had been blown off. If
it approached under ordinary conditions of weather it would run into the
midst of foes.

The great names of the British Navy were then all afloat in active
command. Rodney was before Havre, which he bombarded in the course of
the summer, doing a certain amount of damage, harassing the local
preparations for invasion, and intercepting vessels carrying supplies to
the Brest fleet and coastwise. Boscawen, second only to Hawke, was
before Toulon, to hold there the dozen ships-of-the-line under De la
Clue, as Hawke was charged to stop the score under Conflans.

In broad conception, Hawke's method was simple and can be easily stated;
the difficulty lay in carrying it out. The main body of his force had a
rendezvous, so chosen that in violent weather from the westward it could
at worst drift up Channel, but usually would have a fair wind for
Torbay, a roadstead on the British coast about a hundred miles distant.
To the rendezvous the fleet was not tied under ordinary circumstances;
it was merely a headquarters which admitted of cruising, but where
despatches from home would always find the admiral in person, or news of
his whereabouts. Near Brest itself was kept an inshore squadron of three
or four ships, which under ordinary circumstances could see the enemy
inside, noting his forwardness; for the cannon of the day could not
molest a vessel more than a mile from the entrance, while the conditions
within of spars and sails indicated to a seaman the readiness or
intention to move, to a degree not ascertainable with ships dependent on
steam only.

With these dispositions, if a westerly gale came on, the fleet held its
ground while it could, but when expedient to go put into Torbay. Owing
to the nearness of the two places, the weather, when of a pronounced
character, was the same at both. While the wind held to the westward of
south, or even at south-southeast, a ship-of-the-line could not beat out
from Brest; much less a fleet. The instant the wind went east, fair for
exit, the British left Torbay, with certainty of not being too late;
for, though the enemy might get out before their return, the east wind
would not suffer them to close with the French coast at another point
soon enough to avoid a meeting. While in Torbay the time was improved by
taking on board stores and provisions; nor was the night's rest at
anchor a small consideration for seamen worn with continual cruising.

The practical merits