The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1923-10-31
THE FOUR ARMADAS
A. d. 1887

We have come to the climax Of the
great century, the age of the Renais-
sance. when Europe was born again
Of the Reformation, when the Protes-
tants Of the Baltic fought the Cath
olics OF the Mediterranean; and of
the sea kings who laid the foundations
Of our modern world.
Islam had reached her fullest food
of glory with the fleets Of Ba~rbarosso,
the armies Of the Sultan Suleiman,
and all the s%plendors Of Akbar the
Magnificent. before her ebb set down.
ward into ruin.
Portugal and Spain. under n
crown, shared the plumber of the In
dies and the mastery of the sea.
Then. as the century waned, a third
class power. the island state of Eng
land, claimed the command of the sea.
and planted the seeds Of an empire
destined to overshadow the ruins of
Spain. as well as the wreck Of Islam.
Here opened broad fields OF adven-
ture. There were German and Eng
fish merchants seeking trade in India,
Dutch gunners in the service OF east
ern. princes. French fishermen finding
the way into Canada. seamen of all
these nations as slaves in Turkish gal
sea fights. shipwrecks. trails of lost
men wandering in unknown lands.
matters OF desert islands, and wrecked
treasures with all the usual routine
Of plague. pestilence and famine. OF
battle, Of murder and of sudden death.
In all this tangle we must take
one thread. with most TO learn, l think,
from a Hollander. Mynheer, ]. II. van
LinschoteD, who was clerk to the Por-
tuguese archbishop Of the Indies and
afterward in business at Terceira in
the Azores. where he rot a famous
book on pilotage. He tells US about
the seamanship of Portuguese and
Spaniards in terms of whitening o n
tempt as a mixture of incompetence
and cowardice. enough 10 explain the
downfall and ruin of their empires.
The worst ships, he says. which
cleared from Cochin were worth. with
their cargo, about nine million dollars
Of modern money. Not content with
that. the swindlers in charge removed
the ballast to make oom for more
cinnamon. whereby the Arreliquias
capsized and sank.
The San Iago. having her bottom
ripped out by n coral reef. her admiral.
pilot. master and "A dozen others en-
tered'int a boat. keeping IT with naked
rapiers until they got clear, and de-
serted. Left without any officers. the
people on the wreck were addressed
by an Italian seaman who cried. why
are we thus ~a5achedg' So ninety vail
ant mariners took the longbOat and
cleared, hacking off the fingers, hands
and arms of the drowning women who
held on TO her gunwale.
But if the seamanship Of the Portu-
guese made it a miracle If they es-
capped destruction, that of the Span
iards was on a much larger scale.
Where Portugal lost a ship Spain
bungled away a fleet, and never vas
HUI ilA-AAAiAiN pun
ished than in the doom of the four ar
madas.
Philip Il was busy converting Protes-
tant Holland. and in 1887 he resolved
to send a Catholic mission to England
also. but while he was preparing the
first armada Drake came and burned
his hundred ships under the guns Of
Cadiz.
A year later the second. the great
armada, was ready, mt hundred thir-
~ ships in line Of battle. which was
to embark the army in Holland, and
invade England with a field force Of
ffty-three thousand men. the finest
troops in Europe.
To do Spain justice she made plenty
Of noise, giving ample warning. Only
the minor details were overlooked
that the cordage was rotten, the pow
der damp. the wine sour. the water
putrid, the biscuits and the beef a
mass OF maggots, while the ships
drainage into the ballast turned ev-
cry galleon into a floating pest house
Tue admiral was a fool. the captains
were landlubbers, the ships would not
steer, and the guns could not he fought
The soldiers. navigators, b0atswains
and quartermasters were alike too
proud TO help the ~short-handed, over
worked seamen. while two thousand
Of the people were galley slaves wait
ing TO turn on their masters. Worst
of all, this fantastic. doomed armada
was to attack from Holland. without
pilorage to turn England's terrific
f~ortifcations of shoals and quick
sands.
Small were her ships and woefully
short OF powder, but they served the
wicked. valiant queen who pawned her
soul for England. Her admiral vas
Lord Howard, the Catholic, whose
squadron leaders were Drake, Hawkins
and Frobisher.
From hill to hill through England
he beacon fires reused the men, the
church bells called them to prayer. and
MI along the southern coast tort echoed
fort while guns and trumpets m
nounced the ar1nada's coming. The
English fleet. too weak ID attack. but
fearfully swift TO eat up s~tragglers,
snapped like a wolf-pack at the heels
OF Spain. -Four days and nights on
end the armada was goaded and torn