f by stating that the time misspent by the English at
Corunna, had been well employed by the Spaniards in fortifying Lisbon;
and we fully believe that neither fear nor jealousy would have made
him hesitate at anything which he thought to be for the good of the
service. This miscarriage, though for a time it cast something of a
cloud upon Drake's fame, did not prevent his being again employed in
1595, when the queen, at the suggestion of himself and Sir John
Hawkins, determined to send out another expedition against Spanish
America, under those two eminent navigators, the expenses of which
were in great part to be defrayed by themselves and their friends.
Great hope was naturally conceived of this expedition, the largest
which had yet been sent against that quarter, for it consisted of
thirty vessels and 2,500 men. The chief object was to sail to Nombre
de Dios, march to Panama, and there seize the treasure from Peru. But
the blow, which should have been struck immediately, was delayed by a
feint on the part of the Spaniards to invade England; the Plate fleet
arrived in safety, and the Spanish colonies were forewarned. Hawkins
died, it was said of grief at the ruined prospects of the expedition,
November 12th, while the fleet lay before Porto Rico; and on the same
evening Drake had a narrow escape from a cannon-ball, which carried
the stool from under him as he sat at supper and killed two of his
chief officers. Repulsed from Porto Rico, the admiral steered for the
Spanish main, where he burnt several towns, and among them Nombre de
Dios. He then sent a strong detachment of 750 men against Panama; but
they found the capture of that city impracticable. Soon afterward he
fell sick of a fever, and died January 28, 1596. His death, like that
of his coadjutor, is attributed to mental distress, and nothing is
more probable than that disappointment may have made that noxious
climate more deadly. Hints of poisoning were thrown out, but this is a
surmise easily and often lightly made. "Thus," says Fuller, in his
"Holy State," "an extempore performance, scarce heard to be begun
before we hear it is ended, comes off with better applause, or
miscarries with less disgrace, than a long-studied and openly
premeditated action. Besides, we see how great spirits, having mounted
up to the highest pitch of performance, afterward strain and break
their credits in trying to go beyond it. We will not justify all the
actions of any man, though o