An Account of the Spanish Invasion
In the Year mdlxxxviii.
The Defeat of the Spanish Armada being the most glorious Victory that was ever obtained at Sea, and the most important to the British Nation, every Method deserves some Praise, that may in a suitable Manner propagate the Memory of it. Our Ancestors, that were personally interested in it, were so careful it should not pass into Oblivion, that they procured the Engagements between the two Fleets to be represented in ten curious Pieces of Tapestry, with the Portraits of the several English Captains, taken from the Life, worked in the Borders, which are now placed, some in the Royal Wardrobe, some in the House of Lords, the most august Assembly of the Kingdom, there to remain as a lasting Memorial of the Triumphs of British Valour, guided by British Counsels. But because Time, or Accident, or Moths may deface these valuable Shadows, we have endeavoured to preserve their Likeness in the preceding Prints, which, by being multiplied and dispersed in various Hands, may meet with that Security from the Closets of the Curious, which the Originals must scarce always hope for, even from the Sanctity of the Place they are kept in.
Thus far we have been able to go within our own Province; but as a more particular Detail of the Circumstances of this glorious Expedition, which lye blended in our Histories with other Matters, may not be altogether unacceptable, we shall beg Leave to offer the following brief Account of it, collected from the most authentic Writers and Manuscripts.