Captain Hughes continued in America until he was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral of the Blue*. His first service in that capacity was as Port Admiral at Deal, where he remained only a few months; after this he hoisted his flag on board the Princess Amelia. During the memorable expedition for the relief of Gibraltar, under the late Lord Howe, Admiral (now also become) Sir Richard Hughes was second in command of the rear division of the fleet; and immediately subsequent to the partial action of the 20th of October, 1782, off the coast of Spain, which ended in the retreat of the enemy, he was detached with eight sail of the line to the West Indies, to join Admiral Pigot, who then commanded on that station.

During his passage, when about fifty leagues to the eastward of Barbadoes, Admiral Hughes had the good fortune to fall in with a squadron of the enemy, in consequence of which one of the vessels under his command captured the Solitaire, a French sixtyfour gun ship, and retook the Speedy packet. On the conclusion of the American war, Sir Richard was left in the command of the Leeward Island station,

* In 1780.

+ The Ruby, of sixty-four guns, commanded by Captain, afterwards Sir John Collins, was the ship that came up with and engaged the Solitaire; and, after an action of forty-one minutes, the enemy lost her mizen-mast, and was compelled to strike.

In consequence of the Admiral's letter, recording this transac tion, the commander of the Ruby received the honour of knighthood.

in consequence of which the task devolved upon him of ceding such settlements to the French as had been taken from them during the war: a service for which he was admirably qualified, in consequence of his elegant manners, his polite demeanour, and that critical knowledge of their language to which we have already alluded.

After remaining three years in the West Indies, he was appointed to the command at Halifax, where he remained during the same term, and became a Vice Admiral*.

In the course of the late war, Sir Richard Hughes rose by seniority to the rank of Admiral of the Whitef, but was not employed; he, however, frequently tendered his services, and is as ready and as able, at this moment, to fight the battles of his country, as ever he was at any former period of his life. The family of this veteran officer has in some measure been devoted to the naval profession, he himself having served no fewer than fifty-six years, and his father and grandfather one hundred and four in all, one hundred and sixty-a period of time unequalled perhaps by any other family in the kingdom. In addition to this, it ought not to be forgotten, that he has bred his eldest and only surviving son also to the sea, and that this gentleman is now a master and commander.

Along with Sir Richard's professional abilities, he

* In 1791.

↑ His commission is dated February 14, 1799, he stands next on the list to Samuel Viscount Hood,

unites a taste for the belles lettres, seldom acquired by those who have dedicated their lives to the naval service, and, among other European languages, is particularly conversant in the Italian. He also possesses considerable talents for poetry*, in which he has been successfully imitated by his two sons, and the productions of his Muse have been at once gay and serious, satirical and plaintive; in the last of these strains, an address to his youngest daughter, now no more, does great credit to him both as a poet and a father.

Among many other celebrated men who have served under Admiral Hughes, the names of Lord Nelson and Sir Sidney Smith ought not to be forgotten. The "Hero of the Nile" commanded the Boreas, during four years, on the Leeward Island station, while Sir Richard's flag was flying there ; and when the inhabitants of Ipswich wished to testify their joy for the memorable victory at Aboukir, he and Admiral Reeves were, with becoming propriety, delegated to wait on Lady Nelson, and do the honours of the day.

Sir Richard at present resides at his paternal seat of East Bergholt Lodge, in the county of Suffolk, where he enjoys a small hereditary property, of which he has been accustomed to say, while speaking of the means by which it was attained by his family,

* John Hughes, author of the "Ode on the Peace of Ryswick, 1697; ""The Siege of Damascus ;" and also of several papers in the Spectator, Tatler, and Guardian, was of the same family as Sir Richard Hughes.

that

that there is not a single dirty shilling belonging

to it."

Admiral Hughes, about 1760, married the present Lady Hughes, then Miss Sloane, the grand-niece of the celebrated Sir Hans Sloane, and daughter of a wealthy and respectable Commoner, Hans Sloane, esq. M. P.

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

GEORGE-JOHN, EARL SPENCER,

VISCOUNT ALTHORPE,

VISCOUNT AND BARON SPENCER.

IT is truly lamentable, in the present age, to behold so many of our young nobles attached to unworthy pursuits. There are indeed several brilliant examples to the contrary; but we too often find the hereditary legislator occupying the most precious moments of his existence-the moments when the FUTURE MAN is to be formed, in occupations that lead to degeneracy, disgrace, and ruin. When we behold our ingenuous youth associating with gamblers and horse-jockies; when we see them frequenting the race-course at Newmarket, and the subscription-houses in St. James's-street; when we hear of their squandering their inheritance upon strumpets and sharpers, we are not merely in pain for them, but for the honour and independence of our country. The profusion of their early years leads to servility and dependence in their maturer age, and the descendants of that sturdy race, who maintained

maintained their own franchises and those of the people, by curbing the despotism of our former Kings, are naturally led to become the corrupt sycophants of a Court, and to cringe, bend, and bow the knee, to the ministerial pageant that is to support and even to feed them.

It is with no common pleasure, then, that the imagination can contemplate, and the eye repose, on such a character as that before us. We behold an opulent nobleman giving up his hours of relaxation to literary pursuits, and occupying the rest of his time in public business. Standing aloof from the vices of the day, he presents an amiable instance of domestic felicity, and the husband, the father the master, and the landlord, in short, all the relations of social life, shine forth conspicuous, and reflect on, rather than receive, a lustre from, nobility!

George-John Spencer, Earl Spencer, Viscount Althorpe, &c. was born September 1, 1758. His family is ancient, and some of our genealogists, eager to pay homage to his lineage, have wished to derive it from that Hugh Spencer, Le Spenser, or Le Despenser (for he was known by all these names,) who succeeded Piers Gaveston as the favourite of Edward II. and, with his father, experienced an untimely end, in consequence of the vengeance of the exasperated barons*. But it would be a poor compliment

* "Hugh Despenser, a young man distinguished by his birth, and the exterior accomplishments of person and address, had en

gaged