The following story is not one of reckless adventure, nor one in which
fighting and bloodshed are introduced to fan a spurious spirit of
heroism. It is the reproduction of a page of history, and a most
important one, when good men held not their lives dear to uphold and
defend that which was dearer than life--civil and religious liberty.
The example of Blake is held up to the boys of to-day, not because he
fought and conquered, but because he was a conscientious, God-fearing
man, and his conscience told him that the best interests of his country
demanded resistance to the Stuart rule. Such a man as Blake was a hero
everywhere, and needed not a quarter-deck to display his heroism.