SIR JOHN HAWKINS.
Sir John Hawkins, a seaman of distinguished ability who flourished during the reign of Elizabeth, was born at Plymouth about 1520, and his early life was spent in trading voyages to the south of Europe and African coast. With the assistance of several merchants he fitted out a small fleet in 1562, and obtained by force and purchase a cargo of negroes, which he carried to the Spanish West India Colonies and there sold them; this we believe was the first adventure in the African slave trade made by Englishmen.
He made many voyages of this kind, and was at last attacked by the Spanish authorities in the Port of S. Juan de Ulloa, and saved only two of his ships and returned to England in January, 1568, after suffering much hardship. This was his last commercial enterprise.
Hawkins was appointed in 1573 treasurer of the navy, and in 1588 we find him serving as Rear Admiral against the Spanish Armada, and for his great spirit and bravery he was knighted by the Admiral Charles Lord Howard of Effingham. He went to intercept the Plate fleet and harrass the trade of Spain with Frobishers and others in 1590, but failed in the first object and succeeded in the second. In 1595, he was sent with Drake to command an expedition against the Spaniards in the West Indies; but they failed to agree and soon after separated. Sir John Hawkins died November 21, 1595, and his colleague, Drake, soon after. Hawkins founded a hospital at Chatham for poor and sick seamen. He also sat in Parliament for Plymouth.
SIR MARTIN FROBISHER.
Sir Martin Frobisher was born at Doncaster, Yorkshire, of humble parentage, and brought up to the sea, and in early life displayed the talents of a great navigator, and was the first Englishman who attempted to find a northwest passage to China. Under the patronage of Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick, he fitted out two barks of twenty-five tons, and a pinnace of ten tons, and sailed from Deptford, January 8, 1576, and on July 11th discovered Freeseland and the strait which still bears his name, and after making numerous discoveries he returned to England, arriving at Harwich 2d October of the same year. On this voyage he took possession of the country in Queen Elizabeth’s name and brought back with him specimens of gold ore. This circumstance raised prodigious expectations, and the Queen lent him a ship of two hundred tons for his next expedition, on which he sailed accompanied with a party of one hundred and forty persons (also two barks of thirty tons each) from Gravesend, May 26, 1577. He made numerous discoveries, but his instructions were to search for ore, and being in the Countess of Warwick Island he took a lading of it and arrived in England the end of September, 1577, and was most graciously received by the Queen, who fitted out another fleet of twelve vessels which sailed from Harwich May 31, 1578, and sighted Freeseland June 20th, and took possession of the country in the Queen’s name, calling it West England, and after collecting much ore sailed for and arrived in England after a stormy and dangerous passage in the beginning of October. In 1588 he commanded the Triumph in the engagement against the Spanish Armada and received the honor of knighthood for his valor at sea by the Lord High Admiral, 26 July of the same year. In 1590, he commanded a squadron to the Spanish Coast, and in 1594 he was sent with four men-of-war to the assistance of Henry IV. of France, against a body of leaguers and Spaniards then in possession of part of Brittany, who had fortified themselves very strongly at Croyzon near Brest. Here, in an assault upon that fort, November 7th, he was wounded by a ball in the hip, of which he died soon after he had brought the fleet safely back to Plymouth, and was buried in that town.
SIR WALTER RALEIGH.
Sir Walter Raleigh, a distinguished statesman, scholar, and warrior, in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I., was born in 1552, at Budleigh in Devonshire, and educated at Oriel College, Oxford. At the age of seventeen he made one of a troop of an hundred gentlemen volunteers whom Queen Elizabeth permitted to go to France, under the command of Henry Champernon, for the service of the Protestant princes. He next served in the Netherlands; and, on his return from the Continent, his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, having obtained a grant of lands in North America, he engaged with a considerable number of gentlemen to go out to Newfoundland: but the expedition proving unsuccessful, Sir Walter returned to England, after being exposed to several dangers, and proceeded thence to Ireland, where he made his bravery so conspicuous in quelling the insurgents, that he was received at court with considerable favor, and obtained permission and supplies to prosecute his discoveries in America, which ended in his settling a colony in that country, called, in honor of his maiden sovereign, Virginia; and he is said to have first introduced tobacco and potatoes into Europe. In the mean time the Queen conferred on him the distinction of knighthood, and rewarded him by several lucrative grants, including a large share of the forfeited Irish estates. When his country’s safety was threatened by the famous Spanish Armada, he raised and disciplined the militia of Cornwall; and afterwards, by joining the fleet with a squadron of ships belonging to gentlemen volunteers, assisted in obtaining the signal victory which it pleased Providence to give to the English over the Spaniards on that occasion. He was now made gentleman of the privy chamber; but shortly after fell into disgrace, and was confined for some months, partly on account of a tract which he had published, entitled “the School for Atheists,” which was unfairly construed by his enemies into a vindication of atheistical principles; and partly for a clandestine attachment to one of the Queen’s maids of honor, the daughter of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton; which lady, however, he afterwards honorably married. During his seclusion he planned the discovery of the extensive country of Guiana, in South America, in which he took an active part himself, as soon as he was set at liberty: but the season being unfavorable, he returned to England, and was soon after appointed to a command in the important expedition to Cadiz, of which the success was in a great measure owing to Sir Walter’s valor and prudence. This, joined to several other important services, restored him completely to the favor of Elizabeth, towards the end of her reign. Her successor, James, prejudiced against him by Robert Cecil, disapproving of his martial spirit, and jealous of his abilities, availed himself of a court conspiracy against this great man, charging him with participating in an attempt to place upon the throne Arabella Stuart, and of carrying on a secret correspondence with the King of Spain. By the base subservience of the jury, he was brought in guilty of high treason, even to the surprise of the Attorney-General Coke himself, who declared that he had only charged him with misprision of treason. Raleigh was reprieved, and committed to the Tower, where his wife, at her earnest solicitation, was allowed to reside with him, and where his youngest son was born. Twelve years was Sir Walter detained a prisoner in the Tower; during which time, besides various minor compositions, he wrote his “History of the World;” a work distinguished for the richness of its information, the judiciousness of its reflections, and the vigor of its style. At length his release was obtained, in 1616, by the advance of a large sum of money to the new favorite, Villiers; and, to retrieve his broken fortunes, he planned another expedition to America. He obtained a patent under the great seal for making a settlement in Guiana; but, in order to retain a power over him, the king did not grant him a pardon for the sentence passed upon him for his alleged treason. Having reached the Orinoco, he dispatched a portion of his force to attack the new Spanish settlement of St. Thomas, which was captured; but he had to lament the death of his eldest son, who fell on that occasion. The expected plunder proved of little value: and Sir Walter, having in vain tried to induce his captains to attack other Spanish settlements, arrived at Plymouth in July, 1618. Being brought before the court of King’s Bench, his plea of an implied pardon by his subsequent command, was overruled; and the doom of death being pronounced against him, it was carried into execution the following day, October 28, 1819, in Old Palace Yard. His behavior at the scaffold was calm, and, after addressing the people at some length in his own justification, he received the stroke of death with perfect composure; remarking to the sheriff, with a smile, as he felt the edge of the axe, “This is a sharp medicine, but it is a physician that will cure all diseases.”
JOHN PINE.
Very little is known of the parentage of John Pine, the original engraver and publisher of this work.