made
little noise about it. But the Spanish ambassador reported him as
silently building ships in the Thames and at Portsmouth. As invasion
seemed imminent, he began with sweeping the seas of the looser vermin. A
few swift well-armed cruisers pushed suddenly out of the Solent, caught
and destroyed a pirate fleet in Mount's Bay, sent to the bottom some
Flemish privateers in the Downs, and captured the Flemish admiral
himself. Danger at home growing more menacing, and the monks spreading
the fire which grew into the Pilgrimage of Grace, Henry suppressed the
abbeys, sold the lands, and with the proceeds armed the coast with
fortresses. 'You threaten me,' he seemed to say to them, 'that you will
use the wealth our fathers gave you to overthrow my Government and bring
in the invader. I will take your wealth, and I will use it to disappoint
your treachery.' You may see the remnants of Henry's work in the
fortresses anywhere along the coast from Berwick to the Land's End.

Louder thundered the Vatican. In 1539 Henry's time appeared to have
come. France and Spain made peace, and the Pope's sentence was now
expected to be executed by Charles or Francis, or both. A crowd of
vessels large and small was collected in the Scheldt, for what purpose
save to transport an army into England? Scotland had joined the Catholic
League. Henry fearlessly appealed to the English people. Catholic peers
and priests might conspire against him, but, explain it how we will, the
nation was loyal to Henry and came to his side. The London merchants
armed their ships in the river. From the seaports everywhere came armed
brigantines and sloops. The fishermen of the West left their boats and
nets to their wives, and the fishing was none the worse, for the women
handled oar and sail and line and went to the whiting-grounds, while
their husbands had gone to fight for their King. Genius kindled into
discovery at the call of the country. Mr. Fletcher of Rye (be his name
remembered) invented a boat the like of which was never seen before,
which would work to windward, with sails trimmed fore and aft, the
greatest revolution yet made in shipbuilding. A hundred and fifty sail
collected at Sandwich to match the armament in the Scheldt; and
Marillac, the French ambassador, reported with amazement the energy of
King and people.

The Catholic Powers thought better of it. This was not the England which
Reginald Pole had told them was longing for their appearance. Th