Memoirs of Louis XIV, vol 6 | Page 8

him, that they had come out to meet him, and that they
would send pilots to Rambure, to conduct him up the river to
Edinburgh, where all was hope and joy. Rambure, equally surprised
that the squadron which bore the King of England had not appeared,
and by the publicity of his forthcoming arrival, went up towards
Edinburgh more and more surrounded by barques, which addressed to
him the same language. A gentleman of the country passed from one of
these barques upon the frigate. He told Rambure that the principal
noblemen of Scotland had resolved to act together, that these noblemen
could count upon more than twenty thousand men ready to take up
arms, and that all the towns awaited only the arrival of the King to
proclaim him.
More and more troubled that the squadron did not appear, Rambure,
after a time, turned back and went in search of it. As he approached the
mouth of the river, which he had so lately entered, he heard a great
noise of cannon out at sea, and a short time afterwards he saw many
vessels of war there. Approaching more and more, and quitting the
river, he distinguished our squadron, chased by twenty-six large ships
of war and a number of other vessels, all of which he soon lost sight of,
so much was our squadron in advance. He continued on his course in
order to join them; but he could not do so until all had passed by the
mouth of the river. Then steering clear of the rear-guard of the English
ships, he remarked that the English fleet was hotly chasing the ship of
the King of England, which ran along the coast, however, amid the fire
of cannon and oftentimes of musketry. Rambure tried, for a long time,
to profit by the lightness of his frigate to get ahead; but, always cut off
by the enemy's vessels, and continually in danger of being taken, he
returned to Dunkerque, where he immediately despatched to the Court
this sad and disturbing news. He was followed, five or six days after,
by the King of England, who returned to Dunkerque on the 7th of April,
with his vessels badly knocked about.
It seems that the ship in which was the Prince, after experiencing the

storm I have already alluded to, set sail again with its squadron, but
twice got out of its reckoning within forty-eight hours; a fact not easy
to understand in a voyage from Ostend to Edinburgh. This
circumstance gave time to the English to join them; thereupon the King
held a council, and much time was lost in deliberations. When the
squadron drew near the river, the enemy was so close upon us, that to
enter, without fighting either inside or out, seemed impossible. In this
emergency it was suggested that our ships should go on to Inverness,
about eighteen or twenty leagues further off. But this was objected to
by Middleton and the Chevalier Forbin, who declared that the King of
England was expected only at Edinburgh, and that it was useless to go
elsewhere; and accordingly the project was given up, and the ships
returned to France.
This return, however, was not accomplished without some difficulty.
The enemy's fleet attacked the rear guard of ours, and after an obstinate
combat, took two vessels of war and some other vessels. Among the
prisoners made by the English were the Marquis de Levi, Lord Griffin,
and the two sons of Middleton; who all, after suffering some little bad
treatment, were conducted to London.
Lord Griffin was an old Englishman, who deserves a word of special
mention. A firm Protestant, but much attached to the King of England,
he knew nothing of this expedition until after the King's departure. He
went immediately in quest of the Queen. With English freedom he
reproached her for the little confidence she had had in him, in spite of
his services and his constant fidelity, and finished by assuring her that
neither his age nor his religion would hinder him from serving the King
to the last drop of his blood. He spoke so feelingly that the Queen was
ashamed. After this he went to Versailles, asked M. de Toulouse for a
hundred Louis and a horse, and without delay rode off to Dunkerque,
where he embarked with the others. In London he was condemned to
death; but he showed so much firmness and such disdain of death, that
his judges were too much ashamed to avow the execution to be carried
out. The Queen sent him one respite, then another, although he had
never asked for either, and finally he was allowed to remain at liberty
in London on parole. He always received fresh respites, and lived in

London as if it his