au of Bouillon, where he
remained a close prisoner for nine months. He was then taken to
Peronne, and there he continued until the arrival of the Allies at
Chalons, when he contrived to make his escape.

Soon after his arrival in England, Captain Willoughby received the
Order of the Bath,--an honour scarcely commensurate with the many and
valuable services he had performed for his country. It may safely be
asserted that no officer living has been engaged in so many
hard-fought actions, or has received so many dangerous wounds. From
his first entrance into the service, to the end of the late war, all
his energies were devoted to the service of his country; and now that
his services are no longer required, with a constitution shattered by
age and wounds, he is employing the remainder of his days in deeds of
charity and kindness towards his fellow-creatures.

Captain Willoughby became admiral in 1847, and since the foregoing
pages were written, death has closed his eventful life.

FOOTNOTES:

[10] _Life of Sir Nisbet Willoughby_.

THE ANSON.

The year 1807 was most disastrous to the British navy: during that
period, we lost no less than twenty-nine ships of war, and, unhappily,
the greater part of their crews. Some of these vessels foundered at
sea, others were wrecked or accidentally burnt, and it was at the
close of this eventful year that a calamity occurred which equalled,
if it did not surpass, any previous disaster.

The Anson, of 40 guns, under the command of Captain Charles Lydiard,
after completing her stores for a few months' cruise, sailed from
Falmouth on the 24th of December, to resume her station off Brest. The
wind was adverse, blowing very hard from the W.S.W., until the morning
of the 28th, when Captain Lydiard made the Island of Bas, on the
French coast. As the gale was increasing rather than subsiding, he
determined to return to port, and accordingly shaped his course for
the Lizard. At three o'clock P.M. land was discovered, apparently
about five miles west of the Lizard, but owing to the thickness of the
fog, there was a difference of opinion as to the land that was seen,
and therefore the ship was wore to stand out to sea. She had not been
long on this tack before land was descried right ahead.

It was now evident that their position was extremely dangerous,--the
ship was completely embayed, and the wind raged with increasing fury.
Every exertion was made to keep the Anson off shore,