A TRUE RELATION OF A BRAVE ENGLISH STRATAGEM PRACTISED lately upon a sea town in Galicia, one of the kingdoms in Spain; and most valiantly and successfully performed by one English ship alone of thirty tons, with no more than 35 men in her. AS ALSO With two other remarkable and Spaniards, to the glory of our Printed for Mercurius Britanicus. A True Relation of a Brave English With two other remarkable Accidents between the OU SHALL here, loving Countrymen! receive a plain, full and perfect relation of a stratagem bravely attempted, resolutely seconded with bold English spirits, and by them as fortunately executed upon our enemies, the Spaniards: who, albeit upon what kingdom soever they once set but footing, they write Plus ultra; devouring it up in conceit, and feeding their greedy ambition that it is all their own. Yet this golden faggot of dominion may have many sticks plucked out of it, if cunning fingers go about to undo the band: as by this Galician enterprise may appear. A pregnant testimony hereby being given, that if the great warriors of the sea would join together, and thunder all along the Spanish coasts; the Castilian kingdoms might easily be shaken: when so poor a handful of our English being spread before one of their sea towns, was the forerunner of so terrible a storm to all the inhabitants. Such a brave mustering of all the gods of the Ocean into one conjoined army, would quickly make the great Dons to alter their proud and insolent poesy of Non sufficit orbis, "the 266 RAWLINS PERSUADES THE CAPTAIN TO KEEP [, ? Mar. 1623 soldiers, and ignorant of sea affairs, could not discover whether they went to Argier or not; or, if they did, they resolved, by RAWLINS's example, to cut their throats, or cast them overboard. And so I leave them to make use of the Renegadoes' instructions: and return to RAWLINS again. The Master of the bark of Torbay and his company were quickly searched, and as quickly pillaged, and dismissed to the liberty of the ship; whereby RAWLINS had leisure to entertain him with the lamentable news of their extremities, and the adventure of their voyages: whereby he understood of his first setting out from the West country, of his taking and surprising at sea by VILLA RISE; of his twice being sold as a slave, and so continuing to his heart-burning and excruciation; of the making [of] the Exchange of Bristol, a Man of War, which they were now in; of the Captain and Master, who were both English Renegadoes; of the cruelty of the Turks in general, and his own fortunes in particular; of his admission into the ship as a Pilot; of the friendship which passed between him and the Hollanders; of the imparting of the secret of surprising the ship, both to the slaves and Christian Renegadoes; of their consent and courageous apprehension of the matter; of the first attempt, and their twice disappointing; of his still resolution presently [at once] to put it in practice; of his last acquainting [of] the Dutch Renegadoes who went aboard his bark; and in a word, of every particular which was befitting to the purpose. 66 Yea," he told him, that "that night, he should lose the the sight of them, for they would make the helm for England;" and that he "would, that night, and evermore, pray for their good success and safe deliverance." When the Master of the Bark of Torbay had heard him out, and that his company were partakers of his story; they all became silent: not either diffident of his discourse or afraid of the attempt; but as wondering at the goodness of GOD, and His mercy in choosing out such weak instruments to set forth His glory. "True," quoth Rawlins, when he found them coming towards him, "it is so! For mark but the circumstance of the matter! and you shall see the very finger of GOD to point us out our deliverance! When we came into the main ocean to hunt after prizes, according to the nature of pirates, |