s, it does not clearly appear which. The French
admiral was ordered not to fire unless he was attacked. In order to
secure the best co-operation of the Spaniards, whose efficiency he
probably distrusted, De Court proposed, as Ruyter had done in days
long gone by, to scatter their ships among his own; but as the Spanish
admiral, Navarro, refused, the line-of-battle was formed with nine
French ships in the van, in the centre six French and three Spaniards,
in the rear nine Spanish ships; in all, twenty-seven. In this order
the combined fleets sailed from Toulon February 19, 1744. The English
fleet, which had been cruising off Hyeres in observation, chased, and
on the 22d its van and centre came up with the allies; but the rear
division was then several miles to windward and astern, quite out of
supporting distance (Plate VII., r). The wind was easterly, both
fleets heading to the southward, and the English had the weather-gage.
The numbers were nearly equal, the English having twenty-nine to the
allied twenty-seven; but this advantage was reversed by the failure of
the English rear to join. The course of the rear-admiral has been
generally attributed to ill-will toward Matthews; for although he
proved that in his separated position he made all sail to join, he did
not attack later on when he could, on the plea that the signal for the
line-of-battle was flying at the same time as the signal to engage;
meaning that he could not leave the line to fight without disobeying
the order to form line. This technical excuse was, however, accepted
by the subsequent court-martial. Under the actual conditions Matthews,
mortified and harassed by the inaction of his lieutenant, and fearing
that the enemy would escape if he delayed longer, made the signal to
engage when his own van was abreast the enemy's centre, and at once
bore down himself out of the line and attacked with his flag-ship of
ninety guns the largest ship in the enemy's line, the "Royal Philip,"
of one hundred and ten guns, carrying the flag of the Spanish admiral
(a). In doing this he was bravely supported by his next ahead and
astern. The moment of attack seems to have been judiciously chosen;
five Spanish ships had straggled far to the rear, leaving their
admiral with the support only of his next ahead and astern, while
three other Spaniards continued on with the French. The English van
stood on, engaging the allied centre, while the allied van was without
antagonists. B