The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1866-03-03
9Miseel1alteo1ts,
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
BY JAMES PARTON.

Think of a boy of eighteen owning and
commanding ship This was the case, we
are told, with Drake-another of those He
roes of the sea whose deeds shed such ustre
upon the age ofShakespeare and Elizabeth.
The ship was small, it is true, and the voy-
ages it made were short ; still it was i ship,
and it was sailed successfully, too, by a
lad of eighteen The way it came about
was this:
Francis Drake, born on the southern coast
of England about the year 1915, was one of
the twelve sons of chaplain in the navy
The father of this fine family of boys began
life as farmer; but having renounced the
Catholic religion, and joined the Church of
England, Queen Elizabeth, who liked to en-
courage such conversions, made q naval
chaplain of him, and afterwards gave him a
small living on shore. Francis, the eldest
of his sons, was educated at the expense of
arelative of the family, that valiant seaman,
Admiral Sir Jno Hawkins twas probably
the success and renown of this admiral that
induced Francis Drake and most of his
brothers to take to the sea.
He did not however, get into ship, as
the sailors say, through the cabin win
dows." When he was about twelve years
old, he was regularly apprenticed to tie cap
tain of small vessel trading with Holland
and France, in which he took the place Of
cabin boy. The cabin boy of a ship,
in former times, like the youngest
apprentice in q shop, was required
to do all the odd, disagreoable jobs,
such as greasing the mast, washing the
dishes, furling the topmost sail, coiling up
the ropes, tarring the cable, and feeding
the pig. Young Drake performed his du-
ties so WE'LL learned his business so thor
oughly, and won the cofdence and affection
Of his captain to such degree, that the
captain, dying when Drake was eighteen,
bequeathed him his vessel The young
man soon proved his fitness to command
Having made one successful voyage to the
western ports of France, he sailed next to
Africa, and brought home good share of
the gold dust and elephants tusks of Guin-
ca.
On his return to England, he found his
kinsman and patron, Sir John Hawkins,
preparing feet, aided by Queen Eliza
beth, for grand trading voyage to Guinea
and the West Indies
This Admiral Hawkins will be long re-
membered as the Englishman who began
the African slave trade. Twice already
he had visited the coast of Guinea, and,
partly by purchase and partly by artifce,
had filled his ship with negroes, whom he
sold to the Spaniards in the West Indies
at an enormous profit. No one then saw
any thing wrong in the traffic. On the con-
trary, the whole world applauded it and the
Queen herself bestowed upon Hawkins un-
limo rlyc Of bo Al
him to add to his coat of arms the figure oil
bound African she received him at
court, and gave every encouragement to
his continuing the trade in slaves. Cap
tain Drake, toe, discovering what was afoot,
sold his own vessel, invested all his proper
ty in the new expedition, and was appoint
ed to the command of one of its largest
ships.
Having reached the coast Of Guinea, five
hundred negroes were quickly procured
and the feet sailed to Spanish America for
the purpose of selling them. An unfore-
seen difficulty arose orders had come from
Spain forbidding all trade between the
Spanish colonies and foreign nations. AT
another port, however, Hawkins succeed
ed in selling his miserable cargo but on
his way home he was attacked by a Span
ish feet and he escaped but with two OF
his six vessels, and with the loss of all the
property invested in the enterprise Cap
tain Drake succeeded in rescuing his ship
from the foe, but he reached England a
ruined man.
Although the king of Spain was already
meditating the conquest Of England, the
two nations were still at peace, and Cap
tain Drake therefore applied to the Span.
ish government for the restoration of the
property unlawfully seized. His demands
being disregarded, he swore to take by
force what had been denied to his solicita-
tions.
Never was an oath better kept. In 1875
he contrived to equip and arm two small
vessels, and obtained from the Queen a
commission such as was requisite for his pur-
pose. Joined by third vessel in the South
American waters, he suddenly descended
upon the coasts of New Granada, plunder-
ed the settlements, burnt the Spanish
shipping, and held the whole region at his
mercy. He returned to England laden
with prodigious booty-enough to make
him one of the richest private persons in
Europe This sudden attack upon de-
| fenceless people was hailed in England as
most heroic and proper act, and the Queen
received him with distinguished favor
We must not, however, judge ofthose times
| by modern standards. Spain and England
though technically at peace, were really al