86 B L A 
the Dutch fleet commanded by Van Trotnp, Ruytcr, and 
De Wit, in three feveral engagements, in which the 
Dutch loft eleven men of war, thirty merchant (hips, and, 
according to their own accounts, had 15,000 men (lain. 
Soon after Blake and his colleagues, with a grand fleet of 
100 fail, flood over to the Dutch coaft ; and forced their 
fi et to fly for fhelter into the Texel, where they were 
kept for fbme time by Monk and Dean, while Blake failed 
northward. At laft, however, Tromp got out, and drew 
together a fleet of 120 men of war; and, on the 3d of 
June, the generals Dean and Monk came to an engage¬ 
ment with the enemy, oft the North Foreland v. i h indif¬ 
ferent fuccefs : but the next day Blake, coming to their 
affillance with eighteen (hips, gained a complete victory ; 
f'o that, if the Dutch had not faved themfelves bn Calais 
lands, their whole fleet had been funk or taken. 
In April 1653, Cromwell difinilfed the parliament, and 
fhortly after alftimed the fupreme power. The dates 
hoped great advantages from this; but were difappointed. 
Blake faid on this occafion to his officers, ‘ It is not lor 
us to mind ftate affairs, but to keep foreigners from fooling 
us.’ In N° v 'ember 1654 Cromwell lent him with a ftrong 
fleet into the Mediterranean, with orders to fupport the 
honour of the Engliffi flag, and to procure fatisfabtion for 
the injuries that might have been done to our merchants. 
In the beginning of December, Blake came into the road 
of Cadiz, where he was treated with all imaginable re- 
fpe6t : a Dutch admiral would not hoift his flag while he 
was there ; and his name was grown fo formidable, that a 
French fquadron having flopped one of his tenders, which 
had been feparated from Blake in a (form, the admiral, as 
loon as he knew to whom it belonged, fent for the cap¬ 
tain, and drank Blake’s health with great ceremony, un¬ 
der a difeharge of five guns, and then difmifled him. The 
Algerines were fo much afraid of him, that, flopping the 
Sallee rovers, they obliged them to deliver up what Eng- 
lifli prifoners they had on-board, and then fent them freely 
to Blake, topurchafe his favour. This, however, did not 
prevent Ids coming on the 10th of March before Algiers, 
and fending an officer on Ihore to the dey to demand fatif-, 
fa 61 ion for the piracies committed on the Englilh, and the 
releafe of all the Engliffi captives. The dey, in his an- 
fwer, alleged, that the lliips and captives belonged to pri¬ 
vate perfons, and therefore he could not reftore them 
without offending all his fubjebts, but that he might eafily 
redeem them : and, if he thought good, they would con¬ 
clude a peace, and for the future offer no a6ts of hoftility 
so the Engliffi: and, having accompanied this anfwer w ith 
a large prefent of frefh provifions, Blake left Algiers, and 
failed on the fame errand to Tunis; the dey of which place 
not only refufed to comply with his requeft, but denied 
him the liberty of taking in freffi water. ‘ Here (faid he) 
are our taffies .of Goletto and Porto Ferino ; do your 
word.’ Blake, at hearing this, began, as his cuffom was 
when highly provoked, to curl his whilkers; and, after a 
fhort confultation with his officers, bore into the bay of 
Porto Ferino with his great (hips and their feconds; and, 
coming within mufket-fhot of the caftle and the line, 
fired on both fo warmly, that in two hours the caftle was 
rendered defencelefs, and the guns on the works'were dif- 
mounted, though fixty of them played at a time on the 
Engliffi. Blake found nine (hips in the road, and ordered 
every captain to man his long boat with choice men, to 
enter the harbour and fire the Tunifeens ; which they 
effeffed, with the lofs of twenty-five men killed and forty- 
eight wounded, This daring aftion fpread the terror of 
his name through Africa and Afia. From Tunis he failed 
uo Tripoli, caufed the Engliffi flaves to be fet at liberty, 
and concluded a peace with that government. Thence 
returning to Tunis, the Tunifeens implored his mercy, 
and begged him to grant them peace, which he did upon 
terms highly advantageous to England. He next failed 
to Malta, and obliged the knights to reftore the effefls 
taken by their privateers from the Englilh ; and by thefe 
great exploits he fo raifed the glory of the Engliffi name, 
3 
B L A 
that meft of the princes and dates in Italy thought fit to 
acknowledge the Prote6fqr, by fending embaffies to him. 
He paffed the next winter either in lying before Cadiz, 
or in cruifing up and down on the Straits ; and was at his 
old ftation, at the mouth of that harbour, when he received 
information that the Spaniffi plate fleet had put into the 
bay of Sanfla Cruz, in the i (1 and of Tenerifte: upon this he 
weighed anchor, with twenty-five men of war, on.the 13th 
of April 1657 ; and on the 20th rode with his fhips off 
the bay of Saridla Cruz," where he favv fixteen Spaniffi 
(hips lying in the form of a half-moon. Near the mouth 
of. (he haven flood a caftle furnifhed with heavy cannon ; 
befides which there were feven forts round the bay, with 
fix, four, and three, guns on each, joined to each other 
by a line of communication manned with nuifketeers. To 
make all (afe, Don Diego Diagues, general of the Spanifh 
fleet, caufed all the fmaller fhips to be moored clofe along 
the (bore; and the fix large galleons flood further out at 
anchor, with their broadfides towards the fea. Blake 
having refolved to fight, a fquadron of (hips was drawn 
out to make the firft onfet, commanded by captain Stay- 
ner, in the Speaker frigate: who no fooner received or¬ 
ders, than he failed into the bay, and fell upon the Spa- 
nifti fleet, without the lead regard to the forts, which 
fpent their (hot prodigally upon them. No fooner were 
thefe entered into the bay, than Blake, following after, 
placed feveral fhips to pour broadfides into the caftle and 
forts ; an inftance of courage fo novel and daring, that 
the Spaniards became petrified with amazement, and were 
foon filenced. In the mean time Blake fupported Stay- 
ner, and bravely fought the Spaniffi (hips, out of which 
the enemy were beaten by two o’clock in the afternoon ; 
when Blake, finding it impoffible to carry them away, 
ordered his men to fet them on fire ; which was done fo 
effectually, that they were all reduced to allies, except 
two, which were funk. This is allowed to be one of the 
mod. remarkable aftions that ever happened at fea. “ It 
W'as fo miraculous (fays the earl of Clarendon), that all 
men who knew the place wondered that any fober man, 
with what courage foever endowed, would have ever un¬ 
dertaken it; and they could hardly perfuade themfelves 
to believe what they had done; whilft the Spaniards com¬ 
forted themfelves with the belief, that they were devils 
and not men who had deftroyed them in fuch a manner.” 
This was the laft and greateft a6tion of the gallant Blake; 
for which he received the thanks’of parliament, accom¬ 
panied with a diamond ring worth 500I. He Was at laft 
ieverely afflicted with a dropfy and feurvy; and he haften- 
ed home, that he might yield up his laft breath in his na¬ 
tive country, which he had fo much adorned by his valour. 
As he came within fight of Plymouth, he expired. Never 
man, fo zealous for a faction, was fo much refpected and 
efteemed even by the oppofite party. Diftnterefted, ge¬ 
nerous, liberal; ambitious only of true glory, dreadful 
only to his avowed enemies ; he forms one of the mod 
perfe6I charadters of that age, and the lead ftained with 
thofe errors and violences which were then fo predomi¬ 
nant. He died the 17th of Auguft 1657, aged fifty-eight. 
The Protestor ordered him a pompous funeral at the 
public charge : but the tears of his countrymen were the 
mod: honourable panegyric on his memory. His body was 
conveyed to Weftminfter abbey, and interred in Henry 
VlI’s chapel; but it was removed from thence in 1661, 
and re-interred in St. Margaret’s church-yard. The lord 
Clarendon in fumming up his chara6ter obferves, “ that 
he was the firft man who brought fhips to contemn caftles 
on (bore, which had ever been thought very formidable, 
and were difeovered by him to make a noife only, and to 
fright thofe who could be.rarely hurt by them. He was 
the firft that infufed that degree of courage into feamen, 
by making them fee by experience what mighty things 
they could do if they were refolved ; and the firft that 
taught them to fight in fire, as well as in water.” 
BLAKE'A,/! [fo named by Dr. Patrick Browne, from 
Mr. Martin Slake, of Antigua, a great promoter of ufeful 
know= 
