itulated; and on the 28th of this month, Napoleon
left France in a British frigate for Elba. He landed on the 3rd of May
on the little island which had been assigned to him for a sovereignty,
and a prison: and thus ended a war, one of the longest, the most
dreadful, but in all respects the most glorious, which England had ever
waged.

CHAPTER X.

SECOND MEDITERRANEAN COMMAND.

The contest for naval supremacy was so entirely decided by the battle of
Trafalgar, that no opportunity was afterwards afforded for great
successes. But at the end of the war, when the leading Peninsular
generals were raised to the peerage, it was thought due to the service
to confer a similar distinction upon a naval officer. Sir Edward Pellew
received this mark of his sovereign's favour. He was created Baron
Exmouth, of Canonteign, a mansion and estate in the South of Devon which
he had purchased for a family property; and the pension was settled on
him which is usually granted when a peerage is conferred for eminent
public services.

He was still in the Mediterranean when the news of his elevation reached
him, and he received the first account of it from a newspaper. In
allusion to it, he writes:--"I was never more surprised than at this
event. Never was man more ignorant of its being thought of; much less
reason had I to expect it; and it has happened only by a combination of
events quite unconnected with influence or power. I had some reason to
believe a red ribbon was intended, and ---- wrote that it had been
granted; but if so, it was changed next day to what it is, which, for
the sake of our family, I hope will be useful and respectable. For
myself I am indifferent, and know it will only tend to multiply my
enemies, and increase my difficulties." ... In the course of this year,
he received a handsome compliment from the officers of the Mediterranean
fleet. It is a beautiful model of the Warwick vase, executed by Messrs.
Rundel and Bridge, at a cost of 580 guineas, and bears the following
inscription:--"Presented to the Right Honourable Admiral Lord Exmouth,
&c., &c., &c., as a mark of their respect and esteem, by the officers
who served under his Lordship's command in the Mediterranean."

At the beginning of the next year, when the order of the Bath was
extended, he was included among the knights commanders; and was
afterwards advanced on an early vacancy to be a grand cross. The former
was entirely unexpected, as he knew not