A LIBEL OF SPANISH LIES a.d. 



1596. 

 Esquire, who being employed in that service for the 

 West Indies, and Captaine of her Majesties good shippe 

 the Adventure, under the conduct of sir Francis Drake, 

 and sir John Hawkins, hath caused the said printed 

 letter to be translated into English. And that the 

 impudencie of the Spanish Generall may the more 

 plainely appeare, the sayde Henrie Savile doth answere 

 particularly to every untrueth in the same letter con- 

 tayned, as hereafter folio weth. 



The answere to the Spanish letter. 



First the Generall doth say, that Francis Drake died 

 at Nombre de Dios, as he had intelligence by an 

 Indian. 



He Generall sent this newes into his The Generals 

 countrey confirmed with his hand and A ^^ »^^^^» ^ 

 seale of Armes : It is the first newes in ^u best newes 



, . , , . , , IS in part 



his letter, and it was the best newes hinJ newes, 

 that he could send into Spaine. For it 

 did ease the stomackes of the timorous 

 Spaniards greatly to heare of the death 

 of him, whose life was a scourge and a continuall plague 

 unto them : But it was a point of great simplicitie, and 

 scarcely beseeming a Generall, to tie the credite of his 

 report locally to any place upon the report of a silly 

 Indian slave. For it had bene sufficient to have sayd, 

 that Francis Drake was certainly dead, without pub- 

 lishing the lie in print, by naming Nombre de Dios : 

 for it is most certaine sir Francis Drake died twixt the 

 Hand of Escudo, and Puerto Bello : but the Generall 

 being ravished with the suddaine joy of this report as 

 a man that hath escaped a great danger of the enemie, 

 doth breake out into an insolent kinde of bragging of 

 his valour at Sea, and heaping one lie upon another, 

 doth not cease untill he hath drawen them into sequences, 

 and so doth commende them unto Peter the Doctor, 

 as censor of his learned worke. 



253 



