III STORY OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE

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CHAPTER THE FIFTEENTH.

Political Situation of Great Britain after the Death of King Charles the First —Condition of the British Marine previous to the Commencement of Cromwell'sUsurpation, and the frst War with Holland—the Preparations made by theEnglish to ojipose the Dutch—State of the Navy in 1651 —Detail of theleading Events which took jilace during the War, with a comparative View ofthe Losses sustained by both Parties—State of the English Navy at the Con-clusion of the War—subsequent Enterjirizes in which the British Navy wasengaged against the Tunisians, the Algerines, and other States, as well in Bar-bary, as in Italy, under the Command of Blake—the Expedition of Penn againstthe Sjianish West-Indies, and the Cajiture of the Island of Jamaica — Expedi-tion undertaken against Cadiz by the Admirals Blake and Montagu—Successof Rear-Admiral Stayner—Attack and total Destruction of the S/ianish PlateFleet in the Harbour of Tenerife—subsequent Enter prizes of inferior Conse-quence, to the Death of Cromwell—the Force and Consequence of the BritishNavy piroved to have been materially conducive to the Restoration of KingCharles the Second .

W RETCHED was the condition to which the parliament, as it wascalled, of Great Britain, found the navy of the state reduced, whenit assumed to itself the government of the country. Melancholy, however, asthe prospect, and the reflection might be, under such a situation, it was ren-dered still worse, when it found itself on the point of being attacked, at thevery outset of its usurpation, by one of the most powerful maritime states thenexisting in the universe. With reduced finances, a ruined marine, a governmentdivided against itself, and a people, though in great measure awed into submis-sion, extremely discontented with its form and administration, the prospect ofapproaching warfare could not be otherwise than gloomy ; but the abilitiesof Cromwell, who soon acquired to himself all the power attached to theoffice of a sovereign, without incurring the odium affixed by the prejudice ofparty to the term, seconded and supported by the gallantry of Blake, Monk,and other commanders, that were selected with the happiest judgment, provedequal to the task of surmounting every impending difficulty and danger.

There