VICE-ADMIRAL HORNBY.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1278, 24 April 1878, Page 3

VICE-ADMIRAL HORNBY.

For several weeks tno name of Admiral lori.by Inis been on all men’s lips. To him is ’ntrusted the honour and interests of England

in the East. At the present moment he is a passive agent. A message from Do«ningslreet sends him to the mouth of the D rda nelles. Another withdraws him. A third despatches him to the Sea of Marmora, and

orders him to remain in easy sail of Constantinople. He is the shuttlecock of the diplomatic battledore. Upon him, however, in the event of certain contingencies, easily foreseen, will in a great degree depend the position to be hereafter held by this country among the nations. On the retirement of diplomacy, Admiral Hornby, wielding the naval power of England, would take its place. The man who has accepted so tremendous a responsibility lully deserves the trust imposed upon him. Admiral Hornby comes of the right stock. On both sides he belongs to a fighting family. Geoffrey George Phipps Hornby is the son, by a sister of the late Field Marshal Sir John Burgoyne, of (lie late Admiral Sir Phipps Hornby, who served with great distinction in the French wars at the beginning of this century, who was a lieutenant on board the Victoria when she carried Lord Nelson’s flag, and who got a medal when in command of the Volage in Sir W. Hoste's action off Lissa. The present Admiral, born in 1825, entered the service on board the Princess Charlotte in 1837, and was present as a midshipman at the bombardment of Acre by Sir Kobert Stopford and Sir Charles Napier. He afterwards served under Admiral Percy at the Cape of Good Hope, ui dcr his father, Sir Phipps Hornby, in the Pacific, and on various other stations. He has been twice round the world. Admiral Hornby has worked hard all his life at the theory and practice of his profession. When a young captain he got leave for a year and studied steam in the dockyard at Portsmoth, It was ho who commanded the first flying squadron as captain, with the rank of commodore, taking the squadron round the world. He has, besides, had great experience in manoeuvring fleets. He was Flag Captain to Sir Sidney Hacres, when that officer commanded the Channel Fleet, and subsequently, as Rear-Admiral, he himself held that post, succeeding Admiral W ellesley. In addition to his professional acquirements, Admiral Hornby is a proficient mathematician and a good French scholar. Ho is also thoroughly a quainted with the routine of Admiralty affairs, having served under Mr Ward Hunt as a Lord of the Admiralty in Lord Beaconsfield’s Administration, as his father had served in that of the late Lord Derby, It may be added that Admiral Hornby is a cousin of Lord Dei by, and a brother of Dr. Hornby, the distinguished and popular head master of Eton. Such is the commander who, in the event of hostilities, will be the shield and buckler of England. He is popular with uis officers, and beloved by his men. He is at once a sailor of the old type and of the new —the right man in the right place. —“ The Hornet.”