858 wounded. The French having suffered more
in their hulls than in their masts and rigging, were able to manoeuvre
better than the English; and Admiral Villaret, being content with having
secured four of his ships, made no attempt to renew the battle, but
under all the sail he could set, with the dismasted ships in tow, stood
away to the northward, and by 6 p.m. was completely out of sight, a
single frigate only remaining astern to reconnoitre.

Thus ended this celebrated sea-fight, chronicled in the naval annals of
England as the glorious First--1st of June. Its immediate results were
in themselves not important; but it showed Englishmen what they were
ready enough to believe, that they could thrash the Frenchmen as in days
of yore; and it taught the French to dread the dogged resolution and
stern courage of the English, and to be prepared to suffer defeat
whenever they should meet on equal terms.

The news of the victory reached London on the 10th. So important was it
considered, that Lord Chatham carried the account of it to the opera,
and just after the second act it was made known to the house. A burst
of transport interrupted the opera, and never was any scene of emotion
so rapturous as the audience exhibited when the band struck up "Rule
Britannia!" The same enthusiasm welcomed the news at the other
theatres. The event was celebrated throughout the night by the ringing
of bells and firing of cannon, and the next day at noon by the firing of
the Park and Tower guns. For three successive evenings also the whole
metropolis was illuminated.

A few days afterwards, the King himself, with the Queen and Royal
Family, went to Portsmouth to visit the fleet. Lord Howe's flag was
shifted to a frigate, and the royal standard was hoisted on board the
_Queen Charlotte_. The whole garrison was under arms, and the concourse
of people was immense. The King, with his own hand, carried a valuable
diamond-hilted sword from the Commissioner's house down to the boat. As
soon as His Majesty arrived on board the _Queen Charlotte_, with numbers
of his ministers and nobles, and the officers of the fleet standing
round on the quarterdeck, he presented the sword to Lord Howe, as a mark
of his satisfaction and entire approbation of his conduct.

As their Majesties' barges passed, the crews cheered, the ships saluted,
the bands played martial symphonies, and every sign of a general
enthusiasm was exhibited.

The next day, th