No man could be more careful of the reputation and feelings of his officers, or more ready to suggest a plea in excuse for their errors.  He had an extreme dislike to bring any of them to a court-martial, and would never resort to this painful extremity where it could with any propriety be avoided.  Very few cases occurred under his command; so few, indeed, that it has even been asserted that not one took place.  This it would be too much to affirm.  It may be quite true that he was in no case the accuser:  it certainly was his practice to prevent extreme measures wherever he could support the authority of the superior without subjecting the accused to the consequences of a public trial; and the recommendation of the commander-in chief would generally be conclusive.  Still, a serious case would sometimes occur, in which it was impossible to prevent the law from taking its course.  At a particular period of his command, and on a very important and critical occasion, one of his captains placed him in a position of much embarrassment, by entering without authority into a treaty with the Queen and Court of Murat.  The commander-in-chief arrived very soon after, and annulled the treaty; but he spared the officer the pain of his position by charging him with the most prominent and honourable service connected with his own arrangements.  In his despatches to the Admiralty on the occasion, he touches very lightly on the error, but enforces every exculpatory plea.  Of the unauthorized arrangement with the enemy, he merely writes, “which I should have been glad he had never entered upon;” yet he adds, “from my conviction that he had been actuated by the purest motives, and placed in a peculiar situation.  I thought it right, in acknowledging his letter, to express my approbation of his general proceedings; and in consideration of all the circumstances connected with his engagements.  I gave him my sanction to,” &c.  He then proceeds to describe the flattering trust he had committed to this officer.

But kind as he was, he endured no relaxation of discipline, and never forgot what was due to his rank and station.  His manners were formed by his character; and whenever an individual with commanding talents directs them to worthy objects, combining a proper sense of what he owes to himself with a just consideration for others, he will always, and without an effort, appear dignified and amiable:  far more so in his unaffected simplicity, than the man who only assumes the character of the chief and patron, because his position requires it.

His temper was warm, the common failing of quick and active minds.  No one was more conscious of it than himself; and where he feared it had given pain, he would labour to remove the impression by marked and continued attentions.  In the multiplicity of cares and duties which surround a commander-in-chief, there are so many sources of irritation and disappointment, that it is no wonder the mind should sometimes be brought to that extreme point of endurance, when a small additional annoyance destroys its equanimity.