hap.YIL from the Revolution, tothe'Dectth os As. William, 649

^691. The Admiral, tho’ he did not thinkit proper to hazard the great Ships sosoon to Sea, yet declared his Willing-ness to obey Her Majesty’s Commands,if She persisted in them. He was like-wise against sending any large Fleet toGalloway ; (d) And did not approve ofleaving Dunkirk unguarded, until theuncertain Arrival of other Dutch Ships.

(0

He having, however, received HerMajesty’s positive Commands, (f) todepart forthwith, to the Soundings,thought Cape Clear to be the most pro-per Place for a Rendezvous Because,

from thence, Frigats might; be more 1691.conveniently detached to Kingsale, toget Intelligence from the Lords justicesof Ireland , than from any other Station.

The Best Part of the Fleet being Y"now got together,, the Admiral formed a Line of &them into a Line of Battle, (g) that they Battle .might be ready for Service; But, thetenth of May, he was acquainted by aPrincipal Secretary of State, with HerMajesty’s Pleasure, that he should sendthe Fleet to St. Helen's or Spit head, andhimself immediately wait on Her. ( h )

And Her Majesty concurring with him,that Dunkirk must not be neglected,

commanded

ral of the Nobility, and other Persons of Distinc-tion, attending him, uxder a Convoy of twelveMen of War, commanded by Admiral Rooke.When, after not the best Passage, they arrived onthe Coast of Holland , they found the Frost hadbeen so severe, and the fee near the Shoar was sogreat, that they could not attempt to land with-out extreara Danger. The King, with whom theSea did not agree, and whose Business, besides,required Haste, being informed by a Fisherman,that they were within a League and a half of theShoar, went into the Shallop, and ordered the Sea-men to put off. The Sailors themselves were ap-prehensive of Danger, and all the Persons of Qua-lity about him did what they could, to dissuade himfrom exposing his Royal Person, to so prodigious aHazard: But nothing being able to move His Ma-jesty’s Resolution, they put away from the Fleet,with two Shallops more, in wh ; ch were the Dukeof Ormond, the Earls of Devonpire , Dorset ,Portland and Monmouth , and some others, andsoon got out of Sight of it. Night came on, andthe King remained for eighteen Hours together,exposed to the Injuries of the Air and Cold, tothe Mercy of the Sea, whose Waves ran so high,that they dashed him all over, he having nothingto shelter him from them, but his Cloak, and, atthe fame Time in Danger of being taken by Pri-vateers. At last, by Break of Day, the Shallopcame near the Island of Goree , where His Maje-sty refreshed himself a little in a Fisherman’s Cot-tage, and then, going into His Boat again, hehappily landed at Qrange-Polder. From thence,he went to his own Palace of Hounsiar dike, wherehe was met by the Deputies of the States , whoconducted him to the Hague by Six that Even-ing.

Now began the most glorious Congress thatever yet appeared of Christian Princes, Noble-men and Ministers, the great Design of whichwas, for all the Confederate Princes and States toconcert Measures, with King William , in Orderto preserve the Liberties of Pur ope. This Con-gress being happily ended, the King set Sail fromthe Maefe, on the twelfth of April, attended bystart of the Dutch Squadron, which was comingto join our Fleet, at the Buoy tn the Nore , andhad so quick a Paslage, that he was the nextEvening at Whitehall. His Majesty having dis-patched the weighty Affairs of hastening out theFleet, and making due Preparations for the Cam-Paign in Flanders, and being resolved to commandConfederate Army there himself, this Sum-mer, he departed again from Kensington , the firstof May, and landed at Maesielandsiuys-, the third,under the Convoy of a Squadron of Men of War,commanded by Rear-Admiral Rook. Here I shall

leave His Majesty, preparing for the Campaign,and return to the Fleet.

(d) His Reasons were, because many Acci- Barchest,dents might have hindered their joining theFleet,

the Consequence whereof, should the French getbetween them, he judged of the last Importance,and that it carried greater Weight with it thanthe Reduction of Ireland, that Summer; But yethe had no Objection to the sending some Shipsthither, if His Majesty was -satisfied, that theFrench were so backward in their Naval Prepara-tions, as that our Fleet might with Safety be thusseparated.

(e) To support his Opinion in this, he alledged,that since the River’s Mouth would be left opento the French, that the Trade and Fishery, on allthe Coast, would be thereby exposed, and New-caftle , not only be liable to be blocked up, but anOpportunity would be given to the Enemy osfinking Vessels at the Bar of that Harboua, so asthat no Ships of Burthen would be able to floatover it.

(f) The Reasons, which induced the Queento give the Admiral these Instructions and Orders,were grounded on Advice She had received fromHolland, of the twenty-first of April, that the Kingof France was resolved to send a Body of Troopsto Ireland, in near two Hundred'Transports,about a Hundred and fifty of which were alreadyat their Rendezvous, at Belle-Iste, on the SouthCoast of Bretagne, together with five and twentyMen of War, designed for their Convoy. Andit was said, that these Ships had on Board, be-sides a considerable Sum of Mony, to pay the Ar-my under Mr. St. Ruth, all Manner of Necessa-ries for Cloathing and Subsistence.

(g) Consisting of Five First-Rates; ElevenSecond-Rates; Two and thirty Third-Rates;

Nine Fourth-Rates; One Fifth-Rate; Four Sixth-Rates; Four Frigats; Fifteen Fire-ships; FourHospital-Ships; One Bomb-Veffel ; And oneYacht : Making together eighty-seven Sail, ofwhich seven and fifty were of the Line of Battle;

English : And of the Dutch, seventeen Ships,from ninety-two to fifty Guns, and four of lesserBurden, together one and twenty Sail- In all,

English and Dutch, one Hundred and eightSail.

(h) The Occasion of these Orders was, be-cause there was Reason to apprehend, that theFrench intended not only to send Ammunition,and other Instruments of War, to Ireland-, Butalso to transport a considerable Number ot Irip,from thence to Scotland: And, therefore, theQueen was desirous to intercept .them, in theirPassage, and to confer with him in Person, thatas well this, as all other Aflairs, relating to theExpedition, might be maturely deliberated,