ward of it. The former,
therefore, were unable to interpose in time; and the alternative
remedy, of the convoy running down to leeward of their escort, could
not be applied by all the merchant-ships in so large a body.

[164] "In the spring of 1780 the British admiralty had assembled in
the Channel ports forty-five ships-of-the-line. The squadron at Brest
was reduced to twelve or fifteen.... To please Spain, twenty French
ships-of-the-line had joined the flag of Admiral Cordova in Cadiz. In
consequence of these dispositions, the English with their Channel
fleet held in check the forces which we had in Brest and in Cadiz.
Enemy's cruisers traversed freely the space between the Lizard and the
Straits of Gibraltar." (Chevalier, p. 202.)

In 1781 "the Cabinet of Versailles called the attention of Holland and
Spain to the necessity of assembling at Brest a fleet strong enough to
impose upon the ships which Great Britain kept in the Channel. The
Dutch remained in the Texel, and the Spaniards did not leave Cadiz.
From this state of things it resulted that the English, with forty
ships-of-the-line, blocked seventy belonging to the allied powers."
(p. 265.)

[165] "A question was very much agitated both in and out of
Parliament; namely, Whether the intercepting of the French fleet under
the Count de Grasse should not have been the first object of the
British fleet under Vice-Admiral Darby, instead of losing time in
going to Ireland, by which that opportunity was missed. The defeat of
the French fleet would certainly totally have disconcerted the great
plans which the enemies had formed in the East and West Indies. It
would have insured the safety of the British West India islands; the
Cape of Good Hope must have fallen into the hands of Britain; and the
campaign in North America might have had a very different
termination." (Beatson's Memoirs, vol. v. p. 341, where the contrary
arguments are also stated.)

[166] This is one of the most common and flagrant violations of the
principles of war,--stretching a thin line, everywhere inadequate,
over an immense frontier. The clamors of trade and local interests
make popular governments especially liable to it.

[167] Annual Register, 1782.

CHAPTER XII.

EVENTS IN THE EAST INDIES, 1778-1781.--SUFFREN SAILS FROM BREST,
1781.--HIS BRILLIANT NAVAL CAMPAIGN IN THE INDIAN SEAS, 1782,
1783.

The very interesting and instructive campaign of Suffren in the East