The sea got up, broke
into the stern galleries of the galleons, and sent the galleys looking
for shelter in French harbours. The fleet hove to for a couple of days,
till the weather mended. On Friday afternoon they sighted the Lizard and
formed into fighting order; the Duke in the centre, Alonzo de Leyva
leading in a vessel of his own called the _Rata Coronada_, Don Martin de
Recalde covering the rear. The entire line stretched to about seven
miles.
The sacred banner was run up to the masthead of the _San Martin_. Each
ship saluted with all her guns, and every man--officer, noble, seaman,
or slave--knelt on the decks at a given signal to commend themselves to
Mary and her Son. We shall miss the meaning of this high epic story if
we do not realise that both sides had the most profound conviction that
they were fighting the battle of the Almighty. Two principles, freedom
and authority, were contending for the guidance of mankind. In the
evening the Duke sent off two fast fly-boats to Parma to announce his
arrival in the Channel, with another reporting progress to Philip, and
saying that till he heard from the Prince he meant to stop at the Isle
of Wight. It is commonly said that his officers advised him to go in and
take Plymouth.
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