The British nation a history / by George MWrong . dark day for Scotlandwhen the union ended with tlie restoration of Charles at homo the republic served this glorious appren-ticeship in war, Europe professed to scorn and despise than one of its envoys to the Continen-tal states were murdered, and it could getno redress; royalist privateers, under Rupert,preyed upon its commerce, and were sheltered by foreigncourts. To make its jDosition secure the Commonwealthneeded a great navy, and in Eobert Blake found at length the man who could organize the beginning of 1651 Blakeha
The British nation a history / by George MWrong . dark day for Scotlandwhen the union ended with tlie restoration of Charles at homo the republic served this glorious appren-ticeship in war, Europe professed to scorn and despise than one of its envoys to the Continen-tal states were murdered, and it could getno redress; royalist privateers, under Rupert,preyed upon its commerce, and were sheltered by foreigncourts. To make its jDosition secure the Commonwealthneeded a great navy, and in Eobert Blake found at length the man who could organize the beginning of 1651 Blakehad destroyed the greater part ofEuperts ships, and soon an Eng-lish fleet entered the Mediterra-nean, attacked French commerce,and showed England to be for-midable in regions new to heractivity. Cardinal Mazarin madepeaceful overtures in the endfor France, and the two greatestcontinental powers, France andSpaiTi, both recognised the repub-lic. But victory did not always wait upon the Common-wealth. In Holland, also a revolutionary and Protestant. Cardinal Mazarin(1602-1661). THE COMMONWEALTH AND THE PROTECTORATE 387 republic, it found its most strenuous foe. The two stateswere commercial rivals, and in October, 1651, by theNavigation Act, England excluded the Dutch from trad-ing with the English colonies, and forbade Dutch shipsto bring to England the products of any country buttheir own. By May, 1653, these rivalries had broughton war. Blake Avas beaten off Dungeness by Tromp,the Dutch admiral; the command of the Channel passedfor a time to the Dutch, and, probably in jest againstthe English, the story was told that Tromp carried abroom at his masthead to show his resolve to sweep themfrom the seas. In the Mediterranean too the Englishfailed, and they did not recover themselves until Febru-ary, 1653, when Blake once more secured command ofthe Channol. A governments strength is tested most severely bydefeat in war. In England there was much decline of w^ich turned
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