322 



Professor J. E, Laujliton 



[May i, 



the offensive fireworks with which they will be provided ; and on the 

 other hand, the object on oiu* side should be to close and grapple and 

 engage hand ti^ hand." * This perhaj^s may partly explain the com- 

 paratively small quantity of shot per gun provided for such a vast 

 imdertakiug; a quantity so small, that, notwithstanding the slowness 

 of theii- fii-e, they ran short even after the skii-mishes in the Chanuel. 



In estimating the opposing forces, this great superiority of the 

 English armament must be taken into account. Of Spanish shij^s of 

 300 tons and upwards, the number that left Lisbon was officially 

 stated as 80 : but of thtse, 18 were rated as ships of bui-den [itrcas cle 

 car<ja) ; and though they carried troops and some guns, could not 

 be counted as effective ships of war. Of the remaining G2, many 

 ought to be reckoned in the same category. An armament such as 

 that of the Anunciada or Sta. Maria speaks for itself. From the 

 nimiber of soldiers they carried, and from theii- lofty poops and fore- 

 castles, such ships would be dangerous enough in a hand-to-hand 

 fight, but were perfectly harmless as long as they were kept at a 

 distance. But counting all these, we have the following comparison 

 of the fleets: — 



The English ships of 200 tons being included as unquestionably 

 superior as fighting machines to many of the much larger S2)anisli 

 ships. 



I am dwelling on these points — to many of which I do not think 

 sufficient attention has been paid — not as in any way detracting from 

 the superlative merit of the Englishmen who fought and won in this 

 great battle, but as showing that their achievement, however great, 

 was still within the bounds of human prowess. The Spaniards of 

 that time were among the most splendid soldiers that the world has 

 seen ; and to speak of our men engaging them and defeating them, 

 against such tremendous odds as are commonly shown, is not to exalt 

 our heroes, but to travesty tbem into paladins of impossible romance, 

 or — in spite of abundant evidence to the contrary — to represent them 

 and the land they defended as saved from extermination only by the 

 direct interposition of Providence, and by a heaven-sent gale of wind. 



Time will not permit me, nor do I think it necessary to describe 

 to you in detail, the fight of that eventful week : to tell you how on 

 Sunday morning, 21st July, the English, having gained the wind, fell 



* Duro. ii. 9. 



