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M. de Kersin was generally blamed for his want of conduct and resolution in this attempt; but he is said to have been deceived in his opinion of the real state of Capecoast castle, by the vigorous and resolute exertions of the governor, and was apprehensive of losing a mast in the engagement; a loss which he could not have repaired on the whole coast of Africa.

Bell, the governor of this castle, received intelligence that M. de Kersin was a few leagues to windward, and certainly intended to attack Cape-coast, his whole garrison did not exceed thirty white men, exclusive of a few mulatto soldiers: his stock of ammunition was reduced to half a barrel of gunpowder; and his fortifications were so crazy and inconsiderable, that, in the opinion of the best engineers, they could not have sustained for twenty minutes the fire of one great ship, had it been properly directed and maintained.

This gentleman, whose name was Kersin, had scoured the coast of Guinea, and made prize of several English trading ships; but his chief aim was to reduce the castle at Cape-coast, of which, had he gained possession, the other subordinate forts would have submitted without opposition. When Mr.

Mordaunt..... Fleet sails September 8..... Admiral Knowles sent to take Aix..... Attack and Surrender of Aix..... A Descent resolved on..... The Fleet returns to Spithead..... His Majesty appoints a Board of Inquiry into the Reasons of the Fleet's Return..... Proceedings of the Court of Inquiry..... Its Report..... Sir John Mordaunt tried by a Court-Martial, and acquitted..... Fleets sent to the East and West Indies..... Success of the English Privateers..... Riots occasioned by the Price of Corn..... Operations in America..... Lord Loudon's Conduct in America..... Fort William-Henry taken by the French..... Naval Transactions in America..... Attempt of M. de Kersin on Cape Coast Castle in Africa..... State of Affairs in the East Indies..... Calcutta recovered..... The Suba's Camp forced, and a new Treaty concluded with him..... Reduction, of Chandernagore..... Colonel Clive defeats the Suba at Plaissey, who is afterwards deposed and put to Death..... King of France assassinated..... Tortures inflicted on the Assassin..... Changes in the French Ministry..... State of the Confederacy against the King of Prussia..... Precautions taken by his Prussian Majesty..... Skirmishes between the Prussians and Austrians..... Neutrality of the Emperor, and Behaviour of the Dutch..... The French take Possession of several Towns in the Low Countries belonging to the King of Prussia..... Declaration of the Czarina against the King of Prussia..... Factions in Poland..... Fruitless Endeavours of the English to restore the Tranquillity of Germany..... King of Prussia enters Bohemia..... Prince of Bevern defeats the Austrians at Richenberg..... King of Prussia obtains a complete Victory over the Austrians near Prague..... Mareschal Schwerin killed..... Prague invested..... and bombarded..... Brave defence of the Besieged..... Count Daun takes the Command of the Austrian Army..... His Character..... King of Prussia defeated at Kolin..... He raises the Siege of Prague, and quits Bohemia..... Preparations for the Defence of Hanover..... The allied Army assembles under the Duke of Cumberland..... Skirmishes with the French..... Duke of Cumberland passes the Weser..... The French follow him, and take Minden and Emden, and lay Hanover under Contribution..... Battle of Hastenbeck..... The French take Hamelen..... Duke de Richelieu supersedes Mareschal d'Etrées in the Command of the French Army..... The French take Possession of Hanover and Hesse-Cassel..... and reduce Verden and Bremen..... Duke of Cumberland signs the Convention of Closter-Seven

After M. de Kersin had taken his departure from Cape François for Europe, admiral Coats, beating up to windward from Port-Royal in Jamaica with three ships of the line, received intelligence that there was a French fleet at Port-au-Prince, ready to sail on their return to Europe. Captain Forrest then presented the admiral with a plan for an attack on this place, and urged it earnestly.

The caboceiro, though thus anticipated in his design, resolved to be among the first who should compliment M. de Kersin on his victory at Cape-coast; and, with this view, prepared an embassy or deputation to go there by land; but understanding that the French had failed in their attempt, he shifted his design, without the least hesitation, and despatched the same embassy to Mr.

He was ordered to cruise off Cape François, and this service he literally performed in the face of the French squadron under Kersin, lately arrived at that place from the coast of Africa.