in hopes of coming that way home, was very furprizing; and the methods he took through all the voyage to keep his people • steady, in full spirits, and for the most part in good health, muft give us a very high idea of his capacity; and therefore ⚫ we need not at all wonder, that upon his coming to England, • his fame rofe to fuch a height, as to provoke envy as well • as praise,

• His fuccefs in the voyage, and the immenfe mafs of wealth he brought home, raised much discourse throughout the king• dom, fome highly commending, and fome as loudly decrying

⚫ him.

At length, on the 4th of April, 1581, her Majefty going to Deptford in Kent, went on board Captain Drake's fhip, where, after dinner, fhe conferred on him the honour of Knighthood, and declared her abfolute approbation of all that he had done, to the confufion of his enemies, and to the great joy of his friends. She likewife gave directions for the prefervation of his ship, that it might remain a monument of • his own and his country's glory.—

In 1587 he proceeded to Lifbon with a fleet of thirty fail; and having intelligence of a great fleet aflembled in the bay of Cadiz, which was to have made a part of the Armada, he, with great courage, entered that port, and burnt there upwards of ten thousand tons of fhipping; and after having ⚫ performed all the fervice that the State could expect, he refolved to do his utmoft to content the Merchants of London, who had contributed, by a voluntary fubfcription, to the fitting out of his fleet. With this view, having intelligence of a large Carrack expected at Tercera from the Eaft-Indies, thither he failed; and though his men were feverely pinched for want of victuals, yet, by fair words, and large promifes, he prevailed upon them to endure thefe hardfhips for a few days; within this fpace the Eaft-India fhip arrived, which he took, and carried home in triumph; fo that throughout the whole war there was no expedition fo happily conducted as this, with respect to reputation or profit; and therefore we need not wonder, that, upon his return, the mighty applaufe • he received might render him fomewhat elate, as his enemies report it did; but certain it is, that no man's pride had ever a happier turn, fince it always vented itfelf in fervice to the public. Thus, at this time, he undertook to bring water into the town of Plymouth, through the want of which, till then it had been grievously diftrefled; and he performed it by conducting thither a ftream from fprings at eight miles diftance, that is to fay in a ftrait line; for in the manner by which he brought it, the courfe it runs is upwards of twenty ♦ miles,

In 1588 Sir Francis Drake was appointed Vice-Admiral under Charles Lord Howard of Effingham, High Admiral of England. Here his fortune favoured him as remarkably as ever, for he made prize of a very large Galleon, commanded by Don Pedro de Valdez, who yielded on the bare • mention of his name. In this veffel fifty thousand ducats were distributed among the feamen and foldiers, which pre'ferved that love they had always borne to their valiant Commander. It must not, however be diffembled, that through an overfight of his, the Admiral ran the utmost hazard of being taken by the enemy; for Drake being appointed, the first night of the engagement, to carry lights for the direction of the English fleet, he, being in full purfuit of fome hulks belonging to the Hanfe-towns, neglected it, which occafioned the Admiral's following the Spanish lights, and remaining al• most in the center of their fleet till morning. However, his fucceeding fervices fufficiently effaced the memory of this miftake, the greatest execution done on the flying Spaniards being performed by the fquadron under his command.

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There is a letter ftill preferved by Strype, written by Sir Francis Drake to the Lord High Treasurer Burleigh, dated June 6, 1588, wherein he acquaints him, that the Spaniards were approaching, and that though their ftrength outwent report, yet the chearfulness and courage which the Lord Admiral expreffed, gave all, who had the honour to serve under him, afurance of victory. This compliment, which fure was very well turned, proved alfo a prophecy, which Sir Francis had his fhare in fulfilling. On the 22d of July, Sir Francis obferving a great Spanifh fhip, commanded by Don Pedro de Valdez, who was reputed to be the projector of this invafion floating at a diftance from both fleets, fent his pinnace to fummon thofe, who were on board, to yield. Valdez, to maintain his credit and pretence to valour, returned, that they were 450 ftrong, that he himself was Don Pedro, and ftood much upon his honour, and thereupon propounded feveral conditions upon which he was willing to yield: but the Vice-Admiral replied, that he had no leifure to parley, but if he thought fit inftantly to yield, he might; if not, he fhould foon find that Drake was no coward. Pedro hearing it was Drake, whofe name was fo terrible to the Spaniards, prefently yielded, and with forty-fix of his attendants came on board Sir Francis's fhip, where, giving him the folemn Spanish congee, he protefted, "That they were all refolved to have died fighting, had they not fallen into his hands, "whofe felicity and valour was fo great, that Mars the God of "War, and Neptune the God of the Sea, feemed to wait up

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66

on

"on all his attempts, and whofe noble and generous carriage "towards the vanquished, had been oft experienced by his "foes." Sir Francis, to requite thefe Spanish compliments with real English kindness, fet him at his own table, and lodged him in his own cabbin, fending the reft of his company to Plymouth. Drake's foldiers were well recompenfed with the plunder of this fhip, wherein they found fifty-five ⚫ thousand ducats of gold, which they joyfully fhared amongst them. This Don Pedro Valdez remained above two years • Sir Francis Drake's prifoner in England, and when he was released, paid him for his own and two his Captains liberties, • a ransom of 3500l.'

His laft expedition again Porto Rico, from which great ex-pectations had been conceived, having fatally miscarried, Sir Francis could not furvive the disappointment: a bloody-flux putting a period to his life, in the fifty-firft year of his age. Our Author concludes his account of this Commander with defcribing his perfon, delineating his character, and enumerating the advantages this nation derived from his naval genius and atchievements. As to the first,

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He was,' fays he, low of ftature, but well fet, had a broad open cheft, a very round head, his hair of a fine brown, his beard full and comely, his eyes large and clear, of a fair complexion, with a fresh, chearful, and very engaging countenance. As Navigation had been his whole ftudy, fo he underftood it thoroughly, and was a perfect mafter in every branch, especially in Aftronomy, and in the application thereof to the nautic art. As all men have enemies, and all eminent men abundance of them, we need not wonder that Sir Francis Drake, who performed fo many great things, fhould have as much ill fpoken of him as of any man of that age in which he lived. Those who difliked him alledged, that he was a man of low birth, haughty in his temper, oftentatious, felf fufficient, an immoderate speaker, and, though indifputably a good Seaman, no great General; in proof of which they took notice of his neglecting to furnish his fleet thoroughly in 1585; his not keeping either St. Domingo or Carthagena, after he had taken them; the flender provifion he made in his expedition to Portugal; his breaking his word to Sir John Norris; and the errors he committed in his last undertaking. In excufe of thefe it is faid, that the glory of what he did might very well remove the imputation of his < mean defcent; what was thought haughtiness in him, might be no more than a juft concern for the fupport of his authority; his difplay of his great fervices, a thing incident to his profeffion, and his love of fpeaking, qualified by his wisdom and eloquence, which hindered him from ever dropping a

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<

⚫ weak

⚫ weak or an ungraceful expreffion. In equipping his fleet, he was not fo much in fault as those whom he trufted; sickness hindered his keeping the places he took in the Weft-Indies; his councils were continually croffed by the Land-Officers in his voyage to Portugal; and, as to his laft attempt, the Spaniards were certainly well acquainted with his defign, at leaft as foon as he left England, if not before. His voyage round the world, however, remains an inconteftible proof of his courage, capacity, patience, quick-fightednefs, and public spirit, fince therein, he did every thing that could be expected from a man, who preferred the honour and profit of his country to his own reputation, or private gain.'

The memoirs that follow, are thofe of the life of the great Sir Walter Raleigh. This Hero was as highly favoured by the Queen, as unjustly perfecuted and put to death by her pufillanimous and unworthy fucceffor. The bafenefs of this Prince's character appears in no inftance more confpicuous than in his behaviour to Raleigh before he failed on his laft expedition to Guiana: he then commanded him, on his allegiance, to give under his hand, (promifing on the word of a King to keep it fecret) the number of his men, the burthen and ftrength of his fhips, and the place of their deftination; which being complied with, he delivered the very paper to the Spanish Ambassador, who immediately difpatched it to the court of Spain, and thereby effectually fruftrated the undertaking.

The third book opens with the acceffion of James the First to the British throne, and contains an account of our naval affairs, and other tranfa&tions, from that time to the restoration of Charles II. During the two reigns of James and Charles I. though the riches and itrength of the nation were evidently increafed, yet for want of a proper exertion of them, owing to the. weaknefs and diftraction of our councils at home, and misconduct of our commanders abroad, we were useless to our friends, baffled by our enemies, and equally defpifed by both. At length the fpirit of thofe gallant officers employed by the Long Parliament, and afterwards by Oliver Cromwell, refcued the nation from contempt, and again rendered it the fupreme arbitrefs of Europe. Of all thefe, Blake feems to have been the most able and refolute commander, as well as the moft difinterefted, and moft worthy man. We fhall therefore infert the relation our Author gives of his fecond action with the Dutch, and likewife fome memoirs of his life and character;-in which it will appear, as a ufeful leffon to our Sea-commanders, how much intrepidity has fometimes compenfated for inequality of force. Blake having, on the 18th of May, 1652, with twenty fhips, engaged the Dutch fleet, commanded by Martin Van Tromp, confifting

of

of forty-two fail of men of war, and obliged him, after an obftinate fight, to retire with the lofs of feveral fhips, hoftilities were immediately commenced.

Almoft all the ports in England,' fays our Author, being filled with the riches of the Dutch, by the numerous prizes of that nation, daily brought into them, the States began to think feriously of retrieving the loffes and difgraces they had sustained, by fome action equally bold and advantageous. For the execution of this their defign, they began to caft their eyes. • again upon Van Tromp; and the King of Denmark, at the fame time, recommending him ftrenuoufly to their favour, they reftored him to the command.

Van Tromp, on his fide, being eager to blot out the imputations which had been lately laid upon him, foon got together a fleet of eighty, or eighty-five men of war, and ten fire-fhips.

It being now the beginning of November, a feafon of the year in which no farther action was thought of, Blake had, for the moft part, feparated his fleet; twenty of his fhips were detached < to convoy a fleet of colliers from Newcastle; twelve were failed to Plymouth, and fifteen more were failed up the Thames.

• Van Tromp put to fea, with a defign of convoying a large fleet of three hundred merchant-men through the Channel, as far as Cape St. Lazard; but having advice of the weakness of Blake's fleet, repaired off of the Goodwin-fands, not far from the place where the laft battle was fought. Blake lying in the Downs, with forty men of war, and a few tenders, of which hardly twenty had their full complement of men on board; but it was refolved, in a council of war, notwithstanding this great fuperiority of the enemy, to give him battle.

Blake got immediately under fail, and sent seven of his ships a head on discovery. These fhips meeting, on the 29th of • November, with nine Dutch fhips, who were fent out by their Admiral on the fame fervice, began the fight about noon, and were foon feconded by more fhips on both fides, which drew on a general engagement about three. This battle was fought with great fury on both fides, from one in the afternoon, till 6 it was dark night.

Blake, in the Triumph, with his feconds, the Victory and the Vanguard, was long engaged with near twenty of the enemy, and was very near borne down with fo fuperior a force. But being at length relieved by fome other fhips, the fight continued as furious; and notwithstanding the great fuperiority of

the

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