10 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE OF SAINT-SIMON.

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 tq 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 allow 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