6go W. and M. Naval Expeditions , Scc* of the English, Book Vf

1694, twentieth of June, and the Fleet being,in the mean Time, refitted, and theMen refreshed , another Council wascalled, where it was resolved, thatsince the Wind was frelh Westerly, theFleet should first bombard Diep , andthen do what other Prejudice they couldalong the French Coast. The LordBerkley, having, in the mean Time,Orders to stop all Ships he should meetwith, in his Passage, bound for France ,took about seventy Sail coming fromthe North, laden with Corn and Sea-Stores, of which, tho’ they were re-claimed by the Swedish and Dani/h Mi-nisters, above twenty were adjudgedlawful Prize . Being arrived there,they were hindered from making anyAttempt, by the Badness of the Wea-ther, which not only dispersed theShips, but daniaged some of them intheir Masts and Rigging ; So that theywere obliged to return to the Coast ofEngland , and Anchor off of Dengenefj'e,where the scattered Ships and Vesselsjoined, the fifth of June, and sailingthence again to Diep Road, it was in-Dicppe bom- tertded to bombard thatTown, the ninthar e ' in the Morning. To this End, severalof the Bomb Vessels advanced near inwith the Shoar, but it blowing hard atNight, the great Sea prevented them.

The (twelfth, according to Rennet ,or as Biirchett will, the) thirteenth, theTown of Diep was bombarded, oneThousand, one Hundred Bombs andCarcasses being thrown into it, withsuch Success, that it soon appear’d inFlames in several Places. The Towns-men, despairing to quench this raging

Conflagration, began to run away in the 1694*greatest Disorder; Whereupon, twoRegiments of the Militia of Bretagnewere sent to encourage them ; But theConfusion was so great, and the Fire sodreadful, that the Soldiers themselvesfled with the Rest. Had the Englijhknown what had passed, they might, inall Probability,have possessed themselvesof the Place: However they so ruinedit, that the greatest Part of the Houses(being then, as Father Daniel sa^s allof Wood) were reduced to Alhes, andscarce any left unshattered ; Burnet says,it was burnt almost entirely to theGround. The Night before aMachine-Vessel, (or, as Father Daniel calls it,an Infernal Machine, such as I havedescribed above) was blown up at thePier-Head, but with little or no Suc-cess ; It made a frightful Noise, but didlittle Execution, occasioned, as was sup-posed, by the Head lying too low.

Captain Dunbar , who commanded thisVessel, behaved himself with greatBravery; For, the Fusee going out, hewent on Board again and set Fire toit; For which, both himself, and theMen he took with him, were deser-vedly rewarded, {k)

The Fleet sail’d from Diep, thefourteenth, in the Afternoon, most of ^vrs ^the few Houses which were standing de 6^/being on Fire, and, on the sixteenth, the botfWBombardment of Havre de Grace be-gan, under the Direction os CaptainBembow , which had so good an Effect,that the Town was in Flames, in severalPlaces, and burnt all that Night, andthe next Day, the Wind blowing very

hard,

The eighteenth of June, another Council ofWar was called, when it was judged, that somePlace on the Coast of Normandy might with mostSuccess be bombarded, and that four Regimentswould be sufficient to secure the Bomb-Vessels a-gainst the Attempts of the French, as well as forother necessary Services.

(k) The following Letter, from the Marquisde Bevron , to the King of France, was publishedat Paris, to sooth the People, and extenuate theLoss at Diep.

" From Yesterday Noon, to this Morning at" four o’Clock, the Enemy continued throwing“ Bombs, in greatNumber, and played with their“ Cannon upon the Troops which appeared. ' A-“ bout half an Hour after eleven, that Night," they sent in a Machine, with a Purpose to" enter the Port, which I had caused to be bar-« red up, and, instead of that, it struck against« the Gallet, but without any Effect. The City,

the Houses of which are Wood, standing dose« to one another, have suffered a little, in the<« Quarter where the Fire began, which was on-** ly kindled by one Bomb , in one only House ;* x For the Rest never kindled in the other Quar-

" ters, &c: 3 This deceitful Account could not,however, gain Credit long : Private Letters, fullof Complaints and Lamentations, soon laid openthe Deceit of it: I shall give the Reader an In-stance of one :

" It was happy for you that, you made your“ Escape ; I with I had done so too. If you had“ staid, you would have said the D—1 had been“ loose: There was nothing to be seen in the Ai r" but Fire and Flame. The English are very“ D—is With their Fire. ' The Houses beat" down and burnt are innumerable; Those next" the Sea are totally ruined. They have burnt" several Villages; And, as an Addition to our“ Misery have sent us all the Beggars in the Pm-" vince to eat us up. The King's House ha®" fared no better than the Rest. Country and" City are gone to Rack and Ruin.

Another Letter begins: “The City of Dip" is utterly ruined, nor does there stand a House." that is not very much shattered; All the“ Churches are destroyed : The College of the“ Fathers of the Oratory, valued- at a Hundred“ Thousand Crowns, is utterly destroyed.

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