in matters of such a nature. The man who can endeavour to give a false view of an important and interesting event in English history, cannot reasonably be surprised, if no reliance is placed on any of the statements which he may put forth.

The papal historian also mentions the Queen's determination to disband the army, as another proof that all danger was over, when she was at Tilbury, on the 9th of August. Now it is quite certain, that on the 9th of August, the second day after the admiral's return, the Queen's council could have known nothing of the fate of the Spanish fleet. Some time after, indeed, the council heard that the armada was steering its course towards Spain, and that the King of Scotland had issued strict orders that the Spaniards should not be permitted to land; and then the Queen gave an order for discharging a portion of the navy. But even after this order had been issued, a report was in circulation, that the Spanish navy had refreshed itself in the north, and was about to return to join the Duke of Parma. This report occasioned the previous orders to be countermanded, and the whole fleet was retained in readiness for action. In this posture did the English navy remain during eight or ten days, or to the latter end of August; and then, and not till then, the council received certain intelligence of the fate of the armada. Though, therefore, the danger was actually over on the 9th of August, when the Queen delivered her speech to the army at Tilbury, yet the

council did not know it; on the contrary, they expected that the armada would return, and that Parma would attempt to land his forces*. 40mm

It is in this way that such men as Dr. Lingard falsify the truth of history in those points in which the principles of the Church of Rome are involved. The papal historian has, in many points, evinced a disposition to fairness; but on all subjects connected with his own church, he is most partial and uncandidt.

* Letter to Mendoza, 34, 35.

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It appears to me that Dr. Nares, in his valuable Life of Lord Burleigh, has unintentionally, in a note, given some countenance to Dr. Lingard's statement, that the danger was over when the Queen was at Tilbury. The following is the note: "Queen Elizabeth has had the credit given her of being the occasion of people eating goose for dinner on Michaelmas-day; for having feasted upon a savoury one, on her way to Tilbury, and calling for a half-pint bumper of Burgundy to drink destruction to the Spanish fleet, she had no sooner drank it, than the news of its dispersion arrived. To commemorate, at once, the day, the dinner, and the victory, she ever afterwards, we are told, ate goose on St. Michael's day, in which she was followed by the court."-NARES'S Memoirs of Lord Burleigh, vol. iii. 334. Now it will be seen from what is stated in this chapter, that the statement contained in the note is erroneous; for the Queen's visit occurred long before St. Michael's day. Such a note should not have been inserted by Dr. Nares without pointing out its inaccuracy.

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CHAPTER V.

Armada attempts to return to Spain. The English Admiral quits the Chase. A Storm overtakes the Armada. Disasters. Spanish Reports of Success. Philip's Conduct on hearing of his Loss. Spaniards ridiculed. Spanish Reasons for the Failure. The Pope writes a Letter of Condolence to Philip.

On arriving at the decision mentioned in the preceding chapter, the Spaniards steered their course northward, in order to save their fleet, and reach the coast of Spain without interruption. How their hopes were disappointed remains now to be told.

During the previous actions, the English fleet, from some unaccountable cause, was deficient in ammunition, so that the battle could not be sustained with that vigour with which it would have been carried on had the necessary means been furnished by the Queen's government. Had this deficiency been known to the Spaniards, they would undoubtedly have acted differently in the matter. It was, however, graciously ordered that they should be ignorant of the wants of the English fleet.

In chasing the armada, the English admiral was especially careful to prevent them from putting into any of the Scottish ports. When it was perceived that the Spaniards were disposed to quit the coast of Scotland, and to return to Spain with all possible expedition, the English admiral determined to have

a farewell engagement with them near Flamborough Head. The Spanish commander was so alarmed at the prospect of a passage to Spain by the northern seas, that he would have struck his flag at the approach of the English navy, had he not been prevented by the priests on board the armada. In spite of all their efforts, he had determined to do so, if he should be again attacked. The English admiral was determined to attack the Spaniards; but two hours before the time fixed for the commencement of the engagement, a flag was hung out in the Vice-Admiral to summon a council, when it was found that they had not sufficient ammunition to sustain an action. It was resolved, therefore, to return to the Downs; so that in this instance fortune also favoured the Spaniard, for again, in consequence of the lack of ammunition, the admiral was under the necessity of relinquishing the battle, and the armada sailed away unmolested. On both these occasions, but for the want of ammunition, much more damage would have been sustained by the armada*. Still the providence of God so ordered it, that the greater portion of the boasted Invincible Armada should perish in another way. The deliverance was owing to the divine interposition, without the aid of human policy; and the nation, as will be seen in the sequel, were willing to give God the glory of the victory.

CARTE, iii. 629.

TURNER'S Elizabeth, 681. WATSON'S Philip II. vol. ii. 267.

In

After chasing the armada for three days, the English admiral, his ammunition failing, was compelled to return. The night after the separation of the two fleets, a violent storm arose: the misfortunes of the Spaniards now commenced in reality. consequence of the want of their anchors, which had been lost in the Straits of Dover, when the sudden appearance of the fire-ships dispersed the fleet, they were driven about at the mercy of the storm. From this moment their dangers became more and more imminent, and comparatively few of the ships ever reached the Spanish coast.

Some particulars respecting the disasters of the Invincible Armada will not be uninteresting to the reader, who will not fail to discover the hand of God in the chastisement inflicted on a fleet to which a blasphemous appellation was applied.

It was early in the month of August, when the English admiral quitted the armada. The two fleets were not very distant from each other when the storm already alluded to arose. The English ships suffered but little, but the Spaniards were involved in the greatest difficulties. The armada continued to sail about the Orkneys, losing many men, as was evidenced by the bodies which were washed on the shore. It appears that the month of August, in the year 1588, was unusually cold and tempestuous. Being desirous to reach the coast of Spain, they endeavoured, at the latter end of the month, to get out to sea; but the