One final word. The _Formidable’s_ magnificent defence was the redeeming event for the other side of the “Journée de M. Conflans,” as the French Navy, pillorying the memory of its unfortunate Admiral, has ever since called the battle. So, too, France has recognized it. A new _Formidable_ was laid down in France at the first fitting opportunity, so named in honour of the Comte de Verger’s gallant man-of-war. The French battleship _Formidable_ of to-day—not so long since, with her armour plates of 44 tons weight each and 75-ton guns, the pride of her fleet, and still, as reconstructed, a ship capable of striking a hard blow for the honour of her flag—commemorates the heroism of de Verger and his gallant men for the twentieth-century French Navy. VI WHEN THE _VICTORY_ FIRST JOINED THE FLEET Thou great vessel, whose tremendous claim So well is proved to Victory’s famous name! In stately guise, all smart and trim, rides the _Victory_ to-day at the flagship’s moorings in Portsmouth Harbour, flying at her masthead the red St. George’s Cross flag of the Admiral holding the chief command at the principal naval port of the British Empire. To see her now, spick and span and as smart as paint can make her, she looks at the first glance barely a day older than the latest launched of the old style wooden men-of-war that are yet left among us doing harbour duty in various capacities. The old _St. Vincent_, which passed away only the other day, a worn-out veteran, was launched ten years after the _Victory_ had fired her last shotted gun. The still existing _Asia_, at Portsmouth, was launched thirteen years after the _Victory_ had finally retired from the sea. The _Victory_ as a fact had been some years afloat and had fought her first battle long before the great-great-grandfathers of most of us were old enough to trundle a hoop or spin a top. She forms in herself, indeed, a direct and actual link between our own day and the times of George the Second. Two famous Admirals of the Seven Years’ War time, Anson and Boscawen, were the Lords of the Admiralty who signed the order to lay the _Victory’s_ keel. The names themselves take us back into history well over a century and a half. And the difference between things then and now is wider than the gap of years. It is difficult indeed, as we nowadays see the _Victory_ in Portsmouth Harbour, amidst the stir and activity of a modern naval port, to realize how wide a space her lifetime really covers. * * * * *