SE8 G R E A T B 
In the edabli/liinent of nnisnes, as well as in all the 
relative inciieir.eats to coinnieixe, it has been the wif- 
dout ot tlie legidature to provide a riurfery for i'eamcn, 
and feenis at ail times to have been the object of onr 
government, that the merchants fliould own as rnaity 
ih'ps, and employ as many native mariners, as pollible. 
To indiice, and iometiines to force them to this appli¬ 
cation of tlieir capital, reftrifitions and prohibitions were' 
deviled. I'hefe alt'edied not only foreigners bat natives. 
The intcrclts of rotninerce v.'ere often faci ifieed to this 
objeft. Trade was confidered principally as the rncans 
ol promoting tlse employment of fliips, and was encon- 
raged ch.icfiy as it conduced to the one great national 
objedt, the naval Jfxcnglh of the country. TJiis policy was 
piirlued by thole who came after tiicm in diredfing'the 
juiblic councils; and in the feventcenth century, when 
mat!)’ i:iflitiiiions of our ancellors fell a facrihee to the 
rage of reformation, tlie wifdom of the Navigation Syf- 
tem, or Sovereignty of tlie Seas, was again rel'pedted. 
It the wifdom of any fcheme of policy is to be mea- 
fured by its cli'ctls ;ir>d ctynfequcnces, this navigation 
lyflein is entitled to the praife of having attained tlie 
end lor whicli it was defigned. Whetlier we regard the 
primary or inferior objedts in this fyltem, whether it is 
the iiureale of fliipping., the cxtenfion of our foreign 
trade, or the llrength of our navy, they have all ad¬ 
vanced to a degree of confideration unexampled; ard 
they owe that advancement entirely to our ability in 
prel'crving the Sovereignty of the Se.ts. 
The incrcafe ot our trade and naval llrength has kept 
pace with that of our fliipping and navigation. 
can reflect with pride, that oar foreign trade, combined 
with our maniifadtures and dorneftic induflry, enables 
us to raife annually Jixteen millions of money with more 
eafe, than four millions were raifed during the reign of 
king William: and this upon a people, who, in their 
difl'ereiU ranks, enjoy more riches, more competency, 
and mere comfort, than any people in Europe ; and who 
are more iadu-ftriods, becaufe they are better protected 
by a conlfitLition, which has been progrellively improv¬ 
ing, both ill theory and [iradtice, ever fince the I'uperi- 
ority ot our naval tadtics enabled us to refeue the car¬ 
rying trade from the Dutch. 
Tlie Sovereignty of the Seas has at no period of our 
hiftory been more con>p!etely defended and maintained 
than in our o'-vn time, by that able and invincible hero 
Horatio lord vifeoant Nelfon. His vidtories of Aboukir 
Bay, Copenhagen Sound, and Trafalgar, have immor- 
taliled his name. The'two former of thefe celebrated 
engagements have already been detailed under the ar¬ 
ticle Eng land, vol. vi. P.79C-794; but that of Trafal¬ 
gar, having occurred lince that article was lent to the 
prels, and being ti e moft complete and'decifive vidtory 
ever gained on tlie open feas, we conflder it of national 
importance to record it in tliis place. And lince there 
the brave Nelfon glorioiilly'fell, and enviably died in 
the bed of honour in the midlt of this engagement, we 
cannot adhere more to truth and fadf, tJuin by Itating 
the interefliiiq;' particuiars from the official dilpatch of 
him who lo meritorioufly lucceccfed to the chief com¬ 
mand, namely admiral lord Collingwood. 
On Monday tiie 21 it of October 1805, at day-liglit, 
when Cape I'l'afalgar bore ealt by ioutli about leven 
leagues, tlie enemy was dil'covered iix or leven miles to 
tire ealhvarcl, the wind about welt, and very light ; the 
commander in chief immediately made the lignal for the 
licet to bear up in two columns, as they are formed in 
order of failing ; a mode of attack which lord Nelfon 
had previouily diredted, to avoid the inconvenience and 
delay in forming a line of buttle in the ufual manner. 
The enemy’s line confilted of thirty-three fliips, (of 
which eighteen were French and fifteen Spanilh,) com¬ 
manded in chief by admiral Villeneuve, The Englilh 
coulilted of only twenty-feven Ihips of the line. The 
Spaniards, under the dircttioii of Gravina, wore with 
R I T A I 'N. 
their heads to the northward, and formed the line of 
battle with great clol'enefs and corredlnefs ; but as the 
mode of attack was unufual, fo the flnicture of their 
line was new; it formed a cre-fcent,convcxing to lee- 
wutrd ; fo that, in leading down to tlieir centre, i had. 
both their van and rear abaft tlie beam : before the fire 
opened, every alternate lliip was about a cable’s length 
to windward of her fecond a-head and a-ltern, forming 
a kind of double line,- and appeared, when on their 1 
beam, to leave'a very little iiiterval between them ; and 
this witiiout crowding their (hips. Admiral Villeneuve 
was in the-Buceiitaur in the centre, and the prince of 
Aflurias bore Gra'viiia’s flag in the rear ; but Mie French 
and Spanifli fliips were mixed without any apparent re¬ 
gard to order of national i'quadron.- 
As the mode of our attack had been previoufly deter¬ 
mined on, and coiiminnicated to the flag oliicers and 
captains, few lignals were neceirary, and none were 
made, except to direct clofe order as the lines bore down. 
The commander in chief in the Victory led the weather 
column, and the Royal Sovereign, wlricli bore iiiy flag, 
the lee. 'I'he adtion began at twelve o’clock, by the 
leading fliips of the columns breaking through the ene¬ 
my’s line, the commander in chief about the tenth fliip 
from the van, the fecond in command about the twelfth 
from the rear, leaving the van of the enemy ffnoccupied ; 
the fucceeding fliips breaking through, in all parts, allern 
of their leaders, and engaging the enemy at the muzzles 
of tlieir guns : the conflict was fevere ; the enemy’s 
fliips were fought with a gallantry highly honourable to 
their ofticers, but the attack on them was irrefiflible, 
and it pleafed the Almighty Difpofer of all Events to 
grant his majefty’s arms a complete and glorious vic¬ 
tory. About three P. M. many of the enemy’s fliips 
having ftruck their colours, their line gave way : ad¬ 
miral Gravina, with ten fliips, joining their frigates to 
leeward, flood towards Cadiz. The five lieadiiioft fliips 
in their van tacked, and flanding to the foutlnvard, to 
windward of the Britifli line, were engaged, and the 
fternniofl of them taken ; the other four went off, leav¬ 
ing to Ills majefly’s fquadron nineteen fliips of the line, (of 
whicli two are firfl-rates, the Santiflima Trinidad and 
the Santa Anna,) with three flag officers, viz. admiral 
Villeneuve, the commander in ci'iief; don Igiiatio Maria 
d’Akiva, vice admiral; and the Spanifli rear-admiral 
doii Baltazar Hidalgo Cifneros. 
After fuch a vi6tory it may appear unnecefl’ary to 
enter into encomiums on the particular parts taken by 
the feveral commanders ; the conclulion fays more on 
the fubjecl than I have language to exprefs; the fpirit 
which animated all was the fame ; when all exerted 
thenifelves zealoufly in their country’s fervicc, all de- 
ferve that their high merits fliould ftand recorded ; and 
never was high merit more coiifpicuous than in the bat¬ 
tle I liave deferibed.—I'he Acliille (a French 74), after 
having furrendered, by fome niilmanagenient of the 
Frenchmen took fire and blew up ; two luindred of her 
men were faved by our tenders. 
A circumflance occurred during the a6lion, which fo 
flroiigly marks the invincible fpirit of Britifli feainen 
when engaging the enemies of their country, that I can- 
not refill the pleafure I have in making it known to 
their lord fliips; the 'I'eiiieraire was boarded at once by 
a French fliip on one fide, and a Spaniard on the otlier; 
the coiitefl was vigorous ; but, in the end, the combined 
enfigns were torn from tiie poop, and the Britifli hoiited 
in their places. 
Such a battle could not be fought without fiiflaininga 
great lofs of men. I have not only to lament, in com¬ 
mon with the Britifli navy and the Britifli nation, in ilie 
fall of the commander 111 chief, the lofs of a hero, whofe 
name will be immortal, and liis memory ever dear to 
his country ; but my heart is rent with the moft poig¬ 
nant grief for the death of a friend, to whom, by many 
years intimacy, and a perfe6i knowkdge of the virtues 
4 f 
