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'Then," said Blake," you are at liberty to go back to your ship, and defend her as well as you can."

The Frenchman, eager to do his duty, readily accepted Blake's offer, returned to his ship, and prepared to defend himself. But his efforts were vain. After a fight of two hours, he was under the necessity of striking his flag. On being brought on board Blake's ship, he made a polite bow, confessed that he was vanquished, and, after kissing his sword, surrendered it to his conqueror.

For the great service he had rendered the Republic in clearing the narrow seas of cavalier-corsairs and in reducing the Channel Islands, Blake received the thanks of Parliament, and probably indulged in the anticipation of returning to peaceful life. But if so, he was destined to disappointment. England was on the eve of a great naval war; and at such a time, the country could not dispense with the energy and enthusiasm of such a hero.

At that period, Holland was one of the wealthiest countries in Europe; and the Dutch were so intoxicated with success and prosperity, that they deemed nothing was too great for them to accomplish. The men who then ruled England had ministered to Dutch vanity by an unpatriotic proposal to sink English nationality by a fusion with the Dutch Republic; and the Dutch, not distinguishing between England and England's rulers, and little calculating on the spirit of the nation which the Plantagenets had governed, began to regard the islanders with some degree of contempt, and to dream of wresting from England the sovereignty of the seas. After some fruitless negociation, war became inevitable; and Blake was selected as the man

to maintain the interests of England and chastise the insolence of England's foes.

Blake did not shrink from the duty; but it was not one which could be described as "boy's play." The Dutch navy was great and powerful, elate with victory over Spain, and boasting of Van Tromp as a naval hero, who from his experience and his exploits, was famous as the most renowned sea-captain of the

age.'

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Martin Harperz Van Tromp was born in the last decade of the sixteenth century, and spent most of his life on the sea. In 1606, when a mere boy, he served in one of the ships which, under Henskerke, burned the Spanish fleet in the harbour of Gibraltar, and shared in the triumph of that memorable day. His career, however, had not been without its misfortunes. A ship in which he sailed having been taken by an English cruiser, he was compelled by his captors to serve for a time in the capacity of cabin boy, and afterwards condemned by fortune to pass years on board of Dutch traders. But he struggled through a hundred difficulties to high command in the naval service of Holland, and, in 1639, won great fame by destroying the Spanish fleet destined to attack Sweden. He had now seen well nigh threescore years; but genius, energy, experience, love of Holland, and hatred of England, indicated him as the man qualified above all others to support the honour of the Dutch and humble the pride of the English.

It was in the month of May, 1652, when Van Tromp, with a fleet of forty ships, sailed up the Channel. Blake, who was then in the Downs on board the "James," with twenty sail, immediately approached,

and insisted that the Dutch should strike their topmasts to his flag, in acknowledgment of England's sovereignty over the narrow seas. Van Tromp, however, declined to show this courtesy; and Blake, apprehensive that he would bear away without going through the ceremony, ordered a gun to be fired at the Dutch flag. Instead of answering this in the way that was expected, Van Tromp replied with a broadside, which severely damaged the "James," and smashed all her glass. Blake and his officers, who at the time were drinking in the cabin, and holding a kind of council, were quite taken by surprise.

"Ho! ho!" exclaimed the officers with one voice, as they started up in amazement.

"Well," roared Blake, as he curled his whiskers, "I take it very ill of Van Tromp to treat my flag-ship as a brothel and break my windows."

By this time it was three o'clock in the afternoon; and before another hour the battle began. Ship grappled ship as they chanced to fall in each other's way; and the conflict was fiercely maintained till nightfall. By that time, more than seventy balls were lodged in the hull of the "James." The masts were shot away; and the rigging was torn to rags. But the men fought on with resolute courage; and the Dutch Admiral, aware that Blake's rearguard had arrived to take part in the action, sheered off about nine o'clock, and made such good use of the night, that when morning dawned his sails were not to be seen.

News of the encounter of Blake with Van Tromp reached London; and the populace were furious at the conduct of the Dutch Admiral, and eager for a decisive war. It was in vain that the Dutch Ambas