hap. XXV, during the Reign of §}yeen Elizabeth. %61

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1588. had taken his Measures to destroy themf he y s ail there: But the Spaniards kept on theirrt iabout. Course, round by the Orknies, the We-stern Islands, and Ireland.

Seven Hundred Soldiers and Mari-ners, who had escaped to Land, in theKing of Scotland ’s Dominions, weresent to the Duke of Parma, with Eli-zabeth's Consent. But those who wereshipwrecked in Ireland, and cast ashore,were all put to the Sword, or perishedby the Hands of the. Executioner; theLord Deputy, by whose Orders it wasdone, fearing they should joyn with theRebels. At least this was his Pretenceto excuse this Barbarity.e Lord The Lord High Admiral, being' come to the Height of five. and fiftyDegrees and thirteen Minutes, NorthLatitude, and thirty Leagues East ofNewcastle, determined, on the secondof August, to have attacked them a-gain: But when he saw their Course,and plainly perceived their Thoughtswere only bent upon making their E-scape; Besides, being short or Victuals,and unprovided of several Necessaries,he altered his Resolution. It was, there-fore,concluded then to leave the SpanijhFleet to pursue their Flight, and tosail for the Firth, for Refreshment: Butthe Wind coming about Westerly, thenext Day, his Lordship altered hisCourse, and returned with the wholeFleet back to England, where they ar-rived, some at the Downs, others atHarwich, and the Rest at Yarmouth,about the seventh of August.

The very Day the last Engage-ment was between the two Fleets, theDuke of Parma, having paid his Ad-at e . dresses to Our Lady of Hall, came toDunkirk, tho’ something of the latest ;For which Reason, theSpaniards receiv-ed him in a very reproachful Manner,as if out of some By-Regards to QueenElizabeth, he had purposely slip’d sofair an Opportunity of doing Wonders

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for the Service of his Country, TheDuke, to appease this Storm, punish’dthose who had the Charge of Victual-ling his Fleet; Tho', in the meanTime, he could not but secretly laughat the haughty and insolent Bravadoesof the Spam ar ds, who had been so vainto fay: " That wherever they turned“ their . Sails, a most certain Victor)

“ waited upon their Course ; And that“ the Englijh would not have Courage“ enough to look them in the Face,”

The poor Remains of the Fleet ar ~ s , Seve / a /rived, at Length, in a miserable Con- de/atSea.dition, on the Coasts of Spain , severalof the Ships having foundered at Sea,no less than ten being cast away on theCoast of Ireland. Among these latter, °rt> erswas one of the great Galleasses, and f e a f a ^ a ~two large Ships of Venice, called LaRatta , and Belanzara. In this, andseveral other Tempests, they met with,were lost about forty Sail, and most ofthe Persons which were in them perish-ed. (/). Those which did get Homewere laden with Shame and Dishonour,and the Duke of Medina forbid theCourt.

Thus, in the Space of one Month,and with the Loss only of one smallShip, and a Hundred Men, was broughtto Destruction that formidable Armada,which had been three whole Years fit-ting out, at an incredible Expence, andwhich had made all Europe tremble.

The Loss of Nobility and Gentry onBoard of this Fleet was so great, thatthere was hardly a Family in Spain but bh familieswas inMourning, on this Occasion; And in Spain inKing Philip (m) was obliged, byProcla- Mourning,mation, to shorten the usual Time ; Asthe Romans of Old, upon their greatDefeat at Cannæ, found it necessary tolimit the publick Grief to thirty Days.

In the mean Time, England re-sounded with Acclamations of Joy, andall the Protestant Nations of Europewere Partakers of it. The Queen,

having

en.

(/) According to S tow’s Account, the Dukeof Medina returned to Spain , about the End ofSeptember , with only sixty Sail, out of his OneHundred, two and thirty, and those too, verymuch shattered. Others lay only three and fiftyreturned.

(m) Camden fays, that the King received theNews of the ill Success of his Fleet, with anHe-roick Patience and when he heard of the De-leat, so contrary to his Expectation, thanked Godit was no greater : But, according to AnthonyCoppley , a fugitive Gentleman in those Times,when 'the News was brought Philip, being at

Mass: “ He swore (after Mass was over) that“ he would waste and consume his Crown even“ to the Value of a Candlestick, (pointing at one" that stood upon the Altar) but either he would“ utterly ruin Her Majesty, and England , or" else himself and all Spain become tributary to" her.”

Some Authors fay, King Philip was Writinga Letter in his Closet, when the News came, up-on which he coolly said : " He sent his Fleet toc« fight against the Englp, and not against the?“ Winds;” and without Change or Emotion con-tinued to finish his Letter.