y occasion, had been astern of the
Victory, the admiral's ship. If Jervis had been admiral, he would have
tried the fate of battle--and he would have done right. No result of a
battle could have been so painful to the national feelings, or so
injurious in its effects on the feelings of Europe, as that retreat.
If the whole British fleet on that occasion had perished, its
gallantry would have only raised a new spirit of worth and power in
the nation; and England has resources that, when once fully called
into exertion, are absolutely unconquerable. But that was a dishonour;
and even now we can echo the feelings of the brave and high-minded
young officer, who was condemned to share in the disgrace. He writes
to his sister, as if to relieve the fulness of his heart at the
moment--"I am in the most humbled state of mind I ever experienced,
from the retreat we have made before the combined fleets all
_yesterday_ and _this morning_." The Admiralty ultimately gave the
retreating admiral an official certificate of good behaviour, "their
high approbation of Sir Charles Hardy's wise and prudent conduct;" but
"gallant and bold conduct" would have been a better testimonial. The
truth seems to be, that the Admiralty, blamable themselves in sending
him to sea with an inadequate force, and scarcely expecting to escape
if they had suffered him to lie under the charge, were glad to avail
themselves of his personal character as a man of known bravery; and
thus quash a process which must finally have brought them before the
tribunal. But let naval officers remember, that the officer who fights
is the officer of the nation. Nelson's maxim is unanswerable--"The
captain cannot be mistaken who lays his ship alongside the enemy."

This, too, was a period of cabinet revolutions. No favouritism can
sustain a ministry which has become disgustful to the nation. Lord
North, though ingenious, dexterous, and long enough in possession of
power to have filled all its offices with his dependents, was driven
from the premiership with such a storm of national contempt, that he
could scarcely be sheltered by the curtains of the throne. Lord
Rockingham, a dull minister, was transformed into a brilliant one by
his contrast with the national weariness of Lord North; and it fell to
the lot of Captain Jervis to give the country the first omen of
returning victory. France had already combined Holland in her
alliance, and the French minister, already made insolen