All I beg, in the name of the future commander-in-chief, is, that the orders may be clear; for enough is done to break twenty treaties, if it should be wished, or to make the Prince Royal humble himself before British generosity." Nelson was not deceived in his judgment of the Danish cabinet, but the battle of Copenhagen had crippled its power.

The death of the Czar Paul had broken the confederacy; and that cabinet, therefore, was compelled to defer till a more convenient season the indulgence of its enmity towards Great Britain.

Soon afterwards Admiral Sir Charles Maurice Pole arrived to take the command.

The business, military and political, had by that time been so far completed that the presence of the British fleet soon became no longer necessary.

Sir Charles, however, made the short time of his command memorable, by passing the Great Belt for the first time with line-of-battle ships, working through the channel against adverse winds.