G22 



ANNUAL REGISTER, ISDO. 



Deity;" in which he confutes all 

 atheistical doctrines, and ably 

 proves the existence of a God. 

 This work will remain a testimony 

 of his great power of reasoning and 

 extensive information. 



In the Island of Jamaica, Lieut.- 

 gen. Villettes. This officer was de- 

 scended from one of the most an- 

 cient families in France. His an- 

 cestors were lords of Montdidier 

 inLanguedoc, inthethirteenth cen- 

 tury, and many of them held con- 

 siderable offices under different mo- 

 narchs. During the civil wars, they 

 were much distinguished for their 

 exertions in favour of the Hugo- 

 nots ; and after the revocation of 

 the edict of Nantes they withdrew 

 from France and settled in this 

 kingdom. The father of the late 

 lieut.-gen. was educated in the di- 

 plomatic line, and was many years 

 minister plenipotentiary to the late 

 and the present king ; first at the 

 court of Turin, and afterwards with 

 the Helvetic Cantons. He with- 

 drew from public life in the year 

 1762, and resided at Bath till 1776 ; 

 when he died, in the 75th year of 

 his age. His second son, William- 

 Anne Villettes, was born at Bern, 

 on the 14th of June, ns*. He re- 

 ceived the early part of his educa- 

 tion at a private school near Bath, 

 and the latter part of it at the Uni- 

 versity of St. Andrew's. A mild- 

 ness of disposition, and a regular 

 performance of whatever it was his 

 duty to do ; qualities,which through 

 life were distinguished features of 

 his character,werp remarkable even 

 at this early period. It was observ- 

 ed at the school, that he never re- 

 ceived a blow, either from his mas- 

 ter, or any of his school-fellows ; 

 nor was he ever known at the uni- 

 versity to have experienced a repri- 



mand from any of the professors, 

 or to have been engaged in a quar- 

 rel with any of his fellow-students. 

 His father originally intended him 

 for the bar, and he was accordingly 

 entered at Lincoln's-inn, and kept 

 two or three terms ; but his ardour 

 for a military life was so great, that 

 Mr. Villettes at last gave way to his 

 son's inclinations, and obtained for 

 him, in the year 1775, a cornetcy 

 in the 10th regiment of dragoons. 

 In this respectable corps, Villettes 

 continued till he rose to the rank 

 of major. In this, as in every other 

 part of his life, a punctual dis- 

 charge of the duties of his station 

 was constantly observed. By this 

 he obtained the approbation of his 

 superiors, and by his amiable man- 

 ners he secured the esteem and 

 good will of his equals and his in- 

 feriors. During a great part of 

 this period, capt. Villettes attend- 

 ed SirW. Pitt (then commander of 

 the forces in Ireland ) as his aid-de- 

 camp and secretary. The charac- 

 ter of that venerable officer re- 

 quires no panegyric ; and it certain- 

 ly was an honour to Villettes, that 

 he lived several years in his family, 

 not only as his secretary, but as his 

 confidential friend. His attachment 

 to Sir William Pitt was, indeed, 

 that of a son to a parent; and, 

 like all other attachments that he 

 formed, continued invariable to the 

 end of his life. In the year 1792, 

 major Villettes quitted the dra- 

 goons, and was appointed lieut.- 

 col. of the 69th regiment of foot ; 

 which, in consequence of the break- 

 ing out of the war in 1793, was 

 sent to the Mediterranean, serving 

 as marines on board a division of 

 the fleet under the command of 

 lord Hood. From this service 

 col. Villettes was exempt, as a 



field- 



