1796. tainly be noted down as an extraordinary circumstance. How it happened we will endeavour in part to explain. Dec. Dec. On the 17th of December at noon, when rearadmiral Bouvet, having ran through the passage du Raz, made sail to the westward with his nine ships of the line, vice-admiral Colpoys, with 13 sail, was in latitude 48° 17' north, longitude 6° 7' west, or just 15 leagues to the westward of Ushant; towards which he was working against a fresh east-south-east wind. On the 19th, at 9 h. 30 m. A. M., when the Phoebe joined with the news of the french fleet's having quitted Brest for Camaret, the vice-admiral was in latitude 48° 51' north, longitude 5° 43' west, or about 12 leagues north-west by west of Ushant, where a strong south-westerly wind had driven him. The wind, however, subsequently changed to north-west by west, and, blowing strong, carried the british fleet, by noon on the 20th, to latitude 48° 7' north, longitude 5° 49′ west, or to a spot at about equal distances (13 to 14 leagues) from Ushant and the Saintes. In the morning of this day the squadron of rear-admiral Villeneuve from Toulon made its appearance to-windward, and was chased, in almost a gale of wind, by the Impétueux, Minotaur, Bellerophon, Marlborough, and some of the frigates; but, owing in a great degree to the haziness of the weather, the french admiral, with his five sail of the line and two (having parted company with one) frigates, effected his escape, and on the 23d entered Lorient. On the day previous the Révolutionnaire had joined vice-admiral Colpoys; but, several of his ships having suffered in the gale and been obliged to part company, the admiral soon afterwards bore away for Spithead; where he arrived on the 31st with only six sail of the line under his command. It was on the 20th of December, late in the evening, that sir Edward Pellew, in the Indefatigable, anchored in Carrig road, Falmouth; and from him, or from the Duke-of-York lugger, which may have arrived a few hours earlier, the british government 1796. became apprized of the escape of the french fleet Dec. from Brest. As a proof that no time was lost in forwarding orders to Spithead, lord Bridport, on the 25th, got under way with his fleet; but a series of accidents prevented him from sailing, and became, as we shall see, the principal cause of his missing a strong division of the fleet, whose capture or destruction was the sole object of his putting to sea. The Prince 98, as was no uncommon thing with her, missed stays, and, paying round off, ran foul of the Sans-Pareil abreast of the starboard gangway, thereby doing herself so much injury that she was obliged to remain behind to be docked. The Formidable got on board the Ville-de-Paris, by which a mutual injury was sustained; and the Atlas grounded. Having at length succeeded with eight line-of-battle ships in reaching St.-Helen's, the admiral was prevented from sailing by a sudden change of wind; which, although favourable for his getting to sea, was directly on the bows of the ships coming to join him from Spithead. This made it the morning of 1797. the 3d of January before the fleet, consisting of 14 Jan. sail of the line, six frigates, a fire-ship, and a cutter, got away from the anchorage. Lord Bridport, pursuant to his instructions, proceeded straight for Ushant, and in two days arrived off the island. Thence he stretched across to Cape Clear, and on the 9th looked into Bantry bay, but of course saw nothing of the enemy; although, had the fleet sailed on Christmas day, or even the day after, the british admiral would probably have given the french admiral something else than bad weather to complain of. On the 10th the british fleet, as already mentioned, chased unsuccessfully the Révolution and Fraternité. On the 11th, in the morning, lord Bridport steered to the southward; and at noon, which was about the time that the second division of the french fleet entered Brest, the Channel fleet was in latitude 49° 29′ north, and longitude 1797. 12° 6' west. On the same afternoon the Unicorn Jan and Doris frigates joined, with information of their having been chased on the 8th by a division of the french fleet. On the 13th, at noon, about the time that this same division reached Brest, the british admiral was in latitude 48° 29′ north, and longitude 6° 25′ west, or about 19 leagues to the westward of Ushant. On the 19th, having ascertained that the last of the Brest ships had returned into port, lord Bridport, then being in latitude 47° 31′ north, and longitude 6° 47' west, detached, as he had been ordered, rearadmiral Parker, with the Prince-George, Namur, Irresistible, Orion, Colossus, and Thalia frigate, to Gibraltar, and continued, with his fleet by successive reinforcements now numbering 12 sail of the line, to cruise for a few days longer in the vicinity of Ushant. The admiral then, having had several of his ships damaged by the severity of the weather, steered for Torbay. After remaining a few hours only at that anchorage, lord Bridport, sailed on the 31st for Spithead, and arrived there on the 3d of February. Having thus shown in what way the fleets of vice-admiral Colpoys and admiral lord Bridport had missed the french fleet, we shall merely add, that the principal losses, which the latter sustained, by capture, arose from the diligence and activity of a 64-gun ship and four or five frigates, part of which, on the 29th of December, were lying in the harbour of Cork. It had almost escaped us that, in the latter end of the year 1796, France and England, at the invitation of the latter, had, what the Indians call, a talk on the subject of peace. Lord Malmesbury, the commissioner on the part of England, arrived at Paris on the 22d of October; and on the 24th the negotiations were opened between his lordship and M. de Lacroix; but the parties split upon the first proposal, a reciprocal restoration of what had been lost and taken by the respective belligerents. peace, Had each party been sincere in the wish for 1797. On the 3d of March, lord Howe still continuing March. indisposed, lord Bridport, with 15 sail of the line, again quitted Spithead, on a cruise off Brest. Having ascertained that all was quiet in the port, and that there was no probability of the fleet's sailing for some weeks, the british admiral, on the 30th, returned to Spithead. A squadron of observation was now deemed sufficient to send off Brest; and accordingly, on the 6th of April, rear-admiral sir Roger Curtis, with nine sail of the line, proceeded upon that service. On the 15th of April lord Bridport, to whom lord April. Howe had just resigned the command of the Channel fleet, and who was then with the fleet at Spithead, threw out the signal to prepare for sea; when, instead of weighing the anchor, the seamen of the Royal-George ran up the shrouds and gave three cheers: a proceeding which, from the awful responses it produced through the fleet, at once betrayed it as the signal of disaffection. The captains and officers of the different ships were astonished, nay, almost astounded, at this sudden act of disobedience, and, as may be supposed, did their utmost to persuade the men to return to their duty; but all their efforts were vain. The spirit of mutiny had taken deep root in the breasts of the seamen, and, from the apparent organization of the plan, seemed to be the result of far more reflection, than the wayward mind of a jack-tar is usually given credit for. The subject is a melancholy one, and one which we would fain pass over; but historical impartiality forbids any such fastidiousness. At the same time, the subject not being an international one, nor one of which 1797. the details have acquired any permanent interest, we may, consistently with our plan, abridge the Feb. account. It appears that, in the latter end of February, lord Howe, while on shore indisposed, received sundry petitions, as from the seamen at Portsmouth, all praying for an advance of wages; but that, none of the petitions being signed, and all dated and, with the exception of four or five, written by one hand, no notice was taken of them. Lord Howe subsequently directed rear-admiral lord Hugh Seymour to ascertain whether or not any discontent did really exist in the fleet. The reply was so favourable, that his lordship considered the whole plot as the work of some incendiary, and, towards the end of March, sent the different petitions to the first lord of the admiralty, earl Spencer. The seamen, not aware that the papers they had transmitted were looked upon as forgeries, could only attribute the silence of lord Howe to a disregard of their complaints. In this state were matters, on the fleet's refusal to obey lord Bridport's signal to prepare for sea. On the next day, April 16, the respective ships'companies appointed two of their number to act as delegates; and the place selected for their deliberations was the state, or flag-officer's cabin of the Queen-Charlotte. On the 17th every man in the fleet was sworn to support the cause in which he had embarked. Ropes were then reeved, in terrorem, at the fore yard-arms of each ship; and the seamen ordered on shore such of the officers as, in their opinion, had been guilty of oppression. On the same day the delegates, 32 in number, drew up and signed two petitions, one to the parliament, the other to the admiralty. Both petitions were couched in respectful language. That to the admiralty, which was the fullest, prayed, that the wages of the seamen should be increased; that their provisions should be raised to the weight of 16 ounces to the |