[352] On December 7, 1776, a fire broke out in Portsmouth
Dockyard, and in the hemp warehouse a quantity of combustibles
were found; at Plymouth an attempt to set the dockyard on fire
was discovered; at Bristol several houses close to the quay
were set on fire. The incendiary was "John the Painter," whose
real name was Aitken. He confessed his guilt, and asserted the
complicity of Silas Deane, the American agent at Paris. He was
tried at Winchester Assizes, convicted, and hanged at Portsmouth.
[353] _I.e._ probably the Abigail of Mrs. Abigail Holroyd.
304.
_To his Stepmother._
London, February the 10th, 1777.