versed with him, prior to the action, on the probable extent of the victory. Sir Henry was also on board, and in the cockpit, at the very moment when the commander-in-chief expired. It is singular that Nelson should have exclaimed to the subject of our memoir, at parting, after his last signal, "God bless you, Blackwood! I shall never speak to you again." In Sir Henry's account of the conversation he had with the deceased hero, he relates that Villeneuve, the French admiral, assured him, that, on seeing the novel mode of attack intended to be made on the combined fleets, and which, at that moment, he confessed he could not in any way prevent, he called the officers of his ship around him, and pointing out the manner in which the first and second in command of the British fleet were each leading his column, he exclaimed to his officers, "Nothing but victory can attend such gallant conduct!"

On Sir Henry's return to England, he acted as train-bearer to the chief mourner, Sir Peter Parker, at the funeral of Nelson; and, in 1806, he was appointed to the Ajax, seventy-four guns; which, whilst lying at anchor off the Dardanelles, took fire, on the 14th of February, 1807, and was very soon burnt to the water's edge. Of a crew amounting to six hundred and thirty-three, about two hundred and fifty lost their lives by this accident; and Captain Blackwood, after having jumped overboard, was half an hour in the water before he was picked up. After this loss, for which he was tried and acquitted, Sir Henry served as a volunteer in the Royal George, the flag-ship of Admiral Duckworth; and, afterwards, in Sir Sidney Smith's division of the fleet. In the subsequent proceedings of the British squadron, he

distinguished himself very highly, and was spoken of, in the most flattering manner, in the official despatches of the two officers last mentioned.

About the end of 1807, he was made chief officer of the Warspite. After he had quitted the Mediterranean, he, in 1813, made prize of three American letters of marque, besides various merchant-ships with valuable cargoes. At the expiration of the year, he resigned the command of the Warspite; and, on the visit of the allied sovereigns to this country, in 1814, he was nominated captain of the fleet, of which the Duke of Clarence was the commander-inchief, on the occasion of the review at Spithead; and for his marked attention and great assistance, he received the thanks of the royal officer. On the 4th of June following, he was promoted to be rear-admiral of the blue; in the same year, created a baronet; and, in August, 1819, invested with the order of the Bath, as a knight commander. On the 7th of January, 1820, he left England, in the Leander, of sixty guns, as commander-in-chief in the East Indies; from which station he returned on the 11th of December, 1822; and at the conclusion of the Georgian era, he was vice-admiral of the blue, and flag-officer at the Nore.

The Honourable Sir Henry Blackwood has been thrice married: first, to a daughter of Launcelot Crosbie, Esq. of Tubrid; secondly, to Eliza, fourth daughter of Captain Waghorn, R. N.; and, thirdly, to Miss Gore, daughter of the late Governor Francis Gore, on the 9th of May, 1803. Sir Henry possesses a high naval reputation, and went through his naval career with a courage and skill fully deserving of the honours he has received, and the approbation which was bestowed on him by his different commanders.

WILLIAM, second son of the Rev. Dixon Hoste, of Goodwick, Norfolk, was descended from a very ancient family of Bruges, in Flanders, which, about the year 1569, came to reside in England.

The subject of this memoir was born in 1780, and, on the breaking out of the French revolutionary war, entered the navy as a midshipman, under the auspices of Nelson, who, in his letters, spoke

of young Hoste as a good boy, and one that would shine in the service. Having been with his illustrious patron in the Agamemnon, and other ships, he was, after the expedition against Teneriffe, removed into the Theseus, seventy-four, commanded by Captain Ralph Miller. In August, 1798, Mr. Hoste succeeded to the command of the Mutiné, the only small vessel engaged in the battle of the Nile, and his appointment being confirmed, in December, by the admiralty, he remained in this ship until the conclusion of the war. On the 7th of January, 1802, he attained the rank of post-captain, when he commanded, in succession, the Eurydice, twenty-four, and the Amphion frigate.

In 1809, as senior officer in the Adriatic, he cruised with unremitting vigilance, and reinforced the garrisons of Corfu, Ancona, and the Ionian islands. On the 8th of February, his ship, the Amphion, in company with the Redwing, sloop-of-war, captured a French brig, and destroyed two storehouses at Melida, near the coast of Dalmatia. He subsequently assisted in taking thirteen valuable merchantmen in the mole of Pesaro; and his skill in conducting the attack, soon after so successfully made on the fort and vessels at Cortellazzo, obtained for him a very favourable notice in the official despatches of Lord Collingwood. In boat actions, Captain Hoste was singularly successful; and when unable to use his ships, he adopted that mode of attack in preference to inactivity. In June, 1810, the boats of the Amphion, Active, and Cerberus, captured the town of Grao, in the Gulf of Trieste, together with a convoy of naval stores, designed for the arsenal, at Venice. On the 13th of March, 1811, the three ships above-named and the Volage, being all under the command of Captain Hoste, and carrying, in all, one hundred and fifty-six guns, and eight hundred and seventy-nine men, defeated a combined French and Italian force, consisting of two hundred and eighty-four guns, and two thousand six hundred and fifty-five men, in a gallant action, which lasted for six hours, off the island of Lissa. Two of the enemy's vessels were taken, and a third was blown to pieces, and the English loss on the occasion was fifty men killed and one

hundred and fifty wounded. All the British captains engaged in the affair were presented with a gold medal commemorative of the action. The Amphion having refitted at Malta, proceeded with the prizes to Portsmouth, where she was paid off on the 12th of August, 1811, and Captain Hoste returned, in the Bacchante frigate, to the Mediterranean, where, in addition to other successful enterprises, he captured a French privateer and two valuable convoys on the coast of Istria and Apulia. On the 13th and 14th of November, 1812, the marines of the, Bacchante and two other ships captured, without opposition, a small town, called Fesano, and Captain Hoste subsequently took two vessels proceeding with wine from Tarento to Corfu. In January, 1813, the boats of the Bacchante cut off a division of the enemy's flotilla; and, in the following month, captured two gun-boats and eight sail of merchantmen: one of the former of which was carrying despatches from Corfu, and had on board a French general of artillery, who was going with his suite to Otranto.

Captain Hoste hearing, on the 11th of May, that several vessels were lying in the channel of Karlebago, proceeded towards that place, but the object of his visit had escaped before his arrival. He, however, determined on destroying the fort overlooking the harbour, which rendered it a good shelter for the convoys of the enemy. He accordingly attacked the batteries, and after some firing, the place surrendered.

On the 3rd of July, 1813, he served on shore at the capture of Fiume, and landed, two days afterwards, at Porto Ré, where he blew up the deserted forts, and despoiled the guns and their carriages. On the 2nd of the following month, after assisting in silencing the batteries at Rovigno, he headed a party of seamen, who drove the French from the town, demolished the works, and carried off part of a large convoy, having burned the rest in the harbour. He next assisted in the reduction of the fortresses of Cattaro and Ragusa, both of which, in January, 1814, came into the possession of the English.

In March of the same year, at the request of the inhabitants of Parga, on the coast of Albania, Captain_Hoste proceeded thither against the French

destroyed; and of the batteries of Rota, and in the presence of an enemy's fleet of eleven French and Spanish ships of the line. He was next employed on the coast of Italy, where, in the year 1809, the Alceste, in company with the Cyane, destroyed three strong Martello towers, two gun-boats, and a depôt of timber at Terracina. In May, the succeeding year, a detachment from his ship stormed a battery near Tregus; and on the 26th of the same month, the boats of the Alceste cut out, from the port of Agaye, five vessels carrying valuable cargoes.

In a short time after these events, Captain Maxwell, in the Alceste, formed part of the in-shore squadron off Toulon; and early in 1811, assisted in destroying a French gun-brig in the harbour of Parenza. Towards the end of the same year, while cruising in the Adriatic, with the Active and Unité under his command, he gave chase to three French frigates, two of which were taken.

In the year 1813, Captain Maxwell commanded the Daedalus frigate, in which he was wrecked, near Ceylon, while on a voyage to Madras with a convoy of Indiamen.

In October, 1815, he was, at the request of Lord Amherst, re-appointed to the Alceste, in which he accompanied that nobleman in his memorable embassy to China. While engaged in the duties of his mission, Captain Maxwell, assisted by Captain Basil Hall, proceeded to survey the adjacent coast and neighbouring islands; and a narrative of the discoveries there made, has since been published by the latter, who, in a dedication to Sir Murray Maxwell, observed that "to his ability in conducting the voyage, zeal in giving encouragement to every inquiry, sagacity in discovering the disposition of the natives, and address in gaining their confidence and good-will, may be attributed whatever is found interesting in the work."

While at China, Captain Maxwell having advanced up the Tigris with the Alceste, a mandarin was sent out, who desired him to abandon his project, on pain of having his ship fired upon from the batteries. This threat being unheeded, was carried into execution by the Chinese, but the Alceste

soon silenced the attack of the enemy. Captain Maxwell nobly discharged, with his own hand, the shot which quieted the batteries, and thus took upon himself the whole responsibility of having fired it; a point which it was customary for the Chinese government, in all cases, to ascertain. This seasonable resistance had the effect of a complete victory, and he readily obtained what supplies he required.

Proceeding homewards with Lord Amherst, his ship, the Alceste, struck on a sunken rock in the straits of Gaspar, and Maxwell was the last person who quitted the vessel. Lord Amherst and a party of men proceeded to Batavia in a barge; but about two hundred, among whom was the subject of our memoir, still remained on the island. A party of armed Malay pirates having soon after taken possession of the wreck, and it being supposed they meditated landing, the English armed themselves with small swords, dirks, chisels, and some rude weapons of their own construction. The Malays at length set fire to the ship, and left it to be consumed. The meditated attack did not, however, take place, and, in a few days after, relief arrived from Batavia. Having gone thither in the Ternate, they proceeded to England in the Cæsar, and on his way home, Captain Maxwell had an interview with Napoleon Buonaparte, who recognised the former as having been present at the capture of La Pomone, French frigate. On his trial by court-martial, in August, 1817, for the loss of his ship, he was most fully acquitted of any blame, and that tribunal passed a high eulogy on his meritorious conduct.

In 1815, Captain Maxwell was made a companion of the Bath, and on the 27th of May, 1818, was invested with knighthood. At the general election in that year, he was put in nomination for the city of Westminster, by the Tory party, and experienced, during his unsuccessful contest, much personal insult and injury.

The East India Company presented Sir Murray Maxwell, on the 30th of May, 1819, with £1,500 for his services on his voyage to China, and in compensation for the loss he sustained on his return, In June, 1821, he was commissioned to the Bulwark, bearing the flag of Sir

Benjamin Hallowell Carew, at Chatham; and in November, 1822, was transferred to the Briton frigate, in which he afterwards served in South America.

The professional career of Sir Murray Maxwell does him credit for the zeal, bravery and ability, which he has on all occasions exhibited.

PHILIP BOWES VERE BROKE, eldest son of Philip Bowes Broke, Esq. was educated at the Royal Academy, Portsmouth; and, on the 25th of June, 1792, went as midshipman, on board the Bull-dog sloop; and afterwards served in L'Eclair, at the siege of Bastia. In May, 1794, he removed into the Romulus, thirty-six; and, in June of the same year, he was transferred to the Britannia, the flag-ship of Admiral Hotham, who promoted him to the rank of lieutenant, in the Southampton frigate. He was present in several successful encounters; and, acting as a repeater in Lord St. Vincent's memorable action with the Spanish fleet off Cape St. Vincent, returned to England. On the 12th of October, 1798, he acted as lieutenant in the Amelia frigate; and was present, with Sir John B. Warren, in an engagement with a French force off the coast of Ireland. Early in 1799 he was made commander of the Shark sloop-of-war; and, on the 14th of February, 1801, he obtained the rank of post-captain.

In 1803, on the renewal of war, which succeeded the treaty of Amiens, Captain Broke was employed in training the peasantry of his own vicinity to the use of arms, as one of the measures adopted to prevent an invasion that was threatened.

land whale-fishery. While on this service, he made the southern part of Spitzbergen, and, subsequently, the harbour of Magdalena, lying in the eightieth degree of northern latitude. Having made a correct survey of the bay and harbour, he advanced towards the north, but being compelled by the ice to take another direction, he directed his course homewards; and, in September, arrived at North Yarmouth. Soon after, he formed part of an armament sent against Madeira; and, having been put in charge of the transports, he, in February, 1808, returned to England.

Towards the conclusion of the year 1811. he served in the Shannon, on the Halifax station; and, in 1812, on the United States of America declaring war against Great Britain, he was ordered, with a small squadron, to watch the ports of the enemy. Whilst in the execution of this duty, he made prize, off Sandy Hook, of an American brig, called the Nautilus, of fourteen guns and one hundred and six men; and, immediately afterwards, he was employed in chasing the Constitution, of fifty-six guns, which, however, effected its escape. He then made various other captures; burnt a quantity of American vessels; and, a short time afterwards, joined the Jamaica fleet, and assisted the Thetis frigate in convoying the merchantmen to a safe latitude. After other similar services, he proceeded towards Boston harbour, where he discovered and chal

In June, 1806, he was nominated to the Shannon frigate; and proceeded, in April, 1807, in company with the Meleager, thirty-two, to protect the Green

Chesapeake; promising that no other English vessel should interfere. Before, however, the challenge could be conveyed, the action commenced, and continued for some time with great animation on both sides. Towards the close of the battle, Broke leaped on board the enemy's ship, and having saved the life of an American seaman, who called for