546

HISTORY OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE.

directed it, was certainly of the first advantage and benefit to England, appearedas though she considered herself to have fulfilled her part in the business, andsupposed that it was the duty of England, emancipated as she was by hermeans, to exonerate her the greater part of that assistance, which the full esta-blishment of her liberties might afterwards require. The United Provinceswished to follow their commercial pursuits long as hostilities continued, butthought they ought to bear only a very inadequate share in the expence of itsprotection, and that the services they had rendered Britain in the re-acquire-ment of her freedom should stand as an exemption from any farther charge.

T here appears, it must be confessed, to have been some neglect even on thepart of the English themselves: for though the French armament, to theamount of eighty-four sail, all large ships, which had been so long in prepara-tion, and of which the English government had no inaccurate information, madeits appearance in the channel in 1690, the united force of Holland and Englanddid not reach sixty ships of the line. Of these, the Utrecht, Alkmaar, Thulen,West-Friesland, Printzess, Castraem, Agatha, Stadenlandt, Enchuysen, Noord-Ilollandt, Maegt-Van-Dort, Hollandia, Velue, Provintz-Van-Utrecht, Maese,Vigilante, Els wont, Reijgensberg, Gertrudenberg, Zuid-Hollandt, Veere, andCortenaar, composed the Dutch squadron. Though the numbers were consi-derably inferior to the emergencies of the occasion, yet it must be admitted,that their force was considerably greater than that of any equal number ofships ever sent forth from the Dutch ports. The flag ships were of three decks,some of them mounting ninety-six guns, and very few in the whole squadronless than sixty-four. The unfortunate termination of the battle off BeachvI lead, which might easily have been foreseen before it commenced, appearedto rouse for a moment the torpidity, or rather, the backwardness, of theDutch. In the ensuing year, they produced a much larger proportion ofships; and the consequence resulting from an equal exertion on the partof the English was, that the summer passed over without contest. The navalcampaign of the year 1692 proved auspicious to the allies, and promised to bedreadfully fatal to the affairs of Louis. The Dutch division consisted ofthirty-six ships of the line * : but though they had acquitted themselves well

thus

Print/ .

Guns.

92

Zeelanilt

Guns.

90

Castel-Van-Medemblick

- 86

West-Frieslandt

88

Printzess

92

Beschermer -

86

Captain-General

84

Enchuysen

74

Noord-