Such then was the mighty preparation of the Spaniard, and such was the "awakened endeavour of England for defence,"—an endeavour perhaps without parallel in the history of our country, and which we have thus minutely brought to the recollection of our readers, because it was witnessed and keenly observed by one whose mighty mind seized upon whatever came within his piercing ken, and who, whilst he was the most careful of observers, was, at the same time, possessed of judgment as remarkable as his imagination and genius were wonderful; one who treasured up what he then beheld, although he stood, apparently, but as "a cypher to that great accompt;" and whilst he thus in reality, beheld "a kingdom for a stage, princes to act, and monarchs to behold the swelling scene," himself possessed—
"A muse of fire; that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention;
afterwards giving his observations to the world in descriptions of chivalrous grandeur, such as none other in any age has equalled. One who himself saw that brave fleet so hastily collected and prepared for the occasion.
"With silken streamers the young Phebus fanning,
And in them beheld,
Upon the hempen tackle, ship-boys climbing;
Heard the shrill whistle, which did order give,
To sounds confus'd. Beheld the threaden sails,
Borne with the invisible and creeping wind,
Draw the huge bottoms through the furrowed sea,
Breasting the lofty surge.
Who stood upon the rivage and beheld
A city as the inconstant billows dancing,
For so appeared the fleet majestical."
Yes, whilst the choice-drawn cavaliers of Elizabeth's age stood in arms, and whilst, upon the waves rode those adventurous seamen, Shakespeare stood amongst the file, and as his capable eye marked the big muster, his heart beat with each roll of the drum, as it resounded amidst the narrow streets of old London.
And what, indeed, must have appeared to such a man "this post haste and homage through the land," this "threatening of the threatener," this "pomp and circumstance of glorious war?" What must have been the feelings of that one man as he stood amidst the throng—
"For who was he, whose chin was but enriched
With one appearing hair, that would not follow
Those culled and choice-drawn cavaliers?"
He saw the daily and hourly preparation; he beheld the knightly and the noble "all plumed like ostriches;" he saw the closes, the streets and alleys of Lud's old town swarming with men-at-arms.
"He beheld the strict and most observant watch,
Which nightly toiled the subject of the land:
The impress of shipwrights, whose sore task
Did not divide the Sunday from the week:
And then he put himself in arms."