the temper of the times and the enthusiasm of the nation. The
seventy-four-gun ship _Vengeur_, after a three hours' fight, yardarm to
yardarm, with the British _Brunswick_, was left in a sinking state by
her antagonist, who was herself in no condition to help. In the
confusion, the _Vengeur's_ peril was for some time not observed; and
when it was, the British ships that came to her aid had time only to
remove part of her survivors. In their report of the event the latter
said: "Scarcely had the boats pulled clear of the sides, when the most
frightful spectacle was offered to our gaze. Those of our comrades who
remained on board the _Vengeur du Peuple_, with hands raised to heaven,
implored, with lamentable cries, the help for which they could no longer
hope. Soon disappeared the ship and the unhappy victims it contained. In
the midst of the horror with which this scene inspired us all, we could
not avoid a feeling of admiration mingled with our grief. As we drew
away, we heard some of our comrades still offering prayers for the
welfare of their country. The last cries of these unfortunates were,
'Vive la Republique!' They died uttering them." Over a hundred Frenchmen
thus went down.

Seven French ships were captured, including the sunk _Vengeur_. Five
more were wholly dismasted, but escaped,--a good fortune mainly to be
attributed to Howe's utter physical prostration, due to his advanced
years and the continuous strain of the past five days. He now went to
bed, completely worn out. "We all got round him," wrote an officer,
Lieutenant Codrington, who was present; "indeed, I saved him from a
tumble, he was so weak that from a roll of the ship he was nearly
falling into the waist. 'Why, you hold me up as if I were a child,' he
said good-humoredly." Had he been younger, there can be little doubt
that the fruits of victory would have been gathered with an ardor which
his assistant, Curtis, failed to show. The fullest proof of this is the
anecdote, already quoted in the sketch of Rodney,[13] which has been
transmitted by Admiral Sir Byam Martin direct from the sailing-master of
the _Queen Charlotte_, afterwards Admiral Bowen; but his account is
abundantly confirmed by other officers, eye and ear witnesses. Taken in
connection with these, Codrington's story of his physical weakness bears
the note, not of pathos only, but of encouragement; for the whole
testifies assuredly to the persistence, through great bodily debility,
of