DUKE OF BEDFORD, MARQUIS OF TAVISTOCK, EARL OF BEDFORD, BARON RUSSEL, BARON RUSSEL OF THORNHAUGH, AND BARON ROWLAND OF STREATHAM;
One of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State; and Lord-Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the County of Bedford.
MY LORD,
The following narrative of a very singular naval atchievement is addressed to your Grace, both on account of the infinite obligations which the commander-in-chief at all times professes to have received from your friendship, and also as the subject itself naturally claims the patronage of one under whose direction the British navy has resumed its ancient spirit and lustre, and has in one summer ennobled itself by two victories, the most decisive, and (if the strength and number of the captures be considered) the most important, that are to be met with in our annals. Indeed, an uninterrupted series of success, and a manifest superiority gained universally over the enemy, both in commerce and glory, seem to be the necessary effects of a revival of strict discipline, and of an unbiassed regard to merit and service. These are marks that must distinguish the happy period of time in which your Grace presided, and afford a fitter subject for history than for an address of this nature. Very signal advantages of rank and distinction obtained and secured to the naval profession by your Grace's auspicious influence, will remain a lasting monument of your unwearied zeal and attachment to it, and be for ever remembered with the highest gratitude by all who shall be employed in it. As these were the generous rewards of past exploits, they will be likewise the noblest incentives and surest pledges of the future. That your Grace's eminent talents, magnanimity, and disinterested zeal, whence the public has already reaped such signal benefits, may in all times prove equally successful in advancing the prosperity of Great Britain, is the ardent wish of,
MY LORD,
Your Grace's most obedient, most devoted, and
most humble servant,
RICHARD WALTER.
AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION
Notwithstanding the great improvement of navigation within the last two centuries, a voyage round the world is still considered as an enterprize of so very singular a nature, that the public have never failed to be extremely inquisitive about the various accidents and turns of fortune with which this uncommon attempt is generally attended. And though the amusement expected in these narrations is doubtless one great source of that curiosity with the bulk of readers, yet the more intelligent part of mankind have always agreed that from accounts of this nature, if faithfully executed, the more important purposes of navigation, commerce, and national interest may be greatly promoted: for every authentic description of foreign coasts and countries will contribute to one or more of these great ends, in proportion to the wealth, wants, or commodities of those countries, and our ignorance of those coasts; and therefore a voyage round the world promises a species of information of all others the most desirable and interesting, since great part of it is performed in seas with which we are as yet but very imperfectly acquainted, and in the neighbourhood of a country renowned for the abundance of its wealth, though it is at the same time stigmatised for its poverty in the necessaries and conveniences of a civilized life.