throng to the French eagles, and a field of warfare where
the mere landing of 20,000 veterans would decide the campaign.[340]

And yet it is, on the whole, certain that his expedition for Ireland
was meant merely to distract and paralyze the defenders of Great
Britain, while he dealt the chief blow at London. Instinct and
conviction alike prompted him to make imposing feints that should lead
his enemy to lay bare his heart, and that heart was our great capital.
His indomitable will scorned the word _impossible_--"a word found only
in the dictionary of fools"; he felt England to be the sole barrier to
his ambitions; and to crush her power he was ready to brave, not only
her stoutest seamen, but also her guardian angels, the winds and
storms. Both the man and the occasion were unique in the world's
history and must not be judged according to tame probabilities. For
his honour was at stake. He was so deeply pledged to make use of the
vast preparations at his northern ports that, had all his complex
dispositions worked smoothly, he would certainly have attempted a dash
at London; and only after some adequate excuse could he consent to give
up that adventure.

The excuse was now furnished by Villeneuve's retreat to Cadiz; and
public opinion, ignorant of Napoleon's latest instructions on that
subject, and knowing only the salient facts of the case, laid on that
luckless admiral the whole burden of blame for the failure of the
scheme of invasion. With front unabashed and a mind presaging certain
triumphs, Napoleon accordingly wheeled his legions eastward to
prosecute that alluring alternative, the conquest of England through
the Continent.

* * * * *

APPENDIX

[_The two following State Papers have never before been published_]

No. I. is a despatch from Mr. Thornton, our _charge d'affaires_ at
Washington, relative to the expected transfer of the vast region of
Louisiana from Spain to France (see ch. xv. of this vol.).

[In "F O.," America, No. 35.]
"WASHINGTON,
"26 _Jany._, 1802.

"MY LORD,

"... About four years ago, when the rumour of the transfer of
Louisiana to France was first circulated, I put into Mr.
Pickering's hands for his perusal a despatch written by Mr. Fauchet
about the year 1794, which with many others was intercepted by one
of H.M. ships. In that paper the French Minister urged to his
Government the absolute necessity of a