frigate, which was the Lively, Captain Graham Eden Hamond, effected her escape into Carthagena.

As soon as he was apprized of the battle between Sir Robert Calder and M. Villeneuve, Napoléon directed his minister of marine to impress upon the latter, how highly dishonourable it would be to the imperial fleets, that a three hours' skirmish, and an action with 14 (a singular admission for Buonaparte to make) sail of the line, "qu'une échauffourée de trois heures et un engagement avec quatorze vaisseaux," should defeat the grand plan. For some days after M. Villeneuve had sailed from Ferrol, Napoléon, ignorant of the circumstance, betrayed the utmost impatience for his departure. He asks if, with 28 or 30 French and Spanish sail of the line, the French admiral would allow himself to be blockaded by 13, or even by 20, English sail of the line. The emperor directs that, if less than 23 of the latter are before Ferrol, M. Villeneuve is to sail out and attack them ; and that, if Allemand joins with his five, making "35 sail of the line," be is not to be stopped by less than 29 English sail of the line.

M. Villeneuve, in short, is always to attack, when he is superior in numbers, counting two Spanish ships for one, "ne comptant deux vaisseaux espagnols que pour un," and making some allowance for the three-deckers in the British fleet. This was paying a sorry compliment to the Spaniards, and is hardly reconcilable with Napoléon's declaration, made in another letter of the same date (August 13), and equally meant to be private, that the Spaniards " had fought like lions. " * Finally, the French admiral is to save the imperial flag from the shame of being blockaded at Ferrol by an inferior force ; that is, he is to save 18 French, and " 12 " Spanish sail of the line, 30 in all, from the shame of being blockaded by less than 24 British sail of the line, the number which, in Napoléon's estimation, equalizes the two forces. † The same letter authorizes M. Villeneuve, if he should think fit, to man the frigates Guerriere and Revanche lying at Corunna, with the officers and crew of the Atlas, left at Vigo. He is also at liberty to disembark all his troops, except as many as he thinks will be serviceable on board the fleet.

On some day between the 22d of August and the 4th of September, Napoléon first became apprized of the Franco-Spanish fleet's arrival at Cadiz. If he had previously condemned M. Villeneuve because, in spite of wind and weather, he did not sail from Ferrol, what must he have thought of the latter, now than instead of going straight to Brest, he had suddenly changed the route and sailed for Cadiz ? Some of Napoléon's expressions are very severe. "Villeneuve," he says, "est un de ces hommes qui ont plutôt besoin d'éperon que de bride." Again, he asks

*  See p. 14.

†  Precis des Evènemens tome xii, pp, 246, 249. 250, 254.

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