198 
Rear-admiral Parry, whom he accompanied to 
Port Royal, in jarmaicas AS profound peacé 
then prevailed, ‘Captain Gardner hud neither 
at epportunity to distinguish ‘nor to enrith 
Rimself.' On ‘the expirgtréo of the usual pe- 
wtod the Preston returned home, and was put 
est ofcommissioa © The contest with Ame- 
ica, seon after followedby a general warwith 
Franee, Spain, and Holland,’ however unfor- 
tumate it might prove for the general interest 
ef the country, ‘yet wads attended with many 
individual advantages, as it rescued a number 
of promising youhg men from’ obscurity, and 
enabled them? to ‘prove setviceable to their 
eduntry.’ Captain Gardner had by this. time 
become a lrusbard anda: father. While at 
famaicr (May -20, £769) he married ‘Susah- 
sah Hyde, the valy daughter of Francis Gale! 
Esg. a: planter in Liguania. This ladv had; 
already brought him four children; and as he 
has! now the prospect of a family to the full 
as numerous 'as that of his father, and was at 
the same time ambitious of rising In the ser- 
wc, aD appointment of course became an ob- 
ject of consequence to him. “‘Nor did he soli- 
eit in vain; he obtained the.Maidstone, a fri- 
gate of twenty-eight guns; in which he sailed 
fax the West Indies early in 4778, and inthe 
eourse of that year he fortunately obtained a 
sich capturé on the coast. of America. “On 
gne 4th of November, while cruising about 
sixty leagues to the eastward of Cape Henry, 
he gave chase to and came up with the Lian, 
a French man of war, with fifteen hundred 
jeegsheads of tubacco belonging to the mér- 
chants. Although the: hold of this vessel 
was crowded with merchandize, yet thére 
were forty guns and two hundred men on 
board ; she therefore sustained a severe action 
and killed four. and wounded nine of the 
Béaidstone’s men before she surrendered. Cap- 
tain Gardner ‘bore away with his prize for 
Aastigua; and. scon after his arrival in the 
West Indies, he was appointed by Vice-ad- 
nyral Byron to the command of the Sultan of 
@4 guns. Hitherto the subject of this me- 
moir may be considered merely as @ private 
character; but from this moment he is to be 
yankei as 2 public man, occupied with his 
professional de ty, and engaged i in almost eve- 
ry great action during the space of the subse- 
quent twenty-two years, which constitute one 
-ef the most important epochs in the siavat his- 
tory or Great Britain. Havine now obtained 
a ship of the line, Captain Gardner remained 
uncer the command of the gallant but unfor- 
tunaze Byron, whose fate it was to ercounter 
and combat unceasingly with dangers, difh- 
culties, and hurricanes, in every quarter of 
the habitable globe. Inan engagement which 
took place with the Count D’is'aing, off the 
stand of Grenada, the French, instead of be- 
ing far interior in force, as hid been suppo- 
sec, exhibited no less than twenty-seven sail 
ef line of battie ships, notwiths‘anding, 
which, the Sultan, which was the headmost 
ele ei 44 H 
Account of the late Admiral Lord Gardner. 
[March 1,. 
of the British squadron, gave chace, the mo- 
inent that the sigtal was thrown out, and did 
not return the enemy's fire until she could get 
iiito' close action.’ The English admiral was 
Once more unfortunate; fox ‘although he de- 
termined, notwithstanding nis manifest infe- 
fiority, to give battle, yet the French always 
tovk' care to bear up so as to avoid it; and 
their ships being far better sailers, ‘they were 
‘thus enabled, at will, to prevent a decisive en- 
agement, Byron, in his off-cial ‘letters to 
the lords of the Admiralty, pays many com~ 
pliments to the gallantry of Vice Admiral 
Barrington, and the Captains Sawyer, and 
Gardaer the last of whom had no less than 
Sixteen men killed’ and thirty- nine wounded. 
Séon after this drawn battle, the Sultan was 
ordered to Jamaica, whence Captain Gardner 
retutned the following year to England with 
a convoy under his care. On his arrival, his 
Ship Was paid off; and after remaining: for ‘ a 
short time out of commission, towards the end 
of 1791 he was appointed to the Duke, a se- 
cond rate of 98 guns, one of the ships sent to 
reinforce the fleet of Six George Rodney, 
who “had meanwhile succeeded to the 
chief command in the Wébt Indiés. Cap- 
tain Gardner ‘had the good fo¥tune to join 
the Admiral previous to the’ memérable 1gth 
of April 1782. "On that glorious day the 
Duke wai/second to the Formidable, he flag- 
ship of Sir George Rodney, and Captain Gard- 
ner was the first ‘to break through the éne- 
miy’s line of battle, according’ to. the new plan 
of attack adopted ‘by the British Admiral bh 
that occasion. During one period “of the ace 
tion, the Duke, in conjunction with: the For- 
midable’and Namur, had to Sustain the fire of 
eleven of the enemy's skips, und their loss 
was proportionably gréat. ' On board ‘the 
Duke thirteen men were kilted,and fitty seven 
wounded, dmong the former lof which were 
the master and’ boatswain. Sach a spirited 
conduct entitled Captain Gardner to the ‘par= 
ticular notice of the commander in “chief, 
who was so well pleased with the exertions 
of allunder him as to remark in an ‘emphati- 
cal manner, ‘‘that he wanted words to eX= 
press how sensible he was of the meritorious 
conduct of all the captains, officers, and” men, 
who had a share in this glorious ‘victory ‘ob- 
tained by their gallant exertions.” Soon after 
this,-a long peace ensued, during which, the. 
subject of this memoir ‘appeared. sometimes 
in a civil, and sometimes in a naval capacity $ 
having sited as commodore on the Jamaica 
staiion, on board the Europe of firty guns, in 
the years 1785 6-7-8 ou 9, and in 1790 as a 
‘lord of the Admiralty; he also, as will be 
geen herealter, ébtained a seat in parliament. 
Having been at iength raised to the rank of 
rear admiral of the plue Feb. 1, 1793, he soon 
after foisted his flag on board the Queen of nine- 
ty-eight guns, anden the 24th of March he 
‘salicd in the capacity of commander in chief to 
oe Leeward Islands, Upon the arrival of 
. Admiral 
