The subject of our present Memoir was the descendant of an ancient family, which had settled in England at the time of the Norman conquest, and obtained landed possessions of considerable extent. Some of his ancestors enjoyed the honours of the Peerage, and the name of Vernon frequently appears with approbation in the annals of English history. Our hero was born at Westminster on the 12th of November 1684. His father, who was Secretary of State to King William and Queen Mary, gave him a good education, intending to qualify him for some civil employment; but the youth was desirous of entering into the sea service, to which his father at last consented; and he pursued with surprising application and success, those studies which were connected with his intended line of profession. His first expedition at sea was under Vice-Admiral Hopson, when the French fleet and Spanish galleons were destroyed at Vigo. In 1702 he served in an expedition to the West Indies under Commodore Walker; and, in 1704, on board the fleet commanded by Sir George Rooke, which convoyed the King of Spain to Lisbon, on which occasion Mr. Vernon had the honour to receive a valuable ring and a hundred guineas from that Monarch's own hand.

The writer of contemporary biography has difficulties to encounter of which readers in general have no idea, and of which scarcely any other author can be correctly aware. The historian of past ages must indeed explore the dry, gloomy, and involved records of antiquity, must patiently wade through many an obsolete folio, and will frequently find himself bewildered in the maze of uncertainty; but, if his object be attainable, success will at length crown the exertions of the sedulous investigator; and, founded on an ample basis, a lofty superstructure will arise, and present to succeeding generations a lasting monument of mental skill. Not so with the more humble, though not less arduous, labours of him who engages in the task of presenting to the world the memoirs of living characters. If dictated by truth, his writings will, indeed, be referred to as authentic documents by future historians; but, as no life is complete until it has been closed, they are almost certain of being superseded, and seem only destined to form a component part of a more extended whole.

The necrologist has every previous collection before him, has seldom to complain of a paucity of materials, has but little more to do than to select, arrange, and combine.

Antiquity of family can never be opposed to personal merit; but when antiquity of family and personal merit meet together in the same individual, their union commands universal respect. The family of Roddam is supposed to be one of the most primeval in the British dominions. It can be traced to the time of the Saxon heptarchy, and upon an old pedigree of the family is written the following grant, which relates to the estate at present enjoyed by the Admiral :–

The Roddams, of Roddam, in Northumberland, intermarried with the most ancient and respectable families in that county, and had originally possessed a great portion of the north part of Northumberland. The subject of these memoirs was the third son of Edward Roddam, Esq. by Jane, daughter of Robert Shelly, Esq. He went to sea as a Midshipman in the Lowestoffe frigate, in the year 1735-6. He served also as a Midshipman in the Russel, Cumberland, and Boyne, and was upon the Antigua station with Captain Drummond, of the Lowestoffe, more than five years.

If at any time the British Navy was an object of more peculiar concern to the country than at another, it is at the present, when an implacable enemy threatens us with invasion, and possesses the means of carrying his threats into execution to a greater extent than the political state of Europe ever before allowed of. According to the enemy, “the line of coast hostile to Great Britain will soon extend from where the ocean forms the Baltic, to where it forms the Mediterranean,” and “armies after armies are destined to perish, till the Republicans triumph, and Britain is subdued.” This statement, which is gathered from the enemy's own declarations, rests, as must be obvious to one who considers the present state of the continent, and the character of the French Government, on better foundations than French vanity and exaggeration. The great powers of the continent are overawed or conquered by France, and therefore the First Consul may make his line of coast hostile to Britain as extensive as may suit his ambition; and of his disposition to sacrifice armies after armies till his purpose of invading this country is effected, no one can doubt who has read of his exploits in Egypt, of his invariable and wanton prodigality of human life whether of his enemies, or of his countrymen.

The subject of our present memoir was the son of a respectable gentleman, of good family, and independent fortune, in the county of Herefordshire. Of the city of Hereford his father was many years an Alderman, and once, if not oftener, Mayor. Our hero was intended for the sea service, and entered early into the Navy, but under what Commanders he served, we have not been able to procure information. On the 25th of August 1740, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant by Admiral Vernon, as a reward for the merit which he had displayed at the capture of Porto Bello. From this time we have no account of him till the year 1747, at which period he continued a Lieutenant, and went out a passenger to Louisbourg in the Warwick, with strong recommendations to Commodore Knowles, who then commanded on that station. As on this passage an event occurred, which afterwards occasioned no small controversy, in which Mr. Hughes bore a share, we shall relate the particulars of it at large.

The Lark, of forty guns, commanded by Captain Crookshanks, and the Warwick, of 60 guns, commanded by Captain Erskine, were ordered to proceed with a convoy to Louisbourg.

For the period of five years, our Chronicle has now had the honour of recording the brilliant exploits of the British Navy; of illustrating the characters and actions of those heroes whose memory will be embalmed in the gratitude of posterity. It is matter of high self-congratulation, that, notwithstanding the dark cloud which has so long obscured the political hemisphere of Europe, we have completed the Tenth Volume of our labours, amidst an extensive, increased, and increasing patronage of the first Naval Characters throughout the United Kingdom, and his Majesty's colonial possessions in the East and West Indies. To preserve, and still farther to merit, this patronage, shall be our undeviating aim.

The Biographical Sketches which have hitherto appeared in the Naval Chronicle, have been distinguished by their candour and their correctness. Living characters, as being more immediately interesting to their contemporaries, have mostly received a preference of notice; but, as in the case of that brave veteran, Admiral Tyrell, in the present Volume, we have sometimes explored the records of past times, for the purpose of recalling the proud actions of the illustrious dead, as objects of emulation to their descendants. The Memoirs of living personages, most entitled to public notice in this volume, are Admiral Lord Keith, Admiral Lord Radstock, and Vice-Admiral Nugent. The transmission of authentic materials for this department of our Work, particularly when accompanied by the loan of a Portrait, is always esteemed a favour.

We have sometimes occasion to regret the paucity of our biographical materials, and particularly in relation to the early part of the lives of those gallant men, with whose memoirs our work has from time to time been enriched. It is not a matter of curiosity only which leads us to desire to be acquainted with the manner in which an Officer who has distinguished himself in the service of his country spent his youth, with the Commanders under whom he served, and the actions in which he was engaged whilst he was a junior Officer. It is a source of instruction to trace the progress of an Officer's professional services from his first entrance into the Navy, to the mature period, when, full of years and honours, he retires from the concerns of active life. In the present instance we are sorry not to be able to give our readers an account of the early part of the professional career of an Officer, who has so highly distinguished himself as the noble subject of these Memoirs.

The first information we have concerning our hero is, that on the 17th of August 1757 he was promoted to the rank of Post Captain, on account of his meritorious conduct in the Fortune sloop, in which vessel he captured a French privateer of superior force.

In our last memoir on Navigation and Commerce, we brought the maritime history of Greece down to the period of the Trojan war: on the present occasion we shall extend our inquiries to the invasion of Greece by Xerxes, and the events which led to the defeat of that formidable invader. The first object which engaged the attention of Xerxes on his accession to the throne of Persia, was the reduction of Egypt, which having accomplished, he determined to carry his arms into Greece, to revenge the insult of the burning of Sardis, and wipe away the disgrace of the defeat of Marathon. Four years were employed in preparations, and an army was collected, the most numerous that has ever appeared in the world. The naval forces of the Persian monarch were on a scale of equal magnitude. In a former war the Persian fleet had suffered shipwreck in attempting to double the promontory of Mount Athos; and to prevent the repetition of a similar disaster, Xerxes caused a canal to be cut, navigable for the largest gallies, through the isthmus which joins Athos to the continent of Thrace. Another magnificent work which he effected, was to build two bridges of boats, of the length of seven furlongs, over the Hellespont; and some idea may be formed of the prodigious numbers of his army, when it is related, that seven days and nights, unremittingly employed, were consumed in passing these bridges.

Vice-admiral nugent, the respected officer whose memoirs we now present to the public, was grandson to the late Earl of Nugent, an immediate descendant from Richard Nugent, the twelfth Lord Delvin, who, in 1621, was created Earl of Westmeath.

In all professions, and in every rank of life, from the sceptred monarch to the humblest trader, there is a certain spirit of jealousy and envy, which is unceasingly occupied in its baneful endeavours to corrode the peace of individuals, and to cast a shade over the brightest actions of humanity. Much to the honour of the Navy, however, as far as our opportunity for remark has extended, that profession exhibits less jealousy, less envy, and less narrow-mindedness than any other. The British sailor is open, candid, and generous; he scorns to withhold from a comrade his just portion of well-earned praise; and rather than attempt to rob him of his laurels, would be himself the unbought herald of his fame.

The observations with which we prefaced our Memoirs of the gallant Lord Hotham, apply also to this gentleman, concerning the early part of whose professional career, we have to state with regret, that our information is not sufficiently correct to be relied on. Mr. Elliot's commission as Post Captain is dated the 5th of April 1757, but whether he immediately received any command in consequence of being raised to that rank, is uncertain. In the course of the year 1758, he was appointed to the Æolus frigate, of 32 guns, a remarkably fine vessel of her class, and just off the stocks. In this ship, on the 15th of March the following year, he captured the Mignone, a small French frigate, of 20 guns, and 143 men; after a brisk, though short, engagement, in which the French Commander, the Chevalier de Transville, and a considerable number of men, were killed, and the Second Captain and twenty-five men were wounded: the loss sustained by the Æolus was no more than two or three men wounded.

Early in the year 1760, Captain Elliot was employed on the Irish station, and had the good fortune of an opportunity to distinguish himself in a most eminent manner.

Though distinguished at present beyond all other nations for the extent of her naval power, a variety of causes conspired to make Britain arrive at naval eminence somewhat later than the inferior kingdoms of Spain and Portugal. Our Edwards and Henrys, instead of attending to the proper means of increasing the strength and opulence of their dominions, wasted their forces in fruitless expeditions against France, or in domestic broils, and it was not until Columbus had discovered a new world, and Vasco di Gama had reached the East Indies by a new route, that a spirit of naval enterprise was excited among the northern nations of Europe. The two great events here alluded to, in their consequences produced the most remarkable effects. A spirit of enterprise, when once roused and put in motion, is always progressive. The wealth which flowed in a copious stream into Spain and Portugal, in consequence of their discoveries, was gradually diffused over Europe, and awakened a general spirit of industry and activity.

Though public curiosity, perhaps, is more strongly excited by contemporary biography, it is sometimes pleasing to take a retrospective glance at the heroes of preceding periods; to review the lives and actions of those, whose characters reflected lustre on the “days of other times.” By a revival and display of the honours attained by our fathers, a proper spirit of emulation may be infused into their children; and their battles may be fought over again, not only in idea but in reality, and with increased success. We profit, too, by contrast and comparison, as well as by example. By contemplating the roughness and imperfections of our predecessors, we learn to supply in ourselves what may have been deficient in them; to soften down the asperities of our national character, and thus to render ourselves more amiable in the eyes of the world at large. By contemplating those interesting originals, we also learn to check every effeminate or degrading impulse, and are enabled to retain that honest and not unpleasing bluntness by which the sons of Britain have been so long distinguished. Courage and urbanity are by no means incompatible; and our naval officers of the present day, though more polished, are not less brave than their fathers were.