navigations and conquestes of the Spanyardes, with the particular description of the most ryche and large landes and Ilandes lately founde in the West Ocean perteyning to the inheritaunce of the kinges of Spayne. In the which the diligent reader may not only consyder what commoditie may hereby chaunce to the whole christian world in tyme to come, but also learne many secreates touching the lande, the sea and the starres, very necessarie to be knowen to al such as shal attempte any navigations, or otherwise have delite to beholde the strange and wonderful woorkes of God and nature. Wrytten in the Latine tounge by Peter Martyr of Angleria, and translated into Englysshe." Pietro Martire, of Anghiera in the Milanese, born in 1455, was Councillor of State to Ferdinand V. of Castile and Aragon, whose children he taught, and by whom he was sent on special embassies to Venice and to Egypt. He was also employed by Charles V., and died in 1525, aged seventy. Besides his Latin History of the Discoveries in the New World, of which the First Decade ("the Ocean") was first printed in 1511, the Second and Third Decades were first printed in 1516, and the account of "the Newfound islands "—meaning Yucatan and Mexico was first printed in 1516, Pietro Martire wrote an account of his visit to Egypt, and a collection of studied letters. Eden's translation of Martire's Decades was a quarto dedicated to Philip and Mary, but nevertheless it caused Thomas Watson, Bishop of Lincoln, to bring its author before Gardiner as a heretic, and cost him his English office in King Philip's service. In 1561 Richard Eden published a translation from Martin Cortes of "The Arte of Navigation, Conteyning a compendious description of the Sphere, with the makyng of certen Instrumentes and Rules for Navigations: and exemplified by manye Demonstrations. Wrytten in Spanyshe tongue by Martin Curtes, and directed to the Emperour Charles the fyfte. Translated out of Spanyshe into Eng lyshe." This book was dedicated to two London aldermen who were among the governors of the Society of Merchant Adventurers, and one of them was Thomas Lodge, who was Lord Mayor two years later, and was father to the poet of that name. This book on the Art of Navigation was five times reprinted before the end of the century. Another of Eden's translations was on the nature of magnets, from John Taisnier's Opus Mathematicum, which includes among its various matters of research chiromancy and judicial astrology. Taisnier, born in Belgium at Ath in 1509, taught mathematics in Italian universities and had been preceptor to the henchmen of Charles V., but afterwards he settled at Cologne as Master of the Music at the Elector's Chapel. He died not long after the publication of his Opus Mathematicum, in 1562. Eden's interest in the magnet came of its relation to seafaring, and he called his translation "A very necessarie and profitable Booke concerning Navigation, compiled in Latin by Joannes Taisnierus, a publike professor in Rome, Ferraria, and other Universities in Italie of the Mathematicalles, named a treatise of continual Motions." This was published with Eden's translation of "The Navigation and Voyages of Lewes Vertomanus " (Lodovico Barthema, who wrote an Itinerario in Egitto, Arabia, Persia, &c.), "a gentleman of the city of Rome, to the regions of Arabia, Egypt, Persia, Syria, Ethiopia, and East India both within and without the Gangis, in the year of our lorde 1503." The two translations were published in July, 1577, after Eden's death, as parts of "The History of Travayle in the West and East Indies, and other countreys lying eyther way, towardes the fruitfull and rich Moluccas; as Moscovia, Persia, Arabia, Syria, Ægypte, Ethiopia, Guinea, China in Cathayo, and Giapan : with a discourse of the Northwest passage. Gathered in parte, and done into Englyshe by Richarde Eden, Newly set in order, augmented and finished by Richard Willes."* Philip In all this movement Sir Philip Sidney took the keenest interest. When Raleigh's half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, wrote his "Discourse to prove a NorthWest Passage," there was a delay of ten years before its first publication in 1576. It was read by the queen, and led to the licensing of Martin Frobisher to start on that four months' voyage in search of a north-west passage from which he returned in October, 1576, having found Frobisher's Bay, supposed to be a strait between Asia and America. Philip Sidney, then a young man of twenty-one, had a twenty-five pound share in the adventure. Sir Thomas Gresham had a hundred pound share. The Earl of Leicester and the Earl of Warwick had subscribed fifty pounds each. The promise of the first voyage was so good that for the second most subscribers doubled their contributions. Sir Philip Sidney subscribed fifty pounds, and Queen Elizabeth five hundred. Some bits of pyrites, which an Italian alchemist declared to be gold ore, had been brought home from the first voyage, and Frobisher was now instructed to search rather for the gold than for the further passage. A "Company of Cathay" was formed, with Frobisher as its Captain-General and Admiral of its Ships and Navy. Frobisher sailed in * A full and very interesting record of Richard Eden and his work was furnished by Professor Edward Arber, of Mason's College, Birmingham, in a quarto volume published in 1885, entitled "The First Three English Books on America [? 1511]-1555 A.D. Being chiefly translations, compilations, &c., by Richard Eden, from the writings, maps, &c., of Pietro Martire of Anghiera (1455-1526), Apostolical Protonotary and Councillor to the Emperor Charles V.; Sebastian Münster, the Cosmographer (1489-1552), Professor of Hebrew, &c., at the University of Basle; Sebastian Cabot of Bristol (1474-1557), Grand Pilot of England; with extracts, &c., from the works of other Spanish, Italian, and German writers of the Time." May, 1577, and returned in September with a shipload of the supposed treasure. As nobody knew how to get gold out of it, the ore was supposed to be poor. He would get richer ore next time. Sidney raised the amount of his venture to £67 10S. Frobisher went again, in 1578, with more ships to the islands by Meta Incognita, which men imagined to be richer than Peru. He brought home a larger store of worthless mineral than that which had been locked up under four keys as treasure in the Tower after his return from the voyage of 1577. But now the dream of gold was broken, and Frobisher's next service was in 1580 as captain of the Foresight, which was to prevent Spanish ships from bringing aid to the rebellion in Munster. Francis Drake. Francis Drake struck heavily at Spain in his third voyage to the West Indies-that of 1572-3-which brought him and his men, in July, 1572, to Nombre de Dios, the Spanish emporium of the West Indies, where he might have carried off as much treasure as his ships could hold, if he had not, in the critical hour, swooned from loss of blood. During that voyage Spanish ships were captured, Portobello was burnt, the Pacific seen from a tree on the Isthmus of Panama, three caravans of silver were intercepted, and there were other adventures and mishaps of which the narrative remained unpublished until 1626, when it appeared as "Sir Francis Drake Reuiued: Calling upon this Dull or Effeminate Age to followe his Noble Steps for Golde and Siluer, by this Memorable Relation of the Rare Occurrences (neuer yet declared to the World) in a Third Voyage made by him into the West Indies, in the Years 72 and 73, when Nombre de Dios was by him and 52 others only in his Company surprised, faithfully taken out of the Reporte of Mr. Christopher Ceeley, Ellis Hixon and others, who were in the same voyage with him. By Philip Nichols, Preacher. Reviewed also by Sir Francis Drake himselfe before his Death, and much holpen and enlarged by diuers Notes with his owne hand here and there inserted. Set forth by Sir Francis Drake, Baronet (his nephew) now liuing."* In December, 1577, Francis Drake left England with a squadron of five little vessels, and returned, in September, 1580, without any companion ships, in his bark of a hundred tons, The Pelican, of which, in the Straits of Magellan, he had changed the name to The Golden Hind, the crest of his patron Sir Christopher Hatton. Drake's Golden Hind had been the first of English ships to sail round the globe, and it came back loaded with rich treasure, in silver, gold, and gems, taken from Spain. Claims of Spain were evaded, and on the fourth of April, 1581, Francis Drake was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, who thought that if Spain should attack Protestant England, Drake's treasure would support a seven years' war without taxation of her people. The Golden Hind came to high honour, though not so high as that suggested by one enthusiast, who would have had her placed on the top of the tower of St. Paul's instead of the wooden spire, five hundred and twenty feet high, which had been struck by lightning and burnt down in 1561. When Drake next sought adventure by sea, in the autumn of 1585, it was with a fleet of twenty-five sail, authorised to make reprisals against Spain and to resist the Spanish preparations against England. In that fleet Martin Frobisher sailed as viceadmiral. Drake returned in July, 1586, bringing back with him sixty thousand pounds' worth of booty from the Spaniards. He brought also Raleigh's colonists from Virginia, with whom, it is said, then first came into England two strange plants from the New World for which appetite has grown--tobacco and potatoes. When we notice that in all the plays of Shakespeare there is not one *"London, Printed by E. A. for Nicholas Bourne, dwelling at the South Entrance of the Royall Exchange. 1626." A copy of this rare little book once fetched at a sale £75. |