296 



HISTORY OF THE SEA. 



Orkneys. Thirty of them were stranded near Connaught : two 

 had been cast away upon the shores of Norway. In all, eighty- 

 one ships were lost, and but fifty-three reached home. Out 

 of thirty thousand soldiers embarked, fourteen thousand were 

 missing. Philip received the calamity as a dispensation of 

 Providence, and ordered thanks to be given to God that the 

 disaster was no greater. 



A day of thanksgiving was proclaimed in England, inasmuch 

 as "the boar had put back that sought to lay her vineyard 

 waste." Some time afterwards, the queen repaired in public 

 procession to St. Paul's. The streets were hung with blue cloth • 



PROCESSION IN HONOR OF THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA. 



the royal chariot was a throne with four pillars and a canopy 

 overhead, drawn by white horses. Elizabeth knelt at the 

 altar and audibly acknowledged the Almighty as her deliverer 

 from the rage of the enemy. The people were exhorted to 

 render thanks to the Most High, whose elements — fire, wind, and 

 storm — had wrought more destruction to the foe than the valor 

 of their navy or the strength of their wooden walls. 



