ar 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.

In 1654 a fleet and army were sent against the Spanish West Indies;
for, though there was no war with Spain in Europe, there never was any
peace with Spaniards overseas. Cromwell's orders, like those of Pitt a
hundred years later, were perfect models of what such orders ought to
be. He told the admiral and general exactly what the country wanted
them to do, gave them the means of doing it, and then left them free to
do it in whatever way seemed best on the spot. But the admiral and
general did not agree. King's men and Cromwell's men had to be mixed
together, as enough good Cromwellians could not be spared so far away
from home. The leaders tried to stand well with both sides by writing
to the King; and every other trouble was made ten times worse by this
divided loyalty. Jamaica was taken. But the rest was all disgraceful
failure.

A very different force sailed out the same year under glorious Blake,
who soon let Spaniards, Italians, and Barbary pirates know that he
would stand no nonsense if they interfered with British vessels in the
Mediterranean. The Italian princes were brought to book, as the
Spaniards had just been brought to book at Malaga. Then Blake swooped
down on the Moorish pirates' nest at Tunis, sinking every vessel,
silencing the forts, and forcing the pirates to let their Christian
slaves go free. After this the pirates of Algiers quickly came to
terms without waiting to be beaten first.

Meanwhile the frightened Spaniards had stopped the treasure fleet of
1655. But next year they were so short of money that they had to risk
it; though now there was open war in Europe as well as in New Spain.
Running for Cadiz, the first fleet of treasure ships fell into British
hands after very little fighting; and Londoners had the satisfaction of
cheering the thirty huge wagon-loads of gold and silver booty on its
way to safekeeping in the Tower.

All that winter Blake was cruising off the coast of