Q ANNUAL REGISTER, 
gerated or over-rated. | For, it was 
not merely that the high.formed 
expectations of France from her 
newly repaired marine, in which 
she had so weakly indulged and 
prematurely cxulted at the begin- 
ning of the campaign, were thus 
abruptly and thorouglily frustrated ; 
or, that her projects of invading the 
British islands, wader the protection 
of a powerful fleet, were again de- 
feated: nor was it even that the 
most sp'endid victory bad, on this 
occasion, been won by England, 
that was ever gained at sea; or, 
that the greatest number of vessels, 
of first-rate magniiude, had, in this 
action, been taken and destroyed, 
that ever rewarded a conqueror in 
any naval combat. But, the great 
and incalculable advantage to Eng- 
Jand, was the universal conviction 
arising from this victory, that, in the 
skill, bravery, and discipline of her 
naval forces, she was so incompara- 
bly superior to her enemies, that 
all their future efforts to contend 
with her for the empire of the seas, 
must be as unavailing as their past 
endeavours had been fruitless. It 
was now clear, that, if the contest 
for pre-eminence between the rival 
nations were to be decided solely 
on the ocean, England had no- 
thing to fear from the conflict. 
It was now manifest, that if Eng- 
land could not be invaded, without 
her enemies obtaining a temporary 
superiority, at least, at sea, the pe- 
riod of her invasion was still dis- 
tant. If the trident of Neptune be 
really the sceptre of the world, En- 
gland was now its undoubted mis- 
tress. ‘The mavitime trade of all 
nations was at her mercy, and sub- 
ject in many respects to her con- 
sent. It might now be said of her 
with greater truth, than when Gro. 
1806.: 
tius addressed these lines to the most 
pacific of her monarchs: 
ae Quz meta Britannis, 
Littora sunt aliis; regnique accessio 
tanta est, 
Quod ventis velisque patet 
There was no country which Eng- 
Jand could not visit with her fleets, 
to conciliate its friendship, or take 
vengeance for its enmity; and, 
what was of more importance to 
her true interest and permanent 
good, there was no independent 
state, out of the reach of France, 
which she might not hope, by a 
wise and enlightened policy, to at- 
tach stedfastly to her party. For, 
whatever petty jealousies and tem- 
porary grounds of discontent might 
occur, to embroil her with other 
nations, it was her permanent in- 
terest, that the blessings of peace 
and civilization should extend to 
every corner of the earth. No 
country, independent of her enemy, 
could prosper, without “England 
partaking in its prosperity: no 
country could increase in wealth or 
population, without finding by ex- 
perience, that the ties connecting it 
with: England, were drawn closer 
by its own progress and improve- 
ment. While the dominion of 
France was founded on military 
force and usurpation, and her power 
was chiefly felt by her neighbours, 
in the acts of rapine and oppression, 
of which they were victims, theeleva- 
tion of England was owing to a long 
and successful cultivation of the arts 
of peace and industry, and could not 
be maintained an instant longer 
than she persevered in the paths in 
which she had risen to greatness. The 
only tribute she could exact from 
other nations, was the price which 
they 
