ing region of Italy, at last rose in arms against the British authority. In the measures to be pursued to repress this disorder, diversity of opinions unhappily took place among the heads of the civil and military authorities. The insurrection at Bastia, the capital of the island, was suppressed in June, 1796; but the French party gradually acquiring strength, it was, in September following, deemed wise to abandon the island entirely. The viceroy returned to England early in 1797, when his services were rewarded by his exaltation to a British peerage, as Baron Minto, of the county of Roxburgh in Scotland.

In July, 1797, Lord Minto was appointed ambassador to Vienna, then the theatre of the most important and complicated negotiations in which the country was engaged. It was through the intervention of his lordship, during this embassy, that liberal and honourable steps were taken on the part of a great personage in this country, to extricate from indigence, and to secure a becoming provision for the only surviving branch of the royal house of Stuart, then languishing in penury at Venice, in consequence of the invasion of Rome by the French. In parliament, for the union with Ireland, Lord Minto was a strenuous advocate. When the peace of Amiens was on the carpet, he was ranked with those who conceived the interests of this country to have been less firmly secured than ought to have been done. As he had been an advocate for the union with Ireland, so was he one of those who earnestly regretted that any obstacle should arise to the completion of the conditions of Roman Catholic emancipation, on which a considerable portion of the people of Ireland were supposed to have given to the union their express or their tacit consent.

When the administration of the marquess of Wellesley in India expired, he was succeeded by Lord Minto, under whose general government many highly important acquisitions have been made by the British arms, for the benefit of the state at large, as well as of the India company in particular. In the successful expedition against the great Dutch settlements at Batavia and other parts of Java, Lord Minto not only issued the necessary orders, and took the necessary measures to insure success, but accompanied the troops embarked in person. His period of residence in Bengal drawing to an end, Lord Minto was relieved by the earl of Moira, and soon afterwards took shipping for England, where he arrived in the middle of May, and from that time his health was visibly on the decline. He departed this life, June 21st, 1814.

Hood, Viscount Bridport.

BORN A. D. 1728.—died a. D. 1814.

ALEXANDER HOOD was the second son of the Rev. Samuel Hood, vicar of Thorncombe, Devon, but originally of the country of Dorset, where the family once possessed considerable property.

He was allowed to enter the navy at an early age, after receiving the elements of education under the paternal roof. On the 2d of December, 1746, he received a lieutenant's commission, and in 1756 was posted with the command of the Prince George. In the following year

he commanded the Antelope, and signalized himself by destroying the Aquilon, a French frigate of 48 guns, after a running-fight of two hours' duration. In 1758 he was present in Admiral Saunders's ship, at the defeat of the French squadron under Du Quesne. In 1761, while in command of the Minerva of 32 guns, he fell in with the Warwick, originally an English ship of 60 guns, but then mounting 34, with a very full complement of men. A desperate action ensued, in which both vessels were so crippled as to be in danger of going down; but the French colours were at last struck. In the month of August, in the same year, Captain Hood had the honour of convoying the Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz to England. In June, 1778, Captain Hood was present in the Robust of 74 guns, in the action with D'Orvilliers off Ushant. In the recriminations which ensued betwixt the two English admirals, Keppel and Palliser, Captain Hood was slightly involved.

On the 26th of September, 1780, Captain Hood was appointed rearadmiral of the White. In 1782 he accompanied Lord Howe, when that officer sailed to the relief of Gibraltar, and threw in supplies in the face of the combined fleets of France and Spain. The next year, Rear-admiral Hood was chosen representative for Bridgewater, and shortly after for the town of Buckingham. In 1787 he became viceadmiral of the White, and in the following year was made a knightcompanion of the Bath.

On the 1st of February, 1793, Sir Alexander Hood was appointed vice-admiral of the Red, and hoisted his flag in the Royal George, one of the channel fleet under Earl Howe, to whom he acted as second in the memorable engagement of the 1st of June, 1794. For the honourable share he bore in this conflict, he was created Baron Bridport of Cricket St Thomas in Ireland.

In June, 1795, Lord Bridport sailed from Spithead with fourteen sail of the line, to cruise off the French coast; and on the 23d of that month he fell in with the French fleet, and captured three ships of the line close in with Port L'Orient. In March, 1796, he succeeded Lord Howe as vice-admiral of Great Britain, and on the 31st of May was raised to the peerage of Great Britain by his former title. When Lord Howe resigned command of the channel fleet, Lord Bridport was appointed to it.

The year 1797 was disgraced in the annals of this country by the great naval mutiny which first broke out in the channel fleet. In the month of February, in that year, letters were sent from all the line of battle-ships at Portsmouth to Lord Howe, praying for his lordship's influence towards obtaining a redress of certain grievances; as these, however, were anonymous, and appeared to be all written by one person, and couched in the same language, they were considered as the production of some factious individual, and were thrown aside as uuworthy of answer. This neglect of the petition of the seamen on their return to port, (March 31st,) occasioned a correspondence by letter to be kept up, and passed from ship to ship through the whole fleet, till at length it was unanimously agreed upon, that no ship should lift an anchor till the demands of the ficet were fully complied with. In this state matters remained till April 14th, when orders were sent to Portsmouth for Lord Bridport to sail with the channel fleet. On the following day, however, when his lordship made the signal to prepare, not a

ship obeyed the signal. Instead of weighing anchor, the seamen of the admiral's ship ran up the shrouds, and gave three cheers, which was the signal to the rest of the fleet for making public their resolutions. These cheers were instantly answered by the other ships; and it was manifest in a moment that the combination was complete. The officers strenuously exerted themselves to bring the men to a sense of their duty, but without effect. The petty officers had concurred with the men, in the determination not to do their duty till their pay was increased; all the different crews, however, were very orderly and peaceable in their conduct, performing every duty of the ships as usual, except that of weighing anchor. The next day a boat from each ship was demanded, and two men from the crew of each were appointed delegates to represent the whole; the admiral's cabin being fixed upon as the properest place for their deliberations. At this time none of the officers were suffered

to go on shore. Petitions were now drawn up, and presented to Lord Bridport, Sir Allan Gardner, and the port-admiral, setting forth, that "while the soldiers and marines had received additional allowances, the pay of the seamen had not been augmented; they therefore desired an increase of wages; and a hope was expressed, that an answer might be given to their petition before they were ordered to put to sea again." This expression, however, was qualified with one exception, "unless the enemy were known to be at sea." On the 17th, every man in the fleet was sworn to support the cause in which he had embarked,—the admiral's body servants not being exempted from the oath. Ropes were raised in terrorem at the fore-yard arm of every ship, and several officers who had behaved in a tyrannical manner were turned ashore. The deputies consulted together every day on board the Queen Charlotte, returning at night to their respective ships. On the 18th, a committee of the admiralty (Earl Spencer, Lord Arden, Admiral Young, and Mr Secretary Marsden) arrived at Portsmouth, and in the course of this and the two following days several propositions were made to reduce the fleet to obedience, but ineffectually. On the 21st, Admirals Gardner, Colpoys, and Pole, went on board the Queen Charlotte in order to confer with the delegates, who in a great measure became converts to the admirals; but would settle nothing, as two delegates from one ship, the Royal George, were on shore. On the return of these two delegates on board the Queen Charlotte, they informed the delegation and the admirals, that it was the determination of the Royal George to agree to nothing that should not be sanctioned by parliament, and guaranteed by the king's proclamation of pardon.

In the whole of these proceedings the conduct of the sailors was or derly, systematic, and determined; they took possession of all the magazines,-loaded all their guns,-confined every officer to his respective ship,-kept watch regularly the same as at sea, and put every thing into a state of defence. Intoxication or misconduct in any of the men was severely punished, and no spirituous liquors were suffered to be brought on board any ship. On the 22d the men were somewhat pacified, and caused two letters to be written, one to the lords of the admiralty, stating the grounds of their conduct on the preceding day, and another to Lord Bridport, in which they avowed no intentional offence to him, and styled him their father and friend. This had a good effect, for on the 23d the admiral returned to his ship, hoisted his flag

again, and, after a short address to the crew, informed them, that he had brought with him a redress of all their grievances, and the king's pardon for the offenders. After some deliberation these proffers were accepted, and every man returned to his duty. It was now thought that all disputes were finally settled; the delicate silence,' however, of Mr Pitt, in omitting to explain the reasons which called for an increase of pay to be granted to the navy, when he submitted a motion for that purpose to the house of commons, was construed by the seamen into a disposition not to accede to their demands; and on Sunday morning, May 7th, when Lord Bridport made the signal to weigh anchor and put to sea, every ship at St Helen's refused to obey. In the course of the afternoon they ordered a meeting of the delegates, as before, on board the London of 98 guns, which carried the flag of Vice-admiral Colpoys. The admiral resolved to oppose their coming on board, and apprized the men of his ship of his intention. He ordered the marines under arms; some of whom obeyed the order, while others refused. The delegates persisting to come on board, the admiral ordered the marines to level their pieces at them, and a slight skirmish took place. By the fire of the marines five seamen were killed, two of whom were delegates. The whole crew of the London now declared open hostility to the officers and marines; they turned the guns in the fore part of the ship towards the stern, and threatened to blow all aft into the water, unless they surrendered. The officers surrendered, and the marines laid down their arms, and Admiral Colpoys and Captain Griffiths were confined several hours in separate cabins. In consequence, however, of the resolution of the house of commons, passed May 8th, and the king's free pardon being communicated to the seamen on May 10th, they appeared to be satisfied; the officers were generally reinstated in their commands, the red flag was struck, and the whole of the grand fleet prepared to put to sea. The mutiny, however, afterwards run through the whole of the fleet at Plymouth and Sheerness.

The North sea fleet, as well as the ships lying at the Nore, appear to have had the redress of other grievances in view, besides what related to the increase of pay and provisions demanded by the grand fleet at Spithead. A more equal division of prize-money,-more regular and frequent payment of wages,-and certain privileges of permission to go on shore when in port, as far as might be convenient to the service,— were points insisted upon by this division before they would agree to return to their regular state of subordination. During the progress of this alarming mutiny, various opinions existed in the public mind, in regard to the conduct the most prudent to be adopted towards the mutineers; some persons, with the ministry, would listen to nothing short of unconditional submission, while others insisted that part of the articles, at least, might have been granted, and that by moderate concession, the love and fidelity of the navy would be more effectually secured than by adopting harsh and coercive measures.

At the commencement of the mutiny, the mutineers were suffered to go on shore without interruption, and to parade about Sheerness, with music, flags, and a triumphal appearance, calculated to make converts to their cause. Their head-quarters were in a public house, from the windows of which a red flag was hoisted many days successively. The delegates and committee men went on shore or on board as they 4 U

IV.

pleased, and seemed commanders of Sheerness, as well as of the ships at the Nore. Lord Keith and Sir Charles Grey, however, who had been sent down to superintend the naval and military proceedings in that quarter, put an end to this indulgence on their arrival. With a view to extort compliance with their demands, the mutineers proceeded to block up the Thames, by refusing a free passage up and down the river to the London trade. The ships of neutral nations, however, colliers, and a few small craft, were suffered to pass, first receiving a passport signed by Richard Parker, as president of the delegates. In order to concentrate their force, all the ships which lay near Sheerness dropt down to the Great Nore. The line-of-battle ships were drawn up in a line, about half-a-mile distant from each other, and moored with their broad sides fronting each other. In the spaces between the line-ofbattle ships, the detained merchantmen, &c. were moored. The force of the mutineers, at its greatest height, consisted of eleven ships of the line, exclusive of frigates, in all twenty-four sail. Each ship was governed by a committee consisting of twelve members, together with two delegates and a secretary. To represent the whole body of seamen, every man-of-war appointed two delegates, and each gun-boat one; the mode of assembling these was by beating a drum.

The crew of the Lancaster, of 64 guns, which lay at Long Reach, betrayed evident dispositions to join the ships at the Nore, but were prevented from passing down the river, by the batteries at Tilbury fort and Gravesend, and other works which were amply defended by the military. All communications being stopped with the shore, the mutineers supplied themselves with water and provisions from the ships they detained, and a party of seamen landed in the Isle of Grain and carried off a number of sheep, &c. The accounts, however, of their plundering different trading-vessels were exaggerated: the chief act which they perpetrated of this kind, was robbing a vessel of 300 sacks of flour, of which they found themselves in need, and which were distributed throughout the fleet.

A deputation of the admiralty, at the head of which was Earl Spencer, went down to Sheerness, but they had no conference with the delegates, demanding unconditional submission as a necessary preliminary to any intercourse. Earl Spencer departed from Sheerness without any attempt to compromise the dispute, after having caused it to be signified to the seamen that they must expect no concessions whatever, except such as has been already made by the legislature. On the 30th of May, the Clyde frigate was carried off from the mutinous fleet, by a combination of the officers, aided by some of the seamen; as was the St Fiorenzo, the officers of which cut her cables, and got under weigh at the instant when the boatswain's whistle was piping all hands to dinner. These ships were fired at by several others, and the St Fiorenzo sustained some damage in her hull and other works.

All the buoys were now removed from the mouth of the Thames, and the neighbouring coast, by order of government; a precaution which is said to have greatly perplexed the mutineers, as any large ships which might attempt to sail away were in danger of running aground. Great preparations were also made at Sheerness, against an attack from the ships, and furnaces and red-hot balls were kept ready,

&c.

On Sunday, June 4th, the whole fleet evinced its loyal disposi