CHAPTER VI.
As strict matter of history, we must refrain from recording the events that followed the taking of Toulon by the British. It will be sufficient to say as a midshipman William Thornton so distinguished himself, receiving only one slight wound, that he won the approbation and elicited the admiration of not only Vice-Admiral Lord Hood, but several of the other commanders. During the proceedings, Sir Sidney Smith arrived from Smyrna in a small latine rigged vessel, which he had purchased and manned with over forty British seamen. In storming a fort, the gallantry of William Thornton attracted Sir Sidney, and chancing to render him an important service during the attack, he afterwards solicited the Admiral’s permission to retain the midshipman with him; and finally so satisfied was Sir Sidney with his skill and cool courage, that he entrusted the command of his little craft, the Swallow, to our hero.
Whilst the British were in possession of Toulon, William Thornton exerted himself to the utmost in endeavours to trace the unfortunate Duchesse de Coulancourt and Jean Plessis, but in vain. The frigate commanded by Captain Timmins had sailed for Genoa and Malta; but little Mabel had been placed in a cottage without Toulon, under the care of a Royalist family of distinction, a Madame Volney and daughters, who were very kind to her. Our hero visited her several times, and the joy of the little girl was great, indeed, when she beheld him. She wept incessantly after her mother; but though pale and thin, she appeared to be improving in health.
At length the British Admiral found it necessary to evacuate Toulon, and then a scene of indescribable confusion and dismay took place, for the unfortunate Royalists well knew the fate that awaited them from the savage Commissioners of the Republic, and that monster, the deputy Carrier. Madame Volney, her two daughters, and Mabel were received on board the Robust,whilst nearly four hundred fugitives were taken on board the Princess Royal, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Goodall.
The important service of destroying the ships and magazines was entrusted to Captain Sir Sidney Smith. Our hero and Charles Pole, who accompanied him in the Swallow tender, prepared to attend upon Sir Sidney in his fearfully dangerous expedition. It was now the month of December, the weather wild and stormy, the wind north-west and extremely cold.
Sir Sidney, attended by the Swallow, three Spanish and three English gun-boats—one commanded by Lieutenant O’Loughlin, proceeded to the arsenal to prepare whatever combustible materials were required for the work of devastation he was bent upon. By this time the dockyards had substituted the tricolour for the white cockade.
“By Jove, William,” said Charles Pole, “they have turned loose all the galley slaves, and they say there are eight hundred of them; they seem inclined to commence hostilities. Those gentlemen, I suppose, now consider themselves worthy citizens of regenerated France.”
“We’ll soon show them, Charley, my boy, a sight that will rapidly develop their ideas of liberty and equality;” and forthwith he placed the little tender in a position so that her guns could completely command those on shore. Lieutenant O’Loughlin did the same with his gun-boat. This proceeding awed the turbulent galley slaves. Whilst performing this manœuvre, the two boats were exposed to the shots and shells fired from the fort and the neighbouring hills, which Charles Pole declared was throwing a light upon the affair. Now and then the Republicans, posted in the houses, opened fire upon Sir Sidney’s party, busy at their operations, which induced our hero to try the effect of one of his guns pointed at the upper storey of a house, the inhabitants of which had been remarkably civil and liberal with their shots. The ball went crashing through the wall, knocking the bricks and mortar in a shower into their faces. This dispersed them in double quick time; but as the shades of night rapidly concealed the movements of those on shore, hundreds came down from the hills, and commenced rapid discharges of musketry.
“Come, my lads,” said the Swallow’s commander, “they are getting ready; just give them a dose of grape.”
“Ay, ay, sir; we will pepper the rascals’ jackets,” said Bill Saunders, applying the match to a gun well pointed, which drove the assailants into the wildest confusion. “Well done, Swallow; go it, my lads!” was shouted from some of the party at work ashore; and then the cry arose, “Here’s the Vulcan!”
William Thornton turned round, and sure enough beheldthe Vulcan fire-ship, Captain Stacey, entering the basin, towed by several boats.
The Commander placed the Vulcan, in a masterly manner, right across the tier of the men of war. About two hours afterwards the Swallow and the gun-boats were ordered to withdraw. They had scarcely receded a few hundred yards, when the trains laid to the different magazines were fired, and the flames ascended in terrific grandeur; but unfortunately the fire-ship, the Vulcan, from an accident, also ignited, and burst into a sheet of flame awful to behold.
The effect of this tremendous light cast over the whole adjoining waters, and lighting up the basin and town near it like noon-day, was extraordinary.
The Republicans, now distinctly seeing the situation of the British, set up furious outcries and shouts of vengeance, opening, at the same time, a terrific fire.
“Well, this is hot work enough, Charley,” said our hero, regarding the scene before him with wonder and admiration. They were within fifty yards of the Union gun-boat, Lieutenant O’Loughlin; and astern of her was another gun-boat. So vivid and brilliant were the flames, that every feature of the countenances of those on board the boats were distinctly recognisable. At this moment, as our hero was ordering the crew to drop the trailed latine sail forward, an awful and astounding explosion took place. The Swallow reeled under the shock, apparently lifted from the waters and dashed down again, the crew thrown one over the other. Regaining his feet, bewildered by the shock, William Thornton perceived the Union sinking, and the other gun-boat astern actually in pieces, having been blown into the air.[3]
Immediately, our hero leaped into the boat they were towing, and reached the side of the sinking gun-boat, picking up Lieutenant O’Loughlin and the rest of the crew, excepting three that had been previously killed.
“Am I all together, William?” exclaimed Lieutenant O’Loughlin; “for, by St. Patrick, I felt as if every limb I had went sporting different ways. What was it—an earthquake?”
“I can’t say; it shook us nearly to pieces, dismounted our two guns, and rolled our mainyard out of us.”
“Thank God!” exclaimed Sir Sidney Smith, pulling up in an eight-oared gig, “that so few lives have been sacrificed by that horrible explosion.”
“What was the cause of the explosion, Sir Sidney?” demanded Lieutenant O’Loughlin, giving himself a shake to satisfy himself that he was all right.
“Those accursed Spaniards,” said Captain Smith, “instead of scuttling the Iris frigate, set fire to her, and she had some thousand barrels of gunpowder on board. But make way for the basin; we must complete what those Spaniards have only partly begun.”
The wind had now lulled, but numerous boats took the vessels in tow; but, on again approaching the basin, they found the boom was thrown across the narrow entrance; and such an incessant volley of musketry was kept up, that they were compelled to abandon the enterprise.
As Charles Pole stood beside young Thornton, he received a musket ball in his left shoulder, that threw him on the deck; and as the midshipman stooped to raise him, O’Loughlin, who was standing directly behind him, received a slight wound on the side of the head.
“Bad cess to you,” said the Irishman, as he bound a handkerchief round his head, and assisted William Thornton to raise Charles Pole, whom they wanted to take below; but he would not listen to them. So, stanching the wound as well as they could, he remained on deck.
Having performed all they possibly could, and fired the two seventy-fours, the Hero and the Themistocles, whose flames added to the horrors of the scene, though Sir Sidney humanely landed all their crews, they were now repairing to rejoin the ships outside, when another terrific explosion took place, by the blowing up of the powder vessel, the frigate Montreal. The little Swallow and her boats were at that moment in the midst of a horrible shower of falling timbers, which caused the water surrounding them to foam and boil as if a volcano was beneath; yet, singular to relate, they received not the slightest injury.
The scene at this moment was awfully grand and horrible. The two seventy-fours in the inner road were in a pyramid of flame, which lighted up the shores on each side with a vivid distinctness. The heights were crowded with human beings, and the various forts were blazing away, though doing very little damage.
In the midst of this terrific scene, the troops were rapidly evacuating the town, under the able management of Captain Elphinstone. Numbers of boats were towing out the Courageux, whilst the British ship the Conflagration was set on fire, it being impossible to get her out.
When the unfortunate Royalist inhabitants found that the British were evacuating the town, they deserted their houses and every article they possessed, and a scene commenced which those who witnessed could never forget—a fearful massacre that stained Republican France with shame and reproach tofuture times. On the way to the shore the wretched fugitives were cut in two by the balls showered after them—mothers, with infants clinging to their breasts, were cut mercilessly to pieces; neither sex nor age were spared by those inhuman butchers. To the honour of our countrymen, let it be remembered that above 5,640 men, women, and children, were received, and every attention paid them, on board the British vessels of war.
Amidst all these horrors, the little Swallow, Sir Sidney Smith’s latine-rigged tender, pursued her way to her anchorage outside, fired upon as it passed by the two forts, Bolognier and Aiguilette; but the shot being ill-directed, did her no mischief.
Thus ended the famous expedition against Toulon. We leave the readers of history to form their own judgment with respect to its utility, and the good it caused to either England or Royalist France.
The following day William Thornton obtained permission to visit little Mabel on board the Robust.
The Robust was commanded by Captain Keith Elphinstone, as brave and kind an officer as any in the fleet. He had noticed the gallantry of our hero the preceding night, and knew that Sir Sidney Smith had taken a most especial liking to him. There were over three hundred unhappy fugitives, deprived of everything but the garments on their backs, on board the Robust; numbers of them were assembled on the decks, gazing upon the land they were soon to leave for ever, others for long years.
Madame Volney, her two daughters, and Mabel Arden, had a cabin to themselves. Madame was the widow of Rear-Admiral Volney, a most determined Royalist, who perished on the first breaking out of the Revolution, whilst in Paris, attending upon the King, whom he earnestly implored to fly and trust himself to the fleet, which, at that time, was almost entirely in favour of the monarch.
Madame Volney, luckily, was received on board the Robust before the evacuation of the town, and was able to secure a considerable amount of property in ready money, many valuables and jewels.
She knew the Duchesse de Coulancourt by name, having heard of her misfortunes and persecutions in Lyons; she therefore gladly and kindly received her daughter under her protection. Both her own daughters were grown up—one was seventeen the other twenty—both amiable and kind-hearted girls.
It is not very often that midshipmen are noticed by Captains of seventy-four gun ships, but Captain Elphinstone was an exception. He was remarkably kind to all his young gentlemen. Prepossessed in favour of our hero, he received him withgreat cordiality, spoke of the proceedings of the previous night, and congratulated him on his singular escape from the blowing-up of the Iris. Our hero answered all Captain Elphinstone’s questions modestly, but with a manly, open manner that greatly pleased him. The Captain was not aware that the little girl under the protection of Madame Volney was English. William Thornton, therefore, gave the Captain a brief outline of her unfortunate story, and the manner in which he had become acquainted with her.
“Oh! I understand now,” said Captain Elphinstone; “you, then, are the midshipman that accompanied Lieutenant Cooke into the town, and who behaved so well on that occasion; I heard that a midshipman from the Victory did accompany the Lieutenant, but I did not hear the name.”
After some more questions on the subject of little Mabel, he was permitted to descend to the cabin to see her.
As he had several times visited Madame Volney when residing in her cottage without the town, he was no stranger.
As usual, the little girl flew to his side, embracing him with the warmest affection, looking up into his handsome features, with tears in her eyes, saying—
“Oh, dear brother! how rejoiced I am to see you alive and well. All last night I could not close my eyes; the terrible noise of the firing, the frightful glare of the flames, seen from our cabin windows, terrified us to death; and I guessed you were in the midst of it all, and I prayed that you might be spared.”
“That is quite true, Mr. Thornton,” said Madame Volney, with a sigh; “none of us could sleep, or indeed lie down; the thoughts of the horrors enacting on shore, the misery we knew our poor defenceless countrymen and women were suffering, made our hearts ache; and then, when the boats came alongside with the unhappy fugitives, and we heard their cries and lamentations, our sufferings nearly equalled theirs.”
“This dear child did nothing but think of you,” said Mademoiselle Agatha Volney, the youngest daughter, a very pretty and engaging girl, and who looked upon our hero with surprise and admiration, that one so young and so gentle in manner and appearance could be mixed up amid such horrible scenes as the preceding night must have witnessed.
“I fear indeed,” observed our hero, “that hundreds of unfortunate Royalists suffered last night, and most unfortunate it was that we were forced to evacuate the town; but with the force remaining at the disposal of the Admiral, it was utterly impossible, I understand, to hold the place.”
The conversation then turned upon the future proceedings of the British fleet, and what was to become of the ill-fatedfugitives on board the British ships. Madame Volney declared it was her intention to procure a passage to London in some merchant vessel, and proposed to our hero that Mabel should continue with her till she should be claimed by her relatives in England.
Poor Mabel could scarcely refrain from tears.
“Is there no hope, then,” she anxiously exclaimed, “of hearing some intelligence of my beloved mamma? Oh! are we never to meet again?”
“Do not grieve, dear Mabel,” soothingly urged William Thornton; “though we may be baffled here in gaining some trace of her, yet depend on it Jean Plessis, faithful and devoted as he is, will never rest till he comes on the track of those who carried her off. She will know you are safe, and taken to your relatives in England, and, when released herself, she will no doubt seek to reach England to rejoin you.”
Mabel listened and sighed. It was a bad prospect for the poor girl; and when William Thornton kissed her, and, with great affection in his manner and tone, bade her and Madame Volney farewell for a time, she burst into a passionate flood of tears, and, running into her berth, hid her face upon her pillow.
“She is a most sensitive child,” said Madame Volney’s daughter; “and though only twelve years old, has all the thoughts and feelings of a far maturer age.”
“Well, I trust and hope,” said the midshipman, “that time will do its usual work, and reduce the violence of her present feelings. She is very young; and if her relatives receive her kindly, it will tend greatly to obliterate the memory of the past.”
FOOTNOTES:[3]Fact. See James’s “Naval History.”
[3]Fact. See James’s “Naval History.”
[3]Fact. See James’s “Naval History.”