Lord Mulgrave afterwards proposed to him to be second in command in the Mediterranean; and suggested that Lord Collingwood would probably be glad to surrender his charge to an officer who possessed the confidence of the Admiralty; for that of late he had repeatedly expressed a desire to be relieved from it on account of his declining health.  But Sir Edward, who was not aware of the actual condition of that distinguished Admiral, declined the offer, for he could not be persuaded that Lord Collingwood would resign a command which he filled so usefully and honourably, as long as he could possibly hold it with advantage to his country.

He did not remain long unemployed, though he never attempted to create an interest in his favour by any indirect means.  Political intrigue, he has said, does not sit well on a sea-officer; and he would not attach himself to the fortunes of any administration, or party.  This, as it is the most honourable, is also in the end the most successful path; but the man who travels thus alone and unsupported, must be prepared for the many attacks to which such a position will expose him.  Some such annoyance or interference may have prompted the following blunt avowal of independence in a letter, of the 28th of July, 1810.

“I have no right to the favour of Mr. Percival, or any minister.—­I have never intrigued, nor ever will—­and as to sneaking after such people, I will not—­and as to the command of the Channel fleet, be it Pole, or be it Calder, I care not one straw—­and whether I am on the shelf by any new set, is equally indifferent—­and for me, who am fifty-three, except the heart-felt satisfaction of serving my country in such times, I will never be at the trouble to write a letter to ask a favour of any minister alive.  I care not who comes in, or who goes out, and if they send me on shore, well; and if not, it is the same.”

In the spring of 1810 he hoisted his flag on board the Christian VII. as commander in-chief in the North Sea.  He rode at anchor with his fleet all the summer, off the mouth of the Scheldt, just in sight of land; while his smaller vessels were actively employed along the whole line of coast.  He frequently stood into the Scheldt in a cutter, that he might reconnoitre the enemy’s fleet in person.  A gale from the eastward having blown the fleet off the coast, it was at anchor in the Downs, when a gun-brig arrived with intelligence that the enemy had dropped down to the Western Scheldt, apparently ready to sail.  He ordered the fleet to sea immediately; but many of them having made signal of inability, for the pilots refused to get them under weigh, he sent for the chief pilot of the flag ship, and questioned him if it were practicable to take out a ship in such weather.  The pilot having reported that it was quite safe, even for the Christian VII., which from her great length was the least manageable ship in the fleet, much more so for the others, some of which