against the summary process of attachment exercised by the courts, as contrary to the liberty of the subject, and as depriving the party of trial by jury. But in the case of ex parte Jones, reported in Vesey, vol. xiii. p. 237, it happened to him to be under the necessity of himself committing a printer to prison for a contempt in publishing a pamphlet defaming the proceedings of the court. In the early part of 1807, the short-lived administration of lord Grenville broke up, and lord Erskine, after his retirement from office, took for a long time but little part in public concerns. His present majesty with whom he had always been a personal favourite, invested him, soon after he became regent, with the order of the thistle. Gratitude for this favour, as well as other considerations, perhaps, kept lord E. from active opposition until the unfortunate business of the late Queen, when after a little vacillation in the outset, he ultimately took a decided part against his royal patron. In the interval of leisure he published two volumes of a political romance, and recently some pamphlets in favour of the Greeks. These publications added nothing to his former reputation. His last literary production was a poem humanely written in favour of the poor rooks, so unmercifully sacrificed by farmers. It appeared in the Literary Gazette. His lordship married March 29, 1770, Frances daughter of Daniel Moore, Esq. M.P. for Great Marlow, who died Dec. 26, 1805, and by whom he had issue five daughters and three sons. Late in life, he married a woman with whom he had long cohabited, and was scarcely married, when he sought (but unsuccessfully) a divorce. He was succeeded in his titles and estates by David Montague his eldest son, married Jan. 1800, to Fanny, daughter of general Cadwallader of Philadel◄ phia, in North America. He died on the 17th of November, at Almondell, near Edinburgh, the seat of his nephew, Henry Erskine, of an inflammation of the chest, aged 75. He had been twice before ill of the plaint which proved fatal to him com in 1807 and 1819. His recovery at the last of these periods was deemed impossible, but his strength of constitution, saved him then against the expectation of the physicians. His remains were conveyed from Almondell, and interred in the ancient family vault at Uphall church. The funeral was private, the body being conveyed in a hearse drawn by six horses, which was followed only by the family carriages, and those of a few private friends. His principal publications were as follow: 1. Arguments on the Right of Juries, in the cause of the dean of St. Asaph, in the court of King'sbench. London, 1791. 8vo.-2. The whole Proceedings on a Trial of an information ex-officio by the attorney-general against John Stockdale for a supposed libel on the House of Commons, in the court of King's-bench before lord Kenyon. To which is subjoined an Argument in support of the Right of Juries. 1791. 8vo.-3. Speech on the Liberty of the Press. London, 1793. 8vo.-4. Speech in Defence of Thomas Hardy and John Horne Tooke, Esq. tried on a charge of High Treason. London, 1795. 8vo.-5. Speeches of the honourable T. Erskine and J. Kyd, Esq. on the trial of T. Williams, for publishing Payne's Age of Reason; with lord Kenyon's charge to the jury. London, 1797. 8vo. 6. A view of the Causes and Consequences of the present War with France. London, 1797. 8vo. This pamphlet had an unprecedent ed sale, there being no less than forty-eight editions of it printed within a few months after its publication.-7. Substance of his Speech in the House of Commons on a motion for an Address to the Throne, approving of the refusal of ministers to treat with the BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR of French Republic. London, 18008vo.-8. An Explanation of all the Acts of Parliament relative to the Volunteer Corps. London, 1803-9. Speech on Malicious and Wanton Cruelty to Animals 1809. 8vo.-10. The speeches of the honourable T. Erskine, when at the bar, on subjects connected with the Liberty of the Press, and against Constructive Treason. Collected by James Ridgeway. London, 1810. 3 vols. 8vo.-11 Speeches when at the Bar on Miscellaneous subjects. 1812. 8vo.12 Armata, 1821. the Earl of ST. VINCENT. He received the first rudiments of his naval instruction under the gallant lord Hawke, and having been rated a midshipman about 1748-9 he served in that capacity on board the Gloucester of 50 guns, on the Jamaica station. ON March 15, in the present year, at Rochetts, near Brentwood, in his 89th year, died John Jervis, Earl of St. Vincent in the kingdom of Spain, viscount St. Vincent of Meaford, county of Stafford, and baron Jervis of Meaford, admiral of the fleet, G.C.B. and K.T.S. F.R.S. general of the royal marines, an elder brother of the Trinity-house, and one of the coun- On the 19th of February, 1755, cil of state for the prince of Wales he was promoted to the rank of in Cornwall. lieutenant; and, in the ensuing war, he was employed in the expedition against Quebec. Soon after he was advanced to the rank of commander; and having returned to Europe, proceeded, not long afterwards, to the Mediterranean, and was appointed captain of the Experiment, a post ship of twenty guns, during the indisposition of sir John Strachan. While this temporary promotion lasted, he fell in with and encountered a large Xebec trader, under Moorish colours, manned by Frenchmen, mounting twenty-six guns, besides swivels and pateratoes, and with He was descended from an ancient and respectable family in Staffordshire, was the second and youngest son of Swynfen Jervis, Esq. barrister-at-law, counsel to the board of Admiralty, and auditor of Greenwich hospital; and his mother was the sister of sir Thomas Parker, lord-chief-baron of the Exchequer. He was born at Meaford-hall, Jan. 9, 1734 (O. S.) He imbibed the rudiments of his education at the grammar-school of Burton-upon-Trent, which at the age of ten years he quitted, and entered the navy, a a crew three times as numerous as the Experiment. After a furious but short conflict, the enemy was so disabled as to be glad to take advantage of a light and favourable breeze of wind, to escape from her opponent, and secure herself by flight. Captain Jervis soon after returned to England, and continued to command the Albany sloop until the 11th of October, 1760, when he was promoted to the rank of post-captain in the Gosport of 40 guns, in which ship he continued until the end of the war, in a situation which afforded little opportuFrom this nity for exertion. period until 1769, no event of importance occurred; but at that period captain Jervis's services were again called for, and he was appointed to the Alarm frigate of 22 guns. His orders were to go to the Mediterranean, where, in 1770, being at Villa Franca, he had the honour of entertaining the Duc de Chablais, brother to the king of Sardinia. Returning to England in 1774, he was promoted to the Foudroyant, of 84 guns, which being ordered to join the fleet equipped for channel service, became the admiral's ship, and our officer was selected by admiral Keppel to be one of his captains. In the memorable engagements between the French and British fleets, on the 27th and 28th of July, 1778, his lordship commanded the Foudroyant, which was the next ship to the Victory, and as closely engaged and as much disabled as any ship in the fleet. On the trials which followed the unlucky difference and misunderstanding between admirals Keppel and Palliser, captain Jervis gave his evidence with candour and impartiality, and spoke in the fol- ficer: "That during the whole time that the English fleet was in sight of the French fleet, he displayed the greatest naval skill and ability, and the boldest enterprize upon the 27th of July; which, with the promptitude of sir Robert Harland, will be subjects of my admiration and imitation as long as I live." very near From the evidence given upon this trial, it appears, that the Foudroyant, which had got into her station about three, and never left it till four the next morning, was very closely engaged, and in Her maina most disabled state. mast had received a shot through the head and lodged in the cheek, which passed through the heart of the mast, and several other shot in different places; her foremast had also received several shot; a large excavation had been made in her bowsprit near the centre; the fore-topmast was so disabled that it was obliged to be reefed, and the mizen was totally disabled; every hope of her running-rigging cut, and her shrouds demolished; no braces or bowlines left and scarcely any haulyards: fore-stay, spring-stay, and topsail-ties, and the foot-rope of the fore-topsail, shot away; her sails also were very much shattered. In this most disabled state, the Foudroyant was not in a condition to chase, but kept her station next' the Victory, as far to windward as "I was covetous of possible. wind" said this brave officer, "because, disabled as I then was, I conceived the advantage of the wind could only carry me again into action." He had not had any opportunity BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR of CHARLES GRANT, Esq. THE late Charles Grant, Esq. was born in Scotland in the year 1746. By the decease of his father, who fell in the memorable battle of Culloden, a very few hours after the birth of this son, the care of his infancy and youth devolved upon an uncle, at whose expense he received a good education in the town of Elgin. In the year 1767 Mr. Grant proceeded to India in a military capacity; but, on his arrival there, he was taken into the employment, and under the immediate patronage, of Mr. Richard Becher, a member of the Bengal council. In 1770 he re-visited his native country, where he united himself by marriage with a lady of the name of Frazer, who survived him. Having, while in England, obtained the promise of an appointment, as a writer on the Bengal establishment, he re-embarked for India in May 1772, accompanied by his wife, her mother and sister, and lieutenant Ferguson, a friend of the family. The party took their the ship Vansittart, captain Young, destined first to Bombay, and thence to proceed to Calcutta, where, on his arrival, he received his appointment, which is dated the 27th of November, 1772. In the course of this voyage he formed an intimacy with the Rev. Christian Frederick Swartz, a Christian missionary, with whom he maintained a correspondence till the decease of the latter *. During the same passage in • After the death of Mr. Swartz, who had rendered important services to the East India Company, Mr. Grant recommended to the Court to perpetuate the remembrance of them by the erection voyage, he had the misfortune to be present at the sudden death of his friend Ferguson, who was killed, while on shore at the Cape of Good Hope, in an encounter with captain Roche †, also a passenger in the Vansittart. Almost immediately after Mr. Grant's arrival at Calcutta, on the 23rd of June, 1773, he was pro of a memorial in St. Mary's Church at + It afterwards appeared, that in the course of the voyage, a dispute bad taken place between captain Roche and lieutenant Ferguson; that the feud had been so violent as to induce those gentlemen more than once to seek the adjustment of their difference at the sword's point; that from doing this they were several times prevented by the interference of friends; that at length, while the parties were on shore at the Cape of Good Hope, and at a public tavern or hotel, being then under the influence of strongly-excited feeling, if not of wine, they quitted a coffee-room together, armed, without attendants, and in the darkness of night; that Mr. Grant perceiving his friend withdraw, followed him, and overtook him in the public street, only in time to see him fall, pierced through the heart by his antagonist, and to hear his last convulsive inarticulate sobs. At the instance of Mr. Grant, this transaction underwent an immediate investigation at the Cape, where Captain Roche was acquitted by the Dutch authorities; but a fresh ap plication for justice was made at Bombay, and Roche was there imprisoned by the government, and sent under duresse to England, accompanied by a memorial from Mr. Grant to the court of Directors, with other documents. The cause was finally referred to his majesty in council, and was the subject of considerable discussion at home in the year 1775, both in the public prints and separate pamphlets. moted to the rank of factor, and soon afterwards was appointed secretary to the Board of Trade, which office he held for upwards of eight years, performing its duties with exemplary industry and ability. In 1781, the Bengal government relieved him from his secretaryship, and stationed him as the company's commercial resident, in charge of their valuable silk factory at Malda, a town upon the banks of the Ganges, and in the immediate vicinity of the venerable and stupendous ruins of the once magnificent city of Gour,* the ancient capital of Bengal. In June 1784, he obtained the rank of senior merchant, and, in February 1787, was summoned to Calcutta, that he might take possession of the seat and office of fourth member of the Board of Trade, conferred on him by lord Cornwallis, in consideration of his distinguished abilities and approved integrity. It may be necessary to observe, that the trade with India was at this time the Company's chief concern and exclusive property; and that the board at Calcutta, in correspondence with the court at home, had the general management of the Company's commercial interests. While his conduct as a member of this board added much to his reputation with the government, the discharge of the duties of the office considerably increased his commercial experience and general knowledge. But in less than three years after he had Mr. Grant many years after his return to England introduced to the court, views and plans of these stupendous ruins, by a young officer, which have since been published under the court's patronage, for the benefit of the anthor's widow. VOL. LXV. received this appointment, the im paired health of his family_com pelled him suddenly to quit India, and return to England. Lord Cornwallis, who had held frequent communications with Mr. Grant, and entertained the highest regard for him, when solicited to allow him to quit the presidency, ex pressed regret at the necessity which deprived government of his services, considered as they were by his lordship so essential to the proper executive management of the commercial interests of the Company, that he would in any case not of the most extreme urgency, have requested him to continue. But this being impracticable, his return to England was accompanied by unusually strong expressions of the high satisfaction with which the government regarded his zealous and faithful services in the commercial department.* A distinguishing feature of Mr. Grant's character, while in India, appears to have been a solicitude to uphold, to the utmost of his power, both by his example and influence, the public profession of the Christian religion by the Europeans. In this cause his zeal upon some occasions surpassed that of his cotemporaries. He not only contributed liberally towards the re-building + of St. John's church, One proof which Mr. Grant had given of his integrity while in India was the bringing to light a series of syste matic frauds upon his employers, the continuance of which undetected, would probably have ruined their interests in one of the most valuable staples of their commerce. + The Church originally constructed at Calcutta for the English settlers was destroyed by a furious hurricane in the night between the 11th and 12th of October 1737; and from that period till the erection of the Mission Church in 1770, no Protestant place of worship P* |