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as they could be formed again, the attack was renewed; they were again repulsed; and again, the third time, they returned to the charge. But the affair was now soon decided: they were totally broken, and retired in the utmost disorder, leaving their dead and wounded on the field. Four hundred were killed upon the spot, and 1100 wounded—a number considerably superior to the enemy they had attacked!

The loss of the victors was unusually small-10 killed and 130 wounded. General Meadows was wounded, but would not be persuaded by the surgeons to quit the field. Major Harris, who commanded the grenadiers, and Major Sir James Murray, at the head of the light infantry, particularly distinguished themselves.

M. d'Estaing having rendered himself accountable for the wounded as prisoners of war, he was allowed to have them, and to bury the dead. He remained for ten days afterwards upon the island, without making any further attempt by sea or land. On the 28th, at night, he embarked his troops, and on the following day abandoned the island. Before he was out of sight, the Chevalier de Micoud, and the principal inhabitants, offered to capitulate, and very favourable conditions were granted to them.'

Beatson's Memoirs, vol. iv. p. 399.

1 Translation of the Articles of Capitulation between Major-General Grant and the Honourable Rear-Admiral Barrington, Commander in Chief of His Britannic Majesty's Land and Sea Forces upon a joint Expedition, and the Chevalier de Micoud, Colonel of Foot, and LieutenantGovernor for His most Christian Majesty of the Island of St. Lucia.

"ART. 1. The commandant and his garrison shall march out of their posts with the honours of war, their arms and baggage, and shall be conveyed to Martinico in a vessel fitted out for that purpose.

"ANSW. The commandant and his garrison shall be permitted to march out with the honours of war, and to keep their baggage, but must deliver up their arms, and shall be sent as prisoners of war to Martinico, not to serve till they are exchanged.

"2. The inhabitants who have taken arms shall march out of their posts, and shall return home thence to their habitations without suffering any molestation or impediment.

"ANSW. The inhabitants shall return to their habitations, in the possession of which they will be protected, after having delivered up their arms and having taken

the oath of allegiance to His Britannic Majesty.

"3. The inhabitants and curates shall be protected in their possessions, effects moveable and immoveable, privileges, rights, honours, and exemptions. The free people shall preserve their liberties.

"ANSW. The inhabitants and curates will be protected as British subjects. The free Negroes shall not be molested.

"4. The commandant, as an inhabitant, shall have liberty to remain some time upon the island to settle his affairs without being molested; and at the expiration of the time agreed upon he shall be provided with a good vessel, to convey himself and his domestics, and his effects, to Martinico; and he demands liberty to continue his service, as was granted to Mr. Stuart, commandant at St. Domingo.

"ANSW. The commandant, as an inhabitant of St. Lucia, may remain upon the island to settle his affairs, and shall, upon his requisition, be permitted to go with his family and baggage to Martinico upon his parole, but is to remain a prisoner of war, and not to serve till exchanged.

"5. The inhabitants of the island shall be, protected in their religion, government, laws, customs, and ordinances;

The trade from Cuba was increased to require above two hundred vessels, and more than supplied the mother country with sugar.

Brougham's Colonial Policy, book i. sect. 3. p. 442.

justice shall be administered by the same persons now in office: what concerns the police shall be regulated, until a peace, between the government of His Britannic Majesty and the inhabitants.

"ANSW. The inhabitants shall be protected in the exercise of their religion, and be governed by the established laws of the colony; the judges will be continued during their good behaviour. The police of the island to be regulated by the commander-in-chief for the time being.

"6. The emigrants from the English islands shall be included in the capitulation, without being molested for any matters they now are or may have been concerned in in the English islands, until

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"8. The inhabitants shall pay no taxes to His Britannic Majesty, as they pay none to His most Christian Majesty. The salaries of the officers of justice and the curates shall be paid by the inhabitants of the island.

"ANSW. The inhabitants shall pay the same taxes to His Britannic Majesty which were paid to His most Christian Majesty. The salaries of the officers of justice and the curates shall be paid by the inhabitants of the island.

"9. The absent inhabitants, and those in the service of His most Christian Majesty, shall be protected in their possessions and the enjoyment of their effects and habitations, managed by virtue of letters of attorney.

"ANSW. Granted.

"11. The absent inhabitants, widows, sick or infirm, shall have entire liberty to sign the capitulation; and those who are not willing to sign it shall have equally permission to go out of the island, and they shall be allowed a vessel at that time, with provisions, to convey them to Martinico, at the charges of His Britannic Majesty, or to Europe.

"ANSW. They shall be permitted to go to Martinico.

"12. The inhabitants and merchants of the island, comprised in the present capitulation, shall enjoy the same privi. leges as do the subjects of His Britannic Majesty who are best treated.

"ANSW. To be considered as subjects of Great Britain.

"13. The inhabitants shall observe an exact neutrality, and shall not beforce d to take arms against France, and may keep them for the interior police.

"ANSW. Shall not be obliged to carry arms against the troops of His most Christian Majesty.

"14. No others but the present proprietors of lands and houses shall be permitted to possess them; and the possessors by provisionary or definitive concession, or by a commencement of power to possess them, shall be protected without molestation in their possessions; and if in the peace the island shall remain to His Britannic Majesty, the inhabitants and proprietors shall have a reasonable time allowed them to sell their effects. Every inhabitant or merchant shall be at liberty to send their children to France, and make them remittances.

"ANSW. Shall remain in quiet possession of their habitations. Regulations at the peace must depend upon treaties.

"15. Appeals shall be brought, as formerly, to the sovereign council at Martinico.

"ANSW. To the commander-in-chief of St. Lucia.

"16. Whereas the island is laid waste by the destruction of cattle, the ravages of war, and excessive services, by taking the cattle of the colony, the inhabitants and merchants request to have granted to them a suspension of payment of debts already contracted, until a peace; and those who have been entirely plundered

"10. The ships and coasting vessels belonging to the inhabitants and merchants of the island shall remain to them in nature and property.

"ANSW. Granted.

The exports from Essequibo and Demerary employed 27 ships, and consisted of 6920 hhds. of sugar, 1839 tierces and 32,634 bags of coffee, and 1754 bales of cotton.

Jamaica, vol. iii. act 64. "No slaves, nor any persons in trust for them, to purchase any horse, mare, mule, gelding, or ass, under penalty of £20.

"5. Any slave having more than ten pounds of beef, veal, mutton, or goat, to be whipped in such manner as a magistrate shall direct; and if the quantity exceeds ten pounds, convicted, before two justices and three freeholders, to suffer such punishment as they shall think proper."

Captain Vincent, in his Majesty's ship Yarmouth, of 64 guns, on Saturday, the 7th of March, fifty leagues to windward of Barbadoes, fell in with an American squadron, consisting of two ships, three brigs, and a schooner. At nine P.M. the Yarmouth got alongside the largest and headmost vessel, which Captain Vincent hailed, and desired to hoist her colours. He was answered by a broadside, and the American flag was hoisted. In less than half

Bolinbroke's Voyage to Demerary, Appendix. Report of the Lords of the Committee, 1789. Beatson's Memoirs, vol. iv. p. 383. Naval Chronicle, vol. xvii. p. 367.

shall be permitted to claim from the government such particular indulgencies as are necessary to their situation.

"ANSW. As the cattle have been killed by the French troops and not by the British, they cannot expect redress from their new sovereign. Suspension from the payment of debts due to the French subjects till the peace allowed; but with regard to the inhabitants of the island, the power of giving time to people in distressed circumstances is reserved to the commander-in-chief of the island.

"17. The curates of every parish shall be protected; and when the curacies be come vacant, the inhabitants of the parishes shall be provided with curates, on requiring them from the superiors of the missions of Martinico.

"ANSW. The curates shall remain in their parishes during their good behaviour: when vacancies happen, curates will be named by the commander-inchief.

"18. There shall be an account drawn up by the keeper of the magazine of artillery, of every piece of artillery, as well battering as field-pieces, and other warlike stores; and with regard to provisions, magazines, and, in general, every thing belonging to His most Christian Majesty, the commissary shall cause an

account to be made out of them by the keeper of the magazine; and as an inhabitant, Monsieur Raulin de la Mothe, commissary of the marine and of the classes, desires to have time allowed him in like manner as the Chevalier Micoud, to settle his affairs.

"ANSW. All stores of ammunition and provisions, and every thing which is considered as the property of His most Christian Majesty, together with all deserters and prisoners belonging to the British army, are to be delivered up, upon honour, to the British commissaries. The request of M. Raulin de la Mothe is granted.

"Concluded and agreed upon by me, colonel of foot and lieutenant-governor for the King of the island of St. Lucia, this 30th day of December, 1778; who have put the seal of my arms to these presents, which are countersigned by my secretary, Le Chevalier de Micoud. By the lieutenant-governor, "A. REGNAUlt. "Granted and agreed to at St. Lucia, this 30th day of December, 1778. "JAMES GRANT.

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"SAMUEL BARRINGTON." Fifty-nine guns were found in the different batteries.

Beatson's Memoirs, vol. vi. p. 116.

an hour afterwards, the American vessel blew up; large fragments of the wreck fell on board the Yarmouth, and an uninjured American ensign. The rest of the squadron stood different ways, and easily escaped. The Yarmouth had five killed and twelve, wounded.

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On the Thursday following, five men were seen standing, as it were, upon the water, making signals for assistance, The Yarmouth made sail for them, and with a boat took them off their raft they were the only survivors of the crew of the Randolph, of 36 guns and 315 men, the ship which had engaged the Yarmouth on the preceding Saturday. They had been five nights on the raft-young and hardy men. When they came on the quarter-deck, they said they were thirsty and sleepy, but not hungry. Some tea and a hammock was given to each. When they awoke their feet were swoln, which seemed to be the only injury they had received. They had been quartered in the captain's cabin, and thrown into the sea unhurt, but could not tell by what accident the ship blew up. They were good swimmers, and had made the raft on which they were found, by fastening some spars together with their rigging. A blanket was of great service to them-sucking out the rain water which fell upon it was their only sustenance. The other ship was the General Moultrie, and three armed brigs. They sailed from Charleston

about a month before.

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Saving these men gave the Yarmouth £1575 head money as from their depositions the force of the vessel she had destroyed was ascertained.

The object of the American squadron was the capture of Tobago, in which, if they had succeeded, they could not have hoped to keep it.

The French general and intendant, on the 31st August, 1778, issued an ordinance concerning the administration of the church establishment in the parishes.

"Art. 5. Each curé ordered to keep two registers, in which to be inserted the baptisms and marriages of slaves.

"The registers to contain at least six cahiers (say six quires) large paper, for the purpose of serving several years, and to be less exposed to the risk of being lost. Curés not allowed to baptize children of colour, without having previously examined the acts of liberty of their fathers and mothers, as is prescribed by the edict of 1736, which orders, that the children of slaves baptized as free, shall be confiscated to the crown and sold, and the masters condemned to the payment of a fine.

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14. Curés ordered in the month of January of each year, to

Parliamentary "Further Papers," 1826, p. 55.

deposit, in the greffe of the tribunal of their parishes, duplicates of the registers of baptisms and marriages of slaves.

1779.

Soon after Count d'Estaing had been repulsed from St. Lucia, Admiral Byron arrived in the West Indies, with such reinforcements as made the English fleet assume the superiority over the French', and blockade them in Port Royal, Martinico. Admi

Annual Register, 1779, p. 199.

"Prince of Wales, in the Grand Cul de Sac, in the Island of St. Lucia, January the 6th.

"You will herewith receive the duplicate of a letter I wrote to you the 23d and 24th of last month (No. 23), and dispatched to Governor Hay of Barbadoes, to be forwarded from thence to England by some fast-sailing vessel, that my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty might have it in their power to refute any misrepresentation which Count d'Estaing may have transmitted to his court of the situation of his Majesty's forces in those seas.

"From the state of inactivity in which the count continued for several days after, I began to conceive it was his intention to form a blockade, with a view of starving us into a surrender; but, to my utter astonishment, on the morning of the 29th (having re-embarked his troops during the preceding night), he retired with his whole force towards Martinico, and left us in quiet possession of the island, which capitulated whilst his fleet was yet in sight, upon the terms I have the honour to inclose.

"I should be much wanting, were I, on the present occasion, to omit acknowledging the assistance I received from Major-General Grant, and the forces under his command, as well as expressing my entire satisfaction with the conduct not only of Commodore Hotham, the several commanders, and the rest of the officers of the squadron, but also of the people in general, who never in the least repined at their precarious situation, and the difficulties they hourly encountered, but still performed their duty with alacrity and spirit.

"Sensible of the additional fatigue the troops underwent, in occupying more extensive posts for the squadron than there would otherwise have been occasion for, the seamen laboured with the utmost cheerfulness in conveying provisions, &c. for them through roads that were almost impassable.

"I likewise beg leave to mention to their lordships, the very great assistance I received from Captain Baker, the agent of transports, and the services of Lieutenant-Governor Stewart, of the island of Dominica, who has done me the favour of officiating as an honorary aid-de-camp between the general and myself. accompanied me upon this expedition, in hopes that his Majesty's arms might afterwards be employed in recovering that island, where, from his perfect knowledge of it, he must be particularly useful, and therefore offered himself as a volunteer.

He

"What has become of the enemy's fleet since its departure from hence I have not had it in my power to learn, but I hope Vice Admiral Byron, who, I have the pleasure to acquaint you, arrived here this morning with nine sail of the line, will very soon be able to give their lordships that information; and that RearAdmiral Sir Peter Parker, and the governor of Jamaica, may be upon their guard in case of its appearance in those seas, I have sent the Ariadne to Antigua with letters, to be forwarded from thence by some fast-sailing vessel, which I have requested Governor Burt to dispatch for that purpose.

"I have great satisfaction in hearing since the capitulation, that when Count d'Estaing was directed hither by the

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