RODNEY, GEORGE BRYDGES, a celebrated British admiral, the second son of Henry Rodney, Esq. of Wal ton-upon-Thames, was born in 1718. In 1742 he was appointed Lieutenant of the Namur, and afterwards to other ships, in which he rose to considerable distinction in his profession. In 1759 he accompanied Admirals Hawke and Boscawcn in their attempt upon the French coast; and in 1759 he was appointed Rear-Admiral of the Blue. In the same year he was sent to bombard Havre-de-Grace, and he succeeded in burning the town, and the magazines of stores and ammunition. In 1761 he assisted at the capture of the French West India Islands ; and at the conclusion of the war he was raised to the dignity of a baronet. In consequence of a con tested election for Northampton, in which he was suc cessful against Mr. Howe, Sir George Rodney injured his affairs to such a degree, that he retired to France. Through Duke de Biron, the French king endea voured to allure him into the French service by high pe cuniary offers. " My distresses," he replied, " have exiled me from my country, but no temptation can es trange me from her service. Had this offer been volun tary on your part, I should have deemed it an insult; but I am glad to learn that it proceeds from a source that can do no wrong." The Duke de Biron ever after wards entertained the warmest friendship for the British Admiral.
About the end of 1779, he obtained the chief com mand of the Leeward islands, and such was his success on this station, that he received a vote of thanks front the House of Lords, and the freedom of the cities of London and Edinburgh.
His great victory over the French fleet, of which we have already given a short account, under BRITAIN, was gained on the 12th April, 1782.
This victory was gained by putting in practice the method of breaking the enemy's line, invented by the late Mr. Clerk of Eldin. Admiral Rodney's own ship, the Formidable, kept close to the wind, and an opening being observed near the enemy's centre, it broke through at the head of the rear division, and the enemy's line was for the first time cut in two. " This action," says Professor Playfair, in his memoir of Mr. Clerk, "intro duced a new system, gave a turn to our affairs at sea, and delivered our country from that state of depression into which it had been thrown, not by the defeat of its fleets, but by their entire want of success."
" It was in the beginning of that year that the -Naval Tactics appeared in print, though for more than a year before, copies of the book had been in circulation among Mr. Clerk's friends.* Before going out to take the command of the fleet in the West Indies, Admiral Rod ney said one day to Mr. Dundas, ' There is one Clerk, a countryman of yours, who has taught us how to fight, and appears to know more of the matter than any of us. If ever I meet the French fleet, I intend to try his way.'" That Admiral Rodney did try Mr. Clerk's method, we have the testimony both of Lord Melville and Gene ral Ross, who heard the Admiral distinctly state, " that he owed his success in the West Indies to the manoeuvre of breaking the line, which he learned from Mr. Clerk's book." " An anecdote," says Mr. Play fair, " which sets a seal on the great and decisive testimony of the noble Admiral, is worthy of being remembered, and I am glad to be able to record it, on the authority of a noble Earl. The pre sent Lord Haddington met Lord Rodney at Spa, in the de cline of life, when both his bodily and his mental powers were sinking under the weight of years. The great commander, who had been the bulwark of his country, and the terror of his enemies, lay stretched on his couch, while the memory of his own exploits seemed the only thing that interested his feelings, or afforded a subject for conversation. In that situation, he would often break out in praise of the Naval Tactics, exclaiming with great earnestness, "John Clerk of Eldin for ever." As a reward for this brilliant victory, Sir George Rod-• ney was created a Peer of Great Britain, with the title of Baron Rodney of Rodney-Stoke, in the county of Somer set, and to this title was added a pension of X2000 to descend to his heirs. He died in London, on the 24th May, 1792, in the 74th year of his age. See our article BRITAIN, Stockdale's edition of Campbell's Lives of the Admirals, and the _Edinburgh Transactions, Vol. IX. p. 127.