Letters written in France, to a friend in London, between the month of November 1794, and the month of May 1795

By Major T E N C H, of the Marines , LATE OF HIS MAJESTY’S SHIP ALEXANDER. LONDON : PRINTED FOR J. JOHNSON, ST. PAUL’S CHURCH-YARD. M.DCC.XCVI.


THE following Letters were written under very adverse circumstances, in a part of France remote from the beaten track in which travellers generally keep, and where curiosity has seldom led to observation. As connected with that stupendous object, which has concentrated the attention not only of Europe, but of every quarter of this planet where human communications reach, they are offered to the Public. A considerable part of the collection was unavoidably dedicated to matters which must, from their nature, be uninteresting to a majority of readers; but the author trusts to the importance of the subject to compensate for the poverty of the relation. Since his return to England they have been revised; and would have been earlier sent to the press, had not reasons of a private nature interposed to procrastinate his intention.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
On board le Marat, Brest, 9th Nov. 1794.
A PERFORMANCE of those flattering promises, which we exchanged at parting, to meet for a few days in London, about Christmas next, provided the exigencies of service would permit, must be suspended for the present—to be fulfilled when—is one of those secrets of futurity, which I dare not trust my imagination to anticipate.
To our great surprize, the enemy’s ships continued to fire upon us after our colours were struck. At first we conceived, that this unprovoked prolongation of hostilities arose from their not seeing that we had surrendered; but when their knowledge of this event could no longer be doubted, and the firing did not cease, some among us, joining to this conduct a recollection of the decree of the convention, which forbade quarter to be extended to Englishmen, were almost ready to believe, that it was designed to be executed upon us ; and so irritated were our seamen, by this apparently wanton continuation of attack, that they had once nearly determined to renew the fight, and sell their lives as dearly as possible. At length, however, their firing ceased.