Though this may have the semblance of treating lightly these menaced legal prosecutions, it is well known that he felt very acutely on the occasion:  and nothing is more certain, than that he would have for ever quitted England, had not government so far interfered as entirely to quiet all his apprehensions on the subject.  His remonstrances were too strong to be resisted.  He was a man to be in no way trifled with.  Thus, had a thoughtless or careless administration slighted, or neglected, his claim to protection, and left him a prey to legal machinations, the nation would have certainly lost it’s chief champion; for, on the best authority, it is here repeated, he once had it in contemplation to leave for ever his native country!

What an awful consideration does this demand, from those who are entrusted with the administration of justice!  How many great men have been driven into eternal exile by the terrors of abused justice, by legal constructions of equity, and by the horrors of an impending prison for the perpetual incarceration of unfortunate and injured innocence!

Not, now, likely to be disturbed in the calmness of his retirement, he willingly descended, from the hero, to the private gentleman.  Nor did he even disdain to cultivate a few acres of glebe land annexed to the rectory.  Known, and beloved, by all the gentry in the neighbourhood, he joined frequently in their field diversions, and was particularly fond of coursing.  Though one of the best gunners in the world, he was a bad shot at a hare, a woodcock, or a partridge.  In pointing a great gun, however, on grand and suitable occasions, at a ship, a castle, or a fort, he was scarcely to be equalled:  so well, indeed, was this talent known, and so universally recognized, by his frequently volunteering his services on shore, that he was familiarly called the brigadier, ever after the affair of San Juan.

In cultivating the friendship of respectable neighbours, who laudably courted his society; in rendering kind offices to the humbler inhabitants of his vicinity, by whom he was universally beloved; in enriching his mind by reading and reflection, and improving his land by cultivation; this great man employed most part of the leisure which peace afforded him.  Sometimes, indeed, he went to Bath, or other fashionable resorts, during the seasons, where he might meet with his old friends; and sometimes sought them in the metropolis, where he occasionally paid his respects at the Admiralty.

His heroic mind, no doubt, amidst the calm of peace, prepared for the storm of war; and, though he disdained not the culture of the ploughshare, he looked forward to the day when it would become necessary to exchange it for the sword.  He was particularly fond of geographical studies:  few men were so well acquainted with maps and charts; and his accurate eye frequently traced with eagerness the various parts of the globe which he had passed with difficulty or delight, and the spots at which he had successfully or unpleasantly paused.