On board le Marat,
Brest, 9th Nov. 1794.
A performance of those flattering promises, which we exchanged at
parting, to meet for a few days in London, about Christmas next,
provided the exigencies of service would permit, must be suspended for
the present----to be fulfilled when----is one of those secrets of futurity,
which I dare not trust my imagination to anticipate.
The wayward fortune of your friend has again[A] exposed him to be taken
by the “insolent foe,” after an unsuccessful, but I trust not inglorious
combat, against very superior force. This disastrous event happened on
the 6th instant.[B]-----
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To our great surprize, the enemy’s ships continued to fire upon us after
our colours were struck. At first we conceived, that this unprovoked
prolongation of hostilities arose from their not seeing that we had
surrendered; but when their knowledge of this event could no longer be
doubted, and the firing did not cease, some among us, joining to this
conduct a recollection of the decree of the convention, which forbade
quarter to be extended to Englishmen, were almost ready to believe, that
it was designed to be executed upon _us_; and so irritated were our
seamen, by this apparently wanton continuation of attack, that they had
once nearly determined to renew the fight, and sell their lives as
dearly as possible. At length, however, their firing ceased.
Knowing from sad experience, that in such a situation all distinction of
property is confounded, and that the officers and public stores of the
ship become at once the indiscriminate prey of the enemy and their own
crew, I left the deck, and descended into the bread-room. There I had in
the morning deposited one of my trunks, out of which I filled a
clothes-bag with such necessaries as I thought would be most useful to
me, and left it in the charge of my servant, while I endeavoured to save
a part of what a very large trunk, lodged in the marine store-room,
contained. But this resolution I was incapable of effecting. The
cock-pit, which I was obliged to pass through, presented such a scene of
misery, as banished every feeling, but sorrow and pity. I found myself
encompassed at once by the dead and the dying. The groans of the latter,
joined to the cries of the wounded, on whom operations were performing
by the surgeon, and to the blood which overflowed my feet, filled me
with horror and disgust.
“Sight so deform what heart of rock could long
“Dry-ey’d behold?”-------- Milton.
It “quelled my best of man;” and, after two ineffectual attempts to
penetrate across this stage of woe, I returned to my servant, and made a
few farther arrangements of what was left to me.
By this time the French boats had boarded us, and taken possession of
the ship. When I attempted to ascend to the deck, I found every hatchway
guarded by French sentinels, who refused to let me pass. In vain did I
expostulate with them; all the answer I could obtain was, “_Citoyen,
tels sont mes ordres. Je suis républicain!_” At length I saw a French
officer, and begged his interference, which, after some hesitation, was
granted, and on his speaking to the sentinel, I was suffered to proceed
to the deck, where I found all that confusion and disorder reigning
which I had expected. The Admiral had, I learned, been already sent
away. I enquired for the French commanding officer, and was directed to
a respectable looking old man, to whom I presented my sword, telling
him, at the same time, that I hoped, and trusted, we should be allowed
to retain our private property, and be protected from pillage. He
answered me, that we certainly should. I had, however, but just turned
from him, when a French officer seized on my cross-belt, and demanded
it. On my refusing to comply with this mandate, he said it was arms;
which I denied, and bade him, if he thought I had not made a full
surrender of those, to search me. To all the arguments and protestations
which I could use, this gentleman thought proper to answer by force
only; so that, finding farther resistance vain, I yielded up the belt to
him, when his motive for diverting me of this dangerous implement of
war, at once appeared----a large silver plate, which was attached to it,
being the bait. This he very composedly took off and put in his pocket,
trailing the belt carelessly along after him as he marched away.
The commanding officer being extremely urgent that we should quit the
ship directly, I got leave to make another effort to recover some more
of my effects; but universal plunder and uproar had now taken place. The
store-rooms and cabins were broken open and pillaged, and the most
brutal excesses committed. I was surprized to find the French seamen and
soldiers even more forward than our own, in searching for wine and
spirits, and equally eager to intoxicate themselves: a new trait in
their national character.
About four o’clock I quitted the Alexander, carrying with me my bag,
which was all I had been able to save, and was conducted, with several
other officers, on board Le Marat, a name of ill omen, and not too
predictive, thought I, when I heard it proclaimed, of the virtues of
humanity and generosity. Here I found our gallant and respected
commander, who introduced me to Captain Le Franq, the commander of the
ship, by whom I was civilly received. This gentleman speaks very good
English, which he learned in the last war, when he was a prisoner in
England and in the East Indies. In a very candid manner, he repeatedly
desired us not to be under any apprehensions about the treatment which
we were to receive; for that if he, or any of his officers or men,
should be found guilty of ill using prisoners of war, the republic would
punish the offenders. When we complained to him of having been
plundered, he protested, that he had given the strictest orders to
forbid it to those who had boarded us; and that he was sure they could
not be the authors of our losses, as his officers were all _gentlemen_
(he spoke in English) and his men in a state of the most exemplary
discipline. We answered, that among the great number of boats which had
boarded the Alexander, from every ship in the squadron, it was
impossible for strangers to point out either the names or the persons,
or the ships to which the parties might belong; and that we chiefly
attributed our losses to the precipitancy by which we had been compelled
to quit our own ship. Upon hearing this, Captain Le Franq very fairly
and honourably proposed, that one of ourselves should be selected, and
sent on board the Alexander, in order to bring away whatever could be
found belonging to any of us. We thanked him for his offer, and embraced
it; but the officer who went on this service was able to obtain very
little. Some few articles, indeed, he _did_ recover; and to-day, as many
more of us as chose to go again on a similar errand, were permitted, and
French officers were sent with us, to enforce the order for a search: it
was conducted in a very open and liberal manner, although it ended
almost as fruitlessly as the former, the possessors of their
newly-acquired property having taken effectual means to secrete nine
parts in ten of it from our scrutiny. My large trunk, however, I
discovered, close to the door of the store-room, wherein it had been
deposited. I blessed my good fortune, and sprang to it: but what was my
mortification, to find, that of all its former treasures (having closely
packed it with my most valuable articles) nothing remained but two bits
of black ribbon, serving to fasten my gorget!
We had been more than two hours in Captain Le Franq’s cabin, without
having had any refreshment offered to us, when, at about six o’clock,
supper was announced. The captain, inviting Admiral Bligh, and all of
us, to follow him, led us into the ward-room, where we found the banquet
spread, and all the officers of the etat-major, or ward-room mess,
assembled. I was no stranger (as you know) to the customs of the French
on land, which were never remarkable for delicacy and cleanliness; but I
had never before seen their mode of living on board their ships of war.
Our entertainment was served up on a large clumsy deal table, which was
placed (to speak in sea-language) not fore and aft, but athwart ship,
very awkwardly and inconveniently, surrounded by benches and lockers,
and in place of a table-cloth was covered by a piece of green painted
canvas. Sweet are the joys of hunger, on such an occasion! After a fast
of thirteen hours, and that in a day of such unceasing agitation as we
had passed, neither this circumstance, nor the garlic with which the
meat abounded; nor a want of knives and forks, and a change of plates;
nor the battling of the _mousses_ (dirty ragged cabin-boys) for the
scraps which were left; nor the appearance of the company, who all sat
with their hats, or red caps, on; nor their vociferation of the word
_Citoyen_, the only title they used in pledging each other to republican
toasts, could prevent me from making a most satisfactory repast. Nothing
short of the evidence of my senses could, nevertheless, have made me
believe, that so much filthiness could be quietly submitted to, when it
might be so easily prevented. Indeed, a ship is in all situations very
unfavourable to scrupulous nicety; but no description can convey an
adequate idea to a British naval officer, who has not witnessed it, of
the gross and polluted state in which the French habitually keep all
parts of their vessels, if I may judge from what I see in this. And to
complete the jest, Captain Le Franq has more than once boasted to us of
the superior attention which he pays to the cleanliness of his ship.
In the course of our conversation at supper, we learned, that this
squadron had been purposely dispatched from Brest, to intercept us on
our outward-bound passage, being furnished with exact intelligence of
the time we had put into Plymouth, and of our force and destination[C].
But to proceed with the adventures of your friend in a regular detail.
After supper, Admiral Bligh, and those officers who had saved their
beds, went up into the cabin, where places to sleep in were allotted to
them, while a sail was spread below, for the majority who had lost
their’s, in which number I was included. This humble couch, which was as
good as circumstances would allow our hosts to furnish, or as we could
reasonably expect, would have been perfectly satisfactory to us, had we
been permitted to retire to it. But our entertainers, no longer checked
by the presence of their chief, who had retired, and elated by victory,
and by an anticipation of the triumph which awaited them at Brest, on
the novel and glorious atchievement of capturing a British 74 gun ship,
now called for a fresh supply of wine, and began to sing, in a loud key,
republican songs, which were interrupted only by questions to us, that
delicacy should have withholden them from asking. One of them, taking a
candle in his hand, begged me to look at two prints of heads, as large
as life, of Pelletier and Marat, “Ah!” said he, pointing to the latter,
“behold the friend of the people! he who shed his blood for them!” I
looked, as he had desired me, and thought I saw all the diabolical
qualities, by which that monster was marked in his life-time, depicted
in this portrait. Prudence, however, kept me silent. Poor Pelletier came
in for no share of this gentleman’s eulogy; and as to Robespierre, they
all spoke of him, and “_his reign_,” with great bitterness and
detestation.
We were compelled to rise at a very early hour next morning, the sail on
which we had slept being wanted. I would willingly have walked on the
quarter-deck, according to the English custom; but it was so crowded by
the men, and so greasy and slippery, that I found it impracticable. The
captain, overhearing us talk on this subject, very gravely said, that he
never allowed his people to eat between decks, but always made them do
so upon deck, _in order to keep his ship clean_. When we saw that after
these meals they neither scraped nor washed the decks, we were at no
loss to account for the state in which we found them; and no doubt those
whom it professionally concerned, duly noted this curious improvement in
the œconomy of a ship of war.
About eight o’clock the boatswain and his mates went to the different
hatchways of the ship, and summoned the crew in a loud voice, “_aux
prières_.” My ignorance of what these _prayers_ might be, did not long
continue. The quarter-deck was immediately thronged by men and officers,
who with united voice sang the Marseilles Hymn, with a fervor and
enthusiasm of manner which astonished me. I had heard it at a distance
on the preceding evening; and upon enquiry learned, that it was thus
publickly performed twice a day, by order of the government. The
sublime music of this fine lyric composition, the gaiety breathed by the
_Carmagnole_, and by many other popular airs which are continually in
their mouths, during their most ordinary occupations, must produce a
prodigious effect on the pliant minds of Frenchmen, and highly
contribute to invigorate that spirit of idolatry for a republic, and
that hatred and contempt of monarchy, which it is so much the interest
of their leaders to encourage. I need not point out to you the good
policy of such national establishments, and how deep a knowledge of
human nature they manifest; perhaps no other country is so culpably
indifferent to the foundation of similar institutions as our own. We
fire, indeed, a few lazy guns on the anniversaries of the King’s birth,
accession, and other similar occasions; but we never stimulate the
passions of our soldiery, by recalling to their memories, in periodic
exhibitions, the days on which their forefathers won the fields of
Agincourt, Blenheim, and Minden; nor re-animate the ardent energy of our
seamen, by public recitals of the victories of a Russel, a Hawke, a
Rodney, and a Howe. And yet the histories of the greatest nations, both
ancient and modern, sufficiently demonstrate the power of such
exhibitions over the human mind; and justify me in affirming, that no
people ever rose to superlative dominion who did not employ them. How
would the flame of heroism be enkindled in our youth, on hearing these
celebrations performed by the veterans of Chelsea and Greenwich! And
what still more important sentiments would be diffused through the mass
of our people, if they were frequently reminded of those glorious æras,
when John was compelled to sign Magna Charta; and when the declaration
of the rights of the people was made the foundation of William’s throne!
This digression towards a country, which busy remembrance points to with
unceasing anxiety, could not be suppressed. To proceed with my
observations here:----The republican spirit is inculcated not in songs
only, for in every part of the ship I find emblems purposely displayed
to awaken it. All the orders relating to the discipline of the crew are
hung up, and prefaced by the words _Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, ou la
Mort_, written in capital letters. The _bonnet rouge_, or cap of
liberty, is erected in several places, and crowns the figure on the
prow of the ship, which represents the demagogue whose name she bears,
and on which is written an extract from the declaration of the rights of
man. In the cabin (to which the officers are entitled to resort at all
times) _Liberté & Egalité_ are pourtrayed in female characters, the
former brandishing a sword, and the latter nursing a numerous offspring,
with impartial attention to the wants of all. But a picture of another
sort also caught my eye: it was pasted on the _outside_ of a door, which
led to the apartment of an officer, and represented the prime minister
of Great Britain conducting to a _guillotine_ his blindfolded sovereign.
The person to whom it belonged, on seeing me regard it with mingled
indignation and contempt, would have begun a conversation on the
subject, had I not prevented him by turning my back and walking away.
Indeed, next to the poor emigrants, Mr. Pitt, or “_Ministre Peet_,” as
they always call him, seems to be the primary object of their
abhorrence. Hated name! never breathed but in curses, never coupled but
with execrations! To hear them, one would suppose that he is the only
man in England hostile to their growing republic. Even Captain Le
Franq, who has certainly hitherto behaved towards us with more delicacy
than the other officers, did not scruple to call him “a Robespierre.” To
argue with these people I find impossible; “but to be grave exceeds all
power of face.” My only resource, on such occasions, is to ask some
question foreign to the subject they wish to talk upon: even here I can
make no progress; I am either repulsed by want of common knowledge, or
bewildered in contradiction. Having established it as a maxim, that some
degree of information may always be gained by talking to men of their
own professions, I am as inquisitive as I modestly can be, about their
naval institutions. But, if my question be heard by more than one, such
shocking abrupt oppositions of opinion follow, and so pertinaciously
does each party defend his assertion on the most ordinary points, that
my only alternative, to prevent a perfect equilibrium of mind, is to
place the little confidence left at my disposal in the champion who has
been least violent and vociferous; agreeably to the old observation,
which says, the still stream is the deepest. Their ignorance, indeed,
upon almost every subject which has been stated, is deplorable. One of
them, in pure simplicity of heart, asked me if London were as large as
Brest? I was contented to answer him, by saying I had never seen Brest.
He was greatly surprized, on being informed that London is a sea-port;
and, to recompense me for my intelligence, told me Paris did not enjoy
that advantage, as he had heard, for he confessed he had never been
there. A second had read Shakespeare, “and did not like him; he was too
_sombre_.”----“Pray, sir, do you allude to any particular play?” He seemed
confounded; but, after some hesitation, said, “Yes, to _Paucippe_.”----“To
Paucippe!” exclaimed I; “you mistake the name, there is not any of his
plays which bears such a title.” He was confident he was right, and
therefore I begged to know the fable of the piece, or the names of the
other characters; but with them, this critical reader did not pretend to
any acquaintance. I need not observe to you, that none of these officers
had ever served in the navy of France, but in the most subordinate
capacities, under the king’s government, except the captain, who had
commanded a cutter under Monsieur de Suffrein, but who had nevertheless
been bred up in the service of the East India company.
We anchored in Brest-Water about three o’clock this morning, and I
presume to hope we shall very soon be sent on shore; but whether, or
not, on parole, does not seem quite clear. They answer with great
ambiguity, and apparent unwillingness, to all questions on this head,
pretending that they are ignorant of what is customary, but assuring us
that we shall be treated well. To be shut up in a prison, in this cold
and dreary season that is coming on, is what I dread to look forward to.
We frequently describe to them the parole which is allowed to all French
officers in England. But, whatever is to be our lot, I shall not wonder
at their taking almost any step to rid themselves of so numerous a troop
of intruders on their society and table. Their own mess consists of
sixteen persons, besides the captain, who lives in common with his
officers, although this association, they tell me, is forbidden in their
naval instructions; but it seems these little deviations are winked at,
in certain cases, to prevent the too weighty tax of a separate table. We
breakfast every morning at nine o’clock on _Gloucester_ cheese (taken
out of an English prize) good brown bread, called _pain d’egalité_,
which they bake on board, and a thin acid claret, of which the Frenchmen
drink very liberally. This does not seem to argue the scarcity of flour
among them, which has been so much insisted upon in England. A hint of
this was dropped, and great derision followed, on their part, at the
idea of starving such a country as France, by cutting off a few casual
supplies by sea. We dine between twelve and one, and sup between six and
seven o’clock. On all these occasions there is a sufficient quantity of
provisions provided, though the dirty state in which it is served up,
would disgust a Hottentot. I have mentioned before, that during our
meals we are surrounded by filthy ragged cabin-boys, whose appearance,
contentions and impertinence, are intolerable. Among this crew of little
blackguards, two were pointed out to me as the son and nephew of
_Delcher_, who is one of the representatives from the Western Pyrenees
to the convention. It is certain, that when I challenged the boys with
it, they confirmed it to me, and seemed to glory in their situation. I
was also shown a third boy, about eleven years old, who is the son of
an _emigrated nobleman_. In him, nature is not quite subdued: “_Le
petit-------- pleure quelquefois_,” said one of the lieutenants to me.
I have forgotten to mention before, that on the day of our being brought
on board the Marat, we were shown their furnace (which is the oven) for
heating shot. It is well contrived, and the balls, by means of a pair of
bellows, would soon be made red-hot; but I doubt not that “even-handed
justice” will oftener render this dreadful implement of destruction,
like “the ingredients of the poisoned chalice, rather the plague of the
inventor,” than the destroyer of the objects of its vengeance. The
motion of a ship at sea must, I apprehend, not only cause its effect to
be very precarious, but its use very dangerous. Be this as it may, every
thing here was prepared, the faggots were laid, and the shot were placed
between them; and they assured us, that in the moment we had struck,
they were just going to heat them for us: a confession which,
considering the odds that we had fought against, was not very
honourable to republican gallantry. All their ships of war, they told
us, were provided with similar furnaces.
In the little time I have been in my new situation, nothing has
surprized me more than the quantity of English articles I every where
observe. The cheese, as I said before, was _Gloucester_; to which I
might have added, that the plates it was served upon were _Stafford_,
and the knives it was cut by were _Sheffield_, while the coats, hats,
and shoes of those who were eating it, were also chiefly of British
manufactures. “_Prize, prize_,” is the only answer we receive to our
enquiries. Surely what one of their officers told me cannot be true!
Seeing me just now looking up one of the arms which help to form this
capacious port, and which is crowded with shipping, he assured me that
they were all English, and not less than 400 in number. It is too well
ascertained, that the French have been, during the present war,
wonderfully successful against our trading vessels. Their frigates, I am
informed, cruize in small detached squadrons to the westward of Europe;
whilst we confine ours almost totally to the Channel, which I presume
to consider a very injudicious disposition of them, in a war wherein the
enemy have no privateers, and when consequently the little ports on the
French coast, within Ushant, should be less objects of our jealousy than
heretofore. Provided our grand fleet can, after a parade off Brest,
return into Spithead or Torbay, without being materially damaged by the
weather, we seem to be satisfied, and conclude that all is going on well
on the waters.
How I shall be able to procure money for bills on London, during my
probable term of residence in this country, is not the smallest of my
inquietudes. I have hinted the difficulty to Captain Le Franq; but from
his real or assumed ignorance, one might be led to suppose, that
paper-money had always been the only currency of France. The little cash
I had by me, I took care to secure in my pocket, which escaped
unsearched. It is, however, very inadequate to administer to my wants,
stripped as I am almost to my last shirt. Small as it is, something like
an attack was made upon it just now. An old _militaire_, who is captain
of the troops on board, came to me, and, with many professions of
esteem, offered to serve me, by giving me, in exchange for English
guineas, twenty-four livres in paper, each; assuring me that I should
subject myself to disagreeable consequences, by offering to purchase
with gold, when I might land. He brought the _assignats_ in his hand to
tempt me: but I begged leave, with a profusion of compliments, to
decline this courteous proposal. Surely gold and _assignats_ cannot be
deemed by all Frenchmen of equal value! _Nous verrons!_ At present all
is mystery to me.----This said captain has a son on board, a fine youth,
who is a corporal in his father’s company.
Admiral Bligh is gone on shore to-day with the French captain, in order
to be taken before the representatives on mission here. He will probably
gain some intelligence of what we are destined to, and we expect his
return with impatience. We are too well acquainted with his feelings and
sentiments, to doubt that he will hesitate to sacrifice even his own
personal comforts to promote ours, and to prevent our being separated
from him.
Upon surrendering our swords we were given to understand, that they
should be restored to us, agreeably to the usages of war among civilized
nations, but nothing has been lately said of this restitution; and the
French officers, on being asked about it, only shake their heads, and
plead ignorance.----How unlike the polished generality which once
distinguished Frenchmen towards enemies, who, in submitting to the
imperious necessity of war, yielded up arms without a stain!------ Adieu!