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Dean was carried off by a cannon ball; yet the fight continued from about twelve to six in the afternoon, when the Dutch gave way, and retreated fighting.

On the 4th, in the afternoon, Blake came up with eighteen fresh ships, and procured the English a complete victory; nor could the Dutch any otherwise preserve their ships than by retiring once more into the flats and shallows, where the largest of the English vessels could not approach.

In this battle Van Trump boarded Viceadmiral Pen; but was beaten off, and himself boarded, and reduced to blow up his decks, of which the English had gotten possession. He was then entered at once by Pen and another; nor could possibly have escaped, had not De Ruyter and De Witt arrived at that instant and rescued him.

However the Dutch may endeavour to extenuate their loss in this battle, by admitting no more than eight ships to have been taken or destroyed, it is evident that they must have received much greater damages, not only by the accounts of more impartial historians, but by the remonstrances and exclamations of their admirals themselves; Van Trump declaring before the States, that " without a numerous reinforcement of large men of war, he could serve them no more;" and De Witt crying out before them, with the natural warmth of his character, "Why should I be silent before my lords and masters? The English are our masters, and by consequence masters of the sea."

In November, 1654, Blake was sent by Cromwell into the Mediterranean with a powerful fleet, and may be said to have received the homage of all that part of the world, being equally courted by the haughty Spaniards, the surly Dutch, and the lawless Algerines.

In March, 1656, having forced Algiers to submission, he entered the harbour of Tunis, and demanded reparation for the robberies practised upon the English by the pirates of that place, and insisted that the captives of his nation should be set at liberty. The governor having planted batteries along the shore, and drawn up his ships under the castles, sent Blake an haughty and insolent answer, "There are our castles of Goletta, and Porto Ferino," said he, " upon which you may do your worst;" adding other menaces and insults, and mentioning in terms of ridicule the inequality of a fight between ships and castles. Blake had likewise demanded leave to take in water, which was refused him. Fired with this inhuman and insolent treatment, he curled his whiskers, as was his custom when he

was angry, and entering Porto Ferino with his great ships, discharged his shot so fast upon the batteries and castles, that in two hours the guns were dismounted, and the works forsaken, though he was at first exposed to the fire of sixty cannon. He then ordered his officers to send out their long boats well manned to seize nine of the piratical ships lying in the road, himself continuing to fire upon the castle. This was so bravely executed, that with the loss of only twenty-five men killed, and forty-eight wounded, all the ships were fired in the sight of Tunis. Thence sailing to Tripoly, he concluded a peace with that nation; then returning to Tunis, he found nothing but submission. And such indeed was his reputation, that he met with no farther opposition, but collected a kind of tribute from the princes of those countries, his business being to demand reparation for all the injuries offered to the English during the civil wars. He exacted from the duke of Tuscany sixty thousand pounds, and, as it is said, sent home sixteen ships laden with the effects, which he had received from several states.

The respect with which he obliged all foreigners to treat his countrymen, appears from a story related by Bishop Burnet. When he lay before Malaga, in a time of peace with Spain, some of his sailors went ashore, and meeting a procession of the host, not only refused to pay any respect to it, but laughed at those that did. The people, being put by one of the priests upon resenting this indignity, fell upon them and beat them severely. When they returned to their ship, they complained of their ill treatment; upon which Blake sent to demand the priest who had procured it. The viceroy answered that, having no authority over the priest, he could not send him: to which Blake replied, "that he did not inquire into the extent of the viceroy's authority, but that if the priest were not sent within three hours, he would burn the town." then sent the priest to him, who pleaded the provocation given by the seamen. Blake bravely and rationally answered, that if he had complained to him, he would have punished them severely, for he would not have his men affront the established religion of any place; but that he was angry that the Spaniards should assume that power, for he would have all the world know "that an Englishman was only to be punished by an Englishman." So having used the priest civilly, he sent him back, being satisfied that he was in his power. This conduct so much pleased Cromwell, that he read

The viceroy

the letter in council with great satisfaction, and said, "he hoped to make the name of an Englishman as great as ever that of a Roman had been."

In 1656, the Protector having declared war against Spain, despatched Blake with twenty-five men of war to infest their coasts, and intercept their shipping. In pursuance of these orders he cruised all winter about the Streights, and then lay at the mouth of the harbour of Cales, where he received intelligence that the Spanish plate-fleet lay at anchor in the bay of Santa Cruz, in the isle of Teneriffe. On the 13th of April, 1657, he departed from Cales, and on the 20th arrived at Santa Cruz, where he found sixteen Spanish vessels. The bay was defended on the north side by a castle well mounted with cannon, and in other. parts with seven forts with cannon proportioned to the bigness, all united by a line of communication manned with musqueteers. The Spanish admiral drew up his small ships under the cannon of the castle, and stationed six great galleons with their broadsides to the sea: an advantageous and prudent disposition, but of little effect against the English commander; who determining to attack them, ordered Stayner to enter the bay with his squadron; then, posting some of his larger ships to play upon the fortifications, himself attacked the galleons, which, after a gallant resistance, were at length abandoned by the Spaniards, though the least of them was bigger than the biggest of Blake's ships. The forts and smaller vessels being now shattered and forsaken, the whole fleet was set on fire, the galleons by Blake, and the smallest vessels by Stayner, the English vessels being too much shattered in the fight to bring them away. Thus was the whole plate-fleet destroyed," and the Spaniards," according to Rapin's remark, "sustained a great loss of ships, money, men, and merchandise, while the English gained nothing but glory." As if he that increases the military reputation of a people did not increase their power, and he that weakens his enemy in effect strengthens himself.

ground can disappoint them; and it can hardly be imagined how small a loss the English sustained in this unparalleled action, not one ship being left behind, and the killed and wounded not exceeding two hundred men; when the slaughter on board the Spanish ships and on shore was incredible." The general cruised for some time afterwards with his victorious fleet at the mouth of Cales, to intercept the Spanish shipping; but finding his constitution broken by the fatigue of the last three years, determined to return home, and died before he came to land.

His body was embalmed, and having lain some time in state at Greenwich house, was buried in Henry the Seventh's chapel, with all the funeral solemnity due to the remains of a man so famed for his bravery, and so spotless in his integrity; nor is it without regret that I am obliged to relate the treatment his body met a year after the Restoration, when it was taken up by express command, and buried in a pit in St. Margaret's churchyard. Had he been guilty of the murder of Charles I. to insult his body had been a mean revenge; but as he was innocent, it was, at least, inbumanity, and, perhaps, ingratitude. “Let no man," says the oriental proverb, “pull a dead lion by the beard.'

But that regard which was denied his body has been paid to his better remains, his name and his memory. Nor has any writer dared to deny him the praise of intrepidity, honesty, contempt of wealth, and love of his country. "He was the first man," says Clarendon," that declined the old track, and made it apparent that the sciences might be attained in less time than was imagined. He was the first man that brought ships to contemn castles on shore, which had ever been thought very formidable, but were discovered by him to make a noise only, and to fright those who could rarely be hurt by them. He was the first that infused that proportion of courage into seamen, by making thein see, by experience, what mighty things they could do if they were resolved, and taught them to fight in fire as well as upon the water; and though he has been very well imitated and followed, was the first that gave the example of that kind of naval courage, and bold and resolute

"The whole action," says Clarendon, "was so incredible, that all men, who knew the place, wondered that any sober man, with what courage soever endowed, would ever have undertaken it, and they could hardly persuade themselves to be-achievements." lieve what they had done: while the To this attestation of his military exSpaniards comforted themselves with the cellence, it may be proper to subjoin belief, that they were devils and not men an account of his moral character from who had destroyed them in such a man- the author of Lives English and Foreign.' ner. So much a strong resolution of" He was jealous," says that writer, “ of bold and courageous men can bring to the liberty of the subject, and the glory pass, that no resistance or advantage of of his nation; and as he made use of no

mean artifices to raise himself to the | but would frequently allow himself to be highest command at sea, so he needed no merry with his officers, and by his teninterest but his merit to support him in derness and generosity to the seamen it. Hescorned nothing more than money, had so endeared himself to them, that which, as fast as it came in, was laid out when he died they lamented his loss as by him in the service of the state, and that of a common father." to show that he was animated by that brave public spirit, which has since been reckoned rather romantic than heroic. And he was so disinterested, that though no man had more opportunities to enrich himself than he, who had taken so many millions from the enemies of England, yet he threw it all into the public treasury, and did not die five hundred pounds richer than his father left him; which the author avers from his personal knowledge of his family and their circumstances, having been bred up in it, and often heard his brother give this account of him. He was religious according to the pretended purity of these times,

Instead of more testimonies, his character may be properly concluded with one incident of his life, by which it appears how much the spirit of Blake was superior to all private views. His brother, in the last action with the Spaniards, having not done his duty, was at Blake's desire discarded, and the ship was given to another; yet was he not less regardful of him as a brother, for when he died he left him his estate, knowing him well qualified to adorn or enjoy a private fortune, though he had found him unfit to serve his country in a public character, and had therefore not suffered him to rob it.

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tion, and familiarised himself to the dangers and hardships of the sea.

But how few opportunities soever he might have in this part of his life for the exercise of his courage, he gave so many proofs of diligence and fidelity, that his master dying unmarried left him his little vessel in reward of his services; a circumstance that deserves to remembered, not only as it may illustrate the private character of this brave man, but as it may hint, to all those who may hereafter propose his conduct for their imitation, That virtue is the surest foundation both of reputation and fortune, and that the first step to greatness is to be honest.

Among those who suffered most from the Spanish injustice, was Captain John Hawkins, who, having been admitted by the viceroy to traffic in the bay of Mexico, was, contrary to the stipulation then made between them, and in violation of the peace between Spain and England, attacked without any declaration of hostilities, and obliged, after an obstinate resistance, to retire with the loss of four ships, and a great number of his men, who were either destroyed or carried into slavery.

In this voyage Drake had adventured almost all his fortune, which he in vain endeavoured to recover, both by his own private interest, and by obtaining letters from Queen Elizabeth; for the Spaniards, deaf to all remonstrances, either vindicated the injustice of the viceroy, or at least forbore to redress it.

If it were not improper to dwell longer on an incident at the first view so inconsiderable, it might be added, that it deserves the reflection of those, who, when they are engaged in affairs not adequate to their abilities, pass them over with a contemptuous neglect, and while they amuse themselves with chimerical schemes, and plans of future undertakings, suffer every opportunity of smaller advantage to slip away as unworthy their regard. They may learn from the example of Drake, that diligence in employments of less conse-medy, or to repine at poverty while the quence is the most successful introduction to greater enterprises.

After having followed for some time his master's profession, he grew weary of so narrow a province, and, having sold his little vessel, ventured his effects in the new trade to the West Indies, which, having not been long discovered, and very little frequented by the English till that time, were conceived so much to abound in wealth, that no voyage thither could fail of being recompensed by great advantages. Nothing was talked of among the mercantile or adventurous part of mankind, but the beauty and riches of this new world. Fresh discoveries were frequently made, new countries and nations never heard of before were daily described, and it may easily be concluded that the relaters did not diminish the merit of their attempts, by suppressing or diminishing any circumstance that might produce wonder, or excite curiosity. Nor was their vanity only engaged in raising admirers, but their interest likewise in procuring adventurers, who were indeed easily gained by the hopes which naturally arise from new prospects, though through ignorance of the American seas, and by the malice of the Spaniards, who from the first discovery of those countries considered every other nation that attempted to follow them as invaders of their rights, the best concerted designs often miscarried.

Drake, thus oppressed and impoverished, retained at least his courage and his industry, that ardent spirit that prompted him to adventures, and that indefatigable patience that enabled him to surmount difficulties. He did not sit down idly to lament misfortunes which Heaven had put it in his power to re

wealth of his enemies was to be gained. But having made two voyages to America for the sake of gaining intelligence of the state of the Spanish settlements, and acquainted himself with the seas and coasts, he determined on a third expedition of more importance, by which the Spaniards should find how imprudently they always act who injure and insult a brave man.

On the 24th of May, 1572, Francis Drake set sail from Plymouth in the Pascha of seventy tons, accompanied by the Swan of twenty-five tons, commanded by his brother John Drake, having in both the vessels seventy-three men and boys, with a year's provision, and such artillery and ammunition as was necessary for his undertaking, which, however incredible it may appear to such as consider rather his force than his fortitude, was no less than to make reprisals upon the most powerful nation in the world.

The wind continuing favourable, they entered, June 29, between Guadaloupe and Dominica, and on July 6th saw the island of Santa Martha; then continuing their course, after having been becalmed for some time, they arrived at Port Pheasant, so named by Drake in a former voyage, to the east of Nombre de Dios. Here he proposed to build his pinnaces, which he had brought in pieces ready framed from Plymouth, and was going ashore with a few men unarmed, but, discovering a smoke at a distance, ordered

the other boat to follow him with a greater force.

Then marching towards the fire, which was in the top of a high tree, he found a plate of lead nailed to another tree, with an inscription engraved upon it by one Garret, an Englishman, who had left that place but five days before, and had taken this method of informing him that the Spaniards had been advertised of his intention to anchor at that place, and that it therefore would be prudent to make a very short stay there.

But Drake knowing how convenient this place was for his designs, and considering that the hazard and waste of time which could not be avoided in seeking another station, was equivalent to any other danger which was to be apprehended from the Spaniards, determined to follow his first resolution; only, for his greater security, he ordered a kind of palisade, or fortification, to be made, by felling large trees, and laying the trunks and branches one upon another by the side of the river.

On July 20, having built their pinnaces, and being joined by one Captain Rause, who happened to touch at the same place with a bark of fifty men, they set sail towards Nombre de Dios, and, taking two frigates at the island of Pines, were informed by the Negroes which they found in them, that the inhabitants of that place were in expectation of some soldiers, which the governor of Panama had promised, to defend them from the Symerons, or fugitive Negroes, who, having escaped from the tyranny of their masters in great numbers, had settled themselves under two kings, or leaders, on each side of the way between Nombre de Dios and Panama, and not only asserted their natural right to liberty and independence, but endeavoured to revenge the cruelties they had suffered, and had lately put the inhabitants of Nombre de Dios into the utmost consternation.

Those Negroes the captain set on shore on the main land, so that they might, by joining the Symerons, recover their liberty, or at least might not have it in their power to give the people of Nombre de Dios any speedy information of his intention to invade them.

Then selecting fifty-three men from his own company, and twenty from the crew of his new associate, Captain Rause, he embarked with them in his pinnaces, and set sail for Nombre de Dios.

On July the 28th, at night, he approached the town undiscovered, and dropped his anchors under the shore, intending, after his men were refreshed, to begin the attack; but finding that they

were terrifying each other with formidable accounts of the strength of the place, and the multitude of the inhabitants, he determined to hinder the panic from spreading farther, by leading them immediately to action; and therefore ordering them to their oars, he landed without any opposition, there being only one gunner upon the bay, though it was secured with six brass cannons of the largest size ready mounted. But the gunner, while they were throwing the cannons from their carriages, alarmed the town, as they soon discovered by the bell, the drums, and the noise of the people.

Drake, leaving twelve men to guard the pinnaces, marched round the town with no great opposition, the men being more hurt by treading on the weapons left on the ground by the flying enemy, than by the resistance which they encountered.

At length having taken some of the Spaniards, Drake commanded them to show him the governor's house, where the mules that bring the silver from Panama were unloaded; there they found the door open, and entering the room where the silver was reposited, found it heaped up in bars in such quantities as almost exceed belief, the pile being, they conjectured, seventy feet in length, ten in breadth, and twelve in height, each bar weighing between thirty and fortyfive pounds.

It is easy to imagine that, at the sight of this treasure, nothing was thought on by the English, but by what means they might best convey it to their boats; and doubtless it was not easy for Drake, who, considering their distance from the shore, and the numbers of their enemies, was afraid of being intercepted in his retreat, to hinder his men from encumbering themselves with so much silver as might have retarded their march, and obstructed the use of their weapons; however, by promising to lead them to the king's treasure-house, where there was gold and jewels to a far greater value, and where the treasure was not only more portable, but nearer the coast, he persuaded them to follow him, and rejoin the main body of his men then drawn up under the command of his brother in the market-place.

Here he found his little troop much discouraged by the imagination, that if they' staid any longer the enemy would gain possession of their pinnaces, and that they should then, without any means of safety, be left to stand alone against the whole power of that country. Drake, not indeed easily terrified, but sufficiently cautious, sent to the coast to inquire the truth, and see if the same terror had taken EE

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