In general, every disposition was shown in France to do justice to Lord Exmouth's merit on this occasion. Yet it was to be expected that the feelings so natural under the circumstances of their recent defeat, and the present occupation of their territory, would lead many to detract from the honours of the nation which had so severely humbled them. Some illiberal reflections which appeared in the French journals, prompted the following lines by the late Lord Grenville:—
"These hands toil-worn, these limbs by fetters galled,
These bodies, scarred by many a servile blow,
These spirits, wasted by disease and woe,
These Christian souls, by miscreant rage enthralled,
What band of heroes now recalls to life?—
Gives us again to hail our native shores,
And to each fond, despairing heart, restores
The long-lost parent, the long-widowed wife?
O Britain! still to lawless power a foe,