felt no sort of sympathy for a nascent republic; he feared the contagion of the example it showed to the Spanish colonies; he hesitated to plunge into the expenses of a war.

His hereditary hatred against England prevailed at last over the dictates of prudence.

He was promised, moreover, the assistance of France to reconquer Gibraltar and Minorca.

The King of Spain consented to take part in the war, without however recognizing the independence of the United States, or entering into alliance with them.
The situation of England was becoming serious, she believed herself to be threatened with a terrible invasion.

As in the days of the Great Armada, "orders were given to all functionaries, civil and military, in case of a descent of the enemy, to see to the transportation into the interior and into a place of safety of all horses, cattle, and flocks that might happen to be on the coasts." "Sixty-six allied ships of the line ploughed the Channel, fifty thousand men, mustered in Normandy, were preparing to burst upon the southern counties.