586 Charles II. Naval Expeditions, &c. 0) the English, Book m.

i66si.De Rayterreduced tothe Brink ofDespair.

A eompleatVictory overthe Dutch.

Alarge Fleetof DutchShips, atthe Vlydestroyed bySir RobertHolmes.

There being but very littleWind, allthat Night and the next Day* De Ruy-ter’s Retreat was very flow, and conti-nually exposed to the Enemy’s Shot,Prince Rupert and the Duke, with Partof the Red Squadron, being always at hisHeels; But not being able to board, byReason of the Calm, they endeavouredto ruin him by a Fire-Ship; But thatmiscarrying, they ply’d him with so con-tinual and furious a Firing of their Ord-nance, that tho’ he was remarkable forhis intrepid Courage, the Author of hisLife in French fays, he was heard tofay : 0 Dieu ! faut il que je fois ji mal-heureux ! Entre tant de Milliers de Bou-lets »V en aura-t-il point un qui m , em-porte ? OrWords that effect in Dutch, (OGod J Must I then be unfortunate ! A-mong so many Thousands of Balls, willnot one be so favourable to take me off?)

By this Time, it was evident (and theDutch themselves are obliged to own)that the English had obtained a eompleatVictory, having funk or burnt abovetwenty of their Ships, killed, besides E-vertzen, Admiral of Zealand, TirrickHiddes de Fries Admiral of Friefland,and Rear Admiral Fan Saen, with abovefour Thousand common Seamen, andwounded near three thousand. TheRemainder of the Enemy’s Fleet got, atLength, in the utmost Confusion, intothe Weilings, {f~) over the Flats andBanks, whither our great Ships couldnot follow them; And our Fleet fail-ed triumphantly along the Coasts ofHolland , (g) taking their Ships at theMouths of their Harbours, ’till beingcome off the Fly, they got Intelligenceby one Heemskerk, a cashiered Dutch

Captain, that upon that Island and the 1 666 ,Schelling were considerable Magazines,belonging partly to the States, and part-ly to the Eafl-India Company, and, atAnchor, within the Islands, a greatNumber of Merchant-Ships, lately ar-rived from Muscovy, Guinea, and otherParts; with some outward-bound Ships,all richly laden. Upon this Informa-tion, the Admirals sent in a Squadron,consisting of nine fourth and fifth RateMen of War, five Fire-ships, and se-ven Ketches, to destroy them, underthe Command of Sir Robert Holms, as-sisted by Sir Philip Howard, Sir Willi-am Jennings, and other Officers.

The next Day, being the eighth ofÆgujt, Sir Robert came to Anchor, ateight in the Morning, before the Fly >where the Wind not favouring thdirDesign, they, with fomeDifficulty, turn-ned into Schelling- Road. The ninth,they had the good Fortune to destroyabout a Hundred and sixty {¥) richDwftÆMerchant-Ships, the least of whichwas of two Hundred Tuns, with twoMen of War, their Convoy. This waseffected in the following MannerPembroke, which drew the least Water,was ordered, with the five Fire-sliips,to fall in amongst the Fleet with whatSpeed they could. Captain Brown, withhis Fire-ship, chose very bravely to laythe biggest Man of War on Board, whichhe did, and burnt her down-right. Ano-ther Fire-ship running up, at the sameTime, to the other Man of War, she,backing her Sails, escaped the presentExecution of the Fire-ship $ But shethereby run herself on Ground, whereshe was presently taken by some of the

Long-

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apin.

(f) Rapin says; De Ruyter never in hisDays shewed so much Valour and Ability. Hesustained (fays he) singly, with his own Squadron,the whole Shock of the two Squadrons of theEnglijh , and at last made his Retreat, with such asurprizing Conduct, as enhanced his Glory morethan if he had obtained the Victory.

(£)The Dutch were now soon awakened out ofthe pleasing Dream they had been infatuated with,of their former Victory. They saw their Fleetrouted, and their Coasts insulted, by an Enemy,who they were but just before made to believe,were rendered uncapable of doing them fartherMischief. Complaints without Number were laidbefore the States , and fresh Enquiries into theConduct of the Officers were set on Foot, severalof whom were punished, and Van Tromp himselfdisplaced. This Disgrace of Van Tramp's waschiefly owing to a Hatred conceived against him byDe Wit and to the Representations of De Ruyter ,who in hisLetter to the States , as well as byWordof Mouth, laid the whole Misfortune upon him,

and charges him pretty plainly not with Indiscre-tion alone, but with Cowardize or Treachery.“ I was surprized (says he) to fee Lieutenant Ad-“ miral Van Tromp , who commanded the Rear,“ lag behind, instead of advancing with his Squa-“ dron ; Which gave the Enemy an Opportunity" of separating us: - . - I must likewise inform“ you, that I did not fee Van Tromp in any Acti-“ on with the Enemy, till towards Evening, when“ he was engaged, for a short Time only, with“ some Ships of the Enemy’s Blue Sauadron :And m another Place : “ Fan Tromp had the“ Weather-Gage, it had been easy for him to have" veered back towards us, but it was impossible“ s° r us to go to him ; And I know not what o-“ bilged him to desert us thus." Basnage seemsto think Van Tromp was too hardly used by DeRuyter.

{h) Rapin fays, a Hundred Sail of Merchant-Men, and two Men of War, designed for Con-voys.