* It was while the Eagle laid near Governor's Island that an attempt was made to destroy her by an "infernal machine," called a "Marine Turtle," invented by a mechanic of Saybrook, Connecticut, named Bushnell. Washington approved of the machine, on examination, and desired General Parsons to select a competent man to attempt the hazardous enterprise. The machine was constructed so as to contain a living man, and to be navigated at will under water. A small magazine of gunpowder, so arranged as to be secured to a ship's bottom, could be carried with it. This magazine was furnished with clockwork, constructed so as to operate a spring and communicate a blow to detonating powder, and ignite the gunpowder of the magazine. The motion of this clock-work was sufficiently slow to allow the submarine operator to escape to a safe distance, after securing the magazine to a ship's bottom. General Parsons selected a daring young man, named Ezra Lee. He entered the water at Whitehall, at midnight on the sixth of September. Washington and a few officers watched anxiously until dawn for a result, but the calm waters of the bay were unruffled, and it was believed that the young man had perished. Just at dawn some barges were seen putting off from Governor's Island toward an object near the Eagle, and suddenly to turn and pull for shore. In a few moments a column of water ascended a few yards from the Eagle, the cables of the British ships were instantly cut, and they went down the Bay with the ebbing tide, in great confusion. Lee had been under the Eagle two hours, trying in vain to penetrate the thick copper on her bottom. He could hear the sentinels above, and when they felt the shock of his "Turtle" striking against the bottom, they expressed a belief that a floating log had passed by. He visited other ships, but their sheathing was too thick to give him success. He came to the surface at dawn, but, attracting the attention of the bargemen at Governor's Island, he descended, and made for Whitehall against a strong current. He came up out of reach of musket shot, was safely landed, and received the congratulations of the commander-in-chief and his officers. Young Lee was afterward employed by Washington in secret service, and was in the battles at Trenton, Brandywine, and Monmouth. He died at Lyme, Connecticut, on the twenty-ninth of October, 1821, aged seventy-two years.

** Richard, Earl Howe, was born in 1725, and was next in age to his brother, the young Lord Howe, who fell at Tieonderoga in 1758 (see vol. i., page 118). He sailed with Lord Anson to the Pacific as midshipman at the age of fourteen years, and had risen to the rank of admiral at twenty. He was appointed rear-admiral in 1770, and, before coming to America, he was promoted to Vice-admiral of the Blue. After the American war, he was made first Lord of the Admiralty. He commanded the English fleet successfully against the French in 1794. His death occurred in 1799, at the age of seventy-four years. In 1774, Lord Howe and his sister endeavored to draw from Franklin the real intentions of the Americans. The philosopher was invited to spend Christmas at the house of the lady, and it was supposed that in the course of indulgence in wine, chess, and other socialities, he would drop the reserve of the statesman and be incautiously communicative. The arts of the lady were unavailing, and they were no wiser on the question when Franklin left than when he came.

** William Howe, brother of the earl, succeeded General Gage in the chief command of the British forces in America, and assumed his duties at Boston in 1775. He commanded at the attack on Breed's Hill, and from that time until the spring of 1778, he mismanaged military affairs in America. He was then succeeded by Sir Henry Clinton, and with his brother, the admiral, returned to England. He is represented as a good-natured, indolent man—"the most indolent of mortals,' said General Lee, "and never took pains to examine the merits or demerits of the cause in which he was engaged."

Evacuation of the City by the Americans.—Washington's Quarters.—Captain Hale.—Beekman's Green-house.

that Britain had determined upon the absolute submission of the colonies.