[Sidenote: 1666.] It was to one of the engagements at that period that Dryden refers in his picturesque description: "The noise of the cannon from both navies reached our ears about the city, so that all men being alarmed with it and in dreadful suspense of the event, which we knew was then deciding, every one went following the sound as his fancy led him; and leaving the town almost empty, some took towards the park, some cross the river, others down it--all seeking the noise in the depth of the silence."[504] Such imminent peril alarmed the whole country, as well as London; and when, for a time, the worst was over, apprehension remained of further attacks from the great naval power of Holland, and some persons of Republican sentiments were hoping that their own objects would be promoted by the war. English refugees in the United Provinces were corresponding with their friends at home; and much, it would appear, was said and done to nourish Republican hopes on English soil. A considerable amount of sympathy with the Dutch existed in the West of England; and, in consequence of this sympathy and correspondence, the Government took measures to prevent letters passing between the two countries. Aphara Behn--an eccentric and notorious poetess and novelist--was employed upon a semi-official mission to Antwerp, for the purpose of obtaining information from the English fugitives respecting any political schemes which they might have in hand.[505] A great calamity now requires attention. CHAPTER XVIII.