she is indebted for my safe arrival here, to your prayers; I assure you, Madam, I join her most cordially in that thought, and am very much indebted for this proof of your remembrance and friendship. I hope I shall have the pleasure to inform you of her safe arrival here in three weeks or a month at most, when I am very certain she will join me in a few lines. Pray embrace well for me my little godson and Amelia, and remember me at the same time to Adelaide and her two brothers. I see I must now finish, assuring you that I will be always happy when you will permit me to subscribe myself, with sentiments of the most sincere attachment for yourself and your whole family, Your very devoted and obedient servant, EDWARD. HALIFAX, 18th November, 1794. MY DEAR MR. DE SALABERRY,-I have now before me your three letters of 8th Aug., and 16th and 28th Sept. I am really ashamed of being so long without acknowledging them, but I have been constantly engaged in one way or another, so that I have scarcely had a moment of leisure to myself. I embrace the first moment I have found, to thank you with all my heart, for the assurance which you give me of the continuance of your friendship and remembrance. I have seen with sorrow the unfriendly steps the Government have taken in regard to you, and I am persuaded it is not necessary for me to assure you that no one can be more indignant than I am; but situated as we are, I believe it will be found infinitely the best, however hard the task may be, for you to retain the situation which you hold, and render all the service in your power, as you have hitherto done, and not resign, as you inform me you propose. In future it is to be hoped, indeed I feel assured, things will be more fortunate, and when the happy moment shall arrive you will always have the satisfaction of thinking that notwithstanding all that has been done to irritate you, you have always done your duty with the same good will; and that nothwithstanding all you have endured you have not drawn it upon yourself, by any fault of your own, and that any recompense you may enjoy, will only be your due. I hope that after what I have now said, you will not resign your commission, which, in the first place, you propose to do, and I further flatter myself you will follow my advice on this head, as it has been given to you at your own request. I have to inform you that since my last there has been no change in my position, except that orders from His Majesty were sent on the arrival of Madame, appointing me Commandant of the troops here. I do not know for how long a time I shall be permitted to hold the appointment, but I do not apprehend there is any intention to recall me to England. All the letters which the August packet was bringing have been lost, so that if there was any news for me, I will not know, till intelligence of the capture shall reach London, and there will be time to send me duplicates. I am extremely pained that my recommendations in favor of the worthy Curé Renauld were not attended to, but I believe that the honest man may amply console himself with the esteem and friendship which he so fully possesses, of all who know him. Accept my thanks for the obliging manner in which you and Madame de Salaberry congratulate me on the happy arrival of Madame. She enjoys here much better health than she did at Quebec, and we are assured that the winter is much less severe and disagreeable, and I flatter myself that in consequence, she will continue to be equally well during the whole winter. I have not received any letter from the Commander in Chief in the West Indies since I left, but I know that letters which I addressed him on the subject of your son, have reached him. I am happy to learn that he has arrived safe and well, and I beg to assure you I have no hesitation in giving you the hope, that in a short time he will attain his Lieutenancy. that You will give me very great pleasure at all times, in communicaing the news which you may receive from him, for you may rest assured that the interest which I take in him will not cease to be equally lively, as it was when I did anything in my power to get him the appointment. I beg that you will have the goodness to send the enclosed to the Curé Renauld and the Rev. Père de Berrey, and I will now conclude, requesting you to assure Madame de Salaberry of my regard, and of the sincere pleasure with which I have heard of the welfare of herself and children. I embrace Amelia and my little godson with my whole heart, also the rest of the children and yourself, and I subscribe myself with most sincere attachment, Your most zealous and devoted friend, EDWARD. HALIFAX, 10th March, 1795. MY DEAR MR. DE SALABERRY,-On Friday last, the 6th March, I had the pleasure of receiving by the Quebec mail, your obliging letter of the 29th January, for which pray accept my most sincere thanks. Permit me to assure you that I am extremely flattered that in consequence of my last letter, you have decided, notwithstanding the disagreeable things to which you have been subjected, to retain your military appointment. The time is approaching, and will not be long, when your affairs may take another turn. It appears at length distinctly understood, that Lord Dorchester has requested his recall, and whoever is appointed his successor, it will be very hard indeed to make an impression on him if I do not succeed in persuading him to better your position. Opinions are very divided as to whether his successor will combine in his person the civil and military command, or whether it will be thought better to appoint two persons to fill these posts. As for me I am unable to form any opinion on the subject, but if a separation of these offices take place, and if it be the intention of His Majesty to keep me any length of time absent from England, I think it will be barely possible that any other officer than myself should be nominated to the military command, the more so, as I am at present the senior officer in rank after Lord Dorchester in British North America. Though this would not give me any right to meddle in civil matters, it is natural to suppose that any recommendation which I might address to the Governor General would be attended to, as having more weight than any other that could be placed before him. As I believe you must be convinced of my great desire to do everything to serve you whenever it shall be in my power, you must be persuaded that more happy days are in store for you. . Madame de St. Laurent has charged me to assure you, Madame de Salaberry, and your numerous family, of her affectionate remembrance; she would have replied to your kind letter by this day's post, did not a cut on the hand prevent her from holding the pen with facility, but she promises to avail herself of the first opportunity that offers. Pray do not fail to assure Madame and all your family of my remembrance and friendship; you know that I always reserve a special compliment for little Amelia. I rejoice much to learn the strong resemblance which she bears to our young soldier, now a Lieutenant. Lastly, we have not had any vessel leaving for the West Indies (Tobago, where his regiment is in garrison), but you may depend when we hear of any, it will be communicated to you. I must now conclude, charging you to inform the worthy Curé Renauld, that I had great pleasure in receiving his letter, for which I give him a thousand thanks. Expecting that I shall receive news in your letter, which I shall wait for with impatience, I subscribe, &c., EDWARD. We now give the "news" from our "young soldier," and our readers will bear in mind that the letter was written by a boy sixteen years of age, some seventy years ago, and at that time by no means familiar with the English language. PRINCE RUPERT'S HEAD, DOMINICA, DEAR FATHER,-I can assure you that I should have wrote you a long time ago, had I had an opportunity to do it. I am indeed very happy in having received yours, which learns (sic) me that you are very well; and at the same time gives me a convenience of giving you a faithful account of what has happened to me since I left Quebec. In the first place, my dear father, I joined a part of the Regiment stationed at St. Vincent, the 28th July, and was exceedingly well received by the officers that were there. They told me that I was the oldest Ensign, and that I should certainly be made Lieutenant immediately. You may conceive how glad I was to learn that. Captain Forster, to whom I was recommended, being at Martinique at the time I went there, gave me a letter of introduction to the commanding officer at St. Vincent, which made me get a good reception, and I was immediately appointed to the light company. I hope you will have the goodness to thank all the gentlemen who gave me letters of recommendation, because they have served me a great deal. As to the Major, I have not yet seen him, because he remains with six companies at Tobago, and I am with the flank companies, always running from one place to another, which thing makes my delight, hating to stay in the same place a long time. I have made a campaign already. I was sent to Guadaloupe under the command of General Prescott, to defend Fort Matilda, which was to be besieged by the rascals who had taken Pointe le Peter. We have been blockaded there for two months. As you ask me if I know my duty, I hope I shall give you a satisfactory answer. The first guard I have mounted was before the enemies, and I can tell you that in the course of these two months we had so very few officers, that I have often been for two days and two nights on guard together, looking at the shots and shells, and men falling down by my sides, which at night is a very pretty sight indeed. The sixth of December particularly, that I was on guard upon the most dangerous part of the ramparts, they kept such fire upon us, that I saw above five hundred shots and fifty shells fired upon us in five hours, insomuch that almost all the men that were upon the battery were either killed or wounded, except myself and two or three others; in short, my dear father, I think I shall be as lucky as my grandfather was. Do not be angry if I talk so much of myself, but I should think it very natural for a young man, who has been before the enemies, so young as I am, to talk a little, I had two guineas left when I arrived at the regiment, and received about forty pounds sterling afterwards; this I employed in getting clothes. Our uniform is very rich and consequently very dear. I am obliged to be a great economist, and indeed drink no wine, because my pay is only sufficient to give me my necessaries. You say in Canada that everything is dear there, but I can tell you that all things are three times as dear here, and you may judge a little of it by what I am going to tell you. I am obliged to give for my messing, three dollars a week in money, and all my rations besides; and for washing, four dollars a month. Nothwithstanding all that you may be sure that I will not run into debt. I was going to forget telling you that I was made Lieutenant by Sir Charles Grey, the 25th August last, and was also appointed from home about the same time; I am now third Lieutenant of the Regiment, and hope to be Captain before eighteen months. Since General Vaughan is here the promotion goes no longer in each regiment, it only goes in the army, that is to say in this army. There is a great deal of it here, because the officers are doing all kinds of debauch, which makes them die very fast. But as for me I shall take care of myself. I have been sick but once yet. I supported the fatigues of Fort Matilda as well as the best of them there. As for a fencing master I am sorry to tell you, that I have not been able to find one yet, because my company never remains in the same place long enough to undertake anything of that kind, but I can give you my word of honor that the first opportunity that offers about it I shall not miss it. I am at this moment quartered in a very bad place, but as soon as the reinforcements will be arrived, we shall go back to St. Vincent; there you may direct the letters you will write to me. We expect every day to receive about fifteen thousand men to retake Guadaloupe, and a gentleman is at this moment telling me that they were arrived at Barbadoes. The Regiment is also expecting to be drafted every day; almost all our men are dead; we are only two hundred strong now. In that case we shall go to England immediately, and perhaps I may get leave to go to Canada. Though this country is very unhealthy, I cannot help being very fond of it. The concluding part of this letter is unfortunately lost. HALIFAX, 3rd May, 1795. MY DEAR MR. DE SALABERRY,-The mail which arrived here the 30th of last month, brought me your obliging letter of the 5th March, with the kind postscript of your worthy wife. The mail from England which came in yesterday, did not give me any certain intelligence of my ultimate destination; what it may be I cannot presume, but my mind will be set at rest on that head on the safe arrival of Captain Vesey, with my letters and despatches. I am also given to understand that the coming mail will bear the orders of His Majesty for some advantageous |