ing; but the Duke, on hearing from the pilots that if he proceeded, the currents would drive him out of the English channel, into the North sea, determined to anchor, particularly as this place was only seven leagues from Dunkirk, and the Duke of Parma could join him here. At five o'clock, therefore, he ordered the whole Armada to anchor, and immediately sent Captain Heredia to visit M. de Gourdon, the Governor of Calais, that he might be informed of the cause of our coming there, and the Captain was also to offer him the Duke's friendship and good correspondence. This evening thirty-six ships, (amongst them five heavy galleons,) understood to be the squadron of John Accles, which had been stationed off Dunkirk, joined the enemy. In the night, Captain Herédia returned, and said the Governor made great offers of service to his Majesty, the sincerity of which he proved by his deeds. In the course of the night, the Duke despatched his secretary Hieronimo de Arco to inform the Duke of Parma of his situation, and to acquaint him that it was impossible for the Armada to continue in its present position without incurring great danger. Sunday 7. At break of day Captain Don Rodrigo Tello arrived from Dunkirk, and said the Duke of Parma was in Bruges, where he had waited upon him, and although the Duke of Parma seemed to be very much pleased with the news of the arrival of the Armada, yet on the evening of Saturday at six o'clock, when the Captain left Dunkirk, he had not arrived there; neither had the embarkation of the troops, provisions, or stores, commenced. On the morning of this day, the Governor of Calais sent his nephew to visit the Duke; he brought a large present of refreshments, and was desired to say, on the part of the Governor, that the anchorage was very dangerous to continue in, on account of its exposure to the currents and cross winds of that channel, which were very strong. The Duke relying on the offers of friendship which the Governor of Calais made him, sent the purveyor, Bernabe de Pedraso, to buy provisions, and the paymaster, Juan de Huerta, went with him. This night the Duke sent Don Torge Manrique to the Duke of Parma, to request him to hasten his sailing by all possible means, and at ten o'clock the Duke received a letter from his secretary Arco at Dunkirk, with information that the Duke of Parma had not even yet arrived there, nor had even the stores and provisions been embarked, an operation which appeared to the secretary to require at least fifteen days to complete. This day nine more ships joined the enemy, and a squadron of twenty-six ships approached nearer the land, which led to a suspicion that some attempt was about to be made on us with fire-ships. The Duke, m consequence, ordered Captain Serrano to take a pinnace, and carry with him a cable and anchor, for the purpose of directing any fire-ship sent down upon us towards the land; and the Duke sent to all the ships that fronted the enemy, directing them to be on the alert, and keep boats ready manned with soldiers for the same purpose. In the middle of the night we discovered two fires burning in the English fleet, which soon increased to eight. They were eight ships burning fiercely, which, under all sail, came with the current directly down upon our capitana and the rest of the Armada. The Duke seeing them approach without meeting any obstruction on our part, and fearing they contained some invention for exploding, weighed his own anchor, and caused the rest of the Armada to do the same, directing all, however, to resume their stations as soon as the fire-ships had passed. The capitana of the galiasses ran foul of the San Juan of Sicily in endeavouring to avoid a fire-ship, and sustained so much damage, that she was obliged to remain near the shore. The current turned out to be so strong, that it drove the whole Armada rapidly towards the sands of Dunkirk, except the capitana and those ships near her, which returned to the anchorage, firing a gun as a signal to the others to do the same, but it was not seen. Monday 8. At break of day, the Duke, finding that his Armada was very far a-head, and that the enemy approached under all sail, weighed for the purpose of joining it, intending afterwards to regain his station. The wind freshened Probably Sir John Hawkins; the squadron, however, blockading Dunkirk, was commanded by Lord Henry Seymour, and Count Justin Nassau. The from the north-west, which crosses that coast, and the enemy's fleet, consisting of a hundred and thirty-six ships, favoured both by wind and tide, approached very rapidly. The Duke, who was in the rear division, seeing that if he spent time in endeavouring to come up with his Armada, it would be lost, in consequence of its being already very near the sands of Dunkirk, according to the report made by the Flemish pilots who were with him, determined to make head against the whole fleet of the enemy, for the purpose of saving it, and he therefore returned, placing his broadside towards the enemy, thus covering the movements of his own Armada, which he directed, by means of pataches, to keep to windward, because it was now standing directly on the sands of Dunkirk. The enemy's capitana, with the greatest part of their fleet, attacked our capitana very furiously, as soon as the day dawned, opening a very heavy fire of artillery, sometimes within musket,* sometimes within arquebus range. battle continued until three o'clock in the evening, without one moment's intermission, and without our capitana's changing her position until our Armada had cleared the sands. The galleon San Marcos, having the Marquess of Peñafiel on board, was near the capitana during the whole of this affair. The capitanat of the galiasses, being unable to keep up with our Armada, returned towards Calais, and ran aground at the entrance of the port. Some of the enemy's ships chased her, but it is believed she was protected by the guns of the castle, and her crew saved. Don Alonzo de Leyva, Juan Martinez de Recalde, the capitana of Oquendo, all the ships of the Castillian and Portuguese Maestre-deCampos, the capitanas of Diego Florez and Bretendona; and the galleon San Juan, having Don Diego Enriquez on board, had resisted the attack of the enemy to the utmost, so that all having sustained very considerable injury were almost rendered incapable of farther defence, and most of them were now without balls to fire. Don Francisco de Toledo closed with the enemy's rear, trying to board some of their ships, on which they turned on him, and opened so heavy a fire that he was much pressed. Don Diego Pimentel came down to his assistance, and both were placed in very great peril; on which Juan Martinez de Recalde and Don Agustin Mesia aided, and extricated them from this strait. Notwithstanding this, these two ships ran again into the midst of the enemy, as also did Don Alonso de Luzon's ship, with the Santa Maria de Begoña, having Garibay, and the San Juan de Sicilia, having Don Diego Tellez Enriquez on board; they were attacked by several very heavy ships, which closed on them on all sides. The enemy, without furling their sails, came almost near enough to board Don Francisco de Toledo, Don Diego Pimentel, and Don Diego Tellez Enriquez, firing on them all the time with artillery, and they defending themselves with muskets and arquebusses, in consequence of the closeness of the ships. The Duke, hearing the firing of the musketry and arquebusses which continued in the rear-division, without being able to discover from his tops what was going on, in consequence of the smoke, farther than the seeing two of our ships in the midst of those of the enemy, and A musket was at this time fired on a stand; an arquebus was fired from the shoulder. + Whereupon Monsieur Goudon, governor of Calais, a man of good estimation in respect of his prerogative in that place, sent his nephew to give the Englishmen to understand, that they should content themselves with the ordinary spoil; and that they should leave behind them the great ordnance, as a thing belonging to him by virtue of his office. The which embassage, sent a second time unto men more intentive unto their prey than other men's reason, made the gentleman to be evilly entertained by our men, in such sort, that they would have forcibly taken from him some trifling things about him, thinking him to be a Spaniard. Whereat M. Goudon, being offended, caused certain pieces of ordnance to be discharged from the town; and then the Englishmen departed, leaving the galiass at his pleasure, after the loss of some soldiers, having, notwithstanding, sacked 22,000 ducats of gold, appertaining unto the King, and fourteen coffers of moveables of the Duke of Medina; with some other, both money and moveables, of other particular men, and some prisoners, among whom was Duke Rodrigo of Mendoza, and Duke John Gonzales de Solerzano, under captain of the galiass.-Patriccio Ubaldino. that after the enemy's ships left our capitana, all bore down to that pointordered the capitana to be put about, and go to the assistance of the two ships, although she was so damaged by shot-holes between wind and water, that it was impossible to stop the leaks, and almost the whole of her rigging had been cut away during the action. Notwithstanding, the enemy, on seeing the capitana approach, abandoned the ships with which they were engaged, which were those of Don Alonzo de Luzon, of Garibay, of Don Francisco de Toledo, of Don Diego Pimentel, and of Don Diego Tellez Enriquez: of these, the three last, being closer to the enemy, and more engaged, had sustained the greatest injury, and were rendered useless. Almost the whole of their crews were either killed or wounded; although Don Diego Tellez Enriquez's ship was still able to keep company with us, but in a very disabled state. The Duke and the enemy collected their respective fleets. The Duke sent pataches to take out the crews of the San Félipe and the San Mateo: that belonging to the San Mateo was taken out, though Don Diego Pimentel would not abandon his ship, but sent Don Rodrigo de Bivero and Don Luis Vanégas to the Duke, with a request that some person capable of determining whether she was sea-worthy, might be sent to examine her. The Duke sent him a pilot and a diver of this, his own galleon, although he himself was exposed to great risk without them; but they, in consequence of its being now late, and the greatness of the sea, could not reach the San Mateo, which they saw, from a distance, go towards Zealand that night. The galleon San Felipe ran close alongside the Urca Doncella, and put all her crew on board. A short time after Don Francisco had got on board, a cry arose that the Urca was sinking, in consequence of which Captain Juan Poza de Santiso and Don Francisco de Toledo jumped both back into the San Felipe, with which they went towards Zealand; which was very unfortunate, as the alarm of the Urca's sinking was false, and Don Francisco told the Duke that he and all his people were safe on board the Urca. The tide, however, was so strong that there was no remedy, and it was not even possible to stop the shotholes in the capitana, which was in great danger of being lost in consequence. The Duke wished to have returned with the whole Armada on the enemy this day, that he might not have been under the necessity of leaving the Channel; but the pilots informed him the remaining was impossible, as the wind and tide were both against him, and the former was in the north-west, which is a cross wind on that coast. The pilots said he must either go into the North Sea, or run the whole Arinada on the sands; so that for this reason it was impossible to avoid leaving the Channel. Moreover, all our best ships were very much injured, and incapable of resistance, both on account of shot-holes and the not having more balls to fire. Tuesday 9. Eve of San Lorenzo. At two o'clock in the morning the wind freshened so much, that notwithstanding our capitana kept as much as possible to windward for the purpose of finding a favourable opportunity of re-entering the Channel, she could not weather the coast of Zealand. At day-break the northwest wind grew calmer, and the enemy's fleet, consisting of a hundred and nine ships, appeared astern, at the distance of little more than half a league. Our capitana remained in the rear-division with Juan Martinez de Recalde, Don Alonso de Leyva, the galiasses, the galleon San Marcos, and the San Juan of Diego Florez, the rest of our Armada being at a distance, and very much to leeward. The enemy's ships were steering for our capitana, which hauled her wind; the galiasses laid to, and the other ships composing the rear-division took up the line of battle, on which the enemy laid-to. The Duke fired two guns as a signal to the Armada to close, and sent a pilot in a patache to direct the ships to keep to windward, because they were very near the sands of Zealand, which was the real cause of the enemy's not coming nearer. The enemy supposed that our Armada was about to be lost, and the pilots for this coast, whom the Duke had on board, told him at this time, that it was impossible to save even a single ship, and that the whole Armada would inevitably be driven on the sands off the coast of Zealand by the north-west wind which now blew, and which God only could change. The Armada being in this critical position, which appeared without remedy, and in only six and a half fathoms water, God was pleased to change the wind to west-south-west, which enabled the Armada to stand to the north, without exposing any ships to danger, as the Duke had sent orders by the pataches that all should follow the capitana, because they otherwise would run on the sands of Zealand. This evening the Duke assembled the Generals and Don Alonso de Leyva, to determine what was best to be done. After explaining the state of the Armada, and the want of cannonballs, all the principal ships having sent for a supply, he asked them whether it were better to return to the English Channel, or go back to Spain by the North Sea, as no information of the period when the Duke of Parma could join had been received. The Council was unanimous in the determination of returning to the Channel, if it were possible; but if that were impracticable, it resolved to go back to Spain by the North Sea, in consequence of the almost entire want of every thing necessary in the Armada, and because those ships which had hitherto resisted were now disabled. The wind continued increasing to the south-south-west, so that the Duke pursued his course to sea, followed by the enemy's fleet. The Duke, in what concerned fighting the capitana, returning to succour and support the points attacked or in danger, followed the advice of the Maestre de Campo Don Francisco de Bobadilla, whose many years' experience in war, both by sea and land, was the cause why he had been ordered in Corunna to leave the galleon San Marcos, with which he had been entrusted, under the command of the Marquess of Peñafiel, who was with him, and come on board the capitana. The Marquess of Peñafiel, who had received a similar order, excused himself out of regard to the Cavaliers embarked with him, and remained in the San Marcos. In what concerned the interior management of the Armada, and the navigation, the Duke followed the advice of General Diego Florez, who had also been directed to embark in the capitana, in consequence of his being one of the oldest and most experienced officers in sea affairs. Wednesday 10. Our Armada continued its course under a strong south-west wind, the sea being very heavy, and the enemy's fieet following us. In the evening, the fury of the wind abating, the enemy stood towards our rear division, under all sail; and the Duke, perceiving there were very few ships with Juan Martinez de Recalde in the rear-division, lowered his topsails, and laid-to, firing three guns at intervals, as a signal to the Armada, which was then under all sail, to do the same, that it might wait for the capitana and the reardivision. What our Armada did on this occasion, Don Baltasar de Zuñiga can tell! The enemy's fleet, seeing that our capitana had laid-to, and that the galiasses of the rear-division had done the same, and also twelve of our best ships, laid-to also on their part, without firing. This evening, the squadron of John Accles parted company with the enemy's fleet, steering for Dunkirk. Thursday 11. We pursued our voyage with the same wind, which blew strong, the enemy's fleet keeping at a distance. In the evening, it came up under all sail, and we observed the absence of the ships of John Accles: the galiasses and the capitana again laid-to, and the enemy again did the same, without firing. Friday 12. At break of day the enemy's fleet was close to us; but seeing the Armada well closed up, and the rear-division reinforced, it stood away, steering for England, until we lost sight of it. The voyage has been continued with the same wind all the remaining days; we have cleared the Norwegian Channel, without its being possible to return to the English Channel, although we have made every effort to effect that object until this day, the 20th of August, and now, having doubled the last islands of Scotland, to the north, we are steering for Spain, with a west-north-west wind. ITALIAN HUMOROUS POETRY. THE Italians have a class of poems, of which comparatively little is known in this country, called either rime piacevole, or rime burlesche, not at all meaning by the latter term anything like what we should understand from a literal translation of it, although perhaps we have no other single word for it in our language. These poems may be said to be almost peculiar to Italy: in France, Spain, and Germany they have little of the kind, and in this country Lord Rochester's poem "Upon Nothing" is almost our only specimen, and even that is distinguished by too much depth of thought, metaphysical abstraction and severity of satire. Phillips's "Splendid Shilling" and Shenstone's "Schoolmistress" may be thought by some to bear a resemblance to the class; but they both, especially the latter, rather belong to the mock-heroic, of which we have not a few other examples, though none perhaps quite so good. It is evident that at the time Lord Rochester wrote his poem "Upon Nothing," he had in his memory, if not in in his sight, Francesco Copetta's Capitolo (for such was the particular name by which pieces of this kind usually went) nel quale si lodano le Noncovelle, of which the following is a short extract, which will sufficiently show the spirit of the whole, and partially establish Lord Rochester's obligation, a point not hitherto touched. Nothing is brother to primeval matter, On which philosophers their brains may batter, The worth of nothing's wondrously display'd, Yet nothing has nor head, tail, back, nor shoulder; And though than the great dixit it is older, Its strength is such that all things first shall moulder. The rank of nothing we from this may see: The mighty Roman once declar'd, that he The rime piacevole or burlesche seem to have been the offspring of fine animal spirits, operating upon, and quickening a lively imagination; and the fancy as well as the ingenuity displayed in them is quite astonishing: it is delightful to see how the writers often revel in their subjects, and the more trifling they are, the more they rejoice in setting them off, and exalting them by dignity of thought and graces of style. They have great enjoyment in showing the new and witty things that may be said, upon a radish, a cricket, a fig, a large nose, a piece of packthread, a sausage, or any other apparently insignificant object. Many parts of Italy were famous for their sausages, and the celebrity of Bologna, in this respect, has gained her at least as wide a reputation as her University or her School of Painting. Germany can give her savoury productions of the chopping-knife no higher claim to esteem, than by calling them Bolognas. Modena was at one time equally distinguished in this respect, and Tassoni in his Secchia Rapita (Canto v. st. 23.) thought necessary to assign it no |