Nelson was not apprised of it till the twelfth of the ensuing month. He
had, indeed, sufficient mortification at the breaking out of this

Spanish war; an event which, it might reasonably have been supposed,
would amply enrich the officers of the Mediterranean fleet, and repay

them for the severe and unremitting duty on which they had been so long
employed. But of this harvest they were deprived; for Sir John Orde was

sent with a small squadron, and a separate command, to Cadiz. Nelson's
feelings were never wounded so deeply as now. "I had thought," said he,

writing in the first flow and freshness of indignation; "Fancied--but
nay; it must have been a dream, an idle dream; yet I confess it, I DID

fancy that I had done my country service; and thus they use me! And
under what circumstances, and with what pointed aggravation? Yet, if I

know my own thoughts, it is not for myself, or on my own account
chiefly, that I feel the sting and the disappointment. No! it is for my

brave officers: for my noble minded friends and comrades. Such a gallant
set of fellows! Such a band of brothers! My heart swells at the thought

of them."
War between Spain and England was now declared; and on the eighteenth

of January, the Toulon fleet, having the Spaniards to co-operate with
them, put to sea. Nelson was at anchor off the coast of Sardinia, where

the Madelena islands form one of the finest harbours in the world, when,
at three in the afternoon of the nineteenth, the ACTIVE and SEAHORSE

frigates brought this long-hoped-for intelligence. They had been close
to the enemy at ten on the preceding night, but lost sight of them in

about four hours. The fleet immediately unmoored and weighed, and at six
in the evening ran through the strait between Biche and Sardinia: a

passage so narrow that the ships could only pass one at a time, each
following the stern-lights of its leader. From the position of the

enemy, when they were last seen, it was inferred that they must be bound
round the southern end of Sardinia. Signal was made the next morning to

prepare for battle. Bad weather came on, baffling the one fleet in its
object, and the other in its pursuit. Nelson beat about the Sicilian

seas for ten days, without obtaining any other information of the enemy
than that one of their ships had put into Ajaccio, dismasted; and having

seen that Sardinia, Naples, and Sicily were safe, believing Egypt to be
their destination, for Egypt he ran. The disappointment and distress

which he had experienced in his former pursuits of the French through
the same seas were now renewed; but Nelson, while he endured these

anxious and unhappy feelings, was still consoled by the same confidence
as on the former occasion--that, though his judgment might be erroneous,

under all circumstances he was right in having formed it. "I have
consulted no man," said he to the Admiralty; "therefore the whole blame

of ignorance in forming my judgment must rest with me. I would allow no
man to take from me an atom of my glory had I fallen in with the French

fleet; nor do I desire any man to partake any of the responsibility. All
is mine, right or wrong." Then stating the grounds upon which he had

proceeded, he added, "At this moment of sorrow, I still feel that I have
acted right." In the same spirit he said to Sir Alexander Ball: "When I

call to remembrance all the circumstances, I approve, if nobody else
does, of my own conduct."

Baffled thus, he bore up for Malta, and met intelligence from Naples
that the French, having been dispersed in a gale, had put back to

Toulon. From the same quarter he learned that a great number of saddles
and muskets had been embarked; and this confirmed him in his opinion

that Egypt was their destination. That they should have put him back in
consequence of storms which he had weathered, gave him a consoling sense

of British superiority. "These gentlemen," said he, "are not accustomed
to a Gulf of Lyons gale: we have buffeted them for one-and-twenty

months, and not carried away a spar." He, however, who had so often
braved these gales, was now, though not mastered by them, vexatiously

thwarted and impeded; and on February 27th he was compelled to anchor in
Pula Bay in the Gulf of Cagliari. From the 21st of January the fleet had

remained ready for battle, without a bulk-head up night or day. He
anchored here that he might not be driven to leeward. As soon as the

weather moderated he put to sea again; and after again beating about
against contrary winds, another gale drove him to anchor in the Gulf of

Palma on the 8th of March. This he made his rendezvous: he knew that
the French troops still remained embarked; and wishing to lead them into

a belief that he was stationed upon the Spanish coast, he made his
appearance off Barcelona with that intent. About the end of the month he

began to fear that the plan of the expedition was abandoned; and sailing
once more towards his old station off Toulon on the 4th of April, he met

the PHOEBE, with news that Villeneuve had put to sea on the last of
March, with eleven ships of the line, seven frigates, and two brigs.

When last seen they were steering towards the coast of Africa. Nelson
first covered the channel between Sardinia and Barbary, so as to satisfy

himself that Villeneuve was not taking the same route for Egypt which
Gantheaume had taken before him, when he attempted to carry

reinforcements thither. Certain of this, he bore up on the 7th for
Palermo, lest the French should pass to the north of Corsica, and he

despatched cruisers in all directions. On the 11th he felt assured that
they were not gone down the Mediterranean; and sending off frigates to

Gibraltar, to Lisbon, and to Admiral Cornwallis, who commanded the
squadron off Brest, he endeavoured to get to the westward, beating

against westerly winds. After five days a neutral gave intelligence that
the French had been seen off Cape de Gatte on the 7th. It was soon after

ascertained that they had passed the Straits of Gibraltar on the day
following; and Nelson, knowing that they might already be half way to

Ireland or to Jamaica, exclaimed that he was miserable. One gleam of
comfort only came across him in the reflection, that his vigilance had

rendered it impossible for them to undertake any expedition in the
Mediterranean.

Eight days after this certain intelligence had been obtained, he
described his state of mind thus forcibly in writing to the governor of

Malta: "My good fortune, my dear Ball, seems flown away. I cannot get a
fair wind, or even a side-wind. Dead foul!--Dead foul! But my mind is

fully made up what to do when I leave the supposing there is no certain
account of the enemy's destination. I believe this ill-luck will go near

to kill me; but as these are times for exertion, I must not be cast
down, whatever I may feel." In spite of every exertion which could be

made by all the zeal and all the skill of British seamen, he did not get
in sight of Gibraltar till the 30th of April; and the wind was then so

adverse that it was impossible to pass the Gut. He anchored in Mazari
Bay, on the Barbary shore; obtained supplies from Tetuan; and when, on

the 5th, a breeze from the eastwardsprang up at last, sailed once more,
hoping to hear of the enemy from Sir John Orde, who commanded off Cadiz,

or from Lisbon. "If nothing is heard of them," said he to the Admiralty,
"I shall probably think the rumours which have been spread are true,

that their object is the West Indies; and, in that case, I think it my
duty to follow them--or to the Antipodes, should I believe that to be

their destination." At the time when this resolution was taken, the
physician of the fleet had ordered him to return to England before the

hot months.
Nelson had formed his judgment of their destination, and made up his

mind accordingly, when Donald Campbell, at that time an admiral in the
Portuguese service, the same person who had given important tidings to

Earl St. Vincent of the movements of that fleet from which he won his
title, a second time gave timely and momentous intelligence to the flag

of his country. He went on board the VICTORY, and communicated to
Nelson his certain knowledge that the combined Spanish and French fleets

were bound for the West Indies. Hitherto all things had favoured the
enemy. While the British commander was beating up again strong southerly

and westerly gales, they had wind to their wish from the N.E., and had
done in nine days what he was a whole month in accomplishing.

Villeneuve, finding the Spaniards at Carthagena were not in a fit state
of equipment to join him, dared not wait, but hastened on to Cadiz. Sir

John Orde necessarilyretired at his approach. Admiral Gravina, with six
Spanish ships of the line and two French, come out to him, and they

sailed without a moment's loss of time. They had about three thousand
French troops on board, and fifteen hundred Spanish: six hundred were

under orders, expecting them at Martinique, and one thousand at
Guadaloupe. General Lauriston commanded the troops. The combined fleet

now consisted of eighteen sail of the line, six forty-four gun frigates,