No. 1.
ADMIRAL DE RUYTER.
In armour, holding a truncheon. The other arm akimbo. Curtain.
BORN 1607, DIED 1676.
BORN at Flushing, of which town his father was a burgher. As a mere child Michael de Ruyter was determined to be a sailor, and gained the paternal consent that he should go to sea as cabin-boy when only eleven years of age. He rose quickly in his profession, was made a pilot when still very young for the post, and passed through the intermediate grades, till he gained the command of a vessel. In 1635 he made several campaigns in the East Indies, and in 1645 was sent as Vice-Admiral in command of a Dutch fleet to assist the Portuguese against the Spaniards. After two years’ retirement from service, De Ruyter engaged the Algerine corsairs off Sarley, and gained a complete victory. The Moors, who were spectators of the conflict, insisted on his entering the town in triumph, on a richly caparisoned horse, followed by a long retinue, including many of the captive pirates.
These ‘plagues of the ocean,’ as they were justly termed, continued to give De Ruyter much annoyance, but he was usually successful in his encounters with them, and in one fierce combat he seized and hanged one of the most notoriously cruel and rapacious of these ‘buccaneer sea-dogs.’ In 1659 he was sent, by order of the States-General, to the assistance of Denmark against Sweden, an enterprise in which he distinguished himself greatly, and gained the gratitude of the King of Denmark, who complimented him highly, and granted him a pension. On his return home De Ruyter was received with great honour, and promoted. He then proceeded to the coast of Africa, to look after some Dutch colonies, of which England had taken possession. England and the United Provinces were now in constant collision, and the Dutch Admiral found a noble and well-matched foe in the gallant commander Prince Rupert, soldier, sailor, and artist. De Ruyter was afterwards joined in command with Van Tromp, a worthy colleague, but of no friendly spirit. During the time that negotiations were pending for peace with England, at Breda, De Ruyter resolved, so to speak, to hasten his opportunities; he therefore bore down on Sheerness, burned all the available shipping, and, continuing his work of destruction up the river Thames, approached too near London to be agreeable to the more peaceable portion of the citizens.
In 1671 he had sole command of his country’s fleet, against the combined forces of England (under the Duke of York) and France (under the Comte D’Estrées), and it is but just to record that he was frequently successful, but invariably brave. Indeed, the French Admiral wrote to Colbert, the Minister, at home, ‘I would lay down my life for the glory that De Ruyter has gained.’ In 1675 the Spaniards had recourse to their old enemies, the Dutch, to ask assistance for the inhabitants of Messina, against the French, and De Ruyter was despatched to Sicily for that purpose. A terrible sea-fight ensued, the French being commanded by Duquesne, a brave and efficient officer; many vessels were sunk and destroyed on both sides, and the carnage was terrible.
At the commencement of the action the gallant De Ruyter had his left foot carried away, and a few moments afterwards his right leg was shattered by a shell. Writhing with pain, and covered with blood, the brave sailor remained on deck, and issued his orders, even to the bitter end of the battle. It was only when he became aware that five of his vessels, including his own, were about to fall into the hands of the enemy, that he could be prevailed upon to give the word for retreat. Favoured by the approaching darkness, he made the port of Syracuse, and in that town he died of his wounds. His heart was carried to Amsterdam, where the States-General caused a noble mausoleum to be erected to the memory of this brave and patriotic commander. His name is still venerated in his native country.
The King of Spain sent De Ruyter the title of Duke, but the patent did not arrive till after his death, and his children wisely refrained from pressing any claim to rank, which would have been incongruous in a Republic; and they were more proud of their father’s simple name than of any foreign and alien dignity. Louis XIV. expressed his regret for the death of this brave commander in public, and when reminded that he had lost a dangerous enemy, he replied generously, ‘I always mourn the death of a great and brave man.’ A medal was struck in honour of Admiral de Ruyter, and the following distich was written on his name:—