up.XVI. from the Revolution, to the Death os As, William. 695

*694. Alicant , and arrived at Cadiz, theeighth of Offober. His Cathohck Maje-sty, in the mean Time, receiving Ad-vice, that the French were come to Pa-lamos , desired the Admiral to repairwith the Fleet that Way; And it wasthereupon, determined, that as soon asthe Dutch Ships could be furnished withProvisions, the whole Fleet should pro-^ e bhtion 0 f cee( ^ U P Streights. (h) A Councila ^°uncii of of War was called again, the twenty-ar - second, in which it was determined,that, to prevent the French pasting theStreights, the Fleet should repair, withthe first Easterly Wind, off of CapeSpartel, but with a Westerly Wind upthe Streights, and anchor off of Malaga,and to return to Cape Spartel AndShips were sent to cruise, in the meanTime, in proper Places.

n,

e Span?- The Spanish Secretary of State infor-}s r °Ppre- med the Admiral, soon after, that theywere now under no Apprehensions forUt. Catalonia ; But that it was much feared,the French would attack the Fleet in Ca-J/z-Bay j But he knew these Fears wereill-grounded, (r)

F 0 n It being now the eighth of November,

^Æs'and the Weather continuing very vio-lent, the Thoughts of putting to Sea

were laid aside s Especially, as there 1694was no News of the French, nor noProbability of their venturing out, nowthe Season was so far advanced ; TheAdmiral’s whole Care was, therefore, toput the Fleet in a Condition to do Ser-vice, when the Season would admit ofit.

The King of Spain being soon after, nt „ .

in VV ant ot Shipping to tranlport about Spain desiresseven Thousand Men, from Italy to tho AdmiralBarcelona, desired the Admiral that hewould make some Provision for that Ser- Italy roBar-vice. (Æ) celona :

The Reasons the Admiral alledged, Thg Adtnimfor not complying with the King of ralobjetlsSpain's Desire, did not give such entire against it.Satisfaction, but that he had anotherLetter from the King ; And he had someDiscourse with the Governourof Cadiz,on that Account, who was thoroughlyconvinced, that the Admiral’s Objecti-ons were just, and so the Matter drop’d.

CO

The King having finished the Cam- The Kingpaign, in Flanders, embarked on the r Ji tu \ s t °William and Mary Yacht, in the Maese , n S an >on the eighth of November , being attend-ed by a Squadron of Men of War, un-

8 O der

(h) The Admiral, however, acquainted HisMajesty, that he much doubted the Truth of theIntelligence, and observed withal, that if someconsiderable Strength was not put into Barcelona,there would be no Occasion for the French to drawtheir Naval Forces thither, for that, under itsthen Circumstances, he was of Opinion, it couldnot hold out against a Siege of four Days.

(i) To divert the Spanijh Court from this me-lancholy Apprehension, the Admiral assured theSecretary ; That as he would never have abovetwo or three Ships disarmed at a Time, the Ene-my would be very daring indeed, if they attempt-ed to force him in that Harbour, unless theirNumbers did much exceed his; But that hethought it necessary to put him in Mind, His Ca-tholics Majesty had not above four Ships whichwere able to swim, and that if he intended tojoin any Force to the English and Dutch , the nextSpring, some Care ought to be taken for puttinghis Armada into a better Condition for Service.

(k) The Admiral acquainted him ; 1 hat tho’he would do his utmost to comply with his Com-mands, in this and all other Things, yet it warimpossible for him to find Convenience for theTransportation of those Troops; Because theMen of War were not able to receive them, andthat it would not be safe, even if they could takethem aboard, considering the Sickness it mightoccasion, as well to the Seamen as Soldiers, bytheir being so much pestered. Besides, the send-ing a Squadron of Ships, for transporting such aNumber of Men, would have wholly obstructedthe Refitting of the Fleet ; And, therefore, heproposed tffHis Majesty, that a sufficient Num-ber of Transport-Ships might be got ready, at

Genoa, which if His Majesty approved of, he en-gaged to appoint a proper Convoy for them, sincenone of the Spanijh Ships of War were fit for suchService. But even in this Cafe, he desired hemight know the certain Time, when they wouldbe ready to embark, and that the Design might bekept with all possible Secrecy, for that, otherwise,he could not well answer for their Security, sincethe French might send, ffom their neighbouringPorts, a Squadron to intercept them.

(I) K en net sums up all he fays of this Year’sExpedition to the Mediterranean , in the follow-ing few, but remarkable Words.

The Misfortunes at Brest were in great Mea- Fennel,sure repaired by the Glory of our Grand Fleet,inthe Mediteranean , under the Command of Ad-miral RuJJel , who rode there in Triumph, andcoop’d up the French Fleet in the Harbour ofToulon ; And tho’ the Marshal de Tourville onceadventured out to Sea, with a Design to slip bythe Englijh Admiral ; Yet, he quickly found sowatchful an Eye upon him, that he was forced toreturn to his Port again. Indeed, nothing is moreillustrious, in the whole Course of KinglVilliam’sReign, than his Fleet riding thus triumphantly inthe Mediterranean ; For, by this Means, the En-glijh Dominion of the Streights was added tothat of the Narrow Seas ; A Stop was put to theconquering Arms of France , in Catalonia ; Allthe French Coasts were exposed to the Insults ofthe Conf ederates ; And even all th eltalian Princeswere kept in Awe ; And the Venetians began nowto think of sending a solemn Ambafly into Eng-land, to court the Friendlhip of His BritannickMajesty,