to a successful conclusion; but immediately began to prepare for the press, the "Private and Original Correspondence of the Duke of Shrewsbury, illustrated with narratives, historical and biographical." It was published in 1821, in one volune quarto.

The mind of Mr. Coxe was still too vigorous and active to bring itself to repose. After a short interval he began "Memoirs of the Administration of the Right Honourable Henry Pelham," drawn from documents communicated by his Grace the Duke of Newcastle and the Earl of Chichester; and intended as a sequel to the memoirs of Sir Robert and Lord Walpole. This work formed his occupation and amusement during his latest years, and was left, on his decease, in a state nearly fit for the press.

Of the publications of Mr. Coxe, which, strictly speaking, may be considered as of a minor character, the following may be noted: "The Literary Life and Select Works of Benjamin Stillingfleet, Esq.," in 3 vols. 8vo.; the Lives of Handel and Smith, in 4to.; two Pamphlets, addressed to J. Benett, Esq., M. P. for Wilts, on the Nature and History of Tithes; "A Vindication of the Celts; " a small edition of the "Fables of Gay," with notes; a volume of "Miscellaneous Tracts, comprising an Account of the Prisons and Hospitals in Russia, Sweden, and Denmark;" "A Letter on the Secret Tribunal of Westphalia;" and "Sketches of the Lives of Correggio and Parmegiano." These publications are no less marked with that intelligent investigation which constitute the merits of his more finished works, and are also strikingly indicative of that peculiar facility with which he could direct his mind to any object of enquiry. The religious compositions of Mr. Coxe are these:-"An Explanation of the Catechism of the Church of England;""An Abridgment of Secker's Tract on Confirmation, for the Use of Young Persons; " " A Sermon on the Excellence of British Jurisprudence, preached before the Judges of Assize at Salisbury;" and "A Sermon delivered at St. Paul's, at the Anniversary of the Meeting of the Sons of the Clergy."

In the later period of his life, Mr. Coxe sometimes testified his regret that he should have appeared to the public much more as an historical writer than as a divine. He was, however, far from being inattentive to subjects connected with his profession; for numerous are the theological disquisitions, tracts, and sermons which have been found among his manuscripts. These clearly prove that he was as indefatigable in his search after religious truth as in any other branch of knowledge; and that if he withheld these compositions from the public eye, it arose from diffidence, or rather from the sensitive apprehension natural to an author, that, by entering on a new course, he might hazard a reputation already established.

Of the merits of Mr. Coxe as a writer, the best proof is the continued approbation which marked the progress of his labours. He has, in fact, contributed more than any other individual to the illustration of the most interesting period of our national annals. His services in this respect were justly distinguished by the presentation of the gold medal from the Royal Society of Literature.

As an individual no man stood higher; received while living, or carried with him when dead, a more abundant testimony of respect, veneration, and love. Feelingly alive to distress, in whatever form it met his view, his interest, his services, his purse, were ever ready to relieve; and in singleness of heart he was pre-eminent. Truly a Christian, in action as in persuasion, all that he thought, said, and did was so built and grounded on Christian principle, that it constituted, as it were, a part of his nature.

Mr. Coxe was of middle stature, corpulent, and erect in person, and even in his advanced years he seemed to have preserved the strength of earlier life, by the firmness of his step and the alertness of his motions. His countenance was the index of his mind, gentle and benevolent, and when impressed by any sentiment or feeling more than usual, it beamed with benignity. Till nearly the close of his valuable life, Mr. Coxe had the happiness to enjoy almost uninterrupted health. When, therefore, the disorder which preceded his

dissolution came, he did not at first consider it as alarming, still less as fatal; nor, when it increased, did it occasion much affright. He was long prepared by meditation and prayer for death, and when death arrived he met it without dismay. After a week's illness, he expired at his rectory of Bemerton, at the advanced age of eighty-one. He died as he lived, rich in faith and good works; and thus piously and meekly rendered up his soul into the hands of a merciful and indulgent Creator.

The remains of Mr. Coxe were, on Monday, the 16th June, deposited in the chancel of his church at Bemerton, in conformity with his own wish, to repose under the same sacred roof with his distinguished predecessors, Herbert and Norris.

The regrets for his loss, which extend far beyond the circle of his private friends, are soothed by the reflection, that, as a veteran in literature, he had accomplished his warfare. It is also gratifying to perceive, in the example of his long and active life, the refutation of a fallacy too generally entertained, that literary exertion consumes the body and exhausts the mind. Even had he allowed himself a larger share of repose, it may be questioned whether, with a mind so ardent, he would for so long a period have enjoyed and improved the united blessings of health, leisure, and independence.

The principal part of the foregoing narrative has been derived from the Memoir published in the "Gentleman's Magazine;" and for the remainder we are chiefly indebted to the gentleman by whom that Memoir was composed.

236

No. XVIII.

SIR PHILIP CARTERET SILVESTER,

SECOND BARONET OF YARDLEY, IN ESSEX; POST CAPTAIN OF ROYAL NAVY; AND A COMPANION OF THE MOST

THE

HONOURABLE MILITARY ORDER OF THE BATH.

THIS

HIS distinguished officer, who, during the active part of his services, was known by the name of Carteret, was son of Rear-Admiral Philip Carteret, the circumnavigator, by Mary Rachel, sister to the late Sir John Silvester, Bart., Recorder of the city of London.

The first ship in which Mr. Carteret went to sea was the Lion, 64, commanded by Sir Erasmus Gower, who had served as his father's First Lieutenant in the Swallow sloop during the voyage of discovery round the globe, which commenced in 1766, and was not concluded till March, 1769. *

* In the month of August, 1766, the Dolphin, a twenty-gun ship, was fitted out to proceed on a voyage of discoveries, under the command of Captain Samuel Wallis. The Swallow, 16, was ordered to accompany her until they should have cleared the straits of Magellan. On the 12th April, 1767, they entered the Pacific Ocean, and separated. The Dolphin steered to the westward, and the Swallow to the northward. Captain Wallis returned to England in May, 1768 : the sufferings and distresses experienced by Captain Carteret and his crew have been related, though but imperfectly and faintly, in the account written by the late Dr. Hawkesworth. We have only room in this place to remark, that the Swallow had been nearly twenty years out of commission, and some considerable time previous to her being fitted for this voyage, she had been slightly sheathed with wood to preserve her bottom from the worms; but being nearly thirty years old, she was totally unfit for foreign service. The Dolphin, on the contrary, had been sheathed with copper, and had received every necessary repair and alteration that her former commander, the Honourable John Byron, had pointed out as wanting. Captain Carteret strongly represented the age and defects of his vessel; but the only reply he obtained from the Admiralty, was "that the equip- ` ment of the sloop was fully equal to the service she had to perform." Captain Carteret obtained post rank in 1771, was made a Rear-Admiral in 1794, and died at Southampton, July 21. 1796.

After accompanying Sir Erasmus Gower to and from China, Mr. Philip Carteret removed with that officer into the Triumph, 74; which ship formed part of the squadron under Vice-Admiral Cornwallis off Belleisle on the memorable 16th of June, 1795. In the running fight which then took place, the subject of this Memoir received a slight wound; but his name did not appear in the list of casualties, as Sir Erasmus Gower made no report of the Triumph's loss or damage.

Shortly after this event, Mr. Carteret was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, in the Imperieuse frigate, commanded by Lord Augustus Fitzroy; and we subsequently find him serving as such on board the Greyhound, 32; Britannia, a first rate, and Cambrian, of 40 guns; under the respective commands of Captains James Young, Israel Pellew, Richard Lee, the Hon. Arthur K. Legge, and George H. Towry. His commission as a Commander bears date April 29. 1802, at which period he was appointed to the Bonne Citoyenne sloop of war, on the Mediterranean station.

The Bonne Citoyenne being paid off in 1803, Captain Carteret remained on half-pay till the spring of the following year, when he received an appointment to the Scorpion brig, of 18 guns, employed in the North Sea, where he captured, April 11. 1805, L'Honneur, Dutch national schooner, of 12 guns, having on board 1000 stand of arms, a complete set of clothing for that number of men, and a considerable quantity of warlike stores, including two 12-pounder field-pieces, two mortars, tents for troops, &c. Among the prisoners taken on this occasion was M. Jean Saint-Faust, member of the Legion of Honour, a person long noted for his successful depredations on British commerce, and considered by Napoleon Buonaparte as one of the most brave, able, and enterprising officers in the French or Batavian services. He was going to Curaçoa, there to assume the command of a Dutch naval force, and from thence to attack, by a coup-de-main, some of our West India possessions. L'Honneur was also charged with important dispatches, which the enemy endeavoured in vain to destroy.