'
In my own poor way meanwhile I shall try in these lectures to draw you a
sketch of Drake and his doings as they appear to myself. To-day I can
but give you a part of the rich and varied story, but if all goes well I
hope I may be able to continue it at a future time.
I have not yet done with Sir John Hawkins. We shall hear of him again.
He became the manager of Elizabeth's dockyards. He it was who turned out
the ships that fought Philip's fleet in the Channel in such condition
that not a hull leaked, not a spar was sprung, not a rope parted at an
unseasonable moment, and this at a minimum of cost. He served himself in
the squadron which he had equipped. He was one of the small group of
admirals who met that Sunday afternoon in the cabin of the ark _Raleigh_
and sent the fire-ships down to stir Medina Sidonia out of his anchorage
at Calais. He was a child of the sea, and at sea he died, sinking at
last into his mother's arms. But of this hereafter. I must speak now of
his still more illustrious kinsman, Francis Drake.
I told you the other day generally who Drake was and where he came from;
how he went to sea as a boy, found favour with his master, became early
an owner of his own ship, sticking steadily to trade.
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