During the progress of the present Volume a new Ministry has been established, and a new Board of Admiralty appointed by His Majesty. The veteran Lord Barham, and the veteran Cornwallis, and the veteran Sir A. S. Hammond, have retired. Whilst the Minister, who so long guided the destinies of this country, and weathered some of the most violent storms that ever agitated the political hemisphere, has followed his favourite Hero, our lamented Nelson, to the tomb.

Attached to no party, and wedded to no system; we yet, in common with the rest of our independent countrymen, dread those sudden and continual changes, which, like the uncertain temperature of our climate, render the minds of men feverish and irritable: they are always followed by storms of thunder, and of lightning. The angry spirit of party that had subsided, or been repressed, blazes forth anew; and the modest unassuming exertions of some of the ablest servants of the public, are sunk in an ungrateful oblivion.

The present Government, and the present Board of Admiralty, present an assemblage of talent, and of integrity, from which every thing may be expected: and we sincerely trust, that the impetuosity, and too decided character of a few individuals, will be chastened and overcome, by the candour and mild deportment of some of the leading members in the present administration.