* 160 Of all who since have used the open sea * Than the bold English none more fame have won; 161 But what so long in vain, and yet unknown, 162 The ebbs of tides and their mysterious flow Whose paths shall be familiar as the land. 163 Instructed ships shall sail to quick commerce,+ Where some may gain and all may be supplied. 164 Then we upon our globe's last verge shall go 165 This I foretell, from your auspicious care Who great in search of God and Nature grow; 166 O, truly Royal! who behold the law To fit the levelled use of human kind § "Extra anni solisque vias.'-VIRG." Æn. vi. 797. + " By a more exact knowledge of longitude." In edition of 1688, "measure of longitude." 1 Dr. Johnson cites this stanza as an example of Dryden's delight in wild and daring sallies of sentiment, in the irregular and eccentric violence of wit," which, he says, "sometimes issued in absurdities of which probably he was not conscious." Johnson goes on to say: "These lines have no meaning, but may we not say, in imitation of Cowley on another book, "Tis so like sense, 'twill serve the turn as well '?" It is difficult, however, to perceive the resemblance to sense in this stanza. § Dryden was an early member of the Royal Society, founded soon after the Restoration; he was elected November 19, 1662. 167 But first the toils of war we must endure And from the injurious Dutch redeem the seas; And gives up fraud to be chastised with ease, Already were the Belgians on our coast,* Designing, subtle, diligent, and close, They knew to manage war with wise delay: And by their pride their prudence did betray. 170 Nor stayed the English long; but, well supplied, 171 There was the Plymouth squadron new † come in, 172 Old expert Allen, loyal all along, Famed for his action on the Smyrna fleet; + 173 Holmes, the Achates of the Generals' fight,§ Who first bewitched our eyes with Guinea gold, The tempting fruits of Afric did unfold.|| After the drawn battle of the 1st of June, the Dutch fleet was repaired, and was again on the English coast before the English were ready. A decisive battle took place on the 25th of July, off the North Foreland, which was an unquestionable victory for the English. ↑ New is the word in the first edition; now in that of 1688, which, as usual, has been followed, but the change is no improvement and was probably a misprint. Sir Thomas Allen had, at the beginning of the war, attacked in the bay of Cadiz a large Dutch merchant squadron homeward bound from Smyrna under convoy, about forty vessels in all, he having only seven ships; and he had routed them and made rich prizes. § Sir Robert Holmes had been the first to fight with the Dutch, before the beginning of the war, on the coast of Africa. This may be why he is called Achates, or it may be because, after the battle now to be narrated, he was sent by the "generals" with a squadron to the Dutch coast. The words have been usually printed, Achates of the general's fight; but, as there were two generals, the fight belonged to both. In the two early editions it is printed generals, which serves for either singular or plural genitive. il Cato the Censor, urging the Romans in the year before his death to enter on the third Punic 174 With him went Spragge, as bountiful as brave, 175 Young Hollis, on a Muse by Mars begot,+ His right hand doubly to his left succeeds. 176 Thousands were there in darker fame that dwell, § 177 Of every size an hundred fighting sail; So vast the navy now at anchor rides That underneath it the pressed waters fail And with its weight it shoulders off the tides. war, and having lately returned from an embassy to Carthage, drew out from under his robe, one day in the Senate, some Carthaginian figs, saying that they had been gathered only three days ago at Carthage, so close was the enemy to Rome. Dryden uses this illustration again with reference to the Dutch, in the prologue of "Amboyna," written during the second Dutch war, in 1673: "As Cato did his Afric fruits display, So we before your eyes their Indies lay." Sir Edward Spragge had been knighted by Charles for his bravery in the action of June 3, 1665. He was killed, in the next Dutch war, in battle, August 11, 1672. Sir John Harman had commanded the "Henry" in the four days' battle of June. He was in the van, with Sir George Berkeley's squadron, which broke through the Dutch fleet at the outset, when Berkeley lost his life. Harman, when his ship was disabled, was offered quarter, and refused it. Three fire-ships were then sent to burn his ship. She was disengaged successively from two of them, each of which had fired her, and both fires were put out. The third fire-ship was disabled by the "Henry's" guns. Harman carried his ship off, badly damaged: his leg was broken, a yard of one of the masts falling upon it. Sir Frescheville Hollis, son of Gervase Hollis, an antiquarian; and this connexion of the father with literature is the probable explanation of the eccentric description of Hollis's parentage. Hollis had lost an arm in the battle of June 3, 1665. He was killed fighting against the Dutch in the next Dutch war, May 28, 1672. The phrase, "on a Muse by Mars begot," has been deservedly ridiculed. The Duke of Buckingham parodied it coarsely against Dryden : "Or more to intrigue the metaphor of man, Got on a Muse by father Publican. Poetical Reflections on Absalom and Achitophel. Another satirist applied the phrase to the French musical composer who made the music for Dryden's "Albion and Albanius: "Grabut his yokemate ne'er shall be forgot, (Quoted in Langbaine's "Dramatic Poets," p. 152.) "Multi præterea quos fama obscura recondit."-VIRG. An, V. 302. 178 Now, anchors weighed, the seamen shout so shrill 179 The wary Dutch this gathering storm foresaw 180 So the false spider, when her nets are spread, 181 Then, if at last she find him fast beset, She issues forth and runs along her loom : She joys to touch the captive in her net And drags the little wretch in triumph home. 182 The Belgians hoped that with disordered haste Their numerous gross might charge us one by one. 183 But, with a fore-wind pushing them above And swelling tide that heaved them from below, 184 It seemed as there the British Neptune stood, Beneath them to submit the officious flood, And with his trident shoved them off the sand. † 185 To the pale foes they suddenly draw near And summon them to unexpected fight: And draw their curtains in the dead of night. "Hosts of waters" in edition of 1688, which has been generally followed. Host in first edition. ↑ "Levat ipse tridenti et vastas aperit syrtes, &c.'-VIRG." En, i. 145. 186 Second battle. Now van to van the foremost squadrons meet, At length the adverse Admirals appear, The two bold champions of each country's right; 188 The distance judged for shot of every size, The linstocks touch, the ponderous ball expires: And adds his heart to every gun he fires. 189 Fierce was the fight on the proud Belgians' side 190 But sharp remembrance on the English part And seeming to be stronger makes them so. 191 Nor long the Belgians could that fleet sustai Which did two Generals' fates and Cæsar's bear; Each several ship a victory did gain, As Rupert or as Albemarle were there. 192 Their battered Admiral too soon withdrew, Unthanked by ours for his unfinished fight; Who called that providence which we called flight. 193 Never did men more joyfully obey Or sooner understood the sign to fly; With such alacrity they bore away As if to praise them all the States stood by. Linstock, a pointed stick with a fork at the end to hold a lighted match, used by gunners in firing cannon. t Possunt quia posse videntur.'-VIRG.” Eu, v. 231. |