fleet. The absurdity of such an act shows what was the real state of discipline in the Spanish navy. The British Admiral had but fifteen sail of the line in all, with four frigates, a sloop, and a cutter. He was not, however, to be scared either by the number or bulk of his opponents. Before they could form in order of battle, he came up with them, passed through their fleet, and then tacked, so as to cut off nine of their ships from the main body. These ships attempted to form in line on the larboard tack, either for the purpose of passing through the British line or to leeward of it, and thus regaining their friends. But one of them succeeded in this attempt, and that only because she was so covered with smoke, that her intention was not observed till she had reached the rear; the others were so warmly received, that they put about, took to flight, and did not again appear in the action. The Admiral was now able to direct his attention to the main body of the enemy, which was still superior to his whole fleet, both in number and weight of metal. He made signals to tack in succession. Nelson (whose broad pendant as Commodore was hoisted on board the Captain, 74,) was stationed in the rear of the British line, where he could observe that the Spaniards were bearing up before the wind, and might possibly get away without an engagement. To prevent this, instead of tacking, he ordered his ship to be wore, and thus brought himself into the hottest part of the enemy's fleet. Trowbridge, in the Culloden, immediately joined, and nobly supported him; and for nearly an hour did these two ships sustain a conflict with six of the largest Spaniards. The Blenheim then came to their assistance, and was followed by Collingwood in the Excellent. It was on this occasion the gallantry of Nelson became so conspicuous. His ship had been rendered a mere wreck; she had lost her foretop-mast; not a sail, shrouds, or rope was left, and her wheel was shot away. In this situation, Nelson gave orders for the boarders to be summoned, and at their head he carried the San Nicolas, of 80 guns, the ship to which he was immediately opposed. As soon as the English were in possession of every part of the ship, a fire opened upon them from the stern gallery of the San Josef, first-rate which had fallen on board the San Nicolas. Nelson, with his characteristic promptitude, assailed at once his new antagonist, and in a few minutes succeeded in the extraordinary enterprise of carrying one Spanish ship from the deck of another. The Spaniards had still eighteen or nineteen ships which had suffered little or no injury; Sir John Jervis, therefore, now made the signal to bring to, in order to secure his prizes. The Spanish Admiral, meantime, consulted his captains whether he should renew the action. Of the whole number, two only were for fighting; the rest positively declined to begin again. Thus Sir John Jervis had the satisfaction of bringing his prizes safe into harbour, and for this great service was created Earl St. Vincent. J. M. T. NO. III.ADMIRAL DUNCAN'S VICTORY OVER THE DUTCH FLEET, OCT. 11, 1797. It has been my object to point out the leading circumstances which give a providential character to those great Naval Victories achieved in the late war. The defeat of the Dutch fleet by Admiral Duncan in the autumn of 1797, presents so many of those circumstances to our consideration, that I think no pious mind could hesitate to recognise them. In the summer of this year the aspect of our internal affairs had been more than usually gloomy. The financial difficulties under which the country laboured had then risen to their greatest height; and the alarming mutiny among the seamen had threatened to lay, not our naval glories merely, but our independent existence as a nation, at the feet of our rancorous enemies. The discontents of the mutineers had The indeed been laid, and they had been induced to return to their professional duties; but no one could be free from anxiety who looked to the circumstances under which their allegiance was resumed. feelings of insubordination which had so recently threatened destruction to even our harbours and arsenals, might, it was to be feared, burst forth with new violence in the presence of the enemy. But further: republican Holland was now making her first naval exertions in behalf of the cause she had lately espoused. The Revolutionists promised themselves that it was reserved for them to restore the balance of maritime power, and that the highlyexcited zeal of their commanders would now bring back to them such days as those of De Ruyter and Van Tromp. It was Admiral Duncan's arduous duty to make head against those manifold difficulties. On shore there was scarcely any feeling but dismay and apprehension; on board he could find little consolation from crews whose best expressions of loyalty were sullen and equivocal: while opposed to him he saw the choicest ships of a nation, eminent for a long series of years for its naval resources, and now excited to unusual exertions by the operation of political feelings little short of frenzy. Duncan had kept at sea during the whole summer, partly for the purpose of watching the enemy's fleet which lay at anchor in the Texel, but principally with a view of keeping his sailors from the contaminating influence of that mutinous spirit which had burst forth at Portsmouth and at the Nore. After a cruise of unusual length, the Admiral had gone into Yarmouth to refresh his men; but he had scarcely come to an anchor, when a signal was made to him by a vessel at the back of Yarmouth Roads, intimating that the Dutch fleet was at sea. The whole fleet, consisting of 16 sail of the line and three frigates, immediately got again under weigh with surprising alacrity. This was on the morning of the 9th of October; and, at nine in the morning of the 11th, the Admiral got sight of the squadron of observation he had left under the command of Captain Trollope, with signals flying for an enemy to leeward. He immediately made a signal for a general chase, and in less than an hour came up with the enemy, as they were in the act of forming line to receive him. The fleets were nearly equal in point of strength; for though the Dutch had more ships of force, the superiority in men and guns inclined to the side of the British. As the British fleet approached they could see the land between Egmont and Camperdown, not more than nine miles to leeward of the enemy. Not a moment was to be lost; and the Admiral, with a fortunate boldness, determined on the instant to pass through their line, and engage them to leeward; and thus to place himself between them and the land. His signals were obeyed with such promptitude, that by forty minutes after twelve every ship of the British had broken the enemy's line, and was hotly engaged. Duncan's own ship, the Venerable, was in close action for nearly two hours and a half, when he had the satisfaction to see the masts of the Vryheid, the Dutch Admiral's ship, go by the board; she was however defended for some time longer with such spirit, that when her colours were struck, De Winter (the Admiral) himself was the only man left on the quarterdeck, who was not either killed or wounded. About the same time the Dutch Vice-Admiral struck to Admiral Onslow, in the Monarch, and before halfpast three o'clock many more had surrendered; but the British Admiral, finding himself only in nine fathoms water, and scarcely five miles from a dangerous lee shore, had his whole attention occupied in extricating his disabled ships, and such prizes as he could immediately take possession of, from their perilous situation. Several of the vessels which struck therefore took advantage of the night to escape, and some of them were seen going into the Texel the following morning. The prizes, however, which were secured, were eight ships of the line,— two of 56 guns, two of 44, and a frigate. One of these, however, the Delft of 56 guns, foundered within sight of the British coast, and the frigate also was lost. A more bloody conflict than this is not to be found in the Naval History of this country. The carnage on board the two ships which bore the Admirals' flags, was, (in the words of Lord Duncan) beyond all description: there were not less than 250 men killed and wounded in each of them, and none of the Dutch ships that surrendered lost less than 100 men. The battle was fought so near shore that every manœuvre could be seen distinctly, and the whole coast was covered for many miles with thousands of spectators, who had the mortification of witnessing the entire destruction of their fleet; and, what must have been quite as painful, of seeing one of their Admirals (Story) run off, at the very commencement of the action, with three ships of the centre division, leaving his gallant companions to their fate. This dastard made up a story to his own advantage, and was received with great distinction by the Directory, while the gallant De Winter was calumniated and neglected: so much for the discrimination and gratitude of governments purely democratical! Our own gallant Admiral, immediately on his return was created Baron Duncan of Lundie in Perthshire, and Viscount Duncan of Camperdown, in allusion to that part of the coast where the victory was achieved. Thus, by this great and eminently providential event, were the hopes of domestic traitors finally crushed; and our implacable foreign foe was at once quelled in his pride and crippled in his means of aggression. J. M. T. NO. IV. THE BATTLE OF THE NILÈ, AUG. 1, 1798. (Abridged from Southey's Life of Nelson.) THE French fleet arrived at Alexandria on the 1st of July; and Brueys, not being able to enter the port, which time and neglect had ruined, moored the |