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great ships. In spite of the efforts of all these officers, but

little could be done, owing to the want of hands, and to the refusal

of the dockyard men, and most of the sailors, to do anything. A small

battery of sandbags was, however, erected opposite Upnor, and a few

guns placed in position there.

Several ships were sunk in the channel above Upnor, and a few of

those lying off Gillingham were towed up. Little help was sent down

from London, for the efforts of the authorities were directed wholly

to the defence of the Thames. The train-bands were all under arms,

fire-ships were being fitted out and sent down to Gravesend, and

batteries erected there and at Tilbury, while several ships were sunk

in the channel.

The Dutch remained at Sheerness from the 7th to the 12th, and had it

not been for the misconduct of the men, Chatham could have been put

into a good state for defence. As it was, but little could be

effected; and when, on the 12th, the Dutch Fleet were seen coming up

the river, the chances of successful resistance were small.

The fight commenced by a Dutch frigate, commanded by Captain Brakell,

advancing against the chain. Carried up by a strong tide and east

wind the ship struck it with such force that it at once gave way. The

English frigates, but weakly manned, could offer but slight

resistance, and the _Jonathan_ was boarded and captured by Brakell.

Following his frigate were a host of fire-ships, which at once

grappled with the defenders. The _Matthias, Unity, Charles V._, and

_Fort of Honinggen_ were speedily in flames. The light batteries on

the shore were silenced by the guns of the Fleet, which then

anchored. The next day, six of their men-of-war, with five

fire-ships, advanced, exchanged broadsides, as they went along, with

the _Royal Oak_ and presently engaged Upnor. They were received with

so hot a fire from the Castle, and from the battery opposite, where

Sir Edward Spragge had stationed himself, that, after a time, they

gave up the design of ascending to the dockyard, which at that time

occupied a position higher up the river than at present.

The tide was beginning to slacken, and they doubtless feared that a

number of fire-barges might be launched at them did they venture

higher up. On the way back, they launched a fire-ship at the _Royal

Oak_, which was commanded by Captain Douglas. The flames speedily

communicated to the ship, and the crew took to the boats and rowed

ashore. Captain Douglas refused to leave his vessel, and perished in

the flames. The report given by the six men-of-war decided the Dutch

not to attempt anything further against Chatham. On the 14th, they

set fire to the hulks, the _Loyal London_ and the _Great James_,

and carried off the hulk of the _Royal Charles_, after the English

had twice tried to destroy her by fire. As this was the ship in which

the Duke of Albemarle, then General Monk, had brought the King over

to England from Holland, her capture was considered a special triumph

for the Dutch and a special dishonour to us.

The Duke of Albemarle had left Chatham before the Dutch came up. As

the want of crews prevented his being of any use there, and he saw

that Sir Edward Spragge would do all that was possible in defence of

the place, he posted back to London, where his presence was urgently

required, a complete panic reigning. Crowds assembled at Whitehall,

and insulted the King and his ministers as the cause of the present

misfortunes, while at Deptford and Wapping, the sailors and their

wives paraded the streets, shouting that the ill-treatment of our

sailors had brought these things about, and so hostile were their

manifestations that the officials of the Admiralty scarce dared show

themselves in the streets.

Cyril had remained at Chatham, the Duke having recommended him to Sir

Edward Spragge, and he, with some other gentlemen and a few sailors,

had manned the battery opposite Upnor.

The great proportion of the Dutch ships were still at the Nore, as it

would have been dangerous to have hazarded so great a fleet in the

narrow water of the Medway. As it was, two of their men-of-war, on

the way back from Chatham, ran ashore, and had to be burnt. They had

also six fire-ships burnt, and lost over a hundred and fifty men.

Leaving Admiral Van Ness with part of the Fleet in the mouth of the

Thames, De Ruyter sailed first for Harwich, where he attempted to

land with sixteen hundred men in boats, supported by the guns of the

Fleet. The boats, however, failed to effect a landing, being beaten

off, with considerable loss, by the county Militia; and Ruyter then

sailed for Portsmouth, where he also failed. He then went west to

Torbay, where he was likewise repulsed, and then returned to the

mouth of the Thames.

On July 23rd, Van Ness, with twenty-five men-of-war, sailed up the

Hope, where Sir Edward Spragge had now hoisted his flag on board a

squadron of eighteen ships, of whom five were frigates and the rest

fire-ships. A sharp engagement ensued, but the wind was very light,

and the English, by towing their fire-ships, managed to lay them

alongside the Dutch fire-ships, and destroyed twelve of these with a

loss of only six English ships. But, the wind then rising, Sir Edward

retired from the Hope to Gravesend, where he was protected by the

guns at Tilbury.

The next day, being joined by Sir Joseph Jordan, with a few small

ships, he took the offensive, and destroyed the last fire-ship that

the Dutch had left, and compelled the men-of-war to retire. Sir

Edward followed them with his little squadron, and Van Ness, as he

retired down the river, was met by five frigates and fourteen

fire-ships from Harwich. These boldly attacked him. Two of the Dutch

men-of-war narrowly escaped being burnt, another was forced ashore

and greatly damaged, and the whole of the Dutch Fleet was compelled

to bear away.

While these events had been happening in the Thames, the negotiations

at Breda had continued, and, just as the Dutch retreated, the news

came that Peace had been signed. The Dutch, on their side, were

satisfied with the success with which they had closed the war, while

England was, at the moment, unable to continue it, and the King,

seeing the intense unpopularity that had been excited against him by

the affair at Chatham, was glad to ratify the Peace, especially as we

thereby retained possession of several islands we had taken in the

West Indies from the Dutch, and it was manifest that Spain was

preparing to join the coalition of France and Holland against us.

A Peace concluded under such circumstances was naturally but a short

one. When the war was renewed, three years later, the French were in

alliance with us, and, after several more desperate battles, in which

no great advantages were gained on either side, the Dutch were so

exhausted and impoverished by the loss of trade, that a final Peace

was arranged on terms far more advantageous to us than those secured

by the Treaty of 1667. The De Wittes, the authors of the previous

wars, had both been killed in a popular tumult. The Prince of Orange

was at the head of the State, and the fact that France and Spain were

both hostile to Holland had reawakened the feeling of England in

favour of the Protestant Republic, and the friendship between the two

nations has never since been broken.

Cyril took no part in the last war against the Dutch. He, like the

majority of the nation, was opposed to it, and, although willing to

give his life in defence of his country when attacked, felt it by no

means his duty to do so when we were aiding the designs of France in

crushing a brave enemy. Such was in fact the result of the war; for

although peace was made on even terms, the wars of Holland with

England and the ruin caused to her trade thereby, inflicted a blow

upon the Republic from which she never recovered. From being the

great rival of England, both on the sea and in her foreign commerce,

her prosperity and power dwindled until she ceased altogether to be a

factor in European affairs.

After the Peace of Breda was signed, Cyril went down to Upmead,

where, for the next four years, he devoted himself to the management

of his estate. His friendship with Mr. Harvey grew closer and warmer,

until the latter came to consider him in really the light of a son;

and when he died, in 1681, it was found that his will was unaltered,

and that, with the exception of legacies to many of his old employes

at his factory, the whole of his property was left to Cyril. The

latter received a good offer for the tanyard, and, upon an estate

next to his own coming shortly afterwards into the market, he

purchased it, and thus the Upmead estates became as extensive as they

had been before the time of his ancestor, who had so seriously

diminished them during the reign of Elizabeth.

His friendship with the family of the Earl of Wisbech had remained

unaltered, and he had every year paid them a visit, either at Wisbech

or at Sevenoaks. A year after Mr. Harvey's death, he married Dorothy,

who had previously refused several flattering offers.

Captain Dave and his wife lived to a good old age. The business had

largely increased, owing to the energy of their son-in-law, who had,

with his wife and children, taken up his abode in the next house to

theirs, which had been bought to meet the extension of their

business. John Wilkes, at the death of Captain Dave, declined Cyril's

pressing offer to make his home with him.

"It would never do, Sir Cyril," he said. "I should be miserable out

of the sight of ships, and without a place where I could meet

seafaring men, and smoke my pipe, and listen to their yarns."

He therefore remained with Frank Watson, nominally in charge of the

stores, but doing, in fact, as little as he chose until, long past

the allotted age of man, he passed quietly away.

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