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Chap. XL during the Reign os §geen Ann

I 7°7* g a i n > (/) steering for Cape Cornwal,and the next Morning made the Land ;But being obliged to bear away for Corkyhe did not arrive in the Downs, ’till thefourth of March, (z)

^ordered to About the Middle of June, beinglibTf* with his Squadron at Spithead, he re-ceived Directions to proceed towardsLisbon ; (æ) He put to Sea, the eighthof July, having two Hundred and fiveMerchant-fhips under his Convoy ; Butcontrary Winds obliged him to returnto St. Helen’ s. The third of the nextMonth, he reached the Starts Butbeing forced back to Torbay, it was theseven and twentieth of August before hegot ninety-three Leagues from the Liz-ard. (b) Being then in the Latitude offix and forty Degrees, and four and fif-ty Minutes, the Lizard bearing N. E.^ vruc he discovered, about two in the After-Cr noon, as he believed, Monsieur Dea ron ’ Gue Trouin* $ Squadron, (c) They~ brought to, to the Westward, bearingN. E. of him, and, being then at agreat Distance, wore round some Timeafter, and, about six in the Evening,stood upon the other Tack, Eastward,under their Topsails and Courses, witha small Gale at Northwest. He conti-nued chasing them ’till near seven; But

fases

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On

then seing no Probability of coming up iyoy.with them he called a Council of War,

( d) and, according to a Resolution theretaken, he gave over the Chase, and saw Leaves theall the Fleet (as he was directed) safe, Chafe , andto a Hundred and twenty Leagues Di-stance from the Land’s End. (<?) the Trade.

Having parted with these Ships, he Receives0r -cruised in the Latitudes between nine ders to go toand forty Degrees, and six and forty ffoStreights.Degrees and thirty Minutes for protect*ing our Trade coming from Lisbon, un-der the Convoy of three Third Rates ;

And, the six and twentieth of Septem-ber, he came into Plymouth, to refit andvictual, where he was detained by con-trary Winds, ’till the second of Janua-ry, when he received Orders to accom-pany Sir John Leake, to the Mediterra-nean. (f)

Some other 'Transactions at Sea, duringthis Tear.

I

France (fays Bishop Burnet ) set outno Fleet this Year, and yet we neverhad greater Losies on thatElement :ThePrince’s Council was very unhappy, inthe whole Conduct of the Cruizers andConvoys, the Merchants made heavy9 Z Complaints

(y) His Squadron then consisted of five Fourth-Rates, one Fifth-Rate, and one Sixth-Rate, hav-ing under his Convoy three and fifty Merchant-Ships, the Iniia-Men included.

(z) Returning to Plymouth, he retook aMerchant-lhip of Topfham ; But as she was goinginto Port, she fell into the Enemy’s Hands again ;And while he was at Hamoza , two French Priva-teers came into Plymouth-SossnA, and carried offan Englijh Runner, within Sight of four DutchCapers.

(a) For protecting the Transports, Store-shipsand Victualers, bound from hence to the Fleet inthe Mediterraneah , as also the Trade designed toVirginia , New-England , and other Foreign Parts,as far as his and their Way should ly together.

(b) Being in the Latitude of nine and fortyDegrees, and fix and thirty Minutes, Scilly bear-ing North, sixty-three Degrees, East, distant a-bout fix and twenty Leagues, and finding a Shipwith oar Naval Stores, which had been taken bythe Enemy, and retaken by a Dutch Privateer, hethought it advifeable to fee her safe to Plymouth ,witlshis whole Squadron, not being certain whe-ther Monsieur Du Gue Trouin might not be atSs

fe) He had before Information, that this Squa-dron consisted of two Ships of seventy Guns, twoof sixty, one of fifty, and one of forty.

{d) They took into Consideration the Prince’sOrders, which were: That if in his Passage intothe Soundings , he should get Sight of MonsieurDu Gue Trouin s Squadron, Captain Kirktoiun , ofthe Defiance , should, with the Ships of War un-der his Command, and the Transports, Store-ships and Victualers, make the best of their Way

to Lisbon , and he give Chafe to the Enemy ; Butthat, if he could not come up with them, he shouldreturn to a proper Station in the Soundings , andthere cruise for the Security of our Trade; Andhe finding, that the Enemy’s Squadron were Hullto, almost in the Wind’s Eye ; That it being nearNight, our Ships would soon lose Sight of them ;

So that it was to no Purpose to contimie theChase; And considering, that the Ships with Cap-tain Kirktouni were not of sufficient Strength todeal with them; It was determined to keep Com-pany with him ’till he should be about one Hun-dred and twenty Leagues from the Land’s End ;

Lest the Enemy should, by getting by our Squa-dron, in the Night, take or destroy many of theMerchant Ships ; And a sufficient Strength waskept in the Rear of the Fleet to prevent Acci-dents.

(e) His giving over the Chafe, in this Man-ner, was afterwards the Occasion of great Uneasi- ' Annals ofness to him ; For tho’ he was honourably acquit- A Ann.ed by a Court Martial, at which Sir John Leakepresided; Yet the Matter was afterwards examin-ed before Her Majesty in Council, the Lord HighAdmiral and several other Flag-Officers, the Houseof Commons , and a Committee of the House ofLords , before all which he sufficiently justified hisConduct.

(/") To equip himself for this Voyage, he cameto London , and returned to Plymouth by Land,where he expected to have found the Fleet; Butheard, at Exeter, that Sir John Leake was failed,the Day before. At Plymouth , he met with theBurford , a Third-Rate Man of War, with whichhe went to Lisbon, where he arrived before theFket; Of which more below.

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