On Thursday, the foundation-stone of the monument which is to
stand on the Hoe to commemorate the destruction of the Armada, was laid by the Mayor of Plymouth. Over twenty thousand people assembled to witness the ceremony and to take part in the festivities, which included a representation of Drake's famous game of bowls, played by the members of the Leeds and Torrington Bowling Clubs, dressed in Elizabethan costume, and a pageant in which all the Sovereigns who have reigned in England were represented. The occasion has perhaps attracted hardly as much attention as might have been expected ; but English people seem unable to find the same pleasure in bicentenaries and tercentenaries as their Con- tinental neighbours. Some of the documentary evidence, showing how Elizabeth starved the Fleet, which has been newly brought to light, has been very curious. It is to be hoped that it will not make the Board of Admiralty feel that, after all, they need not despair of immortality even though they leave our ships without stores or guns.
Previous page
