losed on him once more.

Meanwhile events were transpiring which seemed to add to Napoleon's
naval strength and to the difficulties of his foes. On January 4th,
1805, he concluded with Spain a treaty which added her naval resources
to those of France, Holland, and Northern Italy. The causes that led
to an open rupture between England and Spain were these. Spain had
been called upon by Napoleon secretly to pay him the stipulated sum of
72,000,000 francs a year (see p. 437), and she reluctantly consented.
This was, of course, a covert act of hostility against England; and
the Spanish Government was warned at the close of 1803 that, if this
subsidy continued to be paid to France, it would constitute "at any
future period, when circumstances may render it necessary, a just
cause of war" between England and Spain. Far from complying with this
reasonable remonstrance, the Spanish Court yielded to Napoleon's
imperious order to repair five French warships that had taken refuge
in Ferrol from our cruisers, and in July, 1804, allowed French seamen
to travel thither overland to complete the crews of these vessels.
Thus for some months our warships had to observe Ferrol, as if it were
a hostile port.

Clearly, this state of things could not continue; and when the
protests of our ambassador at Madrid were persistently evaded or
ignored, he was ordered, in the month of September, to leave that
capital unless he received satisfactory assurances. He did not leave
until November 10th, and before that time a sinister event had taken
place. The British Ministry determined that Spanish treasure-ships from
South America should not be allowed to land at Cadiz the sinews of war
for France, and sent orders to our squadrons to stop those ships. Four
frigates were told off for that purpose. On the 5th of October they
sighted the four rather smaller Spanish frigates that bore the ingots of
Peru, and summoned them to surrender, thereafter to be held in pledge.
The Spaniards, nobly resolving to yield only to overwhelming force,
refused; and in the ensuing fight one of their ships blew up, whereupon
the others hauled down their flags and were taken to England. Resenting
this action, Spain declared war on December 12th, 1804.

Stripped of all the rodomontade with which French historians have
enveloped this incident, the essential facts are as follows. Napoleon
compelled Spain by the threat of invasion to pay him a large subsidy:
England declared t