duty to do. He proclaimed this; and the consequence was, that he was not allowed to take that position in France which justly belonged to him. He remained therefore in England. The Neapolitans betrayed his confidence; but the Greeks have been endeavouring to carry into effect the counsels he gave them eighteen months before his death, in two Memoirs, in which 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." An illness of a few days, unaccompanied by pain,-a rapid physical decline, which did not impair his fine understanding,-bore him away, in the midst of religious consolations, from the arms of his friends. On the 14th of March, 1823, 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, aged eighty-four years, and above a quarter. General Dumouriez was short in stature, but well formed; his countenance was agreeable; his eyes sparkled 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 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, who died three years before him, and of whom he frequently spoke with tenderness, was H.R.H. the Duke of Kent. This extraordinary man stood at one period of his life on the very pinnacle of triumphant glory. His feats as a warrior fill some of the most splendid pages of modern history; his name was a charm which gathered round it 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. General Dumouriez's remains were interred at Henley-onThames; in the church of which place a handsome monument has been erected to his memory, with the following inscription: Hic jacet Tardam expectans patriæ justitiam, CAROLUS FRANCISCUS DUMOURIEZ, Qui Cameraco natus Januarii xxix. die A.D. 1739, Nefandis in temporibus, Bis Galliam a depopulatione et servitute servavit ; Asylum exuli Germania primum, Gratus obiit Turville Die Martis xiv. A.D. 1823. 228 No. XII. RIGHT HON. JOHN EARL OF ST. VINCENT, VISCOUNT ST. VINCENT, AND BARON JERVIS; SECOND ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET; GENERAL OF THE ROYAL MARINES; A PRIVY COUNSELLOR IN GREAT BRITAIN; ONE OF THE COUNCIL OF STATE FOR THE DUCHY OF CORNWALL; KNIGHT GRAND CROSS OF THE MOST HONOURABLE MILITARY ORDER OF THE BATH; AND OF THE PORTUGUESE ORDER OF THE TOWER AND SWORD; A FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY; AND ONE OF THE ELDER BRETHREN OF THE TRINITY HOUSE. Ir it is well known, that the naval services of this venerable officer raised him to the peerage, and to the elevated station of an Admiral of the Fleet. He was descended from James Jervis, of Chathill, in the county of Stafford, who lived in the time of Henry VIII., and whose second son William, having settled at Ollerton, in Shropshire, was the ancestor of Swynfen Jervis, Esq. of Meaford, in the county of Stafford, barrister at law, for some time counsel to the Board of Admiralty, and Auditor of Greenwich Hospital, who married Elizabeth, daughter of George Parker, of Park-Hall, in the same county, Esq., and sister of the Right Hon. Sir Thomas Parker, Knt., Chief Baron of the Exchequer, by whom he had two sons: viz. William, a gentleman usher of the Privy Chamber to his late Majesty, who died in 1813; and John, the subject of his memoir, who was born at Meaford, Jan. 9. 1734, O. S. He imbibed the rudiments of his education at the grammar-school of Burton upon Trent, and was originally intended for the law; but evincing a decided predilection for the sea-service, at ten years of age he entered the navy, a step to which the prospects held out by his father's situation in the Admiralty probably contributed. In 1748-9, we find Mr. Jervis serving as a midshipman on board the Gloucester of 50 guns, bearing the broad pendant of the Hon. George Townshend, on the Jamaica station. On the 19th Feb. 1755, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant; and not long afterwards, a war with France appearing inevitable, he was selected by that admirable officer, the late Sir Charles Saunders *, to serve on board his flagship, the Neptune, a second rate. In the memorable expedition sent against Quebec, in 1759 †, Mr. Jervis accompanied Sir Charles as his first lieutenant, and was by him made a commander in the Porcupine sloop. The operations in the river St. Lawrence having terminated successfully, our officer returned to England, and soon after proceeded to the Mediterranean under the orders of his former patron, by whom he was appointed acting captain of the Experiment, a post ship, mounting 20 guns, during the indisposition of Sir John Strachan. In this vessel Captain Jervis was attacked by a large xebec, under Moorish colours, mounting 26 guns of very heavy calibre, besides a considerable number of swivels. Her crew, which was nearly three times as numerous as that of the Experiment, was French. The conflict, though furious, was short; and the assailants probably considered themselves extremely fortunate in being able to effect their escape. Captain Jervis soon after returned to England, and on the 13th Oct. 1760, the year in which His late Majesty ascended the throne, he was posted, and appointed to the Gosport, of 40 guns. Nothing of importance occurred until May 11th, 1762, when the Gosport, in company with the Superb of 74 guns, Danäe frigate, and a fleet of merchantmen bound to the colonies, fell in with a French squadron of * Sir Charles Saunders died Dec. 7. 1775. He was first lieutenant of Commodore Anson's ship, in his celebrated expedition to the South Sea. † An account of the reduction of Quebec will be found in vol. ii. of Marshall's Royal Naval Biography, under the head of Superannuated Rear-admiral Chambers. superior force, under M. de Ternay, having on board 1500 troops, destined for the attack of Newfoundland. The English Commodore, Rowley, for the better protection of his charge, dropped into the rear, formed his line of battle, and brought to; but the enemy not choosing to risk an action, hauled his wind, and made off. The Gosport proceeded to Halifax, and from thence, in company with Lord Colville's squadron, to block up M. de Ternay, who had taken possession of the harbour of St. John's, and thrown a boom across its entrance. On the 11th Sept. Colonel Amherst joined the Commodore with a body of troops from Louisbourg. A landing was immediately effected in Torbay, about three leagues from St. John's; the enemy made an attempt to oppose it, but was repulsed with some loss. On the 16th, a strong westerly wind, attended by a thick fog, forced Lord Colville from his station before the harbour; of which M. de Ternay availed himself, slipped his cables, and stood to sea. On the 18th, M. de Haussonville, the commander of the troops, finding that he was deserted by his naval colleague, and that it was impossible to hold out any longer, offered terms of capitulation; which being accepted, he and his followers became prisoners of war. Captain Jervis returned to England with the trade from Virginia, and continued to command the Gosport, principally on the home-station, during the remainder of the war. He held no subsequent command till the year 1769, when being appointed to the Alarm, of 32 gnns, he was sent with congratulations to the Court of Naples on the marriage of the king. In the month of August, 1770, being at Villa-Franca, he had the honour of entertaining on board his ship the Duc de Chablais, brother to the King of Sardinia, who expressed himself highly gratified at his reception, and presented Captain Jervis with a diamond ring, enclosed in a large gold snuffbox. He also distributed several watches and boxes among the officers, and left a large sum of money for the ship's company. |