NEW BRIDGE BEGUN AT BLACKFRIARS.

We shall close the domestic occurrences of this year with an account of two incidents, which, though of a very different nature in respect of each other, nevertheless concurred in demonstrating that the internal wealth and vigour of the nation were neither drained nor diminished by the enormous expense and inconveniencies of the war. The committee appointed to manage the undertaking for a new bridge over the river Thames, at Blackfriars, having received and examined a variety of plans presented by different artists, at length gave the preference to the design of one Mr. Mylne, a young architect, a native of North Britain, just returned from the prosecution of his studies at Rome, where he had gained the prize in the capital, which the academy of that city bestows on him who produces the most beautiful and useful plan on a given subject of architecture. This young man being in London, on his return to his own country, was advised to declare himself a candidate for the superintendency of the new bridge; and the plan which he presented was approved and adopted. The place being already ascertained, the lord-mayor of London, attended by the committee, and a great concourse of people, repaired to Blackfriars, and laid the first stone of the bridge; placing upon it a plate, with an inscription, which does more honour to the public spirit of the undertakers than to the classical taste of the author. 547 [See note 4 K, at the end of this Vol.] The other instance that denoted the wealth and spirit of the nation, was the indifference and unconcern with which they bore the loss of a vast magazine of naval stores belonging to the dock-yard at Portsmouth, which, in the month of July, was set on fire by lightning; and, consisting of combustibles, burned with such fury, notwithstanding all the endeavours of the workmen in the yard, the sailors in the harbour, and the troops in the town, that before a stop was put to the conflagration it had consumed a variety of stores to an immense value. The damage, however, was so immediately repaired, that it had no sort of effect in disconcerting any plan, or even in retarding any naval preparation.

How important these preparations must have been, may be judged from the prodigious increase of the navy, which, at this juncture, amounted to one hundred and twenty ships of the line, besides frigates, fire-ships, sloops, bombs, and tenders. Of these capital ships, seventeen were stationed in the East Indies, twenty for the defence of the West India islands, twelve in North America, ten in the Mediterranean, and sixty-one either on the coast of France, in the harbours of England, or cruising in the English seas for the protection of the British commerce. Notwithstanding these numerous and powerful armaments, the enemy, who had not a ship of the line at sea, were so alert with their small privateers and armed vessels, that in the beginning of this year, from the first of March to the tenth of June, they had made prize of two hundred vessels belonging to Great Britain and Ireland. The whole number of British ships taken by them, from the first day of June, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-six, to the first of June in the present year, amounted to two thousand five hundred and thirty-nine; of these, seventy-eight were privateers, three hundred and twenty-one were retaken, and about the same number ransomed. In the same space of time, the British cruisers had made captures of nine hundred and forty-four vessels, including two hundred and forty-two privateers, many fishing boats and small coasters, the value of which hardly defrayed the expense of condemnation. That such a small proportion of ships should be taken from the enemy is not at all surprising, when we consider the terrible shocks their commerce had previously received, and the great number of their mariners imprisoned in England; but the prodigious number of British vessels taken by their petty coasting privateers, in the face of such mighty armaments, numerous cruisers, and convoys, seem to argue that either the English ships of war were inactive or improperly disposed, or that the merchants hazarded their ships without convoy. Certain it is, in the course of this year we find fewer prizes taken from the enemy, and fewer exploits achieved at sea, than we had occasion to record in the annals of the past. Not that the present year is altogether barren of events which redound to the honour of our marine commanders. We have, in recounting the transactions of the preceding year, mentioned a small armament equipped at Dunkirk, under the command of M. de Thurot, who, in spite of all the vigilance of the British commander stationed in the Downs, found means to escape from the harbour in the month of October last, and arrived at Gottenburgh in Sweden, from whence he proceeded to Bergen in Norway. His instructions were to make occasional descents upon the coast of Ireland: and, by dividing the troops, and distracting the attention of the government in that kingdom, to facilitate the enterprise of M. de Confians, the fate of which we have already narrated. The original armament of Thurot consisted of five ships, one of which, called the mareschal de Belleisle, was mounted with forty-four guns; the Begon, the Blond, the Terpsichore, had thirty guns each; and the Marante carried twenty-four. The number of soldiers put on board this little fleet did not exceed one thousand two hundred and seventy, exclusive of mariners, to the number of seven hundred; but two hundred of the troops were sent sick on shore before the armament sailed from Dunkirk; and in their voyage between Gottenburgh and Bergen they lost company of the Begon, during a violent storm. The severity of the weather detained them nineteen days at Bergen, at the expiration of which they set sail for the western islands of Scotland, and discovered the northern part of Ireland in the latter end of January. The intention of Thurot was to make a descent about Derry; but before this design could be executed, the weather growing tempestuous, and the wind blowing off shore, they were driven out to sea, and in the night lost sight of the Marante, which never joined them in the sequel. After having been tempest-beaten for some time, and exposed to a very scanty allowance of provisions, the officers requested of Thurot that he would return to France, lest they should all perish by famine; but he lent a deaf ear to this proposal, and frankly told them he could not return to France, without having struck some stroke for the service of his country. Nevertheless, in hopes of meeting with some refreshment, he steered to the island of Islay, where the troops were landed; and here they found black cattle, and a small supply of oatmeal, for which they paid a reasonable price; and it must be owned, Thurot himself behaved with great moderation and generosity.

While this spirited adventurer struggled with these wants and difficulties, his arrival in those seas filled the whole kingdom with alarm. Bodies of regular troops and militia were posted along the coast of Ireland and Scotland; and besides the squadron of commodore Boys, who sailed to the northward on purpose to pursue the enemy, other ships of war were ordered to scour the British channel, and cruise between Scotland and Ireland. The weather no sooner permitted Thurot to pursue his destination, than he sailed from Islay to the bay of Carrickfergus, in Ireland, and made all the necessary preparations for a descent; which was accordingly effected with six hundred men, on the twenty-first day of February. Lieutenant-colonel Jennings, who commanded four companies of raw undisciplined men at Carrickfergus, having received information that three ships had anchored about two miles and a half from the castle, which was ruinous and defenceless, immediately detached a party to make observations, and ordered the French prisoners there confined to be removed to Belfast. Meanwhile, the enemy landing without opposition, advanced towards the town, which they found as well guarded as the nature of the place, which was entirely open, and the circumstances of the English commander, would allow. A regular attack was carried on, and a spirited defence made,* until the ammunition of the English failed; then colonel Jennings retired in order to the castle, which, however, was in all respects untenable; for, besides a breach in the wall, near fifty feet wide, they found themselves destitute of provisions and ammunition.

* One circumstance that attended this dispute deserves to be
transmitted to posterity, as an instance of that courage,
mingled with humanity, which constitutes true heroism. While
the French and English were hotly engaged in one of the
streets, a little child ran playfully between them, having
no idea of the danger to which it was exposed: a common
soldier of the enemy, perceiving the life of this poor
innocent at stake, grounded his piece, advanced deliberately
between the lines of fire, took up the child in his arms,
conveyed it to a place of safety; then returning to his
place, resumed his musket, and renewed his hostility.

Nevertheless, they repulsed the assailants in the first attack, even after the gate was burst open, and supplied the want of shot with stones and rubbish. At length the colonel and his troops were obliged to surrender, on condition that they should not be sent prisoners to France, but be ransomed, by sending thither an equal number of French prisoners from Great Britain or Ireland: that the castle should not be demolished, nor the town of Carrickfergus plundered or burned, on condition that the mayor and corporation should furnish the French troops with necessary provisions. The enemy, after this exploit, did not presume to advance farther into the country; a step which indeed they could not have taken with any regard to their own safety; for by this time a considerable body of regular troops was assembled; and the people of the country manifested a laudable spirit of loyalty and resolution, crowding in great numbers to Belfast, to offer their service against the invaders. These circumstances, to which the enemy were no strangers, and the defeat of Conflans, which they had also learned, obliged them to quit their conquest, and re-embark with some precipitation, after having laid Carrickfergus under moderate contributions.

The fate they escaped on shore they soon met with at sea. Captain John Elliot, who commanded three frigates at Kinsale, and had in the course of this war more than once already distinguished himself even in his early youth, by extraordinary acts of valour, was informed by a despatch from the duke of Bedford, lord-lieutenant of Ireland, that three of the enemy’s ships lay at anchor in the bay of Carrickfergus; and thither he immediately shaped his course in the ship Æolus, accompanied by the Pallas and Brilliant, under the command of the captains Clements and Logic. On the twenty-eighth day of February they descried the enemy, and gave chase in sight of the Isle of Man; and about nine in the morning, captain Elliot, in his own ship, engaged the Belleisle, commanded by Thurot, although considerably his superior in strength of men, number of guns, and weight of metal. In a few minutes his consorts were also engaged with the other two ships of the enemy. After a warm action, maintained with great spirit on all sides for an hour and a half, captain Elliot’s lieutenant boarded the Belleisle; and, striking her colours with his own hand, the commander submitted: his example was immediately followed by the other French captains; and the English commodore, taking possession of his prizes, conveyed them into the bay of Ramsay, in the Isle of Man, that their damage might be repaired. Though the Belleisle was very leaky, and had lost her boltsprit, mizen-mast, and main-yard, in all probability the victory would not have been so easily obtained, had not the gallant Thurot fallen during the action. The victor had not even the consolation to perform the last offices to his brave enemy; for his body was thrown into the sea by his own people in the hurry of the engagement. The loss on the side of the English did not exceed forty men killed and wounded, whereas above three hundred of the enemy were slain and disabled. The service performed on this occasion was deemed so essential to the peace and commerce of Ireland, that the thanks of the house of commons in that kingdom were voted to the conquerors of Thurot, as well as to lieutenant-colonel Jennings, for his spirited behaviour at Carrickfergus; and the freedom of the city of Cork was presented in silver boxes to the captains Elliot, Clements, and Logie. The name of Thurot was become terrible to all the trading seaports of Great Britain and Ireland; and therefore the defeat and capture of his squadron were celebrated with as hearty rejoicings as the most important victory could have produced.

In the beginning of April another engagement between four frigates, still more equally matched, had a different issue, though not less honourable for the British commanders. Captain Skinner of the Biddeford, and captain Kennedy of the Flamborough, both frigates, sailed on a cruise from Lisbon; and on the fourth day of April, fell in with two large French frigates, convoy to a fleet of merchant-ships, which the English captains immediately resolved to engage. The enemy did not decline the battle, which began about half an hour after six in the evening, and raged with great fury till eleven. By this time the Flamborough had lost sight of the Biddeford; and the frigate with which captain Kennedy was engaged bore away with all the sail she could carry. He pursued her till noon the next day, when she had left him so far astern, that he lost sight of her, and returned to Lisbon with the loss of fifteen men killed and wounded, including the lieutenant of marines, and considerable damage both in her hull and rigging. In three days he was joined by the Biddeford, which had also compelled her antagonist to give way, and pursued her till she was out of sight. In about an hour after the action began, captain Skinner was killed by a cannon-ball; and the command devolved to lieutenant Knollis, son to the earl of Banbury,* who maintained the battle with great spirit, even after he way wounded, until he received a second shot in his body, which proved mortal.

* Five sons of this nobleman were remarkably distinguished
in this war. The fourth and fifth were dangerously wounded
at the battle of Minden; the second was hurt in the
reduction of Guadaloupe; lord Wallingford, the eldest,
received a shot at Carrickfergus; and the third was slain in
this engagement.

Then the master, assuming the direction, continued the engagement with equal resolution till the enemy made his escape; which he the more easily accomplished, as the Biddeford was disabled in her masts and rigging.