756 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1805. 



Borne backwardness at the tremen- 

 dous aspect of the peri!, to be firm 

 in their dutj-. As many of the flying 

 soldiers as his own boat could possi- 

 bly contain, were repeatedly taken 

 in ; and, the rest of the. boats, fol- 

 lowing so noble an example, above 

 700 of tlie army were saved, who 

 •would otherwise have perished. 



Previously to the commodore's set- 

 ting out on one of the expeditions 

 already recited, being always atten 

 iivp to verbal exactnefis, he found 

 himself unable to comprehend one 

 particular passage in his written in- 

 structions, which he had rticeived 

 from the i^reut William Pitt. To 

 him therefore he repaired, and men- 

 tioned, that he did not perfectly un- 

 derstand his orders. '^ Not under- 

 *' stand your orders!" exclaimed the 

 secretary in his haughty tone ; 

 *' that's very strange indeed." The 

 commodore, perfectly understand-"^ 

 irg the real purport of this exclama- 

 tion, instantly replied : " Sir, do 

 <' not mistake me. When 1 shall 

 *' be thoroughly acquainted with my 

 *' errand, you may depend upon 

 *' my executing it to the utmost of 

 *' my power." This softened at once 

 the minister's features : with the 

 readiest complaisance ho condescend- 

 ed to be the expositor of his own 

 instructions — Avhich, but for a habit 

 of haughtiness, he might as easily 

 have done at first. This anecdote 

 is given from the mouth of lord 

 Howe. 



In a few days after those gallant 

 exertions of humanity, which he 

 had shewn in the bay of St. Cas, on 

 the 7th September, Richard, vis- 

 count Howe, of the kingdom of Ire- 

 land, came home with his fleet. He 

 had succeeded to this title by the 

 death of his eider brother, George 



Augustus, killed July the 5th at the 

 siege of Ticonderoga, in America — 

 as promising an ofticer in the land 

 service, as even his brother Richard 

 in the naval. 



In November, 1759, the Magna- 

 nime, commanded by lord Howe, 

 made one of sir Edward Hawke's 

 fleet at his memorable victory over 

 marquis de Con flans. The Magna- 

 nime attacked the Formidable of 

 84 guns, which was thereby com- 

 pletely disabled, and afterwards 

 taken. But the Magnanime having 

 lost her fore-yard, was driven 

 through the enemy's fleet to lee- 

 Mard, where lord Howe bore down, 

 and attacked the Hero so furiously, 

 that he soon compelled her to strike. 

 According to the foregoing account, 

 this rapid movement of the Magna- 

 nime was involuntary; but it was 

 regarded in another light by intelli- 

 gent officers on board the fleet : they 

 considered it as a masterly stroke in 

 the captain, for the more cflectnal 

 annoyance of a flying enemy. Tiie 

 commanding admiral himself was of 

 this opinion, and spoke in thehighest 

 terms of so judicious an efl"ort. For 

 his behaviour in this action, when 

 lord Howe was presented at court 

 by sir Edward Hawke, he was ho- 

 noured with the particular thank.s 

 of George II. fur so many repetitions 

 ofsifxnal service to his country. Nor 

 did his royal master compliment him 

 by words' alone, but appointed him 

 to a lucrative post, (colonel of the 

 Chatham marines) created on pur- 

 pose, March 21(1, 1760. 



On September the 4th of the same 

 year, 1760, lord Howe in the Mag- 

 nanime, Avith also the Bedford and 

 prince Frederick, was dispatched by 

 sir Edward Hawke to dispossess the 

 French of the island of Duiiet. In 



tho 



