CHRONICLE. 



435 



ships near her, missed stays, and w^nt 

 on shore on some rocks, where she 

 beat vio'entlr. Signals of distress 

 were immediately hoisted, and guns 

 constantly fired. The crew, con- 

 sisting of 555 souls, were all saved 

 except eight, by the boats of the 

 Lnpefucuxand Goliah. The captain 

 and officers remained on board till 

 the last, with scarcely a hope of 

 saying their lives ; and when the surf 

 ^fas breaking tremendously over 

 them, this scene of courage and 

 magnanimity is thus described by one 

 of the officers on board : — 



" In this state, tiic officers per- 

 suaded their good and still undaunt- 

 ed captain to think of saving his life, 

 and with it their own, as they had 

 resolved, one and all, to share his 

 fate. After some time he consent- 

 ed, on condition that the officers 

 should go first. This point being 

 concluded, the hope of life, long 

 dismissed from our minds, began to 

 revive, when another difficulty 

 arose, which of the officers was to 

 lead the way ? The extinction of 

 this new reviving hope was, indeed, 

 dreadful, and the pause had nearly 

 been fatal to us all ! At length, 

 one of the junior lieutenants, long 

 known to the crew, and as brave a 

 man as ever trod a quarter-deck, 

 agreed to lead, the rest solemnly 

 promising to follow. One after 

 another we now descended from 

 over the stern, (the only part above 

 water) by single ropes, cold, be- 

 numbed, and wet through, and in 

 this condition gained the boats, them- 

 selves in perilous attendance be- 

 neath. In this manner was it, that 

 the poor old Venerable was aban- 

 doned to her fate ; and about six 

 o'clock we reached the Impetueux, 

 where, it is needless to say, that we 

 were treated with every attention 



and kindness, that one ship's officer^; 

 could shew to another in diStres*." 

 The Venerable soon alter went to 

 pieces, and next day there was no- 

 thing to be seen of her, but her 

 bows ; she was a very line ship, 

 built in 1784, and bore lord Dun- 

 can's flag in the ever memorable fight 

 of Camperdown. 



A corporal and a private belong- 

 ing to the 81st regiment of foot, be- 

 ing part of the escort which arrived 

 at Exeter with Mr. Russell's wag- 

 gons on the Wednesday preceding, 

 laden with treasure, were commit, 

 ted, the former to high-gaol, and 

 the latter to the county bridewell, 

 for breaking open one of the chests 

 upon the road, and stealing there, 

 out a quantity of dollars, which 

 they sold. The Serjeant of the party, 

 on their return to Plymouth, ob- 

 serving them to be in possession of 

 cash and bank notes, immediately 

 had them apprehended, when one of 

 them made a full confession of the 

 fa6t. They are fully committed for 

 trial. 



In a parish, not 100 miles from 

 North Elmham, is a person whose 

 various professions and occupations 

 may be arranged as iindtM": — shoe- 

 maker; blacksmith; whitesmith; 

 gun-smith; lock-smith; bell-hanger; 

 turner in wood, brass, and iron ; 

 teacher of music ; constable of the 

 parish ; audioneer and appraiser ; 

 dealer in old cl oaths ; armourer to 

 the Elmham volunteers, and corpo- 

 ral to the same ; watch and dock- 

 maker; parish cook; small po.x 

 and vaccine inoculator ; inspector 

 of weights and balances for the hun- 

 dred of Launditch ; collec;tor and 

 assessor of the king's taxes ; sheritPs 

 officer and bailift'; shaver and hair- 

 dresser ; surve) or of land, an(J 

 teacher of men'^nration ; leader of 



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