Chapter 28

[Footnote 79: Jean Bart (1650-1702), a famous French sailor. After serving some time in the Dutch Navy, he returned to France, when war broke out with Holland, and equipped a privateer, with which he did great damage to the enemy. Louis XIV. thereupon gave him a commission in the Navy, then generally granted only to nobles, and, in 1691, made him a vice-admiral. In that year, Bart burnt over eighty English ships outside Dunkirk, and made a descent upon Newcastle, returning with an enormous booty. He fought continuo…