pleased to order a pension of 100l. per annum to be settled upon his widow.
Mr. James Nicoll Morris entered the naval service under the auspices of his father; was a Lieutenant of the Namur, a second rate, in the memorable battle of April 12, 1782[1]; and at the commencement of the French revolutionary war commanded the Pluto, of 14 guns, on the Newfoundland station, where he captured, after a smart action of fifteen minutes, the Lutine French privateer, of 16 guns and 70 men, 3 of whom were killed and 4 wounded. He obtained post rank in the Boston frigate, Oct. 7, 1793; and subsequent to his return to England, in 1795, was actively employed in the Channel and on the coasts of Spain and Portugal, where he captured the following privateers; l’Enfant de la Patria, of 16 guns and 130 men; El Principe de Paz, of 20 guns and 100 men; St. Bernardo, of 12 guns and 75 men; and the Hazard, of 8 guns and 50 men. He was afterwards removed into the Lively frigate, in which he had the misfortune to be wrecked near Cadiz, about the early part of 1798.
We next find Captain Morris in the Phäeton, of 38 guns. His appointment to that vessel took place in the summer of 1799, a period at which the British cabinet entertained hopes of being able, with the assistance of the Turks, to recover Egypt from the possession of the French, and restore it to the Sublime Porte, to whom it was determined to send a splendid embassy, for the purpose of obtaining permission and co-operation. The Earl of Elgin was accordingly selected for this important mission, and the Phaeton ordered to convey him to his destination. His Lordship embarked at Portsmouth on the 4th Sept., and arrived at the Dardanelles Nov. 2d following. The next day Captain Morris proceeded to Constantinople, where the Ambassador, his lady, and a numerous suite, were landed.
During the spring of 1800, our officer was employed on the coast of Genoa, in conjunction with the Austrian army under General d’Ott; and in the month of May, when the French burnt their magazines at Alassio, and retired to Port Maurice, he seized twenty corn vessels, together with a depôt of arms,
