The Traitor Englishman who Piloted the Dutch Fleet up the Medway
ARTHUR BRYANT
Late in the seventeenth century, when Sir Christopher Wren was superintending the building of the new palace at Greenwich, he made the acquaintance of an old sea captain living there on the King's bounty. This man was a Thames waterman who had piloted the Dutch fleet up the Medway and who had later received not only the King's pardon, but a pension.
The reputation of King Charles II has suffered severely from the humiliating invasion of the Medway by the Dutch, and it is not without significance that the man who betrayed his King, and acted as pilot to the Dutch fleet, was forgiven.
Arthur Bryant is a recognised authority on this period and its problems and personalities, and is the author of ' The England of Charles 11 ' and ' King Charles II. ' Listeners who remember his absorbingly interesting series ' The National Character ' will welcome his return to the microphone.