Chap. LIII. during the Reign of §yeen Elizabeth,

1 596. " Direction given for the Charges of" their Embarking, and to what Parts" in that Realm they shall be direct-" ed. And to this End, we pray you,~ the Lord Admiral, to take Order for" Shipping for their Transportation." Now concerning the other Part of" your Lordship’s Forces (consisting ofMariners and Seafaring Men) we are" likewise to put you, the Lord Ad-miral, in Mind, of the Two Thou-sand Pounds above mentioned, re-“ maining in your Hands. And there-" fore, tho’ Her Majesty doth not" doubt, of so great Prizage, as was*• made at Cadiz, but there will beff ready Mony found to a far greater" Sum. Yet with that two ThousandPounds, your Lordship is to pay so" far as it will extend: First, those" that were impressed in these West-er Parts, who before they be dismissed" (as all the Rest) are also to be search-ed, and finding any of them to have" benefitted themselves, with the Spoiltr they had gotten, above the Value of" their Wages, so much may be law-fully deducted of their Entertain-" ment. Nevertheless, if your Lord-" ship shall want Mony, to pay the Re-" sidue that are to be discharged there,tc your Lordships may take up there," of Her Majesty’s Customers, or other-<f wife, to the Sum of two or three" Thousand Pounds, if Cause shall so" require, which shall be repaired a-" gain in such Sort as you shall ap-" point, Her Majesty having given" Order for the Sum of Five Thousandtc Pounds, towards the Sea-Charges.tc Whereof our Meaning is, that theSum which you shall borrow there,cc to the Discharge of the Mariners of" those Parts, shall be accounted asft Part, and the Rest shall be ready at" Chatham, as you, the Lord Admiral," do require, for the Mariners takenff up in those Parts. For all other“ Matters, we must refer your Lord-" ships to our late Letters, sent by Her" Majesty’s special Direction, whereof" we doubt not but you will have spe-" cial Care, how the same may be per-formed, according to Her Majesty’s" Expectation. And so we wish yourec good Lordships right heartily well to" fare. From the Court at Greenwich,

" the ioth of Augusts 1596.

T.hb Earl oi Essex, being apprehen-sive, that, at his Return, several Ob-

jections might be made to the Conduct 1 ^96.of this Expedition, drew up a Writing, MS. ?^BibLin which he himself stated them, toge-ther with his Answers to them. As they 103. Fotmay give some Light to the Circum- 2 7 nstances of this Transaction, as above re-lated, they may not be unacceptable tothe Reader; 1 shall, therefore, sub-join them, from a Manuscript in theCottoman Library, which I have thoughtfit to transcribe in the very Words andStile I found it in, altering only the ob-solete Orthography, and adding, in twoor three Places, a Particle, to renderthe Sense more perspicuous.

Objection I. " That the first and The Earl of" greatest Occasion let slip in our Vo- Essex’* De-" yage was, that we did not possess f enc ^fhs“ ourselves of the Fleet that was bound ^IhExpedi-" for the Indies ; the Leading whereof tion.cc would not only have paid all Charges" of the Journy, but have enabled us" a great while to make War with Spaing" with the Means of Spain.

Answer. " If I had been followed,

" the first Morning of our coming be-" fore that Harbour, when I bore with" it; Or, if we had entered the same,

<( Sunday in the Afternoon, when we" were under Sail, and within Cannon-(e shot of the Enemy’s Fleet; Or, after" the Men of War were taken and" burnt the. next Day; if anv ofour Shipping, nhad gone up, as Iurged by my own Speech, by Mef-" sage sent to Sir Anthony Ashley (who,

“ being Secretary of War, was to re-" cord every Man’s Services or Omisii-" ons) if any of these had been done,

" then, I say, had that Fleet been" easily possessed ; For, the first Morn-" ing, they had neither their Men onBoard, (as it was since confessed by" our Prisoners) nor were they provi-tc ded of any Council, what to do for" their Preservation. In the Afternoon" of the same Day, we had found the" Men of War, and the Merchant-tc ships all together, in one Body, andengaged them both at once; So as, at" the same Time, as we had defeated" the one, we had possessed the other •

" And the next Day, presently upon" the Fight and Victory against the" King’s Ships, we had found them all" so amazed and confounded, as theywould have thought of nothing but" saving themselves, and we had taken" the Ships, and the Riches in them;fC and the Fleet of Gallies, without

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