y," he replied, "to receive authentic intelligence
of the destination of the French squadron, their route, and time
of sailing. Anything short of this is useless; and I assure your
excellency, that I would not upon any consideration have a Frenchman in
the fleet, except as a prisoner. I put no confidence in them. You think
yours good; the queen thinks the same; I believe they are all alike.
Whatever information you can get me I shall be very thankful for; but
not a Frenchman comes here. Forgive me, but my mother hated the French."

M. Latouche Treville, who had commanded at Boulogne, commanded now at
Toulon. "He was sent for on purpose," said Nelson, "as he BEAT ME at
Boulogne, to beat me again; but he seems very loath to try." One day,
while the main body of our fleet was out of sight of land, Rear-Admiral
Campbell, reconnoitring with the CANOPUS, DONEGAL, and AMAZON, stood in
close to the port; and M. Latouche, taking advantage of a breeze which
sprung up, pushed out with four ships of the line and three heavy
frigates, and chased him about four leagues. The Frenchman, delighted
at having found himself in so novel a situation, published a boastful
account, affirming that he had given chase to the whole British fleet,
and that Nelson had fled before him! Nelson thought it due to the
Admiralty to send home a copy of the VICTORY's log upon this occasion.
"As for himself," he said, "if his character was not established by that
time for not being apt to run away, it was not worth his while to put
the world right."--"If this fleet gets fairly up with M. Latouche," said
he to one of his correspondents, "his letter, with all his ingenuity,
must be different from his last. We had fancied that we chased him into
Toulon; for, blind as I am, I could see his water line, when he clued
his topsails up, shutting in Sepet. But from the time of his meeting
Captain Hawker in the ISIS, I never heard of his acting otherwise than
as a poltroon and a liar. Contempt is the best mode of treating such
a miscreant." In spite, however, of contempt, the impudence of this
Frenchman half angered him. He said to his brother: "You will have seen
Latouche's letter; how he chased me and how I ran. I keep it; and if I
take him, by God he shall eat it."

Nelson, who used to say, that in sea affairs nothing is impossible, and
nothing improbable, feared the more that this Frenchman might get
out and elude his vigilance; because he was so especially desirou