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Chap. IX. during the Reign

1577. " 'his Perfections, the World, and" not I, shall truly judge of his" Merits.

" His Detractors lay to his Charge" the Baseness of his Birth and Edu-tc cation, his Ostentation, and vain-tc glorious Boasting ; his high, haugh-ty ty, and insolent Carriage; and ex-“ cept against his Sufficiency for a Ge-" neral, tho' they allow him to be anable Captain.

" His Friends and Favourers an-1 (c swer, in his Behalf, That the Mean-ness of his Birth was an Argument ofhis Worth, For what he attained towas by no other Means than Merit." They fay, that every Man is $on to" his Works; and what one has by" his Ancestors can scarcely be calledhis own; That Virtue is the Cause of“ Preferment, and Honour but the Ef-“ sect ; That a Man is more to be e-« c steemed for being Virtuous, than be-ing called Worshipful; the one is a<c Title of Honour, the other Desert.

" Marius, being upbraided by Sylla," in the like Manner, for the Basenessof his Birth, and Haughtiness of" of Carriage, answered • That he wastc not of so great a Family as Sylla, yet" Sylla could not deny but that he was“ the better Man ; For in Sylla's HousefC were painted the Acts of his Fore-" fathers; But in his were hung up theBanners, that he himself had won" from his Enemy.

" In Vindication of Sir Francis“ Drake's Ostentation and Vain-glory,they fay, it was not inherent to himtr alone, but to most Men of his Pro-* s session and Rank. It is true, he" would speak much and arrogantly," but eloquently, which bredaWondertc in many, that his Education could" yield him those Helps of Nature." Indeed, he had four Properties to" farther his Gift of Speaking, viz." His Boldness of Speech, his Under-" standing in what he spoke, his Incli-" nation to speak, and his Use in Speak-" ing; And tho' Vain-gloryis a Vice notff to be excused, yet he obtained that‘ c Fame, by his Actions, that Facility,

" in Speaking, and that Wisdom, by* c his Experience, that I can fay no" more, but that we are all the Chil-" dr en of Adam.

" His Friends fay farther; That hishaughty and high Carriage is some-5C what excusable, when it appears" not. but in his Command ; For a Qe-

of §yeen Elizabeth. 171

neral ought to he stern towards his J 577«<c Soldiers, courageous, in his Person,

" valiant in Fight, generous in Giving,

" patient in Suffering, and merciful inPardoning: And, if Sir Francis" Drake was to be praised for most of" these Virtues, let him not be blamed“ or condemned for one only Vice.

" Many Times, where a Man seeks" Obedience, it is imputed to his Pride" and high Carriage; But if People’s“ Hate grew upon Envy (as it is likely)

" it appeared greater than if it had been" grounded upon Injury.

" Th e Exceptions against him, bythose, that condemn him as an ill<e General, are, his Neglect of furniih-" ing his Fleet to the Indies, in 1585.

" (of which more inifs due Place ) hisft not keeping Santo Domingo and Car-“ thagena, when he was possess’d ofthem, in that Voyage; his weak Pre-paration for such an Expedition as<f that of Portugal-, his Promise to go up“ to Lisbon, that Voyage, and his Non-Performance ; the taking of the Pin-“ nace in his Way to the Indies, whichdiscovered his Directions in 1595.

For all which I refer the Reader to(( to their Proper Places. Tho’ some-ft thing I will say of him, as a privatecs Captain, and especially of his re-tC nowned Voyage about the World,

‘ f . being the first Attempt of that Na-" ture, that ever was perform’d by any“ Nation, except the Spaniards fhem-“ selves, (and they only in that of Ma-" gellan and his Corapany.') And if wasif the more Honour to him, in thatfe the Streights of Magellan weref( counted so terrible in those Days,

" that the very Thoughts of attempting-it was dreadful; Secondly, in that it“ had been but once passed, and but" by one Ship that ever return-ed into Europe , and that above<f sixty nine Years before his Enterprise.

<e His Praise was, that he could carry" a voluntary Action so discreetly, sopatiently, and so resolutely, in so te-dious and unknown a Nayigation, theCondition of Seamen being apt to re-pine and murmur. But, lastly, andtf principally, that after so many Mi-f r series and Extremities he . endured,

*■ and almost two Years spent in un-" practiced Seas, when Reason wouldhave bid him sought Home, for his" Rest, he left his known Course, and" ventured upon an unknown Sea, jnforty-eight Degrees; which Sea2 X " or