Perhaps not the least costly of the sacrifices made by Kent at this time was that which it incurred by the death in 1586 of Sir Philip Sidney, who, in November 1585, had sailed from Gravesend to join the expedition despatched to the Netherlands under his uncle Robert, Earl of Leicester. Of the statesmanlike qualities of this most distinguished of the county’s sons, it had shown its appreciation by electing him in 1581 to replace his father as knight of the shire for Kent. He had been a member of the committee which recommended stringent measures against Catholics and slanderers of the queen. In this respect his example was followed by the many Kentishmen who in 1584 signed the ‘Instrument of Association for the Defence of the Queen.’¹⁰  After watching with much interest Ralegh’s American projects, and after being re-elected in December 1584, he had sat on the committee of the House of Commons which defined the boundaries of the colony of Virginia.
   It was at the end of May 1588 that the Armada sailed from Lisbon, but the middle of July before it finally left Spain. It was expected that a landing would be effected at Kent, and 6,000 men were assembled in camp at Sandwich’¹¹ under Captain John Warde, a veteran who had served at the winning of Boulogne in the reign of Henry VIII.’¹²   The county also contributed 2,000 men, under Sir Thomas Cecil, to an army for the defence of Her Majesty’s person,’¹³  and sent lances and light horse to London.’¹⁴  To the army ‘drawn together to encounter the enemy,’ Kent had contributed by 27 June, 4,000 foot, under Colonels Sir Robert Sidney (brother of Sir Philip) and Sir Edward Moore, 64 lances, 330 light horse, 263 harquebuses, 84 petronels and 1,077 ‘pioneers.’¹⁵  On 29 July the beacon lights of the county announced that the enemy were at hand, and the days that followed must have been spent in eager watching 0f the manoeuvring in the Channel in which many a Kentish sailor had his part.
   A note survives of the ‘captains’ names in Kent,’ in April 1588, when the Spanish invasion was hourly expected, and is of interest.’¹⁶  It mentions Sir Henry Palmer and Edward Boyse, Esquire; Sir Thomas Scott; Sir Richard Baker and John Cobham, Esquire; Sir Thomas Fane, Thomas Fane, Esquire, and John Loveson, Esquire; Justin Campney, Edward Stile, Esquire, and Thomas Willoughby; Henry Crispe, Edward Crispe, Erasmus Finche; also Captain Thomas Palmer (lances 64, light horse 8o); Captain Thomas Scott (light horse 45); Captain William Cromer (light horse, 40); Captain Roger Twisden (light horse 50); and Captain Sampson Leonard (light horse 50). 
   During the fifteen years that followed the defeat of the Armada, England lived in continual expectation, now more, now less acute, of another Spanish attack on her shores. They were years of mostly successful warfare, but their effect on the county may best be judged from a letter written, 3 August 1595, by Sir Thomas Fludd and William Sedley to Lord Cobham,’⁷  who four days earlier had been directed to see ‘that the forces of the shire should be put in readiness against any attempt by the enemy along the sea coast.’¹⁸ This letter advances
   ¹⁰  Cal. S.P. Dom. 1581—90, p. 211.
   ¹¹  Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. XV, App. v, 49.
   ¹²  Ibid. (Hatfield MSS.), vi, 34.       ¹³  Ibid. Rep. XV, App. v, 46.
   ¹⁴  Ibid. 57.                                      ¹⁵  Ibid. 46.                     ¹⁶  Ibid. 37
   ¹⁷  Cal. S.P. Dom. 1591-4, p. 365.
   ¹⁸  Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. V, App. 138. Lord Cobham was then Lord Lieutenant, the muster masters being Thomas Wyatt and Thomas Gaye. Ibid. (Hatfield MSS.), v. 523.