than they wickedly have drawn upon

me.

The punishment implied in the order referred to, you will obferve, Sir, is unufual as well as cruel. Whether the Minifters of the crown, can legally order a British fubject into captivity either at home or abroad without trial; or whether they can compel an officer by virtue of his general military obedience, to deliver himself to the prifon of the enemy, without any requifition on their part, is (to fay nothing ftronger of it) matter of fericus doubt. On pretence of military obedience, I am ordered to the only part of the world in which I can do no military fervice. An enemy's prifon is not the King's garrifon, nor is any thing to be done or fuffered there, any part of an officer's duty; fo far from it, that it implies a direct incapacity for any military function. What are the military orders I am to give to men who have no arms to fight, and no liberty to march? Or by what rule is my not being in the hands of rebels, understood to be a neglect of duty to my Sovereign? Sir, the thing is too evident; those who calumniate my conduct on this account are defirous not of ferving the King, but of infulting me, and of establishing new, dangerous, unmilitary and unconstitutional powers in themfelves.

While a precedent is eftablishing in my particular cafe, I requeft it may moreover be remembered that I am deprived of a court-martial upon my conduct in America, becaufe I am not fuppofed to be amenable to the justice of the kingdom and the King is told I have difobeyed his orders, in the very

fame breath that I am stated not to be accountable to him: by this doctrine it feems fuppofed, that I am not capable of receiving orders for the purposes of public juftice or public fervice, but am perfectly fubject to all fuch as have a tendency to my own deftruction.

But it has been fuggested, when no military duty could be devised as a ground for this order, that I might be returned to captivity in a fort of civil capacity; to comfort my fellow prifoners by a participation of their fufferings, and to act as a commiflary to negotiate for them. Could any fufferings of mine alleviate the fmalleft of theirs, I fhould willingly submit to any thing the malice of the prefent Minifters could inflict upon me. But it is equally injurious to truth, and, to their honour and humanity, to fuppofe that my perfecution could make any part of their confolation. What confolation could they derive from my junction to the common captivity, only to tell them that not a name among them is to be found in the numerous lift of late promotions? and that the negociations to be undertaken in their favour, are to be conducted by the man who is notoriously profcribed by the power in the name of which he is to negotiate? who alone, of all the officers who have come from America, has been denied all accefs to the King. Cruelly as I and my fellow-fufferers are treated; I can scarce bring myself to with, that they who provide fuch comfort for others, fhould receive it in a fimilar fituation themselves.

I am forry finally to obferve, that the treatment I have experienced, however contradictory in

the reasons affigned for the feveral parts of it, is perfectly uniform in the principle. They who would not fuffer me to approach the King's prefence to vindicate my self before him; who have held that I cannot have a court-martial to ⚫ vindicate myself to my profeffion; and who have done all they could do, to prevent me from vindicating myfelf to my country by a parliamentary enquiry; are now very fyftematically defirous of burying my innocence and their own guilt, in the prifons of the enemy, and of removing, in my perfon, to the other fide of the Atlantic Ocean, the means of renewing parliamentary proceedings which they have reason to dread.

Thofe extraordinary attempts to oppress in my perfon the rights of all fubjects, and to pervert every idea of military obedience, by directing it, not to the fervice of the public, but the ruin of officers, jullified me to my own confcience, in the part I took under the conditional order, referred to in your letter. I found the fame inward juftification in requiring, in the moti public manner, at the close of the late feffion of parliament, a clear, peremptory order, in cafe the Minilters perfevered in their intention of re-farrendering me to the enemy.

I have received no order; had an order been fent to me, framed in any manner that I could have acted upon it confiftently with the exiftence of character; I might have made a protest against the precedent; I might have enquired of you, Sir, by what probable means, in the prefent pofture of affairs, it was to be executed. But in deference to the King's name, as a

military fervant, I meant fubmiffion. Your letter, Sir, inftead of an order for my future conduct, is an unjust reproach of my paft; for which I humbly implore of his Majefty, and firmly demand of his councils, trial by a court-martial. Should that be refufed or procra itiated upon the principle formerly adopted, that in my pre

fent fituation no judicature can "have cognizance of my actions;" I can then confider the purport of your letter, Sir, in no other light than that of a difmiflion, a difmiffion as conclufive as any you could have worded in form, and perhaps more poignant. To eat the bread of the crown, however faithfully earned, under a fentence, without appeal, in the name of the King, of neglect of duty and difobedience of orders, is incompatible with my conception of honour ; an interdiction from my country; a banishment to the only part of the world in which i am difabled from ferving that country at the moment of her fate; and when every other arm, even to the weakeft, is preffed to her defence; thefe circumftce give a critical barbarity to the intentions of the King's advifers, that an English foldier cannot fupport. Th refore, Sir, I find myself compelled, if not allowed an early trial, or by the King's grace, upon this reprefentation, restored to a capacity of fervice, through your official channel to request his Majesty, to accept of my refignation of my appointment upon the American ftaff, of the Queen's regiment of light dragoons, and of the government of Fort William, humbly defiring only to referve my rank as lieutenant[U] 2

general

ceived this intelligence, I made the fignal for the convoy to bear down under my lee, and repeated it with two guns; notwithstanding which, the van of the convoy kept their wind, with all fail ftretching out to the fouthward from under Flamborough Head, till between twelve and one, when the head most of them got fight of the enemy's fhips, which were then in chace of them; they then tacked, and made the best of their way under the fhore for Scarborough, &c. letting fly their top-gallant fheets, and firing guns; upon which I made all the fail I could to windward, to get between the enemy's fhips and the convoy, which I foon effected. At one o'clock we got fight of the enemy's fhips from the maft head, and about four we made them plain from the deck to be three large fhips and a brig; upon which I made the Countess of Scarborough's fignal to join me, the being in fhore with the convoy: at the fame time I made the fignal for the convoy to make the belt of their way, and repeated the fignal with two guns: I then brought to, to let the Countess of Scarborough come up, and cleared fhip for action. At half past five the Countess of Scarborough joined me, the enemy's fhips then bearing down upon us, with a light breeze at S. S. W. at fix tacked, and laid our head in fhore, in order to keep our ground the better between the enemy's fhips and the convoy focu after which we perceived the hips bearing down upon us to be a two-decked thip and two frigates, but from their keeping end on upon us, on bearing down, we could not difcern what colours they were under at about twenty

minutes paft feven, the largest fhip of the three brought to, on our larboard bow, within mufquet fhot: I hailed him, and asked what ship it was; they answered in English, the Princess Royal; I then asked where they belonged to; they anfwered evafively; on which I told them, if they did not antwer directly, I would fire into them; they then anfwered with a fhot, which was inftantly returned with a broad fide; and after exchanging two or three broad fides, he backed his topfails, and dropped upon our quarter within pistolhot, then filled again, put his helm a-weather, and run us on board upon our weather quarter, and attempted to board us, but being repulied, he fheered off; upon which I backed our top-fails, in order to get fquare with him again, which, as foon as he obferved, he then filled, put his helm a-weather, and laid us athwort hawfe; his mizen shrouds took our jib boom, which hung him for fome time, till it at lait gave way, and we dropt alongfide of each other, head and ftern, when the fluke of our spare anchor hooking his quarter, we became fo clote fore and aft, that the muzzles of our guns touched each others fides. In this pofition we engaged from half past eight till half paft ten; during which time, from the great quantity and variety of combuftible matters which they threw in upon our decks, chains, and in short into every part of the fhip, we were on fire no less than ten or twelve times in different parts of the fhip, and it was with the greateft difficulty and exertion imaginable at times that we were able to get it extinguished. At

the