3. Blake had no ends of his own to serve. In the face of any question that presented itself, his one thought was, "What do the interest and honour of England require?" The watchword of his life was that grand word DUTY, which Nelson set before the eyes of his sailors on the morning of Trafalgar. These two great admirals are well linked together by the poet Campbell in his famous sea-song:-- "The spirit of your fathers Shall start from every wave-- For the deck it was their field of fame, And Ocean was their grave: Where Blake and mighty Nelson fell Your manly hearts shall glow, As you sweep through the deep, While the stormy winds do blow; While the battle rages loud and long And the stormy winds do blow." 4. No sooner had our great admiral ended the war with the Dutch, in the way already described, than he was despatched by Cromwell with a powerful fleet to the Mediterranean, which had long been infested by pirates in league with the Governors, or Deys, of the Barbary States. These pirates not only seized the cargoes of the merchant ships, but sold their crews and passengers into slavery. 5. When Blake, in the course of his cruise, appeared before Tunis and demanded the release of all Christian prisoners and slaves, the Dey pointed defiantly to his castles at the entrance of the harbour and his nine cruisers anchored beneath their guns. Blake replied by leading in his ships and cannonading the Dey's batteries at close range. When this terrible hail of shot had dismounted the enemy's guns, the admiral lowered his long-boats, and having manned each with a picked crew sent them through the smoke straight at the pirate ships. Cutlasses, pikes, and pistols first did their deadly work and then firebrands did the rest. When the English fleet put out to sea that night every one of the Dey's ships was wrapped in flames. 6. This exploit marks a turning-point in our commercial history. Hitherto merchant vessels were expected to protect themselves and take the risks of capture. Blake's round of the Mediterranean, with his ships of war, let princes and pirates know that henceforth any wrong done to an English vessel would be avenged as a national insult, that to attack a ship flying the flag of England would be regarded as an attack upon England itself. As soon as it was seen that England's arm was long enough, and ready enough, to strike at all offenders on the seas, the English began to take the foremost place as "carriers of the sea," for foreign merchants soon came to the belief that their goods would be safest where the flag of England insured protection.