BROOM AND WHIPLASH 307 



Blake went forth and defeated the gallant De Ruyter ; but 

 the stern soldier of the Commonwealth was in turn sur- 

 prised by the renowned Tromp, who captured some of the 

 English ships and, it is told, swaggered through the 

 Channel with a broom lashed to his mast-head, as a symbol 

 of his boast to sweep the English off the seas. There 

 is no substantial evidence that the Dutchman either 

 made such a threat or used such a sign, nor is there 

 proof that in retaliation Blake displayed a lash, as an 

 indication that he would whip the Dutchman back to 

 Holland. 



The stories are picturesque, and not incredible ; they 

 are at any rate in keeping with the crude and savage 

 spirit of the times. No tale was too stupid or primitive 

 for credence ; yet in the feeblest of them we find a 

 reflection of the spirit that animated all classes on both 

 sides of the North Sea. 



There is the famous tale which tells that when Tromp 

 passed Dover Roads without paying due honour to the 

 British flag Blake ordered three guns to be fired, without 

 shot, to call the Dutchman to a sense of his obligation 

 to the mistress of the seas, and that the Hollander's 

 reply was a whole broadside. Blake was in his cabin, 

 drinking with his officers, and when the hostile ordnance 

 shattered some of the glasswork he angrily declared that 

 he took it very ill that the Dutch admiral should take his 

 ship for a bawdy-house and break his windows. The 

 story may not be, and* probably is not, true ; but it served 

 its purpose of keeping fanned the flame of hatred 

 between the rival nations. History repeats itself 

 strangely. Tromp's son lived to visit England and be 

 made a baronet by the restored sovereign ; in the year 



