and restored to the rank she had formerly held in the service; and Lieutenant Richard Worsley, first of the Carysfort, was also made a commander as a reward for his good conduct.

On the 8th of June, at daylight, a British squadron, composed of the 36-gun frigate Crescent, Captain Sir James Saumarez, 12-pounder 32-gun frigate Druid, Captain Joseph Elliston, and 24-gun ship Eurydice, Captain Francis Cole, while cruising off the island of Jersey, fell in with a French squadron, consisting of the two cut-down 74s, or rasées, Scévola and Brutus,* the two 36-gun frigates Danaé and Félicité, and a 14-gun brig. Seeing the decided superiority of the French squadron, Sir James ordered the Eurydice, who was a dull sailer, to make the best of her way to Guernsey ; while, with the Crescent and Druid, following under easy sail, he gallantly engaged and kept at bay the French ships until the Eurydice had reached a considerable distance ahead. The two British frigates then, finding it time to consult their own safety, carried a press of sail to get off. In a little while they approached Guernsey, closely pursued by the French ships, who made an attempt to cut off the Druid and Eurydice ; but Sir James, by the following masterly manœuvre, extricated his friends from their perilous situation. The Crescent hauled her wind and stood along the French line ; an evolution that immediately diverted the attention of the enemy from the Druid and Eurydice. The French commodore now made sure of capturing the Crescent ; but the latter, having on board an old and experienced pilot, pushed through an intricate passage, never before attempted by a king's ship, and effected her escape into Guernsey road, greatly to the surprise, as well as disappointment, of her pursuers. The lieutenant-governor of the island, who, with the garrison and inhabitants generally, had been a spectator of the event, issued a general order, highly laudatory of the promptitude and professional skill displayed by the officers and men of the three ships, particularly of the Crescent ; whose captain, as the general order set forth, was a native of the island in sight of which he had evinced so much presence of mind and nautical experience:

On the 17th of June, while the British 50-gun ship Romney, Captain the Honourable William Paget, having under her charge one British and seven Dutch merchant vessels, bound from Naples to Smyrna, was passing between the small islands of Tino and Miconi in the Archipelago, a frigate, with French national colours and a broad pendant, accompanied by three merchantmen, was discovered at anchor in-shore of Miconi. The British frigates Inconstant, Leda, and Tartar, from whom the Rodney (sic. should be Romney) had, on the preceding day, been detached, being still in sight from the mast-head, Captain Paget directed the convoy to join them ; and the Romney, hauling to the wind, was

* See p. 51.

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