to reconnoitre my redoubted cross-questioners, and seek in their weather-beaten physiognomies for signs of the "day's disasters." That of the President, Sir Robert L-, a fine old officer, full of frankness and urbanity, raised the mercury of my frame at once from something very near freezing point to a comfortable temperature; and before I had time to study the character of the others, a few simple questions from the former, in a mild tone, and a handsome compliment on the peculiar correctness and style of my journals, at once brought me to summer heat, and "Richard was himself again." In short, they troubled me with very few questions. Instead of being overwhelmed by interrogatories touching my seamanship, or puzzled with the solution of any abstruse problems in the science of nautical astronomy, the queries were of a general and very simple nature; and I went off with flying colours. The facility which on this occasion we all more or less experienced, with the exception, I believe, of two miserables who were turned back, arose in some measure from the formidable string of us (fifteen or sixteen) to be overhauled, a circumstance always regarded as favourable.

On the 14th of September a court-martial assembled on board our ship for the trial of the crew of the Columbine sloop-of-war, just arrived, under a charge of mutiny and conspiracy to rise on the officers and seize the vessel. The investigation of this affair occupied the court fourteen days, and brought to light facts of so atrocious and sanguinary a character on the part of some of the mutineers, as to vie (had their intentions been carried into effect) with the most tragical cases of mutiny on record. But circumstances were also elicited furnishing another instance sadly illustrative of the fatal effects of undue harshness and severity. It was a striking peculiarity of this case, that the dissatisfaction was not on this occasion confined alone to the crew; the boatswain and carpenter also were implicated, and took an active part in it. These, and a great portion of the crew, were found guilty at the close of a protracted and patient examination, which was highly creditable to the members of the court, consisting of six or eight of the senior captains, with the Commander-in-chief of the Leeward Island station, Rear-Admiral Sir Alexander C, President. Of these the boatswain and five of the ringleaders were sentenced to death; the carpenter and the remainder to mitigated punishments. The sentence on the former of these unfortunate men was carried into execution on board their own vessel a few days afterwards.

Few spectacles are more impressive than a naval execution. Early on the fatal morn the crews of the different ships in port are turned up and distributed in the rigging and along the gangways, while abreast the vessel in which the execution takes place, the boats of the fleet are manned, and with a party of marines in each, are drawn up to witness the solemn example. A little before eight o'clock on this melancholy occasion these unhappy men mounted the platform extending across the forecastle, and the sentence of the court-martial, together with the article of war under which they were condemned, having been read, at eight the signal gun flashed and they were simultaneously run up to the fore-yard-arms.

(To be continued.)

THE SERVICES OF LORD DE SAUMAREZ.

LORD DE SAUMAREZ entered the naval service of this country in the year 1770, on board His Majesty's ship Montreal, proceeding to the Mediterranean, on which station he continued till 1775, when the contest with the American Colonies taking place, Mr. Saumarez sailed in the Bristol, 50, Commodore Sir Peter Parker, for that seat of war, and soon after served in the memorable attack on Sullivan's Island, where the Bristol suffered severely, having 111 killed and wounded, including her Captain amongst the former. Mr. S. had himself a narrow escape on that occasion: whilst pointing one of the lower-deck guns, a shot from the enemy entered the port at the moment, which killed and wounded seven men there stationed. Mr. S.'s conduct in this desperate affair procured him the approbation of the Commodore, accompanied with an order to act as Lieutenant of the Bristol, which appointment was confirmed by Lord Howe.

Lieut. Saumarez was subsequently successfully employed in command of an armed vessel (the Spitfire), against the enemy's privateers, and also on important services connected with the army till 1778, when he was compelled to set fire to his ship, which was destroyed, together with some other vessels in the Seconnet passage, in order to prevent their being captured by the French fleet, under Count D'Estaing. Lieut. Saumarez was then appointed to serve on shore during the siege of Rhode Island, when he commanded an advanced post, manned by seamen and marines. On the cessation of hostilities with America, Lieut. Saumarez returned to England, and was soon after appointed to the Victory, where he continued under several flag-officers till the appointment of Rear-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker to the command of a squadron fitting out for the protection of the trade in the North Sea, when Lieut. Saumarez removed with the Rear-Admiral to the Fortitude, 74, in which ship he served in the action that followed off the Dogger Bank, and after the battle conducted one of our disabled ships, the Preston, whose Captain was wounded, into port. His late Majesty George the Third honouring the squadron with his presence on their arrival at the Nore, Lieut. Saumarez was promoted to the rank of Commander, and appointed to the command of the Tisiphone fire-ship, which vessel formed part of the squadron under Rear-Admiral Kempenfelt when that brave officer captured a number of French merchantmen in the face of a superior force, commanded by the Count de Guichen. This success was, in a great measure, owing to the zeal and activity of Capt. Saumarez, who first discovered the enemy, and immediately standing towards them, succeeded in taking several transports; one a ship of thirty guns, with 400 soldiers on board. Capt. Saumarez received the marked approbation of the Rear-Admiral on this occasion, and was detached to convey the intelligence to Vice-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, Commander-in-Chief in the West Indies, whom Capt. Saumarez found off the Island of St. Christopher's, in sight of the French fleet under Count De Grasse; but he succeeded in joining and delivering his dispatches to the Vice-Admiral, in defiance of the utmost endeavours of the enemy to cut him off. Being soon after, though then under twenty-five years of age, promoted to the command of the Russel, 74, Capt. Saumarez took a distinguished share

in the glorious victory of the 12th of April, under Admiral Sir George Rodney, who particularly noticed the Russel during the heat of the engagement, separated from the body of the British fleet, and exposed to the close fire of many adversaries. The war soon after terminating, Capt. Saumarez was enabled to enjoy an interval of repose, devoted principally to the advantage of his native island,* and other laudable purposes-employments as honourable to his Lordship during peace, as his professional exploits in war.

In 1787, on the prospect of hostilities, Capt. Saumarez was appointed to the Ambuscade frigate, and in 1790 the Spanish armament again caused his being called upon to commission the Reasonable, 64; but the retention of these commands lasted no longer than the occasion that called them forth-the necessity of making a preparation for war. In 1793, on the commencement of that arduous contest the French revolutionary war, Capt. Saumarez was appointed to the command of the Crescent frigate, in which ship he captured, after an engagement of two hours and a half, the Réunion, a French frigate of superior force.t On the part of the enemy, the action was very severe and sanguinary, her loss in killed and wounded amounting to 120 men, whilst the Crescent had not a single man killed; an extraordinary circumstance, which may be ascribed to the superiority of her fire and tactics. This service procured Capt. Saumarez the honour of knighthood, and many gratifying marks of distinction from corporations, &c. In June 1794, Sir James Saumarez, in the Crescent, being on a cruise amongst the Islands of Guernsey and Jersey, with the Druid and Eurydice in company, engaged and beat off a French squadron more than triple his force, thereby preventing the apparently inevitable capture of the Eurydice, a brilliant and lasting example of what may be effected by a happy combination of courage, discipline, and seamanship. Being appointed to the command of the Orion, 74, Sir James served in the engage ment of the 23rd June, under Lord Bridport, and was one of the first ships that brought the enemy to action: he also commanded the Orion in the victory of the 14th Feb. under the Earl of St. Vincent, whose testimony of Sir James's services on that and other occasions is equally strong and honourable. In 1798, Sir James accompanied the late Lord Nelson to the Mediterranean, and shared in the honours acquired off the mouth of the Nile, in which battle he was second in command. The Orion was the third ship that doubled the enemy's van, and sunk a French frigate (the Sérieuse) by a single broadside, in passing to take up her station. In this action Sir James was wounded, but remained on deck till all firing ceased. Sir James commanded the detachment that escorted the prizes to

Lord de Saumarez was born in the island of Guernsey, the 11th March 1757; is the third son of the late Matthew Saumarez, Esq. and nephew of the late Captains Philip and Thomas Saumarez, who both sailed with Lord Anson in his celebrated voyage to the South Sea. The former Capt. Saumarez gloriously fell whilst commanding a line-of-battle ship in the engagement between Lord Hawke and the French fleet off Cape Finisterre, 14th of October 1747. The latter when commanding the Antelope, 50, captured the Belliqueux, French 64. + Comparative force of the two frigates:

Long guns
Carronades
Crew

Crescent.

28

Réunion. 36

Gibraltar, when the Orion being ordered home, she proceeded to Plymouth, where she was paid off early in 1799. In February of that year, Sir James had conferred on him one of the Colonelcies of Marines, and about the same time was appointed to the command of the Cæsar, 84, in which ship he joined the Channel fleet, and cruised off Brest during a long and tempestuous period.

In January 1801, Sir James became a Rear-Admiral, and commanded the in-shore squadron of the grand fleet,-a service of no ordinary character; and nothing can manifest the unwearied zeal with which he performed it, in defiance of dangers of every description, than by stating that not a single square-rigged vessel sailed from, or entered the port of Brest, during any part of the time he was so employed. The 14th June, the Rear-Admiral, now created a Baronet, sailed from Plymouth in command of a squadron, for the blockade of Cadiz, off which port, on the 5th July, at two P.M., he received intelligence that a French squadron had anchored near Algeziras. Sir James immediately bore up, and made sail towards the enemy, (leaving the Superb, 74, and Thames frigate to watch Cadiz,) and the next morning on opening Cabrita Point, discovered them warping under the protection of the Spanish batteries, which commanded a cross fire, and flanked the entrance into the harbour. The Venerable, Capt. Hood, led the van of the British squadron in the most gallant manner, but on approaching the enemy, the wind (so extremely baffling near Gibraltar) fell, and she broke round off, which obliged her to anchor. The Pompée brought up in her allotted station, and raked the French Admiral with great effect: she was soon supported by the Cæsar and Audacious, when the action became general. The Spencer and Hannibal being becalmed, anchored outside the ships engaged; but a breeze springing up, the Hannibal got under sail, when she took the ground in a bold attempt to lay the French Admiral on board. Shortly after, the Pompée broke her sheer by a flaw of wind, and lay exposed to a raking fire, so severe, that Capt. Sterling was obliged to order her cables to be cut, and she was towed off in a leaky state. Every effort was now made to destroy or capture the enemy's ships, which took every opportunity of warping closer to the batteries. At about half-past ten, the Cæsar's cable was cut, and she stood further in, followed by the Audacious and Venerable. The Cæsar brought her broadside to bear on the bow of the Indomptable, (French, 80,) at three cables' length distance; but the British ships were soon after becalmed, without being able to get a single gun to bear, and had the additional mortification to find that they were drifting towards the reef off the island battery. It now became evident that victory was fast eluding the utmost endeavours of the assailing squadron; the Admiral, however, determined to make every effort to overcome the perplexing obstacles occasioned by the unsteady and failing wind. He made the signal for the boats, for the purpose of storming the batteries on the island, but their disabled and sinking state rendered the attempt impracticable. Meanwhile the Hannibal, having continued the unequal contest to the last moment, was obliged to surrender, after a dreadful loss in killed and wounded. A breeze having sprung up, Sir James directed the Cæsar to be laid alongside the Indomptable, and the sails were trimmed for that purpose as well as the crippled

state of the masts and rigging would allow, but a calm again ensued, and rendered all his efforts unavailing. Under all these difficulties, and seeing the utter inutility of contesting further, Sir James discontinued the action, and anchored his shattered ships in Gibraltar Bay, leaving the Hannibal in the hands of the enemy. The ardour of the British squadron was, however, neither damped or deterred from renewed exertions: as no doubt existed that the enemy would put to sea the first opportunity, not a moment was lost in getting the ships in a state to intercept him. In the afternoon of the 9th, the Superb and Thames were chased into the bay by a Spanish squadron of five sail-of-the-line and three frigates, which hauled round Cabrita Point, and joined the French ships off Algeziras. The enemy's fleet was further augmented on the following day, by another ship-ofthe-line, with a French Commodore's broad pendant, from Cadiz. The exertions of the British squadron in refitting were unparalleled. On the 12th, the enemy were observed to make a move, and at two P.M. were all under sail off Cabrita Point. The scene that followed is difficult to describe. Sir James, in the Cæsar, immediately hauled out of the mole, amidst the deafening cheers of the garrison and inhabitants of Gibraltar, assembled in crowds near the dockyard, and shouting their admiration and good wishes for the success of the gallant squadron. At three, the Admiral made the signal to weigh and prepare for battle. Thus, after one of the severest engagements ever known, these ships, (with the exception of the Pompée, which could not be got ready in time,) in the short space of five days, shifted masts, repaired extensive damages, and again sought the enemy, whose force had become tripled by the junction from Cadiz. At eight P.M. the enemy cleared Cabrita Point, followed by our squadron. From the superior sailing of the Superb, she was soon abreast of the Cæsar, when the Admiral directed Capt. Keats to bring the sternmost ship to action, which he performed with the utmost promptitude and spirit, and then keeping in shore, passed on to engage one a-head. On the coming up of the Cæsar alongside one of the Spanish three-deckers, the order to open the broadside was about to be given, when the enemy was perceived to have taken fire; the flames flew with the greatest rapidity, and communicating to a ship to leeward, both (the Real Carlos and Hermenegildo, Spanish first-rates of 120 guns each), were soon enveloped in one general blaze, and afterwards blew up, when upwards of 2000 men perished. Seeing that their destruction was inevitable, and that under all circumstances there existed no possibility of affording assistance in so distressing a situation, Sir James pushed on to close with the ship engaged by the Superb, whose cool and determined fire soon compelled the enemy to haul down her colours. Sir James now bore up after the flying enemy, who were carrying a press of sail and standing out of the Straits. The wind blew a strong gale till daylight, when the only ships seen from the Cæsar, were the Venerable and Thames a-head, in chase of the Formidable, French, 80; and the Spencer coming up astern, every exertion was made to come up with the enemy's ship, but the wind dying away, the Venerable only was enabled to bring her to action, which Capt. Hood did with the greatest spirit, and had nearly silenced his opponent, when the Venerable's main-mast, previously wounded, was shot away, and the