To this manly appeal, the lords of the admiralty did not think proper to pay any attention; and so stung was the Duke of Clarence, with this additional proof of the inimical feelings of the admiralty towards him, that in the moment of his exasperation, he wrote the following letter to his father :—

"SIR,

"March 24th, 1794.

"On the 15th of this month I addressed a letter to the lords of the admiralty, of which I transmit you a copy, soliciting from them that employment in the service of my country, to which my rank and character entitle me. To neglect they have added insult, inasmuch as they have withheld from me even that courtesy, which is due to every individual, who makes a respectful tender of his services at a momentous period like the present, when everything that is valuable to an Englishman is at stake, and the throne on which you sit is endangered by the machinations of regicides and revolutionists. As in this treatment of the lords of the admiralty, my character as a naval officer becomes seriously implicated, I am emboldened to make this appeal to my royal father, soliciting from him, that he will be pleased to issue his commands to the lords of the admiralty, to grant me that employment which I desire, or publicly to state the grounds on which their refusal is founded.

"WILLIAM."

It forms no part of the etiquette of royalty to answer a letter, and in regard to the common subject, there be may some good ground for a strict adherence to such a punctilious form, at the same time, were kings in general to pay a little more attention to the complaints and petitions of their subjects, however humble may be the class, the people would become more endeared to royalty, and contribute to the expenses of it with greater freewill, than is exhibited by their present disposition. The letter of the Duke of Clarence, was that of a son to a father, not of a subject to his sovereign, and viewed from that point, a departure from the rigid rules of etiquette, would have been, not only excusable, but commendable. It is, however,

sometimes, very convenient for an individual, who wishes to evade the granting of any application that may be made to him, to have a tool or instrument, who will in a few words convey to the applicant, the refusal of his solicitation, and couched too in such terms, which have a great deal of meaning, but no sense. That tool or instrument of royalty, is what is termed, the Secretary of State for the Home Department; and as it is another part of the etiquette of royalty, never to give a negative, the Duke of Clarence received one of the circulars used on such occasions, the import of which is, "That his Majesty has not been pleased to issue his commands on the subject."

Thus foiled in the great object of his ambition, neglected by the lords of the admiralty, and slighted by his sovereign and father, he sank, comparatively speaking, into the insignificance of a private life; but, he nevertheless continued to give his strenuous support to the war, although the recent disasters had rendered it everything but popular with the people.

We agree not with the Duke of Clarence in his support of the war. He leagued himself on the side of the crown, and was found the foremost amongst the retainers of the oligarchy, who declaimed with fury against the democratic government of France, and who joined in their cry for war, into which an ambitious minister was too disposed to plunge the country. There was, however, at the time, a band of patriots, the friends of liberty and peace, who urged whatever argument, humanity or policy could suggest, to calm the passions of an enraged senate and avert the uplifted scourge. They deprecated that alternative of despotism or anarchy, to which the prosecution of even a prosperous war would unavoidably expose us; they gave their decided opposition to a war of punctilio, pride, and passion, and wisely recommended an assiduous cultivation of the arts of peace, and a steady attention to the improvement of our finances, till some great interest of our country could only be preserved by hostilities. But they argued, they deprecated, they advised in vain. Punctilio, pride, and passion prevailed against the plainest reason, and the wishes and interest of a

few individuals outweighed in the senate the wish and interest of the community. To avenge the execution of the illfated Louis; to defend social order, morality, and religion; to resent the obnoxious, but rescinded decree of November 19th, 1792; to rescue Holland, though not attacked; and even to close the navigation of the Scheldt, though not complained of, were amongst the most prominent features for war. But their texture was too flimsy to hide the real motives, viz., namely the desire to depress the spirit of liberty in England, to secure the usurped power of the oligarchy, and to aggrandize the power of the crown. The means for attaining their ends, were to be found in war alone, and in a frenzy of rage it was commenced.

As a counterpoise to the defeats of the army, the navy of England was destined to be uniformly triumphant. The channel fleet, which, during the last summer, had achieved nothing worthy the reputation of its veteran commander, put to sea in the spring in search of an enemy which had hitherto eluded pursuit. Lord Howe was particularly solicitous to vindicate the honour of his country, as well as to rescue his own character from unmerited reproach; and the powerful armament now under his command left no doubt relative to the result of a contest. On reaching the Lizard, a signal was made for the East Indiamen to proceed on their voyage, under convoy of six sail of the line and a frigate, which were not to separate from them until their arrival off Cape Finisterre. Having received information on the 19th of May that the Brest fleet was at sea, Lord Howe deemed it proper to effect a junction with the squadron lately detached under Rear-Admiral Montague as soon as possible; but on hearing, two days after, that the enemy had been seen a few leagues to the westward, he immediately altered his course, and steered towards them.

Great care had hitherto been taken to avoid any naval contest with the English; but, on the present occasion, orders were transmitted to Vice-Admiral Villaret-Joyeuse to protect the supplies from America at the risk of a battle. Jean Bon St. Andre, who had been employed at Brest to infuse a spirit of democracy into the seamen, acted on this occasion as a nati

onal commissioner, having embarked on board the flag-ship, carrying 120 guns, and designated La Montagne, after the ruling party in the Convention. On the 28th of May, at eight o'clock in the morning, in north latitude 47° 33', W. Long. 14° 10', the rival fleets descried each other exactly at the same time; the wind blew strong from the south-west, accompanied by a rough sea, and the French possessed the weather-gage. After the advanced frigates had given intimation of this event, Earl Howe continued his course, while the French admiral endeavoured as much as possible to assume a regular order of battle upon the starboard tack, a circumstance which greatly facilitated the approach of the English. As the conduct of the enemy, who had now hauled their wind, indicated an intention to avoid a close fight, the British commander displayed the signal for a general chase, and to prevent their escape, he soon after detached Rear-Admiral Palsey, with a flying squadron, to make an impression on their rear: that officer accordingly, near the close of the day, attacked the Revolutionnaire, a three-decked ship of 110 guns, which happened to be the sternmost in the line, but without any decisive success on either side. The rival fleets, consisting of twenty-six sail of the line on the part of the French, and twenty-five on that of the British, remained within sight of each other during the whole night, on the starboard tack, and in a parallel direction, with the French still to windward; but next morning, the 29th, Admiral Villaret-Joyeuse, flushed with the hopes of a victory, wore from van to rear, and instead of flinching from the action, edged down in a line a-head to engage the van of the British fleet.

Taking advantage of so favourable an opportunity, Lord Howe renewed the signal for passing the enemy's line, and succeeded with some difficulty in obtaining the weather-gage, while the enemy were repulsed by the Barfleur, and two other threedeckers, in an attempt to cut off the Queen and Royal George. At length, Villaret tacked again by signal; and, after a distant cannonade, stood away in order of battle on the larboard tack, followed by the whole of the British fleet. The second day's

action proved equally indecisive as the former, and a thick fog, that intervened during this night and the greater part of the succeeding day, prevented the renewal of the engagement. In the mean time, Rear-Admiral Neilly joined the French commander-in-chief with a reinforcement of three sail of the line and two frigates: this accession of strength enabled him to detach his crippled ships; and the dawn of the succeeding day exhibited the two fleets drawn up in order of battle, and prepared to renew the contest. The British admiral, perceiving that there was time sufficient for the various ships' companies to take refreshment, made a signal for breakfast, which, by procrastinating the action, induced the enemy to believe that their antagonists wished to decline the engagement; but they were greatly disappointed; for in about half an hour, Lord Howe gave orders for steering the Royal Charlotte alongside the French admiral, which was effected at nine o'clock in the morning; and, while some of the English commanders penetrated the line of battle and engaged to leeward, others occupied such stations as allowed them to combat with their antagonists to windward. So close and severe was the contest, that the fate of this day depended but little, either on the exertion of nautical knowledge, or the exhibition of that scientific skill, which subjects the management of artillery to the rules of tactics all was hard fighting. Such was the tremendous fire, and so decisive the advantage on the part of the British, that, in about fifty minutes after the action had commenced in the centre, Admiral Villaret-Joyeuse determined to relinquish the contest; for he now perceived several of his ships dismasted, and one of seventy-four guns about to sink; he, at the same time found that six were captured: a great slaughter had also taken place on board his own vessel, in which his captain and a multitude of the crew were killed, while the national commissioner, with most of his officers, were wounded: he accordingly crowded off with all the canvass he could spread, and was immediately followed by most of the ships in his van that were not completely crippled: two or three of these, although dismantled, also got away soon after, under a temporary sail