Rupert came in the nick of time; for, even with his fresh ships
to help Monk through this last and most desperate day, de Ruyter and
van Tromp were just enough stronger to win. But the fighting had been
so deadly to both sides that the Dutch were in no condition to go on.
Again there was some very bad behaviour on both sides, especially among
the court favourites. But Charles never thought of punishing these men
for deserting Monk, any more than he thought of honouring the memory of
Sir Christopher Myngs, Rupert's second-in-command, who fell, mortally
wounded, at the end of the fight, after having done all that skill and
courage could possibly do to turn the fortune of the day. Myngs was
one of those leaders whom men will follow anywhere; and in the diary of
Samuel Pepys, a good official at Navy headquarters in London, we may
see the shame of Charles shown up by the noble conduct of the twelve
picked British seamen who, after following Myngs to the grave, came
forward, with tears in their eyes, to ask this favour: "We are here a
dozen of us who have long served and honoured our dead commander, Sir
Christopher Myngs.
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