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would require. He answered three days. The general replied, "if you can do it in one day, I give leave; otherwise not; for you must certainly sail the day after to-morrow." So he never obta ned leave, though detained afterwards from day to day during full three months. I saw also in London, one of Bonell's passengers, who was so enraged against his lordship for deceiving and detaining him so long at New York, and then carrying him to Halifax and back again, that he swore he would sue him for damages. Whether he did or not I never heard; but as he represented it, the injury to his affairs was very considerable. On the whole, I wondered much how such a man came to be intrusted with so important a business as the conduct of a great army: but having since seen more of the great world, and the means of obtaining, and motives for giving places and employments, my wonder is diminished. General Shirley, on whom the command of the army devolved upon the death of Braddock, would in my opinion, if continued in place, have made a much better campaign. than that of Loudon, in 1756, which was frivolous, expensive and disgraceful to our nation beyond conception. For though Shirley was not bred a soldier, he was sensible and sagacious in himself, and attentive to good advice from others, capable of forming judicious plans, and quick and active in carrying them into execution. Loudon, instead of defending the colonies with his great army, left them totally exposed, while he paraded idly at Halifax; by which means Fort George was lost; besides, he deranged all our mercantile operations, and distressed our trade by a long embargo on the exportation of provisions, on pretence of keeping supplies from being obtained by the enemy, but in reality for beating down their price in favor of the contractors, in whose profits, it was said, (perhaps from suspicion only,) he had a share; and when at length the embargo was taken off, neglecting to send notice of it to Charleston, where the Carolina fleet was detained near three months; and whereby their bottoms were so much damaged by the worm, that a great part of them foundered in their passage home. Shirley was, I believe, sincerely

glad of being relieved from so burthensome a charge, as the conduct of an army must be to a man unacquainted with military business. I was at the entertainment given by the city of New York, to lord Loudon, on his taking upon him the command. Shirley, though thereby superseded, was present also. There was a great company of officers, citizens, and strangers, and some chairs having been borrowed in the neighborhood, there was one among them very low, which fell to the lot of Mr. Shirley. I sat by him, and perceiving it, I said, they have given you a very low seat. "No matter, Mr. Franklin, said he, I find a low seat the easiest."

While I was, as beforementioned, detained at New York, I received all the accounts of the provisions, &c., that I had furnished to Braddock, some of which accounts could not sooner be obtained from the different persons I had employed to assist in the business; I presented them to Lord Loudon, desiring to be paid the balance. He caused them to be examined by the proper officer, who after comparing every article with its voucher, certified them to be right; and his lordship promised to give me an order on the paymaster for the balance due to me. This was however put off from time to time, and though I called often for it by appointment, I did not get it. At length, just before my departure, he told me he had on better consideration concluded not to mix his accounts with those of his predecessors. "And you, said he, when in England, have only to exhibit your accounts to the treasury, and you will be paid immediately." I mentioned, but without effect, a great and unexpected expense I had been put to by being detained so long at New York, as a reason for my desiring to be presently paid; and on my observing that it was not right I should be put to any further trouble or delay in obtaining the money I had advanced, as I charged no commission for my service; " O," said he, " you must not think of persuading us that you are no gainer: we understand better those matters, and know that every one concerned in supplying the army, finds means in the doing it to fill his own pockets." I assured him that was not my case, and that I had

not pocketed a farthing: but he appeared clearly not to believe. me; and indeed I afterwards learned that immense fortunes are often made in such employments: as to my balance I am not paid it to this day; of which more hereafter.

Our captain of the packet boasted much before we sailed of the swiftness of his ship; unfortunately when we came to sea, she proved the dullest of ninety-six sail, to his no small mortification. After many conjectures respecting the cause, when we were near another ship, almost as dull as ours, which however gained upon us, the captain ordered all hands to come aft and stand as near the ensign staff as possible. We were, passengers included, about forty persons; while we stood there the ship mended her pace, and soon left her neighbor far behind, which proved clearly what our captain suspected, that she was loaded too much by the head. The casks of water it seems had been placed forward; these he therefore ordered to be moved further aft, on which the ship recovered her character, and proved the best sailer in the fleet. The captain said she had once gone at the rate of thirteen knots, which is accounted thirteen miles per hour. We had on boardTM as a passenger, captain Archibald Kennedy, of the royal navy, who contended that it was impossible, and that no ship ever sailed so fast, and that there must have been some error in the division of the log-line, or some mistake in heaving the log. A wager ensued between the two captains, to be decided when there should be sufficient wind: Kennedy, therefore examined the log-line, and being satisfied with it, he determined to throw the log himself. Some days after when the wind was very fair and fresh, and the captain of the packet (Lutwidge) said, he believed she then went at the rate of thirteen knots; Kennedy made the experiment, and owned his wager lost. The foregoing fact I give for the sake of the following observation: it has been remarked as an imperfection in the art of ship-building, that it can never be known till

Since earl of Cassilis; father of the present earl, 1817.

she is tried, whether a new ship will, or will not be a good sailer; for that the model of a good sailing ship has been exactly followed in a new one, which has been proved on the contrary remarkably dull. I apprehend that this may partly be occasioned by the different opinions of seamen respecting the modes of loading, rigging, and sailing of a ship; each has his method, and the same vessel laden by the method and orders of one captain, shall sail worse than when by the orders of another. Besides, it scarce ever happens that a ship is formed, fitted for the sea, and sailed by the same person; one man builds the hull, another rigs her, a third loads and sails her. No one of these has the advantage of knowing all the ideas and experience of the others, and therefore cannot draw just conclusions from a combination of the whole. Even in the simple operation of sailing when at sea, I have often observed different judgments in the officers who commanded the successive watches, the wind being the same. One would have the sails trimmed sharper or flatter than another, so that they seemed to have no certain rule to govern by. Yet I think a set of experiments might be instituted, first to deter mine the most proper form of the hull for swift sailing: next the best dimensions and properest place for the masts; then the form and quantity of sails, and their position as the winds may be; and lastly, the disposition of the lading. This is an age of experiments, and I think a set accurately made and combined would be of great use.

We were several times chased in our passage, but outsailed every thing; and in thirty days had soundings. We had a good observation, and the captain judged himself so near our port, (Falmouth) that if we made a good run in the night, we might be off the mouth of that harbor in the morning; and by running in the night might escape the notice of the enemy's privateers, who often cruised near the entrance of the Channel. Accordingly all the sail was set that we could possibly carry, and the wind being very fresh and fair, we stood right before it, and made great way. The captain, after his observation, shaped his course, as he thought, so as

to pass wide of the Scilly rocks; but it seems there is sometimes a strong current setting up St. George's Channel, which formerly caused the loss of sir Cloudesley Shovel's squadron (in 1707): this was probably also the cause of what happened to us. We had a watchman placed in the bow, to whom they often called, "Look well out before there;" and he as often answered, "Aye, aye;" but perhaps had his eyes shut, and was half asleep at the time; they sometimes answering, as is said, mechanically; for he did not see a light just before us, which had been hid by the studding sails from the man at the helm, and from the rest of the watch, but by an accidental yaw of the ship was discovered, and occasioned a great alarm, we being very near it; the light appearing to me as large as a cart wheel. It was midnight, and our captain fast asleep; but captain Kennedy, jumping upon deck, and seeing the danger, ordered the ship to wear round, all sails standing; an operation dangerous to the masts, but it carried us clear, and we avoided shipwreck, for we were running fast on the rocks on which the light was erected. This deliverance impressed me strong with the utility of lighthouses, and made me resolve to encourage the building some of them in America, if I should live to return thither.

In the morning it was found by the soundings, &c., that we were near our port, but a thick fog hid the land from our sight. About nine o'clock the fog began to rise, and seemed to be lifted up from the water, like the curtain of a theatre, discovering underneath the town of Falmouth, the vessels in the harbor, and the fields that surround it. This was a pleasing spectacle to those who had been long without any other prospect than the uniform view of a vacant ocean! and it gave us the more pleasure, as we were now free from the anxieties which had arisen.c

In a letter from Dr. Franklin to his wife, dated at Falmouth, the 17th July, 1757, after giving her a similar account of his voyage, escape, and landing; he adds, "The bell ringing for church, we went thither immediately, and with hearts full of gratitude, returned sincere thanks to God

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