HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



QQ9 



arid expectation. It wns not un- 

 reasonable to expect, that the com- 

 bined squadrons, baffled and dis- 

 graced, might fall in, either with 

 adiiirals Caider or Culiiiigwood, 

 "who were cruizing in diii'erent direc- 

 tions, with strong divisions of the 

 British fleet, on thewatch to prevent 

 his return to port either in yrance 

 or Spain. Many imagined it pos. 

 Bible, that lord Nelson might over- 

 take his prey, and contemplated 

 with hope, alloyed by some slight 

 reflection on the disproportion of 

 ., strength, the tremendous couUict 

 which must have ensued. Nor were 

 there wanting some sanguine enough 

 to see the possibility, if not the pro- 

 bability, of his lordship coming up 

 with Villineuve, when he should be 

 engaged with one of the British squa- 

 drons already adverted to, and thus 

 place him between two fires, to his 

 inevitable destruction. 



These expectations, however, were 

 but partially realized. Lord Nel- 

 son reached the Straits on the 19th 

 of July, without having seen the 

 enemy, after having, in seventy-eight 

 days, from the time he quitted 

 Tetuan bay, to his return to Gib- 

 raltar, twice traversed, with his 

 whole fleet, the Atlantic ocean ; and 

 visited all theLceward West India 

 islands, without taking into the ac- 

 count, the time necessarily employ- 

 ed in taking in provisions and stores, 

 and the embarking and re-embark- 

 ing troops, together Mith the delay 

 induced by collecting information 

 of the motions of the enemy: a scene 

 of activity unparalleled, and witkin 

 a space of time inconceivably li- 

 mited. Having ascertained that the 

 enemy had not entered the Mediter- 

 ranean, lord Nelson found himself 

 constrained, from the absolute want 

 of water and provisions, to steer for 

 the b.iy of Tetuan, where he an- 



chored on the 22d. Having here 

 procured some supplies, he mad« 

 sail again, on the 26th, and re-passed 

 the Straits, in hopes of encountering 

 the fugitive fleet of the enemy, 

 which, in fact, he had outstripped, off 

 the Capes of St. Vincent, or, by tak- 

 ing a northward direction, fall ia 

 with him in a higher latitude. 



It should seem, however, as if fate 

 had decreed, that Nelson should 

 have the immortal honour of saving 

 his country, upon this occasion, 

 merely by the terror of his name, 

 and without his firing a gun; circum- 

 stances which, at the time, were 

 doubtless of extreme mortificatioa 

 to this great man, but whfch, in point 

 of fact, redound more to his fame, 

 and place it higher than even his 

 most splendid victories ! 



His lordship nearcd Cadiz on the 

 27 th of July, but finding the enemy 

 had not entered that port, he sailed 

 for Cape St. Vincent, and subiie- 

 qtiently traversed theBay of Biscay 

 without seeing or hearing any thing 

 of him. With unabated perseveranc* 

 and zsal, thisc indefatigable man next 

 pursued his course, as a last hope, to 

 the north-west coast of Ireland, 

 where being still disappointed, and 

 being worn out with an activity, 

 which seemed only fated to meet with 

 mortification, he resolved on re- 

 turning to England; his last measure 

 being, with his usual sagacity and 

 foresight, to dispatch nine ships of 

 the line, to reinforce the channpl 

 fleet under lord Gardner, lest tho 

 enemy, by makingfor Brest, should, 

 with the co-operation of the French 

 fleet in that port, place his lordship 

 ill a dangerous situation, by their 

 great superiority of force. 



On the 18th of August, lord Nel- 

 son, in theVictory, accompanied by 

 the Superb, arrived at Portsmouth, 

 and on the 20th readied London, 

 Q 3 . where 



