rights. He had the good old English character of openness and sincerity. He called things by their right names, and his detestation of every thing in the nature of a job made him the terror of delinquents. His death will be a universal source of sorrow to the country, and now that courtiers are released from his castigation, even they will do justice to his talents and integrity."

In the house of commons, on the 11th, on the occasion of moving for a new writ for Bedford, the marquess of Tavistock, Mr Wilberforce, and the chancellor of the exchequer, took occasion to express the following sentiments:-the marquess of Tavistock said, "I am well aware that a great majority of this house thought his opinions erroneous; but I am sure that there is not one of his political opponents who will not lay his hand on his heart, and say that he always found in him a manly antagonist. Accustomed to defend his opinions with earnestness and warmth, the energies of his admirable and comprehensive mind would never permit the least approach to tameness or indifference. But no particle of animosity ever found a place in his breast; and, to use his own words on another melancholy occasion, 'he never carried his political enmity beyond the threshold of his own house. To those, Sir, who were more immediately acquainted with his exalted character,—who knew the directness of his mind, his zeal for truth, his unshaken love of his country,-the ardour and boldness of his disposition, incapable of dismay, his unaffected humanity, and his other various and excellent qualities, his loss is irreparable. His eloquent appeals in this house in favour of the unfortunate,-appeals exhibiting the frankness and honesty of the true English character,will adorn the pages of the historian, although, at the present moment, they afford a subject of melancholy retrospect to those who have formerly dwelt with delight on the benevolence of heart which always beat, and on the vigour of an intellect which was always employed for the benefit of his fellow-creatures."

Mr Wilberforce wished to add his testimony to the excellent qualities of the lamented individual whose death had rendered the present motion necessary; and, in doing so, he could with truth declare that he was only one of many thousands, rich as well as poor, by whom his character had been most highly estimated. Well had it been termed by the noble marquess, a truly English character." Even its defects, trifling as they were, and what character was altogether without defects? were those which belonged to the English character. Never had there existed a more complete Englishman. All who knew him must recollect the indefatigable earnestness and perseverance with which, during his life, be directed his talents and the whole of his time to the public interest; and although he, Mr W., differed from him on many occasions, yet he always did full justice to his public spirit and love of his country. For himself, he could never forget the important assistance which he derived from his zeal and ability in the great cause which he had so long advocated in that house. On every occasion, indeed, in which the condition of human beings was concerned-and the lower their state the stronger their recommendation to his favour-no one was more anxious to apply his great powers to increase the happiness of mankind.

The chancellor of the exchequer said, "that it must be some consolation to the noble marquess and the whole house, to feel that whatever

difference of opinion might exist on political questions, there was no one who did not do justice to the virtues and talents of the object of their regret, or who, for a moment, supposed that he was actuated by any other motive than a conviction of public duty."

Perhaps the several parties in the house of commons never united more cordially in expressions of sorrow for the loss of a member. But it should be recollected that Mr Whitbread was one of the last surviving, in life or in political consistency, of that great school of senatorial eloquence which will for ever impart lustre to the age of George the Third. Never was there before seen in the house of commons, or in any assembly of ancient or modern times, a cotemporary race so justly renowned as Fox, Burke, Grey, Sheridan, Whitbread, Pitt, Erskine, Wilberforce, Windham, and Grattan.

Sir Samuel Hood.

BORN A. D. 1762.-died a. D. 1815.

SIR SAMUEL HOOD was born in November, 1762. His grandfather was the Rev. Arthur Hood of Dawlish, in Somersetshire, uncle of Lords Hood and Bridport. His father was Samuel Hood, Esq. of Kingsland, in the parish of Netherby, Dorsetshire. His elder brother, Arthur, was unfortunately drowned in his majesty's sloop, Pomona, which foundered in a hurricane on the Leeward Island station in 1775, and his second brother, Alexander, captain of the Mars, was killed on board that ship, in an action with l'Hercule on the 21st April, 1798.

About the age of fourteen he commenced his nautical career, in the usual course, as midshipman, under the protection of Lord Hood, who at that period commanded the Courageux. He seems to have shared in an equal degree the protection of both his noble relatives; for after his first initiation, he removed to the Robust, then commanded by Captain Hood-Lord Bridport-where he remained until the year 1779. While in this ship he was in the engagement which concluded with the capture of two French frigates, the Pallas and the Licorne, and in that of the 27th of July, the same year, in the memorable engagement betwixt Admiral Keppel and Compte d'Orvilliers. In the course of the following year he was removed into the sloop Lively; and in 1780 he was in that vessel at the capture of la Duchesse de Chartres, a French privateer, which surrendered after a short action in the British channel.

At the latter end of the year 1780, Lord Hood, having hoisted a rear-admiral's flag on board of the Barfleur, was accompanied to the West Indies in that ship by his young protegé, who served under him as acting lieutenant and lieutenant from the month of October, 1780, until the 31st of January, 1782. During his service in the Barfleur, Lieutenant Hood exerted himself in a manner highly honourable in the engagement with De Grasse, off Martinique; in that off the Chesapeak on the 5th of September following; and in the actions between the two fleets on the 25th and 26th of January, 1782.

On the 31st of January, 1782, five days after the second action off St Kitts, he was promoted to the rank of commander, and appointed to the Reynard sloop by Lord Viscount Hood. Captain Hood's command

of the Reynard was rather nominal than real. At the period of his nomination that vessel was lying as a convalescent ship in the harbour of Antigua. Our young hero, therefore he had then scarcely passed his twentieth year-disliking the state of inactivity to which his command would have condemned him, chose to remain a volunteer on board the Barfleur. He was, in consequence, in this ship in those glorious actions of the 9th and 12th of April, 1782, in which his noble relation so preeminently distinguished himself. On the 19th of the same month he was also a sharer in the glory derived from the capture of the French squadron, consisting of le Jason, le Coton, l'Aimable, and la Ceres. This was the last engagement in which Captain Hood had a share during the war. When the preliminaries of peace were signed, he embraced the opportunity of visiting France, where he continued until the year 1785.

On his return to England he was appointed to the command of the Weasel sloop of war, in which he sailed to Halifax. He was there employed in surveying the coasts and harbours on that station, and for the vigilance and activity with which he executed his arduous task was honoured with a post-captain's commission, and appointed to the command of the Thisbe frigate. He remained at Halifax until the close of the year 1789, when the Thisbe was ordered to England to be paid off. In the month of May, 1790, he was appointed to the command of the Juno frigate, in which he proceeded to Jamaica. Whilst on this station he had, at the beginning of February the following year, the hap piness of saving the lives of three shipwrecked sailors. His ship was then lying in St Anne's harbour; and, in the height of a gale of wind, which increased to an absolute hurricane, a wreck was descried from the mast-head, with three men upon it, over whom the waves broke with such unremitting violence that it was supposed scarcely possible to rescue them from their dreadful situation. The Juno's cutter and launch had been previously despatched to the assistance of a vessel in the of fing, so that Captain Hood had nothing but his own barge with which to attempt the preservation of his fellow-creatures. From the extreme apparent danger of those men, the crew evinced the greatest reluctance to descend into the barge, until Captain Hood undauntedly leaped in, exclaiming, "I never gave an order to a sailor in my life which I was not ready to undertake and execute myself!" The barge then pushed off, and, through the most determined perseverance, he had the happi ness of succeeding in his gallant and meritorious effort. So strongly was the government of Jamaica impressed with the sense of the humane and generous conduct of Captain Hood, that they voted a hundred guineas for the purchase of a sword as a token of their approbation, which, soon after his return to England in 1791, was presented to him, accompanied by a very elegant letter. He had also, previous to his sailing, received a letter of thanks from the humane society of Jamaica.

At the commencement of the war in 1793, Captain Hood was or dered to the Mediterranean in his former ship the Juno, and was there very actively employed.

In the month of December, 1793, Lord Hood found it necessary to evacuate Toulon; in consequence, he proceeded with his fleet to Hieres bay, there to wait the arrival of a convoy of transports and victuallers from Gibraltar. Before this, however, Captain Hood had been des

patched to Malta, and, on his return, being wholly unacquainted with the events that had occurred during his absence, he stood into the harbour of Toulon. He had already reached the inner road when his vessel struck upon a shoal, from which she had not got quite clear, when she was boarded by a boat's crew from the shore, who, favouring the delusion under which the commander laboured, endeavoured to decoy him to another part of the harbour where his frigate might more easily be secured. A midshipman, however, perceiving their national cockades, immediately gave the alarm; and the danger of their position becoming evident, Hood and his crew forced the French below, and taking advantage of a favourable breeze, with much difficulty got the frigate afloat. She was scarcely under sail, when a brig-of-war and several batteries opened a fire upon her; in spite of which, however, she succeeded in escaping from the harbour.

In February, 1794, we find Captain Hood actively and arduously employed in the attack of Corsica, where he again particularly distinguished himself, and had the honour of receiving the thanks of the commander-in-chief for his important services, which were repeated after the blockade and capture of Calvi, at which time he commanded l'Aigle frigate. In this vessel he continued until the year 1796, and during the whole of 1795 had the command of a small squadron in the Archipelago for the purpose of protecting the trade, and blockading a squadron of the enemy's frigates of equal force at Smyrna.

In the month of April, 1796, Captain Hood was appointed to the command of the Zealous, of 74 guns, in which ship he was, during that year, most actively employed under Sir John Jervis, off Toulon, and, in 1797, off Cadiz. In the summer of the year 1797 he was with Lord Nelson at Teneriffe when his lordship had the misfortune to lose his arm, and by his spirited and judicious conduct in effecting the return of the British troops and seanien from their disastrous attack, he had the satisfaction of endearing himself to that hero. In 1798 Captain Hood was employed in blockading the port of Rochfort, where, while he was waiting to be relieved by Captain Keats, be most successfully counteracted the design of the enemy to escape. Immediately after Captain Hood, in the Zealous, with Sir Thomas Troubridge in the Culloden, and nine other ships, was despatched to reinforce the squadron of Lord Nelson.

On the memorable 1st of August, 1798, having the look-out, he first discovered the French fleet in the bay of Aboukir. For his heroism on that important and glorious day, he was honoured with the thanks of parliament, and also presented with a sword by the city of London.

After the victory of Aboukir, Lord Nelson proceeded to Naples, and left Captain Hood the command of the squadron on the coast of Egypt. While on this station, he not only kept the port of Alexandria closely blockaded, but took and destroyed upwards of thirty of the neutral transports which had carried the enemy's troops to Egypt, and as an honorary reward for these services, was presented by the Grand Signior with a snuff-box set with diamonds. In February, 1799, he joined Lord Nelson at Palermo, and assisted in reducing his Sicilian majesty's subjects to obedience, and driving the French out of Naples. He was afterwards employed on shore in taking charge of Castel-Nuovo. He kept the city perfectly quiet during the siege of St Elmo and of Capua,

until the period of their reduction. The king acknowledged these ser vices by presenting him with a snuff-box enriched with diamonds, and at the same time conferring on him the rank of commander of the order of St Ferdinand and of Merit, which rank was confirmed by his British majesty.

The Zealous was paid off in the month of May, 1800, aud Sir Samuel Hood was appointed to the Courageux, of 74 guns, in which he was for some time actively employed in the channel fleet. This ship afterwards formed part of a detached squadron at Ferrol and Vigo, until January, 1801, at which period he was removed into the Venerable, also of 74 guns. In April he escorted a fleet of Indiamen beyond the Cape de Verdes. On his return he joined Sir James Saumarez off Cadiz, and after making several captures on that station, was in the action off Algesiras, which did not terminate with that success which both the plan and execution deserved. However, Sir James Saumarez, hearing that the French admiral, Linois, had been reinforced with a Spanish squadron of five sail of the line, determined, notwithstanding the crippled state of his own ships, to pursue and attack the enemy. A glorious victory, in which Sir Samuel Hood had the honour of bearing a distinguished part, was the consequence. In this victory the Venerable had 30 killed, and 100 wounded. On his arrival at Gibraltar, Sir Samuel Hood, in common with the other captains of the fleet, received the thanks of the admiral. He had afterward the satisfaction of receiving the particular thanks of the admiralty in addition to the general vote of thanks from parliament for his great and extraordinary exertions. He returned to England in the month of November, 1801; and, on the signature of the preliminaries of peace, his ship the Venerable was paid off. His services were, however, too valuable and important for him to be permitted a long enjoyment of repose. In the month of October, 1802, he was appointed a joint-commissioner for the government of the island of Trinidad; and, on the death of Rear-admiral Totty, commander-in-chief on the Barbadoes and Leeward Island station.

At the commencement of the late war, Sir Samuel Hood, in conjunction with General Grinfield, commander-in-chief of the army, captured the islands of St Lucia and Tobago, made prisoners upwards of 1200 of the enemy's troops, and totally destroyed their trade in that quarter of the globe. They also, within the period of three months, took the valuable colonies of Demerara, Issequibo, and Berbice. Eight months after, Sir Samuel compelled the settlement of Surinam to surrender, and subsequently reduced the island of Martinico to the greatest distress. In addition to these distinguished captures, Sir Samuel Hood took and destroyed a great number of the enemy's privateers and ships of war, which afforded the most ample security and protection to our trade. For these numerous and important services, his majesty was most graciously pleased to bestow upon him, as a distinguishing mark of his royal favour, the insignia of the order of the Bath.

On the arrival of Rear-admiral Cochrane in the West Indies in 1805, Sir Samuel Hood returned to England, and was soon after made a colonel of the marines. Early in 1806 he was appointed to the Centaur, and placed under the orders of Earl St Vincent, who gave him the command of seven sail of the line and some smaller vessels, and de