HISTORY OF ENGLAND

70 GROWTH OF POWER OF COMMONWEALTH. x1.4.A.D. I 653.September OK the coast of Kent; in November in theDowns; in February 1563 at Portland. We shall omit anydescription of these encounters, which would oblige us toenter at too great length into the tactics of naval warfareand their application. A decisive victory on-one side or theother nowhere actually occurred, but the superiority of theEnglish was indubitable. Their advantage lay firstly in thesuperior build of their ships, an art cultivated by themfrom very old times-they were longer and stouter ; but alsoin particular in the bronze cannon which they carried, whichwere of longer range than the Dutch guns, and even beforethe actual encounter inflicted serious injuries on the enemy l.As to the tactics of battle, for instance the formation of line,the English it is true learnt much from the Dutch admirals.It is this naval war which has chiefly laid the foundations ofthe rise and fame of the English navy.Lord Willoughby, disheartened by the news of Charles 11'smisfortunes, had been already forced to surrender Barbadoes.Here, as in Virginia, under the impulse of the general crisis,a party attached to the Commonwealth had arisen. Nowheredid the Navigation Act press more hardly than in Virginia.The colony complained that England neither consumed herproducts nor satisfied her wants ; but she was forced tosubmit.Sagredo's Relatione : ' Mancando le navi Olandesi di cannoni di bronzo e quest0soprabbondxndo agli Inglesi di grandezza estraordinaria nel piimo incontrc delleflotte prima che venissero all urto, il cannone degli Iuglesi di maggior forza, et dimaggior portata ferriva la flotta clegli Olandesi.'CHAPTER V.DISSOLUTION OF THE LONG PAKLIAMEKT.IT was still the Republican Parliament under the auspicesof which this power, practically absolute at home, and greatand dreaded abroad, had been won. A political authorityhad been created of such concentrated strength and wideextent as the world had seldom witnessed, and Britain hadnever yet seen.There is the more ground for wonder when we considerthe variety of the elements out of which this authority wasoriginally composed. These were three in number-the oldParliamentarian, the legal, and the military-each of themresting on different principles, but in fact working fairlywell together. The army fought under the impulse of theirreligious and political tendencies ; the Parliament had thedirection of political affairs and provided the means of war ;the participation of the lawyers preserved a state of lawand order which first rendered this possible.As a specimen of their combined action we may take theamnesty which, after long discussions, first took effect inFebruary 1652. Forgiveness was therein proclaimed to theadherents of the King for all political offences previdus tothe battle of Worcester, provided they in turn pledgedthemselves to be faithful to the Commo~lwealth as nowestablished without a King and House of Lords. Withoutsome such agreement the civil war would have been incessantlycarried on in secret. It was the condition whichhad also been imposed upon the conquered in Ireland andScotland ; and on the strength of it a formal union was hoped