The Corsairs of France. ... With portraits and a map

Preface

. A long period of peace necessarily gives rise to a forgetfulness of the dangers of war, and we in England are happily so ignorant of war's horrors, that it is well-nigh impossible to rouse either the classes or the masses to a true sense of our insecurity. Within the last few years the most strenuous efforts have been made to lay before the people a faithful exposure of England's weakness, and to compel the Government to place our navy on a footing com mensurate with the wealth and greatness of the Empire. It would seem that not all the trumpet blasts of the press, not all the straightforward warnings of our greatest commanders have sufficed to stir the dormant patriotism of Treasury officials. It needs a disaster to effect this. It is true that the defence of our coaling-stations and the formation of a Colonial Squadron are steps in the right direction.

They are but steps only. Preface. VI "Were our swift cruisers multiplied by five, and our torpedo-boats by ten, they would yet be none too numerous for the efficient protection of our merchant fleet. France, with a trade just one-third of that of the British Empire, and with a mercantile marine numbering but 2600 ships against 19,500 flying our flag, can boast of a navy little if at all inferior to our own. The havoc she might play with our commerce is self-evident. The havoc she wrought in bygone days is long since forgotten. In the following pages I have disentombed from the dry details of ancient history, facts which I trust may prove of pregnant interest; — facts which prove that, despite our boasted maritime superiority, France was always able to inflict upon us crushing damage. Treaties are still made to be broken, and I presume no sane man in the United Kingdom harbours the most distant hope that Privateering will not be vigorously resumed in the next great war in which England is engaged.

These pages show how grievously we suffered at the hands of our hereditary foes in earlier days ; the map which heads the volume shows how easy it would be for France to inflict a like damage in future years. Her naval stations dominate every commercial Preface. VII route we possess, and as yet our coaling-stations are unfortified and our swift cruisers unbuilt. For the last three years the French press has teemed with articles discussing the best means for carrying out the ideas of Duguay Trouin and of Surcouf. Admiral Aube's inhuman proposal to bombard defenceless watering-places, and to torpedo our large merchant steamers with their living freight of hundreds of souls, met with no reprobation in France, — on the contrary they led to his appointment as Minister of Marine. We are fully warned as to what we may expect in the future.

In the last great war, 1793 — 1815, our Admiralty issued 10,000 letters of marque, yet despite that vast addition to our naval strength we lost close on 11,000 merchant vessels, and we captured but 1000 of the enemy's privateers. Need more be said to show where our danger lies ? It lies in the inadequate defence of British commerce, in the numerical weakness of England's navy. This is a threadbare subject. The press is never weary of warning the public, officers high in authority day after day make the most damning statements, yet successive Governments sit with their hands folded-, and refuse Preface. VIII to provide the necessary means for the efficient defence of the Empire. They do more, they shelter themselves behind the people, and plead that fifty million English subjects of our Queen would rather see the Empire ruined than provide the few neces sary millions demanded for the reorganization of our navy, and the placing of our maritime highways beyond all power of harm.

It is with diffidence that I, bred in the sister service, have ventured to trench on the province of the naval historian. The importance of the subject and the fact that no attempt has yet been made to lay before the British public the lives of those daring men who well-nigh drove our commerce from the seas, must be my excuse. If a perusal of this work, all imperfect though I know it to be, tends to call renewed attention to the question of England's weakness at sea, I shall be more than repaid for the adverse criticisms I feel my professional igno rance must assuredly call forth. C. B. Norman. PAGE TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Introduction

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THE RISE OF THE FRENCH NAVY. Exploits of French Corsairs generally unknown in England — Sketch of the French Navy from the Crusades to the accession of Louis XIV. — French armies transported to the Holy Land in vessels hired from Italian Eepublics — Louis IX. turns to his own subjects for transports — Philip le Bel collects ships from seaports of Erittany and Normandy — Charles VI. meditates invasion of England — Large ships built by Louis XII., the Duchess Anne of Brittany, and Francis I. — The Charente, Belle Cordeliere, and Caraqaon — Francis I. founds Le Havre and makes efforts to create a Navy — At his death neglect once more supervenes — Richelieu continues Francis I.'s policy — Creates arsenals and constructs ships — Mazarin in his turn allows Richelieu's efforts to be forgotten — Colbert takes the French Navy under his special protection — Vast strides made by France as a maritime power in Colbert's day — List of ships of war in 1666 — Inscription Maritime — Letters of marque — War by Corsairs legalized and carried on under regular recognized rules — Regulations of De Valincourt — Ships considered good and lawful prizes — Formalities to be observed by Corsairs on capture of a ship — Damage inflicted by French Corsairs Contents.

X PAGE 27 in 1689 — Prizes taken by Dunkirk Corsairs from 1656 to 1815 — Value of colonial possessions to French Corsairs — England compelled to capture French colonies in order to stop depredations of their craft . . . . 1

Chapter II. Jean Bart Of Dunkirk

1650 — 1702. Bart's family of Dieppe origin — Born at Dunkirk, essentially a Corsair town — Owned successively by Holland, Spain, France, and England, and sold to France by Charles II. — Colbert sees its value as a maritime port — Jean Bart's Corsair ancestry — His first service under Valbue — The Judgments of Oleron — Absolute power of ship captains — Bart conveys French nobles to Ruyter's fleet — Serves on Ruyter's ship against English, 1666 — Present at burning of Chatham, 1667 — Leaves Dutch service and commands his first Corsair, 1674 — His first prize — His success in the Royale — Captures Dutch man-of-war Neptune, 32 — Pre •*. sented with a chain of gold by Colbert — The minister's views on the employment of Corsairs — Bart given a large ship, the Dauphin — Gallant action with and capture of the Sherdam — Badly wounded — Granted a commission in the French Navy — Commands expedition against pirates of Morocco — Serves in campaign against Genoa and Cadiz — Promoted commander in 1686 — On outbreak of war with England, 1689, commands a Corsair squadron — Captures Dutch frigate, Seahorse, 50 — Engages and sinks an English man-of-war — Accustoms his son to the music of battle — Bart captured by the Nonsuch — Carried to Plymouth — Escapes — Daring crossing of the Channel — Promoted captain — Present in Tourville's fio*ht off Beachy Head — Interview with Louis XIV. at Versailles — Defeats Dutch squadron and captures three lar"*e ships — Granted pension of 2000Z. a year — Defeats a second squadron — Promoted commodore — Illness and death ......... Contents. XI PAGE 105

Chapter III. Jacques Cassard Of Nantes

A prophet unhonoured in his own land — Commences life as a fisherboy off Newfoundland — Serves as a mousse on a St. Malo Corsair — Commands a bombship in the bombardment of Carthagena — Entrusted with the command of a Corsair by the people of Nantes — Gallant capture of the William Duncan — Presented to Louis XIV., and nominated to the command of a king's ship — His successes in the Saint William — Captures Dutch corvette Catherine — Makes fresh prizes off coast of Ireland — Shifts to the Saint Anne — Convoys a fleet of merchantmen from Tunis to France — Ingratitude of Marseilles merchants — In 1710 safely convoys a fleet from Syracuse — Captures two English men-of-war, the Falcon and Pembroke — Promoted captain in the Navy — Commands expedition to the Cape de Verdes — Ravages British and Dutch settlements in West Indies— Superseded in his command — Returns to France — Falls into disgrace — Insults Fleury — Incarcerated as a State prisoner — Dies in prison

Chapter IV. Duguay Trouin Of St

MALO, 1673 — 1736. Duguay Trouin, the hero of St. Malo — His birth and early career — Destined for the Church — Youthful insubordination — Ships as volunteer on the Corsair Trinite — His first prize — Gallantry in capturing the Concorde — Commands Danycan — Raid on Lord Clare's house at Limerick — Shifts.to the Coetquen — Captures fourteen English prizes —Given command of the king's ship Profond, 32 — Transferred toHercules, 28 — Captures four English prizes, quells a mutiny — Promoted to Diligence, 40 — Captures Dutch ship Panther, 32 — Engages and escapes from Prince of Orange, 50 — After desperate fight, captured by Channel Squadron under Sir David Mitchell — Carried prisoner to Contents.

XII PAGE 155 Plymouth — Escapes — Given command of Francois, 48 — Captures two English frigates, the Nonsuch and Boston — Boston retaken — Receives sword of honour from the king — Joins squadron under the Marquis of Nesmond — Nesmond's jealousy — Trouin leaves his squadron — With aid of one other Corsair captures Defence, 58, Resolution, 56, Black Prince, 40, Dutch Indiamen — Ordered to Versailles — Gracious reception by the king — Given command of his old prize, Nonsuch, henceforth the Sans pareil — His brother killed near Vigo — In 1698 given command of a small squadron by the Minister of Marine — Captures Dutch squadron under Admiral Von Wassenaer — At last given a commission as commander in the Navy — Captures the English man-of-war Coventry, 60 — Promoted post-captain — Signalizes his promotion by taking the Elizabeth, 50, and Gaspard, 30 — Given Star of St. Louis— Under Forbin assists in the capture of three English men-of-war, Cumberland, 60, Chester, 50, Royal Oak, 30, and sinks Devonshire, 60 — Jealousy of Forbin — Ill-success off the Azores — Captures English ship Bristol, 60 — Granted Letters of Nobility — Successful expedition to Eio de Janeiro— Commands Mediterranean fleet — Made admiral and Knight of St. Louis — His death and character — Ships named after him ....

Chapter V. Francois Thurot Of Boulogne

1727 — 1760. Thurot born in an inland town — Destined first for the priesthood, and then for the medical profession — Quits his home — Trudges across France to Dunkirk — Shows his surgical skill in a tavern brawl — Ships as surgeon on a Corsair — Captured by the English — Escapes from Dover — Enters as seaman on a Boulogne privateer — Turns honest trader — On outbreak of war commands Corsair Friponne — Made Enseigne de Vaisseau — Placed in command of a squadron — Gallant action with the Southampton frigate — Ill-success of his cruise in the Belle-Isle — Heavy fi*dit Contents. XIII PAGE 240 287 with the Dauphin and Solbay — Change of fortune — Captures numerous prizes off coast of Denmark — Runs towards west coast of Scotland — Takes several fine English ships Returns to France — Proposes a descent on the Irish coast — Project supported by the Marquis of Belle-Isle — Entrusted with the command of an expedition — Quarrels between Thurot and the military commanders — Mutinous spirit shown by his captains — Lands on north coast of Ireland — Seizes Carrickfergus — Threatens Belfast — British squadron appears off coast — Thurot re-embarks — His gallant fight and noble death

Chapter VI. Leveille Of Dunkirk

Eagerness of Dunkerquois for privateering — Antagonism between naval officers and privateers — Protection offered to the latter by members of the Convention — Leveille's first cruise in command — Captures twenty English prizes — Sharp contest with two Indiamen — Captures English barque Eliza — After a heavy fight takes three English vessels, one the Coldstream, with troops on board — Carries them into Ostend, despite efforts of English cruisers to recapture them — Renewed successes in the Vengeance — Offered a commission in the Republican Navy — Dislike to Government service — Given command of the Corsair Psyche of Bordeaux — Captures several English and Portuguese vessels — Returns to France — Pays off the Psyche and returns to private life

Chapter VII. Robert Surcouf Of St

MALO, 1773 — 1827. Surcouf a typical Malouine — Early years — Ships on the Aurore — Is wrecked — Promoted — Returns to St. Malo and fits out the Creole — Engages in the slave trade — Serves as volunteer in the Jean Bart in raising blockade of the Isle of France — More slaving — Escapade with the police — Turns privateer or pirate 1 — Commissions the Emilie — Contents. XIV PAGE Captures the Penguin, also a rich Dutchman, the Russell and Sam Borlase — Shifts his flag to a captured pilot schooner — The Diana — Daring capture of the Triton — Action disavowed by colonial authorities — Returns to France — His acts are recognized by the Corps Legislatif — Commissions the Clarisse — Proceeds to the Mauritius — Cruises off Sumatra — More prizes — Chased by the Sybille — Captures the Jane — Commands the Constance — • Stdl more prizes — The Kent Indiaman — Captain Rivington — Returns home — The Ebro — His marriage — Marie Blaize — Made Enseigne de Vaisseau — Refuses a command under Admiral Linois — Sails once more in the Revenant — Panic in Calcutta — Losses of the Indian Insurance Offices — The Conception de Saint Antonio — More quarrels with colonial authorities — Returns to France — Abandons the sea — Becomes owner of privateers — The last of the Revenant ...... 321

Chapter VIII. Conclusion

Minor Corsairs — British Isles invulnerable to invasion — Precarious tenure of our food supply — French policy to destroy England's commerce — Favourable position of French colonies for blocking our ocean highways and attacking defenceless dependencies — Bombardment of Sierra Leone in 1794 — Helpless condition of crews of merchant-vessels — Necessity for reorganization of our Naval Reserve, and for instruction of merchant-seamen in gun and small-arm drill ...... 372

Appendix

. tto. 1. Proceedings of Admiralty Court of Dunkirk on capture of Esperance by Jean Bart . . .395 II. Proceedings of Admiralty Court of Dunkirk on capture of Neptune by Jean Bart .... 396 III. Proceedings of Admiralty Court of Dunkirk on capture of Demoiselle Christine by Jean Bart . . Contents. XV NO. PAGE IV. Eollof Corsairs commissioned in Boulogne, 1793-1814 399 V. Decree of the Directory rewarding the captain of a Privateer 399 VI. Names of some of the English prizes carried into Boulogne, 1793-1814 400 VII. Commission granted to a Privateer .... 401 VIII. Blank Commission for officers placed in charge of prizes ........ 402 IX. Terms of engagement on a Privateer . . . 40 3 X. Decree of 31st January, 1793, sanctioning Privateering 404 XL Boll of ships, with men, captains, and crews, in the French Navy, 1666 405 XII.

Decree of the National Convention regarding Privateering ....... 405 XIII. Beport on Privateering at St. Malo, by an Emissary of the Convention .... . 406 XIV. Tliurot's raid on the Irish coast, from the Proceedings of the Percy Society ..... 407 XV. English contemporary verses on Thurot's raid . .419 XVI. Docks in English possessions abroad . . . 425 XVII. Docks in French dependencies .... 428 XVIII. French Privateers captured, 1793-1815 . . .429 XIX. Becapitulation showing numbers of Privateers captured in each year, 1793-1815 . . . 451 XX. Merchant Marine of the world, 1886-1887 . . 452 XXI. Belative maritime positions of the chief Powers, 1886-1887 452 XXII. English merchant-vessels captured by French during the war 1793-1815 453 Index ERRATA. Piige 12, Foot note for Appendix No. I. read Appendix No. XI. ,, 21, Line 12, ,, Eole read Æolus. „ 79, „ 23, ,, Small „ Sincock. „ 80, „ 2, „ Small „ Sincock. „ 223, „ 23, ,, Ruby „ Royal Oak. „ 280, „ 2, ,, Æole „ Æolus. „ 281, „ 6, „ Æole ,, Æolus. THE COESAIES OF FBANCE.

Chapter I. The Eise Op The French

NAVV\ Exploits of French Corsairs generally unknown in England — Sketch of the French Navy from the Crusades to the accession of Louis XIV. — French armies transported to the Holy Land in vessels hired from Italian Republics — Louis IX. turns to his own subjects for transports — Philip le Bel collects ships from seaports of Brittany and Normandy — Charles VI. meditates invasion of England — Large ships built by Louis XII., the Duchess Anne of Brittany, and Francis I. — The Charente, Belle Cordeliere, and Caraquon — Francis I. sounds Le Havre and makes efforts to create a Navy— At his death neglect once more supervenes — Richelieu continues Francis I.'s policy — Creates arsenals and constructs ships — Mazarin in his turn allows Richelieu's efforts to be forgotten — Colliert takes the Navy under his especial protection — Vast strides made by France as a maritime power in Colbert's day — List of ships of war, 1666 — Inscription Maritime — Letters of marque — War by Corsairs legal and carried on under regular . recognized rules — Regulations of De Valincourt — Ships considered good and lawful prizes — Formalities to be observed by Corsairs on capture of a ship — Damage inflicted by French Corsairs in 1689 — Prizes made by Dunkirk Corsairs from 1689-1815 — Value of colonial possessions to French Corsairs — England compelled to capture French colonies in order to stop depredation of their craft.

It may be well before entering upon the biographies of the Corsairs of France to devote a few pages to the discussion of the rules which governed their profession, and to the immense damage they caused B ■H to the commerce of hostile nations. The praises of our own Privateers have been sung in many a portly volume, and the plot of many a novel has been based on these heroes of a bygone age. What Lever has done towards providing our army with officers of go and spirit, that has Marryatt done for the Navy ; but in our English books scant credit has been adjudged to the brave men who, hailing from the ports of Northern France, inflicted loss amounting to hundreds of millions sterling on England's fleets, and carried tens of thousands of our sailors prisoners into French ports. The old fable that, had the lion painted the picture of the lion-hunt, the king of beasts, not man, would have been depicted as slaying his victim, is equally applicable here, and though an Englishman, I trust I may be able to impress upon my fellow-countrymen that even in our naval wars with France our sailors did not have it entirely their own way, that many au English ship was captured in the face of fearful odds by our brave neighbours, who possessed Corsairs as bold as any that ever sailed from British ports, Corsairs who never stayed to count the odds against them, and whose names were justly dreaded from the Thames to the Shannon.

In privateering the French certainly have proved themselves our equals, if not our superiors, despite the lessons taught our youth by Marryatt and the more sober James. To the average Englishman the performances of the Corsairs of old have ever possessed a striking fascination, the daring conception, and still more gallant execution of many of their most successful exploits, goes straight home to the hearts of those amongst us who still value personal bravery as one of the cardinal virtues. There are many, however, clad in the sombre broadcloth of respectable Quakerism, who, fondly imagining the time has arrived when our swords may be turned into ploughshares and our spears into pruning-hooks, misquote the words that force is no remedy, class the Corsair with the pirate, and brand him with the most ignoble epithets.

Indeed, very general ignorance prevails as to the precise footing on which the Corsair stood, and the precise nature of the warfare he waged. He is generally depicted as a rollicking dare-devil whose waistbelt was a perfect armoury and whose pockets were full of doubloons. Eschewing nearer seas he sailed the Spanish main, seized all craft that came within his reach, treated his prisoners sometimes with the utmost generosity, sometimes with the most refined cruelty, and generally ended his career by being compelled to " walk the plank " after falling a victim to a ship of war, which dis guised as a "Quaker" enticed the unsuspecting- Corsair alongside her well-manned decks. Nothing can bo more erroneous. The Corsair was a recognized and important factor in the wars of the past centuries, when naval estimates assumed more modest proportions than they do in this the later quarter of the Nineteenth Century.

The rules which governed his conduct were clear and well defined. He fought for profit it is true, but he was not insensible to glory, and I take it in this respect the meanest Corsair that ever cruised the Channel b is removed but in degree from John, Duke of Maryborough, or Arthur, Duke of Wellington. Eliminate brevets and good-service rewards, peer ages, pensions, and money-grants from the pro spective honours attainable by our army and navy, and the competition for entrance to these services will die away very rapidly. In dealing with the Corsairs of France, one must glance briefly at the condition of the French navy at the period when the men of whom I write performed their gallant exploits, and in so doing it is impossible to avoid expressing surprise at the fact that France, with its vast extent of seaboard in the Channel, the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean, should have been practically without a navy until the latter half of the seventeenth century.

Up to that time she was inferior, not only to England and to Holland, but to Spain, Turkey, and even to the Maritime Republics of the Mediterranean. In times of peace the French flag was rarely seen out side her own ports, and when, on the outbreak of war, it became necessary to raise a fleet, the monarchs of France were compelled to borrow vessels of war from neighbouring states, or to hire merchant-vessels from their own subjects and to convert them hurriedly into fighting-ships. In the earlier crusades the forces of the western powers moved to the eastward by land ; but, later on, the efflux of people to the Holy Land led to a development of the maritime power of countries bordering the Mediterranean. The Italians were the first to profit by this. Venice shortly monopolized the trade of the East, and other cities, such as Genoa and Pisa, entered into rivalry with her.

It was in ships belonging to these republics that Philip Augustus transported his crusaders to Pales tine. Louis IX. made strenuous efforts to convey his own contingent on his own vessels, and a goodly number of craft were hired from the merchants of Provence and Languedoc ; but he, too, was obliged to have recourse to the ports of Italy. To this king, however, is due the birth of the French navy, for under him De Varrennes was created First Admiral of France. The crusades over, French merchants whose ships had visited eastern ports, determined on partaking with Venice and Genoa the risks and profits of Oriental trade, and Marseilles soon be came one of the principal ports of the Mediter ranean. Under Philip le Bel commenced ihe long, long story of the struggle for naval supremacy between France and England.

There were, however, no king's ships at the king's disposal, and the sovereign was compelled to turn to his shipowners aud merchants for assistance. Saint Malo, Rouen, Caen, Honfleur, Havre, Dieppe, Etretat, Cherbourg, and Dunkirk, each furnished a contingent, and the admirals of Brittany and Normandy — for each province had its own admiral — lowered their flags in homage to the Admiral of France, who, by the king's order, assumed command of the whole. Under Charles V. the French fleet, composed of squadrons from Normandy, Brittany, and Castille, under Ambrosio Boccanera, admiral of this latter province, gained a brilliant victory over the English off Rochelle, and in the following reign, Charles VI. projected one of the many projected descents upon our shores. The flag of France flew over thirteen hundred vessels of all sizes and all nationalities destined to aid in this vast undertaking.

France exulted in her coming triumph; but, as in the case of the Invincible Armada, and the still more recent attempted invasion of Ireland by Hoche, the elements came to our aid, and destroyed the frail craft that the French monarch had so carefully collected. And now vessels of considerable size replaced the open ships which hitherto had formed the major part of the French squadrons. In the reign of Louis XII. a large ship of war, the Gharente, was constructed ; she was armed with 200 guns, and carried 1200 men. The Duchess Anne of Brittany in her turn launched a monster named the Belle Gordeliere, and Francis I. a large two-decked ship, the Garaquon. Neither of these vessels fulfilled the expectations formed of them. The Belle Cordeliere was sunk by an English squadron off Morlaix, the Garaquon was burnt in Havre.

Such vessels were unsuited to the requirements and beyond the means of private individuals, and their construction devolved, as a matter of course, on the state. To attempt to oppose the fine ships of England and of Holland with the small merchant-craft of Normandy and Bretagne was to court inevitable defeat, and it therefore became necessary that the sovereign should possess a certain number of large vessels of war for TJie Rise of the French Navy. 7 the defence of his maritime ports ; their size and draught of water altered the whole condition of naval warfare, and in order to provide suitable ports of refuge for those vessels which were unable to enter the small ports into which smaller craft would run for safety, Francis I. occupied himself with the improvement of Havre. Up to his reign, Le Havre had been a mere fishingvillage, now its entrance was defended by towers.

Basins were constructed, privileges and exemptions showered on the port, and. by this means the commerce of the Channel was attracted to the mouth of the Seine. It soon became the headquarters of his northern navies. But Francis I. did not confine his views on the re organization of his navy to this one port of Havre, Fleets were massed in the Mediterranean, and for the first time in history, a French squadron, passing through the Straits of Gibraltar, defeated an English fleet off Brest, and then, moving round to the eastward, drove off the blockading squadrons of Henry VIII. from Boulogne. Unfortunately the successors of Francis I. made no efforts to carry out his views as to the necessity of a powerful navy. Old ships were allowed to rot in harbour, no new vessels built to replace them, and during the sixty years that elapsed between the death of Francis I. and the accession of Louis XIII. the navy of France may be said to have ceased to exist.

Then Richelieu arose, and once more a monarch of France seconded the efforts of his minister to create a fleet commensurate with the prestige and prosperity of the kingdom. The religious troubles which harassed France in the reign of Louis XIII. showed up in all its naked ness the feebleness of the French navy. When, in 1626, Richelieu wished to close Rochelle to English aid, he was compelled to hire twenty vessels from the Dutch. This fact made such a profound im pression on him, that he at once determined to throw all his energies and all his abilities into the grave question of the constitution of a navy for France. He persuaded the king to suppress that useless sinecure, the High Admiral of France, and was him self appointed " Grand Master of the Navy, and Superintendent-General of Navigation and of Com merce," a title long enough to warrant any result.

His first act was to insist on a certain annual sum being set apart in the Budget for the construction of ships of war and for the purchase of material to keep those already existent in proper repair. Not only did he build large ships of war as well as the almost defunct galley, but he spent vast sums in improving the harbours of Brest and Toulon. To him, also, France owes her maritime arsenals. Up to this period all vessels belonging to the king were paid off at the end of a war, the captain of each still remaining responsible for her being kept fit for commission. Having no funds for such a purpose, these duties were performed negligently enough by the majority of captains, and it almost invariably happened that when a vessel was brought forward. for re-commission, she was found in such a state of disrepair that much valuable time was wasted, and large sums were spent ere she was fit for sea.

The Rise of the French Navy. 9 Havre, Brest, Brouage, and Toulon were the ports selected as the first arsenals of France, and all ships of war were paid off in one of these places. The Admiralty official in command at the arsenal was held responsible not only for the stores within its walls, but for the condition of the ships lying up in its harbour. Amongst other naval improvements, due to Richelieu, we should not omit the reduction of the number of guns carried by men-of-war, and the increase in the metal fired by these guns. Thus, in the days of Louis XII., we find the Charente carrying 200 guns and 1200 men, whereas, in the reign of Louis XIII. , the vessel which struck wonder into the hearts of Frenchmen was the Couronne, 74, but her dimensions were far larger than the long forgotten Charente.