To refute this error it is merely needful to remind the reader that all immediate fear of invasion was over, when, at the close of August, Napoleon wheeled the Grand Army against Austria.

Not until the Continent was conquered could the landing in Kent become practicable.

That opportunity occurred two years later, after Tilsit; then, in truth, the United Kingdom was free from panic because Trafalgar had practically destroyed the French navy.

For these islands, then, the benefits of Trafalgar were prospective.

But, for the British Empire, they were immediate.