WILLIAM SHIRLEY TO THE DUKE OF MY LORD DUKE, Upper Grosvenor Street, Septr. 24, 1757. I beg pardon for the repeated Trouble, I give your Grace, upon my Intended petition to his Majesty. The Sollicitation now making, as I understand, My Lord, by a Gentleman for the Governmt. of Jamaica, which will appear, from the Inclos'd Extract of Mr. Fox's letter to me, it was H. My's Intention to confer upon me as a Mark of his Royal favour for my Services, has occasion'd an Alteration in my petition, which I think it my Duty to lay before your Grace, for your Grace's Approbation (as I did my first Draft of the petition) together with the Inclos'd Representation of some of my Services, which I intend shall accompany it.2 The first part of those Services, my Lord, your Grace is not unacquainted with, as they were done under your Grace's Immediate patronage and Support; which enabled me to execute them. And your Grace had then so favourable an Opinion of them as to Honour me with the highest Expressions of your Goodness and Regard for me. Some successfull Services have been done by me this War; and I am not conscious of having done any thing to forfeit his Majesty's Royal favour. As to the Suggestions, my Lord, transmitted against me by my Successor, they are unsupported by proofs; and I hope, upon the Common presumption in favour of every Officer's having done his Duty, 'till the Contrary is prov'd, and the Credit of having faithfully done it in other well known Instances, I am intitl'd to be believ'd when I assert to your Grace, that they are intirely groundless and malig 1B. M., Additional Manuscript 32874, 276. A transcript is in the Library of Congress. 2 See Petitions of Shirley to the Crown with accompanying Representation, post, pp. 588 and 590. nant; which I am ready to prove upon an Opportunity's being given me. My present situation, my Lord, is thus; After spending many years of my life in faithfull Services to the Crown, most of them National, and successfull; in which I have acquired no private Fortune, and have had the unhappiness to lose my two Eldest Sons in one Campaign, I am now divested of my late Government and Regiment; both which marks of H. My's Royal favour your Grace procur'd for me, and am at present left without means of Support. And as I am not conscious, My Lord, of having fail'd in any one point of Duty, Gratitude or Attachment to your Grace or done anything to forfeit your Grace's favour and protection, I hope I shall be honour'd with them upon this Occasion, in the Support of my petition to his Majesty. I am with the deepest sense of my Obligations to your Grace, and the most dutifull Respect, To the King's most Excellent Majesty in Council. The Petition of Major General William Shirley. Most Humbly Sheweth, That your Majesty's Petitioner hath, by Virtue of divers 1 B. M., Additional Manuscript 32874, 280. Inclosed in Shirley to Newcastle of Sept. 24. A transcript is in the Library of Congress. This is apparently the first draft of the petition. The final copy is on p. 590. Commissions and Authorities, which he hath had the Honour to receive from your Majesty, been engag'd in various parts of your Majesty's Service for the defence of your Majesty's just Rights in North America. That he hath acted in the Execution of the Trusts repos'd in him by your Majesty with the utmost Fidelity and Zeal, and been at divers times honour'd with signal Marks of your Majesty's gracious Acceptance and Royal Approbation of several parts of his Service, as will appear by the Representation of them herewith presented. That Suggestions against some parts of his Conduct in his late Command, as General of your Majesty's Forces in North America, having been transmitted in Letters from his Successors, your Majesty was pleas'd about six Months ago, to order an Inquiry to be made into his Conduct by a Board of General Officers. That your Majesty's Petitioner conscious of his faithfull Regard for your Majesty's Service, and not doubting, that he is able to acquit himself upon an Inquiry into his Conduct, which he humbly conceives it was one part of your Majesty's gracious Intention, in case of his Innocence, to give him an Opportunity of doing, has solicited for several Months to have the Benefit of that Inquiry; But some Doubts having, as he understands, arisen concerning the Sufficiency of the Matter and Evidence transmitted from America for supporting a Charge of Misconduct against him, he finds no prospect of his obtaining it. Wherefore your Majesty's Petitioner most Humbly prays as that Inquiry is not proceeded in, that your Majesty will be graciously pleas'd to order some other Inquiry to be made. into his Conduct, in such manner, as your Majesty, in your Royal Wisdom and Goodness, shall think fit; whereby he may have an Opportunity (after laying so long under the Pressure of the Suggestions made against him) of justifying his Behaviour, vindicating his Honour from the Imputations cast upon it, and procuring the Continuance of your Majesty's Royal Favour, and which a long Series of faithfull Services had before advanc'd him. And your Majesty's Petitioner, as in Duty bound, shall ever pray, etca. Endorsed: WILLIAM SHIRLEY. Copy of the Intended Petition of Major General William Shirley to His Majesty in Council. WILLIAM SHIRLEY TO THE BRITISH CROWN 1 To the King's most Excellent Majesty. The Petition of Major General William Shirley. Most Humbly Sheweth, That your Majesty's Petitioner hath had the Honour to be employ'd sixteen Years in various parts of your Majesty's Service, and to receive divers signal Marks of your Majesty's Royal Approbation of his Conduct; as will appear to your Majesty from the Representation of his Services herewith presented. That in June 1756, He had the Honour to receive your Majesty's Orders to repair to England; in which Orders it was signify'd to him, that it was your Majesty's Intention, as a Mark of your Royal Favour, to appoint him to be Governor of Jamaica; And your Majesty was thereupon pleas'd to nominate Mr. Pownall to succeed him in his Government of the Massachusetts Bay. That in Obedience to those Orders, your Majesty's Petitioner arriv'd in England in October last; since which your Majesty has been pleas'd to reduce the Regiment, which he had then the Honour to command. That soon after his Arrival in England, Letters were transmitted thither from his Successors, as General of your Majesty's Forces in North America, containing Suggestions against his Military Conduct; and he was inform'd, that 1 B. M., Additional Manuscript 32874, 278. Inclosed in Shirley to Newcastle of Sept. 24. A transcript is in the Library of Congress. This is the petition as presented. your Majesty intended to order an Inquiry to be made into it. That conscious of his Zeal and Fidelity in your Majesty's Service, and that these Suggestions were groundless, he has waited many Months in hopes and Expectation, that his Conduct would be inquir'd into; being satisfy'd that in such Case he could shew, that he had been instrumental in every part of your Majesty's Service in North America, which was attended with Success, and no ways accessory to any Misfortune, which had befall'n it during the War; and in particular, that neither the loss of Oswego, which happen'd fifty Days after the Expiration of his Command, nor the failure to prosecute the Expedition against Crown point to Effect could with Justice be imputed to him. Wherefore as these Suggestions have so long continu'd unsupported by any proofs, your Majesty's Petitioner, who is divested of his late Government and Regiment (wherein his Support consisted) most Humbly begs leave to resort to your Majesty, praying That your Majesty will be graciously pleas'd to honour him with the Continuance of your Royal Favour, to which a long Series of faithfull Services, during the late and present War, had advanc'd him, by conferring upon him your Majesty's late intended Mark of it, or such other Mark, as your Majesty, in your Royal Goodness, shall think proper. And your Majesty's Petitioner as in Duty WILLIAM SHIRLEY. Endorsed: Copy Petition of Major General Shirley to His Majesty. |