e vast fatigue of this employ was too much for his tender
constitution, and had nearly proved fatal, but he was happily
re-invigorated by his excessive zeal. With the most indefatigable
attention, did he prescribe every measure to be adopted by all ranks and
degrees under his command; and there was no possible position that could
have been contrived by the enemy, for which he was not effectually
prepared, "I could only admire," says Mr. Fergusson, modestly
disclaiming nautical science, "when I saw the first man in all the world
spend the hours of the day and the night in boats; and wonder, when the
light shewed me a path, marked by buoys, which was trackless the
preceding evening." It had been agreed, with Sir Hyde Parker, that his
lordship should proceed with twelve ships of the line, and all the
frigates, bomb-ketches, fire-ships, and other vessels, to Draco Point, a
short distance from Copenhagen, for the purpose of making his final
dispositions for the attack; waiting, there, the favourable effect of a
wind to the southward: and the commander in chief was to weigh anchor,
with his division, whenever his lordship should proceed to the immediate
scene of action; thus menacing, by his advance, the Crown Batteries,
together with four ships or hulks which lay near for the protection of
the arsenal, as well as covering any vessels which might happen to be
disabled in an attack where they must necessarily be so prodigiously
exposed. Being now fully prepared, his lordship, with that truly
Christian spirit which, in direct opposition to the puritanic cant of
piety, was ever far more manifested by his actions than expressed by his
lips, devoutly exclaimed--"Thank God, for having enabled me to get
through this difficult and fatiguing part of my duty: which has, really,
worn me down; and is infinitely more grievous to me, than any resistance
I can experience from an enemy!"

The subsequent circumstances, as described by Mr. Fergusson, are so very
characteristically detailed, that they cannot fail highly to interest
every reader--"On the 1st of April, in the afternoon," says this
ingenious gentleman, "we took our departure from the main body of the
fleet, then lying about four miles below Copenhagen; and coasted along
the outer edge of the shoal called the Middle Ground, till we doubled
it's farthest extremity, when the squadron cast anchor. This shoal, of
the same extent as the sea-front of the town, lies exactly before it, at