298 The naval supremacy of the Commonwealth. Its commercial marine. CHAPTER XIII THE SEA POWER OF THE COMMONWEALTH THE naval supremacy which had contributed to Cromwell's victory at Dunbar could not long be maintained without the protection of the maritime commerce on which it was based. It would little profit the masters of the State to control Scotland and Ireland unless they could protect the shipping which drew wealth to the shores of England and gave exercise to the hardy breed of mariners on whom, in times of emergency, reliance might be placed. As matters stood, a merchantman, leaving an English port in quest of gain, was in danger almost immediately after it had put to sea. The Isle of Man under the Earl of Derby, the Scilly Isles under Sir John Grenvile, and Jersey under Sir George Carteret, were nests of Royalist privaThe Royalist teers, the two latter ports lying in the very track of privateers. navigation. Even in Guernsey, which had sided with Parliament, Castle Cornet was held by a garrison for Charles. Rupert at When Dangerous as these enemies were, the Council of State was compelled, at the beginning of the year 1650, to take measures against an enemy more dangerous still. Rupert escaped from Kinsale he made his way with a string of prizes to Lisbon, where he was hospitably received by John IV., the first sovereign of the House of Braganza, who allowed him to refit his vessels and to make, in the name of Charles II., preparations for fresh attacks See p. 137. on the property of English rebels. It was quickly perceived at Westminster that the question was no longer whether Rupert's fleet or the Scilly privateers were more dangerous. If the King of Portugal were allowed to give shelter to ships, held at Lisbon to be duly commissioned warships of the King of England, but in London to be no better than pirates, every ruler in Europe French might do the like. Already French cruisers, knowing that their own Government had hitherto refused to recognise the Commonwealth, had fallen on English merchantmen wherever they could find them, though English warships were prepared to retaliate in kind. It was therefore not with Rupert alone, but with a hostile Europe as well, that the statesmen of the Commonwealth had to do. Self-preservation drove England to become a maritime piracy. Danger from hostile Europe. power such as she had never been before. The King of Portugal had first to be coerced, and Blake, who was entrusted with the task, cast anchor on March 10 in Cascaes Bay, outside the forts which guard the Mar.-May. Rupert and Tagus. Blake in the entrance to the Tagus. King John was inclined to temporise, and, though by a cannonade from the forts he frustrated an attempt of the English admiral to advance up the river against Rupert, he subsequently, on the 18th, allowed him to seek safety from a heavy gale by anchoring in the Bay of Oeiras, inside the forts, and about two miles below the position of Rupert's fleet. In numbers the fleets commanded respectively by Blake and Rupert were not very unequal, but Blake was somewhat superior in guns, and immensely superior in the quality of his crews. on the Blake, who had engaged himself to return to Cascaes Bay as soon as the weather moderated, retreated before long to the April 13. outer anchorage. On April 13 the Vice-Admiral's An attempt ship, the 'Leopard,' was exposed to an unexpected 'Leopard.' danger. Rupert had contrived an explosive machine placed inside a barrel of oil, and made so as to blow up at the pulling of a string which passed through the barrel. This ostensible barrel of oil was entrusted to an Englishman disguised as a Portuguese, who took it with him in a fruit boat for 1650 BLAKE AND RUPERT 301 sale to the crew of the 'Leopard,' with instructions to pull the string as soon as it had been hoisted on board. Unluckily for the success of his craftily devised plan, the Englishman gave vent to some ejaculations in his own tongue before the critical moment arrived. The man was arrested, and the plot discovered. On the same day some of Rupert's men fell upon a watering party from the Bonaventure,' killed one of the sailors, wounded several more, and took three prisoners. Rupert excused the deed by alleging that he was himself to be kidnapped by the boat's crew. to persuade All this while Blake's attitude towards the Portuguese Government was one of friendly warning. By messages conBlake fails veyed through the English resident, Charles Vane,1 the Portu- he urged the King to be wise in time and to expel the pirates. Rupert, on his part, had the Queen's influence on his side, and he did not disdain to stir up the passions of the priests and the populace against the English heretics. The King hesitated for some time, but gave way at last, and declared in Rupert's favour.2 guese to expel Rupert. May 16. English ships in the Por On this Blake showed his strength. On May 163 the annual fleet bound for Brazil dropped down the Tagus, nine of the eighteen ships of which it was composed being owned by English merchants resident at Lisbon, and manned by English seamen. These nine ships were seized by Blake, upon which the greater tuguese service seized. 1 See p. 181. 2 A Letter from Lisbon, E, 598, 3; Prince Rupert's Declaration, E, 598, 7; Warburton, iii. 300-305; Agreement between Vasconcellos and Charles Vane, March 1, Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiii. App. part i. 520; C. Vane to the King of Portugal, April 1, Thurloe, i. 141. The best description of the explosive machine is in a Letter from the Fleet of May 31, Perf. Diurnal, E, 777, 10, where, however, the date is incorrectly given. 3 The date is fixed by a statement that Popham, who arrived on the 26th, came ten days after the seizure of the ships. S.P. Dom. xi. 91. A later date is indeed given in a Letter from the Fleet, June 12, Perf. Diurnal, E, 777, 21, but other dates in this series of letters are demonstrably inaccurate, and little weight can, therefore, be given to this assertion. part of the crews gladly took service under the Commonwealth. As yet Blake had no instructions to meddle with the actual property of the subjects of the King of Portugal. Popham's arrival. Open hostilities. The defect was soon supplied. On the 26th Popham arrived with eight ships and instructions to treat the Portuguese May 26. as enemies. Charles Vane escaped from shore with some difficulty, whilst English merchants, refusing to declare for Charles II., were themselves thrown into prison and their goods sequestered. Blake had now before him a long blockade with its attendant risks. Neither food nor water was any longer obtainable from the shore, and it therefore became necessary from time to time to despatch ships for supplies to Vigo or Cadiz. At last, on July 26, when Blake had with him but nineteen sail-nine of which were the captured merchantmen-Rupert attempted to break out with twenty-six ships and eighteen smaller vessels, the greater part of his fleet having been supplied by the Portuguese and by some French merchants then at Lisbon. Rupert's crews, however, having no stomach for the fight, hugged the shore under the guns of the forts, and on the 27th, perceiving that Blake had been reinforced by seven or eight ships which had returned from Cadiz, the whole fleet drew back to the safe anchorage in Oeiras Bay.2 July 26. Rupert comes out, July 27. but draws back. of the blockade. As Rupert had slipped back, the weary blockade had to be commenced afresh. But for the friendly disposition of the Resumption Spaniards, who regarded an enemy of Portugal as a natural ally, Blake would have found no port at which to revictual and water his ships nearer than Blake sends those of his own country. On September 3, the day Cadiz. on which Cromwell was dashing the Scots into ruin at Dunbar, the English Admiral had again to send off eight of Sept. 3. ships to 1 Letter from the Fleet, June 12, Perf. Diurnal, E, 777, 21. 2 Blake and Popham to the Council of State, Aug. 15, Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiii. App. part i. 531; Letter from the Fleet, Aug. 15, Several Proceedings, E, 780, 2. There is a slight difference in the reckoning of the numbers of the ships. I have adopted Blake's account. |