Part 7

In 1601, he was one of the commanders of the forces to whom the Earl of Essex surrendered, and on the 19th February following he was one of the peers that sat on his trial, being then constable of the Tower. Meeting King James I. at Theobalds, in May, 1603, he was sworn of the Privy Council, and July 21st following was advanced to the Earldom of Suffolk. He was also made a Commissioner for making Knights of the Bath, also for executing the office of Earl Marshal of England. In 1605, being Lord Chamberlain together with the Lord Mounteagle, the Gunpowder Plot was discovered. He was elected Chancellor of the University of Cambridge in 1613, and July 11, 1614, was constituted Lord High Treasurer of England. The earl died in London, May 28, 1626.

SIR ROGER TOWNSHEND.

Sir Roger Townshend of Raynham, Knight, was descended, according to Collins and other learned antiquaries, through a long line of ancestry from Lodovic or Lewis, a Norman nobleman, who married Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Sir Thomas de Hauteville or Havile, Lord of Raynham, through which match the Raynham estate came into the family and is now the chief seat of the Marquis Townshend.

This Sir Roger was born about 1550, and was heir to his great grandfather, Sir Roger Townshend, Kt., whose will was proved at Norwich, Co. Norfolk, May 10, 1552. He was a gentleman of high rank and great worth in his native county Norfolk, and while Spain was preparing the Invincible Armada of 1588 to invade England, he manifested the greatest spirit and energy in fitting out and manning ships at his own expense to repel the invaders, going in person in the cause of his country, and on account of his undaunted spirit and bravery in the several engagements previous to the 26th of July, he was knighted that day on board the _Ark Royal_, by the Admiral Lord Howard of Effingham, who had power from Queen Elizabeth so to do. This Sir Roger was in the thickest of the fight and suffered the loss of many of his men, and we have evidence from a letter dated at Margate, Kent, August 10, 1588, in which Lord Howard writes Burghley “that of all the men brought by Sir Roger Townshend he has but one left alive.”

He lived but two years afterwards, dying in the flower of his age at a seat he had purchased of Thomas Sutton, Esq., at Newington, Co. Middlesex, and was buried June 30, 1590, in the church of St. Giles, Cripplegate, London.

SIR JOHN HAWKINS.

Sir John Hawkins, a seaman of distinguished ability who flourished during the reign of Elizabeth, was born at Plymouth about 1520, and his early life was spent in trading voyages to the south of Europe and African coast. With the assistance of several merchants he fitted out a small fleet in 1562, and obtained by force and purchase a cargo of negroes, which he carried to the Spanish West India Colonies and there sold them; this we believe was the first adventure in the African slave trade made by Englishmen.

He made many voyages of this kind, and was at last attacked by the Spanish authorities in the Port of S. Juan de Ulloa, and saved only two of his ships and returned to England in January, 1568, after suffering much hardship. This was his last commercial enterprise.

Hawkins was appointed in 1573 treasurer of the navy, and in 1588 we find him serving as Rear Admiral against the Spanish Armada, and for his great spirit and bravery he was knighted by the Admiral Charles Lord Howard of Effingham. He went to intercept the Plate fleet and harrass the trade of Spain with Frobishers and others in 1590, but failed in the first object and succeeded in the second. In 1595, he was sent with Drake to command an expedition against the Spaniards in the West Indies; but they failed to agree and soon after separated. Sir John Hawkins died November 21, 1595, and his colleague, Drake, soon after. Hawkins founded a hospital at Chatham for poor and sick seamen. He also sat in Parliament for Plymouth.

SIR MARTIN FROBISHER.

Sir Martin Frobisher was born at Doncaster, Yorkshire, of humble parentage, and brought up to the sea, and in early life displayed the talents of a great navigator, and was the first Englishman who attempted to find a northwest passage to China. Under the patronage of Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick, he fitted out two barks of twenty-five tons, and a pinnace of ten tons, and sailed from Deptford, January 8, 1576, and on July 11th discovered Freeseland and the strait which still bears his name, and after making numerous discoveries he returned to England, arriving at Harwich 2d October of the same year. On this voyage he took possession of the country in Queen Elizabeth’s name and brought back with him specimens of gold ore. This circumstance raised prodigious expectations, and the Queen lent him a ship of two hundred tons for his next expedition, on which he sailed accompanied with a party of one hundred and forty persons (also two barks of thirty tons each) from Gravesend, May 26, 1577. He made numerous discoveries, but his instructions were to search for ore, and being in the Countess of Warwick Island he took a lading of it and arrived in England the end of September, 1577, and was most graciously received by the Queen, who fitted out another fleet of twelve vessels which sailed from Harwich May 31, 1578, and sighted Freeseland June 20th, and took possession of the country in the Queen’s name, calling it West England, and after collecting much ore sailed for and arrived in England after a stormy and dangerous passage in the beginning of October. In 1588 he commanded the _Triumph_ in the engagement against the Spanish Armada and received the honor of knighthood for his valor at sea by the Lord High Admiral, 26 July of the same year. In 1590, he commanded a squadron to the Spanish Coast, and in 1594 he was sent with four men-of-war to the assistance of Henry IV. of France, against a body of leaguers and Spaniards then in possession of part of Brittany, who had fortified themselves very strongly at Croyzon near Brest. Here, in an assault upon that fort, November 7th he was wounded by a ball in the hip, of which he died soon after he had brought the fleet safely back to Plymouth, and was buried in that town.

SIR WALTER RALEIGH.

Sir Walter Raleigh, a distinguished statesman, scholar, and warrior, in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I., was born in 1552, at Budleigh in Devonshire, and educated at Oriel College, Oxford. At the age of seventeen he made one of a troop of an hundred gentlemen volunteers whom Queen Elizabeth permitted to go to France, under the command of Henry Champernon, for the service of the Protestant princes. He next served in the Netherlands; and, on his return from the Continent, his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, having obtained a grant of lands in North America, he engaged with a considerable number of gentlemen to go out to Newfoundland: but the expedition proving unsuccessful, Sir Walter returned to England, after being exposed to several dangers, and proceeded thence to Ireland, where he made his bravery so conspicuous in quelling the insurgents, that he was received at court with considerable favor, and obtained permission and supplies to prosecute his discoveries in America, which ended in his settling a colony in that country, called, in honor of his maiden sovereign, Virginia; and he is said to have first introduced tobacco and potatoes into Europe. In the mean time the Queen conferred on him the distinction of knighthood, and rewarded him by several lucrative grants, including a large share of the forfeited Irish estates. When his country’s safety was threatened by the famous Spanish Armada, he raised and disciplined the militia of Cornwall; and afterwards, by joining the fleet with a squadron of ships belonging to gentlemen volunteers, assisted in obtaining the signal victory which it pleased Providence to give to the English over the Spaniards on that occasion. He was now made gentleman of the privy chamber; but shortly after fell into disgrace, and was confined for some months, partly on account of a tract which he had published, entitled “the School for Atheists,” which was unfairly construed by his enemies into a vindication of atheistical principles; and partly for a clandestine attachment to one of the Queen’s maids of honor, the daughter of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton; which lady, however, he afterwards honorably married. During his seclusion he planned the discovery of the extensive country of Guiana, in South America, in which he took an active part himself, as soon as he was set at liberty: but the season being unfavorable, he returned to England, and was soon after appointed to a command in the important expedition to Cadiz, of which the success was in a great measure owing to Sir Walter’s valor and prudence. This, joined to several other important services, restored him completely to the favor of Elizabeth, towards the end of her reign. Her successor, James, prejudiced against him by Robert Cecil, disapproving of his martial spirit, and jealous of his abilities, availed himself of a court conspiracy against this great man, charging him with participating in an attempt to place upon the throne Arabella Stuart, and of carrying on a secret correspondence with the King of Spain. By the base subservience of the jury, he was brought in guilty of high treason, even to the surprise of the Attorney-General Coke himself, who declared that he had only charged him with misprision of treason. Raleigh was reprieved, and committed to the Tower, where his wife, at her earnest solicitation, was allowed to reside with him, and where his youngest son was born. Twelve years was Sir Walter detained a prisoner in the Tower; during which time, besides various minor compositions, he wrote his “History of the World;” a work distinguished for the richness of its information, the judiciousness of its reflections, and the vigor of its style. At length his release was obtained, in 1616, by the advance of a large sum of money to the new favorite, Villiers; and, to retrieve his broken fortunes, he planned another expedition to America. He obtained a patent under the great seal for making a settlement in Guiana; but, in order to retain a power over him, the king did not grant him a pardon for the sentence passed upon him for his alleged treason. Having reached the Orinoco, he dispatched a portion of his force to attack the new Spanish settlement of St. Thomas, which was captured; but he had to lament the death of his eldest son, who fell on that occasion. The expected plunder proved of little value: and Sir Walter, having in vain tried to induce his captains to attack other Spanish settlements, arrived at Plymouth in July, 1618. Being brought before the court of King’s Bench, his plea of an implied pardon by his subsequent command, was overruled; and the doom of death being pronounced against him, it was carried into execution the following day, October 28, 1819, in Old Palace Yard. His behavior at the scaffold was calm, and, after addressing the people at some length in his own justification, he received the stroke of death with perfect composure; remarking to the sheriff, with a smile, as he felt the edge of the axe, “This is a sharp medicine, but it is a physician that will cure all diseases.”

JOHN PINE.

Very little is known of the parentage of John Pine, the original engraver and publisher of this work.

He flourished between the years 1720-1750, and ranked second to none in his profession. He was a most intimate friend of Hogarth, who showed his admiration for him by painting him in the manner of Rembrandt.

The years of his birth and death are uncertain. His chief works are the Ceremonies used at the Revival of the Order of the Bath; a splendid edition of Horace, illustrated with copies of antiques, bas-reliefs, gems, and coins: also a print of the House of Commons.

His engravings of the tapestry hangings of the House of Lords are sufficient evidence of his ability as an engraver. These splendid representations of the engagements between the English fleet and the Spanish Armada were destroyed by fire when the Houses of Parliament were burned, Oct. 16, 1834.

FOOTNOTES.

Footnote 1:

See _Grotii_ Hist. lib. i. p. 117. Fol.

Footnote 2:

Vol. I. p. 591, 592.

Footnote 3:

_Strada_, Dec. II. l. 9.

Footnote 4:

_Strada_, Dec. ii. l. 9.

Footnote 5:

Vol. II. p. 135.

Footnote 6:

_Mary_ Queen of _Scots_, the Day before she suffer’d Death, did under her own Hand in the _French_ Tongue, declare, “That her Son _James_ should not inherit _England_, if he remained a Protestant, but that the Right of the Kingdom should be translated to _Philip_ King of _Spain_.” _Rug. Tritonii Vita Vin. Laurei Cardin._

Footnote 7:

This Account is according to the Lists below. But it will be proper to observe, that Authors do very much differ in their Accounts of this ARMADA, and the several things belonging to it. According to _Thuanus_, it consisted of 150 Ships of all Sorts; 140 says _Grotius_; 130 _Camden_ and _Strype_, 135 _Strada_; 128 _Speed_; 150 _Hakluyt_; 160 others, _&c._—Tuns 57868, _Spanish_ Book, _Hakluyt_, _Purchas_.—Cannons 2650, _Hakluyt_, _Thuanus_ (1600 of Brass, and 1050 of Iron.) 2630, _Camden_.—Sailor 8450 _Spanish_ Books, 8000 _Thuanus_, 8350 _Camden_, 7449 _Strada_.—Soldiers, 20000 _Thuanus_ and _Stow_, 19295 _Spanish_ Book, 19290 _Camden_, 18857 _Strada_.

Footnote 8:

_Thuanus_, lib. 89.

Footnote 9:

Discourse of the ARMADA by _D. Archdeacon_, being a Translation of the _Spanish_ Account, _Lond._ 1588. _Lediard_’s Naval History, p. 234, _&c._

Footnote 10:

According to _Strada_ there were 220 Noblemen and Gentlemen, 354 Voluntiers: Their Servants 624; Priests, Surgeons, and other Officers, and Servants 669. _Decas_ ii. lib. 9.

Footnote 11:

_Thuanus_, lib. 89.

Footnote 12:

Being the chosen Vessels of all K. _Philip_’s Dominions, excessive monstrous, beyond all the Navies that ever had been seen in _Christendom_. Letter to _B. Mendoza_, p. 16.

Footnote 13:

Discourse of the ARMADA by _D. Archdeacon_, _Thuanus_, _Lediard_, _Hakluyt_, _Purchas_, _&c._

Footnote 14:

1200,000, _Thuan._ 20,200 _Harris_, 220,000 _Speed_, 119,000 _Spanish_ Book.

Footnote 15:

_Laquei certe, & plura necis instrumenta, aut servitutis inter spolia visitata sunt._ _Grotii_ Hist. p. 118. See Letter to _B. Mendoza_, in the _Postscript_, p. 37.

Footnote 16:

Discourse of the ARMADA, _&c._ _Thuanus_, _Lediard_, _&c._

Footnote 17:

A Septier is twelve Bushels.

Footnote 18:

_Strype_’s Annals, tom. iii. p. 451.

Footnote 19:

_Hakluyt_, vol. I. p. 593.

Footnote 20:

And, as _Thuanus_ computes it, before it sailed from _Lisbon_, it had stood K. _Philip_ in _Centies vicies centena millia aureorum_, lib. 89. above two Millions.

Footnote 21:

_Strada_, Dec. II. l. 9.

Footnote 22:

_Hakluyt_, _Speed_’s Chron.

Footnote 23:

_Decad._ l. II. p. 9.

Footnote 24:

_Thuan._ lib. 89. _Hakluyt_ and _Purchas_.

Footnote 25:

_Stow_, p. 746.

Footnote 26:

_Thuan._ l. 89.

Footnote 27:

_Welwood_’s Memoirs, p. 8, 9.

Footnote 28:

_Camden_, _Thuanus_, l. 89.

Footnote 29:

_Eo consilio, ut Regina, ob colloquium pacis de defensione secura, facilius opprimeretur: quam tamen illa minime neglexit._ Thuan. l. 89.

Footnote 30:

_Grotius_, p. 119. _Hakluyt_ vol. i. p. 595.

Footnote 31:

_Cotton MSS._

Footnote 32:

_Camden._

Footnote 33:

_Strype_’s Annals, tom. iii. p. 516.

Footnote 34:

_Stow_ Chron. p. 744.

Footnote 35:

_Stow_’s Survey, Edit. 1720. B. i. p. 283.

Footnote 36:

Letter to _B. Mendoza_, p. 23, 24, _&c._

Footnote 37:

Ibid. p. 6, 7, 8.

Footnote 38:

_Camden._

Footnote 39:

_Strada_, Dec. ii. lib. 9.

Footnote 40:

_Camden._ _Rapin_, vol. ii. p. 136.

Footnote 41:

Letter to _B. Mendoza_, p. 30, 35.

Footnote 42:

See his Letter in _Rymer_’s _Fœdera_, tom. xvi. p. 18.

Footnote 43:

_Camden._

Footnote 44:

Taken from the _Spanish_ Book printed in 1588. compar’d with _Lediard_.

Footnote 45:

From a MS. in the Royal Library, 14 B XIII.

Footnote 46:

_Strada_, Dec. ii. lib. 9.

Footnote 47:

_Hakluyt, Camden._

Footnote 48:

MSS. in the _Cottonian_ Library, _Jul._ F X. 17. fol. III.

Footnote 49:

_Camden_ Ann. and _Burchett_.

Footnote 50:

_Cotton MSS._

Footnote 51:

_Lediard_’s Naval Hist. p. 254.

Footnote 52:

_Camden._

Footnote 53:

_Cotton MSS._

Footnote 54:

_Camden, Hakluyt, Purchas, Cotton MSS, &c._

Footnote 55:

_Cotton MSS._

Footnote 56:

It is called the _Disdain_ in _Cotton MSS._

Footnote 57:

_Eman. Fremosa_’s Examination, printed in 1588. In the following Engagements they lost twenty five Men more. _Ibid._

Footnote 58:

_Camden._

Footnote 59:

_Cotton MSS._

Footnote 60:

_Camden._

Footnote 61:

A _Spanish_ Officer had quarrel’d with him, and called him Traytor, imagining he had not done his Duty in the last Engagement. _Strada_, Dec, ii. lib. 9.

Footnote 62:

_Cotton MSS._

Footnote 63:

_Camden._

Footnote 64:

_Cotton MSS._

Footnote 65:

_Camden._

Footnote 66:

_Cotton MSS._

Footnote 67:

_Camden._

Footnote 68:

_Purchas, &c._

Footnote 69:

Some Authors say, there was a Cessation on both Sides, _Camden, &c._

Footnote 70:

_Purchas, Speed, &c._

Footnote 71:

_Cotton MSS._

Footnote 72:

_Camden, Cotton MSS. Strada._

Footnote 73:

_Cotton MSS._

Footnote 74:

_Camden._

Footnote 75:

_Purchas, Harris._

Footnote 76:

_Camden, Cotton MSS._

Footnote 77:

_Cotton MSS._

Footnote 78:

_Camden._

Footnote 79:

_Camden_, _Thuanus_, Letter to _B. Mendoza_, p. 28.

Footnote 80:

_Cotton MSS._

Footnote 81:

_Ibid._

Footnote 82:

_Harris._

Footnote 83:

_Camden._

Footnote 84:

_Eman. Fremosa_’s Examination.

Footnote 85:

_Camden, Thuanus._

Footnote 86:

See _Strada de Bello Belgico_, Dec. ii. lib. 6.

Footnote 87:

Each of their Ships lost two Anchors here. _Em. Fremosa’s_ Examinat.

Footnote 88:

_Camden, Burchett._

Footnote 89:

_Eman. Fremosa_’s Examinat.

Footnote 90:

_Thuanus, Lediard._

Footnote 91:

_Cotton MSS._

Footnote 92:

Letter to _B. Mendoza_, p. 28.

Footnote 93:

_Hakluyt, Purchas, Harris._

Footnote 94:

_Cotton MSS._

Footnote 95:

_Camden, Burchett._

Footnote 96:

_Eman. Francisco_’s Examinat.

Footnote 97:

_Thuanus, Purchas, Harris._

Footnote 98:

_Purchas_ and _Harris_ call him _Bauderdues_.

Footnote 99:

_Em. Fremosa_’s and _Em. Francisco_’s Examinat.

Footnote 100:

_Burchett._

Footnote 101:

This worthy Commander, for his gallant Behaviour in this Action, and afterwards at the Overthrow and Burning of the _Spanish_ Navy in the Bay of _Cadiz_ 1588, and Taking the Town 1596, when he was Vice-Admiral, was Knighted, and the following Motto added to his Arms, SE INSERIT ASTRIS.

Footnote 102:

Letter to _B. Mendoza_, p. 18.

Footnote 103:

_Em. Fremosa_’s Examinat.

Footnote 104:

_J. Antonio_’s Examinat.

Footnote 105:

_Em. Francisco_’s and _J de le Concedo_’s Examinat.

Footnote 106:

_Cotton MSS. Thuanus._

Footnote 107:

_Camden, Burchett, Strada._

Footnote 108:

_Harris, Lediard._

Footnote 109:

_Speed_, p. 862.

Footnote 110:

_Cabala_, p. 373.

Footnote 111:

_Camden._

Footnote 112:

Letter to _B. Mendoza_, p. 22.

Footnote 113:

_Ibid._

Footnote 114:

One Night, as the Queen was in the Camp, guarded by her Army, the Lord Treasurer _Burleigh_ came thither, and delivered to the Earl of _Leicester_ the Examination of Don _Pedro_, who was taken and brought in by Sir _Francis Drake_; the Sum of which was this: Don _Pedro_ being asked what was the Intent of their coming, stoutly answer’d the Lords, What, but to subdue your Nation, and root it out. Good, said the Lords, and what meant you then to do with the Catholicks? He answered, We meant to send them (good Men) directly unto Heaven, as all you that are Hereticks to Hell. Yea but, said the Lords, What meant you to do with your Whips of Cord and Wyer? (whereof they had great Store in their Ships,) What, said he, we meant to whip you Hereticks to Death, that have assisted my Master’s Rebels, and done such Dishonours to our Catholick King and People. Yea, but what would you have done said they, with their young Children. They, said he, which were above seven Years old should have gone the Way their Fathers went; the rest should have lived, branded in the Forehead with the Letter _L_, for _Lutheran_, to perpetual Bondage, _Cabala_, p. 372. Letter to _Mendoza_, p. 37.——It was also published, that the Lords of _Spain_ which were in the Navy, had made a special Division amongst themselves, of all the Noblemens Houses in _England_ by their Names, and had in a sort quartered _England_ among themselves, and had determined of sundry manners of cruel Death, both of the Nobility and the rest of the People. The Ladies, Women, and Maidens were also destined to all Villany; the rich Merchants Houses in _London_ were put into a Register, by their very Names, and limited to the Companies of the Squadrons of the Navy for their Spoil. Letter to _Mendoza_, p. 37.

Footnote 115:

_Camden, Thuanus._

Footnote 116:

_Cotton MSS._

Footnote 117:

_Camden._

Footnote 118:

_J. Antonio_’s Examinat.

Footnote 119:

_Harris, &c._

Footnote 120:

_Appendix_ to Letter to _Mendoza_, p. 1.

Footnote 121:

_J. A. de Monoma_’s Examinat.

Footnote 122:

_Ibid._

Footnote 123:

_Camden._

Footnote 124:

_Thuanus._

Footnote 125:

_Eman. Fremosa_’s Examinat. and Re-Examinat.

Footnote 126:

Certain Advertisements out of _Ireland_, Printed in 1588.

Footnote 127:

_Ibid._

Footnote 128:

_Ibid._

Footnote 129:

_Appendix_ to Letter to _Mendoza_, p. 2.

Footnote 130:

_Camden._

Footnote 131:

_Speed, Harris._

Footnote 132:

_Grotius, Strada._

Footnote 133:

This Account is taken from the relation given above, and from certain Advertisements out of _Ireland_, and Depositions of Prisoners, printed in 1588, with which _Strada_ and the _Spanish_ Writers agree. But our Historians vary extremely in this, as well as other Particulars: _Hakluyt_, vol. i. p. 604. and others, say the _Spaniards_ lost eighty one Ships out of their hundred and thirty two; and that there return’d to _Spain_ only one of the Galleasses of _Naples_, one of the four Galleons of _Portugal_, and thirty three of the Galleons and Hulks from divers Provinces, _&c._ _Stow_ affirms there return’d to _Spain_ only threescore Sail; and others say only fifty three. See _Purchas, Thuanus_ l. lxxxix. _Harris, Speed, &c._

Footnote 134:

_Strype’s Annals_ vol. iii. p. 533. Don _Pedro de Valdez_, who was Sir _Francis Drake_’s Prisoner, remained three or four Years in _England_, and paid three thousand five hundred Pounds for his Ransom, _Ibid._ p. 532.

Footnote 135:

_Strada, Grotius._

Footnote 136:

_Camden._

Footnote 137:

See Letter to _Mendoza_, p. 17.

Footnote 138:

Of a War with _Spain_. See his Works, Fol. vol. iii. p. 523, _&c._

Footnote 139:

Letter to _Mendoza_, p. 17.

Footnote 140:

_Strype’s Ann._ vol. iii. p. 525. _Stow’s Ann._

Footnote 141:

Letter to _B. Mendoza_, p. 37.

Footnote 142:

_Camden._

Footnote 143:

_Academia Artis Pictoriæ Norwergæ_, p. 274.