Chapter LXX: Section X

_Sea-fight near the Azores, between the Revenge man of war, commanded by Sir Richard Granville, and fifteen Spanish men of war_, 31_st August_ 1591. _Written by Sir Walter Raleigh_[371].

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE[372].

Because the rumours are diversely spread, as well in England as in the Low Countries and elsewhere, of this late encounter between her majestys ships and the armada of Spain; and that the Spaniards, according to their usual manner, fill the world with their vain-glorious vaunts, making great shew of victories, when on the contrary themselves are most commonly and shamefully beaten and dishonoured, thereby hoping to possess the ignorant multitude by anticipating and forerunning false reports: It is agreeable with all good reason, for manifestation of the truth, to overcome falsehood and untruth, that the beginning, continuance, and success of this late honourable encounter by Sir Richard Grenville, and others her majestys captains, with the armada[373] of Spain, should be truly set down and published, without partiality or false imaginations. And it is no marvel that the Spaniards should seek, by false and slanderous pamphlets, _advisos_, and letters, to cover their own loss, and to derogate from others their due honours, especially in this fight being far off; seeing they were not ashamed, in the year 1588, when they purposed the invasion of this land, to publish in sundry languages in print, great victories in words, which they pretended to have obtained against this realm, and spread the same in a most false sort over all parts of France, Italy, and other countries. When, shortly after it was happily manifested in very deed to all nations, how their navy, which they termed _invincible_, consisting of 140 sail of ships, not only of their own kingdom, but strengthened with the greatest argosies, Portugal caraks, Florentines, and huge hulks of other countries, were by 80 of her majestys own ships of war, and a few belonging to our own merchants, by the wise, valiant, and advantageous conduct of the lord Charles Howard, high admiral of England, beaten and shuffled together, even from the Lizard in Cornwall, first to Portland where they shamefully left Don Pedro de Valdes with his mighty ship: from Portland to Calais, where they lost Hugo de Moncado with the gallies of which he was captain: and from Calais driven by squibs from their anchors, were chased out of sight of England, round about Scotland and Ireland. Where for the sympathy of their barbarous religion, hoping to find succour and assistance, a great part of them were crushed against the rocks, and those others that landed, being very many in number, were notwithstanding broken, slain, and taken, and so sent from village to village, coupled in halters, to be shipped for England. Where her majesty, of her princely and invincible disposition, disdaining to put them to death, and scorning either to retain or entertain them, they were all sent back again into their countries, to witness and recount the worthy achievements of their invincible and dreadful navy: of which, the number of soldiers, the fearful burden of their ships, the commanders names of every squadron, with all their magazines of provisions were put in print, as an army and navy irresistible and disdaining prevention. With all which so great and terrible ostentation, they did not, in all their sailing about England, so much as sink or take one ship, bark, pinnace, or cock-boat of ours, or ever burnt so much as one sheep-cot of this land. When, as on the contrary, Sir Francis Drake, with only 800 soldiers, not long before landed in their Indies, and forced San Jago, Santo Domingo, Carthagena, and the forts of Florida.

[Footnote 371: Hakluyt, II. 668. Astley, I. 216.]

[Footnote 372: This preliminary discourse, by the famous Sir Walter Raleigh, is given from Hakluyt without alteration, except in orthography.--E.]

[Footnote 373: Armada is a general word, signifying in Spanish a ship of war or a fleet or squadron. Generally in English it has been limited to the invincible armada, or powerful fleet fitted out by Philip II. in the vain hope of conquering England.--E.]

And after that, Sir John Norris marched from Peniche in Portugal with a handful of soldiers to the gates of Lisbon, being above 40 English miles: Where the earl of Essex himself, and other valiant gentlemen, braved the city of Lisbon, encamping at the very gates: from whence, after many days abode, finding neither promised parley nor provision wherewith to batter, they made their retreat by land, in spite of all their garrisons both of horse and foot. In this sort I have a little digressed from my first purpose, only by the necessary comparison of their and our actions: the one covetous of honour, without vaunt or ostentation; the other so greedy to purchase the opinion of their own affairs, and by false rumours to resist the blasts of their own dishonours, as they will not only not blush to spread all manner of untruths, but even for the least advantage, be it but for the taking of one poor adventurer of the English, will celebrate the victory with bonefires in every town, always spending more in faggots than the purchase they obtained was worth. Whereas, we never thought it worth the consumption of two billets, when we have taken eight or ten of their Indian ships at one time, and twenty of their Brazil fleet. Such is the difference between true valour and vain ostentation, and between honourable actions and frivolous vain-glorious boasting. But to return to my purpose:

NARRATIVE.

The Lord Thomas Howard, with six of her majestys ships, six victuallers of London, the bark Raleigh, and two or three pinnaces, riding at anchor near Flores, one of the western islands called the Azores, on the last of August 1591, in the afternoon, had intelligence by one captain Middleton, of the approach of the Spanish armada. This Middleton, being in a very good sailing ship, had kept them company for three days before, of good purpose, both to discover their force, and to give the lord admiral advice of their approach. He had no sooner communicated the news, when the Spanish fleet hove in sight; at which time, many belonging to our ships companies were on shore in the island of Flores, some providing ballast for the ships, others filling water, and others refreshing themselves from the land with such things as they could procure either for money or by force. Owing to this, our ships were all in confusion, pestered, rummaging, and every thing out of order, very light for want of ballast; and what was most of all to their disadvantage, the half of the men in every ship was sick and unserviceable. For in the Revenge, there were ninety sick; in the Bonaventure, not so many in health as could hand her mainsail, insomuch, that unless twenty men had been taken from a bark of Sir George Careys which was sunk, and appointed into her, she had hardly been able to get back to England. The rest of the ships for the most part were in little better state.

The names of her majestys ships were as follows: The Defiance, admiral, the Revenge, vice-admiral, the Bonaventure commanded by captain Crosse, the Lion by George Fenner, the Foresight by Thomas Vavasour, and the Crane by Duffild. The Foresight and Crane were small ships, the other four were of the middle size. All the others, except the bark Raleigh, commanded by captain Thin, were victuallers, and of small or no force. The approach of the Spanish fleet being concealed by means of the island, they were soon at hand, so that our ships had scarce time to weigh their anchors, and some even were obliged to slip their cables and set sail. Sir Richard Grenville was the last to weigh, that he might recover the men who were a land on the island, who had otherwise been lost. The lord Thomas Howard, with the rest of the fleet, very hardly recovered the wind, which Sir Richard was unable to do; on which his master and others endeavoured to persuade him to cut his main sail and cast about, trusting to the swift sailing of his ship, as the squadron of Seville was on his weather bow. But Sir Richard absolutely refused to turn from the enemy, declaring he would rather die than dishonour himself, his country, and her majestys ship, and persuaded his company that he would be able to pass through the two squadrons in spite of them, and force those of Seville to give him way. This he certainly performed upon divers of the foremost, who, as the sailors term it, sprang their luff, and fell under the lee of the Revenge. The other course had certainly been the better, and might very properly have been adopted under so great impossibility of prevailing over such heavy odds; but, out of the greatness of his mind, he could not be prevailed on to have the semblance of fleeing.

In the meantime, while Sir Richard attended to those ships of the enemy that were nearest him and in his way, the great San Philip being to windward of him, and coming down towards him, becalmed his sails in such sort that his ship could neither make way nor feel the helm, so huge and high was the Spanish ship, being of fifteen hundred tons, and which presently laid the Revenge on board. At this time, bereft of his sails, the ships that had fallen under his lee, luffed up and laid him on board also, the first of these that now came up being the vice-admiral of the Biscay squadron, a very mighty and puissant ship, commanded by Brittandona. The San Philip carried three tier of ordnance on a side, and eleven pieces in each tier, besides eight pieces in her forecastle chase, and others from her stern-ports. After the Revenge was thus entangled by the huge San Philip, four others laid her on board, two to larboard and two to starboard. The fight thus began at three in the afternoon, and continued very terribly the whole of that evening. But the great San Philip, having received a discharge from the lower tier of the Revenge, loaded with cross-bar shot, shifted herself with all diligence from her side, utterly disliking this her first entertainment. Some say the San Philip foundered, but we cannot report this for a truth, not having sufficient assurance. Besides the mariners, the Spanish ships were filled with companies of soldiers, some having to the number of two hundred, some five hundred, and others as far even as eight hundred. In ours, there were none besides the mariners, except the servants of the commanders, and some few gentlemen volunteers.

After interchanging many vollies of great ordnance and small shot, the Spaniards deliberated to enter the Revenge by boarding, and made several attempts, hoping to carry her by the multitudes of their armed soldiers and musketeers, but were still repulsed again and again, being on every attempt beaten back into their own ships or into the sea. In the beginning of the fight, the George Noble of London being only one of the victuallers, and of small force, having received some shot through her from the Spanish _armadas_, fell under the lee of the Revenge, and the master of her asked Sir Richard what he was pleased to command him; on which Sir Richard bad him save himself as he best might, leaving him to his fortune. After the fight had thus continued without intermission, while the day lasted, and some hours of the night, many of our men were slain and hurt; one of the great galeons of the armada and the admiral of the hulks both sunk, and a great slaughter had taken place in many of the other great Spanish ships. Some allege that Sir Richard was very dangerously hurt almost in the beginning of the fight, and lay speechless for a time ere he recovered: But two men belonging to the Revenge, who came home in a ship of Lyme from the islands, and were examined by some of the lords and others, affirmed, that he was never so much wounded as to forsake the upper deck till an hour before midnight, and being then shot in the body by a musket ball, was shot again in the head as the surgeon was dressing him, the surgeon himself being at the same time wounded to death. This also agrees with an examination of four other returned mariners of the same ship, taken before Sir Francis Godolphin, and sent by him to master William Killegrue of her majestys privy chamber.

To return to the fight: As the Spanish ships which attempted to board the Revenge were wounded and beaten off, so always others came up in their places, she never having less than two mighty galeons by her sides and close on board her; so that ere morning, from three o'clock of the day before, she had been successively assailed by no less than fifteen several armadas or great ships of war; and all of them had so ill approved their entertainment, that, by break of day, they were far more willing to hearken to a composition, than hastily to make any more assaults or entries for boarding. But as the day advanced, so our men decreased in number, and as the light grew more and more, by so much more increased the discomforts of our men. For now nothing appeared in sight but enemies, save one small ship called the Pilgrim, commanded by Jacob Whiddon, who hovered all night to see what might be the event; but, bearing up towards the Revenge in the morning, was hunted like a hare among so many ravenous hounds, yet escaped.

All the powder of the Revenge was now spent to the very last barrel, all her pikes broken, forty of her best men slain, and most part of the rest wounded. In the beginning of the fight, she had 90 of her men lying sick on the ballast in the hold, and only 100 capable of duty, a small crew for such a ship, and a weak garrison to resist so mighty an army. By this brave hundred was the whole of this hot fight sustained, the volleys, boardings, assaults, and entries, from fifteen great ships of war all full of men, besides those which had cannonaded her from a distance. On the contrary, the Spanish ships were always supplied with fresh soldiers from the several squadrons of this vast fleet, and had all manner of arms and powder at will; while to our men there remained no hope or comfort, no supply either of ships, men, weapons, or powder. The masts were all beaten overboard; all her tackle was cut asunder; her upper works all battered to pieces, and in effect evened with the water, nothing but the hull or bottom of the ship remaining, nothing being left over-head for flight or for defence.

Finding his ship in this distress, and altogether unable for any longer resistance, after fifteen hours constant fighting against fifteen great ships of war which assailed him in turns, having received by estimation 800 shot of great ordnance, besides many assaults and entries; and considering that he and his ship must now soon be in possession of the enemy, who had arranged their ships in a ring round about the Revenge, which was now unable to move any way, except as acted on by the waves; Sir Richard called for his master gunner, whom he knew to be a most resolute man, and commanded him to split and sink the ship, that nothing of glory or victory might remain to the enemy, who with so great a navy, and in so long a time, were unable to take her. They had fifty-three ships of war, and above 10,000 men, and had been engaged against this single ship for fifteen hours. At the same time, Sir Richard endeavoured to prevail upon as many of the company as he could influence, to commit themselves to the mercy of God, and not of their enemies, since they had like valiant men repulsed so many enemies, urging them not now to obscure their honour and that of their nation, for the sake of prolonging their lives a few days. The master gunner and various others of the crew readily assented to this desperate resolution; but the captain and master were quite of an opposite opinion, and conjured Sir Richard to desist from his desperate proposal; alleging that the Spaniards would be as ready to agree to a capitulation as they to offer it; and begged him to consider, that there still were many valiant men still living in the ship, and others whose wounds might not be mortal, who might be able to do acceptable service to their queen and country hereafter. And, although Sir Richard had alleged that the Spaniards should never have the glory of taking one ship of her majesty, which had been so long and valiantly defended; they answered, that the ship had six feet water in her hold, and three shot holes under water, which were so weakly stopped, that she must needs sink with the first labouring of the sea, and was besides so battered and bruised, that she could never be removed from the place.

While the matter was thus in dispute, Sir Richard refusing to listen to any reasons, the captain won over the most part to his opinion, and the master was conveyed on board the Spanish general, Don Alfonso Baçan. Finding none of his people very ready to attempt boarding the Revenge again, and fearing lest Sir Richard might blow up both them and himself, as he learned from the master his dangerous disposition; Don Alfonso agreed that all their lives should be saved, the ships company sent to England, and the better sort to pay such reasonable ransom as their estate could bear, all in the meantime to be free from prison or the gallies. He so much the rather consented to these terms, lest any farther loss or mischief might accrue to themselves, and for the preservation of Sir Richard, whose notable valour he greatly honoured and admired. On receiving this answer, in which the safety of life was promised; the common sort, now at the end of their peril, mostly drew back from the proposal of Sir Richard and the master gunner, it being no hard matter to dissuade men from death to life. Finding himself and Sir Richard thus prevented and mastered by the majority, the master gunner would have slain himself with his sword, but was prevented by main force, and locked up in his cabin.

Then the Spanish general sent many boats on board the Revenge, and several of her men, fearing Sir Richards disposition, stole away on board the general and other ships. Thus constrained to submit, Sir Richard was desired by a message from Alfonso Baçan to remove from the Revenge, as it was filled with blood and the bodies of the slain, and with wounded men, like a slaughter-house. Sir Richard gave for answer, that he might do now with his body what he pleased; and while removing from the ship, he fainted away, and on recovering he requested the company to pray for him. The Spanish general used Sir Richard with all humanity, leaving no means untried that tended towards his recovery, highly commending his valour and worthiness, and greatly bewailing his dangerous condition; seeing that it was a rare spectacle, and an instance of resolution seldom met with, for one ship to withstand so many enemies, to endure the batteries and boardings of so many huge ships of war, and to resist and repel the assaults and entries of such numbers of soldiers. All this and more is confirmed, by the recital of a Spanish captain in that same fleet, who was himself engaged in this action, and, being severed from the rest in a storm, was taken by the Lion, a small ship belonging to London, and is now prisoner in London.

The general commanding this great armada, was Don Alphonso Baçan, brother to the Marquis of Santa Cruz. Britandona was admiral of the squadron of Biscay. The Marquis of Arumburch [Aremberg] commanded the squadron of Seville. Luis Coutinho commanded the hulks and flyboats. There were slain and drowned in this fight, as the before-mentioned Spanish captain confessed, near a thousand of the enemy, with two special commanders, Don Luis de San Juan, and Don George de Prunaria de Mallaga, besides others of special account whose names have not yet been reported. The admiral of the hulks and the Ascension of Seville were both sunk at the side of the Revenge. One other ship, which got into the road of San Miguel, sank there also; and a fourth ship had to run on shore to save her men. Sir Richard, as it is said, died the second or third day on board the general, much bewailed by his enemies; but we have not heard what became of his body, whether it were committed to the sea or buried on land. The comfort remaining to his friends is, that he ended his life honourably, having won great reputation for his nation and his posterity, and hath not outlived his honour.

For the rest of her majestys ships, that entered not into the fight like the Revenge, the reasons and causes were these: There were of them only six in all, two whereof were only small ships; and they could be of no service, as the Revenge was engaged past recovery. The island of Flores was on one side; 53 sail of Spanish ships were on the other, divided into several squadrons, all as full of soldiers as they could contain. Almost one half of our men were sick and unable to serve; the ships were grown foul, _unroomaged_[374], and hardly able to bear any sail for want of ballast, having been six months at sea. If all the rest of the ships had entered into the action, they had been all lost; for the very hugeness of the Spanish ships, even if no other violence had been offered, might have crushed them all into shivers between them; by which the loss and dishonour to the queen had been far greater, than any injury the enemy could have sustained. It is nevertheless true, that the Lord Thomas Howard would have entered between the squadrons of the enemy, but the others would on no account consent; and even the master of his own ship threatened to leap into the sea, rather than conduct the admirals ship and the rest to be a certain prey to the enemy, where there was no hope or possibility of victory or even of defence. In my opinion, such rashness would have ill assorted with the discretion and trust of a general, to have committed himself and his charge to assured destruction, without any hope or likelihood of prevailing, thereby to have diminished the strength of her majestys navy, and to have increased the pride and glory of the enemy.

[Footnote 374: This singular antiquated sea term may signify, not in sailing _trim_.--E.]

The Foresight, one of her majestys vessels, commanded by Thomas Vavasour, performed a very great service, and staid two hours as near the Revenge as the weather would permit, not forsaking the fight till well nigh encompassed by the squadrons of the enemy, and then cleared himself with great difficulty. The rest gave diverse vollies of shot, and engaged as far as the place and their own necessities permitted, so as to keep the weather-gage of the enemy, till night parted them.

A few days after this fight, the prisoners being dispersed among the Spanish ships of war and ships from the Indies, there arose so great a storm from the W. and N.W. that all the fleet was dispersed, as well the fleet of the Indies then come to them as the rest of the armada that had attended their arrival, of which 14 sail, together with the Revenge having 200 Spaniards on board of her, were cast away upon the island of St Michael. Thus they honoured the obsequies of the renowned Revenge, for the great glory she had achieved, not permitting her to perish alone. Besides these, other 15 or 16 of the Spanish ships of war were cast away in this storm upon the other islands of the Azores: And, of an 100 sail and more of the fleet of the Indies, which were expected this year in Spain, what with the loss sustained in this tempest, and what before in the bay of Mexico and about the Bermuda islands, above 70 were lost, including those taken by our London ships; besides one very rich ship of the Indies, which set herself on fire being boarded by the Pilgrim, and five others taken by the ship belonging to Mr Wats of London between the Havannah and Cape St Antonio. On the 4th of November this year, we had letters from Tercera, affirming that 3000 dead bodies had been thrown upon that island from the perished ships, and that the Spaniards confessed to have lost 10,000 men in this storm, besides those who perished between the main and the islands. Thus it hath pleased God to fight for us, and to defend the justice of our cause, against the ambitious and bloody pretences of the Spaniards, who seeking to devour all nations are themselves devoured: A manifest testimony how unjust and displeasing are their attempts in the sight of God, who hath been pleased to witness, by the evil success of their affairs, his mislike of their bloody and injurious designs, purposed and practised against all Christian princes, over whom they seek unlawful and ungodly rule and supreme command.

A day or two before this terrible catastrophe, when some of our prisoners desired to be set on shore on the Azores islands, hoping to be thence transported into England, and which liberty had been formerly promised by the Spanish general; one Morice Fitz John, (son of old John of Desmond, a notable traitor, who was cousin-german to the late earl of Desmond,) was sent from ship to ship to endeavour to persuade the English prisoners to serve the king of Spain. The arguments he used to induce them were these. Increase of pay to treble their present allowance; advancement to the better sort; and the free exercise of the true catholic religion, ensuring the safety of all their souls. For the first of these, the beggarly and unnatural behaviour of those English and Irish rebels that served the king of Spain in that action was a sufficient answer; for so poor and ragged were they, that, for want of apparel, they stripped the poor prisoners their countrymen of their ragged garments, worn out by six months service, not even sparing to despoil them of their bloody shirts from their wounded bodies, and the very shoes from their feet; a noble testimony of their rich entertainment and high pay. As to the second argument, of hope of advancement if they served well and continued faithful to the king of Spain; what man could be so blockishly ignorant ever to expect promotion and honour from a foreign king, having no other merit or pretension than his own disloyalty, his unnatural desertion of his country and parents, and rebellion against his true prince, to whose obedience he is bound by oath, by nature, and by religion? No! such men are only assured to be employed on all desperate enterprizes, and to be held in scorn and disdain even among those they serve. That ever a traitor was either trusted or advanced I have never learnt, neither can I remember a single example. No man could have less becomed the office of orator for such a purpose, than this Morice of Desmond: For, the earl his cousin, being one of the greatest subjects in the kingdom of Ireland, possessing almost whole counties in his large property, many goodly manors, castles, and lordships, the county palatine of Kerry, 500 gentlemen of his own family and name ready to follow him, all which he and his ancestors had enjoyed in peace for three or four hundred years: Yet this man, in less than three years after his rebellion and adherence to the Spaniards, was beaten from all his holds, not so many as ten gentlemen of his name left living, himself taken and beheaded by a gentleman of his own nation, and his lands given by parliament to her majesty and possessed by the English. His other cousin, Sir John Desmond, taken by Mr John Zouch; and his body hung up over the gates of his native city to be devoured by ravens. The third brother, Sir James, hanged, drawn, and quartered in the same place. Had he been able to vaunt of the success of his own house, in thus serving the king of Spain, the argument might doubtless have moved much and wrought great effect: the which, because he happened to forget, I have thought good to remember in his behalf.

As for the matter of religion, to which he adverted, it would require a separate volume, were I to set down how irreligiously they cover their greedy and ambitious pretences with that veil of pretended piety. But sure I am, there is no kingdom or commonwealth in all Europe that they do not invade, under pretence of religion, if it be reformed. Nay if it even be what they term catholic, they pretend a title, as if the kings of Castile were the natural heirs of all the world. Thus between both, no kingdom is exempted from their ambition. Where they dare not invade with their own forces, they basely entertain the traitors and vagabonds of all nations; seeking by their means, and by their runagate Jesuits, to win other parts to their dominion, by which they have ruined many noble houses and others in this land, extinguishing their lives and families. What good, honour, or fortune, any one hath ever yet achieved through them, is yet unheard of. If our English papists will only look to Portugal, against which they have no pretence of religion; how their nobility are imprisoned and put to death, their rich men made a prey, and all sorts of people reduced to servitude; they shall find that the obedience even of the Turk is ease and liberty, compared to the tyranny of Spain. What have they done in Sicily, in Naples, in Milan, in the low countries? Who hath there been spared even for religion? It cometh to my remembrance of a certain burgher at Antwerp, whose house was entered by a company of Spanish soldiers when they sacked that city. He besought them to spare him and his goods, being a good catholic, and therefore one of their own party and faction. The Spaniards answered, they knew him to be of a good conscience in himself; but his money, plate, jewels, and goods, were all heretical, and therefore good prize. So they abused and tormented the foolish Fleming, who thought that an _Agnus Dei_ had been a sufficient safeguard against all the force of that holy and charitable nation.

Neither have they at any time, as they protest, invaded the kingdoms of Mexico and Peru and elsewhere, being only led thereto to reduce the people to Christianity, not for gold or empire: Whereas, in the single island of Hispaniola, they have wasted and destroyed thirty hundred thousand of the natives, besides many millions else in other places of the Indies: a poor and harmless people, created of God, and might have been won to his service, as many of them were, even almost all whom they endeavoured to persuade thereto. The story of these their enormities, has been written at large by Bartholomew de las Casas[375], a bishop of their own nation, and has been translated into English and many other languages, under the title of _The Spanish Cruelties_. Who therefore would repose trust in such a nation of ravenous strangers, and more especially in those Spaniards, who more greedily thirst after the blood of the English, for the many overthrows and dishonours they have received at our hands; whose weakness we have discovered to the world, and whose forces, at home, abroad, in Europe, in the Indies, by sea and by land, even with mere handfuls of men and ships on our sides, we have overthrown and dishonoured? Let not therefore any Englishman, of what religion soever, have other opinion of these Spaniards or their abettors, but that those whom they seek to win of our nation, they esteem base and traiterous, unworthy persons, and inconstant fools; and that they use this pretence of religion, for no other purpose but to bewitch us from the obedience due to our natural prince, hoping thereby to bring us in time under slavery and subjection, when none shall be there so odious and despised, as those very traitors who have sold their country to strangers, forsaking their faith and obedience, contrary to the laws of nature and religion, and contrary to that humane and universal honour, not only of Christians but of heathen and unbelieving nations, who have always sustained every degree of labour, embracing even death itself, in defence of their country, their prince, and their commonwealth.

[Footnote 375: He was bishop of Chiapa in New Spain, and computes the Indians destroyed by the Spaniards in about fifty years, at no fewer than twenty millions.--Astley, I. 221. a.]

To conclude, it hath ever to this day pleased God to prosper and defend her majesty, to break the purposes of her malicious enemies, to confound the devices of forsworn traitors, and to overthrow all unjust practices and invasions. She hath ever been held in honour by the worthiest kings, served by faithful subjects, and shall ever, by the favour of God, resist, repell, and confound all attempts against her person and kingdom. In the mean time, let the Spaniards and traitors vaunt of their success; while we, her true and obedient subjects, guided by the shining light of her virtues, shall always love, serve, and obey her, to the end of our lives.