64 
D R 
flout frigates at his own expence, and failed with them to 
Ireland, where he ferved as a volunteerunder Walter Deve- 
reux, earl ofEfex, then engagedagainft the rebels. But it 
appears that the Iriflt expeditions in thofe days were much 
carried on by individuals, who were paid by grants of land 
or other emoluments. The fpirit lie difplayed cn this 
occafion fcems to have recommended him at court, where 
lie was introduced by his patron, fir Ghriftopher Hatton. 
It was the wifh of his heart to make a voyage to the South 
Sea. He had obtained a fight of this ocean from the illh- 
inus of Darien, and it had fokindled hisenthufiafm, that he 
put up a fervent prayer that he might be the firft Englifii- 
man who fliould fail upon it. Queen Elizabeth’s permiftion 
for undertaking this defign was at length obtained, and his 
own reputation foon furnifiied him with the means. He af- 
fembleda fleet of five vefl’els, the largeflof 100 tons burden, 
the fmalleft of only fifteen tons ; and manned by no more 
than i64inen. Hekept his deflination fecret, though itwas 
generally fufpecled that he was bound to fome port of Ame¬ 
rica. He took his final departure from Falmouth on De¬ 
cember 13, 1577, and arrived in the fucceed'ing June at 
port St. Julian, not far from the ftraits of Magellan. He 
had been furnifiied, by permiffion of the queen, with 
power of life and death over his crews, though his 
Ships did not belong to the royal navy. This power lie 
now thought proper to excrcil'e upon the perfon of John 
Doughty, the fecond in command onboard his own fiiip, 
whom he tried by a court-martial for the crimes of plot¬ 
ting to murder him, and to defeat the expedition. By the 
verdidt of a jury of twelve men, according to Camden; 
by the fentencc of the whole council of forty perfons, 
according to others ; Doughty was found guilty, and fen- 
tenced to death. It is added, that he made a full con- 
feflion. Drake gave him the choice either to be executed 
where they were, to be fet on fhore upon the continent, 
or to be brought back to abide the juftice of his country. 
Doughty chofe the firft; and he was accordingly, with 
ali due.folemnity, and after receiving Hie facrament along 
with Drake, beheaded by the provoit-marfhal of the fleet. 
Such was the fadl relative to this fingular tranfaclion. It was 
fcarcely to be expedted that fuch an exertion of power 
fhould go uncenfured ; and fome attributed it to the 
commander’s jealoufy of Doughty, who appears to liave 
been a brave and able feaman; others to fecret diredtions 
from the earl of Leicefter, who had a quarrel againft the 
man. Yet he was never legally queftioned concerning the 
fadt after his return ; and he appears to have proceeded 
in it with eoolnefs and deliberation, and all the forms of 
juftice. After refitting at St. Julian, he paifed the ftraits 
of Magellan; and, with his own fiiip folely, proceeded 
along the coafts of Chili and Peru, making captures of 
the Spanifii vefiels lie met with, and plundering on fhore, 
till the avarice of his crew w’as fatiated. He thencoafted 
California and North America as far as the forty-eighth 
degree, in hopes of finding a paffage to the Atlantic ; 
but, being disappointed in this expedtation, he landed 
and took pofleffion, in the queen’s name, of the country, 
which he named New Albion. Having careened his (hips, 
he boldly fet fail acrofs the Pacific Ocean. Within lefs 
than fix weeks he reached the Molucca iflands, and 
touched at Ternate. Thence, by Java and the Cape of 
Good Hope, he proceeded homewards, and arrived at 
Plymouth on November 3, 1380, having completed the 
circumnavigation of the globe in two years ten months 
and twenty days. He was the firft commander in chief 
who had performed this great exploit ; for Magellan died 
in his voyage, and his ftiip was brought round by Cano. 
Drake brought home a large quantity of treasure, and 
his adventure became an interefting topic of difeuflion. 
The Spanifii ambaflador made complaints of him as a pi¬ 
rate, and reclaimed the plunder he had taken ; and there 
were not wanting thofe who fupported the fame opinion, 
and thought that the nation would fuffer more from the 
interruption of commerce with Spain, titan it would be¬ 
nefit from prizes. On the other hand, many were elated 
A K E. 
with the reputation for valour and maritime fkill which 
redounded to Englifiimenfrom this enterprife, and thought 
tiiat the injuries offered by the Spaniards to the traders 
in the Welt Indies juftified reprifals. The court long 
wavered; at length, in the fpring of 1581, the queen 
gave a fandlion to Drake’s conduiTt, by dining on-board 
of his fiiip at Deptford, and conferring upon him the ho¬ 
nour of knighthood. The nation gladly joined in the ap- 
plaufe. The commander’s fame became a favourite 
theme, and verfes were written to celebrate the ftiip 
which had “match’d in race the chariot of the fun.’* 
Elizabeth having come to an open breach with Spain, 
Drake was fent, in 1585, with a fleet of twenty fail, having 
a body of land forces on-board, to attack the Spanifh 
Weft Indies. Several officers of diftinguilhed merit ferved 
under him,’ and his fuccefs was . anfwerable to the na¬ 
tional expectations. He took St. Jago in Cuba, St. 
Domingo, Carthagena, and St. Auguftin, and made a 
large booty, though the mifehiefs he did to the enemy 
were greater than the profits which accrued to the adven¬ 
turers. His expedition fully demonftrated the weaknefa 
of the Spaniards in thofe parts, and placed in a ftrikirig 
point of view that fuperiority in naval fkill and valour 
of the Englifh, which lias conduced fo much to the glory 
and profperity of this country. In 15S7 Drake failed 
witli a fleet.of thirty vefiels under his command, partly 
fitted out by the queen, partly by the London merchants. 
Its firft object was to deftroy the (hipping alTembled on 
the coaft of Spain to form the great armada. This fer- 
vice lie gallantly purfued, by entering the harbour of 
Cadiz, and burning upwards of 10,000 tons of fnipping. 
After this, gaining intelligence of a rich carrack from the 
Eaft Indies expedted at Tercera, he failed thither, and 
took it, and thus fatisfied his merchant owners in point 
of profit, as well as lie had done the ftate by his other 
fuccefles. On this occafion lie boafted, in feaman-like 
language, of “ burning the king of Spain’s beard.” He 
liberally employed fome of the wealtli he had acquired, 
in bringing water from a diftant fpring to the town of 
Plymouth, which place he reprefented in parliament in 
the thirty-fifth year of Elizabeth, as he did Bofiiney in 
Cornwall in the twenty-feventh of that reign. 
In the memorable year 1588, fir Francis Drake was en- 
trufted with the defence of his country as vice-admiral 
under lord Howard of Effingham. In the conflict againft 
the armada, lie captured a large galleon, commanded by 
Don Pedro de Valdez, who furrendered, without refifi¬ 
ance, through the terror of his name. His fquadron had 
the principal fliare in the difeomfiture of the Spanifh 
fleet, as it fled before the ftorms and the foe. An Eng¬ 
lifh fleet was fent the next year under Drake, with a body 
of land forces commanded by fir John Norris, for the 
purpofe of reftoring Don Antonio to the throne of Por¬ 
tugal. That difagreement which has fo often taken place 
between land and fea officers, proved fatal to this enterprife. 
Norris infilled upon landing at Corunna,whereas Drake pro- 
pofed failing directly for Lifbon. The firft meafure was 
put in practice, and Drake promifed to proceed with the 
fleet up the Tagus and meet the army. He unaccounta¬ 
bly broke his promife, and to this, Norris imputed the 
mifearriage of the enterprife. Drake juftified himfelf 
before the council; yet upon the whole it appears, that 
he loft fome credit by this affair. He had, however, the 
good fortune to capture a large fleet laden with naval (lores. 
Some lime after, a propofal was made to the queen by 
Drake and Hawkins for an important expedition againft 
t:-^ enemy, where he was 1110ft vulnerable, and whence 
he drew his chief pecuniary refources—in the Weft In¬ 
dies. The defign was approved ; and a fquadron of men 
of. war was given to fir John Hawkins, while fo many 
private fliips were furnifiied by Drake and his friends, as 
to make the whole force a fleet of twenty-feven vefiels, 
on-board of which were embarked 2500 troops. After a 
confiderable delay, the joint commanders fet fail from 
Plymouth in Auguft, 1695., their grand defign being to 
burn 
