Chap. XXXIX. from the I. of James I. to the Revolution. 587
1666.
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Long-boats and fired. The other threeFire-lhips clap’d the three largest Mer-chant-men on Boards which carriedFlags in their Main-tops, and burntthem. This put all their Fleet in agreat Confusion, which Sir Robert Holmesperceiving, made Sign for all the Offi-cers to come onBoard again, and present-ly gave Order,that Sir William Jennings,with all the Boats that could be spared,should take the Advantage to fall in anddestroy all they could, but with strict;Command they should not plunder. ThisOrder was so well executed, each Cap-tain effecting his Share, some twelve,some fifteen, each, that, of the wholeFleet of one Hundred and seventyShips,not above eight or nine escaped, andthey very much damaged ; The Restwere all burnt.
The tenth, they landed with a Bodyof Men, consisting of eleven Companieson the Island of Shelling, where theyfired the Town of Brandaris, consist-ing of six or seven Hundred (some Ac-counts fay a Thousand) Houses, uponthat Island, and brought off a consider-able Booty, which was all performedwithout any other Loss on our Side,than of six Men killed, and as manywounded, with four or five Fire shipsconsumed, and a few Pinnaces funk. Asa Mark of their Triumph, besides theBooty the Soldiers and Sailors made,they brought off a fine Pleasure-Boat,belonging to the States, of twelve Guns.The Loss the Dutch sustained in Ships,Goods, Houses and other Effects, wascomputed to amount to, at least, twelveHundred Thousand Pounds Sterling.
About this Time, the French Fleet,under the Command of the Duke deBeaufort , arrived at Rochel, where hestayed to take in a Supply of fresh Wa-ter, of which he was in great Want.
The English, after this Success, beingreturned to their own Coasts, th eDutch,notwithstanding all these Misfortunes,put their Fleet to Sea again, (consistingof seventy-nine Men of War and Fri-gats, and seven and twenty Fire-ships,
under the Command of De Ruyter,) be- 1666.fore a Month was at an End, which, in Prince Ru-Hopes of being joined by the French? 1 )* 1 S°J S a f"Fleet, under the Duke de Beaufort , jj utch t0(who they were informed lay at Rochel, Boulogne,with forty Sail) passed by Dover, thefirst of September. Prince Rupert, withthe English Fleet, which had been re-inforced since the last Battle, and wassuperiour to th eDutch, stood after them,to the Road of Boulogne, being veryeager to engage them; But the Dutch,to avoid fighting, haul’d close in withthe Shoar, and had been there burnt,or, run aground, by the Prince, if aviolent Storm, suddenly coming on, hadnot forced him to retire to St. Helen’s. (/)
In the mean while, the French Fleet putto Sea from the Westward, but three orfour of their Ships, which seperatedfrom the rest, falling in with Sir FhomasAllen’s Squadron, in the Soundings, hetook one of them, called the Ruby, ofBeauforta Thousand Tuns, seventy Guns, andfive Hundred Men, with which Loss t0 France,the Duke de Beaufort was (or pretendedto be) so discourag’d,that he immediate-ly returned into Port, as the Dutch didto their own Coasts. (Æ)
This Year, on the second of Sept em- ^ ^her, begun that terrible Fire, which, Condon,in three Days Time, laid so great a Partof the City of London in Ashes. Boththe Papists and the Republicans werecharged with being the Authors of it,and both, probably,with the fame Rea-son. The one and twentieth of Septem-ber, the Parliament met, and the Kingdemanded and obtained a large Supply, and grantsfor the Continuance of the War, thno’a Supply,the Thoughts of the Court were thenwholly bent on a Peace, which wasactually, tho’ privately negociating, aswe snail soon see.
In the Month of December, CaptainRobinson,meeting with three Dutch Menof War, near the TexeJ, destroyed themall, and Captain Utbert, returning fromthe Streights, brought seven rich DutchPrizes with him.
7 K Gillamh
(?) Some of the Dutch Writers are so vain, asto endeavour to persuade the Worid, that theEnglijh, tho' flushed with Victory, superiour .inNumber, and on their own Coasts, avoided com-ing to a general Engagement; A Story as probable,as many other, with which th eDutch Histories arestuffed.
(&) Rap IN fays, that the Duke de Beaufort ,who knew nothing of the Retreat of the Dutch,had left Belle Iste, where he arrived, on the twen-tieth, and, entering the Channel, safely sailed bythe Iste of Wight (tho’ the Englijh Fleet lay
there) and got into the Road of Diepe. He staidthere a whole Day for De Ruyter ; But being atlast informed, that the Dutch Fleet was retired,he failed once more by the Isle of Wight, with-out being attacked by the Englijh, and got intothe Port of Bretagne. From which Circum-stances, added to the Remifsnels of the French innot joining the Dutch Fleet, the whole Summer,Rapin argues, that the French had never the In-tention of taking any Part in this War, and onlyentered into it to buoy up the Dutch , lest theyshould make Peace.
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