there be found stated, that Meester Cornelis was taken by assault on the 26th August[1].
At that period. Captain Sayer, and the subject of this memoir, had been four months actively employed in paving the way for the complete expulsion of the enemy from the Eastern hemisphere, and their minds so fully engaged, that they felt no ill effects from the climate and constant exposure; but the evening after the glorious assault of Cornelis, when the seamen were ordered to re-embark, they were both attacked with the fever, and for some days Captain Sayer’s life was despaired of. Lieutenant Lyons was obliged to be invalided, and just as he was about to sail for England, he received the following letter from his distinguished commander and friend:–
“H.M.S. Leda, Batavia Roads, Aug. 31, 1811.
“My dear Lyons,– I should have written to you sooner, but I have been so weak till to-day, that I have been unable.
“I would thank you for your assistance, but could hardly find terms strong enough to convey my meaning.
“As our acquaintance has now been of some duration, I have taken a few liberties with your name to our admiral, that he may publish to the Admiralty, the character of so meritorious a fellow as it deserves to be.
Yours ever sincerely.
(Signed)“George Sayer.”
“To Lieut. Lyons, H.M.S. Minden.”
Mr. Lyons returned home with Captain Cole, in the Caroline frigate; and obtained the rank of commander. Mar. 21, 1812. In April, 1813, he was appointed to the Rinaldo brig, on the Downs station, which vessel formed pail of the squadron under the Duke of Clarence, when H.R.H., as Admiral of the Fleet, escorted Louis 18th to France, and the allied sovereigns of Russia and Prussia to England. She also brought over from Boulogne, Mr. Planta, the bearer of the treaty of Paris.
Captain Lyons’ post commission bears date June 7, 1814; from which period he remained unemployed till Jan. 18, 1828, when he was appointed to the Blonde 46, fitting for the Me-
