glorious footsteps. How far I may succeed I know not; but while he
lived, I enjoyed the greatest blessing, that of being patronized by
him. That happiness I am now deprived of, and unassisted by
friends, unconnected with the great, and unsupported by the world,
I must throw myself totally on your Lordship's generosity. If I
have erred, it was not from the heart; for I will be bold to say,
the love and honour of his country makes no heart more warm than
mine.

"And if, after a constant service, never unemployed for thirteen
years,[1] and the character I bear with every officer with whom I
have had the honour to serve; having been three years in America,
and in every action on Lake Champlain, for one of which, in the
_Carleton_, Lieutenant Dacres, our commander, received promotion;
afterwards in a continued series of hard service, in that
unfortunate expedition under General Burgoyne, whose thanks for my
conduct I received in the course of the campaign, and whose
misfortunes I shared at Saratoga, not in common with others, but
increased by the melancholy sight of a dead brother, fallen in the
service of his king; having then returned to England in a transport
to fulfil the convention, with Generals Carleton's and Burgoyne's
despatches, as well as General Carleton's letter, recommending me
to your Lordship; and permit me to mention, my Lord, without being
thought partial to my own story, my having received the thanks of
Sir Charles Douglas, by letter, for my behaviour in the different
actions in Canada; and having acquitted myself much to Captain
Cadogan's satisfaction in action with two ships, when on our voyage
to Newfoundland; and if on the present occasion, conscious of the
rectitude of my conduct, I can be entitled to your Lordship's
approbation, permit me to hope from your Lordship's well-known