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

tion by a general salute, which was fired from all the ships at the Nore, in compliment to his majesty's birth-day; and the ships were decorated in the same manner as on rejoicing days; the red flag being, however, kept plying at the main of the Sandwich. On the 5th of June, about nine at night, the Serapis frigate, of 44 guns, and the Discovery attempted to desert the fleet, making for the fort at Sheerness, with the view of returning to obedience. When this was perceived, all the lineof-battle ships within reach, instantly poured broadsides at them. The frigate, however, got out of reach, although much shattered and damaged in the masts and rigging. On Tuesday, the Agamemnon, Leopard, Ardent, and Isis, men-of-war, and the Ranger sloop, joined the mutinous ships at the Nore, having left the fleet of Admiral Duncan. Lord Northesk, captain of the Monmouth, at the desire of the delegates, went on board of the Sandwich, where he received propositions for an accommodation, in the form of a letter,1 which he was desired to lay before his majesty. Being furnished with a passport from Richard Parker, he went up to town by water. The demands in the seamen's letter being thought improper, Captain Knight, of the Inflexible, carried down the refusal of the lords of the admiralty.

Measures were now taken by Lord Keith and Sir C. Grey, to attack the fleet from the works at Sheerness, with gun-boats, &c.; the defection, however, of the Repulse, Leopard, and Ardent, on the night of Friday the 9th, with other symptoms of treachery among the mutineers to their own cause, rendered the use of force unnecessary. On Saturday several other of the ships pulled down the red flag, as a signal for the merchantmen to go up the river, and the store and victualling ships to remain behind; all of these, however, profited by the opportunity to effect their escape, after having been fired at by the fleet.

The mutineers now framed a more moderate set of articles, describing the nature of their grievances and demands, which they sent to the admiralty by Captain Cobb. Ministers, however, were fully determined not to grant any demands but to force the seamen to unconditional subinission. On the 11th, the Neptune, of 98 guns, manned with press-gangs, volunteers, &c. Sir E. Gower commander, fell down to Longreach, with a view to act offensively against the mutineers; the Lancaster, which had surrendered on the 8th, the Agincourt, and a number of gun-boats, were also equipped in the river for the same destination. The firmness of the seamen was already shaken by the formidable preparations of government, and the want of fresh provisions and water; and it was evident that the combination was falling to pieces. On the 12th, most of the ships struck the red flag, and hoisted the union, to signify their desire of returning to obedience. On Tuesday morning, June 13th, the Agamemnon, the Standard, the Nassau, the

1 TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EARL NORTHESK.

My Lord," You are hereby required and directed to proceed to London with such papers as are intrusted to your care, and to lay the same before our gracious sovereign, King George the Third, and to represent to our gracious sovereign, that the seamen at the Nore have been grossly misrepresented; at the same time, if our gracious sovereign does not order us to be redressed in fifty-four hours, such steps will be taken as will astonish our dear countrymen."

By order of the delegates of the whole fleet,

RICHARD PARKER, President.

Iris, and the Vestal, ran away from the other ships, and got under the protection of the guns at the fort, not a single shot being fired at them. The crews, however, of these vessels, were very far from being unanimous, as several men were wounded and killed in the struggles which took place on board them, between parties of the officers and those of the seamen. On the evening of the same day, not a red flag was seen flying at the Nore, and the blue was universally hoisted. On Friday the 16th, all resistance to the authority of the officers ceased on board the ships, and the mutiny was in effect terminated, although some of the ships which had proceeded up the river were not reduced to entire obedience,—the Belliqueux, and two or three more, held out the last. The officers of the Sandwich surrendered their delegates, Parker and Davis, to a party of soldiers sent on board by Sir C. Grey, together with Gregory, Higgins, and about thirty other delegates; these were committed to the black hole, in the garrison at Sheerness. On the first appearance of the soldiers, one of the delegates, Wallace, of the Standard, shot himself dead. During the progress of the mutiny, a letter, dated June 4th, (which, however, is believed to have been fictitious,) was sent to the delegates at the Nore, from the seamen of Sir Roger Curtis's squadron, and another from the late delegates of the ships at Plymouth, exhorting the mutineers to return to their duty. These letters, forged or otherwise, are said to have had considerable effect in creating divisions among the men.

66

On Thursday the 22d, the trial of Parker commenced on board the Neptune, off Greenhithe, before a court-martial consisting of captains in the navy, of which Sir T. Pasley was president. Parker was charged with "making and having endeavoured to make a mutiny amongst the seamen of his majesty's ships at the Nore, and with having behaved himself contemptuously towards his superior officers." The trial was continued by adjournment to Monday the 26th, when the president, after observing that the crime of which the prisoner was convicted was as unprecedented as wicked, as ruinous to the navy as to the peace and prosperity of the country," adjudged him to suffer death at such time and place as the lords of the admiralty should appoint. The leading articles of the charges against Parker were, that he had behaved in two instances with insolence to Admiral Buckner; the first, in not allowing the admiral to appear on the quarter-deck of the Sandwich; and the second, in forcibly taking away two marines from the commissioner's house at Sheerness, in spite of the remonstrances of the admiral; that in the different conferences with the officers he had always taken the lead as spokesman; that he had laid one seaman in irons, and ordered another to be flogged; that he had assumed "the honour of representing the whole fleet;" that he had often proceeded from ship to ship, haranguing the respective crews, who cheered him as he passed,— on which occasions he ordered the men forwards; and that he was on board the Director when that ship opened a fire on the Repulse, and he gave his orders to fire. After the sentence was passed, the prisoner, with a degree of undismayed composure which excited the astonishment and admiration of every one present, spoke as follows: "I bow to your sentence with all due submission; being convinced I have acted by the dictates of a good conscience. God, who knows the hearts of all men, will, I hope, receive me. I hope that my death will atone to

the country; and that those brave men, who have acted with me, will receive a general pardon. I am satisfied they will all return to their duty with alacrity." His conduct, during the whole of the trial, was respectful and firm; and he remained, to the last moment, apparently unmoved. Such is a brief outline of those unprecedented transactions in the British navy, which we trust will never find a parallel in our marine annals. Lord Bridport soon after retired from active service, but subsequently became general of marines, and in 1801 was created Viscount. His lordship died in 1814, without issue. He appears to have been a good seaman, and the affectionate epithets applied to him by the mutineers, even in the very height of their frenzy, sufficiently attest the respect with which he was regarded throughout the navy.

Sir Thomas Picton.

BORN A. D. 1757.-DIED A. D. 1815.

THIS gallant officer was descended from an old Pembrokeshire family. He entered the army in 1771, when he obtained an ensigncy in the 12th regiment of foot. In 1783 we find him holding a captaincy in the 75th, and distinguishing himself by his activity in quelling a mutiny in that corps while stationed at Bristol.

In 1794 he embarked for the West Indies, where he became aid-decamp to Sir John Vaughan; in 1796, on the capture of St Lucia, Sir Ralph Abercromby recommended Picton to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the 68th regiment; and on the fall of Trinidad, Colonel Picton was appointed governor of that important island. While in this station he allowed the torture to be applied, according to Spanish law, to a young Spanish woman, in order to extort from her a confession as to some robberies to which she was supposed to have been accessory. For this act, Governor Picton was tried in the court of king's bench in 1806, and pronounced guilty by the jury. A new trial, however, was granted, and legal proceedings continued till 1808, when he obtained an exculpatory verdict. The duke of Queensbury liberally proffered him £10,000 to defray the expenses of this long-suspended trial, and the inhabitants of Trinidad voted him £5000 at a public meeting, in testimony of their entire approbation of his conduct in the governorship. He declined the first of these offers, and was with difficulty prevailed upon to accept the other, and on a destructive fire happening on the island, he instantly subscribed a sum of equal amount for the relief of the sufferers.

When a British army was sent in 1809 to rescue Holland from the hands of the French, Major-general Picton commanded a brigade, and was at the siege of Flushing, of which town he was appointed governor after its surrender. During his stay at Walcherin, he caught the fever to which all are subject who are doomed to reside in that insalubrious island. Before he was perfectly recovered, he was again called into active service in Portugal; where he commanded the third division of the British army,-a division remarkable and remembered for its distinguished zeal, celerity, and courage, animated as it was, with the spirit of its gallant commander. At the siege of Badajos, General Pic

ton distinguished himself in a peculiar manner; he was directed to make a feigned attack on a castle which commanded the ramparts of the fortress; but he very soon perceived the practicability of taking this castle; and, therefore, with a decision peculiar to his character, he converted the feigned into a real attack, and hoisted the British flag on the wall of the castle, to the equal surprise and joy of the army. And to this bold manœuvre was the reduction of the fortress principally owing. General Picton served during the whole of the peninsular war; though, previous to the battle of Salamanca, he became so ill as to be obliged to resign, for a time, the command of his division, which on that day was intrusted to the gallant Sir Edward Pakenham. Before the battle of Vittoria, Picton was sufficiently recovered to resume his command; and in that battle his division acted in a manner which excited at once the surprise and admiration of the whole army. For nearly four hours did it alone sustain an unequal conflict with a vast superiority of force. General Picton was engaged in the battles of the Pyrennees and of Toulouse, and did not quit the army till nothing remained to be done. At the close of the war, rewards were distributed to the general officers who had distinguished themselves during its continuance; some were promoted to a peerage, who had had no opportunities of distinguishing themselves, and who had acquired no distinction, while General Picton, who had rendered the most signal services, was left untitled and unhonoured; for the only title which he enjoyed he received after the capture of Badajos.

When the war again broke out, in consequence of Bonaparte's escape from Elba and return to France, a command was offered to General Picton in the duke of Wellington's army, by the secretary-at-war. But the general declined it, on the supposition that, from the appointment of the duke to be generalissimo of the combined armies in the Netherlands, he would himself be placed under the command of some other officer; at the same time he declared his readiness to go, provided the duke of Wellington himself should express a wish to have him Soon after, the duke signified his earnest desire to have General Picton with him, and the general accordingly went, but with a full conviction on his mind that he should never return. In the battle of the 16th of June, 1815, in which he was opposed to Ney, with a very inferior force, and wholly destitute of artillery, he sustained a most unequal contest during the greater part of the day; and though he necessarily suffered much from the repeated attacks of a superior force, he gallantly maintained his ground. It is not generally known, but it is a certain fact, that in this action he received a wound from a musketball in the hip; he concealed the wound most studiously from all but his own servant, who dressed it as well as he could, and who had positive injunctions not to reveal it to any one. The general knew that this was only a prelude to a decisive battle which must soon take place, and at which he was resolved to be present. On the 18th of June, at the ever-memorable battle of Waterloo, the division of Picton, so long the terror of the French, nobly sustained the character it had so dearly earned. It was placed purposely by the discerning eye of Wellington in a most important position, which it defended against every attack of the enemy. It was in repelling one of these attacks, on which the fate of that eventful day materially depended, that General Picton received