25. He was, therefore, offended; and was also angry because the queen had been kind to the Protestants who had fled to England from the Netherlands, for he was king of those countries as well as of Spain; and her admirals having attacked some of his settlements in America, he determined to invade England, and make himself king there too, if he could. 26. He got ready the largest fleet that was ever known, and called it the Invincible Armada; but it did not prove to be invincible, although the English had but a very small navy at that time, not more than fifteen ships of war; but the merchants lent their ships, and manned them at their own expense; and people of all classes gave money to pay soldiers, to defend the country, in case the Spaniards should effect a landing. 27. But they never did land; for the English vessels, though so much smaller than Spanish ships, were lighter, and more manageable, and kept them from coming near the shore; and when they anchored off Calais, the English admiral sent fire ships among them, and burnt some of them, which created such terror, that they sailed away as fast as they could, some one way and some another, and the English ships chased them and disabled a great many; while others were wrecked by a violent storm; and thus the Armada was nearly destroyed. 28. Small handbills were printed and sent about the country, to let the people know that the danger was over. 29. Many more books were now published, and there were many clever authors in this reign, especially Shakespeare, who wrote a number of beautiful plays. 30. The queen was a great admirer of Shakespeare’s plays, and used to go to see them acted; but the theatres were then not much better than the shows at a country fair, and the performance was in the day time. 31. People of fashion, in those days, dined at eleven o’clock; the merchants and tradespeople, at twelve; and laborers, at one; and all public amusements were between dinner and supper, which was taken about six. 32. These amusements did not show very good taste, for gentlemen and ladies of rank used to go and see cock fighting, and bull and bear baiting, which are cruel disgusting exhibitions, and I only mention them to show you the difference between the manners at that time and this. 33. I will now give you an idea what kind of dress people used to wear in the time of queen Elizabeth. The gowns were open before, with a stiff bodice, just like a pair of stays, laced in front, and a large ruff round the neck. 34. In the street, most ladies used to wear a little black velvet mask, and shoes with such high heels they could scarcely walk in them. Gentlemen wore short jackets, reaching a little below the waist, with a belt and sword, a cloak, and a high-crowned hat.