the fifth peer and first earl, while another of them was appointed to the most dignified ecclesiastical office in the gift of the crown, being nominated Archbishop of Canterbury. In the mean time Lord Cornwallis, in consequence of an alliance with the noble family of Townshend, had issue four sons, one of whom died young, while the three surviving ones have arrived at the first dignities in their respective professions: Charles, the eldest, having acted both in Ireland and in India, not only as Viceroy and Governor-general, but as Commander-in-chief; James having acquired the mitre of Litchfield and Coventry; and William being at this present moment entrusted with the highest naval command in the power of a King of England to be stow. This singular instance of good fortune, by which three sons have attained uncommon eminence, in three different professions, is, we believe, unexampled except in the family of Barrington, one of which was at the head of the army department, while the second became a bishop, and the third a judge. The Honourable William Cornwallis, the fourth son of Charles the first earl, by Elizabeth the daughter of Lord Viscount Townshend, was born on the 25th of February, 1744. As the children were numerous, notwithstanding the patrimonial estate was far from being despicable, it became necessary to provide for the younger branches, the subject of these * Lord Bartington was Secretary at War for many years: of his two brothers, one was an English bishop, and the other a Welch judge memoirs, memoirs, therefore, was destined to serve on board the feet; but his father, who consented to his entering into the naval service, did not live long enough to witness any more than the first stage of his advancement, having died when he had only attained his eighteenth year. At that period it was not usual, as at present, to send boys from the nursery-room to the quarter-deck of a man of war; yet Mr. Cornwallis, at the demise of a much lamented parent, was a lieutenant of a few months standing: however, in the school of Boscawen and Saunders, it was only after a long and painful service that a ship could be obtained. Our naval candidate is said to have been first rated as a midshipman on board the Newark, whence he was removed to the Kingston, in which he sailed to America, to participate in the conquest of the enemy's settlements in that quarter. At the time to which we now allude, the founder of the Chatham family carried on a vigorous and successful war in every quarter of the world against the French monarchy, which he completely humbled. Uniting the people at home in one great and glorious cause, he wielded the collected thunder of the empire against our foes, and taught them what it was possible for a small but free nation to achieve. Under his auspices, a Wolfe and an Amberst, a Hawke and a Saunders, conquered both by sea and land, while a multitude of young men, aspiring to preferment, caught the generous flame, and have since merited the gratitude of their country. Among these was Mr. Cornwallis, who participated in the fatigues, as well as in the dan gers and the glory attendant on the reduction of Louisbourg, and acquired those early habits of subordination, which enabled him to command others with ability and effect. In 1759, we find him serving under the gallant Hawke, in the Dunkirk, and witnessing the signal defeat of the French Admiral Conflans, at the mouth of the river Vilaine; after which he repaired under Captain Digby to the Mediterranean, and being taken on board the flag ship* of Admiral Sir Charles Saunders, he was appointed a lieutenant, as has already been hinted, in his seventeenth year,† which, notwithstanding the variety of his services, was considered at that day as a very rapid advancement. But he did not remain either idle or unemployed. Captain Proby, of the Thunderer, under whom he first acted with his new rank, having sailed with two other men of war to cruize off the harbour of Cadiz, was lucky enough to fall in with and capture a French ship called the Achilles, after a sharp and bloody action, while his consorts obliged the Modeste, another frigate of the same nation, to strike. In the course of the succeeding year,‡ Lieutenant Cornwallis was nominated to the Wasp sloop of war, with the rank of master and commander; and although the return of peace had precluded the possibility of distinguishing himself by any brilliant exploit, yet such was the high opinion entertained of his services, in addition to the powerful recommendation of his friends, that, in 1765, he was made post, in conse† April 5, 1761. * The Neptune. 1762. quence quence of obtaining the command of the Prince Edward, at a period when he had scarcely attained the age of twenty-one. This rapid promotion, within the space of four years, from the rank of lieutenant to that of post-captain, may be considered, in some measure, as an innovation on the ancient discipline; but, greatly to the credit of this young officer, he dedicated his whole life to the service, and continued afloat during the greater part of a peace of fifteen years, on board the Prince Edward, at Guadaloupe, thus amply qualifying himself for a command, which was considered, perhaps, by the veterans of that day as rather prema. ture. A new war, produced by a novel and singular event in the annals of English history, opened the scene of glory afresh, and, while it covered her politicians with ignominy, enabled the commanders of the navy of Great Britain to reap new laurels. No sooner had hostilities taken place with the colonies, than we find the Cornwallis's, like the Howes, taking an active part in that unhappy contest. While one was fighting by land, sometimes in a subordinate station, and sometimes as commander-in-chief of a separate expedition, against our former subjects, the other, in the capacity of a captain of a man of war, was contending with our former enemies. The naval power of Britain was about this period far different from what it is at the present day, and, indeed, may be said to have formed a wonderful contrast to it, for it was with extreme difficulty that the superiority of the British flag was supported; and in deed deed it must be frankly confessed, notwithstanding the acknowledged gallantry of all our commanders, that, in America, Asia, and even in Europe, the French were able at times to dispute the superiority. In the East Indies, in particular, Suffrein, who must be allowed to have excelled in naval tactics, often contrived to make a drawn battle with Sir Edward Hughes. In the West Indies, as well as on the shores of the Trans-atlantic continent, De Grasse lorded it for a time, by means of a superior force; and nearer home, the combined French and Spanish fleets, consisting of about forty-nine sail of the line, after stretching from Ushant to the islands of Scilly, on purpose to bar the entrance to the Channel, constrained Admiral Darby, with twenty-one ships, to retire to Torbay, whither they proposed to pursue and attack him.* But it appears, from the history of the times, that the spirit of the nation was not appalled; that the valour of British seamen was not intimidated; and that the subject of these memoirs even then, when commanding only a single ship, was not inattentive either to his own glory, or the prosperity of the nation. During the early part of the American contest, he In the council of war, summoned for the express purpose of discussing this subject, Admiral the Count de Guichen, first in command in the French fleet, as well as Don Vincent Doz, third in rank on board the Spanish squadron, were both of opinion that an attack should be risked. At this period, the fortifications at Plymouth were but in indifferent order, and such was the panic that seized many of the inhabitants of that place, that many of them actually removed the most valuable of their effects to Tavistock. commanded |