to dwell upon the purely historical features of the subject; they may be found fully treated in the various works which we have quoted. Our purpose is rather to make a running commentary upon the admirable series of engravings which have been prepared to illustrate this article, and which, though exhibiting much of the quaintness of detail pertaining to the art-work of the last century, are yet highly interesting and instructive, both from their artistic excellence and historical character. They illustrate in a remarkable manner the event of which we have been speaking, that event which stands pre-eminently forward amongst the decisive battles of the world, than which none more striking or important is to be found in the naval annals of Great Britain. In 1739, John Pine, an eminent engraver, produced the series of prints, to which we have referred, the full title of his work being as follows :— "The Tapestry Hangings of the House of Lords: Representing the several Engagements between the English and Spanish Fleets, In the ever memorable Year MDLXXXVIII., With the Portraits of the Lord High-Admiral, and the other Noble Commanders, taken from the Life. To which are added, From a Book, entitled Expeditionis Hispanorum in Angliam vera Descriptio, A.D. 1588, done, as is supposed, for the said Tapestry to be work'd after. Ten Charts of the Sea-Coasts of England, and a General One of England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Holland, &c., Shewing the Places of Action between the Two Fleets; Ornamented with Medals struck upon that Occasion, and other suitable Devises. Also an Historical Account of each Day's Action. Collected from the most Authentic Manuscripts and Writers. By John Pine, Engraver. London, MDCCXXXIX." This remarkable work is dedicated to the King, and has a large and influential list of subscribers. The historical account of the various actions which accompanies the engravings was drawn up by the Rev. Philip Morant, M.A., Rector of St. Mary's, Colchester. In his introductory remarks he says:"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 in 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." In a further explanatory note we are informed that, according to Joachim de Sandrart, the designs of the tapestry were made by Henry Cornelius Vroom, a famous painter of Harlem, famous for his great skill in drawing all sorts of shipping; and that it was wove by Francis Spiring. Pennant, in his description of the old House of Lords (Some Account of London, p. 91, 3rd ed., 1793), has this curious and interesting passage : - The The House of Lords is a room ornamented with the tapestry which records our victory over the Spanish Armada. It was bespoke by the Earl of Nottingham, Lord High Admiral and Commander-in-Chief on the glorious day. The Earl sold it to James I. design was drawn by Cornelius Vroan, and the tapestry executed by Francis Spiering. Vroan had a hundred pieces of gold for his labour. The arras itself cost £1628. It was not put up till the year 1650, two years after the extinction of the monarchy, when the House of Lords was used as a committee room for the House of Commons." It will be noticed by reference to the plates that there are two distinct borders, although the tapestries had one uniform border running through the whole series, that on Plates II., IV., VI., VIII., X. of the original set. This is an exact representation of the border to the tapestryhangings, which is ornamented with the portraits of the principal commanders, and is the same in all the pieces of the tapestry, only the heads are differently placed. But for more variety, and in order to bring in the heads of Sir Robert Carey, the Earl of Northumberland, Sir Roger Townshend, and Sir Thomas Gerard, another border was de signed; this will be seen around Plates I., III., V., VII., IX. Both these borders appear in the six plates here reproduced, although the original border is only shown on one plate (Plate IV.) of the original. It having been found impossible to reproduce the whole of these excellent engravings, we have selected six of the most representative character, together with two of the most interesting charts, from amongst a considerable number which appear in John Pine's work. These celebrated tapestries were, as our readers will doubtless remember, destroyed in the great fire which burnt the Houses of Parliament on the 16th of October, 1834, so that Pine's shrewd prediction was amply verified, and his wisdom in depicting them, as well as the skill with which they have been reproduced in his work, is to be highly commended, and will be fully appreciated by this and succeeding generations. His work is now exceedingly scarce, and can rarely now be found save in some long-established library or the collections of the curious. A writer in the Penny Magazine, Nov., 1834, in describing the old House of Lords, says: we "One of the chief and most interesting ornaments of the interior of this apartment consisted of the fine tapestry hangings, representing the defeat of the Spanish Armada. On the occasion to which have just adverted (some alterations at the time of the Union with Ireland, when provision was made for the accommodation of an additional number of peers), these hangings were taken down, cleaned, and replaced as they lately appeared. The tapestry was judiciously set off with large frames of brown-stained wood, which divided it into compartments respectively containing the several portions of the history or of the events of the destruction contemplated by the Spaniards on that occasion. The heads which formed a border to each design were portraits of the several officers who at that period held command in the English fleet. The destruction of these hangings is perhaps one of the greatest, because perfectly irreparable, losses occasioned by the late fire." Another writer describes "this splendid tapestry as one among many proofs of the strong sensation which the defeat of the Armada made throughout Europe. That great event was represented in various designs exhibiting the first appearance of the Spanish fleet; the several forms in which it lay at different times on the English coast, or in presence of the com paratively small English force which pursued it; the place and disposition of the fleets when engaged; and its partial demolition and final departure." In The views of the coast are, in some of the plates, curious, interesting, and generally natural; and more attention, than was usually given in the productions of the time has been bestowed upon them in order to convey an idea of the different distances of the fleets from the shore; except when the French and English coasts were exhibited opposite to each other in the same piece, when they are always much too near. No. 8, part of a town on the French coast is brought into view, with people hastening to the shore to witness the passing of the fleets. In Nos. 9 and 10, a part of Calais is represented in the foreground, with soldiers and citizens upon the walls and other persons outside the walls, mostly engaged in animated conversation, with the exception of one man, who, in both these pieces, is represented as engaged in fishing underneath the walls. In most of the pieces we have dolphins, whales, and other strange monsters of the deep, of extraordinary size. Some of these creatures appear to threaten with fierce and grim looks the progress of the Spanish fleet. The interest which the Netherlands felt in these events is indicated not only by the tapestry which we have described, but by the curious fact that the medals and jettons which were struck on the occasion were entirely Dutch; none were struck in England. Specimens of many of these are preserved in the British Museum, and will be found fully described in Medallic Illustrations of British History (1885), Vol. I. The story of the Armada is so well known that it seems almost superfluous to relate its incidents in detail; we shall therefore content ourselves with telling so much of it as may be necessary to explain the accompanying plates and charts. The first plate (marked I. in the righthand upper corner) represents the Spanish Fleet coming up the Channel, opposite to the Lizard, as it was first discovered. The same day (July 19th) the Lord Admiral was informed by Captain Thomas Flemming, commander of the Golden Hind pinnace, who had been left in the Channel for discovery, that the Spanish Fleet was seen near the Lizard, the wind being then southerly or south-west. Though the wind blew hard into Plymouth Sound, and the intelligence was not received till about four o'clock in the afternoon, yet his lordship, with much diligence and indus |