pointment in the fleet under his command, he there determined upon proceeding to England, where, after a detention of some time at Gibraltar, occasioned by a violent inflammatory complaint which had nearly proved fatal, he arrived in the beginning of Jan. 1814. His promotion to the rank of commander took place on the 15th June in the same year, previous to which he had been sent back to the Mediterranean, and thereby afforded an opportunity of visiting Palermo, Leghorn, Pisa, Genoa, and Marseilles. He finally returned to Portsmouth, in the Edinburgh 74, Captain John Lampen Manley, in Nov. 1814; since which he has not been employed. The following is extracted from a letter addressed to him by Viscount Exmouth:
“My dear Sir,– I am much obliged, and indeed pleased, that you have written to me, for I very well recollect, that my opinion and feeling about you, when under my command, was that of conviction that you had merited promotion, and had lost it only by unforseen changes and events.
He subsequently received another proof of the estimation by which his conduct, while serving as a lieutenant, was held by his superiors:
“My dear Sir,– You may depend on it, I never had in my possession a medal for you, or I would not, I hope, have done you so much injustice as to have thus long detained it from its proper owner. Any certificate I can give towards the attainment of such an emblem of honor I will with pleasure. Believe me, my dear Sir, faithfully yours,
“To Commander Canning, R.N.[1]”
In 1818, and the two following years, Commander Canning
- ↑ Mr. Boulton, the scientific and venerable proprietor of Soho, whose public exertions were so uniformly distinguished by a patriotism the best directed, solicited the permission of Government, that he might be allowed to strike a medal, at his own expence, in commemoration of the brilliant victory off Cape Trafalgar, and to present one to every officer, seamen, marine, &c. who served that day on board the British fleet. The permission was immediately granted, with the warmest approbation of so laudable a design.
