question that had been agitated during an hundred years, concerning the preference to be given to Cherbourg or La Hogue, for the site of a naval port. From that time till 1789, he was occupied in superintending the works of Cherbourg; and, during that period, he was but three times at Paris. When he first arrived at Cherbourg, it contained no more than seven thousand three hundred inhabitants, and when he quitted that place it contained nearly twenty thousand inhabitants.

At the breaking out of the revolution, Dumouriez was its decided partizan; but from that moment he chose the place which he has always occupied, between the extreme parties of ultra and counter revolution.

He was reproached with having caused the war by his counsels; but he proved that the war was already inevitable, when he began his administration, and that indeed it might be said to have commenced. He acknowledged, however, that his opinion was decidedly for the declaration of war, as was also that of the king, who not only approved of his memorial to the National Assembly on that subject, (which was three days in his hands,) but made corrections in it, and himself composed the discourse he delivered to the Assembly on that occasion.

At the end of three months, find. ing himself embarrassed by the various factions, and being sincerely desirous to see the king's council possessing proper dignity, and his measures governed by constitutional principles, he changed the ministry, and obtained a promise that the king would sanction two decrees which appeared expedient to his service. The king would not grant him his permission; the ministry was again changed by his order, and General Dumouriez took the war department. But, soon perceiving that the court had deceived him, he resolved not to be the instrument of their

intrigues. He predicted to the unhappy king and queen all the misfortunes in which they were involving themselves, and he gave in his resignation three days after being appointed minister of war.

Louis was two days before he would accept of his resignation, and he did not suffer him to depart without expressing the deepest regret.

One month had not elapsed after the departure of the minister for the army, before the king was insulted; and, at the end of the second month, he was a prisoner in the Temple!

The enemy entered France; the leaders of the Revolution revenged themselves on the unfortunate Louis. Dumouriez, as a citizen and a general, had only to repulse the enemy, in the expectation that their retreat would lessen the danger which surrounded the king. There was still reason to think, that the excesses of the revolutionists might be checked. Dumouriez refused to follow Lafayette's premature example, and he succeeded him in the command of the army of the north. He marched with a small army against the Prussians, and by the most expert manœuvres, arrested their march, took their strongest positions, and wrote to the Assembly," Verdun is taken; I wait for the Prussians. The defiles of the Argonne are the Thermopyle of France; but I shall be happier than Leonidas." In truth, in a very few days the invaders had retreated.

The genius of Dumouriez changed in this campaign the destinies of France and of Europe.

His prudence had obtained him the victory almost without a combat, and Dumouriez flew to oppose other enemies, and to display a very varied talent. He was no longer the procras tinator; he was the impetuous Achilles: he gave immediate battle, and on the plains of Jemappe, elevated the re

publican standards, which in six weeks floated over the towers of all Belgium. After these successful events, General Dumouriez returned to Paris, where the trial of Louis XVI. had already commenced. He did not conceal his intentions :-he had little doubt of saving Louis XVI. He had sent a certain number of his officers to Paris, to facilitate this design, and depended in a great measure, also, on the cooperation of a part of the Assembly, and on the population.

All his expectations deceived him; he sought for the members of the Assembly who possessed the greatest influence, and sounded the intentions of Garat, Lebrun, and Roland, ministers of justice, of foreign affairs, and for the home department, who entered into his views; the non-execution of which was prevented by the perfidy of some officers, who divulged the secret. There was only one means left; it was attempted in the absence of the general, and it is not for us to divulge it. Louis XVI. was the only one to oppose it; he perished.

The general retired to the country during these horrible days; and, soon after, found no place of safety but at the head of his army. He had now no hope of saving his country, nor of saving other illustrious victims, sacrificed by the monsters who governed France. His army, where the French honour had fixed itself, was alone capable of bringing back the Revolution to its proper limits. But the Convention had ascertained the intentions of General Dumouriez, and dared neither to dismiss him, nor to accept of his resignation, which he offered again and again; for his soldiers would have followed him, and have revenged any of his wrongs. They endeavoured to destroy the love his troops bore to him, as well as the confidence they put in him. The commissariat supplies failed,-the invaded provinces were exhausted,

all his resources diminished,—in order to encourage insubordination, and to prepare for the overthrow of this great general, whose renown was become so alarming. These measures were pub licly acknowledged, and put into exe cution with such effect, that, in spite of the most prudent precautions and most useful combinations, Dumouriez failed in a campaign, which was the last, and might have been the most important.

General Dumouriez hastened to treat with the Prince of Coburg for the evacuation of Belgium, and very soon after obliged him, by a new treaty, to respect the French territory; whilst he himself determined to lead his soldiers to the capital, to disperse these tyrannical legislators, to save the family of the unfortunate monarch, and to re-establish the constitution of 1791. The anarchy of the government was to be reformed by Frenchmen alone; and it was only in case of Dumouriez's want of sufficient forces, that, at his demand, the Prince of Coburg was compelled to furnish what he should require, while the remainder of the army of the enemy should remain on the frontiers.

The Convention was instantly informed of all by some treacherous generals, and by a faithlessness viler than even their own guilt. They summoned the general to their bar, and sent police-officers to arrest him. He determined upon arresting the police-officers himself, and delivered them up to the Prince of Coburg, as hostages and guarantees for the safety of the royal family, who might have been massacred when the news of his march should arrive. One victim was at least saved.

A train of events followed, which obliged him to seek safety within the lines of the Austrian army. His enemies reproached him with treachery; while his friends consider him as fully

justified in using every effort to save France from the atrocious faction which domineered over it. The court of Vienna offered him a command. "No," replied he; "no,—it was not that you promised me: I am going away."And whither ?" asked the prince; "you are in safety here; while they have offered, by a decree, 300,000 francs to whoever shall bring your head to the convention."-" What care I for that? I go !"

He found an asylum in Switzerland, and there published a volume of his "Memoirs," which soon obtained him many friends; but Switzerland was too near to France, and was about to yield to the latter. The general was obliged to fly he went to Hamburg. The Landgrave Charles of Hesse-Cassel, father-in-law of the King of Denmark, bought an estate in Holstein, of which he was the governor; furnished it, placed horses and a carriage in the stables, and went in search of his friend; whom he conducted to this retreat. "This is yours,” said he ; " I am sorry it is not in my power to offer you more than a pension of 400 louis !"

When Napoleon menaced England with invasion, Dumouriez was summoned hither. The English government received him with generous hospitality, and asked his counsel; he arranged a plan of defence for every part of Great Britain, as well as for the different countries of Europe where the soldiers of the French emperor had raised their standards; and Spain, with which he was well acquainted, owes to him a portion of her liberty.

The Restoration was not effected as he would have desired, and the restored acted not as it was their duty to do. He proclaimed this; and the self-love of an eminent personage, wounded by the recollection of a miserable pamphlet, printed long before, did not allow Dumouriez to take that position in

France which was marked out for him. He remained in England.

The Neapolitans betrayed his confidence; but the Greeks, the noble Greeks,-whose resurrection charmed his latest days, are carrying into effect, at this moment, the counsels he gave them eighteen months ago, in two memoirs, where all the energy of youth is united to all the prudence of age. And for Spain, whose invasion he condemned and abhorred, he wrote a general system of organization and defence; but when, some days before his death, a friend asked a supplement for the offensive part, he replied, "No; pass not the Pyrenees; my country is beyond them."

Such is Dumouriez's life, shortly and imperfectly sketched. An illness of a few days, unaccompanied by pain, a rapid physical decline, which did not intrude on his fine understanding, nor his generous spirit,-bore him away, in the midst of religious consolations, from the cares of his friends, already become his children. On the day of his death he rose at eight o'clock, as usual he lay down at twelve, at the desire of his medical attendant; and breathed his last at twenty-five minutes past two.

He was short in stature, but well formed; his countenance was agreeable; his eyes sparkling with brilliancy even to the last; he was full of kindness and gaiety, and his mind was enriched with varied and extensive knowledge; he understood and spoke several languages; his spirit was most generous, so generous as often to cause his embarrassment; and his sensibility often found vent in tears when calamity was reported to him, and when he was severed from a friend. He had many friends; one of the dearest died three years ago, and not a day since had he failed to weep for him,-he spoke of Edward continually. He was

the Duke of Kent; and now they are united !

This most extraordinary man stood at one period of his life on the very pinnacle of glory. His exploits as a warrior form the most splendid pages of modern history; his name was a charm which gathered round it all the enthusiasm of millions; and he died in exile, as if to contrast the clamorous noise of popularity which accompanied his early career, with the calm stillness of solitude which surrounded his bed of death. His temper was singularly frank and generous; his affections warm and cordial; his conversation full of strength and spirit, diversified with a variety of knowledge, and remarkable discrimination of character.

EARL OF ST VINCENT.

March 15-At Rochetts, near Brentwood, in his 89th year, John Jervis, Earl of St Vincent.

He was descended from an ancient and respectable family in Staffordshire, was the second and youngest son of Swynfen Jervis, Esq., barrister-at-law, counsel to the Board of Admiralty, and auditor of Greenwich Hospital; and his mother was the sister of Sir Thomas Parker, Lord Chief-Baron of the Exchequer. He was born at MeafordHall, January 9, 1734 (O. S.) He imbibed the rudiments of his education at the grammar-school of Burton-uponTrent, which, at the age of ten years, he quitted, and entered the navy, a service in which he was probably induced to enter, from his father's situation in the Admiralty.

He had the good fortune to receive the first rudiments of his naval instruction under the gallant Lord Hawke, and having been rated a midshipman about 1748-9, he served in that capa

city on board the Gloucester of 50 guns, on the Jamaica station.

On the 19th of February, 1755, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant; and a war with France appearing inevitable, he was selected by that able officer Sir Charles Saunders, to serve on board his ship.

The first expedition he was employed in was the celebrated one against Quebec, in which Wolfe fell. Soon after he was advanced to the rank of commander; and having returned to Europe, proceeded, not long afterwards, to the Mediterranean, and was appointed captain of the Experiment, a post-ship of 20 guns, during the indisposition of Sir John Strachan. While this temporary promotion lasted, he fell in with and encountered a large Xebec trader, under Moorish colours, though manned by Frenchmen, mounting 26 guns, besides swivels and pateratoes, and with a crew three times as numerous as the Experiment. After a furious but short conflict, the enemy was so disabled as to be glad to take advantage of a light and favourable breeze of wind, to escape from her opponent, and secure herself by flight.

Captain Jervis soon after returned to England, and continued to command the Albany sloop until the 11th of October, 1760, when he was promoted to the rank of post-captain in the Gos port of 40 guns, in which ship he continued, until the end of the war, in a situation which afforded little oppor tunity for exertion. From this period until 1769, no event of importance occurred; but at that period Captain Jervis's services were again called for, and he was appointed to the Alarm frigate of 22 guns.

He returned to England in 1774, and was promoted to the Foudroyant of 84 guns, which, being ordered to join the fleet equipped for Channel

service, became the admiral's ship, and our officer was selected by Admiral Keppel to be one of his captains.

In the memorable engagement between the French and British fleets, on the 27th and 28th of July, 1778, his lordship commanded the Foudroyant, which was the next ship to the Victory, and as closely engaged and as much disabled as any ship in the fleet. On the trials which followed the unlucky difference and misunderstanding between Admirals Keppel and Palliser, Captain Jervis gave his evidence with candour and impartiality, and spoke in the following terms of his superior officer:

"That during the whole time that the English fleet was in sight of the French fleet, he displayed the greatest naval skill and ability, and the boldest enterprize upon the 27th of July; which, with the promptitude of Sir Robert Harland, will be subjects of my admiration and imitation as long as I live."

From the evidence given upon this trial, it appears, that the Foudroyant, which had got into her station about three, and never left it till four the next morning, was very closely engaged, and in a most disabled state.

After the resignation of Keppel, the command was successively assumed by Sir Charles Hardy, and Admirals Geary and Darby, who all received the advantages of Captain Jervis's spirit and attention.

He had not had any opportunity for some time to signalize his valour and conduct; but in April, 1782, fortune was more favourable to him, and being part of Admiral Barrington's squadron, he engaged and took the Pegasé, of 74 guns and 700 men, in a close action, in describing which, Admiral Barrington said," My pen is not equal to the praise that is due to the good conduct of Captain Jervis, his officers, and seamen, on this occasion;

let his own modest narrative, which I herewith enclose, speak for itself."

In this engagement Captain Jervis received a wound, occasioned by a splinter, which struck him in the temple, and so severely affected him as to endanger his eye-sight. For this exploit, on the 29th of May following, he was invested with the honourable order of the Bath. In November following, he attended Lord Howe in his gallant relief of Gibraltar, then blocked up by nearly fifty of the enemies' ships of the line.

On the return of the fleet Sir John was advanced to the rank of commodore, and hoisted his broad pendant on board the Salisbury, of 50 guns, and was about to be again actively employ. ed in a secret expedition, when a sudden cessation of hostilities taking place, a stop was put for the present to all naval exertions.

On the 5th of June, 1783, he was married to his first cousin Martha, eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Parker, but by whom (who died February 8, 1816) he had no issue.

At the general election in 1784, he was chosen M. P. for Yarmouth, and diligently attended his parliamentary duty. On the 24th of September, 1787, he was advanced to the rank of rear-admiral of the blue; and on the 21st of September, 1790, to the same rank in the white squadron. A dispute with the court of Spain relative to Nootka Sound making a rupture probable, a formidable armament was equipped, and the chief command given to Admiral Barrington. On this occasion, Sir John readily accepted the honourable station of captain of the fleet, under his old friend and com. mander. But the impending storm dispersing, Admiral Barrington struck his flag in November, and Sir John hoisted his own proper flag on board the Barfleur, which had in the first instance been appointed for the com