Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1873 edition. Excerpt: ... MARTEN HARPERTS TROMP. PART I. Never heard his name before? I can scarcely believe that. If you have read any history at all, if you have been passably interested in the doings of our forefathers, if you possess any admiration for those who have made that history something more than the dull record of machine-like labour, you must have heard of Admiral Tromp, or Van Trump, as the English writers of that period delight to call him. He was a man who threw his whole soul into his business, who was brave enough to be prudent, honest enough to be independent, and who so fulfilled each duty that he could afford to bear with patience unmerited rebuke; who gained the highest position without losing his simplicity or candour, and who stood out like the Eddystone rock at sea, a trusty friend and beacon to those whom he served, but a deadly enemy to those who went against him. Tromp was born of a sea-going family. His grandfather was a coasting trader, and his father, whose house was at Brill, at the mouth of the Meuse, took him to sea in his own ship when he was scarcely nine years old. This was in the year 1606. In the following year, it will be remembered, Van Heemskerk sailed with his expedition to Gibraltar, and destroyed the Spanish fleet. Tromp's father took part in that expedition; and although he must have known that he was running great danger, he resolved to take his boy with him, the more as Marten was very fond of his father, and delighted to go. It is probable that, young though he was, he had already witnessed several small fights at sea, and was therefore somewhat accustomed to the noise. But the terrific uproar of that battle of Gibraltar went beyond him. Before the commencement his father told him to remain in the cabin, and the...
