by John Marshall

“ After some discussion, in a second interview, it was agreed that the French and their partizans not actually opposing themselves in arms against the insurrectionists, should be spared; and generally, that all those opposed to the rising of the people should be considered as prisoners of war. To obviate the other objection respecting; the authority and means of the negociators, a plan of attack was agreed on, in which the officers and seamen of El Corso could co-operate, without the British flag being committed in any way inconsistent with its humanity or its glory ”

“ During the operations carried on against the enemy in the island of Martinique, Mr. Ricketts served on shore with the naval battalion, commanded by Captain Josias Rogers, whom he accompanied to the memorable assault of Fort Royal, on the 20th March 1794 [1] . He subsequently received an appointment as first Lieutenant to the same officer, and proceeded with him in the Quebec, of 32 guns, to the coast of America, where he was ohliged to quit that ship for the purpose of recruiting his health. In 1798, we find him serving as first Lieutenant of l’Aigle frigate, on the Lisbon station ”

“ Vice-Admiral
⁠Lord Keith.”
“To the Inhabitants of Cesenatico.
“The treachery of your municipality, in causing to be arrested an officer with despatches, has been long known to the British Admiral in these seas. The municipality may now sadly know, that the severity of judgment, long delayed, is always exemplary. That the innocent suffer with the guilty, though much to be regretted, is the natural feature of war; and the more terrible infliction on this occasion, the more striking the example should prove to surrounding muucipalities.
(Signed) ⁠W. Ricketts.” ”

“ Lucas with astonishment. “Let him, I say,” his lordship added, “and we will have a glorious burning pile.” Then turning to Captain Ricketts, and handing him the copy of a letter which he had written to the Bashaw, with an intimation that he was to guide himself by its contents, he directed him to put the original into the Bashaw’s own hands, and to see that Mr. Lucas was fully reinstated in his office. “This,” said his lordship, “must be complied with; and at all events, nothing but force is to prevent you from landing him in the town ”

“ Lucas, the British Consul General, whose return at any future period was positively forbidden by the barbarian government. Lord Nelson, however, conceiving that the re-establishment of the same functionary was intimately blended with the dignity of Great Britain, no sooner heard of that gentleman’s arrival at Palermo, than he instructed him to prepare for his immediate return, and selected El Corso for his conveyance to Tripoli; a circumstance which produced a strong remonstrance from Mr. ”

“ Accompanied by the President and Consul-General of the Ionian republic, and followed by three Turkish frigates, he immediately proceeded to the scene of revolt, succeeded in overcoming all obstacles, (although a formidable band of Albanians were in the service of the usurper, who had ordered furnaces to be prepared for heating shot) and restored the island to its rightful masters. ”

“ Their great length, and our scanty limits, prevent us from giving them a place in this work, which we should otherwise have felt great pleasure in doing.
Agent.– ___ M‘Inerheny, Esq.
↑ See Vol. I. note at p. 859. ↑ See Vol. I, p. 53. ↑ Among the numerous prizes captured by El Corso and her consort during their continuance in the Adriatic, we find several armed vessels, but none of force sufficient to merit particular notice. ”