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See also:SAINTS, See also:BATTLE OF THE . This battle is frequently called by the date on which it took See also:place—the 12th of See also:April 1782. The See also:French know it as the battle of See also:Dominica, near the See also:coast of which it was fought. The Saints are small rocky islets in the channel between the islands of Dominica and Guadaloupe in the See also:West Indies. The battle is of exceptional importance in See also:naval See also:history; it was by far the most considerable fought at See also:sea in the See also:American See also:War of See also:Independence, and was to See also:Great See also:Britain of the nature of a deliverance, since it not only saved See also:Jamaica from a formidable attack, but after the disasters in See also:North See also:America went far to restore See also:British See also:prestige. The See also:comte de See also:Grasse,with 33 See also:sail of the See also:line, was at Fort Royal in See also:Martinique. His aim was to effect a See also:combination with a See also:Spanish force from See also:Cuba, and invade Jamaica. A British See also:fleet (36 sail of the line), commanded by See also:Sir See also:George, afterwards See also:Lord See also:Rodney (q.v.), was anchored in See also:Gros Islet See also:Bay, See also:Santa See also:Lucia. On the 8th of April the British lookout frigates reported that the French were at sea, and Rodney immediately sailed in pursuit. See also:Light and variable sea or See also:land breezes made the movements of both fleets uncertain. Some of the See also:ships of each might have a See also:wind, while others were becalmed. On the 9th of April eight ships of the British See also:van, at some distance from the bulk of 'their fleet, and nearly opposite the See also:mountain called the Morne au Diable in Dominica, were attacked by fifteen of the French. The comte de Grasse, whose own ships were much scattered and partly becalmed, and who moreover was hampered by the transports carrying soldiers and stores, did not See also:press the attack See also:home. His See also:chief wish was to carry his fleet through the channel between Dominica and Guadaloupe, while Rodney was anxious to force a battle. During the See also:night of the 11th-12th the greater See also:part of the French had cleared the channel, but a collision took place between two of their ships by which one was severely damaged, The crippled See also:vessel was seen and pursued by four ships of the
British van. The comte de Grasse recalled all his vessels, and See also:bore down towards the British. Rodney ordered the last of his ships to See also:lead into See also:action, the others following her in See also:succession, and the detached ships falling in behind as they returned from the pursuit. The two fleets in line of battle passed one another, the French steering in a southerly, the British in a northerly direction. Both were going very slowly. See also:Fire was opened about 8 o'See also:clock, and by ro o'clock the leading British See also:ship had passed the last of the French. While the action was in progress, one of the variable winds of the coast began to See also:blow from the See also:south, while the See also:northern extremities of the fleets were in an easterly See also:breeze. Confusion was produced in both forces, and a great See also:gap was created in the French line just ahead of the " Formidable" (roo), Rodney's See also:flagship. The See also:captain of the fleet, Sir See also: Rodney hesitated to depart from the traditional order, but after a few moments of doubt accepted the See also:suggestion. The " Formidable" was steered through the opening, followed by six of those immediately behind her. The ships towards the See also:rear passed through the disordered French in the See also:smoke, which was very thick, without knowing what they had done till they were beyond the enemy. About r o'clock the British had all either gone beyond the French or were to the See also:east of them. The French were broken into three bodies, and were completely disordered. The comte de Grasse, in his flagship the " Ville de See also:Paris," with five other vessels, was isolated from his van and rear. Rodney directed his attack on these six vessels, which were taken after a very gallant resistance. It was the See also:general belief of the fleet that many more would have been captured if Rodney had pursued more vigorously, but he was content with the prizes he had taken. Two more of the French were captured by Sir See also:Samuel See also:Hood, afterwards Lord Hood, in the See also:Mona Passage on the 19th of April. See Beatson, Naval and Military See also:Memoirs (See also:London, 1804), vol. 5 ; and a careful See also:analysis from the French See also:side by See also:Chevalier, Histoire de la marine francaise See also:pendant la guerre de t'independance americaine (Paris, 1877). (D. H.)
See also:SAINT-SAENS, 'CHARLES CAMILLE (1835- ), French composer, was See also:born in Paris on the 3rd of See also:October 1835. After having as a See also:child taken lessons on the piano, and learned the elements of See also:composition, he entered the Paris See also:Conservatoire in the See also:organ class, then presided over by See also:Eugene Benoist, obtaining the second See also:prize in 1849, and the first two years later. For a See also:short See also:time he studied composition under See also:Halevy, and in 1852, and again in 1864, competed without success for the See also:Grand Prix de See also:Rome. Notwithstanding these unaccountable failures, Saint-Saens worked indefatigably. In 1853, when only eighteen, he was appointed organist at the See also: At last, through the See also:influence of See also:Liszt, his Biblical opera See also:Samson et Dalila was brought out at See also:Weimar in 1877. This See also:work, generally accepted as his operatic masterpiece, had been begun as far back as 1869, and an act had been heard at one of Colonne'r concerts in 1875. Notwithstanding its great success at Weimar, its first performance on French See also:soil took place at See also:Rouen in 1890. The following year it was given in Paris at the See also:Eden Theatre, and finally in 1892 was produced at the Grand Opera, where it has remained one of the most attractive works of the repertoire. Its Biblical subject stood in the way of its being performed on the London See also:stage until 1909, when it was given at Covent See also:Garden with great success. None of his works is better calculated to exemplify the dual tendencies of his See also:style. The first act, with its somewhat formal choruses, suggests the influence of See also:Bach and See also:Handel, and is treated rather in the manner of an See also:oratorio. The more dramatic portions of the opera are not uninfluenced by See also:Meyerbeer, while in the mellifluous strains allotted to the temptress there are occasional suggestions of See also:Gounod. Of See also:Wagner there is but little trace, See also:save in the fact that the composer has divided his work into scenes, thus avoiding the old-fashioned denominations of " See also:air," " See also:duet," " trio," &c.. The See also:score, however, is not devoid of individuality. The influences mentioned above, possibly excepting that of Bach in the earlier scenes, are rather of a superficial nature, for Saint-Satins has undoubtedly a style of his own. It is a composite style, certainly, and all the materials that go towards forming it may not be absolutely his; that is, the See also:eclecticism of his mind may lead him at one moment to adopt an archaic See also:form of expression, at another to employ the See also:currant musical See also:language of his See also:day, and sometimes to blend the two. It is perhaps in the latter See also:case that he shows most individuality; for although his works may denote the varied influences of such totally dissimilar masters as Bach, See also:Beethoven, Liszt and Gounod, he ever contrives to put in some-thing of his own.
After the production of Samson et Dalila Saint-Satins stood at the parting of the ways—looked at askance by the reactionary See also:section of the French musicians, and suspected of harbouring subversive Wagnerian ideas, but ready to be welcomed by the progressive party. Both sides were doomed to disappointment, for in his subsequent operas Saint-Satins attempted to effect a See also:compromise between the older and the newer forms of opera. He had already entertained the See also:idea of utilizing the history of France for operatic purposes. The first and only result of this project has been See also:Etienne See also:Marcel, an opera produced at See also:Lyons in 1879. Although of unequal merit, owing partly to its want of unity of style, this work contains much music of an attractive See also:kind, and scarcely deserves the neglect into which it has fallen. Forsaking the history of France he now composed his opera See also: See also:Phryne, however, a two-act trifle of a light description, produced at the Opera Comique in 1893, met with success. In 1895 Fredegonde, an opera begun by Ernest See also:Guiraud and completed by Saint-Saens, was produced in Paris. The " lyrical drama " Les Barbares, given at the Grand Opera in Igor, was received with marked favour.
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