This

with one another by small posts, over a distance of ten miles. The army put under the command of General Washington, amounted to about 14,500 men. These had been so judiciously stationed round Boston as to confine the British to the town, and to exclude them from the forage and provisions which the adjacent country afforded. force was thrown into three grand divisions. Ward commanded the right wing at Roxbury; Lee the left at Prospect hill; and the centre was commanded by Washington. Towards the close of the year, on the 10th of October, General Gage sailed for England, and the command of the British troops devolved on General Howe.2

General Gage did not again return to America, or assume any military command. His death took place on the 2d of April, 1788.

Lord Heathfield.

BORN A. D. 1718.-DIED A. D. 1790.

THIS intrepid commander was the eighth and youngest son of Sir Gilbert Elliott. He was born in the parish of Hobkirk, county of Roxburgh. After having finished his literary studies at Leyden, he proceeded to the Ecole Royal of La Fère in Picardy, where he studied the military art and those branches of science connected with the profession of arms.

He was still a very young man when he returned to Britain, and received a commission in the 23d regiment of foot. He soon after obtained the adjutancy of the second troop of horse-grenadiers; and in 1756 was appointed colonel of that corps, and aid-de-camp to George II. In 1761 he raised a regiment of cavalry for the king's service, which was called Elliott's light-horse, at the head of which he highly distinguished himself in Germany. He was now raised to the rank of lieutenant-general.

In 1776, General Elliott obtained the important command in which he was so soon to signalize himself and render his name for ever memorable in the military annals of his country. While acting commander-in-chief of the forces in Ireland, he was appointed governor of Gibraltar, and commanded to proceed forthwith to that fortress. The close investment of this place immediately followed the Spanish declaration of war. About the middle of August, 1779, the enemy's troops began to break ground before the place, and the garrison soon suffered dreadfully for want of provisions. Admiral Rodney relieved them once, and occasional supplies were received from the coast of Barbary. But the vigilance of the besiegers at last cut them off from all aid by

sea.

Finding that the garrison still held out against their blockade, the Spaniards next endeavoured to reduce the place by bombardment. On the 23d of May, 1781, a cannonade was commenced on the part of the besiegers, which lasted day and night, without intermission, for three weeks; after which it slackened a little, but was kept up for above twelve months, with very partial interruptions only. "The fatigues of

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the garrison were extreme; but the loss of men was less than might have been expected. For the first ten weeks of this unexampled bombardment, the whole number of killed and wounded was only about three hundred. The damage done to the works was trifling. The houses in the town, about five hundred in number, were mostly destroyed. Such of the inhabitants as were not buried in the ruins of their houses, or torn to pieces by the shells, fled to the remote parts of the rock; but destruction followed them to places which had always been deemed secure. No scene could be more deplorable. Mothers and children clasped in each other's arms, were so completely torn to pieces, that it seemed more like an annihilation, than a dispersion of their shattered fragments. Ladies of the greatest sensibility and most delicate constitutions deemed themselves happy to be admitted to a few hours of repose in the casement amidst the noise of a crowded soldiery, and the groans of the wounded. At the first onset General Elliott retorted on the besiegers a shower of fire; but foreseeing the difficulty of procuring supplies, he soon retrenched, and received with comparative unconcern, the fury and violence of his adversaries. By the latter end of November, the besiegers had brought their works to that state of perfection which they intended. The care and ingenuity employed upon them were extraordinary. The best engineers of France and Spain had united their abilities, and both kingdoms were filled with sanguine expectations of speedy sucIn this conjuncture, when all Europe was in suspense concerning the fate of the garrison, and when, from the prodigious efforts made for its reduction, many believed that it could not hold out much longer, a sally was projected and executed, which in about two hours destroyed those works, which had required so much time, skill, and labour to accomplish. A body of two thousand chosen men, under the command of Brigadier-general Ross, marched out about two o'clock in the morning of the twenty-seventh November, 1781, and at the same instant made a general attack on the whole exterior front of the lines of the besiegers. The Spaniards gave way on every side, and abandoned their works. The pioneers and artillery-men spread their fire with such rapidity, that in a little time every thing combustible was in flames. The mortars and cannon were spiked, and their beds, platforms, and carriages destroyed. The magazines blew up one after another. The loss of the detachment, which accomplished all this destruction, was inconsiderable. This unexpected event disconcerted the besiegers; but they soon recovered from their alarm, and with a perseverance almost peculiar to their nation, determined to go on with the siege."

cess.

" 1

The court of Spain maddened by this defeat, resolved to put forth its utmost strength and resources in a new attack on this important stronghold. The duke de Crillon, who had recently effected the reduction of Minorca, was now "appointed to conduct the siege of Gibraltar, and it was resolved to employ the whole strength of the Spanish monarchy in seconding his operations. No means were neglected, nor expense spared, that promised to forward the views of the besiegers. From the failure of all plans hitherto adopted for effecting the reduction of Gibraltar, it was resolved to adopt new ones. Among the various projects for this purpose, one which had been formed by the chevalier

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d'Arcon was deemed the most worthy of trial. This was to construct such floating batteries as could neither be sunk nor fired. With this view, their bottoms were made of the thickest timber, and their sides of wood and cork long soaked in water, with a large layer of wet sand be

tween.

"To prevent the effects of red hot balls, a number of pipes were contrived to carry water through every part of them, and pumps were provided to keep these constantly supplied with water. The people on board were to be sheltered from the fall of bombs by a cover of rope netting, which was made sloping, and overlaid with wet hides.

"These floating batteries, ten in number, were made out of the hulls of large vessels, cut down for the purpose, and carried from twentyeight to ten guns each, and were seconded by eighty large boats mounted with guns of heavy metal, and also by a multitude of frigates, ships of force, and some hundreds of small craft.

"General Elliott, the intrepid defender of Gibraltar, was not ignorant that inventions of a peculiar kind were prepared against him, but knew nothing of their construction. He nevertheless provided for every circumstance of danger that could be foreseen or imagined. The thirteenth of September was fixed upon by the besiegers for making a grand attack, when the new invented machines, with all the united powers of gunpowder and artillery in the highest state of improvement, were to be called into action. The combined fleets of France and Spain in the bay of Gibraltar amounted to forty-eight sail of the line. Their batteries were covered with one hundred and fifty-four pieces of heavy brass cannon. The numbers employed by land and sea against the fortress were estimated at one hundred thousand men. With this force, and by the fire of three hundred cannon, mortars, and howitzers, from the adjacent isthmus, it was intended to attack every part of the British works at one and the same instant. The surrounding hills were covered with people assembled to behold the spectacle. The cannonade and bombardment were tremendous. The showers of shot and shells from the land batteries and the ships of the besiegers, and from the various works of the garrison, exhibited a most dreadful scene. Four hundred pieces of the heaviest artillery were playing at the same moment. The whole peninsula seemed to be overwhelmed in the torrents of fire which were incessantly poured upon it. The Spanish floating batteries for some time answered the expectations of their framers. The heaviest shells often rebounded from their tops, while thirty-two pound shot made no visible impression upon their hulls. For some hours the at tack and defence were so equally supported, as scarcely to admit of any appearance of superiority on either side. The construction of the battering ships were so well-calculated for withstanding the combined force of fire and artillery, that they seemed for some time to bid defiance to the powers of the heaviest ordnance. In the afternoon the effects of hot shot became visible. At first there was only an appearance of smoke, but in the course of the night, after the fire of the garrison had continued about fifteen hours, two of the floating batteries were in flames, and several more were visibly beginning to kindle. The endeavours of the besiegers were now exclusively directed to bring off the men from the burning vessels; but in this they were interrupted. Captain Curtis, who lay ready with twelve gun boats, advanced and fired upon them

with such order and expedition, as to throw them into confusion before they had finished their business. They fled with their boats, and aban doned to their fate great numbers of their people. The opening of daylight disclosed a most dreadful spectacle. Many were seen in the midst of the flames crying out for help, while others were floating upon pieces of timber, exposed to equal danger from the opposite element. The generous humanity of the victors equalled their valour, and was the more honourable, as the exertions of it exposed them to no less danger than those of active hostility. In endeavouring to save the lives of his enemies, Captain Curtis nearly lost his own. While for the most benevolent purpose he was alongside of the floating batteries, one of them blew up, and some heavy pieces of timber fell into his boat and pierced through its bottom. By similar perilous exertions, near four hundred men were saved from inevitable destruction. The exercise of humanity to an enemy under such circumstances of immediate action and impending danger, conferred more true honour than could be acquired by the most splendid series of victories. It in some measure obscured the impression made to the disadvantage of human nature, by the madness of mankind in destroying each other by wasteful wars. The floating batteries were all consumed. The violence of their explosion was such, as to burst open doors and windows at a great distance. Soon after the destruction of the floating batteries, Lord Howe, with thirty-five ships of the line, brought to the brave garrison an ample supply of every thing wanted, either for their support or their defence."

General Elliott now received the thanks of both houses of parliament, for his eminent services, together with a pension of £1,500 per annum, and the insignia of the Bath. He retained his command until 1787, when he was raised to the peerage, by the title of Baron Heathfield and Gibraltar. On the 6th of July, 1790, while preparing to set out from Aix-la-Chapelle, for the scene of his former exploits, he was attacked by a paralytic stroke, which proved fatal. His remains were brought to England, and interred at Heathfield, in Sussex. A monument was erected to his memory in Westminster Abbey, at the public expense; and the corporation of London decorated the walls of the common-council chamber, with a fine picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds, of the siege of Gibraltar, in which the figure of its heroic defender occupies the most conspicuous place. By his wife, Anne, daughter of Sir Francis Drake of Devonshire, Lord Heathfield had one son, on whose death, in 1813, the title became extinct.

Philip Yorke, Earl of Hardwicke.

BORN A. D. 1720.-died A. D. 1790.

THIS accomplished nobleman was the eldest son of Philip, earl of Hardwicke, lord-high-chancellor, and was born 20th December, 1720 At the school of Dr Newcombe, at Hackney, he received the first rudiments of his education; and from that seminary, on 26th May, 1737, was removed to Bennet college, Cambridge, under the tuition of the

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Rev. Dr Salter. In the year following he was appointed one of the tellers of the exchequer, in the room of Sir Charles Turner, Bart. deceased. In 1740 he left college, and soon after married Lady Jemima Campbell, only daughter of John, Viscount Glenorchy, by Lady Amabel Grey, eldest daughter of Henry, Duke of Kent, who succeeded, on her father's decease, to the title of Marchioness Grey and Baroness Lucas of Crudwell. By this marriage he became possessed of a large part of the duke's estate.

He early engaged as a legislator. In 1741 he was chosen member for Ryegate, in Surrey; and, in 1747, one of the representatives for the county of Cambridge, as he was also in 1754 and 1761. At the installation of the duke of Newcastle, as chancellor of the university of Cambridge, in 1749, he had the degree of LL. D. conferred upon him. In 1764 he succeeded his father in his title and estate; and, after a fierce contention for the office of lord-high-steward of the university, he obtained that honour against Lord Sandwich. The infirm state of his lordship's health, combined with his attachment to literary pursuits, prevented him from taking any very active part in the politics of the day. He had the honour, however, of a seat in the cabinet during the existence of that short-lived administration, of which Lord Rockingham was the head, but without any salary or official situation, which, though repeatedly offered to him, he never would accept. He died on the 16th of May, 1790.

His lordship throughout life was devoted to literary pursuits, and was the author or editor of several works, besides the assistance which he rendered on various occasions to authors who have acknowledged their obligations to him. Whilst a member of the university of Cambridge, he engaged with several friends in a work similar to the celebrated Travels of Anacharsis in Greece.' It was entitled 'Athenian Letters; or the Epistolary Correspondence of an Agent of the King of Persia residing at Athens during the Peloponnesian War,' and consisted of letters supposed to have been written by contemporaries of Socrates, Pericles, and Plato. A few copies were printed in 1741 by Bottenham, and in 1782 a hundred copies were reprinted; but still the work remained unknown to the public at large. At length a correct and authentic edition was published in 1798, in two volumes 4to. The friends who assisted in this publication were, the Hon. Charles Yorke, afterwards lord-high-chancellor, Dr Rooke, master of Christ's college, Cambridge, Dr Green, afterwards bishop of Lincoln, Daniel Wray, Esq. the Rev. Mr Heaton of Bennet college, Dr Heberden, Henry Coventry, Esq. the Rev. Mr Laney, Mrs Catherine Talbot, Dr Birch, and Dr Salter.

Though a good classical scholar, yet the object to which Lord Hardwicke, from his early youth, particularly directed his attention, was modern history. He printed a small private impression of the correspondence of Sir Dudley Carlton, ambassador to the States-general during the reign of James I., and prefixed to it an historical preface, containing an account of the many important negotiations that were carried on during that interesting period. A second impression of fifty copies only was printed in 1775. The last publication of Lord Hardwicke was entitled, Miscellaneous State Papers from 1501 to 1726,' in two volumes, 4to. containing a number of select papers, such

as mark