HISTORY OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE.

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their government, finding it in vain to trifle or temporize any longer, indus-triously applied themselves to the collection and equipment of a fleet: such afleet as they, it seems, too hastily regarded as competent to the recovery of thathonour which they smarted under the recollection of having lost during thepreceding war with Cromwell.

A naval force, consisting of three hundred vessels of war, considerably morethan one third of which were ships of the line, might in truth have beenexpected equal to the task it was destined to: but the superior resources ofEngland, together with that spirit of rivalship which, with other causesscarcely less forcible, had raised the feelings of animosity to their highest crisis,proved the hope premature and ill founded. The main, or principal, fleet wasput under the orders of the renowned Opdam, baron de Wassenaar, Evertzen,Cortenaar, Cornelius Van Tromp, son to the renowned Martin, who had losthis life in the preceding war, Stillingwerf and Schram served with him ascommanders of different squadrons. They were all of them, as well on the scoreof ability as of gallantry, men of the highest renown. Their united armamentsformed a fleet of one hundred and twenty vessels of war, the smallest of whichmounted thirty-eight guns; besides thirty fireship3, yachts, and scouts. Someauthors, indeed, insist, that the foregoing account is an exaggerated one : butthe difference, taking the very lowest calculation as the true one, is so iraraa-terials, a scarcely to be worth a moment’s controversy.

According to the moderate statement alluded to, the fleet was divided intoseven Squadrons, the first, or that of the commander in chief Opdam, con-sisted of fourteen ships of war, and two fireships ; the second, under Evertzen,of the same number of vessels in both classes ; the third, under Cortenaar, offifteen men of war, and one fireship ; the fourth, under Stillingwerf, of four-teen men of war, and one fireship; the fifth, under Van Tromp, comprisedsixteen men of war, and one fireship ; the sixth, under Cornelius Evertzen, offourteen men of war, and one fireship ; the seventh and last, which was thatunder the orders of Schram, consisted of sixteen ships of war, and two fireships;so that the whole, taken collectively, formed an armament of one hundred andthirteen sail of ships of w'ar, mounting four thousand eight hundred and seventyguns, besides ten fireships, with double that number of small frigates or tenders ;the whole of their crew’s consisting of more than twenty-two thousand men.

To such a pitch had ideas risen as to the force of which it was necessary aship should be that was stationed in the line, and took a part in a general

U u a engagement,