the hope of pardon or the promise of reward, these circumstances are explicitly stated to the jury; and consequently they bear them distinctly in mind through the whole trial, and give them their proper weight in the verdict they deem themselves obliged to pronounce. Whereas, when Mrs. Clarke appeared at the bar of the house of commons, it was not known that she had either received money, or the promise of money, in order to induce her to give her evidence; so that the credibility of it, on this ground, was not impeached in the opinion of the - members, whose votes were to deeide the truth of the charges against the duke of York.

Having placed this circumstance in what seems its proper light, so far as it is connected with the admissibility of Mrs. Clarke's testimony, it may now be considered as affecting the character of colonel Wardle. His advocates say, that he was justified in gaining the evidence of Mrs. Clarke by the means he used, on the ground that government is justified in procuring, by the hope of pardon, and the promise of reward, the evidence of an accomplice, to condemn his fellow transgressors. But in this respect also the observation that we have just made holds good: government pardons or rewards its witnesses; but, at the same time, these circumstances are distinctly known, or stated to the jury: colonel Wardle, on the con. trary, brought forward Mrs. Clarke by means of money, or the promise of money, and concealed from the members of the house of commons that his witness was thus bribed to give her testimony.

It is next to be considered how far Mrs. Clarke's credibility, as a

witness against the duke of York, is affected, taking into considera. tion all the circumstances of the two trials. It has been maintained that it is totally destroyed, from the fact of her having been bribed to give her testimony having been proved. The latter circumstance may be admitted; and yet the inference does by no means follow. During the proceedings before the house of commons, Mrs. Clarke was held up by those who advocated the cause of his royal highness, as a witness totally inadmissible, on account of her situa tion in life, her general character and conduct, and the malice she was supposed to bear against the duke. Now the jury, by two verdicts, have removed completely and satisfactorily, in a direct and positive manner, the objections to her admissibility as a witness, arising from her situation in life, and her general character and conduct;-and, virtually, the objection arising from the malice she was supposed to bear against his royal highness, since they gave credit to her testimony against colonel Wardle, though, at the time she appeared against him, there was, at least, as just reason for suspecting her of malice towards him, as there was to suspect her of malice towards the duke when she was at the bar of the house of commons. It may be added, that the jury had not such strong evidence, corroborative of her testimony, as the house of commons had.

Allowing then that the result of the trials has been to impeach the credibility of Mrs. Clarke's evidence, on the ground of her having been bribed to appear against the duke of York, they have also entirely removed the objection that

was actually made, and had its full force with the house, on the ground of her situation and general character and conduct, and justified the house in overlooking the objection which was brought forward on the plea of her supposed malice to the duke of York. As then one objection has been removed, and another, certainly not of such a nature as would have disposed the house to have discovered more unwillingness to believe her than they actually did, has been brought to light and sub. stantiated by the same verdicts which removed the former, the charges against his royal highness rest upon the same foundation as they did before the trials, even in respect to the evidence of Mrs. Clarke.

But the charges against the duke of York rested in a very trifling degree upon the evidence given by Mrs. Clarke: let the amount of her testimony be struck out altogether; and let us suppose the

house of commons only in posses sion of such evidence as the notes and letters laid before them af forded; and as the advocates of his royal highness, in their zeal to serve him, actually adduced against him;-it must, it will be thought, after having weighed all these proofs, and traced the con nexion and resemblance among all their different parts, have still pro nounced sentence against him.

It may therefore be concluded, that the trials, however they may have affected the character of colonel Wardle; whatever degree of suspicion they may have thrown upon the patriotic nature of his motives, or the honourable and justificable nature of the means he employed, when he acted as the public accuser of the duke of York; do not, in any material or important degree, weaken the evidence upon which the voice of the public pronounced his royal highness Guilty.

wood's

THE

HE transactions of the British performed on a small scale, seldom fail of presenting a highly interesting and animating object. Besides the undaunted bravery and unparalleled skill which our sailors constantly exhibit, their deeds are deserving of our attention and record, as holding out one of the most solid and satisfactory grounds of hope, that, while our superiority at sea is in the hands of such men, it will not be in the power of the enemy of our independence to wrest it from us. When, therefore, any naval exploit worthy of the mistress of the seas has been performed, we should regard it as more extensively and lastingly beneficial to us, and injurious to France, than we are accustomed to do. If we dwell upon each defeat of the enemy by sea, as not only producing immediate loss and mischief to him, by the destruction or capture of his ships, but as also impressing him more deeply and permanently with a conviction and dread of our superior naval skill and bravery; while, on the other hand, it confirms (if confirmation there can be on this point) the assured belief entertained by our naval heroes, that on their own element they are invincible;-if these ideas were more habitually

and intimately mixed up with our

more highly and more justly of our naval victories, however confined they were, or inconsequential they might at first sight appear, and draw consolation and hope amidst the wreck of the continent of Europe, from the clear and firm conviction of our own inapproachable safety.

With these observations we mean to preface our account of as gallant and brave an action as graces the naval annals of Great Britain.

The French fleet, consisting of eight sail of the line and two frigates, was blocked up in Brest harbour by the English fleet under lord Gambier; but in the beginning of February, the latter, having been compelled to quit its station on account of the continued prevalency of westerly winds, the French fleet seized that opportunity and effected their escape, and entered Basque roads, where they were joined by four sail of the line and two frigates. Not deeming themselves safe there, they removed higher up into Aix roads. Here they anchored in such a manner as to afford mutual support and protection to one another, and, at the same time, to lie under the guns of their own fort; while, if they were not thus

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found

found to be safe from the attack of the British, they had the entrance of the river Charante open to them, into which they might escape. As an attack upon them in this situation was evidently very hazardous, and required the most prompt display and exertion of cool and unshaken bravery, the lords of the admiralty thought proper to send lord Cochrane on this important and arduous undertaking.

He was accordingly sent out in the Impérieuse, and lord Gambier received orders to employ him in an attempt to destroy the enemy's fleet, by means of fire-ships. This appointment of lord Cochrane, a junior officer, appears to have given great offence to the officers in lord Gambier's fleet. Rear. admiral Harvey, who was second in command, went so far as to charge lord Gambier with having procured or recommended the ap. pointment of lord Cochrane to this undertaking, and accompanied this charge with language very unbecoming and disrespectful to his commander. In consequence of this, he was brought to a court martial at Portsmouth; and after a short trial, (the admiral having admitted the truth of the charges, and pleaded in exculpation the excess of his zeal and his impatience of restraint, where he thought he could benefit his country,) was found guilty of having used vehement and insulting language to lord Gambier. The sentence of the court was, that he should be dismissed his majesty's service.

Lord Cochrane fully answered and justified the expectations of the lo ds of the admiralty, during the whole arrangement and execution of the plan for the attack upon the French fleet. On the

10th of April a number of file ves sels and of transports filled with Congreve's rockets joined lord Gambier's fleet. Immediately the preparations were begun for the intended attack. As the fitting up and management of the explosionship were entirely intrusted to lord Cochrane, he determined that they should be complete in every respect: for this purpose he caused punch. eons, placed end upwards, to be filled with 1500 barrels of gun. powder; on the tops of the puncheons nearly 400 shells with fusees were placed, and in the intermediate spaces about 3000 hand granades. In order that the explosion might be as violent and destructive as possible, the puncheons were fastened together by cables, and kept steady and im moveable by wedges and sand rammed down between them. In this ship, dreadful even to imagine, lord Cochrane, with one lieutenant and four seamen, committed himself.

On the evening of the 11th, the fire-ships, led on by capt. Woodridge, and the explosion-ship, proceeded to the attack, favoured by a strong northerly wind and Alcod tide. When they approached the enery, they perceived a boom stretched across in front of their line, in order to protect them. This, however, was soon broken; and the English advanced towards their prey, undaunted and undisturbed by a heavy fire from the forts in the Isle of Aix. The French fleet, dismayed and thrown into confusion, attempted to avoid destruction, by cutting their cables and running on shore.

In the mean time lord Cochrane, having approached with his explosion-ship as near to the enemy as he possibly could, and per

ceiving

eriving that they had taken the alarm, set fire to the fusee, and betook himself, with his companions, to the boat. They were not able, however, to get out of the reach of danger, before the fusee exploded. Instead of having had 15 minutes, the time calculated upon to place their selves out of the reach of the explosion, they had not left the vessel more than nine minutes before she blew up. The lieutenant, who accompanied lord Cochrane, expired in the boat, through fatigue; and two of the sailors were so nearly exhausted, that their lives for some time were despaired of. Lord Cochrane, however, thinking, that while any thing remained to be performed, it was his duty still to be foremost, had no sooner reached his own ship, than he proceeded to attack the French vessels thrown into confusion or driven on shore, and sustained their fire for some time, before any other man of war entered the harbour.

Early on the morning of the twelfth, lord Gambier, in consequence of a signal from lord Cochrane that seven of the enemy's ships were on shore and might be destroyed, made the signal to unmoor and weigh, but was obliged to anchor again before he reached Aix roads, on account of the wind and tide being against him. The enemy took advantage of these circumstances, and succeeded in getting six of their ships up the river Charante: four of the remaining ships were attacked by lord Cochrane in the Impérieuse, followed by the Revenge, the Indefatigable, and the Valiant, of 74 guns each. Lord Cochrane laid his ship along-side of the Calcutta, which had one-third more guns than the Impérieuse, and soon complel her to surren

der. He afterwards, supported by the other English men of war, attacked the Ville de Varsovie and the Aquilon; and notwithstanding our ships were exposed to a tremendous fire from the batteries of the Isle of Aix, they were also taken. As it was found impossible to get off these ships, they were set fire to, after the crews were taken out. The Tonnerre, another of the French squadron, was also burnt by her own crew.

The result of this brilliant and gallant achievement was, that one ship of 120 guns, five of 74 guns, and two frigates, were driven on shore, in such a manner and situation that they were either afterwards totally destroyed, or rendered useless :—one of 80, two of 74, and one of 50 guns, and three frigates, were burnt, either by us or by their crews; and the French had the mortification to perceive that their ships could not be secured from British intrepidity and skill, even by the batteries of their own forts, and the intricate and dangerous navigation of their own bays. On the 13th of April a constant fire was kept up on such of the French ships as had escaped up the Charante, by a bomb and the rocket boats; but notwithstanding the exertions of Mr. Congreve, who discovered very natural and laudable anxiety to render his invention, on this occasion, beneficial to his country, they were not able to approach sufficiently near to do any execution. In this hazardous operation, our whole loss amounted to 30 men killed and wounded.

In the course of this enterprise lord Cochrane displayed his hu manity in as signal and noble a manner as he did his courage. A captain of one of the French seven

ty