have come to a general engagement, but designed to draw him down the Streights,-a statement that no one but his enemies ever denied. Mathews passed the remainder of his days in retirement. He died about the year 1751.

Sir Peter Warren.

BORN A. D. 1703.-DIED A. D. 1752.

THIS gallant officer was the descendant of an ancient and respectable Irish family. He was born about the year 1703. On the 19th of June, 1727, he was appointed post-captain of the Grafton. Early in the year 1728, the court of Madrid having acceded to the preliminary articles for a general peace, Captain Warren removed into the Solebay frigate, for the purpose of carrying out to the West Indies the king of Spain's orders for executing there the preliminaries alluded to. He proceeded on this service on the 5th of May, and returned to England in 1729. Immediately on his arrival, he was appointed to the Leopard, of fifty guns. In 1735, Captain Warren, who still continued to command the Leopard, accompanied Sir John Norris to Lisbon. In 1742 he commanded the Launceston, of forty guns. He was sometime afterwards promoted to the Superbe of sixty guns; and, being ordered to the West Indies, was left by Sir Chaloner Ogle commodore of a small squadron on the Antigua station. He very much distinguished himself by his extraordinary exertions while employed in this service. Having taken a station off Martinique, his squadron captured between the 12th of February and the 24th of June, 1744, twenty-four valuable prizes, carrying 202 guns, 832 men, and amounting in burthen to 4332 tons. One of the prizes was a register-ship valued at £250,000.

In 1745, a project was formed in the general assembly of Massachusetts, New England, to surprise the city of Louisbourg, the capital of Cape Breton, and to drive the French entirely from that island. Government, well-informed of the importance of the enterprise, ordered Warren to quit his station at the Leeward islands and join the American expedition. This armament was raised with so much secrecy and despatch, that an army of 3850 volunteers, under the command of William Pepperel, was ready to embark at Boston before the French government was apprized of the intention. The naval force under Warren consisted, exclusive of his own ship the Superbe, only of the Launceston and Eltham, of forty guns each, which were, soon after his arrival on the coast, joined by the Mermaid of the same force. He arrived at Canso, in Nova Scotia, on the 25th of April, and found the troops had reached the place of rendezvous upwards of three weeks before. On the 29th, the troops reimbarked, and the whole of the armament came to an anchor in Gabarus bay, about a league distant from Louisbourg, on the 30th. Nothing could exceed the consternation into which the inhabitants and garrison were thrown by this unexpected visit. The debarkation was effected without loss, and the city formally invested on the land side. While the troops were successfully employed on both sides of the harbour on shore, Commodore Warren was equally vigilant and fortunate in his own proper element. He so securely blocked up

the mouth of the harbour, that during the whole siege, only one vessel got in to the relief of the city. He captured the Vigilante, a French man-of-war of sixty-four guns, laden with stores, a great number of heavy cannon, and a thousand half-barrels of gunpowder for the city of Louisbourg, independent of articles for the equipment of a seventy-gun ship then building in Canada, and two very valuable French East Indiamen, with a ship from Lima, having on board upwards of three hundred thousand pounds in specie, besides a very valuable cargo.

On the 14th of June, every thing was prepared for a general assault both by land and water; but next day a flag of truce came to the British camp, with proposals of surrender from the governor. The French flag was struck on the 17th, and the British flag hoisted in its place early next morning. On the 4th of July, the garrison, and a great number of the inhabitants, were embarked on board fourteen cartel ships, which were conveyed by the Launceston man-of-war to Rochefort. As soon as the news of this success reached England, Mr Warren was promoted to the rank of rear admiral of the blue.

After his return to England he appears to have enjoyed a short repose from the fatigue of public business; he was, nevertheless, on the 14th of July, advanced to be rear-admiral of the white. In the beginning of the year 1747 he was appointed second in command of the squadron sent out under Anson, for the purpose of intercepting the united French squadrons bound to America and the East Indies, which were reported to be on the point of sailing from Brest. The latter of these armaments was reserved for a future victory; that bound to America, under the command of M. De Jonquiere, being the only one that put to sea. Its destination was the re-conquest of Louisbourg. When the French fleet, amounting in the whole to thirty-eight sail, was first discovered, Anson, who was in the rear, made the signal for the ships under his command to form the line of battle; but Warren, who was in the van, perceiving that considerable time would be lost by this measure, affected to take no notice of the signal, but made that for a general chase, setting his top-gallant sails at the same instant. Anson saw the propriety of Warren's measures, and, instead of enforcing his own, repeated Warren's signal: the result was, that the headmost ship soon closed with the enemy, and brought them to action. The Devonshire of sixty-six guns, Warren's flag-ship, got up with De Jonquiere himself on board the Serieux, and, after receiving his fire, closed within pistol-shot, and continued to engage till the Serieux struck. Having silenced this antagonist, Warren proceeded to attack the Invincible, commanded by the commodore de St George, the second officer in the French squadron, and was so well seconded by the Bristol, Captain Montague, that their opponent was quickly dismasted. The issue of this memorable encounter was glorious: the whole of the French squadron, consisting of six ships of two decks, including the Gloire, of fortyfour guns, besides four frigates, were taken. Warren's gallantry was rewarded with the order of the Bath. On the 15th of July he was advanced to the rank of vice-admiral of the white.

Sir Peter sailed again from Spithead on a cruise, on the 2d of September; but, falling sick, was compelled to quit his command, and retire to his country-seat at Westbury, in Hampshire. This was the last

naval service he lived to perform, peace being concluded in the ensuing year.

At the general election in 1747, Sir Peter was chosen representative in parliament for the city of Westminster; and, on the 12th of May, 1748, was promoted to be vice-admiral of the red. A violent inflammatory fever put a period to his existence on the 29th of July, 1752.

Horatio, Lord Walpole.

BORN A. D. 1678.-DIED A. D. 1757.

THIS nobleman, the brother of the celebrated minister, was born in 1678. In 1706 he accompanied General Stanhope to Barcelona, as private-secretary; and, in 1708, went as secretary of an embassy to the emperor of Germany. In 1720 he was appointed secretary to the duke of Grafton, viceroy of Ireland. In 1723 he went as ambassador to Paris, where he resided till 1727. In 1733 he was sent with plenipotentiary powers to the states-general of Holland. In 1756 he was created a peer of England, by the title of Lord Walpole of Wotterton. His lordship died in February, 1757. Mr Coxe has published memoirs of Lord Walpole, from which it appears that he was intimately trusted with the secret springs of ministerial action, and trod faithfully in the path prescribed to him by his brother. Yet his nephew and namesake says of him :-" He was a dead-weight on his brother's ministry; the first to take off that load on his brother's fall; yet nobody so intemperatively abusive on all who connected with his brother's enemies, nobody so ready to connect with them for the least flattery, which he loved next to money, indeed he never entirely forgave Lord Bath for being richer. His mind was a strange mixture of sense, allayed by absurdity, wit by mimicry, knowledge by buffoonery, bravery by meanness, honesty by selfishness, impertinence by nothing." In 1753, describing, on some occasion, the different manners of speaking ill, he characterizes his uncle as speaking "shamelessly ;" and, in a long and laboured comparison between Sir Robert and Mr Pelham, he introduces abuse of both their brothers in the following terms:-" Both were fortunate in themselves, unhappy in their brothers. With unbounded thirst for politics, the duke of Newcastle and Horace Walpole were wretched politicians. Each inferior to their brothers in every thing laudable; each assuming, and jealous of their own credit; though neither the duke nor Horace could ever have been considerable, but by the fortune of their brothers. The one childish and extravagant; the other (his own uncle) a buffoon and avaricious; Horace sunk into contempt when his brother fell with honour. The duke was often on the point of dragging his brother down, and was the object of all contempt, even when his brother had still power and honour. Mr Pelham maintained his inferiority to Sir Robert Walpole, even in the worthlessness of his brother.""

Lord Walpole aided his brother with several political pamphlets, of which his nephew is pleased to say, that they are better than his speeches.

Admiral Vernon.

BORN A. D. 1684.-DIED A. D. 1757.

THE Vernons are a very ancient and honourable family, descended from the lords of Vernon, in the duchy of Normandy. Their common ancestor, William de Vernon, assumed his surname from the town and district of Vernon, whereof he was sole proprietor in the year 1052. He had two sons, Richard and Walter, who both came into England with William the Conqueror. The younger obtained several lordships in Cheshire and Bucks; but, dying without issue, they descended to his elder brother, Richard de Vernon, lord of Vernon, who was one of the barons created by Hugh Lupus, to whom the Conqueror, in the 20th year of his reign, granted the county-palatine of Chester.

The subject of our present article was born at Westminster, on the 12th of November, 1684. His father was secretary to King William and Queen Mary. Young Vernon's first expedition to sea was under Vice-admiral Hopson, in the attack upon Cadiz. He afterwards served as second-lieutenant of the Resolution, one of the ships despatched to the West Indies, under Commodore Walker. In 1704 he acted in the capacity of lieutenant on board the fleet commanded by Sir George Rooke, which convoyed the king of Spain to Lisbon, on which occasion Vernon had the honour to receive a valuable ring, and a purse of two hundred guineas, from the monarch's own hand. He was present at the battle off Malaga, the same year.

After passing through several subordinate stations in the service, he was advanced to be captain of the Dolphin frigate, a ship at that time employed in the Mediterranean, under the orders of Sir John Leake. Not long after, he was removed to the Rye, and sent to England, in the month of August following, with the news of the surrender of Alicant. In 1707 he was promoted to the Jersey, a fourth-rate, and despatched to the West Indies, where he captured several valuable merchant-vessels, and some privateers. On the peace of Utrecht, Vernon quitted the Jersey; but, in 1714, was appointed to the Assistance, of fifty guns. From this time, during a period of twenty-one years, he took upon him no other command than that of the Grafton, a third-rate, of seventy guns, sent under the orders of Sir Charles Wager to the northward, for the purpose of co-operating with the Danish squadron, and counteracting the hostile designs of Russia. During a considerable part of this interval, however, he served as a representative in parliament for the town of Ipswich, nigh to which he held considerable landed property. Being a man of great natural abilities, and possessed of a fluent though course mode of delivering his sentiments, he was considered by ministers-to whom he was constantly in opposition-as one of their most disagreeable antagonists; and they eagerly seized the earliest opportunity of removing him from their immediate presence. This was furnished by himself. In one of his paroxysms of oratory, after arraigning most bitterly the torpid measures of administration, he proceeded, in very strong terms, to insist on the facility with which the most valuable and formidable of the Spanish possessions in the West Indies, might be

reduced under the dominion of Britain. In particular, he asserted that the town of Porto-Bello might be taken by a force not exceeding six ships of the line; and that he himself was actually ready to hazard his life and reputation by undertaking the enterprise. This hasty, and perhaps at the moment far from serious opinion, was instantly and cagerly closed with by ministers, who "embraced this opportunity of acquiring some popularity, and, at the same time, of removing a troublesome opponent in the house of commons." He was accordingly advanced to the rank of vice-admiral of the blue on the 9th of July, 1739.

He hoisted his flag on board the Burford, of seventy guns; and such was the expedition used in collecting and equipping the ships intended to be placed under his orders, that within eleven days from the time of his being appointed a vice-admiral, he was enabled to put to sea. Contrary winds retarded his arrival at Porto-Bello, till the 20th of November; but that place was gallantly carried by him after a brief resistance. The news of this success was received in England with a degree of ecstasy scarcely to be described; mothers even taught their children to lisp out the name of Vernon as a hero whose deeds stood far beyond all competition; by one single action he had acquired a popularity for which other men, not so fortunate, have in vain offered the less dazzling, but, perhaps not less valuable actions of a long and well-spent life. The harbour of Porto-Bello was the principal rendezvous of the Spanish guarda-costas, which had for a series of years committed a number of depredations little short of actual piracy; and there was no small degree of satisfaction, as well as national justice, in causing an enemy to feel the first exertion of British resentment on the very spot whence Britain had been most insulted. But, as it never was intended by government to retain possession of their new conquest, the vice-admiral immediately proceeded to take on board the different ships of the squadron all the cannon, ammunition, and stores, that were worth removal, and to destroy the remainder together with the fortifications.

The reduction of Porto-Bello determined ministers to send out such a reinforcement to the West Indies as should enable Vernon to attack the most formidable settlements of the Spaniards in the New World. An armament, consisting of twenty-five sail of the line, under the command of Sir Chaloner Ogle, with a proportionate number of frigates, and a large fleet of transports, having on board upwards of 10,000 land-forces, were accordingly despatched from England to join the viceadmiral. The land-forces were commanded by Lord Cathcart, a nobleman of high character and great experience in military affairs; but, unfortunately for the expectations of his country, he died soon after his arrival in the West Indies, and the command devolved on General Wentworth. The reinforcement from England joined Vernon at Jamaica, on the 9th of January, 1741, and the fleet under his command now consisted of thirty-one sail of the line. With this armament, the most powerful which had ever appeared before in the American seas, Vernon proceeded to Carthagena. The fleet anchored, on the 4th of March, in Playa Grande bay; and the first successes of the assailants promised a speedy and honourable termination to the enterprise. But in the early part of April, the troops became sickly, and

1 Campbell