owerless by his comparatively homogeneous and mobile
fleet, inferior as it was, so long as he could keep it at sea and to the
westward. The appreciation of the power of a nimble inferior fleet which he
wrote at this time has already been given.[23] When the worst of the
position was fully known, and the enemy was reported off the mouth of the
Channel, he wrote another to Middleton. His only doubt was whether his
fleet had the necessary cohesion and mobility. "We don't seem," he said,
"to have considered sufficiently a certain fact that the comparative force
of two fleets depends much upon their sailing. The fleet that sails fastest
has much the advantage, as they can engage or not as they please, and so
have always in their power to choose the favourable opportunity to attack.
I think I may safely hazard an opinion that twenty-five sail of the line
coppered would be sufficient to harass and tease this great unwieldy
combined Armada so as to prevent their effecting anything, hanging
continually upon them, ready to catch at any opportunity of a separation
from night, gale or fog, to dart upon the separated, to cut off convoys of
provisions coming to them, and if they attempted an invasion, to oblige
their whole fleet to escort the transports, and even then it would be
impossible to protect them entirely from so active and nimble a fleet."

[23] _Supra_, p. 222.

Here we have from the pen of one of the greatest masters the real key of
the solution--the power, that is, of forcing the mass of the enemy's fleet
to escort the transports. Hardy, of course, knew it well from his
experience of 1744, and acted accordingly. This case is the more striking,
since defence against the threatened invasion was not the whole of the
problem he had to solve. It was complicated by instructions that he must
also prevent a possible descent on Ireland, and cover the arrival of the
great convoys. In reply, on August 1st, he announced his intention of
taking station ten to twenty leagues W.S.W. of Scilly, "which I am of
opinion," he said, "is the most proper station for the security of the
trade expected from the East and West Indies, and for the meeting of the
fleets of the enemy _should they attempt to come into the Channel_." He
underlined the last words, indicating, apparently, his belief that they
would not venture to do so so long as he could keep his fleet to the
westward and undefeated. This at least he did, till a month later he found