absolutely beneath her
control. The withdrawal of Austria left France without an enemy on the
Continent, and England without an ally. The stress of the war was
pressing more heavily on her every day. A mutiny in the fleet was
suppressed with difficulty. The news of Hoche's expedition brought about
a run for gold which forced on the Bank a suspension of specie payments.
It was in this darkest hour of the struggle that Burke passed away,
protesting to the last against the peace which, in spite of his previous
failure, Pitt was again striving to bring about by fresh negotiations at
Lille. Peace seemed more needful than ever to him now that France was
free to attack her enemy with the soldiers who had fought at Arcola and
Rivoli. Their way, indeed, lay across the sea, and at sea Britain was
supreme. But her supremacy was threatened by a coalition of naval forces
such as had all but crushed her in the American war. Again the Dutch and
Spanish fleets were allied with the fleets of France; and it was
necessary to watch Cadiz and the Scheldt as well as Brest and Toulon. A
single victory of the three confederates, or even such a command of the
Channel as they had held for months during the war with America, would
enable the Directory to throw overwhelming armies not only on the shores
of England, but on the shores of Ireland, and whatever might be the
fate of the one enterprise, there could be little doubt of the success
of the other. The danger was real; but it had hardly threatened England
when it was dispelled by two great victories. The Spanish fleet, which
put out to sea with twenty-seven sail of the line, was met on the
fourteenth of February 1797 by Admiral Jervis off Cape St. Vincent with
a force of but fifteen; and driven back to Cadiz with a loss of four of
its finest vessels. Disheartened as they were, however, their numbers
still exceeded that of the force which blockaded them; and France
counted with confidence on the fleet of Holland, which was ordered to
join its own fleet at Brest. The aim of this union was to protect a
fresh force in its descent upon Ireland, where the United Irishmen now
declared themselves ready for revolt. But a yet sterner fortune awaited
the Dutch than that which had fallen on the Spaniards. Their admiral, De
Winter, who had quitted the Texel during a storm with eleven sail of the
line and four frigates, fell in on the eleventh of October with a far
larger fleet under Admiral Duncan off Campe