278 WAR. 



any in England, of the benefits arising 

 from a large expenditure of the public 

 money. The war was then at its height. 

 Though the victory of Trafalgar had all 

 but annihilated the naval power of France, 

 our blockading squadrons were kept in 

 suificient force. The channel, too, being 

 infested with privateers, fitted out, for the 

 most part, in the smaller ports, gave ample 

 employment to our cruisers ; while, to 

 preserve our command in the Baltic and 

 Mediterranean Seas, to provide convoys 

 for large fleets of Indiamen and other- 

 wise protect our commerce in every quarter 

 of the globe, the employment of all the 

 means at the disposal of a great nation 

 was required to sustain the naval superi- 

 ority we had gained. Large armaments 

 were fitted out. Troops constantly em- 

 barking and disembarking caused a sort 

 of tidal influx and eiflux of strangers, 

 crowding the streets with naval and mili- 

 tary uniforms. 



