658 W- and M. Naval Expeditions 7 &c, of the English, Book IV*

169a. The Intelligence sent to France, osMalicious which I have given someAccount above,'tln-cwEapon was t ^ is Occahon, that, much aboutthe officerT*- his Time, Reports were spread, as ifof the Fleet.several Captains in the Fleet had givenv Assurance to the Disaffected Persons on

8hoar, of their Readiness to adhere tothem, and that the Queen had there-upon ordered the Discharge of many ofthem from their Employments. Whe-ther any of the Sea-Officers were stag-gering in their Duty is uncertain ; ButHer Majesty, who, of Her great Wis-dom, was sensible, that nothing couldprevent the Truth of this Rumour moreeffectually, than to declare Herself con-vinced of the Falsehood of it, was gra-ciously pleased to let the Admiral know,by a Letter from the Earl of Notting-ham t that She could not believe any ofthem were capable of such ill Designs;But, on the contrary, that She was sa-tisfied, this Report was raised by the E-nemies of the Government; And thatShe reposed so entire a Confidence intheir Fidelity and Zeal for Their Maje-sty’s Service, and the Defence of theirCountry, that She had resolved not todisplace any one of them. This beingcommunicated by the Admiral to theFlag- and other Officers, that the Queen

might be thoroughly satisfied of their 1692-Integrity, they unanimously signed to aPaper, declaring thereby their steadyZeal and Loyalty, which the Admiral, , j

at their Request, convey’d to Her Ma-jesty. (/)

When all the Ships, both Englishand Dutch, were together, the Admiralproposed: That six or eight Frigatsmight hover about the Coast of Norman-dy, and that, at the same Time, theForces,intended for a Descent on France,should embark, and be landed at St.

Malo, while the Body of the Fleet layWestward of that Place, to protectthem from the French, which he thoughtwould not only contribute to our Suc-cess on Shoar, but oblige the Enemy tocome to a Battle at Sea, rather than bebare Spectators of the Invasion of theirCountry, (m)

One Part of the Admiral’s Propo- Asal, mentioned above, was immediately SquadNd\approved by the Court; And, that In- dered 4 ^telligence might be had of the Enemy’s Q^ce.Proceedings^ he sent six lightFrigats, foreight and forty Hours, off of Havre deGrace, and the French Coast thereabouts;

And since it was entirely left to him, toproceed, in such Manner as should be a-greed in a Councilof War, he sailed, on

the

(/) Their Address was as follows:

" TT T E, Your Majesty’s most dutiful and loy-W “ al Subjects and Servants, Flag-Offi-“ cers and Captains in Your Majesty’s Fleet, out“ of a deep and grateful Sense of Your Majesty’s" good and just Opinion of our Loyalty and Fi-“ delity, imparted to us by the Right Honoura-“ die Admiral Ruffe I, in a Letter to him from“ the Earl of Nottingham , Principal Secretary« of State, do, in Behalf of Our-felves, and all" t jj 6 other Officers and Seamen, humbly pre-“ fume to address Ourselves to Your Majesty,“ at this Juncture, to undeceive the World, as<c to those false and malicious Reports, which“ have been lately spread, in Prejudice of Your« Majesty‘s Service, by People disaffected.to the" Government, and who have an Averston to the“ Quiet and Good of their Country, that theret£ are some among us who are not truly zealous" for, and entirely devoted to,the present happy“ Establishment. We do, therefore, most hum-" bly beg Leave to add, to our repeated Oaths,<■'- this Assurance of Our Fidelity, That we will,« with all imaginable Alacrity and Resolution,« venture our Lives in the Defence of the Go-“ yernment, and of the Religion and Liberty of“ our Country, against all Popish. Invaders what-“ soever. And that God Almighty may pre-<■(■ s er ve Your Majesty’s most sacred Person, di-ce rect Your Councils, and prosper Your Arms,ee by Sea and Land, against Your Enemies, may“ all People fay j Amen, with Your Majesty's« most Dutiful and Loyal Subjects. Dated on*« Board the Britannia , at St. Hden’-i, the fif-« teestth Day of May, 1692.

This Address was signed by Sir John Ajhby,Admiral of the Blue-, Sir Ralph Delaval, Vice-Admiral of the Red Mr, Rooke, Vice-Admiralof the Blue nSir Cloudefly Shovel, Rear-Admiralof the Red ; Mr. Carter , Rear-Admiral of theBlue, and by the other Commanders of the Fleet.It was presented the Day after its Date, by theLords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and HerMajesty was not only pleased to accept it verygraciously, but to answer ; “ That she always“ had this Opinion of the Commanders ; But was“ very glad this was to come, to satisfy othersAnd, indeed it was not long before they perform-ed their Promise.

(m) W111 l E the Jacobites were pleasing them-selves with Hopes of approaching Success, thefirst Thing, .w-hich put a Damp upon them, wasthe various Reports about the Joining of the En-giijh and Dutch Fleets. Once they had Noticethey were joined ; But this being contradicted,thenext Day, lest that Report should have any Influ-ence upon the French, they sent over Sir AdamBlaire, to assure them that the Dutch were nosyet come up : Yet so it happened, that before theGentleman could reach Dover, they had certaiflNews, that the Fleets were joined indeed ; And,therefore, one Mr. Clark was dispatched,, infoFrance , to acquaint them with this fatal Junction.But Mr. Clark was so far from gaining Credit tphis Report (Sir Adam Blaire averring the comtrary) that he was imprisoned, as a Spreader offalse News, ’till several other Expresses confirm-ed his Account. Thereupon, the King of Francesent one Messenger upon the Back of another, toTourville , to decline fighting; But those Counter-Orders came too late, as we shall quickly fee.