BLAKE. 



571 



Blake. which afterwards became more conspicuous in his 

 v ' political conduct. Though a humourist, and, in that 

 character, extren.ely agreeable to the jovial compa- 

 nions with whom he associated, his humour was 

 strongly tinctured with sarcastic severity ; and, while 

 he pleased his friends by his chearfulness, he grati- 

 fied his own censorious propensity, by attacking the 

 pride of courtiers, and the arrogance of churchmen. 



In the parliament which sat in April 1640, he 

 took his place as a burgess for Bridgewater. This 

 honour he owed to the Puritans, who promoted his 

 views on account of his integrity, his dislike to per- 

 secution, and his strong leaning to the cause of liber- 

 ty. But he had no opportunity then of shewing 

 what talents he possessed as a senator; and in the 

 long parliament which succeeded he lost his election. 



When the civil war broke out, he declared for 

 the parliament, and soon took arms in its support. 

 As an officer, he displayed great military talents. 

 He was employed on every occasion which particu- 

 larly called for dexterity or courage ; and recom- 

 mended himself so much by his able and zealous ser- 

 vices, that, in 1644, he was appointed governor of 

 Taunton, in Somersetshire, a place which he had ta- 

 ken by surprise, and which was of the utmost conse- 

 quence to the parliament, being the only garrison 

 they possessed on that side of the island. Here he 

 was besieged by General Goring, at the head of 

 10,000 men ; but he, and his gallant handful of 

 troops, made such an obstinate and successful resist- 

 ance, that the parliament bestowed upon them a hand- 

 ome pecuniary reward. While he held this honour- 

 able appointment, he shewed his devotedness to the 

 cause which he had espoused, by joining in an ad- 

 dress of thanks to the House of Commons, for re- 

 solving that no more addresses should be presented 

 to the king. The last military achievement which 

 he performed, was reducing Dunster castle, a seat be- 

 longing to the ancient family of Lutterel, from which 

 the king's troops frequently sallied forth, to the 

 great annoyance of the surrounding country. 



Hitherto Blake had not signalised himself more 

 than many others who were engaged in the same en- 

 terprise ; but the time was now arrived, when he was 

 to enter on a new scene of exertion, to stand alone and 

 unrivalled in a most important branch of the public 

 service, and to add fresh lustre to his own reputation 

 and to that of his country. On the 12th of Februa- 

 ry 1649, he was appointed one of the commissioners 

 of the navy ; and a few days after, an act was passed, 

 nominating him, in conjunction with Deane and Pop- 

 ham, who were likewise land officers, to the command 

 of the fleet. With our ordinary ideas of naval duty, 

 it seems a strange transition, to pass, without any 

 professional preparation, from the colonelcy of a re- 

 giment, or the government ot a town, to the difficult 

 and important situation of an admiral, who must not 

 only be acquainted with the mere act of fighting, but 

 also with the practice of common navigation, and the 

 principles of maritime tactics. Strange, however, as 

 the transition appears, and unlikely to contribute to 

 the advantage of the state, it succeeded so well in this 

 case, that those who made it soon became more emi- 

 nent than almost any who had preceded them, and ac- 

 quired for themselves a name which will ever adorn the 



naval annals of the country. With regard to Blake, Blake, 

 in particular, he seems to have been a man distin- *~ "V 

 guished by that original force of mind, that natural 

 quickness of apprehension and dexterity of powers, 

 which enables the individual, by whom it is possess- 

 ed, to acquire any species of knowledge with facili- 

 ty, and to apply it to practical purposes with wis- 

 dom and effect. There was, besides, in Blake, a pe- 

 culiar energy of character, which, commanding re- 

 spect as soon as it was observed, would soon recon- 

 cile those who were under him to his authority, in- 

 duce them to overlook his want of technical science, 

 and make them not only anxious to aid his endeavour 

 in acquiring what he thus needed, but also willing 

 to confide in his decisions, and ready to carry them 

 into execution. 



The first service which Blake performed after he 

 took the command of the fleet, was delivering the 

 coasts of Britain and Ireland from the depredations of 

 Prince Rupert. This prince continued cruising in a 

 piratical way, and making prizes throughout the 

 greatest part of the year 1649. The parliament, as 

 soon as affairs became more favourable to them in 

 Ireland, gave orders to Blake and Popham to block 

 up the prince's squadron in the harbour of Kin sale. 

 This was done in the most effectual manner ; and to 

 such extremities was Rupert reduced, that his men 

 began to desert in great numbers ; which circum- 

 stance, along with the desperate state of the royal 

 cause, made him resolve to force a passage through 

 the parliament's fleet. He carried his resolution in- 

 to effect with the loss of three ships, and made the 

 best of his way to the coast of France, and from 

 thence sailed^towards the Mediterranean, obstructing 

 and injuring the trade of England by a system of 

 privateering, as dishonourable to him as it was hurt- 

 ful to the trade of the commonwealth. Blake, ha- 

 ving been sent after him, arrived at St Andero, from 

 which place he wrote a letter to the king of Spain, 

 requiring that such of Prince Rupert's ships and 

 men as were in his power should be delivered up, and 

 threatening vengeance in case of refusal. To this 

 requisition, his catholic majesty returned a civil an- 

 swer, and accompanied it with a ring worth 1500, 

 as a mark of his respect for the admiral. Blake then 

 followed Rupert into the Tagus, where he destroyed , 



the Brazil fleet. The prince being, in consequence 

 of this, forced out of the river, betook himself first 

 to Carthagena, and then to Malaga, where Blake at- 

 tacked him, and destroyed all his ships excepting 

 two, which he himself and his brother Maurice com- 

 manded. This event is said to have occasioned con- 

 siderable alarm in the different courts of Europe. 

 But it produced the most sensible effect in those of 

 Spain and Portugal, which immediately sent ambas- 

 sadors into England to acknowledge the power of 

 the parliament. 



On his return home, Blake was cordially received 

 by the Parliament, in whose cause he had made such 

 gallant exertions. He was honoured with the thanks 

 of the House ; and as a farther expression of their 

 gratitude to him for the past, and of their confidence 

 in him for the future, they again conferred upon 

 him, in conjunction with Deane and Popham, the - 

 supreme command of the fleet. In the course of the 



