ter remained not
inactive. He attacked the duke of York, and fought him with such fury
for above two hours, that of two and thirty actions in which that
admiral had been engaged, he declared this combat to be the most
obstinately disputed. The duke's ship was so shattered, that he was
obliged to leave her, and remove his flag to another. His squadron was
overpowered with numbers, till Sir Joseph Jordan, who had succeeded to
Sandwich's command, came to his assistance; and the fight, being more
equally balanced, was continued till night, when the Dutch retired, and
were not followed by the English. The loss sustained by the fleets of
the two maritime powers was nearly equal, if it did not rather fall more
heavy on the English. The French suffered very little, because they had
scarcely been engaged in the action; and as this backwardness is not
their national character, it was concluded, that they had received
secret orders to spare their ships, while the Dutch and English should
weaken each other by their mutual animosity. Almost all the other
actions during the present war tended to confirm this suspicion.

It might be deemed honorable for the Dutch to have fought with some
advantage the combined fleets of two such powerful nations; but nothing
less than a complete victory could serve the purpose of De Wit, or save
his country from those calamities which from every quarter threatened to
overwhelm her. He had expected, that the French would make their attack
on the side of Maestricht, which was well fortified, and provided with a
good garrison; but Lewis, taking advantage of his alliance with Cologne,
resolved to invade the enemy on that frontier, which he knew to be
more feeble and defenceless. The armies of that elector, and those of
Munster, appeared on the other side of the Rhine, and divided the force
and attention of the states. The Dutch troops, too weak to defend
so extensive a frontier, were scattered into so many towns, that no
considerable body remained in the field and a strong garrison was
scarcely to be found in any fortress Lewis passed the Meuse at Viset;
and laying siege to Orsoi, a town of the elector of Brandenburgh's, but
garrisoned by the Dutch, he carried it in three days. He divided his
army, and invested at once Burik, Wesel, Emerik, and Rhimberg, four
places regularly fortified, and not unprovided with troops: in a few
days, all these places were surrendered. A general astonishment had
seized the