fecting a junction, should their pacific
dispositions prove otherwise than sincere.

On the 5th of May, Sir Hyde Parker having been recalled, Lord Nelson was
appointed to be commander in chief; but his health was now so greatly
impaired, and his spirits were so much depressed, that he received it
with little hope of being able long to enjoy it's advantages. However,
not another moment was lost: for, after requiring an explicit
declaration that the British trade should not be molested by Sweden, in
his absence, nine sail of the line immediately weighed anchor; and
proceeded, with his lordship, towards Revel. He wished for farther
satisfaction respecting the friendly disposition of the Russians; and
thought the best method of putting it to proof, was that of trying how
he should be received in one of their ports. On the passage, every
possible opportunity was embraced for arranging, with the different
commanders, plans of conduct to be adopted in the event of either
finding the Russians friendly or hostile. There was a sincere desire for
peace, but not the smallest dread of war. His lordship, however, no
sooner approached the port of Revel, which he had determined to enter,
than he learned, to his extreme mortification, that the state of the ice
had permitted the escape of the Russian fleet to Cronstadt, on the 10th
of May, being three days prior to his arrival. Lord Nelson was
disappointed, but not disconcerted. An amicable correspondence was
commenced; the governor and forts were saluted; he was permitted to
anchor in the outer port; and, an invitation from shore being readily
accepted by our hero, he was entertained with the greatest respect and
attention by the governor, admiral, and all the Russian officers, at
Revel. It appears, however, that the suspicions of some less honourable
minds had been excited, on the occasion, to a height of considerable
alarm; and, a letter having been received, on the 16th, from the Comte
de Pahlen, censuring his lordship for thus visiting the Gulph of
Finland, he was resolved immediately to prevent the effect of all
malevolent misrepresentations, by returning to join the squadron off
Bornholm, where he had left Captain Murray with seven sail of the line.

In a letter to his Excellency Earl Carysfort, dated on board the St.
George, off Gothland, May 19th, 1801, in which his lordship incloses a
copy of his correspondence with the Comte de Pahlen, he says--"You will
have your opinion, as