ENGLAND. 795 
of gun-boats fo difpofed as to rake the Englifh fquadron. 
Captain Stirling, in the Pompee, made a great impreffion 
on the flag-fliip of Linois, till a change of wind prevented 
him from aiding. As foon as the wind favoured, tile Han¬ 
nibal, captain Ferris, puffied forward in the hope of palling 
between the French (hips and the batteries; an attempt 
which, he thought, might lead to a complete triumph. 
But his fliip happened to take the ground under one of 
the batteries; and, as no efforts could extricate her, he 
was obliged to give her up, after a confiderable lofs of 
men and the deftnuftion of a great number of his adver- 
faries. A breeze having enabled two other fhips to ap¬ 
proach the enemy, they kept up for a time a heavy fire, 
which, if the wind had not declined, would have enforced 
the furrender of the oppofing veffels. The imprafticabi- 
lity of a clofe action at length induced fir James to with¬ 
draw his force, when above 360 of his men had been 
killed or wounded. This difappointment ferved only to 
ftimulate the eagernefs of the Britifit Teamen for another 
conteft. The (hips were repaired with great expedition ; 
and, when the French, joined by a Spaniffi fquadron, 
were failing toward Cadiz, the rear of the united fleet 
was attacked, on July 12, by the Superbe. This veffel 
having fired between the Spaniffi admiral’s fliip and ano¬ 
ther of 112 guns, and then retiring, a mutual error (amidft 
the darkneis of the night) occasioned a conflict between 
thofe twm enemy’s (hips. One of them fuddenly took 
fire; the flames rapidly extended to the other; and both 
blew up, with the lofs of about two thoufand men. This 
melancholy accident difcouraged Linois and his afl'ociates, 
and tended to accelerate their retreat. The San Antonio, 
of feventy-four guns, was taken; but the Formidable 
baffled a fevere attack from captain Hood, whofe fliip 
ftruck upon a rock, and was with difficulty towed off in 
a difabled (late. The enemy reached Cadiz without fur¬ 
ther molefiation ; and admiral Saumarez failed with his 
prize to Gibraltar. 
But while thefe partial conflidls were going on in the 
vicinity of the Britifh territories in Europe, the decifive 
battle was fought before Alexandria in Egypt, which 
gave peace and glory to England ; (fee the article Egypt, 
p. 336 ;) and when this fuccefs was announced in England, 
the general joy was accelerated by a two-fold caufe. M. 
Otto had been for fome time negotiating with lord Hawkef- 
bury, on the fubjedt of a general peace, the preliminary 
articles of which were figned Odtober t, 1S01. It was 
ftipulated, that the king of Great Britain fliould reftore 
all the poffeffions and colonies occupied or conquered by 
his forces in the courfe of the war, except the ifland of 
Trinidad, and that part of Ceylon which lately belonged 
to the Dutch ; that, in the port of the Cape of Good 
Hope, each of the contradting parties ffiould enjoy the 
fame advantages ; that the territories of the Ottoman em¬ 
peror, including Egypt, fhould be maintained entire, as 
they were before the war; that the French fliould recog- 
nife the republic of the Seven United I (lands : thefe were 
Corfu, Cephalonia, Zante, &c. which, having been taken 
by the Ruffians and Turks, had been formed into a re¬ 
public under their protedfion. That Malta fliould be 
again poffeffed by the knights of St. John of Jerufalem ; 
that the kingdom of Naples and the Roman (late ffiould 
be evacuated by the French troops ; and that the queen 
of Portugal ffiould not lofe any part of her dominions, 
butremain as before the war. For a completion of thefe 
articles, it was agreed that Englifh and French plenipo¬ 
tentiaries ffiould fpeedily repair to Amiens, and treat in 
concert with the refpedfive allies of the two powers. 
While the definitive treaty was yet unadjufled, a great 
force was deemed neceffary for the national defence, as 
doubts were dill entertained of the pacific inclinations of 
the firft conful of France. From the eagernefs of the 
public for a general peace, the interval of negociation 
feemed a tedious delay ; but the anxiety of fufpenfe was 
at length removed. The treaty was finally figned at 
Amiens by the marquis Cornwallis and Jol'eph Bonaparte, 
March 27, 1802; differing from the preliminaries only 
in the following points: A part of Portuguefe Guiana 
was'given up to the French by a new adjudment of boun¬ 
daries. With regard to Malta, it was dipulated that no 
French or Englifh tongue, or clafs of knights, ffiould be 
allowed ; that one-half of the.foldiers in garrifon fhould 
be natives, and that the red fliould be furniffied for a 
time by the king of Naples; that the independence of the 
ifland under the (way of the knights fliould be guaranteed 
by France, Great Britain, Audria, Spain, Ruflia, and 
Pruffia ; and that its ports fliould be free to all nations. 
It was agreed, that the prince of Orange fliould receive 
compenfation for his lofs of property and of power. Per- 
fons who might hereafter be accufed of murder, forgery, 
and fraudulent bankruptcy, were to be furrendered to the 
demands of each of the refpedtive powers. 
It was never expected that this peace would be of per¬ 
manent duration ; the unfettled date of the government 
of France, and the partial and intcreded views of the 
firfl conful, plainly indicated that the prefent pacification 
was intended only as a grand paufe—a ceffation from 
hodilities merely to take breath—while plans of greater 
aggrandifement and ambition were fabricating, and to 
arife out of the fcourges of a new war. This difpofitiorP 
too foon manifeded itfelf in the imperious manners and 
arbitrary conduct of Bonaparte, who aft'ebted to treat 
with contempt and derifion, at Paris, feveral of the am. 
baffadors from thofe powers who had oppofed France in 
her late revolutionary fydem. The mod marked indig¬ 
nities were cad upon lord Whitworth, ambaffador from 
the court of London, boldly charging his fovereign with 
an infraftion of the treaty of peace, by keeping pofleflion 
of the ifland of Malta. Lord Whitworth, in his turn, 
demanded an explanation of the fecret views of France 
in her extraordinary armaments, and in her political con¬ 
nections with thofe powers inimical to Great Britain; 
and in failure of a fatisfadhory anfwer, his lordfliip gave 
notice of his determination to quit Paris, as the prelude 
to freffl hodilities. To this requifition the firfl conful 
loudly and haughtily replied, in the face of his whole 
levee, “ That France was prepared, and the battle ffiould 
be fought on Englifh ground.” Lord Whitworth imme¬ 
diately quitted Paris, and a new war commenced betvreen 
France and England, May 12, 1803, juft thirteen months 
and fifteen days after figning the definitive articles of the 
peace of Amiens. 
The only meafure hitherto adopted on the part of 
France, has been the old and dale threat of an invafion of 
England ; while, on the other hand, the ports of France 
have been fo clofely blockaded by the fleets and fquadrons 
of Great Britain, that fcarcely a French veffel has dared 
to put to fea but by flealth ; the whole naval power of 
France has been thus confined to their own harbours, 
and their commerce virtually annihilated. But the very 
unhandfome detention of a number of Englifh gentlemen 
who were fpending their money in France, was a fpecie's 
of unmanly and impotent revenge, totally unworthy of 
the head of a great nation. 
Though from the caufe above-mentioned, no general 
adtion at fea has hitherto taken place, nor can perhaps be 
expedted, yet the Englifh crnizers have been fo fuccefsful 
in the only warfare that has been carried on, that not. lefs 
than a hundred and five prizes were carried into one (ingle 
port (Plymouth), in the (pace of three weeks after the 
commencement of hodilities. No time was loft in lend¬ 
ing notice of the event to the Britiffi fleets on the'Faff 
and Wed India ftations; and the i(lands which had been 
ceded to France at the peace, with feveral others, were 
again quickly in our pofleflion. St. Lucia was taken by 
the forces under lieutenant-general Gfinfield and commo¬ 
dore Hood, on the 22d of June, 1803; Tobago on the 
id of July ; Demarara and Effequibo on the 19th of Sep¬ 
tember ; and Berbice on the 25th; the iflands of St. 
Pierre and Miquelon were taken by captain Malbon on 
the 30th of June. In the month of May, 1804, we cap, 
• t Ered 
