tained the concurrence of the Marquis de Niza, he, on the 25th Sept., sent in a flag of truce, with a proposal couched in the usual terms. After three hours deliberation, the French General, Vaubois, returned for answer, that he, Sir James Saumarez, had probably forgotten that they were Frenchmen who were at Malta; that the condition of the inhabitants was nothing to him, the English Captain; and that, as to the summons, the French did not understand the style of it. The nature of the service he had been ordered upon, left Sir James no alternative but to take advantage of the breeze that had just sprung up, and proceed on his destination, which he did after furnishing the islanders with arms and ammunition from the captured ships, which enabled them to annoy the enemy, and materially contributed to the ultimate reduction of that important fortress. The Orion arrived at Plymouth in November, and being found to want considerable repair, was paid off early in the following year.
Sir James Saumarez was now honoured for a second time with a gold medal and ribband; while the inhabitants of Guernsey, as a mark of attachment and respect, presented him with a magnificent vase, of considerable value. On the 14th Feb., in the same year, his late Majesty was pleased to confer upon him one of the Colonelcies of Marines, as a reward for his many and meritorious services; and after a short interval of repose, he was appointed to the Csesar, of 84 guns, one of the finest ships in the British service, and the first of that force on two decks ever built in England, in which he joined the Channel fleet, and cruised off Brest during a long and tempestuous period.
At the promotion which took place Jan. 1, 1801, Sir James Saumarez became a Rear-Admiral of the Blue; and on the 13th June following he was created a Baronet, with permission to wear the supporters belonging to the arms of his family, which have been registered in the Herald’s Office ever since the reign of King Charles II.
Subsequent to his advancement to the rank of a Flag-officer, Sir James commanded a division of the grand fleet stationed off the Black Rocks; and nothing can manifest in a stronger point of view the unwearied zeal with which he acquitted himself, than by stating, that no square-rigged vessel of any
