DEATH OF THE PRINCESS OF ORANGE, &c.

Before we proceed to record the transactions of the campaign that succeeded these preparations, we shall take notice of some domestic events, which, though not very important in themselves, may nevertheless claim a place in the History of England. In the beginning of the year, the court of London was overwhelmed with affliction at the death of the princess dowager of Orange and Nassau, governante of the United Provinces in the minority of her son, the present stadtholder. She was the eldest daughter of his Britannic majesty, possessed of many personal accomplishments and exemplary virtues; pious, moderate, sensible, and circumspect. She had exercised her authority with equal sagacity and resolution, respected even by those who were no friends to the house of Orange, and died with great fortitude and resignation.*

* Feeling her end approaching, she delivered a key to one of her attendants, directing him to fetch two papers, which she signed with her own hand. One was a contract of marriage between her daughter and the prince of Nassau Weilburgh; the other was a letter to the states-general, beseeching them to consent to this marriage, and preserve inviolate the regulations she had made touching the education and tutelage of the young stadtholder. These two papers being signed and sealed, she sent for her children, exhorted them to make proper improvements on the education they had received, and to live in harmony with each other. Then she implored Heaven to shower its blessings on them both, and embraced them with the most affecting marks of maternal tenderness. She afterwards continued to converse calmly and deliberately with her friends, and in a few hours expired.

In her will she appointed the king her father, and the princess dowager of Orange her mother-in-law, honorary tutors, and prince Louis of Brunswick acting tutor to her children. In the morning after her decease, the states-general and the states of Holland were extraordinarily assembled, and having received notice of this event, proceeded to confirm the regulations which had been made for the minority of the stadtholder. Prince Louis of Brunswick was invited to assist in the assembly of Holland, where he took the oaths, as representing the captain-general of the union. Then he communicated to the assembly the act by which the princess had appointed him guardian of her children. He was afterwards invited to the assembly of the states-general, who agreed to the resolution of Holland, with respect to his guardianship; and in the evening the different colleges of the government sent formal deputations to the young stadtholder, and the princess Caroline, his sister, in whose names and presence they were received, and answered by their guardian and representative. A formal intimation of the death of the princess was communicated to the king her father, in a pathetic letter, by the states-general; who condoled with him on the irreparable loss which he as well as they had sustained by this melancholy event, and assured him they would employ all their care and attention in securing and defending the rights and interest of the young stadtholder and the princess his sister, whom they considered as the children of the republic. The royal family of England suffered another disaster in the course of this year, by the decease of the princess Elizabeth-Caroline, second daughter of his late royal highness Frederick prince of Wales, a lady of the most amiable character, who died at Kew in the month of September, before she had attained the eighteenth year of her age.



EXAMPLES MADE OF PIRATES.

Certain privateers continuing their excesses at sea, and rifling neutral ships without distinction or authority, the government resolved to vindicate the honour of the nation, by making examples of those pirates, who, as fast as they could be detected and secured, were brought to trial, and upon conviction sacrificed to justice. While these steps were taken to rescue the nation from the reproach of violence and rapacity, which her neighbours had urged with such eagerness, equal spirit was exerted in convincing neutral powers that they should not with impunity contravene the law of nations, in favouring the enemies of Great Britain. A great number of causes were tried relating to disputed captures, and many Dutch vessels, with their cargoes, were condemned, after a fair hearing, notwithstanding the loud clamours of that people, and the repeated remonstrances of the states-general.

The reputation of the English was not so much affected by the irregularities of her privateers, armed for rapine, as by the neglect of internal police, and an ingredient of savage ferocity mingled in the national character; an ingredient that appeared but too conspicuous in the particulars of several shocking murders brought to light about this period.—One Halsey, who commanded a merchant ship in the voyage from Jamaica to England, having conceived some personal dislike to a poor sailor, insulted him with such abuse, exposed him to such hardships, and punished him with such wantonness of barbarity, that the poor wretch leaped overboard in despair. His inhuman tyrant envying him that death, which would have rescued a miserable object from his brutality, plunged into the sea after him, and brought him on board, declaring, he should not escape so while there were any torments left to inflict. Accordingly, he exercised his tyranny upon him with redoubled rigour, until the poor creature expired, in consequence of the inhuman treatment he had sustained. This savage ruffian was likewise indicted for the murder of another mariner, but being convicted on the first trial, the second was found unnecessary, and the criminal suffered death according to the law, which is perhaps too mild to malefactors convicted of such aggravated cruelty.—Another barbarous murder was perpetrated in the country, near Birmingham, upon a sheriff's officer, by the sons of one Darby, whose effects the bailiff had seized, on a distress for rent. The two young assassins, encouraged by the father, attacked the unhappy wretch with clubs, and mangled him in a terrible manner, so that he hardly retained any signs of life. Not contented with this cruel execution, they stripped him naked, and dragging him out of the house, scourged him with a waggoner's whip, until the flesh was cut from the bones. In this miserable condition he was found weltering in his blood, and conveyed to a neighbouring house, where he immediately expired. The three barbarians were apprehended, after having made a desperate resistance. They were tried, convicted, and executed; the sons were hung in chains, and the body of the father dissected.—The widow of a timber-merchant in Rotherhithe being cruelly murdered in her own house, Mary Edmonson, a young woman, her niece, ran out into the street with her arms cut across, and gave the alarm, declaring her aunt had been assassinated by four men, who forced their way into the house, and that she (the niece) had received those wounds in attempting to defend her relation. According to the circumstances that appeared, this unnatural wretch had cut the throat of her aunt and benefactress with a case-knife, then dragged the body from the wash-house to the parlour; that she had stolen a watch and some silver spoons, and concealed them, together with the knife and her own apron, which was soaked with the blood of her parent. After having acted this horrid tragedy, the bare recital of which the humane reader will not peruse without horror, she put on another apron, and wounded her own flesh, the better to conceal her guilt. Notwithstanding these precautions she was suspected, and committed to prison. Being brought to trial, she was convicted and condemned upon circumstantial evidence, and finally executed on Kennington-common, though she denied the fact to the last moment of her life. At the place of execution she behaved with great composure, and, after having spent some minutes in devotion, protested she was innocent of the crime laid to her charge. What seemed to corroborate this protestation, was the condition and character of the young woman, who had been educated in a sphere above the vulgar, and maintained a reputation without reproach in the country, where she was actually betrothed to a clergyman. On the other hand, the circumstances that appeared against her almost amounted to a certainty; though nothing weaker than proof positive ought to determine a jury in capital cases to give a verdict against the person accused. After all, this is one of those problematic events which elude the force of all evidence, and serve to confound the pride of Iranian reason.—A miscreant, whose name was Haines, having espoused the daughter of a farmer in the neighbourhood of Gloucester, who possessed a small estate, which he intended to divide among seven children, was so abandoned as to form the design of poisoning the whole family, that by virtue of his wife he might enjoy the whole inheritance. For the execution of this infernal scheme, he employed his own father to purchase a quantity of arsenic; part of which he administered to three of the children, who were immediately seized with the dreadful symptoms produced by this mineral, and the eldest expired. He afterwards mixed it with three apple-cakes, which he bought for the purpose, and presented to the three other children, who underwent the same violence of operation which had proved fatal to the eldest brother. The instantaneous effects of the poison created a suspicion of Haines, who, being examined, the whole scene of villany stood disclosed. Nevertheless, the villain found means to escape.—The uncommon spirit of assassination which raged at this period, seemed to communicate itself even to foreigners who breathed English air. Five French prisoners confined on board the king's ship the Royal Oak, were convicted of having murdered one Jean de Manaux, their countryman and fellow-prisoner, in revenge for his having discovered that they had forged passes to facilitate their escape. Exasperated at this detection, they seized this unfortunate informer in the place of their confinement, gagged his mouth, stripped him naked, tied him with a strong cord to a ring-bolt, and scourged his body with the most brutal perseverance. By dint of struggling, the poor wretch disengaged himself from the cord with which he had been tied: then they finished the tragedy, by leaping and stamping on his breast, till the chest was broke, and he expired. They afterwards severed the body into small pieces, and these they conveyed at different times into the sea, through the funnel of a convenience to which they had access: but one of the other prisoners gave information of the murder; in consequence of which they were secured, brought to trial, condemned, and punished with death.—Nor were the instances of cruel assassination which prevailed at this juncture confined to Great Britain. At the latter end of the foregoing year, an atrocious massacre was perpetrated by two Genoese mariners upon the master and crew of an English vessel, among whom they were enrolled. These monsters of cruelty were in different watches, a circumstance that favoured the execution of the horrid plan they had concerted. When one of them retired to rest with his fellows of the watch, consisting of the mate and two seamen, he waited till they were fast asleep, and then butchered them all with a knife. Having so far succeeded without discovery, he returned to the deck, and communicated the exploit to his associate: then they suddenly attacked the master of the vessel, and cleft his head with a hatchet, which they likewise used in murdering the man that stood at the helm; a third was likewise despatched, and no Englishman remained alive but the master's son, a boy, who lamented his father's death with incessant tears and cries for three days, at the expiration of which he was likewise sacrificed, because the assassins were disturbed by his clamour. This barbarous scene was acted within sixty leagues of the rock of Lisbon; but the vessel was taken within the capes Ortugal and Finisterre, by the captain of the French privateer called La Favourite, who seeing the deck stained with blood, and finding all the papers of the ship destroyed, began to suspect that the master and crew had been murdered. He accordingly taxed them with the murder, and they confessed the particulars. The privateer touched at Vigo, where the captain imparted this detail to the English consul; but the prize, with the two villains on board, was sent to Bayonne in France, where they were brought to condign punishment.



MURDER OF DANIEL CLARKE.

We shall close this register of blood with the account of a murder remarkable in all its circumstances, for which a person, called Eugene Aram, suffered at York, in the course of this year. This man, who exercised the profession of a schoolmaster at Knaresborough, had, as far back as the year one thousand seven hundred and forty-five, been concerned with one Houseman, in robbing and murdering Daniel Clarke, whom they had previously persuaded to borrow a considerable quantity of valuable effects from different persons in the neighbourhood, on false pretences, that he might retire with the booty. He had accordingly filled a sack with these particulars, and began his retreat with his two perfidious associates, who suddenly fell upon him, deprived him of life, and, having buried the body in a cave, took possession of the plunder. Though Clarke disappeared at once in such a mysterious manner, no suspicion fell on the assassins; and Aram, who was the chief contriver and agent in the murder, moved his habitation to another part of the country. In the summer of the present year, Houseman being employed, among other labourers, in repairing the public highway, they, in digging for gravel by the road side, discovered the skeleton of a human creature, which the majority supposed to be the bones of Daniel Clarke. This opinion was no sooner broached, than Houseman, as it were by some supernatural impulse which he could not resist, declared that it was not the skeleton of Clarke, inasmuch as his body had been interred at a place called St. Robert's Cave, where they would find it, with the head turned to a certain corner. He was immediately apprehended, examined, admitted as evidence for the crown, and discovered the particulars of the murder. The skeleton of Clarke being found exactly in the place and manner he had described, Eugene Aram, who now acted as usher to a grammar-school in the county of Norfolk, was secured, and brought to trial at the York assizes. There, his own wife corroborating the testimony of Houseman, he was found guilty, and received sentence of death; notwithstanding a very artful and learned defence, in which he proved, from argument and example, the danger of convicting a man upon circumstantial evidence. Finding all his remonstrances ineffectual, he recommended himself in pathetic terms to the king's mercy; and if ever murder was entitled to indulgence, perhaps it might have been extended not improperly to this man, whose genius, in itself prodigious, might have exerted itself in works of general utility. He had, in spite of all the disadvantages attending low birth and straitened circumstances, by the dint of his own capacity and inclination, made considerable progress in mathematics and philosophy, acquired all the languages ancient and modern, and executed part of a Celtic dictionary, which, had he lived to finish it, might have thrown some essential light upon the origin and obscurities of the European history. Convinced, at last, that he had nothing to hope from the clemency of the government, he wrote a short poem in defence of suicide; and, on the day fixed for his execution, opened the veins of his left arm with a razor, which he had concealed for that purpose. Though he was much weakened by the effusion of blood, before this attempt was discovered, yet, as the instrument had missed the artery, he did not expire until he was carried to the gibbet, and underwent the sentence of the law. His body was conveyed to Knaresborough-forest, and hung in chains, near the place where the murder was perpetrated.—These are some of the most remarkable that appeared amongst many other instances of homicide: a crime that prevails to a degree alike deplorable and surprising, even in a nation renowned for compassion and placability. But this will generally be the case among people whose passions, naturally impetuous, are ill restrained by laws, and the regulations of civil society; which the licentious do not fear, and the wicked hope to evade.



MAJORITY OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.

The prince of Wales having, in the beginning of June, entered the two-and-twentieth year of his age, the anniversary of his birth was celebrated with great rejoicings at court, and the king received compliments of congratulation on the majority of a prince, who seemed born to fulfil the hopes, and complete the happiness, of Great Britain. The city of London presented an address to the king on this occasion, replete with expressions of loyalty and affection, assuring his majesty, that no hostile threats could intimidate a people animated by the love of liberty, who, confiding in the Divine Providence, and in his majesty's experienced wisdom and vigorous councils, were resolved to exert their utmost efforts towards enabling their sovereign to repel the insults and defeat the attempts made by the ancient enemies of his crown and kingdom. Congratulations of the same kind were offered by other cities, towns, corporations, and communities, who vied with each other in professions of attachment; and, indeed, there was not the least trace of disaffection perceivable at this juncture in any part of the island.



A NEW BRIDGE AT BLACKFRIARS.

So little were the citizens of London distressed by the expense, or incommoded by the operations of the war, that they found leisure to plan, and funds to execute, magnificent works of art, for the ornament of the metropolis, and the convenience of commerce. They had obtained an act of parliament, empowering them to build a new bridge over the Thames, from Blackfriars to the opposite shore, about midway between those of London and Westminster. Commissioners were appointed to put this act in execution; and, at a court of common-council, it was resolved that a sum not exceeding one hundred and forty-four thousand pounds should be forthwith raised, within the space of eight years, by instalments, not exceeding thirty thousand pounds in one year, to be paid into the chamber of London; that the persons advancing the money should have an interest at the rate of four pounds per cent, per annum, to be paid half-yearly by the chamberlain, yet redeemable at the expiration of the first ten years; and that the chamberlain should affix the city's seal to such instruments as the committee might think fit to give for securing the payment of the said annuities. Such were the first effectual steps taken towards the execution of a laudable measure, which met with the most obstinate opposition in the sequel, from the narrow views of particular people, as well as from the prejudice of party.



FIRE IN CORNHILL.

The spirit that now animated the citizens of London was such as small difficulties did not retard, and even considerable losses could not discourage. In the month of November the city was exposed to a dangerous conflagration, kindled in the night by accident in the neighbourhood of the Royal Exchange, which burned with great fury, and, notwithstanding the assistance of the firemen and engines, employed under the personal direction of the magistracy, consumed a great number of houses, and damaged many more. That whole quarter of the town was filled with consternation: some individuals were beggared; one or two perished in the flames, and some were buried in the ruins of the houses that sunk under the disaster.



METHOD CONTRIVED TO FIND OUT THE LONGITUDE.

The ferment of mind so peculiar to the natives of Great Britain, excited by a strange mixture of genius and caprice, passion and philosophy, study and conjecture, produced at this period some flowers of improvement, in different arts and sciences, that seemed to promise fruit of public utility. Several persons invented methods for discovering the longitude at sea, that great desideratum in navigation, for the ascertainment of which so many nations have offered a public recompense, and in the investigation of which so many mathematical heads have been disordered. Some of those who now appeared candidates for the prize deserved encouragement for the ingenuity of their several systems; but he who seemed to enjoy' the pre-eminence in the opinion and favour of the public was Mr. Irwin, a native of Ireland, who contrived a chair so artfully poised, that a person sitting in it on board a ship, even in a rough sea, can, through a telescope, observe the immersion and emersion of Jupiter's satellites, without being interrupted or incommoded by the motion of the vessel. This gentleman was favoured with the assistance and protection of commodore lord Howe, in whose presence the experiment was tried in several ships at sea with such success, that he granted a certificate, signifying his approbation; and in consequence of this, Mr. Irwin is said to have obtained a considerable reward from the board of admiralty.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}



INSTALLATION AT OXFORD.

The people of England, happy in their situation, felt none of the storms of war and desolation which ravaged the neighbouring countries; but, enriched by a surprising augmentation of commerce, enjoyed all the security of peace, and all the pleasures of taste and affluence. The university of Oxford having conferred the office of their chancellor, vacant by the death of the earl of Arran, upon another nobleman of equal honour and integrity, namely, the earl of Westmoreland, he made a public entrance into that celebrated seat of learning with great magnificence, and was installed amidst the Encaenia, which were celebrated with such classical elegance of pomp, as might have rivalled the chief Roman festival of the Augustan age. The chancellor elect was attended by a splendid train of the nobility and persons of distinction. The city of Oxford was filled with a vast concourse of strangers. The processions were contrived with taste, and conducted with decorum. The installation was performed with the most striking solemnity. The congratulatory verses and public speeches breathed the spirit of old Rome; and the ceremony was closed by Dr. King, that venerable sage of St. Mary Hall, who pronounced an oration in praise of the new chancellor with all the flow of Tully, animated by the fire of Demosthenes.

We shall conclude the remarkable incidents of this year:*

* In the spring of the year the liberal arts sustained a lamentable loss in the death of George Frederick Handel, the most celebrated master in music which this age had produced. He was by birth a German; but had studied in Italy, and afterwards settled in England, where he met with the most favourable reception, and resided above half a century, universally admired for his stupendous genius in the sublime parts of musical composition.

One would be apt to imagine, that there was something in the constitution of the air at this period, which was particularly unfavourable to old age; inasmuch as, in the compass of a few months, the following persons, remarkable for their longevity, died in the kingdom of Scotland. William Barnes, who had been above seventy years a servant in the family of Brodie, died there, at the age of one hundred and nine. Catherine Mackenzie died in Ross-shire, at the age of one hundred and eighteen. Janet Blair, deceased at Monemusk, in the shire of Aberdeen, turned of one hundred and twelve. Alexander Stephens, in Banffshire, at the age of one hundred and eight. Janet Harper, of Bainsholes, at the age of one hundred and seven. Daniel Cameron, in Rannaeh, married when he was turned of one hundred, and survived his marriage thirty years.

These are detached from the prosecution of the war, with the detail of an event equally surprising and deplorable:—A sloop called the Dolphin, bound from the Canaries to New York, met with such unfavourable weather, that she was detained one hundred and sixty-five days in the passage, and the provision of the ship was altogether expended before the first fifty days were elapsed. The wretched crew had devoured their dog, cat, and all their shoes on board: at length, being reduced to the utmost extremity, they agreed to cast lots for their lives, that the body of him upon whom the lot should fall might serve for some time to support the survivors. The wretched victim was one Antoni Ga-latia, a Spanish gentleman and passenger. Him they shot with a musket; and having cut off his head, threw it overboard; but the entrails and the rest of the carcase they greedily devoured. This horrid banquet having, as it were, fleshed the famished crew, they began to talk of another sacrifice, from which, however, they were diverted by the influence and remonstrances of their captain, who prevailed upon them to be satisfied with a miserable allowance to each per diem, cut from a pair of leather breeches found in the cabin. Upon this calamitous pittance, reinforced with the grass which grew plentifully upon the deck, these poor objects made shift to subsist for twenty days, at the expiration of which they were relieved, and taken on board by one captain Bradshaw, who chanced to fall in with them at sea. By this time the whole crew, consisting of seven men, were so squalid and emaciated, as to exhibit an appearance at once piteous and terrible; and so reduced in point of strength, that it was found necessary to use ropes and tackle for hoisting them from one ship to the other. The circumstance of the lot falling upon the Spaniard, who was the only foreigner on board, encourages a suspicion that foul play was offered to this unfortunate stranger; but the most remarkable part of this whole incident is, that the master and crew could not contrive some sort of tackle to catch fish, with which the sea every where abounds, and which, no doubt, might be caught with the help of a little ingenuity. If implements of this kind were provided in every ship, they would probably prevent all those tragical events at sea that are occasioned by famine.



CAPTURES MADE BY CRUISERS.

Previous to the more capital operations in war, we shall particularize the most remarkable captures that were made upon the enemy by single ships of war, during the course of this summer and autumn. In the month of February, a French privateer belonging to Granville, called the Marquis de Marigny, having on board near two hundred men, and mounted with twenty cannon, was taken by captain Parker, commander of his majesty's ship the Montague; who likewise made prize of a smaller armed vessel, from Dunkirk, of eight cannon and sixty men. About the same period, captain Graves, of the Unicorn, brought in the Moras privateer, of St. Maloes, carrying two hundred men, and two-and-twenty cannon. Two large merchant-ships, laden on the French king's account for Martinique, with provisions, clothing, and arms, for the troops on that island, were taken by captain Lendrick, commander of the Brilliant; and an English transport from St. John's, having four hundred French prisoners on board, perished near the Western islands. Within the circle of the same month, a large French ship from St. Domingo, richly laden, fell in with the Favourite ship of war, and was carried into Gibraltar.

In the month of February, captain Hood, of his majesty's frigate the Vestal, belonging to a small squadron commanded by admiral Holmes, who had sailed for the West Indies in January, being advanced a considerable way ahead of the fleet, descried and gave chase to a sail, which proved to be a French frigate called the Bellona, of two hundred and twenty men, and two-and-thirty great guns, commanded by the count de Beauhonoire. Captain Hood, having made a signal to the admiral, continued the chase until he advanced within half musket-shot of the enemy, and then poured in a broadside, which was immediately retorted. The engagement thus begun was maintained with great vigour on both sides for the space of four hours; at the expiration of which the Bellona struck, after having lost all her masts and rigging, together with about forty men killed in the action. Nor was the victor in a much better condition. Thirty men were killed and wounded on board the Vestal. Immediately after the enemy submitted, all her rigging being destroyed by the shot, the topmasts fell overboard; and she was otherwise so much damaged, that she could not proceed on her voyage. Captain Hood, therefore, returned with his prize to Spithead; and afterwards met with a gracious reception from his majesty, on account of the valour and conduct he had displayed on this occasion. The Bellona had sailed in January from the island of Martinique, along with the Florissant, and another French frigate, from which she had been separated in the passage. Immediately after this exploit, captain Elliot, of the AEolus frigate, accompanied by the Isis, made prize of a French ship, the Mignonne, of twenty guns, and one hundred and forty men, one of four frigates employed as convoy to a large fleet of merchant-ships, near the island of Rhe.

In the month of March, the English frigates the Southampton and Melampe, commanded by the captains Gilchrist and Hotham, being at sea to the northward on a cruise, fell in with the Danae, a French ship of forty cannon, and three hundred and thirty men, which was engaged by captain Hotham in a ship of half the force, who maintained the battle a considerable time with admirable gallantry, before his consort could come to his assistance. As they fought in the dark, captain Gilchrist was obliged to lie by for some time, because he could not distinguish the one from the other; but no sooner did the day appear, than he bore down upon the Danae with his usual impetuosity, and soon compelled her to surrender: she did not strike, however, until thirty or forty of her men were slain; and the gallant captain Gilchrist received a grape-shot in his shoulder, which, though it did not deprive him of life, yet rendered him incapable of future service: a misfortune the more to be lamented, as it happened to a brave officer in the vigour of his age, and in the midst of a sanguinary war, which might have afforded him many other opportunities of signalizing his courage for the honour and advantage of his country. Another remarkable exploit was achieved about the same juncture by captain Barrington, commander of the ship Achilles, mounted with sixty cannon; who, to the westward of Cape Finisterre, encountered a French ship of equal force, called the Count de Saint Florintin, bound from Cape Francois, on the island of Hispaniola, to Rochefort, under the command of the sieur de Montay, who was obliged to strike, after a close and obstinate engagement, in which he himself was mortally wounded, a great number of his men slain, and his ship so damaged, that she was with difficulty brought into Falmouth. Captain Barrington obtained the victory at the expense of about five-and-twenty men killed and wounded, and all his rigging, which the enemy's shot rendered useless. Two small privateers from Dunkirk were also taken: one called the Marquis de Bareil, by the Brilliant, which carried her into Kin-sale in Ireland; the other called the Carrilloneur, which struck to the Grace cutter, assisted by the boats of the ship Rochester, commanded by captain Duff, who sent her into the Downs.

About the latter end of March, captain Samuel Falkner, in the ship Windsor, of sixty guns, cruising to the westward, discovered four large ships to leeward, which, when he approached them, formed the line of battle ahead, in order to give him a warm reception. He accordingly closed with the sternmost ship, which sustained his fire about an hour: then the other three bearing away with all the sail they could carry, she struck her colours, and was conducted to Lisbon. She proved to be the Duc de Chartres, pierced for sixty cannon, though at that time carrying no more than four-and-twenty, with a complement of three hundred men, about thirty of whom were killed in the action. She belonged, with the other three that escaped, to the French East India company, was laden with gunpowder and naval stores, and bound for Pondicherry. Two privateers, called Le Chasseur and Le Conquerant, the one from Dunkirk, and the other from Cherbourg, were taken and carried into Plymouth by captain Hughes, of his majesty's frigate the Tamer. A third, called the Despatch, from Morlaix, was brought into Penzance by the Diligence sloop, under the command of captain Eastwood. A fourth, called the Basque, from Bayonne, furnished with two-and-twenty guns, and above two hundred men, fell into the hands of captain Parker of the Brilliant, who conveyed her into Plymouth. Captain Antrobus of the Surprise, took the Vieux, a privateer of Bourdeaux; and a fifth, from Dunkirk, struck to captain Knight of the Liverpool, off Yarmouth. In the month of May, a French frigate called the Arethusa, mounted with two-and-thirty cannon, manned with a large complement of hands under the command of the marquis de Vaudreuil, submitted to two British frigates, the Venus and the Thames, commanded by the captains Harrison and Colby, after a warm engagement, in which sixty men were killed and wounded on the side of the enemy. In the beginning of June, an armed ship belonging to Dunkirk was brought into the Downs by captain Angel, of the Stag; and a privateer of force, called the Countess de la Serre, was subdued and taken, after an obstinate action, by captain Moore, of his majesty's ship the Adventure.



PRIZES TAKEN IN THE WEST INDIES.

Several armed ships of the enemy, and rich prizes, were taken in the West Indies, particularly two French frigates, and two Dutch ships with French commodities, all richly laden, by some of the ships of the squadron which vice-admiral Coats commanded on the Jamaica station. A fifth, called the Velour, from St. Domingo, with a valuable cargo on board, being fortified with twenty cannon, and above one hundred men, fell in with the Favourite sloop of war, under the command of captain Edwards, who, after' art obstinate dispute, carried her in triumph to Gibraltar. At St. Christopher's, in the West Indies, captain Collingwood, commander of the king's ship the Crescent, attacked two French frigates, the Amethyste and Berkeley; the former of which escaped, after a warm engagement, in which the Crescent's rigging was so much damaged that she could not pursue; but the other was taken, and conveyed into the harbour of Basseterre. Notwithstanding the vigilance and courage of the English cruisers in those seas, the French privateers swarmed to such a degree, that in the course of this year they took above two hundred sail of British ships, valued at six hundred thousand pounds sterling. This their success is the more remarkable, as by this time the island of Guadaloupe was in possession of the English, and commodore Moore commanded a numerous squadron in those very latitudes.



ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN THE HERCULES AND THE FLORISSANT.

In the beginning of October, the Hercules ship of war, mounted with seventy-four guns, under the command of captain Porter, cruising in the chops of the channel, descried to windward a large ship, which proved to be the Florissant, of the same force with the Hercules. Her commander, perceiving the English ship giving chase, did not seem to decline the action, but bore down upon her in a slanting direction, and the engagement began with great fury. In a little time, the Hercules having lost her top-mast, and all her rigging being shot away, the enemy took advantage of this disaster, made the best of his way, and was pursued till eight o'clock next morning, when he escaped behind the isle of Oleron. Captain Porter was wounded in the head with a grape-shot, and lost the use of one leg in the engagement.



HAVRE-DE-GRACE BOMBARDED.

Having taken notice of all the remarkable captures and exploits that were made and achieved by single ships since the commencement of the present year, we shall now proceed to describe the actions that were performed in this period by the different squadrons that constituted the naval power of Great Britain. Intelligence having been received that the enemy meditated an invasion upon some of the British territories, and that a number of flat-bottomed boats were prepared at Havre-de-Grace, for the purpose of disembarking troops, rear-admiral Rodney was, in the beginning of July, detached with a small squadron of ships and bombs to annoy and overawe that part of the coast of France. He accordingly anchored in the road of Havre, and made a disposition to execute the instructions he had received. The bomb vessels, being placed in the narrow channel of the river leading to Ronfleur, began to throw their shells, and continued the bombardment for two-and-fifty hours, without intermission, during which a numerous body of French troops were employed in throwing up intrenchments, erecting new batteries, and firing both with shot and shells upon the assailants. The town was set on fire in several places, and burned with great fury; some of the boats were overturned, and a few of them reduced to ashes, while the inhabitants forsook the place in the utmost consternation: nevertheless, the damage done to the enemy was too inconsiderable to make amends for the expense of the armament, and the loss of nineteen hundred shells and eleven hundred carcasses, which were expended in this expedition. Bombardments of this kind are at best but expensive and unprofitable operations, and may be deemed a barbarous method of prosecuting war, inasmuch as the damage falls upon the wretched inhabitants, who have given no cause of offence, and who are generally spared by a humane enemy, unless they have committed some particular act of provocation.



BOSCAWEN DEFEATS M. DE LA CLUE.

The honour of the British flag was much more effectually asserted by the gallant admiral Boscawen, who, as we have already observed, was intrusted with the conduct of a squadron in the Mediterranean. It must be owned, however, that his first attempt savoured of temerity. Having in vain displayed the British flag in sight of Toulon, by way of defiance to the French fleet that lay there at anchor, he ordered three ships of the line, commanded by the captains Smith, Harland, and Barker, to advance and burn two ships that lay close to the mouth of the harbour. They accordingly approached with great intrepidity, and met with a very warm reception from divers batteries, which they had not before perceived. Two small forts they attempted to destroy, and cannonaded for some time with great fury; but being overmatched by superior force, and the wind subsiding into a calm, they sustained considerable damage, and were towed off with great difficulty in a very shattered condition. The admiral seeing three of his best ships so roughly handled in this enterprise, returned to Gibraltar in order to refit; and M. de la Clue, the French commander of the squadron at Toulon, seized this opportunity of sailing, in hopes of passing the Straits' mouth unobserved, his fleet consisting of twelve large ships and three frigates. Admiral Boscawen, who commanded fourteen sail of the line with two frigates, and as many fire-ships, having refitted his squadron, detached one frigate to cruise off Malaga, and another to hover between Estepona and Ceuta-point, with a view to keep a good look-out, and give timely notice in case the enemy should approach. On the seventeenth day of August, at eight in the evening, the Gibraltar frigate made a signal that fourteen sail appeared on the Barbary shore, to the eastward of Ceuta; upon which the English admiral immediately heaved up his anchors and went to sea. At day-light he descried seven large ships lying-to; but when the English squadron forbore to answer their signal, they discovered their mistake, set all their sails, and made the best of their way. This was the greater part of the French squadron, commanded by M. de la Clue, from whom five of his large ships and three frigates had separated in the night. Even now, perhaps, he might have escaped, had he not been obliged to wait for the Souveraine, which was a heavy sailer. At noon the wind, which had blown a heavy gale, died away, and although admiral Boscawen had made signal to chase, and engage in a line of battle ahead, it was not till half an hour after two that some of his headmost ships could close with the rear of the enemy, which, though greatly out-numbered, fought with uncommon bravery. The English admiral, without waiting to return the fire of the sternmost, which he received as he passed, used all his endeavours to come up with the Ocean, which M. de la Clue commanded in person; and about four o'clock in the afternoon, running athwart her hawse, poured into her a furious broadside: thus the engagement began with equal vigour on both sides. This dispute, however, was of short duration. In about half an hour admiral Boscawen's mizen-mast and topsail-yards were shot away, and the enemy hoisted all the sail they could carry. Mr. Boscawen having shifted his flag from the Namur to the Newark, joined some other ships in attacking the Centaur, of seventy-four guns, which, being thus overpowered, was obliged to surrender. The British admiral pursued them all night, during which the Souveraine and the Guerrier altered their course, and deserted their commander. At day-break, M. de la Clue, whose left leg had been broke in the engagement, perceiving the English squadron crowding all their sails to come up with him, and finding himself on the coast of Portugal, determined to burn his ships rather than they should fall into the hands of the victors. The Ocean was run ashore two leagues from Lagos, near the fort of Almadana, the commander of which fired three shots at the English; another captain of the French squadron followed the example of his commander, and both endeavoured to disembark their men; but the sea being rough, this proved a very tedious and difficult attempt. The captains of the Temeraire and Modeste, instead of destroying their ships, anchored as near as they could to the forts Xavier and Lagres, in hopes of enjoying their protection; but in this hope they were disappointed. M. de la Clue had been landed, and the command of the Ocean was left to the count de Carne, who, having received one broadside from the America, struck his colours, and the English took possession of this noble prize, the best ship in the French navy, mounted with eighty cannon. Captain Bentley of the Warspite, who had remarkably signalized himself by his courage during the action of the preceding day, attacked the Temeraire, of seventy-four guns, and brought her off with little damage. Vice-admiral Broderick, the second in command, advancing with his division, burned the Redoubtable, of seventy-four guns, which was bulged, and abandoned by her men and officers; but they made prize of the Modeste, carrying sixty-four guns, which had not been much injured in the engagement. This victory was obtained by the English admiral at a very small expense of men; the whole number of the killed and wounded not exceeding two hundred and fifty on board of the British squadron, though the carnage among the enemy must have been much more considerable, as M. de la Clue, in his letter to the French ambassador at Lisbon, owned, that on board of his own ship, the Ocean, one hundred men were killed on the spot, and seventy dangerously wounded. But the most severe circumstance of this disaster was the loss of four capital ships, two of which were destroyed, and the other two brought in triumph to England, to be numbered among the best bottoms of the British navy. What augmented the good fortune of the victors was, that not one officer lost his Life in the engagement. Captain Bentley, whom the admiral despatched to England with the tidings of his success, met with a gracious reception from the king, who knighted him for his gallantry.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}



PREPARATIONS MADE BY THE FRENCH FOR INVADING ENGLAND.

As we propose to throw together all the naval transactions of the year, especially those that happened in the European seas, that they may be comprehended, as it were, in one view, we must now, without regarding the order of time, postpone many previous events of importance, and record the last action by sea, that in the course of this year distinguished the flag of Great Britain. The court of Versailles, in order to embarrass the British ministry, and divert their attention from all external expeditions, had in the winter projected a plan for invading some part of the British dominions; and in the beginning of the year had actually begun to make preparations on different parts of their coast for carrying this design into execution. Even as far back as the latter end of May, messages from the king to both houses of parliament were delivered by the earl of Holdernesse and Mr. Pitt, the two secretaries of state, signifying that his majesty had received advices of preparations making by the French court, with a design to invade Great Britain: that though persuaded, by the universal zeal and affection of his people, any such attempt must, under the blessing of God, end in the destruction of those who engaged in it; yet he apprehended he should not act consistent with that paternal care and concern which he had always shown for the safety and preservation of his subjects, if he omitted any means in his power which might be necessary for their defence: he, therefore, acquainted the parliament with his having received repeated intelligence of the enemy's preparations, to the end that his majesty might, if he should think proper, in pursuance of the late act of parliament, cause the militia, or such parts thereof as should be necessary, to be drawn out and embodied, in order to march as occasion should require. These messages were no sooner read, than each house separately resolved to present an address, thanking his majesty for having communicated this intelligence; assuring him, that they would, with their lives and fortunes, support him against all attempts whatever; that, warmed with affection and zeal for his person and government, and animated by indignation at the daring designs of an enemy whose fleet had hitherto shunned the terror of the British navy, they would cheerfully exert their utmost efforts to repel all insults, and effectually enable their sovereign not only to disappoint the attempts of France, but, by the blessing of God, turn them to their own confusion. The commons at the same time resolved upon another address, desiring his majesty would give directions to his lieutenants of the several counties, ridings, and places within South Britain, to use their utmost diligence and attention in executing the several acts of parliament made for the better ordering the militia.



ACCOUNT OF THUROT.

These and other precautionary steps were accordingly taken; but the administration wisely placed their chief dependence upon the strength of the navy, part of which was so divided and stationed as to block up all the harbours of France in which the enemy were known to prepare any naval armament of consequence. We have seen in what manner rear-admiral Rodney visited the town and harbour of Havre-de-Grace, and scoured that part of the coast in successive cruises: we have also recorded the expedition and victory of admiral Boscawen over the squadron of La Clue, which was equipped at Toulon, with a design to assist in the projected invasion. Not withstanding this disaster, the French ministry persisted in their design; towards the execution of which they had prepared another considerable fleet, in the harbours of Rochefort, Brest, and Port-Louis, to be commanded by M. de Conflans, and reinforced by a considerable body of troops, which were actually assembled under the duc d'Aiguillon, at Vannes, in Lower Bretagne. Flat-bottomed boats and transports to be used in this expedition, were prepared in different ports on the coast of France: and a small squadron was equipped at Dunkirk, under the command of an enterprising adventurer called Thurot, who had, in the course of the preceding year, signalized his courage and conduct in a large privateer called the Belleisle, which had scoured the North Seas, taken a number of ships, and at one time maintained an obstinate battle against two English frigates, which were obliged to desist, after having received considerable damage. This man's name became a terror to the merchants of Great Britain; for his valour was not more remarkable in battle than his conduct in eluding the pursuit of the British cruisers, who were successively detached in quest of him, through every part of the German Ocean and North Sea, as far as the islands of Orkney. It must be likewise owned, for the honour of human nature, that this bold mariner, though destitute of the advantages of birth and education, was remarkably distinguished by his generosity and compassion to those who had the misfortune to fall into his power; and that his deportment in every respect entitled him to a much more honourable rank in the service of his country. The court of Versailles was not insensible to his merit. He obtained a commission from the French king, and was vested with the command of the small armament now fitting out in the harbour of Dunkirk. The British government, being apprized of all these particulars, took such measures to defeat the purposed invasion, as must have conveyed a very high idea of the power of Great Britain, to those who considered, that, exclusive of the force opposed to this design, they at the same time carried on the most vigorous and important operations of war in Germany, America, the East and West Indies. Thurot's armament at Dunkirk was watched by an English squadron in the Downs, commanded by commodore Boys; the port of Havre was guarded by rear-admiral Rodney; Mr. Boscawen had been stationed off Toulon, and the coast of Vannes was scoured by a small squadron detached from sir Edward Hawke, who had, during the summer, blocked up the harbour of Brest, where Conflans lay with his fleet, in order to be joined by the other divisions of the armament. These different squadrons of the British navy were connected by a chain of separate cruisers; so that the whole coast of France, from Dunkirk to the extremity of Bretagne, was distressed by an actual blockade.



FRENCH FLEET SAILS FROM BREST.

The French fleet being thus hampered, forbore their attempt upon Britain; and the projected invasion seemed to hang in suspense till the month of August, in the beginning of which their army in Germany was defeated at Minden. Their designs in that country being baffled by this disaster, they seemed to convert their chief attention to their sea armament; the preparations were resumed with redoubled vigour; and, even after the defeat of La Clue, they resolved to try their fortune in a descent. They now proposed to disembark a body of troops in Ireland. Thurot received orders to sail from Dunkirk with the first opportunity, and shape his course round the northern parts of Scotland, that he might alarm the coast of Ireland, and make a diversion from that part where Conflans intended to effectuate the disembarkation of his forces. The transports and ships of war were assembled at Brest and Rochefort, having on board a train of artillery, with saddles, and other accoutrements for cavalry, to be mounted in Ireland; and a body of French troops, including part of the Irish brigade, was kept in readiness to embark. The execution of this scheme was, however, prevented by the vigilance of sir Edward Hawke, who blocked up the harbour of Brest with a fleet of twenty-three capital ships; while another squadron of smaller ships and frigates, under the command of captain Duff, continued to cruise along the French coast, from Port L'Orient in Bretagne, to the point of St. Gilles in Poitou. At length, however, in the beginning of November, the British squadron, commanded by sir Edward Hawke, sir Charles Hardy, and rear-admiral Geary, were driven from the coast of France by stress of weather, and on the ninth day of the month anchored in Torbay. The French admiral, Conflans, snatched this opportunity of sailing from Brest, with one-and-twenty sail of the line and four frigates, in hopes of being able to destroy the English squadron commanded by captain Duff, before the large fleet could return from the coast of England. Sir Edward Hawke, having received intelligence that the French fleet had sailed from Brest, immediately stood to sea in order to pursue them; and, in the meantime, the government issued orders for guarding all those parts of the coast that were thought the most exposed to a descent. The land-forces were put in motion, and quartered along the shore of Kent and Sussex: all the ships of war in the different harbours, even those that had just arrived from America, were ordered to put to sea, and every step was taken to disconcert the designs of the enemy.



ADMIRAL HAWKE DEFEATS M. DE CONFLANS.

While these measures were taken with equal vigour and deliberation, sir Edward Hawke steered his course directly for Quiberon, on the coast of Bretagne, which he supposed would be the rendezvous of the French squadron: but, notwithstanding his utmost efforts, he was driven by a hard gale considerably to the westward, where he was joined by two frigates, the Maidstone and the Coventry. These he directed to keep ahead of the squadron. The weather growing more moderate, the former made the signal for seeing a fleet on the twentieth day of November, at half an hour past eight o'clock in the morning, and in an hour afterwards discovered them to be the enemy's squadron. They were at that time in chase of captain Duff's squadron, which now joined the large fleet, after having run some risk of being taken. Sir Edward Hawke, who, when the Maidstone gave the first notice, had formed the line abreast, now perceiving that the French admiral endeavoured to escape with all the sail he could carry, threw out a signal for seven of his ships that were nearest the enemy to chase, and endeavour to detain them, until they could be reinforced by the rest of the squadron, which were ordered to form into a line-of-battle ahead, as they chased, that no time might be lost in the pursuit. Considering the roughness of the weather, which was extremely tempestuous; the nature of the coast, which is in this place rendered very hazardous by a great number of sand-banks, shoals, rocks, and islands, as entirely unknown to the British sailors as they were familiar to the French navigators; the dangers of a short day, dark night, and lee-shore—it required extraordinary resolution in the English admiral to attempt hostilities on this occasion: but sir Edward Hawke, steeled with the integrity and fortitude of his own heart, animated by a warm love for his country, and well acquainted with the importance of the stake on which the safety of that country in a great measure depended, was resolved to run extraordinary risks in his endeavours to frustrate, at once, a boasted scheme projected for the annoyance of his fellow-subjects. With respect to his ships of the line, he had but the advantage of one in point of number, and no superiority in men or metal; consequently, M. de Conflans might have hazarded a fair battle on the open sea, without any imputation of temerity; but he thought proper to play a more artful game, though it did not succeed according to his expectation. He kept his fleet in a body, and retired close in shore, with a view to draw the English squadron among the shoals and islands, on which he hoped they would pay dear for their rashness and impetuosity, while he and his officers, who were perfectly acquainted with the navigation, could either stay and take advantage of the disaster, or, if hard pressed, retire through channels unknown to the British pilots. At half an hour after two, the van of the English fleet began the engagement with the rear of the enemy, in the neighbourhood of Belleisle. Every ship, as she advanced, poured in a broadside on the sternmost of the French, and bore down upon their van, leaving the rear to those that came after. Sir Edward Hawke, in the Royal George, of one hundred and ten guns, reserved his fire in passing through the rear of the enemy, and ordered his master to bring him alongside of the French admiral, who commanded in person on board the Soliel Royal, a ship mounted with eighty cannon, and provided with a complement of twelve hundred men. When the pilot remonstrated that he could not obey his command without the most imminent risk of running upon a shoal, the veteran replied, "You have done your duty in showing the danger; now you are to comply with my order, and lay me alongside the Soleil Royal." His wish was gratified: the Royal George ranged up with the French admiral. The Thesee, another large ship of the enemy, running up between the two commanders, sustained the fire that was reserved for the Soliel Royal; but in returning the first broadside foundered, in consequence of the high sea that entered her lower deck-ports, and filled her with water. Notwithstanding the boisterous weather, a great number of ships on both sides fought with equal fury and dubious success, till about four in the afternoon, when the Formidable struck her colours. The Superb shared the fate of the Thesee in going to the bottom. The Hero hauled down her colours in token of submission, and dropped anchor; but the wind was so high that no boat could be sent to take possession, By this time day-light began to fail, and the greater part of the French fleet escaped under cover of the darkness. Night approaching, the wind blowing with augmented violence on a lee-shore, and the British squadron being entangled among unknown shoals and islands, sir Edward Hawke made the signal for anchoring to the westward of the small island Dumet; and here the fleet remained all night in a very dangerous riding, alarmed by the fury of the storm, and the incessant firing of guns of distress, without their knowing whether it proceeded from friend or enemy. The Soliel Royal had, under favour of the night, anchored also in the midst of the British squadron; but at day-break M. de Conflans ordered her cable to be cut, and she drove ashore to the westward of Crozie. The English admiral immediately made signal to the Essex to slip cable and pursue her; and, in obeying this order, she ran unfortunately on a sand-bank called Lefour, where the Resolution, another ship of the British squadron, was already grounded. Here they were both irrecoverably lost, in spite of all the assistance that could be given; but all their men, and part of their stores, were saved, and the wrecks were set on fire by order of the admiral. He likewise detached the Portland, Chatham, and Vengeance, to destroy the Soleil Royal, which was burned by her own people before the English ships could approach; but they arrived in time enough to reduce the Hero to ashes on the Lefour, where she had been also stranded; and the Juste, another of their great ships, perished in the mouth of the Loire. The admiral, perceiving seven large ships of the enemy riding at anchor between Point Penvas and the mouth of the river Vilaine, made the signal to weigh, in order to attack them; but the fury of the storm increased to such a degree, that he was obliged to remain at anchor, and even ordered the top-gallant masts to be struck. In the meantime, the French ships being lightened of their cannon, their officers took advantage of the flood, and a more moderate gale under the land, to enter the Vilaine, where they lay within half a mile of the entrance, protected by some occasional batteries erected on the shore, and by two large frigates moored across the mouth of the harbour. Thus they were effectually secured from any attempts of small vessels; and as for large ships, there was not water sufficient to float them within fighting distance of the enemy. On the whole, this battle, in which a very considerable number of lives was lost, may be considered as one of the most perilous and important actions that ever happened in any war between the two nations; for it not only defeated the projected invasion, which had hung menacing so long over the apprehensions of Great Britain; but it gave the finishing blow to the naval power of France, which was totally disabled from undertaking anything of consequence in the sequel.*

* During this war, the English had already taken and destroyed twenty-seven French ships of the line, and thirty- one frigates: two of their great ships and four frigates perished; so that their whole loss, in this particular, amounted to sixty-four: whereas, the loss of Great Britain did not exceed seven sail of the line and five frigates. It may be easily conceived how the French marine, at first greatly inferior to the naval power of Britain, must have been affected by this dreadful balance to its prejudice.

By this time, indeed, Thurot had escaped from Dunkirk, and directed his course to the North Sea, whither he was followed by commodore Boys, who nevertheless was disappointed in his pursuit; but the fate of that enterprising adventurer falls under the annals of the ensuing year, among the transactions of which it shall be recorded. As for sir Edward Hawke, he continued cruising off the coast of Bretagne for a considerable time after the victory he had obtained, taking particular care to block up the mouth of the river Vilaine, that the seven French ships might not escape and join M. Conflans, who made shift to reach Rochefort with the shattered remains of his squadron. Indeed, this service became such a considerable object in the eyes of the British ministry, that a large fleet was maintained upon this coast, apparently for no other purpose, during a whole year; and, after all, the enemy eluded their vigilance. Sir Edward Hawke, having undergone a long and dangerous conflict with tempestuous weather, was at length recalled, and presented to his sovereign, who gratified him with a considerable pension, for the courage and conduct he had so often and so long displayed in the service of his country; and his extraordinary merit was afterwards honoured with the approbation of the parliament. The people of France were so dispirited by the defeat of their army at Minden, and the disaster of their squadron at Lagos, that the ministry of Versailles thought proper to conceal the extent of their last misfortunes under a palliating detail published in the gazette of Paris, as a letter from M. Conflans to the count de St. Florentin, secretary of the marine. In this partial misrepresentation, their admiral was made to affirm, that the British fleet consisted of forty ships of the line of battle, besides frigates; that the Soleil Royal had obliged the Royal George to sheer off; that the seven ships which retreated into the river Vilaine had received very little damage, and would be soon repaired; and that, by the junction of Bompart's squadron, he should be soon able to give a good account of the English admiral. These tumid assertions, so void of truth, are not to be imputed to an illiberal spirit of vain glory, so much as to a political design of extenuating the national calamity, and supporting the spirit of the people.



THE IRISH PARLIAMENT.

The alarm of the French invasion, which was thus so happily frustrated, not only disturbed the quiet of Great Britain, but also diffused itself to the kingdom of Ireland, where it was productive of some public disorder. In the latter end of October, the two houses of parliament, assembled at Dublin, received a formal message from the duke of Bedford, lord-lieutenant of that kingdom, to the following effect: That, by a letter from the secretary of state, written by his majesty's express command, it appeared that France, far from resigning her plan of invasion, on account of the disaster that befel her Toulon squadron, was more and more confirmed in her purpose, and even instigated by despair itself to attempt, at all hazards, the only resource she seemed to have left for thwarting, by a diversion at home, the measures of England abroad in prosecuting a war which hitherto opened, in all parts of the world, so unfavourable a prospect to the views of French ambition: that, in case the body of French troops, amounting to eighteen thousand men, under the command of the duc d'Aiguillon, assembled at Vannes, where also a sufficient number of transports was prepared, should be able to elude the British squadron, Ireland would, in all probability, be one of their chief objects; his grace thought it therefore incumbent upon him, in a matter of such high importance to the welfare of that kingdom, to communicate this intelligence to the Irish parliament. He told them, his majesty would make no doubt but that the zeal of his faithful protestant subjects in that kingdom had been already sufficiently quickened by the repeated accounts received of the enemy's dangerous designs and actual preparations, made at a vast expense, in order to invade the several parts of the British dominions. He gave them to understand he had received his sovereign's commands, to use his utmost endeavours to animate and excite his loyal people of Ireland to exert their well-known zeal and spirit in support of his majesty's government, and in defence of all that was dear to them, by timely preparation to resist and frustrate any attempts of the enemy to disturb the quiet and shake the security of this kingdom; he therefore, in the strongest manner, recommended it to them to manifest, upon this occasion, that zeal for the present happy establishment, and that affection for his majesty's person and government, by which the parliament of that nation had been so often distinguished. Immediately after this message was communicated, the house of commons unanimously resolved to present an address to the lord-lieutenant, thanking his grace for the care and concern he had shown for the safety of Ireland, in having imparted intelligence of so great importance; desiring him to make use of such means as should appear to him the most effectual for the security and defence of the kingdom; and assuring him, that the house would make good whatever expense should be necessarily incurred for that purpose. This intimation, and the steps that were taken in consequence of it for the defence of Ireland, produced such apprehensions and distraction among the people of that kingdom, as had well nigh proved fatal to the public credit. In the first transports of popular fear, there was such an extraordinary run upon the banks of Dublin, that several considerable bankers were obliged to stop payment; and the circulation was in danger of being suddenly stagnated, when the lord-lieutenant, the members of both houses of parliament, the lord-mayor, aldermen, merchants, and principal traders of Dublin, engaged in an association to support public credit, by taking the notes of bankers in payment: a resolution which effectually answered the purpose intended.



LOYALTY OF THE IRISH CATHOLICS.

Howsoever the court of Versailles might have flattered itself that their invading army would in Ireland be joined by a great number of the natives, in all probability it would have been disappointed in this hope, had their purposed descent even been carried into execution, for no signs of disaffection to the reigning family appeared at this juncture. On the contrary, the wealthy individuals of the Romish persuasion offered to accommodate the government with large sums of money, in case of necessity, to support the present establishment against all its enemies; and the Roman catholics of the city of Cork, in a body, presented an address to the lord-lieutenant, expressing their loyalty, in the warmest terms of assurance. After having congratulated his grace on the unparalleled success which had attended his majesty's arms, and expressed their sense of the king's paternal tenderness for his kingdom of Ireland, they acknowledged, with the deepest sense of gratitude, that protection and indulgence they had enjoyed under his majesty's mild and auspicious reign. They professed the warmest indignation at the threatened invasion of the kingdom by an enemy, who, grown desperate from repeated defeats, might possibly make that attempt as a last effort, vainly flattered with the imaginary hope of assistance in Ireland, from the former attachment of their deluded predecessors. They assured his grace, in the most solemn manner, that such schemes were altogether inconsistent with their principles and intentions: that they would, to the utmost exertion of their abilities, with their lives and fortunes, join in the defence and support of his majesty's royal person and government against all invaders whatsoever: that they should be always ready to concur in such measures, and to act such parts in defence of the kingdom, in common with the rest of his majesty's subjects, as his grace in his great wisdom should be pleased to appoint; and think themselves particularly happy to be under the direction and command of so known an assertor of liberty, such an important and distinguished governor. Finally, they expressed the most earnest wish, that his majesty's arms might be crowned with such a continuance of success as should enable him to defeat the devices of all his enemies, and obtain a speedy and honourable peace. This cordial address, which was transmitted to the earl of Shannon, and by him presented to the duke of Bedford, must have been very agreeable to the government at such a critical conjuncture.



INSURRECTION IN DUBLIN.

Although no traces of disaffection to his majesty's family appeared on this trying occasion, it must nevertheless be acknowledged, that a spirit of dissatisfaction broke out with extraordinary violence among the populace of Dublin. The present lord-lieutenant was not remarkably popular in his administration. He had bestowed one place of considerable importance upon a gentleman whose person was obnoxious to many people in that kingdom, and perhaps failed in that affability and condescension which a free and ferocious nation expects to find in the character of him to whose rule they are subjected. Whether the offence taken at his deportment had created enemies to his person, or the nation in general began to entertain doubts and jealousies of the government's designs, certain it is, great pains were taken to propagate a belief among the lower sort of people, that an union would soon be effected between Great Britain and Ireland; in which case this last kingdom would be deprived of its parliament and independency, and be subjected to the same taxes that are levied upon the people of England. This notion inflamed the populace to such a degree, that they assembled in a prodigious multitude, broke into the house of lords, insulted the peers, seated an old woman on the throne, and searched for the journals, which, had they been found, they would have committed to the flames. Not content with this outrage, they compelled the members of both houses, whom they met in the streets, to take an oath that they never would consent to such an union, or give any vote contrary to the true interest of Ireland. Divers coaches belonging to obnoxious persons were destroyed, and their horses killed; and a gibbet was erected for one gentleman in particular, who narrowly escaped the ungovernable rage of those riotous insurgents. A body of horse and infantry were drawn out on this occasion, in order to overawe the multitude, which at night dispersed of itself. Next day addresses to the lord-lieutenant were agreed to by both houses of parliament, and a committee of inquiry appointed, that the ringleaders of the tumult might be discovered and brought to condign punishment.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}



ALARM OF A DESCENT IN SCOTLAND.

When the ministry of England received the first advice, that M. Thurot had escaped from Dunkirk with a small squadron of armed ships, having on board a body of land-troops, designed for a private expedition on the coast of Scotland or Ireland, expresses were immediately despatched to the commanding officers of the forces in North Britain, with orders to put the forts along the coast of that kingdom in the best posture of defence; and to hold every thing in readiness to repel the enemy, in case they should attempt a descent. In consequence of these instructions, beacons were erected for the immediate communication of intelligence; places of rendezvous appointed for the regular troops and militia; and strict orders issued that no officer should absent himself from his duty, on any pretence whatever. The greatest encomium that can be given to the character of this partisan, is an account of the alarm which the sailing of his puny armament spread through the whole extent of such a powerful kingdom, whose fleets covered the ocean. Perhaps Thurot's career would have been sooner stopped, had commodore Boys been victualled for a longer cruise; but this commander was obliged to put into Leith for a supply of provisions, at the very time when Thurot was seen hovering on the coast near Aberdeen; and, before the English squadron was provided for the prosecution of the cruise, the other had taken shelter at Gottenburgh, in Sweden.



CHAPTER XVII.

State of the Island of Martinique..... Expedition against that Island..... Attempt upon St. Pierre..... Descent on the Island of Guadaloupe..... Skirmishes with the Islanders..... Fort Louis reduced..... Fate of Colonel Debrisay..... The English Fleet sails to Dominique..... General Harrington takes Gosier, and Storms the Post of Licorne..... He takes Petitbourg and St. Mary's..... The Island capitulates..... Island of Marigalante taken by General Barrington..... He returns to England..... Treaty with the Indians in North America..... Plan of the Campaign..... Ticonderoga and Crown Point abandoned by the French..... General Amherst embarks on Lake Champlain..... Niagara reduced..... Introduction to the Expedition against Quebec..... General Wolfe lands on the Island of Orleans, and takes Point Levi..... The English Fleet damaged by a Storm..... General Wolfe encamps near the Falls of the River Montmorenci, and attacks the French Intrenchments there, but is repulsed..... Brigadier Murray detached up the River..... Council of War called..... The Troops land at the Heights of Abraham..... Battle of Quebec..... Quebec taken..... Rejoicings in England



STATE OF THE ISLAND OF MARTINIQUE.

Having finished the detail of the actions achieved in the European seas by the naval force of Great Britain, within the compass of the present year, we shall now proceed to record the exploits of the British arms within the tropics, and particularly the expedition to Martinique and Guadaloupe, which is said to have succeeded even beyond the expectation of the ministry. A plan had been formed for improving the success of the preceding year in North America, by carrying the British arms up the river St. Laurence, and besieging Quebec, the capital of Canada. The armament employed against the French islands of Martinique and Guadaloupe constituted part of this design, inasmuch as the troops embarked on that expedition were, in case of a miscarriage at Martinique, intended to reinforce the British army in North America, which was justly considered as the chief seat of the war. What hope of success the administration conceived from an attempt upon Martinique, may be guessed from the state of that island, as it appeared in a memorial presented by the French king's lieutenants of its several districts, to the general of the French island, in consequence of an order issued in November, for holding them in readiness to march and defend the island from the English, of whose design they were apprized. They represented that the trade with the Dutch was become their sole dependence: that they could expect no succour from Europe, by which they had been abandoned ever since the commencement of the war: that the traders vested with the privileges of trafficking among them had abused the intention of the general; and, instead of being of service to the colony, had fixed an arbitrary price for all the provisions which they brought in, as well as for the commodities which they exported; of consequence, the former was valued at as high a price as their avarice could exact, and the latter sunk as low in value as their own selfish hearts could conceive: that the colony for two months had been destitute of all kinds of provision; the commodities of the planters lay upon their hands, and their negroes were in danger of perishing through hunger; a circumstance that excited the apprehension of the most dreadful consequences; as to slaves, half starved, all kinds of bondage were equal; and people reduced to such a situation were often driven to despair, seeking in anarchy and confusion a remedy from the evils by which they were oppressed; that the best provided of the inhabitants laboured under the want of the common necessaries of life; and others had not so much as a grain of salt in their houses: that there was an irreparable scarcity of slaves to cultivate their land; and the planters were reduced to the necessity of killing their own cattle to support the lives of those who remained alive; so that the mills were no longer worked, and the inhabitants consumed beforehand what ought to be reserved for their sustenance, in case of being blocked up by the enemy. They desired, therefore, that the general would suppress the permission granted to particular merchants, and admit neutral vessels freely into their ports, that they might trade with the colonists unmolested and unrestrained. They observed, that the citadel of Port-Royal seemed the principal object on which the safety and defence of the country depended; as the loss of it would be necessarily attended with the reduction of the whole island: they therefore advised that this fort should be properly provided with every thing necessary for its safety and defence; and that magazines of provision, as well as ammunition, should be established in different quarters of the island.—This remonstrance plainly proves that the island was wholly unprepared to repel the meditated invasion, and justifies the plan adopted by the ministry of Great Britain. The regular troops of Martinique consisted of about twenty independent companies, greatly defective in point of number. The militia was composed of burghers and planters distressed and dissatisfied, mingled with a parcel of wretched negro slaves, groaning under the most intolerable misery, from whence they could have no hope of deliverance but by a speedy change of masters; their magazines were empty, and their fortifications out of repair.



EXPEDITION AGAINST THAT ISLAND.

Such was the state of Martinique, when the inhabitants every day expected a visit from the British armament, whose progress we shall now relate. On the twelfth day of November in the preceding year, captain Hughes sailed from St. Helen's with eight sail of the line, one frigate, four bomb-ketches, and a fleet of transports, having on board six regiments of infantry, and a detachment of artillery, besides eight hundred marines distributed among the ships of war; this whole force being under the command of major-general Hopson, an old experienced officer, assisted by major-general Barrington, the colonels Armigerand Haldane, the lieutenant-colonels Trapaud and Clavering, acting in the capacity of brigadiers. After a voyage of seven weeks and three days, the fleet arrived at Barbadoes, and anchored in Carlisle-bay; where they joined commodore Moore, appointed by his majesty to command the united squadron, amounting to ten ships of the line, besides frigates and bomb-ketches. Ten days were employed in supplying the fleet with wood and water, in waiting for the hospital ship, in reviews, re-embarkations, councils of war, assemblies of the council belonging to the island, in issuing proclamations, and beating up for volunteers. At length, every great ship being reinforced with forty negroes, to be employed in drawing the artillery; and the troops, which did not exceed five thousand eight hundred men, being joined by two hundred Highlanders, belonging to the second battalion of the regiment commanded by lord John Murray in North America, who were brought as recruits from Scotland under convoy of the ship Ludlow-castle; the whole armament sailed from Carlisle-bay on the thirteenth day of January; but by this time the troops, unaccustomed to a hot climate, were considerably weakened and reduced by fevers, diarrhoeas, the scurvy, and the small-pox; which last disease had unhappily broke out amongst the transports. Next morning the squadron discovered the island of Martinique, which was the place of its destination. The chief fortification of Martinique was the citadel of Port-Royal, a regular fort, garrisoned by four companies, that did not exceed the number of one hundred and fifty men, thirty-six bombardiers, eighty Swiss, and fourteen officers. One hundred barrels of beef constituted their whole store of provisions; and they were destitute of all other necessaries. They were almost wholly unprovided with water in the cisterns, with spare carriages for their cannon, match, wadding, and langrage; they had but a small stock of other ammunition; and the walls were in many parts decayed. The only preparations they had made for receiving the English were some paltry intrenchments thrown up at St, Pierre, and a place called Casdenavires, where they imagined the descent would probably be attempted. On the fifteenth day of the month, the British squadron entered the great bay of Port-Royal, some of the ships being exposed to the shot of a battery erected on the isle de Ranieres, a little island about half way up the bay. At their first appearance, the Florissant, of seventy-four guns, which had been so roughly handled by captain Tyrrel in the Buckingham, then lying under the guns of Fort-Negro, along with two frigates, turned up under the citadel, and came to an anchor in the Carenage, behind the fortification. One frigate, called the Vestal, under favour of the night, made her escape through the transports, and directed her course for Europe; where she was taken by captain Hood, as we have already related. Next day three ships of the line were ordered to attack Fort-Negro, a battery at the distance of three miles from the citadel, which, being mounted with seven guns only, was soon silenced, and immediately possessed by a detachment of marines and sailors; who, being sanded in flat-bottomed boats, clambered up the rock, and entered through the embrasures with their bayonets fixed. Here, however, they met with no resistance: the enemy had abandoned the fort with precipitation. The British colours were immediately hoisted, and sentinels of marines posted upon the parapet. The next care was to spike and disable the cannon, break the carriages, and destroy the powder which they found in the magazine: nevertheless, the detachment was ordered to keep possession of the battery. This service being successfully performed, three ships were sent to reduce the other battery at Casdenavires, which consisted only of four guns, and these were soon rendered unserviceable. The French troops, reinforced with militia which had been detached from the citadel to oppose the disembarkation, perceiving the whole British squadron, and all the transports, already within the bay, and Fort-Negro occupied by the marines, retired to Port-Royal, leaving the beach open; so that the English troops were landed without opposition; and, being formed, advanced into the country towards Fort-Negro, in the neighbourhood of which they lay all night upon their arms; while the fleet, which had been galled by bomb-shells from the citadel, shifted their station, and stood farther up the bay. By ten next day, the English officers had brought up some field-pieces to an eminence, and scoured the woods, from whence the troops had been greatly annoyed by the small shot of the enemy during the best part of the night, and all that morning. At noon the British forces advanced in order towards the hill that overlooked the town and citadel of Port-Royal, and sustained a troublesome fire from enemies they could not see; for the French militia were entirely covered by the woods and bushes. This eminence, called the Morne Tortueson, though the most important post of the whole island, was neglected by the general of Martinique, who had resolved to blow up the fortifications of the citadel: but, luckily for the islanders, he had not prepared the materials for this operation, which must have been attended with the immediate destruction of the capital, and indeed of the whole country. Some of the inferior officers, knowing the importance of the Morne Tortueson, resolved to defend that post with a body of the militia, which was reinforced by the garrisons of Fort-Negro and Casdenavires, as well as by some soldiers detached from the Florissant: but, notwithstanding all their endeavours, as they were entirely unprovided with cannon, extremely defective in point of discipline, dispirited by the pusillanimity of their governor, and in a great measure disconcerted by the general consternation that prevailed among the inhabitants, in all probability they could not have withstood a spirited and well-conducted attack by regular forces. About two o'clock general Hopson thought proper to desist from his attempt. He gave the commodore to understand that he could not maintain his ground, unless the squadron would supply him with heavy cannon, landed near the town of Port-Royal, at a savannah, where the boats must have been greatly exposed to the fire of the enemy; or assist him in attacking the citadel by sea, while he should make his approaches by land. Both these expedients* being deemed impracticable by a council of war, the troops were recalled from their advanced posts, and re-embarked in the evening, without any considerable molestation from the enemy.