capture from the French in September, 1800. It had been the full
purpose of the British ministry to surrender it, and Nelson, much to
his distaste, had received specific orders to that effect; but,
besides the fact that the Russians had contributed nothing directly to
the reduction of the island, the attitude of the Czar had become so
doubtful, that common prudence forbade putting into the hands of a
probable future enemy the prize so hardly won from a present foe. Paul
had already announced his intention of reviving the Armed Neutrality
of 1780; and when, in November, he learned the fall of Malta, he
seized three hundred British vessels lying in Russian ports, marched
their crews into the interior, and at the same time placed seals on
all British warehoused property,--a measure intended to support his
demand for the restitution of the island to him.

On the 16th of December a treaty was signed at St. Petersburg by
Russia and Sweden, to which Denmark and Prussia promptly adhered,
renewing the Armed Neutrality, for the support of their various
claims. The consenting states bound themselves to maintain their
demands by force, if necessary; but no declaration of war was issued.
Great Britain, in accepting the challenge, equally abstained from acts
which would constitute a state of war; but she armed at once to
shatter the coalition, before it attained coherence in aught but
words. From first to last, until the Armed Neutrality again dissolved,
though there was hard fighting, there was not formal war.

The relation of these occurrences to the life of Nelson will not be
fully understood, unless the general state of Europe be recalled, and
the master hand of Bonaparte be recognized, underlying and controlling
previous changes and present conditions. After the Battle of the Nile,
and up to a year before this, Austria, Russia, and Great Britain had