18th Aug. 1799, arrived at Portsmouth. On his landing, he was presented with the freedom of that borough, and soon after, with an address from the merchants and manufacturers of Great Britain trading to the south of Europe[1]. After a long struggle with disease, his Lordship recovered his health in so great a degree, as to enable him in the month of April, 1800, to take upon himself the command of the Channel Fleet, vacant by the resignation of the late Lord Bridport. In the course of the same year, he received the honourable and lucrative appointment of Lieutenant-General of Marines.
The various squadrons detached from Earl St. Vincent’s fleet, were very successful in their operations against the trade of the enemy, and by their activity kept the French coast in a continual state of alarm; but as the republican marine in the ‘ports of the ocean’ preferred the security it derived from the batteries on shore, to a repetition of the defeats it had already sustained, the noble Admiral had no opportunity of adding fresh laurels to those he had before acquired.
In February, 1801, when the reins of administration were committed to Mr. Addington, now Viscount Sidmouth, Earl St. Vincent was nominated First Lord of the Admiralty. In this situation, he introduced various extensive reforms, of which the expediency has been differently considered by opposite parties[2].
Soon after this appointment, the crew of his late flag-ship, the Ville de Paris, presented him with a flag. It was of white silk, with a red cross, having his Lordship’s arms beautifully embroidered in the centre. In the upper divisions were the words, “God save the King,” and “Long live Earl St. Vincent;” and in the lower, the following inscription; “This flag is presented to Earl St. Vincent, as an humble testimony of gratitude and respect, by the crew of his Majesty’s ship the Ville de Paris.”
During his Lordship’s presidency at the Admiralty, an
- ↑ He subsequently received the freedom of Plymouth in a handsome silver box, beautifully embossed with suitable emblematical devices.
- ↑ In 1805, a person named Blagden suffered an imprisonment of six months, as the author of a suppressed pamphlet with the signature of Aristides, reflecting on the naval administration of Earl St. Vincent.
