rish in the fleets, where
agents were in communication with the leaders of the United Irishmen on
shore.

In the Channel and the North Sea, the seamen took the ships, with few
exceptions, out of the hands of their officers. In the former, they
dictated their terms; in the latter, after a month of awful national
suspense, they failed: the difference being that in the one case the
demands, being reasonable, carried conviction, while in the other,
becoming extravagant, the Government's resistance was supported by
public opinion. It remained to be seen how the crisis would be met in a
fleet so far from home that the issue must depend upon the firmness and
judgment of a man of adamant. It was no more than prudent to expect that
the attempt would be made there also; and the watchfulness of the
superior officers of the fleet soon obtained certain information of its
approach, though as yet without proof adequate to the arrest of
individuals. The policy of the admiral, broadly stated, was that of
isolating ship from ship--_divide et impera_--to prevent concerted
action; a measure effected to all practical purpose by his unremitting
vigilance, and by the general devotion to his policy among his leading
officers. On the other hand, evidence was not wanting that in the ships
long under his orders his own character was now fairly understood, and
obtained for him a backing among the seamen themselves, without which
his severity alone might have failed.

The first overt sign of trouble was the appearance of letters addressed
to the leading petty officers of the different ships of the
Mediterranean fleet. These were detected by a captain, who held on to
them, and sent to St. Vincent to ask if they should be delivered.
Careful to betray no sign of anxiety, the admiral's reply was a general
signal for a lieutenant from each ship to come to him; and by them word
was sent that all letters should be delivered as addressed, unopened.
"Should any disturbance arise," he added, "the commander-in-chief will
know how to repress it."

Disturbance soon did arise, and it is significant to note that it
appeared in a ship which, by taking the ground when leaving Lisbon, had
not shared in the Battle of St. Vincent. In July, 1797, two seamen of
the _St. George_ had been condemned to death for an infamous crime.
Their shipmates presented a petition, framed in somewhat peremptory
terms, for their liberation, on the ground that execution for such an
of