move thanks in Parliament to the commander in-chief and the men and officers employed, he replied, that he should feel it his duty to oppose any vote of approbation to Lord Gambier for his conduct on that occasion. Under such circumstances the motion was necessarily suspended, and Lord Gambier of course, being made acquainted with the cause, demanded a court-martial. Great part of the case turned upon the state of the anchorage in the inner Road, and of the batteries in the Isle of Aix, and on both these points there was a material difference in the evidence given by Lord Cochrane, and in that given by most of the other officers who were called as witnesses by Lord Gambier. The evidence was equally positive on both sides, but the preponderance, which would else have been produced by the number on one side, was counterbalanced on the other, because Lord Cochrane spoke from his own personal observation, they from their own opinions. With regard to the anchorage he relied upon the French charts, and the soundings which he made confirmed his opinion of their accuracy: ours, he said, were abominable, and not fit to be delivered out. Lord Gambier relied upon the pilots. Cochrane said there was no confidence to be placed in them; for his part he never had one, and he never knew a pilot, particularly a French one, who did not find a shoal wherever there was a gun. The works upon the Isle of Aix, he af firmed, were in a ruinous state, the inner fortifications having been completely blown up and destroyed. He had ascertained this from the deck with perfect precision as to the side towards him, and as to the opposite side also from one of the tops of the ship. There were only 13 guns

mounted on that side, where he had formerly seen about fifty. Lord Gambier argued, in opposition to this statement, that what Lord Cochrane supposed to be ruins, were in fact materials for improving or increasing the works. "Can it be natural to suppose," he said, "that the enemy, who are so active in forming batteries wherever they can be useful, and whose engineers are considered to be equal to any, would of all moments, chuse that for dismantling or blowing up works when they expected those works would be most required, for they were fully apprized of the intention of attacking them; and it was still less likely that they should weaken their de fences on the Isle of Aix, (raised evidently for the protection of the fleet,) when at the same time they were en deavouring to form others on the Boyart shoal, as a farther protection for it." Lord Gambier's secretary also affirmed, that Lo:d Cochrane, in conversation with the admiral, had said, that if the ships had been sent in agreeably to his signal, he reckoned upon three or four of them being lost. This was a point upon which Lord Cochrane had no opportunity of explaining himself. The great error seems to have been in not attacking the Isle of Aix at first, when it might have been carried with little loss, and then the whole of the enemy's fleet must have been destroyed. That the works were weak, is proved by the fact, that for many months afterwards the French were employed in strengthening them. There appeared also a difference of opinion upon the trial concerning the rise and fall of the tide. Lord Cochrane thought it did not fall more than twelve feet: he spoke entirely from the French chart; which in this re

spect is certainly erroneous, for it rises three fathoms.

The trial occupied nine days, and the court decided, that the conduct of the commander-in-chief had been marked by zeal, judgement, ability, and an anxious attention to the welfare of his Majesty's service; they therefore most honourably acquitted him. Lord Gambier was a man so universally respected, so gentle and irreproachable in every part of his conduct, and it is always so painful to see a brave man censured for an error of judgement, that every person rejoiced in his acquittal; yet it was generally regretted that any inquiry had taken place. Lord Gambier had so conducted his defence, as if not his own conduct only, but that of all the other officers concerned in the affair had been impeached; and Lord Cochrane, who wished to explain this at the close of the trial, could not be permitted, because the matter did not bear upon the specific subject of inquiry. It was manifest that his appointment to this service had deeply wounded the officers of the fleet, and this ought to have been foreseen. The result is greatly to be lamented; it has made him enemies, and his political connections were not such as to lessen the evil. The distinction between Lord Cochrane and the radical reformers, whose meetings he has attended, has not been sufficiently remembered. He has seen the question of parliamentary reform in that light in which it appears to an ardent, and frank, and generous mind, which has not yet considered it in all its bearings; but the baneful spirit of party has never for a moment benumbed his British feelings. He has never slan

dered the allies, nor flattered the ene mies of England, he has never dis graced himself by holding the lan guage of despondency and fear;these are feelings which have never found entrance in his heart; and that his love for freedom is sincere, has been amply evinced by the enthusiasm which he displayed in assisting that heroic people, whose sufferings and whose constancy no true lover of li berty can contemplate without admi ration. Since the court-martial Lord Cochrane has been unemployed, and more perhaps has been lost by thus keeping him in inactivity, than was gained by his victory in Basque Roads. Lord Cochrane, like our great Nelson, possesses that highest and rareest quality, whereby things are achieved, which neither zcal, nor courage, nor talents, would accomplish without it. He is a man who, by attempting what others conceive beyond the bounds of possibility, will never leave any thing that is possible undone.

The destruction of the French ships had happened in sight of France, and therefore could not be concealed there. A court martial was held upon the officers whose ships had been lost. The captain of the Tonnerre, who had set fire to her, was acquitted; the captain of the Indienne, who had done the same, was sentenced to three months confinement in his own chamber, for having acted with too much precipitation, and without previously advising the admiral; the captain of the Tourville, for having quitted his vessel, was adjudged to two years imprisonment wherever the govern ment should think fit, to have his name struck out of the list of naval

officers, and to be degraded from the legion. These two officers were found liable in expences of process, a species of mulct which is discreditable to the French courts of justice. The captain of the Calcutta received sentence of death, for having in a cowardly manner abandoned his ship in the presence of the enemy; and the sentence was executed upon him. It

is worthy of remark, that the captains of those two ships whose position was considered by Lord Ġambier as so formidable on the morning of the 12th, and who cut and run as soon as the fleet moved towards them, were not thought to have misbehaved, though their misconduct had appeared so egregious to the English.

TRONDE's squadron, with the escape of which from L'Orient the French consoled themselves when Willaumez was blockaded in the roads of Aix, was destined to throw reinforcements and supplies into Martinique and Guadaloupe. Small vessels were continually running from France upon the same service, several of which, notwithstanding the blockade of Martinique, eluded our cruisers and got in; and in the month of November three frigates, having troops and provisions on board, sailed from Cherbourgh, in hope of succouring this most important island. They parted company on the voyage, and one of them, the Amphitrite, having made some captures on the way, escaped from the Ethalion frigate, and two smaller vessels in her company, by singular boldness and good fortune. Falling in with them in the night, instead of attempting to run, the Frenchman passed close within hail of the Ethalion, and as close to one of the sloops, both taking her for one of their own squadron, till daylight discovered the deceit, when it was too late to remedy it. The Amphitrite had 200 troops on board, and

was laden with provisions; several small vessels had succeeded about the same time in throwing supplies into the island; and the English com manders upon that station, who had prepared an expedition for reducing it, disheartened at the ill success of the blockade, determined to postpone their intended attempt. They had expected to starve the place, the American embargo co-operating to this effect. It was said, that their disappointment was in some degree owing to a scandalous commerce with the enemy, carried on by British spe culators in British ships. Such vessels, being secure from our own crui sers, kept the sea safely till opportu nity offered of being captured, according to agreement.

Our commanders soon changed their determination, it was supposed in consequence of a secret communi cation with some of the leading inha bitants of Martinique, and an under standing that the militia, which consisted of 6000 well disciplined men, accustomed to the climate, would take no part in opposing them. Lieut.-Gen. Beckwith, commander of the forces, consulted at Barbadoes

with Sir Alexander Cochrane, who had the naval command, and at the latter end of January the armament sailed from that island. Six hundred men, under Major Henderson, were detached on board the York to win the battery at Point Solomon, and thus secure a safe anchorage for the ships. Captain Fahie of the Belleisle landed one division, under Major-Gen. Maitland, at Saint Luce, on the 30th; the other, under Major-General Sir George Prevost, who so eminently distinguished himself in 1805 at Dominica, was landed in Bay Jan. 30. Robert by Captain Beaver of the Acasta. The weather was uncommonly rough and squally, and there was a very considerable sv ell as far out as Loup Ga rou, where he meant to have anchored. But the small frigates which were to have gone in with the transports had not joined, and Captain Beaver therefore resolved to enter the Cul de Sac with all the men of war, that he might effectually protect the landing, not knowing what resistance might be made; so having placed boats with flags at a graplin under the edges of the shoals, he led in with the Acasta, and anchored with the whole of the transports about noon. Before sunset he had landed 4500 men, with a proportion of artillery and horses, and all the remainder by seven the next morning. General Beck with advanced towards Fort Bourbon, fell in with the enemy on the 1st, and defeated them in three actions, in themselves slight, but of importance in their consequence, as the British were enabled to take possession. of the heights of Surerey, which command Fort Bourbon. The French then spiked the guns of the lower fort, blew up the magazines, and abandoned it. Gen. Maitland reached Saman

ton on the 2d without opposition, and afterwards formed a junction with the besieging army. As soon as the landing had been effected a proclamation was issued, which concluded with an invidious and unjust distinction between the different races on the island. Every white person, it stated, who might be taken in arms, should be treated as a prisoner of war; every person of colour taken in like manner, be sent out of the island; and every slave so taken, be subject to be tried by a military tribunal. So sure, however, were the British com. manders of the disposition of the people, that they sent a detachment of only 200 men to take possession of the capital, St Pierre, a city defended by strong forts and batteries, and containing more than 20,000 inhabit ants, comprizing among them the greater part of the embodied militia.

Meantime the troops in the York had proceeded to invest the fort of Pigeon island, where they were joined by Brig.-Gens. Sir Charles Shipley and Stahelin. Ten mortars and howitzers were landed, five of which, by the exertions which the seamen made with their characteristic spirit, were got up to the top of a commanding height. The effect was this, that the batteries, which opened at six one evening, compelled the enemy to capitulate the next morning, when 136 persons surrendered prisoners of war. Every where the measures of the British were successful. Two frigates and a sloop had been sent round to the upper part of Fort Royal Bay, to cut off the retreat of the enemy. The French no sooner perceived them than they set fire to all the shipping in the harbour; among these vessels was the Amphitrite, which had only esca ped capture to be thus destroyed by her own crew. Another frigate was