These insults, steadily maintained and
unresented, shook the faith of mankind, and especially of her own
sailors, in the invincibility of the Spanish colossus.
I am now to turn to another side of the subject. The stories which I
have told you show the temper of the time, and the atmosphere which men
were breathing, but it will be instructive to look more closely at
individual persons, and I will take first John Hawkins (afterwards Sir
John), a peculiarly characteristic figure.
The Hawkinses of Plymouth were a solid middle-class Devonshire family,
who for two generations had taken a leading part in the business of the
town. They still survive in the county--Achins we used to call them
before school pronunciation came in, and so Philip wrote the name when
the famous John began to trouble his dreams. I have already spoken of
old William Hawkins, John's father, whom Henry VIII. was so fond of,
and who brought over the Brazilian King. Old William had now retired and
had left his place and his work to his son. John Hawkins may have been
about thirty at Elizabeth's accession. He had witnessed the wild times
of Edward VI. and Mary, but, though many of his friends had taken to the
privateering business, Hawkins appears to have kept clear of it, and
continued steadily at trade.
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