tempt. The lofs of men upon this occafion, notwithstanding the fuperiority of the enemy, was fmall, and the troops reimbarked without any moleftation.

The French were, in the mean time, making preparations, in their lands, to attack fome of thofe belonging to the English, which thele had taken from them. As the forces, which they intended to employ, confifted of a numerous proportion of blacks, it was propofed, by the British commander-in-chief of the land forces, general Abercromby, conformably to his inftructions, that a large body of negroes fhould be raised, and formed into regiments, for the protection of the British islands. But this propofal was highly difapproved by the reprefentative bodies of the inhabitants, who unanimoufly concurred in condemning the meafure, as full of danger. The emancipation of the negroes, in the French iflands, had filled thofe in the English with fanguine expectation that they would be placed on the fame footing. They were greatly diffatisfied at their difappointment, and their diffatisfaction was daily heightened, through the communication they maintained, by various means, with the French negroes, who warmly folicited them to procure their freedom through force, as they would not obtain it otherwife. While fuch apprehenfions hung over the planters, they could by no arguments be prevailed upon to put arms into the hands of the negroes, whom they confidered as much readier to attack their mafters, than to protect them.

The preparations made by the French, against the English, were of little effect: they landed a body of picked men at Anguilla, a fmall

ifland, where, meeting with no refiftance, from its defenceless fituation, they committed great ravages. Happily for the inhabitants, captain Barton, of the Lapwing frigate, being apprized of their danger, failed immediately to their relief. On his approach, the French reembarked: but their fhipping was attacked, and totally deftroyed, and the whole of their land and fea force either killed or taken. This happened in the latter part of 1796. In the commencement of the following year, they prepared for other attempts: but whether from the dif couragement, occafioned by this check, or that they were not in fufficient readiness, they remained inactive till the enfuing June, when, inftead of making any of their threatened attacks upon the iflands in poffeffion of the English, they confined their exertions to St. Domingo, where they endeavoured to retake fome places in the hands of thofe French planters that had put themfelves under the protection of Great Britain, or were poffeffed by the British troops. They laid fiege, in the month of April, to Trois, a ftrong poft recently taken from them. Captain Rickets, of the Magicienne, came fortunately to its affiftance, and attacked the fhips and transports, laden with ammunition and neceffaries for carrying on the fiege: they were all taken, and the befiegers on fhore, thus deprived of the fupplies they wanted, were, by the united fire from the garrifon and the British frigate, driven from their position, and compelled to abandon the attempt.

Some days before this repulfe, general Rigaud, commander of the republican forces, refolved to make an attempt upon the fort of Trois,

the

the retaking of which was confidered as a matter of importance. He felected for this purpofe twelve hundred of his beft troops, and affaulted it with the utmost fury. The garrifon did not confift, at this juncture, of more than fifty men: but they made fo determined and fkilful a defence, that after being thrice repulled, and returning as often to the charge, the enemy was obliged to draw off to a distance, in order to recover himself before another renewal of the attack. But, in the mean while, a reinforcement of fome hundred men came to the affiftance of the garrifon, and forcing their way through the affailants, entered the fort. Thus ftrengthened, the garrifon fallied out, upon the befiegers, who were driven to a diftance: but gaining poffeffion of an eminence, they made a ftand, and through the great fuperiority of their numbers, maintained their pofition fome days: when receiving a fresh fupply of men, they again proceeded to Trois, intending a regular fiege. It was then that captain Rickets opportunely arrived, and totally completed the defeat of the enemy, after lofing a thousand of their choiceft troops. They fuftained another defeat, about the fame time, from colonel Deyfources, who at tacked and carried feveral pofts and works of great ftrength and confequence, and routed a large body of the enemy, part of the army under the command of their principal general, Touflaint.

In the month of June enfuing, the French laid fiege to the town of St. Mark, a place of confequence,defended by a body of thofe French planters that had joined the English, and by a finall number of thefe. As they were closely preffed, general

Churchil haftened, by forced marches, to their relief. The enemy had taken poffeffion of the fort and diftrict of Mirebalais, which afforded them great advantages in the profecution of the fiege. Expecting the English general would attempt the retaking it, they pofted a large body on his way. But as foon as he had been joined by a fufficient reinforcement, to cope with their numbers, he attacked them with fuch refolution, that they were immediately broken, and fled with the utmost precipitation. The fiege of St. Mark had, in the mean while, been carried on with much vigour, and fome of the out-works had been taken: but this defeat encouraged the garrifon to fo refolute a defence, that it difconcerted all their meafures, and they were driven from this place, on the arrival of the victorious troops, with very confiderable lofs.

The tranfactions in the Weft In

dies, during the remainder of the year, were remarkably favourable to the English, both at fea and land. Numbers of the enemy's armed fhips were taken, and little damage done to the English trade. The French were not either in the dif pofition or in force to execute any plan against the English poffeffions.

In Europe the expectations of the French had been highly raised, by the great preparations made againit England, in the ports of Holland and of Spain. In this kingdom, their influence over the miniftry was fuch, that they procured the equipment of a very large number of hips, to act conjointly with their remaining ftrength at fea, againft that of England, which they hoped would find it extremely difficult to make head against to vaft an acceffion of

force to France. Conformably to the plans of the French and Spanish minifters, the moft confiderable part of the Spanish navy was to have effected a junction with the French fleet at Breft; and, after being joined by a numerous fquadron of Dutch hips of war, they were to have put forth altogether to fea, to the amount of more than feventy fail of the line; a ftrength which, they entertained fanguine hope, would prove more than fufficient to fupport effectually the execution of their defigns against the British dominions.

In the lift of the Spanish fleet, intended for Breft, were fix of one hundred and twelve guns, and one of a hundred and thirty-fix, efeemed the largeft veffel in Europe; of the other hips compofing this formidable armamant, two were of eightyfour, and eighteen of feventy-four guns: but they were manned by an inconfiderable proportion of feamen. The Spanish miniftry had imagined, that this deficiency might be remedied by the fubftitution of a number of expert artillery-men; but even of thefe there was hot a fufficiency procured to encounter the kill and activity of the British

feanien.

The officer pitched upon for the command of the fquadron, deftined to act againit this great force, was admiral Jervis, whofe naval abilities had been confpicuoufly dif played on many preceding occafions, and who was accompanied by other officers of fuch diftinguifhed merit, that no doubt was entertained, by the public, that, notwithstanding the vaft fuperiority of itrength and numbers, on the part of the Spaniards, they would not prove equal in batthe to the British officers and fea

The fquadron, under the command of admiral Jervis, amounted to no more than fifteen fhips of the line, and fome frigates. He was cruizing off Cape St. Vincent, on the coaft of Portugal, when he received intelligence of the Spanith fleet's approach, and he prepared immediately for battle. On the fourteenth of February, at the dawn of day, it was difcovered, amounting to twenty-feven fale of the line. By carrying a prefs of fail, he closed in with the enemy's fleet before it had time to connect, and form into a regular order of battle. Such a moment, to fpeak his own words, was not to be loft: confiding in the fkill, valour, and difcipline, of his officers and men, and conícious of the neceflity of acting with uncommon refolution on this critical occafion, he formed a line, with the atmoft celerity, in order to pass through the enemy's fleet, and having completely effected his defign, he thereby feparated one-third of it from the main body, and by a vigorous cannonade compelled it to remain to leeward, and prevented its rejunction with the centre till the evening. After having thus broken through the enemy's line, and, by this daring and fortunate meafure, diminished his force from twentyfeven hips to eighteen, it was perceived that the Spanish admiral, in order to recover his fuperiority, was endeavouring to rejoin the fhips feparated from him, by wearing round the rear of the British lines; but commodore Nellon, who was in the rear-moft ship, directly wore and prevented his intention, by ftanding towards him. He had now to encounter the Spanish admiral of one hundred and thirty-fix guns, aided by two others, each of

them three deckers: he was happily relieved from this dangerous pofition, by the coming up of two fhips to his affiftance, which detained the Spanish admiral, and his feconds, till he was attacked by four other British fhips; when, finding that he could not execute his defign, he made the fignal for the remainder of his fleet to form together for their defence. The British admiral, before they could get into their ftations, directed the rear-moft of them, fome of which were entangled with each other, to be attacked. This was done with fo much judgement and fpirit, that four of them were captured, one of which struck to his own fhip. In the mean time, that part of the Spanish fleet which had been feparated from its main body had nearly rejoined it, with four other fhips, two of which were not in the engagement. This was a ftrength, more than equal to that which remained of the British fquadron, fit, after fo fevere a conteft, for a fresh action. Had it been renewed, the Spaniards had fill thirteen fhips unhurt, while of the fifteen, of which the British fquadron confifted, every one had fuffered in fo unequal an encounter. It drow up in compact order, not doubt-, ing of vigorous efforts, on the part of the enemy, to retake his loft veffels: but the countenance and pofition of the British fquadron was fuch, that the Spanish, though fo powerfully reinforced, did not dare to come into clofe action. Its fire was distant and ineffectual, and it left the British fquadron to move leifurely off with the four captured veffels, two of them carrying one hundred and twelve guns, one eighty-four, and the other feventy

four. The flain and wounded, on board of thefe, before they ftruck, amounted to fix hundred, and on board of the British_fquadron to half that number. The amount of the killed and wounded in the other Spanish dips was computed equal to that in thofe that were taken.

The fuperiority of naval fkill, dif played in this celebrated action, ftruck all Europe with aftonishment. Nothing lefs indeed could have procured a victory over an enemy fo much fuperior in ftrength and nambers, and no ways delicient in courage. The people in Spain were loud in their complaints, that their countrymen were imprefled into a fervice for which they were unqualified, and against a nation with which they had no reason to quarrel. The upper claffes, and the government iffelf, were looked upon, by the generality, as acting under conftraint: but the remon ftrance of the recent victories of the French, over their beft troops and commanders, and of the danger to which the monarchy had been expoled, effectually filenced all degrees of men, while the majority bore, with fecret indignation, the ignominy of a yoke which they were afhamed to avow. The ancient and noble kingdom of Spain. was, at this time, in a fituation not more humiliating than odd and whimfical. The Spaniards, in general, detefted the French, and particularly the French infidels: the throne of Spain was occupied by the fecond branch of the house of Bourbon; and which, in 1792, had manifefted an anxious folicitude for the life of Lewis XVI. yet the king and people of Spain were leagued with the regicides against