and of July 24, 1666.
The two fleets soon put to sea again, and met on
the 24th July, when another formidable struggle
took place between the contending parties. The
English had a hundred sail, the Dutch had eighty
ships of the line and nineteen fireships, the battle
being fiercely disputed on each side with unequal
and varying success; but, through an error of Van
Tromp, the English beat De Ruyter, driving him
into port; and afterwards made a descent upon the
Dutch coasts, burning a hundred of their merchant
ships and two men-of-war destined for convoys.
The French fleet appeared in the Channel after the
campaign was over, but whether it was in intelligence
with the English court, while Louis XIV. only
amused the Dutch with a hollow alliance, secretly
rejoicing in the destruction of both the English and
Dutch navies, and hoping that France might then
step in and reap the benefit, certain it is that the
Dutch received no real assistance from France.
Renewed negotiations for peace, 1667. Renewed efforts were then made to procure peace. Charles, however, procrastinated until he had obtained a fresh and liberal vote of money from Parliament; and when, at length, negotiations were opened at Breda, claimed satisfaction for losses sustained before the treaty of 1662. The Dutch, believing the King to be trifling, and finding that he had not taken precaution to maintain his fleet upon a war footing, despatched De Ruyter to the Thames to force the English to come to terms. The Londoners were greatly alarmed. A strong chain was thrown across the Medway, but the Dutch, with an easterly wind
- [Footnote: but it is clear, from the life of Sir W. Penn, that the English had quite
enough of the battle (Cust, vol. ii. p. 384).]
