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“...JAMAICA 283
Ville de Paris, the magnificent vessel which was the gift
of the city of Paris to Louis XV. One of these extremely
handsome pieces of ordnance, whose decoration was on
a par with the splendour of the French flagship, is called
“ Le Précipice,” and the other “ Le Modeste,” and they
bear the following inscription :
ULTIMA RATIO REGUM
PLURIBUS NEC IMPAR,
LOUIS CHARLES DE BOURBON
COMTE d’eU
DUC D’AUMALE.
Precisely similar cannon are included in the collection at
the Tower of London.
The memorable battle of the Saints (see page 247)
which secured to England her West Indian colonies, was
fought off Dominica and the islands from which it took
its name, on April 12th, 1782.* It began at 7 a.m. and
lasted until 6.30 p.m. The English lost 261 killed and
837 wounded, and of the French no fewer than 14,000
were accounted for as captured or killed. The Ville de
Paris carried 108 guns and 1,300 men.
When Spanish Town ceased to be the capital of
Jamaica, during the governorship of Sir John...”
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