Memoirs and Correspondence of Admiral Lord de Saumarez Volume II Part 28

With my best compliments to Lady Saumarez, believe me ever, my dear Sir James,

Your most obliged and affectionate, NELSON AND BRONTE.

To Rear-admiral Saumarez.

Although this letter has no date, it is clear that it must have been written just before the battle with the Danish fleet at Copenhagen in 1801; and it is evident that the merit of proposing a monument to the brave Captain Miller is due to Sir James Saumarez.

He seldom ventured an opinion on political subjects: considering himself a "friend to the King," it did not much concern him who his Majesty's ministers were, and his refusal to support either side was no detriment to his advancement during war, when his high character and skill as a naval officer ensured him an important command; but when peace came, and his services were no longer required, he was, like many other meritorious officers, thrown completely on the shelf.

His son, the present lord, writes thus:--

Although Sir James was more than once offered a seat in Parliament, he always steadily declined it, from the idea that he could render better service to his country by remaining free from politics; or if ever the time did arrive when he might become a senator, he was resolved that whichever house he entered he would be free and unshackled.

On this subject Sir James writes a few lines to his brother when in the temporary command of the Channel fleet:

What you hint of a seat in Parliament has often occurred to me, but hitherto I should have found it an enc.u.mbrance. At some future period it may, perhaps, be more advisable; but you may rely on it that I never wish to have one without maintaining my independence, and being perfectly free and unbia.s.sed by any party.

We are well a.s.sured that Sir James was decidedly against the Catholic Emanc.i.p.ation, although after he obtained a peerage he voted for the Reform Bill, being clearly of opinion that some reform of acknowledged and flagrant abuses was necessary. He did not, however, intend to go so far as many of his friends; he may be said to have nearly followed the politics of Earl Grey, after the retirement of whom he took no part in the affairs of the nation.

At every change which occurred in the Ministry, he sent a memorial of his services and claims, but without effect; and it is well known that he had a very unfruitful correspondence with the Duke of Wellington and other cabinet ministers. It was at this period that he suffered another indignity in being pa.s.sed over, when the Major-generals.h.i.+p of Marines became vacant.

The following extracts from letters from Earl St. Vincent will show his lords.h.i.+p's opinions on this subject. The first is to a friend.

Rochetts, 8th May 1821.

I feel very much for Sir James Saumarez. I have lost no opportunity of stating his high pretensions, which in my judgment are very far superior to any other upon the list of flag-officers. When I gain a little more strength I shall be glad to see him.

The second is to Sir James,

MY DEAR SIR,--I cannot too highly appreciate the interest you take in a late event, and happy shall I be to greet you upon the reward due to your exalted and unrivalled services, a manifestation of which has on no occasion been let slip by your old and sincere friend,

ST. VINCENT.

On the 4th of April 1824, Sir James, then Admiral of the White, hoisted his flag on board the Britannia as Port Admiral at Plymouth.

It was during his period of command that Earl Grey, who was fully sensible of the unhandsome and ungrateful manner in which he had been treated, visited Plymouth, and when his health was proposed by Sir James at the Royal Naval Club openly announced his sentiments in the following words:

I rise to offer my best thanks for the manner in which the president (Sir James Saumarez) has been pleased to propose my health, and for the a.s.sent which the gentlemen present have given to the gallant Admiral's favourable view of me as a public character. I cannot but remind those about me of the merits of my n.o.ble friend--[then correcting himself, Earl Grey went on]--I wish I could call him my _n.o.ble_ friend (_n.o.ble_, I mean, in rank, as he is already _n.o.ble_ in mind)--I wish I could see him enn.o.bled by his Sovereign, as his services ent.i.tle him to be; for who would deny him that honour, who recollects the career which he has run from Rodney's glorious day, the battles off Cape St.

Vincent and the Nile, down to his own brilliant exploits in the Crescent and as commander-in-chief at Algeziras, and not say, that if ever a name should or would have graced the peerage, it should have been that of Saumarez?

Ralfe, in his Naval Biography, after alluding to the above speech, justly remarks,--

Were it a matter of importance to adduce further proof of the high opinion entertained of Sir James's abilities, we believe we might name nearly the whole list of Admirals; for we never yet conversed with a single officer who was not loud in his praise, and who did not think the service neglected in his person.

At Plymouth, Sir James received a visit from Lord Exmouth, with whom he had had no personal communication since the time when they both commanded frigates on the Plymouth station.

Sir James struck his flag for the last time on the 10th of May 1827, after a most glorious career of nearly sixty years. His reiterated claims were still disregarded.

We have now arrived at the period when the great revolution in the affairs of the state brought Earl Grey into power, previously to which, his late Majesty William IV. had ascended the throne; and one of the first and most popular acts of the "Sailor King," who well knew the merits of Sir James, was to wipe off that slur on the national grat.i.tude, by raising him to the peerage.

Sir James having arrived in London, had communication with Sir James Graham, then first Lord of the Admiralty, after which he wrote as follows:

London, 9th September 1831.

This morning, I had a long interview with Sir James Graham, who, I must say, is most favourably inclined towards me, and a.s.sures me that Earl Grey, with whom he has had frequent conversations, is equally so. I have an appointment with the latter to-morrow, but I do not antic.i.p.ate any favourable result, and can only say, "G.o.d's will be done."

We need scarcely add, that his application was successful; Sir James was raised to the long-expected and well-merited dignity of a Baron on the first of October 1831. The following extract of a letter from Lady Saumarez to her son, describing the arrival of the first intelligence, we are sure will be perused with interest.

Saumarez, 4th October 1831.

I also remember, my dear James, that October is an eventful month to us all; that to-morrow is your wedding day, and Sunday is your birth-day,--and you may be sure we shall not fail to keep them both in remembrance, in our prayers and warmest wishes, that they may ever be numbered among those marked _blessed_. Our register has now to unroll a brilliant page, which, I trust, the same divine hand that inscribed it, will seal with that _stamp_.

Wonderful it is yet to me--so suddenly, so unexpectedly, did it come at last! I admit there is no excuse for my incredulity, except that of thinking your dear father had been so strangely deprived of his well-earned reward through the injustice of _man_ on so many occasions, _because_, far better things than _man_ could give were in store for him. And although I did not doubt, if any naval Peers were created at the coronation, he would be one, I did not allow my thoughts to dwell upon it; and when the Gazette arrived without his name, I gave it up altogether. You may therefore judge my surprise on Wednesday morning, when a tap at my door announced Betty Williams, who, in breathless agitation, came to my bedside to say, Mr. C.

Lefebvre was below, to inform me "Sir James was made a lord!"

When I joined him at breakfast, an hour after, he gave me so many interesting particulars which he had heard, that the account could not be disbelieved; but the entrance of two letters removed every shadow of doubt. The accounts from England of the reception of this event everywhere, from all cla.s.ses and parties, have no parallel; and it seems to me as if the dignity had been deferred to prepare it for greater glory and additional l.u.s.tre. We must indeed, as you say, be more than mortals if we could be unmoved at such things; they are so great that we have need to pray for a humble spirit to keep us from being "exalted above measure,"--and to make us remember that this donation is an additional "talent," which we are bound to use by our influence and example, in the cause of "whatever is holy, just, and of good report."

When the intelligence was known to the inhabitants of Guernsey, that the Admiral had been raised to the peerage, by the t.i.tle of "Baron de Saumarez of Guernsey," all cla.s.ses of the community fully manifested the pleasure they enjoyed at this signal honour; he being the first native of that island who had taken his seat in the House of Lords. On the 6th October, 1831, the bailiff officially announced the joyful news in his Billet d'Etat, in the following words:

LORD DE SAUMAREZ.

The elevation of one of our citizens to one of the highest dignities of the kingdom, cannot fail to inspire us with the most lively gratification. His Majesty has rewarded, with the most distinguished honour, the eminent services which he has rendered to the country. Guernsey, which, besides the public man, recognises in him all the virtues which adorn a private station, ought, on this happy occasion, to testify how sincerely she honours his character. To mark our esteem, the authorities of the Bailiwick, at the head of the whole population, ought to crowd around him at his return and proffer their congratulations. I should fail in my duty to the States, were I to neglect affording them this opportunity.

In reply to this address, the States unanimously agreed to meet at the court-house on the day after the arrival of Lord de Saumarez, at eleven o'clock in the morning, and thence to repair to the residence of their n.o.ble fellow-citizen, and felicitate him on his elevation to the peerage.

Lord de Saumarez, after a tedious and stormy pa.s.sage across the channel, arrived at Guernsey late in the evening of Tuesday, the 25th of October; but, notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, the pier was crowded with people, who cheered him as he landed, and who attended him with every demonstration of joy to the carriage which was in waiting for him; and it was with much difficulty the people could be prevented taking out the horses. He was very much fatigued, having embarked at Southampton on Friday evening in the packet. On Sat.u.r.day morning, when in sight of Alderney, a gale overtook the vessel, and the captain was obliged to bear up for Weymouth roads, where he remained till Monday; but his lords.h.i.+p had not recovered the effects of the storm: a night's rest, however, completely restored him.

On the following morning (26th October) the States a.s.sembled at the court-house, and as soon as the names of the members were called over, the bailiff read the address, which he had prepared, and which was unanimously agreed to. And, after having ascertained that his lords.h.i.+p was ready to receive them, the States proceeded to his residence, where the address was delivered to him, surrounded by Lady de Saumarez and the members of his family then in the island.

CHAPTER XV.

1832 to 1836.

Political opinions and conduct of Lord de Saumarez.--Death of his second son.--His letter on that occasion.--Anecdotes of his carriage being robbed.--Of Sweden.--The King of Sweden presents him with his portrait.--Count Wetterstedt's letter and Lord de Saumarez's answer.--Lord de Saumarez's last illness and death.--His Christian fort.i.tude.--His professional character.--Moral and religious character.--Remarks and conclusion.

After Sir James's elevation to the peerage, he came during the session from his residence in Guernsey to London, in order to attend his duty in Parliament, but did not join any party in politics. We have already said that he voted for the Reform Bill, being fully convinced that some reform was necessary; but we know that he was firmly attached to the Const.i.tution and to the Established Church, and he may be said to have followed nearest to the opinions of Earl Grey, after whose retirement from office he did not appear in Parliament. When the Author paid his lords.h.i.+p a visit at Tunbridge Wells in the winter of 1833, he found him much altered, and it was but too evident that his const.i.tution was broken. In the summer of 1834 he had to deplore the loss of his second son (Thomas), who died on the 4th of July, on which mournful occasion he wrote the following letter to his son.

In the heavy affliction with which it has pleased the Almighty to visit us, he has not left us without consolation; and our confidence in the Divine mercy, and the hope that your beloved brother is removed to a better world, in the enjoyment of the blessed, through the precious merits of our dear Redeemer, must tend to a.s.suage our sorrow, and induce us to submit with due resignation to the divine will. It will be to me a source of the greatest consolation, as it must be to us all, my dear James, to have witnessed his meek and patient resignation during his severe illness. It has been to me, as yourself and your dear Mary will readily believe, a most distressing and truly painful trial; but it has pleased G.o.d to support me through the whole of this sorrowful time far beyond what I could ever have thought myself to have been equal to, and I trust that your dear mother and beloved brother and sister will continue resigned to the will of Providence.

Lord de Saumarez's amiable disposition afforded him support under severe and unexpected losses of every description, of which the following anecdote is a proof. In the spring of 1834 he met with a loss on his journey to visit Sir John Orde at Beckingham, which we will venture to say would have been borne in a very different way by many of his brother officers. His own carriage being under repair, he had borrowed one from the coachmaker, which could only take one trunk behind; in this trunk the female servant, who had lived a long time in the family, had deposited his valuable diamond star of the Order of the Bath, together with some costly jewels and trinkets belonging to Lady de Saumarez and her daughter. On their arrival at Sir John's mansion at Beckingham, it was discovered, to their utter consternation, that the trunk had been cut off by thieves and carried away with its contents, the value of which amounted to near 1000_l._ Sir James bore the loss with the most philosophic coolness; for, instead of finding fault with the servant for placing such valuable articles in so hazardous a situation, with his true habitual kindness, he used his utmost endeavours to soothe the distress she felt as having been the unintentional cause of the loss. Information was immediately given at the Police-office, but none of the property was ever heard of, excepting the trunk, which was found empty in a field by the road side.

In Sweden the name of Saumarez will be for ever spoken of with grat.i.tude and respect, and all strangers who visit that country are sure in their memoirs to mention the services which he had rendered.

In Mr. Lloyd's book we find:

To the good understanding which existed between Count Rosen and Sir James Saumarez, our admiral on that station, may be ascribed the flouris.h.i.+ng trade which was afterwards carried on during a period of nominal war, and the re-establishment of peace between the countries which soon after followed. Of Sir James Saumarez the inhabitants still speak in the highest terms of respect and regard, for his mildness and moderation in command, and for the attention he invariably paid to their numerous applications and wants.