HISTORY OF EUROPE. 





tc^ai in T^)nrlon,'wh€ii he was, in 

 the mouth oi' August, olibred the 

 command of an armament, to be 

 prepared immediately, of sufiicient 

 force to cope with that of 

 France, in any quarter of the 

 world to vhich itslioiiM be destined 

 to act. His lordship, without a mo- 

 ment's hesitation, embraced the op- 

 portunity of again bearing his coun- 

 try's flag triumphant over ail oppo- 

 sition. To titis situation the pub- 

 lic suffrage universally called him, 

 and, on him, all eyes were turned, 

 with hope, in a moment when every 

 other circumstance around, a()peared 

 gloomy and unpromising. I'he suc- 

 cesses of the Ficiich upon the con- 

 tinent were no longer equivocal, 

 and serious apprehensions were en- 

 tertained of the fr.te of the allied 

 powers. It was in thh crisis, that 

 lord Nelson once more hoisted his 

 fla^ on board the Victory, which 

 had been completely refitted, on 

 the 14th of Septembi'r, at Ports- 

 moiitli, and put to sea on the fol- 

 lowing day. There were then, at 

 that port, five ships of the line and 

 a frisate, which were under orders 

 to sail with him ; but not finding 

 them in suflicient readiness, so anxi- 

 ous was he to repair to tiiat spot, 

 the scene of his future glory, where 

 his duty cailcil him, that he sailed 

 with the Hiiryalns frigate only in 

 •ompany. Olf Plymouth he was 

 joined by two ships of the line, the 

 Ajav and Thmiderer, and thence 

 proceeded directly for the coast o[ 

 Spain. 



On the arrival of lord Nelson off 

 Cadiz, he received the command of 

 the British fleet from admiral Col- 

 lingwood, which, having had rein- 

 forcements poured into it from every 

 quarter, had become equal to the 

 task of coping with the enemy and of 

 punishing his temerity should he ven- 

 Uire out of port. Ak fu as it could 



be ascertained, the combined fleet 

 was nearly ready for sea, and its 

 probable destination was (he Medi- 

 terranean, where, if it could collect 

 to itself the ships of war, yet re- 

 maining in the difiercnt French and 

 Sjianish ports in that sea, it would 

 form together an accretion of force, 

 which might eventually overpower 

 a'l opposition in that quarter, 

 for a time at least, to the great 

 detriment of the British interests. 

 Ever averse, however, from the 

 system of blockade, as leading 

 ultimately to the ri:in of the navy, 

 lord Nelson determined to give the 

 enemy an opportunity of putting to 

 sea, and even employed stratagem 

 to induce him to take that step, one 

 which his confidence in his officers, 

 his sailors, and himself, led him to 

 hope would end in the total destruc- 

 tion of the adversary. At this pe- 

 riod, a frigate was constantly stati- 

 oned oif the harbour of Cadiz, for 

 the purpose of communicating any 

 movement of the eiicmy to a detach- 

 ment of ships of tKe line who wer« 

 stationed barely within sight of tha 

 port, and M'hose object it was to 

 prevent single ships, or small divi- 

 sions of the combined fleet from 

 pushing out to sea. Between this 

 detachment and the- main body of 

 the fleet, was stationed a line of fri- 

 gates, sufficiently close to it and to 

 each other to communicate by sig- 

 nal, and thus lord Nelsonj who 

 cruized o!f Cape St. Mary's, with tha 

 rest of the fleet, beca.me instantly ac- 

 quaintcil with the least stir madtt. 

 by the enemy, while, by this judici- 

 ous and masterly distribution of his 

 force, the numbers and mana*uvrcs 

 of the British fleet were totally con- 

 cealed from the adversary. 



At length, about ^the middle of 

 October, lord Nelson having rq- 

 ccived certain information that he 

 would be joined in a day or two by 



^ re- 



