30

PLANS OF PARADES.

Portsmouth with all the vessels there, which amounted to twenty, to watch the French fleet, but without engaging them, in order to favour Byron's voyage, by keeping them in check. As soon as Byron had gotten out of their reach, Keppel was to return to Portsmouth, to complete his equipment. Intelligence of all this was despatched to M. de Sartine, and by him to the Count de Orvilliers: but the latter doubting the authenticity of it, and fearing he should have thirty-two ships to engage instead of twenty, remained idle; and thus gave Byron an opportunity to proceed on his voyage.

After the affair between Keppel and D' Orvilliers, the enterprising Parades turned his thoughts to the seizure or destruction of Plymouth. For this purpose, he renewed his intimacy with his old acquaintance, the sergeant; and having made another survey of the arsenal and coast, he sailed for Portsmouth, and anchored off Yarmouth in the Isle of Wight. Deeming it of importance. to gain possession of Hurst Castle, which commands the entrance of the Needles, he proposed to his captain, without acquainting him of his real design, to prevail on the garrison to deposit there some smuggled goods. This, for a certain share of the profits, was readily agreed to; and thus he obtained admission for any number of troops in disguise by night, whenever their services might be required.

Parades now laid his plans before M. de Sartine, by whom they were approved, and the projector was amply rewarded. He required only four thousand men for Plymouth, fifteen hundred for Hurst Castle, two ships of the line, two frigates, and the same number of fire-ships. But the French minister thought the scheme too narrow. An army of thirty thousand men, therefore, was assembled;

and, instead of two millions of livres, as proposed by Parades, fifty millions were expended in doing nothing. The fleet was equipped, but, instead of repairing to Plymouth, the time was spent in waiting for the Spanish squadron from Cadiz: and when at length it did arrive off the harbour, the officers appeared to be all united against the commander-in-chief, to whom they had conceived a dislike, because he had rank in the army; so that nothing was attempted.

Thus ended a mighty enterprise, that was designed to blot England out of the map of Europe; or at least to take from her the sovereignty of the seas-but, Parturiunt montes; nascetur ridiculus mus.

It must be allowed, however, that the scheme was not a visionary one; and, had it been as vigorously conducted, as it was well contrived, there can be little doubt that an inglorious and humiliating peace must have ensued. Providentially, the designs of the enemy were frustrated, but not by the vigilance of the British ministers; or by the measures of defence which it was their duty to have provided, knowing, as they did, that the most desperate malignity against England pervaded the councils of the French government. Instead of carrying on a honourable warfare, the cabinet of Versailles, which all along had been acting a treacherous part in the support of the Americans, now stooped to the vilest expedients for the annoyance of a power, that, so far from giving it any provocation, was only blameable for its imprudent forbearance. Spies were spread throughout the kingdom. English smugglers were armed with French commissions to commit acts of piracy; incendiaries were employed to set fire, not only to the national dock-yards, with their shipping and storehouses, but even

to those of the mercantile ports. Temptations of the most powerful nature were held out, to allure men of talent from their allegiance; and to gain them over to the service of the Americans, or their allies. It is to be feared that Sartine was too successful in this nefarious practice; and that there were persons so lost to all virtue, as to receive the wages of iniquity, under the miserable self-delusion, that they were assisting the cause of freedom.

That the French minister of marine and his colleagues were unprincipled enough to bribe men in public employment to betray their trust, has been fully proved. But the degradation of that government did not stop there. Estimating the moral dignity of others by his own corrupt mind, Sartine had the boldness to make an experiment upon the honesty of one of the brightest ornaments of the British navy. Admiral Sir George Bridges Rodney having fallen into pecuniary difficulties, chiefly through a severely contested election, was under the necessity of seeking a refuge in France from the importunity of his creditors. He was there when hostilities commenced, but could not venture to return home, on account of the embarrassment which had driven him abroad. To his applications for employment, the ministry at home paid no attention; though, if the services of such a man were ever wanted, it was at that critical period, when the navy was in a most dislocated condition.

Sartine, who knew the character and circumstances of Sir George Rodney, flattered himself, that the veteran's integrity might be overcome by the seductive influence of that powerful charm, which the crafty statesman had never yet found to fail when skilfully applied. This was a case, however, that required peculiar dexterity in the management, and an agency very different from any

ATTEMPT TO SEDUCE ADMIRAL RODNEY.

33

that Sartine was in the ordinary habit of employing on such occasions. Among the admiral's friends at Paris, the principal was the Marechal Duc de Biron, a nobleman who stood deservedly high in the estimation of the public, as well as in the favour of the King. Sartine persuaded the weak monarch to lay his commands upon the duke to sound his friend the British admiral, and to make him the most liberal offers, if he would accept the command of a French fleet destined for the West Indies. The marechal did not very well relish the commission, for two reasonsone was, that he had too high an opinion of the admiral's honour, to believe that he would listen for a moment to the deceitful proposal; and, in the next place, he took it as an insult to himself to be thought capable of approving an action which, if it took place, must alienate him for ever from the person whom he now so highly valued.

The duke, however, in obedience to the royal mandate, invited Sir George to spend some weeks at his seat in the country. One morning, while walking in the gardens, the marechal began to introduce the subject, with as much cautious manoeuvering as he could well practise; observing, that it was to be lamented an officer of such experience and gallantry should remain unemployed; and that there was now a signal opportunity for the display of his talents and the improvement of his fortune, in a country where he would meet with a more grateful return for his services than what he had met with in his own.

The admiral was struck; but, so far was he from being able to discover what this strange preamble would lead to, that, at length, he became alarmed, and imagined the duke must be deranged in his intellects; under which impression, he began to eye him with scme apprehension. The duke

E

34

RODNEY'S INCORRUPTIBILITY.

perceiving this, came to the point, and said, "that, as the King his master intended to make the West Indies the theatre of war, he had commissioned him to make unbounded offers to Sir George, if he would quit the English service, and accept the command of a French squadron on that station."

Those who have any recollection of the expressive countenance and piercing glance of the admiral, will readily figure to themselves the manner with which he received this address, and to which he made the following reply:

My distresses, it is true, have driven me from the bosom of my country; but no temptation whatever can estrange me from her service. Had this overture been a voluntary one of your own, I should have deemed it an unpardonable insult, but I am glad to learn that it proceeds from a source that can do no wrong."-The duke was affected, but not surprised; for he had been too long acquainted with the noble mind of the admiral, to suppose that he would, under any circumstances, hesitate where his duty was concerned. Taking Sir George by the hand, the marechal apologized for the disagreeable trial he had put him to, offered him the unlimited use of his purse, and assured him of his unalterable regard. He did more, and served him effectually, by transmitting the particulars now related to the British ministry; in consequence of which, the admiral immediately received an invitation to return, with the assurance of being appointed to a command, as soon as an arrangement could be made for the purpose. Upon this, he availed himself of the proffered assistance of his friend the duke, by borrowing the sum of one thousand louis to discharge the debts he had incurred in Paris, and which was repaid soon after his arrival in London. It merits notice here, that when the intelligence reached