The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1806-01-16
REFLECTIONS.

Great ard gl,rions indeed is the intelligence,
which we have announced, if it be really true
The pen of imagination can fcarcely do juftice
To its momentous consequences but it is this
very interef which it infpires, which fhould
make us hefitate before we implicitly believe it,
Let US then confnlt the probability of crcum-
ftances, rather than the ardour of our own
wihes.
The irf thing that ftrikes us in this account
is the obvious iuaecuracy which it difplays a.
bout the fate of the late action. "Fi1,s fhips
only were loa in the action, and the other Ee-
teen had drfted into the bay" Mutt we not
then conclude, that tuenty-ope fllips were en-
gagged And how is this to he reconoi lied to
the account which we have uniformly received,
that the Combined Fleet was at leaft THIRTY
Nrong?
" Fipe G,;ps only were ot."-Iinw then are
we to reconc'le the variance between this and
all preceding hatements refpeGling the fate
ofthe prizes? There are contradit tions indeed
IN the different accouats, which il is impofIible
for MS to reconcile. The letter of Confill Kirk
pat.ick's correspondent, dated at Cadiz on the
s5th Of October, reprcfents the St. Juan, Ne
pnmoccuo, aud st. lldephonfo, as having been
iunkia the poiIefIion of the Engiifh whereas,
according TO Gibraltar paper of 2nd Nov.
they had fafely arrived fbers. In difpatcli
from adm. Congwood of Cadiz, on the osth
vi oGt.HC NaESS tildl, " owing TO TIE violence
Of the wind, he had not fucceeded in bringing
off any of the prizes made on the Elm. He ex-
preiies his hope, that he l,ould complete the
d"7raSioD If the 7UboiP, exec ptng the Santa
Anna, which was towed into Cadiz bya frgatc'
But according TO the Gibraltar paper To which
We nave already alluded, three at leaf 90 of lord
Nehon's prizes" had got into port, TO wit the
Syiftture, San lIdephonfo, and San Jnan.--
1heis are difficulties indeed, which we cannot
feconcilc; but they do not make much in IA
your a the Combiaed Fleets. Every account
conctirs in Eating, that whatever might have
been the ac9uGtions If the EugH0l, t6eir lofs
had been ifnnenfe and that taking into the ac-
count all thofs which bad peri!hed during the
action, thofe which had flank in the polieiii On
of the enemy, and fuch as had been itrantieti s,
ioR, the better half of their 50 filios NUT have
been completely deftroysd. In fact, it was
Rated AT Bordeaux when capt. Gordon left that
port, ahd,thc ftaseInent had been originally de.
rived fnom an officer of the French feet al
Cadiz, ;hatthe following lit comprles aHths
fhips A." now remaining"
,Fakacs. SPANISH
lie Puton, Santa Anna,
lie Neptune, St. Jnta,
Jiieros, ST. Leonardo,
LArgoaail;e, Prince of Aiturias,
t.'Algefras. Aaantanez.
Byi.cexpreiiioD, "uowremanng" we prefume
the Norf Ledg.. did not mean, the number Of
ibips whichhadfurviyedthe action, buthofe onl,
WHICH remained in port for it will be rccol
leGtrd by the reader, that the four ihips which
we're lately captured BY Sir Y. Strachan. y
wit: the Dugnay Trouin. Formidable, Mon
Blnc, and Scipiou, were detachment from
the combined feet. We NUT therefore fup
poCe that this liz had been drawn up, after tn
unfortunate detachment had failed. Accord
Ing to theie accounts, therefore, The combinet
feet had preferved fourteen only of its ihps
oft Of the whole fbirty-tbree engaged. How
then, is it pdiIible to believe the Spanifh Gate
inertia that 6vs only bad been lot in the a6ti
on?
1t does not, however, fairly follow, from tb
ii'coTreGlnefs of this bart Of the report, that tn
report Of an at1icde accom- notation of OH
differences with Spain, is entitled to no credit
Il is poiIibe that even ia Lib IN, the mott erro
nsous ru.Gours may haye been circulated by tn
mortified Vastly of the Spauards to concea
their extrayaeaut ditlfers II is poiIible tina
c1pt Rodgers nay have hinlfeif mfnnderftoo
fhc r,iouurin circulation at Lifbou. II is POT
G5ie thai Mr. Davis n,ay have mifunder!too
the fatcnent Of capt. Rodgers InnumerabI
circumstances ray have impaired the accurac
Of Ibis part of toe report and yet it is extreme
" proi.sBe, that omr differences with Spai
may baye beea amiGabiy adjaIled. Vixen "