It is pretty certain that, after all his ships had got into the open sea, Villeneuve’s intention was to see how the land lay as to the British strength, and his manoeuvring indicated that instructions had been given to hoodwink the British and slip through the Straits of Gibraltar; but seeing that the entrance was cut off for the moment, he headed westward, possibly to mislead, but always with the intention of getting into the Mediterranean.  When this information was signalled by Blackwood, instructions were sent back to him that the Admiral relied on the enemy being kept in sight.  Here is a letter to Lady Hamilton, dated the 19th October, 1805:—­

    CADIZ, BEARING E.SE. 50 MILES.

MY DEAREST BELOVED EMMA:  THE DEAR FRIEND OF MY BOSOM,—­The signal has been made that the enemy’s combined fleet are coming out of port.  We have very little wind, so that I have no hopes of seeing them before to-morrow.  May the God of battles crown my endeavours with success; at all events, I will take care that my name shall ever be most dear to you and Horatia, both of whom I love as much as my own life.  And as my last writing before the battle will be to you, so I hope in God that I shall live to finish my letter after the battle.  May Heaven bless you, prays your

This was found unsigned on his desk.  These are the last lines he wrote to the woman he called his “wife in the sight of God.”  There is none of the robust assurance of blazing deeds that he has in store for the enemy which characterize some of his earlier letters to Emma, nor is there any craving for continued existence or for extinction.  But who can read this melancholy farewell without being impressed with the feeling that there is a subdued restraint to avoid uttering his thoughts on inevitable fate and eternal sleep, lest it gives anxiety and disheartens the woman he loved so well?

On the same day he wrote an affectionate letter to his daughter, which is clearly intended as a supplementary outpouring of a full heart to the mother whom he knew would have to read it.  The tone and wording is what a father might have written to a girl of fifteen instead of five.  There is a complete absence of those dainty, playful touches that would delight a child of her age.  In reality, it rather points to the idea that it was intended not only as a further farewell to mother and child, but as an historical epistle and a legacy to Horatia which she would read in other days in connection with the great battle in which he was to be engaged only a few hours after he had written it.

MY DEAREST ANGEL,—­I was made happy by the pleasure of receiving your letter of September the 19th, and I rejoice to hear you are so very good a girl, and love my dear Lady Hamilton, who most dearly loves you.  Give her a kiss for me.  The combined fleets of the enemy are now reported to be coming out of Cadiz; and therefore I answer your letter, my dearest Horatia, to mark to you that you are ever uppermost in my thoughts.  I shall be sure of your prayers for my safety, conquest, and speedy return to dear Merton and our dearest good Lady Hamilton.

    Receive, my dearest Horatia, the affectionate blessing of your
    Father,