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where he led the attack against tlic 

 fort ai captain of the Lowcstolf, iu 

 the most e,;i!!aiit and spirited man- 

 ner, lie. likewise, in the command 

 of the Diamond, engaged the La 

 Fee, a French frigate of eqnal 

 force, and, after a sharp action, 

 oonipdled her to take refuge under 

 the guns of one of the enemy's bat- 

 teries at St. Domingo. One trait, 

 amongst many others, deserves re- 

 cording: having, by orders of lord 

 llodncy, reconnoitred the harbour of 

 Curat^oa, within a short distance of 

 the forts, he observed two of the 

 enemy's cruisers in the olhng, a 

 Dutch frigate and an armed schoon- 

 er, to which he gave chace, and 

 soon brought them to action, but 

 the schooner made oft" on receiving a 

 few shot. At this time a Dutch 

 line-of-battle-ship, having slipped 

 her cables in the harbour, Mas in 

 chacc of the Diamond; capt. Park- 

 er, however, continued the action 

 until the enemy had struck her co- 

 lours ; he took out some of the pri- 

 soners and did not relinquish Jiis 

 capture until several shot from the 

 Dutch line-of-battle-ship went over 

 the Diamond. Lord Rodney ex- 

 pressed great regret that Capt. Par- 

 ker's account to him should have 

 been so slight as to prevent his stat- 

 ing the circumstances to Govern- 

 ment in the high terms it merited. 

 At the commencement of the late 

 war with France he commanded the 

 Blanche frigate, on the Windward 

 Island station ; and, upon the cap- 

 ture of St. Lucia, was sent home 

 with dispatches by earl St. Vincent. 

 JIc next served under earl Howe as 

 captain of the Valiant in the Chan- 

 nel tiect; afterwards as rcar-admi- 

 ral, he served in the same fleet under 

 sir John Colpoysj and lastly with 



the rank of vice-admiral, as second 

 in command to admiral Dickson, 

 in the North Seas, till the conclusion 

 of the war. lie received tlie most 

 flattering nxarks of approbation and 

 esteem from earl Howe ; and the 

 earl of St. Vincent, lord Gardner, 

 admiral Cornwallis, sir John C<>1- 

 poys (his commanders at different 

 times), will unite their willing testi- 

 monial of his desert. His ship was 

 always in the best state of discipline, 

 and for this simple reason, there was 

 no needless severity towards the 

 men, no oflensive haughtiness to the 

 officers; he supported the dignity of 

 a commander upon deck ; and cxhi- 

 bited the easy manners of a gentle- 

 man in the cabin ; thus did he con- 

 ciliate the regard of all ; they obey- 

 ed with the cheerfulness of affection, 

 and Avere as anxious for his fame as 

 if each individual partook of it. 

 His M'hole system evinced a compre- 

 hensive mind, and a philosophical 

 knowledge of the kind of men he 

 had to command. His courage M'as 

 of the best sort^ as free from rash- 

 ness as devoid of fear : when a mo- 

 ral duty was to be performed, there 

 was no labour which he Avould not 

 undertake, no danger that could ap. 

 pal him. He was the early compa- 

 nion and intimate frieiyl of Lord 

 Nelson. When this great man (the 

 hero of Aboukir and Copenhagen) 

 was receiving the meed of well-earn- 

 ed applause at a royal table, he ob- 

 served ('with the generosity which 

 ever accompanies genuine merit), 

 that his successes were owing to his 

 good fortune, Avhich had placed hira 

 iu those stations; " for," said he, 

 " there are many other officers who 

 would have done as much under si- 

 milar circumstances, one I will ven- 

 ture to name — Christopher Parker," 

 Ii4 lUi 



