Both of these
youths, whose longing was for exploration and discovery, and who are
remembered by mankind in that connection, were cradled on the sea
amidst the smoke and flame of battle, both in the same waters.
During the next twenty-five years Laperouse saw a considerable amount
of fighting in the East and West Indies, and in Canadian waters. He was
commander of the AMAZON, under D'Estaing, during a period when events
did not shape themselves very gloriously for British arms, not because
our admirals had lost their skill and nerve, or our seamen their grit
and courage, but because Governments at home muddled, squabbled,
starved the navy, misunderstood the problem, and generally made a mess
of things. We need not follow him through the details of these years,
but simply note that Laperouse's dash and good seamanship won him a
high reputation among French naval officers, and brought him under the
eye of the authorities who afterwards chose him to command an
expedition of discovery.
One incident must be recorded, because it throws a light on the
character of Laperouse. In 1782, whilst serving under Admiral
Latouche-Treville in the West, he was ordered to destroy the British
forts on the Hudson River. He attacked them with the SCEPTRE, 74 guns.
The British had been engaged in their most unfortunate war with the
American Colonies, and in 1781, in consequence of wretchedly bad
strategy, had lost command of the sea. The French had been helping the
revolted Americans, not for love of them, but from enmity to their
rivals. After the capitulation of the British troops at Yorktown, a
number of loyalists still held out under discouraging conditions in
Canada, and the French desired to dislodge them from the important
waterway of the Hudson.
Laperouse found little difficulty in fulfilling his mission, for the
defence was weak and the garrisons of the forts, after a brief
resistance, fled to the woods. It was then that he did a thing
described in our principal naval history as an act of "kindness and
humanity, rare in the annals of war." Laperouse knew that if he totally
destroyed the stores as well as the forts, the unfortunate British,
after he had left, would perish either from hunger or under the
tomahawks of the Red Indians. So he was careful to see that the food
and clothing, and a quantity of powder and small arms, were left
untouched, for, as he nobly said, "An enemy conquered should have
nothing more to fear from a civilised foe; he then becomes a friend."
Some readers may like to see the verses in which a French poet
has enshrined this incident. For their benefit they are appended: -
"Un jour ayant appris que les Anglais en fuite
Se cachaient dans un bois redoutant la poursuite,
Tu laissas sur la plage aux soldats affames,
Par la peur affoles, en haillons, desarmes,
Des vivres abondantes, des habits et des armes;
Tu t'eloignas apres pour calmer leurs alarmes,
Et quand on s'etonnait: 'Sachez qu' un ennemi
Vaincu n'a rien a craindre, et devient un ami.'"
The passage may be rendered in English thus: "One day, having heard
that the fleeing English were hidden in a forest dreading pursuit, you
left upon the shore for those soldiers - famished, ragged, disarmed,
and paralysed by fear - abundance of food, clothes and arms; then, to
calm their fears, you removed your forces to a distance; and, when
astonishment was expressed, you said: 'Understand that a beaten enemy
has nothing to fear from us, and becomes a friend.'"
Chapter III.
THE LOVE STORY OF LAPEROUSE.
"My story is a romance" - "Mon histoire est un roman" - wrote Laperouse
in relating the events with which this chapter will deal. We have seen
him as a boy; we have watched him in war; we shall presently follow him
as a navigator. But it is just as necessary to read his charming love
story, if we are to understand his character. We should have no true
idea of him unless we knew how he bore himself amid perplexities that
might have led him to quote, as peculiarly appropriate to his own case,
the lines of Shakespeare: -
"Ay me! for ought that ever I could read,
Could ever hear by tale or history,
The course of true love never did run smooth,"
During the period of his service in the East Indies, Laperouse
frequently visited Ile-de-France (which is now a British possession,
called Mauritius). Then it was the principal naval station of the
French in the Indian Ocean. There he met a beautiful girl, the daughter
of one of the subordinate officials at Port Louis. Louise Eleonore
Broudou is said to have been "more than pretty"; she was distinguished
by grace of manner, charm of disposition, and fine, cultivated
character. The young officer saw her often, admired her much,
fell in love with her, and asked her to marry him. Mademoiselle loved
him too; and if they two only had had to be consulted, the happy union
of a well-matched pair might have followed soon.
It signified little to Laperouse, in love, that the lady had neither
rank nor fortune. But his family in France took quite a different view.
He wrote to a favourite sister, telling her about it, and she lost no
time in conveying the news to his parents. This was in 1775. Then the
trouble began.
Inasmuch as he was over thirty years of age at this time, it may be
thought that he might have been left to choose a wife for himself.
