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works, and was taken in a disguised habit when on his way to New York, and when taken, several papers were found in his possession which contained intelligence for the enemy." From these facts they farther reported it as their opinion, "That Major André ought to be considered as a spy, and agreeably to the laws and usages of nations, he ought to suffer death."

Sir Henry Clinton, Lieutenant-general Robertson, and Arnold himself, wrote pressing letters to General Washington, to prevent the decision of the board of general officers from being carried into effect. Arnold in particular urged, that every thing done by André had been done by his particular request, and at a time when he was the acknowledged commanding-officer in the department. He contended, “that he had a right to transact all these matters, for which, though wrong, Major André ought not to suffer." An interview also took place between General Robertson, on the part of the British, and General Greene, on the part of the Americans, at which every thing was urged by the former that ingenuity or humanity could suggest for averting the proposed execution,-but without effect. It was the general opinion of the American army that his life was forfeited, and that national dignity and sound policy required that the forfeiture should be exacted.'

After having made an ineffectual attempt to succour Lord Cornwallis, who, with the whole of his troops, was compelled to capitulate, Sir Henry Clinton commenced preparations, in 1782, for attacking the French settlements in the Antilles, but was superseded in his command before he could carry the project into effect.

On his return to England, a discussion took place between him and Cornwallis, as to the surrender of the latter, the entire blame of which each party attributed to the other. He subsequently obtained the governorship of Limerick, and, in 1793, that of Gibraltar, in possession of which he died on the 23d of December, 1795. He had for some time been a member of parliament; first for Newark, and afterwards for Launceston.

Sir Henry Clinton was undoubtedly an able and enterprising officer. His want of success in America was due to his want of means only to secure and retain his conquests; he had no force sufficient to contend with the energies of a roused people, directed by the genius of a Washington, and fighting for all that men hold dear and sacred. His attempts to tamper with the patriotism of his opponents do not, now at least, reflect any additional lustre on his character.

Sir Hugh Palliser.

BORN A. D. 1722.-DIED A.D. 1796.

THIS naval officer was born at Kirk-Deighton in Yorkshire. His father was an officer of infantry. He served as a lieutenant in the engagement off Toulon, in 1744. In 1746 he made a successful cruise in the Weazel sloop of war. His services, after this period, until the year 1757, embraced the Leeward islands station, the East Indies, and

1 Miller's History.

North America. In the latter year, while cruising off Ushant, he captured a very large French East India ship, after a severe action. In 1758 he served under Admiral Saunders in the Quebec expedition. He continued in active service until 1773, when he was created a baronet, and soon afterwards returned to parliament for Scarborough. In 1775 he became a flag-officer, and was appointed a lord of the admiralty. In 1778 he served as third in command under Admiral Keppel, in the engagement with the French fleet off Ushant. The failure of this action, or rather its non-important results, led to much recrimination betwixt him and the first in command, the nature of which we have already alluded to in our notice of Viscount Keppel.

Sir Hugh spent the latter part of his life in retirement. He died on the 19th of March, 1796.

Jeffery, Lord Amherst.

BORN A. D. 1717.-DIED a. d. 1797.

THIS nobleman was born January 29th, 1717, at Riverhead in Kent, and named Jeffery after his father, who possessed a small estate there. Having an elder brother, Sackville, to whom the family-fortune was to devolve, Jeffery, the second son, dedicated himself to the profession of arms. He received his first commission as an ensign in the guards, in 1731, when he was only fourteen years of age; and before he was twentyfive he became aid-de-camp to General, afterwards Lord Ligonier. In this capacity he accompanied that officer into Germany, and was present at the battles of Dettingen and Fontenoy. He was afterwards placed on the staff of the duke of Cumberland, with whom he is known to have been present at the engagements of Lafeldt and Hastenbeck; and it is supposed that he was with his royal highness during two other periods very different in point of glory,—the victory of Culloden, and the convention of Closter Camp. The duke made a point of providing for all his suite ; and young Amherst-who by this time had attained a colonel's commission was appointed in 1756 to the command of the 15th regiment of foot; in two years more he obtained the rank of major-general in the army.

On the commencement of hostilities with France, in 1757, it was determined to make America the seat of war. Pitt, afterwards earl of Chatham, by arousing the sleeping genius of his country, enabled it to achieve prodigies of valour and glory. With consummate penetration, he selected men of genius to direct the arms of his country. Majorgeneral Wolfe, who had distinguished himself at the battle of Lafeldt, by his military talents, when scarcely twenty years of age, was an officer of his nomination. The fate of that gallant youth, who died in the arms of victory, and the conquest of Canada that soon followed, are events which have already been told. It was with this hero that Major general Amherst was destined to co-operate. Having achieved the reduction of Louisburg, General Amherst, on the 30th of September, 1758, was appointed commander-in-chief of all the forces in North America, in the room of General Abercrombie, and at the same time received another regiment-the 60th, or Royal American-which

seems ever after to have been considered as an official appendage to this station. Pitt conceiving that the British colonies could never be deemed secure while the French were in possession of Canada, at length formed the plan of stripping Louis XV. of that extensive province. To this he was incited by other motives, dictated by the interests of commerce; for the trading in peltry would then be monopolized by Great Britain, the Northern fisheries would entirely appertain to her,—and her fleets of merchantmen would be enabled to pass in safety to and from their destined ports without the dread of being picked up by the enemy's cruisers. The inhabitants of that part of the colonies called 'the Middle States,' were in particular anxious for the conquest of Canada; they considered their future safety as intimately connected with the success of this measure; or, if we are to credit the conjectures of some, a few enlightened natives of the Transatlantic continent already perceived that it would tend not a little to promote their future independence. It was accordingly determined in 1759, that General Amherst, at the head of 12,000 men, should penetrate into the interior by means of the lakes, make himself master of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, establish a naval force in the Champlain, descend by means of the Sorel which empties itself into the St Lawrence, and attack the capital; while General Wolfe and Admiral Saunders were to enter the same river at its confluence with the sea, and co-operate in the reduction of Quebec. This plan was admirably calculated for success; but, like all projects of a complex nature, it proved exceedingly difficult in the execution.

The commander-in-chief having set out with one of the best-appointed armies that had ever been beheld in North America, arrived on the 24th of July before Ticonderoga, which he found abandoned and set on fire by the enemy. It was necessary, however, to overcome the French flotilla on Lake Champlain; a large garrison was at the same time to be reduced in the Isle aux Noix, which was fortified by means of a formidable train of artillery. In order to oppose these with effect, it was necessary to build a little fleet. Accordingly a brigantine, a sloop, and a radeau, were put upon the stocks and completed with wonderful celerity; and on the 11th of October the whole armament was ready to begin the expedition. But after some slight success, the sudden approach of winter in those northern regions checked their proceedings for a time. In short, it appears that they were too late by a couple of months in commencing so formidable an enterprise. It was therefore determined to return to Crown Point, to put it in a state of defence, and to prepare to set out early in the spring to complete the original plan. In the meantime the gallant Wolfe had appeared before Quebec, and although unsupported by the grand army, on the plains of Abraham gained a battle which decided his own fate and that of Canada, of which he alone can be justly termed the conqueror.

The main object of the expedition having been thus achieved by means of a mere detachment, it now only remained to attain a naval superiority on Lake Champlain, to take possession of and occupy its principal island, and then to seize on Montreal. To accomplish these designs no less than three small armies were put in motion: one from Quebec, where the English flag was now flying, under General Murray, -another from Crown Point, under Colonel, afterwards General Havi

land,-while the commander-in-chief was to cross the Ontario, enter the St Lawrence, and take possession of Montreal, the only place of any note then appertaining to France. All this was effected. On the 8th of September, 1760, the French general capitulated on condition of be ing sent home with his troops.

General Amherst remained in America until 1763, when he returned home. In 1761 he had been presented with one of the first ribands of the bath which his majesty had to bestow, and about the same time he was also appointed governor of Virginia. On September 21st, 1768, he was suddenly dismissed from all his employments. So sudden and unexpected a disgrace is said to have ensued in consequence of his attachment to the great commoner of that day who was then out of place. This eclipse, however, was of very short duration, for he was soon readmitted to favour, and received fresh marks of the royal bounty. In short, he was not only reappointed to the command of the 60th, which had been conferred on General Gage, but also nominated to the 3d regiment of foot, and declared the head of the staff of Great Britain, in consequence of which the army at home was placed under his control. In 1771 he was appointed to the lucrative government of Guernsey: and in the course of the next year became lieutenant-general of the ordnance. Having resigned the latter in favour of General Howe, he was recompensed, on the death of Lord Harrington, with the 2d troop of grenadier guards; and on the demise of Lord Cadogan he obtained the 2d troop of horse-guards. On the reduction of the latter, he had the 2d regiment of horse-guards conferred upon him. On May 20th, 1776, he was created Baron Amherst of Holmesdale in Kent, with remainder to his nephew, the son of a younger brother. In the meantime his interest and credit at court seemed to increase daily. In 1778 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the army of England; and in 1779 he was made colonel of the 2d troop of life-guards. In consequence of the re-establishment of the staff he was once more appointed commander-in-chief of the army of Great Britain, January 23d, 1793, which was considered as an injustice to General Conway, the oldest officer in the service, and to whom the situation of course appertained by seniority. It is also said to have given great offence to others who had been longer on the establishment than himself, one of whom was of the blood-royal.

It being at length determined to confide the command of the army to his royal highness the duke of York, his majesty's second son, a resignation on the part of his lordship was expected, and he had the offer of an earl's coronet on this occasion, which he declined; but on the 30th of July, 1796, he accepted the rank of field-marshal. His lordship's increasing age and infirmities had rendered him unfit for public business nearly two years before this period, and he now retired to his seat at Montreal in Kent-so called after the town of the same name in Canada-where he died on the 3d of August, 1797, in the eighty-first year of his age.

As an officer Amherst was bold, intrepid, and enterprising, a strick disciplinarian, but the friend of merit. He was also remarked for the simplicity of his manners, and may very properly be termed a sagacious, rather than a great general. When the American war began to assume a serious aspect, he was invited to repair to the transatlantic continent,

and assume the chief command; but he gave a decisive proof of his discretion by refusing to take the field with less than 30,000 men. No Englishman was better acquainted with the colonies and the disposition and genius of their inhabitants. While serving on that station he had conceived the idea of an American peerage, or order of aristocracy, to continue during life only; and he himself, had this taken place, was to have been created a peer of that description, with precedence of all others. Several other schemes of internal regulation were also suggest. ed by him, but not adopted. As commander-in-chief in Great Britain, he was accused of sacrificing the army to patronage; and during his continuance in office it was jocularly observed, that there were many of his colonels still at school. As a legislator he generally voted with the minister of the day; and notwithstanding he had been brought forward by the popular interest, he constantly sided, during the latter period of his life, with the party who affected to denominate themselves the king's friends.' In private life his character stood high. He lived within his income, detested ostentation, dressed in a plain garb, and was free and affable in his communication with society.

John Wilkes.

BORN A. D. 1727.-DIED A. D. 1797.

JOHN WILKES was born in St John's-street, Clerkenwell, London, October 28th, 1727. He received the rudiments of his education in the town of Hertford. After some stay there he was removed into Buckinghamshire, where he was placed under a private tutor of dissenting principles, who afterwards accompanied him to the continent. Having attained considerable eminence in classical literature-to which he was devoted during the whole course of his life-young Wilkes was sent to Leyden, where it was intended that he should finish his studies. While in Holland he formed an acquaintance with the ingenious Andrew Baxter;' and such was Mr Baxter's esteem for his young friend, that he dedicated one of his publications to him, and carried on a friendly intercourse by letter until his death, which occurred in 1750.

After residing a considerable time abroad, and visiting several parts of Germany, Wilkes returned to his native country, and married Miss Mead, heiress to the Meads of Buckinghamshire, with whom he got a considerable fortune, which, like that of his own family, had been acquired in trade. He now settled at Aylesbury, and being, in consequence of the whig principles in which he was educated, a warm advocate for the establishment of a militia, as a constitutional balance to a standing army, he accepted of a commission in the regiment raised in the county of Bucks. After serving some time in the capacity of lieutenant-colonel, he became colonel on the resignation of Sir Thomas Dashwood, afterwards Lord de Despencer, who observed in his farewell letter to the officers, "If the succession goes in the regiment—as I hope it will, and think it ought-then I must add, my successor is a

Author of a work entitled An Enquiry into the Nature of the Human Soul, wherein its Immateriality is evinced from the Principles of Reason and Philosophy; and also of Matho; sive Cosmotheoria puerilis, Dialogus.'

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