esert their ships for fear of being taken by their boats, our little
frigates being forced to leave them, being chased by their greater!
And one more company did set their ship on fire, and leave her; which
afterwards a Feversham fisherman come up to, and put out the fire, and
carried safe into Feversham, where she now is, which was observed by
the Duke of York, and all the company with him, that it was only want of
courage, and a general dismay and abjectness of spirit upon all our men;
and others did observe our ill management, and God Almighty's curse
upon all that we have in hand, for never such an opportunity was of
destroying so many good ships of theirs as we now had. But to see how
negligent we were in this business, that our fleete of Jordan's should
not have any notice where Spragg was, nor Spragg of Jordan's, so as
to be able to meet and join in the business, and help one another; but
Jordan, when he saw Spragg's fleete above, did think them to be another
part of the enemy's fleete! While, on the other side, notwithstanding
our people at Court made such a secret of Jordan's design that nobody
must know it, and even this Office itself must not know it; nor for my
part I did not, though Sir W. Batten says by others' discourse to him
he had heard something of it; yet De Ruyter, or he that commanded this
fleete, had notice of it, and told it to a fisherman of ours that he
took and released on Thursday last, which was the day before our fleete
came to him. But then, that, that seems most to our disgrace, and which
the Duke of York did take special and vehement notice of, is, that when
the Dutch saw so many fire-ships provided for them, themselves lying,
I think, about the Nore, they did with all their great ships, with a
North-east wind, as I take it they said, but whatever it was, it was
a wind that we should not have done it with, turn down to the
Middle-ground; which the Duke of York observed, never was nor would have
been undertaken by ourselves. And whereas some of the company answered,
it was their great fear, not their choice that made them do it, the Duke
of York answered, that it was, it may be, their fear and wisdom that
made them do it; but yet their fear did not make them mistake, as we
should have done, when we have had no fear upon us, and have run our
ships on ground. And this brought it into my mind, that they managed
their retreat down this difficult passage, with all their fear, better
than we coul