Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 2).djvu/165



Cherishing the vain hope that the English freebooter would render him powerful assistance, Philip despatched, after three years' careful preparation, his famous Armada, comprising all the naval forces then at the disposal of the Peninsula. He had the most perfect confidence in the result. The invasion and subjugation of England were to his mind matters that could not admit of doubt; nor had the government and people of this country much hope of resisting so formidable a fleet, consisting as it did of one hundred and thirty-two ships and twenty caravels, amounting together to fifty-nine thousand one hundred and twenty tons, exclusive of four galliasses and four galleys, the whole manned by thirty-two thousand seven hundred and nine men of all ranks, under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia. But, though the defence appeared to be hopeless, the feeling of despair seems never to have entered the minds of the English people, who with one accord made the most strenuous efforts to meet this apparently overwhelming force. London, ever foremost in its loyalty, furnished Elizabeth with large sums of money, the citizens rivalling with each other in the amounts they raised, and furnishing double the number of ships and men required by the royal edict. The same patriotic spirit pervaded the whole of the country, especially the seaport towns and the merchant marine. The collective force of the English fleet has often been published, and in abstract may be stated as follows: