574 Charles II. Naval Expeditions, Scc. of the English, Book IB*

War withthe Dutch.

Our Shipsajpst theDutch a-gainjl theAlgerines,

1664. Mediterraneanfto m the Pirats of Algiers,‘The Nation ‘Tunis, and ‘Tripoli, had sent their Ad*tnclines to a m j ra j D-? Ruyter , with a Squadron ofShips, to accompany Vice-AdmiralLawson , in his Expedition thither;Having first, by their Ambassadors, de-sired os’ King Charles, that the EnglishAdmiral might act; in Concert with him,De Ruyter had no sooner obtained goodTerms of those People, in the procur-ing of which he had great Obligation tothe English, than he, in Gratitude forthat Act: of Friendship, parting with SirJohn Lawson, took. in a Year’s Provi-sions, in theRoad of Cadiz, and, on thefifteenth of OClober, made the best of hisA Perfidious Way for Guinea. Having attack’d ourReturn. Ships on that Coast, which were underthe Command of Rear-Admiral Elolmes,and destroyed some of our Factoriesthere,(Y)he failed from thence to Barba-does, where he attempted to land ; Butfound as well the Forts, as the Shipswhich lay in the Bay, ready to receivehim. After a sharp Fight, on the lastof April, in which, not to mention theDamage received by the other Ships,De Ruyter’s own Ship had her Standardshot down, and herSails,standing and run-ning Rigging, Masts and Yards, so shat-ter'd, that it was not without great Dif-ficulty he got out to Sea again, he pro-ceeded to New York and Newfoundland,and committed some Depredations inthose Parts. ( d )

But the better to understand this, we 1664.must look a little back: Sir Robert A more pwHolmes, in his Way to the Coast of Gui- tK ' U !slrde-nea, m Order to recover C ape-LorJo Ca-stle, searching a Dutch Ship which hemet with, found, among other Papers,an Order from the Dutch TVeJl-lndia-Ccmpany, to their Governour GeneralValckenburg, to seize the English FortCormantine ; Which Discovery he con-ceived was a sufficient Warrant son himto go beyond his Commission.

Coming therefore to Cape .Verd , he 4

took a Dutch Guinea-Bhip called theBriel, a Yacht called the Neptune, andtwo other Ships the TVticker en, and theMaagd van Enckhuyjen , all belonging tothe TVefi-India Company. At the I-siand of Goeree, opposite to Cape Verd,he took two Dutch Forts, called Fort-Naff'aw, and Fort -Orange : There he,likewise, took a Ship called the Croco-dile, and the Night before two otherDutch Ships called the Visch-korf, andthe Fischer.

In the Forts, he found a great Quan-tity of Goods, and among other Thingstwenty Thousand Hides, which wereready to be fhip’d off for Holland.ThefeGoods he loaded on his own and theDutch Ships, and carried them to Sier-ra Leona. He afterwards attack’d andtook another of the Dutch Forts calledFort TVitzen ; And made an Attempt,tho’ without Success, on some Ships,

which

Burnet.

fed His Majesty the fame Day. The Damages su-stained by these Injuries and Insults were supposedto amount to seven or eight Hundred ThousandPound-

Burnet, speaking of the Design of a War withHolland, says: “I have been very positively as-“ sured by Statesmen, on both Sides, that the“ French set it on, in a very artificial Manner;“ For while they encouraged us to insist on some“ extravagant Demands, they, at the sameTime,“ pressed the Dutch not to yield to them : And,“ as they put them in Hopes, that, if a Rupture“ should follow, they would assist them according" to their Alliance, so they assured us, that they“ would do us no Hurt. France and Popery“ (continues the Bishop) were the true Springs of" all these Counsels. It was the Interest of the" King of France , that the Armies of the States" might fall under such a Feebleness, that they" should be in no Condition to make a vigorous" Resistance, when he should be ready either to« invade them, or to fall into Flanders ; Which" he was resolved to do, whenever the King of" Spain should dy. Thus did the French set oncc the War between the English and the Dutch," hoping that our Fleets should mutually weakencc one another so much, that the Naval Force of<- France , which was encreasing very considera-cc biy, should be near an Equality to them, when“ they should be shattered by a War.

The Reader may see in the Count d’Estrades LettrtffLetters, what great Confidence there was between Comte i'*him, as Ambafladour of France ,_ in Holland , and firades.the Dutch Pensionary, De JPit , and how, aswell the Dutch , as the Englijh , were, at thatTime, the Dupes of France.

(c) Rapin, to clear th zDutch from thisCharge,makes light of the Service done them by Lawson:

But fays Sir Robert Holmes was the Aggressor,and had committed sundry Depredations on theDutch, as well in America, as on the Coast ofGuinea : And indeed Holmes had taken from theDutch the Fort at Cape Corfo, and afterwardsthose of Adia and Anamaboe , with some Placesmore, and several Ships belonging to the Dutch •

But the former belonged to the English, and wasunjustly detained by the Dutch -, And we shall seemore particularly below, that they were the Ag-gressors, likewise, on another Account.

(d) De Ruyter has been accused of greatCruelties practised upon the Englijh Prisoners,in Newfoundland, and particularly in his Life, inEnglijh-, But he is so unquestionably clear’d of thisCharge, in his Life written by Gerard Brandt (theFolio Edition in French ) that 1 cannot forbearmentioning it, in Justice to so brave and generousa Commander.