The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Volume 10, No. 291 - Supplement to Vol 10 by Various
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page 11 of 39 (28%)
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follow his example. He then himself carried the petition to
Admiral Rowley, and in the most pressing and urgent manner, begged the life of our unhappy brother; in which he succeeded, and Mr. Lee is reprieved. We all acknowledge our warmest and grateful thanks to our humane, our brave, and worthy prince, who has so nobly exerted himself in preserving the life of his brother sailor." In the same year, 1783, the prince, then a fine midshipman, visited Cape Francois, and the Havannah, where the second instance of his generous humanity occurred. It should be premised, that some of his countrymen having broken their oath of fidelity to the Spanish government, were in danger of suffering under sentence of death. The governor of Louisiana, Don Galvez, offered, at the intercession of the prince, to pardon them; and the enthusiasm which he manifested in this "labour of love" cannot be better illustrated than by the following letter addressed by his royal highness to the governor:-- "Sir,--I want words to express to your Excellency my just sense of your polite letter, of the delicate manner in which you caused it to be delivered, and your generous conduct towards the unfortunate in your power. Their pardon, which you have been pleased to grant on my account, is the most agreeable present you could have offered me, and is strongly characteristic of the bravery and gallantry of the Spanish nation. This instance increases, if possible, my opinion of your Excellency's humanity, which has appeared on so many occasions, in the course of the late war. "Admiral Rowley is to dispatch a vessel to Louisiana for |
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