III.
The most interesting of the textual variations to be found in
the several editions of the pamphlet is that concerning the affair
of La Belle Poule. This French vessel was engaged in the
first naval action of the war when, in company with two smaller
ships, Licorne and Pallas, she ran afoul
Admiral
Keppel's British squadron off Brest, June 18, 1778. The Frenchman
was ordered to stand to by one of Keppel's frigates, but replied to
the warning bow shot with a broadside. In the ensuing encounter
La Belle Poule was able to withdraw into the safety of Brest
harbor, but her escorts were taken.[5] Gibbon dealt with this affair in the
Mémoire Justificatif, but erroneously described "les
circonstances de la prise de la Belle Poule et de deux
autres frégates."[6] This
factual
mistake was corrected in the second issue and carried into the
second edition as a more modest statement
concerning "les circonstances du combat avec la Belle Poule
et de la prise des deux frégates."[7] Though not an especially
significant
error, this slip of Gibbon's pen and its correction is peculiarly
interesting, as almost the same sort of error was made by his
French protagonist Caron de Beaumarchais whose airy treatment of
cold naval facts led to considerable embarrassment at the hands of
outraged politicians.[8]
