THE DUTCH WAR 



morning of the twentieth not far from Gris Nez, but at the last moment 

 the British were robbed of their prey. With the Dutch south of Gris 

 Nez Blake considered that he had closed the Straits of Dover and 

 waited for the morning of the fourth day to complete the victory, but 

 under cover of darkness the Dutch had contrived to slip past and had 

 returned to Holland. 



The Battle of the North Foreland. 



About this time the Navy was very hard pressed for men, for 

 although the rates of pay were infinitely superior to those established 

 under the Royalists, there was nearly as much delay in getting it and 

 therefore the result to the seamen was practically the same. This 

 trouble over pay caused constant discontent and led to a large number 

 of men deserting to the Dutch. Some of these were renegades pure 

 and simple, but some salved their conscience by maintaining that they 

 were fighting in the Royalist cause. As time went on and the position 

 of the Commonwealth became more secure this evil was reduced. 

 Meanwhile negotiations for peace were once again opened, but as they 

 were still on the same unsatisfactory basis that Holland should be put 

 more or less under British influence they were dropped and the Nether- 

 lands set about concluding a secret treaty with France. Meanwhile 

 Tromp got together another fleet to convoy the outward bound 

 merchantmen and although Monck crossed the Channel to meet him 

 the two forces missed one another and the British had to be content 

 with cutting up the Dutch fishing and coasting trades. The Dutch were 

 equally disappointed when they failed to find a British fleet in the Downs 

 or Dover Roads, and they suffered a good deal of damage from the 

 guns of Dover Castle. Meanwhile the English at Yarmouth had 

 received notice that the Dutch were in the Straits of Dover and hurry- 

 ing south met the Dutch, who were making north, off the North Fore- 

 land. Tromp had ninety-eight men-of-war and six fireships against 

 Monck's hundred and five, so that the forces were remarkably evenly 

 matched. It was one of the first actions in which a big effort was made 

 to carry out some sort of tactical scheme, both Penn and Tromp show- 

 ing that they had a very tolerable idea of the principle of fleet handling. 

 Things had changed very much since the Spanish Armada, when two 

 schools of fighting were in opposition — the British determined on 

 cannonading and the Spanish on boarding if they could only get a fraction 

 of a chance. Fighting at the North Foreland was just as stubborn and 

 gallant on both sides as it had been in all the other actions between the 

 British and the Dutch. Politics had worked their canker in the enemy's 

 fleet, however, with the result that part of it began to give way and 

 although Tromp fired into the fugitive ships his effort produced very 

 little effect. By nightfall the enemy were off Ostend totally routed 

 while the English had not lost a single ship, although their casualties 

 had been heavy and included Deane. We captured eleven ships and 

 their other casualties were believed to have been six ships sunk and 

 two more blown up, although these latter figures are a little uncertain. 

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