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ships in the English fleet, yet scarce were there 22 or 23 among them all, which matched 90 of the Spanish ships in the bigness, or could conveniently assault them. Wherefore the English ships using their prerogative of nimble steerage,2 whereby they could turn and wield themselves with the wind which way they listed,3 came often very near upon the Spaniards, and charged them so sore,1 that now and then they were but a pike's length asunder: and so continually giving them one broadside after another, they discharged all their shot both great and small upon them, spending one whole day from morning till night in that violent kind of conflict, until powder and bullets failed them. In regard of which want they thought it convenient not to pursue the Spaniards any longer, because they had many great advantages of the English, namely, for the extraordinary bigness of their ships, and also for that they were so nearly conjoined, and kept together in so good array, that they could by no means be fought withal one to one. The English thought, therefore, that they had right well acquitted themselves, in chasing the Spaniards first from Calais, and then from Dunkirk, and by that means to have hindered them from joining with 10 the Duke of Parma's forces, and getting the wind of them, to have driven them from their own coasts.

"The Spaniards that day sustained great loss and damage, having many of their ships shot through and through, and they discharged likewise great store of

1 en grandeur.

2 Simply, agilité.

3 Obsolete, for 'wished,' 'liked.' 4 Use attaquer rudement.

5 et à force de leur lâcher (or tirer) des bordées coup sur coup. There is a misconception to be guarded against, here: coup is not used exactly for coup de canon (firing of a gun), though it might be said to mean that, indirectly, in this particular case; the idiomatic expression coup sur coup ('one after another') may be said of almost anything, as, e.g., Après

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maints quolibets (low jokes) renvoyés coup sur coup."-LA FONTAINE, page 33.

6 tous leurs boulets et tout leur plomb.-upon them;' p. 22, n. 7 projectiles (missiles). -' failed,' after 'until;' see page 299, note 3. 8 Give to the whole of this old English style a modern French construction.

9 See page 249, note 9. 10 to join with,' rallier (a naval term).

11 traversés; or, percés de part en part.

ordinance1 against the English; who, indeed, sustained some hindrance, but not comparable to the Spaniards' loss for they did not lose either one ship or person of importance, although Sir Francis Drake's ship was pierced with shot about forty times."

It reflects little credit on the English government2 that the English fleet was so deficiently supplied with ammunition, as to be unable to complete the destruction of the invaders. But enough was done to ensure it. Many of the largest Spanish ships were sunk or captured in the action of this day. And at length the Spanish admiral, despairing of success, fled northward with a southerly wind, in the hope of rounding Scotland, and so returning to Spain without a farther encounter with the English fleet. Lord Effingham left a squadron to continue the blockade of the Prince of Parma's armament; but that wise general soon withdrew 5 his troops to more promising fields of action.6 Meanwhile the lordadmiral himself and Drake chased the vincible Armada, as it was now termed, for some distance northward; and then, when it seemed to bend away from the Scotch coast towards Norway, 10 it was thought best, in the words of Drake, "to leave them to those boisterous and uncouth northern seas."

The sufferings and losses which the unhappy Spaniards sustained in their flight round Scotland and Ireland, are well known. Of their whole Armada only fifty-three shattered vessels brought back their beaten and wasted crews to the Spanish coast which they had quitted in such pageantry and pride.-(CREASY, The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World.)

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THE BATTLE OF ASSYE (INDIA). [Extracted from the DUKE of WELLINGTON'S Despatches.]

TO THE GOVERNOR GENERAL.

Camp at1 Assye, 24th Sept., 1803.

I was joined by Major Hill, with the last of the convoys expected from the river Kistna, on the 18th; and on the 20th was enabled to move forward towards the enemy, who had been joined, in the course of the last seven or eight days, by the infantry under Colonel Pohlman, by that belonging to Begum Sumroo, and by another brigade of infantry, the name of whose commander I have not ascertained.2 The enemy's army was collected about Bokerdun, and between that place and Jaffierabad.

I was near Colonel Stevenson's corps on the 21st, and had a conference with that officer, in which we concerted a plan to attack the enemy's army with the divisions under our command on the 24th, in the morning; and we marched on the 22nd, Colonel Stevenson by the western route, and I by the eastern route, round the hills between Budnapoor and Jaulna.

On the 23rd, I arrived at Naulniah, and there received a report that Scindiah and the Rajah of Berar had moved off in the morning with their cavalry, and that the infantry were about to follow, but were still in camp 5 at the distance of about six miles from the ground on which I had intended to encamp. It was obvious that the attack was no longer to be delayed; and, having provided for the security of my baggage and stores at Naulniah, I marched on to attack the enemy.

I found the whole combined army of Scindiah and the Rajah of Berar encamped on the bank of the Kaitna.

1 Use de here, not d.

2 dont je ne sais pas encore le nom du commandant.

3 was,' 'had;' see page 1, note 3, page 55, note 8, and page

30, note 15,

nos ordres.

5 Use the past participle of camper.

river, nearly on the ground which I had been informed they occupied. Their right, which consisted entirely of? cavalry, was about 3 Bokerdun, and extended to their corps of infantry, which were encamped in the neighbourhood of Assye. Although I came first in front of their right, I determined to attack their left, as the defeat of their corps of infantry was most likely to be effectual: 5 accordingly I marched round to their left flank, covering the march of the column of infantry by the British cavalry in the rear, and by the Mahratta and Mysore cavalry on the right flank.

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We passed the river Kaitna at a ford beyond the enemy's left flank, and I formed the infantry immediately in two lines, with the British cavalry as a reserve in a third, in an open space between that river and a nullah 10 running parallel to it. The Mahratta and Mysore cavalry occupied the ground beyond the Kaitna, on our left flank, and kept in check a large 11 body of the enemy's cavalry which had followed our march from the right of their own position.

The enemy had altered the position of their infantry previous to our attack: it was no longer, as at first, along the Kaitna; but extended from that river across to the 12 village of Assye upon the nullah, which was upon our right. We attacked them immediately, and the troops advanced under a very hot fire from cannon,13 the execution of which 14 was terrible. The piquets of the infantry and the 74th regiment, which were on the right of the first and second lines, 15 suffered particularly from the fire of the

1 de la rivière Kaitna; or, plaine. simply, de la Kaitna.

2

en.

3

aux alentours de. 4 to come,' arriver.-'in front of,' devant.

[blocks in formation]

10 A 'nullah,' or 'nallah' (properly 'nálá'), is a Hindustani word, which means 'a brook,' ‘a water-course,' 'the channel of a torrent.'

11 See page 42, note 19.
12 jusqu'au.

13 une très-vive canonade.
14 dont l'effet.

15 de la première et de la deuxième ligne (not lignes). When an adjective qualifies several substantives, it must be put in the plural; but the French grammar does not

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guns on the left of the enemy's position near Assye. The enemy's cavalry also made an attempt to charge the 74th regiment, at the moment when they were most exposed to this fire, but they were cut up 2 by the British cavalry, which moved on at that moment. At length the enemy's line gave way3 in all directions, and the British cavalry cut in among their broken5 infantry; but some of their corps went off in good order, and a fire was kept up on our troops from many of the guns from which the enemy had been first driven, by individuals who had been passed by the line under the supposition that they were dead. Lieutenant Colonel Maxwell, with the British cavalry, charged one large body of infantry, which had retired, and was formed again, in which operation he was killed; and some time elapsed before we could put an end to the straggling fire, which was kept up by individuals from the guns from which the enemy were driven.11 The enemy's cavalry also, which had been hovering 12 round us. throughout the action, were still near us. At length, when the last formed body of infantry gave way, the whole went off, and left in our hands 90 pieces of cannon. The victory, which was certainly complete, has, however, cost us dear. Your Excellency will perceive, by the enclosed return, 13 that our loss in officers and men has

10

allow a substantive qualified by several adjectives to take the mark of the plural. The reason given by grammarians is, that in such a case, the phrase is elliptical, as, for instance, here, it is for la première ligne et la deuxième ligne. This reason is bad, and the rule absurd; but absurd though it be, it is generally observed, except, however, when the adjectives follow the substantive (as at p. 138, n. 11), in which case the best authors have almost invariably broken through this point of grammatical étiquette. Yet, even here, good writers would not scruple to say, des première et deuxième lignes.

1 au moment où (or que); or, alors que.

2 Use tailler en pièces.-'to move on,' in this sense, s'ébranler. 3 to give way,' in this sense, plier. 4 penetrated.'

5 'to break,' here, rompre. 6 et nos troupes eurent à essu yer le feu de plusieurs des canons d'où l'ennemi avait d'abord été repoussé, soutenu par.

7 près desquels la ligne avait passé sans faire attention à eux. 8 See page 4, note 2. 9 See page 112, note 5. 10 irrégulier.

11 by the individuals of whom I have spoken.'

12 to hover,' here, voltiger. 13 l'état (or, le compte-rendu, or, le relevé) ci-inclus.-loss;' see page 301, n. 7.

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