administrative capacity. His health showed signs of giving way in the early part of 1762, and he was advised to try the Bath waters. He appeared to derive considerable benefit from them; but while walking in his garden at Moor Park (his country seat), on the 6th of June, he was seized with violent pains. Returning to the house, he laid himself down on his bed, and almost immediately expired without a struggle. K ADMIRAL LORD RODNEY. A.D. 1718-1792. "AN officer who fought four general actions as commanderin-chief, and took three admirals of the enemy from the fleets of three of the most powerful nations of his time, one French, one Dutch, and one Spanish; and who, it might be added, took from them in the space of two years twelve sail of the line and destroyed five more, having thus had the singular honour of depriving the common enemy of seventeen out of the twentyone line-of-battle ships which they lost during the war:" Such is the language in which a distinguished writer* refers to Admiral Lord Rodney, and the man of whom such language could justly be employed unquestionably deserves to be ranked among the "Eminent Seamen" of our country. George Brydges Rodney was born at Walton-upon-Thames on the 19th of February, 1718. His father, through the good offices of his kinsman, the Duke of Chandos, who usually attended George I. on his numerous journeys to and from the continent, obtained the command of the royal yacht; and on one occasion, having been asked what mark of favour he would wish from the King, replied, that his Majesty would stand sponsor to his son. Hence, after his royal and noble godfathers, the King and the Duke, the boy was named George Brydges. At an early age he was sent to Harrow School, and at an Quarterly Review, lxxxiii. early age he left it, for he was only twelve years old when his royal godfather placed him in the naval service. For six years he served on the Newfoundland station under Admiral Medley. In February, 1739, he was in the Mediterranean, and Admiral Haddock appointed him lieutenant in the Dolphin. At the age of twenty-four the fortunate young man was promoted by Admiral Mathews to the Plymouth, a 64-gun ship, as captain, and intrusted with the charge of a fleet of 300 merchantmen, which a French fleet was cruising in the Channel to intercept. He convoyed it home in safety, and in recognition of this service was confirmed in his rank by the Admiralty, and appointed to the Sheerness. Next we find him in command of the Ludlow Castle, of 30 guns, in which he fought and captured the great St. Maloes privateer, a vessel of superior strength. Always in active employment, at one time escorting the King from Harwich, at another conveying troops to the siege of Ostend, he had ample opportunities of acquiring experience; and the rapid promotions which he had owed to his family interest he speedily justified by his skill as a seaman and his energy as an officer. In command of the Centurion, he cruised for two years in the North Sea, and was on that station while Prince Charles Edward maintained his mimic state at Edinburgh. His services were rewarded by his removal to the Eagle, a line-of-battle ship of 64 guns. On his way to join her, the Centurion struck upon a shoal off Orfordness, and lay for nearly five hours six feet deep in the sand, but by good seamanship Rodney contrived to release her with the loss of her rudder and about thirty feet of her false keel, after cutting away part of her masts, and throwing overboard everything but her guns. In April, 1747, the Eagle formed one of a squadron dispatched to intercept the French homeward-bound St. Domingo fleet, which they sighted on the 20th of June off Cape Ortegal. All sail was set, and a spirited chase immediately began. The French men-of-war contrived to escape during the night, and the British ships then went in pursuit of the traders, of which forty-eight were eventually captured. On the 14th of October in the same year Rodney took part in the gallant action fought between Rear-Admiral Hawke's squadron off Cape Finisterre, and the French fleet under M. de l'Etendière. It was on this occasion he first earned distinction as a fighting officer. During the heat of the action, Admiral Hawke, observing that Rodney's ship, the Eagle, and her consort, the Edinburgh, were much crippled, that they had lost their foretop-masts, and were opposed by superior numbers, bore down to their assistance, and after attacking and capturing the Trident, of 64 guns, engaged and took the Terrible, a 74-gun ship. Rodney, about the same time, compelled his antagonist to haul down her colours, and immediately boarding her, was greeted by her captain, as he gave up his sword, with the graceful remark, that "he would rather have met the Eagle in the shape of a dove, carrying the olive-branch of peace." With unusual aptness, Rodney, in reply, quoted his family motto, "Non generant aquila columbas" (Eagles do not beget doves).* Towards the close of the Seven Years' War-a war in which England gained little honour and less profit-the Eagle was one of a small squadron which encountered a Spanish fleet from the West Indies of twelve sail of the line, with a rich convoy, and, though greatly inferior in strength, he and his brother captains made prizes of six of the merchantmen. The motto is evidently adapted from the concluding line of a stanza in one of the best-known odes of Horace : "Fortes creantur fortibus et bonis, On Rodney's return to England the Eagle was put out of commission. Shortly afterwards Lord Anson presented Rodney to the King, who pleasantly observed that until then he did not know he had so young a captain in his navy. "Sir," said Lord Anson, "young Rodney has been six years a captain in your Majesty's navy, and without reflection, I wish, most heartily wish, your Majesty had a hundred more such captains, to the terror of your Majesty's enemies." The King answered, "We wish so too, my lord."* A brief interval of peace followed the Treaty of Aix-laChapelle, but an interval employed by both England and France in preparing for a renewal of hostilities, and actually disturbed in the East and West Indies by an incessant struggle, which was only not "a war" because not formally recognised by the two Governments. In May, 1748, Commodore Rodney (for he had again been promoted) was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief on the Newfoundland station, and this position he occupied until October, 1752, when he returned home to take his seat in Parliament as member for Saltash. It must be acknowledged that fortune dealt very generously with him, and that in his career he met with none of those bars and impediments, those wearisome lets and hindrances, which so frequently baffle the advance of men of the highest merit. In February, 1753, Rodney strengthened his social position by his marriage with Lady Jane Compton, sister of the Earl of Northampton. In the following year he was appointed to the Prince George, of 90 guns, in which ship he remained until May, 1757, when, on board the Dublin, a 74-gun ship, he joined Admiral Hawke's expedition against Rochefort. The expedition did not bombard Rochefort, from a want of harmony between the naval and military commanders, but it * MAJOR-GENERAL MUNDY, Life of Lord Rodney, i. 43, 44. |