™ 
1800. ] 
after arriving in the Weft Indies, Barrington, 
of courfe, became fecond in command only. 
Jn the a€tion which took place between the 
Britift fleet amd the French on the 6th of 
July, 1775, Admiral Barrington, in the 
Prince of Wales, commanded the van divi- 
fion’ The enemy were much fuperior to the 
Englifh, but-this difcovery was not made till 
it was too late to remedy it. Admiral Bar- 
 xington, in the Prince of Wales, with the 
Boyne and Sultan, prefled forward, ° foon 
clofed with the enemy’s fieet, and bravely 
fuftained their attack until joined by other 
fhips. It was not, however, the intention 
of the French admiral to rifk a general en- 
gagement, having the conqueft ‘of Grenada 
in view, and his fhips being cleaner than 
thofe of the Englith, enabled him to choofe 
his diftance. - The confequence was, that 
feveral of the Britifh fhips were very feverely 
handled, whilft others had no fhare in the 
aétion. Barrington was wounded, and had 
26 men killed, and 46 wounded, in his own ° 
fhip. Soon -after this engagement, Admiral 
Barrington, on account of ill-health, re- 
turned to England. _ Thefe two aétions efta- 
blifhed our admiral’s reputation, and he was 
looked on as one of the firft officers in the Eng- 
lith navy. On his return, however, we do 
not find any mark of his fovereign’s favour 
conferred onhim. But for this we mutt look 
to the real caufe ; Lord Sandwich was then at 
the head of the admiralty, and as no officer 
of the firft reputation, after the treatrnent 
Admiral Keppel received, would degrade 
themfelves by ferving under fuch a man, the 
Englifh fleets were fent:to fea to meet a 
greatly fuperior force of the enemy, under 
fuch fecondary charaGters. as: Darby,+ Harvey, 
Geary, &c. It became neceffary, however, 
in fome degree to attend to the call of the 
people,. who wifhed to fee men in whom 
they placed a confidence, at the head of the 
fleet: and the command was offered to Ad- 
miral Barrington, but he refpedtfully de- 
clined, not caring to rifk his well earned re- 
putation to be deftroyed {by that unprinci- 
pled. adminiftration, or their more -unprin- 
cipled tools. Evenin this cafe they had a 
falfehood ready to fupport théir degraded 
caufe, and they gave out that Admiral Bar- 
tington had an{wered, that he was ever ready 
to ferve hjs country, as fecond in command, 
but did not feel his abilities fufficient to take 
.the chief. command. ,:He, however, cer- 
tainly took the fecond command, and in that 
fituation conducted himfelf fo as to make bis 
countrymen regret that he had not the fu- 
preme. But when, forthe happinefs of this 
country, Sandwich was driven from the ad- 
miralty, and the ill-ufed Keppel fucceeded 
him, Barrington had no more thofe fcruples, 
and he’ made one or two cruifes as Commander 
in Chief. When Lord Howe failed to the 
relief of Gibraltar, our admiral was again 
fecond in command:; and in the flight action 
Admiral Barrington-— Boothby Clopton. 
277 
which his lordfhip had with the combined 
fleets on hisreturn, Barrington behaved with 
his ufual gallantry. This was’ the laft ace 
tion of the war, and onthe clofe of ithe retired 
toa private life. In 1787 he was promoted 
to the rank of Admiral, and foon after made 
‘lieutenant-general of marines, a pot which 
he‘held till the death of Lord Howe ; and he 
then fucceeded to the generalthip. Since the 
peace of 1783, he has lived in an honourable 
retirement, Pesta 
At Chelfea, in his 67th year, deeply rea 
gretted by all wha knew him, Mr. William 
Leith, by birth a Scotchman. His health 
for the lait fix months daily and very vifibly 
declined; indeed, from the beginning of his 
illnefs, he was himfelf perfwaded it would 
prove fatal. Yet, notwithftanding his ex. 
treme debility and accumulated diforders, he 
perfevered in the care of inftru@ing youth, 
his unvaried occupation for nearly §0 years, 
tilla very little time before his lamented 
deceafe. To profound fcience and an enlight- 
ened mind, he joined the greatett mildnefs 
and fimplicity of manners. He lived ia re- 
tirement! and his fole recreation, after ma- 
ny hours of honourable toil, was the culture 
of a little garden, or the fuperiutendence of 
his pupils at their fports. ; 
In Clarges-ftreet, Piccadilly, John Skrimp-= 
fhire Boothby Clopton, efq. About ‘nine 
o'clock in the morning he rung the bell; on 
the entrance of the fervant he was walking 
“up and down the room, apparently ina dif- 
ordered ftate of mind. Suddenly turning 
round, he faid, ** Why do you look at me {6 
earneftly ? What do you do here?” The 
man faid, he attended his commands. Mr. 
B. always drank cold tea for breakfaft, which 
the fervant neglected to make over night, 
and apologized. Mr. B. faid, ‘It is of no 
confequence; I fhall drink no more this 
year.” About two, he ordered his’ horfe to 
be got ready to ride‘in’ the Park; his valet 
put On one of his boots; he did not like 
them, .and faid, ** You may ha've: thofe 
boots, I fhall not wear them any more.” 
When inthe Park, he was obferved to gal- 
lop furioufly, which he was nevev accuftomed 
to do, but, on the contrary, always rode a 
canter! and in returning home kkept up the 
tame pace over the flones. Atthe corner of 
Clarges-ttreet, in Curzon-ftreet, he got off, 
delivered the horfe to the groom, and walked 
home ; it was then half patt ve. Entering 
the parlour, hedefired his valet to atrend to 
the ferving up of dinner. at fix: a few mi- 
nutes after, he went into a back room, piaced 
his right foot on the bed, anda horfe pittol 
in his mouth ; the explofion blew off the up- 
per jaw and the back part of the head: the 
ball went through the chimney-glais, and 
lodged in the wainfcot. Inftantaneous death 
enfued, and he fell with one foot on the bed, 
the other under it. The fervants in the 
kitchen heard a noife, which they conceived 
Sean pa te 
