The sun himself cannot forget his fellow-traveller.”
Drake’s series of victories over the Spaniards, and the repulse which occurred just before his death are details of history which would fill a volume. He received a sailor’s funeral at Puerto Bello, his body being committed to the deep in a leaden coffin, with the solemn service of the English Church, rendered more impressive by volleys of musketry, and the booming of guns from all the fleet. A poet of the day says—
“The waves became his winding sheet, the waters were his tomb;
But for his fame the ocean sea was not sufficient room.”
No single name in naval history has ever attained the celebrity acquired by Drake. The Spaniards, who called him a dragon, believed that he had dealings with the devil; “that notion,” says Southey, “prevented them from feeling any mortification at his successes, * * * and it enhanced their exultation over the failure of his last expedition, which they considered as the triumph of their religion over heresy and magic.” The common people in England itself, more especially in the western counties, believed any quantity of fables concerning him, some of them verging on childishness. He had only to cast a chip in the water when it would become a fine vessel. “It was not by his skill as an engineer, and the munificent expenditure of the wealth which he had so daringly obtained, that Drake supplied Plymouth with fresh water; but by mounting his horse, [pg 315]riding about Dartmoor till he came to a spring sufficiently copious for his design, then wheeling round, pronouncing some magical words, and galloping back into the town, with the stream in full flow, and forming its own channel at the horse’s heels.” One of the popular stories regarding him is briefly as follows. When Sir Francis left on one of his long voyages, he told his wife that should he not return within a certain number of years she might conclude that he was dead, and might, if she so chose, wed again. One version places the time at seven, and another at ten years. During these long years the excellent lady remained true to her lord, but at the end of the term accepted an offer. “One of Drake’s ministering spirits, whose charge it was to convey to him any intelligence in which he was nearly concerned, brought him the tidings. Immediately he loaded one of his great guns, and fired it right through the globe on one side, and up on the other, with so true an aim that it made its way into the church, between the two parties most concerned, just as the marriage service was beginning. ‘It comes from Drake!’ cried the wife to the now unbrided bridegroom; ‘he is alive! and there must be neither troth nor ring between thee and me.’ ”
Drake is described as of low stature, but well set, and of an admirable presence. His chest was broad, his hair nut-brown, his beard handsome and full, his head “remarkably round,” his eyes large and clear, his countenance fresh, cheerful and engaging. “It has been said of him that he was a willing hearer of every man’s opinion, but commonly a follower of his own,” which, as a rule, was really sure to be judicious. He had a quick temper, and once offended, was “hard to be reconciled,” but his friendships were firm; he was ambitious to the last degree, and “the vanity which usually accompanies that sin laid him open to flattery.” He was affable with his men, who idolised him as the grand commander and skilful seaman that he most undoubtedly was.
In spite of the rich prizes so often taken, a competent authority says: “The expeditions undertaken in Elizabeth’s reign against the Spaniards are said to have produced no advantage to England in any degree commensurate with the cost of money and expense of life with which they were performed.” But we must never forget the wonderful development of the navy which resulted; the splendid training acquired by our sailors, and the grand gains to geographical science.
The opening of colonisation and trade with America—so far as England is concerned—is due to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, and his step-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh. From their comparatively insignificant attempts at settling parts of that vast northern continent what grand results have accrued! The acorn has become a mighty, wide-spreading oak, sheltering the representatives of every nationality.
When Sir Humphrey Gilbert proposed to Queen Elizabeth the settlement of a colony in the New World, she immediately assented, and granted him letters patent as comprehensive and wide-spreading as ever issued by papal sanction. She accorded free liberty to him, his heirs and assigns for ever, to discover and take possession of any heathen and savage lands not being actually possessed by any Christian prince or people; such countries, and all towns, castles or villages, to be holden by them of the crown, payment of a fifth of all the gold and silver ore discovered being required by the latter. The privileges seemed so great that “very many gentlemen of good estimation drew unto Sir [pg 316]Humphrey to associate with him in so commendable an enterprise.” But divisions and feuds arose, and Gilbert went to sea only to become involved in a “dangerous sea-fight, in which many of his company were slain, and his ships were battered and disabled.” He was compelled to put back “with the loss of a tall ship.” The records of this encounter are meagre, but the disaster retarded for the time his attempt at colonisation, besides impairing his estate.
Sir Humphrey’s patent was only for six years, unless he succeeded in his project, and in 1583 he found means to equip a second expedition, to which Raleigh contributed a bark of 200 tons, named after him, the little fleet numbering in all five vessels. The queen had always favoured Gilbert, and before he departed on this voyage, sent him a golden anchor with a large pearl on it, by the hands of Raleigh. In the letter accompanying it, Raleigh wrote, “Brother, I have sent you a token from her Majesty—an anchor guided by a lady, as you see. And, further, her highness willed me to send you word, that she wished you as great a good hap and safety to your ship, as if she herself were there in person, desiring you to have care of yourself as of that which she tendereth; and, therefore, for her sake you must provide for it accordingly. Further she commandeth that you leave your picture with me.” Elizabeth’s direct interest in the rapidly increasing maritime and commercial interests of the day was very apparent in all her actions.