we find no farther mention of our officer till the month of March, 1799, when Lord Spencer, then at the head of naval affairs, offered him the command at the Nore, which he declined, thinking it beneath his rank. In the following year, the Earl of St. Vincent applied for him to be attached to the Channel fleet; but, unfortunately, before his application reached the Admiralty, the appointment was given to another officer; and although the gallant Nelson, with whom he was not then personally acquainted, proposed him as his successor in the Baltic[1], his flag was not again hoisted till the summer of 1803. During the ensuing five years and a half, a period of active war, he held the chief command at Portsmouth, and executed the arduous duties of his office to the full and entire satisfaction of six different Boards of Admiralty. Whilst there, his present Majesty (then Prince of Wales) honored that town, a second time, with his presence. Previous to the departure of this illustrious visitor, he dined with the Admiral, who afterwards received the following highly flattering letter;
“Sir. I am commanded by the Prince of Wales, to express the high satisfaction H. R. H. experienced in his visit to the fleet yesterday. The great skill and un-
- ↑ See Clarke and M‘Arthur’s Life of Lord Nelson, 4to. edit. vol. 2, p. 286.
three-decker and her second a-head, which was the fifth ship from the enemy’s rear. The following is a copy of the remarks made by his first Lieutenant, the present Rear-Admiral Donnelly, at the end of the minutes of the battle, taken on board the Montagu, and transmitted by that excellent officer to Earl Howe;
“We suffered early an irreparable loss by the death of Captain Montagu, whose coolness and determined bravery while in action, did honor to his King, country, and friends; and while I deplore his sad, though honorable fall, I cannot sufficiently testify the gratitude I feel for the support given me during the action, and in our preparation afterwards to renew it, by each officer respectively, and the crew of the ship which I had the honor to command, whose promptitude to do their duty left me no room to doubt of the glorious victory which followed, by the judicious manner in which the fleet was conducted, together with the gallantry of its officers and men.
“First Lieutenant.”
