402 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1805. 



humane conduct to the prisoners 

 and inhabitants, after the surrender 

 of the fort •, and the lord mayor was 

 requested to transmit the same to 

 captain Maitland, and desire him to 

 communicate them to the oflicers, 

 seamen, and marines of his majes- 

 ty's ship La Loire, under his com- 

 mand. 



The reason why Mr. Dixon did 

 not include the gilt of swords, 

 in his motion of thanks at the above 

 court of common council, to cap- 

 tain F. Maitland, and the gallant 

 Yeo, was, that the gentlemen of the 

 patriotic fund, at Loyd's, were 

 about to confer that honour on 

 Ihem. 



This day five of the convicts on 

 board the hulks at Woolwich en- 

 deavoured to make their escape in a 

 boat. They were pursued, and, 

 rot surrendering, were fired at. 

 Two were shot dead, and another 

 was so much wounded that he soon 

 tiled. The other two were taken 

 unhurt. 



28th. A most tremendous storm 

 of thunder, hail, and rain, burst over 

 the metropolis. It lasted about 

 twenty minutes, deluged all the 

 streets, and broke a number of win- 

 dows. The lightning was extremely 

 vivid, and the 'thunder awfully 

 loud. 



30th. At about a quarter before 

 ten o'clock at night, a dreadful fire 

 broke out in a large range of wooden 

 storehouses, in the royal arsenal, 

 Woolwich, not far distant from the 

 magazine; by which two buildings 

 were consumed, full of grape and 

 cannister shot, in boxes, ready to 

 be sent to diflerent garrisons, at 

 home and abroad. The boxes are 

 supposed to have amounted to half 

 a million in number. The buildings 

 <;onsumed were about the length of 



160 or 170 feet, and two stories 

 high, not a vestige of which remains. 

 In the magazine were several thou- 

 sand barrels of powdtr, which must, 

 had they exploded, have destroyed 

 the greater part of the arsenal, and 

 caused the loss of several hundred 

 lives. It is generally believed that 

 tiic place was intentionally set on 

 lire, as no fire nor candle has ever 

 been allowed in those store-houses. 



JULY. 



1st. In the court of King's Bench, : 

 Dublin, Mr. Hamilton Rowan was 

 brought up by writ of hubeas cor- 

 pus; and the record of his outlawry 

 being read, the clerk of the crown, 

 as is usual in such cases, asked the 

 prisoner what he had to say, why 

 judgment of death and execution 

 should not be awarded against him ? . 

 Mr. Rowan said, that he was in- 

 structed by his counsel to say, that 

 the outlawry contained errors in' 

 fact. The attorney-general con- 

 fessed errors in the outlawry, which 

 was reversed. Being put to plead 

 to the indictment, Mr. Rowan 

 pleaded his majesty's most gracious 

 pardon. Having then obtained li- 

 berty to speak, Mr. Rowan ad- 

 dressed tije court nearly in thesQ 

 words : 



" When last I had the honour of 

 appearing, before this tribunal, I 

 told your lordships, 1 knew his 

 majesty otdy by his Mieldlng the 

 force of the country ; since that pe- . 

 riod, during my legal incapacity and 

 absence bc-yond seas, my wife and 

 children have not only been unmo- 

 lested, but protected ; and, in ad- 

 dition to those favours, I am now 

 indebted to the royal mercy for my 

 life. I will neither, my lords, in* 



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