^hap.XXXIL from the I. of James I. to the Revolution.

652.

1652. " Resolution and Gallantry possessed" our whole Fleet.

“ Our Tackle and Masts were some-tc what shattered, as is usual in such" Disputes. At first, our Enemy ap-“ peared very resolute, having placed" themselves in a fighting Posture, be-" fore our Ships came up, divided into" three Squadrons, and behaved them-,e selves very stoutly; But seemed to" flag towards the latter End ; And Itc believe, if Providence had allowed us" one Hour more, we had made a to-" tal End of them. (q)

(f After this they abode all Night" (as we perceived by their Lights) at" a small Distance to Leeward of us," which made us suppose they wouldft have fought us the next Morning;" But then, as the Day broke, we saw" them North-East, more then two" Leagues ofl us. We bore up to them;" But the Wind coming contrary, so* s that they had the Wind of us, we

could not get up to them.

Our General commanded our Fri-" gats to ply up to them, as near as they<r could, and keep firing at them, while" the Rest of us did our best to gette near them. Some Shot was spent," but they hoised all their Sails, and" ran for it.

" September, the thirtieth, by<c Day-Light, they were as far as wece could discern them, at Top-mast-" head; We pursued them, as far asts in Sight of West Gabel'm Zealand , and" saw them run into Goree. Where-" upon it was concluded, by a Council" of War, seing we were so near their" Shallows, and some of our Frigats

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wanting Victuals, to return to the 1652.Downs .

tc Ws were commanded not to fire,

'till we came close to them, and ourArtillery did great Execution.

" Ca ptain Ivlildmay took the DutchRear-Admiral, and another Vessel,in Sight of their Fleet. The Rear-Admiral himself, with two Captains,and eighty Men,were made Prisoners,and he left the Ship, with the dead inher, sinking in the Sea.

" Three or four more of their Shipswere seen to sink. The whole Fleetwas the choicest of all their Ships, (r)

An Engagement in the Mediterranean.

The War was not long confined tothe Narrow Seas ; But soon spread itselffar and near. Captain Bodley, whocommanded three small Men of War anda Fire-ship, returning with three or fourMerchant-Ships from Smirna and Scaru-deroon , was attacked by eleven ( 'Whit-loch fays but ten, others make them six-teen) Dutch Men of War, (one of whichwas commanded by the famous CorneliusVan Eromp, the Son of Martin, whowas then but Captain,) under the Com-mand of their Admiral Van Galen, andgallantly fought them, for two Days to-gether.

The first Day’s Fight began in theAfternoon, off of the Ifland of Elba, andlasted ’till Night, without any great Ad-vantage on either Side. Four of thebest of the Dutch Ships surrounded Cap-tain Bodle/s Ship, and fought him fourHours together ; But were forced, in the

End,

(y) DuTCH Writers allow they had the worstof it in this Engagement; Tho’ they disagree inthe Circumstances of the Loss they sustained.Their most candid Writers will not, however, al-low, that the English took more than two of theirShips, and those (they fay) they left again, lestthey should fink under them. But how then camethere to be so much Talk of Enquiring into theMisbehaviour of Officers ? Was the Loss of twoShips a Matter of so great Moment? How cameE>e Ruyter, because of this Misfortune (if it wereno greater) to be desirous of laying down hisCom-miflion ? Or how came De Witte to fall sick withGrief of it?

(r) Hostilities having been begun betweenEngland and France, in Newfoundland, IVhitlockftys, in his Memorandum of the seventh of Sep-tember, that Blake took seven French Men ofWar, supposed to be bound for theRelief of Dun-kirk: (as I just hinted above, from Clarendon,they were under the Command of the Duke derendosme, and lost besides aFrigat and a Fireship)And of the seventeenths that Blake had taken fix-te ep Prizes, Dutch and French Merdiaut-men,

and soon after ten more. (Another Author makesthe Value of twelve of these Ships amount tofour Hundred Thousand Pounds.)

The fame Author, in his Memorandum of thefifth of Offober, fays, that one Captain Stoner ,met with a Dutch Merchant-man laden withGold,and rich Commodities, worth sixty ThousandPounds, who fought stoutly till she begun to sink,and some of the English Mariners leaping onBoard her, for Greediness of Plunder, funk withher. Of the twenty-third, that three Dutch Menof War were brought in Prize, into Tarmcuth :And that fifteen Dutch Ships laden with Pitch,Tar, Masts, £gV. with two Men of War, theirConvoy, were taken, after a short Dispute, bysome English Men of War. And of the thirtieth;That one of the Parliament’s Frigats fought twoHours, with two Dutch Men of War, near Ply.mouth, ’till Night parted them ; That two Prizeswere brought in by a Privateer, one Date b, andthe other a French Vessel laden with Wine andSalt; And that a Parliament Frigat had broughta Dutch Prize into Falmouth of a considerableValue.