1823.] General Dumourier — Joh 



tlieir line from the other ; and Commodore 

 Nelson, with hie division, attacked tiie 

 separated ships, and compelled four of 

 them to strike. Tiie rest of their fleet, 

 notwithstanding their numerical superi- 

 ority, took shelter in Cadiz; and Jcrvis 

 jailed for the Tagns, with his fleet and 

 prizes. As the spirit of the English nation 

 had been previously much depressed, this 

 victory elated them. Sir John received 

 the thanks of both houses of Parliament, 

 and was honoured with the title of Earl 

 St. Vincent, Baron Meaford ; the former 

 from bis victory, and the latter from his 

 paternal seat. He had also a pension 

 granted him, of three thousand a-year. 

 .Lord St. Vincent had sat in Parliament 

 tor various boroughs in the opposition in- 

 terest; but the honour of sitting in the 

 House of Peers he owed alone to iiis tran- 

 scendent merit. After this his lordship 

 lived some time on shore, on account of 

 ill health. During the administration of 

 Mr. Addington, Lord St. Vincent held 

 the place of first lord of the admiralty; 

 and, under him, the alfairs of that board 

 were conducted with great spirit. Lord 

 St. Vincent, as usual, on the conclusion of 

 the peace, ordered the surplus stores to 

 be sold. The minister, Addington, thought 

 proper to plunge the country into a war 

 again, and a charge was brought against 

 Lord St. Vincent of leaving the navy 

 not properly provided with stores. This 

 charge ought to have been brought against 

 Mr. Addington, who ought to have made 

 bis warlike intentions known. He re- 

 tired from the admiralty in 1805, and for 

 some time commanded the Channel Fleet. 

 In political life, his lordship was always 

 distinguished for his attachment to the 

 free principles of the British constitution; 

 and in the legislature generally voted 

 against ministerial measures, many of 

 which he was expected professionally to 

 support. His promotion was, therefore, 

 the sole result of his own high character, 

 and never was obtained by compliance or 

 intrigue. In truth, he was as sturdy in 

 politics as he was brave on the ocean. 

 As a commander, he was so strict a dis- 

 ciplinarian, as to have exposed himself, 

 on some occasions, to charges of undue 

 severity; but he considered order and 

 discipline as the soul of the naval, as well 

 as of the military, service. 



At Turville-park, near Henley-upon- 

 Thames, 84, General Dumourier. This 

 extraordinary man stood, at one period of 

 his life, on the very pinnacle of triumphant 

 glory. His feats as a warrior, make up 

 the most splendid pages of modern his- 

 tory : his name was a charm whicli ga- 

 thered round it all the enthusiasm of mil- 

 lions : but he died in exile, as if to con- 

 trast the clamorous voice of popularity 

 which accompanied his early career, with 

 the calm btilluess of solitude which sur- 



n Philip Kemble, esq. 379 



rounded his bed of death. His temper 

 was singularly frank and generous; his 

 affections warm and cordial ; his conver- 

 sation full ofstrenaih and spirit, diversified 

 with a variety of knowledge, and a re- 

 markable discrimination of character. His 

 memoirs, which will ere long be pub- 

 lished, will throw great light upon the 

 records of his eventful days. 



At Lausanne, from apoplectic seizure, 

 in the 66th year of his age, John Philip 

 Kemble, esq, long the chief tragedian of 

 the British stage. Mr. Kemble was born 

 at Present, in 1757. At the time of his 

 birth, his father, Mr. Roger Kemble, was 

 manager of a company of comedians, who 

 had a regular routine of performances in 

 Lancashire. When Kemble was only ten 

 years old he played in his father's com- 

 pany, at Worcester, the part of the Duke 

 of York, in the tragedy of King Charles 

 the First. Tiie early part of his education 

 he received in the Roman Catholic semi- 

 nary at Sedgley Park, Staffordshire. He 

 was afterwaids, in the year 1770, sent by 

 his father to the University of Douay, in 

 order that he misht be qualified for one 

 of the learned professions. At Douay he 

 rendered himself remarkable by his re- 

 citations of Siiakspeare ; and on his return 

 to England he made his appearance at 

 Wolverhampton, in the character of 

 Theodosius in the Force of Love, but without 

 any extraordinary success. His second 

 appearance was in Bajazet, in which he 

 produced a stronger impression. At York 

 he distinguished himself by recitations, and 

 at Edinburgh by delivering an able lecture 

 on sacred and profane oratory. It was, 

 however, a Dublin audience which first 

 appreciated his merits. In 1782 he ap- 

 peared in that city in the character of 

 Hamlet ; and in 1783 came out in the 

 same character at Drury-Lane Theatre. 

 His reputation was immediately estab- 

 lished ; but it was not until the year 1788 

 that he became the monarch of the stage. 

 In 1787 he married Mrs. Brereton, daugh- 

 ter of Mr. Hopkins, the prompter of 

 Drury-Lane Theatre, of which, in the 

 following year, he became the manager. 

 With the exception of a short interval, he 

 continued manager until 1801. During 

 this period his conduct in his arduous si- 

 tuation was remarkable for firmness, di- 

 ligence, integrity, and talent. His single 

 energy accomplished a complete reform 

 in the whole system of scenic diess and 

 decoration. Macbeth no longer sported 

 an Rnglish general's uniform ; men ot cen- 

 tnries ago no longer figured in the stiff 

 court dresses of our own time; and 

 "Cato's full wig, flowered gown, aud lacliered cliair," 

 gave way to the crop, the toga, and 

 couch. Nor were the improvements in 

 the scnery less remarkable and impor- 

 tant. The cunscqiicnce was an ensemble, 

 such as had never before been seen in any 

 modern 



