Page:Royal Naval Biography Marshall v1p2.djvu/182

606  were placed in a large unoccupied store-house, and every one of them sabred in cold blood.

The Ferret returned to England towards the latter end of 1792 ; and on the commencement of the war with the French republic, was placed under the orders of Rear-Admiral M‘Bride, on the Downs station, where she captured six of the enemy’s privateers. For this service Captain Nowell was presented with a handsome piece of plate by the merchants of London. We next find him serving with the Channel fleet under Earl Howe; but being sent to the North Sea previous to the great battle of June 1, 1794, he unfortunately missed that promotion to which, as the senior Commander, he would otherwise have been entitled. His disappointment on that occasion, however, was in some measure compensated by his success in intercepting several vessels laden with upwards of 300,000 quarters of wheat, coming from the Baltic, Holland, &c, bound to France. In the autumn of the same year he was sent, at the request of Earl Howe, to attend upon their late Majesties at Weymouth; and from thence ordered to Ostend, where he met with a serious accident, which compelled him to retire for a time from active service. His advancement to the rank of Post-Captain took