accurately made under his own eye and observation, and the several buoys laid which were to direct the passage of the fleet; the vast fatigue of this employ was too much for his tender constitution, and had nearly proved fatal, but he was happily re-invigorated by his excessive zeal.  With the most indefatigable attention, did he prescribe every measure to be adopted by all ranks and degrees under his command; and there was no possible position that could have been contrived by the enemy, for which he was not effectually prepared, “I could only admire,” says Mr. Fergusson, modestly disclaiming nautical science, “when I saw the first man in all the world spend the hours of the day and the night in boats; and wonder, when the light shewed me a path, marked by buoys, which was trackless the preceding evening.”  It had been agreed, with Sir Hyde Parker, that his lordship should proceed with twelve ships of the line, and all the frigates, bomb-ketches, fire-ships, and other vessels, to Draco Point, a short distance from Copenhagen, for the purpose of making his final dispositions for the attack; waiting, there, the favourable effect of a wind to the southward:  and the commander in chief was to weigh anchor, with his division, whenever his lordship should proceed to the immediate scene of action; thus menacing, by his advance, the Crown Batteries, together with four ships or hulks which lay near for the protection of the arsenal, as well as covering any vessels which might happen to be disabled in an attack where they must necessarily be so prodigiously exposed.  Being now fully prepared, his lordship, with that truly Christian spirit which, in direct opposition to the puritanic cant of piety, was ever far more manifested by his actions than expressed by his lips, devoutly exclaimed—­“Thank God, for having enabled me to get through this difficult and fatiguing part of my duty:  which has, really, worn me down; and is infinitely more grievous to me, than any resistance I can experience from an enemy!”

The subsequent circumstances, as described by Mr. Fergusson, are so very characteristically detailed, that they cannot fail highly to interest every reader—­“On the 1st of April, in the afternoon,” says this ingenious gentleman, “we took our departure from the main body of the fleet, then lying about four miles below Copenhagen; and coasted along the outer edge of the shoal called the Middle Ground, till we doubled it’s farthest extremity, when the squadron cast anchor.  This shoal, of the same extent as the sea-front of the town, lies exactly before it, at about three quarters of a mile in distance.  The interval between it and the shore has deep water, and is called the King’s Channel.  There the Danes had arranged their line of defence, as near the town as possible.  It consisted of nineteen ships and floating-batteries, flanked at the lower extremity by two artificial islands in the mouth of the harbour, called the Crown Batteries, and extended