“Lord Wellesley having imparted his sentiments to his Majesty and the cabinet, the release of Ferdinand was determined on. The Baron de Kolli, an intrepid and enterprising foreigner, being honored with the confidence of the British Government, was furnished with a letter from the King of England, written in Latin, and addressed to the King of Spain, signed by George III., and counter-signed by the Marquis of Wellesley. To this letter was added another, written in the same language, and addressed by Charles IV. in 1802, to his Britannic Majesty.
“Early in Feb. 1810, Captain Cockburn was appointed to the command of the Implacable 74, with a frigate[1] and two small vessels under his orders. He was directed to receive the Baron de Kolli and his friend on board, and to proceed in the execution of his orders, which were to land him in Quiberon bay, and to await his return, and that of Ferdinand, to the sea-shore. Jewellery to the amount of £10,000 was placed in the hands of Captain Cockburn, who, with the assistance of Mr. Westphal, (his first lieutenant,) and the Baron himself, sewed them up in the dresses of the latter. The Implacable sailed from Spithead early in March, and reaching Quiberon bay on the 6th, the Baron was landed on the night of the 7th, by Mr. Westphal, who left the Implacable, after dark, in a gale of wind blowing on the shore, and a considerable sea running, so that the boat had great difficulty in returning to the ship. The spot chosen to disembark at was under the convent of St. Gildas, celebrated for the seclusion of Abelard. It was most particularly enjoined upon the Baron, by Captain Cockburn, that he should not go to Paris: there could be no reason why he should have gone; and his disobedience of this injunction was the most probable cause of his failure. His friend Albert, who accompanied him, whose nerves were none of the strongest, has been accused of betraying him. A Monsieur Ferriet was also most incautiously admitted by the Baron to his confidence: a secret intrusted to three people is seldom a secret long. The Baron, whose papers were admirably well executed, might have reached Valançay in safety; but he chose to take a lodging at the village, or wood of Vincennes, and in the castle of that name he was very shortly a state prisoner, and his papers and jewels confided to the minister of police, the acute Fouche.
“Captain Cockburn having continued in Quiberon bay until he learnt the detection of Kolli, and the abortion of the scheme, returned to Spithead, where, on his arrival, the officers of the ship learnt what had been the object of their mission; a proof, certainly, that the Baron had not been betrayed by any one on board the Implacable[2]."”
Had Lieutenant Westphal been taken by the enemy whilst thus employed, there can be no doubt that he would have met with the same fate which befel the lamented Captain
- ↑ Imperieuse, see p. 99.
- ↑ Brenton’s Nav. Hist. Vol. IV. 421–424.
