MEMOIRS OF SIR WILLIAM MONSON. THE family of Monson has been long settled in Lincolnshire, of which this gentleman was a native. * He was the fourth son of John Monson, Esq. by Mary, daughter of Sir Robert Hussey, and was born about the year 1569. + He went very early to sea, as himself informs us, about the beginning of the Spanish wars, and in the condition only of a private man; his wages, according to the fru gality of that time, being no more than ten shillings a month; from which he was gradually advanced to the great commands he afterwards bore. His first voyage was in the year 1585, in which he engaged without the knowledge either of his father or mother; and wherein he saw the sharpest service he met with throughout his life. He was on board a privateer, which was but a small vessel, and in consort with another still smaller. They sailed from the Isle of Wight, in the month of September; and soon after came up with a stout Spanish ship, of three hundred tons, well manned. The crew, however, of the two privateers resolved to board her, which they did toward evening; but the wind growing high, and the night dark, their vessels fell off, and they were left on board the Spaniards. The fight continued all night, with variety of success; but at last, about seven o'clock in the morning, the Spaniards yielded. ‡ In 1587, he had the command of a ship, and was employed afterwards through. out the whole reign of the queen. In the year 1589, he served as vice-admiral in the earl of Cumberland's fleet, and did excellent service; but in the course of that expedition endured such hardships, as * Fuller's Worthies in Lincolnshire, p. 163. Wood's Athen. Oxon. vol. i. col. 336. + Sir William Monson's Naval Tracts, p. 505. ↑ Ibid. p. 246. * brought upon him a fit of sickness, which detained him in England a whole year. In 1591, he served again under the command of the earl of Cumberland, when he had the misfortune to be taken by the Spaniards, and remained a prisoner nearly two years. + This did not discourage him from acting under the earl again, almost as soon as he had recovered his liberty, in the year 1593. In the famous expedition to Cadiz, in the year 1596, he was captain of the Repulse, the earl of Essex's own ship, to whom he did great service, by his wise and moderate counsel; and was, therefore, very deservedly knighted. § In the island voyage he commanded the Rainbow; and if the earl of Essex had then followed the informations he gave him, he would certainly have taken most of the Spanish galleons. In 1599, he had the command of the Defiance, in the Downs; and in 1602, being vice-admiral, he had the good luck to take a great carrack of sixteen hundred tons, which, with its cargo, was worth a million of pieces of eight. In 1602, he was at sea again, and had the command of a squadron; in which, though he performed no great service, yet he brought it home safely through many perils. ** I have not gone into the particulars of these services, because they have been all of them treated at large already; and with due respect to the accounts given of them by this gentleman in his writings; so that to have entered into the circumstances of them, would have involved us in needless repetitions. At the accession of King James, no seaman appeared to have a fairer title to his favour than Sir William Monson, whose attachment to his interest had engaged * Sir William Monson's Naval Tracts, p. 505. + Ibid. p. 179, and 504.. § Ibid. p. 184. + Ibid. p. 181. || Ibid. p. 189. See the Naval History of Queen Elizabeth, in the preceding volume, p. 457. ** Sir William Monson's Naval Tracts, p. 189. the lords of the privy-council to place an extraordinary confidence in his management of the fleet, of which we have before taken notice. * It does not, however, appear that Sir William, throughout the course of that reign received any extraordinary gratifications, but rather the contrary. He had the charge of the narrow seas for twelve years, that is, from the beginning of the year 1604, to the year 1616, in which time he did remarkable service; in supporting the honour of the English flag against the encroachments of the Dutch and French; and in his remarkable voyage round Great Britain and Ireland, to scour the seas of pirates, of which likewise we have given an account in its proper place. ‡ After so many and so great services rendered to the crown, and so many years spent in duty to his country, Sir William had the misfortune to fall into disgrace; and to find all that he had done, and all that he had advised, which, perhaps, was of no less consequence, misunderstood, and turned to his disadvantage. As this is the most remarkable part of his personal history, so it seems to deserve our and the reader's attention on another account, I mean the relation it has to the state of maritime affairs in those days; and, therefore, I shall give as clear and concise an account thereof as I can. It is a very dangerous thing either to offend the great, or fall into the dislike of the many. Sir William Monson was so unlucky as to run into both these misfortunes; the former he incurred through a desire of serving his country; and the latter, by his zeal in discharging his duty on a ticklish occasion. His great knowledge in maritime affairs, and the confidence which the seamen had in him, brought to his view most of the grievances in the navy, which he honestly laboured to redress. This gave rise to a com * Naval History of King James, in this volume, p. 89. mission for that purpose, that has been often mentioned; and that commission gave great distaste to the earl of Nottingham, then lord-high-admiral, and to those who under him had the chief management of the fleet. It went on notwithstanding; a great reformation was made, and the king saved abundance of money in this article ; which, however, did not lessen the spleen conceived against Sir William Monson, for having set this design on foot. * The other accident which hurt him with the people was this: the Lady Arabella having made her escape, orders were sent to Sir William Monson to prevent, if possible, her getting either into France or Flanders; and though he did not receive these orders till twenty-four hours after her departure; yet, he executed them most effectually, and retook her in a bark bound for Calais, within four miles of that place. + This was the same lady, concerning whom so much noise had been made in the business of Sir Walter Raleigh's plot; and, as she was a great object of popular pity, so upon this occasion many strange stories were circulated, which served to raise the odium for retaking her; though it was his duty, and what the court ought to have looked upon as an important service. The Dutch too, who were angry with him for his conduct in the narrow seas, found means to do him ill offices; so that upon some very slight pretences, he was committed close * See Naval Tracts, p. 370; where our author enumerates the many abuses committed in the navy, with the means of reforming them, and which abuses he says, began to creep in, like rust into iron, at the latter end of Queen Elizabeth's reign. ↑ Winwood's Memorials, vol. iii. p. 280. This lady is in most of our historians called the Lady Arabella; but in the proclamation published upon her flight, and which is extant in Rymer's Foedera, vol. xvi. p. 710, she is styled the Lady Arbella, and so she wrote her *name. See the introduction to the second book of his Naval Tracts. prisoner to the Tower, in 1616: * but, after he had been examined by the Chief Justice Coke, and Secretary Winwood, he was discharged; and he afterwards wrote a large vindication of his conduct, while admiral in the narrow seas. He very soon recovered his credit; for, in 1617, we find him called to council, in order to give his opinion how the Algerines might be best reduced. In the succeeding reign, of which we are now speaking, he had likewise a great interest, and his advice was asked in all maritime affairs; but, as he differed in opinion from those who were then in possession of power and favour; and, as he censured the expedition to Rhé, and that against Cadiz, we need not wonder that he was not employed. ‡ Yet, in 1635, when the king came to have better notions of things, and to be truly concerned for his sovereignty of the seas; Sir William Monson was appointed vice-admiral of the fleet, commanded by the earl of Lindsey; which effectually vindicated the king's honour, and the rights of the nation. § After this, he spent his days in privacy and peace; and, about the year 1640, || composed that work, of which we have made such great use; and of which, considering its subject, I think it cannot be amiss to give a short account. It is divided into six books, all on different subjects, and yet, all equally curious and instructive. The first book is, for the most part, a collection of every year's actions, in the war against Spain, on our own coast, upon the Spanish coast, and in the West Indies; a brief narrative; for no more is said, but the force they were undertaken with, and the success of the enterprizes; yet the design is to shew the reasons, either why they miscarried, or why Camden's Annals of King James, in Kennet's Complete History of England, vol. ii p. 646. ↑ Sir William Monson's Naval Tracts, p. 250. Ibid. p. 258-277. § Ibid. p. 290. [] Ibid. p. 295. |