To the Inhabitants of the Town of Stonington.
The second, is in reply to the letter from the magistrates which was sent on board the Ramillies, by Col. Isaac Williams and Dr. William Lord, on Wednesday, the 10th. As "official etiquette" did net permit Col. Green to obtain "an exact copy," he could only print its substance "as far as memory served" (see page 14). The magistrates allude to it, in their published account (p. 30), as "the singular communication received from Commodore Hardy, which preceded the fire on Thursday." It is evident that the British commander was strangely in error as to the assurances and engagements which he professed to have received, or that the gentlemen entrusted with the delivery of the letter from the magistrates must, in their conference with the Commodore, have exceeded their instructions.
Ramillies, off Stonington,
10th August, 1814.
Gentn
I have received your letter and representation of the State of your Town, and as you have declared that Torpedoes, never have been harbored by the Inhabitants or ever will be, as far as lies in their power to prevent—and as you have engaged that Mrs. Stewart the wife of the British vice consul late resident at New London, with her family, shall be permitted to embark on board this Ship to-morrow morning, I am induced to wave the attempt of the total destruction of your Town, which I feel confident can be effected by the Squadron under my Orders.
I am
Gentn
Your most obedient servant,
T. M. Hardy, Captain.
To Doctor Law [Lord] and Colonel Williams,
Stonington.
In reprinting the response of the civil authorities of Stonington, to the foregoing letter, on page 17, ante, an error in the date should have been corrected. It was written and despatched on the eleventh of August.