and was early noticed by him with approbation. On the 14th of February, 1794, Nelson thus writes to his father: "You cannot, my dear Sir, receive more pleasure in reading this letter than I have in writing it, to say that your son is every thing which his dearest friend can wish him to be; and is a strong proof that the greatest gallantry may lie under the most gentle behaviour. Two days ago, it was necessary to take a small vessel from a number of people who had got on shore to prevent us; she was carried in a high style, and your good son was by my side." To the same, May 3d.—" The little brushes we have lately had with the enemy only serve to convince me of the truth I have already said of him; and in his navigation you will find him equally forward. He highly deserves every thing I can do to make him happy." To Mrs Nelson." Hoste is indeed a most exceeding good boy, and will shine in our service."

After having passed through a variety of grades in the service, we find Hoste, though still a young man, the senior officer in the Adriatic, at the commencement of 1809. One of the most distinguished naval actions in the Mediterranean station, during the war, was that fought off the island of Lissa, on the 13th of March, 1811. The following is part of Captain Hoste's despatch on this occasion:

"AMPHION, of Lissa, March 14th, 1811.

"SIR,It is with much pleasure I have to acquaint you, that after an action of six hours, we have completely defeated the combined French and Italian squadrons, consisting of five frigates, one corvette, one brig, two schooners, one gun-boat, and one xebec: the force opposed to them was his majesty's ships Amphion, Active, Cerberus, and Volage. On the morning of the 13th the Active made the signal for a strange fleet to windward, and daylight discovered to us the enemy's squadron lying-to off the north point of Lissa; the wind at that time was from the N.W., blowing a fine breeze. The enemy having formed in two divisions, instantly bore down to attack us under all possible sail. The British line, led by the Amphion, was formed by signal in the closest order on starboard tack to receive them. At 9 A.M. the action commenced by our firing on the headmost ships as they came within range. The intention of the enemy appeared to be to break our line in two places; the starboard division, led by the French commodore, bearing upon the Amphion and Active, and the larboard division on the Cerberus and Volage. In this attempt he failed (though almost aboard of us), by the well-directed fire and compact order of our line. He then endeavoured to round the van-ship, to engage to leeward, and thereby place us between two fires; but was so warmly received in the attempt, and rendered so totally unmanageable, that in the act of wearing he went on shore on the rocks of Lissa, in the greatest possible confusion. The line was then wore to renew the action, the Amphion not half a cable's length from the shore; the remainder of the enemy's starboard division passing under our stern, and engaging us to leeward, whilst the larboard division tacked and remained to windward, engaging the Cerberus, Volage, and Active. In this situation the action con

tinued with great fury, his majesty's ships frequently in positions which unavoidably exposed them to a raking fire from the enemy, who, with his superiority of numbers, had ability to take advantage of it; but no

thing, Sir, could withstand the brave squadron I had the honour to command. At 11 20' A. M. the Flore struck her colours, and at noon the Bellona followed her example. The enemy to windward now endeavoured to make off, but were followed up as close as the disabled state of his majesty's ships would admit of; and the Active and Cerberus were enabled at 3 P.M. to compel the sternmost of them to surrender, when the action ceased, leaving us in possession of the Corona of 44 guns, and the Bellona 32. The Favorite of 44 guns, on shore, shortly after blew up with a dreadful explosion, the corvette making all possible sail to the N. W., and two frigates crowding sail for the port of Lessina, the brig making off to the S. E., and the small craft flying in every direction; nor was it in my power to prevent them, having no ship in a state to follow them. I must now account for the Flore's getting away after she had struck her colours. At the time I was engaged with that ship the Bellona was raking us, and when she struck I had no boat that could possibly take possession of her. I therefore preferred closing with the Bellona and taking her, to losing time alongside the Flore, which ship I already considered belonging to us. I call on the officers of my own squadron, as well as those of the enemy, to witness my assertion. The correspondence I have had on this subject with the French captain of the Danaé (now their commodore), and which I enclose herewith, is convincing; and even their own officers, prisoners here, acknowledge the fact. Indeed I might have sunk her, and so might the Active; but as the colours were down, and all firing from her had long ceased, both Captain Gordon and myself considered her as our own; the delay of getting a boat on board the Bellona, and the anxious pursuit of Captain Gordon after the beaten enemy, enabled him to steal off, till too late for our shattered ships to come up with him, his rigging and sails apparently not much injured; but, by the laws of war, I shall ever maintain he belongs to us. The enemy's squadron was commanded by Monsieur Dubourdieu, a capitaine de vaisseau, and a member of the Legion of Honour, who is killed. In justice to a brave man, I must say he set a noble example of intrepidity to those under him. They sailed from Ancona the 11th instant with 500 troops on board, and every thing necessary for fortifying and garrisoning the island of Lissa. Thanks to Frovidence, we have this time prevented them."

In the important naval operations carried on in the Adriatic during the year 1813, Captain Hoste rendered valuable services, especially in the reduction of the fortresses of Cattaro and Ragusa.

He was raised to the dignity of a baronet on the 23d of July, 1814, and died in December, 1828.

Colonel Dixon Denham.

BORN A. D. 1786.-DIED A. D. 1828.

THIS gallant and adventurous officer was born in London, and edncated at Merchant Tailors' school. He entered the army in 1811, and served in the peninsular campaign, and afterwards in the Netherlands.

In 1819 he obtained admission into the senior department of the

Royal military college at Farnham, where he prosecuted his scientific studies with great success. After the death of Ritchie, the African traveller, Captain Denham volunteered his services to carry on the researches begun by Ritchie; and his offer being accepted by government, he reached Memoon in the month of March, 1822.

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From Memoon he proceeded to Sockna, and thence to Moorzook, whence, after some delay occasioned by the bashaw's duplicity, he set out for Bornou. On the 17th of February, 1823, he arrived at Kouka. This," says he, was to us a momentous day, and it seemed to be equally so to our conductors. Notwithstanding all the difficulties that had presented themselves at the various stages of our journey, we were at last within a few short miles of our destination; were about to become acquainted with a people who had never seen, or scarcely heard of, an European; and to tread on ground, the knowledge and true situation of which had hitherto been wholly unknown." On his presentation to the sheikh of Bornou he soon gained his confidence, and was promised by him all the assistance in his power towards attaining a knowledge of the country and its inhabitants. After passing about two months at Kouka, he inconsiderately joined a hostile expedition sent out by the sheikh against the Felatahs. On the way he passed some days at Mandara, the sultan of which country joined the Bornouese troops, who, together with himself, after burning two small towns, were put to flight and defeated by the Felatahs, at the siege of Musfeia. The situation of Major Denham, in his retreat from the pursuers, was dreadful in the extreme; both himself and his horse were badly wounded; and, after twice falling with the latter, and fighting singly against three or four assailants, he at length lay disarmed on the ground. "At that moment," he relates, "my hopes of life were too faint to deserve the name. I was almost instantly surrounded; and, incapable of making the least resistance, was as speedily stripped. My pursuers then made several thrusts at me with their spears, that badly wounded my hands in two places, and slightly my body, just under my ribs, on the right side; indeed, I saw nothing before me but the same cruel death I had seen unmercifully inflicted on the few who had fallen into the power of those who now had possession of me. My shirt was now absolutely torn off my back, and I was left perfectly naked. When my plunderers began to quarrel for the spoil, the idea of escape came like lightning across my mind; and, without a moment's hesitation, I crept under the belly of the horse nearest me, and started as fast as my legs could carry me for the thickest part of the wood: two of the Felatahs followed, and gained upon me; for the prickly underwood not only obstructed my passage, but tore my flesh miserably; and the delight with which I saw a mountain-stream gliding along at the bottom of a deep ravine cannot be imagined. My strength had almost left me, and I seized the young branches issuing from the stump of a large tree which overhung the ravine, for the purpose of letting myself down into the water; when, under my hand, as the branch yielded to the weight of my body, a large liffa, the worst kind of serpent this country produces, rose from its coil, as if in the very act of striking. I was horror-struck, and deprived, for a moment, of all recollection-the branch slipped from my hand, and I tumbled headlong into the water beneath: this shock, however, revived me; and, with three strokes of my arms, I reached the

opposite bank, which, with difficulty, I climbed up, and then, for the first time, felt myself safe from my pursuers." After passing through other dangers and disasters almost as appalling as those just related, Major Denham returned to Kouka, where he arrived in the beginning of May, in a state of extreme wretchedness. In his way back, he relates, the little food he could procure "was thrust out from under Barca Sana's (the sheikh's general) tent, and consisted generally of his leavings. Pride," he continues, "was sometimes nearly choking me, but hunger was the paramount feeling; I smothered the former, ate, and was thankful." "Thus," he observes, on terminating his account of it, "ended our most unsuccessful expedition; it had, however, injustice and op. pression for its basis, and who can regret its failure ?"

In January, 1824, he obtained permission from the sheikh to visit the Loggun nation, and on the 16th of February he entered their capital, called Kernuk, after exploring a portion of the great internal African lake, the Tchad. Returning to Kouka in the following month, he set out from that place for Tripoli, by way of Lori and Woodie, carrying with him presents from the sheikh of Bornou to the king of England. He entered Tripoli on the 26th of January, 1825; and, a few days after, embarked for Leghorn, accompanied by Captain Clapperton.

His companion having again adventured on African discovery, the task of preparing and publishing the account of their mutual discoveries devolved upon Major Denham, who executed it in a very satisfactory manner, and soon after was appointed governor of Sierra Leone, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He entered upon the duties of his government with great zeal and spirit; but was cut off in a few months by the fatal fever of the country.

"If," says a writer in the United Service Journal,' "if supposed knowledge of the climate, if easy conformity with the aborigines' modes of living (for to that Colonel Denham always turned his attention, and adapted himself); if perfect confidence, from these circumstances, that African atmosphere possessed no perils for him, so inured had he been to all its influences during his wide, wide travels through its burning deserts, and along its steaming shores; if a jocund, happy heart, happy in spreading comfort around him, from his countrymen in the colony, to the rescued native black; and sanguinely putting forward his yet more promising plans, ready to be brought into immediate activity;if this sense of amply doing the duty he was sent out to perform, animating the natural strength of his fine constitution, could have kept the warm blood unvenomed in that benevolent heart; could have preserved the bright health, which one hour glowed on that manly cheek, and in the next was extinguished in livid paleness; if all this could have sufficed to compass with security the life of man in that colony, Denham would not have died! But the good, the brave, has indeed fallen! and who is safe?' It was on the 9th of June, 1828, that he breathed his last in the government house at Sierra Leone, after a few days' severe illness. Young as he was, he had completed his commission on earth; for his sun, though yet in its early noon, had gone down in a glorious path, and a rich harvest of good works waved over it. The news, when brought to England, did not find a father or a mother to weep for a noble son,-whose growing fame was to reflect honour on their hoary heads no more. They had been, many years before, laid

in their peaceful tombs. But his brother survived; his elder in primogeniture, and, as such, one who, from the time of their revered parents' death, had been a brother indeed,—a friend, a father, to the young and enterprising soldier; he lived but in the happiness and honour of that dear and adventurous charge; and nobly did the indefatigable aspirant repay him with the object of his fraternal cares; for, ere a few years had passed away, Dixon Denham became renowned as a successful as well as faithful servant of his country; also, as an unwearied benefactor to the poor inhabitants of the wildest regions, whithersoever he was sent; and in this true celebrity his not less beneficent and disinterested kinsman found a just recompense, himself a retired man, but frankly enjoying, with an honest pride, the light which shone round his brother's name; for it was the light of integrity, talent, and an intrepid

soul."

Sir Edward West.

BORN A. D. 1783.-DIED A. D. 1828.

THIS eminent Indian judge was educated at Harrow and Oxford. Having been called to the bar, he made himself known and esteemed in his profession by his Treatise on Extents,' or executions at the suit of the king against the king's debtors. In 1815 he published an able Essay on the application of Capital to Land;' and in 1826 a tract 'On the Price of Corn, and the Wages of Labour.'

In 1823 he was appointed recorder of Bombay; and in the establishment of the supreme court, was constituted chief-justice. In July, 1826, when it was proposed to adopt the Calcutta regulations for controlling the press, Sir Edward rejected the measure, in the following most constitutional opinion :

"The purport of the present regulation, which is the same as that passed at Calcutta, is to prohibit the publication of any newspaper, or other periodical work, by any person not licensed by the governor and council, and to make such license revocable at the pleasure of the governor and council. It is quite clear, on the mere enunciation, that this regulation imposes a restriction upon the liberty of the subject, which nothing but circumstances and the state of society can justify. The British legislature has gone to a great extent at different times, both in England and in Ireland, in prohibiting what is lawful in itself, lest it should be used for unlawful purposes, but never without its appearing to the satisfaction of the legislature that it was rendered necessary by the state of the country. It is on this ground of expediency and necessity, on account of the abuses (as stated) of the press at Calcutta, from the state of affairs there, and from the exigency of the case, that the Calcutta regulation is maintained by its very preamble; by three of the four reasons of the Court of Directors, upon the appeal; and by the whole of the argument of counsel, upon the hearing of it. (The learned judge here read the preamble to the Calcutta regulation, and extracts from the reasons of the Court of Directors upon the appeal; and also adverted to the arguments which had been urged by counsel upon the hearing of that appeal; for the purpose of showing that the Calcutta