YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY MEMOIR \^^ OF THE LIFE LIEUTENANT-COLONEL YASSALL. BRISTOL: PRINTED ET BARRY AND SON, HIGH-STREET. 1819. MEMOIR, t^c. xxs a wish to become acquainted with the progenitors of such as by their merits have excited the attention of the public is a natural feeling of the human mind, we shall begin by endeavouring, in this instance, to gratify the curiosity of the reader, by giving him a short account of the famUy from which this gallant soldier was descended, Lieutenant-Colonel Spencer Thomas Vassal!, the subject of the present me- 6 MEMOIR OF THE LItE OF moir, was the second son of the late John VassaU of the Crescent, Bath, and of Newfound River, in the island of Jamaica. The latter derived his origin from a gentleman of the same name, who, as Rushworth informs us, fitted out two ships of war at his own expense, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and led them in person against the Spanish armada in the year 1588, He also reckoned among his immediate ancestors Alderman Samuel VassaU, member in several suc cessive parliaments for the city of London, who took an active part in the political transactions of his time. He was the first man in England who had the courage to refuse payment of the arbitrary tax of tonnage and poundage. He was one of the three hundred members who signed LIEUT-COLONEL VASSALL, 7 the protestation to support the church of England and the liberty of parliament ; and was appointed one of the members of the council during the recess. His name stood at the head of the list of sub scribers for raising money against the rebels in Ireland ; for which purpose he bestowed the sum of twelve hundred pounds. The son of this Samuel Vassal! afterwards embarked for America, and purchasing two twentieth shares of Mas- sachusett's Bay in New England, became an original settler in that country, where the family henceforward resided, and where the subject of these pages and his father were both born. The latter, who, at the commencement of the civil war, was a colonel of militia, and one of his ma jesty's council for the province of Boston, 8 MEMOIR OF THE LIFE OF > did not attempt to conceal the sentiments of loyalty and attachment to his sovereign, with which he was animated; and after many fruitless efforts to support the royal cause, becoming at last convinced that any further struggle would be ineffectual, he abandoned his native country, and his property, and came with his wife and chUdren to England, supporting an honourable independence on an estate which still belonged to him in the island of Jamaica. Though his family was large, and the losses which he had suffered in America were considerable, his high and noble spirit would not allow him to accept of any remuneration for the sacrifices, to which his adherence to Great Britain had compelled him to submit ; and he con tented himself with Teceiving back those LIEUT.-COLONEL VASSALL. 9 advances which he had actually made for the services of government. On being pressed by Lord George Germain, then his majesty's secretary of state for the colonial department, to bring forward his claims, he modestly answered, " It shall never be said, that I emigrated from my own country, to become a charge on this," So ardent, indeed, was his attachment to our gracious sovereign, that he never could be persuaded to use his family motto, " Saepe pro rege semper pro republica;" because, though these words, when properly construed, are expressive of the purest patriotism, he was appre hensive lest they might be misinterpreted, and considered as conveying a sentiment unfavourable to monarchical principles. 10 MEMOIR OF THE LIFE OF Such was the father of the gallant Colonel Vassal! ; from whom he inherited those sentiments of loyalty and devotion to the interests of his king and country, which marked every part of his conduct, and in defence of which he gloriously died. He was almost from his infancy destined to the profession of arms ; and after receiving a suitable education, first at a foreign academy, where he acquired a knowledge of the modern languages, and afterwards at a military establishment in England, he commenced his career as an ensign in the 59th regiment of foot, at the early age of twelve years. He soon after wards embarked for Gibraltar, where he served during the memorable siege laid to that fortress. That Colonel Vassal!, even as a subaltern, found opportunities of LIEUT,-COLONEL VASSALL, 1 1 displaying that undaunted spirit and military zeal, which were afterwards his characteristics, may be fairly conjectured from a poetical tribute, lately offered to his memory, by a gentleman, who was at that time the witness, and probably the parti cipator of his exertions, Mr, Budworth in a recent publication, (A Fortnight's Tour to the Lakes of Cumberland,") thus very beautifully paints the germs of rising merit, which were even then perceptible in the destined hero of Monte Video. " Yet hail, ye glorious fallen, mighty dead ! With whom in scenes of warfare he was bred; He knew brave VassaU* when a soldier youth, Whose beardless face beam'd energy and truth; NOTES FROM BOTIWOaTH's TOUB. * At GibraltaTj then a lieutenant in the 59th foot. b2 13 iMEMOIR OF THE LIFE OF Saw him when first he shar'd the cannon's roar,* And heard him wish the trifling danger more ;t Like a tall plant^n, as erect his form. Fitted to meet, or battle with the storm ! Peace to the honour'd ashes of the brave. And hallow'd be the tear that wets his grave !" From the first hour in which Colonel Vassal! became a soldier, to the moment of his honourable death, he seemed only to exist for the profession which he had chosen, and for the country which he served. On his return from Gibraltar, he eagerly grasped at every occasion which presented itself of increasing, by active service, the scientific and practical Iinow- ledge which he bad already acquired in the military art. He was never idle ; and in the twenty-eight years during which * On Landport guard. f Regretting that he had not arrived until after the grand attack. LIEUT-COLONEL VASSALL. 13 his name may be traced in the List of the British Army, while the greater part of that time was spent abroad, either with his regiment, or on the staff, he was scarcely six months absent from the camp or the garrison to which he belonged. The greater the danger, and the more severe the service, the more it became to him an object of ambition. Thus he filled at various times the situations of adjutant, of aide-de-camp, of brigade-major, of deputy quarter-master general, of deputy adjutant general, and once that of adjutant-general. But though he dis charged these different duties with ac- Itnowledged zeal and ability, and received the thanlis and approbation of all the commanding officers to whom he was attached, he was singularly unfortunate 14: MEMOIR OF THE LIFE OF in not obtaining promotion, commensurate either to his merit, or to his services; and in the progress of regimental ranli. he found himself under the necessity of purchasing every step, from his first commission as ensign to that of lieutenant-coloraeli, which latter he did net procure till the year 1800, Yet it was his fate to serve his country in almost every part of the globe, and (besides the siege of Gibraltar in the American contest) to accompany every expedition which sailed from Eng land, except that of Egypt, during the last and the present war. He was twice with the army in Flanders, once in the West Indies, several times on the coast of France, and once on that of Spain. He was the first man that landed on the Isle- Dieu, and himself planted the British LIEUT-COLONEL VASSALL. 15 colours on that island. He formed part of both expeditions to Holland ; in the last of which he was ordered by his royal highness the Dulic of Yorli to attend General Don to tl^ enemy's camp with a flag of truce. On that occasion, when Brun, the French commander in chief, in a fit of frantic rage, pr€tending to suspect the motives of the mission, declared to General Don that he was determined to treat him as a spy, he turned round to Colonel (then Major) Vassal!, and said with a contemptuous smile, " Pour vous, monsieur, je vous plains," Our hero displayed even at that trying moment, though under the expectation of an immediate and disgraceful death, the fortitude of mind which at no period ever forsook him, and receiving the 16 MEMOIR OF THE LIFE OF proffered commiseration of the haughty Frenchman with merited contempt, boldly answered, " Sir, I disdain your pity, and am ready to share the fate of my general." After experiencing every Itind of indignity, and having been twice led out for execu tion, these brave officers were at length released^ and allowed to return to England. Colonel Vassal! served for some time in the island of Antigua, where, as senior officer, he commanded the mihtary forces of that settlement, and deservedly obtain ed the commendations of the principal inhabitants. Shortly after his return to Great Britain he purchased the commission of lieutenant- LIEUT.-COLONEL VASSALL. 17 colonel in the 38th regiment, which was at that time so much reduced in numbers, that when he took the command of it at Litchfield, in 1801, it did not consist of more than an hundred men. He em barked with that corps almost immediately for Ireland, to receive a draft of a thou sand recruits, who had volunteered their services from the British militia, who were then quartered there. He now found himself placed in a situation which called into activity all that ardour and pro fessional skill for which he bad long been celebrated ; and so zealous, and so suc cessful, were his endeavours, that when the corps was ordered a few months after wards on Dublin duty, that respectable veteran. Sir William Medows, declared that the 38th, though so lately formed, was 18 MEMOIR OF THE LIFE OF already equal to the oldest regiment in the service ; and from that time till its em barkation for the Cape of Good Hope, it was honoured with the cant but expressive title of " the Crack Regiment of Ireland," But if Colonel Vassal! merited and ob tained the applauses of his superior officers for the talent and energy which he had displayed in rendering the men under his command fit for the active services of their country, as a man he was entitled to a nobler and higher tribute of praise, for the humanity and parental care with which he watched over the private happiness of those who had the good fortune to be placed under his authority. Nothing could be more perfect than the system established for the government of his regiment ; and though he maintained the LIEUT.-COLONEL VASSALL. 19 utmost regularity of discipline, it was by affection, and not by severity, that he enforced his commands. Considering his men, their wives, and children, as one great family committed to his care, he devoted every moment of his life not occu pied with more active duties, to relieve their wants, and to increase their com forts ; and such was the confidence with which this generous conduct inspired them, that while they looked up to him with the reverence and gratitude of filial piety, they appealed to his decision in every difficulty, and in all their little quarrels cheerfully submitted to an authority which they considered as infallible. Perhaps it was a fortunate subject for the public, that Colonel VassaU happened 20 MEMOIR OF THE LIFE OF to be the field officer of the day in Dublin on the memorable 23d of July, when Lord Kilwarden and many others were killed by the insurgent populace ; as his cool determined conduct, which was honoured with the approbation of the Irish government and of the commander in chief, contributed in no small degree to check the evils of that fatal event. On the same occasion. General Dunne and himselfj in going from the Castle to the house of General Fox, to ask the commands of the latter, passed unattended through a street crowded with pikemen, and their lives were probably saved by the bold and undaunted air which they assumed, and which, for the moment, awed into respect the minds of the infuriated rabble. LIEUT.-COLONEL VASSALL. 21 In the four years and a half during which the 38th regiment was quartered in Ireland, Colonel Vassall's merits were justly appreciated by all classes of people, and particularly so by persons of the highest rank, whose hospitality, urbanity, and generous attentions, he was ever after proud to remember, and anxious to acknowledge. Yet though pleased with the society and manners of the Irish, and fondly attached to an affectionate wife and a very young family of children. Colonel Vassal! was impatient for foreign service, and when it was rumoured that an expedition was about to be dispatched to the Cape of Good Hope, he exerted all his interest that his regiment might be in the number of those employed on the occasion. He succeeded in his wishes; 22 MEMOIR OF THE LIFE OF^ and embarking with the 38th, assisted in the capture of that important settlement ; of the town and fortress of which he was soon afterwards appointed commandant. Having obtained that desirable and lucra tive post, he might have sent for his family/ and have enjoyed, while discharging the functions of his office, all the comforts of dignified ease, to which his long and able services so justly entitled him ; but his zeal as a soldier made him disdain every consideration but that of glory; and when the first expedition sailed from the Cape for Buenos Ayres, he remonstrated with Sir David Baird, because a lieutenant- jjolonel, whose commission was junior id his, had been employed in preference to him, and he even wrote home to England to urge his prior claims to active service. LIEUT-COLONEL VASSALL. 23 At length his request was listened to, and resigning his situation as commandant, he embarked with the 38th regiment in the second detachment, which was sent to the coast of Spanish America. He had no sooner reached the place of his destina tion than he found an opportunity of displaying his usual activity, and of trying the spirit and the discipline of that regi ment which he had formed with so much care. Circumstances having determined the commanding officer to defer the intended attack on Monte Video, the ships changed their course and approached Maldonado, which is fourteen leagues distant from the former of these places. Four companies of the 38th foot, with some dragoons. 24 MEMOIR OF THE LIFE 0F~ headed by Colonel VassaU, landed ahd advanced to the town, which stands only a mile from the beach. The Spaniards opened a fire of grape and round shot; Colonel Vassal!, pushing forwards with his accustomed firmness, would not allow his men to fire, but ordering them to charge with the bayonet, soon overcame every obstacle, and after kUling about seventy of the enemy, and 1 laving three of his own grenadiers severely wounded, he made himself master of the guns, and, in a short time afterwards, of the town and garrison. The British behaved with the utmost gallantly, and with a steadiness rarely observed on such occasions; for though the conquest of Maldonado was entirely effected by the bayonet, not a woman, child, or old man, received the slightest LIEUT-COLONEL VASSALL. 25 injury. Colonel Vassal! had himself a Very narrow escape, for a Spanish officer discharged a pistol at him (which fortu nately missed, though the fire came so close as to scorch his clothes), just at the moment when, with his wonted humanity, he had stepped forward to save the life of him, who a minute afterwards attempted to become his assassin. We now come to an event, which, though it did the highest credit to the British arms, and filled up the measure of Colonel Vassall's fame, whose renown it will hand down to the latest posterity, must still, in consideration of his loss, be ever regretted by his family, his regiment, his king, and his country. In the prepa rations for the attack on Monte Video, he 26 MEMOIR OF THE LIFE OF yielded to no one in zeal and activity, and the duties which fell to the share of the 38th were by no means the least arduous or the least important, as the principal batteries were erected by them. On the evening of February the 2d, 1807, Sir Samuel Auchmuty, the commander in chief, assembled the principal officers, and informed them of the desperate nature of the attack which he meditated for the following morning. " I cannot ensure you success," said he, " but now or never is the moment ; our ammunition will not hold out another day's siege; we must make one bold effort, or abandon South America." Colonel Vassal!, with laconic intrepidity, replied, " Sir, I will lead my regiment to the breach ;" and his answer, which seemed to inspire all his hearers LIEUT.-COLONEL VASSALL. 27 with confidence, was re-echoed by every commander in the army. When the 38th regiment was drawn up at two o'clock the next morning, prepa ratory to the assault, — when the moment was come, so finely described in " Wal lace," as — — " that pause of dread. Whose silent interval precedes Men's fault'ring footsteps, as they tread Towards sanguinary deeds." Even then. Colonel Vassal! retained his wonted composure, and after making known to his men the service in which they were about to be engaged, he added, as his voice assumed the most animating tone, " I am a bad hand, S8th, at making a long speech ; but I am convinced that c2 28 MEMOIR OF THE LIFE OF ; every man of you will do his duty, and shew the enemy what we are. made of; not one firelock must be loaded on any account, without orders to that effect. You will respect old men, women^ and children; but every man with arms in his hands you must bayonet!" — A look of confidence and approbation was evident on every countenance, and seemed to promise, that there was nothing,!' which, under such a commander, they would not attempt. Satisfied that real courage, like real virtue, needs no amplification, we shall not endeavour, by any borrowed colour ing, to heighten the picture of Colonel Vassall's achievements in the subsequeiit attack, or his still more glorious conduct LIEUT.-COLONEL VASSALL. 29 after he had received the wound which deprived his country of his services, but shall content ourselves with transcribing the authentic, though simple account, which an unimpeached witness of the transaction has already given to the pub lic — we mean the letter which Sergeant Mathews, who attended the colonel as his orderly during the whole of that eventful morning, addressed to a friend of the family (Sir Home Popham), and which appeared at that time in most of the newspapers, Jilonte Video, Feb. \Oth, 1807, Sir, Pardon the liberty I am taking, as the gratitude I owe to my ever-lamented and best friend. Colonel Vassal!, obliges 30 MEMOIR OF THE LIFE OF me to give you and his friends an authentic account of his last; I being his orderly sergeant, and the chief person to witness his bravery, and the gallant manner in which he acquitted himself in doing his duty, in that unfortunate hour in which he fell,— On our approach to the wall we missed the breach; the grape and musketry flew so hot it drove the men into confusion, and would have made numbers of them retreat but for his exer tions. When he observed any of the men stoop or flinch, he cried out as loud as possible, " Brave 38th, my brave men, don't flinch ; every bullet has its billet. Push on, follow me. Thirty-eighth!" He rallied them repeatedly in this manner until he got them inside the breach. He immediately directed a party to take LlF:ut.-COL0NEL VASSALL. 31 possession of the corner battery next the sea, which was done in a few minutes, and another, under the command of Major Ross, to advance to the great church, and he was advancing himself to th6 main battery on the right, when a grape-shot broke his left leg, and as soon as he fell he cried out, " Push on, some body will take me up ; my good soldiers, charge them,' never mind me; it's only the loss of a leg in the service." He sat up, and helped to tie on a handkerchief to stop the blood, and cried out all the time of the action, " I care not for my leg, if my regiment do their duty, and I hope they will." As soon as the town surrendered he heard the men cheer, he joined them with as great spirits as if nothing had happened, and caUed to me 32 MEMOIR OF THE LIFE OF to have him carried to the head of hi» regiment. I feel to the heart for his family. I could wish to have fallen with him, sooner than part with a man who was so good a friend to me. At half-past three on the morning of the 3rd he re- reived his wound ; at one o'clock on the morning of the 7th he departed ; and at eight the same evening he was interred at the entrance of the Great Church, with all military honours. I am. Sir, Your very humble obedient servant^ (Signed) B- Mathews. Though the lamented Vassal! was wounded at an early hour on the 3rd of February, he did not expire till one o'clock on the n^orning of the 7th, Crreat LIEUT..COLONEL VASSALL, 33 hopes were at first entertained that his in valuable life might be saved by the ampu tation of the leg; but the heat of the climate brought on the symptoms of mor tification with such rapidity, that the medical men found it impracticable to perform the operation. The surgeon of the 38tb, actuated, no doubt, by the most affectionate, if mistaken, motives of deli cacy, neglected to apprize his beloved commander of his approaching dissolu tion, till a short time before he breathed his last. Colonel VassaU received the fatal news with unshaken fortitude ; but indignant at the delay of the communica tion, which put it out of his power to make some necessary arrangements for the benefit of his family, he asked the surgeon, with a tone of manly dignity. 34 MEMOIR OF THE LffE OF what he had ever seen in his conduct to make him think that he feared to die ? So tenacious was he to the latest moment of his existence, of the reputation of inflexible courage Which belonged to him ; and exemplifying the truth of a passage in one of our finest poets : " Ev'n from the tomb the voice of nature cries, Ev'n in their ashes live our woilted fires." Having in the foregoing pages given such ample proofs of the various merits of this distinguished officer, we shall veiiture to assert, without the feaf' of contradiction, that Colonel Vassal!,' Whether considered as a man, a soldier,' or a christian, is equally entitled to the admiration of posterity. To yOUng per sons commencinj^ the career of military LIEUT,.COLONEL VASSALL. 35 life, his conduct should be held up as the brightest example and noblest pro totype. From the commencement to the close of his professional services, he was uniformly the same. Indefatigable in the discharge of every public duty, he was a strict disciplinarian, yet temporising the austerity of command with such admirable suavity of manner, that he was at once loved, feared, and implicitly obeyed. Cool in the midst of danger, and foremost in the hour of attack, yet ever prone to mercy, the friend of his brother officers, and the father of his men ; zealous and unshaken in his pur pose, disdaining ease, exalted in his ideas of honour, generous, humane, disinteres ted, and of such unspotted integrity, that scandal never dared to raise its venomed 36 MEMOIR' OF THE LIFE OF tongue at his expense. In private life, ai sincere friend, a kind master, a fond brother, a dutiful son, a most aflectionate and indulgent husband, and the best of fathers. If his name had never reached beyond the precincts of the family of which he formed so distinguished an ornament, even then he had deserved a place in the recollection of the good and wise. If any testimony but that of his actions was wanting to establish his reputation, we might appeal to some of the highest military characters now living, . whd, to their own commendations, might add those which had been given in their presence to Colonel VassaU by other illustrious commanders now no more. In the early part of his career, he was ho- LIEUT-COLONEL VASSALL. 37 iioured by the notice of those gaUant veterans. Lord Heathfield and Sir Ralph Abercrombie, The Marquis of Hastings, always ready to be the patron of real merit, was, through life, his friend and protector ; and among those who knew him best, and valued him accordingly, we are bound to particularize Lord Cathcart, Marshal Lord Beresford, General Don, and the ever-lamented and truly great Sir John Moore, to whom it is not the least of Colonel Vassall's honours that he has more than once been compared : — " No, he shall rank with other heroes blest, Whqse lengthen'd years had drawn their talents forth. With Mogre or VassaU warm each Briton's breast. And teach our youth to emulate their worth." We shall conclude this memoir, by an account of the public and private marks 38 MEMOIR OF THE LIFE OF of respect which have been offered to his memory. The young, valiant, and justly regretted Colonel Brownrigg, who was the partici pator of his exertions in the capture of Monte Video, and who, like him, alas ! was doomed to be the victim of that memorable day, takes the lead (though he only survived his beloved comrade a few hours) in the number of those who have best done justice to his character. It will not be forgotten, that that gaUant man, though himself on the very brink of the grave, exclaimed as the body of Colonel Vassal! was carried through the room where he lay, " There goes one of the best and bravest of men 1 I shall soon follow him," LIEUT-COLONEL VASSALL, 39 Not to repeat the terms of commenda tion in which Colonel Vassall's conduct was spoken of in the Gazette, and other public prints, we shall proceed to mention, that heraldic honours* have been granted to his descendants commemorative of bis heroic death. * These honours are as follow ; — The VassaU arms were a cup and sun; a ship for a crest. The colonel's representatives are allowed to assiune the following. The sun rising in full splendour from behind the breached bastions of a fortress, and above the same, the words " Monte Video ;" the number " 58th" on a canton argent, within a branch of cypress, and another of laurel, the stems uniting in saltire ; and for their crest, on a wreath of the colours upon a mount vert, a breached fortress, thereon hoisted a flag, gules, with the inscrip tion " Monte Video," in letters of gold; motto, "Every bullet has its billet," supported by two colours on each side, half furled. 40 MEMOIR OF THE LIFE OF The Duke of York took an early opportunity, after the decease of this distinguished officer, whose heroic death will fill no contemptible page in the annals of history, to express the high sense he entertained of his meritorious services. His Royal Highness's exertions, as well as those of General Sir Robert Brownrigg, were unceasing ; and this excellent Com mander in Chief, after allotting, besides the pension ordinarily given to the widow of a Lieutenant-Colonel, the value of a major's commission, for the use of Mrs, Spencer Vassal!, recommended her pecu liar case to the attention of his majesty's ministers, and obtained for her, from his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, an additional pension. LIEUT.-COLONEL VASSALL, 41 Many literary tributes have been offered to his memory, among which stands pre-eminent an affecting monody, by Miss Holford, the admired author of " WaUace ;" who, in a note to the latter poem, has also mentioned him with merited distinction. We shall next adduce an humble but striking proof of the high veneration in which the late commander of the 38th is still held by the soldiers, not only of that regiment, but also of other corps, who had opportunities of witnes.sing his achievements. When the 38th and some more ^roops, on their return from South America, were quartered at Bandon in Ireland, a publican of a speculative turn, who had but little business, well ac- 42 MEMOIR OF THE LIFE OF quainted with the sentiments of the men> endeavoured to recommend himself to their notice, by erecting over his door a full-length picture of Colonel VassaU. He was not disappointed. His house was immediately crowded, and the soldiers who were even quartered at the most distant part of the town daily flocked to the spot which was honoured with the appellation of tliis beloved and still fondly remembered commandant. As we are of the opinion of Addison, that " all men have a yearning curiosity to behold a man of heroic worth in idea, if they cannot in person," we shall subjoin a short account of the external appearance of Colonel Vassal!. In stature above six feet high; his figure was re- LIEUT-COLONEL VASSALL. 43 markably handsome; his manner was dignified, graceful, and commandina:: his features were expressive; and the military ardour and daring spirit, which characterised him, were legibly stamped on his countenance. Besides a widow, (whose veneration and affection for him and his beloved memory never can be diminished,) Colonel Vassal! left four children , to deplore his loss, the elder of whom was not eight years of age at the time of his father's death, and the younger was born after his departure for the Cape. Tlie remains of Colonel VassaU were at first interred in the grand church at Monte Video, with all military honours, which were accompanied, on this occasion, by the 44 MEMOIR OF THE LIFE OF grateful tears of those who had shared and witnessed the glorious cause of his death. Colonel Nugent, who succeeded to the command of the regiment, having subse quently to this ceremony received letters, desiring that the body, might be conveyed to England, proceeded, with unexampled kindness, to execute this melancholy task ; and having with his own hands, at no trifling risk in that climate, removed the respected relics, of his friend, ordered them to be conveyed with the regiment to Great Britain, where they have since been depo sited in the family vault in the church of St. Paul's, Bristol. Those monumental honours, to which no man was ever better entitled than Colonel VassaU, were under taken by his affectionate widow ; and in the church already mentioned she has LIEUT-COLONEL VASSALL. 46 consecrated to his memory a beautiful piece of sculpture, designed by Flaxman, and executed by Rossi. With the epitaph inscribed on the tablet of this monument (the poetical part of which comes from the well-known pen of Mrs. Opie) we shall close this humble attempt to record the merits of an individual, who, to the great qualities which constitute the hero, added all those milder virtues, which refine and dignify humanity. 46 MEMOIR OF THE LIFE OF Sacred to the Memory of SPENCER THOMAS VASSALL, Esq. • Lieutenant-Colonel of the 38th Regiment; who. After 28 years of active and unremitting seivice, during which he had acquired a high military reputation, Was mortally wounded at the storming of Monte Video, in South America, On the 3d of February, 1807, At the moment he had conducted his intrepid followers within the walls of that fortress. And expired on the 7th of the same month, Aged 40. His beloved remains, brought to England by the companions of his victory, are deposited near this spot. Where to record her own, her children's, and her country's loss. She, who was the wedded and happy witness of his private worth. Has caused this monument to be erected. LIEUT.-COLONEL VASSALL. 47 " Stranger, if e'er you honour'd Sidney's fame. If e'er you loVd Bayard's reproachless name. Then on this marble gaze with tearful eyes. For kindred merit here with Vassall lies ! But, far more blest than France, or England's pride. In the great hour of conquest Vassall died; While still imdaunted in the glorious strife. Content he purchas'd victory with life ; And nobly careless of his own distress. He bade his mourning comrades onward press ; Bade them (the hero victor o'er the man) Complete the conquest which his sword began ; Then proudly smil'd amidst the pangs of death. While thanks for victory fill'd his parting breath." ELEGIAC ODE, TO THE MEMORY lieut.-colone;- vassall. BY MISS HOLFORD. THIS TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY OF A DEPARTED HERO, IS MOST RESPECTFULLY OFFERED TO MRS, SPENCER VASSALL, AS A TESTIMONY OF THE VERY SINCERE ESTEEM OF THE AUTHOR. ELEGIAC ODE. Muses of Britain! shall the tear Which Memory sheds o'er Valour's bier. Fall silent in the grave ? Are Mute despair, and heart drawn sighs, Meet tribute for the brave ? No, raise your pealing voices high, And bid them pierce the echoing skies With hymns of Victory ! Amid life's humblest, lowliest scene, Wh€re the year glides untraced away, 54 ELEGIAC ODE, And Man, as he had never been. Forgot, unheeded, or unseen, Resigns his little day;' E'en o'er his undistinguish'd brow Awhile the mourner Pity weeps. Her teeming eyes incessant flow. To wet the turf, where, pale and low, Some silent mortal sleeps : But when the Hero dies, A suffering Country sighs ! Yet soon the melancholy pause, To grateful sorrow giv'n, Yields to the thunder of applause. Which sweeps the vaulted Heaven ; Whilst ye, immortal Nine ! With busy fingers twine From ever-living plants fair chaplets for his shrine ! Where was the generous flush of youth ? On Vassall's cheek it glow'd ! ELEGIAC ODE. 55 Where thy pure dictates, manly truth ? From Vassall's lips they flow'd ! Honour, unsafe but noble guest, Sate proudly thron'd in Vassall's breast ! His gleaming faulchion waved on high. Like the red meteor in the sky, Glar'd terror on the startl'd eye ; Yet often o'er the prostrate foe. His British Arm witheld the blow. And bade the trembler rise and live. To tell through distant years how Britons can forgive ! Shall he, the gallant and the young, Drop from his high career imsung ? Ye Muses, no, The living glow Which fills your sacred strains was giv'n, ? To snatch from Lethe's chilling wave The well-eam'd honours of the brave. 56 ELEGIAC ODE, And bid his name suivive below, Whom Destiny, with sudden blow, Untimely sent to Heaven ! Mighty La Plata's Giant shore Shook at the British Lion's roar. And wild the Death-star gleam'd, And wide, Slaughter pour'd a crimson tide ; E'en Warriors shrank, dismay'd to view Death wear his grimmest, ghastliesj hue, And half reluctant seem'd : For fierce athwart the gloom of night, The war-fires cast their lurid light ! Elate, against the hurtling storm, Vassall opposed his dauntless form. And cheer'd his martial train : " Qome on, my Friends ! yon bulwark's pride, " Shall fall before war's sweeping tide, " And sti-ew the smoaking plain." ELEGIAC ODE. 57 On, on, he msh'd ! The crashing wall Gave way, and nodded to the fall ! Victory, thy flame inspired his hreast, Shed sparkles from his eyes, and flash'd around his crest ! England ! thy conquering banner flies, Fann'd by the breath of hostile skies ; And to the quell'd Iberian's eyes Recals those times when stories say, That Britons never lost the Day : Yet on La Plata's shore Wild Triumph lifl;s her echoing shouts no more ! But silence with portentous form. Points to the relics of the st(