sail across the Atlantic, and reached Barbadoes on June 4th, three weeks after the arrival of Villeneuve at Martinique. Fortunately the latter had remained nearly inactive during that interval; and hearing of the presence of the dreaded Nelson, he set sail on his return without any farther attempt, and was immediately followed by his indefatigable pursuer. Nelson came to England without the satisfaction of meeting with his chase; but Villeneuve, before he arrived in port, having with him twenty sail of the line and five frigates, French and Spanish, fell in with Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Calder, cruizing off Cape Finisterre with fifteen sail of the line and two frigates. The British commander made the signal for attack, July 22d, and an engagement ensued in which two ships of the line were taken from the enemy. The success would probably have been greater but for the foggy weather, which prevented manoeuvring with advantage. Lord Nelson, after his return, was offered the command of a fleet able to cope with the united fleets of France and Spain, which, as corresponding with his ruling passion, he most willingly accepted. Sailing from Portsmouth in September, he took the command of the fleet under Admiral Collingwood lying off Cadiz, and having stationed a line of frigates to convey intelligence of all the enemy's motions, he cruized off Cape St. Mary, waiting till the combined fleet should venture to sea. To encourage this resolution, he detached some ships from his fleet upon a particular service, knowing that their places would soon be supplied by others from England, and this stratagem succeeded. On October 19th the combined fleet, amounting to 33 sail of the line, of which 18 were French and 15 Spanish, left the harbour of Cadiz, steering towards the straits of Gibraltar. They were immediately followed by the British fleet of 27 ships of the line, which came up with them on the 21st off Cape Trafalgar, near the southern point of Andalusia. Nelson had previously laid a plan of attack which was a master-piece of naval skill, and assured him of success. The enemy, on his approach, drew up in the form of a crescent, and waited for the English fleet, which bore down in a double column, the great commander's last telegraphic signal being "England expects every man to do his duty." Nobly indeed was it performed on this glorious day, for the battle of Trafalgar is without a parallel in the annals of British victory. The enemy's line being broken by the leading ships of the English columns, a close action was brought on, which, in about four hours terminated in the capture of nineteen sail of the combined fleet, with the commander-in-chief, Villeneuve, and two Spanish admirals. Such an action could not fail of being bloody even to the victors, who lost, in killed and wounded, 1587 men; but the loss which in a national view was the greatest of all, was that of the distinguished commander, the pride and glory of the British navy, who received a mortal wound by a musket-shot from the ship with which he was closely engaged, and died at the moment of declared victory. To himself, indeed, no death could be so desirable; and the honours paid by a grateful and admiring nation to the memory of Nelson were scarcely surpassed by those offered to the hero of any age or country. It was some diminution to the success of this great action, that the tempestuous weather which immediately followed, rendered it necessary to destroy almost all the prizes, four of which alone were carried safe into Gibraltar. Four of the fugitives, however, afterwards fell into the hands of Sir Richard Strachan, who was cruizing with the same number of ships of the line and some frigates off Ferrol, on November 4th. On the whole, the battle of Trafalgar was a blow to the combined navies from which they never recovered during the war, and which left the British flag entire master of the sea. In the East Indies, war continuing between the East India Company and the Rajah of Bhurtpore aided by Holkar, Lord Lake early in the year made several successive attacks on the town of Bhurtpore, in all of which he was repulsed with considerable loss. At length, Holkar's general, Ameer Khan, having been entirely routed by General Smith, and himself so much reduced that he could give no assistance to his ally, whilst Lord Lake was preparing for a new attack on Bhurtpore, the Rajah made proposals for peace, which were acceded to on April 10th, on the condition of his yielding to the Company the fortress of Deeg, and restoring the districts which had been conferred upon him after the peace with Scindiah, together with the payment of a sum of money. In July Lord Cornwallis arrived at Madras to take upon him the office of governor-general, to which he had been appointed as successor to the Marquis of Wellesley, who was recalled. His lordship, however, was in such a reduced state of health, that he died in the October following. Peace was signed with Holkar on December 24th, on favourable conditions, by which he was received as a friend of the Company; and thus a temporary calm was restored to that part of India. The political year in Europe closed with the peace consequent upon the armistice between France and Austria. It was signed at Presburg on December 26th, and its conditions sufficiently proved the disastrous state to which the latter power was reduced. The Austrian Emperor renounced his share of the Venetian territories, which was annexed to Napoleon's kingdom of Italy. He recognized the new made Kings of Bavaria and Wurtemberg, and the new Elector of Baden. To the former of these, the hereditary enemy of his house, he ceded the county of Tyrol and the lordships of Voralberg; and his possessions in Franconia, Suabia, and Bavaria, were divided between the three. In compensation, he obtained the county of Salzburg and Berchstolgaden taken from the Archduke Ferdinand, who received the territory of Wurtzburg in their stead. The grand-mastership of the Teutonic order was likewise transferred in perpetuity to the house of Austria. By this treaty it was estimated that the Emperor lost in subjects more than 2,700,000 souls, and in revenue 16 millions of florins. The total exclusion from Italy, and the loss of the Tyrolese frontier on Switzerland, were severe strokes upon his political consequence. A treaty concluded about the same time between France and Prussia, which replaced the troops sent by Great Britain and its allies to Hanover by those of Prussia, had important consequences in the following year. Some domestic occurrences still remain to be mentioned. The reconciliation of Mr. Pitt and Lord Sidmouth was not attended with a durable union. Whilst the former felt severely the parliamentary attack upon his intimate friend Lord Melville, and used every effort to divert it, the latter, with those attached to him, took an active part in bringing the culprit to public justice. Other differences were said to subsist; and that the parties found themselves unable to act in concert, appeared from the resignation of their places by Lord Sidmouth and the Earl of Buckinghamshire on July 10th, who were succeeded by Earl Camden and Lord Harrowby. At this time Mr. Pitt began sensibly to feel the decline of a constitution originally delicate, and long severely exercised by care and fatigue. The unfortunate events of the Austrian campaign, and theapparent ruin of a confederacy which he had taken so much pains to form, were strokes which his exhausted frame was little able to resist, and towards the close of the year he was compelled to quit all public business, and he retired to Bath with very faint hopes of recovery. His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester, next brother to his Majesty, died on August 25th, in the 62d year of his age, much beloved and respected for the virtues of private life. - King's Speech. Death of Mr. Pitt, and Honours paid to his Memory. - Entire Change of Ministry. - Mr. Windham's Plan of recruiting the Army for limited Service. - Militia Bill. Budget. Free Interchange of Corn between Great Britain and Ireland. Bill for Intercourse between America and the West India Islands. — Progressive Measures to the final Abolition of the Slave Trade. — Trial and Acquittal of Lord Melville. Conquest of the Kingdom of Naples by the French, and Elevation of Joseph Buonaparte to its Throne. Attempt for its Recovery, and Victory at Maida. Insurrection against the French finally suppressed. — Events on the Coast of Dalmatia. Hanover occupied by Prussia, and consequent Difference between the latter and England. - Negotiation for Peace between Great Britain and France finally unsuccessful. The same between Russia and France. Napoleon's Plans of Aggrandisement in Germany. Confederation of the Rhine established, of which he was declared the Protector. The Emperor of Austria obliged to resign his Office as Emperor of Germany. - Prussia prepares for War with France. Napoleon joins his Army. - Battle of Jena or Auerstadt, followed by total Conquest of the Prussian Territory west of the Oder. Treaty between France and Saxony. Elector of Hesse expelled from his Dominions by the French, and Hanover occupied.-Hamburgh entered by them. Napoleon's Berlin Decree against British Commerce. ·Campaign of the French beyond the Oder. - Napoleon at Warsaw.—The Republic of the Seven United Provinces changed into a Monarchy, and Louis Buonaparte declared King. Elevation of the other Branches and Connections of the Family. State of Spain and Portugal. Capture of French Ships by Sir J. Duckworth.-Other Naval Successes. Colony of the Cape of Good Hope conquered. Sir Home Popham's Expedition to the Rio de la Plata.- Buenos Ayres taken by General Beresford, and afterwards recovered. Hayti.- Conference for adjusting the Differences between England and America. East Indies: Mutiny at Vellore. - Shipping destroyed in the Harbour of Batavia. - War renewed between the Russians and Turks through the Intrigues of France. - Death of Mr. Fox. Alterations in the Ministry. Parliament dissolved, and a new one assembled.· King's Speech. - PARLIAMENT assembled on January 21st, when the royal speech was delivered by commission. Its |