OP THE LATE JOHN CLERK, ESQ. OE ELDIN. 127 



Minister and the First Lord of the Admiralty. The Duke 

 of Montague, a zealous friend of Mr Clerk's system, under- 

 took the office of presenting a copy to the King. 



Lord Rodney, who had done so much to prove the utility 

 of this system, in conversation never concealed the obligation 

 he felt to the author of it. Before going out to take the com- 

 mand of the fleet in the West Indies, he said one day to Mr 

 Dundas, afterwards Lord Melville, " There is one Clerk, a 

 " countryman of yours, who has taught us how to fight, and 

 M appears to know more of the matter than any of us. If 

 " ever I meet the French fleet, I intend to try his way." 



He held the same language after his return. Lord Mel- 

 ville used often to meet him in society, and particularly at 

 the house of Mr Henry Drummond, where he talked very un- 

 reservedly of the Naval Tactics, and of the use he had made 

 of the system in his action of the 12th of April. A letter 

 from General Ross states very particularly a conversation of 

 the same kind, at which he was present. " It is (says the 

 " General) with an equal degree of pleasure and truth, that I 

 " now commit to writing what you heard me say in company 

 " at your house, to- wit, that at the table of the late Sir John 

 " Dalling, where I was in the habit of dining often, and 

 " meeting Lord Rodney, I heard his Lordship distinctly state, 

 " that he owed his success in the West Indies to the ma- 

 " noeuvre of breaking the line, which he learned from Mr 

 " Clerk's book. This honourable and liberal confession of 

 " the gallant Admiral, made so deep an impression on me, 

 " that I can never forget it ; and I am pleased to think, that 

 " my recollection of the circumstance may be of the smallest 

 " use to a man with whom I am not acquainted, but who, in 

 " my opinion, has deserved so well of his country." 



As 



