236 OUR HERITAGE THE SEA 



the whole of whose manhood had been exerted for 

 many years in order to retain the leave to exist, in 

 defiance to the relentlessness of Spain for their de- 

 struction. But there is no such thing as national 

 gratitude, as Britain has abundantly proved, and so it 

 gradually became evident that if England did not 

 crush the sea-power of Holland, the opposite would 

 certainly happen. Both nations strained every nerve 

 to equip themselves for maritime warfare, building 

 warships and training fighting seamen in preparation 

 for the coming struggle. 



It came to a climax, as we kuow, in the middle of 

 the seventeenth century, when England, writhing in 

 the throes of civil war, was also compelled to fight for 

 her existence as a maritime power. The time was 

 entirely propitious for Holland, but the dark hour pro- 

 duced men who rose to the full height of that great 

 occasion, and after many a severe struggle England 

 emerged triumphant, mistress of the sea. It is true 

 that during the shameful reign of the Second Charles 

 we slipped back for a time into a condition so helpless 

 that had there been any concentrated effort on the 

 part of our foreign foes we must then have sunk into 

 a state of such absolute helplessness at sea that we 

 should probably never have recovered from it. As it 

 was, the Dutch, who had been so effectually crushed 

 during Cromwell's rule, recovered to such an extent 

 that a fleet of theirs entered the Thames and inflicted 

 terrible damage upon the hapless merchantmen ; but 

 they were not able to pursue their advantage, and the 

 danger passed away. 



Thenceforward the sea-power of England increased 

 amazingly. Science and exploration went hand in 



