761 



ELIZABETH. 



ELIZABETH. 



762 



by showing that the previous government of Elizabeth had been as 

 arbitrary as theirs. There can be no doubt that the first James and 

 the first Charles pursued their object with much less art, and much 

 less knowledge and skill in managing the national character, as well as 

 in less advantageous circumstances, than Elizabeth and her ministers ; 

 they did not know nearly so well when to resist and when to yield as 

 she did ; but it may notwithstanding be reasonably questioned if her 

 notion of the rightful supremacy of the crown was very different from 

 theirs. However constitutional also (in the modern sense of the term) 

 may have been the general course of her government, her occasional 

 practice was certainly despotic enough. She never threw aside the 

 sword of the prerogative, although she may have usually kept it in its 

 scabbard. 



Her reign however, take it all in all, was a happy as well as a 

 glorious one for England. The kingdom under her government 

 acquired and maintained a higher and more influential place among 

 the states of Europe, principally by policy, than it had ever been 

 raised to by the most successful military exertions of former ages. 

 Commerce flourished and made great advances, and wealth was much 

 more extensively and rapidly diffused among the body of the people 

 than at any former period. It is the feeling of progress, rather than 

 any degree of actual attainment, that keeps a nation in spirits ; and 

 this feeling everything conspired to keep alive in the hearts of the 

 English in the age of Elizabeth ; even the remembrance of the stormy 

 times of their fathers, from which they had escaped, lending its aid to 

 heighten the charm of the present calm. To these happy circum- 

 stances of the national condition was owing, above all, and destined to 

 survive all their other products, the rich native literature, more espe- 

 cially in poetry anil the drama, which now rushed up, as if from the 

 tillage of a virgin soil, covering the land with its perennial fruit and 

 flowers. Spenser and Shakspere, Beaumont and Fletcher, Kaleigh and 

 Bacon, and many other eminently distinguished names, gained their 

 earliest celebrity in the Elizabethan age. 



The invasion of England by the SPANISH ARMADA is so important 

 an occurrence in English history that we deem it advisable to relate 

 here, as fully as our limits permit, the story of the descent and 

 destruction of that famous fleet, rather than merely to introduce it as 

 an episode in the life of Elizabeth. In the beginning of May 1588, 

 the preparations of Philip II. for the invasion of England, which had 

 so long kept Europe in amazement and suspense, were brought to a 

 conclusion ; and the Spaniards, in the confidence of success, previous 

 to its sailing, gave their fleet the name of the Invincible Armada. It 

 consisted at this time of 130 vessels : 65 of these were galleons and 

 larger ships; 25 were pink-built ships; 19 tenders; 13 small frigates; 

 4 were galeasaes ; and 4 galleys. The soldiers on board amounted to 

 19,295, the mariners to 8050 ; of these, 3330 soldiers and 1293 mariners 

 bad been supplied by Portugal : besides which, the rowers in the 

 galeasses amounted to 1200, and in the galleys to 888. There were 

 also on board 2431 pieces of artillery, and 4575 quintals of powder : 

 347 of the pieces of artillery had likewise been supplied by Portugal. 

 Two thousand volunteers of the most distinguished families in Spain, 

 exclusive of the sailors and soldiers already mentioned, are stated to 

 have accompanied the expedition. 



Philip's preparations in the Netherlands, of a further force, were 

 not less advanced than those of Spain. Besides a well-appointed army 

 of 30,000 foot and 4000 horse, which the Duke of Parma had 

 assembled in the neighbourhood of Nieuport and Dunkirk, that active 

 general had provided a number of flat-bottomed vessels, fit for 

 transporting both horse and foot, and had brought sailors to navigate 

 them from the towns in the Baltic. Most of these vessels had been 

 built at Antwerp ; and to prevent the Dutch from intercepting them 

 should they pass by sea, they were sent along the Schelde to Ghent, 

 thence by the canal to Bruges, and so to Nieuport by a new canal 

 dag for the particular occasion. This laborious undertaking, in which 

 several thousand workmen had been employed, was already finished, 

 and the duke now only waited for the arrival of the Spanish fleet ; 

 hoping that, as soon as it should approach, the Dutch and English 

 ships, which cruised upon the coast, would retire into their harbours. 



The details of the regular force which the English assembled to 

 oppose the Armada, both by sea and laud, are minutely given in a 

 manuscript now in the British Museum (' MS. Heg.' 18 C. xxi.), 

 formerly belonging to the Royal Library. At the time when Queen 

 ElLabeth began her preparations, her fleet did not amount to more 

 than thirty ships, none of them near equal in size to those of the 

 enemy. Ultimately however the different descriptions of vessels, large 

 and small, which formed her navy, amounted to 181 ships, manned by 

 17,472 sailors. The military force consisted of two armies, one for 

 immediately opposing the enemy, under the Earl of Leicester ; the 

 other for the defence of the queen's person, commanded by Lord 

 Hunsdon. The army appointed for the defence of the queen's person 

 amounted to 45,362, beitides the band of pensioners, with 36 pieces of 

 ordnance Lord Leicester's army amounted to 18,449 ; the total of both 

 armies to 63,811, besides 2000 foot who were expected from the Low 

 Countries. The forces of the Presidentship of the North remained 

 stationary, in case anything should be attempted on the side of 

 Scotland ; as were also the forces of the Presidentship of Wales. 



The Armada was to have left Lisbon in the beginning of May, but 



BIOO. DIV. VOt. II. 



the Marquess de Santa Cruz, who had been appointed admiral, at the 

 moment fixed for the departure was seized with a fever, of which he 

 died in a few days; and by a singular fatality, the Duke de Paliauo, 

 the vice-admiral, died likewise at the same time. Sauta Cruz was 

 reckoned the first naval officer in Spain ; and Philip found it extremely 

 difficult to supply his place : he at last filled it with the Duke de 

 Medina Sidonia, a nobleman of high reputation, but entirely unac- 

 quainted with maritime affairs. Martinez de Recaldo however, a 

 seaman of great experience, was made vice-admiral. 



In these arrangements so much time was lost, that the fleet could 

 not leave Lisbon till the 29th of May. It had not advanced far in its 

 voyage to Corunna, at which place it was to receive some troops and 

 stores, when it was overtaken by a violent storm and dispersed. AH 

 the ships however reached Corunna, La Corufra (the Groyne, as it is 

 called by our historians and sailors), though considerably damaged, 

 except four. They were repaired with the utmost diligence, the king 

 sending messengers every day to hasten their departure ; yet several 

 weeks parsed before they were in a condition to resume the voyage. 



In the meantime a report was brought to England that the Armada 

 had suffered so much by the storm as to be unfit for proceeding in 

 the intended enterprise; and so well attested did the intelligenca 

 appear, that, at the queen's desire, Secretary Walsingham wrote to 

 the English admiral, requiring him to lay up four of his largest ships 

 and to discharge the seamen. Lord Howard was happily less credulous 

 on this occasion than either Elizabeth or Walsingham, and desired 

 that he might be allowed to retain these ships iu the service, even 

 though it should be at his own expense, till more certain information 

 were received. In order to procure it, he set sail with a brisk north 

 wind for Corunna, intending, in case he should find the Armada so 

 much disabled as had been reported, to complete its destruction. On 

 the coast of Spain he received intelligence of the truth : at the same 

 time, the wind having changed from north to south, he began to dread 

 that the Spaniards might have sailed for England, and therefore 

 returned without delay to his former station at Plymouth. 



Soon after his arrival Lord Howard was informed tbat the Armada 

 was in sight. He immediately weighed anchor, and sailed out of the 

 harbour, still uncertain of the course which the enemy intended 

 to pursue. On the next day he perceived them steering directly 

 towards him, drawn up iu the form of a crescent, which extended 

 seven miles from one extremity to the other. Plymouth was at first 

 supposed to be the place of destination ; but it was soon apparent 

 that the Duke de Medina adhered to the execution of the plan which 

 had been laid down for him by the court of Madrid. This was, to 

 steer quite through the Channel till he should reach the coast of 

 Flanders, and, after raising the blockade of the harbours of Nieuport 

 and Dunkirk by the English and Dutch ships, to escort the Duke of 

 Parma's army to England, as well as land the forces which were ou 

 board his own fleet. Lord Howard, instead of coming to close and 

 unequal fight, contented himself with harassing the Spaniards on 

 their voyage, and with watching attentively all the advantages which 

 might be derived from storms, cross-winds, and other accidents. It 

 was not long before he discerned a favourable opportunity of attacking 

 the vice-admiral Hecaldo. This he did in person; and on that occa- 

 sion displayed so much dexterity in working his ship, and in loading 

 and firing his guns, as greatly alarmed the Spaniards for the fate of 

 their vice-admiral. From that time they kept closer to each other ; 

 notwithstanding which, the English on the same day attacked one of 

 the largest galeasses. Other Spanish ships came up in time to her 

 relief, but in their hurry, one of the principal galleons, which had a 

 great part of the treasure on board, ran foul of another ship, and lost 

 one of her masts. In consequence of this misfortuue she fell behind, 

 and was taken by Sir Francis Drake ; who, on the same day, took 

 another capital ship, which had been accidentally set on fire. Several 

 other rencontres happened, and in all of them the English proved 

 victorious. Their ships were lighter, and their sailors more dexterous 

 than those of the Spaniards. The Spanish guns were planted too 

 high, while every shot from the English proved effectual. The 

 Spaniards however still continued to advance till they came opposite 

 to Calais, where the Duke de Medina, having ordered them to cast 

 anchor, sent information to the Duko of Parma of his arrival, and 

 entreated him to hasten the embarkation of his forces. But the 

 duke, though he embarked a few of his troops, informed Medina that 

 the vessels which he had prepared were proper only for transporting 

 the troops, but were utterly unfit for fighting ; and for this reason, 

 till the Armada was brought nearer, and the coast cleared of the 

 Dutch ships which had blocked up the harbours of Nieuport and 

 Dunkirk, he could not stir from his then station (at Bruges) without 

 exposing his army to certain ruin. In compliance with this request, 

 the Armada was ordered to advance ; and it had arrived within sight of 

 Dunkirk, between the English fleet on one hand and the Dutch on the 

 other, when a sudden calm put a stop to its motions. In this situation 

 the fleets remained for a whole day. About the middle of the night 

 of August the 7th a breeze sprung up, and Lord Howard had recourse 

 to an expedient which had been planned the day before. Having 

 filled eight ships with pitch, sulphur, and other combustible materials, 

 he set fire to them, and sent them before the wind against the different 

 divisions of the Spanish fleet. The Spaniards beheld these ships iu 

 flames approaching them with great dismay : the darkness of the night 



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