the English press poured forth a ceaseless torrent of abuse of the French despot, thereby accelerating the crisis; nay, even the government journals, which had previously observed a guarded silence, now joined the chorus of national indignation. The English ministers had sent orders to the Cape of Good Hope to surrender that colony; and some of its forts had been actually given up to the Dutch government. The commander-in-chief, however, learning from England the critical state of affairs, repossessed himself with adroitness of the places given up, relanded his troops, and held possession of the settlement until counter-orders arrived.
In the meantime Bonaparte was with the utmost secresy preparing the most formidable preparations in Holland, and had already conceived and partly matured his grand design for the invasion of England. Yet even then, so completely were ministers unprepared or unconscious of his proceedings, that one of the Lords of the Admiralty said, in the course of a debate in Parliament, that only a few miserable fishing-boats existed in the Dutch ports; while, so late as the 23rd of February, the Prime Minister declared the country to be in a state of profound peace.
The King's message. However, on the 8th of March, 1803, the King sent a message to the House of Commons, acquainting them that he had judged it expedient to adopt additional measures of precaution for the security of his dominions, and, only two days later, the whole of the militia of the United Kingdom were called out and embodied. The energy and spirit of the monarch obtained an enthusiastic sup-
