was first denied employment, and after he had deserved it for a constancy, still for the same reason degraded from his rank and dismissed from the service of his country. But that country was more just, more generous, and more grateful, than either the king it had so flatteringly chosen to govern it, or the ministers whom it permitted to direct his affairs and dispense his favours. That country always did justice to the extraordinary merits of Admiral Vernon, and never heard his name but with acclamation. His conscience was his solace, and his fame his reward. Such are the honours of a patriot and a hero.

SIR CHARLES WAGER.

THIS Admiral has a large monument in the north transept of Westminster Abbey. Upon a neatly wrought double pedestal sits a figure of Fame, holding a portrait of the deceased, which is supported on the other side by an infant Hercules. So far the design, being allegorical, is bad, but the statues are finely wrought, and bear a natural expression. The back-ground is sheltered by a pyramid, under the apex of which is placed a coat of arms. The lower pedestal is occupied by a piece of alto relievo, descriptive of the capture of the Spanish galleons, in 1708, and the upper is filled with the inscription which runs thus:

To the memory of SIR CHARLES WAGER, Knt.
Admiral of the White, First Commissioner of the
Admiralty, and Privy Counsellor :

A man of great natural talents,
Who bore the highest commands,

And passed through the greatest employments,

With credit to himself, and honour to his country.
He was in private life

Humane, temperate, just, and bountiful.
In public station

Valiant, prudent, wise, and honest;
Easy of access to all:

Plain and unaffected in his manners,
Steady and resolute in his conduct;
So remarkably happy in his presence of mind, that
no danger ever discomposed him.
Esteemed and favoured by his King,
Beloved and honoured by his country,
He died May 24, 1743, aged 77.

No fact is known respecting the life of Wager until the year 1692, when he appears to have become Captain of the Ruzee. From this date he continued constantly in active, but uninteresting employment: in 1695 he commanded the Woolwich, of 54 guns, in the Channel, under Sir Cloudesly Shovel, shifted his commission to a guard-ship in 1699, and in 1703 obtained the Hampton-Court, of 70 guns, and was sent to cruise along the coast of France, with a commodore's flag. In this rank, however, he effected nothing memorable, and can only be supposed to have merited his subsequent promotion by a display of general talents.

On the 10th of April, 1707, he sailed from Plymouth, at the head of nine ships of war, which were destined to escort forty-five merchantmen, and to protect our West Indian possessions from the encroachments of the French. Arrived at his station, after a prosperous voyage, he acquired very high credit for the attention he paid to the interests of the colonies, and the advantages that accrued to our trade under his superintendance. As the winter approached, two formidable reports were circulated, the one, that De Grass intended to attack the Island of Jamaica, and the other that his object was solely to convoy a rich fleet of Spanish galleons, which was about to rendezvous at the Havannah. For either of these movements Wager disposed himself with happy skill. Dividing his force into two squadrons, he sent the one half to watch the advance of the enemy, and re

tained himself a force which he deemed sufficient to master the galleons before any succour could reach them. The undertaking was subjected to all the vicissitudes incidental to the element upon which it was formed. In the month of January he set sail from Port Royal, but had the mortification to discover that his intended prizes would lie safe in the harbour of Porto Bello until May. Returning, therefore, to his station, with a hope of lulling them into a belief that he was deterred from any enterprise by the consciousness of inferior strength, he remained inactive until the middle of May, when he weighed anchor again, and had the misfortune to encounter a severe storm, in which his squadron, which consisted of only three sail of the line, and a fire-ship, was much damaged. The predicament in which he now lay was extreme; if he returned to port he ran the risk of missing his object, and if he remained at sea, his shattered state, and the superior numbers of the enemy, rendered his success highly problematical. With the usual intrepidity of the profession, he determined upon the latter course, and carried himself through every obstacle with exemplary spirit.

The enemy, to the number of seventeen sail, were discovered at daybreak on the 28th of May, off Carthagena, and seemed indifferent to any movement which the small body of English could offer. They bore on boldly in their course, as if the superiority of their means must deter an attack; but, finding themselves pursued, endeavoured to weather the island of Baru, and failing in the effort, formed in line, and evinced a determination to end all anxiety by a decisive engagement. Wager got alongside of their centre and largest ship about sunset, and immediately began the fight. But, notwithstanding the resolution of this act, his companions, the Kingston and Portland, failed in their duty, and both kept to windward, out of their stations, though repeatedly hailed by the commodore, and challenged by his boats. Undepressed by this cowardice, Wager's ship, the Ex pedition, continued hotly engaged with the Spanish Admiral for an hour and a half, when the latter blew up by accident, and only eleven of the crew were saved from the wreck. About ten o'clock he came up with the rear-admiral, and firing upon him at hazard in the dark, had the fortune to lodge a broadside so effectually in his stern, that he was disabled from making any

farther way. Soon after this second conquest, the Kingston and Portland came up, and after a short fight the enemy surrendered, and the prizes, which proved highly valuable, were safely captured.

This affair had no sooner been completed, than Wager received despatches from England, which acquainted him with his promotion to the flag of Rear-admiral of the Blue squadron. On the 2d of December, 1708, he rose to be Rear-admiral of the White, and continuing in the command of the West Indian station until the ensuing autumn, let slip no opportunity of maintaining the superiority of his country upon the seas over which he commanded.

Returned to England, he enjoyed the satisfaction of receiving the most flattering proofs of public approbation. The Queen treated him with great respect; and her ministry made him a knight, and Rear-admiral of the Red; addresses and votes of thanks poured in upon him from all quarters, and he stood established in a very high character for judgment, vigilance, and integrity. An interval of relaxation now occurred, and Wager led a private life until George the I. ascended the throne, when he was nominated to command in the Mediterranean. There remains, however, nothing more to relate of his career, but a list of honourable appointments, and frequent promotions; for, though frequently called out on duty, he met with no opportunities for striking distinction. On the 16th of June, 1716, he was advanced to the flag of Vice-admiral of the Blue; on the 1st of February, 1717, he became Vice-admiral of the White; and on the 15th of March, 1718, rose to be Vice-admiral of the Red. From the year 1722 to 1730 he was vested with several important commissions, and upheld his popularity by steady abilities. His last voyage was made in 1731, when a French invasion was menaced, and a large flotilla was reported to be collecting at Calais and Dunkirk. The fears of the nation, however, were proved to have been vainly excited, and Wager, who was gazetted Admiral of the Blue, in the month of July, repaired to Cadiz, with twenty ships of the line, for the purpose of seeing a treaty ratified, which was brought about between the Emperor of Germany and the King of Spain, through the mediation of his Britannic Majesty.

Age now in some degree disinclined Wager from active em

ployment, but he filled several civil offices with a purity and talent which greatly augmented the reputation of his professional character. In 1733 he was called upon to act as first commissioner for executing the duties of Lord High Admiral, in which place he continued until March, 1742, when increasing infirmities induced him to accept of the less fatiguing situation of Treasurer of the Navy. For the probable ease of this transition, however, he was not spared, his death having occurred ten months after, as has been already specified on his epitaph.

SIR PETER WARREN, K. B.

THE monument to the memory of Sir Peter Warren is also placed in the south transept of Westminster Abbey. It is a costly and imposing structure, executed by Roubiliac, with all the nicety for which that artist has been commended, and all the figurative mystery for which the sculpture of the country down. to the present day has almost invariably been reproved. The back-ground is gracefully occupied by a falling flag, in front of which is a figure of Neptune placing a half-body bust of the Admiral upon a pedestal. An able personification of Navigation regarding the bust with a fine expression fills the other extremity. This is the inscription:

Sacred to the memory of

SIR PETER WARREN,

Knight of the Bath, and Vice-Admiral of the Red
Squadron of the British Fleet, and

Member of Parliament

For the City and Liberty of Westminster.
He derived his descent from an ancient
family of Ireland:

His fame and honours from his virtues and abilities.
How eminently those were displayed,