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

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amid <strong>the</strong> waves.<br />

Spread<strong>in</strong>g sail to <strong>the</strong> ris<strong>in</strong>g gale, <strong>the</strong> Armada<br />

bore away past <strong>the</strong> Frith <strong>of</strong> Forth. Drake had been<br />

uneasy about Scotland, fear<strong>in</strong>g that <strong>the</strong> Spaniards<br />

might seek refuge, <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Forth and give trouble to<br />

<strong>the</strong> nor<strong>the</strong>rn k<strong>in</strong>gdom; but when he saw this danger<br />

pass, and <strong>the</strong> Armada speed away towards <strong>the</strong><br />

shores <strong>of</strong> Norway, he resolved to retrace his course<br />

before fam<strong>in</strong>e should set <strong>in</strong> among his crews. No<br />

sooner did Drake turn back from <strong>the</strong> flee<strong>in</strong>g foe<br />

than <strong>the</strong> tempest took up <strong>the</strong> pursuit, for that<br />

moment a furious gale burst out, and <strong>the</strong> last <strong>the</strong><br />

English saw <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Armada were <strong>the</strong> vanish<strong>in</strong>g<br />

forms <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir retreat<strong>in</strong>g galleons, as <strong>the</strong>y entered<br />

<strong>the</strong> clouds <strong>of</strong> storm and became hid <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

blackness <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> nor<strong>the</strong>rn night. In <strong>the</strong>se awful<br />

solitudes, which seemed abandoned to tempests,<br />

<strong>the</strong> Spaniards, without pilots and without a chart,<br />

were environed by bristl<strong>in</strong>g rocks and by unknown<br />

shallows, by currents and whirlpools. They were<br />

"driven from light <strong>in</strong>to darkness;" <strong>the</strong>y were<br />

"chased out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world."<br />

409

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