1781. DEFENCE OF MINORCA BY GENERAL MURRAY. 97

without difficulty. On our part, to maintain St. Philip's Castle, there were only two English, and as many Hanoverian, regiments, all much reduced by sickness; but our chief was the late Governor of Quebec, Lieutenant General James Murray, a veteran of tried spirit and ability. Next under him was serving the old antagonist of Junius, Sir William Draper, whose sword was sharper than his pen.

By the orders of the Court of Madrid, and to avoid the labours and losses of a siege, De Crillon wrote, secretly, to the English Governor, offering him, as the price of his surrender, a present of 100,000l. and a commission in either the French or Spanish service. The reply of Murray breathes the spirit of honest indignation, and would have been better still, had he forborne from bragging of his own, Lord Elibank's, high race. Here are his expressions: "When "your brave ancestor was desired, by his Sovereign, to as"sassinate the Duke of Guise, he returned the answer which "you should have done when the King of Spain charged you "to assassinate the character of a man whose birth is as il"lustrious as your own, or that of the Duke of Guise. I can "have no other communication with you but in arms. If you "have any humanity, pray send clothing to your unfortunate "prisoners in my possession; leave it at a distance to be “taken up for them; because I will admit of no contact for "the future but such as is hostile in the most inveterate "degree." These were not mere empty words. So resolute was Murray's defence, that, far superior as were the enemy, both in numbers and resources, the year had closed before they were able to make any effectual progress.

The French and Spanish grand fleet, after escorting the Minorca armament to near its destination, steered their course to the British channel, and threatened the British

* On receiving this reproof De Crillon wrote a second note, as though ashamed and justly of his first. "Your letter places us each in his "proper station. It confirms me in the esteem I have always had for you. "I accept with pleasure your last proposition." (October 16. 1781.) The answer of the older Crillon to the King of France had been, that he was ready to challenge the Duke of Guise, and to fight, but not to murder, him. (Sismondi, Histoire des Français, vol. xx. p. 459.)

Mahon, History. VII.

7

coasts. According to the accounts received in England, they amounted to forty-nine sail of the line, while Admiral Darby had at that time only twenty-one. On learning the enemy's approach, and, on considering his own disparity of force, he judiciously withdrew into Torbay, and there awaited an attack. Count de Guichen, the French Admiral, was for at once pursuing and engaging him. "Now, at last," he cried, "these English will be caught as in a net!" But several of his own flag-officers, together with all the Spaniards, dissented from his views; so they remained at sea, hoping to intercept the merchantmen upon their voyage homeward. It soon appeared, however, that their own ships, more especially the Spanish ones, were, in many cases, neither sound nor yet well manned. Some hard gales, at the beginning of September, reduced them to great distress; and, relinquishing any further enterprise, they found it necessary to sail back to their own ports.*

At nearly the same period, Admiral Hyde Parker, who, with some ships of war, was escorting a large merchant fleet from the Baltic, fell in, near the Dogger Bank, with another convoy and another squadron of Holland. A conflict ensued, recalling the remembrance of the hard-fought, and doubtful battles between the two navies, in the reign of Charles the Second. It is plain from this, says a contemporary, that those nations contend with the greatest eagerness whose interest it is not to contend at all.** In the Dogger Bank action, the loss on each side was great, though greatest on the Dutch; but the honour of the day was equally divided. The two fleets, both in great measure, disabled, lay to for his some time to repair, after which the Dutch Admiral name was Zouttman bore away for the Texel, a movement which the British chief was in no condition to oppose.

When Admiral Parker himself returned with his shattered

On these movements in the Channel see some letters from Mr. Fox, who was then visiting at Saltram. These letters are published by Lord John Russell in his "Memorials," but erroneously transferred to the year 1779. (vol. i. p. 281-285.)

** Ann. Regist. 1782, part i. p. 120.

1781.

CAPTURE OF ST. EUSTACIA.

99

squadron to the Nore, he had the honour to receive a visit from the King on board his ship, and was gratified with marked expressions of the Royal favour. As was rumoured, he said, in reply: "Sir, I wish your Majesty younger officers, "and better ships. As for me, I am grown too old for the ser"vice." It is certain that he persisted in resigning his command; and it is probable that discontent with the conduct of the Admiralty Board had some share, at least, in his determination. He complained, it is said, of the ill state, or insuffi cient number, of his ships. Yet how, with so many foes around us, could we send forth a large fleet on every side?

In the West Indies Admiral Rodney had returned to his post from New York, before the close of the preceding year. He failed in an attempt to recover St. Vincent's, but on learning the declaration of war against Holland, undertook a more important enterprise. Taking on board a body of troops under General Vaughan, he surrounded with his fleet the Dutch island of St. Eustatia. Strongly fortified as it was by nature, - it had, indeed, but a single landing-place, the consternation of so sudden an attack induced the commandant, M. de Graaf, to surrender at the first summons. The value of the capture was immense, and such as to astonish the captors themselves. Above 150 merchantmen, some of them richly laden, were taken in the bay, besides six ships of war; and another convoy, which had already sailed, was pursued and brought back by Rodney's orders. This, however, was but part of the prize. The whole island seemed to be only one vast magazine. Not only were the store - houses filled with goods of various kinds, but the beach was covered with hogsheads of sugar and tobacco; and the value of the whole property seized on shore was loosely calculated at upwards of 3,000,000 7.* Great part of the property was found to belong to British subjects; yet it did not seem on that ac

For the capture of St. Eustatia, compare the statements in the Annual Register (1781, part i. p. 101.) with the speeches of Burke, Rodney, and Vaughan, in the House of Commons. (Debate, December 4. 1781.) Rodney's correspondence at this time is published in his Life by Mundy. (vol. ii. p. 6-108.)

count deserving of exemption. Sir George Rodney saw grounds to bring a public charge against his resident countrymen, as also their correspondents on the other West India islands; that, regardless of the duty which they owed their Sovereign, they had contracted with the enemy to supply him with provisions and naval stores. For this reason the Admiral stood firm against the numerous applications to have the property restored, which came both from the merchants and from the Assembly of St. Kitts', enforced by Mr. Glanville, their Attorney-General.

It is due to Rodney to observe, that, in this his vigorous determination, he had no thought of lucre to himself; he desired only to avenge the public wrong. "It is a vast island of "thieves, a nest of vipers," Rodney writes. At the same time, in his despatch to the Secretary of State, he says, expressly: "The whole I have seized for the King and the State, and I "hope will go to the public revenue of my country. I do not look "upon myself as entitled to one sixpence, neither do I desire "it." But his severity, although it took its rise in an honest and becoming indignation, exceeded perhaps the bounds of justice, and certainly produced many individual cases of grievance and hardship. Soon afterwards it became the subject both of litigation in the English Courts, and of debates in the English Parliament. The first severity, it was also alleged, had been followed by others; when the Americans, and likewise the Jews, who were both numerous and wealthy at St. Eustatia, had, by a summary edict, been banished and transported from the island. Of these Americans, however, some at least had shown far more of skill than of good faith. They had been avowedly the agents and correspondents of the insurgent Colonies; yet, no sooner was the island taken, than they boldly claimed protection as subjects of the British Crown. The case of the Jews was considerably harder; yet the edge of the complaint made on their behalf was much deadened when General Vaughan, a plain, blunt soldier, spoke as follows in the House of Commons: "As to the Jews, "I had ordered a ship to carry them to St. Thomas's, at their

1781.

THE FRENCH ARMAMENT.

101

"ownrequest; and after they had been taken to St. Kitt's with"out my knowledge, I ordered their houses and property to "be restored to them; and that they were well satisfied with "my conduct, will appear from an address presented to me "from their synagogue."*

Great as were the captures at St. Eustatia, they did not enrich the British treasury. Part was granted by the King to the fleet and land-forces as prize; part on its way home was taken by a squadron from France; part being sold on the spot was purchased by subjects of the neutral Powers; and thus, it is said, in many cases was still conveyed, and even at cheaper rates, to the enemy. The loss to the Dutch, however, was immense, nor was it confined to this quarter alone. Their shipping up the rivers Demerara and Essequibo was captured under the very guns of their forts by a squadron of privateers, mostly equipped from Bristol; and the alarmed inhabitants hastened to surrender to the Governor of Barbadoes, as to a more legitimate authority, the settlements themselves.

In Europe the French had for some time been preparing, and early in this year they sent forth a formidable armament, in aid of their distant dependencies. That armament proceeded some way into the Atlantic, and there parted; the first division under the Bailli de Suffren, for the East Indies; the second under Comte de Grasse, for the West. De Grasse, on his arrival, assumed the chief command of the French fleet; and, by the ships which he brought, had made it far superior to the English. There was a partial action, or, rather, a distant cannonade, between the English vanguard, commanded by Sir Samuel Hood, and some of the French ships; but Rodney was not able to attack their main body with any prospect of advantage. Nor could he prevent the Marquis de Bouillé, the Governor General of Martinico, from invading several of the English islands. The Marquis was repulsed from St. Lucia, but he prevailed against Tobago. Even there his success was, in some part, due to a not very soldierly expedient; *Parl. Hist. vol. xxii. p. 782.