Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country

are inaccurate: there are no letters from the admiral in command of the fleet; and it is at present quite impossible to say more on this matter than that nothing appears in evidence that can controvert or, indeed, does not support Du Guay-Trouin's narrative.

eighteen months later, when she, in company with the 'Achille,' commanded by Du Guay in person, and their prize, the 'Bristol,' a fiftygun ship, fell into the midst of the Channel fleet. The Achille,' escaped, not without difficulty; but the Bristol' was recaptured, and theGloire' lowered her flag to the 'Chester,' whose captain was that Thomas Mathews who, some thirty-five years afterwards, commanded our fleet in the Mediterranean.

Du Guay-Trouin's good services were considered as far above the loss of the Gloire,' and in the following July, 1709, they were formally acknowledged by letters of nobility and the grant of arms, the blazon of which is: Argent, an anchor sable; on a chief azure, two fleur de lys or; with the motto 'Dedit hæc insignia virtus.' The arms which, under the similar circumstances, had been given to Jean Bart were: Argent, on a fess azure, a fleur de lys or; in chief, a saltire sable; in base, a lion passant gules: both thus bearing a distinct reference to the arms of France. Many other noble and valiant deeds did Du Guay-Trouin after this, including the capture of Rio in 1712. After the peace he was, in 1715, raised to flag rank as • Chef d'Escadre,' having, for ten years before, had the actual command of squadrons. He received the higher grade of Lieutenant-Général 'in 1728, and, older in honour than in years, died on September 27, 1736.

And now, looking back on the chronicle of the past which I have here faintly outlined, can we wonder that, in France, popular esteem

18 Charnock, Biogr. Nav. vol. ii. p. 117.

19 The genuineness of this anecdote seems very doubtful. It is not mentioned by Du Guay-Trouin, to whom the royal joke would have been a neat compliment; and it bears a suspicious resemblance to the really historical remark of M. de St. George to Anson after the battle off Cape Finisterre on May 3 (O.S.), 1747: Monsieur,' he said, 'vous avez vaincu "l'Invincible," et "la Gloire

noise, and all the other sails as well, ready to catch the breeze which was coming up then, with what oars I had, I got the ship's head round, bringing her broadside to the expected wind. It really did come; and as my sails were all ready, set and trimmed, I forged ahead at its very first breath. The enemy, who had gone to sleep in confidence, were quite unprepared: they were all taken aback, and before they could make sail and wear their ships I was a good gun-shot away; and as the wind was freshening, I rapidly increased my distance. The 'Honster' alone could get near me, and cannonaded me on the quarter, but could not sustain my broadsides. In this way the chase lasted till noon, by which time it was blowing fresh, and I had left the other ships far astern. I began now to drop the 'Honster,' and looked on myself as though risen from the dead, for I had firmly resolved to be buried under the ruins of the poor 'Jason.'

In relating this I am obliged to trust almost entirely to the 'Mémoires;' for the account given in our English histories is so curiously incorrect, that no dependence whatever can be placed on it. It would appear from these that the 'Jason' and 'Auguste' were chased, and the Auguste' captured in July or August 1703; and that the ships which captured her were the Chatham,' 'Greenwich,' and Medway.'17 But there is no doubt whatever that the Auguste' was captured about the middle or end of January 1705, the date to which, by inference, Du Guay-Trouin's Mémoires' would assign it; and it is equally certain that neither the Chatham,' Greenwich,' nor 'Medway' was engaged with the Auguste.' The minutes of the court-martial on the wretched captain of the Elizabeth' prove that that ship was taken, as I have already said, on November 12 (O.S.), 1704; and a letter from Captain Bokenham, of the Chatham,' dated Crookhaven, January 17 (O.S.), 1704-5,' says,

On the 13th past, in the night, I lost company with the admiral, and the next morning by daylight fell in with Mounsr Dugee in the 'Jason' and 'L'August,' the two ships that took the 'Elizabeth.' They both gave me chase till about one in the afternoon. Soon after I saw a sail, and gave chase and came up with him (being the 'Constable' of St. Malo, of thirty guns and 169 men), who after half an hour's dispute struck, his mainmast coming by the board at the same time, being then about W.S.W., thirty leagues from Cape Clear. The French captain confirms that the ships were the same that took the 'Elizabeth,' he having been on board Mouns Dugee the day before.

It is thus quite certain that the Chatham' did not turn on the 'Auguste,' and had no hand in her capture. Her log has, unfortunately, not been preserved, neither has that of the Worcester.' The logs of the Greenwich' and 'Medway' are, however, extant, and have no mention of the capture of the Auguste;' though it appears that the Medway' was engaged with a French ship of war of sixty guns-probably enough the Jason'—which escaped in the darkness. But our records of this period are almost as defective as our histories

To follow out the rest of Du Guay-Trouin's life would be almost to write the naval history of France during this period. I will therefore only refer to the action of October 21, 1707, when he, in company with Forbin, captured or destroyed an English squadron of two eighty- and two fifty-gun ships; a third eighty alone, the Royal Oak,' had the doubtful good fortune to escape.18 Du Guay's share in this was brilliant, and on his return to France, the King, Louis XIV., conferred on him a pension of 1,000 livres; which, however, he begged might be passed on to his second captain, who was, he represented, a poor man, and had lost a leg in the engagement. Afterwards, being at court, and called on to relate to the King the events of the fight, he is described as having said incidentally, J'ordonnai à "la Gloire" de 'me suivre ;' on which the King interrupted him with 'Et elle vous fut fidèle ! '19 The Gloire,' however, passed over to the English eighteen months later, when she, in company with the 'Achille,' commanded by Du Guay in person, and their prize, the 'Bristol,' a fiftygun ship, fell into the midst of the Channel fleet. The 'Achille,' escaped, not without difficulty; but the 'Bristol' was recaptured, and the Gloire' lowered her flag to the 'Chester,' whose captain was that Thomas Mathews who, some thirty-five years afterwards, commanded our fleet in the Mediterranean.

Du Guay-Trouin's good services were considered as far above the loss of the Gloire,' and in the following July, 1709, they were formally acknowledged by letters of nobility and the grant of arms, the blazon of which is: Argent, an anchor sable; on a chief azure, two fleur de lys or; with the motto 'Dedit hæc insignia virtus.' The arms which, under the similar circumstances, had been given to Jean Bart were: Argent, on a fess azure, a fleur de lys or; in chief, a saltire sable; in base, a lion passant gules: both thus bearing a distinct reference to the arms of France. Many other noble and valiant deeds did Du Guay-Trouin after this, including the capture of Rio in 1712. After the peace he was, in 1715, raised to flag rank as Chef d'Escadre,' having, for ten years before, had the actual command of squadrons. He received the higher grade of Lieutenant-Général' in 1728, and, older in honour than in years, died on September 27, 1736.

And now, looking back on the chronicle of the past which I have here faintly outlined, can we wonder that, in France, popular esteem

18 Charnock, Biogr. Nav. vol. ii. p. 117.

From

has been lavished on the memory of Du Guay-Trouin? small beginnings he forced his way out of the cold shade into the hot sunlight. At a time of great depression, when at La Hogue, at Gibraltar, at Toulon, the French navy had been pretty nigh destroyed, he, almost alone, supported the French cause at sea, and won many signal successes. It matters not that he often won them by means of superior force: the greater, in fact, was his merit, that with very inferior resources he could so often find himself superior at the place of meeting. But the points to which I have more especially wished to call attention are these: that Du Guay-Trouin was not, in the early part of his brilliant career, an officer of the French navy; that he was received into the French navy only when his name was already famous both in France and England; and that, even now, the French navy is not so exclusive but that officers from the merchant service may even though very exceptionally-obtain commissions in it. In the English navy it is not so. Whatever laxity there may have been in the seventeenth century, there is none now. I read in the Times,' that in our army during last year there were no fewer than fifteen commissions given to men from the ranks; but in our navy, as at present organised, promotion, whether from the merchant service or from before the mast, is utterly impossible; and though this impossibility may have certain advantages, may render our service more self-contained and more homogeneous, the study of careers such as those of Jean Bart and Du Guay-Trouin on the one hand, of George Walker and Fortunatus Wright on the other, leads me to doubt whether a possibility the other way might not also sometimes have its own advantages, of greater national importance than even strict homogeneity, and strict conformity to regulation pattern.

J. K. LAUGHTON.

THE NEW COALITION.

PRAY you, Mr. Speaker, what hath passed in the House of Commons?' 'May it please your Majesty-nine weeks.' This brief interchange of ideas is reported to have taken place between her gracious Majesty Queen Elizabeth and Sir John Popham, who then occupied the position of Speaker of the House of Commons. If similar conversations are still carried on between the Sovereign and the First Commoner as to the progress of business in the Lower House of Parliament, it would not be difficult to imagine Mr. Speaker Brand replying in the precise words of Mr. Speaker Popham three hundred years ago. Parliament met on the 7th of February, and now on the 20th of March seven weeks have passed, and so far as practical work goes that is all. Business has been at a deadlock. The drivingwheel of the Empire has been clogged so that it can hardly perform a single revolution, and the whole work of the State is stopped by the impossibility of conducting the ordinary operations of government. One Ministerial measure has been read a second time without discussion, so that it can hardly be said to have advanced a stage. A few supplementary estimates have been passed. The money and men have been voted for the Army and Navy, though the discussion on the estimates, both military and naval, is held over. The House of Lords have appointed a Committee to inquire into an Act which they passed last session, and which has been scarcely six months in operation. Lord Redesdale has introduced a measure into the Upper House to revive the obsolete legislation of three centuries ago-and that is about the sum and substance of the accumulated labours of both Houses of Parliament since the commencement of what was expected to have been a working session. The Easter recess is upon us. A third of the Parliamentary session has passed into oblivion, and (except in the seed-sowing of two considerable historical incidents to which reference will be made presently, and which must inevitably produce their harvest in due time) we are not one step further on in the course of necessary legislation than we were at the prorogation in September. Every day, and in every society, the question is asked at whose door lies the blame; and it is not easy to answer it impartially. The Ministerial press and the Ministerial orators throw the blame partly upon the regular Opposition and partly upon the Irish Irreconcilables. The Opposition press and the Opposition orators lay the burden upon Mr. Gladstone's shoulders. And the representatives of extreme Irish opinion, both in the press and on the platform, perform the manœuvre -which in a measure betrays its nationality of at one and the same

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Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, Volume 25