136
Elizabeth
hanged many of them as pirates and burned others as heretics. Remonstrances to the English Queen were of little use, for she was often able to reply to Philip, ‘Then why is your Majesty encouraging plots against my life and helping my rebels in Ireland?’
The Spanish Armada, 1588.Philip had, in fact, delayed his attack too long; he had no idea how strong England had grown in the thirty years of Elizabeth's reign. And though he was now King of Portugal as well as Spain, and master of all the gold mines of America, he was as stingy as Elizabeth. Even in this critical year 1588, his ‘Armada’ was not nearly big enough to win, and it was very badly equipped as a fighting force, his ships did not carry enough gunpowder, and most of their provisions were rotten. Still, the terror was great In many English hearts as the Spaniards swept up Channel in the last half of July. For one long hot week our light and swift sailing ships hung round their flanks, knocking their spars to pieces at long range, almost without the loss of a single English life or gun. The object of the Spaniards was to avoid fighting until they came off the Dutch coast, for there was a large Spanish army collected in the River Scheldt, under the great General Parma, ready to be ferried across to the mouth of the Thames. But before the Spaniards reached the Straits of Dover their fleet had been half crippled by the English guns; and, when they were off Calais, a lot of boats smeared with pitch and full of gunpowder were set on fire and set adrift among them. This so terrified the Spanish Admiral that he put his whole fleet about and fled into the North Sea. Then great gales arose and drove them northward and ever northward. Many were wrecked, the remainder lumbered round Scotland and southward again round
