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to careen a single ship. He could with difficulty obtain, on chap.hard conditions, permission to send a few of his sick men to —marine hospitals on shore. Yet, in spite of all the trouble givenhim by the imbecility and ingratitude of a government whichhas generally caused more annoyance to its allies than to itsenemies, he acquitted himself well. It is but just to him to saythat, from the time at which he became First Lord of the Ad-miralty, there was a decided improvement in the naval adminis-tration. Though he lay with his fleet many months near aninhospitable shore, and at a great distance fromEngland, therewere no complaints about the quality or the quantity of provi-sions. The crews had better food and drink than they had everhad before: comforts which Spain did not afford were suppliedfrom home; and yet the charge was not greater than when, inTorrington’s time, the sailor was poisoned with mouldy biscuitand nauseous beer.

.. As almost the whole maritime force of France was in theMediterranean, and as it seemed likely that an attempt wouldbe made on Barcelona in the following year, Bussell receivedorders to winter at Cadiz. In October he sailed to that port;and there he employed himself in refitting his ships with anactivity unintelligible to the Spanish functionaries, who calmlysuffered the miserable remains of what had once been thegreatest navy in the world to rot under their eyes.*

Along the eastern frontier of France the war during this ) Va i

° land.

year seemed to languish. In Piedmont and on the Rhine themost important events of the campaign were petty skirmishesand predatory incursions. Lewis remained at Versailles, andsent his son, the Dauphin, to represent him in the Nether-lands: but the Dauphin was placed under the tutelage ofLuxemburg, and proved a most submissive pupil. During

* This account of Russell's expedition to the Mediterranean I havetaken chiefly from Burchett.