minates amidst picturesque scenery, and the grossest imposition of every description supersedes the benevolent hospitality one is led to expect in a British colony, which has attained a high degree of celebrity from the supposition of its being the spot where Shakspeare has laid the scene of his immortal Tempest; and although Prospero no longer waived his magic wand, yet at this period the island was enlivened by the presence of the President, American frigate, which had been captured by the Endymion, in company with a squadron of frigates under the command of Capt. Hayes. Only having once previously visited an American frigate, (the Chesapeak in Halifax harbour,) of course I very soon took an opportunity of gratifying my curiosity by inspecting the President. She was certainly a noble ship, having beams and scantling fully equal to those of a 74; her store-rooms were magnificent, and her lower yards and masts were on equally as grand a scale; she had been dreadfully cut up in her hull, while her antagonist chiefly suffered in the rigging. Of course the American pride was deeply hurt at the result of this action, but they strenuously denied being defeated by the Endymion singly, and said they had not struck until the Pomone had fired two broadsides into them; however, this point might be disputed. I happened to be on board the Endymion all night on duty, and in the gun-room heard the whole account of the action related to our surgeon, whose brother, Mr. Boyter, was serving on board as a master's-mate, by which it clearly appeared that if she had not already struck to the Endymion, the superior fire and discipline of the British frigate over the American was fully apparent, as well by instituting a comparison of the loss each ship incurred, as from the circumstance of the Endymion bending a new suit of sails in little more than half an hour, and this too, accomplished in the darkness of night, immediately after a severe action: however, every officer on board the British frigate fully concurred in opinion, that the American had already struck, prior to the arrival of the Pomone. Among the President's crew were several Englishmen, who made no mystery of having even served on board our men-of-war, for when lying alongside the Guard-ship, I heard frequent conversations carried on between our boat's crew and the prisoners at the grated ports.

We were now gladdened by the arrival of our gallant fellows who had been captured by the gun-boats; they had been conveyed to Charleston, and had been exceedingly well treated, the master's-mate and assistant-surgeon being allowed their parole, and were invited to the houses of many of the principal inhabitants, where they had balls and evening parties. The Americans were excessively proud of the capture they had made, and christened our launch the H- junior; every expedient was resorted to, every temptation held out to our men to induce them to enter, but it is gratifying to record, that every soul was loyal to his country. They were frequently visited in their confinement by an old Irish lady, who constantly exhorted them to be true to their King and the land of their birth. She frequently furnished them with various necessaries and comforts, of which they stood much in need.

I cannot refrain from mentioning one act of grateful recollection that does honour to the human heart. After the battle and bombard

ment of the city of Baltimore, among several other prisoners who were confined on board our frigate, was a gentleman named Wills; he was a respectable stationer, and had been captured while serving in the National Militia; he messed in our berth, and partook with several others of such homely fare as the mids of a cruising frigate were accustomed to provide. After being conveyed to Bermuda, he had been sent home in a cartel to Baltimore. The moment the newspapers informed him of the capture of our officers and men, he addressed a letter to Mr. James Creagh, regretting that the fortune of war had made him a prisoner, and requesting him to draw upon him for any sums of money that he might require, and stating that he should never forget the kindness he had experienced on board our ship, and as a feeble return he might depend upon being furnished with every necessary his situation demanded. However the peace might have neutralized this worthy man's intentions, these are valuable traits, and tend to soften the asperities of war. Being ready for sea, the body of the late Capt. Sir Peter Parker, Bart.* was disinterred from a vault in St. George's town, and once more transferred to the custody of our gallant captain, (who had been his friend and messmate in early youth,) that the mortal remains of this lamented officer might slumber in his native land, honoured by his friends, his country, and the profession to which he was so bright an ornament. As a tribute of respect to the manes of this young hero, our ship was put into mourning by painting her sides a deep grey, and all her masts black.

Elate at the idea of once more revisiting the white cliffs of Britain, our anchors were weighed, the fluttering canvas swelled proudly to the breeze, whilst the gallant vessel ploughed the bosom of the main, until the Mudian shore sank beneath the glittering horizon. Joy was in every eye for our destined haven was Old England.

R. J. B.

* Capt. Sir P. Parker, Bart. commanded the Menelaus frigate in August 1814, when he was ordered up the Patapsco River, near Baltimore. He landed at the head of a division of seamen and marines in the night, to attack a portion of the enemy that had assembled a few miles from the beach. Whilst traversing a wood to gain their position, the enemy, in treble the force he had been led to expect, suddenly opened a tremendous fire; the gallant and heroic Parker received a buck-shot in the thigh which pierced the femoral artery, but still continued to cheer on his men; in five minutes he fell faint and exhausted in the arms of Lieut. Robert Pearce, and in the space of few minutes more the vital spark had fled. He had bled to death. His gallant seamen and marines fought like tigers: they succeeded in carrying off all their killed and wounded. The body of Sir Peter was embalmed, and when he was removed on board our ship, the rugged countenances of his gallant crew betrayed manly grief for their heroic Captain, who fell at the early age of 29. We conveyed him to Bermuda preserved in spirits, where he was interred with all the honours due to his rank, and on being conveyed to England a party of seamen and marines, attended by the officers of our ship, followed his second funeral to St. Margaret's, Westminster.

ON THE DEFENCE OF JERSEY.

In the event of a War with France, which sooner or later must be deemed unavoidable, an attack upon the Norman Isles is highly probable. That the defence of these islands has been thought of before can be no matter of doubt, when the importance of their possession to Great Britain and their vicinity to France are considered; and that characters of high military talent and reputation have also presided at those councils which devised the means resorted to for their protection, can no less be questioned when reference is made to the list of the Lieut.Governors of those Isles, as well as to the names of the officers who have been successively attached to their Staffs, or again occasionally sent over by the Government for the immediate purpose of securing those islands from foreign aggression.

But let not the soldier be hereby deterred from investigation, or from delivering his sentiments on an object at once so important to the country, and of so general an interest to the Military Art, since, while he is attempting to trace a proper mode of defence for Jersey, his endeavours will serve equally to illustrate the defence of small islands in general; besides the means suggested, if differing from those already recommended may lead to disquisition, and this disquisition tend either to modify or confirm the measures previously determined on.

Without farther remarks, we shall, therefore, at once proceed to our design, by establishing, that the defence of Jersey, like that of all small islands, consists on the principle of the defence of great riversfirst in preventing the enemy from landing; and secondly, should he succeed in landing, in preventing the troops, as they successively arrive on shore, from forming.

It is to the batteries erected along the shore we have principally to look for the attainment of the first object. They are to be so situated, after a careful survey of the coast and sounding along the same, that by their cross fire they may baffle approach to any place accessible to an enemy, as well as injure the enemy's shipping. The erecting of these batteries, and the selection of the spots where their effects will be most destructive, becomes a province of the artillery officer and engineer, assisted by the Naval department, which latter is to point out the several landing-places, together with the courses necessarily to be pursued for disembarkation. The assistance which would be derived here from the Light Brigade of Artillery will clearly appear; while the reflection, how desirable the presence of a British fleet would be at the time, will naturally suggest the advantage that would result from a harbour capable of containing a naval force (and which that of Boulay at a moderate expense would afford,) particularly when the extensive works erected at Cherbourg-calculated to shelter, I believe, the entire French fleet—are taken into consideration, as well as the numberless works in progress at the various harbours lying along the Bay of Cancale.

The second object, that of preventing the enemy from forming while landing, by driving the men back into the sea as they successively reach the shore, must depend on the united efforts of the Light Brigade of Artillery, a rapid fire of musketry, and brisk charges of a body of Cavalry or Infantry.

It becomes, therefore, obvious that the instruction of the Militia of the Norman Isles should be directed to the few evolutions which, in conformity with the above premises, it may be called upon to perform. The existing system of warfare scarcely leaves a doubt, that a hostile enterprise against Jersey by the French will never be ventured on, except by a considerable and overwhelming force, which if landed and formed would preclude resistance, unless in the instance of Fort Regent, to which the defending troops must, in that case, immediately withdraw. The small extent of the island and its high state of cultivation combine to negative any attempt at warlike operations. It is true that the bold scenery of some of the small Bays might, at first sight, favour the martial sentiment of a protracted warfare, but the idea is soon abandoned when it is observed that this favourable state of locality is of no extent, and that, seldom continuing for the space of a mile, it sinks, after two or three hillocks have been passed, into a rich and cultivated country, the general aspect of Jersey.

Assuming this mode of defence to be adopted, the expediency of the Light Brigade of Artillery, as formed by Major General Sir Colin Halkett, will be clearly seen. It consists at present of 24 Sixpounders; were it increased in number, and the pieces, at least partly, of a heavier metal, still greater benefit would most likely result from this salutary measure.

The next object for consideration is the body of Cavalry, which the raising of a corps of Yeomanry, from three to four hundred strong, will effectually supply. The necessity on the part of each man for keeping a horse would naturally render the composition of this corps respectable, and of that valuable class of men, who cannot well be provided with commissions in the Militia, yet who, from their state of independence, hold a certain rank in their parishes.

The expected duty of this body of Cavalry would be, by repeated charges, to prevent the enemy from forming as they successively reach the shore, and to drive them back into their boats or the sea; it might likewise, as well as the Light Brigade of Artillery, be of great advantage in covering the retreat by checking the enemy's advance as much as possible. These corps, the Light Artillery and Cavalry, should be severally divided into three bodies, which, in the event of alarm, should repair, each to its appropriate station, namely, the three principal landing-places, St. Ouen, Granville, and St. Aubin Bays: and here, the advantage of dispatch which would immediately result from the suggestion of Sir Colin Halkett to erect the sheds or stores for the use of the Artillery, and to keep the pieces, at these three principal points at which attack may be apprehended, is manifest. Were, in war time, a few large waggons also, kept in readiness within these stores or sheds, capable of conveying bodies of Infantry from one Bay to another, as circumstances may render urgent, additional benefit would accrue, while the appropriate situation of these warlike stores at the three chief points of assault, would become still more conspicuous.

It will be evident that the proximity of the inhabitants to St. Ouen, Granville, or St. Aubin's Bay, and the local situations of their abodes, must chiefly influence their appointments to the particular division of the corps of Light Artillery and Horse to which they belong; and

that the same principle should be acted on in directing the individuals to their respective batteries.

The Brigade of Light Artillery, and corps of Yeomanry Cavalry being filled up, and the persons to be attached to the several batteries along the coast appointed-these principal objects of defence provided for the remaining part of the inhabitants may be distributed into four regiments of infantry, of which one would likewise, in case of alarm, assemble at St. Ouen, one at Granville Bay, and one at St. Aubin's Bay and the town. The fourth, destined to the defence of the smaller accessible harbours,-Greve de Lecq, Bonuit, Boulay Bay, Roselle, and St. Catharine, and to re-inforce the detachments of regulars stationed at those posts, might, by companies, repair to the churches of St. Mary, St. John, Trinity, and St. Martin, to proceed from thence to their respective destination, or wherever their services may be required.

The same precautions should be taken to provide for the defence of St. Brelade's Bay, and the eastern coast of St. Clement, by directing thither detachments of the Granville, and St. Aubin regiments, or appointing those posts as rendezvous for one or two companies of those regiments.

That such an arrangement, though deemed fundamental, should undergo occasional alteration, and, that in the case of invasion, the several corps once assembled, should be liable to leave their stations to repair to the points attacked, need scarcely be observed; but this becomes the province of the General commanding, who, prepared against surprise, and knowing where his forces lie, will direct them where threatened, so as to act in mass against the assailant.

The distribution of the inhabitants into the foot regiments again, should be chiefly determined by their proximity to the assembling posts, without any attention being paid to the boundaries of the parishes, or in fact, any other consideration whatever, but that which promotes the defence of the island, the great, and indeed, the sole object, to which every other must give way.

It may not be altogether inappropriate here to say a few words respecting the movements to which the Militia of the Norman Isles might be trained, according to the view we have taken of the defence of the island; namely, to prevent the hostile troops, while landing, from forming, and to repel them from the shore. These movements we shall readily find to be the charge in line, and the charge of a line of central double columns, as practised by the Russians; the instruction of the Militia should accordingly be principally confined to the advance and charge in line, to the formation of the close column in rear of the right division, and that in front of the left company; and, while in mass, to marching to the front, to the rear, to either flank, and wheeling in all directions; and they should particularly be rendered familiar with the centre double column, which, formed by the companies of the right wing moving rapidly behind the right centre company, and companies of the left wing behind the left centre company, is immediately to be advanced to the charge, which is here effected on the front of a grand division. The instant preceding collision, a discharge of the two front ranks may be directed; and while rushing forward to the shock, the two companies in rear may file out, to act as