About this time, the Jason frigate, having been wrecked near St. Malo, the captain and crew were made prisoners. The author was sent in with a flag of truce by Commodore Cunningham, of the Clyde, to negotiate for the exchange of prisoners; when the French officer, with an air of triumph and exultation, handed him a copy of that bulletin: but, as soon as the negotiation was ended, the author had the pleasure of handing to him, in return, the Gazette account of the victory of the 13th, which Sir James Saumarez had gained over Linois, and which the Commodore had received, fortunately, on that day. The Frenchman's chagrin may be easily imagined, when he threw down the Gazette, with the exclamation '_Ce n'est pas vrai_!'
On the statement of Linois' victory, as it was called, reaching Paris, a handsome sword was sent to him; which, however, did not reach him until after his subsequent defeat. On this occasion the following Epigram was written.
In the days of the Bourbons, a man was _rewarded_ For _standing_ the brunt of the day: But, now, this old maxim in France is _discarded_,-- Men are honoured for _running away_!
In the French accounts nothing was mentioned of their running their ships aground to escape from the English, which is, indeed, the only thing Citizen Linois deserved any credit for doing. At the same time, it could not fail to convince both the French and Spanish troops, of the want of confidence he must have had in his crews, and of their evident inferiority: it was certainly a new mode of fighting, which called forth the following lines on this improvement in naval tactics.
To mar our skill, fam'd Linois, thou hast found A certain way,--by fighting ships on _ground_; Fix deep in sand thy centre, van, and rear, Nor e'er St. Vincent, Duncan, Nelson, fear. While, o'er the main, Britannia's thunder rolls, She leaves to thee the trident of the _shoals_!
In concluding this chapter, we shall relate the following anecdote of British heroism, derived from Captain Brenton's Naval History.
When, in the hottest part of the action at Algeziras, the Cæsar _broke her sheer_,--that is, her situation was altered by a puff or flaw of wind so as to change the direction of her head, and turn her round, that her guns could not be brought to bear on her opponent,--the captain ordered the boat to be lowered down from the stern, to convey a warp to the Audacious; but the boat was found to be knocked to pieces by the enemy's shot. Before other means could be resorted to, Michael Collins, a young sailor belonging to the Cæsar's mizen-top, seized the end of a lead-line, and exclaiming, "You shall soon have a warp," darted into the sea from the tafrail, and swam with the line to the Audacious, where it was received, and by that means a hawser was run out which answered the intended purpose.
