676 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1805. 



iha.t in the morning of the 23(1. the 

 enemy appeared to be two less, be- 

 side the ships we had taken, than 

 they had been the jireceding day. — 

 In the course of that day, however, 

 one of the two appeared in sight. 



The court, I hopf, -will not think 

 that I trespass unnecessarily on their 

 time, in intruding another of my 

 public letters, viz. that of the 26th 

 of July. I owe it to rear-admiral 

 Stirling, whose name was unfortu- 

 nately omitted in my first letter, to 

 do so ; I owe it to myself to shew 

 that I took the earliest opportunity 

 of supplying the omission, giving 

 him that credit which he was so just- 

 ly entitled to. 



It would be improper, and is cer- 

 tainly unnecessary, to trouble the 

 court with animadver'-ions upon the 

 different rejiorts which appeared in 

 print upon :his occasion, and which 

 have materially operated to keep up 

 the delusion under which the public 

 laboured ; but there is one so abso- 

 lutely destitute of the smallest sha- 

 dow of foundation, and which it is 

 so requisite 1 should deny, that the 

 court will, I trust, forgive me for 

 calling their attention to it. 



It has been asserted, and said to 

 hare been reported by captain 

 Nicholson, that the last words 1 ad- 

 dressed to him on delivering him the 

 dispatches m ere these : . " I have 

 written to the lords commissioners 

 of the admiralty that; I sjiall bring 

 the enemy to action again, but you 

 may assure them afresh, that I have 

 it in my power to do so, and that I 

 am determined upon it ; this you 

 may also say to admiral Cornwallis." 



If this had been so, no doubt cap- 

 tain jN'icliolson would have been 

 called upon to prove it. He has 

 not been so called upon, which 

 gives additional weight to the dgpla- 



ration I here make upon my ho- 

 nour, that 1 never sent any such 

 message. I never sent captain Ni- 

 cholson to England, but to the 

 commander in chief off Ushant ; nor 

 did I write any letter to the lords of 

 the admiralty. At the time he left 

 the lleet the enemy were completely 

 out of sight : it was therefore impos- 

 sible I could have supposed it to 

 have been in my power to renew 

 the action, and every letter I wrote 

 at that time will shew, that it was 

 not my intentions to go after the 

 enemy, until I had accompanied the 

 Windsor Castle to a situation of 

 safety. Whatever, therefore, might 

 have been his expectations, that the 

 action would be renewed, he was 

 not warranted by any thing I said 

 to him, to form that expectation, 

 nor, of course, to make a represen- 

 tation as from me. ^ 



I am aware that these observa- 

 tions do not vary the question which 

 you have to try. They will not, 

 however, I hope, be deemed wholly 

 irrelevant, as they will, I trust, jus- 

 tify me in the steps which under 

 these circumstances I found myself 

 compelled in my own vindication to 

 take, viz. To desire that an inquiry 

 might be made into my conduct,! 

 and an opportunity afforded me ofi 

 justifying myself to my country,! 

 and removing the imputations which 

 had been so lavishly cast upon mo. 



That opportunity has been afford, 

 cd me, and I hope the explanation 

 which I have given, will be perfectly , 

 satisfactory. The question upon' 

 which you have to decide, divides 

 itself into two branches : — First, 

 whether I could have renewed the 

 engagement, or if at all, with ad- 

 vantage. — And secondly, whether 

 under all the circumstances it wag; 

 prudent to have done so, or whe-| 



tber 



