that they had proceeded to Tobago and Trinidad.  Nelson was doubtful, but was obliged to pay some regard to intelligence coming from such a quarter.  Accurate information received on the 9th June, 1805, confirmed the Admiral’s doubts as to their objective, for they had passed Dominica on the 6th.  Brereton had unintentionally misled him.  Nelson was almost inarticulate with rage, and avowed that by this slovenly act the General had prevented him from giving battle north of Dominica on the 6th.  “What a race I have run after these fellows!” he exclaimed, and then, as was his custom, leaning on the Power that governs all things, he declares, “but God is just, and I may be repaid for all my moments of anxiety.”  His belief in the advent of Divine vengeance on those who doubted or threatened the awful supremacy of British dominion on land or sea was stimulating to him.  Like the Domremy maiden, who saved her king and country, he had “visions and heard voices.”

Whatever the mission of the French fleet may have been, there was certainly no apparent lust for aggrandizement.  We may be certain that Napoleon’s orders were to carry out vigorous bombardments on British possessions, and instead of doing so, Villeneuve seems to have been distractedly and aimlessly sailing about, not knowing what to do or whither to go.  Apparently without any definite object, he arrived off Antigua on the 9th June, and had the good fortune, whether he sought for it or not, of capturing fourteen British merchant vessels; but he would appear to have been quite phlegmatic about making the haul.  He was more concerned about the news the crews were able to give him of Nelson’s arrival at Barbadoes; not that he was constrained to give him the opportunity of measuring strength with his now twenty-six of the line, but as a guide to the best means of making his escape; this may have been a strategical move of wearing down; or he may have been carrying out a concerted plan for leaving Nelson in bewilderment and proceeding with all speed to some British European point where resistance would be less and success assured, since there was no outstanding naval figure, bar Collingwood, who could stand up against so powerful a combination of ships of the line.  It is questionable whether Villeneuve ever took this man of great hidden power and foresight into account.  It was Nelson, his chief, who put terror into the fleet.  In any case, whatever his plans may have been, the intelligence he gleaned from the seized merchant seamen caused him to make arrangements to sail from Antigua the next day for Europe.  The present writer’s opinion is that he may have had secret orders from Napoleon to make an attack on Ireland, as the Emperor never faltered in his view that this was the most pregnable spot in which to hazard an invasion and strike a crushing blow at the main artery.  He little knew the real loyalty of the great mass of Irishmen to their own and to the motherland, and only realized later that his way to England was not through Ireland.