Protestantism in England From the Times of Henry VIII - James Aitken Wylie

St. Philip, the St. Luke, the St. John, the St. Martin,
fought with the Lion, the Bull, the Bear, the Tiger,
the Dreadnought, the Revenge, the Victory, but
they could gain no mastery over their unapostolical
antagonists. In the carnal business of fighting the
superiority seemed to lie with the heretical
combatants. The sides of the orthodox galleons
were pierced and riddled with the English shot,
their masts cut or splintered, and their cordage torn;
and when evening fell, the enemy, who had all
through the conflict seen the Spanish shot pass
harmlessly over him and bury itself in the sea,
stood away, his hulls bearing no sign of battle,
hardly a cord torn, and his crews as intact as his
ships.
On the following day (Friday) the procession
up-channel was resumed, at the same slow pace
and in the same order as before, the mighty
Armada leading the van, and the humble English
fleet following. On the afternoon of Saturday the
Spaniards were off Calais. It was here, or near to
this, that Medina Sidonia was to be joined by the
Duke of Parma, with the fleet and army which he
396