In The Mean Time, Matters Remained Long In Suspense, During Which Drake
Must Have Suffered Considerable Anxiety, Lest, After All His Toils
Abroad, He Might Be Deemed A Pirate At Home.
The queen long delayed to
declare her sentiments, perhaps wishing to see what effects her conduct
might have with the court of Spain, which was probably withheld from
precipitating hostilities, by the hope of being able to recover this
great treasure.
To keep up this hope, she artfully consented to part
with some small sums to Mendoza, the Spanish ambassador. At length,
matters coming to a crisis, she threw off the veil, and giving notice to
Captain Drake of her intentions, she visited him on the 4th April, 1581,
on board his ship, then at Deptford, where she was magnificently
entertained; and, after dinner, she was graciously pleased to confer the
honour of knighthood on Captain Drake, telling him that his actions did
him more honour than the title she had conferred. A prodigious crowd
attended the queen on this occasion, so that the bridge laid from the
ship to the shore broke down with their weight, and more than 200
persons fell into the Thames, yet no one was drowned, or even materially
hurt. After this public approbation from the sovereign, all ranks of
people redoubled their congratulations, and henceforward the reputation
of Sir Francis Drake continually increased, so that he became a kind of
oracle in maritime affairs, both to the nation and the court. - Here,
strictly speaking, we ought to conclude our account of this illustrious
navigator; yet it may not be amiss to give a short sketch of his
succeeding actions.
The war with Spain still continuing, he went out in 1585, general by sea
and land, of an expedition to the West Indies, where he took the cities
of St Jago, St Domingo, and Carthagena, and the fort and town of St
Augustine; returning from this expedition with great glory and
advantage, the profits amounting to L60,000, after defraying all
charges, of which L20,000 were divided among the seamen, and L40,000
came clear to the undertakers or adventurers. In 1587, he had the
command of another fleet, with which he sailed to the bay of Cadiz, and
thence to the Tagus, where he destroyed 10,000 tons of shipping, which
the king of Spain had collected for the purpose of invading England. He
likewise brought home the St Philip, a very rich prize, said by the
writers of these times to have been the first carack ever taken and
brought home to England.
In the glorious year 1588, by commission from the queen, Sir Francis
Drake was appointed vice-admiral of the fleet of England, then fitted
out for opposing the invincible Spanish Armada. In this arduous
service, on which the independence and existence of England depended, he
performed even more than his former actions gave reason to expect. In
the very beginning of the fight, he captured two very large ships of
war, one commanded by the Spanish vice-admiral Oquendas, and the other
by Don Pedro de Valdez.
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