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very " milk of human kindness , ' * was tinder lie necessity of resenting , by de » dining all farther intercourse with "ftem . So great Was Sir John Carter ' s influence over the sailors , that they tnost scrupulously adhered to the terms he prescribed tp them , in Their procession to the grave Two of their comrades having become
" a little groggfy , " after they came on shore , they carefully locked them up in a room by themselves , lest they should be disposed to become quarrelsome or be unable to conduct themselves with propriety . It was a most interesting spectacle . Sir John accompanied them
himself througk the garrison , to prevent any insult being offered to them : at the Common Hard , he was joined by Mr . Oodwin , the friend and associate of his youth , and a very worthy magistrate of this borough : they attended the procession till it passed the fortifications at Portsea ; every thing was conducted with the greatest decorum : when the sailors returned and were sent off to their
respective ships , two or three of the managing detegates came to Sir John , to inform him that the men were all gone on board , and to thatik him for his " great goodness'' to them . Sir John seized the opportunity of inquiring after their admiral , as these delegates belonged to the London : "do you know him
your honour ? " Yes , 1 have a great respect for him , and I hope yofi will not do him any harm : ' no , by G—d , your honour , he shall not be hurt . " It was at that time , imagined Admiral Colpoys would be hung at the yard-arm , and he had prepared for , this event by arranging his affairs and making his will : in this will he had left the widows of
the two ' men who were so unfortunately killed , an annuity of 20 L each . The next morning , however , the admiral wa * privately , unexpectedly , and safely brought on shore , though pursued by a boat from the Mars , as soon as they
suspected what was transacting ; the delegates brought hma to Sir John Carter and delivered him to his care ; they then desired a receipt for him , as a proof to their comrades of their having safely delivered idm into the hands of the civil
power . The admiral , on his nrst appearance at Court , afterwards acknowledged to the ing that he owed his life to Sir John Carter , and assured his majesty that his principles were misin-
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terpreted and his conduct misrepresent * ed , and that he had not a mbre faith £ in and worthy " subject in his dominions . The honourable influence whkh the suavity 01 his manner ' s ., his gentle unassuming demeanour , \ iU tirid unQstetttatious deportment obtained for fiim ,. was
most usefully conspicuous during tRe riots , on account of the scarcity in July , r 797 » an <^ a ^ during a mutiny among the j&uckingham shire militia , among whom he fearlessly mixed , exhorting * an 4 prevailing with them to return to
their duty . Indeed , wherever he could be useful , either by personal exertions , by his influence , or by persuasion , there he was constantly to be found . He was denounced , at the head of along list of inhabitants of this , town , to Mr . Reeves as a " rac # bin" and an enpmv reeves as a -jac # oin ana an e
nemy to his king and country . A gentleman of rank wlio belonged to that association on seeing this immediately struck his own name out of the list of the committee and association . The Duke of Portland , then Secretary of State for the home department , received a very strong letter
against him , which letter his Grace sent to Sir John , assuring him at the same time , that the government placed the utmost confidence in , his honour , integrity , and patriotism , and concluded by proposing to offer a large reward for the discovery of the writer ; thk ,
with a dignified consciousness of the purity of his conduct , Sir John declined , though from some well-estabJished conr jectures , the discovery might possibl y Jiave been easily made . And this inestimable consciousness
enabled him to meet with the greatest composure , every attempt which the rancour and violence of party-rage iiKide , to su ly his reputation and destroy his
influence . So pure , ; so disinterested , so honourable were his political principles , that when , in the year 1806 , he was offered a barpnetage by Mr . Fox , he declined it , and on the grounclxhat he believed tjie offer to have been ' made for
his undeviating- attachmentto \ $ hc characteristic politics of that great . man ; and that to ac cept it , would be a manifest departure from his princi ples U was these principles jvhich induced him to offer a seat in- parliament for . the borough of Portsmouth , to that distin * guished friend of \ i erty , Thomas Erskinc . The same principles led him to
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344 Obituary ,
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Sir * Xohn Carter ^ minf .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1808, page 344, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2393/page/52/
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