aze
after him when his barge pushed off, and he was returning their cheers
by waving his hat. The sentinels, who endeavoured to prevent them from
trespassing upon this ground, were wedged among the crowd; and an
officer, who, not very prudently upon such an occasion, ordered them to
drive the people down with their bayonets, was compelled speedily to
retreat; for the people would not be debarred from gazing, till the last
moment, upon the hero, the darling hero of England.

He arrived off Cadiz on the 29th of September,--his birthday. Fearing
that, if the enemy knew his force, they might be deterred from venturing
to sea, he kept out of sight of land, desired Collingwood to fire no
salute and hoist no colours, and wrote to Gibraltar, to request that the
force of the fleet might not be inserted there in the _Gazette_. His
reception in the Mediterranean fleet was as gratifying as the farewell
of his countrymen at Portsmouth: the officers, who came on board to
welcome him, forgot his rank as commander, in their joy at seeing him
again.

On the day of his arrival, Villeneuve received orders to put to sea the
first opportunity. Villeneuve, however, hesitated when he heard that
Nelson had resumed the command. He called a council of war; and their
determination was, that it would not be expedient to leave Cadiz, unless
they had reason to believe themselves stronger by one-third than the
British force.

In the public measures of this country secrecy is seldom practicable,
and seldom attempted: here, however, by the precautions of Nelson and
the wise measures of the Admiralty, the enemy were for once kept in
ignorance: for, as the ships appointed to reinforce the Mediterranean
fleet were despatched singly--each as soon as it was ready--their
collected number was not stated in the newspapers, and their arrival was
not known to the enemy. But the enemy knew that Admiral Louis, with six
sail, had been detached for stores and water to Gibraltar. Accident also
contributed to make the French admiral doubt whether Nelson himself had
actually taken the command. An American, lately arrived from England,
maintained that it was impossible, for he had seen him only a few days
before in London, and, at that time, there was no rumour of his going
again to sea.

The station which Nelson had chosen was some fifty or sixty miles to the
west of Cadiz, near Cape Saint Mary's. At this distance he hoped to
decoy the enemy out, while he guarded