however, soon discovered signs of life, and when the necessary operation was performed, resumed all his former activity, continued the action, if possible, with redoubled fury, and obliged the French ships, notwithstanding their prodigious superiority in men and metal, to sheer off, leaving the Baltimore, at the same time, in such a shattered condition, as to be wholly disqualified to pursue them.

He was, in consequence of this gallant service, immediately made post captain, and on the 10th of April, 1746, was appointed to the Triton frigate and ordered to Lisbon, where he was transferred to the Rippon, destined for the coast of Guinea. But he soon quitted that station to join his early patron, Admiral Knowles, in Jamaica, who appointed him first captain of his ship of eighty guns: and at the conclusion of the war, in 1748, he returned in her to England. In March, 1751, Captain Howe was appointed to the command of the Guinea station, in the Glorie of forty-four guns, when, with his usual spirit and activity, he checked the injurious proceedings of the Dutch governor general on the coast, and adjusted the difference betwen the English and Dutch settlements.

At the close of the year 1751, he was appointed to the Mary yacht, which was soon exchanged for the Dolphin frigate, in which he sailed to the streights, where he executed many effectual and important services. There he remained about three years, and soon after, on his return to England, he obtained the command of the Dunkirk of sixty-four guns, which was among the ships that were commissioned from an apprehension of a rupture with France. This ship was one of the fleet, with which Admiral Boscawen sailed to obstruct the passage of the French fleet, into the gulph of St. Lawrence, when Captain Howe took the Alcide, a French ship of 64 guns, off the coast of Newfoundland. A powerful fleet being prepared, in 1757, under the command of Sir

Edward Hawke, to make an attack upon the French coast, Captain Howe was appointed to the Magnanime, in which ship, he battered the fort on the island of Aix, till it surrendered. In 1758, he was appointed commodore of a small squadron, which sailed to annoy the enemy on their coasts. This he effected, with his usual success, at Malo, where a hundred sail of ships and several magazines were destroyed; the heavy gale running into shore, which rendered it impracticable for the troops to land, alone prevented the executing a similar mischief in the town and harbour of Cherbourg.

This expedition was soon followed by another,, when prince Edward, afterwards duke of York, was entrusted to the care of commodore Howe, on board his ship, the Essex. The fleet sailed on the first of August, 1758, and on the 6th came to an action in the bay of Cherbourg: the town was taken and the basin destroyed. The commodore, with his royal midshipman on board, next sailed to St. Malo, and as his instructions were to keep the coast of France in continual alarm, he very effectually obeyed them. The unsuccessful affair of St. Cas followed, but never was courage, skill or humanity more powerfully or successfully displayed, than on this occasion.He went in person, in his barge, which was rowed through the thickest fire to save the retreating soldiers the rest of the fleet inspired by his conduct, followed his example, and at least, 700 men were preserved, by his exertions, from the fire of the enemy or the fury of the waves. In July of the same year, his elder brother, who was serving his country with equal ardour and heroism in America, found an early grave. That brave officer was killed in a skirmish between the advanced guard of the French and the troops commanded by the late general Abercrombie, in the expedition against Ticonderoga. Commodore Howe now succeeded to the titles and estate of his family.

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In the following year 1759, lord Howe was employed in the channel, on board his old ship the Magnanime but no opportunity offered to distinguish himself till the month of November, when the French fleet, under Conflans, was defeated. In March, 1760, he was appointed colonel of marines, and, in September following, he was ordered by Sir Edward Hawke to reduce the French fort on the isle of Daniel, in order to save the expence of the transports employed to carry water for the use of the fleet. Lord Howe continued to serve as occasion required in the channel: and in the summer of 1762, he removed to the Princess Amelia of eighty guns, having accepted the command as captain to his royal highness the duke of York, then rear admiral of the blue, serving as second in command under Sir Edward Hawke in the channel.

In August 1762, his lordship was appointed to the board of admiralty, where he remained till August, 1765. He was then made treasurer of the navy, and, in October, 1770, was promoted to be rear admiral of the blue, and commander in chief of the Mediterranean. In March, 1775, he was appointed rear admiral of the white, and was soon after elected a member of parliament. In the month of December, of the same year, he was made vice admiral of the blue. It was on one of these promotions that lord Hawke, then first lord of the admiralty, said in the house of peers, "I advised his majesty to make the promotion. I have tried my Lord Howe, on important occasions-he never asked me how he was to execute any service, but always went and performed it."

We are now to consider Lord Howe, as commander in chief on the American station, a very critical part of his life, and which, at the time, was subject to the censure and praise of contending parties: but leaving such discussions to historical examination, we shall only observe, that he never failed in obtaining

these objects, that were within the reach of the naval forces which he commanded. In 1778, France having become party in the war, the French admiral, Count D'Estaing appeared on the 11th of July, in sight of the British fleet at Sandy Hook, with a considerable force of line of battle ships, in complete equipment and condition. Most of the ships under Lord Howe had been long in service, were not well manned and were not line of battle ships of the present day. The French admiral, however, remained seven days without making an attack, and, by that time, Lord Howe had disposed his inferior force in such a manner as to bid him defiance. On D'Estaing's leaving the Hook, Lord Howe heard of the critical situation of Rhode Island, and made every possible exertion to preserve it. He afterwards acted chiefly on the defensive. Such a conduct appears to have been required from the state of the fleet, and particular situation of the British cause in America. He, however, continued to baffle all the designs of the French admiral; and may be said, considering the disadvantages with which he was surrounded, to have conducted and closed the campaign with honour. Lord Howe now resigned the command to admiral Byron ; and, on his return to England, in October, immediately struck his flag. In the course of this year, he had been advanced to be vice admiral of the white, and shortly after to the same rank in the red squadron.

On the change of administration in 1782, Lord Howe was raised to the dignity of viscount of GreatBritain, having been previously advanced to the rank of admiral of the Blue. He was then appointed to command the fleet fitted out for the relief of Gibraltar, and he fulfilled the important object of the expedition. That fortress was effectually relieved; the combined fleets of France and Spain were baffled, and though they were considerably superior both in numbers and point of metal to the British fleet, his lordship maintained his ground, in an action, which

took place between them on the 19th October, and afterwards detached different squadrons to their se veral destinations. Peace was concluded shortly after Lord Howe's return from performing this important service, and in January, 1783, he was nominated first lord of the admiralty-in which station he continued till July, 1788, when he resigned. A short time previous to this, he had been advanced to the rank of admiral of the white, and was soon after created an earl of Great Britain;

On the commencement of the late war between Great-Britain and France, in 1793, earl Howe accepted the command of the Western Squadron, at the particular request of his majesty. The victory of the 1st of June, 1794, soon followed-the enemy's fleet consisted of 27 ships of the line, and the British of 26, although it is said, that the latter were somewhat superior in point of metal. The engagement was one of the most desperate which we read of in naval history, and continued for two days; at length victory declared in favour of the British. Six ships of the line were taken and one sunk. He now returned to receive all the honours which a grateful country could bestow. On the 26th of the same month, his majesty held a naval levee, on board Lord Howe's ship, the Queen Charlotte, at Spithead, and presented the victorious admiral with a sword, enriched with diamonds, and a gold chain, with the naval medal suspended from it. The thanks of both houses. of parliament, the freedom of the city of London, and the universal acclamations of the nation followed the acknowledgment of the sovereign. In the course of the following year he was appointed general of marines, and finally resigned the command of the Western squadron in April, 1797. On the 22d of June, in the same year, he was invested with the insignia of the Garter.

The last public act of a life employed against the enemies of his country, was exerted to compose its VOL. III. No. 18.

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