INSTALLATION AT OXFORD.
The people of England, happy in their situation, felt none of the storms of war and desolation which ravaged the neighbouring countries; but, enriched by a surprising augmentation of commerce, enjoyed all the security of peace, and all the pleasures of taste and affluence. The university of Oxford having conferred the office of their chancellor, vacant by the death of the earl of Arran, upon another nobleman of equal honour and integrity, namely, the earl of Westmoreland, he made a public entrance into that celebrated seat of learning with great magnificence, and was installed amidst the Encaenia, which were celebrated with such classical elegance of pomp, as might have rivalled the chief Roman festival of the Augustan age. The chancellor elect was attended by a splendid train of the nobility and persons of distinction. The city of Oxford was filled with a vast concourse of strangers. The processions were contrived with taste, and conducted with decorum. The installation was performed with the most striking solemnity. The congratulatory verses and public speeches breathed the spirit of old Rome; and the ceremony was closed by Dr. King, that venerable sage of St. Mary Hall, who pronounced an oration in praise of the new chancellor with all the flow of Tully, animated by the fire of Demosthenes.
We shall conclude the remarkable incidents of this year:*
* In the spring of the year the liberal arts sustained a lamentable loss in the death of George Frederick Handel, the most celebrated master in music which this age had produced. He was by birth a German; but had studied in Italy, and afterwards settled in England, where he met with the most favourable reception, and resided above half a century, universally admired for his stupendous genius in the sublime parts of musical composition. One would be apt to imagine, that there was something in the constitution of the air at this period, which was particularly unfavourable to old age; inasmuch as, in the compass of a few months, the following persons, remarkable for their longevity, died in the kingdom of Scotland. William Barnes, who had been above seventy years a servant in the family of Brodie, died there, at the age of one hundred and nine. Catherine Mackenzie died in Ross-shire, at the age of one hundred and eighteen. Janet Blair, deceased at Monemusk, in the shire of Aberdeen, turned of one hundred and twelve. Alexander Stephens, in Banffshire, at the age of one hundred and eight. Janet Harper, of Bainsholes, at the age of one hundred and seven. Daniel Cameron, in Rannaeh, married when he was turned of one hundred, and survived his marriage thirty years.
These are detached from the prosecution of the war, with the detail of an event equally surprising and deplorable:—A sloop called the Dolphin, bound from the Canaries to New York, met with such unfavourable weather, that she was detained one hundred and sixty-five days in the passage, and the provision of the ship was altogether expended before the first fifty days were elapsed. The wretched crew had devoured their dog, cat, and all their shoes on board: at length, being reduced to the utmost extremity, they agreed to cast lots for their lives, that the body of him upon whom the lot should fall might serve for some time to support the survivors. The wretched victim was one Antoni Ga-latia, a Spanish gentleman and passenger. Him they shot with a musket; and having cut off his head, threw it overboard; but the entrails and the rest of the carcase they greedily devoured. This horrid banquet having, as it were, fleshed the famished crew, they began to talk of another sacrifice, from which, however, they were diverted by the influence and remonstrances of their captain, who prevailed upon them to be satisfied with a miserable allowance to each per diem, cut from a pair of leather breeches found in the cabin. Upon this calamitous pittance, reinforced with the grass which grew plentifully upon the deck, these poor objects made shift to subsist for twenty days, at the expiration of which they were relieved, and taken on board by one captain Bradshaw, who chanced to fall in with them at sea. By this time the whole crew, consisting of seven men, were so squalid and emaciated, as to exhibit an appearance at once piteous and terrible; and so reduced in point of strength, that it was found necessary to use ropes and tackle for hoisting them from one ship to the other. The circumstance of the lot falling upon the Spaniard, who was the only foreigner on board, encourages a suspicion that foul play was offered to this unfortunate stranger; but the most remarkable part of this whole incident is, that the master and crew could not contrive some sort of tackle to catch fish, with which the sea every where abounds, and which, no doubt, might be caught with the help of a little ingenuity. If implements of this kind were provided in every ship, they would probably prevent all those tragical events at sea that are occasioned by famine.
CAPTURES MADE BY CRUISERS.
Previous to the more capital operations in war, we shall particularize the most remarkable captures that were made upon the enemy by single ships of war, during the course of this summer and autumn. In the month of February, a French privateer belonging to Granville, called the Marquis de Marigny, having on board near two hundred men, and mounted with twenty cannon, was taken by captain Parker, commander of his majesty’s ship the Montague; who likewise made prize of a smaller armed vessel, from Dunkirk, of eight cannon and sixty men. About the same period, captain Graves, of the Unicorn, brought in the Moras privateer, of St. Maloes, carrying two hundred men, and two-and-twenty cannon. Two large merchant-ships, laden on the French king’s account for Martinique, with provisions, clothing, and arms, for the troops on that island, were taken by captain Lendrick, commander of the Brilliant; and an English transport from St. John’s, having four hundred French prisoners on board, perished near the Western islands. Within the circle of the same month, a large French ship from St. Domingo, richly laden, fell in with the Favourite ship of war, and was carried into Gibraltar.
In the month of February, captain Hood, of his majesty’s frigate the Vestal, belonging to a small squadron commanded by admiral Holmes, who had sailed for the West Indies in January, being advanced a considerable way ahead of the fleet, descried and gave chase to a sail, which proved to be a French frigate called the Bellona, of two hundred and twenty men, and two-and-thirty great guns, commanded by the count de Beauhonoire. Captain Hood, having made a signal to the admiral, continued the chase until he advanced within half musket-shot of the enemy, and then poured in a broadside, which was immediately retorted. The engagement thus begun was maintained with great vigour on both sides for the space of four hours; at the expiration of which the Bellona struck, after having lost all her masts and rigging, together with about forty men killed in the action. Nor was the victor in a much better condition. Thirty men were killed and wounded on board the Vestal. Immediately after the enemy submitted, all her rigging being destroyed by the shot, the topmasts fell overboard; and she was otherwise so much damaged, that she could not proceed on her voyage. Captain Hood, therefore, returned with his prize to Spithead; and afterwards met with a gracious reception from his majesty, on account of the valour and conduct he had displayed on this occasion. The Bellona had sailed in January from the island of Martinique, along with the Florissant, and another French frigate, from which she had been separated in the passage. Immediately after this exploit, captain Elliot, of the AEolus frigate, accompanied by the Isis, made prize of a French ship, the Mignonne, of twenty guns, and one hundred and forty men, one of four frigates employed as convoy to a large fleet of merchant-ships, near the island of Rhé.
In the month of March, the English frigates the Southampton and Melampe, commanded by the captains Gilchrist and Hotham, being at sea to the northward on a cruise, fell in with the Danaë, a French ship of forty cannon, and three hundred and thirty men, which was engaged by captain Hotham in a ship of half the force, who maintained the battle a considerable time with admirable gallantry, before his consort could come to his assistance. As they fought in the dark, captain Gilchrist was obliged to lie by for some time, because he could not distinguish the one from the other; but no sooner did the day appear, than he bore down upon the Danaë with his usual impetuosity, and soon compelled her to surrender: she did not strike, however, until thirty or forty of her men were slain; and the gallant captain Gilchrist received a grape-shot in his shoulder, which, though it did not deprive him of life, yet rendered him incapable of future service: a misfortune the more to be lamented, as it happened to a brave officer in the vigour of his age, and in the midst of a sanguinary war, which might have afforded him many other opportunities of signalizing his courage for the honour and advantage of his country. Another remarkable exploit was achieved about the same juncture by captain Barrington, commander of the ship Achilles, mounted with sixty cannon; who, to the westward of Cape Finisterre, encountered a French ship of equal force, called the Count de Saint Florintin, bound from Cape François, on the island of Hispaniola, to Rochefort, under the command of the sieur de Montay, who was obliged to strike, after a close and obstinate engagement, in which he himself was mortally wounded, a great number of his men slain, and his ship so damaged, that she was with difficulty brought into Falmouth. Captain Barrington obtained the victory at the expense of about five-and-twenty men killed and wounded, and all his rigging, which the enemy’s shot rendered useless. Two small privateers from Dunkirk were also taken: one called the Marquis de Bareil, by the Brilliant, which carried her into Kin-sale in Ireland; the other called the Carrilloneur, which struck to the Grace cutter, assisted by the boats of the ship Rochester, commanded by captain Duff, who sent her into the Downs.