every day received such commands from the king within the place, as must have sacrificed his few forces, without the least probability of succeeding. Those all tended to his forcing his way into the town; when, in all human appearance, not one man of all that should make the attempt could have done it, with any hope or prospect of surviving. The French were strongly encamped at the foot of the mountains, distant two miles from Barcelona: towards the bottom of those hills, the avenues into the plain were possessed and fortified by great detachments from the enemy's army. From all which it will be evident, that no attempt could be made without giving the enemy time to draw together what body of foot they pleased. Or, supposing it feasible, under all these difficult circumstances, for some of them to have forced their passage, the remainder, that should have been so lucky to have escaped their foot, would have found themselves exposed in open field to a pursuit of four thousand horse and dragoons; and that for two miles together; when, in case of their enclosing them, the bravest troops in the world, under such a situation, would have found it their best way to have surrendered themselves prisoners of war.

Nevertheless, when brigadier Stanhope sent that express to the earl, which I just now mentioned, he assured him in the same, that he would use his utmost diligence, both by sea and land, to let him have timely notice of the conjunction of the fleets, which was now all they had to depend upon: adding withal, that if the earl should at any time receive a letter, or paper, though directed to nobody, and with nothing in it but a half sheet of paper cut in the middle, he, the earl, might certainly depend upon it that the two fleets were joined, and making the best of their way for Barcelona. It will easily be imagined the express was to be well paid; and being made sensible that he ran little or no hazard in carrying a piece of blank paper, he under

took it, and as fortunately arrived with it to the earl, at a moment when chagrin and despair might have hurried him to some resolution that might have proved fatal. The messenger himself, however, knew nothing of the joining of the fleets, or the meaning of his message.

As soon as the earl of Peterborow received this welcome message from brigadier Stanhope, he marched the very same night, with his whole little body of forces, to a town on the sea-shore, called Sigeth. No person guessed the reason of his march, or knew anything of what the intent of it was. The officers, as formerly, obeyed without inquiry, for they were led to it by so many unaccountable varieties of success, that affiance became a second nature, both in officer and soldier.

The town of Sigeth was about seven leagues to the westward of Barcelona; where, as soon as the earl with his forces arrived, he took care to secure all the small fishing-boats, feluccas, and sattées; nay, in a word, every machine in which he could transport any of his men; so that in two days' time he had got together a number sufficient for the conveyance of all his foot.

But, a day or two before the arrival of the English fleet off Sigeth, the officers of his troops were under a strange consternation at a resolution their general had taken. Impatient of delay, and fearful of the fleets passing by without his knowledge, the earl summoned them together a little before night, at which time he discovered to the whole assembly, that he himself was obliged to endeavour to get aboard the English fleet; and that, if possible, before the French scouts should be able to make any discovery of their strength: that, finding himself of no further use on shore, having already taken the necessary precautions for their transportation and security, they had nothing to do but to pursue his orders, and make the best of their way to Barcelona in the vessels which he had provided for them: that they might do this in perfect security when they

saw the English fleet pass by; or if they should pass by in the night, an engagement with the French, which would be an inevitable consequence, would give them sufficient notice what they had to do further.

This declaration, instead of satisfying, made the officers ten times more curious: but when they saw their general going, with a resolution to lie out all night at sea, in an open boat, attended with only one officer, and understood that he intended to row out in his felucca five or six leagues' distance from the shore, it is hardly to be expressed what amazement and concern surprised them all. Mr. Crow, the queen's minister, and others, expressed a particular dislike and uneasiness; but all to no purpose, the earl had resolved upon it. Accordingly, at night, he put out to sea in his open felucca, all which he spent five leagues from shore, with no other company than one captain and his

rowers.

In the morning, to the great satisfaction of all, officers and others, the earl came again to land; and immediately began to put his men into the several vessels which lay ready in port for that purpose. But at night their amaze was renewed, when they found their general ready to put in execution his old resolution, in the same equipage, and with the same attendance. cordingly, he again felucca'd himself; and they saw him no more till they were landed on the mole in Barcelona.

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When the earl of Peterborow first engaged himself in the expedition to Spain, he proposed to the queen and her ministry, that admiral Shovel might be joined in commission with him in the command of the fleet. But this year, when the fleet came though the Straits, under vice-admiral Leake, the queen had sent a commission to the earl of Peterborow for the full command whenever he thought fit to come aboard in person. This it was that made the general endeavour, at all hazards, to get aboard the fleet by night; for he was

apprehensive, and the sequel proved his apprehensions too well grounded, that admiral Leake would make his appearance with the whole body of the fleet, which made near twice the number of the ships of the enemy; in which case it was natural to suppose, that the count de Tholouse, as soon as ever the French scouts should give notice of our strength, would cut his cables and put out to sea to avoid an engagement. On the other hand, the earl was very sensible, that if a part of his ships had kept astern, that the superiority might have appeared on the French side; or rather, if they had bore away in the night, towards the coast of Africa, and fallen to the eastward of Barcelona the next day, a battle had been inevitable, and a victory equally certain; since the enemy, by this means, had been tempted into an engagement, and their retreat being cut off, and their whole fleet surrounded with almost double their number, there had hardly been left for any of them a probability of escaping.

Therefore, when the earl of Peterborow put to sea again the second evening, fearful of losing such a glorious opportunity, and impatient to be aboard to give the necessary orders, he ordered his rowers to obtain the same station, in order to discover the English fleet. And according to his wishes he did fall in with it; but unfortunately the night was so far advanced, that it was impossible for him then to put his project into practice. Captain Price, a gentleman of Wales, who commanded a third-rate, was the person he first came aboard of; but how amazed was he to find, in an open boat, at open sea, the person who had commission to command the fleet! So soon as he was entered the ship, the earl sent the ship's pinnace with letters to admiral Leake, to acquaint him with his orders and intentions; and to brigadier Stanhope, with a notification of his safe arrival; but the darkness of the night proved so great an obstacle, that it was a long time before the pinnace could reach the admiral. When

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day appeared, it was astonishing to the whole fleet, to see the union flag waving at the main-topmast head. Nobody could trust his own eyes, or guess at the meaning, till better certified by the account of an event so singular and extraordinary.

When we were about six leagues' distance from Barcelona, the port we aimed at, one of the French scouts gave the alarm, who making the signal to another, he communicated it to a third, and so on, as we afterward sorrowfully found, and as the earl had before apprehended. The French admiral being thus made acquainted with the force of our fleet, hoisted sail, and made the best of his way from us, either pursuant to orders, or under the plausible excuse of a retreat.

This favourable opportunity thus lost, there remained nothing to do but to land the troops with all expedition; which was executed accordingly: the regiments, which the earl of Peterborow embarked the night before, being the first that got into the town. Let the reader imagine how pleasing such a sight must be to those in Barcelona, reduced as they were to the last extremity. In this condition to see an enemy's fleet give way to another with reenforcements from England, the sea at the same instant covered with little vessels crowded with greater succours; what was there wanting to complete the glorious scene, but what the general had projected, a fight at sea, under the very walls of the invested city, and the ships of the enemy sinking, or towed in by the victorious English! But night, and a few hours, defeated the latter part of that well-intended landscape.

King Philip, and the mareschal of France, had not failed to push on the siege with all imaginable vigour ; but this retreat of the count de Tholouse, and the news of those re-enforcements, soon changed the scene. Their courage without was abated proportionably, as theirs within was elated. In these circumstances, a council of war being called, it was unanimously resolved to raise the siege. Accordingly, next morning, the first of May,