[Illustration: SAILING SHIP. The Pilgrim Fathers crossed in a similar
vessel (1620).]
This great battle off the coast of Holland made the Dutch give in.
They were divided among themselves; the merchants keeping up a republic
and a navy, but the nobles and inland people wishing for a king and
army to make the frontier safe. The British, though also divided among
themselves, had the advantages of living on an island, of having
settled what kind of government they would obey for the time being, and
of having at the head of this government the mighty Cromwell, one of
the greatest masters of the art of war the world has ever seen.
Cromwell understood warfare on the sea, though his own magnificent
victories had been won on land. He also understood the three things
Britain needed then to make and keep her great: first, that she should
be strong enough to make foreigners respect her; secondly, that her
oversea trade should be protected by a strong navy; and thirdly, that
she should begin to found a British Empire overseas, as foreigners
always tried to shut the British out of their own oversea dominions.
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