Family-histories and genealogies : containing a series of ...

Kotes on ttie JFaiuU» of mvuUt
knighthood upon him in 1585." Prince, in his "Worthies of Devon,"
says of him :
"I find him to descend down to us under a very honorable character, That he
was a gentleman of rare and excellent accomplishments ;
soldier as a courtier :
memory Queen Elizabeth ; and
Bernard Drake .
. . came
and
as well qualified for a
he was in great favor with that illustrious princess of immortal
of high esteem in her court. ..." That Sir
to Newfound-Land with a commission ;
and, having
divers good ships under his command, he took many Portugal ships, and brought
them into England as prizes.' And for his great undertakings this way he is ranked
the 2d among the most famous sea captains of our country in his time (than whom
no age before or since can boast of greater), to wit Sir Humphrey Gilbert,
Sir Francis Drake, Sir John Hawkins, &c."
We return for a moment to the parents of Sir Bernard Drake and
Robert of Wiscombe, in order to quote from Prince's "Worthies of
Devon " that a cousin of theirs on their mother's side, was the father of
"the famous Sir Richard Grenvil Kt., vice-admiral of the royal navy of England
performed the noblest sea action of that kind ever
. . who in her Majesty's ship the Revenge maintained a battle,
in the days of Q. Elizabeth ; who
was made by man .
for twenty-four hours, against fifty of the Spanish galleons, with but two hundred men
whereof eighty were sick on the ballast .
terms ;
but
. . he
at last yielded upon honorable
died within two days after. . . ." His last words were ;
Richard Grenville, with a joyful and quiet mind ;
" Here die I
for that I have ended my life as a
true soldier ought to do, fighting for his country. Queen, religion and honour :
my
soul willingly departing from this body, leaving behind the lasting fame of having
behaved as every valiant soldier is in his duty bound to do.'"
A grandson of Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Grenville was Sir Bevil
Grenville, the leader of the Cornish gentry in the cause of Charles I. at
the opening of the Civil War, "'the generally most loved man,' says
Clarendon, 'of that county,' a leader whose mild and conciliatory character,
joined to an indefatigable activity, and ardent courage, peculiarly qualified
him to direct the exertions of such a body in times of civil contention."
He gave up his life to win a battle for the King's cause in 1643.
* Prince's Worthies of Devon, ut supra, pp. 442-44.