_Capture of Payta, and Proceedings at that Place._
The town of Payta is in lat 50° 12' S. [long. 81° 15' W.] being
situated in a most barren soil, composed only of sand and slate. It
is of small extent, being about 275 yards in length along the shore
of the bay, and 130 yards in breadth, containing less than two hundred
families. The houses are only ground floors, their walls composed of
split canes and mud, and the roofs thatched with leaves. Though thus
extremely slight, these edifices are abundantly sufficient for a
climate where rain is considered as a prodigy, and is not seen in many
years: Insomuch that, a small quantity of rain falling in the year
1728, is said to have ruined a great number of buildings, which
mouldered away, and melted as it were before it. The inhabitants are
chiefly Indians and black slaves, or of mixed breed, the whites
being very few. The port of Payta, though little more than a bay,
is reckoned the best on this coast, and is indeed a very secure and
commodious anchorage, and is frequented by all vessels coming from the
north, as here only the ships from Acapulco, Sonsonnate, Realejo,
and Panama, can touch and refresh in their passage to Callao; and the
length of these voyages, the wind for the greatest part of the year
being full against them, renders it indispensably necessary for them
to call in here for a recruit of fresh water. Payta itself, however,
is situated in so parched a spot, that it does not furnish a drop
of fresh water, neither any kind of vegetables or other provisions,
except fish and a few goats. But, from an Indian town named Colan, two
or three leagues to the northward, water, maize, vegetables, fowls,
and other provisions, are conveyed to Payta on _balsas_ or floats,
for the supply of ships which touch there; and cattle are sometimes
brought from Piura, a town about thirty miles up the country. The
water brought from Colan is whitish and of a disagreeable appearance,
but is said to be very wholesome; for it is pretended by the
inhabitants that it runs through large tracks overgrown with
sarsaparilla, with which it is sensibly impregnated. Besides
furnishing the trading ships bound from the north for Callao with
water and other necessary refreshments this port of Payta is the
usual place where passengers from Acapulco and Panama, bound to Lima,
disembark; as the voyage from hence to Callao, the port of Lima, is
two hundred leagues, and is extremely tedious and fatiguing, owing to
the wind being almost always contrary; whereas there is a tolerably
good road by land, running nearly parallel to the coast, with many
stations and villages for the accommodation of travellers.
Payta is merely an open town, unprovided with any defence, except
a small fort or redoubt near the shore of the bay. It was of much
consequence to us to be well informed of the fabric and strength of
this fort; which, we learnt from our prisoners, had eight pieces of
cannon, but neither ditch nor outwork, being merely surrounded by a
plain brick wall; and that the garrison consisted of one weak company,
though the town might possibly be able to arm three hundred men.
Having informed himself of the strength of the place, the commodore
determined upon making an attempt for its capture that very night,
the 12th November. We were then about twelve leagues from shore; a
sufficient distance to prevent being discovered, yet not so far but
that, by making all the sail we could carry; we might arrive in the
bay long before day-break. The commodore considered, however, that
this would be an improper manner of proceeding, as our ships, being
large bodies, might easily be seen at a distance, even in the night,
and might alarm the inhabitants, so as to give them an opportunity of
removing their most valuable effects. He resolved therefore, as the
strength of the place did not require the employment of our whole
force, to make the attempt with the boats only, ordering our
eighteen-oared barge, with our own and the Tryal's pinnaces, on this
service. Fifty-eight men, well furnished with arms and ammunition,
were picked out to man them, and the command of the expedition
was entrusted to Lieutenant Brett, to whom the commodore gave the
necessary orders and instructions.
The better to prevent the disappointment and confusion which might
arise in the darkness of the night, and from the ignorance of our
people of the streets and passages of the place, two of the Spanish
pilots were appointed to attend Mr Brett, to conduct him to the most
convenient landing-place, and afterwards to be his guides on shore.
Likewise, that we might have the greater security for their fidelity
on this occasion, the commodore publicly assured all our prisoners,
that they should be set on shore and released at this place, provided
the pilots acted faithfully: But, in case of any misconduct or
treachery, the pilots were threatened with being instantly shot, and
all the rest were assured of being carried prisoners to England. Thus
the prisoners were themselves interested in our success, and we had no
reason to suspect our guides of negligence or perfidy. It is worthy
of remark, on this occasion, as a singular circumstance, that one
of these pilots, as we afterwards learnt, had been taken by Captain
Clipperton above twenty years before, and had then been obliged to
guide Captain Clipperton and his people to the surprizal of Truxillo,
a town to the southward of Payta; where, however, he contrived to
alarm and save his countrymen, though the place was carried and
pillaged. It is certainly an extraordinary incident, that the only two
attempts on shore, and at so long an interval, should have been
guided by the same person, a prisoner both times, and forced upon, the
service contrary to his inclination.
During our preparation, the ships continued to stand for the port with
all the sail they could carry, secure that we were still at too great
a distance to be seen. About ten at night, being then within five
leagues of Payta, Lieutenant Brett put off with the boats under his
command, and arrived at the mouth of the bay undiscovered. He had no
sooner entered the bay, than some of the people in a ship riding there
at anchor perceived him, and getting instantly into their boat, rowed
towards the fort, shouting and crying, _The English! the English
dogs!_ By this the whole town was suddenly alarmed, and our people
soon observed several lights hurrying backwards and forwards in the
fort, and other indications of the inhabitants being all in motion.
On this, Mr Brett encouraged his men to pull briskly, that they might
give the enemy as little time as possible to prepare for defence. Yet,
before our boats could reach the shore, the people in the fort had
got some of their cannons ready, and pointed them towards the
landing-place; and though, in the darkness of the night, chance may
be supposed to have had a greater share in their direction than skill,
yet the first shot passed extremely near one of our boats, whistling
just over the heads of the crew. This made our people redouble their
efforts, so that they had reached the shore, and were in part landed,
by the time the second shot was fired.
As soon as our men were landed, they were conducted by one of the
pilots to the entrance of a narrow street, not above fifty yards from
the beach, where they were covered from the fire of the fort; and
being here formed as well as the shortness of the time would allow,
they marched immediately for the parade, a large square at the other
end of this street, on one side of which stood the fort, while the
governor's house formed another side of the same square. In this
march, though performed with tolerable regularity, the shouts and
clamours of nearly threescore sailors, who had been so long confined
on ship board, and who were now for the first time on shore of an
enemy's country, joyous as seamen always are when they land, and
animated on the present occasion with the hopes of immense pillage,
joined with the noise of their drums, and favoured by the night, had
augmented their numbers, in the opinion of the astonished enemy, to
at least three hundred; by which estimation, the inhabitants were so
greatly intimidated, that they were infinitely more solicitous about
the means of flight than of resistance. Hence, though upon entering
the parade, our people received a volley from the merchants to whom
the treasure then in the town belonged, who were ranged in a gallery
that went round the governor's house, yet that post was immediately
abandoned on the first fire made by our people, who were thereby left
in quiet possession of the parade.
Mr Brett now divided his men into two parties, ordering one of them to
surround the governor's house, and if possible to secure the governor,
while he went himself at the head of the other party, with the
intention of forcing possession of the fort. But the enemy abandoned
it on his approach, making their escape over the walls, and he entered
it without opposition. Thus the place was mastered in less than a
quarter of an hour after landing, and with no other loss on our side
than one man killed and two wounded. One of these was the Spanish
pilot of the Teresa, who received a slight bruise by a ball, which
grazed his wrist. The honourable Mr Keppell, son to the Earl of
Albemarle, had on this occasion a narrow escape. He wore a jockey-cap,
one side of the peak of which was shaved off by a ball, close to his
temple, yet did him no other injury.
Having thus far happily succeeded, Mr Brett placed a guard at the
fort, and another in the governor's house, and fixed centinels at all
the avenues of the town, both to prevent any surprise from the enemy,
and to secure the effects in the place from being embezzled. His next
care was to seize upon the custom-house, in which the treasure was
lodged, and to examine if any of the inhabitants remained in the town,
that he might know what farther precautions were necessary. He soon
found that the numbers remaining were no ways formidable; for by far
the greatest part of them, being in bed when the place was surprised,
had run away with so much precipitation, that they had not taken
time to put on their clothes. The governor was not the last to secure
himself in this general rout; for he fled betimes half-naked, leaving
his wife behind, a young lady of about seventeen, to whom he had
only been married three or four days; yet she also was carried off
half-naked, by a couple of centinels, just as our detachment, ordered
to invest the house, arrived for that purpose. This escape of
the governor was an unpleasant circumstance, as the commodore had
particularly recommended to Mr Brett to secure him if possible, as by
that means he might have treated for the ransom of the place; but his
alacrity in flight rendered this impracticable. The few inhabitants
who remained were confined in one of the churches under a guard,
except some stout negroes, who were employed the remaining part of
the night in carrying the treasure, from the custom-house and other
places, to the fort, each party of them being attended by a file
of musketeers. This transportation of the treasure was the chief
employment of Mr Brett's people after getting possession of the
place; yet the sailors, while thus busied, could not be prevented from
entering the houses in their way, in search of private pillage; when
the first things that occurred to them, were the clothes left by the
Spaniards, and which were mostly embroidered or laced, according to
the fashion of the country. Our people eagerly seized these glittering
dresses, and put them on over their own dirty trowsers and jackets,
not forgetting the tye or bag-wigs, and laced hats, which were
generally found along with the clothes. When this had once begun,
there was no possibility of preventing the whole detachment from
imitating the example; but those who came latest into the fashion, not
finding men's clothes sufficient to equip them, were forced to take
up with women's gowns and petticoats, which, provided these were fine
enough, they made no scruple of putting on and blending with their own
greasy dress: So that, when a party of them first made they appearance
in that guise before Mr Brett, he was extremely surprised at their
grotesque exhibition, and could hardly believe they were his own men.
While these transactions were going on at Payta, we lay-to till one
in the morning, from the time when our boats pushed off; and then,
supposing the detachment to be near landing, we went on under easy
sail for the bay. This we began to open about seven a.m. of the 13th,
and soon after had a view of the town. Though we had no reason to
doubt the success of the enterprise, yet we saw with much joy an
infallible sign of its being effected, as, by means of our telescope,
we could see the English flag hoisted on the flag-staff of the fort.
We plied into the bay with as much expedition as the wind, which then
blew from the shore, would, allow; and at eleven a.m. the Tryal's
pinnace came on board us, laden with dollars and church plate, when
the officer who commanded her gave an account of the transactions
of the preceding night. About two p.m. we anchored in ten and a half
fathoms, about a mile and half from the town, and were consequently
near enough to have direct intercourse; with the shore.
Mr Brett had hitherto gone on, collecting and removing the treasure,
without interruption; but the enemy had now rendezvoused from all
parts of the country, on a hill at the back of the town, where they
made no inconsiderable appearance; as, among the rest of their force,
there were two hundred horse, seemingly well armed and mounted,
and, as we conceived, properly trained and regimented, as they were
furnished with trumpets, drums, and standards. These troops paraded
about the hill with much ostentation, sounding their military music;
and, as our small force on shore was by this time known to them,
practising every art to intimidate us, in hopes we might be induced,
by our fears of them, to abandon the place before completing its
pillage. We were not, however so ignorant as to believe that this body
of horse, which seemed to be what they chiefly depended on, would dare
to venture themselves among the streets and houses, even had they been
three times more numerous; and we went on calmly, as long as
day-light lasted, in sending off the treasure, and carrying on board
refreshments, such as hogs, poultry, and the like, which we found in
great abundance. At night, to prevent surprise, the commodore sent a
reinforcement on shore, who were posted in all the avenues leading to
the parade; and, for farther security, all the streets were traversed
with barricades six feet high. But the enemy continued quiet all
night, and at day-break we resumed our labour, in loading and sending
off the boats.
We were now thoroughly convinced of what consequence it would have
been, had fortune seconded the prudent views of the commodore, by
enabling us to have secured the governor. For we found many warehouses
full of valuable effects, which were quite useless to us in our
present circumstances, as we could not find room for them on board.
But, had the governor been in our power, he would have treated, in all
probability, for the ransom of this merchandize, which would have
been extremely advantageous, both for him and us. Whereas, he being
at liberty, and having collected all the force of the country for many
leagues around, and having even got a body of militia from Piura, he
was so elated by his numbers, and so fond of his new military command,
that he did not seem to care about the fate of his government.
Insomuch that, although our commodore sent several messages to him,
by some of the inhabitants who were made prisoners, offering to enter
into treaty for the ransom of the town and goods, even giving
an intimation that we should be far from insisting on a rigorous
equivalent, and might perhaps be satisfied with some live cattle
and other necessaries for the use of the squadron, yet the governor
despised all these reiterated overtures, and did not deign to give
the slightest answer, though repeatedly threatened, if he would not
condescend to treat, that we would set the town and all the warehouses
on fire.
On the second day of our possessing the place, several negro slaves
deserted from the enemy on the hill, and voluntarily entered into our
service, one of them being well known to a gentleman on board, who
remembered to have seen him formerly at Panama. We now learnt that the
Spaniards, without the town, were in extreme distress for water; for
many of their slaves crept into town by stealth, and carried away
several jars of water to their masters on the hill; and, though some
of these were seized in the attempt, yet their thirst was so pressing,
that they continued the practice as long as we remained in possession
of the place. In the course of this second day, we were assured, both
by deserters and prisoners, that the Spaniards were now increased to
a formidable number, and had resolved to storm the town and fort next
night, under the command of one Gordon, a Scots papist, and captain
of a ship in these seas. We continued, however, to prosecute our work,
without hurry, loading and sending off the boats as long as we had
light; and at night, a reinforcement was again sent on shore by the
commodore, and Mr Brett doubled his guards at all the barricades, all
his posts being connected, by means of centinels placed within call
of each other, and the whole visited by frequent rounds, attended by a
drum. These marks of our vigilance and readiness to receive the enemy,
which they could not be ignorant of, cooled their resolution, and made
them forget the vaunts of the preceding day; so that we passed this
second night with as little molestation as we had done the first.
We had finished sending the treasure on board the evening before, so
that the third morning, being the 15th of November, the boats were
employed in carrying off the most valuable part of the effects from
the town. As the commodore proposed to sail in the afternoon, he this
day about ten o'clock, pursuant to his promise, sent all his prisoners
on shore, to the number of eighty-eight, giving orders to Lieutenant
Brett to have them secured in one of the churches under a strict
guard, till he and his men were ready to embark. Mr Brett was also
ordered to set the whole town on fire, except the two churches, which
fortunately stood at some distance from the houses, after which he was
to abandon the place and return on board. Mr Brett punctually complied
with these orders, and immediately distributed pitch, tar, and other
combustibles, of which there was great abundance to be had, into
various houses in the several streets of the town, so that as the
place was to be fired in many different quarters at the same time, the
destruction might be the more violent and sudden, and the enemy
might not be able to extinguish it after his departure. All these
preparations being made, Mr Brett made the cannon in the fort be
spiked; and setting fire to the houses most to windward, he collected
his men and marched them to the beach, where the boats waited to take
them off.
As that part of the beach where he intended to embark was an open
place without the town, near the churches, his retreat was perceived
by the Spaniards on the hill, on which they resolved to endeavour
to precipitate his departure, in order to have a pretext for
future boasting. For this purpose, a small squadron of their horse,
consisting of about sixty, selected probably for this service, marched
down the hill with much seeming resolution, as if they had proposed
to have charged our men now on the open beach without any advantage
or situation. But no sooner did Mr Brett halt his men and face about,
than they stopped their career, and did not venture to advance any
farther. On arriving at the boats, and being quite ready to embark,
our people were detained some time by missing one of their number;
and, after some considerable delay, being unable to learn where he
was left, or by what accident he was detained, they resolved to depart
without him. Just when the last man was embarked, and the boats were
going to shove off they heard him calling to be taken in; at which
time the town was so thoroughly on fire, and the smoke so covered the
beach, that they could hardly discern him, though he was quite well
heard. Mr Brett, however, instantly ordered one of the boats to his
relief, which found him up to the chin in the water, for he had waded
as far as he durst, being extremely terrified at the idea of falling
into the hands of the enemy, enraged as they doubtless were at the
pillage and destruction of their town. On enquiring into the cause of
his staying behind the rest, he acknowledged having taken too large a
dose of brandy, which had thrown him into so profound a sleep that he
did not wake till the fire began to scorch him. At first opening his
eyes, he was amazed to see all the houses in a blaze on one side, and
several Spaniards and Indians not far from him on the other. The great
and sudden terror instantly restored him to sobriety, and gave him
sufficient presence of mind to push through the thickest of the smoke,
as the most likely means of escaping from the enemy; and, making
the best of his way to the beach, he ran into the water as far as he
durst, for he could not swim, before he ventured to look back.
It was certainly much to the honour of our people, that though there
were great quantities of wine and spirits found in the town, yet this
was the only one who was known to have so far neglected his duty as to
get drunk: indeed, their whole behaviour, while on shore, was greatly
more regular than could well have been expected, from sailors who had
been so long confined on board ship; and, though much of this good
conduct must doubtless be imputed to the diligence of the officers,
and to the excellent discipline they had been constantly inured to
under the commodore, it was certainly not a little to the reputation
of the men, that they should so generally have refrained from
indulging in these intoxicating liquors, which they found in abundance
in every warehouse.
There was another singular incident occurred here which merits being
recorded. An Englishman, who had formerly wrought as a ship-carpenter
in Portsmouth yard, had left his country and entered into the
Spanish service, and was at this time employed by them at the port of
Guayaquil; and, as it was well known to his friends in England that he
was in that part of the world, they had put letters for him on board
the Centurion. This man happened at the present time to be among the
Spaniards who had retired to the hill of Payta; and ambitious, as it
would seem, of acquiring reputation among his new masters, he came
down unarmed to one of our centinels, who was posted at some distance
from the fort towards the enemy, pretending that he was desirous of
surrendering himself and returning to the service of his country. Our
centinel had a cocked pistol in his hand, but, deceived by the fair
speeches of the carpenter, he allowed him very imprudently to come
much too near him, so that, watching his opportunity, the carpenter
wrenched the pistol from his hand, and ran away with it up the
hill. By this time two others of our men, who had seen the carpenter
advance, and suspected his intentions, were making towards him, and
now pursued him, but he got up the hill before they could reach him,
and then turned round and fired the pistol. His pursuers immediately
returned the fire, though at a great distance, and the crest of the
hill covered him as soon as they had fired, so that they took it for
granted they had missed him: yet we afterwards learnt that he was shot
through the body, and had fallen dead the very next step he took after
firing his pistol and getting out of sight. The centinel, too, whom
he had so grossly imposed upon, did not escape unpunished; as he was
ordered to be severely whipt, for allowing himself to be so shamefully
surprised on his post, and giving an example of carelessness, which,
if followed in other instances, might have proved fatal to us all.
By the time our people had taken their comrade out of the water, and
were making the best of their way to the squadron, the flames had got
possession of every part of the town with so powerful a hold, by means
of the combustibles laid for the purpose, and by the slightness of the
materials of the houses, and their aptitude to take fire, that it was
now quite apparent no efforts of the enemy, who now flocked down in
great numbers, could possibly stop its ravages, or prevent the entire
destruction of the place and all the merchandize it contained. Our
detachment under Lieutenant Brett safely joined the squadron, and the
commodore prepared to leave the bay that same evening. On our first
arrival there were six vessels belonging to the enemy at anchor, one
of which was the ship, that was to have sailed with the treasure to
the coast of Mexico; and, as she was supposed to be a good sailer,
the commodore resolved to take her along with us. The others were
two snows, a bark, and two row gallies of thirty-six oars each. These
last, as we afterwards learnt, with many others of the same kind built
at different ports, were intended to prevent us from landing in the
neighbourhood of Callao; as the Spaniards, on the first intelligence
of our squadron being destined for the South seas, and learning its
force, expected that we would attempt the city of Lima. Having no
occasion for these five vessels, the commodore ordered all their masts
to be cut by the board at our first arrival; and on leaving the place,
they were all towed out into deep water, scuttled, and sunk. The
command of the remaining ship, called the Solidad, was given to Mr
Hughes, lieutenant of the Tryal, with a crew of ten men. Towards
midnight the squadron weighed anchor and sailed out of the bay,
now consisting of six ships, the Centurion, Tryal's prize, Carmelo,
Teresa, Carmin, and Solidad.
Before proceeding to narrate our subsequent transactions, it may be
proper to give a succinct account of the booty we acquired at Payta,
and the losses there sustained by the Spaniards. It has been already
observed, that there were great quantities of valuable effects at this
place, but most of them were of a nature that we could neither dispose
of nor carry away, and their value, therefore, can only be guessed at.
In their representations to the court of Madrid, as we were afterward
assured, the Spaniards estimated their loss at a million and a half of
dollars; and as no small portion of the goods we there burnt were
of the richest and most expensive kinds, as broad cloths, silks,
cambrics, velvets, and the like, perhaps that valuation might be
sufficiently moderate. The acquisition we made, though inconsiderable
in comparison to what we destroyed, was yet far from despicable, as,
in wrought plate, dollars, and other coin, there was to the value of
more than 30,000l. sterling, besides several rings, bracelets, and
other jewels, the value of which could not then be ascertained;
and besides the very great plunder which became the property of the
immediate captors.
It has been already observed, that all the prisoners we had taken
in our preceding prizes were here discharged. Among these were some
persons of considerable distinction, one of them a youth of
seventeen, son to the vice-president of Chili. As the barbarity of the
buccaneers, and the artful uses the Spanish ecclesiastics had made of
that circumstance, had filled the natives of these countries with
the most horrible notions of the English cruelty, we always found our
prisoners, on first coming aboard, extremely dejected, and under great
horror and anxiety. This youth particularly, having never been before
from home, lamented his captivity in the most moving terms, regretting
the loss of his parents, his brothers, his sisters, and his native
country; all of which he believed he should never see more, conceiving
that he was devoted for the remainder of his life to an abject and
cruel servitude. Indeed, all the Spaniards who came into our power,
seemed to entertain similarly desponding notions of their condition.
The commodore constantly exerted his utmost endeavours to efface these
terrifying impressions, always having as many of the principal people
among them as there was room for to dine at his table; and
giving strict charges that they should at all times, and in every
circumstance, be treated with the utmost decency and humanity. In
spite of this precaution, they hardly ever parted with their fears
for the first few days, suspecting the gentleness of their usage to be
only preparatory to some after calamity; but at length, convinced of
our sincerity, they grew perfectly easy and cheerful, so that it
was often doubtful whether they considered their captivity as a
misfortune. The before-mentioned youth, who was near two months on
board the Centurion, had at last so completely conquered his
original melancholy surmises, and had taken such an affection for
the commodore, and seemed so much pleased with the manner of life
on board, so different from all he had ever seen before, that I much
question, if it had been in his choice, if he would not have preferred
a voyage to England in the Centurion to going on shore at Payta,
though he had here liberty of returning to his friends and country.
This generous conduct of our commodore to his prisoners, which he
continued without interruption or deviation, gave them all the highest
idea of his humanity and benevolence; and, as mankind are ever fond
of forming general opinions, induced them to entertain very favourable
thoughts of the whole English nation. But, whatever opinion they might
be disposed to form of his character before the capture of the Teresa,
their veneration for him was prodigiously increased by his conduct
towards the women who were taken in that vessel, as formerly
mentioned. For the circumstance of leaving them in possession of their
own apartments, the strict orders he issued to prevent any of our
people from approaching them, and his permitting the pilot to remain
with them as their guardian, were measures that seemed so different
from what they expected in an enemy and a heretic, that, although the
Spanish prisoners had themselves experienced his beneficence, they
were astonished at this particular instance; and the more so, that all
this was done without his ever having seen the women, though the two
daughters were both reckoned handsome, and the youngest was celebrated
for her uncommon beauty. The women were themselves so sensible of the
obligations they owed him for the attention and delicacy with which
he had protected them, that they refused to go on shore at Payta
till permitted to wait upon him, that they might in person return him
thanks. Indeed all the prisoners left us with the strongest assurances
of their grateful remembrance of his uncommon kindness. A Jesuit,
in particular, of some distinction, expressed himself with great
thankfulness for the civilities he and his countrymen had experienced
while on board, declaring that he should consider it his duty to do
Mr Anson justice at all times; adding, that his usage of the men
prisoners was such as could never be forgotten, and merited the
highest acknowledgments; but his behaviour to the women was so
extraordinary and honourable, that he doubted all the regard due to
his own ecclesiastical character would be scarcely sufficient to make
it believed. Indeed, we were afterwards informed that he and the rest
of the prisoners had not been silent on this topic, but had given the
highest commendations of our commodore, both at Lima and other places;
and the Jesuit, as we were told, had interpreted in his favour, in a
lax and hypothetical sense, that article of his church which asserts
the impossibility of heretics being saved.
Let it not be imagined, that the impression received by the Spaniards
to our advantage on the present occasion was a matter of slight
import; for, not to mention several of our countrymen who had already
felt the good effects of these prepossessions, it may be observed,
that the good opinion of this nation is certainly of more consequence
to us than that of all the world besides. Not only as the commerce we
have formerly carried on with them, and perhaps may again hereafter,
is so extremely valuable, but also as its transacting so immediately
depends upon the honour and good faith of those who are entrusted with
its management. Even if no national conveniences were likely to flow
from this honourable conduct of our commodore, his own equity and good
dispositions would not the less have prevented him from the exercise
of tyranny and oppression on those whom the chance of war had put into
his hands. I shall only add, that, by his constant practice of this
humane and prudent conduct, he acquired a distinguished character
among the Spanish Creoles over all their settlements in America, so
that his name was universally mentioned with honour and applause by
most of the Spanish inhabitants of that vast empire.