MEMOIRS THE NAYAL WORTHIES QUEEN ELIZABETH'S REIGN. ^' <^. -U-^^i /^^^^ MEMOIRS OV THK 1 NAVAL WORTHIES QUEEN ELIZABETH'S REIGN; OF THBm GALLANT DEEDS, DAEING ADVENTURES, AND SERVICES. IN THE INFANT 8TATK OF THE BRITISH NAVY. WITH BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF THE RESPECTIVE COMMANDERS. MANUSORIPT UOCUMBNTS. BY JOHN BAEROW, ESQ., F.RS., AUTHOR OF THE I.IFK OF DRAKE, ETC. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1845. .. \ %^ Rrssi switaW 9iJ® LOKDON : WILLIAM CLOWES AND EONS, STAMFORD STREET J TO THE RIOHT HONOUBABLE HENRY HOWARD, EARL OF EFFINGHAM, A KAMB DBBIVBD FBOM HIS ORBAT ANCBSTOB, THE LORD HIGH ADMISAL OF ENGLAND, AND NEVEB TO BE FORGOTTEN IN THE RECORDS OF HER NAVAL HISTORY, C(i0 'i^olume WITH OREAT SINCERITY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR. 175562 P R E F A C E. If the several subjects, which are brought forward in this volume, were not all of them of a date far anterior to any records that exist among those of the Admiralty (which, with very few exceptions, commence only with the Restoration, when the Duke of York held the office of Lord High Ad- miral), my official situation in that department would scarcely have required any apology for un- dertaking to treat of naval subjects; though the manner of treating them might, perhaps, have required it. Having, however, fortunately met with flattering encouragement, in a previous at- tempt to delineate the character and adventurous deeds of one of the most distinguished naval officers, among the many who flourished under yjii PREFACE. the patronage of Elizabeth, it occurred to me that a separate Memoir of each of these officers — at the head of all was that faithful, honest, and brave servant of the Queen, Lord Charles Howard of Effingham, Lord High Admiral of England — even in that early and nascent state of our Navy, would most assuredly not meet with an unfa- vourable reception by its officers of the present day, or prove unacceptable to the general class of readers. On this assumption I ventured to proceed. It will be said, perhaps, that the merits of all, or most of the Naval Worthies of Queen Elizabeth's reign, have been recorded by contemporary histo- rians — by the learned, correct, and cautious Camden — the dihgent, faithful, and patriotic Hakluyt— the credulous, rambling, and facetious, but indefati- gable Purchas — and by some others, whose ponder- ous and costly folios can only be consulted in great public repositories, or in the libraries of the wealthy — mostly inaccessible, and always inconvenient, to the general mass of readers, and still more so to the majority of country residents. Our old chro- niclers, it is true, have bequeathed to their pos- PREFACE. ix terity the noble deeds of the heroes of their times, each faithfully recited, but most commonly in de- tached fragments, and rarely brought together under one connected view. My principal aim there- fore has been to collect and arrange, into one con- nected Memoir, the scattered notices, with a brief history of the life and character, the exploits and the general services of each individual Worthy, with specimens of his written correspondence, where such could be obtained, of which materials the old Chronicles are almost wholly deficient. Disclaiming all pretension to authorship in the compilation of the present volume, I am still dis- posed to think it will not be found deficient in in- terest, or wanting in variety. The numerous copies of autograph letters, and other manuscript papers that have not hitherto met the public eye, cannot, I conceive, considering the many years that have passed away since the eventful period of which they treat, fail to be received as documents pos- sessing more than ordinary interest; they may, at least, lay some claim to that which they certainly possess — novelty and originality : while, at the same time, they convey the sentiments and feelings X PREFACE. f of the writers, expressed in their own vernacular idiom of the.age in which they were written, I have nothing further to add, on my own be- half, than to avail myself of this occasion to express the lively gratification I feel in thus publicly ac- knowledging, with filial affection and gratitude, the able and willing assistance afforded to me, in the compilation of this work, by my most respected and esteemed father. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. State of the Navy under Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, and Queen Elizabeth — Ships under the last — Improvement — Officers of — the Lord High Admiral . . Page 1 SIR MARTIN FROBISHER. His First, Second, and Third Voyages to the Arctic Seas — Voy- age to the West Indies— Vice- Admiral against the Armada- Voyage to the Coast of Spain and the Islands — Supersedes Sir Walter Raleigh on the Coast of Spain — As Admiral to the Coast of France near Brest — Wounded at the Fort of Crozon —His Death 17 CAPTAIN JOHN DAVIS. His First, Second, and Third Voyages to the Arctic Seas in Search of a North-West Passage .... 49 SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT. Obtains a Patent from the Queen to undertake North- Western Discoveries, and to possess Lauds — Sails for Newfoundland, and takes Possession in the Name of Queen Elizabeth — Is lost at Sea on his Voyage home . . . . . 61 CONTENTS. SIR JOHN HAWKINS. Voyages to Guinea and the West Indies — Contest with the Spa- niards at San Juan d'UUoa — Disastrous Result — Vice- Admiral against the Armada — Commands a Fleet on the Coast of Spain — Another Expedition to the West Indies under Hawkins and Drake — Fatal to both of them . . . . 69 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. Several Voyages to the West Indies — Discovers the South Sea — Circumnavigates the Globe — The Case of Doughty, who is executed — Passes the Strait of Magelhaens — Proceeds up the Western Coast — Crosses the Indian Archipelago — Proceeds Homewards round the Cape of Good Hope — Mutiny of the '^ Lyon," and Proceedings at Sea, and Revision of them at Home — Is Vice-Admiral against the Armada — Norris and Drake Joint-Commanders on the Voyage to Portugal — United with Hawkins to attack the Spanish Settlements — Falls sick and dies ........ 96 JOHN OXENHAM. This young Man, countenanced by Drake, undertook a Voyage in a single Ship to the Isthmus of Darien, crossed over it in a Pinnace to Panama and the Pearl Islands — Was seized by the Spaniards — Conveyed to Lima, and there executed as a Pirate 145 CAPTAIN EDWARD FENTON Performed two Voyages to the Arctic Seas under Frobisher, commanded the Mary Rose in the Defeat of the Armada, was appointed ostensibly to discover a North- West Passage by the Cape of Good Hope; fought three Spanish Ships at Port St. Vincent, sunk one of them and returned to England 152 CONTENTS. xiii MR. THOMAS CAVENDISH Fitted out an Expedition to attack the Spaniards in the South Sea, passed the Strait of Magelhaens, and after various Suc- cesses followed Drake's Track round the Cape of Good Hope, and arrived in safety — Fitted out a second Expedition, which failed, quarrelled with his People, and died at Sea of a broken heart 162 SIR RICHARD HAWKINS, Son of Sir John, and brought up to the Sea, commanded the Swallow in the Defeat of the Armada ; undertook a Voyage through the Strait of Magelhaens into the South Sea ; fought a Squadron of Spanish Ships of War of greatly superior Force, was wounded and surrendered on Capitulation . . 182 LORD CHARLES HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM, THE LORD HIGH ADMIRAL, Was appointed to this high Office in 1585 — Commenced his arrangements in 1587 for attacking the expected Spanish Armada — Writes a series of Letters to Sir Francis Walsing- ham, extracted from MSS. in State Paper Office — Arrival and Defeat of the Armada — Spanish MS. Narrative of the Pro- ceedings of the Armada — Expedition against Cadiz — Receives the honour of an Earldom — Comes de Nottingham — Melan- choly State of the Seamen — Illness of the Queen and Death — Nottingham continues Lord High Admiral under James — Is sent Ambassador to Spain — Buckingham made Lord High Admiral — Death of Nottingham — His Character . 199 CAPTAIN THOMAS FENNER. His extensive Services, but always as a subordinate Officer — In great favour with Lord Charles Howard — Commands a Ship of War in the Armada — With Drake to Cadiz — also to Portugal — and also in other Expeditions . . . . 316 CONTENTS. THE EARL OF ESSEX. His early Promotion — Gallant Conduct in the Low Countries— A great Favourite of the Queen — Joins Drake and Norris in the Portugal Expedition— Offends the Queen— Is joined with the Lord High Admiral on the Cadiz Expedition — Is sole Commander on the Azores Expedition — Cool reception from the Queen — Disappointed, but pacified on being made Grand Marshal of England — Receives a Blow from the Queen — Resents it with great Indignation — Is appointed to Ireland, and miscarries— Returns without leave — Charges brought against him — By his injudicious Friends is incited to Rebellion — Tried, convicted, condemned, and executed — Trial and con- viction of the Conspirators— Character of Essex . 333 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. His Family Connexions — Early Adventures — Variously employed in Ireland — His fortunate gallantry — Receives Knighthood — His Shore Appointments at the Time of the Armada — Intrigues with a Maid of Honour — Called home from an Expedition in consequence — Projects a Voyage to Guiana, which fails — Joins the Expedition to Cadiz — also that to the Azores under Essex — Intrigues with Cecil against Lord Essex — Is sent to the Tower — Tried and sentenced to death^ — Remains in Prison Twelve Years — Liberated on undertaking another Voyage to the Mines of Guiana ; but not pardoned — Fails, and his Son is killed — Abuses his Captain, Key mis, who shoots himself — On arriving at Plymouth is seized and sent to Prison — The King signs a Warrant for his execution — Is beheaded . 377 LORD THOMAS HOWARD, EARL OF SUFFOLK. Released from the attainder — Serves against the Armada — Sent to the Azores with a Squadron — Attacked by a Spanish Fleet — Brave conduct of Sir Richard Greenvil — Engaged in the Capture of . Cadiz — Second to Essex at the Azores— Com- CONTENTS. XV mands a Fleet in the Downs — Raised by James to the rank of Privy Councillor, made Lord Chamberlain, and promoted to the Earldom of Suffolk — Chancellor of the University of Cambridge — as such entertains the King — Made Lord Trea- surer — Charged with taking Bribes — Removed, and brought before the Star Chamber— Committed to the Tower — Ordered by the King to prevail on his Sons to resign their Appoint- ments — Remonstrates by Letter — King refuses, and compels them to resign — Restores them . . . .419 GEORGE CLIFFORD, EARL OF CUMBERLAND. Volunteers to go and assist against the Duke of Parma — Be- comes a Favourite at Court — Fits out several Ships at different Times against the Spaniards — Made Ten Voyages in Twelve Years — Details of these Ten Expeditions — Appointed Her Majesty's Knight in the Exercise of Arms — Character of the Earl— His Countess and Family .... 440 SIR WILLIAM MONSON. Enters the Navy as a Common Sailor — Joins the Fleet against the Armada — Serves under the Earl of Cumberland— Taken by Galleys and imprisoned — Goes again with Earl of Cum- berland — Employed in the Capture of Cadiz — With Essex in the Azores — With Lord Thomas Howard in the Downs — Joined with Sir R. Lewson — Successful Attack on Carrack and Galleys in the Harbour of Secimbria — Continues his Services under James — Dies ..... 467 CAPTAIN JAMES LANCASTER, Joined with Raymond, projects a Voyage to the East Indies — Refresh at Saldanha Bay— Double the Cape — Raymond's Ship founders at Sea — Great Distress in Lancaster's Ship — He is left behind — Gets home in a French vessel — Is invited to take command of a small Squadron to make Reprisals against the ^i CONTENTS. Spaniards — Attacks and Captures Fernambuco — Freights Fif- teen Ships with the Spoil — Elizabeth grants a Charter to certain Merchants to trade to the East Indies — Lancaster appointed to command the first Fleet — Succeeds completely with the Kings of Achen and of Bantam — Brings home valuable Cargoes of Pepper and other Commodities — Arrives safe in England, and the East India Company is fully esta- blished 484 NAVAL WORTHIES, ^c. Src. ^c. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. The numerous naval expeditions, some for military purposes, and others for the advancement of disco- very and the extension of commerce, that took place throughout the reign of Queen Elizabeth, are the more to be admired when it is considered how scanty were the means she had within her power to em- ploy, especially in military operations, either as re- garded ships suitable for such undertakings, or offi- cers to command them, experienced in gunnery or practised in naval tactics : but she had a few choice spirits, able and willing to learn, as they very soon did learn, and so effectually as to dnve her most powerful and inveterate enemy from the ocean, and to destroy his fleets in his own harbours. But something besides expert officers and able seamen was wanting ; namely, the proper establish- ments and ready means for supplying provisions, stores, and ammunition, none of which were in existence ; nor was money always forthcoming for the payment of wages, and the casual expenses of the service. Every letter almost, wliether written 2 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. by the Lord High Admiral, by Drake, Lord Henry Seymour, or any other officers in command, com- menced and ended with a pitiable cry for " Vittels, vittels, vittels ! " The agent- victualler, when there happened to be one, could not procure provisions, for the Treasurer would not send him money to pay for them : he had no establishment for stores, and, without money to go to niarket, he was unable to afford the necessary supplies when demanded. Burleigh, careful enough of his own money, was equally sparing in that of the Queen. The expeditionary ships, when once at sea, con- trived to feed themselves from the merchant-ships they might fall in with, whether friends or enemies. But the whole system, as regarded the civil part of the navy, was as defective as was the military part. The fleet, to which Elizabeth succeeded, was com- posed of the remains of the very worst portion of the ships, that were left by Henry VHL to Edward VL, and by him to Queen Mary ; the latter having but scantily, if at all, contributed to the naval force of the kingdom. Even Henry, we are told by historians of the time, had not at any one period, with all his sea-fights, more than four ships that, from their size, deserved the name of ships-of-war. These were the Regent, the Great Harry (by some named Henry Grace de Dieu), the Sovereign, and the Mary Rose; and they constituted nearly the whole of his navy — most of the smaller ones being INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 3 either purchased or hired from merchants or private builders, or contributed by individuals for the occa- sion. Thus it is said that he sent five-and -forty ships to the coast of Bretagne, which fell in with a French fleet coming out of Brest ; that an action ensued, which ended in the destruction of the two largest ships, one in each of the hostile fleets — the English Regent and the French Cordilier, being nearly of the same size (say, about a thousand tons) : they grappled together, took fire, were blown up, and all on board, seven or eight hundred in each ship, perished. This was in the year 1512. The Regent and the Sovereign are said to have been procured by Henry VII. from some private builders in the northern parts of England. The Sovereign of the Seas, built in the reign of Charles L, was the first three-decked ship in the British fleet. Histo- rians, however, refer to certain large ships built in the time of Henry VI. The curious old poem in Hakluyt, called * English Policie, exhorting all England to keep the Sea,' &c., speaks of Henry V.'s " Great Dromons," built at Hampton — such as the Trinite, the Grace de Dieu, and the Hoi^ Ghost. But what they were, no record appears to be left. The Commissioners of Naval Revision say, that Henry VIII. laid the foundation of the navy of England — that he instituted an Admiralty and a Navy Board : if so, how happened it that there was no vestige of either of them when Queen Elizabeth B 2 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. came to the throne ? Henry, no doubt, founded a Trinity House at Deptford, and set apart ground for dock-yards at Deptford, Woolwich, and Portsmouth ; but we hear nothing of docks for the repairing of ^hips. The few large ships he left were mostly worn out or destroyed in the two succeeding reigns. The number of all kinds, mostly small, that fell to the share of Elizabeth, cannot be estimated at more than 24. In fact, had Mary lived a few years longer, the navy of England would have ceased to exist. "At the death of Mary," says Burnet, "the naval power of England was so much diminished that 14,000/. only was allowed for its repairs and vic- tuals for one year ; and but 10,000/. a-year would afterwards support all its charges." In the fleet against the Armada, Elizabeth had 32 ships-of-war. She left at her death 42,^ having increased the naval force during her reign by 18 consisted of— 2 of 1000 tons 1 3 „ 900 j> 5 of 40 guns. 3 „ 800 J) 3 „ 32 „ 2 „ 700 )5 1 4 „ 600 J5 10 „ 30 „ 4 „ 500 » 1 2 „ 1 » 400 350 1 3 „ 20 „ 9 from 330 J> 3 „ 16 „ to 200 55 7 „ 10 „ 12 from 120 JJ 4 „ 8 „ to 20 )) 8 „ 4 „ 42 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. ships ; and those built by her were durable. The Lord Admiral Howard says, in one of his letters, that the Elizabeth Bonaventura in 1588 was twenty-seven years old (and must therefore have been launched in 1561); she had been, he says, employed on every voyage, and was good for twelve years more ; and that the Triumph, the Elizabeth Jonas, the Bear, and the Victory were all ships of the first class, and built in the early part of Elizabeth's reign ; and, being on the list of the navy at her death, they were then about forty years of age. Without docks to repair these ships — without their bottoms being protected by copper or other metallic sheathing to preserve them from the ravages of the worm ( Teredo navalis), it is difficult to conceive what were the means made use of for their protection. Captain Richard Hawkins, in his well-written Voyage, describes the different processes, and particularly that practised by his father. Sir John Hawkins, one of the ablest navi- gators of the time ; but they appear to be merely inadequate expedients. In the year 1545, a large French fleet stood over to the Isle of Wight to attack the English fleet as- sembled at that anchorage. A fight ensued, and the Mary Rose was sunk, and, as the French say, the Great Harry had a narrow escape ; but the English accounts affirm that the Mary Rose was upset by a roll of the sea, and, the ports being only sixteen inches from the water, she foundered. 6 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. King Henry, by Monson's account, dined on board that day, and witnessed the disaster from the shore. The Great Harry also, in the first year of Queen Mary, 1553, took fire, as is said, from the careless- ness of the mariners, and was wholly consumed. The Sovereign now only remained of the four large ships, and Monson says that she too was burnt : one thing is certain, that none of the four large ships of Henry are found in the list of those, which were em- ployed against the Spanish Armada, nor in any other list during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The manning of ships, whether of the navy or hired, was necessarily imperfect, and frequently re- quired forcible means : the science of gunnery was then but little known, archery being a part of it. By the experience however acquired in the numer- ous expeditions, chiefly against the Spaniards, the greatest naval power then existing, British seaman- ship and gunnery were greatly advanced, and the determined bravery of our seamen then, as now, led them, on every occasion when it could be done, to the practice of boarding the enemy, in which they rarely failed. The happy result of the encourage- ment given by Elizabeth, to the improvement of her navy, acquired for her, as Camden tells us, the glorious title of the " Restorer of Naval Power and Sovereign of the Northern Seas." From her time down to the present, and through- out every reign, the naval service has regularly INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 7 improved in all its branches, and the skill in sea- manship was eminently displayed in the many brilliant examples of it, exhibited in the long- con- tinued revolutionary war. Fears, however, it would seem, are now occasion- ally apprehended by some persons, that the enor- mous and rapidly increasing extent of steam navi- gation will materially interfere with the employ- ment of our old seamen, and put a stop to the growth of young ones. In a noted periodical journal this has been strongly put. " Alas ! for the mutability of human affairs," says the writer, " and the won- derful changes effected by human invention ! A boiler of water converted into steam impels a ship through the sea with a greater and more constant velocity than the winds can do, and the ship so im- pelled requires but few or no seamen. She is navi- gated by engineers, gunners, blacksmiths, and coal- stokers, who usurp the place of seamen. What, then, is to become of our brave sailors ? and what is to become of our superiority of seamanship, of the glorious result of which we have just given so splen- did an instance?* It may be said we too can steam equally with others ; true, but the naval superiority of England, which has been asserted and main- tained for the last three hundred years, admits not of equality. '''\ This is quite true — insulated as this * That of Faulkner in the Blanche against La Pique, f Edinburgh Review. 8 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. country is, she must preserve her naval superiority, whether by sail or by steam. In officers to command her fleet, Queen Elizabeth was equally deficient as in her ships. She had Frobisher, Hawkins, Drake, and Fenner_, able and expert seamen ; but for many years they had neither rank nor place in the navy, and at no time perma- nent ; and the duty of Lord High Admiral, which was anciently confined nearly to his judicial func- tions, was now for the first time efficiently executed by Lord Howard of Effingham, in the true military character. The name of ^e/mira/ appears, indeed, to have been first introduced into England by Richard L on his return from the crusades — a name that was probably derived from y^meer, a chief, or leader. The chief commander of every expedition, whether fitted out by the government or by private individuals, was styled admiral or general. Sir William Monson says — " There have been often disputes whether the title of admiral or general was more proper for a sea commander; and though I dare not presume to conclude of either, yet I think it is as improper to call an admiral, general by sea, as to call a general, admiral by land." The impro- priety consists only in the confusion that is likely to be created, for in other respects every leader or chief commander is DutV, which may be either gene- ral or admiral. But the titles of both these and of all subordinate officers ceased with the occasion INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 9 on which they were employed. On the defeat of the Spanish Armada, for instance, the Lord High Admiral was the only naval officer in the Queen's ships that retained his rank, but its permanency was more owing probably to his judicial than his mili- tary character. Lord Henry Seymour, Sir Francis Drake, Sir John Hawkins, and Sir Martin Frobisher, were made flag officers on that important occasion, but retained their naval rank only pro hac vice. The Lord High Admiral, however, had the power, which he made use of, to bestow the personally per- manent honour of knighthood on Captain Frobisher, Captain Hawkins, and some others. The same power was granted by Henry VHL when he gave a commission to Sir Edward Howard to prepare a fleet for sea, to which he appointed him Captain-General, with authority to confer knighthood, to make ordi- nances and statutes for the good government of the fleet, and to punish with life and limb. It is curious to see in what an anomalous state the navy then was. The same High Admiral was required to exe- cute indentures with the King to provide a fleet, to be manned with 3000 men of the following descrip- tions ; that is to say : — Captains .... 18 Soldiers . . . .1750 Mariners and Gunners . . 1233 3001 10 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. supplying them with wages and victuals. The King, on his part, stipulated to add eighteen ships to the fleet, fully rigged, gunned, and armed with bows and bowmen ; for which the King stipulated he should have one-half of all the gains and winnings of the war, the chief prisoners, all the artillery, and one ship royal : the High Admiral was to have the rest, and, in addition, a certain number of dead shares (specified in the contract) of each of the King's ships. The power given to the Lord High Admiral to confer knighthood at sea was continued and exer- cised by Elizabeth and James, and, as it would ap- pear, to an unlimited extent. Thus when Lord Howard of Effingham and the Earl of Essex were jointly appointed to the Cadiz expedition, they made upwards of sixty knights. In short, the duties and the powers of the High Admiral, in these two reigns, were never defined, but capriciously given, and con- sequently subject to great abuse : some held their patents for life ; others only for a time, or during pleasure; Henry VHL made his natural son, the Duke of Richmond, Lord High Admiral of England when he was but six years old. In short, during the reigns of Elizabeth and James, it does not appear that, beyond the single appoint- ment of a Lord High Admiral, there was any kind of establishment for rank or pay, or emolument in any shape, after the most brilliant and efficient ser- INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 11 vices were performed. The ships hired or supplied from certain ports, when the occasion ceased, were returned to their respective owners; and the few ships of war were paid off into a state of ordinary, leaving a very small number of ship-keepers to take care of them. The admiral or general who had the command, the vice-admiral, and the rear-admiral, titles given to the three chief officers (titles equally and indiscriminately given to the ships they com- manded) — these three officers then sunk into the oi TToWoi, as soon as their services were no lonscer required. The deserving, however, were not for- gotten : witness the frequent occasions on which Drake, and Hawkins, and Frobisher, were called upon to afford their services — men who, by their zeal, energy, and talent, acquired and preserved for Queen Elizabeth the proud title of Sovereign of the Seas. In fact, it was not till the year 1673, when the Duke of York was High Admiral under Charles 11. , that the affairs of the naval service were settled and arranged on a stable footing by Charles and his brother, ably assisted by Mr. Secretary Pepys. Under their administration was produced that re- gular code of instructions (well known as the Duke of York's Fighting Instructions) for the rule and guidance of officers of the navy, who had each now his established rank, and his duties specified and defined. 12 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. There is in the Records of the Admiralty* a MS. book of minutes, made in council — the King some- times, but generally the Duke of York, presiding — beautifully and uniformly written, through upwards of 700 pages, containing a period from 1660 to 1688. At these councils everything regarding the materiel and personnel of the naval service was discussed and decided : the building of ships — their dimensions and force— the nature of their armament — their number — where to be employed — where stationed — the supply of naval stores, timber, hemp, and iron, for the different dock-yards : also all that re- lates to the personnel, from the flag-officer to the midshipman, their promotion, pay, and allowances — pensions to the widows and children of those slain in action — and, in short, all the regulations and instructions relating to the well-being and ad- vancement of the navy ; and all the proceedings of the council are set forth in a most methodical and business-like manner. There was still something left undone at the Re- volution. King William had not been long on the throne before he deemed it expedient to pass an " Extraordinary Order in Council," grounded on a more extraordinary reason. On the 22nd of February, 1693, this order settled double pay on officers of the fleet when at sea, and half-pay when on shore. '' His Majesty," it says, ''taking into serious consideration the great and INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 13 general neglect and remissness of the commanders, captains, and other officers of the fleet, in not per- forming the duty of their respective places, accord- ing to the General Instructions : therefore, for the prevention of the like neglects, and their fatal con- sequences in future, his Majesty hath thought fit to order, and it is hereby accordingly ordered, that all flag-officers, captains, and other officers, &c., when on sea-service, shall receive double their present pay ; and when on shore, shall receive half-pay," &c. Such a sweeping reprimand to the whole body of the navy, and from a new sovereign, with no here- ditary claim, and moreover a foreigner, was a bold measure, and required some soothing expedient like that administered by the Dutchman to gild the bitter pill, which completely answered the purpose ; and the efficiency of the navy was much improved dur- ing the continuance of his reign. William, however, was not quite steady. In the first printed list of naval lieutenants (in the Records of the Admiralty), in 1700, consisting of 330, it is headed that 100 will from time to time be entitled to half-pay when unemployed on shore, according to their seniority in the list. The first printed list of captains (that appears in the Admiralty in the year 1717-18) consists in the whole of 214. Queen Elizabeth succeeded to the throne of Eng- land under very discouraging circumstances. Her 14 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. subjects were divided and harassed by discordant religious opinions : the exchequer exhausted, and financial concerns in the greatest disorder ; her title to the Crown disputed; the Scots in a state of rebellion in favour of their own queen ; the country inundated by Catholic bishops and priests, encou- raged by the late sovereign and her bigoted husband, who, before the ashes of his wife were cold in the grave, unfeelingly proposed marriage to Elizabeth, which she treated with scorn ; but it contributed to make a bitter enemy of the most powerful monarch of Europe, both by sea and land ; while her own navy and army were in a low and deplorable condition, while her forts and castles along the sea-coast, the only true defence (coupled with a navy) of an in- sular empire, were in a state of neglect — all these accumulated evils, with the cares and anxieties of governing a great but distracted empire, were to be met by a young princess of five and twenty years of age. But the energy of her mental powers, strength- ened by a sound and solid education and a clear understanding, added to that unconquerable spirit in maintaining what she deemed her right, (which she inherited from her father, and in which she was supported by wise and honest ministers,) enabled her to overcome the many difficulties that opposed her first entrance on the arduous task set before her. She met it boldly ; and the first work of labour INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 15 which this young princess encountered and success- fully completed, was the glorious Reformation ; an undertaking no less difficult than dangerous, but which she happily accomplished for the future peace of the realm. The navy claimed her early attention, and the death of Lord Lincoln, the Lord High Admiral, left a vacancy, which Elizabeth conferred on Lord Charles Howard of Effingham, a man on whom she bestowed her highest confidence, and in whom she found an officer devoted to the service, and well dis- posed to take an active part in all the duties of this important office, both civil and military, which his predecessor had not been called upon to attend to. It is to this most honourable, faithful, and excellent man, that the autograph letters, men- tioned in the title-page, chiefly apply. Hitherto none of them have met the public eye. They were found bundled up in the State Paper Office, " that mine" (as some writer observes), "wherein much unfruitful soil requires to be removed, but by dili- gent digging and a practised eye a rich vein may perhaps be hit upon, to reward the labours of the search." It is a matter of some surprise, that so good and eminent a character has had so little recorded of his life and transactions. The old naval chro- nicles mention him as commanding against the Spanish Armada, and at the capture of Cadiz ; but 16 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. before and after these two events we hear little of him, except by his splendid embassy to Spain in the reign of James I. But, during the whole war, his letters display an unceasing degree of vigilance, anxiety, and great humanity. These letters have no pretension to fine or correct writing, or brilliant talent ; their orthography is that of the time ; their plain, honest, and homely style, alike to the Queen as to Secretary Walsingham, exhibits character in a remarkable degree : as Sir Harris Nicolas observes of Nelson's letters, so it may here be said of Howard's, — they have not been altered into " a fit- ting epistolary shape, as if a hero could never think, write, nor speak naturally, but must always appear in a full dress." Lord Charles Howard of Efiing- ham shall speak, think, and write in his own homely dress, which, if none of the smartest, will convey at least the honest, undisguised sentiments of an ingenuous and upright man. SIR MARTIN FROBISHER. 1576 TO 1594. FIRST VOYAGE, 1576. The history of the British Navy, from a very early period down to the present day, affords more splen- did examples of high moral and heroic courage, of unflinching fortitude and self-devotion, and its officers and seamen have performed more gallant deeds, than those of any other nation, at any period of its history, can boast of. At the same time, the narratives of these exploits and daring ad- ventures, while they impart delight, are frequently calculated to fill the mind with melancholy reflec- tions, that so many brave fellows should have sacri- ficed their lives in devotion to their country's ser- vice, whether in battle, or in the peaceful attain- ment of some cherished object of science or dis- covery, for the common benefit of the human race. Among the first and foremost of the distinguished naval officers, and thorough-bred seamen, who flou- rished in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and under her auspices, was Sir Martin Frobisher. Brilliant as his services were, both in battle and discovery, it c 18 FROBISHER. is not a little remarkable that neither his parents nor his birth-place were ever clearly ascertained. In the history of Doncaster it is mentioned, that this town has a not improbable claim to the honour of giving birth to this celebrated naval commander. It states, that his supposed father resided some time at Fin- ningley, about seven miles north-east of Doncaster, and four from Bawtry. It further states, that a Fran- cis Frobisher was mayor of Doncaster in the year 1535, and was probably the father of Martin. Ad- mitting this to be so, and the son to be then in his infancy, he must have been above forty years of age when, in 1576, he first undertook that perilous voy- age to discover a north-west passage. This might be so, for he tells us, that the discovery of this passage had engaged his mind for fifteen years, before he could procure the means of undertaking it. Fuller observes, that the learned Mr. Carpenter, in his Geography, recounts him among the famous men of Devonshire : but, says Fuller, " why should Devonshire, which hath a flock of worthies of her own, take a lamb from another county ?"* How- ever obscure his birth and parentage may have been, his memory would also seem to have been buried with his corpse, for the only record of his death is, that it took place at Plymouth, in consequence of the wound he received before the Spanish fort near Brest ; and all that can be found, on inquiry, is, * Fuller's Worthies. FROBISHER. 19 that, in the register of St. Andrew's parish (1594), the following entry is recorded : — " 22nd November, Sir Martin Frobisher, knight, being wounded at the fort built against Brest by the Spaniards, deceased at Plymouth this day, whose entrails were here in- terred, but his corpse was carried hence to be buried in London." Neither does it appear at what age, with whom, and in what trade, he first went to sea ; but it is said that he early displayed very eminent abilities as a navigator, and it appears that he was courted as such. The Irish Correspondence in the State Paper Office, for 1572, contains a "Declaration," dated the 4th December in that year, signed by Martin Frobisher, in which he acquaints the government of a singular incident that occurred to him, during his residence at Lambeth. He states that about Bar- tholomew-tide, one Ralph Whalley called on him at his lodging there, and introduced himself to him as a follower of the Earl of Desmond, an Anglo-Irish nobleman, then imprisoned in the Tower. Under a promise of secrecy, Whalley opened a negotiation with the enterprising mariner, to aid the captive Earl in a meditated escape out of England. It was proposed that Desmond should be carried in an oyster-boat as far as Gravesend, where he was to embark on board a ship to be provided by Frobisher. The reward, held out by Whalley, was a share with him in a vessel of the value of 500/., and a gift c 2 20 FROBISHER. from Desmond of his island of Valentia, on the coast of Derry.* Owing to some uncertainty as to the Earl's libera- tion, the affair did not come to any conclusion ; but no circumstances are stated that should have induced Frobisher to betray this affair to the government. Nothing more is heard of Frobisher till the year 1576, when the subject of the north-west passage was revived, and false reports were spread abroad, that a passage had been effected round the northern coast of America to Cathaia and the East Indies. Frobisher, however, had no faith in such reports ; and, from all the information he could collect, was fully persuaded that the voyage was not only feasi- ble, but of easy execution. The friends of Fro- bisher, however, were by no means so sanguine, nor prepared to enter into this scheme ; but such was the conviction on his mind, on long reflection, that, as nature had made a communication between the Southern Atlantic and the Pacific, so the same would be found to exist between the Northern Atlantic and the Pacific. To enable him to establish this opinion, and thus to make his name renowned, he struggled for fifteen years, without being able to procure the means of setting forth an expedition for the pur- pose: — " But about this time," says Camden, " some studious heads, moved with a commendable desire * MSS., State Paper Office. FROBISHER. 21 to discover the more remote regions of the world, and the secrets of the ocean, put forward some well- moneyed men, no less desirous to reap profit by it than to find out whether there were any strait in the north part of America, through which men might sail to the rich country of Cathay, and so the wealth of the East and West might be conjoyned by a mu- tual commerce. Herewith," he continues, "these moneyed men being persuaded, they fitted out and sent Martin Frobisher with two small barks, the Gabriel of 35, and the Michael of 30 tons, together with a pinnace of 10 tons, on this expedition, in addition to which he obtained the countenance and assistance of Dudley, Earl of Warwick/'* On the 8th of May, 1576, the little squadron made sail ; '* and,'* says the writer of the voyage, ** at Deptford we bore down to the court, where we shotte off our ordinance, and made the best show we could. Her Majesty, beholding the same, com- mended it, and bade us farewell, by shaking her hand at us out of the window. The same night the Secretary Woolly came aborde of us, and declared to the company that her Majesty had appointed him to give them charge to be obedient and diligent to their captains and governors in all things, and wished us happy success."f On the 11th of July they came in sight of Fries- land, in 61° lat., "rising like pmnacles of steeples, * Camden. | Hakluyt. 22 FROBISHER. • and all covered with snow/' Proceeding northerly among the ice, they entered a strait in lat. 63° 8', to which the geographers of that day very properly gave the name of the first discoverer. Frobisher entered this *' great gut, bay, or passage, three-score leagues," and, stretching along to the westward, he supposed it to be the strait that connected the Atlantic Ocean with what w^as then called the South Sea, afterwards the Pacific. Here the party disco- vered at some distance certain things floating, which they took to be porpoises or seals, or some kind of strange fish, but which, on a nearer approach, they discovered, with great surprise, to be human beings in small boats covered with skins. Well may they have been surprised to see, for the first time, crea- tures so totally different from any hitherto known, " with long black hair, broad faces and flatte noses, and taunie in colour, wearing scale skins, the women marked in the face with blewe streaks downe the cheekes, and round about the eyes."* To one man, who came on board, Frobisher gave a bell and knife, and sent him in a boat with five of the crew, with directions to land him on a rock, and not to trust themselves with numbers that were on the shore ; but they disobeyed his orders and her Majesty's instructions, were seized by the natives, and none of them heard of more. The people after this became shy ; but Frobisher, by ringing and * Hakluyt. .FROBISHER. 23 holding out a bell, induced one man to come along- side, and as he stretched out his hand to receive it, he was caught fast by Frobisher, who " plucked him by main force, boat and all, into his barke." On finding himself a prisoner, for very rage " he bit his tongue in twaine within his mouth : notwithstanding he died not thereof, but lived untill he came into Eng- land, and then he died of cold which he had taken at sea." " With this strange infidele, whose like was never scene, read, nor heard of before, and whose language was neither knowen nor understood of any," Frobisher set sail for England, and arrived at Harwich on the 21st of October; being, says his historian, " highly commended of all men for his greate and notable attempt, but specially famous for the great hope he brought of the passage to Cathaia." The discovery of this strait, by the first navigator who had visited that part of the coast of America, was sufficient ground for coming to such a conclu- sion, and so thought the government. At a council held at Westminster in March, 1577, present the Lord Treasurer, the Lord Chamberlain, the Earl of Leicester, Mr. Comptroller and Mr. Secretary Walsingham, a letter was written to the Lord President in the North, stating that " last year a voyage was taken in hand by Master Furbussher for the discovery of some parts of the world un- knowen, where there is great likelihood that the continuance thereof will be beneficial to the whole 24 FROBISHER.. realme, and particularly to such as are venturous in the same; and for that some encouragement might be given for the following thereof, her Ma- jestie is pleased to contribute largely towards such charges as are now to be employed; their Lordships think good to desire that seeing, by the success of the last year, such hope hath been conceived of the profits of that voyage, as both her Majestic and their Lordships have entered into some charges, and could wish that others would do the like, &c. : the Lord President would signifie to the inhabitants there- abouts, to the merchants of York, Newcastle, Hull, and other places under his jurisdiction, who shall be willing to contribute," &:c. kc* With such encouragement and the propagation of such opinions, it may readily be supposed that Fro- bisher was nothing backward in preparing for a second expedition. The Queen's name was alone sufiicient to complete the number of adventurers. There was, besides, another temptation. A piece of black stone, *' much like to a sea-cole in colour," having been picked up by one Hall, and given to one of the seamen's wives, she happened to throw it into the fire, on which, while yet hot, she poured some vinegar, when *'it glistened with a bright mar- queset of gold." This report being spread abroad, the gold-finers of London assayed the stone, and reported that it contained a considerable quantity of gold. -f * Council Register, H. M. Council Office. f Hakluyt. FROBISHER. 25 SECOND VOYAGE, 1577. The instructions that were given to Frobisher by the Lords of the Council on this second voyage, "for the north-west parts and Cathaia," contain, among others, the two following articles : " 1. First. You shall enter, as Captain-General, into the charge and government of the three vessels, namely, the Ayde, the Gabriel, and the Michael, with all that appertaineth to them what- soever. ** 2. Item, You shall appoint, for the furnishing of the said vessels, the number of one hundred and twenty persons, whereof ninety shall be mariners, gunners, carpenters, and other necessary men to serve for the use of the ships ; and the other thirty to be myners, finers, merchants, and other necessary persons, both to wait and attend upon you, which numbers you shall not in any way exceed." The Ayde was one of the Queen's ships, which her Majesty contributed, of nine score tons or thereabouts ; the Gabriel was a bark of about thirty tons, the captain of which was Master Fenton ; and the Michael, about the same size, was commanded by Master Yorke. On taking leave, Frobisher had the honour of kissing her Majesty's hand, " who dismissed him with gracious countenance and com- fortable words." They left Gravesend about the end Of 26 FROBISHER. of May, having first received the sacrament, and made preparation '' as good Christians towards God, and resolute men for all fortunes." On falling in with Friesland they were hampered with drift ice, and large icebergs, some of which are stated to have been seventy and even eighty fathoms under water, and more than half a mile in circuit. As the part above water was fresh, Frobisher concluded that they were formed in the Sounds, or on some land near the Pole; and he hazards the opinion, that *' the maine sea freezeth not," and that " there is no mare glaciale, as the opinion hitherto hath been/' They entered the strait of last year's discovery round Hall's Island. Frobisher took the gold- finders with him near the spot where the black stone was found, but the whole island did not furnish "a piece as bigge as a walnut." They wantonly, as it appears, seized *' two salvages," who soon eluded their grasp, seized their bows and arrows, and '* fiercely, desperately, and with such fury, assaulted and pursued our General and his master, that they chased them to their boats, and hurt the General in the buttocke with an arrow." Proceeding up the strait, they landed on a small island on the southern shore, and " here all the sands and cliffs did so glister, and had so bright a marquesite, that it seemed all to be gold, but upon tryal made, it proved no better than black-lead. FBOBISHER. 27 and verified the proverbe — all is not gold that glistereth." On another small island they found a mine of silver, and four sorts of ore, " to hold gold in good quantitie." Here also they found and brought to England the horn of the narwhal or unicorn fish, which being the first ever brought home, was sent to Windsor, " and reserved as a Jewell in the Queen s wardrobe.'* In York Sound they had a skirmish with a party of natives, in which fiYe or six of the savages were unfortunately put to death, and two women seized, ** whereof the one being ugly, our men thought she had been a devil or some witch, and therefore let her goe.'* The other being young, and having a sucking child, they kept them both for a short time. The season being now far advanced, and the General's instructions directing him to search for gold ore, and to defer the further discovery of the passage till another time, they commenced lading their ships, and in about twenty days succeeded in getting aboard nearly 200 tons of ore. They then set sail on the 22nd of August, and arrived in England after a stormy passage, with the loss of one man by sickness, and another who was washed over- board. 28 FROBISHER. THIRD VOYAGE, 1578. The Queen, the whole Court, and the adventurers, were so delighted with the great show of profit which the abundance of gold ore held forth, and, as Hakluyt tells us, with the hope of the passage to Cathaia by this last voyage greatly increased, it was at once determined that the expedition was highly worthy of being followed up ; and it was further resolved upon, by the Queen in Council, that a colony should be established on Meta incog- nita — the newly discovered country. To effect this, fifteen ships (Purchas says thirteen) were put in preparation, among which were distributed one hundred persons with materials to form the settle- ment, who were to remain there the whole year, keeping with them three of the ships, the re- mainder to bring back cargoes of gold ore. Fro- bisher was constituted Admiral and General, and was presented by the Queen with a gold chain, and all the captains had the honour to kiss her Majesty's hand. A code of instructions, consisting of fifteen arti- cles, was drawn up by Frobisher on this occasion, to be observed by the fleet. Two of these may be given as a specimen. " Art. 1. Imprimis. To banishe swearing, dice, cards' playing, and all filthie talk, and to serve God twice adaie, FROBISHER. ' 29 with the ordinarie service, usuall in the Church of England ; and to clear the glasse everie nighte, according to the oulde order of England.* '* Art. 8. If any man in the fleete come upon \burnt : qu. another] in the nighte and haile his fellowe, knowinge him not, he shall give him this watche worde, — * Before the world was God ;' the other shall answer, if he be one of our fleete, — * After God came Christ, his sonne.' Soe that if any be found amongst us, not of our own companie, he that firste descrieth any such saile or sailer shall give warning to the Admyrall.'* And he concludes thus : — " I am to require you, in her Majestie*s name, that you faile not to observe these Articles as neare as you maie. Given this first of June, 1578. (Signed) " Martyn Furbusher." f They reached Friesland on the 20th of June, without any thing remarkable happening, except that near this place the Salamander (one of the squadron) being under her courses and bonnet, happened to strike on a great whale with her full * The meaning of this expression is now doubtful among nauti- cal men. — It cannot be to measure the watches, by clearing it once only in twenty-four hours. It cannot have been used to measure the ship's way, £ls there was neither log-line nor log-book before the year 1607. In the first volume of the Archaeologia, in the accounts of the churchwardens, is an entry, *' 1591, Payde for an howr-glasse for the pullpitt, 3*. 4rf." Did the length of the ser- mon " cleare the glass " ? as has been suggested to me by a learned friend. t MSS. Otho E 8, British Museum. 30 FROBISHER. stem, with such a blow, that the ship stood still, and neither stirred forward nor backward. " The whale thereat made a great and hideous noise, and casting up his body and taile, presently sanke under water."* On attempting to enter the strait, previously dis- covered, they found it barred up with mountains of ice, and the bark Dennis received such a blow, that she sunk among it, and others were in very great danger. Unfortunately, the Dennis had on board the houses and furniture for the settlers, all of which was lost. A storm dispersed the whole fleet, some being swept among the fragments into the strait, and others into the sea ; and when they got together again they were so bewildered with the snow and mist, and so driven about by the tides and currents, the noise of which is stated to be equal ''to the waterfall of London Bridge," that the masters and pilots of the fleet doubted where they were. Two of their ships had parted com- pany, the rest followed the General to the north- west coast of Greenland, thence to the northward, when at length they, or most of them, arrived at and entered Frobisher's Strait, where it was in- tended to land the settlers on the Countess of War- wick's Island ; but from the loss occasioned by the sinking of the Dennis, and the want of drink and fuel for one hundred men, the greatest store being * Purchas. FROBISHER. 31 in the missing ships, it was decided in council, that no habitation should be there this year. Captain Best, of the Ann Francis, one of the missing ships, discovered a great black island, in which such plenty of ore was found " as might reasonably suffice all the gold gluttons of the world ;" to this black island, for good luck's sake, the captain gave the name of *' Best's Blessing."* The 30th of August having arrived, it was de- cided at a second council, for divers good and substantial reasons, that each captain and owner should look to the lading of his own ship, and that by a certain day they should set sail for England. After a stormy passage, in which the fleet suffered much distress, they arrived at different ports of England about the beginning of October, with the loss by death of about forty persons. After the return from this third voyage, the Queen's ministers and the other adventurers were more desirous of having the accounts examined and audited, than of giving any further consideration about the north-west passage. For this purpose Mr. Michael Lok, treasurer of the Company of Cathaia, was commissioned by the adventurers, among whom was enrolled the name of the Queen. From these accounts it appears that the subscription for the first voyage was 875/. The subscription to the second voyage amounted to 5150/. The third ship on * Hakluyt. 32 FROBISHER. this voyage, the Ayde, was purchased from the Queen for 750/., and a present of 100/. to the Lord Admiral besides was charged. The expedition con- sisted of 143 persons; namely, 36 officers and gen- tlemen, 14 miners and finers, 64 mariners on board the Ayde, 16 in the Michael, and 13 in the Gabriel. The mineral ore which they brought back was lodged in the Queen's storehouse on Tower Hill, where two small furnaces were erected for making the assays and experiments, on which were em- ployed John Baptista Agnello, Jonas Schutz, and Robert Denam, the two last of whom were sent to Windsor to report the result of the proofs. The Lord Treasurer allowed, by agreement, the premises at Dartford, where mills and furnaces were erected on a large scale, to be made use of; and here 140 tons of ore, besides what was brought to the Tower, were received from Bristol, where it had been landed from the Ayde and Gabriel. The third voyage had been undertaken upon a much larger scale, consisting of the Ayde, Michael, Gabriel, and Judith, with nine other ships ; and they brought home 1296 tons of ore, which were de- posited at Dartford, where the smelting and refining were carried on with some success by John Bap- tista Agnello, Jonas Schutz, Doctor Burcotranik, Robert Denam, and William Humfrey. Among the property of the company is mentioned that of FROBISHER. 33 one Thomas Allen, who received of Captain Fro- bisher two ingots of fine gold, and two ingots of fine silver, the first weighing 9 dwts. 8 grs., and the second 7 oz. 18 dwts., which were the proceeds of 4 cwt. of ore, brought on the second voyage, being the first proof made by Jonas Schutz in a furnace built on Tower Hill. The most exag- gerated accounts were in circulation as to the enormous quantity of gold brought home. One of the old chroniclers says that " such great quantity of gold appeared, that some letted not to give out for certaintie, that Solomon had his gold from thence, wherewith he builded his temple."* What the produce of the three voyages amounted to does not appear ; but it is stated that the sub- scriptions for the three expeditions amounted to 20,345/., of which Queen Elizabeth advanced 4,000/. We have gone into this brief detail, not only be- cause Frobisher was the first man who set about to discover a north-west passage to China, and the first who penetrated a strait leading in that direc- tion, thereby holding out encouragement to those who subsequently followed in the same pursuit ; but because, by his skill and gallant conduct, he assisted Queen Elizabeth most essentially in hum- bling the arrogant pretensions of Philip of Spain, and in the destruction of his vaunted Armada. He • Holinshed's Chronicle. 34 FROBISHER. stood high always in the estimation of Queen Eliza- beth, and lost his life in her service. Nothing further is heard of Frobisher until the year 1585, when a fleet was fitted out to annoy the King of Spain in the West Indies, who had manifested a disposition to go to war with Eliza- beth, by laying an embargo upon all the English ships, goods, and seamen, found in his ports, which in fact was considered the first step to a declaration of war. This fleet consisted of twenty-one ships and pinnaces, in one of which, the Primrose, Martin Frobisher commanded as Vice- Admiral, Sir Francis Drake being Admiral in the Elizabeth Bonaventure. General Carlisle was appointed to command a certain number of troops sent on this conjoint expedition, of which the only account we have is said to have been drawn up by Captain Walter Briggs, under the direction of Lieutenant-General Carlisle ; but he dying on the voyage, the narra- tive was given to a Lieutenant Cripps, who handed it over to Lieutenant Cates, who gave it for pub- lication to Hakluyt. It were needless to say that Drake and Frobisher, and the rest of the naval ofiicers, had their full share of labour and credit, though it does not appear that any separate account of them has been published. It will be enough here to say, the cities or towns of St. Jago, Car- thagena, St. Domingo, and the small establish- ments of St. Augustin and a small adjacent town, ' FROBISHER. 35 were conquered and restored on a certain ransom being paid to the captors. Mr. Gates tells us very little, in his * Narrative/ of what was performed by the Lieutenant-General and his troops. The names even of Drake and Frobisher are scarcely mentioned. The booty brought home is stated at 60,000/. in money and 240 pieces of brass and iron cannon, 200 of them being of brass. The number of men that died is said to have been about 750, most of them of the fever called the calen- ture. Sir William Monson, in his criticism on this voyage, says we ought to have kept and defended these places ; but the example of Virginia, without enemies there to contend with, held out but little en- couragement to attempt colonizing amidst a large and fixed population in bitter hostility against us, national, political, and religious. Queen Elizabeth had sounder views on this subject: — "It may be thought simplicity in me," she said to her Parlia- ment, " that in all time of my reign I have not sought to advance my territories and enlarge my dominions; for opportunity hath served me to do it. I acknowledge womanhood and weakness in that respect; but though it hath not been hard to obtain, yet I doubted how to keep the things obtained : and I must say, my mind was never to invade my neigh- bours, or to usurp over any; I am contented to reign over my own, and to rule as a just princess."* We next find Frobisher placed in the high and * D'Ewes, Harleian Miscellany. D 2 36 FROBISHER. most important situation of Vice-Admiral, in com- mand of a squadron in the fleet appointed to engage that of Spain, which, in the year 1588, appeared in the English Channel, under the arrogant title of the Invincible Armada. That he should be selected to fill this eminent situation was owing entirely to his character, which was that of ranking among the few choice seamen that England could at this time boast of in her navy. The Lord High Admiral, in writing to the Queen, says — " Sir Francis Drake, Mr. Haw- kins, Mr. Frobisher, and Mr. Thomas Fenner, are those whom the world doth judge to be men of the greatest experience that this realme hath ;" * and the very first day that the Spanish fleet made its appearance ofl[ Plymouth, Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher are said to have attacked and played so stoutly upon its rear division, commanded by Gene- ral Juan de Recalde, that the General's own, and the other ships of that division, were so shattered as to make the best of their way to join the main body under the Duke of Medina Sidonia. After two or three actions, the Lord High Admi- ral took the opportunity of dividing his fleet into four squadrons, to the command of one of which Frobisher was appointed; and shortly afterwards Captain John Hawkins and Captain Martin Fro- bisher, with three others, received the honour of knighthood at the hands of the Lord High Admiral. It also deserves to be noticed, that as Sir Francis * MS. Letter of Lord High Admiral. FROBISHER. 37 Drake in the Revenge, Sir Martin Frobisher in the Triumph, and Sir John Hawkins in the Victory, made the first attack on the Spaniards, so the same officers, with Lord Henry Seymour in the Rainbow, were in the last engagement with the flying fleet. Lord Henry says, in his letter to the Queen — '' Sir Francis Drake gave the first charge upon the Spa- nish Admiral, being accompanied with the Triumph, the Victory, and others." The Triumph remained to watch the narrow seas, and the vigilance of her commander is shown from his letters to Lord Charles Howard, two of which are here inserted more as curiosities for their style and orthography, than as of importance. Sir Martin Frobiser to the Lord Admiral. May 6th, 1589. My honarabelle good lord. In sendenge the monne (money) ton oste dynde (Ostend) she hathe taken a Lonnedragare (L'homme de guerre, qu. ?) & a spanyarde in her, bound for donkerke, & the spanyarde caste ouare borde ton paketes of Letares, & as he saythe, beye ordare frome thos that deleurede them tou hem : as sonne as I can exsamene them I wolle send youre honare all thes exsamenasiones, for thate thes Letares of my Lord Tresarares requirede grete haste I coullde haue no time, beynge neyghte. Dounes thes 6 of maye, at 8 a cloke at nyghte, 1589. Your honares moste hombleye, Martin Frobiser.* To the reyghte honorabelle the Lord Admeralle of Ingland : gev this. * This name, and names in general, are variously written even by the writers themselves. 38 FROBISHER. She is ladenede with ches, & nate elles (nothing else), & your honar shalle knoue as sone as I can undarestande it.* Sir Martin Frobisher to the Lord Admiral. May 7th, 1589, My Honnorable good Lord, I have sent your honnor the pase of this hoye herein closed, and with all a letare wher in your honnor may se all her Ladinge, that she was dericktly bound for Dunkerke, with this don John De toledo. The marchant that is onnor of these goods ys called Hanse vandeveck, dwellinge in Hamserdam. I have also examined this Spaniord: he confeses, as I aduertised your honnor, that he was taken with don Deage de pemnentelo, and that his name ys don John De toledo, and that this marchant, Ilanse Vandeveck, did get him Relesed for a mariner of Roterdam that was Presoner in Donkerke. I have allso sent your honnor his pasport, wherein you may se his name, and the forme of his deliverie. Ther ys in her three pore men, their wifes & childern, bound for honscot. I have sent the hoy into Dover peare, & I have comanded the pore men and the wemen & chil- deren a land in Dover to goe where thay will. The hoy, the Skiper, and the Spaniard, I kep in safe custodie tell I know your honnors plesur hearin. When the Skipper did se he wase to be taken, he willed them all to cast overbord ther leters, but thay swere all thay wher but one pore kinsmans to an other of comendacons & of ther parince. I pray your honnors derictioii for these causes, and what I shall doe for the mendinge of my mast, and shifting of my balis, which must be donne before I take in any vitels. I have but vij dayes vitels left, and it plese your honnor the vitels myght goe to Harwige that comes doune, and the * MS., State Paper Office. FROBISHER. 39 ship may met the vitels ther and dispach all thingcs in thre or fower dayes. Thus comiting your honnor to the almitie. Downes tliis viith of may, 1589. Your honnors most humbely bound, (Signed) Martin Frobiser.* From the year 1585, when the war with Spain may fairly be said to have commenced, to the year 1590, " there was the greatest possibility ima- ginable," says Sir William Monson, " of enriching our nation by actions at sea. The King of Spain was now grown so weak in shipping by the over- throw he had in 1588, that he could no longer se- cure the trade of his subjects."! The Earl of Cum- berland suffered not that year to expire, before he had fitted out an expedition ; and Drake and Norris gave to Philip a severe blow, in their attack on the Groyne the following year. This was followed up, in the year 1590, by an expedition for the coast of Spain and the islands, the command of which was conferred on Sir Martin Frobisher, as Admiral, and Sir John Hawkins, as Vice- Admiral ; but it was thought expedient to divide the ten ships, given by the Queen, into two squadrons, five to each of the Admirals, " gentlemen of tried experience." The fitting out of such a fleet could not be con- cealed, and when it was reported to King Philip, he ordered twenty sail of ships to be fitted out, and ap- pointed Don Alonzo de Bassano to command them. * MS., State Paper Office. f Monson's Tracts. 40 FROBISHER. " But," says Monson, " after he had put out to sea, the King of Spain, becoming better advised than to adventure twenty of his ships to ten of ours, sent for Don Alonzo to return to port, and so frus- trated the expectation of our fleet/'* The English squadron then stood over to the Azores, and made an attempt to land at Fayal, which the Earl of Cumberland had got possession of, the preceding year, and had given it back to the Spanish authorities. In the mean time the fortifi- cations had been strengthened, and the town put into a good state of defence ; but as the object of Frobisher was to wait the arrival of the East and West India ships, he sent a trumpet to the Governor, in a friendly manner, to request a certain quantity of wine and provisions, to be paid for, which he not only refused, but the messenger was shot. The Admiral, or General as he is called, being highly incensed at this barbarous act, sent word that he would visit the town most severely for this conduct, and received in reply from the Governor, that he was the servant of the King of Spain, and, as in duty bound, would resist any attack to the utmost of his power. The English fleet having now been absent about seven months here and on the coast of Spain, it was deemed most expedient to return to England, as they had not, during the whole of this time, taken * Monson. FROBISHER. 41 or even fallen in with a single Spanish ship worthy of being captured. The expedition, however, an- swered its purpose, by compelling the King of Spain to keep in port the whole of the outward-bound ships, and also to send out instructions to the Indies, to detain the sailing of the homeward-bound ships till the following year. Sir Walter Raleigh having, with others, been consulted on the defence of the country in 1588, towards which he assisted in providing a division of merchant-ships, now turned his attention to sea affairs ; and, being a great favourite at court, ob- tained the loan of two of her Majesty's ships — the Garland, commanded by himself, and the Foresight, by Captain Cross — in the former of which was Sir J. Burroughs, a commander of the land-forces. To the Queen's ships were added a number of armed merchant-ships, making in the whole 15 sail; of which Sir Walter was constituted General and Ad- miral. The object of this expedition was to inter- cept the Spanish fleet, on its return from America. The delay that occurred in preparing it for sea gave to Philip the opportunity of sending, as on a former occasion, to countermand the sailing of this fleet for that year (1592). Sir Walter had scarcely put to sea when he en- countered a heavy storm, in which he lost several of his pinnaces and long boats, destined for crossing the Isthmus of Darien and the capture of the sea- 42 FROBISHER. port of Panama, which so much interfered with the object of his voyage that, as Camden says, " the project was quashed." The real reason, however, of the project being quashed was the recall of Raleigh, by order of the Queen. Sir Martin Frobisher, in a pinnace of the Lord Admiral, called the Disdain, fell in with and brought him a letter of recall from the Queen, ordering him forthwith to return, and transfer the command to Sir Martin and Sir John Burroughs. The occasion for his return is accounted for in another place. The order to Sir Martin was to cruise upon the coast of Spain, and to intercept any ships attempt- ing to get into or out of harbour ; and to Bur- roughs and Cross the captain, with the division un- der them, to visit the Azores, to surprise any of the carracks that might arrive from the Indies : and this division, as Camden says, was not altogether without success ; as the Spanish admiral, being most intent upon Frobisher, kept his ships in port, and neglected the safety of the carracks. The Azores squadron, on standing for the Island of Flores, observed the Portuguese unlading a large carrack, which, on the approach of the English, was immediately set fire to. Cross, however, having spread his ships along the coast of the island, dis- covered a second large carrack. "The first ship that came up with her," says Camden, " played fu- riously upon her with the great guns, and poured FROBISHER. 43 in her broadsides, being animated by the hope of a considerable prize. But they soon sheered off again, being surprised at the tallness of the ship, and the number of men to defend her, till Cross, whom he calls Sir Robert, laid the Queen's ship named the Providence across her stem, and stood the brunt singly for three hours together. After which the rest of the ships, together with two belonging to the Earl of Cumberland, joining them, plied her so warmly, especially at the stern, that no man had the courage to stand at the helm any longer. The first that boarded her was Cross himself, followed by several others. The victory being obtained, they found every place full of slaughtered bodies, and a confused heap of dead and dying men, which, with the maimed and wounded, who lay every- where scattered up and down, made a very lamen- table spectacle." ^ The carrack was called the Madre de Dios (the Mother of God) — was 165 feet from stem to stern, a seven-decked ship of 1600 tons, most richly laden, was armed with 32 brass guns, and had a crew of 600 men on board. This prize, when brought home, was valued by report at 150,000/. sterling, besides what the officers and seamen had pilfered and got into their own clutches. On this subject, Raleigh himself, the most in- terested, complains bitterly, in a letter to the Lord * Camden. 44 FROBISHER. Treasurer, of the conduct of some of the officers and men who had pillaged the carrack, by which both himself and Sir Martin Frobisher were sufferers. " Mercenary men," he says, " are not so affectionate or religious but they can, with safe conscience, lick their own fingers." The Queen, as usual, assumed to herself the power of making the distribution to the adven- turers, with which some were satisfied. As a matter of favour, she is said to have awarded to the Earl of Cumberland some 36,000/. The King of Spain, anxious, as he always was, and ever ready, to assist the enemies of England, joined the faction in France, known by the name of the League, against the legitimate king, then in alliance with Queen Elizabeth. Philip, in 1591, had sent 3000 Spanish troops to the neighbourhood of Brest, where they had taken up and fortified themselves in a strong position. The Queen, de- sirous to give assistance to the King of France, ordered a body of about 3000 troops, under the command of Sir John Norris, to be conveyed to Brest. No progress being made on either side, a squadron, with a fresh supply of troops, was ordered from Spain ; whereupon the Queen of Eng- land was a second time applied to for naval assist- ance, which she was the more ready to grant, as the Spaniards were already in possession of the fort of Crozon, near Brest, which, if suffered to become a FROBISHER. 45 port for the reception of a Spanish fleet, this power- ful rival would then be likely to prove an unwel- come and dangerous neighbour to England. The Queen, therefore, lost no time in ordering a squadron to be prepared ; the command of which was given to Sir Martin Frobisher. It consisted of four of her ships-of-war, exclusive of some small vessels ; with orders to proceed off Brest, and to communicate with Sir John Norris. The ships were, the Vanguard, Sir Martin admiral ; the Rainbow, Captain Fenner vice-admiral; the Dreadnought, Captain Clifford ; the Quittance, Captain Saville. At this time Norris had succeeded in driving the Spaniards out of several places in their possession along the coast of Bretagne, and was proceeding to the attack of Fort Crozon. Norris, on landing his forces before this fort, was delighted to find Sir Martin Frobisher with his squadron at anchor be- fore the same place. The Admiral immediately landed his troops, with a party of seamen ; a joint attack was commenced, and carried on with great vigour : and the defence on the part of the besieged was so bravely contested, and persevered in with such obstinacy, that a great number of our gallant English officers and men lost their lives. Intelligence of what was going on having reached the Queen, the tender concern, which she so inva- riably manifested for the lives and safety of her people, prompted her on the present occasion to 46 FROBISHER. write to Norris, entreating him to put some check to the boundless valour of her brave people, and to stay their impetuosity. " The blood of man," she says, " ought not to be squandered away at all ad- ventures ; that the boiling heat of pushing men for- ward had need be curbed, and not encouraged and egged on into danger and ruin : that if he observed these measures, he would gain the credit of his con- duct, and sit free at the same time from the charge of cruelty ; and that she herself should, upon better ground, commend his care and regard for her sub- jects." The work of destruction had, however, been completed before the receipt of this letter ; but an- other was written at or about the same time to Fro- bisher, bearing date the 14th of November.* Elizabeth R. Trustie and welbeloved, wee greet you well : wee have seen your [letter] to our Threasuror and our Admyrall, and thereby perceive your [love] of our service, and also, by others, your owne good carriage, whereby [you] have wonne yourself reputation ; whereof, for that wee imagine it wil be comfort unto you to understand, wee have thought good to vouchsafe to take knowledge of it by our owne hand writinge. Wee know you are sufficientlie instructed from our Admyrall, besides your owne circumspection, howe to prevent any soddaine mischiefe, by fire or otherwise, upon our fleete under your charge ; and yet doe wee thinke it will worke in you the more impression, to be by ourself * This MS. letter being partly burnt, the defective words are supplied between brackets. FROBISHER. 47 againe remembred, who have observed by former experience that the Spaniards, for all their boaste, will trust more to their devices than that they dare in deede with force look upon you. For the rest of my directions, we leave them to such letters as you shall receave from our counsaile. Given imder our privie signet, at our mansion of Rich- mond, the 14th of November, in the 36th yeare of our reign, 1594. ( L. S. ) To our trustie and w^elbeloved Sir Martine Furbussher, Knight.* Though the Spanish garrison of Crozon, on ac- count of their obstinate resistance, was ultimately put to the sword, and the fort razed to the ground, this signal vengeance was more than counterpoised by the loss of that brave and skilful officer Sir Martin Frobisher. He was wounded in the hip by a musket-ball, to which he seems to have paid little regard, and the surgeon who dressed the wound, less ; for, either through ignorance or carelessness, he merely extracted the ball, leaving the wadding behind, which, very shortly after the return of the squadron to Plymouth, festered, and brought on a fever, that carried him off in a few days. In a letter, addressed apparently to the Lord High Admiral, the last he ever wrote, and after receiving his death-wound, he relates with great coolness the taking of the fort, and the loss sustained in the siege ; and then says, — * Cottonian MS., Otho E 9. 48 FROBISHER. " I was shott in with a bullett, at the batterie along St [burnt] huckle-bone, so as I was driven to have an insi[cion ? qu.] made to take out the bullet ; so as I am neither [able ?] to goe nor ride ; and the mariners are verie unwilling to goe except I goe with them myself. Yet, [if] I find it come to an extremitie, we will [do] what we are able : if we had vittels, it were easily done, but here is none to be had." * His body was interred at Plymouth, with funeral honours, as some accounts say ; but, by an extract from the Plymouth register, it would appear that his bowels only were interred at Plymouth, and his corpse sent up to London. There is no monument whatever to his memory at the place of his death. In speaking of the last act of his life, " Thus fell," says Camden, " a man of undaunted courage, and inferior to none of that age in experience and conduct, or the reputation of a brave commander." Fuller, in his ' Worthies of England,' says, " He was very valiant, but withal harsh and violent (faults which may be dispensed with in one of his profession) ; and our chronicles loudly resound the signal service, in eighty-eight, for which he was knighted." f * Cottonian MS., Caligula, t Fuller's Worthies. CAPTAIN JOHN DAVLS. 1585 TO 1593. FIRST VOYAGE, 1585. Notwithstanding the disappointment which Fro- bisher met with in his three voyages, the merchants of London and of the west country still persuaded tliemselves " of the likelyhood of the discoverie of the north-west passage," concerning and in favour of which Sir Humphrey Gilbert had written a long and clever treatise. They said that the former adventurers had been diverted from the main purpose by objects foreign to the original design, and chiefly by a vain search after gold and silver mines ; they therefore resolved to set on foot a new expedition, the sole object of which should be that of discovery. The conducting of the outfit was intrusted to Mr. William Sanderson, merchant of London; and Mr. John Davis, of Sandridge, in Devonshire, recommended by his neighbour, Mr. Adrian Gil- bert, was appointed as captain and chief pilot of this new enterprise. Two small barks, one of fifty tons, called the Sunshine, and the other of thirty- five tons, called the Moonshine, were placed under his orders. In the first were twenty-three men, £ 50 DAVIS. of whom four were musicians, and in the latter nineteen.* Sailing from Dartmouth on the 7th of June, 1585, on the 19th of July they were approaching the ice on the western coast of Greenland, where they were saluted " with a mighty great roaring of the sea," which, on a closer examination, they found to proceed from " the rowling together of islands of ice." They did not, however, prevent Davis from proceeding to the northward, and the fog clearing away, he observed a rocky and moun- tainous land, rising in the form of a sugar-loaf, the summit buried in snow. The shore was beset with ice to the extent of a full league into the sea ; and as all around presented " so true a paterne of deso- lation," Davis gave to this part of the country, the west coast of Greenland, the name of " the Land of Desolation."! Seeing no prospect of reaching the shore on account of the ice, Davis resolved to return to the southward through the midst of much drift-wood, among which the Moonshine picked up a tree, " sixty feet long and fourteene handfulls about, having the root upon it." Where it had grown is not conjectured ; but the air was found to be like April weather in England, the wind only cold when blowing from the ice ; " when it came over the open sea it was very bote."' * Hakluyt — who gives a detailed account of his three voyages, t Hakluyt. DAVIS. 51 Leaving the western side of the coast, he stood over to the north-westward, and made the land in 64° 15', the weather still continuing temperate, and the sea free from ice. On this part of the strait, to which was subsequently given, and very properly, his own name, he fell in with an archipelago of islands, '* among which were many faire sounds, and good roads for shipping ;" to that in which he anchored he gave the name of Gilbert's Sound, which from the given latitude must have been Cumberland Strait. Natives in their canoes ap- proached the ship in large numbers, when his musicians began to play, and the sailors to dance and make signs of friendship, the meaning of which was soon understood by this simple and harmless people, who flocked round the strangers in thirty- seven of their boats. They were all delighted with the treatment they received, and with the music. *' They are very tractable people," says the writer, " void of craft and double dealing, and easie to be brought to any civilitie or good order; but we judge them to be idolaters, and to worship the sunne :" a very natural object of adoration, it must be ad- mitted, in such a climate, and by such an unin- structed people. , Among these islands was found much drift-wood, *' ore such as Frobisher brought from Meta Incog- nita," and '* Muscovey glasse shining not altogether unlike crystall." They found a fruit growing on the rocks, " sweet, full of red juice, and the ripe ones e2 52 DAVIS. like Corinths." Proceeding along this coast to the northward six days, they came to the mainland in 66° 40'; the sea altogether free from ice. Here they anchored their barks "in a very faire rode under a brave mount," to which they gave the name of Mount Raleigh, "the cliffs whereof were as orient as gold." To the two headlands, which formed a large and deep bay, Davis gave the names of Dier and Walsingham, and to the bay, that of Exeter Sound. Here they met with four white bears of a " monstrous bignesse," one of which they killed. They now returned to the south along the land they had coasted, and doubling a cape, to which they gave the name of " God's Mercy," they sailed to the westward in a fine open passage, twenty to thirty leagues in width, entirely free from ice, and " the water of the very colour, nature, and quality of the main ocean, which gave us the greater hope of our passage." Having pro- ceeded up it sixty leagues, a cluster of islands appeared in the midst. This description corre- sponds exactly with what has been considered to be Cumberland Strait. Here the weather becoming thick and foggy, and having remained six days without any appearance of change. Captain Davis determined to return homewards, and arrived at Dartmouth on the 20th of September. It is almost certain that the portions of the arctic regions, which Davis traversed on this voyage, were the two coasts of Davis's Strait, first along the DAVIS. 53 western shore, and then up the eastern shore, as far as that of Baffin's Bay. The islands that blocked up the strait to the southward were those among which Frobisher was looking for gold ore ; but all this portion, that lies between Hudson's Strait and the western shore of Cumberland Island, is, to this day, undetermined and laid down much at random. SECOND VOYAGE, 1586. Davis was nothing disheartened by the failure of discovering the sought-for passage ; and the mer- chants of Exeter and other parts of the west, together, with Sir Francis Walsingham, all of them still sanguine as to the existence of such a passage, readily came forward and contributed a large vessel of 120 tons, called the Mermaid, to accompany the little squadron of Davis, which now consisted of the ship just mentioned, together with the Sunshine, the Moonshine, and a pinnace of ten tons, called the North Star.* On the 7th of May, 1586, Davis sailed from Dartmouth ; and on the 15th of June made Cape Farewell, from whence he proceeded, as before, along the western coast of Greenland, in several parts of which he had much intercourse with the natives, coming off sometimes in groups of canoes, amounting to a hundred, forty, fifty at a time, more or less, " bringing with them seal-skins, * Hakluyt. 54 DAVIS, white hares, samon peall, smal cod, dry caplin, with other fish, and such birds as the country did yield/' The natives are described as being ** of good stature and in body proportioned, with small slender hands and feet, with broad visages and small eyes, wide mouths, the most part unbearded, great lips, and close-toothed." They were accounted idolaters, because they wore images; they were said to be witches, practising many kinds of enchantments; strong and nimble, fond of leaping and wrestling, in which, to the great surprise of the Devonshire men, they beat the best of the crew, though they were west country wrestlers. Proceeding northerly, our adventurers were sud- denly alarmed at the appearance of " a most mightie and most strange quantity of ice in one entire masse, so bigge as that we knew not the limits thereof," and " so incredible to be reported in trueth," that the writer declines speaking more of it, lest he should not be believed. In coasting along this ice the cold was so extreme, that the shrouds, ropes, and sails were frozen, and the air was loaded with fog. This strange weather caused the men to grow sick and feeble, and to be so much disheartened as to wish to return, and advised Cap- tain Davis not to persevere, and give occasion to their widows and fatherless children to bestow on him their bitter curses. As these complaints came from the Exeter ship, the Mermaid, he left her where she was, to return homewards, while he DAVIS. 55 alone, in the Moonshine, proceeded round the ice, and found the land in lat. 66"" 33', long. 70°,* " voyd of trouble, without snow or ice." Here it consisted of a group of islands — no doubt the whale islands to the southward of Disco, a portion of Greenland long settled by the Danes. Here the temperature was so much changed as to be found very hot, and they were much troubled with a fly, " which is called muskyto, for they did sting grievously." Leaving this coast, Davis made the land on the opposite side in lat. 66" 17'. Hence they continued southerly, and on the 28th of Au- gust fell in with a fair harbour in lat. 56°, and sailed ten leagues into the same, " with fine woods on both sides.'' This was on the west coast of Labradore, and is that named on the charts " Davis's Inlet." The weather now setting in stormy and tempestuous, they weighed anchor, and arrived in England in the beginning of October. It may be remarked that, in all this latter part of his track, which laid the foundation of all, that has since been discovered, of the north-west passage down to the present time, Davis was entirely alone in his little bark, the Moonshine, the Mermaid having gone home, and, as should have been stated, he had, on his arrival off Cape Farewell, ordered the Sunshine and the North Star to search for a passage to the northward along the east coast of Greenland, * The longitude of 70° would place him in the very midst of the unknown land of Cumberland, and must therefore l)e an error. 56 DAVIS. and between it and Iceland, along which they pro- ceeded as far as the lat. 80"*.* These little vessels on the 12th of June put into Iceland, and remained there a few days, then proceeded northerly till the 3rd of July, when getting between two islands of fixed ice, they were but too glad to escape; and coasting Greenland southerly along the ice some three leagues from the shore, they arrived on the 17th at the Land of Desolation, crossed over to Gilbert's Sound, the appointed rendezvous, where they remained till the 31st, and hearing nothing of their admiral, departed for England, where the Sunshine arrived on the 5th of October: having separated from the North Star in a violent storm, this little ship was never more heard of. THIRD VOYAGE, 1587. The adventurers, concerned in the last two voyages, had no reason to be satisfied, in regard to any pro- fitable returns being made ; but as the intrepid Davis was still sanguine as to the existence of a passage and the ultimate discovery of it, and his patron, Mr. W. Sanderson, equally sanguine, the means of making a third voyage were speedily set on foot ; and that the merchant adventurers might not remain with- out the hope of some return on a new attempt, it was decided that, of the three ships now proposed * If this be so, the Sunshine and North Star advanced full 5° to the northward, higher than any other ship, before or since. DAVIS. 57 to be fitted out, two of them should be appropriated to the fishery, and one pinnace only for the dis- covery. The ships were the Elizabeth of Dart- mouth, the Sunshine of London, and the clincher Helena. The first object of Davis appears to have been that of following up the discovery of the wide strait he had entered the last voyage ; and to eflPect this he took the Helena alone, and ascended the west coast of Greenland, named by him the Lon- don Coast, till he reached lat. 72° 12', finding the sea all open to the westward and to the north- ward. He now left that part of the coast, which he called " Hope Sanderson," and stood back to the southward and westward. Davis then ascended the southern strait he had discovered on the first voyage, proceeded up it sixty leagues, and fell in with groups of islands, which he named Cumberland Islands ; passing to the south-east, he opened out Frobisher's Strait, which he named Lumley*s Inlet, sailed past Warwick's Foreland, and crossed another large inlet, to the southern cape of which he gave the name of Chidley. This inlet is that which bears the modern name of Hud- son on our charts, but which is, in fact, a discovery of Davis. Baffin's Bay, long afterwards traversed by Baffin and Bylot, was also entered by Davis, and the discovery of it is justly his due. He had placed the two ships, appropriated to the fishery, about the southern entrance of his strait, which were Ijy agreement to wait his return ; 58 DAVIS. but he looked for them in vain, and supposed that, having completed their cargoes, they had gone home, leaving him and his little ship to take care of themselves. "I came to the place," he says, ** where I left the ships to fishe, but found them not ; then, being forsaken and left in this distresse, referring myselfe to the merciful providence of God, shaped my course for England, and, unhoped for of any, God alone relieving me, I arrived at Dartmouth/' Important this last discovery certainly was. To Baffin's Bay, and to that alone, we are indebted for all that is valuable in the prosecution of the recent voyages for the discovery of the north-west passage. It opened out Lancaster Sound, from which to Behring's Strait there is, with little or no doubt, a direct passage through a sea unencumbered with either ice or land. Why this route, pursued only by Parry, and the subsequent deviations from it, have not succeeded, is not difficult to conjecture, nor does the want of success affi)rd any reason for that one route not being repeated ; but this is not exactly the place to discuss the question. It ought not, and it must not be left unfinished, if we would avoid the disgrace of suffering another nation to pass through the two doors which we have thrown open ; they are but some 300 leagues apart. Davis, after his return home, wrote a little trea- tise, which was published eight years after this voyage, called *' The World's Hydrographical De- DAVIS. 59 scription ;" of which Admiral Burney says there are not perhaj3s three copies in existence.* An active and able seaman as he was could not long remain idle; and accordingly we shall find him again with Cavendish, in his second voyage to the Straits of Magelhaens, and after that in the employ of the Dutch, in several voyages to the East Indies, two of which have been published by Purchas ; they prove him to have been a man of nice obser- vation, great sagacity, and of sound good sense. f " He was the first pilot," says Prince, *' that con- ducted the Zealander to the East Indies. This great navigator," he adds, " made no less than five voyages to the East Indies, and returned home safe again ; an instance of a wonderful providence, and an argument that the very same Lord who is the God of the earth is the God of the seas."J Of the life and parentage of this intrepid navigator very little has been left on record for the benefit of pos- terity. He married a daughter of Sir John Ful- ford, of Fulford, in Kent, and Dorothy his wife, daughter of John Lord Bourchier, Earl of Bath. Of the place and manner of his death nothing is known beyond a report that he was killed in a quarrel with the people of a Japanese vessel. On his return from his last voyage he thus writes to Sanderson : " By God's mercy I am re- turned in health, with all my company, and have ♦ There is a copy of it in Hakluyt. f Barrow's Arctic Regions. J Prince's "Worthies of Devon. 60 DAVIS. sailed three score leagues farther than I designed at my departure. I have been in 73 degrees, and found the sea all open, with forty leagues between land and land. The passage is most probable, the execution easy, as at our meeting you shall fully know."* He had entered Baffin's Bay, from whence, through Lancaster Sound, we may say with him, the passage is most probable, and the execution easy, and we have little doubt will be proved practicably ere long with certainty and safety. Davis, in the following letter to Sir F. Walsingham, is strong in this opinion : — " Right Honorable most duty fully craving pardon for this my rashe boldnes I am herby according to my duty to signyfy vnto your Honor that the North west Passage is a matter nothing doubtfull but at any tyme almost to be passed, the sea navigable, voyd of yse, the ayre tollerable, and the waters very depe. I have also fownd an yle of very grete quantytie not in any globe or map dyscrybed yelding a sufficient trade of furse and lether, and although this passage hathe bine supposed very impossible yeat through God's mercy I am in experience an ey wyttnes to the contrary, yea in the most desperate clymats which by Gods help I wylle very shortly most at large revele unto your Honor so sone as I can possible take order for my maryners and shippinge. Thus depending upon your Ho- nors good favor I most humbly commytt you to God this third of October " Your Honors for ever most duty full " John Davys." f * Hakluyt. t Lansdown MSS., 46, British Museum, Art. 21 Orig. SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT, 1578 TO 1584. Sir Humphrey Gilbert was descended from an ancient and honourable family in Devonshire. His mother, becoming a widow, married Walter Ra- leigh, Esq., from which marriage was born the celebrated Sir Walter Raleigh, who consequently became half-brother to Sir Humphrey. The latter was educated at Eton, from whence he went to Oxford, where he distinguished himself as a gentle- man of very considerable talents in the various branches of literature and science. On leaving Oxford he went over to Ireland, and became Presi- dent of Munster; and in 1570 received the honour of knighthood. He excelled in mathematics, geo- graphy, and hydrography, which were his favourite studies. It was probably his attachment to the last two that induced him, in the year 1578, to make a voyage to Newfoundland ; the same year in which Frobisher accomplished his third voyage. On his return with increased reputation, his talents, aided by powerful interest at Court, procured from the Queen letters patent, granting him authority 62 GILBERT. to undertake north-western discoveries, and to pos- sess such lands as were unsettled by Christian princes, or their subjects. This grant, by the terms of the patent, was made perpetual ; but, by a special clause, was to become void, in case possession and occupation were not taken within six years from the date of the patent. In a former attempt he had succeeded in getting up a small squadron ; but the subscribers became discontented, and quarrelled among themselves; thereupon Sir Humphrey and his brother-in-law, Raleigh, with a few friends, hastily put to sea ; but a gale of wind coming on, in which one of the ships foundered, the rest were glad to return to port.^ He tried to get up a second squadron, but, finding his friends not quite so sanguine as himself, was unable to succeed at that time. However, in the year before the expiration of his patent, namely, in 1583, he had prepared a small squadron, and was soon ready to set sail for the northern parts of America and Newfoundland ; and in order to avail himself of the full benefit of his patent, he had sold his estate, to give confidence to the under- takers of the voyage. In the same year, Queen Elizabeth was pleased to grant another patent to his younger brother, Adrian Gilbert, of Sandridge, in the county of Devon, and his associates, con- ferring on them the privilege of making discoveries * Hakluyt. GILBERT. 63 of a passage to China and the Molucca Islands, either by the north-west, north-east, or the north. This association was incorporated by the name of ** Tlie Colleagues of the Fellowship for the Disco- verie of the North- West Passage." Sir Humphrey, as before mentioned, was the author of a long discourse, which broached many ingenious remarks at a time when all was conjec- ture ; and these were of a nature generally to fall in with the received opinions among mercantile men, who had speculated on the feasibility of a north-west passage round the northern parts of North America, which gave his name considerable influence. His mind, however, was now turned towards the colo- nization of Newfoundland, and he made prepara- tions accordingly. The squadron of Sir Humphrey consisted of five ships, the largest of 200 and the smallest of 10 tons, namely, the Delight, Sir Hum- phrey, General; the Raleigh, Captain Butler, Vice- Admiral; the Golden Hind, Captain Hayes; the Swallow, Captain Brown; the Squirrel, of 10 tons, William Andrews, Captain. In these ships were embarked about 260 men, including shipwrights, smiths, masons, and carpenters, besides mineralo- gists and refiners ; and, says Mr. Hayes, the writer of the expedition, '* for the solace of our people, and allurement of the savages, we were provided with musicke of good varietie ; not omitting the least toyes, as morris-dancers, hobby-horses, and 64 GILBERT. many like conceits to delight the savage people, whom we intended to winne by all faire meanes possible."* The fleet left Plymouth the 11th of June, 1583, and on the 13th the Raleigh, of all the ships in the fleet, under pretence of illness of her captain, and many of the crew, deserted the rest and returned to Plymouth, where it was conjectured to have been done with some evil design. The rest pur- sued their voyage, and ere long found mountains of ice in lat. GO*' 'N., driving about on the sea, and on the 3rd of July fell in with the land. It is mentioned that, on entering the harbour of St. John, in Newfoundland, the General and his people were entertained with great profusion by some English merchants, at a place called the Garden, where " nothing appeared but nature without art ;" such as roses and raspberries grow- ing wild in every place. It is not a little curious that at this early period not only English mer- chants, but, as the writer observes, " the Portugals and French chiefly have a notable trade of fishing on the Newfoundland bank, where there are some- times more than a hundred sail of ships, "f The General caused formal possession to be taken, in the Queen's name (in presence of the English and foreigners assembled), of the harbour and two hundred leagues on every side of it, and * Hakluyt, from Hayes' account. t Hakluyt. GILBERT. 65 three distinct laws were then and there made and promulgated. *' 1. For the public exercise of reli- gion, according to the Church of England. 2. For maintaining her Majesty's right and possession, against which any party offending, to be adjudged and executed as in the case of high treason. 3. For preventing the utterance of words to the dishonour of her Majesty, the party so offending to lose his ears, and his ship and goods to be con- fiscated." Parcels of land were then granted out ; but the General, it is said, " was most curious in the search of metals, commanding the mineral man, and the refiner especially, to be diligent ; this man was a Saxon, honest and religious, and his name was Daniel."* He brought to the General what he called silver ore ; but he would not have it tried or spoken of till they got to sea. Sir Humphrey now embarked " in his little frigate, the Squirrel,'* — the miserable bark of ten tons ; and he gave the preference to her, as being the most useful in going into creeks and rivers for the purpose of making discoveries. Proceeding to the southward in company of the Delight, Captain Brown, and the Golden Hinde, Captain Hayes, the former, with all the valuables on board, was wrecked on the flats and sands near Sable Island, when twelve, out of about a hundred souls, perished, among whom were the Saxon refiner, and one Ste- phanus Parmenius, a learned Hungarian, who was * Hayes. F 66 GILBERT. engaged to record " in the Latine tongue, the gests and things worthy of remembrance." The loss of the miner and the ore is said to have preyed on Sir Humphrey's mind, more especially as, on the strength of his mine, he had reckoned on borrow- ing 10,000/. from the Queen, for his next voyage. But, alas ! for the uncertainty of all human pro- jects. Sir Humphrey having escaped in his little Squirrel determined, in company of the Golden Hinde, to proceed to England. His little frigate, as he called her, was represented to him as wholly unfit for the voyage, and he was entreated to take his passage in the Golden Hinde ; but this brave and noble-minded man replied, " I will not forsake my little company going homeward, with whom I have passed so many stormes and perils." Having reached the Azores, a violent storm arose, and the little frigate was observed to be nearly overwhelmed by the huge waves. The Hinde kept as close to her as she possibly could, and from her the General was seen, sitting abaft, with a book in his hand ; and Mr. Hayes says, was heard to call out, " Cou- rage, my lads ! we are as near to heaven by sea as by land." The same night the little Squirrel and all within her were swallowed up by the sea, and nothing more was ever heard of her, or of her un- fortunate commander and crew. Thus perished this brave and noble adventurer. His historian asserts, that the reason of his determi- nation to continue in a bark so utterly unfit to GILBERT. 67 contend with the sea, on a long voyage, was mainly owing to some malicious report that had reached his ears, of his being afraid of the sea ; but this is too absurd to deserve any credit; — to suppose that a man of his undaunted courage and strength of mind could be influenced or affected by any such idle report; or that, as has also been insi- nuated, the motto on his arms might, in that chi- valrous age, have operated on his mind — Mutare vel tiniere sperno; or, as Prince* makes it, Mallem mori quam vnutare. Sir Humphrey Gilbert may justly be called the " Father of Northern and North-western Colonization." Prince describes him as *' an ex- cellent hydrographer, and no less skilful mathe- matician, of an high and daring spirit, though not equally favoured of fortune; yet the large volume of his virtues may be read in his noble enterprises ; the great design whereof was to dis- cover the remote countries of America, and to bring off" those salvages from their diabolical superstitions to the embracing the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Christ ; for which his zeal deserves an eternal re- membrance."f " As to the person of this wise and brave man, it was such as recommended him to esteem and veneration at first sight ; his stature was beyond the ordinary size, his complexion san- guine, and his constitution very robust."J. * Worthies of Devon. f Ibid. f Biog. Brit. F 2 68 GILBERT. At the close of his discourse on the North-west Passage, Sir Humphrey says, " He is not worthy to live at all, who, for fear or danger of death, shunneth his country's service, or his own honour, since death is inevitable, and the fame of virtue immortal."* It may safely be observed, that the exertions and adventures of the Northern Worthies were not made in vain, and that posterity, even down to our times, have benefited by them. To Sir Humphrey we are indebted for the settlement of Newfound- land, and that valuable branch of commerce, the cod fishery on its banks; to Davis we owe the lasting and profitable employment of the whale fishery, in the strait that bears his name, which was somewhat deteriorated only a few years ago ; and by the first of these northern adventurers, Frobisher, was shown the way to that strait and bay, which Hudson many years afterwards explored, and to which he gave his name ; and on the shores of the latter were established the factories of a company of merchants, l)earing the name of the Hudson's Bay Company, whose concerns have been carried on to such an extent, as to embrace the greater part of the northern coast of North America, and are still in a progressive state of flourishing activity. Such is, and such must ever be, the happy result of that power which springs from knowledge. * Hakluyt. CAPTAIN SIR JOHN HAWKINS. 1562 TO 1595. FIRST VOYAGE, 1562. John Hawkins was one of the most distinguished sea-officers in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. His father, William Hawkins, was a gentleman of good estate, a great part of it accumulated by industry and peculiar success in his sea voyages, chiefly to Brazil. He obtained the personal esteem of Henry VHL, originating in his having brought over a Brazilian Prince, whom he introduced to that mo- narch, and with whom he was much delighted. The kind and gentle manner of Hawkins so won upon this native Prince, that he volunteered to go with him to England, on condition that he would give him a passage back, and leave one of his own men as a hostage for his safe return.* Captain Hawkins, punctual to his engagement, embarked him at Plymouth ; but on the passage out, the young man was seized with a disorder of which he died. This was exceedingly distressing to Hawkins, from appre- hension of what might befal the hostage he had left ; but the people, savages as they were represented, * Purchas. 70 HAWKINS. relied on what he told them, and immediately set the hostage, Martin Cockeram, at liberty, who returned with his old master, and obtained some small office in Plymouth, where he continued till his death.* John, the second son of William Hawkins, was born at Plymouth about the year 1520.f From an early period of his life he became addicted to navi- gation, and made several voyages to Spain, Portugal, and the Canaries, in all of which he was encouraged by his father ; so that, while yet young, he acquired the reputation of a skilful seaman. So high did his character stand in this respect, that the sons of several gentlemen embarked with him, as volunteers, for the purpose of gaining instruction in sea affairs. Among them was the son of his own brother, and Sir Francis Drake himself, with several of his bro- thers, all of whom became celebrated as among the first of able sea officers. :|: • Readers of the present day, however, will not be disposed to think the better of John Hawkins, when told that he was the first Englishman regularly engaged in the African slave trade, and that the negroes he procured were mostly got by violence, and many of them by his own personal exertions. Some mention, however, is made of his father pur- chasing slaves on the coast of Africa for sale in the Brazils. Hakluyt. | Prince's Worthies of Devon. J Purchas. HAWKINS. 71 In the year 1562, by his own exertions and the assistance of several adventurers, three ships were prepared to proceed to the coast of Guinea. At Sierra Leone, where he made some stay, he obtained, partly by the sword, and partly by other means, upwards of three hundred negroes and some other commodities, with which he departed for Hispaniola (Hayti or Domingo), where he found so good a market, that he speedily got rid of his whole cargo, with the returns of which he not only loaded his own ships, but freighted two hulks more, with articles for Spain, and arrived in England in Sep- tember, 1563. In the following year a second voyage of the same description as the first was undertaken. On this occasion he had two ships, the Jesus of Lubeck, of 700 tons, and the Solomon, of 140 tons, besides the bark Tyger, of50 tons, and the Swallow, of 30 tons. In various places, at which he touched on the coast of Africa, negroes were obtained, some by force, others by purchase. At one place he received only ten negroes, " obtained with the loss of seven of his best men, among whom was the captain of the Solomon, besides seven and twenty men wounded." On the 29th of January, 1565, departing from this unhappy country, Hawkins set sail for the West Indies with his cargo It would afford but little interest to follow these slave-dealers to the 72 HAWKINS. various islands and towns at which they disposed of their traffic. At St. Domingo an official command had been received " to have no dealings with the Eng- lish." At Burboroata, on meeting with a refusal, Hawkins landed one hundred men, well armed, who marched directly up to the town, which soon " brought the Spaniards to reason," and they were admitted to trade in a peaceable manner. Having disposed of their cargoes, they ranged the coasts of America, procuring such supplies as they were in need of, till they reached the banks of Newfound- land, where they took a great quantity of cod, and with a favourable wind proceeded homewards, and arrived at Padstow about the end of September ; " bringing with them good store of gold, silver, pearl, jewels, and other commodities." The persons who joined Hawkins on this expedition were among the principal traders in the city of London ; and his skill and success in this new traffic, of seizing and selling human creatures into slavery, was so laudably spoken of, that it procured for him, from the Heralds' Office, a patent for his crest — a demi-Moor in his proper colour bound with a cord; — the very symbol that, more than two hundred years afterwards, was used as a stamp of infamy and dis- grace on those concerned in such traffic* That the trade, indeed, was in no respect considered dis- honourable, may further be inferred by the Queen ♦ Life of Drake. HAWKINS. 73 having lent him one of her large ships, the Jesus of Lubeck, which, as will be seen, was again em- ployed on a third voyage, wherein more systematic force and violence were used than in the two former. In the year 1 567 a squadron was prepared under the superintendence of Hawkins. It consisted of the Jesus of Lubeck, in which he commanded as admiral, the Minion, the William and John, and the Judith, commanded by Captain Francis Drake ; these were attended by the Angel and the Swallow, two small barks. Drake is said to have embarked all his little property in this voyage, and lost it all. The ships met with a violent storm off Cape Finis- terre, which lasted four days : the fleet was entirely dispersed, most of their boats lost, and the Jesus suffered so much as to render her almost unable to proceed. Having collected their scattered ships, they pursued their course, and having reached Cape de Verde, Hawkins landed one hundred and fifty of the crews to hunt down the negroes, of whom they got but few, their men returning much damaged by the envenomed arrows of the natives ; and " although they seemed at first to be but small hurts, yet there hardly escaped any, that had blood drawn of them, but died in strange sort, with their mouthes shutte some tenne dayes before they died, and after their wounds were whole ; when I myself," says Hawkins, " had one of the greatest wounds, yet, thanks be to God, escaped." Mr. Miles Philips, one of Haw- 74 HAWKINS. kins's men that were left on the Spanish Main, says, in S])eaking of the seven or eight men with closed mouths, " We were forced to put sticks and other things into their mouths to keep them open," * by which it would appear they died of lock-jaw. Proceeding along the coast of Guinea, after many difficulties, hard fighting, and loss of men, Hawkins succeeded in getting on board about two hundred more negroes, and completed his living cargoes at a place called St. Jorge de Mina, where we have a specimen of the mode in which this infamous traffic was carried on. It is communicated by Hawkins himself to Hakluyt : — " A negro king asked the assistance of Hawkins against another and neigh- bouring king, on condition that all the negroes captured should be given to him, the admiral. This tempting bargain was concluded, and 150 Eng- lishmen were armed and landed to assist this black tyrant. They assaulted a town containing 8000 souls, strongly fenced by paling, and so well defended that, in the attack, the English had six slain and forty wounded. More help was called for: " Whereupon," says Hawkins, '* considering that the good success of this enterprise might highly further the commodity of our voyage, I went my- self; and with the help of the king of our side, assaulted the town both by sea and land ; and very hardly, with fire (their houses being covered with * Hakluyt. HAWKINS. 75 palm -leaves) obtained the town, and put the inha- bitants to flight ; where we took 200 persons, men, women, and children ; and by our friend, the king- on our side, there were taken 600 prisoners, whereof we hoped to have our choice ; but the negro (in wliich nation is never or seldom found truth) meant nothing less; for that night he removed his camp, so that we were fain to content us with those few that we had 2:otten ourselves."'"' On the 27th of March they came in sight of Dominica, coasted Margarita, Cape de Vela, and other places, disposing of the remainder of their negroes, and carrying on a tolerable good trade. Proceeding towards Carthagena they were overtaken by " a terrible storm of four days," and continuing for Florida, they had a second storm, which drove them into the Gulf of Mexico, where they entered the port of San Juan d*Ulloa, with three ships they had captured, having 100 passengers on board. ** I found in this port," says Hawkins, " twelve ships, which had in them, by report, 200,000/. in gold and silver, all which were in my possession, to- gether with the king's island, and also the passen- gers, which I set at liberty, without taking from them the weight of a groat." The Spaniards mis- took the English ships for their own Plate ships ; but when they found they were English, they were greatly dismayed, till Hawkins assured them he * Hakluyt — from Hawkins. 76 HAWKINS. had nothing to demand but provisions, on whicli " they were re-comforted." The next day, however, there appeared before the port the expected fleet, consisting of thirteen large ships. Hawkins says he could, without difficulty, have prevented them from entering the harbour, but had he done so the whole fleet, valued at 1,800,000/., must inevitably have perished by shipwreck among the rocks. He sent to the General, however, to let him know that, before he permitted their entrance, he must require from him certain conditions, concerning his safe- being and maintenance of peace. What he required was security for himself and for all his people and property, victuals for his money, liberty of trade, and that, during his stay there, he should keep possession of the island, with the eleven pieces of brass cannon which were mounted upon it.* Hawkins, however, soon began to think that his presumption might have carried him too far. " I began to bewail," says he, " that which afterwards followed, for now, said I, I am in two dangers : that either I must have kept out the fleet from entering the port, or else suffer them to enter in : if I had kept them out, there would be present shipwreck of all the fleet, which was in value of our money 1,800,000/., which I considered I was not able to answer, fearing the Queen's Majesty's indignation in so weighty a matter."f Well might he call it * Hakluyt. f Ibid. — Camden. HAWKINS. 77 weighty. That the commander of such a miserable squadron should be bold enough to presume to talk of making conditions with five and twenty large ships, in their own port, defended by a fortified island, is as audacious as it was presumptuous. It marks, however, most strongly the wide difference in point of character and feeling between an Eng- lish sea commander and a Spanish one.* It was the cause of both parties suflPering, but mostly that of Hawkins, who, by this act of imprudence, occa- sioned a deplorable termination of the voyage.f In the Spanish fleet there was a new Viceroy from Mexico, who, after some demur, agreed to the conditions, and gave a writing, signed and sealed by him, and each party gave and exchanged ten hostages for the due performance of the stipulations. The two fleets now saluted each other, the English occupying one side of the harbour, the Spaniards the other, *' the oflicers and seamen promising all friendly oflBices to each other.'* But the treachery of the Spaniards soon became apparent. A thousand men were introduced from the continent into the island, and also into their ships. These movements created suspicion. The Viceroy was sent to, who gave his assurance, ** on the faith of a Viceroy," that he would protect them against any treachery. Just at this time, however, one of the large ships of 900 tons, loosening her moorings, fell immediately * Life of Drake. f Camden. 78 HAWKINS. Oil board the Minion, which, however, got clear of her. The great ship with two others now set upon the Jesus, but she, too, with great difficulty, and the loss of many of her men, got clear of them. Three hundred Spaniards now got on board the Minion, when, says one of the writers, " Our General, with a loud and fierce voice, called unto us, * God and St. George ! upon those traitourous villains, and rescue the Minion ! ' and with that the mariners and soldiers leaped out of the Jesus into the Minion, and drove out the Spaniards." *' No sooner," says the Admiral, '' had the Jesus and the Minion got about two ships' length from the Spanish fleet, than the fight began to be so warm on all sides, that, in less than an hour, the Spanish Admiral was supposed to be sunk, the Vice- Admiral burnt, and another of their chief ships believed to be sunk, so that they, from their vessels, could not do us much harm." During the fight, we are told that '' Our General courageously cheered up his souldiers and gunners, and called to Samuel, his page, for a cup of beere, who brought it him in a silver cup; and he, drinking to all his men, willed the gunners to stand by their ordinance lustily, like men. He had no sooner set the cup out of his hand but a demi-culverin shot stroke away the cup, and a cooper's plane that stoode by the mainemast, and ran out on the other side of the ship ; which nothing dismayed our Generall, for he HAWKINS. 79 ceased not to encourage us, saying, * Feare nothing ; for God, who hath preserved me from this shot, will also deliver us from these traitours and villaines.' "* The battle ended by the Jesus being abandoned, the Angel sunk, and the Swallow taken ; so there remained only the Minion and the little Judith : the latter being ordered away, as of no use, was not again met with during the voyage. Their miseries did not end here. They are best told in the Admiral's own narrative : — '* We were now left alone (in the Minion), with only two anchors and two cables ; our ship so damaged that it was as much as we could do to keep her above water, and with very little provisions. We were besides divided in opinion what to do : some were for yielding to the Spaniards; others chose rather to submit to the mercy of the savages ; and again, others thought it more eligible to keep the sea, though with so scanty an allowance of victuals as would hardly suffice to keep us alive. In this miserable plight, we ranged an unknown sea for fourteen days, till extream famine obliged us to seek for land. So great was our misery, that hides were reckoned good food ; rats, cats, mice, and dogs, none escaped us, that we could lay our hands upon : parrots and monkeys were our dainties. In this condition we came to land on the 8th of Octo- ber, at the bottom of the bay of Mexico, in 23^°, ♦ Hakluyt. 80 HAWKINS. where we hoped to have found inhabitants of the Spaniards, relief of victuals, and a proper place to repair our ship : but we found everything just con- trary to our expectation; neither inhabitants, nor provisions, nor haven for the relief of our ship. Many of the men, nevertheless, being worn out with hunger, desired to be set on shore, to which I consented. Of about two hundred souls, which we then were, one hundred chose to seek their fortune on land, on which they were set with great difficulty ; and with the remainder, after having watered, I again submitted to the mercy of the seas, and set sail on the 1(5 th of October."* After encountering every species of misery, they arrived in England about the end of January, 1569. Hawkins concludes his relation of this un- fortunate expedition by saying that, " if all the miseries and troubles of this melancholy . voyage were to be completely and thoroughly written, it would require a laborious man with his pen as much time as the author had who wrote the lives and deaths of the martyrs." | Of the hundred men that were put on shore, three only appear to have ever reached England ; two of whom. Miles Philips and Job Hortop, published :j: a most melancholy account of the suf- ferings of these poor wretches, the privations, the * Hakluyt — from Hawkins. | Hakluyt. t In Purchas's ' Pilgrims.' — Hakluyt. HAWKINS. b\ torments, and indignities they endured ; sonne mur- dered outright, others tortured, and others again delivered over to the merciless wretches of the Holy Inquisition, whipped, and exposed to public ridi- cule, and branded as ** English dogs and Lutheran heretics." Miles Philips arrived in England in 1582, after an absence of fifteen years; and Job Hortop in 1590, having endured a state of misery twenty -three years. To console Hawkins for his own sufferings, the Lord Treasurer finding that, by the increase and frequent employment of the Queen's naval forces, it became necessary he should appoint some con- fidential person to assist him in the important duty of keeping the accounts, and in the payment of the seamen's wages, recommended her Majesty to confer on Captain Hawkins the appointment of Treasurer of the Navy, which he readily accepted ; he, however, soon found that the situation was likely to be a more irksome and laborious task than he had calculated upon, as it proved, especially after the defeat of the Spanish Armada. Nor was the office free from danger to his life; for, returning from one of his frequent visits to Lord Burleigh, he was waylaid by a discontented assassin of the name of Burchet, who attacked and severely wounded him, having mistaken him for a different person.* * Camden. 82 HAWKINS. In 1587, when the intention of Spain to invade England was more than suspected, and after the return of Drake from his successful voyage of that year to Cadiz, the Lord High Admiral, Lord Charles Howard of Effingham, on consultation with Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher, arranged the stations and selected the officers for the several ships then in readiness to meet that formidable fleet of Spain, which soon after entered the English Channel under the presumptuous name of the Invincible Armada. It is not necessary to repeat here what has been so often told, the active part taken by Hawkins on that memorable occasion. He was appointed Vice-Admiral, commanded one of the four divisions, and was distinguished by the honour of knighthood. His great troubles, as treasurer, only began after the dispersion of that fleet. We then find him at Harwich with the whole of the detach- ment of ships placed under his orders, from whence he writes to Lord Howard as follows : — Sir John Hawkins, &c. to Lord Charles Howard. My verie good Lord, This Thursdaie beinge the 8th of August we came into Harwiche with these shippes [eight Queen's ships and twenty-six Londoners, all named] ; we are in hande to haue out the ordenaunce and Ballast of the Hope, and to grounde her. With the nexte faire wynde we mynde with those shippes that are heare to follow your Lordshippe into the Downes, or where we maye hear of your Lordshippe, and to bringe all the victuallers with us. HAWKINS. 83 There are three of the wholes (hoys) here allreddye with Beere and bred, and the rest, beinge seven more, haue or- der to come hither. We will rely eve suche as be in neces- sitie and bringe awaie the rest with us. The Beare hath a leake which is thought to be verie lowe, yet, my Lord, will followe your Lordshippe. The Elizabeth Jonas and the Tryumphe drave the last stormie nighte, beinge Mondaye, since which time we haue not heard of theim, But this faire weather I hope your Lordshippe shall heare of them at the fforelande. As I wrote this letter more of the Victuallers are come. There is 14 daies victuall in theim, for the shippes under your Lordshippes charge as I learne. And so prayinge to God to send us shortlye to meete with your Lordshippe I humbly take my leave from Harwich, the 8 of August 1588. Your honourable llordship's moste bounden, (Signed) John Hawkyns.* The next we hear of Hawkins is from the Downs (Dover), where no doubt the great operation was going on of paying off the fleet. By a letter from him to the Lord Treasurer it would appear, from the mention he makes of a *' sharp letter" he had received from his Lordship, that something had gone amiss in his new employment. After a long account of his labours and troubles he says — " I pray God I may end this account to Her Majestie's and your Lordship's lyking, and avoyd myne owne undoying, and I trust God will so provyde for me, as I shall never meddell with soche intrycatte matters more." f The following letter, however, shows that his troubles were on the increase : — * MS. State Paper Office. t Ibid. G 2 84 HAWKINS. Sir John Hawkins to the Lord Treasurer. April 16th, 1590. My bownden dewtye in humble manner Remembryd unto your good Lordship, I do perseve Her Majestic ys not well sattysfyed concernyng the imployments of the great somes of mony that haue byne Reseavyd into th' office of the navye although your honor dyd, very honorably, bothe take payne and care to se the strycte, and orderly course that ys usyd in th' office, and therupon delyver your mynd playnely to Her Majestic as your Lordship fownd it, for which I shall ever accknowlege myself dewtyfully bownd to honour and serve your Lordship to the uttermost of my abyllytye, and wheras Her Heighnes pleasure ys to be farther satysfyed in myne accompts, ther hathe nothyng byne more desyred, nor cold be more wellcome, or acceptable to me, and when yt shal be Her Majesties pleasure to nomynate the persons that I shall attend upon, I wyll breffly shew the statte of every yers accompt, suffycyentlye avouched by boocks to the last day of desember 1588, which ys 11 yeres whereof fyve yers are past by duplycaments, before your Lordship, three yeres are past by lyke duplycaments firmyd by Sir Water Myld- may, and the barons of the exchequyre, by your Lordshipes order, tow yeres boocks are yett with the awdytours, and the last boocke ys in my bond firmyd by th' officers, reddy to be delyveryd to the awdytours : upon the fynyshynge of th' other tow books allredy in ther hands. If any wordly thynge that I possesse cold free me of this mystrust & impertyble care & toyle, I wold most wyllyngly depart with yt, for as the case stondethe I thynke ther ys no man lyvynge that hathe so carefull, so myserable, so in- fortunate, and so dangeerows a lyfe ; onelye I se your Lordship with care and trewthe dothe serche into the trew order, the sufficiencye, and valyditie of the course that ys caryed in the office, whiche otherwyse I wold even playnely gyve over my HAWKINS. 85 place, and submyt my selfe to Her Majesties mercye, though I lyvyd in pryson all the dayes of my lyfFe. The matters in th' office growe infenyte and chargeabell beyond all measure, and soche as hardly any man can gyve a reason of the innumerable busynesses that dayly grow, yet the mystrust ys more trobelsome, and grevous, then all the rest, for with the answerynge of th' one, and towle of th' other, ther ys hardly any time left to serve God, or to sattysfye man. The greater sort that serve in this office be growen so prowd, obstynate, and insolent, that nothynge can sattys- fye them, and the commen sort very dysobedient, so as a man that must answere the immoderate desyre of all these, were better to chuse to dye then to ly ve. The paynfull place which your Lordship dothe hold, & the imoderate demaunds that comes before you, havyng with the favour of Her Ma- jestic the hellp of an absolute power to bynd & lose, may esilye demonstrate the borden that so meane a man as I ame dothe here (which must passe every thynge by petycion and mystrust) to sattysfye the multytude of demaunds that are in this offiyce ; and although they be many, and as well sat- tysfyed as in any office in all Inglond, yet few are contentyd, but go away with grudgyng and mourmoure. It were a great vanytye for me to comend myne owne ser- vice, neyther do I go abowt to accumylatte to my sellf any comendacion, for that I thowght I never performyd my dewtye sufficyently, but yf th' estate of th' office be ponsy- deryd, what yt was when I came into yt, and what yt ys now, ther wylbe fownd great odds wherin I haue traveyled as carefully as I cold, and as my creddytt cold obtayne meane, to reduce the state of the shipes, and theire fornyture, into good and perfytt order. In Recompence wherof my onely desyre ys that yt may please Her Majestic some course may be taken wherin Her Majestic may be sattysiyed that a playne and honest course hathe byne taken, and caryed, in th' office, and then to dyspose of my place to whome yt shall 86 HAWKINS. please Her Heighnes, & I shal be reddy to serve Her Ma- jestie any other way that I shalbe appoyntyd, wherin my skyll or abyllytye wyll extend, & so I humbly take my leve from deptford the 16 of Aprill 1590. Your llordghips ever bownden, John Hawkyns.* When Hawkins found that the partial paying off the Armada fleet did not release him from the into- lerable annoyance of receiving, keeping, and paying money, and, which was still worse, of making out such accounts as would satisfy the scrutinizing eye of the Lord High Treasurer Burleigh, he took the first occasion that presented itself of offering his ser- vices afloat. The dolorous terms in which his let- ters were couched show a mind ill at ease and ready, on any terms, to get rid of the distressing occupa- tion that appears to have overwhelmed him. An opportunity offered this year (1590), which afforded him a present but not a permanent relief. From the good effects experienced by the ruin of the Spa* nish Armada, the Queen was resolved to follow up the blow by increasing her naval force, and to this end to appropriate an annual sum of money to keep her ships in repair ; being well convinced that her navy alone must be the surest force for prevent- ing her inveterate enemy of Spain from making fur- ther attempts to insult the coasts of England or Ire- land ; and the successful exploits of Drake, on two * MS, State Paper Office, HAWKINS. 87 occasions, had fully satisfied her mind that the most effectual mode of harassing and crippling the Spa- niard was, to attack him at home in his own ports, and to intercept his treasure-ships on their return. A fleet, therefore, was fitted out in the year 1590 to proceed upon the coast of Spain, to effect there all the mischief it could do, and on the same occasion to proceed into the track of the Plate ships. For this purpose the Queen assigned ten of her own ships, which were to be divided into two squadrons, the one to be commanded by Sir John Hawkins, the other by Sir Martin Frobisher, two officers of her own choice, and well known by their great and tried experience. The ships selected were the Revenge, the Mary Rose, the Lion, the Bonaventure, the Rainbow, the Hope, the Crane, the Acquittance, the Foresight, and the Swiftsure. The officers ap- pointed to serve under the two commanders were most of them experienced in the service — Captain Fenner, who made a part of almost every expedi- tion. Sir Edward York, Captain George Bristow, Captain Bostock, Captain Burnell, and Captain Hawkins, son of the Admiral. This fleet first proceeded down the coast of Spain, where they soon discovered, that intelligence had been received in Madrid, detailing the number and names of the English ships, and of the two com- manders ; as also what were the objects under which they were to act. They discovered, more-^ 88 HAWKINS. over, that the King had ordered twenty sail of his ships to proceed to sea, under the command of Don Alonzo de Bassano, with instructions to afford pro- tection and security to their homeward-bound India ships. They also understood that Don Alonzo had actually been at sea, and had returned, not liking, it was supposed, to hazard an engagement with his twenty ships against ten of ours ; but there might have been another reason. An order, it seems, had been despatched to the Indies, directing the Plate fleet to winter there, rather than to hazard their returning to Spain that summer.* Our commanders were in ignorance of these orders till long after they were acted upon ; and the little fleet, therefore, was condemned to spend seven months in looking for the appearance of Don Alonzo, and for the return carracks, in the line of the track they usually pursued. This voyage may, therefore, be considered as a failure, except in so far as it caused great distress among the Spanish merchants, by being kept out of their returns for twelvemonths, and was not less inconvenient to the King of Spain. But the disappointment was so annoying to Hawkins, that he thought it due to write an apologetical letter to the Queen, reminding Her Majesty of that pas- sage of Scripture which says, " Paul planteth and Apollos watereth, but God giveth the increase." This allusion to Scripture either ruffled or amused * Monson's Tracts. HAWKINS. oa Her Majesty so that, on reading it, she burst forth in a manner not unusual with her — " God's death ! this fool went out a soldier, and is come home a divine !" Sir John was now doomed once again to resume his obnoxious labours, after a voyage which, from the following deplorable letter, would not appear to have afforded him any mitigation of his troubles: — Sir John Hawkins to the Lord Treasurer. July 8th, 1592. My bownden dewty m Humble manner Remembryd unto your good Lordship. When the Swyftsure was lanched at deptford, the shyp syttynge very hard, we were forcyd to use great violence upon the takells, wherof one gave way and brake, so as one end of a cable rann by my leggs, and hurt me in 6 places, wherby I have not byne able to attend upon your Lordship my sellfe. The spookes that are usyde in a whelle, as your Lordship sayd, do not stond styll, so yt fallethe out, for as sone as your Lordship bathe gyven order for one demaund to be sattysfyed in this office, ther rysethe tow more, and hathe no end. I accompt my sellf most unhappye that )rt ys my lott to follow so unpleasant a service, as ys the callynge uppon soche excessyve payments as do daylye grow, for yf yt had pleasyd God to have appoynted me to have servyd Her Ma- jestic in any other callynge, I ame sure I shold have made my service very acceptable to Her Majestic, and ever have stode in your Lordshipes good lykynge and good opynyon. But this endlesse and unsavery occupacion in callyng for mony ys allwayes unpleasant. I protest unto your Lord- ship, before God, in whose presence I stond with a clere coney ence, that nothynge dothe more myslyke me then when any service ys comaundyd ; the necessytye ys souche that I 90 HAWKINS. must be the instrewment to make the demaunds for mony to accomplyshe them, although I may boldlye say that none of those demaunds do advayle or benefytt me, neyther wyll I ever durynge my lyfFe seeke or practyce any way to deceave Her Majestie in any thynge, for all the proffyt or comodytye that can grow unto me, for I thanke God I do dyspyse and abhorre any gayne that shall any way grow unto me, that shall not be obtayned with a clere concyence in the presence of God, from whose syght no mortall man can hyde his thoughts. And as I ame thorowghly perswadyd my sellf to dele symplye and trewly in Her Majesties service, so wyll I indevour to cawse others to do the lyke, but in the service of prynces the smaller nomber do serve as they ought to do, but seeke to serve ther owne tornes. I wold to God the abyllytye of my body and strength were sooche as I cold therby promyse better, but as yt ys I wyll not fayle to do the best I can. With me I do confesse yt ys at the best, for I ame not able to performe that which I desyre to do. Therfore I do most humbly pray your good Lordship to be a meane to Her Majestie that some dyscret and able man may be thought uppon to supply my place, which to instroocke I wyll abyde souche a convenyent tyme as shall seeme good unto your Lordship, and wyll neverthelesse ever duryng my lyffe attend Her Majesties service any other way that I shal be appoyntyd, wherin my experyence, or skyll, wyll serve, for which good favour of Her Majesties and your Lordshipes I shall ever accknowlege my sellfe more bownden, then yf I had reseavyd in gyfft great treasure. I do send your Lordship herewith fowre demaunds which ys convenyent your Lordship shold see before Her Majestie depart from hence. The first ys for the 1000/., which ys to pay upon the Privy Scale of the 22 of Marche, 1591, for the provydynge of cables, &c., the 1000/. which ys payd upon that warrant HAWKINS. 91 ys expendyd in cables, hemp, tarre, workmanship and soche lyke, to very good porpose, so as your Lordship shall see cordyge farre better, and better chepe then ever yt hath byne in my tyme ; and now the hemp ys to be had at a low pryse, which ys now to be taken for Her Majesties benefytt. The second ys a pay to be made to the shy pes that have and do serve in the narrow sees, to end the 23 of June last past. Ther ys allso a note wherby your Lordship may see the shipes that are now in charge. The third ys the monthes ordynary for June last. The fourth ys th'endynge of the charge of the Drednought and the Swyftsure expendyd in June laste, for all which I do send your Lordship sertyfycathes, referr3Tig yt to your Lordship's honorable consyderacion, and so Humbly take my leva from deptford the 8th of July, 1592. Your Lordship's ever Humbly bownden, John Hawkyns.* At the dissolution of Parliament in 1592, her Majesty gave notice that it was her intention to place a fleet under the command of Sir Francis Drake, in the following year; who, accordingly, having been appointed, lost no time in making his arrangements, in which he did not forget his old friend and early patron, Sir John Hawkins. " This expedition must be considered as something remark- able in its origin, unfortunate in its progress, and fatal in its termination."t It is unaccountable that Sir John Hawkins, at his advanced age, between seventy-five and eighty, should have been prevailed on to undertake a voyage * MS., State Paper Office. t Life of Drake. 92 HAWKINS. to the West Indies and the Spanish Main. He had obtained the rank of a flag-officer, the honour of knighthood, and was actually holding the appoint- ment of Treasurer of the Navy, a situation of great grievance to him, but one in which he had con- tinued twenty-two years. In a service of forty- eight years, chiefly at sea, and in the most favoured period for amassing wealth, it could hardly, there- fore, be an object with him to embark, at his time of life, on a voyage to one of the most sickly cli- mates then known. To a gallant old officer like Hawkins the opportunity of being associated once more with his favourite friend and pupil had no doubt its influence in the decision. But there was another object, and one probably nearest to his heart — the hope of being enabled to purchase, at whatever cost, the redemption from imprisonment of a beloved son out of the hands of the Spaniards, into which he had fallen, when on his voyage through the Strait of Magelhaens into the South Seas ; in the narrative of which is displayed great intelli- gence, good sense, and gallant conduct, as will ap- pear by the short account of it, to be found in its proper place. For the present unfortunate expedition six of her Majesty's ships were appropriated ; Drake and Hawkins were appointed joint admirals, and Sir Thomas Baskerville to command the land forces. The first intention was to land at Nombre de Dios, HAWKINS. 98 from thence to march across the isthmus to Pana- ma, and to seize the treasure which was supposed to be there; but before they left Plymouth, her Majesty, having received advices from Spain that the India fleet had already arrived, but that one of them being dismasted, had taken refuge in Puerto Rico, orders were therefore sent to the admirals to hasten thither, in the first instance, to take possession of the-treasure in the disabled ship, and then to pro- ceed to Nombre de Dios. Unfortunately, however, they lost a considerable time in attempting to take possession of the Grand Canary island, in which they failed. Hawkins, it is said, was against the attempt on account of the delay ; but Drake and Baskerville, particularly the latter, urged the measure, undertaking to carry it in four days. Hence they proceeded on their voy- age, halted at Dominica, traflicking with the natives for tobacco, and building some pinnaces. While here, five Spanish ships, sent out to watch the Eng- lish, and, at the same time, to convoy the treasure from Puerto Rico, fell in with and captured the Francis, a little pinnace that had straggled from the fleet, and having, by the application of torture, made the master and mariners confess that Puerto Rico was the destination of the English fleet, the Spaniards made all haste thither to give intelligence, and to bury all the treasure that might be at that place. The English followed, and had no sooner come to 94 HAWKINS. anchor at Puerto Rico than the enemy plied them with their great guns from the forts, and the ships that had already arrived there. But before the English ships could make ready to engage, Sir Nicholas Clifford, and Brute Brown, the friend of Drake, were so severely wounded, while sitting at supper, that they survived only two days.* Before they anchored, Sir John Hawkins, who had been ill nearly a month, also departed this life, some say from grief at the loss occasioned by the delay, others that the intelligence extorted by the Spaniards from the captured Francis had dwelt upon his mind ; but the real cause appears to have been the effects of the climate on an aged and shattered constitution. His younger colleague and pupil soon afterwards followed him, and shared the same watery grave. " Sir John Hawkins, as to his person, was esteemed graceful in his youth, and of a very grave and reve* rend aspect when advanced in years. He was well versed in mathematical learning for those times, and understood every branch of maritime aflfairs thoroughly, and to the bottom. He was a man of as much personal courage as that age produced, and had a presence of mind that set him above fear, and which enabled him frequently to deliver himself and others out of the reach even of the most imminent dangers." t " He was extremely affable," says Cam- den, "to his seamen, and remarkably beloved by * Camden. f Prince's Worthies. HAWKINS. 95 them." Arid with regard to this last expedition Sir Walter Raleigh says, that " Notwithstanding the disappointment and distresses they met with in their last voyage, Sir Francis Drake, Sir John Hawkins, and Sir Thomas Baskerville were men, for their experience and valour, as eminent as England ever had." In the Bodleian Library, at the head of the stairs, are two curious portraits of the two early naviga- tors, Frobisher and Hawkins. SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 1565 TO 1595. After the circumstantial detail of the Life, Voy- ages, and Exploits of Sir Francis Drake, published so recently as 1843, and a second edition called for in the following year, it would be a work of su- pererogation to go over the same ground ; yet, as he was one of the most distinguished officers of Queen Elizabeth's reign, his name could not pro- perly be omitted in the list of the ' Naval Worthies/ whose deeds are herein presented, in a general way, to the notice of the public. It is intended, therefore, merely to glance over the various services which graced his career, with the addition however of two important docu- ments, developing transactions in which he was essentially and prominently concerned ; one of which was calculated to cast a stigma of cruelty on a character which was, through life, peculiarly dis- tinguished for acts of kindness and humanity,* but the imputation of which the document in question must remove. * The two cases are mentioned, but slightly, in the * Life of Drake,' for want of information ; they are now given in detail from manuscript documents which have never before been published. DRAKE. 97 One of the twelve sons of a poor deacon — if ever he reached that step in the church — Francis Drake, whether from necessity or inclination, was apprenticed to the master of a small bark, usually employed in the coasting trade and in carrying merchandise to and from Zealand and France. During his continuance in this service of drudgery, his peaceable and diligent conduct so pleased the old master, that he bequeathed to him at his death his little bark, by will and testament. After carrying on the same trade in his small vessel for some time, he sold her, and embarked the proceeds in an adventure to the West Indies, with a Captain Lovell, in 1565 and 1566, and suffered much by the Spaniards at Rio de Hacha. On his return he attracted the notice of Captain John Hawkins, a merchant and shipowner, and one of the most experienced mariners of the time. To enlarge his mind and to improve his sea- manship, he engaged himself with Hawkins on a voyage to the West Indies. It turned out unfor- tunate, and Hawkins, on his return in January, 1568-9, in a letter to Secretary Cecil, deplores "the miseries and troubles of this melancholy voyage." But it afforded an admirable lesson for the instruc- tion of young Drake. It appears, however, from the narrative of his nephew Thomas, that Drake made a third voyage, with the Dragon and the Swan, in 1570, and with the Swan alone in 1571, for the H 98 DRAKE. purpose, it is said, of gaining information respecting these countries, and such *' as might further him to get some amende for his losse :" but nothing more is known of these voyages. The great experience he must thus have gained would not suffer him to rest in idleness ; and, in May, 1572, he had provided two small ships, the Pacha, of 70 tons, and the Swan, of 25 tons — the latter commanded by his brother John — all ready for sea, and sailed on the 24th of that month for Nombre de Dios, Here he landed with his handful of men, dismounted the guns on the platform, and marched to the market-place, while the alarm-bells were ringing and drums beating. They were attacked, and Drake received a wound, which he concealed, knowing that " if the general's heart stoops, the men's will fail." He ordered one of his trusty followers, Oxenham, and his brother, with sixteen men, to proceed to the king's treasure-house, where vast piles of silver were found, and still more in the governor's house : he then told his people *' that he had brought them to the mouth of the treasury of the world, which if they did not gain, none but themselves were to be blamed." Here, however, his strength and sight and speech failed him, from loss of blood ; his men bound up the wound with his scarf, and by main force (having refused their entreaties) carried him to his pinnace. On recovering, he speedily decided on crossing the DRAKE. 99 isthmus to Panama ; but, having lost many of his men by sickness, and among them his brother Joseph, and also the other brother John, who was unfortunately killed in action with a Spanish ship, he removed the whole of the people into his own ship and pinnace, and sunk the Swan. His object on the isthmus was to intercept a recoe, or train of mules, laden with the king's treasure. He met them, attacked, and chased the party as far as Venta Cruz ; strictly charging all his company on no ac- count to hurt any female or unarmed man. This journey decided the future fate of Drake. He was led to a tree, " a goodlie and great high tree," and from it had a full view of that sea of which he had heard such golden reports ; and, with great solemnity, " besought God to give him life and leave once to sail an English ship in those seas." Having so far gratified his curiosity, and intercepted a party of mules laden with treasure, and stripped them of as much as was convenient to carry away, he returned to his ship and made sail for England, where he arrived, at Plymouth, on Sunday the 9th of August, 1573, during divine service, when all the people in crowds ran out of the church, in the midst of the sermon, " to witness the blessing of God on the dangerous adventures and enterprises of Captain Drake." The next grand enterprise undertaken by Captain Francis Drake is one which, for its intrepidity and h2 100 DRAKE. boldness of design, would alone entitle him to ever- lasting fame, and to the highest honours that a grateful nation could bestow — the circumnavigation of the globe. He was the first Englishman that had ever dared even to think of it. It is true he met with every encouragement from Queen Elizabeth and her ministers, before his setting out; but his zeal for the honour of the profession he had adopted, for the service of his country, and moreover for the establishment of his own fame and fortune, needed no other spur. He was assisted in his preparations by a very few friends, being desirous of keeping his plan a secret. It is presumed, however, that he followed the advice of his old patron and able navigator. Captain John Hawkins, on whom the Queen had bestowed the office of Treasurer of the Navy ; and who, being much about the court, is supposed to have introduced him to the Vice- Chamberlain, Sir Christopher Hatton, and by him to the Queen. She had been made acquainted with his former adven- tures, and was not displeased with the annoyance he had already occasioned to her enemy, the King of Spain — for an enemy he was, though no war had been declared. He could, therefore, not have ob- tained any commission from the Queen to sanction hostilities, but probably had an instruction from the Privy Council, such as was given about the same time to Captain Edward Fenton, for maintaining discipline in his squadron. DRAKE. 101 That squadron consisted of the Pelicanj 100 tons, Drake, Commander ; Elizabeth, 80 tons, John Winter, Commander ; Marygold, 30, John Thomas; Swan, fly-boat, 50, John Chester ; Christopher, pin- nace, 15, Thos. Moone: manned in the whole with 163 stout and able seamen. They left Plymouth on the 13th December, 1577 ; and, on their passage from the Cape de Verde Islands, captured a Portuguese vessel laden with wine and other valuable articles. In her he placed a volunteer gentleman, of the name of Doughty, as commander : a person with whom, it would appear, he had become acquainted in Ireland, and who, like himself and many others, went there on a speculation of government, which failed and occasioned great disappointment. This person behaved so improperly to some of the pas- sengers of the prize, that Drake found it expedient to remove him into his own ship. The story of this unfortunate man was told in the * Life of Drake,' from what was considered the fullest and most authentic source of information.* In consequence, however, of a notification in a late number of the ' Edinburgh Review,' that in the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts, in the British Museum, there would be found a fragment that contained more information than had been collected from printed works, it has been thought proper, on the present occasion, to * The World Encompassed. 102 DRAKE. take advantage of it, in the hope that it might throw some new light on the mysterious and dis- tressing circumstance of Dough ty's death. It affords but little ; yet fully sufficient to establish the fact, that he was a most unfit, unsafe, and dangerous man, in any ship whatever on the high seas ; and that it was utterly impossible, after the investiga- tion about to be given, that Drake, as commander of the expedition, intrusted with the care of so many lives, could suffer him to have another day's intercourse with the crews of any one of the ships. The document in question consists of a fragment, or a series of fragments, containing a sort of evi- dence of the unfortunate gentleman's intrigues at various times, and in various places, with certain persons belonging to the squadron. This document has neither beginning nor end, name, date, or purpose; yet its authenticity cannot be doubted. It consists chiefly of a number of depositions, given and signed by various persons in the fleet. Drake was known and esteemed by all the sea- men for his kindness and humanity; and when so many and such undoubted proofs were openly alleged. Doughty is said to have confessed that his object was to obtain the command of the expedition ; and that he was ready to submit to any punishment that the assembly might pronounce, and thus pre- vent him becoming his own executioner. The crews, DRAKE. 103 it is stated, were greatly affected : *' But,*' says the ' World Encompassed,' " the General was most of all distracted ; and therefore withdrew himself, as not able to conceal his tender affection, requiring them, that had heard the whole matter, to give their judgment, as they would another day answer it unto their Prince, and unto Almighty God, judge of all the earth.'* * The fragment thus commences: — Thomas Doughty his Oration upon the Pelican when he came from the fly-boat (the Swan) to the Pellican to remain, the Company being called by the Boatswaine together : He said he had called them together, having somewhat to say from the General. Reminded them that there had been great brawls and (luarrels among them — many looking on themselves to be masters, some resisting, others commanding. The General meaning to do us all good, hath sent me as his friend whom he trusteth, to take charge in this place, giving to me a special commandment to signify to you, that all matters bypast are forgiven and forgotten, on this condi- tion, that we hear no more of your evil dealings hereafter ; and I am therefore to tell you that you are to obey only one master in all matters, knowing that the General hath his authority from her Highness the Queen's Majesty, and her Council, such as hath not been committed rarely to any subject before this time : to punish, at his discretion, with death or otherwise, offenders ; so he hath committed the same authority to me, in his absence, to execute upon those who are malefactors, wherein I will not disaj)point his ex- * World Encompassed. 104 DRAKE. pectation and credit, what he doth look for at my hands, for the respect of any person ; but whosoever offendeth, by God's body shall feel the smart. Be honest men, by God's body, and by the faith of an honest gentleman, I love you and mean to do you good, and I hope that a great company conceive of me that I will be rather your friend than your enemy ; wherefore I wish, as an honest gentleman, that you will so use yourselves that I may not have cause to laye it upon you, which I have power to do ; and thus hoping you will give me cause to think well of you, I make an end. These things were spoken and concluded upon the Pelican by T. D. 1. It was supposed that one ship's company were against another, and that Doughty refused to give the General to understand of it, affirming that he. Doughty, should be thought to be the chief And when it was said by Francis Fletcher that he would tell the General of it, the said Thos. Doughty desired him, very earnestly, that he would not ; for, saith he, I shall be suspected. 2. That T. D. and Thos. Cuttill were often in secret ; he told Cuttill for the good liking he had of him, if he found him the same man afterwards, as he then did, he would provide for him 100/., besides his voyage, when they came to England, and that he would stand between him and the danger, and would keep the said Cuttill in the Temple from the Lord Admiral and all officers. Such his words in the fly-boat. 3. Returning from the Pelican into the fly-boat he said, tho' Mr. Chester (the captain) was his enemy, whom he would never forgive, yet had he friends which had, and would, work for him, and that he had promised to be Master in another and better ship. DRAKE. 105 4. When Cuttill talking with T. D., Chester forhade him to have any conference or receive any thing at his hands, whereto he answered he would talk with him, neither would he refuse any thing at the hands of so good a friend. Certain speeches made by Thos. D. aboard of the ffly-bott in the hearing of one John Saracold and others : Istly. On coming on board the fly-boat he declared he was sent as a prisoner, and as one suspected of being a traitor to the General, of which he would purge himself in England afore their betters, who did accuse him, if law would serve him, as he knew it would, and to their great shame. 2ndly. He used great talk of what a great aid he was to our General in London in forwarding the out-voyage, both with his money and travel unto some of the best in England, the which had not so safely been brought to pass if he had not with his friends used great diligence. 3rdly. He had certain speeches of the great credit which our General received in Ireland of the Earl of Essex through the said T. D.'s means : the full eflect of all this talk I do not altogether remember. 4thly. There was certain talk one day after dinner con- cerning such as should be in any respect enemies or traitors either to the General or the voyage, unto the which it was my fortune to answer, that our General might do well to deal with them as Magellanes did, which was to hang them up to be a sample to the rest ; to the which Mr. Doughty answered, very soft. The General's authority is now such as Magellanes was, for, saith he, I know his authority so well as he himself does ; and, for hanging, it is for dogs and not for men. This and such like talk he used on board the fly- boat in my hearing. By me, John Saracold. 106 DRAKE. 5thly. Francis Fletcher. — His talk to Captain Chester was, that whereas Mr. Chester's authority seemed to be taken away by the men, that if he would be ruled by him he would give him his authority again, and put the sword in his hands, to rule as he thought good ; and that if Mr. Chester would be ruled, he would make the company to be ready one to cut another's throats. 6thly. The said Doughty said he knew certain secrets of our General, which, saith he, I will never utter, although he should use me very hardly ; and yet, said he, the uttering of them would touch him much. (Signed) Frs. Fletcher. Thos. Saracold. Thos. Chester. Emanl. Watkyns. Report of Articles abord the ffly-bott uttered by Thomas Dowtye as followeth : 1. ffirst the sayd Thomas Dowtye beinge in fflye-bott, called the Swan, did affirme that he was the ffirst man that brought our Generall in credit with the Earle of Essex. Wittnes — John Sorocott, Gregory Cary, iFrancis ffletcher. 2. That the sayd T. D. did knowe that the Generall could not cast him off, ffrom being equale with him, ffor that he the sayd Thomas Dowtye was a Gentleman, and had bene his equale both at home and abrode in larland, and now at the sea, especially for that the sayd Douttye had bene the speciall help of our sayd Generall to performent. Wittnes — John Saracold, Gregory Cary, ffrancis ffletcher. 3. That our Generall did knowe and was wittness that my Lord High Treasurer of England sent for the sayd T. D. two or three times to be his Secretarye, and he reffused it to com to him. Wittnes — ffrancis ffletcher, Emanuel Wattkyns. Emanuel doth not remember that he sayd the Generall was wittnes. DRAKE. 107 4. That he and our Generall concluded in larland this viage to the vale we of 1,000 marcks one Thomas Dowtye's part. Witnes — John Chester, John Saracold, Gregory Gary, ffrancis ffletcher. 5. That the sayd Thomas Dowtye did promyse to Henry Spindelay, the gunner uppon the ffly-botte, that he wold when he came in England lend him 40/., and such promises he made to dyvers others, and affirmed that he wold make one of them cut another's throte. Witnes — John Chester, Gregory Gary, ff. ffletcher, E. Wattkyns. 6. That when our Generall had opened the viage to some of the Privye Counsayle, wherein he sayd T. D. was the ffirst man that brought our Generall acquaynted, the pro- mise was broken betwene them, that is, he wold not suffer the sayd Thos. Dowtye to venture so much. Wittnes — John Chester, Gregory Carey, John Saracold, Emanuell Wattkyns, ffrancis ffletcher. 7. That the sayd T. D. dyd know suche secretts of our Generall as he wold be loth and perhapps ashamed iff he should open them. Wittnes all the sayd persons. 8. That the Generall was ashamed that he had delt so with the sayd Thomas Dowtye. Wittnes all the sayd persons. 9. That the sayd T. D. was not to be charged with the least paringe of a nayle, and that the Captayne knewe it well : but that he desembled to please a sort of cogginge and lyinge knaves which are about him. Wittnes all the sayd persons. 10. That whosoever dyd speke agaynst him heare, he wold in their mouthes when the sayd Thomas Dowghtye came to England. AVittnes all the sayd persons. 11. That the sayd T. D. had comendations from the Captayne by the Master, Mr. Gregorye. That the Captayne was glad that he was in helth, and that the sayd T. D. should not be long there : but that our 108 DRAKE. sayd Generall would have him agayne into his Companye at the next harborough, where sayth the said T. D. tho' Mr. Gregory with all my enemyes ffeare least I should come to as great authorytie as I was in, and then I will plage them, which I will do, lett them loke ffor it. Witnes all the sayd persons. 12. That the sayd T. D. brought our Generall to the Queue's pay. Wittnes — firancis ffletcher. 13. That our sayd Generall ffled into larland, ffor that he durst not abyde in England, and that he did know it very well for his dealinges in larland. Wittnes — ffrancis ffletcher. 14. That our Generall sent for the sayd T. D. to com to him to Mr. Hawkyns his house to charge him with his promyse mad in larland of 1,000 marcks which he promised. Wittnes — ffrancis ffletcher. Appended to these Articles, on a separate leaf, are twenty-nine names, different from those who have witnessed them, but no notice taken of what they are. Were they the jury, which Thomas Drake mentions as being forty, who adjudged him to be deserving of death ? Theis words ffollowinge Thomas Doughtye spake to me in Plymothe in a Captayne's garden : as also aboard the Pellican, and other places : ffirst. Thomas Doughtye persuaded me of James Sydye what a necessarye man he was ffor the Viage which the sayd Thomas Doughtye and our Captayne had in hand, and that they could not mysse James Sydye, — Swearinge that this vyage had never gon fforwards but for the sayd Thomas Doughtye : and the sayd T. Doughtye sayd that he was the ffirst, and prefferred our Captayne to the DRAKE. 109 Earle of Essex ; and that the sayd T. D. did helpe our Captayne to the Quene's paye in larland : when our Captayne was glad to com into larland, fFor ffeare of my Lord Admirall and the rest of the Counsayle, because of his Indyes viages : and when the Earle of Essex was dede that then the sayd T. Doughty prefFerred our Captayne to his master, Master Hatton, and that he the sayd T. D. and our Captayne confferred about this viage in larland to do it of themselves : so that T. D. should have ventured 1,000 pounds ffor his part. And that afterwards our Captayne cam to London, and sought him the sayd T. D. at the Temple, and challendged him ffor his promise as touchinge this viage. And then the sayd T. D. consideringe with himself that this viage was more meate ffor a Prynce then a subject, contenentlye went to Mr. Secretary Wallsingham and to Mr. Hatton, and lyke a true subject brake the matter to them, and they brake it to the Quene's Majestye, who had greate goode lykinge of it, and caused our Captayne to be sent ffor, and comanded this viage to goe fforward, and joyned the sayd T. D. and our Captayne together, and gave them as large a Commission as ever went out of England, and that the whole adventure had passed under the hand and scale of the sayd T. D., which was no small matter ; and that the Queue and the Counsayle had layd a greate charge uppon him, both that he delte so well with them in larland, and discharged his dutye so honestlye in his service under the Earle of Essex ; and that our Captayne was not to do anythinge without the assent of the sayd T. D. Swearinge with greate oths, that he the sayd T. D. was to do a great many men good, and that he the sayd T. D. wold make choise of twelve that should carye the bell awaye, swearinge that I shold be one, and that he the sayd T. D. wold make me the richest man of all my kyn, iff I wold be ruled by him, and that the sayd T. D. wold not give his adventure for 1,100 pounds. 110 DRAKE. These words he spake at Plyraoth and a bord the Pellican, and at the ile of May. (No signature to this.) In my Cabyn abord the Pellycan he the sayd T. D. cam to me, when there had certayne words passed betwixt Willy am Seage and me, which T. D. sayd that the Cap- tayne was very muche offended with me, and that our Captayne wold set me in the Bylbes, but he, the sayd T. D., sayd he wold not suffer it, and that our Captayne shold not offer it me, ffor I was one of them whom he, the sayd T. D., loved and made account of, and bad me kepe my Cabbyn two or three dayes, and that the Captayne and I should be ffrends agayne, and byd me so ffarewell, and be ruled by him, and he wold do me good. In the Prise the sayd T. D. sayd that he was sorye that he had not taken the viage in hand of himself with our Cap- tayne, and that he was sorye there weare any more adven- turers than himself, sayinge that he could have don it of himselff well enough, and that the sayd T. D. could have made the matters good enough at his cominge home, and the sayd T. D. sayd that thei whole Counsayle would be corrupted with money — yea the Queue's Majestie herselff, which greved my conciens to heare. More John Dowtye tould me and John Deane that he and his brother T. D. could Counger as well as any men, and that they could rayse the devell, and make him to meate any man in the lykenes of a Beare, a lyon, or a man in harnis. More John Dowtye told me and John Deane, that he the sayd John Dowtye could poyson as well as any man, and that he could poyson a man with a dyamond that he should be twelve moneths afiiter or he should dye. (No signature to this.) DRAKE. 1 1 1 Words uttered by Thomas Doughty e unto our General! . 1. fFyrst, that the sayd T. D. cam unto oure sayd General!, as one requested or sent from som or dyvers of the Companye, to knowe the sayd GeneralFs consent, in that all men are mortall, and that the sayd our Generall dyd enter into all action, who should suckcede our sayd Generall, iff God should do his will uppon him. 2. The sayd T. D. aboard the Pellican sent word by John Martyn and Gregorye to our Generall these words : Have me comended to my Generall, and tell him the tyme will com that he shall have more need of me, then I shall have of the viage. 3. The sayd T. D. makinge comparison upon board the ffly-bott sayd that he was as honest as any in the Companye, or as my Lord Burleye. 4. At the sayd instant fFolowinge, the sayd T. D. in the heringe of dyvers of the company affirmed that the worst word of the mothe of his, the sayd Thomas, was of more then 3 of the others of our sayd Generall ffrancis Drake. The sayd Thomas Dowghty affirmed to Thomas Clackley, Boteswayne of the Pellican, that he the sayd Thomas Dow- tye had in this adventure 1500/., sayinge it was a pore gentleman's adventure.* Thus abruptly ends the fragment, of the authen- ticity of which, as before observed, there can be little doubt; equally little as to the tendency of Doughty's proceedings. If an officer of the British * Historical and Judicial Tracts, Harleian MSS., British Museum. The excommunication, in the same Tracts, of Fletcher, by Drake, sitting cross-legged on a chest, is too absurd and contemptible to deserve a moment's notice: it has not a shadow of Drake's character about it. 112 DRAKE. Navy should thus tamper with the crew of a ship, elevate his own importance at the expense of his commanding officer, and endeavour to seduce men into a contempt of their captain, by selecting a portion of the crew, and tempting them with promises of money and preferment if they would follow up his views — such an officer would sub- ject himself to the severest penalty of the Articles of War. When Doughty boasts of his interest and his friendship with Chancellor Hatton and Secretary Walsingham, and other great people, it will occur that neither they, nor his brother of whom he talks, nor any one else, took the least concern about him or his fate, either when the story was first brought to England in Captain Winter s ship, or long after- wards, when Drake himself and his crew arrived in England. That Fletcher, who is related to have given Doughty so excellent a character, should sign his name to most of the charges, can only be explained by his having been present at the conversations to which he signs, and too honest not to give a true evidence when called upon. The whole paper is a fragment only of a species of trial, as it would appear, on charges brought by Drake for the safety of himself and people; and that the twenty-nine names, separate from those who gave evidence, formed the jury. DRAKE. 113 Having left the port of a second slaughter,* Port St. Julian, on the 20th August, 1578, Drake came with his squadron to the eastern entrance of the Strait of Magelhaens, which no Englishman had ever passed, and only he whose name it bears : a strait which, though often since passed, is, even in our days, considered so troublesome, dangerous, and uncertain as to time, that the passage from the Atlantic into the Pacific is generally made round Cape Horn. Drake besides had the whole strait to examine as he went along, being without chart or sailing directions of any kind ; yet he succeeded in working his way through it, and entered the Pacific on the sixteenth day. Having passed into the Pacific, a gale of wind drove the fleet so far to the southward that Drake saw the land to the south of Tierra-del-fuego, from which it is separated by a wide channel, and thus was the first navigator that discovered Cape Horn, and the junction of the Pacific with the Southern Atlantic. Here, however, he had the misfortune of losing two of his three ships, that entered along with him the Strait of Magelhaens. The Pelican (her name now changed to that of the " Golden Hind") parted from her anchors, and drove out to sea. The Elizabeth, which was with her, got back into the strait, and, having waited a few days, made the best of her way home, " by Captain Winter's * That by Magelhaens being the first. 1 14 DRAKE. compulsion," says ClifFe, " full sore against the mariners' mind." ^ The Marigold, Captain Thomas, parted company in the gale, and was never more heard of. The Swan had separated before they reached Port St. Julian, and the Mary was broken up. Here, then, was Drake left alone on an unknown coast, and on a wide ocean never navigated by an English seaman, in a small vessel of 100 tons, with a reduced crew, without medical assistance, and dependent entirely for provisions on what could be procured on an enemj^'s coast, or from enemy's shipping. But he had formed a settled plan in his mind, and was resolved to pursue it ; and " resolu- tion," as Dr. Johnson says, '' is success." It re- quires nothing more to establish the character of this celebrated man for ability and spirit of enter- prise, than to state that, through perils by land, perils by sea, and perils by the enemy, he carried his little bark from lat. 56*^ S. to 48° N.— a distance of more than seven thousand English miles — with- out losing more than two men killed by the savages, and one slain by the Spaniards. Before this, eight men had been driven back in the pinnace into the Strait of Magelhaens, one of whom only, after many perils, reached England. Fletcher the minister observes, that had the Pelican retained her name, she might now indeed have been said to be as " a pelican alone in the wilderness." * Hakluyt, from ClifFe's Voyage. DRAKE. 115 Arrived at his highest point of north latitude, Drake announced his intention of seeking a passage home by the north-east, round America, into the Atlantic — one of the most daring and courageous proposals in the whole record of navigation : — a small and solitary bark, with a diminished and feeble crew, to be put upon an unknown and un- explored sea of ice, cut off from all civilized and, probably, from all human beings in any shape, and without the smallest chance (all other dangers excluded) of ever reaching Baffin's Bay by the only narrow channel which leads into it from the Polar Sea, and of which Drake knew nothing, ex- posed to the almost certainty of losing not only his own life, but those of his crew, and with them the whole of their property, procured by many toils, difficulties, and extreme dangers — when these things are considered, the attempt appears alike hopeless and desperate. But fortunately the extreme cold of the climate they had already reached, had such an effect on the minds and feelings of the men, that Drake found it prudent to abandon the pro- ject, and to bend his course homewards through the East Indian Archipelago, and round the Cape of Good Hope ; this voyage being the second occa- sion, in which he was the first man to attempt what had never been done before by any of his countrymen. The notice bestowed on Drake, on his return, was i2 116 DIIAKE. worthy of the success of his unparalleled adventures. The Queen visited him in his own ship, and there bestowed on him the honour of knighthood. It was a joyful day at Deptford, nothing going on but music, and dancing, and feasting. The poets w^ere not idle in supplying the Golden Hind with songs for the amusement of the crew. One very appro- priate, but quaint, conceit is said to have been ex- hibited on the sign of the Queen's Head tavern : — " O, Nature ! to old England still Continue these mistakes ; Still give us for our King such Queens, And for our Dux such Drakes." 1585. The Queen having, in the course of this important year, sent considerable auxiliary forces 10 the assistance of Holland, to oppose any attempt of the Duke of Parma, on the part of Spain, against the Netherlands, was fully aware that, by so doin^j", she would immediatelv incur the increased hostility of Philip, and that, in order to meet the same, it was the best policy at once to declare open war. Sir Francis Drake was sent for by the Queen, and appointed to the command of a fleet, with orders to make reprisals on the shipping and possessions of the Spaniards in the West Indies. She appro- priated four of her best ships for the purpose, which were made up to twenty sail by volunteer adven- turers, who rushed forwards with the greatest ala- crity ; these ships, with the addition of the Queen's DKAKE. 1 1 7 own, embarked about 3000 men. Among those who were desirous of volunteering with Drake was a very extraordinary personage, the amiable and accomplished Sir Philip Sidney, who proposed him- self as commander of the land forces, and actually joined, to the utter dismay of Drake, knowing him to be one of the Queen's favourites, whose permis- sion he had not obtained ; but he was soon relieved from his embarrassment by a nobleman sent down by the Queen to take him back to court. The officers consisted of Sir Francis Drake, Admiral ; Thomas Fenner, his Captain ; Martin Frobisher, Vice-Admiral ; Francis Knollis, Rear- Admiral; Lieutenant-General Carlisle to command the troops, with the requisite officers. In September, 1585, they left Plymouth, took Porta Praya without difficulty ; proceeded to Dominica, inhabited en- tirely by aboriginal natives ; thence to St. Domingo, where, by kindling a few fires, they obtained a ransom. Hence it was their intention to visit Nombre de Dios, and cross the Isthmus to Panama, but the " very burning and pestilent ague which had seized them " made it expedient they should proceed homeward. In their way along the coast of Florida they destroyed the rising town of St. Augustine, and another called St. Helena ; came to the miserable colony of Virginia; embarked the Governor (Lane) and all his settlers, and arrived at Portsmouth in Julv, 1586. 118 DRAKE. 1587. Elizabeth now felt there was no safety for her crown but by following up the blow. She was personally insulted by the Spanish ambas- sador, whose master had promised himself eternal renown, having already gained the paternal affec- tion of the Pope, by his endeavours to unite the whole Christian world in the papal communion, the first step to which was considered to be the subjugation of England. Elizabeth again sent for Drake ; told him that she knew the enemy was making vast preparations in the ports of Spain and Portugal for the invasion of England, and that she had selected him to take charge of an expedition to inspect their proceedings, and to destroy their preparations; told him he should have four of her best ships — the Elizabeth Bonaventure, the Lion, the Rainbow, and the Dread- nought. This squadron being increased by twenty Londoners, they assembled at Plymouth, where the Lord High Admiral of England, Lord Charles Howard of Effingham, put himself in communica- tion with Drake, and afforded him every assistance. From a curious circumstance it may be inferred, that another favourite of the Queen had been offer- ing himself as a volunteer with Drake — Robert Earl of Essex. An autograph letter of the Admiral to Essex, falling into the hands of Mr. Thorpe, the bookseller, was advertised in his catalogue, price eight guineas^ at which it was immediately sold. DRAKE. 119 The letter was dated Plymouth, 16th February, 1587, where Drake was then fitting out, and the following extract from it is printed in the notice : — " Good my Lord, teare my letters, and hold my word a rock to build on. For as the Lord liveth, my Lord of Essex hath, and shall have, a great interest in Francis Drake ; for my good Lord my conscience and soul beareth me witness, that there is some parte to be played in the Churche of God, by your honour and myselfe, if we can hold this secret, for secrecie at the beginning is the assurance of our Victorie, which God will bring to passe for his glorye." The Queen, however, found another and a dif- ferent employment for Essex. Drake left Plymouth on the 2nd of April, and on the 19th dashed into the harbour of Cadiz, where he was fired upon by five large galleons close under the batteries, which he soon compelled to retreat. In the road, and protected by the fortress, were sixty large and a number of small ships. These and others, to the amount of about a hundred sail, he took, burnt, or destroyed. Among others was a large ship of Ragusa, of about 1000 tons, carrying forty brass cannon. Another, 1200 tons, belonging to the Marquis of Santa Cruz, was de- stroyed. In short, the whole number of vessels burnt, sunk, and brought away amounted at the least to 10,000 tons of shipping. Captain Fenner, who commanded the Dreadnought, gives by name nine- teen merchant-vessels which accompanied the four Queen's ships, and which, together with these, amounted to 4895 tons. Drake on Jiis return took three castles at and near the Cape St. Vincent, and 120 DRAKE. destroyed every species of craft between Cadiz and Lisbon ; and for the satisfaction of the adventurers as well as that of his own people, he stood over to the Azores, where he fell in with and captured a rich Portuguese carrack from the West Indies, called the St. Philip, and carried her home, when the Lords of the Privy Councildeemed the treasure in her of such value, as to send down a commission to inquire into her cargo, in order to make the usual distribution. The following excellent letter shows, what indeed has been generally ascribed to him, that Sir Francis Drake was as devout as he was brave. John Fox, to whom it is addressed, is the same good and learned divine, to whom the world is indebted for that valuable and interesting work entitled '' Acts and Monuments," but more familiarly known as " Fox's Book of Martyrs." This venerable man died in the year that this letter is dated, and in the seventieth of his age. To THE Reverend Father in God John Ffox, my very GOOD Friend. Mr. Fox, Whereas we have had of late such happy suxces against the Spaniards, I doe assure myself that you have faithfully remembered us in your good prayers, therefore I have not forgotten briefly to make you partaker thereof. The sixt day of Aprill wee arrivyd in the Road of Cales, where wee found very much shipping, but among the rest 32 of Exceeding Burden, loaden and to be loaden with provisions and preparacions to furnish the King's Navie, intended with all speed against England, the which when - - DKAKE. 121 wee had boarded and also furnished our severall ships with provisions as we thought sufficient, wee burnt, and although by the space of 2 dayes and 2 nights that wee continued there wee weare still indangered both with thundering shotts from the towne, and assaulted with the roaring cannons of twelve galleys, yet wee sonnke 2 of them, and one great argosy, and still avoyded them with very small hurt, and at our departure brought away 4 ships of provisions, to the great terrour of our Enemies, as it may appear by a most courtious letter with a Flag of Truce by Don Pedro, Gene- rall of the Galleys ; but whereas it is most certain that the King doth not only make speedy preparations in Spaine, but likewise expecteth a very great fleet from the Straits, and duivers other places, that should come with his forces to invade England, wee purpose to set apart all fear of danger, and by God's furtherance to proceed with all the good meanes wee can devise to prevent their comming. ^Vherefore I shall desire you to continue a faithfull rememberance of us in your praiers that our part and service may take that Effect as God may be glorified, his Church, our Queen, and Country preserved, the Enemies of the Truth so vanquished that wee may have continuall peace in Israeli. From aboard Her Majesties good ship called the Elizabeth Bona- ad venture, in very great hast, 27 of Aprill, 1587. Your loving and faithfull Sonne in Christ Jesus, Francis Drake. Our Enemies are many, but our Protector commandetli the whole world. Lett us all pray continually, and our Lord Jesus will hear us in good time mercifully.* The only disagreeable circumstance that occurred, on this expedition, was the misconduct of Captain * Harleian MSB., British Museum. OF THE ^r 122 DRAKE. Burroughs which caused his supercession, and the subsequent mutiny in the Golden Lion. It was alluded to incidentally in the " Life of Drake," but a series of papers have since been discovered, which show the steps taken by Drake at a court held by him on board his flag-ship near Cadiz, for the trial of Captain Marchaunt and the mutineers ; and also a revision of the same before the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty held at Theobalds. The paper containing this is docketed thus, in the hand-writ- ing of Dr. Julius Caesar : *' Examynacion of the Companye of the Lyon before me Doctor Caesar, Judge of the Admiralty, the Queen's Attorney and Solicitor General, and Dr. Hamman." In a schedule of his papers. Dr. Caesar calls this ' Examynacion' '' An excellent forme of a Sessions kept by Sir Francis Drake and other Captains on boarde of one of the Queen Elizabeth's Ships." This is a high compliment to the sagacity of the man who, for the first time, and without any precedent, held and devised what may properly be considered the form of proceeding on the first court-martial ever held in the nav}^* * The original manuscript of this interesting document is now in the British Museum, among what are called the ^ Csesar Papers,' consisting of about twenty volumes, five of which were recently purchased by the trustees at the late Strawberry Hill sale, and in one of these latter was found the document in ques- tion. Horace Walpole purchased them many years ago at a sale of Dr. Julius Caesar's papers. I feel particularly obliged to Mr. DRAKE. 123 It thus commences :— " A generall Courte holden for the service of Her Ma- jestie aboarde the Elizabeth Bonaventure the 30th of Maye 1587^ before Sir fFrancis Drake, Knighte, Gene- rall of Her Majestie's ffleete, Thomas fFenner, Vize Admyrall, Anthony Platte Lieutenante Generall, John Marchaunt Serjant Major, and the reste of the Cap- taines and Masters of the ffleete as followeth : — The Generall, Att this Courte, called in question and judiciallye de- manded of Captayne Marchaunt howe he colde discharge himselfe and answere the Departure of Her Majestie's Shippe the Golden Lyon which he latelye gave him in charge. Captayne Marchaunt protestinge, with all earnest affec- tion, his Innocencye, alledged and declared — That there was a greate Mutyne growen amonge the Companye of the Lyon the 27 of this moneth assone as we had given over the chase undertaken, (understandinge) that she was the Barke of Lyme, whereon I requyred the Master that we mighte lye close by the wynde to round our Generall. The Master answered, well Captaine, we will. But presently one of the quarter Masters came and delivered me a letter in the behalfe of the whole company as followeth : "Captayne Marchaunt, Captayne of the Golden Lyon appoynted by Sir ffrancis Drake, Generall of this ffleete. We the Queenes and yours at this tyme desyre that as you are a man and beare the name of a Captayne over us, so to weighe of us like men, and lett us not be spoyled for wante of foode, for our allowance is so small we are not able to lyve any longer of it, for when as three or foure were wonte to take a charge in hande, nowe Tenne at the leaste, by reason of our weake victuallinge, and filthie drink, is scarce Holmes, of the MS. department, for having kindly brought this paper to my notice. 124 DRAKE. able to discharge it, and yet growe rather weaker and weaker, which surely, if it be not loked unto, will growe to greate dishonor on your parte, and to a lasting shame on our sydes, by reason of the moste worthie and most honorable Chal- lendge of our Generall at Castel Galleys, in daringe the King's deputie, or the Kinge himself if he were in place, or the proudest Champyon he had, to come fourthe and chaunge a Bullett with him. But none durste once adventure to come forthe unto him. But like Cowardlike knights sayde they were not readye for him, — a most worthye enterprise, deservinge lastinge fame, to come to the Gates of his Courte, yea the strongest holde of his Lande, and dare him fourth. Our harts were then so boldened, and our stomachs so cora- giouslye bente. That if theye had byn Tenne to one, we rather wished to fighte then to go to dynner. But nowe moste unfortunatelye unluckie Chaunce fallen amongest us by weakinninge of our Lymes (limbs) and feblenes of our bodyes, we are not able to abyde the force of them as now, and thoughe theye be but one to one, the more is of greife, ifor what is a peice of Beefe of halfe a pounde amonge fourre men to dynner, or halfe a drye Stockfishe for foure dayes in the weeke, and nothinge ells to helpe withall. You now have holpe a little Beveridge, worse then the pompe Water. Wee were preste by Her Majesties presse to have her allow- ance, and not to be thus dealt withall, you make no more of us but beasts. And therefore wee are not determyned to goo any further, but as we brought the Lyon with our Masters help fourthe, so now will carye her home agayne by the helpe of God, for as the wynde is faire, and hence we will. And thus Captayne Marchaunt thinke of us as you will, and lett us have more victualls to bringe us home, for as long as it please God this wynde to blowe, we will not alter our course, but hence straighte, and so thincke of us as you please. " The Queenes men and yours homewards by our powers." DRAKE. 125 And there withall came the Master unto me sayinge, That there was not a man that wolde sett his hands to the saylles. Noo Master quoth 1 what is it you cannot comande them to doo being Master of the Shippe ? Stricke the Sayles, but it colde not be don for the yeards weare slonge before hande, and the Toppes and Shrowds manned, and the Master sayde they wolde doo nothinge for him. To appease this Mutanie I came amonge them myselfe sayinge my masters what soden mutanie is this amonge you, colde not this have byn spoken of when we were neare the Generall, yf any thinge had byn arays there it had byn re- dressed. I wolde wishe you take a better course than this, for yt will not be answered, wherewith, for the whole Com- pany, spake one Crowe ; that they wolde not loose the Wynde which was fayre, and further theye wolde not goo. I shewed them also that for theire victualls there was in the shippe by the confession of the Purser, sufficient for 30 dayes, assuring them also on my life, that as sone as they came to the Generall theye sholde have a monethe's Victuall put aboarde them privately e. But they cryed aloude theye wolde all home excepte some 15 or 16 gentlemen and officers. To persuade them the rather to staye I said moreover unto them. My Masters I will nowe imparte unto you a matter which I thoughte to have secreyted untill another time. That there is an Island of greate ritches promysed to be delivered to our Generall without the losse of one man, I praye you therefore staye and talke with him, And he will laye you downe such reason as will be to the contentacion of you all. Whereat one Cornelius, one of the gunners, said, well Captayne at your requeste we will staye till night to speake with the Generall, for the which I thanked them all hartylie, — howbeit theye privatelye layde their heads 126 DRAKE. together agayne, and came with one voyce sayinge, the Wynde is good, we will not staye, we will awaye, all, all, all. When I sawe the Mutanie so farre growen I requested Mr. Boroughes that he wolde worke a meane with them to cause their staye untill they cam to the Generall that they mighte acknowledge him and departe in good order from him. He answered partely that they wolde not staye for the Generall, for he knewe what order he wolde take with them. In the midste of theire Mutanie I said unto them what, is there no honest man will acknowledge their Generall, and therewith rallied as many as wolde so doo, to holde up theire hands, when aboute 15 or 16 gentlemen and officers did, the reste cryed, home, home. Then I said my masters this plan hath byn layde before nowe by the principalis, not by the common sorte, which will not be answered ; Why, quothe Mr. Boroughes, howe spake you that ; meane you me ? I answered I wolde I knewe it were you, then wolde I sone tell you of it, but I am sure it is done by the principalis. Whereuppon I requested that I might be sett aborde the Queues Pinnis ; they told me noe, that they colde carye me as safe into England, as Sir ffrancis Drake colde, I answered I wolde never be caryed into England by such a Company of unhonest persons as they were. Then I requested Mr. Boroughes that he wolde deale with the Company that I might departe, for I knewe he mighte do it. My masters, said he, what unreasonable Men are you, will you neither staye for the Admyrall, nor lett the man departe. Lett him departe for shame, or ells staye for the Admyrall, doe one of the two. Then said Crowe, well Captayne yf you saye the worde, he shall goo, with that they were contente. Then once more I requested Mr. Boroughes as he was a Gent and tendered the Accord that he wolde deale once DRAKE. 1 21 more with the Companye, for I knewe he might doe it, and promysed as I was a Christian that there sholde not one haire of theire hedds perishe, Soe as theye wolde staye and speake with the Generall. He retomed to me agayne this answere, Captaine Mar- chaunt I have talked with them, and their answere is this, They have had many promises, and little performance, therefore theye will staye no longer. When I sawe them so bent I called to Captaine ClifForde who was in the Quene's pynnis, desyringe him to take me in, and bringe me to the Generall, for that I wolde not be caryed into England by a Company of such unruly persons. He cryed unto me that he wolde have me in, or ells come aboarde for me himselfe, but they manned their Boate and sett me aboarde, which when one of those in the toppe per- ceaved, he cryed with an othe, what, will you letl him goe, yf he fetche up the Admyrall before nighte, he will over- take us, and then you shall see what worke he will make with us. In the midst of the Mutanie I called the Purser unto me, and demanded of him, for what cause the Company had stinckinge beveredge to drincke, whereas there were in the shippe 15 tonnes of beare, sayinge that if theye had any suche, they sholde have it in the ende, and drincke the beare as longe as it lasted, whereuppon the Company with one voyce cryed, yea, Captaine, God save your life, yt is your will we knowe that we sholde have it. But we have it not. The daye before theis matter brake forthe, I ymparted my minde to Mr. Boroughes, tellinge him that scince the Generall is commanded for the Islandes the next fayre daye that Cometh, I will goe aboarde him, and geve him to un- derstand in what case we stande for Victualles, that we may be the better provyded, whatsoever befall. Naye, said he, the Purser hath byn with him, and he understandethe it 128 DRAKE. alreadye, for that wilbe a meane, yf he be not minded to goe for the Islandes, to make him goe thither. And therefore yf he will run into the Indies, lett him run, he knoweth alreadye what we want, never goe to him at all for any thinge ; then I said, when the Purser was with him, he was so busie as he colde not have any leasure, and therefore willed him to resorte unto him at another tyme, he answered as he did at the firste. The same tyme that the Raynbowe had her Mayne Sayle taken from the yearde by weather, the Captaine of her desired me to beare up with the Generall, to give him to understand of her distress. Then, quoth Mr. Boroughes, the Generall seeth in what case he is, and beareth all the sayle he can, and stayeth not for him. Let us staye by him and helpe him. But his desyer is, quoth I that the Generall sholde knowe it, and that his foremast is spent. Thereto Mr. Boroughes answered, the Captaine is a foole, and he knoweth not what belongeth to it so well as I doe. Captayne Clifford sayth and testifieth that at such tyme as he came nere the Golden Lyon to take in Captaine Mar- chaunte he called to the Master of the same Shippe, wishing him to have care of himselfe to bring backe the Shippe to the Generall, and to appease the Companye, for that he knewe he was a man colde doe much amonge them, addinge further that he was not able to answere it at his cominge home, he answered he colde not doe withall, and the Com- panye were resolved to goe home. The Master of the same pinnisse spake unto him in like manner, and a greate deale more. Then Captaine Clifford called to the Companye and told them that if theye wente awaye with her Majesties Shippe some of them wolde be hanged, upon which words Captayne Marchaunt heard them call Captaine Clifforde, Arrante Villaine. DRAKE. 129 Sentence pronounced by the General. Upon due consideracion whereof, the Generall sayde ; Althoughe I am not doubtefull what to doe in this case, or yet want any authoritie, but myselfe have from her Majestie sufficient Jurisdiccion to correcte and punishe with all seve- ritie, as to me in discretion shalbe meete, accordinge to the Qualitie of the Offences, all those sceditious persons which shall be in the whole fleete, yet for the confidence I have in your discretions, as also to wytnes an agreement in Judgement in all matters, I praye you lett me have your severall opynions touching this facte, which bathe byn de- clared in your hearinge this daye. In my Judgement it was as foule and untollerable a mutaynie as ever I have knowne. Captayne Marchaunt hath discharged his dutie faythefully as a true Servitor unto her Majestie. All the rest of that Shippe, exceptinge only those 12 or 16 which helde up their hands to wytnes their wyllingness to retorne to our Com- pany, have deserved a shamefull death, in that they have forsaken her Majestie's Standard and Comyssion, and for- saken her Majestie's Shippes Royall beinge distressed, and as muche as in them lyeth hindered the service in hande, for the honor and safetye of her Majestie's Realmes and domynyons. And therefore my fynall and diffinnityve sen- tence is this — that the Master of the said Shippe, the Bote- swaine, and Mr. Borughes and Crowe, the principall con- try vers and workers of this mutanie, shall as sone as I come by them, wheresoever I fynde them within my power, abyde the paynes of Deathe ; If not, they shall remayne as deade men in lawe. All the rest shall remayne also at her Majestie's Mercye as Accessaryes to this treacherous defection. And thoughe it shall please her Majestie to looke uppon them with mercye, yett my Sentence is, theye shall all come to the Corte-gate with halters aboute theire neckes, for an ex- ample to all such offenders. K 130 DRAKE. The whole Counsell approved this Sentence as juste and verye necessarye for avoydinge the like hereafter, Which ells muste needs growe to the utter dissolucion of all her Majestie's service for the sea hereafter. God save the Queue.* After the court-martial in the Caesar Papers fol- lows a long statement — being " the voluntary con- fession of William Bigatt, Master of the Lion under Capt. William Burrowes" — 1587 (containing much the same as is already given). The Examyjiacion, S^c. 1. ffirst, John Thomas (who came not to divine service during his abode in the shipy), the Chiefe Gunner of the Golden Lion, being then in Gales roade, being commanded by his Captain Mr. Burrowes to shoote, stayed a quarter of an hower by the Glasse before hee shot, and then shot shorter then the least martial ship there, by reason that hee kept back one third part of the powder, which every piece should have had, ifor the which albeit Mr. Burrowes did revile him with hot wordes, yet hee did not displace him, nor otherwise punishe him ; but let him continue in his place in the Service the next day after, which was as ill per- fourmed as the former. Whereuppon there grewe mislike between the Generall and Mr. Burrowes. 2. Secondly, About a fortnight before their cominge home, the Ships being then together at Cape St. Vincent, or thereabouts, the Generall displaced Mr. Burrowes, and put Captain Marchaunt in his room. * Caesar Papers, MSS., British Museum, purchased at Straw- berry Hill. + This part interlined. DRAKE. 131 3. Thereuppon the Companie beganne to murmur, and have amongst them severall conferences : and namely Peter Bellinger, John Horsley, and Bartholomew Cole, Servants to the said Burrowes, did grudge, and were much grieved thereat. 4. And from that time till theire returne, which was about a fortnight, the said Peter Bellinger was verie much conversant with the Gunners, to wit, John Boswell, George Walker, and Cornelius Adamson, who, together with Terry (one of the Quartermasters), did within a fort- night after the displacing of Mr. Burrowes, beginne to sig- nifie openly that they woulde come home, and goe no further on their voyage. 5. A day or 2 before theire returne one Thomas Davies, Quartermaster, delivered a letter to Captain Marchaunt sig- nifying that they wanted Vitaile, and woulde com home, which letter was written by the said Boswell in the Gunners roome, and signed by 160 of the Companie, or thereabouts, amongst whom it was noysed that they wanted Vitaile, and therefore woulde returne home. 6. Uppon the delivery of this letter. Captain Marchaunt promised them Vitaile enough if they woulde returne to the Generall (from whom nowe they were parted by reason of a prize which they had followed, and were nowe 40 leagues off the Rock) — to whom the Companie replied that they woulde goe home ; and albeit bee commanded them not to returne home in her Majestie's name, they notwithstandinge would not. 7. Then Capt. Borowes being thereto earnestly required by Captain Marchaunt, spake this to the Company — Captain Marchaunt requireth you to goe back to the Generall, and I pray you doe so ; but they yet refusing. Captain Marchaunt used theise speeches : This is no newe matter, neither can it be without the consent of some of the Chiefest ; whereto Bigat the Master replied, I pray Captain suspect not mee, k2 132 DRAKE. for I have done what I can to persuade them to returne unto the General!. 8. One Crowe steering the helme, was commanded by them not to direct the course back to the Generall, but hee refusing it the Master turning away laughed and did not dis- place him, notwithstanding that hee might yf he had liked. 9. Capt. Marchaunt seeing howe things went, would, his sworde being drawen, have died uppon the companie, but hee was helde, and being once refused to bee set into a pinace not farre from thence, hee would have, as hee pro- tested, rather cast himselfe into the sea then returne home, whereuppon he was set aboard the pinnace. 10. Presently after his departure Capt. Burro wes is re- stored by the companie to his place, and the Master Bigat directeth his course homewards. 11. During which time, and before (savyng that once the Master used the like wordes as Mr. Burro wes) at the en- treatie of one Tippet, master Gonner, placed by the generall (who onely shewed himselfe unwilling to returne home) there was not one worde of persuasion to returne to the generall, used to the companie, either by the Master or by Captain Burrowes, but rather a greate forwardnes in them to returne homewards. 12. The Master likewise, after the displacing of Mr. Bur- rowes, did greatly mislike the same, and it may bee, as hee saith, that he did impart it to some of the companie at the time of theire murmuring before the mutiny beganne. 13. As for theire want of vitaile, it appeareth by all their examinations that they had no cause of complaint* And thus it breaks off. In such an imperfect and unsatisfactory manner, without any result, concludes this curious and in- teresting document, the more so as being, in all * Caesar Papers, 12,505, British Museum. DRAKE. 133 probability, the first court-martial held in the British navy. Whether the sentence pronounced by Drake was confirmed at home, or the mercy of the Queen interposed (as was probably the case), does not appear. The summing up and the sentence are judicious, and most justly and forcibly expressed ; moreover, the charges and finding anticipate, al- most in words, the provisions of our present Arti- cles of War,* passed 160 years after the period in question. Drake, after his return, had little respite on shore. * Art. 15. — Every person in or belonging to the fleet who shall run away with any of her Majesty's ships or vessels of war, or any stores, &c. belonging thereto, to the weakening of the ser- vice, shall suffer death. Art. 19.— Any person making or endeavouring to make any mutinous assembly, &c. shall suffer death. The two aforesaid cases plainly show the lamentable state in which many of our old and valuable historical documents are found, defective in numerous instances, mutilated in more. The judgment passed by Julius Caesar must be somewhere, but the question is where ? What has here been given was only rescued very recently from a private closet ; to trace the remainder would be a hopeless and a fruitless task. To rummage the State Paper Office, the Privy Council Office, the library of Lambeth Palace, the Tower of London, and the other repositories of the Master of the Rolls, would end in disappointment, which would be avoided, if the British Museum was made, as it ought to be made, the General Repository of all public national documents; and then perhaps might be brought forth to public view the hidden treasures that are now so closely closeted at Hatfield House, tiie accumulation of Queen Elizabeth's Lord High Treasurer Burleigh, and many other valuable records from places where they are excluded from the public eye. 134 DRAKE. At the very commencement of the following year, 1588, the great exertions of Spain to procure a large naval armament, and the vast preparations by the Duke of Parma in the Netherlands, called for the continuance of the fleet in commission, and for an increase of its numbers. Drake hoisted his flag in the Revenge, and the Lord High Admiral in the Ark Royal ; Drake being appointed his Vice- Ad- miral. To these two, in the first instance, was the charge given by the Queen of putting the fleet into a state of preparation. Of the important part that Drake took in defeating the invasion of England, attempted by the Spaniards, and foiled by the British fleet, in which the choicest ofiicers then in the naval service were employed, it would be a waste of the reader's time to repeat. It is to be found in all our annals, down to the present day ; but there is one person, who held the first station in that fleet, and was supreme over the rest, who has certainly not had, at any time, that share of praise which is eminently due to him ; not alone for the wise conduct he pursued in his arrangement of, and instructions for, the British fleet when in pre- sence of the enemy, but for the unremitting atten- tion, the anxious watchfulness, the constant and almost daily information given to her Majesty's mi- nisters, — and the manly and straightforward advice offiered directly to the Queen herself, previous to the appearance of the enemy, as well as his care and DRAKE. 135 benevolence towards the seamen of the fleet, when distress and sickness had oppressed them after the defeat of the enemy — all of which will be exhibited in the following memoir of the life, character, and actions of Lord Charles Howard of Effingham, the Lord High Admiral, in a series of letters written by himself, and for the first time made public, from autographs in the State Paper Office and British Museum. In the anxiety of ascertaining what the Spaniards were about, the Lord High Admiral and Drake proceeded towards the coast of Spain, which the Queen deemed to be of dangerous consequence to the coasts of the kingdom ; but the Admiral satis- fied her it was right, and Drake enclosed his opi- nion in justification of it. Sir Francis Drake's Opinion, &c. — 1588, July 4. To mayntayne my opinion that I have thought it meeter to goe for the coast of Spayne, or at least more neerer then wee are now, are these rea- sons followinge, writen aboarde her Majestie's good ship the Revenge, this forth of July, 1588. The first that, hearinge of some parte of the Spanish fleete uppon our coasts, and that in severall fleetes, the one of 11 sayle, the other of six sayle, and the last of 18, all theise beinge scene the 20th and 21th of June, since which time, wee beinge uppon the coaste of ffraunce, could have noe intelligence of theire beinge theire, or passinge through our channell, neither hearinge uppon our owne coast of theire arrivall in any place : And speakinge with a barke which 136 DRAKE. came lately out of Irelande, who can advertise nothinge of theire beinge in those partes, I am utterly of opinion that they are returned, consideringe what wynds they have had since that time : otherwise they could have beene here without our knowledge. I say further, that if they bee returned our stayinge he re in this place shall but spende our victuall, whereby our whole action is in perill, noe service beinge done. ffor the lengthninge of our victuall, by settinge a straighter order for our company, I finde them much discontented, if we stay heere ; whereas if wee proceede, they all promise to live with as little portion as we shall appoint unto them. Our beinge uppon the coast of Spayne will yeeld us true intelligence of all their purposes. I'he takinge of some of their army shall much daunte them, and put a greate feare amongst them. My opinion is allogather that wee shall fight with them much better, cheaper, uppon their owne coast than heere, ffor that I thinke this one of the unmeetest places to stay for them. To conclude, I verilye beleeve that if we undertake noe present service, but detract time some few dayes, wee shall hardly bee able to performe any matter of Importaunce. Fra : Drake.* About the same time Drake, in writing to Lord Burleigh, says, " I assure your good Lordship, and protest it before God, that I find my Lord Admiral so well affected for all honourable services in this action, as it doth assure all his followers of good success, and hope of victorie." In another letter to the Lord Treasurer, he says, " the Spaniards were approaching ; and that, though their strength out- * MS., State Paper Office. DRAKE. 1 37 went report, yet the chearfulness and courage wliich the Lord Admiral expressed, gave all who had the honour to serve under him, assurance of victory."* Passing by for the present what concerns the in- vincible Armada, and pursuing the career of Drake, in the year following (1589) we find him appointed by the Queen to the command of an expedition to Portugal, to place Don Antonio on the throne of that kingdom, usurped by Philip of Spain. It was a joint expedition of six ships of war, manned by 1500 seamen, of which Drake was admiral, and 70 or 80 sail of transports and others engaged to con- vey 11,000 soldiers, over whom Sir John Norris was general. Norris and Drake wrote from Ply- mouth very indignant letters to Lord Burleigh, complaining grievously of want of money and vic- tuals. Drake tells the Lord High Treasurer that " he never wrote to him with so discontented a minde as he does now." In the beginning of May they arrived in the Groyne, burnt and destroyed the shipping, and took possession of the lower town ; but being obliged to spring a mine to get into the upper town, it failed, and a second being sprung, brought down the tower and slew from 250 to 300 of the assailants, officers and men. The Spaniards advanced to the skirts of the town and intrenched about 10,000 men, who were attacked by 7,000 English, who, * Strype. 138 DRAKE. according to Captain Fenner, slew from 1,200 to 1 ,300 Spaniards ; three English captains and a number of their men were also killed. The following letter states very briefly what they had accomplished at the Groyne : — Sir Francis Drake to Secretary Wolley. 1589, May 8th. I HAVE nether matter, or leasure, to write long. We saw Spayne the 23d of Aprell ; we landed at Groyne the 24th : we toocke the lower towne of Groyne the 25th, with 4 great shipes, dyvers bar &c. and 150 peses of ordenance. The 6 th day of May we gave the enemy a great over- throwgh, wherin were slayne nere a thowsand Spanyards. We have donne the Kyng of Spayne many pretty servyses here at this place, and yeat I beleve he will not thanck us. I desyre of God that the want of meat and powder be not repented ; fyve thowsand pound in vittuall before our comyng out of Yngland, to that we had, and tow thowsand pound in powder, hapely would a yelded Her Majestie and contry mych qwyettnes. The King of Spayne slepeth not, nor wanteth no will to dow us hurt. God grant we may prevent hym; humbly takyng my leave I besech God to blesse us all, and geve us grace to live in his ffeare. From the groyne, this 8th May, 1587. Your Honor's, faythfully, Fra ; Drake.* It was the 19th of May before the expedition reached Peniche, where the troops were dis- embarked and marched for Lisbon, while Drake proceeded to Cascaes, at the mouth of the Tagus. It was undoubtedly a great mistake to lose time at ♦ MS., State Paper Office. DRAKE. 139 the Groyne, and suffer the Spaniards to reinforce Lisbon ; but a greater to march without having a single gun, or even a swivel to blow down the gates of the capital, which they were desirous of doing. They, therefore, were compelled to retreat after destroying the suburbs, and bringing away what- ever was valuable and transportable ; having a long march to perform through an enemy's country, down to Cascaes, where, immediately on their ar- rival, they were embarked for their return home- wards. The fleet on their passage was dispersed in a storm. The loss of lives, mostly in the army, was very great; of 11,000 men, little more than 6,000 remained alive to reach England. Each soldier had five shillings to receive and his arms, which Hakluyt says was believed to be more than their due. Camden is of opinion that England, notwithstanding the disappointment, was a gainer by this expedition, as from that time she had no apprehensions of Spanish incursions, but rather grew more warm and animated against that country.* By the following letter it would appear that Drake, like many others, thought it to have been a mistake to land at the Groyne, instead of pro- ceeding at once to Lisbon ; the consequence of which was, that the powder and ammunition of the troops were expended at the Groyne and on the march before they got to the capital, and the delay * Hakluyt — Camden. 140 DRAKE. gave time to the Spaniards to reinforce the gar- rison. Sir Francis Drake to Sir F. Walsingham. 1589, June 2d. Most Honourable, The best I cane write is, that I per- fettly beleve the enemy will not truble Yngland sodenly, for first we haue destroyed very mych of his provysions at Groyne, and so haue we donne at Lysbone, and what we ourselves could not well dystroy, that hath the enemy burnt hymselfe, — as corne, wyne, roske, oyll, fleshe, and fyshe, with many other provisions which the Kyng had cawsed to be provyded for som new armey. The takyng of this thre skore and od saylles of hulks flyboots and hoies laden with corne and other provysyons, wilbe a great hendrance to his porposses. Ther is a great want of corne generally among the people, yeat had the Kyng great stoure of all provysyons in his stoure bowses. Yf we had not ben comanded to the contrary, but had fyrst Landed at Lysbone, all had bene as we could have desyred it, but God thowght it not mette. I assure your honor our Sicknes is very mych bothe of our Soldyers and maryners. God metagatt it accordyng to his good wdll and pleasure. We ar not yeat throwghly resolved what Servis we shall next take in hand, and for that ther is as yeat no suplyes com out of Yngland it causeth our men to drowpe, and desyre mych to go for Yngland, but yf God will bless us with som lettell comfortable dewe of heaven, som crownes, or som reasonable bootys for our soldyers and maryners, all will take good hart agayne, althowghe they were halfe dead. To want meat, monycyon, and lybertty, is too heavy a bur- den for a souldyer to beare, specyally when they most comand ther people being fFare from ther owne con try. Thus humbly takyng my Leave, desyring pardon for my DRAKE. 141 playnes of your honor, praying unto God we may haue all power to leva in his fFear. written this second of June, 1589. Your honour humbly to be comanded, Fra : Drake.* The last and fatal expedition of the two com- manders, Drake and Hawkins, was by express desire of the Queen, who gave them six of her ships to proceed on a voyage to the West Indies to inter- cept the Spanish Plate ships, and annoy their colonies. On this expedition Sir Thomas Basker- ville was appointed to command the land forces. They left Plymouth on the 28th of August, 1595. In proceeding for Puerto Rico Sir John Hawkins became extremely sick ; and at the eastern end of that harbour he breathed his last. The casualties of this unfortunate voyage did not end here: a heavy fire was poured into the ships from the forts, and a large cannon-shot passed through the side of Drake's ship into the cabin, where the officers were at supper, killed Sir Nicholas Clifford, wounded Mr. Brute Browne mortally, and Captain Stratford severely, and struck the stool from under Sir Fran- cis Drake, f The expedition then proceeded to Nombre de Dios, where a party of soldiers were selected to cross the Isthmus to Panama, under the orders of Sir Thomas Baskerville. They got about half way, very much annoyed by the shot from parties in * MS., State Paper Office. f Hakluyt— Monson. 142 DRAKE. ambush, and from forts commanding the defiles, and soon returned heartily sick of the journey. From hence they proceeded, on the 15th January, towards Puerto Bello, where Sir Francis Drake was so unwell with a flux as to keep his cabin, which Camden thinks the vexation of disappointment may have assisted in bringing on. He continued getting worse, and on the 28th, in great tranquillity and resignation, " Our general. Sir Francis Drake, departed this life, having been extremely sick of a fluxe, which began the night before to stop on him." * " With the usual solemnity of the funeral service at sea were the remains of this noble speci- men of a British seaman consigned to the deep. He received a sailor's funeral very near to the place where his great reputation was first established, or, as Camden says, where he had borrowed so large a reputation. His body was committed to the deep in a leaden coffin, with the solemn service of the church of England ; rendered more solemn by the volleys of musketry and the firing of guns in all the ships of the fleet." f Sir William Monson, who never served under or with Drake, and who only knew his character to misrepresent it, could not record his death without an insinuation as unfounded as it is uncharitable- " Sir Francis Drake," he says, *' who was wont to rule fortune, now finding his error, and the differ- * Hakluyt. f Ibid. DRAKE. 143 ence in the present state of the Indies and what it was when he first knew it, grew melancholy upon this disappointment, and suddenly, and, I do hope, naturally, died at Puerto Bello.'* * There is an answer to this unjustifiable, not to call it malignant, insinuation. Captain Henry Saville, who was his shipmate and friend, and was present at his death, says, ** Sir Francis Drake died of the fluxe, which had grown upon him eight days before his death, and yielded up his spirit like a Christian to his Creator quietly in his cabin."t Sir Francis Drake was a thorough seaman, and possessed the love and confidence of his oflficers and men ; of a sober turn of mind, but lively, quick, and resolute ; affable and easy of access to all. On service he was generally strict, and sometimes, when necessity required it, severe. He had a true sense of religion, and was a staunch friend to the reformed Church. Elizabeth had a high regard for him, and had full confidence in his loyalty, integrity, and valour. In his person he was low of stature, but well set ; had a broad open chest, a round head, his hair of a clear brown, his beard full and comely, his eyes large and clear, of a fair complexion, with a fresh, cheerful, and very engaging countenance. There is an excellent full-length portrait of him in Buck- land Abbey. J * Monson. f Hakluyt. % Stow — Fuller. 144 DRAKE. If Drake had achieved nothing more than his en- terprising voyage round the world, never before at- tempted by any English navigator, this bold exploit would remain in the annals of his country to the latest posterity that Great Britain and her navy shall be destined to survive — an incontestable proof of the courage, capacity, patience, quick-sightedness, and public spirit of this extraordinary man. Yet this naval worthy, the first of the age in which he flourished, has no monument, not even a simple stone, inscribed to his memory. Drake made two wills ; one on leaving Plymouth this last voyage, the other at sea, the day before his death. By the last, his brother Thomas was ap- pointed sole executor ; and by both residuary devi- see and legatee of real and personal estate. Dame Elizabeth, Drake's relict, brought a suit against the executor in the Prerogative Court, which gave sen- tence in favour of the latter, and pronounced for the validity of both wills.* His widow, daughter and sole heiress of Sir George Sydenham, married William Courtenay, Esq., of Powderham Castle. * Doctors' Commons. JOHN OXENHAM. 1573 TO 1575. This adventurous person was one of the most con- fidential men on Drake's voyage to the Spanish main in 1572-3, and was employed by him on a variety of services. Among others, the brother of Drake and he were the two persons selected by the Com- mander to proceed, under his instructions, to break open the King's treasure-house of Nombre de Dios, which was known to contain an immense quantity of gold, silver, and pearls. He had served Drake in the former voyage as a soldier, sailor, and cook, and was so much attached to his master, that when, on this voyage, Drake first saw the South Sea from the Isthmus of Panama, and made a solemn vow that, if it pleased God, he would one day sail upon it, Oxenham was so delighted, that he there and then protested he would be the first on such an occasion to offer him his services ; and so attached was he to Drake that he declared his readiness to go with him on any future voyage, and to any part of the world. Having waited patiently two years, and gaining no intelligence of Drake's intended proceed- L 146 OXENHAM. ings, he being absent for some time in Ireland, Oxenham's patience was at length exhausted ; he talked of nothing but the South Sea, and its vast stores of wealth, and so inflamed the minds of his old companions on the last voyage, that they were ready to a man to volunteer their services. His family was respectable, and a few of his Devonshire friends readily came forward to his assistance, and enabled him to fit out a ship of 140 tons burden, which he manned immediately with seventy seamen, and set sail in the year 1575 for the eastern shore of the Isthmus of Darien, thus anticipating, but not forestalling, nor does it appear injuring, as it might have done, the most splendid and important of all Drake's voyages, which was undertaken two years afterwards. On his arrival at Porto Bello, Oxenham learned from some Indians that a convoy of muleteers with treasure was expected to come thither across the isthmus from Panama. He accordingly at once made up his mind to march with a com- pany to meet this convoy, leaving the rest to take care of his ship. He took with him only two small guns and some muskets, with six Indians as guides, and proceeded about twelve leagues over the rugged isthmus to a small river that falls into the South Sea near Panama. Here he built a pinnace, and in her dropped down to the Bay of Panama, from whence he crossed over to OXENHAM. 147 the Pearl Islands, about five and twenty leagues from that place, to wait the arrival of the Peru ships, which generally passed close to these islands. Here he lay about ten days without seeing a single person, when a small bark from Quito came in, of which he took possession, and found in her sixty thousand pezzoes, or pieces of gold, or, according to Camden, sixty pounds weight of gold, and a large supply of provisions. Not content with this booty, he staid there in expectation of more, without send- ing away his prize, or any of the men ; and at the end of six days he took another bark from Lima, in which he found a hundred thousand pezzoes of silver; and now he intended to depart with his prizes, and take them up the river across the isthmus. Unfortunately, however, not satisfied with gold and silver, his avarice prompted him to go to the island where pearls are mostly found ; and having collected a small quantity, he set off with his pinnace and his prizes to the mouth of the river, and there, having dismissed the two captured vessels, began the ascent of the river with the pin- nace alone. The delay of fifteen days on the Pearl Island was the cause of all his misfortunes. The negroes of that island, where he got the pearls, set off the very same night that he left them in their canoes for Panama, to give intelligence of what had hap- pened. The governor immediately sent four barks, L 2 148 OXENHAM. each with twenty-five armed men, besides negroes to row them, under the command of Captain John de Ortega, in search of Oxenham. He fell in with the two prizes which Oxenham had so indiscreetly- dismissed, and learned from them that he was gone up the river. He followed till he came to a place where two smaller streams fell into it. Ortega was here in doubt which of the rivers he should take : the largest appeared to be the most likely ; but it was observed incidentally that a quantity of fowl-feathers were floating down one of the streams, and that these had, in all probability, been plucked by the English, from fowls to be dressed and eaten. The hint was immediately taken, and so was the route up that branch of the river. After rowing four days against the stream, the pinnace of Oxenham was found upon the s^nd, with only six men in her, one of whom Ortega slew, but the other five escaped, leaving the pinnace in possession of the Spaniards, who however found only a small quantity of provisions in her. This booty of course did not satisfy the Spanish com- mander; he therefore left twenty of his men to guard the pinnace and his own barks, and with the other eighty marched up the country in search of Oxenham and his party. He had not gone above a league when a hut made of boughs was disco- vered, in which were found the various articles belonging to Oxenham and his party, together with OXENHAM. 149 the gold and silver, which they were in the act of conveying across the isthmus. Satisfied with having recovered the treasure, and supposing the English- men to have suddenly abandoned it through fear, Ortega was preparing to depart with his booty, when suddenly Oxenliam came down upon him with his men and about two hundred negroes, or persons generally called Symerons, and attacked Ortega and his party with great fury. The Spa- niards, however, got the better of the English, killed eleven, together with five of the Symerons, and took seven prisoners, having only two of their men killed and five wounded. Oxenham escaped, and made the best of his way to his ship. The Spfiniards were curious to know from their prisoners what could have been the object of their delay on the journey. They were told that a dif- ference had arisen between their captain and them- selves : they were to have carried the booty down to the ship for a certain reward beyond their wages, but they required immediate payment; he was enraged at this demand, as implying a distrust of him, said they should not carry it at all, and went out in search of negroes to transport it overland to Porto Bello. The five men who had escaped from the Spaniards at the pinnace, had fallen in with Oxenham, and from them he learned what had happened. Supposing that Ortega would be satis- fied with the capture of the pinnace, he determined 150 ^ OXENHAM. to pack up his booty, promising those who were with him that he would divide the whole spoil with them, provided they would promise, on their part, to stand by him, and the negroes did the same. The result, however, turned out most unfortunate, as has been seen. On reaching Nombre de Dios, Oxenham found his ship there, but, to add to his misfortunes, in pos- session of the Spaniards. Intelligence had reached Peru ; and the viceroy sent a party of one hundred and fifty soldiers to scour the mountains, into which about fifty had escaped ; they were speedily found, some sick, others made prisoners, and a few escaped ; but these were also soon taken, the negroes having betrayed them into the hands of the Spaniards, who conveyed the whole of them to Panama, to which place Oxenham was also sent. Here he was exa- mined as to what authority he had from the Queen ; and being unable to produce any power or commis- sion, he and his comrades were sentenced to suffer death, as pirates and common enemies of mankind. They were accordingly executed, with the exception of Oxenham, his master, pilot, and five boys, who were so far pardoned, for the present, that they were sent to Lima to be disposed of by the autho- rities there. Oxenham and the two men suffered death, but the boys were pardoned.* Had Drake been caught, he would not only have suffered death, * HakliAyt — Camden. OXENHAM. 151 but would have undergone every species of torment by the remorseless Inquisition. The brave but unfortunate Oxenham certainly deserved a better fate. Seduced by the example of Drake and others, he, like them, conceived that to plunder the Spaniards was a meritorious service. Drake thought highly of him, and he appears to have been much beloved by all his comrades in the former voyage, and by his crew on the present one. Prince* says there is a family of this name at South Towton, near Okehampton, respecting which is the follow- ing strange and wonderful thing recorded : — "That, at the death of any of them, a bird with a white breast is seen for a while fluttering about the bed, and then suddenly to vanish away." The same thing is told in the ** Beauties of England" (arti- cle, Devon), and Southey mentions that there are several inscriptions on a tomb-stone, giving the names of the family to whom the bird had appeared — to the mother, a son, two sisters, and some others ; " to all of these there be divers witnesses, both squires and ladies, whose names are engraven upon the stone."t It may be feared that poor Oxenham, the subject of this memoir, departed this life without experi- encing the consolation of a visit from the white- breasted bird. * Worthies of Devon. f Southey, from Howell. CAPTAIN EDWARD FENTON. 1577 TO 1588. This officer appears to have borne a distinguished name, though without much service, and none of a brilHant character. He was descended from an old and respectable family in Nottinghamshire, and is said to have done good service in Ireland against the rebels, as is recorded in the inscription on his monument, but whether by sea or land, or both, is not stated : judging, however, from his future service in the navy, he must have been considered an active seaman. As such he was re- garded by Frobisher, who appointed him, on his second Arctic voyage (1577), as captain of the Gabriel ; and in the following year, he again ac- companied that distinguished officer on his third voyage, as captain and rear-admiral of the Judith, one of the fifteen ships that were destined to form a settlement on Meta Incognita, under the com- mand of Frobisher. Ten years after his return from this voyage, he had the good fortune to be selected (by Frobisher's recommendation probably) to command one of the ships in the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and is well spoken of by the Lord High Admiral. FENTON. 153 It is a remarkable fact that every officer who may have had a command in exploring the Arctic Seas, in search of a passage from the northern part of the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, from the days af Elizabeth to the present time, has fully satis- fied himself of the uninterrupted continuity of the two oceans — a point that, in our time, has been incontestably proved, the whole northern coast of America having been traversed, by various par- ties, close along the shore of the Polar Sea ; and the navigable part of the question is just now in the act of being decided, under the command of an officer, who was among the first in the field on former occasions, and who claims that command as his birthright : he goes under a strong conviction of success. It is a proud feature, and always has been in the naval service, that neither age, nor ease, nor the enjoyment of comfort at home, can deter its officers from embracing services, though surrounded with dangers and difficulties, when a feeling of duty, and a conviction of overcoming them, takes possession of their minds. Whether Fen ton was actuated by such a feeling there is no record to show ; but, like Davis, he had fully persuaded himself that the discovery of a north-west passage was feasible, and that the attempt might be made with great probability of success — an opinion, indeed, very prevalent at that time. He was recommended by the Earl of Leicester, who had great influence with the Queen, as an officer 154 FENTON. well qualified to be employed on such a service, to which the Queen not only consented, but contri- buted two of her ships to be attached to the expedi- tion. These were the Galleon Leicester (called the Bear in the Instructions), of 400 tons, Fenton the General, William Hawkins the Lieutenant-General ; the Bonaventure, 300 tons, Luke Ward the Vice- Admiral ; the Francis, 40 tons. Captain John Drake ; and the Ehzabeth, pinnace, 50 tons, Thomas Skevington, Commander. The Earl of Cumberland was at this time bring- ing himself into notice, and into favour at court ; to him was intrusted the charge of arranging matters for the voyage, to the expense of which, it is said, he largely contributed. When all was ready, the Lords of the Privy Council gave to Fenton a Code of Listructions of twenty-four articles, which are not remarkable for clearness, and are some of them liable to misconstruction. They begin very pro- perly by inculcating the spirit and practice of reli- gion, morality, justice, and humanity ; and, for the first time, they confer a power over life and death, which had long been practically assumed by the General or Admiral of an expedition, but not allowable to inferior oflScers. The article runs thus : — Art. 5. After awarding punishments for certain offences, it proceeds — " Provided always, and it shall not be lawful, neither for FENTON. 155 you nor your Lieutenant, to proceed to the punishment of any person, by loss of life or limb, unless the party shall be judged to have deserved it by the rest of your assistants, or, at the least, by four of them ; and that which shall concern life, to be by the verdict of twelve men of the company em- ployed on this voyage, to be impannelled for that purpose, with the observation of the form of our country's laws in that behalf, as near as you may." Art. 9 directs the commander " to go on your course by the Cape of Good Hope, not passing by the Strait of Magelhaens, either going or returning, except upon great occasion incident, that shall be thought otherwise good to you, by the advice and consent of your assistants. " Art. 10. You shall not pass to the north-eastward of the 40th degree of latitude, at the most, but shall take your right course to the Isles of the Molucca?, for the better dis30very of the North- West Passage, if without hindrance of your trade, and within the same degree, you can get any knowledge concerning that passage, whereof you shall do well to be inquisitive, as occasion in this sort may serve." To succeed in finding the North- West Passage at or below the 40th degree of latitude would indeed be passing strange! It raises a suspicion, as in- sinuated, that these Instructions were drawn up as a blind ; and that, through the influence of the two Earls of Leicester and Cumberland, they had contrived to give legally^ as it were, a voyage to Fenton, similar to that which had so recently en- riched Drake, by which he might have oppor- tunities of making reprisals on Spanish ships, or depredations on Spanish possessions. Fenton was 156 FENTON. prohibited from going to the north beyond the 40th degree, where only a passage could be found ; but he was unlimited in going to the south, where all the Spanish possessions lay. The prohibition of passing the Strait of Magelhaens, twice repeated in the Instructions, looks very like an apprehension that the voyage might be considered as following up that of Drake, which would involve Elizabeth in the suspicion of sanctioning the same practices, two of her ships now forming the most considerable part of the force of the expedition. The ships left Plymouth in May, 1582, and arrived at Sierra Leone, in want of provisions, their flour having proved naught, and unfit for use : they therefore exchanged their pinnace for a cargo of rice, and some other provisions. Thence pro- ceeding down the coast, and trafficking with the natives, they crossed over to the Brazils, anchored in a small bay, and with a net caught at one draught six hundred large mullets, and six great basses. Departing thence, they captured a small Spanish ship carrying passengers, whom they libe- rated after two days, detaining only a couple, and taking some sugar and ginger from her. From these passengers Captain Fenton learned, that a Spanish fleet, under Diego Flores de Valdes, had departed from Rio de Janeiro six weeks before, for the purpose of waiting in the Strait to intercept him ; notwithstanding which, after a consultation, it FENTON. 157 was resolved to proceed and pass the Strait of Ma- gelhaens ; and they set sail for that purpose ; but as second thoughts are sometimes best, they agreed, in the first place, to call at Port St. Vincent, to victual and procure necessaries before they pro- ceeded farther. This port was preferred to the river Plate, as less likely there to be betrayed to De Valdes ; but the precaution was unnecessary, for the Francis, having parted from the fleet, got into the river Plate, where she was cast away, but the crew saved, and kept among savages fifteen months. A few days after Fenton had entered the river of Port St. Vincent, three Spanish ships were ob- served to anchor on the bar. Captain Ward of the Bonaventure went on board his Admiral to learn what he meant to do. He was told he had determined to set his watch in a warlike manner, which may be supposed to mean, that he had made up his mind to fight them, and so Captain Ward understood it; nothing more appears to have passed between them, but without further delay a very smart action commenced by moonlight, which was only suspended by the setting of that planet, when the Spanish Vice-Admiral is said to have been left " in a miserable torn condition," so much, indeed, that at daybreak they observed her sunk very near to them, " with some of her crew yet hanging about her shrouds, most of whom were drowned." A 158 FENTON. second fight commenced, and was continued the whole morning, '*till both sides being wearied, the English stood out to sea, and the two remaining Spaniards proceeded up the river.'* What happened between the Admiral and the Vice-Admiral when at sea does not appear, but after a very short time they parted company. Both, however, seem to have made, by mutual agreement or otherwise, the best of their way home ; and thus ended this ill-fated expedition, got up with much care and at a great expense, and attended with loss of life and fortune to many, with very little honour and no profit either public or private. Considering the total deviation by Captain Fenton from his instructions, the wasting his time on the coasts of Africa and the Brazils, and resolving to proceed by a route which his instructions strictly forbade him to pursue, it is remarkable that no notice should have been taken, on his return, either of his disobedience or of the total failure of the expedition in consequence thereof. It certainly does not appear that he had lost any credit with the public, or that his character in the naval ser- vice was at all damaged by his failure. Perhaps the interposition of one or both the Earls may have prevented any inquiry into the matter; perhaps also the Council may have discouraged it, seeing cause to ascribe something to the ambiguity of their instructions. FENTON. 159 We find no further mention of the name of Captain Fen ton until the year 1588, when he appears as commander of the Mary Rose, of 600 tons, in one list, on the authority of Sir W. Monson ; and of the Antelope, 400, in another list, inserted in Stow's Annals. He was probably selected by the Lord High Admiral on account of his skill in seamanship, which must have been well known to Frobisher. That he took a distinguished share in the defeat of the Spanish Armada has been already noticed, and it is mainly on that score that it was considered an act of justice to include his name in the list of worthies recorded in this volume. How his future life was employed, there is no clue to guide us ; but it appears that his residence was at Deptford, where he might perhaps have had some civil situation in the naval establishments, if there were any there at that time, or in the corpora- tion of Trinity. He died there in the spring of the year 1603, in the church of which town is erected a monument to his memory, by Roger Earl of Corke, who married his brother's daughter, and which bears the following inscription : — " Memoriae perenni Edwardi Fenton, Reginae Elizabethae olim pro corpore armigeri, Jano O'Neal, ac post eum Comite Desmoniae, in Hibemia turbantibus, fortissimi Taxiarchi, qui post lustratum, improbo ausu, septentrionalis plagae apocliryphum mare et excussas variis peregrinationibus inertis 160 FENTON. naturae latebras, anno 1588, in celebri contra Hispanos naumachia, meruit navis prsetoriae navarchus. Obiit anno Domini 1603." " To the never-fading memory of Edward Fenton, here- tofore esquire of the body to Queen Elizabeth, a gallant commander during the troubles of Ireland, first against Shane O'Neal, and then against the Earl of Desmond, who, after having explored the hidden passages of the northern seas, and in other hazardous expeditions visited remote and scarce known places, merited the command of a royal ship in that glorious sea-fight against the Spaniards in the year 1588." " He died,'' says Fuller, ** in the year of our Lord 1603, somedayes after Queen Elizabeth;" and this quaint but amusing old chronicler thus goes on : — " Observe, by the way, how God set up a gene* ration of military men, both by sea and land, which began and expired with the reign of Queen Eliza- beth, like a suit of clothes made for her, and worn out with her ; for Providence designing a peaceable prince to succeed her (in w^hose time martial men would be rendered useless), so ordered the matter, that they all almost attended their mistress before or after, within some short distance, unto her grave. * On which the learned editor of the " Biographia Britannica" observes, — " He who considers that the famous Earl of Nottingham, Lord High Admiral ', * Fuller's Worthies. FENTON. 161 Sir Charles Blount, Earl of Devonshire, Sir George Carew, Earl of Totness, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir William Monson, Sir Robert Mansel, and many more great officers by sea and land, survived Queen Elizabeth, may possibly doubt whether the Doctor formed a right judgment of the intention of Provi- dence. This is certain, that the reign of that prin- cess stands in no need at all of rhetorical flourishes ; plain language, accuracy in facts, and impartiality in relating them, will set the history of it above anything with which even an ingenious fancy can adorn romance."* * Biog. Brit. MR. THOMAS CAVENDISH, 1586 TO 1592. The prosperous voyage of Sir Francis Drake, the first, and hitherto the only, Englishman that had circumnavigated the globe, and the vast treasure he brought home from that adventurous voyage, en- couraged others to try their fortunes to the western coasts of America, the West India Islands, and the Azores ; but none had ventured to follow the route of Drake before the year 1586, when Mr. Thomas Cavendish, of Trimley, in the county of Suffolk, a gentleman of good family and property, but greatly reduced by indulging in the follies of fashionable life, and frequenting the court, conceived the daring project of a voyage to the South Sea, as the best, the easiest, and the most certain way of recruiting his reduced finances. As war might now be said to have commenced in the preceding year against Spain, it could no longer be considered piratical or unlawful to make reprisals upon Spanish trade, or to commit depredations along the shores of the Pacific. To enable him to prosecute this object, he built CAVENDISH. 163 two vessels, quite new from the stocks, the Desire of 120 tons, and the Content of 60 tons; adding a third, the Hugh Gallant, a bark of 40 tons; all fitted out at his own cost, provisioned for two years, and manned with 123 persons. He constituted himself admiral and commander-in-chief of this little squadron. He sailed from Plymouth on the 21st of July; arrived at Sierra Leone the 25th of August ; and destroyed a negro town, in revenge for one of his men being killed by a poisoned arrow ; but before this he had burnt 150 houses because of their bad dealings with the Christians.* They^called, and for a few days remained, to water at St. Sebastian, near Rio de Janeiro ; thence coasting the shore to the 48th degree of lati- tude, they entered a harbour to which the admiral gave the name of Port Desire, after that of his own ship. The inhabitants are described as perfect savages, of a gigantic stature ; but all other infor- mation concerning them is, that one of their feet measured eighteen inches in length. " The seals too were of a wonderful great bigness, and monstrous of shape, the forepart like a lion. The young are marvellous good meat, hardly to be known from lamb or mutton." f Cavendish left Port Desire, and, coasting to the southward, fell in with a long sand-beach, in lat. 52° 40', reaching to the opening of a strait which * Hakluyt. t Ibid. M 2 164 CAVENDISH. he found to be that of Magelhaens, and which the ships entered in the evening. During the night lights were observed on the north shore, which were thought to be signals, and were answered accordingly with others. The next morning the General went in a boat to the north side of the strait, where three men were seen on the shore, who waved a white flag. They hailed in Spanish, and inquired to what country the ships belonged. They were told they were English, and Cavendish said if they wished it he would carry them to Peru ; but they declined, saying they could not trust themselves with the English. On reflection, however, they thought it better to throw themselves on the mercy of English- men, than to perish as the greater part of their countrymen had done ; and one of them came into the boat while the other two went to seek their companions. The man who remained was called Hernandez. Being asked what their number was, he replied, " Besides us three, there are fifteen others, three of whom are women." The General then told him that if they would all go to such a point they would be received on board the ships. The wind, however, coming fair, the ships got under weigh, leaving the wretched people behind, except Hernandez ; these poor people being the only re- mains of a Spanish colony left here three years before by Sarmiento, consisting of four hundred CAVENDISH. 165 men and thirty women, all of whom, except the eighteen in question, had perished for want of pro- visions and clothing, which, with the severity of the climate, produced disease and death. Caven- dish has been censured, and perhaps justly, for leaving the remnant of these poor creatures to perish like the others. The ships anchored before the deserted town of San Felipe to take in fresh water and wood, the latter supplied by pulling to pieces the houses or huts of the town. The poor people for whom he did not wait would probably not long survive the fate of the rest. Cavendish changed the name of its ruins to that of Port Famine. In the strait they found plenty of penguins and muscles. On coming to the mouth of a river, the General went in a boat three miles up its stream; fell in with a number of the natives, who gave him the flesh of some animal, and a friendly intercourse took place. But Hernandez told the General they were a traitor- ous people, who had no other design than to decoy him into an ambuscade. The next time he went on shore, as the natives were approaching, he ordered muskets to be fired at them, by which some were killed. Thus it was that an Englishman forfeited all claim to humanity at the suggestion of a worth- less Spaniard, as he turned out to be. On the 24th of February Cavendish entered the South Sea. They called at the islands of Mocha and Santa 166 CAVENDISH. Maria; the inhabitants of the latter, mistaking them for Spaniards, supplied them with wheat, barley, and potato-roots ; they also brought them hogs, fowls, dried fish, and maize. Cavendish, in return, entertained some of the chief people on board his ship, ** and made them merry with wine." On the 18th he proceeded along the coast, intend- ing to call at Valparaiso, but missed it, and an- chored in the bay of Quintero. A shepherd, awaking from his sleep, and seeing three vessels come in, caught a horse grazing near him, mounted it, and galloped off; and in a little while three armed horsemen approached the General, who had landed with thirty of his men. He sent Hernandez with two others to meet them. The horsemen made signs for one only to come ; and Hernandez, having promised to be true and faithful, and never forsake the General, was selected. On his return he said he had made his countrymen believe that they were Spaniards, and that they should be supplied with as much provisions as they could desire. Hernandez was sent to them a second time, with an Englishman to accompany him, but they sent away the latter ; and the English party observed Hernandez to jump up behind one of the horsemen, who all rode off at full gallop, leaving the English to repent of having trusted a fellow who had thus deceived them, after " all his deep and damnable CAVENDISH. 167 oaths, that he would never forsake them ;" they had only to blame their own credulity. The next morning fifty or sixty of the English landed, and marched seven or eight miles through a fine country, without seeing either town or village, or meeting a single individual. The third day, when watering their boats at a pit a quarter of a mile from the shore, they were suddenly surprised by a body of about two hundred horsemen, who cut off twelve of their party, some of whom were killed and the rest taken prisoners. The captured Englishmen were carried to the city of Santiago, treated as pirates, and six of them hanged. After this barbarous act Cavendish may claim some ex- cuse for the atrocities he committed against the Spaniards along the whole coast. When near Arica, a vessel was taken with a cargo of Spanish wine, and also a small bark, which the General manned and called the Gorges. Cavendish gave up all intention of landing here, the Spaniards appearing to be well prepared. He, however, sent in a flag of truce, to know if the Spaniards would redeem their vessels ; the an- swer was, " No ransom ; their accounts should be balanced in a different way." Cavendish, therefore, before taking leave, set fire to his prizes. On his way to the northward, a small bark was taken with despatches from Chili to Lima, to give notice of an enemy being on the coast ; the despatches had been 168 CAVENDISH. thrown overboard, but the knowledge of them was extorted "by causing some of the people to be tor- mented with their thumbs in a winch. "^ The little squadron now separated, but in seven or eight days all met again, bringing with them three prizes which had been taken separately. One was released ; the cargoes of the other two, consisting of leather, wheat, sugar, marmalade, and other pro- visions, being distributed in the squadron, the ships were burnt. The next place they came to was Paita, a town many years afterwards celebrated by the hostile visit of another circumnavigator, Com- modore Anson : then the governor was the first to run away; now the whole population did the same; and Cavendish, landing with sixty or seventy men, had the cruelty to burn a town, which is described as " well-built and marvellous clean kept in every street, with a town-house in the midst, and had at the least two hundred houses in it." — They not only burnt this neat town to the ground, but all the storehouses, with their valuable merchandise. A ship in the road they also burnt, and with what plunder they could scrape together proceeded on their buccaneering voyage, for it could be called by no other name, even though, in point of fact, war being declared, it was legitimate. They next came to the island of Puna, and there sunk a Spanish ship of 2*50 tons. The governor of * Hakluyt. CAVENDISH. 169 this place was a cacique or native chief, married to a Spanish woman. He had a splendid house and well-filled storehouses, all of which he left he- hind, and fled at the approach of the English ; and so did all his people, except two or three who were made prisoners. Here Cavendish allowed his crew to go on shore, and to ramble about for sheep, goats, and fowls. A body of Spanish sol- diers fell upon one of the parties unexpectedly; and of twenty, who were in or near the town, eight only made good their retreat, seven being killed on the spot, two drowned, and three made prisoners. But Cavendish was not disheartened ; he landed himself on the same day with a party of seventy men, attacked the Spaniards, who were driven from the town, which he burnt to the ground, and set fire to four vessels which were building on the stocks. On leaving this place the General ordered the Hugh Gallant to be sunk, and her crew to be dis- tributed among the remaining ships. On the 27th of July they entered the port of Guatulco ; to which town, with the church and custom-house, they set fire. The town of Acapulco they passed by mistake, and thus it escaped the same fate. As they pro- ceeded northerly, such was the system of destruc- tion, that neither village nor house upon the coast was left untouched. At the bay of Compostella,* where a marauding party landed, they seized a * This seems to be at present San Bias. — Burney. 170 CAVENDISH, Spaniard and his wife, a Ragusan and his wife, and an Indian and his wife ; the General set the women free, who redeemed their husbands with a supply of plantains, pine-apples, oranges, and lemons. Having now completed their career along the coast as far as Mazatlan, Mr. Cavendish quitted the coast of New Spain, and steered for the south cape of California, to await there the arrival of the expected ship from the Philippine Islands. There they cruised for three weeks, when, on the 4th of November, a strange sail was seen from the mast-head, standing in for the Cape. They came up with the chase, and attacked her with cannon and musketry. The engagement lasted ^ye or six hours, when the English tried to board, but were driven back with the loss of two men killed and five wounded. At length the Spaniards gave in, and the prize, when taken, did not disappoint the expectations of the victors. She was a ship of 700 tons burden, her name the Santa Ana, and she belonged to the king of Spain : she had on board treasure to the amount of 122,000 pezzoes of gold, besides a valuable cargo of satins, silk, musk, and other merchandise of the East Indies. At the bay of Aguada Segura (safe watering-place) Cavendish landed his prisoners, men and women — about 190 persons. The trea- sure was removed from the prize into the English ships, and a division was made of the spoil ; but the CAVENDISH. 171 crew of the Content not being satisfied with their share, the General caused the Santa Ana, with about 500 tons of merchandise still in her, to be set on fire, and burnt to the water's edge. On leaving Aguada Segura the discontented Content separated, and was never more seen. The Desire proceeded across the Pacific to the Ladrone Islands, and thence to the Philippine Islands, passing the Moluccas, and thence to the south side of Java — the very route pursued by Sir Francis Drake. Cavendish had shown himself, on many occa- sions, not to be much encumbered with the milk of human kindness ; but from a discovery made on the passage across the Pacific, he suffered himself to be guilty of an act of the greatest atrocity. A Spanish pilot, taken from the Santa Ana into his own ship and detained for his own benefit, had written a letter ready to send by the first oppor- tunity, should any occur, to the Governor of Ma- nilla, concerning the proceedings of the English. The letter was by some means discovered in the ship; on which Cavendish ordered the impressed pilot to be hanged at the yard-arm, which was ac- cordingly done. On the 9th of June, 1588, they anchored at St. Helena (or, as we call it, Helena). In the narrative of Francis Pretty, published in Hakluyt, there is a description of this island, which is truly 172 CAVENDISH. remarkable. He notices a few houses and a church ; and opposite to this, a causeway of stones reaching unto a valley, in which is planted a garden. ** This valley is the fairest plot of ground in the island, and is planted in every place either with fruit-trees or with herbs. There are fig- trees which bear fruit continually and plenti- fully ; for on every tree you shall have blossoms, green figs, and ripe figs, all at once, and all the year long. There be also store of lemon-trees, orange-trees, pomegranate, pome-citron, and date- trees, which bear fruit as the fig-trees do, and are planted in pleasant walks, which be overshadowed with the leaves ; and on every void place is planted parsley, sorrel, basil, fennel, aniseed, mustard-seed, radishes, and many good herbs." * " Then," he adds, " there are partridges, within a little as big as a hen ; pheasants, marvellous big and fat; guinea-cocks, which we call turkeys; thousands of goats, great store of swine, very wild, fat, and big — and all these produced by the lazy Portugals for their re- freshment in coming from the East Indies. *'f With all this, he says, they found only three slaves, which were negroes ; that none are supposed to in- habit the island that might consume the fruit thereof. What a misfortune that our East India Company should have " consumed the fruit thereof," and planted nothing to supply its place ! ♦ Hakluyt. t Ibid. CAVENDISH. 173 Of the following remark of Admiral Burney there can be but one opinion : " The enterprise of Mr. Cavendish had great advantage over the more early ones of the English in the Pacific Ocean, in being legally authorized. In the conduct of it the commander was sometimes wanting in prudence and vigilance; but the activity and courage dis- played by him are conspicuous, and his success has established the reputation of his undertaking. The acts of waste and outrage wantonly committed by him, without the smallest shadow of remorse, equally evince a rooted hatred against the Spaniards, and a disposition naturally cruel."* On his return to England he addressed a letter to Lord Hunsdon, the Lord Chamberlain, in which is the following boast : *' I navigated along the coast of Chili, Peru, and Nueva Espanna, where I made great spoils. I burnt and sunk nineteen sailes of ships, small and great. All the villages and towns that ever I landed at I burnt and spoiled.'* f ^^ are told by Birch, that in coming to London he entered the River in a kind of triumph ; that his soldiers and sailors were clothed in silk dresses, the sails of his ships were of damask, and the prizes he had taken were the richest that had ever been brought into Eng- land. * Burney's Voyages and Discoveries in the Pacific, vol. ii. t Hakluyt. 174 CAVENDISH. Mr. CAVENDISH'S SECOND VOYAGE. 1591. Three years after his return from the former voyage, Mr. Cavendish determined again to try his fortune in the South Sea, which is said to have become necessary, the wealth brought home in the former voyage having nearly disappeared. The known success of that voyage, however, obtained for him plenty of adventurers. He was at once en- abled to equip for the expedition " three tall ships and two barks," — the Leicester, galleon, the Admi- ral's ship; the old Desire, Mr. John Davis (the north-west Davis) commander ; the Roebuck, com- manded by Mr. Cooke ; a bark, called the Black Pinnace ; and another small bark not named, but fitted out by Mr. Adrian Gilbert. Altogether they were supposed to carry about 400 men.* They sailed from Plymouth in August, made the coast of Brazil, captured a Portuguese vessel laden with sugar, and pillaged a place called Pla- cencia. On the 16th December they surprised the town of Santos, landed a party of men when the inhabitants were at church, and kept them there prisoners the whole day. By the misma- nagement of Captain Cooke all the prisoners in the church were released; the provisions, the want of which alone brought them hither, were conveyed into the country, and five weeks were expended of * Hakluyt. CAVENDISH. 175 the most favourable time of the year for passing the Strait of Magelhaens. The General perceived the error of this waste of time ; for in his letter to Sir Tristram Gorges he complains, that ** such was the adverseness of our fortunes, that in coming thither we spent the summer, and found in the Strait the beginning of a most extreme winter." * The next feat of Cavendish was to burn the town of St. Vincent, and then to proceed towards the Strait. Calling at Port Desire, Cavendish had some disagreement with his officers, left the Leicester galleon in dudgeon, and went on board the De- sire. On the 1 4th of April, 1592, they entered the Strait, and proceeded in it as far as Cape Fro ward, where they were detained three weeks by adverse winds from W.N.W., accompanied by continual snow and very cold weather. The people being in want both of food and clothing grew sickly, and many of them died. The General signified his in- tention to return out of the Strait to the eastward, but his officers and most of the people, and Captain John Davis in particular, opposed it. This produced a coolness between the latter and the General, who returned to his old ship the Leicester galleon. Cavendish now repassed the eastern entrance of the Strait, with the view of trying his fortune in the East Indies, by the way of the Cape of Good Hope; but finding the crew resolutely bent against * Purchas. I7e CAVENDISH. it, he proceeded to the coast of Brazil, and the squad- ron having arrived opposite to Port Desire, the Lei- cester and Roebuck tacked at night in order to fetch it ; but the Desire and the Black Pinnace stood off all night and the next day, and were separated from the General, who at once accused Davis of having wilfully and treacherously deserted him. The Ge- neral continued along the coast of Brazil with the Leicester and Roebuck, where at one place he lost fifty of his men, who were surprised on shore by the Portuguese. Among them was Anthony Knivet, whose wonderful adventures and incredible stories, on his arrival in England, were published by that quaint and credulous old chronicler, Purchas, in thirty or forty interminable pages. As a sample of these stories, he says, in speaking of the cold in the Strait, *' I was so nummed that I could not stirre my legs, and, pulling off my stockings, my toes came with them, and all my feet were as black as soote." Again, " Every day," he says, " died eight or nine men out of our ship. Here one Harris, a gold- smith, lost his nose ; for going to blow it with his fingers, he cast it into the fire." Almost perishing with hunger on an island, " I found a great whale lying on the shoare, like a ship with the keel up- wards, all covered with a kind of short mosse. I made a little house, and fed on the whale for the space of a fortnight." Another sample will suffice: " I saw a great thing come out of the water, with great CAVENDISH. 177 scales on the back, with great ugly clawes and a long tayle. This beast came towards me: I went and met it. I stood still, amazed to see so monstrous a thing before me. Hereupon this monstrous beast stood still and opened his mouth, and thrust out a long tongue like a harping-iron.'* His miraculous stories of cannibals and Amazons, salvages, Portu- gal, and pigmeys, make one exclaim, ' Fernan Mendez Pinto was but a type of thee, thou liar of the first mag-nitude ! ' Mr. Cavendish was soon afterwards forsaken by the Roebuck; the captain and crew of that ship having entertained a notion that he intended again to sail for the South Sea. The truth is, Mr. Ca- vendish's force was too reduced and the ship too ill -provided for further enterprise; his health, moreover, was broken down by fatigue and disap- pointment. His own letters or journal, addressed to Sir Tristram Gorges, and published by Purchas, give a most melancholy detail of all the misfortunes of the voyage, the despondency of his mind and de- plorable condition, carried down to the point when the depression of his spirits and severe illness pre- vented the continuance of his narrative. His death speedily ensued, but not before he finished his will. He was mistaken, however, in his censure and abuse of Davis. This captain and his officers de- clare, *' by what occasion we were severed we pro- ^* Purchas, vol. iv. N 178 CAVENDISH. test we know not; whether we lost them, or they us ; but we put into Port Desire, and sailed again on the 6th August for the Strait of Magelhaens, with full confidence there to meet with our General." * They stopped one day at Penguin Island, where they salted twenty hogsheads of seal flesh, sailed out of the strait on the 7th, and on the 14th they were driven in among certain isles never before dis- covered by any known relation, lying fifty leagues or better from the shore east, and northerly from the strait.f They again anchored in the strait on the 18th August. Early in September Davis passed into the South Sea J but they were driven back again. A second time they entered the South Sea, and a second time were forced back again. A third time they entered the South Sea, and got clear of the land, but the wind came again N.N.W. and blew strong; the pinnace was in distress, and the sea too high to afibrd her assistance; in the night she was lost sight * Hakluyt. 'j' " Thus," says Admiral Burney, " it was the fortune of Captain John Davis, the discoverer of Davis's Strait, to be the first discoverer of the islands which have since been distinguished by the different appellations of Hawkins's Maidenland, the Sebal- dines, Falkland Islands, the Malouines and Isles Nouvelles, whilst the knowledge of the original discovery seems to have passed immediately into oblivion ;" and he therefore says, " when there is again occasion to mention them in this work (his ' Voyages and Discoveries') the name of Davis's Southern Islands will be adopted." — Burney^ s South Sea Voyages, CAVENDISH. 179 of, and was never afterwards seen. It had now become hopeless to seek their fortune in the South Sea, and Davis therefore resolved to make the best of his way to Port Desire. There he caused pen- guins to be salted for their sea provision. On the 22nd December they sailed from Port Desire with a stock of 14,000 penguins for sea- store, shaping their course homewards. Stopping on the coast of Brazil they had the misfortune of losing thirteen of their men, who were slain by the Portuguese ; they had lost nine at Penguin Island in a boat that never returned. But their misfor- tunes did not end here. In passing through the warm latitudes " their penguins began to corrupt, and there bred in them a most loathsome and ugly worm of an inch long." These worms multiplied in a most extraordinary degree, and devoured not only their provisions and clothes, but eat into the timbers of the ship. " At the last," says Janes,* ** we could not sleep for them, but they would eat our flesh." In this miserable state disease carried off the greater part of the remaining ship's company. At length, on the 14th of June, 1593, the ship arrived at Beerhaven in Ireland, with only sixteen persons remaining of seventy-six who sailed in her from England. Captain Davis, however, was one of the * The journalist of the voyage, who was with Captain Davis in his northern voyages, and supplied Hakluyt with his notes. N 2 180 CAVENDISH. number that lived to return home, to be reserved for future trials. Cavendish appears to have been of an unhappy and excitable temper. Nothing can surpass the vulgar and abusive language made use of by him, in his second voyage, when matters did not go on exactly as he wished, or when those casualties and disap- pointments befel him which are more or less inci- dent to a naval life at sea. It has before been said, that the success of his first voyage and the fruits of it were profusely squandered, and that the object of the second being to restore at least a part of them, the entire failure of the second was too much for his irritable temper to bear. " The constant trouble I endured," he says, " among such hell-hounds (the crew), my spirits were cleane spent ; wishing myself upon any desert place in the world there to dye, rather than thus basely to returne home again ; which course I had put in execution, had I found an island (which the charts make to be eight de- grees to the southward of the Line). I sweare to you I sought it with all diligence, meaning (if I had found it) to have there ended my unfortunate life. But God suffered not such happiness to light upon me, for I could by no meanes find it, so I was forced to go towards England ; and having gotten eight degrees north of the Line, I lost my most dearest cousin ;" and he concludes, " beare with this CAVENDISH. 181 scribbling, for I protest I am scant able to hold a pen in my hand/'* There is little doubt he died of a broken heart, and at sea, about the latitude above mentioned. Cavendish was one of the first four navigators .that ever passed through the Straits of Magelhaens, each of whom had the misfortune to take away the life of one of their company, in or about the vicinity of those straits — Magelhaens, Drake, Sarmiento, and Cavendish. ♦ Purchas, from his letter to Sir Tristram Gorges. SIR RICHARD HAWKINS. 1588 TO 1593. The last voyage of Cavendish was not calculated, by its results, to encourage future adventurers towards that quarter of the world where his misfortunes happened. There was one, however, and but one gallant gentleman, who ventured on a voyage to the South Sea towards the latter part of Queen Eliza- beth's reign ; and he, probably, was spurred on to this adventurous voyage by the example of his brave father, Sir John Hawkins, who, at the same time, was about to embark in conjunction with his friend and early pupil. Sir Francis Drake, on an expedition which, as has been seen, proved fatal to both. Sir Richard Hawkins, Knight, for he is so styled, was bred to the sea from a very early age, and commanded H. M. ship the Swallow in 1588. He now fitted out three ships for a voyage to the South Sea: the Dainty, a new ship, built by himself, between three and four hundred tons burden, and RICHARD HAWKINS. 183 commanded by himself; the Fancy, a pinnace of sixty tons, Robert Thurlton captain ; and a vic- tualler named the Hawk. When the Dainty was launched in the Thames, Lady Hawkins, his mother- in-law, desired to have the naming of his ship, which being complied with, the good lady chris- tened her "The Repentance ;" " for that," she said, " Repentance was the safest ship we could sail in to purchase the haven of heaven." Sir Richard, however, was not then bound for that port ; and it happened that the name, from an unlooked-for event, was shortly after changed ; for when she was completely equipped and ready for sea, ** and riding at Deptford, the Queen's Majestic passing by her to her palace of Greenwich, commanded her barge- men to row round about her, and viewing her from post to stemme, disliked nothing but her name, and said that she would christen her anew; and tha thenceforth she should be called the Daintie." It is not usual to meet with a published sea- journal, written entirely by the commander of the vessel, but we have here something much better than a common sea-journal. " This work," says Admiral Burney, " might with some propriety have been entitled * A Book of Good Counsel.' Many of his Observations are unconnected with the voyage he is relating, but his digressions are ingenious and entertaining, and they frequently contain useful or curious information." Its title is * The Observa- 184 RICHARD HAWKINS. tions of Sir Richard Hawkins, Knight, in his Voyage into the South Sea, 1593.'^ It is, in truth, not only a Book of Good Counsel, but of good sense and observation, on all matters connected with the naval service, and in no way inferior to Sir William Monson's * Tracts,' without that author's self-conceit. It is in fact a more use- ful book, and treats of seamen and seamanship in a more practical manner. Of the habits and manners of our jolly tars, he describes them just as they now are : — " When I begun to gather my company aboard, which occupied my good friends and the justices of the town two days, and forced us to search all lodgings, taverns, and ale-houses ; some drank themselves so drunk, that except they were carried aboard, they of themselves were not able to goe one steppe ; others knowing the neces- sitie of the time, feigned themselves sicke ; others to be indebted to their hostes, and forced me to ransom them; one for his chest; another for his sword ; another his shirts ; another his carde and instruments for sea; and others, to benefit them- selves of the imprest given them, absented them- selves, making a lewd living in deceiving all whose money they could lay hold of; which is a scandal too rife among our seamen.''f The remedy he pro- * The editor observes, that the account of this voyage was written by Hawkins, and not published till 1622, and that while in the press the author died. ■f Observations, &c. RICHARD HAWKINS. 185 poses is to take away all imprests — what is now called paying advance. The familiar account which he gives, as he voyages along, of the various sub- jects of natural history on sea and land is always clear and free from technical description. Of these kinds of subjects one or two, before proceeding on the incidents of the voyage, will show the manner in which they are found interspersed with the nau- tical details. Take the following as a specimen. Speaking of the sea-fowl in the Strait of Magel- haens, the ducks, he says, had a part of an island to themselves, which was the highest hill upon it : — " In all the days of my life I have not seen greater art and curiositie in creatures voyd of reason then in the placing and making of their nestes ; all the hill being so full of them, that the greatest mathematician of the world would not devise how to place one more then those upon the hill, leaving onely one pathway for a fowle to passe betwixt. The hill was all level as if it had been smoothed by art, the nestes made onely of earth, and seeming to be of the self-same mould. . . . Their nestes are for many yeares, and of one proportion, not one exceed- ing another in bigness, in height, nor in circum- ference, and in proportionable distance one from another. In all this hill, nor in any of their nestes, was to be found a blade of grass, a straw, a stick, a feather, a moate, no, nor the filing of any fowle, but all the nestes and passages betwixt them were so 186 RICHARD HAWKINS. smooth e and cleane as if they had beene newly swept and washed." * And he adds, in a strain of piety : " All which are motives to prayse and mag- nifie the universall Creator, who so wonderfully manifesteth his wisdome, bountie, and providence in all his creatures, and especially for his particular love to ingratefull mankinde, for whose contempla- tion and service he hath made them all.'* While in the strait, he says, " Knowing that if once I consented to turne but one foote backe I should overthrow my voyage, and loose my reputa- tion, I resolved rather to loose my life than to give eare to such prejudicial counsell, so we entertained ourselves in necessary works, as making coale to re- medie our broken anchors, in which we succeeded, and pieced broken anchors without other art or addition than what my owne invention contrived." " Some of our idle time we spent in gathering the barke and fruit of a certaine tree, which we found in all places of the Straites where we found trees. This tree carrieth his fruit in clusters, like a hawthorne, but that it is greene, each berry of the bignesse of a pepper-corne, and every of them containing within foure or five graynes, twyse as bigge as a mustard -seede, which broken, are white within as the good pepper, and bite much like it, but hotter. The barke of this tree hath the savour of all kinde of spices together, most comfortable to * Observations. RICHARD HAWKINS. 187 the stomache, and held to be better then any spice whatsoever; and for that a learned countryman of ours, Doctor Turner, hath written of it, by the name of JVinters barke^ what I have said may suffice. The leafe of this tree is of a whitish greene, and is not unlike to the aspen -leafe." * This plant was discovered by Captain John Winter, who deserted Drake, and came home from Magelhaens' Strait, and from whom it has its name. He found it very serviceable to his crew, who were infected with scurvy, affording an agree- able spice to their meat. It is a common plant in the valleys down to Cape Horn.f Sir R. Hawkins calls the scurvy " the plague of the sea," and found sour oranges and lemons the most effective in this disease ; so that a remedy, for the merit of the sup- posed discovery of which, a few years ago, there was abundance of angry contention, was known to this brave commander two hundred and fifty years ago. He affords some excellent observations on the treatment of this destructive disease, and indeed on every subject regarding seamen and those who command them. * Observations. t " A plant of the Winter's Bark was brought home by Captain King, and flourished in Kew Garden, the only one known in England ; and it is somewhat curious that this fine plant sickened and died at the very time that a new plant arrived with Sir James Ross from his antarctic voyage."— /SiV W. Hooker. Sir Joseph Banks was exceedingly anxious to have it propagated in England. 188 RICHARD HAWKINS. He describes the shark as the most ravenous fish known in the sea, and therefore much hated by sea-faring men. He says, " They spawne not, as the greatest parte of fishes doe, but whelpe, as the dogge or wolfe ; and for many days after that she hath whelped, every night and towards every storme, or any danger, which may threaten them hurt, the damme receiveth her whelps in at her mouth, and preserveth them 'til they be able to shift for them- selves. I have scene them goe in and out, being more then a foote and halfe long ; and after taking the damme we have found her young ones in her belly. " Every day," he adds, *' my company tooke more or lesse of them, not for that they did eate of them, but to recreate themselves, and in revenge of the injuries they received by them ; for they live long and suffer much after they bee taken, before they dye." * After this true description of the animal. Sir Richard gives us the particulars of the seamen's revenge : — " At the tail of one they tyed a great logge of wood ; at another an emptie batizia well stopped ; one they yoaked like a hogge ; from another they plucked out his eyes, and so, threw them into the sea. In catching two together they bound them tayle to tayle, and so set them a-swim- ming ; another with his belly slit and his bowels hanging out, which his fellowes would have every one a snatch at ; with other infinite inventions to * Observations. RICHARD HAWKINS. 189 entertayne the time, and to avenge themselves, for that they deprived them of swimming, and fed on their flesh, being dead."* In speaking of a small worm which endangers a ship if she be not sheathed, he says, *' This creature enters no bigger than a small Spanish needle, and by little and little the hole becomes ordinarily greater than a man's finger. The thicker the plank is, the greater he groweth. Yea, I have seen shippes so eaten that the most of their planks under water have been like honeycombes, and especially those betwixt wind and water." This worm he calls artersy but the Spaniards hroma ; it is no doubt the teredo navalis^ which one of our old admirals swore would eat into the fluke of an anchor. Our author persists that nothing will keep them out but sheathing, of which he mentions divers sorts. In Spain and Portugal they use lead, which is not durable ; double planks, burnt planks, canvas, pitch mingled with glass, and varnish as in China ; but the invention which he says availeth most is to place certain materials between the plank and the sheathing — an invention which he ascribes to his father, and which is this : — " Before the sheathing-board is nayled on, upon the inner side of it they smeere it over with tarre, half a finger thicke of hay re, such as the whitelymers use, and so nayle it on, the nayles not above a spanne distance one from another ; the thicker they * Observations. 190 RICHARD HAWKINS. are driven the better. Some hold opinion that the tarre killeth the worme ; others that the worme passing the sheathing, and seeking a way through, the hay re and the tarre so involve him, that he is choked therewith, which methinkes is most pro- bable. This manner of sheathing was invented by my father; and experience hath taught it to be the best, and of least cost." * These and numerous other observations occur in the prosecution of the voyage, from the 13th of June, 1593, when the three ships sailed from Ply- mouth, to their arrival on the coast of the South Sea. In their way to Brazil, Sir Richard went through the process of distilling fresh from salt water, not considering it as any new invention, as the projectors of the present day would deem it to be. " Our fresh water," he says, " had failed us many days, by reason of our long navigation, yet with an invention I had in my ship, I easily drew out of the water of the sea a sufficient quantity of fresh water to sustain my people, with little expense of fuel. The water so distilled we found to be wholesome and nourishing." f They came to anchor off Santos, on the Brazil coast, and Sir Richard wrote a civil letter in the Latin language to the Governor, accompanied with a present and with a flag of truce, requesting per- mission to purchase provisions. But this courteous * Observations. t Ibid. RICHARD HAWKINS. 191 letter met only with a refusal, and all they got was a few oranges by the return of the boat. On the coast, however, they made prize of a vessel laden with cassava-meal, which they took out, and then discharged her. Here, too, the Hawk victualler was unloaded and burnt. In the latitude of Rio de la Plata they experienced a strong gale of wind, in which the commander of the Fancy pinnace, without making any signal, or appearing to be in any distress, put before the wind, and directed his course homewards, thus shamefully deserting his commanding officer. But Thurlton was an old offender. " I was worthy to be deceived," says Sir Richard, " that trusted my ship in the hands of a man who had before left his General in the like occasion."* The Daintie, now without a compa- nion, just like the Pelican of Drake in the Pacific, pursued her lonely course towards the Strait of Magelhaens, and fell in with some land of which he fancied himself the first discoverer. " The land," he says, " for that it was discovered in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, my sovereign Lady and a maiden Queen, and at my cost, in perpetual memory of her chastity and of my endeavours, I gave it the name of Hawkins's Maiden-land. "f * He did so in the voyage of Mr. Cavendish. f " This land was discovered by Davis when in Cavendish's voyage, and successively named Sebaldines, Falkland Islands, &c." — Burner/. 192 RICHARD HAWKINS. They next entered the Strait of Magelhaens, where Hawkins made those observations, already given, on the ducks and the winter bark ; and we now find him encountering whole regiments of penguins, which he turned to good 'use. "First we split them, and then washed them well in sea water, then salted them ; having layne some sixe howres in salt, wee put them in presse eight howres, and the blood being soaked out, we salted them againe in our other caske, as is the custome to salte beefe : after this manner they continued good, some two moneths, and served us in stead of beefe." Of their amusements while shut up in the Strait, the shooting of birds, the gathering of mussels and pearl-oysters, with other pastimes for the amusement of the people, occupied the interval. " One day we trayned our people on shore, being a goodly sandie bay ; another we had a hurling of batchelors against married men ; this day we were busied in wrestling, the other in shooting ; so we were never idle, neyther thought we the time long."* On the 29th of March the Daintie entered the South Sea, and on the 19th of April anchored at the Island Mocha, a solitary ship, which must have put him in mind of the forlorn condition of his predecessor Drake on the same spot; indeed, he notices the brutality and treachery shown to * Observations. RICHARD HAWKINS. 193 Drake. In proceeding to the northward he blames himself for not discovering where the ship was, be- fore passing Callao, the port of Lima : however, they passed on to Valparaiso, where they descried four ships at anchor, manned their boats, and made towards them ; but they, knowing what the Eng- lish were, " ran ashore with that little they could save, and leaft us the rest, whereof we were masters in a moment, and had the rifling of all the store- houses on the shoare." Another ship came in, of which they took pos- session, and found in her " some good quantity of gold/' " Of this ship," we are told, ** was pilot and part owner Alonzo Perezhueno, whom we kept for pilot on the coast, but moved with compassion (for that he was a man charged with wife and children) we set him ashore between Santa and Truxillo." " To one of the partners whom it was found the greatest part of the gold belonged, and who seemed to be an honest man, we gave up the ship, and the greatest part of her loading freely." There are many other traits of benevolence in the course of this voyage, that prove Sir Richard Hawkins to have been an amiable and compassionate man. But here, upon this coast, Sir Richard says the enemy he feared most was wine, which, with all the diligence he could make use of, overthrew many of his people. " A drunkard," he says, " is unfit O 194 RICHARD HAWKINS. for any government, and if I might be hired with many thousands, I would not carry with me a man knowne to put his felicitie in that vice, instiling it with the name of good fellowship." He contrived, however, in spite of the wine, to get his ship out of Valparaiso, and sailed directly to Coquimbo, Arica, and Ariquipa, capturing only a few fishing-vessels as he coasted along. " In Coquimbo," he says, " it raineth seldome, but every showre of raine is a showre of gold unto them, for with the violence of the water falling from the mountains, it bringeth from them the gold/* Information had been conveyed from various quarters to the Marquis de Caiiete, the Viceroy of Peru, resident at Lima, of Hawkins being on the coast ; and he immediately ordered six ships to be fitted out, and, under the command of Don Beltran de Castro, to proceed in search of him. This fleet got sight of Sir Richard's single ship, then two leagues to windward of the Spanish ships. "About nine o'clock," says Sir Richard, " the breeze began to blow, and wee to stand off* into the sea, the Spa- niards cheeke by jole with us, ever getting to the windward upon us." The rolling sea which is said to be ever beating upon this coast, and the working to windward, caused the mainmast of the Spanish Admiral " to snap asunder ; the Vice- Admiral vsplit her maine-sail, being come within RICHARD HAWKINS. 195 shotte of US, but to lee-ward; the Reare- Admiral cracked her maine-yard asunder in the middest, being ahead of us."* With all " these disgraces upon them and the hand of God helping us," Hawkins discovered by the light of the moon that he was completely beset in the midst of them, but at some distance. At a consultation as to what was best to be done, it was decided to dash through them, and, having in this succeeded, they made sail to the northward, while Don Beltran de Castro repaired with his fleet to Callao to make good his damages. ** The people of the Spanish fleet," Sir Richard says, " began to goe ashore, where they were so mocked and scorned by the women, as scarce any one by day would shew his face ; they reviled them with the name of cowards and golnias, and craved licence of the Viceroy to be admitted in their roomes, and to undertake the surrender of the English shippe.^f Hawkins, having got clear of the enemy, and pursuing his course to the northward, captured a Spanish ship, half laden with wheat, sugar, and hides, and burnt her, landing the crew near Trux- illo. In a bay near Cape San Francisco he re- paired his pinnace, and took in water. On the 20th of June, when the Dainty and her pinnace were getting up their anchors, two large ships and a small bark were observed near Cape de San * Observations of Sir R. Hawkins, &c. f Ibid. o 2 196 RICHARD HAWKINS. Francisco, steering towards the bay. The pinnace being sent out to reconnoitre was soon driven back, one of the ships " gunning at her all the way." Sir Richard, judging it better to have sea- room to fight in than to lie at anchor in the bay, stood out to meet them, and, when within musket-shot, he says " we hayled first with our noise of trumpets, then with our waytes, and after with our artillery, which they answered with artillery, two for one ; for they had double the ordnance we had, and men almost ten for one." In order to strengthen the Dainty, Hawkins took all the men out of the pinnace, and abandoned her. For three days the unequal fight continued, in the course of which the mainmast of the Spanish Admiral was shot away close to the deck ; she dropped astern, but very soon was enabled to come up and renew her part in the action. It speaks not much for Spanish seamanship that two large ships of war, together with a third vessel, should have required three days and nights to batter and board a little merchant vessel of something more than three hundred tons, and after all to be obliged to grant her an honourable capitulation before she would surrender. " In all these boardings and skirmishes," says Sir Richard Hawkins, " divers of our men were slaine, and many hurt, and my selfe amongst them received sixe wounds ; one of them in the necke, RICHARD HAWKINS. 197 very perillous ; another through the arme, perish- ing the bone — the rest not so dangerous. The Master of our shippe had one of his eyes, his nose, and halfe his face shott away. Master Henry Courton was slaine. On these two I principally relyed for the prosecution of our voyage, if God, by sicknesse or otherwise, should take me away." While suffering froui his wounds the Master came to him, and announced that a parley had taken place with the enemy, and that the Admiral had offered us life and liberty, and to send us to our own country ; — and he added, " that if I thought it so meete, he and the rest of the company were of opinion that we should put out a flag of truce, and make some good composition. The great losse of blood had weakened me much. The torment of my wounds newly received made me faint, and I laboured for life, within short space expecting I should give up the ghost."* Nothing now was left but to surrender on capi- tulation, much against the will of the gallant Haw- kins, though the conditions were very honourable to both parties — promise of the lives of all — of treatment according to the fair rules of war — and of being speedily sent to their own country : in confirmation of which agreement, and as a pledge of his strict observance of it, Don Beltran de Cas- tro sent his glove to Sir Richard Hawkins. The * Observations. 198 RICHARD HAWKINS. capitulation completed, they were sent as prisoners of war to Lima, where it appears they were de- manded by the blood-thirsty Inquisition, which obliged the Marquis de Caiiete to refer to Philip II., who returned an equivocal answer that, under- standing the commander was a person of quality, it was proper that justice should be done accord- ingly. Sir Richard speaks highly of the honour- able conduct of De Castro, and of the many civili- ties he received at his hands. From Lima Sir Richard was sent to Panama, in 1596, and in the same year to Spain, where, it is said, they kept him much longer than they ought to have done. Every one must agree with Admiral Burney that the Voyage written by Sir Richard Hawkins "is replete with experienced observation and curious anecdote/' a great deal more of which would have been extracted had space admitted. The book was published in 1622, but the author died while it was in the press. It is a book that must take its station in the very first rank of our old sea voyages ; and is the last voyage that was made to the South Sea for many years afterwards. LORD CHARLES HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM, LORD HIGH ADMIRAL. 1570 to 1619. Lord Charles Howard of Effingham, Lord High Admiral, was the son of Lord William Howard, Baron of Effingham, who was declared Lord Admiral by Queen Mary in the year 1553. His son Charles was born in the year 1536. While young he is said to have served under his father in short expe- ditions to the Continent. In 1559, on the death of Henry II. of France, he was sent on a mission of condolence and congratulation to his successor ; in 1562 was elected a knight of the shire for the county of Surrey; in 1569 was made a General of Horse, under the Earl of Warwick, in the army sent against the rebel Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland ; and in 1570, when Lord Lin- coln was Lord Admiral, he was appointed to com- mand a squadron of ships of war, which Queen Elizabeth ordered to be employed in escorting Anne of Austria, sister of the Emperor Maximilian, from Zealand into Spain, to espouse Philip IL, who, even at that time, had become a determined enemy of England, and more particularly of the 200 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. Queen. In this voyage Lord Charles compelled a Spanish fleet of ten times his own number to strike their flags and lower their topsails to his gallant little squadron. That worthy old chronicler of the time, Richard Hakluyt, thus describes this transac- tion in his dedicatory Epistle to Lord Charles Howard himself: — " When the Emperors sister, the spouse of Spain, with a fleet of one hundred and thirty sail, stoutly and proudly passed the narrow seas, Your Lordship, accompanied with ten ships only of Her Majesty's Royal Navy, environed their fleet, in most strange and warlike sort, enforced them to stoop-gallant,^ and to vaile their bonnets for the Queen of England, and made them perfectly to understand that old speech of the Prince of Poets, ' Non illi imperium pelagi saevumque tridentem Sed tibi sorte datum.' Yet, after they had acknowledged their duty, Your Lordship, on Her Majesty's behalf, conducted her safely through our English Channel, and per- formed all good offices of honour and humanity to that foreign Princess."* Such conduct, on such an occasion, gave a pledge to all England of what might be expected from such a commander ; and it also held out, as Hakluyt further observes, " that singular hope * Hakluyt. CF HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 201 which since, by your most worthy and wonderful service, you have more than fully satisfied."* It might have been thought that, on the death of Lord William Howard, his son Charles would have succeeded to his office ; but Lord Clinton received from the Protector Somerset the appointment of Admiral of the North Seas, which, at a future period, was extended to that of Lord High Admiral of England; and, in 1572, he was created Earl of Lincoln, and died in 1584. It was obvious enough that the noble act of Lord Charles Howard, by which he maintained the ancient homage demanded of foreign powers to the flag of England, would not be overlooked by Elizabeth, when the important station of Lord High Admiral became vacant ; and, accordingly, in the year 1585, Lord Charles received that appoint- ment ; and three years afterwards the Noble Lord had the honour to accomplish a naval exploit un- paralleled in its effect by any of the brilliant affairs that occurred — and many did occur — during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It was a severe trial of nerve for an officer so recently appointed to the highest situation in the naval service, and one that required all the caution, coolness, and judgment to have obtained " that glorious, triumphant, and thrice-happy victory, achieved against that large and haughty Spanish Armada, wherein,'* continues * Alluding to the Spanish Armada. 202 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. Hakluyt, " being chief and sole Commander under her sacred and royal Majesty, Your Noble govern- ment and worthy behaviour. Your high wisdom, discretion, and happiness, accompanied with the heavenly blessing of the Almighty, are shewn most evidently to have been such as all posterity and suc- ceeding ages shall never cease to sing and resound Your infinite praise and eternal commendations."* The same year, 1585, in which Lord Charles Howard became Lord High Admiral, the war with Spain, which had hitherto been confined to em- bargoes on one side and reprisals on the other, now assumed a legitimate shape, and the first effect of it felt by Spain was the capture and destruction of her naval preparations in the harbour of Cadiz by Drake, in the year 1587 ; but there, as well as in other Spanish ports, fleets were in active and vigor- ous preparation, on an enormous scale, with the avowed intention of invading England. The Queen, ever vigilant, seeing the necessity of being equally prepared to resist them, had frequent consultations with Lord Charles Howard, in whose ability and integrity she had the utmost con- fidence; she knew him to be, from the manner he had executed the duties with which he had hitherto been charged, a man without disguise, straightforward, skilful, prudent, and brave. He had the good fortune to associate with him, and * Hakluyt's Dedication. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 20^ under his immediate orders, the three most expe- rienced seamen in the kingdom — Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher — all well known to the Queen, and no doubt strongly recommended by her to the Lord Admiral. To these naval officers were added, by the Privy Council, some of the most experienced men in the kingdom, civil and military, to arrange the plan of operations both by sea and land, not merely de- fensive, but to have in readiness such a force of both services as might be able to meet the enemy, and act on the offensive in whatever part of the coast they should attempt to make a landing. Lord Charles first hoisted his flag in the Bear; ap- pointed Drake, in the Revenge, his Vice-Admiral ; and Hawkins, in the Victory, his Rear- Admiral ; and Frobisher, in the Triumph, also his Rear- Admiral. The Bear was afterwards changed for the Ark-Royal. Lord Henry Seymour and Cap- tain William Wynter were occasionally stationed in the Downs, and on the coast about Dunkirk, to watch the proceedings of the Duke of Parma, the Governor of the Spanish provinces in the Nether- lands, who was directed to prepare a flotilla, capable of conveying across to the mouth of the Thames not less than 40,000 men, to form a junction with that grand Armada, which was presumptuously styled, the Invincible. His head-quarters were at Dunkirk. 204 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. While all these vigorous preparations were going on, such was the treacherous conduct of Philip that he proposed, through the Duke of Parma, that Commissioners should meet in the Netherlands, from each party, to negociate a treaty of peace. The Lord High Admiral soon perceived that it was proposed only as a feint; that there was no sin- cerity in it ; and that, although Her Majesty did not think proper to put a direct negative upon it, but rather appeared to entertain it, the Lord Ad- miral determined to get his fleet into the best order, to be prepared for whatever might happen. In this view of the subject Lord Charles was strongly confirmed in the early part of the year 1588. He was satisfied that the treaty, supposed to be carrying on for a peace with Spain, by com- missioners from the Duke of Parma and others from Elizabeth, was an idle waste of time, and would end in nothing ; that it was worse than this, and only sought to be prolonged to afford to Philip the means of accomplishing what he had set his mind upon, and give him suflicient time to repair the losses, which Drake had inflicted on his fleet and preparations the preceding year at Cadiz. The Duke of Parma was also pushing on his prepara- tions, increasing his flat-bottomed boats, and raising recruits of soldiers to assist in the invasion of Eng- land, while pretending to be anxious for a speedy settlement of a treaty of peace. But the Lord HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 205 Admiral was not to be cajoled. In the then state of Scotland, he deemed it not improbable that the combined forces might attempt something in that disturbed country ; and he therefore kept a consi- derable portion of the fleet, under his immediate orders, sometimes in the Med way, sometimes at Margate, or in the Downs. The first letter of Lord Charles Howard, of those about to be given, is addressed to the Lord High Treasurer of England, and dated from " aboarde the Beare, 22nd December, 1587." It urges his Lordship to issue orders, that the warrant for the whole year may be paid to Mr. Hawkins, in order that the men may receive two months' wages in advance, and for the purchase of victuals, &c. ** Many greate charges," he says, " extraordinarie hathe growne this quarter, which I cold hardlie have beleved unless with myn owne eyes and good examination I had scene." From this time till the successful termination of the contest he never quitted his ship, but kept up a constant correspondence with the Queen's Secre- tary, Sir Francis Walsingham. The character of these letters has been described in the Introduction, where it is stated, that they are strictly printed from his own autographs in the State Paper Office. The following list contains those written between the 22nd of December, 1587, and the 17th of July, 1588, a few days before the appearance of the Armada in the Channel : — 206 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. LIST OF THE LETTERS from 1 to 17. No. 1. — Lord C. Howard to Lord Burghley. Dec. 22, 1587.— H.M.S. " the Beare :" asks for money to pay the people, and for victuals. No. 2. — Lord C. Howard to Sir F. Walsingham. Jan. 24, 1587-8.— Doubts the truth of the King of Spain's inten- tions, as he has been told, to dissolve his forces ; asks for three or four more ships. No. 3. — To Sir Francis Walsingham. Jan. 27, 1587-8. — Doubts the sincerity of the Scottish King, and says he has made, of the French King, the Scottish King, and Spanish King, a Trinitie that he never trusts to be saved by. No. 4. — To Sir Francis Walsingham. Jan. 28, 1587-8. — Laments he has nothing to do, and thinks his remaining idle will be made a jest of. No. 5.— To Sir Francis Walsingham. Feb.l, 1587-8. — Tells him he has a good Company, who, if Her Majesty will not spare her purse, will not spare their lives ; cautions him as to the enemy, knowing our state well. No. 6. — To Sir Francis Walsingham. Feb. 11, 1587-8. — Jokes about Lord Sheffield's kinsman and the barber being inclined to Papistrie, but the Lord Sheffield is a good Protestant ; ends with matter relating to Walcheren and to Dunkirk. No. 7. — To Sir Francis Walsingham. Feb. 14, 1587-8. — Congratulates him on the good course taken by the Scotch King, and trusts Her Majesty will not refuse him the relief he asks for. No. 8. — To Sir Francis Walsingham. Mar. 9, 1587-8. — Relates his being driven into P'lushing, where he found the " Elizabeth Bonad venture" on shore, and bestows high praise on Lord Henry Seymour for his conduct on the occasion ; his intercourse with the Hollanders. No. 9. — Lord Henry Seymour to Sir Francis Walsingham. Mar. 10, 1587-8.— On the same subject of (he " Elizabeth Bonadventure." HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 207 No. 10. — Lord C. Howard to Sir F. Walsinoham. Mar. 11, 1587-8. — Speaks of Dunkirk Harbour, and of making preparations for choking it up, if the peace is not likely to go on, and other matters. No. 11. — To Sir Francis Walsinguam. April 7, 1588. — Laments that Her Majesty is too careless of her- self at this dangerous time, and blames her for not having 4000 foot and 1000 horse for the safety of her person. No. 12. — ^To Sir Francis Walsingham. June 15, 1588.— The Ark Royal at Plymouth.— The Queen having signified her pleasure that the Lord Admiral should not go so far as the coast of Spain, he states his reasons to show that he was right in so doing, and Her Majesty wrong. No. 13.— To Sir F. Walsingham. June 19, 1588. — To impress on the Queen's mind that the treacherous treaty for peace was only to give time to the King of Spain, and that she should take care of herself, and cautions her against the Papists. No. 14. — To Sir F. Walsingham. June 22, 1588. — For the love of God, he says, let the narrow seas be well watched, and expresses sorrow that the Queen will not thoroughly awake in this most dangerous time. No. 15. — Lord C. Howard to Queen Elizabeth. June 23, 1588. — A letter to the Queen, expressing his opinion and advice in strong and urgent terms, entreating her to be thoroughly awake, and to draw her forces round about her. No. 16. — To the Lords of the Privy Council. June 23, 1588. — Announcing his intention to put to sea within two hours, even if he had but two days' victuals, and prays for money to be sent to the contractor for supplying provisions. No. 17. — ^To Lord Burghley. July 17, 1588. — Writes to him for money to meet the extraor- dinary charges incurred by the ships under his immediate command, and those of Sir Francis Drake and Mr. Hawkins, in order to keep the forces together up to the 28th July. 208 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. LETTERS. (No. 1.) Lord C. Howard to his verie good Lord the High Treasurer of England. 1 587, December 22nd. My verie good Lord, — I nowe remayne aborde the Beare, and as yet the provisione for the shippes colde not be taken all in, by reason of the wether which hathe bin soe tempestuous, as that noe boats cold lye aborde them to put in the same, yet I hope that within ij (2) or iij (3) daies all things wilbe in a readines. Here is a verie sufficiente and hable companie of saylers as eaver were scene, and bicause theire longe jorneyes oute of all places of this realme, and this bad seasone makes them unprovided of aparell, and suche necessaries, it were good for theire releife to paye them one Monethes wages before hande. Many greate charges extraordinarie hathe growne this quarter, which I cold hardlie have beleved unlesse with myn owne eyes, and good examinatione I had scene ; wherfore, in respecte of those causes, and for the furtherance of service, I am to entreate youre good Lordship to geave order that the reste of the warrant latly granted for the whole navie maye be paied to Mr. Hawkins, and ij™''- more uppon the olde warrante of xxix™"' for the furnishinge of those extra- ordinarie charges wherin youre Lordship shall further a good service. We have entered into sea victualles this day, beinge the 22 of this instante December, and not before, for the pre- servinge of the vj weeks victualles, and Mr. Quarles hathe sente downe divers supplies, more then allowance, for the nombers weer graet befor we entered into the '6 weeks HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 209 vytells. Wherfore I praye youre Lordship that he maye be paied the reste of his allowede warrant, and that considera- tione for the rest which I spake to youre Lordship for her- tofore, and soe I bid youre good Lordship moste hartelye farewell. From aborde the Beare the 22 of December, 1587. Your Lordship's most assured lovyng frend To Command, (Signed) C. Howard.* (No. 2.) Lord C. Howard to his very loving Friend Sir F. Walsyngham. Sir, — I most hartely thank you for your letters : I chanot tell what to thynk of my browther StafFords advertysment, for yf it- be trew that the King of Spay use forses be disolved, I wold not wyshe the Queenes Majestie to be at this chargis that she is at, but yf it be but a devyse, knowing that a lyttell thynge makethe us to carles, then I know not what may coume of it, but this I am seur of, yf heer Majestie wolde have spent but a 1000 crounes, to have hade some intelygence, it wold have saved her twenty tymse as muche. Assure your selfe he knowethe what we dow heer, and yf the army be or dow disolve, it is the preperasion that heer Majestie hath maed, that is the cause, for he chanot abyde this heet, that is provyded for him. He did never thynke that we wold this have provyded for his comyng, but that the nomber of false alaromse that he hath gyvne heer Majestie wold have maed heer to have taken no alarome, and so to have had the vantage and the chopping up of his frends heer. I am sure he dow the not lyke, and yf they be * MS., State Paper Office. 210 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. up I wyshe they shuld contynew so, tell ther be a good pece wyche I pray to God to send us. Sir, yf your nexst advertysments dow assure the disolvyng of the army in Spayne, then it weer good we did so heer, yet yf the Duke of Parme contynew his, and that ther be any dowte of any thynge intended for Scotland, put but 3 or 4 shyps mor to them in the Narro Sees, and I dare assure you it shall beet any pour he shalbe able to make, and impeche him of any atempte in Scotland, and I wyll take apone me the sarvys my selfe, for I assur you it dowthe gryve me to see heer Majestie at mor chargis then is nedfull, and this charg wyll not be graet. I wold fayne kype the Narro Sees 3 or 4 months : I pursuad my selfe I shall dow some sarvys apon your next advertysment, as the cause apon that shall requyer I wyll wryght to you. Sir, my good frend, my openyon, and then you may youse it as you shall thynke best, and so I pray you to wryght unto me frankly, for I dow assur you I wyll take it kyndly and frendly at your handse, and thynke my selfe much beholdyng unto you for it, for I may sometyms, apon a good conceit in my openyon, make suche a journy as I did now to Harwyge, and yet it may not be so well taken ther, but I know no cause why it shalbe but well taken. I dow assur you, on my honor, it cost not the Queen's Majestie on halipeny, nor shall not ; when I make any such journy I wyll rather spend my selfe on hundred pounds, then to spend heer on peny. This, good Mr. Secretory, I am bolde with you as my speciall good frend, and so byde you most hartely farwell, and God send you helthe and strenkethe. From the Beer the 24 of Ja. Your assured lovynge frend to youse, (Signed) C. Howard.* * MS., State Paper Office. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 211 (No. 3.) Lord C. Howard to Sir F. Walsyngham. 1587-8, January 27th. Sir, — I moste hartelie thanke you for youre letter, and for youre advertisments : if it were not for you, I shold live in a deade place from hearinge of anie thinge. Touchinge Sir flrances Drake, I have likewise receaved a letter from him with the like advertisments. There hap- pened a mischance in one of his shippes at Portsmouthe, that a peace brake and killed a man, with som others hurte : yf you would write a worde or twoe unto him to spare his pouder it would do well. Sir, I send you herewith encloased all the copies of the letters from my Lord Chamberlaine againe, which I moste hartelie thanke you for, and I praie to God the Scotishe kinge doe deceave me, but I am afeard he will not. For my owne parte I have made of the ffrenche kinge, the Scotishe js^inge, and the kinge of Spaine, a trinitie that I meane neaver to truste to be saved by, and I wold others were in that of my opinione. Sir, there was neaver since Englande was England suche a stratageme and maske, made to deceave Englande withall, as this is of the treatie of peace. I praye God we have not cause to remember one thinge that was made of the Scots by the Englishmen, that we doe not curse for this a longe gray bearde with a white heade witles that will make all the worlde thinke us hartles : you knowe whom I meane. I have receaved a letter eaven nowe from Sir Henry Palmer that there is at Dunkirke diverse holes and lighters, that be filled with ballaste and greate stones surlie (ment) for the stopping of som haven ; I will have a watch on them. I pray you. Sir, send me worde when you thinke the Commissioners wilbe sent over, that I maye have all things p2 212 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. readie for them, and I praie you let me knowe if anie goe in Sir Amias Pawlet's place, for if he be hable to goe him- self, yf I maye knowe of it, I will have espetiall care of him that he maye goe at ease. It will aske a good time to furnishe oure fleete againe with men as they were ; I doe not looke to see it eaver bet- tered ; I praie God it be as well when ther shalbe cause, and soe geavinge you moste hartie thanks for youre moste frendlie dealinge with me in all causes, and your frendlie remembrance, I bid you moste hartelie farewell, from aboarde Her Majestie's good ship the White Beare, the 27 of Januarye, 1587-8. Youre assured lovinge freind, (Signed) C. Howard.* (No. 4.) Lord C. Howard to Sir F. Walsyngham. 1587-8, January 28. Sir,— I had forgoten in my last letter to aunser the matter you did wryght in towchynge Capten Morgayne, my man. Yf he had byne heer I wolde hare sente him unto you, but he is exstreme sike at london, and as I dow under- stand in sume danger, wyche I am verry sorry for, for he is a tall gentelman, he bathe the charge of all my sogers in my shype, and bathe donne his deuty very well : I hope he wyll auncer all honestly and well. Sir, yf the Comysyoners be wonse gonne over, and that therbe a surcese of armse, it shalbe but folly and to no pourpose, for me to ly heer ; I thynke bothe I and the noble men, levynge souffysent lyvtenants in our shyps, and the ofFysers, as Sir W. Wynter, Mr. Hawkynse, and Mr. Bowros, (to) remayne heer with the navy, wylbe sofiysent, for befor * MS., State Paper Office. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 213 thees shyps chan have ther full nomber of men agajme, it wyll be a monthe together. Then dow what we chane, and I pray to God we have them when we shall nede, for many ar gone abrode, and specially the chyfest men. God send me to see suche a company together agayne, when need is. I protest it befor God I wryght not this to you, because I am wery with being heer, for yf it weer not for beer Majesties presence, I had rather lyve in the company of thees noble shyps then in any plase, and yet wolde I be glad that ther weer sumthyng to dow. I am more soryer for the noble men then any wayse for my selfe, for I wold have them save to spend when ned shalbe. I dow assur you they lyve beer bountyfully, and it wylbe hard fynding of suche noble men as thees be, so well afected to this sarvis, and that wyll love the see so well as they dow. ...... I thynk it wylbe a most fetest tyme to grownd our shyps in, for now, at our comynge out, it was you know on such a soudayne as we coulde not grownd, but tow or 3 of the my dell sorte so as the graet shyps weer not grownd ed. I have, with the advyse of the offysers and masters, thowght good to begyne with some the nexst sprynge, and so in a 3 sprynges, dispatche them all, and have them all in most excelent order by the medst of Marche, all save the men, and I dout not but the shyps shall prove soume notable lyers,* and yf cause fall out dow a better day of sarvys for England then ever shyps did for it yet ; but this assur your selfe, yf the forses of Spayne dow coume befor the mydst of Apryll, ther wylbe as muche adow to have men to fur- nyshe us as ever was, but men we must have, or else the shypes wyll dow no good. God knowse it is but a bare syght to see us now to that it wase, and I wold not wyshe any to take the paynse to coume to see us tell we ar newly suplyed when cause shalbe. Sir, God send you well to dow and contynewance of your helthe, and so I bead you most * Meaning those who have vilified the ships. See Letter 8. 214 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. hartely farwell, from abourd her Majesties good shype the Beer, the 28 of Ja. Your assured lovynge frend, (Signed) C. Howard.* (No. 5.) Lord C. Howard to Sir F. Walsyngham. 1587-8, February 1st. Sir, — I have received your letter, and by the same mes- senger a letter from my Lord Treasurer and my Lord Steward, wherby I perceive the great preparation in Dun- kirke for Scotland. I am advised by their Lordships to have care of it, which I will doe to the uttermost of my powre. It doth appeare noe less by your letter, but that we may assure ourselves that Scotland is the marke which they shoote at to offend us, and therefore most necessarie to provide for that. I have wrytten myne opinion at large in myne aunsweare to that their Lordships letter, which I knowe you shalbe acquainted with, and therefore yf yow doe thinke it reasonable that I have written for Her Majesties service, I pray you lett it have your furtheraunce, knoweinge that you are soe well bent to spend Her Majesties purse rather then to hazard her honour, and for myne owne part had rather be drawne in peices with wyld horses then that they should pass throughe for Scotland, and I lie heare. Sir, thus Her Majestic shall see what will come of this abuseinge peace in hand. For your advertisements of Spaine which should come in Aprill, yf we cutt of this matter of Scotland, I hope we shall not neede to ffeare the forces in Spaine nether in Aprill nor in Maye. Sir, I pray you beare with me that I remember you of this, it doth apeare by myne instructions, as alsoe as a * MS., State Paper Office. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 215 matter determined in counsell, that the settinge forth of this flete which we have heare, was for those two purposes, the one for an invasione from the Duke of Parma upon this parte of the realme, the other for goeinge with forces into Scotland. Nowe what did move Her Majestie, or upon what ground I knowe not, to diminishe her forces heare, for yf any of both these should happen upon the sudden, we shalbe abell to doe even as much good for the service as the whoyse (hoys) which lye at Lyon keye, for theare is noe man in England that will under take with these men that are nowe in them to carrie backe againe the ships to Chatham, and I doe warrant you our state is well enoughe knowne to them in Flanders, and as we weare a terrour to them at the first comeinge out, soe doe they nowe make but litell reckon- inge of us, for they knowe that we are like Beers tied to stakes, and they may come as doggs to offend us, and we cannot goe to hurt them, but as I would be loath to be any deviser of Her Majesties charge, soe doe I thanke God I was noe counselor of this that is done, and I hope that if things fall not out accordinge to your expectation and the reast of my Lords, that I may be excused, yet will I not fayle with the uttermost of my powre to be ready to im- peache any mischeif that may be intended. I have a good company heare with me, and soe good willers to Her Majesties service, that if the Queenes Majestie will not spare her purse, they will not spare their lifes, and that which they have. And soe I leave, lookinge every howre to heare from you of more mischeif comeinge by this disputation of peace, then any good that ever I shall heare come of it, I bid you most hartely ffarewell. From of aboard Her Majesties ship the White Beere, this first of Febr. 1587. Your most assured and affectionated freind, (Signed) C. Howard.* ♦ MS., State Paper Office. 216 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. (No. 6.) Lord C. Howard to Sir F. Walsyngham. 1587-8, Febry. Uth. Sir, — I was no sonner comme downe but I imparted unto my Lord Shefylde that wyche you had tolde me, who went presently abourd, with no small care to fynd out this parte (party), and I assure you with much gryfe, that any suche thynge shulde happen in his shype ; him selfe was to departe to London that after non apon very ernest besines, wyche I gave him leve for, but he lefte suche a strayte comandyment with Mr. Ha. Shefylde, his lyvetenant, for the fynding out of the trothe of this, as he sayde to him, beinge his kynsman, yf he had care of his honor or well dowing he wold take paynse in it, and yet my Lorde him selfe, as graet hast as he hade, maad the Barber and 3 or 4 mor wyche he sus- pected to be sworne, and so they weer, and they outerly renounced the Pops atoryte : Mr. Shefylde after my Lord's departur toke graet paynse, and did exsamen the Barber, and founde that a 2 or 3 yerse a gonne he wos soumthynge inclyned to papystre, but being matched by his wyfe with a honest rase, as it semse, they convarted him ; I have talked with the man my selfe ; he offers to receve and to dow any thyng that a good Protestant shuld dow. This was the cause I thynk that bred the dowte in him, — he had a bouke that wes donne by an Englyshe papyst beyond the sees, a bade bouke, but he browght it to the precher with dislyke of the bouk, and the precher is counted to be a most zelous man and very honest. The barbar had many good boukse, as the New Testament, the Bouk of Comyne Prayer, the Boke of the Salmses, wyche he dayly sange with the company. The mane wase prest by the Company of Surgense, for he is a barber-surgen, and not by my Lord, a,nd he hathe sarved often in Heer Majesties shyps, and HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 217 acounted a very honest man ; I thynke my Lord Shefylde wyll send you the parte, and I bely ve you wyll not mislyke him. Mr. Ha. Shefylde, who is very emest and zelous in relygyon, sware unto me that it maed him rejoyse at the harte to see how emest my Lord Shefylde wes in it, and to heer him youse those wordse he did, wyche was most vemente agaynst papystes, so by traytorynge them, saynge he that was in his shype that wolde not be swome agaynst the Pope, he wold tak him for a traytor, and so youse him, and this I dare assure you no man whosoever is redyer to comunycate then my Lord Shefyld is, wyche I thank God for. Sir, Newton, my man, who chame from Dover yesterday, tellethe me that on that chame from Callys dowthe reporte for cartenty that the Duke of Gwyse bathe sent downe to Saynt Omers 20 ansynse of sogers, and that they ar to come to Dounkerke ; yf it be trew I thynk my Lord Chobham hath certify ed you. I hope this nexte sprynge, wych wylbe on Fryday nexte, yf the wynd sarve us, to goo into the narro sees, but this wynd, as it is, lokse us in fast anofe. The Ante lop and the Swallo, wyche shulde have gonne to Sir Henry Palmer this day senyght, could never synce styre yf a relme .had byne on it ; therfor you may see in tyme of sarvys it is better to be at see then lokd up in harboure. This wynd a Donkerker channot styre out ; they ar fast loked in as well as wee ar. We have hade muche a dow heer in changyng out of one shype into another, but now it is downe vyttell and all. Yf it be trew that I dow heer ther is 900 maryners come to Dounkerke, it may be whylst the trety is they wyll atemptate sumthynge to Walkerne, or yf it be trew of thees forses to be come downe of the Gwysyans, they wyll make a shorte trety for manner sake, and presently a pone the brekynge upe they wyll put into Scotland. I hope with Godse goodnes to have a eye to bothe, but this wold I fayne know of you, if ther be a sur- 218 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. cese of armes betwykst Heer Majestie and the Duk and not with the Statse, yf in the men tyme they atempte any thynge to the ille of Walkerne I hope it is not mente but that I shuld syke to relyve it, for I meen to dow so excepte I have contrary comandment yf ther be no surcese of armse : yf the Dunkerkers come out I meen not to foloe them, and yf they come out with any nomber wherby I may parceve that they carry sogers with them, althowghe ther be a sourcese of armse, I meen yf I chan to stay them tell I know mor. Sir, I pray let me have your good advyse in this, for what soever I shall dow, it wyll fall out as it dowthe contynually all thynges as it is taken. Sir, I wyll trowble you no mor at this tyme, but God have you in his kepyng, and so I must hartely bed you farwell. The 11 of Fe. Your most assured lovynge frende, (Signed) C. Howard.* (No. 7.) Lord C. Howard to Sir F. Walsyngham. 1587-8, Febraary 14th. Sir, — I have receved your letter with the advertysment from my Lord of Hounsdon, wyche I thanke you most hartely for, and I am verry glad to heer that the king dowthe ronne so good a course. I pray to God to con- tynew it, and Sir, yf the Queenes Majestie sjiuld styke to relyve him in this small matters, she is no good howswyfe for heer selfe, for I dow not see but this small matter wyche my Lord Chamberlen wryghtethe of, if it be suplyed, but that it is lyke and most carten to save heer 100 thowsands of pounds, besyds a gret dell of blude of Heer Majesties subjects, for I holde it carten, yf the neke of that be broken in Scotland, it wyll breke all ther intent in Spayne, but it * MS., State Paper Office. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 219 must be donne in tyme, that it may be knowne in Spayne, befor they be redy to come owt, and this beyng downe by Heer Majestie she shalbe seure that the King of Spayne wyll never be at that charge he bathe byne at apone any Scotyshe promys. Sir, wher you wryghte to me that you wyshe I weer at the sees I dow assure you I longe for it, but the wether bathe ben, and is, so extreme beer, the wynde being at est, that we weer not able to have our vyttels out of the hoyse into the shyps befor yesterday, and yet all is not in ; but, as the wjoide is, it is so in our tethe, as yf a relme lay on it we could not geet out, but assur your selfe I wyll not lose on ouer. I heer for carten that the Duke bathe now gotten a graet nomber of maryners together and his shyps full ryged and vyttals and all in, so it is lyke the nexst wynde as is feet for them they wyll atempt sumthynge ; but yf they dow I hope I shall meet with them. My Lord Harry Semor bathe had an exstreme colde, but yet he wyll not forber to dow all sarvyses and to be styryng a brode. I browght him and old Guy, my master, who was very ill of the colde, to Rochester whylst the shyps receved in ther vyttalls, and I thanke God they ar much amended. I thynk yf I had not maid them come to Rochester they wold not have byne able to have gonne to the sees with me, but I founde by my Lord Harry that how syk so ever he weer, he wolde not tarry behynde me. Sir, I dow heer by reporte that Chamfer and Armew (Ar- neim?) bathe swome to the Queen's Majestie ; yf it be so I am glad of it, and yf Mydelbowro dow not the lyke, Flushynge, Chamfer, and Armew may esely mak them wery. I pray to God to bles heer Majestie and send heer to agree, and to dow that wyche is best ; and so Sir, with my most hartie thanks unto you for your favors, wyche I wyll requyte in any thynge that shalbe in my pour, God send you helthe. 220 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. And so I bead you most hartely farwell. Chatham the 14 of Fe. Your ever assured and lovyng frend, (Signed) C, Howard * (No. 8.) Lord C. Howard to Sir F. Walsyngham. 1587-8, March 9th. Sir, — On Fridaye, beinge the firste of Marche, ridinge under Blacknes, on the coaste of ffrance, the winde came cute at weste, soe as we did put of to have borne over to the coaste of England, and beinge half seas over, the wind came to the west southe west, and a verie hard gale, soe as we were driven to put over eather for Yarmouthe or fflush- inge ; and because Yarmouthe was soe mutche to the northe wardes, we rather chose fflushinge, soe on Sondaie aboute 12 of the clocke in the forenone we came in with mutche winde, and passed by the towne to the Ramikines. The Elizabeth Bonaventure in comminge in, by the faulte of the pilot, came agrownde on a sande, where there had bin a hulke cast awaie but a monethe before, havinge in her on of the best pilotes of the towne. I muste commend my Lord Henry Seymoure wonderfuUie, for his honorable minde, for alihoughe many of the ship went oute to save themselves, for feare, yet he wold by noe meanes stir oute of her, but saied he wold abide her fortune, and soe encoraged them all. I and Sir William Winter came presentlie aboard of her, where we found my Lord Harrie sparinge noe laboure for her help. My self and Sir William Winter remayned still in her, and devised all helpes that mighte be, but could doe noe good that tyde. The next tide, by the goodnes of * MS., State Paper Office. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 221 God and greate laboure, we broughte her of, and in all this time there neaver came sponefull of water into the well. Sir, unlesse a ship had bin made of yron, it were to be thoughte unpossible to doe as she bathe don, and it maie be well and trewly saied there neaver was nor is a stronger ship then she is, and there is noe more to be perceaved or knowne any waies that she was agrounde, then if she were newe made. She is 27 yeares olde, she was with Sir ffrances Drake twoe iomeyes, and there bathe bin noe iorneye made this 27 yeares, but she hathe bin one : and this is one of the shippes that they wold have had come into a dry docke no we, before she came oute. I have noe doubte but som shippes that have been ill reported of will deceave them as this ship dothe : and for this that Sir William Winter and I have scene nowe we will undertake that the good ship the Elizabeth Bonaventure shall serve beer Majestic theise 12 yeares ; and I doe not knowe but that the Triumphe, the Elizabeth Jonas, the Beare, and the Victorie, sholde be in better case then this ship, for they are noe older, nor as yet had any iorney to wringe them, as this hathe had well, they wilbe founde good shippes when they com to the seas. Uppon the Tuesdaie ensuinge my Lord Govemoure of fflushinge invited me, and all our companie, to dine with him, which we did : thither came to me all the states of Zelande, and Mounsure de Valke, theire counselor, who presented from all the islandes and townes all service to her Majestic, and by espetiall speeche from the towne of Midl- borowe that they were all her Majestie's, and that none shold come into the towne but suche as shall alwaies please her Majestic, and that neather Campveire nor Armewe shall any waies shewe there dewtie more then they will doe. I gave them thanks in her Majestie's behalf, and yet I spared not to let them knowe howe in som thinges they had forgotten theire dewties. . . • ... Uppon Wednsdaie all the captaines and cheefe men of 222 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. Campveire and Armewe came aboard e of me to dinner ; I did never see men shewe more love then theise did unto her Majestie. The captaines geave her Majestie most humble thancks for her bountifull goodnes towards them. They of Campveire invited me to dinner to them, and they of Armewe to supper ; I could not denie them they were soe erneste, but the next morninge it was soe rughe wether that I was driven to sende my excuse. That same dale there came unto me the twoe burgomasters of Midlboroughe, and five of the moste principall men of the towne to invite me to dinner to them on the Sondaie, which I colde not denie them, but with condition that if the winde shold serve to goe oute they wold pardone me. Sir, the preparatione that was made was verie greate, suche as oure merchants saied there was neaver like in that toune any time before. On Fridaie when the winde came to serve oure turnes, I sent my sonn Luson and 3 or 4 gent, to them to make my excuse, and alsoe to visite the princes of Orendge. Sir, all the mariners and seamen of Campveire and Armewe came to the governoures and captaines and toulde them they wold all serve under me, and be comaunded by none but by me, and saied whensoever I wold send for them they wold com from Count Moris (Maurice ?), or any, to me. They of Midlboroughe harde therof, and did the like. I dare assure you her Majestie at this howre is noe more as- sured of the Isle of Sheppey then she is of the whole Isle of Walkeme and all the tounes therin : our merchants find as they saie a greate change, for they were neaver soe kindlie used as theibe nowe. Sir, I thinke we have had aborde our shippes to vewe and looke on them 5000 people on a daie. Sir, in my goinge to fflushinge I tooke a vessell of New- porte, and released him againe with money in his purse, and tould him that I was not on the seas to offend anie of them, if thei gave noe cause, and that I hoped before it were longe we shold be all good freinds. I tould them they sawe whether I was hable to starve both them and Dunkirke if I HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 223 listed, for I could intercept all victualles comminge to them, and not suffer any of them to stir to fishe, but I had noe such meaninge if they gave not first cause. The Charles comminge from the coaste of England met with a Dunkirker half seas over, chasinge of twoe Englishe barks ; the Charles reskewed them, and had a good feight with the Dunkirker, but at lengthe the Dunkirker was faine to run aground under the towne of Dunkirke, for he was surelie sped, we will not medle with them unlesse thei com oute and seeke it, for I wold be loth to doe any thinge in this time of treatie of peace that mighte hinder it, but yet I must not suffer her Majestie's subjects to be spoiled. We had but one in the Charles that was ill hurte ; he was hurte eaven like Sir Philip Sidney, above the knee, with a musket shot, and the bone all broken, a verie greate hurte. I have him aboarde my owne ship, and am in hope to recover him. There came into fflushinge on Mondaie a Dane that came from Lisbone, whoe dothe affirme that the Marques of Santa Cruse is deade, but he saiethe the preparationes goe on still. Sir, as I was in writinge herof entringe into Marget Roade, Sir Henry Palmer came aboarde me, and tould me for certainty that there were letters com into Midlboroughe, and to Mo. Snoye's agent, that the seige of Meden- blecke is raisede, which I am perswaded uppon the hearinge of my comminge they did. I had forgotten to write unto you that they of Campveire and Armewe offered me sufferance to bringe in what Englishe companies I wolde and what number I listed. Lookinge to heare speedelie from you I bid you hartelie fare well, from aboard her Majestie's good ship the Arke, the 9 of Marche, at 11 at nighte, 1587-8. Youre verie lovinge freind, (Signed) C. Howard.* * MS., State Paper Office. 224 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. (No. 9.) The Lord Menry Seymour to Sir Francis Walsingham. lOth March, 1587-8. Sir, — Being assaulted as well with greef as with joye, I stand doubtfull whether of them both I should embrase, eyther to conceale or to open such accidents as befell unto the Lord Admirall and the rest of his navie, but leaving the same unto your honorable judgment do proceade ac- cordingly. The Lord Admirall being ernestly labored and solicited by letters from the L. Gouvernor of fflushing to provoke him to ayde them with his navie, the wynd being also con- trary to all his other harbors, thought good to take the same as yt served. Sunday's beeng the third of Marche his Lordship entered into the harbor of fflushing, where by great misfortune, the Elizabeth Bonaventure came on ground betwixt 12 and one of the clock in the daie time, and could not that tide get of, but by the goodnes of God, with the presense of the Lord Admirall and help of the rest of the captaynes and masters, the same was recovered at the next tyde, which was twelve owers after, to the great admiring of the whole Hand. The next daye after beeng the 5th of the month, his Lordship dined with the L. Gouvernor, wher he was veary honorably enterteyned and feasted. They repared imto his Lordship during his (stay in)* harbor at fflushing, dyvers of the states and companyes of Middelbourg, Armu, and Campher, who ernestly desired his Lordship's person in every of their townes, making great protestacion and offers of their sincere love and affection which the whole Hand bare unto her Majestic, so much the rather (as I gather and * Words omitted in original. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 225 fynd) for that the Lord Admirall brought thether his navie, to their great lyking, and greater discouragement of the ennemye, for presently Count Morris being at Middelbourg departed sodenly with all his stuff and furniture to Lillo, and was assured by divers soldiers and marriners that yf he enterprysed anything against the queue they would leave him, and stick and serve her Majestic. Whereuppon the Lord Admirall well advysing himself before he would at- tempt any thing for the relyeving of Monsieur Sno, wrote veary honorably and wysely to the Count Morris, desiring and wyshing him to desyst his action and enterprise, which yf he would conform himself thereunto her Majestic would be veary thankfull, otherwyse, in not regarding the same, her Majestic should be enforced to relyeve them whom she knew and tooke to be her good frends. Hereuppon Count Morris returned answer by letters with Sir Edward Hobby (who was the messenger), altogether excusing himself, and condemning Monsieur de Sno, who did veary much forget himself towards him and the rest of the States, whereby he was enforced to proceade as he did, yet meaning (as I think) to advyse himself with the rest of the States to make good satisfaction to her Majestic. Now the eight of this month the wynd comming veary aptly about at the north north east, my Lord Admirall omitted no time to make his retourne to our English coasts, and thanked be God is well arryved to Marget Rode. To conclude, I wysh that this honorable ship, beeng grounded 12 owers uppon the sands, had ben as long in fight and triall with the Spaniards in good sea roome, wher with the help of the Lord Admirall, and the rest of his fleete, every one of us (I hope) should have accquitted our- selves in dutyes both to God, her Majestic, and countrye. So meaning no further to trouble you, being glad to understand of your good helth, desire that my humble com- 226 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. mendacions may be presented to tlie Lord Chauncelor, the Lord Treasorer, and the Lord Steward. ffrom aboord the Elizabeth Bonaventure, the fortunate shipp wher Sir fFrancis Drake receved all his good happs, the 10th of March, 1587-8. Your assured frend, To command, (Signed) H. Seymour. (No. 10.) Lord C. Howard to Sir F. Walsyngham. March 11th, 1587-8. Sir, — Mr. Furbyshyr is now come in to the Rood heer in Marget, who hathe passed up and doune in the Narro Sees to see who passed, and whether he meet with 4 hulks that chame from Rochell, who told him for carten that the prynce of Counde is deed, and that they saw the mornynge for him, and graet sorro in the towne for it. Within 5 dayse after, word was browght to the towne that the King of Navar was also in graet danger, they weer bothe poysoned muche about on tyme, yet they weer not together ; it is but 10 dayse since they parted from Rochell. I pray God the king be not deed, it is to graet a lose ; of the other, yf it had pleaesed God I pray God that heer Majestic take good care of heerselfe, for thees enymys are becoume dyvlese and care not how to kyll. Yester nyght there chame on (one) to me of pourpose from Dunkerke who dowthe assur me that on Wensday last ther chame a Scotyshe gentelman out of Spayne to the Duke of Parme and browght a paket from the king, and declared that the Spanyshe forses by see ar for carten to parte from HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 227 Lysbone the 20 of this monthe with the lyght mowne, and that the nomber of the flyte when they all dow meet of graet and small wylbe 210 saylse, and the nomber of sogers, be- sydse the maryners, ar 36,000. I am sorry Sir Francis Drake is not in mor redynes then he is : I knowe the fawte is not in him ; I pray to God heer Majestie dow not repent this slake delyngs, it had byne good he had byne redy, thowghe he had but byne on our coste, I am a frayde he wyll not be redy in tyme, dow what chan be downe, all that commeth out of Spayne must concur in on to ly, or else we shalbe styred very shortly with her, and I feer me ar it be longe heer Majestie wylbe sorry that she bathe belyved soume so much as she bathe downe, but it wylbe very late : be all that I chane gether it should be Hunter that is comme out of Spayne. The parte saw the Scotyshe gentel- man and descrybethe him muche lyke Hunter. For her Majestie's 4 graet shyps I am out of hope to see them a brode, what need so ever shall be yf thyngs fall owt, as it is moste lyklyest, they shalbe to kype Chatham churche wen they shulde sarve the tourne abrod ; I protest befor God I spek not for my selfe any wayse but for heer Majestie's sarvys and seurte, for whensoever they should coume I meen not to change out of her I am in for any shype that ever was maed. Sir, I pray you leet me heer from you how the pece is lyke to goo on, for yf I may heer in any tyme that it is not lyke to coume to pase, I wyll make sume provysion for the chokyng of Dounk(erke) havne, allthowghe it sarve but for a monthe for from thense dow I feer most. They loke dayly at Dounkerke for 1200 maryners out of France, but yf I have knolege in any time, I hope to stope ther comyng out, and so the better able to loke sum other way. Sir, if heer Majestie thinke that heer pryncely preparation of Sir Francis Drake's flyte, and this that I have, should be q2 228 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. a hyndrance to a pece, and that the King of Spayne should take it ill, why should not the King of Spayne thynke that heer Majestie hathe muche mor cause to thynk ill of his myghtie preparasions : it wyll peradventure be sayde he hathe many ways to imploy them and not to England : that is esely auncered, for it is soune knowne by the vetelyng, and he never preparse so many sogers for the Endias. Sir, I wyll for this tyme heed you farwell ; from Marget Rode, the 11 of Marche. Your assured lovyng frend, (Signed) C. Howard.* (No. 11.) Lord C. Howard to Sir F. Walsyngham. 7th April, 1588. Sir, — By your other letter I fynde heer Majestie chanot be browght to have for heer surte to ly neer unto heer the 4000 footmen and the 1000 horse. I am sorry heer Majestie is so carles of this most dangerous tyme. I feer me much, and with grefe I thynke it, that heer Majestie relyethe a pone a hope that wyll deceve heer, and gretly indanger heer, and then wyll it not be heer money, nor heer -juells, that wyll helpe, for as they wyll dow good in tyme, so wyll they helpe nothynge for the redemyng of tyme being lost. For the settyng out of the gaily I thynke ther is no man of jugment but dowthe think it most meet for heer to be a brode now, being sommer ; lord, when shuld she sarve yf not at such a tyme as this is ; ether she is feet now to sarve, or feet for the fyer, and I wyll never herafter wyshe heer Majestie to be at the charge of the kepynge of heer, for I * MSS., State Paper Office. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 229 hope never in my tyme to se so graet cause for heer to be yoused. I dare say heer Majestie wyll loke that men shulde fyght for heer, and I know they wyll. At this time the King of Spayne dowthe not kype any shype at home, ether of his owne, or any other, that he chane by any meens get for monny : well I pray hartely for a pece, for I see that wyche shold be the grownd of a honorable war wyll never apeer, for Spanyng (Spain) and war bathe no affynyte to gether. Sir, towchyng the relesyng of the Scotyshe shypes, and the Frenche ; in my openion it weer not a myse to have them stayed a whyll and better to have them stay ther, then for me to stay them, when they are com out, for I know for carten ther is non of the Scots nor Frenche, but they carry in ther shypes Englyshe men, and couller them for Scotse, but for the Scotse that are to goo into Scotland they may be sofered to departe, but for the Frenche I pray let us stay as well as the King of Spayne ; he bathe stayed all, but without ther wyll, for I am sure a graet nomber of them went of pourpos. I am a frayed we shall fynde them all false in France from the hyest. Sir, the graet Swethen that is stayed, and bathe goodly mast in heer, and most fetest for heer Majestie, other wyse heer Majestie shuld have been fayne this nexst yer to have sent a shype of heer owne for Mast into the Est Contrys, wyche wold have been a graet charge ; I meen as soune as I chane to send heer up to Chatham, or to Blakewall, but I dow assur you the chyfest matter of all is that we kype them from the sarvynge the K. of Spaynse tourne. Ther be many thyngs else in heer that wyll sarve well the tourne now, but it must be con- sydered how they shalbe convented, for I meen not in this tyme to let any suche shype to pase into Spayne. She is a very great shype, and well apoynted with ordynance : she hathe many thyngs in heer, and I belyve for carten muche belongyng to Spanyards. I wold wyshe when she cometh 230 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. up that sume order myght be taken for heer unledyng, and then to returne to me to sarve. And so for this tyme, I leve you to the Almyghte to bles you with helthe. Marget, Ester day. Your lovyng frend to youse, (Signed) C. Howard.* (No. 12.) Lord C. Howard to Sir F. Walsyngham. 1588, June 15th. Sir, — Within three houres after I had writen my letter which herewith I send you, I receaved youre letter of the 9th of this presente, by a pursuivante, which letter I doe not a litle mervaile at, for therby you signefie that her Majestic perceavinge by a lettre I sent you heretofore, that I was mynded to goe on the coaste of Spaine, to the Isles of Bayone, her pleasure is that I shold not goe soe far, but merly of and on betwixte the coaste of Spaine and England, leste the Spanish ffleete shold com into the heighte of 50, and then shold bend theire course directlie to this realme. Sir, for the meaninge we had to goe on the coaste of Spaine it was deeply debated by those which I thinke (the w)orlde dothe iudge to be men of greateste experience that this re(alm)e bathe, which are tlieise. Sir ffirancis Drake, Mr. Hawkins, Mr. firobisher, and Mr. Thomas ffenner, and I hope her Majestic will not thinke that we wente so rashlie to worke, or without a principall and choise care, and respecte, of the saftie of this realme, we wold goe on the coaste of Spaine, and therfore our grounde was firste to looke to that principall, and if we founde they did but * MS., State Paper Office. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 231 lynger on theire owne coaste, or that they were put into the Isles of Bay on, or the Groyne, then we thoughte in all mennes iudgements that be of experience here, it had bin moste fit to have soughte som good waie, and the sureste we cold devise (by the good protectione of God) to have defeated them, (flbr) this we considered that the Spanishe forces being for soe longe (tyme) victualed as they are, mighte in very good polisie detracte (and) drive us to con- sume our victualles which for any thinge we (knowe) is not to be supplied againe to serve the turne by all the meanes (that) her Majestic and all you can doe, and if her Majestic doe thinke that she is liable to detracte time with the K. of Spaine she is greatlie deceaved, which may brede her greate perill, for this abusinge (of) the treatie of peace dothe playnlie shewe howe the kinge of Spayne will have all things perfecte, as his plot is layed before he will proceed to execute. I am perswaded he will se the duke (of) Gwise bringe the ffrench K. to his purpose before he will (yield) ; yf his intentione be soe I praie you, when oure victualles be (con)sumed in gasinge for them, what shal becom of us ; whether this (will) not breade moste greate danger and dishonoure, I leave it to her Majestie's wisdome, but if it shold fall oute soe I wold I had neaver bin borne, and soe I am sure many heare wold wishe no lesse (on) theire owne behalfs, and if we were to morowe nexte on the coaste of Spaine, I wold not land in any place to offend anye, but they shold well perceave that we came not to spoyle, but to seeke oute the greate forces, to feighte with them, and soe sh(old) they have knowne by message which shold have bin the sureste (waye), and moste honorable to her Majestic ; but nowe, as by your direction, to lye of and on betwixte England and Spaine, the southw(est) winde, that shall bringe them to Scotland or Irland, shall put us to the leewards. The seas are broad, but if we had bin (on) there coaste they durste not have put of to have left us theire backs ; and 232 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. when they shall com with the southwesterly wind, which must serve them if they goe for Irland or Scotlande, thoughe we be as heighe as Cape Cleare, yet shall we not be hable to goe to them, as longe as the winde shalbe westerlie ; and if we lye soe highe, then maye the Spanishe ffleete beare with the coaste of Ffrance, to come for the Isle of Weighte, which for my parte I think if they come for Englande they will attempte, then are we cleane oute of the waie of any service againste them ; but I muste and will obaye, and am glad there be suche there as are hable to iudge what is fitter for us to doe then we here, but by my instructiones which I had I did thinke it otherwise ; but I will put them up in a bag, and I shall moste humble praie her Majestic to thinke that which we ment to doe was not rashlie deter- m3n3ed, and that which shalbe don shalbe moste carefuly used by us, and we will folowe and obaie her Majestie's commaundemente ; but if we had bin nowe betwixte Spaine and Englande, we had bin but in hard case, the storme beinge soe stronge and contynewing so longe as it hathe don, but uppon the coaste of Spaine we had had a land winde, and places of succor. We ment not to have spoiled any towne or village, onely we muste of necessitie water, and when we lie betwixte bothe coasts, we must come to this coaste to water, for soe we are enioyned, and if the winde doe not serve us to com on our owne coaste then in what case shall we harboure, that we muste not goe on the coaste of Spaine. We laie 7 daies in the sleeve whict was as longe as we could contynewe there withoute danger as the w inde was, and if som had bin with us they shold have scene what a place of danger it is to ly on and of in. Sir, you know it hathe bin the opinion, bothe of her Majestic and others, that it was the sureste course to ly on the coaste of Spaine. I confesse my erroure at that time, which was otherwise ; but I did and will yeald ever unto them of greater experience, yet you knowe it was thoughte HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 233 by her Majestie that we might goe into Lisbone to defeated them, which was the strongeste place. Therfore I thoughte that if we had hard, that they had bin at the Isles of Bay one, ur the Groyne, which be 10 times more easie to defeate them in, I thought it wold have bin good service ; but. Sir, I will perswade no more, but doe as I am directed. And God send the winde doe not force us thither, otherwise uppon my dewtie we will not goe thither nowe we knowe her Majestie's pleasure. And soe I bid you moste hartelie farewell. From aborde her Majestie's good ship the Arke, in Plymouthe sound, the 15 of June 1588. Your assured lovinge freind, (Signed) C. Howard.* (No. 13.) Lord C. Howard to Secretary Walsyngham. June 19th, 1588. Good Mr. Secretory, — You see it is very lykly to come to pase my openyon that I always had of the French King, as also of the trecherous trety of pece, wyche was never to anny other end but that the Kynge of Spayne myght have tyme, and not be troubled in gatheryng his forses together, and heer Majestie's noble and pryncly nature most graetlie abused ; and therfor, Good Mr. Secretory, leet every one of ye pars wad heer Majestie that she lose no more tyme in taking care enough of heer selfe, and to make heer selfe, every way that is posible, as stronge as she chane. Ther is no questyon but the King of Spayne hathe ingaged his honor to the uttermost in this, for the overthro of heer Ma- jestie and this relme, and douthe employ all the forses, not only of his owne, but also all that he chan geet of his frendse, * MS., State Paper Office. 234 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. ,for this exployte, and yf he be put bake from this this yeer, heer Majestie may have a good and honorable pece ; yf not yet she shal be sure he shall not be able to trouble heer Majestie in many yers after. You see it is maed in the worlde graetly for his honor, that he is able to make such a poure, as that he wyll enterpryse to invade England. Thanks be to God the worlde shall also see that heer Majestie bathe provyded sufysent forses to beet him by see ; so wold I wyshe that in tyme heer Majestie shuld gether sume graet forse together for heer defence on the land, it wold be a graet surte, and to the worlde most honorable ; for yf it come that heer Majestie shuld draw the forses together on the soden, it wyll breed a marvelous confusion, and all soden causes bredse many doutse in multytudse. I hope in God this manyfest discovery of ther determynasion, as it may well aper by that arche traytor Allen's boke, wyll a wayken all men : yf ther be that wyll not a wake with this, 1 wold to God, when they ar a slype, they myght never a wake. Sir, because in sarvis of so graet moment as this is, it weer not requyred that many shuld be pryvy of our councels, I mayd choyse of thees whose namse I heer wryght, to be councelers of this sarvis, and maed them all to be sworne to be secret: — Sir Francis Drake, (Lord) Tho. Howard, the Lord Shefyld, Sir Roger Wyllamse, Mr. Hawkynse, Mr. Fourbysher, and Mr. Tho. Fener. I chose Sir Roger Wyllamse for his experyance by land, what ocasion so ever myght fall out to land in Irland, or Scotland, or in England ; for God wyllyng, yf it plees God to send us wynd to sarve us, we mene to land sume with them, whersoever they lande in any of heer Majestie's domenyons. I dow assur you. Sir, thees tow noblemen be most gallant gentlemen, and not only forwards, but very descry te in all ther dowynges. I wold to God I could say for heer Majestie's sarvis that ther weer 4 suche yong noblemen be hynd to sarve heer. God bles them with lyfe, and they wylbe able to dow heer Ma- HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 235 jestie and the relme good sarvis. Sir, I am glaede that the- shypse sent out by the townse ar vy teled for a monthe more ; I wold it weer tow, and for the love of God let not heer Majestie care now for charges, so as it be well yoused (used), and strengthen my Lord Harry in the narro sees with as muche forse as you chane : seeke by forse of the see to kype any from landynge, for landynge wyll bred I am afrayde graet danger. Sir, I pray send to us a gayne with all sped, but I hope to be gone befor I heer from you, for I wyll not tarry on houer after our vyttels dow come to us, and yf the wynde wyll sarve us, for ther must be no tyme lost now, and we must seke to cout of (cut off) ther tyme, wyche I hope in God to dow. Sir, as I have ever founde you to be my most especiall good frend, and the man that for your honorable and fayt- full dellyngse ever with me hathe maed me to thynke my selfe ev^er graetly beholdyng unto you, I therfor now dow most (hartely) pray you to stand my good frend as to move heer Majestie in this my absence, and request that yf it plaes God to calle me to him in this sarvis of heer Ma- jestie, wyche I am most wyllyng to spend my lyfe in, that heer Majestie of heer goodnes wyll besto my boy apon my poure wyfe, and yf it plaes heer Majestie to let my poure wyfe have the kepyng ether of Hampton Court or Otlandse, I shall th3rnke my selfe most bound to heer Majestie ; for I dow assur you, Sir, I shall not leve heer so well or so good a wyfe dowthe desarve. This, Sir, I have byne bold to trowble you, and chan ilde (yield) you no other requytall but my love and good wyll as long as I lyve, and so I recomend me most hartely unto you, and beed you farwell, from a bourd the Arke the 19 of June. Your most assured lovynge frende to youse, (Signed) C. Howard.* * MS., State Paper Office. 236 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. (No. 14.) Lord C. Howard to Sir F. Walsyngham. June 22, 1588. Sir, — ^I am very sorry that heer Majestie wyll not thowroly awake in this perolous and most dangerous tyme, and surly it wyll touche heer Majestie graet(lie) in honor yf the noblemen and the rest of the comysioners shuld not (with) safety come bake agayne. It is to me a strange treety of pece, but the end is lyk unto the begynyge. Ther is not any thynge that ever comethe to a good end that hathe not a good and seur foundasyon, wyche I could never desame in this worke of Mr. Comptroler's.* A good wyll I thyncke he had, but seurly no good workeman. For the advertysment of the Brytons that chame to Callys I th(ynck) it chanot be trew, for we have had penyses (pin- naces) of and on, so as we shuld by soume meens have hard of it, but I wyll send presently sum small penyses thether. I put out on Wensday to the see, in hope to have met with our vyttelers, but on Fry day we weer put in agayn with a sowtherly wynd. I hope now shortly we shall heer of our vyttelse, for the wynde douthe now sarve them. I pray God all be well with them, for yf any chance sholde coume to (them) we shuld be in most myserable case. For the love of God let the narro sees be well strakened, and the shypes vyteled for sume good tyme. This on ©lonthes vytels is very ill, and may bred danger, and no savyng to heer (Majestie), for they spend lyghtly 7 or 8 dayse in comyng to meet ther vyttell, and in takynge of it in, and yf the enymy dow know of that tyme, juge you what they may atempte. Graet hurte may come by it, but no good. Sir, I pray let heer Majestie be ernestly parswaded with all to have sume forses of 10 or 12 thowsande sogers neer * Sir James Crofts, Comptroller of H. M. Household. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 237 to heer, that may know on another, and ther leders. I had rather have 10 thowsand suche well trayned and kepte to gether then 40 thowsand that shalbe browght on the soden, halfe amased, as heer Majestie shalbe seur to fynd them. Heer Majestie must assure her selfe she is not now in pece, and therfor most prynslyst, seurest, and most to heer honor, to provyd as in warre. Sir, I pray you to present my most bound and humble duty to heer Majestie, so, God wyllyng, I wyll not trouble heer Majestie with my rewd wryghtynge tell the matter be somthynge worthe. God of his marcy bles heer Majestie with helthe, and to have honor over heer enymys. Fare you well, good Mr. Secretary, and God send you helthe. From abourd the Arke, the 22 of this June. Your assured lovyng frend, (Signed) C. Howard.* (No. 15.) Lord C. Howard to Queen Elizabeth. 1588, June 23d. May it plaes your Most Excelent Majestie, — I have forbom this long tyme to wryght unto youre Majestie, hoping that the wynd wold have sarved that, or (ere) this, I might have cartefyed your Majestie of sumthyng worthe the wryghtyng. We have often put to the see, and have byne fayne to rown of and on the shore with contrary wyndse, and in the end, not being able to contenew out, for feer of beynge dryvne to the leewardse, as far as the Wyglit, weer forsed in a gayne, into Plymowthe. Our vetalse weer spent, and the wynde not sarvyng our vyttels to come to us, we expected the goodnes of God to change the wynd, wyche did * MS., State Paper Office. 238 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. hapely change on Fryday mornynge, so that on Satterday, late at nyght, they chame to us. They weer no sonner come, althowghe it weer nyght, but we went all to work to geet in our vyttelse, wyche I hope shalbe donne in 24 houers, for no man shall slype nor ete tell it be dyspached, so that, God wyllynge, we wylbe under sale to morro mornyge, beyng Monday, and the 24 of this present. I humbly besyche your Majestic to thynk that ther was never men mor unwyllynger to lose any tyme then we ar. Evne as I had wryghten this muche of my letter to your Majestic I receved this letter from a man of myne, wyche I did send to ly with a penys betwyxt the landse end and Youshant (Ushant). The partie him selfe that was chased did bryng the letter^ who is a wyse man, and of good credyte. Ther was also another shype in this manse company that was also chased with him. The shypse they met with, all 7 of them, weer shypse of 8 and 9 hondred, the others weer byskense (Biscay ans) of 300. It is very lykly that this stormy wether hathe parted the flyte. I hope in God we shall meet with some of them, we wyll not stay for any thynge. I truste we shall met with them on the cost of France, for I have some intelygence that for carten they meen to come thether, and ther to receve many Frenche men into ther shypse. For the love of Jesus Cryst, Madame, a wake throwgly, and see the velynous tretorse round a bout you a gaynst your Majestic, and your relme, and drawe your forses rounde a bout you, lyk a myghte prynce, to defend you. Trewly, Madame, yf you dow so ther is no cause to feer ; yf you dow not ther wylbe danger. I wolde to God nobody had byne mor deceved in this then I ; it wold have byne never a whet the worse for your Majesties sarvys. I humbly pray your Majestic to pardon me that I dow count of my letter in this sorte. I am now in haste, and longe to sect saylle : I besyche the Almyghte God to bles and defend your Majestic from all your enymys, and so I dow most humbly take my HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 239 leve. From a bourd the Arke, redye to way, this Sonday nyght at 12 of the cloke. Your Majesties most humble and obedyent servant, (Signed) C. Howard.* (No. 16.) Lord C. Howard to the Privy Council. 1588, June 23rd. Maye it please youre Llordships, — Eaven as I had made up a packet of letters unto Mr. Secretarie, one Richarde Swanseye, pursuevant, came unto me twoe houres after an other pursuevante with your Lordships' letters. I will take what order I can as the shortnes of the time will permit me, for I meane, God willinge, to set sayle within theise twoe houres, havinge receaved som advertisments which make me to make all the haste I can oute unto the sea. Myvictuales came but this laste morninge, aboute twoe of the clock e, and since we have labored very hard for the takinge of them in, for we were verie bare left before they came, and yet we mente, if they had not com this dale, to have gon oute to the sea, althoughe we had but three dales victuall. I pray your Lordships that some money male be spedelie sent downe imto Mr. Dorell, for the avoydinge of all danger, if the townes doe not prove soe readie to re victuall theire ships, as your Lordships doe expecte ; and soe moste hartelie prayinge your Lordships to beare with my hastie and shorte writinge, beinge overcharged with busenes nowe at our settinge forthe, I take my leave the 23 of June, 1588. Your Lordships' lovinge freinde To comaunde, (Signed) C. Howard, f * MS., State Paper Office. f Ibid. 240 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. (No. 17.) Lord C. Howard to Lord Burghley. 1588, July 17th. My verie good Lord, — I have caused Sir Ffrancis Drake and Mr. Hawkins to consider of oure charges, for that oure companies growe into great neede, and manie occa- siones in such an armye do breade sondrie greate and ex- traordinarie charges. I have sent herin enclosed an estimate therof, prayinge your Lordship that there maye he som care had that we maie be furnished with moneye, withoute the which we are not hable to contynewe oure forces to- geather. And when it shall please her Majestic that this army shalbe disolved, it shalbe moste beneficiall to her Majestic that moneye be had here, in a readines to discharge suche as be of this contereye, — wherby a greate som of money maye be saved in lesseninge of the companies, which will ease verie mutch the charges of victuales, wages, and conducke, which, withoute money, we shall not be hable to doe. Yf youre Lordship doe geave order to paye this moneye to Mr. Dr. Hussye, Mr. Hawkins hathe writtene to him that soe mutche as shall discharge her Majesties ships ser- vinge on the narowe seas, untill the 28 of Julye, shalbe sent to Sr. Wm. Winter to Dover, for in this estimate those ships are included untill that daie, and soe I bid your good Lordship hartly farewell, from Plimmouthe the 17 of Julye, 1588. Youre Lordship's assured lovinge freinde To commaunde, (Signed) C. Howard.* * MS., State Paper Office. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 241 After various contradictory reports, and false alarms respecting the Spanish fleet, at one time of their being at sea, and at another time remaining inactive in their ports. Lord Charles Howard, having assembled the greater part of his fleet in the harbour of Plymouth, waited quietly in full preparation to take advantage of coming events, her Majesty not consenting that he should leave the port in search of the enemy's forces. On the 17th July the Lord Admiral writes, as we have seen, to the Lord High Treasurer for a supply of money, without which, he says, "We shall not be able to keep our forces together/* By this it would appear how little the immediate approach of the Armada was in his contempla- . tion ; yet two days after this letter was written the Lord Admiral received certain information from one Flemming, the master of a small pirati- cal vessel, that the Spanish fleet was in the Chan- nel, near to the Lizard-Point. In a moment all was bustle at Plymouth, and all hands set bu- sily to work at the operation of towing out the British fleet from the harbour; the wind blow- ing directly in, and stiflfly, made it a laborious task. " With great difiiculty," says Camden, " but, indeed, with singular diligence and in- dustry, and with admirable alacrity, the Lord Admiral encouraged at their hawser-work, assist- R 242 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. ing them and the common soldiers in the doing of it in person." * On the following day " the English discovered the Spanish fleet, with their lofty turrets like castles, in front like a half-moon, the wings thereof spreading out about the length of seven miles, sailing very slowly, though with full sailes, the winds being as it were tired with carrying them, and the ocean groaning under their weight ; which the Lord Admiral willingly suffered to pass by, that he might chase them in the rear with a fore- right- wind." t It may here be noticed that Lord Charles Howard, though so good a correspondent, wrote but one short letter from the day after they passed Plymouth (21st July) till their arrival before Calais (29th July) ; but in that letter he assigns the reason of his silence. " I will not trouble you,'* he says, " with anie long letter. We are at this present otherwise occupied then with writing." J Though the Lord Admiral ceased to write on this great occasion, there was one gentleman however in the fleet, of the name of Dodington, who writes to the Privy Council in great haste and alarm, as it would seem, from the mistake he makes in the date. * Camden. f Ibid. X Life of Drake, p. 288. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 243 Ed. Dodington to the Privy Council. (1588), July 25th. Right Ho., — Heare is a ffleete at this instant cominge in upon us, seraid at north-west, by all likelywode it should be the enymy : hast makes me, I can write no more. I beseech your L. to pardon me, and so I referr all to your ho. most depyst considerationes. Your Ho. most humble to comand, Ed. Dodington. firom the ffleete at Plymouth, the 25 of Julie, 1587-8. But the curious part of this despatch is the covering address. For her Ma^'" spetiall servise To the Right honorable the Lords of her Ma^" most ho. prevy cuiisell hast post hast for lyffe hast hast post hast for lyfFe.* No sooner had the Spanish fleet passed Plymouth than Lord Charles sent after them his pinnace, called the Disdain, in advance, to give defiance to * It would appear from a letter of the Lord Admiral, ad- dressed to Lords Essex and Burleigh, that it was not unusual to draw the figure of a gallows where extraordinary haste was required. At that period it would seem to have been the en- forcing substitute for our immediate, pressing, Sfc, R 2 244 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. the Duke de Medina Sidonia, by discharging her guns, which were immediately followed by those of his own flag-ship, the Ark Royal, which is stated to have thundered thick and furiously upon a large ship, supposed to be the Spanish Admiral, but proved to be that of Alphonso de Leyva; while Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher played stoutly upon the rear-division, under the command of Juan de Recalde, whose ship, with several others of that division, being much shattered, contrived to get out of fight, and escaped to the main-body, under the Duke of Medina Sidonia. The first loss they suffered by the English was that of the large Biscayan ship, under the command of Oquendo, being set on fire designedly, as is said, and for revenge, by a Dutch gunner, on account of some ill treatment he had received. The money and valuables deposited in her were mostly got out, and an order was given to sink her ; but she was turned adrift, and boarded by Lord Thomas Howard and Captain Hawkins, who found in her about fifty wretched creatures, miserably burnt; the stench was so horrible that they immediately quitted her, and the admiral ordered a small bark to tow her into Weymouth.* Their next loss was the large galleon of Don Pedro de Valdez, which being disabled by getting * Camden. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 245 foul of another ship, was taken possession of by Drake, and sent into Dartmouth. The St. Ann, a large galleon of Portugal, not being able to keep up with the fleet, was taken, on which three large galliasses came to her relief, and were so warmly- received by the; Lord Admiral and Lord Thomas Howard, that they were satisfied to take themselves off, but not before they had suffered a great loss of men. It was observed that from this time none of the galliasses ventured to engage. The first of the four general actions, if so they may be called, happened on the 25th July, off the Isle of Wight, and the only one mentioned by the Lord High Admiral until the last. On this occasion the Lord Admiral led the attack, accompanied by the Lion, Lord Thomas Howard ; the Elizabeth Jonas, Sir R. Southwell, the Lord Admiral's son-in-law; the Bear, Lord Sheffield, his nephew ; the Victory, Captain John Hawkins; with Frobisher, Fenner, and others. " With great valour," says Purchas, ** and thunder of shot, they encountered the Spanish Admiral in the midst of his fleet, and entered a terrible combat with the English, battering each other with their broadsides, at the distance of 100 or 120 yards apart. At length," he says, ** the Spaniards hoisted up their sails, and gathered themselves up into the form of a rundell, and moved off*. Frobisher, on this occasion, was the 246 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. last who ceased fighting, and was only drawn off by the Admiral going to his assistance." "* The Lord Admiral was so much gratified with the proceedings of this day, that on the following (the 26th) he bestowed the honour of knighthood on Lord Thomas Howard, Lord Sheffield, Roger Townsend, John Hawkins, and Captain Martin Frobisher, in consideration of their gallant be- haviour. And as they were now approaching the spot, where the grand and decisive scene of action would in all probability take place, it was agreed upon, in council, that no further attack should be made on the enemy until they arrived at the British Firths, or Straits of Dover, where they were to be joined by Lord Henry Seymour and Sir William Wynter, provided the Prince of Parma should not previously put to sea, and compel his Lordship to attack him; which, however, he had ascertained, from the state of his preparations, there was little prospect of his doing. The whole conduct of the Lord High Admiral from the day of his first taking charge of the fleet at the close of the year 1587 until the present time, was marked by a strict attention to the active duties of his important office, by a cautious circum- spection, and a cool and discreet resolution, such as characterizes the man of true courage. He possessed * Purclias. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 247 a coolness of temper rarely to be ruffled, a prudence and magnanimity that nothing could disturb, of which the following incident may be given as an example. The over-anxiety of Drake in chasing some ships, caused him to omit hoisting the lantern it was his turn to carry. Part of the English fleet laid by, but the Lord Admiral and two other ships, the Bear and the Mary Rose, deceived by the light carried by the Spanish Admiral, followed it, and Lord Charles remained among the Spanish fleet the whole night, and quietly and coolly dropped astern at the dawn of the following day, and joined his own fleet. His passive resistance, and fearlessness of cen- sure, was soon put to a severe trial, which in another might have been construed into a want of courage : when in the act of attacking the Armada, several of his principal officers, the boldest, the bravest, and most experienced, earnestly entreated him, " with more heat," says Camden, " than discretion," to permit them to lay aboard the enemy ; he re- sisted their entreaties, not with a hasty and peremp- tory refusal, but for a few cogent reasons which none could dispute ; the enormous size of their ships, as compared with his own — their lofty tur- rets fore and aft like so many castles, from which they would hurl their missiles of various kinds, even to fragments of rock, and inevitably destroy those who would be obliged as it were to fight be- neath them; — the number of regular troops with 248 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. which they were filled, while his ships had none — and above all, the sacrifice of life, which such an act would render inevitable, and the damage the ships would sustain — these or any of them would defeat the object for which his fleet had been specially prepared. There was in fact the greatest probability that the severest trial was yet to come, and for five days, and in three actions, the English had sustained little or no loss, while the Spanish Armada was flying before them. It was not yet their object therefore to put forth all their strength. They had besides to look forward to a junction of the Armada with the Duke of Parma's flotilla, with thirty to forty thousand troops on board, intended, under protection of the fleet, to proceed up the Thames, and to sack London. This was their main object, and had they not been diverted from their original intention of proceeding along the coast of France to the neighbourhood of Dunkirk, instead of ap- pearing before Plymouth, led by false information, they might have attempted, at least, to carry their project into execution, while our fleet was quietly at their moorings in Plymouth harbour ; for Lord Henry Seymour, with his flotilla, must inevitably have been overwhelmed. The Spanish fleet, being now unmolested by the English, came to anchor off" Calais. The Lord Admiral followed, and coolly anchored his fleet HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 249 within cannon shot of the enemy, and both re- mained passive for two days, when after due pre- paration a squadron of eight fire-ships were sent off with a fair wind, directing them towards the body of the Spanish fleet, which caused so much confusion and dispersion, as to end in their flight and in giving up the contest. It was supposed, and generally believed, that the Queen suggested the employment of fire-ships, and a medal with a dispersed fleet and fire-ships pursuing it, and bearing the motto " Dux fcemina fecit'' — " The general who caused it was a woman*' — perhaps will be thought some confirmation of it. Hawkins and Drake, however, could not have forgotten the day when, at San Juan d'Ulloa, they cut their cables and ran out of that port, to escape the two fire-ships sent against them by the Spaniards. Sir Richard Hawkins says that, on the present occasion, two of his ships were fitted as part of the fire-ships. To the destruction of this boasted Armada, by which perhaps the salvation of the kingdom was secured, three causes may be said to have contri- buted—the dispersion of the Spanish fleet by our fire-ships — the strong south-west wind then pre- vailing — and the defection of the Prince of Parma. With regard to the first and most important, which indeed was the prelude to the rest and to the catas- trophe which succeeded, Camden has supplied an interesting description. " But Queen Elizabeth, 250 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. by a wise precaution, baffled all his attempts, and dash'd the forward hopes of the Spaniard all at once ; for, by her Majesty's orders, the Lord Ad- miral got ready eight of his worst ships the very day after the Spaniards came to anchor; and having bestowed upon them a good plenty of pitch, tar, and rosin, and lined them well with brimstone and other combustible matter, they sent them before the wind, in the dead time of the night, under the con- duct of Young and Prowse, into the midst of the Spanish fleet ; the approach of which was no sooner discovered by the Spaniards, and the prodigious blaze which the fire made all the sea over, but they, suspecting that these fire-ships were big with other engines of slaughter, besides the destructive element that shewed itself without, began to raise a most hideous clamour of—* Cut your cables, and get up your anchors !' — and in a panic fright put to sea with all the confusion and precipitancy imaginable. One of the fleet (a large galliass) having broken her rudder, floated up and down before the wind, and the next day making for Calais in a very piteous plight, she at last struck upon the sands, and after a smart, long, and doubtful engagement, was taken by Amias Preston, Thomas Gerard, and Harvey. The captain of her, Don Hugo de Mon- cada, being first slain, and the soldiers and rowers either drowned or put to the sword, the English pillaged a great quantity of gold she had on board. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 251 and the ship and guns fell to the Governor of Calais."* After this galliass had drifted on shore Lord Charles addressed the following letter to Mr. Secre- tary Walsingham : — (No. 18.) Lord Charles Howard to his verie loving friend Sir F. Walsyngham. 1588, July 29. Sir, — I have receaved your letter, wherin you desire a proportione of shot and poder to be set downe by me, and sente unto you, which by reason of the uncertaintie of the service, iioe man can doe, therfore I praie you to send with all speed as mutche as you can. And bicause som of our ships are victualed but for a verie shorte time, and my Lord Henry Seymour with his companie, not for one daie, in like to praie you to dispache awaie our victuales with all possible speed, bicause we knowe not whether we shalbe driven to pursue the Spanish fleete. This mominge we drave a gallias ashore before Callis, whither I sent my longe boate to board her, where divers of my men were slaine, and my Leiftenante sore hurte, in the takinge of her. Eaver since we have chased them in feighte untill this eaveninge late, and distressed them mutche ; but there fleete consistethe of mightie ships and greate strengthe, yet we doubte not by Godes good asistance to oppresse them, and soe I bid you hartely farewell. From aboarde her Majesties good ship the Arke, the 29 of Julye, 1588. Youre very loringe freind, (Signed) C. Howard. Sir, — I wyll not wryght unto heer Majestie befor mor * Camden. 252 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. ' be downe. Ther forse is wonderfall gret and strong, and yet we pluke ther fetters (feathers) by lyttell and lyttell. I pray to God that the forses on the land be strong anofe to amach so pusant a forse. Ther is nit on (not one) Flush- inge nor Holender at the sees. Sir, — I have taken the chiefe gallias this daie before Gallis, with the losse of divers of my men; but Maister Gorden dothe detaine her, as I heare saye. I cold not send unto hym, bicause I was in feighte, therfore I praie you to write unto him eather to deliver her, or, at least wise, to promise uppon his honoure that he will not yeald her up againe unto the enemye.* The southerly wind was the next auxiliary in the destruction of the Armada. It drove them into the North Sea, and when it changed to the north- west, and the Spanish admiral was desirous of standing in towards the coast to communicate with the Prince of Parma, the pilots refused to take the ships towards that quarter, on account of the shoals and sands on the Flemish coast : they were also closely pursued by the Lord Admiral, and attacked briskly by the English fleet, which was the fourth and last general engagement. But both were dis- posed to relax their efforts from a scarcity of am- munition. Lord Henry Seymour, in a letter to the Queen, describes a fight he had of six hours, within less than musket-shot. As this is the only affair in which Lord Henry was concerned, the following extract may be borrowed from the ' Life of Drake :' — * MS., State Paper Office. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 253 From Lord Henry Seymour to Her Majesty. "In the meantime, Sir Francis Drake gave the first charge uppon the Spanish Admiral, being accompanied with the Triumph, the Victory, and others. *' Myself with the Vanguard, the Antelop and others, charged upon sayle, being somewhat broken and distressed, three of their great shippes, among which one ship shot one of them through six times, being within less than musket shot. After the lon^ fight which continued almost six owers, and ended between four and five in the afternoon, imtil Tuesday at seven in the evening, we continued by them ; and your Majestie^s fleet followed the Spaniards along the Channel, until we came athwart the Brill, where I was commanded by my Lor/i Admiral, with your Majestie's fleet imder my charge, to return back for the defence of your Majestie's coasts, if any thing be attempted by the Duke of Parma ; and therein have obeyed his Lordship, much against my will, expecting your Majestie's further pleasure."* Lord Henry was then in command of the Golden Lion, Sir William W^ynter in the Vanguard, and Sir Henry Palmer in the Antelope, all good men ; yet it so happened that none of these ojfficers appear to have been afterwards employed. After this and a change of wind to the south-west, and, as the ' Spanish Narrative* says, a consultation whe- ther to return to the British Channel or pursue their course to the northward and round Ireland to Spain, the latter was decided on; but by the detailed account given in that * Narrative,' a succession of very determined attacks on both sides continued for several days with considerable * MS., State Paper Office. 254 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. loss to the Spaniards, after which, on the 2nd of August, they got clear of their English pursuers, and continued their course to the northward, while the English, in want of provisions and ammunition, bent their way to the several ports of the Channel, where the fleet, with the exception of those left to guard the narrow sea and to watch Dunkirk, were ordered to prepare for paying- off into a state of ordinary. Not so the Spanish fleet ; scattered over the wide ocean, as the medal says, '* Afflavit Deus et dissipantur." The third and last auxiliary of the English was the defection of the Duke of Parma; who probably had not the means, and certainly not the inclination, to come into collision with the Eng- lish forces ; not that he was deficient in talent or courage, for he had shown himself one of the ablest generals of the age. He must have seen, which the King of Spain did not see, that the spirit of the English lion was roused both by sea and land, and that his reputation would sufier by a defeat, which could scarcely have been doubtful. The repeated messages sent to him from the Armada, and his disregard of them, appeared to have much dis- tressed the Duke of Medina Sidonia, and his con- duct no doubt furnished him with one excuse to be made to the King for his return re hifectd. The original force of the Armada, in men (as stated in the ' Life of Drake'), was as follows : — HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 255 Mariners .... 8,766 Soldiers .... 21,855 Total . . . 30,621 Besides 2088 galley-slaves. The Spanish official account, since received, gives a total of 28,687.* If the galley-slaves are not included, the amount would be 30,621. Nothing being left for the distressed and dis- heartened Armada but to make the best of its way home, they proceeded along the western coast of Ireland, where their losses in ships and men were excessive. By an account taken apparently with great care, and after much inquiry and research, the result was, that — On the west coast of Ireland \ ^^'^- f^^qa were wrecked and destroyed] ' And in the British Channel i and North Sea / ^^ "^'^^^ Making a total of . 32 10,185 * This amount of men is taken from a small book in the black-letter, dated 1588, and supposed to be a copy of one ordered by Burleigh to be translated and printed. It contains a most minute account of every ship, galley, galleon, and other vessel ; their armament in guns, weapons, and men ; their com- manders, inferior officers, volunteer adventurers, ministers of religion and justice, knights, &c. It waa first published at Lisbon, with a view probably of making an impression of the formidable Armada. Its title is ' A True Discourse of the 256 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. exclusive of those ships taken and men slain in fight, and those that died of sickness and famine. But Stow makes the loss much greater, and Hak- luyt says, " They lost 81 ships in this expedition, and upwards of 13,500 soldiers."* The English loss was very small ; a Londoner, of which one Cocke was master, is the only vessel mentioned to have gone down in the midst of the enemy. The Spanish narrator ascribes our escapes from their shot to the smallness and nimbleness of our ships in comparison with their own : and he is partly in the right ; but their guns, tier above tier, in the lofty forecastles, fixed point blank, threw their shot into the highest rigging or over the mast- heads of our small ships. So sensible were the Spaniards of this defect, that, shortly after the war, they began to alter the mode of building their ships, and in the course of the seventeenth century produced some of the finest ships in Europe. It is now, and has long been, the custom after a great battle, by sea or land, for the commander-in- chief to write a public eulogium of those who have behaved well ; but nothing of the kind, beyond general praise, appears to have been issued from Lord Charles Howard, either during the contest Armie which the King of Spain has caused to be assembled at Lisbon, &c.' — In Mr. Thorpe's Catalogue of many very rare and curious old books. * Stow. Hakluyt. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 257 or at its close ; and if he has recorded the merits of any, such record must be looked for in some private collection. Of Lord Henry Seymour and Sir William Wynter, who remained to watch over the movements of the Duke of Parma, he speaks in terms of praise, but nothing after the termination of the contest; nor, indeed, does it appear in any of the chronicles, whether this second son of the Protector belonged either to the army or navy, or neither : he might have subsequently obtained some employment at court, for Rowland White tells us that the salary of Sir Walter Raleigh, as governor of Jersey, was burthened with 300Z. a year to Lord Henry Se}^- mour. Before he paid off the Rainbow he became querulous, was jealous of Drake and Frobisher, and in his letters to Mr. Secretary Walsingham was always talking of going home. There were two officers in the fleet who had more service than any others, yet never received a separate command nor promotion— Captain Thomas Fenner and Captain Robert Cross. The former was Captain of Drake's ship, the Elizabeth Bona- venture, in 1585; of the Dreadnought, in Drake's expedition to Cadiz ; of the Nonpareil, in the Ar- mada ; of the Dreadnought, in the Portugal expe- dition ; commanded one of the ten ships in Hawkins and Frobisher's expedition to the coast of Spain ; of the Lion, in Lord Thomas Howard's expedition ; s 258 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. of the Rainbow, before Brest, when Frobisher lost his life. Captain Robert Cross was almost constantly employed. In Drake's West India voyage he com- manded a bark; in the Armada he commanded the Hope. In Lord Thomas Howard's expedition, in 1592. he was Captain of the Bonaventure ; in Frobisher and Burroughs' to the coast of Spain, he commanded the Foresight; in the Cadiz expedi- tion, under Essex and Howard, he was Captain of the Swiftsure; and in the Downs fleet he com- manded the Nonpareil. Many other officers distinguished themselves in the Armada, and on other occasions — the Earl of Cumberland, Sir Henry Palmer, Sir George Beston, Richard Hawkins, and two brothers of Thomas Fenner, one of whom was killed on the Groyne expedition. Nothing indeed could be more gratify- ing to the Queen than the conduct of all who par- ticipated in the overthrow of the Armada ; which just at that time was enhanced by the opportune arrival of Sir Robert Sidney from Scotland, who reported to Her Majesty the determination of King James to stand firm to her interests, and to support those of the Protestant religion; and Sir Robert said that when he laid before James the arts and machinations of the Papists, the young King re- marked that "he expected no other favour at the HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 259 hands of the Spaniards than what Polyphemus promised to Ulysses — that when he had devoured all the rest, he would reserve him for the last morsel.'* This may be considered a fit place to introduce the Spanish narrative of the expedition of their Armada, which is not only authentic, but remark- ably accurate, when compared with those of our own historians.* * In the * Life of Drake' the following narrative was fre- quently alluded to, and several passages quoted to show how very nearly the English and Spanish accounts of the proceedings of the two fleets in 1588 agreed, and (in a note) was given the following brief but correct history of the MS. Spanish docu- ment : — " This manuscript, in the Spanish language, was sent to a gentleman of the Admiralty, from the archives of Madrid, after the conclusion of the revolutionary war. It is evidently a journal kept by an officer of the Duke of Medina's flag-ship, and it may safely be pronounced a modest and honest narrative." — — Barrow^ s Life of Drake ^ p. 287. " The Duke of Medina Sidonia (says the Spanish manuscript narrative of the invasion, which Mr. Barrow quotes in a pro- voking manner, not giving any satisfactory account of its au- thenticity, or informing us what or where it is) summoned to him,*' &c. — Edinburgh Review^ No. 162, p. 397. The gentleman of the " Edinburgh Review " may be well as- sured that the writers in that journal are the last to be treated " in a provoking manner." In the present case it was thought that the brief notice was sufficiently explicit as to the authen.' ticity, the what and the v)here ; but Diis aliter visum : there- fore the whole journal, as it is, shall be given in a true and faithful translation (hy H. F, Amedroz, Esq, of the Admiralty), being a document more appropriately inserted here than in the * Life of Drake.' It may be considered as an interesting histo- rical record. s 2 260 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. Relacion del Viage que ha *hecho desde el puerto de la Coruna la Armada Real de S. M. de que es General el Duque de Medina Sidonia, y lo que en el le ha sucedido. A Narrative of the Voyage of the Royal Armada, from the Port of Corunna, under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia ; with an account of the events which took place during the said voyage. (11th July.)* Friday, 22nd July.— TheDuke put to sea with the whole Armada from the port of Corunna, the wind being south-west ; and for some days we made good pro- gress with the same wind. Monday, 25th July. — Seeing that the Armada was pur- suing its voyage with favourable weather, the Duke dis- patched Captain Don Rodrigo Fello for Dunkirk, to apprize the Duke of Parma of his coming ; and to learn the state of affairs in that quarter, as well as the situation which would be most convenient for their junction. Tuesday, 2()th July. — The day began with a dead calm and thick weather, which continued till noon. The wind then changed to the northward, and we held our course east until midnight; when the wind became west-north-west, with heavy showers, which continued through the day and night. This day we lost sight of the head galley, the Diana ; which, it was said, returned into port, on account of her making much water. Wednesday, 27th July. — The same wind continued, but more fresh, and with a heavy sea, until midnight. In con- sequence of the weather, many ships of the Armada parted company, and amongst them, the three other galleys. * The dates in the MS. are according to the old style. By deducting 11 from each day they correspond precisely with our own. HOWAKD OF EFFINGHAM. 261 Thursday, 28th July. — At daybreak it was fair, with sunshine, and less wind and sea than on the preceding day. The ships of the Armada being counted, it was found that there were forty missing, and the three galleys. The Duke gave orders for sounding, and we found ourselves in 75 fathoms, 30 leagues distant from the Scilly Islands. Three pataches (small vessels) were immediately dispatched : one to the Lizard Point, to see whether the missing ships might be there, and to order them to wait for the Armada ; an- other to make the land and reconnaitre it ; and the third to go to the rear, to give orders for all vessels to carry a press of sail ; and also to see whether any of the missing ships might be astern, and if so, to hasten them up. Friday, 29th July. — We continued our course with a westerly wind. The vessel which had been dispatched for the Lizard returned, and reported that Don Pedro de Valdes was a-head with the missing ships, that he kept them together, and that he should wait with them for the Armada. In the evening all the ships of the Armada joined company, excepting the Capitana of Juan Martinez, under the Maestre de Campo Nicolas Isla, and the three galleys, of whose course nothing was known. This same day the coast of England was seen ; said to be the Lizard. Saturday, 30th July. — At day-break the Armada was very near the land, from which it was discovered, and the fire and smoke beacons were lighted. In the afternoon the Duke sent Ensign Juan Gil in a zabra with oars, towards the shore. In the evening several ships were seen, but the weather being thick, with small rain, they could not be counted. Ensign Juan Gil returned at midnight, bringing four English fishermen in a bark ; they said that they be- longed to Falmouth, and that they had seen the English fleet sail this afternoon from Plymouth, with the Admiral of England and Drake (Draques). Sunday, 31st July. — At day-break we were off Ply- 262 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. mouth, and the wind had changed to west-north-west. Sixty ships were discovered to windward ; and eleven others (amongst which were three large galleons) to leeward, in shore. The latter maintaining a running fire with some of our ships, worked to windward, and joined their fleet. The Armada was formed in order of battle, and the flag-ship hoisted the royal standard at the fore-top-mast-head. The enemy's fleet passed, cannonading our van under Don Alonzo de Ley va, who returned their fire from some of his ships ; and they then attacked our rear division under the Admiral- General Juan Martinez de Recalde ; who, not to shrink from his post, awaited their coming up, although he saw the ships of his division joining the main body of the Armada. The enemy attacked him, and kept up so heavy a fire on his ship, without boarding, that they disabled her, cutting up her rigging, and lodging two shot in her fore- mast. She was supported by the Grangri, belonging to the rear division, the galleon San Mateo under Don Diego de Pimentel, Maestre de Campo, and the galleon San Juan, of the division of Diego Florez, commanded by Don Diego Enriquez, son of the Viceroy, Don Martin Enriquez. The flag-ship took in her foresails* slackened the ropes, and lying to, waited to receive Juan Martinez into the line ; upon which the enemy drew ofi^, and the Duke got the Armada together ; not being able to do more on this occa- sion, as the enemy had gained the wind : their vessels were well fought, and under such good management that they did with them what they pleased. In the evening Don Pedro de Valdez ran on board the ship Catalina of his division, and split his bowsprit and foresail ; he fell into the centre, to repair the damage. The Armada continued until 4 P.M. endeavouring to gain the wind of the enemy ; at this hour the powder-barrels of the flag-ship of Oquendo took fire, and blew up the two decks and the poop. The Paymaster-General of the Armada was on board this ship. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 263 with part of the money of his Majesty. The Duke, per- ceiving her situation, tacked towards her, firing a gun, that the Armada should do the same, and ordered boats to be sent to her assistance. The fire was extinguished ; the enemy, who were advancing towards the ship, stopped on seeing our flag-ship making for her ; and she was covered, and placed in the body of the Armada. In consequence of the tacking, the foremast of the ship of Don Pedro de Valdes fell on her main-yard ; the Duke went to her assist- ance, and wished to take her in tow; but there were so much wind and sea, tl^at notwithstanding every exertion, it could not be done. In the meanwhile, we were remaining with fiirled sails ; and night coming on, Diego Florez re- presented to the Duke that if he lay to for that ship, the Armada, which was getting much a-head, would lose sight of him, and he would undoubtedly find himself in the morn- ing with only half the Armada ; that with an enemy so near at hand, the safety of the whole Armada was not to be hazarded for a single ship ; and that in his opinion by con- tinuing to lie to, the object of the expedition would be sacrificed. In compliance with this representation, the Duke ordered Captain Ojeda to remain by the disabled ship, with his own, and with four pataches, the flag-ship of Don Pedro, the ship of Diego Florez, and a galley, to endeavour to tow her, or to take out her crew ; but it was not possible to do either, on account of the wind and sea, and the darkness of the night. The Duke pursued his voyage, advancing with the Armada, and attending to its keeping together : and during the night, the wounded and the burnt were taken out of the flag-ship of Oquendo, although both the sea and the wind increased much. Monday, 1st August. (22nd July.)— The Duke gave orders that Don Alonzo de Leyva should pass with the van division to join that of the rear ; forming the two divisions into one ; with the three galleasses, and the galleons, San 264 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. Mateo, San Luis, Santiago, and that of Florence of the squadron of Portugal, in all forty-three ships, amongst the best of the Armada, to withstand the enemy, and to pre- vent their disturbing our junction with the Duke of Parma. The whole of the Armada was thus formed into two divi- sions only ; the Duke himself proceeding with the van, and Don Alonzo de Leyva having the charge of the rear, during the time that Juan Martinez was employed in putting his ship to rights. The Duke summoned to him all the Sargentos Mayores, and ordered them to proceed, each in a patache, to place the Armada in order; so that each ship should keep the position assigned to her in the new order of sailing, communicated to her in writing : and he further gave them written orders, directing that in case any ship did not observe the order and quitted her post, the captain should forthwith be hanged ; the Sargentos Mayores taking the Provosts with them for that purpose ; and for the better execution of the order, they were distributed, three in the van, and three in the rear division. The same day, at eleven, the captain of the flag-ship of Oquendo came and reported to the Duke that she was sinking, and could no longer be navigated ; upon which the Duke ordered the crew and the money of his Majesty to be taken out, and the ship to be sunk. In the evening, the Duke dispatched Ensign Juan Gil in a patache for Dunkirk, to apprize the Duke of Parma of his progress. Tuesday, 2nd August (23rd July). — The morning was fair. The enemy's fleet was seen to leeward, steering for the land, and making every effort to get to windward of us. The Duke tacked towards the shore, striving to keep the wind, and to prevent the enemy from gaining it ; and he was followed by the galleasses of the van division ; and by the rest of the Armada, at some distance. The enemy, observing that our flag-ship stood in shore, and that they should not be able to gain the wind in that direction, stood HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 265 out to sea, and in so doing were attacked by those of our ships that were to windward of them. Martin de Breten- dona, in his ship, made a spirited attack on the enemy's flag-ship, and endeavoured to board ; but when very near, the enemy's ship turned from him and went off towards the sea. The following ships also attacked the enemy, endea- vouring likewise to board : — The San Marcos, Marquis de Penafiel ; San Luis, Don Agustin Mesia, Maestre de Campo ; San Mateo, Don Diego Pimentel, M. de Campo ; San Felipe, Don Francisco de Toledo, M. de Campo ; Rata, Don Alonzo de Ley va ; the Capitana of Oquendo, Don Diego Pacheco ; San Juan de Sicilia, Don Diego Fellez Enriquez, who from the morning was close to the enemy ; the Galleon of Florence, Gaspar de Sousa ; the Galleon Santiago, Antonio Pereyra ; the Galleon San Juan, of Diego Florez, Don Diego Enriquez ; and the Venetian Valencera, Don Alonzo Luzon, M. de Campo. The galleasses of the van division having been carried by the current too near the land, the Duke sent them orders to make every effort with sails and oars to close with the enemy ; and the flag-ship also wore, to attack some of the vessels in the rear. The galleys came up firing, and joined some of our ships, which were nearly intermixed with the enemy, endeavouring to board. These were : — The Galleon of Florence, Gaspar de Sousa ; the Capitana of Ojeda ; the Begonia, Garribay ; the Valencera, Don Alonzo de Luzon; the galleon San Juan Bautista, Don Juan Maldonado, and Don Luis de Madea. Little effect, however, was produced; as the enemy, perceiving the wish of our ships to close with them, went off towards the sea ; and they received the attack with much advantage on their side, on account of the lightness of their vessels. Returning afterwards with the wind and tide in their favour, they made an attack upon Juan Martinez de Recaldc, who was in the rear, and who was supported by Don Alonzo de Leyva. At this moment the flag-ship was ^ OFTHF '^K 266 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. in the centre of the battle, proceeding to animate the ships engaging the rear of the enemy, apart from the two fleets. Captain Maroli was sent in a felucca to order the ships near the flag to wear for the support of Juan Martinez ; and on their doing so the enemy left Martinez and came united against the flag-ship, whilst she was advancing to the assist- ance of the ships before mentioned. The flag-ship, seeing that the enemy's flag-ship was coming foremost towards her, took in her top-sails, and prepared to receive them. The enemy's flag-ship passed, with the whole of their fleet, each ship giving her fire to our flag-ship ; and the latter sustained and returned the fire in such manner that the hindmost ships kept at a somewhat greater distance than the first. Juan Martinez de Recalde, Don Alonzo de Leyva, the Marquis de Penafiel in the galleon San Marcos, and Don Diego Pacheco in the Capitana of Oquendo, came to the support of the flag-ship ; but the heat of the action was over, and the enemy drew ofi* towards the sea; their admiral endeavouring to collect his ships, which appeared to have received some damage, and to cover the vessels which were engaged with our van. The Galleon of Florence, Gaspar de Sousa, was one of the vessels most forward in the engage- ment of this day, which lasted more than three hours. Wednesday, 3rd August (24th July). — Juan Martinez de Recalde resumed the command of the rear division ; Don Alonzo de Leyva remaining however in the same divi- sion, and the forty-three ships of which it was composed being divided between them. At day-break the enemy were in our rear, and cannonaded the flag-ship. The galleasses, Juan Martinez de Recalde, Don Alonzo de Leyva, and the other ships of the rear division, kept up a fire from their stern-ports without quitting their posts ; and the enemy went off without any further result, the galleasses having cut up the rigging of their flag-ship, and shot away her main-yard. Thursday, 4th August (25th July) ; Day of St. Domingo HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 267 — The urea Santa Anna, and a galleon of Portugal, being a little astern, they were warmly attacked by the enemy. Don Alonzo de Ley va, Don Diego Fellez Enriquez, and the galleasses, went to their assistance, and brought them off, although surrounded by a number of the enemy's vessels. Whilst this was passing in the rear division, the enemy's flag-ship, with some of their larger vessels, made an attack upon our flag-ship, which was in the van. They came closer than the former day, and fired from the heavy guns on their lower decks. The rigging of our main-mast was cut, and several soldiers killed. The galleon San Luis, Don Agustin Mesia, Maestre de Campo, came to the sup- port of the flag-ship in front of the enemy ; as also Juan Martinez de Recalde, Don Diego Enriquez in the San Juan of the squadron of Diego Florez, and the Capitana of Oquendo, which placed herself before the royal flag-ship, the current preventing her from taking a lateral position. Other ships came up also, and the enemy went off", their flag-ship remaining much damaged, and a little to leeward of the Armada. Our flag-ship made for her, with Juan Martinez de Recalde, Don Diego Fellez Enriquez in the San Juan de Sicilia, the Capitana of the Galleons of Cas- tille, the Grangri, and most of the ships of the Armada. The enemy's fleet stood to windward, leaving their flag-ship astern, and in such danger that she was towed by eleven launches, striking her standard, and firing guns as signals for assistance. Our flag-ship, the Admiral, and the other ships, were closing with her so fast, that the rest of the enemy's fleet began to make a show of coming to her sup- port, and we made certain of being this day able to board them, which was the only means of obtaining any decisive advantage. At this moment the wind freshened in favour of the enemy's flag-ship, which increased her distance from us, and cast off the launches that were towing her ; and their fleet, which was falling to leeward of the Armada,. 268 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. recovered its position to windward. The Duke perceiving that the expected engagement would not take place, and that we were then off the Isle of Wight, fired a gun as a signal to bring the ships together, and pursued his voyage, followed by the Armada in very good order ; the enemy remaining far astern. This same day the Duke despatched Captain Pedro de Leon for Dunkirk, to apprize the Duke of Parma of our progress, and of what had occurred; to represent to him the great importance of his coming out as quickly as possible to join the Armada ; and to request that he would send us some shot for four, six, and ten pounders, of which much had been expended in the late engagements. This day, also, the Duke gave the command of the squadron of Don Pedro de Valdes to Don Diego Enriquez, son of the Viceroy Don Martin Enriquez, in whom he observed much attention to, and much inclination for, the naval pro- fession. Friday, 5th August (25th July). — There was a calm in the morning ; and the two fleets were in sight of each other. The Duke dispatched a felucca with the pilot Domingo Ochoa to the Duke of Parma, to request that he would send forty small vessels to the Armada, to be employed against the enemy ; the heaviness of our ships, compared to the lightness of theirs, rendering it impossible in any man- ner to bring* them to close action ; and to represent to him of how much importance it was that he should be in readi- ness to join the Armada the day of its appearing in sight of Dunkirk. The Duke was extremely anxious on this point, feeling some apprehension that the Duke of Parma might not be at Dunkirk, as neither Don Rodrigo Fello returned, nor any other person arrived on the part of the Duke. At sunset a breeze sprang up, with which the Armada began to shape its course for Calais. Saturday, 6th August (26th July).— The two fleets at day- break were very near each other, and continued their courses HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 269 without firing : the Armada sailing before the wind, and the rear division keeping well closed and in good order. At ten in the morning we discovered the coast of France, in the neighbourhood of Boulogne ; and at four in the after- noon we arrived off Calais. There were various opinions in regard to the expediency of anchoring there, and the ma- jority inclined to proceeding further ; but the Duke having consulted the pilots he had on board, and learning from them that if he passed on, the current would carry him out of the English Channel into the North Sea, he determined to anchor in front of Calais (about seven leagues from Dun- kirk), where the Duke of Parma might join him. At five he accordingly gave the order to anchor ; and he sent Cap- tain Heredia to wait upon the Governor of Calais, Monsieur de Gordan, to inform him of the object of his coming, and to express his wish to maintain a friendly intercourse with him. In the evening the enemy were joined by thirty- six ships, including five large galleons, said to be the squadron of Juan Acles* from off Dunkirk : and the whole anchored a league from the Armada. In the night Captain Heredia returned from Calais, and reported that the Governor had made a tender of his services to His Majesty, and shown a readiness to afford every proof of his disposition in that respect. The same night the Duke dispatched his secretary, Jerome de Arco, to inform the Duke of Parma of his posi- tion, and of the impossibility of his remaining long in it, without much risk to the whole Armada. Sunday, 7th August (27th July). — Captain Don Rodrigo Fello arrived in the morning from Dunkirk. He reported that the Duke of Parma was at Bruges, where he had waited upon him ; and that although the Duke had ex- pressed much satisfaction at hearing of the arrival of the * Qy. Sir John Hawkins, who however does not appear to have been off Dunkirk ; Lord Seymour was there. 270 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. Armada, yet, on Saturday, at 6 p.m., when the Captain left Dunkirk, the Duke had not arrived there ; neither were they beginning to embark the troops, nor the stores or pro- visions, the whole of which were still on shore. The same morning the Governor of Calais sent his nephew to wait upon the Duke with a present of a quantity of refreshments ; and he advised the Duke that the situation in which he had anchored was one in which it was very dangerous to remain, on account of the currents and cross winds which prevailed in the straits. In consequence of the friendly proceedings of the Governor, the Duke sent the purveyor, Bemabe de Pedrosa, to purchase provisions ; and he was accompanied by the paymaster, Juan de Huerta. At night the Duke sent Don Jorge Maurique to the Duke of Parma with pressing solicitations that he would hasten his coming out : and the same night the Duke received a letter from his secretary, Arco, at Dunkirk, stating that the Duke of Parma had not arrived there ; that the stores and provisions were yet to be embarked ; and that it appeared to him impossible that the whole could be done even in fifteen days. The enemy were this day joined by nine more vessels ; and a division of about twenty-six vessels came nearer in-shore, which gave rise to a suspicion that they might intend to employ fire-ships. The Duke, in consequence, sent Captain Serrano in a pinnace, with an anchor and cable, to tow on shore any fire-vessel that might be directed against the Armada ; and he likewise sent instructions to all the ships which fronted the enemy to be very vigilant in their watch, and to have the rowing vessels manned with soldiers, in readiness to do the same. At midnight two fires were ob- served in the English fleet, which shortly increased to eight ; and they proved to be eight fire-vessels, which came with the current, their sails fastened, directly towards the flag- ship and the rest of the Armada, burning furiously. The Duke seeing them approach, and that they were not inter- HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 271 cepted by our boats, and being apprehensive that they might be fitted for explosion, gave orders for weighing the anchor, and for the rest of the Armada to do the same ; directing all the ships, as soon as the fire-vessels should have passed, to resume their stations. The head galleasse, in avoiding a fire-vessel, ran on board the San Juan de Sicilia, and was so much damaged that she was forced to run on shore ; and the strength of the current carried away the Armada in such a manner that although the flag-ship and a few vessels which were near her re-anchored, the rest did not observe it, but drifted with the current towards the shoals of Dun- kirk. Monday, 8th August. (29th July.)--The Duke observ- ing at day-break, that the Armada had got to a distance, and that the enemy were coming down in full sail, weighed anchor, to re-assemble the Armada, and to endeavour to replace it in the position which it had occupied. The wind freshened from the north-west, from which quarter it blows directly on that coast ; and the enemy's fleet, now amount- ing to 136 sail, came down so quickly with both wind and tide in its favour, that the Duke, who was in the rear, judged that even if he should be able to join the main body of the Armada, they would, as declared by the Flemish pilots he had on board, be lost on the Dunkirk shoals ; and he accordingly determined, without consulting his own safety, to face the enemy. He opposed his broadside to them, thereby covering the Armada ; and sent pataches to the latter, with orders to the ships to get to windward, as they were making for the shoals. The enemy's flag-ship, with the greater part of their fleet, commenced an attack on the flag-ship, with a heavy cannonading, as soon as it was daylight ; coming within musket-shot, and sometimes within that of an arquebuse. This attack lasted without inter- mission till 3 P.M., and without any change in the flag- ship's position, until she saw the Armada clear of the 272 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. shoals : and the galleon San Marcos, Marquis de Penafiel, was the whole time near the flag- ship. The head galleasse, not being able to follow the Armada, made for Calais, but grounded at the entrance of the port : she was followed by some of the enemy's vessels ; but it is thought that the fort of Calais will have protected her with its guns, and that the crew has escaped. Don Alonzo de Leyva, Juan Martinez de Recalde, the Capitana of Oquendo, all the ships of the Maestres de Campo of Castillo and Portugal, the flag-ship of Diego Florez, and that of Bretendona, and the galleon San Juan, of the division of Diego Florez, in which was Don Diego Enriquez, sustained to the utmost the enemy's attacks, and all these ships remained much damaged, scarcely capable of further resistance, and most of them without any shot to fire. Don Francisco de Toledo, who was in the rear, closed with the enemy and attempted to board, but he was assailed by so heavy a fire that he found himself hard pressed ; and Don Diego de Pimentel, who went to his support, was in the same situation, until Juan Martinez de Recalde and Don Agustin Mesia came to their assistance and extricated them. Nevertheless these two ships again got into the midst of the enemy ; and the follow- ing ships also, that of Don Alonzo de Luzon, the Santa Maria de Begonia under Garibay, and the San Juan de Sicilia, Don Diego Fellez Enriquez, attacked the enemy in the midst of many of their largest ships. Don Francisco de Toledo, Don Diego Pimentel, and Don Diego Fellez Enri- quez, getting almost near enough to board, but yet not quite able to grapple the enemy's ships, were exposed to a fire fi-om their great guns, which being so close, they re- turned with arquebuses and musketry. The Duke hearing the musketry in the rear, but not being able, on account of the smoke, to discover fi'om the tops more than that two of our ships were in the midst of the enemy, and that after quitting our flag-ship, the whole of the enemy's fleet was HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 273 making an attack in that quarter, he ordered the ship to proceed to the assistance of our vessels, although she had received so many shot between wind and water that she could not be kept clear, and nearly the whole of her rigging was cut. With all this, the enemy perceiving the approach of the flag-ship, quitted the ships that were engaged with them ; the same being those of Don Alonzo de Luzon, Ga- ribay, Don Francisco de Toledo, Don Diego Pimentel, and Don Diego Fellez Enriquez. The tlu-ee last had been the most warmly engaged, and were the most damaged ; they were now quite disabled and unserviceable, with most of their crews killed or wounded ; but notwithstanding Don Diego Fellez Enriquez resolved to follow us in his disabled state. The Duke got together the ships of the Armada ; and the enemy did the same. The Duke then gave orders for sending pataches to take out the crews of the San Felipe and San Mateo ; and they accordingly received the company of the San Mateo ; but Don Diego Pimentel would not quit his ship ; and he sent Don Rodrigo de Bivero and Don Luis Vanegas to the Duke, to request that he would send some person to examine whether she could be navigated. •In compliance with this request, the Duke sent a pilot with a boat from this galleon, although it was with some risk that he spared him ; but it being late, and the sea running high, he could not reach the San Mateo ; and she was seen from a distance that night going towards Zealand. The galleon San Felipe was lashed to the Doncella Urea, and all her crew went on board the latter vessel ; when, Don Fran- cisco having also passed into the Urea, some voices cried out that the Urea was sinking ; Captain Juan Poza de San- tiso sprang into the San Felipe, and Don Francisco de To- ledo followed him ; which proved very unfortunate, as it turned out that the Urea was not sinking, and Don Fran- cisco in the San Felipe ran on the coast of Zealand, after it had been reported to the Duke that he and all his crew were safe on board the Doncella. The tide was so strong, T 274 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. that nothing more could be done ; nor could the shot-holes in the flag-ship, which threatened to sink her, be repaired. The Duke wished to turn with all the Armada against the enemy, in order not to get out of the Channel : but the pilots declared it to be impossible, against the wind and tide (the former being from the north-west, and blowing on the coast) ; and that the Armada must proceed into the North Sea, or it would be driven on the shoals. It thus became unavoidable to quit the Channel ; almost all the ships of the Armada which had been relied upon, were now in very bad condition, and unable to make resistance, both from the effects of the fire they had sustained, and from the want of shot for the use of their guns. Tuesday, 9th August, Eve of San Lorenzo. (30th July.) — At two in the morning the wind freshened so much, that although the flag-ship kept to windward as much as pos- sible, with a view of yet returning into the Channel, she fell off towards the coast of Zealand. At sunrise it became more calm, but the wind was still north-west; and the enemy's fleet, amounting to 109 sail, was little more than half a league astern. The flag-ship remained in the rear, with Juan Martinez de Recalde, Don Alonzo de Leyva, the . galleasses, the galleon San Marcos, and the San Juan of Diego Florez ; the rest of the Armada at a distance, and much to leeward. The enemy came up towards the flag- ship, which lay to for them; the galleasses opposed their broadsides ; and the other ships of the rear division facing the enemy, the latter were kept in check. The Duke fired two guns to bring the Armada together ; and sent a patache with a pilot, to order the ships to keep to windward, as they were getting very near the shoals of Zealand : and it was in fact the enemy's perceiving that the Armada was on the point of being wrecked, which prevented their coming closer on this occasion. The pilots on board the flag-ship, who were best acquainted with the coast, declared to the Duke that it was impossible to save a single vessel of the whole HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 275 Armada ; that with the north-west wind then blowing, the whole must inevitably go upon the shoals on the coast of Zealand ; and that God only could prevent it. In this hopeless situation, without any human means of escape, and when the Armada was in only six fathom and a half, it pleased God to change the wind to west-south-west, and the Armada was enabled to make way to the northward, with- out the loss of a ship ; this was greatly owing to the parti- cular orders which the Duke sent by small vessels to all the ships to follow the movements of the flag-ship, for otherwise many must have gone upon the shoals. In the evening, the Duke sent for the Admirals, and for Don Alonzo de Leyva, to deliberate on the course to be now pursued ; and setting before them the present state of the Armada, and the want of shot, for which applications were received from all the ships of any importance, he put to them the question whether it were most expedient to go back into the English Channel, or to return by the North Sea to Spain, since there were no advices from the Duke of Parma of his being able shortly to come out. All the members of the Council agreed, that the Armada ought to go back into the Channel, if the weather allowed of its doing so ; but if not, that, yielding to the weather, they should return by the North Sea to Spain ; considering that the Armada was in want of all the most necessary articles, and that those ships which had hitherto withstood the enemy were now disabled. The wind continued increasing from the south-south-west ; and the Duke therefore continued his course into the North Sea, followed by the whole of the enemy's fleet. It is to be ob- served, that in regard to the movements of the flag-ship, either for engaging the enemy, for rendering assistance to others, or for maintaming her own stations, the Duke con- sulted the Maestre de Campo, Don Francisco de Bobadilla, whom, on account of his experience in many years' Warfare by sea and by land, he had removed into the flag-ship, at Corunna, from the command of the galleon San Marcos ; T 2 276 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. leaving the latter in the charge of the Marquis of Penafiel, who declined coming into the flag-ship on account of some persons embarked in her. But in regard to the general government of the Armada and of sea affairs, the Duke followed the counsels of Admiral Diego Florez, whom he had also taken on board the flag-ship, as being one of the oldest and most experienced naval oflScers. Wednesday, 10th August (31st July). — The Armada continued its course, with the wind fresh from the south- west, and much sea : and the enemy's fleet followed us. In the afternoon, the gale being less violent, the enemy came up under a press of sail, closer to our rear ; and the Duke observing that there were few ships in that quarter with Juan Martinez de Recalde, he caused the flag-ship to take in her top-sails and lie to, for the purpose of waiting for the rear division ; firing three guns, at intervals between each, as an order to the rest of the Armada, which was proceed- ing under all sail, to lie to and wait for the flag-ship and the rear division. What the Armada did thereon will be related by Don Baltazar de Zuniga. The enemy perceiving that the flag-ship lay to, and that the galleasses which were in the rear, with about twelve of our best ships, did the same, also lay to, without coming within gun-shot. This night Juan Acles returned with his squadron. Thursday, 11th August (1st August). — We continued our voyage with the wind in the same quarter, and fresh. The enemy's fleet, which had kept at a distance, came up to- wards us in the afternoon under all sail. The missing ves- sels of Juan Acles were counted ; the flag-ship and the galleasses lay to ; and the enemy did not come near enough to fire. Friday, 12th August (2nd August). — In the morning the enemy's fleet still followed the Armada ; but seeing that we proceeded in close order, and that the rear division was re- inforced, they turned towards the coast of England, and we lost sight of them. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 277 The following days we continued our course with the same wind, until we got through the channel of the sea of Norway. It has never been possible to return to the English Channel, although it has been our desire to do so to the present day, the 20th of August; on which day, having doubled the northernmost islands of Scotland, we are steer- ing for Spain, with the wind east north-east. The complete dispersion of the Spanish fleet, and the destruction of a large portion of it, relieved the Queen, the government, and the nation from a load of anxiety which its appearance in the English Channel had occasioned ; but it did not afford an equal share of relief or rest from the anxious cares of Lord Charles Howard. He resumes his corre- spondence, but the few letters which follow convey a most lamentable picture of the wants, the miseries, and the sufferings of the poor seamen ; which none could more feelingly deplore, or more zealously employ his best exertions to obtain the means of alleviating. Money and victuals, and clothing, were daily and earnestly demanded to supply their wants. Scantily and tardily as all these were ob- tained, there was altogether wanting the necessary accommodation for the reception of the sick, which were unfortunately very numerous. At this period of the naval history there were no hospitals, nor indeed any establishments for keeping up a supply 27B HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. of food or clothing. Lord Charles Howard had no Board of Admiralty to assist him — no navy, no victualling, no medical boards. Neither was there any Greenwich Hospital, or similar institution, to administer relief; but all the wants of the seamen, and the possibility of relieving their necessities, were thrown entirely upon the Lord High Admiral. The first and only fund, which the present severe distress no doubt gave rise to, was that humane and excellent establishment, devised by two eminent officers who, at this time, were personal witnesses of the seamen*s melancholy situation — The Chest of Chatham — planned and carried out by Hawkins and Drake. The few following letters will fully explain the condition of the seamen, who had been so instru- mental to the repulse of the enemy : — No. 1. — Lord C. Howard to Mr. Secretary Walsyngham. Aug. 8. — Calls earnestly for victuals ; suggests the keeping up a large force for five or six weeks ; prays that his brother Staf- ford may let Mendo§a know a certain truth. No. 2. — Lord C. Howard to Sir F. Walsyngham. Aug. 9. — Thinks the Spaniards may return, fearing to go back, " for we have marvelously plucked them." No. 3. — Lord C. Howard to the Lord Treasurer. Aug. 10. — A most distressing and melancholy letter regarding the poor seamen. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 279 No. 4. — Lord C. Howakd to the Privy Council. Aug. 22. — Officers to report the state of the infected ships ; dreadful sickness, and discontent for want of pay. No. 5. — Lord C. Howard to Sir F. Walsyngham. Aug. 23. — Receives news of the Spanish fleet. (No. 1.) Lord C. Howard to his loving friend Mr. Secretary Walsyngham. 1588, August 8th. Sir, — I did wryght yesterday by my Lord of Cumber- land to beer Majestic, to my Lord Tresorer, and to you, being thwarte of Harwyge. I bare with sume of the shypse into Marget Rode : wher the rest be yet I dow not know, for we had a most vyolant storme as ever was sene at this tyme of the yer, that put us asonder, thwarte of Norfolke, amonkst many ilfavord sandse; but I trust they dow all well, and I hope I shall beer of them this nyght or tomorro. I pray to God we may beer of vyttelse, for we ar generaly in graet want, and also that I may know how the coaste shypse of the west shalbe vyteled, and also that order be taken for the vyttelyng, and for monysion, for the shypse of London. I know not what you thynk of it at the courte, but I dow thynk, and so dowthe all beer, that ther chanot be to graet forses mayntayned yet for 5 or 6 wekse on the sees, for allthoughe we have put the Spanyshe flyte past the Fry the, and I thynk past the Use, yet God knowethe whither they goo, ether to the Nase of Norway, or into Denmark or to the Use of Orkyne, to refreshe themselves, and so to retourne, for I thynk they dare not retourne with this dis- honor, and shame, to ther king, and overtrow of ther Popse credit. Sir, surely sume fynd a kyngdom is a graet wager. Sir, 280 . HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. you know securite is dangerous, and yf God had not byne our best frend, we shuld have found it so ; some maed lyttell acomte of the Spanyshe forse by see, but I dow warante you all the worlde nevar saw suche a forse as thers was, and sume Spanyerdse that we have taken, that weer in the fyght at la pante, (Lepanto ?) dow say that the worst of our 4 fyghtse that we have had with them did exced far the fyght they had ther ; and they say that at soume of our fyghtse we had 20 tymse as much graet shot that played, as they had there. Sir, I pray to God that we may be all thank- full to God for it, and that it may be doune by sume order, that the world may know we are thankfuU to Him for it.* Sir, I pray you let me heer what the D. of Parme dowthe, with sume sped, and what his forses by see ar. Sir, in your nexst letters to my browther Stafford, I pray wryght to him that he wyll let Mendosa know, that heer Majesties rotten shypse dare met with his masters sounde shypse, and in buselynge with them, thowghe they weer 3 graet shypse to one of us, yet we have shortened them 16 or 17, wherof ther is 3 of them afyshyng in the botome of the sees. God be thanked of all. Sir, I pray you let this gentelman receve thanks, he hathe well desarved it with graet valour. Sir, Mr. Chydle and Mr. Vaveser ar worthy of graet comenda- sion for ther valur. Sir, being in haste, and muche ocupyed, I bed you most hartely farwell. Marget Rod, the 8th of August. Your most assured lovyng frend, C. HoWARD.f Sir, yf I heer nothynge of my vyttels and monysion this nyght heer, I wyll gallope to Dover to see what may be doune ther, or else we shall starve. * It was done by public Thanksgiving at St. Paul's. t MS., State Paper Office. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 281 (No. 2.) Lord C. Howard to Sir F. Walsyngham. C1588), August 9th. Sir, — After I had spoken with Mr. Quarelus at Sand- wyge, I galoped hether to the Comyssyoners, to understand by them of the state of the Duke of Parme. I did under- stand by them that he was not in that redynes that I par- ceve synce, by Welshe, that he is, but I dow assur my selfe he chan dow no graet matter, excepte the Spanyshe army retoume to them. I dow understand by a small barke of our company, that lost us in the storme, met with 20 graet hulks, going, as it semed, after the flyte ; I dowt they be sum vytelers that dow folio them ; yf they chan watter in any of the ilse of Scotland, or in the northe parte of Scot- land, it is verry lykly that they wyll retoume, for mythynkes they dare not goo bak with this dishonor and staine, for we have marvelously pluked them. I wolde thynk it were not amysse that heer Majestie did send on in post to the Scotyshe King that he wold withstand ther landyng, and watteryng ; and yet I feer mor his going in to Denmark, and ther to be relyved and to be helped with shypse. Sir, I her this Courenell Morgayne is come to Margett, with 800 sogers, and I dow beer it shuld be for our shyps ; yf it shuld be so, we must have vyttells provyded for them, befor we chane receve them, for the vyttells that Mr. Quarelus bathe provyded wyll not sarve our company above 3 weks, for the preporsion is but for 7,600 men, and we are ner 10 thowsand. Ther must be care taken for it. Sir, I dow understand for carten that ther is graet pre- parasion of shypynge and men at Depe, and at Newhavne, and that they are redy to come out. Sir, it weer good that suche shypse as be of sarvis, ether in the Themse, or else 282 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. wher, in the coste townse, shuld be sent out with sped, for we must devyd our selves into partes to prevent all danger. This is a thynge channot contenew a bove 6 weks, and for that tyme we must be stronge : sume of our company have spent ther most, and sume are gone with this last storme into leks, and therfor I dow assure my selfe a good many will not be able to sarve. Ther is a nomber of pour men of the cost tounse, I meen the maryners, that kry owt for money, and they know not wher to be payed ; I have giffene them my word and honor that ether the townse shuld pay them, or I wyll see them payed. Yf I had not done so they had rone away from Plymowthe by thowsandse. I hope ther wyl be care had of it. Sir, money had ned to come downe for our hole company. Sir, I am goinge to Marget. In hast, far ye well. From Kanterbury, the 9 th of August. Your lovynge frend, C. Howard.* Sir, I dow not se but of necesite ther must be a magosyne at Dover. (No. 3.) Lord C. Howard to the Lord Treasurer. 1588, Augt. 10th. My Good Lord, — Sicknes and mortalitie begin wonder- fullie to groe amongste us, and it is a moste pitiftiU sighte to see here at Marget howe the men (having noe place to receave them into here) die in the streats. I am driven my self of force to com aland to see them bestowed in some logeings, and the beste I can get is barnes and suche oute * MS., State Paper Office. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 283 houses, and the releefe is small that I can provide for them here. It wold greave anie mannes harte to see them that have served soe valiantlie to die soe miserablye. The Elizabeth Jonas, which hathe don as well as eaver anie ship did in anie service, hathe had a greate infectione in her from the beginninge, soe as of the 500 men which she caried oute, by the time we had bin in Plimouthe three weeks or a month there were deade of them 200 and above, soe as I was driven to set all the reste of her men ashore, to take oute her ballaste, and to make fires in her of wet brome 3 or 4 dales togeather, and soe hoped therbie to have clensed her of her infectione, and thereuppon got newe men, very tall and hable as eaver I sawe, and put them into her : nowe the infectione is broken oute in greater extremitie then eaver it did before, and (they) dye and sicken faster then eaver they did, soe as I am driven of force to send her to Chat- ham : we all thinke and iudge that the infectione remaineth in the pitche. Sir Roger Townsend, of all the men he broughte oute with him, hathe but one lefte alive ; and my sonn Southwell likewise hathe manie deade, it is like enoughe that the like infectione will growe thoroughe oute the moste parte of oure fleete ; for they have bin soe longe at sea, and have so litle shifte of aparell, and soe fewe places to provide them of such wants, and noe money wherewith to buy it, for som have bin, yea the moste parte, theise 8 monethes at sea. My Lord, I wold thinke it a marvailouse good waie that there were a thousand pounds worthe or twoe thousand marks worthe of hose, doublets, shirts, shues, and such like sent downe. And I thinke your Lordship mighte use therin the Comtrouler of the navie and Water, Mr. Hawkins his mann, whoe wold use all expeditione for the providinge and sendinge awaie of suche things, for elles in verie shorte time I looke to see moste of the mariners goe naked. Good my Lord, let maryners be preste and sent downe as sone as maie be, and money to discharge those that be sicke 284 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. here ; and soe in haste I bid your Lordship farewell. From Marget the 10th of Auguste, 1588. Your Lo. most assured to comand, (Signed) C. Howard.* At Sandwich the ij^ of Agoost, past 1 of the docke in the momyng. (No. 4.) Lord C. Howard to the Privy Council. Augt. 22, 1588. Maib it please youre Lordships — Uppon my comminge hither to Dover the 21st of Auguste, aboute 3 of the clocke in the after none, I presentlye sent for the Lord Henrie Seymour, Sir William Winter, Sir firancis Drake, Sir John Hawkins, Sir Henry Palmer, and Mr. Thomas ffenner, to com unto me, to confer with them for the presente considera- tione of her Majestie^s service, whoe declared unto me the state of the ffleete, which with sorowe and greefe I muste deliver unto youre Lordships. As I lefte som of the ships infected at my comminge up, soe I doe finde, by theire reportes that have looked deeplie into it, that the moste parte of the fleete is greavouslye infected, and die dailie, falinge sicke in the ships by numbers, and that the ships of themselves be soe infectiouse, and soe corrupted, as it is thoughte to be a verie plague ; and we finde that the freshe men, that we drawe into cure ships, are infected one daie, and die the nexte, soe as manie of the ships have hardlie men inoughe to waie theire ankers. For my Lord Thomas Howarde, my Lord Sheffeilde, and some 5 or 6 other ships (beinge at Marget, and the winde ill for that roade) are soe weaklie manned by the reason of this sicknes and mortalitie, as they were not hable to waye theire ankers to com, wheras we are nowe, my Lords, sithe the matter is of that momente * MS., State Paper Office. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 285 for the service of her Majestic and this realme, we have entered into consideratione what is fitteste to be don, the extremitye beinge soe greate. The one touchinge the ser- vice of the realme, the other conceminge the mortalitie and sicknes, and therefore thoughte this course, which we here set downe to be fitteste to be don, — which is to divide oure fleete into twoe parts, the on to ride in the Downes, the other at Marget or Gorende ; to bringe oure men, as manie as convenientlie we can, ashore, and there to releeve them with freshe victuales, and to suply suche other ther wants as we can, and uppon the hearinge or discoverie of the Spanish ffleete, we shalbe hable, with the help of souldyoures from the shore, for to be readie within a daie for the service ; and therefore we are to praie your Lordships that Mr. Quarles maie be sent downe with all speede unto us, with that moneye that shold have prepared the nexte victualinge there- with, to provide freshe victuales uppon the shore, for the releavinge of those men, and soe we will spare theire victuales which we have aborde. My Lords, we doe not see amongste us all by what other meanes to contynewe this service, for the losse of maryners wilbe soe greate, as neather the realme shalbe hable to help it, and it wilbe greater offence unto us, then the enemy was hable to laie uppon us, and wilbe a verie shorte time answerable to theire losse, besides the unfumishinge of the realme of such needfull and most necessarie men in a comon welthe. I knowe your Lordships will acquainte her Majestic with this greate cause, which I leave unto your Lordships' honorable wisdome to consider of. My Lords, I must deliver unto your Lordships the greate discontentcments of men here, which I and the reste doe perceave to be amongste them, whoe well hoped after this soe greate service to have reccaved theire whole paic, and findinge it to com but thus scantlie unto them, it breades a mervailouse alteratione amongste them ; and therfor I doe 286 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. not see but of presente necessitie there muste be order sent downe for the paymente of them unto the 25th of Auguste, wherof I leave Sir John Hawkins to certifie the Lord Threa- sorer, in more particuler, from himself The Rowbucke is not yet com to the fleete, but as I understand she is imploied by my Lord of Huntingtone in the Northe service, wherbie we are disapoynted of the ponder in her. And soe I take my leave of your Lordships. From Dover the 22nd of Auguste, 1588. Youre Lordships moste assured to comand, (Signed) C. Howard.* (No. 5.) Lord C. Howard to Sir F. Walsyngham. August 23d, 1588. Sir, — Mr. Barre is ded, and we chanot lerne wher the pytche and tar is becoum, nor no man now to deell for those thyngs. Ther must be sum sent downe from my Lord Chocburn, to take order bothe for that and the botes that shuld be ocupyed. If Sir E. Norrys advertysmentes be trew, as it is verry lykly, I am afrayde it wylbe wyshed the forses had not byne so soune disolved. I dow assur you I dout muche that Hare's advertysment is not good, for many hathe meet with them sjnice that tyme that he spekethe of, that they shuld be pased be twyxt Orkene and the Feer (Faroe) Hand, 60 legse athis syde that. Yonge Northe, that sarved the Palentyne, and hathe byne in the flyte all this tyme, chame yester nyght hether, from Ipswyge, who declai-ethe that ther cham on thether, that chame from the estwards, and sayd to dyvers of the towne that, as I take it about the 16th of this present, he saw them beer this wayse, and that they weer thwarte of * MS., State Paper Office. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 287 Barwyke, and kepte the medst of the chanell, and that they have but only ther forsaill to stem the tyde, and sum tyme lay ahull. If it be trew, then did they detracte the tyme to come just with the sprynge. Sir, God knowethe what we shall dow if we have no men : many of our shypse ar so wekly maned that they have not maryners to way ther ankers. The 3 shypse that ar gone to take the Spanyerd at Newhavne, and the E. Jhonas that is at Chatham, bathe wekened our flyte muche. Well, we must dow what we chane, — I hope in God that he will make us stronge anufe for them, for all men are of good corage heer. That wyche wylbe downe wylbe betwyxt to morro and Wensday. Non of your lyvetenants be in the shyr ; bothe neded not to have gone to London. My Lord Chob- ham's presents wold dow well heer. That wyche must be downe must be with sped, so far you well, in hast, the 23rd of August. Your asured lovyng frend, (Signed) C. Howard.* In a further letter of 29th August, still craving for victuals and money, he earnestly entreats that the poor seamen may not be discharged without their wages ; for he says, " if men shall not be cared for better than to let them starve, and in that extremity, and let them die miserably, we shall very hardly get men to serve. I am not the able man in ^* * * ^- *^^ but before God I had rather never have a penny in the world than these should lake." With this letter he takes leave of the com- mand of the fleet for the present, appointing a * MS., State Paper Office. 288 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. certain number of ships, officers, and men to watch the narrow seas. Notwithstanding the extremity of distress in the fleet, occasioned by various causes, but chiefly by the infectious disease, which visited the ships im- mediately after the dispersion of the Armada, by the indefatigable exertions of the Lord High Admiral, and the principal officers under him, it was nearly subdued before the end of the year. There appeared, indeed, to be inherent in the British Navy, under the protecting care of Queen Eliza- beth and her Lord High Admiral, a buoyancy and elasticity to surmount all disasters and difficulties, whenever any important occasion should arise to call forth the exertion of its powerful aid, whether for domestic or foreign service. Thus in the early part of the very next year after that of the disper- sion of the Spanish Armada (1589), an expedition, on a great scale, was put in preparation, the naval command of which was conferred on Sir Francis Drake, and that of the land forces on Sir John Norris ; its object being to assail the Spaniards in their own domestic ports. Various other yearly expeditions, public or private, were put forth ; but it was not until the year 1596 that the Lord Ad- miral again hoisted his flag; nor would he then perhaps have done so, had not the British Navy been deprived, by death, of its three most eminent officers — Drake, Frobisher, and Hawkins. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 289 In this year an armament was fitted out for the purpose of striking a severe blow, by attacking the Spaniard in his capital city and port of Cadiz, on the ground, as the Queen states in her instructions to the two commanders, the Earl of Essex and Lord Charles Howard of Effingham (or, as they are called, the Lords General), — *' That the King of Spain had made, and was making, ready a greater navy to come to the seas, than was made, in '88, and that the same navy should come to our seas, to invade our realme of England, and with part thereof to give aid to our rebel subjects in Ire- land." This fleet, under the immediate directions of the Queen, was ordered forthwith to be equipped. It consisted of 150 ships, 17 of which were of the Queen's own navy, and 22 in addition were sent by the States of the Low Countries; the rest being victuallers, tenders, and other small craft. In this fleet were upwards of 6,000 soldiers, 1,000 volun- teers, and 6772 seamen, exclusive of the Hollanders.* By the appointment of the Lords General, jointly, as commanders in chief, it was understood that the Lord Admiral was to have the principal com- mand and authority at sea, and the Lord Essex by land. Lord Essex, however, had precedence in the commission, as being an earl, whereas the Lord Admiral was only a baron ; and military rank in * Camden. U 290 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. those days was settled according to rank in the peerage, and not by professional standing. A council of war was appointed, consisting of the Lord Thomas Howard, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Vere, Sir George Carew, and Sir Coniers Clifford. The principal officers were : — The Lord High Admiral in the Ark Royal, Sir Amias Preston his captain. The Earl of Essex in the Repulse, Monson his captain. The Lord Thomas Howard in the Mere Honeur. The officers of the army were : — Sir Francis Vere, Lieutenant-General ; Sir John Wingfield, Quartermaster-General ; Sir George Carew, Master of the Ordnance; Sir Coniers Clifford, Serjeant- Major. The Colonels were, — Robert Earl of Sus- sex, Sir Christopher Blunt, Sir Thomas Gerard, Sir Richard Wingfield, Sir Edward Wingfield, Captain of the Volunteers, and Anthony Ashley, Secretary of the Council of War; whose business was to keep a register of their councils, the argu- ments used therein, and to record the several actions made, and attempts that should be formed. "^ And these Councillors, five in number, are directed to give their counsels to the two Generals, *' without any private respect to either of them, for love or fear; and if you, the two Generals, shall differ in * Camden. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 291 your several opinions, and that the greater part of the five Councillors shall assent to the opinion of one of you, then that opinion shall be followed by the other." The pith of her Majesty's long, able, and con- siderate instructions is as follows : — To make a strict inquiry into the quantity of stores and provisions of the enemy, embarked in ships or on shore, and to take or destroy them, and also all the Spanish ships, but without running too great a risk on her Majesty's part; for it would be more agreeable to her that her people should be preserved for the defence of their own country, than exposed to the common hazards of war, where little was to be got, either of honour or advantage. That, in any towns they might take, they should spare the women, children, aged, and infirm, and use the sword only against their opponents ; that all spoil and plunder should be carefully preserved, to defray the expenses of the war, and to reward such as had acted bravely ; that, having destroyed the ships and preparations of the enemy, they should despatch a squadron to intercept the Indian carracks on their return home. The instructions, given by the " Lords General" to the officers, consist of twenty-nine Articles, the several subjects of which are clearly expressed ; in- culcating the observance of religion and morality, of strict discipline, and obedience to orders : they u 2 292 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. also point to various regulations with regard to the duties of seamanship. The ships' companies are directed, in the first place, to serve God, by using the Common Prayers twice each day ; all swearing, brawling, dicing to be forbidden ; picking and stealing to be severely punished ; cleanliness to be observed, to preserve from sickness ; and the article which, in our present " Articles of War," awards the punishment of death for striking a superior ofiicer, is just the same in those of the '' Lords General." These instructions also direct that the watch be set every night by eight o'clock, by beat of drum, singing the Lord's Prayer, some of the Psalms of David, and clearing the glass. No doubt that this last *' custom of ould England " was intended to regulate the time of the evening's devotion, as the pulpit-glass was to measure the length of the ser- mon, in the church. The following prayer, composed by the Queen, was publicly used at the departure of the fleet : — " MosTE Omnipotent, " Maker and garder of all our worldes masse, that onely searchest and fadomeste the bottome of all our hartes conceites, and in them seest the trewe origynal] of all our actions intended : Thou that by thy forsyght doest trewly discerne how no mallice of revenge, nor quittance of injurie, nor desyre of bloodshed, nor greedenes of lucre, hath bredd the HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 298 resolution of our now sett out armie, but a heedefull care and warie watche, that no neglecte of foes nor oversuertie of harme might breede ether daunger to us, or glorie to them. These being groundes, Thou, that didest inspire the mynde, we humbly beseche with bended knees prosper the wourke, and with beste forewyndes guyde the journey, speed the victorie, and make the returne the advance- ment of thy glorie, the tryumph of their fame, and suertie of the realme, with the least losse of Englishe blonde. To these devout petitions Lorde geve thou thy blessed graunt." * The fleet left Plymouth on the 3rd June^ with a fine northerly wind, and arriving off" the coast of Spain on the 12th, they kept out to sea, to endea- vour to get intelligence, intending to take Cadiz by surprise. On the 18th they learnt from an Irish vessel, that had left Cadiz a few days before, that all remained in a state of tranquillity ; that the port was full of ships of war, galleys, galleons, and merchantmen, richly laden for the Indies ; and that a small garrison only was on the island. Their first intention was to land at St. Sebastian ; but the wind being strong, and the sea high, and observing four large galleys in a position favourable for intercepting their boats, they altered their plan, and decided (Monson says by his advice) to sur- * MS., Lambeth Palace Library. 294 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. prise the ships, and make themselves masters of the harbour before attempting to land. And now the Earl of Essex set up his claim to the honour of leading in ; but the Lord High Admiral resisted it, well knowing the risk that his rash and impetuous zeal might occasion to the objects of the expedition ; that it belonged to him, as a seaman, to make that part of the arrangement ; and, moreover, he thought it right to acquaint him, privately, that he had been strictly charged by her Majesty to prevent him from exposing himself to danger, without the greatest necessity. Besides, the whole council thought proper to interfere, and to oppose the Earl of Essex in this particular. Upon which it was arranged, that the attack should be made with the lightest ships, and that the Lord Thomas Howard, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Vere, and some others, should perform this service. Sir William Monson, by his own account, thought fit to tell the Earl of Essex that the greatest service would depend upon three or four ships, ** and he put him in mind of his honour, for that many eyes beheld him;" and this, he says, " made him forgetful of his pro- mise, and to use all means he could to be foremost in the fight." Sir Walter Raleigh, in the Warspite, being one of the ships appointed to lead in, came first to anchor, but at such a distance, says Monson, from the Spanish ships, that he could make no impres- HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 296 sion on them. Besides, his ship blocked up the channel, so that with difficulty Sir Francis Vere, in the Rainbow, got past him. Sir Walter then weighed his anchor, and stood farther in. Lord Thomas Howard, impatient to get into the fight, left his ship, on account of her size, and entered the Nonpareil. Each ship now strove to get opposite to the galleons, which were so placed that their broadsides faced the invaders, while they were also under the protection of their forts. Six of the English ships, however, having taken up their proper positions, obliged the greater part of the Spanish ships of war to cut and make their escape ; yet two of the galleons, the St. Matthew and St. Andrew, were boarded and taken ; two others, the St. Philip and St. Thomas, were set fire to, and burnt down to the water s edge. The galleons being destroyed, and the ships of war having fled, all the other shipping slipped their cables and ran into that part of the bay above the town, making the best of their way to Puerto Reale. The Dutch, in the meanwhile, attacked the fort of Puntales, and carried it; upon which Essex landed a body of 800 men, about a league from the city, while the Lord Admiral and the fleet were bombarding it from the harbour. While the Earl of Essex was on his march to the city, accompanied by a great number of volunteers, the Lord Admiral and another party, with a body of seamen, landed 296 HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. close to the town, and the two parties entered it nearly at the same time, with little or no resistance, except some scattered firing from the roofs of the houses, as they proceeded to the market-place. Here a negociation was entered into, and a sum of money, of ^ye, or as some say six, hundred thou- sand ducats was given as ransom for the lives and property of the inhabitants of the town, and forty hostages were taken for the payment of it. A joint proclamation of the two Lords General declared that no violence should be offered to the Spaniards. The women, the clergy, and such citizens as desired it. were conveyed to Porto Santa Maria ; and the ladies, with their best apparel and jewels, were protected by the General in person, that no insult or violence should be committed by the soldiers. The Lord Admiral, in writing to his father-in-law, the Lord Chamberlain Hunsdon, says, *' The mercy and clemency which hath been shewed, will be spoken of through those parts of the world. No cold blood touched, no woman defiled, but have with great care been embarked, and sent to St. Mary Port. All the ladies, which were many, and all the nuns and other women and children, which were likewise sent thither, have been suffered to carry away with them all their apparel, money and jewels which they had about them, and were not searched for."* It was now dis- * Birch's Memoirs. HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 297 cussed whether a ransom should uot be demanded for the smaller ships of war, and the large fleet of merchant ships that had taken refuge in the Puerto Reale, or whether a detachment should be sent to destroy them. To the former the Lord High Admiral decidedly objected, stating that he came not there for the sake of ransom, but to destroy the shipping, stores, and preparations, according to his instructions; but while this was debating, a third party stepped in and settled the question at once. The Duke of Medina Sidonia, supposing what might be intended, ordered the whole of the shipping that had escaped to be set on fire and destroyed. The loss said to have been sustained by Spain was equal in value to more than twenty millions of ducats. The destruction of shipping is stated to have been four galleons of fifteen and twelve hundred tons burden each ; thirteen ships of war of different sizes ; and eleven plate-ships, freighted for the Indies. The pieces of ordnance taken or sunk were innumerable, among which were above a hundred brass cannon.* But, besides all this, was ** the indignity," as Hume says, " which that proud and ambitious people suffered from the sacking of one of their chief cities, and destroying in their harbour a fleet of such force and value." The only loss sustained by the English, with the * Stow. 298 EARL OF NOTl^INGHAM. exception of a very few seamen and soldiers, was in the death of Sir John Wingfield, who was shot in the market-place, at the same time that Lieutenants Savage and Bagnal were covered with wounds, and knighted on the spot. The Lords General, when the business was over, bestowed the honour of knighthood on upwards of sixty ofiicers and gen- tlemen volunteers. The Earl of Essex now proposed that they should retain possession of Cadiz, because it would prove a thorn in the side of Spain, and he offered to take charge of it with only four hundred men ; but the Lord Admiral and the council would not listen to so wild a project. He then proposed they should proceed to the Azores, according to their instruc- tions, to wait for the Indian carracks ; but not one of the officers would consent to it, except Lord Thomas Howard and the Dutch Admiral. Essex then applied to Raleigh, but he pleaded a scarcity of provisions and an infection in his ship. Essex offered him his own ship, but he found that he could not succeed. They now, therefore, set sail for England, calling at Faro, which they found deserted, and contented themselves with carrying off the library of the Bishop Osorius, of which Essex sent his share to the New College at Oxford. On the 23rd October of the following year, 1597, the Queen was pleased to create the Lord High Admiral Earl of Nottingham, on which occasion EARL OF NOTTINGHAM. 299 we are told by that " notable busy man," Rowland White, that " Her Majestie made a speach unto hym in acknowledgment of his services ; and Mr. Secretary read the lettres patentes aloude, which are very honourable. All his great services related in Anno 88, and lately at Cales (Cadiz). He is to take his place ut Comes yie Nottingham^ for so are the words in his patent." * The words in his patent are these : — " That by the victory obtained in the year 1588 he had secured the kingdom of England from the invasion of Spain, and other impendent dangers ; and did also, in con- junction with our dear cousin, Robert Earl of Essex, seize by force the isle and strongly fortified city of Cales, in the farthest part of Spain ; and did like- wise entirely rout and defeat another fleet of the King of Spain, prepared in that port against this kingdom." Just after the elevation of Howard to the earl- dom. Lord Essex arrived from his unsuccessful voyage to the islands, mortified, beyond measure, first, at the cool reception he met with from the Queen for not having done more ; next, that her Majesty had made Sir Robert Cecil Secretary of State, in preference to Sir Thomas Bodley, for whom Essex had strongly solicited the office ; and lastly, which was doubtless the most mortifying of all, at the earldom bestowed upon Lord Charles * Sidney Papers. 300 EARL OF NOTTINGHAM. Howard, who thus took rank over him. To soothe her favourite, the Queen created Essex Earl Marshal of England, which office, by a decree of Henry VHL, gives precedence over the Lord High Admiral of the same rank. Before that decree this latter title was one of those which took precedence of all per- sons of the same degree of rank. The gossiping story of that " notable busy man," about the chal- lenge sent by the Earl Marshal to the Earl of Nottingham, is so absurd as to be beyond belief. Had it been true, Camden would not have omitted all notice of it. Equally absurd is it that the Lord Admiral should act the part of an enemy to the Earl Marshal, which requires no other contradic- tion than the following admirable letter, addressed at this very time by the former to the latter : — Earl of Nottingham to the Right Honourable the Earl of Essex. October, 1597. My Honorable good Lord, — You shall understand Her Majesties plaisur at large by a generall letter, in awnser of your Lordships letter to my lords by Mr. Wys- man, — only this, that upon that letter I have wrytten to Sir Henry Palmer that he, with the Vandgard and all suche as are in the Narro Sees, shall with all expedesion for lyfe repayre to your Lordship, and also the Hope wyche I have sent sum vyttells to, and that my sonn with all hast repayre to your Lordship. The Lord send you as good sucses as ever man had and bles you with vyctory. I was very glad to receve a letter from your Lordship, for I must confes I EARL OF NOTTINGHAM. 301 found it to me sumthyng Strang that, never synce your Lordship's departure, I was so happy to receve on lyne from you : it maed me dout that sum velynous devyse had ben yoused to have your Lordship conceve ill of me : but my Lord, if I have not delte in all thyngs concernynge you as I wold have ben delte withall, yf I had ben in your plase, let me never injoy the kyngdom of hevne : if ther bathe ben any such sicofant that hath abusid me, if I dow not, befor you, mak him geve him selfe the ly, let me here the shame. I am not host (bostfull) ; I know what be- longeth to honnor, and to such a on as you are : if my love were not to you, and that I desired the contenewance thereof, your Lordship's Erldom shuld not mak me wryt this : when your Lordship shall know what hath passed you are wyse and cane juge. For the purses (purser's) rome of the Defyance wych I dow parceve your Lordship hath bestoed, yf it had ben of all the shyps in the Flet I wold have confyrmed your Lordships guyfte, or of any other plase that shuld fall : I know your Lordship is full of graet and infynyte busines, I wyll not now trouble you, but ever honnor and love you if you thynk me worthy of it, and so restyng ever Your Lordships trew and faythfull frend and kynsman and ever at your comandment, NOTINGHAM.* I protest befor God I wold geve half my land that I wer with the Tryumphe and the Ark with you to sarve under you, or I desier God not to lyve on houer. To the Ryght Honorable and my especyall good Lord the Erie of Essex, Generall of Her Majesties anni by see and land. * MS., State Paper Office. 302 EARL OP NOTTINGHAM. The Earl of Nottingham had no further occasion for sea-service, but he was far from being released from his naval duties. The progress of the rebels in Ireland, the assistance given to them by Spain, both in ships and troops, and the continued attempts made by their row-boats and galleys against Ostend and other ports of Flanders, under the command of one Frederic Spinola, a gallant Genoese ;* the cap- ture of Calais by land, and succours thrown in by sea ; in short, the perpetual disturbance kept up to the end of 1602, required all the vigilance and energy of the Earl of Nottingham to keep together anything deserving the name of a fleet, and to watch over the state of the ships as to victuals and ammunition ; also to preserve, as much as possible, the health of the crews ; in all which he was cordially assisted by the Lord Treasurer and the Earl Marshal, to whom the four letters following were addressed. No. 1 affords an instance of placing the figure of a gallows on the cover : — (No. 1.) Earl of Nottingham to Lord Burghley and the Earl of Essex. February, 1597-8. My very good Lords, — This inclosed letter was browght me this nyght by the post, about on of the cloke ; it is de- rected to your Lordship, the Earl Marshall, and my self, * See more of him under memoir of Monson. EARL OF NOTTINGHAM. 303 and seeing the gallos upon it, I was bold to oppen it, and seing such matter in it, I send it your Lordship with all sped, and my selfe am going in hast down to the shypes, to prevent any myschevous intent agaynst them, as also, with as much sped as posyble may be, to make redy 2 or 3 shyps, to goo into the Narro Sees. Your Lordship may parceve they are disparsed, and this wynd wyll not suffer them that be not alredy gotten into Callys, to goo in, so as ether they must put into the downse, or goo round into the Slyve, or put with the Wyght. It wer well that the Erie of Comberland were wryten to, to put out with sum of his shyps, for sure if this wynd hold he shall lyte on some of them about the Wyght. Good my Lord, cause Mr. Quarals and Mr. Dorrell * to send down to Qwynboro such vyttels as they canne so- denly provyd. It wylbe good kepyng in these shyps in Callys, or else to make them smarte when they come out ; if vyttels come downe I wyll out with the Raynbo within 3 dayse, and sum other shyps may come after. If my Lord Thomas and Sir Walter Rawly come downe to me, we wyll dispatch things necesary with sped. If we cane kepe this flet from going bake to the Groyne, it may breke all ther desynse for this yer. Your Lordship seeth your noble Sonnes youmer (hu- mour) : I wold I had gevne halfe my land I were with him, but if God bles me with wynd it shall not be long, but I wylbe with him. My Lord it wer good it were considered of your sonns going over to Deype ; for if the Queen's shyps be gon from the cost, I dow not see but thees ships and men may come on our cost, and dow much mischyfe and her Majestic gret dishonor ; I hope her Majestic wyll here with me that I goo this (thus) without her ordor, but tyme is presious, and I mene to geve ordor to the blok houses at graefs end (Gravesend) to stay if they cane such shyps * Two agent victuallers. 304 EARL OF NOTTINGHAM. as come in, till they have loked in them ; and in hast I humblie tak my leve. Your Lordships most redy at Comandment, NOTINGHAM.* (No. 2.) Earl of Nottingham to the Earl of Essex. February, 1597-8. My Honourable and very good Lord, — I retorne you Mr. Secretory's letter with my verry harte thanks to your Lordship for the sendyng of it to me ; I know your Lordship's vegilent care wyll be such on Spinola, as any mischyfe to her Majestie's swet and sacred parson shall be prevented. No greter hold to be taken of the French kynge then in my poure jugment I can see, wych is, every man for himselfe and God for us all ; her Majestic is to hold sur her aproved frends, who standeth in those termes that her Ma- jestic dowth. Your Lordship knoweth the States are of openyon that no pece can be to them sure, and if it cannot be to them, what wyll the after clap be to us? I dowt not but Mr. Secretory's jugment wyll dyscover much, and I pray to God in the meen tyme we be not to slake. My Lord, I labor houerly, to see that the ships under my charg shalbe feted (fitted), and in as short tyme as may posible be, but if vyttels be not also maed redy, or sumthyng begun, the rest is in vane. If the bruing be not begon in this nexst month, the drynk wylbe as in the last journy (sour?). Vyttels for a 11,000 men, to have it well done, wyll aske nere 3 months. In my openeon it weer feet that Mr. Secretary had sum instrucsion to deell with the States, that if this Tretys tak no efect of pece, or abstinence, then to requyre Barnevyll * MS., State Paper Office. EARL OF NOTTINGHAM. 305 to dell with the general! States, for to assyst her Majestie with 20 shyps. I am bold thus to remember your Lordship, for tyme wyll not be stayed, and the remembrance of 88 maketh me to feere that the coniunction of the planets, decet and trechery, then and now doth defFer lyttell. I hay bene all this aftemon at Wolwyge, and your Lordship must not blame your fotman that he retorneth no sonner to you, for it was nyght befor I cam bak, and he mesed me on the way. God send your Lordship as much honnor, and all good fortune, as your owne hart cane wyshe, and I wyll with all trew love rest Your Lordship's Cossyne, and most assured frend for you to comand, NOTINGHAM.* Dedford, past 7. (No. 3.) Earl of Nottingham to Lord Burghley and the Earl of Essex. February, 1597-8. May it plaese your Lordship, — I maed such hast to send Mr. Secretory's letters to your Lordship as I forbare to wryte that wych now I dow. He wryteth that the Vand- gard is so foull, as she is not able to mak graet way ; it is no marvel, for she bathe bene in the Narro Sees synce the fyrst of June, wych is 9 monts. Those shyps that weer feet to put in her plase being of forse, and to draw by still watter, was in the last sarvis, but synce the Raynbo came hom, she is maed redy to goo in her plase, and had ben ther alredy but the other stayed for the safe transportyng of Mr. Secretory. He also wryteth that her Majestie's forses are but small, * MS., State Paper Office. X 306 EARL OF NOTTINGHAM. that are in the Narro Sees. You my Lord Tresorer know- eth her Majestie comanded me to leson them, so as the An- telop, the Advantage, and a pryncypall Hoy, was browght in, so that, the Vandgard excepted, the rest are small shyps, feet to meet with Donkerkers, but far unfit for this that now hapeneth, — a thyng unloked for. In my openyion thees shyps wyll watch a tyme, to dow somthyng on our cost, and yf they shall here of our shyps to be gone to deype, I thynke them beastes yf they dow not burne and spoyll Dover and Sandwyge. What 4000 men may dow on the soden, in sum other plases, I leve to your Lord- ships' jugments, and it weer good to have care of it in tyme. For her Majestie's shyps in Chatam, I hope it shall cost them dere if they atempt it. Ther is here at gravesend nothyng to stay, or impech any thyng, but the 2 selly forts, wych can dow lyttell, but this order I have taken, — that ther shall be 2 barges of Gravesend that shall goo as far as Tylbery hope, and so geve warnyge, if ther be cause, and to comand all shypes to stay and anker till the Searcher of Gravesend see what they be and what is in them. I pray your Lordships, that I may know her Majestie's plesure what shalbe done, ether for shyps to goo owt, or in any other sarvys that it shall plaes her Majestie to comand me, wych to my pour shall be done. As this wynd is, they cannot sees Callys those that be out, so as if my Lord of Comberland make hast out, no questyon but he shall meet with some of them, if it be but with part of his flet : I dout me thees shyps that are come to Callys, the most part wyll tarry all this sommer ther ; yf they dow, the Sees must be kept strong, for they wylbe ill nebors. Thus recomendyng my humble sarvys to your Lordships, I humbly take my leve and pray you, my Lord Marshall, that sum stor of monesion may be sent to Ro- chester with sped, and sum offyser with it, for we are not EARL OF NOTTINGHAM. 307 able to seet down the proporsions in such hast, and not being sure what shyps shall out. Your Lordships' most humbly to comand, NOTINGHAM.* Gravesend^ this 17.' (No. 4.) Earl of Nottingham to Lord Burghley and the Earl of Essex. February, 1597-8. May it ples your Lordships, — Mr. Secretoir's pakket passing by me and fyndyng my name on the indosment, I maid bold to open it for on speciall matter that he wryteth of and cheflyest concerneth my care for the safte of heer Ma- jestie's chese under my charge. I have no dowt but if they shuld offer so foulyshe an atempte but they shuld pay derly for it. I have sent out a couple- of Catches that shall ly out as fare as the show becon, the on, and the other on the bake side of the red sand, for over the lands end there is no fere in the neps. Thees shall geve warnynge. The Ayde also rydethe at Quynboro, the Sonn at Ocamnes, Thees gev wamyng on to another, apon cause, and the larom by it to Chatham, and apon 2 peces shot of in the Castell ther ar 2000 men to repayre to the shypes within a hower ; besids the shyps are now by reson of the works well manned, I hope her Majestie may slype quyetly for any care or dowt of them. I wyll this day and to morro see all thyngs seet in good order here, and then repayre to the Court, yf I have no other comandment to stay. The only want we have here, if ther be any atempte * MS., State Paper Office. x2 308 EARL OF NOTTINGHAM. ofered, wylbe want of pouder and othei* monesion, I meen for the shyps in harboro. Your Lordship my Lord Mar- shall did honorably wryt to me that we myght youse the pouder in the store house, wyche is 40 barrels, it is not verry good but we wyll make it sarve the torne, but the mustkets be not sarvysable : Also I must pray your Lord- ships that the proporsion for the Raynbo and the Adventur may in sped be sent down, for the Raynboo shall goo in the Vandgard plase, that is so foull as she cannot styre, and the Advantage in the plase of sum other ; they shalbe redy to depart on Wensday if ther monesion and vyttells be redy by that tyme. The gonners be at London all redy if it plaes your Lordship to make on of your ofFysers to send for them : my Lord, the gonners are but ill waytors here, your Lordship must chyd them, for yf they wate no better I must thrust them out of the shyps. I know if you chek them they wyll have care sum wayt well as Hamon and Tyndall and Butler : the rest but badly. And so levyng to truble your Lordships, I rest Your Lordships most humbly to comand, NOTINGHAM.* His attention was now more minutely turned to the judicial duties of his office. Respecting these a long series of autograph letters from the Lord High Admiral "to his loving friend Doctor Julius Caesar," Judge of the High Court of Admiralty, may be found among the ' Caesar Papers ' in the British Museum. | In one letter he desires him to let him have " a briefe note of the priviledges and liberties of the Cinque Ports, howe farre they * MS., State Paper Office, t See " Drake" concerning some of these papers. EARL OF NOTTINGHAM. 309 extend into the sea and otherwise ; for I desire for some espetiall considerations to be presentlie sattis- fied and well informed thereof." The following letter is worth printing. The Earl of Nottingham to Dr. C^sar. Doctor Julius Caesar, — I have bin made acquainted that Tompkins, whoe did the great piraqye on the Venetians, hath compounded with the Venetians, and his Majestie's pardon is alreadye graunted for his offence, and myself was never made acquainted thereof You have often told me that, in like cases, houghe the Kinge maye pardon his life, yet he cannot ffree him from that advantage which I maye take against him. Wherefore I desier, by a wourd or twoe, to receave your opinion what is fittest for me to doe herein, for I assure you I wyll make him alsoe knowe, that I am Lord Admirall of England, with whome he is to make a composition before he shall enjoye his libertye. Soe I bid you hartely farewell, — firom the Courte att Whitehall the second of January, 1605. Your verie lovinge freinde, NOTINGHAM.* And there is some humour in the following : — The Earl of Nottingham to his very loving friend Mr. Doctor Caesar. Mr. CiESAR, — Ther is a proctor, that yousis the court of the Admyralte, that is caled Lew, a verry lewd fello and on that hath spoken largly agaynst me and yourself, not only * Caesar Papers, MSS., British Museum. 310 EARL OF NOTTINGHAM. here in tavarnes, but also in France, therfore I pray you and wyll you, that you dow exclud him from medlyng any kynd of way in the court of the Admyralte, and soo with my harte comendacions I rest Your lovyng frend, (Signed) Notingham.* (P.S. I dow marvell how such a paltre fello came to be a proctor.) In 1602, when the Queen's health was giving way, the Lord Admiral was frequently sent for; from him she received such intelligence of what was going forward, as she could with confidence trust to. At this time there was a general anxiety about the state of her health. To an inquiry of Dr. Julius Caesar, regarding the state of the Queen's health, the Earl's answer is, " Good Dr. Caesar, I thank you for your love in sending unto me. I thank God her Majestic doth now begin to pull up her spirittes, and to talk in better manner, and more cheerfully then since her extremity of sick- ness, which is no little comfort to us all. I hope God will still increase her strength." And he adds in a P.S., " Her Majestic hath even now made a reasonable good mele, and is chearfull after it."f The Queen frequently desired to see the Lord Admiral, for whom indeed she had the highest respect. One day, on leaving London for Rich- mond, the Queen said to him, " My throne has * Caesar papers. f Ibid. EARL OF NOTTINGHAM. 311 been held by princes in the way of succession, and ought not to go to any but to my next and imme- diate heir.*' A few months after this, when on her death-bed, the Privy Council, anxious to ascertain with certainty her sentiments about a successor, desired the Lord High Admiral (as one to whom she had spoken on the subject), the Lord Keeper Egerton, Sir Robert Cecil the Secretary, and the Archbishop of Canterbury to be present. On the question being put, she faintly replied, " A royal successor, a King, her kinsman, the King of Scots." The Archbishop then advised her to fix her thoughts upon God, and she replied she did so, nor did her mind in the least wander from Him ; she then fell into a kind of lethargy, and after a short lapse of time she became speechless, and on the 24th March, 1603, expired ; " taking leave," says Cam- den, *' of her crown and life in such a way that her decease was the same (which Augustus wished for), happy and peaceable, after a glorious reign of forty-four years and four months, and in the seventieth year of her age." * The death of two great sovereigns, who for forty years had employed their subjects in unremitting hostility, opened a way to an honourable peace for their successors, and in 1604 King James forth- with availed himself of it. The treaty was ratified in London by the Constable of Castile. The Earl * Camden. 312 EARL OF NOTTINGHAM. of Nottingham was appointed ambassador to Spain, whither he proceeded with a numerous and splendid train of attendants.* " The Spaniards,'* says Hume, '* were much surprised when they beheld the blooming counte- nances and graceful appearance of the English, whom their bigotry, inflamed by the priests, had represented as so many monsters and infernal demons." The Earl of Nottingham was appointed Lord High Steward at the coronation, and one of the seven Lords for the office of Earl Marshal ; and was also continued by James as Lord High Admiral * Stow has told us of what they consisted : — " The 28th of March, Charles, Earle of Nottingham, Lorde High Admirall of all England, being accompanied and attended with one Earle, three Barons, thirty Knightes, and many gentlemen of note and quallitie, one Herault, two Doctors of Physick, besides thirty gentlemen of his owne, in cloakes of blacke velvet, six Pages in cloakes of oreng tawny velvet, like to the rest of their apparell ; hee had also fower score yeomen in livery cloakes of oreng tawny cloath, six trumpeters in oreng colour damaske, and livery cloakes of tawny cloath, and six footmen in oreng tawny velvet ; hee was well furnished with divers coaches and chariots, very richly adorned, the like whereof have not been seen in former ages." — Stow. " Presently after their departure from Spaine the Spaniardes published a booke, by authoritie, concerning the demeanour of the English in this embassie, wherein they highly commended the grave and noble behaviour of the Lord Ambassador, and other the lords and gallant gentlemen of his companie, and the sober and peaceable behaviour of all his servants, friends, and followers." — Stow. EARL OF NOTTINGHAM. 313 to the year 1619, when Villiers Duke of Bucking- ham was appointed to that high situation. At the time of his resignation he had held the office thirty- four years. The King on this occasion settled on him a pension of 1000/. a year, and remitted a debt of 18,000/. or 20,000/., incurred by the maintenance of a large family, and the keeping up of ^we or six houses, one of which at Deptford was pulled down not many years ago, when a coat of arms of the noble Earl was discovered in it; but he contributed very largely in providing ships and men entirely at his own expense, both against the Spanish Armada and for the voyage to Cadiz. His liberality and generosity were unbounded, and in particular to all matters connected with the naval service; he was kind and charitable beyond measure to the poor seamen of the fleet. He borrowed 3000 pystolets from the money taken by Drake out of De Valdez* ship ; ** For,*' says he, " by Jesus, I had not three pounds lefte in the world;" and he adds, " I will repay it within ten days after my coming home ; but I do assure you my plate has gone before : " and he observes, " If I had not some (money) to have bestowed upon some poor and miserable men, I should have wished myself out of the worlde." His generous disposition appears about this time to have reduced his finances to a very low ebb. Nothing could manifest this more strongly than the following expression of his feelings in a letter (No. 13) to Sir F. Walsingham :— ** If it please God 314 EARL OF NOTTINGHAM. to call me to him in this service (the Armada) of her Majesty, which I amost willing to spend my life in, her Majesty, of her goodness, will bestow my boy upon my poor wife, and let my poor wife have the keeping either of Hampton Court or Oat- lands, I shall think myself most bound to her Ma- jesty ; for I do assure you. Sir, I shall not leave her so well as so good a wife doth deserve." The few remaining years of this venerable peer were passed in honourable ease and retirement, until the time of his decease, which took place on the 14th December, 1624, in the 88th year of his age, at which advanced period he died, and, as he had lived, beloved and respected, by the nation at large. The Earl of Nottingham appears, indeed, to have passed through a long and active life, without making a single enemy ; and every writer, who has occasion to mention his name, has something to say in his praise ; the only failing ascribed to him, if it could be so called, was his want of learning, a defect at this time not uncommon, even among the highest ranks of society. Queen Elizabeth herself was a much bet- ter Latin than English scholar : the reason is obvious enough ; for the one there were grammars and fixed rules, for the other none. The defect in the language of the Lord Admiral was amply compensated by good sense and good conduct. The Queen oft repeated — '* Howard was born to serve and save his country." Camden says " he was a person extremely graceful EARL OF NOTTINGHAM. 315 in his appearance, of a just and honest disposition, incapable either of doing bad things, or of seeing them done without exposing them. He was a nobleman whose courage no danger could daunt, whose fidelity no temptation could impeach, much less corrupt." Another tells us that his fidelity was impregnable; and Naunton says, he was a good, honest, and brave man. Under Elizabeth he held three of the greatest offices in the kingdom — Earl Marshal of England, High Steward of the House- hold, and Lord High Admiral of England ; and in addition, a Privy Councillor, and Knight of the Garter. So high did he stand in the Queen's con- fidence, that in 1600, when a serious alarm took place in the public mind, she appointed the Earl of Nottingham Lord Lieutenant-General of all Eng- land, with the sole and supreme command of both fleet and army, which caused him to be sometimes with the fleet in the Downs, and sometimes on shore with the army.* He was twice married : first to a daughter of Lord Hunsdon, by whom he had William, who died in his father's life-time, and Charles, who suc- ceeded to his estate and honours ; he had, besides, three daughters. By his second marriage with the daughter of James Stuart, Earl of Murray, he had also two sons, James, who died young, and Charles, who succeeded his half-brother of the same name to the Earldom of Nottingham. * Camden. CAPTAIN THOMAS FENNER, 1588 TO 1600. It is not a little remarkable that this gallant naval officer, who appears to have seen more service and to have been employed in more expeditions than almost any other naval officer during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, should never have had the com- mand of a fleet or squadron conferred on him ; and the more extraordinary, as he had the good fortune to serve under almost every great sea officer of her Majesty's navy, and was highly spoken of by all. The Lord High Admiral generally includes him, by name, in his reports to the Queen, as one among those whom the nation highly esteems, Drake, Frobisher, Hawkins. Neither do we meet with his name, except incidentally, as being in command of a ship of war attached to some expedi- tion ; and what is most extraordinary of all, neither does the name of Fenner occur in any biographical shape ; who, or in what condition of life his parents were ; where they resided ; what was his education ; or, in short, in what line of life he was brought up. Even Fuller cannot afford him a niche in his temple FENNER. 317 of worthies. The name and services of such a man are too valuable to be overlooked. The Fenners, however, would appear to liave been a family belonging to, or connected with, naval con- cerns, as we find from a trading voyage to Guinea and the Azores, about the year 1566, described by Hakluyt, that the admiral was George Fenner, and the vice-admiral Edward Fenner. Lancaster also, in the year 1594, fell in with a George Venner (Fenner), in command of a small squadron, who assisted him in the capture of Fernanbuco; and, moreover, we have no fewer than three brothers, each commanding a ship of war, in the fleet employed against the Spanish Armada — Thomas Fenner, in the Nonpareil ; Edward Fenner, in the Swiftsure ; and William Fenner, in the Aid. But, before this, Thomas was captain to Sir Francis Drake in the Elizabeth Bonaventure, on the West India voyage in 1585; and again accompanied Drake on his ex- pedition to Cadiz in command of the Dreadnought. Of the result of this voyage we have, from the pen of Drake, a graphic description, chiefly of that por- tion of it which relates to the destruction of the ships of war and merchantmen, together with the preparations which had for some time been making for carrying into execution the plan of the invasion of England ; the overthrow of which Drake laconi- cally called "singeing the King of Spain's beard.'* Drake, however, treats but slightly of the capture 318 FENNER. and destruction of the forts in the vicinity of Cape St. Vincent on his return : Fenner has supplied that defect in the following letter to Sir Francis Walsingham, the original MS. of which is in the State Paper Office'* : — Thomas Fenner to Sir F. Walsyngham. 1587, May 17th. Sythence my laste letters of the accidentes at Cales, some exploytes which hath happened in her Majestie's sarvice by our Generall and army, I thinke it my duetie to laie them downe as neare as God will geve me grace and favour in very truethe. The second of Maye, some 15 leagues from Cape St. Vincent, a fflyboote of Dunkyrke of 150 tunnes, her lading being Spanishe goodes from fflaunders, and as I gesse of some good importaunce, I gather about ten thowsand powndes, and one other flybott laden with tymber sowld to the Spanyardes, of 140 tunnes, taken. The 4th of Maye we drewe into the bale of Sawgust, where, in a sandy bay somwhat to the westwarde of the towne of Saugust, we landed about a thowsand men very early uppon the 5th of Maie, and so marched very neare three myles unto the towne as our march laye. There pre- sented in sight of us divers troupes of horsemen, whearat nothing amazed, but allwayes bendinge uppon theire greatest troupes, with curtezie, gave us passaige ; so as, before we cam unto the towne, they were above 400 horse, which semed brave but bad masters. They sufFred us to * Several MS. letters of Captain Thomas Fenner are to be found in the State Paper Office, from which copies of three, relating to three different services, will be introduced herein, as exhibiting his epistolary talent, by no means inferior to the common run of the Elizabethan period. FENNER. 319 marche before theire ffortress with our whole bandes, within muskett shott, where we exchainged some shott, and by vewe and surveighing the place fownde it, as nowe^they have made it, of greate streinght and very warrelykely flanked, so that they had in vewe of us nyne platformes and flankers furnished with nyne auncients ; which considered, we thought it more meate uppon some pause, the place being sur- veighed, honorably and treatablie to departe than raishly to attempte the hazard of our company es, carienge ourselves in that course of streinghte that we made no estimate of theire fforces ; two of theire horses slaine and one of theire horsemen, and so spent in standes expecting theire values the most parte of that daie before we drewe abourd and bourden in good sorte without the losse of any one man. The fifte of Maye we drewe neare imto Cape Sacre, where we landed and marched towardes a castle with some .companyes, some of our shippinge landing at a villaige some league to the eastward, wheare the houses and villaige weare presently fyred with some barks and botes. They of that castle made no longe abode, havinge in it sixe peeces of brasse, but fled unto another castle within one myle standing upon Cape Sacre, a place of greate streinght, but one way to come to it, with greate scope of grownd within it and fayer buyldinges, I gesse some hundred acres invironed with the sea, and a mer- veylous highe upright cliff'e on three partes, the flfront only to approche which was about one hundred and eightie passes broade, with a walle batylmented of fortye fote of height, a gate in the myddest, a platforme at the corners and fower flanckes on every syde of the gate ; God styrred the mynde of the Generall and his company to approche it, and somoned, whose answeare was, as he (the General) was to assaulte in the behaulf of his ladye and mistress, he (the Spanish officer) was to deffend in the behaulf of his lord and master. Whereupon, the weightynes and honor of the cause considered, in that it was meete 320 FENNER. and most necessary for us to wyn the place for dyvers causes, both to geve succour unto ourselves in wateringe and roade for our ffleete, and withall a greate pray against the enemy, resolutely resolved the attempte after some pro- vitions of fFagotts to burne the gate, having no other meanes to attayne the entrye by reason of the greate streinght ; and so began about one of the clock to assayle with small shott, so scouringe the loupes and fflancks that the gate was ap- proched, and the assault so mainteigned that the gate was sett on fyer and relyved contynually, so as within some two bowers theire capten was hurt in two places, and grewe to parly ; with offer to delyver up the place, theyre lyves and baggaige savid ; which was graunted and perfectly per- formed — a place of such naturall and ingenyous streinght as a very myraculous matter ; but God, who is the gever of all good thinges, geveth streinght unto his, and stryketh with feare those whom he meaneth to chastice. There weare in the castle neare about some hundred and ten men, besyde women and children, one canon peryer, one culveringe, one demy-culveringe, and fyve greate Por- tugall basses, with powder and shott. The sixte daie the Generall marched to another castle of good streinght with some bases in it and toke it, and so the firyery and castle of Cape St. Vincent, and tooke the same, wherin weare seaven peeces of brasse, and of greate streinght, having no waie to come unto yt but one ; which two castles he defaced, tyered, and brought away theyr ordynaunce, and burnt betweene Cape St. Vincent and fyve myles to the eastward of Cape Sacre, which I suppose to be nyne Englishe myles in leinght, fforty-seven carvells and barkes, some of 20, 30, 40, 50, and some of 60 tunnes, laden with pype, bourdes, whopes, twigges, owers, and such like ; we burned also some 50 or 60 fisher botes, and greate stoare of nettes, to theire greate domaige. This beinge performed at the ffryery, we came againe, some bowers before night, unto the brave castle of Cape Sacre, where weare three captens FENNER. 321 with theire companyes, untill our retorne, when, according to promes, our generall sufired the enemy to depart with they re baggaige, and then prepared for fyer, and fyered the same, dismounted theire ordynaunce, and threwe them over the clifFes, which weare not lefte there, but with greate paine and travell bourded into our bootes and brought away, and the same night bourded our companyes. The seventh daie, in the morninge very early, we landed at the first castle, which we razed and burned, and brought away the ordynaunce. And notwithstandinge this conty- nuall sarvyce, in the meane tyme we watered all our ffleete, and bourded all our ordynaunce ; and than, by one of the clock, the hole ffleete sett sayle to prosecute further accon. These fower castles at the Capes defaced ys a matter of greate importaunce respecting all shipping that come out of the Straites for Luyzbourn or any part of the northward, anker there untill convenyent wynd sarve them ; and so any that come from the North likewise anker there, beinge bownd for Andolozia or the Straightes. Thus desyring God to blesse our generall and us in Her Majestie's sarvice, to contynue in all duetye and love to doe what becometh the vassaylls of so worthy a prince, whom God presarve to the amaze of Her Majestie's greate and mighty enemyes, and by this handfull to encrease that feare which heareby we fynde them greatly touched withall. In all duety untill further occacon I comitt your Lordshipp unto the All- mighty, ffrom abourd Her Majestie's good shipp the Dreadnought, ffor Cape Sacre, the 17th of Maye. Postscriptum. — The 10th of this instant moneth we cam in sight of Luyzbourne, and presented our selves before East Cales with our whoole fleete, many within shott. The Marques Ste. Crusse being hard by with 7 gallyes, who, being loose, bare upon theire ores, and never shott at us, but beate off many muskett shott all day longe. Tliere beinge a very flatt calme the most parte of the daie, made 322 FENNER. his carvells runne agrownd, and other shipping upon the rockes, which he suffred without rescue or impeachment. The next daie we kept our selves loose in the openinge, but could see none to approche, but flyenge every waie. The eleventh, towardes the evening, the wynd being farr north- erly, with a stifFe gale, we bare for Cape St. Vincent, and seised ankeringe within Cape Sacre the 12th, at one of the clocke, where we washed and purefied our shippes, washed and amended all thinges needefull, having the cuntrey in such awe that no man cometh neare us. Shipping we take daiely, which are bound with pipe bourdes and whoopes for Andolozia, which we burne, whereof they will have so greate want as to them a merveilous offence. By intelligences we fynd the greatest provicions of streinght out of the Streightes — as from Cicilia eight gal- lions, and jflProm Naples fower galleasses, and dyvers gallyes out of Italy. The provicions are so overthrowen and wasted as is won- derfall, for in Cales we brought away and burnt seven hundred tunnes of bread. We hould this cape so greatly to our benefitt, and so much to theire disadvantage, as a greate blessinge, the at- taining therof ; ifor the Randevous is at Luyzbourne, where we understand of some 25 shippes and 7 galleis ; the rest we lye betweene home and them, so as the body is without the members ; and they cannot come togather by reason that they are unfurnished of theire provicions in every degree, in that theie are not united togather. As there hath byn a happie begynninge, so we doubt not but God will have the sequell such as it shall appeare unto the face of the earthe, that it is not the multytude that shall prevayle wheare it pleaseth Him to streich out his favour- able and mercifull hand. God make us thankfull for his benefitts and blessinges. I assure your Honor there is no accoumpt to be made of his galleis ; twelve of Her Ma- FENNER. 323 jestie's shippes will not make accoumpt of all his galleis in Spaine, Portugall, and all his domynions within the Straightes, although they are 150 in nomber, yf it be to theire advauntaige in a calme, we have made such triall of theire ffightes, that we parfectly see into the depth thereof. Desyring your Honor to take in good part this symple ad- vertisement, as coming from him who desyreth greatly the good opynion of your Lordship, yf desart move not the contrarye. Your Honor's, in all duety to comaund, Thomas Fenner.* The next service on which we find him employed was in the following year, the memorable year 1588, as captain of the Nonpareil, where he was among the most distinguished of the captains no- ticed by the Lord High Admiral. On the occasion of Lord Charles receiving a kind of reprimand from the Queen for leaving her coasts unprotected, by taking his fleet towards Spain, he says in his re- ply, "It was deeply debated by those whom the world doth judge to be men of the greatest expe- rience that this realme hath, which are these : Sir Francis Drake, Mr. Hawkins, Mr. Frobisher, and Mr. Thomas Fenner ; and I hope Her Majesty will not think we went so rashly to work, or without a principle, or choice care and respect of the safetie of this realme." f These same officers, with the addition of Lord Thomas Howard and Lord Sheffield, were selected * MS., State Paper Office. f Life of Drake. Y 2 324 FENNER. by the Lord Admiral to be his privy councillors in the presence of the Armada ; all which shows the opinion he entertained of Captain Fenner; and moreover, in the dreadful sickness and mortality in the fleet, Fenner was sent for by the Lord Admiral, with Lord Henry Seymour, Drake, Hawkins, Palmer, and Winter, ** to confer with them for the presente consideration of Her Majestie's service;" and they drew up a report of the state of the fleet, " which with sorrow and griefe I must deliver unto your Lordships." — {Letter to Privy Council, 22nd August, 1588.) By the following letter it appears that Fenner was one of those who pursued the flying Spaniards the farthest up the North Sea : — Thomas Fenner to Sir F. Walsyngham. 1588, August 4th. RiGHTE Honorable, — I assure my selff you are acer- teyned of our encounters with the Enemy, on Monday the xxixth of Julye. In longe continuance and greate force of shott on both syds. Many of their shipps wonderfully spoiled and beaten, to the utter ruyne of three of the greatest sorte, besids the cuttinge of the Galleyasse. The Enemy thereby greatelie weakened. A thinge greately to bee regarded that th Allmighty hath stroken them with a wonderfull feare. In that I hardly have scene any of their Companyes succoured of their ex- treamityes which befell them after their fyghtes. But left at utter ruyne without regard, bearinge allwaies as much sayle as possible they mighte, houldinge the rest of their army togethers. The wants of Powder and shott and FENNER. 325 victuall hath hindered much service which otherwize mighte have beene performed. In continuance with them to their utter subvercion, in keeping them from water. There were many ships in our ffleete not possessed with three dayes' victuall. The cawses aforesaid considered in counsell, the second of this instante, in the morninge, pursuinge the enemy untill wee came into ffyftie-five degrees, and about two and thurtie leages from our coast, in that heighth it was thoughte meete for the safetie of men's lyves and shippinge, the winde beinge southerly, to shape our course for the fFryth in Scott- land, as the benefitt of that place would yeilde ; thereby to attaine that place for the better regard both of England and Scottland. Yt was intended at our cominge thither that my Lord of Comberland should have passed unto the King of Scotts to acquainte his Majestic of the accidents that had happened ; as allso to steire his Majestic to provide some defensive power, yf the enemye should drawe unto his coasts, wherein her Majestie's power should assist with all their fForce. Two pynnaces were left to followe the ffleete untill they were shott beyound the Isles of Orkneyes and Shetland, unto which places they continued their courses ; and yf by any chaunge of winde they shaped their course otherwize, then yf winde would permytt the Pynnaces to advertize us at ye ffryth ; and not findinge us there to come alongest our owne coast with advertizement. The second of August, aboute twellve of the clock at noone, we haled west, the better to recover our coast, to attaine the firyth, the enemy goinge away north-west and by north, as they did before. Beinge hailed in xi leages west, the third of August in the morninge, about ten of the clock, the winde came up at north-west. Counsell thereof taken, yt was thoughte meete to take the benefytt thereof for our releifs of powder, shott, and victuall, and soe 326 FENNER. as to beare with all possible speede to the North fForeland : and, as yf the Enemy should retorn, wee mighte bee before- hand fFurnished of some of our wants, the readyer thereby to offend them. I will deliver your Honor myne opinion, wherein I be- seech your pardon yf it fall owt otherwize. I verely be- leeve greate extreamitye shall force them yf they behould England in sighte againe. By all that I can gather, they are weakened of eighte of their best sorts of shippinge, which conteyned manye men, as allso many wasted in sicke- nes and slaughter. Their masts and sayles much spoyled, their pynnaces and boats, many cast of and wasted, wherein they shall fynd greate wants when they come to land and water, which they must doe shortely or dye. And where or ho we my knoweledge cannott ymagine (as the winde serveth) noe place but betweene the Foreland and Hull : consider- inge the Shallds and sands not greately to be doubted. The hugenes and greate draught of water in their ships considered, and otherwize, the winde as it is at north-west, they have noe place to goe with all but for the S. ... we in Denmark which were an hard adventure as the season of the yere approcheth. If the winde by chaunge suffer them, I verelie beleeve they will pas aboute Scotland and Ireland to drawe them- sellves home, wherein (the season of the yere considered) with the longe course they have to runne, and their sundry dis- tresses, and of necessity the spendinge of tyme by wateringe, wynter will soe come on as wilbee to their greate ruyne. God hath mightelie protected her Majestie's forces with the least losses that ever hath beene heard of beinge within the compas of soe great volues of shott, both small and greate. I verelye beleeve there is not three score men lost of her Majestie's forces. God make us and all her Ma- jestie's good subjects to render hartie prayse and thancks unto the Lord of lords therefore. FENNER. 327 I will ever hould my sellf bound for your honorable and godlye points in your lettre of the xxvth of July, soe as to depend uppon the good providence of God, unto whom I will, both in season and owt of season, call uppon him with a faythfull assurance that hee will defend his from the raginge Enemy, who goeth about to beate downe his worde and devoure his people. My trust is their ymaginacions shall fall uppon themsellves, as a just plague for their wick- ednes and idollatrye. God continue mee such as your expectacion in mee, and other of my name, bee not deceaved : and that wee may continue as faithftiU servants and subiects to her Majestic, not regarding the perill of lyef, to slacke any one jott in that is meete for men to do in this her Majestie's needefull service. God mightely defend my gratious mistress from the raginge enemye, not doubtinge but that all the worlde shall knowe and see that her Majestie's little army, guided by the finger of God, shall beate downe the pryde of his enemy es and hers, to his greate glorye, unto whom I betake your Honor, ffrom aboard the good ship of her Majestie^s, the Nonparelia, this iiijth of August, 1588. Your Honor's, in all love and duty, for ever to commaund, Thomas Ffenner.* Within two bowers after the writinge of this lettre, the winde came up at sowth-west, soe as thereby the enemy was able neither to seize England, Ireland, Scotland, fflaunders, and hardly the out Isles of Scotland. This iiijth day and vth, especiallie at night, continued a verie greate storme at south-west, beinge forced to ryde out in the sea th extreamity thereof. * MS., State Paper Office. 6-^9 FENNER. Which storme hath in myne opinion touched the enemy very neere, for divers consideracions followinge, viz. : — The greate sea gate about those Isles ; the hugenes of their shippinge, who were soe lighte as in faire weather would hardly beare theire topsailes ; also, the could clymat they are in toucheth them neere, and will doe daylie more and more. Myne opinion is, they are by this time soe distressed, beinge .soe far thrust of as many of them will never see Spayngne againe, which is the onely worck of God to chastice their malicious practises, and to make them knowe that neyther the strengthes of men, nor their idolatrous gods, can prevaile when the mightie God of Israeli stretch- eth out but his finger against them. God make all her Majestie's good subiects thanckfull. Thomas Ffenner. The year after the dispersion of the Spanish Ar- mada, under the false title of Invincible, namely, in 1589, Thomas Fenner, still in the command of the Dreadnought, accompanied his friend Sir Francis Drake on the joint expedition to the Groyne and Lisbon ; on which his brother, William Fenner, was associated in command of the Aid. The ope- rations at the Groyne, under the joint directions of Drake and Norris, are briefly described in the fol- lowing letter to Lord Burleigh : — Captain Thomas Fenner to the Lord Treasurer. RiGHTE Honorable, — We aryved at the Groyne the 24th of Aprill, landinge the same daie dyvers companyes, some two miles Ifrom the towne, and proceded in scarmishe FENNER. 329 towardes the base towne, and neere theire fFortresse. The next dale landed contynually, and by trenche laie within muskett shott. The place beinge of good strengthe, and well considerid of, skallinge ladders were provided, and a hundred boats and pinices broughte in a redynes, and a boute midenighte boarded, with a determinacyon to lande in the base towne, a firunte : passinge betwene the shippes, dnd the ffortresse of the enemy, two waminge peeces were shoute of, which we had planted one the shore, to beate the enemys shippes, which was a token that our lande companyes should approche the Scallads, at which Instance our boats and pinices landed, shoutinge our artilery, and makinge cryes, wherupon the enemyes fForsooke their chardge, and could not recover the highe towne but abandoned themselves into the rockes. In regard of ffoule wether, and unfitt wyndes, we were dryven to make a battery to kepe the enemy occupied in the highe towne, a place of great strengthe, invyroned two parts and a half of fFower, with the sea, a breache was made, assaulte geven, many men beinge uppon the breache, with greate desiere, the earthe and stones gave waie under theire ffeete, and withall ffell a piece of wall which greatlie in- combred us, which moved some loss of equalitie of bothe sides. We ffounde in the Hareborough two galleys which ffledd to fFerro, the St. John, a gallyon of Portugall, which was vizadmirall in the Army unto Ingland, a shippe of greate fForce, with fFyftie two pieces of brasse planted in her. Uppon the takinge of the base towne they comitted her to flyer, not- withstandinge we saved the metle of the ordinaunce. A Byskyn shippe of a thowsand tonnes some brasse some Iron. A Hulke of six hundred tonnes, some brasse, some Iron. One other greate shippe uppon the Caryn. One other ves- sell laden with pikes, pike heades, musketts and Callyvers, with dyvers other small vessells and boats. 330 FENNER. Dyvers peeces of brasse mounted in the base towne, and many dismounted. So as we have wasted ffrom the enemy in this place aboute a hundred and ffortie pieces of artillery. We founde in the towne, and nere the towne, about two thowsande quarters of corne, meale, Beeffe, certaine sorts of ffishe of the King's provisions, greate store of caskes and store of wyne, cables, ropes, ledd, hempe, ankers, all which thinges ys moste hapelie taken ffrom the enemy, consideringe this place appointed ffor the randevous of his shippinge to meete together the ende of this moneth. The country wasted, some seven or eighte miles aboute, some two thowsande of the enemy, many tymes in severall companyes, but wold never abyd. There ys in the towne nyne companyes of ould souldiors, which were in the army for England ; theire companyes ys but small as ffortie, ffiftie, or threescore. My truste ys in God that the waste of the shippinge and the king's provision in this place hath greatlie aultered theire purposes, hopinge withall that the like shall befall them in other places, which God graunte to the beatinge downe of theire practizes againste that litle Isle. Vitle and pouder cannott but be greatlie welcome unto us. I beseche your Honor that my gracyous Mystrys herebie male have knowledge of the greate Love and concord be- twene our Generalls, nothinge dowtinge the contynuance of the same. The Marques of Seralvo ys in the towne with one bastard Sonne of the Marques Seinte Cruce, named Don Diego de Bassan. Thus comittinge your Honor to the Almightie I humblie take my leave ffrom the Groyne this 6th of Maie, 1589. This presente daie hit was knowen that an army of the enemy of 8,500 were within ffower miles, wherupon the Lorde Generall with seven regiments marched fforth, and FENNER. 331 ffounde the enemy in greate strengthe, encamped at a bridge which leadeth up towardes Bittance, and stronglie IFortiffied. The Lord Generall with his Brothers, and dyvers Coronells, chardged verie ffiercelie, and wone the bridge, and the enerayes strengths, and put the enemy to flflighte with the slaughter of 400, and gave chase some three miles.* Theyre good fFootinge saved theyr Lyves. The enemy lost a thow- sand weapons and armes. Sr. Edward Norrys was hurte in the heade, and relyved by Coronell Sydney. One man of accompte slaine of our side, dyvers hurte. Hit was a verie honorable attempte which hathe much amaied the enemy. * The following extract from Stow is curious, and highly complimentary to the courage and coolness of Sir John Norris : — " Neere unto the Spaniards campe was a river, which had a foord, and a bridge, where they lay strongly fortified ; — the generall (Sir John Norris) still marched on, as if he meant resolutely to passe the foord. Whereupon the Spaniards drew some of their forces upon the bridge, to the foorde, from whence came many large vollies of muskett shot, as thick as hayle, and lighted oft upon the English army, who obeying their generall's command, stirred not, nor discharged one peece. The neerer the English approached the foord, so much the more the Spa- niards thundered out their shot, unto every which volly flying round about their eares, the generall turning his face towards the enemie, would bow his body, and vale his bonnet, saying * I thanke you. Sir — I thanke you. Sir,' to the great admiration of all his campe, and of Generall Drake, who by this time was come to the hil toppe to make supply;, and to behould the service, but uppon the suddaine the generall bent his course towards the bridge, and having given his souldiers a signall unto battell, made a fierce assault, being at first very sharply resisted, where Sir Edward Norris and others being at pushe of pike and pell- mell, was striken downe and very dangerously wounded in the head with an arming sworde, and was instantly rescued by the generall." 332 FENNER. Theyre lodgings wasted and spoiled, dy vers horses and mules taken, and all the country eighte miles aboute wasted and burned. Your Lordeshipp's in all dutye and love duringe lyef, (Signed) Thomas Ffenner.* In Birch's Memoirs an abstract is given, said to be from a letter of Captain Fenner to Mr. Bacon, relating to the proceedings of this officer subsequent to the embarkation of the troops at Cascais, at which place Captain TVilliam Fenner, of the Aid, the bro- ther of Thomas, was killed by a shot from the fort. On putting to sea a storm arose which separated the fleet ; and Fenner, in the Dreadnought, with a de- tachment of merchant ships, failing to discover the fleet, and very much distressed for want of water, bore up for Porto Santo, and fell in with a pinnace that supplied them with apricots and red plums, which refreshed the people for four days, when he fell in with Captain Cross alone, having also lost the fleet. They entered the road being seventeen ships, and the following day seven more joined them. They landed, took possession of the island, and levied a large contribution of water, oil, vinegar, fat oxen, sheep, a multitude of hens and chickens, with as many musk melons, grapes, figs, and mul- berries as they wanted, and which supplied them plentifully till their arrival in England. * MS., State Paper Office. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 1585 TO 1600. ** Among the courtiers of Elizabeth had lately appeared a new favourite — young, noble, wealthy, accomplished, eloquent, brave, generous, aspiring— a favourite who had obtained from the grey-headed Queen such marks of regard as she had scarce vouch- safed to Leicester in the season of the passions — who was at once the ornament of the palace, and the idol of the city — who was the common patron of men of letters, and of men of the sword — who was the com- mon refuge of the persecuted Catholic, and of the persecuted Puritan/** A true picture of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, one of the most accomplished and most talented young noblemen that England could boast of in the reign of Queen Elizabeth ; and, it must be added, the most unfortunate. Often as the life and character of Essex have afforded subjects for the biographer of every age, a brief sketch of the history of such a man will not be considered inappropriately intro- * Macaulay's Review of Bacon's Works. — Edinburgh Re- view. 334 THE EARL OF ESSEX. duced with that of the many Worthies to whom that reign gave rise ; being one which can never fail to communicate instruction and deep interest. Robert Devereux, son of Walter Devereux, first Earl of Essex of this name and family, was born November 10th, 1567, at Netherwood, his father's seat, in Herefordshire. Walter dying in 1576, the title descended to Robert, in his ninth year. The former had only enjoyed it for the short period of four years, having been created Earl of Essex and invested with the Garter in the year 1572, in con- sideration of his important services in joining the Lord Admiral the Earl of Lincoln with a body of troops he had raised, and routing and dispersing the rebel forces under the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland. Walter, the father, dying, when the young Earl was in his ninth year, recommended him to the protection of William Cecil Lord Burleigh, whom he had appointed his guardian. At twelve he was sent to the University of Cambridge by his Lord- ship, who placed him in Trinity College, under the tutelage of Dr. Whitgift, then Master, and afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury. His educa- tion was conducted with great strictness, and his progress, by good parts and diligent attention to his studies, was very rapid. In 1583, being in his sixteenth year, he took the degree of Master of Arts, and kept his public act. Soon after this he THE EARL OF ESSEX. 335 left Cambridge, and retired to his own house at Lampsie, in South Wales, where he appears to have been so pleased with this rural retreat that it required some pressing in prevailing on him to quitrit. In the course, however, of the following year he came up to London, and made his first appearance at court, bringing thither a fine person, a haYidsoiyie and animated countenance, an agreeable carriage, and an affability which procured him a marked attention and many friends. His father, when in Ireland, had been persecuted and misrepresented to the Queen by the Earl of Leicester, who at that time was a great favourite of Elizabeth. The young Earl knew this; and it re- quired some time before he could overcome the reluctance he felt, and could not conceal, against associating with his late father's enemy, and now, strangely enough, his father-in-law, having married the Dowager Countess of Essex, his mother. By Leicester, however, he was first introduced to Queen Elizabeth, who was not wont to overlook a handsome young man of family, with an appearance and personal qualifications such as were presented by the Earl of Essex. About this time Leicester was sent over as governor, or commander-in-chief, of the forces in the Low Countries, and he took Essex with him, then in his nineteenth year. In a letter of Leicester to Mr. Secretary Walsingham, dated July, 1586, he says — '^Norris complains that 336 THE EARL OF ESSEX. all men are advanced but he ; as the Erie of Essex to be Generall of all the horse, both English and Dutch. ... In very troth he doth it onlie to bred quarrels, and to cause some mislike ; for my Lord of Essex is none otherwise than over the English horse, for the Count de Meurs is over the rest."* On the 28th of September, after the battle of Zutphen, he thus writes to the same—" But I must retorne to that daye*s service to lett you know that, upon my honor and credite, for I was the appointer myself of all that went forth, onlie those principall noblemen and gentlemen that staed by me in the mist, was my Lord of Essex, my Lord Willowbye, Sir William Russell, Sir Phillip Sidney, Sir Thomas Perrott, Muster, with their bands, but amonge them- selves and their own servants, and eleven or twelve of name, in all to the number of fifty or forty Qorcct) went on till theie found Sir John Norris, to whom I had comitted this service, only to have impeached a convoy ; but he seeing these young fellowes, indeed ledd them to this charge, and all these joined in front together, and what theie did the first charge and after the second, doth appear by the nomber of men then slaine, which is confest by the enemy to be at lest 250, but others that have reported of the enemies mouth, theie were above 350, and theie were of the gallantest and best sort."f In this battle that noble and accomplished youth, * Leicester Correspondence, printed for Camden Society, t lb. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 337 Sir Philip Sidney, fought and fell in the front of the advanced corps, and shortly after died of his wounds. Truly has Hume said, that " virtuous conduct, polite conversation, heroic valour, and ele- gant erudition, all concurred to render him the ornament and delight of tJie English court. No person was so low as not to become an object of his humanity :" and he relates the well-known story, that " while he was lying on the field mangled with wounds, a bottle of water was brought him to relieve his thirst; but observing a soldier near him in a like miserable condition, he said. This mans necessity is still greater than mine : and he resigned to him the bottle of water."* Towards the end of September, 1586, Essex re- turned to England, and became a great favourite with Elizabetli, who, being always mindful of gallant conduct, received in him some consolation in her sorrow for the loss of that " Child of the Muses," for whom she had a most sincere and parental affec- tion. He now stood so high in the Queen's good graces that, in 1587, she made him Master of the Horse ; and on the arrival of the Spanish Armada, when the Queen headed her army assembled at Tilbury, the Earl of Essex was promoted to the rank of General of the Horse, ** gracing him in the camp, in the view of the soldiers and people, even above her former favourite the Earl of Leicester, and * Hume's History. 338 THE EARL OF ESSEX. honouring him with the Order of the Garter."* On Leicester's death, which happened the 4th of Sep- tember, 1588, just at the close of the defeat and dispersion of the *' Invincible Armada," Essex was competitor with Sir Christopher Hatton, as successor to Leicester in the office of Chancellor of the Uni- versity of Oxford ; but on account of his youth, and of his being generally considered as a patron of the Puritan party, the interest of the Vice-Chamber- lain Hatton prevailed, and the election was carried against the young Earl. So sudden an elevation to the highest pitch of royal favour might be expected to excite that impe- tuosity of spirit that was natural to the Earl of Essex ; and instances occurred of that uncontrolled temper, which led him sometimes to conduct him- self petulantly to the Queen herself, who did not admit, while she sometimes provoked, freedoms of that kind from certain of her subjects; he had yet to learn, what Bolingbroke so truly said of her — " She had private friendships, she had favourites ; but she never suffered her friends to forget she was their queen; and when her favourites did, she made them feel that she was so." On one occasion, when in this state of temper, he insulted Sir Charles Blount, on a jealousy of the Queen's partiality. Sir Charles, afterwards Earl of Devon- shire, a very comely young man, having distin- * Birch*s Memoirs. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 339 guished himself at a tilt, her Majesty sent him a chess-queen of gold enamelled, which he tied upon his arm with a crimson riband. Essex perceiving it, said, with affected scorn, '* Now I perceive every fool must have a favour." On this Sir Charles challenged and fought him in Marybone Park, dis- armed and wounded him in the thigh. " Instead of a sentimental softness/* says Walpole, " the spirit of her father broke out on that occasion ; she swore a round oath, * that unless some one or other took him down, there would be no ruling him.' "* But she assisted in reconciling the combatants, who con- tinued good friends as long as they lived. Though his supposed tendency towards a parti- cular and powerful sect lost him the chancellorship, Essex had nothing of the Puritan in sentiment or conduct : liberal in the former, and generous in the latter, he was always ready to afford assistance, whether in person or in purse, to the distressed and deserving. It was mainly owing to this feeling of generosity, congenial at the same time with his activity of mind, as well as from the hatred he hbre to the Spaniards, that he engaged in the expedition to Portugal, under Drake and Norris, to establish the exiled Antonio in the government of that king- dom ; and this was done without her Majesty's con- sent or even knowledge. It would appear, however, from the following letter to his honourable friend * Royal and Noble Authors. z 2 340 THE EARL OF ESSEX. the Vice-Chamberlain, that the embarrassed state of his finances may have had some influence over the intended adventurous undertaking :— Sir, — What my courses may have been I need not repeat, for no man knoweth them better than yourself. What my state is now I will tell you : my revenue no greater than it was when I sued my livery ; my debts at the least two or three-and- twenty thousand pounds. Her Majesty's good- ness hath been so great, as I could not ask more of her. No way left to repair myself but my own adventure, which I had much rather undertake than to offend Her Majesty with sutes, as I have done heretofore. If I speed well I will adventure to be rich ; if not I will never leiev to see the end of my poverty ; and so wishing that this letter, which I have left for you, may come to your hands, I commit you to God's good protection. From my study, some few days befove my departure. Your assured friend, Essex.* When the Queen was informed of his intention to go with Drake as a volunteer, she gave orders to the two commanders of the expedition to find him out, wherever he might be, and send him to the court. Drake, in reply to the Lord High Chancellor, says — *' This cawse of the Erll of Essexe hath been, and is a very great truble unto us, for that we hyere con- tine wally that his Lordship's abyding is uncertaine in any one party culler place." The Queen herself also addressed to the Earl a very angry and severe * Burleigh's State Papers. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 341 letter, which he probably never received ; and the expedition sailed without hearing anything further of his Lordship. But on Drake leaving Corunna for the Tagus, he unexpectedly fell in with the Earl of Essex, bringing with him some ships which he had taken laden with corn. He was accompanied by his brother, Walter Devereux, Sir Roger Wil- braham. Sir Philip Butler, and Sir Edward Wing- field. These gentlemen joined Sir John Norris, when he landed at Peniche to march overland to Lisbon. Two troops were immediately placed under the command of Essex, who in the course of the march endeared himself to the whole army. " Divers of the men," says Captain Fenner, " fainted by the way with heat, and divers died for want of food, and many, who would otherwise have died, were saved by the Earl of Essex, who commanded all his stuff to be cast out of his carriages, and these to be filled with the sick men and gentlemen who had fainted."* The * True Discourse' of a foreign gen- tleman, originally written to a friend on the con- tinent, and published in London both in Latin and English, thus speaks of Essex's joining — " Summo omnium applausu et laetitia excipitur; est enim propter virtutes animi, corporisque dotes, generis et familige nobilitatem, et in re militari scientiam, et industriam, nobilis longe gratissimus." He further * Birch's Memoirs. 342 THE EARL OF ESSEX. says that '' after coming into the fleet, to the great rejoicing of us all, he demanded of the General that he might always have the leading of the van-guard, which he readily yielded to, as being desirous to satisfie him in all things, but especially in matters so much tending to his honour.^'* It is remarkable that an army should have marched overland to the very gates of Lisbon, before which it arrived without cannon or ammu- nition — not having a field-piece even with which they might have blown down one of the gates. Indeed it is stated, in one of the narratives of the expedition, that ** not only did Essex pursue the Spaniards to the very gates of Lisbon, but was with difficulty prevented from rushing through in the thick of them, and would have fearlessly forced himself in, beyond a doubt, had not his friend. Sir Roger Wilbraham, held him back by main force. On another occasion the Earl of Essex knocked at the gates of the city, wherein it was said there were not above 700 Spaniards to guard it." On their retreat it was reported to Norris that a certain Peter Henry de Guzman — called in the Latin ' Discourse ' Comes de Fontibus (Conde de Fuentes) — was close upon him with 6000 foot and 500 horse, proclaiming everywhere that the English were put to flight. Norris, indignant at this, sent a trumpet with a letter to this person, informing * Ephemeris Expeditionis, or True Discourse. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 343 him that before noon next day he would be with him, with his little army, to confute his falsehoods, not by words but arms, that a trial might be made whether an Englishman or a Spaniard should be the first to run away. At the same time, and by the same messenger, the Earl of Essex challenged to single combat him or any other Spaniard of his rank ; or, if he had no taste for it himself, ten Englishmen should try their hands with any ten of his countrymen. This gallant Count, however, not much relishing the proposals of either Sir John Norris or the Earl of Essex, disappeared, with the whole of his force, in the middle of the night. On the return of the expedition to England, Essex hastened to court, doubtful in what manner he would be received by the Queen ; but Elizabeth, who was ever ready to look with favour on valorous deeds, received him in the kindest manner, and took an early opportunity of showering upon him honours and rewards. But these favourable aus- pices were for a time suspended, and Her Majesty's temper not a little ruffled, on discovering that he had contracted a private match with Frances, only daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham, and widow of Sir Philip Sidney ; a connexion which she considered derogatory to the honour of the house of Essex. The real cause of her anger, perhaps, was in not having been consulted; but on reflection, that the lady of his choice was the daughter of her own secretary, and the widow of her most beloved 344 ' THE EARL OF ESSEX. friend, and a lady whose correct and amiable con- duct she must have known, Her Majesty's anger subsided. Matters went on pretty well at court for some time^ with a little scolding now and then, for the occasional absence of Essex. An affair, however, which wore the appearance of an intrigue, was more deeply resented than the private marriage. Mr. Rowland White writes to Sir Robert Sidney, " You will be sorry to hear what grieves me to write of. It is spied out by envye, that the Earl of Essex is againe fallen in love with his fairest B. [Bridges]. It cannot chuse but come to the Queen s ears ; then is he undone, and all they that depend upon his favours." It did very soon reach the Queen's ears, and the consequence was that "the Queen of late used the fair Mrs. Bridges with words and blows of anger; and she and Mrs. Russell were put out of the coffer chamber, lay three nights at my Lady Stafford's, but are now re- turned again to their wonted waiting." ^ Shortly before this, he had exhibited before Her Majesty and the court a mask, or what is called " Essex's Device," which afforded great pleasure, and may serve as a specimen of the kind of enter- tainments at the time. " My Lord of Essex's de- vice," says Rowland White, " is much commended in these late triumphs. Some pretty while before he came in himself to the tilt, he sent his page * Sidney Papers, vol. ii. p. 38. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 345 with some speech to the Queen, who returned with her Majestie's glove : and when he came himself he was met by an old hermit, a secretary of state, a brave soldier, and an esquire. The first presented him with a booke of meditations; the second with political discourses ; the third with orations of brave fought battles ; the fourth was but his own follower, to whom the other three imparted much of their purpose before the Earl's entry. In short, each of them endeavoured to win him over to their profession, and to persuade him to leave his vain following of love, and to betake him to heavenly meditation. But the esquire answered them . all, and told them plainly ' that this knight would never forsake his Mistress's love, whose virtue made all his thoughts divine, whose wisdom taught him all true policy, whose beauty [the Queen then sixty-three] and worth were at all times able to make him fit to command armies.' He pointed out all the defects of their several pursuits, and therefore thought his own course of life to be best in serving his Mistress." * In the ' Royal Progresses ' are separate long speeches given to the hermit, the secretary of state, the soldier, and the esquire, said to be written by Mr. Bacon.f * Walpole's Royal and Noble Authors, abridged from the Sidney papers. t Nicholls's Progresses of Queen Elizabeth. 346 THE EARL OF ESSEX. The Queen said, " that if she had thought there would have been so much said of her, she would not have been there that night." The part of the Esquire was played by Sir Toby Matthews, who lived to be an admired wit in the court of Charles I., and wrote an affected panegyric on that affected beauty the Countess of Carlisle.* The shafts of envy are ever ready to strike at the favourites of fortune ; and Essex, who was generally loved and esteemed, did not escape them, especially among the hangers-on of the court. So long, how- ever, as he continued in the good graces of the Queen, he did not much regard them. He seldom asked any favour for himself that was not speedily granted, but he complained that he could obtain little or nothing for his friends, though, to his honour, his solicitations were always in favour of men of parts and learning. Two brothers of this character were Francis and Antony Bacon, for whom he entertained a deep and sincere regard and friendship, Francis was considered among the first in the legal profession. After repeated solicitations for above a twelvemonth, the Earl thought himself authorized to ask the Queen to make him her attorney-general, in preference of Mr. Coke, who was then a candidate ; but the Queen positively re- fused, expressing at the same time her dislike of Bacon for his speech in Parliament on a question * Walpole. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 347 of subsidies. Bacon said to a friend, "The Earl de- clared himself to the Queen on his behalf more like a father than a friend to him;" and he consoled himself by saying to his brother, " Against me she is never peremptory, but to my Lord Essex." When Essex found that all farther solicitation was not likely to be of any avail, and in order to take off the sting of mortification and of apparent neglect, the Earl, with that kind-hearted generosity inherent in his nature, conferred on Bacon a small estate of the value of about two thousand pounds, as a mark of his esteem and friendship : this generous act was just previous to his leaving England, on a grand expedition that was preparing to strike a blow against the Spaniards, and to which the Queen had submitted his name to the Council, for a chief command. This was no less than the cele- brated voyage to Cadiz. The preparations for this voyage were on a grand scale. The Spaniards had begun to talk loudly of their designs upon England and Ireland at the same time, building their hopes much on the loss which the nation had sustained in the death of Drake and Hawkins, and the little molestation their ships had recently sustained in their voyages to and from the Indies. The Queen, fully aware of the threatened invasion, determined on attacking and destroying the enemy's shipping in their own ports. For this purpose a powerful fleet was fitted out, intended for 348 THE EARL OF ESSEX. a conjoint expedition, of which the Earl of Essex and the Lord Admiral Howard of Effingham were appointed commanders-in-chief. The fleet was di- vided into four squadrons — the first imder the im- mediate orders of the Lord High Admiral ; the second under the Earl of Essex ; the third under Lord Thomas Howard ; and the fourth under Sir Walter Raleigh. And for the better order in the execution of their instructions, five counsellors from the two services were appointed. The Admiral and Council finding the landing at St. Sebastian to be impracticable, the next step was at once to enter the harbour, to take possession of or destroy the shipping. The Earl of Essex is said to have been so enraptured at this resolution that he threw his hat into the sea, and, with his usual eagerness and impetuosity, insisted on leading in ; but the Lord Admiral and the whole Council very properly opposed it, and decided that the lightest ships should lead in, under Lord Thomas Howard and Sir Walter Raleigh. The rest has been nar- rated in the memoir of the Lord High Admiral. Complete as was the destruction of the shipping and all the stores in preparation, the Earl of Essex was not quite satisfied on two points : first, he pro- posed to keep possession of the city of Cadiz, and the peninsula on which it stands, as it might prove a thorn in the sides of the Spaniards; or, as he himself says, " a nail in the foot of this great mo- THE EARL OF ESSEX. 349 narchy." He offered to remain there himself with no more than four hundred men and three months' provisions ; and in this he was supported by the Dutch Admiral and Sir Francis Vere. But the Lord Admiral and all the other officers decided at once against it. The second point was to repair to the Azores, there to lay in wait for the East India carracks ; but all objected to this, except the Lord Thomas Howard and the Dutch Admiral. Sir Walter Raleigh alleged the scarcity of victuals and the infection of his men. " My Lord General of Essex," says Sir William Monson, "offered, in the greatness of his mind, and the desire he had to stay, to supply his want of men and victuals, and to exchange ships ; but all proposals were in vain." In returning, part of the fleet looked into Faro, a town of Algarva, famous only for the library of Bishop Osorius, which was brought away, and the best portion of it sent by Essex to the newly-erected library of Oxford. On the arrival in London of the two Lords General, they were addressed by the Lords of the Council in a very dry, not to say uncivil letter, chiefly about the expenses of the voyage and other money matters, about which no doubt Burghley was very inquisitive ; but to make the two commanders some amends, they received a most gracious one from the Queen, and Essex was well received at court, though he discovered that attempts had been 350 THE EARL OF ESSEX. made to prejudice the Queen against him. How- ever, Her Majesty gave the strongest proof of the confidence she placed in him, by appointing him, the very next year, to the sole command of a large fleet, consisting of 120 ships, whereof 17 were the Queen's, 43 small vessels of war, the rest tenders and victuallers. Five thousand land forces were raised, and 1000 old soldiers from the Netherlands, under Sir Francis Vere, to be embarked in the fleet. The Lord Admiral from indisposition was permitted to decline the command, which was then given, solely as General, to the Earl of Essex. Lord Thomas Howard was appointed vice-admiral, and Sir Walter Raleigh rear-admiral. Among the cap- tains were Sir William Monson, Sir Richard Levi- son. Sir Thomas Vavasor, and Sir George Carew. For certain reasons, however, it was decided to leave the troops behind, all but the veterans under Sir Francis Vere, and to direct their attention chiefly to the capture of the Indian fleet. The chief commanders and the ships of the fleet were as follow : — '' The Mere-l'honneur," the Earl of Essex. His captain. Sir Robert Mansel. *' Repulse," Vice-Admiral the Lord Thomas Howard. His captain. Captain Middleton. ** Warspite," Rear- Admiral Sir Walter Raleigh. His captain. Sir Arthur Gorges. " Garland," the Earl of Southampton. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 361 *' Defiance," the Lord Montjoy. Captain, Sir Amos Preston. " St. Mathew," Sir George Carew, Master of the Ordnance. *' Mary Rose,'* Sir Francis Vere, Marshal. His captain. Captain John Winter. " Dreadnought," Captain William Brook. " Nonpareil," Captain Sir Richard Levison. ** Buonaventure," Sir William Harvey. " Antelope," Sir Thomas Vavasor. " Rainbow," Sir William Monson. " Swiftsure," Sir William Merrick, and six others. To which were added, by the Dutch, ten ships of war, under Admiral Van Duvenvord. On consultation it was resolved to give up the intention of looking into the Groyne and Ferrol, after the order to leave the land forces behind, and to divide the force into four squadrons, each to attack and carry, if possible, four of the Azores islands — Fayal, Graciosa, St. Michael's, and to the Dutch squadron, Pico. Essex and his division were to besiege Fayal, to which place an order was sent to Sir Walter Raleigh, who had been delayed, to follow him thither. It so happened that Raleigh arrived first in the road of Fayal, and observed the enemy busily employed in fortifying the landing- place and the town. It was debated whether an immediate descent should not be made, as every hour's delay was in favour of the enemy and against the invaders. Raleigh himself was for it, 352 THE EARL OF ESSEX. and so were his best officers, Brook, Gorges, and Harvey ; the others were for waiting the arrival of the Earl, which induced Raleigh to delay the attack two or three days ; but neither the General nor any tidings of him having arrived, he put him- self at the head of the boats and pinnaces, landed, reduced the works that had been thrown up, and made himself master of the town, with the loss of about ten men killed and twenty wounded. Next morning at an early hour the squadron of the Commander-in-Chief was discovered in full sail towards Fayal Roads. Surprised as he was, and not over pleased, at the rapid success of Raleigh, he would probably have been equally well satis- fied with the result, had he been left to his own judgment. Some of his officers, however, who were no friends of Raleigh, represented to the Earl, that such conduct was a marked disobe- dience of orders, and a breach of discipline, which ought not to be passed over — that it was snatching from him the honour of the enterprise, to which alone he was entitled as commander of the expedition. Essex was a man of that irritable dis- position, and so easily excited where the slightest point of honour was in question, that he resolved to bring Raleigh before a council of war ; but Raleigh remonstrated, and stated that though the officers were bound to obey his orders, the three Generals, of whom he was one, were not ; and the reasons he assigned for the attack were such that Essex, with- THE EARL OP ESSEX. 353 out further deliberation or inquiry, sent a repri- mand to Raleigh, and ordered his advisers into arrest. On Raleigh going on board, the Earl ac- cused him of a direct breach of orders, which for- bade any landing without instructions from the General. Raleigh was ready to admit it, but pleaded the necessity of the case, for had he longer delayed, the capture of the island would most pro- bably have been impracticable. The temper of the Earl was as flexible as impetuous ; and, on the me- diation of Lord Thomas Howard, he was readily appeased, ordered the officers of Raleigh out of arrest, and was reconciled to Raleigh himself. But it would appear, from his future conduct, that Raleigh was in fact never reconciled to Essex. " The Vice-Admiral, Lord Thomas Howard," says Hak- luyt, " of his exceeding great magnanimitie, courage, and wisdom, joined with such an honourable kind of sweet courtesie, bountie, and liberalitie, with many other loving epithets, succeeded in settling all differences.*' * The fleet was now divided into three squadrons, and each ordered on a different course, to look out for the plate ships. In steering for St. MichaeFs, three Spanish vessels were captured, laden with cochineal, silver, gold, pearls, musk, and ambergris, to the value of 400,000 ducats. At St. Michael's a carrack of 1,800 tons, laden with treasure, was * Hakluyt, 2 A 354 THE EARL OF ESSEX. seen to approach, bearing, with all sail set, directly for Raleigh's squadron, thinking it to be ships of Spain — all being quiet, without a sail set or a colour hoisted — when, just as she was falling into the snare, one of the lubberly Dutchmen fired a shot at her. She perceived her mistake, and imme- diately ran aground under the town and fort. The barges were as quickly after her; on which her crew, having first set fire to her in several places, betook themselves to their own boats, and others that came to them from the town. Sir Arthur Gorges, who was Raleigh's captain, gives an animated de- scription of this incident : — " Raleigh and his men pursued to board and prevent loss, though not without great danger to his row-barge, where he was, the surge being very outrageous. But before he could get up to her, she was all over thunder and lightning, her ord- nance discharging from every port ; and her whole hulk, masts, cordage, and furniture overrun with such a thorough, yet distinct and unconfused blaze, as represented the figure of a ship more perfectly in fire, than could be done by any painter, with all his art and colours ; and when she was consumed even to the surface of the water, she exhaled, as her last breath, such clouds from her spicy entrails, as for a great way, and for many hours, perfumed the air and coast around." * * Gorges' relation in Tytler. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 355 On the arrival of the fleet in England, Essex hastened to court, prepared, no doubt, for no very warm reception from the Queen, who indeed re- proached him for having done so little, for disobe- dience of his instructions, and that he had neither destroyed the Ferrol fleet, nor captured the home- ward-bound carracks. But all this was a mere trifle to the mortifications that awaited him. He had soli- cited, before he set sail, the situation of Chief Secre- tary for his friend Sir Thomas Bodeley, which, in his absence, had been bestowed on Sir Robert Cecil, who was not his friend. But even this was trifling in comparison with another transaction which deeply affected himself personally. The Queen had raised the Lord High Admiral, Howard of Effingham, to the peerage by the title of Earl of Nottingham, a reward, as it was noticed in his patent, granted for his services against the Spanish Armada, and his conduct in the attack of Cadiz. Essex declared the latter was not true, that he was himself the commander-in-chief on that occasion, that he stood first in the commission, and that it was an insult to put one over him, who was only second ; and that by such an act he felt himself degraded in his rank. We are told by that most industrious and fre- quently correct court gossip, Mr. Rowland White, that Essex on this occasion so far forgot himself as to send a challenge to the newly-created earl to 2a2 356 THE EARL OF ESSEX. meet him in combat, or one of his sons or of his name. " I hear," says White, " my Lord desires to have right done him, either by a commission to examine it, or by combat against the Earl of Not- tingham himself, or any of his sons or name that will defend it ; or that Her Majesty will please to see the wrong done unto him, and so will he suffer himself to be commanded by her, as she please herself." There is probably about as much truth in the challenge as in the report of Essex bringing Raleigh before a council of war, which had sen- tenced him to death — they both proceed from the same quarter.* Essex was wild and irascible, but also easily appeased. The only person to be chal- lenged, and who alone could give him satisfaction, was the Queen, which she was ready enough to do, and did effectually, by conferring on Essex the title and office of Earl-Marshal of England, which gave him at once that which he mostly wished for, pre- cedence over the Earl of Nottingham. Very soon after this, Henry IV. of France made peace with Spain, which changed the position of England, with respect to the former, as being her ally, and to the latter, as her enemy ; and the event became a matter of debate in the Privy Council, whether negotiations for a peace with Spain might not now be entertained. Burleigh was disposed for it ; Essex against it, and contended with great * Sidney Papers. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 357 warmth for the continuance of the war. The vener- able Lord Treasurer, with a view to silence, if pos- sible, his impetuous ward, took from his pocket a prayerbook, and placing it open before Essex, quietly pointed out to him these words in the Psalms, " Men of blood shall not live out half their days." Just at this time, the rebellion in Ireland under Tyrone required the presence of an able and fit ruler over that most difficult country, to replace the Earl of Ormond, whose proceedings had given great dis- satisfaction. Elizabeth selected Sir Robert Knollis, the uncle of Essex ; whilst he, the nephew, differed from Her Majesty, and recommended Sir George Carew, as a much fitter man for it ; and he became so heated in the argument, that he entirely forgot the rules both of duty and courtesy, and turned his back upon the Queen in a contemptuous manner. Elizabeth in her temper, naturally prompt and violent when crossed, became exceedingly irritated, and at once gave him a box on the ear, accom- panied with a passionate expression suited to his impertinence — ** Go and be hanged !" He immedi- ately clapped his hand on his sword, but the Lord Admiral stepped between. Essex then swore a great oath, exclaiming that he neither could nor would put up with an affront of that nature ; no, he would not have taken it at the hands of Henry VHL ; and in a most violent rage left the court, and shut him- self up in his own house. The Lord Keeper Egerton strongly advised him 358 THE EARL OF ESSEX. to entreat tlie Queen for pardon. He answered him in a long and passionate letter, in which he ap- pealed from the Queen to God Almighty; said there was no tempest so boisterous as the resent- ment of an angry prince ; that the Queen was of a flinty temper ; that he well enough knew what was due from him as a subject, an Earl, and Grand Marshal of England, but did not understand the office of a drudge or a porter. ... "If the vilest of all indignities is done me, does religion enforce me to sue for pardon ? Doth God require it ? Is it impiety not to do it ? Why ? Cannot princes err ? Cannot subjects receive wrong? Is an earthly power infinite ? Pardon me, my Lord, I can never subscribe to these principles. Let Solomon's fool laugh when he is stricken ; let those that mean to make their profit of princes show no sense of princes* injuries; let them acknowledge an infinite absoluteness on earth, that do not believe an abso- lute infiniteness in heaven," &c. His friends were imprudent enough to let this letter be seen by Elizabeth ; yet, notwithstanding this additional provocation, the Queen's partiality was so prevailing, that she reinstated him in her former favour. The death of the wise and honest Lord Burleigh, just at this time, appeared to increase and insure her confidence in Essex. The appoint- ment to Ireland could no longer be delayed, and Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy, was recommended as the proper man. But Essex opposed the ap- THE EARL OF ESSEX. 359 pointment, and so described the qualities necessary to fill the important situation, as to make it to be understood he meant no other but himself. Whether he solicited the appointment, or whether it was pressed upon him by the Queen or her ministers, it is clear, after accepting it, that he left England as a broken-spirited man, totally unlike the bold and noble-minded Essex of former years. It is said he declined this preferment, as long as he could without further displeasing the Queen ; and that, perceiving he should have no quiet at home, he accepted it ; and his commission as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland passed the great seal in March, 1598. He looked on it rather as a banish- ment, and as a situation never intended for him ; as a retreat from his Sovereign's displeasure, and not as a splendid government bestowed upon him by lier favour. His feelings are powerfully described in the following letter: — To THE Queen, From a mind delighting in sorrow ; from spirits wasted in passion ; from a heart torn in peces with care, grief, and travel ; from a man that hateth himself, and all things else that keep him alive ; what service can your Majesty expect, since any service past deserves no more than banishment and proscription to the cursedest of all islands ? It is your rebel's pride and success must give me leave to ransom myself out of this hateful prison, out of my loathed body ; which if it happen so, your Majesty shall have no cause to mislike the fashion of my death, since the course of my life could never please you. ^ THE EARL OF ESSEX. Happy could he finish forth his fate In some unhaunted desert most obscure From all society, from love and hate Of worldly folk ; then should he sleep secure. Then wake again, and yield God ever praise, Content with hips and hawes and bramble-berry ; In contemplation passing out his days. And change of holy thoughts to make him merry. Who when he dies, his tomb may be a bush. Where harmless robin dwells with gentle thrush. Your Majesty's exiled Servant, Robert Essex.* It was an act of inhumanity and egregious folly, not to call it treason to the state, to send away a noble creature thus broken down, and in such a state of mind, to quell the rebellious spirit which was then predominant in Ireland. The result was, that every step taken by Essex was in the wrong direction ; " of all which," the biographer of Raleigh tells us, " Cecil and Raleigh, who watched every opportu- nity to shake his power, availed themselves :" which is quite true ; but there is not a shadow of truth, nor " reason to believe they had a willing coadjutor in the Earl of Nottingham," who, on the contrary, remained a staunch friend to the last ; — but more of him presently. The same author gives, but with- out assigning his authority, a most scurrilous and disgraceful letter from Raleigh to Cecil, advising the latter to make use of all his means utterly to de- * Birch's Memoirs. Nicholls's Progresses. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 361 stroy Essex. And they succeeded ; but Cecil, being the more cunning of the two, ultimately succeeded also in ruining his prompter. The straightforward and manly conduct of Essex was no match for the cunning and plausible speeches of Secretary Cecil. The characters of this functionary and Essex are correctly sketclied out in two lines of Pope : — Tom struts a soldier, open, bold, and brave ; Will sneaks a scriv'ner, an exceeding knave. Cecil and Raleigh continued, however, for some time, to act conjointly in poisoning the mind of the Queen against every proceeding of Essex. Her letters to him were filled with reproaches; his replies, with expressions of despondency, which worked so strongly on his mind, that he resolved to abandon at once his government without leave, committed the charge of it to Sir George Carew, and made all haste for England. He arrived at the court about ten in the morn- ing, hastened to the privy-chamber, and onwards till he came to the Queen's dressing-room, where he found Her Majesty, with her hair about her face : he knelt, kissed her hand, and the conversa- tion was such as to give him content. On parting, he thanked God that, for so much trouble and storms as he had suffered abroad, he had found a sweet calm at home. The same day he had an hours audience of the Queen, who was very gracious to 362 THE EARL OF ESSEX. him. Matters, however, soon assumed a different aspect. The next day he was summoned to appear before the Council. His offences were there read to him by the Secretary. They consisted of his con- temptuous disobedience of Her Majesty's letters and will, by his returning ; his own presumptuous letters written from time to time ; his proceedings in Ire- land, contrary to his instructions ; his rash manner of coming away ; his making of so many knights ; his over-bold going to Her Majesty in her dressing- room. These were the charges on which he was afterwards tried. In the mean time he was or- dered to be confined to his chamber at Nonsuch.* Here he was visited by his friend, for so he still considered him, Mr. Francis Bacon, who, on being asked by the Earl his opinion regarding the course to be taken by himself, returned the following reply : — ** My Lord, nubecula est ; cito transihit : it is but a mist. But shall I tell your Lordship ? It is as mists are : if it go upwards, it may haply cause a shower; if downwards, it will clear up. And therefore, good my Lord, carry it so, as you may take away, by all means, all umbrages and distastes from the Queen; and especially observe three points: these are — not to make your peace concluded with Tyrone as a service — leave it to the Queen, as to any necessity there may be thought of sending you back to Ireland — and, lastly, seek * Birch's Memoirs. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 363 access importune, opportune, seriously, sportingly, every way." The Earl listened, and sometimes shook liis head, thinking Mr. Bacon was in the wrong ; and he acted accordingly.* Bacon did, however, undertake to mediate; but " he had to manage two spirits equally proud, re- sentful, and ungovernable. At Essex House he had to calm the rage of a young hero, incensed by multiplied wrongs and humiliations; and then to pass to Whitehall, for the purpose of soothing the peevishness of a Sovereign whose temper, never very gentle, had been rendered morbidly irritable by age, by declining health, and by the long habit of listening to flattery, and exacting complete obe- dience." But even Bacon could not so shape his course as not to give cause of complaint from both parties ; and he found at length that he had dis- obliged both, whom he had anxiously endeavoured to reconcile. " Essex thought him wanting in zeal as a friend ; Elizabeth thought him wanting in duty as a subject. The Earl looked on him as a spy of the Queen ; the Queen, as a creature of the Earl." The Queen at length became so exasperated against Essex that she refused him, in his confine- ment, permission to write to his countess, who was in extreme grief at not being allowed either to see or to hear from him. The poor lady had only six * Birch's Memoirs. 364 THE EARL OF ESSEX. days before been delivered of a daughter. " This shows," says Rowland White, " that Her Majesty's hart is hard ned towards him. It is said that he is very ill, and troubled with a flux. No man goes to hym, nor is he desirous to see any." * So great was the Queen's resentment that she re- fused the request of his physicians, that Dr. Brown, who knew his constitution, might be sent for. He was not only seriously ill from disease,^but broken- hearted, as the following letter to the Queen evi- dently shows : — My dear, my gracious, and my admired Sovereign is semper eadem. It cannot be but that she will hear the sighs and groans, and read the lamentations and humble peti- tions of the aflOiicted. Therefore, O paper, whensoever her eyes vouchsafe to behold thee, say that death is the end of all worldly misery ; but continued indignation makes misery perpetual ; that present misery is never intolerable to them that are stayed by future hope ; but, affliction that is un- seen is commanded to despair ; that nature, youth, and physic have had many strong encounters : but if my Sove- reign will forget me, I have nourished these contentions too long, for in this exile of mine eyes, if mine humble letters find not access, no death can be so speedy, as it shall be welcome to me, Your Majesty's humblest vassal, Essex, t The enemies on one part, Raleigh and Cecil, en- deavoured to feed the fire of the Queen's resent- * Sidney Papers, ii. 132. f Birch's Memoirs. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 365 ment ; while, on the other, the numerous powerful friends that Essex still retained used all their influ- ence to mitigate her anger; and in the state to which he was reduced, apparently to the brink of the grave, she was so far visited with compunctious feelings, as to order her physician to send him broth and cordials, and to signify her desire to visit him, if she might do so with honour. He had now also more liberty granted in his own house ; often walking upon the open leads and in the garden with his lady, they reading to each other ; but the latter could not yet obtain permission to live with him ; and his gates were still kept very close, and no person admitted to him, though the Secretary continued all friendly offices towards him* This return to kindness no doubt produced a re- turn to reviving health ; and his friends succeeded in prevailing on the Queen to allow him to go into the country ; but not to consider himself freed from her indignation, nor presume to approach the court or her person. He returns to town, and taking the advantage of the anniversary of Her Majesty's ac- cession to the throne, the 17th November, he ad- dresses a letter to her, in which he says : — " Only miserable Essex, full of pain, full of sickness, full of sorrow, languishing in repentance for his offences past ; hateful to himself that he is yet alive, and importunate on death, if your favour be irrevocable ; * Sidney Papers. Birch's Memoirs. 366 THE EARL OF ESSEX. he joys only for your Majesty's great happiness, and happy greatness ; and were the rest of his days never so many, and sure to be as happy as they are like to be miserable, he would lose them all to have this happy 17th day many and many times re- newed with glory to your Majesty, and comfort of all your faithful subjects.*' But the refusal of access to the Queen and court, and the hasty and ungracious measure of taking away from him the privilege, he possessed, of the farm of sweet wines, created a deep impression of resentment on the mind of Essex ; and induced him, unfortunately, to give ear to the desperate counsels of his ill-advised friends, his dependents and ser- vants, which went even to the act of forcing his way to the Queen by violence, if necessary. Vast numbers of various descriptions of persons were allowed free admission to Essex House, where puritan divines made inflammatory discourses, and uttered abusive expressions against the Queen herself, in which Essex unfortunately so far joined, as to give vent to an offensive expression, " She is grown an old woman, and as crooked in mind as in her car- case," — which was carefully reported to her. These friends proceeded at length to form a council, which held its meetings at Drury House. A list was here made out of the Earl's party, con- sisting, as he told the assembled meeting, of one hundred and twenty earls, barons, knights, and THE EARL OF ESSEX. 367 gentlemen. The plan proposed was this — that a body of men should seize the gate, the court, the guard, and presence-chamber, and that the Earl himself, with certain chosen persons, should go to the Queen, and dictate to her certain propositions; but the plan was considered too bold and perilous, and did not take effect. A great concourse of people speedily afterwards began to assemble at Essex House, where it was decided to act at once, but somewhat differently. The result was, that Essex, with about three hundred followers, sallied out, having previously locked, within the house^ the Lord Keeper, the Comptroller, and the Lord Chief Justice, whom the Queen had sent to Essex House to inquire what was the meaning of such a concourse of people. The party of Essex proceeded to the city, calling out on entering it, '* For the Queen ! for the Queen! a plot is laid for my life!'* From thence they marched to the Sheriff's house. No time, however, had been lost, on the part of government, in proclaiming the Earl and his adherents traitors through various parts of the city ; and Essex was told that the Lord Admiral was advancing upon him with a body of troops. Seeing now that all hopes were at an end, he resolved to return, and sue for grace and favour from the Queen, by means of the Lord Keeper and the others, whom he had confined in Essex House. They had, however, been released before Essex reached home, and after some 368 THE EARL OF ESSEX. discussion with the Lord Admiral, and others who accompanied him, the Earl surrendered himself; when he and his friends, the Earl of Southampton, the Lords Sandys^ Cromwell, and Monteagle, Sir Charles Danvers and Sir Henry Bromley, were conveyed to the Tower, and the rest of the con- spirators to the public prisons. Indictments being found against Essex and South- ampton on the 19th of February, 1601, they were publicly arraigned in Westminster Hall, before twenty-five peers of the realm, the Lord Treasurer Buckhurst sitting as Lord High Steward. The two Lord Chief Justices and five other Judges attended, the Queen's Serjeant, the Attorney and Solicitor- General, and, to the surprise of all, Mr. Francis Bacon, on the part of the prosecution. It has been seen how strenuously the Earl exerted himself to procure Bacon's elevation — how he soothed his dis- appointment out of his own means — and how Bacon, in return, endeavoured to mediate between the Queen and him; but his present conduct towards the unfortunate Essex, on trial for his life, was considered as untenable, unjustifiable, and shameful. As one of the counsel for the prosecu- tion, he exerted all his talents of rhetoric and his display of legal knowledge to secure his conviction. No attempt was made by him, after the Earl's con- viction, to plead his benefactor's cause before the Queen, which, it was generally thought, would have been successful. But " the faithless friend THE EARL OF ESSEX. 369 who had assisted in taking the Earl's life, was now employed to murder the Earl's fame.'* This faith- less friend was the person selected to write ' A Declaration of the Practices and Treasons attempted and committed by Robert Earl of Essex,' which was printed by authority ; a performance abounding in expressions " which no generous enemy would have employed respecting a man who had so dearly ex- piated his offences." It is true Bacon found it neces- sary, in justification of his own character, to publish an apology amounting to little more than " what I did was done in my duty to the Queen and to the State, in which I would not show myself false- hearted, nor faint-hearted, for any man's sake living.'* No : this voluntary advocate showed himself mucli more hard than faint-hearted, when he lent his powerful aid to immolate, on the public scaffold, a friend and a benefactor. The trial ended in a way that such an overt act of treason could only end, in conviction and sen- tence of death, which was carried into execution on the 25th of February. During his confinement he showed a true repentance for his offences, and fully admitted the justice of his sentence. His speech on the scaffold melted the nobles and the other spectators to tears. In his last prayer to God he says — ** Give me patience to bear, as becometh me, this just punishment upon me by so honourable a tryal. Grant me the inward comfort of thy spirit," 2b 370 THE EARL OF ESSEX. &c. ; and when his head was on the block, he stretched out his arms, saying, '* Lord^ into thy hands I recommend my spirit" Thus died the Earl of Essex, in his thirty-fourth year. There can be no doubt that, as Camden says, **the Queen was in extreme agitation of mind, and very irresolute with respect to the execution, which she at first countermanded; but afterwards, being- provoked by his obstinacy in not imploring her mercy, she signed his death-warrant."* The charge of obstinacy is not true, for he did implore, but in vain. It is not improbable that the Queen's conduct, about signing the warrant, may have something of the same kind of foundation as the story of the ring, which would have saved his life, if the Lord Admiral (of all men in the world) had not withheld it from the Queen. This story is built on a very gossiping and tottering foundation : a Mons. Aubrey de Mu- rier ascribes it to Sir Dudley Carlton, who told it to Prince Maurice, who told it to M. de Murier's father, from whom he had it, and prints it in a His- tory of Holland ! And that some English authority should not be wanting, the same story, with some additional machinery, was told frequently to the Earl of Monmouth by Lady Elizabeth Spelman, the great-granddaughter of the Earl.f Camden notices it not ; and Lord Clarendon attaches no belief to it, and says — "I know not upon what unseasonable * Camden. "j* Birch's Negociations, p. 206. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 371 delivery of a ring or jewel by some lady of the court the Queen expressed much reluctancy for his death." Hume, too, has the credulity or the wickedness of inserting in his History this gossiping story of the fatal ring, which destroyed three persons — Essex, the Countess of Nottingham, and Queen Elizabeth ; but, like slow poison, it took more than two years to kill the two latter. Hume, moreover, without the least authority, audaciously calls Nottingham " the mortal enemy of Essex." It might have occurred to him that the last person, to whom Essex would have intrusted his fate, would have been the wife of his " mortal enemy." But the Lord Admiral has already spoken for himself, eagerly repudiating all enmity between them, and honestly professing friendship and regard.* It was rumoured also among the court gossipers that at the siege of Cadiz the Lord Admiral was jealous of and hated Essex. Here, again, let the Lord Admiral speak for himself. In a letter from him to his father-in-law, the Lord Chamberlain Hunsdon, he says — " I can assure you there is not a braver man in the world than the Earl is ; and I protest, in my simple poor judgment, a graver soldier ; for what he doth is in great order and good discipline performed. "f ♦ The Earl of Nottingham's Letter to the Earl of Essex, October, 1597, p. 300. t Bircli's Memoirs. 2 b2 372 THE EARL OF ESSEX. Two of the conspirators, Mericke and CufFe, were tried at Westminster, and hanged at Tyburn. Sir Charles Danvers and Sir Christopher Blounte were beheaded on Tower Hill. The Earl of Southampton was left in the Tower during the rest of Queen Elizabeth's reign ; but, on her death, he was re- leased, and restored in blood by James I., who shortly after conferred on him the Order of the Garter. It may be doubted if CufFe had strict jus- tice done to him. He was confidential secretary to the Earl of Essex, and subject to his orders ; he was known to be his adviser, and that many of his letters were written by him ; for these letters he ought not to be held responsible. The Earl, it is true, after his conviction, did include him among the number of conspirators, and that his advice was to pursue violent measures. Still it appears this gentleman's character has been harshly dealt with, and by Lord Bacon among the rest — a man to whom silence would have been most becoming on this occasion. CufFe was not a mean or a vulgar man. He was descended from a good family in Somersetshire : in 1576 was admitted of Trinity College in Oxford, where he distinguished himself in the knowledge of Greek ; was elected Scholar in 1578, and admitted Fellow in 1583 ; lost his fellowship from a joke on the founder, by a mandate from Lady Powlett, who first placed him there. His reputation, however, was so great, that in 1586 he was elected Proba- THE EARL OF ESSEX. 373 tioner of Merton College, then Warden, and two years after was made Fellow. He wrote a Greek epigram in commendation of Camden's ' Britannia,' and lived for several years with that celebrated historian in great friendship, who speaks of him as a man of most exquisite learning and penetrating wit, but of a seditious and perverse disposition. He wrote several very learned works, some of them in elegant Latin. When he was brought to trial a few weeks after the Earl's execution, he defended himself with great spirit against the violent abuse and the scur- rilous epithets which Coke (the Queen's Attorney) lavished upon him. Cuffe, however, was no mean match for the Attorney in argument ; and in reply- ing to Coke, syllogistically, the Judge (Anderson) checked both pleader and prisoner oh stolidos syllo- gismos, giving a hint to the former to press the statute of Edward HI. The most pregnant proof brought against him was a verse out of Lucan, which, being proved, as quoted at a consultation of the conspirators, is said to have tended chiefly to his condemnation. When the Earl, amidst his accom- plices, was taking their advice, whether they should proceed in their design to force themselves by vio- lence, if necessary, upon the Queen, or desist, Cuffe exclaimed " Viribus utendum est quas fecimus arma ferenti Omnia dat, qui justa negat." 374" THE EARL OF ESSEX. He declared at the place of execution, that he was not the least concerned in the wild convention at Drury House, and that he never persuaded any loan to take up arms against the Queen. He did not, however, deny that, as in duty bound, he had given advice to so good a master. The speech he made at his execution was expressive of pious re- signation and contrition for the part he had taken. He left but few friends to lament his loss ; and one of them ventured to embalm his memory with a feeble attempt at wit, but not with much feeling, in the following epitaph : — " Doctus eras Graece, felixque tibi fuit Alpha, At fuit infelix Omega, CufFe, tuum ;" which has been thus translated : — ' ■• « Thou wast indeed well read in Greek, Thy Alpha, too, was crowned with hope ; But, oh ! though sad the truth I speak. Thy Omega proved but a rope." ,f It is difficult to account for the inflexible and obdurate conduct of Elizabeth regarding her once greatest favourite, Essex, from the time of his re- turning from Ireland to the day of his suffering on the scaffold, when a single word would have saved him from pursuing a conduct which was known to be hateful to himself. On the part of the Queen it seemed to partake of a feeling of extreme hatred, extinguishing every spark of that more than parental affection, which she had so long cherished for him : THE EARL OF ESSEX. 375 not that passion of love, which Walpole somewhat paradoxically endeavoured to impute to her, and which, had she ever felt in her younger but mature days, must have re-kindled, even in her old age, some spark of affection for youthful error — must have recalled to her thoughts some such beautiful and appropriate language, as Shakspere has put into the mouth of poor Ophelia : — " O, what a noble mind is here overthrown ! The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye, tongue, sword ; The glass of fashion, and the mould of form, The observ'd of all observers !'* But her heart was hardened against him ; and one unfortunate expression, as was thought at the time, gave the signal for his death-warrant. That Essex fully merited the sentence passed upon him cannot be doubted : his political offence was great, and was tainted with a great moral crime, yet it was not such as to exclude that " quality of mercy," which was granted to the Earl of Southampton, one of his principal instigators, and one who fully par- took in his crime. It was his youth and high station, and his generous- disposition, that made him an object of universal pity, in which his criminal conduct was almost forgotten. But his failings and his virtues are so justly and so eloquently described by Mr. Macaulay, that the present memoir cannot be better concluded, than as it was commenced, by an extract from his able pen : — 576 THE EARL OF ESSEX. " Nothing in the political conduct of Essex en- titles him to esteem ; and the pity, with which we regard his early and terrible end, is diminished by the consideration that he put to hazard the lives and fortunes of his most attached friends, and en- deavoured to throw the whole country into confusion for objects purely personal. Still it is impossible not to be deeply interested for a man so brave, high- spirited, and generous ; for a man who, while he conducted himself towards his sovereign with a boldness such as was then found in no other sub- ject, conducted himself towards his dependents with ia delicacy such as has rarely been found in any other patron. Unlike the vulgar herd of benefac- tors, he desired to inspire, not gratitude, but affec- tion. He tried to make those whom he befriended feel towards him as towards an equal. His mind, ardent, susceptible, naturally disposed to admiration of all that is great and beautiful, was fascinated by the genius and accomplishments of Bacon. A close friendship was soon formed between them— a friend- ship destined to have a dark, a mournful, a shameful end."* * Review of Bacon's Works, Edinburgh Review, July, 1837. I SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 1570 TO 1596. Hmi In a recent, well-written, and detailed history of the life of this extraordinary man, we have the following abridgment of his character : — " Sir Walter Raleigh belongs to that class of great men who may be said rather to fashion or create than to reflect the character of the age. His indi- vidual story is indissolubly linked with the annals of his country ; and he who reads of the danger and the glory of England during the reign of Elizabeth — of the humiliation of Spain, the independence of Holland, the discovery and wonders of the New World, and the progress of our naval and commer- cial prosperity — must meet with his name in every part of the record. If required to describe in a few words the most prominent features in his mind, I would say they were his universality and originality. A warrior both by sea and land, a statesman, a navi- gator, and discoverer of new countries — an accom- plislied courtier, a scholar, and eloquent writer — a sweet and true poet, and a munificent patron of 378 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. letters : there is scarcely one of the aspects in which we view him where he does not shine with a remark- able brightness/'* In most, indeed, if not all, of these aspects, abating somewhat of exaggeration, the majority of readers will agree; and an occasion will here be taken for a brief and passing view of the greater part of them. Walter Raleigh, the father of Sir Walter, was de- scended from an ancient family in Devonshire, and was thrice married. His third wife, the relict of Otho Gilbert, Esq., was Sir Walter's mother. By her first marriage she had three sons. Sir John, Sir Humphrey, and Sir Adrian Gilbert, all knighted by Queen Elizabeth for their public services. By her second she had two sons, the youngest of whom is the subject of the present Memoir. He was born at Hayes, near the coast of Devon, in the year 1552 ; was sent, when young, to Oriel College, where he remained but a short time, and left the University at seventeen years of age. About this time Queen Elizabeth was eagerly ex- tending her assistance to the Protestants of France against the tyranny of the Catholics; and a near relation of Raleigh, Mr. Champernon, obtained the royal permission to raise a troop of 100 gentlemen * Fraser Ty tier's Life of Raleigh, in a volume of that well-conducted and excellent work, the * Edinburgh Cabinet Library.' SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 379 volunteers, among whom Raleigh was enrolled. They passed over to the Continent, and joined the Protestant army under the command of the Prince of Conde. After the murder of this great general, Raleigh served under Admiral Coligni ; and at the conclusion of the peace in 1576, he returned to Eng- land, being then about twenty-three years of age. At this time the Queen, having made a treaty with the States of Holland, sent a large force of horse and foot to their assistance, under the command of Sir John Norris, with whom Raleigh is said to have served for some time ; and on his return to England he embarked on a scheme that was well suited to his adventurous mind. When Sir Humphrey Gilbert, the half-brother of Raleigh, was making preparations, in virtue of his patent, to occupy lands in North America, with the assistance of his friends, Raleigh cordially joined in the plan : but when all was ready for sea, nothing but the effects of mismanagement appeared, and great confusion had arisen among the adventurers, so that the whole project became a failure. Sir Humphrey, however, it is said, with a few friends, adventured upon the voyage, but was speedily obliged to return home with the loss of a tall ship.* Raleigh did not put to sea with Sir Humphrey on this occasion*; yet when the project was renewed in 1583, he not only gave his assistance, but sup- plied, at his own cost, a large ship bearing his own * Hakluyt. 380 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. name ; but the master reporting a contagious dis- temper to have broken out in two days after putting to sea, she returned into harbour. Nothing dispirited, Raleigh, in conjunction with Sir Richard Grenville, Mr. William Sanderson, and others, projected an expedition to the eastern coast of North America, and he found the means of pro- curing for himself and heirs all such lands as he should discover. In the first voyage an attempt was made to settle on that part of the coast to which Raleigh, who did not himself proceed, gave the name of Virginia, in honour of the Virgin Queen. Four other voyages were made with numbers of settlers, but colonization at this time not being understood, and no consideration and kind treatment of the na- tives being observed, all attempts failed in the reign of Queen Elizabeth ; yet these simple people were stated to be affable, kind, and good-natured. Sir Walter went once with a single ship, but did not land; he found employment better suited to his genius at home. ^ The rebellion in Ireland was a theatre on which Raleigh felt he could act a distinguished part, en- couraged by the command of a company which had been conferred on him. He performed under Or- mond and Lord Grey very eminent services in the suppression of the rebels and the defeat of the Spa- niards who had been introduced into Ireland. This aspiring soldier, active and persevering in detecting and reducing the seditious designs of the rebel leaders, SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 381 soon gained the confidence of the government, and was employed in various situations of great respon- sibility ; so that, on the return of Ormond to Eng- land, the government of Munster was committed to the charge of Raleigh, and he also held the chief command in the city of Cork. On the suppression of the rebellion he returned to England, " with a reputation for valour and experience well known to those whom he had served, but which was lost at court amidst the dazzling brilliancy of superior rank and power."* An incident, however, is said to have occurred which brought him to the immediate and favourable notice pf Queen Elizabeth : — " Captain Raleigh," says Fuller, " coming out of Ireland to the English court in good habit (his cloaths being then a con- siderable part of his estate), found the Queen walk- ing where, meeting with ?Lplashy place, she seemed to scruple going thereon. Presently Raleigh cast and spread his new plush cloak on the ground, whereon the Queen trode gently, rewarding him afterwards with many suits, for his so free and sea- sonable tender of so fair a foot-cloath. Thus an advantageous admission into the first notice of a prince is more than half a degree to preferment."! This anecdote, which has become a matter of tra- dition, and though generally believed, rests perhaps on no better authority than that of the facetious * Fraser Tytler. f Fuller's Worthies. 882 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. Fuller ; but the compliment is quite as likely to have been paid by this * Worthy ' to Queen Elizabeth, as that, in imitation of it, when the old gentlemen of Southampton recently paid a similar compliment to Queen Victoria. But Fuller does not thus leave his * Worthy.' He further says that ** Raleigh, thus admitted to the court, found some hopes of the Queen's favours re- flecting on him, and this made him write on a glass window, obvious to the Queen's eye — * Fain would I climb, yet fear I to fall.' Her Majesty, either es- pying or having been shown it, did underwrite — ^ If thy heart fails thee, climb not at all.' "* His bio- grapher adds, that the incident of the cloak almost proves itself to be true, by evincing Raleigh's knowledge of the character of Elizabeth. " Her predilection for handsome men, and her love of splendid apparel, were well known ; while, in his sacrifice of the gorgeous cloak, and the air of de- voted admiration, which none knew better how to assume, he displayed that mixture of generous feeling and high-flown gallantry, not unlikely in- deed to meet the ridicule of the graver sort, yet fitted to surprise and delight the princess to whom it was addressed." f The account given by the Virginian adventurers of a country so full of amenity and beauty, the soft- ness and fragrance of the air, and the innocence of * Fuller's Worthies. t Tytler's Life. SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 383 the natives, together with the name by which Raleigh had christened it, so highly delighted the Queen, that she very soon conferred on him the honour of knighthood ; and nearly at the same period Sir Walter received a fresh mark of favour, in the grant of a patent to license the vending of wines throughout the kingdom. It may be a matter of doubt, whether the colonial project that failed had as much to do in the grant of these favours, as the Irish services and the cloak. It has frequently been said that Sir Walter Raleigh's adventures to Virginia first brought the use of tobacco into England. " There is a well- known tradition/' says Mr. Tytler, " that Sir Walter first began to smoke it privately in his study, and the servant coming in with his tankard of ale and nutmeg, as he was intent upon his book, seeing the smoke issuing from his mouth, threw all the liquor in his face by way of extinguishing the fire ; and, running down stairs, alarmed the family with piercing cries that his master, before they could get up, would be burnt to ashes." * But there is another tobacco story taken from the * Life of Raleigh ' by Oldys, which may or may not be true, for he was an universal collector of all kinds of anecdotes. It is this : — " On one occasion it is said that Raleigh, con- versing with his royal Mistress upon the singular * Tytler. 384 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. properties of this new and extraordinary herb, as- sured her that he had so well experienced the nature of it^ that he could tell the exact weight of the smoke in any quantity consumed. The Queen, suspecting he was playing the traveller, laid a wager that he could not do so. Upon this Raleigh selected the quantity agreed on, and having tho- roughly smoked it, set himself to weighing the ashes ; then demonstrating to the Queen the differ- ence between the weight of the ashes and of the tobacco consumed. Her Majesty could not deny that this must be the weight of what was evapo- rated in smoke. Upon this Elizabeth, paying down the money, remarked — ' that she had heard of many labourers in the fire who had turned their gold into smoke; but that Raleigh was certainly the first who had turned his smoke into gold.' " This kind of intercourse, which was not dis- pleasing to Elizabeth, created a jealousy among the courtiers, and the more so when they saw unusual favours bestowed upon him — as the appointment of Seneschal of the Duchies of Cornwall and Exeter, and Lord Warden of the Stannaries ; such was the effect produced mainly, as yet, by his various ac- complishments and fascinating conversation. That he was in possession of the royal ear, appears by a postscript of a letter about this time from Raleigh to Lord Leicester, the latter having received some rebuke from Elizabeth. He says, " The Queen is SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 385 in very good tearms with you, and, thanks he to God, well pacified, and you are againe her sweet Robynr'' But graver concerns, than gossiping with Ra- leigh, at this time hegan to occupy the attention of the Queen and the nation. Philip of Spain had, during three years, been making preparations for the invasion of England, little interrupted in his home possessions, except by Sir Francis Drake, who, the year before the great attempt was made, de- stroyed the most important part of his preparations assembled in the harbour of Cadiz. The resources of Philip were far beyond those of any other power in Europe. He had the largest and best-disciplined army, and the most extensive navy, in the number and size of its ships, and the greatest supply of money to support them, that any other nation could boast of. But the mind of Eli- zabeth and the talents of her ministers were equal to the crisis. A meeting was called of noblemen and gentlemen, with the most experienced naval and military officers, whose opinions were consi- dered most valuable in deciding on measures to be taken for the protection of the coast, and for pre- paring a naval armament to meet that of Spain, presumptuously described as the Invincible Armada. Among the persons consulted was Raleigh, and to him was consigned the command of the forces to be * Leicester Correspondence. 2 c 386 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. stationed at Plymouth, besides those raised in the Stannaries, as Lord Warden. These land forces were deemed by some to be sufficient for repelling invasion ; but Raleigh, among others, repudiated the idea : and a passage in his * History of the World,' written long after, alludes to this subject, when un- der discussion : — " As to the general question," says he, " whether England, without help of her fleet, be able to debar an enemy from landing, I hold that it is unable to do so ; and therefore I think it most dangerous to make the adventure ; for the encou- ragement of a first victor}^ to an enemy, and the discouragement of being beaten to the invaded, may draw after it a most perilous consequence." * It is said that the Armada, having passed Ply- mouth, Raleigh, afraid that the principal fight might take place without his presence, left his charge on shore to proper officers, and with a com- pany of nobles and gentlemen, in a small squadron, joined the fleet on the morning of the 23rd of July. A small squadron of three or four ships, sent by Raleigh, are mentioned in the ships contributed from various ports on the coast ; but instead of Ra- leigh taking any part in the fleet, or in any of the engagements, there is no mention of his being there on the 23rd of July, or at any time ; for we are told by Camden, who is rarely wrong, that on or about the 26th, a great many of the sons of the nobility * Tytler, from Hist, of the World. SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 387 and gentry entered themselves volunteers, and with incredible cheerfulness hired ships at their own charge, and repaired on board to join the Lord Ad- miral; that in the mean time the justices of peace on the sea coasts, and others, sent men, powder and ball, and provisions, to the fleet. Among these he mentions the Earls of Oxford, Northumberland, Cumberland, Sir Thomas and Sir Robert Cecil, Sir Charles Blount, Sir Walter Raleigh, &c. ; but none of the historians of the Armada take any notice of his name as being present. It is also a mistake to give him any share in the Portugal expedition, under Drake and Norris. Every officer therein employed, naval and military, is mentioned by Colonel Wingfield ; but the name of Raleigh does not appear among them. It is rather remarkable that Drake, in all his voyages, was not once associated with Sir Walter Raleigh. He was, however, appointed to the command of a squadron destined to act against Panama, com- bined with a scheme for intercepting the Plate fleet. Two Queen's ships were allotted for this service, and Raleigh, together with his brother adventurers, added thirteen more. On this expedition Raleigh was appointed Admiral, but it turned out for him a most unfortunate undertaking. He had scarcely got out of the Channel when he was overtaken by Sir Martin Frobisher in the Disdain, bringing orders from the Queen for his return, and to give 2c2 388 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. over the command to Sir Martin. By a letter to Sir Robert Cecil before sailing, it would appear he had thoughts of returning, but he adds : — *' I mean not to come away, as they say I will for fear of a mar- riage, and I know not what. If any such thing were, I would have imparted it to yourself before any man living. . . . For I protest before God there is none on the face of the earth that I would be fastened unto." Here we have the whole explanation of his recal. The report of the marriage, he alludes to, arose out of an intrigue he had carried on with Miss Eliza- beth Throgmorton, one of the Queen's maids of honour, a lady of great beauty and accomplish- ments, to whom, notwithstanding his protest against being fastened to any woman on the face of the earth, he was afterwards married. The story being discovered, the Queen was highly incensed at the imprudence of the young lady, and the impudence of a favourite servant. To punish both, she re- called Sir Walter ; and the moment he set his foot ashore, he and his mistress were committed to the Tower. Raleigh, however, knew one weak point in Her Majesty — the love of flattery ; and, in a letter to Cecil, he speaks of his broken heart, on hearing that the Queen is gone away far off*. '* I, that was wont to behold her riding like Alexander, hunting like Diana, walking like Venus ; the gentle wind blowing her fair hair about her pure cheeks like SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 389 a nymph ; sometime sitting in the shade like a goddess ; sometime singing like an angel/' &c. &c. Now all this was meant to be seen and read by the angel, the goddess, and the nymph of sixty years of age! But it had the desired effect of his release, which speedily took place, and the marriage fol- lowed ; and Miss Throgmorton became a most faithful and affectionate wife, and shared all his future misfortunes, his disgrace, and long impri- sonment, which ended only in his being most shamefully brought to the scaffold. The Queen, however, at least affected to be by no means satisfied, and he was excluded from the court. But Sir Walter, strongly as he might feel the misfortune of Her Majesty's displeasure, was a man of such diversified resources and energy of character, as not idly to sit down and mope or de- spond under his present misfortune. By reading some of the Spanish accounts of the vast riches of gold and silver mines in South America, he pro- jected a voyage to that part of Guiana, through which the great river Orinoco flows. Here was to be discovered the El Dorado, the golden king- dom of the Spaniards. The description which the old Spanish historians had given of the wonderful city of Manoa inflamed his imagination ; but it is not credible that such idle stories could have per- verted his judgment, though they might excite his curiosity and inflame his desire of becoming the 390 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. discoverer of this unknown country. At all events, the notoriety it would procure him might be turned to some useful purpose. Whatever his own persuasion or intention may have been, Sir Robert Cecil and the Lord High Admiral were favourably inclined to the scheme ; the latter contributing one of his own ships, named the Lion's Whelp. The expedition consisted of i^\e vessels, with tenders, barges, and wherries, for in- land navigation. In addition to the crews of the ships, the officers, gentlemen adventurers, and sol- diers amounted to one hundred. Nothing material occurred on the passage to Trinidad. Here Raleigh prepared for a voyage up the Orinoco, of the shores of which he has given a detailed account, much better and more correctly described since his time. He ascended 400 miles in one of the smaller vessels, a large barge, two wherries, and a boat of the Lion's Whelp, carrying a hundred persons, with a supply of victuals for a month. He gives a deplorable ac- count of the misery of " being driven during the rain to be in the open air, under a burning sun, and sleeping on hard boards ; to dress our meat, and to carry all manner of furniture in them ; wherewith they were so pestered and unsavoury that, what with victuals, the wet clothes of so many men thrust together, and the heat of the sun, I will undertake there was never any prison in England that could be found more unsavoury and loath- SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 391 some, especially to myself, who had for many years before been dieted and cared for in a sort far differing." * Raleigh, however, in the midst of all this dis- tress, gives a most flourishing description of the country, its fruits, flowers, and stately trees, birds of all colours — carnation, crimson, tawny, and purple — singing towards the evening on every tree with a thousand different tunes ; then the plains and the hills, and the banks of the numerous streams flow- ing into the Orinoco, abound with pheasants, par- tridges, quails, herons, and many others of the fowl tribe ; besides lions, tigers, leopards, and divers other sorts of game. In short, his description of Guiana and of its inhabitants abounds with every kind of extravagance ; but nothing is said of those copious sources of wealth the discovery of which was the object of his voyage. As to mines of gold or silver he tells of none ; indeed, he says " the graves have not been opened for gold ; the mines not broken with sledges :" yet it was the discovery of those very unbroken mines, or the search for them, that brought him to the scaffold. He published on his return a narrative of his voyage ; but, instead of it being welcomed as the production of a discoverer, his descriptions were received with coldness and suspicion. " On his re- turn," says Hume, " he published an account of the * Tytler, from Discovery of Guiana. 392 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. country, full of the grossest and most palpable lies that were ever attempted to be imposed on the cre- dulity of mankind." But, worse than all the rest, was the coldness of the Queen, who remained in- exorable. Unable to make his way at the court, he dedicates his work to the Lord High Admiral and Sir Robert Cecil, in a very melancholy and complaining strain ; that of his little remaining fortune the expedition had wasted all ; that it was accompanied with many sorrows, with labour, hunger, heat, sickness and peril ; and '' I am re- turned a beggar and withered." Sir Walter, however, was not a man to be dis- couraged by one failure. To give a bold front to his discovery, he forthwith sent off Captain Keymis a second time, with a ship and a small pinnace, to the mouth of the Orinoco to search for the gold mines, or get information concerning grains of gold to be found at the bottom of the rivers, and of the mountains of white stone, which Sir Walter said he had found to be rich in gold. Keymis* disco- veries amounted to nothing ; he returned safe with his ship, but was obliged to set fire to his pinnace at the mouth of the river. Nothing daunted, however, and as it were to inspire confidence by perseverance, he dispatched a single ship the same year, which made a short voyage, and added little or nothing on her return to former information. While in a state of suspense, during these useless SIR WALTER RALEIGH. and expensive voyages, good fortune threw a more suitable employment in his way. The failure and the death of the two eminent officers, Drake and Hawkins, on the West India voyage, and the short suspension of any hostile attacks on the part of England against the Indian possessions of Spain, had raised the pride and exultation of that power to such a height, that vast preparations were set on foot, more particularly in Cadiz, for a simultaneous attack on the several ports of England and Ireland, with the view of destroying the naval resources of both kingdoms. To frustrate these designs, by re- taliating the same measures upon themselves, Eliza- beth signified her pleasure to the council, that a powerful fleet should be fitted out, with all possible expedition, which it was decided should consist of seventeen of her Majesty's ships, three of the Lord Admiral's, twenty-four of the Dutch, and about a hundred merchant ships, victuallers, &;c., making in all one hundred and fifty sail.* In this fleet the Lord High Admiral, with the consent of Lord Essex, gave to Sir Walter Raleigh the command of the Warspite. The Lords of the Council, in their instructions, ordained that two councillors should be appointed for the sea, and two for the land service ; that Lord Thomas Howard and Sir Walter Raleigh should be for the first, and Sir Francis Vere and Sir Conier Cliflbrd for the * Speed. Camden. 394 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. second ; to whom were added Sir George Carew, of the Ordnance, to make up ^ye, by whom, or a ma- jority of whom, all matters of dispute should be settled. We have elsewhere entered upon a brief detail of the operations successfully carried on by this power- ful armament, to the utter destruction of every kind of naval preparation in the harbour and arsenal of Cadiz, the occupation of the city, and the ransom for its restoration to Spain. By the arrangements made imder the direction of the two Lords General, no confusion took place, very few lives were lost, and every protection was afforded to the inhabitants, and in particular to the females and children, as was strongly enjoined by the Queen in her Instruc- tions. There does not appear to have been the slightest grounds for reports that got abroad, of any coolness, or jealousy, or counteraction between Essex and Raleigh. A slight difference of opinion arose, after the complete destruction of Cadiz, as to that part of the Queen's Instructions which leaves it to the consideration of the two Generals to send a part of the fleet to look after the returning richly- laden carracks from the Indies. The Earl of Essex was for the Azores and the carracks, in which he was supported by Lord Thomas Howard and the Dutch Admiral : but all the rest opposed it. Sir Walter Raleigh, when asked to go, alleged the scarcity of victuals, and the infection of his men ; SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 395 but, says Monson, ** the Earl of Essex offered, in the greatness of his mind, to supply Raleigh's want of men and victuals, and to exchange ships : but all proposals were in vain ; for the riches of Cadiz kept them that had got much from attempting more." So little ground was there for imputing jealousy or any unfriendly feeling on the part of Essex towards Raleigh. It required both time and management on the part of Raleigh to secure his own restoration to the Queen's good graces ; and he succeeded in accom- plishing it, by first effecting a reconciliation between Essex and the Secretary Cecil. On the 4th of March, Rowland White writes to Sir Robert Sid- ney — " Sir Walter Raleigh hath been very often private with the Earl of Essex, and is the manager of a peace between him and Sir Robert Cecil.'*'*^ Again, on the 9th of April, he writes — " Sir Walter is daily at court ; and hope is had that he shall be admitted to the execution of his office, as Captain of the Guard, before his going to sea. His friends, you know, are of the greatest authority and power here ; and the Earl of Essex gives it no opposition, his mind being full, and only carried away with the business he had in his head, of conquering and over- coming the enemy ."t The Queen very shortly afforded him an oppor- tunity of trying to effect this. She had received * Sidney Papers. t I^i^- 396 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. information that Philip was bent upon vengeance for the losses and disgrace which he had sustained at Cadiz, and was earnestly making preparations in Galicia and at Lisbon, collecting all his scattered forces in the Groyne and Ferrol, with an intention of invading Ireland. She therefore directed the Lord Admiral to prepare a powerful fleet, with the view of finding Philip employment at home, and also to intercept his carracks and galleons at the islands. When ready it consisted of seventeen or eighteen of her Majesty's ships, with more than a hundred trans- ports with troops, store-ships, and victuallers ; and the sole command was conferred on Essex, the second in command being Lord Thomas Howard, and the third Sir Walter Raleigh. But the detail of their proceedings appears under the memoir of Essex; and the event, therefore, which caused an irre- parable breach between the two favourites will alone be mentioned here. The affair of Sir Walter Raleigh having attacked the island of Flores in the absence of the Earl of Essex has already been noticed, and need not be re- peated here, except merely to observe, that although Essex, by the intercession of Lord Thomas Howard, was perfectly satisfied, and indeed apologized to Raleigh, yet it was generally supposed that the latter never forgave him for the censure passed on his conduct. According to strict military disci- pline, disobedience of orders is a high crime ; but SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 397 circumstances and success go a great way towards excusing it, and these were in favour of Raleigh. When the immortal Nelson led his brave coUeaoues, contrary to orders, to attack and capture the Spanish squadron on the 14th of February; in the evening of that day, when Lord St. Vincent was speaking with his captain on the events of the morning, the latter seemed to insinuate that Nelson had disobeyed his orders, on which the noble Earl replied — " Per- haps so ; and when you, Calder, do the same thing, and with the same effect, I will forgive you, as I do him." The affair, however, alluded to appears to have reached the Court in an exaggerated shape. Row- land White says — " I hear that the Earl's proceed- ing towards Sir Walter Raleigh, in calling his actions to public question before a council of war, where, by a full court, he was found worthy of death, is generally disliked here. Sir Walter is happy to have so good and constant friends, that are able by their wisdom and authority to protect him and comfort him."* Sir Walter Raleigh had no reason to be displeased with his reception at court ; and Essex and he, and the all-powerful Cecil, became apparently good friends. Raleigh expected, however, that some honour would be conferred on him ; but the place of Vice-Chamberlain, that became vacant, was given * Sidney Papers. 398 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. to another. Disappointed in this object of his am- bition, he retired to his seat at Sherborne, where he found many resources in the large fund he possessed of useful, intellectual, and elegant accomplishments. While the Queen's ministers were disputing and differing in their opinions regarding foreign policy, Raleigh, by dividing his time between Sherborne and the Court, continued to possess the favour of the Queen: while Essex, by his absurd conduct, had entirely lost it. "From this moment there seems reason to believe that Sir Walter became Devereux's avowed enemy.*'* There is, indeed, but too much reason to know it, by a secret and most disgraceful letter, under his own hand, to Cecil, urging him to put Essex out of the way. After the death of Essex, Raleigh was called from Sherborne to undertake, in company with Lord Cobham, a secret mission to Flanders ; and on his return was promoted to the government of Jersey, acting at the same time as Captain of the Queen's Guard. He also sat in the last Parliament of Eliza- beth, as one of the Knights for Cornwall, in which he took an active part, and made several excellent speeches on a great variety of subjects. He still kept well at Court, but was out of favour with his pretended friends the Cecils. The time, however, was approaching when he was doomed to undergo a lamentable change. Early in January, 1602, the * Tytler. SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 999 Queen, who had long been in a declining state, was seized with a dangerous illness, which ere long proved fatal. By this event the fortunes of Raleigh underwent a total reverse. At the very commence- ment of James's reign he experienced nothing but coldness, suspicion, and neglect. It was strongly suspected that the very man, Cecil, whom Raleigh had urged to destroy Essex, was now employed in working upon the mind of the new sovereign, to induce him to do the same thing for Raleigh ; and if so — whether by the King through Cecil, or whosoever the agent may have been, it was done effectually. He held lucrative ap- pointments ; and James had needy favourites. The honourable post of captain of the guard was taken from him; his wine-patent was withdrawn; but these were of little moment, for in less than three months he was involved in a charge of high treason. It seems that Lord Cobham, a friend of Raleigh, a vain, weak, and disappointed man, courted the society of the discontented, and held foolish dis- course against the government ; that he had made offers to Count Aremberg of his influence to further a peace with Spain ; that he suggested Sir Walter Raleigh should be bribed with a pension, provided he laid aside his hostility to that power, and con- sented to promote their views; further, as was shown on the trial, that Lord Cobham offered Raleigh 8,000 crowns, which he, considering it to 400 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. be one of his idle conceits, slightly answered, he would tell him more when he saw the money. This seems ridiculous enough, but it is all that was laid to the charge of Raleigh. There was, however, an awkward matter connected with it. A plot was discovered to be concerted by some popish priests against the king and the royal family, in which one of the principal conspirators was Mr. Brooke, brother to Lord Cobham, who had himself held intercourse with some of those traitors. These circumstances were quite sufficient for Cecil to work upon : the implication of Brooke rendered his brother suspected ; and Cobham being a friend of Raleigh, gave to the enemies of the latter the oppor- tunity of throwing out doubts of his allegiance to the throne. Being at Windsor, he was summoned to a private meeting of the Lords of the Council, and examined as to Cobham's intercourse with Aremberg; Raleigh declared his belief that there was nothing of a treasonable nature between them. Being further pressed, he added, simply enough for a shrewd man, that La Rensy, servant of the ambassador, might be better able, than he was, to explain the nature of the correspondence between them. Immediately after this, Raleigh received an order to remain a prisoner in his own house. Unfor- tunately, he had written to Cecil, what he had said to the Council, regarding La Rensy, and at the SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 401 examination of Cobham the letter to Cecil was art- fully produced. On which his lordship, conceiving he had been betrayed, broke out into a furious passion, and accused Sir Walter of being privy to a conspiracy against the Government, and of some other offences — which this weak and timid peer retracted before he got down stairs, and again re- peated the charges. On such false and frivolous pretences was the illustrious Raleigh indicted, and a true bill found by the grand jury, on which he was sent to the Tower, to await his trial for high treason. The charges were, conspiring to dethrone the king — consulting with Lord Cobham to place the crown on the head of Arabella Stewart, for which 600,000 crowns were to be solicited from Arem- berg — peace with Spain, and the establishment of popery — moreover, that, in a conversation between Cobham and the conspirators, it had been stated " there never would be a good world in England, till the king and his cubs were taken away" — and, lastly, that Raleigh was to receive a bribe of 8,000 crowns for his negociations with Aremberg. Among the Commissioners were some, — Cecil for one, — who were decided enemies of Raleigh ; and the brutal and savage manner in which Coke, the king*s attorney, conducted the prosecution, can only be considered as most disgraceful to a lawyer and a gentleman. "I will prove you," he said, "the 2d 402 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. riotoriousest traitor that ever came to the bar. After you have taken away the king, you would alter religion. Thou art a monster ; thou hast an English face, but a Spanish heart. Aremberg was no sooner in England, I charge thee, Raleigh, but thou incitest Cobham to go unto him, and to deal with him for money to bestow on discontented per- sons to raise rebellion in the kingdom." Raleigh then said, " I do not yet hear that you have spoken onp word against me ; if my Lord Cobham b^e a traitor, what is that to me ? " Attorney/. — " All that he did was by thy instiga- tion, thou viper ! for I thou thee, thou traitor ! " * To which Raleigh coolly replied, " It becometh not a man of quality and virtue to call me so; but I take comfort in it ; it is all you can do." Attorney, — " Have I angered you ? " Raleigh, — " I am in no case to be angry.'' This scurrilous and unbecoming conduct of the king's attorney was put a stop to by the Chief ^ * Mr. Tytler says this answer passed into a proverb, and fur- nished Shakspeare with one of his amusing touches in the cha- racter of Sir Toby Belch : — Sir Andreio Aguecheek. — " "Will either of you bear me a challenge to him ?" Sir Tohy Belch, — " Go, write it in a martial hand ; be curst and brief." ....** If thou ihoiUst him some thrice, it shall not be amiss ; and as many lies as will lie in thy sheet of paper, although the sheet were big enough for the bed of Ware in Eng- land, set 'em down." — Twelfth Night, %: SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 403 Justice Popham. " Sir Walter Raleigh," he said, ** Mr. Attorney, speaking out of the zeal of his duty for the service of the king, and you for your life — be patient on both sides.** Raleigh made a most able defence, and concluded by asking only that his sole accuser, Cobham, should be brought for- ward against him. " All is but his accusation, which he never subscribed — never avouched. I beseech you, my Lords, let this Lord be sent for. Charge him on his soul — on his allegiance to the king. If he affirm it, I am content to be found guilty." , At this moment of the trial, the Lord High Ad- miral, impelled by that sense of truth and justice for which he was so eminently distinguished, and by what was due to the accused, brought forward into court his sister-in-law, the Lady Arabella Stewart, who " protested she never had anything to do with matters of the kind that had been stated, but that Cobham had written to her, affirming that some persons about the King laboured to disgrace her ; that she considered his letter as a foolish trick, and immediately sent it to His Majesty." In short, nothing could be more disgraceful, and at the same time more contemptible, than this trial, the inven- tion and execution of a mock-conspiracy of Cecil, to which one of the greatest men of the age was doomed to fall a victim. The last piece of evidence produced in fajrour of the accused was in conse- 2 d2 404 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. quence of the Chief Justice asking, what he had to say about the pension mentioned in a letter of Cobhani ? "I say," he replied, " that Cobham is a base, dishonourable, poor soul, as this will show," placing a letter in Cecil's hand, and requesting him to read it in Court, as he well knew the hand- writing. It was as follows : — *' Seeing myself so near my end, for the discharge of my own con- science, and freeing myself from your blood, which one day will cry vengeance against me, I protest upon my salvation I never practised with Spain by your procurement. God so comfort me in this my affliction, as you are a true subject for any- thing I know! I will say as Daniel (Pilat^^?) — purus sum a sanguine hujus. So God have mercy upon my soul, as I know no treason by you.'* The jury, however, seem to have known better ; and having deliberated a quarter of an hour, re- turned a verdict of Guilty ; and the Chief Justice pronounced the sentence of death. The court broke up, and Raleigh accompanied the sheriff to |)rison. Here he remained nearly a mOnth at Winchester, in constant expectation of death. Warrants were signed by the King for the execution of Lords Grey and Cobham, and their accomplice Sir Griffin Markham, omitting Sir Walter for the present; but signifying his Royal order he also should be informed, that the warrant had been prepared. The three conspirators, as they were considered, above SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 405 named, were pardoned when their heads were on the block ; and they, together with Raleigh, were ordered to the Tower, where the latter remained a prisoner for twelve years, with the sentence of death hanging over his head. At the solicitation of his wife, she and her son were permitted to rertiain with him in prison, and a few friends were occasionally admitted to visit him. The fate of that false and silly old man, Lord Cobham, the cause of all Raleigh's calamities, is stated to have been pecu- liarly miserable. After being confined many years, he was enlarged only to die of starvation in a garret, where he was harboured by a poor man who had formerly been his servant at court.* When twelve years had passed away, with little hope of a release, which had often been solicited, the rise of a new favourite, Villiers, Duke of Buck- ingham, and the subsequent discovery of the murder of Overbury by the Earl of Somerset and his in- famous Countess, which led to their condemnation and disgrace, revived the hope and redoubled the exertions of Raleigh to obtain his release. The Queen of James was favourably disposed towards him, for his kind and valuable instructions imparted to her late son Henry, his constant and almost daily visitor during his confinement in the Tower. Ra- leigh had invented a quack medicine, which went by the name of his cordial ; and when the Prince, who had contracted a particular esteem for Raleigh, * Tytler, from Weldon. 406 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. fell into his last illness, "the Queen sent to Sir Walter Raleigh for some of his cordial, which she herself had taken in a fever, with remarkable suc- cess. Raleigh sent it, together with a letter to the Queen, wherein he expressed a tender concern for the Prince ; and, boasting of his medicine, stumbled unluckily upon an expression to this purpose — that it would certainly cure Mm or any other of a fever, except in case of poyson. The Prince dying, though he took it, the Queen, in the agony of her grief, showed Raleigh's letter, and laid so much weight on the expression about poyson, that to her dying day she could never be dissuaded from the opinion, that her beloved son had foul play done him/' * To her and to Secretary Winwood he^ unfortunately, was induced to renew his proposal for the settlement of Guiana, on condition that the expense should be borne by himself and his friends, and that the king should receive a fifth part of the bullion brought home. When the prospect of great treasure was the point at issue, James could not easily resist; but on the present occasion his resolution was shaken by the remonstrances of Gondomar, the Spanish ambassador, and by the fear of offending Spain ; considerations which got the better of even his avarice. But Raleigh, who well knew the corrup- tion of the court, succeeded in bribing Sir William St. John and Sir Edward Villiers, the uncles of the Duke of Buckingham, with the sum of fifteen * Camden. SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 407 hundred pounds. " In this way," says Mr. Tytler, '* success was at length obtained, and the monarch, who had for twelve years steeled his heart against all the demands of truth and justice, yielded at once to the desires of a capricious and venal fa- vourite." In March, 1615, Sir Walter was liberated from confinement, without the King's pardon being an- nounced or signified; but the temptation of the wealth, to be brought from the gold mines of Guiana, prevailed on James to give Raleigh a commission to go into the south parts of America, or elsewhere in America, possessed and inhabited by heathen and savage people, to discover, &c.* He stubbornly re- fused, however, to grant him a pardon ; but it is said that a pardon was offered to Raleigh on pay- ment of 700/. Nor is this at all unlikely, for money, in that corrupt reign, was able to purchase almost any favour ; he was persuaded, however, to decline it, by his friend Sir Francis Bacon, who said — *' Sir, the knee-timber of your voyage is money. Spare your purse in this particular ; for, upon my life, you have a sufficient pardon for all that is past already : the King having, under his broad seal, made you admiral of your fleet, and given you power of mar- tial law over your officers and soldiers." Bacon's law, however, as it will be seen, was unsound, or at least was overruled, and Raleigh prepared for his voyage. * Rymer*s Foedera. 408 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. By virtue of his commission, and on the credit of his reputation and merit, Raleigh was enabled to engage several persons of quality, and private ad- venturers, in the design, by whose subscriptions, added to what he could advance from his private fortune, a sum of money was raised sufficient to fit out a fleet of twelve ships, ten of which, after a long and tedious passage, arrived at Trinidad, where he found the Spaniards fully apprized of his design, who had, consequently, made provision for opposing him. Sir Walter had been betrayed by the King : he was ordered to give a plan of his design, with the number of his men, the burden of his ships, the country and river he was to enter, and other parti- culars, which the King promised to keep secret; but it got into the hands of Gondomar, from him went to Spain, and thence to the Indies, before Ra- leigh had left the Thames : a most cruel and atro- cious breach of faith, but in those days not a solitary one. Sir Walter, nevertheless, resolute in pursuing his design, made sail for the coast of Guiana, anchored at the mouth of the river Coliana, where he landed the sick, set up the barges and small craft, and took in a sufficiency of fresh water, with the assistance of the Indians, some of whom had formerly known Sir Walter. He himself having long suffered from sick- ness, and being scarcely able to move, was rendered utterly incapable of being present at the attempt of getting to the mine, and therefore appointed five of SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 409 the smallest of his ships to enter the Orinoco, having Captain Keymis for their pilot, with orders to pro- ceed to the mine. Five foot companies, one of them commanded by Captain Walter Raleigh, the Gene- raPs eldest son, were embarked — all of them stated to be gentlemen of great valour and endless patience in suffering hunger, heat, and labour. Major Pigot died on the passage, and Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Warham St. Leger lay so sick as to be unable to proceed up the river, so that the command devolved on George Raleigh, the General's nephew, who, it is said, had not that degree of authority that was required. In Raleigh's instructions to Keymis, he says, " If the passages be already forced, so that, without manifest peril of my son, yourself, and other cap- tains, you cannot pass towards the mine, then be well advised how you land ; for I know what a scum of men you have, and I would not, for all the world, receive a blow from the Spaniards to the dishonour of our nation. Let me hear from you as soon as you can : you shall find me at Punto Gallo, dead or alive, and if you find not my ships there, yet you shall find their ashes. For I will fire with the gal- leons, if it come to extremity, but run away I will never." As they passed up the river the Spaniards fired at the ships both with ordnance and muskets ; but they pushed on and landed their forces near the town of St. Thomas, charged the enemy to the very 410 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. gates, and made themselves masters of the town ; but in the assault Captain Walter Raleigh was slain. They quitted the town to proceed for the mine ; but finding the passages leading to the spot very diffi- cult, and the river so low, they could not approach the banks near the position of the mine by a full mile ; volleys of musketry from parties in the woods slew two of the rowers, and wounded six others. Keymis, perceiving so much hazard in proceeding further, and that the way leading to the mine was through thick and almost impassable woods, and fearing also that their companions, left in the town of St. Thomas, would not be able to defend them- selves, the whole country being in a state of alarm, he gave up the enterprise; the party returned, pillaged the town, and set it on fire. Sir Walter, with the news of his son s death, and of Keymis' return, finding himself cut off* from all his hopes, was distressed and perplexed to the very soul, bestowed on Keymis immeasurable abuse, and threatened him with the King's wrath, telling him he had ruined him, and wounded his credit with his Majesty past all recovery. This reproach had such an effect on the poor fellow as to throw him into a state of despondency, during which he retired to his cabin and shot himself. The consequence of all this was, that the whole fleet was in a state of mutiny, the ships dispersed, and four only out of the ten remained with Raleigh. The whole design being thus broken up, the ships leaky, and their SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 411 provisions nearly exhausted, Sir Walter put to sea and arrived at Kinsale. From hence, it was said, his wish was to go to France ; but he was either persuaded, or compelled, by his colleagues to proceed to Plymouth, where he was arrested by Sir Lewis Stukely, his kinsman, by the King's order, and con- veyed to the Tower of London. Now the King, with the advice of Secretary Naunton, selected Sir Thomas Wilson, a man of a mean and unfeeling disposition, to fill the ofiice of a spy ; to keep Raleigh in safe custody ; to suffer no persons to come at him, except such as were necessary to supply his diet ; and to draw from him such information, as might conduce to the object which the government had in view. This treach- erous keeper made his daily report to Secretary Naunton, detailing such parts of conversation with Raleigh, as might be suitable for the King's purpose. Raleigh's servant was dismissed, and another ap- pointed by Wilson ; Lady Raleigh and her son were excluded from the Tower, but she was allowed, with- out restriction, to correspond with her husband ; and such was the meanness of this royal personage, that, not content with ordering this faithful and affec- tionate woman to be confined a prisoner in her owa house, " her letters to her unfortunate husband were intercepted and read by the King, and then sent back to Sir Walter ; his replies, in their turn, were opened, and their contents, after having been duly weighed by his Majesty, were communicated to his 412 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. council for their consideration : yet the council could find no new ground of accusation, and were therefore compelled by the King to have recourse to the old sentence which had been passed upon him fifteen years before. James was determined to take away the life of Raleigh. " He suffered much," says Burnet, " in the opinion of all people, by his strange way of using one of the greatest men of that age, Sir Walter Raleigh, against whom the proceedings at first were censured, but the last part of them was thought most barbarous and illegal. . . . The first condemnation of him was very black ; but the executing him after so many years, and after an employment had been given, was counted a bar- barous sacrificing him to the Spaniards." The case, however, presented great difficulties. They resolved that, having been attainted of high treason, he could not be judicially called to account for any crime since committed. A writ of privy- seal was therefore immediately despatched to the Judges to order the execution of the sentence. But the Judges demurred, and declared that neither a writ of privy-seal, nor even a warrant under the great seal to the Judges of the King's Bench, could enable them to pass sentence without the prisoner pleading in person against it. Accordingly, on the 24th of October, though sick of a fever, Raleigh was raised from bed at eight in the morning, with an ague-fit upon him, and brought to the bar of the Court of King's Bench at Westminster, when he SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 413 was told by the Attorney-General, that it was the King's pleasure the former judgment should be carried into effect. The record of conviction being read, he was asked the usual question, What he could say why execution should not pass against him? He requested indulgence, since his voice was weak from illness. Being told his voice was sufficiently audible, he summoned his remaining strength, and thus spoke : — *' My Lord, all I can say is this, that the judg- ment I received to die, so long since, cannot now, I hope, be strained to take away my life ; for since it was his Majesty's pleasure to grant me a commis- sion to proceed on a voyage beyond the seas, wherein I had power, as marshal, on the life and death of others, so, under favour, I presume I am discharged under that judgment. By that commission I gained new life and vigour ; for he that hath power over the lives of others must surely be master of his own. Under my commission, 1 undertook a voyage to honour my sovereign, and enrich his kingdom with gold, of the ore whereof this hand hath found and taken in Guiana ; but the enterprise, notwithstand- ing my endeavours, had no other success than what was fatal to me, the loss of my son, and the wasting of my whole estate." Being about to enter upon an explanation of his failure, the Chief Justice interfered, and told him that, unless he could make good some other plea, execution must be awarded. 414 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. Then, after a few words from Raleigh, the sentence for execution was passed. After this Raleigh, ad- dressing the court with great calmness, desired only a little time to settle his affairs ; and then he was removed to the gatehouse. The short interval he requested to settle his earthly concerns, and provide for his soul, was most unfeelingly refused by the King ; and he was informed that the execution must take place next morning at nine o'clock. When on the scaflfold he made a long and most impressive speech, which, it is said, was delivered with gracefulness and animation. He asked the executioner to show him the axe : taking it in his hand, he kissed the blade, and, passing his finger slightly along the edge, observed to the Sheriff — " 'T is a sharp medicine ; but a sound cure for all diseases." He then knelt down, and requested the people to pray for him ; and remained on his knees for some time, engaged in silent devotion. When laid on the block, and desired to place himself so that his face should be turned to the East, he observed — " It mattered little how the head lay, provided the heart was right." The head, as usual, when severed from the body, was held up to the view of the people, and then put into a red bag, and immediately carried to a mourning-coach in waiting, and conveyed to Lady Raleigh ; and this faithful and affectionate woman, who survived him twenty-nine years as a- widow, had it embalmed and preserved in SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 415 a case, which she kept with pious solicitude till her death. The body was buried privately near the high altar of St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, but no stone or memorial points out the place. Such was the injustice and inhumanity practised against one of the most distinguished men of his time ; convicted and condemned to die for a con- spiracy, on the sole evidence of Cobham — a silly, half-witted, intriguing lord, and, as Hume calls him, "a thoughtless man, of no fixed principle.'* Yet this Cobham, Grey, and Markham were par- doned after they had laid their heads on the block ; while Raleigh, guiltless of what was charged against him, was not pardoned, but reprieved, and con- demned to the Tower, where he was imprisoned for twelve years. Cobham, when too late, retracted his accusation, and soon after retracted his retrac- tation. " Yet," says Hume, " upon the written evi- dence of this single witness, a man of no honour or understanding, and so contradictory in his testi- mony, was that great man, contrary to all law and equity, found guilty by the jury." * But the vigour of Raleigh's mind, and the extent and the application of his intellectual acquirements, not only enabled him to support this long en- durance in a prison, but to consider it as his home. ** His mind to him a kingdom was ;" nay more, it was to him the whole world ; for there he com- ♦ Hume's History. 416 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. posed that extraordinary ' History of the World,' which was looked upon as a model of the English language, unparalleled at the time for conciseness and perspicuity of style ; superior even to that of Bacon, being free from the overwhelming verbosity of this great man, by which the sense is sometimes obscured. Raleigh was a good scholar, no mean linguist, and a practical chemist, for the pursuit of which he constructed a laboratory within the pre- cincts of his prison. The various subjects that occupied his attention, and the numerous volumes, pamphlets, discourses, and tracts which he wrote in his long confinement, must have left him little leisure to dwell on the melancholy state to which he was so unjustly and inhumanly doomed. His capacious mind, indeed, embraced all subjects — history, philosophy, politics, astronomy, geography, naval architecture, and navigation, with many others — to all which may be added a taste for poetry, painting, and music. Raleigh was an eloquent speaker as well as writer, and his speeches in Parliament are always to the purpose. His personal accomplishments were strik- ing, and his fine figure attracted the more notice, by being tastefully and often splendidly dressed. Among his misfortunes may be reckoned the loss he sus- tained in the death of the amiable Prince Henry, a youth of extraordinary merit and acquirements, which occurred in the eighteenth year of his age. SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 417 He was frequent in his visits to the Tower, and had conceived great affection and esteem for the brave Sir Walter Raleigh, of whom he was frequently- heard to say, " Sure no king but my father would keep such a bird in a cage.'* He had good reason to hope that this considerate young prince would, in time, overcome his father's obstinacy, and pro- cure his release ; but neither the son nor his mother, the Queen, could prevail, by their united attempts, in softening the obdurate heart of James, who ap- peared to have resolved to pursue his inveterate hatred of Raleigh, even to death. The fate of Essex might have served as a beacon to warn Raleigh against. the breakers, on which favourites but too often are doomed to suffer shipwreck. Essex had numerous friends, whose indiscreet zeal hastened his destruction ; Raleigh had numerous enemies, whose hatred succeeded in accomplishing his. Essex had a kind mistress, against whom he was enticed to commit treason and rebellion ; Raleigh offended a callous master without gratitude, with- out feeling, without humanity, by whom he was most unjustly and vindictively consigned to the scaffold. It is said that James, however, did ex- hibit a pang of remorse when his surviving son, Carew Raleigh, was introduced at court, by observ- ing, when he turned away from him, that " he looked like his father's ghost." Warned by this remark, Carew took the advice of his kinsman, the 2 E 418 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. Earl of Pembroke, and retired to the Continent tilt the beginning of a new reign. The fate which had attended royal favouritism, at the courts of Elizabeth and James, however fas- cinating for a time to those who held it, was suffi- ciently discouraging to others in possession of or seeking after that species of ambition. Essex and Raleigh perished on the public scaffold — the minion Carr (created Earl of Somerset), together with his infamous Countess, were tried for secret murder, convicted, banished, and disgraced — and Bucking- ham fell by the dagger of an assassin. i?M>! LORD THOMAS HOWARD, EARL OF SUFFOLK 1685 TO 1618. This nobleman was the eldest son of Thomas, fourth Duke of Norfolk, by his second wife Mar- garet, daughter and sole heiress to Thomas, Lord Audley of Walden. He was born in 1561, and, in his eleventh year, succeeded to the inheritance of his mothers estates. Having reached the age of twenty-four, that is to say in 1585, Elizabeth was pleased to recommend to the parliament of that year to release him from the attainder in which, by his father's conspiracy in the affair of Mary Queen of Scots, he and his family, after the trial and exe- cution of the Duke of Norfolk, were involved. The Queen also created him Baron of Audley, and conferred on him the Order of the Garter. Thus freed and promoted, he forthwith embraced the profession of arms, and adopted that of the naval service; probably under the patronage of his name* sake and kinsman, Charles Howard of Effingham, who, in the year above mentioned, had been created Lord High Admiral of England. This is the more 2e2 420 LORD THOMAS HOWARD, probable as, in the memorable year of 1588, we find Lord Thomas in command of the Golden Lion, and highly spoken of for his activity and gallantry in chasing, attacking, and dispersing the Spanish Armada. On the occasion of the accident, by which the large ship of Biscay, 800 tons, under the Admiral De Oquendo, had taken fire, and was so much damaged that the Spanish Admiral, after the officers, men, and treasure had been removed, or- dered her to be set adrift. Lord Thomas Howard and Captain Hawkins went in a skiff" on board her, and reported her as follows : — " Her decks had fallen in, her steerage ruined, the stern blown out, and about fifty poor wretches burnt in a most miserable manner: the stench horrible." They, however, took possession of her, and she was towed into Weymouth. Three of the great Spanish galliasses, in attempt- ing to rescue a large Portuguese galleon, that had been captured by Hawkins, were so warmly en- gaged by the Lord High Admiral in the Ark, and Lord Thomas Howard in the Golden Lion, that they were disabled, and their boats were put out to take possession of them, when the whole Spanish fleet, observing this, came down to their rescue, and to carry them off"; but it is said, however, that none of these galliasses ventured to engage our ships ever after. After a general fight on the 25th of July, being EARL OF SUFFOLK. 421 nearly the last of that kind, which occurred on the following day, the Lord High Admiral bestowed the honour of knighthood on Lord Thomas Howard and four or five others, in consideration of their gallant behaviour. The Admiral indeed appears to have been highly satisfied with the conduct of the English commanders — ^^not only those of the royal navy, but with several of those furnished by the merchants — who on various occasions showed great resolution and bravery, and many are stated to have signalized themselves in a remarkable manner. The next occasion on which we find Lord Thomas Howard employed was in the year 1591, when he was sent out with a squadron of six ships of war and some small vessels, with the view of intercepting the Spanish plate-ships on their return from the West Indies. The ships employed on this occasion were the Defiance, Lord T. Howard, Admiral ; the Re- venge, Sir Richard Greenvil, Vice-Admiral ; the Nonpareil, Sir Edward Donnie; the Bonaventure, Captain Cross ; the Lion, Captain Fenner ; Fore- sight, Captain Vavasor; and Crane, Captain Duf- field. This squadron proceeded to the Azores, and re- mained about six months at Flores, expecting the return of the Spanish ships. The King of Spain, however, having received information of this squa- dron, sent out a fleet of fifty-three ships, under the command of Admiral Don Alphonso Bassano, to 422 LORD THOMAS HOWARD, protect and convoy home the plate-ships. They were fallen in with by the little squadron of the Earl of Cumberland, who very promptly despatched one of his ships, the Moonshine, to watch their proceedings and ascertain their force, and then to make for the Azores and apprize Lord Thomas Howard of such information as he should have been able to collect. Scarcely, however, had the Moonshine arrived, with intelligence for Lord Thomas, when the Spanish fleet itself hove in sight; and so unex- pectedly, that the Admiral had little time to get his sick on board, which were numerous, to weigh anchor, and to work to windward of the enemy. He had now only five ships with him, the Revenge not getting out with the rest ; but with these five he determined to engage the fifty-three, of which the Spanish fleet consisted ; and did actually attack them ; but, the night coming on, they parted. The crew, however, headed by their officers, came up to the Admiral, representing to him their vast in- feriority, and entreated him not to think of renew- ing the action in the morning, which could only terminate in the loss of their little fleet and the de- struction of their crews ; Captain Vavasor, of the Foresight, being, as is said, the only commander that persisted in resuming the engagement by day- light. The Vice-Admiral, Sir Richard Greenvil, in the EARL OF SUFFOLK. 49S Revenge, on account of many of his men straggling on shore, and of his endeavours in getting them off, was hemmed in between the Spanish fleet and the shore. He might perhaps have got over this diffi- culty, but, Camden says, that, from a rash piece of bravery, he would not suffer his pilot to carry the ship out, and by so doing turn his back upon the enemy. He therefore resolutely attempted to break through them ; and, notwithstanding he had ninety sick on board, he maintained a gallant but unequal fight, with the largest of the Spanish ships, for fifteen hours. In the commencement of the action the George Noble, of London, one of the victuallers, after receiving some shot, fell under the lee of the Revenge, and asked Sir Richard if he had any commands for him ; but Sir Richard desired him to shift for himself, and leave liim to his fortune. The Spanish Admiral, named the St. Philip, got to windward of him, and plied him so on one side, while three more attacked him on the other, that a great number of his men were either killed or wounded. The enemy now attempted to board the Revenge, and were as often beaten off", and thrown overboard ; others succeeded, and the fighting continued all night, the enemy constantly bringing up fresh re- cruits from their fleet. In this conflict the Spaniards lost a vast number of their men. The Revenge now began to be in want of powder; besides which their 424 ^ LORD THOMAS HOWARD, pikes were broken ; all the bravest men either killed or wounded ; their masts split and rigging damaged ; the ship battered with not fewer than eight hundred great shot ; and, to complete their misfortune, Sir Richard Greenvil was himself severely wounded, and, whilst the wound was dressing by the surgeon, Jie received a second shot in the head, and the sur- geon was killed by his side. " By break of day,*' says Camden, '' the hatches appeared all over blood, and the vast shoal of carcasses and men half dead that lay scattered up and down, presented a very lamentable spectacle to those who were left alive."* After this prolonged fight, Greenvil being now past all hopes of life, and seeing that nothing but utter destruction awaited the few surviving crew, he ordered the ship to be sunk ; but the master coun- termanded it, and, by consent of the greater part of the crew, got into the boats and yielded themselves to the Spanish Admiral, on compounding for their lives and liberties. The brave Greenvil, being now almost at the last extremity, was conveyed into the Spanish Admiral's ship, and died within two days, amid high commendations, even from his enemies, of his conduct and bravery. As he had lived, so he died, with the feelings of a brave man and a hero. Perceiving the hour of death approach, he is said to have uttered or dictated these words : — " Here die 1, Richard Greenvil, with a joyful and quiet mind, * Camcjen. - EARL OF SUFFOLK. ' 425 for that I have ended my life, as a true soldier ought to do that hath fought for his country, Queen, reli- gion, and honour, whereby my soul most joyfully departeth out of this body, and shall always leave behind it an everlasting fame of a valiant and true soldier, that Iiath done his duty, as he was bound to do." While the unequal action was going on, Howard, depending more on his courage than his strength, had a great inclination to venture into the midst of the enemy's fleet ; but neither the master nor the rest thought it prudent to contend against such evident odds, and with certain defeat ; while, at the same time, there was little or no probability of rescuing their friends. However, Howard and the rest, as well as Sir Thomas Vavasor (who assisted the Revenge for full two hours), fought bravely as long as they had the advantage of the wind, and did all that could be expected in such fearful odds, and by men of courage, till night parted them.''* The ship was surrendered, but, being so thoroughly shot through her hull, shortly after sunk in a storm with two hundred Spaniards on board, and with her perished some other vessels of the Spanish fleet ; so that, as Camden says, " the Revenge made good its name, and forced the Spaniards to pay dear for this new victory." Howard had, besides, the satisfac- tion of making some amends for the loss of the * Camden. ^^86 LORD THOMAS HOWARD, Revenge, her brave captain and crew, by taking several valuable Spanish ships; in one of which were found about twenty thousand indulgences, de- signed for the American Indians and settlers, and, what was infinitely better, a rich treasure besides. These indulgences, it seems, were articles of value, being sold to the Indians at a yearly rate, " by which the King of Spain's coffers are filled, and good grist carried to the Pope's mill."* The death of Sir Richard Greenvil made a deep impression on his countrymen : there is but one historian that speaks in a slighting manner of his conduct and death, and that one is Sir William Monson, a cold, unfeeling, and heartless censurer of most other men's actions ; he calls Sir Richard a " stubborn man," " so headstrong and rash that he ofi'ered resistance to those who advised him to cut his cable and follow his Admiral;" that *'his wilful rashness made the Spaniards triumph as much as if they had obtained a naval victory," &c.f Other feelings prompted greater men to view the conduct of Greenvil in a different light. " The fight of the Revenge," says Bacon, " was memorable even beyond credit, and to the height of some heroical fable : for though it were a defeat, yet it exceeded a victory ; being like the act of Sampson, that killed more men at his death than he had done in the time * Camden. f Monson. EARL OF SUFFOLK. 427 oi* all his life; this ship," he adds, *' for fifteen hours sat like a stag among hounds at the bay."* It is true that valour alone, without discretion, is not unlikely to lead to discomfiture ; but it has been owing to such stuff as Greenvil was made of, that the navy of Great Britain has acquired that high pre-eminence which, since his time, it has never ceased to hold ; that, in short, produced a Nelson, who, in like circumstances with Greenvil, would have fought like Greenvil. The next piece of naval service, performed by Lord Thomas Howard, was in the year 1596, in the attack and capture of Cadiz, and the destruction of the fleet. and shipping there assembled. An account of this transaction has been given under the memoir of the Lord High Admiral. In the large fleet fitted out for this occasion. Lord Thomas served in command of the Mere-honeur, as Vice- Admiral, and had his full share in the attack on the castle and the capture of the ships and galleons ; and at the conclusion of the business, he and the Dutch Admiral were the only two officers that volunteered to go with the Earl of Essex to the Azores, there to lay in wait for the return of the East India carracks — ** so much," says one, speaking of the rest, " had the fear of losing \yhat they had gained at Cadiz got the ascendant over every other." The next affair in which Lord Thomas Howard * Bacon : * A Speech on the War with Spain.' 428 LORD THOMAS HOWARD, was engaged was in the following year, 1597, when the Earl of Essex was intrusted with the command of a fleet of eighteen or nineteen of Her Majesty's ships of war, accompanied by a large number of victuallers and other craft, the whole amounting, according to the narrative of Sir Arthur Gorges, the captain of Sir Walter Raleigh's ship, to not less than one hundred and twenty sail, having on board six thousand land forces. This immense armament was placed by the Queen under the command of the Earl of Essex, Lord Thomas Howard being appointed his Vice-Admiral. The Lord High Admiral, it is said, declined joining in this expedition on the score of ill-health, though some were pleased to suppose that the specimen of the Earl's impetuosity before Cadiz had indisposed him to be again joined in an equal share of command with one, who had little or no knowledge of the naval service, and to whose care and protection the favourite might again be con- signed. But so far is this from being the case, that, as has been seen, the Lord Admiral, at the conclusion of the business at Cadiz, wrote to his father-in-law. Lord Hunsdon, giving to Essex a high character for his conduct and discipline. In fact there was no feeling of the kind on the part of the Earl of Not- tingham, whose letter to Essex himself repudiates any such idea. Little was accomplished by this grand expedition, chiefly owing, by Monson's account, to the mis- EARL OF SUFFOLK. 429 management and want of seamanship in Essex ; and also, he adds, by his " being diverted from my advice by divers gentlemen who, coming principally for land service, found themselves tired with the tediousness of the sea."* There was, however, another reason which no doubt contributed to the failure — the quarrel between Essex and Raleigh, which would probably have proceeded to the last extremity, had not the kind-hearted and good- natured Lord Thomas Howard stepped forward, and by his persuasive and conciHating manner recon- ciled, for the time at least, the two favourites. But for this and other particulars regarding this ineffi- cient voyage, reference may be had to the memoir of the Lord General Essex. In 1599 the Lord Thomas Howard was ao:ain appointed to the command of a fleet of her Majesty's ships, with orders to proceed to the Downs and re- main there for further instructions. The fleet con- sisted of eighteen ships of war, under the following commanders : — The Admiral Lord Thomas Howard, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Fulk Greville, Sir Henry Palmer, Sir Thomas Vavasor, Sir William Harris, Sir William Monson, Sir Robert Cross, Sir Richard Levison (or Lewson), Captain Thomas Fenner, Sir Alexander Clifford, Sir John Gilbert, Sir Thomas Shirley, and five or six others. * Monson. 430 LORD THOMAS HOWaHD, As this armament was shortly recalled from the Downs, and the ships paid off, it does not clearly appear for what it was intended : it may reasonably be conjectured, however, that it was considered pru- dent to fit out a fleet of observation, arising out of the state of affairs at this period. A rebellion ex- isted in Ireland, fomented by Catholic emissaries from Spain ; but the Queen's great enemy, Philip, had died in the preceding year, and some notions of peace were entertained with that power, at least were talked of. At the same time a rumour of war with France was current in the public mind, absurd as it then was considered by politicians : but Monson, who was a most inquisitive officer, and busied himself in all affairs political as well as naval, seemed to think that the appointment of the Earl of Essex to Ire- land, and the assembling of a Spanish fleet in the Groyne, with a view to Ireland, might have caused this naval armament. The Spanish squadron, however, passed through the Downs, while our ships were there, on their way to attack the Dutch in some of their ports ; but on finding that the Hollanders had themselves — and, it may be ob- served, for the first time — fitted out a fleet of seventy-three sail, and sent it, as was supposed, to the Azores, to intercept the India ships of the Spa- niards, this squadron went elsewhere to look for the Dutch. In the mean time the Hollanders, after EARL OF SUFFOLK. 481 keeping the sea for seven or eight months, and sacking a town on the Canary Islands, returned home : " after having," as Monson tells us, " lost their general and most of their men by sickness, the rest returned with loss and shame/'* " The only advantage," adds Monson, " we re- ceived by the preparation made was, that our men were taught suddenly to arm ; every man knowing his command, and how to be commanded, which before they were ignorant of, and who knows not that sudden and false alarms in armies are some- times very necessary ?"t Whatever the reason might have been, the alarm was so great that not only this fleet, but six thousand soldiers also were drawn together, and the fleet and army were placed under the supreme command of the Lord High Admiral, under the additional title of Lord Lieutenant' General of all England; under which title he was called upon to suppress the re- bellion of Essex. On the death of the Queen, King James, even before his arrival in the capital, appointed Lord Howard de Walden a member of his privy council, and in the first year of his reign made him lord chamberlain, and advanced him to the earldom of Suffolk. These extraordinary elevations, perhaps, arose out of a feeling of gratitude for the kind but criminal part which his father, the Duke of Nor- * Monson's Tracts. t Ibid. 43^ LOBD THOMAS HOWARD, folk, took in the cause of his mother, the Queen of Scots. It was Suffolk's duty as Lord Chamberlain, so soon as suspicion had been excited of that diabolical papist conspiracy, which was meant to destroy, at one blow, the King, the royal family, the Lords and Commons, to investigate, secretly but carefully, the proceedings of the conspirators ; and it was owing to the Earl of Suffolk's scrutinizing attention, that the chief or most active conspirator, Fawkes, was discovered in the very act of preparation for the destructive explosion. Some years after this, Suffolk was elected Chan- cellor of the University of Cambridge, where he was much esteemed and loved. On his first visit the public orator of the University addressed him, as was usual, in a Latin speech, to which the noble lord replied, "Though I understand no Latin, I know the sense of your oration is to tell me that I am welcome, which I believe verily, thank you heartily, and will serve you faithfully in anything within my power." " The Vice-Chancellor," says Fuller, " laying hold on the handle of so fair a 'proffer^ requested him to be pleased to entertain the King at Cam- bridge, a favour which the University had never been able to compass from their former great and. wealthy chancellors. " I will do it," quoth the noble Earl, '' in the best manner I may, with the EARL OF SUFFOLK. 433 speediest conveniency." It was a long time since His Majesty had been entertained at the University with such a magnificent treatment, which cost the noble donor more than five thousand pounds.* In the twelfth year of James's reign, Suffolk was further advanced to the high oflice of Lord Treasurer of England, a situation for which his qualifications were by no means suited. As a naval commander, he was brave, active, skilful, and looked up to by all the oflficers, with whom he was associated, with great respect and esteem; but in the affairs of the world he was a man of no great capacity. The minister he had succeeded was the Earl of Salisbury, one of the ablest servants that James ever possessed ; but he left to his successor an almost insuperable difficulty — the task of supplying from an exhausted treasury the profusion of James himself and his young favourite.f The title of baronet, invented by Salisbury, was an article of sale ; and two hun- dred patents, of that species of knighthood, were disposed of for so many thousand pounds: each rank of nobility had also its price affixed to it: privy seals were circulated to the amount of two hundred thousand pounds : benevolences were ex- acted to the amount of fifty -two thousand pounds. But all these had failed to replenish the treasury ; and James was reluctantly compelled to summon a * Fuller's Worthies, f Carr, soon after created Earl of Somerset. 2 F 484 LORD THOMAS HOWARD, Parliament, for hitherto he had valued himself upon his monarchical prerogative, and boasted openly of levying money on his subjects, without the formality of asking grants from the Parlia- ment. The Commons, however, got the better of James, but not before he had committed some of the members to prison, and found it prudent to apologise; he also imprisoned in the Tower one of the principal officers of his Government, who, having owed all his honours to the King, little dreamt of such a measure; and it occa- sioned much surprise in the public mind. This delinquent was no other than his recently created treasurer, Suffolk, whom, at the same time, James dismissed from an office which he had held little more than four years; that is to say, from 1614 to 1618. In the last of these years, he was charged with having embezzled a large share of the money received from the Dutch for the cautionary towns ; it was on this charge that he was deprived of his staff of office, and, together with his Countess, committed to the Tower. The facts on inquiry proved to be true; but the Earl was held in such high estimation in public opinion, that the guilt was almost universally ascribed to the rapa- city of the Countess. The public, however, found it difficult to acquit him of the knowledge of his wife's acts, and of the imprudence of conniving at or concealiDg her faults. The historian Carte, as EARL OF SUFFOLK. ? 435 quoted by Mr. Lodge, says, that '* the Earl was in the general opinion of the world deemed guiltless of any considerable misdemeanor ; but his Countess had rendered him very odious by extorting money from all persons who had any matters to dispatch at the Treasury ; Sir John Bingley, the Treasurer's Remembrancer in the Exchequer, being the chief agent in making her bargains." He adds that Wilson too, a writer never inclined to palliate the faults of James's court or government, says that " The Earl, being a man of a noble disposition, though too indulgent to his too active wife, had retained the King's favour, if he had taken Sir Ed- ward Coke's counsel, and submitted ; and not strove to justify his own integrity, which he maintained with a great deal of confidence, till it was too late, for then his submission did him little good ; but his wife's faults being imputed to him, he was fined thirty thousand pounds and imprisoned in the Tower."* In July, J 6 18, he was removed from bis office of Treasurer ; after which he was allowed to retire into the country, where he remained five or six months. In the spring of the following year he underwent several examinations ; and then had leave to go to his seat at Audley End, but with- out his lady. On the 20th of the ensuing Oc- tober he was brought publicly before the Star * Lodge. 2f2 436 LORD THOMAS HOWARD, Chamber ; and in November received his sentence of fine and imprisonment, was again committed to the Tower in the same month, released after nine days' confinement, and was received by James with kindness in less than two months from his release. Thus neither the proceedings against the Earl, nor the conduct of the King, evinced any public resent- ment against the former. The large fine, too, was mitigated by the King to seven thousand pounds, but not before he had caused an examination, by a committee, into the state of his embarrassments; which he had grievously represented to His Ma- jesty. The misfortunes of Suffolk, however, did not end here. His heir, the Lord Howard de Walden, was captain of the band of pensioners, and a younger son was attached to the Prince's house* hold. James, with all his evident predilection for Suffolk, thought it consistent, under the circum- stances, that the sons should be visited for the sins of the father ; and he therefore ordered Suffolk to prevail on them, by his influence, to relinquish their employments. Suffolk entreated the King most earnestly not to insist on so cruel a measure against his innocent sons, aggravated by imposing on their father the unnatural task of advising, even compelling, them to a course that miist lead to their ruin. But the King was inexorable. The Earl therefore addressed to him the following letter : — EAKL OF SUFFOLK. 437 Most gratious Soveryn, — Your princly favour in de- le virng me and my wyfe out of the Tower, must and shall ever be acknowledged by us with all humble thanks ; and now be pleased to geve me leave to be an humble suitor to Your Majesty that out of the tender compassion of Your pryncely hart, you wil be pleased to cast your eye upon the meserable estate of your dystressed, afflycted and owld ser- vant, now brought into fear of recovery of your Majesty's favour ; and so wretched my case ys as the lytle hope that remayned in me to lyve in Your Memory was my two Sonns' servyse to Your gratious self and the Prince. Yt is now required of me to impose upon them the resygnation of their places, which, wyth all humyleytie I beseech you to geve me leave to say, I wolde sooner use my power over them to wyll them to bury themselves quycke, than by any other way than in forcement to geve up their places of servyse, which onely remayns to me to be either my dying comfort, or my lyving torment. Besydes they are now past my govern- ment, being both married, and have children ; only I have a patemall care of them, which I most humbly beseech your best judging Majesty respectyvely to way how unhappy I must of necessy ty think myself yf I should be the perswader of that mysfortune to my chyldren that ther chyldren within a few years wolde curse me for, either lyving or dead. Upon all thes just considerations, most Gratious Master, geve me leave to turn my cruell and unnaturall part of per- swading them to yeld to that for which I should detest my- self to my humblyest desyer, upon the knees of my hart to begg humbly of Your Majesty that whatsoever favor you have ever had to me for any servyse done, that Your Majesty wyl be pleased to spare the ruyn of these two young men, whom I find so honestly dysposed in ther desyer of spending ther fortunes and ly ves in Your Majesty's and your pryncely sonn's servyse, as yf your displeasure be not fully satisfyed with what I have suffered already, that you lay more upon 4§8 LORD THOMAS HOWARD, me, and spare them. I have written to my Lord of Buck- ynghara to be my mediator to Your Majesty in this behalfe, which I assure myself he will nobly performe, as well as he hath formerly done, in being my means to Your Majesty in obtaining this great begunn favor. To conclude with my prayer to God that your Majesty may ever find the same zeale and love to your person in whomsoever you shall em- ploy that my hart's sole affection dyd, and ever shall carry unto you ; which God knows was and ys more to your Ma- jesty then to my wyfe and children, and all other worldly things; which God measure to me according unto the truth, as Your Majesty's humble subject and servaunt, T. SUFFOLKE.* Weldoii, a slanderous writer of this age, accuses the Countess of receiving bribes for her assistance in procuring the peace so advantageous to Spain ; and says that Audley End, that great and famous structure, had its foundation in Spanish gold. '* Weldon," says Mr. Lodge, " well knew that the Earl derived his means of building that palace, once the glory of the county of Essex, and still, in its present state of curtailment, a magnificent man- sion, from the sale of estates in the north of Eng- land, then annually let for ten thousand pounds. The building of Audley End is said to have cost one hundred and ninety thousand."f Notwithstanding the foregoing humble expostu- * This and another letter are stated to be found in the Har- leian Collection, t Lodge. EARL OF SUFFOLK. 439 lation, the King still persisted ; and to mark more strongly his displeasure, proceeded to something so severe, that both these young men were virtually compelled to resign their respective appointments ; after which the King, having carried his point, im- mediately restored them both. The Earl of Suffolk was twice married : by the first marriage he had no children ; the second wife was the widow of a son of Lord Rich, a cele- brated beauty, by whom he had eight sons and two daughters ; the younger of the latter was the noto- rious Frances, the wife of Essex, from whom she was divorced, and then married Carr, the favourite of James I., who created him Earl of Somerset, who, with his infamous wife, were tried, convicted, banished, and disgraced, for the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury. The Earl of Suffolk died at his house at Charing Cross, on the 28th of May, 1626, and was interred at Walden in Essex. GEORGE CLIFFORD, EARL OF CUMBERLAND. 1586 TO 1598. George Clifford was the son of Henry, second Earl of that family, whose ancestor is supposed to have come into England with William the Con- queror. His grandfather, Henry, was advanced to the dignity of Earl of Cumberland in the year 1525. George, the third and last Earl, and the thirteenth peer in regular descent, was born in the year 1558, and educated at Peter House, in the University of Cambridge, where he applied himself closely to the study of mathematics and astronomy, which probably gave him a taste for navigation ; and to that succeeded those great enterprises, for which he became distinguished, and which, at an early period of his life, attracted the notice of Queen Elizabeth. It appears that, in the year 1586, then in the twenty-eighth year of his age, he was employed as one of the peers who sat in judgment on Mary Queen of Scots.* About that time it was the fashion for young noblemen and sons of great * Camden. GEORGE CLIFFORD, EARL OF CUMBERLANa 441 families to enrol themselves in the land or sea ser- vice, emulated with the honourable ambition of assisting the Queen, in defeating tlie deep-laid designs of Philip of Spain, who, through the means of Popish emissaries, was tampering with the alle- giance and the established religion of her subjects ; and who was also known to be making vast pre- parations for the invasion of England. The Earl, therefore, first volunteered in going over to Sluys, to assist the States of Holland against the designs of the Duke of Parma, the Spanish governor of the Low Countries. He had previously, however, fitted out, at his own charge, a small fleet of three ships : the Red Dragon, of 260 tons and 130 men ; the bark Clifibrd, of 130 tons and 70 men ; the Roe, a smaller ship; to which was added the Dorothy pinnace ; but without any intention of proceeding himself on the projected expedition. The prosperous circumnavigation of the globe, accomplished by Sir Francis Drake, and his recent return with the reputation of having brought with him enormous wealth, were well calculated to ex- cite in the mind of the Earl of Cumberland a desire to try his fortune in the same quarter ; and accord- ingly he gave instructions to the commander of his little fleet to proceed through the Strait of Magel- haens into the South Seas, and to levy contribu- tions upon the Spanish settlements in that ocean, so successfully opened by Drake. The ships left 442 . GEORGE CLIFFORD, Dartmouth on the 29th of August, 1586, and nothing particular occurred till the 21st of Octo- ber, when they reached Sierra Leone. Here a party having gone on shore, they wantonly set fire to a town of negroes, and brought away a few tons of rice; and having supplied the ships with wood and water, again put to sea on the 21st of Novem- ber, and steered a course for the Strait of Magel- haens, falling in with the coast of South America inSOMO'S. Near Rio de la Plata they captured a Portuguese vessel, and a second on the following day. On the coast of Brazil they took another Portuguese ship, in which were twenty-five negro women, four or five friars, and an Irishman. Their books, beads, and pictures, with other spiritual trinkets, were valued at 1000 ducats. In plying for the Strait, the want of provisions obliged them to return to the northward. After a little plunder on the coast, and a few captures, from which they procured some meal, sugar, and other provisions, the month of June, 1587, having now arrived, the crews getting uneasy and desirous of returning home, it was deemed expedient to indulge them, and they ar- rived at Plymouth the last day of September, after an unprofitable voyage. This first voyage, therefore, so far from relieving the Earl from the embarrassments which, it was said, his gay and irregular life had occasioned. EARL OF CUMBERLAND. 443 served only to involve him in more serious difficul- ties. In the mean time he had made his way to court, where young men of rank, of handsome ap- pearance, of graceful and elegant accomplishments, were sure to be well received. He became a con- stant attendant at the tilt-yard at Westminster, where her Majesty frequently witnessed the sports ; he excelled in games of chivalry and personal ex- ercises ; in tilts and tournaments he bore away the prizes from most of his competitors. On some oc- casion, the Queen dropped her glove by accident, as some say — others, by design ; probably the former, as she is said to have been in the habit of constantly pulling off her gloves, to show her beautiful white hands. The Earl, on picking it up, was desired by her Majesty to keep it; and as such a trophy was too valuable to be shut up, he had it emblazoned with diamonds, and is said ever after to have worn it in the front of his hat, at all public assemblies where her Majesty was likely to make her ap- pearance. Thus introduced, the personal qualifications and manners of the Earl were quite sufficient to enlist him among the number of those, who were distin- guished as Elizabeth's favourites ; of those in whom she was supposed to confide, and to make use of on great occasions of display : nor in the present in^- stance did she stop short in conferring distinction on the new favourite. It was by her recommenda- tion, no doubt, that he was selected as one of those 444 GEORGE CLIFFORD, to be actively employed in the dispersion and defeat of the Invincible Armada, being appointed to the command of one of the Queen's ships, the Elizabeth Bonaventure, of 600 tons ; and he is mentioned as one who greatly distinguished himself. - The Queen was so much pleased with the good Service done by the navy on that occasion, that among those, who received marks of her favour, she gratified the Earl of Cumberland by conferring on him, on his second expedition, a commission as one of her admirals against the Spaniards ; and lent him, moreover, one of her own ships, the Golden Lion, to prosecute an intended voyage to the South Seas; and all this was done within two months after the dispersion of the Spanish Armada. The extraordinary resolution and perseverance of this nobleman may be understood, when it is stated that, in twelve consecutive years, from 1586 to 1598, he undertook ten expeditions (exclusive of the share he took against the Armada), with the double object, it may be presumed, of retaining the countenance of the Queen, and at the same time of doing service to the nation, by annoying and dis- tressing the Spaniards ; perhaps also, with a view to the improvement of his finances. It has been sup- posed, however, that the balance of profit and loss, on the whole ten voyages, was but small, if an}^ on the favourable side of the account. A brief abstract of these expeditions will suffice in this place. For the Second Eorpedttifm, the Golden Lion, a EARL OF CUMBERLAND. 445 Queen's ship, was fitted out, furnished, victualled, and manned, at his own cost, and a number of gen- tlemen volunteers attended him. He was ready and sailed before the expiration of the month of October ; but the winds and the weather prevented his pro- gress, and, in a storm, he was compelled to cut his mainmast by the board, and to return into port with a small prize laden with merchandise for Spain. The Third Expedition, — The following year, 1589, the Earl was granted another royal ship, the Victory, Captain Lister: and he engaged two others, the Megg, Captain Monson, vice-admiral ; and Margaret, Captain Careless, rear-admiral ; to which were added the Caravel, Captain Pigeon : altogether manned with four hundred mariners and soldiers. On the 18th of June they left Plymouth, and in a short time took several small vessels, which were sent to England with the Margaret (not being sea-worthy). On the 28th the Earl fell in with several of the scattered ships, belonging to Sir Francis Drake's and Sir John Norris's squadron, returning from Lisbon, and in such distress for want of provisions, that many of them must have perished had not the Earl relieved them. On the coast of Spain he took thirteen ships belonging to the Hanse Towns, eased them of spices to the value of about seven thousand pounds, and dismissed them. 446 GEORGE CLIFFORD, Hence he stood over to the Azores, and made St. Michael's on the 1st of August, where four ships were observed at anchor in the road. His Lordship determined in the night to go in the boats, cut their cables, and bring them away, which accordingly was done, and the prizes carried off without any mischief. The squadron next proceeded to Fayal, where the Earl had been informed some Spanish carracks from the Indies would be found : they were, however, gone; but there were still a few ships remaining ; and Captains Lister and Monson made a desperate attempt upon one of them, about three hundred tons and fourteen brass guns, which they brought out, though under the great guns of the castle which played upon the boats. The Earl, not satisfied with what had been done, resolved to attack the town, which was deserted on their approach. They therefore compounded for a ransom of two thousand ducats, paid chiefly in church plate : they brought away also fifty- eight pieces of iron ordnance. From hence they pro- ceeded to St. Michael's, and thence to St. Mary's, taking several prizes, which the Earl despatched to England with the Megg. Li their way they also took a ship from the West Indies, of four hundred tons, her cargo valued at one hundred thousand pounds. At St. Mary's a ship was observed close under the Castle wall, which, by the advice of Captain Lister, as Captain Monson says, the Earl EARL OF CUMBERLAND. 447 was persuaded to take out by their boats ; but they suffered so severely that two parts of the men were killed or wounded — eighty, as stated by Purehas. The Earl himself received three shots on his target, and a fourth on his side ; had his head broken with stones; his face covered with blood; and both that and his legs scorched with grenades. Monson, who lays the whole blame on Lister for their landing in the face of the fortifications of St. Mary's, " against all reason and sense," allows him to have been brave. " As he was rash, so was he valiant ; but paid dearly for his unadvised counsel, for he was one of the first hurt, and that cruelly too, and was afterwards drowned in the rich ship, that was cast away in Mount's Bay." It appears he was sent home with this valuable Indian prize, which was lost in that bay : but the Earl himself had to endure the misery of a long famine, danger of shipwreck, want of fresh water, and the death of a great part of his men. It seems they had nothing to drink but a few spoonfuls of vinegar a-day to each man, which was mixed with the little water they could catch from rain or hail, and many of them are stated to have died from drinking salt-water. In all this distress, the noble Earl is said to have maintained an equal temper and pre- sence of mind, sharing every misfortune, without murmuring, with his whole ship's company. Monson, in his caustic way, says of this voyage, 148 GEORGE CLIFFORD, " My Lord of Cumberland, some gain to himself, but nothing to Her Majesty." * The Fourth Eoopedition. — The result of this voyage of 1591 was nil, and in fact something worse. The Earl had Her Majesty's ship the Gar- land, of 600 tons, accompanied by seven others ; one, the Sampson, being his own, the others be- longing to his friends. The only transaction re- lated is the taking of two rich Spanish ships, which were not only retaken, but several of the English made prisoners into the bargain. Captain Monson being ordered to proceed, with Captain Bayly in the Golden Noble, to the islands of the Burlings, to receive the spices to be taken out of a prize, and convey them to England, it fell calm ; and this ship, being parted from the rest of the squadron, was set upon by six galleys ; and, after a long and bloody fight. Captain Bayly and the greater part of the men being slain, both ship and spices were taken, the men made prisoners, and Captain Monson detained as a hostage, for performance of covenants agreed upon for the release of the rest, and sent to Lisbon, where he was imprisoned nearly two years. Under all these disasters, the Earl of Cumberland deemed it expedient to return to England. Monson says, no profit at all to the Earl. The Fifth Expedition.— in 1592 his Lordship fitted out ^\e ships which he hired ; the largest of * Hakluyt, Purchas, Monson. EARL OF CUMBERLAND. 449 which, the Tyger, measured 600 tons ; the others were the Samson and the Golden Noble, with two small ones. On this occasion he had no Queen's ship: Her Majesty having once commanded him not to lay any ship of hers alongside a Spaniard, lest both should be destroyed by fire, he thought it prudent on this occasion to decline the royal favour. His intention was to endeavour to intercept the outward-bound Spanish carracks ; but, having been detained in harbour by bad weather and contrar}'^ winds, and three months having been consumed before they got out of the Channel, his Lordship returned to London, and transferred the command to Captain Norton, with instructions to proceed to the Azores. They took, off Cascais, a valuable Portuguese ship, which was sent home under the protection of the Golden Noble ; the rest proceeded to the Azores, fell in with and chased a Portuguese carrack, which reached the south end of Flores, where, during the night, her cargo was landed, and the Portuguese then set fire to her. They had the good fortune, however, to fall in with another carrack, called the Madre de Dios, and, after a sharp action of an hour and a half, assisted by three other ships that had joined them, one of the Queen, under Sir John Burroughs but fought by Captain Cross, they captured her. The ships of Her Majesty, however, being present, caused a very serious reduction in the Earl of 2g 450 GEORGE CLIFFORD, Cumberland's share, which otherwise would have been very large. As it was, it is stated that, as a gift from the Queen, his Lordship received thirty- six thousand pounds for his share of this capture ; which sum was probably not equal to the expendi- ture of the voyage. Sixth Eucpedition. — In 1593 the Earl again fitted out six ships, two of which — the Golden Lion, the Admiral, with Monson her Captain, and Bonaven- ture, Vice-Admiral Sir Edward York — both belong- ing to the Queen's navy, which he now accepted, not- withstanding the prohibitory orders he received from Her Majesty on a former voyage, not to board the Spaniards for fear of fire. The Anthony, the Pil- grim, the Chaldon, and Discovery, were his own, and attended the ships of war. The Earl commanded in person. They soon fell in with and captured two French ships of the League of very consider- able value, equal, it is said, to more than treble the expense of the outfit. The Golden Lion, being one day separated from the rest of the fleet, fell in with twelve hulks on the coast of Spain ; the Earl demanded of them the usual respect due to one of Her Majesty's ships ; they refused, presuming on the superior force of twelve against one. A fight of two hours ensued, when the hulks submitted their apology, and craved his mercy, willingly delivering up to him a large quantity of powder and ajnmunition belonging to the King of Spain. EARL OF CUMBERLAND. 451 In proceeding to the westward, the Earl fell in with a small vessel, from which he learnt that his approach to Flores was known to a Spanish ^o^a, which was there waiting for him, with a force much superior to his own. He therefore altered his intention ; and, being shortly afterwards seized with a violent fit of sickness, he felt himself obliged to give up his command and to return home ; while the three smaller vessels prosecuted their voyage to the West Indies, and pillaged the pearl-fishery of Margarita to the value of about two thousand pounds. After this the crews marched in a body to the small town, and compounded with the inhabitants for two thousand ducats, in pearl, to spare their houses and barks. The Pilgrim was despatched for England, while the Anthony and Discovery steered for the Bay of Honduras, met with seven Spanish ships at Puerto de Cavallos, and had a fight of twenty-four hours, when the Spaniards abandoned their ships in the boats, and carried off the ships' rudders in them. The English then set fire to six of them, bringing away the Admiral of 250 tons, previously lading her with the spoils of the rest. Leaving this for England, they arrived at Plymouth in May, 1594, a day after the Pilgrim. Monson says, " The Earl of Cumberland, some gain to himself, none to the Queen." The Seventh Expedition, — In 1594 the Earl of 2g2 452 GEORGE CLIFFORD, Cumberland fitted out an expedition, consisting of the Royal Exchange of 250 tons, George Cave Commander ; the Mayflower of 250 tons, William Anthony Commander ; the Samson, Nicholas Downton Commander; accompanied by a caravel and a pinnace. The Earl himself did not proceed on this voyage, in which it so happened that more boldness and bravery were displayed than in any of the former. This little squadron left Plymouth in April, got sight of St. Michael's, and ten days afterwards fell in with one of the largest and best carracks of the King of Spain, being two thousand tons burden. Her name was the Cinque Llagas (five wounds — of Christ). The Mayflower attacked her first; then the Samson came in ; and, lastly, the Admiral (Captain Cave). All three laid her on board; the Admiral on the prow, the Vice- Admiral on the waist, and the Rear- Admiral on the quarter. The result, after a long and warm engagement, was that she was set on fire, the flames of which ran up to her sails and caught the sails of the Vice and Rear- Admirals ; and the Admiral had much to do to quench the fire thrown into his own ship. The Spaniards prevailed on their commander to throw out a flag of truce ; but the carpenter called out *' Coraggio I I will never yield." Reduced to the last extremity, many of the ofiicers stripped themselves of their rich chains and jewels, and EARL OF CUMBERLAND. 453 •many of the crew swam naked to the English ships ; but it appears that two only were taken on board ; and a remark is made, not very favourable to English humanity — that their naked carcases were not the best means to recommend them to mercy ; that they should have swam on board with some at least of their pearls and jewels about them ; that the seamen would then have kept them above water ; but for want of these advocates they were suffered miserably to perish. — The next morning the carrack blew up. It is stated that the number that perished were about eleven hundred men. On the part of the English, the Vice- Admiral with some few of the men were killed, and the Admiral so despe- rately wounded that he died soon after his return. After this action they sailed for Flores to refresh, and soon after fell in with the other carrack, sup- posed to be the St. Philip, a man-of-war, which made them more cautious. They first sent a boat on board to summon her to surrender to the Queen of England's ships, under the command of the Earl of Cumberland, threatening that in case of refusal their fate would be that of their comrade. The reply of the commander, Don Lewis de Costynio, was, " If your General has been at the burning of the Cinque Llagas, so have I been at the burning and taking of the Revenge,* belonging to the Queen of * The ship so nobly but desperately fought by Sir Richard GreenviL 454 GEORGE CLIFFORD, England. Therefore, let him do what he dare for his Queen ; and I will do what I am able for my King/' A fight then began, and the carrack is said to have been laid on board and terribly shat- tered ; but the English officers being most of them killed, and the men disheartened, the ships with- drew, and made the best of their way home, where they arrived in September, having done much damage to the enemy, with little or no advantage to themselves. The Eighth Expedition. — The Earl, notwith- standing the many disappointments he had expe- rienced, was so far from being discouraged, that in the following year, 1595, he had prepared himself for the eighth undertaking ; and, as the Queen had expressed her desire that he should not risk the burning of one of her ships of war, by laying her on board any of the Spanish ships, he determined to build one of his own, of a sufficient size to lay alongside the largest of the Spanish carracks or galleons. This ship was nine hundred tons, and said to be the largest and best ship ever built by any British subject. The Queen was so much pleased that, at the launching of this ship, she gave to it the name of the Scourge of Malice. This Scourge was em- ployed on his last three expeditions, and then sold to the newly-established East India Company, and effected for them much good service. EARL OF CUMBERLAND. 455 Her present voyage, however, was a failure. The Earl embarked in her as Admiral, with the Alcedo, Monson as Vice-Admiral, the Anthony, Daniel Jarret, and the old frigate. But when they had got the length of Plymouth, the Admiral received Her Majesty's commands to return, on which he gave up the command of the Scourge to Captain Langton, which occasioned the great displeasure of Captain Monson, who chose to seek his fortune in the Alcedo alone, which, for a man of his standing, had the Alcedo been a Queen's ship, would have subjected him to a charge of mutiny. He thus tells his own story : — " In this year I was married ; but before my marriage I engaged myself, by promise, to attend my Lord of Cumberland as his Vice-Admiral to sea. His Lordship went in the Malice- Scourge, a brave ship built by himself; his Vice-Admiral was the Alcedo, a goodly ship hired of the merchants. Now I began to have proof of what I had before just cause to suspect — namely, the inconstant friend- ship of the Earl of Cumberland. For though I was drawn by his sweet words and promises to this voyage, and that we had proceeded upon it so far as Plymouth, and from thence eight or nine leagues to sea, towards the coast of Spain, without impart- ing or making show of anything to me, he sud- denly quitted the voyage, and appointed another Captain for his own ship [his own Captain, Lang- 456 GEORGE CLIFFORD, tonj, which so much displeased me for the present, that I abandoned the company of his ship at sea, and betook myself to my own adventure." ^ His voyage in the Alcedo, he says, produced no danger of famine or sword ; the worst enemy he encountered were storms, which forced him to cut his mainmast by the board, and bear up for Eng- land. Captain Monson certainly did not act on this occasion with that strict propriety for which he was mostly distinguished, and which he would have been sure to exact from others. The rest of the squadron when near Flores took a caravel laden with sugar, fell in, during a fog, with the St. Thomas, the Vice-Admiral of the Spanish fleet, from which she had separated, and they immediately engaged her ; but, finding them- selves an unequal match, they returned towards the coast of Spain ; fell in with three Dutch ships laden with wheat, copper, ammunition and provisions, for the use of the King of Spain, which they took, and proceeded with them to England. The Ninth Expedition, — This voyage of 1596, undertaken by the Earl himself in his new ship, accompanied by the Dreadnought of the Royal Navy, and a few small ships, was also a complete failure. They had not proceeded more than thirty or forty leagues from the English coast, when, in a violent storm, the Scourge of Malice split her main- * Monson's Tracts. EARL OF CUMBERLAND. 457 mast, which made her unserviceable for the present voyage, so that he brought her back to England, accompanied by the Dreadnought. The same year, however, his Lordship having learned that the Earl of Essex was on the coast with a fleet, fitted out the Ascension, of 300 tons and 34 guns, commanded by Captain Francis Slingsby ; but, having narrowly escaped the Goodwin Sands, and lost two anchors, he was obliged to put into Plymouth. Having again gone to sea, and standing off and on about the Rock of Lisbon, the Spanish Admiral sent out six ships to attack him. The Spanish flag- ship and another laid the Ascension on board, one on the bow, and the other on the quarter, when an action commenced with great fury and resolution on both sides. The Spaniards attempted to board, but were bravely repulsed ; and some well-directed case-shot occasioned great slaughter among them. The effect of this, together with the warm reception the two Spaniards had met with, in their attempt to board the Ascension, obliged them to sheer off*. The English had twenty killed and wounded in this ac- tion. The Ascension continued on the coast till she had only fourteen days' provisions left, and then returned without having obtained any booty. The Tenth and last Expedition. — His Lordship having determined to send forth an expedition of such magnitude as would be able to defy any 45$ GEORGE CLIFFORD, Spanish force it might have to encounter, employed two years in fitting it out. It consisted of twenty ships, large and small ; the greater part of them fitted out at his own expense, and the remainder by private individuals. He embarked himself in the Scourge of Malice as Admiral, his Captain John Wats; the Merchant Royal, Sir John Berkley, Vice- Admiral (and Lieutenant- General) ; and the Ascension, Rear-Admiral, Captain Robert Flicker. Several officers and gentlemen volunteers accom- panied this little fleet. On the 6th of March, 1598, the fleet set sail from Plymouth, in the hope of falling in with five large Spanish carracks about to sail to the Indies, accom- panied by more than twenty sail for the Brazils. The Spaniards, however, having got intelligence of the Earl's preparations, had kept their ships in har- bour. Learning this from some coasters, the Earl proceeded to the Canaries, landed upon, and ravaged, the island of Lancerota ; the town, consisting of about one hundred houses, the castle, the church, and a convent, being left to the mercy of the in- vaders : all the inhabitants had fled, the very name of the English having inspired terror. Little plunder, however, was obtained by the invaders. The Earl next proceeded to Dominica and the Virgin Islands, where Indians only resided. Hence he made sail for Porto Rico, where 1000 men were landed, attacked the town, and took all the forts EARL OF CUMBERLAND. 459 and castles, garrisoned by about 400 men, after a stout resistance. The English, in order to get at them, had to pass along a narrow, rocky, rugged causeway, leading to a drawbridge. The Earl on the march fell from the causeway into the sea, where, by the weight and incumbrance of his ar- mour, he narrowly escaped drowning; and received so much salt-water into his stomach as to stay his march for some time along the causeway. The Admiral soon, however, recovered ; and, with his troop, added to that of Sir John Berkley, made a joint attack, and carried all before them ; the Mora Castle among the rest ; and the whole town, with its cathedral and monastery, were in the EarUs pos- session. As this place was the common resort of all the plate-ships, and the key of the Carribean country, the Earl resolved to keep it ; but he soon found it necessary to relinquish this scheme by the sickness which seized his troops. A violent flux carried off so many of his people that the number was soon found to be inadequate to keep the place, without unmanning the squadron. Of the thousand men who landed, it is said that seven hundred died.* The consequence was, that the ransom of the place, which might once have brought him a large sum, was now treated of by the Spaniards with coldness and indifference ; and it appeared to the Earl that * Camden ; but Purchas says six hundred. ^^60 GEORGE CLIFFORD, the best policy was forthwith to re-embark the rem- nant of the troops. The fleet was then divided ; a certain number to go with the Earl, and the rest to follow the orders of Sir John Berkley. They met at Flores, after both having suffered much in a violent gale of wind. They thence proceeded for England, where they arrived in the month of Octo- ber. This grand expedition must have been a very serious expense to the Earl, and a loss to all em- ployed on it ; but it so far served the nation as to the damage done to the Spaniards, by obstructing their carracks and plate-ships both in going to and returning from the Indies. For himself the loss must have been great enough to deter him from any further crusades. Whatever may have been the leading motive that induced the Earl of Cumberland to pursue, with so much steadiness and vigour, his numerous voyages — whether with the view of serving his country, of gratifying the Queen, or of repairing his shattered fortune, or, it is fair to add, from the love of honour- able fame — it must be granted, at least, that his un- remitting zeal and indefatigable perseverance are deserving of admiration, and that his numerous expeditions were favourable to the increase and employment of seamen, and advantageous to the shipping interests. Perhaps, however, his personal share in them was not exactly such as to have stamped on his memory the character of a hero. EARL OF CUMBERLAND. 461 Other pursuits, however, of a different character were intermixed with his sea- voyages, and occupied the time and attention of the Earl of Cumberland. In the year 1590 (when certain jousts and tourna- ments were exhibited before the Queen at the tilt- yard, under the name of Exercises in Arms, which were solemnized annually on the 17th of November) the Earl was invited to be present. These exhibi- tions were the invention of " the right virtuous and honourable Sir Henry Lee, Master of Her Highness* Armorie, who of his great zeale and earnest desire to eternize the glory of her Majesty's court, in the beginning of her happy reigne, voluntarily vowed (unless infirmity, age, or other accident, did impeach him) during his life to present himself at the tilt, armed, the day aforesaide, yearly, there to perform, in honour of Her Sacred Majestie, the promise he formerly made. However, the author of that cus- tom, being now by age overtaken, in the thirty- third year of her Majesty's reigne, resigned, and recommended that office unto the Right Noble George Earl of Cumberland."* " On the day in question the author, with the Earl, having first performed their service in armes, presented themselves unto her Highness, at the foot of the stairs under her gallery windows, in the tilt- yard at Westminster ; where her Majesty did sit, accompanied with the ambassador of France, many * Nicholls's Progresses, 462 GEORGE CLIFFORD, ladies, and the chiefest nobility. As the armed knights approached her Majesty, musick so sweet and secret was heard, that every one greatly mar- velled." We have then a long description, during that excellent melody, of the earth opening, and a pavi- lion rising up " like unto the sacred temple of the Virgins Vestall ;'* resembling a church with pillars of porphyry, and within it many lamps burning. There were also various crowned pillars and other devices, with complimentary songs and verses, while " Vestal Maydens " presented various gifts unto her Majesty. While these presents, with prayer, were with great reverence delivered unto her Majesty's own hands, the venerable champion, disarmed, offered up his armour at the foot of her Majesty's crowned pillar; and, kneeling, presented the Earle of Cumberland, humbly beseeching she would be pleased to accept him as her knight, to continue the yearly exercises aforesaid. Her Ma- jestic generously accepting of that offer, this aged knight armed the Earle, and mounted him upon his horse.* There is something touching amidst these frivo- lities, as they appear to us, in a song sung in the character of the aged knight, of which the following are two verses : — * Nicholls's Progresses. EARL OF CUMBERLAND. 463 My helmet now shall make a hive for bees, And lovers' songs shall turn to holy psalmes ; A man at armes must now sit on his knees, And feed on prayers that are Old Age's alms: And so from court to cottage I depart, My saint is sure of mine unspotted heart. And, when I sadly sit in homely cell, I'll teach my swaines this carol for a song : Blest be the hearts that think my Sovereign well ; Curs'd be the soules that think to do her wrong. Goddess, vouchsafe this aged man his right. To be your beadsman now, that was your knight. On May-day, 1600, we find ' An Ode to Cynthia,' sung before Her Sacred Majestie, at a shewe on Horsebacke, wherewith the Right Honorable the Earle of Cumberland presented Her Highness with a most doleful speech, which Dr. Whitaker gives at full length ; and observes, upon the overstrained compliments paid to her beauty, &;c., that his Cyn- thia was then in her sixty-seventh year.* In early life the Earl had formed an attachment to the beautiful daughter of Sir William Hollis ; but this independent gentleman rejected his pro- posals, observing that his daughter should marry a good gentleman, with whom he might enjoy society and friendship, and not a son-in-law before whom he would have to stand cap-in-hand. He next paid his addresses to Frances Russell, daughter of Francis Earl of Bedford, and was accepted ; an * Whitaker's Antiquities of Craven. 464 GEORGE CLIFFORD, amiable woman, whom, as a husband, he cruelly neglected. The character of the Earl, as given by Dr. Whi- taker, in his * History and Antiquities of Craven,* is far from favourable : — " The Earl of Cumberland," he says, " was a great but unamiable man. His story admirably illustrates the difference between greatness and contentment, between fame and virtue. If we trace him in the public history of his times, we see nothing but the accomplished courtier, the skilful navigator, the intrepid commander, the dis- interested patriot. If we follow him into his family, we are instantly struck with the indifferent and un- faithful husband, the negligent and thoughtless parent. If we enter his muniment-room, we are surrounded by memorials of his prodigality, mort- gages and sales, inquietude and approaching want. He set out with a larger estate than any of his ancestors, and in little more than twenty years he made it one of the least. Fortunately for his family a constitution, originally vigorous, gave way at forty -seven to hardships, anxiety, and wounds. His separation from his virtuous lady was occasioned by a court intrigue."^ He was, to say the least of him, careless of his fa- mily ; lived on ill terms with his Countess, Margaret, a woman of extraordinary merit, but perhaps too high spirited for such a husband. She was certainly * Whitaker's History of Craven. EARL OF CUMBERLAND. 465 much happier in the filial affections of her daughter than in the conjugal tenderness of her husband ; who, taken up with military glory and the pomp of tilts and tournaments, paid little attention to do- mestic duties. He is said also to have neglected the interests, as well as the education, of his only surviving child, the Lady Anne, who married, first, Sackville Earl of Dorset ; and, secondly, Philip Herbert Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, whom Pennant calls "a brutal simpleton.'* This amiable and most accomplished daughter of a virtuous mo- ther paid a pious and interesting tribute of her affec- tion, at their last parting, which took place at Brougham, where the Countess Margaret died, in May, 1616 (having survived her husband eleven years). Near this spot her daughter caused a pillar to be erected, on which is the following in- scription: — " This pillar was erected by Anne Countess of Pembroke for a memorial of her last parting, in this place, with her good and pious mother, Margaret Countess Dowager of Cumberland, on the 2nd of April, 1616 : in memory whereof, she hath \eh an annuity of four pounds to be dis- tributed to the poor of the parish of Brougham every second day of April for ever, upon the stone-table hard by. Laus Deo.'' Rogers, in his * Pleasures of Memory,' has beau- tifully alluded to this memorial, and sees 2 H 466 GEORGE CLIFFORD, EARL OF CUMBERLAND. With lifted eye revered, That modest stone which pious Pembroke reared, Which still records, beyond the pencil's power, The silent sorrows of a parting hour ; Still to the musing pilgrim points the place Her sainted spirit most delights to trace. This noble lady erected also a monument to her tutor, Samuel Daniel, the poetical historian ; another to Spenser ; founded two hospitals ; and repaired or built seven churches and six castles. Being advised by her friends to be more sparing in these buildings, during the Protectorate of Cromwell, lest he should demolish them, she replied with great spirit — " Let him destroy them if he will ; he shall surely find, as often as he does so, I will rebuild them while he leaves me a shilling in my pocket." She certainly was a noble creature. When Sir J. Williamson, Secretary to Charles IL, nominated to her a mem- ber for the borough of Appleby, she returned this resolute and spirited answer: — " I have been bullied by an usurper ; I have been neglected by a court ; but I will not be dictated to by a subject : your man sha^n^t stand. '* Anne Dorset, Pembroke and Montgomery." As she had lived highly respected, so she died, at an advanced age, deeply lamented. SIR WILLIAM MONSON, 1585 TO 1643, Admiral Sir William Monson, a well-educated and more than ordinary accomplished seaman, was the third son of Sir John Monson, a respectable country gentleman of South Carlton in Lincoln- shire, where the subject of this memoir was born iu the 5^ear 1569. At a proper age he was entered at the University of Oxford ; but, being of a bold and enterprising disposition, which suited not exactly the studious and quiet life of a college, he deter- mined to follow the bent of his inclination ; and entered into the sea service, as a common sailor, on board a merchantman : being led to it, as he says, ** by the wildness of my youth." His continuance in it, however, was very early put to a severe test. In one of two barks, in which he was serving, he had the good fortune to take the first Spanish prize that had been brought to the English shore. Being on the coast of Spain, they fell in with and boarded a Spanish vessel of 300 tons, well manned and armed. " All our men," he says, " with one con- 2h2 468 SIR WILLIAM MONSON. sent and courage entered her, and were left fighting aboard lier all night, the seas being so grown that our barks were forced to ungrapple and fall off. The Spaniards betook themselves to their close fights, and made two attempts, by trains of powder, to blow up their decks, on which we were ; but we happily prevented it by fire-pikes. Thus continued the fight till seven in the morning, when the Spa- niards found they had so many men killed and dis- abled that they were forced to yield." " When we came to take a view of our people, we found few left alive but could shew a wound or shot through their cloaths in that fight. We were a woeful spectacle, as well as the Spaniards; and I dare say that, in the whole time of the war, there was not so rare a manner of fight, or so great a slaughter of men on both sides." The passage, "we were forced to ungrapple, and to leave our men fighting on board her," leaves a doubt whether he was one of the fighters, or one of the crew in the bark.* This was in the year 1585, and the first of his seaman- ship, being then in his sixteenth year. At this time, war being declared against Spain, Queen Eli- zabeth was holding out every encouragement to the naval profession, by countenancing expeditions against her greatest enemy, Philip of Spain. This event may have decided the future lot of Monson ; * Monson's Tracts, p. 459. SIR WILLIAM MONSON. 46^ and the rapid progress he made in navigation may be inferred, from his having obtained the command of a merchant vessel in little more than two years. And it may also be inferred, that he aimed at some- thing higher than the mercantile service, by being engaged in the following year, 1588, on board the Charles pinnace, one of the Queen's ships em- ployed against the Invincible Armada, but, as he tells us, not in the command of her. In the following year, 1 589, Monson, now styled Captain, commanded one of the ships in the expe- dition of the Earl of Cumberland against the Ter- ceira Islands, in which they took several valuable ships, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. But the details of this expedition are already given in the memoir of the Earl of Cumberland. The next voyage of 1591, in which Monson went as Captain of the Earl of Cumberland's own ship, was a very unfortunate one for Monson, he having, when detached, been captured by six galleys, and de- tained as a hostage for performance of covenants for the release of the crew, and suffered imprisonment for nearly two years. From the galleys he was removed to the castle of Lisbon, where, in the same prison, was a Portuguese gentleman of the name of Emanuel Fernandez, who had been a follower of the unfortunate Don Antonio, and had been impri- soned nearly seven years, for bringing messages and letters to the friends of that pretended sovereign. 470 SIR WILLIAM MONSON. At the suggestion of Monson, an attempt was made for his escape, but failed ; a second succeeded ; but after various adventures, consequent on his libera- tion, Fernandez was recognised, and being informed against, fled for refuge into a church : but when the Prince Cardinal was acquainted with this, he ordered him to be taken from the sanctuary, brought to Lisbon, and confined in his old dun- geon. When this unfortunate captive was taken out for execution, one of the soldiers, moved with pity, fled at his request to the House of the Miseracordia, to report the injury which had been done to God, to themselves, and the holy church, by removing by force a penitent sinner from the sanctuary. Some of the members forthwith proceeded to the place of execution, where they found poor Fernandez in the act of recommending his spirit to God, and the hangman ready to perform his office. By the in- tercession of this humane and charitable institution, he was redeemed from present death, but returned to the place from whence he came. But what ulti- mately became of him, Monson, being himself re- leased, does not say. Previous to his release, how- ever, Monson was strictly examined as aiding and abetting the escape of Fernandez ; but insisting that by the law of arms, being a prisoner of war, and taken in arms, he challenged the privilege of that law, which was reluctantly conceded to him. SIR WILLUM MONSON. 471 In 1593 the Earl of Cumberland having ob- tained from Her Majesty two of her ships, the Lyon and Bonaventure, appointed Captain Monson as his flag-captain. These ships, and seven others to accompany them, were victualled at his own expense; and, arriving off* the coast of Spain, he took two French ships of the League, which Monson says did produce more than treble the expense of this voyage. Having understood that a fleet of twenty sail of Spaniards was gone to the Islands, the Earl pro- ceeded to Flores, where he met with and captured one of the fleet ; and received from the Captain, then on his deathbed, intelligence where the rest were, and what was their strength. The next day he fell in with them; but, being far too weak to engage, left them to pursue their course, and spent some time in expectation of the carracks, which, however, had passed without being discovered. Captain Monson says, the Earl being now so ill that his recovery was despaired of, unless he speedily got to the shore or could receive a supply of cow*s milk, the Captain ventured on shore in the island of Corvo, where by threats and promises of reward he obtained a cow, which he says was the means in all likelihood of saving the Earl's life. Captain Monson, however, thought it most prudent for the whole fleet to make the best of its way home. 472 SIR WILLIAM MONSON. But the most important voyage, in which Captain Monson was concerned, was that in which the Lord High Admiral and the Earl of Essex, '* Generals equally," as Monson styles them, '* both by sea and land,'* were associated. Monson was Captain to the Earl of Essex in the Repulse ; and Sir Amos Preston Captain to the Lord High Admiral in the Ark Royal. Monson, having acquired an ex- tensive knowledge of sea affairs, and being well acquainted with the coasts and harbours of the European states, strongly advised Essex, as soon as they discovered the land, to get possession of the harbour of Cadiz and the shipping before they attempted a landing. But as the detail of the transactions of this expedition has been narrated in the memoirs of the Lord High Admiral and the Earl of Essex, it is not necessary to repeat it here, except so far as personally regards Monson. He says in his narrative, " that Lord Essex, with his usual impetuosity, and without consulting the Admiral, landed with three regiments, which his Captain (Monson) did not approve, more especially as the Lord Admiral was in his barge, ready with his troops of seamen to land, hastening to support the soldiers." And he adds, ** though the Earl of Essex's carriage and forwardness merited much, yet if it had been with more deliberation and less haste, it would have succeeded better ; and he (Monson) advised him rather to seek to be masters of the SIR WILLIAM MONSON. 473 ships than of the town ; for it was that would afford both wealth and honour, for the riches in ships could not be concealed or conveyed away, as in towns they might ; and the ships themselves being brought to England, would be always before men's eyes there, and put them in mind of the greatness of the exploit. As for the town, perhaps it might be soon won, but probably not long enjoyed, and so quickly forgotten ; and to speak indifferently, by the EarFs sudden landing, without the Lord Ad- miral's privity, and his giving advice by a message to attempt the ships, which should have been re- solved upon mature deliberation, perhaps the Lord Admiral felt a little eclipsed, which perhaps has- tened his landing, for his reputation sake, when as he thought it more advisable to have possessed him- self of their fleet." * The next important service on which Monson was employed was in 1597, when the Earl of Essex was appointed General of an expedition to the Azores, with fourteen of Her Majesty's best ships, besides the two galleons, the St. Matthew and St. Andrew, that were captured at Cadiz the preceding year. Sir William Monson was appointed Captain of the Rainbow, and in that capacity had little to do but to obey his orders, and to find fault with the General for his want of seamanship and arrange- ment. * Monson's Tracts. 474 SIR WILLIAM MONSON. In 1599 Lord Thomas Howard was sent to the Downs in the Elizabeth Jonas, with nineteen of the Queen's best ships under his orders, in which expe- dition Sir William Monson commanded the De- fiance. The appointment of this fleet, as already stated, was a precautionary measure occasioned by the Spaniards having collected a large naval force of their great ships and galleys in the Groyne, their usual place of rendezvous, when they intended an attack on any part of the coasts of England or Ire- land, but they withdrew them to pursue a Dutch fleet that had proceeded to the Western Islands to intercept, as was supposed, the India plate ships. Monson, however, consoles himself for the speedy return of our own ships, by the benefit which he says accrued to the navy and the country by this sudden preparation of so respectable a fleet ; " that our men were now suddenly taught to arm, every man knowing his command and how to be com- manded, which before they were ignorant of.*' To say the truth, the expedition which was then used in drawing together so great an army by land and in rigging so great and royal a navy for sea in so little space of time, was so admirable in the eyes of other countries, that they received a terror from it ; and many that came from beyond sea said, " The Queen was never more dreaded abroad, for any- thing she ever did." In the same year, 1599, King Philip being dead, SIR WILLIAM MONSON. 475 a pretension was set up by the belligerents for a desire of peace, and commissioners were sent to Boulogne from Spain and England ; but a discus- sion having arisen, on the point of precedence claimed by Spain, and the English ambassador refusing to concede what his sovereign had always claimed, no negociation took place. The Queen, suspecting this event, had placed three of her ships under the command of Sir Richard Lewson, to keep the Dunkirkers in order ; but having reason to sup- pose that the Spaniards would avail themselves of the lull, he received orders to hasten to the islands to intercept the Mexican fleet. The Spaniards had anticipated this, and sent out eighteen tall ships to the islands, under the command of Don Diego de Borachero, which, being ascertained by Lewson, he returned to England.* But while we were assisting the Low Countries in 1601, the Spaniards were doing the same for the rebels in Ireland : and Don Diego, with forty-eight sail of ships and four thousand soldiers, was on the route to invade Ireland. But on his way thither, the squadron that was under Vice- Admiral Siriago parted company, and returned to the Groyne. Sir Richard Lewson pursued and valiantly attacked him in the harbour, approached close to the fortifi- cations, engaged the enemy for the whole day, his ship much shattered, and yet lost but eight men * JMonson's Tracts. 476 SIR WILLIAM MONSON. slain. He destroyed the whole of the shipping, and made Siriago abandon his galleys and fly to the shore, making his way through France into Spain. ''^ In the same year, 1601, two thousand veteran Spanish troops, under Don John d'Aquila, an ex- perienced general, were thrown into the little town of Kinsale ; and in the course of the year a rein- forcement of two thousand more, under Alonzo d'Ocampo ; these, with the Irish rebels under Tyrone and O'Donnell, making some seven thousand strong. The English, not six thousand, led on by the Deputy Montjoy, wasted and tired with a long winter's siege, were opposed to an army of greater numbers, fresh, and in vigour, in a town strong in fortifications and strong in men : " and what," says Bacon, " was the event ? This in few words : that after the Irish and Spanish forces had come on, and showed themselves in some bravery, they were content to give the Eng- lish the honour, as to charge them first ; and when it came to the charge, there appeared no other dif- ference between the valour of the Irish rebels and the Spaniards, but that the one ran away before they were charged, and the other straight after."'!' The English had few slain or wounded; the enemy about two thousand: nine ensigns (six of them Spanish) taken, and the General d'Ocampo made prisoner. In the year 1602, a squadron of nine of her Ma- * Monson's Tracts. f Bacon on a War with Spain. SIR WILLIAM MONSON. 477 jesty's ships was sent to the coast of Spain, under Sir Ricliard Lewson as admiral, with his flag in the Repulse; and Sir William Monson, as vice-admiral, in the Garland. Weak and feeble as the Queen had become, now at the age of sixty- eight, her mind was steadily bent on harassing her old and inve- terate enemy. With Ireland in a state of rebellion, and an enemy's fleet at sea, there was no time for hesitating. It was arranged that, on being reinforced by twelve sail of Dutch ships, for which Monson was to wait with four ships, they were to join Lew- son, who was despatched with five. The latter sailed and fell in with the plate-ships on their way home, but was too weak to engage them with any chance of success. Sir William Monson was now ordered out to join Sir Richard Lewson, without longer wait- ing for the Hollanders ; and, as was settled before sailing, they were to meet off* the Rock of Lisbon. They met accordingly, took two easterlings, and from them received information, that a large carrack and eleven galleys were at anchor in the road of Secim- bria. The two admirals, with nine ships and the two east country ships they had taken, entered the road, where the carrack and the galleys were so arranged and protected by the batteries of the town and the fortifications on the heights, as to be fully prepared to receive them. It was decided that, on the following morning, the two admirals should anchor as near to the carrack as they could, the rest 478 SIR WILLIAM MONSON. of the fleet to ply up and down, and not to anchor. "The Admiral was the first to give the charge, showing great valour and gaining great honour ; the last of all was the Vice- Admiral, getting close to the shore, where he came to an anchor, conti- nually fighting with the town, the fort, the galleys and carrack, all together ; for he brought them be- twixt him, that he might play both his broadsides upon them. The galleys still kept their prows towards him; the slaves offered to forsake them and swim to us ; and every thing was in confusion amongst them ; and thus they fought till five of the clock in the afternoon." Sir William further says of himself : — " The Vice- Admiral was anchored in such a place that the galleys rowed from one side to another, seeking to shun him ; which Sir R. Lew- son observing, came on board him, and openly, in the view and hearing of his whole company, em- braced him, and told him. He had won Ms heart for emr^^ All seemed to remain quiet during the night ; and on the following day, by coming to a parley, and obtaining from the enemy certain conditions, the chief of which was " to surrender without practice or treason the carrack with her goods, and that the castle should forbear shooting while the English re- mained in the road." The carrack, according to Mon- son, was valued at two hundred thousand pounds. * Monson. SIB WILLIAM MONSON. 479 The Portuguese galleys, under Santa Cruz, moved off in the middle of the fight ; those of Spain, under Frederic Spinola, continued the fight, but two of them were sunk in the battle. But we have Mon^- son's account in his own words. He says — " I must not omit to describe the behaviour of the galleys in the fight, that every man may have that honour that is due to him. Those of Portugal, being of the squadron of the Marquis of Santa Cruz, betook themselves, with their General, to flight in the middle of the fight ; but Frederic Spinola, who was to convey his galleys out of Spain into the Low Countries, followed not the example of the Marquis, but made good the road ; which the other seeing, with shame returned, but to both their costs ; for before they separated they found the climate so hot, that they were forced to fly, their galleys being so miserably beaten, and their slaves so pitifully slain, that there wanted nothing but boats to possess them all, as well as the two we took and sunk; which is a thing has been seldom seen or heard of, for ships to take and destroy galleys."* The carrack was taken possession of and carried to England ; and Spinola was making the best of his way to Flanders, when Sir Robert Mansel, cruising off the South Foreland, attacked and sunk the whole of his remaining galleys, except the one in which the chief himself was, that made her escape to Dun- kirk. Camden says that Spinola, with six galleys * Monson. 480 SIR WILLIAM MONSON, he had saved, in sailing for Flanders met in the Channel some English and Dutch ships, with whom he had a sharp engagement; two of his galleys were sunk, one taken, and with the other three he entered into Sluys. This brave officer was killed the following year in a naval action with the Dutch. Frederic was the younger brother of Ambroise (Ad- miral of King Philip III. of Spain), born of an ancient and illustrious family settled at Genoa. Frederic entered the same service in 1597, and fur- nished six armed galleys at his own expense, and with them proceeded to the Low Countries to act against the Dutch, and to assist in an attack against Ostend. On the return of the fleet from the coast of Por- tugal, Monson was ordered forthwith to take the command of a squadron of six or seven ships to watch the coast of Spain ; and finding there no appearance of preparation for Ireland, to the affairs of which he was ordered to give his particular attention, be cruised about for a short time and re- turned home. His instructions, which are not very clear, are contained in Secretary Cecil's letter, which follows : — Earl of Nottingham and Sir Robert Cecyll to Sir R. LusoN AND Sir W. Monson. August 29th. After our verie hartie commendacons, we have now re- ceaved intelligences dyrectly shewinge that there is noe great likelyhood of the Spaniards cominge for Ireland, soe as if the jorney of you, Sir William Monson, weare to SIR WILLIAM MONSON. 481 beginne agayne, we would peradventure be advised before the Queen should be putt to charge ; but because we will not moove to sodaynly uppon this advertisment, though for my owne part I, the Secretarye, hold it trew ; and because it may fall out that yet before wynter he may transport some nombers thether, the rather when he shall fynde that the Queene hath noe fleete at sea, addinge allsoe that a great part of Her Majestie*s charge is [provided?], Her Majesty is contented the same shall goe on, if in any conve- nyent tyme the wynde shall serve : wherein we have thought good to dyrect you thus farr in your proceedinges : Tliat you, Sir William Monson, accordinge to your former in- structions, doe repaire to the coast and visite the Groyne and Lisbone, where if you shall fynde that your owne intel- ligence concurre with this inclosed, and that there be noe preparation for Ireland, then doth her Majesty committ it to your discretion in what height to lye and how to governe your self, for interceptinge of any such matter as may coun- tervayle her Majesty's charge. In which kynde, because you shall uppon the coaste best gather knowledge whether the ffleets be come in or noe, her Majesty leaveth it to your discreation to send hoame or retayne such and soe many of the shippes as you shall thinke fitteste for all considerations of Her Majesty's service : and soe for this tyme we committ you to God's proteccon. firom the Court at Oatlands, the 29 of August. Your verie lovinge freinds, (Signed) Notinguam. Ro. Cecyll.* Monson gives in his * Tracts' a long account of his cruise, which turned out a barren one. He had an action with a galleon off Cape St. Vincent, and says, " The figlit was not long, but sliarp and dangerous. * MS., State Paper Office. 2l 482 SIR WILLIAM MONSON. The Castle played her part, and rent his ship, so that a team of oxen might have crept through her, under the half-deck; and one shot killed seven men."* This was the last of his employment under Eliza- beth; and he pronounces it "no profit at all:" but Lewson and Monson continued, under James, watching the Narrow Seas. In 1614, he was ap- pointed Admiral in the Narrow Seas about England, Scotland, and Ireland ; and we find him still em- ployed under Admiral Lindsey as second in command in the year 1635. But, in the year 1616, King James sent him a prisoner to the Tower, from whence, however, he was soon released, after an examination by Coke and Win wood. " I must confess," he says, " my folly and misfortune : the one made me too forward in complaining, and wishing a reformation of his Majesty's navy, which has purchased me much envy ; the other procured me as much hate in taking the Lady Arabella : and then perhaps the cause of my imprisonment may appear." If this lady had anything to do with his imprisonment, it was his suffering her to escape, and not retaking and bringing her back, as he was ordered to do. He mentions a more probable cause than either : a pinnace of his shot at a Dutch man-of-war, having an agent or ambassador on board, for not striking his topsail, of which a grievous complaint was made. * Monson*s Tracts. SIR WILLIAM MONSON. 483 But Sir William, throughout the whole of his Tracts, is constantly speaking of himself, his services, and his grievances. " Since the death of Queen Eliza- beth," he says, " who was both gracious and boun- tiful to him, he never tasted or received either re- compence or preferment, more than his ordinary entertainment, according to the services he was em- ployed in ; for he began the wars with ten shillings per month pay ; then with two shillings and six- pence per day ; after with five shillings, with ten shillings, with fifteen shillings, with twenty shillings, and sixteen pages allowed him for his retinue ; after which thirty shillings per day, and lastly with forty shillings per day. He had served as a soldier, a private captain, a rear-admiral, a vice-admiral, a captain under the general ; and lastly, an absolute general."* Such pay and advancement at this period were much more than equal to what his services would have given him now ; but Sir William would have been unhappy without a grievance real or ima- ginary ; and in poring over these, and finding fault with the conduct of almost every other officer and services, he passed the latter part of his days in retirement at Kinnersley, in Surrey, employing his time in digesting and preparing his volume of 'Naval Tracts' for publication. He died in 1643, in the seventy-third year of his age. * Monson's Tracts. 2 I 2 GEORGE RAYMOND AND JAMES LANCASTER. 1591 TO 1602. These two sea-captains, in the year 1591, fitted out three ships for a voyage to the East Indies — the Penelope, the Merchant Royal, and the Edward Bonaventure ; Raymond (or, as Camden calls him, Biman) being admiral and Lancaster vice-admiral. It appears somewhat strange that while Spain, and Portugal^ and Holland should employ their fleets yearly on voyages round the Cape of Good Hope for the East Indies, England, not the least adven- turous in naval pursuits, should, for the first time, in the year 1591, resolve on a voyage round the Cabo dos Tormentos ; and the more so, as Drake had passed it eleven years before, on his return from a voyage round the world. The present expedition left Plymouth on the 10th of April, and having crossed the line in August, the crew became sickly, so as to oblige them to put into Saldanha Bay, where they traded with the natives (Hottentots) for cattle, which they obtained in abundance, in exchange for mere trifles and use- less trinkets. They bought fat bullocks, and oxen. GEORGE RAYMOND AND JAMES LANCASTER. 485 and sheep, says Hakluyt, dog-cheap. *' The sheep are very big, and very good meat; they have no wool on their backs, but haire, and have greate tailes like the sheep in Syria." And of these they shortly obtained, according to Purchas, about a thousand sheep and fifty fat oxen. " The people," he says, " are all of a tawnie colour, of a reasonable stature, swift of foote, and much given to picke and steal ; their speeche is wholly uttered through the throate, and they clacke with their tongues in such sort that in seven weeks, which wee remained in this place, the sharpest wit among us could not learne one word of their language : and yet the people would soone understand any signe wee made to them."* This is a true description of the happy state of the Hottentot before he was deprived of his land and liberty by the Portuguese and the Dutch. From hence they sent home the Merchant Royal with about fifty of the crew disabled by sickness, retaining about two hundred for the two remaining vessels. They passed the Cape of Good Hope, and coming near Cape Corientes, a violent storm arose, in which the Penelope, the admiral's ship, was sepa- rated from her consort, and probably foundered, being never more heard of; when last seen, a great sea was breaking over her, which extinguished her light. The storm was accompanied with the most awful thunder and lightning, during which four * Purchas. 486 GEORGE RAYMOND AND men are stated to have had their necks dislocated, which caused their death, above ninety were struck blind, and others made lame, or seized with horrible pains. Lancaster, however, with his mutilated crew, resolutely kept on their voyage. At Comoro Island thirty of his people and the master were murdered by the barbarians, while taking in fresh water ; he proceeded, however, and wintered at Zanzibar. From hence he continued his voyage to Nicobar, an island abounding with cinnamon and diamonds; and finding that thirty-three only of the crew re- mained alive, and that even with this reduced number his provisions grew short_, Lancaster sailed hence homewards. Arriving at St. Helena they obtained some refreshment, and leaving this were driven to Trinidad, where, says Camden, '* they met with poor comfort and hungry entertainment." At Mona, near Hispaniola, as Lancaster was refreshing himself with a part of his crew on shore, his ship was driven from her anchors by a- storm, with no more than seven distressed seamen in her (Hakluyt says only five men and a boy, and that the car- penter had cut the cable secretly), but got safe home, with a valuable cargo, leaving behind their captain and messmates in great misery and distress, who would in all probability have perished, but for the kindness of some Frenchmen, who gave them a passage in their ship that was homeward bound — her name the Louisa, commanded by Mons. Felix ; JAMES LANCASTER. 487 at this spot they had been starving nine and twenty days, on what little they could gather from the garden of an old Indian. His Second Expedition. — DiflBiculties, disappoint- ments, and failure of success in a promising under- taking are, to a brave and bold man, only so many spurs to a fresh attempt to try his fortune, in the hope of redeeming what he may have lost in wealth or reputation. Such a man Lancaster appears to have been. Towards the close of the very year in which he reached home from his former voyage, he received an invitation from certain merchants, who had been despoiled of their property by the Spa- niards, to take the command of three ships and a pinnace or galley-frigate, to make reprisals on the enemy. On arriving at the island of Mayo, he found one Venner ready to join him with two ships and a pinnace. These two commanders came to the resolution of making a direct attack on Fer- nambuco, on the northern coast of Brazil, which was understood to contain much valuable property, besides treasure laid up there from an East India carrack, which had been wrecked near that place. They arrived before the harbour in the middle of the night, and stood off and on till day-light. In the mean time, Lancaster put eighty men into the galley-frigate, and went round in his own boat from ship to ship, ordering the several commanders to supply such men as could be spared with muskets, 488 JAMES LANCASTER. pikes, bills, bows and arrows, and other weapons ; and at break of day to take to their boats and follow him into the harbour. In the morning, however, the ships were found to have drifted below the harbour, and it was past mid-day before they could be got up again. By this time the town became alarmed, and six hundred men were placed on the platform to oppose their landing. The admiral, however, resolved on the attack, and gave strict orders to all the boats and the galley, to run them with such vio- lence on shore as to stave them, so that every man should land, and trust solely to God and his weapons, which order was cheerfully obeyed. Lan- caster, at the same time, leaping into the water to set his men a good example, they all followed with undaunted spirit. Seven cannon were fired on them from the fort, but the guns being badly levelled, the only damage sustained was the loss of an arm by one man. The admiral then called out, " Upon them, my lads ! upon them ! now's your time, and all's our own !" With that he rushed on, the rest following, with such determined resolution, that the enemy had not presence of mind left to reload their guns, but abandoned them together with the fort to the mercy of the invaders. Having turned the guns towards the town, and at the same time marching upon it, the inhabitants forsook the place, and suffered the invaders to enter without resistance. Here they found a vast store of JAMES LANCASTER. 489 very valuable commodities. Tlie commanders of the ships were placed at different parts of the town to preserve order, and the admiral directed that it should be notified in every quarter, that no man should presume, under severe penalty and loss of all share of the booty, to enter any house or store without direction ; and such was the result, that not the least disorder was committed, nor any spoil or pillage made. Three Dutch ships found lying there were engaged to carry home part of the spoil. For three nights the Brazilians sent down the river fire-ships, followed by large rafts with pro- digious fires upon them, but the English grappled and drew them to the shore. In the course of thirty days, the ships were laden with the plunder of the town, and on the night before their departure they were annoyed, for the eleventh time, with like at- tempts. In the morning a party pursuing a de- tached body of the enemy, with more courage than prudence, fell upon the main body, which had been some time in preparation, and were lying in am- bush; and before relief could reach the invaders, two captains, and the admiral's lieutenant, two French captains, and several others, to the number of five and thirty, were slain. The following night they departed, all laden with the spoil of Fernambuco, to the number of fifteen sail, consisting of three Dutch, five French, three of M. Venner's, and four of Captain Lancaster's, all of 490 JAMES LANCASTER. them richly freighted with treasure and valuable stores. In proceeding along the coast to the north- ward, this fleet separated in a violent gale of wind, and the admiral, with his four ships, put into a harbour to the northward. When, however, he reached the^ Downs, in July, 1594, he had the satisfaction to hear that all the others had safely arrived at their respective destinations. Captain Lancaster s First Voyage to India on the Establishment of the East India Company, — About the end of the year 1600, the merchants of London first began seriously to consider, of what great advantage it would be to the wealth and prosperity of England, if a trade on a large scale were opened with India by the way of the Cape of Good Hope; but it was deemed impossible, on account of the length of the voyage, and the large sum of money requisite for the purchase of a cargo, for individuals singly to undertake it. At a meeting, therefore, of the citizens and aldermen of London, with others, to the number of more than two hundred persons, it was resolved to petition the Queen, requesting that, for the increase of trade, the improvement of navi- gation, and the wealth and honour of England, her Majesty would be graciously pleased to establish an East India Company to be endowed with certain privileges. Elizabeth lent a willing ear to a petition, which entirely concurred with the favourite object of her JAMES LANCASTER. 491 whole reign — the extension of navigation and com* merce, which she justly considered to be the great source, from which the supply of seamen for her navy was to be derived. She therefore constituted them a body corporate by the title of " The Gover- nour and Companj/ of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies.'' The first governor and four and twenty directors were mentioned by name in the charter ; and power was vested in the Company to elect a deputy-governor, and also to elect a gover- nor, a deputy-governor, and four and twenty direc- tors, yearly, for the future. What their other pri- vileges were, it is not necessary here to state ; what they now are is well known and duly appreciated. For the first voyage, under the new charter, there were fitted out five ships. These were — the Dragon, admiral, 600 tons; Hector, vice-admiral, 300; Ascension, 200; Swan, 200; Guest, victualler, 130 ; carrying in the whole 450 men, with ammu- nition and victuals ; in the latter were included pro- vision for twenty merchant-passengers. In money and goods, they carried out to the value of seven and twenty thousand pounds. On the 13th of Fe- bruary, 1601, they departed from Woolwich, under the command and direction of Captain James Lan- caster, admiral. This gallant seaman was there- fore the first Englishman who opened the way round the Cape of Good Hope, and made himself acquainted with the trade of India. i^ JAMES LANCASTER. Soon after passing the line, the crews were so reduced by extreme sickness, that the merchants were obliged to take their turns at the helms. They therefore deemed it expedient to put into Saldanha Bay, where they procured cattle from the natives, having by this time lost by death 150 of their men. Leaving this when refreshed, they doubled the Cape on the ist of November. On the 25th of December they anchored in the Bay of Anton gil, where they procured oranges, lemons, rice, peas, and beans, poultry, and oxen. On the 5th of June they anchored in the road of Achen. From hence Lancaster sent a message to the city where the King resided, announcing that he had a letter from Queen Elizabeth, and asking an audience, which was granted. The King, who very well knew the Queen's fame and power, and had heard of the over- throw of the Spanish Armada, gave to the English a splendid banquet. On delivering the Queen's letter and presents, the King expressed his great satisfaction, and appointed his chief ministers to treat with him on business. The privileges granted were such as the admiral wished, and all the points being arranged ^* to our own contentment and the great advantage of our nation," the merchants set about providing a cargo of pepper for the ships, and one or two of them remained at Achen to conduct the Company's trade, under the protection of the King. JAMES LANCASTER. 493 In sailing from Achen down the strait of Malacca, they fell in with a ship of 900 tons, having 600 persons on board. She was from Bengal, and had on board a very valuable cargo. They took her as a prize, and carried her back to Achen, and made the King a very handsome present out of her cargo. The admiral now gave orders to take on board all the spices and other valuable goods, and to make ready for proceeding to Bantam. On taking leave, the King gave him a letter, with some valuable pre- sents, for his Queen, among which was a ring with a large ruby ; and the admiral himself was also pre- sented with a ring of the same kind. On the 9th of November they departed from Achen with three ships for Bantam in Java ; the Susan having gone before to purchase pepper. On the 15th of December they anchored three leagues from Bantam, on the northern coast of Java. The next day they entered the road of Bantam, when the vice-admiral landed, to certify their arrival to the King, and to desire his safe conduct. The King sent back one of his nobles with the vice-admiral, to bid the admiral welcome, and conduct him to court. The Queen's letter and a present of plate were re- ceived with great satisfaction ; and a trade was allowed with all the freedom they could desire, and with as much safety, as if they were in their own country. During their stay at Bantam the vice- admiral, Captain John Middleton, died. -^4 SIR JAMES LANCASTER. By the 10th of February, 1602, they had com- pleted their lading of pepper and other commo- dities, and were ready to sail homewards ; leav- ing here a sufficient number of men and factors to manage the concerns of the Company. Lancaster landed to take leave of the King, and to return thanks for the favours and privileges vouchsafed to the English nation in his dominions. His Majesty presented him with a letter and a present of fair bezoar stones for the Queen of England, and for himself a stone of the same kind, and a curious Javanese dagger. On the 20th of February, Lan- caster set sail for England, and arrived on the 5th of June at St. Helena, where he remained a month to refresh the people and repair the vessels. On the 11th of September, 1602, they all arrived safe in the Downs. Thus did Captain (now Sir James) Lancaster obtain the honourable distinction of being the first man, who opened the door to the commerce of England with the opulent, populous, and extensive kingdoms of the East — a commerce which, grow- ing from year to year in magnitude and value, has been the means of acquiring, for Great Britain, an empire of ten times the extent and population of that little insular kingdom which obtained it, and to whose rule and authority its millions of natives have become subject, not voluntarily, it is true, nor without many a severe struggle ; yet it SIR JAMES LANCASTER. 495 cannot be denied that the subjugation has been accomplished, and the administration of the several governments has generally been so well conducted, as to effect a progressive melioration of moral im- provement, and with it increasing prosperity and happiness among the multitudinous population of this great empire. The granting of this charter, the efficient expe- dition that followed it, and the royal communi- cations that were opened in consequence of it, with the native princes of India, were among the last, though not the least, of the many useful, beneficial, and salutary acts of Queen Elizabeth's prosperous reign. ** Few sovereigns of England," says Hume, *' succeeded to the throne in more difficult circum- stances; and none ever conducted the government with such uniform success and felicity/* m THE END. LONDON ; WILLIAM CLOWES AND 80NB, STAMFORD 8TREBT. 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate r ecall. REC'D LD .}WU-^-i^ JUU^ ■md- ^s^m- m ^10 LD 21A-50m-8,'61 (C1795sl0)476B General Library . University of California Berkeley y>(: ^'.v,:t' .^v/tffn ^,.tVyJ y\\im^