BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR OF THE LATE ADMIRAL SIR JOHN MOORE, BART. K. B.

Summary

Behold I see the Haven nigh at hand,

To which I meane my wearie course to bend;

Vere the maine Shete, and beare up with the land,

The which afore is fayrly to be kend,

And seemeth safe from Storms, that may offend.

Spenser.

In retracing the brilliant achievements of former wars, we frequently meet with officers whom the various incidents of life have had a tendency to render particularly interesting; and whilst we pursue the narrative that records their history, they seem in the mind's eye to move before us:–“The ghosts of those he sang,” says Ossian, “came in the rustling blasts! they were seen to bend with joy towards the sound of their praise.”

Mr. J. Moore was born on the 24th of March, in the year 1718. His father was the second son of Henry Earl of Drogheda, since created a Marquis. Mr. Moore's mother, Catherine, was the daughter of Sir Thomas Knatchbull, Bart and the widow of Admiral Sir George Rooke. Their family, besides the object of the present Memoir, consisted of two sons: Henry, the eldest of the children, was struck, at Cambridge whilst engaged in playing at tennis, and died on the spot: a monument was erected to his memory in the chapel of his college, Catherine Hall.