You might be interested in this dated the 13th of March 1786:
Statement by Captain Thomas Pasley
Whereas a most insidious, malevolent report, and circulation of certain letters and papers, has been promulgated in a clandestine manner among my brother officers of the navy, by some unknown persons or person, charging me, in the most pointed and direct language, with having, on a certain day, gone to Newgate with a Mr Sykes, Navy Agent, Crutched Friars, to a Mr Savage, late master of the Isis, then, and at this time, confined in said prison for debt, and did there, by fraud and artifice, and afterwards by framing and forging a letter to said Savage, endeavour to draw from him some particulars touching the cutting of the Isis’s cable in Praya Bay, when attacked by the squadron under Monsieur Suffrien, and other circumstances equally tending to vilifying and stain my name with dishonour, and thereby to degrade me in the estimation of the corps to which I belong: Therefore, as soon as I was made acquainted with this infamous calumny, with a view to do myself justice, I seized the first moment, (the 8th instant) of meeting a most respectable number of Flag Officers and Captains, at the Star and Garter Club, and there, in the most unequivocal manner, contradicted the whole, as most notorious falsehood in every sense, pledging myself as a man of honour, to trace the author with unwearied pursuit, and to bring him to account if possible: that on the subsequent morning, in order to prosecute the same, I requested as a favour, that Captains Onslow and Ford, men of unquestionable voracity and reputation, would accompany me to Newgate, to see if the said Savage would recognise the identity of my person; and which they consented to, from the best of all laudable motives, that of endeavouring to rescue injured innocence formed the envenomed power of calumny and malevolence: That on gaining an interview with said Savage at Newgate, he was alternately and repeatedly asked by Captain Onslow and Ford, whether he knew Captain Pasley? Whether any of the three persons present was the person that accompanied Mr Sykes to that place for the purpose before stated? To which the said Savage replied: “That he really could not say that he knew Captain Pasley (then looking at him), any more than by name; that he could not say either of the three persons were Captain Pasley, as a change of dress might alter a person very much; and at last, that he never did say positively that Captain Pasley was with Mr Sykes, but was afterwards told so by a person; which person, on some interrogation, was a Mr Galbraith, and that Galbraith was now abroad,” and then left the room precipitately, entered the ward or place of confinement, desired the keeper to lock him in, said he would have nothing more to do with them. Upon which, Captains Onslow and Ford, observing that the said Savage seemed too well hackneyed to let truth come forth, advised me to go immediately to Mr Sykes; which I did, accompanied by them, and having obtained an interview, the case was related by me, Captain Pasley, to Mr Sykes, with a desire (for the sake of my reputation, that he should discover the name of the person who went with him to Newgate, as set forth in papers produced. To which Mr Sykes replied, with a little hesitation, that it was not Captain Pasley; but on being further pressed by Captains Onslow and Ford, he declared freely, that the person who went with him was Captain McLaurin, and not Captain Pasley. And I do declare this to be the true state of the case.
Captain Thomas Pasley.
We the undersigned persons, Captains Richard Onslow and John Ford of His Majesty’s Navy, do hereby declare, that the above narrative is, in every instance, a most religious truth; and it appears clearly to us, from every investigation on our parts, that Captain Pasley has never been concerned, either directly or indirectly, in the above transaction. In witness whereof, we have hereunto affixed out names this 13th day of March 1786, in Newman Street, London.
R Onslow J Ford
In Justice to Captain Pasley, whose character has been traduced by the circulation of certain letters and papers, as above stated, a copy of which I do hereby acknowledge to have delivered to Captain John Carter Allen, of His Majesty’s Navy; therefore, I now most solemnly protest and declare, in this public manner, without the smallest hesitation or reserve whatever, that I am fairly and fully convinced Captain Pasley had no concern whatever in the above transaction, either directly or indirectly; and further, I do confess to have acted very improperly, by circulating the same without sufficient authority. Given under my hand, in Newman Street, this 13th of March 1786. Evelyn Sutton.
NB. This paper, with the original signatures, to be seen every day at 8 Newman Street.
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