On the Lakes 331 



Perry deserves all praise for the manner in which 

 he got his fleet ready ; his victory over Barclay was 

 precisely similar to the quasi-victories of Blake over 

 the Dutch, which have given that admiral such 

 renown. Blake's success in attacking Spanish and 

 Algerian forts is his true title to fame. In his 

 engagements with the Dutch fleets (as well as in 

 those of Monk, after him) his claim to merit is no 

 greater and no less than Perry's. Each made a 

 headlong attack, with furious, stubborn courage, and 

 by dint of sheer weight crushed or disabled a greatly 

 inferior foe. In the fight that took place on Feb. 

 18, 1653, De Ruyter's ship carried but 34 guns, 32 

 and yet with it he captured the Prosperous of 54; 

 which vessel was stronger than any in the Dutch 

 fleet. The fact that Blake's battles were generally 

 so indecisive must be ascribed to the fact that his 

 opponents were, though inferior in force, superior 

 in skill. No decisive defeat was inflicted on the 

 Dutch until Tromp's death. Perry's operations were 

 on a very small, and Blake's on a very large, scale: 

 but whereas Perry left no antagonists to question 

 his claim to victory, Blake's successes were suffi- 

 ciently doubtful to admit of his antagonists in almost 

 every instance claiming that they had won, or else 

 that it was a draw. Of course it is absurd to put 

 Perry and Blake on a par, for one worked with a 



w "La Vie et Les Actions Memorables de Lt.-Admiral 

 Michel De Ruyter" (Amsterdam, 1677), p. 23. By the way. 

 why is Tromp always called Van Tromp by English writers? 

 It would be quite as correct for a Frenchman to speak of 

 MacNelson. 



