son of
Protector Somerset; and lay off Dunkirk, in order to intercept the duke
of Parma.

* Monson, p. 321.

** Monsm, p. 267

*** Lives of the Admirals, vol. i. p. 451.

The land forces of England, compared to those of Spain, possessed
contrary qualities to its naval power: they were more numerous than the
enemy, but much inferior in discipline, reputation, and experience. An
army of twenty thousand men was disposed in different bodies along the
south coast; and orders were given them, if they could not prevent the
landing of the Spaniards, to retire backwards, to waste the country
around, and to wait for reenforcement from the neighboring counties,
before they approached the enemy. A body of twenty-two thousand foot
and a thousand horse, under the command of the earl of Leicester, was
stationed at Tilbury in order to defend the capital. The principal army
consisted of thirty-four thousand foot and two thousand horse, and was
commanded by Lord Hunsdon. These forces were reserved for guarding the
queen's person, and were appointed to march whithersoever the enemy
should appear. The fate of England, if all the Spanish armies should be
able to land, seemed to depend on the issue of a single battle; and
men of reflection entertained the most dismal apprehensions, when they
considered the force of fifty thousand veteran Spaniards, commanded
by experienced officers, under the duke of Parma, the most consummate
general of the age; and compared this formidable armament with the
military power which England, not enervated by peace, but long disused
to war, could muster up against it.

The chief support of the kingdom seemed to consist in the vigor and
prudence of the queen's conduct; who, undismayed by the present dangers,
issued all her orders with tranquillity, animated her people to a
steady resistance, and employed every resource which either her domestic
situation or her foreign alliances could afford her. She sent Sir Robert
Sidney into Scotland; and exhorted the king to remain attached to her,
and to consider the danger which at present menaced his sovereignty
no less than her own, from the ambition of the Spanish tyrant:[*] the
ambassador found James well disposed to cultivate a union with England;
and that prince even kept himself prepared to march with the force of
his whole kingdom to the assistance of Elizabeth. Her authority with
the king of Denmark, and the tie of their common religion, engage