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important did not satisfy the character or talents of the British general. Finding the enemy, although completely reinforced, indisposed for battle, he determined to seek him upon his own ground. Hyder Ally, however, was a wary commander, who thought little of appearances; and, as the English advanced upon him, retreated, without a care for the disgrace which such a step might mark upon his fame. Thus mortified, Sir Eyre Coote held a council of war, and proposed an attack upon the great magazines, which were deposited in the strong fortress of Arnee, suggesting that a movement which must effectually check every source of supply, wòuld, in all probability, terrify their opponent to abandon that prudential conduct, which held the prospects of the campaign in suspense.

The plan was unanimously acceded to, and the judicious policy upon which it was proposed became apparent without delay. The English decamped, and Hyder Ally no sooner penetrated their design, than he marched down from the hills with all expedition, determined to run every risk for the safety of the only hold which afforded him his present means of warfare. On the 22d of June, 1782, the main body of the English army was within five miles of Arnee, and an advanced party was actually marking out the site of an encampment before the place, when a sudden cannonade in the rear announced the approach of an enemy, who was supposed to be several miles, distant. Critical as this surprise was, and great as the advantages were which it gave to the attack, yet did it occasion no disorder amongst our troops, and no perplexity in the conduct of the general. The fire began early in the morning, and various manoeuvres rapidly succeeded, but it was half-past one o'clock before Sir Eyre Coote succeeded in concentrating the different attacks upon one plan and point. That object, however, had no sooner been effected, than the impetuosity of the British bore down every obstacle, and Hyder's army broke in several directions. A total rout ensued; the pursuit continued until evening, but a deficiency of cavalry upon our side, and a superabundance of it on the other, precluded those effective consequences which ought to have signalized to perfect a victory.

This was the last battle in which Hyder Ally and Sir Eyre Coote faced each other; it was also the last in which either of

them took a part; and it has generally been represented, that the heavy cares imposed upon their respective commands, tended in a great degree to abridge the lives of both. In 1783, Sir Eyre resumed his command at Madras, although in a dying state; but his strength was exhausted before any measure of consequence could be effected. His body was conveyed to England, and interred in a family vault, in the parish church of Rockburn, in Hampshire, and the reputation of his name was additionally secured, by the erection of that monument which entitles him to a notice in the order of these pages. A short time before the fact of his dissolution became known in London, the House of Commons passed a resolution of thanks for the greatness of his public services; and that vote, though unacknowledged by the object to whom it was addressed, served as a just panegyric upon his memory.

303

JAMES CORNEWALL, R. N.

ENTERING into Westminster Abbey from the great western door, the eye is struck by a towering monument, six and thirty feet in height. It records the name and achievements of James Cornewall, a Captain in the Royal Navy. Above the basement rises a rock, within a recess of which appears a representation, in bass relief, of the sea fight which took place before Toulon, in 1743, and a Latin epitaph. Out of this rock are springing a laurel, and a palm tree, with a medallion of the Captain suspended from them; at either side of which stands a female figure, the one attended by the lion, personifying Britannia in the habit of Minerva, and the other Fame. In the allegory of this design there is nothing superior to the insipidity natural to every subject of the sort; the execution, however, is able, and the appearance imposing. Taylor was the artist employed to erect it. The inscription may be thus translated :

* Among the monuments of original virtue
In this sacred building, be there preserved the name of
JAMES CORNEWALL,
Third son of

Henry Cornewall, of Bradwardine Castle,
In the county of Hereford, Esquire,

* Inter pristinæ virtutis monumenta
Hac in Ede sacra, conservetur nomen
JACOBI CORNEWall,

Henrici Cornewall, de Castro Bradwardino,
In Agro Herefordiensi, Armigeri,
E filiis natu tertii;

Who, deriving a spirit truly primitive

From the ancient and illustrious race of Plantagenets,

Sprang forth, with ease, a commander in naval tactics, the most skilful,

Alike and deservedly adorned by the tears and praises of Britons;
For eagerly combating, in the sea-fight off Toulon,
The cause of his country,

A chain shot at one sweep shattered both his legs. Bequeathing to his comrades that last gift of a dying sailor, his

enthusiasm,

He expired unconquered,

On the 11th of February, in the year of our Lord 1743, and of his age 45. No superior valour

Could be recommended to the emulation of posterity by an ampler

eulogy,

Than that truly singular proof of honour

Through which the British Parliament desired to consecrate This monument, to the memory of a man the most brave, With one voice, and at the public charge.

If those expressions of concern have been concurred with, which the great deficiency of particulars in the biography of Captain

Qui de pervetusta et illustri Plantagenistarum stirpe
Animum vere priscum ducens,

Rerum Navalium Dux evasit facile peritissimus,
Britonum æque lachrymis et applausu merito decoratus;
Quippe qui Patriæ causam

In Navali illo Telonem juxta certamine strenu e propugn ans,
Plumbi jugalis ictu utroque pariter truncatus crure,
Ardorem suum commilitonibus supremum munus morientis legans,
Occubuit invictus,

iii Id. Feb. A.D. MDCCXLIII. Ætat. suæ XLV.
Cujus eximia virtus

Ampliori elogio ad Posteritatis incitationem commendari nequiit
Quam Honoris exemplo plane singulari;
Quum unanimi suffragio, Publicis expensis,
Hoc Monumentum, viri fortissimi memoriæ,
Senatus Britannicus Consecrari voluit.

Edward Cooke, provoked from the author, the reader cannot refuse to drop another regret over the very imperfect account there is preserved of his fellow-sailor, Captain Cornewall, a distinguished officer, of whose early career nothing is known, but that he was made Captain of the Sheerness frigate, on the 3d of April, 1724. Of his services, or manner of life for nine years more, no fact has been recorded, and no character drawn. Being, on the 3d of March 1733, invested with the command of a small armament, he proceeded into the Mediterranean, to exact reparation for some injuries inflicted upon our merchant vessels by the pirates who have always infested that sea. Upon this trust he sailed on board of the Greyhound sloop, in which he safely reached his point of destination, the harbour of Yatuan, which is not far distant from the strong fort of Sallee, upon the mouth of the river Guero in the kingdom of Fez. The demands which he was commissioned to make, would have been amicably conceded; but discovering that a Portuguese crew had been recently captured and carried into slavery by the infidels, he availed himself of the opportunity to aid the interests of humanity, and insisted upon their liberation. Finding this requisition refused, he blocked up the port completely, and cut the corsairs from the sea. This prompt movement in a short time sufficed to bring them to a sense of the dangers incidental to resistance: the captives were released; the British merchants were compensated; and the squadron returned to England without loss or bloodshed.

In the year 1741, the Bedford, of 71 guns, attached to the fleet under Admiral Sir John Norris, in the Atlantic, was commanded by Captain Cornewall. From that ship and station, which afforded him no opportunities of distinction, he was removed into the Marlborough, serving in the Mediterranean, with Admiral Matthews, a brave but unfortunate officer, who was dismissed from his rank, on account of the events which subsequently occurred off Toulon, where Cornewall fell with so much gallantry. The battle which led to these contrary results of disgrace and glory, began to be fought at about half-past one o'clock, on the 11th of April, 1743. Cornewall was nominated one of the seconds to the Commander-in-chief, who ordered him to abandon the usual line of action, and encounter the Real, a

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