ions that prevailed of the results achieved, no one
thought of the failure to obtain greater. This impression long
prevailed. As late as 1830, when Rodney's Life was first published, it
was asserted "that the French navy had been so effectually crippled
and reduced by the decisive victory of the 12th of April, as to be no
longer in a condition to contest with Great Britain the empire of the
seas." This is nonsense, excusable in 1782, but not to the calm
thought of after days. The favorable terms obtained were due to the
financial embarrassment of France, not to her naval humiliation; and
if there was exaggeration in the contention of the advocates of peace
that England could not save Jamaica, it is probable that she could not
have recovered by arms the other islands restored to her by the
treaty.

The memory of De Grasse will always be associated with great services
done to America. His name, rather than that of Rochambeau, represents
the material succor which France gave to the struggling life of the
young Republic, as Lafayette's recalls the moral sympathy so
opportunely extended. The incidents of his life, subsequent to the
great disaster which closed his active career, cannot be without
interest to American readers.

After the surrender of the "Ville de Paris," De Grasse accompanied the
English fleet and its prizes to Jamaica, whither Rodney repaired to
refit his ships, thus appearing as a captive upon the scene of his
intended conquest. On the 19th of May he left the island, still a
prisoner, for England. Both by naval officers and by the English
people he was treated with that flattering and benevolent attention
which comes easily from the victor to the vanquished, and of which his
personal valor at least was not unworthy. It is said that he did not
refuse to show himself on several occasions upon the balcony of his
rooms in London, to the populace shouting for the valiant Frenchman.
This undignified failure to appreciate his true position naturally
excited the indignation of his countrymen; the more so as he had been
unsparing and excessive in denouncing the conduct of his subordinates
on the unlucky 12th of April.

"He bears his misfortune," wrote Sir Gilbert Blane, "with
equanimity; conscious, as he says, that he has done his duty....
He attributes his misfortune, not to the inferiority of his
force, but to the base desertion of his officers in the other
ships, to whom he made the signal