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Of all the heroes who have died in the | the frigate and the French cutter, in service of their country, probably none evinced greater devotedness or magnanimity of feeling than the gallant Captain Farmer, who chose rather to perish with his ship, than suffer himself to be taken by the enemy.

On the 6th of October, 1779, the Quebec, 32 guns, Captain Farmer, and the Rambler cutter, Lieutenant George, fell in with a large French frigate and a cutter, to the south-west of Ushant. The frigate proved to be the Surveillante of forty guns: she began to fire at the Quebec, long before she could do any execution. The Quebec reserved her fire till she got within point-blank shot of the enemy, when, showing her colours, she commenced the action. In the meantime, the Rambler cutter stood in between VOL. I.

order, if possible, to cut the latter off. The action between these continued for nearly three hours, when the enemy, taking advantage of the damage she had done to the masts and rigging of the Rambler, made sail and bore away. The engagement between the two frigates lasted for three hours and a half. It was fought so close, and with such obstinacy on both sides, that at the end of that time they were both dismasted, lying like complete wrecks in the water, on board of each other. The sails of the Quebec having been brought down along with her masts, and not having been cleared away, took fire. The ship was soon in flames; and in spite of all their endeavours to stop the flames, they spread in every direction, till about six

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in the evening she blew up, her colours" of telling you about one Captain Farflying, and her captain and most of her crew perishing with her.

As soon as Lieutenant George saw the condition of the Quebec, he endeavoured to make sail towards her, in order that he might use his efforts to extinguish the flames, or if that were impracticable, to save the crew; but his own ship having suffered severely, and being considerably to leeward, with little wind, and a heavy swell, he was in a great measure unable to accomplish his object. He indeed sent out the boat of the cutter, but the guns of the Quebec going off as the flames reached them, the boat's crew were afraid to approach her so often as they could have wished. Lieutenant George, in his official account of this engagement, blames the enemy for having fired on his boat while performing this office of humanity; but this charge was afterwards proved to have been utterly groundless. On the contrary, several of the men of the Quebec were saved by the French frigate, and they uniformly bore testimony to the attention and kindness with which they were treated. When it is considered, that the enemy's ship, at the time she received on board such of the crew of the Quebec as could | be saved, was a complete wreck, and that the majority of her men were either killed or wounded, we shall be able and willing to form a just estimate of their humanity. It deserves farther to be told, that the French captain at this time was in the agonies of death, and that he spent his last breath in declaring the satisfaction he felt in having had such an opportunity for the display and exercise of his humanity. It is such instances as these of nobleness and benevolence in those that are fighting against each other, that relieve the mind when it is weary with scenes of carnage and bloodshed, and almost disposed to despair of the human race.

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mer. I am not the man to let such a gallant fellow as that be neglected; for although we may now have more finished officers on board our ships, yet we can't have braver, more loyal, or more excellent seamen than we had fifty years back. You may make the uniform more tidy, and you may make them know more about stars, and the sun and the moon; but you cannot place better hearts in their bodies than our old ones had, dress them how you will: this I'm quite certain of, that ever since the seamen docked their tails, and invited one mess to drink tea with the other, your old Jack is gone to the devil; and all I hope is, that the Iryson mundungo ships companies will do as well as we did.

"It was on the 6th of October 1779, when Captain Farmer commanded the Quebec, of thirty-two guns, that we saw a large ship to leeward, we being off Ushant: we bore up, and as she was within two gun-shots when we first observed her at daylight, we were soon, in spite of her endeavour to escape, alongside of her, and commenced action with the Surveillante, of forty guns. At ten o'clock, A. M. we poured in our first broadside; it went rattling into her in great style, and we made sure of our prize; but she gave us a smart return, and there were plenty of petitioners for Greenwich. Well, it was give and take, like two good ones, for three hours and a half, during which time our brave captain was severely wounded. Away went the Frenchman's foremast, and we gave three good cheers; but before we could finish the huzzas, our mizen-mast had fallen, and the main-mast was badly wounded. 'Don't make game of the foolish,' said Bill Jones, you might he struck comical yourself;' and sure enough, away went the main-mast over the side, and the topsail and course was right in the way of our firing. Before one o'clock the Frenchman had not a stick standing, and we were just in the same state. Our enemy's guns were heavier than ours, and he had more of them, and more men to work them.

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"We did not have all this fun to ourselves; for the Rambler, a little cutter, commanded by one Lieutenant George, was touching up a French cutter to leeward of us, and their little popguns came

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in between our great guns and musketry. Huzza, my boys!' said Captain Farmer, now at it again; never say die whilst there's a shot in the locker.' Well, we were doing it properly, when all of a sudden the sails caught fire from our firing through them, and we were soon in a blaze. I thought I was born to be burnt alive, for I could never steer clear of a fire: other ships have sailed round the world and not been burnt, or fought all through the Nile without catching fire; but every blessed ship I get into, somehow or other, pays a compliment to old Nick and lights up a blaze. The firemen were all alive with their buckets; and I, who had seen quite enough of ship-burning in Montego Bay, in the beginning of the year, did not go to sleep on this occasion.

very near the stars, for I saw them, a twinkling

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"Hurrah, Tom!" said I.

"When down I comes souse in the sea, and began to strike out, after I had nearly paid a visit to the bottom; for I came down head foremost, and must have been like an iceberg, twice as far under water as I had been above it. I was picked up after the fish had began to knibble my toes, by the Rambler's boat; and then I found that the captain, most of the officers, and nearly all the crew, had perished.

"I never shall forget when I got on board the cutter. I ran down in the fore peak, and I'm blessed if I did not kneel down and say my prayers; and I was afraid to open my eyes, for fear I should find myself close to the moon, with only slippery fingers to hold with. Well, that Captain Farmer was a right brave one; for just before we blew up, and when the first lieutenant went to him and touched his hat, just as coolly as he reported the men all clean at divisions, and said, The fire, sir, has reached the magazine door;' the captain looked up at the colours, and then giving a frown of defiance at the Surveillante, said, 'I would rather go there,' (pointing aloft) with the colours flying, than tow into Brest harbour astern of any Frenchman.'

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Away he went a moment after. He lost his life, the country a brave man, the navy, a good officer; and here am I, Tom Toprail, to tell the story, who was so highly elevated, and yet who never was promoted."

"But it was no use; we lost ground, and the Frenchman did not leave us alone during this misfortune. She was dismasted like ourselves; and she could make but little of the advantage of not being on fire, for she rolled about heavily, so that most of her shots were harmless. Well, there was some talk of removing the captain to the Rambler, which cutter was a long way to leeward; but although poor Farmer was dreadfully wounded, and could be of no service for the ship was now in flames beyond all power of extinguishing-yet he swore he would never strike his colours, or ever leave his brave companions. This gives us a little life; for nothing shakes the courage of sailors more than the doubts of their officer; and every man fore and aft knows it as well as I do, that if the captain winks, half the crew shut their eyes. We tried all that men could do to put out the fire, but it increased rapidly. The wind, in the mean time, had lulled from the firing; and there was the Quebec a com- I had heard something of Captain plete wreck, and burning away like Farmer before; for, do you mind, whensmoke and oakum. We had been fight-ever a man is a good one in the navy, ing from ten till half-past one, and hard we are sure to hear of it; and when he at work ever since in endeavouring to is a bad one, why, we are always like quench the flames; we had stuck our the Jews after payment, blessed with colours on an ensign staff, and there we very bad memories. remained without being meddled with by the enemy, for she hardly struck us once, until six o'clock in the evening, when the magazine caught fire, and we blew up I don't know how high I went, but I think I must have been

Poor Tom always swore when, in after-life, his tail grew rather grey, that it was owing to this dive; and he used to say that the tow-rope of his head had got as white as a hawser under water.

ADVENTURES

OF A BRITISH OFFICER DURING THE
PENINSULAR WAR.

CAPTAIN Colquhoun Grant, a celebrated scouting officer, was sent by Lord

Wellington to watch Marshal Marmont's proceedings. Attended by Leon, a Spanish peasant of great fidelity and quickness of apprehension, who had been his companion on many former occasions of the same nature, Grant arrived in the Salamancan district, and passing the Tormes in the night, remained in uniform, for he never assumed any disguise, three days in the midst of the French camp. He thus obtained exact information of Marmont's object, and more especially of his preparations of provisions and scaling ladders, notes of which he sent to Lord Wellington, from day to day, by Spanish agents. However, on the third night, some peasants brought him a general order, addressed to the French regiments, and saying, that the notorious Grant being within the circle of their cantonments, the soldiers were to use their utmost efforts to secure him, for which purpose also guards were placed in a circle round the army. Nothing daunted by this news, Grant consulted with the peasants, and the next morning, before daylight, entered the village of Huerta, which is close to the ford on the Tormes, and about six miles from Salamanca. Here was a French battalion, and on the opposite side of the river, cavalry videttes were posted, two of which constantly patrolled backward and forward, for the space of three hundred yards, meeting always at the ford.

When day broke, the French battalion assembled on its alarm-post, and at that moment Grant was secretly brought with his horse behind the gable of a house, which hid him from the infantry, and was opposite to the ford. The peasants, standing on some loose stones, and spreading their large cloaks, covered him from the cavalry videttes, and thus he calmly waited until the latter were separated to the full extent of their beat; then putting spurs to his horse, he dashed through the ford between them, and receiving their fire without damage, reached a wood not very distant, where the pursuit was baffled, and where he was soon rejoined by Leon, who in his native dress met with no interruption. Grant had already ascertained that the means of storming Ciudad Rodrigo were prepared, and that the French officers openly talked of doing so, but he desired

still further to test this project, and to discover if the march of the enemy might not finally be directed by the pass of Perales, towards the Tagus. He wished also to ascertain more correctly their real numbers, and therefore placed himself on a wooded hill, near Tamames, where the road branches off to the passes, and to Ciudad Rodrigo. Here lying perdue, until the whole French army had passed, he noted every battalion and gun, and finding that all were directed towards Ciudad, entered Tamames after they had passed, and discovered that they had left the greatest part of their scaling-ladders behind, which clearly proved that the intention of storming Ciudad Rodrigo was not real. This allayed Wellington's fears for that fortress. When Marmont afterwards passed the Coa in this expedition, Grant preceded him, with intent to discover if his march would be by Guarda upon Coimbra, or by Sabugal upon Castallo Branca. Upon one of the inferior ridges in the pass of Penamacor, this persevering officer placed himself, thinking that the dwarf oaks, with which the hills were covered, would effectually secure him from discovery; but from the higher ridge above, the French detected all his movements with their glasses. In a few moments, Leon, whose lynx-eyes were always on the watch, called out, "The French, the French!" and pointed to the rear, whence some dragoons came galloping up. Grant and his follower instantly darted into the wood for a little space, and then suddenly wheeling, rode off in a different direction, yet at every turn new enemies appeared, and at last the hunted men dismounted, and fled on foot through the thickest of the low oaks but again they were met by infantry, who had been detached in small parties down the sides of the pass, and were directed in their chase by the waving of the French officers' hats on the ridge above. At last Leon fell exhausted, and the barbarians who first came up killed him, in spite of his companion's entreaties. Grant himself they carried without injury to Marmont, who receiving him with apparent kindness, invited him to dinner. The conversation turned upon the prisoner's exploits, and the French marshal affirmed that he had been for a long time on the watch; that he knew all his

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In passing through Orleans, Grant, by a species of intuition, discovered an English agent, and from him received a recommendation to another secret agent in Paris, whose assistance would be necessary to his final escape; for he looked upon Marmont's double dealing, and the expressed design to take away his life, as equivalent to a discharge of his parole, which was moreover only given with respect to Spain. When he arrived at Paris he took leave of Souham, opened an intercourse with the Parisian agent, from whom he obtained money, and by his advice avoided appearing before the police, to have his passport examined. He took a lodging in a very public street, frequented the coffeehouses, and even visited the theatres without fear, because the secret agent, who had been long established, and was intimately connected with the police, had ascertained that no inquiry about his escape had been set on foot.

haunts and his disguises, and had dis- | the instant, inquired at the hotels if any covered, that only the night before he French officer was going to Paris, and had slept in the French head-quarters, finding that General Souham, then on with other adventures which had not his return from Spain, was so bent, he happened, for this Grant never used boldly introduced himself, and asked any disguise; but there was another permission to join his party. The other Grant, also very remarkable in his way, readily assented; and while thus trawho used to remain for months in the velling, the general, unacquainted with French quarters, using all manner of Marmont's intentions, often rallied his disguises; hence the similarity of names companion about his adventures, little caused the actions of both to be attri- thinking he was then himself an instrubuted to one, which is the only pallia- ment in forwarding the most dangerous tion for Marmont's subsequent conduct. and skilful of them all. Treating his prisoner, as I have said, with great apparent kindness, the French general exacted from him an especial parole, that he would not consent to be released by the Patridas while on his journey through Spain to France, which secured his captive, although Lord Wellington offered 2000 dollars to any Guerilla chief who should rescue him. The exaction of such a parole, however harsh, was in itself a tacit compliment to the man; but Marmont also sent a letter with the escort to the governor of Bayonne, in which, still labouring under the error that there was only one Grant, he designated his captive a dangerous spy, who had done infinite mischief to the French army, and whom he had only not executed on the spot, out of respect to something resembling an uniform which he wore at the time of his capture. He therefore desired, that at Bayonne he should be placed in irons, and sent up to Paris. This proceeding was too little in accord with the honour of the French army to be supported, and before the Spanish frontier was passed, Grant, it matters not how, was made acquainted with the contents of the letter. Now the custom at Bayonne, in ordinary cases, was for the prisoner to wait on the authorities, and receive a passport to travel to Verdun, and all this was duly accomplished; meanwhile, the delivery of the fatal letter being by certain means delayed, Grant, with a wonderful readi-ance there than at any other port. ness and boldness, resolved not to escape towards the Pyrenees, thinking he would naturally be pursued in that direction. He judged, that if the governor of Bayonne could not recapture him at once, he would, for his own security, suppress the letter, in hopes the matter would be no farther thought of; judging, I say, in this acute manner, he, on

In this manner he passed several weeks, at the end of which the agent informed him, that a passport was ready for one Jonathan Buck, an American, who had died suddenly the very day it was to have been claimed. Seizing this occasion, Grant boldly demanded the passport, with which he instantly departed for the mouth of the Loire, because certain reasons not necessary to mention led him to expect more assist

However, new difficulties awaited him, and were overcome by fresh exertions of his surprising talents, which fortune seemed to delight in aiding. He first took a passage for America in a ship of that nation, but its departure being unexpectedly delayed, he frankly explained his true situation to the captain, who desired him to assume the

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