Aug.

with three masts instead of two, and approached 1798. somewhat nearer than she did, the Généreux, in all probability, would have fled, and the Leander been recaptured. Captain Capel, however, as appears by the subjoined letter to rear-admiral Nelson, written on the arrival of the Mutine at Naples, mistook the two vessels for ships of greater force; and that under circumstances of rather an extraordinary nature. "On the 28th of August," says captain Capel, "in latitude 37° 45', longitude 16° 50', I fell in with two line-of-battle ships, one under three jury topmasts, the second had a jury mizen topmast, having the other ship in tow. I passed so close as to make their hulls out distinctly. I also showed them french colours, which they answered by the same; and I have not the smallest doubt, from those circumstances, and the perfect recollection I have of le Guillaume-Tell and le Généreux, that it was those ships: they were steering to the north-east, apparently for Corfu."*

The sufferings of the Leander's men did not cease with the arrival of the two ships at Corfu. The republican authorities there seem to have considered the example of captain Lejoille and his officers worthy of imitation to the very letter; and, with all their characteristic hardihood, the seamen, more especially the wounded portion of them, nearly perished under the load of ill-treatment which was continued to be heaped upon them.t

At length the principal part of the officers, late belonging to the Leander, were allowed to return home on their parole; but captain Lejoille actually detained the carpenter, Thomas Jarrat, because he refused to furnish him with the dimensions of the Leander's masts and yards. Several of the seamen also were compelled to remain at Corfu; and when, at a subsequent day, a turco-russian squadron was

* Clarke and M'Arthur's Life of Nelson, vol. ii. p. 97.

See letter from Mr. Stanley, the british consul at Trieste, in Naval Chronicle, vol. xiv. p. 11.

Aug.

1798. blockading the Généreux in the port, captain Lejoille tried to persuade some of the Leander's men, of whose prowess he had received so indubitable a proof, to assist him in forcing his way out to sea. But the noble fellows lent a deaf ear to all the french captain's promises of reward; and, in particular, a maintopman, named George Bannister, replied: "No, you d-d french r--1, give us back our little ship, and we'll fight you again till we sink."

Had captain Thompson found an enemy in such a man as captain Bergeret,* or in any one of those by whom captain Bligh of the Alexander had been captured, or, in short, any among 50 other french officers that might be named, his persevering defence of his ship, his noble support of the flag under which he served, would have gained him the esteem of his conqueror. Far from plundering, he would have protected him. Far from belying him, he would have told a plain tale of his own good fortune. Far from wishing to degrade his prisoner, that he might make him a stepping-stone to his own exaltation, he would have paid him the homage one brave man pays to another; he would even have endeavoured to heighten, rather than to diminish, the splendour of a resistance, which to overcome had cost him so dearly.

In the former edition of this work we gave an extract from, and commented rather severely upon, a letter, or rather the translation of a letter, bearing the signature of the captain of the Généreux, and transcribed at length in several english publications. We have since sought in vain among the french newspapers for the original of this letter, and begin to doubt whether it ever appeared at

While a prisoner in England, (see vol. i. p. 464,) captain Bergeret was permitted to go to France on his parole, to endeavour to effect an exchange between himself and sir Sidney Smith; but, failing in his object, he returned to England. Sir Sidney having in the mean time escaped, the british government, with a proper feeling, gave captain Bergeret his liberty.

† See vol. i. p. 261.

all in a french dress. The alleged writer, we now 1798. find, has long ceased to be among the living. We Aug. will not, therefore, make use of the contents of what has the appearance of being a spurious production, to heap_additional disgrace upon the memory of captain Lejoille.

66

In a respectable french historical work, from which we are in the habit of occasionally quoting, is a brief notice of the Leander's capture, as fairly stated in one part, as it is unfairly, or rather, to those who know the facts, ludicrously stated in another. The account represents the Leander to have mounted 50 guns, " cinquante canons," and to have fought the Généreux "four hours." Then follows in a note the following just remark: "Le poids des boulets d'une bordée du vaisseau français était double de celui des boulets d'une bordée du Leander, et la coque de ce vaisseau offrait infiniment moins de résistance. Notre impartialité nous fait un devoir de mentionner cette circonstance, qui devient honorable pour les défenseurs du vaisseau ennemi.'

This is truly refreshing, after the highly exaggerated accounts of the Généreux's performance, which we recollect to have read in two or three numbers of the Moniteur. We wish the writer's "impartiality" had stimulated him to make further inquiry before he gave insertion to what follows, and which we shall first present in english: "Lejoille possessed yet further claims (alluding to his alleged valorous conduct at the battle of the Nile) to the esteem of his enemies, by the manner in which he treated the two english captains whom the chances of war had thrown into his power. After having paid them every imaginable attention, he sent them on their parole to England, the moment the captain of the Leander was sufficiently recovered of his wounds to support the journey." "Lejoille acquit encore de nouveaux droits à l'estime de ses ennemis par la manière dont il traita les deux capitaines anglais que le sort des armes avait fait tomber en son pou

1798. voir. Après avoir eu pour eux toutes les attentions Aug. imaginables, il les renvoya sur parole en Angleterre, aussitôt que le commandant du Leander fut assez bien rétabli de ses blessures pour supporter le voyage."*

At length captains Thompson and Berry, along with most of the Leander's officers, reached their native country. The court-martial, which sat on captain Thompson, his officers and men, for the loss of their ship, was held on the 17th of December, 1798, at Sheerness, on board the America 64. The following was the sentence pronounced: "The court having heard the evidence brought forward in support of captain Thompson's narrative of the capture of the Leander, and having very maturely and deliberately considered the whole, is of opinion, that the gallant and almost unprecedented defence of captain Thompson, of his majesty's late ship Leander, against so superior a force as that of the Généreux, is deserving of every praise his country and this court can give; and that his conduct, with that of the officers and men under his command, reflects not only the highest honour on himself and them, but on their country at large, and the court does therefore most honourably acquit captain Thompson, &c." The president, captain George Tripp, then addressed the captain nearly as follows: "Captain Thompson, I feel the most lively pleasure in returning you the sword with which you have so bravely maintained the honour of your king and country; the more so, as I am convinced that, when you are again called upon to draw it in their defence, you will add fresh laurels to the wreath you have already so nobly won." The thanks of the court were also given to captain (knighted on the 12th) sir Edward Berry; and captain Thompson, upon his return to the shore, was saluted with three cheers by all the ships in the harbour.

Thus had captain Thompson received from the

* Victoires et Conquêtes, tome x. p. 386.

LEANDER AND GÉNÉREUX.-CAPTURE OF THE DECADE. 347 sentence of a court-martial, as honourable an ac- 1798. quittal as his heart could desire; and he soon afterAug. wards received, from the hand of his sovereign, a boon which the proudest victor usually, but not more rightfully claims, the honour of knighthood.

As every officer, who was on board the Leander in her action with the Généreux, is entitled to have his name included in the account, we are happy in having it in our power to record the names of the greater part, if not the whole, of those not already mentioned in the return of loss. Her first lieutenant was William Richardson; her second and third, and her master, appear among the wounded. Two master's mates were Jeremiah Russel and John Whitehead; a third is among the wounded. Her midshipmen were, Charles Hardy, William Reynolds, George Lemprière, John Coates, and Cæsar William Richardson; exclusive of the three killed and the one wounded; clerk, Charles Bullman; surgeon, boatswain, and carpenter have been already named. The gunner was John Burns, and the purser, Daniel Hogg. Marine-officer there was none on board but sergeant Dair, and he gallantly fell at his post.

It is not a little singular that, towards the close of the preceding war, this same Leander had an engagement with a french 74. At midnight on the 18th of January, 1783, while cruising in the West Indies, the Leander, captain John Willet Payne, (the same who commanded the Russel in lord Howe's action,) fell in with the french 74-gun ship Pluton, captain d'Albert de Rioms, partially disabled, it appears, either by a gale or an action. The Leander herself commenced the attack, and soon obtained a capital raking position on the 74's starboard bow. After a smart contest of two hours, the Pluton sheered off, with the loss of one lieutenant and four seamen killed, and 11 seamen wounded. The loss on board the Leander amounted to 13 killed and wounded; the latter so badly, that two only of them survived.

On the 22d of August, at noon, the british 38-gun