the boldness of his mind. And the ease and certainty with which he shaped his course through those unknown seas, has never been equalled, except by Captain Cook. We must not, however, compare the difficulties of Drake with his small and rudely fitted vessels, to those of Cook, with the most consummate arrangements which the British admiralty, under George III., could provide. Perfect in his seamanship, relying implicitly on his own resources, and possessing that high courage which knows not even the bodings of fear, Drake was, in all seasons and latitudes, perfectly at home on the ocean. Having coasted California and North America, as far as the forty-eighth degree, in hopes of finding a passage to the Atlantic, and being disappointed in this expectation, he landed on the country which he named New Albion, and took possession of it in Queen Elizabeth's name. After this, he boldly sailed across the Pacific Ocean. Within less than six weeks, he reached the Molucca Islands, and touched at Ternate. Thence, by Java and the Cape of Good Hope, he proceeded homewards, and reached Plymouth on November 3rd, 1580, having completed the first circumnavigation of the globe in two years, ten months, and twenty days. He also brought home an immense mass of treasure, taken from the Spanish towns on the coasts of Chili and Peru, and from various Spanish vessels, including a royal galleon, called the Caca Fuego, richly laden with plate. Queen Elizabeth did rightly in honoring him with her praise, for on the whole he well merited it. His ship, the Pelican, she ordered to be preserved in a little creek near Deptford, on the Thames, as a monument of his enterprise. It was a happy day for Drake when the queen came with great ceremony, to grace with her royal presence a banquet in his welltried ship, and bestowed on him the honor of knighthood. Soon after this banquet, Mendoza, the Spanish ambassador, complained to the queen, with arrogant violence, of Drake's having dared to sail in the Indian Sea. Elizabeth promptly replied, "that a title to the ocean could not belong to any people, or private persons, forasmuch as neither nature, nor public use and custom, permitteth any possession thereof." To the penetrating understanding, the intrepid spirit of our greatest queen, belongs the glory of having first asserted the undoubted right of England to navigate the ocean in all its parts. One most characteristic anecdote of Drake's subsequent career must not be omitted. He was the chief hero in the great national defence against the invasion of the Spanish Armada. The queen made him vice-admiral on that occasion, and he was posted at his native place to watch the approach of the Spanish fleet. He was playing at bowls on the Plymouth Hoe with his officers, when a Scottish privateer brought the news that he had seen the Spanish fleet off the Lizard. Amidst the sudden bustle, and calls for ships' boats, Drake was cool and collected. He insisted that the game should be played out. "Plenty of time, my lads," said he, "both to win the game and beat the Spaniards." THE SPANISH ARMADA. ATTEND all ye who list to hear our noble England's praise, It was about the lovely close of a warm summer's day, *Mount Edgcumbe, near Plymouth. And haughtily the trumpets peal, and gaily dance the bells, fair maids : Ho! gunners fire a loud salute; ho! gallants, draw your Far on the deep the Spaniard saw, along each southern shire, flew ; He roused the shepherds of Stonehenge, the rangers of Beaulieu. Right sharp and quick the bells all night rang out from Bristol town, And ere the day three hundred horse had met on Clifton down; Then bugle's note and cannon's roar the death-like silence broke ; i.e, always the same. At once on all her stately gates arose the answering fires; From all the batteries of the Tower peal'd loud the voice of fear, And broader still became the blaze, and louder still the din, As fast from every village round the horse came spurring in : And eastward straight, from wild Blackheath, the warlike errand went, And raised in many an ancient hall the gallant squires of Kent. Southward, from Surrey's pleasant hills fler those bright couriers forth; High on bleak Hampstead's swarthy moor they started for the North; And on, and on, without a pause, untired they bounded still, All night from tower to tower they sprang-they sprang from hill to hill, Till the proud Peak unfurl'd the flag o'er Darwin's rocky dales— Till stream'd in crimson on the wind the Wrekin's crest of light- Macaulay. PRESENCE OF MIND, AND NAVAL DISCIPLINE. THE daring of the British seaman in the face of the enemy, and in the fierce struggle of the tempest, is only equalled by his presence of mind in grappling, in the dark hours of night, and when suddenly aroused from his peaceful slumber, with that most appalling and invidious foe-fire. Here is a striking example : In the year 1831, the ship's corporal of H.M.S. Magicienne, then many hundred miles from land, in the early morning watch, on going his rounds, smelt, or fancied he smelt, fire in the fore cockpit. On descending the cockpit ladder, he ascertained the correctness of his fears, finding the foresail-room to be on fire, just over the magazine. Discipline had here a great triumph, for the man made no alarm on the lower deck amongst the sleeping crew, but, in accordance with orders, quietly made his report to the officer of the watch, who in his turn communicated it to the commander, Captain (afterwards Admiral) Plumridge. Without staying to dress himself, the captain jumped on deck, and coolly gave the orders to sound the fire-roll and beat to quarters. By this time the word had passed-"Fire in the foresailroom." Every man and officer was at his respective station. Sail-trimmers shortened and trimmed sails; and sentries were under arms over the boats. All hands remained steadily at their quarters pumps, engines, and buckets were worked with energy, and the water rushed down on the devouring element to an extent that must either have extinguished it or swamped the ship. The party whose duty required them to be where the fire was, notwithstanding their perilous position, immediately over the magazine, cleared the burning sail-room with all that energy and self-possession peculiar to British seamen in such emergencies. More than ten minutes had not elapsed from the time the drum beat to quarters till all was over, and the gallant “craft," under all canvas, again pursuing her course. So quietly was everything managed, that the " sail-trimmers" at the after quarter never knew that the ship was actually on fire, but merely thought it a sham for exercise. Not a man or sail-trimmer was allowed to look round, or speak, or whisper, to his neighbour. The piercing eye of the captain was upon them, who, in his bedgown, walked the deck with his arms folded-his step as firm and |