1922.] FIRST LORD DE SAUMAREZ, ETC. 11? 



ing promotion and honours. One of the best known incidents 

 of this period is the escape of his three ships "Eurydice," 

 ''Crescent" and "Druid" from a much larger French squad- 

 ron off the Channel Islands. A disaster was avoided only by 

 the brilliant tactics of Saumarez and the adroitness of the 

 local pilot Jean Breton, in whose honour was struck the 

 medal now in the Guille-Alles Library. 



Then followed more important engagements, the battle of 

 Cape St. Vincent in 1796, and the Nile two and a half years 

 later, where he was second in command and both he and 

 Nelson were wounded. In 1801 he was made a baronet and 

 Rear-Admiral and fought one of his most notable engage- 

 ments off Algeciras. He left Plymouth with three ships of 

 the line and five smaller vessels to blockade Cadiz, where he 

 received two other ships. After attacking unsuccessfully a 

 French squadron protected by the forts of the Spanish port 

 of Algeciras, he refitted in Gibraltar with unparalleled speed, 

 and attacking the same squadron reinforced by a powerful 

 Spanish fleet, obtained a signal victory, driving them into 

 the port of Cadiz, of which he resumed the blockade. For 

 this he received a magnificent sword and the freedom of the 

 City of London as well as the thanks of the King and Par- 

 liament. 



Part II. 



The second, and perhaps most interesting, period of his 

 career opens in 1808 with his appointment as Admiral of 

 the Baltic Squadron; but before it can be described or appre- 

 ciated, it will be necessary to describe the general conditions 

 of the period in order that its value may be understood. 



The first and most spectacular phase of the struggle on 

 the sea ended with Trafalgar, but that did not conclude the 

 work of the British fleet any more than in the last war the 

 activities of the fleet were concluded by the Battle of Jutland. 

 There was still blockade work, convoying, and maintenance 

 of communication. 



In 1807, Napoleon concluded the treaty of Tilsit with 

 Russia, by which he secured Naples for his brother Joseph, 

 Holland for his brother Louis, while his third brother, 

 Jerome, received Westphalia, a kingdom created for him 

 He restored to Prussia half her territory and compelled thf 

 recognition by Russia of his Confederacy of the Rhine, which 

 consisted of France, Bavaria, Wurtemburg, Saxony, West- 

 phalia, seven grand-duchies, six duchies and twenty princi- 

 palities. 



In his message to the Senate in this year Napoleon reca- 

 pitulates the gains of the French Empire during the pre- 



