ordnance, two tons of match, eight
barrels of gunpowder, a considerable store of pikes,
pistols, swords, and other arms, with a magazine of pro
visions, were found in the castle. A great quantity of
houaehold furniture — carried by force from the dwellings
of suspected persons — was also found among the spoils
of this bloodless victory, and was no doubt restored
to its former owners. No accident occurred to dash
the glory of his capture : — and when the news of it
arrived in London, patriotic citizens Ughted fires in
honour of Colonel Blake, and Parliament hastened to
appoint him governor of the town which he had so
gaUantly assaUed and so unexpectedly won.
Blake took possession of Taunton on the eighth of
July 1644 ; on the second of the same month CromweU
had defeated Rupert at Marston Moor. InteUigence of
these events reached the court about the same time at
Bath, whither Charles had moved to be nearer the scene
of operations between Maurice and Essex. Two such
disasters convinced the RoyaUst generals that to
act with greater vigour or to see the west of England
torn from their hands was theb only choice. Exeter
still held out for the Queen, a guest within its waUs ;
aU the active inland towns and garrisons, Taunton
excepted, were with the King; and the Round
head army under Essex had failed to estabUsh for
itself a decided superiority in the field. Under
these cbcumstances it appeared to the royal generals
that there was time — and only just time — to strite
a blow such as would recover for them the whole
west of England. A few rapid marches, imdertaken
with a clear purpose, had abeady brought the army
from Oxford, across the Cotswold Hills, to Ciren
cester and Bath. Lord Hopton had been previously

58 ROBERT BLAKE.
required to concentrate at Bristol a large body of
troops, blindly devoted to the King, from the Welsh
borders ; and as this ever-increasing army continued its
westward march, Blake, who had long seen that the
object of the movement was to overwhelm the Earl of
Essex, prepared to dispute its passage along the great
highway, aware that the interruption of his line of
march would compel the King either to throw himself
on Taunton with his whole power or march through
the hiUs over almost impassable roads. In either case
a certain number of days must be lost to the RoyaUsts,
and during these precious days a man of military genius
would have been able to reduce Exeter, or force Prince
Maurice to fight a battle. UnhappUy the Earl of Essex
was not a CromweU. Much discussion and some
differences occurred in the royal camp as to the course
to be pursued. The Cavalier gentry of Somerset and
Devon burned with rage at the idea of one of the
fairest towns in the two counties being held by rebels ;
the more ardent generals expressed indignation at
what they called the insult offered to the royal army by
Blake in throwing himself with a few adventurers
into a position that every soldier knew to be untenable.
They urged the King to advance from Bristol by the
great highway and punish the rebel who had so shame
fully foUed them at Lyme. But the very name of that
obscure little town suggested the strongest reason for
avoiding Taunton. Charles's object vvas an immediate
concentration of his two armies on the borders of
Cornwall, so that by a decisive victory over Essex he
might be able to relieve Exeter and reduce Plymouth
to obedience. If he attempted to force his way through
Taunton, it was impossible for any one to teU how long
he might be detained there, whilst the number of days
to be lost in going over the Quantock Hills and round

ROBERT BLAKE. 59
by north Devon to Exeter could be reckoned with the
greatest certainty. The Royalists, therefore, leaving
Blake for a time in undisputed possession of his prize,
took the cross-country roads, and in due time arrived
at Exeter. The King's plan succeeded. Joining
Maurice at Liskeard, he found they had no need
to ¦ risk a battle in order to conquer. Led by false
statements into a country of which he knew nothing,
Essex saw hia army waste away by sickness, desertion
and the enemy's fire, with no hope of action or of
escape. Shut up in a narrow gorge by the sea-shore,
land-locked on aU sides, with a hostUe population around
him, provisions failing and a mutinous spirit spreading
in the ranks, he at last determined to quit the command
he could no longer hold, leaving his foUowers, many
of whom had taken up arms expressly for his sake, to
the clemency of an incensed sovereign. He embarked
with a single attendant, secretly, and in the night : —
next day the troops were without a leader, and nothing
remained but to surrender at discretion. The army of
the West was annihilated without a shot. Thia terrible
calamity spread dismay throughout England : but
nowhere was it so terrible as to the poor burgesses of
Taunton. Of that great Roundhead army, not a single
battaUon tept the field to divide with them the attention
of the victorioua Royaliata.
One man alone appeared undaunted by an event
which laid the western counties at the King's feet.
Blake not only prepared to defend his post against the
foes who would soon be disengaged from other tasks
and swarming round it in the hope of booty ;• he
continued to carry fire and sword, levies and requisitions,
into the enemy's quarters. Hanging, with a handful
of intrepid men, on the left fiank of the royal army, he
had harassed their westward march, cut off their

6o ROBERT BLAKE.
stragglers, intercepted their supplies ; and by sudden
and frequent visits to the weaker Royalist towns, had
kept the district in such a state of alarm as, even after
the fiight of Essex, prevented Charles from settling the
country in his own interest. His unfailing good fortune
had raised the spirits of his followers to the height at
which danger becomes a mere excitement; undaunted
by the presence of two armies, imchecked by castles and
fortified houses, their bold excursions were extended to
the very gates of Exeter ; and in the midst of rejoicings
for the victory in Cornwall, ladies were suddenly alarmed
by the appearance of a squadron of Roundhead horse
under the waUs of that city. From these saUies Blake
and his officers seldom returned without bringing back
arms, ammunition and prisoners. Nor was Taunton
itself neglected. Though determined to keep as wide a
space of country open round the town aa vigour could
clear and vigilance keep watch over, he did not overlook
the fact that, isolated as he was from his Roundhead
friends, it would be impossible to hold the open field
much longer against the CavaUer foreea occupying the
western towns ; such parts, therefore, of the ancient forti
fications as admitted of hasty repab, were strengthened
and restored.
Little time was aUowed the garrison for preparation.
Flushed with their successes in Cornwall, the returning
Cavaliers swept the country from the gates of Plymouth
to the suburbs of Taunton, without encountering a single
hostile band. Charles himself, too elated to think of a
single town in Somerset, was bent on a rapid and vic
torious march on London, whither he summoned aU his
subjects by common proclamation to attend him and
compel the two Houses to mate peace. But although
the town was undisturbed by the grand army, parties of
horse and foot from Exeter, Bridgwater, and Dunster

ROBERT BLAKE. 6i
Castle, — Irish rebels, wild men from the Cornish mines,
and yet more detested foreign mercenaries, — prowled
about the beautiful hamlets near Taunton ; not daring to
approach too near the rude lines, or engage in an open
assault, but committing acts of rapine and cruelty on
unarmed persons met on the highways. Sir Francis
Doddington, a brave but brutal soldier, at the head of a
marauding party from Bridgwater Castle, made himself
conspicuous by theae outrages. One day he met a
clergyman on the road a short distance from Taunton, to
whom he shouted — " Who art thou for, priest ? " The
clergyman answered calmly — "For God and Hia Gospel."
Doddington drew a pistol and shot him through the
heart. WhUe the Eoyalists were yet at Exeter, a councU
had been held to consider the loss of Taunton, and the
interruption of the great highway. Many local magnates,
indignant that the finest town between Bristol and
Exeter should be held by rebels, urged the King
to march in that direction ; but the royal generals,
anxious to gain time, resolved to proceed through
Honiton and Chard towards London, leaving the tast of
reducing Taunton to Colonel Wyndham, governor of
Bridgwater, and Blate's old rival in his native town.
Wyndham was proud of his employment, hoping to
triumph over a local as well as a public enemy. Suddenly
appearing before the town with a small force drawn from
Bridgwater, he wrote a letter to the burgesses in very
menacing terms, threatening the town with fire and
sword, if it were not immediately surrendered. Blake's
answer was brief and emphatic :— " These are to let you
know," he wrote, "that as we neither fear your menaces
nor accept your proffers, we wish you for time to come
to desist from all overtures of the Uke nature unto us,
who are resolved to the last drop of oiu" blood to main
tain the quarrel we have imdertaken ; and I doubt not

62 ROBERT BLAKE.
but the same God who hath hitherto protected us will
bless us with an issue answerable to the justness of our
cause ; however, to Him alone shall we stand or fall." —
As his threats produced no effect, Wyndham sent a
second trumpeter to his old neighbour and townsman,
almost entreating him to accept terms of surrender ; for,
as he urged, the town was unwaUed — the place incon
siderable — and an attempt to defend it against the royal
forces, now masters of the West, could only lead to an
unnecessary waste of Christian blood. Blake referred
to his former answer as expressing all that he had to say
in return : — and from that moment the siege may be
considered as begun.
In some respects Taunton waa a more defensible place
than Lyme. It lacked the vast advantage of a sea com
munication, but then it was not surrounded by heights
commanding its streets and public buUdings. The nearest
hills were far beyond the range of cannon. The only rising
ground for a mUe or more waa that on which the castle
stood, near the centre of the town : consequently the
enemy's powerful artillery inspired but little terror in the
citizens. The character of the country also favoured de
fensive operations, for the fields were small, the hedges
thick and high, the roads narrow and circuitous. In the
opinion of one of the most eminent commanders of that
age, every field was as good as a fortification, — every
lane as defensible as a pass. Only three entrances led
into the town — the north road from Minehead and
Dunster, crossing the river Tone under the castle-guns
by means of an old wooden bridge — and the great high
way, entering from Bridgwater and Bristol at East
Eeach, and passing out at the West Gate for Exeter aud
Plymouth. The castle and the river covered the firat ;
a sort of stone blockhouse, honoured with the name of
the New Castle, flanked West Gate. East Gate had no

ROBERT BLAKE. 63
other defence than a narrow paasage closed up with a
soUd oak door. WaUs there were none. On every side
the town was open, except so far as garden walls, hedges,
and outhouses might afford covering from an enemy.
The town itself consisted then, as it does now, of three
principal streets, corresponding with the three roads into
and through it, East Street, North Street, and High
Street, meeting in a triangular space near the caatle
gates. This open space waa used as a market and a buU-
ring. Part of it was covered with sheds and shambles ;
in the centre stood an ancient stone cross, and facing it
were the low picturesque fronts of the Town-hall, and
the famous Inn, then and long afterwards known as the
White Hart. In the angle formed by the junction of
East Street and North Street rose the high and graceful
tower of St. Mary Magdalen. With one exception, all
the streets were strait and winding. The houses were
buUt of brick or stone, with peaked gables, tile roofs, and
bow windows. The castle, a structure of the Saxon
time, and a hold of importance during the wars of the
Eoses, was partly in ruins ; but its position was good :
the waUs, gates, and old drawbridges remained, and a
double moat, fed by a brook from the hamlet of Chedford,
strengthened its outworks.
Blake completed his preparations. Strong barricades
were thrown across the roads. Breaatworks were raiaed
at the gates ; and at East Gate, where he beUeved that
the principal fighting would take place, he planted some
of his artUlery, supplied by order of the House of
Commons, and garrisoned the alma-houses on one side
and the dwellings on the other with his best muaqueteers.
StUl, when everything had been done that coiUd be done,
the situation struck the mind as hopeless. In the
earlier periods of the war Taunton had changed hands as
Royaliata or Roundheads happened to be in greater force

64 ROBERT BLAKE.
in the neighbourhood. Hopton had placed there a
RoyaUst garrison. The men had fied at the approach
of Waller, who left a body of troops to secure the place
for Parliament. .Hertford drove these Roundheads
away, and left the govemment to his friends. Reeves
in his turn had surrendered without a blow. Blake was
the first man who had ever thought of holding the town
against a superior force. The Cavaliers believed him
mad. As they knew very weU, he had no base of opera
tions in his daring attempt, no fianka on which to lean
for support, no source of supplies but the chances of an
occasional forage, and no hope of relief untU a new army
could be created, drilled, discipUned, and led to victory.
How terrible the present evil — how vague and distant
the hope of aid from London !
On receiving Blake's brief answer, Wyndham made a
demonstration in the meadows on the east of the town,
hoping to intimidate the inhabitants and afford the
Royalist citizens an opportunity of rising against the
garrison. But a party issuing from East Gate, and
falling unexpectedly on his line, obliged him to face
about and defend himself, which he did at first with
some firmnesa, though in the end he was forced to
retire with loss from hia awkward position. UnwiUing,
after this encounter, to risk an assault, his troops tore
up the roads and barricaded them with fruit-trees, cut
off communications with the distant Eoundheads, and
stopped the market-carts on their way into the town with
produce. For several months this blockade continued ;
sometimes it waa strict, at other times it was loose and
ineffectual; altogether it produced no material change
in the position of the two forces. Wyndham indeed
had much to gain by delay. The entbe district — Lyme,
Poole, Weymouth, and Plymouth excepted — was occu
pied by his friends. He had Bridgwater and Ilchester to

-VilD CORiKu.

ROBERT BLAKE. 65
fall back on in case of need, either to reat hia men or to
recruit his strength. The Eoundhead towns were closely
invested : though, being open to the sea, they were not
in immediate perU. Yet they were too well guarded to
send relief or create any diversion in favour of Taunton.
Day by day Blake saw the stock of proviaions dwindle.
No effort was spared to bring in new supplies ; every
week or two a vigorous sally was made by part of the
garrison, which for a moment broke the cordon, and
enabled farmers and gardeners to carry in fresh garden
stuff, corn and cattle ; but hemmed round aa he was
by so many strongholds, it was impossible to enlarge
the circle much or preserve it open long ; and in spite
of every effort to increase the store, with a moat careful
husbandry of means, the want of food soon became a
serious question for the besieged. Hope of succour from
without waa for a time at least denied. Lord Goring,
with a large army of Eoyalists, lay at Salisbury, ready
to oppose the march of relief from Kent or Middlesex,
and the parliamentary chiefs began to fear that Blake
would ultimately be starved out of his commanding
position, and forced to give up without a blow one of the
fineat towna in the west of England. But help came to
him in the hour of need. A German officer, named
Vandruske, passing with a body of horse on the flank of
Goring's dissolute army, rode rapidly down the vales of
Wiltshire, Doraetshire and Someraet, and falling un
expectedly on Wyndham's line, cut through it and rode
triumphantly into the town. In the panic thus created
among the Eoyalists, Blake sallied out, attacked the be
leaguering regiments, routed them at the flrst onset, and
chased them in theb flight to the gates of Bridgwater,
in the castle of which town they found the firat shelter
from Vandruske's dragoons. The great roads being
opened up by this action. Blake, attended by Vandruske's

66 ROBERT BLAKE.
horsemen, made a circuit of the country, rousing
friends from the torpor of despair, and striking
exulting foes with a sense of the sudden vicissitude
war. For a few days the action of the Eoyalists
those parts seemed paralysed. The garrisons retired
hind their ramparts, leaving the open country at
energetic Roundheads' mercy ; every town in Some
and Devon was disturbed more or less by these ex
sions ; and Goring's force was suddenly ordered dow
Weymouth, lest the siege of that place should be ii
rupted by them.
The spbits of the Roundheads rapidly revived.
Weymouth garrison, driven by surprise from the u]
town and the forts, stUl held out in the lower t(
and shortly after Goring's arrival with his fuU strei
of horse, foot, dragoons and artiUery, the place, to
the words of the RoyaUst writer, " was retaken
that contemptible number of rebels, who had 1
beaten into the lower town, and who were lo(
upon as prisoners at mercy." Baffied at Weymo
Goring retired with ten thousand men and a large ]
of ordnance into Somerset, raising wonder and ho
along his line of march. War had made the cou:
familiar with the ordinary licence of the camp.
actions of money — ^levies of corn, horses and me
arbitrary arrests — drum-head trials — ¦ and sumr
punishments, were every-day events. But Gori
army — tnown by the opprobrious name of Goring's (
— pillaged without legal forma, insulted women,
burnt the property they could not carry off. Ho
and viUages were deserted at their approach. Drun.
ness and debauchery marted their course ; shi
misery and desolation foUowed in theb track. The
warlike of the population, women, children, old men
ministers of religion, fled before them as before a

ROBERT BLAKE. 67
suming fire ; and with such effects as they could snatch
up in the hurry of departure from their homesteads,
threw themselves into Taunton. Of the clergy who thus
flew to Blake for protection against Goring's crew, was
one who proved singularly useful during the long and
trying defence : — Thomas Welman, vicar of Luppit near
Honiton. Educated at Oxford, where he distinguished
himself by his leaming, piety and gentle manners, he
married a Honiton lady, and settled in a quiet country
hamlet to the work of his Christian miniatry, among a
people who soon became attached to him by ties of
gratitude and love. The rapine, cruelty and profligacy
of the CavaUers roused his mild nature ; he fled from
the pleasant place in which his lot had been cast ; and
during the hottest period of the siege of Taunton, his
pictures of the shame and ruin he had seen that be
leaguering host commit in the valleys of Devonshire,
served to inflame and sanctify the patriot ardour of the
garrison and people.
As time wore on, every hour developed still more the
importance of the blow struck by Blake at Taunton. It
had prevented the concentration of the royal armies. It
had thrown a new subject of discord into the King's
council. It had created a thousand local jealousies,
discontents, and suspicions. Lord Goring, general of
the horse, quarrelled with Lord Hopton, master of the
ordnance, about the command. Sir Eichard Grenville,
Sb John Berkeley, and other West-of-England men,
loudly expressed their discontent at what they called the
meanness which permitted such an enemy tp remain
master ef Taunton ; and in a critical moment, GrenvUle
refused to obey the orders of his superior officers. He
had sworn to capture Taunton, and he refused to move
until his oath had been redeemed. Meanwhile the
New Model waa perfected ; and under the Self-denying
f2

68 ROBERT BLAKE.
ordinance, the command in chief of the Eoundhead army
was transferred from Essex to Fairfax, with CromweU
for his general of the horse. Cromwell joined Sir
WiUiam WaUer ; and the combined forces of the two
generals making a feint as if they would fall on Goring,
the outwitted Eoyalist drew off to Exeter, leaving the
road open for Vandruske and his dragoons to regain the
main body of Eoundhead cavalry. These indications of a
change of fortune called the Prince of Wales into the
west, where he summoned the Commissioners for
Somerset to Bristol, to advise with him in person on the
state of that county. They complained bitterly of the
riot and insolence of Goring's soldiers, and mourned in
spirit over the obstinate defence and troublesome saUies
of the Taunton garrison ; which, they said, kept the
country for thirty miles round in a state of alarm, and
rendered it difficult to raise either men or money for the
royal cause in Somerset. On all sides, it was urged that
the most important operation for the western armies
would be the reduction of that town. Messages were
therefore sent to Goring, and at his request two of the
prince's council. Lord Capel and Lord Colepepper, went
to Wella to conault with him on the aspect of affairs ;
when after long consultations. Goring drew up in
writing a plan of action. Leaving the greater part of
his horse and two hundred foot on the borders of Wilt
shire and Dorset to observe the motions of the enemy, —
but so conveniently placed as to be able to retire towards
his main body, should CromweU or Waller advance in
strength,-— he proposed to move with his infantry and
artillery, a few select squadrons of horse, and as many of
the fiying corps as could be drawn together on a sudden,
into the vale of Taunton, and either capture the heroic
town or bum it to ashes. Prince Charles adopted this
plan. Orders were thereupon sent to Sb Eichard

ROBERT BLAKE 69
GrenvUle to appear in the trenches before Taunton with
his regiments, consisting of eight hundred horse, two
thousand two hundred foot, and a large body of pioneers,
— orders which he obeyed with the utmost zeal. The
Commissioners of Somerset were inatructed to repair to
the camp, and encourage by their presence the labours
of the besiegers, as well as use their local influence with
the citizens. Magazines of stores and ammunition were
prepared; and in a few days Grenville had already
occupied all the roads leading out of Taunton, — put an
end to the free intercourse between town and country, —
and drawn his Une within a few hundred yards of the
suburbs. Since the defeat of Wyndham, that officer had been
quiet at Bridgwater or Bristol; no enemy had been
descried from the castle-turrets ; no warlike clangour
had been heard from the bells of St. Mary's church.
But the fiery GrenvUle soon made his presence known
to the inhabitants ; with dogged valour he was fighting
hia way to the gate at East Eeach, when a sudden move
ment by Waller forced Goring to turn his force east
ward. In expectation of a pitched battle, the Cavalier
commander ordered Grenville to quit his trenches,
and repab with his whole force towards Shaftesbury.
Grenville refused to obey these orders. The Prince of
Wales interfered ; but the obstinate knight answered
that his men would not stir a yard, and that he himself
had solemnly promised the Commissioners of Cornwall
and Devon not to advance beyond Taunton until he
could advance through it. At the same time, he de
clared his conviction that in a few days the place must
fall under his assaults ; and then he would joyfully push
forward to the rendezvous of the royal army. Two or
three skbmishes occurred between Goring and WaUer,
but without result. Goring again complained to the

70 ROBERT BLAKE.
Prince that without important reinforcements he da
not risk a battle ; GrenviUe answered, that with
hundred mote men he would undertake to deli
Taunton into the Prince's hands in six days. Perple
by these quarrels, without the character and authoi
necessary to overrule both officers for the common gc
the Prince of Wales called a council to determine
best course to pursue. Eupert waa present and too
share in the debate. Taunton still held out : — Grenv
would not quit the trenches even at the positive C(
mand of the King's son, his own future sovereign, u
it fell :— Goring could not fight a decisive battle with
the four thousand men then occupied in the si(
These were the fixed facts of the case. Eupert ur
that a combined attempt should be made to expel Bla
arguing that the possession of Taunton by the Ron
heads was the chief obstacle to the raising of men .
money in a rich and populous county ; that the si
employed one of the best of the royal armies ; that
the event of its reduction, not only would Grenvil
foreea be releaaed for other service, but volunteers wc
come in, and new levies could be made at pleasure.
this way it was possible to pacify the four west
counties, raise an army for Goring to lead into Kent
Suaaex, and another for the Prince of Wales to a
to his father's camp. The six days mentioned
Grenville waa conaidered enough to effect the captt
and the least sanguine officer in the royal army profes
to believe that the town could not hold out more t
ten days or a fortnight against the combined armies
Goring and GrenvUle. The council, therefore, resol
to compel the rebel town to make immediate submiss
at any cost of men and material that might be foi
necessary for the purpose.
An immediate concentration of troops took pi

ROBERT BLAKE. yi
Wyndham repaired to the camp with his regiment. Sb
John Berkeley made his appearance there. Sir Joseph
Wagstaffe brought down from Wells the main body of
Goring's foot, and the whole of his great park of artiUery.
The forces thus gathered before Taunton were of
superior appointment and overwhelming number. The
very day of theb arrival, GrenvUle advanced his lines
within mustet-shot of the town, occupying the entire
circuit of the suburbs ; and then set out to inspect
WeUington House, an outpost five miles distant, into
which Blake had thrown a small garrison. From a
window of this house he was marked by a musqueteer,
and shot in the thigh ; the wound was considered mortal,
and he was immediately carried away by his servants to
Exeter. Sb John Berkeley, who had served in the
leaguer before Lyme, and was therefore supposed to
know something of Blake's tactics, succeeded to the
command. The six days paaaed, and the town was
unconquered. Week foUowed week, but no one could
tell with certainty how many days longer it would defy
storm and stratagem. Some progress the besiegers
undoubtedly made. The little garrison at Wellington
House was overpowered, after an heroic reaiatance, by
superior numbers, and in their rage the CavaUers set
fire to the house and destroyed it utterly. The investing
Unes were gradually drawn closer round the town ; the
suburbs, especially the suburb of East Eeach, were pU-
laged and burnt. Many houses in the outer circuit of
streets and lanes were battered down with the incessant
play of cannon ; and now and then for a few hours the
Eoyalists occupied advanced positions within the shelter
of ruined cottages and gardens. But the heart of the
town remained inviolate. The castle, churchyard and
market-place never once saw the enemy. Berteley hoped
to see a profound moral effect produced on the garrison

72 ROBERT BLAKE.
and inhabitants by the storm and confiagration of
WelUngton House : — Blake better understood the moral
effect of such wanton barbarity, and as soon as he heard
of it, he ordered the joy-bells of St. Mary's to ring out
a merry peal ! In the outer streets — especially in East
Street and just outside East Gate — there were daily
battles. Blake planted a few pieces of cannon at East
Gate, in front of which the street widens considerably
and the road faUs about twenty feet : the houses, almost
reaching to each other across the narrow gateway,
served his men for ramparts ; the doors, balconies, and
chimneys for embrasures. Every day the Cavaliers
stormed up the outer street. When cannon and musket
could be used no longer with effect, the pike and pistol
had to decide. Without regular walls, and with insuffi
cient artiUery, Blake had few advantages of position to
set off against the tremendous disparity of men ; and
gaUant and unyielding as the little garrison proved
itself, he saw its ranks grow thinner daily, as his brave
companions feU under the enemy's fire, while the pros
pect of relief still appeared distant and uncertain. But
what distressed both people and garrison beyond the
loss of their houses and gardens, the fatigue of nightly
watches, and the destruction of daily conflicts, was the
terrible scarcity of provisions. Bread was sold for
fourteen pence a pound, beer at eighteenpence a quart
— more than twenty times theb market value ! Other
articles of food were equally dear. The rations of the
soldiers were reduced to the lowest Umit; aud in spite
of public care and private charity, it is probable that
many of the poorer inhabitants died of starvation.
Berkeley was well aware that famine fought his battles
in the town ; for, as in every other place where there
were men, there were adherents of both parties within
its gates ; and in his despair of being able to win his

ROBERT BLAKE. 73
way pike in hand, he sent to invite the garrison to
surrender to the King rather than die the lingering
death of hunger. Blake replied to this request, that he
had not yet eaten his boots, and that he should not
dream of giving up the contest whUe he had so excellent
a dinner to fall back on ! Tradition says, that at this
time only one animal, a hog, was left alive in the town
— and that one more than half starved: in the after
noon, Blake, feeling that in their tragic state of mind
a laugh would do the defenders as much good as a
dinner, amused them by having this hog carried to all
the posts and whipped, ao that its screams, heard in
many places, might make the enemy suppose that fresh
suppUes had been obtained. But while assuming thia
defying attitude towards the Cavaliers, he wrote frequent
and most urgent letters to London for relief. He
assured the Houses that if succour did not speedily
arrive, they must be put to the last straits for bread and
powder. He said he had hitherto met with scorn every
offer of a parley : he had stiU a barrel or two of powder ;
and as for food, the garrison had resolved to eat theb
horses. But he begged the Houses to consider their
distress ; and, in conclusion, he said he committed him
self and his cause to God, in the confident hope that He
would relieve them in Hia own good time. Parliament
anawered this appeal by an assurance that aid should
soon be sent. Fairfax and Skippen received pressing
orders to fiy to the relief of the noble garrison. Mean-
whUe, house by house and street by street, the town was
being burned, razed, and destroyed by cannon-shots.
Hand-grenades, and fire-arrows, were thrown into it
from every post. Not a day passed without a fire ; some
times eight or ten houses were burning at the same
moment ; and in the midst of aU the fear, horror, and
confusion incident to such disasters, Blake and his little

74 ROBERT BLAKE.
garrison had to meet the storming parties of an enen
brave, exasperated, and ten times their own strengf
But every inch of ground was gallantly defended.
broad belt of ruined cottages and gardens was gradual
formed between the besiegers and the besieged, and (
the heaps of broken walla and burnt rafters the obatina
contest waa renewed from day to day.
The rage of the Eoyalists at this prolonged resistan
knew no bounds : — and iu the pages of Clarendon th«
loud wail and gnaahing of teeth are stUl almost audibl
Blake could not be conquered, and the royal army cou
not march away, leaving an enemy so redoubtable,
popular, so full of resources in its rear. The Prince
Wales left Bristol for Bridgwater to be nearer the acei
of action, and to encourage his officers and men 1
hopes of royal favour. At the caatle of that tow
Commiasioners for the western counties waited on hin
and after long consultations it was resolved to raise ai
arm an additional eight thousand men in those pari
and to bring the whole weight of Eoyalist power in tl
west to bear on Taunton, which, it was now consider!
certain, must, from want of bread and powder, fi
within a month. These things were all arranged, sa
Clarendon, " so that in order to the taking that pla
and to the raising an army speedily, aU things stood
fair that more could not be wished." Yet Taunton d
not fall ! And aU this time that famous Model Arm
fated to break and humble the proud chivalry of Englai
in almost every encounter, was being slowly created ai
organised by the genius of CromweU. At length tl
force, reformed and re-officered under clauses of t
Self-denying ordinance, was fit to take the field. B
opinions were divided as to the course to be foUowe
CromweU wished to face towards Oxford, where the Kii
lay entrenched, and fight a great battle there whUe t

ROBERT BLAKE. 75
Eoyalists of the west were occupied in Somerset ; urging
in defence of this plan, that as the King himself, the
chief army of the Cavaliers, and the beat part of theb
artiUery lay there, one defeat would put an end to the
war, and the reduction of a few towns and fortresses
would then become a mere question of time and detail.
On the other side it was urged that the issue of battle
was uncertain, even should it be found possible to force
the King to engage in open field ; that Taunton was the
key of the four western counties ; that its fall after so
glorious a defence would produce a great moral effect in
the country ; and that, moreover, its heroic garrison had
a right to expect the first relief that could be despatched
into those parts. The humane conaiderationa overruled
the military : and the word for Taunton being given,
the soldiers started with a burst of enthusiasm which
shortened the journey several days. For an entire week,
says Sprigge, the army refused to take an hour's repose ;
a,nd they were already among the Cavalier tents in
Dorsetshire before the Cavalier generals had heard of
their departure from the neighbourhood of London.
But at Blandford, two expresses, riding post-haste
from Westminster, overtook the army on its march,
bringing an unexpected and unwelcome order to turn
round towards Oxford, sending on a mere relief-party to
Taunton. The reason for this sudden change of purpose,
was the receipt of inteUigence that Charles had taken
the field, at the pressing solicitation of Prince Eupert,
and was then on his way to the north, leaving 'Oxford
with only a small garrison, which the Eoundheads in that
city promised to attack and overpower if the new army
would advance against it. Fairfax at once obeyed ; first
detaching four regiments under the command of Colonel
Welden, with instructions to recruit his strength on the
way — enlisting all volunteers and carrying doAvn all the

76 ROBERT BLAKE.
flying corps willing to join in the relief — and to send
word by trusty messengers to apprise Blake of his
approach, and concert with him the signals to be used in
announcing his arrival. At Dorchester six companies
of foot joined his party ; every town through which he
passed afforded volunteers ; and the whole garrison of
Lyme, now freed from the enemy, turned out to the
assistance of their old commander. By forced marches,
Welden crossed the Chard Hills into Somerset at the
head of two thousand horse and three thousand foot, to
encounter an army more than thrice hia strength.
Berkeley had notice of the approach of this party, and
tried by a stratagem to induce Blake to make a premature
sally, during which he had hopes of being able to cut him
off and enter the town by surprise. From the watch-
tower on St. Mary's steeple Blake received intelligence
that a large body of cavalry waa approaching the Cavalier
lines from the Chard road, as if to attack them ; personal
observation, however, soon convinced him that these were
Eoyalist soldiers, and surmising the real fact — that it
waa a feint to tempt him out of his impregnable position,
he stood still, waiting the development of this curious
manoeuvre. As the clouds of dust cleared off, he could
see masses of foot and cavalry moving forward, and as
they drew near Berkeley's tent the Eoyalists faced round
to engage them. For more than an hour the battle
seemed to rage, when the attacking party wavered and
fled. But the ruse had faUed. Convinced at last that
Blate would not accept the bait. Sir John recalled his
flying squadrons, formed them in deep columns for
assault, and rushed towards the ruins which separated
the real combatants. Vast quantities of hand-grenades
were thrown into the houses, and two long streets were
that day consumed to aahes. Never had the Cavaliers
fought more gallantly. Pilie in hand, they cleared the

ROBERT BLAKE. 77
out-works, passed the gate, and stormed the timber
barricades in East Street. But the besieged fell back
only to concentrate their strength and recruit theb stock
of powder. Eesisting with paaaive courage until the
enemy began to shew signs of weakness, Blake then gave
the word for hia reaerves in the bull-ring to advance at a
pike charge, while the musqueteers stationed in and
behind the houses in East Street, opened up a aharper
fire. After a tremendous struggle the streets were again
cleared, and the Cavaliers driven back to their entrench
ments, leaving behind them hundreds of their comrades,
killed, wounded, and prisoners.
WhUe the Cavaliers were suffering from the effects of
this severe repulse, the boom of artillery was heard
among the Blagdon HiUs, in the direction of the road
from Chard, by which Welden's party was known to be
advancing. Blake counted the echoes carefully, and
when the firing ceased, finding that altogether ten guns
had been discharged, he knew by the signals previously
arranged with the scouts, that the army of relief had left
Chard and was come within ten miles of Taunton.
Intelligence of succour being at hand spread in the town,
reviving hope in the brave and rousing despair from ita
apathy. Blate made his dispositions to co-operate with
the relief in an attact on the still superior forces of the
enemy, — and his companions in toil and danger retbed
to rest that night with a conviction that the morrow's
sun would go down on an altered aspect of things.
High as their hearts beat for the contest, proud and
calm as their leader looked, they could not forget that
Berkeley's army was large enough to spare a division
superior to that commanded by Welden to watch and
check his movements, and yet maintain the siege. If
they kilew no fear, they had little cause to exult.
At length the morning dawned, Sunday morning

78 ROBERT BLAKE.
May 11th ; the troops were mustering in the buU-ring
and in the court of the castle, when news was brought
that the Cavaliers were already in full retreat on the
roads towards Ilchester and Bridgwater, having struck
their tents in the night and abandoned their entrench
ments before sunrise. Trusty scouts were sent off to
watch Berkeley's movements ; from the church-tower
the long lines of the Cavaliers could be seen in fuU
retreat ; the patrols sent word to theb commander that
the camp was almost deserted ; and that in theii: haste
to get away, arms, ammunition and camp-furniture to a
great value had been left behind. Assured by his various
inteUigence that the retreat waa not a mere feint to
draw him into a snare, Blake sounded his trumpet for a
sortie, and passing through East Gate he feU on the
stragglers and rear-guard, put them to rout, seized a
pile of arms, cleared the orchards and meadows lying
between the Chard and Bridgwater highways, and would
have pursued the fugitives farther, had they not taken
the precaution to make the roads in their rear impassable
for cavalry by cutting down the trees and throwing them
across. Their retirement from the works after so long and
fierce a siege produced a powerful reaction on the
inhabitants, and the pious people flew to St. Mary's to
return thanks for ao unexpected a mercy. Welman
took for his text the words of Malachi — " I am the
Lord : I change not : therefore ye sons of Jacob are not
consumed." And the fervid preacher exhorted them to
continue their trust in the Lord of Hosts. He assured
them that their cause was the cause of heaven, and that
all the powers of earth could not prevail against it. The
miraculous retreat of the royal army, — since, in the
opinion of its own commanders, it waa equal to twice the
number of Eoundheads then arrayed againat it, — gave

ROBERT BLAKE. 79
point and meaning to the preacher's words ; aud just as
the congregation had risen to the height of enthusiasm,
several persons ran into the church gasping out —
Deliverance ! Deliverance ! A squadron of Welden's
horse had galloped unopposed to the very works at East
Gate and exchanged greetings with the defenders. The
people rose to theb feet at these magic words ; some
embraced their friends and children ; others ran about
wUdly in the extravagance of their joy ; many rushed for
the doors, anxious to get ocular demonstration of this
good news. But Welman called to them in a loud voice
to pause, and having recovered silence in the sacred
edifice, he motioned them with a solemn gesture to kneel
down and join with him in giving thanks where thanks
were most due for so great a mercy. The main body of
Welden's corps arrived at four o'clock in the afternoon,
when the aspect of Taunton and its heroic defenders
filled the rough soldiers, inured as they were to sieges
and battles, with wonder and pity. More than a third
part of the houses had been burnt or battered down
with artiUery, — and both garrison and inhabitants were
dying of hunger in the streets. Harassed as they were
by the march over hUly and broken roads, the relief
party refused to touch a morsel of the still remaining
provision; and after effecting the first object of their
visit, returned that very night towards Chard.
Parliament heard in due time of the relief of Taunton.
Bonfires were made in London in celebration of the
happy event. A day of general thanksgiving waa
appointed. Letters of thanks were sent to Fairfax for
having despatched the relief corps : Welden and his
officers received their share of the nation's gratitude
for theb successful expedition ; and the governor,
garrison and people were all lauded in high terms for
theb zeal, courage, and sacrifices in maintaining a town

8o ROBERT BLAKE.
without walls or other mUitary defences, and already
exhausted by a long siege and blockade, for fifty days
againat such overwhelming numbers. Two thousand
pounds were voted to the soldiers, and five hundred
pounds were sent to Blake, as a testimonial to his
genius and devotion to the national cause. Orders for
special collections of money were also voted : London
taking the lead in this noble effort. To the inhabitants
of the town and neighbourhood the 11th of May was ever
afterwards a day aacred to happy memories, celebrated
in anniversary sermons and in popular baUads. To the
Eoundhead party throughout the country, Taunton,
even in the depths of its material desolation, was a
watchword and an omen of eventual triumph.
But its sufferings were not yet ended. At the first
movement of the new Model Army, the court called
Goring's forces from the west ; but finding Fairfax
march towards Devon and Somerset instead of on
Oxford, as they had expected, a new and bolder policy
was adopted. Charles despatched Goring to the scene
of his former licence, to cover the leaguer before
Taunton and crush the new Model, whilst he himself,
considering Oxford strong enough to resist assault,
resolved to make a rapid march northward- — join his
forces with thoae of Eupert and Maurice, raise the siege
of Cheater, sorely pressed by the Eoundheads, and if
possible regain some of his lost ground in the great
county of York. But this division of the central and
western armies proved fatal to the King. Covetous of
the glory of reducing Taunton, and burning to fiuah his
libertine aoul with the spoU of a city famous for the
wealth of its citizens and the beauty of its women.
Goring led back his division into Somerset, after making
a terrible oath that he would reduce that haughty town
or lay his bones in its trenches. Fairfax turned his

ROBERT BLAKE. 8r
flank in obedience to fresh orders from London, and, to
the consternation of King and court, suddenly appeared
under the walls of Oxford. This movement recalled the
royal expedition from the north, and the two grand
armies were once more and for the last time in presence.
Goring's crew overran Someraet. Eape, robbery
and murder again became daily and nightly incidents.
Falling on Colonel Welden with superior forces, he
drove him into narrow passes in the hills, from which a
more skilful general would have made it difficult, if not
impossible, for him to retreat without serious loss. But
Goring's orders were so given, that Colonel Thornhill
and Sb William Courtney, whom he had sent by
different routes to cut off the Eoundheads at Petherton
Bridge, not aware of the double nature of the expedition,
fell on each other, and with such ardour, that both
officers were hurt, one of them waa made a priaoner,
and many persons were killed on both sides before the
blunder was discovered! While they were fighting
with each other, Welden escaped into Taunton. Goring
foUowed in his rear, and once more the unhappy town
waa inveated on aU sides. In London the alarm and
rage were great. A deputation from the House of
Commons went to the Committee of Militia to aak for
five hundred mounted muaqueteers. But zeal outran
the request. Hants and other counties volunteered men
for the service. The Eoyalists acted on the defensive ;
patrolling the country, checking sorties, and trusting to
the effect of famine. Goring boasted in his letters to
the Prince of Wales that he could take the place in less
time now that Welden's party had added to the wants
of the garrison. AU depended on the strictness of his
blockade. Blake knew thia, and' his only chance of an
indefinite prolongation of the defence lay in being able,
by frequent saUies, to break the Unes and open up

82 ROBERT BLAKE.
temporary communications with the country. Nearly
every day foraging parties went out in search of corn
and fodder ; sometimes these adventurers were cut off,
more frequently they escaped the vigilance of the
Cavalier patrols ; but such as returned almost invariably
brought in prisoners or provisions. The spirit of the
garrison rose with every encounter. They had learned
to regard that mixed host of Irish, Cornish, and German
mercenaries, so brave in the ale-house and the farmyard,
with a contempt equal to their hate. The governor's
sarcastic humour fed this feeling. One day, by way of
inaidt. Goring sent a poor fellow into the town, dressed
in rags, with a tattered drum, to demand an exchange of
priaonera. Blake expreased a superb contempt for the
insult — not by hanging the poor drummer, or by harsher
treatment of his prisoners, as the Cavalier general would
have done under like circumstances, but by dressing the
man in a new suit of clothes, giving him a new drum,
and setting the prisoners free.
In the valleys, Welden's horse did exceUent service :
— but the courage of the colonel sometimes led him into
unnecessary dangers. One day, making a sortie with
his cavaby, he was received so firmly by Goring that
his charge was broken, and his whole troop put in perU.
Blake, from his watch-tower, saw the danger ; sounded
his trumpets for a sortie, formed two squadrons of his
veteran horse in the market-place, rode at theb head
through East Eeach, fell on the flank of the CavaUers,
and threw the whole body into momentary confusion.
Welden seized the moment to disengage his men, and
draw them off towards the town. Blaise brought up
the rear, disputing every inch of ground, and retbing in
perfect order, and with his face towards the enemy.
The example of these brilUant episodes incited persons
at a distance to acts of romantic daring. A party

¦-LUS THE. FIRST AT,,NASEBY.

ROBERT BLAKE. 83
from the garriaon at Lyme undertook to force theb
way through the Cavalier camps, and carry a smaU
supply of powder to theb former chief, — a feat which
they performed with the utmost gallantry and success.
As a reward, Blake invited them to witness a grand
sortie, which proved to be the most murderous conflict
that had ever taken place before Taunton, four hundred
Cavalier corpses being picked up in the trenches after
the battle. This victory was of immense and immediate
importance to the besieged, as Goring drew off hia men
to a greater distance, enlarging the Eoundhead quarters
five or six mUes ; and the Londoners, once more roused
to activity by the glorious news from Someraet, formed
an association for the especial purpose of sending relief
to Taunton. Members of the Common Council, private
merchants, traders and gentry commenced a subscription,
and in a few days four thousand pounds were already
raised. Parliament also promised speedy and eft'ectual
aid, and Colonel Massey distributed handbills in the
taverns aud workshops, caUing on volunteers to join him
in the expedition. Such was the alacrity of the patriotic
citizens, that before Maasey was prepared to march with
the government aid, they had abeady equipped at theb
own expense a thousand horsemen.
WhUe Goring waa employed in the vale of Taunton,
the CavaUer cause was decided on the field of Naseby.
With that battle the war waa almoat at an end. Fairfax
turned westward to raise the siege of Taunton, crush
Goring's crew, and recover the great strongholds of
Somerset and Devon for ParUament. On the second of
July he met Massey at the head of three thousand new
levies, speciaUy designed for that service, at Blandford.
Goring gave Way to panic. Heedless of the oath which
bound him never to quit the leaguer before Taunton, he
burnt his tents and drew off to Langport, whither
a2

84 ROBERT BLAKE.
Fairfax followed him, and routed his troops in two or
three brief but destructive encounters. The march of
the Eoundheads through the West was brilliant and
victorious. Bristol was carried by storm. Bridgwater,
Langport and Ilchester, keys of the western counties,
were also carried by storm. Finally, Taunton was freed
from its enemies ; and all the neighbouring towns,
castles and strongholds, — Dunster Castle alone excepted,
— were soon in friendly hands. The last act of the
siege had lasted five weeka — the former more than
aeven ; but reckoning from the date when Blake seized
the town to the day of Goring's retreat, there was exactly
a year as the duration of hia marvellous and successful
defence. One of the King's beat armies had been occu
pied and destroyed by it. Some of the bravest of his
captains had lost theb reputation or their Uves in its
trenches. GrenvUle, Digby, Berkeley, Hopton, Wynd
ham, Goring, and many others had retired from it foUed
and dishonoured. Major-general Digby, brother of the
famous Sir KeneUn, received there a mortal wound, and
the last attempt to blockade the town cost the lives of
fourteen hundred CavaUers.
The town itself presented a most deplorable aspect.
For many miles round, the country, once a rich and
cultivated garden, interspersed with orchards, nursery-
grounds, and water meadows, was a dreary desert. The
corn had been cut down green — fruit-trees destroyed in
mere wantonness — barns and mills emptied of theb con
tents — farm-houses ransacked and burnt — the peasants
and farmers driven with insult and violence from their
homesteads. The relieving army noticed with horror
that between St. Nicholas and Taunton they marched
for half a day without seeing a single human creature or
one human habitation standing, in the most populous
and wealthy district of provincial England! In the

ROBERT BLAKE. 85
immediate suburbs of the devoted town the work of
destruction had been done completely : — there all was
black, grim, ugly ruin. The streets of the town proper
had aU suffered, more or less, up to the walla of the
church on one side, and to those of the castle on another.
A thbd of the entire number of houses in the town had
either been burnt by means of wild-fire and red-hot
balls, or battered down by the artillery. Blake had the
proud satisfaction to feel that he had kept his ground ;
but towards the end of his year of hard fighting, he was
master of little more than a heap of rubbish.
After the retbement of Goring, his first care was to
diminish the number of mouths to be fed daily, by
sending Welden's corps to the lord general's camp ;
his next care was to provide for a regiUar supply of fresh
provisions from a distance, until the ravages of the fierce
soldiery could be restored, and the lands so terribly
wasted could be again brought into culture. Nor were
the heroic sufferings of the people forgotten at head
quarters. The two Houses issued warrants for a general
collection in behalf of the ruined citizens, and the money
raised under theb warrants was chiefly employed in
rebuUding the burnt and battered houses. For several
months Blake's genius and energy were devoted to the
reUef of the inevitable distress, in aiding each man to
recover his former position, and in forwarding the
interests of his party in Somerset.
One of Blake's negotiations during the autumn was
with the celebrated club-men or peace-makers. These
men, instigated by the royalist gentry, had risen in arms
under pretence of self-protection from the marauders of
both parties, though in reality they desired and intended
to serve the King; Goring, however, whose disorderly
followers were supposed to be glanced at in their
declaration, issued a severe order against them from

86 ROBERT BLAKE.
Exeter, which greatly incensed many of those who had
expressed themselves to the intriguers favourable to the
royal cause. Blake saw as clearly as Goring the incon
venience of having a third party in the field, of uncertain
good faith, without leaders and without flag, and he
therefore tried to win them over to his own cause, and
induce them to combine with the parliamentary forces.
To this end he proposed a form of submission for them
to sign and send to Fairfax, in which they were to
thank God for having freed those parts of "the plun
dering and dissolute army, which consisted of many
papists, Irish rebels, and outlandish commanders, officers
and soldiers, whose common practice was to rob and
destroy the inhabitants," — to assert their fixed reso
lution to protect themselves from violence and rapacity,
— to express their readiness to join with Fairfax for the
purpose of putting a speedy end to the war, — and to
offer to submit themselves to the laws, orders and
commands of Parliament. But the club-men refused to
subscribe such terms. " Our intentions," they repUed,
" are to go in a middle way ; to preserve our persons
and estates from violence and plunder ; to join with
neither; and not to oppose either side, untU, by the
answer to our petition, we see who are the enemies
of that happy peace which we really desire." On his
part, Fairfax refused to treat with this anomalous body ;
and his lieutenant-general soon afterwards gave them a
terrible chastisement near Hambledon Hill.
Early in the following spring, Dunster Castle still
holding out against the victorious Eoundheads, Blake,
no longer fearing for the safety of Taunton, took the
field with his recruited corps, joined by volunteer parties
from neighbouring garrisons, in the hope of carrying
that fortress by atorm. BuUt on the crest of a hill, of
very difficult ascent for troops, and defended by a body

ROBERT BLAKE

87

of men resolute in their attachment to the royal cause,
it had hitherto reaiated every attact, and was generally
thought impregnable to the military science of that age.
It was indeed a virgin fortress, and is often spoken of in
the old writers as the strongest castle in the west of
England. Blake appeared under ita waUs about the
middle of AprU ; and the demand to surrender being
answered by a stem defiance, he gave instant orders to
his tmmpeters to sound a charge. The battle was
continued for some days ; but as the progress towards
victory was too slow for his Roundhead zeal, Blake
secretly prepared a mine, which he sprung at a favotu-able
moment, throwing huge maaaes of the soUd masonry into
mid air, and making wide rents in the walla, through
which the aasailants stormed with an impetuosity that
nothing could reaist. Sun-down saw the red cross of
England floating from the highest tower of Dunster
Castle. Though elected by the burgesses to represent them in
ParUament, inatead of Sir WiUiam Portman, expelled
for disloyalty to the House, Blake continued to reside at
Taunton, and to busy himself with the pacific duties of
his government. Unlike so many officers who had
hitherto been hia rivals in glory and public service, when
the King's cause was lost, and the King himself was
become a priaoner, he made no attempt to throw himself
into the centre of intrigues or to use his great infiuence
in the West for personal advancement. With a true
Roundhead contempt for wealth, and for the dazzling
prizes laid open to the ambition of genius in troubled
times, he remained at his post, doing his duty, humbly
and faithfully, at a distance from Westminster ; while
other men with less than half his claims, were asking
and obtaining the highest honours and rewards from a
grateful and lavish country. A sincere Republican, it

88 ROBERT BLAKE.
was his wish to see the nation settled on the solid basis
of a religious commonwealth ; but though his principles
were stern, his practical politics were moderate. That,
at any period after the sword was drawn and blood had
actually been shed in the quarrel, he would wiUingly
have treated with the King, as King, is doubtful ; but
after Charles's refusal of the terms offered for his
acceptance while he was still with the Scottish army, it
is certain that Blake no longer entertained a thought of
maintaining the monarchy in his person. The town of
which he was representative and governor, he at its head,
prayed the houae never to make peace or receive proposals
from the perjured sovereign, but to continue the war
to an end, so as to obtain a fbm and lasting settle
ment of religion and public quiet^ — pledging themselves
to support Parliament in this course of action to the last
drop of their blood. Yet hia patriotic zeal did not blind
him to the suggestions of justice and true poUcy. The
proceedings of the army-chiefs after Charles fell into
their hands gave him great annoyance. Like Algernon
Sydney, the younger Vane, and other of the wiser or
more moderate men, he wished to see the King deposed
and baniahed. He deprecated even the appearance of
iUegality and violence ; and when he found the party of
which Cromwell was the inspbing genius bent on the
King's trial and execution, he expressed his discontent
with their proceedings, and under the infiuence of his
humane convictions, declared openly that he would as
freely venture his Ufe to save the King as ever he had
done to serve the Parliament.
The influence, moderation, and mUitary genius of
Blake rendered him an object of jealousy 'and suspicion
to the friends of Cromwell. Before they dared to bring
the King to trial, they took the precaution to lessen his
power, by disbanding the principal part of those forces

ROBERT BLAKE. 89
which had performed so many prodigies of valour at
Lyme and Taunton. Care was taken to conceal from
public notice the real motives for this measure ; and the
order was accompanied by an expression of gratitude and
thanks from the House for his eminent services, and bv
another donation of five hundred pounds. Still, it waa
known to some and suspected by many, that these
flatteries masked suspicion. Blake obeyed the orders with
out a word of remonstrance. Others felt and resented the
intrigue and the slight, though he did not : — and it was
not long afterwards referred to by one of the most dis
tinguished naval commanders of that age, as affording a
sort of excuse and justification of his own treachery to
the national cause. But the governor of Taunton had
no share in such feeUnga. He never attempted to con
ceal hia thoughts from friend or foe — for he had no fear
and no ambition. He conaidered Cromwell violent and
unwise in his desire to put the King to death. But he
never professed to think the question of what should be
done with the faithless King other than one of detaU.
In the idea of founding in England a great religious
commonwealth, he fuUy concurred. What else was left ?
He had seen monarchy produce few fruits save false
hood, tyranny, and spbitual pride. He wished to try the
experiment of a democracy founded on religious princi
ples. Yet, overriding his private theories and desbes,
reigned in his heart the strong sense of patriotic devotion.
Covetous of glory, but free from the vices which too
often grow in the neighbourhood of that noble passion,
his thought by day, his dream by night, was how he could
be useful to his country, and to those great Protestant
and liberal principles for which she had sacrificed her
domestic peace, and poured out her best blood in torrents.
An opening for a glorious career soon offered itself at
sea : — and the appointment of Blake to the chief naval

93 ROBERT BLAKE.
command — whether it arose from CromweU's deaire to
remove a powerful and incorruptible officer from the
scene of his own intrigues, or from the general belief of
the parliamentary chiefs that hia executive genius,
dauntleaa valour, and unvarying good fortune would be
conapicuoualy displayed in his naval exploits, — ^was a
most important event, opening a new and brUUant era
in the history of the British navy.

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CHAPTER IV.
1649—1660.
NATAL COMMAND.
In the earlier period of the Revolution the navy
occupied a neutral attitude. The Earl of Warwick
acted as lord admbal under the commission isaued by
ParUament in its own and the King's name jointly ; but,
with the exception of a loose blockade of Ireland, varied
by skirmishes of no political or naval importance, the fleet
had done little in those eventful times except ride in the
EngUsh Channel, watch the movements in foreign ports,
and guard our shores against the arrival of arms, levies,
and munitions of war from France and Holland. Public
opinion in the coast towns had placed nearly aU those
important stations in the hands of Parliament from the
outset. In the famous sieges, storms, and blockades
which make the historical romance of the civil war, there
is scarcely one in which the fleet took a prominent part.
On the whole this was a happy circumstance. Standing
apart from the scene of strife, the seamen were lees
swayed by violent and bitter passions than their less
fortunate brethren in camp and city. Not that they
were indifferent to the quarrel. High church and divine
right were aa unpopular in the navy as in the army.
But, mixing less frequently and fiercely in the actual
conflict, naval men were less blinded by passion, and
92 ROBERT BLAKE.
took a clearer and more moderate view of the course of
events than generals and soldiers. As time wore on,
and the nicer shades of opinion came out in stronger
relief, some differences in religion assisted in dividing
stUl more clearly the two great arms of the public force.
The army became Independent — the navy remained
Presbyterian ; and these words involve two entbe
systems of ideas and of policy.
When Warwick surrendered his command under a
clause of the Self-denying ordinance, the affabs of the
Admiralty were put in commission, and he was rewarded
for hia services by a seat at the new Navy Board, a post
which he retained four years, notwithstanding the many
changes which occurred in the other members. Admbal
Batten succeeded to the command vacated by the Earl ;
and so long as the King kept the field, this able officer
discharged the duties of his station to the perfect
satisfaction of Parliament. On occasion of the Queen
running into Bridlington, a amaU port on the east coast
of Yorkshire, with arms, money and stores from HoUand,
to support the failing cause of her husband, he followed
the Dutch ship into port, and, to the horror of the
Royalists, compeUed her majesty to fly from her lodgings
in the night and take shelter in a place protected
from the fury of his guns. He made foreigners, aa well
as Cavaliers, respect the red cross of England — dis
tinguished himself in the blockade of Ireland, and
captured a Swediah fleet that refuaed to lower its
topsails in token of his supremacy in the narrow seas.
For his good services he received the nation's thanks
on more than one occasion.
But Batten was no republican at heart. He served
his country because his country paid his wages. He
was equaUy willing to serve the King. Like Penn and
other seamen he was on neither side. But the time

ROBERT BLAKE. 93
was at hand when neutrality was impossible. Every
branch of the public force was compelled to choose a
part : and aa the army grew more and more outrageous
in its pretenaiona, murmurs began to arise in the fleet
in regard to the conduct of those on shore. Fluahed
with its recent victory, the nation seemed as if about to
divide against itself. The sudden rise and successful
career of the Independents waa a cause of fierce and
deeply-seated jealousies in the navy ; and the series of
events, which led to the purchase of the captive King
from the Scotch army, his unceremonious arrest by the
soldiers at Holdenby, and his subsequent imprisonment
at Carisbrook Castle, gave rise to dangerous exploaions
of discontent in the Downs. Charles was surprised and
seized on the 4th of June ; and, eight days after this
event, the Earl of Warwick found it necessary to write
to Batten, urging him to sleepless watchfulness, lest the
men should be seduced from their duty, and the vessels
under his command be surprised into some act of
disobedience. He took care to remind the Admiral that
Parliament had raised the seamen's wages above the
rates paid in former times ; and he expressed a hope
that his old comrades would remain faithful to the
Nation. Aa the mutinous spirit increased rather than
abated. Batten himself fell under auapicion of fomenting
an evil spirit in his men. He was therefore called to
London. Colonel Rainsborough, an Independent, and
one of the army faction, was put down as vice-admbal.
But this new commander was unequal to the work, the
mutinous spirit of the navy was fomented by the royaUst
intriguers of Kent, and Rainsborough no sooner arrived
at his post than he was seized and displaced by the
officers under hia command. The mutineers declared
for King, Parliament and Covenant, and aent a message
to the Earl of Warwick, offering to obey his orders if

94 ROBERT BLAKE.
he would come on board, and suhscribe to the terms
of theb declaration. Unprovided with means to punish
thia act of uaurpation, the Houaea reluctantly concurred
in the nomination of Warwick; and the Lord Mayor
and Aldermen of London, whoae commerce and supplies
were threatened by the revolters, earnestly begged for
the sake of peace that Batten might be restored to his
command. Even these concessions were unavaUing.
The rebeUious ships hoisted the royal colours, stood over
for Calais in hopes of finding the Prince of Wales in
that town, and faiUng that, made for Holland.
This important defection raised once more the
drooping hopes of the CavaUers. Prince Charles re
ceived Batten with open arms, though he had fbed on
his royal mother a few years before at BridUngton, —
and conferred on him the honours of knighthood.
Under the erroneous impression that the whole fleet
would foUow Sir WUliam Batten's example, the Prince
of Wales and hia brother James, Duke of York, went on
board the revolted ships and saUed towards the Downs,
where Warwick was then lying, having abeady joined
his forces in the river with the fleet from Portsmouth,
making altogether nineteen ships and three ketches, a
force about equal in men and guns to that under the two
princea. On heaving in sight of the Roundhead
squadron, Charles sent a meaaenger commanding the
Earl to lower hia atandard and repab to the royal
presence ; orders which he of course firmly but respect
fully declined to obey. The temper of his men was
good, and Parliament being assured that they would
fight with alacrity against the revolted ships, a formal
resolution was passed authorising and requiring him to
attack and capture them in spite of theb having royal
commanders on board. The two divisions of the fleet
watched each other for several months without coming

ROBERT BLAKE. 95
to an engagement. Both sides wanted energy, prompti
tude and weU-defined purpose ; and among the Cavaliers
were loud and fierce disaenaions. The common saUors
again mutinied against theb officers : Batten, Gordon,
and Lord WiUoughby quitted the service in disgust ;
and the better sort of seamen, deserting from the
Prince'a ships, daUy returned to their former stations.
Some of the repentant crews contrived to carry back
theb vessels ; and it was soon apparent that under weak
and purposeless leaders the debauched, quarrelsome and
insubordinate seamen at Helvoetsluys were not strong
enough to cause real alarm to theb country. Nor in all
probabUity would they have ever again required the
attention of a great fleet, had not a new commander
appeared, whose bon wUl and contempt of law gave him
vast advantages over captains who contended in the
names of Uberty and civUisation.
Long before the battle of Naseby put an end to the
war on a grand scale, Prince Rujjert, diatruatful of the
issue, liad tried to secure some part of the spoU which
passed through his hands for his own future use; but
one or two vessels which he freighted with plunder feU
into the hands of Parliament. After the faU of Bristol
and his disgrace with his uncle, the adventurer and hia
brother Maurice were ordered to quit the country. At
first Rupert retbed to HoUand. From that state he went
to France, where the romantic Queen Regent received
him as a knight of chivaby might have been received in
olden times by the Queen of Beauty. She offered him
any post in her service which he would himself select.
He asked for a troop of horse and a regiment of foot. He
was made a Field-marshal, and placed at the head of all
the English then serving in the French army : — not an
inconsiderable body, as the Cavaliers who fled to the
Continent nearly aU turned soldiers of fortune. Under

o6 RdBERT BLAKE.
Gassion and Rauzau he served in the Low Countries not
vdthout distinction. The defection of Batten and the
arrival of the revolted fleet in HoUand threw a fresh
lure in the way of his ambition, and caUed him once
more to the side of his royal relatives.
The affairs of the Stuarts were at the lowest ebb.
The exiles starving in their retreat — the Marquis of
Ormonde unable to stand against the Roundheads and
clamouring loudly for succour in Ireland — ships vnthout
stores and ammunition — officers without a plan — men
mutinous, disorganised and without pay : — such was the
state of affairs when Rupert retumed to his cousins and
proposed to take the supreme command at aea. On
being allowed hia own terms, he pledged himself to
restore discipline, to supply the more pressing wants of
the royal court, to carry assistance to the lord-Ueutenant
of Ireland, and to harass the trade of London and the
naval power of ParUament. In return he asked to be
invested with the same powers at sea which he had
formerly enjoyed on land ; that is, to be free from every
aort of control. The Prince of Wales, poor, wasteful
and inexperienced, consented. From that moment
Rupert became a corsair in the very worst sense of the
word. One of his largest ships he sold to the Dutch, and
with the money obtained for it he bought stores, powder
and shot. Once out at sea, he threw off every restraint.
With him every ship that he could take was an enemy—
every argosy a prize. No flag afforded protection against
his predatory warfare. Not only were the merchants of
England apoUed of their goods ; French, Spanish,
Swedish ships were alike attacked, captured and sold by
this pirate. On these robberies the court of the exUes
depended for daily bread. If Charles found a merchant
willing to risk the discount of a bill, he drew on Rupert
for the amount, and sent a frigate out to inform him of

ROBERT BLAKE. 97
the date and sum of the transaction. When Rupert's
sailors murmured at the long arrear of their pay, the
freebooter bade them go out and catch a ship for them
selves, the first that should heave in sight. In this
manner, states with which England was at peace, powers
which the young princes were trying to enlist in their
father's cause, were insulted and robbed without regard
to consequences near or remote. No country suffered
more from the marauder than that very HoUand from
which he sailed, and which still afforded protection to his
own parents and to the sons of hia sovereign !
Against such a comrnander and such a system the
CouncU of State saw how vain it was to oppose the Earl of
Warwick and the naval officers of his school. WhUe the
Earl lay in the narrow seat! with a powerful fleet, the
Prince sallied from Helvoetsluys with two ships and cap
tured as many prizes as enabled him to fit out the remain
der of his vessels. When aU was ready, he passed down the
Channel to his destination on the Munater coaat. His men
showed a disposition to go over to their countrymen ;
but he excited a change in his own favour by audaciously
bearing down on the hostile fieet and opening through
its Une of guard a passage to the south. To such
boldneaa, energy and rapidity of action, it became
necessary for ParUament to oppose quaUties simUar in
kind. But with the exception of Blake, there was perhaps
no man in England, having any knowledge, however
slight, of sea afiairs, equal to the Prince in personal
courage, fertUity of resource and brilUancy of execution.
Blake was therefore caUed from his pacific government
at Taunton to assume the chief command at sea, in
coiijunction with Colonel Deane and Colonel Popham —
the latter a brother of his old friend and feUow-soldier
of the same name — ^under the title, invented for the
occasion, of Generals and Admirals at Sea, or as they

98 ROBERT BLAKE.
came afterwards to be usuaUy styled — Generals of the
Fleet. The tasks which the three Generals took upon them
selves were at once varied and onerous. When they
went on board, the navy was in a condition Uke that
in which CromweU had found the old army. Abuses
existed everywhere. The Admiralty offices, the dock
yards, the ports and naval stations, the ships, were aUke
corrupt ; and many of the corruptions were of long
standing and flagrant character. To provide the Generals
with fuU powers to examine and correct abuses they were
also appointed Commissioners of the Navy, with seats at
the Admiralty Board. The mandates under which they
acted required them to employ aU available means to
achieve these three ends : — 1. To completely re-organise
the naval power, so aa to rid that great arm of the public
service of all doubtful and disloyal elements ; 2. To dis
perse, capture or destroy the revolted ships, and drive
the Princes, Rupert and Maurice, from the high seas;
3. To co-operate vrith the Land Forces in a new and more
efficient attempt, then in course of preparation by Crom
weU, to put down the Irish rebels.
The new system began with a change of flag. From
the accession of the Stuarts the Union Jack had
streamed from the topmasts of every vessel engaged in
the service of the state ; but the King's removal having
dissolved the necessary legal connection of the two
countries, all ships at sea in actual service were hence
forth ordered to carry only the red cross on a white
ground. When the new Commissioners came to examine
the details of the actual state of the navy, they found
the disorder greater than had been feared. Few of the
vessels were sea-worthy. The dock-yards were iU-
managed. Stores and arms were systematicaUy stolen.
The wages of the saUors were not regularly paid ; and

ROBERT BLAKE. q9
when vessels came into port the poor men had usuaUy
to wait some weets before they could obtain their
money. No proper care was taten of the rations.
Often the biscuit was mouldy, the beer sour, the meat
rank. The syatem of forced impressment was bitterly
complained of; whUe in the neglect to provide hospitals
for the wounded and asylums for the infirm, the dictates
of sound poUcy and the caUs of humanity had been equally
spurned. In aU these matters Blake became a reformer
the day he became an admbal. His letters, stUl preserved
in the Admbalty papers, ahow how minute and constant
was his care for the comfort and welfare of his men : in
these documents his kindness of heart seems even more
conspicuous than his naval genius. Fearleaa himself, he
was remarkably tender of the Uves, the health, and even
the comforts of others. He would at any time weaken
the force under his command in order to send a frigate
home with a few wounded men, if he found they could
not be treated with sufficient caje on board in the midst
of daily-renewed battles. The minutest detaUs engaged
his attention when the comfort of his men was concerned,
even in the crisis of a great campaign. No wonder that
he was adored ! An instance of his popularity occurred
soon after his nomination to the command at sea.
The watermen of the Thames had by ancient usage a
right to priority of impressment for the service ; but the
usage, Uke many other usages, had been waived with the
fuU consent of aU parties ; the dangers and disorders of
the service having few attractions for men possessing
other means. But no sooner was the new system
understood than the overseers of the watermen peti
tioned Blake to restore their old privilege ; first, because
the watermen on the river were weU-affected to the
Commonwealth, secondly, because they were the proper
raw material out of which to make expert seamen, and
E 2

100 ROBERT BLAXE.
thbdly, because the priority was an ancient right of
theb order.
The first measures adopted by the new commanders in
fitting out the fleet gave evidence of the energy and
character about to become the distinguishing marts of
the service. They went down and purged each ship of
the idle, the vicious and the disaffected ; good and true
men were alone retained, and it was to fiU the places of
the discharged sailors that the watermen of the Thames
put in theb claim. The ablest captains of the service
were sought out and employed, without regard to age,
interest or personal consideration. No incompetent
noble or honourable person was allowed to occupy the
place of a better seaman. Merit alone found favour.
Penn, Jordan, Ascue, Stayner and Lawson, the most
famous captains of the Commonwealth, were appointed
to important commands. Although Blate was but one
of three Commissioners, there is reason to beUeve that
he toot the lead in theb deUberations ; and that the
general features of the campaign, which had to be
adapted to the particular character of the enemy to be
encountered, and the other exigences of the service,
were the wort of his brain. The naval forces were thus
disposed : — Deane was stationed with a squadron in the
Downs, having instructions to cruise between Portsmouth
and Dover and keep the trade of the narrow seas free
from interruption ; Popham, with a second squadron,
waa to lie off Plymouth sound, check the depredations
of the SciUy pbates, and guard the southern entrance
to the Channel ; Sir George Ascue, with a third
squadron, waa to cruise in and near the bay of Dublin,
prevent the Irish rebels from communicating with their
English partisans, and keep St. George's Channel open.
Blake reserved to himself the task of chasing, fighting
and destroying the pirate fleet under Prince Rupert.

ROBERT BLAKE loi
Before going on board the fiag-ahip, he took care to
supply himself with jacks, standards and studding saUs
for giving chace.
On the eighteenth of April (1649) at the age of fifty,
Blake set his foot on deck for the first time as a com
mander, and from that moment to the hour of his death
no man in England contested with him for the first place
as a saUor. Envy, jealousy and hatred dogged the
steps of every other officer in the service, but whUe
the common sailors regarded him with an enthusiaam
bordering on idolatry, the veteran admirals of Spain,
Portugal and the United Provinces, against whom he
fought in so many brUliant and destructive battles,
considered him the perfect model of a foe. The country
gentlemen of England, though they abhorred his poUtical
principles and affected to contemn his religious opinions,
allowed that hia course of action was frank and noble ;
and even the coarse and malignant writers of the Restora
tion spared his memory the mountains of abuse which
they heaped on men like Vane, Hampden and Sydney.
After cruising for some time in the narrow seas, doing
much damage to commerce, Rupert attacked and cap
tured the Robert frigate ; and the blockade of Kinsale
having been raised by orders from London, he and his
brother made for that harbour with the intention of
co-operating with the Marquis of Ormonde, and establish
ing for themselves a convenient station whence they
might saUy out on theb marauding expeditions and
shelter theb prizes from the pursuit of Blake. The
town and castle of Kinsale being in the hands of Iriah
rebels who atiU made some show of loyalty to the King,
Rupert had no difficulty in disposing of his stores and
merchandise, the fruits of his formidable industry. His
best ships were kept at sea in search of unarmed traders,
and the harbour of Kinsale was soon filled with prizes

102 ROBERT BLAKE.
of all nations. Lately without a shUUng in his eoff
the royal buccaneer was now rich. The most dar
spbits in the south of Ireland flew to the standard c
man who had set up this profitable syatem ; and neit
men, money nor stores were wanting to equip
captured vessels for the pirate service. The sece
fleet became for the second time a formidable power, i
the daring outlaws began to plough the deep with
the confidence of prowess and success. Thus affabs
Ireland took what appeared to the court so happy a t
that even the cautious Marquis of Ormonde sent ovei
Holland and invited the exiles to that part of tl
dominions. He assured them that with the assista
of the squadron at Kinsale, the greater part of Ireli
would soon be brought into obedience, — when la
armies could be raiaed, — the Scots cajoled or coer
into a league, — and a vast material power could be s
denly hurled from those shores against England. '
exUed court leaped with joy at any prospect of renew
the war. But Charles waa poor and his credit low.
wanted money for an outfit — Rupert cooUy and chai
teristicaUy sent out a frigate, caught a Dutch trader, £
her for ten thousand pounds, and despatched the mo:
to his cousin at the Hague.
As soon as the arrangements for his new model w
got into a state of progress, Blate, his pennons fly
from the masts of the Triumph, passed down the Char
with the fourth division to check the growing diaorc
at Kinaale. Nor was it long before the Cavaliers
reason to know that a new system had begun v
the new general. Their fleet, returning from a cm
encountered a storm, and the frigate Charles, separs
from the other vessels, got involved in a dense fog, wl
prevented a good look-out being kept. Before the <
tain was aware of the enemy's presence he was assa

ROBERT BLAKE. 103
by the Constant Warwict and the Leopard, part of
Blake's squadron, and after a sharp action was compelled
to surrender. Pushing forward this success, Blake
foUowed the returning fleet to their pbate hold and shut
them up safely within it, — as Ascue in an earlier part of
the summer had endeavoured to do without success.
The arrival of this new force at Kinsale disconcerted
the vast plans of the Cavaliers. Charles did not dare
to sail for the Irish coast ; Eupert could no longer send
out his ships ; and the sources of supply being cut off by
the blockade, his funds rapidly grew less. Though he
had more than half the island at his back, his prospects
were gloomy. His fleet was locked up. He could only
escape from his perUous position by cutting through the
guard-ships ; and even if he got away from Kinsale and
from the enemy, he knew of no harbour in which he
could seek refuge from pursuit or carry on the sale of
his prizes. This posture of affabs was the more vexar
tious, as the fine weather being come, and his fieet
careened and ready for a summer voyage, he had raiaed
an extraordinary levy of men. Inatead of sweeping the
coasts and rivers of their mercantile marine, as he had
hoped, he was forced to act on the defensive, and erect
batteries on the shore to prevent the enemy's fire-ships
coming into harbour and burning his fleet. Worst of aU,
his men began to murmur and desert. Blake offered them
lower pay and none of that Ucense which they enjoyed at
Kinsale ; yet his influence was already such in the navy,
that they went over to him at every convenient oppor
tunity. Eupert, mad with rage, one day seized ten of
his men, on the plea that he suspected them of a deaire
to escape, and strung them up at the yard-arm. Harassed
by these cauaea of diacontent and impatient of a pro
longed inactivity, he would have risked an engagement
with his wary adversary; but in a case of so much

I04 ROBERT BLAKE.
moment, he listened to the counsel of his more experi
enced naval officers, who told him it would be rushing
on destruction to attack Blake in his present position,
untU they had prepared some fire-ships, and crowded
theb decks with an overpowering body of soldiers and
marines. The town of Kinsale being open to the
country, Eupert went overland to the various port-towns
on the coast stiU possessed by the royalists, to engage as
many men as could be prevaUed on to accept high pay
and hard service ; but when he retumed to Kinsale with
these recruits, the courage of his captains had been so
much cowed they stiU voted in the councU of war that
it was unwise to hazard a trial of strength with such an
enemy, and that consequently the only course was to
secure theb ships in the harbour untU foul weather,
(which had already, even in the early summer, more than
once driven the hostUe fieet to MUford Haven,) should
compel Blake to quit his station and either return to
Bristol Channel or the Downs. Infinitely chagrined
at this turn of opinion, Eupert, compeUed by the faUure
of his funds, disbanded his new levies, dismantled the
useless barques, keeping only the fiag-ships and four
frigates to wait on them, ready for active service.
One of Blake's letters to the House of Commons will
suggest the perUs of the service even in the best month
of summer :
"Me. Speakee, — The high value which the honour
able house hath been pleased to put upon our honest
endeavours, signified unto us by yours of the 5th instant,
we receive with all humble acknowledgment, desiring
from ourselves that the fruit of aU may be to render us
more able and prosperous in theb service, by making us
more lowly in the sight of God. And as we have learned
from our Great Master, when we have done aU we can,

ROBERT BLAKE. 105
to confess ourselves unprofitable servants unto God : so,
for all the good he hath, or ahaU be pleased to do by ua,
hia unworthiest instruments, it shaU be sufficient unto
us to be accounted but faithful servants unto men for
the Lord's sake. Of this honour we shaU ever be
ambitious, but shall desire, next imto God, to owe it
rather unto the prayers than thanks of men : as having
more need of one than any right to the other. Being
thus resolved, ho,wever, it hath or shaU please God to
exercise us with varieties of providence we shall not
doubt through his blessing of good success and a happy
conclusion in the end.
We have now been thirteen days absent from Kinsale,
from whence we were forced by extremity of weather, and
driven hither where we now are with eight ships — viz.
Triumph, Charles, Leopard, Lion, Garland, Hercules,
John, and Elizabeth. We shaU, God wiUing, with the
first opportunity, endeavour to get Kinsale Bay again
and pursue our former resolution, if we shaU find them
there, or otherwise to follow them whithersoever they
shaU go.
In the meantime we have despatched away directions
to Vice- Admiral Moulton and others, advising them to
put themselves into the strongest posture they may to
defend themselves and oppose the enemy in case he
should be gone out and nearer the Channel. We shaU
neglect no opportunity of doing our duty and discharg
ing that great trust which the Parliament hath been
pleased to repose in ua, which may make it appear how
much we are
" Your moat faithful and humble Servants,
" EOBEET BliAEE,
" Eio. Deane."
" From aboard the Triumph, in Milford Haven,
" June 13, 1649."

io6 ROBERT BLAKE.
Meanwhile the approach of the victorious Eoundheads
by land, storming theb way from Dublin southward,
under the command of Cromwell, warned Eupert that,
in spite of his batteries and castles, his hold was growing
insecure. As dangers thickened around him, his mind
became a prey to jealousy and distrust. He accused the
governor of Cork of a desire to betray him to the enemy.
He shot an ensign and all his company on suspecting
them of an intention to afford a passage to Blake through
the line of guard-ships. In his nervous agitation he
conceived doubts of the fidelity of the Cavalier governor
of Kinaale castle, and actuaUy took that fortress by
surprise as a precaution against an imaginary act of
bad faith. As the winter neared and the strong winds
of the north-east set in, Blake was forced to ride out
at a greater distance from the mouth of the harbour;
it being an extremely dangerous lee-shore, and without
safe anchorage at any point. As the weather broke up
Eupert prepared for the long-expected day of escape.
But at the last moment he was unable to man the
greater part of hia ahips, and he reluctantly left several
of theae behind a prey to the enemy. The caatle he
gave up to the Marquis of Ormonde, then retreating
towards Cork before the parliamentary army. When
he came to reckon up his effective force, he found that
his whole fleet consisted of only seven saU of all rates.
With this force, aided by the elements, he had the good
fortune to escape from Kinsale. Continual storms had
rendered it impossible for Blake to keep his fleet toge
ther off that terrible coast : many of his ships had been
driven to the nearest ports for shelter ; and towards the
end of October, a violent gale having stiU further
weakened the blockading squadron, and scattered the
few remaining veaaels widely about the offing, Eupert
and Maurice seized an opportunity to steal away im-

ROBERT BLAKE. 107
observed, and when once out at sea, they spread theb
sails direct for Portugal.
His naval duties at Kinsale ended by the flight of the
two princes, Blake repabed to Ross. CromweU was
negotiating the surrender of that important town under
the threat of such an assault as had already over
whelmed Tredah and Wexford with sudden ruin. Fate
had not yet fixed the destinies of Blake. At the request
of Cromwell, he became a Commisaioner for the arrange
ment of Irish Affabs. His colleagues were, Deane, who
had joined him at an early period on the Irish coast. Sir
WilUam Fenton and Lord BerghUl. CromweU wished
him to take a command on shore, and wrote to the
House of Commons on the subject. Men of his cha
racter were needed in Ireland, and the House of Com
mons offered him the rank of Major-General, and pro
posed to raise a regiment for him. But it left him his
choice and he choae to remain at sea. He was caUed
away from his duties as a Commissioner to go in chase
of his old and formidable adversaries. With their
characteristic impartiaUty, the Corsair princes, when
they escaped from the Irish Seas, levied black mail on all
nations. In atanding acroaa for the Continent, Maurice
encountered a Malaga trader, which struck at his first
summons, and was of course seized ; shortly afterwards
Rupert met with two EngUsh merchant-men, bound from
London to San Lucar in Spain, and after a desperate
struggle mastered and manned them for further service.
WhUe scudding along the shore towards the Tagus, in
which river the King of Portugal, in his horror of
Puritans and patriots, had given him a promise of pro
tection against his pursuers, a vessel from Brazil,
freighted for Lisbon with the property of Portuguese
traders, stood across his line of sail, when he instantly
gave chase, overtook, captured and condemned her as a

lo8 ROBERT BLAKE.
prize, on the absurd plea that she had not struck her
colours to him at the first summons. Though other
nations suffered from these outrageous piracies, the
chief losses, of course, feU on the mercantUe men of
England ; and as the CouncU of State received from the
London and Bristol traders most urgent complaints of
the insecurity of the narrow seas, they took on the 4th
of December the unusual resolution to fit out a winter
fleet, and they invited Blake to assume the command
and go in pursuit of the peatUent marauders.
By the middle of January, 1650, a smaU force, consist
ing of five ships, the Tiger, John, Tenth Whelp, Signet,
and Constant Warwick, carrying altogether one hundred
and fourteen guns, was ready for sea ; and as soon as he
could obtain his instructions, Blake went on board the
Tiger. These instructions directed him " to pursue,
seize, surprise, scatter, fight with and destroy" the ships
of the revolted fieet, and to suppress pbates and protect
lawful traders in the exercise of" their calling. If any
foreign prince or power joined with or assisted the corsab
princes, he was required not to spare the revolters on
that account ; and in case the foreign power assisted the
revolters by force of arms, he was to fight with them,
and by God's help destroy them. He was to prevent
any injury to the foreign prisoners who might faU into
his hands; and to send them at his convenience to
England, there to await the decision of Parliament. If
any vessel or vessels belonging to the revolted fleet
should be sold by their commander to a foreign power,
or the subject of a foreign power, he was dbected to
demand, attack, capture or destroy them wherever found,
aa a part of the Engliah navy which the revolters had no
right to sell. Theae were the detaUs. As to general
principles, he was inatructed that time out of mind the
lordship of the seas had belonged to England. This

ROBERT BLAKE. 109
ancient right he was directed to maintain ; to cause the
ships of aU nations to strike their flags in his presence ;
and in case of refusal to seize and send them in as
prisoners, unless they should offer such obedience and
reparation as he might judge sufficient. It waa sub
mitted to his prudence, however, not to proceed so far
in these demands as to force hostilities with any superior
fleet, until the particular object of his voyage had been
accomplished. But he waa to keep for future use a
strict account of any flag that refuaed to acknowledge
his dominion of- the sea. Towards foreign powers at
peace with England he was directed to avoid every cause
of offence and to renew ancient leagues of trade and
friendship with them, unless such States should join
with and protect the revolters; in which case he waa
instructed to aaaail the said powers, to destroy their
fieets, and to capture their merchant-vessels, and send
them as prizes into the most convenient EngUsh ports.
Lastly, as events could not be foreseen, and the means
of communication with London would be slow and un
certain, he was inveated with a wide discretionary power
in the diapoaal of hia fleet. The final clause contained
the essential spirit of his instructions — " You are to
order and dispose of the said fleet and the ships under
your command as may ie most advantageous for the public,
and for obtaining the ends for which the fleet is set
forth ; making it your special care in discharge of that
great trust committed to you, that the Commonwealth
receive no detriment."
To the five ships first equipped for this service eight
others were added in the spring, four men-of-war — Reso
lution, St. Andrew, Phoenix, and Satiafaction — and four
merchant-men — HerciUes, America, Great Lewis, and
Merchant — under the command of Admbal Popham, who
also carried out additional instructions to hia coUeague.

no ROBERT BLAKE.
In the meantime Rupert had saUed into the Tagus and
received a cordial and flattering welcome from John of
Braganza, King of Portugal, who assured him that he '
would protect him in that river against aU his enemies.
A friendly salute from the forts welcomed the fugitives
with royal honours. The first night the princes anchored
in Weyrs Bay, near the river mouth ; next day they
stood higher up the stream, fixing their station at San
Katherina, untU Rupert should find leisure to present
himself at court in due form. His reception was enough
to turn a steadier brain than his ; King John sent some
of his proudest nobles to attend the fugitive Prince
from BeUeisle to the palace, where he confirmed in per
son and in the warmest manner the promises of protec
tion which he had previously made through his envoy.
The fieet then anchored under the guns of BeUeisle,
and the officers sold the goods taken in theb prizes to
the Portuguese merchants ; which done, they saUed to
Lisbon, where they employed the seamen during the
winter months in careening, victualling, and fitting out
theb prizes as men-of-war. At the approach of spring,
Rupert, tired of court festivities, went on board and
dropped down the river to BeUeisle, with the intention
of renewing, under more favourable auspices, the profit
able piracies of the former year ; but before he could get
clear of the Tagus, Blake was at its mouth with his Uttle
fleet of five ships ; and not daring to attempt a passage
by force against such a commander, Rupert anchored
under the guna of the fort. Blake now aent an officer
to aak the King'a permission to attack the revolted ships
at theb anchorage. John haughtily refused. Blake
affected not to comprehend the King's answer, and
ordered his boats to cross the bar. A few shots from
Belim Castle stopped them. At the first discharge
Blake sent a boat to inqube the reason for this show of

ROBERT BLAKE. in
hostility against a friendly power, there being no war at
that time between Portugal and England ? The officer
replied that he had received no orders to allow any other
ships to pass. With great moderation, Blake sent his
complaint to Lisbon: and some prominent members of
the CouncU, alarmed at the false position in which their
King's rash promise to the revolters had placed the
country, urged him to make concessions to the powerful
Commonwealth even at the last moment, rather than incur
the hazards of a naval war. John's own fears incUned
him to Usten to these councils, so that, inatead of a
haughty reply, he sent one of his courtiers to compU-
ment the new Admiral, and to beg that, for the sake of
peace, he would not attempt to enter the river unless
foul weather should force him to seek a shelter for his
ships. To these civiUties he added a supply of pro
visions. In return, Blake declared that he was anxious
not to violate a friendly river. But he reminded the
King that he was there as the minister and representa
tive of a powerful nation : that the fugitive princes
possessed no country, nor even a single port of their own
into which they could send their captures for legal con
demnation, and were therefore incapable of being treated
aa a neutral power ; that the ahips then in their posaesaion
were a part of the EngUsh navy, which had been armed,
equipped and furnished by Parliament in theb own
ports, and manned by theb own servants ; that, more
over, the two princes had acted as pirates and sea-robbers,
and by adding the captured ships to theb fieet, were
growing into a power likely to prove dangerous to the
lawful commerce of aU nations ; finaUy, that having
no place in the world which they could pretend to caU
theb own, they were unable to appeal to the law of
nations, or ask the protection of any prince in their
revolt and pbacy,, without thereby creating a cause

112 ROBERT BLAKE.
of war between that prince and the Commonwealth of
England. To this clear statement of the question the King could
only oppose his personal feelings and his rash promise.
The royal CouncU was divided in opinion : the Conde de
Mbo, an expert and sagacious minister, spoke the senti
ments of the more prudent, and his views were shared
by all the traders and merchants interested in the com
merce and colonies of the country. But the Queen,
ardent, prodigal, and fascinated, warmly espoused the
cause of her briUiant guest ; and two violent factions
arose in the court and city, of which the rallying cries
were "peace" and "war" with England. The weather
growing foul, Blake entered the river with his fieet and
anchored in Weyrs Bay, whence he unceasingly pressed
the King and CouncU for leave to fall on the revolters ;
but weeks passed on and he could obtain no satisfactory
reply to his requests. Duplicity and delay characterised
all the proceedings of the court. The Brazil fieet, then
fitting out for the summer voyage, was almost ready
to saU ; and it became apparent to Blake that the
Portuguese were trying by theb civiUties and councUs
to gain time until this fieet was despatched and out of
danger. Rupert himself waa mystified. He complained
that his enemy was aUowed to come up the river to San
Katherina, only two mUea from his own station. His
sailors deserted to Blake in spite of every severity ; and
one of his largest ships, the Swallow, of thirty-six guns,
was in the very act of escaping when the plot was dis
covered and defeated. Alarmed at these symptoms of
revolt in his crews, and doubtful whether the Queen
would be able to prevaU against the Miro party in the
Council, he secretly prepared to defend himself; and if
his worst fears should be realised, to force a passage
through the English squadron or perish in the attempt.

ROBERT BLAKE. 113
His preparations did not escape the vigUanee of the
court, and they created a suspicion in high quarters
that, urged by hatred and despair, he was about to com
mit some act of wanton hostUity against his protectors.
Fear in some, contempt in others, were thus raised.
But the more factious and alarmed the city grew, the
safer Eupert felt himself. As a ready means of sowing
disaenaions in Lisbon, he courted the priesta and the
populace. Though a Protestant, he did his best to rouse
the passiona of the Portuguese Catholics against his
adopted country. He urged the priests to preach a
crusade against England, not only as a point of con
science, but also as a means of increasing their own
worldly infiuence. These men wUlingly gave their aid
and countenance : they harangued against patriots and
protested against the shame of a Christian nation treat
ing with rebels, until the Lisbon people were so incensed
that the Eling could hardly pass down the streets of his
capital without hearing the exclamations of their rage
and fanaticism. To gain over the mob to his interest,
Rupert went among them, gave them money and soft
speeches, and made a pretence of placing himself and his
cause under their protection. These artifices succeeded
so far as to compel the Mbo party to be extremely wary,
and to postpone a final arrangement of the question.
Not content with the success of this appeal to the basest
passions, the fugitive armed an assassin against the Ufe
of his formidable enemy. The only plea ever put forth
by his partisans in excuse for this attempt at private
murder was a false report to the effect that some persons
from the EngUsh fleet went on shore at BeUeisle to
attack a hunting-party, including Eupert, Maurice, and
several other Cavaliers, in which, however, they pretend
that the Eoundheads got the worst of it, and were glad
to retreat ; the real truth being that the men were sent

n4 ROBERT BLAKE.
on shore in the ordinary way to obtain fresh-water, aud
while getting it were assailed by Eupert's party, who
killed one of theb number, dangerously wounded three
others, and made five prisoners. Towards evening of
the day on which this incident had occurred, a bombsheU,
placed in a double-headed barrel, with a lock in the
middle so contrived that on being opened it would give
fire to a quick-match and cause the whole to explode,
waa sent by Eupert to Blake's fiag-ship, in a Portuguese
boat, manned by a trusty saUor and two negroes, the
former dressed as a Portuguese tradesman. The men
sent on this murderous errand were instructed to say
they were oU merchants come with a present for the
seamen. But when the boat arrived at the ship's stern,
they found the ports there closed, and whUe they were
rowing round to the transom-port, some of the crew
observed and recognised the EngUshman as one of
Eupert's men whom they had frequently met on shore
at BeUeisle ; and before any mischief could be done he
was arrested and the device of which he was to have
been the executioner discovered.
Having missed his aim, and doubtful of the King's
resolution, with failing provisions and wavering men on
board, Eupert engaged the governor of the castle to
connive at his passage, and prepared to faU down the
stream with the ibst favourable wind. But Blake had
friends on board the Prince's ships, and being informed
of thia design, he towed his vessels iu a dead calm to
the mouth of the river, which movement compeUed
Rupert to faU back to his old position. Months were
spent in theae bloctades and negotiations without
result. Blate, now strengthened by the arrival of
Popham's squadron, represented to the King that his
port had been dishonoured, that innocent blood had been
shed ; and he demanded iu more urgent terms permis-

ROBERT SLAKE. 115
sion to right himself. Instead of complying with this
request, the monarch at last threw off the mask, put
some of the EngUsh merchants under arrest, and pro
nounced for the cause of the two princes. This change,
whUe it simplified the state of affairs and left Blate to
act as he thought proper, added the whole weight of the
Portuguese navy to the force of the revolters. Blate's
answer, however, was swift and sure. The BrazU
fieet of nine sail coming out of the Tagus, he seized
them without ceremony, removed the officers and crew,
put trusty men in theb places, and thus at a strote raised
his ovm effective strength fromthbteen to twenty-two sail.
At the same time he threatened to seize the American
fleets on their return, if the revolters were not immedi
ately compeUed to quit the Tagus. The English Admi
ral had been so modest in his demeanour, so moderate
in his demands, the King was astounded at what he
called the temerity of these acts of self-defence ; and in
the first outburst of his rage he gave ordera to arm the
coasts and fit out his fieets for service. Miro was dis
graced. The friends of peace were discountenanced. A
squadron of thbteen men-of-war was equipped ; and,
under the command of Vara John, was ordered to join
the force under Rupert. Even then, they did not con
sider it prudent to attack the English, who continued to
cruise at the river mouth, interrupting all commerce by
sea, and threatening to intercept the richly-freighted
vessels known to be coming home from the Brazils.
Autumn waa deeply advanced. The fleet had been
in those unfriendly waters seven months, and although
provisions and stores had been supplied by Popham's
squadron and by other means, the ships were sea-worn,
the stores weU nigh exhausted, the men auffering from
the effecta of long confinement and severe duties. Ru
pert trusted to the storms of winter, and the court of
i2

ii6 ROBERT BLAKE.
Portugal believed it would be impossible for the EngUsh
to stay on that bleak and hoatUe coast. But Vane, one
of the greatest naval administratora ever born, was inde
fatigable at home in preparing the materials of war. In
spite of the elements Blake remained in the Portuguese
waters to encounter one of the BrazU fleets, consisting
of twenty-three sail, just as they were about to enter the
Tagus, when a brief but fierce engagement ended iu the
loss of the Portuguese flag-ship, which went down during
the cannonade,and three other ships, which were set on fire
and consumed ; and the capture of the vice-admbal and
eleven large ships, aU laden with the most precious car
goes. Only seven of the smallest barques escaped ;
they got away, and sUpped into the river while the con
test was at its height. When the king heard of his great
disaster, he went on board Rupert's fiag-ship, and ordered
him to attack the EngUsh with the combined fieets and
recover his lost treasures. Rubert was wUling, but the
winds kept no terms with the royal thbst for revenge,
and the Portuguese pennons floated idly in the river,
whUe the victorious EngUsh repabed their losses and
counted their magnificent gains by the late engagement.
At last, however, a fair wind sprang up, and with
provisions already on board for fourteen days — ample
time as the courtiers thought to capture or destroy the
blockadmg squadron, Rupert dropped down the river, at
the same time hoisting aignala for Vara John to follow
and join him below Belim with aU his disposable force.
But the Portgueae commander either could not or would
not raiae his anchor for several hours, and the revolters
were already up with the English squadron before their
Portuguese allies had got under sail. Want of concert
prevailed throughout. The ships were scattered over a
wide expanse of sea, and neither party was able to afford
assistance to the other. WhUe moving about the bar-

ROBERT BLAKE. 117
bour in a thick fog, the Prince suddenly discovered the
admbal, with Blake's pennons fioating at the main-top,
riding within pistol-shot of his stern; and with that
fearlessness which concealed so many faults, he gave
orders to tack round quickly and run alongside the flag
ship, without flring a single shot or raising the least
shout tUl they were near enough to spring on board.
The men of the admiral caught a gUmpse of the sus
picious craft through the thick atmosphere, and as she
passed in silence under theb lee, poured into her a
broadside that shattered her fore-topmast. Blake con
tinued his course, the fog slipped in, and the two ships
were instantly out of sight. Rupert's fleet was too far
to leeward to give chase or render aaaistance. Their
outfit being exhausted, the allies retumed to their for
mer station at BeUeiale, mutually accusing each other of
incapacity. Vara John was deposed from his command,
and judged unworthy ever to be again employed in
his coimtry's service, Blake and Popham, after des
patching all their prizes to England, retumed to block
up still more closely the mouth of the Tagus.
A second descent of the combined fleets was equally
unsuccessful. Without risking a general engagement,
which he had no deabe to riak, Blake remained maater at
sea. Rupert had seen no more service on thia new
element than himself ; but it is curious that the veteran
admirals of Portugal should have been foiled in aU their
attempts to force Blake either to quit his position or
fight a battle. At length the loss of so many vessels,
and the continual outcries of his subjects, induced King
John to sue for peace on reasonable terms. As neces
sary preUminaries to a peace, Miro was restored to
favour, and it was intimated to the fugitive princes with
many feigned regrets that the crown of Portugal could
no longer protect them against the might of England.

ii8 ROBERT BLAKE.
Rupert received a hint that as Blake was at sea in search
of the dispersed fleets of BrazU, some of which had
stopped short at the Azores, 'while others had run for
safety into Spanish ports, he might get clear away with
his ships. If the princes did not depart, they were- given
to understand that on Blake's return he would be aUowed
to attack them at their moorings. Rupert therefore
again unfurled his corsab banner, slipped his cables, and
under a friendly salute, the last he ever heard in Por
tugal, he dropped down the river in search of new ad
ventures. As soon as the princes had quitted BeUeisle, Don John
despatched an envoy to London to sue for peace and
friendship with the EngUsh Commonwealth. His for
mer pride was remembered againat his present humility,
and the Council of State made hard conditions. But
the envoy granted aU the preliminaries demanded. He
agreed that the EngUsh merchants who had been under
arrest should be set at Uberty ; that they should have
all their losses made good to them ; that the King of
Portugal should defray a considerable part of the war
expenses abeady incurred. When the envoy presumed
to dispute some dates and details, the haughty Council
commanded him to quit the country. However galling
to his pride, Don John was obliged to submit. He sent
a nobleman of high rank, the Conde de Camera, as ex
traordinary ambassador, to deprecate the anger of Par
liament. The Conde assented to every proposal made
to him by the Council : — but delays again arose througli
the change from the ParUamentary to the Protectoral
form of government, and it was not until January, 1653
that the treaty of peace, trade, and friendship was finally
ratified between the two powers. So long as he lived,
Don John gave England Uttle trouble.
At the close of the dispute with the court of Lisbon,

ROBERT BLAKE. 119
the owners of the nine ships seized and detained by
Blake at the mouth of the Tagus were aUowed to pre
sent a statement of their grievance to the judges of the
Court of Admiralty. Blake's conduct in the matter was
minutely investigated ; Admiral Popham was called on
to give evidence as to the facts : and after a full inquiry
the judges decided that the General-at-Sea had acted in
the spirit of his instructions. But they acknowledged
the private losses which the owners might have suffered
by the forcible detention of theb ships, and decided that
the same compensation should be awarded to them for
the service, as in cases where ships had been hbed by
the State.

i

^^^s

M

CHAPTER V.
1650—1661.
CAYALIER-CORSAIES.
RirPEET had not invented the corsair system. That
honour belonged to George Carteret, governor of Guern
sey. WhUe the King was stUl at Oxford, and when
Blake was vigorously defending Lyme, Carteret des-
pabing of the royal cause on land, ordered a model
galley to be buUt for him by the expert artizans of
St. Maloes. She was fitted with twelve pair of oars and
with large saUs, so as to go against wind and tide. She
carried one brass cannon and two swivels, and was manned
by thbty-six desperate ruffians. She cruised in the
narrow seas, and her captures were armed and converted
into war-ships. Carteret became master of a fieet. He
soon made himself terrible to the London merchants.
Warwick, sent to reduce the islands to obedience, re
turned without crushing the freebooters, and theb enter
prises took a wider sweep. For a whUe Carteret was
master of the narrow seas. Charles then gave him the
commiaaion of a Vice-Admiral in the Channel, and the
royaliat rover filled his coffers and strengthened himself
in his hold, Mont OrgueU Castle, against the Roundhead
forces. A career like that of Sir George Carteret, com
bining danger, enterprise and success, had an bresistible
charm for Rupert ; and it is demonstrable that from the

ROBERT BLAKE. 121
period of his firat offer to go on board the revolted fieet,
he proposed to Uve by plunder. His intention was to
establish one or more strongholds, from which he flattered
himself that he should be able to interrupt at his will
the rich commerce of the narrow seas. His "first idea
was to make hia labs, as many of the old northern jarls
and vikings had done before him, in the Channel Islands,
and particularly in the formidable groups of rocks lying
off the Land's-end, the Isles of SciUy. Nature herself
might have formed these islands for a pirate hold. Dan
gerous sunken rocks, an extremely intricate channel,
and a sea unrivalled for sweU and violence, prevented the
approach of frigates or other armed vessels towards the
centre of the group ; and, as the ruins stUl visible show,
art had come efficiently in aid of nature. At every point
where it seemed poasible to effect a landing, stood bloct-
houses and batteries connected with each other by Unes
and breast-worts of the most formidable character.
On St. Mary's Island, even at that time the wealthiest
and most populous of the group, these field-works were
bound together by castles of great strength and com
manding position : Old Town Castle, a strong pUe in the
days of Leland ; Star Castle, with its ditch and ramparts,
buUt by Sir John Godolphin in EUzabeth's reign ; and
the Giant's Castle, standing on the crest of a bold and
rugged cliff. Some of the islets were extremely fertile ;
com grew in abimdance on many of them, and they were
aU weU stocked with rabbits, cranes, swana, herons, and
sea-fowl. Into thia convenient hold Rupert poured men,
money and warUke stores. To ensure his force against
the risk of capture by sudden assault, — for the Dutch
were anxious to possess so convenient a port, and their
famous Admbal, Tromp, had been seen hovering about
under suspicious cbcumstances, — he gave the command,
civU and mUitary, to the gaUant Sb John Grenville,

122 ROBERT BLAKE.
nephew of Sir Richard GrenviUe, Blake's old antagonist
at Taunton. The islanders, children of the sun and sea,
willingly joined in the attempt to convert their home
into an important magazine and naval station. And to
render the extraordinary combination of natural and
artificial defences perfect, two thousand picked men were
landed aa a garriaon, aided by a multitude of Cavalier
gentry, whose private fortunes had been wasted in the
war. When cruising in the South Channel, before the
approach of Blake's squadron had driven him to Kinsale,
Rupert had carried the fruits of his terrible industry
into this pirate hold. The store-houses on these rocks
were filled with the captured merchandise of all nations ;
but the chief articles stored up were silks, corn, wine,
oil, timber, and the precious metals. WhUe in Ireland,
apparently engaged in the work of co-operatiug with the
Marquis of Ormonde in the royal cause, he had been
occupied with the task of strengthening this position.
On the 3rd of March he sent to Sir John GrenviUe from
that country as much corn, salt, iron and steel as the
ships could stow. His project of starting aa a corsair
on a large scale was not disguised. In April he wrote to
Grenville on the subject nearest his heart : — " You will
receive," he says, " if these ships come safe, such pro
visions as we can spare here, and also some men, which
I was feign to send out of my own regiment. They are
aU armed, and have some [arms] to spare. The officers
have formerly served his Majesty. You may trust them.
I doubt not ere long to see Scilly a second Venice. It
will be for our security and benefit; for if the worst
come to the worst, it is but going to ScUly with this fieet,
where, after a little whUe, we may get the King a good
subsistence ; and, I beUeve, we shaU make a shift to Uve
in spite of aU factions."

ROBERT BLAKE. 123
The exUed family and their chief adherents seem to
have entertained no scruples about thia system of free-
booting. On hearing of a new capture, Charles writes
from the Hague to his cousin : " Having already dis
bursed for the fleet a considerable part of those moneys
which we intended for own support and maintenance,
and being now totaUy deatitute of means to pay the
debts of our dear brother, the Duke of York, and our
own, and to provide for the aubaistence of ourselves
and family, we are no ways able to discharge the debts
contracted at Helvoetsluys for the fleet ; and we intend,
therefore, to provide for the satisfaction thereof out of
the proceeds of the goods in the ship lately taken, if it
prove good prize." — Charles drew on the corsair prince
as on a bank ; and when Rupert could no longer meet
the demand made on him by his royal cousins out of the
stolen property at hand, he had recourse to the goods
and chattels laid up for future use in his stronghold at
SciUy. Prog, a merchant, who had discounted a biU of
5000Z. drawn by Charles on Rupert, arrived at Kinsale
to ask for his money; but being dissatisfied with the
prizes offered to him in liquidation of hia claim, the
prince gave him 533Z. in gold and silver, and an order on
Sir John Grenville, at Scilly, for 10,909 lbs. weight of
Ardaaae aUt, as an equivalent for the remaining 4467?.
In this way the business of the exiled court was done.
Men who had formerly been colonels of regiments be
came captains of frigates ; those who could find no vessel
to command, repabed to ScUly, Jersey, or Guernsey, to
share in the defence or join predatory parties aa volun
teers ; so that when St. Mary's Island fell at last into
Blate's hands, he found as many colonels and captains
in the forts and castles as would have sufficed to officer
a large army. The court busied itself daUy with these
pbacies. Instead of concerning itself with the affairs of

124 ROBERT BLAKE.
nations, with the intrigues at Madrid, London and
VersaiUes, the royal Council became engrossed with price-
lists, trade speculations, and rates of exchange. Gossip
from Amsterdam was received with more eagerness than
gossip from Paris. The gravity with which the old states
men of the Stuarts discussed the market value of hides,
sugar, silk, and timber, was excessively ludicrous. Claren
don, Cottington, and the moat reputable members of the
party sanctioned thia course of life,— accepting from neces
sity that which the Bohemian Princes had adopted from
love of adventure and lawlessness of spirit. Nor was
Charles averse to share the disgrace as weU as the profit.
Carteret, his deputy-governor of Jersey and Guernsey,
fitted out a fieet of ten light and fast-saiUng frigates,
each carrying eight or ten guns, for the purposes of
pbacy, with his consent, if not by his orders, — and this
gallant freebooter brought in and sold numerous prizes
in the ports of Jersey, while Charles himself was present
on the island.
In one of his letters to Charles, Prince Rupert gives
some account of his lawless adventures during his flight
from Kinsale: — "Some forty leagues from shore," he
says, " it happened that in the night, by a mistake of a
light, aU our fleet [five vessels] except Sb John Mennes's
[ship] loat me. Two days after we made early in the
morning seven ships to windward. We gave chase to
them, and they to us, which proved to be our fleet :
MarshaU lieing come in with a prize, and my brother
having taken another, made up the seven. At night,
being moonlight, we made two great ships and a smaU
vessel, which we immediately chased. In the morning
the Black Lady, the Black Knight, the Scott, and the
Mary overtook them. The smaU ketch bore up right
before the wind, and the Black Knight gave chase, but
in vain. The other two being proved EngUsh, did not

ROBERT BLAKE. 125
alter theb course. Our small ships feU to work, which
lasted from seven in the morning until ten, about which
time their admiral's main-top- sail-yard and main-saU were
shot by the board, which stopped her way until my ship
came up, to which she struck without a shot of ours :
after which the other yielded also. These prizes being
considerable, and being fearful of some disaater, having
near three hundred prize-men aboard ua, it was gene
raUy thought fit to secure and seU them with the first
convenience to do, which no place was thought more
convenient nor safe than Lisbon." The goods captured
in these vessels he sold to the Portuguese merchants for
30,000Z. ; the vessels themselves he fitted out aa men-of-
war. Blake's. vigilance and activity never allowed him
to return to the Channel Islands ; but it cost the country
much blood and much treasure before they were reduced
to obedience.
When the news arrived in England that Rupert had
quitted BeUeiale on a new piratical expedition, the
CouncU of State hastened the preparation of another
fleet to go in pursuit of him. The Fabfax, then on the
stocks at Deptford, was rapidly finished. Penn was
caUed in haste from St. George's Channel, the war being
almost at an end in Ireland, and was appointed Vice-
admiral of the Straits. The new fieet for the south
consisted of eight of the best and fieetest saUers in the
navy, commanded by some of the most eminent captains
of the age. The fiag-ship, Fairfax, Vice-admiral Penn,
carried 52 guns and 250 men ; the Centurion, Captain,
afterwards the famous Admiral Sir John Lawson ; the
Adventure, Captain Andrew BaU ; the Foresight, Cap
tain, afterwards Admbal Howett ; the Pelican, Captain,
afterwards Admiral Sir Joseph Jordan; the Assurance,
Captain Benjamin Blake, younger brother of the Admi
ral ; and the Nonsuch, Captain MUdmay, were aU frigates

126 ROBERT BLAKE.
of 36 guns ana 150 men each. The other vessel, the
Star, Captain Sandars, carried 22 guns and 80 men. On
the heels of this squadron, a fourth fleet, consisting of
the Triumph, Tiger, Angel, Bonadventure, Trades-increase,
Lion, and Hopeful Luke, — carrying in the whole 1226
men and 270 guns — was sent out under the command of
Vice-admiral HaU, for the special purpose of acting as
convoy for the protection of English merchants in the
waters of Southern Europe. By these squadrons new
and enlarged powers were carried out to Blake. Hitherto
he had been requbed to forward aU his prizes to England
for condemnation and sale ; he waa now desired to deal
with his prizes as he thought best for the service, send
ing them home or seUing them in foreign ports, and
using the money so obtained to revictual and refit his
ships as occasion might seem to him to reqube. His
commission was renewed for an indefinite term ; and all
the naval power of England in thoae seas, with the single
exception of HaU's convoy squadron, waa placed at his
absolute disposal. This mighty and irresponsible power
was wielded by Blake with a wisdom, energy, and success
which received unqualified admbation in England, and
extorted applause from the moat rancoroua of our
enemies abroad. He had no instructions to control his
movements. Translated out of the mere forms of office,
the language of the CouncU of State to theb great Com
mander was briefiy this: — Uphold the interests and the
honour of England ; pursue, capture, or destroy its re
volted fleet ; protect ita trade and its citizens abroad ;
overawe ita rivals and false friends ; harass and humble
its avowed enemies ! In the execution of his task he
waa bound by no forms of law. The Commonwealth
knew that the rulers of the continent were not its
friends ; for although war had not been declared ia
words, the courts of France, Spain, HoUand, Tuscany,

ROBERT BLAKE. 127
and Portugal, had all favoured the royal fugitives, or
pronounced their hatred and disdain of the EngUsh
people and their ParUament by acts of hostiUty. The
old ties of amity, the old treaties of commerce which
bound England to the nations of Europe, were aU broken
and abrogated by recent events ; and not knowing when
or from what quarter a blow might be struck at its peace
and honour, it behoved the man who went abroad as the
representative of his country, to treat with the suspected
powers boldly, proudly, energetically, with words of peace
on his Ups, but with his hand always on the hilt of hia
aword. After their expulsion from the Tagus, the crews of the
revolted fieet were beginning a new life. As adversity
gathered round him, Rupert grew reckless. Even a
semblance of legality no longer seemed to him needful.
" Misfortune being now no novelty to us," says the
manuscript memoir found among his papers, " we plough
the sea for a subsistence ; and being destitute of a port,
we take the confines of the Mediterranean Sea for our
harbour: poverty and despair being companions, and
revenge our guide." In this spirit the Royalists sailed
from Lisbon. Coasting the shores of Andalusia, they
feU in with the Malaga fieet during a dart night, and
any sail being now regarded aa good prize, they fired into
them, and captured two ships. Under cover of night the
others escaped, followed by the Second Charles which
vessel, missing the signal for retreat, parted company,
and was for several days given up as lost. Rupert stood
in for Malaga, intending to enter that roadstead by night
and surprise the ships lying out of port. With this de
sign the frigate Henry was sent forward with instructions
to take up, as if by accident, a position between the
veaaels and the mole, so that when the Prince fell on
them in the night it might prevent them from retreating

128 ROBERT BLAKE.
into the harbour. But some of the Henry's men deserted
when the frigate anchored off the mole ; and as these
deserters informed the Spaniards of the intended night
attack, a signal from the batteries warned the ships of
their danger, and they stood safely in while it was yet
broad day. Finding his plan defeated, Eupert adopted
a friendly tone towards the citizens. Not able to drive
him away by force, they in their turn tried to soothe his
disappointment by the empty honours of a royal salute.
As nothing coiUd be got by staying there, the fleet saUed
for Veles-Malaga, higher up the coast, where they had
heard that some EngUsh merchant-ships were lying in
security under the protection of a friendly power. On
hearing of the appearance of the Bohemian corsair on
the coasts of Andalusia, the governor of Veles-Malaga
despatched a courier to Madrid for instructions how to
act should the Prince make any hostile demonstration in
his district ; but on the plea that this messenger had not
retumed when Rupert arrived, he refused to interfere,
and six English ships were fired and burnt by him under
the guns of the Spanish batteries !
Blake was out at sea, waiting the arrival of a supply
of stores sent by the CouncU of State, when inteUigence
of this atrocity, committed in a friendly port, reached
him. Having already serious causes of complaint against
the Spanish court, he wasted no time in communicating
with the English Admiralty. Leaving orders for Admi
ral Penn to cruise about the mouth of the Guadalquiver,
and watch the Une of coast between Cadiz and Gibraltar
he at once turned his bows towards the rocky entrance
of the Mediterranean, and passed the Straits with all his
fleet, being the first English Admbal who had ventured
into those remote and celebrated waters since the time of
the Crusades. The chase again became close and exciting.
Rupert had saUed from Malaga, no one knew whither.

ROBERT BLAKE. ,129
At MotrU and at Capo de Gata, Blake could pick up
only vague and contradictory rumours. At Capo Pales,
near Carthagena, the revolted ships had last been seen in
the midat of a tremendous squall ; when, fortunately for
their personal safety, the' two princes separated from
their companions and ran out to sea. As the storm
abated, they descried a Leghorn trader, and the corsair
instinct being strong within them, gave chase, foUowing
her to the Barbary shore, where she was at last overtaken
and captured. The remainder of the revolted ships ran
into Carthagena for shelter ; and as soon as the foul
weather cleared a little, the English fieet waa seen riding
before the harbour, cutting off every hope of escape.
Blake sent a messenger to inform the governor of the
town that enemies to the Commonwealth of England had
taken refuge in that port ; that he, as Admiral, carried
instructions from Parliament to pursue and destroy them ;
and that, the two nations being then at peace, he hoped
to be aUowed to execute his orders without interference.
The answer to these demands was not satisfactory. The
governor pretended he could see no difference between
one EngUahman and another ; he said he had nothing to
do with theb private quarrels ; and he concluded by
stating his determination to protect every one fiying to
his harbour who waa not a declared enemy of his royal
master. Spain had not yet learned to comprehend
the genius of the young Republic. WhUe professing
herself ready to acknowledge the new order of things,
she maintained a haughty and suspicious reserve of her
real sentiments. Willing enough to see England on
doubtful terms with her own enemies, the Dutch and
Portuguese — not much offended, in consequence of the
late King's behaviour towards the Infanta, at the dis-
aatera of the royal house, the court of Madrid, neverthe
less, assumed a right to suspend judgment on the course

I30 ROBERT BLAKE.
of events— to hold out a hand to either party as it might
suit its pleasure or poUcy — and when occasion served to
treat both Roundheads and EoyaUsts with indifference
and disdain. Nor was this proud caprice the only thing
which Blake found written in his boot of wrongs. Early
in the year Anthony Ascham had been sent by the
CouncU of State as their ambassador to Madrid. A
suitable residence not being ready for him when he
arrived, he repabed to an hotel with his servants and
Baptista Eiva hia interpreter. Clarendon and Cottington
were then in Madrid prosecuting a hopeless suit in favour
of theb master ; and on hearing that Ascham was on the
road from Cadiz, where he had received hospitaUty from
the people, the two lords protested in bitter and indig
nant terms to Don Louis de Haro against his reception
at court ; and even hinted that, in their opinion, it would
not be safe for him to appear in Madrid. Whether the
Eoyalist lords were guUty of more than a wicted sugges
tion to their servants is a point involved in mystery;
what is quite certain is the fact that Henry Progress,
one of their personal attendants, and five other needy
Cavaliers, went to Ascham' s hotel the day after his
arrival, and finding him alone with Eiva at dinner, rushed
in upon the two men, crying — Welcome, gaUanta ! wel
come ! In a moment they both feU on the fioor pierced
with many wounds. This atrocious deed, done in broad
day, on the sacred person of an ambaasador, in the centre
of a great city, and imder the eye of the court, raiaed a
storm of indignation not only in Spain and England but
all over Europe. Clarendon and Cottington were sus
pected of being privy to the murder ; and Don Louis
gave them to understand that if the enraged populace of
London should retaUate on his ambassador there, the
King would hold them responsible for the shedding of
innocent blood. A special agent was sent to deprecate

ROBERT BLAKE. 131
the wrath of Parliament, and a great parade was made
of prosecuting the assaaains. But Progress, the man
whose confession was of greatest consequence, was kept
secreted in the Venetian embaasy ; the other scoundrels,
though murderers could not lawfully plead privUege of
sanctuary, were aUowed to remain in a church to which
they ran reeking with blood ; and after some time the
priests organised a scheme for their escape, which they
aU effected except Sparks, who waa taken in the act and
executed. Theae events made it absolutely necessary for
Blake to show a strong hand at Carthagena. Disdaining
to notice the governor's pretended ignorance of the state
of things in England, he bore down on the revolters,
mastered the Eoebuck, set fire to another ship, and drove
the remainder on shore utterly disabled. The guns,
tackle, furniture, stores and ammunition were saved by
the crews, and after some negotiation these were de
livered up by the Spaniards to the Admbal's agent.
With the exception of the Eeformation and the SwaUow,
the two veaaela in which the princes saUed, and the Mar
maduke, theb recent prize, the whole of the revolted fieet
was now captured and destroyed ; and that corsair
power, only a few daya ago an object of terror to the
pacific traders of aU nations, was reduced to so mere a
wreck that it seemed impossible for it ever again to
become an element in the European waters.
Not to leave a remnant behind him, Blake endea
voured to gain some inteUigence of Rupert ; and, put on
a false acent, either by design or otherwise, he steered
for Majorca, expecting to find him lurking about the
ports of that island. But the two brothers, feeling that
the game waa nearly up, — for three veaaels would be
unable to attact merchant convoys with certain success,
and from the position of royal corsabs making war on a
grand scale againat all fiags and fleets, they had now
K 2

132 ROBERT BLAKE,
become petty plunderers of unarmed vessels, — stood
across for Toulon, where they had reason to expect a
friendly reception from the omnipotent Cardinal Riche
lieu, that statesman being for the moment on bad terms
with the Commonwealth. A sudden storm, however,
separated the Eeformation from its two feUows ; Maurice
rode, with his prize, into the great road of Toulon, where
he was quietly allowed to seU her cargo ; Eupert was
driven by bad weather to the east, as far as SicUy, in
which island he was compeUed to remain part of the
winter, entbely uncertain as to his brother's fate. At
length, however, he reached Toulon, whither he was
quickly foUowed by the EngUsh squadron. Blake
instantly sent into the town to protest against the
honours and succours granted in a friendly port to
fugitives from justice and enemies to the Engliah Par
liament. This remonstrance producing no effect, the
Admbal declared that he should consider the permitted
sale in that port of a cargo of EngUsh goods, piraticaUy
seized, as an hostUe act; and that unless ChevaUer
Paul, the French Admiral then commanding in the road,
undertook to drive the corsairs from his harbour and
restore theb plunder to its lawful owners, he should
hold himself free to make reprisals on the commerce of
France. The ChevaUer tried to avoid the neceaaity for
such destructive measures, by hastening the departure
of his dangerous guests. With his assistance they
refitted and prepared for sea, when seizing a favourable
opportunity, they escaped from the roadstead, and passed
through the Balearic Islands.
Penn was left to destroy the pirates ; he chased them
from port to port, without faUing in with them. Broken in
spbits and in fortune, they made their way to the West
Indies, where they Uved by plundering the commerce of
Spain and England ; and were now and then heard of ia

ROBERT BLAKE 133
Europe for several years after through the tale of some
hapless merchant returning from the New World beg
gared by their depredations. At length the two brothers
parted company in a tropical storm. Maurice was never
heard of again : but Eupert Uved to invent pinchbeck,
and to enjoy the amenities of the Eestoration.
Nothing is more curious in the history of those times
than the way in which Blake exercised the tremendoua
powers entrusted to him by the Council of State. Men
of office and ancient routine were startled by his bold
and open poUcy, so far removed from the old turns aud
tricks of diplomacy. Hia logic was brief and simple : in
face of any event he asked himaelf but one queation — Is
thia for the honour and intereat of England ? Whatever
the answer, that settled the question. If it appeared to
him clear that the thing ought to be done, it was done.
There waa no looting right or left, backward or forward,
to antecedents or consequences. Portugal and Spain
had refused either to do justice or to give him formal
permission to execute justice for himself; caring Uttle
for theb offended majesty and pride, he had taken the
matter into his own hands, and had taught them that the
young Commonwealth of England would not be cheated,
like an old and decrepit monarchy, with lying laws and
treacherous formaUtiea. France had now rouaed his ire,
and powerful as that coimtry was under the great Cardi
nal's sway, it soon felt the inconvenience of the reprisals
which he never threatened in vain. Months before the
affair of the Marmaduke at Toulon, there had been some
sUght bickering between the two navies. James, Duke
of York, had isaued from the Hague a number of blank
commiasions to be filled up by his agents with the names
of persons able and wUling to fit out privateers and
harass the coasts and commerce of England, aU goods
taken by them being declared beforehand lawful prey.

134 ROBERT BLAKE.'
Under the sanction of these commissions, men who cared
nothing for Roundheads or CavaUers, EepubUcs or
Monarchies, chartered fieet saUers, and manning them
powerfuUy, roved about the narrow seas in search of
plunder. Some of their prizes had been carried into
Brest and Havre ; and speedy justice not being obtained
for this wrong from the Court of VersaiUes, ParUament
in its turn had isaued letters of marque against French
vessels. Except in a single case, where he found a
French man-of-war lying in wait for English merchants,
Blake had hitherto scrupulously avoided every appear
ance of an intention to carry out his free instructions ;
but after the authorities at Toulon had openly received
the revolters, he felt himself bound to retaUate on
every occasion that should offer itself. On his voyage
homeward, he captured four French prizes, — one of
them a fine frigate of forty guns, the combat with which
reads like an episode in an ancient romance. Meeting
the Frenchman in the Straits, Blate signalled for the
captain to come on board his fiag-ship ; and he, consi
dering the visit one of friendship and ceremony, there
being no declared war between the two nations, readUy
answered the invitation. The Admbal, when he entered
his cabin, told him he was a prisoner ; and asked him
if he would give up his sword. Astounded at such a
demand, the Frenchman boldly answered— No ! Blake
felt that an unfab advantage had been gained as the
captain probably knew nothing of the Toulon affab or of
the English threat of reprisals ; and scorning to make a
brave officer the victim of a mistake, he told him he
might go back to his ship, if he wished, and fight it out
as long as he was able. The captain thanked him for
his handsome offer and retired. After two houra' hard
fighting he struck his flag, and being brought once
more on board the flag-ship, Uke a true French knight

ROBERT BLAKES 135
he made a low bow, kissed hia sword affectionately and
deUvered it to his conqueror.
After an absence of twenty months, during which he
had completely dispersed and destroyed the revolters,
rebuked the pride of Portugal, read a significant lesson
to Spain and France, freed the southern and great mid
land seas from privateers, and left a salutary dread of
the young Commonwealth on the shores of Barbary and
among the naval powers of Italy, Blate retumed to
England. For the first time during centuries the fieets
of Venice and Genoa had found themselves in the
immediate neighbourhood of an English power; and
though the name of Blake had not yet grown into the
word of terror it became in those diatant parts a few
years later, the rights and the honour of Englishmen
began to be respected from the date of his first me
morable cruise in the Mediterranean. Applause and
more substantial rewards awaited him at home. The
Council of State made him a Warden of the Cinque
Ports. ParUament recorded its special thanks in his
favour and voted him a donation of a thousand pounds.
The whole country rang with the renown of a man
who had revived the traditional glories of the EngUah
navy and exerciaed ao perilous a power with unequalled
wisdom, resolution and success.
Blake had little time allowed him for repose. Though
the strength of the corsair Prince had been broken,
the hold which he had buUt for himself at Scilly, not
only held out against the power of ParUament, but the
desperate men whom he had thrown into it continued to
harass peaceful tradera. The reduction of this group of
rocks, together with the islands of Guernsey and Jersey,
firmly held by the brave and enterprising Carteret, was
the naval work laid out by the Council for the year 1651.
Fears were entertained of Dutch interference ; Van

136 ROBERT BLAKE:
Tromp, the oldest aeaman of the naval Eepublic, was at
sea with a mighty fieet and auapicioua inatructions. Par
liament auspected him of a deaign against the islands, for
which the depredations of the corsabs would have sup
plied some sort of excuse, and they sent ambassadors to
the States General to demand explanations. At the same
time they prepared to reduce the islands and scatter the
pirates, and to remove all pretext for the intervention of
Van Tromp. The former coUeagues were again named
Generals of the Fleet ; and in April Blake and Ascue
threatened St. Mary's, the largest of the Scilly group
and the residence of the governor. On receiving the
usual summons to surrender. Sir John GrenviUe repUed
in the tone of a man prepared to impose rather than
aubmit to conditions. He said he was wUUng to enter
into a treaty ; but he spoke of having a large force at his
disposal, not only sufficient to maintain the islands, but
to restore the exUe to the throne of his fathers.
Despising this bombast, Blake selected eight hundred
men, under the command of Captain Morris, to land at
the back of Tresco, an island lying againat St. Mary's,
and of all the SciUy group the next to it in size and
military importance. A garriaon of nearly a thouaand
men, posted behind a line of breaatworks, opposed this
attempt ; but the Eoundheads threw themselves into the
water, waded to shore, and as soon as the first com
pany could form, advanced pike in hand to assault the
entrenched positions. The cavaUers fought gaUantly,
disputing the ground with pike and pistol after theb
field-artiUery had failed. But having obtained a lodg
ment in the outset, Morris held his conquest stoutly,
and when night put an end to the contest the garrison
withdrew to their boats aud passed over to St. Mary's,
leaving Blake in possession of their works, arms, and
some prisoners. At daybreak the Eoundheads pushed

ROBERT BLAKE. 137
forward, passed the ridges of high ground, and came
down the south slopes of the island, when one of the
most picturesque and striking scenes in Europe burst on
their sight. In front, girt with rugged rocks and
green islets, rose the wealthy and populous island of
St. Mary's, crowned with ramparts and caatles. Be
low lay the narrow roadstead, shut in by innume
rable rocks and points of land like a beautiful alpine
lake, in which the pbate pinnaces and caravals were
moored. As the light of morning feU on green meadow
and rugged peak, on busy town and shining water,
the beauty of the scene appealed to the sternest
heart. Little time, however, had the Eoundheads to
spend in admbing wonder. Their chief soon fixed on
a jutting point of ground, somewhat in advance of the
regular lines for a battery, which, when finished, would
sweep St. Mary's harbour and roadstead, and prevent the
arrival of reUef from Jersey or the harboura of Normandy.
Erected almoat aa soon as it waa planned, this battery
became a source of deep annoyance to the garrison. Gren
vUle' s position was indeed growing critical. Besides the
population, itself larger than the natural means of supply,
more than sixteen hundred men were crowded together
on the little islet ; and as aU chance of free communica
tion with theb friends on the Continent was for the
moment cut off, the CavaUers saw themselves reduced
either to submit to a blockade, certain to end in their
destruction, or by a bold and combined effort to dislodge
the enemy from Tresco, and again open the paasage of
the main roadstead. The latter, however, seemed a
desperate adventure. Blake had landed a considerable
force at Tresco and encamped them, aa the remains of
lines and mud-huts atUl show, on a low neck of land
facing the harbour ; aud nothing less than a battle and
decisive victory could have enabled the Cavaliers to

138 ROBERT BLAKE.
regain the position they had so hastUy abandoned.
MeanwhUe, seeing that hia batteries produced little or
no effect on the castles at that distance, Blake adopted a
bold and unexpected resolution. He brought his frigates
through the intricate and dangerous channels, planted
them in the roadstead under the castle guns, and pre
pared to fight a regular battle of artillery between land and
sea. This feat has been achieved so often in later times,
that it ia not easy now to estimate the daring which it
then implied. Up to that day it had been considered a
fundamental maxim in marine warfare that a ship coiUd
not attack a castle or other strong fortification with any
hope of success. Blake was the first to perceive and
demonstrate the faUacy of this maxim ; and the experi
ment, afterwards repeated by him in the more brUUant
attacks on Porto Ferine and Santa Cruz, was first tried
at the siege of St. Mary's. With great labour he got
some of his lighter frigates through the rocks and shoals
of that intricate channel, and moored them in the road,
— when a furious cannonade began from the castle, stiU
more fiercely anawered by broadsides, and raged until
dark. Daybreak saw thia contest of cannon recommenced :
but the battle was decided in favour of the frigates. A
practicable breach being made in the castle wall, the
command for an assault was given by Blate, when Gren
vUle, very much changed in his opinion as to the impreg
nable strength of the pirate hold, sent to beg a parley,
which ended in an engagement on his part to surrender
the islands, garrisons, stores, arms, ammunition, standards,
and aU other implements and materials of war, on con
dition that the lives of the officers, soldiers, and volun
teers should be spared ; the common soldiers and saUors
being allowed to enter the nation's service, and the
gentlemen sent to London to await the final decision of
Parliament in their favour. These terms were thought

ROBERT BLAKE. 139
by many to be too favourable to the EoyaUsts, — and that
fallen party began to look up to Blake as the moat
friendly or the moat lenient of their conquerora. To
prevent the garriaon from giving cause of alarm, he sent
part of the men into Ireland and the rest to Scotland, to
be there incorporated with the armies of the Common
wealth. Sir John Grenville and the corsair gentlemen
taken with him, arms in hand, were put on board Sir
George Aacue's squadron and carried into Plymouth
sound. Acting in the spirit of Plate's articles. Parlia
ment treated Sir John GrenvUle with extreme leniency.
He was even permitted to enjoy his forfeited famUy
estates without molestation. For some years his
turbulent soul, rebuted by a cause equaUy strong
and magnanimous, remained quiet ; but after the death
of CromweU he again appeared on the stage and
played a conspicuous part in the drama of the Eesto
ration. The SciUy Islands cleared of their lawless occupants,
Blate turned hia attention to Jersey and Guernsey,
the only remaining strongholds of the corsab power.
Carteret commanded as deputy for Lord Jermyn.
Carteret, a gallant officer, who had served in the royal
navy whUe the navy was yet called royal, and had
received and refused the appointment of Vice-Admi
ral under the Earl of Warwict, was one of the ablest
generals and stanchest Cavaliers whom Blake had to
encounter by land or sea ; and his prolonged defence
of these islands, especially that of Jersey, which he con
ducted in person, though in the end it was unsuccessful,
covered his name with glory — and after the restoration
of the Stuarts, when he became co-proprietor of an
American province, Charles insisted on calling it New
Jersey, in honour of his famous exploit. The sphere of
duty which devolved on him at Jersey was exactly suited

140 ROBERT BLAKE.
to his capacities. Daring as Eupert himself, but cautious
as he was brave, his piratical adventures were conducted
with forethought, gaUantry and success. For more than
two years his name had been a terror to the London
merchants, and the council-board at Westminster was
tept in a fiutter of fear and rage by the letters which
arrived almost weekly with accounts of the discomfiture
aud loss suffered by vessels carrying the national flag at
the hands of this terrible freebooter. Whitelocke's
journal throws jets of light on the scene of these disasters,
whUe Blake was chasing Eupert in the south of Europe.
For instance : — On Feb. 21, 1650, " letters that several
merchantmen have been taken on the western coast by
Jersey pirates; " Feb. 26, "letters that two Dutchmen
laded with salt came to anchor within half a league of
Dartmouth Caatle, and that presently two Jersey pbates
came up with them, cut their cables and carried them
away." The gunners in the castle fired on the bold
marauders, but without effect. Success made them stiU
more daring, and the complaints laid before the Council
became more frequent and more vehement. March 1,
"letters of Jersey pirates very bold on the western
coast ; " March 6, " letters of several ships taken by the
Jersey pirates ; " Mar. 15, " of the want of frigates on
the western seas to keep in the Jersey pbates ; "
March 17, " of the Jersey pbates taking several merchant-
ships, and none of the ParUament frigates to help them ; "
March 19, " letters of the pbacies committed by those
of Jersey." A few of the more respectable inhabitants
of Jersey had firmly resented the loss of character
brought upon their island by these piracies. La Cloche,
an eloquent divine, denounced the thief from the pulpit ;
declared that Jersey had become a nest of pirates, a
second Dunkbk, and proposed an appeal to the ting
against the acts of his disreputable friends. Carteret

ELIZABETH CASTLE, JERSEY.

ROBERT BLAKE. 141
threw the preacher into gaol, and would have hung him
had he found a decent pretext.
Even after the appearance of Blake and Ascue off the
Scilly Islands, Carteret, still confident in hia own re
sources and secure in a fortress which since the days of
RoUo had never been assaUed with success, continued
his destructive warfare on commerce. He had, indeed,
no choice. Upwards of four thouaand men, the remains
of veteran armies and sea-roving adventurers, thronged
the two little islands. He was bound to feed them, and
it was desirable to keep the more daring spirits employed
at sea. Of Jersey itself he had no fears. Its position
was atrong by nature, and had been rendered yet atronger
by art. Storms rarely cease in that part of the English
Channel. Sunken rocks, lying near the surface, not
only render the navigation extremely dangerous for
large vessels, even with good pilots, but cause violent
currents, cross currents, and cataracts at every ebb and
fiow of tide. Nature itself seemed to have fashioned
the coast of Jersey, rocky, steep, and broken, as the
ramparts of a vast and impregnable fortress. Skilful en
gineers had added EUzabeth Caatle, Mount OrgueU and
Comet Caatle to the natural defences. Elizabeth Caatle,
buUt on a bold and isolated rock in St. Aubin's Bay,
facing St. Heliers, the chief town in Jersey, and about
a mUe from the mainland, was at that time considered
one of the strongest mUitary positions in the world.
This fortress, the tey of his defensive operations. Sir
George Carteret commanded in person. Mount OrgueU
he entrusted to Sb PhUip Carteret : and Cornet Castle,
in Guernsey, to Colonel Burgess. While the sea was
yet open to the marauders, they sent pressing entreaties
to Lord Jermyn and to the royal exiles for immediate
succour : — and in this position the Cavaliers awaited the
Roundhead squadron.

142 ROBERT BLAKE.
WhUe the expedition against these islands was fitting
out at Plymouth under his personal dbectious, Blate
employed a few stolen moments in visiting the naval
stations on the coast, in strengthening weat points, in re
distributing the naval force, in stimulating the energy of
his coUeagues and in rectifying legions of abuses. His
flag-ship, the Victory, fiew about the Channel. One day
its bright pennon waa streaming in the Downs, the next
day it was found at Spithead or in Plymouth Sound.
Where work was to be done, apathy aroused, energy
increased, there was the Victory and its indomitable
Admbal. The tardy routine of the Navy Commission was
the high rock against which his reaiatless wiU rolled with
the least effect. Week after week he urged this body to
proceed with greater rapidity and resolution. The ScUly
lalea reduced, theae officials saw no reason for maintaining
a force at the Land's End ; but Blake told them it was
necessary to keep several powerful vessels at that point ;
to send a frigate to watch the Isle of Man and check the
Irish marauders who continued to infest St. George's
Channel ; and to station a regular garrison on St. Mary's
Island. When he quitted the ScUly Islands for Ply
mouth, he left a favourite officer, Colonel Bennett, in
command of the Commonwealth forces there ; and whUe
the Scotch army remained in England he kept up a re
gular correspondence with him, considering that station
as one of very great importance. Much of this corre
spondence is now lost ; but the foUowing brief note,
relating to land as weU as to sea events, has escaped the
common doom. "Plymouth, August 26th, 1651.
"Yesterday I wrote unto the Com^ of the MiUtia,
which I beUeve you have partaken of, — How that ac
cording to the intelUgence I have received the enemy
waa possessed of Worcester. By the pacquet this morn-

ROBERT BLAKE. 143
ing, I am informed that the enemy bended his course
towards that place, but to prevent him coming there
was a considerable force put into it. He is at a stand,
knowing not where to go, and his forces mutinous in
respect of their tedious marches. It hath pleased God
to take out of this life my partner. Col. Popham, who
died of a fever in the Downs, by reason whereof I be
lieve my stay wiU not be long here. I have no more at
present but to renew my desbe that an eye may be had
upon the disaffected."
In the depots and dockyards the abuses against which
he had to struggle were of the most formidable kind.
Many of the ships were not sea-worthy. The stores,
provisions and warlike materials were very deficient ; and
the seamen's wages were often in arrear. Blake com
peUed the authorities in London to listen to complaints ;
and from the extracts of letters written by various cap
tains of vessels which he submitted to their conside
ration, it is stUl possible to gather some idea of the
extreme poverty of means with which he had to per
form hia wondrous exploits. An example or two will
suffice for this purpose : Captain Pearce, he says, writ
ing from Londonderry on the 27th of August of thia
year, " complains that the fleets on that coast generaUy
stand in great need of victuals, desires speedy suppUes
thereof, otherwise must greatly suffer; goes to half allow
ance, drinks water; hath but seven days' provi aiona,
moat of it atinks ; butter and cheese not edible." Cap
tain Veaaey, of the Truelove, writing from Liverpool in
the same month, complains, he says, that "the frigate
wants all manner of stores ; stands in great need of trim
ming ; is very leaky ; when she bears up hath a foot of
water above the ceiling; hath been out nineteen months;
her men in great need of pay to provide clothes for
winter." This was very much the state of the fleet

144 ROBERT BLAKE.
throughout. A letter written by Blake to the Commis
sioners at theb office on Tower Hill, from Plymouth
on the 28th of August, proves his minute attention
to every thing connected with the welfare of his men,
and exhibits one of the abuses — the plan of paying
all the seamen's wages in London — which for a long
time resisted all the influence brought to bear on it by
the reformer. — " Gentlemen," this letter runs, " there
hath been this summer divers mariners prest in this
and other western ports into the States' ships ; and, in
respect their habitations are so far distant from London,
many of them have, upon the going in of the ships they
served in, been discharged here ; and one Mr. Edward
Pattiaon of this town, out of charity hath paid them
their tickets, they being poor people and not able to
look after it alone. This man acquaints me that for
some tickets, notwithstanding he hath been without his
money a good while, he ia in danger to lose it through
delay. I know not what the reason is, but I beUeve
what he did was merely to relieve and ease the poor
men. I therefore make it my desire to you that you
wUl give orders for the payment of such tickets as
he hath or shaU present unto you, they agreeing both
in entriea and diacharges with the muster-books, and
thereby Mr. Pattiaon not put to unnecessary attend
ance. Therein you wiU not only obUge him but also
your affectionate friend, Robert Blake."
The rectification of abuaea, and the political imcer-
tainties which arose for a moment through the Scotch
invasion of England, detained the fieet at Plymouth
several months. MeanwhUe Carteret maintained his
reputation as a daring and successful cruiser. Undaunted
by the fall of Sir John Grenville at Scilly, he swept the
sea from Land's End to Portland Reach, and the Council
had stiU the mortification to receive the letters which

ROBERT BLAKE. 145
Whitelocte has briefly reported : -^April 17, 1651,
" letters of the Jersey pirates fating two barques laden
in sight of Portland ; " April 21, " of more prizes taten
by the Jersey pbates, and of Captain Bennett's fighting
two of them four hours;" July 14, "that five English
vessels were taken by boats from Jersey, carrying four
or five guns apiece;" July 18, "letters of two prizes
taken by a Jersey frigate of eight guns, twenty-four
oars and eighty men, and that there were twelve of those
frigates belonging to Jersey;" August 7, "letters of
much damage done by the Jersey pirates ; " September
27, " letters of the Jersey pirates doing much mischief
on the western coast."
By the middle of October the English fleet was almost
ready for sea. Blake hoisted his flag in the Happy
Entrance, a forty-four gun-ship. Captain John Coppin.
The battle of Worcester had put an end to embar-
raaaments on land, and left the powers that ruled in
Weatminater time to think of such matters as national
honour and the security of trade. Taking Colonel
Haynes and his regiment on board, together with two
other regiments of foot, and four troops of horae, Blake
sailed from Plymouth sound ; and on the 20th of Octo
ber, after suffering from a terrible storm, which scattered
and slightly damaged many of his ships, he obtained a
precarious anchorage in St. Ouen's Bay on the west
side of Jersey. The sea broke furiously on the rocky
shore, and a heavy rain added to the difficulty of making
obaervations. But the officers of the Happy Entrance
could see that the coast was alive with defenders, horse
and foot, men active, courageous and well-disciplined.
After a brief rest, Blake ordered his boats to be
lowered at three in the morning, but the waves broke
too grandly in theb front to permit a landing. When
day dawned, a second attempt was made, but without

146 ROBERT BLAKE.
success. Carteret had only to look on and see his enemy
baffled by the elements. The boats put off, filled with
armed marines, dismounted troopers and their horses,
bodies of infantry with their pikes and matchlocks ; but
the sea rose before them lite a vast rampart, and one or
two boats which ventured into the raging surf, were
overset in an instant. Blate resolved to try the effect
of a cannonade. The ahips being got into position, the
cannoneers began to play, and their fire was quickly
answered from several little forts and redoubts iu the
bay, as well as from twenty-four brass field-pieces at
tached to the militia service. In the fury of the moment
some of the frigates ran close enough for the men on
board to use their muskets, and many Cavaliers rushed
into the water in the eagerness of theb zeal ; but as a
cannonade of four hours' duration, in which the Round
head gunners spared neither powder nor shot, produced
no apparent effect on the garrison, the fleet drew off to
a more sheltered position in St. Brelard's Bay, about a
league distant, where the Admbal made a new dispo
sition of his power.
One squadron was sent back to St. Ouen's Bay;
another was ordered to take up a strong position in St.
Aubin's Bay, over against St. Heliers, and ready to act
against EUzabeth Castle. Other ships were commanded
to cruise off the coast of St. Clements, threatening every
hour to make a descent ; and a further division was sent
to GrouvUle Bay, on the extreme east of the island, to
operate againat Mount OrgueU Castle. These move
ments perplexed the defenders, and Carteret was obliged
to detach a part of his forces to wait on and watch each
squadron. Blake himself remained in the Happy En
trance at anchor in St. Brelard's Bay, and the chief force
of the Royalists encamped on the rising grounds, ready
to resist the Eoundheads should they attempt to land-

ROBERT BLAKE. 147
A little after midnight, though a thin rain was still
faUing, the moon broke out for a few minutes, and by
her pale light Carteret saw that a large body of foot was
being lowered from the ships into flat-bottomed boats
brought from Plymouth for that service, — in all ten
battalions of four thousand men. A brisk fire was
opened on them from two small batteries erected in
favourable positions on the shore, and mounted with
excellent ordnance. The Happy Entrance replied with
her broadsides, and other of the Eoundhead ships joined
in the cannonade. But either in consequence of the
discovery of their intention, or because the tremendous
sweU of the sea prevented the necessary measures
being taken, the attempt to land that night was aban
doned. When the battalions returned to their ships,
new orders were given out. A squadron of nineteen sail
was left in St. Brelard's Bay to occupy the attention of
the camp, while Blake, with the remaining body, returned
to his former position in St. Ouen's Bay, where he had
found more sea-room, and had now resolved to effect his
purpose of throwing Colonel Haynes and his troops on
shore. Sir George Carteret left the dragoons and his
own company of fusiliers, supported by four companies
of mUitia, to watch the nineteen ahipa and frigates, and
started with the infantry on a harassing night-march
along the beach ; keeping the fleet in view as well as he
could in the uncertain light of early morning. Blake's
policy was to wear out the men by constant marches,
alarms and cannonades. Every moment some of the
fleet-guns thundered at the shore, or at the exposed
column ; and many times during the long march Carteret
had to halt and bring his artillery into position and
return the fire. Nor could he gain a single moment's
repose for his harassed comrades during the day. In
stead of pulling up his fleet in the centre of the bay,
l2

148 ROBERT BLAKE.
as was expected, Blake held on his course, making for
Letac, the extreme northern point of land, and thither
Carteret was compelled to follow him. But as soon as
the ships were all come up in front of that headland, the
captains were - signalled to tack about and return to the
southern point. La Frouque, five or six miles distant.
Carteret could no longer keep his men together. They
had been under arms three days and two nights, during
which time rain had fallen without intermission; they
had made several marches and counter- marches over bad
roads and broken ground ; and they had stood the fierce
though intermittent fire from the enemy's ships. At
sunset he allowed them to depart for the neighbouring
villages in search of refreshment and repose ; he himself,
with a few dragoons, alone remaining on the beach, along
which, however, he had aU the camp-fires Ughted. The
weather changed in the night. The rain ceased, the
wind died away, and the awell of the sea abated ; but
not a star was visible, no moon arose to tell the tale
of preparation ; for years, the pitchy darkneaa of the
sky that night was recoUected as an omen of disaster.
The fires along the shore appeared to warn the Admiral
that his endeavour to throw Haynes' regiment on
shore at that point would be attended with other diffi
culties than a threatening sea and a rocky coast on a
dark night. Yet nothing could check his ardour. So
long familiar with success, he despised obstacles ; and
towards the close of the civil war even the Eoundhead
soldiers had learned to feel that contempt for Cavalier
prowess, which at an earlier period the Cavaliers had
affected to feel for the valour of tailors and serving-men.
At eleven o'clock at night, the boats were again lowered,
and by a desperate and gallant effort were run ashore.
Holding their arms above their heads, the men leapt
into the surf, many of them up to the neck in water, and

ROBERT BLAKE. 1/19
pushed for land. While struggling to obtain firm footing,
and to free themselves from the returning surges, Car
teret's horse rode down furiously with the hope of
forcing them back into the sea ; but, forming his men in
the dark midnight, Haynes led them to the charge, and,
after a confiict of half-an-hour, he drove the Cavalier
horse from the field, and pursued them inland more
than a mile.
Early next morning, Haynes marched against a fort
near his halting-place, but found it abandoned. Several
pieces of cannon and some colours fell into his hands,
but no enemy appeared to dispute his advance. During
that day and the next day other forts and mili
tary positions .were taken without a blow ; and in
three days the whole island, with the exception of
Mount OrgueU and Elizabeth Castle, had surrendered.
Finding it useless to contend in the open field with his
dispbited troops against the victorious Eoundheads,
Carteret withdrew his entire force into Mount OrgueU
and the Castle, which laat place he had a reaaonable'
proapect of maintaining against every aasault. Money,
guns, ammunition, stores, and provisions for eight
months had been carefully piled up there in anticipation
of the siege which now threatened it. Cut off from the
mainland and surrounded by rocks and seas, commanding
the island though not commanded by it, Elizabeth Castle
was conaidered an impregnable fortreas. The nearest
point of land on which a fort could be raised against it
was more than three-fourths of a mile distant, and the
sunken rocks lay so near the surface all round, that a
frigate or man-of-war could not approach it within
several furlongs. With plenty of men and an occasional
supply of provisions from France, Carteret hoped to
hold this rock until a change of fortune came to
his royal master ; and into this fortress the chiefs of the

I50 ROBERT BLAKE.
Cavalier gentry, the clergy of the ialand, and a picked
garrison retired at the approach of the Eoundheads.
Haynes and his victorious troops took posaeasion of
St. Heliers.
Having already battered down a strong fort at St.
Mary's Island, Blake believed he could also damage
Elizabeth Castle from his fleet ; and therefore sending
Colonel Haynes to invest Mount OrgueU by land, he
himself carried his frigates into St. Aubin's Bay, and
planting them as near the fortifications aa the pilot could
find sea-room, he opened a tremendous fire on its old
walls. The garrison answered with a loud cannonade.
But at the very outset of this furious attack, an acci
dental shot from the Happy Entrance produced a
disastrous moral effect on the defenders. A cannon-ball
struck the little church on the rock, splintered the stones
and killed several persons ; at which Lady Carteret was
so alarmed that she earnestly entreated her husband to
make terms with the Admiral before the island was
blown to pieces. The commander was himself firm ; but
so many persons, male and female, pestered him with
their fears, that he was forced to send away his best
boats with them that very night to France. Neither
Lady Carteret nor the ladies and gentlemen who accom
panied her in her hasty fiight could have been of much
use in the defence. But seeing these persons going on
board under cover of the dark night, a part of the regular
garrison, equally desirous of saving theb lives, made
an attempt to get off ; and aU who were taken in the
act of trying to escape were hanged as deserters.
StiU further to diapbit the defendera, Mount OrgueU
surrendered after a, fortnight's siege : — Sir Philip Car
teret obtaining from Blake the promise of an amnesty
and act of oblivion for himself and his comrades in arms,
a promise which was in due time confirmed to them

ROBERT BLAKE. 151
by ParUament. Twenty brass and iron guna, as many
barrels of powder, a thousand stand of arms, and two
months' provisions for seventy men, were the spoils of
the victors. The land forces were then moved to a hiU
near St. Heliers and opposite the Caatle. But the
ordinary field-artillery waa uaeless at so vast a range,
and Blake had to send to Plymouth for mortars
of greater calibre. From these mortars a succession
of missUes were thrown into the castle ; many of the
houses were knocked down aud multitudes were kiUed
by the exploding grenades ; but, without one word of
encouragement from his master, one message of hope
from Lord Jermyn, Carteret gallantly held his little
rock for two whole months, though at a terrific sacri
fice of human life. At last a magazine of stores was
blown up and eighty officers and men were buried in
the ruins. This crowning calamity induced him to
hoist a white fiag, and after a parley, to surrender on
condition of being taten, with such officers as chose
to go, and landed safely at St. Maloes, on the coast of
Normandy. The garrison had been reduced to three
hundred and eighty men. A great park of artillery, and
stores of powder, shot, bread, beer, beef, salt, wine and
brandy, were found in the remaining magazines. After
these signal successes. Comet Caatle, in Guernsey, sur
rendered without a blow, — and the English seas were
at last cleared of every enemy to the Commonwealth of
England. For this important service Blake received the special
thanks of Parliament, as did also Colonel Haynes. A
public thanksgiving was ordered for these victories and
for the conquest of Limerick, which city had been
taken about the same time. The election of members
for the Council of State being about to take place,
Blake was nominated by Parliament, in a full House,

153 ROBERT BLAKE.
one of that supreme body. His hands were already
full. He was a Commissioner for sequestrating the
Estates of Somerset Delinquents — a Commissioner for
purging the Ministry of improper persons — a Com
missioner of the Navy and Admbalty — a member of the
Houae of Commons — and a member of the Council of
State. And now, as if these offices implied no cares
and duties, he was appointed, in the probable event of
a fierce and sanguinary war with Holland, sole General-
at-Sea for the ensuing year.
But this accumulation of offices and honours did not
prevent the great seaman from looking with care and
courtesy to the interest of his humblest companions in
glory. His letters at this as at every other time exhibit
his characteristic kindneas of heart, showing the utmost
readiness to hear complaints and to rectify grievances.
One of his earliest suggestiona to the Navy- Commis
sioners, after the reduction of the Channel Islands left
them at leisure to think of abuses at home, was a
strong recommendation for them to adopt the plan of
paying the seamen's wages in the port in which they
were discharged, and as soon as they came on shore ; so
as neither to give them the trouble of walking to
London nor keep them waiting several days at Ports
mouth or Plymouth, in idleness, at great expense, and
at a distance from all the salutary infiuences of family
and home. His regard for minor and individual cases
of distress was illustrated by numerous special appli
cations to the Commissioners. Every sufferer found a
zealous advocate in his Admiral. And although abuses
of many kinds continued to prevail at the Admiralty
Office and in the dock-yards, defying every effort of
the courageous reformer, there is reason to suppose
that when Blake pleaded the cause of his own seamen,
he generally obtained justice for the applicants.

CHAPTER VI.

THE DUTCH WAE.
A CHEEisnED dream of the English Republicans had
been the idea of forming the United Provinces of
Holland and the new insular Commonwealth into one
mighty Protestant state. The Dutch were the greatest
naval power in the world. The sea seemed to be their
native element, — aud their fleets of war and commerce
were known in every port, from the farthest east to the
remotest west. Their colonial empire was only inferior
in extent to that of Spain ; while their wealth, energy,
and valour, gave promise of an indefinite expansion.
England possessed a larger home territory, better har
bours, and a finer geographical position. Its population
was more numerous ; its maritime reaourcea were
scarcely inferior ; and its land forces, after putting
down the proudest chivalry of Europe, were no longer
to be compared with the mercenary troops of Italy and
the Empire. A confederation of the two Common
wealths would, therefore, have produced a vast and
powerful Republic, capable, should the need arise, of
resisting all the crowns of the Continent. Such a
confederation would have been able to dictate peace to
powers like France and Spain. It would have secured
the ascendancy of Protestant ideas and a liberal policy
in the north and west of Europe ; and would have

154 ROBERT BLAKE.
furnished a ground from which knowledge and free
institutions might have contended against the igno
rance, bigotry and despotism which in modem times
have found their strongholds in the east and south.
But this splendid conception was opposed by commercial
jealousies and dynastic interests. WUliam, second Prince
of Orange of that name, had married in the days of
Stuart rule, a daughter of Charles I. ; so that iu addition
to his princely antipathy to commonwealths, he was urged
to thwart the idea of such an aUiance by the powerful
motive of a possible succession for his wife and chUdren
to the English throne. He was popular with the lower
classes of his countrymen ; and so long as he lived, the
two Protestant states remained on bad terms. He
refused to extend to the Parliament's agents the ordi
nary protection of the D utch laws. Dorislaus, its first
envoy, was murdered at the Hague by foUowers of
Montrose. Strickland, who succeeded to the perUous
office, suffered daily insults in the public streets. Yet
no redress could be obtained. Recent prosperity, a
career of victory unrelieved by check, had raised the
pride of Holland to the highest. AVithin a few years
the renowned Admbals of the Republic had humbled
the power of Spain, punished the insolence of Dunkirk,
compelled the Prince of Salee and the Deys of Tunis
and Algiers to sue for peace, and made the Sultan
of Fez and Morocco tremble on his distant throne.
After such successes, nothing seemed to them beyond
the reach of their ambition ; and many of their people,
led by the Orange party, were anxious for a rupture
with England at the moment of its supposed exhaustion,
believing that in a few weeks they could wrest from
it the vain but fiercely disputed right to be considered
mistress of the narrow seas.
But the Prince of Orange died somewhat suddenly,

ROBERT BLAKE. 155
leaving the heir to his honours and passions yet unborn;
and the democratic party, comprising nearly all that was
liberal and enlightened in Holland, seized the oppor
tunity to abolish the office of Stadtholder and restore
the pure form of republican government. Their success
encouraged the Engliah leaders to believe that even if
their idea of a confederation could not be realised, a
close alliance, offensive and defensive, might be formed
between the two states. Oliver St. John was sent over
as ambassador to the States- General to propose a treaty
of trade and friendship. His reception was at first
cordial and fiattering; but the negotiations went on
slowly and uncertainly. After a long consideration of
the "English proposals, their High Mightinesses offered
a counter project. Debates, interviews, and written ex
planations multiplied ; time wore on ; and at length St.
John found that his leave of absence had expired. His
pride waa hurt at theae delays. The exile court was
stUl at the Hague ; and in addition to his ill-success
with thes States-General, he was subject to frequent out
rages from the Cavaliers. The Dutch, on their aide,
were angry with Parliament for having fixed a day for
his return, fancying it intended as a sarcasm or a
menace. Probably the true cause of the delay was a
desbe on the part of Holland not to commit herself to
the new Commonwealth until the result of the Scotch
invasion should be seen : — St. John answered their com
plaints in haughty language, and took his leave, war
between the two countries already raging in his heart.
As soon as the battle of Worcester had put an end to
doubt as to the stabUity of the new Commonwealth,
Dutch statesmen saw their mistake. In turn the States-
General aent envoya to assuage the wrath of Parliament,
and endeavour to resume the negotiations at the point
where they had been broken. But new causes of

156 ROBERT BLAKE.
offence were in the way, and the terms once rejected
could no longer be obtained. Some English merchants,
ia consequence of complaints made to the Council of
State of their losses by Dutch privateers, had received
letters of marque against the ships of that nation ; and
in a short time more than eighty prizes had been secured
in the ports of our east coast. A more serious obstacle
to negotiation had arisen in the Navigation Act. The
Dutch were a nation of traders. Their whale, cod, and
herring fisheries occupied a great number of vessels ; but
the largest and best part of theb commercial navy was
employed in the carrying trade. Amsterdam and Rot
terdam were the exchanges of Europe ; and the ship
owners of these wealthy ports made their fortunes by
transporting the produce of art and nature from one coun
try to another. Under the Stuarts, England had neglected
this important branch of naval industry ; but the Navi
gation Act, in declaring that no goods, the produce of
Asia, Africa, or America, should be imported into Eng
land except in vessels either belonging to subjects of the
Commonwealth, or to the countries from which the
goods were imported, put an end, so far as these
islands, with all theb colonies, connexions and depen
dencies were concerned, to that lucrative and fruitful
branch of Dutch enterprise. The firat prayer of the
new ambassador, therefore, was that thia aevere law
should be repealed, or if not repealed at once, that its
action should be suspended during the progress of negoti
ation. But while urging this point in the name of peace,
they were careful to hint before the Council of State
that they were then fitting out a powerful fieet for the
protection of their trade. Parliament took the hint as
a menace, and repUed by ordering its captains to exact
all those honours to the red cross which had been
claimed by England in the narrow seas from the Saxon

ROBERT BLAKE. , 157
times. The order raised new troubles. Commodore
Young, falUng in with a Dutch fieet retuming from
Genoa, sent to request the Admiral of the convoy to
lower his flag ; the latter refuaed to comply with a de
mand so unexpected ; and Young poured a broadside
into the ahipa. A sharp action ensued, and the Dutch
man was obliged to strike. To revenge the insult to
their colours, the States- General fitted out a fleet of
forty-two sail and placed it under the command of their
renowned Admbal, Tromp, with instructions to use his
discretion as to when and how far he would insist on the
point of supremacy ; but he was positively required to
repel on all occasions, and at all hazards, attacks on the
traders of the Republic, and to support the dignity of its
flag. Tromp's genius was well suited to the execution
of these vague and menacing orders.
War had not yet been declared, and the ambassadors
were still in London talking of peace, when Admiral
Tromp suddenly appeared in the Downs. Bourne, sta
tioned with a squadron of the fleet near Dover, despatched
a messenger with the intelUgence to Blake, who was then
cruising in the James off Rye, in the usual manner of
the summer guard. Suspecting evil designs, Blake in
stantly gave his orders, and in a few hours his whole
force was under sail for the Straits. Next morning he
saw for the first time his celebrated enemy lying in
Dover roadstead ; when he came within ten or twelve
miles of the nearest ships, Tromp weighed anchor and
stood out to sea, but without either lowering hia flag
or offering any explanation of this act of defiance. Blake
fired a signal-gun to call attention to the omission. No
answer was retumed. To a second and a third shot
Tromp replied derisively by a single gun, stiU keeping
his course, the Dutch flag flying proudly at mast-head.
Over against Calais road, it w^as observed by the English

158 ROBERT BLAKE.
fleet that Tromp fell in with a ketch coming fuU speed
from Holland, the captain of which evidently brought im
portant orders, for Tromp veered round and made towards
Blake, his own flag-ship, the Brederode, being in the
van. The English officers were mystified by these move
ments. In spite of the presence of the Dutch ambas
sadors in London, Blake felt a strong impression that
Tromp had received instructions to offer battle, and he
lay-to and got his squadron into as good fighting posture
as he found possible on so short a notice. The Dutch
had a vastly superior force. Tromp counted forty-two
men-of-war and frigates. Blake counted fifteen. He
had sent orders for Bourne to join him with his squadron
of eight ships ; but these were not yet in sight, and
possibly would not arrive in time for the engagement.
The disproportion of vessels did not, however, indicate
the true disproportion of force. As a rule the EngUsh
ships were larger than those of Holland, carrying more
guns and a greater body of men ; but, on the other hand,
the Dutch ships were manned by veteran seamen, while
the great body of men on board the EngUsh fieet were
raw soldiers sent from the camp and unaccustomed to
the new service.
When the two fieets came within musket-range, Blake,
affecting not to notice the enemy's menacing attitude,
shot out from his main body and advanced towards the
Brederode to speak with its commander about the refusal
of honours formerly paid to the English fiag. Tromp
sent a broadside into the James and stopped her short.
Blake and several of his officers were in the cabin when
this salute burst on them, smashing the glaas, and
damaging the stern. He lifted his eyes from his papers,
and coolly observed — " Well, it is not very civil in Van
Tromp to take my flag-ship for a brothel, and break my
windows ! " As he spoke, another broadside roUed from

ROBERT BLAKE. 159
the decks of the Brederode. Curling his black whiskers
round his fingers, as he always did in anger, he called his
gunners to return the fire, and in a short time the battle
became general.
The English admirals then in service had not hitherto
seen maritime warfare on a grand scale, like Tromp and
the officers who had served under his ordera in the great
contest with Spain ; and only one of them. Vice-admiral
Penn, had received a regular naval education. When
the CouncU of State appointed Blake to the sole com
mand against HoUand, they gave him two blank com
missions, that he might select his own vice and rear-
admirals for the ensuing year ; and in conjunction with
CromweU, he had named Penn and Bourne to these
important stations. Penn went on board the Triumph,
sixty-eight guns, taking young Robert Blake, son of the
Admiral's dead brother Samuel, aa his lieutenant ; Bourne
raised his fiag on board the St. Andrew, of sixty guns.
But not expecting to be assailed while the Dutch envoys
were stUl soUciting peace in London, Penn had got leave
of absence from his ship, and was on a visit to his family;
so that Blake had to contend with vastly inferior power
against the greatest nautical genius of the age, without
having at his side a single person of practical knowledge
as a seaman.
At four o'clock the conteat began with a succession of
broadsides. On the part of Blate at least, no, line
appears to have been formed ; fieet met fieet and ship
grappled ship as they chanced to fall in each other's
way. From the first onset, the Jamea, a fifty-gun ship,
carrying 260 men, bore the brunt of the action. The
recoUection of Lyme and Taunton, of SciUy and Cartha
gena, fierce as the fire was, faded before the terrific work.
More than seventy cannon-baUa were lodged in his huU ;
his masts were blown away ; and his rigging was torn

l6o ROBERT BLAKE.
into strings by the tremendous gunnery of the Dutch.
His master, one of the mates, and several other officers
fell, dead or wounded, at his side. For four hours the
shot of the enemy fiew about and around him without
intermisaion. Six men were kUled, thirty-five were
desperately wounded, and many more were hurt; but
his crew maintained the unequal contest with a bravery
and resolution after his own heart. As night came
down, theb energies were roused anew by the thunder of
Bourne's cannon bursting in the enemy's rear. The
sound of artillery, booming along the waters, had reached
the rear-guard, consisting of the St. Andrew and seven
other ships, and Bourne immediately crowded saU and
stood out to sea in hope of sharing in the battle. He
arrived in the crisis of the engagement, and his 300
additional guns sufficed to turn the scale of victory.
Unable or unwUling to engage this new enemy, Tromp
retired from the scene about nine o'clock with the fast-
fading light, leaving his intended surprise and destruction
of the English fleet at beat a drawn battle. Blake was too
much disabled to foUow, his mizen-mast being shot away,
his sails, cordage and spars all torn and broken. He
came to an anchor about four mUes off the Ness, and
spent the night in repairs and preparations for the mor
row. When day dawned the Dutch were not in sight.
Far as his eye could reach, the Channel showed no trace
of an enemy : — and the Commonwealth was once more
lord of the narrow seas. During the fight two Dutch
ships had been boarded and taken. One of them was so
much damaged it waa feared she would go down in the
night, and after rifiing her holds and cabins the crew
turned her adrift. The other, a ship of thirty guns, was
brought in safely and manned for immediate service.
Young Robert Blake distinguished himself greatly. In
the absence of Vice-admbal Penn, he commanded the

ROBERT BLAKE. i6i
Triumph, and evinced such skiU and courage, that on
Penn's removal to the James, he was appointed captain
of that important vessel. With the one exception of
the fiag-ship, the fleet had not suffered materiaUy. Only
nine men were reported as slain in all the other ships.
Of the Dutch, two hundred and fifty were taken pri
soners, and nearly aa many more were aaid to be kiUed.
The encounter of two powerful fieets in the midst of
peace, without declaration of war or other previous for
mality to prepare men's minds, produced an extraordi
nary sensation in the two countries. In London, the
mob rose, and would have burnt the house of the Dutch
ambassadors at Chelsea, had not the government sent
down a troop of horse. These ambassadors made strenu
ous efforts to explain the cauaea of the rencounter. They
declared that Tromp was not the first to begin. They
accounted for his appearance in the Downs by alleging
stress of weather. They said he was about to lower his
fiag when Blake began to fire ; they expressed deep
regret for what had occurred ; and urged, with apparent
earnestness, that violent counsels should give place to
renewed attempts at negotiation. Tromp also pretended
that he had not violated the peace ; that from first to
last he had merely stood on his defence. He declared
that had he chosen to make use of his immense supe
riority of force, he could have destroyed the English
fieet. People received the declaration with contempt.
At last the ambassadors offered to disavow and disgrace
theb great Admiral; but the more they pressed their
point, the sterner and more exacting Parliament became.
England, it replied, had suffered inault and wrong ; its
duty was therefore to obtain reparation for the past,
security for the future. Every day, as war came nearer,
the States-General seemed more resolved to adhere to a
pacific policy. As a final effort they sent over their

i62 ROBERT BLAKE.
grand pensionary, Pauw, a man whose character and
office were thought likely to give unusual weight to his
overtures ; the demands of Parliament rose at every
turn, and after a fruitless attempt to negotiate, this
eminent ambassador gave up the vain effort to reconcUe
the two powers, and took his leave.
Blake remained master of the Channel. AU reserve
being thrown away, in consequence of the late engage
ment, he exerted his power to harass the enemy's trade,
and to fit out the vessels which had faUen into his hands
for immediate service. His cruisers brought prizes
into port almost daUy during the latter part of May
and June. He captured ten merchant-men at one swoop.
One day he received inteUigence that a Dutch fleet of
twenty-six traders, convoyed by three men-of-war, was
coming up Channel; — they were aU captured, traders
and convoy, and the latter were immediately manned
and fitted for service. In less than a month, to the
surprise and ecstacy of the Londoners, he had sent into
the river more than forty rich prizes captured in open
sea from their powerful and vigilant enemy. The Dutch
merchants were compelled to abandon the Straits. Their
argosies from the South of Europe and from the Eastern
and Western Indies had to run for safety into French
ports and send their cargoes overland at an immense
loss, or to make the long and dangerous voyage round by
the North of Scotland. This brUliant success inspired
the CouncU of State with new life. Orders were given
to strengthen Dover pier. Forty sail were added by one
vote to the fieet. At Blake's suggestion six additional
fire-ships were prepared. The seamen's wages were
raised; and the Vice-admbala of aU the maritime stations
from Norfolk to Hampshire were requested to summon
together aU mariners between the ages of fifteen and
twenty, young, ardent, docUe, and engage them in the

ROBERT BLAKE. 163
State's service. Knowing the vast resources and in
flexible spirit of the people with whom they were about
to enter into conflict, the CouncU of State, Blake being
a member, and iu aU matters connected with the navy its
chief authority, resolved that the entbe fleet should be
raised to 250 saU and 14 fire-ships. The divisions were
to be commanded and located aa foUows : — 30 sail were
to go forthwith to the west Channel, ply between Brest
and Scilly, and teep the sea open towards the south ;
20 sail were to go northward, disturb the Dutch fisheries
and capture theb Baltic traders ; 30 sail were to ride in
the Straits; and the remaining 170 sail and the fire-
ships were to teep together under Blate's immediate
orders to oppose and fight the enemy. These magnificent
ideas were never realised in full : — but at the end of one
month from the fight off Dover the energetic Admiral
coidd count with patriotic pride no less than 105 veaaels,
carrying 3961 guns, under his flag. He was not, how
ever, equaUy strong in men. His constant cry was —
seamen, soldiers ! And the Commissioners of the Navy
were engaged day and night in devising means to supply
him with this essential element of maritime power. Two
regiments of foot were taten on board bodily, and from
that time marines became a necessary part of the equip
ment of our men-of-war.
MeanwhUe the Dutch preparations for the campaign
were made on the grandest scale. The doctyards of the
Texel, the Maas, and the Zuyder Zee resounded with
the note of coming strife. Sixty men-of-war, larger in
size and more perfect in equipment than had ever yet
been seen in those northern seas, were commenced.
Convoys not too far away were caUed bact ; merchant
men of heavy tonnage were pressed into the service ; the
ablest seamen found in their ports, irrespective of age or
nationality, were lured into the service by offers of high

i64 ROBERT BLAKE.
wages and the hope of plunder ; and in a few weeks
their renowned Admiral, ripe in age, honours and expe
rience, E*iw himself at the head of 120 sail — a power
more than sufficient in the opinion of every patriotic
Dutchman to sweep the English navy from the face of
the earth.
The swift and unexpected opening of the war had
placed the mercantile marine of both nations, especiaUy
in the North Sea, at the mercy of privateers and cruising
squadrons. At that period few English vessels ventured
to the south of Europe ; the distance checked the enter
prises of the timid, and the more substantial peril of
Algerine pirates and Salee rovers prevented the brave
from seeking fortune in waters where the might of
England was Uttle known and stUl less feared. In the
opinion of these African marauders, Holland waa the only
naval power of Europe. More than once she had chas
tised their insolence with stem severity; and, as her
traders ploughed the southern waters in comparative
safety, the spices of the Levant, the sUks of Italy and
the wines of Portugal, were chiefly brought to England
in Dutch bottoms. Baltic commerce, on the contrary,
was chiefly carried in our own ships ; and at that very
moment an unusual fleet of vessels were in the North
and Baltic Seas, Parliament, in anticipation of war,
having sent out several traders to purchase hemp, tar,
and ship-stores for them in Sweden, Denmark, and
Pomerania. Theae stores were now become of vast
importance. The dockyards were bare ; not a frigate in
the fieet was decently supplied; and in the face of a
contest which muat occupy months and might extend to
years, it was necessary to send a strong aquadron to the
north to collect theae ships and convoy them safely home
with their precious cargoes. Other reasons compelled
Blake's attention to the squadron of the north. Ever

ROBERT BLAKE. 155
since the atrocious action at Amboyna, which wrested
the Spice Islands from our hands, the fleets of HoUand
had generally returned from either east or west by the
long route of the Orkneys, so as to avoid bringing
their freights within view of Dover Caatle. One of
these rich argosies was now known to be on the home
ward voyage, and the CouncU of State was anxious that
it should be harassed, and if poasible cut off. Again,
unable or unwiUing to make uae of the noble fisheries
that nature has lavished on our coaata, the EngUsh of
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had allowed
their more enterprising neighbours to reap the harvest
almost unquestioned. A fisherman's life suited the
Dutchman's coarse and laborious habits. The hulks or
busses engaged in this trade, averaging from three hun
dred to five hundred tons burden, were each manned by
about a dozen persons ; uauaUy the master with his wife
and chUdren, and about sis or eight others, men and
women. On board these herring-boats, children were
able to earn theb own bread from the age of four or five.
The life waa rude at best — the wages were always scanty.
But the people had learned to Uve on stormy and sterile
seas, to fiouriah on mud-banks and sandy plains. More
than once our ancestors had tried to establish rival
fisheries, but never with a chance of profit. With an
old Saxon chivalry, stiU found in some portion of the
lower classes, they refused to allow the women to divide
their coarse toils or share their daUy perils ; nor had
they yet learned to look without horror on infant labour.
Free from these scruples, the Frisian found in his baser
nature a commercial advantage againat which it waa
ruinous to compete. The Dutch family, huddled in a
corner of the buas, found a part of ita coarae food in
the waters on which it exercised its craft. The English
fisherman, who left his wife and children at home, had

i66 ROBERT BLAKE.-
to support them out of the profits of his spoil. Thus
the whole trade feU into Dutch hands ; and at the open
ing of the war between the two countries the boats
engaged in it were counted by thousands. Could the
Dutch make good theb claim to fish among the Northern
Islands ? This was an open question. They did fish in
those waters. But while the fact was aUowed, the right
was denied ; and on taking the supreme dbection of the
war, Blake was anxious to give practical effect to the
denials of his government. WhUe the squadron waa
preparing for sea, information came to hand that the
spring fleet of theae herring-buaaes, consisting of more
than six hundred saU, convoyed by twelve men-of-war,
was on its way home laden with fish. His first idea was
to send Sir George Ascue to the North, and stay in
person to oppose Admiral Tromp ; but as that great
genius of strategy lay stUl in the Texel, making no sign
of an intention to put to sea, he changed his plan, and
resolved to go in peraon to the North. Sending swift
messengers to the Baltic, to desbe all the merchant-
vessels, private and pubUc, ready to return home, then
in and about the Sound, to rendezvous at Elsinore, and
there await his arrival, — he went down to Dover,
instaUed Ascue as his Ueutenant in the Channel, with
ordera to keep a sharp eye on Tromp's movements, and
set sail in the Resolution for the North, attended by a
magnificent array of sixty ships.
On the 21st of June, Blake fired his parting salute
iu Dover road. On the 9th of July letters reached the
CouncU of State annoimcing that a gaUant fleet, supposed
to be General Blake's, had passed in sight of Dunbar.
Two days later, despatches left Westminster in hot haste,
by mounted couriers, to inform him that a sudden change
had occurred in the enemy's dispositions, — that as soon
as he was known to have passed the Frith of Forth the

ROBERT BLAKE. 167
Dutch Admiral had quitted his lair, — that he was then
riding with 102 men-of-war and ten fire-ships in the
Downs, — that the whole coaat was alarmed for its safety,
none knowing where a blow would first be struck, — and
that so far from Ascue being able to afford them any
protection, he had himself been compeUed to run under
the guns of Dover Castle. The couriers rode day and
night with urgent letters of recal ; but before these came
into the Admiral's hands, one of the three great objects
of Blake's expedition had been accomplished. Meeting
the great herring-fieet off Bockness, his advanced guard of
twenty sail feU furiously on the men-of-war, and after a
gallant contest, prolonged by the obstinate valour of the
Dutch againat superior numbers for three hours, sunk
three of the twelve and took the other nine. All the
herring-busaes, six hundred in number, fell into his
power with their crews and freights. But as these boats
belonged to poor families, whose entire capital and means
of life they constituted, he took from them, on a rough
computation, every tenth herring as a royalty, and then
warning the men never to fish again in the creeks and
islands belonging to the Commonwealth of England
without first obtaining from the CouncU of State a formal
permission, he sent them home with all their boats and
the remainder of their cargo untouched. This act of
clemency called down severe censures on Blake in certain
quarters. Many condemned such generosity to an enemy
aa Quixotic. " If the fiah," said the politicians, " were
of no use to the fleet, he should have thrown them into
the sea." The answer was, " That they were human
food, and that thousands would suffer, none would gain,
by theb destruction." Even men like Ludlow blamed
him for not keeping possession of the poor feUows' boats.
A remnant of the Dutch boats escaped into the Sound,
whither Blake followed them; but his entrance into

t68 ROBERT BLAKE.
those waters alarmed the Danes along the shore, and
they flew to arms as if to repel an invader of their
country. A letter from the Engliah Admiral to the
King of Denmark put an end to their fears, for he
declared that he had entered the Sound in chase of an
enemy to the Commonwealth, and would refrain from
every act of hostility on his part. He required, however,
that the Dutchmen should be compelled to quit the
asylum which they had found in Danish harbours.
Kent was in arms to repel the invader. Seamen
crowded on board Ascue's squadron with offers of service.
The regular mUitia turned out. Between Deal and
Sandown Castle a long double platform was erected, with
cannon at intervals to sweep the shore should the Dutch
attempt to land. But these warlike preparations, though
they evinced the national spbit, did less to preserve the
coast from outrage than thoae elements which have so
often proved our beat allies iu the hour of danger. Calms
kept the enemy bound in mid-channel untU the country
had recovered from its first alarm. When the wind
returned, it blew from the land, and with such steady
violence, that with all his skUl Tromp waa unable to get
near enough for a passing broadside. To the south of
his position, Ascue rode in perfect safety with his smaU
squadron ; and some fresh ships, preparing to join him
just before the Dutchman's appearance in the Straits,
were retained in the Thames by a counter order. Tromp,
it is beUeved, had expected to intercept this reinforce
ment as it left the river, and then by a sudden onset to
crush Ascue under overwhelming cannonades. Success
at theae two points would have left Blake with about
fifty sail — for he had despatched eight of his best
frigates to strengthen the Downs squadron — against a
fleet fluahed with victory and of thrice his power. But
the weather having foiled him in these hopes, the wily

ROBERT BLAKE. 169
Dutchman returned with the strong gale then blowing
to the Texel, where a vast fleet of merchants were im
patiently waiting to set forth on their voyage under his
protection. Convoying these vessels northward, he saw
the Baltic traders through the Sound, the busses disperse
to theb fishing stations, and the Indiamen separate to
pursue their several voyages out of all danger from
Engliah cruiaers, — and then went in search of Blake's
squadron, confident in his immense superiority of force,
and not unwilling to put the fortunes of hia country to
the arbitration of a battle. Since his recent victory,
Blate had suffered severely from storms, and his ships
were scattered among the roadsteads of the Orkney
Islands for repair ; but on hearing that his great enemy
had foUowed him into the North, he hastily prepared for
an encounter.
Towards evening, on the 5th of August, the fleets
came in sight of each other between Fair Isle and Fotdd,
almost half-way from the Orkneys to the Shetland group.
Smarting under a recoUection of former wrongs, both
confident of success, Tromp trusting to his naval genius
and superior force, Blake in the Lord of Hosts and the
valour of his men, they eagerly prepared for action. But
the empire of the seas was decided in favour of a new
claimant. Whilst preparations were being made in the
Resolution to attack the Dutch fleet, the sky gradually
assumed a dart and threatening aspect. The wind,
which had been extremely variable for some days, sud
denly settled itself north-north-west. In the excitement
of the moment, theae signs were not at first observed;
but as the gale rose, and the sty continued to grow
blact and lurid, Blate signaUed his ships to loot out for
the coming storm ; and leave the enemy to shift for
themselves, certain that there could be no engagement
that day. At length it burst ; — and the fiercest of mortal

I70 ROBERT BLAKE.
passions were stilled in a moment before the awful
demonstration. Fitful gleams of light, now and then
caught through the storm and darkness, told the com
manders that another power had undertaken to disperse
and separate their fieets. Many of the ships were soon
unmanageable. Rudders were wrested violently off;
sails were tom and twisted into knots, and the waves
went through and through them at every sweU, throwing
their white and seething foam into the very sty. The
darkness, danger, and distance from aid and shelter,
filled the excitable imaginations of the saUors. " The
fleet," says the Dutch writer of Cornelius Tromp, " being
as it were buried by the sea in the most horrible abysses,
rose out of them only to be tossed up to the clouds ; here
the masts were beaten down into the sea, there the deck
was overflowed with the prevaUing waves ; the tempest
was so much mistress of the ships, they could be governed
uo longer, and on every side appeared all the dreadful
forerunners of a dismal wreck." The atorm raged through
the night without abatement ; and when day came down
on the roUing waters, inatead of the imperial fleets
which rode so proudly among the rocks and islands a few
hours previous, anxious in theb strength and majesty
to put the freedom of the sea to an hour's arbitration, —
a remnant of scattered, helpless and damaged ships were
alone descried between land and sty. The Dutch had
suffered terribly. More than one of theb frigates had
been dashed on the roots, spUntered into fragments, and
every soul on board sent down into the foaming surge.
Tromp picted up broten relics of three of his fire-ships :
— theb fate could not be doubted. They had all gone
down. Most of his men-of-war and frigates were con
siderably damaged, and the greater part of his fleet was
scattered beyond the poaaibUity of recal. Some of the
ships found refuge in the harbours of the Shetland group,

1- IN Li ... Wl i

ROBERT BLAKE. 171
others fledrtowards the Norwegian coaat. After spend
ing several days in the vain attempt to coUect the
damaged elements of his power, Tromp was obliged to
run into Scheveling with a remnant of only forty-two
sail, to his own infinite chagrin and the extreme astonish
ment of his countrymen at the failure of an enterprise
so vast and costly. Blake had been fortunate enough to
teep his fieet together under shelter of the mainland of
the Shetland Islands, and although he had not escaped
without serious injury to many ships, he was able to
teep the sea, and hang with his whole body of sixty-two
sail, fleet and prizes, on the rear of the disabled Dutch.
Finding the enemy disinclined to put out again from
theb harbours, he ravaged and insulted theb coasts from
Wadden to Zealand, and then ran across to Yarmouth
with his prizes and nine hundred prisoners.
In a few days his standard was again waving in the
Downs from the masts of the Resolution. Ascue and
De Ruiter had met and drawn a battle, but the spirit of
the States- General seemed to riae with their unexpected
want of auccess, and they prepared another large fleet
for service in the Channel under command of the re
nowned admbal and statesman De Witt. Tromp had
retbed into private life. Clamorous at a reverse in one
long accustomed to triumph over every foe, a Dutch mob
insulted his age and misfortune ; and in a fit of disgust
the veteran laid down his commiaaion. De Ruiter, too,
had been anxious to retire from the responsibilities of
command. He pleaded his long services, his old age, his
faUing health; but his countrymen would not Usten
to his complaints ; they expressed a boundless confidence
in his genius, and urged him to lead them once more as
of old to victory. When the new squadron was ready
for sea, De Witt joined De Ruiter, and toot the
supreme command. To oppose this new danger, Blake

172 . ROBERT BLAKE.
called in the force under Ascue from Plymouth ; and
the two fleets- — that of England, composed of sixty-
eight .ships of various gunnage — that of Holland nearly
equal to it in number of ships and guna — were once
more in the same seas, and anxious to try theb strength
against each other.
An episode delayed the battle. Blake was cruising in
the Channel at the beginning of September, expecting
every day to faU in with the Dutch admirals, when news
was brought to him that the Duke of Vendome, having
recently encountered and scattered the fleets of Admiral
the Count d' Oignon, was concentrating war-ships,
frigates, transports, men and military stores on the coast
of Calais and Dieppe, with the design of throwing relief
into Dunkirk, then hotly pressed by the Spanish forces
under Archduke Leopold. The defeat of d' Oignon had
left the sea open to the French ; should Vendome throw
men and prisoners into the private town, it would pro
bably not fall.
The course of events before Duntbk gave the Council
of State much concern. As yet they had taken no part
in the war between Conde and Mazarin, though the inte
rests of their commerce had led them to sympathise in
secret with the cause upheld by Spain. France leaned,
as of old, to our enemies, the Dutch. Should Dunkirk be
preserved to Louis XIV., it was probable that at no dia
tant day, it would be used by the admirals of Holland
as a basis of operations against towns on the coasts of
Essex and Norfolk. How were the EngUsh to secure its
fall ? Only by arresting the reUef squadron. But then
there had been no formal declaration of war between
France and England. Though the privateers of Brest
and Dunkirk continued their depredations on the mer
chant navy, and though many EngUsh cruisers bore
letters of marque againat French ships, these disorders

ROBERT BLAKE. 173
had not seriously compromised either government with
its neighbour, and a show of friendship waa maintained
between London g,nd VersaiUes. Nor waa there time for
Blake to write a letter to hia coUeaguea of the Council of
State. The transports were on board, the ships under
way, when his intelUgence came to hand ; and before a
meaaenger could reach WhitehaU, the French fleet would
have been safely anchored under the batteries of Dun
kbk. It was one of thoae cases in which he was allowed
to act on the impulses of his genius. He believed it for
the honour and interest of the Commonwealth, that
Duntbk should faU — and the question was submitted to
a councU of war, whether it would be poaaible to deatroy,
capture, or disperse the coUected fleet ? The council
having advised, Blake atood away in the Resolution, fol
lowed by the Sovereign, and about twenty other ships.
The Sovereign, then the largest aa well as swiftest vessel
in the navy — carrying eleven hundred men and eighty-
eight guns, of which twenty were forty-four pounders —
led the way, and was the first to engage the enemy. Its
fire was terrible — the second broadside sinking one of
the royal frigates — and its key-shot cutting off the main
masts of five others. As the frigate was going down,
Blake bore into action with his pennons fiying and trum
pets sounding ; and immediately singling out the Don-
adieu — commanded by one of the Knights of Malta —
he ran alongside, and boarded her pike in hand. The
rapidity of the attack, and the instantaneous advantages
gained, disconcerted the French ; some struck their
colours — some fled — fiercely pursued by the Sovereign
and the lighter vessels towards Dunkbk ; and in a few
hours the whole body of the French squadron, war-ships,
fire-ships and transports, admirals, officers and men, were
either gone down, or safely harboured under the guns of
Dover Castle. Dunkirk immediately surrendered to the

374 ROBERT BLAKE.
Archduke Leopold : — and the seizure of Vendome's
squadron remained, not only an Ulustration of the extras
ordinary powers exercised by Blake at sea, but a striking
instance of bold conception and rapid execution.
Theae prizes safely harboured, the cruise in search of
De Witt and De Ruiter recommenced. On the 28th of
September, Penn, stiU on board the James, came in sight
of the Dutchmen off the North Foreland ; on seeing his
signal, Blate, at that moment more than a league in
advance of his main body, rode up to the vanguard and
gave his brief but emphatic orders — " As soon as some
more of our fieet comes up, bear in among them !" De
Witt was taten unawares ; his ships were in disorder ;
a bad spirit prevaUed among the men ; and De Ruiter
urged him to avoid a battle. Pride made him deaf to
his sage counciUor, and he resolved to fight at a dis
advantage, rather than exhibit to the world the spectacle
of a Dutch admiral in retreat before the presumptuous
islanders. His dispositions were made hastily and in
confusion. De Ruiter was to lead the van, he himself
the main body, De Wilde the rear. Evertz waa sta
tioned with a reserve to watch the action from a short
distance, and pour out succours when they were most
needed. At the last moment De Witt sent an advice-
boat round to each of his ships to beg the captains to
do their duty in theb respective posts on that day. But
his prayer was not heard. Apathy, intrigue, and dis
content were on every dect. The Brederode, Tromp's
old fiag-ship, was in the fieet, but the officers and men
refused to allow the new Admbal to come on board her ;
and just before the action began, De AVitt's standard
was removed to a huge Indiaman. Resenting the
disgrace of their favorite leader, several other ships
disputed the new Admbal's orders, or obeyed them
without the zeal which is essential to victory. Yet

ROBERT BLAKE. 175
unwarned by these signs of disaffection — hoping that'
success would restore confidence and loyalty to his crews
— De Witt laid his topsaUs to the masts and formed his
fieet in line.
About four o' elect in the afternoon, the Engliah being
weU up, a single order was given out from the Resolution
— to hold bact the fire till close in with the enemy, —
and the fiag-ship, foUowed by the James, the Sovereign,
and the whole body of the vanguard, bore down on De
Witt's line, which tept up an intermittent fire as it
advanced. At this moment the Dutch tacted, and the
two fleets came into coUision. The crash of the first
broadsides was terrific. The ships were close together,
and an unusual quantity of shot struct home. For more
than an hour the roar of artUlery was incessant. After
that its action slackened ; there were occasional pauses
in the storm ; and the Dutch ships sheering off to a
greater distance, the sulphurous atmosphere broke in
many places, and the wind drifted it away in masses.
But although the Dutch feU back, they fell back fighting,
and with theb faces to the enemy, and with obstinate
valour they continued the battle untU night-fall.
De Witt had suffered most severely in men, Blake
in masts and rigging. The most experienced admirals
in both fleets were of opinion that De Witt could
not have held out an hour longer without seeing his
power broten and annihUated. De Ruiter had com
manded his division with consummate skiU and bravery.
A great part of his own crew was swept away ; his
main-yard had faUen over to the left side ; his main-sails,
mizen-saUs, and rigging were torn to shreds; his hull
was seriously shattered ; and he had received no less
than four shots between wind and water. De Witt had
atoned in a great measure for his rashness in fighting,
by his courage and conduct during the action. Neverthe-

176 ROBERT BLAKE.
less, the Dutch were unmistatably worsted. Under the
first ahoct of the onset, two of their ships went down.
Two others had been boarded and taten ; one of them,
the rear-admiral, was the prize of Captain MUdmay of
the Nonsuch. The two captains and aU the crews were
prisoners. Throughout the Dutch fleet the loss of life
had been great. And to the infinite vexation of De Witt,
about twenty of his captains, either disaffected to his
person or unwUling to renew on the morrow so destruc
tive an engagement, took advantage of the dart night
to quit the main body with the ships under theb com
mand and mate for Zealand, whither they carried the
first news of the disaster.
AU night Blate saw the lights burning in the enemy's
ships, and assuming that they would fight again at
daybreat, every hand on board the English fleet was
employed in repairing saUs, masts and cordage — in
securing the prisoners — in helping and soothing the
wounded sailors — and in the sad and pious duties con
nected with the burial of the dead. The grey Ught
dawned on the sleepless crews stUl at theb labours, and
before sunrise the whole fleet was in motion bearing up
towards the enemy. At flrst the Dutch seemed disposed
to renew the bloody wort of the previous day ; but before
the EngUsh van had got within range of cannon-shot, a
change of opinion toot place, and they made sail and stood
up the Channel. De Witt had wished to fight. But
Evertz and De Ruiter over-ruled his voice in the councU
of war, where it waa reaolved that an attempt should be
made to collect the shattered and scattered remnants of
their fieet ; to gain one of their own ports and com
municate with their masters ; to repair, refit, and re-man
their ships ; and then await the commands of the States-
General. Blate kept as close on their rear as the dis
abled state of his ships would allow ; and having chased

ROBERT BLAKE. 177
them into the Goree, where the shallows yielded them
protection, he returned the insults offered to our coasts
by Tromp in the early part of summer.
Reports of the battle of the North Foreland were
read in London with boundless joy. It was the fir^t
great naval action since the reign of Elizabeth; and
indeed there was room for honest exultation. The
prowess of England had now been arrayed against the
best seamen and the most famous admirals in the
world, and the English had come off victorious. At the
first trial of strength, they had proved themselves
equal to the acknowledged masters of maritime war.
Hitherto Tromp, Evertz, and De Euiter had been
regarded by Europe as peerless, if not invincible, com
manders. Yet an English land-officer, with only three
years' experience of the sea, had learned to contend with
these renowned admirals on equal terms ; rough soldiers,
drafted from the camp, had, in the same period, ceased
to fear the veteran sailors who had swept the imperial
navies of Spain from the ocean. Blake was rising into
the first name in our naval history. His southern cam
paign, made whUe his genius was still unaided by ex
perience, had placed him in general estimation by the
side of Drake and Frobisher. His drawn battle with
Tromp, his victory over De Euiter and De Witt, raised
him into the highest rank of admirals.
ParUament shared the Uberal enthusiasm of the people.
With a premature contempt of their powerful enemy,
they commanded Blake to dismiss a part of his fleet
to the merchant service from which it had been taken ;
they aUowed the fortifications erected between Deal
and Sandown to be deatroyed ; and they ordered the
guns planted on the Une of breastworks to be removed
into the two caatles. At Blake's most urgent request
they ordered thirty new frigates to be built; but in

178 ROBERT BLAKE.
their minds the victory was abeady won, for the moment
all was confidence and security. The Council of State
began a dUigent study of the Mare Clausvm, Selden's
learned book on the right of England to assert her
dominion in the narrow seas, and to exclude the Dutch
from any participation in the advantages of the northern
fisheries. They had the book translated into English ;
and questions which had tested the learning of men Uke
Grotius and Selden were rapturously debated in taverns,
and triumphantly settled in the councU. Vendome's
complaints were treated by the CouncU of State with
haughty indifference. They fancied theb power was
fixed in the Channel for ever. They had not yet learned
to understand the genius of their enemy or the magni
tude of his resources.

ADMIR.AL TROMP.

CHAPTER VII.
TEOMP.
De AVitt's return to Holland with a discomfited
fleet was the signal for disorders in that country. His
enemies of the Orange party charged him with rashness,
cowardice and treason. ¦ The common sailors, turbulent
and disobedient before the engagement, carried their
dislike to the Terge of mutiny after their defeat. On the
flag-ship itself, De Witt's position was most disagree
able, even if hia Ufe were not in danger. Before going
on board in the Texel he had been compelled by a decent
regard for naval discipline to hang two of his seamen in
Amsterdam, and at the execution he had been under the
stUl more unfortunate necessity of shooting several citi
zens to prevent a rescue in the streets. In his day of
power and of untried fortunes these acts of severity were
borne in sUent rage ; but when he returned from sea
with broken power and faded laurels, the popular pas
sions swelled againat him Uke the surges of theb own
stormy coast. In Flushing he was mobbed as soon as
he landed ; and hia proud heart almost broke at the
inault. In anger and disgust, he took to a sick bed.
De Euiter shared in some measure the unpopularity of
his chief, and he also offered to resign his commission.
The hour of alarm and general indignation — for the
Dutch had so often triumphed over every enemy at
m2

i8o ROBERT BLAKE.
Eea, they could not understand their reverses, except
on the principle of gross misconduct, — sent the incon
siderate people to the feet of their old commander.
They now remembered, that if Tromp's success in the
early part of the war had not been such as theb impa
tience had expected, he had not suffered a signal
defeat; if he had lost a powerful squadron, they had
the consolation to feel that nature and not man had
been the cause of its overthrow. AVhen the failure of
his rivals allowed them time to estimate his claims
with less haste and less passion, they could not but
see that his reputation as a saUor stUl towered above
that of every other man in HoUand ; whUe, on the other
hand, personal hatred and the memory of an ancient
grudge fitted him in a pecuUar manner for the chief
command in a war against England.
At ten years old, Tromp was present in his father's
ship at the famous battle fought against Spain under
the waUs of Gibraltar in 1607. Shortly after that
event, he was captured by an English cruiser after
a brisk engagement in which his father lost his life.
Two years and a half he was compeUed to serve in the
menial capacity of cabin-boy on board the captor : —
and thus the seeds of hatred to England and the English
were sown in his proud and passionate heart. Once
planted, this hatred grew with his growth. For a long
time his Ufe was passed on board fishing-boats and
merchant-men ; but his nautical genius was irresistible,
and he fought his way through legions of obstacles to
high command. At thirty he was confessedly the ablest
navigator in HoUand. More than twenty years he
had commanded with success against Spain, — and had
done more than any other individual to humble the
pride and reduce the power of that extensive empire.
The disastrous opening of the English war scarcely

ROBERT BLAKE. i8i
impeached his naval genius ; and the insult offered to his
former success in stripping him of his great employments
because nature had raised a destructive storm in the
northern latitudes, appeared to the States- General gra
tuitous and unworthy as soon as they discovered that his
future services were necessary to the Republic. The old
Admiral's passion was soothed by compUments and royal
offices. The King of Denmark, alarmed at the sudden
growth of the Engliah maritime power, made interest
with the leading Dutch statesmen, with a view to pro
mote a vigorous renewal of hoatilitiea ; and at his special
intercession Tromp was restored to his former post and
his former honours, the most eminent of his rivals in
naval ability and domestic infiuence, De Witt, De Ruiter,
Evertz and Floritz, being appointed to serve under him
as his Vice and Rear-Admirals. De Witt, too much
mortified at his recent failure to have any wish to
re-appear on the scene in an inferior place, excused
himself from serving on the ground of ill-health ; De
Ruiter therefore again went on board as second in
command. Other nations became interested in the quarrels of
the two Republics. The war had barely commenced
before the States- General sent ambassadors to Denmark,
Poland and other powers in the north of Europe, to
engage them in a common league againat England.
Frederick IIL, King of Denmart and Norway, listened
to these propoaals ; and though he did not as yet choose
to commit himself by an open actnowledgment of his
leanings, he sought by indbect and unexplained acts
to forward the views of his powerful continental friends.
Under pretence of securing them against Dutch cruiaers,
Frederict refused to allow the ships which Blake had
ordered to rendezvous at Elsinore to pass the Sound :—
an idle pretence, since the English were at that time

i82 ROBERT BLAKE.
masters at sea. As the hemp, tar and naval stores from
the Baltic were urgently needed in the dockyards,
ParUament wrote to King Frederict desbing him, as a
friend and ally of the Commonwealth, to deliver up to
theb Admiral aU the goods and ships then lying in his
ports : and at the request of the CoimcU of State, Blake
detached Captain BaU with twenty men-of-war and
frigates to add force to this reasonable request, and in the
event of its receiving favourable attention to convoy the
ships home in safety. After an absence of some weeks.
Ball returned as he went out. Pressed to declare itself,
the Court of Denmark vamped up a story about some
old debts contracted by the late Eling of England on
account of the German war, and claimed a right to
detain the vessels until these debts were paid. The
expected supply of stores was therefore not obtained, —
and the Commonwealth had a new enemy to deal with
in the north of Europe.
The term for which Blake had been commissioned to
act as sole General and Admbal of the Fleet was near
its close. He felt the weight of his great command, and
he requested that two colleagues should be joined with
him in the command aa in the first years of his naval
service. During his absence in the north he had seen
the disadvantage of leaving the Downs to an inferior
officer, however able ; and in the belief that such a divi
sion of the supreme command woiUd be serviceable to
the country, he set aside personal considerations and
proposed to have two officers, enjoying the fuU confi
dence of the CouncU of State, associated with him in
the new commission. Popham being dead, the choice of
admirals feU on Colonel Deane, his former coUeague, and
General Monk. His own commission was renewed.
Deane and Mont were then employed in suppressing
the last remnants of the war in Scotland, and they could

ROBERT BLAKE. 183
not for some time to come take any active part in the
naval war.
Severe weather being set in and the Dutchmen busy
in theb doctyards with the preparation of another vast
armament, Blate made the usual winter distribution of
the fleet. Besides the twenty ships sent to Elsinore
under BaU, Penn saUed with a simUar squadron towards
the North to convoy a fleet of colUers from Newcastle
to London ; a division of twelve ships was stationed in
Plymouth Sound ; fifteen of the most damaged vessels
were ordered into the river for repair ; and with the
remainder of his force, conaiating of thirty-seven men-
of-war and frigates, the fire-ships and a few hoys, —
Blate rode in the Channel, cruising from port to port,
between Essex and Hampshbe, and expecting no enemy
to appear untU the return of fine weather. In this he
was miataten. Tromp's energy and infiuence had infused
an extraordinary degree of activity into the marine de
partment, the harbours and doctyards of HoUand. In
an incredibly short time the Dutch had fitted out and
manned a vast fleet ; and as soon as the English squadrons
were dispersed for the winter stations, Tromp secretly
and tmexpectedly left the Texel and appeared off the
Goodwin Sands with more than a hundred saU of the
line, frigates and fire-ships. His plan was bold and well
conceived. Throwing himself suddenly into the Downs
with this overwhelming force, he intended to close up
the Thames and cut off re-inforcements from Chatham
or the Lea, to faU on Blate's little squadron with his
mighty force, and crush or drive it down Channel
towards the Land's End, and then, with the entbe coast
at his mercy, to dictate peace to the Commonwealth on
his own terms. At that time the thought of a winter
campaign fiUed men's minds with terror ; but Tromp,
by a swift and daring blow, proposed to conclude the

1 84 ROBERT BLAKE.
war in a few days. Elate was scarcely aware of the
Dutch stirring in their ports before theb ships were
seen from the out-loot of the Triumph, to which vessel
he had removed his pennon. Late in November the two
fleets were in presence between Dover and, Calais ; and
the tnowledge that Tromp was on board assured the
English Admiral that mischief was meant. A council of
war waa called on board the Triumph. Blake described
the situation of the two countries at that moment,
glanced at the superior force of the enemy, at the dis
tance of his own squadrons, and ended by declaring his
resolution to fight, if it were necessary, but on no
account to faU down the Channel, leaving the coast-
towns to be insulted, and perhaps destroyed by that
mighty and uncrippled armament. The captains ac
cepted his decision, and returned to theb several ships
to prepare for action. All that day the two admirals
watched each other's motions, the object being to gain
the weather-gage. The night came, cold and tempes
tuous, even for winter, and the ships were unable to
teep together. With the appearance of light the man
oeuvres of the previous day were renewed, the Triumph
and the Brederode dodging each other for several hours
in a slight and variable wind, theb somewhat oblique
course inclining slowly towards the Ness. At three in
the afternoon the fleets were near each other off that
Essex headland. Tromp's patience was worn out, and
anxious to engage, he made a sudden effort to get alongside
the English Admiral at an advantage ; but a rapid and
decisive movement carried the Triumph under his bow to
the weather-gage. In passing, the two ships exchanged
broadsidea. Blake was closely followed in his dexterous
movement by the Garland, and missing the Triumph,
Tromp ran against her with such violence as in an
instant to break her bowsprit and ship's-head with the

ROBERT BLAKE. 185
weight of the crash. The Garland and the Brederode
engaged, the English ship of forty-eight guns fighting
with consummate bravery against its powerful enemy,
until the Bonadventure, a trader of thirty guns, came to
the rescue, and placed the Dutch Admiral himself in
peril. Tromp encouraged his men by shouts and ges
tures to renewed efforts ; he appealed to their love of
country, theb pride of race, theb affection for himself.
But all his exertions would have failed had not Evertz
seen his exposed position, and brought his own ship to
bear on the Bonadventure, thus placing the gallant little
merchantman between the fire of two powerful admirals.
The four ships were grappled together ; but the EngUsh
held out manfully against tremendous odds for more
than an hour, when the contest was decided in favour of
number of men and weight of metal. Out of two hun
dred men on board the Garland at the beginning of the
action, the captain and sixty officers and men were killed,
and a still greater number were severely wounded ; the
Bonadventure had suffered to an equal extent ; and the
survivors being no longer able to defend their decks, the
Dutchmen boarded and captured both the vessels. The
Triumph, the Vanguard and the Victory bore the chief
brunt of the action. At one time theae three vessels
were engaged with twenty of the enemy ; and although
they suffered most severely in men, and were greatly
damaged in their hulls, masts, and rigging, they came
off safely from the desperate encounter. Night, which
at that season of the year came down early, was already
separating the fieets, when Blake heard for the first time
of the unequal battle waged between the two Dutch
Admbals and the Garland and Bonadventure ; and not
withstanding the fatigue of his men, he gave orders to
bear up to the Brederode, and endeavour to recover the
captives. Other of the enemy's ships, however, croaaed

1 86 ROBERT BLAKE.
his line, and a more destructive conflict than had yet
taken place ensued. Blate was surrounded by the
Dutch ships. Three several times the Triumph was
boarded in gallant style by the foe ; each time the
boarders were driven bact to their boats with fearful
slaughter. The flag-ship was reduced to a wreck. The
foretopmast was shot away. The mainstay was gone.
The sails and tackling were all in strings. The huU
was shattered and pierced with hundreds of shots. The
wonder was how she kept her head above water ; and
had not the Sapphire, a trader of thirty guns, and the
Vanguard stood by him with unwavering steadiness and
devotion, the English Admiral muat have fallen before
such overwhelming numbers. Thick fog and darkness
put an end to the struggle. Under cover of night Blake
drew off his ships, the Triumph being the last to retbe
from the scene of action, towards Dover roads. Tromp
could not, or would not, follow. Next day the weather
was thick with fog ; the enemy was not in sight. The
disabled vessels were UI prepared to brave the fury of
the south-west winds ; and, master of his own move
ments, Blate proposed to run into the Thames, and
anchor in Lea-road to repab damages, ascertain the
enemy's intentions, mate some necessary alterations
in the fleet, and wait the recal and concentration of
his distant squadrons. The Dutch had not gained an
easy victory. Their loss in men was great. One of their
vessels had been blown into the air, every man on board
perishing. Tromp's ship and De Ruiter's ship were
both put out of service, and many others were seriously
crippled. But their victory was unquestionable; for
the moment they were again masters of the Channel.
There seem to have been three principal causes of this
disaster — ^the first and last that England experienced
under Blate's command — any one of them sufficient to

ROBERT BLAKE. 187
account for it : — (1.) The overwhelming superiority of
force on the part of Tromp. (2.) The extreme weakness
to which some of Blate's vessels were reduced for want
of men; and (3.) The cowardice or disaffection to the
service, manifested at a critical moment of the battle by
several captains in the English fieet. To the first of
these causes Blake himself professed to attach only a
secondary importance. Had all the thirty-seven ships
behaved like the Garland, Sapphire, Vanguard, Bon
adventure, Victory, and Triumph, the result would pro
bably have been other than it was ; and even his defeat,
if the retbement of a squadron before a fieet three times
its strength can be so called, was less gaUing to his proud
nature than the idea of having officers under his command
who at such a time could fail in duty to theb country. In
the letter which conveyed to the Council of State the first
news of the reverse of fortune, he says : — " I am bound to
let your honours know that there was much baseness of
spirit, not among the merchant-men only, but in many of
the State's ships. And therefore I make it my earnest
request that your honours would be pleased to send
down some gentlemen to take an impartial and strict
examination of the deportment of several commanders,
that you may know who are to be confided in and who
are not. It wUl then be time to take into consideration
the grounds of some other errors and defects, especiaUy
the discouragement and want of seamen. I shaU be bold
at present to name one — not the least, — which is, the
great number of private men-of-war, especially out of the
Thames. And I hope it wUl not be unseasonable for me,
in behalf of myself, to desbe your honoura that you would
think of giving me, your unworthy servant, a diacharge
from this employment as far too great for me, especiaUy
since your honours have added two such able gentlemen
[Monk and Deane] for the undertaking of that charge ;

1 88 ROBERT BLAKE.
so that I may spend the remainder of my days in private
retirement, aud in prayers to the Lord for blessings on
you and on this nation."
But inatead of receiving the acceptance of his offer to
resign, Blake found that the misfortuue which might have
ruined another man had given him strength and infiuence
in the country. The CoimcU of State wrote by return of
courier to express theb unanimous thanks for his gallant
conduct in the late action, and to assure him that aU his
proposals, — except the one which referred to his own
retbement, — should be adopted. Never had he been so
necessary to the country as at that moment, and his hints
and requests were immediately carried into effect, so far
as lay with the CouncU. Three of theb own body. Colonel
Walton, Mr. Chaloner, and Colonel Morley were sent down
to inquire into the aUeged misconduct of the officers,
to report on the ineffective, condition of the fieet, and, in
case of need, to assist in a Council of War, to be caUed
by the Admiral after their arrival. Messengers were
sent to recal the convoys to the Downs. Orders were
sent to Deane and Monk to hold themselves in readiness
to go on board at twenty- four hours' notice, and assume
the responsibilities of their rant. Cruisers and other
vessels lying at Harwich and elsewhere on the near coasts
were instructed to repab to the general rendezvous. A
resolution was carried to raise the effective marine force
to 30,000 men. More care was taken wdth the store
magazines. The Navy Commissioners, long crippled by
the perfidious policy of the Danish King, were empowered
in this emergency to seize on hemp, tar and pitch, where-
ever these important articles could be found. But not a
whisper was heard against the Admiral, either in the
Council or in the city. There was no attempt on the
part of the Navy Commissioners to meddle with his
plans or to abridge his authority. The CouncU of

ROBERT BLAKE. 189
State reposed an almoat unbounded confidence in his
genius and fidelity. Five days after the engagement off
the Ness, they ordered — " That a letter be written to
General Blake, to acquaint him with what the Council
hath done for the giving him an addition of strength, —
to let him know that (in regard the state of affairs is
before him, and he hath a perfect understanding of them)
the Council do leave to Mm upon the place to do what he
may for his own defence and the service of the Common
wealth." The next day they wrote again in the same
spbit: — "The CouncU suggest objections to General Blake
going with his fieet into Lea road, and recommend Harwich
aa a better position: but still leave it to him to act accord
ing as his Council of War shall advise upon the place."
Curiously enough, the firat diaaster experienced by
Blake at sea gave him power to effect reforms in the
service and to root out abuses which had defied all his
efforts in the day of his success. One great abuse was
abolished that in his opinion lay at the source of the late
defeat. To encourage merchants and others having ves
sels capable of armament to place them during the war
at the disposal of Government, an Order of CouncU had
hitherto aUowed the masters of such vessels to command
them after the change of service. Many persons thus
came to occupy, aa a private right, important offices in
the navy who had no real attachment to the new order of
things, and there was reason to suspect that some of the
secret partisans of the Stuarts had crept into places of
trust in this way for the express purpose of betraying the
Commonwealth. These Royalists kept the exiled court
well informed of the state of the navy, and the exiles in
turn communicated the latest information to the States-
General. Thus the Admbal had not only to fight his
great and astute adversary, but to struggle against
intrigues abroad and treason at home. Before Tromp

I90 ROBERT BLAKE.
sailed from the Texel, Charles Stuart had caused a secret
memob to be drawn up by Lord Clarendon and the
Marquis of Ormonde — to be presented to M. Borrel,
Dutch Ambassador in Paris — in which he proposed to
the States-General a plan for creating divisions in the
English fleet and consequent excitement and weakness in
the country. He declared that he was aware that many
captains in the Commonwealth navy were his own friends ;
and he offered to go on board the Dutch fieet as a private
officer, seeking no command, except of such vessels as
should desert to him from the English. De Witt, how
ever, as a sincere Republican, refused to accept this
doubtful aid ; but a knowledge of the fact on which the
proposal was based, that many of Blake's officers served
under false colours, and were ripe for an act of treason,
was of vast importance to Tromp in the arrangement of
his bold and masterly campaign. Certain incidents in the
late battle left no doubt that several captains had acted
with direct or indbect reference to the enemy's design ;
and without being able to bring the crime of treason
home to them, the Admiral toot the occasion to insist on
having a regulation adopted by the supreme Council,
that in future captains and other officers should receive
theb appointments from the State.
As the inqubies of the three members, Walton,
Morley and Chaloner proceeded, several officers were
suspended, either for neglect of duty, lack of courage
or other faults, against whom no suspicion of treachery
or disaffection could arise. It was necessary to purge
the fieet of its weak, as weU as of its faithless, captains.
No naval scrutiny was ever conducted with greater
justice, openness and severity. The three members
reported to the Admiral the results of their investigation
in each case, and he deUvered sentence of arrest or dis
missal with a stern rigour, even when the law feU in ita

ROBERT BLAKE. 191
fuU weight on his own household and his own family.
Francis Harvey, his secretary, was cashiered. Captains
Young, Taylor, Saltonstill and others w«re put under
arrest untU the pleasure of the CouncU of State should
be known. His brother Benjamin, to whom he was
strongly attached as a brother and an officer, feU under
suspicion of some neglect of duty ; and however painful
the exercise of power under such cbcumstances, he was
instantly broken and sent on shore. This rigid measure
of justice against his own fiesh and blood silenced every
complaint; and the service gained immeasurably in spirit,
discipline aud confidence.
WhUe these reforms, recruitments and renovations
were proceeding imder Blake's immediate eye, Tromp
rode up and down the Channel with a broom at his
mast-head, a proaaic emblem of his right to sweep the
narrow seas ; and the States-General, more elated with
theb victory than their Admiral himself, put out a
proclamation againat our manufactures — aent intel
ligence of theb great successes to foreign powers — and
interdicted aU correspondence and communication with
the Britiah Islands, pretending, aa if they were abeady
aasured victors, to place them in a state of naval blockade.
Ballads, by-words and scurrUous caricatures delighted
the ears and eyes of the excited populace. The names
of the vessels captured in the fight afforded Dutch wits
a theme for abuse: they had carried off the "garland,"
they said, from the islanders ; and there were squibs and
jokes about the "bon-adventure" having realised the
prophecy of its name in falUng into their hands. But
what concerned the Council of State more than these
squibs and sarcasms, was a report that Tromp contem
plated making a descent on the Isles of Jersey and
Guernsey, and a very natural fear that the trading part
of the community would suffer from the cruiaers of their

192 ROBERT BLAKE.
watchful and active enemy. These alarms hastened their
preparations for the second winter campaign ; and on the
8th of February Blake, still in the Triumph, sailed from
Queensborough, at the head of sixty men-of-war and
frigates, having Monk and Deane with twelve hundred
soldiers from the camp on board. Penn was Vice-
admbal, Lawson Rear-admiral. In the Straits the
Portsmouth squadron of twenty sail came in, and with
this addition to hia effective strength, Blake resolved to
seek the Dutch fleet and give battle. Tromp had gone
southward to meet a large fleet of traders, ordered by
ihe States-General to rendezvous at the Isle of Rhe,
opposite Rochelle, and convoy them home ; but intel
ligence had there reached him that the Engliah were
about to quit the Thames in his absence with sixty sail,
and he intended to arrive at the river mouth in time to
block it up, prevent their departure, and keep the Ports
mouth squadron from effecting a junction with the main
body. Blake had stolen a march on the Dutch Admbal,
and when the latter turned Cape de la Hogue, he was
surprised to find the English with a force equal to his
own prepared to dispute the passage of a sea so lately
swept by his potential broom. Confident, however, of
victory, he accepted with joy the offer of a battle which
fortune enabled him to decline without disadvantage had
such been his pleasure.
Day was breaking on the morning of February IS,
when the vanguard of the Dutch Admiral was descried
from the maat-head of the Triumph. Blake dreaaed and
went to the out-look. Nature could scarcely boast a
grander spectacle than rose before him as the sun came
forth, showing that heaving sea covered with ships, and
lighting their sails and pennons with its pale radiance.
The darkness of the weather had prevented recognition
until the foremost ships were within a league of each

ROBERT BLAKE. 193
other. The EngUsh Admbals were close together;
the Triumph having Penn's, ship, the Speater, and
Lawson's, the Fabfax, both within hail. But Mont was
some miles astern in the Vanguard, and the main body
of the fleet lay about a league and a half apart. Tromp
saw his advantage. With the wind in his favour he
might have carried his convoy to the Scheldt in safety,
and retumed at his leisure to give battle ; but he chose to
play a bolder game, and fancying the Engliah vanguard
of only twenty ships woiUd prove unable to resist the
weight of hia attack, he sent his traders to windward,
out of gun range, with orders to slacken sail and witness
the engagement. Personal combined with public reasons
to lend a thrUling interest to the coming battle. The
two nations had now had time to coUect their forces. Their
largest ships were in array. The most popular admirals
were on board the respective fleets : Blate, Deane, Penn
and Lawson on the one side ; Tromp, Evertz, De Ruiter,
Swers, Floritz aud De WUde on the other. It was the
first time Blake and Tromp had met on equal terms ;
and even the common seamen felt that the day had come
to put theb prowess to the test. At the outset, all
advantages of position were with the Dutch. Their
ships had the wind, and were close up together. When
their extended line of fire opened on the Engliah van
guard, it seemed almost impossible for about twenty
ships to withstand the crash of such tremendous broad
sides. As usual, the Triumph was the firat to engage,
and the Brederode, ever in the van, advanced to meet
her, reserving fire till the two veasels were within
musket-shot, and her charge could be delivered with the
most deadly effect. With a strong breeze in his favour,
Tromp shot by the Triumph, pouring a fearful broadside
into her as he passed ; and then, suddenly tacking round,
fired a second time close under her lee, splintering masts

194 ROBERT BLAKE.
and spars, tearing canvass and cordage, and strewing the
deck with heaps of kiUed and wounded men. With this
salute the Admirals parted company for the day, Penn
dashing in between them with the Speaker and other
vessels to cover Blake from some part of the circle of
fire in which he lay exposed. The battle became general
as the other divisions of the English fleet came up. On
both sides the wreck was awful. In less than an hour
from the first shot being launched from the guns of the
Triumph, the sea was covered with spars, tom saUs and
broken planks. Almost every ship engaged in the action
had even then had its cables cut asunder and its masts
shot away. One moment an English crew were seen
boarding a Dutch man-of-war, the next moment the
boarders were driven back, and their own vessel was
assailed in turn. Here there was a ship wrapt in flames ;
there one was going down with all her men on deck,
their cries unheard or their terrors unheeded by friend
or foe ; elsewhere a fearful explosion sent decks and
crews whirUng into the black and lurid atmosphere. It
is said in contemporary accounts, that the roar of the
artiUery could be heard along the shores of the Channel,
from Boulogne on the one side to Portland on the other.
About mid-day Monk came up with the white division,
and from time to time other ships joined in the contest,
thenceforward fought on nearly equal terms. De Ruiter
justified his old renown. Early in the battle he had
singled out and engaged with the Prosperous, a hired
merchantman of forty guns, commanded by Captain
Barker ; but as the fire of the English ship was main
tained with steadiness, he grew impatient with the dis
tant fighting ; and ordering a boarding-party to prepare
for action, he ran hia ship alongside the Prosperous, when
his men gallantly leaped on her deck pistol and sword
in hand. The close combat lasted a few seconds only.

ROBERT BLAKE. 195
Driving the assailants back to theb ship. Barker threat
ened De Ruiter in Ms turn ; but the brave old aeaman,
shouting in hia fierce humour to the men, " Come, my
lads, that was nothing — at them again ! " led them to a
second and more furious assault. With his numbers
reduced and his ship unmanageable. Barker was un
able to reaiat the onset, and he and his crew were
prisoners. At that instant Blake came up. The prize
was instantly recovered, and De Ruiter himself almost
surrounded by the Engliah. Vice-admbal Evertz and
Captains Swers and Kriuk hastened to relieve theb
countryman from his dangerous position, and the battle
soon raged round this new centre with extraordinary
violence. Penn's ship, the Speaker, was shattered by
the guns, and condemned as no longer fit for service.
When night put an end to the engagement of that
first day, Penn was deapatched to the Isle of Wight to
bring up the guard-ships left at that station. Kriuk,
in the Ostrich, fought Uke a true saUor, till his rigging
and maats were shot away to the very hull, and his
deck was covered with the dead bodies of his com
rades. At last, he was boarded by the Engliah. As
the unfortunate vessel seemed to be sinking, and her
officers and crew were nearly aU killed or wounded, the
EngUsh made a hasty plunder of her contents and left
her to her fate. De WUde offered his aid in an effort to
bring her off; but a sudden calm came on, and not having
a yard of sail left, the attempt to tow her away failed,
and she was again abandoned. Next morning, Blake
found her drifting about, the unburied corpses lying
where they had fallen the previous day, and not a living
soul on board. Captain Swers — afterwards the distin
guished admbal of that name — was taken prisoner.
Seeing his comrade. Captain De Port, roughly used by
two English frigates, he flew to the rescue with hia ahip,
o2

196 ROBERT BLAKE.
and the four enemies were immediately locked together.
De Port's ship was struck between wind and water and
began to fiU ;> he himself was severely wounded by the
faU of a splinter ; yet he contmued to urge his men by
shouts, and to fiourish his hanger as he lay on his back
in agony, until ship and crew went down together.
Effective as the Dutch cannonade had hitherto been
thought, it was no match for the deatructive fire of the
English frigates ; and after a desperate struggle, in which
the enemies proved themselves worthy of each other,
Swers' ship also went down, himaelf and several of his
officers and crew being taken on board the frigates and
theb Uves preaerved. Towards dusk, Blake felt himself
strong enough to detach a number of his swiftest saUers
with orders to gain the wind, and if possible prevent
the escape of the vast fleet of traders which had been
hovering on his flank all day ; Tromp saw the movements
of this squadron, and guessing its motive, fell back with
a great part of his fleet, so as to cover the merchantmen.
His retreat put an end to the first day's engagement ;
for on seeing their Admbal turn his face from the enemy,
some of the Dutch captains hoisted sail and fled away
under cover of the gathering darkness.
Blake remained maater of the scene of action, but his
ships were too far damaged and his men too much ex
hausted to permit of an active' night-chase. Heroic
valour had characterised the officers and men on both
sides. The Dutch had lost eight men-of-war, either taken
by the enemy or destroyed. The Prosperous, the Oak,
the Assistance, the Sampson, and several other English
ships had been boarded and captured during some period
of the day, though every vessel had been afterwards
recovered. The Sampson was our only loss that day.
Her brave commander, Captain Button, and nearly all his
crew being slain, Blake took out of her the remaining

ROBERT BLAKE. 197
officers and men, and allowed her to drift away. This
excepted, no other ship in the Engliah fieet had suffered
so severely as the flag-ship, the Triumph. Her captain,
Andrew Ball, fell that day covered with glory ; Sparrow,
the Admiral's new secretary, was shot down at his side ;
and nearly half the crew had been swept into eternity.
Blake himaelf was wounded in the thigh, and the same
ball which lamed him for the remainder of his Ufe, tore
away part of Deane's buff coat. The enemy's loss in
men could not be ascertained ; it waa known to be very
great by the entire clearance of more than one vessel ;
and the decks and guns of the captured ships were so
spattered with blood, as to sicken and appal the most
callous of the victors.
As soon as night came down, Blake's first care was to
reUeve the agonies of the wounded men by sending them
on shore to the well-prepared hospitals, where persons of
all ranks aided in promoting theb comfort and recovery ;
coUections of money, clothes and linen being made for
them throughout the West, and the defects of the service
supplied by the spontaneous enthusiasm of the people.
His own wound, though not dangerous, demanded repose
and careful treatment ; but he listened to no friend who
urged him to go on shore and seek for himself the relief
which he took care to put in the way of hia humbler
comrades. The two fieets lay almoat close together, with
their Ughta streaming all night across the wintry sea.
Until dawn next day, every effective hand on board the
English fieet was employed in restoring sails, stopping
leaks, cleaning guna, and repairing the waate of war.
Everything was made ready to renew the contest with the
return of light, for a dead calm had succeeded to the
fresh breeze blowing when the battle began, and this
calm continuing, it was impossible for the Dutch to avoid
another battle.

198 ROBERT BLAKE.
As day broke a Ught wind sprang up, and Tromp,
anxious to get his traders home in safety, disposed his
fleet in the form of a crescent, the two hundred merchants
in his centre, and crowding every inch of sail that he could
spread, stood directly up Channel. Blake followed with
his whole power ; the breeze which favoured the flight
also aiding the pursuit ; yet it was twelve o'clock before
the Triumph came within gunshot of the rearmost enemy,
and nearly two before the main body came up with them
off Dungenesa. Compelled to fight againat his wiU, Tromp
ordered the merchants to mate sail for the nearest Dutch
port, keeping close under the French shore between Calais
and Dunkirk for protection, and then turned Uke a
panther on hia pursuer. On both sides the battle was
renewed with fury. De Ruiter gave fresh proofs of his
skUl and courage ; but the fortune of war was stUl against
him. After some hours of this second engagement his
vessel became unmanageable, and would have faUen into
Blake's hands had not Tromp seen his danger and sent
Captain Duin to bring him out from the fight. With
great difficulty he was extricated from his position and
carried away. An hour or so later Tromp also began
to faU slowly back towards Boulogne, stiU, however, con
testing every wave, and the mingled rout and battle
lasted untu night again separated the hostile hosts.
Fortunately for the English fleet, though the air was
bitterly cold, the sky was unusually clear for winter, so
that the enemy's lights served them as signals, and
enabled their ships to keep pretty close together and
well up for the battle of the morrow. On the second
day Blake had captured or destroyed five Dutch men-of-
war. The advantages gained by the recent reforms came
out clearly in face of the enemy : — the Admirals had not
a single complaint to make as to the courage, steadiness
and unity of purpose displayed by the inferior officers.

ROBERT BLAKE. 199
In the Dutch fleet, on the contrary, want of concert,
party-bitterness and personal envy, combined to clog the
genius of the great commander. At the close of the
second day's engagement several captains sent word to
the Brederode that they could resist no longer, pleading
want of powder as an excuse, and Tromp was compeUed
to send these men away from the main body iu the night
ao as to prevent treason and cowardice from spreading to
the other ships. To conceal the true nature of this
defection, he made a pretence of giving them instructions
to take up a new position to windward of the traders,
and begged them to make such a show of resistance as
would keep the English frigates from coming too near.
But his device failed of its own weakness. When day
light dawned, Blake saw at a glance that the fleet had
been considerably reduced, and inferring that a squadron
had been deapatched in the night to cover the flight of
the merchanta, he aent off a division of fleet sailers,
drawing little water, in pursuit of them, while he himaelf
bore down once more with the main body on his reduced
but stdl unconquered enemy. Tromp fought, as usual,
with the most desperate courage : but he had now little
hope, with hia broken and divided power, of doing more
than occupy Blake's attention untU hia richly laden mer
chants could run into the nearest port. Even this waa
doubtful. After the flrst shock of the third day's battle,
he aent Captain Van Neas to the merchants, with orders
for them to crowd sail and make for Calais road, as he
found himself unable to promise them more than a few
hours' protection. As the flght grew fiercer, he sent
his Treaaurer to urge them to press on faster, or the
EngUah frigates would soon be amongst them. But the
wind was then blowing from the French coast, and
notwithstanding his energetic attempts, Van Ness was
unable to carry such a number of disorganised ships

200. , ROBERT BLAKE.
sufficiently near land to be out of danger. More than
half the Dutch frigates and men-of-war had now been
taken, sunk or scattered ; and considering it a species
of insanity in Tromp to continue the engagement until
they were all destroyed, the other captains, contrary to
theb express orders, retreated on the flying traders.
Confusion then reached its height. Some of the English
frigates came up ; and the merchants, in their alarm and
disorder, ran foul of each other, knocked themselves to
pieces or fell blindly into their enemy's power. Still
fighting with the retreating men-of-war, Blake arrived in
the midst of this wild scene late in the afternoon, and
finding several ships run against him, as if desbous of
being captured, it occurred to him that this was a device
of his wily adversary to stay the victorious pursuit, and
give time to rally some part of the discomfited fleet, —
and he issued strict and instant commands that every
war-ship still in a condition to foUow and fight the
enemy should press on with aU its force against the
main body, leaving the traders in their rear to be watched
and seized by the frigates already assigned to that
service, or driven into ports whence it would be easy to
recover them should the Dutch fieet be swept from the
Channel. Darkness alone put an end to the exciting
chase. Tromp ran in under the French shore, about four
miles from Calais, where he anchored the remnant of his
once mighty fieet — now reduced to less than half the
former number of masts, and these damaged in every
part. Blake consulted pUots and others well acquainted
with the coaat, as to what Tromp could do in his new
position ; and the general opinion of these men being
that the Dutch could not weather the coast of Artois,
as the wind and tide then lay, and would be compelled
to come out to sea in order to get home, he cast anchors
and sat down to repair his damages. The night was

ROBERT BLAKE. 201
unusually dark, with a high gale blowing, so that the
enemy's lights could not be seen ; and when day again
dawned the sea was quite clear in that direction, Tromp
having slipped away and tided towards Dunkirk, whence
he got off into the harbours of Zealand. By twelve o'clock
in the morning, Blake was ready to give chase, but no
enemy being then visible, and seeing how useless it
would be to foUow the runaways into the fiats.and shallows
of their own coast, he stood over towards England, and
the gale still rising, carried his fieet and prizes into
Stoake's Bay, in the Isk of Wight, whence he and his
coUeagues in command wrote to inform the House of
their success.
Extremely false and exaggerated accounts of the great
Battle of Portland were published in the two countries.
Excepting the loss of their tradera, the Statea- General
tried to make the world believe that their fleet had done
as much mischief as it had suffered: — but when Tromp
was asked to aail againat the enemy and recover his
laurels, he frankly confessed that his best war-ships
had been lost or deatroyed. In their report to Parlia
ment, the English commanders stated that their loss was
confined to the Sampson, the vessel turned adrift duruig
the first night of the engagement, — and that their gain
from the enemy waa seventeen or eighteen men of war,
and a large fleet of merchant-ships, the precise number
not being ascertainable at once, the prizes having been
carried into different ports. Sixteen saU were brought
into Dover. Altogether it is probable that more than
fifty of these vessels feU into English hands. On both
sides the loss of life was great. The Dutch captains.
Balk, Van Zaanen, De Port, Spanhem, Regemorter,
Fokkes, and AUart were slain : Swers, Schey, and Van
Zeelst were taken prisoners. England had to mourn
the deaths of three of her bravest captains — BaU,

202 ROBERT BLAKE.
Mildmay and Barker. Blake himself was severely
wounded, as was also his gallant Rear-admbal Lawson.
Few of the more distinguished persona on board escaped
without a wound.
In London the first news of this battle was received
with enthusiasm. At last the two nations had met on
a fair field ; the genius, strength and courage of the
officers and men had been fably tried ; and the Common
wealth had gained a splendid victory. Special letters of
thanks and congratulation were written to the three
commanders. A day of general thanksgiving was
appointed. Parliament began an immediate subscription
in behalf of the wives and chUdren of such as had fallen
in the action : and a short time afterwards a pubUc
provision waa made by the State itself for theb support.
Troops of horse escorted the prisoners from the various
ports where they had been landed to London, and in
every town through which these cavalcades passed on
the journey, the people rang the joy-beUs in celebration
of the battle. As to Blake himself, less mindful of his
own wound than he was of the hurts of his humblest
companion, he remained in St. Helen's road and about
the Solent for some weeks after the acticn, refitting
his ships, taking in fresh steres, and preparing te chas
tise the Brest privateers, who stiU infested the seas and
made spoil of English and other traders engaged in the
commerce with Ireland. In April he received informa
tion that Tromp was making great efforts to equip
another fieet, so that he was still unable or unwilling to
go on shore. With a hundred sail he appeared before
the Texel, where he found about seventy Dutch men-of-
war and frigates ; his vanguard fired into them as soon
as he came within gunshot, when they hastUy retreated,
leaving fifty of theb doggers behind as prizes. Tromp
had gone out on convoy service ; but no longer able or

CROMWELL DISPERSING THE. LONG PARLIAMENT.

ROBERT BLAKE. 203
willing to try the Channel passage, the Dutchman was
obhged to go round the north of Scotland to meet the
fleet of Spanish and Levantine merchants. He contrived
by consummate seamanship to bring his ships home,
though the wits of London and Westminster had their
laugh at the expense of that top-gaUant humour which
had so lately threatened to brush the Engliah navy from
the seas in which he no longer dared to show his
pennons. Leaving him for the present aecure in his
fortified and inaccessible ports, Blate saUed towards
the North with a smaU squadron, whUe Mont ap.d
Deane returned with eighty sail into the Downs, where
they witnessed and acquiesced in CromweU's dispersion
of the Long Parliament and in his assumption of
supreme power.
The precise objects of this northern cruise have not
been clearly stated. But as it had the effect of remov
ing from the Downs and from the majority of his naval
comrades a popular commander, tnown for his sincere
attachment to the Commonwealth, at the very moment
when CromweU had resolved to venture on the rash,
indecent and unlawful act of dispersing by brute force
the representatives of the nation, it is not difficult to
surmise by whose intrigues the Council of State had been
induced to urge it.
On the famous 20th of AprU, 1653, Blate was cruizing
with twenty ahips between the Friths of Forth and
Moray, when the troopers marched down to Westminster
and cleared the House. Next day Cromwell dissolved
the CouncU of State. On the 25th a council of officers in
London declared for CromweU, and the same afternoon
brought despatches from Deane and Monk, with their
adhesion and that of certain captains of their fieet to the
number of thirty-three. Penn and the officers with him
signed to the same effect. But neither the Admiral

204 ROBERT BLAKE.
himself, his brother Benjamin, nor his nephew Robert,
set their hands to these documents, so that the name of
Blake does not occur in the papers which carried to the
usurper an assurance that his violence would not be
opposed by the navy.
That Blake was dissatisfied with a change that soon
condemned Algernon Sydney to the privacy of Pens-
hurst, consigned Sir Henry Vane to a priaon, and drove
many of the moderate men whose opinions he shared,
into private Ufe, there is no reason to doubt. To his
friends and associates he made no secret of his resent
ment. Had he been in his place in the Council of State
when Cromwell entered, there would probably have been
a louder and more important protest against the act of
uaurpation than that made by the Lord- President Brad-
shawe. But he was far away, deeply engrossed with the
duties of the service, when the deed of violence was
done in Weatminater; and before the intelUgence
reached him on his diatant station, the change was an
historical fact, formally accepted by the army and the
fleet. From that moment Blake gave up politics. The
gentry of Somersetshire returned him as theb represen
tative in the new Parliament ; but he never appeared in
the House except on the business of his department.
The fears and intrigues of the usurper caused him to be
excluded from the new Council of State. In a Par
liament without power, even his fearless truth and un
compromising honeaty could do little harm to the Lord-
General's intereata : while his very name on the rolls of
the New Representative, lent a dignity to that assembly
which Cromwell understood, and which his admirers stUl
claim as a triumph for their hero. The case was dif
ferent as regards the CouncU of State. AVithin that
smaller and more powerful body, he might have proved
a dangerous adviaer and opponent so long as the great

ROBERT BLAKE. 205
question of a settlement of the nation was stiU under
discussion : it was, therefore, a necessary precaution,
that, for a time at least, he should be excluded. Blake's
opinions were known to be unfavourable to mUitary rule,
not only in England, but on the continent generally ; and
when the Dutch heard of a sudden revolution having been
accomplished by the army in London, they at once leapt to
the conclusion that their most redoubtable naval adversary
would no longer carry on the war with his old vigour.
In these hopes they were deceived. Calling his cap
tains together as soon as the messengers arrived at the
fleet, he told them, that whatever might be their private
opinions, he considered it to be his duty and their duty
to act in their several posts, whUe out at sea, with
good faith, and in such a way aa would best conduce to
the .pubUc peace and welfare. He spoke of the irregu
larities which had occurred in London; but he would
not admit that in such a crisis, threatened as the country
was on every side with foreign enemies, the fleet had any
right to plunge the country into the horrors of civil war.
When pressed by some of hia captains to declare againat
the cUque of army officers and their leader, he at once
took up a position which he never afterwards abandoned.
"No," he said, "it is not for us to mind affabs of State,
but to keep foreigners from fooling us." Though he
suspected CromweU and abhorred mUitary rule, he had
manliness and patriotism enough not to deprive his
country of such services as he could render, because it
had aUowed itself to submit to a power not of his choice.
And fortunately thia resolution was taken with his uaual
rapidity ; for Tromp, Evertz, De Ruiter, and De Witt,
under the impreaaion that the fleets of England were
divided from each other and rent by discords, sailed from
the Goree with 120 ships, brought together and manned
in haste, for Dover road, into which they drove a few

2o6 ROBERT BLAKE.
stragglers, toot two or three prizes, and began to fire on
the town. The fleet then in the narrow seas was divided
into three squadrons. Deane and Mont, with the red
flag, in the Resolution, had under their immediate orders
38 saU, carrying 1440 guns and 6169 men; the white divi
sion, under Penn, consisted of 33 saU, with 1189 guns
and 5085 men ; Lawson commanded the blue, composed
of 34 ships, having on board 1189 guns, and 5015 men ;
mating a grand total of 105 ships, 3840 guns, and 16,269
men. The Dutch were about equal in guns and men,
though they had a greater number of vessels. Blate,
meanwhUe, having learned by mounted couriers riding
day and night that Tromp was again in the Channel,
and had fired into Dover, spread his saUs and poured
impetuously down the north coast before a full breeze,
burning to revenge that insult and re-estabUsh his
invaded supremacy in the narrow seas.
Early in the morning of June 2d, the two great fleets
sighted each other about three leagues from the Gable.
Lawson pressed in advance of his comrades, and charged
through the enemy between eleven and twelve o'clock in
the forenoon, separating De Ruiter's squadron from the
rest of the Dutch fleet, and engaging it in a severe contest
before the main body on either side could be brought to
bear. In about an hour Tromp was at the elbow of his
gaUant comrade, and at three o'clock the cannonade was
general. One of the first cannon-shots that swept the
Resolution kiUed General Deane : Monk threw his cloak
over the mangled corpse of his colleague, and shouted to
the men to avenge his death. Tromp had that morning
given out an extra quantity of liquor, and for some hours
his Dutchmen fought with reckless and extraordinary
courage ; but when darkness put an end to a long day's
engagement, he found himself not less damaged than the
EngUsh.

GEORGE MONK, DUKE OF ALBEMARLE.

ROBERT BLAKE. 207
All that night, while the hostile fieets, at gunshot dis
tance from each other, were trying in haste and disorder
to repair the havoc of the laat few hours, Blake was
riding with his division, under fuU sail and with stream
ing lights, for the scene of action, unaware of the day's
events, the loss of his old friend Deane, and the doubtful
position of the channel fleet. AU night the officers and
men in the Downs, dispirited at the death of their old
general, watched and waited anxiously for the signals of
the Sea Eling. The summer morning dawned early, but
no trace of his coming could be descried on the horizon.
Fortunately, Tromp was unaware that Blake was expected
in the course of the day, beUeving him too far north to
be recaUed; and he spent the precious hours of the
morning in a series of skUful movements intended to
recover the weather-gage ; but, owing to a sudden calm,
he was unsuccessful in his attempt, and about noon the
two fleets were again within range of the great guns.
The battle was renewed, as if by mutual consent, at the
point where it had ceased the night before: it was
maintained with energy ; but neither party could claim
an advantage over the other until the expected squadron
hove in sight. Early in the afternoon, high above the din
of battle, and breaking through it as the thunder-clap
cleaves through the roar of wind and rain in a storm,
the explosions of his terrible artUlery were heard by
the anxious and excited seamen on the Dutchman's rear
and flank ; and the sound of carnage roused them
Hke a sudden inapbation. Young Robert Blake was
tfep first to engage the enemy; he broke through the
Dutch line, and was received with tremendous cheers
from the sailors of the English fleet, to whom he
brought proof of their great commander's arrival on
the scene of action. At four o'clock the battle ended
and the rout began. Tromp fought with the energy of

2o8 ROBERT BLAKE.
despab ; but nothing could stand against the impetuous
onset. The men of the Brederode, stung to madness
by the cries and reproaches of theb Admiral, boarded
the Vice-admiral — the James — but were repulsed by
Penn's crew, who entered the Brederode with them,
gained possession of the quarter-deck, and would pro
bably have captured the ship, had not Tromp, resolved
not to fall alive into English hands, thrown a light
into the powder-magazine, and caused an explosion which
sent the upper-dect and the gallant boarders who occu
pied it into mid air — the plants shivered into a thousand
splinters — the men horribly scorched and mutilated.
By a mbacle Tromp himself was scarcely hurt ; but a
report of his death spread through the fleet, and many
of his disheartened captains turned and fled. De
Ruiter and De Witt exerted themselves in vain. After
his marvellous escape, Tromp quitted the disabled
Brederode for a faat-saUing frigate, in which he flew
through the fleet to assure the saUors of his safety,
encouraging the brave, threatening the waverers, and
ibing on the timid as they fled. But it was now too
late : the day was irrecoverably lost, and the brave old
sailor at last and with stern reluctance gave his sanction
to the order for retreat. As the flight became general,
a fresh gale sprung up to favour the pursuit. Allowing
the enemy no pause, the English admirals pressed hotly
on their rear, sunk many of theb ships, captured several
others, and would have destroyed the entire armament,.
had they been favoured with two more hours of dayUght.
But favoured by a dark night, Tromp sought shelter
in the road before Ostend, and the next day escaped
with the remnant of his fleet into Weilingen. Blake
and Monk had to report that among their captures they
counted 1350 Dutch prisoners, including six captains,
Verburg, Schellinger, Laurence, Duin, Fietersz, and

ROBERT BLAKE. 209
Westergo : eleven men-of-war, including a vice-admiral
and two rear-admirals ; two water-hoys and one fly -boat.
The other ascertainable losses of the enemy included
six men-of-war sunk, two blown up and one burnt. In
the Engliah fleet they counted 126 men slain and 236
wounded. Several of their ships had their bows shot
away, and the masts and rigging of many others were
shattered or destroyed.
InteUigence of this great defeat threw the United
Provinces into a ferment. The mob rose in various
towns, deposed the magistrates, and accused the govem
ment of incapacity and treaaon. The admirals offered to
resign theb commissions. Tromp told the Deputies of
the States that it waa impoaaible to . fight the islanders
any longer, unleaa theb fleet could be reinforced by a
great number of large ships; and DeRuiter boldly declared
that he would go to sea no more with auch a fleet as they
then possessed. In the Aaaembly of the Statea, De Witt
spoke the truth stiU more clearly out: — "Why," he
aaid, " should I keep silence any longer ? I am here
before my aovereigna ; I am free to apeak : — and I muat
say that the EngUah are at present' mastera both of us
and of the seas." This was the opinion of the well-
informed in both countries. The naval power of Hol
land waa for the time completely broken, and the final
battle of the war hazarded and loat two months later,
waa but an expiring effort made with crippled meana and
under circumstances of the greatest discouragement.
The condition of the Dutch fiag-ship was little worse
than that of their navy throughout : — " The Brederode,"
says Tromp, in his report to the States- General, "has
received several shots between wind and water; and
though we have had her caulked as well as possible, she
stiU leaks so fast, that last night, in spite of all our
pumps, the water gained on us above five feet in

210 ROBERT BLAKE.
height : tOl the present time we have contrived to teep
her above water ; but if after aU we find our labour lost,
we shall be obUged to run her ashore." Under these
circumstances the States began to think of peace, and a
vessel carrying a white fiag was sent with an agent on
board, who was inatructed to go to London to prepare
the way for two freah ambassadors fully empowered to
arrange the preliminaries of a treaty.
Though it kept the sea, the English fieet was in
scarcely better condition than that of the enemy. After
sending the wounded men on shore at Ipswich, where
hospitals had been prepared for their reception, with
strict orders that every care should be taken of their
wounds, and every comfort afforded them during the
progress of theb recovery, — Blake pursued the fiying
enemy, keeping his great ships out at sea to avoid the
shoals and sand-banks, but running his frigates close in
land and scouring every bay and inlet. His objects
were, to place the coast of Holland from the Zwin to
the Texel in a state of blockade — to intercept and destroy
the Dutch trade — to hinder the herring-busses and
whaling-boats from going out on the usual summer voy
age — and to teep the fleet closed up in the Texel and
prevent its junction with that refitting in the WeUingen ;
and having determined on his plan, he coUected such of
his ships as appeared to be unable to remain at sea for
some weeks to come, and sent them bact to England
with the prizes, himseK remaining with the other portion
of hia fleet in the Dutch watera, capturing stray ships
and holding the long chain of towns and ports between
Ostend and the Ema in a state of perpetual alarm and
irritation. His letters written at this time from before
the Texel and the Vlie show with how wide a range of
obstacles he had to contend, and add new elements
to the admiration excited by his victorious career. Five

ROBERT BLAKE. si I
days after the battle he writes to the Board of Admi
ralty : — ,
" GENTLBMEif, — Siuce ours of the 6th present, we are
got between the Texel and the Vlie, where we shall en
deavour to hinder any men-of-war coming out from thence
to mate a conjunction with the Dutch fleet now at the
WeUingen, aa weU as hinder their fishing and merchan
dising trade so near as we can.
" The ships sent for England with the Dutch prizes,
of which you had an account in our laat, we do desire
they may be refitted and sent unto ua ao aoon as poaaibly
you can, and that the Commissioners of the Navy may
be sent unto, to give order for as much victuals and
water to be put on board them as they can weU stow,
also that so many other ships with victuals and water as
can be got ready in that time may comfe along with them,
and for those victualling and water-ships now with us,
we shaU use our beat endeavours to get it out as fast
aa we can, and dispoae of it to each ship according to
theb neceaaity ao far as it will go, and then send them
back for recruits, whereby the charge of hiring more
ships for that service may be saved ; but as yet we have
not had time.
" We do desbe that two or three of the best-sailing
frigates may be hastened to us with powder and shot,
which is our great want.
" We have aent orders to aU those ships and vessels
in Yarmouth road to repair unto us with all expedition, and
do desire that for the future no more ships-of-war or
others may be sent thither, but that they repab into the
Zwin, where we shall send to them and for them aa the
service requires.
" We would gladly know certainly what quantity of
victuals there lies now ready at Hull, Yarmouth, and
Harwich upon any occasion.
p2

212 ROBERT BLAKE.
" It is supposed as soon as the enemy is in a capacity
to show hia head, he wiU endeavour to attempt somewhat
upon our own coast ; but we hope you wiU take care that
he may be prevented, and if he shaU come again and
shoot into Dover pier, that youwiU not be much startled
at it, though we assure you there shaU be nothing want
ing in us to hinder him in that or any thing else that may
disturb the peace of thia Commonwealth, so far as the
Lord shaU enable us.
" We do desbe aU diUgence may be used to supply
us with seamen, and that the first ships that come may
bring as many with them as they can. We are," &c.
Next day he wrote again, complaining that the ships
were in very bad condition and much in want of powder
and shot. But suppUes came in slowly. Want and
sickness increased day by day. On the 12th he again
wrote :
" The 11th preaent came many letters of yours to our
hands, several of them, bearing date in May laat, are du
plicates of some we formerly received, and have abeady
answered as to the material things therein. The same
day also came Colonel Goffe, Major Bourne and Captain
Hataell, and seven ships-of-war, with eleven victuallers
and water-ahips in their company. What theb lading
particularly ia we cannot as yet give you an account ;
but so soon as it comes to our hands, we shaU communi
cate it unto you, which we hope wUl be by the next ;
only this we have in general, that there are 140 barrels
of powder in the Samuel merchant, and 172 in the John
and Katherine (besides a quantity of shot) over and
above their proportion ; also 700 soldiers, which might
have been serviceable unto us had care been taken to
have sent bedding and cloths along with them, according
to your resolutions at Chatham in that particular, which
we hoped would have been adhered to ; for want whereof

ROBERT BLAKE. 213
they are likely to occasion much sickness amongst us,
instead of answering your expectations.
" As aoon as we have dispoaed of the victuala now
come to us, we Shall send the ships that brought it back
again with what speed we can, that they may be recruited
and retumed to ua ; and we hope you wiU uae aU dili
gence for the hastening bact the ships we sent into the
river as a convoy to the Dutch prizes ; we having many
ships here wUl be unfit for service before they get to ua,
let them mate what haste they can. We sent the other
day eleven ships and frigates to Harwich to wash and
taUow, and then to complete three months victuals, as
also to tate in the ammunition remaining at Yarmouth
for the fleet, and so to return with all speed.
" For those ships and frigates of Captain Baddy's
squadron, which we understand are in a capacity for
service, wanting some men, we desire they may be sup
plied and hastened to us, the rather because we are in
formed there are eleven or twelve great frigates newly
launched at Amsterdam, Enchuyaen, and thereabouts,
which carry fifty guna a piece, beaides the ten men-of-
war which came home with the French fieet. We un
derstand some hammocks are eome in a hoy to Harwich,
for which we have sent, but hear not of the other neces
saries of wood and candles, so often mentioned unto you,
of which the fleet wants a proportion of six weeka to
even with our present victualling. The lOOOlbs. is now
come iu the John and Katherine, and John Poortmans
intends to get it aboard to-day, which we hope wiU yet
be serviceable : for the Cock and Brier which you men
tion are on their way towards ua ; the latter of them we
conceive may be very uaeful in her station on the weatern
coast, and therefore do not desire her here. We have
desbed Major Bourne to remain about Harwich and
Yarmouth, the better to despatch to us the ships and

214 ROBERT BLAKE.
frigates that are or shall be sent thither, and such other
vessels with provisions as are necessary for the fleet;
and also to maintain a constant and mutual correspon
dence between the CouncU of State and yourselves with
us. The supply of ammunition you have made unto us,
especially of shot, will not answer our present wants in
that behalf, wherefore we desbe the continuance of your
care therein, that what further quantities can be suddenly
provided may be aent unto ua accordingly."
About a fortnight later he complained that his stores
and proviaiona were aU run abort ; the beer, he said, was
sour, the bread bad, the butter rancid, the cheese rotten.
The amount of aickneas on board was very great ; and
in spite of the enemy's present weakness, and the im
mense advantage of holding them in close blockade, he
expressed a fear that, unless reUeved, he would be com
pelled by want and sickness to return to England. His
own health was bad, the consequence of his neglected
wound, but of that he said Uttle. The close of his letter,
in which he had described one of his captures, gave
excellent reasons for maintaining the blockade :
" It hath pleased God this last week," it ran, " to
deliver several merchant-ships of the enemy into our
hands, which was thus : Upon the 19th present some of
our frigates, appointed to ply to and again before theVUe,
met with eleven sail, which proved to be Dutch ships,
some of them come from the West Indies ; and being
ships of force, they fought for some time, but at length
committed themselves to saUing aa theb securest way ;
whereby five of them escaped, but four are taken, one
sunk, and another burnt. In this encounter Captain
Vessey, Commander of the Martin, was slain, whom we
understand hath left a poor widow with a great charge
of chUdren, whose condition we leave to your conside
ration. Upon the 22ud some other of our frigates met

ROBERT BLAKE. 213
about thirty sail more to the northward of the Vlie,
which being ships of no force endeavoured whoUy an
escape ; but yet eleven of them were taten and some of
the remainder scattered, and the rest got into port ; two
of these came from Sweden laden with guna, aU new,
whereof two are brass, and most of them carrying a bullet
from 241bs. weight to twelve, as we are informed, which
we hope wUl be aa seasonable for ua as for them, had
they escaped ; there were no more amongst them had
any guns but these two, the rest are richly laden for the
most part ; they are not all come into the fieet as yet ;
when they are, we shall send them in under the convoy
of such ships aa are least useful, also such sict and
wounded men as are not fit to be tept on board ; upon
whose arrival in Lea road, whither we shall order them,
we do desire speedy directions may be given concerning
them as may stand with the good of the service. We
intend also (if the Lord will) to mate a trip over with
the whole fieet upon the English shore, to see them out
of danger, and then to j-eturn with what speed we can,
leaving in the meantime so many of the beat frigates we
have to lie between the Dogger Bank and the Eiff, to
intercept the enemy's ahipa of trade expected home. We
earnestly desire you will hasten unto us as many clean
ships as you can, apprehending more service might be
done than now is, had we a considerable number of
them ; also that you would send to Major Bourne that
thoae ships now taUowing at Harwich may be expedited
to us.
" We still continue before this place, sometimes at an
anchor, at other times under sail."
One more extract from this correspondence wiU com
plete the dreary picture of this victorious fieet, and will
bring down the story of the war to the point where Blake
was compeUed by illness to go on shore :

2i6 ROBERT BLAKE.
" Since our last, wherein we acquainted you with
our resolutions to saU with the main body of the fleet
for Sowle Bay, we have had blowing weather for the
most part, whereby we were driven to leeward as far as
Flamborough Head ; but are now, through the goodness
of God, come thus far on our way, and hope to get into
the place of rendezvous this night, or to-morrow morning
at furthest, where aU diligence shaU be used to accom
plish the end of our coming thither ; and therefore deaire
that what victuaUing ahips and others can be sent from
London within the time Umited for our staying upon
this coast, may be expedited to us, and we have written
to Major Bourne in the like manner for such proviaiona
as can be sent unto us from Yarmouth and Harwich.
Our men faU sick very fast every day, having at present
on board this ship upwards of eighty sick men, and
some of them very dangerously, which we hear is gene
rally through the whole fleet alike, proportionable to
the number of men on boai'd; so that we shall be
constrained to send a considerable number unto Ipswich
for their recovery ; where there is room enough for them
and good accommodation, as we understand by a letter
from Dr. Whistler lately come to our hands, to whom
we have written that special care might be taken of
them, and suitable provision made for them, according
to their conditions ; and do desire a considerable number
of seamen may be sent unto us with what expedition
you can, or else it is apprehended we shaU be very
weakly manned, to do service answerable to what is
expected from us.
"We have this morning sent away the Worcester
frigate for Chatham, being very foul, and wanting a new
foremast, w^hich could not be suppUed here. We should
have ordered him to stay in Lea road to receive your
directions, but that we apprehended much time would

ROBERT BLAKE. 217
be loat that way, being appointed to make his repair
unto the fleet with all expedition. The captain of her is
a godly and valiant man, whom, with Captain Newbery,
commander of the Entrance, we do especially recommend
for two of the best frigates now a building, which if you
shall approve of and appoint unto, we shall deliver them
commissions upon notice given. We hope you do not
forget to send us paper and canvass for cartridges, with
a considerable quantity of old jimk for wads, our neces
sity in this particular having been several times made
known unto you. There are two honest captains more
whom we desire to recommend unto you for removes
into some of the new frigates now a building, with good
strength, viz. Captain Bragg in the Marmaduke and
Captain Hermon in the Welcome ; they are already in
ships of good force but slow sailers, and do apprehend
they would do more and better service if better pro
vided. We earnestly desire you wUl send down to us
as much victuals as wUl complete us to the laat of
September, if you can, or else the quantity of butter,
cheese, and bread that was lost in the Golliott hoy, of
which we gave you an account already, being much in
want thereof. We alao desire you wiU hasten unto ua
what clean ships and frigates you can from London, for
want whereof so much service cannot be done as other
wise might be."
Next morning the fleet put in, and Blake was carried
on shore more dead than alive, leaving Monk, Penn and
Lawson on board to carry out and complete his plan for
the final reduction of Holland.
One more blow, and all was over. Taking advantage
of the temporary absence of the blockading fieet, the
Dutch squadrons of the Texel and Weilingen put to sea
and effected a junction with each other on the south
coast ; but their shattered power was no longer capable

2x8 ROBERT BLAKE.
of bearding their powerful enemy, and when the English
admirals hove in sight at the close of the month, they
endeavoured by fiight to avoid another battle. Penn
aud Lawson won their brightest laurels in this final con
flict with Tromp, Evertz and De Euiter. The fighting
began at dust ; but night soon parted the combatants.
Next day a heavy gale and thict dirty weather pre
vented a renewal of the action. On the third day the
last shot was fired. The aged and able Admbal of
Holland received a mustet-baU in his heart ; and after
his death the captains of his fleet fled away, the EngUsh
for the first and only time in that war pursuing the
fugitives without mercy, as the ruthless Mont had com
manded them to give no quarter. They made no
prisoners ; they tiUed aU who feU in theb way ; and
after a few houra the conteat became a masaacre rather
than a battle. The States- General, now thoroughly
humbled, sent ambassadors to sue for peace ; the nego
ciations were carried on without further interruption ;
and early in the foUowing spring a treaty was made in
which they formaUy conceded to England the honours
of the flag — agreed to banish the royalist exUes from
HoUand — gave the East India Company compenaation
for ita leases — settled a sum of money on the hebs of
theb Amboyna victims — and made amends to the English
traders who had suffered in the Baltic.
In modern times there had been no maritime war to
compare with this Dutch war, either as to the genius
of the combatants, the interests at state, or the magni
tude of the operations conducted. In less than two
years the English Sea- General and his officers had,
according to our own computations, captured or destroyed
seventeen hundred Dutch sliips ; the HoUanders them
selves admitted that they had lost more than eleven
hundred vessels. Twenty months of naval war with

ROBERT BLAKE. 219
England cost the Statea- General more money than they
had expended during the twenty years war so gloriously
waged against Spain.
Honours and decorations awaited the successful
admirals in England. The Council of State proposed
that Parliament should order two gold chains, each of
300Z. value, to be made and presented to the two sur
viving generals, Blate and Mont. Two other chains,
valued at lOOZ. each, were given to Penn and Lawson.
Four chains of 40Z. each were presented to the four
flag-officers. Eewards and promotions feU to the lot
of many of the inferior officers. Penn waa raiaed to the
rant of Sea-General in the place of Deane. Lawson
was made Vice-admirak Captain Badily — who had
recently fought and lost the battle of Porto Longone,
the only event of any importance which had occurred in
the Mediterranean during the Dutch war — was made
Eear-admiral at the same time. A sum of 1040Z. was
voted for medals. Bonfires were Ughted in aU public
places, and moat conspicuously on Tower Hill. A day
of general thanksgiving, as usual with the Eoundheads
after a great victory, was appointed. But aU thia time
Blake lay at home in a dangerous fever, and only heard
the public exultation at his success through the occa
sional echoes which, in spite of medical precautions,
came to disturb the repose of a sick room.

CHAPTER VIII.
THE MEDITERRANEAN.
DrEiNG the remainder of the summer months of 1653,
it is at least probable that Blake lay sick at Knoll, a
country-house attached to an estate which he had pur
chased about two mUes from Bridgwater. Fever, of a
slow but obstinate character, arising in the first instance
from his neglected wound, combined with other ail
ments, including dropsy and scurvy, then common to all
men leading a sea-faring life — to lay him for awhile
completely prostrate. But a land diet, gentle exercise
and his native air gradually produced a change for the
better in his condition. Knoll was at aU times a favou
rite retreat. When absent from his poUtical and pro
fessional duties, it was his deUght to run down to
Bridgwater for a few days or weeks, and with his
chosen books and one or two devout and abstemious
friends to indulge in the luxuries of seclusion. He
was by nature self-absorbed and taciturn. A long walk,
during which he appeared to hia simple neighbours to
be lost in profound thought, as if working out in his
own mind the detaUs of one of his great battles, or busy
with some abstruse point of Puritan theology, usuaUy
occupied his morning. If accompanied by one of his
brothers or by some other intimate friend, he was still
for the moat part silent. Good-humoured always, and

ROBERT BLAKE. 221
enjoying sarcasm when of a grave, high class, he yet
never talked for the sate of hearing his own voice, or
encouraged others so to employ theb time and talents
in his presence. Even his lively and rattling brother
Humphrey, his almost constant companion when on
ahore, caught, from long habit, the great man's con
templative manner ; and when his friends rallied him
on the subject in after-years, he used to say that he
had caught the trick of silence whUe walking by the
Admbal's side in his long morning musings on Knoll
hiU. A plain dinner satisfied his wants. Eeligious
conversation, reading and the details of business, gene
rally fiUed up the evening until supper-time ; after
famUy prayers, always pronounced by the General him
self, and a frugal supper, he would invariably caU for
his cup of sack and a dry crust of bread, and whUe he
drank two or three horns of Canary, would amile and
chat in his own dry manner with his friends and domes
tics, asking minute questions about their neighbours and
acquaintance ; or when scholars or clergymen shared his
simple repast, affecting a droU anxiety, rich and pleasant
in the conqueror of Tromp, to prove by the aptness
and abundance of his quotations that, in becoming an
admbal, he had not forfeited his claim to be considered
a classic. During the whole period of this recovery he was in
constant communication with his coUeaguea the Sea-
Generala and with the Navy Commissioners. AVhen
his commiaaion expbed, it was again renewed ; and not
an order of any consequence was given in that branch
of the public service on which his opinion was not firat
taken. His brother Humphrey was named, with John
Sparrow, Eichard HUl, Eobert Turpin and Eichard
Blackwall, a Commisaioner for the condemnation and
sale of prizea, — an extremely reaponsible and lucrative

222 ROBERT BLAKE.
office. In October he entered the House for the first
time since his election. The House was deeply moved ;
and the speaker, by command, returned him the thanks
of the nation for hia splendid services. In December an
Act of Parliament named a new Ust of Lords Commis
sioners of the Admiralty, at the head of which his name
appeared. A few weets later, though stUl suffering
from Ul-health, and lamed for Ufe by his late wound, he
retumed to active service, going on board the Swiftsure
at Spithead, with the new Sea- General Penn, whose plain
good sense and wide range of nautical information were
of use to him in his high station.
The Dutch negociation was not proceeding so rapidly
as could have been wished ; the ambassadors, with the
proverbial slovmess of theb nation, daUying with the
English claims, he determined to bring them to the
point at once by an active renewal of hostilities, no truce
having been entered into by the two powers. He had
also some accounts to settle with the Brest privateers,
that port having lately grown into another Duntirt.
Spreading out his winter guard, he closed up the south
entrance of the Channel, and spent most of his time in
daUy chase of such adventurous craft as dared to try the
narrow seas in preference to the long voyage round the
Orkney Islands, until the treaty with HoUand was
actually signed and ratified by the two governments.
With this result he was extremely pleased. Though
his highest renown had been gained in the Dutch war,
that war had never met with his private approval.
Holland, Uke England, was a Protestant State, and it
galled him to think that the two guardians of free
thought and reformed religion should be waating each
other's power, whUe Popish Spain looked haughtUy on.
A war againat that empbe waa his passion by day, his
dream by night ; like a true Puritan, he suspected and

ROBERT BLAKE. 223
hated the Spaniards as the real chUdren of Anti-Christ ;
and could he have chosen, he would have waged none
but anti-Popish and anti-piratical wars. When he went
on board the Swiftsure, he carried in his pocket instruc
tions from the CouncU of State to lie at the entrance of
Brest harbour and prevent ingress or egress, until satia
faction was obtained for the injuries done to English
commerce; but on consulting pilots and captains well
acquainted with the coasts of Bretagne, he found that
the strong westerly winds generally blowing there would
render it extremely hazardous for vessela to attempt to
ride near the shore. He therefore stationed a part of
his squadron at convenient points, to watch and overawe
the depredators, while the main body tept out at sea in
search of the HoUandera.
The progreas of the Dutch treaty had put an end to
the necessity for a winter campaign. The colleagues
returned to London; and Blake went down to Bridg
water in a new character, the formidable Sea- General
being suddenly transformed into a commisaioner for
purging the churches of England, Puritan, Independent,
Presbyterian, and aU other, of ignorant, scandalous and
inefficient pastors. From the cockpit of a man-of-war
he passed into the chapter-houses of Somersetshire,
carrying that stern and resolute spirit of reform into hia
new sphere of action which had already made him ao
conspicuous at the Navy Board.
For the moment, the active part of his professional
career seemed about to close ; and a new world of public
duties was opening before him, when government, having
its own reasons, public and private, for wiahing to
keep him and his comrades at a distance from London,
commenced the outfit of a new expedition, which
occupied the summer months of 1654. Cromwell tept
the objects of his naval armament a mystery, though it is

224 ROBERT BLAKE:
probable that Blake was in the secret. In May he left
the fieet in the Downs and went up to London, where
we find him dining with Cromwell. From this time
until September, when the first squadron sailed, the
dockyards were alive with preparation. Of course, it
waa soon noised abroad that the islanders were fitting
out a new fieet ; but the service on which it waa to be
employed — the commandera to whose skiU and fideUty it
would be entrusted — could only be surmised by friend
or foe. France and Spain, constrained by the late iaaue
of events to think with less scorn of the new Common
wealth, waited with anxiety the faU of the thunderbolt.
The war which had long raged between theae European
powers, exhausting both countries without producuig a
decided preponderance in either, rendered the friend
ship of England, now mistress at sea, of the utmost
importance. That the armament now preparing waa
intended to take a part in the conteat was assumed on
all sidea : — but into which scale would the swords of the
Sea- Generals be thrown? Causes of dissatisfaction,
general and special, were not wanting with either
country. Spain as the great Catholic power, was the
natural enemy of Puritan England. Its commercial
syatem was prohibitive, and therefore opposed to the
interests of our merchants and manufacturers. Its
arrogance offended our national pride. The favour it
had shown to Prince Eupert and the revolted fieet
during the doubtful fortunes of the Commonwealth, was
neither forgotten nor forgiven. France, on its part, had
afforded an asylum to the royal exiles, had aUowed ita
subjects to attack the merchants of the Channel, had
interdicted the importation of English sUks and woollens,
and without an open declaration of war, the private and
national cruisers of the two statea had long carried
letters of marque against each other. Up to the close

ROBERT BLAKE. 225
of the Dutch war, England had favoured the cause of
Spain as against France. Agents of that state had been
aUowed to recruit their armies in Ireland, and the suc
cours so raiaed had enabled them to reduce Gravelines
and invest Dunkirk. At a critical moment Blake had
captured the relief-guard under the Duke of Vendome,
and caused the loss ofthis stronghold. Either party, there
fore, might be struck and both feared the blow. But
the urgent inquiries of the two crowns as to the object
of the new armament were evasively anawered by Crom
well, and no one could tell in what quarter the storm
would burst.
Meanwhile the work of equipment waa carried on
throughout the summer and autumn months. Aa the
ships got ready for aea, and the plans of the govem
ment came to maturity, the fleet waa divided into two
grand divisiona : the firat, entruated to Blake, conaiated of
the fiag-ship St. George, carrying aixty guns and 350 men,
and twenty-four saU of ships, carrying altogether 4100
men and 874 guns ; the second, placed under Penn, con
sisted of the flag-ship Swiftsure, and thirty-seven other
ships, beaides two ketches, one hoy, and one dogger-boat,
the whole carrying 4410 seamen and 1114 guns. On
board the latter squadron about 3000 soldiers were alao
placed, with General Venables at their head. Captain
Eobert Blake went out with hia uncle ; Captain Benja
min Blake, restored to his former rank, commanded the
Gloucester, of 54 guns, in Penn's division.
Towards the close of the. year 1654 theae mysterious
armaments sailed from the Solent with aealed" ordera, the
smaUer squadron passing by Brest towards the south of
Europe, the stronger bearing away into the Atlantic,
as if bound for the Isle of Barbadoes ; leaving the minds
of men, not only in England, but on the Continent, in
a state of profound uncertainty as to their ultimate aims.

226 ROBERT BLAKE.
At first popular opinion inclined to believe that a great
blow waa to be struck at France ; and this belief was
fostered by the arts of the wily cardinal then ruling the
destinies of that country. Every day rumours were
spread of an approaching rupture between the two
powers, and a body of troops w-as'sent down to Dieppe,
as if to repel an expected invasion in that quarter.
Public belief was myatified by CromweU and Mazarine ;
it was commonly reported that Blake, with his entire
division, was about to enter the service of Spain, and
the price at which this powerful aid had been pur
chased was actually named. Many weeks elapsed
before Europe learned the real nature of thia armed
demonstration. The secret aim of the government was to deal a blow at
the pride and power of Spain. Though the expedition
had other objects, this waa its paramount purpose. Envy
of her colonial wealth, hatred of her religion, and impa
tience of her narrow views of commerce, combined with
the recollection of ancient and uriredressed wrongs of a
political kind to give popularity to a war against Spain.
Blake, with his flying squadron, was to watch the ports
and rivers of that country, to intercept ships entering
or leaving them, and, if possible, to cut off all communi
cation between Madrid and the West Indian Islands ;
while Penn and Venables, after raising a large additional
force at Barbadoes and other English settlements in
those seas, were to make an attempt on Hiapaniola and
San Juan, or, failing these, on the mainland of South
America, between Oronoco and Porto BeUo. The con
ception of this double campaign was masterly; Blake
holding the mother country in a state of profound isola
tion, whUe Penn and Venables invaded and captured her
distant colonies. Had it been executed with vigour and
precision, it is more than probable that England would

ROBERT BLAKE. 227
have founded an empire in South America as well as in
the North.
During the few weeks which must necessarily elapse
before Blake's co-operation would be required in this
service — no war being as yet declared againat Spain, nor
any intimation afforded that the West India squadron was
directed againat her possessions — ^he undertook to seek
redreaa for minor and more miscellaneous wrongs. Our
traders still suffered from the privateers of Brest and
Toulon. The Duke of Guise threatened an invasion of
Naplea, which it was thought due to English interests to
impede, and, if poaaible, prevent. Eovera from Salee,
Tunia, TripoU, and Algiers, then and long afterwards the
peats of European commerce, had recently captured and
sold into slavery several crews of our merchantmen.
The Commonwealth had also cause of offence against the
Grand Duke of Tuscany, who had supported the revolted
fleet, and aUowed Eupert to aell his prizes- in the port of
Leghorn. The Knighta of Malta too, equally zealous
against heretics and infidels, had pbatically seized some
English ships. All theae wrongs, suffered during the
troubles on land, he had a roving commission to inquire
into, rectify and redress ; his powers being to that end
aa vague and extensive as the work to be done waa novel
and undefinable.
Early in December, his squadron anchored in Cadiz
road. He waa received, not only by the Spanish autho
rities, but by captains and officers of aU nations at that
great emporium of trade, with extraordinary demonstra
tions of respect. The English residents crowded the
beach, eager to catch a glimpse of their renowned coun
tryman. A Dutch admiral, lying there with his fleet,
lowered his flag in honour of the red cross. One of our
tenders, parting from the fleet, fell in with a Brest
admiral, on his way with seven shipa-of-war to join the
q2

228 ROBERT BLAKE.
Toulon fleet, fitting out to cover the operations of the
Duke of Guise and check the'movements of the EngUsh
in the waters of Italy and France ; but on learning that
it belonged to the English squadron then at Cadiz, the
.Frenchman sent for the captain into his cabin, told him
he was at liberty to return, invited him to drink Blake's
health in a cup of Burgundy, and ordered a salute of
five guns to be fired in his honour. The renown of
Blake's exploits had gone before him to the warUke
ports and towns of Barbary; and some Algerine cruiaers,
having a number of English captives on board, brought
them as presents to appease his wrath. Every prince
and people in the south who had insulted or outraged
the Commonwealth learned to tremble at his approach.
In his imagination the Grand Duke of Tuacany already
heard the thunder of his cannon booming acroaa the
waters of Leghorn. The terrified Pope gave orders for
a solemn procession, and the sacred Host was exposed
for forty hours, to avert the threatening calamity from
the dominions of the Church.
As peace had not yet been ratified between France
and England, the Brest admiral, finding Blake's ships
at the entrance of the Straits of Gibraltar, feared
to attempt a passage in presence of so uncertain a
friend, aud fell back with his reinforcement to Lisbon.
Meanwhile news reached Cadiz that the fleet of the
Duke of Guise was stiU at Naples ; and the EngUsh
immediately weighed their anchors and passed the rock
of Gibraltar under fuU saU, making their course directly
for the southern limb of Italy. When they arrived at
Naples, the Duke was gone ; but whether into the Gulf
of Venice, or that of Genoa, they could not learn from
any trustworthy source. What appeared to be the best
accounts described him as having sailed for Leghorn ;
and as soon as the fleet had taken in bread and water,

ROBERT BLAKE. 229
Blake quitted the Bay of Naples — where he had received
every kindneas from the people,— and foUowed in pursuit
of his enemy along the Papal coast, not ill pleased at
the idea of making Auti-Christ tremble in the midst of
his altars and palaces. The alarm of the Holy City was
extreme. Many of the rich citizens fled away from
Eome. Some buried their wealth in secret places —
othera carried their effects, for greater safety, into the
Umbrian Appeninea. Trains of monks paraded the
streets in penitential garb, and new works were haatily
raiaed about the chapel of Lorette to preserve it from
pillage. When the cause of all thia ferment arrived
with fourteen saU in sight of the towers of Leghorn, he
sent his secretary on shore to desire instant redreas from
the Grand Duke for the ownera of all vessela which had'
been seized and sold in his territories by Eupert and
Maurice, fixing the money value of these various injuries
at the sum of 60,000Z. sterling. The Duke hesitated
and proteated ; but on finding the Sea- General urgent
and inflexible in his demand, he offered to pay down a
part of the money, and to confer with his friend and
ally, the sovereign Pontiff, about the residue. Blake
repUed, that the Pope had nothing to do with the matter,
and that he expected the Grand Duke would at once
pay down the entire sum. Thia peremptory measage
brought down thbty-five thousand Spanish pistoles and
twenty-five thousand Italian, together with information
that some of Eupert's piratical seizures had been dis
posed of in Eoman ports. Thia information was pecu
Uarly acceptable to Blake, who sent an officer to Eome
with a demand for reparation. Doubts, equivocations,
and refusals followed on the part of the newly-elected
Pontiff, Alexander VII. But remonstrances and sup
plications were idle ; the right was clear ; the power to
enforce it was at hand ; and ultimately the Pope's fiscal

230 ROBERT BLAKE.
was obliged to pay down to the heretics twenty thou
sand pistoles : — probably the only money ever brought
from Eoman coffers to enrich the public treasury of
England. Ever mindful of the religious interests of his country
men, the Sea- General wrote a letter to the Grand Duke
of Tuscany, urging him to permit the Protestants of
England and other countries, whom pleasure or business
might induce to aettle in his dominions, fuU Uberty to
follow their own form of worship — a privilege not then
formally conceded by any Catholic power in the South,
though Jews, Greeks and Armenians, were all permitted
the open exercise of their reUgion at that very time in
Florence. No threat accompanied this request ; but
the imposing power of the Commonwealth and the
marveUous successes of Gustavus Adolphus in Poland,
roused the fears of even the least tolerant of the ItaUan
princes, and the Duke rather deferred than denied the
request of the bold heretic, aUeging as hia excuae for
delay, the want of precedent for such a concession
in any Catholic country. Blate contented the EngUsh
residents in Florence and Leghorn by a promise that,
on his return to England, he would urge the govern
ment to adopt measures for effecting theb object.
Other business now demanded his attention. French
pirate cruisers, reported to be growing more and more
formidable to our peaceful traders in and about the
Balearic Islands, required a check; he therefore seut the
Langport and three other frigates to ply between Capo
Paloa and Majorca. InteUigence alao reached him to
the effect that a general rendezrvous of the Moslem
fieets had been ordered by the Grand Seigneur at Tunis
on an affair of great moment, probably with a view to an
attack on Venice or some other Christian state. New
orders likewise came to hand from London touching the

ROBERT BLAKE. 231
Spaniah SUver Fleets, then slowly wending their way
from the New World towards Cadiz, which made it
absolutely necessary for him to despatch his affairs in
the Mediterranean and sail with convenient haste for the
western coaat of Spain.
But sickness, foul weather and contrary winds detained
the fieet near Leghorn. Two French vessela from the
Levant, brought in aa prizes, unfortunately communi
cated plague to their captors. Blake himself was struck
down by thia new and terrible diaeaae, and for aeveral
weeks he waa unable to hold a pen or even dictate
a letter. The winter storma also put the fleet in daily
peril. On the 19th of January, Blake wrote from Leg
horn to the Commissioners in London :^" My last unto
you waa only a postscript of the 5th January — sent by
the way of Antwerp — added to a duplicate of my former
of the same, being then under sail bound for Trapani.
Since which time it hath pleased God to exercise us with
variety of wind and weather, and with divers mixed pro
vidences and strange diapenaations never to be forgotten
by ua, eapecially in regard that He hath been pleased in
them all to rouse His compassion to prevail against His
threatenings, and His mercy to triumph over His judg
ment. The day we set sail we had a fair wind at N.E.,
with clear weather and great hopes of the continuance
thereof, forasmuch as it had been a long time foul and
stormy before, almost ever since we came into the road.
The next day we had the wind at E. and E.S.B., some
times at S.E. and S.S.E., but not much wind. We were
then engaged among many islands ; a place of no small
danger, eapecially for a fleet. At night, hauling up our
saUs, and it growing calm, we drove upon a sudden
so near Capua, that if it had not pleased God to spring
up a fresh gale in the very nick, the ship would have
been in hazard, almost inevitable of perishing there.

232 ROBERT BLAKE.
The Worcester and Langport were in the same danger
with us, being nearer the shore than we, especially the
Langport, which was in much leas than the ship's length
of it, being a steep aud upright rocky place. The (St.)
Andrew and some others were also in no small danger.
But it pleased God wonderfully and in great mercy to
bring us all off in safety without any loss but of an
anchor and cable of the Langport. The next day retain
ing stiU some hope of a favourable wind and weather
to carry us on our intended voyage, we kept plying and
turning to windward, and so continued tiU yesterday
morning, at what (which) time, there being no likeli
hood of obtaining our first intention, the wind S.S.E.,
blowing very hard and murky weather, we were forced
to bear up for this place ; where, although not without
much danger in our way, by reason of a shoal and rock
lying under water upon which divers ships have been
wrecked, we arrived yesterday by a most merciful and
good hand of providence, leading us, as it were, by the
brink of deatruction into safety : for which we, in our
gratitude, have great cause everlastingly to praise the
Lord and His wonderful goodness, and to rejoice in these
Hia salvations with fear and trembling. So we doubt
not, when the papers shall come to your hands, your
hearts will likewise be filled with the thoughts of the
same and of His unspeakable love."
The first day of good weather the fleet left Leghorn
road for Tunia, intending to pay a flying visit to TripoU
and Algiers, after arranging some open questions with
the Dey, to impress those formidable corsairs with a
salutary dread of English power. On the 8th of Feb
ruary they anchored in Goletta road, having on the way
sent out a vessel to recal some frigates formerly left at
Trapani in Sicily ; but even before hia arrival on the
coast of Africa, Blake had learned that no gathering of

ROBERT BLA'KE. 233
the Barbary powers was likely to take place. Neverthe
less, there were accounts to settle with these pirates ;
for years they had been in the habit of plundering
English vessels, and carrying English crews into the
interior as slaves. Some of their depredations were quite
recent ; and it was suspected that many Christian cap
tives lived in their city in all the suffering and degrada
tion of slavery. War was their charter, ita spoils their
revenue. The Dutch had tried more than once to make
peace with them, but they would not hear the word :
pirates by birth, education, and policy, they knew no
power but that of the sword, admitted no law but that of
necessity. The Dey of this warlike and lawless race
hearing that the sti-ange people, "whose flag had not
waved in thoae seas within memory of the oldest Mus
sulman, intended to visit his port and demand repara
tion for the past, guarantees for the future, formed a
temporary camp of several thousand horse and foot, light
ened hia heavy ahipa, and drew them in shore under the
guns of his great castles of Goletta and Porto Ferine,
raised a new platform, strengthened by batteries along
the inner line of the bay, brought out from the arsenal
his largest guns, and then, with aU the pride and confi
dence of a barbarian, he waited the enemy's approach.
Wiaely conaidering that wherever the pirate powera
appeared in unusual force it would be for the honour
and interest of England to be near at hand, Blake, acting
on the false report of an intended gathering, had made a
somewhat hasty and unprepared appearance before the
walls of Tunia ; he had come to fight or to make a paas-
ing obaervation, aa the caae might seem to require, rather
than to higgle about terms and conditions, to measure
words and concoct articles with the usual tediousness of
diplomacy. For such slow work his fleet was in no con
dition. The very sea in which he rode at large was

234 ROBERT BLAKE.
strange and hostile to him and to his country. England
had then no Malta, Corfu, and Gibraltar as the bases of
naval operations in the Mediterranean ; on the contrary,
Blake found in almost every gulf and on almost every
ialand of that aea, in Malta, Venice, Genoa, Leghorn,
Algiers, Tunia, and Maraeilles, a rival and an enemy.
Hardly could he rely on the shelter of one friendly port.
Most of his supplies had to be obtained from England ;
and there were not more than three or four harbours,
Naples, Cagliari, and Trapani, for instance, in which he
could obtain a common commodity such as bread, for
either love or money. Foul weather had seriously in
jured his ships, and the stock of proviaions already ran
short ; but being now within sight from the graceful
minarets of the town, it was thought best before retbing,
to try the effect of a summons, such as had carried con
sternation through the palaces of Eome and Florence.
An officer was therefore sent on shore with a letter from
the Admiral to the Dey, giving an account of the recent
seizure by Tunis pbates of the Princess and some other
Engliah ships, the names and cargoes of which were duly
specified, and concluding with a demand in the name of
the Commonwealth of England for their restitution, to
gether with the inatant releaae of all EngUsh captives.
After several questions and explanations had passed
between the two powers, Commiasioners were mutually
named to consider these demands, and they met on board
the fiag-ship, the St. George. The agents of the Dey,
professing the utmost readiness to make peace, would
undertake to respect the fiag of England in all times to
come, but they steadily refused to give up the prizes
which they had already acquired. Finding them puffed
up -with a vain pride in theb own strength, the English
commander ceased to negotiate, sent some of his frigates
forward to block up the entrance of the harbour, whUst

ROBERT BLAKE. 235
he carried the St. George as close as he could under the
guns of Porto Ferino, in order to obtain a good view of
the coaat and its meana of defence. A council of officera,
after a long debate, advised an attempt to enter the port
with their whole aquadron, and attack the great ships of
the enemy under the very embrasures of the castle ; hut
on consulting the locker, and finding there a scarcity
both of bread and liquor, — only five days' drink and
fourteen days' bread, — Blake felt that it would not be
wise to attempt ao perUous a service vidthout better
provision. Under theae circumatancea he left Captain
Stayner, one of hia most distinguished officers, with the
Plymouth and five other ships, to keep guard over the
harbour, and if possible prevent the pirate fieet from
escaping to aea, while he sailed with the remainder of his
force to Cagliari, a friendly station on the south-eastern
limb of the Island of Sardinia, to refit and provision.
At Cagliari Blake found the Langport and the other
frigates which he had aent from Leghorn to the Balearic
lalands, with a new French frigate in prize and 3000
dollars obtained for the wrect of a French cruiser which
they had captured and run on shore at Majorca. But
Cagliari could not supply bread enough for the wants of
the English squadron, and the Sea-General was obUged
to send out vessels in aU directions in search of this
essential article of diet. The Langport and the Diamond
were despatched to Majorca and the Spanish coast for
bread; the Maidstone and the Hampshire went to
Genoa and the porta of Northern Italy for bread ; the
Hope was permanently stationed on the Sardinian coast
to procure bread; two frigates were despatched to
Algiers for bread or biscuit. The want of these neces
saries delayed his operations some weets ; but on the
8th of March, the St. George was once more imder the
guna of Porto Ferino, and an English officer was at the

236 ROBERT BLAKE.
Dey's palace trying to induce him to make reparation
and render up the English captives without bloodshed.
Vain of hia strength, and confident that Blake had
sailed away on the former occasion from fear of his
magnificent artillery, the barbarian replied in insolent
terms to every proposal made by this agent. He refused
them the commonest civUities : even permission to take
on board a little fresh water, — "TeU the Dey," ^aid
Blake, curling his whiskers in scorn and anger, " that
God has given the benefit of water to all his creatures ;
and for men to deny it to each other is equaUy insolent
and wicked." — The barbarian replied with defiance.
"Here," he said to Blake's officers, " here are our Castles
of Goletta and Porto Ferino : do your worst ; aud do
not think to brave ua with the sight of your great
fleet." — A short consultation of the EngUsh captains
took place, and the commander laid before them his
plan. " We judged it necessary," he afterwards wrote
to Secretary Thurloe, "for the honour of the fleet, our
nation and religion, seeing they would not deal with
ua aa friends, to make them feel us aa enemiea,
and it was therefore determined in a council of war
to endeavour the firing of their ships in Porto Ferino."
The artillerymen on shore were at theb guns, the
horse was drawn up and the infantry disposed along
the line of the harbour to repel the anticipated attempt
to land, when, to the extreme surprise of the Dey,
the English fleet again drew off, and stood out to
sea without firing a single gun. Gradually the white
sails faded from sight. Night came down, but no
enemy appeared in the offing. Next day all was silent :
the English fleet had vanished from before theb eyes
like the mbage of theb own deserta. A second day
elapsed, a third, fourth, and fifth, but nothing was seen
of those haughty islanders, of whose courage they had

ROBERT BLAKE. 237
heard so much in the ports of Italy and Spain. To
the spirit of defiance succeeded a feeling of contempt.
All Tunis believed they had looked their last on that
famous red cross ; by degrees a false sense of security
crept over the excited corsabs ; theb watchfulness re
laxed, theb ardour melted away ; and when Blake
suddenly retumed from Trapani — whither he had sailed
for the very purpose of throwing the pbates off their
guard — he found them in a less organised and enthu
siastic attitude of defence, though their means were still
such as au ordinary man would have thought it madness
to encounter.
Late in the, afternoon of April 3d, 1655, the EngUah
fiag waa once more descried from the towera of Porto
Ferino. Soon after break of day on the foUowing morn
ing, without firing a single gun, tlie whole squadron
rode into the harbour before a light gale, and to the
amazement of the Turkish janizaries and artillerymen
on shore coolly proceeded to drop anchors within half
musket-range of the great batteries. The Engliah had
prepared themaelves for a terrible day. Long before it
was yet light they came on dect, and at a signal from
the St. George divine service was performed throughout
the fleet in an extremely solemn and impressive manner.
This pious act completed, orders were given to advance.
Captain Cobham, in the Newcastle frigate, was the first
to gain the corsab harbour ; but he was quietly fol
lowed by the Taunton, Foresight, Amity, Mermaid, and
MerUn. Close in theb wate came the great ships, the
St. Andrew, Vice-admiral Badily, first ; the Plymouth,
Captain Stayner, second ; and the St. George, third.
These and other war-ships stationed themselves dbectly
in front of the castles and as near to them as they
could float. The boldness of this movement awed the
stout hearta of the corsairs for a few seconds, but they

238 ROBERT BLAKE.
soon recovered, and here and there a ready gun
sent its iron contents crashing in amongst the masts
and rigging. The Dey now gave his final instruc
tions, and the first broadsides from the English ships
were answered from the immense part of artillery dis
played along the shore — not less than a hundred and
twenty guns of large calibre vomiting out death from
their brazen throats at the first discharge. In a short
time the fire of Porto Ferino was made to bear on the
line of great ships, these fiercely replying with their
tremendous broadsides against its soUd masonry ; and
for two hours the air waa torn and the sky obacured by
the inceasant volleys of flame and smoke, dense, hot and
sulphurous. At the onset all the issues of the day
seemed to Ue with the artiUery. Fortunately, the gale
which in the early morning had carried the EngUsh
fleet into the harbour, continued to blow during the
battle, throwing volumes of smoke in the faces of the
corsairs and helping to prevent their cannoneers from
taking aim. On the other side, almost every shot from
the ships told with effect on the castles, batteries and
platform. Some of the guns were silenced and many
parts of the breastwork were cleared by the cannonade ;
but the conflict was still undecided when Blake made a
new movement, which had been in his mind from the
first, but waa not deemed practicable until that moment.
Drafting a number of picked men from each ship, he
lowered the long boats and sent them, under cover of
the black sky, with instructions to row alongside the
great corsair vessela, and throw into them a quantity of
lighted brands and torches. One of hia favourite officers,
John Stoaks — a man who had served with distinction in
the Dutch war, commanding the Dragon in the battle of
Portland, the Laurel in that of the Texel, and who waa
at this time captain of the St. George — was selected for

ROBERT BLAKE. 239
the execution of this important trust; and he achieved
his perilous task with auch consummate address, that in
spite of a galling fire from the musketeers on ahore, he
succeeded in effecting a lodgment under the porta of the
huge pbatea, and threw into them his burning brands.
The work of deatruction was then swift and awful. The
whole of the nine great ships-of-war, the naval strength
of the Tunisians, were at once clothed in fire. Even the
assailants felt cowed at an event so sudden and so
terrible, and the battle almost ceased at the instant, as
if both parties were entranced by the gorgeous spectacle.
The frantic corsairs made many efforts to stop the pro
gress of destruction ; but wherever the fire appeared to
slacken for an instant, a broadside from one of the
English frigates raked its deck, stirred up the burning
embera, and scattered the daring fellowa who had ven
tured on board. At laat the decks were abandoned by
the pirates, and the red glare of the consuming squadron
shot up freely and furiously against the sky, tinging with
a hot and lurid light a scene which the April sun could
scarcely reach through the artificial pall of battle. In
four hours from the crash of the first broadside, the work
was done. The pirate ships, so long the terror of peace
ful tradera, were burnt to their very keela. The batteries
on shore were completely silenced, and most of the guns
planted on the raised platform were either damaged or
dismounted. The walls of Goletta and of Porto Ferino
had been much shaken ; several breaches had been made
in them ; and both strongholds might have been carried
by assault had there existed any reason for their capture.
But Blake's ends had been accomplished in the destruc
tion of the fleet. Hia losaes in this celebrated action
amounted to no more than twenty-five killed and about
forty wounded ; the loss of life on shore, though the men
fought behind breastworks and other cover, must have

240 ROBERT BLAKE.
been very considerable, though it was of course impos
sible for the English to obtain an exact account of the
casualties. After reading the pirates this tremendous lesson —
to which there waa acarcely a parallel in history until
Exmouth's splendid bombardment of Algiers in our own
time, — the English squadron sailed for Tripoli on the
same errand ; but the Dey of that place, warned by the
fate of Tunis, received them with every demonstration
of honour and regard; he acceded with apparent zeal
to their demands, and entered into a treaty to respect
the Commonwealth fiag at aU times and in aU places.
This summary dealing with the dependent powers of
Turkey brought the governments of London and Con
stantinople into connexion and correspondence. Blake
himself seems to have had some doubts whether his
instructions, vague and ample as they were, would be
held to justify him in entering the ports of a power with
which his country was not actually at war, and destroying
ita fieets and fortifications. Had not the Dey's haughty
words chafed his spirit, it is not certain that he would
have proceeded so far without waiting for fresh inatruc-
tiona ; and aa aoon aa the action at Tunis was over, he
despatched a full account of the incident to Sir Thomas
Bendish, CromweU's ambassador at Constantinople, which
that functionary was desired to lay before the Grand
Vizier ahould any complaints be made on the subject.
The Turks were then at war with the Venetian Ee
public, and the destruction of so large a portion of their
fleet by an enemy hitherto unknown in the affairs of the
Mediterranean roused their anger to a high degree ; but
the Grand Vizier hesitated to involve himself with a
new and powerful enemy by any hasty expression of his
resentment. Tunisian agents went to Constantinople
to complain of Blake to the Grand Seigneur. They

ROBERT BLAKE. 241
attributed their inability to defend their fleet and caatlea
to the want of heavier guns ; and the govemment imme
diately ordered six pieces of brass ordnance of the
largest calibre to be despatched to Porto Ferino. Ben-
dish was led to consider the Grand Vizier satisfied with
Blake's explanations ; but the incident waa nevertheleas
a sharp thorn in his master's side; and for several months
the English traders at Smyrna lived in fear of retalia
tions. Fear or policy, however, prevailed in the divan,
and so long as the formidable Sea- General lived, the
English residents in the Levant continued to pursue
their peaceful enterpriaea without molestation.
After settling his affairs at Tripoli, Blake ran into
the Adriatic, where the Venetians received him with
such honours as are given to royal visitors. Hia late
actions had spoken in the most convincing language
to the able and astute rulers of Venice, and they lost
no time in offering friendship to the weatern Eepublic.
On his return towards the Straits of Gibraltar, he again
called at Tunis to inquire if the Dey were prepared to
treat of peace. In answer to his first summons, a white
fiag was raiaed at the castle of Porto Ferino ; and after
some negotiation of a merely technical nature, a treaty
was signed and ratified in terms equally honourable and
advantageous to England. The humbled corsair even
consented to allow an English consular agent to reside
at hia court. A fiying visit to the island of Malta
served to teach the proud and unprincipled Templars
some respect for the rights and properties of heretical
Englishmen. Theae priestly marauders believed them
selves a serious power in the Mediterranean ; in some
degree they made a pretence of being the guardians and
the arbiters of Catholic Europe. When the expedition
under the Duke of Guiae appeared before Valetta, they
haughtily refused to aUow it the shelter of theb port.

242 ROBERT BLAKE.
But the unceremonious manner in which Blake had
exacted reparation from the princes of Italy, and even
laid his hands on Pope Alexander's own coffers, warned
them that their clerical character would afford them no
protection from the strong arm of English justice, and
they restored to the lawful owners the spoils of theb
warfare against English heretics.
There only remained Algiers. But force was no longer
necessary in dealing with the great pirate cities ; the
blow struck against the syatem at Tunis had cowed the
corsairs from TripoU to the shores of Fez and Morocco.
AVhen the English squadron stood into the Bay of
Algiers, boldly aa if on a viait of courtesy to a friendly
power, and Blake sent his officer, as uaual, to demand
restitution of property and the liberation of Christian
slaves, the Dey received the messenger vrith great civUity,
paid a handsome compliment to the EngUsh Admiral,
and to show hia good wUl sent a present of Uve cattle to
the fieet — an extremely seasonable and politic gift, which
at once made him popular with the iU-fed seamen. With
regard to the specific demands of the Admiral he an
swered with great adroitness, that the ahips and men
captured by his people in times past, whether from the
English or from other nations, had become the property
of private individuals, most of whom had bought them at
full price in open market ; that they had been seized during
a period of recognised and inveterate war between Islam
and Christendom, when no treaties existed, and when
therefore none could be broken ; that he coiUd not restore
the captives without using violence towards his subjects,
and creating general discontent, if not rebellion in his
dominions. He urged, moreover, that, considering the
general prevalence of piracy in Europe as well as in
Africa, the English required too much when they de
manded the unconditional surrender of his prizes.

ROBERT BLAKE. 243
FinaUy, if these objections should seem to the Admiral
aa clear aa they did to himself, he said he would procure
the liberation of aU English captives then in his country
at a moderate ransom per head, and enter for himself
and hia people into a solemn engagement not to moleat
Engliah tradera for all time to come. The humble tone
of the pirate prince recommended his argument ; a
contract was therefore made for the ransom of aU the
captivea at a fixed price, and the poor wretchea were
liberated and sent on board the ships of theb deliverers.
Before the fieet sailed from the harbour a noble and
touching incident occurred, adding one more to the long
list of iUuatrations of the English seaman' a character.
The ships were lying in-shore, not far from the mole-
head, when a number of men were observed swimming
towards them, pursued by several turbaned Moors in
boats ; and on coming under the bows of our vessels, the
fugitives cried to the saUors in Dutch to save them from
theb Moslem pursuers. Forgetting that only a few
months before we had been at war with the Dutch,
regardless of every consideration beyond the humane
instincts of the moment, our sailors helped the poor
wretches to clamber up, when they discovered that
they were runaway slaves, and the men in chase of them
their masters. Here, then, waa a new difficulty ! The
Dey claimed the fugitivea in virtue of the new treaty,
and appealed to the accepted principle of compensation
for all restored captivea. But the idea of giving back
Christian men, even enemies, from the freedom of an
EngUsh man-of-war into the hands of pirates and infidels
waa not to be entertained by Puritan sailors. Some one
suggested to his fellows a subscription : how much the
Admiral himself paid into this fund he has carefuUy
concealed, but every seaman in the fieet generously
agreed to give up a dollar of his wages to buy the poor
b2

244 ROBERT BLAKE.
Hollanders their freedom. A bargain was soon made,
the money was paid by the fleet-treasurer, and the
liberated men went home to tell theb countrymen this
story of the magnanimous islanders.
Before the end of AprU 1655, Blake had brought his
extraordinary cruise to an end. In six months he had
established himself as a power in that great midland sea
from which his countrymen had been politically excluded
since the age of the Crusades. He had redressed with a
high hand the grievances of many years, and had taught
nations to which the very name of Engliahman was a
strange sound, to respect our honour and our rights. The
pirates of Barbary had been chastised as they had never
yet been chaatiaed in history. The petty princes of
Italy had been made to feel the power of the northem
Protestants. The Pope himself had learned to tremble
on his seven hiUs ; ^nd the echoes of our guns had
startled the CouncU-chambers of Venice and Con
stantinople. Blake aent home not less than sixteen
ships laden with treasure, received in satisfaction of
former injuries, or taken by force from hostUe states.
Some of the ItaUan princes sent embassies to London to
cultivate the friendship of CromweU. The representa
tives of the Grand Duke of Tuscany and the Doge of
Venice distinguished themselves in these missions by
the splendour of their appointments. The former had
ordera to solicit the honour of a present of the Pro
tector's portrait, which was painted for his master by
Cooper, and hung in the ducal palace among the choicest
products of Italian art.

CHAPTER IX.
SPANISH WAR.
The correspondence between Blate and Cromwell, so
far as it related to the affabs of Spain and the course to
be pursued by the southern fleet, had been carried on in
cipher, and aU the instructions sent from London were
secret. But the time had come to throw off the mask.
During the six months consumed in the bold and success
ful exploits which had established on both shores of the
Mediterranean a salutary awe of English prowess, the
object of the expedition imder Penn and Venables re
mained a profound mystery. Penn himself, when he
saUed from Portsmouth was unaware of the precise
service on which his squadron was to be employed, for
his orders were not to open the letter of final instruc
tions until far enough from Europe to prevent any risk
of their nature transpbing -.—a very necessary precau
tion as the event proved, for that worldly seaman,
already foreseeing the downfaU of the Commonwealth,
and anxious to secure to himself the gratitude of the
royal family by unexpected and splendid services in their
cause, no aooner found himself at the head of a large
fleet than he entered into communication with the exile
court at Cologne, and offered to desert with his entbe
power from the Commonwealth, and aail into whatever
port ahould be named by Charlea and hia council. Had

246 ROBERT BLAKE.
he known the errand on which he was about to proceed,
he would unquestionably have told the Stuarts, who, in
their turn, would have eagerly seized the opportunity of
strengthening their interests at Madrid by forwarding
such a piece of state intelUgence. On the receipt of it,
there is no reason to believe that PhiUp IV. would
have refuaed any longer to grant the uae of one of his
harbours in the Low Countries for the reception of the
revolters. But having no port to receive so large a
fleet — nor any means of supporting it, except pbacy, —
from which he was perhaps warned by the mysterious
fate of his cousin Maurice, Charles declined the trai
torous offer, and desired the Admiral to reserve his
loyalty for some happier season. The expedition there
fore saUed on its unknown voyage ; and it was not until
late in the spring of 1655 that news arrived in Europe
from the west relating the particulars of an attack made
by Penn and Venables on the great Spanish settlement
of Hispaniola. ,
The idea of a secret expedition to invade an ialand
possessed by a power against which war had not been
declared, would be excessively offensive to modern no
tions of pubUc honour. But in CromweU's time the peace
of Europe was not fixed on certain bases. Commerce
and colonies lay almost beyond the pale of law and
treaties. No French admbal would have thought it right
to plunder Lyme or Sandown ; but not one Frenchman
in ten would have hesitated to seize the merchants of
either of these ports on the high seas. Countries might
be at war in one latitude, though not in aU — at sea
when not on land. The seizure of Vendome's fleet had
not led to a war between France and England. The
destruction of Eupert's squadron in the harbours of
Carthagena had not interrupted the relations, auch as
they were, between London and Madrid. Europe, indeed,

ROBERT BLAKE. 247
had never known auch a thing as peace on the high
seas ; from the Northern jarl to the African corsair, the
strong arm had always ruled on the highway of nations.
Even when England and Spain had seemed to be on
the beat terms with each other in Europe, envy,
jealousy and distrust reigned in the New World, and
the elements of discord often broke into open violence
and bloodshed. CromweU affected to believe that
war already existed between the two countries in
that hemisphere, and that an armament was needed
for the protection of English interests in America.
Eeal causes for a war with Spain were neither few
nor remote, though it is probable that the most active
of theae were such as would exercise little influence
over the minds of statesmen in the nineteenth century.
The first and gravest was the religious situation. Spain
was ultra- Catholic, England ultra-Protestant. The moat
powerful and warlike of the aects which supported Crom
well sincerely beUeved that Spain was the devil's
stronghold in Europe. The Reformed faith — tolerated
in the Holy Roman Empire, in France, and still more
recently in Portugal— had never found mercy at Madrid.
Racks, wheels, boUing oil, and other yet more delicate
means of torture, opposed the spread of new doctrines
throughout Spain and the Indies ; while frequent burn
ings and gibbetings kept the masses of the people true
to the creed of their fathers. The horror excited in
Puritan England by reports of these atrocities was
naturally heightened by the fact that foreign residents
— even Englishmen — aometimea fell under the frowns of
the Holy Office, and suffered, without appeal, judgments
given by that secret and terrible tribunal. In fact, the
Inquisition was the great obstacle to a solid and durable
peace between the two powera. AVhen the Spaniah
Ambassador first proposed an aUiance, Cromwell made

248 ROBERT BLAKE.
this one of his two essential conditions : — that English
merchanta living in Spain should be aUowed to exercise
their own religion, have the use of Bibles and such other
pious hooka as they might require, and be free from the
control of the Holy Office. The Ambassador refused
even to transmit thia demand to his master, and the
attempt at negotiation faded. Other causes tended to
excite the war-feeling. The murder of Ascham had not
been forgotten ; nor had the favours extended and the
shelter afforded to Rupert and his revolted ships at Cadiz
and Carthagena been forgiven. Among poUtical reasons,
the obstinate refusal to aUow foreign traders to visit any
of the ports of America and the West India Islands,
was the first and strongest. Liberty of trade — freedom
from the Holy Office : these were the two conditions on
which the Protector offered to treat. " What," ex
claimed the Ambaaaador, " my master has but two eyes,
and you ask him to pluck out both at once ! " Unable
to make terma with the Catholic court, Cromwell
prepared for war.
Though Mazarin, acting on his famous maxim of
state, seemed wiUing to give way on every point before
the energetic rulers of the new Commonwealth, the
causes of quarrel with France were not yet fuUy re
moved. The cruisers of the two countries still carried
letters of marque ; and daily encounters took place at
sea without either accelerating or retarding the long and
tedious negotiations of M. Bordeaux. For three years
this agent had been in London asking for peace. Crafty
diplomatists fancied that Cromwell employed hia time in
maturely weighing the relative advantages of a French
and a Spanish alliance, and the ambassadors of the rival
powers intrigued day and night to gain his ear. To the
surprise of the old formalists, he at length took a deci
sive attitude against Spain, without attempting to hurry

ROBERT BLAKE. • 249
on the settlement of his differences with France. Fear
leaa of consequences, while Penn and Venablea went
out to attact Hiapaniola, Blake haraased the trade of
Maraeillea and kept the Toulon fieet locked up in the
Mediterranean harbours. Whenever his cruisers found
ships at sea sailing to or from French ports, they
seized them as lawful prizes. One of his frigates toot
a Hamburg vessel bound for Maraeillea, which he con
demned. Another captured two Hamburgers and a
Hollander ; but aa he found by their papers that two
of these were not bound for French ports, they were
set free ; the other, carrying goods to Rouen, waa con-
fiacated. Such incidents occurred almost daily. Loud
and bitter complaints were made by the men of business
in France at the delay of peace ; discontent spread to
other classes ; and Bordeaux was urged by his country
men to conclude a treaty with the Commonwealth at
almost any sacrifice, rather than continue a state of
things 80 wounding to the pride and disastrous to the
commerce of France.
Even the pride of Louis XIV. yielded to the interests
of his country. He treated on CromweU's own terms.
The point of honour and precedence was waived ; Louis
consented to banish the Stuart Princes, together with
Hyde, Ormonde, and fifteen other of their adherents,
from the soil of France ; maritime hostilities were at
once to cease between the two nationa ; and the treaty
waa on the very eve of signature, when news arrived
in London of the horrible massacre of the Vaudois by
the soldiers of the Dute of Savoy, an intimate friend
aud aUy of the King of France. No event in history
had fired the Protestant passions of the English people
like the atrocious invasion of those Piedmont vaUeys.
Fasts, prayers, denunciations, offered themselves as vents
for the national fervour ; coUections of money were made

250 ROBERT BLAKE.
for the sufferers in all the churches of London; and some
of the bolder spirits proposed to send an army to the
Savoy Alps; a project to which the Govemment was
not altogether averse. But for the moment CromweU
trusted to his influence over Mazarin as the best meana
of obtaining justice for those poor Protestant vUlagers.
He told Bordeaux that he would not make peace with
his master until he knew his sentiments on the subject
of the masaacre and banishment of the Vaudois ; and
Blake received orders to uphold Protestant interests in
the south with all the powers at his command. The
presence of an English fleet in the Mediterranean gave
force to CromweU's suggestions. At firat the Ambas
sador of Louis contended that France had nothing to
do with the matter, — that the Duke of Savoy was an
independent prince, — that the Vaudois were rebels as
well as heretics, and had justly incurred chastisement
at the hands of their sovereign. Cromwell remained
inexorable ; and Bordeaux's master was at last compeUed
to interfere. Under the double preaaure of English and
French remonstrance, the Duke of Savoy granted a full
amnesty to the Vaudois, and confirmed to them their
ancient right to exercise theb own forms of divine
worship by a new decree.
CromweU's letters informed Blake that, in conse
quence of the blow about to be struck in the AVestem
Archipelago, his presence with the fieet, if not hia more
active services, would be required on the Atlantic coast
of Spain ; and in consequence of these orders he sailed
from Algiers towards the Straits of Gibraltar. But
as the two countries were stUl at peace, he caUed at
Malaga for fresh water, when a curious incident oc
curred. A party of English sailors from his fieet, in
rambling about the town, suddenly came upon a pro
cession of priests carrying a Host through the streets.

ROBERT BLAKE. 251
and instead of faUing on their knees before the sacred
symbol, like the pious Spaniards, the Puritan seamen
laughed at and derided those who did so, until one of the
clergy called on the populace to avenge the inault aimed
at their reUgion. A street fight ensued ; and with the
advantage of numbers and local tnowledge on their side,
the Malagayans beat the scoffers back to theb ships,
whither they carried an English version of the fray to
their commander. Indignation and true policy con
curred in inducing Blake to treat the affair gravely.
In Lisbon, Venice and pther Catholic ports, mob-law
had been applied to the sailors of EngUsh merchant-
vessels on the ground of alleged want of respect for
the forms of foreign worship ; and considering the new
relations which the two countries were about to assume,
he judged it due to the honour of his fiag and necessary
to the safety of his countrymen, to show the Spaniards
that he could and would redress such wrongs with
promptitude and severity. Half measures, he felt, would
be uaeleas in such a case ; so sending a trumpeter into
the tov\Ti, he demanded, not retaUation on the offending
mob, as was expected, but that the priest who had set
them on should be given up to justice. The Spaniards
were astounded. Give up a Catholic priest to the judg
ment of h erotica ! The Governor of Malaga replied that he
had no power over the offender, aa in Spain the servants
of the Church were not responsible to the civil power.
" I wiU not stay to inquire," said the stem Englishman,
" who has the power to send the offender to me ; but if
he be not on board the St. George within three hours,
I will bum your city to the ground." And so he dis
missed the messenger. No excuse, no protest, was
admitted ; aud before the three hours had expired the
priest made his appearance in the fieet. Blake then
called accusers and accused together; heard the story

2 52 ROBERT BLAKE.
on both sides ; and decided that the seamen had behaved
with rudeness and impropriety towards the natives, and
thereby provoked the attack of which they complained.
He told the priest that if he had sent an account of what
had occurred to him, the men should have been severely
punished, aa he would not auffer them to affront the
religion of any people at whose ports they touched ; but
he expressed his extreme displeasure at the Spaniards
taking the law into their own handa, aa he would have
them and all the world know that an Englishman was
not to be judged and punished except by Englishmen.
With this warning for the future, Blake, satisfied with
the priest being given up and being completely at his
mercy, treated him with civUity and sent him back
unharmed to his friends. Cromwell was mightily pleased
with this little incident. He took the letters referring
to it in his own hand to the Council, read them out
with a smiling face, and when he had finished reading,
declared that by such meana they would make the name
of Engliahman as great as that of Roman was in Rome's
proudest days.
Early in June the fieet passed the Straits and anchored
once more in the Bay of Cadiz, where they received a
hospitable reception. By the treaties then existing
between the two atatea, not more than ten English ahipa-
of-war could claim to enter any Spanish port at one
time ; yet as a mark of extraordinary confidence and
respect, when the Governor of Cadiz sent down a pre
sent of bread, fiesh and vegetables to the St. George, he
desired it to be intimated to the Admiral, that although
the capitulations declared that " there cannot come in
hither above ten ships-of-war at once, nevertheleas his
lordship might come in with all hia forces and welcome,"
But Blake, expecting every hour to receive intelUgence
from London which would compel him to exchange

ROBERT BLAKE. 253
pacific greetings for acts of vigorous hostility, would
have refused the invitation even had he not suspected
that a snare might be concealed under thia show of
extreme courtesy. He excused himself on the plea that
he had only touched at Cadiz on hia way, and could atay
no longer than was required to take fresh water and
other necessaries on board. In the city every effort was
made to learn what he intended to do next. Whether
his fleet was bound for England, Lisbon or the Barbary
coast, could not be ascertained even by the agents of
the CouncU of State. Cromwell kept his secret, and
Blake kept his secret. But among the best-informed
EngUah residents in Cadiz, rumour fixed on Salee, the
famous rovers of which still harassed our southern trade,
as the scene in which the next grand naval spectacle
would be exhibited.
The mystery cleared. Barely had Blake weighed
anchor at Cadiz harbour when news arrived from the
western Archipelago. Penn, it turned out, had sailed
from Barbadoes to Hispaniola. There the regiments were
landed and given up to the sole direction of Venables ;
who, through cowardice, incapacity or treaaon — for he
alao, though unknown to Penn, waa in correspondence
with the Stuarts, — frittered away his most favourable
opportunities, and finally led his men into a disastrous
situation, from which they were only rescued by the
intrepidity of Admiral Goodaon and a body of seamen
sent from the fleet. The Engliah had retired from the
ialand diagraced and discomfited : — so far the expedition,
begun with secret treason, had ended in a signal failure.
But after this first overthrow, as the sealed orders
required Penn to establish an interest in any part of the
Spaniah Indies, he sailed for Jamaica, landed hia troops, put
down a feeble attempt at reaiatance, and added that fine
island to the permanent colonial empire of his country.

254 ROBERT BLAKE.
When this inteUigence reached Madrid, PhUip de
clared war against England — seized the persons of all
English residents, merchants, factors and agents con
nected with the intereata of their commerce, and laid
an embargo on aU their merchandiae and properties,
amongst others on those of Nicholas Blake, the Admiral's
brother. The reported failure of the Engliah at His
paniola raised the spirits of the court to an extravagant
height : the Governor of the island was made a grandee
and pensioned ; even the messenger who brought the
news to Spain had 1500 ducats a-year settled on him
for life. Blake's rapid and effective cruise in the
Mediterranean, following in the immediate rear of
the brUUant actions of the Dutch war, had caused the
maritime powers of Europe, and particularly Spain,
from its own experience of the Dutch admirals, to
regard with blended interest and alarm what appeared
to be the invincible prowess and fortunes of the young
Commonwealth. The first signal check to that ascend
ing power was therefore haUed with a delight out of all
proportion to its importance. In the safety of His
paniola, Philip forgot the loss of Jamaica ; in the eacape
of his SUver Fleets from the English squadron in the
West Indies, he overlooked the more resolute and watch
ful enemy who lay in wait for them under the very guns
of Cadiz.
While staying in the Channel before Cadiz, Blake
had learned from hia scouts that the Silver Fleet waa
expected from America in four or five weeks, and war
being then inevitable, he stood acroaa to Cape Santa
Maria, the most southern point of land in Portugal,
intending to make the bay or bays lying between that
promontory and Cape St. Vincent the bases of his summer
operations ; with his frigates and fast sailers ranging
the sea in a vast circle as far as wind and weather would

ROBERT BLAKE. 255
permit, in search of the anticipated prize. In the Spa
nish harbour ten large gaUeons were being prepared for
sea — six of them, it was reported, being intended for
service at Hispaniola, the others for the Mediterranean ;
but Blake, suspecting they were designed as a convoy
for the SUver Fleet, endeavoured by absence from the
port, by insult and by other provocations to entice
them out. But nothing would induce them to stir.
Nearly a month the St. George rode before the little
town of Lagos. The war-ships kept out at sea, the
frigates menaced the coast; stiU the galleons did not
move. At last, in the fuU belief that Philip would not
allow his admirals to risk a battle — a belief founded on
information reaching London through various and inde
pendent channels — CromweU desbed Blake to send
home part of his fieet, so as to reduce the heavy expenses
of the war; but before these instructions could be carried
into effect, news arrived at Lagos that the merchants of
SeviUe, Cadiz, and San Lucar, seeing the government
neglect to provide the necessary protection for their
trade, had combined to equip at their private expense a
squadron strong enough to put to sea for convoy service,
and even give battle in case of need ; and under theae
circumstances he abandoned the idea of sending back
any part of his fleet, and as speedily as he was able he
got such of his vessels as were sea-worthy, and many
that were not sea-worthy, together. On the 4th of July
he wrote to CromweU in reference to the state of his
ships : — " Seeing it hath pleased your Highness to com
mand my longer atay in and about these parts with the
rest of the ships, I ahaU make bold to offer one humble
deaire, which I conceive to be my duty for the service of
the Commonwealth and the better effecting the ends
proposed, — that your Highneas wUl be pleaaed to con
sider the condition of our fleet, eapecially of the great

256 ROBERT BLAKE.
ahips, which are very foul and defective, particularly the
ship in which I am— being very leaky and the mainmast
unsound." Yet it was in vessels of this character that
he had ruined Prince Rupert, cleared the Channel
Islands, fought the battle of Portland, and chastised
the pirates of Porto Ferino ! Early in August the
Spanish squadron, consisting of 28 men-of-war, and six
fire-ships, with 36 long-boats, and 6000 troops on board,
sailed from Cadiz, with the apparent intention of fighting
the English.
Towards the middle of the month the two squadrons
came in sight off the coast of Portugal, Blake having
been southward in search of the Spaniards ; but, after
dodging each other for some days, they separated with
out exchanging a single shot, for reasons which are
explained at length in the foUowing letter from Blake to
the Lord Protector :
Mat it please toue Highness, — ^Your commands
of the 30th July I received by the Assurance frigate the
13th instant, with the inteUigence of a great fieet pre
pared to come out of Cadiz and theb design from your
secretary, which in part we have found to be true, as I
shall give your Highness an account.
The 6th inat. I received a letter from Captain Smith
(which comea herewith), whereupon we stood away for
the coast of Barbary, as far as Mamora, within three
leagues; but having no news of the fleet there, we made
towards the Bay of Cadiz, sending two frigates before
to gain intelligence, who returned to us the 12th instant
with thia, that the fleet sailed from thence seven days
before, and were plying off Cape St. Vincent, to which
place we hastened ; and the 15th, in the morning, espied
them to the windward of us, we being then off the Bay
of Lagos, whither we desired to go for water ; but they

ROBERT BLAKE. 257
bearing up upon us, with intent (as we thought) to fight
us, I called a council of war, which unanimously reaolved
to engage the firat opportunity, being moved thereunto
with an eager desire we had to see some end of our tedious
expectation, and to prevent that accession of strength
mentioned in the secretary's intelligence (whereof we
likewise had notice from other hands), and also out of a
despair of being able to keep the sea many days longer
for want of Uquor. But the Spanish fleet forthwith
tacked and atood the other way, and we after them all
that night. In the morning we were fair by them ; but
there being little wind (not enough to work our ships)
aud a great sea, so that we could not make uae of our
lower tier, and also a thick fog, we did nothing that day;
their fleet being then thbty-one in aU. The next day we
continued in the same resolution, and sent some frigates
ahead to gain the wind, and to engage them ; but the
evening approaching, and a great part of our fleet far
astern, we thought it best to deaiat for that time. Theae
checks of Providence did put us upon second thoughts,
and a strict review of the instructions which I had
received ; the which being all perused and compared
together at a councU of war, we could not find in them
any authority given unto us to attack this party, but
rather the contrary ; and we had reason alao to conceive
it was not the intention of your Highness that we should
be the first breakers of the peace, seeing your Highness
having notice of the coming forth of the Spanish fieet did
not give us any new direction at all touching the same in
your last order of the 30th of July. Upon these grounds
we receded from our first resolution, and took into con
sideration the state of our fieet, which we found in all
things to be extremely defective, but more particularly
in want of liquor ; some of the ships having not beverage
for above four days, and the whole not able to make above

258 ROBERT BLAKE.
eight, and that at short allowance ; and no small part
both of our beverage and water stinking. Hereupon it
was debated amongst us whether we should return to the
Bay of Lagos or go to Lisbon for suppUes, there being
no other place but thoae two. To go to Lagos it was
not held good, both because aU that country could not
afford us one pipe of beverage wine, and to get water
there very difficult, and upon the least wind from the
south or east almost impossible, and the place a dan
gerous road for such a fleet to anchor in, which we must
have done for getting a quantity of water, beside many
other inconveniences. It was therefore resolved that we
should go to Lisbon. Nevertheless, we kept in sight two
days after, and on the 22nd inat. we lay a great part of
the day with our aails hauled up, untU they were very
near ua ; but perceiving they had no intention to engage
us, nor any commission to that purpose, as we thought,
and also understood by a small frigate of thebs of twenty-
four guns, the captain whereof coming accidentally
amongst ua, I commanded aboard, who told us the same;
and withal that they knew nothing of the expected fleet
at aU, but only that they were bound to attend the com
ing of the same. Hereupon, our liquor growing less,.
we stood away for Lisbon, where we arrived on the 24th
instant, and anchored in the road of Cascaes. . . . How
these passages of Providence wUl be looted upon, or
what construction our carriage in this business may
receive, I tnow not (although it hath been with all
integrity of heart), but this we know, that our condition
is dark and sad, and, without especial mercy, like to be
very miserable : — our ships extremely foul, winter draw
ing on, our victuals expbing, aU stores failing, our men
falling sick through the badness of drink, and eating
their victuals boiled in salt water for two months' space ;
the coming of a supply uncertain (we received not one

ROBERT BLAKE. 259
word from the Commissioners of the Admiralty and Navy
hythe laat), and though it come timely, yet if beer come
not with it, we shaU be undone that way. We Jiave no
place or friend, our recruits here slow, and our mariners
(which I most apprehend) apt to fall into discontents
through their long keeping abroad. Our only comfort
ia that we have a God to lean upon, although we -walk
in darkness and see no light. I ahaU not trouble your
Highness with any complaints of myself, of the indis
position of my body, or troubles of my mind ; my many
infirmities wiU one day, I doubt not, sufficiently plead
for me or against me, so that I may be free of so great a
burden, consoling myaelf in the mean time in the Lord,
and in the firm purpose of my heart with aU faithfulness
and sincerity to diacharge the trust while reposed in me.
.... As soon as we have got a sufficient proportion of
liquor, which I hope may be in five or aix daya, we
intend (God willing) to sail to the southward cape, and
to spend some time thereabouta, ao long as we can pos
sibly lengthen out our victuals, so that we may be able
to get home, in case the victualling ships do not come in
time; which we shaU then be forced to do, or must perish
in the sea. I have no more at present to trouble your
Highness with (this already being I fear too much), but
shaU ever remain.
Your Highness's most humble
And faithful servant,
ROBEET Blaeb.
Atoard tte (St.) George, in Cascaes Road,
August 30, 1655.
The allusion to hia own indiaposition of body and
trouble of mind, contained in this letter, though brief
and by the way, is extremely touching. He had left a
. sick room to go on board. For nearly a year he had

26o ROBERT BLAKE.
never quitted the " very foul and defective " flag-ship.
AYant of exercise and aweet food, beer, wine, water,
bread and vegetables, had helped to develop scurvy and
dropsy ; and his sufferings from these diseaaea were acute
and continuoua. In fact, his constitution was completely
undermined. For three weeks after the date of the letter
just quoted, he kept his station in the Spaniah waters,
when, finding no relief come in, and supposing that the
Silver Fleet would now remain in America until spring,
he reluctantly turned his bows towarda the north, and
brought hia squadron home to repair and replenish.
But there was no rest for him at home. Arrived in
England, he found that in the present posture of affairs
his retirement from the service, even for a time, would
be extremely detrimental to the country. The Council
had no cue to take his place. Deane, Penn, Ascue,
Lawson, all the men who had served with him in the
Dutch war with eminent abUity and success, were now
either dead or out of employment: — Ascue had been
pensioned and dismissed on the alleged ground of his
want of success against De Euiter, but in reality because
suspected of a leaning towards the exUes; Penn had been
ostensibly broken for the failure on Hispaniola, but
more Ukely because Cromwell had heard of his treach
erous offers ; Lawson lay under a cloud, and was soon
afterwards arrested as a Fifth-monarchy conspirator;
Deane waa dead ; and Monk had neither the genius nor
the deaire for naval commands. But while the more
experienced commanders were thus faUing away, the
duties and demands of the service were daily increasing.
The nation was committed to a war with Spain. The
Pope, UI at ease since the fright of the previous spring,
was warmly engaged in a project for uniting all the
Catholic maritime powera in a league against the formid
able heretics; and agents from Venice, Florence, Madrid

ROBERT BLAKE. 261
and some other cities, had already met in Eome. Genoa
had taken up a threatening attitude ; for as many mer
chants of that Eepublic were interested in the safe
arrival of the Silver Fleet, they strongly urged the
government to join their armada with that of Spain for
its protection. Holland was again wavering in her
friendship, and report affirmed that the King of Spain
had tempted them to declare war against England by
the offer of Dunltirk and two other ports in the narrow
seas. Nor was peace yet firmly estabUshed with the
Barbary powers; at the very first reverse of fortune
these corsairs would have gladly seized the moment of
retaliation and revenge. What perhaps most of all
annoyed Cromwell was that John, King of Portugal,
who had found means to delay the execution of the
treaties entered into twenty months ago — especially
the clause which secured to English subjects in his
dominions immunity from the Holy Office — now mani
fested a disposition to withdraw from the compact
altogether. In face of so many perils and uncertainties, Blake's
services were indispensable. At such a time, his very
name was worth a squadron. Not to speak of the moral
strength which hia presence would give to any fleet going
southward, the occasional sight of his fiag would be
pretty certain to teep the Barbary corsairs quiet ; a
sudden visit to the Tagus might bring John of Braganza
to reason; and the dread of another call at Leghorn
would probably be sufficient to frighten the Pope and
the Grand Duke out of the proposed league of Catholic
princes. However anxious for repose of mind and body,
Blake could not decline the responsibilities of command
without a breach of duty to his country; and ill as he
was, he lent his days and nights to the duties of his
station, visiting the dockyards and arsenals, and urging

262 ROBERT BLAKE.
the work of repair and replenishment by his presence
and his counsels. But though he would not refuse the
last pulse of hia brain to hia country, hia age and bodily
Bufferings warned him of the fatal consequences which
might result to the service should he fall a victim to any
sudden sickness while in thoae distant seas, with no
colleague on board to whom in case of need he could
devolve the supreme command ; he therefore begged tho
Council of State to nominate another Sea-General to
share hia responsibilities and assist him with his know
ledge. Whether he actually named Montagu for the
office is uncertain ; but true to the plan of their par
liamentary predecessors, the Council fixed on this soldier,
a young man of good family, and a confidential friend of
Cromwell, as the new general. The preparations of the
fleet went on rapidly. Towards the end of February
1656, the Generals went on board the Naseby, then in
the Downa with part of the fleet, and they continued in
the Channel,, cruiaing between the river mouth and St.
Helen'a road, for the better expedition of affairs. The
trouble of getting in the necessary provisions was almost
incredible ; every naval station on the coast was short of
stores ; nor could they be procured in sufficient haste
at any price or favour. Blake's patience was at length
tired out, and he resolved to sail without them. " The
expectation of the provisions and fbe-shipa," he wrote
to Cromwell on the 8th of March, " shall be no cause
of stay : but as soon as ever we can get a supply from
the shore of the things that are essentially requisite,
which we are labouring at, we shall with the help of
God be gone." At St. Helen's in the Isle of Wight, he
received his final inatructions, and while hia fieet was
getting under weigh for the south, he wrote his last
letter in England — a very pious and a very touching
farewell :

ROBERT BLAKE. ' 263
General Blahe to Secretary Thurloe.
SiE, — I have received yours of the 13th instant,
together with the enclosed note of the galleons ; as also
your intelligence touching the end of the war between
the Protestant and Popish cantons, and the peace settled
there, and likewise the probabilities of a truce for aix
yeara betwixt France and Spain; and the being of Charlea
Stuart with his company in Flanders. These sudden
transactions aeem to have some great matters in the
womb of them ; but we know that God is the supreme
disposer of aU the counsels, deaigns, and confederationa
in the world ; and we know He is able to order them all
for the greater good of His people. And our trust ia,
that He will do ao even fpr our good also, if we can
believe in Him. The Lord help our unbelief, and subdue
our hearts to the obedience of His holy will in all things.
We are now getting an anchor aboard, making ready to
aaU, although there be little wind, or none at all. But
we shall use our utmost endeavours to get to sea, not
losing any opportunity that God shall afford lis ; as we
have hitherto been careful, and hope that hia Highness
is confident we are and shall continue so, as far as God
shaU enable ua ; which is aU at present from
Your very affectionate friend and servant,
Eobeet Blake.
Aboard the Naseby in St. Helen's Road,
March 15, 1656, (ne-w style).
Two days before the date of this letter he had made
hia wUl, writing the whole of it out with his own hand.
This solemn act accomplished, and the final instruc
tions received from the Council of State, orders were
given to get the ahips under weigh. The squadron
coasted as far west as Torbay, and aa the white cliffs

264 ROBERT BLAKE.
and verdant slopes of Devonshire faded from his sight,
the departing hero saw his last of England. As the
Sea-Generals paaaed down the Portuguese coast, they
sent their letters to King John and assurances of support
to Mr. Meadows, English envoy at the court of Lisbon,
in his demand for a complete recognition of all the
clauses of the late treaty. But they never once slack
ened sail until they were again in the Bay of Cadiz,
¦where their dispositions soon made the inhabitants aware
that their daring intention was to remain the entire
summer, and to hold the royal harbour in a state of
perpetual blockade. By these means the SUver Fleets
would be kept at sea in imminent danger, and the usual
trade of the SeviUe and Cadiz merchants would be
deatroyed. The Spaniards did not, however, dream of
fighting with the renovated fleet. Now and then a
slight skirmish took place between a couple of stray
ketches, shallops, or long-boats ; and one morning in the
midat of a dead calm, when even the English frigates
could not move a point of the compass, the royal gaUeon
and two other ships rowed out and fought at a great
advantage with some of Blake's outsiders. But tbe
principal damage done on either side in this encounter
waa effected by a chance shot from one of the frigates
lying close in shore, for this cannon-baU knocked down
part of a church and kiUed two men.
While these affabs were going on, serious news came
in hot haste from Lisbon. King John, suffering from
stone, and in the hands of his priests, absolutely refused
to accept the treaty ; and the majesty of England had
been insulted in the person of its envoy. Don Panta-
leone and his brother, the Conde de Torre, as was gene
rally given out at the time, waylaid and pistolled Mr.
JMeadows in the streets of the capital, — probably out
of revenge for the death of their brother, who had been

ROBERT BLAKE. 265
executed in London for murder. No attempt was made
to discover the assassins. The wound did not prove
mortal ; but Blake remembered the unatoned murders
of Ascham and Dorislaus ; and this time he was resolved
to show the world that England would cause the law of
nations to be respected towards her servants. Leaving
a few frigates to teep watch over Cadiz, the whole fleet
weighed for Lisbon, and in the first week of June
anchored in Cascaes road at the Tagus mouth. But fear
and dismay travelled faster than the Naaeby, and aa
aoon as it was known in Lisbon that Blake's instructions
were clear and ample, the people rose against the prieat
party and compelled the invalid King to make peace
with England. John sent for Mr. Meadows ; and on
receiving a promise that the Sea- Generals would not
molest hia ships or damage his ports, he consented to
accept the treaty substantially aa it then stood : — that
ia, with one or two verbal alterations, which in the
opinion of the resident Engliah, would not unfavourably
affect their juat claima, while, on the other hand, they
would have the effect of soothing the King's pride.
The right of our nation to have Bibles and other pious
books in their houses, without being considered as
thereby breaking the laws of the country, waa conceded.
The proposal of an appeal to the Pope in all disputes
about religion, previously insisted on by the Portuguese,
waa abandoned. The lives and properties of English
settlers were placed beyond the reach of the Holy Office.
The customs were reduced to twenty-three per cent.
And, finally, the King consented to pay down in sUver
50,000Z. sterling, besides 20,000Z. and some other moneys
due to the English for demurrage and freight of ships.
A careful perusal of all the correspondence of John and
his agents with the English would probably incline the
reader to believe that the hasty admission of these

266 ROBERT BLAKE.
various claims, after two years of intrigue and subter
fuge, was intended only aa a feint to gain time and
induce the Generals not to enter the Tagus. But Blake
Imew the King of old, and he declared his fixed resolu
tion to remain at Cascaes — or in case of need to saU up
the river to Lisbon, and there wait the fulfilment of the
treaty. Flurried by a message so energetic, the court
sent to Mr. Meadows to beg that he would obtain for
them some sort of assurance from the Generals that they
would not molest their trade, if they, on their part, held
fast to the terms of the treaty. AVhereupon Blake and
Montagu wrote : — " If his majesty of Portugal do per
form on his part, and cause the money, which is by the
treaty to be forthwith paid to his Highness's use, to
be put into our possession, that it may be conveyed to
England, — he may confidently assure himself that we
ahaU never so far dishonour his Highneas nor prostitute
our own reputation, and bring a scandal on the faith and
holiness of the religion we profess, as to violate any
of the articles of the treaty." John had no resource but
to pay the money, which was accordingly put on board
and aent to England.
A ludicroua incident served to show the effect of
Blake's southern campaigns in the capital of the Catholic
world. Pope Alexander VII. had been active in his
hostUity to England. He had invited Spain, Genoa,
Florence, and other maritime statea, to make common
cause against Puritan intruders into the Mediterranean.
He had been the chief abettor of the King of Por
tugal in his faithless attempt to evade treaties. He
had interposed the strongest obstacles to a just settle
ment of the Protestant question of the Vaudois. His
Holinesa, therefore, listened with fear and trembling for
the renewed echoes of that Puritan cannon which had
already left so many records of its presence on the shores

ROBERT BLAKE. 267
of Spain, Italy, and Barbary. One morning in the middle
of June, whUe the red cross of the Commonwealth waa
still floating in the Tagus, and Blake was occupied in
taking on board the Portuguese dollars, it was suddenly
announced in the streets of Eome that the English fleet
was cannonading Civita Vecchia ! The poor Pope, sup
posing iu his terror that the formidable heretics would
in a few hours be thundering at the gates of the Eternal
City, caused earthworks to be thrown up, and the cannon
of St. Angelo to be dismounted, carried into the streets,
and placed in the most commanding positions for defence.
Aa no enemy appeared; scouts were sent down to Civita
Vecchia, when it turned out that no damage had been
done — that no Engliah veaael had been seen in that
harbour — and that the firing which had given rise to
the little comedy in Eome proceeded from a couple of
Dutchmen, the crews of which were wasting their powder
in a fit of drink.
The state of affaira remained unchanged before Cadiz.
Cromwell, harassed for funds, was anxious to strike
some sudden and tremendous blow againat the great-,
enemy of his country ; and therefore sent out Captain
Loyd, " known to us to be a peraon of integrity," with
a set of propositions as to how and where such a blow
could be best dealt ; " desiring to give no rule to you,"
— Blake and Montagu, — but " rather as queries than
as resolutions : " — a remarkable instance of submission
in a man of CromweU's imperious character. The
queries were : — Would it not be poaaible to burn the
galleons at their moorings in the harbour ? Could Cadiz
itself be attacked with success ? Or, failing both these,
might not an attempt be made to carry the town and
Castle of Gibraltar? All these were points to be
maturely conaidered. Drake had once burnt a fleet in
the Bay of Cadiz. Esaex and Ealeigh had once carried

268 ROBERT BLAKE.
the city by assault. On their way from Cascaes road the
Sea- Generals held many consultations, examined charts
and compared opiniona ; intending, if the project of
burning the Spanish fleet as it lay in the Carracas
appeared feasible, to fall suddenly and fiercely to the
work of destruction the moment of their arrival. But
not a single pilot could be found willing to undertake
the responsibility of carrying an English war-ship into
that narrow and dangerous harbour. Times had changed
since Drake surprised the Spaniards. The expedition
under Essex had taught them theb weakness and their
strength. When he arrived in the Bay, Blake obtained
exact information from spies, and secret agents, as
to the means of defence possessed by the city, from
which it appeared, — that the navigation of the channel
was extremely difficult at all times, — that the Spaniards
had thrown a number of heavy chains across it, — that
large veaaels had been placed in convenient poaitions
ready to be sunk at the first signal of an attempt
to enter it by force, — that guna had been planted on
both shores of the paasage, — and that the preparations
for defence were altogether of the most complete and
formidable character. It was therefore obvious to the
council of war, that in order to deatroy the fieet in
Carracas it would be necessary first to subdue Cadiz.
And thia point was considered; but only for a moment.
That the city was strong by nature, and still stronger by
art, was well tnown to military men ; but CromweU's '
spiea had led him to believe that it was Ul-aupplied
with troops, and it was on this circumstance that he
had indulged in his dream of an attack. On the spot
the council of war obtained more exact accounts, w^hen
it appeared that in Cadiz, town and island, Porto Santa
Maria and Eotto, where the Duke of Medina com
manded in person, there were about forty thousand

ROBERT BLAKE. 269
regular troops, some regiments of which vast force
enjoyed the well-won reputation of being the finest
infantry in the world. Under these circumstances they
voted it irrational to think of making any attempt on
the mainland, unless a large body of troops could be sent
from England to co-operate with the fieet, as had been
the case when Essex and Ealeigh forced their way into
the town. An attack on Gibraltar was declared im
practicable for aimilar reasons ; the Spaniards having
recently strengthened the worts and thrown a powerful
garrison into that important stronghold.
On receiving the letters in which theae decisions of
the war-council were reported, the Protector and his
Council wrote to Blake and Montagu :
Gentiemen, — We have seen a letter written by you
to the Commissioners of the Admiralty, dated 9 th May,
from Tangier, which arrived here yesterday morning,
whereby we understand the posture of the enemy, and
that for the several reasons expressed by you in that said
letter, it seems to you not rational to attempt the burn
ing of the Spanish fieet in Cadiz ; and thereupon appre
hending that some of your ahipa may be spared into the
Channel for the better securing of trade, and the block
ing up of Dunkirk and Ostend, where the pirates and
ships-of-war grow so numerous, that lately eighteen or
nineteen of them in a body took twenty of our merchant-
ships in two fleets, being under a convoy of a Dutch ship
of thirty-six guna ; therefore we have resolved to caU into
these seas part of the fleet now with you ; and to that
end we desire you, upon the receipt hereof, to give
orders to ten ships, under a good officer, to aail with the
firat opportunity of wind and weather into the Downs,
requiring them to give immediate notice unto us of their
arrival. We leave it whoUy unto you which of the ships

270 ROBERT BLAKE.
you wUl send, conceiving you fo be best able to judge
which of them wUl be fittest for this service and may be
best spared by you. Some thoughts we have had that
the lesser sort of ships, and especially frigates, will best
answer the aforesaid ends here. This we have resolved,
not knowing anything of your posture or counsela more
than your aforesaid letter represents. But in case you
are upon any design, or if aught else hath emerged,
either upon our letter and instruction sent by Captain
Loyd, or from your own thoughts, with which these
orders wUl not well consist, we leave it to you, notwith
standing what we have herein written, whether you will
send these ships or not ; our iutentions not being to dis
appoint any thing which may be in your eye or design
to be done there by the fleet.
The fleet had barely taken up its position ui the Bay
of Cadiz before it began to experience some of that
extreme weather to which the hopes of the Spaniards
seemed now chiefly turned aa a meana of compeUing
the English to go home. Several captains of ships were
on board the Naseby receiving their inatructions to aail
for England in compliance with the requeat of the
CouncU, when a gnat of wind suddenly rose in the east
and south-east. It increased into a tremendous gale,
snapt the anchor-chains, tore the cordage into shreds, and
scattered the fleet — seven or eight ships, of which the
Naaeby was one, excepted — far and wide from Sagres to
Tangier, doing serious damage to the entire squadron.
The night which followed thia terrible day was dark as
well as tempestuous. Here and there the lights were
hung out aU night long as signals of distress, and in
every pause of the storm the commanders heard sigual-
guna booming over the sea from great distances. About
one o'clock, the Naseby had a narrow escape of wreck.

ROBERT BLAKE. 271
The Taunton, her aaUa tom and rudder unmanageable,
came drifting before the gale right on them. Lights
were hoisted and orders given for Captain Vallis, her
commander, to open a new sail; but the poor fellow
seemed to have lost all power over her movements. On
she came, stem foremost, against the Naseby, which
veaael had hitherto tept at anchor. A few momenta
and a collision appeared inevitable. Blake ordered his
cables to be cut as a laat chance, when auddenly, as he
says in hia letter to Cromwell — " it pleased God in very
much mercy that she" — the Taunton-— " let slip, and
getting a sail open with much ado steered clear off ua,
elae one or both of us, in aU likelihood, had immediately
gone to the bottom." Nearly all the veaaels of hia fieet
lost their long-boats, and many of them their cables and
anchors : — the Eesolution had one of her anchors snapt
into two pieces, and the other bent almost double. But
none were absolutely lost. The Kent and the Taunton
were the longest absent from the general gathering ; but
after a few days of painful suspense, to the infinite joy
of their comrades they alao retumed. In one of his let
ters Montagu says, "the sea ran mountains high ; " and
he added suggestively — " Judge you what thia aea is to
ride in winter time ! " Great damage was also done to
the Spanish ships lying in harbour ; many of the mer
chant-men being torn from theb moorings and driven
out to aea.
Six of the English ships, including the Kent, Bristol
and Mermaid, were judged to be no longer fit for so
rude a service, and were sent home to England. Mean
time the Generals did their utmost to exasperate the
enemy to come out and fight. But neither insult nor
spoliation could sufficiently stir the Hidalgo blood : as
the Lisbon agent expressed it in his correspondence, " the
-Spaniard used hia buckler rather than hia aword." Hear-

272 ROBERT BLAKE.
ing that a Sicilian and a Genoese galley had taken part
with the Spaniards of Malaga against the English, Blate
despatched the Euby, Nantwich, and Lyon, with the
Fox fire-ship, to that port, in search of the offenders,
and with orders to infest and alarm the coast on that
side from Gibraltar to Valentia. Still the Cadiz gal
leons would not venture out. Blake then drew off a
number of frigates and good saUers for a temporary
guard, and with the body of his fleet sailed for the Afri
can coast in search of water and proviaions ; intending
also to pay a brief viait to Salee, on the west coast of
Africa, and teach the lawless rovers of that city some
respect for European commerce and civilisation. Suc
cess attended him and his officers. The expedition
againat Malaga was brilUantly executed. The EngUsh
ships stood into the harbour at mid-day, with colours and
pennons flying, and anchored between the bulwark and
the pier-head in three fathoms of water. The people
on shore were taken quite aback, fancying the ships
were come in to give themselves up to the King of
Spain. But they were roused from this dream by a
sudden declaration that, if the Genoese galley were not
given up to the EngUsh, they would proceed to fire
every slap that was within the pier. After exchanging
signals, the two gaUeya made an attempt to quit the
port, the Genoese covering the Sicilian like a shield,
when the frigates poured a broadside into the insolent
Genoeae, which broke her rudder, tilled forty of her
crew, and carried off her oara in splinters. The Sicilian
slipt away in the confusion, but the Genoese was obliged
to put bact into the port, where she was grappled by the
fire-ship and instantly wrapt in fiames. The cannon of
the land-worts now opened on the Engliah, and iu
return the ships began to bombard the town. A dozen
resolute fellows leapt on shore from a long-boat, and ia

ROBERT BLAKE. 273
a few minutes they had spiked eight pieces of heavy
ordnance under the very walls of the town. The people
were amazed and stunned ; many of the gentry fled away ;
the citizens hid themaelves in their wine-casks ; and it
was thought that a force of 4000 men would have been
able to capture and plunder the place, so great was the
terror of the people.
Blake and Montagu retumed to their Cadiz station,
but the Spaniards stiU remained in port. No SUver
Fleets appeared. July and August passed away in
glorioua but not very profitable cruises, skirmishes and
blockades. Winter was drawing near, and every ship
in the service required to be careened and refitted.
Victuals of every kind ran short. To obtain supplies
even of bread and water, it was necessary to seek the
ports of a friendly power. Blake, therefore, appointed
Captain Eichard Stayner, of the Speaker, to watch the
bay with a squadron of aeven ahips, the Speaker, Bridg
water, Providence, Plymouth, and three others ; and with
the remainder of his power he saUed early in September
for the northem part of Portugal. The Generals,
however, had not come to an anchor in Aviero Bay
before a fortunate accident brought a diviaion of the
long-expected SUver Fleet in sight of Stayner's
squadron. Four magnificent Spanish gaUeons and two
merchantmen of Indian build, aU of them laden with
cargoes of gold, silver, pearls and precious atonea,
hidea, indigo, sugar, cochineal, varinaa and tobacco, and
having the Viceroy of Lima and his family, a general, an
admiral, and vice-admiral, together with about two thou
sand inferior persons on board, had left the Havanna early
in June bound for Cadiz, under the impression that their
European fieets would be able to protect them against
the English, and without touching land at any point,
they had made the whole voyage in the short space of

274 ROBERT BLAKE.
fifty-seven days. On theb way they picked up a little
French barque, laden with hides, and afterwards, among
the Weatern lalanda, a Portuguese corn-factor, both of
which vessels they made prizes. Either from mistake
or from malice, the Portuguese saUors, when their captors
inquired from them where the English fieet lay, replied
that the Spaniards had beaten Blake a month ago, and
driven him away from their coast ; they consequently
continued their voyage towards Europe in the utmost
confidence, instead of running to the Azores for a convoy.
In passing San Lucar, they noticed a long-boat in the act
of crossing the bar ; but by some fataUty they proceeded
towarda Cadiz without staying to inquire how an
English long-boat could be entering the river if Blake'a
squadron had been discomfited and driven home. Even
when they observed Stayner's frigates, just at dusk on
the 8th of September, some five or six leagues eastward
towarda Cadiz, they concluded that theae muat be Spanish
guardahips lying about the harbour, and therefore did
their beat to keep close to them all night, putting their
own lights on for company, and occasionally firing guns
to announce their fortunate arrival. At day-dawn, they
discovered their mistake ; and, though they had a vast
preponderance of force, they separated, and some of
them ran ashore aa the only meana of saving the vast
treasures with which they were freighted. A fresh gale,
blowing hard from the north-east, had scattered the
English squadron, and only the Speaker, the Plymouth,
and the Bridgwater were at first sufficiently near the
galleons to engage with them. Stayner naturaUy made
for the fiag-ahip of the Spaniard ; but finding that it
was one of the weakest in the fieet, and suspecting that
the fiag waa raised on that vessel merely to deceive and
draw off an enemy from the gold and silver galleons, he
let her go, and she succeeded in making her escape with

ROBERT BLAKE. 275
her Lisbon prize into Cadiz. The battle raged between
the other vessela for six hours. From the waUs and towers
of Cadiz the Spaniards could see every turn of the en
gagement ; two of theb galleons were on fire at the same
moment ; two others of their ships went down to rise
no more. After defending his charge with heroic valour,
theb Vice-admiral was overpowered, his vessel, on fire in
several places, was hastily rifled by the conquerors of its
gold and silver; the priaonera were removed to the
Speaker, and it was then left to fill and sink. In this
gaUeon went down the unfortunate Viceroy of Lima,
with his wife and daughter. The Plymouth chased one
of the tradera to the ahore, where she ran aground near
Cape Degar ; but it appeared by the statement of pri
soners taken that she had no silver on board. The gal
leon of the Eear-admiral was taken, a prize of very great
value. " The ahip we took," says Stayner in hia letter
to Blake, " is worth aU the reat of the fleet." It was a
royal galleon of about 500 tons burthen with 350 men
on board when she struck her colours, and contained
two mUlion pieces of eight. Two other prizes were
afterwards picked up ; and of the eight veaaels only
two escaped capture or destruction. The money lost
amounted to nine million pieces of eight. The loss in
men on the Engliah side was very slight ; but aeveral of
the frigates were much damaged, eapecially the Speaker,
which had borne the chief brunt of the battle."
Among the prisoners taken was the young Marquis
de Badajoz, son of the Viceroy of Lima, whose melan
choly and romantic story at once became a theme for
poets and tale-tellers. Hia father waa born a few leagues
from Madrid, of a noble but reduced family of pure
Hidalgo blood. In early Ufe his royal master made him
Governor of Chili, in South America ; afterwards he wa?
translated to the Vice-royalty of Lima, which country ho
t2

276 ROBERT BLAKE.
governed fourteen years ; but his period of office being
completed, hia family grown up to youth, his own labours
rewarded with wealth and honours, he embarked in the
vice-admbal with his lady, his four sons, and his three
daughters — two of them affianced brides, one to a son
of the great Duke of Medina Coeli, the other to Don
Juan de Joyas, Rear-admiral of the fleet, and now
Stayner's prisoner. When the flames began to spread
in the galleon, the marchioness and one of her daughters
swooning with heat and fear feU on their faces and were
scorched to death. One of the boys also feU a victim
to the flre. The marquis might have estaped unhurt,
but seeing the blackened bodies of his companions where
they lay, he rushed towards them, threw his arms about
his wife, and died in the embrace. The young marquis,
his brothers, and sisters, were saved by the Engliah
boarders and carried to the Speaker, where they were
treated with compassion even by the rude sailors.
The eldest boy afterwards became quite a favourite
with the two commanders : " He is a most pregnant,
ingenious, and learned youth as I ever met with," said
Montagu, " and his story is the saddest that ever I
heard of or read of to my remembrance." The whole
fortune of the famUy, consisting of 800,000 pieces of
eight, waa on board the vice-admbal ; much of it was
plundered by the boarders, and the reat went down with
the wreck.
Cromwell had already deabed one of the Generals to
return home for a abort time, to consult with the Board
of Admiralty on the state of the fleet and on the general
conduct of the war; and he had named Montagu for
this purpose, aa his absence would be least severely felt.
Blake was desired, if the plan met with his approval, to
make a selection from the squadron under his command
of such good sailers as would be best likely to stand the

ROBERT BLAKE. 277
wear of a winter campaign, and with these vessels teep
guard before the harbour of Cadiz, and utterly destroy
its commerce. He thereupon removed the red cross of
the Commonwealth to the mast of the Swiftsure ; and
collecting all Stayner's prizes with the other ships
intended for home, he toot farewell of his colleague,
committing him to the mercies of God and the good-will
of his countrymen. England soon rang with the new
glories of its great seamen. Poems, plaudits and rewards
met the victorious Montagu. A tnighthood was reserved
for Stayner. The bulUon which he had captured was
landed at Portsmouth, and some eight-and-thbty wagons,
attended by chosen picquets of soldiers carried it trium
phantly through the western towns to London, where it
was paraded through the City, and then immediately
carried to the Tower and coined into English money.

CHAPTER X.

SANTA CRUZ.
Statnee's brUUant success against the first division
of the Silver Fleets which had fallen in the way of an
Engliah squadron, encouraged Blake in the idea that by
remaining at sea all winter, he might be able to strike
such a blow at the naval power of Spain, as would shake
that empire. The Mexican gaUeons had been disposed
of by his lieutenant ; thoae of Peru, known to be still
more richly laden with gold, sOver, pearls and precious
stones, were on their way to Spain. Could he only keep
the mouth of the Carracas closed, so aa to prevent any
caraval going out to warn them of theb danger, it was
not unlikely that they would follow in the track of the
former fleet, and fall into hia hands. But thia advan
tage was only to be gained by a winter at sea : and in
such a sea, with a fleet in the worst condition, and in
his state of increasing bodily infirmity ! The best of the
great ships had gone home with the Naseby, Cromwell
believing from aU past naval experience that it would be
impossible for them to ride through the storms of
December and January on that dangerous coaat : what
remained as the Cadiz blockading squadron were about
twenty frigates, with the Swiftsure, a vessel of 898 tons
burden, carrying 380 men and 64 guns, as admiral. Yet
the duties were numeroua and of different kinds which

ROBERT BLAKE. 279
this fleet of frigates was expected to perform. Simply
to keep the seas would have been no easy task ; but
Blake waa expected to hold the whole aouthem coaat
of Spain in a state of siege, — to close the Straits of
Gibraltar against the enemy, — to intercept the Silver
Fleets ahould they arrive, — to prevent the coming in of
oak, hemp, tar, and other materials for ship-building
from the north of Europe, — to entice out and then fight
with the war-galleona known to be fitting up in Cadiz
by the merchanta of SevUle for the defence of their pro
perty, — to cut off all communication over aea between
Spain and Flanders, — to haraas and destroy the enemy's
trade, particularly that of their colonies and settlements
in America, — to watch and check the movements of the
Barbary coraairs, — and finally, to protect the intereats
of English commerce with Portugal and the Straits of
Gibraltar, then fiercely menaced by Biacayan and other
Spanish privateers.
The Commonwealth expected fuU and daring service
from its ' officers. But however much was hoped in
England from the Admiral's genius and good-fortune,
the wonders of this winter cruise and the brilliant ac
tion with which it closed in the early spring at Santa
Cruz surpassed every expectation. For the first few
weeks, the Spaniards affected to laugh at a madman who
could dream of riding in that tempestuous ocean for
a whole winter. Nevertheless, October and November
passed away ; and though daily storms scattered the
aquadron, carrying some of the frigates to the African
porta, othera into the Straits, and now and then an
unfortunate vessel as far as Cape St. Vincent, the bay
was never free from the enemy : and after a day or two
of decent weather, the fleet was found riding in all its
strength acroaa the entrance to Cadiz. Opinion then
worked gradually round. The citizens began to fear

28o- ROBERT BLAKE.
that nature would probably not fight their battle as
effectuaUy as they had hoped. If the American fleet was
to come in, other means of defence must be considered.
Some rich merchants at last offered to fit out a powerful
squadron. At theb expense eight royal gaUeons were
prepared ; guns were put on board twelve traders of
heavy burden ; and a solemn appeal was made to the
chivalry of Spain to go on board the reUef squadron as
volunteers, and . in that capacity make one grand effort
to dislodge the enemy from his insulting position.
Much was expected from this appeal ; several spirited
gentlemen offered their services, and the agents talted
in heroic measures of theb intended feats : — but for
some reason not tnown to the English, the squadron
did not venture outside the passage, and Blake continued
master at sea. About mid-winter, De Ruiter anchored
off the bar of San Lucar with nine or ten Dutch men-
of-war ; and the opinion current in diplomatic circles in
the south of Europe was, that he intended openly to
join the Spaniards againat England. European diplo
macy was probably weU acquainted with the secret
leanings of the States-General ; but it erred in assuming
that they would have the courage to declare their pre
ference, and take upon themselves the consequences of
their friendship for Spain. They rather chose to work
for her in secret. Under false fiags and with forged
papers they from time to time carried succours to Cadiz
and San Lucar ; in the name of the Genoese they buUt
and equipped in their dockyards as many frigates and
men-of-war as would have formed a powerful fleet;
and indeed at that very moment they had aix magni
ficent ships, of from sixty to seventy guns each, on
the stocks nearly finished. But De Ruiter carefully
abstained from any offence against the red cross. He
made a show of the profoundest respect for Blake

ROBERT BLAKE. 281
personally, and sailed away into the Mediterranean, as
he pretended on a voyage against the pirates of Algiers
and Tripoli.
The English were compeUed to rule the Barbary
powers with a rod of iron. A few months ago the
Admiral had paid hia promiaed viait to Salee, when he
summoned the formidable rovera of that port to a con
sultation ; but aa the barbariana did not for the space
of two days comply with hia request, he drove two of
their fleetest vessels on the rocks and broke them into
fragments, threatening to deal in Uke manner with their
entire fleet if they persisted in their refusal to treat
with him according to the usagea of nations. The Prince
of Salee had abeady learned by the example of Tunis
that Blake never threatened in vain, and on receiving
thia peremptory intimation he sent an agent to the
Naaeby. The audden recal of the fleet towards the
Bay of Cadiz, in expectation of the Silver Fleet, had
prevented the formal conclusion of a treaty; but the
rovera became more guarded from that time in their
interference with English merchants. Early in February
a violent storm in the Bay of Cadiz drove the blockading
fleet towards the Straits, and the heavy galea increasing,
Blake ran into Tetuan, a Morocco port just within the
Straits, for shelter ; and as some questions had arisen
between him and the Dey of Algiers, ere he retumed
to Cadiz, he ran along the coast to that city, paid the
Dey a flying visit, and arranged all his difficulties
without having to fire a single shot. The affair of
Porto Ferino had relieved him from the necessity of
any more fighting with the pirates. In paasing Tan
gier, then a settlement of the Portuguese, he found it
closely invested by the Moors, and so severely dis-
treaaed aa to be not unlikely to fall into their hands.
In the high spirit of Christian chivalry he detached a

283 ROBERT BLAKE.
part of hia fieet to relieve the garrison, break the be-
aiegera' lines and support the interests of the new Eling
of Portugal, Alphonso VT., on those shores : — a service
which had the happy effect of saving the town and
drawing still closer the bonds of friendship established
by his means between London and Lisbon.
Discontents arose and multipUed in Spain. The loss
of one Silver Fleet and the long delay of another ren
dered money scarce, crippling both public and private
means. New taxes had to be imposed. Voluntary gifts
and loans were tried, — and many Hidalgo famUies stript
themselves of part of their ancient wealth to uphold the
glory of their King. The Church also contributed its
blessing and its money towards the support of a war
against heretics. But these donations went a short
way towards meeting the enormous expenditure ; and
in its hour of need govemment was compeUed to exact
a fifth part of the estates, stoct and property of every
merchant in the empire. Thousands were ruined by
this sweeping measure. Trade almost ceased. The
Spanish dollar rose in value; debts were left unpaid;
and many of the most princely residents of Cadiz and
Seville were broten in their fortunes. In England
the splendour of victory, the humUiation of a haughty
foe, and the sight of wagons fiUed with captured gold
and silver, helped to sustain the popularity of the war ;
but the trading interests suffered severely from the
corsairs of Brest and the Bay of Biscay. The amount
of money taten from the enemy was slight when com
pared with the losaes of private persons. Few indeed
gained by the war except the privateers of the two
nations, and that band of lawless adventurers who
plundered peaceful traders under cover of any fiao-
which it suited them for the moment to unfurl.
Nothing excites more wonder and admiration than

ROBERT BLAKE. 283
the poverty of means with which this bold watch and
guard was maintained. Hardly a single ship was sea
worthy. The Fairfax, the Worcester, the Plymouth,
the Newcastle, the Foresight, were all seriously damaged,
Some were short of a mast, others had no powder ; all
were in want of spars, canvass, hemp and stores. AVorst
of aU, sickness had carried off the ablest seamen of the
fleet; and more than one of the frigates had not sufficient
hands for the ordinary working service, much less for
war. On the 11th of March, 1657, Blake writes from
before Cadiz to the Admiralty :
" Our fleet at preaent, by reason of a long continuance
abroad, are grown ao foul, that if a fleet outward bound
should design to avoid us, few of our ships would be able
to foUow them up. I have acquainted you often with
my thoughts of keeping out those ships so long, whereby
they are not only rendered in a great measure unservice
able, but withal exposed to desperate hazards : wherein,
though the Lord hath most wonderfully and mercifully
preaerved ua hitherto, I know no rule to tempt Him, and
therefore again mind you of it, that if any such accident
should for the future happen to the damage of his High
ness and the nation — which God forbid — the blame may
not be at our doors, for we account it a great mercy that
the Lord hath not given them [the Spaniards] the oppor
tunity to take advantage of these our damages. Truly
our fleet is generally in that condition, that it troubles
me to think what the consequence may prove if such
another storm, as we have had three or four lately,
should overtake us before we have time and opportunity
a little to repair. Our number of men ia lessened
through death and sickness, occasioned partly through
the badness of victuals and the long continuance of poor
men at sea. The captain of the Fairfax tells me, in
particular, that they are forced to call all their company

284 ROBERT BLAKE.
on deck whenever they go to tack. Therefore (I) desire
that, if you intend us to stay out thia summer, or any
considerable part thereof, that you will forthwith send
us a sufficient supply of able seamen."
But CromweU was too busy with his own schemes to
think of the brave men who were fighting the battles of
their country on a distant station. No succours were
sent out ; nothing but apologies and excuses. The
Lords of Admiralty said they were sorry to hear of his
illness ; sorry also to hear of the wretched state of his
ships ; but they could not promise him any immediate
aid, because the Lord Protector's time was completely
taken up with Parliamentary intrigues, the great ques
tion of Kingship being then under consideration. The
events of the next few days, however, put an end to the
tasks which held the sick Admiral a sort of prisoner in
those waters. Letters of intelUgence came to hand an
nouncing that the second SUver Fleet, consisting of six
royal galleons and sixteen other great ships, was on its
way towards Europe ; but that having heard of the
former disaster, and leaming that the enemy was stiU in
force before the Bay of Cadiz, it had run for safety
into harbour in one of the Canary Islands. At first this
news was of a doubtful nature ; perhaps an invention of
the Spaniards to draw him from his post ; certainly it
was too vague a report to justify a run with his whole
squadron into a latitude so remote ; but several handa,
unknown to each other, furnished Blake with the same
intelUgence, and his habitual caution at last admitted
that there were grounds for trusting to the general
accuracy of his information. Finding that the fleet
already prepared for sea, did not venture forth, he
arranged his plans, called in his cruisers, and on the
13th of April set sail with his whole force, now recruited
to twenty-five ships and frigates, for those islands. Don

ROBERT BLAKE. 285
Diego Diagues, the Spanish Admiral at Santa Cruz, had
news of Blake's intended movement, and he made instant
preparations to give the assailants a warm reception
should they venture to attack his fleet. The port of
Santa Cruz was then one of the strongest naval posi
tions in the world. The harbour, shaped like a horse
shoe, was defended at the north side of the entrance by
a regular castle, mounted with the heaviest ordnance and
well garrisoned ; along the inner line of the Bay seven
powerful forts were disposed ; and connecting these
forts with each other and with the castle was a line of
earthworks, which served to cover the gunners and
musketeers from the fire of an enemy. Sufficiently
formidable of themselves to appal the stoutest heart,
theae worka were now strengthened by the whole force
of the Silver Fleet. The precious metals, pearls, and
jewels vfrere carried on shore into the town; but the
usual freightage, hides, sugar, spices, and" cochineal,
remained on board, Don Diego having no fears for
their safety. The royal galleons were then stationed
on each side the narrow entrance of the Bay ; their
anchors dropped out, and theb broadsides turned towards
the aea. The other armed veasels were moored in a
semicircle round the inner line, with openings between
them so as to allow full play to the batteries on shore
in case of necessity. Large bodies of musketeers were
placed on the earthworks uniting the more soUd fortifi
cations ; and in this admirable arrangement of his means
of resistance Diagues waited with confidence the appear
ance of his Engliah assailants.
On the evening of Saturday, AprU 18th, the foremost
of the EngUsh frigates sighted what they beUeved to be
the nearest point of land in the Canary Islands ; but the
weather was extremely thick and hazy, and it waa noon
on Sunday before they were certain of their exact

286 ROBERT BLAKE.
bearings. Thia circumstance afforded Diego timely warn
ing of their approach. Next morning, Monday, the red
cross of the Commonwealth was descried at daybreak
from the royal galleona ; the fleet appearing about three
leagues diatant, under crowded sail and bearing in before
a stiff breeze. A Dutch captain, who had seen some
thing of the late war, happened to be lying at that
moment in the Santa Cruz roadstead with his vessel ;
when he saw the Sea-General's pennon floating on the
wind, and the frigates in advance making direct for the
harbour, he felt they were bent on mischief, and anxious
to avoid any portion of the hard knocks likely to be
given in the coming fray, he went to the Spanish Admi
ral and asked permission to retbe. Diagues smUed at
bis fears. Why, his naval force alone waa almost equal
to the English. The royal galleons were mounted -with
the finest brass ordnance in the world. Their broadsides
would oppose a living waU of fire against assault. With
his castles, batteries, and earthworks, his powerful and
spirited garrison, his double Une of w-ar-ships, he con
sidered, and not unreasonably considered, that his posi
tion was impregnable. The Dutchman shook his head :
" For aU this," he said, " I am very sure that Blake will
soon be in among you." — " WeU," replied the haughty
Spaniard, " go, if you wiU; and let Blake come if he
dare." — The Dutchman retumed to his ship, hoisted sail,
and escaped the destruction which awaited every vessel
afioat within the Bay of Santa Cruz that fatal morning.
As soon as day dawned on the EngUsh fleet, a frigate,
which had been sent forward in the night for that pur
pose, signaUed to the Swiftsure the welcome intelligence
that the whole body of the SUver Fleet lay at anchor
within the harbour. Thereupon Blake roused from his
sick-bed by the prospect of action, caUed a council of war,
stated the case in a few brief and pregnant words, and

ROBERT BLAKE. 287
ended with a proposal to ride into the port and attack
the enemy in his formidable position. The shape of
the harbour, the situation of the great castle, and the
direction of the wind — then blowing steadily landwards
— made it useless to think of bringing oft" the royal
gaUeons. It only remauied therefore to destroy them
where they stood, with theb threatening broadsides
pointing towards the English ships. Many thought
this scheme would be equally impossible to carry out ;
but the captains who had served in the attack on Porto
Ferino had no doubt of the bold conception of theb
general being brilliantly executed. At least it was
resolved to make the attempt. Between six and seven
o'clock, a solemn prayer was offered to the Diapoaer
of eventa : no oath, no breverent ribaldry waa ever
heard on board that fleet ; no rum or brandy waa given
out on the eve of battle ; but every man on those gallant
ships knelt down humbly, and in that fervent spbit
which was in aU trials and temptations the Roundheads'
sustaining fire, asked the God of battles to bless His
people, and put forth Hia right arm in aupport of the
good cause. At seven aU was ready — the saUors had
breakfasted and prayed. A division of the beat-equipped
and moat powerful ships was then drawn off and sent
forward under the gallant Stayner to attack the royal
galleons and force an entrance into the harbour ; Blake
reserving to himaelf the task of silencing the castles
and batteries on land. Stayner's old frigate, the Speaker,
now bearing hia pennon as Vice-admiral, led the van of
this attacking squadron right at the entrance, unchecked
by the tremendoua broadsides of the galleons and regard
less of the terrific flanking fire from the caatle and
batteries. In a space of time almost incredibly short
he had passed the outer defences and established himself
near the royal galleons, m the centre of a huge semi-

288 ROBERT BLAKE.
circle of shot. Blake instantly followed with the re
mainder of his fieet, and covering Stayner's flank with
hia frigates, so as to leave him free to fight the great
ships without interruption from the batteries on shore,
he commenced a furious cannonade on the whole line of
defences, and especially against the castle. The Spa
niards fought throughout the day with desperate valour,
and for some hours the old peak of Teneriffe witnessed
a scene which might almost be compared with one of its
own stupendous outbursts. The Spanish musketeers
kept up a destructive fire from behind the covered way.
Yet in spite of the highest courage, unanimity and
conduct on the side of the defence, the cannonade
along the earthworks gradually slackened. One by one
the batteries ceased to answer. Before twelve o'clock
Blate was able to leave the completion of this part of
his tast to a few well-stationed frigates, whUe he turned
with the main body to the assistance of Stayner, engaged
for four hours in an unequal contest with gaUeons of
greatly superior force in men and guns. Diagues made
heroic efforts to recover his faUing ground ; but it was
now too late to turn the tide of victory. By two o'cloct
the battle was won. Two of the Spanish ahips had gone
down, and every other vessel in the harbour, whether
royal galleon, ship-of-war, or trader, was in flames. MUes
and miles round the scene of action, the lurid and fatal
lights could be seen, throbbing and burning against the
duU sky. The fire had done its work swiftly and awfully.
Not a sail, not a single spar was left above water. The
charred keels fioated hither and thither. Some of them
fiUed and sank. Others 1vere thrown upon the strand.
Here and there the stump of a burnt mast projected
from the surface ; but not a single ship — not a single
cargo — escaped destruction. AU went down together in
the tremendous calamity.

ROBERT BLAKE. 289
Theb victory complete, the next care of the English
was to get away safely from the Bay, as the great guns
of the caatle at its entrance, supplied with fresh gunners,
kept up a deadly fire. Blake's plan, when he stood with
a atrong breeze into Santa Cruz, seems to have been to
fight and destroy the Spanish galleona, first silencing aa
many of the land-batteries as might be necessary to that
end, and then to retbe with hia fleet from the harbour
at the ebb-tide ; but juat as the devouring flames had
got safe hold of the Spaniards' bulla, enauring the com
plete destruction of their ships, the wind began to veer
a little towards the south-west — a change, as the pious
sailors remarked, which had not been known to occur on
that coast for many years — and by skUful management
the whole squadron came out of the Bay with one
slight accident, the striking of a frigate on an unknown
rock. But she got off without serious damage ; and by
seven o'clock in the evening all the ships were out in
the Bay beyond gun-range. The loss of the Spaniards
waa immense. The finest part of their Silver Fleet was
utterly annihilated : ships, guns, equipments, cargoes,
aU were gone. Considering the many disadvantages
under which they had fought, the loasea of the English
were comparatively unimportant. Not a single ship waa
miaaing at the muster ; but several frigates, particularly
the Speaker, were rendered unfit for further service.
The slain amounted to no more than 50 ; the wounded
were about 150 in number.
Perhaps no naval action has ever been more warmly
admired and more curiously criticised than this attack
on Santa Cruz. " Of all the desperate attempts," says
royaUst Heath, "that were ever made in the world
againat an enemy by aea, this of the noble Blake'a ia not
mferior to any."— "The whole action," writes Claren
don " waa so miraculous, that all men who knew the

290 ROBERT BLAKE.
place concluded that no sober man, with what courage
soever endued, would ever undertake it ; whUst the
Spaniards comforted themselves with the belief that they
were devils and not men who had deatroyed them in
such a manner. And it can hardly be imagined how
amaU loss the Engliah sustained in this unparaUeled
action ; no one ship being left behind, and the kdled and
wounded not exceeding two hundred men, when the
slaughter on board the Spanish ships and on the shore
was incredible." On the other side, it has been aUeged
by Sir Philip Warwick and later writers, that when
Blake stood into the Bay of Santa Cruz there was no
reasonable probabUity that the wind would change
when the work of destruction was effected ; that had
it not changed, the squadron would have been wind-
bound within reach of the great artiUery of the caatle
for an indefinite period ; that, in short, nothing less
than the unexpected turn of wind could have saved the
fieet which his rashness had placed in auch imminent
peril. To theae criticisms it would probably be a sufficient
answer to say, that during his whole naval career the
great Admiral never made a serious mistake : even his
unequal and disastrous encounter with Tromp in the
Downs was defensible on political and naval grounds.
The best proof, however, that he could bring his fleet out
of the harbour when its work was done, is the fact that
he did bring it out ; had it appeared to him desbable
for the ships to remain at anchor under the caatle-guns
there is no reason to beUeve that they would have
been unable to hold their position. Masters of the
harbour for twelve hours, it would have been easy to
remain mastera for twelve days. Nor is it clear that
the change of wind took place before the fleet qidtted
the Bay — as accounts written on the spot represent

ROBERT BLAKE. 291
that change as occurring after the muster in the offing
— when a speedy return to Spain, not an escape from
Santa Cruz, figures as the great object of providential
interposition. InteUigence of this great naval exploit reached London
as CromweU's second ParUament was drawing its first
session to a close. The excitement was extreme. Popu
lar baUada, in which Antichrist and the Inquisition were
treated with disdainful waggery, were sung at every
street-corner under the fantastic and picturesque gables
of old London. The Lord Protector aent his secretary
down to the Houae with the letter of detaUs ; and when
honourable members had heard the whole story from
Blake's own hand, they tendered him the thanks of the
country for his eminent services, and voted five hundred
pounds for the purchase of a jewel to be given him aa
a mart of honour and respect. The House partook of
the liberal enthusiasm which filled the cities of London
and Weatminater. The repreaentatives gave one hun
dred pounds to Captain Story, the messenger of such
glorious news. They ordered a letter of thanks to be
written to the officers of the fleet. Finally, they set
apart an early day for a solemn national thanksgiving.
CromweU himself wrote to the dying General a letter
of thants and congratulation :
SiE, — I have received yours of the [20th April], and
thereby the account of the good succeaa it hath pleased
God to give you at the Canaries, in your attempt upon
the King of Spain's ships in the Bay of Santa Cruz. The
mercy therein to us and this Commonwealth is very sig
nal, both in the loss the enemy hath received, as also in
the preservation of our ships and men, which indeed was
very wonderful, and according to the wonted goodness
and loving-kindness of the Lord, wherewith His people
u2

293 ROBERT BLAKE.
hath been followed in all theae late revolutions ; and call
for on our part, that we should fear before Him, and stUl
hope in Hia mercy. We cannot but take notice 'also,
how eminently it hath pleased God to make use of you
in this service, assisting you with wisdom in the con
duct, and courage in the execution ; and have sent you
a amaU jewel, as a testimony of our own and the ParUa
ment' s good acceptance of your carriage in this action.
We are also informed that the officers of the fleet and
the seamen carried themselves with much honesty and
courage, and we are considering of a way to shew our
acceptance thereof. In the meantime we desire you to
return our hearty thanks and acknowledgments to them.
Thus beseeching the Lord to continue His presence with
you, I remain your very affectionate friend."
The favourable wind which brought the squadron
out of Santa Cruz carried it once more at a steady
and rapid pace to the shores of Andalusia ; but intelli
gence of the terrible diaaster at the Canaries had abeady
reached the merchants of Cadiz, and new endeavours
were made to induce the States- General of HoUand
to unite with Spain in a league against the proud and
victorious ialandera. Dutch statesmen, alarmed at the
extraordinary growth of EngUsh influence at sea, were
disposed to entertain the advances made to them by
their ancient and mortal enemies ; they expedited the
preparations of their fleet, and raised it to a force of
seventy sail. CromweU's ministers could obtain no
satisfactory explanation of the reasons for this armament
or of the service on which it was to be employed ; and
as aoon as the battle of Santa Cruz had disabled Spain
for some time, they wrote to inform Blake of theb fears
and uncertainties, and to beg that he would return
with convenient haste to England. Warned of theae
mtrigues with the States-General, the EngUsh frigates

ROBERT BLAKE. 293
kept strict watch over the motions of the Dutch squadron
in those seas, and soon found that, while declining
to commit themselves to the hazards and expenses of
another naval war, the officers readily engaged them
selves to bring into Cadiz and other ports the gold
and sUver landed at Santa Cruz, by order of Don Diego
Diagues, before the late attack. Aware of the contract,
Blake declared these Dutchmen lawful prizes ; and in
structed the captains of his cruisers to chase, capture or
destroy them whenever found with Spanish cargoes on
board. By these prompt measures aeveral of their ahipa
and frigates were taken, laden in great part with gold
and sUver from that island. One of these Dutch vessels
was reported to have a mUlion pieces of eight on board.
Another of his captures, the Flying Fame of Amster
dam, ran on ahore near Suebra, in order to save the
cargo ; but it was got off again at full tide by the
English frigates : it had 448 Spaniards, paasengers from
the Canaries, on board, beaides a very valuable freight.
Remonstrances were of course made by the Ambassadors
of HoUand against thia rigoroua policy. But Blake had
little patience with the wiles and subterfuges of diplo
macy. His object in thoae seas was to destroy the trade,
the resources, the fleets of Spain ; he conaidered its gold
and sUver, its pearls and precious stones, its apicea,
sugar, hides and cochineal lawful prey ; and in whatever
bottoms or under whatever flag he found these articles,
he believed his right to seize them indisputable. The
Dutchmen raUed and spouted — but they kept the
peace. From Norway to Barbary the echoes of Blake's
thunder had been heard. The wavering were confirmed
in theb friendship for the Commonwealth ; States which
had so far proudly held aloof evinced the desire to culti
vate a closer aUiance ; false friends suddenly grew eager
and demonstrative in their civiUties. To uae the emphatic

294 ROBERT BLAKE.
words of our agent at Lisbon, the English were " every
where held in terror and honour."
But the hero's health was now failing fast. The
excitement of Santa Cruz had fearfully augmented his
disorders ; his friends could see that he was nigh to
death. Want of rest, want of fresh food and wholesome
wine, strain of heart and of inteUect, the fester of an
unhealed wound, the wrack and waste of a cruise \m-
exampled in activity and in success, had done their work
even on his vigorous constitution. He had gained his
victory, but he had sacrificed his life. He had only f o
come home and die. Few commanders have ever won
so entirely the love, devotion, adoration of their officera
and men. It waa an article of faith for the captains
to beUeve in his genius and fortune. The common
sailors would have leapt into the sea, or rushed into the
cannon's mouth, to gain a word of approbation from his
lips. But their hearta refuaed to beUeve that he who
had taught them to fight in fire and in water, who had
courted death in plague, in tempest, and in battle, was
now dying in the midst of victory. For himself, he
knew that his wort was nearly finished. And he was
most anxious, if God were wUUng, to go home, and
die in his native town. He had his country's express
permission to return should he think it useful to the
service; but it lay on his conscience to perform one
other tast before he quitted for ever the seas in which
he had tept his glorious watch. He felt bound to pay
a second visit to Salee, and compel the Moorish corsaira
to restore the Christian captives to their freedom, and
enter into a treaty of peace with England. Thia visit
to Salee was his last, and, in the opinion of gentle
hearts, his most Ulustrious action. An accident had
formerly defeated his attempt to exact reparation from
these formidable pirates for the injuries inflicted by

ROBERT BLAKE. 295
them on English commerce; before he finally quitted
the southern watera, he considered it a sacred duty to
return to Salee and complete the negociations then
suddenly interrupted.
Unlike the pirates of Tunis, TripoU, and Algiers, who
went out to sea in the largest class of war-ships, the Moors
of Salee, a town forming part of the dominions of the
Emperor of Fez and Morocco, made their excursions in
small but well-built and extremely fast-aailing vessels ;
the bar of the river on which their town was buUt not
affording, even in good weather, more than a depth of
ten or twelve feet of water. After a short prevalence of
south-west winds, a strong sweU of sea always broke on
the bar, rendering it impaaaable for craft of any but the
smalleat aize ; so that in winter the pirates were usuaUy
compeUed to lie still. But with the approach of spring,
they would set out in theb powerful little frigates, scour
the European waters as far as the Bay of Biscay, and the
Sardinian aea, rifiing unarmed traders, and even making
occaaional descents on the coasts of Spain and Italy in
search of spoU and prisoners. On hia second visit to
this nest of corsairs, Blake succeeded, without firing a gun,
or ahedding a drop of blood, in bringing the Moorish
Prince to reason : — he had conquered the rovers of Salee
at Santa Cruz. The very day on which his frigates
appeared off the bar, the Moors accepted his terms ;
and in less than a week he departed for the north, having
taken on board supplies of fresh water, cleared the whole
body of Christian captives, and made peace with the
pirates. This crowning act of a virtuous and honourable life
accomplished, the dying Admiral turned his thoughts
anxiously towards the green hills of his native land.
The letter of CromweU, the thanks of ParUament, the
jeweUed ring sent to him by an admiring country, —

296 ROBERT BLAKE.
all reached him together out at sea. These tokens of
grateful remembrance caused him a profound emotion.
Without after-thought, without selfish impulse, he had
served the Commonwealth, day and night, earnestly,
anxiously, and with rare devotion. England was grateful
to her hero. With the letter of thanks from Cromwell,
a new set of instructions arrived, which allowed him to
return with part of his fieet, leaving a squadron of some
fifteen or twenty frigates to ride before the Bay of Cadiz
and intercept its traders ; with their usual deference to
his judgment and experience, the Protector and Board
of Admiralty left the appointment to the command en
tirely with him ; and as hia gaUant friend Stayner waa
gone to England, where he received a knighthood and
other weU-won honours from the Govemment, he raiaed
Captain Stoaks, the hero of Porto Ferino, and a com
mander of rare promise, to the responsible position of
his Vice-admiral in the Spanish seas.
Hoisting his pennon on his old fiag-ship the St.
George, Blake saw for the last time the spbes and cu
polas, the maats and towera, before which he had kept
hia long and victorious vigUs. AVhen he put in for fresh
water at Cascaes road he waa very weak. " I beaeech
God to strengthen him," was the fervent prayer of the
English Resident at Lisbon, as he departed on the home
ward voyage. While the ships roUed through the tem
pestuous waters of the Bay of Biscay, he grew every day
worse and worse. Some gleams of the old spirit broke
forth as he approached the latitude of England. He
inquired often and anxiously if the white cUffs were yet
in sight. He longed to behold once more the swelUng
downs, the free cities, the goodly churches of his native
land. But he was now dying beyond aU doubt. Many
of his favourite officers silently and moumfuUy crowded
round hia bed, anxious to catch the last tones of a voice

ROBERT BLAKE. 297
which had so often called them to glory and victory.
Others stood at the poop and forecastle, eagerly examin
ing every speck and line on the horizon, in hope of being
first to catch the welcome glimpse of land. Though
they were coming home crowned with laurels, gloom
and pain were in every face. At last the Lizard was
announced. Shortly afterwarda the bold cliffs and bare
hOls of Cornwall loomed out grandly in the distance.
But it was now too late for the dying sailor. He had
sent for the captains and other great officers of hia
fleet to bid them fareweU ; and while they were yet in
his cabin, the undulating hUls of Devonshire, glowing
with the tinta of early autumn, came fuU in view. As
the ships rounded Rame Head, the spires and masts
of Plymouth, the wooded heights of Mount Edge
combe, the low island of St. Nicholas, the rocky steeps
at the Hoe, Mount Batten, the citadel, the many pic
turesque and familiar features of that magnificent
harbour rose one by one to sight. But the eyes which
had yearned to behold thia scene once more were at
that very instant closing in death. Foremost of the
victorious squadron, the St. George rode with its pre
cious burden into the Sound ; and just as it came within
view of the eager thousands crowding the beach, the
pier-heada, the waUa of the citadel, or darting in count
less boata over the smooth waters between St. Nicholas
and the docks, ready to catch the first glimpse of the
hero of Santa Cruz, and salute him with a true Engliah
welcome, — he, in his sUent cabin, in the midat of hia
lion-hearted comrades, now sobbing like little children,
yielded up his soul to God.
The mournful news soon spread through the fleet and
in the town. The melancholy enthusiaam of the people
knew no bounds, and the national love and admiration
expressed itself in the solemn splendour of his funeral

298 ROBERT BLAKE.
rites. The day of his death the corpse was left un
touched in its cabin, as something sacred; but next
morning skUful embalmers were employed to open it ;
and, in presence of aU the great officers of the fleet and
port, the bowels were taken out and placed in an urn, to
be buried in the great church in Plymouth. The body,
embalmed and wrapt in lead, was then put on board
again and carried round by sea to Greenwich, where it
lay in state several days, on the spot since consecrated
to the noblest hospital for seamen in the world. On the
4th of September a solemn procession was formed on
the river. The corpse was placed on a state barge,
covered with black velvet, and adorned with pencUs and
escutcheons. Trumpeters in state barges, which bore
his pennons, and other barges, carrying the great banners
of the Admbalty and the Commonwealth ; others again
bearing the sword and target, the mantle, crest and
helmet, preceded the body. Humphrey and aU his other
brothers, aU the nephews, and other members of his
family, together with the secretaries and servants at
tached to his immediate household, dressed in the deepeat
mourning, foUowed. After them came the Protector's
Privy CouncU in theb state barge, the Lords of the
Admiralty and Navy, the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of
the City of London, the Admbals, Vice-admirals and
Captains of his fleet, the Field Officers of the army, and
a vast proceaaion of civU notablea.
In this order they moved slowly up the river from
Greenwich to Westminster, where they were received by
a miUtary guard and greeted with salvoes of artiUery. At
the stairs, the heralds re-formed the procession, which
then marched slowly through Palace-yard to the venerable
Abbey. A new vault had been made for Blake's remains
in Henry the Seventh's chapel, and close to that of the
great Tudor monarch; and they were lowered into it

ROBERT BLAKE. 299
amidst the tears and prayers of a grateful and admbing
nation. Other heroes of the Commonwealth had been
abeady buried within those regal precincts ; and on every
such occasion loyal tongues had not feared to accuse the
new rulera with upstart and indecent pride. But no
voice was raised against the interment there of the con
queror of Tromp, the hero of Tunis and Santa Cruz,' the
liberator of Christian slaves. This Ulustrious man almost
escaped the common lot of greatneaa ; and perhaps no
one ever played ao conspicuous a part in the drama of
history who was followed by leas envy, hatred, and other
uncharitableness. Personal foes he seems not to have
known ; and the bitterest enemies of his political creed
spoke of what they deemed his errors more in sorrow
than in anger. When the imposing ceremonial was
closed, a stone slab was laid on the vault, — and they left
him in the old Abbey, with no other monument than that
of his imperishable renown.
To theb eternal infamy, the Stuarts afterwards dis
turbed the hero's grave. Blake had opposed the King's
trial. He had diaapproved the uaurpation. When he
found the sword prevail against law and right, he aban
doned poUtics, Uke Sydney, Vane, and othera of his
Ulustrious compeers, giving up hia genius to the service
of his country against its foreign enemiea. Surely after
a life of the moat eminent aervices, the aahea of auch a
man might have been allowed to rest in peace! The
House of Lords, in their zeal for the restored famUy,
gave orders that the bodies of CromweU, Ireton, and
Bradshawe ahould be dug out of their graves. But even
these zealots did not thmk it decent to molest the re-
mams of Blake. That infamy was reserved for Chariea
himself. In cold blood, nearly seventeen months after
hia landing at Dover from the deck of the Naseby, a
command was issued by this prmce to tear open the

300 ROBERT BLAKE.
unobtrusive vault, drag out the embalmed body, and cast
it into a pit in the Abbey yard. Good men looted
aghast. But what could the paramour of Lucy AValters,
Barbara Palmer, Kate Peg, and Moll Davies, know of
the virtues of the iUustrious sailor? What sympathy
could a royal spendthrift have with the man who, after
a life of great employments and the capture of mUUons,
died no richer than he was born ? How could the prbice
who sold Duntirt and begged a pension from VersaiUes
respect a man who had humbled the pride of Holland,
Portugal, and Spain, who had laid the foundations of our
influence in the Mediterranean, and in eight years of
succeaa had made England the firat maritime power in
Europe ?
A hole was dug near the back door of one of the pre
bendaries of Westminster : — and the remains of Crom
weU's mother, of the gentle Lady Claypole, and of sturdy
John Pym, were cast into the same pit with the aahes of
Eobert Blake.

THE Eiro.

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