could be maintained. The chief naval events of
the intermediate reigns have been described in the preceding chapter.

John, we are told, had a naval establishment of ships and officers, with
certain boards for its government. He had not many vessels, however, as
he chiefly depended on the Cinque Ports to furnish him with ships, while
he laid an embargo on merchant-vessels in case of necessity; and turned
them into ships of war. He must have had a great notion, however, of
keeping up the dignity of England on the ocean, as he passed an
ordinance that all ships should lower their topsails to the English
flag; a custom which was preserved for many centuries. Foreigners,
however, did not always show themselves willing to conform to the
custom, and it was more than once the cause of quarrels between England
and other nations. Still, even at the present day, English men-of-war
do not salute foreign ships in that or any other way, unless the latter
pay the compliment to them first, or at the same time.

Philip Augustus of France having attacked his ally, the Earl of
Flanders, the king fitted out a numerous fleet, which he placed under
the command of the Earl of Salisbury, giving him directions to destroy
rather than to capture any of the enemy's ships. The Earl of Salisbury
observed his instructions, and followed the movements of the enemy,
waiting for an opportunity to bear down upon them. The French ships,
amounting to more than nine hundred sail, moved slowly over the sea, he
watching them vigilantly, and bearing the reproaches of his officers,
who thought him deficient in courage. On the third day a slight storm
having thrown the French fleet into confusion, the earl bore down upon
them. The winds had so terrified the French that they were in no
condition to stand before a furious enemy. The English, who were far
better sailors, were in high courage, and so furiously assaulted the
French ships that in a short time upwards of a hundred were sunk, many
more running on shore, while scarcely forty got back to the ports of
France.

Another important action, before-mentioned, occurred in this reign.
Prince Louis, afterwards Louis the Eighth, to whose father Pope Innocent
had made a liberal present of England without consulting its
inhabitants, had set sail from Calais at the head of a large army,
convoyed by eighty large ships of war. Hubert de Burgo, with a great
baron, Philip D'Albiney, as his lieutenant, assembl