p, conduced to render our hero,
amidst all the honours he was every where deservedly receiving, the most
miserable mortal in existence. After one of those too frequent domestic
broils, by which his life was embittered, this exalted man, of whom the
world was scarcely worthy, had wandered all night, through the streets
of London, in a state of absolute despair and distraction. He rambled as
far as the city; perambulated Fleet Market, Blackfriars Bridge, &c. and,
exhausted with fatigue, as well as overpowered by mental suffering,
reached the house of Sir William Hamilton, in Grosvenor Square, about
four in the morning; where, having obtained admittance, he threw himself
on the bed of his alarmed friends, in an agony of grief much too
poignant for expression. The soothing voice of friendship; the
sympathetic tenderness of such congenial minds; and the manifest
interest which they felt in the affecting recital which his lordship
ventured to unbosom; all assisted, by degrees, to calm the tremendous
hurricane in his perturbed breast. After his lordship was refreshed, and
had taken a little rest, his friend, Sir William, persuaded him to seek
that happiness in his professional pursuits, which it seemed unlikely be
would ever find at home; and, that very day, it is said, his lordship
offered his services at the Admiralty, where they were gladly accepted.

On the 1st of January 1801, he was elevated to the rank of Vice-Admiral
of the Blue: and, on the 9th, ordered to hoist his flag on board the San
Josef, of a hundred and twelve guns, one of the Spanish prizes taken by
himself in the battle off Cape St. Vincent, and then lying at Plymouth
Dock; which he accordingly did, on the 17th of the same month.

On the 28th, his lordship received orders to put himself under the
command of his old friend, the Earl of St. Vincent; and, as soon as the
San Josef should be in all respects ready for sea, to proceed with that
ship to Torbay.

In the mean time, the memorable Quixottical insanity of the Russian
Emperor Paul, having operated, with the intrigues of France, to produce
an intended naval confederacy of the northern nations against the
maritime power of Great Britain, it was wisely determined, by the then
British government, instantly to crush a design pregnant with such
alarming consequences. For this purpose, a powerful fleet was now
fitting out, under Admiral Sir Hyde Parker; which, while it conveyed to
the triple league of the Dane