[Extract]

You may have been informed, My lord, that the Frenchmen who were in Philadelphia and about whom there was a great deal of talk in this country were captured upon their return on an American vessel and brought to Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, who sent them here on board the vessel that was shipwrecked off Cape Lizard. There were three of them. The youngest one perished. The other two were questioned with respect to the purpose of their trip. They said that they had left St. Domingue with a cargo of molasses which they had sold at great benefit in America. The older one of the two that were left had been a musketeer. Since they had lost everything in this shipwreck and there were no papers to provide more information about them, the Government gave them everything they needed in order to return to France, considering that, being at peace with us, they could not hold Frenchmen prisoners in England although they had been captured on American vessels; a very wise decision on the part of the Government.

The two Battalions of Hessian Grenadiers sailed from Portsmouth on the 24th of this month, under convoy of the Frigate Repulse, 32 guns. 35 vessels carrying war ammunition, victuals and 500 recruits joined this same convoy.