THE WORLD'S FAMOUS ORATIONS
our fleet saved the American convoy.[1] Vanstabel,[2] in convoying the American fleet to our ports, has passed through waves stained with blood, through corpses and the wreckage of ships. The ferocity of the combat which preceded the arrival of the convoy has proved how thoroughly republican are our fleets, since the hatred of the name English directed the blows; and the greater the inequality of force on the side of the French, the greater and more courageous was their resistance. The English sailors, returned to their island, have not been able to rob history of this remarkable event.
The soul of the Republicans rises insensibly as the Revolution progresses; it becomes more energetic, and their courage is more exalted, by reason of dangers and misfortune. The passion of liberty follows them everywhere; it solaces them in chains; it encourages them in adversity; and the songs by which we celebrate our victories and our independence console them for being condemned to live amid the implacable enemies of the Republic.
The English have seized their persons and their ships; but the republican virtues, the pa-
- ↑ The Battle of the First of June took place between a French fleet convoying some American ships loaded with grain, of which France was much in need, and an English fleet which endeavored to intercept them.
- ↑ The French admiral in nominal command was Villaret de Joyeuse; but Citizen Jean Bon Saint-André, representing the Committee of Public Safety, was aboard his flag-ship and is commonly thought to have made disaster inevitable.
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