en

2H. Eliz. Naval Expeditions, &c. of the English, Book H C

1596. ** million and Instructions, formerly,c sent you, which hath no Power of< c Deputation: As who should lay, that“ if you did follow the Directions of" Our Hand, Our great Seal, in this“ Matter, should be brought to dispute“ the Validity of your Warrant. We“ could not then send you a Broad Sealin Post. But while you had consi-dered and digested Our Army in such“ Form as you had liked, it shouldhave been guided : Then, if you hadadvertized Us limpliciter only, thatyou must have better Warrant for it,rr you lhould not have wanted it, and“ We should then have thought that• ‘ which you use now as so substantial" a Reason, not to be only a Formality,“ as now We hold it, and as all your“ Arguments discover it. For that o-«* ther material Reason which you in-sift, that you must use Swords to" compel them, Our Letter answered" it, We hope ; That for the Gentle-<r men that would go willingly, and" that do go out (of voluntary Spirits)" to accompany you, you might use" your Discretions. And for the Rest" that would tarry, you might, of Our" Monies, pay them. And for thete Payment of returning, We trust theytc would as soon have taken Our Assu-" ranee as yours. So as they that are" desirous to go in the Action of the" meanest, for their own Particular" need not be deprived of their Hopes," if they will follow it, and the rest" have nullum Arbitrium, which was" surely a great Oppression of Subjects," and the Trust reposed in you, with" the Assurance of Princely Considera-" tion, were great Maxims to the Re-" putation, or Despair to the Minds of" you the Commanders. But We fee" it now in vain to reason against pre-" judicate Thoughts, and to command“ We will not: For if we had meant" to have done any Thing so abruptly," without Caution, or without almostcr to leek your own Opinions, and to" descend always to Conditions, to fa-‘ f tisfy you, We could long e’re this" have directly untied this Knot made," by you, so intricate: And this we" farther will fay to you, that tho’ we* e meant to drive it to the last Consider-" ations, and uttermost Debates, as" much as could be, yet we compared“ Times so sufficiently, as a Prince“ that knows what belongs to such a" Matter, that nothing lhould be done

" to retard you (being ready) one Hour. 1596-" For, as We know Raleigh not to be" arrived, so We know, after it some" Time to embark such an Army must" be required. And, therefore, seing" no Harm is done by Us, and that all" Our Injury to you hath been to over" tender You, We will now leave you" to God’s Providence, and wish you" all Happiness, concluding with Da-" vid, Liberavi Animam Meam. We" do also, now that you have Our Li-" berty to depart (seing that We cannot" otherwise persuade you) require you" to make known to Our Army, how" dearly We wish them the Favour of“ Almighty God, as sent by that" Prince whose Trust is in His Provi-" hence, and whose precious Care for" their Preservation is beyond Our" Tongue to utter.

" But for your Mutinies, or such" Disobediences feared, We, that make“ Armies, know that We can dissolve" them, at Our Pleasure; And tho’

" not without Charge and some Diffi-" culty, yet far from such Extremities.

" We do require you to commend Us" to Our new Vice-Admiral, whom We" wisti as good and happy Fortune as" we rely and trust in his Honesty and" Sufficiency, for all Things that are,

" or shall be, committed to his Charge" by Ourselves, or you under Us. We" require you also to commend Us" kindly to Our Cousin of Sujfex, whose" Desire to make himself able to do Us" Service doth deserve no small Fa-" vour, and therefore we must require" all you to take Care of his well doing" 21 of May, 1596.

To these Instructions and Letters,from Her Majesty to the Lords Gene-rals, it may not be improper to add theInstructions and Articles, enjoined bytheir Lordships, to the Officers undertheir Command, as I find them in thesame Manuscript, and shall insert themWord for Word.

" Instructions and Articles Q e nerab &" down by us Robert, Earl of Ej}ex,a r udi onit lj" and Charles, Lord Howard, Lord the AM

High Admiral of England, Gene- 0 *

" rals of Her Majesty’s Forces, em-,c ployed in this Action, both by Sea" and Land, to be observed by every" Captain and chief Officer of the Na-" vy, as they will answer it at their" Perils5 And that every Ship’s Com-" pany may not be ignorant hereof,

“We do hereby streightly charge and

" command