The bolt was however shot, and to retrieve his indiscretion was beyond his power. The English ministry, although they saw that war was inevitable, were desirous of protracting the issue; they, therefore, desired Lord Whitworth to state that His Majesty could not evacuate Malta till substantial security was provided for those objects which might be materially endangered by the removal of his troops. While England was firm, Bonaparte, on the other hand, as was often his habit whenever his schemes were thwarted, rashly published an extravagant paper in the _Moniteur_, as an exposition of the powerful state of France, and of his own glory. The whole of the past policy of France, together with his intentions, were disclosed in this ostentatious instrument. The other powers on the continent were plainly told how impossible it would be for any of them to obstruct or interfere with the prosecution of French designs; while they were reminded of the advantages to be derived from the protection of France, and of the destructive consequences of her enmity. [Sidenote: Excitement in England.] The public mind in England was wound up to the highest pitch of excitement by the publication, in the official _Moniteur_, of the “Acts of the Republic.” Nor did the love of peace, the desire of a commercial people to preserve an uninterrupted intercourse with the continent, or the dread of fresh burthens, allay their indignation. All the independent portion of the English press poured forth a ceaseless torrent of abuse of the French despot, thereby accelerating the crisis; nay, even the government journals, which had previously observed a guarded silence, now joined the chorus of national indignation. The English ministers had sent orders to the Cape of Good Hope to surrender that colony; and some of its forts had been actually given up to the Dutch government. The commander-in-chief, however, learning from England the critical state of affairs, repossessed himself with adroitness of the places given up, relanded his troops, and held possession of the settlement until counter-orders arrived. In the meantime Bonaparte was with the utmost secresy preparing the most formidable preparations in Holland, and had already conceived and partly matured his grand design for the invasion of England. Yet even then, so completely were ministers unprepared or unconscious of his proceedings, that one of the Lords of the Admiralty said, in the course of a debate in Parliament, that only a few miserable fishing-boats existed in the Dutch ports; while, so late as the 23rd of February, the Prime Minister declared the country to be in a state of profound peace. [Sidenote: The King’s message.] [Sidenote: The invasion of England determined upon.] [Sidenote: War declared, 18 May, 1803.]