will punish you, you Irish rebel.' They would not allow me anything to lie upon, not even a single rag to put under my head. In this situation I lay, hands and feet in irons, upon the naked quarterdeck between two guns, six weeks, where I was almost eat up with vermin. They would drop down from the hammocks, which were suspended over me into my face by scores, and my hands were so confined that I could not brush them off. The officers of the ship, as I learnt afterwards, would not allow any of the American prisoners on board to come near me; and the insult which I was obliged to endure during my confinement in irons, is beyond my power to describe; and why these swaggering Englishmen and others, sailing under the British flag, should upon sundry occasions, insist that I was an Irishman, I never could tell; for sure I am, that my pronunciation could not justify them in such a belief.

One night when we were cruising between the Isle of Wight, and the coast of France, this frigate fell into the very centre of a French fleet of twelve sail of the line, a number of frigates, sloops of war and cutters. The English frigate, after attempting to escape, was captured and about twelve at night I was released from irons by some of the French officers who came on board to take possession of their prize. Never was I so much rejoiced in the whole course of my life, as upon this occasion. I now was sensible that I should have it in my power to revenge the insults that I had experienced from the dastardly English. At daylight in the morning, the French admiral having heard of my sufferings, sent his own barge to transport me on board of the Invincible of ninety-eight guns, on board of which was the admiral (the Count de Guichen). Arriving on board, I was introduced to him by one of his lieutenants, into the great cabin; on entering, he arose from his seat, took my hand, which he shook heartily, and then caused me to be seated by him. I had still upon me the frock and trousers, which previous to

this, the French officers wished me to exchange for a decent suit of wearing apparel; for which I tendered them my thanks; but at the same time, I told them that it was my choice to appear in the admiral's presence clad in the garb which I then had on, and on which there were scores of lice. As soon as I was seated by the admiral, I hinted to him my situation on this score, and begged permission before I related to him my story, relative to the cruel treatment of the English towards me, that I might retire into one of the state rooms, in order to shift myself; which he consented to. In the meantime, a boat was dispatched from the admiral's ship, to bring on board the English captain, who had been put on board one of the other ships of the fleet. As soon as I had dressed myself I returned into the cabin, where I found the Count surrounded by several of the principal officers of the fleet; among whom I saw the English captain, who to be sure, looked very sad. I was then requested by the admiral to be seated and relate the usage which I had received from the English; which I did in French, and with as much conciseness as the nature of the subject would admit of; not forgetting to mention what the English captain said he would do with my commission. This occasioned the admiral to let drop some harsh expressions, in regard to the English captain's conduct, after I had finished my relation of the subject in question. The admiral demanded of the captain my commission; and which he produced, and handed to the Count; who, after minuting down my name, and the captain's threats, what he intended doing with it, handed it to me, and told me that whatever the English captain had done to me while a prisoner on board of the ship which he commanded, I had now his permission to order inflicted upon said captain, who now metamorphosed into the most abject, fawning, beggarly fellow which I ever beheld. I did not, upon reflection, make any use of the permission granted me by the admiral, and thus my John Eng

lishman went unpunished for his barbarous and cruel usage inflicted upon me. But the Count ordered him to restore to me all the effects which had been taken from me by himself, his officers or any of his ship's crew; and in default thereof, he was ordered to pay me the money to the amount of such effects, or so much as was missing; all of which was strictly complied with, on the part of the English captain; but I have reason to believe sorely against his will.

I was directed by the admiral to do duty on board of his ship in the station to which my commission entitled me, during the cruise in the English channel, where we fell in with at one time, eleven sail of English ships of the line, to whom we offered battle, but they declined fighting, and we chased them almost into Spithead. At another time we saw thirteen sail of the line, and to these we offered battle for the space of a whole day, and after night set in they sneaked off, and the day following they took shelter in Plymouth, where they anchored; and off which port we continued three days in a line of battle, without being able to induce the English to get under way and engage us. The fleet, during this cruise, captured several English frigates, sloops of war, and merchantmen. The French admiral was about sixty years of age, an experienced commander, brave and intrepid, and was a man greatly beloved by his officers and men; and who was in the habit of calling them 'my children'. And every day he made it a custom at dinner time, to go the rounds on board of his ship, among his people, who, (as is customary on board of ships of war) were divided into messes of eight or ten in each, and at each mess, while at dinner, he would ask them if their provisions were good, and if they had enough. And almost always upon these occasions, he used to taste their soup, meats, and wine; which if not good and wholesome, which was seldom the case, he would order them to be served with such as was good.

Our cruise being out, we put into Brest with a number of prizes, where we heard that a general peace would be proclaimed in the course of two months. This induced me to hurry my return to Dunkirk, from whence I expected to make a short cruise before such an event took place. Having this in view, I waited upon the Count de Guichen, and asked leave for a dismission from the navy, for only a couple of months, and which he granted me, after giving me a certificate for the time which I had served on board of the Invincible, and by virtue of which, he said I could, at any time thereafter, call at the custom-house, or admiralty office in Brest, and receive my pay. Besides, the admiral was pleased to give me a handsome recommendation, in a letter to the French minister of the marine department, and promises of future friendship.

After this I set out for Dunkirk, and travelled with the greatest expedition by land night and day. When I arrived there, I found my owners had obtained some time before, spars for the brig's masts, which I found got into the brig, and she nearly fitted for a cruise. The news of peace seemed to gain ground, which urged us to make the utmost dispatch in fitting away the brig, which was ready for sea by the 30th of December, and both officers and men had received the customary bounty or advance from the owners, and were all on board of the privateer; and we were in the act of casting off our fasts from the quay, and had our sails hoisted and set, when proclamation of the preliminaries of peace, signed at Paris by the commissioners, was made in the town of Dunkirk. By this event I lost at least five thousand guineas, which my shares in the brig and bounty money cost me (after deducting for my part of what the brig and her warlike implements brought at auction, after the peace).

* This ship of war was rated a ninety gun ship, but mounted ninety-eight, all brass pieces; those upon her lower gun-deck were forty-two pounders, French weight, nearly equal to fortyeight, English weight.

Another unforeseen misfortune happened to me about this same time, which was this: one evening while I was playing a game of backgammon, at the sign of the White Hart Tavern, kept by one Williamson, two officers of justice entered the room, and arrested me in the king's name, and committed me to gaol, without letting me know what my crime was. I was well acquainted with both of these officers, and I took the liberty to ask wherein I had offended, but they did not make any reply. The next day I was interrogated by some of the officers of the admiralty, and soon afterwards I was liberated from prison, and paid, in behalf of the king, fifteen hundred livres, as a compensation for being imprisoned unjustly; besides a very handsome apology was made to me by the commandant, who had ordered me to be arrested by the king's authority.

The reader will, perhaps, wish to know the cause of my being thus arrested, which is as follows: during the second cruise which I made in the Eclipse privateer, we brought to a Danish neutral ship, in the English channel, bound from St. Croix to Copenhagen, and on board of which ship was a French passenger by the name of Segur, brother to Marquis de Segur. This last was high in office under the French king: and besides, one of his greatest favourites. The privateer's boat was ordered to board this neutral ship and examine his papers; and for this purpose I sent my first lieutenant,* and to him I gave strict orders (as has since been proved) not to molest or take anything from any passenger found on board, or to take anything out of the ship, if upon examination of her papers she

*This lieutenant was an American, the same who plundered the young Irish nobleman of a gold watch upon the Irish coast; he was tried, and condemned to be hanged, for robbing the French passenger; and notwithstanding he was absent, yet the officers hung his effigy upon the gallows, erected upon the quay for that purpose, with as great a parade as if he had been present. The troops, officers, and others, assembled upon this occasion was estimated at five thousand. I forbear to mention this fellow's name, for two reasons; first he is dead; and second, he has left a wife and children in Newport, Rhode Island.