man of war, this officer was also a man of sympathy; for when my student looked afraid as the soldiers under drill and their officers dashed to and fro with swords dangling at their sides, he said, 'Poor fellow! Tell him not to be afraid. We have no pleasure in killing people.' Lespès was a reflective and sensitive man, with a good deal of human sympathy. According to Captain Fournier of the French cruiser Éclaireur, who met George MacKay in Keelung on the eve of the French evacuation in June 1885, Lespès had made no secret of his distaste for Jules Ferry's aggressive policy towards China, and believed that France should not have fought the Sino-French War. This was also Fournier's view (he called the coercion of China 'a disgusting affair'), though it was not an opinion espoused by the majority of the officers of the Far East Squadron. Notes References Lonlay, D. de, Au Tonkin, 1883-1885 (Paris, 1886) Duboc, E., Trente cinq mois de campagne en Chine, au Tonkin (Paris, 1899) Garnot, L'expédition française de Formose, 1884–1885 (Paris, 1894) Huard, L., La guerre du Tonkin (Paris, 1887) Loir, M., L'escadre de l'amiral Courbet (Paris, 1886) Thomazi, A., La conquête de l'Indochine (Paris, 1934) Thomazi, A., Histoire militaire de l'Indochine français (Hanoi, 1931) Tréfeu, E., Nos marins: vice-amiraux, contre-amiraux, officiers généraux des troupes de la marine et des corps entretenus (Paris, 1888) 1828 births 1897 deaths People from Bayonne French Navy admirals French military personnel of the Crimean War French military personnel of the Sino-French War