to for a couple of days,
till the weather mended. On Friday afternoon they sighted the Lizard and
formed into fighting order; the Duke in the centre, Alonzo de Leyva
leading in a vessel of his own called the _Rata Coronada_, Don Martin de
Recalde covering the rear. The entire line stretched to about seven
miles.

The sacred banner was run up to the masthead of the _San Martin_. Each
ship saluted with all her guns, and every man--officer, noble, seaman,
or slave--knelt on the decks at a given signal to commend themselves to
Mary and her Son. We shall miss the meaning of this high epic story if
we do not realise that both sides had the most profound conviction that
they were fighting the battle of the Almighty. Two principles, freedom
and authority, were contending for the guidance of mankind. In the
evening the Duke sent off two fast fly-boats to Parma to announce his
arrival in the Channel, with another reporting progress to Philip, and
saying that till he heard from the Prince he meant to stop at the Isle
of Wight. It is commonly said that his officers advised him to go in and
take Plymouth. There is no evidence for this. The island would have been
a far more useful position for them.

At dark that Friday night the beacons were seen blazing all up the coast
and inland on the tops of the hills. They crept on slowly through
Saturday, with reduced canvas, feeling their way--not a sail to be seen.
At midnight a pinnace brought in a fishing-boat, from which they learnt
that on the sight of the signal fires the English had come out that
morning from Plymouth. Presently, when the moon rose, they saw sails
passing between them and the land. With daybreak the whole scene became
visible, and the curtain lifted on the first act of the drama. The
Armada was between Rame Head and the Eddystone, or a little to the west
of it. Plymouth Sound was right open to their left. The breeze, which
had dropped in the night, was freshening from the south-west, and right
ahead of them, outside the Mew Stone, were eleven ships manoeuvring to
recover the wind. Towards the land were some forty others, of various
sizes, and this formed, as far as they could see, the whole English
force. In numbers the Spaniards were nearly three to one. In the size of
the ships there was no comparison. With these advantages the Duke
decided to engage, and a signal was made to hold the wind and keep the
enemy apart. The eleven ships ahead were Howard's squadron; tho