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Title	Letter to Ebenezer Blackwell
Post Date	May 7, 1760
Author	Wesley, John, 1703-1791
Recipient	Blackwell, Ebenezer
Date	1760-05-07
Physical Description	2 pgs total; 2 pgs text
Dimensions	19 x 16 cm
Address From	Carrickfergus
Country From	Ireland
Collection (Provenance)	Leete Manuscript Collection
Transcriber	Wanda Smith
Plain Text Transcription	[To Ebenezer Blackwell] Carrickfergus May 7, 1760 Dear sir I can now give you a clear and full account of the late proceedings of the French here as I now lodge at Mr Cobham’s under the same roof with Monsieur Cabinot [Cavenac], the French Lieutenant General. When the people here saw three large ships about ten in the morning anchor near the town, they took it for granted they were English till about eleven the French began landing their men. The first party came to the north gate between twelve and one. Twelve soldiers planted on the wall (there were 160 in the town) fired on them as they advanced, wounded the General and killed several. But when they had fired four rounds, having no more ammunition, they were obliged to retire. The French then entered the town (at the same time that another party entered at the east of end of it), keeping a steady fire up the street till they came near the castle. The English then fired hotly from the gate and walls, killed their second general (who had burst open the gate and gone in sword in hand) with upwards of fourscore men. But having no more cartridges nor any man that knew how to make them, they thought it best to capitulate. They agreed to furnish such a quantity of provisions in six hours on condition the French should not plunder. But they began immediately to serve themselves with meat and drink having been in such pressing want that before they landed the men were glad to eat raw oats to sustain nature. And some hours after, no provisions being brought, they took all they could find, with a good deal of linen and wearing apparel, chiefly from the houses whose inhabitants were run away. But they neither hurt or affronted man, woman, or child, nor did any mischief for mischief’s sake, though many of the inhabitants affronted them, cursed them to their face, and even took up pokers or other things to strike them. I have had much conversation with Monsieur Cabinot [Cavenac] who speaks Latin pretty readily. He is a Lieutenant Colonel in the King’s Guards and a Knight of the Order of St Louis. (Indeed, all the soldiers were picked men drafted out of the Guards and more like officers than common men.) I found him not only a very sensible man but throughly instructed even in heart religion. I asked him if it was true that they had a design to burn Carrick and Belfast? (After the one general was wounded and the other killed, the command had devolved upon him.) He cried out, “Jesu! Maria! We never had such a thought. To burn, to destroy, cannot enter into the head or the heart of a good man.” One would think the French king sent these men on purpose to show what officers he has in his army. I hope there are some such in the English army. But I never found them yet. I am, dear sir, Your affectionate servant John Wesley
Published Transcription	John Telford, ed. The Letters of the Rev. John Wesley, IV. January 16, 1758, to February 28, 1766. (London: Epworth Press, 1931), pp. 95-6.
Catalog link	http://libcat.smu.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=195728
Unique Identifier	JWesley 05071760
Digital Resource Type	Image
Digitization Date	Digitized: 2003
Digitization Process	Digitization process: Derivatives resized at 4037 pixels in height or width.
Digital Publisher	Bridwell Library, Special Collections; Perkins School of Theology; Southern Methodist University
Rights	Permission to publish materials must be obtained from the Head of Special Collections of the Bridwell Library.
Decade	1760-1769