884

171?-

Sir GeorgeByng takesPoJJejfion of.Port Paradi-so.

Sails with aSquadron toGenoa.

Sir JohnNorris ar-rives atStockholm

Offers theKing’s Me-diation.

Geo. 1 Naval Expeditions , <Stc. of the English, Book VI

The twelfth of August, Sir GeorgeByng, with a good Part of the Squa-dron under his Command, was in theRoad of Baya ; (o) And the Spaniardshaving abandoned the "Torre di Faro, theeleventh, the British Squadron tookPossession of Port Paradifo, near thatTower.

The eighteenth, Sir George failed, inthe Barsteur, with three other Men ofWar, and some Transports, for Genoa,where he arrived, the seven and twen-tieth, and was handsomely received bythat Republick. The sixth of Septem-ber, he sailed for Vado, and the ImperialTroops, with the Cannon, Ammunitionand Provisions,designed for Sicily, beingput on Board the Transports, by theseventeenth, he gave, that Day, theSignal for Sailing $ (p) We shall nowleave him for a While to follow SirJohn Norris.

The j British Squadron, in the Baltick,under the Command of Sir John Norris ,having joined the Swedijh Fleet, off ofCarlJ'cronfq) arrived at the Dahlen ,nearStockholm, the sixth of September ; (r)And the Lord Carteret, who was like-wise arrived there, as AmbassadourPlenipotentiary, had, some Days before,offered His Majesty’s Mediation, forreconciling the Differences of the North,to the Queen of Sweden, which HerMajesty readily accepted off. He,

likewise, sent Mr. Berkeley, with the 17 1 9-same Message, to the Czar of Muscovy,

But the Ruffian Plenipotentiaries at Ah- ^fer.tedland refusing him a Passport for Peters- reachingburg, and scrupling, likewise, to receive Nim. tthe Lord Cart ereV s and Sir John Norris’’ sLetters, without previous Orders fromthe Czar, he returned, and about theMiddle of Sept. the Congress of ' Ahlandwas broke up. (j) All this while, theFleet lay near Stockholm ; (t) But the sjr j oJlsl r e-Winter Season ad vancing , and it turns to Co-being thought no longer necessary, in penhagen ;those Seas, Sir John failed from Elfenap, "

taking with him all the Trade that wasready, the seven and twentieth of OBo-ber, and arrived, at Copenhagen, thesixth of November, (u) The twelfth,the Fleet set Sail from Copenhagen, theseventeenth was separated in a Storm,which did Damage to some of the ShipsRigging; But most of them came safeinto the River, and Sir John Norriscame to Town the nine and twentieth.

The Troops designed for the secret Lord Cob-Expedition, against Spain, being embar- ham ’ Sked, and the Transports having joinedthe Men of War designed for this Ex-pedition, under the Command of Vice-Admiral they sailed from St.

Hellen’s, the twenty-first of September,with a fair Wind, and, the nine andtwentieth, entered the Harbour of Vigo.

The Lord Cobham immediately landed,

with

I

Vi go

And

V edi

to do, suddenly jumped into theWater, saying, hewould land, let the Event he what it would. Hewas immediately followed by Mr. Duvernet , whohad served in his Regiment, and Mr. Burton, anEnglijh Gentleman, which the French Officers fe-ing could not for Shame but follow.

(o) In his Passage thither, the Superbe took aSpanijh Privateer, of eight Guns, twelve Patter-eroes, and seventy Men ; And the Rippon, com-ing thither, from Port-Mahon, and looking intoCagliari- Bay, took three Saicks, two of whichwere empty, and the other laden with Corn.

(p) While the Admiral lay there, he had Ad-vice from Captain Matthews, Commander of theKent, from Palermo, that the eighteenth, his Boattook a Sattee, in which was a Colonel, Aide deCamp to the Marquis de Lede, who was comingwith Letters from Madrid, which he threw over-Board.

(q) Upon Intelligence of this Squadron’s hav-ing joined the Swediffo Men of War, and beingsailing towards Stockholm, the Czar of Muscovy,with his Fleet, which had committed terrible Ra-vages, in the Neighbourhood of that City, thoughtsit to retire from the Coasts of Sweden, to avoidan Engagement, which, in all Appearance, wouldhave been inevitable : Tho’ this is what the Ruf-fians would never allow ; But pretend their Fleetwas returned to Revel, before they had any Ac-count of Sir John Ferris being at Sea. Theyknew, at least, of his being at Copenhagen ; Forthe Czar wrote to him the seventh of June, and

received his Answer from thence, dated the ele-venth of July, as they allow, in their own Ac-counts.

(r) The Prince of Hejfe-Caffel having givenSir John a Visit, on Board his Ship, he receivedhis Highness with all possible Marks of Respect:,and then accompanied him to Stockholm, where hewaited on the Queen of Sweden, and had severalConferences with Her Ministers. On the four-teenth, Her Swedijh Majesty, with Her RoyalConsort, and all her Court,were magnificently en-tertained at Dinner, on Board Sir John Norns’sShip.

(j) The Ruffians pretended, that Copies of theLetters having been sliewn to thePlenipotentiaries,at Ahland, by Mr. Berkley, they found the Czartreated in an unusual manner, which made themact: as they did.

(t) The Lord Carteret and Sir John Norrishad, during this Time, frequent Conferences withthe Swedish Ministers, and concerted such Mea-sures as were the Ground-work to the general Pa-cification in the North, which ensued. The Swedes,in the mean Time, being freed from the Ravagesof Ruffians, and countenanced by the Britifij Fleet,were enabled to insist upon better Terms, tha:uthey would otherwise, probably, have obtained.stu) The next Day, Sir John waited on theKing of Denmark, and acquainted his Majesty,that he could assure him of the Queen of Sweden'sreal Disposition to make Peace with His Majestyon reasonable Terms.