e resolved to return to England. He accordingly sailed through the
gulf of Florida, with a view to attack the French at Placentia in
Newfoundland; but his ships were dispersed in a fog that lasted thirty
days; and afterwards the council of war which he convoked were of
opinion that he could not attack the settlement with any prospect of
success. At his return to England, the house of lords, then sitting, set
on foot an inquiry into his conduct. They presented an address to the
queen, desiring she would remove him from his employments; and he was
accordingly dismissed. The only exploit that tended to distress the
enemy was performed by rear-admiral Dilkes, who in the month of July
sailed to the coast of France with a small squadron; and, in the
neighbourhood of Granville, took or destroyed about forty ships and
their convoy. Yet this damage was inconsiderable, when compared to that
which the English navy sustained from the dreadful tempest that began
to blow on the twenty-seventh day of November, accompanied with such
flashes of lightning, and peals of thunder, as overwhelmed the whole
kingdom with consternation. The houses in London shook from their
foundations, and some of them falling buried the inhabitants in their
ruins. The water overflowed several streets, and rose to a considerable
height in Westminster-hall. London bridge was almost choked with the
wrecks of vessels that perished in the river. The loss sustained by
the capital was computed at a million sterling; and the city of Bristol
suffered to a prodigious amount; but the chief national damage fell upon
the navy. Thirteen ships of war were lost, together with fifteen hundred
seamen, including rear-admiral Beaumont, who had been employed in
observing the Dunkirk squadron, and was then at anchor in the Downs,
where his ship foundered. This great loss, however, was repaired with
incredible diligence, to the astonishment of all Europe. The queen
immediately issued orders for building a greater number of ships than
that which had been destroyed; and she exercised her bounty for the
relief of the shipwrecked seamen, and the widows of those who were
drowned, in such a manner as endeared her to all her subjects.

CHARLES KING OF SPAIN ARRIVES IN ENGLAND.

The emperor having declared his second son, Charles, king of Spain,
that young prince set out from Vienna to Holland, and at Dusseldorp was
visited by the duke of Marlborough, who, in the name of his mistress