,*,<'.¥• GIFT OF SEELEY W. MUDD and GEORGE L COCHRAN MEYER ELSASSER UK. JOHN K. WAYNES WILLIAM L. WONNOLD IAMBS R. MARTIN MKS.JOSEPW E. SARTORI to the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SOUTHERN BRANCH mis dook is uue on tne last date stamped below Southern Branch of the University of California Los Angeles EdM r ar // ,LorcL //) Temple West. Nassau 70 )> James Lloyd. Cambridge 80 n Charles Drummond. Barfleur (Admiral) 90 » ? Merrick De LV Angle. Princess Caroline 80 >> Henry Osborn. Berwick 70 11 Edward Hawke. Chichester 80 11 William Dilke. Kingston 60 11 John Lovett. Centre : Admiral Thomas Mathews. Dragon 60 Captain Charles Watson. Bedford 70 11 Hon. George Townshend Princesa 74 11 Robert Pett. Norfolk 80 11 Hon. John Forbes. Namur (Admiral) 90 11 John Russel. Marlborough 90 11 James Cornewall. Dorsetshire 80 11 George Burrish. Essex 70 11 Richard Norris. Rupert 60 11 John Ambrose. Royal Oak 70 11 Edmund Williams. Rear : Vice-admiral Richard Lestock. Dunkirk 60 Captain Charles Purvis. Somerset 80 >> George Sclater. Torbay 70 11 John Gascoigne. Neptune (Admiral) 90 11 George Stepney. Russell 80 11 Robert Long. Buckingham 70 11 John Towry Bovne 80 •> J) Rowland Frogmere. Elisabeth 70 11 Joshua Lingen. Revenge 70 11 George Berkeley. The moment of Mathews' attack was selected with judgment. The Spanish line had an immense gap in it ; five ships being a long way astern of their Admiral and of his two seconds, the " Constante " and " Santa BATTLE OFF TOULON. 149 Isabel." On these three ships Mathews gallantly bore down till within close fighting distance, supported with equal gallantry by Forbes in the " Norfolk," and Cornewall in the " Marlborough " ; while the three leading ships of the Spanish Division left their Admiral to his fate, and held on with the French centre. The " Poder " alone remained ; a ship exceptionally well manned and commanded, while the remaining English ships of Mathews' division, and two more which had strayed from the other Divisions, nine in all, were so badly commanded that this one Spaniard held them all at bay. She had no great difficulty, it seems, in driving the "Princesa" and "Somerset" out of the line ; and the " Bedford," " Dragon," "Dorsetshire," "Essex," "Rupert," "Kingston," and " Royal Oak " amused themselves with ineffectual shots at her from too great a distance to penetrate, or pursued much the same course, when they thought they saw an opportunity, with the three Spanish ships which were locked in deadly embrace with Mathews, Cornwall, and Forbes, or with the five lagging Spaniards who were out of the reach of shot. It is even said that in this random firing the " Somerset" received several shots from the " Kingston." Of the three officers mentioned, Forbes had the easiest task, as he soon drove the "Constante" out of the line, though at the cost of great damage to his own masts and rigging, as well as of several men killed and wounded. But the " Namur " and " Marl- borough," receiving no assistance worth mention from any other ships, were left at the end of a close 150 LIFE OP LORD HAWKE. engagement, lasting some three hours, in as bad a state as their opponents. Not that they lost nearly so many men : for it is said that the Spanish Admiral, who had nearly 2,000 soldiers and sailors on board, lost 500; but the " Marlborough " lost 171 men, killed and wounded, as well as her main and mizen masts, and the " Namur" was so badly damaged that Mathews shifted his flag towards the evening, into the " Russell." The chief loss however sustained in the battle was that of the gallant Captain Cornewall, of the " Marlborough," the same officer who had been originally proposed as Anson's coadjutor in his ex- pedition to the Pacific. Had he lived he might have become a great man.* Turning now our attention to the English van : — when the Commander-in-Chief and his seconds bore clown on the Spanish Admiral, Rowley, supported by his second, Osborn of the "Princess Caroline," did the same by the French Admiral, De Court, who com- manded the centre of the combined fleet. His task was in one respect a more difficult one than his chief's, for the Frenchman appeared to wait for him till he came close up, and then set all sail, drawing off to * The disproportioned grandeur and costliness of Captain Coi'newall's monument in Westminster Abbey, erected at the public expense, is, like that of some similar national monuments to mere Captains who fell in command of their ships, historically interesting, inasmuch as they testify to the enthusiasm or special feeling of the nation at the moment. Parliament felt it could not too strongly mark the general approval of the contrast afforded Ly Cornewall's gallant conduct to that of too many who were engaged in the battle ; and he was a member of the Lower House. BATTLE OFF TOULON. 151 leeward, and corning to the wind again ; thus, without running away, avoiding with much dexterity the close action which he knew was what he had most to dread. However he could not pursue these tactics very far, or he would have gone too much to leeward of the Spanish rear ; and thus Rowley and Osborn came up with him and his two seconds at last. After a close conflict of some two hours the two English ships, not without a considerable loss of men, obliged their three opponents to make off ; but they did not succeed in capturing one of them. Those were the only three ships of the French centre which were engaged ; as the rest kept their wind with a view of tacking and coming down upon Rowley, and so to place him between two fires. This was prevented by the inde- pendent action of the three leading ships of the English van, which, as has been said, disobeyed the signal to bear down and engage, and, keeping their wind, not only paralysed the enemy's van, but also the leading ships of his centre. For this their Cap- tains, Temple West, Cooper, and Lloyd, were tried by Courtmartial, and cashiered ; but within a year restored to their former rank. As they saved the fleet by their disobedience, this sentence was only one of the many anomalies of an extraordinary battle, and still more extraordinary series of Courtsmartial. As to the remaining ships of Rowley's division, the "Cambridge," "Chichester," and "Berwick," it is difficult to discover what service was performed by the first, but her Captain was not tried by Courtmartial, and was no doubt reasonably excused : Captain Dilke 152 LIFE OP LORD HAWKK. of the " Chichester " was tried and found guilty of not engaging sufficiently close ; the " Berwick " remains. Captain Hawke's station was towards the rear of the van, and his first opponent the Spanish "Neptuno,"* one of the ships which we have seen leaving the rear Division and pushing forward into the centre. After about an hour's close engagement he drove her out of the line, with heavy loss. It seems she lost that day her Captain, First Lieutenant, four other officers, and 200 men : but she did not strike. This battle pro- duced the effect of bringing the " Berwick " within no great distance of the " Poder," the ship which, we have seen, had driven two English ships out of the line, and kept several more of the centre Division at bay. Hawke at once, with that rapid intuition which was his characteristic, made up his mind to put an end to such a disgraceful spectacle. Bearing down upon her within pistol, or " half-musket," shot, his first broadside killed 27 of her men and dismounted several of her lower-deck guns. In twenty minutes he had dismasted her; and at the end of a two hours' conflict at close quarters, during which the " Poder " lost 200 men killed and wounded, f the brave Spaniard struck his colours. It is said that, on the occurrence of this event, which cost the " Berwick " the loss of only five men wounded, more than one ship was sent to take possession of the " Poder " ; but the Captain would deliver his sword to no one but the officer sent * See the evidence of Mr. Cole, Master of the "Berwick," given at the Courtmartial on Mathews, f Log of the " Berwick." HAWKE AND THE " PODER." 153 by the ship to which he had struck, pointing to the " Berwick," and saying at the same time that he held the others in the greatest contempt.* Lieutenant Lloyd was the officer sent by Hawke, with 22 men, to take possession ; he was First Lieutenant of the ship, and was examined on Mathews' Courtmartial. From his evidence we obtain some valuable information. It was about 4 p.m. when the " Poder ' struck, and a good deal had happened, which must be noticed before we return to her, since the two Admirals had borne down out of line. The "Real" (or "Royal Philip") and the "Marl- borough " were lying like wrecks on the water, and the " Namur '' and " Norfolk ' : had become almost unmanageable from the damage incurred in their rig- ging. Mathews, finding he could not make the "Real" strike, and having drifted to some distance from her, now determined to set her on fire by means of the " Ann," fireship. All fleets carried with them two or three of these vessels, though they were but seldom used in the open sea. In this terrible emergency the Spanish Admiral could only with great difficulty bring- any guns to bear on the " Ann " ; and she was coming down under full sail upon him. He was saved by a series of accidents. Some of his shot struck the vessel, and his launch approached so near as to cause the Captain of the " Ann " to fire his guns at her. These set fire to the explosive material, and the "Ann" blew up, with all who were still on board, before * Hervey's " Naval History," vol. iv. p. 250. 154 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. reaching the " Real." It came out at the Courtmartial that the officers of the fireship were "fuddled " ; the Admiral's orders to her were delayed till the opportunity- was lost; every detail on board the vessel went wrong- throughout ; and the " Essex," which was particularly ordered to support her, did nothing of the sort. The French Admiral, if he did not gain the palm of valour, carried off by the brave Navarro, who had received two wounds, now showed the skill of an accomplished admiral. In the midst of the rude assault of Rowley, he perceived the state of the " Real " and her consorts, and fearing that the British rear must by this time have come up, disengaged himself from Rowley and Osborn, made the signal for the fleet to tack, — the log of the " Berwick " says that they wore — and quickly formed his ships into a good line of battle on the starboard tack. Rowley followed his example, and, collecting his own ships, rallied to the side of his own admiral, who, in conse- quence of the five Spanish ships (which had been so far astern when the action began) having at last come up, was unable to pursue his advantage over the "Real" any farther. Mathews now, therefore, finally collected both divisions round the crippled "Marlborough," standing on the opposite tack from the combined fleet, or as Lestock described the manoeuvre, running away from his enemy. Nothing more of importance was done that day. But where was Lestock ? If two Divisions of the fleet could, in spite of numerous defections, prove a match for the whole of the enemy, something decisive might certainly have been expected lestock's behaviour. 155 from the three together. But no help came from the Vice-admiral. There had been an error in Mathews' signals; and though Lestock had arrived during the afternoon within fighting distance, he took advantage of the error not to fight at all, but to keep aloof. The signal for " engaging " had been made when that for " the line of battle " was still flying. Nothing but the above-mentioned feud could have so warped the judgment of a man, who had behaved well in previous battles, as to persuade him that he was doing his duty in obeying the literal construction of both signals while disregarding the evident spirit which dictated the last signal, the signal to engage. Nevertheless it was the letter of the law ; and a Courtmartial acquitted him ! To return to Hawke and his prize. The operations above described* had the effect of leaving them both well to leeward of the rest of the fleet, and boats were passing between them. Lloyd, on his way from the prize, was hailed by Admiral Rowley, who, with his division, was now standing to windward in order to join Mathews, and went on board. The Admiral told Lloyd on the quarter-deck of the " Barfleur " that " he would do his endeavours to save the prize, and give Captain Hawke the honour of carrying her to Minorca ; that he had not been well acquainted with Captain Hawke before, but he should now be very well acquainted with him from his behaviour." Before * In Clerk's " Naval Tactics " there is ;i plan of the battle which gives, on the whole, a fair general idea of it. 156 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. Lloyd could get to the " Berwick," which was also trying to rejoin the fleet, he had to pass near the prize, — the February night was now closing in, — and, to his horror, descried a French ship close to her. He immediately rowed back to Admiral Rowley, to report the fact. Rowley ordered him to go on board the " Berwick " instantly, and take his orders to Hawke to bear down again and drive off the French ship. This the " Berwick" did, and again rejoined the fleet. Lloyd now brought a boat's load of prisoners from the prize, but not being able to overtake his own ship, put them on board the "Royal Oak" for the night, and rejoined the " Berwick " with them next day. When this officer, by that time a Captain, gave his evidence, the Court asked : — " And did a large body of His Majesty's fleet run away from a division of the enemy's fleet, and leave them in possession of the only prize His Majesty's fleet had taken that day, and desert that ship which had dis- tinguished itself by taking her?" Lloyd: — "Our fleet stood from her, which obliged the ' Berwick ' to follow them, upon the French fleet's coming down on her." It was now too late to get the Fourth Lieutenant of the " Berwick " and his 17 men — (the Master deposed to the number being 22) — out of the " Poder," and the French fleet, finding themselves close to her, took possession of Hawke's prize, and made prisoners of the officer and men. Thus the one trophy of the day was gone ; and we may imagine the feelings of her captors. Not the least bitter part of the affair was MATHEWS' ERRORS. 157 that Mathews had ignored them altogether, and when the " Poder " was afterwards abandoned by the enemy, gave the orders for her destruction, not to Hawke, but to Captain Norris of the "Essex," who had behaved disgracefully from first to last. Again, such was his mismanagement, that when Rowley had ordered the " Diamond " frigate to lie by the prize, Mathews coun- termanded the order. The evidence showed she might have been saved if the directions of the former had been obeyed. This was far from a trifle. In such a balanced and confused action, one line-of-battle ship captured and retained, would have refuted the claim of the enemy to have gained a victory ; though indeed the claim, absurd as it was, may be forgiven, since its effect was to make the noble Navarro the Marquis de la Victoria. National vanity, however, is pardon- able : that the excellent historian, Ranke, should speak of this battle as a victory for the combined fleets, is one of the few errors which can be detected in his " History of England." Mathews having at last collected his fleet, worked to windward all night, the wind being still from the Eastward ; and in the morning appears to have been surprised to find the enemy far away, running to leeward, as fast as their shattered state would allow, and already at least a dozen miles off. This was bad management to begin with. The whole of the day was taken up in the pursuit ; but the winds were light, and the distance was only lessened by about a hall, while the enemy, hampered by the state of the " Real," which was towed by another ship, and still more by 158 LIFE OF LORD HAWEE. the dismasted " Poder," were obliged to relinquish the latter, and tried to set her on fire. This however failed, and Norris of the " Essex," in pursuit of his orders, completed, when his ship came near enough, the combustion. She soon blew up. So passed the 12th. Ao*ain the nis'ht was lost : but though the wind had freshened, and the enemy had made the utmost use of it, there was still one last chance. Lestock's division was nearest to the combined fleet, and when the day broke, reported that he had discovered it. He was ordered to chase ; the rest followed. They were fast gaining on the enemy, who had still the " Real " in tow ; when, to the equal astonishment of all alike, Spaniards, French, and English, Mathews, at 9 a.m. of the loth, hoisted the signal for recall, and relin- quished the pursuit. This act crowned his series of blunders, and formed the chief charge against him. Lestock now had his revenge. He had done his best to overtake the flying- foe, on the last day at least ; and it was Mathews who stopped him at the moment when, with his division all fresh — for he had never been engaged, he had every prospect of success and distinction. It was no wonder that this proceeding should have been univer- sally assigned as the direct consequence of the quarrel, and attributed to the Admiral's jealousy of his Vice-admiral; but on his defence, strange to say, the former had more to say for it than he had for his other blunders ; and it is probable that, however mistaken, he did really feel his responsibility for the COURTMARTIAL OX MATHEWS. 159 safety of Italy with which he was entrusted, more than anything else. The freshening East wind was driving both fleets fast towards the mouth of the Straits of Gibraltar, and he might not be able to get back to his station for weeks ; he had information that the Spaniards were prepared to take advantage of his absence ; and as — so little was there of the true English admiral about him — he did not expect, as he said, to effect more by a battle than to take the " Real," he considered that the Italian question ruled the situation. That we may not have to return to this inefficient officer, it may be remarked here that he certainly was far from having fair play at his Courtinartial, which did not take place till nearly two years afterwards. During a part of this time, having speedily got rid of his obnoxious Vice-admiral by sending him home under arrest, he managed his duties in Italy with considerable success. But Lestock's political friends soon came to the head of affairs ; and, to the astonish- ment of the world, he got off ; — only however to fail finally at the expedition to L'Orient in 174G, with the naval part of which he was entrusted. When Mathews' turn came to be tried, not only were the witnesses allowed to hear each other's evidence, so that one copied from another, while the Judge Advocate most improperly tampered with the evidence; but, if we may believe Horace Walpole (who gives no proof of such an incredible statement), the members of the Court were changed if they showed any sympathy with the accused. The sentences of the two Courts 160 LIFE OF LOED HAWKE. were indeed surprising. The man who fought as hard as he could, at close quarters with his enemy, was cashiered, and rendered incapable of further employ- ment. The man who kept out of action was acquitted. Campbell, in his " Lives of the Admirals," which, though a standard book, is full of prejudice and inaccuracies, sums up the verdict of the country at the time, and of most historians since, by the remark that " Mathews might want head : Lestock certainly wanted heart. The one might deserve censure ; the Other ought to have been shot. The sentences of the Court- martial must for ever remain a blot on the annals of the country."* Nevertheless, after a careful survey of the whole of the evidence in this the most voluminous and tedious series of Courtsmartial in the history of any nation, it may be admissible to demur to the above judgment. Some allowance should be made for both chiefs, obliged to use codes of signals so imperfect as to suggest error ; and the greatest blame attaches to the Admi- ralty for employing in high command men who were decidedly unfitted for it, still more for employing them together when aware of the impossibility of their cordial co-operation. Mathews should have been shelved on the Superannuated List, but he ought not to have been cashiered. Lestock should have been placed in exactly the same position. Neither could command his own temper, and therefore they should never have been suffered again to command fleets. * Vol. iv. p. 50. A MULTITUDE OP COURTS1IARTIAL. 161 Perhaps the mistakes of Mathews were exhibited as much in his conduct towards his Captains as in his general management of the fleet. Venting all his wrath on his personal enemy, he took no steps to bring the Captains who had so shamefully misbehaved, to a Courtmartial. Neither, it must be said, did the Admiralty. This the country, speaking through its representatives in Parliament, did for them both. The House of Commons demanded that the two Admirals, and six of the Captains, should be put on their trial; and the Admiralty, waking up, added five more of the latter to the list. Of these, Captain Frogmere of the " Boyne " died on his passage home; Captain Richard Norris, of the " Essex," accused by his own officers, resigned his command, and deserted ; two were acquitted, Captains Pett of the " Princesa," and Sclater of the " Somerset " ; three, as we have seen,* were (unjustly) cashiered, but restored; Captain Williams of the "Royal Oak," and Captain Dilke of the " Chichester," were dismissed their ships, but afterwards restored and placed on half-pay ; Cap- tain Ambrose of the " Rupert " was cashiered, and mulcted of a year's pay, but eventually restored ; and Captain Burrish, Hawke's late senior in command, was cashiered and rendered incapable of further employment. The reader may enquire why, even though he has been required to follow a detailed account of the battle, he should be expected to take an interest in * P. 151. 11 162 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. these Courtsmartial. Almost any sketch of Hawke's career which he may take up will supply an answer. He will find successive compilei's copying from one another the absolute error that Hawke, though he was the only Captain to take a ship, was tried by Courtmartial for breaking the line, broke, and imme- diately reinstated. In an exceedingly brief notice of the Admiral which appears in the latest and most respectable authority, the new edition of the Ency- elopcedia Britannica, which has only just got as far as the letter H, this statement occupies a large part of the space allotted. It probably first appeared in the " Grentleman's Magazine " for 1760. Here Hawke is said to have been " broke for his bravery and restored by the King " ; and later authors may well have supposed that, as he lived, without contradicting it, for twenty years after the statement occurred, no doubt could attach to it. But such matters were quite out of our Admiral's way ; and the story may be disposed of henceforward. The officers just mentioned were the only ones accused or tried, and our narrative has shown that no charge of any kind could have arisen out of Hawke's conduct in the battle. Within a few weeks he was placed in command of a squadron of line-of-battle ships on a delicate service in the Mediter- ranean. Charnock, towards the end of the last century, was, perhaps, the first to throw discredit on the story ; but even he Avas staggered by the absence of any subsequent information about Hawke till, in 1747, he became an admiral. That blank we shall be able to fill up. If truth in these matters is of importance, it CAPTAIN RICHARD NORRIS. 163 certainly was high time that some connected account of this great admiral should be put forth. A few further words must be said about one of the officers already noticed, Captain Richard Norris, of the "Essex"; — partly because his case enables us to dispose of Admiral Rowley, the last of Hawke's seniors of whom an account has been promised, and partly because Norris' s connection with Hawke's prize brings us to the concluding notice of our hero in relation to the Battle off Toulon. Norris shared with John Byng the disadvantage of being sons of the two great officers of their time. Under the auspices of the fine admiral whose career has been noticed, Norris early arrived at rank ; whereas his disgraceful personal conduct in the battle just described, according to the evidence of all his officers (of whom Hugh Palliser, afterwards so well known, was one), showed that he ought never to have been allowed to go to sea at all. Disastrously for himself, Admiral Rowley, out of regard no doubt to the father (who this very year was placed in command of the Channel fleet to protect England from invasion), received the unfortunate man, who had resigned his command, on board his own flagship as a volunteer on half-pay. Norris begged to be tried by Courtmartial, but Rowley declined, on the ground that a half-pay officer could not be tried ; and when the Admiralty, incited to vigorous action by pressure from the House of Commons, insisted on a trial, they complained to the Lords Justices that Rowley did not properly instruct the Courtmartial when it was held, but exhibited the 11 * 164 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. strongest marks of partiality, never even confining the accused officer, who was charged with cowardice and disobedience ; and this at a time " when the discipline of the navy is already too much relaxed." The Lords of the Admiralty therefore beg the Lords Justices (the King being in Hanover) to recall the Admiral, who had been in command of the Mediter- ranean fleet since Mathews had been ordered home for trial. Rowley now at last sent Norris to England. He deserted at Gibraltar on the voyage, changed his name, and was never more heard of ; but his friend the Admiral was superseded, and never again em- ployed at sea. Thus ended, though he became a Lord of the Admiralty, and succeeded to honorary posts, the promising career of a good officer, who was one of the few who did his duty in the battle, and who had subsequently commanded the fleet for a year with high reputation.* The following Letter to Admiral Mathews, from the Letter-book in possession of the Hawke family, will sufficiently explain the later transactions in relation to the " Poder," as far as Norris was concerned : — Sib, "Berwick," at Sea, 24th February 1743. f I intreat the liberty of intruding a little upon your time to acquaint you that I sent one of my officers to Captain Norris to demand the colours and things which he and his officers have taken out of the " Poder," the Spanish man-of-war we took ; and his answer was that he could not deliver them unless it was * See Letters from the Admiralty to the Lords Justices, May 29th, 1745 ; Record Office. f Or 13th February 174f. Hawke is writing in the Mediter- ranean, where the New Style was already observed. MATHEWS' TEEATMENT OF HAWKE. 165 by your orders. I beg leave to say, sir, that it is not a little hard upon myself and my officers that we should be deprived of these things who had the justest right and title to them. And as I was not conscious to myself that I had done anything to offend you, at least I am sure not designedly, I flattered myself with the hopes that I should have had the honour to have burnt her, as well as to have taken her, but the hurry you was in might very possibly not give you time to think of it. I am therefore to beg that you will do me the justice to order Captain Norris and his officers to restore the things that they have taken, and the colours which he has in his possession, which I am convinced he cannot lay the least claim to. However, Sir, I submit this to your will and pleasure, as I shall be glad to do everything which relates to me while I have the honour to be under your command. Hawke concludes with an account of the circum- stances under which he had been obliged to leave the " Poder," substantially the same as that already given from Lloyd's evidence. Whether he obtained the colours does not appear ; but this behaviour on the part of the admiral may either be the cause or effect of the extraordinary fact that the " Poder ' is only mentioned in Mathews' despatch as "a ship of Navarre, of 66 guns, which was obliged to surrender; and that of 900 men only the Captain and 200 were saved, when she was ordered to be burnt " : then, without noticing who captured her, the " Gazette ' goes on to say " Captain Hawke of the ' Berwick ' left her, but could not get his Lieutenant and 23 men out of her ; his First Lieutenant having done all he could to persuade the men to quit her, but in vain." No doubt the completeness of Hawke's success contrasted unfavourably with his own ; but this gross misrepresentation on the part of Mathews — for its suppression of the truth amounts to that — is un- 166 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. pardonable; and it is connected with an evident desire to procure some credit for Norris, whose misconduct he had not only perceived, but reprimanded during the battle. There cannot be the least doubt that he ought to have punished the man instead of rewarding him. There were in fact six officers who had distinguished themselves in command, Mathews, Rowley, Cornwall, Forbes, Osborne, and Hawke ; but the last was the only one of the six who so fought his ship as to cause his opponent to strike ; and this was his reward ! Hawke received orders to give evidence at Mathews' Courtmartial, and his letter acknowledging the order, is extant ; but he did not appear, and we know not why. His opinion on the whole affair would have been more interesting and more valuable than any that was given. It would be in keeping with the mag- nanimity which he frequently evinced, if the reason was that he was unwilling to press too hard against a man, who, though he had public and private grounds for condemning him, he yet perceived was likely to get hard measure. Perhaps he thus in some way contrived to evade an appearance which, whatever else happened, must certainly have enhanced his own reputation. However this may be, Hawke's fortune was made from the moment he made up his mind, after his battle with the " Neptuno," that it was his duty to attack the " Poder " : his countrymen thereby discovered the admiral of the future ; and, above all, the King, as already said, never forgot the act. From the date of this battle till the close of the EMPLOYMENT IN MEDITEREANEAN. 167 year 1745, Hawke was for the most part employed in command of large squadrons under Admiral Rowley. With seven line-of-battle ships under his command, we find him cruising in the Straits of Gibraltar and on the Coast of Italy. In October 1744, he rejoins the Admiral. In December he is detached with another squadron to watch the French fleet at Cadiz ; and, in January of the next year, to act against French and Spanish troops on the Genoese coast. There is nothing worth noting in the mass of correspondence connected with this period, but it may be remarked that Hawke's letters to his captains are uniformly kind, courteous, and thoughtful ; and that those to his admiral show an extreme care to avoid giving offence, even when he has to explain that he has had orders which it was impossible to carry into effect. They are generally well expressed, and always the letters of a gentle- man. At the end of September he finds himself once more at Plymouth, having brought home Rowley's flagship, the " Neptune," with a convoy, in a state which he describes as "foul and very leaky," and he is soon afterwards paid off. For about a year Hawke is once more on shore ; and as his uncle had just died, it was now, probably, that he settled at Swathling. When, on June 9th, 1746, he acknowledges the summons to attend Mathews' Courtmartial, he dates from Lymington. By way of contrast to the favourable impression Hawke had now created, it may be noticed that it was in this very year, 1746, that Commodore Peyton and his squadron " disappeared " after his indecisive 168 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. combat in the East Indies with Labourdonnais ; that Lestock made his final failure at L'Orient; and that Commodore Mitchell behaved in the West Indies much as Peyton had behaved in the East. Mitchell was broke : Peyton died just before the Courtmartial ordered to be held upon him. It was tolerably plain that the country had not yet, during the first seven years of the war found the men it wanted for the command of fleets. But the dross was. now nearly purged away, and there was plenty of true metal at bottom. Unsatisfactory as the naval service had proved itself in the late battle, some fine single actions had been fought, and it had already inflicted twice the amount of damage on the enemy's com- merce that they had on the English. The final dis- comfiture of the Jacobites had also given a sense of security and hope to the nation of which it did not as yet measure the importance. It was ready for further sacrifices, and had not much longer to wait for results. Seven years had been, however, a long time to wait. 169 CHAPTER VI. BATTLE WITU THE FRENCH OFF USHANT, 1747. The great improvement in naval affairs which com- menced from the year 1 747 must be attributed, in the first place, to Lord Anson. This excellent officer, though only eight years older than the subject of our memoir, had, in consequence of having been fortunate enough to serve as a Lieutenant in Byng's action, come much earlier into notice. He thus, in addition to his seniority by age, gained three years more upon Hawke in the race for the rank of Post-captain. When the war broke out he was a Captain of con- siderable standing, and it was creditable to the authorities that they had discovered his merits, and selected him for the expedition to the Pacific which was to make him famous for all time. Like Hawke he came of a family in the position of gentlemen, and something more, since they both inherited brains which had been strengthened by training in the ranks of the bar. When he came home in 1744 his great reputation for ability as well as courage naturally pointed him out as the man most fitted for the reorganization of 170 LIFE OP LORD HAWKE. the naval service. He was of mature age, had gained a vast experience, and the great fortune he had made on his expedition rendered him independent. In less than four years from his becoming a junior Lord of the Admiralty, he had made himself so necessary to the Duke of Bedford, and to Lord Sandwich, the next in rank to the Duke, that he became the virtual head of the Board, over which he soon afterwards came to preside as First Lord, with one short interval, till the time of his death. Anson's experience suggested the system, which soon grew to be habitual, of collecting the scattered squadrons which had hitherto cruised upon the French trade, and forming them into larger bodies, capable of overpowering the French squadrons sent from Brest and other ports to convoy fleets of merchant ships to their colonies in the East and West Indies. It was just at this period that, findiDg all attempts at invading England, exciting rebellion, and commanding the Mediterranean, had completely failed, the French were directing their whole attention to the new project of founding, by the help, as far as possible, of Spain, a great Colonial Empire. But the efforts which they steadily pursued from this time forward, till Pitt destroyed all their hopes, had an unfortunate commencement. Presuming upon the negligence of the British Admiralty, the French Government equipped two small squadrons for the above purpose. These, under the command of M. de la Jonquiere, who was to attempt the recapture of Cape Breton (lately taken anson's battle. 171 from the French by the American Colonists, assisted by Captain Peter Warren), and of M. de St. George, who was to assist Dupleix in India, were to keep company till out of reach of British cruisers. Anson had, however, himself embarked in command of a squadron, more than twice as large as both those of the French put together. Nothing could have been better planned. The French were caught, just where they were expected, off Cape Finisterre ; and the whole of their ships, though after a resistance which was most honourable for so weak a force, were cap- tured. Almost all the actual fighting fell to the share of the second in command, Peter Warren, lately made an admiral, and to the Captains Boscawen, Denis, Grenville, Brett, Saumarez, Hanway, and Montagu. Temple West, who has been noticed in the last Chapter, was Warren's flag-captain. Here indeed was a behaviour very different from what was observed in 17-M; and here we make our first acquaintance with some of Hawke's most gallant contemporaries. Warren and Boscawen will alone however require any special notice. The others were fine, dashing officers, but took up no great position. Grenville, who seems to have inherited the talents of his family, was killed in this battle. Anson speaks of him as " by much the cleverest officer I ever saw."* " Mad Montagu," Lord Sandwich's brother, exhibited on this occasion a timely madness, very near akin to heroism. Peircy Brett, Anson's old First Lieutenant * " Bedford Correspondence," vol. i. p. 214. 172 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. in the " Centurion," had already destroyed the pro- spects of the young Pretender by his brave action with the " Elizabeth " in 1745, and lived to be a Lord of the Admiralty. Saumarez, another of Anson's school — for it was one of the marks of that Lord's ability that he distinctly formed a body of fine officers out of those who had shared his voyage round the world — survived this battle but to die on the quarter-deck of his ship, in a few months, under Hawke's command. Denis, another of the school, gallantly fought in command of his chief's old ship, the " Centurion," and of him we shall hear again. Boscawen is the officer who, of all who rose to fame in this period, ran the hardest race for glory with Hawke. As it will be more convenient to sketch his career when we have made further progress in tracing that of Hawke, it will be sufficient to state that no ship contributed more to Anson's victory than the " Namur," which Boscawen commanded, unless we except the " Devonshire," which carried Warren's flag, and that admits of doubt. The last-named officer had the honour of capturing M. de la Jonquiere's own ship, the " Serieux," and soon aftewards, with the help of Montagu, that of the other Commodore, St. George, which had, however, been already roughly handled by Boscawen. And here, as Warren was soon to have the opportunity of lifting Hawke to fame, he must engage our attention. He received for this battle the Knighthood of the Bath, as a pendant to Anson's peerage, and we may therefore speak of him as " Sir Peter Warren." SIR PETER WARREN. 173 Of Irish extraction, this officer, who is now for- gotten, except by those who have remarked Roubiliac's fine monument to his memory in Westminster Abbey, seems to have had many qualifications for taking a place in history, but to have lost opportunities enjoyed by others through the ill-health which he had con- tracted during long service in the West Indies. A little senior to Hawke, he had had the good fortune to be in command of a small squadron off Martinique which took such rich prizes that, having afterwards added to these some other valuable captures on the home station, he was said to be one of the wealthiest naval officers of the day. Horace Walpole * called him "richer than Anson and as absurd as Vernon," re- ferring to his speeches in the House of Commons ; but we are not bound to accept all Walpole's obiter dicta. In 1745 Warren commanded the naval forces which, assisted by the Colonists, took Louisbourg, the capital of the island of Cape Breton, and the centre round which the conflict for Western Empire raged till Boscawen retook it in 1758. This also had added to his wealth. Here he showed both courage and con- duct, as indeed he did most signally in Anson's battle. The decision taken on that occasion by Anson to dis- regard the old tactics of waiting to form the line, and to order a general chase of the enemy, was suggested by Warren, who — suspecting that the enemy's design was only to gain time, and that as soon as the ships they convoyed had got to a considerable distance they would make off and endeavour to escape under * " Letters to Mann," vol. i. p. 283. 174 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. favour of the night, bore down to the Vice-Admiral and told him his suspicions, advising him to haul down the signal for the line, and to hoist one for a general chase.* It was then natural that Anson, who had formed an early friendship with Warren on the American Station, should obtain for him the succession to himself in command of the fleet, which command he had relin- quished when he received his peerage and resumed his place at the Admiralty. Sir Peter hoisted his flag in the " Devonshire," taking over the charge of the fleet, on July 20th, 1747. When Anson on April 9th, 1747, had sailed from Plymouth, with, his band of heroes, on the successful cruise just mentioned, he had left behind at that port an officer who fretted not a little at being excluded from the number. It seemed as if none but the admiral's immediate friends were to have a chance of distinction ; and indeed this was a fault very com- monly found with Lord Anson. How long Hawke had been there, we do not exactly know ; but he had been some time employed by the Admiralty, perhaps with a view of occupying a restless mind which could not be otherwise used at the moment, in the tedious task of superintending the repairs of the " Mars," then in dock. The first letter of his which occurs since he acknowledged the summons of the Admiralty to attend Mathews' Courtmartial is dated April 24, 1746, and conveys a request that, as he can be of no use at Plymouth, looking after the " Mars," till she is finished, he may be allowed to go * Beatson's "Naval and Military Memoirs," vol. i. p. 357. HAWKE MADE AN ADMIRAL. 175 "to his house in Hampshire." This request is refused. But very soon afterwards all such difficulties came to an end, and we find our Captain included in the list of promotions to the rank of Admiral, the first promotions which had been made for three years, and the first occasion on which the modern system of promoting to a Retired List of Admirals was brought into operation. Up to this time the method of selection, necessary in some form for the higher commands, had worked most unjustly. The Captains who had been passed over never moved up to any higher rank ; and the greatest inequalities and hardships had consequently prevailed. This, like many other reforms, must be placed to Anson's credit.* It was probably due to the delay of promotions that had occurred, and to the want of admirals of different grades for immediate employment, that Hawke was made, as it would seem, Rear-admiral of the White at once, without passing through the previous grade. His Commission, like those of Knowles, Forbes, Bos- cawen,f and the rest, was dated July 15th, 1747; as also was the advancement of Sir Peter Warren to the rank of Vice-Admiral of the White. On July 20th, Warren was appointed to the command of the "Western Squadron " ; two days afterwards, Hawke hoisted his flag on board the " Gloucester." On August 8th, Warren informs him that he is to place himself under his command. Next day Hawke sailed from Plymouth ; * Barrow's " Life of Anson," p. 143. f Ekins attributes to the generous advocacy of Boscawen some share in Hawke' s promotion. 176 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. and on August 20fch he writes from the " Windsor " " at sea." The above dates have been given in order to explain Hawke's position at this time, which has never yet been understood. Anson's plan was to employ both these admirals in the execution of his new plans, oue of which had just proved, under himself, so successful. Warren he was sure he could trust, and he had formed a high opinion of Hawke. The actual form of Hawke's emploj^ment was sug- gested by Warren himself, and grew out of his own state of health. He was suffering from a " scorbutic disorder." In a letter to the Admiralty dated August 3rd, 1747, he writes thus : — I should be extremely obliged to their Lordships if the present service at sea does not require the attendance of more than one admiral, they would be pleased to join Admiral Hawke, now here with me, in the command, who, 1 dare venture to say, will not be displeased with it, and may sail, if their Lordships shall think proper, on the return of the express that carries this, with the "Monmouth," "Windsor," "Eagle," and "Amazon" to join (for this cruise) Captain [Harry] Norris, or the senior officer of the squadron in the Bay, by which time I shall hope to re-establish my health so well as to be able to relieve, or act in conjunction with, Mr. Hawke in the next [cruise], which will probably be of greater consequence than the present by the expected return of the galleons, who make it a general rule to come home late in the fall or winter. Anson, it would seem, hesitated : for, on August 7th, Warren writes again : — I observe what you say about the ships abroad being under so young an officer. I am and have been uneasy about it, though I hope he will do well, and it could not then be avoided. Harrison will soon be there, who is a good man and an elder CONDUCT AS TO THE GALLEONS. 177 officer, if Mr. Hawke should not be put under uiy command; which from your letter I have so little reason to doubt that I have his instructions all ready ; and he is prepared to go at a moment's notice. On August 20th Hawke ends his letter to Warren, in which he reports proceedings, by saying : — I flatter myself you will do me the justice to believe that I have nothing so much at heart as the faithful discharge of my duty, and in such manner as will give satisfaction both to the Lords of the Admiralty and yourself. This shall ever be my utmost ambition, and no lucre of profit or other views shall induce me to act otherwise. These words suggest a hint, which subsequent letters illustrate, that although the junior admiral was bent on satisfying the senior if possible, he* intended to act on his own responsibility, and that he did not share his chief's anxiety about the galleons. He was thinking a great deal more about meeting the enemy's men-of-war. There could hardly be a more delicate position, but it did not last long. It may here be observed, as we shall often come across the fact, that the circumstances of victualling, cleaning, and repairing ships in those days necessitated the employment of a much larger number on any cruising service than the most careful and skilful admiral could expect to bring into action on the day of battle. There are no less than 25 line-of-battle ships in this "Western Squadron," and 19 of them were handed over to Hawke ; yet he had only 14 with him in his battle of October 14th. Warren's illness increased so much that he was obliged to ask the Admiralty to relieve him altogether 12 178 LIFE OF LOKD HAWKE. from the command for a time, and substitute Hawke in his place. " I am unable to continue in command of the Western Squadron by a violent flux, in addition to my former disorder." This letter is dated Sep- tember 5th; and on September 8th, the Admiralty issue orders to Hawke to take the independent com- mand, which Sir Peter Warren had obtained temporary leave to resign. In addition to the 19 large ships now formally placed under his orders, five of which were only of 50 guns, 7 frigates and 2 fire-ships, are attached to his squadron. He is to cruise between Ushant and Cape Finisterre, 20 leagues to the Westward of each Cape ; to make the land of Ushant every fortnight ; and to station one of his best sailing ships and frigates off each Cape to communicate with the Admiralty. No intimation to this effect did, however, reach Hawke for nearly a month. He still supposes himself to be acting under Warren, and had not even orders to make separate reports to the Admiralt}^. He was joined by the rest of Sir Peter's ships under Captain Fox's command on September 26th, and received his orders through him. After studying the despatches he considers it is his first duty to use his utmost endeavours to intercept the French convoy bound out from Rochelle ; and therefore, he says, in acknow- ledging a letter from the Admiralty, dated August 28th (in which he had been ordered to make direct reports to their Secretary, independently of those to Warren), he means to keep all his ships together, " as it is of material consequence to the nation that we should be a full match for the enemy in case of LETTERS TO WARREN. 17\) meeting with them." He apologises for not having made these reports previously, and announces that he finds his " cruise must be very much shortened for want of water." His letter of October 6th to Sir Peter Warren is more distinctly characteristic, and may be given almost in full : — I am sincerely concerned to find you have still that trouble- some disorder, aucl that your health will not permit you to come out. It would have been a very great pleasure to me to have had the honour of paying my respects to you here, but as I cannot have that satisfaction I shall endeavour to do everything in my power to forward the service, only wishing I may be so fortunate as to have your approbation of my actions, as I can say very truly there is not anything I have more at heart than your good opinion. I have considered well all the intelligence you have sent me, and by what I can learn from thence I think our only view at present must be to lie in the way of the French convoy out- ward bound. In order thereto I propose cruising between the latitudes of 45° and 47° 30' N., in the meridian of Cape Ortegal, and am making the best of my way thither as fast as the winds will permit me. This appears to be the most likely track for them, and everybody else here is of the same opinion. I hope we shall have the good fortune to meet with them, if they should come out while we are in a condition to keep the sea. With respect to the intelligence you sent me i*elative to the galleons, as it is uncertain when they will come home, and like- wise impossible for me to divide my force in the present neces- sitous condition of the ships under my command, I must lay aside all thoughts of them during this cruise, which cannot be of long continuance. And indeed, if I may presume to give my opinion, I should think sixty or seventy leagues to the west- ward of Cales would be the best place to look out for them; in which case a squadron must go out from Englaud directly thither, well watered and victualled. For by the uncertainty of weather and the negligence of the agent-victualler, I find the ships that join me are so far from being in a condition to go on distant or 12 * 180 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. different expeditions that it is with difficulty I can keep them any reasonable time with me. . . . You will perceive by the " state and condition " of the ships that I shall not be able to stay out past the month of October. ... I am in great hopes that the station I am going to will throw us in the way of the enemy, either outward or homeward bound. With regard to lying in wait for them, all that any man can do is to put the most reasonable supposition in practice, and that I hope you will think I have done. I wish with all my heart this may find you perfectly recovered and in a good state of health, and that I may be so happy as to obey all your commands in the way you would have me. I don't know that anything would give me more pleasure. I am always, with the greatest truth and respect, Sir, yours, &c. Edward Hawke. These letters are dated from the " Devonshire," Warren's flagship, of 66 guns, of which Captain Moore was now Flag-Captain, she having been sent to join Hawke with the rest of Warren's ships. Few of the letters of this date are without some special allusion to the unwholesome and " stinking ' : state of the beer with which his ships have been supplied; and as we find it of still more dangerous consequence to the service in the later cruises of the Seven Years' "War, it may be presumed to have been a chronic state of things. Between October 6th and October 12th the Ad- miralty Despatches of September 8th, conferring the independent command, must have reached him, since the letters to Sir Peter Warren are now only sent as a matter of courtesy, while the first Reports go to the Admiralty direct. On October 12th, he informs the latter that " the situation we are now in seems very well calculated for intercepting both the Eastward THE BRITISH SQUADRON. 181 and homeward-bound trade of the enemy. I shall do everything in my power to keep the ships out with me as long as possible, and intend staying out myself while I can keep any number of them together." On October 14th all these anxious considerations came to the end most desired by the Admiral. He was now rewarded for having refused all temptations to cruise for galleons, or to detach portions of his fleet on that service. His Despatch, or rather the greatest part of it, describing the battle of that day, has been printed more than once, on the ground that no other account of it could be half so good. The same reason applies in the present case ; but it will here be given in full. And indeed, throughout this book, the same plan, at the risk of a certain necessary stiffness inherent in official correspondence, will be pursued. It is a career worth studying in the hero's own simple words. Let us premise that the English fleet, on October 14th, consisted of the following fourteen ships : — that of the French, under Admiral L'Etenduere, of the following nine. English. Ships. Guns. Devonshire (Admiral) 66 Captain John Moore. Kent 64 Thomas Fox. Edinburgh 70 Thomas Cotes. Yarmouth 64 Charles Saunders. Monmouth 70 Henry Harrison. Princess Louisa 60 Charles Watson. Windsor 60 Thomas Hanway. Lion 60 Arthur Scott. Tilbury 60 Robert Harland. 182 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. Ships Nottingham Defiance Guns. 60 60 Captain Philip Saumarez. ,, John Bentley. Eagle Gloucester 60 50 George Brydges Rodney. Philip Durell. Portland 50 >> Charles Stevens. French. Le Tonnant (Chef d'Escadre, M. de L'Etenduere). 80 Captain . M. Duchaffault, L'Intrepide 74 >> Comte de Vaudreuil Le Terrible 74 >> Comte Duguay. Le Monarque Le Neptune Le Trident 74 70 64 5) M. de la Bedoyere. M. de Fromentiere (killed). M. D'Amblimont. Le Fougueux 64 )» M. Duvignault. Le Severn 50 )> M. Durouret. Le Content 60 — "Devonshire," at Sea, Sir, October 17, 1747. At seven in the moi'ning of the 14th of October, being in the latitude of 37° 49' N., Longitude from Cape Finisterre 1°2' W., the Cape bearing S. by E. 94 leagues, the " Edinburgh " made the signal for seven sail on the South-East quarter. I immediately made the signal for all the fleet to chase. About 8 a.m. saw a great number of ships, but so crowded together that we could not count them. About 10 made the signal for the line of battle ahead. The " Louisa," being the headmost and weatheruiost ship, made the signal for discovering eleven sail of the enemy's line-of-battle ships. Half an hour after Captain Pox, in the " Kent," hailed us and said they counted twelve very large ships. Soon after I perceived the enemy's convoy to crowd away with all the sail they could set, while their ships of war were en- deavouring to form in a line astern of them, ami hauled near i 1, under their topsails and foresails, and some with top- gallant-sails set. Finding we lost time in forming our line, while the enemy was standing away from us, at 11 made the signal for the whole squadron to chase. Half an hour after, DESCRIPTION OF THE BATTLE. 183 observing our headmost ships to be within a proper distance, I made the signal to engage, which was immediately obeyed. The '• Lion " and " Princess Louisa " began the engagement, and were followed by the rest of the squadron as they could come up, and went from rear to van. The enemy having the weather-gage of us, and a smart and constant fire being kept on both sides, the smoke prevented my seeing the number of the enemy, or what happened on either side for some time. In passing on to the first ship we coukl get near, we received many fires at a distance, till we came close to the " Severn " of 50 guns, which we soon silenced, and left to be taken up by the frigates astern. Then per- ceiving the " Eagle " and " Edinburgh " (who had lost her foretop- mast) engaged, we kept our wind as close as possible iu order to assist them. This attempt of ours was frustrated by the" Eagle's " falling twice on board us, having had her wheel shot to pieces, and all the men at it killed, and all her braces and bowlines gone. This drove us to leeward, and prevented our attacking " Le Monarque " of 74, and the " Tonnant " of 80 guns, within any distance to do execution. However, we attempted both, especially the latter. While we were engaged with her the breechings of all our lower-deck guns broke, and the guns flew fore and aft, which obbged us to shoot ahead, for our upper and quarter-deck guns could not reach her. Captain Harland in the " Tilbury," observing that she fired single guns at us in order to dismast us, stood on the other tack, between her and the " Devon- shire," and gave her a very smart fire. By the time the new breechings were all seized, I was got almost alongside the " Trident " of 64 guns, whom I engaged as soon as possible, and silenced by as brisk a fire as I could make. Just before I attacked her, observing the " Kent," which seemed to have little or no damage, at some distance astern of the " Tonnant," I flung out Captain Fox's pendant to make sail ahead to engage her, as I saw it was in his power to get close up with her, she being somewhat disabled, having lost her main and mizen top- masts. Seeing some of our ships at that time not so closely engaged as I could have wished, and not being well able to dis- tinguish who they were, I flung out the signal for coming to a closer engagement. Soon after, I got alongside, within musket- shot of the " Terrible," of 74 guns and 700 men. Near 7 at night she called out for quarter. 184 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. Thus far I have been particular with regard to the share the "Devonshire" bore in the action of that day. As to the other ships, as far as fell within my notice, their commanders, officers, and companies behaved with the greatest spirit and resolution, in every respect like Englishmen. Only I am sorry to acquaint their Lordships that I must except Captain Fox, whose conduct on that day I beg they would give directions for inquiring into at a Courtmartial. Having observed that six of the enemy's ships had struck, and it being very dark, and our own ships dispersed, I thought it best to bring-to for that night ; and seeing a great firing a long way astern of me, I was in hopes to have seen more of the enemy's ships taken in the morning ; but instead of that, I received the melancholy account of Captain Saumarez being killed, and that the " Tonnant " had escaped in the night by the assistance of the " Intrepide," which, by having the wind of our ships, had received no damage that I could perceive. Immediately I called a Council of War, a copy of which I send you enclosed. As to the French convoys escaping, it was not possible for me to detach any ships after them at first, or during the action, exeept the frigates, and that I thought would have been impru- dent, as I observed several large ships of war among them ; and to confirm me in this opinion, I have since learned that they had the "Content," of 64 guns, and many frigates from 36 guns downwards. However, I took a step which seemed to me the most probable to intercept them ; for as soon as I could man and victual the " Weazle " sloop, I detached her with an express to Commodore Legge (Leeward Islands). As the enemy's ships were large, except the " Severn," they took a great deal of drubbing, and lost all their masts, excepting two, who had their foremasts left. This has obliged me to lay- by these two days past, in order to put them into a condition to be brought into port, as well as our own which have suffered greatly. Their Lordships, I hope, will excuse me for not sending them by this opportunity the State and Condition of our ships, as I have not yet been able to collect them, every ship being so much employed. I propose sending as many ships into Plymouth as I can spare, exclusive of a sufficient number to carry the prizes into STATE OF THE VICTORS. 185 Portsmouth. We have taken " Le Monarque," 74; " Le Ter- rible," 74; "Le Neptune," 74; "Le Trident," 64; " Le Fou- gueux," 64 ; " Severn," 50. Captain Stanhope sent his boats and took up numbers of pacquets thrown into the sea from the "Severn" and " Fougueux." I could not spare time to get them translated ; besides they were too wet to be handled. I hope you will get some important intelligence from them, as I have, — that six ships of war are fitting at Brest for the East Indies. I have sent this express by Captain Moore, of the " Devon- shire," in the " Hector " ; and it would be doing great injustice to merit not to say that he signalised himself greatly in the action. This Despatch was accompanied by a letter more specially recommending Captain, afterwards Sir John, Moore, and by another of the same date to Sir Peter Warren. If I had not had the misfortune of having my right hand and side of my face burnt with powder, I should not have made use of an amanuensis, but given you a full detail of our action on the 14th. For though your bad state of health has obliged you to resign the command of the squadron, yet the many great obligations I lie under induces me to send you enclosed the most material parts of my letter to the Lords of the Admiralty. Wishing you a speedy recovery, I am, &c. Edward Hawke. To this may be appended the letter to Commodore Legge, mentioned in the Despatch, and written the day after the battle. Yesterday I fell in with a fleet of French ships of war, with a convoy of about three hundred sail bound to Martinico. I have taken the ships named in the margin [as above], and for par- ticulars refer you to Captain Midwinter. While I was engaged, and by favour of the night, the convoy escaped, led off by a 64-gun ship and a few small frigates ; and this morning I find all my ships in so shattered a condition that I cannot pursue them. This intelligence I have thought proper to send you express by 186 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. Captain Midwinter in order that you may use your endeavours to intercept them. I have likewise intelligence of six sail of French ships of war which are to sail with a convoy for France on the arrival of this at Martinico. Wishmg you repeated acquisition of reputation and fortune, I am, with real regard, Sir, yours, &c. Edward Hawke. This prompt action with regard to the convoy was rewarded with great success. Midwinter was ordered to " proceed without speaking with anything, or suffering yourself (if possible) to be spoke with on your passage." He was too late to tell Legge, for he was just dead; but he fortunately fell in with Pocock who had taken his place; and a very large number of the ships were captured by his squadron. Before proceeding to notice the two matters in Hawke's Despatch which require attention, viz., the Council of War, and the affair of Captain Fox, a few more facts regarding the battle should find a place here. Besides the flagship, those which distinguished themselves were commanded by Captains Scott, Harland, Cotes, Watson, Saunders, Saumarez, Han- way, and Rodney ; and of these the highest honour was won by Harland, who was particularly mentioned by Hawke and of whom we hear again in Keppel's action ; by Watson, who had been so distinguished in Anson's battle, and who, when Admiral in the East Indies, covered himself with glory ; by Saunders, who iorced the " Neptune ' : to strike after a very close action of two hours ; by Saumarez, Anson's gallant protege, who was killed in the attack upon the " Tonnant," and whose monument is in Westminster HIS OWN SHARE IN THE COMBAT. 187 Abbey; and by the immortal Rodney, who earned his first laurels in this battle, where the " Eagle " attacked ship after ship. But it is especially observable that the Admiral not only omitted nothing which was required to prove him to be a first-rate Commander-in- Chief, but that the personal part he took in the fighting, where all had an equal chance, was by far the greatest. It was like the lion's share of the danger which the ancient leader of chivalry, a Percy or a Talbot, a Douglas or a Bruce, or an Edward the First or Third, or the Black Prince, loved to seize for his own, and of which he would let no one rob him. Out of the six ships captured, Hawke, in the " Devonshire," a heavy ship indeed, but mounting only QQ guns, took the " Severn ' : of 50, and the " Terrible" of 74 guns ; while he silenced the " Trident," of 64 guns, leaving her to be taken by others, and attacked the " Tonnant," of 80 guns, in such a way as would probably have added her to his list, had it not been for the lower deck guns of his ship carrying away their breechings at the critical moment. This of itself was a proof of the work he had already got out of his guns ; and, with many other indications, though we have no direct evidence from logs or other books, shows that he must have paid extraordinary attention to the practice of quick firing. Such wonderful results were not gained without con- stant exercise and remarkable skill ; but those qualities would have been of little service had the Admiral not possessed, to a degree beyond any of his contem- poraries, the cool judgment, the rapid decision at the 188 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. critical moment, and the unshrinking resolution, which are the property of few, and which alone ensure brilliant success on the day of trial. In contrast with the personal share of the day's lighting taken by Hawke, it must strike anyone as remarkable that with so many gallant Captains, so very little more was done than he did himself; and, curiously enough, the unfortunate Captain Fox, who suffered by sentence of a Courtmartial for not taking his proper share, was one of the few to whom a ship of the enemy, the "Fougueux," struck. But though Hawke excepts him alone from the general praise bestowed on his officers, it is clear that they were not all of the calibre of those who have been specially mentioned above; and this it was in all probability which prevented the Admiral's Despatch from giving entire satisfaction in the squadron. He had said all he could say, but omissions would be suggestive. Thus we find Warren writing to Anson, on November 20th, as follows : — " I have set all matters straight with the gentlemen of Sir Edward's squadron, who were a good deal dissatisfied at some expressions in his account of the action."* But if only a portion of the English squadron behaved consummately well, what must be said of the French ? M. L'Etenduere and his Captains have never received their full share of credit for this battle. It was a splendid achievement. They did nothing which was not the best that could be done under the circum- stances. When the English squadron, which, making * Anson Correspondence, Addl. MSS., British Museum. FINE CONDUCT OF THE FRENCH. 189 all allowance for their smaller size, and weight of metal in each ship, were a decidedly superior force, was first descried, one large ship was detached to help the frigates to protect the convoy ; and so sufficient was that protection that it saved the whole; while the remaining eight ships were skilfully formed into line, with a van, centre, and rear ; and though ready to make off if the English would let them, yet they contrived to keep the weather gage, and make an excellent fight of it. Indeed they inflicted on the English a loss of 700 killed and wounded, a loss very nearly equal to their own, which amounted to about 800. Finally the " Intrepide," which, as Hawke reports, had received less damage than her neigh- bours, goes down at the critical moment to the help of the French admiral, and, dangerously surrounded as the " Tonnant " was, contrives to bring her off, in spite of Rodney, Saunders, and Saumarez — to say nothing of the blundering Captain Fox. So gallant was the front shown by those two ships that the English when morning broke, thought it best, after the rude handling they had received, to decline the pursuit. Thus the French admiral, who was badly wounded, might well be pardoned, for having, with a touch of the vanity sometimes attributed to the nation, magnified the number of English line of battle ships with wdtich he had been engaged to 20, instead of 14. If their navy had distinguished itself in other encounters as they did in this and in Anson's engagements, the history of the times might have been very different. On a consideration of the whole affair it is clear 190 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. that much of the success of the French resistance should be attributed to the comparative size, and thickness of the sides,* of their ships, to the number of their crews, and weight of metal. It has been already mentioned with regard to size that in consequence of the capture of the enemy's ships in the early part of this war, and the discovery that they were so greatly superior to the English vessels of the same nominal rate, an entire change was gradually commenced, by which in the course of time some sort of equality was at last obtained. On the other points also changes were in contemplation. It was shortly before Anson's and Hawke's battles that Warren wrote thus to the former : — I am greatly pleased to hear it has been proposed, with a pro- spect of success, to augment the number of men and weight of metal in all the different classes of our ships, to put them on a par with those of the French. When that is the case there will be no excuse left for ill-behaviour; and I dare say upon all occa- sions, when no extraordinary or unforeseen accident shall inter- vene, our ships and people will give a good account of their enemies of equal force when and wherever they meet. For I cannot help thinking we have this advantage of them, that our officers are better seamen than theirs, and I hope as valiant, and our men in general more robust and stronger ; and they never were thought to want courage, though they have very little virtue of any other kind.f The last remark may go for what it is worth. If these statements required confirmation the testimony of the clever Admiral Knowles, at about the same date, * Out of 334 shot from lower-deck guns which struck the " Tonnant," onlv one penetrated. See " French Account by Authority," Ekins' " Naval Tactics," p. 18. f Anson Correspondence. THE SIZE OF THE FRENCH SHIPS. 191 might be added. He says, in a letter of suggestions to Anson : — The unthinking populace are too free to censure without inquiring into the reasons of things, aud imagine it sti'ange an English ship of war of 70 guns cannot take a French ship of the same force, whereas it is pretty apparent that our 70- gun ships are little superior to their ships of 52 guns.* Still further, — the expression used in Hawke's celebrated Despatch, as it probably referred to this superiority, and not only to the number of guns, supplies a commentary both on the need of im- provement, and on the phenomena of the battle he describes : — " As the enemy's ships were large, except the ' Severn,' they took a great deal of drubbing." It was this homely English word which puzzled King George II. when Lord Chesterfield, Secretary of State, was reading the Despatch to him. He asked what it meant. At this instant the Duke of Bedford, First Lord of the Admiralty, entering the closet, Lord Chesterfield begged leave to refer the King to his Grace, as he could explain it perfectly. The King who had heard of the story, laughed heartily, and said he now knew very well what "drubbing' meant. The Duke had, a short time before, been assaulted on the Lichfield race-course, and roughly handled. The respect for the size, force, and conduct of the French ships, impressed on the English fleet, is remarkably evidenced by the Council of War to which Hawke refers in his Despatch. For once we may be sure that such a Council was not summoned to take off * Anson Correspondence. 192 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. a responsibility which the Commander-in-Chief ought to have undertaken himself. His letter to Commodore Legge gives his own opinion that " all my ships are in so shattered a condition that 1 could not pursue," and we may be quite sure that eight Captains, of whom Rodney, Watson, and Saunders were three, would not have signed the minutes if there had been any help for it. The Resolutions to which they came were as follows : — 1. That four ships, the least of them of 60 guns, could only be sufficient to go in quest of the two Fi-ench ships, the " Tonnant " of 80 guns, and the " Intrepide " of 74, which had escaped from the action in the evening of the 14th. 2. That none of the ships under their command were at present in a.condition to be sent on this service. 3. That by the time a sufficient number of them could have been got ready it would be impracticable to come up with the enemy's ships. Though there could not have been stronger testi- mony to the superior importance of heavy batteries and large ships, it can hardly be imagined that such men could come to such resolutions if the course of the battle had not left the ships of the best officers in a. very bad condition, and suggested a want of con- fidence in the rest. Hawke, we have seen, was himself wounded, and his own battered ship was no doubt one of those which must have remained. And here it may be remarked that the gallant Frenchmen would probably, even if sought, never have been found ; for not only had they the start of a whole October night, but they took care not to steer towards the French coast, but out to sea, until they were about COURTMARTIAL ON FOX. 193 a hundred leagues West of Ushant, in a track not much frequented. There they lay-to, and repaired damages ; and, after some time, when the coast was clear, made their way to Brest. Before however the Council of War would allow itself to be constituted, Captain Watson, supported by the whole of the other seven Captains who had been summoned, made a formal objection to " ranking with Captain Fox till his character should be cleared up with regard to the aspersions cast upon it for his behaviour in action with the enemy on the 14th instant " ; and Fox was accordingly excluded from the Court. In order to collect all the facts connected with the battle into one group, and to form a clear idea of Hawke's position, it may be well to refer at once, in a few words, to the Courtmartial held upon this officer soon after the arrival of the squadron in port. It may be premised that Fox had a very fair reputation in the Service and, while under Warren's command, had, only a little before, successfully led a small squadron which had frightened away a French force not much inferior to itself, under M. Dubois de la Mothe, and captured a very large number of merchant ships which were under its convoy. All the numerous details of the battle which came out in the evidence adduced before the Court, over which Sir Peter Warren presided, exactly corroborate, it need hardly be said, the public account given by Hawke. He himself was necessarily the official prose- cutor, but it is evident that though he agreed with his Captains that there should be a Trial, the pique, 13 194 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. disgust, and contempt felt for Fox was on their side, not on his. On November 4th he tells the Admiralty that he " could not avoid desiring the attendance of the Captains of his squadron in order that they might give their reasons for refusing to rank with Mr. Fox. It is doing justice both to His Majesty and to Mr. Fox." His own position is dignified. He asks but one question ; and there is an entire absence of anything like a desire to crush the prisoner. But the evidence of Fox's fellow-Captains was uniform; it was formed from independent points of view, and it really left the Court no choice. The admirable behaviour of Saunders and Rodney came out strongly in evidence ; but it was their sense of being deserted by Fox, and of the two French ships having escaped through his failure of duty, which forms the chief feature of the Courtmartial. Rodney especially describes his being exposed to the fire of four of the enemy's ships when, as he asserted, Fox's ship the " Kent," might well have taken off some of it. In his defence the prisoner spoke with great respect of the French : — " The members of this Court know how well the French ships of war fight ; ' and he defended himself from Rodney's charge by declaring that the reason why he did not support the " Eagle " was because he believed that she was moving forward to attack the next ship ahead, and leaving the "Neptune" to him; but finding she did not, he himself went off to the ".Fougueux," which, after three quarters of an hour's engagement within pistol shot, he forced to strike. But he was quite PUNISHMENT OF FOX. 195 unable to get over the fatal charge of leaving the " Tonnant " while thj signal for "closer action " was flying from the flagship. The Court decided that his duty was to have stayed by her till he took her; and it rightly detected other errors in judgment which he had made throughout the action. It was unanimous in the conclusion that he had only erred in " conduct," and was only guilty of part of the offences charged. His courage has been so fully proved to thern as not to leave room for suspecting it, and part of his misconduct seems to them to proceed from his listening to the persuasions of his First Lieu- tenant and Master, and giving way to them. Thus he was only sentenced to be dismissed his ship. He was never employed again, and in 1749 was placed on the list of Eear-admirals for half -pay. It is thus clear that Hawke had taken exactly the right line on this difficult question of bringing an officer to a Courtmartial. An admiral has to steer between Scylia and Chary bdis. He is culpable if he allows misconduct to pass. He has every temptation to be too severe. The failure of a part of the great machine must grievously try the mettle of a man who knows how it could, and ought to, be worked. Of the two last documents in reference to this battle from which extracts may be made, the first is dated October 28th, and states to the Admiralty what promotions and appointments the Admiral has made into vacancies. It concludes thus : — The Count Du Guay, who commanded the " Terrible," and is now prisoner on board the " Devonshire," with the major part of her officers, has desired me to intercede with their Lordships 13 * 196 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. for permission to return as soon as possible to France on his parole. He is an old man, and very infirm and weakly, so afflicted with asthma that he can hardly breathe. The French officers in command were often old men. M. De Court who commanded against Mathews was nearly 80 years of age. The next extract is from a letter to Sir Henry Penrice, the Judge of the Admiralty Court, and has reference to the prizes, about which some difficulty had arisen from want of the proper papers : — Sib, It is impossible to conceive the confusion Prize ships of war are in as soon as they have struck. Their common men rob and plunder their own ships and officers. The latter confusedly throw their own things together. Neither is there any restraining our own people, egged on by their resentment, from plundering, when they first enter them, and destroying papers and everything else which appears useless to them. So that there is seldom a paper to be found. The French ships taken by the squadron under my command were mere wrecks within-board. Shifting of prisoners, replacing them with our own men, and getting the ship to rights, pre- vented the taking the care of papers there ought to have been. These reasons, joined to that of there being no Bills of Lading, Cargoes, etc. to occasion a dispute of property, have induced me to beg that, if possible, you will dispense with the want of papers, and condemn the remaining four ships, " Monarque," " Terrible," " Trident," and " Severn," which will greatly oblige yours, &c. Edward Hawke. It will not be doing an injustice to those times if we infer from this letter that what we now call " red tape " was not even then entirely unknown. It was not till October 31st that Hawke arrived at Portsmouth with his squadron and prizes. As four of HONOURS CONFERRED ON HAWKE. 197 the latter had been dismasted, and the remaining two only retained their foremasts, it had taken some days to refit them with jury masts, since it had to be done by the crews of ships which themselves stood in need of great repairs. The rejoicings in England were great, and the reward of the K.B. conferred on Hawke, though far below what had beeu thought proper in Anson's case, was not altogether inadequate. The King at any rate showed his appreciation of the merit he had long before detected, by granting the admiral a "most gracious reception." Perhaps the Government were afraid of showing too great a readi- ness to award distinctions to a man from whom they had begun to expect a great deal more. On November 2nd, " Sir Edward Hawke " writes to the Admiralty as follows : — I return their Lordships many thanks for honouring me with the command of the Western Squadron since the 8th of September last. As Sir Peter Warren seems in a great measure to have recovered his health, I shall esteem it as a particular favour if their Lordships will permit me to serve under him, an honour of which I am extremely desirous : and on November 7th : — I beg their Lordships will accept my most sincere and grateful acknowledgments for their generous approbation of what was no more than my duty, and which I always shall at all times endeavour to merit. The letter to which this refers contains the following passage : — Their Lordships direct me to congratulate you in their name for the great service you have done your country in defeating so great a force of the enemy, and taking so many of their capital 198 LIFE OF LOED HAWKE. ships, wherein you have shown a conduct that has very much distinguished your character, and fully answered the expectations of their Lordships who entrusted you with the command of this squadron. You will know from other hands what great satisfac- tion you have given, not only to the King and his Ministers, but to the Trading Interest in the City, and indeed to all His Majesty's good subjects. It is at this time that, in a letter to Admiral Chambers, occurs the one only brief mention of Lady Hawke which is to be found in any extant corre- spondence : — " My wife, who is now here [Portsmouth], joins with me in compliments to you." "Who is now here " — it was a proud moment for her. She had come to meet her victorious husband, had shared in the raptures of the population at the arrival of his French prizes, and this time at any rate found his merits recognized by the title which she was to share. It is to be regretted that nothing should be found beyond this trifling notice concerning one who must have well performed her part in the training of a national hero. So much for the battle which, from the nearest land to the place where it was fought, is commonly called Hawke's Battle off Ushant. There is not much more to be said about the admiral himself, till the war was over, or rather succeeded by the Truce which goes by the name of the Peace of Aix la Chapelle. He ob- tained his wish, which was to be continued as second in command under Sir Peter "Warren, who had re- covered his health ; and he practically commands the Western squadron till Warren definitely retires on July 26th, 1748. He was summoned to receive the MEMBER FOE PORTSMOUTH. 19'J Order of the Bath on November 13th, but the Grand Master, the Duke of Montagu, on the 23rd, finding he should not " have the pleasure of waiting on him in Town before he goes to sea, sends His Majesty's Dis- pensation to wear the Star of the Order, although he has not been installed," — but at the same time requiring the fees immediately. He was wise in making that cautious proviso, for the new Knight was not installed till December 11th, 1753. These documents have been preserved ; so also has the letter from the Duke of Bedford, " recommend- ing " Sir Edward Hawke as Member of Parliament for Portsmouth. It runs as follows : — Sir, Admiralty Office, Dec. 18, 1747. On occasion of the melancholy news of Commodore Legge's death being confirmed, I have this day wrote to Mr. Mayor of Portsmouth, recommending you to the Gentlemen of the Cor- poration to be their Representative in Parliament. I most heartily wish you good success, and am, Sir, yours, &c. Bedford. On December 23rd, Keppel writes to Anson from Portsmouth : — I hear the town is to have Sir Edward Hawke for its Member, and the bells were very troublesome all yesterday on that account. Thus, according to the customs of those simple times, the Admiralty showed their appreciation of a distinguished officer. The King should make him a Knight ; the First Lord of the Admiralty a Member of Parliament. Whether for better or worse, the navy has never had the place in the Councils of the nation which it had in the " good old days." Who 200 LIFE OF LOKD HAWKE. would think of calling back those days ? Yet, perhaps, if naval men could not shine in debate, it was not a bad thing to have in the House a few of that class of them who did not owe their seats to the mere accidents of birth or fortune, but who had attained distinction by the display of noble qualities in the face of the enemy. These men presented the visible emblems of one constituent element of British greatness. Nor were they the men to urge their country to unnecessary wars, for they knew what war meant ; but they under- stood also what the safety and honour of Great Britain required. We may now regard our admiral as fully established in the great position which he held for so many years in the eyes of his countrymen. They well understood the significance of the motto which he selected when, soon after this battle, his arms were granted, — " Strike." It was a compact. He never failed to strike when they gave him fair play. That there were some who understood the sacrifice he had made in refusing to look for galleons or merchant ships, in order that he might concentrate the national force upon the destruction of the enemy, is evidenced by the following letter from a Mr. Perrie : — Dear Sir, Amidst the universal acclamations of the public for your late services to your king and country accept my private con- gratulations for your good success, so much owing to your own courage and prudent conduct. I could have wished, indeed, that more of the enemy's merchantmen had fallen into your hands ; but when I consider that what you lost in this way in point of WARREN AND BILLINGSGATE. 201 fortune is very amply made up to you in the lustre of an un- sullied reputation, I doubt whether I should not be in the wrong to wish the affair otherwise than it has happened. Before finally quitting Sir Peter Warren, who seems to have assumed a little too much of the position of patron to such a man as Hawke, only two years his junior in rank, we find him placed, before he dies, by a curious touch of poetical justice, in a somewhat comical position. His riches and his fame had not only brought him in as Member for Westminster at the General Election of 1747, but at a later date, inspired the City of London, or rather the Billingsgate Ward, with a very strong desire to make him their Alderman. This the Admiral with all politeness de- clined. In vain did Billingsgate press him to recon- sider his resolution, and adjure him by their unanimity, their sense of his " high abilities and distinguished merit, the greatness of his character and true worth," as well as by " the further assurance you have been pleased to give us of the honour of your friendship," which indicated an eye to the future ; the Admiral was obdurate. In vain he sent them £200, " one moiety to be distributed among the poor, and the other to be disposed of at their discretion." This only caused the Deputy and Common Council to wait upon him in person, and renew their suit, which, like Caesar, he thus " thrice declined." Nevertheless, the importunate citizens proceeded to his election. Did they detect a lurking " Yes " under the stern " No " ? If so, they were mistaken. "On the 23rd of June [1752] Sir Peter sent a message to the Court of 202 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. Aldermen, desiring to be excused from serving the office to which he had been elected ; and paid the fine of £500 for that purpose."* Next month, at the early age of 49, he died. Of Warren we shall, then, hear no more ; and now as the first of the two wars, so closely connected, draws to an end, an end materially hastened by the battles described in this Chapter, it will be proper to bring the history of Boscawen, Hawke's nearest rival in glory, up to the same level. We may despise and discard Horace Walpole's gossip as to the reason why Anson sent Boscawen out to India in 1747; but it is necessary to notice it, since in the present day his Works pass for history. He attributes Boscawen's employment in the task of besieging Pondicherry (where he was the first admiral to whom a general's Commission had been granted since the reign of Charles II.) to Anson's desire to ruin him. He was sent out, " upon slight intelligence and upon improbable views," to perform a Herculean task, because " when he and Anson came together from the victory off Cape Finisterre, he complained loudly of Anson's behaviour " ;f and he tells a ridiculous story as to a sea-piece, which Ausou had lately had drawn of the victory for which he was lorded, in which his own ship, in a cloud of cannon, was boarding the French Admiral. This circumstance, which is as true as if Madame Scudevy had written his life, — for he was scarce in sight when the Frenchman struck to Boscawen, — has been so ridiculed by the whole tar-hood that the romantic part * Charnock's " Biog. Nav." t " Letters to Mann," vol. i. p. 338. ADMIEAL BOSOAWEN. 203 has been forced to be cancelled, and one only gun remains firing at Anson's ship.* Anson was politically aud socially hateful to "Wal- pole, and though no doubt his distinction did not rest on the same grounds as those of the greater naval heroes of his time, nothing but malignity could fasten any blame upon his courage or conduct, still less on his motives for employing Boscawen. It was, on the contrary, only another proof of the sagacity winch enabled him to select the right man, as we say, for the right place. Boscawen had already displayed, like the far inferior officer, Knowles, talents for military as well as strictly naval command. The son of Lord Falmouth, and great nephew of John Duke of Marl- borough, he owed but little to his birth, and almost everything to his own abundant zeal and conspicuous merit. He had served as a volunteer under Vernon, and soon showed his mettle at Portobello : but unlike so many other officers in the subsequent campaigns, he served at Cartagena and elsewhere without any loss of reputation ; and we have seen him largely contributing to the success of Anson's battle, though Walpole appears to attribute to him the brilliant per- formances of Warren. It is not indeed clear that the incongruous union of the military and naval commands in the person of the Admiral was much more successful in India than might have been expected ; but every- thing which gallantry and perseverance could perform, under very trying circumstances, against superior * "Letters to Mann," vol. i. p. 284. 204 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. forces, was effected by Boscawen, assisted at a critical moment by young Clive, who here commenced his extraordinary career. When the Peace put a stop to further proceedings, he came home with a character only second to Hawke's. He had preceded him by some years as a Member of Parliament, and in 1751 found a place at the Board of Admiralty. Thus when the smouldering war again burst forth in flame, these were the two men to whom the country had learnt to look. Pocock had scarcely yet begun to earn his high reputation ; but he had acquired the necessary expe- rience. Rodney, Saunders and Watson had already commenced a fine career, under Hawke's leadership ; and Keppel, who addresses Anson as if he were his son, — and indeed, having been the favourite midship- man of that officer in the " Centurion," he had clearly established some such relationship, — was learning to look upon Hawke as his friend. It so happened that the first duty which awaited Hawke, the very day after his arrival in England with his prizes, was to preside at the Courtmartial held upon Keppel for the loss of his ship. He had lost her on the Coast of France in the too eager chase of an enemy, but was honourably acquitted : and here it was that a mutual esteem, which ripened into friendship, first commenced between the two officers. " Sir Edward," he writes to Anson, on coming under Hawke's command, early in 1748, " is extremely civil to me, and I hope he will do well and please everybody " — a difficult task. Few letters are more entertaining, it may be added, than the familiar, " happy-go-lucky," epistles of this ever- CHATHAM AND THE NAVAL HEROES. 205 youthful " little Keppel " which we find in the Anson Collection. Howe was as vet but little known. He also was preparing to be one of Hawke's most distinguished pupils. And now let us ask the question whether history has been wholly true to her vocation in ascribing everything to Chatham in the Seven Years' War. It is too common a practice with our historians to notice only the contrast between the disastrous commence- ment of that war under Newcastle, and the splendid operations which established the Empire under Chat- ham. But they forget the immense progress which had been made by the navy in the previous war, and the still greater contrast between the fleet of Mathews and the fleet of Hawke. They fail to observe the work which had been done by Anson, and the noble spirit which had been infused into the service by the gallant men of whom a few short notices have been given in this narrative. These were the men made to Chatham's hand, whom even he at first did not understand how to employ, but who, as soon as he had acquired his lesson, carried his name to the highest pitch of glory. In these pages it is of course necessary to abstract, and cut short the masses of detail which would expose to the world, if people could stop to read, how much good and first-rate work went to the making of such a character as Hawke's. Suffice it that the impression produced upon one who has necessarily studied the whole series of documents, is that B the prudence, fortitude, high-mindedness, and simplicity which they 206 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. display, are of themselves the indications of a ^reat upward bound in the morale of the nation, and that it would have been surprising if they had not borne the fruit they did in the ensuing struggle for national existence. This ooo-ht not to detract from Chatham's merit, but it is absurd to worship an idol. After so high a flight, it is an act of audacity to descend to such a matter as naval uniform ; but there is somethino- to be said for linking the hio-her and lower subjects in one. It is by no means difficult to imagine a connection between the fine spirit with which the Royal Navy emerged out of the first Spanish war, and the order issued by Anson at the close of it, for a uniform dress. The chaos which had marred its opening efforts was well typified by the varieties of naval attire. Smollett's description of the dandy captain's dress in " Roderick Random " reads like an absurd caricature; but if the following anecdote given by Charnock* is as true as the author believed it to be, the caricature is little more than another version of the fact. Captain, afterwards Sir William, Burnaby, was the dandy. His ship went out to the West Indies to join the fleet of Yernon, whose slovenly habits were quite as much an affectation as the Captain's. Burnaby, immediately after his arrival at Jamaica,, proceeded, as is customary, to pay a visit of ceremony to the Commander- in-Chief. On this solemn occasion he equipped himself gor- geously in a suit of silk, or, as some say, velvet, very splendidly laced. The Admiral was, as was not uncommon with him, * " Biog. Nav.," vol. v. p. 131. NAVAL UNIFORM. 207 coarsely dressed in a very ordinary manner. When Mr. Burnaby was announced, Mr. Vernon rose from his escritoire with much pretended and apparent confusion, and hurrying into an inner apartment, put on a wig of ceremony, which having adjusted with pretended haste and embarrassment, he advanced towards Mr. Burnaby with great gravity, and desired to know his com- mands ; when the latter informed him with much precision and attention to form " that he had the honour to command the bomb-vessel which had just arrived from England." Mr. Ver- non, with a ludicrous and grotesque alteration of countenance, replied, " Gad so, Sir, I really took you for a dancing-master." Certainly the coarse rudeness and reprehension of the admiral was, to the full, as ridiculous as the finical attention to dress of the other. The following order shows, that there was ranch irregularity, and, below the rank of Lieutenant, that there was no attempt at a uniform at all. Admiralty, April 19th, 1748. Whereas we judge it necessary in order the better to dis- tinguish the rank of sea-officers, to establish a military uniform clothing for Admirals, Captains, Commanders, and Lieutenants, and judging it also necessary that persons acting as midshipmen should likewise have a uniform clothing, in order to their con- veying the appearance which is necessary to distinguish the class to be in the rank of gentlemen, and give them better credit and figure in executing the commands of their superior officers, you are hereby required and directed to conform your- self to the said establishment by wearing clothing accordingly at ail proper times, and to take care that such of the aforesaid officers and midshipmen who may be from time to time under your command do the like . . . patterns of which for Admirals and Vice Admirals, and also for Rear Admirals, may be seen at the Admiralty Office, and patterns for each class of other officers, viz., Captains who have taken post for three years, and l>y His Majesty's regulations rank as Colonels, all other Post Captains who by the said^ Regulations rank as Lieutenant Colonels, Commanders not takiug Post, and Lieutenants, and likewise for midshipmen, will be lodged at the Navy Office, and with the Storekeepers of His Majesty's yard at Plymouth, 208 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. The colours, blue and white, according to the Duke of Bedford, were suggested by the King's admiration for the riding dress worn by " my Duchess."* On May 5th, 1748, the Proclamation for the cessa- tion of hostilities was made, consequent on the signa- ture of the Preliminaries of Peace ; and one of the marks of the cessation was a promotion of Admirals, by which Hawke became Vice-admiral of the Blue. From July 26th, 1748, when he is ordered to suc- ceed Warren in supreme command of the fleet, till November 10th, 1752 — a period which, added to that which had passed since he hoisted his flag in July 1747, amounts to nearly five years and a half — he is continuously employed as Commander-in-chief, nearly all the time at Portsmouth, but in 1750 in the Thames and Medway. For the next two years and a half he seems to have been unemployed, until the notes of war are again sounded. On February 12th, 1755, he is ordered to hoist his flag once more. His service is then again continuous till very near the conclusion of the Peace of Paris. f This Chapter may close with some verses from the " Gentleman's Magazine ' (October, 1747), which, though not worth much in themselves, indicate the sense of relief and recovery which the nation had begun to entertain in that year, and the persons to whom it owed its improved position. * Barrow's " Anson." t It may be mentioned, to prevent mistakes, that though Hawke was appointed in 1749 to command the squadron ordered to convoy the transports to Nova Scotia, he was not actually sent. PEACE DUE TO NAVAL VICTORIES. 209 Her lance inverted, head reclined, As late Britannia pensive sate, Revolving in her anxious mind The woes of her declining state, Fame in her rapid flight drew near, And sounding loud from every tongue, "Hawke," "Anson," "Warren," in her ear, The Genius roused, depressed so long. " If Anson, Warren, Hawke," she said, Now rising with a sprightly bound, " Are known to fame, my laurelled head With pristine glory shall be crowned. No more I'll sigh, no more complain, My ancient rights at length restored, Restored my empire o'er the main, And dreaded round the globe my sword." The effect produced by the action of the Royal Navy was, indeed, the sole ground on which the country could claim a Peace. The land forces had never had a fair chance, and nearly 80 millions of debt had beeu incurred, chiefly in subsidies and the pay of Hanoverian troops. But the Navy of France had been most seriously crippled in battles and single fights, her hostile colonial enterprises effectively checked, and her support of Spain had fallen still more ruinously than ever on that decaying State. The commerce of all three nations had suffered enormously ; but the balance of prizes was estimated to be in favour of Great Britain by two millions sterling. 14 210 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. CHAPTER VII. hawke's position during the peace and at the opening of the seven years' war. condition of the go- vernment. There is naturally little worth mention in the history of Sir Edward Hawke during the Peace from 1748 to 1755 ; but the all-important part he took in the Seven Years' War which succeeded it, demands a few pre- liminary words on the general course of events which led up to that war, and brought him and his peers once more to the front. As the too-pacific policy of Sir Robert Walpole, coupled with the weakness inherent, during its earlier days, in the Hanoverian Succession, had been the direct cause of that French aggression and Spanish arrogance which forced England into the first of the two wars under consideration, so the incapacity of the two Pelhams, who succeeded to Waipole's place, aggravated by the political factions which struggled for supremacy over his coffin, encouraged the French to pursue the colonial enterprises which had been checked by the British navy, and to take PEACE OF AIX LA CHAPELLE. 211 every advantage of the Peace as a preparation for reopening the war nuder better auspices. The Peace of Aix la Chapelle, concluded in October 1748, had been chiefly due to the exertions of Mr. Pelham, the Prime Minister, of Lord Chesterfield, and of Lord Sandwich. It was specially distasteful to the English, who found themselves obliged to relinquish their one acquisition made during the late war, the island of Cape Breton, and to consent to the disgrace of giving hostages for the performance of that condi- tion. Nothing could more clearly show the importance attached by France to her scheme of colonisation than these terms. On the other hand, Hanover had been preserved ; Holland was saved ; — always, and most wisely, a central point in English foreign policy ; and France had to give up by land what had cost her much more than the English had spent at sea. As far as England and France were concerned, it was simply a temporary return to the status quo ante, as the best escape from an anomalous and confused political situa- tion, in which the nations of Europe were losing sight of the Balance of Power, and spending vast sums of money they hardly knew why. The English felt their system of subsidies had become, not only ruinous, but ridiculous. And yet, as far as France and England were con- cerned, both countries had a very clear instinct that the ground of their particular struggle was not obscure, and could not be really removed by the Peace. It might suit either party to side with Austria, or Prussia, as the case might be, and the 14 * 212 LIFE OF LOED HAWKE. position of Hanover necessarily led to such combina- tions ; but behind those alliances lay the mighty con- test for supremacy at sea, for ships, colonies, and commerce. The three Bourbon thrones had not been acquired for a mere show of grandeur ; the prospects of a French America and a French India had suc- ceeded to the merely European ambition of Louis Quatorze. If the English had preceded them in both directions, the Dutch had preceded the English, and the Portuguese the Dutch; why should not France have its turn? And in truth the French and English were now so intermixed on the St. Lawrence, and on the adjacent shores and islands of North America, that it was no more possible that their petty jealousies and differences could be composed at that period without hostilities, than the West Indian quarrels of Spain and Great Britain in 1739. The rival interests of the two countries in India, though natural enough under the circumstances, were, more distinctly still, the fruit of an aggressive policy on the part of the French. Thus, whatever might be the comfortable dreams of the British Government, the French never stopped for a moment in their career. All they wanted at the moment was a free passage for their ships and sol- diers between France and her colonies, undisturbed by the ubiquitous navy of Great Britain. All their attention was directed to this point. In India Dupleix was encouraged and assisted to follow up the advan- tages over England already gained. In the West Indies and on the African Coast all neutral territory was claimed for France by the process of setting up FRENCH POLICY DURING THE PEACE. 213 posts and. proclamations, and, in some cases, by actual occupation. In North America no pains were spared to strengthen the fortifications of Cape Breton, and especially of its capital, Louisbourg ; to form extensive ^alliances with the savage Indian tribes at the back of the English settlements, who were now armed, and to some extent disciplined, for the conflict which would soon begin ; and, above all, to establish a chain of forts which should connect their prosperous Canadian Colony with the Mississippi, and so with Louisiana and with the forces of their allies, the Spaniards. They were also bent on obtaining water-access to Canada by lake and river to the south of the St. Lawrence, which is ice-closed in winter. This was an extremely clever scheme. If the sturdy English colonists, who had already given so much trouble to France and Spain, could only be hemmed in by a military cordon in their rear, and choked by great naval and military stations in front, there would be some real prospect of a French America. Jonquiere and Gralissoniere were, as schemers for the aggrandisement of their country, only second to Dupleix and Lally, but they have dropped out of history. It did not much trouble the national con- science that some of these aggressive forts were built within territories which the English had long con- sidered their own. Why should these people be the only colonists to extend and encroach upon their neighbours? If in the process the French Indians cut off a few straggling settlers, and used the scalping- knife rather freely, bodies of French soldiers had been 214 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. gradually introduced during the Peace into the new forts ; the colonists could make no united, and there- fore no effective, resistance; and England was not at all likely to begin over again an expensive war for such a trifle. The British Government did, indeed, in 1749, at the instance of the President of the Board of Trade, Lord Halifax, take one step which showed they were aware of what was going on. This was the establish- ment of a military colony, which took the name of its projector, planted at that splendid and commodious harbour in Nova Scotia so well known in modern times as the favourite station of English ships and regiments. But this only led to further French aggres- sion. Though the limits of Nova Scotia, or Acadia, as the French termed it, had been carefully recognised by the Treaty of Utrecht, the French Colonial Go- vernor made no scruple of pursuing the same policy as had been decided upon in the case of the older colonists. He seized upon unoccupied territory; built forts at the back of the Colony; cut off the British fur-trade, and encouraged rebellion among the old French settlers who, having accepted the arrange- ments of the Peace of Utrecht, had hitherto lived in quiet subordination to the British Government. The Jesuit missionaries were particularly concerned in the latter operation. Thus a petty border- warfare had commenced between the colonies of the two nations, in which the English were sure to come off the worst, not only on account of the feebleness of the Home Government and of WAR IN THE COLONIES. 215 its colonies, but also because of the peculiarly un- satisfactory representation of Great Britain at the Court of France. Lord Albemarle was famous for his exquisite manners ; but this was a poor set-off against his incompetence. His remonstrances on the subject of the French aggressions in America passed unheeded, and when the English appeared to show some signs of waking up, the wife of the French ambassador in London, Madame de Mirepoix, dexte- rously hoodwinked the Court. So far had the Pelham Administration been from comprehending the dangers which lay before them, that, in 1750, there had been a large reduction of the navy, over which Anson sighed, and against which Pitt, from the side of the Opposi- tion, protested in vain. Even the Spaniards renewed their old methods of harassing English trade by their guardacostas in the West Indies, and by their treat- ment of English merchants in Spain. Yet as late as 1753 Parliament opened with a Speech from the throne in which the King was made to say that " he had the satisfaction to be assured of a good disposition in all the Powers that were his allies to adhere to the same salutary object" [of peace]. Lord Anson was the main link between this feeble Government and the Royal Navy, of which he had been the chief administrator for many years before he became, in 1751, First Lord of the Admiralty. His position was, in reality, an unfortunate one for his reputation ; but it was the natural consequence of the marriage which took place at this time between him and the daughter of Lord Hardwicke. That 216 LIFE OP LORD HAWKE. clever lawyer was the political ally of the Pelhams ; and Anson, who never became independent of him, was thus mixed up with that particular section of the political world which was more tainted than any other with the intrigue and corruption of faction, and less capable of taking in hand the greater politics which a nation in such a position as Great Britain can never neglect with impunity. The very success of this party was its greatest misfortune. All the various, often inconsistent, elements of the Opposition had gradually melted away. Pulteney, Chesterfield, Bed- ford, Wyndham, Bolingbroke, had either died or dis- appeared from the political arena. Carteret had sunk to a mere secondary position. Frederick, Prince of Wales, whose factious Court had at least afforded a standing-point for the gradual formation of a new phase of Party Government, had passed away, un- regretted. Pelham himself followed in 1754. Who was left ? One man only remained, who had, from long habituation, acquired the practice of holding in his hands all the threads of official life, one man only to whom the King was sufficiently accustomed to be able to act with him ; though he freely confessed that in Germany such a man would hardly be reckoned fit for the post of Chamberlain at one of its smallest Courts. This was Pelham's elder brother, the Duke of Newcastle. It was not the King's fault that he was reduced so low. He had, through a long series of years, been contending against unceasing difficulties in the sup- port of the interests of his hereditary States ; for it was THE DUKE OP NEWCASTLE. 217 necessary that they should be kept in close connection with those of Great Britain. During every one of these years such policy was hateful to the people; yet that people nevertheless felt, with true political instinct, that they could not possibly dispense with the ruler whom they had deliberately chosen. He had long lost the clever consort who had reconciled English men and English women to much they both disliked and disapproved. Thus Walpole and Pelham, in succession, had governed the realm ; for they alone — the latter in close connection with Carteret — had contrived to combine the interests of Great Britain with those of Hanover; and the oligarchical form retained as yet by the British Constitution, had enabled them to tide over, by means which were not then thought disgraceful, the difficulties which arose out of the national discontent. Each of them in turn led the House of Commons ; and from his seat in the House as from a throne, showering down places and pensions, could still the wildest tempests, and restrain within bounds, up to a certain point, the most for- midable patriots. But Newcastle was far inferior to these men ; and he was not in the House of Commons. No wonder the old King's mind misgave him. It was a real difficulty. How was the Government to be carried on ? No wonder the watchful enemy on the other side of the Channel observed the situation, and began to do openly what had hitherto been shrouded under some sort of decent veil. No wonder also that the English people, enraged beyond measure at what they called the "Machiavellian," the "perfidious" 218 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. policy of France, began to rally round the one man whom the King, because he had hitherto been the chief opponent of the Hanoverian policy, and had resisted every effort which had been made to sap his blunt and courageous independence, would on no account consent to call to his counsels. It was pre- cisely here that the French overreached themselves. This sudden resolution to throw off the mask had the effect of giving a shock to the resistance of the King, and of gradually bringing Pitt, destined to be the worst enemy the French ever had, to the head of affairs. But it cost two years and more, two years of misery and failure, to produce this result. The person who might seem most to be pitied during the struggle for a good Government which now took place in England, is the Duke of Newcastle ; but that would be a species of historical sympathy which it would be an error to waste. The Duke was a bustling, active man of business in his own way, had a very large knowledge of foreign affairs, and was perfectly happy in all the intrigue and chicane of these complicated politics. He delighted in speaking, was by no means a bad debater, and was never fatigued. While corrupting others, he was himself immaculate; and, the possessor of a fine fortune, impoverished himself by spending it in public life and public affairs. Above all he had no sense of the ridiculous, and, as Lord Waldegrave says, had " lost all sensibility."* So long as he could carry his point, he felt not the stings of sarcasm. * Memoirs, p. 70. HAWKE AND BYNG. 219 The man whom this curious compound of ill-mixed qualities would fain trust to manage the House of Commons was the elder Fox, perhaps as able a man as the elder Pitt, and with many of the great qualities which distinguished his own more famous son ; but like that son, his want of character hung like a weight of lead about his neck. Such a man was of course a rotten stick to lean upon. These were the rulers of Great Britain at a moment when she required the highest statesmanship and noblest patriotism. The only excuse for recapitulating what is so well known is that the course of our narrative leads over the quarterdeck on which Byng was shot to death ; the appointment of Byng to the command in the Mediterranean was the outcome of the chaos above described; and it is only in connection with the political situation that the professional blunders of the Courtmartial which brought about that "judicial murder" can be understood. Hawke's position also is inseparably connected with that of the miserable Byng. However different their character and fate, their paths crossed and recrossed each other's. Hawke had succeeded Byng in command of the " Portland," and Byng Hawke in charge of the cruising ships in the Bay of Biscay. When Byng was selected for the post in which he failed, it was because Hawke could not be spared from the Channel. When the unfortunate result of his battle with the French became known, the cry of the whole country was — " It could never have happened if Hawke had been there " ; and the first step taken to repair the disaster 220 LIFE OP LORD HAWKE. was to send him out to supersede Byng in the com- mand of the Mediterranean fleet. If we enquire why an officer who had been entirely undistinguished in active service should have been thus placed on a level with such men as Hawke and Boscawen, and when so able an administrator as Anson was at the helm, there is but one answer, and that unfortunately would apply to too many similar cases. Byng was the son of a great officer ; had, like the wretched Norris, been pushed through the lower ranks of the Service with rapidity by the mere force of Lord Torrington's position, and was very high for his age upon the list of admirals; had been made Governor and Commander-in-chief of Newfoundland when still a young man ; had performed the ordinary duties of Commodore and Admiral with credit, and if nothing else had been required of him, would never have been heard of any more. Unlike Richard Norris, he was a man of courage, and had more than the average share of education and mental ability; but his career had fostered the growth of qualities which made him nearly as unfit for high command as even Admiral Mathews himself ; and he had the misfortune of being brought face to face with the enemy under circum- stances which required that he should possess the exact qualities which were not his by nature, and which he had never acquired. On this point it may be well to quote at once the sensible remarks of Charnock, in his " Biographia Navalis," a work now almost forgotten, and indeed only to be followed with caution, but occasionally, as byng's character. 221 we have seen in the account of Mathews and Lestock, displaying remarkable insight. It must be premised that the author condemns the execution of the admiral as strongly as anyone, and indeed writes as his advocate : — Ministers could not perhaps have made a worse choice than they did in appointing Mr. Byng to his last command. It ended in the destruction of his own fame and life, and tended, at least in the minds of all impartial men, to excite the highest indigna- tion against those who had first appointed, and afterwards despatched him on a service which certainly not his force, nor, it may be, his abilities wei'e competent to the execution of. As a commander he was far from being popular. He was austere, rigid, almost to a degree of undue oppression, and proud even beyond comparison. Destitute by nature of those conciliating qualities which create love and esteem, fortune had on her part denied him the means of acquiring admiration and popularity by withholding from him all opportunities of creating to himself either. Though we cannot by any means acquiesce in what his enemies most indecently, violently, and untimely insisted on, that he was deficient in personal activity of mind, or what in plainer terms is called courage, yet we cannot but fairly confess that we do not imagine him to have possessed that ardent spirit of enter- prise which might have enabled him to surmount the several difficulties that unfortunately surrounded him. . . . He was too great an observer of forms, ancient rules of discipline, and naval etiquette ; and deserved rather the character of a parade officer than of a great commander. ... In whatever respect he might be deficient as a commander, the blame certainly attaches, in a much stronger degree, to those who sent him on such a service than to himself, who was, if at all, naturally incompetent to the task imposed upon him.* As, then, Lord Anson must share, in a very large degree, with the Ministry, the blame which attaches to Byng's appointment, so, in a much smaller degree, * Vol. iv. pp. 177-79. 222 LIFE OF LOED HAWKE. he was responsible for the series of errors which resulted in supplying him with so poor a force at the critical moment when the fate of Minorca hung in the scales. To understand the Minorca question we must go back to the opening of the war in 1755, the year before the capture of that island by the French, and the affair of Byng. The steps in the process are these. As early as 1754 the war in India, which, under Lawrence and Clive on one side, and Dupleix on the other, had never ceased, assumed such dimensions that Admiral Watson was sent out with a squadron to the support of the English East India Company. It was then that he performed those remarkable exploits which rendered his imposing monument in Westminster Abbey, erected at the expense of that body, more appropriate than many such sepulchral memorials. In America, the expedition which first brought Washington into notice, was due, not to the spirit of the Home Govern- ment, but to that of the Virginian colonists, who could no longer put up with the audacious encroach- ments of the French at Fort Duquesne ; and its failure was succeeded by that of General Braddock, an officer of much the same type as Byng, and whose appointment reflected equal discredit upon the Ministry. They were indeed only shamed by the outcry of the nation into sending him out at all, in order to retrieve the recent failure of the Colonists. This, however, did, as Horace Walpole and many more foresaw, brino- matters to a crisis. " We begin to think," says Walpole, on October 6, 1754, "that the world may THE CEISIS. 223 be roused again, and that an East Indian war and a West Indian war may beget such a thing as an European war. In short the French have taken such cavalier liberties with some of our forts that are of great consequence to Virginia, Carolina, and Georgia, that we are actually dispatching two regiments thither . . . too many if the French mean nothing further ; too few if they do." * The French, no longer satisfied with supporting their governors by the dispatch of bodies of troops in a quiet and unobtrusive way, now prepared a large military force and equipped a powerful fleet in their Western harbours. It was a difficult position for the English Government. Anxious to preserve peace, yet unable to suffer their Colonies to be conquered, the Duke of Newcastle was fairly at the end of such wits as he possessed, and his colleagues could not act without him. Nevertheless it was resolved that the least which could be done was, like their enemy, to equip a fleet, and impress seamen. " The French," says Walpole again, on March 10th, 1755, "have sent demands too haughty to be admitted, and we are pre- paring a fleet to tell them we think so. In short, the prospect is warlike. The Ministry are so desirous of avoiding it that they make no preparations on land. Will that prevent it ? Their partisans d the Plan- tations, and ask if we are to involve ourselves in a war for them. However, the late Rebellion suppressed, is a comfortable ingredient at least in a new war." f * " Letters to Mann," vol. iii. p. 82. f Ibid., vol. iii. p. 93. 224 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. And here it may be mentioned that to Anson is due the credit of, for the first time, enabling a fleet to be started forth on an emergency with a body of per- manently organised sea- soldiers, the Marines. Here- tofore the country had been obliged to depend on regiments, specially raised indeed for the purpose, but disbanded when not immediately wanted, and never combined in one corps. He had long pressed for this great reform, which had been an old scheme of Lord Sandwich's, but now took the organic form with which we have been familiar ever since that day, and to which no little of the success of the British Navy has been due. Like so many other simple im- provements it seems strange that the country could ever have hesitated to adopt it ; but less strange when one reflects upon the difficulties which have been so often placed in the way of a hearty and generous recognition of the value of the services of the Royal Marines. No less than fifty Companies were raised at this period ; but not with sufficient prompti- tude to satisfy Hawke's eager wish to substitute them altogether for the regiments of the Line with which some part of his fleet was supplied. He probably had some hand in the establishment of the force, for he writes as if it was a scheme long familiar to him- self as well as to the Admiralty. By the year 1759 the numbers of the corps had mounted up to 18,000.* It was to Hawke that the general equipment of the fleet was entrusted ; and we find his flag flying from * Barrow's "Anson," p. 235. THE ROYAL MARINES. 225 the " Terrible" at Spithead as early as February 12th, 1755. Boscawen soon joined him, the destination of the latter being to deal with the great French fleet collecting in North America ; while Hawke was to superintend the home service at sea. Of course this was all too late. The fleet should have been equipped in the previous autumn, an ultimatum sent to the French the moment the fleet was ready, and the ports then instantly blockaded — just indeed as was done next year. We have seen how alien such measures were to the spirit and capacity of the Government. One portion of the British policy had indeed been sound, and was destined to bear fruit. This was chiefly due to the King. Impressed before all things with the danger to which his Continental possessions had been, and would soon again be, liable, and forcing himself to forget the insults he had received from his nephew, Frederick of Prussia, he and the Govern- ment had of late carefully cultivated the friendship of the one Power which they saw would be likely to assist them effectually when the inevitable European war should break out afresh. The position of Fre- derick with regard to Austria was much the same as that of England with regard to France. The Peace of 1748 had been quite understood to be a mere temporary expedient. Neither side disarmed. Indeed England was the only power that dreamt of such a thing. Austria had by no means reconciled herself to the permanent loss of Silesia, and Frederick had not the smallest intention of relinquishing it. We have in modern times learnt to believe that there is 15 226 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. something more to be said for the morality of this conquest than the world had been accustomed to admit. At any rate Silesia had been won ; and the necessity of the acquisition, if Prussia was to take permanent rank as one of the Great Powers of Europe, was part of the creed of every native of that country. Thus the most unexpected alliances came to pass. While Prussia was reconciled to England, her recent enemy, Austria, became the fast friend of France, with which nation she had been in bitter feud for many generations. It must be confessed that this alliance with Prussia was more natural than the former one with Austria. There had been many reasons for supporting the magnanimous Maria Theresa; but the interests of Great Britain and Hanover were far more concordant with those of Prussia ; and the religious questions which had, not so long before, played a chief part in European combinations, were by no means laid asleep. They were indeed mere prominent than is sometimes supposed in the struggle which was pro- ceeding between the French and English Colonists in North America. Hawke's letters and despatches of this date are replete with all the masses of detail natural to the equipment of a great fleet, which had been allowed to dwindle down to nothing during the Peace. The difficulty of obtaining seamen was, however, by far the greatest of those with which he had to deal. All sorts of questions relating to impressment come before him, and every effort is made on his part to alleviate the extreme hardships incident to the system. Desertion ALLIANCES AND PREPARATIONS. 227 however must be stopped, and soldiers are largely employed on this service. When, a little later, the need of seamen to man Holburne's squadron becomes serious, he tells the Admiralty : — Last night at 12 I sent boats to Ryde, Cowes, Yarmouth, Lymington, Southampton, and Chichester; and sent the "Savage" sloop to Poole, and the " Arundel " to cruize off Portland for a few days. At the same time I ordered a press ashore and from the merchant ships in this harbour, by which we have got about forty men. I shall use my best endeavours to get the squadron to sea. Of course with such material the difficulties of fitting out and preparing ships to meet an enemy at a moment's notice are very great. Both he and Bos- cawen have to reject large numbers of these very men, who had cost so much trouble to impress, as " totally unserviceable " ; and even, after this, — just as we have already observed in 1743, — the sickness and mortality among them is tremendous. Boscawen's fleet lost something like 2,000 men on his short North American expedition, — where the climate could not be in fault, — from this cause ; and we shall soon see Hawke's own squadron in the same condition. It is during Hawke's superintendence of the equipment of this fleet that he turns his attention to Haslar Hospital, which he finds sadly deficient; but he reports that the whole system of attending to the sick on board ship is still worse. The necessaries for this purpose, supplied from the Government stores, were disgrace- fully bad in every respect. A reform elates from his report. It is also at this time that he decides upon Porchester Castle as a better place for the reception of 15 * 228 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. French prisoners than the premises of a certain Mr. Ward at Fortune [For ton] near Gosport. While on these local matters, it may be observed that Hawke's delicate position as Member for Ports- mouth during the years of the Peace, while his flag- was at the same time hoisted at the Port, was a test of tact and good sense which his official correspond- ence thoroughly satisfies. The same may be said as to his treatment of the complaints made by certain officers, and in reference to prizes taken in the recent war, as to which nice questions arose ; and the remark may be extended to his conduct of the numerous Courtsmartial on which he had had to sit either as President or Vice-President during the Peace, and which seem to have been assigned to him as his special province. In his management of this difficult part of an officer's duty no one seems to have excelled him ; and the remark made in Collins' Peerage fairly summing up the opinion of the service, has been adopted by other writers : — " He always took the greatest care to distribute justice without any regard to rank or connections. The innocent were sure to meet with his protection and the guilty to feel the rod of punish- ment." It is scarcely possible to overrate the import- ance of such a service at a time when the mismanage- ment of the navy, during almost the whole period which had elapsed since it was actively employed in Queen Anne's reign, had left it in the condition described in a former Chapter. A standard of pro- fessional duty was thus created and maintained, all HAWKE THE LEADING ADMIRAL. 229 the more seasonable after the disgraceful exhibition furnished by the Courtsmartial on Mathews and his officers; and we are the more reminded of the loss sustained by Hawke's absence on that occasion, as well as on the melancholy Trial which issued in Byng's execution. The most important of the Courts- martial at which Hawke presided was that held in December 1750 on Admiral Griffin, the Commander- in-chief in the East Indies, who was suspended from his rank for misconduct before the enemy. But neither on the records of this or the other Courts- martial is there anything worth extracting. Here then was the man pointed out by every pos- sible sign for the headship of the working and fighting- naval forces, just as Anson was for the administrative department. We shall see in the next three Chapters how little the use of an instrument so finely tempered was understood during the early years of the war, and in the subsequent Chapters, how ill, till many years after the great Peace, his surpassing services were requited. Long after the period at which we have now arrived, in the year 1770, Chatham, denouncing the want of foresight and preparation shown by the Government on the occasion of the dispute with Spain concerning the Falkland Islands, used the following language : — Oliver Cromwell, who astonished mankind by his intelligence, did not derive it from spies in the Cabinet of every prince in Europe ; he drew it from the cabinet of his own sagacious mind : he observed facts, and traced them forward to then - consequences : 230 LIFE OF LORD HAWKF. from what was, he concluded what must be ; and he never was deceived. The Government of the Duke of Newcastle had " intelligence" from neither species of cabinet. They could not but be aware that the French were making great preparations both by laud and sea; yet so dexte- rously were they amused by the Due de Mirepoix and his wife, that the French fleet stole away from Brest by half a dozen at a time, between January and March, 1755. No less than three squadrons got off in one way or the other to the West Indies and Canada. Even so, the Government were entirely misinformed as to their total number ; and when they received certain infor- mation that the final expedition under Macnamara and Dubois de la Mothe mustered between them twenty- five sail of the line (some of them only armed en flute), while Boscawen had preceded them with no more than eleven, the alarm was excessive. Captain Holburne, a friend of Anson's, and an officer of cha- racter and experience, was instantly made an admiral, and despatched with the exceeding haste which the following letter indicates, carrying with him six sail of the line to reinforce Boscawen. Dear Sir, Admiralty, May the 8th, 1755. I have the satisfaction of wishing you joy on your pro- motion of Rear Admiral ; it was the last thing I did with the King, but would not let you know it till I mentioned it to the Lords of the Eegency. I must now intreat you, for the sake of vour own character as well as to justify me in the opinion I have given of you, that not a moment's time may be lost in your getting out of Channel. You must sail from Spithead on Friday morning, let the wind be how it will. In short your getting to America, and joining Vice Admiral Boscawen before BOSOAWBN IN AMERICA. 231 the French get to Louisburg, is of such iruinense consequence to the kingdom, that I must again intreat you to be very assiduous in making your passage in as little time as possible. I know the French are much longer in their navigation than we are, and as the wind has been Westerly, and the French ships were not more than [this word is wanting in consequence of a hole in the paper] leagues from Ushant on Saturday, they can have made but very little way in the voyage. I know you will find all the facility imaginable from Sir Edward Hawke in so material a service. I heartily wish you success, and be assured I am most sincerely your friend, Anson.* Admiral Holburne did not disappoint his friend. He sailed on May 1 1th, and succeeded in joining Bos- cawen on June 21st, but not before that officer had fallen in with the French. The tables were, how- ever, unexpectedly turned ; for Macnamara, as soon as he had seen his consorts clear of the coast, had gone back to Brest with nine sail of the line ; so that the English, after the arrival of Holburne, had seventeen ships to sixteen. M. Dubois de la Mothewas indeed fortunate enough to get off with the loss of only two ships, which Boscawen caught before they could rejoin the fleet, from which they had been separated by a fog ; and after landing his reinforce- ments he got away again from Louisbourg, next year by favour of a storm which drove off Holburne's blockading squadron. But this act of Boscawen's was war ; and that admiral had acted upon the orders he had received to fight: still there had been no Declaration of War, and the French Government * MS. letter in the Library of the United Service Institution, Holburne Collection. 232 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. affected to be surprised and indignant. They had indeed received due notice ; to which, their ambas- sador had pompously replied that the first gun fired would be the signal for his departure ; but the only question in reality was how long the patience of the British could be expected to last without taking action. As soon as the news of Boscawen's proceed- ings arrived, Mirepoix, literally true to his word, left England ; but there was a great deal more to be done before his country was ready. No Declaration of War took place on either side. England equipped a fleet and hoped for the best. 233 CHAPTER VIII. hawke's position in relation to admiral byng.- couetmartial on byng. In order that we may be able to form an opinion as to the morality of the next step taken by the English Government, and in which Sir Edward Hawke was deeply concerned, it is important to bear in mind and to realise the relations of the two coun- tries as described in the last Chapter. For it was now determined to send our admiral to sea instantly, with a large fleet, and with Secret Instructions, which, having been preserved in the family, are here for the first time, it is believed, published ; — and not before it was necessary ; for they have been generally mis- represented. It so happens, also, that from sources already public, we are in a position to understand some of the more private circumstances under which they were issued. The question before us is this : — Were the French in the right when they declaimed against the English, in consequence of the action now taken, as " pirates" ? This, however, is a matter of 234 LIFE OP LOED HAWKE. far inferior importance to the questions discussed in Chapter II. as to the morality of the Spanish War of 1739. In the present case the general obligation of the English to protect their Colonies governed the situation. That there was a casus belli, has never been challenged by impartial judges, and Bosca wen's orders need no justification. It is only a question of time and method, a question of justice and right with respect to a special portion of a whole line of policy, with which we have now to deal. Nevertheless, as the" most opposite opinions have been expressed by historians, the subject requires investigation. The Instructions which follow would naturally have been signed by the Kiug, but he had departed for Hanover some time previously, leaving the Govern- ment in the hands of the Lords Justices. No one but himself could prepare his hereditary Dominions for the storm which was about to burst, or gather up the threads of the Continental alliances which alone could save them. By the Lords Justices. Secret Instructions for Sir Edward Hawke, Knight of the Bath, Vice Admiral of the White Squadron of His Majesty's Fleet. Given at Whitehall, the twenty-second day of July 1755, in the twenty-ninth year of His Majesty's reign. Whereas divers encroachments have been made by France upon His Majesty's rights and possessions in North America, by building forts and making settlements upon lands undoubtedly belonging by Treaty or otherwise to the Crown of Great Britain ; and whereas actual hostilities were committed by the French in the month of April, 1754, by their summoning a fort which was building on the Ohio, under the command of an officer bearing His Majesty's Commission, and the said officer was compelled to surrender the same ; in consequence whereof His Majesty found HIS SECRET INSTRUCTIONS. 235 himself obliged, in order to maintain the honour of his Crown and to defend his possessions in North America, to give the necessary orders to repel force by force, and to prevent the French from landing additional troops in North America, for which purpose they had sent a large squadron of men of war and transports into those seas, which could only be intended to make other encroachments, or to support those already made ; and whereas it is the King's determined resolution not only to con- tinue the most effectual methods for the pi'otection and defence of his rights and possessions and the trade of his subjects in North America, but likewise to provide for the defence of his dominions and the security and protection of the navigation and commerce of his subjects in all parts, which is now become more immediately necessary, as all the means of negotiation have hitherto proved so ineffectual that there is reason to apprehend it is the intention of France to pursue the hostilities they have already committed by an open rupture ; and whereas Monsieur de Mirepoix, Ambassador of the Most Christian King, in conse- cpuence of orders he has l'eceived from his Court, has actually left this kingdom without taking leave ; We have therefore thought proper, in the p resent circumstances, to give you the following Orders, and we do, in His Majesty's name, order and direct you to take under your command Rear Admiral West and sixteen of "His Majesty's Ships of the Line, with such frigates as shall be directed by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and proceed immediately to sea, and cruise between Ushant and Cape Finisterre, in order to put in execution the following In- structions ; taking care not to go to the Southward of Cape Finis- terre unless from some intelligence you may receive, you shall, without leaving however the Home Service too much exposed, find it necessary to go beyond the same Cape Finisterre. 1st. You are to protect the trade and ships of His Majesty's subjects ; and in case you should meet with the French squadron under the command of Monsieur de Guay, or any other French squadron, or French men of war of the Line of Battle, you are to intercept them, making use of the means in your power for that purpose, and to send them under a proper convoy directly to Plymouth or Portsmouth, taking care that every person belonging to all ships so intercepted be well treated, and that no plunder or embezzlement be made of any effects on board. But if you shall 236 LIFE OF LOED HAWKE. have certain intelligence that the French have committed hos- tilities by their men of war, or in consequence of any Commissions granted to Privateers, or of any Letters of Marque, or Eeprisals against any of His Majesty's subjects, or their ships, or effects, you are then to commit all acts of hostility against the French, aud endeavour to seize and take by every means their ships and vessels, as well those of war as merchants, that you shall meet, sending them into some convenient port in His Majesty's dominions, to be there kept till His Majesty's pleasure shall be known concerning them. 2nd. You are to fix upon some proper place where the ships under your command shall rendezvous in case of separation, notice whereof you are to send, sealed up, to the Secretary of the Admiralty ; and you are constantly to keep a ship or vessel pass- ing between the fleet and the Rendezvous, that you may the more readilv receive such orders as it shall be necessary to send vou. 3rd. You are to continue on this service till further order, or so long as the ships' provisions and water will admit, and then you are to return with them to such ports as the Lords Commis- sioners of the Admiralty may direct. 4th. You are to transmit to one of His Majesty's Secretaries of State and to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty every ten days (or oftener if anything material occurs) a particular account of your proceedings, the frigates and other vessels being appointed to attend you for that purpose, and to proceed with your despatches to Plymouth, from whence they are to be forwarded by express. 5th. You are to observe and follow such orders and instructions as you shall receive from His Majesty, under His Royal Sign Manual, or from the Lords Justices during His Majesty's absence, or from one of His Majesty's principal Secretaries of State,, or from the Lords Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral of Great Britain for the time being. WILLIAM. Hollis Newcastle. Tho. Cantttar. Dorset. Hardwicke C. Rochford. Granville P. Anson. Marlborough C. P. S. T. Robinson. Rutland. H. Fox. Argyll. HE CRUISES FOR FRENCH SHIPS. 237 These Instructions it will be perceived, relate to men-of-war. A few claj^s afterwards they were ex- tended, on grounds explained in the following letter, so as to include a wider cruising ground, and the seizure of merchant ships as well as men-of-war. On August 3rd the King sent word from Hanover that the French were — endeavouring to persuade the Danes to fit out a squadron under pretence of covering their trade from the insults of the English, but in reality to protect French effects under Danish colours ; whatever rnay be the reason of it, it is certain the Danes have augmented the ordinary number of their seamen. France has likewise been tempting the Swedes to enter into their maritime views ; and besides a proposal of the same sort with that ma.de to Denmark, they are contracting for vast quantities of timber and other materials for building ships, as also for guns of all sizes and sorts, both iron and brass. Hence the Additional Secret Instructions which were issued on August 6th, but which did not reach Hawke till August 30th, too late to carry into effect his first, and to perform fully what was required in his second, orders. By the Lords Justices. Additional Secret Instructions for Sir Edward Hawke, Knight of the Bath, Vice Admiral of the White Squadron of His Majesty's Fleet; given at Whitehall, the sixth day of August 1755, in the twenty-ninth year of His Majesty's reign. Whereas since our signing of the Secret Instructions for you on the twenty-second of last month certain advices have been received of the farther hostile preparations of the French, particularly against these kingdoms, we have thought proper in His Majesty's name to give you the following additional Instructions. You are to take under your command such an additional number of ships of war as thp Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty shall direct, some of which being now under orders for particular services (whereof you will receive information from 238 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. their Lordships) you will take care that the said services are duly performed by those ships so appointed, or by such others as you may think proper ; the intention of this reinforcement being to enable you to employ part of the squadron under your command in such stations between Cape Ortugal and Cape Clear as may be most proper for their intercepting all the French mei'chant ships bound into the British Channel, as well as those bound into the Bay of Biscay, and for their protecting the ships of His Majesty's subjects from being annoyed by the ships of war or privateers of France in their going from, or on their return to, any part of these kingdoms. You are to endeavour to seize and take, by every means in your power, all French ships and vessels, as well men-of-war and privateers as merchantmen, that you shall meet, sending them into some convenient port in His Majesty's dominions, together with their effects, to be there kept till His Majesty's pleasure shall be known concerning them, in like manner and according to the directions given you by our said former Secret Instructions relating to French ships of war. WILLIAM. Hollis Newcastle. Tho. Cantuar. Dorset. Hardwicke C. Rochford. Granville P. Anson. Marlborough C. P. S. T. Robinson. Rutland. H. Fox. Argyll. In the " Memoirs of James Earl Waldegrave, K.G., Privy Councillor and Governor to the Prince of Wales" [afterwards George III.], there is an account of the differences of opinion which prevailed among these Lords Justices; but as it has been more than once printed, only such extracts will be selected from this w T ell-informed writer's journal as are necessary for the present chapter. The Lords Justices, I mean the leaders only, who in their private meetings determined all affairs of consequence, were the Duke [of Cumberland], Lord Granville, the Duke of Newcastle, HIS INSTRUCTIONS JUSTIFIABLE. 239 Lord Anson, Sir Thomas Robinson, and Mr. Fox. . . . The pre- parations for war and all military operations were chiefly con- ducted by the Duke, Fox, and Lord Anson. An affair just now came under their consideration of the greatest importance. A powerful fleet was ready to sail under the command of Sir Edward Hawke, and the King trusted to his Regency to prepare proper instructions. Was Hawke to have hostile orders ? If hostile orders were given must they be unlimited ? Ought war to be declared when the fleet sailed, or were we to commence hostilities without any declaration ? The Duke of Cumberland, naturally inclined to vigorous measures, seeing the nation impatient for war, it being also the general opinion that the enemy was yet unprepared, thought it advisable to strike the blow while our furv was at its greatest height : at the same time he was very sensible that, notwithstanding our very formidable fleet, we were not our- selves in such perfect readiness as many people imagined. On the other hand the Duke of Newcastle, who was not fond of danger at a distance, and seldom grew bolder on its nearer approach, was for keeping off the storm as long as possible, and gave his opinion that Hawke should take a turn in the Channel, to exercise the fleet, without having any instructions whatsoever. The Chancellor had more courage than the Duke of Newcastle ; but agreeable to the common practice of the law, was against bringing the cause to an immediate decision. Lord Anson, as usual, said little ; but as an admiral, and First Lord of the Admiralty, thought it became him to seem rather inclined to the spirited side of the cpiestion. After mature deliberation it was resolved that Hawke should sail with hostile orders, but war was not to be declared. Lord Waldegrave then pronounces against this half- and-half decision in words which have been quoted and adopted by modern writers ; but there is some- thing to be said, irrespective of the question whether England ought not to have been ready long before with her alliances to protect Hanover, and her fleeets to blockade the French harbours. That not beino- so, from causes already noticed, and the question of 240 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. repelling force by force having been already settled by Boscawen's Instructions, the points left to the judgment of the Lords Justices were three in number. First : Was England to play into the hands of France by declaring war when she was not prepared, and when it Avas evident that her enemy was himself only playing a waiting game till he was prepared? The answer might well be in the negative. Secondly : Ought England to refrain from any other than purely military action? If so, what punishment were the enemy receiving for stopping the American fur-trade, and committing injuries of many kinds, personal and pecuniary, on British subjects in those parts ? The answer might again well be that she ought not to refrain from action of some retalia- tory kind. Thirdly : Was this a case for the " reprisals " which were the usual weapon of those times when operations short of declared war were contemplated ? Of course the enemy would denounce the seizure of merchant ships without a Declaration of war as " piracy " ; it was to be expected ; but what was the proper name for his own conduct during recent years when no suspicion of war was even afloat. The decision arrived at was that reprisals were to be taken. Was it just ? It must of course be earnestly desired that the policy of Great Britain could always be regarded as of such a character as to need no defence. Com- plaints like those of France on this occasion ought to be impossible : but it does not follow that they were CAPTURED SHIPS A DEPOSIT. 241 strictly just. There was not much to choose between the two parties in the matter of political straight- forwardness. The question is — which began ? And that has been explained. Perhaps the best proof that the English policy was justifiable is that the French contented themselves for nearly a whole year with remonstrances. They were well assured that they had so much the best of the bargain, both in what they had already effected, and in the scheme they were preparing for the surprise of Minorca, that a certain amount of affront and loss might well be pocketed. It will of course be observed that Hawke's orders were confined to the seizure of vessels, and sending them into English ports for detention ; they were not to be confiscated. This was strictly attended to. The captured vessels were faithfully retained as a kind of deposit against the claims made by the English : nor were they sold till every attempt at an accommodation had proved hopeless. Scarcely anything need be added to Lord Walde- grave's skilful sketch of the members of the Govern- ment who were chiefly responsible in this matter. We may be sure he is not far wrong in his account of Newcastle's ludicrous proposal; and il the Duke," as he is invariably called in the Memoirs of the age, only advised in accordance with his usual straight- forward, patriotic common sense. Few characters have had so little justice done them in history as " Butcher Cumberland." Weighted with that terrible epithet, and no doubt reprehensible on many points, he was yet a thoroughly brave, and often showed 16 242 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. himself a noble-minded, man. At more than one crisis of English history, before and after the death of his father, he was a tower of strength to the nation ; and if he was bnt a third-rate general, he displayed a lofty standard, both in civil and military affairs, which was better understood when he was removed by death from the councils of the realm than it had been in his life-time. The construction of the orders bears the plainest evidence of Lord Hardwicke's hand. Supported as he always was by Anson, and perhaps the only one of the number, besides Fox, capable of taking in the full aspect of the situation, it was he in all probability who contrived the dexterous compromise which obtained unanimous signature within the Council, and has ever since afforded so much room for controversy outside that body. Gran- ville's tremulous signature suggests the wreck which self-indulgence had rendered premature. Those who wish to study the principles of these Instructions more fully are recommended to read the spirited Addresses of both Houses of Parliament at the subsequent Session of Parliament, the angry Memorial of the French Government at the close of the year, and the reply to that document penned by Fox, which last, being short, may here, as the concluding paper on the subject, be transcribed : — Sir, Whitehall, January 13, 1756. I received on the 3rd instant the letter of the 21st prox. with which your Excellency honoured me, together with the memorial sub-joined to it. I immediately laid them before the King my master; and by his command I have the honour to inform your Excellency that His Majesty continues desirous of THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND. 243 preserving the public tranquillity. But though the King will consent to an equitable and solid accommodation, His Majesty cannot grant the demand that is made of immediate and full restitution of all the French vessels, and whatever belongs to them, as the preliminary conditions of any negotiation, His Majesty having taken no step but what the hostilities begun by France in a time of profound peace (of which he has the most authentic proofs), and what His Majesty owes to his own honour, to the defence of the rights and possessions of his Crown, and the security of his kingdoms, rendered just and indispensable. To return to Hawke and his cruise for M. Duguay, the very officer, it would seem, whom he had taken prisoner in 1747, and begged might be dismissed on parole on account of his age and infirmities. If indeed he were the same, he proved himself on this occasion to possess at least the wariness which age and experience are supposed to imply. Suspecting that he should be waylaid on his return from the westward, whither he had been sent to convoy some merchant ships to France, he wisely put into Cadiz, and there obtained information as to the cruising- ground of Hawke's fleet. The orders which the first set of Instructions conveyed were unfortunate on this point. The extent of cruising ground was not suffi- ciently wide ; and Duguay contrived to elude his enemy by steering to the westward from Cadiz, making a circuit of Hawke's fleet, and getting back to Brest in the rear of it. A large number of captures of merchant ships were however made, after the receipt of the second set of Secret Instructions ; and before the end of the year, Hawke and Byng (who succeeded Hawke on the cruising-station for a short time), brought in as many as three hundred, many of them 16 * 244 LIFE OF LOED HAWKE. with rich cargoes from Martinique and St. Domingo. What was of more importance, some 8,000 sailors were thus detained, a very serious addition to the difficulties experienced by the French in equipping further fleets. Among the letters from Hawke which require notice at this period as showing character, is one written from Spithead on June 23rd, in which he begs that his First Lieutenant, James Hobbs, may be made Commander into a small vessel — " a very diligent officer, who has served with me long. It is the first favour of the kind that I have ever asked." On September 15th, "at sea," he reports as follows : — While the beer was taking out of the tenders, I sent the " Ambuscade " out to chase. She brought in a French brig from Louisburg, with a missionary on board, who, you will per- ceive by the accompanying letters, was very active in the dis- turbances in America, on which account a price was put ujdoii his head by the English. I have directed Captain Steevens to see him strictly guarded till their Lordships' pleasure shall be known with regard to him. From these letters likewise their Lordships will learn the state of the French in those parts. All the papers were thrown overboard, but the weight to which they were fastened parting from them, they were taken out of the water by an officer of the " Ambuscade." Several letters contain the inevitable complaints about the beer, such as the following : — The beer which came off in the two tenders from Plymouth was very bad : so that I was obliged to direct it to be expended immediately ; and if what is now coming should prove to be the same, the squadron will be greatly distressed, as good beer is the best preservative of health among new-raised men. There is terrible sickness amongst his crews. On TRACES OF CHARACTER. 245 September 14th he tells the Admiralty : — " I find the ships' companies falling down so fast with fever that I am afraid I shall not be able to keep out long." His ships have to be sent in to be cleaned in pretty regular rotation. One of his Captains took a sort of " French leave," — Lord Harry Powlett, in the " Bar- fleur," who had been sent in chase of some ships, and never came back. When Hawke, on his return, found him quietly lying at anchor at Spithead, he had no course but to try him by Courtmartial. He received however very tender treatment, being only " admonished." The unfortunate carpenter of the ship who had reported defects in the rudder, was found a convenient scapegoat for the young nobleman, who was not indeed much to blame. He afterwards succeeded to the title of the Duke of Bolton. We have now to watch Hawke's first quarrel with the Admiralty. Finding that Duguay had escaped him, and his own crews being in such a wretched condition, the admiral left a portion of his fleet to lie in wait for merchant ships, and reported his arrival at Spithead on September 29th. This was displeasing to the Admiralty, as no doubt had also been his complaints of the beer ; and they could not but have felt that the failure to intercept Duguay was their own fault. Hence the Secretary's remark, which may be seen on the back of the Admiral's Report of his arrival, and no doubt transmitted in the shape of a formal letter, to the effect that " their Lordships regretted that he was obliged to return, as the French fleet were daily expected." 246 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. On September 30th, Hawke replies : — I can assure their Lordships that had I staid out a week longer there would not have been men enough to have worked the large ships ; they fell down so fast. And on October 3rd : — I am extremely sorry to find that their Lordships think any of the ships of my squadron could have staid out longer ; I hope they will be of another opinion when they reflect that most of the men have been pressed after long voyages, cooped up in tenders and ships at Spithead for many months, and the water in general long kept in new casks, which occasioned great sick- ness, besides the number of French prisoners and the men spared to navigate them into port. For my own part I should not have come in had it been possible for me to continue longer out. After entering into some further details, he con- cludes : — Upon the whole I am conscious of having used my utmost endeavours to answer the end of my being sent out, and of having never once lost sight of the principal object of my cruize. If their Lordships should be of another opinion I am ready and willing to resign my command to anyone else in whose abilities they have more confidence. Not having received any reply to this letter, he writes again on October 6th, in the following terms : — It has been sufficient mortification to me that my utmost endeavours did not meet with success, or answer the expectations either of others or of myself. How then can I be easy under the superadded neglect and tacit disapproval of their Lordships in not thinking me worthy of an answer to mine of the 1st of October ? I can assure them, in my own breast I find no up- braidings, or any reason either to be ashamed or afraid of my conduct. As I underwent great fatigue for six months before I sailed, and have had ten weeks' uneasy cruize, I hope their Lord- ships will indulge me with leave to go to my family for eight or ten days. QtJAREEL WITH THE ADM1EALTY. 247 None of the letters from the Admiralty of this date are to be found ; but Hawke's next letter shows that they must have acted with propriety, and soothed the feelings of the injured chief. On October 9th, he writes : — I have received your letters of the 7th inst., and beg leave to return my hearty thanks to their Lordships for the trouble they have taken to explain themselves. . . . On Saturday morning I shall strike my flag ; and I thank their Lordships for the leave of absence with which they have indulged me. I did not ask it before I wanted it, and I am confident the Captains of His Majesty's ships under my command have the refitting their ships as much at heart as I have ; and none can have it more. On October 30th, 1755, he returns from leave, hoists his flag again, and is in command at Portsmouth or Spithead through the autumn and winter ; while Byng is sent to take his place at sea. He appears to have been subject to severe colds, and it was often necessary that he should be bled. One cannot but feel respect for the manly tone of this remonstrance. It carries the stamp of a man who knows his duty, and fears nothing while he does it. It was indeed natural that the Admiralty, finding it extremely difficult to satisfy the expectations of the country without taking measures which the Govern- ment were not prepared to sanction, should insist on impossibilities. It was fortunate that they had in Hawke an officer whose position enabled him to speak plainly. It is true that the country would not have allowed them to dispense with his services ; but this does not make it the less creditable to them that they were not above correcting their error. 248 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. Byng was not more fortunate in falling in with French squadrons than his predecessor had been ; and perhaps it was as well that the catastrophe of the next year did not occur nearer home. He returned in the early spring, and was relieved in his turn by Hawke, whom we find in March, 1756, again at sea, in com- mand of the Channel squadron, and, having been joined by Keppel's ships, employed in watching the French fleet at Rochefort, On May 8th he is once more at Spithead. And this brings us to the concluding manoeuvre of the French Government, by which, when fully pre- pared, after years spent in amusing the English, they opened the war in earnest. We left the French and English Ministers at Christmas, 1755, hurling official documents at each other's heads. These were accompanied on the part of the former with the most truculent threats of invading England by land and sea forces, and Hanover by 200,000 troops. Great numbers of flat- bottomed boats were constructed in several French ports. Infantry and artillery were marched into the maritime provinces. Marshal Belleisle was a sort of mouthpiece by which the feint was kept before the British people, who remembered only too well how imminent the prospect had been in the previous war, when Marshal Saxe's veterans had been actually em- barked. The people might be deceived by these threats : it was unpardonable that the Government should not have known better ; for Mann was send- ing word from Florence that a large fleet and army MINISTERIAL INCAPACITY. 249 were preparing at Toulon to attack Minorca, and other advices to the same purpose had come thick on one another even from as early a date as September, 1755. In February 1756, there remained no doubt about it ; for Blakeney himself, the acting Governor of Minorca, gave full intelligence. Yet Newcastle's Government neglected every warning, and Anson dis- tributed the fleet, under Hawke, Keppel, Osborn, and other officers, in the Channel and the Bay of Biscay. With the exception of two or three ships at Gibraltar and Port Mahon, the Mediterranean had been left to take care of itself. Who could believe that with these two fortresses exposed to attack at a moment's notice, there was no such thing as a Mediterranean fleet ? It required yet another war to teach the nation, what even the loss of Minorca failed to teach, that it must always, and under all circumstances, keep an overwhelming naval force in that sea. It was not till February 3rd, 1756, that the nume- rous officers on leave of absence from Minorca were ordered back to their posts ; nor was any means even then provided for their return to duty. So entirely occupied were the Government with the panic of an invasion that, on the very day above-named, they issued a Proclamation that all horses, oxen, and cattle "should be driven and removed at least twenty miles" from the place where an invasion should be made," — not a very encouraging order, in the absence of every sort of land -preparation to resist it. Nor was it till March 8th that Byng was ordered to equip a squadron of ten line-of-battle ships to reinforce the 250 LIFE OF LOED HAWKE. garrison of Port Mahon, and protect Minorca from invasion. So unimportant did the service appear, that no frigate was sent with Byng; nor was he allowed to complete his deficient complements of men from Keppel's large force, which was only cruising in search of some stray frigates. His unpopularity had not been favourable to speed in manning his ships ; and when he got off at last on April 7th, so ill-equipped and ill- manned a squadron had seldom been sent forth from a British port. The blame fell upon Anson ; and it is not easy to understand, though we shall see that Hawke exculpated him, how he can escape a large share of the responsibility. No doubt, however, he must divide it with others. So far, at least, Byng was not in fault. He had done his best ; nor could he control the winds, which made his passage to Gibraltar unusually long, though this was afterwards one of the popular accusations. But what could have been expected? The French had obtained a start of more than six weeks. Sailing from Toulon on April 10th, their fleet was unopposed by Byng till May 20th ! The incompetence of the general in command at Gibraltar was perhaps the last incident over which Byng had no control. Al] the rest was due to himself, and to no one else. The small reinforcements which might have been landed at a moment when the little garrison was pressed beyond measure, were not landed ; there was no spirit or dash in any portion of the operations ; the squadron on the day of battle was byng's action off minoeca. 251 handled nearly as ill as possible, and the battle was not renewed when it should have been. Like Mathews, Byng made the mistake of supposing there was some other service required of him more important than the straightforward one of destroying the enemy; and little as Galissoniere — the officer already noticed in America — deserved to carry off the fruits of victory, — for a better admiral would have taken better advan- tage of such an opportunity, — he certainly did. Perhaps Byng's own ill-advised letters and unfortu- nate Despatch may be added to the general summary of his incapacity. But from this point the page of history, in epitom- izing the remaining portion of Byng's career, must in all fairness take his side. So desperately bad was the treatment of him by the people, the Government, and the Admiralty, nay — by almost every person con- cerned, — that the final decision of the King may be excused, and the judgment of those who have turned the incompetent martinet into a hero and a martyr must not be dismissed as absolutely absurd. If heroism is proved by dying nobly when death is cer- tain and imminent, Byng was a hero ; if to suffer death as a scapegoat for others is to be a martyr, Byng deserved the title. Perhaps, however, no one should despise too much those who quail under a lengthened and universal popular fury, — at any rate not till he is put to the test. Such a scene as England presented when the news of the capture of Minorca, following on Byng's action, arrived, has rarely been witnessed in this country. The long-pent-up disgust 252 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. with a Government which the nation despised, and yet could not overturn, and the ill-humour which the aggressions of the French had been gradually fanning into hatred, alternating with panic fear, suddenly expressed themselves in a way which made Newcastle tremble for his head. The ridiculous and impossible story told by Horace Walpole of his replying to the deputation from the City : " Oh, indeed, he shall be tried immediately; he shall be hanged directly," was only too exactly typical of the whole of the proceedings : the tragical death of Colonel Byng from the shock he sustained at witness- ing the conduct of the Portsmouth mob when his brother was taken ashore as a prisoner, was only too typical of the extent to which English feeling was at the time, and has been ever since, excited by the sad storv. "Those," says Richard Glover, the author of " Leonidas," " who did not live at this period cannot by any description con- ceive the excess of national resentment and rage against that commander, which was artfully and industriously fomented by a corrupt administration, [in order] that to his cowardice singly the disgrace of our armament might be charged, together with the loss of Minorca, which, after a very indifferent defence, surrendered to Richelieu on June 29th. Unheard and untried, Byng was immediately devoted to destruction by King, Ministry, and people.* Pursuing the plan, already sketched out, of illus- trating the condition of the British navy and the British Government as they reciprocally bear upon * " Memoirs of a celebrated Literary and Political Character,' p. 59. (1813.) FURY OP THE ENGLISH. 253 one another, and as tliey both affected the foundation of the Empire at the commencement of the Seven Years' War, and taking it for granted that the main outline of Byng's Courtmartial is sufficiently well known, it will be best to gather up at once the pro- cesses which led to its deplorable decision. We can then return to Hawke's proceedings when sent out to relieve him. The most prominent figure is, under this aspect, not the timid Newcastle, not the miserable Byng, but the usually undaunted Anson. As First Lord of the Admiralty, he represented the Government in all these transactions, was held responsible at the time, and, with the leave of Sir John Barrow, his biographer, who passes very lightly over these matters, must be held responsible, within certain limits, now. To what has already been said as to his share in producing the catastrophe, which was, like Byng's own share in it, due to the error in judgment of an honest man, must in all fairness be added that Pitt himself, at two different periods of his career, gave two exactly opposite opinions on the subject of Anson's liability to censure. In the debates on the conduct of the Ministry, which followed the execution of Byng, " Pitt spoke with vehemence, and directed his invective against Lord Anson, the late First Commissioner of the Admiralty."* But in 1770, looking back at this period, and anxious to depreciate Hawke's adminis- * " Memoirs of a celebrated Literary and Political Character," p. 94. 254 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. tration of the navy in comparison with that of Anson, " the greatest and most respectable naval authority that ever existed in this country," Lord Chatham said : — The merits of that great man are not so universally known, nor his memory so warmly respected as he deserved. To his wisdom, to his experience and care (and I speak it with pleasure) the nation owes the glorious naval successes of the last war. The state of facts laid before Pai'liament in the year 1756 so entirely convinced me of the injustice done to his character that in spite of the popular clamours raised against him, in direct opposition to the complaints of the mei'chants, and of the whole city (whose favour I am supposed to court on all occasions), I replaced him at the head of the Admiralty, and I thank God I had resolution enough to do so.* When Lord Chatham made this speech he had for- gotten that the appointment of Anson had really been the work of Lord Hardwicke and the King,f but he might fairly claim to have cordially co-operated with them. At any rate it is the judgment of knowledge and reflection, correcting the impressions formed under excitement ; and therefore, making all allow- ance for the necessities of rhetoric, it deserves weight. Also the greatest allowance should be made for officials under trying circumstances ; but the facts of the fatal absence of a Mediterranean fleet when it should have been there long previously, and of the tardy equipment of Byng's squadron, cannot by any process of rhetoric be got rid of ; and it would be well if we could not trace too plainly in the subsequent * " Parliamentary Debates," and " Chatham Correspondence," vol. iv. p. 10. f See the "Anson Correspondence," June 18, 1757. BAD TREATMENT OP BYNG. 255 proceedings the effect of the conviction that the blame did indeed remain not only at the door of the Govern- ment, but of the Admiralty. For something much worse follows. Byng's ill- judged, but too true complaint of the insufficiency of his force, written in a tone of de- spondency which shadowed forth the subsequent failure, was no doubt provoking enough to the Admiralty ; but it was no excuse for the shocking act of garbling the despatch which conveyed the Admiral's public account of the battle and defence of his proceedings. At a moment when his friends, and the few sober people who demanded fair play, required every support which could be derived from the words of the absent man, the public impression was formed from what was given out to be his Despatch to the Admiralty, but which had been pruned of words and sentences which would have told either directly in his favour, or indirectly as fixing some portion of the blame upon the G-overnment. In one case an important phrase had been actually altered.* Nor was this all; for the publication of what was left of the Despatch was delayed for ten days, during which time the worst possible reports of the battle, * For a detailed account of the importance to Byng's case of the omitted passages see Entick's "History of the War," vol. i. pp. 328-30, and Beat-son's "Naval and Military Memoirs," vol. i. p. 483. It is, however, but fair to say that some good judges have not felt the importance of this proceeding to be so great as that which has been assigned to it in the text. No doubt it was common enough to publish certain portions only of Despatches ; but in this case all the omitted parts tell one way. 256 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. and especially the French Admiral's false and insulting account of it, were allowed uncontradicted circulation. The excesses of the unthinking populace are therefore to be considered as entirely merged in the guilt of those at the head of affairs. It requires no proof that it was the overwhelming and sustained fury of the people, thus excited, and afterwards kept alive by petty arts, which coloured every portion of the Second Act of the tragedy, and enabled the King to say at last that in refusing to commute the sentence of death he was only acting as head of the nation. Although we may fix others besides Anson with the blame attaching to the cruel indignities heaped on Byng, upon and after his arrival, the First Lord of the Admiralty cannot be excused in his own person for allowing the famous Despatch to be tampered with : yet Barrow, admitting the fact, sees no cause for censure ; but merely remarks : — " The Admiral's ac- count of the action is very long, and one of his complaints was that it had been garbled, and a great part omitted in the 'Gazette'"!* This seems to suggest that not only was this method of proceeding a matter of no consequence, but that the poor admiral richly deserved such treatment for having been guilty of writing too " long " a Despatch. If Byng's death was thought to have had some effect in improving the resolution of naval officers, this writer has certainly done his best to improve the occasion by suggesting to them the advantages of laconic brevity. But in # ii Life of Lord Anson," pp. 252, 254. NEWCASTLE IN DISTRESS. 257 saying nothing more, the late Secretary of the Admiralty made himself particeps criminis. Before noticing the second and final act of this drama, the reader must be reminded of two or three facts which accompanied and ensued upon the success of the French ruse de guerre. The long-expected Declaration of War could now no longer be delayed; and to the vast satisfaction of the English people, and somewhat contemptuous indifference of the French, it issued from London on May 18th, 1756. Byng's battle was fought two days afterwards. In August Frederick of Prussia began to earn his title of "the Great " by forestall- ing his foes ; and, splendidly commencing the war which was to raise Prussia to an equality with the four other great Powers of Europe, burst into the territories of allied enemies whose population amounted to eighteen times that of his own little realm. In September the Prime Minister began to discover that however the nation might desire to make a victim of Byng, it was equally resolved to get rid of himself. In vain he attempted to lay the loss of Minorca on the shoulders of Anson,* who was indeed already suffi- ciently, and perhaps deservedly, unpopular. In vain he besought Fox to support him against the wrath of Pitt, which was impending with the opening of Parliament. Fox knew better, and resigned. Murray " scampered out of the House of Commons, "f and fled * Bubb Doddington's " Memoirs," p. 381. t " Memoirs of a celebrated Literary and Political Character," p. 60. 17 258 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. for refuge to the House of Lords. At length, in November, driven to bay, the guilty Minister, with all his Cabinet, was himself forced to resign. Byng was so far avenged. Anson's occupation was gone ; till Pitt, as we have seen, recalled him once more, next year, to office. And this will be the place, as it has been necessary to trace Anson's part in these affairs, to record the impression left on the mind of a sensible man like Lord Waldegrave by his first administration of the Admiralty, which now came to an end. It is more valuable than Walpole's witty slanders, or Chatham's posthumous eulogy. Lord Anson was also dismissed from the Admiralty ; a violent clamour having been raised against him of which he was no more deserving than of the high reputation which pi*eceded it. He was in reality a good sea-officer, and had gained a consider- able victory over the French in the last war : but nature had not endowed him with those extraordinary abilities which had been so liberally granted him by the whole nation. Now on the con- trary he is to be allowed no merit whatsoever ; the loss of Minorca is to be imputed to his misconduct, though many were equally, some infinitely more blamable : his slowness iu business is to be called negligence ; and his silence and reserve, which formerly passed for wisdom, takes the name of dulness and of want of capacity.* This judgment has been confirmed by the great modern authority of Lord Stanhope. f The reader can compare it with the facts as stated in these pages. If somewhat too favourable in reference to the Minorca question, it is nearer the mark than the * Memoirs, p. 85. f "History of England," vol. iv. p. 34. THE FALL OF ANSON. 259 undiscriminating praise of which he has sometimes in our own day been the subject. It is the absurdity of these later writers which has perhaps led an historian of the Navy (Professor Yonge) to go too far into the opposite extreme. " The general estimation," says he, " of Anson, even in the present day, leads to a comparison of him, not with Blake or Hawke, but with Cavendish or Cooke," — a highly honourable place, but this he might claim by his voyage round the world. Anson added to that class of merit the distinction of being by far the best administrator of naval affairs who had yet appeared, or perhaps has appeared since. We have not yet done with him, and shall find the affair of Byng and Minorca an exceptional stain on a career which was both useful and honourable. Perhaps we shall not be far wrong in attributing even the conduct he showed on this occasion to a distrust of his own judgment, under the influence of Newcastle and Harclwicke. For a short period after Anson's fall it looked as if he was to be the public victim instead of, or perhaps in company with, Byng. Walpole is probably correct — for he is substantially confirmed by Lord Walde- grave * and others — in saying that the new Govern- ment, of which the Duke of Devonshire was nominal chief, but Pitt the head, had at once " employed a lawyer to draw up articles of impeachment against Lord Anson ; "f and that — they show great tenderness to Byng, who has certainly been most inhumanly and spitefully treated by Anson. * Memoirs, p. 135. f " Letters to Mann," pp. 171, 195, 196. 17 * 260 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. And again, when the Courtmartial on Byng had begun : — The Court and the late Ministry have been most bitter against him ; the new Admiralty most good-natured. . . . Their bitterness will always be recorded against themselves : it will be difficult to persuade posterity that all the shame of last summer was the fault of Byng. Exact evidence of whose fault it was. I believe posterity will never have. Perhaps it is not so difficult to understand it now as Walpole supposed it would be. The danger of Anson was not, however, real ; Byng's peril was mortal ; and the Courtmartial which sat upon him in December, 1756, and lasted on into January 1757, soon occupied the attention of every man and woman in the whole country. Admiral Smith presided, but was not of any great assistance to the Court, or subsequently to Parliament. " Tom of Ten Thousand" might be a very "good fellow," but neither he, nor any other member of the Court, were men who had given proofs of the ability, combined with courageous independence, which was required in such an emergency. They may have been, and probably were, right in condemning Byng's misconduct on the points specified ; their blunder was in not piercing their way through the apparent difficulties presented by the Articles of War; and it is scarcely conceivable that they would have failed so signally, had it not been for the popular voice which pene- trated, as it never should, within the sacred, but invisible cordon which separates a Courtmartial from the public. It might be thought that Kep- pel's subsequent celebrity and well-proved gallantry COURTMARTIAL ON BYNG. 261 should except him from this general remark; but his conduct, though honourable, and creditable to his conscientiousness, proved him to be intellectually, if not morally, weak. Much the same characteristics may be traced in the circumstances which led to his own famous Courtmartial at the end of his distin- guished career. Summing up the seven charges on which the Court found Admiral Byng guilty, they may be reduced to four. (1.) His not sending his small contingent of officers and men ashore when he arrived off Port Mahon. This may be dismissed, as an act which, though perhaps of consequence as to the fate of Minorca, might be explained and excused. (2.) The second, third, fourth, and fifth clauses refer to mere mistakes in conducting the engagement, on which differences of opinion might well exist, though Byng was probably wrong throughout. Characteristically, the Court did not blame him for keeping the signal for line of battle flying during the whole combat, which was indeed in accordance with the Printed Instructions, but no doubt was one cause of the failure. It would have been, as already observed, discarded at the proper moment by Hawke. (3.) The Admiral allowing his own ship to " contiuue ' : firing at the enemy when she was too far off. This was a damaging charge, and, though repelled, left its mark. It told fatally with the country, because, as a matter of fact, there was not a single man killed or wounded on board the " Ramilies " ; and people, putting this along with the rest, drew their own conclusions. Still 262 LIFE OP LORD HAWKE. it was but one incident in a confused affair, and could not of itself be possibly made a capital charge. (4.) Byng's failure to return to Port Mahon and follow the enemy, after refitting his damaged ships. This was no doubt a terrible error of judgment; but it certainly was not " wilful negligence." On these four counts the Court brought the prisoner under the general charge that — he did not do his utmost to take or destroy every ship which it shall he his duty to engage, and assist and relieve all and every of His Majesty's ships which it shall he bis duty to assist and relieve. The Court therefore held themselves bound to condemn him to death under the Twelfth Article of War, which assigns the punishment of death to every- one who shall " through cowardice, negligence, or disaffection " be guilty of the above conduct. They accompanied the sentence with a handsome acquittal from any charge of " cowardice or disaffection," thus tacitly leaving the word " negligence," — for they abstained from stating that they found the prisoner guilty of negligence, — to cover the charges which had been proved. They at the same time forwarded a letter to the Admiralty, recommending the prisoner to mercy — since we find ourselves under a necessity of condemning a man to death, from the great severity of the 12th Article of War, part of which he falls under, and which admits of no mitigation, even if the crime should be committed by an error in judgment. Here briefly is the whole' case. The Court made a gross mistake in the interpretation of words, and hoped that a recommendation to mercy would cover was byng's negligence wilful ? 263 it. "Negligence" and "wilful negligence " are two entirely different things. " Negligence " of itself may mean simple error in judgment, by which a man may do one thing and " neglect " another, may do the wrong thing and neglect the right, — and this, as their words most plainly show, was all the Court meant by their finding. And yet " wilful negligence," and that alone, though the word " wilful " is not used, could be intended by the Article, as shown by the word being placed between two other words, " cowardice " and " disaffection," both of which involve distinct motive. The mere failure to destroy the enemy was not to be punished by death ; but only if the failure occurred " through " any of these three causes, which, separately or collectively, were abso- lutely inconsistent with loyalty, courage, and goodwill — and Byng was credited by the Court with these motives. Even if any reasonable doubt could still be entertained as to the meaning of the Article, the Court should, on its own showing, have fearlessly faced the difficulty, and given the prisoner the benefit of the doubt, instead of slavishly submitting to a too literal interpretation, on the chance of something- happening which was beyond its power to control. Nor did it make the slightest difference that the alternative of some other punishment than death, which had been permitted when the Articles were drawn up in the 13th year of the reign of Charles the Second, had been withdrawn a few years previously (22 Geo. II.). The conditions remained the same. However, for fear of future similar blunders, the 264 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. Article was restored to its old form a few years later (29 Geo. III.). The warrant for the execution required the signa- tures of the Lords of the Admiralty, with Lord Temple at their head, and of whom Boscawen was one. They all demurred, but after a futile appeal to the Judges on the legality of the sentence, all, with one exception, eventually signed. The one name nobly absent from the signatures was that of the Honourable John Forbes. This admiral, already dis- tinguished, and for his conduct on the present occasion, ever memorable, not only remonstrated, but resigned. His manly letter, exposing the error of the Court, and that of Admiral Temple West, equally honourable to the writer, were the only two attempts of any im- portance to place the matter on a basis of common sense ; but they were powerless to stem the tide. These were both remarkable men. Both of them had done their duty in Mathews' action when so many failed. West had also fought nobly, as second in com- mand, under Byng, on the late occasion. He now threw up his command, as well as the post of Lord of the Admiralty, to which he had just been appointed : — " I can only be answerable," said he, " for my loyalty and fidelity to rny king, and resolution of doing what appears to me for his service, which it seems an officer may not want, and yet he capitally convicted for his misconduct or inability of judging right. I am not so presumptuous as to imagine that my actions can always he so rightly governed, nor am I altogether certain that the judgment of others is infallible."* West, who seems to have known how to write as * Charnock's " Biog. Nav." I'ORBES AND TEMPLE WEST. 265 well as to fight, died a few months afterwards of the distress caused by Byng's execution. He and Admiral Kowley are the only officers of the fleet in 1712, excepted by Horace Mann in his sweeping expressions of dislike to the class. " West," he says, " is a man of admired good sense, quiet and easy ; and who rails with me at the lowness and horrid meanness of his companions." * Forbes' letter is perhaps even more able ; but it is better known than West's. He lived to an honoured old age, showing to the last conspicuous proofs of the same upright, independent spirit which animated him on the present occasion. It would take us beyond due limits to describe the humiliating events which intervened between the sentence of the Court on February 28th, and the execution on March 4th. Of course the Judges declared there was no illegality in the sentence. If technically correct, nothing further was required from them. In vain Keppel and some others of the Court who were in Parliament, attempted to stay proceed- ings ; and with the help of Pitt carried the Commons with them. When examined before the House of Lords, they had nothing to say, — at least to any pur- pose ; and Lords Mansfield and Hardwicke, in league, as Walpole declares f — and it can hardly be doubtful — with Anson, succeeded not only in reversing the decision of the other House, but in obtaining from the reluctant Lords of the Admiralty a withdrawal of their support of Byng. The unfortunate Admiral * Letter to Walpole, Nov. 13, 1742. t " Letters to Mann," vol. iii. p. 200. 266 LIFE OP LORD HAWKE. was now left to his fate. " His enemies," says Walpole, " triumph, but who can envy the triumph of murder ? "* The attitude of Pitt, Temple, and the Admiralty had in fact become most unpopular ; and the great Minister had no holding-ground but the support of the people. Yet, as the King, observing the popular feeling, dismissed him from office only a few days after Byng's execution, it must ever be a matter for regret that he did not add one more title to the gratitude of his country by standing out to the last on the question, and leaving events to right them- selves. His momenta^ unpopularity would soon have been turned into love and respect, aud he would have been borne back to power even sooner than he actually was, and with a higher claim to supremacy. The King, supported, if not forced, as he thought, by the nation, and by the opinion of numerous officers of great weight, and never himself apparently having doubted that Byng deserved death, refused to inter- fere with the sentence of the Court, confirmed by the Admiralty. He has been savagely blamed for refusing to pardon the admiral ; but in all fairness he must share the blame with very many other persons whom authors have found it convenient to screen. He privately took the most severe view of the case ; he adopted for his public guidance, as he almost always did, the expressed will and desire of the people. That came before him in every form known to the * " Letters to Mann," vol. iii. p. 200. the king's conduct. 267 Constitution, and it fell in with his instinct, which was to encourage true military conduct wherever he could find it, and to punish, as far as the law would permit, every deviation from it. One could not expect from an old man of his habits and capacity the breadth and magnanimity of view which would detect the right course amidst such an ocean of difficulties as at that moment surrounded his throne. After all, this "judicial murder" was not without some useful effect if it taught officers of both services that the country would no longer stand half-and-half battles, and that if a man felt he did not possess the qualities necessary for great situations he had better not press for them.* * The details of Byng's execution, chiefly supplied by Horace Walpole, are to be found in every history : a contemporary account, from one who was on the spot, may not be familiar. " On Monday, March 14th, 1757, all the men-of-war at Spithead were ordered to send their boats with the captains and all the officers of each ship, accompanied with a party of marines under arms, to attend the execution of Mr. Byng. Accordingly they rowed from Spithead, and made the harbour a little after 11 o'clock, with the utmost difficulty and danger, it blowing prodigiously hard at N.W. by N., and the tide of ebb against them. It was still more difficult to get up so high as the ' Monarque ' lay, on board which ship the admiral suffered. Not- withstanding it blew so hard, and the sea ran very high, there was a prodigious number of other boats round the ship, on the outside of the ship's boats, which last kept all others off. Not a soul was suffered to be aboard the ' Monarque,' except those belonging to the ship. Mr. Byng, accompanied by a clergyman who attended him during his confinement, and two gentlemen of his relations, about 12 came on the quarterdeck, when he threw his hat on the deck, kneeled on a cushion, tied a handkerchief over his eyes, and dropping another which he held in his hand as 268 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. Hawke was fortunately clear of every connection with these proceedings. He had returned to port, as we have seen, on May 8th, 1755, from his cruise in the Channel. The instant the news of Byng's action arrived in England, although only from the reports of the enemy, he was ordered to sail in the 50-gun ship " Antelope," with sealed Instructions. Rear-admiral Saunders was sent with him, as second in command, to supersede Temple West ; and Lord Tyrawley, who had been on a too long leave of absence from his command at Port Mahon, was now, having lost his island, sent to supersede General Fowke in the govern- ment of Gibraltar. The wags called it " a little cargo of courage." Hawke's Instructions requiring him to repair to Portsmouth, were dated June 8th : on June 9th he reported that he was ready to sail; and on June 16th he was on his way. The haste with which all this was done has been much blamed; but the main facts of the battle were certainly known, and it was wise to leave nothing more in Byng's hands. It was still hoped that Blakeney might hold out. The Instructions require the admiral, after super- seding Byng, to — make an immediate and expeditious enquiry into the conduct aud behaviour of the Captains of the ships hereby put under your command ; and if you find any reason to believe any of them to have been tardy, and not to have acted with due spirit and vigour for a signal, a volley from six marines was fired, five of whose bullets went through him, and he was no more. He died with great resolution and composure, not showing the least sign of timidity in the awful moment." — "The Naval History of Great Britain." Eivington and Fletcher, publishers, 1758, vol. iv. p. 342. HAWKE S INSTRUCTIONS. 269 the honour and service of the King and nation, you are forthwith to suspend such Captains, and appoint others in their stead in whom you can confide for properly executing their duty. You are to order the Captain of the " Antelope " to receive Admiral Byng and Bear-adiniral West on board, and return with them to Spit- head ; and if you shall suspend any of the Captains, you are to send them also home in her. Having done this, if you shall not be well assured that Fort Philip upon the island of Minorca is in possession of the enemy, you are to use the utmost despatch in repairing thither with your squadron, and to exert yourself in doing everything that is pos- sible to be done by you for its relief ; and to attack and use your utmost endeavours to take, sink, burn, or otherwise destroy any squadron of the enemy's ships that may be employed to favour and assist in the attack upon that fort. If you shall find the enemy have succeeded, and are in full possession of Minorca, you are, however, to endeavour by all means to destroy the French fleet in the Mediterranean, and for that purpose to employ the ships under your command in the most effectual manner you shall be able, and constantly to keep sufficient cruizers round the Island of Minorca, and take care they exert all possible diligence to prevent the enemy landing any troops, ammunition, stores or provisions, upon that island, and to annoy and distress them there as much as possible. He is to protect Gibraltar, secure British trade in the Mediterranean, destroy the enemy's Privateers, and to keep his ships clean by sending them into Gibraltar, or some of the King of Sardinia's ports. Under these orders, which Hawke opened on his arrival on July 4th, the Commissioned officers of both flagships were sent home along with the two admirals ; and the new Commander-in-chief now hoists his flag on board the " Rainilies," from which ship that of Byng had been hauled clown. He reports to the Admiralty that Byng made no complaint of any of the Captains who served under him in the late battle. 270 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. The following letters are the only ones now extant which relate to this distressing subject, and though merely official, have a certain melancholy interest. Sir, " Ramilies," in Gibraltar Bay ; July 4. Upon looking over my Orders this morning I find myself obliged, in obedience to their Lordships' directions, to send home all the Commissioned Officers that were aboard the " Eamilies " and " Buckingham " during the late action. I have therefore by this morning's post acquainted their Lordships that I have com- plied with it, and I shall this afternoon order them on board the " Antelope." I hope you will believe that nothing but a peremptory order could have induced me to do this, as you were desirous of the contrary, and as I should always be exceedingly glad to have it in my power to oblige you, being sincerely, Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant, Edward Hawke. To this Byng replied the same day : — Sir, I have received your letter of this day's date, and can have no objection to your putting their Lordships' orders in execution ; for after their treatment of me I cannot be surprised at any- thing. I am obliged to you for the excuse you make about it, and shall always be ready to believe your attention and friend- liness for me, and hope you will be assured of my being most sincerely, Sir, your most obedient humble servant, Hon. Sir Edwd. Hawke. J. Byng.* An interesting notice of Hawke's own "sentiments in relation to Byng's miscarriage is supplied among the " Political Anecdotes " to be found in the " Gentleman's Magazine " (1766). It is written in a spirit of intense hostility to Pitt, who had then just entered upon his second Administration ; but may be true enough as to the facts. After describing the # Hawke Papers. HAWKE AND PITT. 271 great Minister's patronage of Byng's cause, and his attempt, after he had driven Newcastle from power, to bring the disaster home to that Minister and his Government (partly on the ground of Byng's ships being unfit to cope with those of the French, which carried 50-pounders on their lower decks), the writer tells us that — a day was appointed by the House to enquire into these allega- tions, and the necessary papers were ordered to be laid before it, with the opinion of the present President of the Council, preparatory to their judgment. The old Administration were so much alarmed that in several meetings at Lord Royston's, they absolutely despaired of their cause. In the interim Sir Edward Hawke returned from the Mediterranean ; and being invited to Lord Royston's, set them all right by a bare recital of facts. When the day of arraignment [in the House] came, the now President of the Council delivered in the papers at the table, with his opinion " that the late Administration had done their duty." The patriot [Pitt] played all his artillery over again till Admiral Hawke assured the House that the thundering member was mistaken in every point ; " that the French ships carried no 50-pounders ; if they had, they would have been a great dis- advantage to themselves, as being by their weight rendered incapable of being worked ; that Byng's ships were so far from being in want of stores and provisions, that, in the condition he received them from Mr. Byng, he proceeded with the squadron to sea, and cruised ninety odd days, without complaint of the want of either." And being asked, if he had commanded in the room of Byng, whether he thought he had force sufficient to beat the enemy, answered : — " By the grace of God, he would have given a good account of them." Every then member of the House may remember how the patriotic abettor of cowardice stood abashed, as well as the author of his information, when facts overthrew him. Sir Edward Hawke was never forgiven by the Secretary. On July 10th Hawke sailed from Gibraltar ; and on July 15th, being "at sea," he reports to the Admiralty that he has just heard of the surrender of the fortress 272 LIFE OP LORD HAWKE. of St. Philip's at Port Mahon, and that consequently the troops sent out are of no use. The French fleet, he finds, had returned to Toulon as soon as the fortress had surrendered, and he shall now make all his dispo- sitions for fighting it if it ventures out to sea. Next month he reports that he hears from all sides that the French fleet means to come out. This is his one hope. Tt was quite a match for the English, as is proved by a list found among the Hawke Papers ; but contented with its late exploit, it never ventured out to meet them. The Admiral's difficulties now begin ; and as the Italian States, on which the English had relied when Maria Theresa was their ally in the former war, were now all ranged on the side of the enemy, the situation is entirely changed. The King of Sardinia's domi- nions, indeed, were not of much use before, nor are they now. On the coasts of Sardinia itself there is no good port. Gibraltar is not safe for large ships ; and cruising off Toulon in the blockade of the French fleet meant, like cruising off Brest or Rochefort, con- stant and periodical cleaning and refitting of the fleet. The dominions of Spain remained; but though that country, taught by recent disaster, had delibe- rately refused to join the French at the opening of the war, in spite of the most pressing solicitations to fulfil the old Family Compacts, her king and people were to a man — not unnaturally — hostile to the English, and delighted in every opportunity of evin- cing their feeling. A part of the fleet is sent to " Poyance Bay," in Majorca, for refreshments. Trum- pery complaints are made ; and Hawke writes a SPIRITED CONDUCT IN MEDITERRANEAN. 273 spirited and yet temperate letter of remonstrance to the Governor of the island. In the ports on the coast of Spain itself matters are worse; and the spirit shown on these occa- sions had to be summarily dealt with. A French privateer had taken an English vessel loaded with provisions for the fleet at Gibraltar, and carried her into Algesiraz, under the very eyes of the Admiral. This was too much ; especially when the Governor refused to surrender her. Hawke instantly sent his boats, and cut her out; but a hundred men were killed or wounded in the service by the Spanish fort and the French privateer. The Spanish Court justi- fied their governor, and had the impudence to com- plain of Hawke. The fact was that they were eager to join in the war, but were not yet prepared ; nor was the English Government yet in hands strong enough to resent insults. In the West Indies the old claims had again been revived ; but this was nothing to the Spanish treatment of Captain Foster, who, in com- mand of the privateer " Antigallican," had captured a French East Indiaman, and put into Cadiz. He was forced to give up his prize and to strike his colours ; was fired at for two hours, with the loss of some men killed and wounded, though he did not return a shot ; robbed and abused by Spanish soldiers, and thrown into a loathsome dungeon. This was outside of Hawke' s jurisdiction; and the English Government bore it, like the rest, with equanimity ; but it did not increase the respect for the British flag.* * Campbell's " Admirals," vol. iv. p. 90. 18 27 I LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. What the consequences of the failure at Minorca had already been, may be judged by the following extracts from a letter addressed to Hawke, on July 27th, by the Consul General at Naples : — Sir, Give me leave most heartily to congratulate you on your arrival in these seas, in the neighbourhood of which a public station was growing, from the reproaches of our friends and the insolence of our enemy, not a little irksome. . . . Our eyes are all turned towards you for the recovery of our credit in these parts ; and though fatal mistakes have lowered it so unhappily, and events are not absolutely within the highest human providence, we have such confidence in the ability which succeeded on the ocean, that we do not despair of finishing the season in the Medi- terranean with honour, though we cannot, surely, say we have begun it so. The French ambassador here would however remove one of our hopes ; having said — somewhat meanly — yesterday before the King, upon mention made that you set out from Gib- raltar on the 10th to seek the enemy, that he would answer for it they would not be found ; and indeed we fear from all accounts that their return with their transports to Toulon will have been, too happily for them, effected before your arrival at Minorca. Hawke had an opportunity of setting matters right with the Austrian Italians, who in their zeal for France had so far reckoned on impunity as to im- prison at Leghorn the gallant Fortunatus Wright, a most successful privateer commander, for whose capture the French had offered a reward. Hawke demanded his release within twenty-four hours ; and the Austrians were forced to comply. This had a salutary effect all over the Mediterranean, and put a stop to the contempt for England which was setting in. The few salient facts here given must be taken as STRATN ON HIS HEALTH. 275 the epitome of a very trying command, the details of which comprise a large correspondence. In these letters, it must be remarked as of a former collection, it is difficult to decide whether the patience and for- bearance which they display under the delicate cir- cumstances which Hawke is frankly told from England that he must respect, are more noteworthy than the spirit and decision which he shows when he feels that he must, whether the Government like it or not, act on his own responsibility. It is the one bright spot on the whole dark line of the British horizon ; and the people, as all the histories of the period testify, felt profoundly the contrast which it presented to the rest. He is ordered home at the end of the year, and arrives in England on January 14th, 1757. In the letters which occur about the time of his arrival, the strain upon his health which the command had caused, again comes before us : — " I will wait upon their Lord- ships to-morrow if my health will permit." In the " Gentleman's Magazine" occurs the statement, follow- ing on the notice of his arrival : — " the Admiral much indisposed." He had also had to bear the domestic trial of the loss of his wife, who had died on October 28th, and the support he had hitherto received from her during his arduous service was now withdrawn. Into that private grief we cannot penetrate if we would. The correspondence also shows that the new Admiralty had questioned his right to appoint certain officers ; he defends himself with spirit and success. Amongst other officers who seem to have been brought forward by him at this time are Christopher Cod- 18 * 276 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. rington and Captain Collingwood, names subsequently honoured throughout the navy in members of their respective families. The writer quoted above (p. 271) gives the following account of Hawke's reception by Pitt. After describ- ing the proceedings just mentioned in relation to the overbearing conduct of the Spanish authorities, he goes on to say : — On the Admiral's return home, Mr. Pitt sent for him, and said : — " Sir, had I been in your situation in Gibraltar Bay, 'tis pro- bable I should have acted as you did, even though I should have made a concession afterwards." The drift of this speech plainly appearing, he was interrupted with : — " Sir, entrusted with the command of a squadron of the King's ships, I did my duty to my master and my country, for which I never will make any con- cession : you as Minister may do as you please." This is the hero who terrifies France, Spain, and all the world, from pole to pole. Could he make a Boscawen or a Hawke ? Or did they make him ? They fought, they conquered, before he had any character ; and one of them may live to do so again when he shall have no character left.* Reading Hawke's career in the light of these anec- dotes, which fit in perfectly with all we know besides, we may safely infer that whatever he may have thought of the Newcastle Administration for its blunder in delay- ing Byng's expedition, he was not disposed to blame Anson, under the circumstances, for its bad equipment. It does not follow that it was not badly equipped ; only that he had himself made use of equally bad materials, and could have efficiently used these. As to his own position, it is plain that he was not only fortunate in his absence from England when Byng "Gentleman's Magazine," 1766, p. 423. ANSON, HAWKE, AND PITT. 277 was fitting out for Minorca, but also that lie was out of the way when the struggle between Newcastle's Government and the nation was taking place. But he was none the less opposed to the champion of the nation, Pitt, Anson's detractor ; and perhaps it is the strongest proof of his merit that when such a difference had been discovered, Pitt found himself yet able to employ him in the expedition to Rochefort. The explanation may partly be that when Pitt came back to full power in June, 1757, and had become con- vinced — probably by means of Hawke's blunt remarks — that Anson had been ill-treated by himself and his friends, and when, in consequence, he had replaced Anson at the head of his own Admiralty, the reinstated First Lord was in a position to draw the Minister and the Admiral together ; but he was evidently not firm enough in his place to pull Hawke into the Board along with himself. That this was contemplated, is clear from Lord Hardwicke's letter to Anson of June 1757,* in which he tells his son-in-law that he hopes there will be room at the Admiralty for " Sir Edward Hawke, or any other man we shall like." "Room' was not found for Hawke. All this throws light upon the subsequent relations between the great statesman and the great admiral. There was always a want of cordiality in these rela- tions. It was exhibited in 1757, 1758, and 1759. It partly explains why no distinction was made between Hawke and other admirals by the grant of a peerage * Anson Correspondence. 278 LIFE Or LORD HAWKE. for the Victory of Quiberon. It accounts for the pre- ference shown by Pitt for a junior to Hawke when, in 1766, he placed Saunders in the post of First Lord of the Admiralty, and for his final treatment of the veteran, at the close of Hawke' s official career in 1770. May it not also be suspected that the vast reputation of Lord Chatham, increasing as it has, year after year, down to our own times, has itself tended to carry with it the disparagement of one whose independence of character and title to glory stood somewhat in the way of a solitary supremacy ? The problem remains — why do we hear nothing of Hawke's opinion or action in reference to the finding of Byng's Courtmartial, and the struggle which ended in his execution ? Two months elapsed between his arrival from the Mediterranean and that final event. It may be enough to say that it was no business of his. He arrived too late to preside at the Courtmartial, and he was now in a private capacity. Yet at Keppel's Trial he was in the same position, and interfered with effect. We must remember that he was ill ; he had just lost his wife ; along with Anson he was in oppo- sition ; it was not for him to help Pitt out of his diffi- culty. Perhaps this was all. It is indeed perfectly possible that he thought it right the law should take its course. But we have no evidence one way or the other. The contemporary historian of the War sums up the whole of the performances of the first two years of it in the following words : — An inactive campaign in North America which deprived us of GLOOMY CLOSE OF 1756. 279 the most important forts we had to cover our Plantations and stem the power of France on that Continent ; a squadron on that coast not able to prevent succours from old France to Louisburg and Canada ; a total neglect of Newfoundland ; squadrons too weak to resist any attempt on our sugar islands and on our settlements on the Coast of Africa ; a supine neglect of the East Indies ; a fleet in the Mediterranean that could under- take no affair, nor find a more important object for its employ than hunting a few Tartans loaded with provisions for Minorca ; and a still more inactive fleet beaten to pieces in the Bay of Biscay ; a few cruisers to guard the Channel and watch the French ports, without any success except the surprise of a smaJl island [Chaussee, near St. Maloes] ; . . . and the capture of a great number of [merchant] ships, but with such a neglect of our own trade that our loss in merchant ships fell very little short of the captures made from the French : our fleets had fled before our enemies, and we had lost Minorca. On which side soever we turned, our affairs carried a most disagreeable and ruinous aspect.* This is scarcely too gloomy a picture. It requires to be studied in order that the national impulse which in its fury first destroyed Byng, then turned out the Newcastle Government in favour of Pitt, and finally, on the King's dismissal of their favourite, forced him once more and permanently to the front, may, with all its mighty effects, be properly understood. * Entick's " History of the War," vol. ii. p. 29. 280 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. CHAPTER IX. THE EOCHEFORT EXPEDITION. The few words in which Pitt's position at the opening of the war has been described will have been sufficient to explain why, during the early part of 1757, he was unable to make any effectual change in the direction of military and naval movements. Dismissed on April 9th, 1757, by the King, who took advantage of his unpopular defence of Byng, and the country having been nearly three months without a Govern- ment, he was reinstated at the demand of the nation, on June 29th, and we are now to trace the combina- tions of that master-mind. But though he had been unable during his first short tenure of office to produce results, Pitt had laid foundations. The Highlanders were enlisted in regi- ments, and thus Scotland was taken up into the strength of the country ; the Militia had been modelled, nearly on its present footing, and thus the shameful necessity for defending these islands by foreign troops came at last to an end ; and the resources of the country were now for the first time definitely pledged for the htt's dictatorship. 281 defence of Hanover. His change of policy in the last matter was justified by himself, and accepted by the country, on the ground that Hanover was now to suffer for the English interests in India and America, while previously England had been dragged into Con- tinental quarrels for the sake of Hanover. This was by no means the whole case ; but the argument served its purpose ; and when Pitt finally took the helm the country was prepared to make any sacrifices to help Frederick to defend Hanover, while he kept the resources of France from being employed in forward- ing the Colonial policy which lay at the bottom of the conflict between herself and Great Britain. This it was which Pitt had really in view, and Frederick was but his instrument. Very naturally, it was not what the other patriotic leader of the nation, " the Duke," had in view. In his mind, like his father's, the safety of Hanover was the first object, and the operations elsewhere, only second. Hence the jars which occurred between these two patriots — destined, how- ever, only to last till the failure of the Duke removed him from the path of the Great Commoner. No sooner had Pitt grasped firmly the reins of office than he addressed himself to his task. The safety of the country from invasion being now more assured than it had ever previously been, he determined to execute the military manoeuvre which can only succeed when the front is secure, and all other circumstances favourable, viz., to operate upon both flanks of the enemy at once. To divert the French resources from their Eastern frontier he organised an entirely new 282 LIFE OF LOED HAWKE. policy of surprises and descents on her northern and western coasts, and as soon as by this means all attempts of the mother country to act beyond the limits of France were rendered impossible, she was to be dislodged from all the threatening positions in America and India which she had stealthily occupied, during the weakness of English Governments, since the time of Queen Anne. Under the inspiration of the genius of Wolfe and Clive this rough outline was filled up till it came to include not only con- quest but expulsion, and the virtual extinction of France as a colonising Power in the world. For the first time since the days of Queen Eliza- beth the Sovereign, the Court, the Government, and the people of Great Britain were in union. The anomalous and unwholesome divisions of party had at last worked themselves out, or rather were for a time powerless in the presence of the uproused and determined patriotism of the people. The travail- pangs of England had been long and distressing; but, as Frederick wittily said, recognising the kindred spirit of Pitt, she had at length been delivered of a man. There was no backwardness in applying the resources which the country was now willing to supply. The need of drawing upon the future was recognised as urgent; for one generation could not repair the losses caused by the failure of a preceding one to do a duty, which, indeed, was hardly within its power. It was useless to play with the crisis. Money must be spent on all sides. Frederick must be largely subsidised, as well as assisted by a diver- pitt's war policy. 283 sion on the French coasts ; the Duke of Cumberland placed at the head of an efficient army ; fleet upon fleet must be added to the navy; and above all a spirit must be infused into both services which should make it impossible that the catastrophes of Mathews and Byng, Wentworth, or Braddock should ever occur again. Perhaps there is no greater proof of the tremendous difficulty of the task which Pitt saw before him in planning the schemes which were destined to end so gloriously, than his offer to Spain to cede Gibraltar if she would form an alliance against France, and help England to recover Minorca. Who could believe such an offer possible after all that had taken place in the reign of George the First ? Most fortunately " the Court of Madrid resolved to maintain its neutrality, and turned a deaf ear to his suggestion." * The events of the year 1757 were by no means commensurate with the lofty ideas with which Pitt commenced his administration : and yet, on the prin- ciple that everything is directed for the best, we may perhaps trace a useful process in the distressing failure of his first attempt to realise them. These failures and defeats checked the too sanguine im- pulses of the nation, without extinguishing its spirit, and by teaching it to suffer and to wait, strengthened its persevering resolution, and instructed it how to deserve success. Nothing really great has ever been achieved in any other way. * Stanhope's "History of England," vol. iv. p. 112. 284 LIFE OF LOED HAWKE. Pitt was under two disadvantages in the commence- ment of his proceedings ; and to these the Hanoverian and Rochefort failures may be traced. He was not responsible in any degree for the American failures, which had been planned independently of him ; but in the two other cases he had to use the instru- ments ready to his hands, without much power of choice ; and the summer was already in the full blaze of July before he could even sketch a plan of operations. The Duke of Cumberland, and no other, must command in Hanover ; and Sir John Mordaunt was the best military officer of rank who could be thought of for the secret expedition to Rochefort, which was to inaugurate the new policy on the coast of France. For the naval officer in command Hawke was of course the selection of the nation, quite as much as of Pitt himself; nor was Anson, Pitt's First Lord of the Admiralty, now restored, likely to recommend anyone else in pre- ference. Under Pitt, this great naval administrator, finding at last a chief who could understand and appreciate the naval service, proved his title to the praises which that chief, in his old age, so abundantly bestowed. It would have been well for Hawke's reputation if he had not been so universally pointed out for this command ; but to him also failure may have been useful. It was the first and only occasion. We shall see that Hawke was acquitted of all blame, not only technically, and by the absence of any charge against him, but by the universal voice, which speedily discovered where the blame of the Rochefort hawke's responsibility. 285 failure really attached. But this is not to say that, prudent, and perhaps even necessary, as his conduct was under the circumstances, it is quite conceivable that a man of a genius superior to Hawke's for com- plicated operations on shore, might not have controlled those circumstances, and carved a different result out of the materials at his command. Hawke was essentially a sea-officer, and certainly in his own time, as such, unrivalled. There was no other of his con- temporaries who would have been likely to succeed in this particular case. It is absurd to imagine, for example, that Howe would have done better, merely on the ground that he performed one small operation in the campaign with proper spirit. There is nothing in his subsequent career to justify the imagination. Nelson alone might possibly have grappled with the difficulties presented by want of all knowledge and experience of the place, by the wretched selection of military commanders, the lateness of the season, and the numerous accidental circumstances which seemed, by some special misfortune, to cluster round this bootless expedition. That it only cost the nation a million of money without defeat and loss of life, a Courtmartial, a general storm of indignation, and a cloud of pamphlets, that it was not a disastrous rout like the failure of Bligh and Howe at St. Oas the next year, or a fiasco like Lestock's at L' Orient, still less like Vernon's and Wentworth's at Cartagena, are only negative results, and a very poor set-off against the failure to do anything that had been intended ; but, with such men as Mordaunt, Conway, 286 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. and Cornwallis, blocking the way, it was something* in Hawke's favour that it was no worse. Pitt had in fact not yet learnt his own lesson. The failure may be attributed to many causes ; but besides those which have been mentioned as beyond his con- trol, he himself had ensured that failure by the stress he had laid, in his own " Secret Instructions," on the necessity of holding Councils of War. He meant by so doing to ensure harmony ; he was yet to learn that harmony can only exist in mixed expeditions by placing proved and consummate commanders of both services in conjunction. In other circumstances, Councils of War are mere traps and delusions. The Rochefort Expedition of 1757, like Mathews' battle, is not an agreeable subject to dwell upon, but the duty of describing it cannot, in a Life of Lord Hawke, be evaded ; nor can it be dismissed in a few passing words. In placing the outline of it before the reader, the aim of this Chapter will be to abstain from repeating the mere unsupported opinions to be found in English Histories, which cannot possibly afford the space required for such an extremely com- plicated series of documents, and on the other hand to avoid the confusion in which more prolix accounts have left the subject. From some of Hawke's letters we obtain a little more light than former writers possessed, and the attack and defence of those con- cerned was at the time so vigorous and various that no excuse derived from want of full materials ouo-ht now to be of any avail. Nor is it a matter so entirely belonging to the past SIGNIFICANCE OF ROCHEFORT EXPEDITION. 287 as it might seem. The inventions of modern times have indeed been of such a nature that many things which interfered with the success of these operations could not well occur again in war ; but difficulties of another kind might easily be conceived to counter- balance modern improvements ; and it will be seen that the lessons to be learnt from the failure are abiding, and likely to be quite as useful for the future now stretching before us, as they were when applied in the years immediately subsequent to the Rochefort failure. The first paper here printed will show that Pitt lost no time after his acceptance of office on June 29th. On July 11th Lord Anson writes to Hawke from the Admiralty as follows : — Dear Sir, I was very sorry you were gone out of Town, as I should have wished to have had an hour's conversation with you this evening; and indeed it appears to Die so material that, though I am very sorry to give you the trouble, yet I must beg the favour to see you in Town, and I should be very glad [if] you would make Portsmouth in your way hither, without raising curiosity and alarm; but it is absolutely necessary that all the ships ordered to clean this spring should without a moment's time [? delay] be got to Spithead, as there may be immediate service for them. I am, &c. Anson.* What was the exact position occupied by Hawke when he received this letter, is not clear. He had received no Commission to hoist his flag, and he was not a Lord of the Admiralty. It is the first notice we have of him since he hauled down his flag in * Hawke Papers. 288 LIFE OF LORD HAWKB. January ; though it seems he had been intended for the service for which Admiral Holbnrne had been reinforced in the spring, viz. the recapture of Louis- bo urg. There had been notes of failure all along the line. The Home service, in the spring and summer of 1757, had been performed by Boscawen, Temple West (till he resigned), and Brodrick ; but, in spite of their vigilance, M. Dubois de la Mothe had contrived to evade the fleet once more, and had carried a squadron, along with several transports containing troops, to Louisbourg. Nor was this all. Holburne, though, when reinforced, in command of a large fleet, never found the opportunity to strike a single stroke, and — to anticipate a little — concluded his professional career under a misfortune over which, whatever might be the case previously, he certainly had no control. A tremendous hurricane which swept the American coast on September 20th, dispersed, and almost destroyed his fleet ; of which the said M. Dubois de la Mothe, taking prompt advantage, again escaped the blockade. Still more fortunately, he eluded Hawke and Boscawen who, on the arrival of the news, were sent out in hot haste immediately after the return of the Rochefort Expedition, to intercept him. The French indeed lost several of their convoy, and suffered severely from the storm which, like the American hurricane, drove the English squadrons from their post, and enabled their enemy to slip into Brest ; but this signified little. Fortune favours the brave, and if the French Admiral evinced his audacity rather in escaping than giving battle, he was certainly obeying ANSON EEINSTATED UNDER PITT. 289 the orders of his Government, wise enough under the circumstances; and he deserved the extraordinary good fortune which brought him safe home. The end of such freaks as Duguay and Dubois de la Mothe had hitherto succeeded in playing, was however close at hand. Without a fleet which could hold its own at sea, it was impossible, however reinforced, and how- ever well defended, to save the French Colonies. In the next year Boscawen and Amherst expelled the French from Cape Breton ; the year after, Wolfe and Saunders drove them from Canada. Hawke, it is evident, must have been already named for the secret expedition which the Minister had in view ; and already, we may suppose, had Anson hinted his doubts whether the exigencies of time and space could be chained to the axletrees of Pitt's fiery car. It is of this time that Thackeray speaks in his " Life of Lord Chatham," when he reports that Lord Anson informed the Minister that the ships could not be prepared within the time specified ; he moreover desired to know their destination, that they might be victualled accordingly. Mr. Pitt replied that if the ships were not ready at the time required he would lay the matter before the King, and impeach his Loi-dship in the House of Commons. This spirited menace produced its effect, and the men-of-war were all equipped and prepared according to the time and manner appointed.* This story is not irreconcilable with Lord Chatham's posthumous eulogy of Anson, but one should not have expected such a scene so soon after the appointment of the new First Lord of the Admiralty with Pitt's * Vol. i. p. 302. 19 290 LIFE OP LORD HAWKE. eager concurrence. Possibly it is the original ground for the still less probable story of the great Minister forcing Anson to sign despatches, the contents of which he was not allowed to see. The extraordinary secrecy preserved in relation to the Rochefort Expe- dition, not only during the whole time of its equipment, but after it had actually sailed, may well have appeared to demand some mythical anecdotes to account for it. The direction in which Pitt was led to carry out his design of a descent on France must have been due to a conversation, soon after taking office, with Sir John Ligouier, the Commander-in-Chief ; for we find Colonel Clarke, on July 15th, writing to the general a full account of the observations he had made upon Roche- fort three years previously, and doing so in consequence of a verbal report he had recently made, and which the general desired to have in writing. This engineer- officer deserves none of the blame which was after- wards cast upon him. He showed zeal and ability in making and reporting his observations ; the respon- sibility of founding so costly an expedition upon them rests with Pitt. It is true that the officers he selected for command, Hawke, Mordaunt, Conway, and Knowles were present, along with himself, Anson, Lord Hol- derness, and Ligonier, when the matter was considered and the French pilot, Thierri, examined ; but who could resist Pitt's eloquence when he had made up his mind to do " something" in response to the King of Prussia's urgent solicitations, and when this enterprise had presented itself at the critical moment ? It was no doubt late in the year to prepare and send forth INSTRUCTIONS TO COMMANDERS. 291 such an armament ; and everything would depend on its being a surprise ; but who would make difficulties ? The question innocently asked by Sir John Mor- daunt, at a later date, illustrates the position. If the fleet should be sighted, and an alarm be given some days before the wind allowed it to get into Basque Roads, how was he to act? Pitt indignantly replies : — I am commanded by the King to signify to you His Majesty's pleasure that you do in conformity to the latitude given by His Majesty's Instructions, judge of the practicability of the service on the spot according as contingent events and particular circum- stances may require, — the King judging it highly prejudicial to the good of his service to give particular orders and directions with regard to possible contingent cases that may arise.* It was on the actual occurrence of this very contin- gency that everything ultimately turned. Hawke, with his flag hoisted on August loth on board the " Ramilies " at Spithead, receives his " Secret Instructions " from Pitt dated on that day, and Mordaunt similar orders mutatis mutandis ; the two Generals, Conway and Cornwallis, and the two Admirals, Knowles and Broclrick, next in command, receive copies of the same, sealed, and to be opened only in case the command should devolve on any one of them. To the General of course the direction of the force which is to make a " descent on the French coast at or near Rochefort, and to burn, &c. all docks, magazines, &c. is assigned ; to the Admiral, the duty of "co-operation." * Paper No. IV. appended to the Report of the Court of Inquiry. 19 * 292 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. You are, as far as you shall be able with the fleet under your command, to be aiding and assisting to Sir John Mordaunt in the performance of the several services aforesaid. . . . After this attempt on Rochefort shall have either succeeded or failed, and in case the circumstances of our fleet and forces shall, with prospect of success, still admit of further operations, Port L'Orient and Bourdeaux are to be considered next as the most important objects of our arms on the coast of France. No arsenals, ships, &c. are to be retained, but all de- molished, and the expedition is " to be in England at or about, as near as may be, the end of September." The clause (in Hawke's Orders) on Councils of War runs as follows : — Whereas it is necessary that upon certain occasions Councils of War should be held, we have thought fit to appoint, and do hereby appoint such a Council, which shall consist of four of our principal sea-commanders, and of an equal number of our prin- cipal land-officers [thus adding Rodney and General Howard to those already named], including the Commanders-in-Chief. . . . And all such sea and land officers are hereby i*espectively directed from time to time to be aiding and assisting with their advice as often as they shall be called together by you, or the officer commanding our land foi'ces, for that purpose. The fleet comprised 16 line- of -battle ships, six of which were commanded by such men as Denis, Howe, Keppel, Rodney, Byron, and Barrington, 7 frigates, 2 bomb ketches, two fire ships, 2 busses, 1 horse- ship, and 55 transports. On board this fleet were 10 regiments of foot, 2 of marines, 60 light-horse, and a train of field artillery. There were no siege guns, nor was there any idea of a regular siege. It was to be a surprise and an escalade. Scaling ladders were supplied so constructed that 30 men could mount abreast, and a quantity of fascines ; and each trans- DELAY OF EXPEDITION. 293 port was to be provided with ten boats carrying 30 men each, so that the entire force might be landed at once. This however was not done. The horses and baggage were to be shipped at Southampton ; the troops were encamped in the Isle of Wight. It was the unfortunate mistake about the carriage of these troops which caused the delay that proved, next to the premature alarm given by the appearance of the fleet, the most fatal cause of the failure. Pitt and Anson had hoped that the expedition would have started by the middle, or at least the third week of August. The fleet was ready, so also were the soldiers ; but the tonnage of the transports had been calculated on too small a scale; and it was not till the 17th that Mr. Thames, the agent of transports, represented the fact to Sir John Morel aunt, who reports that he was much " puzzled " by his conver- sation. Hawke, however, was not puzzled, but writes to the Admiralty as follows : — In transporting troops to and from Holland with a fortnight's water and provisions, arid a short passage, one ton per man might be shifted with. But where troops are to be many weeks at sea men must have room to sit and lie nnder cover. In this case can it be imagined that a ship of four hundred tons burden could be capable of receiving four hundred men ? Let there be deducted from her tonnage the room necessary for her proper crew, ballast, cables, and other stores, room for several months' provisions and water for the soldiers, for their arms, tent-poles, and other baggage ; — what remains can, only, be allowed for the reception of men. It was my duty to direct Mr. Thames to remonstrate on this subject to the Navy Board. Notwithstanding I was from the first determined, and am so still, to embark the troops in the best manner possible on board whatever number of transports shall be ordered. 294 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. A short letter from Pitt to Hawke of August 23rd, in which the Admiral is ordered to take the soldiers whom the transports cannot accommodate, on board his men-of-war, crossed this letter. It had been preceded by an angry letter from the Admiralty, complaining of the meddlesome agent, " one Mr. Thames, a person sent to Portsmouth by the Navy Board to assist the agent for transports in the embarkation of the troops," who has " raised unnecessary difficulties and uneasiness"; but it was accompanied by another letter from the same quarter announcing that the Admiralty had given way, and had ordered the required addition of transport- tonnage. The letter betrayed dissatisfaction, and Hawke replies to the Secretary on August 24th, in the following language : — An expression at the end of your letter, I own, greatly astonishes me — " Their Lordships hope everything relating to the transports will be done to your satisfaction." I never was dissatisfied with any number appointed, and only thought it my duty for the public credit, as well as the private reputatiou of the Boai*ds concerned, to give my opinion in a matter wherein some difficulty might have arisen when too late to be remedied. I meant it well ; and as conviction is the best argument, I hope that discharge of my duty will not be construed to my disadvantage, since the Comptroller has thought fit to make so great an addition to the first tonnage. If such addition had not been, upon inatui'e deliberation, thought absolutely necessary by his superiors, or even himself alone, I cannot think it would have been done in complaisance to any private person's opinion. Besides, I beg it to be considered that the difficulty arose from a quarter where I had no immediate concern of my own ; for upon my honour had the first transports arrived in time, the troops should have been embarked on board them in the best manner they could without the least objection being made by me. QUESTION OF TRANSPORT. 295 Next day he writes to Pitt that — as a number of transports have been taken up at this port by the Comptroller of the Navy, and the "Jason " ship of war is fitted for the reception of soldiers, I hope there will be no occasion to put any on board the ships of war, which are already sufficiently weakened by having two battalions of raw, undisciplined men in their complements ; but in case the transports should not be sufficient for the number of troops, I shall, in obedience to His Majesty's commands, accommodate the remainder on board the men-of-war. Delays still occurred ; not only from the transports originally ordered being behind time, but the equip- ment of the new ones could not take place in a moment ; and this sadly tried the patience of all concerned. It is evident that the double organiza- tion of the Admiralty and the Navy Board worked ill, as it always did, down to the time of its aboli- tion in the present century. What fate befell the too honest Mr. Thames we know not ; but we may be sure that Hawke's resolution that the truth should reach head-quarters, sunk deep. And here a letter of his to the Admiralty of September 1st may be inserted, simply because it is of this date and as it shows the humanity of his character : — By this post you will receive the sentence passed yesterday by a Courtmartial on Robert Read. As it is reported to me that this unfortunate man has a wife and family about Plymouth, for the better maintenance of whom he was tempted to desert His Majesty's service, give me leave earnestly to request that their Lordships will intercede with the King for his pardon. By Monday September 5th the patience of the fiery Minister was exhausted, and the following letter 206 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. to the two Commanders-in-Chief records the explo- sion : — Sir, The wind having been fair for the transports going to Spithead ever since Friday morning, I am to acquaint you that His Majesty expects with impatience to hear that the troops are embarked ; but if by any delay the embarkation should not be completed when this letter reaches you, I am to signify to you the King's pleasure that the most particular diligence be employed in getting the troops on board, and pi'oceeding without the loss of a moment to the execution of your Orders and Instructions with regard to the Expedition under your care. His Majesty having been informed that ten battalions under the orders of Sir John Ligonier, were all completely embarked at Williamstadt within the course of twenty -four hours, in which they arrived at that place, the King expects to hear, by the return of this messenger that the fleet under your command, with the troops on board, have proceeded to sea, in case the wind permits, agreeable to your Orders and Instructions. I am, Sir, with great truth and regard, your most obedient humble servant, W. Pitt. P.S. — The messenger that carries this has my orders to stay to bring an account of the fleet's sailing. This was dated at 4 p.m. Next day Hawke replies : — At half -past five this morning I received by express your letter of the 5th inst., signifying His Majesty's directions to use the utmost diligence in embarking the troops and getting to sea. As I could not doubt of my letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty, by express on Sunday morning, being immediately communicaled to you, I should have expected that before yours was sent His Majesty would have been fully satisfied that I needed no spur in the execution of his orders. As the wind was fair here on Satur- day I ordered an officer [Lieutenant McKinley], with six cutters, out to cruize for the transports, with positive directions not to come-to at Spithead, but proceed directly to Cowes. Soon after they appeared in sight on Sunday morning I dispatched an officer to acquaint Sir John Mordaunt with their arrival, that everything PITT TJEGES HASTE. 297 might be ready. As there was but little wind all day on Sunday but few of them reached Cowes that night, and proving but little wind on Monday morning, I sent boats to tow the "Jason" down with two boats from each ship at Spithead, together with all the boats from the Dock, to assist in the embarkation. One brigade was embarked yesterday, as the other will be by noon to-day, so that the whole time taken up in the embarkation from the arrival of the transports to this day at noon will not exceed twenty-four hours, though we have not the advantage of jetty-heads [as at Williamstadt] from whence the troops could step into the tran- sports. Besides, Sir, as they were detained so long in their passage round, they were in want of considerable quantities of provisions, which, to save time, I sent to Cowes after them, while I watered and victualled the Horse-ships here ; the Horse are embarked this morning. . . . Give me leave to add that the mortar was to be shipped on board the "Infernal " bomb-vessel: she will be ready to-night. The men-of-war which came round with them were also in want of stores and some provisions. The squadron is now unmooring, and I only wait the return of the transports to Spithead when I shall take the first wind that offers to go to St. Helens', and if it should prove favourable shall go to sea immediately after. Be so kind, Sir, as to take the trouble to assure His Majesty that as I ever have, so more par- ticularly on this occasion, I shall show the greatest regard to his orders.* It was not however till September 10th that the expedition got fairly away. On September 8th Hawke reports from St. Helens' that — a calm obliged me to anchor the squadron again. Yesterday at 4 in the morning I began to unmoor again, and sent an officer [Lieutenant McKinley] to Cowes to see none of the transports were left behind. About 3 in the afternoon I got to this place, and was obliged to come-to, as they could not get out, dispatching officers who were all night employed in ordering them to join me without loss of time. Last night arx*ived from the Downs a Company of Lord Effingham's regiments, which had been * Paper XXVI. , appended to Report of Court of Inquiry. 298 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. embarked on board the " Norwich " at Chatham. The transports are all come down, and I am now under way with a moderate breeze at E.N.E. On September 10th : — On Thursday last, after I wrote to you, the wind died away which obliged me to come-to again till half an hour past five ; then a moderate breeze from W.N.W. springing up, I made the signal to weigh, and at 7 made sail with all the transports. On Friday we had contrary winds till evening, and this morning I was joined by H.M.S. " Essex," by whom I send this. We have now a fresh gale, with the wind at N.N.E. Here ends the first part of the proceedings. The expedition had not left England till a fortnight before the equinox, and its destination was a roadstead in the Bay of Biscay. It has been necessary to account for the delay at some length, in order to show that no blame could possibly be attached to Hawke. The particular season of the year when the equipment was proceeding is always subject to uncertain weather, and to the weather, as well as the delay in the trans- port department, must be attributed the disappoint- ment of Pitt's eager hopes. All the elements of action, human and superhuman, were to conform to those eager hopes ; but they refused to conform. In calculating the work of the machine the necessary allowance for friction had not been made. It was too great an affair to be conceived in July, and executed in August. The tenth of September, under the circumstances of those times, was too late. Some sense of this difficulty dawned upon the sanguine mind of the Minister soon after the squadron had sailed. On September 15th he hurries off a HAWKE S PRIVATE MEMORANDA. 299 Despatch to catch the two commanders, modifying the order they had received as to their return by the end of September, and saying that they are — not to desist from the execution of their orders, or break up the same, merely and solely on account of the time limited for your return by the Instructions above mentioned, but that, notwith- standing the same, you do continue with the fleet, during such a farther number of days as may afford a competent time for the comjdetion of any operation under the above circumstances. This Order was received in good time, but was interpreted to require a return if nothing of import- ance was to be undertaken, as near after the end of the month as possible, and no fault could be found with the final decision of the officers, taken under it. as so interpreted. Before sailing Hawke drew up a rough memoran- dum for his own private guidance in the conduct of the expedition, and it forms one of the papers pre- served in the family. Not being a complete plan it is not worth printing; but two or three extracts will show that there was no mistake on his part as to the nature of the fundamental conditions of success. Thus for example : — To consider with the flag and general officers which will be the properest place to attempt : to settle this iu going along ; and to fix upon the ships and troops that are to make the attack, which, if clone at all, must absolutely be done upon the first going in, or otherwise they will be prepared to make head against you : no time must be lost upon these occasions. Not to undertake anything without good pilots. To endeavour to cover the landing of the men by sending in two, three, or more small frigates inshore, to fire grape and partridge, to scour the country while the men are disembarking to be particularly careful to do this upon their embarking. 300 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. To see thorough discipline and exact order in every respect, kept up strictly on board. To enquire of Phill. Durell at Portsmouth how Mr. Vernon regulated the transports. When the troops are landed to send out ships and vessels to cruize between the main squadron and the Isle of Oleron or Bordeaux, and between the do. and the Isle of Ushant or the Penmarks. To consider well what force is, or may be, at Brest before parting -with any of my ships. To divide the whole number of Tenders [transports] into three Divisions, and to appoint a man of war of the line and a frigate ach of the Divisions to see, in tacking, that they are careful in obeying the signals made by the admiral, and to follow them and make them keep up with the fleet. To keep a couple of men of war in the rear of the fleet; to keej) two or three out ahead, and one upon each bow : to spread the ships whenever the weather will permit of it. In case of going in with a design to anchor upon the enemy's shore, to give positive orders for the Divisions of the fleet to lead it in order of the Line of Battle, and for each Division to follow at such a distance as to give time for each to come to an anchor before the other can be upon them. The transports to follow the men of war in their Divisions. In case of going in upon the enemy's shore, to be careful that you go in with the beginning of the flood, lest any of your ships should happen to ton i To order the Lieutenant Colonels on board six of the men of war : General Mordaunt, " Eamilies " ; General Conway, " Nep- tune " ; General Cornwallis, " Royal William." Wolfe, the Quartermaster General, found his place on board the " Ramilies " with the two Commanders- in-Chief, and writes home that " Sir Edward Hawke seems determined to do everything that can be done upon this occasion consistent with his orders and instructions, and the safety of the fleet." * * Wright's "Life of Wolfe," p. 381. ' FURTHER DELAYS. 301 It must be remembered that everything in relation to Rochef ort had to be learnt for the first time ; that there was nothing deserving the name of a chart of the narrow waters into which this great fleet was to penetrate, that no English pilots, or English seamen knew anything whatever about the navigation, and that the French pilots of the country were only to be trusted on the supposition that their Protestantism was a stronger guarantee for their good faith than their nationality. It was a sanguine supposition, but the principal one, Thierri, though ignorant enough, did certainly perform the duty he undertook ; and received Hawke's encomium for the courage he dis- played. These memoranda are also suggestive as to the Admiral's responsibility for the whole of the French coast as well as for the immediate operations at Rochefort ; and it was impossible to be easy under that responsibility when the equinoctial gales were expected. The delays which were beyond the Admiral's control hampered the expedition to the last. Those of the voyage are best described in his letter to the Admiralty of September 29th. He was ordered to communicate both with that office, and with Pitt himself. The Despatch hitherto printed has been that of September 30th to the Minister, but though the two are identical from a certain point, the portion of the earlier one which here follows, occurs in the first Despatch alone. " Ramilies," Basque Eoads, Sir, 29th September, 1757. From the time I wrote you last on the 13th inst. [which letter is neither in the Hawke Letter-books or Eecord Office] we 302 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. had light breezes, for the most part contrary, with fogs and calms, which prevented our getting sight of the Isles of Rhe and Oleron till about noon of the 20th. I attempted to get into Basque Roads, and made the dispositions for attacking the Island of Aix with the Red Division, composed of the " Mag- namine," " Barfleur," "Neptune," "Torbay," and "Royal Wil- liam," with frigates, bomb-vessels, fire-ships, and cutters. Between 4 and 5 o'clock, and no probability of getting in that night, I made the " Magnamine's " signal [Capt. the Hon. Richard Howe], being the nearest ship, to chase a French ship of war of two decks in the South-east quarter. She was followed by the "Torbay " [Keppel], "Royal William," "Escort" [a sloop], "Coventry," and a cutter. Night coming on, they chased her as far as they could with safety into Bordeaux River, where it is reported she is aground. As these ships could not join the squadron that night, not to lose sight of my principal object, I supplied their rooms in the Red Division with the " Dublin," " Burford," and "Achilles"; and at 7 in the morning of the 21st, made the signal for the Vice Admiral [Knowles] to stand in, in order to attack the Isle of Aix. As he approached the entrance between the islands, the weather being a little hazy, his pilot refused to carry the ship in, as did all the rest of the pilots of his division, which obliged him to tack and join me. About 11 the " Torbay," "Magnamine," "Royal William," and "Escort" joined company. At 3 p.m. the Vice Admiral made sail with his Division in a line ahead. But the wind blowing right out with a tide of ebb, we were obliged to come to anchor at 6. At 7 in the morning of the 22d we weighed, but having little wind, came-to again at 12. At quarter after 3 weighed again, and spreading in a line ahead, got into Basque Roads at half after 9. About an hour before, I was joined by the " Viper" sloop with His Majesty's orders signified by Mr. Pitt, one of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, to finish any operations which might have been begun, after the principal object of his Instructions. With the tide of flood at 10 in the morning of the 23d the Vice Admiral weighed with his Division in pursuance of my former order, and stood towards the Island of Aix, it being the general opinion that the troops could not be landed with safety till it should be first reduced. Here the two Despatches begin to correspond ; and wolfe's oeiticisms. 303 the rest may come in another place. When Wolfe, some months afterwards, wrote a caustic criticism of the conduct of the expedition to his friend, he remarked : — I have found out that an admiral should endeavour to run into an enemy's port immediately after he appears before it ; that he should anchor the transports aud frigates as close as he can to the land, that he should reconnoitre and observe it as quick as pos- sible, and lose no time in getting the troops on shore ; that previous directions should be given in respect to landing the troops, and a proper disposition made for the boats of all sorts, appointing leaders and fit persons for conducting the different Divisions. He then goes on to criticise the conduct of the Generals with still more bitterness, but much more reason.* Elsewhere he says : — We lost three days without, and three within. We were in sight of the Isle of Ehe September 20th, and it was the 23rd before we fired a gun. That afternoon and night slipped through our hands, the lucky moment of surprise and consternation among our enemies. f The reader has now for the first time the oppor- tunity of judging from Hawke's own pen how much value should be attached to the opinions of the young officer, — afterwards to become so celebrated, — sea- sick, as he confesses, on the voyage, ignorant of the true state of the case, and wise after the event. It was this sort of criticism that spread among the vulgar. Wolfe never meant it to be published. His evidence before the Courtmartial, which was not however very lucid, may be fairly held of itself to * Wright's " Wolfe," p. 397. t Ibid, p. 395. 304 LIFE OF LOED HAWKE. exculpate Hawke ; and it is noticeable that he made no sort of objection, as Quartermaster General of the force, to the final relinquishment of the expedition. What he did was indeed characteristic. Disgusted with his military superiors, he offered at an early stage of the proceedings, to attack Rochefort with three ships and 500 men. The extraordinary genius, then scarcely suspected, which he soon afterwards evinced, has led the world to conclude that he would have succeeded. Such a supposition, though of course possible, is entirely gratuitous. It could only have succeeded as a surprise, and though authorities differ as to the possibilities of a surprise, we must always remember that during the next year, an English spy was discovered, a physician, who had given intelligence to the French of the design upon Rochefort before the resolution of the Privy Council to attack it had been made known either to Hawke or Mordaunt.* The incident of the chase of a French two-decker, mentioned above by Hawke, formed the subject of many a bitter joke at the expense of Admiral Knowles, in the midst of whose Division of the fleet the ship had found herself, when she suddenly discovered it was not a French squadron, as she had supposed, and made the best of her way back. This Admiral who had formerly been reprimanded by a Courtmartial for not having given the Spaniards as sound a beating as it was thought he might have inflicted — (he and Sir Robert Calcler are the only two Admirals who * Entick's " History of the War/' vol. iii. p. 82. ADMIRAL KNOWLES. 305 have been tried by Courtmartial after a victory) — was the favourite scapegoat of the public for the failure of the Rochefort expedition ; and it was not surprising. He was a clever and brave officer, but one of those talkative, turbulent, men that the navy as well as the army occasionally breeds, and was always coming before the public in some form or other. Eventually he was knighted, and took service with Russia. Knowles on the present occasion was so intent on showing General Conway the orderly appearance of the crew of his ship at quarters between decks, that he not only did not detect the Frenchman, but took no notice of her for some time after she was reported ; and to the delay of orders for a chase was attributed her escape, and the con- sequent alarm of the coast. As a matter of fact, however, the expedition was expected ; no delay was caused by whatever happened on this occasion; and Hawke attributes no blame to the Vice-admiral. In the general exasperation a great deal was evidently made out of a little. The public were perhaps nearer the mark when Knowles' subsequent conduct of the reconnoissance on Fort Fouras was made the subject of adverse criticism ; but as one of the numerous pamphlets of the time said :— Did Sir Edward Hawke complain of Mr. Knowles ? — and if lie did not, who can, without beginning at Sir Edward, whom even malice itself, never, that I could yet learn, charged with being either coward or fool.* * " Considerations on the proceedings of a General Court- martial," &<*., 1757, 20 306 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. We may now resume Hawke's Despatch : — The "Magnanime" led. About 12 the fire began from the Fort with shells and great guns, and continued while our ships approached, till about 10 minutes after 1 ; when the " Magnanime " brought up within less than 40 yards of the fort, where she kept an incessant fire for about 35 minutes; as did the "Barfleur" [Graves] which brought up, about 5 minutes after her, abreast the fort. About three quarters after One the firing ceased, the gar- rison having struck their colours and surrendered. They had in the fort 8 mortars of about 14 inches diameter, and 30 guns, 16 of which were 18, and the remainder about 14 pounders. The " Magnanime," though damaged in her rigging, yards and masts, yet had only 2 soldiers killed and 11 men wounded. On the morning of the 23rd I observed a French man of war, over the land, to the S.E. of the Isle of Aix. Being desirous of destroying her I directed Captain Byron of the "America" to take with him the " Achilles " and " Pluto " fire-ships, and as soon as the Red Division should begin to batter, go and destroy her. But the French flung their guns overboard, cut their cables, and otherwise lightening her, ran up the Charente. It is said she was the " Prudent " of 74 guns, bound for Louisburg. It having been thought necessary, in order to secure a safe landing for the troops, to sound and reconnoitre the shore of the main, as soon as the fort had surrendered, I directed Rear Admiral Brodrick, with Captains Denis, Douglas, and Buckle, to perform that service and make their report to me. It was the afternoon of the 24th before they returned. A copy of that Report accom- panies this. After maturely considering it I was of opinion they might land ; on which Sir John Mordaunt desired a Council of War might be assembled to consider of it. There it was granted by everybody that the landing could be effected. In confidence of their judgment and knowledge of their own profession we assented to their reasons for not proceeding to attempt taking Rochefort by escalade. A copy of the result of that Council of War is here enclosed. He desired a second, which was assembled early on the morning of the 28th. Herewith I send you the result of it. Immediately the disposition was made for the landing, under the direction of Rear Admiral Brodrick and all the Captains of the squadron. Part of the troops were actually in the boats, when I hawke's despatch. 307 received a letter from Mr. Brodrick, a copy whereof I herewith transmit. Last night I applied to him [Sir John Mordaunt] to know whether the General officers of the land forces had any further military operations to propose, that I might not unnecessarily detain the squadron here. This morning I received Sir John's answer, a copy of which is here enclosed. It was the daily expec- tation of their undertaking something which induced me to stay here so long. As I have now got their final resolution I shall sail for England to-morrow morning. Though, before I came here, this place was represented as very difficult of access, and so narrow that ships could not lie in safety from the forts, — nay, the pilots made many baulks before we came in, — yet I find it a safe, spacious road, in which all the navy of England, merchant ships included, may ride without the least annoyance ; and that a squadron may at any time by lying here prevent any armament from Rochefort, and ruin all the French trade to Rhe, Oleron, or the Continent, within these islands. I have ordered the " Burford," "Alcide," " America," " Dun- kirk," "Coventry," "Postillion," "Beam," "Pelican," "Cormorant," " Escort," and " Hawke " cutter to Plymouth to await their Lord- ships' orders. The rest I shall bring to Spithead with me. [The above clause is absent in the Despatch to Mr. Pitt.] Their Lordships may be assured I have discharged my duty to my King and country with truth, diligence, and integrity ; and wish more could have been done for the good of the service. The Pilot of the " Magnanime " has behaved like a man of bravery and skill, and as such I beg leave to recommend him to their Lordships. Yours, &c. E. Hawke. Before quoting the documents referred to in this Despatch, Hawke's private letter to Lord xlnson of the same date, September 30th, must find its place here : — " Ramilies," in Basque Roads, off Rochelle, My Lord, Sept. 30th, 1757. The "Viper" sloop joined me within the entrance of this place just before we came to an anchor, Mr. Knowles' Division 20 * 308 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. having brought-to some little time before. I have kept her all this time flattering myself with the daily hopes that the land officers would come to a determination to land the troops, to try what was possible to be done for their country, notwithstanding they were of opinion it was impracticable to take the town of Rochefort by escalade. If there is faith in man, my Lord, you may believe that I have urged this to them continually, painting the absolute necessity of it in the strongest terms that I could possibly think of. But I am infinitely concerned to tell your Lordship that you will see by the result that all this has availed nothing. I made no hesitation in attempting to remove every obstacle out of the way that was in my power, in which I happily succeeded, and wanted no Council of War, nor never would have had any if they had not been demanded to confirm me in opinion that it was right I should use my utmost endeavours for my King and country. I have wrote the Admiralty as full an account of our pro- ceedings as I can, but it is impossible to give your Lordship a thorough detail of the whole unless I had the honour of seeing you in person, and therefore shall be glad you will please to order me to have leave to go to Town when I shall arrive at Spithead. This is a much finer Road than what the Chart describes it to be, being much larger and more spacious, and where the whole fleet of England might lie upon occasion with great safety ; and now that we are acquainted with it, it is in our power, with a superior force, to prevent the enemy from making up their fleets here, which will lay them under infinite difficulties, and subject them to great hazard, it being always in our power, now that we know the place, to prevent any squadron, fitted at this port, to join [from joining] that of Brest.* Reading this private letter, written evidently in a hurry, and in the anguish of his heart, along with the letter of May 10th, 1758, which will come in its place, we may form some idea of what the Admiral's feelings were in finding himself compelled to return home with * Anson Correspondence. ACCOUNT OF EOCHEFORT. 309 such a miserable story to tell. It is needless to say that the thorough sifting to which the whole of the proceedings were subjected at the hands of two public Courts (at one of which his own evidence was taken), as well as the war of excited literature which accompanied and followed those enquiries, failed to shake a particle of the plain, straightforward state- ment conveyed in the above Despatch. It remains to fill in the blanks, and analyse the whole. It may not be unnecessary to remark, before going farther, that Rochefort lies in an excellent position for defence, about nine miles up the River Charente, the mouth of which was fortified on the right bank by Fort de 1' Aiguille, Fort Fouras, and Fort La Pointe ; and on the left by the Fort on Isle Madame. The best defence of these forts is the intricacy of the navigation amongst the shoals caused by the deposits of the river; and nine miles away from the forts stands the Island of Aix, which com- mands the entrance to these shoals, as well as the anchorage near the island, which is large enough for several ships. The Bay of Chatellaillon forms the coast line running to the Northward from Fouras. Further away to the North, along the Coast, is the Basque Road, a fine sheltered anchorage between the mainland and the Islands of Rhe, Oleron, and Aix. The great distance from this, which is the only safe anchorage for a fleet, to Aix and the intricate passage to the mouth of the river, and still further, to the forts which guard the river's entrance, must be borne in mind by the reader. Rochefort Arsenal, like that 310 LIFE OP LOED HAWKE. of Toulon, was the creation of Louis XIV., inspired by the genius of Colbert. The first point which demands attention is the capture of the Fort on the Isle of Aix. One of the common charges of the critics was that it had been unnecessary to detain the fleet and troops even for the few hours occupied by Howe and Graves in the attack. This was, however, open to great doubt. Such charts of the place as there were represented the fort as domi- nating the anchorage ; it was known to have been planned by Vauban, and supposed to be much stronger than it was ; and it is the first principle of war not to leave an enemy in the rear. As it happened, it had never been completed ; only six guns could be brought to bear on the ships ; and though Howe's approach to it was as gallant as everything done by that fine officer always was, the capture was a mere bagatelle. Unfor- tunately the expedition was seriously discredited by the bad conduct of the crews of the ships which took the fort. They not only got furiously drunk, but ill- treated the priest and the chapel of the place. On the other hand a good end was served by the capture, since it enabled the enterprising Wolfe, eagerly look- ing out for an opportunity, to get on shore and obtain a view of the forts higher up the estuary. What he saw he immediately reported, and thereupon proposed a plan of operations which must now be described. It is not mentioned in Hawke's Despatch, since though at first approved by him, he soon saw that it must be abandoned. It may form a first stage in the con- sideration of the details before us. howe's attack on fort of aix. 311 Wolfe's plan was to make an immediate attack on Fort Fouras, along- with a diversion to be effected by the bomb-ketches, which would open fire on Rochelle and the Isle of Rhe ;. thus drawing off the attention of the enemy to places several miles from the real point of attack. Both Hawke and Mordaunt approved of the proposal, at least as to Fouras ; so also Conway, with the exception of the part relating to Rochelle, which he thought impracticable, and of which, as Hawke agreed with him, nothing more was heard. It is quite possible that Wolfe may have been right on this latter point, and the rest wrong; but we have no means of judging. As to the attack projected against Fouras, it was Hawke's business to ascertain instantly if ships could get in near enough to make the attack ; and Thierri, the pilot, who in the excitement of the mo- ment of Howe's success, had offered to take the " Magnanime " up to Fouras, was examined by the admiral and vice admiral on the morning of the 24th. Hawke described at the Courtmartial how he gave him time to allow his " gasconade to subside " ; and then, on the statement of his belief that the " Barfleur," which drew less water than other line-of- battle ships, might, after being lightened, get near enough, Knowles was sent off to get her ready. Her Captain, however, told Knowles that it would not be of much use, for she was aground already, at five miles distance from the fort ; and, indeed, no sooner had Knowles gone, than the pilot altered his mind, and declared it impracticable to bring any ship within battering distance. This was afterwards proved to be 312 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. true ; it not being found possible to bring " even a bomb-ketch within random shot of the fort." On the whole Hawke pronounced him to be " very ignorant of the place." He had observed that even when he piloted the " Magnanime " up to the fort at Aix, " she sewed in the mud." It was clearly impossible to order a landing at Fouras under such circumstances ; and his only course was to have the whole shore examined by responsible officers. Here was a day lost ; but who could be blamed ? To Admiral Bro- drick and three Captains the task was that afternoon entrusted : but anyone can see by a glance at a common map that to take soundings, and ascertain the practicability of landing, along so many miles of coast, could not, even by the most zealous officers, be accom- plished very rapidly. It took the night and next morning. It was not till the afternoon of the 24th that Hawke received the Rear Admiral's Report that the Bay of Chatellaillon was the only proper landing- place, and that though it had been impossible for them to land on account of the surf, yet in fine weather it would do perfectly well. Hawke, we have seen, was now satisfied that his part of the work was done. A landing-place had been found ; and he would see them all on shore next day without, as it was reported he told the generals, their having to wet their shoes. Mordaunt, however, having heard from Conway, who had examined several French prisoners at Aix, that Rochefort was not likely to be so easily taken as had been thought, considered this to be the occasion provided for in Pitt's Instructions, A LANDING-PLACE FOUND. 313 and now demanded a Council of War. Here opens the second stage of the proceedings. Perhaps no English Council of War was ever brought before the public so often as this of Sep- tember 25th. It will be unnecessary therefore to give more than its results. Hawke, in mentioning these results, reports that "it was granted by everybody that the landing could be effected." This was his point. He would have risked the dangers of re-em- barkation, and attempted at least a reconnoissance in force of the place they were sent to attack. To the generals the following arguments told in the opposite sense. They did not dispute that a landing might be effected ; but they observed the danger of the coast (which was exposed to the whole force of westerly winds), if bad weather should come on after landing, and that the re-embarkation could not be assisted by the ships on account of the distance they must lie off shore. The evidence of Colonel Clarke seemed also to them, from the length of time which had elapsed since he visited the place, to be almost valueless. Some prisoners (much glorified by French historians for deceiving the English) declared that men had been working on the fortifications of Rochefort for several days past ; some neutral vessels had reported that the enemy had been for some time in expectation of a descent ; and the ditch which they had been told was not a wet ditch, appeared from evidence to be capable of being made so. On the whole, considering the long detention of the troops in the Isle of Wight, and our meeting with contrary winds, fogs, and calms upon our passage, 31 I LIFE OF LOED HAWKK. the several informations received of troops assembled in the neighbourhood, and the great improbability of finding the place unprovided, or of surprising it, or consequently succeeding in an enterprise founded on the plan of an assault or escalade merely ; and the uncertainty of a secure retreat for the troops if landed, the Council are unanimously of opinion that such an attempt is neither advisable nor practicable. This is signed by all the eight officers ordered by the "Instructions" to form the Council of War; and of these eight, Hawke himself, the President, was one. It is remarkable that while this proceeding- might naturally suggest a charge of inconsistency on his part, no remark seems to have been made upon it at the time. The next sentences of his Despatch give his own explanation, which seems to have been always considered satisfactory : — In confidence of their judgment and knowledge of their own profession we assented to their reasons for not proceeding to take Rochefort by escalade ; or as he more fully expressed it in his evidence : — Whether they should land or not land, he constantly thought it was the part of the generals to determine that question by themselves. He looked upon them as good and gallant officers, and officers of service ; and therefore could not but suppose they were infinitely better judges of their own business than he could be. In confidence of their abilities he acquiesced in their opinion of the impracticability of taking Rochefort by an escalade or storm ; however, though he assented to the not landing upon that footing, he did not give it as his opinion that the troops should not land at all for any other attempt which the General officers should find proper and expedient for the service : on the contrary he then urged the necessity of doing something agreeable to the King's Instructions. If Wolfe had been a member of the Court he might have turned the scale the other way. In the letter above-mentioned he remarks that — FIEST COUNCIL OF WAR. 315 nothing is to be reckoned an obstacle to an undertaking of this nature which is not found to be so upon trial ; that in war some- thing must be allowed to chance and fortune ; seeing it is in its nature hazardous, and an option of difficulties ; that the greatness of an object should come under consideration [as] opposed to the impediments that lie in the way ; that the honour of one's country is to have some weight ; and that in particular circumstances and times the loss of a thousand men is rather an advantage to a nation than otherwise, seeing that gallant attempts raise its reputation and make it respectable ; whereas the contrary appearances sink the credit of a country, ruin the troops, and create infinite uneasiness and discontent at home. And again : — This famous Council sat from morning till late at night [it sat till midnight, and its proceedings were not signed till next morning] ; and the result of the debates was unanimously not to attack the place they were ordered to attack, and for reasons that no soldier will allow to be sufficient.* Like the criticism quoted above on the conduct of the Admiral, this savours of extraordinary presump- tion ; but here the future hero knows much more of what he is talking about ; and the principles he lays down are not only sound as regards that, but for all such enterprises. However, — to obtain success in a blind enterprise, a genius must appear on the scene. The success of an escalade depends, as Mordaunt said, on a surprise, and the French were now, as was abundantly proved, perfectly aware of the English movements. It must also be remembered that the ap- plication of the principle of ignorant impulse produced next year the catastrophe of St. Cas ; and the expe- ditions against Louisbourg, in 1758, as well as of * Life, p. 397. 316 LTFE OF LORD HAWKE. Quebec, in 1759, would probably Have had the same result if a tolerably thorough knowledge of both places had not been in the possession of the con- querors, and — we may say still further — if "Wolfe himself had not in both cases been on the spot. We have now advanced to a third stage in the proceedings. The feelings of the officers and men, soldiers and sailors, in this great fleet of men-of-war and transports, when it got about that nothing was to be done, may be imagined without difficulty ; and the general murmur could not fail to reach headquarters. Could not something be done ? The uneasiness betrays itself in various ways. " It was my daily expectation of their undertaking something which induced me to stay here so long " — says the Admiral. The French prisoners were examined again, and some fresh infor- mation, thought to be more favourable to a landing at Chatellaillon, with a view to an attack on Fort Fouras, was obtained. Vice-admiral Knowles was ordered to see whether the bomb-ketches could not get in near enough to be of use ; Hawke sent Rodney to reconnoitre Oleron as a landing place, — on which he reported unfavourably ; and various personal obser- vations were made by the generals, including the ever-active Wolfe. The result of all this effervescence was that Mordaunt, on the 27th, was himself induced to reconsider the question of landing, though not with any further idea of attacking Rochefort itself ; and a second Council of War was, at his request, summoned for the 28th. It should be noticed that during this period of gestation the engineers had been fully SECOND COUNCIL OF WAR. 317 employed in destroying the fort at Aix ; but this could have been effected under the protection of half a dozen ships. The second Council was a less tedious affair than the first, and, for some reason not explained, it seems to have been agreed that there should be no regular Minutes taken of the proceedings. Nevertheless Hawke, as President, had minutes taken by his Secretary for his own guidance, and forwarded a copy of them with his Despatch. Unfortunately, not having been signed by the other members, they are unauthentic ; but their substantial accuracy was not impugned, nor was the following passage disputed : — Sir Edward Hawke, appealing to every member of the Council for the truth of what he said, declared that he was now of the same opinion which he had given both before and at the Council of War of the 25th, that the landing could be effected ; that the troops ought to be landed for some further attempt, which was alone matter of consideration with the General officers of the troops, he not taking upon him to be a judge of land operations, but would, from his confidence in their abilities and skill in their own profession, readily assent to any Resolution they should come to, and assist them to the utmost of his power. The naval members then withdrew ; and on their afterwards joining the military members, it was unani- mously agreed to land the troops " at Chatellaillon Bay that very night, and make a sudden attack with the land forces upon Fouras and the other forts leading to, and upon the mouth of, the River Charente." " Immediately," says Hawke, " the disposition was made for the landing under the direction of Rear Admiral Brodrick and all the Captains of the squadron. Part of the troops were 318 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. actually in the boats when I received a letter from Mr. Brodrick, a copy of which I herewith transmit." The letter is as follows : — Sir, I have prepared all the boats with proper officers to land the troops, agreeable to your order ; but am to acquaint you that the Generals are come to the resolution not to land to-night, and to wait till daylight, when they can have a full view of the ground where they are to larid. I am, Sir, yours, &c. " Achilles," Tuesday morning ; Thomas Brodrick. 1 o'clock. On the other hand Sir John Mordaunt describes the affair thus : — - The necessary orders were immediately given ; and about one o'clock the Grenadiers and great part of the troops who were to land with me in the first embarkation were on board [the boats] ; when a strong wind blowing from the shore, the officers of the navy ajjpointed to conduct the landing represented that it was with difficulty the long-boats could make way, that it would be day before the first embarkation could get to shore ; and that it would be 5 or 6 hours more before the troops first landed could be supported by a second embarkation. Add to this that the boats belonging to the transports would scarce be able to get on shore at all. For these reasons the Generals found the Forces could not be landed that nisrht.* "■&■■ The discrepancy between these two accounts was much commented upon. The army and navy seemed to throw the blame upon one another; and it was unfortunate that Brodrick did not say that he con- curred with the Generals, — for there was no blame to be attached to anyone. The wind, as the evidence before the Court showed, was much too high to land ; * Evidence at the Court of Inquiry. LANDING IMPOSSIBLE. 319 and of this we may be sure, for no one was more strongly of that opinion than the intrepid Howe. The fact evidently is that admirals, generals, and captains were agreed, and were all quite right. If the generals were responsible for the final resolution, it was because the naval officers recommended it. It was an exposed coast, with a heavy surf line ; no one could command the winds, which combined with many other causes in producing the failure of the expedition. It may be added to this summary of the final effort "to do something " that Hawke in his evidence before the Courtmartial on Mordaunt, stated that his own plan of sending in the transports on the afternoon of the day on which the Council was held, " as close to the shore as they could possibly go, and the frigates within them, at the place where the troops were to land, that they might get on shore with the greater expedition," though seconded by all the sea-officers, was objected to by the military members, and espe- cially by Conway, as " it would point out to the French the place at which they intended to land." Thus the public rightly judged that the plans of the naval officers never having been tried, it was not they who could be accused of failure. The military objec- tion was unsound : for there was now no chance of any surprise, and the distance at which the transports lay was too great for boat-work, as it turned out. Hawke, when he found the attack in the early morning was preferred, gave personally some excellent orders to the transports for facilitating the landing of the second detachment of troops. To do this, they were, 320 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. " at the instant the first body of troops was gone from the ships, to get under sail immediately, and run close into the shore where the troops were to land." How- ever, none of these things came to pass, and are only interesting as they throw light on a complicated series of events. The fourth and final stage comprises the several steps which led to the departure of the fleet for England on the 30th. On the 29th, instead of making any further arrangements for landing the troops — which had returned to their transports full of indig- nation at having been kept four hours in the boats, during a windy night, without the chance of striking a blow — General Conway was employed with Colonels Wolfe and Clarke in a further reconnoissance of the coast from Fouras to Chatellaillon. The generals had received information, or rather " it had been reported," that " some camps and entrenchments had been seen on the shore, particularly near the place where the landing was to have been made." Conway reported to Mordaunt and the two other head-officers of the Council that he was still in favour of attempting a landing ; but here he was unable to carry his three colleagues with him. Cornwallis had been steadily all through against any landing at all, and admitted that he only signed the Resolution of the 28th against his own judgment. Colonel Howard had been much of the same opinion. Sir John Mordaunt had been hitherto more guided by Conway than by anyone else, and even now offered to go on, if Conway thought he ought to give way. He had been summoned by Hawke EXPEDITION EELINQUISHED. 321 to make up his mind on the morning of the 29th in the following terms : — " Eamilies," Basque Eoad, Sir, 29th Sept. 1757. Should the General officers of the troops have no farther military operation to propose, considerable enough to authorize my detaining the squadron under my command longer here, I beg leave to acquaint you that I intend to proceed with it for England without loss of time. I am, Sir, &c. Ed. Hawke. With this letter and Conway's Report before them, all four agreed to give up the whole expedition. Conway, though he had expressed his opinion in favour of further action, declining to press it, joined the rest; and the following letter was the result : — Sir, Upon receipt of your letter I talked it over with the other Land-officers who were of our Councils of War, and we all agree in returning directly to England. I am, Sir, &c. J. Mordatjnt. There is a suggestive abruptness in this final cor- respondence. Though there is no want of proper politeness, the relations between the army and navy had evidently become much strained. Mordaunt stated to the Court that he applied to Sir Edward for a Council of War to consider the first of the above letters ; but — he declined it, and said that seamen were no judges of land operations, which were to be performed by the troops on shore. Id consequence of this conversation I summoned all the land officers who had been of the Council of War and laid Sir Edward Hawke's letter before them. We considered the uncertainty of 2] 322 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. landing, if the wind should blow as it had done4;he night before, and the account we had that day received from the Captain of the "Viper" sloop, who had informed Colonel Howai'd that he had seen a considerable body of troops near the landing-place, whose numbers he did not exactly know, but he had observed five pair of colours ; that he saw them in camp ; that the next morning the view of the camp was interrupted, so that he could not see them again, which he attributed to their having thrown up some ground on the beach ; and that he saw the sandhills on the beach considerably higher than they were on Sunday when we came there. Colonel Howard, in his return from reconnoitring, reported this to me. It further appeared to us that the attempt upon those forts at this time, could not justify the ill consequences of detaining the fleet in that bay at a time when, from what we had learnt from the conversation of the sea-officers, two great French fleets were expected home ; that at this season of the year, so near the Equinox, such Westerly winds were to be apprehended as might detain the fleet there many weeks; that the foundation upon which the Resolution of the Council of War upon the 28th was taken, was that it might be done during the necessary detention of the fleet in the demolition of the Fort of Aix, and thereupon was directed to be done with all possible despatch ; that the demolition of the works of the Isle of Aix was completed that very day, and that the wind was then fair for the fleet to return ; add to this that the time limited by His Majesty's Instructions was now expired, and that the time was not prolonged by Mr. Pitt's letter, which allowed us only to complete such operations as we had already begun. On the receipt of the laconic reply sent by the Generals, the fleet at once set sail for England ; and moored at Spithead on October 7th. It was a most inglorious return. It is said that the arrival of the fleet was greeted by " a dumb peal " from the church bells of Portsmouth. This must have been far from agreeable to the Member for that place. But all were alike. The whole country was in a blaze. "Were FURY OF ENGLISH PEOPLE. 323 they never to obtain a return for the money they lavished upon sailors and soldiers ? It was ardently hoped that this grand expedition would have wiped out the dreadful memory of the loss of Minorca. It had made matters worse. Entick, the historian of the war, reports that — the greater part of the nation vented resentment on the com- manders . . . another far less numerous part, did justice to their good intentions, but questioned whether the projectors had sufficient ground of knowledge or information to warrant the undertaking. Some, merely guided by private attachment . . . extolled it to the skies ; others, envious of Pitt, affected to treat the whole plan as chimerical, crude, and undigested, both in the projection and appointment of the execution . . . some over- refined politicians pretended to discover a connection with the Convention of Stade.* Of the numerous effusions in which the popular feeling found expression, perhaps the most just and least scurrilous was the following, from the " Gentle- man's Magazine" : — We went, we saw, were seen, like valiant men, Sailed up the bay, and then, — sailed back again. It cannot be said that Hawke suffered seriously, in public estimation even on the first blush of the affair, but his feelings were none the less wounded. The generals were the real sufferers, and the King, who had never approved of the expedition, but had allowed Pitt to have his way, represented the national feeling when, the Admiral and General having been sent for to Court, he gave Hawke a reception as gracious as that of Mordaunt was as markedly the contrary. * Vol. ii. p. 346. 21 * 324 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. This was, however, to settle the question a little too summarily. Mordaunt's character stood high, and the feeling of the army at least was that he ought to be allowed to clear himself and his colleagues. The remainder of the year was taken up by the Court of Enquiry which was opened on November 1st, and by the subsequent Courtmartial on Mordaunt to which it led. Hawke was, happily for himself, out of the way of the general hubbub, for he was sent off with the fleet to watch for the return of M. Dubois de la Mothe, and did not come back till the evidence before the Courtmartial was closed. However the Court was reopened on December 20th in order to hear his evidence, the substance of which has been given above. It will be sufficient here to state the con- clusions at which both Courts arrived, and then to sum up the whole. The Court of Enquiry consisted of the Duke of Marlborough, Lord G-eorge Sackville, and General Walclegrave. Their Report has been blamed for its vague and unsatisfactory character ; but somewhat unjustly. It is sufficiently clear on the point that Rochefort ought to have been attacked, and that the Council of War which decided against that operation on September 25th was the cause of the whole failure. Nothing else, they thought, was of any real conse- quence. Being generals, they naturally reflected by implication on the sea-officers for not having joined in the final Council demanded by Mordaunt, and declined by Hawke ; but they laid no stress on it. The Court evidently considered the whole matter COURT OF ENQUIRY. 325 one which ought to go further ; and in the agitated state of the nation, with so many uncertainties attach- ing to the proceedings, and so many suspicions that political intrigue had affected them, it was quite right that the whole matter should be thoroughly sifted, with all the advantages that a Courtmartial has over the Court which precedes it. The only point in the evidence requiring remark in reference to Hawke, who was not there to explain, is the production of his private minutes of the Council of War of the 28th. This was angrily referred to by the other members of the Council of War; but as it turned out that Morclaunt had been asked to produce his minutes, and not having taken any, had applied to Hawke for a copy of his, which the general had sent up without remark, and as no fault of the slightest importance was found with them, the incident is not worth further notice. What came out both before this Court, and more fully before the Courtmartial, was that Hawke, previously to September 25th, at the Council held on that day, and on that of the 28th, when he at last brought the Council to agree with him, had always, throughout, given his opinion that " the landing could be effected," and that he had urged it all along. But it did not follow that Morclaunt could be found guilty by a Courtmartial. On the contrary when the evidence had all been retaken, with much additional matter, after Pitt and, at the last moment, Hawke, had been examined, and every Instruction and order had been thoroughly weighed, the Court had evidently 326 LIFE OP LORD HAWKE. no choice but to acquit the General ; and he was accordingly " honourably acquitted." Campbell in his " Lives of the Admirals " * here remarks : — The Minister and the Admiral were also acquitted by the general voice of the people ; so that this grand expedition miscarried with- out a cause. The historian's bitter verdict is only too near the mark. Mordaunt had no difficulty in proving that he had acted in strict conformity with his Instructions, and where he had been left to his own responsibility, had acted to the best of his judgment. Nor was there any sufficiently strong ground for disputing the conclusions to which he had come. It was perfectly open for a brave and prudent man to take either view. Nothing but success could have proved a movement such as Hawke and "Wolfe would have made to be a wise one. There were reasons enough, of a certain kind, against it. "The surprise," as Mordaunt's defendei's said, "on which depended the only chance of making a vigorous impression, or a coup de main, was evidently over; and as to sitting down before it, we had no artillery : our plan admitted of none. Sir Edward Hawke, who was so far from giving his opinion that the troops should not land at all, that he urged the necessity of it, was how- ever satisfied that Fort Fouras was become of no consequence to troops landing in Chatellaillon Bay ; and as no other object appeared worth landing for, either to Sir Edward Hawke, who wished it so much, or to the other commanders, what could they do but come away ? — for as to Eochefort, all of them had concurred in the opinion of its being not to be thought of more. . . . Surely the little or nothing that obviously remained to be done against Fouras was not an object for keeping the fleet longer upon that coast. It could not be worse to set it at liberty to proceed on # Vol. iv. p. 104. THE COURTMARTIAL. 327 important and real services tlian to detain it in fruitless attend- ance on an imaginary one.* It is not easy to dispute this reasoning, nor was it satisfactorily met in a single pamphlet of the day. The country was at least saved from the disgrace of another "judicial murder"; and Pitt was too great a favourite with the people to be saddled with the failure as Newcastle and Anson had been in the case of Byng. Nevertheless the Courtmartial had treated the original plan of the expedition with contempt ; a very large body of opinion was formed against the Minister ; and the preceding remarks have shown that, however natural it was for his political enemies to lay the blame on his shoulders, the impartial voice of history cannot by any means acquit him. There were many " ifs " in the matter. If Mor- daunt had been an able and energetic man, if Conway's good qualities had not been eclipsed by a fatal and very characteristic indecision, if even Cornwallis and Howard had been anything but commonplace men, if Wolfe had been one of the Council of War, instead of merely Quartermaster General ; still more, if he had been in command, the matter would have been placed beyond doubt in one way or the other. As the French were prepared, there would doubtless have been heavy losses ; and changes of wind and weather might have caused a catastrophe like that of St. Cas, while nothing of any importance might have been achieved ; but on the other hand it is quite possible that audacity * " Considerations on the Proceedings of a General Court- martial," &c, p. 73. 328 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. might have prevailed ; something might have been gained in the way of information from a powerful reconnoissance, prisoners might have been taken, forts destroyed, and an alarm raised all over France. This is the risk Pitt meant to be incurred ; it is what Hawke earnestly advocated. But it was an immense risk/ While some held that the Minister ought to be very grateful to the generals for not having, in the absence of any certain information of any sort, " sacrificed so many valuable lives to an opinion of his, perhaps too lightly taken up," and warned him against becoming intoxicated with power like Alberoni, and falling under condemnation as a hare-brained plotter of silly enterprises like that char- latan, others attributed the failure to the want of zeal of the naval, as well as the incapacity of the military, chiefs. The sea-officers had been tempted with wealth instead of repu- tation, and we have substituted avarice for honour. "We have at this hour many who would make brave and excellent corsairs, and I hope that in the long list we have two or three good admirals, f * In Bubb Doddington's "Memoirs" that clever politician declares that it had become known from indisputable evidence that the enemy " had 7 or 8,000 men at Eochefort at the least, that there were 3,500 men behind the sand-banks, and there was a masked battery at each end. That if we had landed when we first appeared we should have embarrassed them; but they thought themselves betrayed when they found we did not land at the time we attempted it " (p. 401). This seems also to be the view of the matter taken by the best French historians, such as M. Martin. t " The Expedition against Eochefort fully stated, &c. : by a Country Gentleman " : 1758. THE ANGEE OF PITT. 329 This reflection on the Royal Navy was certainly undeserved. Hawke's whole career was a protest against it ; and neither Knowles, Brodrick, or Rodney could be thought to lie under such an odious charge ; but the popular indignation must vent itself some- where. Pitt was its representative ; and he was too angry to perceive that he was lowering himself by condescending to speak, at the opening of Parliament, as follows : — He declared solemnly that his belief was that there was a deter- mined resolution, both in the naval and military commanders, against any vigorous exertion of the national power. He affirmed that though His Majesty appeared ready to embrace every mea- sure proposed by his Ministers for the honour and interest of his British dominions, yet scarce a man could be found with whom the execution of any one plan in which there was the least appearance of danger, could with confidence be ti'usted. . . . Nor was it among the officers alone that indolence and neglect appeared ; those who filled the other departments of military service seemed to be affected with the same indifference. The victuallers, con- tractors, purveyors, were never to be found but upon occasions of their own personal advantage. In conversation they appeared totally ignorant of their own business. The extent of their know- ledge went only to the making of false accounts ; in that science they were adepts.* Yet, shamefully exaggerated and unjust as this language was, it is beyond doubt that it had a useful effect. The whole country felt the whip and spur of this imperious rider, and whatever may be our opinion on the spirit with which the navy at least might have acted, whether lashed by the whip or not, * MS. Eeport of speech in " Anecdotes of the Life of the JFJt. Hon. W. Pitt, Earl of Chatham, &c, with Speeches in Par- liament, &c, 1792" : vol. i. p. 168. 330 LIFE OP LOED HAWKE. when it had a fair chance, there is no doubt that it did soon begin to perform wonders, and that the army, led by the new men whom Pitt selected from the junior ranks, was not a whit behindhand. Perhaps the best illustration of the bewildered con- fusion produced in men's minds by the return of the Rochefort Expedition without effecting anything, is the conviction which so largely prevailed that it was an act of treachery, either on the part of Pitt himself, or of some other members of the Government. New- castle of course was grievously suspected ; some even hinted that the King had a hand in it. Two disasters had come very close on each other's heels. The Duke of Cumberland, overweighted and outgeneralled by the French under Marshal Richelieu, had been all but driven into the sea, and forced (on September 8th) to sign the Convention of Stade or Closter-seven. There was in fact just time for the news to have reached Basque Roads at the critical moment when the decision to do nothing was arrived at ; and people not knowing what to believe, insisted that Mordaunt had received secret orders to this effect, with a view to obtaining better terms from the French for Hanover. In the " Chatham Correspondence " are several such letters. Mr. Potter, M.P., reports to Pitt that the people of Bristol and the west country are unanimous in this belief. Horace Walpole tells General Conway that the City of London is equally convinced. Lord Chesterfield, on November 4th, tells his son : — In all these complicated machines there are so many wheels within wheels that it is always difficult, and sometimes impos- hawke's character unshaken. 331 sible, to guess which of them gives direction to the whole. Mr. Pitt is convinced that the principal wheel, or, if you will, spoke in the wheel, came from Stade.* Thus while Pitt is himself suspected, he suspects others. Men were absurdly suspicious all round, as they often are when anything strange or unaccountable happens. But by the light of such a simple narrative of events as has been here presented, we can see our way without recourse to a magic lantern. That, in the opinion of the King, Hawke came well out of the affair, whatever Pitt might thiDk, not only on his arrival, but after the Courtmartial was over, is proved both by his continuous employment, and by the following letter : — Thursday, Dec. 22nd, 1757. Lord Anson sends his compliments to Sir Edward Hawke, and the King having asked yesterday whether Sir Edward was in Town, his Lordship is of opinion he should go to Court this morning and be presented to the King at his Levee.f The nation had also made up its mind. Its confi- dence in Hawke was ' unshaken. He was still at the head of the active forces of the navy ; he had acted with his usual self-command in keeping silence while the storm was raging ; and though shattered in health by all he had gone through, and about to be still more tried than ever, was really now on the point of com- pleting his fine career with glory. Pitt himself was also about to emerge out of the sea of difficulties in which he found himself in the autumn of the year 1757. The brightest day suc- * Chatham Correspondence, vol. i. p. 279. f Hawke Papers. 332 LIFE OF LOED HAWKE. ceeds the darkest night. Light dawned from Prussia. The victory of Rossbach on November 5th — a Protes- tant victory on a Protestant day — turned the tide; and the King, at last discovering the merits of his Minister, Pitt was now able to throw over the opposi- tion in the Cabinet which had hampered him for the first few months of his Administration. Taking every department of the State into his own hands, he was in a position to apply without let or hindrance the whole resources of the country as he thought best. Frederick's consummate generalship crowned his for- tunes. The splendid battle of Lissa (or Leuthen) on December 5th, completed the work of Rossbach; the French, the Russians, and the Swedes, were simul- taneously expelled from their previous conquests before Christmas ; and the Hanoverian army which had capitulated at Closter-seven was set free by the action of the French themselves, who, in the pride of their success, broke the conditions they had imposed. All was now prepared for the onward movements which characterised the years 1758 and 1759, and decided the issue of the war. It was not the failure at Rochefort alone that had cast such a gloom over the nation, and at the same time steadied its resolution to insist on Pitt's being entrusted with a full Dictatorship. Affairs in Ame- rica had gone from bad to worse during this miser- able year — perhaps the most distressing of the whole war. Montcalm's success in the capture of Fort William Henry was accompanied by details of shock- ing barbarity. Lord Loudoun and Admiral Holburne GLOOMY EETEOSPECT OF 1757. 333 had performed as little with their fleet and army towards the capture of Louisbourg, for which they had been sent out in the summer, as the generals had done at B-ochefort. Like the expedition against the latter place, theirs had been despatched too late in the year, and without sufficient information as to the strength of the enemy; and Holburne, as has been said, had sustained the additional mis- fortune of encountering a hurricane which disabled the English ships, and allowed the French to slip back to Brest. The admiral could hardly be accused of raising the gale, but the people, persuaded that he ought to have done more beforehand, visited the disaster on his reputation. In India the terrible catastrophe of the Black Hole of Calcutta left a mark which the brilliant success of Clive had by no means been sufficient to erase. The Spaniards continued to insult the British flag. The fortunes of Frederick had fallen so low that he was on the point of committing suicide. Who could have believed that after six pitched battles in one year, this wonderful man, with his diminutive force, would before the year was ended, rise superior to the most crushing defeats, and hurl back the united forces of the whole Continent ? His spirit infused itself into the English mind. A vista of triumph revealed itself through the clouds ; with British troops and British gold to support the gallant Frederick, it was seen that he might be trusted to keep the whole strength of France at bay ; while with Pitt supreme, and the herd of Newcastles and place- 334 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. men of every hue at his feet, some methods might be found by which the failures and disgraces of the past might be retrieved, and the real superiority of the English at sea be asserted without dispute. The Royal Navy was but a weapon. It could not handle itself. Let it be directed for once by the hand of a master. The army had fallen low, even in its own estimation. Let it learn its work under Frederick and his generals. It would soon win back its old fame. Nor must the effect of the loyalty which now at last gathered round the old King, be forgotten in marshal- ling the moral forces which placed Great Britain on the lofty heights attained in the next two years. His Hanoverian proclivities were now discovered to have had some good English policy at bottom. He had emptied his own purse to save his hereditary domi- nions. He had conquered himself to secure the ally round whom the English were now to rally. With all his faults, it was now found out that his great civic virtues of justice and courage were kingly qualities. Never had he failed to elicit the merits of British officers by encouraging the brave, and frowning on the inefficient ; and he had earned a personal right in this matter, which made his smiles and his frowns sis:- nificant. Never had he infringed, though sorely tempted, the conditions of the British Constitution under which his family were seated on the throne. It was no small feat to perform, that he should discover how to work that Constitution in the interests of the people themselves, as distinct from Parliament, and under the pressure of their will, without breaking MEN RALLY ROUND THE OLD KING. 335 through the established methods of Government, or displaying the least symptom of a desire to assume despotic power. The ancient Monarchy of England was now at last witnessed in its ideal form, combined with effective national self-government. The nation felt that it ought to burst its trammels, and rise to Empire. It was permitted to reap the reward of sufferings nobly borne. 336 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. CHAPTER X. THE DESCENTS ON FRANCE IN 1758. The year in which the gloom of despondency was to change into the bright glow of hope and confidence cannot be introduced better than by the Royal Speech composed by Pitt, and pronounced at the opening of the autumn session on December 1st, 1757. That session had been delayed several days in consequence of the Battle of Rossbach. Pitt felt that so great a victory offered an occasion for a new departure, and the old speech, drawn up on the lines suggested by the former state of affairs, was flung into the fire. The recent failures were to be passed over as mere " disappointments," and a spirit of buoyant hope and determined resolution might now, without exciting opposition or ridicule, connect itself with " the magna- nimity and active zeal of my good brother and ally the King of Prussia." My Lords and Gentlemen, It would have given me the greal i pleasure to have acquainted you, at the opening of this session, that our success in carrying on the war had been equal to the justice of our cause BRIGHTER PROSPECTS OF 1768. ' 337 and the extent and vigour of the measures formed for that purpose. I have the firmest confidence that the spirit and bravery of this nation, so renowned in all times, and which have formerly sur- mounted so many difficulties, are not to be abated *by some dis- appointments. These, I trust, by the blessing of God, and your zeal and ardour for my honour and the welfare of your country, may be retrieved. It is my fixed resolution to apply my utmost efforts for the security of my kingdoms, and for the recovery and protection of the possessions and rights of my crown and subjects in America and elsewhere, as well by the strongest exertion of our naval force as by all other methods. Another great object which I have at heart is the preservation of the Protestant religion and the liberties of Europe ; and in that view to adhere to and encourage my allies. For this cause I shall decline no inconveniences ; and in this cause I earnestly desire your hearty concurrence and vigorous assistance. The late signal success in Germany has given a happy turn to affairs which it is incumbent upon us to improve ; and in this critical conjuncture the eyes of all Europe are upon you. In particular I must recommend it to you that my good brother and ally, the King of Prussia, may be supported in such a manner as his magnanimity and active zeal for the common cause deserve. Both Houses reciprocated these sentiments with the greatest enthusiasm ; and supplies, gigantic for those times, were no sooner asked for than obtained. Money in fact the nation could well afford, in spite of its losses : for in proportion as the trade of France had suffered more by the war than that of England, the latter trade had increased. Thus the sources from which the immense expenses of the French for war and subsidies to their allies were drawn, rapidly diminished, and loans could only be obtained at an exceedingly high rate of interest ; while the English could borrow at a very low rate, and were making profits which lightened the incidence of taxation. It 22 338 LIFE OP LOED HAWKE. was neither money, nor men, nor material that were lacking, only the skill to use them. Pitt's first and immediate care was to prevent the French from transmitting reinforcements to America, whither he was about to send a large force. Admiral Osborn was charged with the blockade of the French fleet at Toulon which was assembling for the above purpose ; and though no general action was fought, some actions of the single ships under his command were completely successful in putting an end to any movement from that quarter. That especially of Captain Gardiner, of the " Monmouth," who was killed in the capture of the " Foudroyant," a ship of about double his own force, deserves mention. On February 19th the squadron destined to retrieve the previous failure at Louisbourg started, under the com- mand of Boscawen, with whom Amherst was imme- diately afterwards associated, and with "Wolfe as one of the Brigadiers-General under him. The choice of these officers was excellent in all respects. Boscawen had last been employed under Hawke in the Channel fleet which had been sent out, immediately on its return from the Basque Roads, to look for M. Dubois de la Mothe, and had been driven into port by the gale which brought the French into Brest. If Walpole is to be believed he had declined to serve under him on the previous expedition ; * and though he thus escaped the unpopularity attending its failure, was, or fancied himself, in disgrace at headquarters on that and some # " Letters to Mann," vol. iii. p. 24. BOSCAWEN, AMHERST, AND WOLFE. 339 other accounts.* But this could not have been serious, as he was still a Lord of the Admiralty ; and Pitt knew what he was about in entrusting him with the command of an expedition of such importance at a critical moment. It was suited to his talents for combined warfare, and Pitt used to say of him that " Boscawen never made difficulties." Jeffery Amherst had been but slightly known as yet, and was below the rank from which the selection would naturally have been made, but Pitt had marked his man. To Wolfe also, from having observed the con- trast between him and the other generals before Rochefort, he now gave the very first opportunity in his power to distinguish himself. The highest concord prevailed amongst the chiefs ; and though great risk was incurred in landing the troops, * Among the family papers is the following letter from Anson to Hawke, soon after his return from Basque Roads. Dear Sir, Admiralty, the 19th of October 1757. Vice Admiral Boscawen's great uneasiness at not being employed at this time when there is an object in view, has deter- mined the sending him out under your command. I know the delay this must occasion, which must be disagreeable to you, but he determines to be down with you at Portsmouth soon enough for you to sail on Friday morning. I could say to you much if I had you here tete a tete, but Knowles' imprudence always hurts him, and he has enemies enough to seize every occasion that offers. I have always wished him well with all his indiscretion. His busy spirit constantly draws him into difficulties. I think Admiral Boscawen comes to you with a disposition to be agree- able to you, and I can only say for my own part that no man can wish you more success, nor is more your friend than, your obliged and affectionate humble servant, Anson. 22 * 340 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. amidst difficulties which were only overcome by Wolfe's gallant personal conduct, the operations of the English arms moved steadily on to the brilliant success which was achieved on July 26th. This success was the more encouraging to the Minister and people because Cape Breton had been so long a cause of grievous distress to the Anglo-American Colonists, and because the capture of a place which had, since the beginning of this later war, baffled every effort of the Government, was justly accepted as an earnest of a turn of fortune in reference to the other plans of the campaign. So entirely has the importance of this place now receded into the background that it requires an effort to understand why the success of Boscawen and Amherst should have been thought worthy of the solemn thanks of Parliament, and why the captured colours of the enemy should have been paraded through the streets of London, as if the occasion had been comparable with the great victories on which such demonstrations have seemed appropriate. But our sketch has already embraced the conquest of the Island by Warren and the American Colonists, the surrender of it, with hostages, as the shameful price of the Peace of Aix la Chapelle, the vast pains and treasure subsequently spent by the French on the fortifications of Louisbourg, and their resolution to make it more than ever the key to French America ; as also the failures of the years 1755, 1756, and 1757 either to prevent reinforcements from being poured into it, or even to attempt its siege. It was in this CAPTURE OF CAPE BRETON. 341 sense that the Speaker, in addressing Boscawen, declared himself unable to " enumerate and set forth the great and extensive advantages accruing to this nation from the conquest of Louisburg with the islands of Cape Breton and St. John." The place had been not only the sole harbour for the large ships of the French, but the nest of the whole of their privateering system which had broken up the Colonial trade ; nor were their lucrative fisheries of any value without it.* It was but an accidental addition to the importance of the capture on these grounds, that six line-of-battle ships and four frigates had been taken along with the place. Both sides of the entrance to the St. Lawrence beiug now permanently in British hands, the French colony of Canada became perilously insecure, and Wolfe lost no time in putting his plans for the capture of Quebec before the Minister. With the third part of Pitt's scheme, Hawke, who on February 28th had hoisted his flag on board the " Ramilies," in command of the Channel squadron, was entrusted. The French ships captured by Osborn's squadron, or still blockaded at Cartagena, were intended to have joined the squadron fitting * For a very interesting, and on the whole jnst, view of this subject see a Pamphlet by " Massachusettensis," entitled "The importance of Cape Breton considered in a Letter to a Member of Parliament, from an Inhabitant of New England : London : Dodsley : 1746." This is in the All Souls' and probably other Libraries. Few papers convey a more accurate description of contemporary opinion on the colonial questions disputed between Great Britain and France in the last century. 342 LIFE OF LOED HAWKE. out at Rochefort, and together they were to have sailed for the relief of Louisbourg before Boscawen could have taken it. Pitt destined Hawke for the service of dealing with this latter force, and obtained information at the end of February that although it could no longer expect the reinforcements from the Mediterranean, it was all but ready to start unsup- ported — so urgent was the peril of Louisbourg. It may well be imagined that the admiral was not dis- pleased at being ordered on special service to a place where he had suffered so much distress; and this time without the encumbrance of land-officers and Councils of War. It would not be his fault if the expedition failed. Nor, as far as was known at that time or since, did it in any degree fail. The destruc- tion of the French armament against which Hawke was sent, seemed to the public complete ; or if not, no one ever hinted that he could have made it more complete. There was a sort of regret that the enemy would not stay to be beaten ; but that was all. No squadron, no troops ever left Rochefort for America. Nevertheless the incidents of this affair were painful to our admiral in the greatest degree ; and his correspondence with the Admiralty throws a light upon his character and services with which we cannot afford to dispense. Some letters of Hawke's, written shortly before starting on this expedition should be previously noticed, since they illustrate his constant desire to improve the condition of the seamen. When men were discharged from ships as unserviceable, from HAWKE AGAIN AT R0CHEF0RT. 343 disease or wounds, there were no existing forms under which they could receive their pay up to the date of discharge. " They have consequently nothing to subsist them on their way home. Numbers have been, and still are in the same situation, whose case I hope their Lordships will take into consideration. Their being reduced to beg through all parts of the kingdom deters men from entering into the Service, and has induced me seriously to consider of a remedy. I therefore beg leave to submit what follows to their Lordships' consideration." The plan which he pro- poses is simple enough, and seems to have been adopted : but observing the date of this interference and that of the quarrel with the Admiralty which now commences, one may suspect some connection. We may remember that the remonstrances about the pressed men and the bad beer were closely connected with the painful correspondence of 1755. On March 1 2th the Admiral sails to blockade the Rochefort armament, with 7 ships of the line and 3 frigates, but with no smaller vessels, such as were necessary for operations in shoal water. This was the grievance. The terms of the letter, which will follow presently, show how deeply he felt it. " Last cruise," referring to this one, " I went out on a particular service, almost without the least means of performing it." There is indeed no letter to show that he had asked for these vessels, and been refused; but it could hardly have been otherwise ; many letters are missing ; and the expression in his Despatch of April 11th: — "I could not help regretting the want 344 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. of fire-ships and bomb-vessels," is decisive. On April 5th, having received information from England that the French squadron was on the point of starting, he suddenly dashes into the midst of it, and reports the result on April 11th, by which day he had returned to Plymouth. Premising that he found lying off the Isle of Aix 5 line-of-battle ships, 6 or 7 frigates, and 40 merchant ships, which, he reports in a second Despatch, had 3,000 troops on board, he goes on to say : — At half-past 4, made signal for a general chase to S.E., hut took care to preserve the line by verbal orders to the ships astern of me. At 5 the enemy began to cut or slip, and soon to run in great confusion. At their Commodore, who remained last, made off, when we wei*e within about gunshot and a half. Many of those who fled first were by this time aground on the mud. ... It was now too dark to do anything but take up an an- chorage. ... At 5 next morning I saw them all aground, almost dry, about 5 or 6 miles distant from us . . . many of the mer- chant and several of the ships of war, were on their broadsides ; and then I could not help regretting the want of fire-ships and bomb -vessels. He then explains how it was that he could not bring his ships nearer in to the enemy. By this time all the boats and launches from Eochefort and the adjacent places were employed in carrying out warps to drag them through the soft mud as soon as they should be water- borne. In the meantime they threw overboard their guns, stores, and ballast, and were even heaving water out of their ports, all which we could plainly discern. By this means some of them got that day as far up as the mouth of the Charente ; but the " Florissante " was not got above Fouras on Thursday afternoon, and the greatest part of their merchant ships were left aground in towards Isle Madame, when we fell down to Basque Road. The frigates' [the " Medway " and " Chichester," which were sent DESTEOYS THE ENEMY. 345 up the channel as far as they could go] boats cut away about 80 buoys laid on their anchors and on what they had thrown over- board. He concludes by describing the steps he took to destroy the new works which had been commenced on the Isle of Aix since the demolition of the Fort in the previous year's expedition. From the Admiral's log-book one or two additional facts may be gleaned. It seems the French ships were so eager to make off, and understood their soft muddy shoals so well, that they kept all sail set while on the mud, the wind being fair. It also appears that on the 6th two French Galleys, large vessels, with a light draft of water, propelled by oars, and carrying heavy guns, came out from Fort Fouras and attacked the " Chichester," which had got aground. These were beaten off from a distance by the guns of the other frigates ; but there were no craft of their own light draft of water to deal with them; and the ships' boats, at such a distance from the ships, were not fit to cope with such an enemy. This was the addition of insult to injury which rankled in the Admiral's mind. The account of what was done and what was left undone on this occasion cannot fail to remind the reader of the affair of the Basque Roads in 1809, when Lord Gambier and Lord Cochrane were called upon to perform on the same spot an operation of very nearly the same kind as the foregoing. In the latter case the French squadron, instead of being sur- prised, was admirably prepared for the attack of the 346 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. English ; but the arrangements for that attack were of a very far superior description to those at Hawke's command. The result was much the same in both cases. The French were seized with a panic in 1809, just as they had been half a century before, and at both times exhibited the same spectacle of stranded ships, and frantic efforts to carry them over or through the mud to a place of safety. In both cases the shallowness of these intricate waters proved to be an insuperable difficulty to the victors. In both cases the French ships were irreparably damaged ; but if in Hawke's case he had had a squadron of light vessels at his disposal, and if, in Cochrane' s, there had been no commanding officer to check him in full pursuit, the damage to the enemy would have been far greater. Finally, the conduct of Lord Gambier on the point of his omission to silence the batteries on the Isle of Aix, comes out in unfavourable contrast with that of Hawke in 1757. Hawke's plan of making this the first point in his proceedings was censured at the time as the cause of unnecessary delay ; but Gambler's failure to do more than he did was caused in great part by dread of these very batteries, against which he made no attack ; and this is the more remarkable, since it could not have been yet forgotten that there was a channel by which Howe in the "Magnanime" and Graves in the "Barfleur" had sailed close up to the Fort in 1757. The acknowledgment of Hawke's Despatch by the Admiralty displays a coldness and reserve which indicates some previous misunderstanding. There is COOLNESS OF THE ADMIEALTY. 347 not a word of thanks for the service he has performed. The Secretary on his own account " heartily congra- tulates " him " on his safe return." On April 30th the Admiral begs for " three or four days' leave to settle some private affairs, if their Lordships think I can be spared." The reply is not in Hawke's Letter-book ; but its tenor is plain from the rough note of the Secretary, endorsed on the back of the above letter : — The Lords would be very glad to indulge him on every occa- sion, but at this time they wish him to be on the spot, as not only the ships at Spithead but those cruising, are under his command. On May 7th the Admiral makes another untimely suggestion ; but if he did not, who was to do it ? Who was so fit to bring it before the Admiralty as the man who had suffered from this cause for the greater part of the previous ten years ? It seems that there had never been a residence for the Commander-in- chief at Portsmouth; and Hawke speaks of it thus : — The great inconvenience Commanding officers at this port labour under for want of a proper house or lodgings, induces me to take the liberty of laying before their Lordships a pro- posal of Mr. Joseph Smith, which, if approved of, will remedy it at a very moderate expense, it appearing to me to be very just and fair. His letters are often dated, both before and after this suggestion was made, from George Street. Perhaps the Admiralty, as they do not seem to have made any change in his time, thought the Member for Portsmouth was a little too much interested in the 348 LIFE OP LOED HAWKE. matter to be a fair judge. In the present day it would seem inconceivable that the business of the Service could be carried on without a residence for the Commander-in-chief. No doubt the worry and annoyance of a post so responsible as it was in Hawke's case, must have been largely increased by this circumstance ; and we are now to witness the effect of worry, and, no doubt, illness on a sensitive nature. Pitt having provided for the success of his plans in America, was by no means satisfied with the old routine of blockading and breaking up French expe- ditions. Undaunted by the Rochefort failure, he had resolved upon a series of descents on the North Coast of France, of a magnitude which should divert her military forces, and relieve Frederick; and he had learnt the lesson taught him in the previous year. He had now made up his mind that these descents should no longer be hampered by large ships which could not approach the shore, nor fail for want of an abundance of small vessels, the want of which had just been so severely felt. A covering fleet there should be, in order to deal with squadrons which might issue from the eastern ports to attack his flotilla. That fleet Hawke should command as of old ; but the actual work of landing and co-operating with the troops should be performed by the young Captain who had found an opportunity of distinguishing him- self wherever he had bad a chance, the Hon. Richard Howe, under whom the French pilot, Thierri, had in the previous year particularly begged to be sent, "puree que le Capita ine Howe est jeune et brave." HAWKE EE SIGNS. 349 It lias been universally supposed that Lord Anson was from the first intended to take command of the covering fleet, and that Hawke was only to be, as he came in fact to be, the second in command. The following letter will show that this was not the case. Hawke had been ordered to collect and equip the fleet, and was preparing for the receipt of final orders, when Howe one day waited on him with a message, the effect of which was like that of a thunder-clap. He must describe it in his own words : — Sir, Portsmouth, 7 o'clock p.m., 10th May, 1758. About 4 o'clock arrived here Captain Howe, and delivered me their Lordships' order of the 9th. In last September I was sent out to command an expedition under all the disadvantages one could possibly labour under, arising chiefly from my being under the influence of land-officers in Councils of War at Sea. Last cruise I went out on a particular service almost without the least means of performing it. Now, every means to ensure suc- cess is provided ; another is to reap the credit ; while it is pro- bable I, with the capital ships, might be ordered to cruise in such manner as to prevent his failing in this attempt. To fit out his ships for this service I have been kept here, and even now have their Lordships' directions, at least in terms, to obey him. He is to judge of what he wants for his expedition ; he is to make his demands, and I am to comply with them. I have therefore directed my flag immediately to be struck, and left their Lord- ships' orders with Vice Admiral Holburne. For no consequence that can attend my striking it without orders shall ever out- balance with me [the] wearing it one moment with discredit. I am, &c. E. Hawke. Before making any remarks on this letter (which, of course, is in his own hand- writing), it will be well to print the rough notes of the Secretary to the Admiralty which appear on the back, since they are a 350 LTFE OF LOED HAWKE. trustworthy record of what took placejin consequence of it. They show that explanations had already passed, and that the indignant Admiral had been assured that there was no ground for his chief grievance, the supposed appointment of Howe to attack the French once more at Rochefort, to the disparagement of his superior officer, who had twice already been employed on that particular service, and under whom Howe had himself acted a subordinate part. Time and reflection had convinced Hawke that whatever else remained, it was his business to make the best of it. May 12, 1758 : Sir Edward Hawke being called in, was ac- quainted that the Lords having received his letter of the 10th, — which being of so extraordinary a nature — sent for hiin to know what he had to say for taking such a step. His reason for it was he apprehended Mr. Howe was going upon a service where he had the honour to command upon two expeditions, which he thought a slur upon his reputation, and that he might have been represented to the King as an unfit person for such command — which affecting his credit, he hastily determined to strike his flag ; but being since informed that he was mistaken, and that his character and honour were not so much touched as he apprehended when the suspicion he had of Mr. Howe's going to Basque Roads arose — from the Lords asking him some days since for a draft of the Roads. Did not strike his flag out of resentment to any particular person, but merely because he thought his honour was affected. As the official letters begin again on May 17th, from the " Ramilies" at Portsmouth, these rough Minutes no doubt represent the facts. AYe are unable to pass a full judgment on the causes of quarrel which had preceded this outburst, but that both parties should be willing to make it up is creditable to both. Hawke THE ADMIRALTY EXPLAIN. 351 was too important an officer to be dealt with sum- marily at that stage of the national affairs, though he had lost his temper, and placed himself in the power of the Lords Commissioners. Such a letter would have drawn down vengeance on a less necessary commander-in-chief. It was written without waiting to ascertain the chief fact on which it was based, and it is the single letter which betrays a want of the courtesy and prudence which are invariably present in the whole course of his official correspondence. On the other hand, every officer must guard his own honour and credit, and there are limits beyond which he cannot be expected to go. Resignation might be better for the service than remaining in a position where the sense of having been disgraced would be sure to interfere with the proper relations between the superior and his inferiors. And we have seen that preceding passages between him and the Admiralty were present to his mind. He could no longer be useful if the conditions of success were denied — and as he thought, systematically denied, to him as Commander-in-Chief. Let some one else, to whom the Admiralty would listen, try his hand. " Their Lordships," conscious, no doubt, that there was a good deal in all this, must have acted with the greatest promptitude in soothing the feelings of the Admiral, or the explanation could hardly have taken place in London at an interval of only one full day since the letter was written. Nothing could have damaged them or the service more than a public exposure of all these matters ; and their dignity was 352 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. saved by the Admiral's acknowledgment that he had acted " hastily." He was willing to resume command, and to swallow the bitter pill of Howe's independent position, rather than that the affair should go any farther. It was now to be buried in oblivion; nor would it ever have been known, had not the desire to do honour to a great man brought to light, after an interval of 124 years, an incident which there is no reason for concealing, but rather every reason to publish as a contribution to a sketch of character. So little did the public guess the true nature of Hawke's visit to London that, under date of May 15th, 1758, the "Gentleman's Magazine" reports : — Admiral Hawke arrived at Portsmouth, from London where he had been to wait at the Admiralty on extraordinary affairs. He is to command in the intended enterprise of Lord Anson. This storm cleared the air. Hawke had in an unguarded moment broken through the reticence which on all other occasions seems to have been a part of his nature, and told the Admiralty " a bit of his mind," which it was highly desirable they should in some way or other know. His subsequent relations with the Board show marked signs of improvement. On the other hand, Lord Anson, perceiving that in his desire to carry out the whole of Pitt's scheme, he had put an unusual and somewhat too severe a strain upon one who did not deserve ill treatment, determined to solve the existing difficulty by taking command of the fleet in his own person, with Hawke as second in command, and with Howe at the head of his special flotilla in the independent position for which Pitt SIMILAR MISTAKES IN LATER TIMES. 353 designed him. This distinct independence no doubt shaped itself out in connection with Hawke's remon- strance. What the admiral had felt was a very natural repugnance to being responsible and yet not respon- sible, to having a body of troops and a squadron of ships nominally under his command, while the weapon was being wielded by a far junior and wholly in- dependent officer. If his destination as commander of a mere covering force cruising ia the Bay of Biscay had been explained to him, nothing more would have been heard of it. There have been many difficulties in the Naval Service arising from the want of a clear perception of these simple positions. Men like Nelson, Sidney Smith, Lord Cochrane or Sir Charles Napier were felt to be men who should be used for special services ; but their rank was supposed to make it impossible that they should have independent command upon those services. Hence an anomalous relation between these officers and the Commander-in-Chief of the Station, which has generally done far more harm than the attempt to pursue the usual routine has done good. The cases will always be extremely rare where an officer has given proof of such unmistakable genius as to make it a duty to employ him on a large command at an age when he could not, in the natural order of things, be appointed Commander-in-Chief. Where it is so, let him be singled out and trusted, whatever anyone may say, as Wolfe was by Pitt, and as, indeed, Howe was in this case, — though the proper way of doing it was not at first discovered. Not that a Civil 354 LIFE OF LOED HAWKE. First Lord of the Admiralty can settle the question as Anson did by taking the command himself, and thus procuring that all the Despatches of the officer specially employed should come to him in his double capacity ; but there cannot be two masters, and if a junior officer is to be employed with special powers, and to communicate independently with the Govern- ment, the senior should be ordered out of the way, and the Government must run the risk of his resignation. Another, and equally direct, result of this difference with the Admiralty was the illness which, in the course of a very few weeks, entirely prostrated Hawke. There had been several previous indications of failing health ; and we may fairly suppose that the above letter would scarcely have been sent off in such a hurry if he had been able to exercise his ordinary power of self-control. The exertions necessary for expediting such an immense fleet must have tried him severely. By the 27th of the month it was ready to sail, and Anson on that day made the signal to un- moor. On that day also Howe's squadron completed the embarkation of the troops from the Isle of Wight (and sailed on June 1st), and on that day the twenty-two ships of the Line which Anson and Hawke commanded proceeded to cruise off Brest and the adjacent coast. On June 18th Hawke wrote to Anson as follows : — My Lord, "Bamilies," at Sea. It is with great regret I am obliged to acquaint your Lordship that the ill state of my health will not admit of my SEKIOUS ILLNESS OF HAWKE. 355 continuing at sea ; and as I am at present in too bad a condition to be moved out of her into any other, I should esteem it a very- great favour if you will be so kind as to order the " Ramilies " to Spithead with me. She may return to you immediately. Anson complies with the request, and on June 22nd Hawke writes from the " Ramilies " at Spithead : — Sir, After struggling hard with a severe fever and cold, with which I was seized soon after sailing from St. Helen's I was obliged on the 18th instant to apply to Lord Anson to send the " Ramilies " to Spithead with me, as the bad state of my health would not admit of my being moved into any other ship. The increase of my disorder renders me altogether incapable of duty, and therefore I hope their Lordships will indulge me with leave to go into the country for the re-establishment of my health, which I would fain hope will not take up a great while. I am, &c. E. Hawke. The Secretary to the Admiralty has noted on the back of this letter : — " Own receipt, — acquainting him the Lords are much concerned for his indisposition, and give him leave to come ashore, hoping he will meet with a speedy recovery." On August 26th Hawke replies from Swathling to some petty question from the Admiralty, concluding with : — I came on shore so very ill that I neither brought books nor papers with me, so that I can say nothing more to this affair at present. The Secretary notes once more on the back of the letter : — Eeturn Sir Edward thanks, and acquaint him I hope his health is established. Their Lordships, it would seem, had at last found out that the man on whom for so many years had 23 * 356 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. devolved arduous and multifarious duties which, would now-a-days be shared amongst several admirals, was only made of flesh and blood like other people, and if anything more was to be got out of him, must have a rest. The tone of the Secretary reflects a change at the Board. For eleven months the admiral is allowed to enjoy the repose of his own home, and we hear no more of him till he hoists his flag once more on board the "Ramilies"on May 13th, 1759. Meanwhile a very few words will bring us up to the end of the year now before us. Lord Anson kept the sea all the summer, handing the squadron over to Admiral Saunders in September : but the cruise was perfectly uneventful. Howe's operations were of a mixed character. Some portions of it were decidedly successful ; but, as so often happens, the disaster of the last portion caused the public to forget what had preceded it. The three general officers who had pronounced on Mordaunt's conduct at Rochefort were placed in command of the 19,000 troops (including 6,000 marines), which formed the invading force ; for it was but fair that they might see if they could do better. The greatest secrecy was observed, and it is not unworthy of notice that great pains were taken not even to whisper the word " ex- pedition," for that was a name of ill omen, having been used to designate the descent on Rochefort. This was an "enterprise." The Duke of Marlborough, how- ever, showed no spark of the genius of his great relative ; and it was universally thought that much more ought to have been done with so large and well DISASTER AT SAINT CAS. 357 selected a force than was accomplished ; but yet Pitt's purpose was on the whole served. A large quantity of shipping and stores was burnt at St. Malo's, which, since it was a famous nest of pri- vateers, was satisfactory to English merchants ; and the alarm was sufficient to relieve the allies of Ens-land from pressure on the Eastern frontiers of France.* The old general Bligh, who succeeded to the com- mand which Marlborough and his colleagues now gave up in disgust as " buccaneering," preferring the com- mand of the troops sent to serve against France in Germany, was at first more successful than they had been; for the destruction of the forts and basin of Cherbourg was a severe blow to the French marine ; but the subsequent abortive proceedings at St. Malo, resulting in the disaster at St. Cas, threw the gloom of failure over the whole expedition. It was now dis- covered that what with the chances of bad weather, the want of information, and the difficulties of re- embarkation, which, even if well performed, has the moral effect of a retreat, this species of warfare was by no means worth the expense it cost, except indeed when weighed in the balance of its indirect effects — a * Walpole bitterly remarks concerning the small results of these enterprises : — " Mr. Pitt maintains that he never intended to take St. Maloes, which I believe, because when he did intend to have Rochefort taken last year, he sent no cannon. This year when he never meant to take St. Maloes he sent a vast train of artillery." No doubt the nation, reflecting on the result of all the money spent this year upon descents on the French Coast, felt it had not in the previous one fully considered both sides of the question in reference to the Rochefort expedition. 358 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. method of calculation involving many difficulties. Indeed it could not possibly succeed except in the hands of officers of a higher type than a nation can reasonably expect to have always at command ; for almost everything is naturally against success. Even Howe, who showed, if possible, more than his usual intrepidity at the crisis, and wonderful professional skill throughout, was justly held responsible for allowing the disembarkation of the army in unsettled weather 011 a beach from whence, except the wind blew directly from shore, and that but slightly, it was impossible to reimbark them in time of necessity, and where they could not even effect the landing of artillery, nor communicate with the fleet but under the most hazardous circumstances, and still more for errors which proved to be disastrous in the details of the re-embarkation ; * while the commission of almost every fault which a general could commit, appears to have led up to the destruction of Bligh's rearguard. The memory of the brave officer slain in command of that rearguard, General Alexander Dury of the Guards, though he did little to mend matters, has been more fortunate than could have been expected, since he has been almost everywhere misnamed " Drury." Against the advantages Pitt believed he had gained by what historians have called the " piratical " work of this summer, must be placed the occasion given to the French to exult over the catastrophe of St. Cas, as if it had been a victory grand enough to wipe out the defeats they had hitherto received, and the correspond- * Entick's "History of the War," vol. iii. pp. 210-213. pitt's success balanced. 359 nig depression experienced in England, of winch too many half-hearted politicians were ready enough to take advantage. On the other hand, the moral effect produced by a country's being able to prove itself strong enough to invade another, even though, at the loss of a thousand men, must be taken into account, and this effect was undoubtedly great in France, where the threat of invading England had hitherto been a weapon constantly brandished over English heads, and projects for which, had formed a part of every plan of a campaign. The tables were now turned. Pitt's admirers summed up on his side ; his enemies on the other. The effect of the news of the capture of Louisbourg was, however, great enough to turn the popular feel- ing in favour of the Minister ; and though again depressed by the failure of Abercrombie at Crown Point, it was again raised by the capture of Frontenac and Duquesne — two of the obnoxious French forts which occasioned the war — by Bradstreet and Forbes ; and finally settled in the sanguine belief, justified by the event, that the enemy was on the point of being beaten all along the American lines. Keppel's gallant capture of Groree closed the successes of the year and gave as high a pre-eminence to the British in Africa as they had gained in America. In India the atrocities of the Black Hole had been amply avenged at the battle of Plassey, in the preceding year ; and if Pocock in this year had been unable to obtain a decisive victory over D'Ache, he had carried off the fruits of victory. Frederick's campaigns 3 GO LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. had not this year been much less chequered than usual, but his star was still in the ascendant ; and, what specially affected England, he had found a general in Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, equal to the post of second in command ; and this excellent Prince, at the head of the British and Hanoverian forces, was evidently capable of leading them against the French in a way which would justify the much- criticised alliance. Thus the year ended with a buoyant hopefulness which contrasted brilliantly with the gloom of 1757, and offered the best augury for 1759. No great naval action had been fought. Hawke in his retirement might fairlv feel that he had done his part in the year's work, and that it was not much behind that of any of his brother officers. Osborn, Howe, and Keppel had been more before the public, but their services had not been of the highest class. A new rival in reputation had appeared in the gallant Pocock ; but the indecisive character of his two battles with D'Ache, due partly to the old adherence to the line of battle, and partly to misconduct on the part of some of his Captains, barred his way to fame. Boscawen had carried off the chief naval honours of the year. Still it was the result of brave and able assistance given to Amherst and "Wolfe, and not of any conflict between fleets. Hawke was not the man to grudge the honours his rival deserved. 361 CHAPTER XI. THE BLOCKADE OF BREST. The success of Pitt's war policy during the wonderful year 1759 at which we have now arrived, was cer- tainly not the result of accident, but, humanly speak- ing, the reward of well-laid plans. Those plans would have come to nothing if it had not been for the sup- port of the nation, exhibited in unlimited supplies, his own judicious selection of officers, and the spirit he had infused into the services. And yet, as if to show how easily all such advantages might have been ren- dered useless, one cannot but reflect that the unfore- seen delays incurred by the expeditions of Amherst and Prideaux, so extensive and so delicate were the combinations of his American strategy, all but ruined Wolfe's attack upon Quebec. It may safely be said that nothing but the superlative merits of that officer conferred success upon an enterprise of which the hero himself had more than begun to despair.* And in Hawke's Battle of Quiberon, the other great event of * See Wolfe's Despatch, September 5. 362 LIFE OP LORD HAWKE. the year, so tremendous were the difficulties of keep- ing a large fleet watching one of equal force in the Bay of Biscay during the fierce gales of November, that it would seem but a bare possibility that they should meet at sea, much more that the French invading expedition should be utterly broken up. In both cases, — the crowning victories of the Seven Years' War, — it was the personal character of the commanders that told with decisive effect at the cri- tical moment. Pitt must receive the whole of the credit for selecting Wolfe, for it was he who raised him from the junior ranks for this express purpose. We have seen enough of Hawke's career to place him in a different position with reference to Pitt. He had long ago made his place. The public quite under- stood how it was that he had not done more as yet during the new war. From the moment of his victory in 1747, unbounded confidence had been reposed in him by the nation, and no Minister could dare to place the command of a fleet which was to protect England from a threatened invasion in other hands. Thus when the French Minister, believing that England had spent her whole strength upon distant expedi- tions, conceived that a favourable opportunity had arisen for concentrating all the naval forces of France for one great effort, and launching them against England with a military force double the size of that which Pitt had recently sent against his country, Hawke was at once called to the front, and put in command of the 25 line-of-battle ships which had been got ready for his flag. HAWKE BLOCKADES BREST. 363 Pitt was singularly fortunate in being matched against a Government which was at this time defi- cient in the ordinary powers of a war-executive. It had in M. Bompart a good officer commanding a ser- viceable squadron in the American seas. A very little activity on his part, if it had been properly directed from home, would have seriously damaged Pitt's American combinations ; and if an invasion of England was thought possible, the necessary arrange- ments for the junction of squadrons should have been made at a season of the year when there might have been a chance of success. If not made then, to expose the last fleet on which France could reckon, to the violence of winter gales and English fleets, instead of keeping it safe in port till the next spring, was a desperate and ill-judged act of temerity. After all, England was but enjoying her fair turn in the posses- sion of a superior administration. France had been well served during the rule of the English drivellers. It was not till May that the equipment of the fleet in Brest harbour gave any serious alarm. On May 13th Hawke hoisted his flag : on May 20th he reports to the Admiralty that he has sailed from Torbay. On the back of the letter the Secretary writes : — " The Lords are pleased with the expedition he has made." This good beginning of civility is followed up in the subsequent correspondence. We hear no more of any differences, except perhaps when in an agony of alarm for fear the French should get out when Hawke is necessarily absent from the blockade, the nervous expression of feeling can hardly ■ 1 64 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. be restrained. This year, for the first time, com- plaints are attended to and abuses remedied ; and the Admiral feels strong in his support from home. It is obvious that some petty jealousies and backstairs whispers had been previously at work, and these are now for the most part hushed in the presence of imminent danger, and under the eye of the Minister who by this time understood small things as well as great, a man who would not be slow to single out an offender. Many an abuse had been brought to light by Hawke, and the process had made him many enemies. Their stings had been felt : their day was now over, for this year at least. It was well that the Admiral had already learnt by experience what it was to keep a large fleet together in the Channel and the Bay of Biscay, but he had never been tried as he was on this occasion. It was exactly six months before he found the opportunity of which he was in search ; and the reader will perhaps desire to have something more of the detail of this sort of work than has been hitherto given, with a view to a comprehension not only of the character of the hero, but of the state of the naval service in that day. Nothing more of the sort will be necessary after the narration of this cruise. It is the typical example of the seamanship of the whole century. The names of the ships and officers will corne up in the course of the story without any special list in this place; but it must be mentioned here that Sir Charles Hardy, an excellent officer who had seen much service, was the Vice-admiral, and Francis Geary the Rear-admiral, of THE OFFICERS OF THE FLEET. 365 the Fleet. Of the Captains, Howe, who had succeeded to the peerage in the previous year, commanded his favourite ship, the " Magnanime,'' and was always to the front. No less than six more were sons of noblemen, Augustus Hervey (the husband of the too-celebrated Duchess of Kingston, and afterwards to be the third Earl of Bristol), Keppel, Barring- ton, Byron, Digby, and Edgcumbe. Every one of these were, or became, officers of high distinction. Hervey and Keppel were the eyes and hands of the fleet. With them should be named Captain Duff of the " Rochester," who commanded the frigates, and brought on the action at Quiberon. With the exception of Peter Denis, who has already come before us, and James Young, who was sent by Hawke in command of a squadron to cruise for the missing ships after the battle, none of the rest were men of any special mark ; but comparing the above list with that of any other in those times, it will be seen that everyone who could make interest to sail with Hawke on this occasion used his opportunity. To these may be added a young officer who had . in the previous year seen service under Howe, and who was now to complete what was then thought sufficient education for a prince, under Hawke's flag, — Prince Edward, Duke of York, the next brother to the future King. Some notices of this young prince will be found in Horace Walpole's letters ; and Barrow, in his " Life of Howe," has given one of that officer's letters describ- ing the difficulties under which he laboured in fitting 366 LIFE OP LORD HAWKE. him out and preparing him for sea. All *the anec- dotes of him in relation to Howe's descents on the French coast go to show that he possessed the here- ditary courage of his family, and that he evinced an ardent desire to confront danger and to become a worthy member of his chosen profession. The eyes of the country were turned fondly towards him. In a MS. Journal of 1758, in possession of the author of this Life, the writer, being at Portland, where Howe's squadron was anchored, remarks that Prince Edward gives great satisfaction to everybody. Besides he has been at church, which in people of his quality is looked upon as a great condescension. It was not his fault that he did not undergo the training which alone can fit an officer for his work, and at the same time discipline his character so that it might acquire the strength and consistency of which a prince stands more in need than any other person. It was the fashion of the times to ease a scion of royalty of every detail of his profession which might be irksome, — at the same time giving him just a taste of active service, to surround him with a staff, as if he was taking the place of a prince and a superior, while professing to be, like others of his own age, an inferior ; and thus to launch him as soon as possible into a position of real command for which he was in the nature of things entirely unfit. It was much to the Duke's credit that he did scrape through the respon- sibilities both of Captain and Admiral without any catastrophe ; but the very brief and superficial nature EDWARD DUKE OF YORK. 367 of his services were a disappointment to the nation, and the dissipated character which he developed might well seem to be one consequence of a mistaken system of education. On his death-bed, cut off by- fever at an early age, while travelling in Italy, he seems to have recurred to the teaching of the mother whose pains with her children bore little apparent fruit except in the case of her eldest son. The Prince's request to be allowed to go to Quebec with Wolfe had been refused, but the old King decided that he should join Hawke's flagship, and bear his share in the expected battle. The Admiral felt himself in something of the same difficulty as Howe had experienced, and writes to the Secretary of the Admiralty as follows : — Sir, "Kamilies," in Torbay, June 15th, 1757. I am much obliged to you for your letter of the 5th. . . . Lord Anson is extremely kind in thinking of the situation I am in with regard to my providing for Prince Edward ; for I came away in so great a hurry that I had scarce time to get even common necessaries on board, and therefore only gave directions for sending me the plainest things I had, with the utmost dispatch. Though this is the case I hope I shall do pretty well, with Lord Anson's assistance. I shall take particular care that his Highness wants for nothing that lies in my power to provide for him. To be sure he will not be so happy with me as if he was with his Lordship [Howe] ; but I shall do my best to make everything as agreeable as possible to him, from a just sense of the duty and gratitude I owe the King. ... I never saw so much bad weather in the summer since I have been at sea. We got in here very luckily, for it now blows extremely hard without, and had we laid-to some hours longer we should have drove past this bay. The list of articles provided by the Admiralty for the prince's convenience does not err on the side of 368 LTFE OF LORD HAWKM. defect. He has amongst other things, a "large case with instruments," a guitar, and what would hardly be necessary at the prince's age — a " mahogany shaving stand with glasses, &c." A " large Turkey carpet " and several " Crimson damask elbow chairs " must have made the Admiral's cabin gorgeous with a splendour ill accordant with fighting trim. The Prince would seem to have already borne the title of Post Captain ; but Hawke nowhere mentions his rank. As Prince Edward's service on board the " Rami- lies," only lasted about two months, what notices occur of him may be stated here. The Admiral, having been told, towards the end of July, that the Prince is to come out in the " Hero ' (Captain Edgcumbe), " with his retinue," the Admiral says : — I am left to myself as to the manner of receiving him. As this is the case I shall pay him all the honour, in the best of my judgment, due to the grandson of my Royal Master. The Prince is at any rate a good letter- writer, for the Admiral absolves himself from the duty of making reports about him, as " his Royal Highness writes by every opportunity himself." When driven by a gale into Plymouth on October 13th, the Prince, with all his servants and baggage, leaves the " Ramilies." On his arrival he had been " in so great a hurry to send his express away " that the Admiral "had no time to collect the weekly accounts." Thus the Royal youth loses the great battle in which he had hoped to share. We shall come across him again as Hawke's Rear- admiral in 1762. The latter part of the letter of June 1 5th refers to EULES OF THE BLOCKADE. 369 what became the rule of the whole blockade. When a westerly gale came on, it was impossible for the enemy to get out to sea from Brest,' or any of the smaller ports on the coast; but there was a very great chance of some of the blockading force being driven on shore ; and the question was how to get the # fleet into a place of safety like Plymouth or Torbay, and out ao-ain before the wind changed and allowed the French to sail. It was like a cat watching a mouse. The vigilance necessary on the part of the blockading force was almost as much a matter of instinct and sagacity as in the case of the inferior animal. The gales, the victualling, and the cleaning diffi- culties really govern the situation. We have seen something of this before, and now witness it on a large scale. On this very visit to Torbay the Admiral reports the arrival of five victuallers with 260 tons of beer on board :' " otherwise ten of my ships must have gone in within the next week." Another proof of his desire to prevent the usual injustice of passing over senior officers because they are useful, occurs in this letter. He applies for the promotion of his First Lieutenant, Robert Taylor, " the oldest lieutenant now employed, and a sober, diligent, good officer." His ships have suffered severely in the gale which drove him into Torbay, but on June 21st he is off Ushant, and hears from Captain Duff that he counted 17 sail in Brest, and that he is "of opinion they might all be there. I am very happy, after all the bad weather, in having got safe on my station again before they should stir." He is soon able to send 24 370 LIFE OP LORD HAWKE. home a correct list of 19 sail of the line at Brest, and one in the basin ready to come into the Road, under M. Beaufremont, flag, and M. du Verger St. Andre, Commodore ; and, shortly after, of 20 sail of the line. M. de Conflans arrives early in July to take over the command. Intelligence now pours in that the invasion is to be made from Havre, and that the French Govern- ment are obliged to resort to pressing all the fisher- men, and even the ploughmen of the coast districts, to man their ships. As he finds the French are far from ready, the Admiral arranges to send in two ships at a time to Plymouth, at each spring tide, to be cleaned, and he transmits his warm thanks to Captain Hervey for the "diligence and address" he has shown in ascertaining the state of the French fleet. It will " quiet the minds in England which have lately been greatly alarmed." Hervey writes a grateful letter in reply. Shortly afterwards Hervey wins the Admiral's further approbation : — Tour behaviour yesterday gave ine the greatest satisfaction aud merits the highest approbation. I had an additional pleasure too, that of there being so many witnesses of it. I sincerely thank vou, Sir, for your conduct and bravery, and beg farther that you will in a public manner, in my name, thank your officers and company for their gallantly seconding your endeavours to destroy the enemy. I have too just an opinion of your discretion, con- duct, and resolution, to doubt of the utmost being performed in every service on which you shall be employed ; but I cannot think of running the risk of disabling three ships of the line for an object so inconsiderable as a privateer and four or five empty transports, for such they are. Yoii will therefore send back to HA WEE'S PRAISE OF HERVEY. 371 me the "Montagu," "Juno " and " Pluto," and continue with the " Achilles " and " Colchester " to watch the motions of the enemy in Brest Eoad. Such timely notice of good service was, it is plain, the right way to keep up the zeal and buoyancy of spirit which were put to a heavy strain under the terrible tediousness of a prolonged blockade. What a contrast to the reserve of a Mathews and a Byng ! It was of a piece with the enthusiastic encomium he passed on two of his Captains at the battle of Quiberon : — "You behaved like angels " — not that we have much notion how angels would behave on the quarterdeck. Hawke was far from being a man of words or sentiment ; but he was essentially just and upright. If a man deserved praise he should have it. And it was the same in his relations to all ranks. It is in this very week that he writes to the Admiralty in favour of the Carpenter of his ship : — Their Lordships will give me leave to send them the enclosed letter from a person sober, diligent, and in every respect capable of his duty, struggling with the difficulty of supporting a numerous family. The performance for which Hervey received such praise was his manoeuvre off Brest, by which, with one other ship, he maintained his blockade of Conquet Bay, in spite of double the force of the enemy who were sent out to cut him off. After receiving* notice of this movement from Hervey, Hawke reports : — I made all the sail I could with the squadron, and soon dis- covered the •'Monmouth" [Hervey's ship] and "Montagu" chasing three 74's and a 64- gun ship of the enemy. Never did officer show greater conduct and resolution than did Captain 24 * 372 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. Hervey, and he was bravely seconded by Captain Lendrick ; but the distance rendered all their efforts ineffectual. The whole squadron of the enemy had loosed their topsails at daybreak. At about 11 a.m. they made a show of coming out ; I had, full in their view, and close to the entrance of the Road, the squadron formed, and lying-to, for their reception. The French had however no idea as yet of a general engagement. Not long before, the Master of a mer- chant ship had brought, or pretended to bring, a message from Conflans to Hawke, to the effect that if he would wait fifteen days he would be glad to drink a glass of wine with him, but this was bravado. The English ships were to be worn out with the blockade, and driven off by some storm ; and then the time would have arrived. The Admiral had now to deal with the question of neutrals. The Swedish and Dutch flags were being used for the conveyance of stores to the French fleet which, in consequence of the strict blockade, they could obtain in no other way. On July 16th he informs the Admiralty that he had given Captain Hervey orders not to suffer a neutral vessel of any nation whatever to enter Brest, but direct them to stand off the coast. The four Swedes he has now sent to me [they had been cut out from under French batteries] are furnished with cargoes which, according to their own account, appear to be be only too necessary to the enemy in their present equipment. Besides, from their manner of stowage and some other circum- stances, there is some ground to suspect they have guns and other contraband goods underneath all. He begs he may have more small vessels to keep up the blockade. Later on he explains to Captain Reynolds : — My orders were not to suffer any neutral vessels to enter these NEUTEALS. 373 ports. I did not mean that they should be seized unless found with contraband effects, only that they should be sent off that coast. The Admiralty cordially approve of his proceedings in the matter : but it appears they forgot this impor- tant circumstance ; for the Admiral is put to great straits by the subsequent claims of the neutral nations upon him personally. About this time, the enemy beginning to show a little more life, he has to alter his plans for relieving ships. The " Hercules' " company being very sickly I sent her in to heel [for cleaning] and refresh her men ten days in port. For the disappointment I met with by the two first I sent in not saving the spring, has induced me to alter my plan, and give orders for no more line-of-battle ships to clean. If the enemy should slip out and run, we must follow as fast as we can. I have not yet received the supplies of butter and cheese, beef, pork, &c, insomuch that I cannot help regretting the want of a commanding officer at Plymouth to see all orders executed with the expedition and punctuality necessary. As I shall not now have it in my power to relieve the whole squadron, and it must in all probability remain here a considerable time, will their Lordships give me leave to recommend to their consideration the sending out live cattle now and then, under such regulations as shall be thought proper. The beer again ! July 24 : The beer brewed at Plymouth is in reality so little relief to the squadron that I have sent in orders to send me no more of it. Our daily employment is condemning of it, which embarrasses us many ways. I have therefore sent this express to intreat their Lordships will send us beer from the Eastward as far as possible, and directly to the rendezvous without touching at Plymouth. To the responsible officer at Plymouth he writes with more asperity : — The beer brewed at your port is so excessively bad that it 374 LIFE OP LORD HAWKK. employs the whole time of the squadron in surveying it and throwing it overboard. ... A quantity of bread from the " Eamilies " will be returned to you by the " Elizabeth," though not altogether unfit for use, yet so full of weavils and maggots that it would have infected all the bread come on board this day. Soon afterwards to the Admiralty : — I am extremely glad to find their Lordships have ordered bul- locks and sheep for the preservation of the sick. I hope such numbers will be sent as that the ships' companies may have a share, to prevent their falling down in scorbutic disorders. In this same letter of July 24th he makes the following interesting remark on the force he thinks necessary to fight the French : — In my former letter I sent their Lordships the disposition I had made of the squadron. I never desired or intended to keep more line-of-battle skips than equalled the number of the enemy, which is now augmented to twenty-two. I have at present twenty- three, and seldom have had more than twenty-four ; and that only during a day. If ships take up a month by cleaning, from the time they leave me to their return, it will be impossible for me to keep up the squadron. The only practicable way is to heel, &c, and confine them to ten days in port, for the refreshment of their companies, in case they should miss the spring. Hervey now reports to him that he has received information that "the French soldiers and people are much dispirited, and cry out great shame on their fleet for being drove in again," but he says he does not believe they can sail yet. He would destroy the vessels in Conquet Bay if he only had more frigates. Hawke begs for more ; and finding Captain Edgcumbe of the " Hero," who had lost his masts in the gale, longer refitting than he expected (being really detained for Prince Edward), he hurried him back, saying, BOOT-HOSE-TOPPING. 375 " I am in the utmost distress for want of frigates." In one of Hervey's letters of this date he says : — I don't despair yet of giving the enemy a stroke that you won't dislike, when wind, &c, combine. I thank you, Sir, for the obliging message you sent me by Mr. Lugger. I can never but feel pleasure when employed under you, where you think me of any use ; and I own I prefer this to the most lucrative station, as I think we shall yet be of service to you. The Admiral now explains himself more fully to the Admiralty, who had sent an order that five ships should be sent in at a time for cleaning and refreshment : — Their Lordships will give me leave to observe that the relief of the squadron depends more on the refreshment of the Ships' Companies than on cleaning the ships. By the hurry the latter must be performed in (unless the ship continues a month or five weeks in port, which the present exigency will by no means admit of) the men would be so harassed and fatigued that they would return to me in a worse condition than when they left me. This made me prefer ordering some of them to heel and boot-hose-top only, remaining at rest for ten days in port, and at their depar- ture bringing such a quantity of fresh meat as would keep sweet at this season, two or three live bullocks and twenty live sheep. The present bottoms of the new ships in particular are better and will last longer than if they were, by cleaning, to be burnt off, and get a pease-porridge one in their stead. However I shall endeavour to comply with all their Lordships' directions in such manner as, to the best of my judgment, will answer their inten- tions of employing me here. For as to myself it is a matter of indifference whether I fight the enemy, if they should come out, with an equal number, one ship more, or one less. 'Tis true, in obedience to my instructions, I send their Lordships from time to time such intelligence as I can procure, which has in general been from men intercepted in French boats. But I depend not on it. What I see I believe, and regulate my conduct accord- ingly. . . . Our daily employment is condemning the beer from Plymouth, insomuch as that article is becoming very scarce in 376 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. the squadron. Give rue leave therefore to repeat my entreaties for beer being sent with the utmost expedition from the East- ward. The meaning of the word " boot-hose-top," which is of frequent occurrence in letters of those times, is to heel over the ship as far as possible, to scrape or burn off the grass, slime, shells, barnacles, &c, which adhere to the bottom of a wooden vessel long out at sea, and to daub it over with a mixture of tallow, sulphur, and resin, as a temporary protection. This is the " pease-porridge " bottom of the above letter. The Secretary replies, on August 13th, that every- one of his requests is complied with. A Commanding officer of proper rank shall be appointed for Plymouth, a " Commissioner of the Victualling" is sent down to enquire about the Plymouth beer ; beer from several other places is sent out, as well as wine from Guernsey ; and four transports are to be constantly employed in carrying out to you live stock and refreshments for the use of the sick; and the surplus to be distributed amongst the well of your squadron. But in a later letter he says : — Their Lordships being concerned to find such quantities of beer condemned which has been brewed in the King's own Brew-house, they desire that a Flag officer and some Captains may make a special survey. It may be noticed, by the way, that this resolute determination to expose the neglect of the victualling offices involves the Admiral in a large amount of disagreeable correspondence with various " Commis- STRUGGLE WITH BUREAUCRACY. 377 sicmers"; but his reasoning is indisputable, and the new survey entirely bears him out. On August 28th he writes triumphantly : — As the Portsmouth, Dover, and London beer held good to the last, I look on it as a demonstration that the badness of the Ply- mouth beer was owing entirely to a want of the due proportion of malt and hops. . . . The little fresh meat we have has already shown itself in very salutary effects. The Secretary also says : — I am to acquaint you the call for ships is so great off Havre, Dunkirk, and the Northward that their Lordships have it not in their power to spare any 50-gun ship. The reference here made to Havre and Dunkirk will remind the reader that the French project of invasion embraced, like that of Ten cm in 1744, and of Napoleon in 1804, the preparation of a flotilla of flat-bottomed boats which were to cross the Channel with troops, while the fleet from Brest, having disposed of that of England, was to support the landing. A diversion was also to be made from Dunkirk, upon the coast of Ireland, under the celebrated Thurot. Commodore Boys was set to watch Thurot ; and he was finally disposed of by Captain Elliot in February of the next year. Rodney, now a Rear-admiral, was selected for the bombardment of Havre, and the destruction of the boats. This he effected in July without loss, but at the painful cost of the destruction of the town itself, a measure which has been much blamed, but was unavoidable. Havre had to be blockaded during the remainder of the year. The other drain upon the resources of the Admiralty was for the squadron of Sir Peircy Brett, who was ordered 378 LIFE OF LOED HAWKE. to leave his command at the Downs, and proceed to Yarmouth Roads for the purpose of intercepting the dreaded Thurot if he should escape from Boys. Boscawen also had been sent with a large squadron to deal with the French ships under M. de la Clue at Toulon. These were fondly destined to join Conflans, and the united fleet to destroy Hawke ; after which was to be the invasion. As usual Boscawen did his duty ; and Hawke never for a moment expected that the threatened junction would take place. The tactics of the former were however not a little rash. After failing in the attack upon some French frigates sheltered by batteries at the extremity of Toulon harbour, the ships employed were so much damaged that the whole squadron had to proceed to Gibraltar ; and the French taking advantage of its absence, all but succeeded in stealing out of the Mediterranean. Some of them did indeed get into Cadiz, but the rest were caught by Boscawen with a far superior force, and driven on shore at Lagos, with the loss of five lme-of-battle ships, as well as of the Commander- in-Chief, and scarcely any loss on the part of the English. The timely nature of this service made it particularly acceptable in England, where Boscawen was deservedly a favourite. He took the first opportunity of giving Hawke the necessary infor- mation : — " Namur," off Cape St. Vincent, Sni, 20th August, 1759. On the 18th inst. I engaged a squadron of French men-of- war, in number seven, commanded by Mons. de la Clue, they sailed from Toulon the 5th, but parted company with five of the boscawen's victoky. 379 line and three frigates the 18th, in the night, coming through the Streights. The seven I engaged were as followeth : — Ocean 80 Mons. de la Clue "K , Eedoubtable 74 ) Centaur 74 -\ Temeraire 74 > taken. Modeste 64 ) Souverain 74 escaped but shattered. Guerriere 74 escaped, little hurt. Fantasque ~\ j . f 64 lost company coming through the Triton ) Streights. ^ •„ 1 50 do. L Ormamme ) Chimere 26 ~\ Minerve 24 > do. Gratieuse 24 ) I heartily wish you may meet with them. I hope to make sail this evening, and as I am bound home, will endeavour to fall in with you. If I do, I will hoist a Dutch ensign at the ensign staff, and a Spanish Jack at tbe Foretopmast head. I am, Sir, &c. E. BOSCAWEN.* When Boscawen wrote this, he did not know that the above ships which had " lost company " had made their way to Cadiz. Admiral Brodrick soon heard of it, and blockaded them there : but their escape was possible, and added to the anxieties of Hawke's position. He is also pressed from home on the sub- ject of the transports fitting for bodies of troops at Port Louis, Yannes, Nantes, and other places on the coast of Brittany. The failure of the Havre boats had caused increased activity in these western parts, and the cruising squadrons detached from the fleet * Hawke Papers. 380 LIFE OP LORD HAWKE. are kept continually on the alert, one of them extend- ing its vigilance down as far as Rochefort. Affairs however look more serious when news arrives of M. Bompart's squadron having sailed from America. On August 28th the Admiral writes : — If M. Bompart's destination should be Brest I shall do my utmost to interrupt him. But should he be bound to Bochefort I must not think of him for the above reason, viz. that he must not, as he had previously explained, be left with a number of ships inferior to that of the enemy. His men are also just now " falling down with the scurvy." It was at this time that he performed the order sent him from the Admiralty to celebrate the "glorious victory" of Minden "before Brest, with the ships under your command ; and their Lordships recommend it to you to take all opportunities to make the French acquainted with the occasion of the Feu de joye." Two points affecting the general progress of the service engage our attention at this point. We have seen that gun-locks and tubes for firing had been favourably reported upon by a Commission which sat after Hawke's action in 1747, and whose appointment had probably been occasioned by the accident from a powder-horn in the action, which nearly incapacitated the Admiral himself. The upper deck guns of ships had accordingly been supplied with this useful inven- tion ; but objections, based on the danger of tubes flying about between decks, had prevented their further adoption. The Admiralty now send orders IMPROVEMENTS IN GUNNERY. 381 for a further report as to the extension of the system to all the guns of a ship. This is presented to Hawke by Admiral Geary, Lord Howe, and other Captains. Of these the most intelligent evidence is that by Captain Denis, who is strongly in favour of extending both locks and tubes to all guns, as removing the danger of powder-horns, the obstruction by smoke, and the obstacle to quick firing. He had provided them for his ship at his own expense. Howe is only in favour of locks if smaller than as yet adopted. Hawke sums up the seven opinions by remarking that " in my opinion both of them [locks and tubes] will be very useful." It would thus appear that this, which is perhaps the greatest advance in naval gunnery made before our own times, was only very slowly introduced. Indeed, it was not adopted generally till almost the close of the century. Improved construction was even yet required, as Hawke reports unfavourably of those supplied to his ship and used at Quiberon. The second point is in reference to the grievance strongly felt by the Masters of the service : — We can spare no pilots from the squadron, in which there are very few ; which renders the duty of masters, considering where the squadron cruises, very hard, more particularly [in the case of] such as conduct squadrons ; and I cannot help thinking it reasonable that they should have pilotage allowed them. So little was it yet understood that this valuable class of men ought to be encouraged to make them- selves masters of a most important branch of their profession. 382 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. In spite of all that had passed the Admiral has to write on October 1st : — The supplies of beer and water arrive so slow, and the con- tinual disappointments I meet with from the Plymouth beer, with which the clean ships are supplied, not lasting in a con- dition to be drunk above a week, I am afraid may occasion the breaking up of the squadron. In the early part of this month the French began to prepare with vigour for the embarkation of their troops, under the protection of 18 armed vessels and frigates, at Morbihan. The General Quarters were in the Jesuits' College, and the Due d'Aiguillon had arrived to take the command. Captain Duff is en- trusted with the task of watching that they do not come out to join the fleet at Brest. Admiral Geary is now detached by Hawke to cruise for Bompart's squadron, but recalled by the desire of the Admiralty, who had heard from Admiral Cotes in the "West Indies that it was not likely to sail for Europe at present. This seems to have been a mistake, since it enabled the French ships, which did sail, as Hawke expected, in October, to elude the English blockade ; and their junction with Conflans determined that officer, as it was his last chance, to come out; but it was of no consequence in the end. The letters from the Admi- ralty now betray a nervous state of alarm ; and the Admiral further explains the situation on October 10th :— On the intelligence sent me in your letter of September 21st relating to M. Bompart, I thought the intercepting him a very material object. For if the alarm is great now, it must be much greater should he get into Rochefort, and therefore in obedience THE PLOT THICKENS. 383 to what 1 thought was their Lordships' intention, I sent a squadron able to perform that service. But since their Lord- ships rely on the opinion of Vice Admiral Cotes, I have sent orders this morning by a cutter to Bear Admiral Geary to return tome with the "Sandwich," "Hercules," and "Anson," and to send the "Fame," " Chichester," " Windsor," " Belliqueux," and " Vengeance " to Captain Duff. The Ships' Companies, except the " Fondroyant," are in very good health, and as to myself I shall give their Lordships timely notice to supply my place should my return into port be necessary, which, thank Grod, there is not the least appearance of at present. . . . Their Lordships will pardon me for observing that from the present disposition of the squadron I think there is little room for alarm while the weather continues tolerable. As to Brest, T may safely affirm that, except the few ships that took shelter in Conquet, hardly a vessel of any kind has been able to enter or come out of that port these four months. We are as vigilant as ever, though we have not so much daylight. And if you can give credit to their own people, they have suffered greatly, having been obliged to unload near 40 victuallers at Quimperley, and carry their cargoes by land to Brest. It must be the fault of the weather, not ours, if any of them escape. It is a good proof that the English alarm was not unreasonable, that the very day after this letter was written it came on to blow so hard from the Westward that Hawke had to run for Plymouth, from whence, on October 13th, he reports to the Admiralty : — ■ Yesterday and this day the gale rather increasing, I thought it better to bear up for Plymouth than run the risk of being scat- tered and driven farther to the Eastward. While this wind shall continue it is impossible for the enemy to stir. I shall keep the ships employed night and day in completing their water and provisions to three months ; for at this season there can be no dependence on victuallers coming to sea. The instant it shall be moderate I shall sail again. Further, on October 14th : — I shall not stir out of the " Ramilies " myself, and hope to be 384- LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. at sea again in a few days in a condition to keep there without depending on victuallers. . . . Their Lordships may rest assured there is little foundation for the present alarms. While the wind is fair for the enemy's coming out, it is also favourable for our keeping them in ; and while we are obliged to keep off, they cannot stir. I own it was with regret I called off Rear-admiral Geary. But as there are many ships now in England I hope their Lordships will soon put it in my power to block up Roche- fort, which will effectually distress the enemy everywhere. . . . It blows so very fresh at W.N.W. that we can get neither water nor provisions off. And once more, on October 1 7th : — If their Lordships will consider how necessary it is not to alter any rendezvous, on which I must always keep the Channel open, and that consecpuently in strong Westerly gales I cannot keep the sea, they will readily lay their account with my putting often into this port. At the same time they may depend upon my keeping the strictest guard over the motions of the enemy that the weather will permit. The hard service now begins to tell on Hawke's Captains, — Hervey and Tyrrell being both laid up, and the latter obliged to quit his ship. The Admiral sails on October 1 8th, comforted by the approval of the Admiralty, freely given to all his proceedings and plans. The struggle which is to decide the fate of the war — perhaps of the world — now commences in earnest. November is close at hand, and the position of such a fleet, with all its attendant in-shore squadrons, is hazardous in the extreme. Hervey and Duff are warned that there must not be a moment of relaxation on their dangerous posts. The former had thought it necessary to " send in " some of his squadron to refit without consulting the Admiral, who writes, on October 23rd : — As I have but 17 sail of the line I desire you will not send any BLOCKADE TELLS ON THE OFFICEKS. 385 ships in without giving their Captains positive orders to join me first, as I must be left to judge of the necessity of their going in, and often have resources which you can have no knowledge of. What is done cannot be helped. I congratulate you on the re- covery of your health, and hope you may be able to stay out as long as I do. This wish was not realised. The " Monmouth " and " Nottingham " were worn out with their in-shore work off Brest, and these ships had to come home ; thus causing both Hervey and Lendrick to miss the battle which they had so good a right to expect to share. On parting with the former the Admiral says : — Captain Hervey has suffered much in his constitution by the fatigues and watchinars of the critical station he has been on since the 1st of July. Through the whole he has given such proofs of diligence, activity, intrepidity, and judgment that it would be doing injustice to his merit as an officer not to acknowledge that I part with him with the greatest regret. He has also been during that time well seconded by Captains Barrington, Digby, Lendrick, and Balfour. The " Foudroyant " and " Anson," commanded by Tyrrell and Whitwell, are also sent home on account of the "sickly state of their companies," and also Captain Parry of the " Kingston." It would seem that the Plymouth authorities and those of the Navy Board had not been much con- ciliated during the five-days' stay of the fleet in October. The Admiral had no sooner returned to his station than he finds his action with reference to a Mr. Wright, the surgeon of the " Nottingham," called in question by the latter body : — " I have received," says Hawke, "your letter of the 17th inst., in answer to which I am to acquaint you that there was no mis- 25 386 LIFE OF LOED HAWKE. take in Mr. Wright's being ordered by me to be discharged, and the reason marked on the pay list. The " Nottingham " was wanted at a moment's notice to cruise in the Goulette at Brest, a station which required every man in her to be ready at a call. [There was] No probability of being able to try Wright by a Court- martial for his disobedience of orders and other dirty crimes : nor could I, in the circumstances the ship was then in, hourly, in the face of the enemy, admit of sentries being kept on so worth- less a fellow. As the least inconvenience, or rather for the real good of the service, I ordered him to be discharged, and his crime noted on his list of pay, for your information. I shall not enter into a dispute with you about my authority as a Commanding officer, neither do I ever think of inconveniences or prejudice to myself, as a party, according to your insinuations, where the good of the service is concerned. Enclosed I send you a letter from Captain Lendrick relating to Wright. By the " Melampe " this day I have sent in Mr. Joseph Cock, whom you appointed surgeon of the " Duke." His infirmities rendering him incapable of his duty, he has applied to be sent home : the surgeon he was to supersede, though very old, still continues in the ship." The medical service of the navy was certainly in a bad way ; and however high-handed the Admiral's conduct towards Mr. Wright would be thought under ordinary circumstances, his chief offence was rank mutiny, publicly committed, and witnessed under the hands of several officers, so that he ought to have been grateful for escaping a Courtmartial, by the sentence of which he would infallibly have been shot. Soon afterwards the Admiral has to write in an equally indignant strain to the commanding officer at Plymouth, whose impertinent letter is in the Letter- book. The moment of action is close at hand, and the " ifs ' and " ands " of the officials who neglect their duty are absolutely intolerable : — " May I ask," says Hawke, " what is become of the ' Magna- BUREAUCRACY. 387 nime,' ' Revenge,' ' Defiance,' ' Coventry,' and ' Actaeon ' ? It would have been greatly for the benefit of the service if they could have been ready to have joined me while the Easterly wind lasted. ... I earnestly desire that immediately on the receipt of this, you will, with any wind, dispatch all the line-of-battle ships that are ready, the frigates, and without fail, two of the best cutters. Quickly following one another, the Admiral now receives despatches informing him that Conflans has had positive orders to put to sea, and engage the English fleet at once ; and then, on November 13th, that Admiral Ootes, writing on September 9th, two months previously, had reported that Bompart's squadron was just then about to sail, so that it must already be somewhere off the coast. It actually sailed on October 1st. Where was Admiral Geary's squadron now? But before the Admiral could receive this last intelligence he had written (on November 5th) : — I hope their Lordships will not conclude from that remark on my rendezvous in my letter of the 17th, that I should come into port while there should be a possibility of keeping the sea. Single ships may struggle with a hard gale of wind when a squadron cannot. It must always, by wearing, lose ground in working against a strong Westerly wind in the Channel, where it cannot make very long stretches, . but more especially if it should blow so as to put it past carrying sail. If for the future this should happen I shall put in Torbay, as I cannot be induced to think there is sufficient room for so large a squadron, or water, for the three-decked ships in Plymouth Sound at this season of the year." Just as before, Hawke had hardly written this letter when a tremendous gale came on from the Westward, and after struggling against it for three days, he reports from Torbay, on November 10th, that he 25 * 388 LIFE OF LOED HAWKE. " was obliged and lucky enough to get in here last night " with most of the ships. He now recommends the withdrawal of the two line-of-battle ships stationed at Quiberon, thus leaving Duff with his smaller ships as " a more manageable -squadron " "to preserve itself till mv arrival." " It blows a mere frett of wind from the N.W. Bompart, if near, may get in, but no ship can stir from any port of the enemy in the Bay. The instant the weather will admit of it, I shall get to sea again. As boats cannot easily pass I cannot collect the state of the ships." He gets off to sea again on the 12th ; is driven . ? into Torbay again on the 13th by the violence of the gale, which is now from S.W.; but once more gets to his station on the 14th. While at Torbay he shifted his flag to the " Royal George" of 100 guns, with John Campbell for his flag-captain, and leaves behind his favourite old ship the " Rami- lies," which became " water logged whenever it blowed hard." How nearly Hawke's plans, which were sup- ported by Pitt, were frustrated, and thus how nearly the plans of the French had a chance of success, may be gathered from the following anecdote given in Thackeray's " Life of Chatham,"* from the " Memoir es d'un Voyageur qui se repose." It must, indeed, be only taken for what it is worth, as it rests solely upon anonymous, though contemporary, authority. " There was a question about sending Hawke to sea to keep watch over M. de Conflans ; it was November ; the weather was stormy and dangerous for a fleet. * Vol. i. p. 448, SCENE BETWEEN PITT AND NEWCASTLE. 389 Mr. Pitt, in bed with the gout, was obliged to receive those who had business with him in a room where there were two beds, and where there was no fire, for he could not bear one. The Duke of Newcastle [the Prime Minister in name] who was a very chilly person, came to see him on the subject of this fleet, which he was most unwilling to send to sea. He had scarcely entered the room when he cried out, shivering all over with cold : — ' How is this ? no fire? ' ' No,' said Mr. Pitt, ' when I have the gout, I cannot bear one.' The Duke, finding himself obliged to put up with it, took a seat by the bedside of the invalid, wrapped up in his cloak, and began the conversation. But unable to stand the cold for any length of time, he said, ' Pray allow me to protect myself from the cold in that bed you have by your side ' ; and without taking off his cloak, he buried himself in Lady Esther Pitt's bed, and continued the conversation. The Duke was strongly opposed to risking the fleet in the November gales ; Mr. Pitt w r as absolutely resolved that it should put to sea; and both argued the matter with much warmth. ' I am positively determined the fleet shall sail,' said Pitt, accompanying his words with the most lively gesticu- lations. ' It is impossible, it will perish,' replied the Duke, making a thousand contortions. Sir Charles Frederick, of the ' Ordnance,' coming in at the moment, found them in this ridiculous position ; and had infinite trouble in keeping his countenance when he discovered the two Ministers deliberating on a matter of such great importance in a situation so novel and extraordinary. The fleet nevertheless put 390 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. to sea : and Mr. Pitt was right ; for Admiral Hawke defeated M. de Conflans ; and it was the most decisive victory the English gained over France during that war." But the end was at hand. On the 17th, Hawke reports to the Admiralty that he had heard the previous evening from one of the victuallers that the French had been seen at sea, working to the Eastward, having- taken advantage of the change of wind which had enabled him to get to his station : — I have carried a press of sail all night, with a hard gale at S.S.E., in pursuit of the enemy, and make no doubt of coming up with them either at sea or in Quiberon Bay. Thus the long-looked-for event had taken place at last. Bompart had sailed into Brest on the wings of the gale which had driven Hawke off his station, and by so doing had proclaimed to Conflans the absence of his watchful enemy. The French admiral acted with praiseworthy promptitude, put Bompart's expe- rienced seamen on board his own ships, and reckoning on the dispersion of the English fleet, and the unlike- lihood of their reassembling for some time in sufficient numbers to meet his fleet of 21 line-of-battle ships, craftily set forth on the 14th, on his way to Quiberon. There he would make short work of Duff's squadron, take up the land forces in their transports at Morbihan, and make a descent on the British coast before Hawke should know where he was. It was an almost desperate plan at this time of the year; but it might have answered had there not been a commander opposed to Conflans whose patience, judgment, and resolution THE ENEMY CAUGHT AT LAST. 391 were proof against the wildest elements at sea, and the frauds, neglects and stupidity of officials on shore. Much to the surprise of the French, Hawke and his whole fleet of 23 line-of -battle ships, having arrived on the station off Ushant on the very clay when Conflans left Brest, were hard at their heels before they could even get in sight of their first destination. A Letter of November 14th, from the young Duke of York, which does him credit, referring to the labours of the blockade, may conclude this Chapter : — Sir Ejdwaed Hawke, It is with the greatest satisfaction I observe the gracious manner [in which] the King has taken notice in his Speech of the important service the fleet under your command has per- formed ; closing up the particulars of all the successful military- transactions of this year with his testimony of your having dis- charged your difficult task in the most effectual manner. And it gives me the greatest pleasure, interested as I feel myself in whatever regards the service and reputation of the fleet. I take this opportunity of enquiring after your health, and of desiring my compliments to Sir Charles Hardy, Admiral Geary, Lord Howe, and the rest of your Captains. Eemaining with great esteem and regard your assured friend, Edward. I desire my compliments particularly to Captain Taylor. I enclose the Speech.* Captain Taylor was Hawke's Flag-captain all through the period treated in this Chapter, but, remaining in the " Ramilies ' when Hawke shifted over to the " Royal George," was lost with nearly all the crew of his ship on the RameHead in February, 1 760. Falconer, the author of the " Shipwreck," a midshipman, was the only officer saved, along with 25 men. # Hawke Papers. 392 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. Let it be remarked, by way of comment on the King's Speech, that if the whole circumstances of Hawke's blockade of Brest are compared with those of any other similar blockade, whether by Howe, Jervis, Collingwood, or even Nelson, it may be con- sidered to have been the most noteworthy of all. This of course can only be a matter of opinion ; but in weighing their respective merits, it is not only a question of length of time, but of season, climate, weather, co-operation from the Admiralty, the existing methods as to cleaning ships — for they were not yet coppered, — of sanitary arrangements, and the state of naval progress in signals, navigation, and discipline. 393 CHAPTER XII. THE BATTLE OF QUIBERON. To print the business-like details of a Despatch is far from being a sensational method of giving an account of a great and decisive battle ; but in the present case, as in 1747, it is done deliberately. Hawke shall tell his own story. If it is correct to say that, of all our naval and military heroes he exhibits the nearest approach to the style and character of the Duke of Wellington, the reader will probably prefer to hear him speak for himself. Though of course in the magnitude of their services there is no comparison, it will not be difficult to trace in their moral qualities the same just sense of duty, the same lofty carelessness as to personal gains, the same fairness and absence of exaggeration, the same simplicity and modesty in the valuation of his own services, and the same sense of the responsibility attaching to the representative of his country, in both cases. In their military qualities may be observed the same combination of patience and decision, the same contempt for public opinion when balanced against a conviction of duty, the same 394 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. careful adaptation of means to ends, the same swift resolution to strike home, regardless of risk, when the proper time had come, the same stern determination that everyone who served under him should have his due, whether of praise or blame. The Despatch here follows : — " Royal Geoege, off Penris Point, Sib, November 24th, 1759. In my letter of the 17th by express, I desired you would acquaint their Lordships with my having received intelligence of 18 sail of the line, and three frigates of the Brest squadron being discovered about 24 leagues to the north-west of Belleisle, steering to the eastward. All the prisoners, however, agree that on the day we chased them, their squadron consisted, according to the accom- panying list, of four ships of 80, six of 74, three of 70, eight of 64, one frigate of 36, one of 34, and one of 16 guns, with a small vessel to look out. They sailed from Brest the 14th instant, the same day I sailed from Torbay. Concluding that then first rendezvous would be Quiberon, the instant I received the intelligence I directed my course thither with a pressed sail. At first the wind blowing hard at S. b. E. & S. drove us considerably to the Westward. But on the 18th and 19th, though variable, it proved more favourable. In the meantime having been joined by the "Maidstone" and " Coventry" frigates, I directed their commanders to keep ahead of the squadron, one on the starboard and the other on the lar- board bow. At i past 8 o'clock on the morning of the 20th, Belleisle, by our reckoning, bearing E. b. N. i N. about 13 leagues, the " Maidstone " made the signal for seeing a fleet. I immediately spread abroad the signal for the line abreast, in order to draw all the ships -of the squadron up with me. I had before sent the " Magnanime" ahead to make the land. At f past 9 she made the signal for seeing an enemy. Observing, on my discovering them, that they made off, I threw out the signal for the seven ships nearest them to chase, and draw into a line of battle ahead of me, and endeavour to stop them till the rest of the squadron should come up, who were also to form as they chased, that no time might be lost in the pursuit. That morning they were in BATTLE OF QUIBERON. 395 chase of the " Eochester," " Chatham," " Portland," " Falkland," "Minerva," "Vengeance," and "Venus," all which joined me about 11 o'clock, and in the evening the " Sapphire " from Qui- beron Bay. All the day we had very fresh gales at N. W. and W. N. W., with heavy squalls. Monsieur Conflans kept going off under such sail as all his squadron could carry, and at the same time keep together ; while we crowded after him with every sail our ships could bear. At \ past 2 p.m. the fire beginning ahead, I made the signal for engaging. We were then to the southward of Belleisle, and the French Admiral headmost, soon after led round the Cardinals, while his rear was in action. About 4 o'clock the " Formidable " struck, and a little after, the "Thesee" and " Superbe" were sunk. About 5, the " Heros" struck, and came to an anchor, but it blowing hard, no boat could be sent on board her. Night was now come, and being on a part of the coast, among islands and shoals, of which we were totally ignorant, without a pilot, as was the greatest part of the squadron, and blowing hard on a lee shore, I made the signal to anchor, and came-to in 15 fathom water, the Island of Dumet bearing E. b. N. between 2 and 3 miles, the Cardinals W. \ S., and the steeples of Crozie S. E., as we found next morning. In the night we heard many guns of distress fired, but, blowing hard, want of knowledge of the coast, and whether they were fired by a friend or an enemy, prevented all means of relief. By daybreak of the 21st we discovered one of our ships [the " Besolution " dismasted, ashore on the Four. The French " Heros " also, and the " Soleil Boyal," which under cover of the night had anchored among us, cut and run ashore to the westward of Crozie. On the latter's moving I made the " Essex's " signal to slip and pursue her ; but she unfortunately got upon the Four, and both she and the " Besolution " arc irrecoverably lost, not- withstanding that we sent them all the assistance that the weather would permit. About fourscore of the " Besolution's " company, in spite of the strongest remonstrances of their Captain, made rafts, and with several French prisoners belonging to the "For- midable," put off, and I am afraid drove out to sea. All the " Essex's " are safe, with as many of the stores as possible, except one Lieutenant and a boat's crew, who were drove on the French shore, and have not since been heard of. The remains of both ships are set on fire. We found the " Dorsetshire," " Bevenge, 396 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. and " Defiance," in the night of the 20th, put out to sea, as I hope the " Swiftsure " did, for she is still missing. The " Dorsetshire " and " Defiance " returned the next day, and the latter saw the " Eevenge " without. Thus what loss we have sustained has been owing to the weather, not the enemy, seven or eight of whose line of battle ships got to sea, I believe, the night of the action. As soon as it was broad daylight, in the morning of the 21st, I discovered seven or eight of the enemy's line of battle ships at anchor between Point Penris and the river Vilaine, on which I made the signal to weigh in order to work up and attack them. But it blowed so hard from the N. "W. that instead of daring to cast the squadron loose, I was obliged to strike topgallant masts. Most of those ships appeared to be aground at low water. But on the flood, by lightening them, and the advantage of the wind under the land, all, except two, got that night into the river Vilaine. The weather being moderate on the 22nd, I sent the " Port- land," " Chatham," and " Vengeance," to destroy the " Soleil Koyal " and " Hx'ros." The French, on the approach of our ships, set the first on fire ; and soon after, the latter met the same fate from our people. In the meantime I got under way, and worked up within Penris Point, as well for the sake of its being a safer road as to destroy, if possible, the two ships of the enemy which still lay without the river Vilaine. But before the ships I sent ahead for that purpose could get near them, being quite light, and with the tide of flood, they got in. All the 23rd we were occupied in reconnoitring the entrance of that river, which is very narrow, and only 12 foot water on the bar at low water. We discovered 7 if not 8 line of battle ships, about half a mile within, quite light, and two large frigates moored across to defend the mouth of the river. Only the frigates appeared to have guns in. By evening I had twelve long boats fitted as fireships ready to attempt burning them under cover of the "Sapphire" and "Coventry." But the weather being bad, and the wind contrary, obliged me to defer it till at least the latter should be favourable. If they can by any means be destroyed it shall be done. In attacking a flying enemy, it was impossible in the space of a short winter's day that all our ships should be able to get into action, or all those of the enemy brought to it. The Commanders BATTLE OF QUIBEEON. 397 and companies of such as did come up with the rear of the French on the 20th behaved with the greatest intrepidity, and gave the strongest proofs of a true British spirit. In the same manner I am satisfied would those who have acquitted themselves, whom bad-going ships, or the distance they were at in the morning, pre- vented from getting up. Our loss by the enemy is not considerable. For in the ships which are now with me, I find only one Lieutenant and fifty sea- men and marines killed, and about two hundred and twenty wounded. When I consider the season of the year, the hard gales on the day of action, a flying enemy, the shortness of the day, and the coast they were on, I can boldly affirm that all that could possibly be done has been done. As to the loss we have sustained, let it be placed to the account of the necessity I was under of running all risks to break this strong force of the enemy. Had we had but two hours more daylight, the whole had been totally destroyed or taken ; for we were almost up with their van when night over- took us. Yesterday came in here the "Pallas," "Fortune" sloop, and the "Proserpine" fireship. On the 16th I had dispatched the "Fortune" to Quiberon with directions to Captain Duff to keep strictly on his guard. In her way thither she fell in with the " Hebe," a French frigate of 40 guns, under jury masts, and fought her several hours. During the engagement Lieutenant Stuart, 2nd of the " Eamilies," whom I had appointed to command her was unfortunately killed. The surviving officers, on consulting together, resolved to leave her, as she proved too strong for them. I have detached Captain Young to Quiberon Bay, with five ships, and am making up a flying squadron to scour the coast to the southward, as far as the Isle of Aix ; and if practicable, to attempt any of the enemy's ships that may be there. I am, etc., Edwakd Hawke. A Supplementary Despatch, on December 1st, adds : — The manoeuvres of the enemy crowding away on the 20th, pre- vented our being able to reckon their number exactly. Now I can with certainty assure their Lordships that their squadron 398 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. consisted of 21 sail of the line, with more seamen and soldiers than I gave in the list which accompanied my last. To the number destroyed I can also add the "Juste" of 70 guns [wrecked on the Charpentier] ; and I am in hopes too to find the " Macjnifique " run ashore or lost, for she was terribly shat- tered. The " Dorsetshire," " Swiftsure," " Eevenge," and " Mag- nanime " want great repairs. . . . Inclosed is a list of officers I have appointed to act in vacancies. I must only add that I should be greatly obliged to their Lordships to remember Lieu- tenant Thomas Neilson, first of the " Eamilies," now commanding the " Success." He has been upwards of 19 years a Lieutenant, upwards of three of which he has been an officer with me. It is not wonderful that the circumstances of the battle thus modestly, and even apologetically, de- scribed by the chief actor in it, should have beguiled contemporary writers into flights of rhetoric which display the character of poetry rather than prose. The historian of the "War describes the " billows, mountains high," before which Hawke's fleet " sailed upon the wings of the wind, till he descried the enemy fluttering at his appearance like a bird at the sight of a Hawke," and then how " descending from the summits of watery mouutains, they pounced the enemy, and never parted with them till this mighty fleet was totally destroyed, and in its ruins was buried the mari- time power of France. . . . Admiral Hawke, who had long been the darling of the people of England for his abilities and courage at sea, . . . amidst all the horrors of two enraged elements, began a furious engagement.* And other writers are not far behind. Horace Walpole is for once betrayed into admira- tion of Hawke : — It was the 20th of November : the shortness of the day pre- vented the total demolition of the enemy ; but neither darkness nor a dreadful tempest that ensued could call off Sir Edward from * Entick's " History of the War." THE JUDGMENT OF HISTOEY. 399 pursuing his blow. The roaring of the elements was redoubled by the thunder from our ships ; and both concurred, in that scene of horror, to put a period to the navy and the hopes of France.* And Smollett describes it as one of the most perilous and important actions that ever happened in any war between the two nations ; for it not only defeated the projected invasion, which had hung menacing so long over the apprehensions of Great Britain, but it gave the finishing blow to the naval power of France.f It was no doubt a scene calculated in itself to excite the imagination in the highest degree ; and when con- templated in connection with the previous dread which the French invading force had inspired, with the inci- dence of the very gales for which it was known that the enemy was anxiously waiting, with the fact of the British fleet having been driven off its station three separate times in a few weeks, and, latterly, with the information which had reached England that the French had actually put to sea, while it was for days unknown whether Hawke had caught them, it is easy to see that the responsibility which had rested on his shoulders greatly added to the effect produced by the glorious news. The writer of the History of the War is certainly correct in saying that " to such a pitch were the people of England incensed by the opportu- nity given to M. Conflans on the retreat of Admiral Hawke from the bay, that they would have allowed no excuse, nor considered the irresistible power of the winds and the seas that drove him home, but made * " Memoirs of George II. f " History of England." 400 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. him responsible for his misfortunes." He might have added that the alarm and terror of the populace were such that, on the very day of the victory, a mob was burning him in effigy as a traitor and coward for letting the French get out of Brest. The burden of this responsibility every officer entrusted with the decision of great issues expects to bear ; but in the present case it is not easy to decide which to admire most, the successful struggle for six months with the almost infinite difficulties of the situation, or the grand decisiveness of the final reso- lution when the moment for action arrived. The least weakness in giving way to the traditions of bureaucracy on the questions of victualling, cleaning, and dispatching back again his ships, would have left Hawke powerless on the day of battle, with sick crews, ships that would not sail, and officers worn out with the endless fatigues of cruising in gales of wind and on a lee shore. The least failure of self-reliance, the least attention to the officious suggestions that beset an admiral in such a time of excitement, the least relaxation of the steady discipline and even-tempered rule which, neglecting no] detail, impresses every man in a fleet, from highest to lowest, with a desire to do his duty, and yet spreads around the cheerful spirit produced by human sympathy on the part of the chief, would in all probability have told fatally in such a prolonged conflict. And it may here be remarked that there is not a single case of a great naval officer, however pas- sionately favoured by the people, having escaped at THE CALCULATED VENTURE. 401 some perilous moment of his career the violent and often brutal denunciations of its lower ranks. Rodney and Howe suffered in this way, much as Hawke had suffered, and even Nelson's popularity fell to zero when for many months he had failed to find the French fleet which carried Napoleon to Egypt. Nor should the conduct which is the effect of impulsive ignorance and terror be too much condemned. In the last resort a people's instinct tells them they must make themselves felt ; a free country cannot afford to choke such impulses ; a really great administrator or warrior does not do his duty the worse for the feeling that he has a rope round his neck. But what of the venture on which Hawke made up his mind to stake the fortunes of Great Britain, and to " stand the hazard of the die"? How many of even the greatest officers would have thought it right to follow up a flying enemy, at the close of a brief November day, into a dangerous bay, the navigation of which, though familiar enough to the enemy, was wholly unknown to himself and every one of his officers ? A thousand reasons might be given for hauling off, and waiting for a better opportunity. Doubts were entertained by many at that time whether anything but success could justify such temerity. But this was exactly the stroke of genius which might be expected from a Blake, a Nelson, or a Cochrane, and from these alone. It was a profoundly calculated venture. The peculiar peril of the moment must be balanced against the end to be obtained, and viewed in connection with the difficulty there would be in 26 402 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. getting at the enemy if lie were not summarily dealt with there and then. Just as Nelson said at Aboukir : — " Where there is room for the enemy to swing, there is room for me to anchor," — so, long before him, argued Hawke : — " Where there is a passage for the enemy, there is a passage for me. We are so close up to them that their pilots shall be ours. If they go to pieces on the shoals they will serve as beacons. If they have the advantage of knowing the way, we have that of superior seamanship and gunnery when we overtake them. The perils of a lee shore are theirs as well as ours." In short, he considered, as he says in his Despatch, that he was " under the necessity of running all risks to break this strong force of the enemy " ; he had fairly calculated those risks ; and though he lost two line-of-battle ships in the process, it cannot be said that the price was to be grudged in the achievement of such a magnificent result. It was in this spirit that he made the well-known reply to the master of his ship, who, believing it would wreck the " Royal G-eorge " upon a shoal, had remonstrated with him upon his order to lay the ship alongside of the French admiral : — " You have done your duty, Sir, in showing the danger : you are now to comply with my order, and lay me alongside the ' Soleil Royal.' " It was in this spirit that, just as in the battle of 1747, he made it a point of honour to fight his ship like any of his private captains, and to expose them to no danger which he was not to share with them. It was with a view to this very contingency that he had previously instructed his officers that "he PLACE OF THE BATTLE IN HISTORY. 403 was for the old way [his own old way] of fighting, to make downright work with them." It will at once be seen that the place of this battle in history must not be measured by the number of ships captured in actual battle, but by the ultimate fate of the enemy's ships, by the unparalleled circum- stances of the engagement, and the effect it had upon the maritime power of France. With the little day- light left when the ten ships that were near enough the enemy to engage entered the Bay, Hawke could not reckon on more than a partial victory at the mo- ment ; what he did reckon upon, and with justice, was that the Frenchmen would act as they did in the pre- vious year, and destroy themselves in their frantic efforts to fly to a place of safety. Besides the six line- of-battle ships taken, burnt, or run on shore in the battle, seven got beyond his reach by throwing over- board guns and stores, and being hauled up through the mud ; but only three of these were saved, the remainder having broken their backs by taking the ground at every tide. As for the remainder of the fleet, which succeeded, during the pitchy darkness of the wild November night, in escaping to Rochefort, Keppel, who was immediately sent with a squadron to look after them, soon returned with the Report that they had taken refuge, as in 1758, high up the Charente : — The situation and distance of the nearest of the enemy's ships was such as rendered it impracticable to offer an attempt upon them, they being further up by miles than any ship can go with- out warping through the mud and being dismantled. 26 * 404 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. Ships in this state were as good as destroyed, — at least for many months to come. Thus the whole fleet, with all the 18,000 troops, and all the elaborate preparations for invasion, was completely crushed and disposed of at a blow. The victory of Trafalgar was not in reality more decisive, nor were the means adopted by Nelson for that splendid result a whit more to be admired than the tactics pursued by Hawke for the purpose in hand. There was scarcely wind enough to fill the sails when Nelson made his celebrated signal, and Collingwood excited his admiration by the way he led in towards the enemy : it was blowing a heavy gale on a lee shore — the situation of all others most dreaded by seamen — when Hawke swooped upon his prey in the midst of an unknown network of intricate shoals, terrible enough at all times, but involving certain destruction, as the event showed, to ships which ran ashore upon them in a raging sea. The reader may now T like to observe the impression made upon the mind of a gallant and intelligent non- combatant present at the battle. In the " Gentleman's Magazine " for 1759 appeared the following letter from " a Chaplain of one of His Majesty's ships." Quiberon Bay, November 25, 1759. I most heartily congratulate you upon the great event of our de- feating Marshal Conflans on the 20th instant. As the express is on tin point of setting out, my relation of the victory cannot be parti- cular. On the 14th November. Sir Edward Hawke hoisted his flag on board the " Royal George " in Torbay, where the fleet had put in a few days before, through stress of weather. The same evening we stood out to sea, with 2<3 ships of the line and 2 frigates ; and on the chaplain's naeratiye. 405 the 16th were within eight or nine leagues of the isle of Ushant. In the afternoon we fell in with some English transports return- ing from Quiberon, who gave the Admiral information that they saw the French fleet the day before, consisting of 24 sail, standing to the S. E., and were at that time 24 leagues west of Belleisle. The intelligence was received with universal acclamations, and every ship prepared for action. The Admiral lost not a minute of time, but pursued with the utmost alertness. In the evening of the 18th the wind came on fresh from the westward, and we spread all our canvas to court the prosperous gale. On the 20th, about half an hour after eight in the morning, the "Maidstone" frigate let fly her topgallant-sails [? topgallant sheets] which was a signal for discovering a fleet ; at nine, not a doubt was left of the happy hour being arrived which we had six months been impatiently expecting, We ascertained them to be the French squadron of 21 sail of the line, and three smaller ships ; and that they were then chasing Captain Duff's frigates and bombs, the destruction of which was one object of their destination. Upon their having a distincter view of our ships, they gave over the chase, and appeared to be forming a line to receive us. From the equality of combatants, we concluded the action would be very great and general ; but I may venture to assert, there was not an Englishman from high to low, who did not assure himself of victory. Upon our advancing, Marshal Conflans changed his plans, and put right before the wind towards the shore, seeking safety in his flight. At this critical time Sir Edward paid no regard to lines of battle ; but every ship was directed to make the best of her way towards the enemy ; the Admiral told his officers he was for the old way of fighting, to make downright work with them. At noon our headmost ships were pretty near them, and between one and two the " Warspite " [Sir John Bentley] and the " Dorsetshire " [Denis] began to fire, and were then abreast of the Cardinal rocks. Presently after, the " Eevenge " [Storr], " Reso- lution " [Speke], "Torbay" [Keppel], " Magnanimc " [Lord Howe], "Swift-sure" [Sir Thomas Stanhope], "Montagu" [Rowley], and " Defiance " [Baird], came into action. The firing now became very alert on both sides, and there was no distinguishing any longer English colours from French. M. Du Verger, the French rear admiral, in the "Formidable " bore a very fierce cannonade from the " Resolution " ; but upon the 406 LIFE OF LOED HAWKE. " Eoyal George's " coming up, they hauled down their flag, and struck to Sir Edward Hawke. This was only a point of honour, the " Eesolution " having the merit of subduing them. The " Royal George " continued advancing, and Sir Edward gave orders to his Master to carry him close alongside of M. Confians in the " Soleil Eoyal." The French admiral seemed to have the same ambition on his part, and it was a glorious sight to behold the blue and white flags, both at the maintopmast-head, bearing down to each other. The " Eoyal George " passed the " Torbay," which was closely engaged with the " Thesee " of 74 guns, and soon after sent that unfortunate ship to the bottom. On the other side was the " Magnanime," who kept an incessant fire on one of the largest of the French ships ["l'Heros"], and in the end obliged her to strike. She afterwards ran ashore and was burnt. The two commanders-in-chief were now very near, and M. Confians gave the English admiral his broadside ; the " Eoyal George " returned the uncivil salutation ; but after two or three exchanges of this kind, the Marshal of France declined the combat, and steered off. The French Vice-admiral [De Beaufremont in "Le Tonnant "] likewise gave Sir Edward his broadside, and soon followed the example of his superior. Another and another acted the same part ; the fifth ship [" Le Superbe "] escaped not so well. Sir Edward poured his whole fire into her at once, and repeating the same, down she went along side of him. The " Eoyal George's " people gave a cheer, but it was a faint one ; the honest sailors were touched at the miserable state of so many hundreds of poor creatures. The blue flag was now encountered with seven ships at the same time, and appeared to be in the very centre of the French rear. Every observer pitied the " Eoyal George," to see her singly engaged against so many of the enemy. It seems indeed a kind of degradation to so noble a ship to be pitied ; but really her situation would have been lamentable if the enemy had preserved any degree of composure, or fired with any sort of direc- tion ; but their confusion was so great, that of many hundreds of shot, I do not believe that more than 30 or 40 struck the ship. Sir Charles Hardy, in the " Union," with the " Mars," " Hero," and several other ships, were crowding to the Admiral's assistance, when the retreat of the French, covered by the obscurity of the evening, put an end to the engagement. Happy circumstance for THE CHAPLAIN'S NAERAT1VE. 407 the enemy, as an hour's daylight more would have brought on their total ruin ! The battle was fought so near the coast of Brittany, that ten thousand persons on the shore were sad witnesses of the white flag's disgrace. When I sat down to write, I intended to have given you only a general account, but upon such an animating occasion as this, there is no possibility of leaving off whilst a margin remains unoc- cupied. We have burnt the " Soleil Eoyal " of 84 brass guns, M. Confians' ship, together with the " Heros " of 74 guns, both which ran ashore near Crozie. We have sunk the "Thesee" of 74, and the " Superbe " of 70 ; we have driven the " Juste " of 70 guns upon the rocks, where she overset ; and have taken the " Formidable " of 80, the French rear-admiral, 62 of whose guns are brass. Ten or eleven other ships were aground, but got off again by throwing their guns and stores overboard. They are now crept into the entrance of the little river Vilaine, where we do not despair of setting them on fire. Whether we succeed in this or not, we have room to believe they have undergone so much damage that few of them will be able to put to sea any more. The rest made their escape the night after the engagement, under the command of Mons. Beaufremont, their vice-admiral, and stretched away for Rochefort. We have had the misfortune to lose the victorious " Resolution" of 74 guns, and the " Essex " of 64 ; the former struck upon a sand called Le Four the night after the battle, and next morning, the " Essex," going down to her relief, unhappily ran upon the same shoal. Our endeavours to get them off were unsuccessful, but we have this consolation, that almost all their people are saved, and are embarked on board the " Formidable." I should be esteemed a very unjust historian if I omitted to make known to you that Captain Denis of the " Dorsetshire," and Captain Speke of the "Resolution," have acquired immortal honour : the Admiral told them in the warmth of his gratitude, they had behaved like angels. I would in this place attempt the most honourable mention of Sir Edward Hawke ; nor would I by any means omit my Lord Howe, and Captain Keppel ; neither should Captain Campbell pass unnoticed, but that there was a certain greatness in their behaviour which exceeds the ability of my pen to celebrate. I have particularized only a few names, as 408 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. some of the ships were more immediately under my observation. There were many others had a considerable share in the action, and will doubtless be honoured by those who were more connected with them. It gives me a most sensible pleasure to assure you that Sir Edward has been very liberal of his praises, without a single imputation to cast a shade upon the triumph of the day. The glory of the British flag has been nobly supported, while that of the enemy is vanished into empty air. The remarkable accuracy of this letter in all main particulars gives it a special value, and suggests a few remarks. As a pendant to the picture presented by the writer of the marks of joy displayed at the prospect of at last bringing the French to action, may be mentioned the ecstatic proceeding of the crew of the "Rochester" frigate, Captain Duff's ship, one of the slower sailers in whose squadron was just within the very jaws of a French 74 when Hawke's fleet was descried from the mast head. They not only gave the accustomed three cheers, but there was " scarce a man but threw his hat overboard as a sort of defiance to the enemy. The other ships of this little fleet followed the example set them by the Commodore's ship."* It may next be remarked that the Chaplain's statement, confirmed by all other good authorities, disposes of that generally copied from Horace Walpole, viz., that only eight ships were engaged in the battle. This is as inaccurate as a great deal of that writer's gossip turns out, when sifted, to be; for there were certainly ten in the action, and it is of a piece with his state- ment that Hawke, when driven off his station to * Beatson, vol. ii. p. 333. CONTEMPORARY CRITICISM. 409 Torbay, had "retired to Gibraltar to refit." But in the case of the " Magnamine " the " Chaplain " hardly does justice to Howe, who led the fleet to battle, who after a fine attempt on the " Formidable," frustrated by two English ships in succession falling foul of him, attacked the " Thesee " (the ship which afterwards, with 800 men, sunk under Keppel's broadsides), and finally engaged the " Heros " till she struck. Also in assigning the merit of the capture of the " For- midable ' to Denis in the " Resolution," he omits to notice the share which Keppel, in the " Torbay," had taken in " silencing ' : her, as Keppel himself claims in his log to have done.* But these are trifling omissions in an account which it is wonderful that any one could have written from his own observa- tions on such an awful day, and sent off before he could well have consulted any but the officers of his own ship. It has been supposed that the French Vice-admiral went off with his squadron to Rochefort, at the time he did, with a design to draw the English ships into the dangers of the narrow passage by which he escaped, and that Hawke's fleet was exposed to the danger of being crushed in detail by these ships if they had doubled back into the Bay.f But that is to suppose a skill and spirit on the part of the French which are quite beyond human nature. The gale was still in its full fury. The Vice-admiral's * Keppel's "Life of Lord Keppel," vol. i. p. 284 f Beatson, vol. ii. p. 331 ; Thackeray's " Life of Chatham," vol. i. p. 451. 410 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. squadron, flying from its enemy, could not by any possibility know, on the morning of the next day, how the English fleet was situated ; and no ships in the world would venture to throw themselves into the midst of a force of twice their number, and already victorious, even though a good deal scattered by the darkness of the night, and by the state of the weather which made it impossible that the Admiral's signal to anchor should be understood. That night was indeed terrible both to the victors and the vanquished. It has been well described in the following words : — The dangers of the coast, the darkness of the night, the fury of the tempest, all united to perplex the scattered fleets both of England and France. Although minute guns were heard on every side, yet none could afford relief to either friend or foe. To the bellowing of the waves from below, and the thunders of heaven from above, was added the constant roar of cannon from the ships.* The Captain Campbell who is quaintly classed with Hawke, Howe, Keppel, Denis, and Speke, as men whose " greatness in their behaviour exceeds the ability of the writer's pen to celebrate," was a very remarkable Scotchman who had risen from the ranks, and about whom many good stories were told. He was a thorough seaman as well as scientific astro- nomer ; and no doubt his cool head and experienced eye were of great service to the Admiral in the supreme hour of trial. He carried home the Des- patches. Many years afterwards, though then an admiral, he volunteered to serve under his old friend * Thackeray's " Chatham," vol. i. p. 451. FINE SPIRIT IN THE FLEET. 411 Keppel as " First Captain," on the celebrated occasion of that officer's command in 1778, and his spirited offer was thankfully accepted. One more incident, or rather accompaniment of this famous battle, which was much talked about, must be mentioned. The gallant Admiral Saunders happened to arrive in the Channel from his distin- guished service at Quebec, just after Hawke had sailed from Torbay; and on hearing of it, without waiting for orders, altered his course and made all sail, along with the rest of his squadron, to join his old friend and fight by his side at Quiberon. He was too late ; but the circumstance was remembered. The remark with which the Chaplain concludes his letter is important and suggestive. "When had a great naval battle been fought without a single Captain being even suspected of misbehaviour, neglect, or cowardice ? We have seen such things in later times, but by no means always. Here is the common mark of identity between the management of fleets by a Hawke and a Nelson. The whole body was animated by one spirit ; and the process by which such a result was attained is obviously traceable. It was felt in the light hand of the skilful rider, the grasp of whose reins was never for a moment relaxed, the perfect example of devotion to duty, the pains bestowed upon little things as well as great, and the resolution that previous counsels, as well as dangers on the day of battle, should be shared by all alike. The necessary Courtsmartial which were held at Quiberon in January 1760, on Captain Lucius O'Brien, 412 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. of the " Essex " and Captain Henry Speke of the " Resolution," for the loss of their ships, issued in their honourable acquittal. They had no pilot, no " Neptune Francais." " There was so much sea that boats could not live in it." " The sea went so high," said O'Brien, " that no boats could come to my assistance." It was a marvel that so many lives were saved. Of the two unhappy French ships that went down in the heavy seaway, under the fire of the " Royal George ,: and the " Torbay," scarcely any of the crews survived. The crews of the other French ships, on the contrary, managed to reach land ; and the escape of the people of " L'Heros," without being surrendered as prisoners who might be exchanged for some of the English from the two wrecked ships, formed the subject of an angry correspondence. A reader acquainted with the subject might be surprised at the non-appearance in this place of the Despatch said to have been transmitted to the French Government by M. de Conflans, giving an account of his defeat with a plausible audacity which throws Napoleon's bulletins into the shade. It was printed by Campbell, Beatson, and other writers of the period, while Smollet scornfully threw the discredit of it on the shoulders of the French Government ; but a note in the "Gentleman's Magazine" for 1781 declared the letter to be "spurious, being a jeu d' esprit of an officer of the 'Torbay'"; which is indeed by far the most probable account of it. It is a pity to load with further disgrace the memory of a man who is sufficiently condemned by THE FRENCH COMMANDERS. 413 his own countrymen. " This deplorable catastrophe," says M. Martin, " consummated the humiliation of France. The navy, whose honour had hitherto been intact, fell to the level of the land forces. The cor- ruption, effeminacy, and selfishness of the Court now penetrated the military, and then carried away the naval, nobility." One of the three admirals, however, M. Du Verger, deserved to rank with the best officers ; for he fought the " Formidable ' against overwhelm- ing odds, and fell at his post like a gallant Frenchman. Conflans had also hitherto proved himself one of the best men the French navy possessed. If the naval Commander-in-chief did not shine upon this occasion, what shall we say of the commander of the forces ? This was the Due d'Aiguillon, one of the most notorious characters of the period. He was as yet rather favourably known to the English ; for it was no business of theirs that he excited ridicule by witnessing, from the safe elevation of a distant wind- mill, the defeat of the English rear-guard at St. Cas by the troops he commanded — " vainqueur malgrk hit " ; and he had shown great courtesy to the officers who had been taken prisoners on that occasion. If he was nothing else, he was a man of the most imposing presence, and possessed of all the arts which found favour at the French Court. On the present occasion Sir Edward Hawke had written to him, begging that he would cause enquiry to be made for the Lieutenant and boat's crew of the " Essex " who had been driven on shore, and for the men belonging to the " Resolution," who had deserted the 414 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. ship on a raft, — in order that they might be exchanged with the prisoners he had taken in the "Formidable." Lord Howe had been the medium of communication, and everything was satisfactorily arranged ; but when the English Admiral had sent his prisoners on shore on parole, he was surprised to find that no English- men were delivered up according to the agreement, especially as one at least of them was known to be imprisoned. Still further, more than a fortnight had elapsed, and none of the crew of "L'Heros," the ship which had struck to Howe, had been surrendered. Of this Hawke complained to the Duke, on Decem- ber 8th, in the most courteous terms. In the mean- time he had sent Captain Ourry, of the " Actaaon " frigate, to recover the guns of " L'Heros" ; and he, having been fired upon during the operation, had returned the fire, and burnt part of the town of Crozic. The Duke had replied on December 11th to Hawke's letter, justifying the action of his officers in firing on the ship, complaining of the fire being returned, and making the attempt to recover the guns an excuse for not complying with the terms agreed upon. This was too much for the Admiral, who replied with a severity far from undeserved, and in a style wholly foreign to his nature, but evidently assumed for the occasion : — " Eotal George," 12th December, 1759. I have the honour of your Grace's letter of the 11th inst. in answer to which I beg leave to acquaint you that Captain Ourry has acted entirely by my order, and that I approve of what he has done. His manifesto, of which your Grace has transmitted THE DUO D'AIGUILLON. 415 me a copy, is sufficient proof of his humanity and the tenderness of my orders, which were not to fire unless he should be fired upon. Without further recollection I need only have recourse to my letter to your Grace of the 29th November by Loi'd Howe, with regard to the " Heros." My words are, " I therefore claim these officers and men prisoners, and expect from your Grace's known honour that they will be delivered up to me." The hull and guns were not mentioned ; for the first I had set on fire, and the second I look on as in my own power to recover. Let me further beg your Grace to look over the agreement you signed with Lord Howe. Is the artillery so much as mentioned in it ? No ; every article I have strictly observed ; exchanged seamen, released officers, soldiers, and militia, on the terms of the Cartel, and sent the Gardes Marines on shore on parole. I could not help being- surprised- that no notice was taken in that agreement of the claims of the " Heros' " officers and men, and was answered : — that matter belonged to another department, not to your Grace's, which occasioned my writing to you again on that subject. I can only further assure your Grace that had a captain of a British man-of-war under my command begged quarter and surrendered to the French, and afterwards run away with his ship, in open breach of the rules of war, I would have immediately delivered up the ship with the commander to have been treated as the forfeiture of his honour deserved. The same I should have ex- pected from the Due d'Aiguillon, if I did not consider him the subject of a State in which the will of the monarch constitutes right and wrong. I assure your Gratfe, upon my honour, that I never heard of any memorial to be presented to the Admiralty of England, who have no concern in matters of this kind. By the bounty of the King British seamen are entitled to everything surrendered by, and taken from, an enemy in war. In their names, and for their benefit, I shall endeavour to recover the " Heros' " guns, as also those of the " Soleil Royal," which was deserted and left to our mercy. The delivery of the officers and men is all that depends at present on the honour of your Court ; the artillery are within our reach. Our endeavours to take them away being justifi- able, I was in hopes would not have been interrupted ; but since your Grace and the Marquis de Broc have thought fit to fire on 416 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. my ships, I shall take as severe a revenge as I can, as soon as I receive supplies from Bi'itain. For I came out near eight months ago, only furnished with orders to decide the fate of the two nations with M. de Conflans on the open sea ; but when we met, as he did not choose to stay for me, he has thereby changed the nature of my military opera- tions, and reduced me to the necessity — entirely repugnant to my natural disposition — of sending fire and sword into that country from whence your Grace, with forty battalions under your com- mand, by the authenticated instructions of Marshal Belleisle, was to have spread the most dreadful calamities of war in Great Britain or Ireland. I cannot persuade myself your Grace could be serious when you termed my enterprises irregular. It was merriment ; and I shall not be surprised, if in the same gaiete du cceur, I should be accused of having acted irregularly in attacking M. de Conflans, after a chase of 20 leagues in the open sea, within your islands and on your coast, and in setting fire to the " Soleil Royal." As an individual I honour and respect the Due d'Aiguillon : as commander of a British squadron against a declared enemy I strictly obey the orders of the great King, my Master ; only following my own judgment as circumstances may alter. I have the honour to be, with the most profound respect and regard, your Grace's most humble and most obedient servant, Edward Hawke.* It has been the more necessary to copy this letter, since, though correctly given in Beatson's collection (with a few slight verbal errors), there is another version among the Hawke MSS., which appears to have been circulated in English newspapers, and which, being apparently drawn from a confused memory, aided by a lively imagination, is a coarse and inferior production. Of the Duke, when he became more known in later * Hawke Papers. BRITISH FLEET HALF STARVED. 417 years, there was, if we may trust the "Annual Register " and Walpole's works, but one opinion. He was an "undisguised profligate, proud, ambitious, vindictive, void of honour or principle." " His mal- administration of Brittany was an appropriate prelude to his career as President of the Council. In both offices he incurred almost universal hatred and con- tempt." His shocking treatment of the virtuous M. de Chalotais, and his close alliance with the in- famous Du Barri, were perhaps the points which excited most indignation in England, but the above correspondence indicates with tolerable certainty the character of the man who was afterwards to display it on a larger scale. Hawke's subsequent letters from Quiberon dwell on the failure of supplies of provisions and all necessaries from England, which was partly perhaps owing to the Easterly gales, but no doubt also to the neglect which had so often been exposed. He is obliged to remon- strate with the officer in charge at Plymouth for sending out several ships unfit for service, and on board of them fourscore of the " Ramilies' " company. These poor fellows had been cruising near seven months, and wanted rest and refresh- ment. I desire you will not break in upon her crew, as you must thereby disable her at a time when she is much wanted. But by the error of the officer these men's lives were saved ; for two months later the " Ramilies " was wrecked with nearly all hands. The distressing want of provisions here described, occurring so soon 27 418 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. after a great victory, was the origin of the well-known epigram : — Ere Hawke did bang Monsieur Conflans, You sent us beef and beer ; Now Monsieur's beat We 've nought to eat, Since you have nought to fear. Hawke's health was now failing. Writing on December 16th, he says : — I have now been thirty-one weeks on board, without setting my foot on shore, and cannot expect that my health will hold out much longer. I therefore hope to be relieved. It will be remembered that he had already broken down more than once. It was not however till January 17th, 1760, that he returned to England with his victorious fleet. Meanwhile the most rapturous expressions of joy at the glorious conclusion of a long suspense which had sorely tried the English temper, had broken out, on the arrival of the good news, in every form of bonfire and illumination known to the age. No victory during the war came home to the people so much in the light of a deliverance as this : others had conquered, Hawke had saved. All their late alarms were forgotten ; and perhaps till the time of Nelson (unless the rejoicings on Rodney's victory are to be excepted), no one more distinctly received the acclamations which answered to the military triumph of the Romans. The cases of Vernon and Keppel, who were the momentary idols of the mob, cannot be considered as exceptions : for the one lost his petty wreath of laurels as soon as he had gained REJOICINGS IN ENGLAND. 419 them, and the feeling about the other was a mere per- sonal and political enthusiasm for a favourite admiral, who was considered to have been persecuted by poli- tical opponents. Yet if we were to judge by the signboards still existing on public-houses, those are the only English admirals, besides Nelson, who have ever sustained the honour of their country. The first letter Hawke must have received was the follow- ing from Lord Anson : — Admiralty, Dear Sir Edward, December 1st, 1759. I have the utmost satisfaction in assuring you that the arrival of Captain Campbell with the good news of the success and glory which has just crowned your long and worthy labours for the public service has given the most general joy and satis- faction here. His Majesty extremely approves every part of your conduct, and the behaviour of your whole fleet, and is fully satis- fied that nothing was omitted which could be done to gain and improve the victory. It is his gracious intention to recompense a service of so much honour and importance. I am authorized by the Duke of Newcastle to acquaint you that a Grant is proposed and agreed to, of fifteen hundred pounds per annum, to you and your family for thirty-one years, the longest term the King can grant,* &c, &c. This sum was increased to £2,000 a year, and assigned for the lives of the Admiral's two sons. On the 21st he was received at Court in the most marked manner, the King " meeting him as he entered the room, and thanking him for the services he had rendered his country." On the 28th he received the thanks of the House of Commons. The Speaker made use during his speech of the following expressions : — " Your expedition was for the nearest and most affecting * Hawke Papers. 27 * 420 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. concern to us — the immediate defence of His Majesty's kingdoms against a disappointed and enraged enemy, meditating in their revenge our destruction at once. Your trust, therefore, Sir, was of the highest nature ; but to which your characters of courage, fidelity, vigilance, and abilities, were known to be equal. You soon freed us from fears .... You have overawed the enemy in their ports, in their chief naval force ; till shame or perhaps desperation, brought them forth at last. You fought them, subdued them, and in their confusion and dismay, made those who would escape to seek their security in flight and disgrace. Thus their long preparing invasion was then broken and dispelled ; which cannot but bring to our re- membrance the design and the fate of another Armada in a former age of glory, where defeat was at that time the safety of England, and the lasting renown of the English navy." Hawke replied in the usual modest terms. The following short note from the aged and famous Lord Granville, may perhaps have touched him as much as this expression of national gratitude : — Lord Granville sends his compliments to Sir Edward Hawke, and congratulates him on his safe arrival after a long, laborious, glorious, and ever-memorable campaign, for which service his country cannot be too grateful.* Another letter, a child's scrawl, written in pencil, and traced over in ink, has also been preserved : — Sir Edward Hawke, I hear you have beat the French fleet when they were coming to kill us, and that one of your Captains twisted a French * Hawke Papers. INADEQUATE REWARD TO HAWKE. 421 ship round till it sunk. I wish you was come home, for I intend to go to sea if you will take me with you. I am Lord Granby's second son, Charles Manners.* It is curious that this charming letter should be signed by "Charles" Manners who was the eldest son, and became Duke of Rutland. The second son of the famous Lord Granby was Robert, who went to sea, and was killed in Rodney's action in 1782. He must have been the writer. Perhaps the boys quar- relled over the childish effusion ; one wrote and the other signed ; or possibly the tracing of the ink was in fault. The monument to the gallant Lord Robert and his comrades in Westminster Abbey is familiar to all Englishmen. The subsequent grants of a Peerage to officers for services almost infinitely below those which Hawke had performed, made during the century and a quarter which has since passed, must naturally raise the question why nothing of the sort seems to have been thought of in this case. It could not be for want of precedents, when we consider the cases of Lords Torrington and Anson; nor for want of means to support the rank; for, highminded as Hawke had always proved himself, he had made some prize- money, had a fortune of his own, and the pension now assigned him went far in those days. We are driven to attribute what was certainly disgraceful to the Government, to Hawke' s simple-minded abstinence from all political intrigue and self-assertion, on the * Hawke Papers. 422 LIFE OP LORD HAWKE. one hand, and to the enemies his straightforward conduct had made at the Admiralty and elsewhere, on the other. We have discussed his relations with Pitt, with whom he was certainly not a favourite ; nor was Anson, after all that had passed, at all likely to be an ardent friend in a matter of this sort : and the excuse was at hand that Boscawen and Saunders might think themselves ill used if Hawke were made a peer. Yet he was not only their senior, but, as we have seen, their services could not be compared with his. It was not for seventeen years that the Government did at last what ouafht to have been done at first. Two interesting circumstances are connected with the honours and the pension conferred on Hawke. The Address of the Speaker and the Admiral's answer excited such public interest that it was printed in the London newspapers. As the struggle for the publication of debates, the success of which formed the most useful result of all the confusion caused by Wilkes' turbulent career, had not yet commenced, and the House still jealously guarded its privileges, the printers of all these newspapers had to beg pardon on their knees at the bar of the House, and to pay their fees. The other incident does credit to the Irish people, with whom Hawke had not the remotest connection except by his public services. The Pension had been assigned on the Irish Revenues ; and it was thought appropriate because the invasion had been understood to be directed against that island, though some French authors believe that it was really intended for Scotland. TREATMENT 0E HAWKE BY HISTORIANS. 423 It was the only pension which had been granted on that establishment for several years that the Irish deemed founded on the claim of merit. Indeed they expressed themselves very fully on this subject on a subsequent occasion ; for in a few years afterwards, when there was an enquiry set on foot respecting the pension-list, the most zealous promoters of it declared with one voice that the Pension granted to Sir Edward Hawke was clearly excluded fi-oin the object of their enquiry ; agreeing that nothing gave them so much satisfaction as that it was in the power of their country to promote the domestic happiness of so distin- guished a hero, to whom every part of the British Empire was under such infinite obligations. If we mistake not, when the Bill passed for laying a tax of four shillings in the pound upon pensions, that granted to Sir Edward Hawke was expressly excepted.* It may also be mentioned that the City of Cork was the first to display its appreciation of Hawke' s merits by presenting him, in March 1760, with the Freedom of the City in a gold box. The whole conduct of this great admiral, in every step of the process which led to the Victory of Quiberon, has now come before us. Let us compare with the facts which have been presented the verdict of that admirable historian, the late Lord Stanhope, who (surely from the absence of any Life of Hawke) had formed an idea of our hero wholly below the true standard. That, in notices of him previous to this date, the historian should have failed to detect the elements of independent greatness in the Admiral would create no surprise, — for the general absence of such appreciation has been sufficiently accounted for in these pages. But for the purpose of glorifying * "Westminster Magazine," November, 1781. 424 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. Pitt, the historian has not been justified, even by the opinions of contemporary admirers of that wonderful man, in merging the Admiral's share of the final victory in that of the Minister. We have seen how resolved Pitt was that Hawke should have his chance of destroying Conflans, but we have not seen the slightest indication that Hawke himself doubted for a moment that it was not only possible, but his duty, to keep the sea, even through the storms of winter, and that he should soon be able to "make downright work of it." His whole correspondence, as far as it bears on this subject, is before the reader : nothing has been concealed. But what are Lord Stanhope's words ? Describing the dangers of the French coast, and giving credit to the Admiral for braving them, he remarks : — Had Sir Edward Hawke desired to retire without striking a blow, he would not have wanted strong arguments to justify his conduct, and no doubt, had there still been a Prime Minister like Newcastle [he was Prime Minister in name] there would have been no lack of admirals like Byng. But it is the peculiar glory of Pitt — and a praise which all parties have concurred in award- ing him — that he could impress his own energy on every branch of the public service ; that under his direction our chiefs, both by land and sea, viewed obstacles as he did — only as a spur to exertion, and as an enhancement of fame.* On this it is a duty to remark that judging Hawke by the first battles he fought, in the earlier war, there is not the smallest reason to suspect him of requiring the " impression ' : of any other person's " energy " upon him ; judging by his conduct in the Seven # « History of England," vol. iv. p. 169. CONSEQUENCES OP HIS VICTOEY. 425 Years' War, there is not the slightest evidence of any deterioration. He of all men least required any " spur to exertion," and least paid attention to any " enhancement of fame." It will not be open to any future historian to indulge in these depreciatory expressions. No such remarks, it may be observed, accompany the notices of Hawke in Hervey's contemporary " Naval History," now a rare book. In speaking of the victory of Quiberon won by " this intrepid son of Neptune, the impetuosity of whose courage equals anything recorded of the boldest of our naval heroes," he says he was perhaps the only commander that had been in the service of England since the days of Blake that would have engaged the French under the circumstances of situation and weather in which he then was. And again : — There was indeed something so bold and daring in his conduct that past times may be searched in vain to produce a like instance of heroism in a large fleet.* And the contemporary historians not only tell us that this victory gave the finishing blow to the naval power of France during the remainder of the war, but describe its immediate effects — coming so soon after the Battle of Minden — on the whole position of France, how the public credit of the nation now collapsed, how the Court stopped payment of interest on twelve different branches of the National Debt, and how the ordinary necessities of Government were alone supplied by the contributions of plate and * Vol. v. pp. 191, 581. 426 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. money procured from private individuals, very much after the manner of the old English " Benevolence." In describing the part taken by our hero in the glories of 1750, the annus mi nihil is, there must be no disparagement of his splendid band of colleagues, any more than of the great Minister without whose able combinations, spirit, and fortitude, these instru- ments could never have effected their great work of founding the Empire. It is a glorious galaxy, and the nation felt and appreciated its merits on the whole. Nothing shows the mind of the age more than its poems and ballads. This Chapter shall con- clude with a selection from them. The first, in imitation of an Ode of Horace, is from the " Gentle- man's Magazine " of 1760 : — What glorious deeds Boscawen grace ! And Hawke the ennobler of his race ; Thy ships with boasted vengeance fraught, Through tempests he undaunted sought : See ! See ! those ships or fly or burn, Or shrink, Vilaine, within thy urn. The second was composed by Paul Whitehead, and sung by Mr. Beard, at the Theatre Royal, Co vent Garden, in the character of a Recruiting Serjeant, in December 1759. In story we 're told how our monarchs of old O'er France spread their royal domain, But no annals can show their pride laid so low As when brave George the Second did reign. Of Koman and Greek let fame no more speak How their arms the old world did subdue, Through the nations around let our trumpets now sound, How Britons have conquered the new. POETICAL EFFUSIONS. 427 East, West, North, and South, our cannons' loud mouth Shall the right of our monarch maintain ; On America's strand Amherst limits the land, Boscawen gives law on the main. Each port and each town we still make our own, Cape Breton, Crown Point, Niagar, Griadaloupe, Senegal, Quebec's mighty fall, Shall prove we 've no equal in war. Though Conflans did boast he 'd conquer our coast, Our thunder soon made Monsieur mute ; Brave Hawke winged his way, then pounced on his prey, And gave him an English salute. At Minden you know how we conquered the foe, While homeward then army now steals, " Though," they cried, " British bands are too hard for our hands, Begar, we can beat them in heels." While our heroes from home, for laurels now roam, Should the fiat-bottomed boats but appear, Our militia shall show, no wooden-shoed foe Can with freemen in battle compare. Our fortunes and lives, our children and wives, To defend is the time now or never ; Then let each volunteer to the drum-head repair : King George and old England for ever. Of all the exploits which justified this and similar outbursts of national exultation, the Victory of Quiberon was by far the greatest. The author of the " Life of Lord Keppel," who was assisted by the experienced hand of the present Admiral of the Fleet, Sir Henry Keppel, G.C.B., observes that "all other achievements were eclipsed by Hawke's splendid action, by which the French maritime power was completely destroyed. Never had this country a prouder pre- 428 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. eminence than at the period when George the Third ascended the throne." * One more effusion of the period may conclude this Chapter. It has perhaps less claim to poetical merit than even the foregoing: but the circumstances of its composition must plead for its admission. It seems to have been circulated as a broadsheet of the day. THE GEEAT FIFTY-NINE : OR, ADMIRAL HAWKE'S VICTORY OVER THE GRAND FRENCH FLEET COMMANDED BY MARSHAL CONFLANS OFF BELLEISLE, NOVEMBER 20TH, 1759. Written on board the " Royal George" at sea. Ye stout British tars, ever firm in the wars, Your deeds shall in history shine ; For no annals can show a more glorious blow, Than brave Hawke"s in the Great Fifty-nine. All rivals for fame at so noble a game, Swift o'er the rough waves we advance ; Fresh laiu-els in view, with ardour we flew, To strike the swelled topsails of France. Sec Keppel and Speke, toil and glory they seek, Eesolved every danger to face ; Whilst Denis and Howe fearless rush on the foe, Hawke leading the spirited chase. Now the culverins roar, re-echoed from shore, Fate waits on the dubious fray ; Our Rear, a bold train, every canvas they strain, To share the renown of the day. * Vol. i. 296, 297. "the great fifty-nine." 429 Hostile rocks round us lay, yet we pressed on our prey, In so mighty a cause at a venture ; They trembled with awe, as soon as they saw The famed " Royal George "* in their centre. Conflans crowded sail, but it would not avail, His ship she lies blazing on shore ; The Marshal 's undone, and the proud " Royal Sun " f Is set, not to rise any more. Away they all scout, 'tis a general rout, That ill with their vaunting agrees ; Six capital \ sail, sad victims they fall. The rest Hy dismayed o'er the seas. Though the rude billows raged, yet so close we engaged, That rarely a shot was misplaced ; The troops on the land, chill'd with horror they stand, To see the White Flag so disgraced. No longer they '11 boast of descents on our coast, The bright Queen of the Main to reduce ; The fair English Rose, more lovely it blows, While droops the faint Flower de Luce. Each generous heart played so gallant a part, That glory has crowned our endeavours ; And what is still more, the lasses on shore, Will esteem us deserving their favours. * Hawke's flag-ship. f Conflans' flag-ship. I " Capital" was the word used at this period to denote line-of- battle ships as distinguished from smaller vessels. 430 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. CHAPTER XIII. LAST SERVICES. The remaining services of our Admiral during the war are void of any special interest. The consequences of his own victory left him no more to do than Nelson would have found had he survived Trafalgar. The runaway ships in the Vilaine had to be blocked up, as they could not be destroyed ; and this work was assigned to Boscawen, [while Hawke was allowed to remain at home for several months to recruit his health. Two or three characteristic touches alone require to be extracted from the correspondence of this period. Professional readers may care to know that the Admiral, being called upon to report as to the per- formance, in the late battle, of the new locks and tubes supplied to guns, reports that iu the engagement of the 20th of November I had demonstration of tin tubes being very pernicious things. One carried away two fingers of a man's hand in the " Royal George," and others pene- trated far into the decks and beams over the guns in which they were used. Locks in my opinion do not answer in an engage- PROGRESS OF NAVAL GUNNERY. 431 ruent though they may be of use iu a chase. Flannel cartridges must be of the greatest utility, and also tin cases filled with shot of 6 or 8 oz. for Upper and Quarter Deck guns. Here we see the progress of modern gunnery. The tin tubes had to give way to quill, and locks to become mechanically improved so as to be useful for something more than chase-guns. Canister shot and the flannel cartridges which it seems difficult to imagine as not having existed ever since bows and arrows gave place to artillery, now found their way into the service. The " Ramilies," Hawke's old flagship, was lost in February, and we find him applying to the Admiralty for aid to four poor, unhappy women, widows of warrant officers of the late " Ramilies." They are left destitute of everything, and both they and their children must infallibly starve unless the Board will commiserate their unfortunate situation. A difficulty arises as to a Spanish ship which tried to break the blockade, and which, like the Dutch and Swedes, Hawke had ordered to be searched and sent off the coast. This, in the delicate relations existing at the moment with Spain, was a very different matter from the Dutch or Swedish difficulty, and the Admi- ralty were shabby enough, now the danger had passed away, to try and saddle their admiral with the respon- sibility. He writes on May olst : — As soon as I can get a little better health I intend going to Town, when I flatter myself that I shall convince Lord Anson that I did no more in this affair than what became an officer in my situation. Once more he hoists his flag on board the " Royal Greorge." This was in August, 1760. Soon after- 432 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. wards he returns to the hard case of the Masters and their claim for Pilotage. He pleads " the great fatigue and pains which the Masters who conducted squadrons on that dangerous station " had undergone. No attention had been paid to his former application, nor is the provisioning of the fleet any better than ever, after all that had taken place. On September 4th he once more arrives at Quiberon. The Government had now determined, not only to establish a permanent blockading force in those Roads, but to obtain possession of Belleisle itself. Pitt was bent on this acquisition. His real motive was to obtain a sort of perpetual trophy of the Victory of Quiberon, a convenient support for blockading fleets, and a set-off against Minorca whenever the Peace should be debated ; but he treated it in the Council as a new method of making a diversion in favour of Frederick. Walpole asserts that both Boscawen and Hawke had this very year, successively, reported against the practicability of taking the island; but that seems unlikely, as Keppel, whom Pitt destined for the attack, was ordered to fit out a squadron for the purpose, and to place himself under Hawke's orders ; and the following letter to Hawke from Anson, which contains the first intimation of Pitt's design, treats the Admiral with the most entire confidence in his approval : it is undated, but cannot be later than October, 17G0 : — Sib, The situation of the King's affairs in Germany requiring a diversion to be made on the enemy's coasts, His Majesty's ser- KEPPEL AND HODGSON AT BELLEISLE. 433 vants have considered which may be the properest place for that purpose, and examined Mr. Keppel who, having been lately in the Bay, had an opportunity of making the observations which I send herewith on part of the coast of the Isle of Belleisle, which 'tis thought may be attacked with the best prospects of success ; and the King as well as his servants reposing great confidence in you, I have it in command to let you know that a very con- siderable body of troops, with a train of artillery, are collecting together, and transports ready to embark them whenever it shall be thought proper. Wherefore you are desired to use every means in your power to inform yourself how near ships can lay to batter the several works in the sandy bays of Belleisle men- tioned by Mr. Keppel, and what depth of water there is close to the shore, and to ascertain the distance of the citadel from the said sandy bays. You will also inform yourself whether troops can be landed at Lomanie or any other part of the island besides those described in Mr. Keppel's paper, and how far they may be from the Citadel. ... I hope it is needless for me to repeat the confidence that is reposed in you on this occasion, and the neces- sity there is for the strictest secrecy.* It has been generally stated that the death of the old King, which took place on October 27th, put a sudden stop to these preparations ; but it was in reality the lateness of the season. Among the Hawke Papers are the Secret Instructions transmitted to the Admiral by Pitt, and signed by the young King on November 17th, three weeks afcer he had ascended the throne. These Instructions require Hawke to afford every assistance to Keppel and General Kingsley in their attack on, and occupation of, Belleisle, to protect the expedition from annoyance by the enemy in any quarter, and to keep up a cordial understanding with the General. There was a difference here as to the * Anson Correspondence. 28 434 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. relations between Keppel and his chief, which dis- tinguishes the position from that which had in 1758, given such offence to Hawke in the case of Howe ; though perhaps a distinction not so clear as he might have desired. These Instructions however came to nothing. The expedition was on the point of sailing, but was counterordered at the last moment, and broken up in December ; nor was it resumed till March of the following year, when Hawke had left the station. There was no longer by that time any French force in the Vilaine, and nothing, therefore, to interfere with the brilliant success attained under the excellent joint combinations of Keppel and General Hodgson, credit- able to both alike. One concluding word is required as to this King, whose death carried with it great issues. Enough has been said above in relation to George the Second, and the personal influence he exercised in elevating his country out of the depressed state into which it had fallen in the first half of the century. So studiously has he been disparaged in modern times, chiefly in consequence of the publication of Lord Hervey's and Horace Wal- pole's Memoirs, that it is difficult to believe, when we turn to the pages of contemporary writers, that they are speaking of the same man with ourselves. Among the former there is one general echo of the praises of " this great prince," and how " he lived to see the British name, under his auspices, advanced to the highest pitch of dignity and grandeur." He had " added to the Crown of Great Britain the riches of the American fisheries, the hostile territories taken from the French in North America, the sugar-islands of Guada- loupe and its dependencies, the gum trade of Africa, and the GEORGE II. AND LOUIS XV. COMPARED. 435 greatest and most improvable commerce in the Asiatic regions." " His conquests eclipsed those of our Henrys and Edwards."* Even those who most praised the administration of Pitt, never allowed the merits of the King to be for- gotten ; nor should they be forgotten. Monarchy was a practical and operative fact in the last century ; and the different fate of England and France was correctly typified by the different characters of George the Second and Louis the Fifteenth. In the morality of their private life there was not much difference; but in all that goes to make a useful head of a nation there was no comparison. The Sybarite who left his people to be governed by his mistresses and their minions deserved to fail ; and his too-loyal subjects, treasuring up, however, the day of vengeance, were the sufferers. The punctual, business-like, courageous, straightforward Sovereign of a free people deserved to win. Private retribution did indeed follow private delinquencies. He paid the penalty of his immorality in the family troubles which never deserted his palace. To the subject of our Memoir his death must have been the loss of a personal friend, or at least patron. Hawke had probably been pulled through more difficulties than he knew by the sense that was generally entertained of the old King's good feeling towards the man he is said to have called " my Captain." In the correspondence sub- sequent to the date of the King's death there is certainly an indication of a change in Hawke's rela- * Entick's " History of the War," vol. v. p. 80. 28 * 436 LIFE OP LORD HAWKE. tions with the Admiralty. His wishes about the relief of his ships, and the keeping up of their proper force, are no longer attended to. He detects a gross impo- sition in the sale of a French frigate to the Spaniards, but the Admiralty, no doubt for political reasons, do not support him. He is again thirty weeks out, and "his health is much impaired."* At last, on March 11th, 1761, he strikes his flag once more, and goes into the country " for the recovery of his health." The object of keeping so large a fleet in Quiberon Bay had passed away ; for the few remaining ships which had taken refuge in the Yilaine in 1759, and not been broken up, escaped, by the advantage of a dark night and the blunder of the guard-ships which should have detected them, to Brest in January, 1761. The capture of the island of Dumet by Lord Howe, under Hawke's orders, is the only incident of this long and weary service noticed in the Despatches or con- temporary books ; and that was only of importance because it supplied the blockading fleet with water, and rendered it so far independent. An absurd remark of Campbell'sf on the "inac- tivity " of Hawke's squadron in 1761, has been suffi- ciently met by CharnockjJ and scarcely requires notice in this place. He had no instructions to make descents * " Sir Cloudesley Shovel said that an admiral would deserve to be broke who kept great ships out after the end of September, and to be shot, after the end of October. There is Hawke in the Bay- weathering this winter, after conquering in a storm." — Walpole's "Letters " (Cunningham), Jan, 14th, 1760. t " Lives of the Admirals," vol. iv. p. 180. J Vol. iv. p. 289 hawke's "inactivity." 437 on the French coast, a policy which, though the French were forced to keep troops ready in case of such descents, Pitt had now relinquished ; and the attack on Belleisle was, as we have seen, being a Commodore's command, placed in other hands. He performed the service on which he was sent. The " public " may or may not, as Campbell states, have felt "general surprise and indignation " at the return of the squadron ; but his remark is unsupported, and it seems most improbable, since Hawke's orders were perfectly well known ; nor was Keppel's appointment to attack Belleisle ever taken as a slur upon the Admiral. His rank entitled him to command against fleets, and there were none left to fight. We have seen that Hawke had enemies : they probably found access to Dr. Campbell. Perhaps the best answer to such remarks is that within a few weeks of the return which caused " surprise and indignation," Hawke was unanimously elected and sworn an Elder Brother of the Trinity House, and next month received the freedom of the City of Dublin in a gold box. It remains to be said that the year 1760 afforded a remarkable contrast to 1759, and that this was the natural effect of the completeness of the conquests of the last-named year. Rodney, keeping watch over Havre, was successful in destroying the remainder of the flat-bottomed boats which had threatened the English coast ; the conquest of Canada was assured by the capture of Montreal ; and a few single actions of ships, like those which marked the expiring efforts of the French after 1805, served to display the spirit 488 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. which had been so brilliantly exhibited in the battles of the previous years. France was completely ex- hausted ; and in England the question of Peace was uppermost from the moment of the young King's Accession. From that moment the speculation, cha- racterized by the phraseology which the new develop- ment of coal fuel suggested, — whether the machinery of government was to be supplied with Scotch coal, Newcastle coal, or pit-coal, whether the country was to be governed by Bute, Newcastle, or Pitt, was the leading feature of English politics, and it carried with it the question of peace or war. Neither France nor England were, however, perfectly serious in the diplo- matic conferences which began to be held. The English were still under the magic influence of Pitt, and by no means felt their new empire secure. The French had one last card to play, and in 1761. they succeeded in playing it. The war was in fact to end as it had begun in 1739. The Spaniards were once more to be principals. Spain, nearly at the end of her resources in 1748, had been glad to make peace at that date; and, though entirely sympathizing with the French when the war broke out afresh, and only restrained from trying her fortunes once more by the prudence of Wall, the Prime Minister, supported by the Queen who ruled Spain during the closing years of the imbecile Fer- dinand the Sixth, she was now betrayed by the new sovereign into a further step towards ruin. This was the late King's half-brother, Charles the Third of Naples, who became at the death of Ferdinand, in 1759, THE NEW SPANISH WAE. 439 Charles the Third of Spain. His weakness in suffer- ing his new kingdom to be made the catspaw of France — partly the result of gratitude for French assistance in re-arranging the Bourbon thrones in Italy, but still more of the festering grudge entertained ever since the summary proceedings of Mathews and Martin at Naples in 1742 — proves how even a good and respectable King may be a damnosa hereditas to his subjects. His policy however fell in only too well with the passions of those subjects, and with the alarm they felt at the enormous progress which England had lately made, at the expense of France, in North America and the West Indies. As to the character of Charles the Third of Spain, so much eulogised by Lord Stanhope,* there is much to be said on the other side, even in reference to his domestic Government. It is an immortal honour to have abolished torture, checked the Inquisition, and en- couraged national enterprise ; but a man whose over- whelming interests were centered in field-sports could not be expected to take a large view of affairs. t He * " History of England," vol. iv. p. 184. t In a trustworthy report of a conversation with Mr. Harris, afterwards the celebrated Lord Malrnesbury, in 1777, that wise ambassador, who had recently left Madrid, described the Spanish King as follows : — " He has no extraordinary reach of capacity, is no plotter against other people's peace or his own, but is decent in every department, with sense enough to fill all his public functions with a sense of dignity, yet entirely given up to field-sports, the ladies, and praying. In conversation he is affable, and even agreeable, but above all things, decent : nay, I may say that on 440 LIFE OP LORD HAWKE. was no sooner seated on his throne than the full battery of Bourbon family influence was turned upon him, and the new Family Compact of 1761 was, after incessant efforts, the result. The work of Cardinal Fleury was now completed. The brilliant prospects opened up by the acquisition of Lorraine, the settlement of the Bourbons on the Italian thrones, and the Family Compact of 1733, which was to ensure the salvation of Spain and her co-operation with France for ever, — so that, as Louis Quatorze once said, there should no longer be any Pyrenees, — were now crowned by a fresh and far more important Compact. But for Spain this was an anachronism ; and the new King, who showed so many good qualities, would have served his country better had he possessed all the bad qualities in the world, and refused to listen to the Marquis de Choiseul. The two wars, culminating in 1759, had placed all parties in a totally different position from that which they had previously held. The Colonial Empire of France, which had been the grand object of the French in formerly coming to the assistance of Spain, had collapsed like a child's castle of cards ; and the warriors formed under Pitt's administration were perfectly capable of adding to the British conquests the whole of what was left to Spain. That she saved any portion of the wreck was due to the intestine struggles which accompanied the accession of George every occasion he conducts himself with the strictest propriety. He is remarkably fond of shooting, and will on no occasion sacrifice that amusement to business." — MS. penes auctorem. LAST SEA SERVICE. 441 the Third, and the remarkable forbearance which signalised the British negotiations for peace. All through the year 1761 the armaments of Spain had excited the remonstrances of Pitt, and being perfectly assured that her fresh alliance with France was virtually formed, he insisted on a Declaration of War which might forestal her hostile action. The Bute interest prevailed against him ; and in October he resigned. It soon transpired that the Spanish Court, as Pitt well knew, had only been waiting for the arrival of the galleons, and that the Compact, which it was vainly attempted to keep secret, had then been instantly signed. By the end of the year the breach between Spain and Great Britain was publicly declared ; the Declaration of War had to be made in January 1762; and the designs' of Spain upon Portugal, assistance in which had been the immediate bribe held out by France, were disclosed by a perfectly uu justifiable Declaration of War against that peaceable Power by the two Courts. The British forces were now to be ranged in defence of their faithful ally, and Hawke was called for the last time from his retirement. Hoisting his flag at Spithead on April 27th, 1762, our Admiral's position seems to be very much like what it had been at the opening of the war in 1755. He is the visible representative of the Admiralty, arranging for the distribution of the home fleet, suggesting plans for blockading Dunkirk and Brest, providing convoys, expediting transports, and press- ing seamen. The bustle all around him is not indeed 442 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. so intense or so wild as at the former period, for there is no longer any confusion or alarm : but great arma- ments have been already despatched, and others are proceeding. The resignation of Pitt had certainly not affected the vigour with which the new expeditions were planned or commanded ; but then, as his friends maintained, they had all been originally planned by him, and the spirit which he had infused was that which animated the officers ; the success of Rodney and Monckton in the West Indies was indeed directly due to his own administration. The capture of Havana by Lord Albemarle, Sir George Pocock, and Keppel, though obtained at a great cost of life, was one of the finest achievements of the war, and with the success of Draper and Cornish at Manilla, brought Spain on her knees. In the course of a few months her colonies had been shattered to pieces, nor had France, by her last efforts, gained anything but a partner in misfortune. Hawke's personal share in the glories of this year was but small, though through the capture of some rich Spanish ships by his cruisers, he seems at last to have acquired wealth. He is stated in some accounts to have made a short cruise in May to look out for M. De Ternay who had escaped out of Brest with a small squadron ; * but this is a mistake. He did not leave Spithead till June 25th, when, with the Duke of York as his Rear-admiral, in the " Princess Amelia " * Charnock's " Biog. Nav.," vol. iv. p. 290. SPANISH COLONIES SHATTERED. 443 (Lord Howe serving as the Duke's Flag-captain and dry nurse), he, in the " Royal George," proceeds at the head of a squadron of ten line-of-battle ships to cruise off the north-west coast of Spain. The object of this cruise was to protect Portugal from the ten Spanish line - of - battle ships lying in Ferrol ; the land forces sent by England under Lord Loudoun, Colonel Burgoyne, the Count de la Lippe, and others, protected her from invasion by land. There is no truth in the statement that the Admiral was sent to Lisbon to the help of the Portuguese. Whatever the moral effect of his name might be, it was produced from his station between Capes Ortegal and Finisterre. The Spanish ships did not venture to come out; Lisbon was safe by sea ; and the Portuguese troops, by the help of the English, were more than a match for the feeble levies of Spain. Not the slightest incident deserving notice occurs in this cruise. The official letters of the youthful Rear-admiral are carefully preserved amongst the Hawke Papers; but the only one which shows any character is the first : — Sir Edward, Tuesday Evening. I have this moment obtained the King's permission to hoist my flag under your command. I need not tell you how happy I am, nor how ready I shall be punctually to obey every order I receive. I am just setting out for Kew, and remain, your affectionate friend, Edward.* The services of an officer of such rank as Hawke * Prince Edward, of whom something might have been made, had he lived, uniformly treated Hawke with proper respect. 444 LIFE OF LOED HAWKE. on a station where nothing was likely to occur, were not required for any length of time. On August 24th his squadron puts into Torbay to refit, and the Admiral requests Lord Bute to let him haul down his flag. The notice of this return, in the " Gentleman's Magazine " of that date, is not a bad specimen of the small amount of information current on foreign affairs, even amongst cultivated society : — " The sudden return of this fleet without attempting anything occa- sions much speculation. It was fitted out at an im- mense expense, and great expectations were raised from the known courage of the commander : its return therefore seems the more extraordinary." There was nothing to " attempt " ! To attack Ferrol had never been dreamt of. To blockade an inferior force of Spanish ships could be done by anyone ; and the Peace was already as good as made. The last letter of Hawke's official correspondence afloat is on the 26th, when he grants the Duke of York leave of absence for a few days. Sir Charles Hardy, an excellent officer, and friend of Hawke's, takes the squadron, when refitted, under his command, and (the Duke still serving as Rear-admiral) con- tinues the blockade. To this the negotiations for peace, which Lord Bute was now pressing with all his might, soon put an end. On September 3rd Hawke comes on shore ; and his service at sea is closed. It was probably during this last command, with his flag in the "Royal George," that the following incident occurred : — " Owing to a collection of soot in the funnel of the stove, the ship took fire in the great ANECDOTE OF HAWKE. 445 cabin. Sir Edward was at that time occupied in dressing himself ; and when this circumstance, which to men less firm would have been of the most alarming nature, was discovered by him, he went out on deck, and taking the First Lieutenant aside, calmly said to him in a low tone of voice, ' Sir, the ship is on fire in my cabin ; give the necessary directions to the people to put it out.' "* The " Royal George " was not built to be burnt. This is the ship which, after bearing Hawke's flag triumphant, sank in a moment at Spit- head, when " Kempenfelt went down, with twice four hundred men." Has it ever been noticed how appropriate are the poet's words — " His fingers held the pen " ? Kempenfelt was famous as a man of superior abilities and a taste for literature. He and Lord Howe share the honour of making the great improvement in naval signals which marked the close of the century. Shortly before Sir Edward's last cruise the career of his old chief and friend, Lord Anson, had also terminated. He died suddenly on June 6th, 1762, at the age of 65. Notices of his services and character have formed a considerable portion of this book, and they will therefore require no further attention. It has not been found possible, under all the lights which the life of Hawke throws upon the period, to endorse the whole of the judgment which Sir John Barrow, forty-three years ago, passed upon his hero ; but by * Charnock's " Biog. Nav." vol. iv. p. 292. 446 LIFE OF LOED HAWKE. far the greater part remains. Few have served their country more honestly and efficiently. No depart- ment of the State required more reform than the Royal Navy at the time when he entered the Admiralty, and no one could have done more than he did, during the sixteen years of his administration, towards its regeneration. The reader has observed that there was yet much wanting in that administration to render it perfect ; but allowance must be made for the times. Many years were to pass before the grossest abuses in the civil Government of the realm were swept away ; but the Navy, under Anson, may be said to have led the way. At any rate merit was very generally rewarded, and honest, straightforward principles of regulating the service very generally adopted. The materiel of British fleets was at length raised to something like the level of that of their enemies, and the 'personnel was, at least in some degree, elevated beyond the low standard of preceding times. It was a grand thing for the Navy to have an honest man and a gentleman permanently fixed at the head of the profession through so many changes of Govern- ment ; and we have seen that it was but in one instance, the case of the unhappy Byng, that any exception to this eulogy can be found. Boscawen had also died before the war came to an end, and at an earlier age. He had not completed his fiftieth year, when he was carried off in January, 1761. Of him also we have observed sufficient marks both of character and services to enable us to appre- ciate his great merits. Virtuous like Anson and DEATH OF ANSON AND BOSOAWEN. 447 Hawke, as brave and eager for employment and dis- tinction as Nelson himself, and with every advantage of rank, he only wanted opportunity to have done the greatest deeds. Like Hawke and Anson he was most appreciated where he was best known ; unlike his friends, he left behind him a wife whose great superiority of character reflected back a lustre on her husband to which the improved society of that period amply testifies. Among the revivers of literary taste and social religion, who were known by the nickname of " bas-bleus," hardly anyone held a higher place than Mrs. Boscawen, or carried her lofty rank better than the Admiral's daughter, the Duchess of Beaufort. Of the merits of the Peace of Paris, the solid termination of the two wars which have been passed in review, this is not the place to speak. The balance of the numerous and heated arguments for and against, seems to incline towards a favourable view of it. Walpole's jocular remark upon its continental aspect was not far off the mark. " It includes Spain, saves Portugal, and leaves the hero and heroine of Ger- many to scratch out one another's last eye." * Its merits in the latter respect were as great as those of the Peace of Utrecht. Frederick and Maria Theresa found themselves, when left alone to fight it out, obliged to come to terms, much as the Emperor and the King of France had formerly discovered a similar necessity under similar- circumstances ; but this is not to say that the alliances and the wars into which * " Letters to Manu," vol. iv. p. 120. 448 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. Great Britain had entered, had not been, till the objects of her own self-defence were obtained, both politic and necessary.* It is more easy to find an author whose summing up of the history of these wars will be considered judicial, at least by Englishmen : — " Once more," says Ranke, " in this world-embracing conflict between the two kingdoms, tbe internal superiority of tbe Eng- lish was proved. In spite of an enormous debt the credit of England held good, and it was not necessary to lay on very excessive taxes : while the French Government had to resort to advances from those who rented State lands, and was obliged to increase by fresh imposts taxes which were already oppressive, so that it exhausted all its resources. " We may regard this war as a continuation and completion of those great contests which came in with the Eevolution of 1688. They were all directed against the predominance of France, and were at once Continental and maritime. . . . Less than ever was said about religious grounds. As a matter of historical fact, however, the religious motive was more conspicuous than before. The Protestant Powers were on one side, those of the [Roman] Catholic and Creek faith on the other. " What a glorious Empire was it to the head of which George the Third came ! — the product of one history, all of one piece, from the moment of the first Teutonic Settlement in Britain until the founding of its maritime dominion in both hemispheres. Through long centuries the logical and active mind of the people which rejected all that was foreign, and accepted only that which was akin, to it, had worked at the great edifice which now was the sti-ongest representative of the West among distant nations. The living elements of culture which the Empire included in itself worked in free movements, often opposed to each other, but for that very reason all the more strong and many-sided. Individual and corporate independence did not in the least disturb a united development of power."f * For one of the best criticisms of the Peace of Paris see the " Annual Register for 1763," written by Burke, f Ranke's " History of England," vol. iv. p. 420. RANKE ON BRITISH EMPIRE. 449 Contrast with this solemn, far-sounding strain the thought which AValpole communicated to his friend Mann, on the news of the triumphs of 1762 : — Well ! I wish we had conquered the world, and had done. I think we were full as happy when we were a peaceable, quiet, set of tradesfolks, as now that we are heirs-apparent to the Eomans, and overrunning the East and West Indies. But Walpole was the son of the man who was satisfied that the "tradesfolk" should be insulted and degraded ; and how long their trade would have survived such treatment it required no prophet to foretell. It is true that the very colonies for which the mother country had been most concerned were the first to throw off a connection no longer vital, and that political faction vied with administrative imbecility in breaking up into fragments the Empire which had just been formed : but even so the grand inheritance was not dissipated, nor can its eventual issues be yet foreseen. Of all the naval officers whose prime vocation ceased with the Peace of 1763, and whose high qualities, under the training they had undergone, would in a very few more years, had the Peace not intervened, realised to the letter Horace Walpole's hyperbole, there were now three, and three only, at the head of their profession ; and there were three more, of a younger generation, perfectly fitted to take their places in another war. The first three were Hawke, Pocock, and Saunders ; the second, Rodney, Keppel, and Howe. Hawke was considerably the senior, and it was under him that the three younger men had 29 450 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. been mostly trained. Of these, the second had his opportunity in 1778, and lost it ; the first and third were to hand down the lessons of the two Imperial wars to the Nelsons and Collingwoods of the next generation. But though Hawke was a man of whom even Wal- pole could say that " he had as much merit in his profession and to his country as man could have," * and though he had been Anson's righthand man for so many years, he was not asked to take Anson's place. The administration of the experienced admiral had turned the office of First Lord of the Admiralty into that of a director of routine, as long as peace might last ; and there was no possibility of war for many years. Thus the place became one which anybody might be thought able to fill; and several civilians did fill it, during the ignoble and factious struggles which harassed the young King, for longer or shorter periods. Not one of them, George Grenville, Halifax, or Egmont, shewed any particular aptitude for the office, as Lord Sandwich (who himself held the post for a short time at this early period) did afterwards, and other civilians in later times. In the Rockingham Administration of 1765, Saunders and Keppel filled the posts of junior lords of the Admiralty. The two admirals having been deeply attached to one another in their professional service, the elder came to be entirely dependent on the younger, and the Board was really in their hands. When Pitt came back to * " Mem. of Geo. III.," vol. ii. p. 398. SIR CHARLES SAUNDERS. 451 power in 1766, as Lord Chatham — full of the memory of Anson — he determined to have a naval First Lord. He did not, according to "Walpole — and it is probable enough — wish to pass over Hawke or Pocock in favour of Saunders, their junior ; but he did so for the fol- lowing reasons. He discovered that Saunders, having already held an important position at the Board would retire if any other naval officer were placed over his head, and that his retirement would carry Keppel with it. The Board would be thus broken up : and besides he had taken a liking for Saunders ever since his ability had been displayed in the joint capture of Quebec along with Wolfe. That officer therefore became First Lord, but only for a couple of months ; when he suddenly, along with Keppel, resigned his place, which, it is evident, he could not have much valued. Hawke was now instantly offered the post, which he accepted and held for the succeeding five years. Walpole's account of this curious freak of Saunders is confirmed by an independent authority : — " Saunders," says lie, " a most gallant but weak man — [all naval officers are " weak " with this writer], — goveimed by Admiral Keppel and Lord Albemarle, had been persuaded by them to throw up his post of First Lord of the Admiralty, and join his old friends the Bockinghams."* And in the " Selwyn Correspondence," f " Gilly Williams " tells Selwyn : — Tour friend, yellow Saunders, gave up yesterday. He gave for * " Mem. of J&eo. HI.," vol. ii. p. 398. f Vol. ii. p. 91. 29 * 452 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. the only reason that at his time of life he could not think of living without the Keppels. (Keppel himself, it seems, resigned in order to mark his disapproval of Lord Chatham's dismissal of his friend Lord Edgcumbe from the post of Treasurer of the Household.) Here ends the career of one of Anson's favourite pupils, of whose gallant conduct and generous spirit we have already heard. Sir Charles Saunders had ho opportunity of commanding fleets in general actions ; but the country thoroughly trusted him, and as we have seen, Pitt never forgot him. An incident con- nected with this appointment over the heads of Hawke and Pocock deserves notice, and may be inserted in the words of Charnock, who vouches for the truth of the anecdote : — When Sir G-eorge Pocock was first made acquainted with the appointment of Sir Charles Saunders to the office of First Lord of the Admiralty, he immediately went to the late Lord Hawke, and complained to him in rather warm terms, of the indignity he thought offered on that occasion to the older flag-officers who had equally distinguished themselves. Sir Edward Hawke was at that very time on the point of going out in order to wish Sir Charles joy of his promotion ; and when he informed Sir George of his intention, the opinion of that great and good man had such weight with him as not only to moderate his displeasure, but even to induce him to adopt a similar course himself. His disgust, however, though temporarily assuaged, was not effaced ; and his former sentiments as to the public indignity offered to his con- temporaries, and what he deemed private neglect to himself, induced him to persevere in his first resolution to retire from the service for ever.* Here then, at the same moment with that of Saun- ders, the career of this fine officer came also to an end.- His chief exploits had been performed in India, where he had displayed the greatest courage, but being * " Biocj. Nav." vol. iv. p. 405. SIR GEORGE POCOCK. 453 matched against the ablest admiral the French pos- sessed, and not always well supported, he was never able, though he fought no less than three pitched battles with him, to obtain any decisive success. Neither squadron ever took a ship from the other ; but D'Ache was always driven off, and though the force of the English was decidedly inferior, suffered the greatest loss. It was this want of capacity for turning circum- stances into account, so as to produce a decisive battle, which prevented Pocock from ranking with the great masters of naval warfare ; but these Indian actions, taken along with his admirable behaviour at the capture of Havana, place him high in the second rank. Further, he seems to have been a man more than ordinarily fitted to inspire affection, and to in- fluence his associates by examples of the highest kind. Amongst his other virtues, public and private, he is said " never to have been known to swear even on board his ship," * — the abstinence on board ship being apparently an almost inconceivable mark of self- restraint, worthy of the angels to whom Hawke, in his emotion, compared his two victorious captains at Quiberon. Lord Chatham's letter on Hawke's appointment has been preserved among the family papers, and may serve as a specimen of that great man's official style : — Bond Street, Sir, Friday, l$o\. 28th, 1766. I am commanded by the King to acquaint you that Sir Charles Saunders and Mr. Keppel having come to a resolution * Charnock's " Blog. Nav." vol. iv. p. 467. 454 LIFE OF LOED HAWKE. to resign their seats at the Admiralty, His Majesty has been graciously pleased to turn his thoughts to you, Sir, for the Head of that Board. I have the honour, in consequence, to propose to you in His Majesty's name that very important office. Give me leave to assure you, Sir, that I have a particular satisfaction in executing the King's commands to me upon this interesting occasion, and allow me to add my sincere hopes that this letter may find you in as full possession of health as your country. wishes you to be. I have the honour to be, with most respectful esteem and con- sideration, Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant, Chatham. On December 2nd Chatham desires Hawke to be at the Levee next day to kiss hands. Not much remains to us by which Hawke's tenure of this office may be illustrated. It was a period when statesmanship of every sort was at a low ebb. Chatham soon passed under a mental eclipse ; Grafton was calling down on himself the not undeserved satires of " Junius " ; Wilkes was making government impos- sible ; not a single man of first-rate ability came to the front ; and the young King was striving in vain to break through the fetters of a pampered oligarchy, which believed in nothing but itself as the represen- tative of the Revolution families. Some stray hints, however, touching the administration of the Navy at this time, have survived. One cardinal point at least of Hawke's Peace- administration deserves special mention. His practice gave rise to an authoritative maxim, always quoted in after times with the highest respect, just as in war he established for the first time the principle that the enemy must never be suffered to escape, but, in spite HAWKE AT THE ADMIRALTY. 455 of all Instructions for keeping the line, must be engaged within pistol shot. Shortly after his death it was remarked in a pamphlet, styled " A Seaman's Remarks on the British Ships of the Line," and bear- ing all the signs of the highest authority, that the late Lord Hawke had laid it down, and during his whole administration acted on the maxim, in which Lord Sandwich had followed him : — " that our enemies being peculiarly attentive to their marine, our fleet could only be termed considerable in the proportion it bore to that of the House of Bourbon." In other words, the British fleet must always be kept in such a state that it would be a match for France and Spain combined, the only nations which could in that day be thought of as hostile maritime Powers. It would have saved England many millions if this maxim had not been constantly set aside when wars were over, and the supposed exigencies of the Chancellor of the Exchequer were brought to bear upon First Lords of the Admiralty. The writer goes on to prove his point. While Lord Hawke, he tells us, broke up 14 line-of- battle ships, he built 13, and left 15 on the stocks.* Thus he kept his country on a fair level with her rivals. The French had by no means given up the struggle, because they had been beaten. They had been steadily repairing their losses, and improving their re- sources, so that they had been known to have entirely built and completed a three-decker of 1 10 guns at Brest in 14 months, and a 74-gun ship was built, launched, rigged, and stored, at the same port in 95 days. * See also " Life of Lord Keppel," Vol. ii. p. 330. 456 LIFE OP LOED HAWKE. Lord Sandwich, Hawke's successor, acknowledged his maxim ; but was unable to comply with it as he wished. It was thus that Rodney, Howe, and Nelson found so much work cut out for them. It is not till towards the close of Hawke's term of office that we hear of any attack upon his administra- tion. Up to that time he was steadily working on the principle above mentioned, and, venerated by the whole service, was taking judicious care of the great interests committed to his charge. It was under his auspices that in 1767 his old Captain, Augustus Hervey, succeeded in passing through the House a measure, which had been too long delayed, for improving the half -pay of naval Lieu- tenants by the addition of a shilling a day to the miser- able pittance of two shillings, which they had hitherto received. His picture of their condition is distressing enough. The Lieutenants on half-pay — and they were numerous after such a war — " are now starving for want of subsistence, hiding themselves in the most remote corners of the country, some for fear of gaols, which their necessities and their misfortunes, not their faults, have reduced them to be afraid of ; others to hide their wants from the world, being ashamed to appear where they cannot support that character which their long services, great merits, and delicate sense of honour entitled them to. These, Sir, in a few years must be all lost to the country. Already but too many of them have been obliged to seek, with their families, a settlement in America. Many are reduced to go as second mates in merchant ships : others have KEPPEL AND RODNEY. 457 fixed themselves in trades." " He had the satisfac- tion of knowing that his measure had the good wishes of that great and brave admiral whom His Majesty has placed at the head of the naval service." * Hervey carried his point ; it certainly was not much to ask. The position held by the chief admirals of the clay at this period may be here reviewed in a few words, since it is in connection with them that we find what distinctive notices of the First Lord occur. Keppel had a seat at the Board during a portion of the time his old chief was First Lord, and was regarded by Hawke and the service generally as the leading officer of the day, if active service was required. Thus when the preparations for war with Spain, in 1770, were made, he was at once designated for the chief command. Rodney, Keppel' s senior, was at the head of Green- wich Hospital, and at this period ruined himself by election expenses on the Tory side of politics. About the time when Hawke went out of office he became Commander-in-chief on the Jamaica Station, and on resigning his command, not being able to live in England, determined to economise in Paris ; nor could he have returned to immortalise his name, and draw his country out of the abyss into which it had fallen in 1779, if it had not been for the generosity of a truly noble Frenchman, Marshal Biron, who had learnt to value his character. Howe, who had held a seat at the Admiralty for a * Parliamentary Debates. 458 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. short time under Sandwich and Egmont, had become Treasurer of the Navy ; and when the expected war with Spain brought Keppel to the front, was nomi- nated for the Mediterranean command. " Sir Edward Hawke," says Barrow,* " incurred the censure of many for nominating so young an admiral to the command of so important a squadron ; and he had an intimation of a motion intended to be made in the House for an Address to His Majesty to inform the House who had advised His Majesty to nominate Lord Howe, one of the junior rear-admirals, to such a command. The motion does not appear to have been brought forward, but Sir Edward Hawke declared he was perfectly ready to meet it ; that he held himself responsible, as First Lord of the Admiralty, for the appointment recommended to His Majesty, and equally ready to declare that he did advise the King to sanction the one in question. 'I have tried my Lord Howe,' said Sir Edward, ' on most important occasions; he never asked me how he was to execute any service entrusted to his charge, but always went straightforward and performed it.' " The reader has had opportunities of observing the truth of this generous testimony ; but as we now part with his Lordship, it is time to sum up his career. Much of Lord Howe's time seems to have been spent during this Peace in reading, and improving the education which he was taken from Eton too early to carry far. He recommenced his honourable career in 1776, when he took the American command, since which time his services have become a leading part of our later naval history. Even more than Keppel, he was Hawke's constant pupil, though not perhaps so intimate a friend ; and in his noble character we see a true reflection of that of his master. In disregarding " Life of Howe," p. 79. LORD HOWE. 459 Howe's supposed disqualification for command on the ground of youth and rank, Hawke was strictly follow- ing Lord Anson's conduct in regard to himself. He began his own career as admiral at 42; Howe was nominated at 45. As it happened his best services had already been performed while under Hawke. When his time for great commands came, the long Peace seems to have rusted his original capacity. His career in America was not a distinguished one ; it was thought by the best judges that he ought — though no doubt he suffered under great difficulties — to have done more with his fleet at the Relief of Gibraltar in 1782; and, in his famous Battle of the First of June, 1794, there is no doubt whatever that his great age alone prevented him from following up a victory which would have put nearly the whole of the enemy's fleet into his hands, if he had been a younger man. His final service to his country in the Mutinies of 1797 were considerable; but they also partook of the defects produced by age. Concessions of some sort were necessary ; but Howe carried them so far that, had it not been for more vigorous officers, the country must have been ruined. If Howe is to be classed amongst the first rank of naval officers, it is not amongst the foremost occupants of that position that he should find his place. In 1769 we find Hawke giving sensible advice to the Prime Minister on a point which, if the country had not been in a misgoverned condition, ought to have caused no difficulty at all. He was called upon in the House by Colonel Barre to give an account of the 460 LIFE OP LORD HAWKE. alleged concessions made to the French in a case where a French frigate, anchoring in the Downs, and refusing to salute the British flag, had been forced by a Lieutenant in command of an English frigate to lower her flag; and the French ambassador had demanded reparation. Every expedient failed to pacify the French ; but at last they were silenced, by the advice of Hawke, on the ground that the Lieutenant had sailed for India, and could not be examined as to the truth of the matter till he returned, in about three years' time. This, which was a delicate affair under the circumstances, must have been well handled, since Hawke was able to tell Barre publicly that the French Ministry, " though they have complained, seem by no means disposed to carry things to extremities in support of their demand of redress, as they find no disposition in our Court to relax in the claim to that ceremonial of submission, the exacting of which was the occasion of the dispute." It is from a speech of Hawke' s in the course of this debate that we discover the fact that he made a visit to France in the summer of 1769, and was convinced by the observations he was able to make on that occasion " that the French were not in a condition to go to war." This conviction, which was perfectly just, served to tranquillize his own mind and that of his Government in view of the danger to be apprehended from the conduct of Spain in relation to the Falkland Islands. But it was not the duty of an Opposition to believe he was right. This same year witnessed the opening fire of ATTACKS UPON HAWKE. 461 " Junius " which had no little effect in shattering the Grafton administration of which Hawke formed a part. The first letter of the series contains a deadly atttack upon Grafton, North, Granby, "Weymouth, Hills- borough, and Lord Mansfield. It was not likely that Hawke should escape. Junius dismisses him contemp- tuously enough : — "With respect to the navy I shall only say that this country is so highly indebted to Sir Edward Hawke that no expense should be spared to secure him an houourable and affluent retreat." It was not by such artillery that the Admiral was likely to be routed ; but it was unfortunate for him that he did not resist Lord North's request to take his old post under the new regime of 1770. Very probably this request was backed by the King : but Hawke had been placed at the head of the Admiralty by Chatham, and with Chatham he should have retired. By too great facility in obliging the new Premier, who wished not only to make use of a great name, but to exhibit a Government as little changed as possible from the former one, Hawke found himself in opposition to his old, and feebly supported by his new, friends ; and this at a moment when the threatened rupture with Spain laid a violent stress on his naval administration which he was quite unable to meet by himself, and which seems to have suddenly aged and worn him out, at least for a time. The new Admiralty contained none but civilians : Saunders and Keppel were bound, as Whig par- tisans, to pick holes in the policy of Lord North, even though in so doing they had to attack 462 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. their old chief ; and Chatham himself, who had by this time nearly lost sight of all his old landmarks, condescended to vilify the Admiralty for not sending ships to sea, when the fact was that they could not be manned because Wilkes, emboldened by Chatham's own patronage, had exercised his whole influence in making impressment impossible. In vain the great orator expounded the law and custom of England ; in vain he insisted upon the absolute necessity of the practice of impressment, if England was to hold up her head among the nations ; the demagogue laughed in his sleeve. It was very well to scold all round ; Chatham had become a privileged person. Fortunately the firm attitude of the English Govern- ment in the matter of the Falkland Islands, as in the similar case of Nootka Sound, some years later, had a wholesome effect on the Courts of France and Spain. The fleets which were ordered to be equipped, and the names of the officers to be appointed in command, convinced these Powers, — which were not a bit better prepared than the self-abused English, — that the hour had not yet come ; and they put the matter by till the Revolt of the American Colonies seemed to afford them the opportunity to recover the old position for which they panted. Very shortly after this date there appeared, in the saloons of Paris, the man destined to destroy all their hopes. Hawke had demanded, previously to this quarrel with Spain, an increase of four thousand men for the navy. He did not get them. The supplies, under a series of weak Administrations had been cramped. It WALP0LE S CRITICISM. 463 was with, the utmost difficulty that he could keep the ships at their proper establishment. When the sudden strain came, some ships that would not in the ordinary course of things have been allowed to leave the home ports, were sent out as guardships to Gibraltar, and, from their unsafe condition, were obliged to return. None of the 16 ships which were to form Howe's fleet were of this class. The same thing had hap- pened in 1747, when Anson was virtually First Lord under Bedford's administration, and Admiral Medley reported that no less than 8 of his ships were not in a condition to continue abroad ;* and it was of frequent occurrence in the war. This circumstance, however, which probably admits of some palliation, is sufficient to set Horace Walpole off in the following attack on naval administration generally, and that of Hawke in particular : — The ignorance, blunders, and want of spirit in Newcastle, Lord Anson, and Lord Hardwicke, at the beginning of the Seven Years' war, made way for the predominant genius of Mr. Pitt. . . . The murder of Admiral Byng was to palliate the loss of Minorca, which had been sacrificed by the negligence of Lord Anson, and by the Duke of Newcastle's panic of an invasion. . . . The navy was in a wretched condition. Lord Egmont, while at the head of the Admiralty, had wasted between four and five hundred thou- sand pounds on pompous additions to the Dockyards. His successor, Sir Edward Hawke, though so brave and fortunate a commander, had never been a man of abilities, and was now worn out, grown indolent, and was almost superannuated, paying so little attention to the fleet that the ships were rotted in har- bour, and of five ordered to Gibraltar, four had returned as being in too bad a condition to proceed, and the fifth was found rotten before it went to sea.f * " Bedford Correspondence," vol. i. p. 286. f " Mem. of Geo. III.," vol. iv. p. 204. 464 LIFE OP LORD HAWKE. Anson's liability to this wholesale indictment has been noticed. Lord Egmont was no doubt perfectly right in enlarging the Dockyards to suit increasing demands for space ; and as to Hawke, we may be sure this was the single fault which could be brought home to him, or we should have heard of more. His " abilities " as an officer we have gauged. Walpole would certainly have treated the Duke of Wellington with the same contempt. The charge of " indolence " is incredible, and wholly unsupported. Let us read it in the light of Keppel's statement which describes his chief's con- duct at the Board.* " Worn out " he probably was ; and at 66 might well be " superannuated." His health had however again broken down, as it often had before under unusual pressure, and in January, 1771, he sent in his resignation. That his colleagues did not see his services at the Board as Walpole did, may be judged by the following letter from Lord Palmerston, who was one of them : — Dear Sir, I did intend waiting on you this morning to have assured you in person how very sincere a regret I feel on hearing that your present state of health had made you determine to quit the laborious office you have held with so much advantage to the public credit and to yourself, and satisfaction to those who have had the honour of sitting with you at the Board, f A month or two previously the celebrated Lord Shelburne ended a letter with the expression of his " unalterable respect and regard," which such a man would scarcely have used towards one who was occupying a post he could not properly fill.! * P. 80. t Hawke Papers. J Ibid. LORD SANDWICH'S ADMINISTRATION. 465 Lord Sandwich succeeded Hawke, and acted upon his plans ; but fell short of the success Hawke had attained in keeping up the supply of new ships.* He failed to do so for the same reason that his prede- cessor had found himself on the eve of a war without a sufficient number in hand. Until the younger Pitt arose, no Government was strong enough to tax the country sufficiently to keep up a proper Peace- establishment. Eight years after Hawke had resigned, the tables were turned. Sandwich, for whom he made room, and whose bad moral character seriously impeded the exercise of his undoubted ability, found himself, during the strain of the new war, attacked much as Anson and Hawke had been attacked in their day. Augustus Hervey, now Earl of Bristol, Hawke's old trusted Captain, brought forward a motion, in 1779, to the effect that " the navy had rapidly decayed since the resignation of Lord Hawke, while its ex- pense had increased." All that Sandwich could reply was that he was not solely, but jointly, responsible for the employment of the naval force, which was deter- mined in the Cabinet, and finally sanctioned by the King : he was only answerable for the use or abuse of the means placed peculiarly in his hands. This excuse, though it is always in the power of a First Lord to resign (as some have, when their province has been egregiously interfered with by a Cabinet), was more to the purpose than the public knew. In some notes of Hawke's on his own resignation he * " A Seaman's Remarks," &c., " Life of Keppel," vol. ii. p. 331. 30 466 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. remarks : — " The late Peace Establishment will not keep up fourscore ships of the line in perfect repair, especially when it is clipped ten or twelve thousand every year, by the Minister, of the Extraordinary Estimate." This explains the fact of the rotten ships, when there was a sudden call for the whole fleet. Hawke's seat at the Admiralty brought him into contact with the King, and with his brother, the young Duke of Cumberland, all whose autograph letters have been preserved. ■ Those of the latter do not indeed deserve much notice. They extend over the year 1769. This young officer, like his elder brother, the Duke of York, had been allowed to play at being an admiral, and his letters chiefly refer to claims for the promotion of some of his officers. About their services he speaks with the air of an .experienced seaman, and he presses them on the First Lord with unbecoming importunity and some inco- herency : — " You will be so good as to remember that when I paid you a visit at the Admiralty I then told you that your services entitled you to that respect which I would not show to any other First Lord at that Board, be he the first man in this country himself, to talk upon any business whatsoever, but go to the Fountain Head at first." Hawke seems to have re- minded him of his elder brother's more respectful conduct, and the youth's next letter is slightly apo- logetic. Walpole's judgment on him is only too well confirmed by the above : — " He had neither the parts nor the condescension of York, familiarizing himself with bad company, and yet presuming upon a rank the king's letters. 467 which he degraded, and, notwithstanding, made an annoyance."* One of the King's letters refers to this brother, and is written with the view of preventing difficulties which might arise in the Mediterranean (where the Duke was cruising), from the French, who the King hears, " are uncivil to a very unwarrantable degree to every ship that comes near to Corsica." Another refers to Captain Wallis' famous voyage of discovery : — " He seems to have shown great assiduity in this service, and appears very worthy of reward." The third is as follows : — Richmond Lodge, Sir Edward Hawke, October 13th 1770. The great spirit shewed by the officers of the .Navy on this occasion [the threatened war with Spain] makes me desirous of contributing as much as possible to their encouragement. I therefore think the promotion of Flag-officers, including Lord Howe, would be properly timed. If you are of that opinion I shall be desirous of seeing you with the list, and those you may judge best suited for the superannuated list. I cannot conclude without acquainting you that Sir Charles Knowles desired Lord Rochford to acquaint me that he had received an offer to go into the Russian service, where he is to receive an allowance of =£2,000 per annum. I said I should willingly consent to what was so much for the Admiral's advantage, but thought he could not in that case remain Rear-admiral of the Fleet, though per- haps he might be permitted to remain in the list of Admirals, but that I should, with regard to this affair, talk with you before I gave any positive answer. GEORGE R. A good deal has been said about the King's bad spelling. The above letter is copied precisely from * "Mem. Geo. III.," vol. ii. p. 105. 30 * 468 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. the original in every respect, and there is not a word ill-spelt in it. Perhaps the instances which occur in the Letters to Lord North may betray the stealthy footsteps of the disease which so often incapacitated the King, and may have made him at times careless and forgetful of common things. We may complete our conspectus of the way in which Hawke's tenure of his seat at the Admiralty was regarded, by referring to two anonymous letters which appeared in the " Gentleman's Magazine " for 1770. It was not to be expected that he should escape scurrilous attacks ; and the sting of the first of these letters lies in the imputation of avarice as the ground for his not having resigned his seat. It was an easy charge to make, but it is left unsup- ported by the writer in any single respect. He was answered in the following month by one who was equally opposed to Hawke's politics, and equally bitter against Lord North. He demands, however, fair play, and reminding his opponent that he has not substantiated his charge, bids him remember that Sir Edward Hawke's having " rescued three kingdoms from the immediate danger of foreign invasion, and perhaps from total destruction, is known to the whole world." He then draws a favourable comparison between him and a former First Lord of the Admi- ralty : — " You cannot say of him that he is proud, imperious, and inaccessible, that his servants must be bribed to gain admittance, even for a Memorial, &c. .... If Sir Edward Hawke errs, 'tis not from inso- lence ; if he cannot do right, it is want of power in CHARACTER AS FIRST LORD. 469 his office Let us separate the Admiral from the Commissioner. While we look at one with honour and esteem, 'tis difficult to behold the other with clis- gust. Sir Edward Hawke is a character ever to be admired as a brave and gallant seaman. Politics may not be his forte; and surely he has not yet offended past redemption. Let us awhile suspend our judgment of this truly great man ; and let us remember that he was as much a favourite with his late Royal Master for the goodness, as for the bravery, of his heart." Hawke's services as First Lord of the Admiraltv, taken along with Chatham's appointments, require a word, at the conclusion of this Chapter, on the vexed question whether naval men or civilians make the best First Lords. Sir John Barrow, in his " Life of Lord Howe,"* has argued it with much ability, and sums up in favour of civilians. This he does upon two main grounds, the certainty that naval First Lords will show a partiality to those who have served under them, and their want of the general knowledge necessary for a mixed position, half naval, half civil. The civil First Lord, assisted by naval men, is his ideal; and the custom of successive Governments has followed that direction. Taking the subject in its general aspect, it will not be found easy to dispute his position ; but it requires a Proviso. To place a civilian at the head of the Admiralty, is an artificial and unnatural * Pp. 175, 193. 470 LIFE Of LORD HAWKE. expedient, and should therefore not be too rigidly applied. If an Anson or a Hawke can be found, he should take precedence of any civilian. The same may be said of a Howe or a St. Vincent, who were First Lords. Rodney, Collingwood, and others might be named who, if placed in that position, would probably have governed the Navy better than any civilian. Lord Barham was one of the best First Lords, though, unlike the others named, he was scarcely at the head of his profession. The naval First Lord should be the acknowledged head, a man who has shown first-rate ability all through a distinguished career, a man who has seen war-service and made opportunities, and who has acquired the tact and " general knowledge ' which is not so rare among naval officers as the late Secretary of the Admiralty supposed. In times of peace it will of course be difficult to find the right man ; nor is it of so much consequence ; but in periods of war, if the triumphs of Lord Chatham are to be repeated, it may be well to remember his opinion as to the proper method of governing the Navy. Is it impossible that the compromise, often suggested, may yet be found the best, viz., that of placing a naval Commander-in-chief exactly in the same position as that held by the head of the Army? Thus the inestimable advantage would be gained of a permanent head of the Navy independent of the changes of Government, an end by no means obtained under the present system of a Permanent Secretary. The Army and Navy are machines of a wholly different descrip- NAVAL FIRST LORDS OR CIVILIANS ? 471 tion from other Public Departments. The only real difficulty would be that of superseding this great officer when he became too old ; but this might be met by proper regulations. 472 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. CHAPTER XIV. PEERAGE, RETIREMENT, AND DEATH. When Hawke resigned his seat at the Admiralty on the ground of health, he must have been flattered at the following kind expressions from Lord Rochford, the Secretary of State, dated, January 11th, 1771 : — I was favoured with your letter last night, and was extremely unhappy to have a letter of that sort from you to lay before the King, for no one can have a higher opinion than I have of the able and disinterested manner with which you have served the King so faithfully for so many years. When I had the honour this day to acquaint the Kiug with your intentions, His Majesty was pleased to express in the strongest terms how sen- sible he was of the loss of so able and so gallant an officer, and regretted very much the bad state of your health which obliged you to come to this resolution. But how came the grant of a Peerage, which was not conferred till 1776, to be again neglected? The retirement of the victor of Quiberon, now growing old and worn out, after five years' service at the head of the Admiralty, and accompanied by the sincere regrets of a Sovereign who honoured and trusted him, might seem to have been the most natural occasion in the world for conferring such a distinction. There were DELAY OP HA WEE'S PEERAGE. 473 no doubt two reasons. The Swathling monument suggests one. Hawke never asked, nor desired any- one to ask, for such a favour. It was his character through life. He never even asked a favour for his officers unless they were the senior of their rank, or on some such irresistible ground. It was not his way. Perhaps there was some pride at the bottom of it. At any rate there was a great deal of dignity, and it was exceedingly rare. Distinguished officers like Amherst did not feel this compunction. Even the highminded Lord Howe is found haggling for offices and favours.* Nor could political services be obtained without the bribe of peerages. "What was the King, in the extremity of his early difficulties, to do ? He fought manfully against the pressure put upon him, and only succumbed w r hen he was driven to bay. In 1766 he attempted to obtain the Duke of Bedford's aid towards forming a Government, offering to call his eldest son to the Upper House, and to appoint Lord Gower to office. So exorbitant, however, were the demands of the " Bloomsbury gang ' for Garters, peerages, and places that the King with good reason declared their demands to be too extravagant, and the negotiation was accordingly broken off. Walpole tells us, in 1768, that when Amherst asked for a peerage he was told that the King was so teased for them that he had given orders " none should be mentioned more,"f and in 1776, that "the King had involved himself in so * "King's Correspondence with Lord North," p. 133. f " Mem. Geo. III.," vol. iv. 474 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. many promises, and so many coronets had been asked, that for some years no peers had been created." * This, then, was the second reason. Not only did the modesty of the hero stand in the way, but the King could not afford to make peers. At last he found himself able to break through his self-imposed restrictions, and bestow the rewards which are due from a Sovereign to real and distinguished merit. Even Walpole, on that occasion, finds no fault : — " Sir Edward Hawke was one of the principal heroes of the last war."f It was an "unsolicited peerage." We have no record of how it affected the old man. Probably he had ceased to care about it, if he ever had cared at all. J But Lord Hawke had not ceased to care for the fortunes of others. The only notice preserved of the Admiral's retirement, from 1771 to his death in 1781, is the extraordinary interest he took in Keppel's Courtmartial. What were his feelings about the American War which broke out so soon after he retired from office, we have no means of judging; but when France and Spain joined in the fray, it had no doubt aroused all his patriotic feelings. As the colleague of Chatham and Keppel he must have * "Last Journals," vol. ii. p. 35. f Ibid. X As we have now arrived at the end of Lord Hawke's services, it may be mentioned that he became Vice-admiral of Great Britain in 1765. It should have been mentioned in its place that he attained the rank of Admiral in February 1757« INTEREST IN KEPPEl/s ACTION. 475 observed with pain the processes by which the country had drifted into the colonial quarrel ; but when the old enemies, whom his own arm had humbled in the dust, came forth once more, and, taking advantage of the civil contest in which Great Britain was engaged, again threatened to invade her inviolable shores, the old man's blood rushed back with its youthful velocity, and his spirit stirred with every pulse of the popular emotion. His old friend and pupil, Keppel, personally pressed by the King, though a member of the Oppo- sition, had been called to the front in the national emergency, and placed at the head of such a fleet as Sandwich could muster. It was inferior to that of France under D'Orvilliers, but Keppel' s popularity with the service stood the country in good stead when ships had to be manned ; and in June he found himself blockading the enemy off his old station at Brest. It is unnecessary to give a detailed account of the famous incidents of this naval campaign. The subject of our memoir was only indirectly concerned in it through the Memorial to the King, which he signed at the head of a body of twelve distinguished admirals : there is no obscurity in the affair, except so far as it is cast around us by the partisan spirit in which it was regarded both at and since those times : and further, in so popular a book as Lord Stanhope's " History of England " will be found a concise and impartial summary, quite sufficient for all who are not called upon to make a complete investigation of the subject. But it so happens that among the Hawke 476 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. Papers are preserved two very interesting letters which it would be a pity not to publish, from Keppel himself, and from Lord Rockingham; and these will necessitate a few remarks which might otherwise have been avoided. Excellent officer as Keppel was, he set out from the very first with what many people have considered a mistake. Soon after he arrived off Brest, finding, on board a frigate which he had seized, papers giving the strength of the enemy as far superior to his own, he at once, without further investigation as to the genuine character of the papers, or calling a Council of "War, returned to Portsmouth for rein- forcements. This created a bad impression upon friends and foes. At home it was held to be a retreat, and compared with Byng's. It might however be defended on the ground of the responsibility attaching to the commander of England's only fleet — for such it was, — and of obedience to the spirit, if not the letter of the Instructions he had received. Nothing more would have been heard of it, had the battle which ensued on July 27th been decisive. But when the fleets met off Ilshant they were now nearly equal; indeed the English, from having cut off two ships, were a little superior, and victory was expected, as a matter of course, under such circumstances. As it was, the battle was just as indecisive as Pocock's or Hughes' actions in the Indian Ocean; and Keppel was fairly outmanoeuvred by an enemy who had been beaten, as usual, when any ships got near enough to practise old English tactics. It is scarcely fair to CONDUCT OF THE BATTLE. 477 blame this brave officer for not doing what a Hawke or a Rodney would most certainly have done. The prudence which he evinced in trying to keep his fleet together must have been painful to such a man ; but he lost his opportunity by contenting himself with cannonades on opposite tacks, in line. All this however might have been retrieved had it not been for one of those mistakes to which sea-fights are liable, and which was aggravated by the time lost in sending messages which the existing signals were not adequate to convey. Keppel's two gallant Vice- admirals, Harland and Sir Hugh Palliser,* had been engaged in the thickest of the fight ; after which the first was still in a condition to understand and obey his chiefs signals for drawing the whole fleet together for a final combat; the second was not. But curiously enough neither did Palliser make his crippled position known to the Admiral by signal ; nor did Keppel, while keeping his general signal flying, and making the pendants of other ships to draw attention to it, do the same to Palliser; nor did any message reach the latter officer till late in the evening. The result was a misunderstanding, with- out heinous fault on either side ; but it led to the failure. Keppel could not close with the French because his fleet was not in hand ; and he hoped for better luck in the morning. When mornino- * He spelt his name " Pallisser " ; but as all the world has conspired to call him " Palliser," it is of no use to try and stem the tide. 478 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. broke, the French were found to have made off to such a distance that Keppel decided not to pursue them. Still, in a sense, it was a victory. The alarm of a hostile fleet in the Channel was dissipated for the present ; the English force had driven off the French one, only a little inferior to itself, with loss ; and such a favourite as Keppel could hardly do wrong. His Despatch was somewhat obscure ; and as it failed to notice the important events of the afternoon of the 27th, it was misleading ; but it did not at first attract much attention. What turned out unfor- tunately for Keppel afterwards, was that he said at the end of this document : — " The spirited conduct of A 7 ice Admiral Sir Robert Harland, Vice Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser, and the Captains of the fleet, supported by their officers and men, deserves much commendation." When the period of Courts martial arrived, it seemed that this praise was given with a mental reservation ; for the battle before the Courts raged over the accusation of Keppel that Palliser's mis- conduct was the cause of the failure. Yet it seems clear by the following letter to Lord Hawke that Keppel had not felt this at first, but thought of nothing else in the matter beyond the villainous trick of the enemy in leading him to believe that the battle was to be renewed, when he only meant running away. Hawke, blinded a little, we must suppose by friendship, seems to have written — his letter is not preserved — to congratulate Keppel on keppel's letter to hawke. 479 his engagement and his arrival at Plymouth. The following reply is among the Hawke papers : — Mount Edgecumbe, My Lord, August 11th, 1778. I received the honour of your Lordship's letter of the 7th inst., from Sunbury, this day. Believe me your approbation of my conduct conveys to me more satisfaction than I can express, as it confirms me in the zeal I ever hope to shew in the support of the honour Of the flag, and particularly in continuing in the good opinion of one whose example is ever before me, and with whom I served so much of my time in my younger days. I flatter myself if the French had not run off in the night, my finishing the following day would have been more brilliant and decisive. The French accounts value themselves upon the afternoon of the battle. Indeed their behaviour operated so strongly with me that I had not a doubt of their fighting me fairly the next day, which I expressed in my public letter. If they were as stout as they pretend to be, it is certain they might have begun again in the afternoon, but I believe what I have said, that they were so beaten that this plan was merely bravado and trick to get away in the dark, which they did at midnight, leaving two frigates and a ship with lights to deceive us. They have dared to assert the English fleet put out their lights, a lie that everybody in the fleet can contradict. It is not my business to follow every falsity they spread, but to get again to sea with as little loss of time as pos- sible. Admiral Campbell is sensible of your kind notice of him, and is pi'oud of it. I shall make your compliments to Sir Robert Harland and Sir Hugh Palliser. The Captains will, I know, be thankful for your just opinion of them. They are indeed fine officers, and the ships are fine. Some of them indeed want more experience in discipline to do all that can be expected from them, but a complete fleet cannot be formed in a day. Our greatest want is petty officers, and that deficiency is general. I must once more thank your Lordship for the handsome attention you have so obligingly shown me. It is a certificate that I much value myself upon. I am, &c. A. Keppel. The grateful feeling shown in this letter was no 480 LIFE OF LOED HAWKE. doubt enhanced by the murmurs which had begun to rise. Those murmurs gathered strength after the fleet had again sailed, and had looked about for the Frenchmen in vain. The opportunity was gone ; and the national spirit which had been fed so high in the previous war, expressed itself in every form of annoy- ance and disappointment. Whose fault had it been ? Why was there no enquiry ? Terror added to these feelings its peculiar vehemence and injustice; and party spirit, now at its extreme height, fanned the fuel into a flame. After such a different result of a naval battle from those which had of old crushed the enemy, would not even Spain venture forth once more ? — as she soon did. With the whole of the national resources expended on the American War, in which the best commanders were making shipwreck of their reputation, how was the country to stand up against France and Spain ? The country had indeed backed the King and the Government in the new civil war, but ail the oratory was against them, all the active forces of the national intellect were on the other side. The effect of Chatham's dying words, beseeching the country never to surrender its rights over its colonies, had already passed away, and the people were beginning to realise, under the prospect of an immediate struggle for existence, what a task they had undertaken. Keppel had been the strongest Whig politician the Navy had ever sent to Parliament ; and, as Burke's splendid panegyric, in his "Letter to a Noble Lord," abundantly shows, the adored favourite of his political friends, quite as much as of the seamen PALLISER MADE A SCAPEGOAT. 481 of the fleet. The Keppels were famous for their delightful manners ; and the Admiral's deeds truly deserved admiration. It was clear that whatever else happened, he must be pulled through. Fortunately for the Admiral there was a scapegoat. Sir Hugh Palliser, an officer of gallantry and distinc- tion, but of a reputation far below that of Keppel, — for though an older man, he had not been brought forward early in life, — was a Lord of the unpopular Admiralty over which Sandwich presided, and a Tory Member of Parliament. He had however always been a friend and admirer of Keppel, and the latter appears to have owed his command of the fleet to Palliser' s own strong recommendation.* He had fought with the utmost courage in the battle, his ship having been very severely handled ; and, though he had made a mistake, as we have seen, had no idea, especially after the Admiral's Despatch, that he deserved any- thing but praise. When the fleet returned again in the autumn, what was his astonishment to find that the popular indignation had already turned against himself instead of Keppel ! The interval had been diligently used. The favourite's failure had been a trick of the Machiavel- lian Admiralty. Palliser had been sent out expressly to prevent a victory. What could be more clear ? Had he not held back at the critical moment when the signal to join the Admiral had been flying for hours? This became the established theory of the battle. It * Charnock's " Biog. Nav., u vol. v. p. 489. 31 482 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. was not surprising that a man of a somewhat proud and overbearing character like Palliser should refuse to bear such imputations, and he made the mistake of defending himself in a public newspaper, instead of instantly demanding an enquiry into his own conduct. Keppel, when called on to confirm his subordinate's statement of the circumstances, declined. Palliser now made another mistake ; and after an unseemly altercation in the House of Commons with his chief, demanded a Courtmartial on him, and brought forward a series of most damaging charges. This was felt to be a high-handed use of his position as a Lord of the Admiralty, and Keppel at once became a martyr. He had run a narrow risk of being condemned like another Byng; he now figured as another Vernon. The King and the Government, North, Sandwich, and Palliser, shrank up into dwarf-like dimensions. The small form of Keppel swelled into the proportions of a giant. The Tories were silenced : the Whigs filled the whole air. There was in truth a great deal to be said against Palliser* s course of proceeding, and this it was which brought Hawke on the stage. The Memorial to the King, begging him to interpose and stop the Court- martial now demanded, would have carried little weight except for his great name. It was an un- precedented step, and, though it failed of its imme- diate object, it influenced opinion. The last paragraph alone need be printed in this place : it sums up the rest : — We therefore humbly represent, in behalf of public order as TWELVE ADMIRALS MEMORIALISE. 483 well as of the discipline of the navy, to your Majesty the dangers of long concealed and afterwards precipitately adopted charges, and of all recriminating accusations of subordinate officers against their Commander-in-chief, and particularly the mischief and scandal of permitting men who are at once in high office and subordinate military command, previous to their making such accusations, to attempt to corrupt the public judgment by the publication of libels on their officers in a common newspaper, thereby exciting mutiny in your Majesty's navy, as well as pre- judicing of those who are to try the merits of the accusation against the said superior officer. This Memorial was signed by " the revered " * Hawke, Moore, the Duke of Bolton, Graves, Pigot, Harland, the Earl of Bristol, Young, Barton, Geary, Lord Shuldham, and Gayton. Most of these were Hawke's old followers, and some of them Tories. It will be observed that, though Lord Hawke did, as a matter of fact, approve of Keppel's conduct, neither here (nor in any other part of the paper) is there any expression of opinion on the questions to be tried. It was a protest against a line of action which the Memo- rialists rightly judged to be pessimi exempli, and in that respect was valuable for the future. As the two Courtsmartial, on Keppel and Palliser, ended in the acquittal of both, it might seem that it was a pity Hawke's advice was not followed, and a great scandal prevented : but in truth such a course w r as now impossible. It was necessary for the reputation of two gallant commanding officers at the head of a fleet, and therefore for the whole service and the country at large, that both should be tried. * " Annual Kegister," 1780. 31 * 484 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. But it was unfortunate for the cause of justice that party feeling was now transported to such an extra- ordinary pitch of intensity that Keppel's trial was in reality a farce. Admiral Montagu, one of the members of the Court who took the lead, was a rough and violent seaman, who had seen very little active service against the enemy, and was an extravagant friend of Keppel's. This man browbeat the adverse witnesses without mercy ; and the whole Court was as much dominated by the enthusiasm in favour of Keppel as the Courts which condemned Mathews and Byng were by the popular feeling of their respective times. A special Act of Parliament was passed to allow the Court to be held on shore at Portsmouth instead of on board ship, its proper place ; and thus noble lords and ladies were able to enjoy the excitement without any danger of sea-sickness. The grim old garrison town was turned into a Bath or Tunbridge Wells. Princes of the Blood, in the persons of the Dukes of Gloucester and Cumberland, ex- Prime Ministers, like the Marquis of Rockingham, leaders of the House of Lords like the Duke of Rich- mond, statesmen like Fox and Burke, came down and sat in Court for whole days, persuading themselves that they were come to stand by their martyr and idol when he was to be shot like Byng by a tyrant Admiralty.* "When we read the excited letters from these personages it sounds like a joke. If ever a man's head was safe, Keppel's was. * See Burke's " Letter to a Noble Lord." lord Rockingham's letter. 485 The Marquis of Rockingham was, however, so considerable a person that his letter to Hawke, preserved among the Hawke papers, may at least amuse, and may possibly interest, some readers : — My Lord, The very noble part which your Lordship has acted in stating your opinion to the Crown on the odiousness and impro- priety of a Courtmartial having been ordered on Admiral Keppel in consequence of charges and accusations made against him under the circumstances and in the manner they were, occasions my venturing to intrude a letter upon you, as I am sure the account it will give your Lordship will afford you much satis- faction. The Courtmartial has now had four sitting davs. Each day produced circumstances that must give pleasure to every one who honours Mr. Keppel. The accusations and the accuser are con- tinually meeting with disappointments and discomfitures. Your Lordship, I imagine, will have heard of the events and proceedings on three of the former days. On this day Captain Digby was called as a witness by Sir Hugh Palliser. It has been under- stood that Captain Digby's evidence would be much in support of the accusations. In my mind it has proved entirely otherwise. He hesitated indeed, and did not give a direct and positive answer to the first question put by Admiral Montagu after his exami- nation by Sir Hugh Palliser, but yet his answer was such as I think no man could give who thought Admiral Keppel guilty of that part of the charge. Admiral Montagu's first question (which is understood to be a question from the whole Court) amounts to requiring the opinion of the evidence whether Admiral Keppel on the day of the action had been guilty of any neglect in not doing his utmost to burn, sink, and destroy, &c, the French, or had conducted himself in an unofficer-like manner. Captain Digby said — " he had long highly honoured and esteemed Admiral Keppel as an officer, and he did so ef?7/." He added that he declined giving any further opinion, for that as an evidence he had stated facts on which he thought it was not for him but for the Court to judge. Admiral Montagu then put a question to Captain Digby — j ust reading to him the charge where Admiral Keppel is accused of 486 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. having fled from the French fleet. The question he put was — "Did Admiral Keppel run away from the French fleet." Captain Digby answered without hesitation, "JSTo." Tuesday night. I was prevented from sending this letter to your Lordship last night [Tuesday]. Captain Digby was examined again this morn- ing. Admiral Keppel put several questions to him, — many very material ones, — and I am happy to say that I do not think that any one of Sir Hugh Palliser's five charges against Admiral Keppel has received support from Captain Digby's evidence. Captain Windsor of the "Fox" was the next witness called. I enclose to your Lordship a printed copy of Sir Hugh Palliser's letter[(which was published in November in the "Morning Post"). I also enclose to your Lordship a minute of Captain Windsor's evidence. Your Lordship on comparing them will be astonished. Wednesday night. I was too late to send this letter last night [Wednesday], so that it is now Thursday night. Captain Hood was examined to-day. He began by a long speech, particularly relative to the altera- tions in his Log-book. That matter rests at present till Admiral Keppel cross-examines him, which I suppose will be to-morrow. There are some matters in Captain Hood's evidence which may require answers, or rather which Admiral Keppel on cross- examining him will overset. The material part relates to the signals made early in the morning on the 27th, by which Captain Hood in part asserts that the fleet was dispersed and scattered. In regard to many of the charges Captain Hood's evidence con- tradicts them, particularly Sir Hugh Palliser's assertion that the " Formidable " was left unsupported. Captain Hood says his ship, the " Eobust," the " Terrible," " Worcester," " America," "Elizabeth," and the "Egmont" — he doubts in regard to the latter, — these five or six ships were astern of the "Formidable" when she passed along the French line in action. Admiral Montagu put two questions to Captain Hood : I enclose to your Lordship the minute of them, and shall only express my satisfaction in remarking that the assertion of Admiral Keppel's flying from the French fleet is too difficult a matter for evidence to be got to swear to. I really must apologize for troubling your Lordship with so long a letter. I confess that I feel so much joy every day with THE WHIG LADIES. 487 what passes at the Courtmartial that I could not refrain from communicating some circumstances to your Lordship, who, I was sure, would feel much satisfaction, pleasure, and comfort in hear- ing them. It is too with great satisfaction that I can inform your Lordship that so far from this "business creating a disunion in the fleet, it will have quite the contrary effect. Naval honour and naval integrity never shone brighter than they do at this moment here. The zeal in behalf of Admiral Keppel and the indignation against the attack and attackers seem to occupy the minds of all the best and ablest officers, and to extend itself through all the different ranks. Captain Hood will be examined again to-morrow, as Sir Hugh Palliser had not finished to-day all that he intended to ask him. Admiral Keppel will then cross-examine Captain Hood, and all the business of the Log-books will be the part whereon he will first commence. Admiral Keppel is in good health and good spirits. He con- ducts himself with so much propriety and dignity, and with such ability, as wins upon the minds of all his hearers. I have the honour to be, &c, &c. Portsmouth, Thursday night, Bockingham. January 14th, 1779. The great Whig ladies accompanied their relatives at this interesting scene, which lasted, with all its exciting circumstances, thirty days. Lady Rocking- ham, an excellent person, writes thus : — When I met you in the street I was just returned from Admiral Keppel' s trial. ... I w r ent to that place in great anxiety at such an event as a Court Martial, appointed, in such haste, on so meritorious and beloved a friend ; but I went in much resigna- tion of mind and the fullest trust in the Almighty Defender of injured innocence ; and I hope I returned with the strongest sense of gratitude.* It will be observed from Lord Rockingham's letter that the special Act which allowed of the Court * Letter to the Eev. John Burrows, penes auctorem, 488 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. being held on shore was scarcely needed. It was passed on the ground of the Admiral's bad health. He was subject to gout; but we see he was " in good health and good spirits." For the further explanation of the details mentioned in the letter the reader is referred to the Proceedings of the Courtmartial. Nor will any elaborate discussions be in place here. Suffice it to say that the painful and gratuitous charge against the Admiral for "running away" grew out of the scattered state of the English fleet on the afternoon of the 27th, when the French drew up in good order, and ready to fight. Finding only twelve ships at hand to renew the combat, Keppel hauled down the signal to engage, and made one for line of battle. He then ordered Sir Robert Harland, who was to windward with his division, to run down and form line astern of him. This gave the appearance of retreat, but was really part of the process of getting the fleet together, which was frustrated by Palliser's crippled condition, as mentioned above ; while the action of the French in " standing after the British fleet," however strange a sight to Englishmen, could not be helped, their numbers being at the moment so superior. As opinions of every kind have been freely hazarded on this celebrated Courtmartial, it is not of much consequence whether one more should be given. But, judging by the light of the Trials which have been already noticed in this book, it is hardly possible to avoid the conclusion that Keppel committed certain errors in judgment both at first and at last. Of these PALLISER S MISTAKES. 489 it has been held that his failure on the 28th to pursue the enemy, who were still visible from the mast head, was one ; and, even giving so experienced an officer, charged with so heavy a responsibility, the benefit of the doubt on that point, some notice should surely have been taken of the failure to bring the enemy to a decisive action on the 27th. As it was, he got off with all the glory which could possibly have been acquired by the most successful officer ; and that was certainly no advantage to the service. He supported himself, in one portion of his defence, by the example of " that truly great officer, Lord Hawke, who, rejecting all rules and forms, grasped at victory by an irregular attack," but dispassionate observers could hardly avoid the reflection that it was precisely because Keppel had only learnt part of his lesson, that he failed. Palliser's charges were condemned by the Court as "malicious and ill-founded." Perhaps they were; they were certainly ill-judged ; but on his Court- martial that officer escaped almost as well as his chief : indeed, his conduct was declared to have been " in many respects highly meritorious and exemplary." The extravagant burst of joy at Keppel' s acquittal in which Lord Hawke could not resist the temptation to join, though he must surely have had his own ideas as to Keppel's conduct, has been already noticed, and will be found concisely described by Lord Stanhope. Palliser was burnt in effigy, and his house sacked. " Perhaps," says Lord Stanhope, " no man was ever 490 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. more cruelly used by the public through a virulent party spirit." Nor was Lord Rockingham right in prema- turely asserting that the struggle had done no harm. It may have been necessary ; but it produced insubor- dination, and even mutiny. Violent and unmeasured denunciations of an Administration, in which naval officers were drawn up in opposing ranks, and in which the populace were invited to take part, could not but leave a mark. Neither officer was again employed at sea ; which was indeed their own desire. Keppel ended his public career as First Lord of the Admiralty under his friend Lord Rockingham; and the rank of Viscount could only be grudged to so fine an officer, even though he failed to be a first-rate admiral, when judged by the niggard recompense doled out to Hawke ; Palliser retired to the Govern- ment of Greenwich Hospital. A last, but most suggestive specimen of the aged Admiral's character comes before us in connection with one of the consequences of the Keppel Court- martial. As that officer declined to serve the Govern- ment any longer, though at its greatest need, the command of the fleet had to be entrusted to one of Hawke's old friends, Sir Charles Hardy, and, on his death, to another — Admiral, afterwards Sir Francis, Geary. The Spanish having joined the French in 1779, the combined squadrons were able to muster 06 line-of-battle ships against Hardy's 36, and to insult the British coast with impunity. Hardy was not justified by the traditions then dominant in doing more than keep them at bay; and this he did with HAWKERS LETTERS TO GEARY. 491 admirable skill. The enemy, however, ill-found and disunited, soon dispersed of his own accord, and Hardy, too old for so trying a responsibility, soon afterwards died. When Geary was appointed to command, and sent to blockade Brest in May, 1780, his old chief, now 75, wrote him the following letter, and, in August, another. Both must be inserted. If betraying some marks of fond old age, they at least display much amiability, and some touches of the old fire : — Mr dear Sir, June 6th, 1780. This is principally to thank you for the favour of your letter of the 3rd instant, and for all the kind acts you have been able to do for my parson, which was doing everything in your power. ... I find by the papers that you are getting ready for sea with all the despatch that is possible, and that you will sail the instant that it is in your power : and though I could wish this could get to your hands first, yet the times are so very pressing from many unfortunate events, that I think the sooner you can get to my old station off Brest the better it will be for my country. When you are there, watch those fellows as close as a cat watches a mouse ; and if once you have the good fortune to get up to them make much of them, and don't part with them easily. Forgive my being so free : I love you. We have served long together, and I have your interest and happiness sincerely at heart. My dear friend, may God Almighty bless you, and may that all-powerful hand guide and pi-otect you in the day of battle ; and that you may return with honour and glory to your country and family is the sincere and faithful wish of him who is most truly, my dear Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant, Hawke, Again : — Sunbury, My dear Sir, 26th August 1780. I am greatly obliged to you for the favour of your letter of the 20th on your arrival at Spithead ; indeed, it was more than 492 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. I expected, well knowing the hurry and bustle you must be in on your first coming into port. I do not wonder at the men being sickly upon so long a cruise : six weeks is long enough in all con- science ; any time after that must be very hurtful to the men, and will occasion their falling down very fast. I hope in God they will soon recover, that you may be enabled to proceed to sea immediately, for by all accounts the enemy is out, so that nothing can well stir from home with safety. I wish the Admiralty would see what was done in former times ; it would make them act with more propriety, both for the good of officers and men. I take it for granted that the great ones will let you have no rest till they get you out to sea again. Although I am in a good deal of pain, and much in the invalid order, yet I cannot refuse myself the pleasure of wishing you all imaginable good fortune when you go out again ; and I trust in God your next cruise will prove to be a happy and glorious one, both for your country and yourself. My good friend, I have always wished you well, and have ever talked freely and openly to you upon every subject relative to the service. Recollect some of these passages ; and for God's sake, if you should be so lucky as to get sight of the enemy, get as close to them as possible. Do not let them shuffle with you by engaging at a distance, but get within musket-shot if you can ; that will be the way to gain great honour, and will be the means to make the action decisive. By doing this you will put it out of the power of any of the brawlers to find fault. I am fully persuaded you will do your part; therefore hope you will forgive my saving so much on the subject. I find the Russians are gone from the Downs, so you will have no trouble about them. My good friend, God bless you. May the hand of Providence go with you and protect you in the day of battle, and grant you victory over our perfidious enemies ; and may you return with honour to your country and family again ! These are the sincere and hearty wishes of him who is most truly and faithfully, my dear Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant, Hawke. Charnock, by whom these letters were given,* tells us that, in a postscript to one of his letters, Hawke * Vol. v. p. 187. HAWKE'S LETTER TO BARR1NGTON. 493 tells Greary : — " I am glad you have got so excellent an officer with you as I am convinced Kempenfelt is : he will be of great service to you." Greary is again mentioned in the following letter [to the Hon. Admiral Barrington, with whom Hawke is about to send a young friend to sea : — Sunbttry, June, 1780. Permit me, my dear Sir, to wish you joy of your new Com- mander-in-chief [G-eary]. I take him to be a good seaman, and believe he is a brave, honest, good-tempered man. I am only afraid of his being too easy, and that he will subject himself to be blamed, as Sir Charles Hardy was, for letting the discipline of the fleet come to nothing. I hope — for I wish him well — he will support the dignity of his high station in a proper manner, and that he will not let himself down, and make himself too cheap with the little people of the service. What you say is too true. I am afraid our superiors have not their King and country so much at heart as they ought to have, otherwise they would think and act in a different manner to what they do. That pride, conceit, and folly in not consulting good men of the profession must of course throw everything into dis- order and confusion ; and the thinking all men are alike in the service must bring the navy to destruction at last, unless Sir George Eodney, General Vaughan and Sir Hugh Palliser will take us under their protection. You see what great things are done, and how greatly represented. Whatever you shall be concerned in I am convinced you will represent in a just and honourable manner, in its own fair and natural colours. May the hand of Providence protect you in all your under- takings ; and may your cruise prove as fortunate as your own heart can desire.* Thus the old man keeps up his last connection with his beloved profession. The words in which he begs his friend " never to let the enemy shuffle off, but get as close to them as possible " were a legacy to the * Hawke Papers. 494 LIFE OF LORD HAWKS. service, and they were not forgotten. They came with weight from one who had taught the navy how to put them in practice. The letter to Admiral Barrington, above quoted, betrays the heaving of the political swell which succeeded the storm of the Keppel Courtmartial. Palliser and Rodney were at the head of the naval Tories, as Hawke and Keppel were of the naval Whigs. But let us remember what was the exceeding bitterness of the political conflict which raged from 1770 to 1784, when at last the time came, and the younger Pitt broke upon the world, and we shall understand that no one in a high position could possibly have kept himself entirely free from it. Not that party strife became any the less pronounced at the later period : but order and prosperity then began to reign in a manner which no one could have foreseen when our veteran left this last, almost despairing, letter for a future generation to unearth from its recesses. Rodney's despatches from the "West Indies at this period are remarked upon by other writers as somewhat boastful ; and there were plenty of people to expose any defect, jealous as. they were in the highest degree, even in that hour of difficulty, of a Tory success. It required the brilliant victory of the Twelfth of April, 1782, to extinguish all such petty feelings, and restore its old tone to a profession which had grievously suffered by the events of the previous twenty years. It is to be regretted that so few of Hawke's private letters have been preserved. We should probably have found in them many expressions of the same DEATH. 495 hearty, affectionate nature as in the foregoing. But without such help, we have seen enough to convince us that this great admiral learnt the road to success as much by his good heart as by his clear head, and lofty character. He was a man of principle, and his principles were derived from the highest source. On October 16th, 1781, the " Annual Register " has the following entry: — " Died, at Sunbury in Middle- sex, Lord Hawke, Vice Admiral of Great Britain, Admiral of the Fleet. President of the Maritime School, and an Elder Brother of the Trinity House." On the 18th, Walpole writing to Mann, and forgetting that " Hawke had never been a man of ability," remarks : — " Lord Hawke is dead, and does not seem to have left his mantle to anybody." If we had not already found it necessary to use Walpole's remarks with caution, this of itself would show him to be but little acquainted with affairs. Within six months of his use of this expression Rodney had won the only battle that could be ranked by the side of the victory of Quiberon since the days of Blake. Lord Sand- wich knew better. A few weeks later he had written to Rodney : — " The fate of this Empire is in your hands, and I have no wish that it should be in any other." * By that victory off Dominica the labours of Chatham, Hawke, and Wolfe had been crowned ; Great Britain shook off all the enemies that were furiously crowding and fastening upon her, the King's splendid patriotism was rewarded, the Peace of Versailles made possible, * Mundy's " Kodney," vol. ii. p. 282. 496 LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. and the breathing period of the next ten years granted, during which the son of Chatham might regenerate his country, and prepare her for the mighty task which yet lay before her Imperial path. Lord Hawke had lived at Sunbury for some years, but his grave was to be by the side of that of the beloved wife who had died at Swathling five and twenty years before. The history which has been here given scarcely requires any recapitulation. It comes out clear and sharp in connection with one great and formative period, the twenty-three years during which the aggresive conduct of France and Spain forced England into the defensive war which led to the acquisition of her present Empire. Before that time we know but little of the Cornish barrister's son who married the young Yorkshire heiress. At the end of it he is at the head of his profession, and has established his position as the greatest officer that had appeared in the modern navies of Europe. Checked by many a stroke of bitter trial, we never find him failing in any work which he was given to do, except in the case of Rochefort, where we have seen he was not, and was held not to be, responsible ; and we have had the means of forming some opinion as to the reasons why he was what Horace Walpole called " fortunate." We have watched his modest demeanour in prosperity, and his manly fortitude in adversity; and this not only in military but civil affairs. If a senior is pro- moted before him he is the first to wish him joy. If honours and rewards are] showered upon the HE FORMED A SCHOOL. 497 unworthy, it makes no difference to him, though he must have known he was worthy of them. At the end of his life the Peerage which should have marked the victory of Quiberon, or if not, the close of the war, or if not then, the retirement from the Admiralty, — comes at last. Then men seem to discover that they have a hero among them, and call to mind his sur- passing services. He is " the great and good," the "revered Lord Hawke," the "father of the navy," the last of a great race, the prophet whose mantle there is no one to take up. Amongst his negative merits it may be observed that he never once in his long career found himself called upon to deal with mutiny in his ship or fleet. Seamen and officers knew him too well. Like all great men, he formed a school. In this respect he was a partner with Anson, of whom the same thing may be said. But it is assuredly true in a far greater degree of Lord Hawke. Most of the officers who, after the Peace of Paris, rose to dis- tinction, had served under him; and some of them owned their debt. They carried on the traditions which he had planted, down to the present century. Especially was this the case, as has been pointed out in Chapter III., in the matter of decisive engage- ments. It was here that the transformation of naval warfare displayed itself, and it is in this vital point that all succeeding transformations will culminate in future times. Perhaps even Nelson, who was a Post-Captain when Hawke died, caught more of his own noble spirit from the maxims and ex- 32 49S LIFE OF LORD HAWKE. ploits of " the father of the navy " than he himself knew. In the belief that the lineaments of such a man should not be suffered to remain any longer in obscurity, and that not only the Royal Navy but the whole British people cannot but feel some sort of shame that such obscurity should have existed so long, the writer of these pages, while profoundly regretting that he has been unable to do full justice to such a theme, and especially that more private letters have not escaped the ravages of time, presents this imperfect sketch to his readers, and claims their indulgence. 499 INDEX. N.B. — The rank assigned to British Officers is, as far as run be ascertained r that at which they liimllij arrived. A. Abercrombie (or Abercromby), General, 359. Albemarle, 2nd Earl of, 215. Albemarle, 3rd Earl of, 442, 451. Alberoni, Cardinal, 17, 328. Ambrose, Jobn, Admiral, 148, 161. Amherst, Lord, 289, 338, 339, 340, 360, 361, 427, 473. Anne, Queen of England, 5, 11, 12, 15, 29, 35, 58, 80. Anson, Lord, 56, 65, 72, 73, 74, 76, 77, 82, 86, 87, 95, 98, 106, 125, 128, 130, 138 ; Chap. VI. to Chap. XIII. pas- sim; 432, 445, 446, 447, 450, 451, 452, 459, 463, 464, 465, 470, 497. Argyll, 5th Duke of, 236, 238. Arnold, Thomas, Captain, 100. Arnold, Dr. (of Rugby), 100. Atterbury, Bishop, 51. B. Baird, Patrick, Captain, 405. Balchen, Sir John, Admiral, 82. Balfour, Captain, 385. Barham, Lord, Admiral, 470. Barnard, Sir John, M.P., 43, 46, 49. Barnett, Curtis, Captain, 143. Barre, Colonel, M.P., 459, 460. Barrington, Hon. Samuel, Ad- miral, 292, 365, 385, 493, 494. Barrow, Sir John, 87, 106, 130, 253, 256, 365, 445, 458, 469. Barton, Matthew, Admiral, 483. Beatson (historian), 412. Beaufort, Duchess of, 447. Bedford, 4th Duke of, 77, 170, 191, 199, 208, 216, 463,473. Belleisle, Marshal, 56, 248, 416. Benbow, Admiral, 30. Bentley, Sir John, Admiral, 182, 405. Berkeley, George, Captain, 148. Biron, Marshal, 457. Bladen, Catharine Maria, 119. Bladen, Elizabeth, 109, 124. Bladen, John, 121, 122, 123. Bladen, Martin, Colonel, 77, 110, 112, 118, 119, 120, 122, 123, 132. Bladen, Thomas, Colonel, 110, 122. Bladen, Thomas, Dr., 110. Bladen, William, 110. Blake, Admiral, 4, 60, 62, 75, 94, 259, 401, 425, 495. 500 INDEX. Blakcney, Lord, General, 249, 2G8. ' Blane, Sir Gilbert, M.D., 89. Blaynev, 2nd Lord, 110. Bligh, General, 285, 357, 358. Bolinirbroke, Lord, 10, 12, 49, 216. Bolton, Duke of. (See Powlett, Lord Harry.) Bompart, M., Admiral, 363, 379, 380, 382, 387, 388, 390. Borough, Sir John, 103. Boscawen, Hon. Edward, Ad- miral, 65, 99, 106, 108, 109, 171, 172, 173, 175, 202, 203, 204, 220, 225, 227, 230, 231, 234, 240, 264, 276, 288, 289, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342, 360, 378, 379, 422, 426, 427, 430, 432, 446, 447. Boscawen, Hon. Mrs., 447. Boys, William, Commodore, 377, 378. Braddock, General, 222, 283. Bradstreet, Colonel, 359. Brett, Sir Peircy, Admiral, 171, 377. Brodrick, Thomas, Admiral, 288, 291, 306, 312, 317, 318, 329, 379. Brooke (poet), 50. Brooke, Catharine. (See Lady Hawke.) Brooke, Humphrey, 119. Brooke, Walter, 119. Buckle, Matthew, Admiral, 306. Burgoyne, General, 443. Burke, Edmund, 3, 8, 14, 48, 49, 53, 54, 55, 57, 79, 480, 484. BiTiaiaby, SirWm., Captain, 206. Burrish, George, Captain, 135, 136, 148, 161. Bute, Earl of, 438, 441, 444. Byng, Hon. Edward, Colonel, 252. Byng, George, 1st Viscount Tor- rington, 66, 71, 72, 80, 81, 86, 100, 142, 169, 220, 421. Byng, Hon. John, Admiral, 98, 102, 108, 124, 125, 163, 219, 220, 221, 222 ; Chap. VIII. passim ; 280, 283, 327, 371, 424, 446, 463, 476, 482, 484. Byng, Hon. Robert, 125. Byron, Hon. John, Admiral, 82, 292, 306, 365. c. Calder, Sir Robert, Admiral, 304. Campbell, Dr. (historian), 326, 412, 436, 437. Campbell, John, Admiral, 388, 407, 410, 479. Campbell, Thomas (poet), 4. Canterbury, Thomas, Arch- bishop of, 236, 238. Carteret, Lord Granville, 49, 216, 217, 236, 238, 420. Cavendish, Captain, 259. Cavendish, Mr., 123. Chambers, William, Admiral, 198. Charles II., King of England, 33,35, 60, 64, 94. Charles III., King of Naples, 26, 139, 438. Charles III., King of Spain, 438, 439. Charles VI., Emperor, 126. Charnock (biographer), 114,162, 206, 220, 436, 452, 492. Chatham, Earl of, William Pitt, 3, 9, 10, 12, 24; 39, 53, 55, 79, 205 ; remainder of book passim. Chesterfield, Lord, 191 , 21 1 , 216, 330. Choiseul, Marquis de, 440. Clarke, Colonel, 290, 313, 320. Clerk (Author of "Naval Tac- tics"), 70. Clive, Lord, 204, 222, 282, 333. INDEX. 501 Cochrane, Earl of Dundonald, 345, 346, 353, 401. Cock, Mr. Joseph, 386. Codrington, Christopher, Lieut., 275. Cole, Mr., 152. Collingwood, Lord, Admiral, 392, 404, 450, 470. Collingwood, Thomas, Captain, 276. Compton, Major, 122. Conflans, Marshal and Admiral, 79, 370, 372, 378, 382, 387, 388, 390, 391, 395, 399, 404, 405, 406, 407, 412, 413, 416, 418, 424, 427, 429. Conway, Marshal, 78, 285, 290, 291, 300, 305, 311, 312, 319, 320, 321, 327, 330. Cook, Captain, 89, 259. Cooper, Thomas, Captain, 148, 151, 161. Corbett, Mr. (Secretary to the Admiralty), 123. Cornewall, James, Captain, 148, 149, 150, 166. Cornish, Sir Samuel, Admiral, 442. Cornwallis, Hon. Edward, Gene- ral, 286, 291, 300, 320, 327. Cotes, Thomas, Admiral, 181, 186, 382, 383, 387. Coxe (historian), 8, 27. Cromwell, Oliver, 33, 60, 62, 94, 229. Cumberland, Henry, Duke of, 466, 467, 484. Cumberland, William, Duke of, 236, 238, 239, 241, 281, 283, 284, 330. D. D'Achc, Admiral, 97, 359, 360, 453. D'Aiguillon, Due, General, 382, 413, 414, 415, 416. D'Amblimont, M., Captain, 182. Darcy, Lord, 119. De Beaufremont, M., Admiral, 370, 406, 407, 409. De Broc, Marquis, 415. De Chalotais, M., 417. De Court, Admiral, 132, 145, 146, 150, 196. De Fromentiere, M., Captain, 182. De Grasse, Comte, Admiral, 79, 97. De L'Angle, Merrick, Captain, 148. De la Bedoyere, M., Captain, 182. De la Clue, M., Admiral, 378, 379. De la Jonquiere, Admiral, 170, 172, 213. De la Lippe, Comte, General, 443. Denis, Sir Peter, Admiral, 171, 172, 292, 306, 365, 381, 405, 407, 409, 410, 428. De Koquefeuil, Admiral, 82, 137, 139, 140. De Saint George, Commodore, 171, 172. De Ternay, M., Commodore, 442. De Vaudreuil, Comte, Captain, 182. Devonshire, 4th Duke of, 259. Digby, Hon. Ptobert, Admiral, 365, 385, 485, 486. Dilke, William, Captain, 148, 151, 161. Dorset, Duke of, 236, 238. D'Orvilliers, Admiral, 475. Douglas, Sir James, Admiral, 30< ;. Draper, Sir William, General, 442. Drummond, Charles, Admiral] 14S. Du Barri, Madame, 417. 502 INDEX. Dubois de la Motlie, Admiral, 193, 230, 231, 288, 289, 324, 338. Duchaffault, M., Captain, 182. Duff, Eobert, Admiral, 365, 369, 382, 383, 384, 388, 390, 397, 405, 408. Duguay, Comte, Captain, 182, 195, 235, 243, 245, 289. Dupleix,M., 171, 212, 213, 222. Durell, Philip, Admiral, 182, 300. Durell, Thomas, Captain, 41, 115, 126. Durouret, M., Captain, 182. Dury, Alexander, General, 358. Du Verger St. Andre, M., Admiral, 370, 405, 413. Duvignault, M., Captain, 182. E. Edgcumbe, 1st Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, 365, 368, 374, 452. Effingham, Lord, 297. Egmont, 2nd Earl of, 450, 458, 463, 464. Eliott, Lord Heatlmeld, 23. Elliot, John, Admiral, 377. Elizabeth, Queen oi England, 28, 50, 63. Entick (historian), 85, 323. Essex, 4th Earl of, 110. Eugene, Prince, 15. F. Fairfax, Sir William, 110. Falconer (poet), 391. Falmouth, 1st Viscount, 203. Fanshaw, Captain, 92. Ferdinand, Prince, of Bruns- wick, 3G0. Ferdinand VI., King of Spain, 438. Fleurv, Cardinal, 11, 14, 24, 26, 138, 139, 440. Forbes, General, 359. Forbes, Hon. John, Admiral, 148, 149, 166, 175, 264, 265. Foster, Captain of privateer, 273. Fowke, General, 250, 268. Fox, Charles James, 10, 484. Fox, Stephen, 1st Lord Hol- land, 219, 236, 238, 239, 242, 257. Fox, Thomas, Admiral, 178,181, 182, 183, 184, 188, 189, 194. Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, 108, 138, 225, 257, 281, 282, 290, 332, 333, 334, 336, 337, 348, 359, 447. Frederick, Prince of Wales, 216. Frederick, Sir Charles, 389. Frogmere, Kowland, Captain, 148, 161. a. Gabaret, M., Commodore, 147. Galissoniere, M., Admiral, 213, 251. Galway, Kuvigny, Earl of, 15. Gambier, Lord, Admiral, 345, 346. Gascoigne, John, Admiral, 148. Gay ton, Clark, Admiral, 483. Geary, Sir Francis, Admiral, 364, 381, 382, 383, 387, 391, 483, 490, 491, 493. Geddes, Alexander, Captain, 107. George I., King of England, 13, 17, 18, 28. George II., King of England, 106, 108, 191, 237, 266, 280, 296, 323, 331, 332, 334, 367, 426, 427, 432, 434, 435. George III., King of England, 76, 106, 428, 440, 448, 450, 454, 461, 467, 472, 473, 474, 475, 482, 495. INDEX. 503 Gloucester, William Henry, Duke of, 484. Glover, Richard, 21, 49, 252. Godolphin, Earl, 10. Gower, 2nd Earl, 473. Grafton, Duke of, 454, 461. Granby, Marquis of, 421, 461. Granville, Earl. (See Carteret.) Graves, Samuel, Admiral, 310, 346, 483. Grenville, George (Prime Minis- ter), 450. Grenville, Thomas, Captain, 171, 236, 238. Griffin, Thomas, Admiral, 229. Grotius, 30. Gybbon, Mr., M.P., 122. H. Haddock, Nicholas, Admiral, 82, 83, 84, 132. Halifax, Montagu, Earl of, 214, 450. Halifax, Saville, Lord, 10. Hammonds of Scarthingwell, Towton, &c, 119. Hanway, Thomas, Captain, 171, 181, 186. Hardwicke, 1st Earl of, 215, 236, 238, 239, 242, 254, 259, 265, 277, 463. Hardy, Sir Charles, Admiral, 82. Hardy, Sir Charles, Admiral, 364, 391, 406, 444, 490, 491, 493. Harland, Sir Robert, Admiral, 181, 183, 186, 477, 478, 483, 488. Harrison, Robert, Admiral, 176, 181. Hawke, Catharine (daughter of Lord Hawke), 124. Hawke, Edward (father of Lord Hawke), 109. Hawke, Edward, 1st Lord, Ad- miral, 3, 4, 53, 56, 60; re- mainder of book passim . Hawke, Frances (sister of Lord Hawke), 122. Hawke, Lady, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 190. Hawke, Martin Bladen, 2nd Lord, 121. Henri IV., King of France, 104. Henry VIIL, King of England, 63, Herbert, Earl of Torrington, Admiral, 64, 80. Hervey, Lord, 434. Hervey, Augustus, 3rd Earl of Bristol, Admiral, 365, 370, 371, 372, 375, 384, 385, 456, 457, 465, 483. Hervey, The Hon. William, Captain, 92. Hillsborough , 2nd Viscount , 46 1 . Hobbs, James, Lieutenant, 244. Hodgson, General, 434. Holburne, Francis, Admiral, 227, 230, 231, 288, 332, 349. Holderness, Lord, 290. Hood, Alexander, Lord Brid- port, Admiral, 486, 487. Hosier, Admiral, 19, 21, 23, 84. Howard, Colonel, 292, 320, 322, 327. Howe, Earl, Admiral, 70, 79, 97, 99, 107, 285, 292, 302, 310, 319, 346, 348. 350, 352, 353, 354, 356, 358, 360, 365, 366, 367, 381, 391, 392, 401, 405, 407, 409, 410, 414, 415, 428, 434, 436, 443, 449, 456, 457, 458, 459, 463, 467, 470, 473. Hughes, Sir Edward, Admiral, 476. J. James I., King of England, 93, 103. 504 INDEX. James II., King of England, 60, 94. Janssen, Sir Theodore, 110. Jenkins ("fable " of ear), 14, 31. Johnson, Doctor, 49, 50. " Junius," 13, 454, 461. K. Keene, Sir Benjamin, 39, 40. Kempenfelt, Admiral, 445, 493. Keppel, Viscount, Admiral, 76, 78, 79, 80, 90, 92, 95, 99, 199, 204, 205, 248, 249, 260, 265, 278, 292, 302, 359, 360, 365, 403, 405, 407, 409, 410, 411, 418, 427, 428, 432, 433, 437, 442, 449, 450, 451, 452, 453, 457, 458, 461, 464 ; Chapter XIV. passim. Keppel, Sir Henry, Admiral, G.C.B., 427. Kingsley, General, 433. Kingston, Duchess of, 365. Knowles, Sir Charles, Admiral, 108, 175, 190, 203, 290, 291, 302, 304, 305, 307, 311, 316, 329, 339, 467. L. Dally, M., 213. Lawrence, Colonel, 222. Lawson, Sir Wilfrid, 3rd Baronet, M.P., 42. Leake, Sir John, Admiral, 14. Legge, Hon. Edward, Commo- dore, M.P., 185, 186, 192, 199. Lendrick, John, Captain, 372, 385, 386. Lestock. Richard, Admiral, 82, 84 ; Chapter V. passim ; 221, 285. L'Etenduere, Admiral, 181, 182, 188. Ligonier, Lord, General, 290, 296. Lingen, Joshua, Admiral, 148. Lloyd, James, Captain, 148, 151, 161. Lloyd (Lieutenant of " Ber- wick "), 153, 155, 156, 165. Long, Bobert, Admiral, 148. Loudoim, Lord, 332, 443. Louis XIV., King of France, 5, 15, 16, 27, 33, 56, 58, 61, 64, 94, 212, 440. Louis XV., King of France, 5, 139, 435. Lovett, John, Captain, 148. Lyttelton, 1st Lord, 102. M. McKinley, Lieutenant, 296, 297. Macnamara, M., Admiral, 230, 231. Mallet (poet), 50. Malmesbury, 1st Lord, 439. Mann, Horace (Minister at Florence), 140, 248, 265. Manners, Lord Charles, 421. Manners, Lord Bobert, 421. Mansfield, Murray, Earl of, 257, 265, 461. Maria Theresa, Empress, 138, 226, 272, 447. Marlborough, Charles, 3rd Duke of, 236, 238, 324, 356, 357. Marlborough, John, 1st Duke of, 10, 12, 15, 18, 94, 110, 111, 203. Martin, M. (historian), 413. Martin, Sir William, Admiral, 108, 139, 439. Master, Streynsham, Captain, 100. INDEX. 505 Mathews, Admiral, 56, 71, 72, 73, 82, 84, 95, 100, 106, 131 ; Chapter V. passim ; 205, 221, 229, 251, 264, 283, 286, 371, 439, 484. Maule, Henry, Bishop of Dro- more, 122. Maurice, Prince, 94. Medley, Henry, Admiral, 463. Midwinter, Captain, 185, 186. Mirepoix, Due de, 230, 232, 235. Mirepoix, Madame de, 215, 230. Mitchell, Cornelius, Commodore, 168. Monckton, General, 442. Monk (or Monck), General, Earl of Albemarle, 62. Montagu, Duke of, 199. Montagu (or Mountagu), 1st Earl of Sandwich, 62. Montagu, John, Admiral, 484, 485, 486. Montagu, Hon. William, Cap- tain, 171, 172. Montcalm, Marquis de, General, 332. Moore, Sir John, Admiral, 180, 181, 185, 483. Mordaunt, Sir John, General, 284, 285, 290, 291, 292, 293, 296, 300, 304, 306, 307, 311, 312, 315, 316, 318, 319, 320, 321, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 330, 356. Mostyn, General, 65. Mulgrave, 2nd Lord, Captain, 77. N. Napier, Sir Charles, Admiral, 353. Napoleon, Emperor, 69, 377, 401, 412. Narborough, Sir John, Admiral, 63. Navarro, Don J. J., Admiral, 146, 154, 157. Neilson, Thomas, Lieutenant, 398. Nelson, Earl, Admiral, 4, 60, 71, 75, 79, 87, 88, 91, 98, 100, 116, 285, 353, 392, 401, 402, 404, 411, 418, 419, 430, 447, 450, 456. Newcastle, Hollis, Duke of, 205, 210, 216, 217, 218, 223, 230, 236, 238, 239, 253, 257, 259, 271, 279, 327, 389, 419, 424, 438, 463, 497. Norris, Harry, Admiral, 176. Norris, Sir John, Admiral, 80, 81, 82, 163. Norris, Eichard, Captain, 148, 157, 158, 161, 163, 164, 165, 166, 220. North, Lord, 461, 468, 482. Nugent (poet), 50. 0. O'Brien, Lucius, Admiral, 411, 412. Ogle, SirChaloner, Admiral, 82, 85, 86, 115, 117, Onslow, Speaker, 48. Osborn, Henry, Admiral, 148, 151, 154, 166, 249, 338, 360. Ourry, Paul Henry, Captain, 414. P. Palliser (or Pallisser), Sir Hugh, Admiral, 76, 163, 477, 478, 479, 481, 482, 483, 485, 486, 488, 489, 490, 493, 494. Palmerston, 2nd Viscount, 464. Parry, William, Admiral, 385. Pelham, Henry, Prime Minister, 76, 210, 211, 216, 217. 33 506 INDEX. Penrice, Sir Henry (Judge of the Admiralty Court), 190. Perrie, Mr., 200. Peter the Great, Czar of Eussia, 82. Peterborough, Mordaunt, Earl of, 15. Pett, Peter, 93. Pett, Eobert, Captain, 148, 161. Peyton, Edward, Commodore, 167, 168. Peyton, Sir Yelverton, Captain, 92. Philip V., King of Spain, 35, 36. Pigot, Hugh, Admiral, 483. Pitt, "William (son of Lord Chatham), 10, 79, 465, 494, 496. Plumer, Mr., M.P., 46. Pocock, Sir George, Admiral, 65, 97, 186, 204, 359, 360, 442, 449, 451, 452, 453, 476. Pope, Alexander (poet), 49, 50. Potter, Mr. M.P., 330. Powlett, Lord Harry, Admiral, 245, 483. (See Duke of Bolton). Prideaux, General, 361. Pulteney, E^rl of Bath, 12, 43, 46, 49, 50, 216. Purvis, Charles, Admiral, 148. R. Eanke, Leopold von (historian), 25, 157, 448. Eeynolds, John, Admiral, 372. Eichelieu, Cardinal, 103. Eichelieu, Marshal, 252, 330. Eichmond, 3rd Duke of, 484. Eobins, Major, 87. Eobinson, Sir Thomas, 236, 238 239. Bochford, Earl of, 236, 238, 472. Eockingham, Marquis of, 476, 484, 485, 487, 490. Eockingham, Marchioness of, 487. Eodney, Lord, Admiral, 4, 23, 60, 69, 70, 71,79,97,99,182, 186, 187, 189, 192, 194, 204, 292, 316, 329, 377, 401, 418, 437, 442, 449, 456, 457, 470, 477, 493, 494, 495. Eooke, Sir George, Admiral, 14, 18, 80. Boss, of Bladensburg, General, 110. Bowley, Sir Joshua, Admiral, 405. Bowley, Sir William, Admiral, 82, 84, 146, 148, 150, 151, 154, 155, 156, 157, 163, 164, 166, 167, 265. Eoyston, Lord, 271. Bupert, Prince, 94. Eushout, Sir John, 122. Eussell, Earl of Orford, Admiral, 64, 80. Eussel, John, Captain, 148. Euthven, Colonel, 110. Eutland, 3rd Duke of, 236, 238. s. Sackville, Lord George, General, 324, 356. Sanderson, Sir Thomas, 48. Sandwich, 1st Earl of. (See Montagu.) Sandwich, 4th Earl of, 170, 211, 224, 450, 456, 458, 465, 475, 481, 482, 495. Sandys, Mr., M.P., 122. Saumarez, Philip, Captain, 171, 172, 182, 184, 186, 189. Saunders, Sir Charles, Admiral, 77, 181, 186, 189, 192, 194, 204, 268, 2750,289, 356, 411, 422, 449, 48, 451, 452, 453, 461. INDEX. 507 Saxe, Marshal, 59, 82, 130, 140, 248. Sclater, George, Captain, 148, 161. Scott, Arthur, Commodore, 181, 186. Selwyn, George, 451. Sherburne, 2nd Earl of, 464. Shovell, Sir Cloudesley, Admiral, 63,81, 436. Shuldham, Lord, Admiral, 483. Smith, Mr. Joseph, 347. Smith, Sir Sidney, Admiral, 353. Smith, Thomas, Admiral, 102, 108, 260. Smollett (historian), 118, 206, 412. Somers, Earl, 9, 12. Southey, Kobert (historian), 87. Speke, Henry, Captain, 405, 407, 410, 412, 428. Stanhope, 1st Earl, 15, 17. Stanhope, 5 th Earl (Lord Mahon), 9, 258, 423, 424, 439, 475, 489. Stanhope, Sir Thomas, Captain, 185, 405. St. John, General, 110. St. Vincent, 1st Earl, Admiral, 392, 470. Steevens, Charles, Admiral, 182, 244. Stepney, George, Captain, 148. Storr, John, Admiral, 405. Stuart, Lieutenant, 397. Sully (the French Minister), 103. T. Taylor, Kobert, Lieut, 369. Taylor, Wittewronge, Captain, 391. Temple, 1st Earl, 264, 266. Tencin, Cardinal, 59, 138, 140, 377. Thackeray (author of the " Life of Chatham ""), 289, 388. Thames, Mr., 293, 294, 295. Thierri (French pilot), 290, 301, 311, 348. Thompson (poet), 49, 50. Thurot, M., Captain, 377, 378. Torrington, Viscount. (See Byng.) Townshend, Hon. George, Ad- miral, 148. Towry, John, Captain, 148. Tyrawley, Lord, General, 268. Tyrrell, Richard, Admiral, 384, 385. V. Vauban, Marshal, 310. Vaughan, General, 493. Vernon, Admiral, 20, 21, 22, 49, 55, 82, 84, 85, 86, 87, 101, 107, 115, 125, 143, 173, 203, 206, 207, 285, 418, 482. w. Wager, Sir Charles, Admiral, 80, 81, 113, 143. Waldegrave, Hon. John, Gene- ral, 324, 356. Waldegrave, 2nd Earl, 218, 238, 239, 241, 258, 259. Wall, General (the Spanish Minister), 438. Wallis, Samuel, Captain, 467. Walpole, Horatio, Lord Wal- pole of Wolterton, 24. Walpole, Horatio, 4th Earl of Or- ford, 56, 65, 77, 78, 140, 159, 173, 202, 203, 222, 223, 252, 258, 259, 260, 265, 266, 267, 330, 338, 365, 398, 408, 417, 432, 434, 447, 449, 450, 451, 463, 464, 466, 473, 474, 495, 496." 508 INDEX. Walpole, Sir Eobcrt, 1st Earl of Orford, 8, 9, 10, 13, 17, 19, 21, 24, 27, 30, 32, 41, 42, 43, 45,49, 51, 52, 54, 55, 76, 81,83,84,110, 115, 122, 139, 210, 217. Warren, Sir Peter, Admiral, 73, 107, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 190, 193, 197, 198, 201, 202, 203, 208, 209, 340. Washington, General (President of the United States), 222. Watson, Charles, Admiral, 97, 148, 181, 186, 192, 193, 204, 222. Watson, Thomas, Captain, 101. Wellington, Duke of, 393, 464. Wentworth, General, 283, 285. West, Temple, Admiral, 148, 151, 161, 171, 235, 264, 265, 268, 269, 288. Weymouth, 3rd Viscount, 461. Whitehead, Paul (poet), 426. Whitwell, Matthew, Admiral, 385. Williams, Edmund, Admiral, 148, 161. William III., King of England, 5, 12, 25, 29, 58, 64, 80, 94, 104. Wilkes, John, 88, 422, 454, 462. Wilmington, Lord, 122. Windsor, Captain, 486. Wolfe, James, General, 282, 289, 300, 303, 310, 311, 314, 316, 320, 326, 327, 338, 339, 340, 341, 353, 360, 361, 362, 366, 367, 451, 495. Wright, Fortunatus, Captain of privateer, 274. Wright, Mr., Surgeon, 385, 386. Wyndham, Sir William, M.P., 43, 45, 46, 49, 216. Y. Yonge, Professor, 259. Young, James, Admiral, 365, 397, 483. York, Duke of, Edward, 107, 365, 366, 367, 368, 374, 391, 442, 443, 444, 466. ERRATA. Page 107, 173, 259, 285, 292, 297, 323, 338, 397, 436, 459, 464, 467, 470, 473, line 25, for " With the exception " read " Except in the case." 202, 203, note, for " vol. i." read " vol. ii." (These references are to the 2nd Edition.) note, after " Mann " insert " vol. iii." line 1, after " say " insert " but." line 18, for " General " read " Colonel." last line, for " regiments " read " regiment." last line, erase " as." note, for " 24 " read " 240." line 4, erase " who." transfer note * to page 418. line 5, for " best " read " most complete." line 18, for " service " read " services." line 1, after " Anson's " read " limited." note, for " vol. ii." read " vol. iii." line 16, for " is " read " are." line 28, for " given orders none should be mentioned more " read " forbidden Grafton ' to name a peerage for any man.' " note, erase " p. 133," and for " vol. iv." read "vol. iii. p. 239." LONDON : miNTED BY W. H. ALLEN AND CO., 13, WATERLOO PLACE. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. IMTERLIBRARY LOAflJ OCT 18 1965 FOUR WEEKS FROM DATE OF RECEIPT NON-RENEWABLE RE NOV 2- 7-4 «-9 4 Form L9-Serie* I 14 AA Q00191 590 9 Mil 3 1158 00204 111 4708 s