Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 4.djvu/192

538 their own fire-ships. The Russian fleet, following up this success, now attacked the town and batteries on shore, and by nine o'clock in the morning- there was scarcely a vestige remaining of either town, fortifications, or fleet. For this important service, captain Greig, who had been appointed commodore on his being placed in command of the fire-ships, was immediately promoted by count Orlow to the rank of admiral, an appointment which was confirmed by an express from the empress of Russia. A peace was soon afterwards concluded between the two powers, but this circumstance did not lessen the importance of, admiral Greig's services to the government by which he was employed. He continued indefatigable in his exertions in improving the Russian fleet, remodeling its code of discipline, and by his example infusing a spirit into every department of its economy, which finally made it one of the most formidable marines in Europe.

These important services were fully appreciated by the empress, who rewarded them by promoting Greig to the high rank of admiral of all the Russias, and governor of Cronstadt. Not satisfied with this, she loaded him with honours, bestowing upon him the different orders of the empire, viz. St Andrew, St Alexander Newskie, St George, St Vlodomir, and St Anne.

Admiral Greig next distinguished himself against the Swedes, whose fleet he blocked up in port, whilst he himself rode triumphantly in the open seas of the Baltic. Here he was attacked by a violent fever, and having been carried to Revel, died on the 26th of October, 1788, on board of his own ship, the Rotislaw, after a few days' illness, in the 53d year of his age. As soon as the empress heard of his illness, she, in the utmost anxiety about a life so valuable to herself and her empire, instantly sent fior her first physician, Dr Rogerson, and ordered him to proceed immediately to Revel and to do every thing in his power for the admiral's recovery. Dr Rogerson obeyed, but all his skill was unavailing.

The ceremonial of the admiral's funeral was conducted with the utmost pomp and magnificence. For some days before it took place the body was exposed in state in the hall of the admiralty, and was afterwards conveyed to the grave on a splendid funeral bier drawn by six horses, covered with black cloth, and attended in public procession by an immense concourse of nobility, clergy, and naval and military officers of all ranks; the whole escorted by large bodies of troops, in different divisions; with tolling of bells and firing of cannon from the ramparts and fleet : every thing in short was calculated to express the sorrow of an empire for the loss of one of its most useful and greatest men.

GREGORY,, the able commentator on Newton's Principia, and Savilian professor of astronomy at Oxford, was born at Aberdeen on the 24th of June, 1661. His father, Mr David Gregory, brother of the inventor of the reflecting telescope, had been educated as a merchant, and spent a considerable time in Holland; but by the death of his elder brother he became heir to the estate of Kinnairdie, and from a predilection for the mathematics and experimental philosophy, he soon afterwards renounced all commercial employments, devoting himself entirely to the cultivation of science. The peculiarity of Mr Gregory's pursuits, caused him to be noted through the whole country, and he being the first person in Scotland who possessed a barometer, from which he derived an extensive knowledge of the weather, it was universally believed that he held intercourse with the beings of another world. So extensive had this belief been circulated, that a deputation from the presbytery waited on him, and it was only one fortunate circumstance that prevented him from undergoing a formal trial for witchcraft. He had from choice obtained an extensive knowledge of the healing art, his opinion was held in the highest estimation, and as he practised