spect is certainly erroneous, for it rises three fathoms. The trial occupied nine days, and the court decided, that the conduct of the commander-in-chief had been marked by zeal, judgement, ability, and an anxious attention to the welfare of his Majesty's service; they therefore most honourably acquitted him. Lord Gambier was a man so universally respected, so gentle and irreproachable in every part of his conduct, and it is always so painful to see a brave man censured for an error of judgement, that every person rejoiced in his acquittal; yet it was generally regretted that any inquiry had taken place. Lord Gambier had so conducted his defence, as if not his own conduct only, but that of all the other officers concerned in the affair had been impeached; and Lord Cochrane, who wished to explain this at the close of the trial, could not be permitted, because the matter did not bear upon the specific subject of inquiry. It was manifest that his appointment to this service had deeply wounded the officers of the fleet, and this ought to have been foreseen. The result is greatly to be lamented; it has made him enemies, and his political connections were not such as to lessen the evil. The distinction between Lord Cochrane and the radical reformers, whose meetings he has attended, has not been sufficiently remembered. He has seen the question of parliamentary reform in that light in which it appears to an ardent, and frank, and generous mind, which has not yet considered it in all its bearings; but the baneful spirit of party has never for a moment benumbed his British feelings. He has never slan dered the allies, nor flattered the enemies of England, he has never disgraced himself by holding the language of despondency and fear ;— these are feelings which have never found entrance in his heart; and that his love for freedom is sincere, has been amply evinced by the enthusiasm which he displayed in assisting that heroic people, whose sufferings and whose constancy no true lover of liberty can contemplate without admiration. Since the court-martial Lord Cochrane has been unemployed, and. more perhaps has been lost by thus keeping him in inactivity, than was gained by his victory in Basque Roads. Lord Cochrane, like our great Nelson, possesses that highest and rare. est quality, whereby things are achieved, which neither zeal, nor courage, nor talents, would accomplish without it. He is a man who, by attempting what others conceive beyond the bounds of possibility, will never leave any thing that is possible undone. The destruction of the French ships had happened in sight of France, and therefore, could not be concealed there. A court martial was held upon the officers whose ships had been lost. The captain of the Tonnerre, who had set fire to her, was acquitted; the captain of the Indienne, who had done the same, was sentenced to three months confinement in his own chamber, for having acted with too much precipitation, and without previously advising the admiral; the captain of the Tourville, for having quitted his vessel, was adjudged to two years imprisonment wherever the govern ment should think fit, to have his name struck out of the list of naval This is affirmed upon the authority of an officer who has frequently tried the rise of the tide upon that station, when anchored about four miles off the Isle of Aix. هـ officers, and to be degraded from the legion. These two officers were found liable in expences of process, a species of mulct which is discreditable to the French courts of justice. The captain of the Calcutta received sentence of death, for having in a cowardly manner abandoned his ship in the presence of the enemy; and the sentence was executed upon him. It is worthy of remark, that the captains of those two ships whose position was considered by Lord Gambier as so formidable on the morning of the 12th, and who cut and run as soon as the fleet moved towards them, were not thought to have misbehaved, though their misconduct had appeared so egregious to the English. CHAP. XIV. Capture of Martinique. Regulations concerning the Produce of the Island. Capture of the Saints. Expulsion of the French from Hispaniola by the Spanish Colonists, aided by the English. French Guiana taken for the Prince of Brazil by a Portugueze and British Force. Capture of Senegal. TRONDE'S Squadron, with the escape of which from L'Orient the French consoled themselves when Willaumez was blockaded in the roads of Aix, was destined to throw reinforcements and supplies into Martinique and Guadaloupe. Small vessels were continually running from France upon the same service, several of which, notwithstanding the blockade of Martinique, eluded our cruisers and got in; and in the month of November three frigates, having troops and provisions on board, sailed from Cherbourgh, in hope of succouring this most important island. They parted company on the voyage, and one of them, the Amphitrite, having made some captures on the way, escaped from the Ethalion frigate, and two smaller vessels in her company, by singular boldness and good fortune. Falling in with them in the night, instead of attempting to run, the Frenchman passed close within hail of the Ethalion, and as close to one of the sloops, both taking her for one of their own squadron, till daylight discovered the deceit, when it was too late to remedy it. The Am. phitrite had 200 troops on board, and was laden with provisions; several small vessels had succeeded about the same time in throwing supplies into the island; and the English commanders upon that station, who had prepared an expedition for reducing it, disheartened at the ill success of the blockade, determined to postpone their intended attempt. They had expected to starve the place, the American embargo co-operating to this effect. It was said, that their disappointment was in some degree owing to a scandalous commerce with the enemy, carried on by British spe culators in British ships. Such vessels, being secure from our own cruisers, kept the sea safely till opportunity offered of being captured, ac cording to agreement. Our commanders soon changed their determination, it was supposed in consequence of a secret communi. cation with some of the leading inha bitants of Martinique, and an understanding that the militia, which con sisted of 6000 well-disciplined men, accustomed to the climate, would take no part in opposing them. Lieut.-Gen. Beckwith, commander of the forces, consulted at Barbadoes with Sir Alexander Cochrane, who had the naval command, and at the latter end of January the armament sailed from that island. Six hundred men, under Major Henderson, were detached on board the York to win the battery at Point Solomon, and thus secure a safe anchorage for the ships. Captain Fahie of the Belleisle landed one division, under Major-Gen. Maitland, at Saint Luce, on the 30th; the other, under Major-General Sir George Prevost, who so eminently distinguished himself in 1805 at Dominica, was landed in Bay Jan. 30, Robert by Captain Beaver of the Acasta. The weather was uncommonly rough and squally, and there was a very considerable sv ell as far out as Loup Garou, where he meant to have anchored. But the small frigates which were to have gone in with the transports had not joined, and Captain Beaver therefore resolved to enter the Cul de Sac with all the men of war, that he might effectually protect the landing, not knowing what resistance might be made; so having placed boats with flags at a graplin under the edges of the shoals, he led in with the Acasta, and anchored with the whole of the transports about noon. Before sunset he had landed 4500 men, with a proportion of artillery and horses, and all the remainder by General şeven the next morning. Beckwith advanced towards Fort Bourbon, fell in with the enemy on the 1st, and defeated them in three actions, in themselves slight, but of as the importance in their consequence, British were enabled to take possession of the heights of Surerey, which command Fort Bourbon. The French then spiked the guns of the lower fort, blew up the magazines, and abandoned it. Gen. Maitland reached Saman ton on the 2d without opposition, and afterwards formed a junction with the besieging army. As soon as the land. ing had been effected a proclamation was issued, which concluded with an invidious and unjust distinction between the different races on the island, Every white person, it stated, who might be taken in arms, should be treated as a prisoner of war; every person of colour taken in like manner, be sent out of the island; and every slave so taken, be subject to be tried by a military tribunal. So sure, however, were the British commanders of the disposition of the people, that they sent a detachment of only 200 men to take possession of the capital, St Pierre, a city defended by strong forts and batteries, and containing more than 20,000 inhabitants, comprizing among them the greater part of the embodied militia. Meantime the troops in the York had proceeded to invest the fort of Pigeon island, where they were joined by Brig.-Gens. Sir Charles Shipley and Stahelin. Ten mortars and howit zers were landed, five of which, by the exertions which the seamen made with their characteristic spirit, were got up to the top of a commanding height. The effect was this, that the batteries, which opened at six one evening, compelled the enemy to capitulate the next morning, when 136 persons surrendered prisoners of war, Every where the measures of the British were successful. Two frigates and a sloop had been sent round to the upper part of Fort Royal Bay, to cut off the retreat of the enemy. The French no sooner perceived them than they set fire to all the shipping in the harbour; among these vessels was the Amphitrite, which had only esca ped capture to be thus destroyed by her own crew. Another frigate was burned in like manner at Maru, and a Corvette at St Pierre. These circumstances evinced that the enemy had little hope of making a successful resistance, notwithstanding the boasted strength of the island. On the 5th a fire was opened on the enemy from four batteries on the western side, and their own guns were also turned upon them from Fort Edward. It was returned at first with great spirit, but the garrison slackened during the day and night in their fire, and by the following morning had been beaten from their guns. It still remained to attack the eastern side of the fort, and before this could be done, the difficulty of dragging cannon and mortars up Mount Surerey was to be surmounted, a labour which the rains and the heavy roads rendered exceedingly arduous. The seamen and marines of the York and Intrepid at length effected it. A battery of four 24-pounders and four mortars was ready on the 22d; on the following day several more were got up, ready to be mounted in an advanced battery, which was designed for eight 24-pounders; another such battery was preparing to the west ward: but before they opened, a flag of truce was sent out by the garrison with proposals to surrender, on condition of being sent to France upon their parole. It was not thought proper to accede to this; the bat teries therefore commenced Feb. 23. their fire about nine in the evening, and continued it through the night. They fired with great effect; the French were driven from their defences, their cannon dismounted, and the whole of the interior of the works ploughed up by shot and shells. Between six and seven one of the magazines in the fort blew up; three flags of truce were soon afterwards hoisted by the enemy, and hostilities ceased. Commissioners were appointed to treat, and a tent erected for them between the advanced picquets on either side. This praise is due to the French, that they never fail to demand the best terms for themselves: it seems as if they always calculated upon their superiority in negociating as certainly as an English ship upon its superiority in action. They demanded that they should march out with all their arms, and be conveyed to France, without any restriction from serving again. The British commanders replied, that they might march out with the honours of war, but must ground their arms beyond the glacis; they should be conveyed to Quiberon Bay, and there exchanged rank for rank; but from the high consideration in which they held the captain-general, Villaret Joyeuse, he and his aides-de-camp should be sent to France free from any restriction. It was demanded, that all the prison. ers who had already surrendered un conditionally should now be admitted to the same conditions as the garri son, and this was granted; they required also that the fortifications of Fort Desaix should not be demolished till after a treaty of peace had been concluded between the two powers. The French evidently cal culated that the island would certain. ly be restored to them, and there. fore were for stipulating that no injury should be done to the works. The proper answer was made, that the British government alone could determine that. The garrison, at cording to the terms of capitulation, were sent to France, and arrived in Quiberon Bay: Buonaparte refused to exchange them, as had been stipu. lated, man for man and rank for rank, and they were therefore necessarily |