th his twenty men of
war to the Mediterranean, while his superiors, with the rest of the
armament, returned to the Channel.

It was by this time known in England that Tourville had stolen out of
Brest, and was hastening to join Estrees. The return of Killegrew
and Delaval therefore excited great alarm. A swift sailing vessel was
instantly despatched to warn Rooke of his danger; but the warning never
reached him. He ran before a fair wind to Cape Saint Vincent; and there
he learned that some French ships were lying in the neighbouring Bay of
Lagos. The first information which he received led him to believe that
they were few in number; and so dexterously did they conceal their
strength that, till they were within half an hour's sail, he had no
suspicion that he was opposed to the whole maritime strength of a great
kingdom. To contend against fourfold odds would have been madness. It
was much that he was able to save his squadron from titter destruction.
He exerted all his skill. Two or three Dutch men of war, which were in
the rear, courageously sacrificed themselves to save the fleet. With
the rest of the armament, and with about sixty merchant ships, Rooke got
safe to Madeira and thence to Cork. But more than three hundred of
the vessels which he had convoyed were scattered over the ocean. Some
escaped to Ireland; some to Corunna; some to Lisbon; some to Cadiz; some
were captured, and more destroyed. A few, which had taken shelter under
the rock of Gibraltar, and were pursued thither by the enemy, were sunk
when it was found that they could not be defended. Others perished in
the same manner under the batteries of Malaga. The gain to the French
seems not to have been great; but the loss to England and Holland was
immense. [454]

Never within the memory of man had there been in the City a day of more
gloom and agitation than that on which the news of the encounter in the
Bay of Lagos arrived. Many merchants, an eyewitness said, went away from
the Royal Exchange, as pale as if they had received sentence of death.
A deputation from the merchants who had been sufferers by this great
disaster went up to the Queen with an address representing their
grievances. They were admitted to the Council Chamber, where she was
seated at the head of the Board. She directed Somers to reply to them
in her name; and he addressed to them a speech well calculated to soothe
their irritation. Her Majesty, he said, felt for them from her heart