Towards the end of February news came that war had been proclaimed against the Dutch, and the beating of drums and the firing of cannons welcomed the announcement. What ships there were in the harbour weighed and sailed for the Downs, to join the fleet that lay there under the command of the Duke of York. Disconsolately I watched their departure, regretting the fact that I was unable to take a part in the coming struggle. As time wore on, news of sanguinary naval engagements reached us, while occasionally a Dutch vessel would be brought into the harbour, her ensign hoisted beneath the cross of St. George, and her crew battened down in the hold. The captives were invariably taken to Porchester Castle, a building of immense strength that lay on the shores of Portsmouth harbour, some four miles away by water. Spring came and went, yet to my great mortification I was not sent to join a ship, though in the interval I engaged in a private venture--a few gentlemen of Hampshire having fitted out a small vessel to prey upon Dutch merchantmen. But the task was not to my liking; little renown was to be gained, and after three weeks I was glad to return home. One evening in June I went down to the Sally Port, as was my wont, to look towards Spithead, in the hope of seeing part of our victorious fleet return. The guard had been doubled since the declaration of hostilities, and every vessel and boat that made for the harbour was vigorously searched. "Ah, Master Wentworth," remarked the captain of the guard, who dwelt not far from us in St. Thomas’s Street, and whose acquaintance I had made some time back, "our town hath other enemies to fight besides the Hollanders!" "Oh!" I ejaculated, in a manner that implied that I wanted to be further enlightened. "Yes, ’tis true. The Dutchmen we can fight man to man in a straightforward manner, but our latest foe is not to be conquered by strength of arms--’tis the plague!" "The plague?" "Yea. From Southampton comes news that the plague is in that town, and eight houses are shut up. Sir Thomas Middleton hath given orders that the shipwrights who dwell there are not to be allowed to go home, and those already living there are not to be readmitted to the dockyard. Furthermore, the poor there will not suffer the rich to leave, neither doth our governor permit ships from Southampton to land their cargoes here." Here was grave news. I hurried homewards and communicated the captain’s information to my uncle. He shook his head sorrowfully. "The plague is rampant in London. In Chichester eleven persons have died. At Newport there have been two cases, yet in this town we are free, though in dire straits. Still, Aubrey, let not a word escape to alarm your aunt. I must see that we lay in a goodly store of brimstone."