The Vice-Admiral on this collected his whole force, and proceeded in quest of the combined fleet, but on his arrival off Cadiz, he learned from one of his cruizers, that they had sailed for Brest on the twenty-first of July, and on his repairing thither, found that they had entered that port only five hours before! After this long and unsuccessful pursuit, his lordship steered for England; but his cruize did not prove upon the whole unfortunate, for on the nineteenth of June, a part of his squadron, consisting of the Centaur, Bellona, Santa Teresa, and Emerald, captured a forty-gun ship, a frigate, and three small armed vessels bound from Jaffa to Toulon," commanded by Rear-Admiral Perrée.

Towards the latter end of the same year, we find Lord Keith once more in Gibraltar, but with his flag on board the Queen Charlotte of 100 guns, Earl St. Vincent having resigned the command of the fleet in the Mediterranean to him and returned home.

Early in the year 1800, his Lordship proceeded to Malta, and cruized off the port of La Valetta, to intercept any succours that might be attempted to be thrown in during the blockade. In order more completely to ensure success, he ordered Lord Nelson to

cruize to windward with three sail of the line, while he himself remained with the flag-ship and a small squadron at the mouth of the harbour. This judicious arrangement produced the capture of Le Genereux of 74 guns, carrying the flag of Rear-Admiral Perrée, and having a number of troops on board for the relief of the place, together with a large storeship.

In March Lord Keith issued a proclamation, declaring the ports of Toulon, Marseilles, Nice, &c. in a state of blockade; and being now determined to seize on the island of Cabrera, then in possession of the French, as a proper place for refreshing his men, he detached Captain Todd with the Queen Charlotte for that purpose; but when within sight of Leghorn, where his lordship then was, that noble vessel was discovered to be on fire, and soon after perished in her own flames.

After this, which may almost be termed a national loss, the Audacious first, and then the Foudroyant, received the Vice-Admiral's flag, and he proceeded with the latter of these to Genoa, in order to cooperate with the Austrians, who were at that time besieging it. He not only bombarded the city repeatedly, but carried off the principal galley in the

port.

It being now determined to strike a mortal blow at Spain, orders were sent from England for collecting ships and troops for that purpose. Accordingly, on the thirteenth of September, Admiral Lord Keith repaired with the fleet to Gibraltar, and

the

the transports with Sir James Pulteney's division of troops having joined the forces commanded by Sir Ralph Abercrombie, amounting in all to about eighteen thousand effective men, the squadron passed the Straits, and entered the bay of Cadiz, a city at that time visited with a malady which in many respects resembled, and in the extent of its ravages equalled, the plague. No sooner had the detachment, consisting of three eighty and four seventy-four gun ships, come to anchor, than the governor, Don Thomas de Merla, in a most energetic letter addressed to the admiral, after exposing the unhappy situation of the inhabitants, proceeds as follows: "I have too exalted an opinion of the English people, and of you in particular, to think that you would wish to render our situation more deplorable; but if in consequence of the orders your excellency has received, you are inclined to draw down upon your country the execration of all nations, and to cover yourself with disgrace in the eyes of the whole universe, by oppressing the unfortunate, and attacking those who are supposed to be incapable of defence; I declare to you that the gar

*While stationed there, Dec. 21, 1799, Mr. Bainbridge, one of his lieutenants, with the barge of the Queen Charlotte and sixteen men, performed a very gallant action. The Lady Nelson cutter having been seen engaged with some privateers and gun vessels, off Cabareta Point, this officer was dispatched to encou rage her resistance until the arrival of some of the ships of the squadron. Finding, however, that she had been captured in the mean time, he boarded and retook her, on which occasion he received a severe sabre wound during the skirmish.