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THE 
 
 LIFE 
 
 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
LONDON : 
 
 J. MOYKS, TOOK'S COURT, CHANCERY LANK. 
 
THE 
 
 LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 THE CELEBRATED 
 
 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE, 
 
 THE FIRST ENGLISH CIRCUMNAVIGATOR. 
 
 REPRINTED FROM 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHIA BRITANNICA. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOB 
 
 LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN, 
 
 PATERNOSTER-ROW. 
 
 1828. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 THE best written and most authentic Life of the celebrated 
 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE, our first Circumnavigator, is that 
 which appeared in the " Biographia Britannica ;" and as 
 it is inaccessible to the generality of readers, it is now 
 reprinted, in a better type and more convenient form, and 
 is published by Messrs. LONGMAN and Co. at the desire 
 of the Editor, who hopes in this shape it will prove not 
 unacceptable to the Public. 
 
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 Jhul match* <L in raw tnt chariofrof tkv <Swn/, 
 
 Tkw fytfwiyorMti Sfapfforifrway claim/, 
 
 Without j>rtowwptiow, so <fos&r>v'(l ouTwunwJ 
 
 J}y /wiowltdgv cnca. caul frajwformafccn now, 
 
 Jn for new skapt tfus s cared pert allow. 
 
 DraJtt/ and JIM Sivy tffuld not haw vrwk. d Jrow Fate/ 
 
 Jin happier station, omwre/ tlbSt Mta&/: 
 
 for, Zo f fo seat of encttefir re#l is yvvem/, 
 
 To for in Oxford, and to fam in Jf&ww. 
 
 ABRAHAM C OWLET, 2662. 
 . 
 Scnth tit*.' University of Oxford, 
 
 'a Comnvt/svonar, c&Deplford. 
 
LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE, one of the most distinguished 
 of the naval heroes in the glorious reign of Eliza 
 beth. A man, of whom it may be truly said, that 
 he had a head to contrive, a heart to undertake, 
 and a hand ready to execute, whatever promised 
 glory to himself and good to his country. As he 
 was, properly speaking, the son of merit, we have 
 but a very indifferent account of his family, or even 
 of his father. That which Camden a gives us, and a Annai.Remm 
 
 Anglican, et 
 
 which he says he had from Drake's own mouth, Hibemicar. 
 
 . . . regnante Eliza- 
 
 lS so embarrassed with inconsistent circumstances, betha . Edit. 
 
 ,, . .. j ,. Hearne, p. 351. 
 
 that there is no relying upon it, and trusting to 
 our reason at the same time, as will be shewn in 
 the notes.* We will, therefore, give the reader, 
 
 * As will be shewn in the notes. As, in venturing to depart 
 from what Camden has said, we, at the same time, leave the great 
 road in which all our other writers have travelled, it is but just 
 
 B 
 
2 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 in this place, a plainer account, as early in its rise, 
 supported by good authority, and, in all its circum 
 stances, very agreeable to the sequel of his story, 
 
 that we should give the world a full account of the motives which 
 induced us to take this step, that it may clearly appear it did not 
 proceed from singularity, but necessity. Our learned historian, 
 
 1 Camden's speaking of the events 1 which happened in the year 1580, has 
 
 Annals, p. 315. 
 
 these words: " About this time returned into England Francis 
 
 Drake, having acquired great wealth, and greater reputation, by 
 prosperously sailing round about the world ; being, if not the first 
 of all which could challenge this glory, yet, questionless, the first 
 but Magellan, whom death cut off in the midst of his voyage. 
 This Drake, to relate no more than what I have heard from him 
 self, was born of mean parentage in Devonshire, and had Francis 
 Russel, afterwards Earl of Bedford, for his godfather, who, according 
 to the custom, gave him his Christian name. Whilst he was yet 
 a child, his father, embracing the Protestant doctrine, was called 
 in question by the law of the Six Articles made by Henry VIII. 
 against the Protestants, fled his country, and withdrew himself 
 into Kent. After the death of King Henry, he got a place 
 among the seamen in the king's navy to read prayers to them, 
 and, soon after, he was ordained deacon, and made vicar of the 
 church of Upnore upon the river Medway, where the royal fleet 
 usually rides. But, by reason of his poverty, he put his son 
 apprentice to the master of a bark, his neighbour, who held him 
 closely to his business, by which he made him an able seaman; 
 his bark being employed in coasting along the shore, and some 
 times in carrying merchandise into Zealand and France. The 
 youth, being painful and diligent, so pleased the old man by his 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 leaving it to his judgment to piece therewith the 
 
 chief points in Camden's relation ; b which may be b His accounts 
 
 are followed 
 
 also reputed truths, if we knew with certainty how also in Fuller's 
 
 Holy State, 
 p. 123; 
 
 industry, that, being a bachelor, at his death he bequeathed his Prince's Wor 
 
 thies of Devon, 
 bark unto him by his last will." It falls out unhappily for this p 2 36; 
 
 story, that the parts of it are not consistent. If Drake was in ngs ero, 
 
 his tender years, or childhood, when his father was persecuted on 
 
 the score of the Six Articles, he must have been born a good 
 
 while before the year 1539; 1 and if so, how could Sir Francis ' Burnet's 
 
 Russel be his godfather, who was himself born in 1527 ? 2 so that, 
 
 without much straining this account, they might be both of an vol. i. p. 256. 
 age. It is very certain, that Mr. Drake was but a young man froj ^^g 
 
 when Sir John Hawkins made him captain of the Judith ; but, scription on his 
 
 , monument. 
 
 according to this computation, he was thirty-five or thirty-six at 
 
 least. It is allowed by all the writers of his time, that he died 
 in the flower of his age, which could not well be said if he had 
 been between sixty and seventy. As to the account which I have 
 followed, we have it from John Stowe, who was a very indus 
 trious, careful man, and particularly inquisitive into things of this 
 
 nature. 3 Besides, as the reader sees in the text, he settles every 3 See the Life 
 
 of Mr. Stowe, 
 step of his advancement ; and affirming that he was m the twenty- wr i tten by 
 
 second year of his age when he became captain of the Judith, the Rev - Mr - 
 
 Strype, pre- 
 this fixes his birth to 1545, since he was vested with that command fixed to his 
 
 in October 1566. By fixing this date, the facts mentioned by 
 
 Camden from the mouth of Sir Francis Drake become very pro- of London. 
 
 bable; for Sir Francis Russel might well be his godfather, and 
 
 all the events follow that he sets down only the persecution his 
 
 father suffered must have been in the reign of Queen Mary ; which 
 
 is the more probable, if we consider that Camden himself assures 
 
4 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 c See this fur- to reconcile and bring them in. c According, then, 
 
 ther explained 
 
 in the note, to this other account, I find he was the son of one 
 
 p. 14. 
 
 Edmund Drake, an honest sailor, and born near 
 Tavistock in the year 1545, being the eldest of 
 twelve brethren, and brought up at the expense, 
 and under the care, of his kinsman, Sir John 
 Hawkins. It is likewise said, that, at the age of 
 eighteen, he was purser of a ship trading to Biscay ; 
 at twenty, he made a voyage to Guinea; and, at 
 the age of twenty-two, had the honour to be ap 
 pointed captain of the Judith, and in that capacity 
 was in the harbour of St. Juan d'Ulloa, in the 
 Gulf of Mexico, where he behaved most gallantly 
 in the glorious actions under Sir John Hawkins, 
 and returned with him into England with a very 
 d stowe's An- great reputation, but not worth a groat. d Upon 
 
 nals, p. 807- 
 
 this he conceived a design of making reprisals on 
 the King of Spain, which, some say, was put into 
 his head by the minister of his ship ; and, to be 
 sure, in sea-divinity the case was clear : the King 
 of Spain's subjects had undone Mr. Drake, and 
 therefore Mr. Drake was at liberty to take the best 
 
 us, Queen Elizabeth, in the beginning of her reign, made that 
 
 establishment of the fleet in the river Medway, where Drake's 
 
 1 Annal. Eliz. father read prayers to the seamen. 1 Neither is this the only mis- 
 
 Q/% 
 
 take in Sir Francis Drake's story by that author. 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 5 
 
 satisfaction he could on the subjects of the King of 
 Spain. 6 This doctrine, how rudely soever preached, e Prince's 
 
 Worthies of 
 
 was very taking in England; and therefore he no Devon, p. 236. 
 
 sooner published his design, than he had numbers 
 
 of volunteers ready to accompany him, though they 
 
 had no such pretence to colour their proceedings 
 
 as he had/ In 1570 he made his first expedition f stowe' S An. 
 
 nals, p. 807 ; 
 
 with two ships, the Dragon and the Swan; and Camden'sAn- 
 
 nals, p. 351. 
 
 the next year in the Swan alone, wherein he re 
 turned safe, if not rich.* And having now means 
 
 * Wherein he returned safe, if not rich. We have no parti 
 cular account of these two voyages, or what he performed in them. 
 They were made in the years 1570 and 1571 ; and there is nothing 
 clearer than that Captain Drake had two great points in view ; the 
 one was, to inform himself perfectly of the situation and strength 
 of certain places in the Spanish West Indies; the other to con 
 vince his countrymen, that, notwithstanding what had happened 
 to Captain Hawkins in his last voyage, it was a thing very prac 
 ticable to sail into these parts and return in safety ; for it is to be 
 observed, that Hawkins and Drake separated in the West Indies, 
 and that the former, finding it impossible to bring all his crew 
 home to England, had set a part of them, but with their own 
 consents, ashore in the bay of Mexico; and these being looked 
 upon as so many men lost, and indeed very few of them found 
 their way home, the terror of such a captivity as these poor men 
 
 were known to endure had a great effect. 1 But Captain Drake, J See the ac- 
 
 . . counts of John 
 
 in these two voyages, having very wisely avoided coming to blows Qxenham's 
 
 with the Spaniards, and bringing home sufficient returns to satisfy voyage, in Hak. 
 
 J luyt,p.594. 
 
6 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 sufficient to perform greater matters, as well as 
 
 skill to conduct them, he laid the plan of a more 
 
 important design with respect to himself and to 
 
 sir Francis his enemies. 8 This he put into execution on the 
 
 Drake revived, 
 
 by Philip Ni- 24th of March, 1572 ; on which day he sailed from 
 
 chols, preacher, i i 11 i i T i f 
 
 a4to. of 94 Plymouth, himself in a ship called the Pascha, 01 
 
 burthen of seventy tons, and his brother, John 
 
 Frands b Drake, Drake > in the Swan > of twenty-five tons burthen, 
 baronet, his their whole strength consisting of no more than 
 
 nephew. 
 
 seventy- three men and boys ; and, with this incon 
 siderable force, on the 22d of July he attacked the 
 town of Nombre de Dios, which then served the 
 Spaniards for the same purposes (though not so 
 conveniently) as those for which they now use 
 Porto Bello. He took it in a few hours by storm, 
 notwithstanding a very dangerous wound he re 
 ceived in the action; yet, after all, they were no 
 great gainers, but, after a very brisk action, were 
 obliged to betake themselves to their ships with 
 very little booty. His next attempt was to plunder 
 
 his owners, dissipated these apprehensions, as well as raised his 
 own character ; so that, at his return from his second voyage, he 
 found it no difficult matter to raise such a strength as might 
 enable him to perform what he had long meditated in his own 
 mind, but which he never would have been able to effect but by 
 pursuing this cautious method. 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 7 
 
 the mules, laden with silver, which passed from 
 Vera Cruz to Nombre de Dios ; but in this scheme, 
 too, he was disappointed. However, he attacked 
 the town of Vera Cruz, carried it, and got some 
 little plunder. In their return, they unexpectedly 
 met with a string of fifty mules laden with plate, 
 of which they carried off as much as they could, 
 and buried the rest. In these expeditions he was 
 very much assisted by a nation of Indians, who 
 then were, and yet are, engaged in a perpetual 
 war with the Spaniards. The prince, or captain, 
 of these people at this time was named Pedro, to 
 whom Captain Drake presented a fine cutlass which 
 he wore, and to which he saw the Indian had a 
 mind. Pedro, in return, gave him four large wedges 
 of gold, all which Captain Drake threw into the 
 common stock, with this remarkable expression, 
 " That he thought it but just, that such as bore 
 the charge of so uncertain a voyage on his credit, 
 should share the utmost advantages that voyage 
 produced." Then embarking his men with all the 
 wealth he had obtained, which was very consider 
 able, he bore away for England, and was so fortu 
 nate as to sail in twenty-three days from Florida 
 to the Isles of Scilly, and thence, without any 
 accident, to Plymouth, where he arrived the 9th 
 
8 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 "See that re- of August, 1573. h His success in this expedition, 
 
 lation ; as also 
 
 Camden'sAn- joined to his honourable behaviour towards his 
 
 nals, p. 351 ; 
 
 stowe, HoUin- owners, gamed him a high reputation, and the use 
 
 shed, and , ., . 
 
 Speed. "6 made 01 his riches still a greater ; for, fitting 
 
 out three stout frigates at his own expense, he 
 sailed with them to Ireland, where, under Walter, 
 Earl of Essex (the unfortunate father of that still 
 more unfortunate earl who was beheaded), he served 
 
 ' stowe'sAn. as a volunteer, and did many glorious actions. 1 After 
 
 nals, p. 807- 
 
 the death of his noble patron he returned into Eng 
 land, where Sir Christopher Hatton, who was then 
 vice-chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth, privy coun 
 sellor, and a great favourite, took him under his 
 protection, introduced him to her majesty, and pro- 
 * idem, ibid, cured him her countenance/ By this means he 
 acquired a capacity of undertaking the grand expe 
 dition which will render his name immortal. The 
 thing he first proposed was a voyage into the South 
 Seas through the Straits of Magellan, which was 
 what hitherto no Englishman ever attempted. This 
 project was well received at court, and in a short 
 time Captain Drake saw himself at the height of 
 his wishes; for, in his former voyage, having had 
 a distant prospect of the South Seas, he framed an 
 ardent prayer to God, that he might sail an English 
 ship in them, which he now found an opportunity 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 9 
 
 of attempting, the queen's permission furnishing 
 him with the means, and his own fame quickly 
 drawing to him a force sufficient. 1 * The fleet with 
 
 nals, p.352; 
 
 which "he sailed on this extraordinary undertaking stowe's An. 
 
 nals, p. 689 ; 
 
 consisted of the following ships: The Pelican, prince's Wor- 
 
 thies of Devon, 
 p. 237. 
 
 * Quickly drawing to him a force sufficient. We have ob 
 served in the text, that Captain Drake was the first Englishman, 
 at least so far as we know, that had so much as a sight of the 
 South Seas ; and, as Mr. Camden remarks, he was so inflamed 
 with that sight, as to have no rest in his own mind till he had 
 
 accomplished his purpose of sailing an English ship in those seas. 1 ' Annals, 
 
 p.352. 
 He was not, however, so forward as to tell this to all the world, 
 
 because he foresaw that such an undertaking would be attended 
 
 with many difficulties ; that the navigation was new, and required 
 
 much consideration before it was attempted; that the Spaniards 
 
 were sufficiently alarmed by his last attempt ; and that it would be 
 
 highly rash for him to adventure upon such an enterprise without 
 
 having the sanction of public authority. While he meditated this 
 
 great design in his own mind, without communicating it to any, 
 
 he took care to procure the best lights he could to engage several 
 
 bold and active men to serve under him wherever he went, and, 
 
 by a well'timed display of public spirit, made himself known to, 
 
 and gained some powerful friends at court. 2 But while he was * Stowe's An- 
 
 thus wisely and warily contriving what he afterwards so happily 
 
 executed, one John Oxeuham, who had served as a soldier, a sea- 
 
 
 
 man, and a cook, and had gained great reputation by his gallant 
 behaviour in the last voyage under him, believed he had penetrated 
 Captain Drake's scheme, and thought to be beforehand with him 
 
 C 
 
10 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 commanded by himself, of the burthen of one hun 
 dred tons ; the Elizabeth, vice-admiral, eighty tons, 
 under Captain John Winter; the Marygold, a bark 
 of thirty tons, commanded by Captain John Thomas; 
 
 in the execution of it. Accordingly, in 1575, this man sailed in 
 a bark of one hundred and forty tons burthen, with seventy brave 
 fellows, to Nombre de Dios, where, laying his bark up in a creek, 
 he marched across the isthmus with his companions, got into the 
 South Seas with some canoes, and took two Spanish ships with an 
 immense treasure in gold and silver. But wanting Drake's abilities 
 and generosity, though he was little, if at all, inferior to him in 
 courage, he fell out with his men, which occasioned such a delay 
 in his return, that the Spaniards found and recovered the treasure, 
 afterwards destroyed many, and at length took him and some of 
 his companions, whom, for want of a commission to justify their 
 
 1 Hakluyt's proceedings, they hanged as pirates. 1 Captain Drake, before he 
 Voyages, 
 
 5J)4 . had any knowledge of the issue of this business, and being ac- 
 
 Camden's An- q ua j n ted with no more than was public throughout all the west 
 nals, p. 353. 
 
 of England, that Oxenham was sailed upon some such design, 
 
 brought his own project to bear by the means mentioned in the 
 
 2 Stowe's An- text, 2 and easily obtained a force sufficient to accomplish it, 
 nals, p. 689. 
 
 which, all things considered, must at this day appear a very 
 
 extraordinary event, more especially if we consider that he never 
 disclosed his real intention after he had his commission, nor 
 indeed could disclose it with safety, and yet made all his prepa 
 rations so judiciously, that it does not appear any other circum- 
 navigator met with fewer discouragements than he, who performed 
 all by the light of his own judgment, and at the expense of private 
 persons who had an entire confidence in him. 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. . 11 
 
 the Swan, a fly-boat of fifty tons, under Captain 
 John Chester; and the Christopher, a pinnace of 
 fifteen tons, under Captain Thomas Moon. m In this. 
 
 Annals, 
 
 fleet were embarked no more than one hundred and P .354 ; 
 
 Hakluyt's 
 
 sixty-four able men, and all the necessary provi- voyages, 
 sions for so long and dangerous a voyage ; the ^ 748 . 
 intent of which, however, was not openly declared, p y chas ' s p , ll ~ 
 
 J ' gnms, vol. i. 
 
 but given out to be for Alexandria, though all men ? 46 - 
 suspected, and many knew, he intended for America. 
 Thus equipped, on the 15th of November, 1577, 
 about three in the afternoon, he sailed for Ply 
 mouth ; but a heavy storm, taking him as soon as 
 he was out of port, forced him, in a very bad con 
 dition, into Falmouth to refit ; which having expe- 
 ditiously performed, he again put to sea the 13th 
 of December following." On the 25th of the same n Camden's 
 
 Annals, p. 354. 
 
 month he fell in with the coast of Barbary, and on 
 the 29th with Cape Verd; the 13th of March he 
 passed the equinoctial ; the 5th of April he made 
 the coast of Brazil in 30 north latitude, and entered 
 the River de la Plata, where he lost the company 
 of two of his ships ; but meeting them again, and 
 having taken out of them all the provisions they 
 had on board, he turned them adrift. On the 29th 
 of May he entered the port of St. Julian, where he 
 did the least commendable action of his life, in exe- 
 
12 
 
 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 See the rela 
 tion in Hak- 
 luyt, vol. iii. 
 p. 733; all 
 which is omit 
 ted in the re 
 vised account 
 in Purchas, to 
 which we be 
 fore referred. 
 
 1 See the rela 
 tion of this 
 voyage in 
 Hakluyt, 
 vol. iii. p. 733; 
 English Hero, 
 or Sir Francis 
 Drake revived, 
 p. 71. 
 
 cuting Mr. John Doughty, a man next in authority ' 
 to himself; in which, however, he preserved a great 
 appearance of justice. * On the 20th of August 
 he entered the Straits of Magellan ; on the 25th of 
 
 * A great appearance of justice. This is by much the most 
 remarkable passage in the life of our hero in reference to his moral 
 character, and for which, as we shall see, he has been very severely 
 censured. We will first state the matter of fact briefly and plainly ; 
 then mention the surmises which have been raised thereupon; 
 and, lastly, shew the reader what has been, or may be, alleged in 
 his justification, which we take to be the true course of rendering 
 works of this kind useful ; since, in other books, the actions of 
 great men are seen only in particular lights, according as the 
 author's subject, or sometimes his humour, inclines him to place 
 them; but the business of a biographer is, from the relation of 
 facts, to shew what the man of whom he is speaking really was. 
 Let us proceed, then, in the present case, to the business. 
 
 On the 18th of June, Captain Drake arrived with his small 
 fleet at Port St. Julian, which lies within one degree of the Straits 
 of Magellan, where he continued about two months, during which 
 time he made the necessary provision for passing the Straits with 
 safety. 1 Here it was, that, on a sudden, having carried the prin 
 cipal persons engaged in the service to a desert island lying in 
 the bay, he called a kind of council -of -war, or rather court- 
 martial, where he exposed his commission, by which the queen 
 granted him the power of life and death, which was delivered 
 him with this remarkable expression from her own mouth : " We 
 do account, that he, Drake, who strikes at thee, does strike at us." 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 13 
 
 September he passed them, having then only his 
 own ship, which, in the South Seas, he new named 
 the Hind ; on the 25th of November he came to 
 Machao, in the latitude of thirty degrees, where he 
 
 He then laid open with great eloquence (for, though his education 
 was but indifferent, he had a wonderful power of speech,) the 
 cause of this assembly ; he proceeded next to charge Mr. John 
 Doughty, who had been second in command during the whole 
 voyage, when Drake was present, and first in his absence, with 
 plotting the destruction of the undertaking, and the murder of 
 his person. He said, he had the first notice of this gentleman's 
 bad intentions before he left England; but that he was in hopes 
 his behaviour towards him would have extinguished such disposi 
 tions, if there had been any truth in the information. He then 
 appealed for his behaviour to the whole assembly, and to the 
 gentleman accused : he next exposed his practices from the time 
 they left England, while he lived towards him with all the kind 
 ness and cordiality of a brother, which charge he supported by 
 producing papers under his own hand, to which Mr. Doughty 
 added a full and free confession. After this, the captain, or, as 
 in the language of those times he is called, the general, quitted 
 the place, telling the assembly he expected that they should pass 
 a verdict upon him, for he would be no judge in his own cause. 
 Camden, as the reader will see, says that he tried him by a jury ; 
 but other accounts affirm, that the whole forty persons of which 
 the court was composed adjudged him to death, and gave this in 
 writing under their hands and seals, leaving the time and manner 
 of it to the general. Mr. Doughty himself said, that he desired 
 rather to die by the hands of justice than to be his own execu- 
 
14 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 had appointed a rendezvous in case his ships sepa 
 rated : but Captain Winter, having repassed the 
 Straits, was returned to England. Thence he con- 
 
 tioner. Upon this, Captain Drake, having maturely weighed the 
 whole matter, presented three points to Mr. Doughty's choice : 
 first, to be executed upon the island where they were; next, to 
 be set ashore on the main land ; or, lastly, to be sent he me to 
 abide the justice of his country. He desired he might have till 
 the next day to consider of these, which was allowed him; and 
 then, giving his reasons for rejecting the two last, he declared 
 that he made the first his choice ; and having received the sacra 
 ment with the general from the hands of Mr. Francis Fletcher, 
 chaplain to the fleet, and made a full confession, his head was 
 cut off with an axe by the provost marshal, July 2d, 1578. It 
 is very remarkable, that this island had been the scene of another 
 affair, precisely of the same nature, fifty-eight years before, when 
 Magellan caused John de Carthagena, who was joined in commis 
 sion with him by the King of Spain, to be hanged for the like 
 
 1 Sir William offence ; and hence it was called the Island of True Justice. 1 
 
 val Tracts ^ s to tne i m P utat i ns which this matter brought upon Drake, 
 
 p. 396. we w in fi rs t c it e w hat Camden says of this transaction. 2 " On 
 
 2 Annal< Eliz- the 26th of April, entering into the mouth of the River of Plate, 
 
 he saw an infinite number of sea-calves. From thence sailing 
 into the haven of St. Julian, he found a gibbet, set up, as is 
 thought, by Magellan, for the punishment of certain mutineers. 
 In this very place, John Doughty, an industrious and stout man, 
 and the next unto Drake, was called to his trial for raising a 
 mutiny in the fleet, found guilty by twelve men after the English 
 manner, and condemned to death, which he suffered undauntedly, 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 15 
 
 tinued his voyage along the coasts of Chili and 
 Peru, taking all opportunities of seizing Spanish 
 ships, or of landing and attacking them on shore, 
 
 being beheaded, having first received the holy communion with . 
 Drake. And, indeed, the most impartial persons in the fleet were 
 of opinion that he had acted seditiously, and that Drake cut him 
 off as an emulator of his glory, and om that regarded not so 
 much whom he himself excelled in commendations for sea matters, 
 as who he thought might equal him. Yet wanted there not some 
 who, pretending to understand things better than others, gave out 
 that Drake had in charge from Leicester to take off Doughty upon 
 any pretence whatever, because he had reported that the Earl of 
 Essex was made away by the cunning practices of that earl." 
 We find this matter touched in several other books, and particu 
 larly in two which were written on purpose to expose the Earl of 
 
 Leicester, and perhaps deserving the less credit for that reason. 1 ' Leicester's 
 
 Common- 
 It may be offered, in defence of Sir Francis Drake, that this ^^^ p .4i ; 
 
 man was openly put to death, after as fair a trial as the circum- Leicester ' s 
 
 Ghost, 
 stances of time and place would permit; that he submitted patiently stanzas 112, 
 
 113 
 
 to his sentence, and received the sacrament with Drake, whom he 
 
 embraced immediately before his execution. Besides these, there 
 are two points which deserve particular consideration : fast, that 
 in such expeditions strict discipline and legal severity are often 
 absolutely necessary; secondly, that as to the Earl of Essex, for 
 whose death Doughty had expressed concern, he was Drake's first 
 patron, and it is therefore very improbable he should destroy a 
 man for endeavouring to detect his murder. We may add to all 
 this, if liberty may be indulged to conjectures, that this man, 
 presuming upon the Earl of Leicester's favour (who very probably 
 
16 
 
 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 P Sir William 
 Monson'g Na 
 val Tracts, 
 p. 400. See 
 also some re 
 marks on this 
 passage in 
 Dampier's 
 Voyages. 
 
 till his crew were sated with plunder; and then 
 coasting North America, to the height of forty-eight 
 degrees, he endeavoured to find a passage back 
 into our seas on that side, which is the strongest 
 proof of his consummate skill and invincible cou 
 rage ; for, if ever such a passage be found to the 
 northward, this, in all probability, will be the 
 method : and we can scarcely conceive a clearer 
 testimony of an undaunted spirit, than attempting 
 discoveries after so long, so hazardous, and so 
 fatiguing a voyage. p Here, being disappointed of 
 what he sought, he landed, and called the country 
 New Albion, taking possession of it in the name, 
 and for the use, of Queen Elizabeth ; and, having 
 careened his ship, set sail from thence, on the 29th 
 of September, 1579, for the Moluccas. The reason 
 
 imposed him upon Drake to be rid of him), was thence encouraged 
 to form designs against Drake ; and this might also be the reason 
 which hindered him from inclining to an absolute pardon, as 
 doubting whether it was possible to trust one who had so far 
 abused his confidence already, and whose known interest with so 
 great a man might always enable him to find instruments, in 
 case he was wicked enough to enter upon fresh intrigues. All 
 this, however, is submitted entirely to the reader's judgment; 
 since it is our design only to furnish proper lights from the 
 intelligence which has come to our hands, but by no means to 
 aim at imposing our sense of things upon the public. 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 17 
 
 of Captain Drake's choosing this passage round, 
 rather than returning by, the Straits of Magellan, 
 was partly the danger of being attacked at a great 
 disadvantage by the Spaniards, and partly the late 
 ness of the season, whence dangerous storms and 
 hurricanes were to be apprehended.* 1 Perhaps, too, 
 
 accounts of 
 
 he gave out amongst his seamen, that he was de- this voyage in 
 
 the authors 
 
 terred by the confident, though false, report of the before men. 
 Spaniards, that the Straits could not be repassed.* 
 
 * That the Straits could not be repassed. In spreading this 
 report, the Spaniards certainly acted very wisely, for it intimidated 
 even the boldest navigators of 'other nations from attempting this 
 passage, from an apprehension that, when they were once in 
 those seas, they should never get out again ; but either fall into 
 the hands of the Spaniards, from whom they could hope no 
 mercy, or perish by famine before they could possibly reach the 
 
 East Indies. 1 It is very evident from Captain Drake's conduct, ' See Observa 
 tions on the 
 for we have no other way left of coming at his sentiments, that p assa g e into 
 
 he had maturely weighed all these things before he left England. the South Seas 
 
 by the Straits 
 
 He carried five ships with him to Port St. Julian, that the people of F. Magellan, 
 might be more at their ease, and have greater plenty of provisions ; ^\ 
 
 but when he came thither he broke up two of them, that there the Voyages 
 
 made through 
 might be less danger of separating in strange seas, which, though t h em down to 
 
 it failed him, was, nevertheless, a just precaution. In the next SirJohnNar - 
 
 borough's. 
 place, it appears that he had formed a design of returning by 
 
 a new passage, which, though often attempted on the other side, 
 no Englishman could ever have thought to have tried in this 
 manner, because, till he opened the way, none had the least 
 
 D 
 
18 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 On the 13th of October he fell in with certain 
 islands, inhabited by the most barbarous people 
 he had met with in all his voyage. On the 4th 
 of November he had sight of the Moluccas, and, 
 coming to Ternate, was extremely well received 
 by the king thereof, who appears, from the most 
 
 notion of entering these seas. Lastly, he had taken great care 
 to victual himself properly, that if this design failed, as it did, 
 he might be in a condition to follow the example of Magellan. 
 In order to encourage his people to this, he seemed to give credit 
 to the opinion propagated by the Spaniards, of the great danger 
 in repassing the Straits of Magellan, which, however, were actually 
 repassed by Captain John Winter, though Drake and his company 
 could know nothing of this at that time. But, that Captain Drake 
 could not apprehend any impossibility in the thing itself, we may 
 be assured from hence, that in this very voyage he had not only 
 passed the Straits, but had also been driven back again, not 
 through the Straits indeed, but in the open sea; of which we 
 have a very distinct account given us from his own mouth, by 
 his relation, Sir Richard Hawkins, which is very curious, and 
 
 1 Observations well deserves the reader's notice: 1 " In all the Straits it ebbeth 
 
 in his Voyage 
 
 to the South an< ^ floweth more or less, and in many places it riseth very little, 
 
 Sea, pp. 95, 96. but j n some b a y s where are great in-draughts it rises eight or 
 ten feet, and doubtless farther in more. If a man be furnished 
 with wood and water, and the wind good, he may keep the main 
 sea, and go round about the Straits to the southwards, and it is 
 the shorter way ; for, besides the experience which we made, that 
 all the south part of the Straits is but islands, many times having 
 the sea open, I remember that Sir Francis Drake told me, that, 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 19 
 
 authentic relations of this voyage, to have been a 
 wise and polite prince. On the 10th of December 
 he made Celebes, where his ship unfortunately ran 
 on a rock the 9th of January following, whence, 
 beyond all expectation, and in a manner miracu 
 lously, they got off, and continued their course. 
 
 having shot the Straits, a storm took him first at north-west, and 
 afterwards veered about to the south-west, which continued with 
 him many days with that extremity that he could not open any 
 sail, and that at the end of the storm he found himself in fifty 
 degrees, which was sufficient testimony and proof that he was 
 beaten round about the Straits ; for the least height of the Straits 
 is in fifty-two degrees and fifty minutes, in which stand the two 
 entrances or mouths. And moreover, he said, that, standing 
 about when the wind changed, he was not well able to double 
 the southernmost island, and so anchored under the lee of it; 
 and going ashore, carried a compass with him, and seeking out 
 the southernmost part of the island, cast himself down upon the 
 uttermost point, grovelling, and so reached out his body over it. 
 Soon after he embarked, where he acquainted his people that he 
 had been upon the southernmost known land in the world, and 
 further to the southward upon it than any of them, or any man 
 as yet known. These testimonies may suffice for this truth unto 
 all but such as are incredulous, and will believe nothing but 
 what they see ; for my part, I am of opinion that the Strait 
 is navigable all the year long, although the best time be in 
 November, December, and January, and then the winds are 
 more favourable, which at other times are variable, as in all 
 narrow seas." 
 
20 I-IFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 On the 16th of March he arrived at Java Major; 
 thence he intended to have proceeded for Malacca, 
 but found himself obliged to alter his purpose, and 
 think of returning directly home/ On the 25th of 
 
 Voyages, 
 
 voi.iii. p. 748. March, 1580, he put this design in execution; and, 
 on the 15th of June, he doubled the Cape of Good 
 Hope, having then on board his ship fifty-seven 
 men, and but three casks of water. On the 12th 
 of July he passed the Line, reached the coast of 
 Guinea on the 16th, and there watered. On the 
 llth of September he made the island of Tercera, 
 and, on the 3d day of November the same year, 
 entered the harbour of Plymouth. In this voyage 
 he completely surrounded the globe, which no com- 
 
 * Purchase mander-in-chief had done before. 5 * His success in 
 
 Pilgrims, vol. i. 
 
 pp. 46 57; 
 
 Hakluyt, 
 
 vol. iii. p. 742. * Which no commander-in-chief had done before. The first 
 
 into whose thoughts the possibility of this entered was the cele 
 brated Christopher Columbus, whose knowledge in the art of navi 
 gation, when one considers the defects in philosophy and astronomy 
 1 See his Life, in his time, appears perfectly amazing. 1 Sir John Cabot, father to 
 son hTthe Sebastian Cabot, who was contemporary with Columbus, compre- 
 
 second volume bended his principles perfectly, which induced him to propose to 
 
 of Churchill's 
 
 Collection of our King Henry the Seventh the finding a north-west passage. 
 
 Voyages. Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese by birth, offered his service to 
 
 the crown of Spain, and proposed searching for a passage to the 
 south, which was accepted. He sailed from St. Lucar, September 
 the 20th, 1519; he found and passed the Straits, which bear his 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 21 
 
 the voyage, end the immense mass of wealth he 
 brought home, raised much discourse throughout 
 the kingdom, some highly commending, and some 
 as loudly decrying him. The former alleged, that 
 his exploit was not only honourable to himself, 
 but to his country; that it would establish our 
 reputation for maritime skill in foreign nations, 
 
 name, the next year, but in his return was killed in the East 
 Indies. His ship came back safe to Spain ; and as this was the 
 first, so it was the only example that Captain Drake had to 
 encourage him in his design; and, to balance this, there were a 
 multitude of unfortunate attempts afterwards. In 1527, the Spa 
 niards sent Garcia de Loaisa, a knight of Malta, with a squadron 
 of seven ships, to follow the route of Magellan. He passed the 
 Straits indeed ; lost some of his ships in the South Seas ; others 
 put into the ports of New Spain ; and only his vessel and another 
 reached the East Indies, where himself and all his people perished. 
 Another squadron of seven ships, fitted out by the Bishop of Pla- 
 centia, had no better fortune ; for, having reached the South Seas, 
 they were so discouraged that they proceeded no farther. In 1526, 
 the Genoese sent two ships to pass these Straits, of which one was 
 cast away, and the other returned home without effecting any 
 thing. Sebastian Cabot, in the service of the crown of Portugal, 
 made the like trial; but, not being able to find the Straits, re 
 turned into the River of Plate. Americus Vespusius, from whom 
 the New World received its name, undertook to perform, in the 
 service of the crown of Portugal, what Cabot had promised ; but 
 this vain man was still more unlucky, for he could not find either 
 
22 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 and raise a useful spirit of emulation at home ; 
 and that as to the money, our merchants having 
 suffered deeply from the faithless practices of the 
 Spaniards, there was nothing more just than that 
 the nation should receive the benefit of Drake's 
 reprisals. The other party alleged, that, in fact, 
 he was no better than a pirate ; that, of all others, 
 
 the Straits or the River of Plate. Some years after, the Spaniards 
 equipped a stout squadron under the command of Simon de Alca- 
 sara, but, before they reached the height of the Straits, the sailors 
 
 1 See large mutinied, and obliged their commander to return. 1 Such repeated 
 
 accounts of 
 
 these voyages misfortunes discouraged even the ablest and boldest seaman; so 
 
 in Eden, that, from this time, both Spaniards and strangers dropped all 
 
 Ilakluy t, and 
 
 Purchas. thoughts of emulating Magellan; and highly probable it is, that, 
 
 if Captain Drake had fully disclosed his design, he had not been 
 more fortunate than the rest. His courage, therefore, may well 
 be admired, who durst endeavour an enterprise, the declaring of 
 which had infallibly destroyed it: and his sagacity in navigating 
 seas wholly unknown, as well in his return as in his going out 
 (for not a man on board his ship had ever seen the Cape of 
 Good Hope), can hardly be enough admired. His intrepidity in 
 sailing so far to the north, in hopes of coming that way home, 
 was very surprising; and the methods he took through all the 
 voyage to keep his people steady, in full spirits, and, for the 
 most part, in good health, must give us a very high idea of his 
 capacity ; and therefore, we need not at all wonder that, upon 
 his coming to England, his fame rose to such a height as to 
 provoke envy as well as praise. 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 23 
 
 it least became a trading nation to encourage such 
 practices ; that it was not only a direct breach of 
 all our late treaties with Spain, but likewise of our 
 old leagues with the house of Burgundy ; and that 
 the consequences would be much more fatal than 
 the benefits reaped from it could be advantageous. 
 Things continued in this uncertainty during the 
 remainder of the year 1580, and the spring of the 
 succeeding year. At length they took a better 
 turn; for, on the 4th of April, 1581, her Majesty 
 going to Deptford in Kent, went on board Captain 
 Drake's ship, where, after dinner, she conferred on 
 him the honour of knighthood, and declared her 
 absolute approbation of all that he had done, to 
 the confusion of his enemies, and to the great joy 
 of his friends. 1 She likewise gave directions for * Camden's 
 
 Annals, p. 351; 
 
 the preservation of his ship, that it might remain sir Wm. MOD. 
 
 c , . 1 i > i son's Naval 
 
 a monument of his own and his country s glory. Tracts, P .40o ; 
 
 In process of time, the vessel decaying, it was 
 broken up; but a chair, made of the planks, was Unshed ; Spee<L 
 presented to the University of Oxford, and is still 
 preserved."* In 1585, he sailed again to the West "SeeMr.cow- 
 
 ley's Poems, 
 edit. 1680, 
 
 * And is still preserved. It is observed by Mr. Camden, that, pp> 8 > 42 ' 
 when the queen went to dine on board the Golden Hind, there 
 was such a concourse of people that the wooden bridge over 
 which they passed broke, and upwards of an hundred persons 
 
24 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 Indies, having under his command Captain Chris 
 topher Carlisle, Captain Martin Frobisher, Captain 
 Francis Knollys, and many other officers of great 
 
 fell into the river ; by which accident, however, there was nobody 
 hurt; as if, says he, that ship had been built under some lucky 
 constellation. Upon this occasion the following- verses, made by 
 
 1 Camden's the scholars of Winchester College, were nailed to the mainmast. 1 
 Annals, p. 359. 
 
 Plus ultra, Herculeis inscribas, Drace, columnis, 
 
 Et magno, dicas, Hercule major ero. 
 In English thus : 
 
 His pillars pass'd, thou, Drake, may'st boldly claim, 
 Than Hercules the great, a greater name. 
 
 Drace, pererrati quern novit terminus orbis, 
 Quemque simul mundi vidit uterque Polus ; 
 
 Si taceant homines, facient te sidera notum. 
 Sol nescit comitis non memor esse sui. 
 
 Which may be rendered : 
 
 Exposed to thee have earth's last limits been, 
 Thou at like distance both the Poles hast seen ; 
 Were mankind mute, the stars thy fame would blaze, 
 And Phoebus sing his old companion's praise. 
 
 Digna ratis quae stet radiantibus inclyta stellis ; 
 Supremo cceli vertice digna ratis. 
 
 Thus translated : 
 
 Amidst the stars, thy ship were fitly placed, 
 And stars, in gracing it, be doubly graced. 
 
 1 Britannia, The same learned author, in another famous work of his, 1 takes 
 loJ^iofM notice of a circumstance very extraordinary in relation to this 
 
 Pp* UUO) 1O-4. 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 25 
 
 reputation. In that expedition he took the cities 
 of St. Jago, St. Domingo, Carthagena, and St. Au- 
 gustin; exceeding even the expectation of his friends, 
 
 celebrated ship, which is so strange in itself, that we should 
 have passed it by in a writer of less credit; but what Gamden 
 thought fit to record of things happening in his own time, it 
 might be justly thought a fault in us to omit. Speaking of the 
 shire of Buchan in Scotland, he says : " It is hardly worth while 
 to mention the clayks, a sort of geese, which are believed by 
 some, with great admiration, to grow upon trees on this coast 
 and in other places, and, when they are ripe, to fall down into 
 the sea, because neither their nests nor eggs can any where be 
 found. But they who saw ttie ship in which Sir Francis Drake 
 sailed round the world, when it was laid up in the river Thames, 
 could testify that little birds bred in the old rotten keels of ships, 
 since a great number of such, without life and feathers, stuck 
 close to the outside of the keel of that ship. Yet I should think 
 that the generation of these birds was not from the logs of wood, 
 but from the sea, termed, by the poets, the parent of all things." 
 But to proceed in our narration. Time, that destroys all things, 
 having made great breaches in this ship, which for many years 
 had been contemplated with just admiration at Deptford, it was 
 at length broke up ; and a chair, made out of the planks, was, 
 by John Davies, Esq., presented to the University of Oxford, upon 
 which the famous Abraham Cowley made the following epigram, 
 that neither the hero nor his vessel might want the assistance of 
 
 the Muses to render them immortal :* ' Cowley's 
 
 Works, vol. ii, 
 To this great ship, which round the world has run, ? 563. 
 
 And match'd in race the chariot of the sun ; 
 E 
 
26 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 and the hopes of the common people, though both 
 * Hakiuyt, were sanguine to the last degree/ Yet the profits 
 
 vol. iii. p. 534 ; _ . . . . 
 
 . Mon- oi this expedition were but moderate; the design 
 a p. 269. f Sir Francis being rather to weaken the enemy 
 n. than t enrich himself/ In 1587 he proceeded to 
 
 nals, p. 353 ; 
 
 stowe's Ann. Lisbon w ^h a fleet of thirty sail : and having intel- 
 
 p.709; Hoi- 
 
 Unshed ; speed. Hgence of a great fleet assembled in the bay of 
 Monson's Cadiz, which was to have made part of the armada, 
 Naval i cts, j^ w j t k g reat coura g e) entered that port, and burnt 
 
 there upwards of ten thousand tons of shipping ; 
 and after having performed all the service that the 
 state could expect, he resolved to do his utmost 
 to content the merchants of London, who had con- 
 
 This Pythagorean ship (for it may claim, 
 
 Without presumption, so deserved a name), 
 
 By knowledge once, and transformation now, 
 
 In her new shape, this sacred port allow. 
 
 Drake and his ship could not have wish'd from Fate 
 
 An happier station, or more blest estate . 
 
 For lo ! a seat of endless rest is given 
 
 To her in Oxford, and to him in heaven. 
 
 To this let us add another, hitherto unpublished 
 
 Thy glory, Drake, extensive as thy mind, 
 
 No time shall tarnish, and no limits bind : 
 
 What greater praise, than thus to match the sun 
 
 Running that race which cannot be outrun ! 
 
 Wide as the world thou compass'd, spreads thy fame, 
 
 And with that world an equal date shall claim. 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 27 
 
 tributed, by a voluntary subscription, to the fitting- 
 out of his fleet. With this view, having intelli 
 gence of a large carrack expected at Tercera from 
 the East Indies, thither he sailed ; and though his 
 men were severely pinched for want of victuals, 
 yet, by fair words and large promises, he prevailed 
 upon them to endure these hardships for a few days, 
 within which space the East India ship arrived, 
 which he took, and carried home in triumph ; so 
 that throughout the whole war there was no expe 
 dition so happily conducted as this, with respect to 
 reputation or profit ; z and therefore we need not stowe's An. 
 
 nals, p. 808; 
 
 wonder, that, upon his return, the mighty applause sirWm.Mon. 
 
 . 11- i son's Naval 
 
 he received might render him somewhat elate, as Tracts, p. 170. 
 his enemies report it did ; but certain it is, that 
 no man's pride had ever a happier turn, since it 
 always vented itself in service to the public.* 
 
 * Since it always vented itself in service to the public. It 
 must be observed, that though, in his voyage round the world, 
 our gallant seaman had the queen's commission, yet he had not 
 the honour to command any of the queen's ships. But, in the 
 expedition of 1 585, Sir Francis Drake went on board one man- 
 of-war, and his vice-admiral, Frobisher, was in another. 1 In this ' See the seve- 
 
 i m L i. j f f ^ i , ral authors re- 
 
 last enterprise, in 1587, he had four of the queens ships, and f erre( i t o in the 
 
 twenty-six sail of several sizes fitted out by the merchants of text> 
 London ; so that, if we consider the expectations which his former 
 successes had raised, his having now several interests to serve, and 
 
28 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 Thus, at this time, he undertook to bring water 
 into the town of Plymouth, through the want of 
 which, till then, it had been grievously distressed ; 
 and he performed it by conducting thither a stream 
 from springs at eight miles' distance, that is to say, 
 in a straight line ; for, in the manner by which he 
 brought it, the course it runs is upwards of twenty 
 a Westcot's miles. a In 1588 Sir Francis Drake was appointed 
 
 Survey of De 
 vonshire, MS. ; vice-admiral under Charles Lord Howard of Effing- 
 
 P . BOS. ham, high admiral of England. Here his fortune 
 
 favoured him as remarkably as ever, for he made 
 prize of a very large galleon commanded by Don 
 Pedro de Valdez, who yielded on the bare mention 
 
 those, in a manner, opposite to each other, one cannot but admit, 
 that this fortune was very singular, as well as his conduct great, 
 that could give full satisfaction to all. Yet this he did in so 
 high a degree, that Sir William Monson confesses, in his Naval 
 Tracts, envy herself knew not what to object, either to the manage- 
 1 Naval Tracts, ment or the issue of this voyage. 1 If, therefore, Sir Francis Drake 
 bore his head a little higher upon his return, it was highly pardon 
 able; and all that we find objected to him is no more than this, 
 that, in the soldier-like language of that time, he very merrily 
 
 4 Bacon's called this, burning the King of Spain's beard. 9 - This expression 
 
 Works, vol. iii. . 
 
 p. 523. was indeed blunt and coarse enough, and yet there is something 
 
 in it expressive : it is on all hands allowed that he did infinite 
 mischief, and retarded thereby the coming of the armada for a 
 whole year. 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 29 
 
 of his name. In this vessel fifty thousand ducats 
 
 were distributed among the seamen and soldiers, 
 
 which preserved that love they had always borne 
 
 to their valiant commander. It must not, however, 
 
 be dissembled, that, through an oversight of his, 
 
 the admiral ran the utmost hazard of being taken . 
 
 by the enemy ; for Drake being appointed, the first 
 
 night of the engagement, to carry lights for the 
 
 direction of the English fleet, he, being in full pur 
 
 suit of some hulks belonging to the Hanse Towns, 
 
 neglected it, which occasioned the admiral's follow 
 
 ing the Spanish lights, and remaining almost in the 
 
 centre of their fleet till morning. However, his 
 
 succeeding services sufficiently effaced the memory 
 
 of this mistake, the greatest execution done on the 
 
 flying Spaniards being performed by the squadron 
 
 under his command. b * The next year he com- b Camd.Ann. 
 
 pp. 565, 573 ; 
 
 manded as admiral at sea the fleet sent to restore 
 
 Don Antonio, king of Portugal, the command of 
 
 Sir Wm. Mon- 
 son's Naval 
 Tracts, p. 172; 
 * Being performed by the squadron under his command. We stowe ; Hollin- 
 
 will begin this note with observing, that, a little before this forrnid- 8 e ' ^ e 
 
 See also the 
 
 able Spanish armament put to sea, the ambassador of his Catholic art. Devereux 
 Majesty had the confidence to propound to Queen Elizabeth, in EariofE^ex 
 Latin verse, the terms upon which she might hope for peace ; 
 
 which, with an English translation by the facetious Dr. Fuller, 1 we ' Holy State, 
 
 p. 303. 
 will present to the view of the reader; the rather, because it 
 
30 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 the land forces being given to Sir John Norris. 
 They were hardly got out to sea before the com 
 manders differed ; though it is on all hands agreed, 
 
 appears that Drake's expeditions to the West Indies make a part 
 of this message. The verses are these : 
 
 Te veto ne pergas bello defendere Belgas : 
 
 Quae Dracus eripuit, mine restituentur oportet : 
 
 Quas pater evertit jubeo te condere cellas : 
 
 Relligio Papae fac restituetur ad unguem. 
 
 In English : 
 
 These to you are our commands, 
 Send no help to the Netherlands ; 
 Of the treasure took by Drake, 
 Restitution you must make ; 
 And those abbeys build anew 
 Which your father overthrew. 
 If for any peace you hope, 
 In all points restore the Pope. 
 
 The queen's extempore return : 
 
 Ad Grsecas, bone Rex, fient mandata calendas. 
 
 Worthy King, know this your will 
 At Lattar Lammas we'll fulfil. 
 
 There is a letter still preserved by Strype, written by Sir Francis 
 Drake to the Lord High Treasurer Burleigh, dated June 6, 1588, 
 wherein he acquaints him that the Spaniards were approaching, 
 and that though their strength outwent report, yet the cheerful 
 ness and courage which the lord admiral expressed, gave all who 
 had the honour to serve under him assurance of victory. This 
 compliment, which sure was very well turned, proved also a pro- 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 31 
 
 that there never was an admiral better disposed 
 with respect to soldiers than Sir Francis Drake. 
 The ground of their difference was this : the general 
 
 phecy, which Sir Francis had his share in fulfilling. 1 On the 22d ' This letter 
 
 . . , was formerly 
 
 of July, Sir Francis observing a great Spanish ship, commanded amongt i, e 
 
 by Don Pedro de Valdez. who was reputed the projector of this Lord Bur - 
 
 leigh's MSS. 
 invasion, floating at a distance from both fleets, sent his pinnace strype's Ann. 
 
 to summon those who were on board to yield. Valdez, to maintain vo ' m * p * ' 
 his credit and pretence to valour, returned, that they were four 
 hundred and fifty strong, that he himself was Don Pedro, and 
 stood much upon his honour, and thereupon propounded several 
 conditions upon which he was willing to yield : but the vice- 
 admiral replied, that he had no leisure to parley, but, if he 
 thought fit instantly to yield, he might ; if not, he should soon 
 find that Drake was no coward. Pedro hearing it was Drake, 
 whose name was so terrible to the Spaniards, presently yielded, 
 and, with forty-six of his attendants, came aboard Sir Francis's 
 ship, where, giving him the solemn Spanish conge, he protested, 
 " that they were all resolved to have died fighting, had they not 
 fallen into his hands, whose felicity and valour was so great, that 
 Mars the god of war, and Neptune the god of the sea, seemed 
 to wait upon all his attempts, and whose noble and generous 
 carriage toward the vanquished had been oft experienced by his 
 foes." Sir Francis, to requite these Spanish compliments with 
 real English kindness, set him at his own table, and lodged him 
 in his own cabin, sending the rest of his company to Plymouth. 
 Drake's soldiers were well recompensed with the plunder of this 
 ship, wherein they found fifty-five thousand ducats of gold, which 
 they joyfully shared amongst them. 2 This Don Pedro Valdez 2 English Hero. 
 
32 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 was bent on landing at the Groyne, whereas Sir 
 Francis and the sea officers were for sailing to 
 Lisbon directly, in which, if their advice had been 
 
 remained above two years Sir Francis Drake's prisoner in England ; 
 and when he was released, paid him, for his own and his two cap- 
 
 1 Strype's tains' liberties, a ransom of three thousand five hundred pounds. 1 
 
 Annals. 
 
 vol. iii. p. 523 ; *" e Spaniards, notwithstanding their loss was so great and their 
 
 Life of Sir defeat so notorious, took great pains to propagate false stories, 
 
 Francis Drake, 
 
 p. 195. which in some places gained so much credit as to hide their 
 
 shame. This provoked all good Englishmen, and amongst them 
 none more than Sir Francis Drake, who, to shew that he could 
 upon occasion draw his pen as well as his sword, vouchsafed this 
 
 2 Strype's An- refutation of their romances : 2 " They were not ashamed to publish, 
 nals, vol. iii. 
 
 pp. 531,532. m sun dry languages in print, great victories in words, which they 
 
 pretended to have obtained against this realm, and spread the 
 same in a most false sort over all parts of France, Italy, and 
 elsewhere; when, shortly after, it was happily manifested in very 
 deed to all nations, how their navy, which they termed invincible, 
 consisting of one hundred and forty sail of ships, not only of 
 their own kingdom, but strengthened with the greatest argosies, 
 Portugal carracks, florentines, and large hoiks of other countries, 
 were, by thirty of her Majesty's own ships of war, and a few of 
 our own merchants, by the wise, valiant, and advantageous conduct 
 of the Lord Charles Howard, high admiral of England, beaten and 
 shuffled together even from the Lizard in Cornwall, first to Port 
 land, where they shamefully left Don Pedro de Valdez with his 
 mighty ship; from Portland to Calais, where they lost Hugh de 
 Moncado, with the galleys of which he was captain; and from 
 Calais, driven with squibs from their anchors, were chased out of 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 33 
 
 taken, without question their enterprise had suc 
 ceeded, and Don Antonio been restored. For it 
 afterwards appeared, on their invading Portugal, 
 that the enemy had made use of the time they 
 gave them to so good purpose, that it was not 
 possible to make any impression. Sir John Norris, 
 indeed, marched by land to Lisbon, and Sir Francis 
 Drake very imprudently promised to sail up the 
 river with his whole fleet ; but when he saw the 
 consequences which would have attended the keep 
 ing his word, he chose rather to break his promise 
 
 the sight of England, round about Scotland and Ireland : where, 
 for the sympathy of their religion, hoping to find succour and 
 assistance, a great part of them were crushed against the rocks, 
 and those other that landed, being very many in number, were, 
 notwithstanding, broken, slain, and taken. And so sent from 
 village to village, coupled in halters, to be shipped into England, 
 where her Majesty, of her princely and invincible disposition, dis 
 daining to put them to death, and scorning either to retain or 
 entertain them, they were all sent back again to their countries, 
 to witness and recount the worthy achievement of their invincible 
 and dreadful navy. Of which the number of soldiers, the fearful 
 burthen of their ships, the commanders' names of every squadron, 
 with all other their magazines of provisions, were put in print, as 
 an army and navy irresistible and disdaining prevention; with all 
 which their great terrible ostentation, they did not, in all their 
 sailing round about England, so much as sink or take one ship, 
 bark, pinnace, or cock-boat, of ours, or even burnt so much as 
 
 F 
 
34 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 t 
 
 than to hazard the queen's navy ; for which he 
 was grievously reproached by Norris, and the mis 
 carriage of the whole affair was imputed to his 
 failure in performing what he had undertaken : yet 
 Sir Francis fully justified himself on his return, for 
 he made it manifest to the queen and council, that 
 all the service that was done was performed by 
 him, and his sailing up the river of Lisbon would 
 have signified nothing to the taking the castle, 
 which was two miles off, and that without reducing 
 c Camd.Ann. it there was no taking the town. * The war with 
 
 pp.601 606; 
 Sir Win. Mon- 
 
 son's Naval one sheepcote on this land." If the knowledge of a writer, with 
 
 Tracts, p. 1?4 ; 
 
 Stowe'sAnn. respect to the subject which employs his pen, ought to render 
 
 P ^ \ 1 , n " h' s relation more credible; or if the quality of an author can 
 shed; Speed. 
 
 add any weight to his productions, this will not fail of being 
 esteemed as well as believed. To speak the truth plainly, there 
 is not perhaps in our own, or in any other language, within so 
 narrow a compass, so full, so perspicuous, and so spirited a 
 relation of a transaction, glorious as this was, extant in any 
 history. Indeed, what wonder, if the defeat of the Spaniards 
 be as finely painted by the pen, as it was gallantly achieved by 
 the sword, of Sir Francis Drake ! 
 
 f There was no taking the town. Before this expedition, all 
 difficulties, however great, were seen to bend before the fortune of 
 Sir Francis Drake. But whether it was the strange division of 
 command, for there were two generals-in-chief declared, and a 
 third who expected to command them, though without a com 
 mission; whether they were deceived in the furnishing the fleet, 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 35 
 
 Spain still continuing, and it being evident that 
 nothing galled the enemy so much as the losses 
 they met with in the Indies, a proposition was 
 made to the queen by Sir John Hawkins and Sir 
 Francis Drake, the most experienced seamen in her 
 kingdom, for undertaking a more effectual expedi 
 tion into those parts than had hitherto been made 
 through the whole course of that war ; and, at the 
 same time, they offered to be at a great part of 
 the expense themselves, and to engage their friends 
 to bear a considerable proportion of the rest. d The d Camd. Ann. 
 
 pp. 698700 ; 
 Sir William 
 which would not have been the case if the sole management had Monsou's 
 
 been committed to Sir Francis Drake ; or whether their hopes 
 
 r pp. loJ, loo ; 
 
 failed them in Portugal ; so it was, that, with respect to the great Hakluyt, 
 
 vol. iii. p. 583; 
 end of their expedition, they miscarried ; and, as they carried Don p u rchas's Pil- 
 
 Antonio out with strong hopes of leaving him a king ; so, when & nms ' vol> 1V - 
 
 p. 1183 ; 
 
 they brought him home, he left all his hopes behind. 1 In most Stowe's Ann. 
 
 of our histories, many aspersions are thrown upon Sir Francis 
 
 Drake ; and Sir William Monson very impartially professes, that E j iz ' 606 . 
 
 he cannot excuse his breaking his promise to Sir John Norris, Stowe's Ann. 
 
 p. 755. 
 though he allows the thing was impracticable. Now, though the 
 
 breaking a promise be a bad thing, one might be tempted to think, 
 that not being able to keep it is a pretty tolerable excuse. The 
 queen and her council understood it so ; for Sir Francis alleged, 
 and it could not be denied, that the very time they spent at the 
 Groyne the Spaniards employed in fortifying Lisbon, which was 
 the reason he opposed that measure. 2 He shewed, that whatever 2 Monson's 
 
 was done there or elsewhere for the credit of the nation, was ^ a T, racts ' 
 
 p. 174. 
 
36 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 queen readily gave ear to this motion, and fur 
 nished, on her part, a stout squadron of men-of- 
 war, on board one of which, the Garland, Sir John 
 Hawkins embarked. Their whole force consisted of 
 twenty-seven ships and barks, and on board them 
 were about two thousand five hundred men. Of 
 all the enterprises throughout the war, there was 
 none of which so great hope was conceived as of 
 this, and yet none succeeded worse. The fleet was 
 detained, for some time after it was ready, on the 
 English coast, by the arts of the Spaniards, who, 
 having intelligence of its strength, and of the ends 
 for which it was intended, they conceived, that the 
 
 performed solely by the fleet and by his orders, in consequence 
 of which a large fleet, laden with naval stores from the Hanse 
 Towns, was taken, and a great quantity of ammunition and artil 
 lery. He farther shewed, that, had it not been for the fleet, the 
 army must have been starved; and that, if they had stayed any 
 longer, neither fleet nor army could have returned home ; all 
 which distresses arose from their not going about their principal 
 business at first, which was what he advised : but, when he found 
 he could not prevail upon some men to manage their own affairs 
 right, he contented himself with managing, as well as he could, 
 those that were immediately within his own province; and with 
 respect to these, even the censurers of this expedition admit that 
 nobody could have managed them better. Happy for Sir Francis 
 Drake, if, upon his receiving this first check at play, he had with 
 drawn his stake. 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 37 
 
 only means whereby it might be disappointed was 
 by procuring some delay; in order to which they 
 gave out, that they were ready themselves to invade 
 England ; and to render this the more probable, 
 they actually sent four galleys to make a descent 
 on Cornwall. 6 By these steps they carried their e Camd. Ann. 
 
 p. 697. 
 
 point ; for, the queen and the nation being alarmed, 
 it was by no means held proper to send so great a 
 number of stout ships on so long a voyage at so 
 critical a juncture. At last, this storm blowing 
 over, the fleet sailed from Plymouth on the 28th 
 of August, in order to execute their grand design 
 of burning Nombre de Dios, marching thence by 
 land to Panama, and there seizing the treasure 
 which they knew was arrived from Peru. A few 
 days before their departure, the queen sent them 
 advice that the plate fleet was safely arrived in 
 Spain, excepting only one galleon, which, having 
 lost a mast, had been obliged to return to Porto 
 Rico. The taking of this vessel she recommended 
 to them as a thing very practicable, and which 
 could prove no great hindrance to their other affair. 
 When they were at sea the generals differed, as is 
 usual in conjunct expeditions. Sir John Hawkins 
 was for executing immediately what the queen had 
 commanded, whereas Sir Francis Drake inclined 
 
38 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 to go first to the Canaries, being pressed thereto 
 by Sir Thomas Baskerville, in which he prevailed ; 
 but the attempt they made was unsuccessful, and 
 then they sailed for Dominica, where they spent too 
 much time in refreshing themselves, and setting up 
 their pinnaces. In the mean time the Spaniards 
 had sent five stout frigates to bring away the galleon 
 from Porto Rico, having exact intelligence of the 
 intention of the English admirals to attempt that 
 place. On the 30th of October Sir John Hawkins 
 weighed from Dominica, and, in the evening of the 
 same day, the Francis, a bark of about thirty-five 
 tons, and the sternmost of Sir John's ships, fell in 
 with the five sail of Spanish frigates before men 
 tioned, and was taken; the consequences of which 
 being foreseen by Sir John, it threw him into a fit 
 of sickness, of which, or rather of a broken heart, 
 f sirWm.Mon. he died on the 12th of November, 1595. f At this 
 
 son's Naval 
 
 Tracts, p. 183, time they were before Porto Rico, and the very 
 
 MS. Remarks . 
 
 same evening Sir John Hawkins died. While the 
 great officers were at supper together, a cannon- 
 shot from the fort pierced the cabin, killed Sir 
 Nicholas Clifford, wounded Captain Stratford, and 
 mortally wounded Mr. Brute Browne, striking the 
 stool from under Sir Francis Drake, who was drink 
 ing, without doing him any hurt at all. The next 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 39 
 
 day, November 13th, 1595, the general, pursuant to 
 the resolution of a council of war, made a desperate 
 attack on the shipping in the harbour of Porto Rico, 
 which was attended with great loss to the Spaniards, 
 yet with very little advantage to the English, who 
 meeting with a more resolute resistance and much 
 better fortifications than they expected, were obliged 
 to sheer off. The admiral then steered for the main, 
 where he took the town of Rio de la Hacha, which 
 he burnt to the ground, a church, and a single 
 house belonging to a lady, only excepted. After 
 this he destroyed some other villages, and then pro 
 ceeded to Santa Martha, which he likewise burned. 
 The like fate had the famous town of Nombre de 
 Dios, the Spaniards refusing to ransom any of these 
 places, and the booty taken in them being very 
 inconsiderable. On the 29th of December, Sir 
 Thomas Baskerville marched, with seven hundred 
 and fifty men, towards Panama, but returned on 
 the 2d of January, finding the design of reducing 
 that place to be wholly impracticable. This dis 
 appointment made such an impression on the admi 
 ral's mind, that it threw him into a lingering fever, 
 attended with a flux, of which he died on the 28th 
 of the same month, about four in the morning; 
 though Sir William Monson hints, that there were 
 
40 
 
 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 s Hakluyt, 
 vol. iii. p. 583 ; 
 Purchas's Pil 
 grims, vol. iv. 
 p. 1183; 
 Sir Wm. Mon- 
 son's Naval 
 Tracts, p. 182 ; 
 Stowe's Ann. 
 p. 808 ; 
 Camd. Ann. 
 P- 700; 
 English Hero, 
 p. 206; 
 Fuller's Wor 
 thies, p. 261. 
 
 1 It was upon 
 this plan they 
 formed the 
 offer they 
 made to the 
 queen, and, 
 no doubt, had 
 good intelli 
 gence. 
 
 2 Hakluyt's 
 Voyages, 
 
 vol. iii. p. 583; 
 Purchas's Pil 
 grims, vol. iv. 
 p. 1183; 
 Stowe's Ann. 
 p. 808. 
 
 great doubts whether it was barely his sickness 
 that killed him.* Such was the end of this great 
 man, when he had lived fifty-five years, 8 according 
 
 * Whether it was barely his sickness that killed him. In the 
 text we have stated the facts according to the lights given us, 
 and from the authorities of the best writers in those times. We 
 will, in this note, endeavour to clear up some passages that might 
 otherwise seem obscure ; and by doing this we shall, in some 
 measure, enable the reader to form a just notion as to his death. 
 Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins were, without doubt, two 
 of the most experienced officers that those stirring times and that 
 glorious reign had bred. Each of them had his reasons for under 
 taking that expedition, and both of them acted from motives of 
 honour. They knew well the situation of the countries which 
 were to be the scene of their actions; and the plan they laid 
 was equally worthy of the great experience they had, and the 
 high reputation raised thereby. In few words, their aim was to 
 plunder and destroy Nombre de Dios, to force a passage through 
 the isthmus, and then to make themselves masters of Panama ; 
 which done, they were to act as circumstances should direct. 1 
 The preparations made for their voyage, chiefly at the expense of 
 the general, were such as could not be concealed. The Spaniards, 
 being apprised of these, alarmed England, and thereby gained 
 time to send advice into America. When, after many months' 
 delay, the queen allowed thfm to proceed, she charged him with 
 another project, which was attacking Porto Rico, where, according 
 to her information (and it was true), the whole cargo of a rich 
 galleon was deposited. 2 When they were at sea, Sir Thomas 
 Baskerville started a third project, which was reducing one of the 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 41 
 
 to some, but, according to our computation, fifty- 
 one; 11 but his memory will survive as long as that h in the margin 
 
 of Stowe's An- 
 
 world lasts which he first surrounded. His death nais he is said 
 
 to have died at 
 fifty-five ; but, 
 
 Canary islands; to which Sir Francis Drake assented, as believing, from ^ the 
 
 passages in that 
 that, whatever became of their expedition, the conquest of that account of him, 
 
 island would be of very great importance to the nation. 1 Their he a PP ears to 
 
 have been no 
 
 miscarriage in that was many ways detrimental, but chiefly through older than we 
 
 i i i i T i -PI /. have reported 
 
 this which they did not foresee, that it gave time for the court of y m 
 
 Spain to send five frigates, with nine hundred regular troops on J English 
 board, to St. John de Porto Rico. Of this they had no suspicion, 
 and therefore they spent more time than they needed to have done 
 before they went thither; and the bark Francis being taken in 
 their passage, Sir John Hawkins truly foresaw what afterwards 
 happened, that the Spaniards, by the help of the reinforcement 
 that squadron carried, would be too strong for them. The sad 
 accident of his death, and of two principal commanders desperately 
 wounded the same evening, damped the spirits of the soldiers and 
 seamen exceedingly. General Drake himself, when he took his 
 leave of Mr. Brown in order to go to the* attack, could not help 
 saying, " Brute, Brute, (that was his Christian name,) how heartily 
 could I lament thy fate, but that I dare not let my spirits sink 
 
 now." z The several enterprises that followed were to gratify 2 Fuller's 
 
 Holy State, 
 other men s projects ; but at last Sir Francis Drake returned to 129 
 
 his first design, and made an attempt upon the isthmus ; but the 
 Spaniards were too well provided, so that he plainly saw things 
 went not with him as in former days. The whole of this expe 
 dition was a series of misfortunes, in which Providence made use 
 of their own counsels to destroy them. If they had gone at first 
 to Porto Rico, they had done the queen's business and their own. 
 
 G 
 
42 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 was generally lamented by the whole nation, but 
 more especially by his countrymen, who had great 
 reasons to love him from the circumstances of his 
 private life, as well as to esteem him in his public 
 character. He was elected burgess for the town of 
 Bossiney, alias Tintagal, in the county of Cornwall, 
 in the parliament held the twenty-seventh of Queen 
 
 If, when they had intelligence of the Spanish succours being 
 landed there, they had proceeded directly to the isthmus, in order 
 to have executed their designs against Panama, before their forces 
 had been weakened by that desperate attack, they might possibly 
 have accomplished their first intention; but grasping too many 
 things spoiled all. A very strong sense of this threw Sir Francis 
 Drake into a melancholy, which occasioned a bloody flux, the 
 
 1 Camd. Ann. natural disease of the country, that brought him to his end. 1 His 
 
 Eliz. p. 700 ; 
 
 Sir Wm. Mon- bod y> according to the custom of the sea, was sunk very near the 
 
 son's Tracts, place where he first laid the foundation of his fame and fortune, 
 p. 182. 
 
 This appears to be a plain and probable relation of the end of 
 
 this great man. If the reader has a mind to see it set in a 
 stronger light, Mr. Fuller shall afford him that satisfaction, which 
 will be heightened by knowing that he wrote from the mouth of 
 Henry Drake, Esq., who accompanied his cousin in that unfortu- 
 * Fuller's nate expedition. 2 " Now began the discontent of Sir Francis to 
 
 [ 3Q I3 j feed upon him. He conceived that expectation, a merciless usurer, 
 computing each day since his departure, exacted an interest and 
 return of honour and profit proportionable to his great prepara 
 tions, and transcending his former achievements. He saw that all 
 the good which he had done in this voyage consisted in the evil 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 43 
 
 Elizabeth ; and for the town of Plymouth, in Devon 
 shire, in the thirty-fifth of the same reign. 1 It is, 
 
 tia Parliamen- 
 
 indeed, true that he died without issue, but not that taria, vol. ii. 
 
 he lived and died a bachelor, as several authors 
 
 have written ; k for he left behind him a widow, k Fuller's Wor 
 
 thies, p. 261. 
 
 Elizabeth, 1 daughter and sole heiress of Sir George i p r i nce > 8 
 
 Sydenham, of Combe- Sydenham, in the county of 
 
 English Baro 
 netage, vol. i. 
 p. 531. 
 
 he had done to the Spaniards afar off, whereof he could present 
 but small visible fruits in England. These apprehensions accom 
 panying, if not causing, the disease of the flux, wrought his sudden 
 death ; and sickness did not so much untie his clothes, as sorrow 
 did rend at once the robe of his mortality asunder. He lived by 
 the sea, died on it, and was buried in it. Thus an extempore 
 performance, scarce heard to be begun before we hear it is ended, 
 comes off with better applause, or miscarries with less disgrace, 
 than a long-studied and openly premeditated action. Besides, we 
 see how great spirits, having mounted up to the highest pitch of 
 performance, afterwards strain and break their credits in striving 
 to go beyond it. Lastly, God oftentimes leaves the brightest men 
 in an eclipse, to shew that they do but borrow their lustre from his 
 reflection. We will not justify all the actions of any man, though 
 of a tamer profession than a sea captain, in whom civility is often 
 counted preciseness. For the main, we say, that this our captain 
 was a religious man towards God, and his houses, generally 
 speaking, churches, where he came chaste in his life, just in his 
 dealings, true of his word, and merciful to those that were under 
 him, hating nothing so much as idleness." 
 
44 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 Devon, knight, who afterwards married William 
 Courteney, Esq. of Powderham Castle, in the same 
 county. It was not the custom of those times "to 
 set up cenotaphs, at least for private persons, other 
 wise one might have expected some monument 
 should have been erected to the memory of Sir 
 Francis Drake. Indeed it was needless : for his 
 picture was common, not only here, but in all parts 
 of Europe, insomuch that a disturbance was occa 
 sioned at Rome by the imprudence of a famous 
 m strype-sAn- painter, who caused the head m of Sir Francis Drake 
 
 nals, vol. iii. 
 
 P. 540. to be hung up, in a public place, next to that of 
 
 his Catholic Majesty. Hitherto we have spoken of 
 his public actions ; let us now, as we have ample 
 and excellent materials, discourse somewhat of his 
 person and character. He was low of stature, but 
 well set; had a broad, open chest, a very round 
 head, his hair of a fine brown, his beard full and 
 comely, his eyes large and clear, of a fair com 
 plexion, with a fresh, cheerful, and very engaging 
 
 stowe's An- countenance. As navigation had been his whole 
 
 nals, p. 808 ; 
 
 Fuller's Holy study, so he understood it thoroughly, and was a 
 
 State, p. 131. 
 
 perfect master in every branch, especially in astro 
 nomy, and in the application thereof to the nautic 
 art. As all men have enemies, and all eminent 
 men abundance of them, we need not wonder that 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 45 
 
 Sir Francis Drake, who performed so many great 
 things, should have as much ill spoken of him as 
 of any man of the age in which he lived. Those 
 who disliked him alleged that he was a man of 
 low birth, haughty in his temper, ostentatious, self- 
 sufficient, an immoderate speaker, and, though in 
 disputably a good seaman, no great general; in 
 proof of which they took notice of his neglecting 
 to furnish his fleet thoroughly in 1585 ; his not 
 keeping either St. Domingo or Carthagena after he 
 had taken them; the slender provision he made in 
 his expedition to Portugal; his breaking his word 
 to Sir John Norris, and the errors he committed in 
 his last undertaking. In excuse of these it is Sirwmiam 
 
 Monson's 
 
 said, that the glory of what he did might very Naval Tracts, 
 well remove the imputation of his mean descent ; purchase pa. 
 
 grims, vol. vi. 
 
 what was thought haughtiness in him might be no * 118 ' 5 . ' 
 
 Stowe' 
 p. 808 
 
 more than a just concern for the support of his s 
 
 authority ; his display of his great services a thing 
 incident to his profession ; and his love of speaking 
 qualified by his wisdom and eloquence, which hin 
 dered him from ever dropping a weak or an un 
 graceful expression. In equipping his fleet, he was 
 not so much in fault as those whom he trusted : 
 sickness hindered his keeping the places he took 
 in the West Indies ; his counsels were continually 
 
46 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 crossed by the land officers in his voyage to Por 
 tugal; and as to his last attempt, the Spaniards 
 were certainly well acquainted with his design, at 
 least as soon as he left England, if not before. His 
 voyage round the world, however, remains an in 
 contestable proof of his courage, capacity, patience, 
 quick-sightedness, and public spirit; since therein 
 he did every thing that could be expected from a 
 man who preferred the honour and profit of his 
 p Camd. Ann. country to his own reputation or private gain. p * 
 
 p. 331; The 
 World encom 
 passed, p. 18 ; 
 
 SirWm.Mon- * To his own reputation or private gam. The materials that 
 
 son's Naval 
 Tracts p 399 ve co ^ ec ted from several writers in that age, and which are 
 
 English Hero, t o ^ digested into this note, will, I hope, sufficiently justify what 
 is advanced in the text; and shew, that if Sir Francis Drake 
 amassed a large fortune to himself, by continually exposing him 
 self to labours and perils which hardly any other man would have 
 undergone, for the sake even of the greatest expectations, he was 
 far from being governed by a narrow and private spirit. On the 
 contrary, his notions were free and noble; and the nation stands 
 indebted to his memory for advantages infinitely greater than are 
 commonly imagined. 
 
 I. He was the great author of our navigation to the West 
 Indies ; for, though he was not the first that went thither, yet, 
 after the severe check that Sir John Hawkins met with when 
 Drake commanded the Judith, our seamen were much discou 
 raged, and, in all probability, would scarcely have adventured upon 
 any expeditions .of that sort in haste, if he had not encouraged 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 47 
 
 It was the felicity of our admiral to live under 
 the reign of a princess who never failed to distin 
 guish merit, or to bestow her favours where she 
 
 them by his two prosperous voyages. In these he acted with 
 extraordinary caution, and was remarkably careful of the health 
 and safety of his seamen, that he might beget in them not only 
 a confidence in himself, but a thorough contempt of those vulgar 
 fears, which represented voyages into that part of the world as so 
 difficult and dangerous in many respects, besides that of falling 
 
 into the hands of the Spaniards. 1 In this he succeeded so well, ' See Sir 
 
 Richard Haw- 
 that, in the space of a very few years, many small vessels, most ot kj ns ' s observa- 
 
 them commanded by persons bred under him, followed that course, tions on tis 
 
 Voyage to the 
 and, partly by trading, partly by privateering, brought great wealth South Seas. 
 
 into the nation, and accustomed the English mariners to traverse 
 seas and visit ports, to which, but for his vigilance and good 
 
 fortune, they had remained much longer strangers. 2 On this ac- * Drake's An- 
 
 tiquities of 
 count, therefore, he may be considered, very justly, as the author y OT ^ p . 230. 
 
 of all our success in those parts : for, though several famous 
 seamen engaged afterwards in expeditions of the like nature, and 
 began to think of making settlements also in those remote parts, 
 yet it was but in consequence of the lights he gave them, and from 
 that spirit of emulation which was raised by the extensive reputa 
 tion he had acquired. 
 
 II. He was also the first that shewed his own nation, what, 
 till then, no other nation had ever attempted, that it was prac 
 ticable, with a very small force, to act against the Spaniards, both 
 by sea and land, as this nation have acknowledged, and attribute 
 to him all the troubles they afterwards met with from the French 
 
48 
 
 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 saw desert. Sir Francis Drake was always her 
 favourite ; and she gave a very lucky proof of it in 
 respect to a quarrel he had with his countryman 
 
 1 See the ac 
 count of Cap 
 tain Drake's 
 expedition by 
 Lopez the 
 Spaniard, in 
 Hakluyt. 
 
 * Camd. Brit. 
 2d edit. p. 34 ; 
 English Hero. 
 
 and Dutch, as well as from the English. 1 In his expedition of 
 1572, he had but two ships, if they might be so called, one of 
 seventy tons, commanded by himself, the other of twenty-five tons, 
 commanded by his brother John, and his whole force consisted but 
 of seventy-three men and boys. Yet after he was discovered, and 
 known to be upon the coast, and to have committed hostilities, he 
 had the courage to resolve upon remaining there, and to do his 
 business with pinnaces, finding his ships too large, and therefore 
 intending to destroy one, and convert the other into a store-ship : 
 but knowing that his seamen would never consent to this, though 
 the ships were his own and the best part of his estate, he prevailed 
 upon the carpenter of the lesser to bore holes in the bottom of 
 her in the night, without so much as communicating the design to 
 his own brother who commanded her. This happy temerity was 
 followed by as much success as he could wish, since he kept the 
 Bay of Mexico for many months in a manner blocked up, and his 
 fertility in inventing expedients to answer all purposes, and to 
 provide against all dangers, excited that amazing spirit amongst 
 the seamen of his time that is scarcely credible in ours ;". a spirit 
 that rendered them so famous, as to occasion their being sought 
 after and employed by all nations, but more especially the French 
 and Dutch, as might be shewn from numerous instances. 
 
 III. His genius was far from being confined to small under 
 takings, though necessity compelled its first appearance in such : 
 for, when he undertook his voyage round the world, he not only 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 49 
 
 Sir Bernard Drake, whose arms Sir Francis had 
 assumed; which so provoked the other, who was 
 a seaman likewise, that he gave him a box on the 
 
 framed the scheme in his own head, but kept it entirely within 
 his own breast, bringing it out only by parts, as the execution 
 required, and proposing nothing to be effected till he had made 
 the necessary provisions for effecting it, though without any com 
 munication ; by which he drew his people first into the South Seas, 
 thence to the East Indies, and home by a route new to him and 
 them, which he had never accomplished if his intentions had 
 
 been foreseen from the beginning. 1 In 1585 he executed a great ' This Sir Wil 
 
 liam Monson 
 undertaking with a considerable force, having under him Captain fair 
 
 Frobisher, and other able seamen, with like conduct and courage, led es ' 
 
 no great ad- 
 and with dreadful destruction to the enemy ; so that there is very m i r er of Sir 
 
 little reason to regret Sir Philip Sidney's not going that voyage 
 with him ; nor will any wise man believe implicitly, on the credit 
 of Sir Fulk Grevil, that Sir Francis Drake was less capable of 
 performing any service in America than that excellent person, 2 or * In his large 
 that he left him behind from a jealousy of his superior abilities. philip Sidney 
 
 IV. We are assured by Camden, 3 and other writers, that Sir 3 Camd. Ann. 
 Francis Drake first brought tobacco into England, whence a cer 
 tain writer, most unaccountably, took it into his head to conclude 
 his life of Sir Francis Drake with a violent invective against that 
 plant, and an outrageous abuse upon all who take it. 4 But men 4 Winstanley's 
 of milder tempers and clearer judgments will acknowledge, that thies p 2 ll 
 Sir Francis was in this a very great benefactor to his country, 
 since it will not be easy to name any one commodity through 
 
 H 
 
50 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 ear. The queen took up the quarrel, and gave 
 Sir Francis a new coat, which is thus blazoned : 
 Sable a fess wavy between two pole-stars argent ; and 
 
 which such vast advantages have accrued to this nation. It is 
 true, that Sir Walter Raleigh is commonly entitled to this honour ; 
 but then it is grounded upon his bringing it into use by his own 
 practice and example. Yet, in both of these truly great men, the 
 good done to their country was but accidental ; for we cannot 
 suppose that either of them could foresee what prodigious wealth 
 the cultivation of tobacco would bring into Great Britain ; and yet 
 this ought not to lessen in the least our gratitude or veneration 
 towards their memories. 
 
 V. The last thing I have to say, and I say it upon the credit 
 of Mr. Camden, is, that he was the author of our trade to the East 
 Indies; for, as that learned writer informs us, the books, papers, 
 and charts, that were found in the East India ship which he took 
 in his return from his expedition to the coasts of Spain in 1587, 
 gave those lights which encouraged the ' undertaking a trade to 
 those parts, and produced an application to the queen, for esta- 
 
 1 Camd. Ann. Wishing our first East India Company. 1 These are facts that are 
 Eliz. p. 551. 
 
 certainly worth the knowing, remembering, and considering, that 
 
 we may do proper justice to the character of this illustrious person, 
 who, as from low and mean beginnings he raised himself to move 
 in a superior orb ; so, by his example, he encouraged and raised 
 those English fleets that have since given law in the seas, which 
 he visited with; barks so small, that they would now be scarcely 
 thought capable of such a voyage. Let us conclude with a circum- 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 51 
 
 for his crest, a ship on a globe under ruff, held by 
 a cable with a hand out of the clouds ; over it this 
 motto, Auxilio divino, underneath, Sic parvis magna ; 
 
 t&acroit 
 
 stance, which, though not of so public, is yet not altogether of a 
 private nature, and deserves to be remembered to the honour of 
 this worthy person, and of Sir John Hawkins, who, in 1588, 
 advised the establishment of the Chest at Chatham, for the relief 
 
 of seamen wounded in their country's service. 1 They were, indeed, ^amden's Bri 
 
 tannia, p. 233. 
 
 both remarkable for bearing in mind that they had been 2 once 
 
 2 Sir Richard 
 
 seamen themselves, as long as they lived ; and, though they were Hawkins's Ob- 
 
 very strict in maintaining discipline, yet they were so well obeyed, ?. 
 
 from a principle of affection, that instances of severity were things the South Seas, 
 
 T> 2ftfi 
 
 to which they were very seldom constrained. 
 
 [Dr. Johnson, in his Life of Drake, written originally in the 
 Gentleman's Magazine, but since printed in the first volume of 
 Davies's Collection of Miscellaneous and Fugitive Pieces, asserts, 
 without hesitation, that our great navigator was the son of a clergy 
 man. In this the Doctor implicitly followed Camden ; but our 
 ingenious predecessor, who had taken uncommon pains upon the 
 subject, was probably well-founded in his opinion, that Drake's 
 father was only an honest sailor. Concerning young Drake's early 
 diligence and fidelity, by which he so far obtained the favour of 
 his master as to be left heir to his little vessel, Dr. Johnson re 
 marks, that it is " a circumstance that deserves to be remembered, 
 not only as it may illustrate the private character of this brave man, 
 
52 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 in the rigging whereof is hung up by the heels a 
 wivern, gules, which was the arms of Sir Bernard 
 
 but as it may hint, to all those who may hereafter propose his 
 conduct for their imitation, that virtue is the surest foundation 
 both of reputation and fortune, and that the first step to greatness 
 is to be honest. If it were not," proceeds the Doctor, " improper 
 to dwell longer on an incident at the first view so inconsiderable, 
 it might be added, that it deserves the reflection of those who, 
 when they are engaged in affairs not adequate to their abilities, 
 pass them over with a contemptuous neglect, and, while they amuse 
 themselves with chimerical schemes and plans of future under 
 takings, suffer every opportunity of private advantage to slip away, 
 as unworthy their regard. They may learn, from the example of 
 Drake, that diligence in employments of less consequence is the 
 
 1 Miscellaneous most successful introduction to greater enterprises." J 
 
 and Fugitive .. . 
 
 Pieces vol i ^ n one ^ Drake s adventures, during the expedition of 1572, 
 
 P- 160> he was the first person that leaped upon the shore; concerning 
 
 which event Dr. Johnson has made the following ingenious and 
 judicious reflections. " To leap upon the enemy's coast in sight 
 of a superior force, only to shew how little they were feared, was 
 an act that would in these times meet with little applause ; nor can 
 the general be seriously commended, or rationally vindicated, who 
 exposes his person to destruction, and, by consequence, his expe 
 dition to miscarriage, only for the pleasure of an idle insult, an 
 insignificant bravado. All that can be urged in his defence is, 
 that perhaps it might contribute to heighten the esteem of his 
 followers ; as few men, especially of that class, are philosophical 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 53 
 
 Drake. q Her Majesty's kindness, however, did not 
 
 thies of Devon, 
 
 extend beyond the grave ; for she suffered his p- 245. 
 
 enough to state the exact limits of prudence and bravery, or not 
 to be dazzled with an intrepidity, how improperly soever exerted. 
 It may be added, that perhaps the Spaniards, whose notions of 
 courage are sufficiently romantic, might look upon him as a more 
 formidable enemy, and yield more easily to a hero of whose forti 
 tude they had so high an idea." * . ^Miscellaneous 
 
 and Fugitive 
 We are tempted to insert Dr. Johnson s remarks concerning p ieces vo ] t ;. 
 
 some savage tribes discovered by Drake, who were quite naked, P- 1 7 3 - 
 but who ornamented themselves with paint of several kinds, deli 
 neating generally the figures of the sun and moon, in honour of 
 their deities. " It is observable," says the Doctor, " that most 
 nations, amongst whom the use of clothes is unknown, paint their 
 bodies. Such was the practice of the first inhabitants of our own 
 country. From this custom did our earliest enemies, the Picts, 
 owe their denomination. As it is not probable that caprice and 
 fancy should be uniform, there must be, doubtless, some reason 
 for a practice so general, and prevailing in distant parts of the 
 world which have no communication with each other. The 
 original end of painting their bodies was, probably, to exclude the 
 cold ; an end which, if we believe some relations, is so effectually 
 produced by it, that the men thus painted never shiver at the most 
 piercing blasts. But, doubtless, any people so hardened by continual 
 severities would, even without paint, be less sensible of the cold than 
 the civilised inhabitants of the same climate. However, this prac 
 tice may contribute, in some degree, to defend them from the injuries 
 
54 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 brother, Thomas Drake, whom he made his heir, to 
 be prosecuted for a pretended debt to the crown, 
 
 of winter, and, in those climates where little evaporates by the pores, 
 may be used with no great inconvenience ; but in hot countries 
 where perspiration in greater degree is necessary, the natives only 
 use unction to preserve them from the other extreme of weather. 
 So well do either reason or experience supply the place of science 
 
 'Miscellaneous in savage countries." 1 
 
 and Fugitive 
 
 Pieces, vol. i. ^ r - Johnson is unwilling to believe that the ill success of Sir 
 
 pp. 201, 202. Francis Drake's last voyage hastened his death. " Upon what," 
 says he, " this conjecture is grounded, does not appear; and we 
 may be allowed to hope, for the honour of so great a man, that it 
 is without foundation ; and that he, whom no series of success could 
 ever betray to vanity or negligence, could have supported a change 
 
 2 Ibid. p. 234. of fortune without impatience or dejection." 2 Notwithstanding the 
 apparent justice, as well as candour, of this remark, we are afraid 
 that it is not well founded. From the circumstances related in 
 the note at p. 40, there is too much reason to apprehend that the 
 chagrin of Drake's mind contributed to the acceleration of his 
 
 * Granger's decease. 3 
 
 There are many prints of Sir Francis Drake, but the most 
 
 P- 2<42 - authentic one is that which is given in the first edition of Harris's 
 
 Voyages. It was engraved from an original picture, in the pos 
 session of Sir Philip Sydenham, bart., representative in parliament 
 for the county of Somerset. It descended to Sir Philip from his 
 ancestor, Sir George Sydenham, whose only daughter Sir Francis 
 Drake married.] 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 55 
 
 which much diminished the advantages he would 
 otherwise have reaped from his brother's succession/ r slr Wm - 
 
 Monson's 
 
 This brother of his accompanied him in his last Naval Tracts, 
 
 p. 400. 
 
 expedition, as his brother John and his brother 
 Joseph had done in his first voyages to the West 
 Indies, where they both died ; and both Thomas 
 and John left children behind them, whereas Sir 
 Francis, and nine of his other brethren, died with 
 out. 8 As for the land estate which he had pur- s stowe's An- 
 
 nals, p. 807 ; 
 
 chased, and which was very considerable (for Fuller's Holy 
 
 State, p. 129. 
 
 though, on proper occasions, he was extremely 
 generous, yet he was also a great economist), it 
 came to his nephew and godson, Francis Drake, 
 son to his brother Thomas, 1 who, by letters patent, ' English Bare- 
 
 netage, vol. i. 
 
 dated August 2, 1622, in the twentieth year of the P .53i. 
 reign of King James the First, was created a baro 
 net," and, in the beginning of the next reign, was sir William 
 returned one of the knights of the shire for the taTo^Vp. 93? 
 
 county of Devon/ He was twice married; first to *wmis'sNoti- 
 
 Jane, daughter of Sir Amias Bampfylde, of Polti- tri,i. a. 
 
 more, in the same county, knight, by whom he had p ' 2 ' 
 
 a daughter that died an infant; and, secondly, to 
 
 Joan, daughter of Sir William Strode, of Newman, 
 
 knight, by whom he had four sons.* The eldest, English Bare- 
 
 Sir Francis Drake, bart., married Dorothy, the pS.'' 
 
66 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 daughter of Mr. Pyn ; but dying without issue, the 
 title devolved upon his nephew by his second bro 
 ther, Thomas, who became thereby Sir Francis 
 Drake, bart., who frequently represented the town 
 * wuiis'8 Noti. of Tavistock in parliament.* He was thrice mar- 
 
 tia Parliamen- 
 
 taria, P . 354. ried, but had no issue but by his last wife, who 
 was the daughter of Sir Henry Pollexfen, knight, 
 Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas : his son 
 and successor by her was Sir Francis Henry Drake, 
 bart., who died January 26, 1740, leaving issue by 
 his wife, the sister of Sir William Heathcote, bart., 
 
 ^English Baro- three sons and two daughters." The eldest of these, 
 
 netage, vol. i. 
 
 P. 532. Sir Francis Henry Drake, bart., was, in 1750, the 
 
 representative of -this family, and member of par 
 liament for Beeralston, in the county of Devon; and 
 had in his possession a Bible, with an inscription 
 indented on the edges, signifying, that it made the 
 
 b Fromhisown tour of the world with Sir Francis Drake. b There 
 
 information. 
 
 are many other relics preserved in the cabinets of 
 
 the curious, in memory of this famous person ; such 
 
 as the staff made out of his ship before it was 
 
 Ducatus Leo- broken up, in that of Mr. Thoresby at Leeds ; c and 
 
 diensis ; or, 
 
 Topography of there is hardly any collection of English money, in 
 which there are not pieces of Queen Elizabeth's 
 coin, supposed to be marked with a drake, in honour 
 
LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 57 
 
 of Sir Francis's voyage round the world, in the 
 twenty-second year of her reign. I say, supposed, 
 because some curious persons suggest, that this 
 bird upon her coin is not a drake, but a dove ; and 
 consider this tradition as a vulgar error. d It may d Bishop Ni. 
 
 cholson's Eng- 
 
 be so, indeed, for any thing we know with cer- iish Library, 
 
 p. 266. 
 
 tamty; as, on the other hand, it may not be so, 
 for any thing that has been said to the contrary. 
 Two things, however, are certain ; one, that there 
 are a variety of marks upon the coin of that Queen, 
 and the other, that they were sometimes placed 
 in commemoration of remarkable events ; as, for 
 instance, the Belgic lion very fairly impressed upon 
 the Queen's breast, at the time when she took the 
 United Provinces under her royal protection. 6 It 6 Thoresby' S 
 
 Ducatus Leo- 
 is, therefore, far from being impossible, and perhaps diensis, P . see. 
 
 it is not carrying the thing too far, to say, that it is 
 not altogether improbable, there may be some truth 
 in this vulgar notion ; for, that nothing of this is 
 recorded in the histories of this reign, is no 
 considerable objection, since we are satisfied that 
 many things of a like nature, the truth of which 
 cannot be disputed, were nevertheless omitted, 
 partly from the abundance of more weighty ma 
 terials, and partly from the want of attention in 
 
58 LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 our historians to things of this nature, which would 
 have left us in the dark as to many curious par 
 ticulars, if their negligence had not excited a strong 
 spirit of inquiry in the learned lovers of English 
 history who have lived in succeeding times, and 
 whose industry has been repaid by a variety of 
 useful as well as entertaining discoveries. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY J. MOVES, TOOK'S COURT, CHANCERY LANE. 
 

 
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