Star.
London, England, 1808-03-03 00:00:00

7.11 R LAFE-626c4F1V1N 4IfEkRIFF

It is not always that heroic spirit his an opportn
oily of aisolaging itself ; but when it .has, and its pos-
essor has laid down his life .in the caused his coun-
try, the only melancholy-ccolsolation which his friends
can receive is to retrace the efforts of his gallantry,
and to claim that applause and strnpathy which the
British nation is eyeF.leady to:pay to the memory of
departed merit. . •
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The late Captain Sitsitntvr, upon many occasions
during his long service under captain Vancouver-and
,Lieutenant Broughton,,in. their. .voyagg of Discovery
in the South Seas, evince*: that.ke possessed A large
-.portion of that high and epterprizyw , spirit which is
the present characteristiC of the Ve.ttish Navy,- Upon
a.subsequent occasion he gave a striking- proof of .this,
-lithich it is but justicetothe -memoryofa brave officer
to r•cerd, .more particularly. as its .p.nblic -mention at
the present moment may serve the Interests .ok wi- I
dow.and orphan bequeathed by hislell in:its, -service,
to the justice and generosity othe.atittioo.
Lieutenant Stunuurv, as Agent.of Transports in
the .I).,sia, formerly, an East Inyliaman, was employed
to convey thellaroens that had been transported-froth
St. Viticent:s. to tiova Scotia,hormthe Latter ongesial
climatek..to. tl)e .‘trarreei one .of Sierra Leone.. .This
he.executO with great humanity and success.
he•kgmaitied at Sierra Leone. in the Asia,
a *rebellion broke out in the colony, which was quel-
leslcltiefly by his personal gallantry and exertions, as
will jaeg. appear from the following .}diauteofeouncil :
(COPY.)
. Sierra Leaf*, Dee. 24,1500.
rresenc--George Ludlam, Governor-1. Gray, First in. Council—
Richard Bright, Second in. Council.
• The Geveenor kidt• Council next proceeded to Consider of a
suitable acknowledgment to Lieutenaminhe Slserriff, of his Ma-
jesty's navy, forth* service's this Government received from him,
in his military capacity; during the late, retwenten, upen which °c-
itation it was unanimoude
Atestilved; ' •
Ist, That Lieutehini John Sherriff has manifested his zeal for
the welfare of this Colony, in a voluntary exposure of his lifethre and
health, by heading, diffeeent detachments seat gut against e .
bele, especially that op the ad of bctober last.
•• id,. That Inaeeepting aria supporting the character Of PresideOt
of the Court of Inquiry, which, at the instance and deske of this
Government, sat for many sueceOlve days on the -rank that were
taken or surrendered; the Governor and Council have to =know,
ledge to his unremitted and patierit investigation, and, in conjartc
Lion with his col!eagues, Lieutenant's Smith and Tolle, judicious
adaptation efthe einishnients reeoMritended to be inflicted upon
the pritimers, the present safety of the Colony, arid the means
of executive With which the Govertunent, was at that time pro-
eided.
sd, That In receiving the said and other prisoners on braid the
Astil;for a considerable period of time, and thereby exonerating
this Governntent from the risk,anxtery, as ;charge, of seeming
their persona at the Governinent House, as well at by detaining
the Asia, in cempliante with their req_nest on this tiPrefis
see, Lientenani John 'Sherriff has materially strengthened the
bands of the Governor and Council, antritifbrded them iebure and
"enmity us • defibetate on mane points of greit and urgent bn-
eth, That the public thanks of this Boarditogether with a copy
of the present Minute, be communicated to peuteriant Skerriff
latuietteifrom thhien of their Secretary.. , • .
Illtratfeiti from the minutelist 011=11, Jan. 1, 1 ibl
r. (Signed) - A. SMITH, Sec.

:.• . !'• •

(COPY.)
Dia, Free Town, Jan. 1, 1801.
ant diseeteclby the Governor and Council to transmit to you
the inclosed Minute, =dm testify rmthelrspart the btgh sense they
lath 'Ever rttaii of`joisr important services duriot the late re,
beltion--tkey j4itt to incept of this puYilenotificifion of their
oessimeDts.;a6d they she be happy to hear'that your et:able:it ser-
vice, hews not.possed unnoticed by the Court of Directors.
I have the honour to be,
• - Your obedient humble servant - .
(Signed) A SDAITII, .
Sec
. .
UetUenant Sherrifh
Upon his return to Englah—cllic received the Thasks
of 'the Court of Directors of the Sierra Leone-Com-
pany, were conveyed in the following kesolu-
Itch : . . •_ _ . .
t i COURT of DiIItECTORS, on the .sth March, 1801.
Resolved,
That the Thanks of this Court be eoram—inticated by the Chair.
man.to Lie ater.ant John Sherriff, of the Royal Navy, Agent _of
Transports on board the Asia,- for his able and spirited exertions
in suppressing the late insurrection at Sierra Leone, .and that the
CEiiinnws be alivirequeerad-to communicate to the Lords of the
Admiralty the sense which the Court entertains of Lieutenant
Sherrill's servites on that occasibh.
Sierra Leone Office, Match 8 0801.
:••• (Etna's-0) ZACH,ARY MACAULAY, Sec.
Trii` RfpeTuticei, *as. conveyed in the following ,
LetteF, froN jhskir worthy , and highly respectable '
Chiarnisin • •
Lon , March 9, IROI.
I have the honour of communicating to you the enclosed Reso-
lotion of-the Court of Directors of the Sierra Leone Company,
and I bet leave also to state, that I have this day addressed a let-
ter to the Secretary of the Board of Admiralty, expressing the
sense which the Court entertains of your services, in eonfonntry
to the Instruction which you will perceive to have been -given.ine
by the Court.' lam Sir, your obedient humble Servant,
J. Sberriff, Esq. HENRY THORNTON.
It is only necessary to add that this recommenda-
tion was unfortunately of no avail to Mr. SIIERRIFF.
It was not till 18', that he was made a Commander,
and appointed to the Curieux brig. He went out last
year to the West Indies with a convoy, where he too
anon lost his life in a gallant and desperate conflict
with an enemy's ship of very superior force, the cir-
cumstances of which are recorded in the following
letter :

" His Majesty's Ship Curieux, Barbadoes, Dec. 5, 1807.
On the.24th November we sailed from Barbadoes
on a craize. in hopes of falling in With the Superieure,
which was to be under our command. On the 3d
initant we saw a strange sail standing towards us ;
'she. passed ahnost Within gun-she •to leeward of us,
and we made several signals, which were not answer-
ed. :Minn toielve at noon we tacked and stood after
her, firing all time from our bow gun. At one
she fired a shot and hoisted 'French colours, at the
same time making all sail from us,. When she found
she could not escape us, she shortened sail. About
two o'cloCk we Were abreast of her, and brought her
to dose action, which lasted an heur„when our tiller
topes, bow-lines, and braces, being unfortunately
shot away, the Ctu-V4ux became wholly unmanagea-
ble, which the enemy perceiving, took advantage of,
and ran us on board on the..starboard quarter, and
endeavoured to throw a Tait niiinher of men into us.
In bra,eTlepulsing this attempt, at the head of our
boarders, Captain SHERRIFF and several others were
Mika ;And wounded, and the main-boom was at the
same inuant shot aw ay by an 18 or 24-pound swivel,
witieh she had on her fore-castle. One of our men
hove the grappling of the enemy overboard, and in
the attempt received a shot which, has occasioned the
toss of his arm. She was no sooner clear of us, which

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