When this answer was returned, and that safety of life was promised, the common sort being now at the end of their peril, the most drew back from Sir Richard and the gunner, it being no hard matter to dissuade men from death to life. The master gunner finding himself and Sir Richard thus prevented and mastered by the greater number, would have slain himself with a sword had he not been by force withheld and locked into his cabin. Then the General sent many boats aboard the Revenge, and divers of our men, fearing Sir Richard’s disposition, stole away aboard the General and other ships. Sir Richard, thus overmatched, was sent unto by Alfonso Bassan to remove out of the Revenge, the ship being marvelous unsavory, filled with blood and bodies of dead and wounded men like a slaughter-house. Sir Richard answered that he might do with his body what he list, for [he esteemed it not]; and as he was carried out of the ship he swooned, and reviving again desired the company to pray for him. The General used Sir Richard with all humanity, and left nothing unattempted that tended to his recovery, highly commending his valor and worthiness and greatly bewailed the danger wherein he was, being unto them a rare spectacle, to see one ship turn toward so many enemies, to endure the charge and boarding of so many huge armados, and to resist and repel the assaults and entries of so many soldiers.

Sir Richard died, as it is said, the second or third day aboard the General, and was by them greatly bewailed. What became of his body, whether it was buried in the sea or on the land we know not; the comfort that remaineth to his friends is that he hath ended his life honorably in respect of the reputation won to his nation and country, and of the same to his posterity, and that, being dead, he hath not outlived his own honor.

—Abridged.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

Biographical and Historical Note. In the autumn of 1591 a small fleet of English vessels lay at the Azores to intercept the Spanish treasure ships from the Indies. On the appearance of the Spanish war-vessels sent to convoy the treasure ships, the much smaller English fleet took flight with the exception of the Revenge, commanded by Sir Richard Grenville. Lord Bacon described the fight as “a defeat exceeding victory.”

This story of the fight of the Revenge was written by Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618), a cousin of Grenville’s. He was an English explorer, colonizer, and historian. He planted the first English colony in America, on Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina. Later, he was interested in an attempt to form a colony in Guiana, and his account of his experiences is one of the most thrilling adventure stories in the world. His daring exploits made him a favorite at the court of Queen Elizabeth, but after her death he gained the ill-will of James I and was executed on a false charge of piracy and treason.

Discussion. 1. Describe the English fleet as it lay anchored near Flores. 2. What was the condition of the men on the Revenge and the Bonaventure? 3. What two things could Sir Richard do? 4. Which did he choose? Why? 5. How were the Spanish ships manned as compared with the English? 6. What quality of character did Sir Richard show in his treatment of the George Noble? 7. Describe the condition of the Revenge on the second day of the fighting. 8. What was Sir Richard’s order to the master gunner? 9. What was the opinion of the captain and the Master? 10. What do you think about the reasons they gave? 11. What was the Spaniard’s offer? 12. Would you have been on the side of the captain and the Master of the Revenge, or on the side of Sir Richard and the master gunner? 13. Pronounce the following: Armada; Azores; becalmed; tiers; bade; hovered; ravenous; dissuade.

Phrases