A LONG INTERVAL IN NAVAL WARFARE ENDED.
Cromwell, with his great grasp of mind, saw at once the vast importance
of the English navy, which, during the civil wars, had been neglected,
and bent all his energies, not only to make it effective, but to give
it the supreme command of the seas. The Dutch had become, through
the long discords in England, the great traders of the world; they
now aimed at nothing less than securing naval supremacy. It was this
that brought about the fierce conflict between the two nations, both
Protestant, and both at the time liberal,--which lasted for several
years. The Dutch were unwilling to pay deference to the English
Commonwealth by showing the wonted respect to the English flag in
British waters. They probably thought that England was almost defunct
as a sea-power, and they knew little the ruler with whom they had
to deal. Cromwell had ulterior views, as to crushing the religious
despotism which, with Spain as its chief instrument, had been long
attempting to stamp out all Christian liberty. He could not proceed,
however, with his plans, while Holland lay behind him as a possible
enemy. Had the Dutch taken at the time a statesmanlike view of the
position, they would have hailed the English Commonwealth as fighting
the very battle which they themselves had fought,--and there might then
have been a union of the naval forces of the two nations, for the good
of the world, as afterwards, in the time of William III. But the Dutch
looked only to their passing commercial interests. It was they that,
by their exhibition of contempt for the English flag, originated the
war. The battles during this war were about the fiercest ever fought
on the seas. The result seemed uncertain for a time, but in the end
England gained the day, and Holland had to succumb. Then, with Holland
powerless, Cromwell was free to carry out his great policy, as to
Spain and the Catholic powers. The navy entered the Mediterranean,
where England had before no position at all, and swept everything
before it, under its brave and godly commander, Blake, who felt, as
did Cromwell, that he was fighting the universal battle of liberty of
conscience. When Piedmont massacred numbers of her subjects, belonging
to the ancient Vaudois Church, in the Alpine valleys, Cromwell was
in a position, through his navy in the Mediterranean, to _command_ the
cessation of the persecution, and he thundered forth in the ears of
astonished Europe, by his immortal secretary John Milton, such threats
as alarmed the whole array of persecutors, and compelled submission to
his demands,--for England now commanded the seas, and could sweep the
coast of Italy, and all Mediterranean territory. To the foresight and
statesmanship of Oliver Cromwell, John Milton, and Robert Blake is due,
in great part, the position which England has occupied ever since, as
the leading maritime power of the world.
[Illustration: O Cromwell]
ROBERT BLAKE, THE GREAT ADMIRAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH.