Barth

Barth, or BART, JEAN, a French naval hero, the son of a fisherman, born in 1651 at Dunkirk, served first in the Dutch navy under De Ruyter, but on the commencement of the war with Holland passed over to the French service. As his humble birth made promotion hopeless, he became captain of a privateer, and distinguished himself so greatly that Louis XIV. at last appointed him lieutenant of a man-of-war. In 1691 he commanded a small squadron in the North Sea, where he destroyed many English vessels, and made a descent on the coast near Newcastle. In 1694, after a desperate struggle with a superior Dutch fleet, he recaptured a large flotilla of corn-ships, and steered them safely into Dunkirk. Soon after, being caught at a disadvantage by the English, he was taken prisoner and carried to Plymouth, but he soon managed to make his escape in an open fishing-boat to France. The king received him with distinction at Versailles, but at the same time spoke continually of the mischance which had befallen him the year before. Stung by this, Barth hastened to Dunkirk, and in spite of the blockade of the harbour by the English, undertook a cruise in which he was remarkably successful. At a personal audience in 1697, Louis XIV. appointed him to the command of a squadron, on which the honest seaman bluntly thanked the king in the words: 'Sire, you have done well in this.' The courtiers were shocked at the freedom of the speech; but the king took the answer in good part, and Barth soon justified his confidence. The peace of Ryswick terminated his active career. He died at Dunkirk, April 27, 1702. His rough frankness and coarse wit, which spared neither high nor low, made him popular, no less than his boldness and readiness for battle.