There she lay at the bottom of the
sea, just as you have seen small vessels when left by the tide on a
bank. Cowper, when he heard the sad tale, thus wrote
"Her timbers yet are sound,
And she may float again,
Full charged with England's thunder,
And plough the distant main.
"But Kempenfelt is gone,
His victories are o'er,
And he, and his eight hundred
Shall plough the wave no more."
Admiral Kempenfelt was writing in his cabin when the ship sank; his
first captain tried to inform him of their situation, but the heeling of
the ship so jammed the cabin doors that he could not open them: thus the
admiral perished with the rest. It seems Cowper thought the Royal George
might be recovered; other people were of the same opinion.
[Illustration: BLOWING UP OF THE ROYAL GEORGE.]
In September of the year in which the vessel sank, a gentleman, named
Tracey, living in the neighborhood, by means of diving-machines,
ascertained the position and state of the ship, and made proposals to
government to adopt means of raising her and getting her again afloat.
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