or of unavoidable engagement. The servants were to be called up after supper to render to their master and mistress an account of what they had done in the day, and to receive instructions for the next; and were particularly exhorted to avoid lewd dis courses and troublesome noises." We shall not stop to examine what dregs of ambition, or what hankerings after worldly prosperity, may have mixed themselves with the pious and philanthropic principles that were undoubtedly his chief guides in forming that great settlement which still bears his name, and profits by his example. Human virtue does not challenge, nor admit of such a scrutiny! And it should be sufficient for the glory of William Penn, that he stands upon record as the most humane, the most moderate, and the most pacific of all rulers. (May, 1828.) A Selection from the Public and Private Correspondence of Vice-Admiral Lord Collingwood: interspersed with Memoirs of his Life. By G. L. NEWNHAM COLLINGWOOD, Esq. F. R. S. 2 vols. 8vo. Ridgway. London: 1828. We do not know when we have met with of a still higher rectitude. Inferior, perhaps, so delightful a book as this, or one with to Nelson, in original genius and energy, and which we are so well pleased with ourselves in that noble self-confidence in great emerfor being delighted. Its attraction consists gencies which these qualities usually inspire, almost entirely in its moral beauty; and it he was fully his equal in seamanship and the has the rare merit of filling us with the deep- art of command; as well as in that devotedest admiration for heroism, without suborning ness to his country and his profession, and our judgments into any approbation of the that utter fearlessness and gallantry of soul vices and weaknesses with which poor mortal which exults and rejoices in scenes of treheroism is so often accompanied. In this re-mendous peril, which have almost ceased to spect, it is not only more safe, but more agree-be remarkable in the character of a British able reading than the Memoirs of Nelson; where the lights and shadows are often too painfully contrasted, and the bane and the antidote exhibited in proportions that cannot but be hazardous for the ardent and aspiring spirits on which they are both most calculated to operate. It is a mere illusion of national vanity which prompts us to claim Lord Collingwood as a character peculiarly English? Certainly we must admit, that we have few Englishmen left who resemble him; and even that our prevailing notions and habits make it likely that we shall have still fewer hereafter. Yet we do not know where such a character could have been formed but in England;and feel quite satisfied, that it is there only that it can be properly valued or understood. The combination of the loftiest daring with the most watchful humanity, and of the noblest ambition with the greatest disdain of personal advantages, and the most generous sympathy with rival merit, though rare enough to draw forth at all times the loud applause of mankind, have not been without example, in any race that boasts of illustrious ancestors. But, for the union of those high qualities with unpretending and almost homely simplicity, sweet temper, undeviating rectitude, and all the purity and sanctity of domestic affection and humble content-we can look, we think, only to England, -or to the fabulous legends of uncorrupted and uninstructed Rome. All these graces, however, and more than these, were united in Lord Collingwood: For he had a cultivated and even elegant mind, a taste for all simple enjoyments, and a rectitude of understandingwhich seemed in him to be but the emanation sailor. On the other hand, we think it will It superior virtues of men at sea, join chorus to all the slang songs of Dibdin on the subject, and applaud to the echo all the tirades about British tars and wooden walls, which have so often nauseated us at the playhouses. We feel excessively obliged to the editor of this book; both for making Lord Collingwood known to us, and for the very pleasing, modest, and effectual way he has taken to do it in. It is made up almost entirely of his Lordship's correspondence; and the few connecting statements and explanatory observations are given with the greatest clearness and brevity; and very much in the mild, conciliatory, and amiable tone of the remarkable person to whom they relate. When we say that this publication has made Lord Collingwood known to us, we do not mean that we, or the body of the nation, were previously ignorant that he had long served with distinction in the navy, and that it fell to his lot, as second in command at Trafalgar, to indite that eloquent and touching despatch which announced the final ruin of the hostile fleets, and the death of the Great Admiral by whose might they had been scattered. But till this collection appeared, the character of the man was known, we believe, only to those who had lived with him; and the public was generally ignorant both of the detail of his services, and the high principle and exemplary diligence which presided over their performance. Neither was it known, we are persuaded, that those virtues and services actually cost him his life! and that the difficulty of finding, in our large list of admirals, any one fit to succeed him in the important station which he filled in his declining years, induced the government, most ungenerously, we must say, and unjustly, to refuse his earnest desire to be relieved of it; and to insist on his remaining to the last gasp, at a post which he would not desert so long as his country required him to maintain it, but at which, it was apparent to himself, and all the world, that he must speedily die. The details now before us will teach the profession, we hope, by what virtues and what toils so great and so pure a fame can alone be won; and by rendering in this way such characters less rare, will also render the distinction to which they lead less fatal to its owners: While they cannot fail, we think, to awaken the government to a sense of its own ingratitude to those who have done it the noblest service, and of the necessity of at last adopting some of the suggestions which those great benefactors have so long pressed on its attention. We have not much concern with the genealogy or early history of Lord Collingwood. He was born in 1750, of an honourable and ancient family of Northumberland, but of slender patrimony; and went to sea, under the care of his relative, Captain, afterwards Admiral Brathwaite, when only eleven years old. He used, himself, to tell, as an instance of his youth and simplicity at this time, "that as he was sitting crying for his separation from home, the first lieutenant observed him; and pitying the tender years of the poor child, spoke to him in terms of much encouragement and kindness; which, as Lord Collingwood said, so won upon his heart, that, taking this officer to his box, he offered him in gratitude a large piece of plumcake which his mother had given him!" Almost from this early period he was the intimate friend and frequent associate of the brave Nelson; and had his full share of the obscure perils and unknown labours which usually form the noviciate of naval eminence. He was made commander in 1779; and being sent to the West Indies after the peace of 1783, was only restored to his family in 1786. He married in 1791; and was again summoned upon active service on the breaking out of the war with France in 1793; from which period to the end of his life, in 1810, he was continually in employment, and never permitted to see that happy home, so dear to his heart, and so constantly in his thoughts, except for one short interval of a year, during the peace of Amiens. During almost the whole of this period he was actually afloat; and was frequently, for a year together, and once for the incredible period of twenty-two months, without dropping an anchor. He was in almost all the great actious, and had more that his share of the anxious blockades, which occurred in that memorable time; and signalised himself in all, by that mixture of considerate vigilance and brilliant courage, which may be said to have constituted his professional character. His first great battle was that which ended in Lord Howe's celebrated victory of the 1st of June, 1794; and we cannot resist the temptation of heading our extracts with a part of the account he has given of it, in a letter to his father-in-law, Mr. Blackett-not so much for the purpose of recalling the proud feelings which must ever cling to the memory of our first triumph over triumphant France, as for the sake of that touching mixture it presents, of domestic affection and family recollections, with high professional enthusiasm, and the kindling spirit of war. In this situation he says:— "We cruised for a few days, like disappointed people looking for what we could not find, until the and nine o'clock, when the French fleet, of twentymorning of little Sarah's birth-day, between eight five sail of the line was discovered to windward. We chased them, and they bore down within about five miles of us. The night was spent in watching and preparation for the succeeding day; and many a blessing did I send forth to my Sarah, lest I should proach on the enemy, then drew up, dressed our never bless her more! At dawn, we made our ap ranks, and it was about eight when the Admiral made the signal for each ship to engage her opponent, and bring her to close action, and then down we went under a crowd of sail, and in a manner that would have animated the coldest heart, and struck terror into the most intrepid enemy. ship we were to engage was two a-head of the French Admiral, so that we had to go through his fire and that of the two ships next him, and received all their broadsides two or three times before we served to the Admiral, that about that time our fired a gun. It was then near ten o'clock. I obwives were going to church, but that I thought that the peal we should ring about the Frenchman's ears would outdo their parish bells! Lord Howe began The the admirals, and from Captain Nelson, to whose aid he came most gallantly in a moment of great peril, it was at last thought nec his fire some time before we did; and he is not in "It is but dull work, lying off the enemy's port: they cannot move a ship without our seeing them, which must be very mortifying to them; but we have the mortification also to see their merchantvessels going along shore, and cannot molest them. It is not a service on which we shall get fat; and often do I wish we had some of those bad potatoes which Old Scott and William used to throw over the wall of the garden, for we feel the want of vegetables more than anything! "The accounts I receive of my dear girls give me infinite pleasure. How happy I shall be to see them again! but God knows when the blessed day will come in which we shall be again restored to the comforts of domestic life; for here, so far from any prospect of peace, the plot seems to thicken, as if the most serious part of the war were but beginning." In 1797 he had a great share in the splendid victory off Cape St. Vincent, and writes, as usual, a simple and animated account of it to Mr. Blackett. We omit the warlike details, however, and give only these characteristic sentences: "I wrote to Sarah the day after the action with the Spaniards, but I am afraid I gave her but an imperfect account of it. It is a very difficult thing for those engaged in such a scene to give the detail of the whole, because all the powers they have are occupied in their own part of it. As to myself, I did my duty to the utmost of my ability, as I have ever done: That is acknowledged now; and that is the only real difference between this and the former action. One of the great pleasures I have received from this glorious event is, that I expect it will enable me to provide handsomely for those who serve me well. Give my love to my wife, and blessing to my children. What a day it will be to me when I meet them again! The Spaniards always carry their patron saint to sea with them, and I have given St. Isidro a berth in my cabin: It was the least I could do for him, after he had consigned his charge to me. It is a good picture, as you will see when he goes to Morpeth." By some extraordinary neglect, Captain Collingwood had not received one of the medals generally distributed to the officers who distinguished themselves in Lord Howe's action; and it is to this he alludes in one of the passages we have now cited. His efforts, however, on this last occasion, having been the theme of universal admiration throughout the fleet, and acknowledged indeed by a variety of grateful and congratulary letters from -· pre When Lord St. Vincent informed Captain Collingwood that he was to receive one of the medals which were distributed on this occasion, he told the Admiral, with great feeling and firmness, that be could not consent to receive a medal, while that for the 1st of June was withheld. I feel,' said he, that I was then improperly passed over; and to receive such a distinction now, would be to acknowledge the propriety of that injustice.' That is cisely the answer which I expected from you, Captain Collingwood,' was Lord St. Vincent's reply. The two medals were afterwards-nd as Captain Collingwood seems to have thought, by desire of the King-transmitted to him at the same time by Lord Spencer, the then First Lord of the Admiralty, with a civil apology for the former omission. 'I congratulate you most sincerely,' said his Lordship, on having had the good fortune to bear so conspicuous a part on two such glorious occasions; that the former medal would have been transmitted and have troubled you with this letter, only to say, to you some months ago, if a proper conveyance had been found for it.'"" We add the following little trait of the undaunted Nelson, from a letter of the same year : undertakings, and whose resources are fitted to all "My friend Nelson, whose spirit is equal to all occasions, was sent with three sail of the line and some other ships to Teneriffe, to surprise and capture it. After a series of adventures, tragic and comic, that belong to romance, they were obliged to abandon the enterprise. Nelson was shot in the right arm when landing, and was obliged to be carried on board. He himself hailed the ship, and desired the surgeon would get his instruments ready to dis-arm him; and in half an hour after it was off, he gave all the orders necessary for carrying on their operations, as if nothing had happened to him. In board the Admiral, and I think exerted himself to three weeks after, when he joined us, he went on a degree of great imprudence.' The following letter to Captain Ball, on occasion of the glorious victory of the Nile, may serve to illustrate what we have stated, as to the generous and cordial sympathy with rival glory and fortune, which breathes throughout the whole correspondence: "I cannot express to you how great my joy was when the news arrived of the complete and unparalleled victory which you obtained over the French; or what were my emotions of thankfulness, that the life of my worthy and much-respected friend was preserved through such a day of danger, to his family and his country. I congratulate you, my dear friend, on your success. Oh, my dear Ball, how I have lamented that I was not one of you! Many a victory has been won, and I hope many are yet to come, but there never has been, nor will be perhaps again, one in which the fruits have been so completely gathered, the blow so nobly followed up, and the consequences so fairly brought to account. I have heard with great pleasure, that your squadron has presented Sir H. Nelson with a sword; it is the honours to which he led you reflected back upon himself, the finest testimony of his merits for having led you to a field in which you all so nobly displayed your own. The expectation of the people of England was raised to the highest pitch; the event has exceeded all expectation." After this he is sent, for repairs, for a few weeks to Portsmouth, and writes to his fatherin-law as follows: "We never know, till it is too late, whether we are going too fast or too slow; but I am now repenting that I did not persuade my dear Sarah to come to me as soon as I knew I was not to go from this port; but the length of the journey, the inclemency of the weather, and the little prospect of my staying here half this time, made me think it an unnecessary fatigue for her. I am now quite sick at heart with disappointment and vexation; and though I hope every day for relief, yet I find it impossible to say when I shall be clear. 66 Last night I went to Lady Parker's twelfthnight, where all the gentlemen's children of the town were at dance and revelry: But I thought of my own! and was so completely out of spirits that I left them in the middle of it. My wife shall know all my movements, even the very hour in which I shall be able to come to you. I hope they will not hurry me to sea again, for my spirit requires some respite from the anxieties which a ship occasions. "Bless my precious girls for me, and their beloved mother." The following are in the same tone of tenderness and considerate affection; and coming from the hand of the fiery warrior, and devoted servant of his country, are to us extremely touching: "Would to God that this war were happily concluded! It is anguish enough to me to be thus for ever separated from my family; but that my Sarah should, in my absence, be suffering from illness, is complete misery. Pray, my dear sir, have the goodness to write a line or two very often, to tell me how she does. I am quite pleased at the account you give me of my girls. If it were peace, I do not think there would be a happier set of creatures in Northumberland than we should be! "It is a great comfort to me, banished as I am from all that is dear to me, to learn that my beloved Sarah and her girls are well. Would to Heaven it were peace! that I might come, and for the rest of my life be blessed in their affection. Indeed, this unremitting hard service is a great sacrifice; giving up all that is pleasurable to the soul, or soothing to the mind, and engaging in a constant contest with the elements, or with tempers and dispositions as boisterous and untractable. Great allowance should be made for us when we come on shore: for being long in the habits of absolute command, we grow impatient of contradiction, and are unfitted, I fear, for the gentle intercourse of quiet life. I am really in great hopes that it will not be long before the experiment will be made upon me-for I think we shall soon have peace; and I assure you that I will endeavour to conduct myself with as much moderation as possible! I have come to another resolution, which is, when this war is happily terminated, to think no more of ships, but pass the rest of my days in the bosom of my family, where I think my prospects of happiness are equal to any man's." You have been made happy this winter in the visit of your daughter. How glad should I have been could I have joined you! but it will not be long; two years more will, I think, exhaust me completely, and then I shall be fit only to be nursed. God knows how little claim I have on anybody to take that trouble. My daughters can never be to me what yours have been, whose affections have been nurtured by daily acts of kindness. They may be told that it is a duty to regard me, but it is not reasonable to expect that they should have the same feeling for a person of whom they have only heard: But if they are good and virtuous, as I hope and believe they will be, I may share at least in their kindness with the rest of the world." He decides at last on sending for his wife and child, in the hope of being allowed to remain for some months at Portsmouth; but is suddenly ordered off on the very day they are ex pected! It is delightful to have to record such a letter as the following, on occasion of such an affliction, from such a man as Nelson: My dear Friend,-I truly feel for you, and as much for poor Mrs. Collingwood. How sorry I am! For Heaven's sake, do not think I had the gift of foresight; but something told me, so it would be. Can't you contrive and stay to-night? it will be a comfort if only to see your family one hour. Therefore, had you not better stay on shore and wait for her? Ever, my dear Collingwood, believe me, your affectionate and faithful friend, "NELSON AND BRONTE "If they would only have manned me and sent me off, it would have been real pleasure to me. How cross are the fates!" He does stay accordingly, and sees those beloved pledges for a few short hours. We will not withhold from our readers his account of it : "Sarah will have told you how and when we met; it was a joy to me that I cannot describe, and repaid me, short as our interview was, for a world of woe which I was suffering on her account. I had been reckoning on the possibility of her arrival that Tuesday, when about two o'clock I received an express to go to sea immediately with all the ships that were ready, and had we not then been engaged at a court martial, I might have got out that day; but this business delaying me till near night, I determined to wait on shore until eight o'clock for the chance of their arrival. I went to dine with Lord Nelson; and while we were at dinner their arrival was announced to me. I flew to the inn where I had desired my wife to come, and found her and little Sarah as well after their journey as if it had lasted only for the day. No greater happiness is human nature capable of than was mine that evening; but at dawn we parted—and I went to sea!" And afterwards "You will have heard from Sarah what a meeting we had, how short our interview, and how suddenly we parted. It is grief to me to think of it now; it almost broke my heart then. After such a journey, to see me but for a few hours, with scarce time for her to relate the incidents of her journey, and no time for me to tell her half that my heart felt at such a proof of her affection: But I am thankful that I did see her, and my sweet child. It was a blessing to me, and composed my mind, which was before very much agitated. I have little chance of seeing her again, unless a storm should drive us into port, for the French fleet is in a state of preparation, which makes it necessary for us to watch them narrowly. "I can still talk to you of nothing but the delight I experienced in the little I have had of the company of my beloved wife and of my little Sarah. What comfort is promised to me in the affections of that child, if it should please God that we ever again return to the quiet domestic cares of peace! I should be much obliged to you if you would send Scott a guinea for me, for these hard times must pinch the poor old man, and he will miss my wife, who was very kind to him!" Upon the peace of Amiens he at last got home, about the middle of 1802. The following brief sketch of his enjoyment there, is from the hand of his affectionate editor: "During this short period of happiness and rest, he was occupied in superintending the education of his daughters, and in continuing those habits of study which had long been familiar to him. His it was his constant practice to exercise himself in reading was extensive, particularly in history; and composition, by making abstracts from the books which he read; and some of his abridgments, with the observations by which he illustrated them, are written with singular conciseness and power. 'I know not,' said one of the most eminent English diplomatists, with whom he had afterwards very frequent communications, I know not where Lord Collingwood got his style, but he writes better than any of us.' His amusements were found in the intercourse with his family, in drawing, planting, and the cultivation of his garden, which was on the bank of the beautiful river Wansbeck. This was his favourite employment; and on one occasion, a brother Admiral, who had sought him through the garden in vain, at last discovered him with his gardener, old Scott, to whom he was much attached, in the bottom of a deep trench, which they were both busily occupied in digging." respecting my intentions, and to give full scope to The day at last came; and though it is highly characteristic of its author, we will not indulge ourselves by transcribing any part of the memorable despatch, in which Lord Collingwood, after the fall of his heroic commander, announced its result to his country. We cannot, however, withhold from our readers In spring 1803, however, he was again call- the following particulars as to his personal ed upon duty by his ancient commander, conduct and deportment, for which they Admiral Cornwallis, who hailed him as he ap- would look in vain in that singularly modest proached, by saying, "Here comes Colling- and generous detail. The first part, the editor wood!-the last to leave, and the first to re-informs us, is from the statement of his confijoin me!" His occupation there was to watch dential servant. and blockade the French fleet at Brest, a duty which he performed with the most unwearied and scrupulous anxiety. "During this time he frequently passed the whole night on the quarter-deck,-a practice which, in circumstances of difficulty, he continued till the latest years of his life. When, on these occasions, he has told his friend Lieutenant Clavell, who had gained his entire confidence, that they must not leave the deck for the night, and that officer has endeavoured to persuade him that there was no occasion for it, as a good look-out was kept, and represented that he was almost exhausted with fatigue; the Admiral would reply, I fear you are. You have need of rest; so go to bed, Clavell, and I will watch by myself. Very frequently have they slept together on a gun; from which Admiral Collingwood would rise from time to time, to sweep the horizon with his night-glass, lest the enemy should escape in the dark." In 1805 he was moved to the station off Cadiz, and condemned to the same weary task of watching and observation. He here writes to his father-in-law as follows: "How happy should I be, could I but hear from home, and know how my dear girls are going on! Bounce is my only pet now, and he is indeed a good fellow; he sleeps by the side of my cot, whenever I lie in one, until near the time of tacking, and then marches off, to be out of the hearing of the guns, for he is not reconciled to them yet. I am fully determined, if I can get home and manage it properly, to go on shore next spring for the rest of my life, for I am very weary. There is no end to my business; I am at work from morning till even; but I dare say Lord Nelson will be out next month. He told me he should; and then what will become of me I do not know. I should wish to go home: but I must go or stay as the exigencies of the times require.". At last, towards the close of the year, the enemy gave some signs of an intention to come out-and the day of Trafalgar was at hand. In anticipation of it, Lord Nelson addressed the following characteristic note to his friend, which breathes in every line the noble frankness and magnanimous confidence of his soul: "They surely cannot escape us. I wish we could get a fine day. I send you my plan of attack, as far as a man dare venture to guess at the very uncertain position the enemy may be found in: but, my dear friend, it is to place you perfectly at ease "I entered the Admiral's cabin,' he observed, about daylight, and found him already up and dressing. He asked if I had seen the French fleet; look out at them, adding, that, in a very short time, and on my replying that I had not, he told me to observed a crowd of ships to leeward; but I could we should see a great deal more of them. 1 then not help looking, with still greater interest, at the Admiral, who, during all this time, was shaving himself with a composure that quite astonished me! Admiral Collingwood dressed himself that morning with peculiar care; and soon after, meetboots. You had better,' he said, put on silk ing Lieutenant Clavell, advised him to pull off his stockings, as I have done: for if one should get a shot in the leg, they would be so much more manageable for the surgeon.' He then proceeded to visit the decks, encouraged the men to the discharge of their duty, and addressing the officers, said to them, Now, gentlemen, let us do something to-day which the world may talk of hereafter.' the action, from the Dreadnought; the crew of He had changed his flag about ten days before which had been so constantly practised in the exercise of the great guns, under his daily superintendence, that few ships' companies could equal them in rapidity and precision of firing. He had begun by telling them, that if they could fire three wellresist them; and, from constant practice, they were directed broadsides in five minutes, no vessel could enabled to do so in three minutes and a half. But though he left a crew which had thus been disciplined under his own eye, there was an advantage he went, had lately returned from England, and as in the change; for the Royal Sovereign, into which her copper was quite clean, she much outsailed the other ships of the lee division. While they were running down, the well-known telegraphic signal was made of England expects every man to do his that he wished Nelson would make no more signals, duty.' When the Admiral observed it first, he said for they all understood what they were to do: but when the purport of it was communicated to him he expressed great delight and admiration, and made Nelson had been requested by Captain Blackwood it known to the officers and ship's company. Lord (who was anxious for the preservation of so invaluable a life) to allow some other vessel to take the lead, and at last gave permission that the Téméraire should go a-head of him; but resolving to defeat the order which he had given, he crowded more sail on the Victory, and maintained his place. The Royal Sovereign was far in advance when Lieutenant Clavell observed that the Victory was setting her studding sails, and with that spirit of honourable emulation which prevailed between the squadrons, and particularly between these two ships, he |