Anonymous

“ The English force, although very imposing, was much smaller than the array which Spain had made. As has been stated, the combined fleet consisted of 117 ships, carrying 15,600 men. The Spanish Armada embraced 130 ships, some of them of enormous size, carrying about 30,000 men all told, including “124 volunteers of quality, and 180 monks.” The Spanish expedition attracted the flower of the nobility of the nation, and the English Armada, in like manner, enlisted the sympathy, fired the patriotism, and inflamed the martial ardour of the flower of English chivalry. ”

“ Much anger and discontent were excited in connection with the division of the spoils, especially among the crew of the Content, who thought Cavendish took more than a fair share for himself and the company of the Desire—his own ship. The threatened mutiny was, however, suppressed, and a grand gala was held on the queen’s day—17th November, with eating and drinking,72 firing of guns, and a display of fireworks, with as a grand set-piece the blazing Santa Anna, with all of her precious cargo on board that the captors could not carry away with them. ”

“ If we had dreaded the number of our enemies we should have retreated yesterday; but though we are inferior to them in number of ships, we are in other things superior. Force gives them courage; let us, if we need it, borrow resolution from the thoughts247 of what we have formerly performed. Let our enemy feel that, though our fleet is divided, our spirit is united. At the worst it will be more honourable to die bravely here on our own element than to be made spectacles to the Dutch. To be overcome is the fortune of war, but to fly is the fashion of cowards. ”

“ Blake had kept his fleet together under shelter of the mainland of the Shetland Islands, and although he had not escaped without serious injury to many ships, he had not suffered nearly so much. He hung in the rear of the disabled Dutch ships, ravaged the coasts of Zealand, and reached Yarmouth with prizes and nine hundred prisoners. Clamorous at a reverse in a fleet from which victory had been expected, a Dutch mob insulted Van Tromp, and, in a fit of disgust, he laid down his commission, and retired into private life. ”

“ A furious battle was fought between the flag-ships of Albemarle and De Ruyter, the Dutch admiral, which was maintained with dogged obstinacy for many hours,—but neither side could claim a victory. Both of the ships were greatly crippled by its adversary.
The bravery and skilful handling of their ships by the English commanders was above all praise, but their ships were badly provisioned. King Charles, to his shame, recked not that the lives of the bravest of his subjects should be sacrificed, if he could indulge, unchecked, the career of a Sybarite and profligate. ”

“ Raleigh’s spirited achievements do not seem to have been appreciated. He had, as he thought, returned bringing a gift to his queen of a rich empire that would assure his restoration to favour, but he was met with cold neglect, and left in doubt as to whether his report concerning Guiana was to be accepted as a true history or passed by as an idle tale. At this stage of his career he gave conclusive evidence of the diversity of his gifts, the wide range of his capability, his restless activity, and indomitable perseverance. ”

“ Andrew were recovered by our boats ere they could get out to fire them. The spectacle was very lamentable on their side; for many drowned themselves; many, half burned, leaped into the water; very many hanging by the ropes’ end, by the ships’ side, under the water138 even to the lips; many swimming with grievous wounds, stricken, under water, and put out of their pain; and withal so huge a fire, and such tearing of the ordnance in the great Philip and the rest when the fire came to them, as if a man had a desire to see hell itself, it was there most lively figured. ”

“ The Dutch had only one flag left flying,—Van Tromp killed,—all going against them! Again they sought refuge behind the sandbanks on the coasts of their country, whither the victors followed, as closely as their knowledge of the navigation would permit. In the pursuit of the flying foe, the lightest of the English ships took the most prominent part. The Dutch admiral, perceiving that they were only frigates that pursued him, turned upon them, but heavier ships coming up, he was not permitted to sink his tenacious tormentors, but had his own ship captured before he reached the Texel. ”

“ Before Sir Edward Spragge left the Royal Prince, the masts had all been shot away, most of the guns on the upper tier were disabled, four333 hundred men had been killed, and the ship was almost a helpless wreck. In this lamentable condition a large Dutch man-of-war, with two fire-ships, bore down upon the miserable object,—the Dutch commander resolving to burn, sink, or capture the Royal Prince. The first lieutenant, considering continued resistance hopeless, ordered the colours to be struck, and bid the men shift for themselves as they could. ”

“ With the growth of the maritime power of England is associated a splendid array of heroic names, and many of the humblest sailors were equal in bravery to their renowned commanders. No history is more intensely interesting thanx that of the daring perils and triumphs of heroic seamen. The heroes, who have distinguished themselves in the history and growth of the British Navy, furnish a gallery and galaxy, bewildering in extent ”

“ Preparations were accordingly made for battle, when the captain thus addressed his men: “Countrymen and fellows, you see into what an exigency it has pleased God to suffer us to fall. Let us remember that we are but men, and must of necessity die—where, and when, and how, is of God’s appointment; but if it be His pleasure that this must be the last of our days, His will be done; and let us, for His glory, our soul’s welfare, our country’s honour, and the credit of ourselves, fight valiantly to the last gasp. Let us prefer a noble death to a life of slavery ”

“ The author of the Life of De Ruyter, referring to this fierce conflict, says: “The Dutch avow the like never to have been seen; their own two ships (the ships of Tromp and Spragge) having, without touching a sail, strangely endured the fury of three hours’ incessant battery.”
It is difficult to get at anything approaching an adequate conception of the horrible scenes of carnage that must have been presented by this sanguinary conflict. Some particulars respecting Sir Edward’s flag-ship, the Royal Prince, with which he went into action, may assist in forming an idea of the dreadful devastation. ”

“ THREE GENERATIONS OF ADVENTURERS. The proclivities of parents are not uniformly manifested in their children, and the rule of “Like father, like son” has its exceptions. The three generations of the Hawkins’ family, who distinguished themselves as maritime adventurers in the reign of Henry VIII. and Queen Elizabeth, while differing in character, disposition, and attainments at divers points, were in common governed by a ruling passion—love of the sea, and choice of it as a road to fame and fortune. ”

“ The breathless silence changes to a storm of tongues; but the resolute man who loaded the Golden Hind with Spanish pesos, and ploughed the waves of every ocean round the globe, calls on his comrades to ‘play out the match, for there is plenty of time to do so, and to beat the Spaniards too.’ It is Drake who speaks. The game is resumed, and played42 to the last shot. Then begin preparations for a mightier game. The nation’s life is at stake. Out of Plymouth, along every road, men spur as for life, and every headland and mountain peak shoots up its red tongue of warning flame. ”

“ The Dutch fleet broke into wild disorder, and sheered off, each taking its own course, the English in hot pursuit, sinking one after another of the fugitives. Van Tromp got away, but his defeat was crushing and final. The Dutch had eight men-of-war destroyed, eleven captured, and a very heavy loss in officers and men. The English ships were terribly battered and damaged, but the loss in killed and wounded was much less than that sustained by the enemy. ”

“ In the same year he sold his great estates in Ireland to Boyle, Earl of Cork. Queen Elizabeth died 30th March 1603. The loss of his protector and patroness was to Raleigh ruinous and irreparable. His career up to this point—he was now fifty-one years of age—had not been distinguished by unclouded sunshine,—henceforth it was to be marked by unrelieved gloom. Of his well-earned title to honour and fame he could not be wholly stripped, but it was in the power of his enemies to deprive him of offices, property, peace, and other conditions that made life worth living. ”

“ There is nothing more marvellous in the last century, great as has been the progress in all directions, than the birth of new nations in distant parts of the earth, sprung from our own people, and speaking our own language. ”

“ To an enemy the harbour entrance seemed the veritable jaws of death. The governor believed his position impregnable, and the precious fleet in the harbour unassailable and absolutely secure. The redoubtable admiral was prostrate from illness, but, with indomitable spirit, he rose from his couch to preside at a council of war. The plan of attack decided on was, for the admiral to lead and direct the bombardment of the castle and the forts, and for Captain Richard223 Stayner to direct his force against the galleons. Blake and Stayner had twenty-five ships between them. ”

“ In 1591, Raleigh’s first published work appeared, being an account of the battle of the Azores, between the Revenge and an armada of the King of Spain. Raleigh sets forth enthusiastically the valour of his gallant and faithful friend, Sir Richard Grenville, as displayed in this contest, one of the most famous in English history, in which Grenville, with one ship containing one hundred men, stood to his guns against a fleet manned by fifteen thousand Spaniards. ”

“ With drawn sword, Sir John Harman commanded the remainder of the crew to their duty, and threatened with death the first who should attempt to leave the ship or fail to exert himself to put out the flames. The fire was got under, but a third fire-ship was sent against the Henry. Happily, before the fire-ship could get to close quarters, a volley from the guns of the Henry’s lower deck was so well directed as to sink it—while a broadside directed against the Dutch flag-ship included in its terrible effects the death of Evertsen, the brave admiral. ”

“ Tremendous losses were sustained by both the English and the Dutch, on whose side their admirals, Evertsen and Van Ghent, with many of their chief officers, were killed, and De Ruyter was wounded. The English also lost many officers, besides the brave Earl of Sandwich,—and vast numbers of men fell in both fleets. Victory was claimed by both sides, but it seems to have been gained by neither. They fought as long as a remnant of fighting life and strength were left in either of them. At the end of the dreadful day’s work the Dutch sailed away, which does not look like victory. ”

“ He was now married to a well-born lady, worthy of his affection and esteem; he was possessed of a fair competence in wealth and property, the wearer of high honours,—amongst others Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall, Admiral of Devon and Cornwall, and Lord Warden of the Stannaries. With these possessions and dignities an ordinary man would have been content to settle down as a provincial magnate, but they did not suffice for a man of Raleigh’s active and sanguine temperament, his enterprising and ambitious nature. ”

“ Sir Martin Frobisher was a man of great and varied capabilities as a navigator and commander; enthusiastic, enterprising, skilful, manly, and of dauntless valour, but rather rough and despotic, and not possessed of the polished manners, airs, and graces that adorn carpet knights and make men shine in courts. ”

“ I never saw a more beautiful country, nor more lively prospects; hills so raised here and there over the valleys, the river winding into divers branches, the plains adjoining without bush or stubble, all fair green grass, the ground of hard sand, easy to march on, either for horse or foot ”

“ The personal intimacy and intercourse between the queen and Raleigh were as close as was permissible between a sovereign and a subject. Had the queen given the Duc d’Alençon half the encouragement she gave to Raleigh, his suit would have ended in a royal wedding. Sir Walter did not dare, probably, to make the queen an offer of his heart and hand, but he did not fail to give her an “inkling” concerning his feelings. On a pane in the window of her boudoir or other apartment, he wrote with his diamond ring—
“Fain would I climb, but that I fear to fall.” ”