lected to command a squadron on the only service of distinction likely to happen; and himself, by the junction of Sir Roger Curtis, with a reinforcement from Ireland, reduced to be only fourth in command of the fleet; whereas, he had accepted the appointment under Earl St. Vincent, on an intimation from one of the Lords of the Admiralty, the late Lord Hugh Seymour, that he should be second to the noble Earl, with all the distinctions and advantages annexed to that station.
This led to a correspondence between his Lordship and Sir John, which terminated in the latter receiving orders to shift his flag to the Blenheim, and to return to England in charge of a large fleet of merchantmen. Before he left the fleet, the Rear-Admiral, conceiving that he had been treated in a manner unsuitable to his rank, wrote a letter to the Admiralty, requesting a court martial on the Commander-in-Chief, which he sent to Lord St. Vincent to forward. On Sir John’s arrival in England, he was acquainted by Mr. Secretary Nepean, that the Board did not consider the reason Earl St. Vincent had assigned for sending him home, sufficient to justify the measure; but that, having already signified their opinion to his Lordship on that head, it was not necessary to take any further steps on the occasion. The Blenheim was immediately dismantled, and a few weeks after, Sir John was offered a command in the Channel Fleet. This, however, he thought proper to decline.
On the 14th Feb. 1799, our officer was advanced to the rank of Vice-Admiral; and in the following autumn Earl St. Vincent returned to England for the purpose of recruiting his health. Sir John Orde, who considered himself to have been personally insulted by his Lordship, lost no time in calling upon him for private satisfaction; and a meeting was appointed to take place between them, but was happily prevented through the interference of the police.
In 1802, soon after the definitive treaty of peace was signed, Sir John, who seems to have waited for that event, published his case in a small pamphlet entitled “Copy of a Correspondence, &c. between the Right Hon. the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, the Right Hon. Earl St. Vincent, K.B., the Right Hon. Earl Spencer, K.G., and Vice-Admiral Sir John
