The Project Gutenberg EBook of In the Days of Drake, by J. S. Fletcher

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

Title: In the Days of Drake

Author: J. S. Fletcher

Release Date: July 4, 2009 [EBook #29304]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE DAYS OF DRAKE ***

Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images generously made available by The
Internet Archive)

IN THE DAYS OF DRAKE

BY

J. S. FLETCHER,

AUTHOR OF

"WHEN CHARLES I. WAS KING," "WHERE
HIGHWAYS CROSS."

CHICAGO AND NEW YORK:
RAND, MCNALLY & COMPANY.
MDCCCXCVII.

Copyright, 1897, by Rand, McNally & Co.

INTRODUCTION.

In the whole history of the English people there is no period so
absolutely heroic, so full of enthralling interest, as that in which
the might of England made itself apparent by land and sea--the period
which saw good Queen Bess mistress of English hearts and Englishmen and
sovereign of the great beginnings which have come to such a magnificent
fruition under Victoria. That was indeed a golden time--an age of great
venture and enterprise--a period wherein men's hearts were set on
personal valor and bravery--the day of great deeds and of courage most
marvelous. To write down a catalogue of all the names that then were
glorious, to make a list of all the daring deeds that then were
done--this were an impossible task for the most painstaking of
statisticians, the most conscientious of historians and chroniclers.
For there were men in those days who achieved world-wide fame, such as
Drake, Frobisher, Hawkins, Raleigh, Grenville, and Gilbert--but there
were also other men, the rough "sea-dogs" of that time, whose names have
never been remembered, or even recorded, and who were yet heroes of a
quality not inferior to their commanders and leaders. All men of that
age whose calling led them to adventure and enterprise could scarcely
fail to find opportunity for heroism, self-denial, and sacrifice, and
thus the Elizabethan Englishman of whatever station stands out to us of
these later days as a great figure--the type and emblem of t