Note 39 — Chapter XXII

Had I not determined to exclude from my Narrative any extended allusion to political affairs with which I was in any way connected, this would be a proper place to present a true statement of the circumstances of the seizure of this island and Bay by the officers of Great Britain. These circumstances have been grossly misrepresented; and a British Envoy has gone to the extent of asserting, not only that the outrage was “provoked” by circumstances which transpired after the act was committed, and with which the perpetrators were wholly unacquainted, but also to admit, in his correspondence with a confederate, that this assertion was made with a full knowledge of its falsity, and for the purpose of shielding that confederate from odium, by shifting it to innocent shoulders! Should self-justification seem to require it, a succinct account of that seizure may be given in the Appendix to this volume.