Sir George Ayscue being subordinate to him, although employed in a distinct command. In the North Sea nothing of importance occurred, and after the check which Ayscue sustained from De Ruyter, 16 Aug., Blake, with the main fleet, cruised in the Channel, hoping to intercept De Ruyter on his homeward voyage. Bad weather and fog, however, enabled the Dutch fleet to escape without any serious difficulty, and De Ruyter joined De With off Dunkirk on 22 Sept. He was closely followed by Blake, and the two fleets, each numbering about sixty-five ships, mot off the mouth of the Thames on 28 Sept. ‘The battle began about four o’clock in the afternoon, and raged with great fury where De With, De Ruyter, or Evertsen was actually present; but political intrigue had, for the moment, destroyed the usual spirit of the Dutch officers, and the approach of evening permitted them to draw off. No decisive advantage was gained, but the next morning the Dutch were at some distance and would not renew the battle; in the afternoon the wind was favourable, but on the English standing towards them they turned and fled. The victory was undoubted, but it was misunderstood; even Blake a pears to have supposed that the battle had been fought out, and to have been led into something very like contempt for the enemy. The batteries which
had been constructed to protect the anchorage in the Downs were dismantled and the Beet dispersed, either on different, detached services or to refit; Blake was left with not more than thirty-seven ships for the guard of the Channel. In Holland, meanwhile, great exertions had been made. It was necessary for the life of the country that the trade which had been stopped for several months by the English fleet should be liberated, and towards the end of November Tromp, again in command, out to sea with some eighty ships of war and a convoy of about three hundred merchantmen. This last he left astern till he had cleared the way, and on the morning of 29 Nov. appeared with his fleet at the back of the Goodwin, standing towards the southward. Blake, who was then lying in the Downs, held a hasty council of war, weighed, and stood out to meet him. It is impossible now to say what induced the council to recommend, or Blake to adopt, this extraordinary step, which, to us, seems rash to the verge of madness. All that can be said with certainty is that the commonly received story is incorrect, and that he was not influenced by any idea of covering the approach to London, which indeed he left exposed, if Tromp had had any design against it. It is perhaps most probable that he had not full; recognised the enemy’s great superiority until he was well under way; for the wind, which had been at south-west, veered almost suddenly, and blew very hard from the north-west. The Dutch were swept down to the southward, the English avoided being carried in amongst them only by hugging the shore, slipping close round the Foreland, and anchoring off Dover; whilst Trump, unable to withstand the force of the gale, anchored a couple of leagues dead to leeward. The next morning, 30 Nov., the two Heats weighed nearly together, and with a fresh wind at from N. to N.N.W. stood to the westward along the coast, Tromp unable, Blake, it may be, unwilling, to attack. But as they came near Dungeness the English were forced to the southward by the trend of the coast; with or without their will they were obliged to close, and their leading ships were thus brought, to action. Amongst the first the Triumph, carrying Blake's flag, supported by Lane in the Victory, and Mildmay in the Vanguard, was closely engaged by De Ruyter and Evertsen. The Garland and Bonaventure attacked Tromp himself in the Brederode; but other ships came up to their admiral’s support, and the English ships were overpowered and taken after a gallant resistance, in which both their captains were slain. By those ships that did engage, the fight was stoutly maintained, though against tremendous odds; but a great many, whether fearing the superiority of the enemy, or corrupted, as it was thought, by the emissaries of
the king in Holland, persistently remained to windward; whilst fortunately, on the side of the Dutch, several which had fallen too far to leeward were unable to get into the action. Towards evening the English had lost, besides the Garland and Bonaventure, one ship burnt and three blown up; the Triumph had lost her foremast, and was unmanageable; the other ships that had engaged had suffered severely, and those that had not engaged still kept aloof. With a sorrowful heart Blake drew back, and under cover of the darkness anchored off Dover; the next day he went into the Downs. Tromp, unable by the force and direction of the wind to follow him in, crossed over to the French coast, and anchored off Boulogne, whence he sent word to the convoy to pass on. For the next three weeks the Channel was alive with Dutch ships, and Tromp, having remained at Boulogne till the trade had all passed, proceeded to the rendezvous in the Basque roads. It was at this time that, according to the popular story, he wore the broom at the masthead, as signifying that he had swept, or was going to sweep, the English from the seas. There is no reason to believe that he ever did anything of the
