reaped from the confequences all the advantages they could have wifhed; it furnished them with an opportunity of attacking their huge fhips fingly with what force they thought proper; and of coming to a general engagement, before the Spaniards were recovered from the dreadful panic with which they were ftruck. Drake and Forbifher, experienced fea-officers as eyer the world produced, well knew how to improve this critical turn of fortune in their favour, and refolutely attacked the duke of Medina's own fquadron before it could be half formed, and made terrible havock, while the other commanders were as vigilant in feeking out the fcattered remains of Levya's and Ricaldo's; in a word, the fea feemed covered with wrecks; and the flower of the English nobility, who had waited on fhore for the event of this engagement, feeing all fears over from the Spaniards landing, flocked on board the fhips, which were now increased to the number of 150 fail, to be fharers in the glory of delivering their country from flavery and papal tyranny.

In vain did the duke of Medina, in this lamentable distress, endeavour to regain the British channel; winds as well as waves fought against him, and drove him on the coaft of Zealand, where he must have perished, without any other enemies than tides, fhelves, rocks, and fands, had not Providence referved him to experience farther dangers.

The English, well knowing that they must inevitably fhare in one common deftruction if· they pursued, prudently gave over the chace; and the duke, having now no other views than thofe of felf-prefervation (the wind chopping about in the very inftant of his greateft danger), called a council of war, in which it was refolved to fail for Spain, by the northern paffage. In B S

this

this refolution they weighed anchor; but a ftorm arofe, that croffed their hopes for a while, and left them once more at the mercy of the English, who, penetrating their defign, purfued them beyond the Firth of Edinburgh, tho' with no other advantage, than that of weakening their crippled fhips ftill more, and expofing them thereby to the fury of the firft tempeft that happened, which afterwards effectually deftroyed them.

In the feveral engagements on the British coaft, 15 of their ftouteft fhips, befides tranfports, were either deftroyed or taken on the coaft of Ireland, fome were funk, fome dashed to pieces against the rocks, fome run on fands, and fome were burnt by the Spaniards themfelves. Between the rivers of Lochfoille and Lochfwille, on the north coaft, 9 were ftranded, and the crews forced to feek for fuccour among the wild Irish. In the bay of Calbeggy, three more run upon the rocks, and most of the men perished. In the bay of Barreys, a large fhip of 1000 tons, and 54 fine brafs cannon, was funk, and all on board perished, saving 16, who, by their apparel, feemed perfons of great diftinction. On the coaft of 7 hommond, two fhips more perished, one whereof they fired; the other was, loft off St. Sebaftians, and had 300 men on board, 240 of whom were drowned. Before Sir Tirlogh Obicne's houfe, another great ship was loft, fuppofed to be a Galteas. In short, from the 21st of July, when this vaunting Armada was first beaten by the English, until the 10th of September following, when the fhattered remains of it paffed the Irish coaft, it fhould feem that it had never one good day or night; fo that of 132 fhips that arrived in the British channel, fcarce 70 of them returned home again; and of 30,000 fouls on board,

upwards

upwards of 20,000 were either killed, or drowned, or remained prifoners in England.-Such was the fate of this vain-glorious enterprize.

The Reliques that are preferved here of this memorable Victory, fo glorious for our Country, together with fome other curiofities of the like Kind,

are,

1. The common foldiers pikes, 18 feet long, pointed with long fharp fpikes, and fhod with iron, which were defigned to keep off the horse, to facilitate the landing of their foot.

2. The Spanish officers -lances, finely engraven; these were formerly gilt, but the gilding is now almoft worn out with cleaning.—There is a story current concerning thefe, that when Don Pedro de Valdez, already mentioned, paffed examination before lord Burleigh, he told his lordship, that those fine-polished lances were put on board to bleed the English with; to which that nobleman reply'd jokingly, that, if he was not miftaken, the English had performed that operation better on their good friends the Spaniards with worse inftruments.

3. The Spanish Ranceur, made in different forms, which were intended either to kill the men on horseback, or pull them off their horses. At the back is a fpike, with which, they tell you, they were to pick tire roaft beef out of the Englishman's teeth -On one of them is a piece of filver coin, which they intended to make current on it are three heads, fuppofed to be the Pope's, Philip II's, and queen Mary's.This is a curiofity that moft Spaniards come to fee.

4. An uncommon piece of arms, being a pistol and a fhield, fo contrived as to fire the piftol, and cover the body at the fame time with

B 6

the

the fhield. It is to be fired by a match-lock, and the fight of the enemy is to be taken through a little grate in the fhield, which is pistol-proof.

5. A fmall train of 10 pieces of pretty little cannon, neatly mounted on proper carriages, being a prefent from the foundery of London to king Charles I. when a child, to practife the art of gunnery with. Thefe, tho' no part of the Spanish fpoils, are yet a great curiofity.

6. The banner with a crucifix upon it, which was to have been carried before the Spanish general. On it is engraven the Pope's benedic. tion before the Spanish fleet failed: for the Pope came to the waterfide, and on feeing the fleet bleffed it, and, as has been faid, ftyled it I N

VINCIBLE.

7. Danish and Saxon clubs, which weapons thofe people jointly are faid to have used in the conqueft of England, and are, perhaps, curiofities of the greatest antiquity of any in the TowER, having lain there about 850 years. The warders call them the Women's Weapons, because, say they, the British women made a prize of them, when in one night they all confpired together, and cut the throats of 35,000 Danes, the greateft piece of fecrecy the English women ever kept, for which they have ever fince been honoured with the right-hand of the man, the upper end of the table, and the first cut of every dish of victuals they happen to like the best.—Indeed, in 1002, a prodigious flaughter was made of the Danes, on the feaft of St. Brice, not by the fecret confpiracy of the women alone, but by the private orders of Ethelred II. who com manded his officers on that day to extirpate the whole race of the Danes out of his dominions at once, fparing neither man, woman nor child; which orders were fo pun&tually obeyed, that only about 16, who got on board a fhip, efcaped;

efcaped; but thefe alarming their countrymen, they afterwards returned, and took a fevere revenge.

8. The Spanish cravats, as they are called; thefe are engines of torture, made of iron, and put on board to lock the feet, arms, and heads, of English heretics together.

9. Spanish bilboes, made of iron likewise, to yoke the English prifoners two and two.

10. Spanish hot, which are of four forts; fpike-fhot, ftar-fhot, chain-fhot, and linkfhot, all admirably contrived, as well for the deftruction of the mafts and rigging of ships, as for the fweeping the decks of their men. But fome attribute the invention of these to admiral Drake, to be employed against the Spaniards.

11. Spanish fpadas poifoned at the points, fo that if a man received but ever so fight a wound with one of thofe, it proved certain death.

12. Spanish halberts, or fpears, fome whereof are curiously engraven and inlaid with gold. 13. The ax, with which queen Ann Bullen (mother to queen Elizabeth) was beheaded. This was performed May 19, 1526, a little before noon, by an executioner fent for on purpose from Calais. At the time of her death fhe was not quite 30 years of age, and fell a facrifice to the jealoufy or rather caprice of Henry VIII. to whom she was lawfully married. The earl of Effex (queen Elizabeth's favourite) was likewife beheaded with the fame ax.

14. A Spanish pole-ax used in boarding of

fhips.

15. Thumb-fcrews, of which there were feveral chefts full on board the Spanish fleet. The ufe they were intended for is faid to have been to extort confeffion from the English where their money was hid, had that cruel people prevailed. Certain it is, that, after the defeat, the

whole