"Never," continues her commander, "have I witnessed. a happier set of countenances than were on our deck this night. To have regained once more an open ocean, in a ship in which we had so often been in danger, was of itself sufficient to rejoice at; but when we reflected, that in two particular instances we had been left without the slightest probability of again seeing our country; that, when all hope had left us, we had been mercifully preserved; and that now, without the power of beating off a lee-shore, or an anchor to save us, we had run through 900 miles of a dangerous navigation, and arrived in safety at the ocean, I may say that our sensations were indescribable. For the first time since the 28th of August, a period of five weeks, I enjoyed a night of uninterrupted repose. The 3d of October was a lovely day, and we most fortunately met with a piece of ice, from which a supply of blocks, sufficient to fill all our tanks, was obtained. Had it not been for this, we should inevitably have suffered serious distress on our homeward passage."

Captain Lyon and his companions were, however, fated to meet with still further inconveniences, and to experience another convincing proof, that the order of the seasons and winds had been strangely changed during the autumn of 1824. On the evening of the 4th of October, a heavy gale commenced from the southward, and a long Atlantic swell quickly arose there was not the slightest abatement of the storm for twelve days, and the horizon was always obscured, so that they remained in ignorance as to whether any pack or berg was lying to leeward of them, and their suspense, day and night, was very painful; for to see ice in such weather, was only a prelude to being wrecked upon it. On two of these days, the Griper shipped repeated and heavy seas, as often over the taffrail as the bow.

On the morning of the 12th, Captain Lyon spoke the Phoenix whaler, of Whitby; and, on the 19th, the master of the Achilles, of Dundee, informed him that that ship had likewise been exposed, for nearly a month past, to a conti

nuance of the worst weather that he had ever seen during thirty-four years' service in these seas. A heavy E. N. E. gale blew all the 23d; but, on the 26th, the wind became fair, and the Griper made great progress. On the 30th, her foretop-mast, already badly sprung, went in two places; the head of the foremast had been found much twisted, about seven weeks before, and there was every reason to believe that the bowsprit was likewise seriously injured. On the afternoon of the 7th of November, soundings were struck in seventy fathoms; and next day, at three P. M., the coast of Cornwall was seen; on the 10th, at ten A. M., the ship passed the Needles; and, considering her distressed state, Captain Lyon determined on running at once into Portsmouth harbour, where she was paid off on the 13th of the following month. Captain Lyon soon afterwards published a narrative of his voyage, with a reduced chart of his route, and an appendix, containing magnetic and botanical observations.

In June 1825, the honorary degree of D. C. L. was conferred upon Captain Lyon, by the University of Oxford; and, on the 5th of September following, he married Lucy-Louisa, the younger daughter of the celebrated Lord Edward Fitzgerald, and the almost equally celebrated Pamela. Not long after, he went to Mexico, as one of the Commissioners of the Real del Monte Mining Company. Returning home, by way of New York, in the Panthea packet, bound to Liverpool, he was wrecked in a gale at Holyhead, January 14. 1827, and lost every thing belonging to him, including his journal, plans of the mines, &c. To add to his mortification, he heard, upon landing, of the death of his wife, which had taken place about four months before.

Captain Lyon afterwards returned to South America on mining business, which he prosecuted with his wonted intelligence; and the specimens of South American minerals which he forwarded to this country are evidences of his taste. length his sight began to fail him to an alarming degree, insomuch that he determined to revisit England for advice.

At

He accordingly embarked for that purpose, but died, on board his Majesty's packet the Emulous, on her passage from Buenos Ayres, October 8th, 1832, at the age of thirtyseven; thus prematurely concluding a life of extraordinary adventure, attended by extraordinary misfortunes.

Chiefly from "Marshall's Royal Naval Biography."

192

No. XI.

WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, Esq.

THE decease of this excellent individual, who will always be classed among the most eminent men of a period full of eventful circumstances, and illustrated by many striking examples of human genius, has not only excited deep regret in the minds of a large circle of public and private friends, but has robbed his country of one of its best patriots, religion of one of its most consistent ornaments, and the whole race of mankind of one of their greatest benefactors.

The family name is of local origin in Yorkshire, being derived from Wilberfoss, near Pocklington, the manor of which was possessed by the family until sold by William Wilberfoss, Esq. in 1719. A branch of that family which flourished in the city of York in the seventeenth century retained the ancient orthography. Mr. Wilberforce had an uncle, William Wilberforce, Esq., of Wimbledon in Surrey, who, dying in 1777, was buried at Wimbledon, and left his house there to his celebrated nephew. His widow died at Blackheath in 1788; and she was aunt, not only to Mr. Wilberforce, but to Messrs. Thornton, the Members for Hull, Bridgewater, and Southwark.

William Wilberforce was born on the 24th of August, 1759, in the handsome old mansion in the High Street, in which Messrs. Smith, Brothers, and Co., lately carried on their business, at Kingston-upon-Hull, where his ancestors were for many years successfully engaged in trade. His great-grandfather was one of the Governors of Beverley, in 1670. His grandfather, William Wilberforce, Esq., was twice mayor of Hull; first in the year 1722, and again in 1740. His father, Robert Wilberforce, Esq., married Miss

Elizabeth Bird, a relation of the present Bishops of Chester and Winchester, by whom he had one son, William, and two daughters: one died unmarried; the other was married, first to the Rev. Mr. Clarke, and then to James Stephen, Esq., the late Master in Chancery.

By the death of Mr. Wilberforce's father, while he was very young, his early education devolved on a prudent and affectionate mother, who seems to have been in every respect qualified for the undertaking. He was first placed at the free grammar school of Pocklington, and, about the year 1774, was entered at St. John's college, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. 1781, M.A. 1788. Here he was a contemporary, and formed an intimate friendship, with William Pitt and Dr. Isaac Milner, afterwards Dean of Carlisle, with both of whom, on quitting the University, he made a tour on the Continent.

he

Having become of age only a few weeks before the general election of 1780, he was almost unanimously returned (in conjunction with Lord Robert Manners) as one of the representatives of his native town. He does not appear, however, to have taken any prominent part in the proceedings of Parliament till 1783, when he seconded an address of thanks to the Crown on the occasion of the peace. In the same year, distinguished himself by very warmly opposing Mr. Fox's India Bill. At the general election of the ensuing year, which followed the summary dismissal of the Coalition Administration, and Mr. Pitt's accession to power, Mr. Wilberforce stood and gained a contested election for Hull, in conjunction with his friend Mr. Samuel Thornton, in opposition to Mr. David Hartley, an eminent partizan of Mr. Fox; but, being also chosen for the county of York, he made his election to serve for the latter.

Mr. Wilberforce supported Mr. Pitt's plan of parliamentary reform. In the following year, he succeeded in carrying through the House of Commons a bill for amending the Criminal Law; the object of which is said to have been, to give certainty to punishment; but, being opposed by Lord Chancellor Loughborough, chiefly on technical grounds, it

VOL. XVIII.