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 tinuation, §§662;, Life of Monk, p. 419).

In November 1665 the king decided to employ Monck at sea. At first he hesitated to accept, on the ground that he was more necessary in London, 'as he thought he had done the king better service by staying in London than he could have done in any other place'. Finally he consented, I but begged that his acceptance might remain a secret for the present ; 'for if his wife should come to know it, before he had by degrees prepared her for it, she would break out into such passions as would be very uneasy to him.' Her 'cursed words' when she did learn it are recorded by Pepys (Diary, 9 Dec. 1665).

With Rupert as his colleague in command Monck put to sea on 23 April 1666. Rupert with twenty ships was detached in May to prevent the junction of the French squadron with the Dutch. This resolution was taken, according to Sir William Coventry, 'with the full 'consent and advice' of Monck (ib. 24 June 1666 ;, Continuation, §868). During Rupert's absence the Dutch fleet appeared off the North Foreland (1 June), and though Monck had but fifty-four ships to their eighty he at once attacked. The English fleet had the weather gauge, but could not use their lower deck guns. Monck's tactics have been highly praised by a modern critic, but when the day closed the English fleet, especially the white squadron, had lost heavily (, The Influence of Sea Power upon History, p. 121). The Swiftsure, which carried the flag of Vice-admiral Sir William Berkeley, had been taken, and Rear-admiral Sir John Harman's ship, the Henry, completely disabled. The next day the battle was renewed, the Dutch, according to English accounts, receiving a reinforcement of sixteen ships. By night the English fleet, reduced to thirty-four fighting ships, was in full retreat. On the third day the retreat continued. l My Lord-general's conduct,' wrote Sir Thomas Clifford, 'was here well seen to be very good, for he chose out sixteen of the greatest ships of these thirty-four to be a bulwark to the rest, and to bring up the rear in a breast, and so shoved on the others in a line before him, and in this way we maintained an orderly and good retreat all Sunday' (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1665-6. p. xx). At three in the afternoon Prince Rupert's squadron was sighted, but the junction of the two fleets was attended by the loss of the Royal Prince, Sir George Ayscue's flagship, which struck on the Galloper Sands, and was burnt by the Dutch. Monck's own ship, the Royal Charles, also grounded, but was got off, and his evident determination to blow her up rather than surrender greatly alarmed the gentlemen volunteers on board (, p. 436 ; Works of Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, ii. 6). On the fourth day the English fleet again attacked and was worsted, but the Dutch were in no condition to keep the seas, and both navies returned to their ports to refit. The lowest estimate of the English loss was eight hundred killed and fifteen hundred wounded. The Dutch claimed to have taken twenty-three men of war and lost but four.

Monck's conduct in engaging at once instead of waiting for Rupert to join him was severely criticised. It was said that his success in beating the Dutch in the earlier war had made him over-confident and foolhardy (, Diary, 6 June ;, Diary, 4 July). On the other hand Monck had good reason to believe that Rupert would have joined him before the fleet was shattered by two days hard fighting. He also complained bitterly of the conduct of his captains. 'I assure you,' he wrote to Coventry, 'I never fought with worse officers than now in my life, for not above twenty of them behaved like men' (, Correspondence, ed. Smith, i. 110). The sailors, however, never fought better (cf., Works, ed. 1754, i. 144).

Monck and Rupert put to sea again on 17 July, and on the 25th and 26th engaged the Dutch. The jealousy which existed between Tromp and De Ruyter facilitated victory for the English. The Dutch lost two ships only, but three admirals and a great number of men, and were driven to take shelter in their ports (Life of Cornelius Tromp, pp. 374-89 ; Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1665-6, p. 579). A fortnight later (8, 9 Aug.) a detached squadron of small ships from the English fleet landed one thousand men on the islands of Vlie and Schelling, and burnt 160 Dutch merchantmen in harbour, whose cargoes were valued at a million sterling.

Monck was summoned from sea by the news of the great fire of London. He was back by 8 Sept., and his influence in the city was of the greatest use in restoring order (, Diary, 8 Sept.) He could not be spared to resume his command of the fleet during 1666, and for 1667 the government, at its wits' end for money, took the fatal resolution of laying up the great ships in harbour. The lighter ships were to be sent out to prey on Dutch commerce, and the English coast was to be protected by fortifications at Sheerness, Portsmouth, and Harwich. Sir William Coventry was credited with the suggestion, but the council in general shares the blame of its adoption, and popular rumour represented Monck as un-