KINGSMILL. 355 and being appointed to the Crescent frigate, was ordered to the West Indies, on which station he remained till the end of 1764, when he returned to England. Being paid off in the ensuing spring, he retired to the comforts of domestic society, and, in 1766, married Miss Kingsmill, a Berkshire lady of very respectable family, and thus came into the possession of a very considerable landed property, in consequence of which he assumed the name of Kings mill. During the long peace which ensued, he declined ac cepting any commission; but on the rupture with France, in 1780, he again embarked in his country's service, and was appointed to the command of the Vigilant, of sixty four guns, in which ship he was present at the action off Ushant. The rage of party, and the known independence of his principles, caused, as it is reported, the country to lose the advantages of his knowledge and abilities during the greater part of the war. The Vigilant being ordered to the West Indies, he removed from that ship, and it was not till the accession of the Rockingham administration, in the spring of 1782, that he received a commission, appointing him to command the Elizabeth, of seventy-four guns. The great exertions made by the French to acquire a naval superiority in the East Indies, rendered it neces sary to augment the British fleet on that station; accord ingly, an armament was fitted out for that purpose, con sisting of the Elizabeth, another seventy-four gun-ship, a sixty-four, and a frigate of thirty-two guns, and placed under the command of Captain Kingsmill. This squadron, after much delay, sailed from Spithead in the beginning of 1783; but after having, with much difficulty, reached the Bay of Biscay, a continued tempest dispersed a l l the ships which composed i t , each o f which, after fruitless efforts t o proceed o n the voyage, was compelled t o return t o England, which they were a l l fortunate enough t o reach. I n the meanwhile, the preliminaries o f peace having been concluded, the necessity o f the expedition was, o f course, superseded. The Elizabeth, however, being
