HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



231 



%liich British valour and skill Arere 

 eminently conspicuous, and which, 

 Considered abstractedly, may cer- 

 tainly be considered as matter of 

 pride and triumph to the country. 

 That 15 sail of the line should not 

 only withstand 20 of those of the 

 enemy, and three large 50 gun ships, 

 but also capture two of their largest 

 vessels, was an event certainly well 

 calculated to maintain the charac- 

 ter of superiority which tlie navy 

 of England so justly cliallenges. 

 At the same time, it must be con- 

 fessed, that all was not done, upon 

 this occasion, that the public thought 

 it had a right to expect. It had 

 happened, unfortunately, tliat the 

 Admiral's dispatches, as well as the 

 verbal report of the oiliccr who 

 brought them home, gave the 

 strongest foundation, for the belief 

 that the action would be renewed 

 \ipon the following day : the result 

 ofwhich,toan enemy already beaten, 

 must be deemed almost total de- 

 struction. The disappointment 

 therefore was extreme, when intel- 

 ligence arrived which put an end to 

 all hopes of the kind, and led to the 

 belief, that the shattered squadrons 

 of the enemy had gained, without 

 further molestation, a Spanish port. 

 The murmurs of disapprobation, at 

 the conduct of the British admiral, 

 became indeed so frequent, and so 

 little restrained, that sir Robert 

 Caldcr returned to P^ngland, for the 

 purpose of demanding an investiga- 

 tion of his proceedings ; to which 

 government having acceded, he was 

 tried liy court martial, inPortsmouth 

 iiiibour, on the 22d of December ; 

 when, upon a full examination of 

 the circumstances which took place 

 posterior to the acMon of the 22d of 

 July, the court decided, that the ad- 

 uiral had not done his utmost to take 



or destroy every ship of the enemy 

 which it was his duty to engage; but, 

 at the same time, ascribed such con- 

 duct to error in judgment, acquitting 

 him absolutely of any imputation of 

 fear or cowardice, and therefore only 

 sentencing him to be severely re- 

 primanded. 



As the proceedings in this affair 

 are before the world, and the admi- 

 ral's own account of his conduct sub- 

 sequent to the action is to be found 

 in another part of this work, at 

 length,* we shall not venture to give 

 an opinion upon the fact, whether, 

 or not, the admiral's conduct was 

 borne out by the circumstances of 

 the case: certain it is, thatit seemed 

 to be the general opinion of the of- 

 ficers who served under him, and 

 whose testimony was given in court, 

 that a great opportunity had been 

 lost, and that m uch more glory would 

 havebeen achieved byacontrary con- 

 duct,: at the same time it must be per- 

 mitted us to question, whether " er- 

 ror in judgmeut," be a crime in hini 

 who holds the chief command, and 

 therefore, whether thesentenccupon 

 sir Robert Calder is consonant with 

 the established principles of military 

 law, or common justice and equity. 

 In all events, wc have sincerely to 

 regret, that tlic conduct of the Bri- 

 tish oflicers and sailors fn the action 

 of the 22d. which redounded so 

 much to their glory, and which has 

 never been impeached, has not hi- 

 therto been acknowledged by their 

 country, in the usual mode of the 

 thanks of jiarliamcnt, although, when 

 the dispatches reached England, the 

 same public demonstrations of joy 

 were exhibited, as are customary 

 upon the greatest victories. Taking 

 leave of this subject, it is only ne- 

 cessary to add, that the utmost sym- 

 pathy was excited by the fate of sir 



Q 4 Robert 



Vide Appendix, 



