be, it is of no use going against the arrangement of the First Lord of the Admiralty. Report says, that Captain M‘Kinley is not confirmed post, as the Admiralty consider it as their vacancy, and I think it very possible you may be intended for it. That it may prove so, is the sincere wish of your most faithful servant,
“P.S. Join me off Rostock.”
As Nelson conjectured, so did the Admiralty decide. Captain M‘Kinley, a most gallant, intelligent, and worthy officer, was not confirmed; and Captain Devonshire, no less meritorious and brave, received the much-coveted commission, dated April 27th, 1801; from which period he commanded the Glatton 56, until she was paid off, in consequence of the treaty of Amiens. His patron, the Earl of St. Vincent, was then at the head of naval affairs, and subsequently wrote as follows:–
“My dear Sir,– I have great pleasure in bearing testimony to the meritorious services of Captain Devonshire, who obtained the different steps, up to the rank he now holds, by his good and gallant conduct, under the auspices of your very sincere and obedient servant,
“To John Lemon, Esq., 43, Piccadilly.”
Captain Devonshire’s next appointment was, in Jan. 1812, to the Armada 74, in which ship he escorted an outward bound East India fleet to a certain latitude, and then proceeded to Cadiz, where he assumed the command of the St. Albans 64, and continued until the raising of the siege of la Isla de Leon, the principal events of which we have before related.
In Feb. 1813, the St. Albans having been paid off. Captain Devonshire was appointed to the Albion 74; and during the very severe winter of 1814, we find him, with a frigate and a sloop under his orders, capturing many American merchant vessels, off Nantucket shoals. Unavoidable exposure to the weather during the time that he was thus employed, having brought on frequent attacks of gout in a very aggravated form, he was induced to exchange into the Sceptre 74, under orders for England; and, unfortunately, ill health obliged
