THE
UNITED SERVIC
JOURNAL
AND
iftabal an& Jftflitarg
1832. PART I.
LONDON:
HENRY COLBURN AND RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET.
u
9-7
LONDON :
PRIKTED BY SAMUEL BENTLBY, Dorset Sued, Fleet Street.
CONTENTS
FIRST PART OF 1832.
PAGE
A NEW Year's Preface . . . . .1
Naval Operations of the Burmese War . . . . 10
An Apology for the Indian Army . . . .28
Recollections of a Sea Life . i . 41,160,345,398
Survey of the West Coast of Africa in 1825-6 . ., -^v 49, 324
The British Cavalry on the Peninsula . . •/•; . 57, 457
Ships' Water Tanks . ' . ; . .64
Service Afloat during the late War . . .65, 366
A Popular View of Fortification and Gunnery, No. X. .72
Observations on the Common Mode of connecting the Top-masts with the Lower-masts of Ships, and a description of a Method by which the Great Evils incidental to the Usual Practice are avoided 80
Biographical Memoir of the late Capt. Sir William Bolton, Knt. R.N. 84 A Recent Visit to several of the Polynesian Islands . . 89,217
Memoir of the Services of Admiral Sir Charles Henry Knowles, Bart. 97 Tahiti, and the Pitcairn Islanders . . .98
News from the New World ..... 101 Reviews and Critical Notices ' . *•• .^ . 103,230,523
Cavendish ; or, the Patrician at Sea — The Log-Book of a Midship- man— Eminent British Military Commanders — Early English Na- vigators—Gallery of the Society of Painters in Water Colours — Poland— The Cabinet Annual Register— Instructions for the ap- plication of Light Drill to Skirmishing in the Field, &c. — The Harmonicon .
General Correspondence '. • • 105, 241, 385, 529
A 2
IV CONTENTS.
PACK
Admiral Brooking to Sir Robert Seppings . 105 Suggestions on Promotion in the Navy : . • 105 Major W. Mitchell on the Trisection of an Angle, and the Mathema- tical Principles of Field Movements . . . 106 Regulations and Discipline of the Navy . 109 Regimental Grievances . . • . .111 The War of Terry Alt . . . . Ill
The French Convention of 1792 f J.~ 4'.'' . .112
Percussion Shells . ' . . • • 112
Depots . . *Y~~ "."" • '• • H3
Badges of Merit . . . . 114
Somerset Yeomanry ". . . . .115
Volunteers . . . „ . . 115
Communication of Signals by Tubes . . • .117
Algiers in 1816 . . ' . » . 118
On the Latitude of Sheerness .. . • • 120
Yeomanry Cavalry . . . . .120
The Editor's Portfolio . . . 121, 257, 401, 545
Arrivals, Sailings, and Incidents in the Fleet . 128, 267, 408, 551
General Orders, Circulars, &c. . . 129, 268, 409, 560
Courts-Martial . . . . •-. 130,275,561
Promotions and Appointments . . . 130, 280, 426, 571
Stations of the Army on the 1st of Jan. 1832 . . 133
Record of the 25th Regiment . . . .137
Births, Marriages, and Deaths . . . 141, 283, 430, 574
Meteorological Register . . 144, 288, 432, 576
To Readers and Correspondents . . . 144, 288, 432, 576
On the Maritime Population of the British Empire . 145, 479
Regulars and Trained Bands . . . .149
The Soldier . . . . . .156
Sketches of the Burmese War . . No. 1. 168, No. II. 337
First Meridian . . . . . 176, 398
Extracts from the MS. Journal of a Naval Officer serving on the
Jamaica Station during the late War . . .177
Reminiscences of a Subaltern . . . No. IX. 188
Memoir of Rear-Admiral James Walker, C.B. . . . 201
CONTENTS. -V
PAGE
Project for a Land Communication with Ireland . •-*.-•' 209
On the Use of Rocket Lights, as auxiliaries to Light-houses . 213
The Austrian Frontier Fencibles . • . . . 215 Anecdotes of Spain and Portugal in 1817 • ; * V- ^"* 220, 484
Operations in Mysore . . . . • ' '•;*-' 223
Traits and Incidents, Naval and Military • .- •• . . 225 Reviews and Critical Notices — Cavendish ; or, the Patrician at Sea —
Standard Novels — The New Charter . . . 230
War on the Grand Scale ..... 241
A Yarn touching the noble Ship — British Constitution . 245
Plan for the Organization of a Civil Constabulary Force . . 247 Capt. Woodley, in reply to Strictures on his Divine System of the
Universe ...... 248
Night Signals . . . . • . . 249
Retirement of Old Officers . . . ' . " . 251
Reward of Service . '• . . . . 252
Cavalry Affair of Rio Mayor, 8th October 1810 . . . 253
Remarks on the Purveyor's Department . . . 253
A Veteran's Suggestion on Reform .... 254
Trisection of an Angle ..... 256
Changes in the Stations of Corps . . . 267, 408, 550
Prize Money ...... 275
Parliamentary Paper ..... 276
Distribution of the Royal Navy . . . .277
Tactics, No. II. . . . . . . 289
Military Reforms of Turkey and Egypt . . . 307 A Word upon " Youngsters" .' . . .316
Colloquies with Folard, No. VII. . . . . 3.53
The Beacon-Light . . ' » . . . 365 Memoir of the Services of the late Admiral the Hon. Sir Alexander
Inglis Cochrane, G.C.B. ..... 372
Memoir of the Services of Gen. Sir George Don, G.C.B. & G.C.H. 375
Memoir of the Services of the late Vice-Admiral Robert Barton . 377
Memoir of Lieut.-Gen. Sir Gabriel Martindell, K.C.B. . 379 Percussion Shells, Steamers of War, Horizontal Fire of Shells from
Shipping . . . . . .381
VI CONTENTS.
PACE
Sam Sprit at a Masquerade . / * . ' • • • 385
Military Law, and the late Courts-Martial . . 388
New Rocket Signals . . . . ». . .390
Signals y. ... ?'.„.. . . . 391
A Glance at Affairs, General and Regimental . . . 392
Twenty-fifth Regiment . >•*•.. .?.-.> :, . . 393
Chatham Dockyard .-,, ; i .«:, .«/./.' - • 393
Hints to Young Officers . n * . , •:*£ > • • 394
Medals for Service . . . ,.•;. . . 395
Arms of the Cavalry ' .'•. i:- . . . 395
The Lament of a Young Moustache ';*•*;• ..•«•'.; • • 397
On the Trisection of an Angle, by Major Mitchell . . 398
On the Trisection of an Angle, hy Capt. Burton . . . 400
Parliamentary Proceedings . . . . . 409, 552
Considerations on Manning the Navy for future War . . 433
Two Days at St. Helena ..... 450
Sebastian Cabot . • 0 * • • • 465
Memoir of the Services of the late Admiral of the Fleet, William
Peere Williams Freeman ..... 493
Memoir of the Services of the late Admiral Sir Richard Hussey
Bickerton, Bart. K.C.B. and K.C. . . .495
Memoir of the Services of the late Vice-Admiral Lord Henry Paulet,
K.C.B. . . . . . .498
Royal Naval School . . . . .501
Modern instances of Submarine Volcanic Eruptions, &c. . . 509
Phenomenon at St. Helena . . . .512
Greece ....... 513
Zisca's retreat from Prague . . . . 519
A Veteran's Vision . . . . . .521
Reviews and Critical Notices — Memoir of the early operations of the Burmese War — Adventures of a Younger Son — Standard Novels, XII. and XIII.— Cabinet Cyclopajdia, Vol. XXVI.— History of the Italian Republics — Eminent British Military Commanders, Vol. XXVIII.— Life and Reign of George IV. concluding Vol. — The Cabinet Annual Register, Vol. I. — The Georgian Era — A Dictionary of Commerce— Hansard's Analytical Parliamentary
CONTENTS. Vll
PACK
Digest — Annual Biography and Obituary of 1831 — The Chame- leon— Colonial Crisis — Hanoverian Military Journal — Reefing Topsails — Landscape Illustrations of Lord Byron's Works, &c. — Gallery of the Society of Painters in Water Colours — Fragments
of Voyages and Travels . . . . . 523
Colonel Botherton on a Passage in our January Number respecting
the British Cavalry . . . . . . 529
Claims to the capture of Gen. Le Fevre at Benevente . . 529
Steam Vessels of War . . . ... 530
On Manning the Navy in the event of a War ». . 531
Depot Staff Appointments . . , . . 532 Life Boats . . . . * .533
Punishment Drills ...... 535
Alleged loss of Life by Shipwreck on the Coast of Cornwall . 535
Naval Promotion . . . . . . 536
Formation and Movements in Battalion . . _ . 537
Promotion in the Corps of Marines . . . 538
Permanent Fortification ..... 539
Training Yeomanry in the Sword Exercise . . . 540
Mounting the Cavalry . . . 541
Masse/s Sounding-Machine . ... 542
Dress and Equipment of Riflemen .... 542
Moustaches . . . . . . 543
Court-Martial on Capt. Warrington . 543
Ireland .... . 544
Annals of the British Army . 565
ERRATA. 1831, PART III.
Page 435, Riots at Bristol, 4th line from the top, for '.'acting with energy" read " in acting with energy." j Page 442, Ditto, Adjutant General's Letter, first line, for" circumstances" read " disturbances/
Page 543, line 16, for " has way" read " has stern way."
1832, PART I.
Page 41, line 19, dele " of" and " we." Page 48, line 32, dele " and men."
Page 110, line 18 from bottom, for " would " read " could." Page 120, line 30, for " hastily" read " heartily." Page 137, line 4, for " Killinakie" read Killicrankie.
2nd line from bottom, for " Ronaux" read " Ronconx." Page 138, line 19 from bottom, for " two" read " ten." Page 139, line 25, for " Albracers" read " Alkinaar." Page 300, line 37, for " their" read " then." Page 303, line 13, for "square" read " squares." Page 372, line 11 from the bottom, for " 1779" read 1797."
THE
UNITED SERVICE JOURNAL,
AND
NAVAL AND MILITARY MAGAZINE.
A NEW YEAR'S PREFACE.
" Qnand on n'aspire qu'a etre utile, on pent se passer de louanges."
DE LA HARPE.
" TIME rolls his ceaseless car," and before these pages shall have been opened, the year 1831, that was ushered in gilded by the brilliant beam of hope that shone over Poland, will have set in darkness, ren- dered amply visible by the warning fires of Lyons and of Bristol. May we never look upon its like again ! But before proceeding to its brief epitaph, we here beg leave to wish you, most kind and courteous reader, a right happy, pleasant, and merry new year. May you, during the course of its 365 days shed no tears but those of joy, heave no sighs but those that beauty's smile will arrest, and may you remain as free from grief and disappointment as either Red or Blue Jacket can possibly expect. Nay more, we hope that in the close scrutiny which you will of course institute into all your last year's actions and feelings, you may find but little valuable time spent in utter thoughtlessness, in merely waiting for pleasure instead of being employed to lay the foun- dation of happiness. May you have few idle hopes, as idly cherished, to remember : few airy structures of imagination, raised but to crush you by their fall, to recollect. May you have little of unworthy passion, followed by internal humiliation, to regret : and above all, may you be entirely free from the bitter pang occasioned by a per- severance in the path of error after your better feeling and judg- ment had warned you to withdraw, whilst culpable vanity and the shame of retracting, led you, perhaps, to the very brink of dishonour, merely to avoid its semblance. And few there are, even of the best of us, who will find such scrutiny vain and unprofitable :
" Vain was the man, and weak as vain, Who said, were he ordained to run His long career of life again
He would do all that he had done."
But to return to the year that has just been added to the mighty and countless mass of unreturning time. Taken as a mere period of twelve calendar months, it has, like other years, seen the agonies of crushed and severed affection, the tears of innocence, the sorrows and sufferings of the good, the broken hearts and heart-burnings of the generous and the brave, occasioned by the callous ingratitude of man,
U. S. JOURN. No. 38. JAN. 1832. u
2 A NEW YEAR'S PREFACE.
and, above all, of governing man. On the other hand, it has also wit- nessed the contrast so amusingly displayed between the actions and professions of men., as well as between their merits and pretensions. It has seen the mean and sordid miser claiming credit for generous liberality, on the mere strength of the wealth which he kept closely confined to his own pocket : it has seen the promoted pretender strut about in the full and unblushing ignominy of stars and rank, due only to the courage and high emprize, which, when coupled with his name, convulsed even the grave with laughter : it has also beheld folly and ignorance triumphant and prosperous, whilst worth and virtue were kept in the back ground. Like other years, it has no doubt heard the artful impostor speak in praise of truth and honour, and the harsh, selfish, and overbearing, preach in favour of meekness, forbearance, and liberality ; but it remained for the year 1831, to see blind and uncon- trolled Fortune lording it over the majestic world, appropriately de- corated with the cap and bells, which her giddy goddess-ship was ever threatening to exchange for the bonnet rouge of Jacobinism, that, strange to say, even good and worthy men were at every turn holding up and recommending to her as the most becoming head-dress imaginable — and Fortune is a woman, who, like others of her fickle sex, has before now been gained by flattery.
It is from historical events the last year is so rich in the lessons that experience can furnish to reflection. That wild year beheld the star of Polish independence, the rising of which, from old and proud associations, was so joyfully hailed by all Europe, quenched in blood without a sword having been drawn in the well-asserted cause and against the strong oppressor, by those nations who supported the despicable Greeks and as cowardly Belgians against comparatively weak but legitimate sovereigns. It saw the millennium that the three glorious days of Paris were to establish in France, end in doubts, fears, open rebellion, and all but anarchy. It saw the Belgians, after bullying the world by empty bravadoes, and merely in mercy forbear- ing to conquer Holland, fly, as no fugitives ever fled before, at the very first sight of their insulted and ill-used foes ; and our own land, so long the seat of peace and security, even in the times of our wildest political dissensions, was destined, in the sack and conflagration of Bristol, to furnish a melancholy illustration of the value of those Utopian doctrines of human excellence, on which so many brilliant theories of government and legislation had lately been erected. And yet, with these mighty events crowded into the space of one short year, there are men who would tell us that history — the " testis temporum ; lux veritatis ; vita memoriae ; nuncia vetustatis ; magistra vitae," — is nothing better than an old almanack. And so, indeed, it is to some — but as an old almanack will serve as a true guide to him whose far-seeing eye knows how to trace the brilliant course of the heavenly bodies through their " wilds of empyreal blue," in like manner will history enable the philosopher and the man of thought and reflection to trace the progress of human events, knowing from previous data the direction in which human passion will impel the earthy bodies of little men. At this moment, however, we have no intention to moralize on the past, or to philoso- phize on the present, intending merely to egotize, if one may be per- mitted to use such a word, on our own far more important selves ; and
A NEW YEAR'S PREFACE. 3
we have here pointed to the events and character of our time only be- cause we wish you, gentle reader, to judge fairly of us ; and it is only by trying us according to the times in which we live and act, that we can be justly estimated. An United Service Journal published at Rome, under the dictatorship of Caesar, would, no doubt, have been as different from a martial magazine to which Tilly, Wallenstein, and Torstenson should contribute, as the latter would be unlike this our incomparable Miscellany.
It is known to most of our readers that, owing to circumstances which began to operate after the peace of 1762, military feeling and know- ledge were allowed to fall to so low an ebb in this country, as actually to give rise to the opinion that the men of Britain, the masters of the sea, and conquerors of every fair field in which they had fought, were totally unfit for military duty. Under this most exalted and patriotic belief we actually submitted, during the first American war, to the lasting disgrace of hiring foreign soldiers to fight our battles ; arid as the French Revolution found us still incapable of taking the field, we were forced to subsidize Continental armies, that were struck to the ground even faster than our gold could bolster them up. It was not till we were thrown back upon our own resources, that we thought of calling forth the martial spirit of our people ; and though we did not call in vain, we had yet to pay dearly, both in blood and treasure, for the recovery of that military station from which we had so gratuitously descended. Yet, with the dearly-purchased experience of the past before our eyes, and whilst still smarting under the effects of that taxation, which the neglect of the United Services heaped upon the country, are the same causes that led to so much loss and suffering again at work, undermining the proud structure of our military strength and fame, and threatening to leave us, at no distant period, exactly where the revolution-war found us forty years ago. It is the object of this Journal not only to arrest so baneful a consummation, but to aid the military sciences in keeping pace with the general pro- gress of knowledge, and to help in obtaining for the United Services such naval and tactical institutions as may be best suited for the genius and spirit of the sailors and soldiers of Britain. Feeble as our humble means may appear for so mighty an undertaking, we trust to the nobleness of our cause for rallying round us such support as shall give it the necessary strength and firmness.
But easily as our object is stated, it is not so easily acted up to ; for, independently of the difficulties which every periodical is heir to, we labour under many from which our more fortunate contemporaries are entirely free ; and some of these we must here, in justice to ourselves, bring under the notice of our readers.
The very low state to which the military feeling of the country had, as above stated, been allowed to fall, naturally acted as a bar to all military study, and placed all interchange of thoughts on professional subjects entirely out of the question. We became during the war as good practical soldiers as our vieAvs and our books of regulations, simple translations from the regulations intended for men of a different country and of a totally different stamp, would permit ; but of the just theory of war we knew little ; we never even attempted to call forth the best energies of our soldiers, or to raise the science to the standard
B 2
4 A NEW YEAR'S PREFACE.
of those qualities of which they might justly boast. As to military literature, it was, under such circumstances, of course, entirely out of the question, and the country that surpassed all the rest of Europe in everv other department of literature could not produce three military worts of ordinary merit. Many of our military friends too were already in the field at an age when what may be properly termed the academic studies of young men, bred to more peaceful pursuits, were only commencing ; others, again, were for years together buried in quarters where the sight of a book of any kind is altogether a rarity.
A taste for military reading was, therefore, to be created, before we had any works capable of serving as an inducement to study, or as an example for imitation, to those who might be willing to enter the field as writers. Early habits of indispensable professional study, naturally gave naval men a great advantage in this respect, but this could not altogether lighten our labours, for except when they dealt in spirit- stirring adventures, their account of chain-pumps and sounding- machines, were just as uninteresting to the military reader as descrip- tions of knapsacks, and discussion about the formation of threes and fours, were to the sailor. Such subjects, though of the highest import- ance to the profession, are, of course, totally condemned by the ordinary reader, who wants nothing but adventures and battles — " Recollections" and " Reminiscences," &c. &c. ; — a very natural, though, perhaps, not very rational wish, for unless we mean to forsake the interest of the professions, and to relinquish all hopes of being useful by occasionally discussing the various branches of naval and military science, and the endless matters of detail, the vast importance of which professional men alone can judge of, we must of necessity deal moderately in merely popular articles. Though we know that we can trust implicitly to the liberality of the profession and the public in this matter, yet they can form no idea of the difficulty we find in justly balancing such different interests.
Of the mechanical difficulties that would naturally beset naval or military men in their first outset as commanders of a periodical, or of the fiery spirits whom we have occasionally to deal with and control, who think that in letters, as in war, every thing may be carried sabre a la main, we say nothing, because it is our duty to overcome, as we trust we have successfully done, the first; and because, in the second, the good feelings and confidence of our comrades invariably in the end come to our aid. But then we are by the didactic nature of our under- taking, prevented from indulging in that egotistical extravagance and piquant system of personality, occasionally carried a little too far, per- haps, that render some of our more lively contemporaries so popular and amusing. But though our contributors generally appear in mask, they still appear in uniform, and the motley garb of folly is hardly consistent with the even dignity of our profession. We must affect a wisdom, even when we have it not.
Nor do our troubles end here, for at a time when party politics con- stitute the very breath of the nation's nostrils, we must naturally fight at disadvantage, from having excluded so interesting a topic from our pages. As we have constantly upheld the doctrine, that naval and military men can, in their professional character, be of no party but that of their country, it would but ill become us, who look upon our
A NEW YEAR'S PREFACE. ,5
object as closely connected with the interest and honour of the country, and who, consequently, hope for the upright support of all parties, to make our Journal the mere organ of a faction. That we were forced into the arena when the existence of our order was at stake, and when the very principles upon which it can alone rest, with national advan- tage, were openly attacked, is most true ; and similar circumstances may, no doubt, call us to the field, but it can be in the cause of the professions only. Our fate is linked to that of the United Services. We lift no pen in party feuds, and disclaim all interference in domestic politics beyond what is indispensably necessary in discussing those pro- fessional regulations and principles that emanate from, and are, to a certain extent, inseparably connected with our happy political institu- tions.
How indispensable such interference must be at times, is rendered amply evident at the very moment we are writing, by the singular fact, that Mr. Drummond, distinguished above his contemporaries as much for worth, piety, and virtue, as Cobbett is for high and abused talents, both call for the total and unconditional reduction of the army, though agreeing in no other point whatever ! They would, it seems, replace us by a sort of permanent district militia, to be raised by counties themselves, without exactly explaining how the well-conditioned mili- tiamen from Cheapside or Piccadilly, are to be persuaded to perform long marches on the banks of the Ganges, or to mount guard under the burning sun of Jamaica. That such an arrangement would be nothing better than handing over the government of every separate district in the kingdom to the most influential agitator in the ranks of the dis- trict bands, must be sufficiently evident ; nor need we mention who, under such circumstances, would now be Captain General of Ireland. The lately-destroyed Janissaries had, by degrees, become district troops, that took all control over their respective districts out of the hands of the supreme government, openly sold towns and provinces to the best- paying pasha, and constantly foiled the good intentions of the many able and well-disposed predecessors of the great man, whose iron grasp now holds the reins of Mussulman Government.
Having briefly stated what is the leading object of our undertaking, we must here explain as briefly some of those views and opinions, on the strength of which we solicit public aid towards its ultimate attain- ment.
To unite the two services in the bonds of cordiality, was an honour no longer reserved for us; for though much injurious and ill-placed rivalry existed between the Navy and Army during the early part of the revolution war, nothing could exceed the harmony and good un- derstanding by which they were afterwards combined. We can only help, therefore, to cement this happy union, and aid in bringing the exertions of both professions to the support of those objects that all must have in view. 'For this purpose, we think there should be a tribunal of professional opinion, capable of freeing us, as far as regards professional merit, from the mere public opinion too often formed, in utter ignorance of professional affairs. It is all very well to bid us go forth and fight bravely, in order that the rest of the community may sit quietly by their firesides ; but let not those who neither share in our toils or dangers, attempt to judge of them, or take upon themselves to
6 A NEW YEAR'S PREFACE.
determine what aids and auxiliaries are required by the soldier and sailor in the performance of his arduous duties. We also hold that the merit of individuals should be amenable to this public military opinion, and deem it not sufficient that reputations should be raised by our under- valuing of subordinates, or by keeping in the background those whose powers of observation might tend to change or check the mere babble of public applause.
It must also be evident to every unbiassed person, that the pay and rewards of naval and military men are, when contrasted with the duties they have to perform, and with the emoluments of all other public functionaries, so wretchedly small and insufficient, as to be not only a discredit, but an ultimate injury to the country. To hold up this grievance, and to bring this subject as often and as strongly as possible, though always respectfully, to the notice of Government, has been, and always will be, one of our leading objects, as well as to de- fend our interest against that strange class of men known only in Eng- land, who think, or pretend to think, that hostility to the army and navy is a mighty proof of enlightened patriotism. What incalculable mischief has been done by those petty statesmen who only take into ac- count the expense occasioned by the naval and military establishments, without balancing the outlay by the advantages derived from it, is, un- fortunately, but too well known to all professional men who served dur- ing the war. To illustrate the value of the miserable huckster doctrine, now so fashionable in politics, that a penny saved is a penny got, we may just instance the case of Fort Erie, in Upper Canada. Had fifty pounds been expended on that wretched frontier defence, which was nothing but a mere block-house before it was attacked, and had the garrison, small as it was, been placed under the command of a field- officer of ordinary experience, it might very easily have held out till relieved. But the fifty pounds were saved, though Fort Erie was lost ; and those whose patriotic wisdom curtailed the estimates of so mighty a sum, were, no doubt, easily consoled for the torrents of gallant blood expended, and for the national humiliation that was incurred in the vain attempt to recover a post that, in the hands of the more active and less penurious Americans, was soon rendered formidable. Among those who with their life's blood paid for the great saving above speci- fied, was the brave, clever, and high-minded Lieut.-Colonel John Gordon, of the Royals, an officer not always very popular with his superiors, but looked" up to by his inferiors as the be uu ideal of an offi- cer and a gentleman. In the field, his appearance was " worth a thousand men," owing to the confidence reposed in him by the soldiers, and his death well proved how justly he had been appreciated j for, incapable of resting while his subordinates were suffering, he died, in fact, from over-exertion and anxiety, more than from the effects of a wound not in itself very dangerous.
But we must not permit professional recollections and feelings to run away with us, whilst merely engaged in the recital of editorial hopes, toils, and troubles, and return, therefore, to the more direct thread of our expose.
If we have, as above stated, occasionally to lecture the elders of the land, so are we at times also called upon to admonish the junior mem- bers of the professions, the " young gentlemen" of the navy, and the gen-
A NEW YEAR'S PREFACE. 7
tlemen ensigns of the army, the hopes, no doubt, of their country, and the pride of their lady mothers, but the most difficult and impatient class of readers that can well be met with. That they may sometimes require a little advice, must be well enough known to all old officers who recollect how many promising young men have been ruined at the very outset of their career, merely for the want of kind and judi- cious counsel.
" At that green age when error most beguiles, And vice puts on her most seductive smiles ; When, too, the martial dress forbade reproof, And kept each friendly monitor aloof."
. And though we have never written and never intend to write long essays on pretty behaviour for those who like long essays as little as long parades, we may safely appeal to the advice we have constantly given to our youthful friends, whenever it could be administered with due brevity, and in a palatable manner,
" Cosi all' egro fanciul porgiamo aspersi Di soave licor gli orli del vaso : Succhi amari ingannato intanto ei beve, E dall' inganno suo vita riceve." — Tasso, Canto 1 — 3.
We have always advocated those chivalrous principles of honour, and those lofty professional feelings, that, however contrary to modern no- tions, must be held inseparable from the character of a British officer. Without them rank, stars, decorations are worse than dross, and more dishonourable to the wearer than discreditable to the giver, for the latter may at times be deceived by the generosity of his nature as well as by. circumstances. It is in the power of the humblest soldier of for- tune to live as Sidney, Bayard, and Moore lived, and should fate in its kindness even grant them a death as glorious, fame and posterity will exalt their names long after the contemporary crowd of ordinary kings, princes, and generals, shall have been forgotten.
There yet remains one object to be mentioned, the attainment of which we could be content to purchase by the very little that fortune has given or that time has left us ; an object that is entwined round our heart, as the roots of the mountain pine are entwined round the fragment of rock that their force has detached from the cliff, and which is upheld from falling into the gulf below only as long as the fibres of the tree retain their grasp and vigour. We mean the enfranchise- ment of the martial spirit of our countrymen from the unworthy tram- mels that cant, avarice, and the cowardly spirit of commerce have im- posed upon it. We are essentially a martial people ; our congenial homes are not pestiferous manufactories, but tented fields, and the armed decks of our ships ; the active and athletic forms of our people suit the toils of war far more than the deforming and enervating labours of the loom. The frank hilarity of Britons also, which for- merly obtained for their country the name of " Merry England," is now to be found only among soldiers and sailors, and is totally un- known to the rest of the world, who, estimating us from the effects pro- duced by commercial and manufacturing pursuits, consider us a grave and melancholy people, though the most extravagantly jovial of all God's creatures whenever released from the pressure of want or from slavish
8 A NEW YEAR'S PREFACE.
restraint. In situations, in which the troops of other nations universally give way to the most atrocious excesses, British soldiers are generally guilty only of childish, absurd extravagances ; when their besetting and fatal propensity to drunkenness, which with due care might be checked, gets the better of them, they are mischievous enough, no doubt, but at no time are they wantonly cruel. We say this, not for the purpose of praising war; for we have seen it too closely to uphold it exactly for its own sake, but we must honestly confess that our most ardent desire is to see the martial spirit of the country fairly awakened, not only for its own good, but for the benefit that other nations might derive from our exertions. What is the cause of that distress now so universally complained of in the country ? The mighty energies of the people constantly pressing against the narrow bounds within which the limits of our islands confine such tremendous powers of active exertions. Give them but an honourable opening, and the pressure and distress will be relieved in proportion ; this can, however, be effected by arms alone, for no extensive channels of trade can now be discovered, were they even desirable, unless in the rear of armies that shall open new countries to the progress of arts, commerce, and civilization. We think that men would be happier under the Government of England, than under the despotism of barbarous or half-civilized chiefs, and should therefore rejoice to see the standard of Britain displayed from the summit of the Atlas and the Himalaya, and conferring peace and security on the fertile and distressed province of old Mauritania as well as to the beautiful and war-torn kingdoms of Cashmere, Cabul, and Curdistan.
To lead back the arts to their native Greece, and to aid a great sovereign in protecting the independence, and in civilizing, if we may so express ourselves, the laws and institutions of a brave and honest people, the Turks, may be actions at variance, perhaps, with the abstract theories of modern huckster politics ; but as tending to benefit ourselves and a great portion of our species, they are nevertheless worthy of a great nation on which Providence has conferred warlike powers far too mighty to be confined within the narrow limits of these little islands.
The world, as now constituted, requires war, and above all, war of civilization against barbarism, because it tends, paradoxical as the as- sertion may seem, to develope, raise, and improve the best qualities of our nature. Without, the constant collisions by which the strength and powers of men can alone be upheld and fostered, we should soon sink from inactivity to utter slothfuluess, a brute-feebleness. It is only by the exertion of strength, that strength can be preserved ; and war forces men to call forth all their powers of mental and physical exertion. They thus become more ingenious, wiser, stronger, braver, more sociable and more cultivated, and gradually attain, by constant ex- ternal strife and collisions, the highest pinnacle of fame, greatness, and civilization. Has not this, strange as it may appear, been proved even in our own time ? How many useful discoveries has not war given rise to ! and how widely was the sphere of human thought enlarged on all matters of religion, justice, toleration, and freedom during the last war. And has it brought no advantage to the half barbarians of Russia and
A NEW YEAR'S PREFACE. 9
Siberia, in making them acquainted with the most civilized nations of Europe ? That without war men could not be what they are, is amply proved by the fact that all great nations have been forced to pass through its iron school. The most enlightened amongst those of antiquity, the Greeks, Romans, and Persians, were indebted to war for their greatness and cultivation. It was exactly whilst engaged in strife with the world, and whilst adding conquest to conquest, that they attained the highest degree of prosperity.
Thus war has been, and ever will be in the world, as long as the laws of nature remain what they are, as long as the earth retains its present form, or its inhabitants remain constituted as they now are, influenced by the same passions and impelled by the same principles of action that have governed them at least since the days of Cain. A general peace, either in nature or among men, can only be looked upon as one of those lovely dreams of pious imagination not calculated for this strife-breathing world. And those who wish to see war banished from the earth as the greatest bar to general improvement, and the progress of arts and sciences, take but a very limited view of the subject, and judge only by the evils, melancholy enough, no doubt, that it inflicts at times upon particular districts and individuals, without taking into account the many benefits that Providence has bestowed upon man- kind at large by means of its mailed gauntlet. Of course we have no intention of preaching up, by these remarks, a general crusade against either friends or neighbours : but considering the mighty and swelling energies now cooped up within the narrow limits of our islands, as well as the military intelligence and warlike qualities that, for some great purpose, have been conferred upon our people to a degree far above all the other nations of the earth, we confess we should rejoice to see them employed in noble and generous undertakings, capable of adding, not only to our own fame and advantage, but likely to be at- tended also with, lasting benefits to less fortunate or less powerful countries.
This is not, however, the time for discussing what should be the exact nature or direction of such enterprises. Our present object is only to show what are our own hopes and views ; and to let you, cour- teous reader, into some of the secrets of our difficulties, in order that you may form a just estimate of our labours, that we may come to a fair understanding, and begin the new year on still better terms than we are about to close the old. In general cases, more of the pleasure to be derived from the contemplation of a work of art, or of the benefit to be gained from the reading of a book, depends on the mood of mind in which the first is looked at, and the second perused, than on the merit of the work itself: we beg of you to open our pages with as kindly a feeling towards us as we must necessarily entertain towards you. It will enhance whatever profit or pleasure you may derive from their perusal, and your approbation will not only cheer our toils, but aid us in attaining the great object of our exertions — that of being useful to the UNITED SERVICES.
10
NAVAL OPERATIONS OF THE BURMESE WAR
" Rightly to be great, Is not to stir without great argument ; But greatly to find quarrel in a straw, When honour's at the stake."
WHEN Major Snodgrass published his ex parte statement of the military operations in the Burmese war, it was pithily inquired, " Where was the Navy ?" This question is, at last, well answered in a narrative of the naval operations in Ava,* drawn up by Lieut. J. Marshall, whose persevering industry in biographical researches is a sufficient evidence for his correctness of assertion. This officer, fully alive to the merits of " Blue jackets" under every vicissitude, has collected the scattered official documents of the two years' war, and formed them into an unassuming but straightforward and manly volume, in vindication of their claims to equal notice with their brethren in arms. It is not often that soldiers and sailors are blind to each other's merits ; and the general harmony of the United Services in the late war, was a theme of admiration. An occasional growl might be ejected, and such a public memorandum as that of Gen. Prescott against the encroachments of Sir John Jervis,t might be fulminated, but they impinged little or nothing on the cheerful unanimity which pervaded all ranks, when "rough- ing it out" on service. The not being blazoned in the gallant Major's " magnum opus," would not have inflicted a moment's un- easiness on a single soul in the squadron, but an unequivocal slight from a higher quarter, has given the affair a " shape and feature." The question now at issue, is not one of regret on the loss of reward, but of wounded honour in its being unjustly withheld.
The official reports of our expeditions are usually so minute, cor- rect, and public, that it is quite astonishing how the full participa- tion of the Navy, in the Burmese war, could have been suppressed, or passed over, in the remuneration granted by the India Company ; whose usual liberality renders the injustice still more provoking. From some hitherto undetected cause, the bounty ordered for distri- bution by the " Honourable Masters," was restricted to the land forces and the Bombay marine — albeit the exploits of the latter did not put any naval man to the blush. A perusal of the narrative will clearly show the obligations which the military commander-in-chief held himself under to the squadron : and amongst the victims to exertion and climate, are numbered no less than three successive senior naval officers, viz. Commodore Grant, Capt. Alexander, and Sir James Brisbane. Part of the final injurious misprision may have arisen from the impolitic economy at home, of sending a broad-pen- dant instead of a flag. But even in this case, as the Burmese war was known to be in progress before Sir James left England, it is to be lamented that he had not quitted it with a red pendant, instead
* " Narative of the Naval operations in Ava, during the Burmese War, in the years 1824, 5, and 6. By Lieut. John Marshall, R.N. Author of the Royal Naval Biography. London, 1830." Longman and Co.
t See Part II. of our Journal for 1831, p. 338.
NAVAL OPERATIONS OF THE BURMESE WAR. 11
of a blue one, as it would have placed him on a footing with the commander of the forces, who was by many years junior to him* in corresponding military rank. Not but that the senior officer was always addressed by the title of Commander-in-chief by the local governments ; nor could higher rank have called forth greater energy on the part of the Commodore, or produced a heartier or better feel- ing than existed between himself and that distinguished veteran, Sir Archibald Campbell. But whether the squadron were commanded by a flag or broad pendant, was of no importance to the event of the war, for Marshall's ingenuous record proves the cheerful ardour of the sailors, under a harassing and almost amphibious series of ope- rations ; and the Lieutenant deserves their thanks, for rescuing them from any malevolent misrepresentation which may have influenced the allotment of the rewards. We will endeavour to lay the nature of the service before our readers ; and in so doing, we will proceed to show, through the medium of the army reports only, that the exer- tions and hardships of the seamen and soldiers were mutual, and therefore inseparable.
Notwithstanding the London coffee-house opinion, that the Go- vernor-General of India had blindly precipitated the Burmese war, it is now clearly seen, that cruel and unprovoked aggressions of the Arracan chiefs against our frontiers, together with the intrigues of the " golden- footed" monarch, rendered prompt retaliation a measure of the soundest policy. We will not dwell upon the celerity with which a force of upwards of 8700 men, of whom 4077 were British troops, was collected under Sir Archibald Campbell; nor upon the cordial correspondence which took place between the Supreme Council and the senior naval officer, in the very commencement; but will merely observe, that Commodore Grant's squadron consisted at this period of the Liffey, a large frigate, and three sloops of war, the Slaney, the Larne, and the Sophie. The time of sailing was governed by political circumstances, otherwise it might have been deemed injudicious, for had it been deferred till October, six months of delightful weather would have enabled the forces to accomplish what, in their subsequent weakened state, cost two arduous years. But this was not the greatest inconsistency of the Bengal Govern- ment : a still greater was committed in placing all the transports, Bombay cruisers, and flotilla, — besides a steam-boat, the first ever seen in India, — under the orders of the general's staff; a measure pregnant with disadvantages, and which, but for the zeal of the Blues in remedying the disorders arising from the absence of method and discipline amongst such discordant materials, might have proved fatal to the expedition.
On the 17th of May 1824, the armament, led by the Liffey and the Larne, sailed up the Irrawaddy, and, without pilots, reached Ran- goon in a few hours. This town is situated on the northern bank of a principal branch of that great river, about twenty-eight miles from the sea : it extends along the strand with an unprotected suburb at either end; but the town is defended by an enclosure of stout pali- sades ten or twelve feet high, strengthened internally by embank- ments of earth. At the river gate is a landing-place, denominated the King's wharf, whereon was the principal battery, which appear-
12 NAVAL OPERATIONS OF
ed to be mounted with from twelve to sixteen pieces of ordnance. At about 2 P.M. the Liffey anchored in beautiful style immediately opposite to this battery ; and while she was furling her sails, the humane British commanders resolved not to commence the contest without giving a chance for sparing the effusion of blood, hoping that the authorities of the town would make an offer of negotiation. Instead of this, the enemy opened a feeble fire on the frigate, which was returned by such powerful broadsides, that the Burmese fled in dismay. A landing was then effected, and Lieut. Thornton, R.N. hoisted the British flag : thus, through the Liffey alone, possession of the place was obtained, as Sir A. Campbell reported, " without the troops having had occasion to discharge a single musket;" and the occurrence was noticed in the following manner by a general order of the Supreme Council, dated the 2nd of June 1824 :
" A royal salute and thre6 volleys of musketry to be fired at all the sta- tions of the land forces serving in the East Indies, in honour of the capture of Rangoon, by the combined naval and military forces under the command of his Excellency Commodore Grant, C.B. and Brigadier Sir Archibald Campbell, K.C.B."
The captors found nearly a hundred pieces of ordnance, of various calibres, and a proportionate quantity of ammunition. Rangoon, however, except as a stepping-stone, might be termed rather a '• Scotch prize/' — for the governor, prepared for defeat, had driven most of the inhabitants into the jungle, where the men were to be organized for warfare, and the women and children to be guarded as hostages for their fidelity. Besides these, so many ran off in the consternation of the moment, that not above a hundred persons were found. All stores were carried away, and the supplies being cut off, a poor prospect was afforded to troops who, in hopes of a decisive blow at this town producing overtures for immediate peace, had been dispatched with slender equipment. The prospect presented a horrid mixture of famine and ferocity to be encountered ; added to which, dirty hovels built amidst swamps, and inundated paddy fields, with muddy lanes infested by herds of meagre swine and hundreds of hungry dogs, formed a sorry quarter against the south- west, or rainy monsoon, which was just setting in.
After having thus placed the army in possession of Rangoon, the Commodore dispatched a flotilla of boats to seek for and destroy fire- rafts ; and also to remain in advance of the shipping during the ebb- tide, in doing which, five men were wounded from the villages along shore. On this and other occasions, Sir A. Campbell thus remarks,—
" It would be presumption in me to speak in terms of praise of an officer so well known as Commodore Grant ; but it is my duty to inform you, that the cordial co-operation I have received, and continue to receive from him, calls for my warmest acknowledgement."
On the 16th, the first hand-to-hand conflict with the enemy oc- curred, near Kemmendine, a war-boat station about three miles above the town. This was the gallant storming of three fortified stockades by the grenadier company of the 38th regiment, and the boats crews of the Liffey. Capt. R. Birch, who commanded the soldiers, after bearing testimony to the bravery of the sailors, thus winds up his report : —
THE BURMIiSE WAR. 13
" In concluding, I regret to state, that Lieut. Kerr, of His Majesty's 38th regiment, and one private were killed, and nine privates wounded, in tak- ing the second stockade ; and I have further to regret, that Lieut. Wilkin- son, R.N. was severely wounded (by a musket-ball) through the thigh, with eight or nine of his crew, one of whom has since had his arm amputated. I have much satisfaction in reporting the conduct of the officers and men under my command to have been steady and soldier-like. I hope I may be allowed to express the highest admiration of the cool and intrepid conduct of Lieut. Wilkinson, R.N. who, although severely wounded, continued to render me the greatest assistance in giving directions from his boat; also of the officers and men under his command."
Yet the Major, who affects to give a correct narrative of the events, does not bestow a syllable upon those exploits ! But the importance of a floating co-operation began already to be deeply felt, for the army was entirely dependent on it for every description of food, stores, and conveyance. The enemy, rarely to be seen in the open field, continually harassed the outposts, under cover of an impervi- ous and incombustible jungle ; and in a defensive system of stock- ades and breastworks, displayed no little skill and judgment. From a reconnoitre made by Sir A. Campbell, on the 28th, he found these works were defended with fierceness, and that every act of the foe evinced a determination of carrying hostilities to extre- mity. The first encounters with the troops of Ava were sanguinary and revolting, — they neither gave nor expected quarter.
On the 3rd of June, an attack was made on Kemmendine, because the enemy appeared to be collecting there in great force. Although this was a failure, — and a failure owing solely to the flotilla not being under the command of Capt. Ryves, the senior naval officer on the spot : it gave an opportunity to the pinnaces of the Larne and Sophie to storm a small stockade, though with a loss of fifteen killed and wounded. Of this, and of the loss of 150 of the land forces in the repulse, Major Snodgrass may never have heard ; but that only shows him to be an incompetent narrator. As the numerous fire-rafts which the enemy prepared at this station, threatened destruction to our shipping, the General put the army in motion for a more formi- dable attack upon it. On the morning of the 10th, a body of 3000 men, led by Sir Archibald in person, with four 18-pounders, four mortars, and several field-pieces, marched to a stockade on the road to Kemmendine ; and their approach was hailed with the loud and incessant cheering of a garrison confident in its numbers, and the security of its abattis, palisades, and embankments. Two of the 18-pounders, however, soon formed a sufficient breach, the word was given, and the position was ours ; the enemy leaving 200 dead upon the ground, and the body of the Burmese commander was found at a short distance. The road was now open to the grand stockade, immediately before which the troops took up a position the same evening. Here, unprovided with shelter of any kind, and deluged with rain, the night was passed, occasionally interrupted by bush- fighters, and the clamorous shouts of the garrison. Early on the fol- lowing morning, some shells were thrown, the columns moved on to the assault, the panic-struck Burmese fled, and Kemmendine re- mained in our possession. As the Major is here again silent with respect to the naval co-operation, it is proper to add, that a flotilla
\
14 NAVAL OPERATIONS OF
under the orders of Lieut. Fraser, R.N. made a seasonable diversion of the enemy's attention; and that it had a narrow escape from a very large fire-raft, composed of a number of country boats fastened together, and filled with tar, matting, bamboos, and other com- bustibles.
While these affairs were transacting in the Irrawaddy, Brig.-Gen. M'Creagh had been detached to attempt the island of Cheduba. After some resistance at the outposts, the enemy effected their retreat into a very formidable stockade, against which a battery was neces- sary. It is not our intention to detail these operations, because they are already treated in that correct record, the London Gazette ; but we merely mean to point out the share which our tars took on these occasions, as a flapper to any future historian ; and we shall cite the very words of the soldiers themselves. The brave Brigadier, in making his report, remarks that Lieut. Matthews, R.N. had made a bold and very intelligent reconnoissance up the small river on which the enemy's town is situated, which was of essential use in arranging the disembarkation : and he concludes thus, —
" Where all evinced not only ready obedience, but the utmost ze.il, it would be difficult to remark upon individual claims to notice ; but I must do myself the pleasure to acknowledge the cordial co-operation that I received from Capt Mitchell, of H. M. S. Slaney, who accompanied me at the disem- barkation, and to whose readiness in affording me every assistance his ship could supply, the service was importantly indebted ; and the exertions of his seamen, under the immediate command of Lieut. Mathews, in getting the guns landed, and assisting in the battery, contributed essentially to accelerate the result."
These successes, however, did not produce any immediate benefit to our arms, for every kind of supply was carefully swept away, and all the toAvns and villages we approached were deserted. At length, from the vicissitudes of heavy rains, burning sun, and incessant fatigue, — the cholera and pestilential jungle- fever began their ravages, an event which had been so muth calculated upon by the Court of Ava, that preparations were made for destroying the survi- vors, by assembling a large force around Rangoon. On the 1st of July, a general movement was made by the Burmese, who stationed their main body before the splendid pagoda called Sho-dagon, an edifice 338 feet in height, surmounted by a brass-cap 45 feet high, and the whole richly gilded. This was the key of our position, and was occupied by a battalion of Europeans. It would be enough to men- tion the defeat of the enemy's projects, and their rapid retreat ; but as the Major has omitted the part which the blues bore in repulsing them, we may fill up the hiatus, by adding that, during the attack, no less than fifty-three huge fire-rafts, protected by gun-boats, which were rapidly drifted down the river to distract our operations and destroy the fleet, were all of them towed clear, and rendered useless, by the activity and address of our seamen.
Notwithstanding this attack was successfully repelled, it became requisite, in consequence of the increasing number and insolence of the enemy, to drive them farther off. Accordingly, a strong column, under Brigadier Macbean, moved upon Kummeroot, a stockaded position about five miles from the great Pagoda; whilst Sir A.
THE BURMESE WAR. 15
Campbell embarked for the attack of a fortified point of land above Kemmendine. The result of these movements was, the storming and taking in succession, 10 stockade forts, with 38 pieces of artil- lery, 40 swivels, and 300 muskets; Soomba Wongee, the second minister of the empire, two other chiefs of the first class, and 80U of the best troops having been killed. Of the part which the navy had in this success, besides carrying the troops to the assault, the Commander-in-chief thus writes : —
" To this post the enemy appeared to attach the greatest importance, and the stockades were so constructed, as to afford mutual support, presenting difficulties apparently not to be overcome without a great sacrifice of lives. I, therefore, resolved to try the effect of shelling, and consulted with Capt. Marryat upon the employment of such armed vessels as he might select to breach, in the event of our mortar practice not succeeding. The shells were thrown at too great a distance to produce the desired effect, and the swampy state of the country would not admit of any advance. The armed vessels, viz. the Satellite,* Teignmouth, Thetis, and Jessy, the whole under the command of Lieut. Fraser, of H. M. S. Larne, now took their stations according to a disposition made by Capt. Marryat, and opened a fire, which soon silenced that of fourteen pieces of artillery, besides swivels and mus- ketry from the stockades, and in one hour the preconcerted signal of ' breach practicable' was displayed at the main-mast head."
It is scarcely necessary to follow the naval operations by which several native families were released, who returned to Rangoon, and were of use in attracting others back. Suffice it to say, that many boats were captured, and prompt and cordial co-operation given on every occasion where the General required ; all which un- remitting exertions were constantly and publicly acknowledged by him. And it should be borne in mind that, in alertness by night and day, in combating war-boats, and in grappling the enormous fire-rafts, it was the men-of-war's men alone to whom we are in- debted : for as to the disorderly and cowardly Lascars, and Benga- lese sailors, they flatly refused to face fire, declaring that they came to row onlii, and not tojight.
For details of the dashing affairs in the Dalla Creeks — and finer or more characteristic traits of British soldiers and sailors were never witnessed— we refer the reader to Lieut. Marshall's book ; espe- cially as Major Snodgrass, who makes a brief allusion thereto, is again dumb upon the navy. The first rencontre with the enemy's war-boats — for their brave conduct in which Capt. Marryat and his lads received the official thanks of Sir Archibald — is also passed over by the oblivious historian. Yet this was a peculiarly harassing time ; the captured stockades became the site of constant struggles, the Burmese proving exceedingly tenacious of the inlets of Dalla. The gun-vessels, row-boats, and soldiers, left in defence of these works, were each succeeding night assailed from the surrounding jungle, and the naval officers and men were constantly on the watch in their boats.
* The Satellite was formerly one of our 18-gun brigs ; she was now armed with six of the Sapphire's carronades, and four of the Larne's guns ; and every effective officer and man of the latter ship, with some volunteers from the Moira transport, constituted the crew.
16 NA.VAL OPERATIONS OP
A curious event of this war should be mentioned. All attempts to drive the invaders into the sea having failed, the King sent down his two brothers to superintend the operations of the war, with a host of astrologers, and a corps of several thousand invulnerable*. The warriors thus named, are divided into classes, are peculiarly tattooed, and have bits of gold, silver, and sometimes precious stones in their arms, probably introduced at an early age. Their duty is to exhibit the war-dance of defiance, and show an infatuated con- tempt of danger. The astrologers had computed a lucky moon, and the select band called the " King's Invulnerables," had promised to seize the Sho-dagon Pagoda from the impious strangers, and thus afford the princes, and the sages, an opportunity of celebrating the usual annual festival in that sacred place. It is needless to add, that the attempt was attended with a most inglorious flight of the poor invulnerables. Major Snodgrass is felicitously grand in describing this important affair : he depicts the compact body of the enemy rushing from the jungle ; the bold and rapid advance of the dense multitude; the tumult of the moving mass ; and the dreadful havo c among their crowded ranks. It is a pity to destroy so glowing a picture, by stating that the dense body of Burmese on that occasion consisted of about 100 men, and the "dreadful havoc" was the death of two or three of them ! And this, as Jeremy Collier would have said, is " translating it very softly."
We are inclined to think that the gallant Major is impressed with a higher notion of the numbers and prowess of the Burmese, than can be justly ascribed to them from the facts before us. Hidden within stockades and jungles, we marvel how their forces were so accurately counted ; and we consider the strength and ability of the foe to be greatly overrated. From public records, and much con- versation upon these heads, we should pronounce that the chief diffi- culties which were to be surmounted, arose from the semi-barbarous habits of the enemy, the debilitating site, the want of refreshments, and the being unprovided to meet such customs and climate. In every item of positive intrepidity, discipline, and military resource, the chiefs were found deficient ; and their followers were abundantly given to flight. As to the noisy vaunt of cheering our men towards their stockades, and the infatuated desperation with which a few Burmese, despairing of quarter, fought under grim and leonine dis- tortions of visage/ — such cannot be called courage. " Valour," says Sancho, " is the mean between the two extremes of rashness and cowardice," a medium unknown to those people, or their cognate allies : and we have consequently seen that hitherto every attack had almost instant success, save one, — and that exception is easily ac- counted for. The size of the men has been greatly dwelt upon ; but they failed in agility, and have been respresented to us to be as heavy as so many fattened Ogres. Even in their determined march upon Prome, it is notorious that the columns were disposed with so little of tactical skill, that physical obstacles to mutual support, were allowed to expose them to the risk of being destroyed in detail. Yet still the nature of the service, the obstinacy and cunning of the enemy, the climate and the country, were so wearing, that, by the beginning of September, 749 British soldiers had fallen by dis-
THE BURMIiSE WAR. 17
ease, and upwards of 1000 men were in the hospitals. The sepoys, and other natives of India, fared but little better. Nearly one-fourth of the Sophie's crew had died, and as many more were sick ; and on the llth Capt. Marry at, who had held the naval command ever since Commodore Grant was obliged to quit it on the 31st of May, was compelled to take the Larne to Pulo Penang, with only 27 of her original crew, including officers ; the rest, with the exception of Lieut. Dobson and sixteen men left in the Satellite, had fallen. In such depressing scenes, there could be little of the animating excite- ment which the extended battle array, and the capture of ships and eagles, creates ; but the true English virtues of fortitude and cheer- fulness were in full developenlent, both ashore and afloat.
The chief command of the naval force was now assumed by Capt. H. D. Chads, who had recently arrived from England, in the Arachne, to relieve the Sophie ; and he, finding the necessity of the latter remaining, took upon himself the responsibility of keeping both ships there. The new Commodore was immediately inducted into the Burmese warfare, by a combined movement upon Paulang, where the enemy had established a post, and were busily employed in constructing combustible rafts. This enterprise terminated in the destruction of eight stockades, and the capture of fifteen guns, with as many swivels, besides driving off twenty-five heavy war- boats. On the 27th, the following general order was issued : —
" The Commander of the Forces begs Brig.-Gen. Fraser and Capt. Chads, R.N. will accept his best thanks for their perseverance in the fatiguing and harassing service in which they have been engaged ; and it is with great plea- sure he has received a report of the unanimity and good feeling with which the best exertions of the officers and men of both services were brought for- ward upon this, as on all other occasions where they have been employed together, and which it has so often been his pride to report to the highest authorities."
On the 5th of October a combined expedition was sent against Than-ta-bain, a strong post about thirty miles above Rangoon ; the result was, the capture of some pieces of ordnance,* the destruction of five stockades, seven or eight war-boats, and large quantities of combustibles. " The naval part of the expedition," says Sir A. Campbell, " was prepared and led by that excellent and zealous officer, Capt. Chads, of H. M. S. Arachne." Lieut. Kellett, R.N. boarded a war-boat in very handsome style ; and his spirited conduct in command of the advanced boats was reported by Major Evans, to have " attracted the notice of every one." These successful opera- tions are unnoticed by Major Snodgrass ; as are also the destruction of thirty sail of the enemy's war-boats by Lieut. Keele, R.N. and his subsequent services in the important capture of Martaban. Yet Lieut.-Colonel Godwin in his report states that, Capt. Burrowes and Lieut. Keele were the first who entered the fort, and both the Supreme Council and the Commander-in-chief gave him their public acknowledgements. In his official letter, the Lieutenant-Colonel says —
* The official report states, that in one formidable stockade there were seven pieces of brass and iron ordnance, with a number of wooden guns, and piles of single and double-headed wooden shot, besides many jingals.
u. s. jo IT UN-. NO. :«?. JAN. ia»2. c
18 NAVAL OPERATIONS OF
" Lieut. Keele of the Arachne, Lieut. Bazely of the Sophie, and their respective crews, behaved with their usual gallantry. Lieut. Keele's un- remitting exertions with this little force, as also the share he has taken in the fall of the place, together with the good understanding kept up between the services, I leave for you, Sir, properly to appreciate."
In the mean time the disgrace which had attended all the Burmese enterprises, the fall of their stockades, the loss of their maritime provinces, and the occupation of Rangoon, produced no pacific overtures from the stubborn King of Ava ; on the contrary, arro- gantly buoyed up by the probable effects of pestilence upon his invaders, he recalled Maha Bandoola from Arracan, to assume the command before Rangoon. This chief was esteemed the most dis- tinguished warrior and statesman of the empire ; and had been on the frontier for the conquest of Calcutta, from whence he had orders to lead the Governor-General, in golden fetters, to Umerapoora. With him there came a large and apparently well-appointed army, attended by a numerous artillery and a body of Cassay horse ; and he was allowed to extend his line round our flanks, and commence his entrenchments. The British troops had fortunately also received a reinforcement^ and a sensible change had taken place in the health of the soldiers ; so that they were not at all despondent, although the resources and strength of the opposing force were, no doubt, greatly exaggerated to alarm them.
On the 30th of November, the enemy's war-boats were descried by the Teignmouth, a Company's vessel in advance ; they were coming down in formidable numbers, and crowded with men, which induced the commander to slip and avoid them. This, unfortunately, left Kemmendine exposed to a furious attack both by land and water ; and as Major Snodgrass does on this occasion laud the naval co- operation, we will do him the justice to extract the passage which relates the events of the 1st of December, though we should have been still more gratified had he mentioned the gallant defender of the fort, Major Yates, by name.
' ' The day had scarcely dawned when hostilities commenced with a heavy fire of musketry and cannon at Kemmendine, the reduction of that place being a preliminary to any general attack upon our line. The firing con- tinued long and animated ; and from our commanding situation at the foot of the Great Pagoda, though nearly two miles distant from the scene of action, we could distinctly hear the yells and shouts of the infuriated assailants, occasionally returned by the hearty cheers of the British seamen, as they poured in their heavy broadsides upon the resolute and persevering masses. The thick forest which separated us from the river prevented our • seeing distinctly what was going forward ; and when the firing ceased, we remained for a short time in some anxiety, though in little doubt as to the result of the long and spirited assault. At length, however, the thick canopy of smoke which lowered over the fierce and sanguinary conflict gradually dissolving, we had the pleasure of seeing the masts of our vessels lying at their old station off the fort, a convincing proof that all had ended well on our side." * *
" During the day repeated attacks on Kemmendine had been made and repulsed ; but it was not until darkness had set in, that the last desperate effort of the day wa-i made to gain possession of the post. Already the wearied soldiers had lain down to rest, when suddenly the heavens and the whole surrounding country became brilliantly illuminated by the flames of
THE BURMESE WAR. 19
several tremendous fire-rafts floating down the river towards Rangoon ; and scarcely had the blaze appeared, when incessant rolls of musketry and peals of cannon were heard from Kemmendine. The enemy had launched their fire-rafts into the stream with the first of the ebb tide, in the hope of driving the vessels from their stations off the place; and they were followed up by war-boats, ready to take advantage of the confusion which might ensue> should any of them be set on fire. The skill and intrepidity of British sea- men, however, proved more than a match for the numbers and devices of the enemy: entering their boats, they grappled the flaming rafts and con- ducted them past the shipping, or ran them ashore upon the bank. On the land side the enemy were equally unsuccessful, being again repulsed with heavy loss, in the most resolute attempt they had yet made to reach the in- terior of the fort.
"The fire-rafts were, upon examination, found to be ingeniously con- trived and formidably constructed, made wholly of bamboos firmly wrought together, between every two or three rows of which a line of earthen jars of considerable size^filled with petroleum, or earth-oil and cotton, were secured ; other inflammable ingredients were also distributed in different parts of the raft, and the almost unextinguishable fierceness of the flames proceeding from these can scarcely be imagined. Many of them were considerably upwards of a hundred feet in length, and were divided into many pieces, attached to each other by means of long hinges, so arranged, that when they caught upon the cable or bow of any ship, the force of the current should carry the ends of the raft completely round her, and envelope her in flames from the deck to the main-top-mast-head, with scarcely a possibility of extricating herself from the devouring element."
But Kemmendine was so important an object, that the repulse only inflamed Bandoola's anxiety to retake it. On the morning of the 2nd Capt. Chads sent a timely reinforcement of seamen to assist in working the guns, — and Lieut. Kellett gallantly cleared both their flanks of the enemy. On the following day the Sophie was directed to occupy a position for the defence of the post, and, as the war- boats had become very troublesome, they were attacked and seven of them captured ; one of these was ninety-six feet in length, pulling seventy-six oars, and, like three others, mounting a long 9-pounder on the bow. For several days the assaults were incessant, — but the enemy was uniformly repulsed, till at length a decisive movement of Sir A. Campbell upon the enemy's trenches, by which Bandoola's main body was routed, with an enormous loss of artillery, arms, and ammunition, freed the British lines for some days.
We will here instance the military Commander-in-chief's idea of the naval exertions : —
" The attacks upon Kemmendine continued with unabated violence; but the unyielding spirit of Major Yates and his steady troops, although ex- hausted with fatigue and want of rest, baffled every attempt on shore ; while Capt. Ryves, with H. M. sloop Sophie, the H. C. cruiser Teignmouth, and some flotilla and row-gun-boats, nobly maintained the long-established fame of the British navy, in defending the passage of the river against the most furious assaults of the enemy's war-boats, advancing under cover of the most tremendous fire-rafts, which the unwearied exertions of British sailors could alone have conquered.
" I requested Capt. Chads, the senior naval officer here, to move up to the Puzendown creek during the night, with the gun-flotilla, bomb-ketch, &c. and commence a cannonade on the enemy's rear at daylight. This service was most judiciously and successfully performed by that officer, who has never yet disappointed me in my most sanguine expectations."
c 2
20 NAVAL OPERATIONS OF
On the 8th of December the same gallant chieftain reports to the Governor-General that his obligations to Captains Chads and Ryves, and the officers and seamen of H. M. navy, were great and numerous. " In Capt. Chads himself/' says he, " I have always found that ready alacrity to share our toils and dangers, that has ever characterised the profession he belongs to, and the most cordial zeal in assisting and co-operating with me on every occasion."
And he concludes a general order thus : — " The conduct of both officers and men during the whole affair was characteristic of the British navy ! What can be said more to their honour ?"
Lieut. Marshall proceeds to relate several useful co-operations, which, together with a successful expedition to Paulang, are all over- looked by Major Snodgrass. We refer the reader to the details, for our business is but to testify that the Blues acquitted themselves properly ; in proof of which we cite the thanks of the Supreme Government : —
" The Governor-General in Council seizes this opportunity of expressing his warm acknowledgments to Capt. Chads of H. M. S. Arachne, the senior naval officer at Rangoon, and to Capt. Ryves of H. M. S. Sophie, for their distinguished personal exertions ; and requests the former to convey to the officers and crews of his H. M. ships, of the H. C. cruizers, as well as the officers and men of the transports who volunteered their services, the sense which Government entertains of their gallant conduct in the several actions with the enemy's war-boats, where they so conspicuously displayed the irresistible and characteristic valour of British seamen."
Bandoola, now beaten at all points, was in full retreat, but being met by numerous reinforcements, he entrenched at Kokeen, about four miles from the great Pagoda, — with a judgment, according to Sir A. Campbell, " which would do credit to the best instructed engineers of the most civilized and warlike nations." From hence, he having procured emissaries to set fire to Rangoon, the British General was determined to dislodge him ; and on the 15th of Decem- ber, with only 1500 men, he stormed and carried by assault the most formidable stockaded lines which had yet been met with, and which were defended by an army supposed to be little less than 20,000 men. The warfare on land was accompanied by a concurrent opera- tion on the river, and we may mention, as Major Snodgrass does not, that Lieut. Kellett with the steam-boat, and a division of flotilla, being sent up the Lyne branch of the river, by a judicious manoeuvre took three large war-boats out of a fleet, and about forty other vessels, many of them laden with ammunition and provisions for their army. In announcing his victorious achievements, Sir Archibald says :
" Our gallant friends afloat were determined not to let the auspicious day pass without their share of its operations. Every day's experience of the zeal and cordiality with which Capt. Chads, and every individual compos- ing the naval part of the expedition, 'co-operates with me in carrying on the combined service, increases my sincere obligations, and merits my warmest thanks."
The character of the war was now entirely changed, and the enemy were restricted to defensive operations. It was therefore re- solved, in the beginning of 1825, to move upon Umerapoora ; but in order to leave no danger in the rear, a detachment of 200 soldiers
THE BURMESE WAR. 21
and 50 sailors were sent against the Syriam Pagoda, the last remain- ing post of the Burmese in that vicinity. It is almost needless to say that the place, though strong, was carried ; but we may add, that the sailors, as on a former occasion, threw a bridge across the creek for their brethren in arms, and that their commanding officer, Lieut. Keele, was the first man over the stockade.
On the 22nd of January, H. M. S. Alligator arriving at Rangoon, the naval command devolved upon Capt. Alexander ; though in other respects the routine of duty continued the same.
Previous to the advance upon Ava, a force was sent up the Lyne to Quangalee, to clear the way for the progress of the main body, which it was decided should be supported as far as possible by the flotilla, during its intended route of 600 miles. The armament was headed by Lieut.-Colonel Godwin and Capt. Chads, and the result was the storming of the strong stockade of Than -ta- bain, the capture of thirty-six guns, and the destruction of an immense number of war- boats and fire-rafts. Never was there a better spirit and mutual goodwill shown between the two services than on this occasion ; every individual, military and naval, did his duty with the greatest cheerfulness and alacrity. As the historian of the war, however, passes over this expedition without a single word, we will show what part the sailors took, from the mouths of the higher authorities.
"A detail of the operations of the column," says Sir A. Campbell, "affords me another opportunity of bringing to the notice of the Right Hon. the Governor-General in Council, the judgment and decision of Lieut.-Colonel Godwin and Capt. Chads ; and bearing no less honourable testimony to the irresistible intrepidity so often displayed both by soldiers and sailors on this expedition."
* * * * #
" To Capt. Chads the Governor-General in Council desires to express his constant acknowledgments for the distinguished share he bore in the action. His Lordship in Council has also noticed, with particular satisfaction, the characteristic gallantry displayed by Lieutenants Keele and Hall, who with their boat's crews were the first to enter the enemy's fort, followed by Capt. O'Reilly of the Grenadiers of His Majesty's 41st regiment."
Every thing being now ready for an active progress, the army was divided into two columns; one of about 2500 men was to pro- ceed by land, and the other, 1200 strong, by water ; the former to be commanded by Sir A. Campbell, and the latter by Brig.-Gen. Cot- ton ; while the charge of the flotilla, which contained every dispos- able officer and man of the Alligator, Arachne, and Sophie, was in the immediate hands of Capt. Alexander. A third division of 780 men, accompanied by the Larne and Mercury, was sent up the western branch of the great river, to attack Bassein, as a necessary preliminary to the investment of Bandoola, in his stronghold at Donoobew.
These arrangements completed, the Commander-in-chief began his march on the 13th of February, through a deserted country, in which the few natives found, were in the last stage of misery and destitution. Meanwhile the flotilla advanced with the greatest per- severance, capturing the stockades by the way, and overcoming every difficulty. Not aware that the land column had proceeded onwards as far as Sarrawah, full thirty miles beyond Donoobew,
22 NAVAL OPERATIONS OF
Brigadier Cotton and Capt. Alexander reconnoitred the latter place, for the purpose of attempting it. Bandoola was found to have concentrated his force here ; and he had raised a succession of forts, beginning at the pagoda, and terminating on an elevated position, surrounded by a strong abattis and deep ditches. An attack on the 7th, though at first successful, proved to be severely disastrous ; the military force was far too insufficient to carry one of the strongest positions in the empire, garrisoned by 12,000 choice men, and com- manded by the ablest of the enemy's generals. At least 150 of our men were killed and wounded, and, in the hurried retreat, many of the latter were not carried off. Upon this the armament dropped ten miles down the river, to occupy a position till they could hear of the main body j and, in so doing, they were assailed on every side by the Burmese war-boats. The following day, some of the un- happy men left in the enemy's hands were crucified upon rafts, and floated down the stream.
The heavy cannonade had been distinctly heard by our troops at Sarrawah, where it had given a conviction on their minds that the place had fallen ; but the only mention of the occurrence by Major Snodgrass is, that they heard " our troops had failed." The conse- quence was, a retrograde movement of the main column, and the formal investment of Donoobew, For the interesting particulars of the death of the stern Bandoola by a shell, and the capture of his camp with 140 pieees of ordnance, 269 jingals, abundance of am- munition, and an extensive depot of grain, we refer to Lieut. Mar- shall's narrative :* our duty is merely to show how the Commander- in-chief esteemed the naval co-operation.
" I now beg leave to acknowledge my obligations to Capt. Alexander, C.B- senior naval officer, and commanding the flotilla, for his hearty and cordial co-operation on all occasions since we have served together, and for his very great exertions on the present occasion in bringing up stores and provisions. Since we have been before Donoobew, eleven of the enemy's large class war- boats have been captured by our advanced boats, under his own immediate orders ; making, with others evacuated by their crews, thirty-eight first-rate war-boats, now in our possession ; and I have every reason to think that only five of the large squadron the enemy had stationed at this place have suc- ceeded in escaping. A vast number of other boats, of an excellent descrip- tion, has also fallen into our hands. By Brigadier-Gen. Cotton, and all the officers embarked, the zeal and incessant labour of His Majesty's navy are mentioned in terms of high admiration."
This victory settled the fate of the Burmese empire, as it is called. The road to Prome, the grand object of the campaign, was now open. On the 3rd of April, the columns advanced, and although the pas- sage by water was tedious and fatiguing, from the strength of the currents and violence of the rapids, the flotilla, now reinforced by the boats of H, M. Ships Liffey and Tees, maintained its communi-
* During the siege, the garrison tried the effect of several desperate sorties, but our line received them so coolly, that they were all repulsed. On one occasion, a singular scene was presented in front of the contending armies : no less than seven- teen huge elephants, richly caparisored, and carrying a proportion of warriors, were brought forward to sustain the charge of the British cavalry. The monsters showed unusual steadiuess and courage, and when the riders were mostly shot, walked back into the fort with the greatest composure.
THE BURMESE WAR. 23
cation with Sir A. Campbell. On the 24th, the General concerted measures with Capt. Alexander for attacking Prome the following day. The enemy, however, evacuated it during the night, and thus a city, strong by nature and art, dropped into our hands without a shot : upwards of 100 guns, plenty of ammunition, and a large sup- ply of provisions, also fell to our share. The population of the whole province now placed confidence in the British ; the inhabitants of Prome returned to their habitations, and the usual markets were re- opened.
Part of the flotilla, under Capt. Chads, was now sent down to Rangoon for supplies, while the light division, under Lieut. Wilkin- son, was dispatched to reconnoitre the river as far as Napadee. On the 1st of May, the latter returned with eight large war-boats, and another laden with guns, jingals, and spears ; besides these captures, the Lieutenant had liberated 3000 canoes, filled with peasantry, whom the retreating forces were driving before them, hoping to leave the country desert ; and these all returned to Prome with our boats. The Commander-in-chief mentioned this exploit to the Supreme Government thus —
" It affords me the greatest pleasure to forward another instance of the zeal and judgment with which Capt. Alexander, commanding the flotilla, has uniformly co-operated with me on this service, and another proof, if any such be wanting, of the gallantry, spirit, and enterprise displayed on all oc- casions by that part of His Majesty s Navy serving on this expedition. *****
" The guns taken by the light division of boats are, no doubt, part of those intended for the defence of this place."
Our army was now cantoned in comfortable winter quarters at Prome, which, as well as Donoobew, was amply supplied with pro- visions. Regular stations of gun-boats were established for keeping the river communication clear, and stores were forwarded by every occasion, for the ensuing campaign. Nor were the enemy remiss in their preparations : new levies were raised, and an army, said to be 70,000 strong, was soon in readiness to oppose our farther progress. Meantime, in compliance with orders from the Supreme Govern- ment, Sir A. Campbell had made known to the Court of Ava, his in- clination to treat. A suspension of hostilities ensued, and after some formal ceremonials, an armistice was concluded between, according to the Burmese commissioners, " the two greatest and most civilised nations of the earth — Ava and Britain." This, however, was scarcely ratified ere it was broken by the predatory Burmese, hordes of whom plundered and laid waste the country, to the very gates of Prome. And that such lawless gangs were authorised by their Chiefs/was proved by this laconic note to our General : — " If you wish for peace, you may go away ; but if you ask either money or territory, no friendship can exist between us : this is Burmese custom."*
* As a specimen of concise style, we may mention that after our evacuation of Rangoon, a body of Burmese allies took possession of the territory. The Golden Foot, however, dispatched an army with these instructions : — " Go, catch, murder, and squeeze the beggarly Talains." And the beggarly Talains were squeezed accordingly.
24 NAVAL OPERATIONS OF
We should state that, on the 22nd of September, Commodore Sir James Brisbane had arrived at Prome, bringing with him the boats and seamen of the Boadicea frigate ; and that, during the tedious discussions with the crafty Burmese authorities, he was requested to act as joint commissioner with the military Commander-in-chief.
Prome was now invested by 50,000 men, under Kee Wongee, the prime minister, to oppose whom, and form a garrison, we had scarcely 8000 soldiers ; but the flotilla was deemed sufficiently strong to en- sure retreat, in case of a reverse ; and the naval force had been aug- mented by the arrival of H. M. S. Champion, to join the Boadicea at Rangoon. The first attempt to dislodge the enemy from their new posts was unlucky, owing to disparity of force ; this was counter- balanced by our defence of the post of Padoung-mew, on the 25th of November, an affair slightly glanced over by Major Snodgrass, but which is thus detailed by the military commandant, Capt. Deane :
" A little before daybreak we had embarked twenty men of the Royals, and thirty sepoys of the 26th Madras Native Infantry, intended to co-operate with Lieut.-Colonel Godwin on the opposite side of the river. They were just in the act of shoving off from the shore, when the enemy, to the amount of five or six thousand, made a rush at our works, howling most horribly, and at the same time setting fire to the village, which they had entered at all points. We had fortunately got an 18-pounder into the battery late yesterday evening, which, added to two twelves already there, did great execution.
" Lieut. Kellett, R.N. was at this moment shoving off with the row-boats, but instantly returned to our assistance with all his men, and kindly under- took the superintendence of the guns, the well-directed fire of which so mainly contributed to our success. The enemy, after nearly two hours' sharp fighting, retired in admirable order, carrying off great numbers of dead and wounded. I am happy to add, with the exception of one man slightly grazed in the elbow by a musket-shot, we have not a man either killed or wounded. The guns in the boats were of the greatest assistance in scouring the village with their grape."
Sir Archibald, having now determined to become the assailant, made a brisk movement on the 1st of December upon the Burmese left, while Sir J. Brisbane created a diversion by a heavy cannonade on the centre. This manoeuvre, by its happy union of energy and dis- patch, was completely successful : the warlike corps of Shans, which had been brought from the frontiers of China, was dispersed ; one of their three prophetesses — whose duty was to render the English balls innocuous— was shot; and the body of Maha Nemiow, the commander of the column, was found amongst the slain. The left corps being thus disposed of, arrangements were made for settling the enemy's centre. By the earliest dawn of the 2nd the army, after a most harassing march, was again in motion, and many hours had not elapsed before the numerous stockades and breastworks upon the formidable and almost inaccessible ridge of Ze-ouke, were suc- cessively stormed and carried. Previous to the assault, Sir James cannonaded the heights from the river; and during the conflict, a division of flotilla pushed rapidly past the enemy's works, and suc- ceeded in capturing nearly three hundred boats, with a large propor- tion of artillery, small arms, ammunition, and military stores. Here- upon Sir A. Campbell again solicited the attention of the Governor-
THE BURMESE WAR. 25
General in Council " to the judicious and cordial co-operation afforded him by Commodore Sir J. Brisbane, and the boats of His Majesty's squadron employed on this service."
We may here lament the fall of our brave young friend, Capt. Dawson, whose high professional character had induced the Com- modore to promote him into the vacancy recently made by the death of Capt. Alexander, at Rangoon, from the effects of the climate. It is somewhat pointed, that neither the name of Brisbane, nor Chads, nor Alexander, nor Dawson, appear on the pages of the military historian of these events — except that those of the two former are obliged to be appended to treaties.
The right corps of the Burmese, under Sudda-Woon, still re- mained ; but it was soon driven out of the stockade, broken and dis- persed, by a body of troops under Brigadier Cotton, in conjunction with the flotilla, — a service which that active officer thus reported :
" The operations of this day naturally connecting1 me with His Majesty's Navy and the flotilla, I hope it will not be construed into presumption, my venturing to bring to your Excellency's notice the most cordial co-opera- tion and valuable assistance I derived from his Excellency Commodore Sir James Brisbane, who directed personally the whole of the boats which cannonaded and cleared the advance of the troops, from their disembarking above the position to their entering the enemy's fort."
It is needless to follow the whole train of events which succeeded these decisive advantages; suffice it to say, that, in pursuing the retreating army, through a deserted and wasted country, to Meada, and from thence to Melloone, in close co-operation with the "blue jackets," — the same identity of interests which had hitherto animated all parties, was still as predominant as ever ; and the Supreme Go- vernment was pleased to issue a dispatch, unequivocally and warmly acknowledging the " distinguished," "zealous," and " important" acts ofjthe officers of the Royal Navy; and also lauding the beneficial effects of the "uniform spirit of harmony, cordiality, and gallant self-devotion of both services."
Arrived before Melloone, the tactical distribution of our forces Avas so alarming to the enemy, that it brought on a truce ; this was followed by a conference, held, like that of Tilsit, in the middle of a stream. During the " palaver," the Burmese showed themselves able adepts at cajolery, lying, and dissimulation, but judging their tricks were useless, they were compelled to swallow the pill. The Commodore signed the treaty of peace, on the 3rd of January 1826, and then, with ruined health, quitted the scene ; he did not, however, withdraw the boats of the Boadicea, — and the chief naval command again devolved upon Capt. Chads. But as the obstinate monarch, whose sole object was procrastination, refused to ratify the proceed- ings by the 18th, the day fixed upon, the General, with admirable promptness, punished his duplicity by resuming hostilities on the morning of the 19th, both by land and water. In a few hours, the British flag waved over Melloone, the pride of Burmese fortification ; and a large booty in specie, ordnance, arms, ammunition, war-boats, and grain, rewarded the gallantry of the conquerors. Upon this suc- cess, Sir Archibald again acknowledged himself
26 NAVAL OPERATIONS OF
" Deeply indebted to Capt. Chads of the Royal Navy, and every officer and seamen of His Majesty's ships, for the able and judicious mariner in which the troops were transported to the points of attack, and once more requested them to accept the unfeigned expression of his thankfulness."
The loss of Melloone was a blow, at which even he " of the golden foot" was startled. After some farther " coquetting," and a vain attempt to retrieve himself by a levy of 40,000 men, which, under a savage chief styled " King of Hell," was instantly overthrown by our brave little army — he was compelled to submit to the imposed terms, in order to save his capital. The sentence inflicted was, the payment of a crore of rupees, and the transfer of nearly a third of his empire to the East India Company, besides being made to renounce various claims and exactions in which he had delighted. From many testi- monies which have been submitted to us, we had rather that another sop had been added to his sorrows, and that the " united lads" had crowned their career of conquest with a march into the Burman metropolis, where they were fully expected, and where they would have been " quite at home :" it were an enterprise glorious in itself, and important in its consequences.
The position of our forces was now on a widely different footing to the toilsome jungles, and devastated regions they had marched through. Instead of the dreary wilderness which had wearied their gaze, the delighted eye ranged over a wide and beautiful extent of cultivated grounds, studded with groves and villages, and decorated with numerous temples and pagodas, — while the glittering river gave animation to the scene, from every point of view. Some of the officers paid a visit to the capital, and the behaviour of the humbled despot was as courteous " as could be expected."
The retrograde movement of our forces commenced on the 8th of March, when the greatest part of the European troops were embark- ed in country boats, and escorted down the river by the men-of- war's men. And this very unequal and extraordinary contest was concluded by the following additional tribute to the naval exertions, in the proclamation of the Supreme Government of the llth of April, 1826.
" It belongs to a higher authority than the Government of India to notice, in adequate and appropriate terms, the services of His Majesty's squadron, which has co-operated with His Majesty's and the Honourable East India Company's land forces, in the late hostilities with the government of Ava. The Governor-General in Council, however, gladly seizes this opportunity of expressing the deep sense of obligation with which the Supreme Govern- ment acknowledges the important and essential aid afforded by his Excel- lency's Commodore, Sir James Brisbane, in person, as well as by the officers, non-commissioned officers, seamen, and marines of His Majesty's ships who have been employed in the Irrawaddy. Inspired by the most ardent zeal for the honour and interest of the nation and the East India Company, his Excellency, the Naval Commander-in-chief, lost no time in proceeding, with the boats of the Boadicea, to the head-quarters of the British army at Prome, and, directing in person the operations of the river force, rendered the most essential service in the various decisive and memorable actions which, in the month of December last, compelled the Burmese to sue for peace."
THE BURMESE WAR. 27
All this is well ; but it is not well that this should be all. From the hurried abstract which we have given, it will be seen, that the rigorous hardships endured, were equally incident ashore and afloat ; and that there never was a chain of service performed, in which a candid historian could have found the links more inseparable. The seamen and troops suffered alike from the solar heat and nightly dew ; from laborious duties and unwholesome diet ; and, therefore, it becomes invidious to suppress the claims of either. Yet, notwith- standing the repeated avowals of the highest authorities, — notwith- standing the unquestionable fact, that, from the taking of Rangoon by the Liffey to the signing of the definitive treaty by Capt. Chads, the men-of-war's men preceded every movement on the water, and were often the leaders in storming parties, — they were excluded from the reward bestowed upon their meritorious companions in peril and honour. We would even assert that their share of privation was still greater than that experienced by the army, because their num- ber being smaller, they could afford no reliefs : day and night, and for weeks together, were they employed in watching, seizing, and towing away those destructive fire-rafts which, but for their active vigilance, had certainly burnt the whole of the transports ; and dur- ing the advance upon Ava, there was but one battle in which they had not a full share. It is also undeniable, that they had to attend every expedition, and to lead always into the hottest fire ; and for upwards of a year at one spell, never returned to their ships. Still, it being the duty of every Briton to exert himself to the utmost, this unparalleled fatigue was borne with such cheerfulness, that not a murmur was heard till a pointed neglect obliged Capt. Chads, the surviving senior officer, to address two memorials to the Lords of the Treasury, on behalf of the squadron. These documents, which are printed in Lieut. Marshall's book, and will be read with much interest, have not unravelled the mystery. The Supreme Govern- ment of India and the Military Commander-in-chief ever gave the most unqualified praise to the Blues ; and that esteemed veteran, Sir Thomas Munro, deemed them the life and soul of the expedition, without whom nothing could have been achieved. Where then is the hitch ? It surely cannot have been caused by slander —
" Whose whisper o'er the world's diameter, As level as the cannon to its blank, Transports its poison'd shot."
An unworthy, and we should say an unpatriotic jealousy may, per* haps, have pervaded some quarter, but such a feeling could hardly have influenced the decision of a deliberative council. As the deeds we have cited were, for the most part, publicly recorded in gazettes and general orders, the plea of ignorance cannot be allowed to those arbiters who, by an ill-advised measure, have departed from their usual justice and liberality, and, in lighter cases, might thereby have cast a slur upon the British naval character. We therefore trust that, wherever the "onus probandi" may lie, they will yet reconsider their verdict, and examine in detail those events which insured their frontier, and gave them commercial advantages with increase of ter- ritory, and a million of money.
AN APOLOGY FOR THE INDIAN ARMY.
IN a recent Number of the United Service Journal, there have appeared some reflections on the probable duration of the English empire in India. The object of that article is to inquire whether the troops of that country are composed of materials calculated to ensure the continuance of our sway- The writer charges the sepoys with a deficiency in physical courage and energy, with inability to support privation or fatigue, with a disaffected and mutinous disposition ; he accuses the European officers of a want of subordination and military feeling ; and from these circumstances, combined with the probable nature of the wars in which we shall hereafter be engaged, he argues the insecurity of our Asiatic dominions. The remedy proposed is, the substitution of Arabs, Malays, Cafres, Ghoorkas, and Anglo-In- dians, for a considerable portion of the native army. The imputations are heavy, and, if correct, our Indian empire is, indeed, in a perilous state. An attempt shall be made to disprove them, at least in some degree.
Three foreign empires have been established in India — the Patan, the Moghul, and the English. The inhabitants have also been exposed to frequent invasion. The degraded condition in which the lower castes are held, and the number who by their religion are devoted to peaceful occupations, will, perhaps, satisfactorily account for the low estimate which is formed of their national character; but it is surely unjust to designate the Indians generally, especially those of the higher castes, as deficient in those material qualities of character for which their north- ern and western neighbours are so conspicuous. This is an inference not warranted by the frequent invasion and subjugation of India, which is the principal ground for the opinion. The entire history of Asia, replete with instances of nations almost annihilated by the inroads of martial hordes, the history of Europe, that of our own country in par- ticular, subdued by the Normans, and, in her turn, all but subduing France, achieving the conquest of Ireland with a handful of men, — sufficiently prove that the frequency of subjugation is no evidence of pusillanimity in a nation. Still less shall we find the circumstances of these invasions calculated to justify these imputations against their national character, as in all their struggles with their opponents, the Indians laboured under numerous disadvantages, arising partly from an inequality in physical strength, (a circumstance of far less importance now than when the combats were decided hand to hand,) partly from the inferiority of the Indian horse, which, in troops principally com- posed of cavalry, was of no little moment, but still more from the de- fective structure of their national polity. The country consisted not of a few great monarchies, whose union and co-operation, if not ultimately successful, would, at least, have prolonged their resistance, but of various principalities, whose number, discord, and mutual independ- ence, rendered all unanimity hopeless. Neither is the testimony of a recent writer to be rejected. The historian of India, in " The Family Library," ascribes her frequent subjugation to the system of village policy, which weakens, in the minds of the natives, those emotions of patriotism which are felt by other nations. His affections are limited
AN APOLOGY FOR THE INDIAN ARMY. 29
to the welfare of his village ; while it and its institutions are unmo- lested, he cared little who were the rulers of the state.
To revert to the earlier periods of Indian history, Alexander's inva- sion is among the first of which we have any precise knowledge. He led into India 120,000 men, gathered from the various countries which he had passed. Against such an army, under such a leader, the Indians made a vigorous resistance, not limited to one encounter, but continued through a succession of engagements. The admission of a large body of their troops into Alexander's army, proves the estimate which he formed of their valour. Though the tribes which bordered upon India may be supposed to have possessed the same turbulent and predatory habits which they have evinced in later ages, yet we do not find any record of her subjection to a foreign yoke from the period of Alexander and his immediate successors, till the foundation of the Ghaznavee dynasty at the close of the tenth century. When these in- vaders added fanaticism to their other qualities, they became victors. From Mahmood and his successors, who established the Patan dynasty in India, the Hindoos suffered terrible devastations, not, however, with- out a struggle ; their resistance was vigorous, and in some instances successful, as, despite the efforts of Mahmood, the Rajpoots of Ajmeer preserved the independence of their country. The separate exertions of the India States were spirited, but being without concert or bond, they were destroyed in detail. Notwithstanding this, the Moslem conquests were sufficiently gradual, and it was not until three centu- ries after their first invasion, that the Mahommedan arms were carried beyond the northern boundary of the Dekkan. These circumstances are far from indicating a want of energy, and throughout the whole of the Patan and Moghul sway, we observe the same spirit displayed in the shape of continual resistance and incomplete subjugation. Ajmeer, though a province neighbouring to Delhi, always preserved a great degree of independence, even during the firm and powerful reign of Aurungzebe, who made vigorous but unsuccessful attacks on their freedom. On one occasion the Empress was taken prisoner, and Aurungzebe himself narrowly escaped. In Malwa, there were always a number of independent Rajahs : Gundwana and the eastern parts of Berar, remained in a similar state : Travancore, Tanjore, Canara, and Malabar, continued free until the middle of the eighteenth century. Whoever reads the defence of Chittore against Sultan Allahooddeen, or the exploits of Putap Sing, of Rajpootana, against Akbar, will find it difficult to imagine that the Hindoos, or at least certain classes of them, and of these classes the native army is chiefly composed, are des- titute of active courage. To refute the charge more fully, let us con- sider the formation of the Mahratta empire towards the close of the eighteenth century. This tribe, though opposed by the power and wisdom of Aurungzebe, succeeded in wresting from the Mahom- medans, a considerable portion of their empire. By their code, every man was a soldier on emergencies, and had not their career been checked by English discipline, they would have extended their domi- nion over the whole of the Moslem conquests in India.
If, from the centre of India, we turn our eyes to the north, we find similar instances of Hindoo valour. The disciples of Nanuc Shah commenced their fierce and obstinate struggle in the reign of the same
30 AN APOLOGY FOR THE INDIAN ARMY.
potent ruler, and at this day we behold the Seiks not only masters of the large province between the Sutlej and Indus, but reducing their former invaders, the Afghans, under their sway. About the middle of the eighteenth century, the Jauts, another Hindoo tribe, made them- selves independent, and from them, in 1805, the English received at Bhurtpore, the severest repulse which their arms have sustained in Hindoostan. With these examples before us, can it be said that India does not possess materials for a bold and active soldiery, that the cha- racter of her people renders them unrit to remain in our ranks, and that we must seek for her defenders in other lands ? In this-brief abs- tract of her history, do we not rather recognise the descendants of those men, the apprehension of whose valour was one cause of the mutiny of Alexander's soldiers on the banks of the Hyphasis, and whom Arrian, the historian of that campaign, describes as " by far the most warlike of the then inhabitants of Asia ?"
Though the Mahommedan Indians form but a small portion of our army, it will be appropriate to present to view some of the remarkable events in their history. The Moslems commenced their conquests to- wards the conclusion of the tenth century ? about the year 1210, the Moghuls rirst made their appearance in India. From this time until the invasion of Tirnour in 1398, their attacks on India were incessant, but unavailing against the intrepid resistance they encountered.
Timour* appeared in India when it was in a frightful state of dis- cord and anarchy. There were as many kingdoms as provinces, while rival candidates struggled for the imperial throne; the conquest, therefore, could present no great difficulty to his hordes, nor cast any heavy imputation on the vanquished. Hoomayoon, the son of the founder of the Moghul empire in India, was expelled by the Patans, but, availing himself of the anarchy into which the kingdom had again fallen, he returned and regained his dominions. The invasion of Nadir Shah and Abdalla Shah were effected, as usual, when the em- pire was falling to pieces, when the monarch had no authority, and when the provinces had thrown off all obedience. We too availed our- selves of similar circumstances in no inconsiderable degree ; and in their contests with us, the Mahommedans displayed no contemptible military qualities, particularly in the wars against Hyder and Tippoo.
In my opinion, the writer of the " Considerations" is equally mis- taken in his estimate of the deficiencies of our present military system, and in the plan which he proposes as a substitute. In endeavouring to secure these great and distant dominions by the aid of the inhabit- ants themselves, we adopt the policy of Alexander, who entrusted the defence of his conquests to armies of native troops, disciplined and con- trolled by Macedonians. During the continuance of their power in India, the French (from whom, indeed, we adopted it) pursued a similar principle ; but in the " Considerations," it is proposed to sub- stitute troops differing from each other in language, manners, and reli- gion, qualities the union of which in an army has been hitherto deemed
* It is not a little curious that, about the year 1247, an army of Moghuls broke into Bengal, through the mountains of Thibet. They were repulsed, but the experiment may be repeated.
AN APOLOGY FOR THE INDIAN ARMY. 31
of such importance. Arabs, Malays, Cafres, Ghoorkas, and Anglo-In- dians, are the materials of which it is proposed to construct this army. With regard to the Ghoorkas, by whom is probably meant Hillmen, the real Ghoorkas being by no means numerous, and having ample employ- ment in their own country, the question does not arise. In consequence of certain stipulations at the conclusion of the Nepaul war, four regi- ments of Ghoorkas and Hillmen were taken into the Company's ser- vice. It appears to have escaped the notice of the writer, that in language, manners, and religion, these Hillmen differ no more from the inhabitants of the plains, than many of the Hindoo nations do from each other. What has been observed in the " Considerations" regard- ing the lower classes of the Anglo-Indian population, appears very judicious. The employment of these men in our service is an act of common justice. The officers of the Indian army, who are capable of forming a judgment, the drummers of native regiments being composed of Anglo-Indians, believe that they would make excellent soldiers. Of their bravery there can be no doubt ; they are cleanly, intelligent, tractable, and seldom guilty of drunkenness; their chief vices are extravagance and improvidence.
The policy of employing Arabs, Malays, and Cafres, is more ques- tionable. They would be mere mercenaries ; whoever paid highest would have their services, and a change of fortune would be a signal for a change of masters. The common mercenary passes without re- morse and without discredit to alternate sides ; to-day he fights on one side, to-morrov,r he is found equally conspicuous on the other. The sepoy is not a common mercenary ; in the Bengal army he usually is a small landholder, who has an interest in good order and in the perma- nency of a government. He frequently is of a wealthy family, and enters the army for the sake of the influence and privileges it bestows. That his fidelity has. been sometimes shaken, there is no doubt; but, as far as the writer of these observations knows, it has always been under peculiar circumstances, and the object of his insubordination has usually been to obtain the redress of a real or supposed grievance.
The Malays may be brave ; they have the reputation of being treach- erous, and the two characters are rarely combined. It would be very desirable if the writer of the " Considerations" had explained upon what foundation, and from what facts, he has reached the apparently groundless conclusion that the Malays possess a superiority in courage over the sepoys. It ought not to be dismissed from recollection, that Alfonzo de Albuquerque, with an inconsiderable number of Portuguese, subdued Malacca ; in the expedition against Java, the Malay and the sepoy came into collision, and assuredly the reputation of the latter did not suffer in the encounter. Neither is it to be forgotten, that during the administration of Lord Clive, Colonel Ford, with 300 Englishmen and 700 Sepoys, opposed 700 Dutchmen and 800 Malays, and that he slew or captured the entire party.
In Hamilton's Gazetteer is to be found the following character of the Malay : — " The Malay sailor, although strong and occasionally ac- tive, is by no means perseveringly so, and during extreme cold or bad weather is found to skulk sooner than the more feeble but docile Ben- galese Lascar." The same publication says, that he is ferocious, vin-
32 AN APOLOGY FOR THE INDIAN ARMY.
dictive, treacherous ; that his courage is of a kind that acts on the im- pulse of the moment, but is not of a steady character, and that, if offend- ed, he will stab privately.
What especial merit the Cafre possesses to recommend him to our adoption, lies, perhaps, in still greater obscurity than that of the Malay, unless it be said to consist in his superior strength ; but in the present mode of warfare, this will scarcely be a sufficient motive for the change. The strength and weight of a German do not always give him the day. Our West India regiments are composed of men resembling the Cafres — was their conduct in the last American war such as to entitle them to so high a degree of admiration as to allow us to introduce this change without reluctance ? Perhaps it would be unfair to regard their fre- quent revolts as slaves, as bad tests of their fidelity as soldiers, if they were in large and powerful bodies.
At length we have arrived at the Arab. His valour and energy are unquestionable, so are his turbulence and untameable disposition. It is difficult to say by whom he is most feared, by his employer or the enemy. In the last wars with the Mahrattas, large bodies of these men were employed by the Peishwa and the Rajah of Berar. Who- ever reads the accounts of these wars will find ample proof of their untractable character ; very frequently they were quite beyond con- trol, and acted as masters. In Hamilton's Gazetteer is the following paragraph: — " The greater part of Candeish had been usurped by Arab colonists, who, in fact, without any premeditated scheme, were in a fair way of becoming paramount in Hindoostan, having already all the petty chiefs, whom tliey served as mercenaries, more or less under their domination." Under English discipline, no doubt, they would be more manageable, yet still the leaven of their hatred of control would be always to be feared. But would the Arab submit to this discipline ? Many of the native races of India, though probably less wild and im- patient of authority, decline entering our service. The writer of the " Considerations" adduces the Arab Fellahs, who are in the disciplined service of the Pacha of Egypt ; he will readily acknowledge the total difference of character between the Fellah and the Arab adventurer who seeks military service in India. In a large army, composed of such diversified materials, raised from nations so remote from each other, how delicate would not the management be ! Their officers would be compelled to acquaint themselves with four or five languages, unless these mercenaries are forced to learn English or Hindoostanee as a common tongue, and with the equally varying habits, manners, and modes of thinking of this Babel army. It altogether seems an arduous operation, and unattended with security, notwithstanding the assertion of the writer of the " Considerations," that " they must be faithful to us under every difficulty, (an assumption altogether un- proved,) since the camp would be their home." True, the camp would be their home, though whose camp, ours or the enemy's, would be a matter of indifference to them, and of serious doubt to us.
Another objection urged against the sepoys in the " Considerations" is, their " having customs and religious prejudices which keep them so distinct from their British officers as to admit of scarcely any com- munity of feeling or intercourse beyond that which takes place on parade." This is a very decisive assertion, which the facts scarcely
AN APOLOGY FOR THE INDIAN ARMY. 83
authorise. It is not easy to conceive from what intercourse that could or ought to occur, under any circumstances, they are deterred by their " religious prejudices." Intermarriage of their families, and partaking of the same food, are the only points to which the prohibition extends, and on these it is unnecessary to dwell. I do not pretend to deter- mine what ought to be the degree of intercourse between an officer and a private ; but this relation in the Indian army seems sufficiently intimate for all useful purposes. On the festival days of the English the sepoy waits on the officers of his company to pay his respects and offer his congratulations; he repeats the same ceremony on the days devoted to solemnity in his own faith, often making on these occasions a small offering of fruit or flowers, agreeably to the Asiatic custom, which requires an inferior to make a present on visiting his superior. When a large body of them celebrate these festivals with ceremonies, such as fireworks, exhibition of dancing girls, wrestling, &c. the officers are solicited to view them, and on these occasions they are always re- ceived with a sprinkling of rose-water, as a mark of respect, and pre- sented with trays of flowers and pastry. Leave of absence to visit his home is the grand indulgence of a sepoy ; to obtain this privilege he constantly appeals to his immediate officer ; from him, too, he solicits the indulgence of an occasional exemption from duty to perform some religious ceremony ; speaks to him without hesitation on what he considers the most delicate subjects, the female branches of his family, and talks of wife, mother, and sisters, without scruple, generally add- ing, " To you, Sir, who are my father, I feel no ohame in talking of a forbidden subject" (haram). This is a great mark of confidence. If, as it frequently happens, he would make a remittance to his family from the savings of his scanty pay, on particular occasions, as a marriage or a birth, he borrows from the officer commanding his com- pany a small sum for that purpose. In his law-suits, and he or his family are seldom unprovided with one, his officer not rarely acts as his chamber counsel. The latter is usually the arbiter of his domestic quarrels ; in any violent altercation with his wife, or rather his camp- wife, his real wife being generally at home, he appeals to his officer as an umpire, and not unfrequently leads the offending damsel to the quarters of the latter, in spite of their punctilious feelings on these points. In short, the intercourse is continual, and upon the sepoy's part is one of extreme confidence.
Another point of inefficiency in the sepoy, according to the writer of the " Considerations," is his physical incapacity (for he allows him to possess the mental qualities of patience and fortitude,) to undergo pri- vation or fatigue. " The sepoys require," he says, " to keep them efficient, to have all those comforts about them to which they are habituated." To a person unacquainted with them, the word comforts will probably convey some extensive meaning, yet the comforts of a sepoy would be misery to a European ; they are, indeed, scarcely more than a mere sustenance. His luxuries are bread, a little spice, a few of the commonest herbs, and a small quantity of butter, sugar, and tobacco. It is curious to read this observation from an officer of troops that require so much care and comfort as English soldiers ; deprive them of these, how long or with what discipline will they make forced marches. With only some parched meal mixed with water for his U. S. JOITBN. No. 3H. JAN. 1832. D
34 AN APOLOGY FOR THE INDIAN ARMY.
food, the sepoy will make forced marches day after day. " Where the bazaar equipage is absent, as must often happen in a swampy coun- try, they soon sink." What is intended by bazaar equipage is.rather obscure, probably it means tents as well as food ; as for tents, their in- troduction is of comparatively recent date, formerly the native army marched without them. " Even in the climate of India," it is stated in the " Considerations," " the superior stamina of the European soldier become conspicuous in long marches continued for many days ; in such cases they will outmarch the sepoys." Does the writer of the " Con- siderations" seriously maintain, that the European is better suited to bear the effects of the climate ? In a swampy unhealthy country, when deprived of their usual food, the sepoys perish in great numbers, but a regiment is seldom or ever reduced to a state of absolute inefficiency ; place a European corps in a similar situation without spirits or animal food, and to what a condition would it be reduced ? If, instead of his own comfortable tent, the European marched with that of the sepoy for a covering, which scarcely excludes anything but coolness ; if in- stead of his own noble barracks* he were obliged to endure successive hot winds and rains in the sepoy's hut, he would find India a greater Golgotha than even it unhappily is at present. With regard to out- marching the sepoys, it would be desirable to know the instances of so unusual an occurrence. The regiment of the writer of this notice once marched in company with a European corps in the hot month of one of the hottest years. The two regiments marched daily from the same place at different hours. The number of stragglers in the native regi- ment was not unusual, that of the other was prodigious ; it was me- lancholy to see our countrymen panting and exhausted on the road. As well as I recollect, the Europeans carried neither knapsacks nor great coats, the sepoys were loaded with both, and it should not be forgotten that the latter were encumbered with a musket absurdly dis- proportioned to their strength, though well suited to that of a Euro- pean. In France, this is more judiciously arranged, by sizing the muskets according to the troops. I understand, that on common occa- sions, a European regiment marches with one hundred doolies or palan- keens ; a native corps marches with ten, or rather did march, for even this number has been reduced, and these are rarely filled. Of the capabilities of the inhabitants of India to sustain fatigue, the marches of the Mah'rattas and Pindarries are a conspicuous example ; the pur- suits in which they were overtaken may also be adduced. When on leave of absence the sepoys make prodigious journeys.
The next point of animadversion is the risk our dominions are placed in from mutinies of the sepoys. If diversity of character be a pre- ventive of this, India offers ample materials ; it contains also (indeed so does the native army at the present moment,) one of the other checks proposed, a difference of religion. The qualities which the sepoys are described to possess, " patience and fortitude under diffi-
* The plan of the superb barracks at Meerat is to be imitated at the other Euro- pean stations. To each company, four detached bungalows, or thatched cottages, are allotted ; these contain a centre room, surrounded by a wide lobby, and the latter by an open verandah ; there are double doors, one of glass, the other of Ve- netian blinds. The non-commissioned officers and married men sleep in the lobby ; the latter have partitioned rooms.
AN APOLOGY FOR THE INDIAN ARMY. 35
culties and privations/' and it is to be doubted if they are to be found among the proposed substitutes, are not such as to produce great fears of revolt. As to the mutinies which have taken place — we ought rather to be surprised at the smallness of their number, than unduly alarmed for the future. Perhaps, no other large body of mercenaries (in a contemptuous light) can present such an uniformity of good conduct. But would it not be fair to consider the character of those acts of insubordination which have unfortunately happened, and see whether they have arisen from a wanton spirit of disaffection, or from a feeling of suffering under injustice and oppression ? From the in- formation which I have been able to obtain respecting the moet serious mutinies in the Indian army, that of 1764, Vellore, Java, and Barrackpore, I believe the following will be found a pretty accurate statement. The first arose from withholding an increased donation which had been procured as a remuneration for services ; a most inadequate reason certainly, but still unconnected with the main cause of fear, disaffection to the Government. That of Vellore, it is to be feared, was of a much more serious character, and is said to have been excited by the tampering of Tippoo's family ; yet it is also said to have been partly caused by some absurd interference with the turbans or whiskers, or something equally trifling, of the men. These to the European are childish reasons indeed, but turbans and whis- kers are to the Indian, objects of as much veneration as was formerly the coolin to the Irish Celt, or the philibeg to the Gael. The mu- tiny at Java, or rather intended mutiny, is said to have been chiefly caused by a breach of promise to the native regiments. These had gone to Java under a stipulation of being sent back in a specified time, and were retained in the island long beyond the promised period. On the mutineers at Barrackpore, the writer of the " Considerations," or ra- ther the Monthly Review, whose sentiments he seems to adopt, is very harsh, perhaps more so than is warranted by our knowledge of the facts. That a mutiny must be suppressed at all hazards, however great may have been the provocation to insubordination, is perhaps allowed as a truism by all military authorities ; and it is also most likely, indeed most certain, that the last extremity was not resorted to at Barrackpore, until every other method had failed. But we are au- thorized in the belief, that the home authorities did not consider the 47th native infantry so guilty as the Review asserts, when we find that before long the number of the regiment was restored, and that all the prisoners who had been sentenced to fourteen years' hard labour, obtained an entire remission of their punishment. An extract from the Monthly Review is given in the " Considerations," in which it is asserted that nothing but the promptness with which the mutineers were attacked, could have averted the general revolt. The inference from this is, that there was a plan for revolt, or at least a tendency to revolt, throughout the Bengal army.
When that melancholy event took place, I happened to be with my re- giment at a distant station, and in that corps there was not the slightest symptom of insubordination, nor did I ever hear that such a feeling had extended beyond Barrackpore. The mere fact that five native regi- ments under arms were calm spectators of the destruction of the 47th Native Infantry by the European troops, would seem to disprove the
D 2
36 AN APOLOGY FOR THE INDIAN ARMY.
allegation of the Review. The writer of the " Considerations" says, " the real cause (of the mutiny) being the horror they had conceived of the Burmese and of their country." Of the Burmese the sepoys knew little ; of their country they knew nothing. To Arracan they bore an extreme aversion, but Arracan is not Burmah. This dislike has its origin in a superstitious belief that the country is infested with witches and sorcerers, who exterminate all invaders. One question may be asked : if the mutineers were so guilty, why were not the pro- ceedings of the Court of Inquiry held on that transaction ever pub- lished ? In India, the cause of the mutiny is said to be the following : The regiment was ordered to march from Barrackpore towards Arra- can, without any carriage being provided as usual. The men remon- strated, that to march into such a swampy, unhealthy country as Arra- can, without carriage, would be the destruction of the entire corps. The Government is then said to have given each man five rupees, with instructions that the regiment should provide themselves with car- riage. The sepoys remonstrated again, that the donation was a mock- ery, for, without compulsion, and the aid of Government, no man would give his bullock or cart for hire; and that the Government might retain the money and supply the carriage.
Whether the Government would not, — to maintain its dignity, — or really could not, — from the country being entirely drained of cattle,— is not declared ; probably the latter is the true cause. At all events, they were now at issue ; the Government saying they must march without carriage, the sepoys positively refusing, but expressing their willingness to proceed the moment it was supplied. It should not be forgotten, that the feelings of the sepoys are said to have been much excited by observing, a short time before, a European regiment march, or move down the river, supplied with every comfort. Such is the rumoured account. One thing is certain ; that the Government shortly afterwards issued an order, that whenever a regiment was directed to march, it should be supplied with carriage by the civil authorities. It is presumed that the above account will not be taken for a justification of the mutiny. The smallness of the sepoy's pay will probably be some day the cause of serious commotion. This, indeed, is most scanty, being only fourteen shillings a month : with this sum he has to provide food and lodging; undress clothes, when off duty; white jackets and trowsers, when on duty in hot weather ; shoes, parade-cap, breast-plate ; and also to perform that duty which a Hindoo holds most sacred —an occasional remittance for the support of his parents and family. Nothing could accomplish this but the most extraordinary frugality.
It is also contended that the sepoys are unfit for our ranks, from their unwillingness to serve in foreign countries. The alacrity of the Madras army to proceed to Burmah, the readiness with which the sepoys went to Egypt, to the Isle of France, to Java, to Ceylon, are, perhaps, a sufficient answer. If the pay for foreign service were in- creased, there would be no want of candidates. Some years ago, half- a-dozen of general service corps were raised in Bengal ; these were chiefly filled up with volunteers from old regiments. The anxiety of the sepoys to enter them was very great, and the candidates were so eager and so numerous, that there was some difficulty in settling their claims. This anxiety arose merely from the prospect of getting a few steps towards promotion to the rank of corporal.
AN APOLOGY FOR THE INDIAN ARMY. 37
The next charge against the sepoys is, that their courage is only of a passive character, and that in a " broken or close country, where skir- mishing and small detachments are necessarily much employed, they are found wanting." If it is intended here to compare the sepoy with an English soldier, which is a most unfair way of judging, though one commonly adopted by the officers of His Majesty's service, he will be found inferior, as a skirmisher, in boldness, activity, and energy ; but, perhaps, he surpasses him in intelligence. After a few months' drill- ing, a sepoy becomes tolerably well acquainted with his duties. If an English soldier were drilled in Arabian or Chinese, with broken Eng- lish explanations, what progress would he make in the same period ? But on what occasions has the sepoy been " found wanting" in a broken or close country. Surely not in Nepaul. Is the allusion intended for Ava ? But the assault of stockades is not skirmishing. The sepoy is, perhaps, not very efficient in escalading, which may, in some measure, arise from the weight of his musket, or the confinement of his limbs in an English dress. The earlier wars of the English in the Carnatic and in Bengal consisted chiefly of encounters of " small detachments ;" in these the sepoy acquitted himself well. A quotation is given in the "Considerations" from the Monthly Review: — "In the assault of Bhurtpore, we know that not one of the native regiments could be induced to approach the walls, until the European troops had sur- mounted the ramparts."
The writer of this notice was present at that assault, and will try to give an idea of it. There were three breaches. The left and centre assaulting parties were each headed by a King's regiment ; the right breach, or rather battered gateway, was attacked by the Company's European regiment ; each was followed by strong detachments of native troops. The entire of the assaulting columns were placed in the trenches ; the left column stepped at. once from the trenches into the ditch, and mounted the ramparts immediately ; the centre column was slightly retired from the ditch to await the explosion of an im- mense mine, but it also mounted the ramparts instantly ; the right column marched across a short plain, but with exactly the same results. Now, in this state of the matter, how is it possible that the native troops, who were in the rear, could be required to approach the walls, unless those in their front had been repulsed, which was far from being the case. In an assault, is it usual for troops in the rear to " approach" a narrow breach until those in front have either been driven back or have entered ? It seems impossible. The expression " not one" is made use of as if the attempt had been made with every individual corps. In the column to which the writer was attached, not the slightest symptom of backwardness was evinced by the native troops ; the assault was per- fectly successful, every thing went on smoothly, and all mounted the breach and ramparts in the order they were placed in the trenches. In his haste to undervalue other troops, or perhaps another service, the writer in the review forgot to mention the gallant conduct of the na- tive Sappers and Miners, and native Pioneers. The former especially received high commendation from Lord Combermere.
That the native troops have received several severe defeats, is most certain. But will it be alleged that these are conclusive against their courage ? Their defeats have generally been suffered under most un- favourable circumstances, as great inferiority of numbers, or disadvan-
38 AN APOLOGY FOR THE INDIAN ARMY.
tageous position, &c. ; as well almost might an American, from the result of the revolutionary war, assert the absurdity that the English are not brave soldiers.
A few instances of sepoy gallantry may not be misplaced. In 1751 a battle was fought in the Carnatic, in which the European troops fled from the field, while the natives continued the contest. In the battles which were fought in Bengal, from 1760 to 1763, Mills says, that the sepoys behaved with conspicuous gallantry. In 1 780 Capt. Popham, with a force consisting of native troops, having stormed the fort of Soharghur, took by escalade the particularly strong fortress of Gwa- lior. Sir Eyre Coote had declared the attempt, with so feeble a force, " absolute madness." It was defended by a scarp sixteen feet high, then a steep ascent of forty yards, and finally a wall of thirty feet high. The sepoys are said to have mounted the rope ladders with " amazing activity." In 1780 Colonel Bailley, with 150 Europeans and 2000 sepoys, was attacked by Tippoo with the " flower of his army and a prodigious superiority ;" he sustained a severe conflict for several hours, and repulsed the assailants ; a subsequent reinforcement rendered the number of his troops 650 Europeans and 3000 sepoys. The attack was renewed by Hyder and Tippoo, with sixty guns and nearly their whole army. Hyder's guns were principally managed by Europeans, and his regular battalions chiefly commanded by Frenchmen. The utmost gallantry was displayed by both Europeans and sepoys ; no doubt, the admirable conduct of the former had its full influence on the latter ; every assault was repulsed, until two tumbrils blew up, which spread such confusion that our troops were finally routed ; almost all the sepoys were killed. The above account is taken from Mills, which, however, is disputed. In 1782 Tippoo, with twenty guns, 10,000 horse, 10,000 infantry, and 400 Frenchmen, commanded by Colonel Lally, a most expert soldier, attacked Colonel Braithwaite's detach- ment of 100 Europeans, 1500 sepoys, and 300 native cavalry. Mills says, " The annals of war can seldom exhibit a parallel to the firmness and perseverance which he and his little army displayed." After twenty-six hours' incessant fighting, when a great portion of the party were killed, and the rest worn out with fatigue and wounds, the 400 French, flanked by horse, charged with bayonets ; then, but not till then, the sepoys broke.
Colonel Humberstone in 1782, with 900 Englishmen and 3000 sepoys, repulsed Tippoo with 20,000 men, and a portion of Europeans. In 1780, Colonel Carnac, with 5000 sepoys, was surrounded by Sindia ; a night attack was made on Sindia's camp, and he was completely routed. In 1791, Capt. Little, with three battalions of Bombay sepoys and a body of Mahratta cavalry, attacked one of Tippoo's commanders, drawn up in a position of extraordinary strength, with 10,000 men ; to the astonishment of the Mahrattas, who gave no aid whatever, he routed them, and captured all the guns, though with heavy loss. The sepoys had been thirty-six hours under arms actively employed, with- out refreshment. Mills says, " This is allowed to have been one of the most spirited and brilliant actions of the war." Major Goudie, with one battalion of Europeans and six battalions of sepovs, took by assault the almost inaccessible fortresses of Rajcotta and Nundydroog. In 1799, Colonel Montresor with four battalions of Bombay sepoys, was attacked by Tippoo with the principal part of his army. They
AM APOLOGY FOR THB IX MAX A&MT. 39
«• six hami with great gallantry, until a rein- anired. In IBM, Coknel llonstm, with ire battalkas of Bengal sepaya, attacked ad toak by escalade the fart af Hinghisghnr. Jfflk says, <* It was a fortress of great natural strength, and the gal- kntry and skill with which it wm attacked, ferms one af the brflbat r of war.' Even the ••fortunate letieat •£ tke same «fieer Holkar with all his any, i* mat m ilhatit rrdeeadsg rer he tnned «n his ponoen. Ov the bonks of tbe
he beat np the enemr's camp. On the baaJa af the •aaaer pact •£ his faree hana^ oaawd, «e* hatSaba* aad the
ttacxen by earaJiy, n£uitJT, aso gius> Jtlomon led i to thedm^Cy and catured same ac toe uts, but
was a man «f •mlavtedflawjage, but, like the genenlitT of the cen af His llajesty'a any, to whick hebdM^rd, he is said to haw au«m»|H far the sepays. Sodi a ieetiag amst deprive a cavmaader of
recolotMaL la it nat, them, aai iajautkc to the sepov to
aetf. TBB last remark booly meant to be applied
is emapaaed of separ* sely- When they are mixed with
the Kmg* ameer, emxairaeed pnbably by the praaenee af the men he
In 1804 Ochterlanr, with a hattalmn and a half of Delhi fat e^fat days' against Holksr with all his
d.bni ii|iamiil •ill. ln» Atthe
int siege af Ithniiuan, in 1806, a mast gallant
to de-
napradicable hreacn,
the top afthe
- said Lard Lake, "little , to nnderga the bitter nan? af bnt anrdy
fthadlaaed,
In the last 'war with the
"
VB
the Ba>h af They defended ihinmilin with the •*-
was pnt to it by Capt.
_ i headed by Arabs, tor several hana, tfll the arrival of a
40 AN APOLOGY FOR THE INDIAN ARMY.
In the Nepaul war, after several armies, with considerable propor- tions of Europeans, had met with reverses, a native detachment, under Colonel, now Sir Jasper Nicolls, a King's officer by the bye, was the first to gain success, by storming the heights at Almorah. This was immediately followed by various successes, particularly that ob- tained at Malown by Ochterlony's army, consisting exclusively of natives, with the exception of some European artillery. By his able manoeuvring, Ochterlony brought at once under English control the large mountainous tract between the Sutlej and the boundaries of Ne- paul, in Kumaon. Here we find the sepoy engaged in a totally new species of warfare, a mountainous war; but he was commanded by men who trusted in him, and he was successful. It is worthy of remark, that this too was, in a great measure, a war of small detachments, and of skirmishing. I trust the narration of these latter instances will not induce any one to deem me guilty of the absurdity of drawing a parallel between the English soldier and the sepoy. I well know the superiority of my countrymen, and hope it may ever continue, as on that, indeed, hinges the permanence of our rule.
This enumeration is here closed, though by no means exhausted. No reference need be made to the actions of greater importance, whe- ther from the numbers or their consequences, — • such as Madras, Wandenach, Pondicherry, Cuddalore, the battle and siege of Serin- gapatam, Plassye, Buxcu, Assye, Allyghur, Delhi, Agra, Deeg, and Mahidpore. In these the proportion of Europeans was consider- able, and for them the writer of the " Considerations" probably claims almost the whole praise. Perhaps even he will not refuse to the sepoys a portion of the merit which was claimed for his country- men by an Irish Major, who, in consequence of the gallantry of the Irish brigade at Comona, was selected to be the bearer of the des- patches to the French King. " But do you tell me nothing of your gallant countrymen?" said the monarch. — "Sire," replied the exile, " they endeavoured to imitate the conduct of your Majesty's subjects."
But who ought to be the best judges of the sepoy ? Should it not be the men whose liberty and life depend on his conduct ? These men trust him implicitly, if only opposed by Asiatics, even with a great superiority of numbers ; and they do not fear an encounter with Euro- peans, if a proper proportion of Englishmen fight by the sepoy's side. If he is to be expelled from our ranks ; if other mercenaries are to occupy the place which he has filled with some credit ; may the change never extort the exclamation at some Asiatic Fontenoy, " Cursed be the laws which deprive me of such subjects !"
This article has reached a greater length than the writer anticipated ; his observations on the remarks against the officers of the Indian army, and on the other subjects noticed in the " Considerations," must be deferred for a future paper.
The comparison in the " Considerations" between the officers of the King's and of that army, might, perhaps, have been spared, the utility of it not being very obvious; but having been produced, it may be found that the latter have little cause to shun the scrutiny, whether directed to military points, or to the station they each hold in litera- ture. S. S.
41 RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE.*
BY A MIDSHIPMAN OF THE LAST CENTURY.
THE late officers of L'Incroyable, now prisoners on board the fri- gates, although treated with every hospitality, soon began to feel the want of those luxuries which had been so fully supplied to them by their liberal employers. In vain was the single roast fowl presented for a bonne-bouche, after the pea-soup and salt-pork had gone their round, and been relieved by a dish of salt-fish at the bottom, and a sea-pie at the head, in which the King's Own served a more substan- tial purpose than merely to flavour it. The Frenchmen dropped some sarcastic remarks upon English good living, and began to talk about the dainties they had left behind. Their entertainers thought it a pity that they should not be allowed to share them, and upon these very considerate views being represented to the Captain of one of the frigates, he permitted a boat to be sent on board for some of the good things. The boat was liberally supplied with kegs, which contained each a turkey, a goose, or a nice round of spiced beef. The kegs were filled up with lard, which excluded the external air, and preserved the valuables within ; but their contents were certainly not equal in fla- vour to poultry that had not undergone this mode of preservation. To the difference of our palates, now so much pampered, we had become sensible ; for we had abundant opportunities of jcomparing them with the produce of the poultry-coops, which was also in excellent condition. When the boat had been laden with the above articles, together with cases of dried and preserved fruits, we heard some sinister observations about the abundance of the live-stock, and the account given by the Frenchmen on board the frigate of their thriving state. The boat, however, being pretty well filled, shoved off with what she had got; and, as the breeze was now springing up, we hoped that we should make sail without being favoured with another visit. But we were not to be let off so easily. As soon as she was cleared, she returned with a message, intimating that a portion of the live-stock was to be sent. A cackling, henceforth, commenced among the hen-coops, which were robbed of nearly half their inmates.
When the ambassador employed on this mission came to the turkey- coops, he exclaimed in a tone of disappointment — " Here are but two ! you have not eaten seven already ? The Frenchmen tell us they left nine."
The Lieutenant commanding said, " There certainly were more in the morning. Send for Jean, le Poulailler." (Jemmy Ducks, we should have called him.) Our commanding officer was not yet ac- quainted with the joke that was in progress, but the youngsters knew very well that he would have no objection to it. Jean, le Poulailler, who had been retained in his former station under the new regime, understood what was going on, and shrugging up his shoulders, pro- nounced— '" En voild tons." " I declare," says a midshipman of the boat, who had been in her in her former trip, " I thought I had counted seven." " Oh !" replied his compatriot of the opposite in-
* Continued from page 472, Part III. for 1831.
42 RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE.
terest, " they had their feathers spread out, man." " Perhaps they had/' said the other, who thus allowed himself to be persuaded out of the evidence of his senses. The boat shoved off, and returned to the frigate. She was hoisted up, and we all made sail.
When every thing was quiet and in order, the ingenious young gen- tleman who had accounted for the numerous appearance of the turkeys by the spread of their feathers, stepped over from the lee-side of the quarter-deck, and touching his hat as he passed the Lieutenant to windward, said, " It is time to give the turkeys a little air again, Sir." And going up to a colour-chest, which stood abaft the mizen-mast, and which had been emptied of its flags for the occasion, opened the lid, while the French Jemmy Ducks took out five glorious fat turkeys, and restored them to their wonted habitation.
In due time we arrived at Spithead, and as the F had come
from the Mediterranean, we were all put in quarantine. Two persons came on board to see that the quarantine laws were duly observed, and to supervise the smoking of letters previous to their being handed into the boats, by means of a long rod slit at the end. When these grave and consequential persons came on board, they told us that there had been some disturbance in the fleet, but that it was all now settled. This was soon after the 23rd of April, on which day Lord Bridport had resumed the command of the grand fleet, with authority from the Admiralty to say, that the complaints contained in the petition of the seamen should be redressed.
Bad as the treatment of the seamen had been, it seems probable that their mutinous combination which presented this petition, would never have been organized, had it not been through the instrumentality of some of the disaffected on the land. At all events, the delegates had their correspondents on shore after the mutiny had broken out. But it is a curious fact, that these incendiaries on the land had no power to excite the men who took upon themselves the direction of this mutiny, farther than to secure the objects which their Jirst petition embodied ; and that the men did not allow themselves to be led to make innova- tions or amplifications upon this, their first petition, when they ascer- tained their power, on seeing the concession of the Government after it was awakened to look at the urgency of the case by a second refusal of the fleet to put to sea. This concession was as complete as the tar- diness to resolve whether it should be made or not seems unaccount- able. The first act of decided and general mutiny was on the 14th of April, after several anonymous letters had been written by the men to Lord Howe, whom they styled " The seaman's friend," knowing that his Lordship affected that character; but naval officers of that day thought that he did so invidiously in reference to them.
On that day the signal was made to weigh. The men of the fleet, instead of repairing to their respective stations, simultaneously ran up the rigging and gave three cheers to show their unanimity. In this general act of insubordination the marines were included, which ren- dered any effort of the officers to put it down by physical force so hope- less, that it was not attempted. These circumstances would seem to have been sufficiently imperious to call for a prompt decision on the part of the Government. Upon the 23rd of April, when the seamen had the promise of redress and pardon through Lord Bridport, they
RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE. 43
returned to their duty ; but though the men again obeyed the command of their officers, the organized combination was kept up among them, which watched with jealousy the tardiness that still delayed the pass- ing of an act for this redress into a law. A resolution not to go to sea until it should be so passed, " unless the enemy was known to be at sea/' was also persevered in. This gave the disaffected persons on shore a farther opportunity of exciting discontent,
Upon the authority of a man who was afterwards a messmate with me as purser, but who was then before the mast in one of the mu- tinous ships, this discontent was much inflamed at a meeting of the delegates, by the following address from one of the leaders. " You have been told that your petition was laid on the table — but it's all a
d d lie — it was thrown under the table, as this letter will let you
know ; and the writer of this letter saw it done."
The principal grievances contained in the petition of the seamen were two. First, that their pay had not been raised since the reign of Queen Anne, " at which time the value of money was much greater than at present." Second, that their provisions were supplied to them by the purser's pound, and not by an honest pound.
It will be necessary to explain to a landsman, or even to some sailors of the present day, what was meant by the purser's pound. In all articles of provision liable to lose weight or measure by keeping, the purser was required to issue to the men only seven eighths of that with which he had been supplied by Government. For this purpose, his weights and measures were only seven eighths of the standard weight or measure, and were technically known by the name of purser's pound, &c. If all or any part of the other eighth remained when the annual survey was taken upon the stores in the purser's care, he took it on charge as a new supply, and was allowed a fixed price for it by the Government. Since that time, the matter is managed by a proportionate weight or measure being supplied to the purser in addi- tion to what he is required to issue, so that Jack gets an honest pound. Thus the purser gets eight pounds of bread, out of which he serves the weekly allowance of seven pounds.
Besides this scraping of the purser's eighth off the sailor's allowance, there was frequently much to make him discontented with the quality of the provisions. The scrutiny of public opinion, and the industrious spirit of Lord St. Vincent had not, as yet, forced upon the Government the necessity of stopping with a strong hand the abuses of jobbers and contractors ; so that, although the best of every thing was paid for by the country, the supplies of provisions were often of an inferior qua- lity. Where complaints were made, the rules of the service then, as now, enjoined superior or commanding officers " to cause such present remedy to be had," as the case might require ; but this present remedy was only within the immediate power of the superior officer, when the articles complained of were absolutely " rotten, stinking, and unfit for men to eat."
It must be considered, also, that the greatest portion of these muti- neers had been placed where they were by a power unknown to, and at variance with, the laws of their country ; and when thus made outlaws without a crime, they were retained there by fear of the most severe coercion alone. It is not, then, to be wondered at that they were dis-
44 RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE.
posed to look upon the officers who were made the instruments of thus retaining them, with jealousy and distrust; and to nurse feelings of rancour and discontent even when they had a ground of complaint that lay within the power of their officers to cure, rather than to run the risk of their complaint being construed into that disposition to rebel, which they were too conscious of feeling. Also, where a system of injustice was at all events to be supported, the officer whose duty it became to support such a system, was, it must be confessed, placed in circumstances which inclined him to watch with jealousy any disposi- tion in the men to make complaints, so that the poor devil who was able to put his words into intelligible form, and was so unguarded as to become spokesman, was too often set down as a sea-lawyer, and in that character was sure of a dozen or two in addition to what he might have otherwise got when he fell into any scrape.
Thus, the situation of the seamen on board a man-of-war, which has been so much ameliorated since that time, had been neglected until it had arrived at a climax of misrule as great as the spirit of Britons could bear ; and it is no wonder that the mutiny broke out. If the business-like power which produced the systematic and extensive organization of this mutiny surprises us when we consider what the men were who directed it, we ought, under all the circumstances, to be still more disposed to admire their moderation and firmness in stopping it where they did.
The name of the leading delegate, whom all seemed to follow, was Joyce. The conduct of this man in ruling, restraining, and stopping this mutiny, showed him to be possessed of that master-spirit under which mankind willingly and instinctively place themselves when en- gaged in dangerous enterprises. If we must lament that he was in- duced by any circumstances to take the lead in a measure so full of danger to his country, we cannot but admire the singular accuracy with which he estimated his power of preventing its being carried fur- ther, and the good faith with which he exercised that influence. I believe this instance of accurate calculation upon such a question by the leaders of rebellion, is a solitary one in their history. Parker declared at his trial, and continued to maintain till his death, that lie had nothing to do with the planning of the mutiny at the Nore, and that in its progress, he prevented excesses which the men would have commit- ted. This might be true, but the spirit of Joyce was capable of con- trolling the turbulent spirits of which he had usurped the direction, with a hand so dexterous, that they were not allowed to feel that the reins of discipline had been loosened in the change, and prevented those he led from going beyond the point he had fixed for them.
To discover what has been this man's progress in after life, would be an interesting subject of inquiry, and it would be an amusing specula- tion to consider what it might have been if he had had such a field as France was at that time, open before him, and if he had possessed the selfishness of a Buonaparte.
Leaving our prize safe in Portsmouth Harbour, we returned from being officers and faring sumptuously every day, to our more humble station and homely fare of the Midshipman's berth on board the
P , and were so busily engaged in preparing to get to sea again,
that we worked even on Sunday.
I think it was on Sunday, the 7th of May, that I was employed
RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA. LIFE. 45
with a party of hands at the fore-hatchway, getting up empty water- casks, when a rattling of musketry was heard not far from us. My men did not ask leave to go and see what it was, but instantly, witn every man and boy in the ship, made a rush to the larboard-gangway, to gaze on His Majesty's Ship London, on board of which the firing was. It did not last long ; all was again- quiet. By and by a boat, with some wounded men, rowed towards the shore, close under our stern; and soon afterwards a general communication by boats took place through the fleet ; each ship sending her two delegates, who, with Joyce at their head, thus visited all the ships of the fleet in suc- cession. On this day (the 7th of May), the fleet had been again ordered to put to sea, and the order was answered by the men, seamen, and marines taking possession of the fore part of the ships, and some of them pointing the guns aft. On board the London, which bore the flag of Admiral Colpoys, the disposition to act in this manner had been foreseen, and an ineffectual attempt was made to guard against it by drawing up the marines on the quarter-deck armed ; the officers being also armed. The marines started from their ranks one after another, and ran forward to join the seamen on the forecastle. The first who did so was instantly shot by Lieut. Bover, the Second-Lieutenant. The straggling discharge of fire-arms which I have mentioned, now took place ; but as the marines had deserted their post, it could not last ; the officers were soon overpowered.
In the first moment of their success, the men tumultuously called for vengeance on the head of Mr. Bover. He was carried to the fore- castle ; the yard-ropes, which had been rove on the 23rd of April, were soon rove again, and one was applied to instant use. The noose was put round the neck of Mr. Bover. Up to this point, the mutineers had acted promptly towards their avowed purpose; but here there -seemed a hesitation, some want of a real determination to do that which had been so clamorously called for.
There was a deficiency of alertness in manning the yard-rope, which, if it had been pulled upon, would have swung Mr. Bover to the fore- yard-arm. And now stepped forward one of those characters, which I trust are not yet rare in the navy, and of which the author of " The King's Own" has drawn so fine a picture in old William Adams. This old seaman, whose name I am sorry to have forgotten, stepping quietly up to one of the forecastle guns, took up the handspike belonging to it, and placing himself beside Mr. Bover, threw the noose off his neck, and declared that any man who would lay hands upon Mr. Bover, must first hang him. "The boldness of this step commanded the atten- tion of those about him, whom he now addressed in a short harangue. He told them that he had long known Mr. Bover for a good officer in another ship before he came into the London, and that he had done no more than every officer and man ought to do, which was to obey orders and do his duty. This address procured the instant release of Mr. Bover, but the auditors did not perceive that the reasoning in it ap- plied equally to the Admiral in his endeavour to stop a rising mutiny. The clamour now prevailed against him ; but the leaders had by this time had leisure to consider the desperate circumstances in which they would be placed by any sacrifice of their officers in cold blood. They accordingly stilled the voices of the clamorous, by declaring that the Admiral should be tried by a court-martial. In the mean time he was
46 RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE.
placed in confinement. A meeting of the delegates, who called them- selves a court-martial, took place afterwards (I think upon the Tues- day). They acquitted the Admiral on the same grounds on which the old seaman had saved the life of Mr. Bover, namely, that he had only done his duty.
Meantime each ship hoisted a red flag, and following the example of the London, each rove her yard-ropes, to show the fate that was pre- pared for those who should desert the cause in which they were engaged. Their crews also mounted the rigging morning and evening, and gave three cheers to attest their unanimity. Joyce, attended by the delegates in a body, visited the ships daily, to see that the regula- tions which he had enjoined were complied with. In conformity with the circumstances of men who had still a negociation open with the Government, those regulations enjoined, amongst other matters, a strict care of the stores and provisions ; and the floggings that were inflicted for any breach of them, were said to be severe in some of the ships. The yard-ropes at the fore-yard-arms were not applied to the extreme purpose of hanging any one by the neck, but they were repeatedly used to duck some unhappy culprit. The system by which the new regulations were enforced, as it seems to have been carried on with more judgment, so its punishments were less frequent and vigorous than those at the Nore. In this case, also, there was not time for the rigour of the system to open the eyes of the men to the nature of the despe- rate scrape they had got into, and to create that disgust to their lead- ers, which made one ship after another at the Nore desert them, and return to the command of the officers. But even during the short time that the mutiny at Spithead lasted, the regulations which were insti- tuted, and the manner in which they were enforced, showed that what- ever else might be deficient, there was no want of energy in their discipline.
While these things were going on, we remained in H. M. Ship
P , in a state of great tranquillity. Not being a line-of-battle
ship, nor belonging to the grand fleet, we had been neglected, and had not as yet had any visit from the delegates, nor had any of our men attempted to visit them. But at the time of cheering, the men came aft in a body. Their spokesmen took their hats off, and respect- fully represented to the Captain, that they had no complaints to make, but they did not wish to be marked as being in opposition to thirty sail-of-the-line. They then mounted the rigging, and cheered with the rest of the fleet, but, as yet, they did not adopt the ensigns of mutiny by reeving the yard-ropes and hoisting the red flag.
This state of things continued on. board the P until Tuesday,
when, about noon, the fleet of boats 'was observed to row towards her. The moment this was known, not a man or boy remained below. They were mounted on the booms, gangway, and forecastle. I think our Captain remained upon the quarter-deck, far aft, near the taf-rail : the other officers were on the quarter-deck, well aft also, so that they were not in the way of requiring any respect from our unwelcome visitors, or of the omission of it being marked to them. The young- sters, of course, pushed themselves as near to the gangway as they could, to see what was going on. None of the men were on the quar- ter-deck, but all before the main-mast, as I have mentioned.
Every one who has been on board a frigate, or a two-decker, will
RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE. 4-7
remember that the entrance to the ship from without, by the steps up the side, is quite at the after end of the gangway, and therefore, although not on the quarter-deck, is so near to it, that if any one on entering the ship shall turn his face aft, he will feel himself called upon to make the usual obeisance to this respected spot, at least if time and practice have drilled him into proper naval feeling. On the contrary, if men coming out of boats shall turn to go forward, as they do not come on the quarter-deck, this reverence may be dispensed with.
There were, therefore, three ways in which Joyce-and his associates might have entered the ship. First, they might have turned towards the quarter-deck without any mark of respect which would have been positive disrespect. Second, they might have turned towards it, and having lifted their hats, proceeded to their business on the fore- castle ; but they did neither. Joyce and three others, as they stepped on board, turned directly to the place where their business lay, and walked along the larboard gangway to the forecastle. They were dressed in a seaman's working dress ; their canvass trowsers were clean, though marked with tar that would not wash out, and they had on clean shirts, but not their Sunday jackets or trowsers. They had no trouble in assembling the hands around thfem. The men crowded about them. The youngsters did not go so far as to do this, and, pro- bably, would not have been allowed ; so we did not hear the harangue. .It occupied but a short time ; not more than five minutes. The dele- gates then returned to their boats in the same order as they came on board ; and still without noticing the quarter-deck, or the officers on it, who, as I have mentioned, were so far removed from the fore part of it, as to be out of the reach of this want of deference.
I have said that not more than three or four of those delegates came on board ; the rest remained in the fleet of boats, which covered the water to a considerable extent on the larboard side of the ship, and lay upon their oars.
We learned afterwards that the business of these leaders of the mutiny, on board of us, had been to get two delegates appointed to join them. The first persons fixed upon for this office were the captains of the forecastle of the two watches, starboard and larboard. They were chosen ex-ojficio, as the two prime seamen of the ship, rather than from any forwardness in themselves to act in such a station. One of them was a man upwards of forty, which was a time of life that, when attained in the privations, excesses, and rough wear of a sailor before the mast, gave many of the marks, and commanded some of the veneration of old age. I forget what this man's surname was, but that is of less consequence, as he was well known by the title of Old Geordie. Old Geordie joined the stream in surrounding the delegates upon the forecastle, until he heard himself called upon to become one of them ; when he very coolly made answer to the usurpers
of authority. — " I '11 be ed if I '11 have any thing to do with you."
The dryness of this reply produced an involuntary laugh, even among those to whom it was addressed ; but as they insisted upon two being nominated, the other captain of the forecastle, Robert Dryburgh, and Alexander Skene, the captain of the maintop, were fixed upon. The judgment in this selection was consistent with the other means by which the degree of order that was preserved in the fleet during the reign of this anomalous power was maintained. These two men were
48 RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE.
prime seamen, men of orderly habits, and, as the sailors say, they had never been upon the quarter-deck, meaning, that they had never been called there to answer for any bad or questionable conduct. They were both Scotchmen.
When the boats were gone, our two delegates came aft, and taking their hats off to the captain, told him of the directions they had re- ceived from their new superiors, namely, to possess themselves of the officers' arms, to remove all small arms from the after-part of the ship, and to conform to the motions of the fleet in hoisting the red flag and reeving the yard-ropes ; also, that they might send on shore such officers as they did not like. They added, that they had no complaint to make of their officers, but repeated the remark, that they could not stand out against thirty sail-of-the-line. The captain sent for his servant, and directed him to give up the arms in the cabin : of course the officers followed his example. But this instruction of the leaders was not carried to the extent of preventing the officers from wearing their side-arms as a part of their uniform when they went out of the ship. When these men had stated what instructions they were to follow, our captain said — " Well, I suppose you will give me a boat to go on shore." The boat was instantly manned, and the side attended in the usual manner. Before he went in her, however, he descended to the cabin, and stopping there a short time, came upon deck again with a written paper in his hand, and ordered the crew to be called aft. They came as readily as if there had been no interruption to the rou- tine of obedience, and he addressed them in a short speech, referring to their duty to their country, and the advantage that the French would take if the conduct of the fleet was persevered in. The speech was quite in general terms, and it had the disadvantage of being read and not spoken. It commanded silence and attention however, and when finished, the paper which contained it was thrown amongst the men, who made a scramble for the possession of it. Our captain then went on shore. The situation of the officers and men who remained on board was not an agreeable one. We continued in charge of the after- part of the ship, the forepart of which was in possession of a crew in open mutiny, and yet the business of preparing the ship for sea and receiving supplies of water and provisions went on in some degree under the direction of the proper officers, who were consulted about those matters. In such a disjointed state of things the equipment could not proceed rapidly — still it went on. Demands had been made for supplies of stores (rope, canvass, &c.) from the dockyard.
It was not the invariable custom then, as it has been since, for such stores to be delivered to the warrant officer, to whose department they belonged, in the presence of a commissioned officer only, but the warrant officer drew them himself, and the boat in which they were brought off was frequently under the charge of a midshipman, some- times a mere boy. I was sent on this duty by the senior lieutenant, and the boat of which I thus had the charge was manned and per- mitted to go by the will of the crew.
*»* We regret to be compelled, by the pressure of other matter, to break off at this interesting point of our Narrative, which shall be resumed in our next. — ED.
49
SURVEY OF THE WEST COAST OP AFRICA IN 1825-6.*
HAVING completed our survey of the river Bonny, and obtained what fresh provision the place afforded, we made sail off the coast, and then continued our course to the northward ; but too far from the shore to be enabled to form any opinion of its character. On the fol- lowing day, towards evening, we made Cape Formosa, (or handsome,) where we came to an anchor about seven miles from the land. This Cape is situated in latitude 4° 19' 24" north, and long. 5° 54' 33* east, and forms a fine bold headland. We dispatched two boats early the following morning to measure a base line, and make some necessary observations ; immediately after which, a canoe arrived on board with about half-a-dozen natives, who stated that they came from a river called Sangany, near Cape Formosa, and as if but one interpretation could be put upon people with white faces paying them a visit, they commenced without hesitation offering slaves for sale, and informed us that they had a great many on hand in very good condition : when given to understand that we were not come for that purpose, they could not at all conceive what our object could be ; and as nobody took the trouble to explain, they left us in silent astonishment at our not having a taste for " stout niggers."
Upon the return of the boats, we again got under weigh towards the river Benin, keeping as close in as the very shoal water along this part of the coast would allow, sufficiently near, however, to enable us to perceive many small rivers that here emptied themselves into the sea. At sunset, we came-to in four and a half fathoms, about four miles from the land, and continued in this way for some time, running along shore during the day, and standing out at sunset. The coast appeared low and swampy, without any signs of inhabitants. When near the Waree, a river of some magnitude, we were obliged to tack, in order to avoid the dangerous shoals that extend some distance from its mouth, and shortly afterwards made the southern entrance of the Benin, when we anchored in five fathoms water. On the following morning, we again weighed and stood towards the river, but a strong wind getting up from the south-east, obliged us to take in all sail and run before it. This was one of the younger branches of the Tornado family, beginning quite suddenly and with some violence, but subsiding almost as quickly. Towards noon, we were enabled again to make sail for the river, and shortly afterwards to come to an anchor, about four miles from the bar. On the following day, I went in company with another boat for the purpose of sounding the entrance to the Benin : we had got over the bar, and nearly three miles up the river, when having completed our work and about to return, the tide made with so much rapidity, that we were obliged instantly to anchor. As the amusement of sitting in a boat watching the unvaried progress of the water as it glides past, is not of the most enlivening description, and as this was the only pro- spect before us for some hours, I resolved to get on shore and see what variety could be met with there : accordingly, I had the boat pulled towards the right bank. As we approached, a town was observed, which determined at once our landing-place, and we were very soon
* Continued from page 344, Part. III. for 1831. 17. S. JOURN. No. 38. JAN. 1832. E
50 SURVEY OF THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA.
surrounded by a parcel of sans culottes, kicking, capering, and scream- ing like a parcel of scorched bedlamites. We required an introduc- tion to H. M. S. Majesty, and were instantly led, or rather squeezed into the presence of the dingy despot, who received us with much civi- lity and good nature ; that is to say, he did not eat us, however much his royal gastric might have been agitated by our vicinity. This town enjoys the intellectual name of " Boobie," and his Majesty is indebted to his sponsors for the splendid appellation of "Maccaw," by which cognomen he stands enrolled in the annals of royalty, " Maccaw King of Boobie /" We found him a very worthy sort of personage, but our sudden appearance produced much amazement to himself and subjects. This they soon, however, recovered from, and commenced with great earnestness to offer slaves at a very low price ; in fact, I could have bought a fellow twice as big as myself, young, good action, and war- ranted sound, for a jacket and pair of scissors, and when bought, I might have inflicted any cruelty upon him that my fancy could devise without the slightest interruption from the spectators. Something there is so strange in thus being offered a fellow-creature for so small a sum, that I could not help moralizing upon it, as a kind of lesson upon our insignificance. To follow the varied course of this being's existence, is a highly illustrated picture of human vicissitude. First, the helpless infant, depending on its mother to cherish that life which she has given — to her dearer than the world or her own — for the wan- dering savage of Africa loves her offspring as dearly as the more en- lightened mother of Europe ; nay, perhaps, in many instances, the scale of natural affection would be in favour of the former ;* she watches him in his growth until he can sport with the children of his years ; — as he advances in life, he feels the native passions stir within him, and he tries to rival the other youths of his tribe ; if Nature has made him strong and active, he surpasses them in their wild sports, until he prides himself upon his superiority ; he goes then to battle and to con- quest ; he is valued for his prowess, and soon leads them as their chief. Again he meets the enemies of his race, when, perhaps, overcome by numbers, or a desperate wound, he becomes a prisoner. Then what a change takes place in his existence ! — he is confined in a loathsome cell, perhaps, for months, until some fellow-creature comes and purchases him for a few pence. He is carried on board a ship, chained, and then stowed with hundreds more in the hold, there to live or die — if he sur- vives the horrors of the voyage, he is landed in a distant country, where this pride of the little world in which he was known, is doomed to pass the remainder of his days, " a bondman in the land of strangers," where every thing is new to him, and where he is thought of as a slave. It is frequently the lot of this life, that youth is cut off when every expectation is about being realised ; when the perfection is ac- quired which it has taken years of application or study to obtain; but then the recollection and regret cease — the grave obliterates all: not so this being — he lives with the remembrance of what he has been, more
* No African mother would trust her tender offspring to the uncertain kindness of another during those days of helplessness, when it is solely dependent upon her to cherish that existence which she has given. Nature points out the parent's duty, but fashion has driven maternal affection from the breast of European mothers, and substituted in its place the hired tenderness of a stranger !
SURVEY OF THE WEST COAST OP AFRICA. 51
strongly and bitterly impressed by the perception of what he is. The rude talents which were so much esteemed amongst his countrymen, and which cost him his early life to acquire, are unheeded ; and it may be said that he is new born, — a full-grown child of civilized society.
As this is probably the last occasion I shall have of referring to the sorrows and cruelties of slavery, I may, perhaps, be allowed to make a few observations upon that much-agitated question. I do so without any regard to the spirit of this ably-conducted periodical, feeling confi- dent that its prevailing sentiment is impartiality. In fact, one of its greatest merits is being totally devoid of that pitiful party feeling which pervades so many of its contemporaries, and which frequently makes them disguise truth and justice beneath the cloak of interest or faction. This is not offered as an adulatory compliment, nor as an ob- servation of my own, but as the remark has been made to me by many brother officers, I leave it for them and the public to decide its truth. It is not my intention to enter upon the subject of slavery with regard to its political importance, but briefly to state the probable moral bene- Jtt conferred upon mankind by its establishment in Africa. Another reason for my entering more fully into its particulars is, to make it clearly understood, that the passages in my journal which allude to the miseries and barbarities endured by the slave, apply only to the dis- graceful manner in which the trade is carried on upon the western coast of Africa, and not in any respect to the domestic labourer em- ployed in our West Indian Colonies under the same name. The very first authorities agree in stating that slavery had its origin in a princi- ple of humanity, and an aversion to shedding blood. Justinian says, " Slaves are so called ( Servi), because conquerors, instead of putting their prisoners to death, are accustomed to sell them, and thus save their lives* (Conservari)." Meaning that it was the early custom of the Romans to destroy their prisoners, to avoid the inconvenience of providing for them, or becoming again their opponents. The first step of civilization put a stop to this inhuman practice, when the more humane course of selling them for servants was adopted.
The traffic in slaves was first commenced between Europe and Africa by the Portuguese in 1443, and by the English during the reign of Queen Elizabeth in 1588. The slaves now sent from Africa to the Brazils and other Portuguese settlements, for none have been imported into our colonies since the year 1806, are, according to Park, prisoners taken in battle, condemned to slavery for some crime, voluntary slaves, or born in bondage. Undoubted authority exists to prove, that prisoners taken in battle were constantly sacrificed in cold blood with the most revolting cruelty, and frequently the propensities of the cannibal gave an additional horror to the scene. Shortly after the commencement of this traffic, the inhabitants on the coast found more benefit from preserving their prisoners, than by sacrificing them to their revenge ; in consequence of which, millions have been spared who would otherwise have been immolated on the altar of blood. Bruce says, " The merchandise of slaves has contributed much to abo- lish two savage African customs, — the eating of captives, and sacri-
* " Servi autem ex eo appellati sunt, quod imperatores captives vendere, ac per hoc servare nee occidere solent." — JUST.
£ 2
52 SURVEY OF THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA.
ficing them to idols, once universal in that whole continent." Without, therefore, once considering the motive that induced Europeans to com- mence this traffic, does not Africa owe them something for thus saving generations of her children ? This benefit soon extended from the coast to the interior, spreading a comparative enlightenment over the whole continent, and it would be difficult at the present moment to say, that a tribe of cannibals exist throughout the country. The second cause of slavery, " punishment for offences against society," is an enactment of their own making, by which any man committing a crime, becomes subject to a certain period of slavery, according to its magnitude. This law is founded upon principles of justice, and perhaps humanity.
The third cause is " voluntary slavery," which arises from a variety of circumstances, the principal being poverty and famine : when a man, to avoid the miseries of one, and pressing calls of the other, sells his liberty rather than his existence, and the poor negro, when fainting with hunger, thinks, like Esau of old, " Behold, I am at the point to die, and what profit shall this birthright do to me ?"
The fourth cause it is, perhaps, less easy to vindicate than either of the foregoing, as it is entailing upon an unoffending being, the punish- ment awarded for the crimes or follies of another, and depriving it at once of that birthright to which all are entitled. Those " born in slavery," are the children of natives who have become slaves from one of the above causes. A negro in Africa has the power not only to sell himself and heirs to perpetual bondage, but an offence committed against the state in which he lives, may condemn the individual and his generation to a heritage of slavery ! From these causes, and espe- cially the latter, the greater portion of the inhabitants of Africa are existing in a state of servitude, without any hope of redemption ; and I shall use the words of that enterprising traveller, Park, in proof of this assertion. He says, " The slaves in Africa I suppose are nearly in the proportion of three to one to the free men : they claim no reward for their services, except food and clothing, and are treated with kind- ness or severity, according to the good or bad disposition of their mas- ters ; and in this condition of life, a great body of the negro inhabitants of Africa have continued from the earliest period of their history, with this aggravation, that their children are born to no other inheritance." From these observations, supported by the above authorities, it will appear that the injustice of the slave-trade is more in name than in reality : that, in fact, when Europeans take the inhabitants of Africa from their native soil, they do not add to the list of slaves, but merely transplant them from a land of ignorance and superstition, to one of civilisation and improvement ; and as a positive fact, I can state that out of forty slaves, of whom the inquiry was made, all* but two acknowledged being in that state in their own country, and those ex- ceptions had voluntarily sold themselves to exile, whilst pressed by famine.
The intercourse between Africa and Europe was first stimulated by cupidity : that Africa has derived benefit from this intercourse, cannot be doubted. The inactive character of the negroes would never have led them to improvement in either their laws or customs, and centuries elapsed without producing any apparent change, or advancement to- wards civilisation. " Their rude ignorance," says Gibbon, " has never
SURVEY OF THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA. 53
invented effectual weapons of defence or destruction ; they appear in- capable of forming any extensive plans of government or conquest, and the obvious inferiority of their mental faculties has been discovered and abused by the nations of the Temperate Zone." They are, there- fore, indebted to their intercourse with Europe for much of the civili- zation they have obtained. We are not now so frequently shocked by the reported barbarities of the African savage, and the modern histo- rian has a much brighter picture to represent than that described by Speed, the great Geographer of the sixteenth century, who, speaking of some parts of Africa, says, " They have shambles of man's flesh, as we have for meate ; they kill their owne children in the birth, to avoide the trouble of breeding them, and preserve their nation with stolen bratts from their neighbouring countries."
A slight view of the comparative comfort enjoyed by the domes- ticated slave in the West Indies and his brother of the woods, shall wind up these remarks. The wild savage is the child of passion, un- aided by one ray of religion or morality to direct his course, in conse- quence of which his existence is stained with every crime that can debase human nature to a level with the brute creation. Who can say that the slaves in our colonies are such ? Are they not by comparison with their still savage brethren enlightened beings ? Is not the West Indian negro, therefore, greatly indebted to his master for making him what he is — for having raised him from the state of debasement in which he was born, and placed him in a scale of civilized society ? — How can he repay him ? He is possessed of nothing — the only return in his power is his servitude. As the ore gives forth the metal as a re- ward to man for cleansing it of its dross, so the savage, a rude mass of ignorance and vice, mixed with the principles and capabilities of im- provement, would live and die in debasement if the hand of civilization did not step in and cleanse it of its impurities. The man who has seen the wild African roaming in his native woods, and the well-fed happy- looking negro of the West Indies, may perhaps be able to judge of their comparative happiness ; the former I strongly suspect would be glad to change his state of boasted freedom, starvation, and disease, to become the slave of sinners, and the commiseration of saints ! I strongly suspect, that if humanity had come forth a few centuries earlier in the bulk she now possesses, civilization would have been upset in her voyage to Africa. I shall conclude by just asking the impartial reader, whether the miseries of slavery have not produced the blessings of enlightenment, and thus added another proof to the old, but not less just observation, that " evil is sometimes productive of good !"
I must again apologize for thus transgressing by digressing : but as a further statement of the reasons which induced me to enter into so lengthy a discussion upon this subject would only increase its dimen- sions, I shall content myself by barely acknowledging the liberty I have taken with my journal, and beg again to lead the indulgent reader to our interview with king Maccaw, of Boobietown. After a few preliminaries, I informed him that we belonged to a man-of-war ship ; which made him at once, with much justice and discernment, set us down as " very great rogues ;" under the impression that we were come to take slave-ships, and, as he would have expressed it, to
-54 SURVEY OF THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA.
deprive the honest slavers of their property, being rather a contrast of white humanity against black reason ; for these people certainly looked upon us in the same light as we should regard pirates ; and thought that we acted contrary to all principles of honesty and justice, by de- priving the slave-dealer of his right to dispose of some hundreds of his fellow-creatures, whom he had honestly come by. Some of our old " Saints" would have stared a little at hearing themselves called " old rogues !" by the sable king of Boobie, and backed by dozens of those very " niggers," their tender hearts had been so long trying to emancipate. I never yet found a native of this coast, who did not consider slaves as a very fair description of traffic, and their general statement was — " If me go fight, and run away, then me caught and made prisoner, and me go slave to buckra man ; so man I take I sell to buckra, cause him coward." None of them ever expressed a disin- clination to become slaves if placed under the same circumstances, but at the same time they had great horror at the idea of ever being sent from their native country. But as I before said, the erudite king of Boobie and his court, immediately on hearing we belonged to a man-of-war, set us down as suspicious characters ; consequently it became my duty to eradicate this impression, and endeavour to convince these discern- ing people, that we were not in any way connected with " those rogues that came to take slave-ship." Hear this ye dignified, high-minded, high-headed patrolers of the quarter-deck — ye mids of no degree, put your caps straight and try to look honest — ye of one epaulette, pray for another, but don't steal it — and ye exalted individuals of two, turn your coats inside out ; those much-coveted ornaments to your shoulders will condemn you, for one of these natives in the confidence of friend- ship told me, that " in man-of-war ship that come stealing, there many bad men ; but one them call Cap'n, him ve'y big rogue." To disown any acquaintance with these " rogues" was therefore my only course; I accordingly tried to impress upon my suspicious hearers, that we were particularly honest people, and come to make book of river ; this excited some alarm at first, they appeared to think that I intended to make the river into a book, and then carry it off; and one fellow asked with much simplicity, "'If "I make book offish too ? Few persons who have not tried it, know the difficulty of conveying ideas into the woolly head of a negro, and the effort necessary to impress upon this intelli- gent king and his luminous subjects the object I had in view, was almost too much for my patienee or ingenuity. Matter-of-fact people of all nations are a " bore" — I mean such as take the hyperbolical ex- pressions of a lively imagination in the literal sense of their own plod- ding capacities, and set the animated and entertaining speaker down as either a confounded distorter of facts — frequently called by a more vulgar appellation — or a most egregious blockhead, fit only to embel- lish a strait waistcoat or a horse-collar. After trying every mode that my fancy could devise to convey the idea of making a chart, without success, I was about giving it up in despair, and leaving them con- vinced that I was one of the aforesaid " rogues." Winding up my discourse, however, by saying in a very serious tone, " King, suppose I come to take slave-ship, you think I come see you and drink grog ?— No ! I go up river and take ship over bar to my country, and no stop to talk and drink with you."
SURVEY OF THE WEST COAST OP AFRICA. 55
This piece of eloquence appeared to produce more effect than all I could say about honesty and charts : the one they did not believe in — the other they knew nothing about ; so, after a short silence of reflec- tion, he thrust out his great black fist, saying, " Well, me b'leve you ; you tell true ; you no ve'y big rogue." I acknowledged the compliment, when he sent a party of his slaves to catch a fine pig, which they soon did, and returned with the intended victim, proclaiming aloud the in- justice of his Majesty's opinion, and proving it by our intention to rob him of his existence for our personal gratification. Unfortunately, the observations of this intelligent grunter were interrupted by the knife of a quarter-master dissevering his jugular. A large quantity of yams were also added to this seasonable supply of fresh provisions ; a thing which we had not indulged in for the last six weeks. Having, whilst in the river Bonny, seen an English newspaper which mentioned the intended expedition of Capt. Clapperton up the Benin, I made inquiries whether he had arrived, but could not discover that such was the case. The king could only inform me, that during the present moon a man- of-war had anchored off the bar, and then sent two boats up the river to cut out a Portuguese slaver, which he, with great dolour, said they had succeeded in doing. Having concluded this interview so much to our satisfaction, we returned to the boats, and with the ebb tide got under way for the ship, but when we arrived at the bar we found the breakers so excessively heavy, that crossing would have been at- tended with too much danger to be attempted ; in consequence we bore up, and run into a snug anchorage. Snng it was ; reader, did you ever lay at the bottom of a river all night, while it was gently rolling over you, and upon waking in the morning find yourself wet from the breast to the backbone ? Because, if you never did, you can hardly imagine how comfortable we were ; but I meant the anchor was snug in the situation above mentioned. I had frequently before been wet through, that is to say, my outward man, but never until this moment did I know what it was to have a perfect cuticle soaking, so, that if slight pressure had been applied upon the body, half a shower might have been squeezed from any one of us. I know not what to compare this night's rain to. It did not come down in drops like common English rain, but a sheet of water or nimbi seemed encircling us, so that we might have been taken for fish by any one looking from a bit of sunshine ; but not being intended for that species, and consequently unprovided with scales, we were, as I before said, like so many pieces of wet sponge, and I have hardly ever fancied myself dry since. This wretched night was, however, like most others, followed by a morning, when anxious to be on board, we got under way with a favourable light breeze. We were once more on the bar, and expecting nothing but shortly to be over it — the breakers were playing gently around, and every thing gave promise of " a speedy arrival, and soon," when in a moment the light waves were turned to boiling foam, the boat's mast bowed to the water's edge, and the wind burst forth, like steam from an exploded boiler —
" Lashing the sleepy billows into rage."
No sign had been observed of its approach, and so sudden and un- expected was the attack, that it is extraordinary the first force of this sweeping tornado did not upset our boat. Not a moment was to
56 SURVEY OP THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA.
be lost ; as she recovered herself from the shock, we bore up with the intention of returning, but the prospect was alike on all sides ; the dashing waves were beating in every direction, and that we had just passed had become " curling foam" and " sparkling spray." Our situa- tion was critical, as the wind for some time frustrated all our efforts to rehoist a portion of the sail. The scene was any thing but pleasing ; above us the rain was pouring in torrents — around us the waves were dashing, roaring, and foaming, in apparent disappointment at our having weathered the first force of the hurricane — waiting for us, were numerous large sharks, whom we could perceive close to the boat, ever and anon raising their terrific heads, looking anxiously for the pleasure of our company. There is something very forbidding in the appear- ance of these monsters, and I could not help thinking how thin and fragile was the plank that kept us from eternity — a moment more and we might have been vainly struggling to escape from their appalling jaws. A kind providence here lent us aid, and a slight abatement of the tempest enabled us to get way upon the boat, and soon leave the expecting sharks defeated of their prey. Having no provisions, we instantly made for the shore, trusting once more to the hospitality of the King of Boobie for a supply. I accordingly waited upon his majesty, and requested that he would send the people in the boat whatever was convenient. This he instantly complied with, ordering a pig and plenty of yams to be taken on board.
Before quitting this princely character, I must not omit mentioning a further instance of his kindness and consideration — Seeing Mr. Rogier, the officer with me, and myself quite wet, lie insisted upon our undressing, and equipped us in suits of his own until ours were perfectly dried ; doubtless we cut rather a strange appearance whilst thus rigged, and it would have puzzled our mothers and all our rela- tions to know to what species we belonged ; but the intention was the same — a more refined savage could have done no more — few would have done so much, and I must show how superior this rude, uncul- tivated African was to the polished European. We were his enemies, belonging to a nation that deprived him of his trade — were thrown upon his hospitality, and in his power, when, having fed and clothed us, we were allowed to depart. In our civilized quarter of the globe, when the shipwrecked mariner is thrown upon a hostile shore he is in- stantly seized, cast into prison, and detained as if he were a captive taken in battle. I need not ask which of these two deserves the reward of humanity, but conceive that the untutored savage here offers a lesson worthy of imitation by more civilized princes.
We took leave of this hospitable king, only regretting that it was not in our power to make him some return for the many kindnesses which we had received. At four o'clock on the same day, being high water, and the tornado and its effects having subsided, we again got under way ; when on the bar we found the raging waves calm and motionless and the wind " lulled to languor." How the sharks bore their disappointment, I had not opportunity or inclination to enquire, but an occasional eddy on the surface of the water, as the monsters turned to propel themselves downwards, induced me to think that they had not quite given up the hope of " tasting our sweet persons."
H. B. R.
(To be continued.)
57
THE BRITISH CAVALRY ON THE PENINSULA.*
BY AK OFFICER OF DRAGOOXS.
THE next period of the Peninsular war, to which we propose to refer, is the retreat to the lines. A corps was left between the Coa and Agueda rivers, under the command of Gen. Robert Craufurd. The cavalry attached to that corps was very small in number, compared to the host of horsemen opposed to it, and this was the more to be lamented, as the district through which Craufurd must retire is open and pecu- liarly suited to cavalry movements. It was therefore of great import- ance to spare the dragoons as much as possible ; nevertheless, two squadrons of the 14th Light Dragoons, under Colonel Talbot, were ordered to charge a body of 200 French infantry. We have heard, and we believe on pretty good authority, that Talbot requested that the infantry might be broken by artillery, but having received for answer a taunt as to his shyness in charging, he led his men against the square, and fell among the French bayonets, while thirty-two of his followers were either killed or wounded, and the French were allowed to retire without further molestation. It is a well-established fact, that cavalry has a very bad chance of breaking a compactly-formed body of infantry, and therefore they ought not to be so employed, unless some advantage is expected beyond the mere destruction of the body attacked. The most advantageous opportunity, and the one in which an impression has been most frequently made by cavalry is, when a column of in- fantry is about to occupy an important position, the attainment of which object may be of great importance to them ; if they are attacked by cavalry while in motion, there is a fair prospect of success, and even if the cavalry is repelled, the very formation to resist the attack may be of immense importance in gaining time, and in making the enemy's movement more timid. There can be no excuse for so gratuitous a sacrifice as the one just alluded to. A very gallant charge was made about the same time by Capt. Krauchenberg, who, being posted at the bridge of Marialva when it was attacked by a strong body of cavalry and infantry, with his single troop of hussars charged the head of the column, checked the enemy, and retired in safety. This affair was always mentioned among the cavalry in the highest terms, and Krau- chenberg was universally allowed to be fitted for a much higher com- mand than the one entrusted to him ; but as the river was fordable and the British advance was not pressed for time, there was no object to be gained by the charge beyond the chivalrous feeling which it inculcated. When Massena made his arrangements, after the fall of Rodrigo, he allotted 8000 horsemen to that part of his army with which he pro- posed to pursue the British. Lord Wellington had not a third part of that number of British and German dragoons. Several affairs of posts occurred previous to the battle of Busaco, in which the British cavalry did well, but Lord Wellington naturally avoided squandering an arm with which he was so very slenderly provided.
The morning after the battle of Busaco, Sept. 29th, the British cavalry retired early, but were soon overtaken by the French, who being in very superior numbers, pressed them into the plain on the Mondego j they then found themselves on a plain, occasionally inter- sected with deep roads, with the river Mondego in their rear, which
* Continued from page 65, Part II. 1831.
58 THE BRITISH CAVALRY ON THE PENINSULA.
was passable only by one deep ford. Here was a situation in which the retiring force had scarcely a chance, had they been vigorously attacked ; and considering their well-known inferiority in point of number, they should have been supported by infantry. With one of the light division battalions to aid them, their retreat was secure ; as it was, their safety may be ascribed to a want of energy on the part of the French. The British rear guard took advantage of a defile formed by a bridge over which they had passed ; the ever ready horse artillery bore upon it, and the cavalry was formed upon the plain j the enemy was checked, and the rear guard crossed the Mondego with a most trifling loss. Here we have a day's work, probably little known to the army, and little appreciated by those acquainted with it, yet involving one of the most difficult operations in war, viz. a rear guard opposed by a very superior force in front, and a river in their rear. The accom- plishment of this object conferred great honour on the troops and the officer commanding them ; and it is much to be regretted that some one of the officers, who was present on this and other occasions, has not devoted his time to justify the British cavalry, and by a sketch of the different affairs of posts, to form not only an interesting, but a highly instructive elementary work. We could name several officers who, from having been actors in most of the scenes, and from a general knowledge of war, could do ample justice to the subject. The field is still open, the writer of these pages has little opportunity to collect information, and he will feel highly gratified if the cursory remarks he has made may be the means of stimulating some abler hand to take up the pen.*
The early part of the day following the passage of the Mondego was passed without molestation ; in the afternoon the picket of the 16th retired before a superior force. On the following morning, pro- bably the 1st of October, the French advanced with determination, and in a force which it was impossible long to keep in check. The pickets were attacked, and would soon have been put to flight, when a squa- dron of the 16th, under Capt. Cocks, came to their aid, and charging the enemy twice, made some prisoners, and effected a retreat without loss. But a new difficulty presented itself; the French were driving in the rear guard ; a narrow bridge lay in the rear, and a narrow way beyond it. The bridge was passed with difficulty, and Lieut. Hay of the 16th was left with five or six men to check the French, who, furnished with guns, were gaining upon the main body of the rear guard. That officer remained for a considerable time in his perilous post. The French skirmishers as they came up formed, and one gun opened on the bridge ; when, having accomplished his object, Lieut. Hay and his party retired at speed and joined the support. We continue our narra- tive in the words of our informant, which would be injured by alteration.
"We soon saw Major Murray's squadron of the 16th advancing at a gallop to charge. The skirmishers joined this squadron, and they advanced to attack the three leading French squadrons, viz. two of hussars and one of chasseurs, who were formed in three lines to receive them. The leading squadron of French hussars advanced at a walk, then halted, and no per- suasion of the officers, who behaved most gallantly, could induce them to move. We were any thing but compact, our files having been loosened by
* This object has been, in all material points, effected in the pages of this Journal since the above was written, and will be further prosecuted, as occasion may arise. — ED.
THE BRITISH CAVALRY ON THE PENINSULA. 59
the inequality of the ground, and by a horse falling, and others falling over him, as we approached. Three French officers and one man dashed out to meet us ; they were all cut down, and the whole fled in disorder : about thirty prisoners were secured. A squadron of the Royals then charged,* and with success ; but Lieut. Garden, who commanded the party, having had his horse shot while in the enemy's ranks, was made prisoner. They did not press us again, but showed a great force of cavalry and six or eight guns, of which they made little use ; our artillery remained almost amongst the skirmishers, and kept them in check, knocking their supports about as soon as they came near enough. We encamped at Rio Mayor, and were almost drowned in rain. On the 2nd we were on picket with a squadron (Major Murray's of the 16th) ; the cook of a French general strayed into our line, and was sent as a present to head quarters. Our orders were positive, to keep the enemy in check without engaging. The French had not seen an infantry soldier since Busaco, and had evidently attempted the day before to discover where the army was. About twelve o'clock we saw a long line of cavalry advancing, apparently two or three regiments ; the rain was incessant, and the French were cloaked ; Major Murray and his squadron retired slowly before the enemy, who offered no active molestation. Major Murray sent an orderly to Alcoentre, to which place the British cavalry had retired — no answer was returned ; a second messenger was dispatched, and no answer being received, an officer was sent, who found the cavalry and artillery in perfect tranquillity, watering their horses, and apparently un- conscious of danger — the officer, very wisely, ordered the trumpet to sound and returned to his squadron. The French had now commenced the attack, and although the uncloaking took a long time, still more time was required. Messengers were sent to our cavalry camp, to bring up the men first mounted. Lieutenants Tomkison and Penrice of the 16th, with about forty men, were the first to come up ; these were joined to the force already under Major Murray and Lieut. Hay. As the French column was advancing into the main street, we charged them without a moment's hesitation ; they went about at once, and we beat them back out of the town. An officer and a good many men were killed, and many prisoners secured, while others escaped down the cross streets, and it was impossible to follow them, as we were forced to stick close to the main body, to prevent their forming and turning on us. The guns were got out of the town. Capt. Cocks's squadron, which was on picket the following day, charged and made some prisoners. It was the 14th heavy dragoons which we met at Alcoentre", and they got a good dressing. Gen. Monbrun was up and in the immediate command."
We have been much gratified by a notice of our sketch of British cavalry, by a Staff-officer, in the April Number, page 542 of the Journal. We can truly say, that his praise is far beyond our expecta- tions, and we beg to mention, that as our remarks are written in a hurried manner, and we may be led to make precipitate observations, we do not undervalue the French cavalry, far from it, but we beg to refer the staff-officer to the preceding pages, where, on the Mondego and at Alcoentre, two valuable opportunities were offered, and where the French cavalry, by a little dash, might have inflicted a grievous loss on our dragoons. At Alcoentre it is difficult to say what might not have been done ; the whole British cavalry had established their camp, and had Montbrun dashed on he might have destroyed the cavalry before they could have formed to resist him. The British horse, however, had done their duty so well as to leave the French in utter ignorance of the position of the army ; the town of Alcoentre
* N.B. Our informant says a squadron; we are able to correct him, the party consisting of forty men, made up of the old and new pickets, the relief of which was going on.
60 THE BRITISH CAVALRY ON THE PENINSULA.
might have been full of infantry, and to this possibility we may, per- haps, ascribe the safety of the rear guard. The slackness in turning out appears to have arisen from an idea that the French would not come on that day, although Major Murray had sent two dispatches. The gallantry and determination of that officer, after all, saved the rear guard by the gallant charge, which we have given in the words of a gentleman who was present, and who in telling his story has not claimed the honour of the active share he took in the fray. Colonel Napier makes out that fifty or sixty dragoons were lost in passing the Mondego. We can only say, that our information is to be relied upon, and, perhaps, the loss subsequent to the passage of the river may have been mixed up with the previous loss in the Colonel's history.
Thus, although the French cavalry was immensely superior in num- ber, and a great part of the retreat was through a country applicable to the manoeuvre of that arm, yet we hear of no baggage being cut off, nor posts surprised, nor of any those feats which must have occurred, had not the French been held in check by the British cavalry.
Surely Massena did not take with him so large a corps of cavalry as 8,000, into a country where forage is at all times scarce, but in the hopes that he would reap great advantage from it. As we do not hear of any influence produced by the movements of the French cavalry, it is surely but reasonable to assert that they were held in check, and their effect neutralised by the British horsemen, who, in doing so, rendered good service to the cause, although they were not able to leave a splen- did memorial of their services.
Perhaps it is a fair illustration to compare the case to that of two expert cricketers. A novice at Lord's is surprised to see how rarely the batter strikes the ball, and he never gets a good honest swipe ; but a better-informed hand points out the superior bowling opposed to him, and it is evident that if he can keep his stumps up, and get an occa- sional run, it is all that can be expected. In all matters whatsoever, whether in games of skill, or in the business of life, a great part of the affair is to neutralise the skilful arrangements of a superior adversary, and in all such cases, the efforts of the defending party are only ob- served by those who pay strict attention to the details, and who, from experience, are able to appreciate the difficulties. When the army arrived in the lines, there was but little opportunity for the use of cavalry on either side. The retreat from Villa Franca to Santarem had been so well arranged, that nothing was seen of the French. During the occupation of the position at Santarem, a considerable party of cavalry was employed on the outposts, but as each party was desirous of repose, the advance was seldom disturbed.
Massena broke up from Santarem on the 5th of March ; the pursuit commenced the following morning ; but it was at Torres Novas, about six leagues from Santarem, that the advanced party of the British came in contact with the French ; a skirmish ensued, and the same was daily renewed. When the army reached Thomar, a corps under Gen. Cole was sent to Alentejo : the cavalry then remaining with Lord Wellington, consisted of four regiments, viz. the 1st, 14th, and 16th Dragoons, and the 1st Hussars, amounting at that time to about 1600 sabres. The duty committed to the cavalry from this time was most arduous : the sole charge of the outposts, with frequent patrolling to the front and flanks. The British cavalry was partially engaged
THE BRITISH CAVALRY ON THE PENINSULA. 61
every day ; the French dragoons being generally supported by infantry, whose tiralleurs were mixed up with the mounted ones. The greatest evil to which the British cavalry was exposed, was the utter want of forage. During nearly a month, the commissariat did not issue twenty pounds of corn per horse : the sole provender for the horses was rye- straw, which, from its purging quality, is a most unfit food for a horse at work ; indeed, under any circumstances, it is a most woeful substi- tute for hay and corn. The horses became attenuated, and unable to perform the heavy duties imposed upon them. In illustration of the abject state to which the horses were reduced, we must mention a circumstance, of which we have a vivid recollection : — A subaltern officer had been directed to carry a dispatch, and off he went at a walk. The commanding officer called out, " Mr. P. an officer never leaves the ranks at a walk." The Brummagems were applied, and a convulsive canter ensued, which lasted about half-a-dozen strides, when the ani- mal sank down to his original walk, and no farther coercive measure was resorted to. As this officer was considered to be well mounted, and was careful of his horses, the foregoing may be deemed a fair spe- cimen of the degraded state of the horses. In spite of this moral dis- mounting, the cavalry continued to do all the outpost duty, and, at least, had the good effect of performing services, which, if they had devolved on the infantry, would have been most distressing. We can- not say that any affair of posts worth noticing occurred, and we must farther say, that one or two good opportunities were afforded ; one at Pegoa, a little village near Sabugal, where the French had left the 70th Regiment quite unsupported. The French infantry formed squares, and were cannonaded for some time with little effect, but had they been attacked by the dragoons, and at the same time cannonaded with grape, there cannot be a doubt as to the issue. Lord Wellington did not come up that day, and if he had been there, he seemed so truly to despise small matters, and at the same time felt his weakness in horse so keenly, that it is doubtful if he would have done anything. The other opportunity which was lost was at the battle of Sabugal, when the French might have been attacked on their retreat to Alfayates, with very great effect. The corps which had been attacked at Sabu- gal (Regnier's), retired during the night, got across the Agueda, and was in safety, and thus ended Massena's retreat.
The Alentejo corps meanwhile fell in with the enemy, and a most distinguished and gallant cavalry affair took place. The French hav- ing dismantled Campo Mayor, were engaged in carrying off such of the stores as were of value. This operation was in the course of execution under the escort of a corps, consisting of a brigade of infantry and 7 or 800 cavalry, (Colonel Napier makes the dragoon force larger,) and 13 guns, which probably had formed part of the Campo Mayor garrison guns; the whole under the command of the .well-known General, Lautour Maubourg. The British advance, consisting of two squadrons of the 13th Light Dragoons, and two squadrons of Portuguese, came upon this body rather unexpectedly. The commanding officer, Colonel Head was aware of the neighbourhood of the enemy, although he appears not to have been informed of their extreme contiguity.
The ground appears to have been what is called in land-surveying, a hog's-back. The French were ascending to the crest of the hill, or rather slope, on one side, as Colonel Head, with the 13th, were going
62 THE BRITISH CAVALRY ON THE PENINSULA.
up the other side> when he found himself in the presence of the enemy, who was equally surprised by the encounter. Without a moment's he- sitation, Colonel Head wheeled up his squadrons, and charged the French, (who had time to form a line and wait to receive the charge,) drove them down the hill, reformed, and charged back again ; and hav- ing again formed, he made a third charge, killing, wounding, and upsetting a great number of the French; the French commanding officer having been killed in the first charge by Corporal Logan of the 13th, and the French cavalry being so completely broken, that Lautour Maubourg was fain to seek shelter in a square of infantry. Trusting to the heavy brigade of dragoons, which was immediately in his rear, to secure the guns and prisoners, and to deal with the infantry, Colonel Head and his gallant band galloped on, and pursued the French to the gates of Badajoz, when a salute from the rampart of that place forced him to return to review the spoil which he had left to the care of the heavy brigade : that force had not been moved up. The French cavalry had been allowed to form again : the infantry had moved up to their support, and had retaken the guns, which were afterwards carried in safety to Badajoz, there to deal destruction on our gallant fellows, who so frequently and so nobly fought against that place. Lautour Maubourg was allowed to withdraw himself from the shelter of bayo- nets which he had sought, and to take charge of his people again : no doubt his bile was excited by the straits to which he had been driven, and he found an early opportunity of wreaking his vengeance at Albuera, where he charged a very material part of the position, routed the Spaniards, destroyed an English brigade, and the day was saved only by the heroism of the fusileer brigade.
Meanwhile, the J3th, on their return, found their retreat cut off, and they were only able to escape by taking a circuitous route. Colo- nel Head, however, had done his duty most gallantly, and, no doubt, he expected unmeasured applause. He had defeated a corps of cavalry four times more numerous than the one he commanded : he had suffer- ed little or no loss, and had taken thirteen guns and a number of pri- soners. The exploit was surely not the less to be admired, because the reserve had not secured the advantages he had gained; and in return for this service, what reward did Colonel Head meet with ? Less distinguished services have been nobly rewarded, but the whole of Colonel Head's merits were repaid by the information, that he had acted with great rashness, that he ought not to have charged without a support ; or, in other words, that he ought to have attacked 7 or 800 French dragoons with 100, instead of 200. Although the brigade of heavy dragoons was within two minutes ride of his rear, yet Colonel Head was accused of having acted with great rashness : it is true that he had been successful ; his temerity had been crowned with unexam- pled success ; but the result did not excuse his committing himself ; and it was solemnly pointed out to the British cavalry, through the medium of the orderly-book, how wrong it was to be rash ; how neces- sary to have a support, with other valuable truisms; to which was added a pleasing compliment to the heavy brigade, and congratulation on their steadiness. Of this, we believe, the heavy dragoons were most unworthy, for they would gladly have aided their brave fellow soldiers had they been allowed to do so.
In this affair, Colonel Head had displayed the one great qualification, which, above all others (always assuming the existence of personal
THK BRITISH CAVALRY ON THE PENINSULA. 03
courage), tends to make a good officer, and especially a good cavalry officer, viz. prompt decision. The moment he saw the enemy, he formed and charged. The French were aware of the vicinity of a large force, and finding themselves vigorously attacked, a panic seized them, and they fled. Colonel Head, himself an Irishman, and com- manding men mostly from that country, duly appreciated their impe- tuous courage, and did not hesitate to attack, convinced that the enemy did not know his force, and that he would be supported. He might have done less, and escaped without blame, but he bravely took advan- tage of circumstances in his favour, and succeeded, as brave men gene- rally do succeed, under similar circumstances. Had he been advanc- ing over a plain, and had he opened the ball in the usual manner, with skirmishers, supports, &c. the enemy would have been enabled to esti- mate his force, and would have felt confident. Had he then charged, he would have been guilty of rashness, and, without a doubt, would have been most shamefully defeated. He used his wits as an officer ought to do ; in doing so, he acted the part of an experienced soldier, as far as leading the actual charge ; that service would probably have been as ably performed by Corporal Logan. After receiving the reward of his valour, we have heard that Colonel Head was addressed — " I believe, Colonel, that you would have galloped into Badajoz, if the gates had been open." " By Gad, General, I believe I would," was the answer ; and we believe so too ; the boys were so fresh. And if he had done so, and manoeuvred on the bastions, and played " Hie cocollorum tus" on the 24-pounders, we could hardly have blamed him. We might have allowed a little rashness. Rare failing !
When a body of dragoons has charged, they become loose and broken, and are of little service, till they have been regularly reformed and told off. As the orderly-book very properly observes, an officer must have a support. We believe that the ]3th never got over the effect of the unjust treatment they met with.
Perhaps some one of the officers who were present may honour this paper with perusal. We know that the leading facts are correct. If we have not done justice to the exploit, let it be attributed to want of power, and not to want of will. We have now recorded two instances in which the British cavalry were accused of rashness, instead of being rewarded for valour. A work might have been as well published, en- titled, " A plan for the abasement and farther deterioration of the Bri- tish Cavalry." This was not done, but the treatment experienced by the 13th and 23rd, added to the well-known advantages of a whole skin, afforded a practical lesson, which, no doubt, was profited by, although not to the extent which might have been fairly expected. Another inducement to inactivity was held out, in the absence of any reward to junior officers : $m order, such as is given by all the Conti- nental powers, would have a most beneficial effect.
It is needless to refer to the ardour produced by the Legion of Honour, although its decorations were so lavishly bestowed. With us the rewards were confined to the commanders of regiments, or distinct bodies, and were, perhaps, distributed indiscriminately enough. We cannot deny that we feel sorely, but this soreness does not arise from any private wrong. We have no unrequited claim on the service; indeed, we have no claim at all ; but we feel anxious that the public should be made acquainted with the difficulties against which the British cavalry had to contend.
4 feet.
SHIPS' WATER TANKS.
As it is of importance that a ship of war should carry, without difficulty, at least three months water, and as to procure an upper tier of tanks, a new* shaped tank has been devised, which enables the hose to reach the lower tier, by cutting off a portion of the corners of the upper tier, according to the following diagram,
I am induced to remark, that the same object, that of carrying more water in tanks, may be much better and more economically effected, by in- creasing the depth of the midship tiers of tanks to 6 feet, instead of 4 feet, as at present. No loss of space would then arise by cutting off corners, and the economy of the thing no one can dispute, since the only additional ma- terial and workmanship would be that due to 2 feet more of sides. Such a tank as I propose, viz. 4 feet square by 6 feet (or even 8 feet), could contain 2l tons of water, instead of if ton, wliich the 4 feet cube contains. There will also be a considerable saving in weight, for instead of having the entire case of a new tank, to hold the addi- tional quantity of water, we should only have the increase of the weight of the sides due to 2 feet more height. The weight of a tank of 4 feet cube, is nearly 6f cwt. or the weight of one Hence the weight of the upright sides is 6-75 — 2'24 — 4*51 cwt. and, consequently, the weight of 1 foot of the upright sides is t£! = 1-12 cwt. and hence the additional weight of the tank of 4 feet square, and 6 feet high, would be 2'24 cwt. Now the weight of a cor- ner cut tank is 4| cwt. and hence there will be a saving of 2'51 cwt. of iron in each tank, by the adoption of the proposed plan, besides the accompany- ing advantage of being able to stow a greater quantity of water.
In a first-rate ship, therefore, an unnecessary weight of 10§ tons is incur- red, by the precipitate adoption of such a blundering alternative ; as if the simplest method of.stowing an additional quantity of water, were not the increasing of the vessel in which it is to be contained. The only argument that I can perceive, for the adoption of this plan is the benefit that it affords to the iron trade. Were I an ironmaster, and wholly wrapped up in self- interest, I should recommend that the present four feet cubed tanks be divided and subdivided ad in/initum ; that there should be as many bottoms and tops as possible, and the corners taken off into the bargain. However, joking apart, I do sincerely trust that these matters will soon be squared
4 feet.
side is e™ = 1-12 cwt.
again. Portsmouth Yard, 1831.
squared IRONSIDES.
* The St. Vincent was stowed with them at this port.
65
SERVICE AFLOAT DURING THE LATE WAR.*
BEING THE PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF' A NAVAL OFFICER.
»
HALIFAX during the winter months (which, if the period of frost and snow, fogs and sleet, be considered as such, include six out of the twelve) must be but a dreary place, more particularly in time of peace, when the garrison and squadron, which are the life and soul of it, are so much reduced. Nevertheless there are many advantages to be had here, especially in the cheapness of the living ; those in particular who like salt cod and the finest partridges, may contrive to live excel- lently well. Of the former, I have seen one weighing upwards of twenty pounds sold for a shilling. The town is irregular, and for the most part built of wood. The harbour is one of the finest in the world.
Our visit contributed in no small degree to give life and animation to the place ; in particular we commenced a series of dramatic repre- sentations, with Home's Tragedy of Douglas, which was got up in a style that astonished the natives. But that which excited the greatest admiration amongst the honest Halifaxonians was a magnificent ball given on board our ship by the Admiral a short time previous to our departure, and which probably eclipsed any thing of the kind before witnessed in these hyperborean regions. For this purpose, the ship was hauled alongside the dock-yard wharf, through which an avenue of pine-trees and other evergreens, suddenly transferred from the neigh- bouring forest as if by the touch of enchantment, produced a novel and pleasing effect. The whole length of the deck, from the forecastle to the taffrail, (the main-deck being sparred over for the occasion) having a temporary roofing of plank, was internally decorated with flags and various emblematical devices. Two orchestras, one for the band of the 8th regiment, the other for our own, were tastefully fitted up round the main and mizen masts in a corresponding style ; the whole formed a ball-room of one hundred and eighty feet in length by twenty-four broad, which when lighted up, and animated by a brilliant moving mass of between five and six hundred gay visitors, including the officers of the garrison and the ships in port, with all the beauty and fashion of Halifax, furnished a coup-d'ceil not often witnessed on board ship.
After an agreeable interval of three months we bade adieu to Halifax, and, to say truth, nothing loth, notwithstanding the fascina- ting smiles of its belles, — it being celebrated for pretty women — for already sundry visits and hints from the Barber (as the cutting north- western blast is called by the seamen) had given us a specimen of a Nova Scotia winter. The vicissitudes of this climate are as sudden as intemperate ; it is no uncommon thing to experience a change of temperature of thirty, forty, and even fifty degrees of Fahrenheit in the course of an hour. A shift of wind from a southern to a north-west quarter at once changes the scene, and transfers you from a torrid to an arctic clime.
We did not, however, bid farewell to these stormy regions without a taste of their quality. Although but the beginning of November, " dread Winter" had already " spread around his glooms, and reigned
* Continued from page 359, Part III. 1831. U. S. JOURN. No. 38. JAN. 1832. r
66 SERVICE AFLOAT
tremendous o'er the conquered year." We quitted the harbour in a snow-storm, and had not been long at sea ere it came on to blow a gale ; this increasing, by midnight it was found necessary to keep all hands on deck, to furl the courses, fore and mizen-top sails, and close reef the main-top sail. It was now that the enervating effects of a warm climate were felt and exhibited by us all. It was a bitter cold night, and blowing tremendously hard. As I sat shivering on the collar of the main-stay superintending the operation of furling the main-sail, with difficulty retaining my station from numbness and the heavy lurching of the ship, I could not avoid thinking that I had seen " these matters better managed" among our channel cruisers. Although we had as fine-looking a body of men as one might wish to see, they seem- ed to have lost much of their native energy, and it was with the great- est difficulty, after more than an hour's striving, that the sail was at last made snug. Sleet and snow was so new to many of us that we felt quite out of our element, and we by no means regretted being en route for a kindlier clime. A few days wafted us thither, and we accom- plished the remainder of the passage without other accident than carrying away our main-yard in the slings in a sudden squall of wind. On the 17th of December we made Deseada. On the 18th, be- tween that island and Guadaloupe, we were joined by His Majesty's sloop Pultusk, a small brig of ten guns, which brought us information of the vicinity of two enemy's frigates La Loire and La Seine, at anchor in the small bay of Anee La Barque, a few miles to the northward of the town of Basseterre. On rounding the south end of the island a little after noon, we found an attack had already been commenced on these by a squadron consisting of the Sceptre, 74, the Blonde, Thetis, and Freja frigates, and the Hazard, Cygnet, and Ringdove sloops, un- der the command of Commodore Ballard in the former frigate ; and on our arrival, they were warmly engaged with the enemy's ships, and a strong battery defending the bay to the northward. Calms and baffling winds under the high land prevented us from approaching sufficiently near to be more than spectators of the affair, and by the time we had closed sufficiently to take an active part in it, the battery was silenced, and the two frigates in flames. This, however, had not been effected without considerable loss on our side. The enemy's ships made a gal- lant resistance, and the battery, placed on a commanding eminence, made great havoc on board the Blonde and Thetis, within musket-shot distance, until carried by a detachment of seamen and marines, headed by Capt. Cameron of the Hazard sloop-of-war, who, landing to the left of the battery, and gallantly mounting to the assault up a steep and broken acclivity, drove the enemy forth and took possession. This brilliant little enterprise had been achieved hitherto without loss to the storming-parties, and it was not until the victory was gallantly won, and they were quitting the fort, that their gallant chief, while exult- ingly bringing up the rear with the well-earned trophy, the hostile flag, which he had himself lowered, hanging on his arm, was struck by a musket-ball which killed him on the spot. It was said that the fatal shot came from one of our own party, who, seeing him issue from the battery with a tricoloured ensign, mistook him for a Frenchman. The two frigates continued burning a considerable time, and the flames did not reach the powder until after the evening had closed. The explo-
DURING THE LATE WAR. 67
sion was terrible. The flaming fragments of the wrecks, masts, and yards, projected high in the air with the eruptive force of ^tna or Vesuvius, brilliantly illumined the atmosphere around, and furnished a grand and imposing spectacle. The recent capture of Martinico, Mariagalante, and the Saintes, had left the islands of Guadaloupe and its two small dependencies, St. Martin's and St. Eustatius, the only re- maining transatlantic possessions of the enemy ; and the moment was at hand when those also were to be wrested from them.
In conformity with orders which reached head-quarters about this time, in the month of January, an expedition against these islands was prepared. Troops were collected from the different stations, together with the means of transport, and the whole were assembled in the noble and capacious harbour of Fort Royal, to which also was transfer- red the head-quarters of the Admiral's flag.
The military force formed altogether an effective body of six thousand seven hundred men. These were divided into five brigades, subdi- vided into two divisions and a reserve ; the third and fourth forming the first division, under the command of Major-Gen. Hislop, and Brig.- Generals M'Lean and Skinner; the first and second, the second divi- sion, under Major-Gen. Harcourt and Brig.-Gen. Barrow; while the fifth brigade, one thousand five hundred strong, under the command of Major-Gen. Wale, was to act as the reserve. The whole were under the chief command of Lieut.-Gen. Sir George Beckwith.
The embarkation being completed by the 22nd, the fleet of men- of-war and transports weighed on that day, and proceeded to Prince Rupert's Bay, Dominica, which, being contiguous to the theatre of in- tended operations, was appointed as the general rendezvous. Here the final arrangements and dispositions having been made, the fleet weigh- ed on the morning of the 26th, the second division proceeding to the Saintes, a small group of islands recently dependant on, and distant about three leagues from the southern extremity of, Guadaloupe. There it anchored the same day ; while the first division and the reserve steered for the anchorage of Gosier, on the southern shore of that part of the island called Grande Terre, and reached it on the 27th.
Guadaloupe is of an irregular figure, forty-five miles long and thirty- five broad, being about 240 miles in circumference. It is divided in the centre (where an arrow isthmus, of six or eight miles in breadth, probably once connected the two parts,) by an arm of the sea called the Salt River. It may thus be said to form two distinct islands, differing essentially in climate, soil, and general character. The west- ern division, or that which gives the name to the whole, is mountainous and rocky. A lofty range, extending north and south, terminates at the southern extremity by the cloud-capped summits of the still more lofty Souffrier, or the Brimstone mountain ; a volcanic elevation which continually emits through various openings a thick black smoke, ac- companied by sparks and flames, which are visible at night. On .the western or leeward side of this ridge, contra-distinguished from the eastern, or Cape Terre, by the name of Basse Terre, stands the city called by the latter name, and used as the seat of government of the island. This is a large and well-built town, but unfavourably situated for trade, there being no harbour or shelter for vessels in the roads, the anchorage of which is rocky and unsafe. From every hill and valley
F 2
68 SERVICE AFLOAT
on this quarter of the island flow numerous springs and streams of pure salubrious water, -fertilizing the plains below and tempering the climate. The eastern division, or Grande Terre, has been much less favoured by Nature. Moderately high, and for the most part level, it is little capable of production, being rocky, sterile, and deficient in water. The Salt River, which separates the two portions, is a narrow arm of the sea, finely shaded with mangroves, and extending in a south- easterly and north-westerly direction, between six and seven miles in length, and from one hundred to two hundred feet in breadth, navi- gable for craft of forty or fifty tons burthen. It is one of those re- markable chasms or ravines peculiar to these islands, and abounding with traces of volcanic action, indicating that the whole has been reft asunder by some mighty convulsion of Nature. At the south-western embouchure of this strait, on the margin of the Cul de Sac, lies Point a Petre, the emporium of the island, a large, handsome, but unhealthy town. Gosier bay, or roads, where the squadron now anchored, is be- tween three and four leagues to the eastward of this.
On reaching the anchorage an officer was dispatched with a flag of truce and a summons to the strong fort Fluer d'Epee, situated at a little more than gun-shot distance from the anchorage; but this sum- mons was not complied with.
The weather being favourable, the landing of the troops was effected by the boats of the squadron during the night of the 27th, and by day- light the ensuing morning the whole of the first division and the reserve were disembarked, without the slightest accident or opposition, at the village of Marie Capes Terre, a few leagues south-west of Gosier.
While the reserve remained to cover the landing of stores and pro- visions, the first division pushed forward to the southward by the only road lying along the coast — one brigade to Capes Terre, another to Trois Riviere. On the 29th these took post at Bannannia river, the reserve the same day reaching Grande Riviere. On the 30th, at noon, the column advancing by the strong pass of Somme Chien, which was un- defended, reached Trois Riviere, pushing forward some small detach- ments of light troops in the direction of the enemy's posts.
During these operations we were in continual communication with the troops, all the movements of which, from the nature of the ground and the line of march along the coast, we witnessed from the ship as we sailed along. The long red column filing along the base of the lofty range of mountains, their arms glittering in the tropic sun, formed an interesting spectacle. Hitherto we had seen but little of the enemy, for, having relinquished the less defensible points, they had concentrated their force, consisting of three thousand five hundred troops, in the neighbourhood of Basse Terre. The greater part of these were intrenched in a remarkably strong position, along a range of heights to the northward and eastward of that town, every accessible point being covered by abattis and stockaded redoubts. This line ex- tended from the sea, which flanked its right or western extremity, to the strong post of Matabau, the outports of which — the heights D'Olat overlooking the sea to the eastward — flanked the left. This latter point the first division and the reserve had now reached; meanwhile the second division, which had arrived at the Saintes on the 27th, quitted that anchorage on the 29th, and steering for Trois Riviere,
DURING THE LATE WAR. 69
menaced that quarter in order to divert the enemy's attention from the advance of the first division. Then bearing up after dark they pro- ceeded to the northward, and disembarked the following morning about two leagues north of Basse Terre, near the river du Plessis, a little in the rear of the enemy's right, taking post on some hills on which a few field-pieces were thrown into battery, and opened a fire on the enemy. This movement induced the latter to abandon his defences at Palmiste and Morne Houel, and to extend his right. While matters were in this train to leeward, the first division continued to advance on the enemy's left. For a short time he showed a disposition to defend the heights D'Olat, and other posts, by opening a fire from some howitzers and field-pieces on our column ; but these were abandoned with pre- cipitation as our troops advanced. It being necessary to wait the land- ing of stores and provisions from the ships, no farther movement was made by this wing of the army until the 2nd of February, when it again marched forward in two columns by the mountains, the re- serve to the right, and took possession of Palmiste. Here we lost sight of them, and our co-operation being no longer necessary in this quarter, we bore up the same day to join the left wing of the army above Basse Terre. On this side we found every thing in active pro- gress ; the troops having disembarked without loss or accident, had taken up a strong position on some heights flanking the enemy's right, which was posted on a high ridge crowned with a chain of strong redoubts, communicating with the head-quarters at Matabau. A heavy and unremitted cannonade was kept up between one or two of these and two of our batteries opposed to them. These were prin- cipally thrown up and manned by a detachment of seamen from the squadron, consisting of the Alfred and Sceptre of the line, with some frigates and smaller vessels, to which was now added a strong rein- forcement from our ship. I happened to be of this party, and had an opportunity of witnessing the skill and indefatigable exertions of British sailors when employed on this kind of service. This has frequently been the theme of panegyric, but to be properly appreciated it must be seen. Obstacles, apparently insurmountable, soon disappear before them ; in a battery, or in getting up guns, they are unrivalled, and I am surprised they are not more frequently employed on this duty on shore. On the present occasion, although, as may be supposed, the service, being kept on the move night and day in such a climate, was no sinecure, yet nothing could exceed the alacrity and good-will evinced by all ; indeed, it was treated as quite a holiday affair. A few hours after we had opened a fire from our first battery, manned by a detachment from the Sceptre, the lieutenant commanding the party, affecting to hold cheap the enemy's practice, took it into his head, in spite of every remonstrance from those around him, to mount the parapet, exposing himself a dead mark for their aim. This he had repeated several times, until at length he was struck by a large shot, which completely decapitated him.
While the left were thus engaged, the right wing continuing to ad- vance by D'Olet and the great road to Basse Terre : the reserve, after taking possession of Morne Houel, succeeded in turning and pene- trating the enemy's left, and menaced his head-quarters at Matabau. On the morning of the 5th, that post displayed a flag of truce. The
70 SERVICE AFLOAT
same day a capitulation was agreed upon, which was ratified on the 6th. Thus was achieved, in the short interval of eight days, the con- quest of this fine island, and with it fell the Islands of St. Martin's and St. Eustatius, which, as dependencies, were included in the capitulation.
On the 7th, the French troops were marched down into the town of Basse Terre, where, in the Grande Place, and in the presence of a bri- gade of seamen drawn up to receive them, they grounded their arms, and were forthwith embarked on board transport-vessels, ready in the roads for their reception. After this we marched and took formal pos- session of the principal fort and sea-batteries of the town.
The small islands in the vicinity of and dependent on Guadaloupe, viz. Mariagalante, Deseada, Petite Terre, and the groups called the Saintes, had been taken possession of by our squadron a few months previous to the recent capture. The first-named of these islands was so designated from Columbus's ship, the Gallant Mary, in which he sailed, on his discovery of it during his second voyage. It is a beautiful little island, lying about twelve miles east of Cape Terre. Its low and level shores rise towards the centre to a level ridge of mo- derate elevation. The soil for the most part possesses great capa- bilities, producing excellent sugar, indigo, and tobacco, and the whole island is capable of great improvement.
Deseada is ten miles long and five broad, and lies about twelve miles east of the south-eastern extremity of Grande Terre. It is for the most part a sterile rock, with scarcely a trace of vegetation. Its only inhabitants are a few families settled on the south side, who subsist by fishing and the cultivation of a small quantity of cotton and tobacco. From the sea it has the appearance of an unbroken table-land, of some 5 or 600 feet elevation.
The Saintes are a group of small hilly islands, three leagues distant from the southern extremity of Guadaloupe. They form an anchorage, where any number of ships may remain at most seasons with safety. On the easternmost extremity there is a considerable village, and on the western, or Grande Sainte, an extensive pottery. The inhabitants consist of between 3 and 400 individuals of both sexes, who subsist by fishing and the cultivation of a small quantity of cotton and a little sugar.
According to returns made to the House of Commons in 1812, the population of Guadaloupe consisted of 12,747 Whites, 94,328 Slaves, and 7764 Free Blacks.
While on the subject of these islands, I shall take the opportunity to relate a tragic incident which subsequently took place while at an- chor off Point a Petre. One of the crew, an Irishman, belonging to the waist or afterguard, and a boy of sixteen or seventeen, a mizen- top man, having been tried by court-martial for an unnatural crime, were found guilty, and sentenced to death. To the former there appeared little chance of mercy being eventually extended, and his case excited the less commiseration, as the penalty which awaited him would have been but a retribution for various crimes which, accord- ing to his own acknowledgment, though he continued steadfastly to deny the commission of that for which he was now doomed, he had formerly committed. This man had served the greater part of his life in the army, from which, it seems, he had several times deserted, and he had moreover, with more or less of impunity, committed various thefts, and more than one highway robbery. With the
DURING THE LATE WAR. 71
younger prisoner it was far otherwise ; among all on board his case excited the deepest interest, and it was hoped and confidently anti- cipated that a reprieve, if for no other reason than his extreme youth, would finally be granted to him. The communication of this, it was supposed, in order to produce a salutary impression, would be reserved, as usual, until a late moment, probably until the morning of execution, or the moment of ascending the scaffold. When, however, the fatal period arrived, ushered in with the usual solemn and impressive parade of the marines drawn up on the gangways, the crew and officers on the front of the quarter-deck, the boats of the squadron manned and armed lying on their oars alongside, and the crews of the vessels distributed in the rigging of the various vessels of the squa- dron, and when, after the two unfortunate culprits were brought forth on the platform on the starboard side of the forecastle, the articles of war being read, the master-at-arms, and his assistants the ship's cor- porals, proceeded with the usual preliminary arrangements of confining their arms, adjusting the rope, and drawing on the fatal cap, the yard- ropes stretched along and manned, only waiting the signal, and all portended that the law was about to take its course on both alike, great was the disappointment of all. Scarcely evincing any signs of animation, or of apparent consciousness of what was going on around him, the unfortunate lad, f,»;pported by one of the ship's corporals, seemed lost to this world, and remained passive while these awful preparations were in progress. Not so his companion ; all of a sudden, when it comes to his turn to be secured, and just as they are about to fix the noose, a horrid scene ensues ; a death- like struggle takes place between him and those near him ; with a convulsive effort disengaging his arms, he draws forth an instrument with which ho inflicts a severe wound in the throat, a moment after he is secured, the gun flashes, and in this state he is run up to the yard-arm. It would appear that this guilty man (so fondly does hope cling to some bosoms to the last) had deluded himself with the prospect of a pardon, but with a premeditated determination, if disappointed, to anticipate his executioners by self-destruction ; with this view he had secreted about his person a razor-blade, with which he made the above endea- vour to effect his purpose. The junior delinquent remained on the platform. His life was spared ; but fate, if the influence of imagina- tion goes for aught, had already done its worst. The previous awful process and the thundering of the gun seems to have produced all the mental effects of a real execution. The little remaining consciousness previously apparent appeared to have fled, and as he was probably dead to physical suffering, it might have been deemed much more merciful to have rid him at once of existence and spared him much future misery. I know not with whom the arrangements rested that matters were carried to this injudicious extremity : the motive was probably to produce an effect, and a profound impression on the pri- soner : the latter object was fully attained ; the unfortunate victim of a tardy and mistaken mercy was taken down to the sick-room in a slato of stupor ; I do not know what was his ultimate fate, as I quitted the ship a few days after, but it was understood that, though he had par- tially recovered the shock, it had paralysed his intellect.
(To be continued.)
72
POPULAR VIEW OF FORTIFICATION AND GUNNERY.
NO. X.
" To ensure the reduction of a fortress, a fully equipped siege army is absolutely necessary : and any deficiency, especially in the engineer or artillery departments, must assuredly involve an unnecessary loss of life : to save men, science and mate- rials must be brought into play. Vauban's invaluable maxim should ever be kept in view — ' Never attempt any thing at a siege by open force, which may be gained by art and labour.' "—Jones's Sieges in Spain.
ON THE ATTACK.
IN our foregoing Numbers we have shown the manner in which the defensive masses and ditches have been usually arranged around a place in order to defend it in the best possible mariner ; but be- fore we can know the value of these arrangements, as well as their acknowledged defects, it becomes necessary to develope the mode and power of the attack, which we now proceed to do.
In describing the attack of a regular bastioned front, we do not intend to consider the effect of a subterranean war, as we have already endeavoured to point out, (especially in the Sixth Number of these articles published in our Journal for Dec. 1830,) that with energy, talent, and sufficient means on both sides, countermines do not prolong the defence ; besides which, we have detailed the mode of proceeding usually followed in destroying the countermines of a place. Nor can we take into consideration the moral causes that may retard or advance the march of a regular attack, or any extraordinary sacri- fices that circumstances may induce an enterprising garrison to make, &c. We suppose a garrison of steady courage and conduct restrained from any great offensive measures by an assailant of equal conduct and courage, and having at his command numbers, means and time to enable him to compass the enterprise.
The works of the attack chiefly consist of a trench, the earth ex- cavated from which forms a bank or parapet on the side next the enemy ; this trench is first made nearly parallel to the general out- line of the place ; that is, it forms the portion of a great circle em- bracing the fronts to be attacked, at a distance of about 600 yards from the most advanced works. This embracing trench is called a parallel, and here batteries are erected to concentrate their fire upon the works to be attacked. The trench is afterwards pushed on in a zig-zag course till it arrives within the range of the musketry fire of the place, where it is again made to extend itself, so as to embrace the fronts of attack, and is called the second parallel. From hence it is pushed more slowly forward by zig-zags till it reaches the foot of the glacis where a third parallel is formed ; it is then worked up the glacis, by a still slower operation, and when arrived at its crest, batteries are established to beat down the defences, to open the re- vetements, and to allow of the trench being carried on across the ditch even into the works of the place.
Colonel Jones, in his admirable preliminary observations to his sieges in Spain, says,
" It will readily be conceived, that the most important object at a siege, is to carry forward the covered road (or trench) to the walls of the place,
A POPULAR VIEW OF FORTIFICATION AND GUNNERY. 73
and that all other operations are secondary to, and in furtherance of, such an advance ; and consequently, that the efficiency of armies at sieges de- pends on their ability rapidly to complete the road, and at a small expense of life."
The attack may be divided into four periods.
The Jirst period will include the preparatory operations, and the investment of the place to the opening of the trenches.
The second period will include the opening of the trenches, or Jirst parallel beyond the range of the musketry fire of the place ; the establishment of the batteries in these trenches to subdue the fire of the defences ; and the pushing on of the trenches till they arrive within 300 yards of the works: the destructive range of musketry.
The third period will include the establishment of the second pa- rallel at 300 yards, and the zig-zag trenches as far as the foot of the glacis.
The fourth period will include the third parallel, at the foot of the glacis, and all the subsequent dangerous operations of seizing the covered way, crossing the ditches, and getting possession of the works in succession.
It is absolutely necessary to invest the place to be attacked ; that is, to surround it with troops, and if necessary, by lines of field- works, so as to prevent the garrison holding any intercourse with the neighbouring country ; for it is evident, that if this precaution be not attended to, the defenders may be able to draw fresh supplies of men, provisions and ammunition from the country, and the as- sailants will labour under the disadvantage of attacking these re- newed means on two or three fronts of fortification, and thus waste their superiority, which chiefly consists in their capability of bring- ing up numbers and means of attack continually, while those of the besieged, however efficient at first, must in time diminish and ulti- mately be rapidly expended. A place may be reduced by invest- ment or blockade alone, and in some instances, where it is possible suddenly to blockade a place ill provisioned and filled with a nu- merous garrison and population, it may be the most ready and bloodless mode of proceeding. Indeed, many other circumstances may render it desirable to endeavour to reduce a place by blockade.
At page 5, vol. ii. of Jones's Sieges, we read that on the 1st of July 1813,
" The Marquis of Wellington, attended hy Sir Richard Fletcher, recon- noitred Pamplona to decide the point of attack, and give the necessary orders for commencing the operation," (that was the siege).
" The works, however, appeared in such good order, and the river so effectually shielded one side of the town, and the citadel so covered the other, that the garrison being known to exceed 4000 men, and having up- wards of 200 pieces of ordnance to aid their defence, neither the force which the army could spare, nor the means it could command in ordnance, stores or materials, were judged sufficient to ensure its reduction. In conse- quence, the Marquis of Wellington decided to substitute a close blockade for a siege, &c.
" For the more effectual confinement of the garrison of Pamplona, and to strengthen the front of the blockading corps, the Marquis of Wellington ordered works to be thrown up all round the place, on the nearest heights favourably situated to command the several roads and communications.
74 A POPULAR VIEW OF
Nine redoubts, calculated for garrisons from 9 to 300 each, were, in con- sequence, immediately marked out by Sir R. Fletcher, on commanding points from 12 to 1500 yards from the fortress. The redoubts were or- dered to be made of a strong profile, and to be armed with the French field- guns captured at Victoria, firing through embrasures. The whole chain of redoubts was speedily in a state of defence. Garrisons were allotted to the several works, which were kept in them constantly prepared to receive and repel any attack; but the remainder of the blockading force was either placed under cover in the villages, or bivouacked on favourable spots just without the fire of the place ; the whole however being in constant readi- ness to form under arms, at their several alarm-posts, on the first intimation of the garrison making a sortie/'
In the middle of July, Marshal Soult advanced with a very strong force to the relief of Pamplona ; the British and Portuguese forces were concentrated in the Pyrenees to oppose him, and the blockade was entrusted to a force of Spaniards not exceeding 8 or 9,000 men.
" Under these circumstances, increased exertions were made to strengthen the several defences of the blockading line.
" Several buildings near the place were barricadoed and formed into strong advanced posts, the passage along the roads was obstructed in various places, fleches" (that is, parapets thrown up so as to form a salient angle shaped like an arrow) " were thrown up to protect the guards, and signal- ports were established to communicate intelligence and orders round the whole blockading circle."
" At this period, when the army of Marshal Soult had penetrated to within a few miles of the fortress, and a desperate sortie might naturally be expected, all the advanced posts were reinforced at night, and chains of sentries were pushed out in advance, to guard against surprise or the pas- sage of an individual, and the whole blockading force remained under arms, prepared to repel any powerful sortie. These precautions succeeded in pre- venting a single communication of any kind passing between the garrison and the force'engaged for their relief, on the 28th, 29th, and 30th July, almost within view of the ramparts.
This blockade is probably a solitary instance of the investment of a large place, situated close to its own frontier, having been so successfully main- tained for the long period of three months, as to preclude the garrison from once communicating with, or receiving intelligence from their friends."
History furnishes us with numerous examples of places that could not have been reduced by any other process than by starvation arising from a strict blockade : we have merely quoted this recent instance of Pamplona to illustrate the term blockade, ere we proceed to dwell upon investment as connected with the operations of a siege.
The army intended to invest a place, approaches it when least ex- pected, and occupies positions simultaneously on every side, so as to cut oft' all its means of communication with the country. The posi- tions thus occupied are strengthened by good field-works, and a sure communication is kept up between them. In examining the many sieges carried on in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, we cannot but be struck with the immense developement of lines be- tween which the investing army generally secured itself. In order to repel any attack from an army endeavouring to succour the place from without, it was customary to construct a belt of strong field- works about two or three miles from the place, facing the country ; this was the line of circumvall-alwn ; and a similar concentric belt of field-works facing the place, was the line of counter vallalion con-
FORTIFICATION AND GUNNERY. 75
structed to secure the investing corps against any enterprise of the garrison. This mode of proceeding is very ancient; it was thus that Caesar entrenched himself with 60,000 men before Alexia, and suc- cessfully defended his lines of circumvallation when attacked by 242,000 Gauls, and those of countervallation against an attack of 80,000. These lines appear to have consisted of a good ditch, from nine to fifteen feet in width and depth, fenced on the inside by the mound of excavated earth ; and outside of the ditch strengthened by an abattis or strong felled wood.
When Titus besieged Jerusalem (70 Years A. C.), the defenders succeeded in destroying a considerable portion of the works of the Romans, by means of mining ;* after which, the whole Roman army was set to work upon the line of countervallation to embrace Jerusa- lem, which equalled five miles in extent, and was defended by thirteen towers ; this was entirely finished in three days.
But to return to modern warfare, we find that lines of circumval- lation have often measured from ten to twenty-five miles ; requiring much time, great means, and labour to construct them, and large bodies of troops to defend them. When Arras was invested by the great Conde and the Archduke Leopold in 1654, the lines of circum- vallation measured about sixteen miles ; and those of countervalla- tion (at 1100 yards from the former), measured about eleven miles : both were composed of a continued line of field-works, having para- pets twelve feet thick, and ditches ten feet deep, covered by an ad- vanced ditch of nine feet in width, and six feet in depth, with two rows of trous-de-loup between the ditches.
In June 1656, Turenne invested Valenciennes : his lines of cir- cumvallation measured thirteen miles of running entrenchment, interrupted by the river Escaut and its marshes.
In 1658, Turenne, after overcoming great difficulties, from the flooded state of the ground, invested Dunkirk. This place is situat- ed amongst sand-hills, which are washed on the north by the Ger- man. Ocean when the tide flows, but when it ebbs, it leaves a beach of 500 paces broad : on the south it is surrounded by canals and marshes. Turenne constructed a continued line of circumvallation in the form of a crescent, extending to the sea on either flank : this line of works measured twelve miles. To close up the sandy beach that allowed a dry passage for the garrison for six hours twice a day, either to Nieuport or Gravelines, Turenne formed a kind of stockade or fence, at each extremity of the Crescent across the beach: this was done by driving into the beach great stakes, or piles, connected together by interlaced iron-chains: behind this was a barrier of heavy chests, defended by a line of armed barks: this was consider- ed so fine a work, that when finished, it was honoured by a visit from the King (Louis XIV.) and all his Court. At the period of its completion, (5000 English troops disembarked, and joined Tu- renne's army, led by Major-Gen. Morgan. Thus united, the Allied army proceeded to the operations of the siege, and while so engaged, Conde and Don Juan assembled an army of Spaniards, amounting to 15,000 men, (of whom 9000 were cavalry,) and attempted to raise
* Described in the Fifth Number of these articles, published in our Journal for September 1830.
76
A POPULAR VIEW OP
the siege. Leaving 4000 men in his lines, Turenne marched out with 12,000, surprised Don Juan in his position, and notwithstand- ing the gallant bearing of Conde, succeeded in defeating this army of succour, which was keenly pursued by the French and English cavalry. The siege was then resumed, and the two attacks which had been previously opened, (one by the French and one by the English,) were again vigorously renewed, and Dunkirk surrendered, after a period of eighteen days of open trenches, and was delivered to the English according to treaty.
The campaign of 1706 in Italy, affords an interesting instance of investment and of successful attack on lines of this description by an army of succour : to illustrate the subject, we annex diagrams of the ground.
In May 1706, Prince Eugene took command of the Austrian army on the Adige, while the young Duke of Orleans, (under the direc- tion of Gen. Marsin,) was placed at the head of the French army, on the same river, where they watched each other's movements op- posite to Rivoli (A and B, Fig. 73) : meanwhile the Marechal de la Feuillade invested Turin, high up on the river Po, with a corps d'armee of 64 battalions and 80 squadrons, which he inclosed in lines of circumvallation and countervallation (D and D, Fig. 74), measur- ing together upwards of twenty miles of running entrenchment of field-works, while the siege was pushed on with 164 pieces of artillery.
Fig. 74.
I
FORTIFICATION AND GUNNERY.
Fig. 73.
The ground on the right of the Po being naturally strong, slight works sufficed to occupy the summits of the hills to serve as lines of circumvallation. From the Po to the Doire, these lines were more carefully made, as they covered the siege operations (Q, Fig. 74), and parks of artillery, &c. ; but in the fork formed by the Doire and the Sture, the profile of the lines was feeble, from the supposition that an army of succour could not develope a great attack upon ground so restricted.
The Duke of Orleans with 20,000 men, was at A (Fig. 73), on the right bank of the Adige, observing Prince Eugene at B, who, seeing that this French army was not capable of arresting him, proceeded to cross the Po, and to march along the right bank, to unite with the forces under the Duke of Savoy at C, who was encamped at La Motte with 12,000 men, by which junction his army was increased to 45,000 men, of which 6000 were cavalry. He succeeded in per- forming this march between the beginning of July and the 30th of August (by the route shown in Fig. 73, b b 6). ^
The Duke of Orleans followed Prince Eugene's route, by keeping parallel to it on the left of the Po (Fig. 73, c c c), endeavouring to check Eugene's march, in order to give time to the Marechal de la Feuillade to take Turin, the siege of which was vigorously pushed on. After the 30th of August, continual assaults were made upon the citadel, (the point of attack,) but they were repulsed by the gar- rison, who were cheered and animated by seeing the approach of an army of succour, commanded by a General so decidedly superior to his adversaries.
Here we may remark, that the army of the Duke of Orleans was termed the Army of Observation ; that of the Marechal de la Feuil- lade, the Investing Corps (D D D, Fig. 74), which furnished the de- tails for the operations (against the citadel), or the Besieging Corps Q.
Thus we see three distinct corps, having their respective duties allotted to them, engaged in the attack of the place : an arrangement that is still more or less kept in view according to circumstances and the importance of the place.
The Duke of Orleans, with his Army of Observation, having entered the French lines, proposed, in a council of war, to march out and attack the Austrians ; observing, that although the army now consisted of 97 battalions and 120 squadrons, yet it was too much spread in its extensive lines, and that its power would be more felt in a concentrated attack. Gen. Marsin opposed this judicious pro- position, and it was decided to wait for the enemy, to strengthen the
78 A POPULAR VIEW OF
lines between the Sture and the Doire, and to arm them with 40 pieces of cannon ; but these lines were forced on the 7th of Sept. at daybreak, by Eugene's furious assault (E E E, Fig. 74), aided by a sortie from the garrison. The French army was thrown into great disorder : the siege was raised, the magazines burned, the artillery spiked and abandoned, and the army retreated by Montcallier, after a loss of 8000 men. By this enterprise, Eugene made himself master of the whole of Italy.
The Seven Years' war affords some curious instances of blockade and investment. In our days it is difficult to credit how Frederick the Great should have attempted, and succeeded in, blockading Prague in 1757> with an army of 50,000 men, in which was shut up an Austrian army, under Prince Charles, of a like number of good troops, with a considerable train of artillery. This investment lasted six weeks. Besides great detachments, the Prussians formed a chain of posts of many leagues, divided into two parts by the river Mol- dau. One bridge above and one below Prague, were the only com- munications between the Prussian wings, so that in issuing from Prague, the Austrian army would have had but one wing to fight. Even when one of these bridges was swept away by the current, the Austrian leader allowed the opportunity to pass unimproved.
As another instance of Frederick's temerity in this respect, he attempted, in the campaign of 1760, to besiege Dresden, (which was garrisoned by 16,000 men,) in presence of an Austrian army of suc- cour superior to his own. Again, in 1762, he besieged Schweidnitz with 14,000 men; it was defended by 113000 Austrians ; while Marshal Daun, with an Austrian army of 90,000 men, remained a spectator of the siege, and appeared to be there more to cover than to prevent it and overwhelm the Prussians, which he might easily have done.* The slow and feeble operations of the Austrians dur- ing this Seven Years' war, led Frederick to hazard rash enterprises of this kind, which would have ruined him with a more active and bold enemy.
In J709, when Mons was invested by Prince Eugene and the Duke of Marlborough, they preferred going out with the investing corps to meet the French army of succour to remaining in their lines, which led to the battle of Malplaquet, in which the French were defeated.
In 1793, the combined army, under the orders of the King of Prussia, that sat down before Mayence, exceeded 100,000 men.
The same year, the combined armies of England and Austria invested Valenciennes with 120,000 men. Prince Cobourg under- took the siege of Quesnoi with ()0,000 men. The Duke of York could not invest Dunkirk and Bergues with 50,000.
In 1794, Valenciennes and Quesnoi were shut up and besieged by a corps of the French army, amounting to 20,000 men; but it had only to act against the garrisons. The same year the French be- sieged Charleroi, with an army of 80,000, and at the moment of the surrender of the place, an army of succour of 100,000 men attacked the French line of circumvallation, (the general arrangement of
* The mining operations of this siege have already heen detailed in the Sixth Number of these articles, published in our Journal for December 1830.
FORTIFICATION AND GUNNERY. 79
•which was entrenched positions, camps, and quarters,) and in which they repulsed the assailants with great loss.
In 1796, Buonaparte invested Mantua with 20,000 men, but the siege was undertaken with only 9 or 10,000. The Austrians ad- vanced on all sides to raise the siege, and to envelope the French army. Buonaparte, instead of shutting himself up in lines, where he would have had to sustain attacks from superior forces, preferred raising the siege, and, abandoning his artillery, proceeded to attack the divided forces of the veteran Austrian Commander, Wurmser, the splendid results of which are well known. These few foregoing examples have been quoted, in order to give some idea of the com- plex and difficult situation in which a commander is often placed when a siege becomes necessary ; having to attend to the strict in- vestment of the place, to the siege operations being carried on vigo- rously and efficiently, as well as to the watching and baffling of any attempt to relieve the place by an army of succour. Judging from the facts that military history affords, it seems to be dangerous for an investing or covering corps to wait in its lines for an attack from an army of succour ; and it is found that the most talented com- manders have been forced from them. Yet it cannot be denied, that the construction of the lines of circumvallation in the wars of the last century, (when they were most in fashion,) were extremely vicious, having usually an immense developement in a circular form, where weak points were sure to be found ; and when forced in any . one point, the other parts were taken in flank and in rear ; and all this taking place so immediately before the place, renders it difficult to raise the siege by a well-ordered retreat, consequently the siege stores and materiel can scarcely fail to fall into the hands of a garri- son of moderate activity.
It has been laid down as a maxim, that it is time enough to think of fortified places when the great question has been decided with the armies that cover them; that the best means of covering a siege is to act offensively, and to give to the enemy's line of operations, the greatest possible depth, in order that he may have a considerable space of country to paso over to save the place.
From the above statements we may safely look upon the able arrangement for the investment and blockade of Pamplona, under our own great Captain, Wellington, (detailed in this article,) as a proceeding much superior to the old method of surrounding a place, by lengthened lines of circumvallation and countervallation. In the latter case, Vauban estimated the period necessary for the construc- tion of such lines to be nine days, averaging, even in a small place, a developement of thirty miles ; the mean breadth of the ditches being 12 feet, and the mean depth 7 feet 6 inches ; and that a man can dig and remove 540 cubic feet of earth, which forms one toise of running entrenchment, in seven days. Thus, about 18,000 men would be constantly employed day and night ; and averaging three reliefs, (the least possible number,) we have at once an army of 54,000 men employed in the construction of lines, which, when com- pleted, do not offer so strong a position as good redoubts, favourably situated, to command the roads and communications, connected by posts and videttes ; every advantage being taken of the ground to hem in the garrison, and to strengthen these field-posts.
80
OBSERVATIONS ON THE COMMON MODE OF CONNECTING THE TOP-MASTS WITH THE LOWER-MASTS OF SHIPS, AN D A DESCRIPTION OF A METHOD BY WHICH THE GREAT EVILS INCIDENTAL TO THE USUAL PRACTICE ARE AVOIDED.
BY MR. SAMUEL READ, OF HIS MAJESTY'S DOCKYARD, CHATHAM, AND FORMERLY OF THE SCHOOL OF NAVAL ARCHITECTURE.
JOINTED top-masts were first used in the latter part of the reign of Henry the Eighth, since which period no alteration or improvement in the prin- ciple of connection has taken place, although the immense and destructive wring or torsion which it causes to be exerted on the heads of the lower masts, has been always felt and acknowledged by every one conversant in naval affairs.
It would be a loss of time to detail instances of mast-heads being wrung, since every naval man must be aware of the very frequent occurrence of this disaster.
The destructive strain alluded to, is evidently produced by the position of the top-mast, with relation to the lower-mast ; for the axis of the former not being continuous with the axis of the latter, there will result a wring on the head of the lower-mast, whose force will be proportional to the leverage at which the top-mast acts by the cap.
These circumstances will be more clearly perceived by referring to Fig. 1 in the accompanying diagrams, where the lines c d, ef, represent the main top-mast of a 74-gun ship in its place, in which case its axis a b, is before the axis mn of the main-mast by a distance ocy of about two feet six inches, and the power of the wind on the sail attached to the former is therefore, in all cases, excepting when its direction is parallel to a fore-and-aft line, ultimately employed in wringing the head of the lower-mast, by acting on the cap or lever x y. The immense angular momenta of the top-mast and of all the furniture supported by it, in the action of rolling, will also cause a similar force of torsion on the lower-mast-head, by acting at the extremity of the same lever as the ship inclines from the upright.
When it is reflected that the safety of a vessel depends, in many most urgent occasions, on the strength and efficiency of its masting, it is presumed that to effect so desirable an object as the improvement of its practical con- struction in relation to the particular evil adverted to, will be no incon- siderable step towards the perfection of this important branch of naval architecture; it will, however, be found, as we proceed to develope the principal features of the system I propose to adopt, that there will result many other advantages besides those chiefly aimed at.
The diagrams Nos. 2 and 3, are respectively an athwartship and broad- side view of the main-mast of a 74-gun ship, showing the formation of a double head, within which and through the athwartship cap A, the top-mast H is run up on the fore side of the lower-mast, in a direction somewhat slanting, until it is high enough for its heel to be thrown aft and stepped on a metal shoe brought on the top of the spindle or core of the mast, and placed in such a position, that its axis and that of the lower-mast may be in the same right line. The spindle, instead of running up, and together with the cheeks, forming the head, as at present, is cut off about six inches above the lower edge of the trestle trees, to an inclination as shown by the dotted line p £, Fig. 3. Though cheeks, in my system, alone form the double or framed head VRO W, Fig. 2, their size athwartships being, at the trestle trees, half that of the common solid mast-head at the same place, and re- taining in the fore-and-aft way the same dimensions as at present given.
The sheaves in the heel of the top-mast for the top-ropes, may either lead in planes parallel to each other in the fore-and-aft direction, or cross, as in
OBSERVATIONS ON TOP-MASTS.
81
the present way. In the former case, the heel must be left in the four- square ; and in the latter in the eight-square ; which will possess the ad- vantage of reducing the size of the stick at this place.
The shroud pieces h, h, h, Figs. 2 and 3, are to be of elm, and are pre- pared for receiving the eyelets of the shrouds by affixing a fir bolster to it ; the part z, z, above the bolster, being of a sufficient height to admit of the necessary number of shrouds.
Figure 4 is a plan of the upper side of the cap. The hole for the top- mast is bearded away at the after part about one inch and a half, to allow the top-mast to pass through in a slanting direction. The situation of the eye-bolts for the top- ropes and top-blocks is also shown in this diagram.
Figures 2 and 3 also sufficiently indicate the method of securing the heel of the top-mast, (when swayed up to a sufficient height, and got into its place by hauling on the top-mast stay,) by shutting it between the framed or double head and the two carlings, or bars B and C, of which B is fixed, and C is moveable. The carling C may be secured in various ways, either by a stout bolt passing through the carling B on each side of the mast-head, and fore-locking on the fore-side of the carling C, or by passing lashings through eye-bolts in each. The latter method is perhaps the best, as a lashing will enable us to ease off the carling C to the required extent, when we want to trip the heel of the top-mast forward to strike it.
|
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t |
V 2 |
'f |
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C |
.r |
^ .. |
3 |
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• W fl |
T ,r |
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U. S. JOURK. No. 38. JAK. 1832.
82 OBSERVATIONS ON CONNECTING
When I first digested my plan, in the year 1824, 1 contemplated nothing more than altering the method by which we connect the upper-masts with the lower-masts. The invention, however, of a key-fid, by Mr. Rice, of this Dockyard,* which has the capabilities of adjusting the tensions of the top- mast shrouds to the greatest nicety without slacking or taking in the lani- ards, has rendered me anxious to avail myself of the powers of his fid to produce, in conjunction with my principle, a system of masting, not only in- vested with additional strength in its construction, but also with facilities which could scarcely be expected, in the management and adjustment of such ponderous articles as the top-masts of the very largest ships. I have therefore, with Mr. Rice's permission, shown in the accompanying diagrams, the application of the key fid to my system of masting ; and it will only re- quire bare inspection on the part of the practical seaman, to perceive the additional advantages occuring therefrom.
From the preceding details it appears, —
1st. That as the axis of the top-mast is in the same right line as that of the lower-mast ; all wring or torsion on the head of the lower-mast vanishes. Hence, no other but a simple lateral strain can ever be transmitted to it by the top-mast ; to resist which species of strain, the framed head here pro- posed is peculiarly adapted, its strength in a thwartship direction being, from the laws of mechanics, between two and three times as great as that of the common solid head-; and the least strength, or that in a fore-and-aft di- rection, being equal to that of the common solid head.
2nd. The top-mast, top-sail yard, and all the weight attached to or sup- ported by the top-mast, together with the torsion of the top-mast shrouds, stays, back-stays, &c. are brought to act, in the present system, on the lower tristle trees at some distance before the fore-side of the lower-mast head. The effort thus created must bend the head forwards, and render it neces- sary to set up the stay from time to time, until frequently the lower-mast becomes crippled. This evil is manifestly obviated in the proposed con- struction of lower-masts.
3rd. The shrouds, being brought from below the tristle trees, will not in- terfere with the lower yard, and a greater extent of bracing may be obtained than is usual with square-rigged vessels. The shrouds will also assume a more advantageous angle for support, and will experience a considerable reduction in length and weight. The superior strength of the framed head will admit of this desirable position of the shrouds.
4th. As the system here detailed, does not require the spindle or core of the mast to be so long as the former spindle by the whole length of the head, a considerable saving of material would be effected ; and if the same principle were extended to the top-mast, its economy would be still more appreciated.
5th. That when it is required to get up a fresh top-mast at sea, it may be taken off the booms, and got in place with the greatest facility, because we are enabled to point it through the framed head. Nautical men well know the importance of facilitating this operation, which perhaps is one of the most arduous in practical seamanship.
6th. That although in changing the lower rigging, it will be necessary to take the tristle-trees, &c. off; yet, as these are much reduced in weight, and moreover the eyes of the shrouds will pass over the cap in its place, it is presumed that no more time will, on the whole, be occupied than at present. The lower tristle trees s, s, Figs. 2 and 3, may be secured by a couple of bolts driven hard taught and fore-locked; and the upper ones may drop over a couple of circular corks fixed in the lower tristle trees.
* Described in the last Number of the U. S. Journal.
TOP-MASTS WITH LOWER-MASTS. 83
7th. That any repairs to the head of the mast, can be executed with more facility.
8th. That the running rigging passing through " lubbers-hole/' will less interfere with the shrouds.
9th. That the top-mast may be stepped and unstepped with facility, having previously eased off the carling C, Fig. 3, by hauling on the top- mast stay, in the first case, and heaving on the back-stay ; and slacking the top-mast stay to effect the second operation. When the top-mast is re- quired to be struck, the first thing to be done is to ease off the carling C ; then slack out the top-mast stay and haul on the back- stay, which will trip the heel of the top-mast forward out of the inclined shoe, and commit it at once to the top-ropes.*
10th. The space on the top before the mast-head will, by the proposed construction, be left entirely clear.
llth. Any mast already constructed on the old principle, can be con- verted into one, on the principle I have detailed, at a very moderate ex- pense— requiring only fresh cheeks ; and any mast whose head has been wrung, will afford a good opportunity to put my system to the test of actual trial — because the injured part may be entirely removed, and a new framed head supplied by a pair of fresh cheeks.
12th. In point of beauty, the proposed system will possess great supe- riority over the present mode, for in the former, each set of masts will ap- pear as one stick, when viewed broadside on, and in other positions will look very snug ; whilst in the latter, they present a disjointed and clumsy ap- pearance, excepting when viewed end on.
Such is an estimate of the principal advantages of a system of masting which has been submitted to several competent judges of first-rate eminence, in the naval service, and which has been allowed by them to want only actual practice to prove its excellency. In February 1826, this method of constructing masts was laid before the Commissioner of His Majesty's Dockyard at Chatham, illustrated by a large model. The Commissioner directed the two masters attendant, and the master shipwright and his two assistants, to report " fully, as to its utility or otherwise ;" and accordingly they gave it as their unanimous opinion, that " it is a contrivance which merits a trial," and admitted that it possessed the " advantages" that have been stated in this paper.
With this recommendation, the project was transmitted to the Honour- able Navy Board ; but the Board did not think fit to grant a trial. Since that period the matter has remained dormant, and probably, had not the pages of the U. S. Journal offered a field where the inventor dould challenge inquiry and meet objections, he would never more have troubled himself about the subject. But with this impression he has now sent the above description, and is content to let the project stand or fall by the fair dis- cussion of its qualities. Judgment, however, can never be consistently awarded without an actual trial of the plan, which could be carried into effect with very moderate expense, as the first common-made mast that dis- plays weakness, or wants repair may be appropriated for that purpose.
December 2nd, 1831.
* This easy operation will be still farther facilitated by the use of Rice's key fid.
o 2
84
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR OF THE LATE CAPTAIN SIR WILLIAM BOLTON, KNT. R.N.
" Quis desiderio sit pudor ant modus Tarn cari capitis ?" — HORACE.
SEVERE has been, to his distinguished family and friends, and to none more than to the present writer, the loss occasioned by the death of Capt. Sir William Bolton, R.N. who departed this life on the after- noon of the 16th of December 1830, aged 52 years ; having been born at Ipswich on the 26th of December 1777- Sir William was the eldest son of the Rev. William Bolton, and nephew of Thomas Bolton, Esq. of Burnham in Norfolk, who had married Lord Nelson's eldest sister ; and was himself married by special licence, on the 19th of May 1803, to his first cousin, Catherine, daughter of the latter, niece of Nelson, and sister of Thomas Bolton of Brickworth and Landfort, in Wiltshire, Esq. the presumptive heir of Earl Nelson. Sir William has left three daughters, — an only son he had the misfortune to lose. He was knighted the day after his marriage, on the honourable occasion of being proxy for Lord Nelson on his being invested with the insignia of his last ad- ditional orders. Nelson had previously, on the 16th, received his ap- pointment as Commander-in-Chief of the British fleet in the Mediter- ranean ; and, in his anxiety to join his station off Toulon, sailed from Portsmouth the same day he was thus invested. It had been signified to him, that he could be installed by proxy, provided a relation so stood for him ; and he deputed his nephew Sir William accordingly.
Sir William's parents are both still living, and now reside at Norwich. His father was many years rector of Brancaster in Norfolk, and of Hollesley, near Woodbridge, in Suffolk. Possessing himself a mind liberally endowed by nature, and cultivated by application, his son imbibed at an early age a decided taste for the classics and polite literature. He passed 1786 and 1787 in France with his parents, where he acquired a competent knowledge of the French language. He was full fifteen years of age before he went to sea. At that period he was a good classical scholar, but it was not until in after-life that he completely mastered Greek, and found in the works of the Greek writers a source of frequent and never-failing amusement, as well as in the writings of the Roman historians, satirists, and poets, with which he had been early acquainted. He likewise attained a competent knowledge-of the German, Spanish, and Italian languages.
With all his attainments as a scholar, and accomplishments as a gentleman, Sir William Bolton was nevertheless a thorough seaman of the genuine school. He was exceedingly fond of his profession in stirring times and circumstances favourable to its pursuit ; and there was no manoeuvre in managing, or evolution in working a ship, in which he was not systematically practised.
It was in the eventful year of 1793, when the French revolutionary paroxysm was at its height, and almost immediately after the execution of Louis XVI. and the subsequent declaration of war against England and Holland, that Sir William Bolton commenced his naval career as midshipman on board the old Agamemnon, of 64 guns, at Chatham, soon after Nelson had been appointed to the command of her.* In the
* Nelson was appointed to the command of the Agamemnon the 30th January 1793, and she was commissioned the llth February.
CAPTAIN SIR WILLIAM BOLTON, KNT. R.N. 85
Agamemnon he continued to serve under Nelson until August 1795, when he was placed by him with Capt. R. W. Miller, in the Captain of 74 guns, to which ship Nelson shifted his broad pendant, previously to the battle of St. Vincent.
Thus Sir William Bolton commenced in sharing as a youth in the most trying, if not the most arduous of all Nelson's services, and was with him in all his responsible and memorable missions in the Mediterranean at this period. He had not been long in the Agamemnon before her first action with the enemy took place, off the island of Sardinia, on the 22nd of October, when detached from the squadron under Commodore Linzee ; in which with only 340 men at quarters, in a running fight of three hours, she attacked one of their 44 gun frigates, with a corvette of 24 guns and a brig of 12. He served at the blockade of Toulon, where the Agamemnon was frequently engaged with the French batteries. He was with Nelson during the whole time of his blockade of Corsica, then in possession of the French, and during the memorable sieges of St. Fiorenza, Bastia, and Calvi, until the fall of one after the other in comparatively quick succession, and the entire expulsion of the French from that island. Soon after this, the French loudly threatened Corsica in return ; and as their fleet in the Mediterranean was supe- rior, sent it out accordingly, with express orders to attack the English. A partial action, instead of a general one, which had been expected, only took place ; this occurred in March ] 795, in which the Agamem- non alone attacked, in a running fight, the Ca Ira of 84 guns, in com- pany with a frigate ; and the day after again attacked her, and the Censeur, 74, when both at length struck to her — the former having lost nearly 300 men, in addition to her previous loss, the latter 350. Young Bolton acted as aide-de-camp to Nelson in this action. The services of the Agamemnon in the Mediterranean up to this period had been most severe, and Nelson was not the man to exempt a relation of his own from the risk of death when honour was at hand.
Sir William was with him in the Agamemnon, when his squadron, as it was proceeding from St. Fiorenza to Genoa, in order to co-operate with the Austrian and Sardinian armies, under Gen. De Vins, in ex- pelling the French from the Riveira di Genoa, was chased twenty-four hours by the enemy's fleet back to his own ; and in the partial engage- ment which took place five days afterwards between the two fleets. He was with him in the whole of his anxious and memorable services during his blockade in co-operation with De Vins, when Nelson's ser- vices, as is well known, were rendered ineffectual in consequence of that General's inactivity.
It has been stated that Sir William Bolton was, in August 1796, placed by Nelson with Capt. Miller, in the Captain, 74 ; in this ship, so renowned in naval history, both for Nelson's daring enterprise in boarding the San Nicholas and San Josef, and the part it sustained in the battle of the 14th of February J797, off Cape St. Vincent. He served without intermission until May 1797-
After the battle of St. Vincent, we find him serving successively with Nelson in the Theseus, 74, under the command of Capt. Miller; and with the Earl St. Vincent in the Ville de Paris, 112, under the command of Capt. the Hon. George Grey. He was after the action particularly recommended by Nelson to Earl St. Vincent, who in a letter of his, dated^June 19th, writes, " I have seen your friend Bolton,
86 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR OF THE LATE
who appears a steady young man ; he shall soon be taken care off:" he was accordingly appointed the next day acting-lieutenant of the Colossus, 74, Capt. George Murray, an appointment which was very soon afterwards confirmed by the Admiralty.
Those were the iron times of the naval service — the days in which midshipmen, in common with every man and officer in it, had hard service to perform, privations to endure, and personal risk to incur ; of all which Sir William Bolton had his full share.
He was at the bombardment of Cadiz ; and served as lieutenant in the Colossus, with the fleet in the Mediterranean until October 1798, when, at Naples, he rejoined Nelson in the Vanguard of 74 guns, Capt. Sir T. Hardy; and on the 7th of August 1799 he followed him into the Foudroyant, Captains Sir T. Hardy and Sir Edward Berry successively, in which he served until August 1800. He was con- sequently in the Foudroyant, when, on the 10th of February 1800, to the westward of Cape Passaro, in company with the Success and Northumberland, they captured Le Genereux, 74, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Perree, having a number of troops on board from Toulon, bound for the relief of Malta; and when, on the 31st of March following, in company with the Lion, Capt. Dixon, and Pene- lope, Sir H. Blackwood, they took, after a most obstinate and sangui- nary engagement, Le Guillaume Tell, of 86 heavy guns and 1220 men, bearing the Flag Admiral Decres, after her escape from Malta the night before. To the Foudroyant the termination of the battle has been attributed. The Guillaume Tell, it appeared, had but a short respite after her escape from the Nile.
With the exception of a short interval that he served in the Guillaume Tell with Capt. T. Elphinstone, we find him serving as lieutenant successively with Lord Nelson in the San Josef and St. George, both under the command of Capt. Sir T. Hardy, until after the battle of Copenhagen, on the 2nd of April 1801, when he was promoted to the rank, as it was then called, of master and commander, and appointed to the Dart sloop-of-war, which he commanded until October 1802, when she was paid off after the peace of Amiens. He was at the battle of Copenhagen ; and served chiefly in the Dart with the fleet in the Baltic, after Lord Nelson had resigned the command.
In July 1803 he was appointed to the Childers sloop-of-war, and followed Lord Nelson into the Mediterranean, where he served until the 5th of April 1805, when he was made Post into the Amphitrite frigate ; and a few days after appointed to the command of the Guerriere frigate, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Knight. In the Guerriere he served at Gibraltar and in the Mediterranean until the 30th of September. He had not the good fortune to be present at the battle of Trafalgar — a circumstance which Nelson much regretted — exclaiming, " Billy, Billy, out of luck !" He had been appointed, or at least nominated to the Melpomene frigate by Nelson, with express orders to join the fleet without delay — this was not to be, and further this nomination was cancelled after the battle of Trafalgar — in all probability, because Nelson was now no more !
In the middle of January 1806, he was appointed to the command of the Eurydice, a much smaller rate, and served in her until the same mouth in 1808, when he superseded Capt. Mackay in the command of
CAPTAIN SIR WILLIAM BOLTON, KNT. R.N. 87
the Druid frigate, on the Irish station, and served in her until the beginning of August 1810, when he superseded the Hon. Capt. Capel in the Endymion, a fine large frigate, which he commanded on the same station until she was paid off at Plymouth in May 1812, in con- sequence of her requiring a thorough repair in dock.
In the Eurydice he served chiefly in the West Indies ; and in the Druid and Endymion frigates, cruising in the Bay of Biscay, and off the south and west coast of Ireland, as far as Madeira and the Azores, and their meridians in high northern latitudes ; both ships suffered much from the heavy gales and bad weather they repeatedly encountered on the Irish station. Speaking of the severe weather the Endymion had encountered on the Lough Swilly station, a midshipman, now a com- mander, once said, that she had been in a gale of wind for four months. The Endymion was also in the same gale in the winter of 1811, in which the Saldanha frigate was lost. Sir William Bolton stood out to sea in consequence of an indicating change which he had observed in the barometer.
In the winter of 1809, in the Bay of Biscay, the boats of the Druid attacked, at a considerable distance from the ship, in a calm, a large French national brig Le Basque, in company with another, but they were repulsed with loss. Both were lost sight of at night, owing to light winds having sprung up before dark ; but he fortunately saw and chased the next day the one that had been attacked, and captured her in the night.
Immediately after the Endymion had been paid off, Capt. Sif William Bolton retired to Burnham in Norfolk, and enjoyed a short respite from service in domestic repose until June 1813, when he was appointed to the command of the Forth,* a swift frigate of the largest class, which was destined to serve for a short time, first in the Baltic, and eventually on the coast of North America until the peace between England and the United States took place ; after which, in March 1814, the Forth was ordered home from the Bermudas. During this service, Sir William captured Le Milan privateer, and the Regent American letter-of-marque.
Soon after the battle of Waterloo, he was selected to convey the Duchess d'Angouleme and suite to France, in which was also Mathieu the Count, afterwards the Due de Montmorenci, ambassador on the part of France at the congress of Vienna. On the Forth being paid off in September 1815, Sir William Bolton again retired to Burnham in Nor- folk, and was not afterwards employed in active service. In 1816, Sir William was induced to offer himself for the representation of Ipswich, but was unsuccessful.
Sir William Bolton was tall, erect, and graceful in his person, fair in his complexion, and handsome in his features, with a classic fore- head, a fine Roman nose, and a full blue eye, which was exceedingly quick and intelligent. To see him, was to see a gentleman in mind
* In justice to Lord Melville, for whom Sir William had always a sincere re^ gard, it is proper to mention here, that this last appointment to the Forth was sent by his Lordship to Mrs. Bolton, the eldest sister of Nelson, Sir William's aunt and mother-in-law, implying a compliment to her, as well as deference to the me- mory of Nelson.
.
88 CAPTAIN SIR WILLIAM BOLTON, KNT. R.N.
and manner as well as figure. Such is a faint outline of the person of him, who was generally reckoned, when in his prime, one of the hand- somest officers in the navy. To uncommon natural talents, and a quickness of comprehension, was united, a mind richly cultivated and highly polished, at the same time that it was endowed with the blander attributes of humanity ; a mind not less remarkable for urbanity and feelings of social kindness, than for unobtrusive dignity and pride, ac- cording to Swift's acceptation of the term. In these he was too deli- cate and scrupulous, perhaps, when we consider the vanity of man ; at least, he has been thought so by many of his friends. His sensibility, which was tremblingly alive, could brook nothing repulsive to either ; in short, no cavalier of yore, no lady's knight, no high-born and noble- minded maiden, ever could be nicer on these points than was Sir Wil- liam Bolton. Whenever he waited on " the powers that be," it was in order to render the tribute of respect due to them, not to crave any favour ; indeed, he seldom or never asked a favour for himself, al- though often for his friends, whom he was anxious to serve when he could. To say that Sir William Bolton was an affectionate husband, a tender parent, and a sincere friend, would be negative praise, in- deed ; he was virtually all these, and a great deal more.
He was naturally averse to all display, never claiming, or contend- ing for superiority. He never took an unbecoming advantage of his brief authority while in command; on the contrary, to the officers under him he was invariably kind and friendly, and duly supported them in their authority. Whenever he had occasion to reprove an officer, or young gentleman, it was briefly, gently, and in a mild and subdued tone of voice. On these occasions, too, he was apt to inti- mate his disapprobation in gentle admonitions or hints, in a manner peculiar to himself, in which more was meant than met the ear. Es- timating the feelings in the breast of gentlemen by his own, he would touch, but never wound them — much less openly or unnecessarily ; and was so fortunate as never to have occasion to try any one of his own officers or men by a court-martial. He was, to use a nautical phrase, captain of his own ship. He always saw and heard with his own eyes and ears, and judged for himself accordingly ; and although he duly supported his officers, and v/as as complaisant to them, indi- vidually, as one gentleman could possibly be to another, yet he would on no account tolerate the least oppression, or even illiberal proceeding from a superior to an inferior, nor yet illiberality in any shape towards equals. Ingratitude and invidious meanness he could not endure ; and various are the instances that could be adduced of his abhorrence of any thing like calumny. To the young gentlemen in particular, who sailed under him, he was always good and indulgent, and made due allowance for their youthful follies, while he reprobated the idea of turpitude itself in them ; and to his -lien he was ever considerate and humane. In short, he was, truly, a man of letters, an excellent scholar, a thorough sailor, and a most amiable and honourable man ; kind, humane, and feeling in his nature ; social, affable, generous, and charitable in his disposition; polished in his manners; sincere and warm in his friendships ; a Christian in his faith and hope — Male- volence itself could not impugn his actions, founded as they were on integrity of heart.
89
A. RECENT VISIT TO SEVERAL OF THE POLYNESIAN
ISLANDS.*
BY GEORGE BENNETT, MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS IN LONDON, &C. &C.
MONTEVERDISON'S ISLANDS.
THIS singular group of islands was seen from the mast-head at 1. 30. P.M. on the lee-bow, bearing W. by S. % S. by compass at about the distance of twenty-one miles ; we steered towards them, and at 5 P.M. they bore extremes S. ^ W. to S. W. and the centre S.S.W. by compass. The weather had been squally and unsettled in the morning, but cleared towards the afternoon, enabling us to have a clear view of them. At noon we found a W.N.W. current had been experienced.
The group is in an oval form, the islands being connected together by reefs, or sand-banks, with a lagoon in the centre. Most of the group are low and covered with coco-nut and other trees to the water's edge. The following wood-cut will convey an idea of their appearance.
They were first visible to us when seven leagues distant. I counted twenty-four islands, running nearly east and west, some of them very small. The group is encircled outside by a reef of rocks, on which the sea breaks high. Off the westernmost island there is an extensive reef of about two miles, in a westerly direction, in places jutting above the water. Off the eastern island is another reef, but not so extensive. Their situation in Norie's chart, for October 1st 1825, places them in latitude 3° 42' north, longitude 156° 0' east ; and in another of Norie's charts for 1824, they are placed in latitude 3° 13' north, longitude 155° 45' east. By observations made by Mr. Warden (our chief officer), and repeated with accuracy, their situation was made in latitude 3° 13' north, longitude by chronometer 154° 35' east. We approached them to within about six miles. At 7 P-M- a heavy squall with rain came on, and prevented our landing. At about 8 P.M., the weather again clearing, we distinguished fires, which was the only indication we per- ceived that they were inhabited.
ISLAND OF TUCOPIA, OR HARWELL'S ISLAND.
This small but elevated and wooded island was discovered by the ship Barwell in 1798 ; it was afterwards (1810) visited by the French navi- gators, who called it by the native name Tucopia. On the S. W. side
* Continued from page 193, Part III. for 1831.
90 A. RECENT VISIT TO SEVERAL OK THE
of the island is a wooded, picturesque valley, surrounded by lofty moun- tains, and containing a small but well-inhabited village. Two singu- larly isolated basaltic rocks, of some elevation, partially bare, but at parts covered by shrubs, rise from about the centre of the valley. When close in, two canoes came off containing several natives, who readily came on board ; two of them had been in an English whaler, (which ships occasionally touched at the island for provisions, &c.) and addressed us in tolerable English. They were well formed, muscular men, with fine and expressive features, of the Asiatic race, in colour of a light copper ; they wore the hair long, and stained of a light brown colour ; they were tattooed only on the breast, which had been executed in a neat vandyked form ; the ears, as also the septum narium, were perforated, and in them were worn tortoiseshell rings ; around the waist was worn a narrow piece of native cloth (died either of a dark red or yellow colour), or a small narrow mat formed from the bark of a tree, and of fine texture ; some of these had neatly-worked dark red borders, apparently done with the fibres of some dyed bark. They rub their bodies with scented coco-nut oil as well as turmeric. The canoes were neatly constructed, had outriggers, and much resemble those of Tongatabu ; the sails were triangular, and formed of matting. No weapons were observed in the possession of any of the natives ; they said they had two muskets, which had been procured in barter from some European ship. We landed on a sandy beach, and were received by a large concourse of natives. We were introduced to a grave old gentleman, who was seated on the ground, recently daubed with tur- meric and oil for this ceremony ; he was styled the ariki, or chief, of this portion of the island. On an axe, as well as other presents, being laid before him, he (as is usual among the chiefs of the Polynesian Islands on a ceremonial occasion) did not show any expression of grati- fication or dislike at the presents, but in a grave manner made a few inquiries about the ship. Near the ariki sat a female, whose blooming days had passed ; she was introduced as his wife ; her head was decorated with a fillet of white feathers ; the upper part of her body was exposed, but she wore a mat round the waist which descended to the ancles ; the chief was apparently a man of middle age.
The native habitations were low, of a tent form, and thatched with coco-nut leaves; these habitations were not regular, but scattered among the dense vegetation which surrounded them on all sides. The tacca pinnatifida, or Polynesian arrow-root plant, called massoa by the natives, was abundant, as also the fittou, or calophyllum inophyllum, and a species of fan palm, growing to the height of fifteen and twenty feet, called tarapurau by the natives ; the areka palm was also seen, and the piper betel was also cultivated among them. They had adopted the oriental custom of chewing the betel j in using this masti- catory they were not particular about the maturity of the nuts, some eating them very young as well as when quite ripe ; they carried them about enclosed in the husk, which was taken off when used.* At a
* I did not observe them take the trouble of wrapping up the ingredients together, as is customary in India ; but some would eat the betel leaf, previously dipping it in some lime (made from burnt coral) which he held in his hand, and eat the areka-nut afterwards ; they had no tobacco to eat with it, nor did I hear them enquire for any.
POLYNESIAN ISLANDS. Q]
short distance from the beech, inland, was a lake of some extent, nearly surrounded by lofty, densely-wooded hills. Some wild ducks were seen, and a gun being fired at them, the report raised numbers of the " plumy tribe," filling the air with their screams, alarmed at a noise to which they had been unaccustomed. Several native graves were ob- served, which were very neat ; a stone was placed at the head and the grave neatly covered over by plaited sections of the coco-nut frond ; no particular enclosures for the burial of the dead were observed. When rambling about, the " timid female" fled at our approach. From a casual glimpse of the fair objects, they merit being classed among the "beau- tiful portion of the creation ;" their hair was cut close.
Cooked yams, coco-nuts, &c. were brought us by the B"4"'' cs', ?? their manner was very friendly ; of provisions, yams- v »3> &c> could be procured. The natives were anxious to ar^-t"*11? us on tne voyage> and it was with the greatest ditti^^ «-nat w^ could get rid of them. It seems thev have occas1'""*1 intercourse with islands at some dis- tance, from them : *»vo fine polished gourds, containing lime, &c. used with their betel, were observed among them — one was plain and the other ornamented with figures, apparently burnt by some instrument. They stated that these had been procured from the island of Santa Cruz (Charlotte's Archipelago) by one of the chief's sons. Some of the natives were observed much darker than others, and there appeared a mixture of some races. Their numerals were as follows : —
1 Tashi. 3 Toru. 5 Hima. 7 Fithu. 9 Hiva.
2 Rua. 4 Fa. 6 Ono. 8 Warru. 10 Tanga,foru.
ISLAND OF TONGATABU-
On the 26th of July 1829, the low island of Tongatabu was in sight about fifteen miles distant ; from the lateness of the hour, and the intricacy of the passage into the harbour,* we lay off and on till morning. As we entered, the most picturesque and beautiful scenery presented itself; but the passage was very narrow, and extensive reefs on each side were distinctly seen, studded with small islets, verdant with coco-nut trees and various shrubs. As we neared the head of the harbour, the general appearance bore a strong resemblance to the low coast of Ceylon, in the vicinity of Colombo, with native houses here and there peering through the openings in the coco-nut and other trees, which abounded in the vicinity.
We anchored about ten A.M. off the district of Nugualofa, about a mile from the shore. Soon after anchoring, canoes, of a very neat con- struction, with outriggers, pushed off to the ship, which soon became crowded with natives bringing various articles of traffic. The inha- bitants are a fine formed, muscular race, generally tall, and with good features, but varying in beauty as much as Europeans. They wear their hair long, hanging over the shoulders, and frequently in a large bush over the head. In colour they are of a light copper, but some were very dark, with rather curled hair ; this, doubtless, proceeded from an intermixture with the natives of the Fidgi Islands, between whom and the Tongatabuans there is frequent intercourse ; indeed it is one of the accomplishments of a Tongatabu chief to speak the Fidgean language. The chiefs are very corpulent, but noble and handsome men ; so general
* The charts in Cook's and the Duffs' voyage are very correct ; the latter was our guide.
Q2 A RECENT VISIT TO SEVERAL OF THE
is this corpulency amongst the aristocracy, that it may be said to indi- cate rank. Our second officer, Mr. Jones, from being corpulent, was invariably considered here, and at other of the Polynesian Islands, the captain or chief, and always commanded more respect, particularly from the chiefs, than the " lean kine." The females are reserved, ap- parently modest, and generally handsome; their dress is simply a piece of native cloth, fastened round the waist, descending to the ancles, the upper part of the body being left exposed. They are of a li«ht copper colour, and rub over their bodies, (both male and female,) coco-nut oil scented with sandal wood, (which they procure from the Fidgi Islands,) or their native odoriferous flowers, as the huni, toto ""fj— -.iue. The hair of the females is usually worn cut very short, which, accus>,,^0(j as we were to see the elegant flowing locks in this sex, rendered their ^T—T^CQ less interesting. They practise the ele- gant custom of ornamenting n..^^^ with the kakala, or necklaces of fluwers, delightful from their fragrance «~,r| beauty. They wear them over their graceful dark forms, or as head-wreatiuo, aml the odour dif- fused from them is very powerful. They decorate strange^ wjth these necklaces, and in their arrangement display admirable ingenuity and taste. The Missionaries resident at the island (Messrs. Turner and Cross) came on board soon after we anchored, and from them we ex- perienced much attention during our stay. The King, Tubou, came also on board ; his manner and appearance was dignified, with a very agreeable expression of countenance. He was corpulent, but tall in pro- portion ; his dress consisted of a white shirt, with a piece of the cloth of the country round his waist. He informed us that H. M. sloop-of- war, Satellite, Capt. Laws, had visited them a short time previously; expressing himself highly pleased with the attention shown him by the commander, who saluted him on his arrival on board with seven guns, and drew out the marines as a guard of honour. This, he observed, was the only English man-of-war that had anchored in the harbour of Tongatabu since Cook's visit. I landed with the Missionaries ; the reef, extending out 200 yards, being nearly dry at low water, we were obliged to be carried over them by the natives, who readily volunteered for the purpose. On proceeding inland, I observed scattered native houses, each being surrounded by a neat fence, enclosing as well as the house, a garden planted with coco-nut, bread-fruit, plantain trees, and various introduced esculent vegetables. The papaya tree (carica pa- paya,) grew luxuriantly wild; it had been introduced, but the fruit was rarely used by the natives, except for feeding their pigs. I ob- served several of the coco-nut trees had their leaves devoured by a species of mantis, of a green colour, which seemed to be committing great ravages ; and I cannot think there was any regret on the part of the natives, when they saw me place some in my insect case. Vegeta- tion was very luxuriant, and the hibiscus tiliaceus or fau, in full flower, and the aleurites triloba or candle-nut tree, tui-tui of the natives, were abundant.
I accompanied the Missionaries to their residence, near which is the small Missionary chapel ; their houses were built in the native manner, with wood, being divided into different apartments by reeds, and thatched with the leaves of the pandanus, or those of ths coco-nut tree, with the addition of doors and small windows after the European manner ; thus rendering them as comfortable as circumstances would
POLYNESIAN ISLANDS. 93
permit. They complained, however, of the want of flooring, as the matting placed on the ground did not prevent their habitations from being very damp ; of the climate also, as being unhealthy, which may be partly attributed to a deficiency of good water on the island. Anxious to view the productions of the country, I rambled inland ; the paths were narrow, and on each side vegetation was luxuriant, either in a natural thicket or in neat plantations of sugar-cane, taro, plantain, or the Virginian arum, — the cabbe of the natives, as well as the chi (dracaena terminalis), paper mulberry tree (Brussonetiu papyrifera), and kava or ava (piper methisticum). The chi is culti- vated at most of the Polynesian Islands for the root, which contains a quantity of saccharine juice ; the roots are steamed for twenty-four hours, and then eaten by the natives as the sugar-cane. At the Island of Tahiti, an ardent spirit has been distilled from this root ; and the leaves being carefully gathered, laid together, and rolled up into bun- dles, serve as excellent provender for cattle ; the knowledge of this may be serviceable to navigators, where the chi may abound and grass be scarce. The paper mulberry tree is cultivated for its bark, which is used in the manufacture of the native cloth ; its native name is hiapo, and the cloth manufactured from it is called ngiatu ; the tree is sel- dom permitted to attain more than ten or twelve feet in height ; it is of small circumference, and its bark is considered fit for use twelve months after the tree has been planted. It is beaten out by a wooden instrument, named aike, as at the other Polynesian Islands.
The kava, or ava, is much used as a beverage ; there are two kinds, the cultivated and wild species, possessing a slight difference in fo- liage ; the roots of the latter are never used. The root of the cabbe, or Virginian arum, is eaten in times of scarcity, as well as the fruit of the hui, or convolvulus Brasiliensis (which is a scandent plant, and bears fruit somewhat resembling a potato) ; also the fruit of the mo- rinda citrifolia or nono, which is steeped in water for some days to remove the bitter taste. The pandanus odoratissimus, &c. (paongo of the natives,) abounds in the vicinity of the sea, loaded with its large orange-coloured fruit ; the leaves are used for thatching their houses and in the manufacture of their coarse mats. Attached to the houses of the Missionaries are neat gardens, in which they have succeeded in rearing many European vegetables; the common bean, which had not yet succeeded. The native houses are of very neat construction, being built of poles and reeds, with rafters of coco-nut wood, and are thatched with the leaves of the pandanus, or sections of the coco-nut fronds ; the floor of the interior is kept very clean, and is laid with mats ; the houses are open all round, and the roof sloping low down, obliges persons to stoop on entering, but when in the interior, the house is of some elevation ; at night the house is usually closed around with coco- nut leaves.
On the 28th, I commenced early in the morning a farther ramble into the interior of this interesting and fertile island. Abundant on the road side was the erythrina corollodendron, or ngeatae of the na- tives, glowing with its bright crimson flowers ; the tree is employed for fences, for which it is well calculated, as sticks cut from it readily take root when placed in the ground, and throw out their luxuriant foliage ; the bright hibiscus rosa chinensis, and the toto or gardenia, the huni, and the fragrant jasmine, decked the path and diffused a delightful
94 A RECENT VISIT TO SEVERAL OF THE
fragrance around. Among other trees, I observed a species of the myristica, or nutmeg, called by the natives cotone ; it was a very branchy tree, from thirty to forty feet in height, with long, thick, ovate, distinctly veined, leaves of a dark green colour, the fruit dark brown, round, and about tbe size of a peach, rough externally ; it is not used by the natives ; it possesses, but in a very slight degree, the taste or smell of the M. moschata ; it is also found at the Philippine islands. The fau, or hibiscus, was abundant in flower by the road side, from the inner bark of which they manufacture their fishing nets, &c. The vi tree, (spondies dulcis of Parkinson,) was now destitute of fruit, and being also leafless, had a curious appearance when contrasted with the evergreen trees and shrubs around it, giving a lifeless appearance to the tree ; it is curious, and probably difficult to conjecture, why this tree and the ngeatae, or erythrina, should shed their leaves and re- main for some time, at a certain season of the year, before they are renewed. Another fruit-tree was pointed out to me, but not at that time in bearing, named fegika ; its fruit was said to resemble the apple. The richness of the soil renders this island a perfect garden, and it seems capable of producing any of the tropical fruits, and cotton, sugar, indigo, &c. ; but the deficiency of good water is much to be re- gretted. If their wells were dug deeper, better water and more in quantity would no doubt be obtained. I collected specimens of a species of mangrove (rhizophora), which grew abundantly near, a lagoon ; as also of a shrub bearing clusters of small, but beautiful red flowers, named by the natives hangerle ; also a fruit of the size of a coco-nut, from a tree named leki-leki, which attains the height of from forty to fifty feet, and from eight to ten feet in circumference. The fruit is not eaten, but the tree is valued for the timber, which is hard and of a red colour, and is used in the manufacture of clubs, wooden pillows, &c. I returned to the sea-side by a road delightfully shaded by the foliage of the trees and shrubs that grew on each side ; among which was the koka, a tree of moderate height, bearing bunches of dark red berries. The bark of this tree is used by the natives for dyeing their cloth of a dark red colour. A species of hoya was also seen twining up the trees ; it was not in flower. Continuing the path, I passed several burial-places, the graves of which were neatly covered with coral stones. Over one was a small house built, which I was informed was a mark of distinction ; the grave was also shaded by a beautiful acacia. On calling at Tubou's residence, I had an opportunity of witnessing the ceremony of drinking the ava, as on arriving there I found him seated and receiving the homage and presents of native cloth, yams, kava, &c. from some chiefs who had just arrived from distant districts, and by this act acknowledged him as the sovereign. After the pre- sents had been removed, kava was introduced, and a semicircle formed in front of the king, (who remained preserving a very grave demeanour " secundum morem /') those of lower rank formed a second circle behind. The stranger chiefs were arrayed in coarse mats, as a badge of humi- lity on this occasion. The ava root was then placed before one of the chiefs, who directed it to be broken up, (which was done by two at- tendants with sharp-pointed sticks,) and distributed among different persons, who first scraping their portion with a ua or shell, masticated it, and another was deputed to take charge of the bowl and mix the beverage ; after being sufficiently masticated, the pieces were col-
POLYNESIAN ISLANDS. 95
lected in the bowl. (They are careful that the persons who masticate the root are not suffering from any illness.) The bowl used for this purpose is manufactured of various sizes, from a hard wood procured from the Fidgi Islands, named fahi, as well as from the leki-leki ; it is made broad but shallow, and has four legs.
They are then shown to the king, who orders water (which had been brought in readiness in coco-nut shells) to be poured into it. The water is added gradually ; a person squeezing the kava with both hands at the same time, and working it up for about five minutes, after which it is strained two or three times through the fibres of the inner bark of the fau, and the process is complete. During the time the bowl of kava has been preparing, others have been employed in making small drinking cups from the plantain leaf. The attendants then take these cups to be filled, which being completed, the person who superintends the bowl calls out, " the kava is in the cup," on which the chief who has the direction of the kava, mentions by name the chief to whom it is to be given, who acknowledges it by clapping his hands. Bananas were also distributed at the same time.
Being desirous of tasting the kava, but feeling repugnant from the mode of its preparation, Tubou ordered some to be brought grated, and mixed in a smaller bowl. Its taste was very slightly pungent. After the bowl of kava first prepared was finished, a farther quantity of kava root was brought and placed before another chief, who gave similar directions to the preceding. If any kava root remains of that placed before the chief, after sufficient has been chewed for the bowl, he can either order another bowl to be prepared from it, or send it away for his own use. The third cup was usually given to the king. During the kava drinking, there is a tabu on the chiefs and attendants who are the strangers, and they do not utter a syllable until the cere- mony is over. Sometimes the drinking lasts for sometime; this gene- rally depends on the number present ; on this occasion the party did not exceed thirty. I visited, at the request of the Missionaries, several of the natives and their children who were ill. Visceral affections seemed common.
July 29th. I visited this morning a beautiful spot named Maofanga, at a short distance from our anchorage ; here was the burial-place of the chiefs. The tranquillity of this secluded spot, and the drooping trees of the casuarina equisetifolia, added to the mournful solemnity of the place. Off this place, the Astrolabe French discovery ship lay when, some time before, she fired on the natives. The circumstances respect- ing this affair ; as communicated to me, if correct, do not reflect much credit on the commander of the vessel. They are as follow : During a gale the Astrolabe drove on the reef, but was afterwards got off by the exertion of the natives ; some of the men deserting from the ship, the chiefs were accused of enticing them away, and on the men not being given up the ship fired on the village ; the natives barricaded themselves on the beach by throwing up sand heaps, and afterwards retired into the woods. The natives pointed out the effects of the shot ; on the trees, a large branch of a casuarina tree in the sacred enclosure was shot off, seve- ral coco-nut trees were cut in two, and the marks of several spent shots still remain on the trees: three natives were killed in this attack.. A great number of the flying-fox, or vampire bat, hung from the casuarina trees in this enclosure, but the natives interposed to prevent
96 A RECENT VISIT TO THB POLYNESIAN ISLANDS.
our firing at them, the place being tabued. Mr. Turner had been witness to the interment here, not long previously, of the wife of a chief, and allied to the royal family. The body, enveloped in mats, was placed in a vault, in which some of her relations had been before interred, and being covered up, several natives advanced with baskets of sand, &c. and strewed it over the vault ; others then approached and cut themselves on the head with hatchets, wailing and showing other demonstrations of grief. Small houses are erected over the vaults. All the burial-places are either fenced round or surrounded by a low wall of coral stones, and have a very clean, neat, and regular appearance.
I observed that nearly the whole of the natives whom I had seen, were deficient in the joints of the little finger of the left hand, and some of both ; some the first joint only, others two, and many the whole of both fingers. On inquiry, I found that a joint is chopped off on any occasion of the illness or death of a relation or chief, as a propitiatory offering to the Spirit. There is a curious analogy between this custom and one related by Mr. Burchell as existing among the Bushmen tribe in Southern Africa, and performed for similar superstitious reasons among both, as appears by the following extract from his work : —
" I met an old woman, who having heard that I was desirous of knowing every thing relative to their customs, very good-naturedly stopped me t show her hands, and bade me observe that the little finger of the right han< had lost two joints, and that of the left one. She explained to me, that they hi been cut off at different times, to express grief or mourning for the death three daughters. After this I looked more attentively at those whom I met, and saw many other women, and some of the men, with their hands mutilated in the same manner ; but it was only their little fingers that were thus shortened, and probably the loss of these joints was found to occasion no inconvenience." *
At Maofanga I was requested by Mr. Turner to visit an old chief, who was in a dying state. On arriving at his house he was not there, but one of his wives observed that he would be there directly ; after waiting a few minutes, another said he was up the country. I then found that he was opposed to the Missionaries for wishing to change their religion, and that, seeing us coming, his wives had no doubt taken him out of the way. We departed, but had not proceeded far, when a native came after us, requesting that we would return, which we did, and found he had been just carried into the house. He was surround- ed by his wives, of whom I counted six. He received us as well as his infirmities would permit, and hearing that I had called to see him, he appeared pleased, but regretted that he could not visit the ship. After some general conversation, in which religions topics were not intro- duced, we took our departure. He was an old man, and appeared to be gradually sinking from some visceral disease. I asked Mr. Turner if he could be induced to take medicine : he replied, that his attend- ants would not give him any, as they now looked upon him almost as a deity. Near this chief's residence was the Hufanga, or place of re- fuge, in which a person in danger of being put to death is in safety as long as he remains there ; on looking in the enclosure, it was only a place gravelled over, in which was a small house and some trees planted.
* Burchell's Travels in Southern Africa, vol. ii. page 61. (To be continued.)
MEMOIR OK THE SERVICES OF ADMIRAL SIR CHARLES HENRY KNOWLES, BART.
ADMIRAL SIR CHARLES HENRY KNOWLES, BART, was a descend- ant from Sir Thomas Knowles, who attended Richard the First in his wars in the Holy Land, and by that Sovereign was granted the armo- rial bearings now held by the family.
On the 9th Dec. 1777, on the "death of his" father, Sir Charles Knowles, Admiral of the White, and Rear-Admiral of England, he succeeded to the Baronetage, and having passed the various gradations of the service, became Post-Captain Feb. 2nd, 1780, and appointed to command the Porcupine frigate in the Mediterranean, where, in July, he was attacked off the coast of Valencia, by two Spanish polacre- rigged ships, one conveying twenty-eight nine-pounders, and the other twenty-four nine-pounders, which he most gallantly engaged, and finally beat off, although the enemy had a third vessel in sight. To- wards the close of the American war, Sir Charles Knowles commanded the San Miguel, of 72 guns, which had been employed at the siege of Gibraltar, but, on being driven in a gdle of wind from her moorings, surrendered to the garrison. Here Sir Charles Knowles became the senior officer, and rendered great service in assisting to repel the various attacks made by the enemy to regain possession of the place, from whence he returned to Portsmouth early in 1783. Soon after the commencement of the French revolutionary war, he was appointed to the Daedalus, of 32 guns, and sailed for Halifax, and during the voyage, sustained such a considerable damage in a gale of wind, as to render it necessary for the ship to put into Norfolk, in Virginia, in which place he was blockaded by a French squadron before the damages could be repaired. The French fleet, however, put to sea, with several vessels under convoy, leaving a frigate and corvette to watch the Daedalus. Sir Charles Knowles, as soon as he was able, got under way, for the purpose of forcing his passage to Halifax, and was fully prepared to engage the frigate. On the 17th of May, the Terpsichore frigate, Capt. Bowen, joined the Daedalus, and proceeded on her voyage. Four or five miles off Cape Henry, Sir Charles Knowles hove-to, in expectation of being able to attack the French frigate ; but although she tacked, she soon returned to her anchorage. In the following summer, the Daedalus returned home, when Sir Charles Knowles was appointed to the Edgar, 74, on the North Sea station, from which ship he was removed to the Goliath, and was in the memorable battle off St. Vincent, 14th Feb. 1797> when the Spa- nish fleet was so gloriously defeated by that under the command of Sir John Jervis (afterwards Earl of St. Vincent). In this action, the Goliath had eight men killed, and several wounded. To commemorate this victory, His Majesty George the Third directed that gold-medals should be presented to the several Captains employed, and Sir Charles Knowles was honoured with one. On the 19th Dec. 1 797> Sir Charles Knowles, with the officers of the navy who had signalised themselves in general engagements, attended, on the visit ef their Majesties, the Royal family, all the great officers of State, and the Members of both Houses of Parliament, in the procession to St. Paul's, to return thanks,
U, S. JOURN. No. 38. JAN. 1832. H
98 TAHITI, AND THE PITCAIRN ISLANDERS.
and deposit the several trophies that had been captured. The whole was a most imposing ceremony, and the effect greatly heightened by a large party of seamen and marines bearing the several captured colours and ensigns, many of whom had been in the different actions.
Sir Charles Knowles was promoted to the rank of Rear- Admiral of the Blue Feb. 14th, 1799; Vice- Admiral, April 23rd, 1804; and Ad- miral, July 31st, 1810; and on the 20th May 1820, in anticipation of the Coronation of his late Majesty, he was created an extra Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. He died on the 28th of November last, in the seventy-eighth year of his age.
TAHITI, AND THE PITCAIRN ISLANDERS.
THE following account, at once the most recent and circumstantial, of the state of Tahiti, and the deplorable condition of the primitive islanders of Pitcairn, who have been transported to the licentious head quarters of the Missionaries, has been addressed from the spot to a scientific gentleman, who has kindly placed it at our disposal.
Tahiti, May 15th, 1831.
You remember, without doubt, the new Cithera and its inhabitants ; who, notwithstanding what the Missionaries say of them, are the oddest Christians in the world, uniting the most immoral and vicious life to the strictest observ- ance of the ceremonies of religion : and who, as you know, after having pros- tituted their wives, their sisters, and their daughters, and these latter, after having passed the night on board the vessels, never fail, at least on Sundays, to go to church, hear sermons, say prayers, and sing psalms. Such as they were then, so they are now, except that they are getting weary of restric- tions, and do things a little more publicly, regardless of the Missionaries and the laws which they have established. The causes which have produced this change 1 shall now proceed to explain to you.
The Queen had made a voyage to the west, to Raiatea, &c. I do not know with what intention, but there, on the eve of quitting to visit Huheine, &c. and return here, it was determined that she should be received every where according to the ancient customs, and that the operation of the laws should be suspended during her continuance in each island.
The customs here referred to have reference merely to the practice of making presents to the Queen, consisting of natural productions and stuffs of the country, in a droll manner it is true— since women, enveloped in Tapa (the country cloth), present themselves before her ; afterwards men come and unrolling these envelopes, leave them naked in the presence of the Queen and the spectators ; all this is accompanied by music, songs, and dances, of which the lasciviousness, not to say indecency, is only known in these islands, and of which the denouement.
* * * * *
I could not learn whether she was received in this manner at Raiatea and Huheine ; I believe not, though some of the natives assert that she was so. I know that she was so received at Charles Sanders Island, and in two districts of Morea, or Eimeo. When this news arrived here, it created an extraordinary sensation ; the Missionaries on horseback flew in all direc- tions ; one would have thought we were in a besieged city. This, indeed, was not without reason, for if the same thing should happen here, it would be the signal for their expulsion. The laws once abolished, could never be re-established ; this would the more annoy the Missionaries, as they are pretty "comfortable" here. But to return to the subject. Happily for the
TAHITI, AND THE PITCAIRN ISLANDERS. <J9
Missionaries, the principal chiefs, Tati, Paofai, Hitoti, and Otomi, were as much opposed to these ceremonies as themselves, though not precisely from the same motives ; for although they are very excellent men, and according to the Missionaries are even good Christians, provided they could be depended on ; yet their disapproval arose first from certain humiliations to which they will not submit under the present head of the government, unless by force of arms ; and secondly, because from the maintenance of the laws they derive their support, and between the three first-named Chiefs and the family of Pomare there exists an ancient enmity, of which the effects are often seen. 1'herefore, while the Queen was still at Morea the four Chiefs called a general assembly at Papiete, and after some dis- cussion sent a commission to Morea to try Mahini, chief of that island and of Huheine, and the principal promoters of these ancient practices, and at the same time to announce to the Queen that she was not to expect a similar reception at Tahiti; to which they were resolved to oppose them- selves by arms if necessary.
The most unfortunate circumstance in this affair, as regards the Mission- aries who have published accounts of these islands, is, that the principal actors in this farce are Deacons of the Church established by them, such as the principal Chief of Raiatea, Huheine, &c. whose praises they have never ceased to vaunt. Therefore when Messrs. Baff and Williams arrived they strongly urged the necessity of suppressing the existing dissension, and in doing so almost excited a disunion among the Missionaries here. It was amusing to witness the courteous epithets banded between these Reverend brethren. They made more noise in their little council than all the Chiefs together while haranguing in presence of their armies.
When the Queen arrived at Tahiti a general assembly was called, and surrounded by armed people, the subaltern Chiefs deliberated on the man- ner of her reception. Some were for and some against the ancient practice, and separated without coming to any decision. Some Chiefs, and the people of Taiaraibu, gave their Tapa, not in the indecent manner in which it had been done in the other islands, but, notwithstanding, contrary to the wishes of the principal Chiefs, and against the law. Some time after this, Tati, Otomi, Paofai, and Hitoti, having leagued together, marched to Taiaraibu, to try the Chiefs who had acted against the law. The latter took refuge under the protection of the Queen, who refused to deliver them up ; the first- named Chief (Tati) immediately armed all their people to take them by force, and the Queen on her side prepared for defence. Things were in this state when two sail were announced in sight, which proved to be the Comet, a British man-of-war, and a transport, having on board all the inha- bitants of Pitcairn's island. The first could not have arrived at a better moment, nor the latter at a worse. They entered the bay of Papiete the following morning, and two days after the people from Pitcairn were landed.
The Chiefs arrived with their armies on the 30th March. Tati and Otomi were the first, bringing with them about 1200 fighting men, and established themselves near the centre of the bay. Paofai and Hitoti arrived soon after, with 500 more. They had marched boldly through the Queen's army to join their allies. They were well armed with muskets, pistols, and spears. The Chiefs were attired in a distinguished and martial manner. Some time after, we saw the army of the Queen defile towards the north point of the bay, and establish themselves about a mile from where the Chiefs had encamped. The Queen's party did not exceed 600 men, and could not have stood against the force of the Chiefs. As soon as the Queen appeared round the point, she was saluted with eleven guns by the Comet, and immediately afterwards her commander landed to pay his respects.
The Queen still refused to give up the accused Chiefs, but offered, in their place, her aunt and some other of her relations, who had also been in- stigators, promising, at the same time, to desist from similar pretensions for the future, and to swear before the Chiefs and the people assembled, to ren-
H 2
100 TAHITI, AND THE PITCAIRN ISLANDERS.
der obedience to the laws. These condescensions did not satisfy the Chiefs ; they still demanded the accused. The Queen, accompanied by the Com- mander of the Comet and several other officers, approached, m the man- war's gig, the encampment of the hostile Chiefs. Tati advanced to receive her but soon returned; the Chiefs would not hear her. The Commander then addressed them, but without effect. They replied that they were very sorry to refuse him, hut the interests of the island demanded that the gui Chiefs should be given up. The Queen was, therefore, obliged to retn without having obtained her wishes. Night approached, and nothinj decided. The armies remained in their positions, and such order prevaiJ in their camp, as would confer honour on the most disciplined troops.
At daybreak we were much astonished at perceiving about thirty g canoes, in which were embarked the Queen and her party, with the inten- tion of retiring to Morea. This movement was caused by a report that Queen was to have been attacked on the following morning. Chiefs saw that she was about to abandon her island, thinking that she had already been sufficiently humiliated, they consented to pardon the Chiei protected by her, and condemned the others. The scene that followed v most extraordinary. The armed multitude, which hitherto had maintain order and tranquillity, at once broke out into the utmost confusion a noise and the previously hostile parties intermixed, and freely conver with one another. This singular contrast shows how blindly these people submit to their Chiefs, and how great would be the authority of the latter, if they knew how to exercise it. While the Queen was in a small islanc the middle of the bay, where, as it is said, she wept bitterly, the Chiefs n tired, without farther conference, and in the evening Papiete was qml
I have already mentioned, that in the two English ships were brought all the inhabitants of Pitcairn ; you have, of course, heard of these interesting islanders. Nothing could be worse than to bring these good and virtuous people into this gulf of corruption. The first moral lesson they received on their arrival, was to see about fifty women of Tahiti swim off to the ships in which they were, and commit in their presence, with the sailors, such a< of debauchery, that they instantly desired to return to their own island. Two days afterwards, however, they were landed at Papaoa, in the midst oi the most corrupt people of the island.
From thence they solicited and obtained permission to come to Fapiet but this was of small avail, for you know that, at Tahiti, every where there exist but more or less of the same practices. If we are to credit the asser- tions of these people, they did not willingly quit their island, but did so at the instigation of those who went to seek them, and on condition that t should be brought back to Pitcairn, if they were not pleased with 1 ahiti Notwithstanding, this promise was not fulfilled, for although they said t the Commander that they would have preferred dying of thirst m their o island to living amongst so corrupt a people as those of Tahiti, the Comet sailed, and left them here, not, however, before its Commander had secured them a piece of land and provisions for six months.
Six weeks have now elapsed since the departure of the ships ; and six of the inhabitants of Pitcairn are already dead, of whom two were fathers of families, leaving each six children. The remainder are determined to re- turn to their island ; and in a small vessel which I have freighted to go to the neighbourhood of Pitcairn, twelve of them have embarked, for the pur- pose of preserving the stock they left on their departure. 1 offered 2000 dollars for a schooner belonging to Mr. Williams, Missionary at Raiatea. Had he sold her to me, I should have sent the whole of these interesting people to their own island. But Mr. Darling, one of the Missionaries, wish- ing to visit some islands in this schooner, would not forego his voyage. Seeing these people discouraged and dying, a subscription was proposed to defray the expenses of this same schooner of the Missionaries, to carry them
NEWS FROM THE NEW WORLD. 101
to Pitcairn. This would not occupy more than from three to six weeks at the most; Messrs. Pritchard, Wilson, and Nott, (Missionaries,) would themselves have subcribed for this benevolent purpose ; but Mr. Darling refuses, being determined not to delay his voyage. The probable consequence will be, that these unfortunate people must all die if some means of restoring them to their island are not soon found. Nothing, however, can touch the heart of the Reverend Gentleman ; within three or four days he is going to sail, leaving these unhappy people to their fate, without the least apparent concern.
Adieu, my dear , as many absurdities take place here as in other parts
of this best of all possible worlds. But it is truly dreadful not to leave in peace those who are peaceable. The people of Pitcairn were certainly the most interesting people on the earth. Twice I have visited their island, and twice I have been enchanted with their frank and cordial hospitality, with the purity of their manners and the goodness of their hearts. But all this will soon be lost ; for if they remain here, those who do not die will not long continue as they were before their arrival. Among this corrupt people, they will soon fall into similar practices, — at all events, the young. They had scarcely been here eight days, when some native men came and danced naked before some of their young females, who were going to bathe in the river.
You may make any use of this, in order that the truth may be known in England ; for I am convinced, that the English Government would not have sent the poor Pitcairnians to Tahiti, but through the representations of the Missionaries.
NEWS FROM THE NEW WORLD.
MY DEAR EDITOR, — 1 had the pleasure of addressing you about three months ago from South America, and having now some leisure, I write you a few lines from the back settlements of the United States. Of late I have been kept in such a constant state of excitement, hurrying hither and thither, greedily drinking in by the ears information regarding the New World, reading thereof, and gazing intently on men, manners, and western scenery, that my mind for a time has become quite dissipated with novelty, though I have seen many sights of danger to sober me — in the shape of disease, murders, and dreadful tempests.
The three last Numbers of the U. S. Journal I have not seen ; nothing but novels find their way here, and a few Numbers of the Edinburgh and Quar- terly. The papers of the States are tiresome to the last degree, with squab- bles about Clay and Jackson — Jackson and Clay — one man libels another in print, saying he is a turn-coat in electioneering. The aggrieved " shoots the other down," as the term is, the next time he meets him. There is very seldom a fair gentlemanly duel in the Valley of the Mississippi ; some downright assassinations among " gentlemen " have taken place even whilst I have been in the country. Oh ! that I could transport myself speedily to a quiet apartment in Modern Babylon, with the last Number of the United in my hand, instead of being compelled to listen to endless bickerings about the qualifications of a President, discussions about the value of land, anti- cipations regarding the cotton-market, by gin-tippling, tobacco-chewing Yankees.
As to my own wanderings, I proceed concisely to say, that after leaving South America, I proceeded to the West Indies, arriving at Barbadoes in a small schooner. I was hospitably entertained by Sir James Lyon, and spent a fortnight in the island very agreeably and profitably — but alas ! what I left smiling with pleasant residences, shaded with tropical foliage, and cul-
102 NEWS FROM THE NEW WORLD.
tivated like a beautiful garden, is now lying waste and desolate ; the dread- ful hurricane of last month, like the breath of the destroying angel, has swept over it — the sounds of lamentation are heard on every side, and the air is loaded with corruption from 5000 human beings, violently deprived of life. In June, whilst 1 was in Barbadoes, there was the first hurricane of the season, which did considerable damage, but nothing to be compared to the subsequent one, far worse than the " great blow" of 1780.
Next I sailed for Tobago, where Defoe laid the scene of the shipwreck and hermitage of the celebrated Robinson Crusoe; there is the sandy beach where the print of the man's foot paralyzed him, the cave which he con- verted into a fortress, and the currents of the Oronoco sweep round the island, which brought over the savages from the main to their bloody feasts. Then, I reached the rich and picturesque island of Trinidad, one of the splendid possessions of England, of unknown fertility, which the abolitionists of slavery wish to cast off. Grenada, that gem of ocean, was the next rest- ing-place ; after which, St. Vincent's, whose scenery of the most sublime and awful description, is well calculated to withdraw the mind from the trifling sublunary pursuits of our ephemeral existence to the founder of the everlasting hills.
In a ship-of-war (H. M. brig Reindeer,) I shaped my course for Jamaica, across the Caribbean Sea. Yellow fever was in the island, and small pox had carried off 1000 of the inhabitants of Kingston in six weeks. Great alarm prevailed, too, on account of incendiaries firing the TOWH continually ; IQQQl. reward had been offered for their apprehension, but without success.
In general, in the West India Islands, the greatest despondency prevails. Ruin seems to be staring the colonists in the face, principally owing to the uncharitable outcry the emancipators of slaves raise at home. Immediate emancipation is perfect folly; education of young negroes, (mental and manual,) is the only mode of preparing them (and not adults) for eventual and gradual manumission. I have been so excited by the misstatements of the Anti-slavery Society, that I (perhaps unadvisedly) put together a short pamphlet entitled " Comparative Slavery," in which I have endeavoured to show the difference in the treatment of slaves between the English and other masters.
To Cuba I was conveyed in the Blanche frigate, Commander Farquhar, and remained in the Havannah and Country nearly three weeks. I have endless anecdotes to tell of pirates, slavery, murders, robberies, leprosy, and yellow-fever. A poor man died of the black vomit in the same house in which I lived ; and Azrael had begun to shake his dark wings over the de- voted city. Really the Havannah is a perfect sink of iniquity ; vagabonds from all quarters abound there ; no police, and murders are of almost nightly occurrence. The usual instrument is an English black-handled table-knife, sharpened to a point. I knew of 2000 slaves being landed near the Havannah whilst I was there, and doubtless there were many more im- ported, for the island abounds in splendid harbours, but every one minds his own business, and slaves are not interrupted. I was always fully armed, for I moved about day and night. After sundown every one keeps the middle of the street, and carries a long sword and dirk. Pleasant state of society ! The only two English ladies in the place told me, that they sit in fear and trembling at home when their husbands go out in the evening, dreading to see them brought home steeped in gore.
I next sailed for New Orleans, across the gulf of Mexico, in a Spanish brig ; and after having escaped two other hurricanes, (which wrecked many vessels,) I was detained for a fortnight in the " Wet Grave " during the most unhealthy season of the year. The city was deserted, the inhabitants having mostly all fled to the north ; hearses and a few Creoles were the only moving objects in the melancholy streets. I ought to be heartily thankful to Providence for the way in which I have hitherto been preserved, but I often think with shame on my own foolhardiness, though I have great con-
REVIEWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES.
103
fidence in a sound constitution, rigid self-denial, and abstemious habits. Yet we are fragile and feeble beings the best of us.
The steamer in which I sailed up the Mississippi was snagged, and sank just as I left her. Ten steamers have met with the same fate within these few months on the Ohio and Mississippi, besides many accidents from boilers bursting, &c. I left squatters, swags, sawyers and the knives of keelmen at Memphis, and travelled across Tenessee and Kentucky, by way of Nash- ville to Louisville, as a sailor in blue jacket and trowsers, among " hand and scull men — gaugers of eyes and rifles, and buck-shot." I am now on my M'ay, by Pittsburgh, to Lake Erie, Niagara, Montreal, Quebec, New York, Philadelphia, &c., and may be in England in the beginning of December.
Louisville, Falls of Ohio, I am, yours, &c.
Kentucky, Sept. 1831. A. J. E.
REVIEWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES.
CAVENDISH; OR, THE PATRICIAN
AT SEA Although, in our sober judg- ment, this production be not calcu- lated either to benefit the service, or reflect credit on the taste or feeling of the writer, it will doubtless be recom- mended to the general reader by its lively incidents, smart and vituperative style, and the harmless extravagance of caricature in which it indulges. Some notes on Naval Reform are appended ; to these, as the only practical portion of the work, although penned with undue bitterness of party spirit, we shall turn our attention in an early Number, and extract from them any suggestions which may strike iis as tending to the honour and improvement of the Naval profes- sion.
THE Loo-BooK OF A MIDSHIP- WAN, illustrative of the Voyages and Travels of Capt. Basil Hall, R.N. A New Game. By N. Carpenter. — Such is the title of a very amusing little toy, which has been sent to us by the author ; and we willingly notice so ingenious a production. It falls, indeed, more within the range of our critical notice than might seem, at first sight, to be the case. Capt. Hall, in the title-page of his Frag- ments, lately published, professes to write chiefly for the use of young per- sons, but we know well enough that he must likewise have wished to engage the attention of his brother officers. In the same spirit, although this Journal is de- voted chiefly to the edification of the grown- up members of our United Ser- vices, we feel the strongest interest in the amusement, as well as instruction, of those immense shoals of small fry, which, like the followers of an oriental army,
attend the march of the papas and mam- mas amongst us.
We are certainly no encouragers of marriages amongst half-pay officers, but as it does so happen, in spite of Malthus, that the population of half-pay children goes on in a much greater ratio, alas ! than the means of subsistence of their worthy parents, we feel it our duty, in the absence of more substantial aid, to contribute, as far as we can, to the do- mestic happiness of our brother officers' families ; and, accordingly, we venture to recommend this game, which, at the cost of three shillings and sixpence, is calculated to afford our young friends at least that amount of amusement, and of a very innocent kind.
The game is played with a pool, coun- ters, and a tee-totum, like the renowned game of the goose — only the scenes are taken from the parts of Capt. Hall's " Fragments," in which he describes his adventures when a Midshipman. There are twenty coloured representations of cockpit adventures, including, of course, Old Shakings, the dog, and his mourn- ing friends, the pigs. We have also the Bell Rock Light-House, Lord Duncan, and the Middy's own Papa, Sir James Hall, rigged up like a fox-hunting squire, besides the Halifax Tailor un- dergoing the amputation of his long tail, and sundry others. To those who have not read the work from whence the scenes have been borrowed, of course, this game will possess a minor degree of interest. But we can hardly imagine a better puff for the book ; and Capt. Hall ought, and we dare swear does, consider the appearance of this toy as a very high compliment to his literary character.
104
REVIEWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES.
We doubt not, Miss Edgeworth's chief delight as an author has sprung from the consciousness of giving daily pleasure to myriads of young folks. We cannot flatter the Captain with such a consum- mation to his labours in juvenile litera- ture, but, in the mean time, we wish him joy of his having succeeded in setting a tee-totum a spinning, aud we hope his second series of Fragments, which, we understand, is in the press, may prove equally fortunate. We have recorded our favourable opinion of the former Volumes, an opinion enhanced by an occasional recurrence to their pages, and confirmed by the general voice.
EMINENT BRITISH MILITARY COM- MANDERS— Cabinet Cyclopaedia, Vol. 25. — Mr. Gleig, though a prolific writer, executes whatever he undertakes with equal care and ability. The work under notice, will add to his well-earned repu- tation. In the present volume, the Lives of Sir Walter Manny, Sir Francis de Vere, Cromwell, and Marlborough, are preceded by a luminous view of the mili- tary systems recognised in England from the earliest to the present time. The opening article of our present Number will show how fully we concur with Mr. Gleig and the writer whom he quotes, in the opinion that " the greatest curse that can befal a nation, is the loss of its mili- tary spirit," and that " he must be a very short-sighted politician, who sees not that the best means of guarding against aggression or insult, is to hold ourselves at all moments ready to repel it."
EARLY ENGLISH NAVIGATORS — Edinburgh Cabinet Library, Vol. 5. — A most interesting and well-executed Vo- lume, comprising the Lives and Adven- tures of those eminent British Naviga- tors, Drake, Cavendish, and Dampier, honoured names in the records of Naval enterprise and discovery. A well-written summary of discoveries in the South Sea prior to Drake's voyage, is prefixed.
GALLERY OF THE SOCIETY OF PAINTERS IN WATER COLOURS. — The First Part of a series of Engravings to illustrate this beautiful branch of the
Fine Arts, contains three finely-executed subjects. The View at Venice is exqui- site ; pity that the artist, (Prout, en- graved by Goodall,) could not have ma- naged to afford us a glimpse of the just concealed Bridge of Sighs, of mysterious and murderous memory.
POLAND — BY HARHO HABRING. — This volume, a translation from the German, is of a desultory and anecdoti- cal character, presenting some lively sketches of the country it treats of, en- tering much and amusingly into its mili- tary details, and giving a revolting, though, it is to be hoped, a prejudiced picture of the Russian Vice-Regal Court.
A Work, to be entitled THE CABINET ANNUAL REGISTER, is about to appear (for the year 1831), and be continued upon a plan similar to that of the popular " Libraries." The design is good, and deserves success.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE APPLICA- TION OF LIGHT DRILL TO SKIRMISH- ING IN THE FIELD, &c. BY MAJOR C. LESLIE, 60th Rifles. — Of this trea- tise, intended as a supplement to the general regulations for Light Drill, and amply illustrated by plates, we can only at present say, that it evinces a degree of zeal and industry creditable to the officer who compiled it. Since the war, the importance of light movements in the field has been duly appreciated ; and we shall at all times be ready to direct attention to suggestions tending to im- prove and extend the practice of Light Drill.
The HARMONICON has closed the year with an excellent number. Having " music in our souls," and duly eschew- ing " treasons, stratagems, and plots," we commend a publication which minis- ters so capably to the study and enjoy- ment of Harmony, whether social, vocal, or instrumental.
A work consisting of " Observations on the Enlisting, the Discharging, and the Pensioning of Soldiers, by Henry Marshall, Esq. Deputy Inspector- Gene- ral of Hospitals," is in the Press.
105 GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE UNITED SERVICE JOURNAL.
Admiral Brooking to Sir Robert Seppings.
MR. EDITOR, — Should the following be not too late for insertion in your next Journal, you will oblige a constant reader, and Palestine Cottage, Plymouth, Your humble servant,
24th Nov 1831. S. B.
SIR ROBERT, — Unpleasant as I feel the alternative to which I am driven by your letter, (at least by a letter sanctioned by your signature,) wherein 1 am told I have bent my thoughts on a trifle, and worked myself up to believe it a matter of importance, I would beg to remind you, that it is more than fifteen years since I proposed to reduce the rudder to one-half or one-third at the back, and that you condemned the principle in the following words: — "The surveyors cannot recommend its adoption, as the rudder must be put over many degrees more than is at present necessary, before the same effect would be produced."
Allow me further to remind you, that next April it will be ten years since an investigation took place of the above and other suggestions of mine by seven officers of rank and experience, and in their report thereon were the following words : — " Our opinion is, that it would be desirable to make experiment of both the rudders, (the above and that for working in a grooved stern-post,) by trying them on ships now employed on the home station. The officers, &c. &c."
Again — "A majority of the officers, indeed I (Sir Alexander Cochrane, President,) may say that all were agreed in that respect, that reducing the rudder by tapering towards the after end would be advantageous."
I forbear, Sir Robert, making any further comment, than by stating (with all due respect to your scientific judgment, and highly responsible station,) that had experienced seamen, instead of surveyors, been my judges in 1816 as in 1822, not one ship belonging to His Majesty would years ago have been without a reduced tapered rudder, working in a grooved stern-post ; and I must look to you now, as an act of justice to myself, and as a duty to the service, to second me in my intended application to be allowed to try my plans, of the rudder and sail, on some vessel on the home station. Much, much as may be said on the subject, I conclude, Sir Robert,
Your obedient servant, _ SAMUEL BROOKING.
Suggestions on Promotion in the Navy.
MR. EDITOR, — The officers of the British Navy are divided into three classes : —
1st. Men promoted after short service by interest, who know nothing about their profession.
2nd. Officers promoted after very long service, who are disgusted and good for nothing.
3rd. A few experienced officers, less fortunate than the former, and more so than the latter.
The sale of commissions would correct these evils. Midshipmen, Lieute- nants, and Commanders, who have served the established time, might be promoted by purchase. This class would be composed of influential men, who now receive their promotion for nothing.
The one vacancy in three at present chiefly given to influential men, should be bestowed on Midshipmen who have served nine years, Lieutenants who have served seven, and Commanders who have served six and upwards. Such a regulation would give us young Admirals, young Captains of line-of- battle ships, and a certain number of experienced officers, without costing the Government anything.
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One-half of the appointments should be given to those who purchase, and the other half to those who do not. This would satisfy all parties, and benefit the service.
I have the honour to be, Sir, a conscientious nobleman's son, who was two years at college and four in a flag-ship, two years a Flag-Lieutenant, and little more than one a Commander, and now A CAPTAIN.
Major W. Mitchell, on the Trisection of an Angle, and the Mathema- tical Principles of Field Movements.
MR. EDITOR, — In the 17th Number of your valuable Journal, you favour the public with the translation of a notification published at Vienna, and signed by Major Wermerskirch of the Imperial and Royal Army, in which it is made known that he has discovered the solution of the problem, " How to divide an acute angle into three equal parts."
After showing, on the authority of a celebrated mathematician, that the trisection of an acute angle has ever been represented as an impossibility, the writer asserts that the trisection can be performed ; " that he will carry on his proof both analytically and synthetically, but that, considering the difficulties opposed to the communication of such a discovery, he should have suffered it to remain in eternal oblivion (!) had not the love of truth, and the undeniable utility of the discovery, decided his adoption of an op- posite course." All universities and academies which desire, and are able to make use of this new discovery, are therefore requested to apply, by letter post-paid, to a particular address at Vienna.
A year having elapsed before I, in this remote part of His Majesty's do- minions, received the number which contains the notification alluded to, I had no other means of rescuing " from oblivion" here, a discovery which many of your readers at home may now be acquainted with, than those of the rule and compasses, and having discovered a solution of this celebrated problem, and not feeling any difficulty (like the Austrian Major) in com- municating publicly the solution of a problem which puzzled both ancient and modern mathematicians;* I now subjoin a figure, with the construction, and a solution founded on the ancient analysis, having also combined the most obvious deductions in two corollaries; by means of which I consider it not improbable that the other celebrated problem of antiquity, the quadra- ture of the circle, may be solved by some of those who have sufficient leisure for such speculations.
TO TRISECT AN ANGLE.
Let A C B be an angle of which the trisection is required. On C, as a centre, describe the circle A DEB, and produce AC, and B C, the sides of - the given angle to the opposite circumference ; extend the chord E B to G ; bisect the arc A B in F by drawing C F parallel to E B, and extend the chord D F till it meets the production of E B in H ; join C H, cutting the arc A B in I, through D draw D L parallel to C I, cutting the same arc in L, and join C L ; then the lines C L and C I will trisect the angle A C B.
For let K be a point in the extended radius C I, such, that B K shall be equal to the radius C I, and on K as a centre, with the radius K B describe the equal circle B Z M, produce D B to the opposite circumference at Z, draw B M parallel to C H, and join K Z. Because H B Z is an equal angle, whose vertex is in an equal circle, the arc H Z is equal to DE (Eucld. III. 26). DE is equal to A B, there-
* See Legendre E16m6nts de Geometric, also Leslie's Geometry, &c. &c.
CORRESPONDENCE. 107
fore H Z is also equal to A B, and the angle H K. Z is equal to the given angle A C B. Because B K is equal to B C, the angle B K C is equal to 1C B; and B M being parallel to C H, the angle B C K is equal to Z B M, consequently B K C is also equal to Z B M ; but an angle at the centre, on the ?ame base M Z would be double of Z B M, which is at the circumference, or of B KC which is equal to Z B M (Eucld. III. 20) ; wherefore the arc M Z is double of I B, and H M being equal to I B, I B is equal to one third of the whole arc H Z, and is therefore, in fact, one third part of A B, which is equal to H Z . L D being parallel to I C, the angle L D C is equal to I C B. L C B being double L I) C, is, therefore, double also of I C B, consequently L B is equal to M Z, which is double of I B ; the re- maining portion A L of the whole arc given A B, must therefore be equal to the remaining portion H M of the whole arc H Z, and H M being equal to I B, A L is equal to I B. Therefore the lines L C and I C trisect the given angle A C B.
Corollary 1. — Hence, if the sides of a given angle be produced to the opposite circumference of a circle, and the chord of the outward segment (BE) be extended till it is intercepted by the production of the chord of an arc (FA D), which shall include the opposite segment (A D) and half of the given angle ; then a line from the point of intersection (H) passing through the centre of the circle will intercept one third (F I and 1) N) of each of the remaining portions (F B and D E) of the circumference.
Corollary 2. — Hence, also, if two equal circles intersect each other, and one straight line (C H) is drawn through the centres of both, and another straight line D Z through one centre (C) and one point of contact (B) to the circumference of the other circle, then the angles which stand on the arc (HZ) of that circle intercepted by those lines will be — at the point of contact (B) one half— at the centre of the other circle (C) one third — and at the opposite extremity (D) of that diameter, one fourth, of the angle at the centre (H K Z) on the arc H Z.
In order to connect my subject more directly with the professed objects of your interesting periodical, I avail myself of this occasion to notice some of the mathematical principles on which the field movements of the army depend.
The diameter of a circle being in the proportion of 7 to 22, the length of the radius must be to the arc of the quarter circle as 7 to 11, or, in other words, the extent of front of any division is in that proportion to the dis- tance the man on the outward flank must march to complete the quarter circle.
It is laid down that the number of wheeling paces of 33 inches contained in the arc of the quarter circle, described by any division, is equal to the number of files composing its front ; no doubt, because 7 is to 1 1 as 21 is to 33 — 21 inches being the space occupied by each file, and 33 inches the •wheeling pace. Now, as there are several rates of marching, it is obvious that the acceleration of the wheeling paces should be proportioned to each rate, so that while the marching divisions take 7 paces, the wheeling one should still complete 11, and, consequently, that one rate of wheeling time cannot apply both to slow and quick march ; it is remarkable that the wheeling time of 120 paces in a minute is inapplicable to either slow or quick time, for a front of 75 paces of 30 inches would be composed of 107^ files, so that while the succeeding division of an open column marches 75 paces of 30 inches, the flank man of a wheeling division of equal strength must take 107;, say 108 paces of 33 inches, which is exactly the quick time, not the wheeling time, which would be 120. Again, while a division in open column marches 108 paces, the flank man of a wheeling division of equal strength should take 154f paces of 33 inches, say 150 paces, which is the double quick time. Hence it appears, that the different rates of marching are in such proportion to each other that quick time is, in fact, the wheeling time for an open column marching at slow time, and that double time is the wheeling time for an open column in march at quick time : that the rate of
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march of 120 paces in a minute is too quick for slow time, and too slow for quick time, and consequently superfluous. That the soldier should not be embarrassed with too many rates of marching, is clearly recommended in Dundas, and I trust the grounds of what I have advanced will be sufficient to show the uselessness of one of those now practised, and that a greater degree of precision in the wheeling of an open column would be attained by the sub- stitution of quick and double time, for the wheel of columns moving at slow and quick time, and the rate of marching named wheeling time got rid of thus altogether. I must add, that I pointed this out to Sir Henry Torreris in 1823, but that officer considered his book too far advanced to admit of the alteration being introduced.
It would ill become me, Mr. Editor, to criticize any regulations published by authority, still less the new book which has been tolerably well purged of the defects, as to mathematical accuracy, which the old book contained ; but, like my worthy Light Division friend, your correspondent " H," I am desirous of contributing (even from the Antipodes) any information likely to benefit the service, and I beg to refer to the following instance, amongst many others which I could adduce, in support of my comparison in favour of the new regulations, as well as to explain a curious, though not very obvious, principle of the echellon movement.
It is laid down in section 158 of Dundas, that when from open column, the companies wheel backward into echellon, in order to form line on the front company, the front company either remains square to the column, or is •wheeled, forward on either flank into the intended direction of the line : in Torrens, section 120, it is ordered for the same movement — that the front company either remains square to the column, or is wheeled backward into the intended direction of the line.
The propriety of wheeling the company backward rather than forward will appear by the annexed diagram,
Suppose the front company wheeled for- ward into the new line b c and the others backward, so as to march on the points c,f,h, which is the movement directed by the old book, then neither the lines dc, e f, g h, on which these divisions would march, nor the divisions themselves, could be parallel, and, therefore, they could not .march en echellon. But when the front division is wheeled backward as well as the others, and the inner flank of the succeed- ing division is consequently at its proper open column distance from the correspond- ing flank of the first ; then the divisions can move parallel to each other, and on parallel lines to their proper places in the new alignment. For, by the second pro- position of Euclid's 6th Book, when lines are drawn parallel to each other, cutting the sides of a triangle, those sides are cut proportionally. Therefore, if c d, ef, g h, &c. were parallel, we should have b c : bd : : cf : d e, but b d is greater than b c, therefore, by the nature of proportion, de is greater than cf. But by hypothesis d e=cf, therefore d e is not parallel to cf; and in the same manner it may be shown that e/and g h are not parallel. In fact, d c, ef, g h, &c. will all be found to converge to some one point within the inward flank of the column. But if the company is wheeled backward on the pivot a, and a i and a d are therefore equal, then, by the same proposition of Euclid, if is, st be equal to de, eg, then the lines joining them must be parallel. Yet this amendment has been considered by some an error, and I
CORRESPONDENCE. 109
heard a brave old officer once admit, that he thought the new manoeuvres not so mathematical, but more practical, than those of Dundas.
It will be found, however, in the line movements especially, that some im- portant new principles are introduced for echellon movements of battalions, and that the knotty subject in Dundas, the change of position of second lines, is rendered very simple in Torrens.
In conclusion, I beg to observe, that the celerity and precision of move- ments will be more or less according to the degree of accuracy with which mathematical principles are applied, that the accuracy and facility of move- ments constitute the chief difference between disciplined troops and a mob, and that the successful application of similar principles to great operations in war distinguishes the great general ; and although the science is among the noblest pursuits of human ambition, a general may combine arrange- ments with mathematical precision, without being au fait at the demonstra- tion of theorems, any more than a boy who throws a stone to hit a distant object can explain the mechanism of the arm. So in the mind of man there is reason untaught by logical rules ; an innate sense of harmony, unguided by, yet nicely consistent with, the chromatic and diatonic scales; a percep- tion of beauty unaided by the laws of proportion, perspective, or by the prism ; and although the results of the human mind may be better appre- ciated or explained by rules, yet both have their origin in that celestial spring which nourishes alike the laurels of the philosopher, the poet, the statesman, and the general. I remain, Mr. Editor,
Yours faithfully,
New South Wales, W. MITCHET.L, Major unatt.
7th June 1831.
Regulations and Discipline of the Navy.
MR. EDITOR, — Amidst the several improvements which are daily taking place in the honourable profession to which it is my greatest pride to be- long, and to which I yield to no man in attachment, allow me as an old, and not altogether inexperienced officer, to call your attention to the necessity of doing all we can, through the medium of your very useful and valuable Journal, to induce my Lords of the Admiralty to form a council of the most talented and efficient officers, for the purpose of establishing some general system, (from which there should be no deviation,) for the internal regula- tion and discipline, as well as rigging, of every denomination of vessel em- ployed in the naval service of His Majesty, than which I know no improve- ment more wanting, and from which greater benefits can arise. Indeed, it is to the need of such, that in a great measure the lamentable irregularity and disgraceful inefficient state of many of His Majesty's ships are to be attributed, — a state which engenders every species of disrespect, disaffection, and discontent, amongst the crew, as well as disrepute on the part of the officers.
According to the existing order, (though such a word is scarcely admis- sible,) officers as well as men are necessitated to learn afresh the several duties of their respective stations in every ship to which they may be ap- pointed, conformable to the views, whims, and ideas, of the officer command- ing, which in some are not only diametrically opposed to others, but dis- graceful to the officer, useless to the men, and injurious to the service. It is to be regretted, that such a system of irregularity should be in existence after the enlightenment of the last seventeen years' peace ; but when we take into consideration the known aversion which the " Old School" possess to the introduction of any innovation, however desirable, we ought not to be astonished. I am aware, Sir, that any proposition, which has for its object the curtailment of a captain's individual caprice and power, will meet with the most strenuous and determined opposition from all despotic rulers, which ingenuity can devise, or the love of self-will desire.
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Such are the men who urge the necessity of continuing the existing evil ; men who, directing chiefly for the gratification of their own will and plea- sure, tremble when they cast their eyes on the scales of justice. But ought the opinions of such persons to have the least weight in the minds of those to whom the Country looks for the well-being and effective state of her wooden walls ? Which is the most useful class, those who govern for the general good, or those who seek only their own false consequences ? These are considerations worthy the reflection of the State Helmsman, and should direct his course. That, in the event of a war, some material amendment must take place, both in the manning and disciplining of our fleet, is obvious to every person alive to the sign of the times : then, foreseeing the impolicy, if not impracticability, of resorting to the disgusting rule of old customs, how much better would it be that the Government authorities establish some more beneficial mode of supplying, regulating, and governing, than that the same should be called for imperiously by the united voices of the discon- tented. We ought not to forget, that the tone of the nation generally, enlightened as it is, and fully sensible of the injuries resulting from the ignorance of ancient practices, will no longer tacitly submit to the infliction of unjust laws, but tenacious of its own rights, and alive to the interest of the community, will ever second and support the just complaints of the oppressed.
The chief cause of a good man's dislike to entering His Majesty's service is, the unjust system of discipline to which he is yet subject when chance places him under the command of a petty tyrant, and of which, since the peace, there have been some few incontestable proofs in the volunteering of seamen for the various officers who have obtained appointments to command, one of whom, from his known character, being unable to man his ship, was, after being more than six months in commission, obliged to be removed by the Admiralty ; but though the instances of such misrule have been rare, still one alone is sufficient to justify the interposition of Government, in order to establish that system, which will in future prevent a single occur- rence of the like unwarrantable and unofficer-like conduct. It must be most painful to all those who have both their professional interest and country's welfare at heart, to learn with what indifference and contempt the many suggestions for facilitating the manning of the fleet and ameliorating the condition of its seamen, were looked upon by the Board over which Lord Melville presided — suggestions which, though not emanating from the head or pen of influential members, were, nevertheless, equally deserving the attention of the Admiralty ; and though the several plans thus respectfully presented, may not have met either the approbation of his Lordship or notice of the public, yet it cannot but be desirable, that the same, written, as they were, with the view of benefiting the service, should at least have been acknowledged by a gracious reception.
I am aware that many -officers are of opinion, that the introduction of any general system of compulsion would deter men from the exercise of their ability to the advancement of the service ; but such persons have little knowledge of human nature, if they suppose, that that man who feels, or even fancies he possesses, a superiority of professional talent, will not, on conviction of its utility, exert his utmost to bring his plans into notice and practice, either from the love of fame, or desire of gain. It does not follow, because such a council may be established, that all propositions are to be rejected ; but it will certainly be advisable, that all such should be examin- ed, and either approved or disapproved by them : to which there cannot be any reasonsible objection, provided their course is so impartial, as to adjudge every proportion according to the merits or demerits of the case, without any reference to the character or circumstances of the officer from whom the same may emanate.
As matters are at present, it is alike painful to personal feeling and inju- rious to the service, to hear the reflections which, on duty, are cast by offi-
CORRESPONDENCE. Ill
cers on each other, for the mode of discipline adopted in their respective ships, and which disgraceful conduct the introduction of any general system would put an end to. I feel perfectly convinced that a plan may be formed, by which every man, on being made acquainted with the number of his ham- mock, would immediately learn from the ship's station bill, every station and duty to which he may be called in that particular class of vessel. But the Admiralty, in their selection of officers to constitute such council, should neither confine themselves to any distinct class, or the interest of parties, but, if possible, blend the talent of youth with the proof of experience, by which alone can they effect improvement ; and with the sincere desire that such may speedily be put in force, allow me to subscribe myself,
Your constant reader and friend, London. TRUE BLUE.
Regimental Grievances.
MR. EDITOR, — Among the various abuses that have been exposed to pub- lic view and condemnation in your excellent periodical, I do not remember to have seen notice taken of the exercise of a certain vexatious and irrespon- sible power by some commanding officers of corps, especially such as are married, in respect to the mess and the comforts of their officers at large. One opens and detains the newspapers before they reach the mess-room, and, when his right to do so is questioned by the President of Committee, makes a personal quarrel with that officer. Another sends for these papers, the Army List, and your Periodical, to his own quarters within an hour after their arrival, and detains them great part of the day, to the prejudice of every officer below him. A third appropriates an entire suite of officers' rooms to himself ; or if he cannot find use for the whole, locks up a portion rather than have any of his officers under the same roof with himself. A fourth never sees his corps on a march, except on return days. A fifth marches with it — or boasts he does — but it is en grand homme. The un- fortunate " feet" set out at four or six in the morning, and reach their des- tination about noon. The officers choose their billets, leaving what they conceive the best for their commandant, who arrives two or three hours after with his better half. She, by Athenian logic the real commander, is at once dissatisfied with her lot, and were it only to exhibit her husband's importance and her own, insists on turning out some weary wight, who is just beginning to recover from his fatigues.
These, Mr. Editor, are no imaginary cases. I have seen them all; and they are of no unfrequent occurrence. They require no commentary. Should your insertion of this put any of the selfish actors to the blush, you will confer a benefit on the service, and especially on,
Your very obedient servant, and constant reader, A SUBALTERN OF FOOT.
The War of Terry Alt.
MR. EDITOR, — With reference to an article in your last number, intituled " The War of Terry Alt," I beg that in your next you will correct an error into which you have fallen relative to the troops employed on that occasion. You state that the cavalry duties were performed by the 8th Hussars, and part of the Carabineer and Enniskillen Dragoons. Now, Sir, I beg to in- form you, that the latter regiment was not employed at all on the occasion, being quartered in Dublin the whole time. The King's Dragoon Guards ought to have filled the place in your Journal, now occupied by the Ennis- killens. A squadron of the former regiment stationed at Miltown Malbay, in Clare, performed duties equally as harassing as those performed by the other detachments, and with, perhaps, more success, as the repeated letters
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of thanks now in possession of the officer commanding the squadron, will abundantly testify.
While upon this subject, I may mention that an expectation of promotion was held out to four majors bearing magistrates' commissions. As these expectations have not yet been realized, can you inform me if this boon was ever contemplated by Government, or if it is yet to be granted ? I am, &c.
A MILITARY MAGISTRATE For the County of Clare, Galway and Limerick. Dublin, Nov. 28th, 1831.
The French Convention o
Ma. EDITOR, — The following statement of the pranks of the first high court of justice established by the French reformed parliament (yclept con- vention) in 1792, has been accurately compiled, after laborious research, from the archives of that court, which was established by a decree on the 17th August 1792, and terminated its career on the 15th December 1794.
The persons who suffered its dreadful sentence of decapitation were, Marie Antoinette, Princess Elizabeth, six princes of the blood, three prin- cesses, six dukes, two duchesses, fourteen marquisses, two marchionesses, three barons of the empire, twenty-three counts, six countesses, three viscounts, 214 ex-nobles, twelve knights of St. Louis, 127 married women, wives of ex-nobles and others, forty-five single women and women di- vorced, seventy-six widows of ex-nobles and others, four abbes and ab- besses, two constitutional bishops, fourteen friars and monks of different orders, 155 priests, curates, and vicars, seve'nteen constitutional priests, twenty-three nuns of the different orders, two marshals of France, thir- teen marshals-de-camp, forty-seven generals, lieut.-generals and briga- diers, twenty-two colonels and lieut.-colonels, eight majors, fifty-one cap- tains of cavalry and infantry, seventeen aids-de-camp and adjutants, forty- one lieutenants of army and navy, seven officers of artillery, eighty-four soldiers, national guards and sailors, two admirals, one commodore, eight captains of vessels, 105 commissaries of war and marine, and contractors, thirty-three members of the National Convention, four members of Legis- lative Assembly, twenty-nine members of Constituent Assembly, three mi- nisters of state, thirty mayors of cities and towns, twenty-two judges, nine- teen justices of peace, twenty- four authors, literary men, and editors of papers, 178 counsellors, presidents of parliament, lawyers, attorneys and notaries, 109 private gentlemen, twelve bankers, thirty-eight merchants and factors, 166 municipal officers, administrators, auditors, &c. 941 other persons of different trades and descriptions, making together 2774 victims of the revolutionary tribunal. The eldest person sentenced, was M. Dupin, counsellor of the parliament of Toulouse, whose extreme age of ninety- seven pleaded in vain for mercy; he and twenty-five more counsellors of the same parliament, and four of that of Paris, were executed at the same time. It is highly consolatory to know, that the last who suffered by its sentence, were Robespierre himself, and about 100 of his colleagues, the institutors of the tribunal ; and we learn with equal satisfaction, that, shortly after, the judges and members of this never sparing court shared the fate of their patrons and protectors.
I am, Sir, yours, C. I. T. S.
Percussion Shells.
MR. EDITOR,' — Some experiments were this day made at Leith Fort with Percussion Shells. In the former ones they were made from light guns, 6 and 9-pounders, merely to prove the theory, but on this occasion they
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were made from -24-pounders, which is conceived to be the best gun for ships of all descriptions. The shells were cast at Carron, and executed in a style highly creditable to that establishment. The shape has been considerably altered, which is found to increase both the range and accuracy of fire. JEach weighed 29lbs., including the bursting charge of 2lbs. 3oz., and was fired with a charge of 4lbs. of powder. The object fired at was a boat, of about 15 tons, placed at a range of 500 yards. From the smallness of the object, several shots were fired before it was hit, but the first that struck it, exploded on board of it, and suck it. An empty shell was then fired at an elevation of about 18°, and found to range two miles. Time of flight 15". The line of fire was accurate throughout. With shells of this description, it is less an object to batter a ship, than to set her on fire in such a manner as not to be extinguished. From experiment it is found that the shell ex- plodes upon passing through a ship's side, but the splinters and explosion fall between decks; it is, therefore, proposed to fill the shell with gun- powder and portfire in equal parts, which, it is conceived, will fill her with fire and smoke so instantaneously, as to prevent its being extinguished. I am therefore still of opinion, that tli£ larger the vessel, the greater will be the facility of destroying her ; and that, in the present instance, a line-of- battle ship would have been much more easily destroyed, than the boat in question. I believe also, that the Dutch need be under no sort of ap- prehension for the Scheldt fleet, for if they know how to manage matters, half-a-dozen gun-boats may make a bonfire of it at any time. I believe moreover, that the attack at Algiers, under Lord Exmouth, and that at Navarino, under Sir Edward Codrington, might have been accomplished with a few gun-boats, and, probably, with the loss of a very few men ; but John Bull likes to take his namesake by the horns, and to fight his way to honour and glory through blood and slaughter. In your next Number, I shall, perhaps, trouble you with a few observations on the fearful state of declension into which the naval and artillery departments in Great Britain .have fallen since the peace of 1815, while our neighbours have been indefa- tigable in improving theirs.
M. Edinburgh, 21th Dec. 1831.
Depots.
MR. EDITOR, — Allow me to ask, through the medium of your most ably- conducted, highly-impartial, and very widely-circulated Journal, why is not common justice meted out to all His Majesty's troops alike, and how it comes that some corps should have their Reserve Companies continually stationed in the best quarters that England can produce, whilst others are as constantly •kept in the worst and most wretched ones that Ireland can afford ? What have the 7th, 43rd, 51st, 52nd, 75th, 95th, and 96th done to entitle them to a lease at Winchester, Hull, Chester, Canterbury, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Dover, and Chatham ? and what crimes have been perpetrated by the 12th, 32nd, 56th, 58th, 60th, Gist, 66th, and 99th, to condemn them to everlasting exile ? These are questions that are frequently asked in the military circles, and the answers that are given most commonly produce dissatisfaction and disgust.
My dep*6t has now been in Ireland since 1825, and never, for even a day, stationed in a good quarter. I saw the 51st at Portsmouth, on the separa- tion of our reserve and service companies in that year, and on my dis- embarkation there a few months since it was still in its old quarter. Can this be even-handed justice? — in truth we want, anjl most badly want, Reform !
We have nearly 170 recruits, taken from the wilds of Erris and the fast- nesses of Connemara — regular " Terries and Peep-o'-day boys." Surely, Mr. Editor, common prudence would suggest the expediency of taking these
U. S. JOURN. No. 38. JAN. 1832. i
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lads away from the influence of their lawless connections, and by change of station and climate, weaning them from the bad habits they had imbibed in their native deserts. But common sense and interest, in these days even of cant, humbug, and reform, are far from " synonymes," and, forsooth, the good of the service must be sacrificed for the gratification of some "pro- tected individual." By sending us, a body of raw Irish recruits, to England, we should have been drawn from the influence of whiskey and priesthood, and, moreover, had "room and space enough" whereon to drill and learn our duty : whereas we have never had an inch of ground on which we could move. Our old soldiers have been constantly detached, and consequently no one remained to show what ought to be done. Our barracks are dirty, and the men will become slovenly, because they must be all out at drill, and cannot find time to clean both their rooms and appointments. If we were in England we should be all together; the recruits would have time for drill, not being required for other duties, whilst the perfected soldiers would attend to the culinary department and the keeping in order of the respec- tive rooms ; thus would all go well ; as it is, nothing is regular and no one satisfied. The general-officer finds fault, and contrasts our appearance with that of the men of a whole corps, never bearing in mind our difference of position. But'what can we centurions do ? Nothing but, Bruin-like, grin and bear it. Could you believe it, we have all been obliged to sleep, drink, and cook in the same apartments ?
A constant reader of your Journal, and an
Connaught District, OLD CENTURION.
Dec. 4, 1831.
Badges of Merit.
MR. EDITOR. — It would be difficult to account for the inattention with which Government has received the reiterated and earnestly-expressed desire which the different branches of the service have evinced for a badge of merit, to distinguish those officers and men who had the good fortune to be present at any of the great battles which brought the last war to a glorious and successful issue. Surely economy will not be pleaded as a reason for withholding a boon which would be so highly gratifying to, and prized by, our veterans ; for though the expense attending such a measure may, in these " piping times of peace," be more than it may be thought pro- per for a great nation to bestow on its valiant defenders of a by-gone day, such an objection can have no weight when it is recollected, that the officers themselves have repeatedly expressed their desire to be allowed to pay the full value of such a badge as maybe accorded them — an arrangement which, one would suppose, even Mr. Hume himself would find no fault with.
I have been led into this reflection by having lately seen a subaltern of the 22nd regiment, who, I am told, fought in almost every great action of the Peninsula, from Ciudad Rodrigo to Toulouse, mounting guard under the command of a Major junior to him in years, and still more junior to him in the service, but whose uniform bore a decoration which proved that he had been at least within hearing of the guns of Waterloo ; and by seeing the same subaltern sitting, at a court-martial, near a more fortunate Lieutenant of artillery whose well-earned inedal showed him to be one of the officers of his gallant corps, who so nobly fought those guns, while the plain and unde- corated uniform of the brave Lieutenant would not have told a stranger that he had ever seen a shot fired. I have also heard, since I have been in this garrison, a characteristic anecdote, which places this subject in its true light, as far as respects the opinion of distinguished foreigners. When Napoleon went on board the Bellerophon to surrender himself a prisoner of war, he was received by a captain's detachment of the Royal Marines ; and after acknowledging their salute, he instantly advanced, passed through the ranks and minutely inspected them ; which having done, he remarked to the
CORRESPONDENCE. 115
officers commanding the detachment that the men were very fine and well appointed — " but," asked the ci-devant Emperor, 'f are there none among them who have seen service?'' — "Nearly the whole of them have seen much service, Sir," was the reply. " What !" exclaimed the Emperor, " and no marks of merit !" The officer explained, as well as the awkwardness of the subject would allow, that it was not the custom of our Government to award such marks of distinction, except to officers of the higher ranks ; and Napoleon ended the brief conversation by an expressive gesture, which, had it been interpreted, would have said — " Such is not the way to excite or cherish the military virtues." Let us still hope that Government will at length see this question in a way congenial to the feelings of the United Service. Sure am I, that did our warm-hearted, considerate, and beloved King know how easily he may thus gratify his old officers, and were it pro- perly represented how much such a regulation would stimulate the younger ones in the line of conduct which had won for their elder brethren in arms so desirable a mark of the royal favour, the thing would at once be decided on. I remain, Sir, yours, &c.
Plymouth, Dec. 16, 1831. AMICUS.
Somerset Yeomanry.
MR. EDITOR, — As some people pretend to doubt the utility of that highly constitutional force, the Yeomanry, I beg to state that from my personal ob- servation, I verily believe that this country has been saved from the most horrible scenes and excesses by that force. I was at Bath during the Bris- tol Riots, and I can affirm, that Colonel Horner's regiment being ready, was a very material assistance to the peace of the former splendid city, being kept free from tumult of any consequence. The conduct of the Yeomanry at the disgraceful riots at Sherborne and Yeovil was beyond all praise, and if a Legion of Honour existed in this country, Capt. Tatchell would un- doubtedly have richly merited its decoration. In my way to Exeter, I pass- ed two days at Wells, and I can scarcely describe to you the consternation that prevailed until it was known that Capt. Maher, an old 52nd man, and an orderly serjeant, had arrived, bringing notice of the approach of Colonel Tynte's fine corps of cavalry. Indeed, there was a general idea that the remains of the Bristol mob, would have attacked Wells, with the intention of assailing and destroying the palace and magnificent old cathedral. I saw afterwards a troop of the West Somerset, under the command of Capt. Kinney, at Glastonbury, very fine stout fellows ; they were inspected shortly after by their gallant Colonel, who had been indefatigable in inspecting and re-organizing the regiment. At Taunton, I saw some of Capt. Cole's fine corps, who are very finely equipped and well mounted, and whose presence certainly kept the bad spirits in order, though I must add, that in general the best spirit and determination to keep good order reigned through the town's people of the places I have named.
I am, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
Bath, Dec. llth, 1831, AN OLD DRAGOON OFFICER.
Volunteers.
MR. EDITOR, — A memorable lesson of the miscalculation with which leaders of popular clamour judge of their power to stop it at the point where they wish, has lately been read to those who suffered, and even, perhaps, to some who encouraged the commencement of the late riots at Bristol. Many of them have now to lament the loss of their own property, and to deplore scenes of destruction, robbery, and bloodshed which they dreamed not of. This example may be of use to the few well-meaning persons who are still advocates for the associations called " Political Unions."
i 2
116 CORRESPONDENCE.
The most devoted votaries for Reform must see, that upon the acts of the Government, as now constituted, there are many checks. He would make those checks greater. Good — they are in a fair way of being made so. But every honest man must see, what has been often stated, that the tendency of these unions is to create a power in the state which shall be free from those checks, and to raise the smooth-tongued villains and the more daring ruffians into a place of power, which would have no check but that abrupt one which would hurl their worthless heads in the dust as fast as they should attain to it. Let such incendiaries be aware of this ; let them remember, that although we have in England many Robespierres and Dan- tons, yet the intelligence diffused through this country must prevent such men from reaching even to that short-lived power which enabled the murderous ruffian to lay waste his country, until he was destroyed by his more cunning slave of a coadjutor. But if we supposed a miracle to place such men in power, the courage and intelligence of Englishmen continuing, their reign of tyranny would not be for two years, as in the blind days of France. Two days would suffice to seal their fate. Such scenes as have been lately witnessed at Bristol every lover of his country must deplore. But let us not lose sight of distinction between a band of ruffians, raising themselves into the power of doing mischief for two days, while the well-disposed were divided upon a political question, and such a band being allowed to organize themselves into a recognized authority. This cannot happen in England. Whatever may be the fancies of those who see the working classes of this country only at a distance ; let any man who is accustomed to be among them and to watch their dispositions, whether as an officer, or as the con- ductor of any public work, be consulted, and he will say, that if his men could have been shown, at its commencement, that the result of this riot would have been the burnings and the robberies which followed, by far the greater numerical force of his men might have been enlisted to prevent it, and that, in truth, the real disturbers of the public peace are but few in number. They are the most forward to act, however, and the agitation of the great question which now divides the country, gives them a rallying point and a watchword, while the friends of order are deprived of this ad- vantage, by their want of confidence in those whose duty it is to call them together: those whose duty it is to do this, being generally the leaders of a party opposed to nine-tenths of them, and opposed also to the Govern- ment upon this great political question. Much incidental mischief may, therefore, be done, while the public mind is thus agitated. The Dantons and the Robespierres of England will not fail to promote this to the utmost of their, power, and may do much mischief, as at Bristol, before the courage and intelligence of Englishmen shall organize the means of putting them down.
The unpopularity of the magistrates of close boroughs, and the imbecility of many of them, are, at the present time, barriers in the way of forming com- binations for the support of social order under their authority. Thus, they may call out special constables, or the posse comitatus, as Owen Glendower did " Spirits from the vasty deep ;" but the Reform party, although friends of social order, will not " come' at such " a call." Associations are, there- fore, forming, independently of the authority of the magistrates, for this ob- ject, but, unfortunately, it is not for this object alone. Their purpose is mixed up with a political question, in which all shades of opinion prevail, and which, therefore, deprives them of that unity of purpose that is neces*- sary to make them effectual towards the prevention of such disgraceful scenes as we have noticed.
As I have stated, the intelligence and courage of Englishmen will put down such acts of villainy ; but from the considerations to which I have alluded, it appears to me that it will require the interference of Government to form associations in time to prevent them. The wisdom of the Govern-
CORRESPONDENCE 117
ment, exerted in this manner, would also be a security that associations, thus formed, should be constitutional ones.
Mr. Pitt found no difficulty in assembling an effective force of Volunteers, when his object was less universally popular than that now proposed, namely, the preservation of social order. It may, therefore, be well worth the con- sideration of Government, whether such a force could not be called out with advantage for this purpose, under the name of " Volunteers for the Preserva- tion of Social Order." Such a force, under the influence and control of a constitutional Government, would supersede all just pretence for those unions and associations which are now forming, and the tendency of which is to disturb the peace, even if they shall fail to subvert the liberties of their country.
I am, Mr. Editor,
A FRIEND TO SOCIAL ORDER.
Edinburgh.
Communication of Signals by Tubes,
MR. EDITOR, — Referring to the correspondence in your Journal for last month, page 392, on the subject of " signalizing by night," or " in thick and foggy weather," wherein the attention of your readers is drawn " to a plan for accomplishing these purposes invented by Mr. John Allan," and " pro- posed by him to the Board of Admiralty last spring," I beg to offer a few remarks for insertion in your truly -interesting Magazine, on the " inven- tion" in question.
Mr. Allan's plan consists of a number of tubes or pipes, so joined together as to form one long speaking-pipe, and laid down much in the same way as the pipes for the conveyance of gas or water, and of sufficient length to ex- tend from the Admiralty to Dovor, or any other outport, whereby orders or signals may be given, and answers received, almost instantaneously, how- ever distant the extremes. Many of your readers are well acquainted with the speaking-pipes in general use on board our men-of-war and steam-boats; the former for the helmsman to communicate with the men stationed at the relieving tackles on the lower-deck ; and the latter, for the helmsman to direct the engineers in the application of the paddles. It is also well known, that speaking-pipes have been used some years in our eating-houses, as a means of communication between the dining and carving-rooms. Your nautical friends will also recollect, that Mr. Parsons, of Portsmouth-yard, exhibited an ingeniously made speaking-pipe, of considerable length, to the Commit- tee of Naval Officers, assembled three or four years since at that port, of which Sir Thomas Hardy, (now one of the Lords of the Admiralty,) was a member. Mr. Parsons placed himself in communication with the Commit- tee, through the medium of his speaking-pipe, and after having, on that oc- casion, put his " invention)" to the " test by a fair and impartial trial," he strongly recommended its adoption to supersede the use of telegraphs or semaphores, as well as for general purposes.
Subsequently, Mr. Parsons obtained permission from the Captain of the Galatea, to fit a speaking-pipe to the main-mast of that ship, and I believe it was found on trial at sea, that in a gale of wind orders were conveyed with facility from the commanding officer to those employed in the tops, whereby much misunderstanding was prevented. But, however useful these pipes may be to convey information short distances, (they have been used on the Continent to a considerable extent in tunnels,) yet it does not follow that one of 300 miles would be equally suited for speaking or making sig- nals. Strong currents of air may be generated in the tube, and prevent any orders being received, if given contrary to the direction of the current. But there is another, and, to my mind, an insurmountable objection to the intro-
118 CORRESPONDENCE.
duction of any such mode of communication, which is, the practicability of cutting off the pipes, and thus creating perplexity and confusion, which it would take a long time to discover and repair.
I remain, Mr. Editor,
Your very humble servant, London, 12th Dec. 1831. FAIR PLAY.
Algiers in 1816.
MR. EDITOR, — On perusing the United Service Journal for February last, my attention was arrested by an article therein contained, entitled " Algiers in 1816." By way of observation, I would select, from among others, the following paragraphs, wherein, among other ships of the fleet, mention is made of the Hebrus.
Page 181. — "About forty minutes after two o'clock, having previously lashed our top-chains along the cable, to guard it from being shot away, we let go our stern anchor, with a spring upon each bow, at the distance of a cable and a quarter from the light-house battery, our position bearing upon the Admiral's larboard quarter, and instantly relieved the suspense of our gallant crew, by commencing a vigorous and well-directed cannonade against the foe. At this period I was stand- ing by our wheel, and could distinctly perceive each ship that followed us anchor in succession. The Impregnable, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Milne, appeared to occupy a situation that was terribly exposed, being open to the whole range of the light-house batteries, and from the circumstance of being anchored very far out, offered a most imposing and unerring mark to the guns of the enemy. At the close of the action she had to regret the loss of upwards of two hundred officers and sea- men, who were killed and wounded. In about the space of half-an-hour we had to suspend our fire, and view with admiration the gallant little Granicus run boldly in between our ship and the batteries, when she anchored on our starboard bow, close under the muzzle of their guns : she suffered very severely, and it was only wonderful that she was not literally blown to atoms. After the Leander, I should say that this daring little frigate occupied the post of honour in this day's battle. The Superb, seventy-four, being anchored on our starboard quarter, we had a very small space left to fire our broadside, but, thanks to constant exercise, it made little or no difference, the concentrated fire of our guns was rapidly thrown between the narrow confines of the two last-mentioned vessels, and as the smoke cleared away occasionally, we could observe fragments of the light-house falling, which was hailed with repeated cheers by our seamen, who regarded the circum- stance as an omen of the impression which their guns made upon the batteries."
Page 183. — "The Impregnable had suffered so severely that the Rear-Admiral had been obliged to apprise Lord Exmouth of the fact. The Glasgow was ordered to make a diversion in her favour, but while weighing her anchor for that pur- pose, she suffered tremendously from several raking shots, and in consequence of the calm that succeeded the cannonade, was again obliged to come to without being able to render the Impregnable any assistance whatever. Perhaps, I should not omit to inform you, that during the afternoon the Granicus sent twice on board of us to say that we were firing into them, and to request that we would cease altogether. To this Capt. Palmer positively objected, and desired the officers to go round the main-deck and view the manner in which every gun was pointed, and if he could by any possibility say the Granicus was endangered, then he would cease firing. Subsequently it was fully proved, that not a shot had pierced her larboard side ; but, I dare say, it was not very pleasant to her gallant crew to be exposed to such a tremendous cross fire ; our broadsides rapidly whizzing past them, left sufficient scope to the imagination for them to believe that our shot might occasionally take a wrong direction."
Now the fact is this — when some of the Hne-of-battle ships were anchor- ing in the various positions they took up, the Minden and Granicus being the reserved ships, and the captains having been ordered by Lord Exmouth to fill up any opening that might occur in the line opposite the mole-head battery, should the ehips-of-the-line not be able to gain their appointed
CORRESPONDENCE. 119
stations ; and it being Lord Exmouth's wish that the ships there should be so close to each other that the jib-boom of one should be over the otber's taffrail, the Minden an Granicus were at this time hove-to within long range of the light-house battery. The Hebrus at this time running in for the harbour, crossed a-head of the Granicus; Capt. Wise hailed Capt. Palmer, and asked him, " if he had any station for the Hebrus ?" Capt. Palmer said " Yes, off No. 7 and 8 batteries" (which batteries were near the fish-market, in a line with those attacked by the Leander and Severn). Capt. Wise said, " I wish you well ;" and in about five minutes after, perceiv- ing an opening between the Queen Charlotte and Superb, which ships had anchored, he said, " I see a station, bear up and set top-gallant sails." Soon after the Granicus's stern-anchor was dropped on the Superb's lar- board beam, and she was heartily cheered by the Supei'b's crew, who had commenced action. After running out half a cable from the stern-anchor, which allowed her to shoot a-head of the Superb, and having dropped the best bower underfoot, the Granicus opened her fire, being about forty or fifty yards from the muzzles of the enemy's guns. Soon after this, the Granicus found she was fired into by some vessel on her larboard beam (that was her off-shore beam), and that some of her men were killed and wounded ; and as the smoke at intervals cleared away, Capt. Wise, perceiving a frigate at anchor outside the Granicus, sent one of his midshipmen with a message to her, to desire she would not continue to fire into the Granicus. That Capt. Wise desired his compliments to the Captain of that ship, and begged to inform him that he had already killed one or two of his men and wounded some others, and desired that he would be more cautious for the future. When the bearer of the message reached the ship (having gone in the dingy with one of the ship's boys), and v.as climbing up the ship's stern, he found it was the Hebrus. He then delivered Capt. Wise's message to Capt. Palmer, whom he met on the quarter-deck ; Capt. Palmer said in answer — " He was extremely sorry at what had happened ; that he was con-
,. fident it was not his ship." The midshipman from the Granicus replied, " that in coming from her to the Hebrus, he had seen two shots strike the Granicus on her larboard-beam, and he was certain they were from the Hebrus." Capt. Palmer replied, " You must see I am doing my best ; Capt. Wise must have seen that I anchored here first, therefore he ought not to have run in there; Capt. Wise has completely run into the lion's mouth." The midshipman said he knew nothing about that; it would not do for Capt. Palmer to kill the Granicus' men ; and observed to Capt. Palmer, he had better shift the Hebrus in there, nearer the mole-batteries, to an opening between the Queen Charlotte and the Granicus, where there was more than space enough for two frigates. Capt. Palmer replied, " he would not do that, but that there was an opening between the Superb and Granicus (which Capt. Palmer pointed at,) which the Hebrus was firing through." The midshipman of the Granicus then said, " he hoped Capt.
" Palmer would send to his officers, and caution them about firing into the Granicus." Capt. Palmer replied, " he had already done so." On quitting the Hebrus the midshipman said, " he hoped Capt. Palmer would send again." Capt. Palmer replied, "he would certainly do so; and that he desired his compliments to Capt. Wise, and was extremely sorry for what had happened ;" and added, " that the midshipman of the Granicus must see that he was doing his best." The larboard side of the Granicus was found after the action to have many shot-holes in it, which were stopped by her carpenter's crew ; seven shot in particular, which came from the batteries she was attacking, passed through both sides of her; and, further, the muzzle of the carronade on the off-shore side of the Granicus' forecastle was knocked off by a shot from the direction of the Hebrus, and a midshipman, Mr. Michell, who was standing on the taffrail of the Granicus, was wounded by a splinter from the hammock-rails of the larboard quarter, which occa-
120 CORRESPONDENCE.
sioned the second message, to the same effect as the first, from Capt. Wise to Capt. Palmer, and which was delivered by the master of the Granicus. The Superb also sent to the Hehrus during the action, to say the Hebrus was firing into the Superb. During the action the Glasgow, which had taken a position at first on the Queen Charlotte's larboard-quarter, was ordered to assist the Impregnable off the light-house battery, when, not being able to get out of the harbour to effect this, she warped in close to the Severn, and took up a very good position near the batteries No. 7 and 8 by the fish-market. The position of the Granicus was half a cable's length a-head of the Superb, some distance in shore of the Hebrus, directly a-beam of her, and the only part of the light-house battery that was visible from the Granicus was the lantern. The Impregnable and Infernal were the only ships anchored within range of the light-house battery, and they were separated a con- siderable distance from the Queen Charlotte and Granicus, by the Superb, Minden, and Albion. The position of the Queen Charlotte, bearing Lord Exmouth's flag, was close off the mole-head. Now, it is difficult to under- stand, how the position of the Hebrus could be at the same time " bearing on the Admiral's larboard-quarter," " having the Granicus on her starboard- bow," " the Superb on her starboard-quarter," " and within a cable and a quarter of the light-house battery/' Another paragaph to which I would advert, is in page 189.
" The following day the Impregnable, Superb, and Beelzebub arrived; on Wednes- day the 9th, when we were released from quarantine, we all run into the harbour of Hamoaze, saluted by the cheers of many thousand spectators, who were as- sembled to greet and welcome their victorious countrymen to the shores of Britain."
In addition to which, there is one other particular fact, namely — that on these several ships, the Hebrus, Superb, Impregnable, and Beelzebub, arriv- ing at their moorings in Hamoaze, the Superb was cheered by the Granicus, which had anchored in Hamoaze a day or two before ; the Superb's ship's company hastily returned the salutation ; the Impregnable followed, and was cheered by the Superb and Granicus, and the Beelzebub was cheered by the Impregnable, Superb, and Granicus.
I remain, Sir, yours, &c. London 1831. VERAX.
On the Latitude of Sheerness.
MR. EDITOR, — Observing in an advertisement to Mariners, given in Kerigan's Navigation, on the discrepancies in the geographical positions of the same places, that Sheerness Fort bows the list, and that its latitude is wrongly placed in the tables at the end of his work, I hasten to inform you, that of the two latitudes of Sheerness, given by him, being uncertain which is correct, the proper one is 51° 2(i' 45" as determined by the grand trigonometrical Survey of England. I may at a future time trouble you with the corrected positions of the other points he has quoted, for the benefit of your Naval readers, and am. Sir,
Yours, &c. B. B. A.
Yeomanry Cavalry.
MR. EDITOR, — You are pleased to devote a part of your valuable columns to the Yeomanry Cavalry, will you be pleased to put the following query.
" By the order of His late Majesty George IV. the officers of every Yeomanry corps, then existing, (the 7th of December 1827,) were to retain their rank and honours."
In what way is the order to be interpreted ?
Yours, &c.
Exeter, 1831. A FIELD OFFICER or YEOMANRY.
121 EDITOR'S PORTFOLIO ;
OR
NAVAL AND MILITARY REGISTER.
AFFAIRS AT HOME AND ABROAD.
' — The Second Reading of the New Reform Bill has been carried in the House of Commons, and Parliament was subsequently prorogued to the 17th instant.
Special Commissions have been issued for the trial of the Bristol rioters and those of Nottingham and Derby.
The state of IRELAND is most alarming. In some districts the functions of regular government appear suspended, and are usurped by systematic agitators. In the vicinity of Kilkenny a small party of Police, in the execution of their duty, was lately waylaid in a nar- row pass by a mob of the peasantry, amounting to some thousands, and variously armed, who succeeded in massacring the officer in command, Mr. Gibbons, and eleven Policemen out of thirty. Many more of the party were severely injured, but escaped.
From the fomented distractions of Ireland we turn to the inveterate dissensions and rapid decline of FRANCE. For half a century the active agent of discord, change, and commotion throughout the • world, that Country is now reaping the harvest of internal convulsion and external usurpation, in Bank- ruptcy, Dearth, and Civil War. Her feeble and ephemeral Govern- ment— nay, the social edifice itself, appear tottering to their fall ; and the grave lessons of experience seem powerless in correcting the national frenzy. The insurgents at Lyons have been for the moment overawed by the presence of a
large military force, directed by Marshal Soult, accompanied by the Duke of Orleans; but the motives and disposition to disturbance are said to continue. In Grenoble the scenes of Lyons have been partially repeated ; and in Paris there have been fresh emeutes, excited by the crack-brained Pupils of " The Schools," and suppressed by the practical Professors of the Sabre. The safety-valve resorted to will doubtless now, as heretofore, be — War.
The King of HOLLAND continues to exercise an unquestionable right in rejecting the ultimatum of the " Great Powers," and is stated to be supported in his resolution by the Emperor of Russia. Inferences of impending war are drawn from this dilemma. The result, if con- fined to the parties concerned, would not be doubtful.
The state of POLAND remains unsettled ; nor does she as yet ap- pear to have reaped farther advan- tage from her late Revolt than the accession to her ancient military reputation. We still rely upon the personal character of the Emperor Nicholas for justice to that interest- ing nation.
NAVAD AND MILITARY LIBRARY AND MUSEUM. — The opening of this Institution, which takes place on the day of publication of our present Num- ber, is an event on which we proffer bur sincere congratulations to the UNITED SERVICE, and we have little doubt that, at no very distant period, this establishment will have risen to due importance.
Originating, as it lias done, in the pages of this Journal, and launched
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EDITOR'S PORTFOLIO.
into existence principally through its instrumentality, we shall ever be found its willing and consistent organ and advocate. As such, we shall record in each succeeding Number, the contri- butions and names of contributors from month to month, with the numerical additions to the list of members.
Since the issue of our last Number, the collection so handsomely presented by the Royal Staff Corps, has been re- ceived into the house of the Institution in Whitehall Yard, on the occasion of which, the following correspondence, which we publish at the request of the Committee, took place : —
Hythe, 15th Nov. 1831.
SIR, — The Officers of the Royal Stall' Corps having, on the transfer of a part of the Corps to the Ordnance Department, decided upon the dis- posal of their Mess Establishment, and resolved that their collection of Minerals and other Natural Curiosities, which had been formed by the Officers, should be presented to the Museum, which was in course of formation, and which is now establish- ed as the Naval and Military Library and Mu- seum, and a Committee of the Corps having been recently formed under due authority, by Lieut.- Colonel Mann, senior officer of the Corps in Eng- land, to carry the wishes of the officers into effect, they have now much satisfaction in fulfilling that part of the duty which devolves upon them, in offer- ing through you to the acceptance of the Naval and Military Museum, the specimens which the offi- cers of the Staff Corps have collected, (a list of which is enclosed,) together with the Cases in which they were arranged in the Museum of the Corps at Hythe ; and will be happy to receive your commands with regard to their removal to your Establishment in London. And they trust that the specimens now offered, which were collected in a short period by the officers of the Royal Staff Corps, will prove sufficiently extensive to create a stimulus to further exertion, so that eventually a Collection may be formed, by the aid of the officers of the United Services, which will be ad- vantageous to the science of Natural History. We have the hcnour to bej Sir,
Your most obedient humble servants, W. KING, Major, h. p. Royal Staff Corps,
President.
3. FREETH, Lt.-Col. Maj. h. p. HI. Staff Corps. E. P. WHITE, Capt. Hoyal Staff Corps. To Major-Gen. Sir Howard Douglas, Bart. C.H. Chairman of the Commitiee of the Naval and Military Museum, &c.
KAVAL AND MILITARY LIBRARY AND MUSEUM.
Whitehall Yard, Nov. 20th, 1831. GENTLEMEN, — I have the honour to acknow- ledge the receipt of your letter of the 15th Nov. 1831, acquainting me that the Officers of the Royal Staff Corps had resolved to present their Collec- tion of Minerals and other Natural Curiosities to the Naval and Military Library and Museum :
and that yon had been appointed a Committee to carry the wishes of the Officers into effect.
The Secretary of the Institution will communi- cate with you, respecting the arrangements to be made for the removal of this valuable contribution to London, and its deposit in his charge.
As Chairman of the Committee, I have much pleasure in expressing provisionally, our acknow- ledgments and thanks for a donation which it will be our duty to announce at the next General Meeting : when thanks, more general and better worthy of your acceptance, will, I have no doubt, be voted to the Officers of the Royal Stag Corps, than the acknowledgment which for myself and colleagues, I now beg you to accept ; but I should ill discharge that duty, if I did njt say, that in the Archives of our Institution, these will be a valuable and useful Memorial of the scientific, industrious, and intellectual qualities and pursuits of the Corps in which that Collection was formed, and the very best and most encouraging proof of what our Institution may effect, by stimulating the Members of both Professions, whilst discharg- ing most efficiently their several important duties, to devote, at the same time, their leisure hours, their abilities, and improve their opportunities in the manner which officers of the Royal Staff Corps have so honourably to themselves, and so usefully to the country, (and now most benefici- ally for our Institution) acted.
I have the honour to be, Gentlemen,
Your most obedient servant, (Signed) HOWARD DOUGLAS, Major-Gen. Chairman.
To the Committee of the Royal Staff Corps, Hythe.
The Collection alluded to in the above letters, was deposited in the Museum of the Institution without the smallest injury and free of all expense from the Hythe barracks : it consists of 12 glass maho- gany Cases, and contains upwards of 1200 valuable specimens of Minerals. Capt. White, of the Royal Staff Corps, kindly volunteered his services to superintend its transmission from Hythe ; and Major Wright, late of the same corps, has since devoted much time to its arrangement in the house of the Institution.
The following additional contri- butions have been received since our last Number :
MODEL ROOM.
William M'Pherson Rice, Esq. F.S.A. Naval Architect, His Majesty's Dockyard, Chatham. — Model of a Key Fid for facilitating the operation of striking ship's topmasts, &c. and for adjusting the rigging without slacking the lanyards, him- self the inventor.
Lieut.- Colonel Freeth, A.Q.M.G.— Model of :m Indian Buck-house with its furniture. &c.
Admiral Sir Charles Hamilton, Bart. — Model of a plan proposed for more effectually uniting all the timbers of ships into frames, from the breast of the fore-mast to the aft part of the main-
NAVAL AND MILITARY REGISTER.
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channel, with dowels up to the gun-deck-ports, as a preventive against the ship's working the thwart- ship way, and it is thought it would also be the means of taking a great strain from the hanging- knees that they would not work so much. The clamps to be thicker from the fore-masts to the mizen-masts, the orlop to be 12 inches, the gun- deck 13 inches, the upper-deck 9 inches ; it would add strength to the ship and better security to the beams.
LIBRARY.
Gen. Sir George Cockburn, K.C.H. — Gen. Cockburn's Voyage to Cadiz, Gibraltar, Sicily, &c. 2 vols. Svo.
William M'Pherson Rice, Esq. F.S.A. Naval Architect, H. M. Dockyard, Chatham — Account of an ancient vessel recently found under the old bed of the River Rother, in Kent, himself the author. 1 Pamphlet. 4to.
Capt. W. F. W. Owen, R.N. — Dalrymple's Voyages. 2 vols. in one, 4to. 1769; Dalrymple's Collection of Charts and Memoirs. 1 vol. 4to. 1772; the Koran in Arabic. 1 vol. 4to. ; the Arsbic Grammar. 1 vol. 4to. 1789.
Capt. Charles R. Drinkwater, R.N. — Naval Instructions. 1 vol. 4to. ; Index to ditto; Brazil Pilot. 1 vol. 4to. ; Dictionnaire de Marine. 4 vols. 4to. ; Abr^ge d'Astronomie Delandre. 1 vol. Svo.; Cape of Good Hope. 1 vol. Svo. ; Tables de Lo- garithtncs Lalande. 1 vol. 12mo. ; American Coast Pilot. 1 vol. Svo.
Trustees of the British Museum — Annual List of Donations and Bequests to the Trustees of the British Museum.
Mr. John Turrell — Newton on Prophecies. 2 vols. Svo. ; Europe during Middle Ages. 3 vols. 8vo. ; Walker's Pronouncing Dictionary. 1 vol. Svo.; Malthus on Population. 2 vols. Svo. ; London Encyclopaedia. 8 vols. Svo.
Lieut. J. Ford, H. P. late 79th — Military Scraps from the Note Book of Lieut. John Ford, late 79th ; two plans of Gibraltar, 1727.
Every Little makos a Mickle; Annual Army Lists for the years 1814, 1815, 1816, 1817, 1818 and 1820.
Capt. J. N. Taylor, C.B. R.N.— Naval History of England from the Norman Conquests in 10C6 to 1734, by Thomas Lediard, Esq. 2 vols. folio, 1735 ; three MS. Surveys of River Dnieper, one of Constantinople, one of Sea of Marmora.
Colonel Charles Napier, C.B. — The Annual Army List from the year 1757 to 1804, except that of 1762 ; Monthly Lists for the year 1801 and 1802.
By a Friend. — Navy Lists, 1st Jan. 1802; 1st July 1802; 1st Jan. 1804; 1st Feb. 1806; 1st July 1807 ; 1st Jan. 1809 ; 1st Jan. 1810 ; 1st Jan. 1811 ; 1st July 1811 ; 1st Jan. 1812; 1st July 1812; 1st Jan. 1813; 1st July 1813; 4th Jan. 1815, 1817, 1818, 1820, 1821, 1822, 1823, 1825, 1827, 1828, 1829, 1830, 1831 — 26 volumes.
Capt. Thomas Hay, retired pay, York Regi- ment— A Treatise on Military Discipline. By Humphry Blond, Esq. 1 vol. Svo. 1759 ; a Letter from an officer to a friend, upon the Methods of Training Infantry for action. 1 vol. small 4to. •without date; Military Guide for Young Officers, by Thomas Sinies, Esq. 1 vol. Svo. 1781 ; the Chronologist on the present war from the com- mencement of the French Revolution to end of
1798. 1 vol. 12mo. 1799 ; Regulations for Exercise ot Riflemen and Infantry. 1 vol. Svo. 1803; Ge- neral Regulations and Orders for the Army. 1 vol. Svo. 1811 ; An Address to the British Public on the case of Brig.-Gen. Picton, by Lieut.- Colonel E. A. Draper, 3rd Foot Guards. 1 vol. 8vo. 1806 ; Principles of Military Movements chiefly applied to Infantry, by Colonel David Dundas. 1 vol. 4to. 1788.
MUSEUM.
George Thomas, Esq. Master, R.N. — Asbestos, from Batta Island, Shetland Islands.
Capt. Richard Pridham, R.N. Dec. 1st. — An Elephant's Grinder.
Capt. Charles R. Drinkwater, R.N. — Bottle of Vegetable Milk, obtained from the " Palo de Vaca," or Cow Tree, La Guayra, June 1829.
Ensign J. H. Stewart, 81st Regt. — Two African Gods, worshipped by a tribe of Natives near the Bight of Benin.
George Loowen, Esq. late Capt. 93rd. — Two Letter Baskets, made by Buck Indians, British Guiana.
Colonel Bingham, R.A. — 2 Paddles, one from New Zealand, the other not known ; 1 Spear from the New Hebrides.
Capt. E. H. A'Court, R.N.— A Dollar, re- covered by the means of a diving-bell from the Galleons destroyed in Vigo Bay. It was given to Lord Heytesbury, when Ambassador at Lisbon, by the Vigo Bay Company.
Lient.-Colonel G. A. Wetherall, Royal Regt.— Two Marble Figures of Zoolwah, one taken from a temple at Prome, the other from a temple at Rangoon.
Mr. W. W. Armstrong, Dec. 24th 1831 Geo- logical and Wood Specimens, with various other curiosities, collected during the survey of H.M.S. Adventure, 1820, 1827, 1828, 1829 ; a collection of dried Plants, Fern, Grasses, &c. from the- Islands in the Straits of Magellan.
Mr. three specimens of Trees, one a spe- cimen of Beech very prevalent in the Straits of Magellan — one Ribis Auto, from Port Famine, ditto — one Cypress from Juan Fernandez.
Lieut. Thomas J. Irvine, R.N. — Two Bird Skins from Australia (rare).
Dec. 20th. 1703 Members.
HALF YEARLY PUBLIC EXAMINA- TIONS AT THE ROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE, SANDHURST, — The College Term at Sandhurst closed on the 10th of December, with the usual Half Yearly Public Examinations of the Officers and Gentlemen Cadets study- ing at the two Departments of the Institution, before a Board composed of General the Hon. Sir Edward Pa- get, the Governor of the College; Major-Generals Sir Howard Douglas, and Gardiner, the Deputy- Adjutant- General ; Colonel Sir George Scovell, the Lieutenant-Governor of the In- stitution; and Major Garvock, Assist- ant-Adjutant-General. Lieut.-Colonel Couper, Secretary to the Master- Ge-
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neral of the Ordnance ; Lieut.-Colonel Scott, Major Scarlett, and other offi- cers were also present.
The examinations occupied in all three days. On Thursday the 8th of Dec. classes of Gentlemen Cadets were examined in the whole course of For- tification— Permanent, Field, and the Attack and Defence of Places, — in the German Language, and in Ancient and Modern History. In the exami- nations on Fortification, the ability of Gentlemen Cadets James E. Simmons, and John T. Kirkwood, was conspicu- ously displayed. Throughout Friday, the 9th, the examination of the Gen- tlemen Cadets was continued in the Latin and French languages, and in various branches of the Mathematics : in which, Gentlemen Cadet Edward W. Sparke surpassed the rest of the class by his pi-oficiency in Conic Sections and Spherical Trigonometry. The Commissioners in the course of this day, also visited the Riding House, in which twenty of the Gentlemen Cadets went through all the exercises of the school before them, with a precision and smartness which, as usual, did great credit both to their able riding- master and themselves.
The greater part of the third day (Saturday the 10th) was devoted to the examination of the officers of the Senior Department; in which, as well as in the mathematical examination of the Gentlemen Cadets on the preced- ing day, the subjects of trial were, at the desire of the Board, selected by Sir Howard Douglas. The high sci- entific attainments, which peculiarly qualify that distinguished officer for the functions of a public examiner, are too generally recognised to need any comment ; and, upon this occasion, we shall only remark that, the strictness with which he investigated the know- ledge of the candidates for honours who appeared before the Board, was as serviceable in proving their merits, as the urbanity of manner with which the trial was conducted must have bsen encouraging to themselves. The examinations of the officers of the Senior Department in Fortification, took the usual course ; but that in the Mathematics was more extended. Sir Howard Douglas, having ascertained the advances made by the officers in the geometrical and algebraical ana-
lysis, by causing them to demonstrate through those means a series of pro- positions connected with military to- pography and engineering, and com- prehending the mathematical princi- ples involved in the construction of military works, which they exhibited to the satisfaction of the Board; he next commenced a thorough examina- nation on the various properties of Conic Sections, with their applications in other branches of pure science, and on the different projections and deve- lopements of spherical surfaces : in the course of which were given several elegant solutions of propositions in Spherical Geometry and Trigonometry. Finally, the officers were required to investigate sevei-al of the most import- ant astronomical formulae, and as spe- cimens of the application of those formula? to practical subjects, the con- struction and computation of sundry problems were proposed, relating to the determination of geographical lati- tudes and longitudes by celestial ob- servations : in the performance of which the officers plainly showed that, besides a close attention to the lec- tures given within the walls of the College, their midnight vigils must have been very frequently kept in the open air, with the instruments for ob- servation in their hands, on the hill of the Observatory. Throughout this ordeal, by which their powers were put to the test, the officers before the Board exhibited a degree of ability and extent of attainment seldom equalled at the Institution. The ex- aminations passed by Lieut. Mayne, 5th regiment, and Henry, 17th regi- ment, were highly creditable ; and those by Lieutenants Campbell, 2nd Dragoon Guards, and Cameron, 42nd regiment, were distinguished by addi- tional merit, in the solution of propo- sitions relating to the theory of forces, with their appliance to the determina- tion of the statical equilibrium of bodies and systems, particularly the stability of walls, arches, and the like; and in the investigation of several dynamical propositions, which are of constant use in the most important branches of physics. Much praise is indeed due to these two officers, who, having joined the Senior Department of the College with a knowledge of elementary mathematics, (acquired by
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the one at Addiscombe, and the other at the Junior Department of the Insti- tution,) had with great zeal availed themselves of the means of instruction afforded to them, to prosecute their studies beyond the course exacted from those who enter with fewer ad- vantages. The whole of the four offi- cers here named, of course obtained certificates of qualification of the high- est class.
The result of the examinations in the Junior Department, had also been extremely satisfactory. The several classes in Mathematics. Fortification, Latin, and French, fully evinced the usual degree of proficiency expected in those branches of instruction ; and in German, and History, the classes, though not deserving the highest com- mendation,— and the latter decidedly inferior to the historical class of which we witnessed the brilliant examination in last June, — on the whole acquitted themselves very creditably.
Besides the usual courses of practi- cal military surveying and field engi- neering, performed during the half year, there was an abundant display of military plans and landscape drawings by the Gentlemen Cadets, as well sketched from nature as performed in the halls of study.
In the Senior Department, besides the final surveys executed by Lieuts. Campbell, Mayne, and Henry, the Commissioners inspected an unfinished plan of the eastern half of the Isle of Wight, from a joint sketch performed during the term by Captains Hunter, unattached, and Gill, 50th regiment, and Lieutenants Herbert, 7?th regi- ment, Cameron, 42nd regiment, arid Sterling, 24th regiment. The original sketches made by these officers of their several portions of country dis- played some very beautiful execution.
At the close of the second day's examination, the following Gentlemen Cadets, on the completion of their qualifications for commissions, were recommended by the Board to the General Commanding-in-Chief, to re- ceive Ensigncies in the line, without purchase ; and the first five of the number, having each passed one exa- mination more than the rest, were also presented with honorary certificates •accordingly —
1. John T. Kirkwood.
2. Edward W. Sparke.
3. James E. Simmons.
4. William S. Durie.
5. John Henderson.
6. John F. Doxat.
7. John W. S. Smith.
8. William Case.
9. Alexander Cameron.
10. William Rattray.
11. Thomas Hilton.
12. William B. J. O'Connell.
The total number of Gentlemen Cadets, who graduated for commis- sions in different branches of instruc- tion on the present occasion, may be stated as follows : it being recollected, that to qualify for a commission five examinations are required, besides the course of military surveying, in every case indispensable ; and that many in- dividuals appeared before the Board in more than one class.
I. In different degrees of Mathema- tics, twelve.
II. In Fortification, including prac- tical instruction in the throwing up of Field Works, &c. sixteen.
III. In Military Surveying and Sketching, fifteen.
IV. In French, seven.
V. In German, four.
VI. In Latin, seven.
VII. In History, thirteen. Total, seventy-four.
Besides the twelve Gentlemen Ca- dets now recommended for commis- sions, seven had been appointed, during the term, to Ensigncies in Regiments of the Line without purchase, as the result of the Public Examinations in June; two more (Gentlemen Cadets Thomas L. K. Nelson, and William L. Y. Baker), who were completing their studies, had been specially pre- sented by the King with commissions, as the senior under officers in College, on the occasion of His Majesty's visit to the establishment ; and four other Gentlemen Cadets, in different stages of advancement in the course of in- struction, had been commissioned by purchase, and quitted the College to join their regiments in the last two months.
These facts, we are bound in justice to observe, attest the interest felt at head quarters, and the liberality dis- played towards this well-ordered Se-
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minary of Military Instruction. To be farther satisfied of this laudable dis- position on the part of the authorities at the Horse-Guards, we have care- fully watched the appointments to commissions for a certain period, and find that, without any regard to pa- tronage, none have been conferred till the successful candidates at the Col- lege were provided for. This j udicious attention to the course of instruction and the competence of aspirants for commissions, is alike beneficial to the service and creditable to its adminis- trators.
EAST INDIA COMPANY'S MILITARY SEMINARY. — The half-yearly public examination was held on Thursday, the 7th of Dec. when thirty-two Gen- tlemen Cadets were brought forward as qualified for commissions, all of whom passed their examination.
Sir Robert Campbell, Bart, the Chairman, J. G. Ravenshaw, Esq. Deputy Chairman, and a deputation from the Honourable the Court of Directors, arrived at Addiscombe about ten o'clock, under a salute of thirteen guns.
The Cadets passed in review order in slow and quick time, performed the manual and platoon exercises, repeat- ed their salute of thirteen guns to the Chairman, and went through the sword exercise, in a clean soldier-like man- ner.
It is quite impossible to look at the handsome bearing of these young men, without being struck by it ; we have observed this in our former notices of Addiscombe, but, as the materials of the institution are always changing, it says much for the system to have this so repeatedly forced upon the notice of all who see them. The front rank throughout would make a fair appear- ance for a youthful light company, but a near approach shows a stamp of countenance indicating their Caste.
The usual examination followed the review : the public Examiner (Colonel Sir Alexander Dickson, K.C.B. of the Royal Artillery,) led the candidates for commissions through Geometry, Trigonometry, Mensuration, Algebra, Conic Sections, Mechanics, Projectiles, Gunnery, Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, Resistance of Fluids, Spherical Trigo- nometry, &c. concluding with the doc-
trine of Fluxions. In these depart- ments, several of the leading minds distinguished themselves, especially Messrs. Elliott, Leech, Chapman, Walker, and M'Leod.
The examination in the Eastern Languages followed, conducted by Dr. Wilkins, in which several proved their efficiency before one of the best judges in England — the learned Brahmin Ram Mohun Roy, who expressed the most unqualified satisfaction on hear- ing his own language so well read and translated : he especially noticed the easy and correct accent of Messrs. Chapman and Leech.
After the Cadets had dined, Sir Alexander Dickson renewed his exa- mination in Fortification: the clear theoretical knowledge of the Cadets on this subject, together with their beautiful plans of fortresses, guns, carriages, &c. prove that nothing but practice is wanted to render them expert Engineers and Artillerists.
In the hall where the Drawings were exposed to view, we were grati- fied with the usual display of clearly- executed Drawings from the first mi- litary sketches of ground from models, to the detailed plans of surveys of the country around Croydon, as well as a great many military plans, executed both with the brush and the pen.
The Landscape Drawing Depart- ment is always a treat at Addiscombe, where the " Fielding style" predomi- nates. Gentleman Cadet Dick's Sea View near Amsterdam, does him great credit, and indicates considerable ta- lent. The drawings of Cadet Conran are full of vigour and ease, showing talent of the highest order. Cadet Bunce is a fine laborious finisher.
After a most gratifying report from Colonel Houstoun, C.B. the Lieute- nant-Governor, was read, expressive of the gentlemanlike conduct and dili- gence of the Cadets during the past term, in which he particularly dwelt on the exemplary conduct of the class under examination, and of the vigour, ability, and judgment, with which the Cadet Corporals have discharged their duties; Sir Robert Campbell address- ed the whole institution ; expressed the pleasure which it afforded him to bestow that deserved praise which it was his duty to withhold on a former
NAVAL AND MILITARY REGISTER.
occasion. He impressed on the thirty- two about to proceed to India, the im- portance of treating the natives with kindness and confidence, which, he added, he could, from thirty years' experience, affirm, would be abun- dantly repaid by their gratitude and attachment. He then warned them as to economy in their pecuniary mat- ters, stating, most truly, that their pay and allowances in India, are am- ple to support them as gentlemen, re- marking that debt is generally the first step towards enslaving the mind. Gentlemen Cadets Richard Chap- man, Robert Leech, Charles Walker, Norman Macleod, Charles Elliott, James Spens, and William Jones, were selected for the Engineer Service. Gentlemen Cadets George Sealy, George Browne, Ernie K. Money, William Maxwell, Thomas Campbell, and Archibald Foulis, for the Artil- lery ; and the remaining nineteen for the Infantry Service.
Notwithstanding the unfavourable state of the weather, the examination was attended by many distinguished individuals, amongst whom were His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Right Hon. Charles Grant, Presi- dent of the Board of Control, Gen. Sir Jasper Nicholls, Sir Lionel Smith, Sir Howard Douglas, Gen. Millar, Sir John Jones, Sir Augustus Frazer, Colonels Pasley, Drummond, and Wil- liamson, Dr. Olinthus Gregory, and the Brahmin Ram Mohun Roy.
ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, Nov. 28th.— G. B. Greenough, Esq. F.R.S. Vice-President, in the chair. — Notes on Nubia, made during the course of a journey to the Eastern Desert, by J. G. Wilkinson, Esq. were read. Then followed an extract from a let- ter of Mr. Alexander Loudon, which excited considerable interest. It gave a description of a singular valley in the island of Java, a sort of Grotto del Cane on a large scale, which had been visited by that gentleman and a party of his friends. It is known by the name of Guevo Upas, or Poisoned Valley, and is distant from Batur about three miles. On arriving near the spot, the party dismounted, and ascended the side of a hill, a distance of a quarter of a mile. A nauseous and suffocating smell now warned them of
their approach to the valley, but when near the margin this inconvenience was no longer felt. The valley is about half a mile in circumference, of an oval shape, and about thirty or thirty- five feet, in depth. The bottom ap- peared flat, without any vegetation, and a few large stones were scattered here and there. The scene that presented itself was most appalling. Skeletons of human beings, tigers, boars, deer, with various sorts of birds and wild animals, were lying at the bottom of the valley. No vapour was perceived issuing from it, nor any opening through which it might escape, and the sides were covered with vegetation. The party having descended to within twenty feet of the bottom, a sickening nauseous smell, but without any diffi- culty in breathing, precluded their farther descent. A dog was now fas- tened to the end of a bamboo, and forced to the bottom ; at the expira- tion of fourteen seconds he fell, and was quite dead in eighteen minutes. Another dog now left the party and went to his companion ; on reaching the spot, he remained stationary, at the end of ten seconds he fell down, and lived only seven minutes. A fowl was now thrown in, which died in a minute and a half, and another after it died in the same space. On the opposite side of the valley lay a human skeleton, the head resting on the right arm. The effects of the weather had bleached the bones as white as ivory. Two hours were passed in this valley of death, and the party had some difficulty in getting out of it, owing to a consider- able quantity of rain that had fallen during the time these experiments were in operation.
Dec. 12.— W. R. Hamilton, V.P. in the chair. Extracts from the journal of M. Douville, lately returned from Africa, communicated by Mr. Barrow, were read. M. Douville landed at St. Phillip de Benguela, on the western coast of Africa, in December, 1827, and proceeded to Loanko, the capital of the kingdom of Angola, and from thence to the mouth of the Zenza, near which Loanko is situated. From the mouth of the Congo, M. Douville pe- netrated 400 leagues from the coast, into a part of Africa never before vi- sited. The farther the distance from
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the Atlantic Ocean, the less is the heat of the climate experienced. The country becomes elevated by succes- sive terraces. At first a few moun- tains only are seen, but, shortly after leaving the coast, a ridge is distin- guished, taking a north-east direction, and called the Zambi range. Nearly under the equator, and on the meri- dian of 241° E- is the summit of this range, where the rivers which take their rise in it flow to the east into the Indian Ocean, and to the west into the Atlantic. The height of this mountain is estimated by M. Douville, at 2400 toises above the sea. It is in this range that the tributaries of Con- go or Zaire take their rise, on the right bank of that immense river. Of the several .parts of the 'country through which M. Douville passed, that called Molouas, in the latitude and longitude above mentioned, he considers the finest. The productions of this part of Africa, are rich and va- rious. The forests contain valuable timber, and the plains are covered with aromatic plants; coffee, pepper, sugar-cane and indigo, flourish in pro- fusion. On the heights the climate and vegetation are of the temperate zone. A great variety of minerals are contained in the«e heights, among which are copper, iron, and zinc.
ARRIVALS, SAILINGS, AND IN- CIDENTS IN THE FLEET.
Portsmouth, — Nov. 27th. Arrived the Isis, 50, Capt. J. Polkinghorne, from the Downs (fitted for the flag of Rear-Ad- miral S. Fred. 'Warren," C.B. appointed Commander-in-chief on the Western Coast of Africa and the Cape of Good Hope).
Dec. 2nd. Arrived the Brisk, Lieut. Butterfield, from the Downs.
Dec. 3rd. Sailed the Brisk, Lieut. Butterfield, for the Coast of Africa.
Dec. loth. Sailed the Revenge, 74, Capt. Mackay, for Lisbon.
Dec. 19th. Arrived the Childers, 18, Commander Deans, from the Cape of Good Hope, St. Helena, and Ascension.
Dec. 23rd. Sailed the Revenge, 78, Capt. Mackay, for Lisbon.
At Spithead — Isis.
In Harbour. — Victory, Britannia, Royal George, Melville, Madagascar, Pantaloon, Confiance and Pluto steamers.
Downs.— Dec. 22nd. Sailed the Wel-
lesley, 74, Capt. Rowley, for Plymouth j Talavera, 74, Commander Herringham, for Sheerriess ; Stag, 48, Capt. Sir T. Troubridge, Bart, and Galatea, 42, Capt. Napier, C.B. for Sheer ness and Leith ; Curac,oa, 21, Capt. Dunn, for Portsmouth, thence to the East Indies ; and Tweed, 20, Commander Bertram, also for Ports- mouth, and thence to the West Indie*.
Plymouth. — Nov. 26th. Sailed the Imogene, 28, Capt. P. Blackwood, for South America and India.
Nov. 27th. — Arrived the Caledonia, 120, Capt. Hillyers, C.B. and the Kent, 74, Capt. Pym, C.B. from Portsmouth.
Dec. 10th. Sailed the surveying vessel, Beagle, Commander R. Fitzroy, for South America, but not being able to get down Channel, put back into Barnpool.
Remaining in Hamoaze San Josef,
Fly, Harrier, Leveret, Pike, Hermes steam-vessel, Diligence, naval transport.
In Barnpool — Beagle.
In the Sound. — Caledonia, Marshal Bennet, transport.
Foreign. — The Alert arrived at Lima from Payta, 31st of July. The Childers sailed from the Cape of Good Hope, for the Mauritius, previous to the 10th Sept. ; the Curlew sailed from the Mauritius on a cruise, 24th July ; the Talbot sailed from the Cape for the Mauritius, 29th August.
The Plumper, 10, sailed from Siei^fc Leone on the Cth Oct. with troops, from thence to the river Gambia, where their presence was considered necessary to sub. due a disturbance which had broken out there among the Mandingos and the co- lonists.
The Winchester, 52, sailed from Ha- lifax for Bermuda on the 26th Oct. The North Star, 28, has been cruising during the summer months on the Coast of La- brador.
The Childers, sailed from the Cape of Good Hope for Mauritius the 9th Sep- tember.
The Nightingale, arrived at Vera Cruz from Falmouth 23rd Sept. The Arachne arrived at Madeira from Plymouth 20th Oct. and sailed same day for Teneriffe. The Tyne arrived at Pernambuco, from Bahia 1 3th Oct. The Comet arrived at Sydney, N.S.W. from Pitcairn's Island and Tahiti 23rd May.
The Hermes steamer, Lieut. Kennedy, arrived at Gibraltar from Plymouth on the 13th Nov. and sailed thence for Corfu and Malta on the 15th. The Barham, 52, Capt. Pigot, with Sir Walter Scott on board, arrived at Gibraltar on the 14th November.
The Favourite, arrived at Ascension on
GENERAL ORDERS, CIRCULARS, &C.
129
the 3rd Nov. and sailed a few days after for the Bight of Benin. The Athol left Ascension for Sierra Leone and England on 13th October.
The Algerine sailed from Rio Janeiro for Cape of Good Hope 18th Sept. ; Tyne, for Bahia, 22nd ; and Volage, for Buenos Ayres, 23rd. The Lyra arrived at Rio from Falmouth, 27th Sept. The Frolic arrived at Buenos Ayres from Falmouth 22nd Sept. The Comet arrived at Syd- ney, New South Wales, from a cruise, 20th July. The Blanche and Sapphire sailed from Halifax for Bermuda, 6th November.
The Champion arrived at Barbadoes from Bermuda on the 15th Oct. and the Ranger on the 2nd Nov. The Algerine arrived at the Cape of Good Hope from Rio on the 13th Oct. and sailed on the 15th for the Mauritius. The Donegal arrived at Malta on the 31st Oct. and the Barham, with Sir Walter Scott on board, on the 21st, and the Cordelia from Mar- seilles on the 27th. The Rainbow sailed from .Malta for Alexandria on the 21st. The Alban steamer for Trieste on the 24th. The Alfred on the 25th for Tri- poli, and the Rapid on the 28th for Na- poli di Romania. The squadron under the command of Sir Henry Hotham, con- sisting of the St. Vincent, Ganges, Alfred, and Philomel were cruising off Sicily on th£ 20th November.
Admiral Sir Manley Dixon, K.C.B. struck his flag on board the Foudroyant, at Plymouth, on the 1st of Dec. and hoisted it on the following day on board the San Josef.
The Madagascar, Capt. E. Lyons, was paid off at Portsmouth on the 1st Dec. and re-commissioned.
The Pike schooner, has been commis- sioned for the Irish station.
The Harrier, new sloop-of-war, was commissioned at Plymouth on the 3rd December.
The Ocean, 80, has been commissioned as a flag-ship, for Admiral Sir J. P. Be- resford, at Sheerness.
The Fairy brig was commissioned at Chatham on the 10th Dec. for a survey- ing vessel.
The Kent, 78, Capt. S. Pym, was paid off into ordinary at Plymouth, on the 13th December.
The Success, 28, Capt. W. C. Jervoise, was paid off and laid up in ordinary at Portsmouth, on the 16th December.
Rear-Admiral Warren hoisted his flag on board the Isis, at Portsmouth, on the 22nd ult. to proceed to the Coast of Africa, and Cape of Good Hope. The Charybdis
U. S. JOURN. No. 38. JAN. 1832.
brig, and Pluto steam-vessel, proceed in company with the Isis to the Coast.
The Victory, 110, hoisted the flag of Admiral Sir Thomas Foley, G.C.B. the Commander-in-chief, at Portsmouth, on the 23rd ult.
GENERAL ORDERS, CIRCULARS, &c.
ARMY.
CIRCULAR.
War-Office, Nov. 23rd, J831.
SIR, — With reference to the Secretary- at-War's instructions of the 25th of No- vember 1829, for keeping the regimental records of soldiers' services, I have the honour to transmit for your information and guidance, five copies of a supplemen- tary article relating to the manner in which the former service of soldiers who may have re-enlisted into the army sub- sequently to the 25th of March 1830, or who shall hereafter re-enlist, is to be entered in the regimental register.
This supplementary article is printed uniformly with the instructions above- mentioned, and is to be inserted at the end of each of the regimental copies of the instructions.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your most obedient humble servant,
H. PAKNELI..
Officer commanding Regiment of
War-Office, Nov. 23rd, 1831.
Supplementary article to the instruc- tions, dated Nov. 25th, 1829, for keeping the regimental records of soldiers' services.
The former service of a man re-enlist- ing into the army, subsequently to the 25th of March 1830, when the new form of attestation came into use, is in no case to be recorded in the regimental register, unless it be claimed by the man on his attestation.
If a recruit, on being attested, should claim former service, he shall produce his discharge, or certificate of discharge, when, if it shall appear that he has been out of the army less than three years, and that the cause of his discharge does not preclude him from reckoning his former service, and that he had not the oppor- tunity of re-enlisting immediately after such discharge, the commanding officer will cause the recruit's former service to be recorded ; but if the man shall not be
130
PROMOTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.
in possession of his discharge, the com- manding officer will communicate with the War-Office, stating the particulars of the service claimed, and will not make any entry thereof in the register until the said claim shall have been confirmed by the Secretary at War. ^
Whenever former service is recorded, the cause of the soldier's discharge is to be stated in the register immediately under the entry.
CIRCULAR.
War-Office, Nov. 25th, 1831.
SIR, — Referring to the ninth article of the explanatory directions issued from the office on the 20th of November last, I have the honour to acquaint you, that in consequence of the very numerous appli- cations which have been made to the Se- cretary-at-War, by officers in the receipt of a higher rate of half-pay than that of first lieutenant, and with a view to lessen the amount of the public expenditure, His Majesty has been pleased to direct that, until further orders, the colonels of regiments shall not recommend any offi- cers for the situation of regimental pay- master, whose half-pay does not amount to at least ?»• per day.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your most obedient humble servant, HENET PARNELL.
Colonel of the
Regiment of
COURT-MARTIAL.
Tlie Court Martial on Colonel Brereton
will commence its proceedings at Bristol to the Madagascar. on Monday the 9th instant.
Robert Gordon, to the Pearl ; Wyvill, to i
Victor.
LIEUTENANTS — W. Dawson, re-appointed to the Yacht Royal George, and to command the Pantaloon Tender. Arthur Brooking, to the Schooner Pike ; H. T. Twysden, to the San Josef; Bastard, to the Flamer Steamer; C. Daw- kins, to the Talbot ; A. Kortwright, to the ^tna, (Assist. Surveyor) ; T. Baldock, to the Firebrand, Steamer ; S. Griffith, to the Swallow Packet ; W. C.Browne, to be Flag-Lieutenant to Vice-Admiral Sir John Gore, K.C.B. Commander-in-chief on the East India Station; H. Crauford, to the Melville, Hon. H. A. Murray, and Courtenay, to the Re- venge ; T. A. Eden, and Hon. C. R. A. Clements, and Kenny, to the Madagascar; H. Gold- smith, J. Lunn, and G. Butler, to the Caledonia ;
J. Barnes, to the Coast Guard Service ; Par-
rey, and E. H. Hallet, to the Asia ; Purcell,
to the Victory ; C. M. Wright, to the Harrier.
MASTERS — W. R. Mattacote to the Pike Schooner; J. Jenkins, to the Ocean; T. Peyton, to the Caledonia ; T. Witheuberry, to the Harrier;
White, to the Asia ; Saddler, to the
Victory.
SURGEONS — J. E. Risk, to the San Josef; J. Gooch, to the Ocean ; J. Drummond, to the Prince Regent ; J. Steret, to the Curayoa ; J. Smith (c), to the Harrier ; F. Sankey, to the Madagascar ; Cunningham, to the Britannia.
ASSISTANT-SURGEONS — W. W.Wright, to the Firebrand Steamer ; J. W. Elliott, to the Ocean ; J. Hudson, to the Harrier ; Dr. J. Munro, to the Stag; J. M'Al'.ister, to the Columbia Steamer; J. L. Rees (sup.) and J. Watson, (sup.) to the Victory; D. Jardine, to the San Josef; Ste- venson, to the Plumper; Dr.W. J. Idington, and
— — Miller, to the Madagascar ; Cottam, to
the Melville; Callaghan, to the Flamer
Steam-vessel.
PURSERS — W. Bailey, to the Britannia ; J. Scott, to the Ocean ; John Brown (c), to the San Josef ; Herbert to the Harrier ; G. Waller,
PROMOTIONS & APPOINTMENTS.
NAVY. PROMOTIONS.
CAPTAINS — William Broughton ; Ellice. COMMANDER — Hudson.
LIEUTENANTS — W. C. Alien, late of the Mada- gascar ; Hon. Dudley Pelham, of the Scylla.
APPOINTMENTS.
CAPTAINS — S. Chambers, to the Ocean; Right Hon. Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence, re-appointed to the Yacht Royal George ; R. Curry, C.B. to the San Josef; E. Lyons, re-appointed to the Mada- gascar ; P. Richards, to the Asia ; Hyde Parker, to the Victory.
COMMANDERS— S. L. Vassal, to the Harrier;
CHAPLAINS — Rev. — Harrison, to the Dryad ; — Docld, to the Madagascar.
ROYAL MARINES. APPOINTMENT.
FIRST-LIEUTENANT — Charles Clarke, to the Alligator.
ARMY.
LORD CHAMBERLAIN'S OFFICE, SEPT. 28.
The King has been pleased to appoint Sir Robert Gill, Lieutenant of His Majesty's Guard of Yeomen of the Guard, with the rank of Lieu- tenant-Colonel in the Army, so long as Sir Robert Gill shall continue to hold the said appointment.
WAR OFFICE, DEC. 2.
6th Regt. Drs. — Cor. Thomas Westropp M'Ma- hon, to be Lieut, by p. vice Jerningham, prom. ;
PROMOTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.
131
U Th°mpSOn' gent" to be Cor" ^ P- vlce Capt. Vere Webb has been app. by a com. T- » A u-u u /• signed by the King, and dated 29th Aug. 1831,
Adjutant "> >be
4th Foot — Capt. Foster Fyans, from 20th
Ke«t. to be Capt. vice Campbell, who exc. DECEMBER 6.
5th Ditto.— Lieut. Charles Wood, to be Capt. T
by p. vice Walsh, who ret. ; Ens. John Jones, to P- of the n»der-mentioned officers has
be Lieut, by p. vice Wood ; Gent. Cadet Robert bee" cancelled from 6th Dec. 1831, inclusive : —
Hawke», from the Rl. Mil. Col. to be Ens. by p E"S' Francis Barlow, h. p. 30th Foot ; Lieut.
vice Jones. ' C. L. Wykerd, h. p. 83rd Foot; Capt. N. Duches-
12th Ditto.— John Taylor Winnington, gent, to ney' b* P- Canadian Voltigeurs ; Ens. Charles
be Ens. by p. vice Walls, who ret. Lewin, h. p. unatt.
15th Ditto. — Lieut. Lionel Tollemache, to be _ Capt. by p. vice Shirley, who ret. ; Ens. Thomas
Cronyn, to be Lieut, by p. vice Tollemache ; DECEMBER 9. Richard Archer Houblon, gent, to be Ens. by p.
vice Cronyn. 3rd Regt. Dr. Gds.— Cor. Charles Garden Man-
20th Ditto. — Capt. William Huntly Campbell, 8erg''> to be Lieut, by p. vice Montgomery, who
from 4th Regt. to be Capt. vice Fyans, who exc. ret- ! JoDn Daniel Dyson, gent, to be Cor. by p.
37th Ditto. — Lieut. Joseph Bradshaw, to be vice Mansergh.
Capt. by p. vice Fitzgerald, who ret. ; Ens. Tho- 4th Dr. Gds.— Lieut.-Col. James Chatterton,
mas Edmund Le Blanc, to be Lieut, by p. vice from h- P- to be Lieut.-Col. vice Robert Ross,
Bradshaw ; Francis Blake, gent, to be Ens. by p. wh° exc- rec- the diff.
vice Le Blanc. 16th Regt. Light Drs.— Capt. Thomas Hooke
45th Ditto. — Ens. Donald William Tench, to be Pearson, from 59th Regt. to be Capt. vice En-
Lifut. by p. vice Potts, who ret.; Harry Altham derby, who exc.
Cumberlege, gent, to be Ens. by p. vice Tench. 2"d Regt. of Foot. — Capt. William Greenville,
47th Ditto. — Capt. John Gordon, from h. p. to frotn 69th RcS1' to be Capt. vice Lindesay, app.
be Capt. vice Hon. Stanhope Hawke, who exc. to 48th Rcgt-
rec. the diff.; Lieut. Robert P. Lloyd, from 2nd Regt. to be Lieut, vice Campbell, who exc.
3rd Foot.— Capt. Frederick William Frankland, from h. p. to be Capt. vice William Towers
, .
52nd Ditto. — Harry Sneyd French, gent, to be R°"tledge Smith, who exc. rec. the diff.
Ens. by p. vice Atty, who ret.
26th Foot. — Ens. Richard Henry Strong, from
63rd Ditto. — Henry Joseph Swyney, gent, to 30tl1 ReSt- to be Lieut, by p. vice Kelly, who has
be Ens. by p. vice Elton, app. to 4th Regt. been allowed to rec. the value of his com.
64th Ditto. — Capt. Severus William Lynam 27th Ditto- — Capt. Samuel Thorpe, from h. p.
Stretton, to be Major, by p. vice Bennett, who 8th" Rcgt' to be Capt. vice John Landon, who
ret. ; Lieut. George Goring, to be Capt. by p'. vice CXC> rec- the diff-
Stretton ; Ens. George Baeot Gosset, to be Lieut. 30th Ditto. — Edward John Grant, gent, to be
by p. vice Goring ; William Forbes, gent, to be EnS- by p< vice Slrong> Prom- Jn 26th Regt.
Ens. by p. vice Gosset. 43rd Ditto. — Ens. George Priestley, from 84th
70th Ditto.— Capt. William Locke, from h. p Regt- to be En9' vice HuSh Seymour Kerr, who
unatt. to be Capt. vice James Laing, who exc. ret- on h' P' of 39th Regt-
rec. the diff. 48th Ditto. — Brevet Lieut. -Col. James Scott
72nd Ditto. — Ens. James Mossman Oliver, to Limlesay> from 2nd Regt. to be Capt. vice Stuart,
be Lieut, by p. vice Scott, prom. ; Charles Moy- app- to 69th Regt>
Ian, gent, to be Ens. by p. vice Oliver. .59th Ditto— Capt. Samuel Enderby, from 16th
84th Ditto. — George Priestley, gent, to be Ens. Light Drs- *° be Capt> vioe Pearson, who exc.
without p. vice Porter, dec. 66tn Ditto. — Qr.-mas. William Hornby, from
91st Ditto.— Major Robert Anderson, to be h- p> of ^ African Corps, to be Qr.-mas. vice
Lieutenant-Colonel, by p. vice Sutherland, who n Stephens, ret. upon h. p. of Rl. African
ret.; Capt. Norman Lament, to be Major, by p. Corps.
vice Anderson ; Capt. Aaron Warlock, from h. p. 6flth Ditto. — Capt. Henry Stuart, from 48th
unatt. to be Capt. vice Lament. Regt. to be Capt. vice Greenville, app. to 2nd
98th Ditto.— Lieut. Harcourt William Venables Regt>
Vernon, to be Capt. by p. vice Duberly, who 73rd Ditto. — Ens. Oliver Barker D'Arcey, to
ret.; Ens. Stephen Bawtree Adye, to be Lieut. be Lieut- bv P- vice Dawson, who ret.; Ed-
by p. vice Vernon; Michael Gavin, gent, to be ^ard GeorSe Cubitt, gent, to be Ens. by p.
Ens. by p. vice Adye. v*ce D'Arcey.
74th Ditto.— Ens. Alexander Hope Pattison, from 2nd West India ReS1' to be Ells- vice Wolley' Prom-
75tn Ditto.— James Brabazon, gent, to be Ens.
by p.
Unattached.— To be Capts. by p.— Lieut. Alex- ander Scott, from 72nd Regt.; Lieut. Hon. Charles William Stafford Jerningham, from 6th Drs.
Brevet.— Capt. Peter Tripp, of the 98th Regt. by P' vice Blake, who ret.
to be Major in the Army.
Ditto. — Ens. Thomas Wilson Nicolls,
Memoranda.— Capt. Walter Radford, h. p. 6th from n" P- of 69th ReSl- to be Ens. vice Priestley, West India Regt. has been allowed to retire from app' to 43rd Regt-
the ssrvice, by the sale of an unatt. com. "th Ditto. — Lieut. William Bletterman Cald-
K 2
132
PROMOTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.
well, to be Capt. by p. vice Gill, who ret.; Ens. Edward Maurice O'Connell, to be Lieut, by p. vice Caldwcll ; Philip Hamond, gent, to be Ens. by p. vice O'Counvll.
2nd West India Regt. — Alexander Edgar, gent, to be Ens. by p. vice Pattison, app. to 74th Regt.
Hosp. Staff. — Ass.-Surg. Edward Hollier, from b. p. of 62nd Regt. to be Staff Ass.-Surg.
Memorandum. — The date of Staff Ass.-Snrg. O'Reilly's restoration to full pay, is the 18th Aug. 1831, and not the 30th Dec. 1830, as formerly stated.
OFFICE OF ORDNANCE, DEC. 10.
Memorandum. — The com. of Sec. -Capt. George Keating Pemberton, Rl. Art. is dated 3rd Oct. 1831, and not 2nd Jan. 1830, as stated in the Gazette of 21st Oct. last.
The name of the Ensign lately appointed to the 63rd Regt. is Swyny, and not Swyney.
OFFICE OF ORDNANCE, DEC. 22.
Corps of HI. Engineers. — Sec.-Capt. John Sykcs Kitson, to be Capt. vice Tapp, dec.; First-Lieut. Charles Carson Alexander, to be Sec.-Capt. vice Kitson ; Sec.-Lieut. Thomas R. Mould, to be First- Lieut, vice Alexander; Brevet Col. Charles William Pasley, to be Colonel, vice Morshead, dec.; Brevet Major John Oldfield, to be Lieut. - Col. vice Pasley; Sec.-Capt. Edward Matson, to be Capt. vice Oldfield; First-Lieut. James Hunter Rutherford, to be Sec.-Capt. vice Matson ; Sec.- Lieut. George Wynne, to be First-Lieut, vice Rutherfurd; Sec.-Lieut. James Lynn, to be First- Lieut, vice Knocker, dec.
Rl. Regt. Art. — Sec.-Lieut. George Sandham, to be First-Lieut, vice May, dec.
WAR OFFICE, DEC. 16.
14th Regt. Light Drs. — Cornet Henry Bowyer, to be Lieut, by p. vice Straubenzee, who ret.; Edmund Royds, gent, to be Cornet by p. vice Bowyer.
21st Regt. Foot. — John Kenneth Mackenzie, gent, to be Sec.-Lieut. by p. vice Stronge, prom. 38th Ditto. — Major Hugh Piper, to be Lieut.- Col. without p. vice Frith, dec. ; Capt. Matthew Semple, to be Major, vice Piper ; Lieut. George Browne O'Brien, to be Capt. vice Semple ; Ens. Theophilus Jenkins, to be Lieut, vice O'Brien ; James Frith, gent, to be Ens. vice Jenkyns.
39th Ditto. — Lieut. Thomas Meyrick, to be Capt. without p. vice Barker, dec. ; Ens. Charles Benjamin Lloyd, to be Lieut, vice Meyrick; Ens. Lauderdale Maule, to be Lieut, without p. vire Berkeley, dec. ; Robert Spencer Boland, gent, to be Ens. vice Lloyd ; George Hughes Wilkins, gent, to be Ens. vice Maule.
50th Ditto. — Ens. Thomas Wilkinson Edwards, to be Lieut, by p. vice Wainewright, who ret. ; Charles Francis Gregg, gent, to be Ens. by p. vice Edwards.
53rd Ditto. — Capt. Alexander Scott, from h. p. to be Capt. vice Cope Williams, who exc. rec. the diff.
54th Ditto. — Jatms Charles Ellard D'Esterre, gent, to be Ens. without p. vice Wheatstone, dec.
75th Ditto. — Lieut. William Sutton, to be Adj. vice Boys, who res. the Adjutancy only.
Unatt. — Sec.-Lieut. James Matthew Stronge, from 21st Regt. to be Lieut, of Inf. by p.
Hosp. Staff. — To be Deputy Inspectors-General of Hospitals — Dep. Inspector-Gen. James Arthur, M.D. from h. p. ; Deputy Inspector-Gen. John Maling, from h. p. ; Ass.-Inspector of Hospitals David Barry, M.D.
To be Ass.-Inspector of Hospitals. — Ass.-Inspec- tor David Barry, from h. p.
Brevet. — Capt. Samuel Thorpe, of the 27th Regt. to be Major in the army.
Memoranda. — Lieut. Edward Rawling, b. p. 42nd Foot, has been allowed to retire from the service, by the sale of an iiuatt. commission.
The Christian names of Ens. Dyke, of the 54th Regt. are Reginald Hart.
WAR-OFFICE, DEC. 23.
1st Regt. Foot. — Capt. Richard Beverley Ussher, from h. p. to be Capt. vice James Bland, who exc. rec. the diff. ; Anthony Alexander Macnicol, gent, to be Ens. by p. vice Hope, app. to 43rd Re<4t.
24th Ditto. — Capt. Charles Stewart, from h. p. to be Capt. without p. vice Barton, dec.
43rd Ditto. — Capt. Edward G. Walpole Keppel, to be Major by p. vice Johnson, who ret.; Lieut. William Bell, to be Capt. by p. vice Keppel ; Ens. Thomas Aylmer Pearson, to be Lieut, by p. vice Bell; Ens. Alexander Hope, from 1st Foot, to be Ens. vice Pearson ; Ens. George Priestley, to be Adj. vice Thomas, who res. the Adjutancy only.
46th Ditto. — Lieut. Edward H. D. E. Napier to be Capt. by p. vice Taylor, whose promotion is not to take place.
49th Ditto. — Capt. Lee Porcher Townshoml, to be Major by p. vice Croasdaile, who ret ; Capt. Robert Wood Bagot, from h. p. 47th Regt. to be Capt. vice Townshend ; Ens. Cornelius O'Calla- ghan, from 91st Regt. to be Lieut, by p. vice Browne, prom.
55th Ditto. — Capt. Sir John James Scott Dou- glas, Bart, from h. p. of 22nd Li^ht Drs. to be Capt. vice Christopher Thomas Bird, who exc.
58th Ditto. — William Edward Grant, gent, to be Ens. by p. vice Napier, who ret.
70th Ditto. — Capt. Charles O'Neill, from h. p. to be Capt. vice Locke who ret.
78th Ditto.— Ens. John Shields, to be Lient. by p. vice Wilson, prom.; Henry Jarvis White, gent, to be Ens. by p. vice Shields.
91st Ditto. — Norman Berners M'Leod, gent, to be Ens. by p. vice O'Callaghan, prom, in the 49th liegt.
2nd West India Regt. — Staff Ass.-Surg. John Reid, to be Ass.-Surg. vice Watts, dec.
Unattached. — To be Captains by purchase. — Lieut. Wogan Browne, from 49th Regt. ; Lieut. Thomas Maitland Wilson, from 78th Regt. ; Lieut. John Anldjo, from 34tb Regt.
Memorandum. — Capt. James Gibson, h. p. 2nd Gar. Batt. has been allowed to retire from the service, by the sale of an unatt. company.
133
STATIONS OF THE ARMY ON THE IST OF JANUARY, 1832.
AND REFERENCE TO THE FOREIGN SERVICE OF REGIMENTS.
|
Regiments and Corps. |
Stations of Troops or Ser- vice Companies. |
Stations of Reserve Companies. |
Year of Going on Fo- reign Service. |
Yearo Return ing from Foreign Service |
Whence Returned. |
Agents. British and Irish Esta blishment. |
|
1st Life-gds. 2nd do. . . Kl. llorse-gds. 1st Drag.-gds. 2nd do . . 3rd do . . 4th do . . 5th do . . 6th do . . 7th do . . 1st Dragoons 2nd do . . 3rd do . . 4th do . . 6th do . . 7th Hussars 8th do . . 9th Lancers 10th Hussars llth Lt. Drag. 12th Lancers 13th Lt. Drag. 14th do . . 15th Hussars 16th Lancers 17th do . . 111. Wag. Train Gr. Gds.lstbat. 2d bat. 3d bat. Coldst.J Istbt. Gds. I 2d bt. Sc.Fu./ Istbt. Gds. \ 2d bt. 1st Foot, 1st bat. 2d bat. 2nd do . . 3rd do . . 4th do . . 5th do . . 6th do . . 7th do . . 8th do . . 9th do . . 10th do . . llth do . . 12th do . . 13th do . . 14th do . . 15th Foot . 16th do . . 17th do . . |
Windsor . Regent's Park Hyde Park . Dublin . . |
1816 1816 1816 1816 1818 1814 1813 1814 1808 1799 1816 1816 1818 1816 1818 1823 1813 1828 1828 1814 1816 1823 nts vari 1828 1818 1818 1814 1818 1814 1828 1831 1828 1827 1831 |
France Ditto Ditto Ditto Ditto Spain Jortugal Spain Buen. Ayres iolland 'Vance Vance •Vance Vance Vance Bengal 3ortugal 'ortugal 'ortugal Spain Vance Bombay us periods 'ortugal •Vance Vance 'Vance Vance Vance ^ortugal Madras 'ortugal 'rinidad Bengal |
Uollyer jreenwood Greenwood 3r. & Ar. G reenwood I!ollyer Collyer jr. & Ar. Col.& Cane Collyer Hopkinson Greenwood Hopkinson Hopkinson Gr. & Ar. Greenwood Gr. & Ar. Greenwood Gr. & Cane Col. & Cane Gr. & Ar. Greenwood Greenwood Greenwood Greenwood Hop. & Cane Greenwood . Greenwood Ashley Greenwood Greenwood Gr. & Atk. Greenwood Greenwood Greenwood jr. & Ar. jr. & Ar. ilopkinson Gr. & Ar. [jreenwood j reenwood jreenwood \irkl and jreenwood |
||
|
York » . . Dorchester |
|
• • |
||||
|
Canterbury |
||||||
|
Edinburgh |
||||||
|
1822 |
||||||
|
IBirminorham . |
||||||
|
Manchester |
||||||
|
Hounslow |
||||||
|
Dublin . . |
||||||
|
1819 |
||||||
|
1819 |
||||||
|
Gloucester , |
||||||
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Nottingham . |
||||||
|
1822 |
||||||
|
Ballincollio1 |
||||||
|
Jroydon |
... De |
tachme |
||||
|
^ nigh tsb ridge Dublin . . |
||||||
|
ving's Mews Tower of Lond. |
||||||
|
3ortman Street Westminster Trinidad . |
||||||
|
Perth . . . |
1826 |
|||||
|
Bombay . . Bengal . . |
Chatham . . Ditto . . . |
1825 1828 |
||||
|
jibraltar Bombay . . Malta . . Halifax N. S. -.imerick* <5ante . . Santa Maura jibraltar . Bengal Isle of Wight VIontreal . . Bengal N. S. Wales |
?ermoy Chatham Portsmouth . Hull . . . |
1831 1821 1825 1830 |
||||
|
Boyle . . . Swansea . . 3rogheda . . Chatham . |
1826 1826 1823 1822 1827 1819 1830 |
|||||
|
^ewcas. on T. Chatham . . Chatham . |
* Ordered to Gibraltar.
134
|
Regiments and Corps. |
Stations of Troops or Ser- vice Companies |
Stations of Reserve Companies. |
Year of Going on Fo- reign Service |
Yoar of Return- ing from Foreign Service. |
Whence Returned. |
Agents. British and Irish Esta- blishment. |
|
18th do . . 19th do . . 20th do . . 21st do . . 22nd do . . 23rd do . . 24th do . . 25th do . . 26th do . . 27th do . . 28th do . . 29th do . . 30th do . . 31st do . . 32nd do . . 33rd do . . 34th do . . 35th do . . 36th do . . 37th do . . 38th do . . 39th do . . 40th do . . 41st do . . 42nd do . . 43rd do . . 44th do . . 45th do . . 46th do . . 47th do . . 48th do . . 49th do . . 50th do . . 51st do . . 52nd do . . 53rd do . . 54th do . . 55th do . . 56th do . . 57th do . . 58th do . . 59th do . . 60th do 1st bat. 2d bat. 61st do . . 62nd do . . 63rd do . . 64th do . . 65th do . . 66th do . . 67th do . . 68th do . . 69th Foot . 70th do . . 71st do . . 72nd do . . 73rd do . . |
Corfu* . . St. Vincent Bombay Weedon . Jamaica . Gibraltar . Quebec Demerara Bengal Limerick . Dublin . Mauritius . Belfast Bengal Quebec . Jamaica . Halifax, N. S Barbadoes Barbadoes Bermuda . Bengal . N. S. Wales Bombay Madras Gibraltar Dublin Bengal . Madras Madras jlasgow . Madras Bengal Dublin . . Vido . . . |
Nottingham Burnley Chatham . |
1821 1826 1819 |
1827 1831 1830 1829 1830 1829 1827 1831 1829 1829 1828 1829 1827 |
St. Vincents Barbadoes Corfu Madras Gibraltar Bengal Jamaica HalifaxN.S Bengal Berbice Gibraltar Up. Canada Canada |
Greenwood Fitter Greenwood Greenwood Greenwood Gr. & Ar. Collyer Collyer Kirkland Gr. & Ar. Wat. & Ar. Gr. & Cane Gr. & Ar. Greenwood Hop. & Ar. Greenwood Gr. & Ca. Greenwood Price & Ar. Law. & Ar. G reenwood Greenwood Lawrie 3 reenwood jreenwood 3 reenwood G reenwood j reenwood jreenwood j reenwood j reenwood jreenwood jr. & Ar. iirkland j reenwood G reenwood jreenwood Greenwood Gr. & Ca. jreenwood Gr. & Ar. Gr. & Ar. 3r. & Ar. Gr. & Ar. Gr. & Ar. Jreenwood Collyer Gr. & Ar. jr. & Ar. Gr.&Atk jr. & Ar. lopk.&Ca. \irk. & Ca. Gr. & Ar. 'rice jreenwood ..awrie |
|
Plymouth . Dublin Carlisle Paisley Chatham . |
1826 1823 1829 1826 1828 |
|||||
|
Newry |
1826 |
|||||
|
Chatham . Tralee . Burnley Ballinrobe Portsmouth Charles Fort Youghall . Chatham . Chatham . Chatham . Chatham . Stirling Castle |
1825 1830 1822 1829 1820 1830 1830 1818 1827 1824 1822 1823 |
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Chatham . Chatham . Chatham . Chatham . . Chatham . . |
1822 1819 1813 1817 1822 |
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Chester . . |
1821 |
|||||
|
Malta . . . Madras . . Madras . . Famaica Madras .- . Ceylon . . Enniskillen |
Stockport . . Chatham . . Chatham . Spike Island . Chatham . Mullingar |
1829 1819 1821 1831 1825 1828 |
||||
|
Gibraltar . . |
Dublin . . |
1830 |
||||
|
Ceylon . . Vladras . . N. S. Wales Birr . . . |
^ondonderry Chatham . Chatham . . |
1828 1830 1829 |
||||
|
3erbice . . Montreal . . Gibraltar . . |
3uttevant . . ''faas . Jublin |
1829 1827 1831 |
||||
|
Jarbadoes |
vinsale . . |
1831 |
||||
|
Bermuda . Dape of G. H. Malta . . . |
'erth . . . rort George . ersey . . |
1824 1828 1827 |
On passage home.
135
|
Regiments' and Corps. |
Stations of Troops or Ser- vice Companies. |
Stations of Reserve Companies. |
Year of Going on Fo- reign Service. |
Year of Return- ing from Foreign Service. |
Whence Returned. |
Agenti. British and Irish Esta- blishment. |
|
74th do . . 75th do . . 76th do . . 77th do . . 78th do . . 79th do . . 80th do . . 81st do . . 82nd do . . 83rd do . . 84th do . . 85th do . . 86th do . . 87th do . . 88th do . . 89th do . . 90th do . . 91st do . . | 92nddo . . 93rd do . . 94th do . . 95th do . . 96th do . . 97th do . . 98th do . . 99th do . . Rifle 13. 1st bat. 2nd bat. Rl. Staff Corps 1st West India Regiment 2nd ditto Ceylon Rifle Regiment . Cape Mounted Riflemen Royal African Colon. Corps Rl. Newfound- land Veteran Companies Rl. New South Wales Vet. Companies Royal Malta Fencibles Great Britain- Ireland— Sir rJ Lieut. -Colonel |
Templemore . Cape of G. H. |
1830 1827 1831 1831 1829 1831 1831 1831 1831 1827 nents va |
Bermuda Canada Cephalonia Bermuda Ceylon Malta Madras Corfu Jamaica Jamaica rious periods |
Hop. & Ar. Greenwood Gr. & Ar. Gr. & Ar. Brent Lawrie • Greenwood Greenwood Lawrie Gr. & Ar. Greenwood Greenwood (Sreenwood Greenwood Greenwood G reenwood Greenwood Hopkinson Gr. & Ar. Greenwood Kirkland Lawrie Greenwood Gr. & Ar. Hopkinson Gr. & Ca. Greenwood G reenwood Greenwood |
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Exeter . . . |
1830 |
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Jamaica . Ceylon . . York U. C. . |
Waterford . . Ber. on Tweed Aberdeen • . |
1824 1826 1825 |
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Mauritius |
Sunderland . |
1819 |
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Jamaica Oxford |
Portsmouth . |
1827 |
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Antigua . . Mauritius . . Vido . . . Devonport . |
Jersey . . . Devonport Land guard Ft. |
1826 1831 1825 |
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HaydockLodge (Newton) Clare Castle St. Lucia . Gibraltar Corfu . . . Halifax N. S. Ceylon . . Cape of G. H. Mauritius N. Brunswick Malta . . . Hythe . . |
} |
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Hamilton . . Sheerness. Guernsey . . Chatham . . Clonmel . . Mer. Tydval Armagh . . Dover . . Dover . . . |
1823 1824 1824 1824 1825 1825 1825 1825 1826 Detachi |
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Trinidad J Bahamas . . Ceylon . . Cape of G. H. Sierra Leone Newfoundland N. S. Wales Malta . . / General j -John Kirklam agenall W. Bu Agent Arbuthnot anc |
i _0 >a c ^c 13 O igen 1, Es rdett s/or Joh |
Agents. Greenwood Greenwood Kirkland Kirkland Kirkland Morland Kirkland Kirkland sfor the Re q. 80, Pall I , Bart. Dubl the Deccan . n Kirkland, |
REGIMENTAL AGENTS. A unit, Borongh, & Co. Leiuster St. Dub. Ashley, James, 135, Regent Street. Atkinson, John, Ely Place, Dublin. Brent, Timothy, 10, St. James's Place. Cane, Richard, and Co. Dawson St. Dublin. Collyer, Geo.Sam. Park Place, St. James's. Fitter, Godfrey, 34, Welbeck Street. Greenwood, Cox, Uammersley, and Cox; Craig's Court. Hopkinson, Barton, and Knyvett, 3, Re gent Street. Kirkland, John, (Gen. Agent,) 80, Pall Mall Lawrie, John, Robert St. Adelphi. Morland, Sir F. B. 4, Northumberland St. Price, Wm. F. 34, Craven St. Strand. Watson, William, 63, Charlotte Street, Portland Place. |
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Bruiting Service. [all. n. arixe Money. Esq. Office," 80, Pall Mall. |
N. B. A reference to the List of Agents will explain the abbreviations.
136
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RATES OF DAILY PAY OF OFFICERS OF THE ARMY. |
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Dragoon Guards |
Waggon |
Infantry of the |
Staff |
|
|
RANK. |
and |
Train. |
Line. |
Corps. |
|
Dragoons. |
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£. s. d. |
£. s. d. |
£. ». d. |
£. B. d. |
|
|
Colonel . . . . . |
1 12 10 |
t t |
126 |
|
|
Ditto, in lien of one Hautbois for each Troop borne |
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on the Establishment . . . |
016 |
B , |
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|
Ditto, in lien of one Warrant Man for each Troop |
012 |
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|
Ditto, in lieu of two Warrant Men for each Company |
010 |
|||
|
Lient.-Colonel Commandant . . . |
f t |
1 12 10 |
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|
Lieut.-Colonel ..... |
130 |
0 17 0 |
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|
Major . . . . . . |
0 19 3 |
0 16 0 |
||
|
Captain ...... |
0 14 7 |
0 12 6 |
0 11 7 |
0 15 8 |
|
Ditto, having higher Rank by Brevet |
0 14 6 |
0 13 7 |
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|
Lieutenant ..... |
090 |
086 |
066 |
090 |
|
Ditto after seven Years' Service as a Lieutenant ; or |
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after five Years' such Service, if the' Officer was |
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present as a Subaltern at the Battle of Waterloo |
096 |
076 |
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|
Ditto after five Years' Service as a Lieutenant, if the |
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Officer was present as a Subaltern at the Battle of |
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Waterloo, but not otherwise . . . |
0 10 0 |
0 10 0 |
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Cornet . . . . |
060 |
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|
053 |
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Paymaster ..... |
0 15 0 |
0 15 0 |
\ |
|
|
Ditto afler twenty Years' Service in that Rank . |
100 |
. |
100 |
|
|
Adjutant and Paymaster . . |
e 10 o |
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Adjutant ...... |
0 10 0 |
086 |
. . |
|
|
Surgeon ...... |
0 13 0 |
. t |
0 13 0 |
|
|
Ditto after ten Years' Service on Full Pay in -the |
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Army, in a Medical Capacity . . |
0 15 0 |
. |
0 15 0 |
|
|
Ditto after twenty Years' . |
0 19 0 |
0 19 0 |
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Ditto after twenty-five Years' . . . |
1 2 0 |
. |
120 |
|
|
Assistant Surgeon .... |
086 |
076 |
. |
|
|
Ditto after ten Years' Service on Full Pay in the |
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Army, in a Medical Capacity . . . |
0 11 0 |
. |
0 10 0 |
|
|
Veterinary Surgeon .... |
080 |
, |
t |
|
|
„ , „ . Tin the Army^l *Ditto after three Years' Service . ,., ,. . „ , „ I in a Medical ( Ditto after ten Years' Service <^ p ,. > Ditto after twenty Years' Service [ u n j> |
0 10 0 0 12 0 0 15 0 |
• • |
• , • |
|
|
Quarter Master . |
086 |
066 |
066 |
|
|
Ditto after ten Years' Service in that Rank . |
0 10 6 |
. |
086 |
086 |
|
Ditto after fifteen Years' |
0 12 0 |
• |
0 10 0 |
0 10 0 |
|
* Actual Service as Assistant Surgeon, Surgeon's Mate, or Hospital Mate may be reckoned by |
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Veterinary Surgeons. |
The deductions to which certain Officers of Infantry holding more than one Military Commission or Appointment are subject, are to be made from their Staff or Garrison Pay, under the Provisions of the Warrant regulating Staff and Garrison Pay, dated 30th July, 1830, Article 29. If, however, any such Officers should hold Appointments, the emolumeuls of which are derived from Colonial Funds, or from any other Funds not under the control of the Secretary-at-War, the deductions at the same Rates are to be made from their Regimental Pay. Deductions are to be made at the same Rates from the Regimental Pay of Officers belonging to the Royal Waggon Train, who may hold any other Mili- tary Commission or Appointment. The Increased Rate of Pay to Paymasters after twenty Years' Service, is subject to the Provisions of the Warrant dated 30th July, 1830, regulating the Pay of Regimental and District Paymasters, and the Rates of Pay of Surgeons and Assistant Surgeons are subject to the Provisions of the Warrant dated 29th July, 1830, regulating the Pay of Army Medical Officers.
137
RECORD OP THE 25TH REGIMENT. THE KING'S OWN BORDERERS.
" Minden," " Egmont Op Zee," — the Sphinx with the word " Egypt." Flank Companies " Martinique."
THIS regiment was raised by a commission from William the Third to the Earl of Leven, who, with the officers, principally Scotch refugees, came over to Edinburgh on the 17th March 1089, and in five hours completed the corps in that town, to the number of 800 men. Some time afterwards it was augmented to 1000 men, and was engaged on the 27th July 1689 at the battle of Killinakie, where Leven's (25th) and Hastings' (13th) regiments were the last two corps which remained un- broken ; and it was while in the act of renewing the attack against them, that the Viscount Dundee received his death wound. After this engagement the magistrates of Edinburgh conferred upon Leveu's (25th) regiment, the exclusive privilege of beating tip within the city, and it was for several years after styled the " Edinburgh regiment." The 25th remained in Scotland till 1691, when they joined the King in Ireland, took part in the sieges of Ballinore and Athlone, ihe battle of Anghim, the sieges of Galway and Limerick, and immediately after the surrender of the last, in Oct. 1091, embarked for England.
The Edinburgh regiment sailed to join King William's army in Flanders early in 1692, and were present at the battle of Steinkirk, 24th July in that year, where they, together with the Scots brigade and 26th regiment, were nearly cut off by a false movement of Count Solmes, who commanded the cavalry. At the battle of Landen, 29th July 1693, they were warmly engaged, having several men killed and wounded ; amongst the latter was Corporal James Butler, Sterne's well known " Corporal Trim." The regiment was next present at the siege of Namur, when Cohorn was besieging engineer, and Vauban defended the town ; and was particularly engaged in the attack on the outworks on the 18th July 1095. During the siege a mine was sprung by the garrison, which killed 20 officers and 500 men of the 25th, and by which Sterne's " Uncle Toby," then a captain in the regiment, received his celebrated wound.
During this campaign the bayonet, as improved by the French from the close to the open handle, was first tried on the Edinburgh regiment, who, seeing the enemy approach with fixed bayonets, were ordered to screw theirs ; and thus receiving a fire they could not return, were thrown into some confusion ; however, they rallied, and drove the enemy within their lines. After (his nothing of moment occurred, till the treaty of Keyswick being concluded, the Edinburgh regiment returned to England in Oct. 1697, and thence moved to Edinburgh to recruit. Having completed their establish- ment, they were marched to the north, to keep the Highlands in subjection after the affair of Glencoe. As at this early period little care was taken of regimental records, nothing more is known of the 25th till 1715, except that during this period, they and the 35th are mentioned in an old magazine as having returned skeletons from Jamaica, and we find them stationed at Lisle in 1712, and Dunkirk in the following year.
The Edinburgh regiment was present at Sheriffmuir, Nov. 18th 1715 ; after this battle the Hon. A. Elphinstone (afterwards Lord Balmerino), a captain in the regiment, took leave of his brother officers, resigned his commission, and joined the Pretender in Perth. In 1718 the 25th removed to Ireland; they composed part of the expedition to Vigo Bay in 1719, and on their return were quartered, in 1720, in YVicklow, and the year following in Dublin barracks; from thence they proceeded to the north of Ireland, in various parts of which they remained till 1726. They then embarked for Gibraltar, where they underwent a siege of five months from the Spaniards, and remained in garrison there till 1736, when the privates were drafted to Gen. Oglethorpe's regiment, and sent to Georgia ; the officers and non commissioned officers returned to Ireland to recruit. Early in 1743 the Edinburgh regiment removed to England, and shortly after embarked for Flanders, together with the 1st battalion Royals, the 19th, and 42nd regiments, and joined the army immediately subsequent to the battle of Dettingen. In 1744 they took the field with the army under (Jen. Wade ; but nothing of consequence occurred during this campaign, and they wintered at Bruges.
This year, 1744, the several corps composing the British army were numbered, and the Edinburgh regiment became the 25th.
In 1745 the Duke of Cumberland took th» command of the army to relieve Tournay, then invested by the French ; and in endeavouring to effect this object brought on the battle of Fontenoy, one of the most keenly contested and bloody combats of the age. The 25th were present, and upwards of one third of the corps were killed or wounded ; in this action the enemy lost upwards of 10,000 men and several officers of rank. After the retreat the Edinburgh regiment was thrown into garrison at Aeth, where they sustained two sieges within the year; at Inst not having 100 effective men left, and the Dutch auxiliaries beginning to mutiny, they were obliged to surrender, but obtained the most favourable terms; marching out with all the honours of war to join the army near Brussels.
Till this year, 1745, swords were worn by privates of infantry, but were now ordered to be discon- tinued in battalion companies; the grenadiers continued to wear them till 1702.
On the 4th Nov. 1745, the Edinburgh regiment returned to England, to compose part of the Duke of Cumberland's army, for the subjugation of the rebels, and were present at the battle of Cnlloden, 16th April 1746. In the autumn of the year they again embarked for the Netherlands ; were engaged at the battle of Ronaux, on the llth Oct. where they suffered severely, and were afterwards occupied in covering the retreat. The Edinburgh regiment wintered in Bois le Due. In the battle of Val,
138 RECORD OF THE 25TH REGIMENT.
which took place on the 2nd July 1747, the 25th sustained a most distinguished part, and cap- tured two pair of colours. In 1749 they embarked for Ireland, in various parts of which they were stationed till the beginning of 1755, when they moved to Scotland, and towards the end of the year marched into England. In 1757 they were employed in the Rochfort expedition, and returned to England in the ensuing spring. In 1758 they accompanied the expedition to St. Maloes, which failing, they returned and embarked for Germany, and were present at the battle of Minden on the 1st Aug. 1759, where their distinguished conduct gained them the marked thanks of the Commander- in-chief — their loss was considerable. The Edinburgh regiment was afterwards engaged at the battle of Warburg, July 31st, and of Campen, Oct. 25th 1760 ; at the latter of which they lost several officers killed and wounded, amongst the last Lieut.-Colonel Lord Down, who was taken prisoner and died of his wounds. The regiment took part in the battles of Fellinghausen, July 17C1, and of Williamstadt, June 1762.
During this campaign, Major Home, of the 25th Regiment, at the head of the pickets, 460 men, defeated, with great slaughter, first 250 foot and 50 horse, and then 2000 of the enemy, keeping pos- session of a hastily-constructed breastwork, in spite and in face of their whole army. During this affair, the fire was very hot, and the enemy were so close, that their bayonets clashed with those of our men across the breastwork. Symes, in his " Military Guide," speaking of it, says, " This will remain a proof to posterity of what determined bravery can effect."
In the beginning of 1763, the 25th returned through Holland to England ; and on the 31st of May, the Colours, worn out from length of service, were buried with military honours, at Newcastle-upon- Tyne, where the regiment was quartered. In 1764, the Regiment marched to Edinburgh, and in 1765, to Fort George. They were reviewed the following year in Inverness, by the Marquis of Lorn, and afterwards detached over different parts of the country, employed in making the military road through the Highlands. In 1767, they assembled at Stirling, were again reviewed, and dispersed through the south of Scotland, to assist in making the Portpatrick and Carlisle military road. In 1768, they marched into England, were reviewed frequently by His Majesty George the Third, and were quartered severally at Chatham, Richmond, Kingston, and Hampstead. Nov. 10th, the Regi- ment embarked at Spithead for Minorca, where they remained till December 1775, when they returned to England. During the years 1776 and 1777, they were quartered at Winchester and Windsor. In 1778, they did duty to His Majesty at Portsmouth, while he reviewed the Navy. In 1779, moved to Newcastle ; and in J780, were in Edinburgh. Early in 1782, the regiment inarched to Coventry, and remained there and in other parts of the south, till August, when they embarked for Gibraltar, where they arrived during the latter part of the siege, and continued in that garrison till 1792. They then returned to England, and arrived in Plymouth Sound on the 21st of April.
At the breaking out of the war with France early in 1793, the naval force of Great Britain being greatly increased, there was not a sufficient number of marines to man the fleet, and the 2nd, 25th, 29th, and 69th regiments, with some other corps quartered near the naval arsenals, were required to furnish detachments for this service. Two detachments from the 25th, which were in His Majesty's ships St. George and Egmont, were engaged at the blockade, and in all the actions about Toulon. In that on the heights of De Grasse, Oct. 8th, Capt. Stewart (afterwards Lieut.-Colonel) of the 25th, led the advance, and gallantly carried the enemy's battery at the point of the bayonet. Of this exploit, Lord Mulgrave, in his despatches, made most particular and honourable mention.
Upon the evacuation of Toulon, the detachments re-embarked, and landing in Corsica, were pre- sent at all the actions that took place there from January to August 1794 ; and after the reduction of the island, were again employed as marines. They were present at the naval action off Cape Noli, in the Gulf of Genoa ; and afterwards co-operated in the evacuation of Corsica, caused by Spain having declared war against England. Two other detachments of the 25th, being on board His Majesty's ships Marlborough and Gibraltar, were present at Lord Howe's engagement and victory over the French fleet, off St. Helen's, June 1st, 1794.
During this year, 1794, the name of the regiment was changed from the Edinburgh to the Sussex, at the request of the Duke of Richmond, whose brother was Colonel.
Oil the 2-lth Dec. 1794, two companies of the 25th regiment embarked from Plymouth, (where they left a depot,) on board three transports for foreign service, and were unacquainted with their destina- tion, till, having reached Cape Finisterre, they were despatched to the West Indies, arrived in Carlisle Bay, Barbadoes, on the 26tb of March, and thence moved to Grenada, where they landed on the 1st of April 1795. During the remainder of this year, the army was engaged in several actions with the brigands, who were led by Fedon. In one of those combats, Major Wright, of the 25th, with 2 captains, 3 subalterns, and 50 of that corps, and 250 slaves, being -in possession of a post called Pilot Hill, which he had fortified with breastworks and a block house, was attacked by the whole army of insurgents, and after twelve days' close siege, on the 18th of Dec. the garrison made a desperate sortie, and obliged the enemy to retire. They afterwards, with great bravery, sustained a close blockade and several assaults till [February 1796, when their provisions and ammunition being ex- hausted,they effected their escape with great skill, and without loss, on the night ofFeb. 29th. Having joined the army on Richmond Hill, a Battering address of thanks was presented to Major Wright and the detachment under his command, signed by the President in Council, in the name of the inhabitants of the island, declaring that to his protracted defence was to be chiefly attributed the safety of the colony. The Commander-in-Chief also mentioned the abave affair, with many encomiums, in general orders.
After this, the army was continually engaged till May 10th, when several reinforcements having arrived from Barbadoes, St. Lucia, ami England, a general advance was made on the brigands, who
RECORD OF THE 25TH REGIMENT. ],39
were routed and dispersed with great slaughter. In this affair, Lieut.-Colonel (now General) Dyott> of the 25th, commanded the left brigade. The insurgents were completely subdued, but Fedon effected his escape.
During the last fifteen months, the 25th had lost — killed — 1 captain, and 20 rank and file; and by sickness — 16 officers, 32 Serjeants, 9 drummers, and 500 rank and file.
On the 12th of July 1796, the skeleton of the regiment left Grenada for Europe, and landed at Plymouth, Sept. 3rd, where, and at Portsmouth, they continued the remainder of that and the follow- ing year. In July 1797, a mutiny, which was on the point of breaking out among the sailors of the St. George, was quelled by the steadiness of the detachment of the 25th regiment on board. The last of those detachments returned to England, and were disembarked in October 1797.
Aug. 7th, 1798, the whole regiment being assembled at Plymouth, sailed for Jersey, in which island they remained till June 1799, when they embarked for the Isle of Wight, and from thence proceeded to join the camp at Shirley Common, near Southampton. At the latter end of July, the camp moved to Barham Downs. This encampment being broken up soon after, the 25th sailed from the Downs, with Sir R. Abercrombie's army, for Holland, and on the 27th of Aug. effected a landing, without opposition, at the south entrance of the Helder, Lieut, (now Lieut.-Colonel) Macdonald, of the Grena- diers, being the first who put foot on shore. On the 13th of Sept. His Royal Highness the Duke of York arrived to take the command. The 25th composed part of Major.-Gen. Moore's brigade, and was frequently engaged, more particularly in the brilliant action of Egmont-Op-Zee, on the 2nd of Oct. when they formed the advanced guard of the right division, which was incessantly and obstinately engaged from ten in the morning till four in the afternoon ; and daring this period, drove the enemy, at the point of the bayonet, from several strong positions on the sand hills in front of Egmont, and, lastly, into the town itself, which was evacuated during the night. In this affair, the loss on both sides was considerable.
The Duke had now obtained possession of the whole extent of country from Eginont-Op-Zee to Albraccrs, which he fortified, but still found himself obliged to make further advances, or relin- quish his enterprise. The advanced posts of the front and centre were ordered to press forwards, so as to prepare and facilitate a general attack ; but the Russian auxiliaries, elated with success, having advanced further than directed, prematurely, and on disadvantageous ground, brought on a general engagement. The effects of this were most destructive, for though our troops, after a well-contested action, during which the enemy had been repelled at every point, still kept their ground, a repre- sentation was drawn up by the Generals of divisions, stating the daily increasing force of the enemy, the diminution of onrs, the severity of the season, the irregularities of the supplies, and the unwilling, ness of the Dutch to rise, which determined the Duke on a retreat to our former position on the Zype ; this was accordingly effected without disorder or pursuit. His Royal Highness, now finding he could neither advance, nor long retain his present position, in face of so superior a force, without sacrificing the lives of his soldiers, or inundating the country, determined upon negociation; and after several despatches had been interchanged, Oct. 18th, the evacuation of Holland was agreed to on the following terms: — the relinqnishment of the Helder in the same state in whio.h it was taken; the restitution of whatever French or Dutch prisoners had been made during the campaign; and the unmolested embarkation of the Allies.
The 25th sailed for England on the 27th of Oct. and landed at Yarmouth on the 31st. They thence marched to Ipswich, and were quartered there and in Colchester till May 1800; when they joined the camp on Shirley Common, and took part in 'the several grand reviews before George the Third. After the camp broke up, the 25th removed to Lewes Barracks (Sussex;, where they remained till the 16th of May 1801, when they marched at an hour's notice to Portsmouth, for embarkation, to join the army in Egypt.
Having arrived on the 9th of July, in Abonkir Bay, the 25th immediately disembarked, and joined Gen. Coote's brigade before Alexandria. The blockading army was now increased to 9000 men. On the 9th of Aug. several fresh troops having joined the camp, a ntw distribution took place, and the 25th, together with two battalions of the 27th and the 44th regiments, formed the first brigade, under Major-Gen. Ludlow. Meantime the greater part of the French army, about 8000 men, having capitu- lated, after the battle of Alexandria and surrender of Cairo, were marched by the English to the sea- coast for embarkation ; and the last division of them sailed for France on the 12th of August.
On the 15th, Lieut.-Gen. Hutchinson having arrived from a visit to the fleet, ordered Major-Gen- Coote, second in command, with the brigade of Guards, and 1st and 2nd of the line, with a proportion of artillery and engineers, to embark in the boats of the fleet, on the night of the 16th, and proceed along the lake. This they did without opposition, and effected a landing the next morning at eleven o'clock, to the westward of the Island of Marabout, which was fortified, and commanded the entrance of the harbour of Alexandria. While a diversion was being made by an attack from the eastward, this division advanced regularly, bringing up its batteries nearer and nearer to Fort Marabout, without however doing much damage, as the metal was light ; but having driven the gun-boats into Alex- andria on the 20th, and having drawn two 24 pounders over the sand-hills with excessive labour, a new battery was opened at day-bre^k on the 21st, and after sustaining a very severe fire all day, by which the fort was nearly gutted, the enemy surrendered at eleven o'clock at night, when a storming party was preparing to advance.
On the morning of the 22nd, the division continued to advance, flanked by flotillas in the harbour and lake, with its light troops driving the enemy slowly and regularly before it. On arriving at the old cut across the isthmus which formerly united the lake with the sea, they attempted to make a stand, but Gen. Coote advancing in line, drove them from the position. They were next found posted
140 RECORD OF THE 25TH REGIMENT.
on a ridge of rocky hills, their right secured by the sea, and a battery of two heavy guns j their left by the lake, and two batteries of two guns each, besides having several pieces of artillery in the in- tervals. Their advance was driven in with great coolness and regularity, and one division encamped within musket-shot of Fort de Bains, and close under their works. On the part of the British, there were no officers killed, and only one (Lieut. Hockings of the 25th,) wounded. The enemy abandoned seven pieces of cannon in their retreat, and their loss in men must have been considerable. This evening, another brigade arrived to reinforce Gen. Coote, and on the 23rd the Commander-in-chief, on viewing the dispositions, expressed himself much pleased with the conduct of the troops, and deter- mined on the westward being the most advantageous side for carrying on the siege.
On the 25th of August, a battery of four 24-pounders opened upon Fort de Bains, and in the evening Colonel (now General) Dyott, of the 25th regiment, at the head of the 20th Light Dragoons, with de- tachments of the 20th and 54th regiments, drove in all the pickets, so that our guns advanced within 400 yards of the wall.
On the morning of the 26th, four batteries were opened from the eastward, on the enemy's entrenched camp, which soon silenced their fire; and at four o'clock P.M. Gen. Menou sent a flat; of truce, requesting an armistice, which was granted ; and definitive articles of capitulation being agreed to, alter some delay, Sept. 3rd, at noon, the allied forces took possession of the French line's en- trenched camp, forts, &c. the 25th regiment going into Fort Triangulaire, where they remained till they were ordered to embark. A secret expedition of 6000 men, of which the 25th regiment formed a part, were put under the orders of Gen. Coote, and embarking at Aboukir Bay on the 14th of Sept. proceeded down the Mediterranean with orders to rendezvous at Gibraltar, but meeting soon after with Lord Keith's fleet, they were informed of the cessation of hostilities; and the 25th regiment were ordered to be landed at Malta, where they remained about a fortnight, and again embarking, arrived at Gibraltar on the 19th of Nov. The garrison then consisted of the 2nd battalion, 1st (Royals), 2nd (Queen's), 8th (King's), 23rd, 25th and 54th regiments, with the usual peace establishment of artillery and engineers, under the command of Gen. O'Hara the Governor.
On the 21st of Feb. 1802, Gen. O'Hara died, and was succeeded by His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent. The strict regulations His Royal Highness enforced, and which were particularly necessary in so large and important a garrison, encouraged a few inconsiderate individuals among the officers, who having no real feeling for the service, would have deemed any discipline too severe, to manifest openly their dissatisfaction, and a disposition to act contrary to orders : These examples, accompanying the suppression of a number of the wine houses, led to a mutiny of part of the garrison, which broke out on the 24th Dec. 1802, but was immediately quelled by the Governor. A pique betweeu the 25th regiment and the Royals, in consequence of the former not having joined the mutineers, produced a tumult on the 26th ; but this also was speedily terminated, by the good conduct and activity of the officers of the 25th regiment. On the 21st of June 1803, the regiment sailed for England, and arrived at Portsmouth on the 9th of Aug. ; they then sailed for Ireland, where they were severally quartered ut Clonmel, Cork, and at the latter end of June 1804, at Limerick.
On the 7th May 1805, the Hon. Gen. Charles Fitzroy being appointed Colonel, got the regiment made " Royal," and the designation was changed from the Sussex to " The King's own Borderers."
In Sept. the regiment marched to Fermoy, and remained there, and in Charleville and ('oneraile till June 1S07 ; when they marched to Kinsale, and embarked on the 17th Sept. After having been driven back several times by stress of weather, the 25th regiment sailed on the 6th Dec. to join the fleet under Sir S. Hood. Arriving on the evening of the 24th at Madeira, which was suspected to be taken possession of by the French, the troops, consisting of the 3rd, llth, 25th, and 63rd regiments, with artillery and engineers, got in immediate readiness to disembark, but on the next day, those pre- parations being found unnecessary, the 3rd and llth regiments, with the artillery and engineer*, were landed, while the 25th and 63rd proceeded for the West Indies, The Borderers arrived in Carlisle Bay, Barbadoes, on the 2nd Feb. 1808, and in a few days afterwards sailed, and landed at St. Kitts on the 14th. In the month of November the flank companies, under the command of Capt. Sinclair, moved to Pigeon Island, where they were quartered for six weeks, and then embarked on board His Majesty's ship Euridyce, and joined the grand fleet destined for the capture of Martinique. Having arrived off the latter island the army landed in two divisions, one at Negro Point, the other at Soloman's Bay, the last consisting of the 7th, 8th, and 23rd regiments, with the flank companies »f the 25th. Those companies shortly after joining the light brigade, were present at the affair of Windmill Hill, where Capt. Sinclair was killed ; and were afterwards engaged in several skirmishes.
The grenadiers, commanded by Captain (now Lieut.-Colonel) M' Donald, led the advance at the storming of Beaulieu redoubt, as well as the storming and destruction of a French picket under the walls of Fort Bourbon. On the 19th Feb. the British batteries opened a heavy fire on the fort, which continued day and night till it surrendered on the 21st, together with the whole dependencies of the island. For the above services the flankers have the exclusive privilege of bearing the words " Martinique" on their appointments. On the 17th March 1809, these companies returned to St. Kitts. The 25th regiment having left two companies to garrison Brimstone Hill, embarked on the 25th of Jan. 1810, to join the fleet under Admiral Cochrane, which rendezvoused at St. Rupert's Hay, Dominica. They composed part of the 2nd division of the army which landed at Guadalonpe, where they remained till the island surrendered ; from thence they sent detachments to take possession of St. Martin's and St. Eustatins.
On the 19th March 1813, all the detachments being called in, the regiment was collected at Beau Soleil Barracks, Guadaloupe. There they remained till the beginning of Dec. 1814, when two com- panies were sent to Antigua and the remainder to Barbudoes. On the 25th May 1815, five companies
BIRTHS AND MARRIAGES.
141
with the head quarters proceeded to Fort Royal, Martinique, where they disembarked, and occupied Fort Bourbon. The whole regiment having assembled here, they sailed on the 1st Ang. with the expedition against Guadaloupe, which disembarked on the 8th ; and the 2nd division, consisting of the 25th regiment, 4th West India, and Roy;.l York Rangers, bivouacked that night on the heights near Palnisti. On the 10th they appeared before Morne Houel, which surrendered ; and the whole island having capitulated, marched into Beau Soleil barracks that evening.
On the restitution of Guadaloupe to the French in July 1816, the 25th regiment removed to Barbadoes and St. Vincent; in these islands, they remained till June 1817. The 25th regiment having within the previous twenty-two years beent wice, unexpectedly and by ill-luck, sent to the most unprofitable and unhealthy station in tlie British dominions, having returned a skeleton in 1796 ; and now, after spending ten years (and those the most glorious in the British annals) of exile and harassing duty in the same quarter, during which they had lost by sickness more than double their original strength, were ordered home just in time to congratulate their more fortunate Peninsular brethren upon the well- merited laurels they had won.
The regiment arrived at Deptford the latter end of August 1817, and marching into Northampton- shire, were quartered at Weedon, Northampton, and Daventry : in October moved to Dudley, Coventry, Shrewsbury, and Wolverhampton. At the end of December, the whole were collected at Chatham. In May 1818, tbey moved to Hilst'a, and in December, embarked for Cork. For the ensuing seven years, they remained in Ireland, furnishing detachments to the wildest and most unfrequented places ; but were at last assembled in Dublin for three months, in the summer of 1825. While.' here, the regiment again received orders to proceed to the West Indies; they accordingly inarched to Kinsale, where they embarked in November, and sailed on Christmas-day 1825. They arrived in Barbadoes the latter end of the ensuing January, and remained there for two years ; they then removed to Demerara, where they are still stationed. The service companies embarked 516 strong, and since that have lost by sickness nearly 250 men. The depot has been quartered almos the whole of the time in Scotland, where it at present is.
BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS.
BIRTHS.
Oct. 29th. At Gibraltar, the Lady of Lieut. Stirke, 12lh Regiment, of a son.
At Belle vue Place, the Lady of Lieut. Cot- grave, R.N. of a son.
At Morice Town, the Lady of Lieut. Kennedy, of the Hermes steamer, of a son.
At Ide, near Exeter, the Lady of J. Rudall, Esq. R.N. of a daughter.
At Weymouth, the Lady of Lieut. Thomas Ca- rey, R.N. of a daughter.
At Teignmonth, the Lady of Lieut. Jennings, R.N. of a son.
At Southsea Place, the Lady of Capt. Charles Menzies, K.H. Royal Marine Artillery, of a son.
The Lady of Capt. Appleton, R.M. of a son — since dead.
Dec. 2nd. At Glasgow, the Lady of Major- Gen. Agnew Wallace, of Lochryan, of a son.
De«. 3rd. At Eaton Square, the Viscountess Falkland, of a son.
Dec. 3rd. At Sunning Hill, the Lady of N. Tinmouth, Esq. R.N. of a daughter.
Dec. 4th. At Nallington, near Farnham, the Lady of Capt. Thos. Martin, R.N. of a daughter.
Dec. 5th. At Cork, the Lady of Capt. H. E. O'Dell, H.P. 67th Regiment, of a son.
Dec. 10th. At Trinity, near Edinburgh, the Lady of Commander C. Smith, R.N. of a son.
Dec. 14th. At Summerfield, Leith, the Lady of Capt. Eyre, Royal Artillery, of a daughter.
MARRIED.
Lieut. T. W. Griffiths, R.N. son of the late Lieut. -General Griffiths, to Louisa Catherine, daughter of the late J. Griffiths, Esq. of Argyle Street, London.
At East Grinstead, Com. Rose Henry Fuller,
R.N. fourth son of the late J. Trayton Fuller, Esq. of Ashdown-house, Sussex, to Margaretta, second daughter of the late Sir R. Sheffield, Bart, of Normanby, Lincolnshire.
Nov. 29th. At Terryglass Church, Major Fir- man, 82nd Regiment, to Tryphena Anne, youngest daughter of W. Biggs, Esq. of Castle Biggs, co. Tipperary.
At East Grinstead, Capt. W. Hamilton, R.N. to Harriet, only daughter of the late R. H. Faulconer, Esq. formerly of Lewes, Sussex.
Dec. 1st. At Hamble, Capt. Thome, R.N. to Margaret Breakenrig, niece to the late Capt. Aberdour, R.N.
Dec. 3rd. At Yonghal, Capt. Charles Deane, 5th Regiment, to Mary Jolliott, eldest daughter of Richard Giles, Etq.
At St. Peter's Church, Dublin, Major Freeth, 6ith Regiment, to Emma, third daughter of An- drew Ashe, Esq.
At St. Anne's, London, Capt. Thomas Smith, 97th Regiment, to Mary Ann, daughter of Edward Chase, Esq. of Pethinghoe, Sussex.
Dec. 6th. At Wateringbury, Kent, Capt. G. Rennie, R.N. to Caroline, daughter of Matthias Prime Lucas, Esq. of Wateringbury House, and Alderman of the City of London.
Dec. 8th. At Lymiugton, Lieut. Butcher, Com- mander of the Tartar revenue cutter, to Stans- more, second daughter, and Lieut. Prowse, Com- mander of the Rose revenue cutter, to Emma, third daughter, of Wm. Ferris, Esq. of Nelson Place.
At Shirwell, near Barnstaple, Capt. G. Rude, R.N. to Miss Boyse, of Coxleigh.
Dec. 15th. At Cork, Lieut. W. L. O'Halloran, 38th Regiment, son of Gen. O'Halloran, C.B. to Eli/a Minton, eldest daughter of John Montague Smtyh, Esq. of that city.
142 DEATHS.
DEATHS. Valenciennes, and was in five actions, where he
, gained the esteem of Gen. Congreve, Sir I5rent
Nov. 31st Lient.-Colonel Rochfort, h. p. Depot Spencer> and other distinguished officers. On the
Staff. 1st Jan. 1794, he was selected for a commission in
MAJORS. tjje Royal Engineers, which was very gratifying
Jan. 1831. Downing, h. p. 81st Foot. to his personal feelings, even after a lapse of
Adye, Royal Artillery. years, when he was considered to have lost rank
Snow, Royal Marines. by it, being a profession to the duties of which he
Aug. irth. Toole, late 4th Royal Veteran Bat- was particularly attached. On his appointment
talion. to the Royal Engineers, he was sent on duty to
CAPTAINS. Plymouth, under the command of Gen. Mercer,
April 30th. Gordon, late Royal Invincibles. where he remained about two years, and was
Hodge, late of Royal Marines. then ordered to the West Indies, with two com-
Cummins, Royal Marines. panics of the Royal Military Artificers ; himself
Tucker, Royal Marines. and two of the privates only, escaped the baleful
Sept. 30th. Vicary, late 12th Veteran Battalion, effects of the climate of St. Domingo. He here
Nov. 8th. Quarme, h. p. 36th Foot. stood so high in the estimation of the Comman-
Nov. 19th. At Liverpool, Barton, 24th Foot. der-in-Chief, the late Sir Thomas Maitland, on
the evacuation of the island, in 1798, that he
LIEUTENANTS. attached him to his own personal staff, and
March 31st. O'Gorman, 31st Foot. continued his warm friend and patron during the
July 13th. Meyer, h. p. Horse Artillery Ger- remainder of his life. On returning to England,
man Leeion Was statloned at Gravesend, from which place
Aug. 3rd.' Geddes, late 9th Veteran Battalion. he was sent to the Helder' and serv<;d in the
Sept. 1st. At Nova Scotia, Passon, late 1st a"nv under the command of the Duke of York,
European Garrison Company. w,ho' in consequence of his d.stmguishcd conduct,
Sept. 9th. At Bahamas, Spence, 2nd West afterwards honoured him with testimonies of
India Regiment recollection and regard. On the troops returning
Sept. 19th. Harling, h. p. 102nd Foot. *om the Helder, he was again appointed to
Oct. 3rd. Huey, h. p. 66th Foot. Gravesend, and, in 1800, married Elizabeth, only
Nov. 17th. At Rutland Barracks, Ireland, daughter of P. Morshead, Esq. of Wicley Court,
Barrack-Master Wilkinson, Royal Artillery. ln *e co»nty of Devon- In 1801> he was ord^r^
Barry, Royal Marines. !? Portsmouth, under the command of Gen.
Robertson, Royal Marines. Eveleigh, and, in 1802, was promoted to the rank
Baker, Royal Marines. of Second-Captain, removed to the Western Dis- trict, and employed on the staff of the late Gen.
QUARTER-MASTERS. Simcoe, in 1803, as Field Engineer, relative to
Sept. 21st. Johnson, h. p. 2nd Fenc. Cavalry. the various defences at that time constructing in
Oct. 3rd. Nowlan, h. p. 5th Dragoons. expectation of the invasion by the French. In
Nov. 12th. At Brompton, Palmer, h. p. 2nd 1805> by R°yal ''cense, he took the surname of
Light Battalion German Legion. Morshead, in addition to that of Anderson. He
remained doing duty in the Western District
till 1807, when he was ordered to Ireland, and
At Ghazeepore, East Indies, Lieutenant-Col, -was employed in the Dublin District, under
Frith, 38th regiment. Gen. Fisher. Shortly after he was appointed
May 8tb. Lieutenant John Robertson, R.N. Commanding Royal Engineer to the secret expe-
on his passage from Bombay to Liverpool. dition which sailed from Cork, under the com-
At the Cocos, on his passage from Bombay to mand of Gen. Beresford, and which ultimately
New South Wales, Commodore Sir John Haves, took possession of the Island of Madeira. He
of the Bombay Marine. was recalled from Madeira previous to our troops
Nov. llth. At his residence in- Villetta, Colonel being withdrawn from that island, and was ap-
Henry Anderson Morshead, Royal Engineers, and pointed to the London District, the duties of
*ic W«D .IUMIILM 11 a vavitv in w*. AVISJHA nxuitaijr yenuu OF auove lorty years' service, in 1014, ne
Academy, at Woolwich, on the 29th May 1790, was again ordered to Ireland, and employed in
where he very soon distinguished himself amongst the Dublin District, under the command of Gen.
his contemporaries. He exerted himself so much Fyers, when a vacancy occurring in the command
when in the Upper Academy, that he became in Scotland, he was appointed Commanding
seriously ill. The examination took place before Royal Engineer of North Britain, having thus, in
the Duke of Richmond, who was Master-General one year, been on duty in the three capitals of
at that period, and who, observing his state of the United Kingdom. He was removed from
health, ordered him to be accommodated with a Scotland, in 1815, to Plymouth, as Commanding
chair, and he was examined under that indul- Royal Engineer of the Western District, in
gence, and received his first commission the 18th which he was professionally brought under the
Sept. 1793, as a Second-Lieutenant in the Royal notice of his Grace the Duke of Wellington, who,
Artillery, with a high compliment from the Duke during the time he was Master-General of the
for the zeal, attention, and character, with which Ordnance, called upon him for various reports
he had passed through the Academy. During the and projects, all of which were highly approved
campaigns of 1793, he served at the siege of of by bis Grace, as well as by the Inspector-
DEATHS.
143
manding Royal Engineer at Malta, where he con- tinued until his death, which was brought on by a violent bilious attack early in the year, which
General of Fortifications. Colonel Morshead was from the Anberge de Castile to the Old Saluting
several times called up to London, and consulted Battery, overlooking the great harbour, where it
by the Duke of Wellington and Lord Melville was directed his body should be interred, passing
respecting the works connected with the Ordnance down the Strade Mercanti, Britannica, and San
and Naval services carrying on in the west of Paolo, which were lined by the 73rd Regiment
England. His present Majesty, when Lord High and Royal Malta Fencibles, under the command
Admiral, personally directed him to carry one of of Lient.-Colonel M'Nair. On the body leaving
the colours, on the occasion of His Royal High- the Auberge, minute guns, corresponding with the
ness presenting them to the Plymouth Division of age of the deceased, were fired alternately from
Royal Marines. In 1829, he was appointed Com- Fort St. Angelo and H. M. S. Donegal. After the
funeral service had been read in an impressive manner by the Rev. J. Cleugh, Chaplain to Go- vernment, three salvos were fired from five field- so much debilitated him, that he was unable to pieces, under the orders of Capt. Wright, R.A. rally durin<; the great heat of summer : his high and three rounds from the Royal Fusileers, under military spirit would not allow him to quit his the command of Lord William Thynne — thus command, as he was determined that at the brevet paying the last sad tribute of respect to the promotion, which was so justly expected at the remains of an old and most meritorious officer. Coronation, objections should not be made against Nov. 19th. At Northallerton, Lieut. John Al- him on the plea of his being absent from his sta- fred Moore, R.N. (1811), aged 45, formerly in tion. Colonel Morshead's manners were frank command of the Rinaldo packet, and engaging, with a lively disposition ; he was Near Cork, Lieut. John Armstrong, R.E. aged fond of society, and possessed great conversational 48.
powers, with a ready command of language : he Nov. 25th. At Brighton, Capt. Henry Murray,
was also a remarkably good writer, as is shown formerly of the Coldstream Guards, youngest son
by his numerous reports and official letters, which of the late Lord George Murray,
were drawn up in a very clear and pleasing Nov. 29th. Admiral Sir Chas. Henry Knowlcs,
style, thereby rendering the subject, however Bart. Rear-Admiral of Great Britain, and one of
technical, easily intelligible. By his death, His Majesty has been deprived of the services of an
the Council to the Empress Catharine. A Me- moir of his Services will be found in the body of
active, intelligent, and most zealous officer, and our present Number,
the corps of Engineers of one of its most distin- Nov. 30th. At Bath, Commander John Ni-
guished members. His afflicted family of eleven cholas (1814), aged 44.
children have to deplore the loss of one of the Dec. 3rd. At Gosport, retired Commander Ro-
kindest and best of parents. The hospitalities of bert Arnold, R.N. aged 89.
Widey during the period he was employed in the Dec. 7th. At Stonehouse, Mr. W. Hamilton,
Western District, will long be remembered by a retired Surgeon, R.N.
la.-ge circle of friends, and a great number of Dec. 9th. At his father's house in Woolwich
brother officers of the army and navy. Colonel Dockyard, aged 21, Home, eldest son of Thomas
Morshead, being Acting Lieutenant-Governor at Brown, Esq.
the time of his decease, was buried at the public At his house, Ashford, Staines, Lieut-Colonel
expense, and directions were given by the civil George R. Deare, aged 55, late of the 8th or Royal
authorities, that every thing relative to the funeral Irish Light Dragoons,
should be conducted in a manner corresponding Retired Commander James Horn, R.N.
with the rank of the deceased, and in a way that Lieut. Jull, R.N. of the Coast Guard Service, at
should testify the general regret. From the day Weymonth,
of his death until after the funeral, the colours Dec. 14th. Capt. Francis Stanfell, R.N. upon the Palace and all the forts were lowered Dec. 15th. Robert Barton, Esq. Vice-Admiral half mast high, and the same mark of respect was of the Red Squadron, aged 79. observed by H. M. Ships in harbour, as also by At Bath, Lieut.-Colonel H. E. Gilbert Cooper, the American squadron, and all places of public 48th Regt. East India Company's Native Infantry, amusement were ordered to be closed. The He went out to India as a Cadet in 1801, and evening preceding the day of the funeral, the body joined the old 15th Regiment in 1802. He was was conveyed privately from his residence to the present with the corps in every action, storm, Auberge de Castille, and placed in one of the assault, &c. during the campaigns of Gen. Lake grand saloons of that magnificent building, which (afterwards Lord Lake,) in 1803, 1804 a«d 1805, had been appropriately prepared for the occasion, including the capture of Allyghur, battle of Delhi, and where a guard of honour was stationed. Mr. taking of Agra, battle of Lasswarree, battle of Deeg, John Morshead, one of the sons of the deceased, and at two out of the four storms of Bhurtpoor was chief mourner, supported by Commissioner under that able Commander. He also served with Briggs and Dr. Leach ; the pall-bearers were the the 15th Regiment in the Nepaul war, and con- principal naval, military, and civil officers of the tinned with that corps till his promotion to Licut.- Government, and immediately after the chief Colonel, In the course of his services, this officer mourner, followed the Acting Lieutenant-Go- held the following Staff appointments — Adjutant vernor, Lieut.-Colonel Balnraves, Commodore of his regiment, Brigade Major at Penang ; Bri- Biddle, of the American navy, the personal staff gade Major to Major-Gen. Litellus Burrell, at of Major-Gen, the Hon. Sir F. C. Ponsonby, Lucknow ; Barrack Master at Agra ; and Super- Lieutenant Governor, the Archdeacon of Malta, intendent and Director of Telegraphic Communi- and a large train of Catholic Clergy, the Foreign cations.
Consuls, all the Civil authorities, and the princi- Dec. 18th. At Leamington, Retired Comman-
pal English residents. The procession moved der Field, aged 54.
144
|
METEOROLOGICAL REGISTER, |
||||||||
|
KEPT AT THE OBSERVATORY OF CAPT. W. H. SMYTH, AT BEDFORD. |
||||||||
|
NOV. |
Six's Thermometer. |
At 3 P. M. |
Pluvia- |
Evapora- |
||||
|
1831. |
Maxim. Degrees. |
Minim. |
Baron, |
Thermo. |
Hygrom. |
meter Inches. 1 |
tor Inches. |
Winds at 3 P.M. |
|
$ i |
53-7 |
49-2 |
29-84 |
51-4 |
660 |
•420 |
•060 |
S.W. to W. fr. breezes, sq. |
|
g 2 |
53-5 |
48-4 |
29-72 |
50-8 |
672 |
•982 |
•065 |
W.S.W. blow, fresh, threat. |
|
"2£ 3 |
53-7 |
46-0 |
29-48 |
47-0 |
668 |
•030 |
•044 |
N.W. blowing hard. |
|
9 4 |
53-2 |
38-1 |
29-80 |
46-0 |
652 |
— |
•056 |
W.S.W. fr. breezes, clouds. |
|
T? 5 |
53-8 |
39-3 |
29-44 |
49-4 |
719 |
•150 |
•070 |
W. by N. light breezes, clear. |
|
© 6 |
49-4 |
38-7 |
29-45 |
48-5 |
713 |
•195 |
•064 |
S.S.K. light airs, very hazy. |
|
3> 7 |
52-3 |
37-9 |
29-50 |
50-0 |
663 |
•192 |
•070 |
S. W.toN.W. a gale, overcast. |
|
$ 8 |
56-8 |
38-4 |
29-73 |
52-5 |
697 |
— |
•055 |
W. fr. breezes, cl. breaking. |
|
$ 9 |
55-6 |
36-7 |
30-20 |
49-2 |
668 |
— |
•048 |
W.S.W. light airs, fine day. |
|
If, 10 |
45-6 |
33-5 |
30-22 |
47-1 |
712 |
— |
•044 |
S.W. light breeze, hoar frost. |
|
9 H |
56-4 |
43-0 |
29-18 |
52-6 |
764 |
•475 |
•052 |
S.W. light airs and cloudy. |
|
T? 12 |
57-0 |
51-4 |
30-27 |
53-4 |
727 |
— |
•050 |
W.N.W. light breezes, line. |
|
© 13 |
56-7 |
47-8 |
29-97 |
48-3 |
638 |
— |
•045 |
W. by N. fr. breezes, squalls. |
|
D 14 |
47-2 |
36-4 |
29-65 |
43-8 |
630 |
•163 |
•040 |
S.W. a gale, clouds rising. |
|
<? 15 |
46-7 |
33-8 |
29-42 |
420 |
678 |
— |
•046 |
W. by N. fr. breeze, foggy. |
|
^ 16 |
46-5 |
30'8 |
29-40 |
44-7 |
693 |
•110 |
•040 |
N.W. blowing fresh, with sq. |
|
Tf, 17 |
45-5 |
31-8 |
29-47 |
42-7 |
684 |
— |
•043 |
N.N.W. blowing hard, fine. |
|
9 18 |
45-0 |
30-2 |
29-50 |
39-3 |
703 |
— |
•045 |
W.N.W. fresh breeze, fine. |
|
T? 19 |
45-2 |
29-8 |
29-53 |
41-0 |
•702 |
•105 |
•035 |
W. by N. a moderate |
|
© 20 |
42-0 |
32-4 |
29-83 |
38-4 |
•708 |
•030 '036 |
W. light breezes, and fine. |
|
|
D 21 |
53-7 |
37-0 |
29-73 |
48'3 |
•900 |
•720 '048 |
S.S.W. high wind, hazy. |
|
|
$ 22 |
56-8 |
52-2 |
29-86 |
53-5 |
852 |
•270 '055 |
S.W. a gale, overcast. |
|
|
g 23 |
56-6 |
52-5 |
29-91 |
53-8 |
862 |
— -067 |
W.S.W. light breezes, fine. |
|
|
If 24 |
55-3 |
48'4 |
29-93 |
51-7 |
822 |
•025 -030 S.W. fresh breezes, squally. |
||
|
9 25 |
53'7 |
49-2 |
29-85 |
52-2 |
868 |
163 030 S.W. light breezes, fine. |
||
|
T? 26 |
52-5 |
47-0 |
30-05 |
49-6 |
820 |
•020 '050 N.N.E. It. breezes, overcast. |
||
|
© 2r |
49-4 |
36-7 |
30-30 |
48-3 |
712 |
— '020 E. by S. light airs, very fine. |
||
|
2> 28 |
43-0 |
34-6 |
30-44 |
41-5 |
725 |
— -025 E. by N. light airs, fine day. |
||
|
£ 29 |
43-7 |
29-7 |
30-26 |
41-6 |
787 |
— -028 N.N.E. It. breeze, hoar frost. |
||
|
g 30 |
45-3 320 |
30-15 |
41-3 |
805 |
•262 '026 ;N.W. fresh breeze, cloudy. |
TO READERS AND CORRESPONDENTS.
A will observe, by the " Apology" in our present Number, that the Indian Army has fair pliy at our hands, as well as zealous advocates to plead their cause, in our strictly impartial pages. Our object being solely the attainment of truth, we offer the lists fairly marshalled, and reserve ourselves as to the final award. A will thus understand why we have postponed his communication, which will remain available, if needed, for the further defence of a Force, for which we have always proved ourselves much interested.
" N. C." always welcome — unluckily too late for our present Number — destined for our next.
" M's" communication shall have our best attention.
A Memoir of Admiral Walker in our next.
Thanks lo Mr. S for his present and promised favours.
We shall endeavour to digest a satisfactory reply to " A Subaltern's " very proper query.
We can only refer " An Assistant-Surgeon, U.N." to the existing orders upon the subject of his inquiry.
Mr. F.'s plan is startling, but shall receive due consideration, and, if fitting, insertion.
" E. M. S." is associated with many other Correspondents on the same subject, the Trisection of an Angle, the investigation of which we shall assist, as far as our limits permit.
We thank Lieut. C , R.N. for his suggestion, to which we shall take an opportunity of adverting.
The letter of " C. H. S." (Devonport,) reached us too late for insertion last month. The purport is just, but at present would appear out of season.
The paper of Mr. W. (Porchester,) in our next. We shall be happy to hear further from him.
The First Letter of" A Veteran Soldier" would have been imperfect without the portion he wished expunged. We regret that his last was too late.
We feel for "An Old Soldier's" difficulty, but the quantity of our matter compels us to slew it compactly.
We request that Communications, intended for immediate insertion, may be transmitted as early as possible in the month.
145
ON THE MARITIME POPULATION OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
NO. II.
IN our Number for November last, we endeavoured to direct public attention to some of the many evils, moral and political, which certain systems and expedients resorted to by Government in the course of the French revolutionary war, have entailed upon the maritime po- pulation of the empire. We adverted to the political necessity of im- pressment, and to the positive iniquity of converting King's ships into engines of punishment for convicts and felons, as the two great causes of evil, not only to the royal but also to the commercial navy during the war ; and we trust that we satisfied our readers that the " lumper monopoly," as pursued by the Dock companies in the river Thames since the peace, has proved a most fruitful source of misery and of moral degradation to our seamen of all ranks and conditions. In offer- ing our remarks, we have been entirely guided by an honest zeal for the welfare of a most useful and interesting portion of our fellow-sub- jects ; we have pointed out errors and evils, avoiding exaggerated statement son the one hand, and querulous misrepresentation of facts on the other ; we again assert that the moral regeneration of our gal- lant tars is within reach of the legislature, and should our weak voice succeed in awakening the smallest attention to their wants and re- quirements, we shall consider ourselves most abundantly rewarded. On the subject of impressment, we have hitherto contented ourselves with merely pointing out the baneful effect of that truly singular ano- maly in the constitution of a free people ; we may call it one of the last stumbling-blocks which the feudal system has left in the way of improvement, forming a part of the royal prerogative which enabled the monarch to compel the services* of any of his subjects in a more remote period of our history — and sanctioned by imperious necessity in our own times — its discussion (particularly in time of war) was most strenuously avoided by all parties, from the wildest reformer to the most outrageous philanthropist, till our worthy friends, the Whigs, settled the matter for a time (see the Jervis Act), and decreed that the re- sistance of an impress warrant on the part of a seaman amounted to felony. We have now before us the schemes and speculations of many able and intelligent men, on the various modes of manning our fleet in case of sudden emergency, a subject worthy of our most serious con- sideration, involving, we may say, the best interests, the security, and even the existence of the empire ; and we have, moreover, the crude undigested theories of many persons who seem to have been possessed of very little ability or intelligence of any kind ; but as neither the subject of impressment, nor that of registration which has been pro- posed as a means of modifying the rigour of the impress laws, come within the purposes of our present design, (which is merely to point
* This obtained so late as the reign of James the First, who enjoyed, or at least exercised, the prerogative of employing any man (even without his consent) in any branch of public service. On one occasion he sent Sir Dudley Digges, Sir Thomas Crew, and others, commissioners to Ireland, as a punishment for opposing him in Parliament; — Hume.
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146 ON THE MARITIME POPULATION
out the evil consequences which those laws have entailed upon our maritime population,) we shall reserve the discussion for another op- portunity. Nor is it our intention to offer any farther observations on the impolicy and injustice of again having recourse to the convict system of manning our ships ; we have this satisfaction, however, that even should no compunctious visitings oppose themselves to the wishes of the civil magistrate, whoj in the event of a war, might be anxious to get rid of his vagabonds by sending them into the navy ; we have, we say, the satisfaction to know that he will not find it so easy a matter as in former times ; the days of blockading squadrons are long since passed, and the days of large fleets appear to be already numbered ; the inventions of James Watt in the nineteenth century are about to produce as vast and as important changes in the art of naval warfare, as those of the German Schwartz did upon warfare in general in the fifteenth century ; and the harbour of Navarino has in all probability witnessed the last instance of one fleet destroying another on the olden principle.
In directing the attention of our readers to the London Dock system, we have endeavoured to show the very pernicious effect produced by that scheme of monopoly upon the minds and morals of our seamen ; and we would fearlessly appeal to any one in the slightest degree ac- quainted with the subject, or who will give it one moment's consider- ation, to say, if in common justice to our seamen they ought not, not only to have permission, but even receive a decided preference in unloading those ships in which they have faithfully performed their voyages, in- stead of being cast idle upon the streets of London the moment their ship gets into dock. And we would bid all those who may wish for farther information on this most important subject, to consult some of the many benevolent individuals whose kind and affectionate endea- vours have long been directed to a higher and a holier aim, than the mere temporal welfare of our seamen ; and they will assure them that the greatest obstacle which opposes itself to the moral, the intellectual, and the religious improvement of sailors in the port of London is that remorseless system (the Dock) which sends them forth the moment they have completed their voyage, in all the gaiety of unreflecting security, to become the immediate prey of the sharpers, crimps, publicans, and prostitutes of a profligate metropolis.
The many advantages which the seamen of the metropolis would otherwise derive from the floating-chapels, schools, receiving-houses, &c. which have been established since the peace, are in a great measure circumscribed by the idleness and vice created by the Dock system. They who say that it is injudicious to encourage education amongst sailors, must have studied human nature to very little purpose, or be utterly blind to passing events. Let us consider the awful distance between the intellectual and the unthinking man, and say if it is not a thing to be wished for and rejoiced in, that our seamen should be advanced by education, we may almost say, in the scale of ex- istence. The community at large has lately had abundant expe- rience of the licentiousness, vice, and brutality proceeding from the ignorance of the lower orders in various parts of the country ; such scenes must awaken the most indolent and unreflecting to a sense not only of their duty but also of their danger, and show them that
OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 147
without universal instruction the country cannot expect to prosper. The moral and religious education of our seamen, therefore, becomes not only an act of piety and benevolence, but it is one of self-defence and self-preservation. The seamen at the outports are, generally speaking, much better behaved, both at sea and in harbour, than those from the port of London, a circumstance that may easily be traced to a somewhat better system being pursued ; for instance, they are in certain cases enabled to maintain that connection which ought at all times to exist between the sailors and the ship-owners, by being suffered to work about the ships when in harbour. This naturally encourages them to consider themselves the citizens, and not the outcasts of a free country. The education of seamen is, however, but too much neglected throughout the whole empire.
It is to the immortal honour of that great and noble-minded Prince, who so long and so ably presided over the British army, that he encou- raged universal education in that branch of His Majesty's service, and the system of instruction which he introduced, if fully carried into effect, would give to British troops a moral superiority over the soldiers of every other power on earth. We sincerely regret that a like atten- tion has not been paid to the moral and intellectual instruction of the young people in His Majesty's fleets, or in the commercial marine of the empire.
Before leaving the subject of "river monopoly," we would offer a few observations on some portions of that most magnificent and complicated machinery of impost and exaction, employed, to the no small discomfort of the citizens at large, by those who have the direction and regulation of the coal trade ; not that we feel much compassion for the worthy citizens who at this inclement season of the year are blowing their fingers, cursing the high price of coals, and wondering that the reduc- tion of duty has brought with it no reduction of price ; but that the shipping interest is, to a certain degree, concerned ; we would suffer them to wonder and blow on. It is no part of our present design to meddle with the profits or the patronage, or even the gluttony, of the worshipful corporation, so far as the land is concerned, and so peace be to fitters and meters, deputies, clerks, factors and their assistants ; may they enjoy their many good things with thankfulness. It is of whip- pers and undertakers, and gin-shop keepers, that we would speak ; those worthies to whom the monopoly of discharging coal vessels is consigned, which otherwise would be done by British seamen, as is the case in every other port in the kingdom ; and we shall show that this single item of exaction costs the citizens of London upwards of one hundred thousand tons of coals in the course of the year. But let us look for one moment to the report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons.
" The whole system by law provided for the discharge of colliers into the barges is altogether defective. The allowance made to whippers by law amounting to 3*. for each score of twenty chaldrons, being higher than the present wages of labour, much abuse has arisen in the distribution of the excess. It appears that the undertakers, who usually provide the gangs of whippers for unloading the vessels, connect themselves with publicans and shopkeepers, and compel the men whom they choose to employ to purchase liquor and goods from those persons upon very disadvantageous terms.
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148 MARITIME POPULATION OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
When put on board, the undertakers collect one-half from each of their men per day for gin and leer"*
A repeal of this law is recommended by the Committee, leaving the owners to provide their own means of unloading their ships, a recom- mendation in which we most heartily concur.
In the examination of several of the ship-masters before the Select Committee, we find the following questions and answers : —
" Q. Have your seamen so much time that if you were permitted you could employ them in unloading your cargo? — A. Yes ; we do it at all the outports.
" Q. In point of fact, you would not pay more wages if you discharged the cargo with your own men in London than you do at present? — A. I should think not.
" Q. Then, in reality, whatever you pay the whippers is so much de- ducted from the profits of the voyage ? — A. I consider it is." t
It would further appear, that the total amount of money received by the" whipper monopoly" in 1829 was 107,566^. 13*4 This, however, is but a small portion of the general expense. Let our readers look to the report, and they will there see a complicated and well-devised system for keeping up the price of coals, and adding to the patronage of the corporation. We merely mention that part of it contrived for the emolument of the contractors and gin-shop keepers, for the encou- ragement of drunkenness and gluttony amongst the labourers, and the manifest discouragement of the shipping interest of the north —
" Where bleak Northumbria pours her savage train And sable vessels "
Excellent seamen, no doubt, for home service and channel station, but, most assuredly, a people whose good opinion of themselves amounts to self-conceit : tenacious of ancient usages moreover, and looking upon improvement and innovation with all the horror of an Ultra. They are, however, the only portion of our seamen upon whom those practices, sanctioned by our necessities during the war, worked very little change. This arose from their being chiefly employed in the transport service, where they were protected from impressment ; con- gregated in fleets of transports, and left in a manner to themselves, they were enabled to preserve all their native energy and obstinacy, and fantastical conceitedness of character, pure and unadulterated. Years rolled on without producing one new idea in the minds of this people, and they remained to the last the exact counterpart of that inimitable type of his race, so well described by Falconer —
" Rodmond, whose genius never soared beyond The narrow rules of art his youth had conn'd."
The north country men generally behaved pretty well in convoy, for with them it was "out of soundings out of latitude;" this forced them to keep close to the fleet, and well in with the commodore's ship — in
* See Report of Select Committee of the House of Commons on the state of the coal trade in the port of London— Presented 31st July 1830. •f See Select Report, page 215. $ Ditto, page 1 1.
REGULARS AND TRAINED BANDS. 149
harbour they were more difficult to manage. We held sway amongst the transports in the harbour of Passages for a short time (having been sent from our frigate as acting agent), and know from experience how difficult it is to rule over a fleet of men " wise in their own conceit." It has always been to us a matter of deep regret that the north country monopolised so much of the transport service during the war, a circum- stance which, in a great measure, deprived His Majesty's navy of the services of a class of people who, according to themselves, would have formed its peculiar ornament.
N. C.
REGULARS AND TRAINED BANDS.
WHETHER the recent disturbances at Lyons had their origin in the workings of political faction, or should more properly be considered to have arisen solely from commercial embarrassment and distress, we do not take upon ourselves to decide. A decision on this point is by no means essential to us, whose principal design is to single out from the other events on that occasion the conduct of the National Guard, as affording sufficient proof of the pernicious tendency of a measure, which has been vehemently recommended to the adoption of our Government. Over and over again has it been asserted, that the establishment of a Civic Militia throughout the kingdom, is the only way of providing permanently for the preservation of internal peace. Did those who have told us so, expect us to take their simple assertion as a ground for implicit belief, without applying to it the test of even recent or present experience ; or turning our eyes to the neighbouring people, among whom their favourite scheme has had its fair trial ? Even be- fore the late insurrection of the second city of France, had we not sufficient means of ascertaining the effect produced on the tranquillity of that kingdom, by introducing among its population, military organi- zation and the use of arms ? We need not go back to the year 1827, when the Minister Villele felt it necessary to dissolve by a single ordinance, the entire National Guard of Paris, a body of 40,000 men. Their seditious conduct, it is true, had arisen to such a height, that at a review, they had publicly resisted the capture of a soldier ordered into arrest by the Commander the Due de Reggio— but this, it may be alleged, occurred in the days of the despot, Charles X. Have they then, since Louis Philippe ascended the throne, with the exception of the affair at Lyons, always conducted themselves in such a manner as to deserve the confidence of Government ? Let the royal ordinance for their dissolution at Perpignan give the answer. Was there not again reason to fear, lest the French ministry should, by the inter- ference of these military citizens, be precipitated into a war with Rus- sia ? Undoubtedly, the interest taken in the cause of the struggling Poles, and the abhorrence expressed against their oppressors, may have been highly honourable to the National Guard as individuals — but when, as an armed force, they obtruded their opinions on the Govern- ment, and endeavoured to intimidate it into measures, from which, however strongly urged to them by the impulse of its own feelings, it was deterred only by a calm consideration of consequences, the impo-
150 REGULARS AND TRAINED BANDS.
licy and danger were clearly exhibited of putting a populace into a condition to dictate to the supreme power. Indeed, the assumption of control over government by a body of men, whom neither their intel- ligence nor property so much as their mere physical strength entitle to consideration, is the natural consequence of a Civic Militia, even granting it effectual for the purpose for which its advocates have prinr cipally recommended it, namely, the maintenance of internal tranquil- lity. But did it prove itself adapted to secure so important a benefit on a former occasion at Strasbourg, where a part of the National Guard assisted the mob in exciting riots against the local taxes ? As to their conduct at Lyons, it is so notorious as to render it hardly necessary to state here, that, of the 20,000 who had been enrolled and armed as guar- dians of the public peace, while some actually joined the ranks of the insurgents, the rest, generally speaking, were after a slight opposition disarmed, and, abandoning their uniforms, subsequently consented to mount guard with those very workmen by whom they had been so disgracefully beaten. Another instance of their inefficiency, as a police occurred still more recently at Grenoble, where, when summon- ed to quell a riot, a part only of the National Guard answered to the call, and it was found necessary to employ the troops of the line.
The argument we would draw from the effects of a National Guard in France against the introduction of such a force among ourselves, may be thought to be weakened by the contrary instance of the United States of America, where the subordination of the people and the tranquillity of the country is assumed to result from their extensive militia. But it should be recollected, that while the consequences of a political measure, brought into operation in France under a limited monarchy like our own, may afford sufficient materials for estimating the probable effects of a similar scheme with us, there exists no such analogy between the constitutions of England and the Western Re- public as to justify the inference, that what succeeds in the one will also succeed in the other. We deny, however, that the Militia contri- butes to the preservation of peace throughout the American States. That inestimable blessing is the effect of circumstances over which the acts of government can have little control. The equal distribution of wealth, peculiar to infant societies, prevents both the arrogance of superior and the envy of inferior rank. In a country too of which so large a portion is yet to be occupied, and which consequently still con- tinues to offer, to an unlimited extent, a new and unappropriated field for successful exertion and enterprize, who would involve himself in the strife and contest that ensue from asserting a claim to rights or privileges, or advantages already in possession ? But when in the course of time wealth, by accumulating in various proportions amongst different parts of the community, shall have formed distinct ranks and orders, and the population shall have increased to such a degree as to bring opposite and conflicting interests into collision, the American will then find himself surrounded by a more troubled element — and the commotion, should it have once arisen, far from being assuaged, may be excited to tenfold violence by that very Militia which is now made the boast of the nation. That we may not appear to be drawn aside from the fair line of reasoning by our military predilections, we cite, in confirmation of our opinion, the words of an eminent divine ; one, how-
REGULARS AND TRAINED BANDS. 151
ever, no less distinguished by his moral and political than by his theo- logical writings. Dr. Paley says,
" To me it appears doubtful whether any/Government can be long secure, where the people are acquainted with the use of arms, and accustomed to resort to them. Every faction will find itself at the head of an army. Every disgust will excite commotion, and every commotion become a civil war. Nothing, perhaps, can govern a nation of armed citizens, but that which governs an army — despotism. I do not mean that a regular Govern- ment would become despotic, by training its subjects to the knowledge and exercise of arms, but that it would, ere long, be forced to give way to despotism in some other shape, and that the country would be liable to what is even worse than a settled and constitutional despotism — to perpetual re- bellions and to perpetual revolutions, to short and vioJent usurpations, to the successive tyranny of governors, rendered cruel and jealous by the danger and instability of their situation."
This is the secret of the actual state of France ; and we sincerely hope the day may never come, when this picture will assume a fearful reality in the case of our transatlantic brethren ; but we must never- theless express our belief, that by constituting themselves a " nation of armed citizens," they have but ill provided for the permanency of that peace which they at present enjoy, and which, we again repeat, is to be ascribed to the circumstances of the society and country in which they are placed.
But if the American Militia be no security for the tranquillity of the Republic, still less can it be considered a means of strengthening the hands of Government. On the contrary, an executive whose utmost constitutional power barely suffices to give it any proper degree of efficiency, has been by this " physical expression of the national sove- reignty " rendered yet more feeble, and reduced almost to a cypher. The same thing, in other words, is expressed in the following intended eulogy of the Union.
" In the American system, the superior power is in the nation, which has reserved to itself the means both of manifesting and enforcing its will. The House of Representatives is the organ it employs for the first of these pur- poses, the militia for the second : these together constitute the moral and physical expressions of national sovereignty." *
Thus it was not thought sufficient that the deliberations and acts of Congress should be subject to the influence of public opinion, which over every member, in the lower house especially, must, from the very nature of the tenure whereby he holds his seat, exercise a most power- ful control ; but a formidable array of physical force has been exhi- bited, the more effectually to convert this legislative assembly into the mere instrument which may give force and permanence to the popular feelings of the day. Where, then, is opportunity left for the Govern- ment to pursue a course of sound and enlightened policy ; or where the use of consultation to devise, or discussion to recommend, measures of the greatest expediency, if popular ignorance or prejudice may present a barrier beyond which no enactment can pass? Fortunate, indeed, it is for the American Republic to be placed contiguous to no powerful state ; she would otherwise soon have, it were to be feared, a practical sense of the evils naturally consequent on a weak and imbecile execu-
* Lieut. Hall's Travels in Canada and the United States, 1818, p. 531.
152 REGULARS AND TRAINED BANDS.
live. The national concord may, however, at some future period be in- terrupted in consequence of those changes in the state of society which the course of time and events will certainly introduce, and the military organization of her citizens may then be discovered fruitful only in supplying the elements and materials for civil war — and in the event of such a calamity she would, even without the hostility of a formidable and neighbouring power, experience the bitter fruits of inability in the Government to obtain a certain and speedy execution to measures, whose efficacy and success depend on the moment when they are applied, and the despatch with which they are accomplished. The ad- vocates for the institution of a British " Conservative Guard " have therefore, in proposing France and America as models for imitation, shown in the first instance, how possible it is for plausible ingenuity to pervert, and in the other, for impetuous zeal to mistake the plainest lessons of experience.
The superiority of a Standing Army to a Militia, all history concurs to prove ; a superiority so decided, that no advantage of numbers on the side of the latter, can enable them to compete with the more regu- larly exercised troops. It was by a Standing Army, small indeed, but which had been embodied and kept in constant service by his father Philip, that Alexander so easily effected the conquest of the Persian empire. His 30,000 veterans were more than a match for the millions of an ill- disciplined Militia. It was a Standing Army in the hands of Hannibal, that made the Roman empire shake to its very centre. The forces with which he ventured to encounter the lion, even in his den, had, previous to the passage of the Alps, passed through many years of hard service both in Africa and in Spain. His reverses only commenced, when the enemy, by a long course of opposition, had acquired that discipline and organisation, in which they were originally deficient — after they had ceased, in fact, to be a mere Militia. From this time Rome maintained a Standing Army, and rose, in consequence, to that supreme dominion, which she retained till the decline of disci- pline among her troops left her an easy prey to the savage hordes of the north. The armies congregated on the frontiers of the empire, having, in several instances, shown themselves ready to second the pretensions of any favourite general who aspired to the throne, were at length, by the jealousy of the Emperors, broken up, and permanently quartered in small bodies through the provincial towns. They thus degenerated into a Militia, which gave but a feeble check to the pro- gress of the northern invader ; for though the contest lay with an enemy as undisciplined as they had themselves become, the Militia of a barbarous nation has ever proved itself superior in the field to that of a more civilised people. This is what ought to be expected. It is impossible that the character formed by the peaceful and retired habits of civilised life, should receive any permanent change in the case of men, whose minds are occupied only occasionally and at long intervals by attention to military duties ; in such persons the distinguishing qualities of the mere citizen will always predominate over those of the soldier: on the other hand, the active and bustling occupations of savage society, the familiarity with danger, and the necessity for a con- stant state of self-defence which belong to it, have all a tendency to produce that strength of nerve and coolness in the moment of action, which is among the happiest effects of regular military discipline.
REGULARS AND TRAINED BANDS. 153
But Modern History, it may be imagined, furnishes a remarkable exception to the rule, which the records of earlier times appear to sanction, and the success, which attended the exertions of the Provin- cial Militia of the North American Colonies, in the war which esta- blished their independence, may be thought to supply an irrefragable argument against those who, in the present day, insist on the inferior- ity of that description of force. The Militia of the Colonies had, however, been placed in circumstances well fitted to make them sol- diers, and give them, in some degree, the characteristic qualities of a regular army. Exposed, as they had been, for a series of years to the attacks of the Indians and the encroachments of the French, and left, for the most part, by the mother country to their own exertions, they had felt the necessity of remaining constantly in a state to repel inva- sion, and in their frequent appeals to arms, they had acquired consi- derable practical knowledge of military affairs. The troops sent from England, we should also remember, were so insignificant in point of numbers, as even to elicit on more than one occasion, from the Opposi- tion in Parliament, the remark, that the Ministry, if resolved to persist in a course of compulsory measures with regard to America, should con- duct them on a scale more suitable to the magnitude of the object in view — the i-eduction of an entire continent to obedience. The American forces had moreover the advantage of an intimate acquaintance with the localities of the country, and, what was sufficient to compensate for every deficiency on their side, obtained supplies of every kind, with a faci- lity strikingly contrasted with the difficulty and danger which attended every effort on our part to procure the most ordinary necessaries. The Militia did not, however, with all these circumstances in its favour, prove itself a match for our army. By the losses and defeats of a single year, Washington was so convinced of his inability to meet us in the field, that he resolved, in imitation of the Roman general, qui cunctando reslituit rem, to avoid, as far as was practicable, all risk of an engagement, and leave us to be vanquished by the difficulties of our situation. The successes towards the conclusion of the war, which im- mortalised his name, were achieved by the combined exertions of his own troops, who had by this time acquired the advantages of discipline, and of the well-trained soldiers of France.
We may then safely assert, that the utmost amount to which our Militia could be raised, would not permit any great reduction of our Regular Army without a corresponding loss of rank and diminution of our influence as a European power. Could we interfere, or our inter- ference have weight in questions of foreign policy, if in the scale of military strength we were known to be below many of the subordinate states? Even our naval supremacy, though in the event of war it might guard our commerce, and could, if necessary, create embarrass- ment to every other maritime power, would lose half its value, did we not keep a sufficient land force to follow up and secure the advantages it had conferred upon us.
With regard to our Colonial possessions, could we retain any hold of them were the Army once superseded by a Militia ? Or would it be thought enough to make an exception in favour of the troops occupied in foreign service, and fix the limit, below which reduc- tion should not be carried, at 30,000, about the amount of force generally so employed ? The idea is absurd. In many of our Colo-
154 REGULARS AND TRAINED BANDS.
nies, a few years' residence is found to diminish the strength of a regi- ment by at least a half. How then are the vacancies to be filled up, unless from an Army maintained at home? The old and exploded system too, by which the same regiment was kept abroad, sometimes for a period of twenty years together, had a most fatal effect on the habits and discipline of our troops. Banished for so long a time from their friends and their home, doomed to spend a great portion of their lives in an uncongenial climate and country, and receiving for all their toils and privations so trifling a pecuniary recompense, they saw little to be gained by superior good conduct ; and self-interest, the most pow- erful and universal of motives, ceased to exert any favourable influence over them. But, should the Army be reduced to the bare number re- quired to occupy the Colonies at any one time, the sentence of expatri- ation would actually be for life. What gentleman of talents, or character, or real merit, would, under such circumstances, accept of a commission in the service ? It is then the interest of England at all times to maintain such a force at home, as may supply a continued succession of troops for foreign service,* and enable a regiment to return after a term of residence abroad, which (with the exception of India) ought not to be much longer than three or four years. Even a general disarmament on the part of the other great powers, would not be a reason for the adoption of that measure by the Government, which is placed in the singular situation of having to attend to the concerns of a vast Colonial empire.
To Mr. Hume, and the other advocates for reduction on the score of economy, we would address a few plain questions. Is it not with na- tions as with individuals, that their rights are more likely to be re- spected, when they are known to possess the power of visiting the infringement of them with speedy punishment, than when the vio- lators may hope to escape with impunity ? And does not the facility, with which war can be entered upon, thus often become a security for the enjoyment of peace ? Let us suppose a case. A regard merely to our colonial interests would not perhaps admit of a much greater re- duction in the army-estimates for the year than one million. Now, if by incurring an annual expenditure to that amount, we multiply the chances of escaping an event, which may cost the nation fifty or a hundred millions, do we not, in abstaining from the reduction, act ac- cording to those grounds of probability and principles of prudence by which the most rigid economy is guided ? Look at the expense, in which with a greatly reduced military establishment, the mere pro- spect of a war would involve us. Men must be enlisted on any terms, the recruits would for a long time be actually useless, and lie a dead weight on the country, and various preparations must in the mean time be continued at great cost, till such an exhibition of force be made as may awe the enemy into submission. But, should his obsti- nacy make it necessary to actually unsheath the sword, who can cal- culate the loss that might arise from a delay simply occasioned by the unprepared state of the army ? The favourable moment for striking the blow, may have passed away in the interval, and a war, which an early appearance in the field might have brought to a speedy and suc-
* See the convincing statement of the Quarter-Master-General before the Finance Committee, published in a former Number of this Journal.
REGULARS AND TRAINED BANDS. 155
cessful termination, may for a length of years continue to exhaust the resources of the country. Considered in another point of view also, the support of a considerable standing army would appear in perfect accordance with a judicious system of economy : for it will not be questioned, that, in a case either of foreign invasion or insurrection at home, all the services to be expected from a National Militia would be better performed by a regular force, not more than a fifth of the number.
But of all the objections to a Standing Army, at once the most popu- lar and futile is, the danger with which it is said to threaten a people's liberties. History does certainly furnish three very memorable instances, in which a usurpation of despotic power was effected through the instru- mentality of a devoted soldiery. Caesar, at the head of his legions, set at defiance the commands of the Roman senate, and in the end deprived it of all real authority ; Cromwell, supported by his fanatical, but well- disciplined troops, first dictated to the Long Parliament, and then by an act of the most flagrant tyranny dissolved it ; and Buonaparte dis- persed at the point of the bayonet the pseudo-deputies of the French nation. In each of these cases, however, it was the imbecility of the executive, and the contempt and unpopularity into which the legis- lature had fallen, which left the way open for a favourite general to arrive at the summit of power, and centre all authority in his own person. The Roman senate had never enjoyed the confidence of the people, since the seditions consequent on the agitation of the Agrarian law, and Sylla, by afterwards filling it with his own creatures and de- pendants, destroyed in a great measure its character and dignity. As to the Government in the time of Caesar, its total inefficiency is mani- fest from the mere existence of the Triumvirate, a coalition which, though recognised by no law, acquired notwithstanding the control of the whole empire. The Parliament which Cromwell turned out of doors, too, was not the same assembly which had carried on a suc- cessful war against the hereditary King of England, but a despicable remnant, which the secession of the Presbyterian party had deprived of the respect and sanction of the nation. As for an executive, there was absolutely nothing which by way of distinction from Parliament de- served the name. Equally contemptible was the Directory, which had undertaken to discharge the functions of government in the days of the French republic. What influence or authority could it have possessed, when even its own personal guard, deserting it, joined the forces under Buonaparte ? The Council of Deputies was, perhaps, a more respect- able legislative body than the Rump Parliament, but it had been in existence too short a period to have engaged on its side the feelings of the nation ; and the ill success of its measures had moreover excited universal dissatisfaction. In all the above cases, turbulence and revo- lution had shaken legitimate government, and no universally recog- nized authority existed. From such instances therefore, to infer that the army might, in the hands of a government and under a constitu- tion like ours, prove fatal to popular liberty, betrays equal ignorance of the change actually effected in each usurpation, and of the state of affairs which prepared the \ ay for it. It argues an equally mistaken view of the principles and composition of the British Army. The Regular Force is not the quarter from which danger to the liberties and power of the British People may be apprehended.
156
THE SOLDIER.
IT has been my fortune, in consulting an old library for some military works, to meet with a curious Italian tactical treatise, en- titled " The Soldier, by M. D. Mosa, of Bologna," and which pro- fesses to have been written at the commencement of the seventeenth century (1620). It opens with a preface, in tactical treatises un- usual, containing a declaration of the mental and personal quali- fications requisite to form the soldier, no less than the gentleman. A translation of this preface I now lay before you.
The personal acquirements necessary for the warrior must, of course, depend materially on the strategetical systems of the day : the mental must always be the same, being based upon the immut- able principles of honourable feeling, which have existed in all ages, though at times exercising a more or less obvious influence on the human race.
With this noble and soldier-like feeling our author would seem to be thoroughly imbued ; and though his reasonings be somewhat quaint, and his deductions obscure, yet the undying spirit of chivalry glows through every line of his confession of faith, and gives lustre and stability to every joint of that noble panoply with which he would fain invest his perfect warrior. Neither has he forgot that religion is a necessary ingredient in the perfect military character ; he would rather seem to ask with Macchiavelli, in his " Art of War,"
" In quale debbe esser piu timore d'Idclio, che in colui che ogni di sotto- mettendosi ad infiniti pericoli, ha piu bisogno degli ajuti suoi."
He proposes for imitation no fanciful degree of excellence, no romantic exercise of valour or self-command ; he merely reminds us of those feelings which we all possess, although we may have allowed them to wither in the blaze of passion, or droop unregarded in the chill of apathy.
As, however, I would fain hope that the days of feudal ferocity and mercenary barbarism have alike passed away : and that war will henceforward be but a contest of honourable foes, where the sword shall be sheathed when resistance is at an end, I shall make no further apology for obtruding the reveries of an old tactician on the indulgence of your readers.
With one word I will conclude. The instructions and advice as to the attainments of an officer, would seem to have been dictated by a soldier of the present day ; and, in fact, with but slight altera- tions, the passage in question would have appeared equally applica- ble from the pen of a Napier as from that of a Mosa.
Au-MoRT. IL SOLDATO. Book I. cap. 1. Of such persons as may of right style themselves soldiers and honourable cavaliers.
SINCE in this noble and glorious subject I employ my pen and tongue, to celebrate the great qualities of those men who freely .choose rather to die with honour than live without it, or allow it to
THE SOLDIER. 157
be m any way compromised by their professions ; I am in doubt whether I may be permitted to invoke the gods to assist me making mention of such things as appertain to soldiers and honourable gentlemen.
But, for that their ineffable kindness has never refused just and lawful countenance to whomsoever has prostrated himself meekly before them, I will yet dare to obtest them : knowing that they have with the breath which issues from their most sweet lips hereto- fore, by the harmony of most persuasive speech alone, gathered together wandering tribes ; that they have originated laws, ruled nations, animated the timid, restrained the fierce, assisted the dis- tressed, consoled the wretched, protected friends, and vanquished enemies ! Therefore do I hope to be still remembered of them.
I affirm then, that since honour is an incorruptible quality of nature, with regard to the mental powers, inseparable from the gentleman, (being innate, while he hath no perception of this sense of honour, not yet having discretion,) that they who have no dis- cernment of vice and virtue, may be praised on one occasion and blamed on another, since they know not what they do.
Wherefore no one can follow the profession of arms before that he acquire a true and complete knowledge of the laws of honour and the duties of a soldier. For as he may not call himself a finished musician who knows not the rules of harmony, how much soever he may scream, seeing that the very cock screameth, and is never- theless no musician, but an irrational animal ; and since " the habit makes not the monk," nor screaming the musician : in like manner neither do the wearing of weapons, the enduing of trappings, the enjoyment of privileges and dignities, but virtue, and the practice thereof, constitute the cavalier, the soldier, and the honourable gentleman.
Moreover, I say, that there exists no difference between fortunate cavaliers and those who, albeit well practised in arms, are yet un- privileged : save that of good and false coin, the which, although it be baee and illegal, bears the very and revered image of a monarch. Wherefore he alone ought to style himself cavalier and soldier who has, for six or seven years, blamelessly and with reputation, served under the conduct of warlike captains ; since I judge it not possible but in that time he must have learned all that is requisite in the pro- fession of arms and the devoirs of knighthood. During that time he should have been present at at least one stricken field, one service of artillery, one assault, and one siege ; in time of peace he ought to have lived soberly and virtuously, according to the dictates of honour.
Nor should it avail any misproud ambitious man to seek, either by king-conferred dignities (and God knows wherefore), or the be- queathed power of their predecessors (perhaps dishonourably ac- quired), or descent from illustrious ancestors, to seek, I say, to take precedence of those noble warriors, who have by virtue and valour gained advancement, albeit they enjoy it without the grace of princes or the privileges of favourites ! For we ofttimes see harsh and ungrateful fruit spring from a most beautiful stock ; as the sorb- apple, which if it be not tempered and ripened by the influence of
158 THE SOLDIER.
seasons is harsh and unpleasant to them who taste it. And again, such as are coxcombs, ignorant, and dissipated, while they would fain plume themselves on the renown of their forefathers (all honour- able as it was), and bring to mind the memory of their virtues, do but light a torch for the more clear exposition of their own baseness !
I maintain then, that honour is the reward of virtue, the most true and exalted good in a perfect life, the greatest felicity of the well- nurtured mind, the standard of every action, the free aspiration of the noble spirit, that it will never be in the power of any whomso- ever to cause this man to be more esteemed than that, than his merits and endowments warrant ; and that as it can never be lost, save by individual weakness and deficiency, so it may not be ac- quired but by personal virtue and intrepidity.
Princes will be and are able to " give the world assurance" of the merits of a cavalier and an esteemed warrior, but can never grant that he should, by means of the advancement conceded to him, be brave and true, since he may be vile and infamous.
Also the title of " Captain" makes not the warrior, but service in the open field ; not gay crosses and gilt swords, but deeds of arms that stamp the knight ; seals and patents make not men brave and worthy ; nor do gowns and books, but an active and evident know- ledge and piety make doctors and reverend persons.
*****
But let this be understood in a general way ; for who can doubt but that by how much he is of a more acute genius and profound knowledge, he will become the more able warrior and officer ? Of this we have numberless instances in history, of which, for the avoidance of prolixity, I do not intend either in this, or other por- tions of the work to avail myself; being well assured how delightful the useful and necessary records of the art military are to the soldier when expressed with brevity.
And Aristotle in his 8th Book, De Politeia, says, " That no one can be a thorough soldier who is not possessed of some branch of learning." In addition to many other reasons, he will never be able to construct a fortress in the most skilful possible manner, nor as- sign the reason why one is better than another ; nor in mutinies and seditions of the soldier either convince, or by his discourse produce favourable results.
But, since verity is unpalatable, I affirm, pretermitting this argu- ment, that he who would journey in the path of knights and war- riors, should be acquainted with history and geography.
With geography, that he may be able to conduct an army with the greatest facility from his acquired knowledge of rivers, moun- tains, and the like dangerous passes for troops ; and with history, that he may recollect the observations of our preceptors, the ancients, in like junctures.
He is, besides, most assuredly bound to understand the vernacular tongue ; and of consequence the Latin in some degree ; as other- wise he would become, (as saith the philosopher,) " a beast among men," being ignorant of that which befits a cavalier of note (!)
Whence I affirm that he cannot be thoroughly a soldier who is
THE SOLDIER. 159
void of such knowledge, and who does not know how to plan so much as to throw up a work, or fortify a position according to cir- cumstances. To this end he should have an intimate acquaintance with the practice of artillery; since it alone is serviceable for the levelling such holds, and the destruction of fortresses. And as effects are deduced from causes, so by the result a powerful de- fence may be offered from a thorough knowledge of such things.
It will, therefore, be very useful to an officer to have such mecha- nical practice, as may suffice him upon occasion to form a model either in wood or other durable material, that he may be able to note the elevation of a work, and the probability of success, during its progress. An art, in fact, of no small importance, and of sin- gular advantage to the constructor of the model.
At least, let him be able to form a body of men for the defence of a work ; to lead them into battle when opportunity offers ; to assault with advantage when his artillery shall have played upon any fort ; together with the art of artificial fire- works, and other military in- ventions. Let him live peaceably, soberly, and chastely, not for- getting to render those thanks to God, which are the bounden duty of every Christian, at least once each day ; to which the soldier is the rather obliged, that he lives in perpetual danger of destruction, with the grievous catalogue of his sins unrepealed. All which things, if practised and performed by any, shall doubtless render him worthy of the titles of soldier, cavalier, and honourable gen- tleman.
It behoves him, moreover, in time of peace, to employ himself in virtuous undertakings, in labours and in hardships, rather than luxury and wantonness. Such for instance are warlike games ; riding, leaping, hurling the javelin ; which make men dexterous, active, and able to endure fatigue. For from relaxed discipline issues for the most part the ruin of states, and of armies, who with- out it are of no utility.
Also say I, that he alone is a soldier, who desires no other ad- vantage from war than to defend his neighbours, and the right cause, united to the attainment of glory and honourable rank ; and to drive away and punish such as proceed in it with zeal to pillage and murder, to commit sacrilege, rape, and every foul deed.
Hence, it is evident, that such are not soldiers as live in continual strife -and quarrellings in quarters ; although in truth, they go forth to every petty skirmish in rank but with unserviceable equipments, with the prospect of a return in two months.
For these are wavering, fickle, and unfit for the discipline of war, and the preservation of the kingdom ; since they are of small ser- vice, save to strut in the streets with flaunting plumes, continually thrusting with their swords, and confirming every word with " by the honour of a soldier ;" as do some who through favour assume the cavalier.
***** *****
160
RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE.*
BY A MIDSHIPMAN OF THE LAST CENTURY.
DURING my absence from the ship an incident occurred which con- firms me in the recollection that the officers were permitted to carry their side-arms when they went on shore, and that on this occasion I had on the little dirk which formed part of a midshipman's uniform. We had got the stores into the boat, and when I directed the crew, who were placed thus questionably under my command, to come into her that we might go on board, one of them told the rest that they may follow that cheese-toaster (meaning my dirk) if they liked, but he was not disposed to go off yet. However, the rest were disposed, and my independent gentleman came with us. As we rowed down the harbour on our way back to the ship, this man seemed but ill re- conciled to his disappointment, and I could not help feeling some anxiety to get fairly out of the harbour, and past the Point. As we approached this scene of fiddling, fighting, and drinking, my trouble- some friend proposed that they should go on shore to have a glass of grog. I knew very well what the consequences would be if they went on shore at this place, so I set strenuously to work, and used all my rhetoric to prevent it, and seizing hold of the tiller, gave the boat a broad yard out from that side of the harbour. I was joined in my views by some of the more considerate, and while the matter was under discussion a strong ebb tide swept us past the Point, so that we could not easily have regained it, and we proceeded on board. Had we landed at the Point, besides the unpleasant and solitary charge of the boat and stores, that would have devolved upon me for an indefinite number of hours, among many boats' crews more mutinous than my own, and who knew me only by my midshipman's jacket and " cheese-toaster" which would have been no recommendation to them, I foresaw also the predicament of going off to the ship with a part only of my boat's crew, and they in a state of drunkenness. Such conduct would have been visited with severe chastisement by the ringleaders of the mutiny if I had complained of it ; but besides that this would have been no satisfaction to me, an appeal to them was of course out of the question.
This state of things had continued some days, during which our delegates attended the meetings, when they began to exercise the power they possessed, and one man who had been guilty of some very bad conduct was severely punished by being flogged, and ducked from the fore-yard-arm. The fellow's punishment was just enough, but such a measure, adopted without any appeal to the officers, brought a very unpleasant conviction of their situation.
The crew, who had at first declared that they had no complaint to make of their officers, now discovered that they did not like the surgeon, the boatswain, the chief-master's-mate (day-mate as he is called from not keeping a watch). Although this officer has no night- watch to keep, he is expected to be on the alert at all times, night and day, when any thing of consequence is going on. He is the chief
* Continued from pnge 48.
RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE. 161
assistant of the first lieutenant in stationing the men at their various duties, and in regulating the order and cleanliness of the ship in all parts below the deck. The enforcing of these duties often brings him into collision with the men, and requires a shrewdness and promptitude that is not always accompanied with that cheerfulness and good temper which are requisite to render such an officer agreeable to them. The same may be said of the boatswain. What their objection to the sur- geon was, I do not know. However, these officers were told that they could not be allowed to remain in the ship any longer. A boat was manned for them, and they were landed at Point Beach, with their chests and bedding. Another instance occurred of the men taking the law into their own hands in a case that was more offensive to the feelings of the officers than the former, but they could not prevent it.
The doctor's loblolly-boy fell under their displeasure : this personage (I speak of the year 1797) was generally some poor helpless sort of creature ; not often a boy, as the name imports. His business was to spread plasters, to ring the bell for patients to come to the surgeon, and to do all the drudgery of waiting on the sick in the capacity of scullion. Evan Hughes was rather a superior sort of person in this station ; tidy in his dress and respectable in his demeanour, he united to the above occupations that of waiting upon the doctor as his servant — I beg pardon of the College of Physicians, but I like to retain old names ; our surgeon used to be so called : neither had we any assistant- surgeons in those days — but doctor's mates. The inten- tion, then, of the rnen to turn the doctor out of the ship, was known to the officers before it had been announced, and Evan Hughes was sus- pected of the heinous offence of betraying the secrets of the mutineers. What the amount of evidence against him was, I never heard, but they deemed it sufficient to inflict upon him the severe punishment of duck- ing from the foreyard-arm. When poor Evan was warned of his dan- ger, by some expressions towards him of this sinister purpose, in vain did he run to the midshipman's berth for sanctuary. To receive him and stow him under the table was the first proposal, but it was soon recollected that he must have been seen to come in, and that the mid- shipmen's berth would be considered as open to search by the men in their present circumstances. One youngster thought of stowing him in his chest, but, besides that it was hardly big enough, it was outside of the berth, and the operation could not fail to be observed. It was at last decided that he should go to his late master's cabin, which opened from within the gun-room (the mess-room of the officers). To this place he found his way, but was soon made sensible that there was no security for him even here, by the parley which he overheard between the sentinel at the gun-room door and his ruthless pursuers, of whom six or eight had been despatched to bring him on the forecastle. As in the case of a machine, which will continue its motion for a time after the moving power has been taken off, so the routine of cleaning the ship, and some other matters that did not interfere with the mutiny, went on, and among them that of planting the sentinels at their accustomed posts with the usual orders. The sentinel at the gun-room door had orders to keep his post clear, and to prevent intrusion into the gun-room. I wish I could say, for the honour of the marine corps of that day, that any spirited attempt was made to enforce that order in
U. S. JOURN. No. 39. FEB. 1832. M
162 RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE.
the present instance ; but I must not. Evan Hughes was dragged from his hiding-place, and brought on the forecastle before the assembled crew, who were to be his accusers, judge, jury, and executioners.
The yard-rope rove in a block, or pulley, at the foreyard-arm, was led through one at the mast-head, and from thence by one at the foot of the mast was laid along the deck, so that a number of men could take hold and pull upon it while they walked or ran along. From the pulley at the yard-arm the other end of this rope came down to a plat- form fastened at the cat-head (the projecting beam to which the anchor is attached when not in use). This, so far, is the same preparation as that made for hanging a criminal. The outer end of the rope, which was thus brought to the cat-head, instead of being applied to the neck of the victim, had, in this case, an iron crow-bar fastened to it by the middle, which, lying across the direction of the rope, formed an uneasy seat, upon whicli the subject of this severe discipline was placed. The rope from the crow-bar passed up between his legs, and his hands were tied to it above his head. A little above the place where his hands were fastened there was attached a toggle, or small piece of wood, the use of which was to prevent the rope from passing so far through the pulley at the yard-arm as to bring his hands in contact with it. At a given signal the men stationed to take hold of the inner end of the rope ran away with it, and poor Evan Hughes flew up to the yard-arm until the toggle came against the pulley. Here he was suspended for a few seconds, and then the rope was let go within board, and allowed to run while he fell from a height of about forty feet into the water. The end of the rope on board was again pulled upon — again our poor Welshman appeared at the yard-arm, and was allowed to hang there many seconds " to dry" — again he was let down. This rigorous treat- ment was repeated until he had been three times immersed.
While these things were going on, the ringleaders continued their correspondence with the Government respecting the terms on which they would return to their duty. These terms, as I have said, were a compliance with their first demand, without abatement or enlargement. But before I mention the settlement of this very unpleasant business, I must refer to one more incident illustrative of the spirit in which it was carried on.
In a frigate, that part of the hold called the spirit-room is situated far aft, and is thus distant from the hatchways, which open one over the other through all the decks, from the hold upward : the spirit-room hatchway opens no further upwards than through the lower deck, so that when a cask of spirits is got up, it is first hoisted thus far, and then removed to another hatchway to be got upon deck. To avoid this double operation being repeated every day when the allowance for the men was to be drawn off, it was the custom on board the P to re- turn the present-use cask of spirits to the provision-hold only, instead of the spirit-room. To the hatches of this provision-hold there had been a bar and padlock : over them the ladder for the accommodation of officers, passing between the lower and main-decks was placed. This ladder was of course removed when the provision-hold was opened. The key of the padlock had been lost, and the use of it and of the bar had been discontinued. As these hatches formed the foundation for the ladder, which was a thoroughfare for the officers, the
RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE. 163
hold was thought perfectly safe without this security, which, in fact, had been forgotten. Now what may we suppose the first act of the crew would be when the visit from the ringleaders of the mutinous fleet had joined our ship to them, and had superseded the authority of her officers ? To break open the spirit-room ? At least, to get the present-use cask of spirits on deck and drink away ? It was — to get the blacksmith's forge upon deck; to fit a new bar and padlock to these neglected hatches ; and to secure them and give the key to the first lieutenant.
There was another point in the incongruous state of things which I have described : the keys of the store-room and provision-hold re- mained with the officers when their arms were taken from them ; and these keys were taken from and returned to their appointed place by a master's-mate, who continued to supervise the issue of provisions, and particularly of spirits, nor was the bung ever taken out of the cask until he was on the spot.
While the incidents which have been related were in progress, the leaders of the mutiny continued in correspondence with the Govern- ment ; and as their petition was not again " thrown under the table," or allowed to stand over, every thing was brought to a satisfactory con- clusion in a week.
I think it was on Monday the 15th of May, which was ushered in by a fine morning, that our crew showed more alacrity in cleaning the decks, a practice which had begun to fall into neglect. The officers were more frequently referred to, and the yards were squared and ropes hauled taught under the direction of the first lieutenant ; but these symptoms of a return to order did not yet supersede the un- sightly yard-ropes of the ominous red flag. It was known that Lord Howe, who was at this time First Lord of the Admiralty, had arrived at Portsmouth with power to declare to the men the King's pardon ; and that the prayer of the petition was passed into a law.
At an early hour Joyce, and some of the other leaders with him, had gone on shore in form to wait upon his Lordship ; and I believe they were sumptuously entertained at the Government-house along with the barge's crew who were to row him on board.
Soon after breakfast all hands were upon deck and in the rigging, and all eyes strained and glasses pointed towards the sally-port, from whence he was expected to embark. About eleven o'clock his Lord- ship's barge, carrying his flag (the Union Jack) in the bow, was seen to put off. In this boat^besides Lord Howe, there was Lord Bridport, who was the Commander-in-chief of this fleet.
This barge, attended by other boats containing the delegates, left the shore and rowed out with that appearance of majestic slowness which is given by the long-drawn stroke and the pause between with feathered oars, but which, in reality, if well executed by fourteen or sixteen strapping fellows, makes her slide through the water with great rapidity. Accordingly, she soon passed under our stern, and arrived on board the Royal George, the flag-ship of Lord Bridport. The two noble Admirals retired to the cabin.
When Lord Howe was prepared to read the King's pardon, which was subsequently read by the Captains of each ship to their respective
M 2
164 RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE.
•
crews, the ship's company of the Royal George were summoned on the quarter-deck. They were not long in obeying the summons, but anxiously crowded to hear the contents of this interesting document. The afterpart of the quarter-deck was occupied by the officers, and an open space left in front of the cabin door for the First Lord of the Admiralty and the Commander-in-chief. When all was ready, they came out of the cabin together, and Lord Howe took from his pocket the paper and began to read. Lord Bridport whispered something in his ear. He immediately stopped, and returned the paper to his pocket. He then addressed the leaders of the mutiny, and pointing to the yard-ropes, which still hung from the fore-yard-arms, told them that he could not declare the King's pardon to them while that signal of mutiny remained aboard.
The yard-ropes were forthwith ordered to be taken down, and this movement was accompanied by a signal which made it simultaneous throughout the whole fleet. The King's pardon was then read, and the officers resumed their authority and their duties. Before Lord Howe quitted the ship, the men requested that they might be per- mitted to give him three cheers at parting ; but this was objected to, on the ground that cheering had been so lately used to express unanimity in a mutinous combination. Hoisting the Royal Standard, and salut- ing it with a royal salute of twenty-one guns, was substituted as a more appropriate expression of a return to loyalty and obedience.
Thus happily ended, in its main source, the mutinous spirit which had been diffused through the fleet; but the ramifications of it were yet destined to give some trouble. The impulse which had issued from the Channel Fleet as a centre, was felt in a greater or less degree by our fleets or squadrons at most of the foreign stations. In some it was suppressed with a high hand, and it was put to rest in others when an account of the amicable settlement at Spithead reached them.
At this time Sir John Jervis, afterwards Lord St. Vincent, com- manded a fleet off Cadiz, and having timely intimation of what was going on in England, had established throughout his fleet a system of such rigid discipline and surveillance, that it is not easy to imagine how intelligence could be communicated or plans concerted between men in ships, separated as they were by being constantly at sea, and the little necessary intercourse among them by boats being so strictly watched as it was. They did manage to hold intercourse, however, and had arranged plans for rising in mutiny. This intention was frustrated by the premature display of it on board one of them. The attempt at mutiny was suppressed on board of her, and those who appeared to be most prominent in it were secured ; they were immediately brought to a court-martial, which pronounced sentence of death on them late on Saturday.
On the following morning (Sunday), the ships suspected of being the most mutinous, formed a squadron to windward. That having the condemned men on board was one of them. The signal for their exe- cution was flying at the top-gallant-mast-head. The forenoon of this day displayed the novel and impressive sight of these unfortunate men hanging in the squadron to windward ; the in-shore squadron, under
RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE. 165
the command of Rear-Admiral, afterwards Lord, Nelson, engaged with the enemy ; and the main body of the fleet occupied in the custom- ary Church service, which was indicated by each ship carrying the signal * for being so employed.
These prompt measures put an end at once to the intended mutiny, and an early opportunity was anxiously watched for and taken by the men in each ship, to destroy and throw overboard the agreement of the crew to rise in mutiny. This agreement was written in the centre of a sheet of paper, and the names signed around it in the manner of a round robin. Thus, by the decision, promptitude, and energy, of Lord St. Vincent, was prevented a mutiny, which might have ended in the loss of that portion of the British fleet. Such a termination as that at Spithead, was not to be expected a second time. Fortunately for the country, the Government was prepared to oppose with decided mea- sures the mutiny of the North Sea Fleet, which followed, declaring the mutineers rebels, and putting an end to all terms with them, excepting those of unqualified submission.
It was enabled to do this the more freely, by having the mutinous ships at the Nore inclosed within the numerous shoals that form the intricate channels by which the river Thames is approached. Whe- ther the turbulent men who were the instigators of this second mutiny ever could have persuaded the seamen to go with them into an enemy's port, cannot be known ; but by the time that the desperation of their own circumstances might have induced them to act thus, they had lost much of their influence with a large portion of the men. It was, how- ever, put out of their power to make the trial by that wise expedient of the Government, which caused all the buoys that marked the chan- nels to be removed, notwithstanding it put a stop to the commerce with the port of London ; but this, indeed, was an evil which the mutineers themselves had the power of causing.
In this state of things, a voluntary offer was made by the ships of the Channel Fleet, (so lately mutinous themselves,) to be led against those which should continue to hold out in their rebellion at the Nore. This unanimous offer showed that a combination still existed among them, which might have been dangerous, if the leaders had continued mischievously disposed, but as it was, this graceful act of loyalty may be termed the last act of their mutinous association. The great body of the men in most of the ships at the Nore, would have returned to their allegiance sooner than they did, but it was, of course, the interest of those who had become obnoxious by taking the lead, to prevent them from doing so ; and such as were disposed to rebel against that usurped power which ruled them with an iron hand, were for a time afraid to speak their minds. This position of things could not last.
" Those s are a b — dy sight worse to us than our officers," was
an expression which escaped one, and was responded to by many. The Repulse and Leopard were the first two ships which acted upon this feeling ; cut their cables, and ran into harbour. Others followed their example, until the denounced rebels formed but a small number.
* When the crews of ships in a fleet are summoned to prayers, the ship or ships carry a signal, to prevent being unnecessarily disturbed.
166 RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE.
When the Repulse started, she was fired at by the mutinous ships, and her first lieutenant, Mr. afterwards Captain, Delans, who had assumed the command, had his leg shot off. This officer was very much beloved by the men ; and it is stated that when the rebellious ships commenced firing upon the Repulse, a new mutiny, of an ami- cable nature, arose in her, the object of which was to force Mr. Delans below out of the way of the shot, and the men were in the act of forcibly putting him down the hatchway, when his leg was taken off.
I soon afterwards happened to join one of the ships which held out to the last, and was, perhaps, the most obstinately rebellious amongst them. This ship was commanded by a good easy man, but the bene- volence of feeling that made him averse to order any punishment, was accompanied by a want of sufficient energy to preserve his ship in that state of discipline which would prevent inferior officers from ill-using the men, according to the practice of that day. Sometimes, indeed, he would get into a passion at the abuse of this practice ; but then he was goaded on by complaints from the officers, and was glad to relieve him- self from the necessity of punishing the men by permitting them to do it. When the mutineers took possession of this ship, they pointed the forecastle guns aft ; and one of the women on board, I am sorry to say she was a Scotchwoman, (Scotch Maggie,) put the poker in the gaily fire, and when hot, handed it up as a match that would not miss fire. The men were more moderate, however, for seeing that they were joined by the marines, and that the officers formed too small a number to oppose them, they went aft on the quarter-deck, where the good old captain was with the officers. As the men came aft, he got into a vio- lent rage, defied them, accused them of ingratitude, and called for a ballast-basket, filled with pistols, which happened to be in the cabin, to be brought out. Under the circumstances described, the men did. not wait for them to be loaded. They closed upon the captain and officers, and, partly by persuasion partly by force, they made him re- tire into the cabin. One fellow, while he held him by the arm as he was hustled into the cabin, patted him gently upon the shoulder in the manner that one would move a child out of danger.
I fear, from what has been said concerning the state of discipline in this ship, that our captain's charge of ingratitude against these men could not be established. There was amongst them one to whom the charge did apply. This man, some little time before, had belonged to another ship, and in her had been tried by a court-martial, of which his present commander had been president, on a charge that would have affected his life. Every body was satisfied as to the truth of the charge, but his benevolent judge, having a fastidious care in a case of life and death, found some objection to the evidence. By this means the man was acquitted, and he happened afterwards to be drafted into this ship. His captain, seeing this fellow amongst the foremost of the mutineers, took out his pencil in its silver-case, and reminding him that that pencil had saved his life, gave it to him. When the fellow went below, he sold it for a quart of grog.
Soon after the mutiny at Spithead was ended, we sailed in His Majes- ty's ship P , for a cruise off Havre de Grace. This partook of the
tiresome nature of a blockade. The vicinitv of the French coast eii-
RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE. 167
abled the vessels which we chased to get off into some creek or inlet under the numerous batteries with which the shore is lined. We only succeeded in making one capture, and she was towed out by the boats from under the fire of these batteries. The sanguinary Government of France had been unable to enforce the law which they attempted to make, that no prisoners should be taken ; and it remained for the iron sway of Buonaparte to add perpetual and hopeless exile to the fate of prisoners of war. This sullen and savage practice had not yet been in- troduced to break down the chivalrous amenities with which modern warfare had been graced. But neither the horrible reign of the slave Robespierre, nor even the more powerful despotism of Buonaparte, the grand object of whose life was the destruction of England, had power to supersede altogether those feelings of generous rivalry which had subsisted between the people of the two great nations which were so long opposed to each other.
The capture of our prize gave occasion to send a flag of truce on shore with her crew ; and there remained in this part of France, at least, some of the generous spirit of Henri Quatre. The boat returned to us containing a large basket of strawberries as a present. This little incident corresponded with the generous disposition to avoid inflicting individual suffering which was still shown by England in forbearing to interrupt the French fishing-vessels. These vessels, and the thousands of industrious persons whom this occupation supported, were permitted the unfettered exercise of their trade, and they passed and re-passed our men-of-war with the same freedom as they did each other.
One morning on the clearing up of a fog, and while we lay perfectly becalmed, we found ourselves so closely surrounded by multitudes of these vessels, that our Captain thought it a prudent precaution to beat to quarters, and to order the men to wear their arms until a breeze should spring up. In the mean time, a boat was lowered down and sent to examine those which were nearest to us, and to search for arms. Our precaution was in this instance unnecessary ; but the temptation to intercept our merchant-ships in going up Channel, arising from the facility of turning these fishing-boats into privateers, or giving to pri- vateers the same appearance, was too great to be resisted. This prac- tice was followed. England could no longer permit such a cloak for the destruction of her commerce. The fishing-vessels were involved in all the penalties of war. They were swept from the coasts of France and Holland ; or the few that remained were shut uselessly up in their creeks, and thousands of unoffending and industrious men were reduced with their families from affluence, honestly earned from the treasures of the deep, to penury and want.
(To be continued.)
168
SKETCHES OF THE BURMESE WAR. NO. I. THE ROUTE.
IT is quite surprising how little interest India and Indian wars excite in the minds of the British, especially when we consider that there is scarcely a respectable family in England that is not more or less connected with the East ; yet the greatest ignorance pervades all classes relative to the affairs of India, and wars which endanger the stability of our Asiatic empire, occasion less sensation in England, than the insurrection of some petty European province, or the ma- nufacture of a constitution by an insignificant nation, totally uncon- nected with ourselves. There are few people, even now, aware of the extent and importance of our East India possessions ; and many a John Bull would stare incredulously, if he were told that more than 100,000,000 of British subjects are now under the control of the Governor-General of India. That many princes, possessed of ex- tensive dominions, such as the King of Oude, the Nizam, Scindiah, &c. are, if not tributary, at least dependent upon us : that our domi- nions extend northward from Cape Matapan to the banks of the Indus, and bounded westward by the sea, are in contact eastward with Thibet, the Burman empire, and the kingdom of Siam : that an army of 20,000 British soldiers and 250,000 sepoys, is requisite to keep this vast empire in subjection : that Calcutta, the capital of our Eastern world, contains nearly as many inhabitants as London, and vies with that metropolis in the beauty of its edifices ; and that, finally, our whole power in the East, without which our armies would melt away, and our tributaries revolt from us, is contained in the talisman — Public Opinion. To retain that talisman in a perfect state, has been the constant policy of our Eastern Government, as if once the spell is broken, ruin must fall upon us ; and by constantly bearing this in mind, it will be easier to understand the great im- portance of an Eastern campaign, when the slightest check is viewed by the discontented, as a proof that we are not invincible ; and where so many princes have been dethroned, and so many turbulent spirits reduced to obedience, there is no lack of malcontents ready to appear upon the scene.
The Burmese war was the most important, hazardous, and ex- pensive that the English have hitherto sustained in Asia : upon its successful termination depended the fate of India. Yet, notwith- standing its fluctuations, and that almost the whole of His Majesty's troops, as well as a large force of sepoys, were engaged, and that the field of operations was in a strange and wonderful country, the same apathy was shown at home on this subject, as on other India ques- tions ; and, even at this moment, it is currently believed in England that Bhurtpoor is the capital of the Burman empire ! I met with a forcible illustration of the indifference with which our danger and fatigue are regarded in England, when, on my return to Europe, I was questioned relative to the share I had taken during the Burmese war. On one occasion especially, I was not a little entertained by the remark of a lady, to whom I was introduced as having just
SKETCHES OF THE BURMESE WAR. 169
arrived from the East. " Is it possible/' she said, " that you were in the Burmese war? Then I suppose you were with poor Sir Charles McCarthy, when the Burmese cut him up and eat him ? Do tell me how it happened !"
The short, but brilliant siege of Bhurtpoor, being under the direction of the Commander-in-Chief, (although it was a mere party of pleasure to those who were so fortunate as to be there,) having occurred at the same time as the Burmese war, the latter, with its privations and sickness, was forgotten for a time, and the three arduous campaigns which terminated in the conquest of an empire, were thought less of than the chastisement of a petty rajah at the termination of six weeks' hostilities.
The operations of Sir Archibald Campbell's army in Ava, have already been detailed in two works, which appeared in 1827, the one entitled " Narrative of the Burmese War," written by Lieut.- Colonel J. J. Snodgrass ;* the other called " Two Years in Ava," by Capt. Abercromby Trant ;t but as neither of these works can be considered a personal narrative, the sketches which we purpose pre- senting to the readers of the United Service Journal, will, it is hoped, supply those details of individual adventure, which tend more than any other kind of writing, to place past incidents and foreign scenes vividly before us. The pronoun personal /, must appear oftener in my narrative than is consistent with my ideas of modesty in an author ; but unknown and insignificant as I am, it is to be hoped that my incognito may preserve me from the accusation of egotism.
Eight years have nearly elapsed since we were summoned to the field, but the events of those days are so deeply impressed on my recollection, that it seems as if but yesterday when the order arriv- ed at the head-quarters of my regiment, directing us to prepare for active service. It was in the month of March 1824 several officers
of my regiment were assembled in the mess-room at B , and we
were awaiting the arrival of the mail with more than usual anxiety, for the hostilities which had already taken place on our eastern frontier, and the disastrous result of an attack made by Colonel Bowen, with 1500 sepoys, on the Burmese at Doodputlee, had in- duced us to look with anxiety towards the eastward. At last the newspapers arrived, and the first lines that we saw announced the declaration of war by the Governor-General in Council against the King of Ava ! The next paragraph informed us that an expedition was preparing at Calcutta, and ere we had time to ponder on this in- telligence, the adjutant entered the room, and communicated the stirring news that we were to proceed forthwith to Calcutta, six companies by water and four by land, and that our ultimate destina- tion was Rangoon. It may be imagined with what delight a num- ber of ambitious young men, after two years' inactivity in an Indian cantonment, would receive such an announcement. Although then a beardless boy, for I was still in my teens, I participated in the in-
* Military Secretary and Assistant Political Agent.
•j- Deputy Assistant Quarter-Master-General. — Lieut. Havelock likewise wrote an account of the " Campaigns in Ava," but as it was published at Calcutta, we were not able to procure it until these sketches were penned. It does the author credit.
170 SKETCHES OF THE BURMESE WAR.
toxication of the moment, and giving a free loose to my favourite employment of castle-building, I had already, in my imagination, chalked out a very brilliant career for myself. Imprimis, I was to be appointed to the staff; secondly, my deeds of valour were to eclipse those of Roland and Bayard ; thirdly, they were to obtain for me a company (I had already been twelve months a Lieutenant) ; fourthly, we were to return laden with spoil, cachemere shawls, ingots of gold, rubies, &c. ; fifthly — but I might run on for ever, were I to enumerate all the fancies that shot across my brain at that moment ; suffice it to say that the first was the only one realised.
Amidst all our rejoicings, there was, however, one point that puzzled us amazingly ; we none of us knew where we were going. " Rangoon !" we all exclaimed, " where is Rangoon ?" Books and maps were consulted in vain, for Rangoon had not then acquired its fatal celebrity. One or two of us had, however, read Symes's Em- bassy to Ava j in the map which accompanies that work, we dis- covered Rangoon at the mouth of the Irrawaddy, and we then per- ceived that instead of a defensive, we were to carry on an offensive war, by attacking the southern province and principal sea-port of the Burman empire. Of the resources of that empire we knew nothing, except what might be gathered from Symes's narrative, in which the population is rated at ] 7,000,000, and the country repre- sented as abounding in wealth, and highly civilized ; but this account served only to whet our appetite for the service, and with the na- tural presumption of youth we forgot the first military maxim— " Never to despise an enemy, however contemptible he may be ;" and foolishly thought, that after a battle or two, and a pleasant march, we should enter the Burman capital as conquerors, dictate terms of peace to the Golden Foot, (such is one of the King of Ava's titles,) and return to our quarters in India " converts de gfaire," and in time for our Christmas dinner ! We little thought that of our gallant regiment, then mustering forty officers and eleven hundred men, more than one half would be buried in the land we were about to visit.
The news of our approaching departure soon spread through the cantonment, and during some days that we were delayed, waiting for boats in which to embark, our time was fully occupied in making such arrangements as we deemed prudent, and in availing ourselves of the numerous invitations which were heaped upon us by the resident civilians, whose society had hitherto dispelled the ennui of garrison life. They were, I believe, sorry to part with us ; the young ladies, as in duty bound, sang, " Go where Glory waits thee," and " The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone," wished us a speedy termination to our labours, and shook hands when they bade us good bye, with more warmth and feeling than was perhaps compa- tible with the formal notions of eastern etiquette ; but we were none of us eligibles ; we were going far away, and papas and mamas over- looked for this once any little demonstration of untutored feeling that the circumstances might have called forth from their daughters. They were right, for we never met again. Some of us felt rather sentimental for two or three days, and tried to fancy ourselves, " brulanls d'amour ;" as well as " parlants pour la guerre," but I do
SKETCHES OP THE BURMESE WAR. 171
not think many succeeded in believing that they possessed aDulcinea to approve of their deeds and take an interest in their actions.
In a few days a sufficient number of boats had been procured for our conveyance to Calcutta, and at an early hour in the morning we marched out of the cantonments ; the band (as is usual in like cases) playing the " Girl we've left behind us." The regimental women, with a proper allowance of sorrow on their countenances, and arrack in their heads, followed their husbands to the bundt,* and with much wailing, real and feigned, took their leave of us ; and then freed from our incumbrances we unmoored, and dropped down the stream. Calcutta was only 200 miles distant, and we were not many days proceeding thither. My voyage was, however, marked by two very untoward circumstances. I was embarked in a boat with a brother officer who had laden it with all his propei'ty, such as a stanhope, furniture, &c. which he hoped to sell at Calcutta. The day after our embarkation, the boat struck on a sand-bank, started a plank and bilged. We swam ashore at the risk of being devoured by an alligator, and having obtained assistance, succeeded in saving our baggage before the boat sank. The next morning we procured three or four " dingies," or canoes, and recommenced our voyage, after passing the night within a circle formed by our trunks, like to Robinsoii Crusoe under similar circumstances. Our new boat conveyed us to the Champaul Ghaut in safety, but we had not left it five minutes, ere it sank at its moorings, and we had every reason to be thankful at our escape, for if we had remained on board we must have perished.
On our arrival at Calcutta, we found that active preparations were going forward. All the disposable shipping in the river had been taken up by Government for the conveyance of troops and stores ; a small steam-boat called the Diana was purchased, and twenty of the Company's row-boats were fitted up as gun-boats, and armed with a twelve-pounder carronade ; they were decked, had two masts with lug-sails, and pulled (if I remember right) fourteen oars. It was supposed that they would be very useful on the river Irrawaddy ; and in truth we afterwards found them of the greatest service to us. A few river pinnaces were likewise fitted up as
» gun-brigs. One brigade, and a strong detachment of artillery, only were to embark at Calcutta : the former consisted of His Majesty's 13th Light Infantry and 38th regiments, and of the 40th Bengal Native In- fantry— the only Bengal regiment that could be called upon to serve beyond seas, the sepoys of the Indian army being enlisted solely for land service, with the understanding that they cannot be forced to embark for other countries. The marine battalion (as it was gene- rally called) was sent on a detached service previous to our landing at Rangoon, and we never saw it. This brigade, which in after- times, when our army was increased, received the denomination of the first brigade, was commanded by Brig.-Gen. Michael M'Creagh ; and the supreme command of the expeditionary force was confided to Major-Gen. Sir Archibald Campbell. We were fortunate in the
* Embankment.
172 SKETCHES OF THE BURMESE WAR.
selection of these officers, for both were practical men, who had learned the art of war under the great captain of the age, and were not enervated by the comforts of an Indian camp ; the hard- ships of a bivouac were familiar to them ; and it was well for us that such was the case with Sir A. Campbell, for our subsequent diffi- culties would have daunted a mere theoretical general. We heard, indeed, at this time, that the command had been offered to one of His Majesty's GeneraJ officers on the Madras establishment, who declined accepting it on the plea that he did not consider himself equal to the task ! Sir A. Campbell had commanded a Portuguese brigade, and latterly a division during the whole of the Peninsular war ; and M'Creagh, as Colonel of Ca9adores, had also shared in the glories of those days, and had distinguished himself on several occa- sions, but especially on the hard-fought day of Albuera. Sir A. Campbell was likewise appointed joint political agent, for the affairs of Ava, and his associate was a Major Canning, a person whose contracted views and pernicious advice had a most prejudicial effect upon the success of the expedition. He had formerly been sent on a mission to the Burman Court, and as, strange to say, he was the only person in India who knew anything about the Bur- mese, his advice was sought and followed by the Government. His opinions were unfortunately founded upon the very superficial view he had taken of the resources and character of the Burman Govern- ment ; and he supposed that the capture of Rangoon alone would so intimidate them, that they would immediately accede to our de- mands ; if not, he recommended that a part of the force should be embarked and sent up the Irrawaddy. Boats and boatmen, he said, were to be had in numbers, and there was no doubt of our obtaining provisions in abundance.
It was in pursuance of these ideas that our army was ordered to take the field at the commencement of the rainy season, the very period which is usually devoted to winter quarters; but as our ope- rations were to be on the water, it was said that the monsoon at this time of the year would enable us to stem the current of the Irra- waddy. It was on the same principle, I suppose, that not a single horse, nor a single bullock, was sent for the use of our artillery. However, it is of no use dilating on this unpleasant subject, except that it tends to exonerate Lord Amherst's government from the blame that appeared to rest on them, in having selected such a sea- son for operations. The real culprits are Lord Amherst's predeces- sors, who allowed a powerful empire to spring up within such a tri- fling distance from the capital of India, and neglected to acquire a perfect and detailed account of the topographical features of the country, and of its resources in men and money. It was not likely that a warlike and ambitious people, who had already reduced seve- ral kingdoms to subjection, would long refrain from hostilities with us, as our frontier was already in contact with the kingdoms of Assam and Arracan, both of which formed part of the Burman em- pire. Yet, as I before observed, Major Canning was the only person from whom any information could be procured in the hour of need, and that information was found wanting. Poor man ! his advice cost him dear ; he was one of the first who fell victims to the pesti-
SKETCHES OF THE BURMESE WAR. 173
lential region in which we were cooped up during nine melancholy months ; and whilst I cannot help pointing out how erroneous were his opinions, I willingly conclude my remarks upon him by saying " Peace to his manes !"
But I forget that all my readers are not as well versed in Burmese history as myself, and ere I continue my tale, I must state who the people were that now defied us. To Colonel Symes we are indebted for an exceedingly entertaining account of the Burmese prior to 1795, the date of his embassy ; and to illustrate these sketches, it is merely requisite to follow his path from the middle of the last century, when Alomprah occupied the Burmese throne. This great man was the founder of the present Burmese empire, which, pre- vious to his time, consisted of several independent kingdoms. Ava and Pegue were the most important of these; Arracan, Assam, Munnipoor, and the Shaan territory, were less considerable ; whilst Siam, which occupies the eastern portion of India ultra Gangem, had at all times retained her independence, and kept the kingdoms of Ava and Pegue in check. The latter were constantly at variance, and as fortune favoured their arms, so was one state tributary to the other ; in 1750 the Talliens, or Peguers, had attained the supremacy, and the King of Pegue was represented at Ava by h;s brother, who, as viceroy, governed the conquered kingdom. The heir to the throne of Ava had sought refuge amongst the Shaans, and the two countries seemed to be almost amalgamated, when a trifling dispute that occurred relative to the payment of tribute caused an insurrec- tion which eventually led to the downfall of the Tallien dynasty, and the elevation of the house of Alomprah in its stead. Moncha- boo, the village where the first display of resistance was made to the Tallien viceroy, is about thirty miles north of Ava, and there Alomprah, the future conqueror of the East, pursued the humble occupation of huntsman, from whence he derived the name of Aumzeah, by which he was originally known. His sylvan pursuits, whilst they imparted energy to his body, had not impaired the qualities of his mind; to a daring courage he united decision of character, and a spirit of enterprise that led him onward, from step to step, until he terminated his brilliant career on the throne of the kingdom of which he had been one of the humblest subjects ; and although these sudden elevations are of more ordinary occurrence in the East (where the successful chieftain too often supplants his master) than in Europe, where merit and talent is crushed beneath the colossal power of ancient habits and a calculating routine of policy, yet I think that in many respects Alomprah may bear a comparison with Napoleon. Like him, he sprang from nothing ; like him, destroying the power that had usurped the crown of his legiti- mate sovereign, he seized the diadem only to place it on his own brow ; and carrying the parallel still farther, he, like Napoleon, deemed the possession of one kingdom insufficient to gratify his ambition, and he successively attacked and annexed to his empire those adjoining states that were unable to contend with the superior courage and numbers of his victorious army. Thus did he, revers- ing the former state of those kingdoms, annex Pegue to Ava, and after destroying the ancient capital of Pegue, (which, from its wealth
174 SKETCHES OF THE BURMESE WAR.
and the extent of its walls, had long formed the theme of praise of the earliest Eastern travellers,) he marched into Siam, and had suc- ceeded in conquering a large portion of its territory when death put an end to his victories. He transmitted the sceptre in peace to his son ; and his successor, following his line of policy, made an easy conquest of Arracan, Assam, and Munnipoor, the reigning families being disposed of according to the usage of Eastern nations. Some fell by the sword, others by poison ; and although scarcely eighty years have elapsed since the destruction of Pegue, the ancient race that ruled within its walls is extinct, and the royal family of Arracan has shared the same fate. Munnipoor and Assam being later con- quests, still possessed claimants for their thrones ; and this circumstance we turned to our advantage during the course of the war in which the overweening pride and audacity of the Burmese had now involved us. The immediate cause of hostilities was a dispute that had arisen relative to the right of sovereignty over the little islet of Shapune, at the mouth of the Tek Naaf, the river that formed the boundary between Arracan and the British district of Chittagong. A collision took place between the advanced posts of the two parties; redress was refused by the Burman court, and war was declared by the British.
Madu Cher, who now fills the Burman throne, is the seventh mo- narch of the race of Alomprah, and possesses his ancestor's thirst for conquest ; for, from what we heard subsequently, it appears that in invading the British territory he was actuated by the chimerical idea of annexing Bengal to his dominions, and felt so confident of success that he had entrusted the Maha Bundoolah, his celebrated general, with a pair of golden fetters for the use of the Governor- General of India.
The idea of any native power attempting to conquer our pro- vinces is so absurd, that we cannot but smile at the ignorance of the Burmese, in imagining that with their resources they could contend with us on our own ground; but their ignorance on every subject that related to us, whilst it concealed from them the extent of our power, likewise prevented their availing themselves of a moment of weakness, when Calcutta itself was perfectly vulnerable to an attack from Maha Bundoolah's army after its victory at Ramoo. The Burman chief might have embarked his army in canoes, and hasten- ing through the Sunderbunds, have reached Calcutta without much opposition ; and, divested as the capital then was of European troops, the result of a battle might have been doubtful. But such a hardy project could scarcely present itself to the mind of a general whose whole knowledge of the art of war had been acquired in a campaign against the Assamese.
The inhabitants of Calcutta, when we arrived there, little antici- pated the possibility of such a contingency. They affirmed, that our debarkation at Rangoon would act like a blister upon the Burmese, and oblige them to withdraw all their force from the frontier of Chittagong to oppose us ; and they affected to believe that we should meet with very little opposition, as the Burmese were badly armed, and only possessed a few matchlocks and scarcely any artillery. The correctness of this opinion was put to the test when, at the close of
SKETCHES OF THE BURMESE WAR. 175
the war, we were informed by the Burman chieftain that they had lost 1500 pieces of artillery and swivels, of from one to sixty pounds calibre, a fact which we were able to corroborate. I may also observe, that I did not see a single matchlock during the whole of the war.
My regiment remained several days at Calcutta previous to its embarkation, and we employed this time in organizing our camp equipage; but we were speedily informed that few preparations were requisite, for that the Government would only sanction the embarkation of one servant with each officer. Now, although this may not appear a harsh measure to English ears, yet a person who understands the customs of the East will easily imagine what a blow it was to our comforts. The division of the Indian population into castes, renders it necessary for an officer to retain a number of ser- vants on his establishment, as the man who waits at table will not clean his boots, and the person who brings him water will not sweep his room, the slightest deviation from the rules of their caste being sufficient to degrade them in the eyes of their brethren. Thus, my
establishment in quarters at B , although on the lowest scale,
consisted of a kitmutghar, whose office it was to prepare my break- fast and wait upon me at dinner, — this man and his assistant the mussauljee were Mussulmans; a sindar-bearer, who made my bed and took care of my clothes ; a dhobie, or washerman ; a bheestie, or water-carrier ; a meter, or scavenger ; a syce, or groom, and his companion the grass-cutter — eight servants, without whom it was impossible to live even in the quiet of a cantonment ; and now that we required an additional number, as bullock-drivers, tent chup- rassies, &c. we were limited to one, an arrangement until then un- heard of in the annals of Indian campaigning. The great difficulty was to find men who would unite all the qualifications above enume- rated in their persons ; and the utter impracticability of inducing any respectable native servants to unbend from their caste, obliged us to employ a class of men whom we should not otherwise have deemed trustworthy. We indeed had not time to enquire into characters, and provided that the applicant for a situation was a Mohammedan of liberal principles, or a Portuguese Christian, it was all we cared about.
It is true that we thus came in contact with the sweepings of the gaols, but this was a trifling consideration. " Master's caste" was a qualification of more importance in our opinion than any other. I had nearly despaired of providing myself with a servant of all work, and looked forward with dismay to the day when my smart kitmut- ghar, Jemaillot, would " take leave" of me, when, one morning, he ushered into my presence a thin, sallow-looking lad, about eighteen years of age, in European attire, and who expressed a wish to attach himself to my fortunes. He stated that he was English, and a sol- dier's son by a native woman : as such he interested me ; and although I told him that his emaciated frame seemed ill calculated to sustain the fatigues of a campaign, yet he expressed himself so confident of his ability to rough it, that we made our agreement, and James, as he styled himself, became my factotum.
There are many situations in which a man is placed, that render
176 FIRST MKRIDIAN.
him so very dependent on his servant for care and consolation, that I may be pardoned for being thus diffuse on the subject of my attendant. In after days, he was often my sole companion, when I have been stretched on a bed of sickness ; and although he proved eventually to be a worthless vagabond, yet the custom of finding him with me daily, induced me to feel much interest in him ; but he requited my goodwill with the greatest ingratitude.
Having provided myself with a servant, my next care was to com- press my baggage into two small trunks, calculated to be carried on a bullock ; these, with a roll of bedding, completed my equipment. I likewise followed the example of my brother officers, and provided myself with a brace of pistols, a purchase which I had no cause to regret, for they did me good service two or three times during our subsequent campaigns.
On the 5th April, with merry heart and buoyant spirits, I em- barked at the Coolie Bazar, on board of the E , and with the
next tide, we weighed anchor and dropped down the stream.
(To be continued.)
FIRST MERIDIAN.
into an immense family." — Suggestions of M. de la Place.
M. DE LA PLACE recommends the Peak of Teneriffe, or Mont Blanc, as the point through which this common meridian should pass. There appears but three maritime nations whose jealousies it would be necessary to appease in an alteration of this sort ; these are, Spain, France, and England. The Americans use the meri- dian of Greenwich, and I believe the Russians, Swedes, and Danes do also ; as well as generally using the charts of the English hydrographers ; and this, un- doubtedly, for the best possible reason, that these are, on the whole, by far the most correct, and are ever likely to be so, from the simple fact, that no expense is spared by the Goverrment to render them so, by surveys and re-surveys.
This being admitted, we do not see that it would be in any way humiliating or derogatory from the dignity- of France and Spain, were they to take Greenwich as a first meridian — a spot situated on the most commercial river in the world, and adjacent to the metropolis of the greatest maritime country existing, or that ever did exist ; and which has done more for the improvement of navigation and hydro- graphy, than all the other nations taken collectively.
In thus giving the palm to England, we must not forget to do justice to Spain, which has produced some excellent mathematical writers, and very skilful marine surveyors. Capt. Mendoza Rios, and other naval officers, are entitled to the grati- tude of all navigators. The Spanish charts of the West Indies in particular, are accurate and beautifully engraved : in fact, it must be allowed, that, in the art of chart-engraving, the Spaniards are unrivalled ; but the jealousy of that people pre- vented, in great measure, the rest of the world from benefiting by the store of hydrographical and geographical knowledge gained by their skilful officers,
A. B.
EXTRACTS FROM THE MS. JOURNAL OF A NAVAL OFFICER SERVING ON THE JAMAICA STATION DURING THE LATE WAR.
«' She walks the waters like a thing of life, And seems to dare the elements to strife. Who would not brave the battle fire, the wreck, To move the monarch of her peopled deck ?" — BYRON.
IT has often been remarked, that a sailor is an original being, possessing habits and manners essentially different from those of the other classes of society. No doubt this marked character is occa- sioned by that peculiar mode of life he is obliged to conform to — a life, under all circumstances, so widely varying from that of the landsman, under any of its modifications — yet his feelings still bear the stamp of Nature's kindliest mould.
Among the varying scenes and events which occur in the naval service, there are few more unpleasant, at least for a time, than that of changing ship, or of receiving a new captain and officers : like the local attachment, which almost every person imbibes for the place of his nativity, or the home of his childhood, and the regard felt for those with whom he has been accustomed to associate ; the sailor, whether officer or fore-mast man, in like manner becomes attached to the " barky," which has borne him in safety, far and near, over the bosom of the trackless deep ; and warmly so to his companions in arms, with whom he has for any length of time been connected by the ties of mutual service.
In December 1803, we received a new Captain, who brought with him the character of a strict disciplinarian, and, indeed, his very tout ensemble bespoke the active stirring mind, the ardent .enthusiastic spirit. Some changes also took place among the commissioned and warrant officers, and we lost some of our old messmates from the Mids' berth : one in particular was regretted, W - H - S - , a young officer, in whom were combined the accomplishments of the perfect gentleman, the qualities of a good seaman, and a spirit for enterprise not to be surpassed. He had endeared himself not only to his messmates, but to all on board, by bis kindness of heart, suavity of manners, and his brave and daring spirit.
& ''iFle was one who, in youth, on the stormy seas,
Was a far and a fearless stranger ; Who, borne on the billow, and blown by the breeze, Had deemed lightly of death and of danger.
* * * *
Yet in this rude school had his heart still kept
All the freshness of gentlest feeling ; Not in woman's warm eye hath a tear ever slept
More of softness and kindness revealing."
spared this worthy young man, he long ere this, no doubt, would have risen by his merit, unaided by family interest, to high rank in his profession, and have added another name to the bright list of Fame, and been an honour to it, as he assuredly was to his country and to his friends. But it was otherwise ordained : this U. S. JOUIIN. No. 39. FEB. 1832. N
178 EXTRACTS FROM THE MS. JOURNAL
universally-esteemed officer having been appointed a Lieutenant of
H. M. Brig , was supposed to have foundered in a schooner,
tender to that vessel, whilst in chace of a privateer, between the Island of Cura9oa and Santa Marta, on the Spanish main. He had greatly distinguished himself on board the Monarch, at the memo- rable battle of Copenhagen, under the immortal Nelson, and was severely wounded ; and he gave repeated proofs in the boats of the , of that undaunted spirit for which he was so deservedly ad- mired by his brother sailors. Several petty officers and seamen were also removed with the old Captain : these poor fellows quitted the ship with the greatest regret; and one man, Ben Bowlin, (a truly nautical name, which he did honour to,) a quarter-master, in particular evinced the strength of his attachment to his comrades, with whom he had long and gloriously served. He was a fine, manly, active, and brave fellow, of the old school, with a "pigtail" half a fathom long, and a pair of huge whiskers, that would have rivalled those of any Prussian hussar. At parting he —
" Albeit unused unto the melting mood, Did drop tears fast as Arabian trees Their medicinal gum" —
and after the boat had shoved off, held his arms extended towards the old ship, with an expression of emotion in his fine weather- beaten countenance, that did honour to his feelings. There were many tears, too, shed by those who remained ; and they stood on the deck, waving their hands, until the boats reached their destination. Never in my life did I witness such an extraordinary scene among the hardy sons of Neptune ; such a display of kind feelings elicited upon an occasion, which is of every-day occurrence in general society, and which often passes among worldly-minded men, with a mere dry " good by," and a cold " God be with ye," was to me par- ticularly interesting, and it drew closer those bonds of regard and admiration I had, almost from infancy, cherished towards sailors in
general. The crew of the had not only fought in her at
Copenhagen, with distinguished honour to themselves and to their country, but were the very men who cut her out, when belonging to the French, which, for boldness and promptness of action, may be considered as one ot\the most brilliant events which graced our annals during the war.
Having received our stores and provisions, we sailed from Port Royal, with a packet under our convoy, which we were to see through the windward passage. The packets employed between England and Jamaica during the war, invariably took this route in preference to the circuitous one of the Florida Channel : they were in general very snug and fast-sailing vessels, capable, from their superior qualifications, of plying to windward with facility. There being no direct conveyance to the Bahamas from England, the mail was dropped at Crooked Island by these vessels. ,
The first act of our new Captain was, to regulate the ratings of the ship's company, — a preliminary measure, whjch seemed to afford very general satisfaction to the crew ; and as he very early gave suf- ficient proof of his skill and capability as an officer and seaman, it
OF A NAVAL OFFICER. 179
also became apparent that the men were sensible that to be at all comfortable under such an active chief, it was necessary on their side to exercise a corresponding energy. Accordingly, after a little finesse on the parts of some of the manvais sujets, the crew not only became noted for their smartness and discipline, but brought the old ship into still higher repute than ever. Another circumstance which tended materially to put the tars in good humour, was an examination into the purser's accounts with the ship's company upon the quarter-deck (and which was afterwards followed up every quarter) ; each man having a written account delivered to him of his debt. This plan, although calculated to give general satisfaction, and to prevent growling, or improper reflections on the purser be- hind his back, I never saw before or since adopted ; in Guardas, or, more properly, receiving ships, I should think it would be of mate- rial service, if it were only to prevent that horrible reflection and libel both on the living and the defunct, which those who have ex- perienced the satisfaction of tarrying awhile on board that famous and in-famous of all old " shippes," the " Royal Billy," may have heard — that of " Dead men chewing tobacco ! "
Having found the Revolutionnaire frigate at Crooked Island, we resigned the charge of the little packet- ship to her, and parted com- pany the next day. The Bahamas are a curious group of islands, and lie surrounded with sand-banks and reefs ; many are very low, and composed principally of white sand, but they nevertheless, taken collectively, deserve a more appropriate name than the Spa- niards thought proper to bestow upon them — Los Cayos. The re- fractive power of the atmosphere as we approached, presented a singular spectacle — that of the houses and trees on the upper ridge of Crooked Island, being seen above the horizon before the land was visible, as it were, floating on the bosom of the ocean ; and even when the ridge of land rose above the surface of the sea, the houses seemed to be lifted, and to be suspended in air, a few feet above the ground.
In a few days we were off the beautiful Island of St. Domingo, abreast of Tortudas, where we recaptured an English brig ; but the cunning rover who had taken her, stole off before we could see him. Tortudas is separated from the main shore of St. Domingo by a channel, five or six miles in breadth. It appears to have fewinha- bitants, and to be but partially cultivated. I have never passed it, without conjuring up in my imagination, amongst its coves and rocks, the haunts of those extraordinary freebooters, the Buccaneers, whose daring exploits have been so well recorded and handed down to us.
Off this place our carpenter died ; he was a native of North Bri- tain and a very clever mechanic, both which are recommendatory in that class of officers. A shipwright of abilities among the warrants, as may be supposed, is a very valuable person on board a man-of- war, or indeed any ship, especially if he should happen to be sober and steady — the poor man whose death I speak of, was unfortu- nately so addicted to liquor, that he at last completely annihilated those useful qualities so essential to form the good officer in any class. In the common sailor, it unfortunately very generally is a faUkig which
N 2 ^
180 EXTRACTS FROM THE MS. JOURNAL
seems attached to his very nature, and which neither the warning voice of advice, nor the prospect of misfortune, nay, even the cer- tainty of death itself can, at times, check ; nor is it always in the power of a commander to prevent it by cautionary measures. An instance of the unconquerable force of this destructive habit oc- curred some years ago in the flag- ship at Bermuda: a seaman was employed in painting some part of that vessel ; the paint, which was white-lead, had been mixed with a proportion of rum, as a substi- tute for spirits of turpentine, as a drying liquid ; at the close of the day, when the work had been finished, the man who had performed it, could not resist the temptation of draining the remaining liquid from the pot, and although he must have been sensible of its dele- terious quality as being impregnated with the poisonous matter, he drank it off, and very shortly after paid the forfeit of his life for the rash act ! On inspection, (at which I was, some part of the time, present,) it was found that the stomach had not been affected, but that the brain was in a high state of inflammation.*
Approaching the vast promontory of Cape Fra^ois, our vigi- lance became pretty well exercised by the many small privateers which were prowling about, waiting in expectation of pouncing upon the unwary merchantmen ; but all our exertions, powder and shot were fruitless; except in one instance, they all got clear off; the properties of their little vessels were superior, and they were handled and manoeuvred generally with such adroitness and skill, that it was only by some fortuitous circumstance we ever succeeded in capturing one. The anxiety of excited hopes, the bodily and mental energy produced on such occasions, although often fading away in disappointment, nevertheless tend greatly to promote health, to drive away ennui, and to counteract the effect produced upon the mind by the monotonous round of ship duty, and a want of variety whilst absent from the land ; the sight of an enemy's vessel, at all times, seemed to put new life into every individual — even the most dull and phlegmatic being roused to exertion on the occasion — indeed, I have heard that in more instances than one, this all stirring circumstance, by giving sudden impulse to the vis inertias of persons labouring under disease, has completely restored them to health !
Having driven away the picaroons, and made a clear coast for the Americans as well as our own vessels, (which was repaid afterwards by the former with extreme gratitude,') we anchored in Mansinella Bay, situated in the Bight formed between Cape Frai^ois and Monte Christo, for the purpose of obtaining a fresh supply of water. This is an article of vital importance in preserving the
* In further illustration of this point, we may here mention a ludicro-serious anecdote that came within our own knowledge, — a foremast mail on board His
Majesty's ship , in all requisite qualities a valuable seaman, while lying on his
back in his hammock almost in the last stage of existence from a disease produced by habitual drunkenness, was informed by the Surgeon, that unless he refrained from drinking, he would certainly die within a month. On the day following the
OP A NAVAL OFFICER. 181
health of a ship's crew, especially in tropical climates, and every favourable opportunity should be taken to obtain it good; during the war on many occasions, the water we had allowanced* to us was so horribly offensive both in smell and taste, that nothing short of absolute necessity could have induced us to drink it, or excused the commander in having it served out : it was black, viscous or ropy, and could only be drunk, by holding the nostrils tight, to reduce the effect of the taste upon the palate ; in fact, a person not situated as •we were, on a twelve and fourteen weeks' blockade, which absorbed every other consideration, and of necessity forced to quaff' this worse than ditch-water, can have no conception of what was endured : the casks were principally made from wine-butts, which may account for the state of the water ; all endeavours to rectify the quality, by burning, &c. failed, as did the pressing solicitations of the Captain to get them exchanged — the supply at the cooperage would not admit of it ! If the contractor had had the full measure of the curses and good wishes bestowed upon him by every crusty Mid as he quaffed the black-dose, I am sure the fellow would not have been a week before occupying a hole in the palisades, and been food for the morass crabs !
I had the pleasure to be one of the watering party up the river du Massacre. This stream, which runs through a long extent of level land, has a very rapid current after heavy rains have fallen on the mountains ; but in dry weather it is still and smooth. Across the entrance there is a bar of sand; on our return the launch unfortu- nately struck in passing over it, and instantly swamped; one poor fellow was drowned, and the others narrowly escaped. What cir- cumstance gave rise to the terrific name applied to the river, I know not, but the melancholy event which had just occurred threw a gloom over our otherwise cheerful spirits. The course of the stream is very serpentine, and the banks are thickly covered with mangroves, the branches of which are so closely interwoven that the eye cannot penetrate more than a few yards within them ; the recesses formed by the indentation of the banks, are the haunts of innumerable flocks of white curlews, (alba scolopax arquata,) the beautiful red- winged, and the crested ardeas or crab-catchers, and the major fulica, or coote, which, rising by thousands as the boats advanced, disturbed with their cries the otherwise profound tran- quillity of this unfrequented stream ; we saw also, here and there a solitary heron directing its awkward flight across the river to some more remote and less open place of security, and murmuring a dis- cordant note, sufficiently indicative of its uneasiness at the approach of the unwelcome visitor, and common disturber — man. The scenery, although without any striking features, and above all, the serenity of this secluded river, could not fail to be interesting to us, who plough the sea instead of the land, and are so long and so often absent from such scenes ; indeed, I may say on my own part, that on such occasions I have always found a calm and pleasurable feeling stealing over the mind, perfectly in unison with the still- ness and the romantic scenery then surrounding me.
* This was quite unnecessary — the men would not touch it without liquor.
182 EXTRACTS FROM THE MS. JOURNAL
A visit of this sort, bringing, as it does, so opposite a contrast, and so immediate a transition, from the turbulent and noisy ocean, to the calm and placid bosom of a silent stream, never fails of affording de- light to the sailor ; the charms of Nature, which are nowhere seen to greater advantage than in this climate, although unstudied by him, perhaps, with the eye of a philosopher, have their wonted effect over his rough and original mind : in such situations I do not recollect to have seen a clouded brow, or a countenance that did not display that cheerful expression which told that the heart was free at that mo- ment from the pressure of its cares. As to myself individually, I can- not sufficiently explain the happy emotions that irresistibly seized upon me when under the influence of such fascinating scenery as the islands of the Caribbean Archipelago, in all their parts, present to the inquiring eyes of a stranger. I was young at such times, indeed ; but independent of the enthusiastic spirits and warm ima- gination of youth, Nature had endowed me with an early talent for drawing, slight it is true, but untaught and original; to this I think I shall be correct in attributing, in a great measure, the power- ful bent of my mind at that period, and the extravagant delight romantic and wild 'scenery never failed to excite in me, far exceed- ing the impressions which they made on any of my messmates — I have no doubt also that Robinson Crusoe had considerable in- fluence on those occasions. Years have since rolled on, and I am no longer young but in imagination, (sailors never grow old, they are a larger race of children, who always retain their minority !) — the mind, too, is sobered down to a more regular, or perhaps less irre- gular, scale of feeling ; yet upon similar occasions now, the delight, although not so rapturous, is still instantaneous and powerful.
One unpleasant circumstance certainly attends the visit to a West India river — the probing of the musquito; and it must be acknow- ledged, that the pain arising from the puncture, and the itching sensation proceeding from the inflammation consequent thereon, are extremely disagreeable. A short residence in the climate, however, whilst it impoverishes the blood, has the effect of lessening the fre- quency of their attacks; and after a sojourn of two or three years, the visitor is seldom annoyed but with the buzzing noise those insects make whilst seeking objects to torment. I do not recollect to have seen an instance of a white native or an old stationer being disfigured by the bites of the musquito, but I remember that the face of a Lieutenant who had not long been on the station was, in a quarter of an hour after landing at the Grand Cayman, so completely altered as to have defied recognition by his most intimate friends ; not a bit of his nose or a lash of his eye was visible, all were literally buried in the monstrously enlarged protuberance of his cheeks !
Quitting the wild and uncultivated bay of Mansinella, we ran along shore to the westward, having a fine opportunity of viewing the varied scenery of this part of the coast. The high land of Cape Fran9ois, with the long line of the city of that name, like a white wall, stretching along its base, has a very interesting appearance from the offing, and it brought back to our minds some agreeable as- sociations, having been at the blockade and surrender of this memo- rable place, off which many happy days were passed amidst the
OF A NAVAL OFFICER. 183
bustle of active warfare. The towering height of Mount Melo, seen to the southward, crested with the works of Fort Ferrier, erected by that sanguinary tyrant Christophe, like the nest of another phoenix, •is the most conspicuous object in the perspective. The extensive reef of Caricol, whitened with spray, and stretching from Port Dauphin to Picolet Fort, at the extremity of the cape, completes the view ; and a very grand and imposing sight it is during the brilliancy of a fine sunshiny day.
We spoke the Elephant, ^Eolus, and other men-of-war, like our- selves cruising after the enemy's privateers, and boarded upwards of twenty American vessels with lumber and provisions for the markets in Jamaica. The " stars and stripes" upon these occasions were often a very agreeable sight to us Mids, especially after vegetating long upon ship's fare — salt-junk,* dog's-body,^ duff,"^ and weevily biscuit — and we had always permission to go on board any of the vessels, and exchange with Jonathan our Spanish dollars for poultry (limited however as to numbers), onions, apples (the Newtown pippin, which is, perhaps the finest of the pome or pyrus tribe in the world), and sometimes a " ground-squirrel," or pig-i-wiggy, by spe- cial favour from the captain, and an intentional promise 011 our parts to cause him to be decapitated in less than one week after possession ; which contract, however, I shame to say, was often evaded by stow- ing the little squeaking thing away in the skipper's own sty ; and as to the feathered gentry, by some accident or other that never could be accounted for, the number actually brought to table (such a table as it was) generally exceeded by one or two that which had virtually come into our possession by purchase ; and I believe the consultations between Mr. Charles, the captain's steward, and Mr. Smoffet, the butcher, usually ended with a verdict, on the poor lost fowl, of (felo de se) — "fell into the sea." Those who have been Mids, or old campaigners, will well understand the sort of pleasure we felt, without possessing the gastronomic quality of the gourmand, when these opportunities offered for enjoying a change of diet.
Whilst in the act of making sail, one of the topmen fell from the main-top-sail yard upon deck, and was killed upon the spot; in a small community like that of a man-of-war, such a circumstance as the loss of one of its members from casualty is, on the score of humanity and professional interest, extremely distressing, and often of moment ; as, independent of the individual's value as a seaman, his place, on a foreign station, is not always easily supplied. Such accidents, fortunately, do not very frequently occur, and in witness- ing the active movements of the men, dependent on flexibility of muscle, quickness of sight, sureness of foot, and a bold disregard of danger, whilst aloft, those who do not know that our tars are in possession of these qualities, would wonder that such accidents do not oftener happen.
I recollect an instance of a boy falling from the fore-royal-yard, during light winds, and in his descent, catching hold of the leach of the fore-sail, and clinging, like a monkey, until extricated. Another fortunate escape occurred whilst the ship lay in harbour ; the ship's
* Salted beef. t Pease-pudding. J Suet-pudding.
184 EXTRACTS FROM THE MS. JOURNAL
tailor fell from the main-yard into the waist, and instantly jumped up unhurt ! In the fall, his hip came in contact with the heel-cleat of the barge, at the break of the quarter-deck, and completely drew the nails, (of no ordinary size,) without his receiving any other hurt than a slight contusion !
Having cruised for some time off Cape St. Nicholas, the west end of St. Domingo, and recaptured another English brig, we fell in with an armed schooner from Nassau, New Providence, with despatches from the Naval Commander-in-chief at Jamaica, which we took from her, and bore up under a press of sail for Port Royal. The eastern side of Jamaica, which is the first part seen by vessels from Europe, presents a range of lofty mountains, about seven or eight thousand feet above the sea-level, and which from their colour are called the Blue Mountains. The east end of the island, generally called Morant Point, juts out several miles into the sea, and is a finely-cultivated level, the lowrer range of mountains rising from its inner extreme. In running along shore, the south-east face of the land does not appear so fertile, if we except the environs of Port Morant, and Morant Bay, as most other parts of the island. The bases of the hills approach nearer and nearer, until at the cliffs called the " White Horses," and Yallah's Hill, they rise immediately from the sea. From thence to Fort Nugent (formerly Castile Fort), just above Port Royal, the hills are barren and intersected by ravines and deep gullies, which at a distance look like streaks of chalk of party colours upon the russet covering. From Fort Nugent to Port Royal, there is a narrow and eccentric tract of low land, composed of sand and morass, overgrown with mangrove, and having many canoe channels through it on the interior side. This extraordinary spit forms the sea boundary, or barrier, of Kingston Sound, and the har- bour of Port Royal.
Port Royal, the place of rendezvous and equipment for vessels of war, is a very capacious and secure anchorage, being formed by a curve in the main shore of the island, and the spit of land which I have already spoken of as extending from the base of the hills on which Fort Nugent is situated, to the town. There are two or three channels of ingress and egress, lying between detached coral- banks and sandy cays. The eastern passage is generally used by vessels entering, and the southern by those departing. The latter, from the nature of the shoals on either side, from the current, and from the chance of the sea-breeze taking a vessel aback, suddenly, before she clears it, may be considered dangerous. The Fort Point, which vessels round in coming in, is composed of sand and shingle, and is so steep too, that ships often pass within two or three fathoms of it. I recollect the circumstance of a frigate's lower scudding* sail boom sweeping the beach, and causing the assembled spectators to retreat precipitately, to the no small amusement of the negroes.
It is a noble and majestic sight to witness the arrival of a man-of- war : the rapidity with which a great spread of canvass is taken in,
* I have adopted the orthography of this term, as given in this Journal, conceiv- ing it to be correct.
OP A NAVAL OFFICER. 185
and the fine and skilful style in which she is rounded to, and brought safely to an anchor, is really beautiful : the salute too, involving the gallant " bark," as it does, in smoke, has something sublime in its roar; the gay " streamers waving in the wind," the shrill and di- rective pipe of the boatswain, the absence of all noise and confusion among the crew, and the inspiring martial sounds of the band, altogether afford a delight to the spectator, which is, perhaps, not surpassed by any other display of combined art and science.
Familiar as such scenes were to me, I seldom lost an opportunity of witnessing the arrival of our ships ; it was a sight always inex- pressibly delightful to my mind, and I never looked on the fine dis- Elay of seamanship and discipline upon such occasions, without a full eart, — without feeling an increased warmth circulating through my veins, at the conscious pride of a Briton, that of all seamen in the world, those of Old England were pre-eminent.
Two admirable instances of skill, united with seamanship and good discipline, I have heard much praised. The first was, the fine and noble style in which the late Capt. Corbet brought the frigate Africane to an anchor in Port Royal : every scudding sail was set whilst passing the point, and at the moment of rounding to, to drop the anchor, every sail in the ship was taken in. The ships on the West India stations have always been considered as being in a higher state of discipline, and altogether in more perfect order, than those on any other station. Whether this may proceed from greater emulation among the captains and other officers, or whether there may not be some misconception' in the account, I do not know ; but it appears almost impossible to reach the same degree of perfection at all seasons, with respect to what is called smartness, as well as in the dress of the crew, the state of the decks, &c. in a cold as in a warm climate, for very obvious reasons ; and I can safely say, as far as my personal observations go, that I never saw a ship-of-war on the home station that, in most points, was equal to many of the ships in the West Indies ; but I am well aware the system was carried to much greater lengths than was at all necessary ; and, indeed, so far as the main point went — efficiency in the fighting order — after a short time, they may have been upon a par.
The other instance was performed by Capt. T. Maitland, of the Vengeur, 74, at Maldonado Bay, in the aestuary of La Plata, at that time crowded with ships. The particular display of seamanship on the occasion was, what is technically termed, " backing in," or " backing and filling," and is often practised by the pilots at Sheer- ness, but which, unless witnessed by a landsman, cannot be suffi- ciently well explained to give him a full idea of it : certainly, the manoeuvre is not so lively and brilliant as the one above given, but it requires a nicety in judgment, a correct eye, and a knowledge of seamanship on the part of the officer performing it ; whilst the other, strictly speaking, is mainly dependent on the skill and activity of the crew. From the crowded state of the anchorage, it was thought by competent judges a very nice point, even for a brig to under- take, much less so large a vessel as a seventy-four : it was, however, accomplished by Capt. Maitland to a nicety, and the big ship was shoved in, sometimes stern foremost, into a good berth, without
186 EXTRACTS PROM THE MS. JOURNAL
grazing a single vessel ; and to reach which, in a direct manner, was scarcely practicable, from the position of the other vessels relatively to each other. I am told that Sir Thomas Hardy, the Naval Com- mander-in-chief (there could be no better judge), and all the offi- cers of the squadron who witnessed the manoeuvre, were perfectly delighted.
During the war, when great activity prevailed in the equipment of vessels, little leisure was left for pleasure or recreation to the offi- cers ; and, indeed, except in the interchange of visits among them- selves, and the society of a few families at Kingston, it can scarcely be said that there was to be found much rational amusement on shore; hardly any at Port Royal. Perhaps the celebrated beef- steaks and sangaree of Goodall, at his noted tavern in the market- place, may have occasionally given pleasure to our salted palates ; billiards and cigars often afforded amusement and gratification ; but from a want of variety, the former often failed in its effect, the latter never, and became almost a solace under the monotonous circum- stances of the place. Society — there was none at Port Royal : the barracks at the fort certainly afforded a few male associates in the military officers, but the intercourse with them was far from being general among the blue-coats.* A trip on shore was not always a trip of pleasure, at least not to all, the usual pastime being a look-in at Jackson's store, old Jew Da Costa's, or some other Anti-Christian, or Christian Jew; and generally ended at Miss Mary Taylor's, or some other Paphian goddess, or at Goodall's, with billiards, cigars, rack-punch, sangaree, lemonade, &c.
The only walk, and that a very short one, was round the Fort Point, along a sandy and pebbly beach ; but even this would have been intolerable from the heat, were it not for the refreshing and salubrious sea-breeze, emphatically called " the Doctor." In my rambles here I do not recollect ever to have met any other face than a black or a brown one, so little charm had the only spot that could afford space for exercise or recreation for the naval or military officer ! At this time the cocoa-nut trees, forming a vista along the margin of the water, were young, but even so, they added an interest to the otherwise plain and unadorned sandy spot. These beautiful trees are by this time grown to maturity, and must produce a pleasing effect, waving their tall heads in the breeze, and throwing their long and slender shadows upon the smooth and glowing sands. I know no other objects of nature, excepting a troop of black faces, which give a more exotic look to a West India scene than these fine feather- like and branchless trees, and they form the most striking difference between the splendid scenery of this fervid clime and that of northern Europe ; on the arrival of a stranger, they are the first objects which attract his eye and his admiration, and tell him at once, before the black faces pass in review, that he is within the tropics, and in the land of palms.
The view from the Point is far from being uninteresting. To the eastward the abutments of the Liguanea mountains stretch into the
* We have many pleasing recollections of the contrary in the year 1816.
OF A NAVAL OFFICER. 187
sea, and form picturesque headlands ; from thence to the Fort the land, as before noticed, is low, and forms a sweep or two, with Great and Little Plumb Points, adding a fringe of green bushes to a sandy margin. At the entrance of the harbour are three or four sandy cays, topped with grass, » the sea-side convolvulus, sensitive plant, and a few bushes and shrubs ;* and on one of these an awful and unsightly spectacle presents itself to the eye — the remains of mutineers " hung in chains ! " Farther in the offing are other cays ; to the south- west the land about Healthshire Point and Portland, with a blue tint, is seen in the distance ; and within the harbour the Twelve Apos- tles Fort, and Green Bay, all objects of interest to the admirer of coast scenery. The interior views are equally if not more interest- ing, presenting in pleasing combination the beauties of nature with the ingenious works of art : high ridgy land, low fertile banks graced with the feathery palm — the warlike parapets of Musquito (Agusta) Fort, guarding the pass-deep to Kingston Sound ; the old prison- ships, housed over and ranged in rows, like a review of Greenwich pensioners ; the still more striking group of different-sized men-of- war, from the pigmy schooner to the giant two-decker, floating in calm and stately magnificence; the low canoe, and the swift wherry, with their snow-white sails glittering in the sunbeams, like sheep reposing on a grassy plain ; and in the distance, backed by lofty mounts, the long-spreading city of Kingston, with its red shingled roofs and forest of masts, and still farther on, last, but not least in estimation, Rock Fort, the source of that delightful element, without which life could not be, — water ! All these objects present an asso- ciation extremely gratifying to the lover of nature and the admirer of art ; and although this clime is exempted from the vicissitudes of winter — for "the snow spirit never comes here," yet, delightful as these fair scenes with their embellishments now appear to us, there are periods when, like the sunshine of life, their splendour is shadowed in gloom and tempest. In those months of hurricane and deluge, when the elemental world seems combined to threaten and endanger human existence — in those awful moments, when the vivid lightning's flash alarms, and the loud thunder's roar astounds — when the rains pour down in torrents on the parched-up earth — the capricious winds their tremendous strength display, and the con- vulsive earthquake affrights, we view no longer the calm and sunny prospect as I have just described ; all for the time changes, and the elements, " when on destruction bent," have often left their marks ; and more than once have left no marks of what once was ! Old Port Royal, with its inhabitants, repose at the bottom of the present harbour, and twice since has the new Port Town been razed by fire.
* I am surprised that cocoa-nuts have never been planted on these cays; inde- pendent of the picturesque beauty they would afford, they might become of utility as guides.
(To be continued.)
188
REMINISCENCES OF A. SUBALTERN. NO. IX.
THE joke about Darby Rooney's wardrobe, and the conversation that took place between him and Gen. Mackinnon, was circulated throughout the army, and I believe there Avas not one regiment un- acquainted with the circumstance ; indeed, so general was its circula- tion, that it reached the head-quarters of Lord Wellington himself, and if report spoke truly, (which it don't always do,) it caused his Lordship to laugh heartily.
I have myself, — before, and since I wrote the story, — often been asked if it was really a fact that we had no squads in the companies of my regiment, and I have invariably answered that we had not, and that every iota told by Bob Hardiman was true, for I think Bob's description of the Connaught Rangers altogether too rich to be con- tradicted or even altered ; but were I myself to give a " full and true account" of the " boys," I would set them down as a parcel of lads that took the world easy, or, as they themselves would say — aisy, with a proper share of that nonchalance which is only to be acquired on ser- vice— real service ; but I cannot bring myself to think them, as many did, a parcel of devils, neither will I by any manner of means try to pass them off for so many saints ! but the fact is, (and I have before said so,) that there was not one regiment in the Peninsular army more severely — perhaps so severely — drilled as mine was ; but I also say, without the slightest fear of contradiction, that the officers never tor- mented themselves or their men with too much fuss. We approached their quarters as seldom as we possibly could — I mean as seldom as was necessary — and thereby kept up that distance between officers and privates, so essential to discipline ; this we considered the proper line of conduct to chalk out, and we ever acted up to it. We were amused to see some regiments whose commanding officers obliged their subal- terns to parade their men at bed-time in front of their respective quarters in their blankets ! Why, they looked like so many hobgob- lins ! but if such an observance was necessary as far as concerned the soldiers, surely a Serjeant ought to be able to do this much.
The Serjeants in the British army are better paid than the subal- terns of any other European power, and if they are incapable of per- forming the regimental drudgery, it comes to this — that they either receive too much pay, or do too little duty. Upon this conviction we ever acted ; we made our serjeants do the duty usually performed by officers in other regiments, and we found our account in it. Our argument was one that must be, I should conceive, obvious to the meanest capacity, — it was this : if the Serjeants were proper attentive persons, as they should be from the rate of their pay, they were just as capable as commissioned officers to fulfil such duties as I have men- tioned; if, on the contrary, they were idle inefficient fellows, the best method to make them acquainted with their duty was by accustoming them to perform it. Practice, they say, makes perfect, and sure enough we kept our fellows to it. There may be some few who would combat this line of reasoning, but my reply to those gentle- men is, that a certain emulation ought to exist amongst the non-com-
REMINISCENCES OP A SUBALTERN. 189
missioned officers in every battalion ; otherwise, how will that esprit du corps so essential to the well-being of a crack regiment be kept up ? It cannot be done. Old Gen. Hamilton used to say, that a soldier without pride was not worth his salt — and old Gen. Hamilton was right ; however, should there be persons sceptical enough to combat my position, backed as I think it is by so good an authority, " come on and fight — if I have no fence, there is the better chance of vic- tory. But what is any regiment the better for too much quackery ? Decidedly not one whit. It is the cant to say that it is not only the better for it, but that it is an ingredient essential to its very existence. I know this ; but have I found it so ? Certainly not. Does it make a regiment more healthy, march better, fight better, or more staunch to its colours ? I have never found that it did. Does it make the men more content with their lot, or the officers with theirs? Or — and here is a point of some consideration — does it raise the non-commis- sioned officers in the estimation of the soldiers, or in their estimation of themselves? I think not, and there's the rub; for I should be sorry to have it supposed that my anxiety to make the minor duties of a battalion be performed by Serjeants, was meant as a cloak for the subalterns to shy their work. Heaven knows, and so do my brother subs — at least such of them as are In the land of the living — that such is not njy motive ; but there are some curmudgeons at the head of regiments who are never at rest unless they have their unfortunate subs thrusting their noses into every nook, no matter how filthy.
If a selection of good Serjeants and corporals (such as the Connaught Rangers could boast of!) be made by the officer at the head of a re- giment, and if that officer will only allow those individuals to do their duty, there is not the least doubt but that they will do it — I peril myself upon the assertion, and I bet a sovereign that " the Guards" agree with me !
I well remember some of those regiments, circumstanced as I have described, during the Peninsular War ; these poor fellows were much to be pitied, for they were not only obliged to fag, but to dress also, with as much scrupulous exactness as the time and place would admit of. What folly ! but was Lord Wellington to blame for this ? Un- questionably not. He never troubled his head about such trifles, and had the commanding officers of corps followed the example set them (of not paying too much respect to minutiae) by the Commander-in- chief, the situation of the junior officers in the army would have been far different from what it was.
Another custom prevailed in many regiments, which was attempted to be got up in mine, but we crushed it in its infancy ; it was the send- ing a surgeon or his assistant to ascertain the state of an officer's health, should he think himself not well enough to attend an early drill.
We had in my old corps, amongst other " characters/' one that, at the period I am writing about, was well known in the army to be as jovial a fellow as ever put his foot under a mess-table ; his name was Fairfield ; and though there were few who could sing as good a song, there was not in the whole British army a worse duty officer ; indeed, it was next to impossible to catch hold of him for any duty what- ever, and so well known was his dislike to all military etiquette, that the officer next to him on the roaster, the moment Fairneld's name ap-
190 REMINISCENCES OF A SUBALTERN.
peared for guard-mounting or court-martini, considered himself as the person meant, and he was right nine times out of ten. The frequent absence of Fairfield from drill, at a time too when the regiment was in expectation of being inspected by the general of division, obliged the officer commanding to send the surgeon to ascertain the nature of his malady, which from its long continuance (on occasions of duty !) strongly savoured of a chronic complaint. The doctor found the invalid traversing his chamber rather lightly clad for an indisposed person ; he was singing one of Moore's melodies, and accompanying himself with his violin, which instrument he toucheH with great taste. The doctor told him the nature of his visit, and offered to feel his pulse, but Fair- field turned from him, repeating the lines of Shakspeare, " Canst thou minister," &c. &c. " Well," replied the surgeon, " I am sorry for it, but I cannot avoid reporting you fit for duty." " I'm sorry you can- not," rejoined Fairfield; " but my complaint is best known to myself! and I feel that were I to rise as early as is necessary, I should be lost to the service in a month." " Why," said the doctor, " Major Thom- son says you have been lost to it ever since he first knew you, and that is now something about six years !" and he took his leave for the pur- pose of making his report.
The Major's orderly was soon at Fairfield's quarters, with a message to say that his presence was required by his commanding officer. Fairfield was immediately in attendance. " Mr. Fairfield," said the Major, " your constant habit of being absent from early drill has obliged me to send the surgeon to ascertain the state of your health, and he reports that you are perfectly well, and I must say that your appearance is anything but that of an invalid — how is this ?" " Don't mind him, Sir," replied Fairfield ; " I am, thank God ! very well now, but when the bugle sounded this morning at four o'clock, a cold shi- vering came over me — I think it was a touch of ague ! and besides, Doctor Gregg is too short a time in the Connaught Rangers to know my habit !" " Is he ?" rejoined the old Major, " he must be damn'd stupid then ; but that is a charge you surely can't make against me; I have been now about nineteen years in the regiment, during six of which I have had the pleasure of your acquaintance, and you will allow me to tell you, that I am not only well acquainted with ' your habit/ but to request you will, from this moment, change it" — and with this gentle rebuke he good-humouredly dismissed him. He was an excellent duty officer ever after.
There are many who will, perhaps, say that the commanding officer should have been more rigid, and at the very least have placed the offender in arrest, but this is a false notion. An officer at the head of a regiment is often obliged — or at least ought often — to shut his eyes against little irregularities, and a gentle rebuke is sometimes better than a harsher mode of proceeding ; and not only the interior economy, but the interior harmony of a corps is better insured by this means. If the officers are happy, the soldiers are sure to be so; and if officers and privates are content with their lot, all must go right.
A soldier of the 88th (while that corps were stationed in Lower Canada, in 1814,) was once asked by a Yankee, "Why it was that the men of his corps never deserted when so fine an opportunity was afforded them to do so?" " Why thm," replied PadJy, " is you want
REMINISCENCES OP A SUBALTERN. 1Q1
to know the raisoa that we don't desart, I '11 tell it to you nately. We have no complaint to make against our officers, and we can't be more happy than we are. Our officers and we give and take with each other, and there '& the ins and outs of it." And there is the " ins" and " outs" of it : this is the grand secret.
A regiment is a piece of mechanism, and requires as much care as any other machine, whose parts are obliged to act in unison to keep it going as it ought. If a screw or two be loose, a skilful hand will easily right them without injuring the machine; but if it falls into the hands of a self-sufficient, ignorant bungler, it is sure to be injured, if not destroyed altogether ; and as certain as the daylight, if it is ever placed in a situation where it must, from necessity, be allowed to act for itself — where the main-spring cannot control the lesser ones, much less the great body of the machine — it will be worse than useless — worse than a log — not only in the way, but not to be depended upon !
It must not, however, be supposed, that these observations are meant to favour a too little regard to that system of discipline which is so essential to be observed in the army, and without which any army — but particularly a British one — would be inefficient ; they are written by one who, although he never did, or, in all human probability, ever will, attain a higher rank than these " Reminiscences" avow him to hold, has had, nevertheless, some experience; and if anything he writes now, or may write hereafter, conduces to the amusement — he is not vain enough to say information — of his military readers, he will be more than repaid for his trouble.
Extremes should be avoided, and too much familiarity is as bad as too much severity. I once heard of a commanding officer of a first- rate regiment, who was in the habit of allowing the junior officers of his corps to make too free with him ; he at length found it necessary to send his adjutant to inquire the reason why a young ensign, who was in the habit of absenting himself from parade, did so on one of those days which was allotted as a garrison parade? The adjutant informed the ensign, that the colonel awaited his reply. " Shall I say you are unwell ?" demanded he. " Oh ! no," replied the ensign, " I '11 settle the matter with the commanding officer myself." The hour of dinner approached, yet no communication was received from the en- sign. Passing from his quarters to the mess-room, the commanding officer met the ensign, and was about to accost him, when the latter turned his head aside, and declined recognising his colonel, who, upon arriving at the mess-room, was so dejected as to attract the notice of all the officers. Upon being asked why he was so out of spirits, the colonel, " good easy man," told a " round unvarnished tale," and, in conclusion, added, " I thought nothing of his not answering my mes- sage ! but I cannot express how much I am hurt at the idea of his cutting me as he did when I wished to speak with him ! !" This was un pen trop fort ; and had the regiment in question been much longer under the command of the good-natured personage I have described, there is little doubt but that it would have become rather relaxed in its discipline.
The different movements amongst the contending armies in the end of the year 1811, caused it to be presumed that the campaign the fol- lowing year would open with much spirit; and so it did, although
192 REMINISCENCES OF A SUBALTERN.
earlier than was anticipated. On the 27th of Dec. the division of Gen. Hill left its cantonments in the vicinity of Portalegre, in the ex- pectation of surprising the French at Merida. The advanced guard of the British fell in with a party of French marauders, who, having collected, formed a square, and owing to the nature of the ground, (which was uneven,) and to the rapidity of their march, succeeded in re-entering Merida before they could be attacked by the English in- fantry. The French General did not await the arrival of Gen. Hill, but retreated upon Lerena, at which place he was sustained by the fifth corps, under the command of the Count D'Erlon.
Gen. Hill reached Almandralejo on the 2nd of Jan. 1812, and made a reconnaissance as far as Los Santos. A brilliant affair of cavalry took place in the environs of this town, and Lieut.-Colonel Aber- cromby, who commanded our detachment, completely overthrew the French horse, although they were much superior in numbers. This advantage made Marshal Soult apprehensive of a more serious attack, and he concentrated the forces of Victor and Laval; but Gen. Hill, satisfied with having created an alarm in the French army of the south, retired to his former quarters on the frontiers of Portugal.
The advance of Gen. Hill was but a feint to deceive the enemy ; it was made with the view of making Marshal Marmont believe that our forces on the left of the Tagus were much more numerous than they really were ; thereby inducing him not to harbour any apprehensions respecting Ciudad Rodrigo, the possession of which, Lord Wellington had resolved on. Marmont's security was besides increased by the facility with which the blockade of that fortress had been raised three months before, through the bare junction of four French divisions with the army of the Count Dorsenne ; a manoeuvre which might be re- peated at any time with an equal probability of success. He not only quartered his army in very extensive cantonments, but also detached Gen. Montbrun, with three divisions, to co-operate with Marshal Suchet in the kingdom of Valencia.
Intimately acquainted with these details, Lord Wellington redoubled his efforts in the arrangement of all that was necessary to carry on the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo with vigour. The third division, which was one of those destined to take a part in the attack, broke up from its cantonments on the morning of the 4th of Jan. 1812. Carpio, Espeja, and Pastores, were occupied by our troops, and the greatest activity prevailed throughout every department, but more especially in that of the engineers. All the cars in the country were put into requisition for the purpose of conveying fascines, gabions, and the different mate- rials necessary, to the Convent de la Carida, distant a league and half from Rodrigo : the guns were at Gallegos, and every thing was in that state of preparation which announced that a vigorous attack was about to be made in the depth of a severe winter, against a fortress that had withstood for twenty-five days all the efforts of Marshal Massena, in the summer of 1810, when it was only occupied by a weak garrison of Spaniards; yet, nevertheless, every one felt confident, and the soldiers burned with impatience to wipe away the blot of the former year in the unfortunate siege of San Christoval and Badajoz.
The attack of Ciudad Rodrigo, although sudden in its developement, was nevertheless one of long contemplation ; and the result, which was
REMINISCENCES OF A SUBALTERN. 193
so rapid as to baffle all the calculations of the French Marshal, proved to the world that the British army were not only not inferior to the French in their engineer department, but that it excelled them in that arm as decidedly as it did in every other.
I have before mentioned that we had not an effective corps of engi- neers ; I mean in point of numbers : to remedy this defect, a propor- tion of the most intelligent officers and soldiers of the infantry were selected during the autumn months, and placed under the direction of Colonel Fletcher, the chief engineer : they were soon taught how to make fascines and gabions, and what was of eqnal consequence — how to use them. They likewise learned the manner of working by sap, and by this means, that branch of our army which was before the weakest, had now become very efficient.
The morning of the 4th of Jan. was dreadfully inauspicious. The order for marching arrived at three o'clock, and we were under arms at five. The rain fell in torrents, and the village of Aldea-de-Ponte, which the brigade of Gen. Mackinnon occupied, was a sea of filth ; the snow on the surrounding hills drifted down with the flood, and nearly choked up the roads, and the appearance of the morning was any thing but a favourable omen for us who had a march of nine leagues to make ere we reached the town of Robleada, on the river Agueda, which was destined to be our resting-place for the night.
At half-past six the brigade was in motion, and I scarcely remember a more disagreeable day ; the rain which had fallen in the morning was succeeded by snow and sleet, and some soldiers, who sunk from cold and fatigue, fell down exhausted, soon became insensible, and perished ; yet, strange to say, an Irishwoman of my regiment was delivered of a child upon the road, and continued the march with her infant in her arms.
Notwithstanding the severity of the day, it was impossible to avoid occasionally smiling at the outre appearance of some of the officers. The total disregard which the Commander-in-chief paid to uniformity of dress, is well known, and there were many on this day who were obliged to acknowledge that they showed more taste than judgment in their selection. Capt. Adair, of my corps, nearly fell a victim to the choice he had made, on this our first day of opening the campaign of 1812. He wore a pair of boots that fitted him with a degree of exact- ness that would not disgrace a " Hoby ;",the heels were high, and the toes sharply pointed ; his pantaloons were of bine web ; his frock-coat and waistcoat were tastefully and fashionably chosen, the former light blue richly frogged with lace, the latter of green velvet with large silver Spanish buttons, but he forgot the most essential part of all — and that was his boat cloak. For the first ten or twelve miles he rode, but the cold was so intense that he was obliged to dismount, and unquestion- ably his dress was but ill calculated for walking. The rain with which his pantaloons were saturated, was by this time nearly frozen (for the day had begun to change), and he became so dreadfully chafed that he was necessitated to give up the march, and we left him at a village half way from Robleada, resembling more one of those which composed "the army of Martyrs," than that commanded by Lord Wellington. I myself was nearly in as bad a state, but being a few years younger, and more serviceably clad, I made an effort to get on.
U. S. Jo irn v. No. 38. FEB. 1S32- o
194 REMINISCENCES OF A SUBALTERN.
We had by this time (eight o'clock at night) proceeded a consider- able way in the dark, and, as may be supposed, it was a difficult matter to keep the men together as compactly as could be wished. Whenever an opportunity occurred, a jaded soldier or two of my regiment used to , look in on our Spanish friends, and if they found them at supper, they could not bring themselves to refuse an offer to "take share of what was going," and, to say the truth, this was no more than might be expected from a set of fellows who belonged to a country so proverbial for its hospitality to strangers as theirs (Ireland) was ! besides this, the men of the Connaught Rangers had a way of making themselves " at home" that was peculiar to them, and for which — whatever else might be denied them ! — they got full credit.
Passing a hamlet a short distance from Robleada, we saw a number of Spaniards, women as well as men, outside the door of a good-looking house; much altercation was apparently taking place, at length a soldier rushed out with half a flitch of bacon under his arm ; a scuffle ensued, and Lieut. D'Arcy, to whose company the soldier belonged, ran up to inquire the cause of the outcry, but it was soon too manifest to be misunderstood ; the war-whoop was raised against our man, who, on his part, as stoutly defended himself, not by words alone but by blows, which had nearly silenced his opponents, when he was seized by my friend D'Arcy. Piccaroon, Ladrone, and other oppro- brious epithets were poured with much volubility against him, but he, with the greatest sangfroid, turned to his officer and said, " Be aisy now, and don't be vexing yourself with them, or the likes of them. Wasn't it for you I was making a bargain ? and didn't I offer the value of it ? Don't I see the way you're lost with the hunger, and the divil a bit iv rations you'll get to ate to-night. Och ! you cratur, iv your poor mother — that's dead ! was to see you after such a condition, it's she that id be leev'd iv herself for letting you away from her at all at all." — " Well," said D'Arcy, (softened no doubt, and who would not at such a speech ?) " what did you offer for it ?" — fl What did I offer for it, is it ? Fait, then, I offered enough, but they made such a noise that I don't think they heared me, for, upon my sorvl, I hardly heard myself with the uproar they made ; and sure I towld them iv I hadn't money enough to pay for it (and it was true for me I hadn't, unless I got it dog cheap!) you had; but they don't like a bone in my skin, or in yours either, and that's the raison, they're afther ofiinding me afther such a manner. And didn't one of the women get my left thumb into her mouth, and grunch it like a bit of mate ? Look at it !" said he, in conclusion, at^the same time thrusting his bleeding hand nearly into D'Arcy 's face, " fait and iv your honour hadn't come up, it's my belief she would have bit it clane off at the knuckle." This speech, delivered with a rapidity and force that was sufficient to overwhelm the most practised rhetorician, carried away every thing along with it, like chaff before a whirlwind, and D'Arcy made all matters smooth by paying the price demanded (two dollars) ; and the piece of bacon was carried away by Ody Brophy, who was a townsman of D'Arcy's, and who repeatedly assured him " he would do more than that to sarve him."
It was impossible to avoid paying a tribute of praise to Ody Brophy for the tact with which he avoided the storm with which he was threatened ; and upon this occasion he proved himself as good a pilot
REMINISCENCES OF A SUBALTERN. 195
as ever guided a vessel, and to the full equal to one I once heard of in the harbour of Cork. A captain of a man-of-war, newly appointed to a ship on the Irish station, took the precaution, in " beating out" of harbour, to apprise the pilot that he was totally unacquainted with the coast, and therefore he must rely entirely on the pilot's local knowledge for the safety of his ship.
" You are perfectly sure, Pilot," said the Captain, " you are well ac- quainted with the coast ?"
" Do I know my own name, Sir?"
" Well, mind, I warn you not to approach too near the shore."
" Now make yourself aisy, Sir, in troth you may go to bed iv you plaise."
" Then shall we stand on ?"
" Why, — what else would we do ?"
" Yes, but there may be hidden dangers, which you know nothing about."
" Dangers ? I 'd like to see the dangers dare hide themselves from Mich, — sure, don't I tell you I know every rock on the coast," (here the ship strikes,) " and thai 's one of 'em."
The brigade reached Robleada at nine o'clock at night, and our quarters there, which at any time would have been considered good, appeared to us, after our wretched billets at Aldea-de-Ponte, and the fatigue of a harassing march — sumptuous. The villages in Spain, like those of France, are well supplied with beds, and the house allotted to me, D'Arcy, and Capt. Peshall, was far from deficient in those essen-" tials. In a chamber, (indeed the only one in the house,) which we considered as destined for our occupation, there were two excellent beds, and D'Arcy regarded them with the eye of an experienced vete- ran, carefully examined the weight of bed clothes which each could boast of, and then, pressing the elastic mattress with unfeigned delight at the prospect of a good night's rest, he surveyed his tattered panta- loons, which were besmeared with mud from the roads, and nearly re- duced to shreds from the brambles they encountered in penetrating sundry copses on the march. He turned towards the fire, beside which I was seated, and "grinned horribly a ghastly smile," which expressed, or seemed to express, his determination to be the occupant — coule qu'il coute — of one of the beds, which, as it turned out afterwards, was destined to be the scene of a serious affray between him and the Spaniard's wife, and one which in no way resembled those encounters which the officers of the army had often been engaged in with the Cas- tilian ladies. He had but just finished his reconnaissance, when a loud knocking at the door of the cottage announced the arrival of Peshall, who, like some others, had been " thrown out" on the march, and who sought for his billet in the best manner he could. He was a man who might boast of as well-stocked a canteen as any other captain in the army ; and upon this occasion it made a proud display. The fire-place was abundantly supplied with wood, and at each side of the chimney there was a profusion of that kind of furniture which I ever considered as indispensable to complete the garniture of a well-regulated cuisine, no matter whether in a cottage, or chateau — I mean hams, sausages, and flitches of well-cured bacon.
While I contemplated all the luxuries with which I was surrounded,
o 2
196 REMINISCENCES OF A SUBALTERN.
I felt exceedingly happy, and I am inclined to think that the evening of the 4th of January 1812 was, if not one of the pleasantest of my life, unquestionably one of the most rational I ever passed. Our bag- gage had by this time arrived, and having got on dry clothes, we began to attack the contents of Peshall's canteen, which was ever at the ser- vice of his friends ; it contained, among other good things, a Lamego ham, and a cold roast leg of mountain mutton, " morsels which may take rank, notwithstanding their Spartan plainness, with the most dis- guised of foreign manufacture." It is scarcely necessary to add, that we did ample justice to the viands placed before us, and having taken a sufficient libation of brandy punch, in which the Spaniard joined us, we began to turn, not only our thoughts, but our eyes also towards our beds ; but it was soon manifest, from divers demonstrations on the part of our hostess, that she intended putting D'Arcy, and me, on what is called in Ireland the Shaugprawn, or, in plain English, that she had made up her mind to give one bed to Peshall, and that the other should be occupied by herself and her husband.
Peshall was soon in bed, and the Spaniard's wife began quickly to throw off her upper garments, disregarding our presence, D'Arcy look- ing on with a stern composure that showed he was " bent on mischief." In stature he was considerably above six feet, and he was stout in pro- portion ; his dark eye was scarcely perceptible through his raven black hair, which profusely covered his forehead, and which hung in long curls at each side of his face ; in short, he had the appearance (wrapt as he was in a dark Spanish cloak) more of an inquisitor, than an offi- cer of his Britannic Majesty's service.
After a variety of evolutions on the part of the Patrona, all doubts as to her intentions were dispelled, for, without further ceremony, she took possession of the vacant bed herself. Her husband had drunk so much that he was nearly in a helpless state, and might be fairly said to be put liors de combat. D'Arcy, without a moment's hesitation, flung off his cloak and pantaloons, and in a trice was beside his fair hostess, who sprang into the middle of the floor, uttering a loud scream. The scene, altogether, was highly amusing, and our hostess, although in a violent rage, was so pretty a little creature that it was not possi- ble to be angry with her. I wrapt my boat cloak round her, and made her remain before the tire during the night, and, fatigued as I was, I preferred sitting beside her to occupying the bed which had been won at her expense ; but D'Arcy, in justification of himself, said that his manoeuvre was strictly military, and that he turned her flank ; but although he was eminently successful in this instance, it is a manoeuvre not always to be depended upon. Some short time after this, I tried it myself, but the result was quite different, because, instead of quitting the bed, my friend never left it for the six nights I remained in her house !
We arose early the following morning, the 5th, and the brigade reached the small village of Attalaya, distant three leagues from Ro- drigo, a little before noon. That fortress was completely invested on the evening of the 7th, and dispositions were made to commence operations against it on the night following.
Ciudad Rodrigo stands upon an eminence, on the right bank of the river Agueda, and is difficult of access; it had been since its occupa-
. REMINISCENCES OF A SUBALTERN. 197
tion by the French, much strengthened by the construction of a re- doubt on the hill called Saint Francisco ; some old convents in the suburbs were also turned into defences, and those places no longer presented their original peaceful appearance, but were, in fact, very respectable out-works, and tended much to our annoyance and loss at the commencement of the siege.
To be safe against a coup-de-main, Rodrigo would require a force of from 15 ve to six thousand troops, and its present garrison did not reckon any thing like three thousand bayonets ; it was therefore ma- nifest, that, notwithstanding the unfavourable time of the year, it must fall if not speedily succoured, yet it would seem that Marshal Marmont took no measures to make a diversion in its favour.
Strongly impressed with this state of the matter, Lord Wellington saw the advantage he would have over his opponent, by acting with as little delay as possible ; his situation, which could not be better, would, by the nature of things, change by losing time, and he resolved to open the trenches on the night of the 8th, but it was necessary to carry the redoubt of Saint Francisco in the first instance.
Protected by a strong escort, Lord Wellington carefully reconnoitred the town on the 8th ; and shortly after dark, three hundred men of the light division, headed by Colonel Colborn of the 52nd, were formed for the attack of St. Francisco. They were followed by a working party, composed also of men of the light divison. The storming party, led on by Colonel Colborn, advanced under cover of the night, and were not discovered until they had reached to within a few yards of the redoubt, and our troops rushed on with such impetuosity that the out- work was carried, and the soldiers that defended it put to the sword, before the garrison of Rodrigo thought it in danger ; and profiting by the panic with which the enemy were seized, Colonel Colborn caused the works of the redoubt to be razed, — completed the first parallel, and rendered our future approaches secure.
The duty in the trenches was carried on by the first, third, fourth, and light divisions, each taking its separate tour every twenty-four hours ; we had no tents or huts of any description, and the ground was covered with snow, nevertheless the soldiers were cheerful, and every thing went on well. The fortified convents in the suburbs were respectively carried, and each sortie made by the garrison was imme- diately repulsed ; in some instances our men pursued them to the very glacis, and many a fine fellow, carried away by his enthusiasm, died at the muzzles of their cannon.
Every exertion was made to forward the works, so fully were all impressed with its necessity; but notwithstanding the animated exertions of the engineers, and the ready cooperation of the infantry, their progress was at times unavoidably slower than was anticipated. In some instances the soil was so unfavourable, it was next to an impossibility to make head against it ; instead of clay or gravel, we frequently met with a vein of rock, and invariably when this oc- curred, our losses were severe, for the pick-axes coming in contact with the stone, caused a fire to issue that plainly told the enemy where we were, and, as a matter of course, they redoubled their efforts on those points; nevertheless, on the 14th, in the afternoon, we were enabled to open our fire from twenty-two pieces of cannon superior to
198 REMINISCENCES OF A SUBALTERN.
those which armed our batteries at Badajoz the year before, in as much as the former guns were of brass, while those which we now used were of metal. On this night we established the second parallel, distant only one hundred and fifty yards from the body of the place.
On the 15th the second parallel was in a forward state, and the approach by sap to the glacis was considerably advanced ; the effect also of our fire was such as made us perceive a material alteration in the enemy's mode of replying to it ; and it was apparent, that al- though but seven days before the place, our labours were soon likely to be brought to a termination. The cannonade of the enemy, however, if not as great as at first, was more effective, and our casualties more numerous, and their guns and mortars were directed with a scientific precision that did credit to the men that served them. On the 18th, a battery of seven thirty-two pounders opened its fire, and from this height, the walls of the Fausse Braye were distinguishable, while the guns in the first parallel overpowered the several bastions against which they were directed ; indeed, every hour proved the visible supe- riority of our fire over that of the enemy's, which at times seemed to be altogether extinguished, and whenever it shone forth with any thing like brilliancy, it was but momentary, and might be well likened to some spark of combustible matter, issuing from the interior of a nearly consumed ruin ! The battery which opened on the 15th had almost effected a breach opposite to the suburb of Saint Francisco, and it was manifest that the one Avhich assailed the Fausse Braye, although later in its construction, was to the full as effective as its companion. Wherever danger was greatest, there were our engineers, and it was painful to see their devotedness ; on horseback or on foot, under cover or exposed to fire, was to them the same, and their example was fol- lowed by the soldiers with an enthusiasm unequalled ; in short it was plain that a few hours would suffice to decide the fate of Ciudad Ro- drigo. At this period, (the 18th,) the fourth division occupied and performed the duty in the trenches.
Early on the morning of the 19th, the third division, (although not for duty that day,) received orders to march to the Convent de la Carida,* and as Lord Wellington was not in the habit of giving us unnecessary marches, we concluded that he intended us the honour of forming one of the corps destined to carry the place. On our march we perceived our old friends and companions, the light division, de- bouching from their cantonments, and the joy expressed by our men when they saw them, is not to be described : we were long acquainted, and like horses accustomed to the same harness, we pulled well toge- ther. At two o'clock in the afternoon we left La Carida, and passing to the rear of the first parallel, formed in column about two gun-shots
* " On the 19th of Jan. the light division was ordered to assault out of its turn. At first it was reported they were to take both breaches, but as the third division were also throwing up earth, their General remonstrated." — (Sketch of the Storm- ing of Ciudad Rodrigo. by an Officer engaged.)
Answer by the Writer of Reminiscences of a Subaltern — This is a mistake. The third division, like the light, was ordered to assault " out of its turn ;" it did not arrive before Radrigo until the a "ternoon of the l!)th, neither did it throw up earth on that day, nor was any remonstrance made — indeed, it could not — on the part of its General on that score.
REMINISCENCES OF A SUBALTERN. 199
distant from the main breach. The fourth division still occupied the works, and it was the general opinion that ours (the third) were to be in reserve. The number of Spaniards, Portuguese, and soldiers' wives in the character of suttlers, was immense, and the neighbourhood, which but a few days before was only an empty plain, now presented the appearance of a vast camp. Wretches of the poorest description hovered round us, in hopes of getting a morsel of food, or of plundering some dead or wounded soldier : their cadaverous countenances express- ed a living picture of the greatest want ; and it required all our precau- tion to prevent those miscreants from robbing us the instant we turned our backs from our scanty store of baggage or provisions.
Our bivouack, as may be supposed, presented an animated appear- ance : groups of soldiers cooking in one place ; in another, some dozens collected together, listening to accounts brought from the works by some of their companions whom curiosity had led thither; others relating their past battles to any of the young soldiers who had not as yet come hand to hand with a Frenchman ; others dancing and sing- ing; officers' servants preparing dinner for their masters, and officers themselves, dressed in whatever way best suited their taste or conve- nience, mixed with the men, without any distinguishing mark of uni- form to denote their rank ; the only thing uniform to be discovered amongst a group of between 4 and 5000, was good conduct and confi- dence in themselves and their general.
It was now five o'clock in the afternoon, and darkness was approach- ing fast, yet no order had arrived intimating that we were to take a part in the contest about to be decided : we were in this state of sus- pense, when our attention was attracted by the sound of music : we all stood up, and pressed forward to a ridge, a little in our front, and which separated us from the cause of our movement, but it would be impossible for me to convey an adequate idea of our feelings, when we beheld the 43rd regiment, preceded by their band •' going to storm the left breach ; they were in the highest spirits, but without the slightest appearance of levity in their demeanour,— on the contrary, there was a cast of determined severity thrown over their countenances, that ex- pressed in legible characters that they knew the sort of service they were about to perform, and had made up their minds to the issue. In passing us, each officer and soldier stepped out of the ranks for an in- stant, as he recognised a friend, to press his hand ; many for the last time : yet, notwithstanding this animating scene, there was no shout- ing or huzzaing, no boisterous bravadoing, no unbecoming language ! in short, every one seemed to be impressed with the seriousness of the affairs entrusted to his charge, and any interchange of words was to this effect : " Well, lads, mind what you 're about to-night ;" or, " We 11 meet in the town by and by ;" and other little familiar phrases, all expressive of confidence. The regiment at length passed us, and we stood gazing after it as long as the rear platoon continued in sight : the music grew fainter every moment, until at last it died away altogether ; they had no drums, and there was a melting sweet- ness in the sounds that touched the heart.
The first syllable uttered after this scene was, " And are we to be left behind ?" The interrogatory was scarcely put when the word " Stand to your arms," answered it ; the order was promptly obeyed, and a
200 REMINISCENCES OF A SUBALTERN.
breathless silence prevailed, when our commanding officer, in a few words, announced to us that Lord Wellington had directed our division to carry the grand breach. The soldiers listened to the communication with silent earnestness, and immediately began to disencumber them- selves of their knapsacks, which were placed in order by companies, and a guard set over them ; each man then began to arrange himself for the combat in such manner as his fancy or the moment would admit of, — some by lowering their cartridge-boxes, others by turning theirs to the front, in order that they might the more conveniently make use of them ; others unclasping their stocks or opening their shirt collars, and others oiling their bayonets ; then again some screwing in flints, to make " assurance doubly sure ;" and more taking leave of their wives and children ! This last was an affecting sight, but not so much so as might be expected, because the women, from long habit, were accus- tomed to scenes of danger, and the order for their husbands to march against the enemy was in their eyes tantamount to a victory, and as the soldier seldom returned without plunder of some sort, the painful sus- pense which his absence caused was made up by the gaiety which his return was certain to be productive of; or, if unfortunately he hap- pened to fall, his place was sure to be supplied by some one of the company to which he belonged, so that the women of our army had little cause of alarm on this head. The worst that could happen to them was the chance of being in a state of widowhood for a week !
It was by this time half-past six o'clock, the evening was piercingly cold, and the frost was crisp on the grass ; there was a keenness in the air that braced our nerves at least as high as concert pitch. We stood quietly to our arms, and told our companies off by files, sections, and sub-divisions ; the Serjeants called over the rolls, not a man was absent.
It appears it was the wish of General Mackinnon to confer a mark of distinction upon the 88th regiment, and as it was one of the last acts of his life, I shall mention it. He sent for Major Thomson, who com- manded the battalion, and told him it was his wish to have the forlorn hope of the grand breach led on by a subaltern of the 88th regiment, adding at the same time, that, in the event of his surviving, he should be recommended for a company. The Major acknowledged this mark of the General's favour, and left him folding up some letters he had been writing to his friends in England — this was about twenty minutes before the attack of the breaches. Major Thomson, having called his officers together, briefly told them the wishes of their General ; he was about to proceed, when Lieut. William Mackie (then senior Lieu- tenant) immediately stepped forward, and dropping his sword said, " Major Thomson, I am ready for that service." For once in his life poor old Thomson was affected ; Mackie was his own townsman, they had fought together for many years, and when he took hold of his hand and pronounced the words, " God bless you, my boy," his eye filled, his lip quivered, and there was a faltering in his voice which was evi- dently perceptible to himself, for he instantly resumed his former com- posure, drew himself up, and gave the word, " Gentlemen, fall in," and at this moment Generals Picton and Mackinnon, accompanied by their respective staff, made their appearance amongst us.
Long harangues are not necessary to British soldiers, and on this oc-
MEMOIR OF REAR-ADMIRAL JAMBS WALKER, C.B. 201
casion but few words were made use of. Gen. Picton said something animating to -the different regiments as he passed them, and those of my readers who recollect his deliberate and strong utterance will say with me, that his mode of speaking was indeed very impressive. The address to each was nearly the same, but that delivered by him to the 88th was so characteristic of the General, and so applicable to the men he spoke to, that I shall give it, word for word ; it was this —
" Rangers of Connaught ! it is not my intention to expend any powder this evening. We '11 do this business with the could iron !"
I before said the soldiers were silent — so they were, but the man who could be silent after such an address, made in such a way, and in such a place, had better have stayed at home. It may be asked what did they do ? Why, what would they do, or would any one do but give the loudest hurrah he was able.
(To be continued.)
MEMOIR OF REAR-ADMIRAL JAMES WALKER, C.B.
WHOEVER attentively considers the naval history of England, par- ticularly during the reign of His Majesty George the Third, will per- ceive, that in proportion as her enemies increased, did she increase in her exertions ; and not increase in her exertions only, but the genius and ability of her officers kept pace with her necessities. So that it was more manifest, that the acme of public difficulty is the crisis of public improvement ; that a sense of danger inspires men with a zeal and enthusiasm, which enable them to surmount the obstacles by which they are surrounded, and to perform actions which, under other circumstances, they would not contemplate. Neither the threats of the enemy, nor their superiority of numbers, have ever intimidated the British navy, the merits of whose officers are celebrated throughout the world. Amongst them, the deeds of but few deserve to be more amply recorded than those of the late Admiral Walker, whose whole life was devoted to the service of his country ; and who, upon every occasion, displayed so much zeal, ability, and science, as to acquire him the esteem and confidence of all those with whom he acted.
He was descended, on his father's side, from the old and respectable family of the Walkers ( Barons) of St. Fort, in Fifeshire, North Bri- tain ; and on that of his mother, from the ancient and noble family of Leslie, being grandson of Alexander, the fifth Earl of Leven and Mel- ville.
He entered the navy in 1776, as a Midshipman, on board the South- ampton frigate, in which he served near five years, either in Channel service or the West Indies. Whilst on the latter station, he was fre- quently employed with the boats in the dangerous service of attacking and cutting out vessels from under the enemy's batteries, as well as in performing other active duties. In 1780, the Southampton captured off Portland, a French privateer of 18 guns and 80 men. Mr. Walker was sent on board to assist in removing the prisoners, after having accomplished which, he remained on board, in the hope of saving by
202 MEMOIR OF REAR-ADMIRAL
assisting in baling and pumping, she being in danger of sinking, in consequence of the damage she had sustained. But notwithstanding every exertion, she suddenly sunk, and Mr. Walker was precipitated into the sea, and in the utmost danger of being carried down in the vortex, but was providentially saved, after being in the water for ten minutes. He afterwards sailed to the West Indies, and on the 18th June 1781, was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant of the Princess Royal, from which he removed to the Torbay, and served in her during the splendid operations at St. Christopher's, and the memorable action of the 12th April, between Sir George Rodney and the Count de Grasse. In the month of October following, the Torbay and London, of 98 guns, fell in with Le Scipion, of 74 guns, and after a partial action, the enemy ran on shore in Samana Bay, where she was totally lost.
At the peace of 1783, Lieut. Walker went to the continent, and spent some years in France, Italy, and Germany ; but hearing of the armament fitting out against the Dutch, he immediately set out towards England, but he met with an adventure on this journey, which nearly deprived the navy of his services for ever. While travelling through the forest near Aschaffenbourg, the diligence was attacked by ten armed men, who fired into the carriage, and demanded the money of the passengers. Lieut. Walker rushed into the midst of them, but as he received no assistance from his fellow-travellers, it may easily be supposed he could not long resist so powerful a force as that opposed to him ; and after being robbed, and as the villains believed, murdered, they threw him into a ditch by the road side. But after a time, he came to his senses, when he received a cut on the head with a sabre, and the villains rode off, after robbing the passengers of 800/. Lieut. Walker was then conveyed to AschafFenbourg, where he received every attention from the authorities and the surgeons, which the nature of his case demanded, with permission to remain as long as he pleased, without being at the smallest personal expense. On his arrival at Frankfort, he was waited upon by the Freemasons, who offered him any money or assistance he might stand in need of ; and on his arrival at Mentz, he was presented to the Prince Bishop, who paid him every attention, and, on his departure, gave him a very handsome letter, de- scribing the adventure that had detained him so long from his services at home, and speaking in the highest terms of his bravery. In 1788, he was offered the command of a ship in the Russian service, but was obliged to decline it, in consequence of the British Government refus- ing him permission. In the following year, he was appointed to the Champion, from which he removed to the Winchelsea ; and on the breaking out of the war in J793, he commissioned the Boyne, of 98 guns, intended for the flag of Rear- Admiral Affleck. From the Boyne he was appointed to the Niger, which was one of the repeating fri- gates in Lord Howe's victory of the 1st June; and he was soon after promoted to the rank of Commander for his conduct on that glorious day. He was subsequently appointed to the Terror bomb ; and in the month of June 1795, he assumed the temporary command of the Trusty, of 50 guns, and was ordered to escort five sail of Indiamen to a certain latitude, when, after seeing them in safely) he was to return to
JAMES WALKER, C.B. 203
Spithead. After parting with the convoy, he received information that 36 sail of English merchantmen were lying at Cadiz for want of con- voy, and were under heavy demurrage ; Capt. Walker accordingly pro- ceeded thither, and convoyed the whole of them to England.
During the Trusty's stay at Cadiz, five of her officers were arrested by orders from the Governor, for carrying off money to the ship on ac- count of the merchants; and the Spanish Government made such strong representations on the subject to the British Ministry, that it was deemed politic to bring Capt. Walker to a court-martial ; and not- withstanding two memorials were presented by the Spanish merchants residing in London, pointing out the value of the fleet, upwards of a million sterling, which, at a time when the Spaniards were negociating a peace with France, would have been left in great danger, yet it being proved that he acted without orders, he was broke. Notwithstanding this sentence, however, the Lords of the Admiralty fully appreciated the motives of Capt. Walker, and warmly interested themselves in his favour ; and he was advised by them to embark in one of the ships be- longing to the fleet under Admiral Christian, then about to proceed to the West Indies ; but after the dispersion of that fleet, and the return to port of the one in which Capt. Walker had embarked, he was in- formed that his interests would be better answered by his remaining at home ; and in March 1797? he was reinstated in his rank of Com- mander. In the ensuing summer, whilst the mutiny raged at the Nore, he suggested a plan to attack the Sandwich, and volunteered his services, which were accepted by the Admiralty, and he was appointed to the command of a division of gun-boats at Woolwich : he imme- diately took the command, but before he reached Gravesend, the muti- neers had surrendered, and fortunately rendered the attack unneces- sary. He was then appointed acting Captain of the Garland, pro- ceeded with the trade ships to the Baltic, and on his return, was appointed acting Captain of the Monmouth, of 64 guns. Notwith- standing that ship was one of the most mutinous of the whole fleet, and at the time he assumed the command, was in a state of total insubordination ; yet, by the efficacious system he adopted, and the determined resolution he displayed in adhering inflexibly to it, he had the satisfaction, in the course of a fortnight, of seeing them restored to a perfect state of discipline, and a true sense of their duty.
Oa the memorable 1 1th Oct. when the Monmouth was bearing down on the Dutch fleet, Capt. Walker turned the hands up, and addressed them in the following energetic words : — " Now, my lads, you see your enemy before you. I shall lay you close on board, and thus give you an opportunity of washing the stain off your characters in the blood of your foes. Go to your quarters, and .do your duty." So well were those orders obeyed, that the Monmouth was closely engaged for an hour and a half with the Delft and Alkmaar, both of which were com- pelled to surrender. The latter ship was immediately taken in tow by the Monmouth, and notwithstanding the severity of the gale which ensued, both ships anchored in Yarmouth Roads on the fifth day. For his gallant conduct on this occasion, Capt. Walker was confirmed in his command of the Monmouth ; he was also honoured with the gold me- dal, and the thanks of Parliament. He subsequently commanded in
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succession, the Veteran, of 64 ; Bracket, 56 ; Prince George, 98 ; Prince, of the same force ; and Isis, 50 guns. In the last named ves- sel, he shared in the sanguinary battle off Copenhagen ; and was declared by the hero of the day, to have borne a most gallant and dis- tinguished part in that desperate conflict. The morning after the action, Lord Nelson, to testify his admiration of Capt. Walker's con- duct, came along the Isis, to thank him and the ship's company for their brave and glorious behaviour. The loss the Isis sustained on this memorable day, would, indeed, be sufficient to point out the important share she had in the proceedings of the day, when it is stated that out of her small crew, she had 9 officers and 103 men killed and wounded.
In the ensuing summer Capt. Walker proceeded to the West Indies in the Tartar frigate, having charge of a convoy, and was there ap- pointed to the Vanguard, 74. On the renewal of hostilities in 1803, he was most actively employed in the blockade of St. Domingo ; while on that service, in company with the squadron under Capt. Baynton, he captured La Creole frigate of 44 guns, having on board the French General, Morgan, and 530 troops, bound to Port au Prince ; and sub- sequently, whilst acting under the orders of Capt. Loring, he captured the Duguesne, 74. Having escorted his prize to Jamaica, he was sent by Admiral Duckworth on a special service to Dessalines, the black chief at Gonaives. That chief had openly declared his intention of attacking St. Marc, held by the French, and of putting every white man to death. To divert him from so sanguinary a project, Capt. Walker undertook to summon St. Marc, provided Dessalines would on his part agree to allow the garrison to retreat to Cape Nicola Mole without molesting them. This he promised to do, but Capt. Walker, fearing his good faith, humanely took them all on board and landed them at Cape Nicola in safety. The situation of the French soldiers was the most deplorable that can be conceived ; they were literally re- duced to skeletons, having long had nothing to subsist on but horse- flesh. Though it must have been highly gratifying to the feelings of Capt. Walker to have thus saved the lives of so many fellow creatures, this act of humanity proved a serious injury to him in a pecuniary point of view, for amounting together to 1100 men, and continuing on board the Vanguard, her boats or prizes, for eight days, his provisions became exhausted, and he was obliged to return to port for a supply at the critical moment when Cape Fra^ois was about to surren- der, thus losing prize-money to a considerable amount. However, during the fourteen weeks that he continued off that place, he had the satisfaction of considerably hastening so desirable an event, not only by his exertions in maintaining a most rigorous blockade, but by keep- ing up a constant correspondence with the black chiefs and informing them of every occurrence at the Cape.
Capt. Walker's next appointment was to the Duguesne, in which he soon after returned to England, having 160 French soldiers on board, a number equal to the crew of the Duguesne, a circumstance which required the utmost vigilance to be exerted, and naturally caused him great anxiety ; the good conduct of the prisoners, however, rendering other precaution unnecessary. After his arrival in England he was appointed to the Thalia frigate, and was ordered to the East Indies
JAMES WA.LKKR, C.B. 205
with treasure, having under his convoy two valuable ships also laden with treasure. This voyage was so safely and expeditiously made, that Capt. Walker returned to Spithead the very day ten months that he had left it. Although the season was far advanced, he was ordered to take two frigates under his command and protect a convoy to Quebec ; from whence he could not sail, on his return to England with another convoy, till the 1st Dec. in consequence of heavy gales blowing up the river. Off the banks of Newfoundland so violent a gale came on, that the Thalia ran 1210 miles under bare poles in five days. A fort- night after his arrival at Spithead he was sent on the Guernsey station, under the command of Sir Edmund Nagle, when, being senior captain, a squadron of three frigates and a brig were put under his command to watch the enemy's force at St. Malo.
In October following Capt. Walker was appointed to the Bedford, 74, in which he accompanied Sir Sydney Smith to Lisbon, and was by him selected to escort the royal family to the Brazils, along with Commo- dore Moore, in the Marlborough, the London, and the Monarch. When off Madeira the fleet was dispersed by a heavy gale of wind ; but on the second day the Bedford rejoined the two Portuguese ships of the line in which the royal family were embarked, and was the only English ship with them for thirteen weeks. The crews of the Portu- guese ships having become sickly, the Prince Regent, by Capt. Walker's advice, put into St. Salvador for refreshment, and while there His Royal Highness determined upon reviving the military order of the Tower and Sword, that he might create Capt. Walker a Knight Com- mander, in consideration of his unremitted attention to the Portuguese fleet during a long and tempestuous passage ; and at a public breakfast given by Capt. Walker to the royal family and their court, His Royal Highness, immediately after investing himself with the order, created Capt. Walker a Knight Commander of it ; and he thus became the senior Knight Commander of the said order. Capt. Walker continued at Rio Janeiro for two years, during which time he enjoyed the friend- ship and confidence of the Prince Regent, and on the departure of Capt. Walker for England His Royal Highness presented him with his portrait set in brilliants, and a valuable diamond ring, as testimonies of his regard and esteem. He also gave him a letter addressed to His Majesty George the Third, recommending in the strongest terms Capt. Walker to His Majesty's consideration, as an officer who had proved himself worthy of his (the Regent's) highest estimation, from his uni- form respect, kindness, and prudence during his residence at that court. Neither this letter, nor two others equally strong in Capt. Walker's favour, were, however, attended with any advantage to him.
Soon after Capt. Walker's return to England he was sent out, at his request, to join the North Sea fleet. While on that service, being in Hoazely bay, under the orders of Admiral Ferrier, in company with three ships of the line, they, on the 20th Jan. 1814, experienced a heavy gale, accompanied with hazy weather and sleet ; the Bedford rode out the night, but at eight next morning she parted ; the sheet- anchor was immediately let go, but it went in snubbing, as did also the lee cable, thus leaving the ship in a most perilous situation, and in momentary danger of running foul of the Cumberland ; and had it not
206 MEMOIR OF REAR-ADMIRAL
been for the superior skill displayed by Capt. Walker, both the Bedford and Cumberland must inevitably have perished. In this critical situa- tion, Capt. Walker found the practice he had uniformly adopted of stowing the jib close to the cap, proved of the most essential service; for being instantly set and standing, the ship wore almost clear of the Cumberland, but unfortunately not entirely so, the bowsprit of the Cumberland coming over the break of the Bedford's poop, by which it was carried away, and all her masts went in succession; the Bedford sustaining little damage, and owing to her having fresh way, they fortunately separated. This happy escape from a situation which threatened utter destruction, was hailed by the squadron, which had witnessed the accident, and were watching in breathless anxiety the consequences of it, with three cheers. Having so happily got clear of the Cumberland, Capt. Walker had no alternative but to run for the Swin, the navigation of which was exceedingly difficult, owing to the extreme thickness of the weather, which did not allow two buoys or beacons to be seen at once, and the rocky bank near the shore which he had to pass. Here again the Bedford occupied the anxious atten- tion of the squadron, for they dared hardly hope of her clearing those rocks; and so certain were the people on shore that the loss of the ship was inevitable, that they were seen running in crowds towards the sea with ropes, to be ready to give assistance in saving the lives of the crew ; but, most providentially, Capt. Walker steered clear of this dangerous reef, upon witnessing which the worthy Admiral, in the impulse of his joy, threw his hat into the air and loudly cheered him. The weather having cleared up, Capt. Walker was enabled to go on, and about four o'clock in the afternoon he had the satisfaction to anchor at the Lower Hope in safety. It is a curious coincidence, that the two ships which had so nearly caused each other's destruction, cast anchor at the Nore at the same time : it is easy to conceive with what feelings of satisfaction they witnessed their mutual safety, and how cordial were the huzzas with which the crews greeted each other. As soon as the Bedford's damages were repaired, she was sent to join Admiral Young in the Room Pot. On the return of the fleet to England, after the capture of Paris, Capt. Walker was ordered to ac- company Admiral Scott to Flushing ; and soon afterwards had the honour of being selected by His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence to accompany him to Boulogne, for the purpose of bringing over the Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia. On the Bedford's return to Boulogne she formed one of the grand fleet reviewed by His Majesty, accompanied by the royal strangers. During that summer Capt. Walker went twice to Rogan to bring over the army ; and in Sept. 1814 he was appointed to command a squadron, on board of which was embarked the advance guard of the army sent against New Orleans, under Major-General Keene. The naval and military forces employed in this disastrous expedition arrived off Chandelun Islands on the 8th December, and the debarkation of the troops commenced on the 16th. From that period to the termination of the campaign, Capt. Walker's situation was one of the most anxious and painful description. During the absence of Sir A. Cochrane and Rear-Admirals Malcolm and Codrington, who were with the army during the whole of the
JAMES WALKER, C.B. 207
operations on shore, he was left in charge of the line-of-battle-ships, which on account of the shallowness of the water could not approach within 100 miles of the scene of action ; and the Bedford, after the failure of the enterprise, was literally crowded with wounded soldiers for a very considerable period. We should here observe, that most of her officers, and 150 of her best men were landed to co-operate with the troops.
Subsequent to the general peace Capt. Walker commanded the Albion, Queen, and Northumberland, and on the 19th July 1821, he was promoted to the rank of Rear- Admiral ; but this was the highest rank he lived to attain. He was twice married, first to a daughter of Gen. Sir J. Irvine, K.C. and secondly to the third daughter of A. Jones Skelton, Esq. of Braithvvaite Hall, Cumberland, first cousin to the late Marquis Cornwallis. He left three sons, all in the naval or military service of their country.
The above, we believe, is a full statement of the services of Admiral Walker, from which it will be seen that he was fifty-four years in the navy. During that time he was in five general actions with the enemy's fleets, besides those with detached squadrons and single ships. We wish we could add that he was adequately rewarded for such a life of toil and adventure ; but, unfortunately, his case adds one to that list of officers who were most certainly neglected in the distribution of honours. It is true, that in 1814, after assisting in conveying to the shores of England those crowned heads of Europe who had mainly contributed to the overthrow of Buonaparte, it was proposed by His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence to recommend him to the Prince Regent as deserving the honour of knighthood. It was, however, re- spectfully declined by Capt. Walker, who felt assured that in the event of the Order of the Bath being extended, as was then fully expected, he should not fail to receive that distinction which his merit deserved ; but he was disappointed, as he received only a Companion's order, though fourteen captains, junior to him in rank, were made Knights Commanders. That Admiral Walker was deserving of the higher order, we suppose no one will attempt to dispute after perusing the above statement of his services ; and his not having received it can con- sequently be only attributed to that system of favouritism which was so long indulged in, but which, we trust, is now cut up by the roots. Hope and fear are the principal causes of action, and set in motion every principle of honour and activity. If men can hope that by extraordinary exertion in the service of their country, by braving every danger, by risking their lives and subduing their enemies, they shall reap the reward of their services, and obtain the consummation of their desires, they will become her servants and execute manfully and cheer- fully the duties of their station. But if, by a narrow-minded and niggardly policy, they are unjustly denied those honours to which they have a claim, an act of injustice is not only committed, but the coun- try is deprived of the benefit of that extra exertion, to excite which honours and titles were invented. It is not by the mere pay that men are brought into that enthusiastic state of mind which leads them to prefer trouble to peace, hardship to ease, and dangers to security- it is a love of fame, of glory, of renown, and those designations which
208 MEMOIR OF REAR-ADMIRAL JAMES WALKER, C.B.
men have sought after in all ages ; and to cultivate those feelings is the duty of those who preside over the British navy.
In addition to what we have stated ahove relative to the professional services of Admiral Walker, we have to observe that, while he was at Sheerness, and in command of the Northumberland, he, one night, at the head of his officers and men, was fortunately chiefly instrumental in saving the Dock-yard from being entirely burned, after an alarming fire had broke out ; and his exertions were no less useful and extraor- dinary on another occasion, when a fire occurred in the town, and for a time raged with great fury. We must mention also another circum- stance : to a pleasing cheerful disposition, Admiral Walker joined a true sense of honour and integrity of principle, rejoiced in the hap- piness of those around him, and was always desirous of promoting any plan of innocent amusement. Whilst some strive to make them- selves feared by their attempts to break down the independence of men's spirits by the aid of punishment, he endeavoured to make himself respected, and to correct the errors of those about him by lenity and goodness. That he succeeded, we have ample proof, as during the time he commanded the Bedford, not a man was punished for Jive months and three weeks, during which time she was in the highest state of discipline, and her captain received a letter from his Com- mander-in-chief Sir W. Young, complimenting him upon the circum- stance, and acknowledging that the system of discipline which he had adopted, was equally honourable to his professional and private charac- ter. The beneficial effects of it were still farther manifested by the conduct of the crew, which, perhaps, the following little anecdote will elucidate. When the ship was lying at Sheerness, the signal man waited upon the captain, and in the name of the ship's company, re- quested permission to go on shore, to order a play at the theatre on the second following day, that being the anniversary of the battle of Tra- falgar ; with a request that he would allow as many as possible of the crew to attend the representation. It was certainly a very delicate affair ; it was putting their apparent good feeling to a trial ; but Capt. Walker, having the utmost confidence in them, and knowing that they had no complaints, promised compliance. A deputation was sent to the manager of the theatre, and " The English Fleet" was ordered, with a representation of the battle. Some little difficulty was started on the part of the manager, on account of the shortness of the notice ; when the spokesman replied, " What ! you want more than two days to get up a mock thing like this, when we did the real business in two hours. None of your lubberly tricks here." A promise of an audience of three or four hundred sailors overcame all difficulties, and the repre- sentation accordingly took place. But what we wish particularly to point out is, that though we believe above two-thirds of the crew were allowed to go on shore at once, not a squabble or disturbance took place ; and the whole, with the exception of six, were on board again the same night before twelve o'clock, and those six by eight o'clock the following morning.
209
PROJECT FOR A LAND COMMUNICATION WITH IRELAND.
THINKING that amongst the remedial measures proposed in Parliament for the calamities of Ireland, there are none of any permanent utility, I wish to lay before you, and through you before the Government and the country at large, a plan which is founded upon that giant power which is rising in the world, the railway system ; and which, though extensive, is not too great for these, the triumphant days of science.
I propose to form a land communication with Ireland, by which the three kingdoms shall be joined in a substantial and perpetual chain of connection ; and in the following remarks intend to prove that the work, though seem- ingly so vast, may be executed without any extraordinary expense or diffi- culty ; to exhibit the beneficial consequences of the project to the commerce and political harmony of the nation, and how much it is the interest of the people of both countries, not by civil war to dissolve, but by the arts of peace to realize, to strengthen, and consolidate the Union.
The distance from the extremity of the breakwater at Donaghadee to Portpatrick, in the west of Scotland, is fifteen miles, of which about one mile and a half is covered by the intervening Copeland Islands, which lie direct across the Channel, being about four miles and a half from Donagh- adee. But the soundings between the Copelands and the Irish shore being uniformly shallow, nowhere exceeding about eight fathoms, it is ap- parent that the magnitude of the work is diminished to the remaining nine miles and a half from the island to the coast of Scotland. Here the sound- ings are various, from ten to thirty and forty, and about mid-channel, reach- ing to a depth of ninety-eight fathoms, the deepest soundings observable in the whole Irish Channel.
I propose then, to connect the islands at this point by a broad causeway ; and if this be a work of great labour, so it is certain that we possess the means to execute it, greater than ever came into the power of one nation. Whole mountains of stone exist upon the edge of the sea at Portpatrick, our prisons are crowded with thousands of useful labourers, and when we con- sider the abundance of material, the low cost of the labour of convicts, and the power of the inclined plane, it is apparent that a barrier may be raised here of Egyptian magnitude, durability, and strength. Its formation may proceed simultaneously from the Copeland Islands, Portpatrick, and Donagh- adee, and the work would not materially obstruct the navigation of the Channel, the passage being open by the North of Ireland.
Having now pointed to the pass, I proceed to exhibit its commercial con- sequences to all the three kingdoms, and will first survey the route between the two capitals of Dublin and London. The road at present from Dublin to Donaghadee measures about ninety miles, passing through the town of Belfast, a circuitous route formed to avoid the water of Strangford, a deep and rapid stream, over which a bridge has never been thought practicable ; though it is probable that a single arch may be thrown across it, at a spot midway between the town of Portaferry and Strangford bar, by which a railway may be brought from Dublin to Donaghadee, lessening the distance about thirty miles.
Arrived at Donaghadee, we cross the Channel upon a railway to be laid upon the pass, and from Portpatrick proceed eastward to a point striking the railway now in the act of formation from Carlisle to Newcastle, and .pass southward upon that in contemplation from Carlisle to Manchester, and thence upon the Birmingham railway to London. This will bring the corn, cattle, and linens of Ireland, in a single day, through the most populous manufacturing districts of England to London ; and the time, hazard, and expense of transportation, will be diminished to a quarter of the present
U. S. JOURN. No. 39. FEB. 1832. p
210 PROJECT FOR A LAND COMMUNICATION
cost by sea. The distance from London to Dublin, by this route, will be about 480 miles ; and estimating the rate of travelling for passengers and mails at forty miles per hour, we shall thus perform the journey from capi- tal to capital in twelve hours ; and at the rate of 3d. for thirty miles., the amount proposed by Mr. Stephenson as sufficient to cover all the expenses of locomotive power, the cost to each passenger will not be more than the small sum of 4*. Thus we see how these railways are destined to leave even the sea behind.
Scotland will also derive most extensive advantages from the completion of this pass, for it will bring the most sterile part of that country into con- junction with the best cultivated part of Ireland ; and as provisions could then be brought across without the great expense of transportation, ship- ment, and reloading, it is probable that a great manufacturing interest would arise in the counties of Wigtown, Dumfries, and Galloway, now a wilderness of hills. For the railway system will so diminish the cost of transporting corn, coal, timber, and all the heavier materials, that those barren districts will now become the principal seats of manufactures, owing to the low rate of building ground, the exemption from the high rates of cities, and the greater salubrity of such situations for manufacturing employments. This district of Scotland will then receive the agricultural produce of Ireland, and possess a double outlet for manufactured goods, westward, by a railway to be laid from Donaghadee to a port upon the bay of Donegal, and thence to the Atlantic Ocean, and eastward by the railway to Newcastle and the German Ocean.
I propose that the entire line from the German to the Atlantic Oceans should be marine railways, capable of transporting vessels by an uninter- rupted land communication, and by the patent slip, from sea to sea ; for which purpose the railway now proceeding from Newcastle to Carlisle ought to be new modelled, and carried, with branches to Newcastle and the neighbouring towns and mines, direct to the German Ocean, and by a pier or chain-pier over the heights of Tynemouth to the deep water beyond the bar. This will bring the coal vessels of the Tyne and the Wear, direct into Ireland, and will serve for an outlet for the linen trade of Ireland to the eastern coast of England and Scotland, and to Russia, Prussia, and all the countries on the Baltic. Also the shipping bound from the Baltic to Livei'- pool, and all the west of England and Scotland, will be brought across the di- vision of the work from the German Ocean to the Solway Frith. Whereas, upon the present limited scale of the work now proceeding from New- castle to Carlisle, with the expense, inconvenience, and delay of dis- charging and reloading the cargo, it is probable that the expectation of drawing the trade of the Baltic by waggons across the pass, will not be realized.
Besides all this mass of trade, it is probable that vessels bound to and from the Baltic, over the Atlantic to the West Indies, and North and South America, will here be brought across the land, for the saving of time, hazard, and expense in the passage from the Cattegat round the North of Scotland or the South of England, which usually occupies a period of twenty days ; whereas, by the marine railway, shipping may be conveyed in one day from sea to sea, which will create a saving of the victualling, wages and wear of the vessels, for a period of twenty days, with the interest upon the value of the cargo for a similar time. The distance across this route from the Ger- man to the Atlantic Oceans is 240 miles, and at the present estimated rate of one halfpenny per ton per mile, the cost of transporting a vessel of 200 tons will amount to the sum of 10/. though it is probable that one half of that toll, or one farthing per ton per mile, will be a remunerating rate upon a marine railway, which will command so great a stream of trade ; be- sides that, vessels are shaped as advantageously for being drawn by land as sailing on the sea, and a steam-engine would convey a vessel of 200 tons, in
WITH IRELAND. 211
which the weight is more concentrated and nearer to the propelling1 power, with the same facility as 100 tons in an extended train of waggons. It is, therefore, apparent that this marine pass will cut off one third of the voyage to the American continent, and that a toll of one farthing per ton per mile, or even douhle that rate, may be very advantageously paid.
A great branch from this marine railway may also be formed from Port- patrick, through the manufacturing district of the west of Scotland, to Glas- gow and all the Clyde ; whence the distance to the Atlantic Ocean will be 180 miles, and the cost of transportation 3*. 6d. per ton. Therefore, vessels bound from the Clyde to the West Indies, and North and South America, will thus be carried in one day to a clear sea, cutting off many days' sailing through an intricate navigation, the cost of conveyance upon the railway being covered by the saving of pilotage, light money, and the other expenses of the Channel.
Indeed, the position of this pass is by nature truly fortunate, lying through the centre of the three kingdoms, and in the narrowest point presented by the map. So equally are its splendid advantages divided amongst the three nations, that the project is one, extrinsic of all political considerations, peculiarly fitted to be executed by the Government.
And here I will enter into the more minute economy of this work ; and having described the mountainous nature of the district about Portpatrick, I propose to employ simultaneously there and upon the Copeland Islands, and the Irish shore, about 20,000 convicts in the following manner :
Upon the Copeland Islands, I propose to station about 2000 convicts, or any number for whose labour there is space sufficient in such a situation, in- tending, after quarrying to a practical depth, to cut away the whole material of the islands, reserving only the breadth required for the pass. Quantities of stone may also be obtained from the bed of the sea in the neighbouring shoals ; and allowing these islands to be half a mile wide, we shall thus ob- tain material sufficient to carry the causeway, of 500 yards wide, for several miles towards the coast of Scotland.
The comparatively smaller work of filling up the shallows from Do- naghadee to the Copeland Islands, may be executed in a similar man- ner, by convicts from the prisons in Ireland, with material bi-ought from the Irish shore, or from the bed of the sea. And it is apparent, that this division of the undertaking may be finished with less difficulty, ex- pense, and time, than the deeper distance from the Copelands to the coast of Scotland.
At Portpatrick and the neighbouring district, will be the great scene of this work ; and here is employment for 10,000 convicts, by opening 100 quarries, each working 100 hands, with 100 lines of tramways, upon a pass 500 yards wide. Indeed, so favourable are the natural circumstances of this district, that all the prisons of the kingdom may be emptied of their te- nants upon this spot ; for the coast being precipitous and rocky, bodies of convicts may be stationed for miles on either side of the causeway, whence stone may be brought with the tide by hulks, rafts, or lighters. Convicts may also be employed in propelling the waggons, and in various methods, for the saving of horse labour, a mode in which they are much employed about the dockyards; nor is there any principle of humanity against it, when our virtuous peasantry themselves draw gravel upon the roads, at tenpence per day. Thus, all whose term of sentence, habits, and physical capabilities, would warrant the expense of conveyance to the works, may be employed here in a more wholesome, humane, and useful manner, than in any crowded place of confinement ; for the tread-mill, and the other expedients for em- ployment in our gaols, are proven by the ablest writers upon prison disci- pline, to be a cruel and frivolous waste of labour.
The average cost of conveyance to these works by sea or under mili- tary escort, will not exceed about seven shillings per man; whereas the
p 2
212 LAND COMMUNICATION WITH IRELAND.
present cost of conveying convicts to Woolwich alone, amounts to ten times that sum. The expense of transportation to New Holland is eighty pounds per man, making a waste of the labour, health, and time of the convicts, for a period of five months — the usual duration of the voyage : and the average expenditure of the Government in the business of transportation, is about 110,000/. per annum. I propose then to save this large annual expenditure entirely, by diverting the labour of convicts to these and similar national works ; for in the famishing condition of the country at home, we ought not to expend our revenue to populate a country which in an early year will throw off our allegiance, when strengthened by an increasing people, and which is rendei'ed, by distance, secure beyond em- power. This saving of 110,000^. per annum will alone clothe and victual many thousands of the convicts, at the works ; and the saving in the prison expenses of the kingdom will indirectly support the remainder of the cost for labour ; and for the cost of superintendence, tools, and other incidental expenses, the Government'may be repaid by a toll, to be levied at the pass ; and by the increase of the revenue by the diminished cost of transporting mails, troops, and ships-of-war. Retrenchment and good policy, therefore, require that the business of transportation should be suspended for a few years, until our resoui'ces revive, and the marine railway be completed, now in the act of formation, across the Isthmus of Suez, when the passage to New Holland will be diminished to a period of forty days, and the accu- mulated numbers of our convicts may then be conveyed there at a quarter of the present cost.
1 trust, that these remarks will meet with much consideration from all who are solicitous to tranquillise and preserve the sister kingdom. For it is apparent what splendid advantages the completion of the work would throw into the scale of Ireland; national prejudices would soon disappear; and when we survey the western coast of Ireland, with its fertile soil, har- bours open to the Atlantic Ocean, and so far in advance towards the great American continent, it seems probable that those provinces, though now the abode of lonely famine, may yet become the most prosperous part of all the British empire. And it is better that Ireland should now continue to follow the fortunes of England, for a dissolution of the Union would soon lead to a democratical government, and the reign of revenge. Allowing our ancient rights of conquest to be no just claim, and that Ireland is a separate land, with sufficient territory, trade, and population, to form a right to an inde- pendent stand amongst the nations, still it is placed by nature too contigu- ous to England for a separate government, with different foreign alliances, and another religion. Perpetual collisions would ensue, each country shel- tering the hostile fleets of foreigners, and a division of the Union would, at last, draw on the ruin of both nations. To divide is to destroy, and as we possess similar languages, natural productions, and channels of trade, so let us now overcome these few intervening miles of sea, and make the islands one land.
HENRY FAIRBAIKN.
213
ON THE USE OF ROCKET LIGHTS, AS AUXILIARIES TO LIGHT-HOUSES.
MR. EDITOR, — It is stated that His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, accompanied by seven Admirals, recently assisted at the firing from Brighton Pier, of a certain number of variously-eofoMred rockets, proposed to be used as signals, by Lieut. Hughes, of the R.N.
From the remotest antiquity, the Hindoos and Chinese have used rockets as the medium of imparting intelligence or orders to a distance; and for these three hundred years past, they have been used on board of every European ship-of-war for the same purpose. Hence the French have no other name for rockets of a larger size, than such as are usually made by firework-makers, their fusses de signeaux.
The purport of the Brighton experiments seems to have been, to show that the signals, or communications conveyed by rockets, might be more exten- sive and comprehensive in their imports and details, than they had hitherto been made ; and this is to be achieved by sending up a greater number of them ; and this greater number of rockets is to be distinguished one from the other, by a difference in the colour of the light they throw out. The novelty, then, exhibited to the Duke of Sussex and the seven Admirals is, in the use of rockets with variously-coloured lights.
The paper which I submitted to you some time before the above-named experiment took place, on the use of variously-coloured rockets for the pre- vention of shipwreck, by applying them as auxiliaries to light.houses, (espe- cially on low coasts,) during nocturnal tempests, was a translation of one I had addressed, in November 1829, to the Capitan Pacha, and to several of the Foreign Ambassadors at Constantinople.
Trusting that you will have the goodness to publish that paper in your next Number, 1 have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
Upper George-street, 2nd Jan. 1832. FRANCIS MACERONE.
TRANSLATION of a Letter addressed by Colonel Macerone to the Turkish Government, and to the different European Ambassadors at Constan- tinople.
From the remotest antiquity, the Black Sea has enjoyed the melancholy celebrity of being the most dangerous of all those which ever were, or are now, frequented by navigators. Thus it was named by the Romans, Axenus, sive inhospitalis . The nature and the direction of the winds which predomi- nate in that Sea ; the conformation of its coasts and of its shallows, of its ports, and of its atmosphere, spread dangers around, even in the summer ; in the winter, these perils are increased a hundred fold.
By means of lights set up at the entrance of ports, upon certain head- lands, or upon rocks, the navigation of vessels in the proximity of the coast during the night, is greatly assisted, and the dangers thereof considerably diminished. But unless these lights are of a sufficient size and quality, and at an elevation sufficient for them to be seen from a competent distance, it will often happen in bad weather and in the darkness of the night, that the unfortunate navigator does not perceive the light in time to avoid the dan- gers which it announces, or to take refuge within the harbour, of which it indicates the entrance.
The dangers of the Black Sea, which proceed from the nature of its shores, are infinitely increased by the fogs with which it is generally covered in the winter, particularly in blowing weather, and with a north wind. Un- der such circumstances, a vessel attempting to enter the Bosphorus, in the
214 ON THE USE OP ROCKET LIGHTS.
night, will run the greatest risk of missing the entrance, and of being driven to leeward on a lee shore, should he not see .and recognise the light at the entrance from a very considerable distance. The number of vessels thus lost every year in the Black Sea, is truly terrific; especially as from the nature of the coast, no part of either crew or cargo is ever saved ! * I beg leave to propose a method, by which I natter myself that the danger and consequent losses would be greatly abated.
Rockets of only six pounds weight, properly constructed, will arise per- pendicularly into the air about five hundred toises, (a thousand yards ;) when arrived at that elevation, they can be made to send forth a mass of light of extraordinary intensity, and which will endure, according to plea- sure, from thirty seconds to one or two minutes, suspended in the air by means of a little parachute taken up with the rocket, and which is of the most simple and easy construction. The mass of light diffused, at such a height, will be distinctly visible at thirty leagues (ninety miles) distance-t- in fine weather, and in the very worst weather it will be seen at five times the distance at which will be visible any light which is situated at but an inconsiderable elevation from the surface of the water.
Depots of the above-mentioned rockets should be established at the mouth of the Bosphorus and at other necessary points, and it would be an improve- ment to distinguish the rockets of one station from those of another by causing their lights to be of different tinges, such as white, red, green, Sec. During every nocturnal storm, either in summer or winter, a rocket is to be thrown up vertically, every five, ten, or fifteen minutes, according to cir- cumstances, or to regulations to be established. The crews of any vessels, within sight of the rockets, being under such circumstances on the sharpest look-out, will not fail to descry the deflagrations, at a distance sufficient to avoid the dangers that await them, and to take advantage of the knowledge thus imparted, by their colour, of their precise situation. Lights which flash out of a sudden, like the rocket heads I recommend, will, independently of their intensity and vast elevation of three or more thousand feet, be seen further, attract the attention, and be more recognizable, than any fixed light whatever. It must be a very dense fog indeed, that would prevent such a deflagration from being observed at the distance of ten miles.
As to the expense of the rocket-lighting system I propose, it would not be, I think, disproportionate to its utility. Such nights as may be rightly call- ed stormy, will certainly not average thirty in the year ; it is only during the continuance of the tempest, in the hours of darkness, that the expen- diture of rockets will be required ; the average hours of which conjunction of darkness and tempests may be taken at three per night, of the above-men- tioned thirty nights. We thus have only ninety hours per annum during which it will be useful to throw up rockets, as powerful auxiliaries to the light-house ; this at one rocket every fifteen minutes,! makes three hun-
* Out of twenty ships, with which a commercial friend of mine had some con- nexion, which sailed from Constantinople for Odessa, from the 20th of February to the 20th of April 1830, only seven escaped being wrecked ! It is true, that a great proportion of the disasters which occur to English merchant-vessels, is to be attributed to the conduct of the commanders, most of whom, that I have ev«r known, or heard of, being confirmed sots. I have known some of them to be drunk and helpless (at sea too !) for ten days and nights consecutively, without intermission !
t In clear weather, a rocket ascending nix hundred yards from the level of the sea, will be seen from the deck of a ship at sixty miles distance. I have invented a composition for the rocket heads, which gives forth much more light than any other composition I have yet seen. It is not necessary that the light should en- dure more than from ten to twenty seconds, but it should be, as mine is, exceed- ingly intense.
:£ It would generally be expedient to throw them up more frequently than this.
THE AUSTRIAN FRONTIER FENC1BLES. 215
dred and twenty rockets. Farther, supposing them to cost each ten shil- lings, the whole expense for rockets per station, will be 160/. a year, and the Bosphorus is the main one necessary. Now, to cover this expense, as also that of the men necessary to perform the duties required, I submit that the Ambassadors or Consuls of the different nations trading to the Black Sea, should agree for each vessel of their respective countries to contribute a certain rate per ton. Above two thousand vessels pass the Bosphorus every year ; a very slight contribution from each, would produce ample funds for carrying into effect a measure which may save many of them from destruc-» tion, ship, cargo, crew, and all.
(Signed) FKANCIS MACERONE.
Constantinople, 1st Nov. 1829.
*#* The above plan may be available wherever a low coast and fogs pre- vail.
THE AUSTRIAN FRONTIER FENCIBLES.
THE Austrian territory borders upon the Turkish for an uninter- rupted line of nearly two thousand miles, from the banks of the Pruth to the blockhouse of Lostua ; this line of frontier is defined either by the course of the Danube, Save, and Unna, the windings of mountainous ranges, or other covenanted limits ; and, running pa- rallel with this extensive line, there is a narrow edging of country assigned for the quarters of a peculiar description of soldiery, to whom the safe keeping of the frontiers is entrusted. This force has been hitherto so variously and erroneously described, that it is high time a correct account of it should be given.
The inhabitants of the Austrian " frontier-provinces" (granz-pro- vinzen*} are of varied extraction ; in Transylvania, they consist of Wallachians, who are either Bogdans or Moldavians, or else Kara- Vlahs, who have emigrated from Rumelia and Wallachia ; in the Baunat, they are composed of Rumelians, Bulgarians, Zinzares, Kara-Vlahs, Raazes, and other settlers ; and in Sclavonia, they com- prise Servians, Bosnians, and Clementines, as they are called in the country itself, or Albanese colonists : but in Dalmatia, the frontiers are covered by regular troops of the line.
The whole strength of the " Frontier fencibles" amounts to seven- teen regiments of infantry, a regiment of hussars, and a corps of Csaikists, or seamen. Every regiment has its- own colonel ; every four regiments are commanded by a brigadier-general; and every two brigades constitute a distinct frontier-division, having a general at its head, who takes his orders direct from the council of war at Vienna. The commandants of regiments have each a fixed head- quarters assigned to them, and exercise civil as well as military jurisdiction, even to the dispensing of justice in criminal matters. The officers are paid by the Crown, but not so the frontier fencible ; he is remunerated for his services by the gratuitous demise of a por-
* They stretch over a surface of six hundred and nine geographical square miles, and contain a population of 1,017^00 souls. — ED.
216 THE AUSTRIAN FRONTIER KENCIBLES.
tion of land for his maintenance and personal advantage, though it is liable to some small rates, and is not capable of being alienated, or inherited by his heir or kindred. The fencible's home is a per- fect model of patriarchal habits ; his children and grandchildren yield implicit obedience to the will of the Gospodar, or head of the family, and of the Gospodaricza, his wife; the whole household labour for the general good ; nay, their very goods and chattels are common property ; and the master of the house is sure of support, in case of need, from his military chief.
Independently of Semlin, Peterwardein, Alt-Gradisca, and Brody, the principal frontier fortresses, there is a series of guard-houses, erected along the left bank of the Save and the whole frontier line, at slender distances from each other ; these are called Chardaks, (or, more correctly speaking, " Dschardaks ;") with a view to their hav- ing their next neighbours on each side of them always in sight, as well as for the purpose of protecting them against the frequent over- flowing of the Save, these stations are raised on elevated poles of oak, and form the sentinel's quarters ; to the exclusion, however, of his family. The very floors of these aerial defences are perforated with shot-holes, so that, in the event of an attack, the post in charge of them, having cut off" all access by drawing up his ladder of com- munication, may fire down upon his assailant. He mounts guard for a week at a time, and provides himself with provisions for that, and even a more extended interval ; this is absolutely necessary in consequence of the frequent and violent eruptions of the waters of the Save, which not only preclude all communication with the Dschardak, excepting by means of boats, but, at times, carry away the guard-house itself.
The fencible's duty consists in preventing any Turkish subject from setting foot within the Austrian territory, on pain of being shot sans mercy, excepting on market-days : the Sclavonian's " Ras- tell," and the Dalmatian's " Bazar." In the event of any hostile attempt, there are alarm-posts, bound round with trusses of straw, erected over every officer's station ; as soon as a shot is heard from the DscLardak, they are set on fire, and a mortar, which is always kept ready loaded, is also discharged ; by these means, an alarm is speedily raised along the whole line, the fencibles on duty muster immediately at given points, and, in a very few hours, the entire force of the district is assembled in battle-array.
During the Seven Years' War, scattered parties of this corps made their way to the very banks of the Rhine ; and there are none of our readers, who have accompanied Trenk on his erratic expe- ditions, to whom his " red-mantled" myrmidons and their desperate courses, will not occur as a familiar acquaintance. They were an- cestors of the Austrian " Frontier fencibles" of the present day.
217
A RECKNT VISIT TO SEVERAL OF THE POLYNESIAN ISLANDS.
BY GEORGE BENNETT, MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS IN LONDON, &C. &C.
THE ISLAND OF TONGATABU. (CONCLUDED FROM LAST NUMBER.)
THE magnificent futu, or Barringtonia, grew near our path, the fruit of which is used for destroying fish, as well as the branches of a small plant, named kava-ho-ho, by throwing it into the water. When the kava root is scarce, they pound the bark of the latter plant, and prepare it in the same manner as the kava root, but are careful not to take it in any large quantity, on account of its poisonous quality. Also a large species of ficus, called by the natives matchi ; it attains a very large size : and a tree named fo, u, i, (Grewia mallococca,) which is used by them as small spars for their canoes.
Their clubs are elegantly carved, and very neat. Combs are manu- factured by the women from the centre stalks of the leaflets of the coco-nut tree. Their musical-instruments are the fanglm-fanghu, or nasal flute; the mimia, or Pandean-reed; and the nafa, or drum, which is a piece of wood hollowed out. The reptiles are centipedes, a beautiful green lizard, and several other species of the same tribe, and an innocuous water-snake, often found on the trees by the sea side, of an elegant blue colour, with black circular bands around the body, and called by the natives takuhari.
The ship was supplied abundantly with bread-fruit, yams (some of which were very large), hogs, &c. in exchange for axes, cotton cloth, and glass-bottles for their coco-nut oil. The bread-fruit cooked after the native manner is very good, but a bad substitute for the potato.
July 30th. Visited Cook's Observatory Point ; on the road I col- lected several botanical specimens ; among others, a beautiful parasite, bearing clusters of brilliant scarlet flowers : the plant is called by the natives tobuuno (Loranthus species) : also specimens of a large tree, whose flowers emerged from the trunk, and were of a white colour ; it was named fekikavalo (Eugenia species). We shot a few pigeons, but birds were scarce. On arriving at a village not far distant from the point, we were conducted to the principal personage, who was an elderly female. Kava-root was brought and laid before us, according to custom,* and cooked yams, &c. were offered us. The natives flocked about us, bringing tortoiseshell, shells, and various curiosities, which were purchased for trifling articles we had about us. A concourse of natives followed us, and readily carried our guns, £c. &c. and we never experienced any loss from them, although they will readily steal when on board the ship.
* On departing, this was left behind, which was a breach of etiquette ; we ought to have taken it away, and have given it to our attendants.
218 A RECENT VISIT TO SEVERAL OF THE
July 31st. Accompanied the Commander in the gig on a visit to a chief, named Fatu, or Palu, residing at a district named Takamatonga, about fifteen miles from our anchorage. We passed several beautiful islets, covered with coco-nut and other trees, forming a pleasing scene. On arriving at the chief's habitation, we found him absent. We were politely received in the true native style by his wife and daughter ; the latter, a very beautiful girl, named Tubouahau, was the destined bride of the King of Vavao ; her hair, of a fine black, hung over her shoulders, and it is so permitted to be worn previous to marriage. Her portrait had been taken by the artist of the French Discovery Ship Astrolabe, but she informed me that her hair xvas placed in a knot on the crown of the head, a-la-mode Fran^aise ; she put it in the same manner to show ine, but although it was thus in good keeping with her fine counte- nance, it was not the custom of the native females. During the time our repast was preparing, we walked some distance into the interior, and visited a sacred place, which was simply a house in an enclosure, in which were also several houses for those who had charge of the place. The spirit is supposed to reside here ; therefore, on any occa- sion of trouble, offerings are made, and they pray to the spirit at this place : they appeal to the Deity in times of affliction, and offer up to him the first fruits of the season.
Kava, yams, &c. were offered to us by the principal personages of the villages through which we passed ; every village has a separate house for the reception of strangers. We were followed by crowds of natives. The country, in every part we visited, is beautiful and highly fertile. I observed a very handsome tree, growing to the height of fourteen or sixteen feet, bearing an oval fruit, rough, and of a brown colour externally, the kernels of which are very fragrant, and are used by the natives for scenting their coco-nut oil, for which purpose they value it as much as sandal-wood ; it is named pipi filolo : another tree which grows to a large size, is named pipi uri,* it bears pendulous cups of a fine red colour, surrounding a black ribbed seed ; they are very fragrant, and are used for necklaces: also a tree named mapa, (Diospyrus sp.) ; it bears a small orange-coloured fruit, of fragrant smell, and is both eaten and used as necklaces. We returned to Palu's residence, where a sucking-pig, yams, &c. were prepared for our use, and we dined in the native style. An elegant necklace was presented to me by the Chief's daughter, who informed me that it was composed of the following native flowers — helala, poa, tetefa, ohi, langakali, co, ochi, chiale, huni (Dais species), and pipi uri : they were strung on the inner bark of the fau (hibiscus tiliaceus) : thus strung, the floral chain is named loofau. At night mats were spread for us, on which we slept till daylight, when we returned on board. On the
* This tree is a species of hernandia, and attains an elevation of fifty or sixty feet ; it is called pipi uri by the natives (uri signifying anything of a red colour.) The leaves are rotundiform, thick, and of a dark green colour ; the fruit is a cylindrical fleshy cup, of a bright red colour, and fragrant smell, enclosing a black seed with distinct ridges on each side ; the cup projects about three times the length of the enclosed seed-vessel. The cups, from their fragrant smell, are used in the necklaces of the natives.
POLYNESIAN ISLANDS. 219
approach of any inferior person to the chief's wife or daughter, or be- fore eating in the presence of either, it is the etiquette to touch her feet. A similar custom prevails, I am informed, at the Hapai Islands, Vavau, and the Hamoa, or Navigator's Group. This ceremony is also performed when an inferior approaches or retires from a chief, also be- fore eating ; and by the chiefs when they approach the tui, or king, the king's brothers or relations, and by children as a mark of respect, to their parents. The tui, or king, and every other chief, touch the feet of the high-priest, who is usually a great chief, and assumes even more power than the king himself.
On the evening of the 1st of August, I witnessed a native dance, or heeva, by torchlight. It commenced with the women, who had large folds of native cloth around the waist, over which were strips of the plantain-leaf, tastefully arranged, and their heads beautifully decorated with native flowers, glowing in nature's brightest tints ; a kakala, or necklace, adorned their graceful forms. The dance commenced by a chorus, from a group seated on the grass, who beat time with sticks on a rolled-up mat, or a hollow bamboo : the party of females advanced to a measured plaintive air, commencing with slow movements of consi- derable grace, and terminating in more rapid action. The dances performed by the men displayed great activity : the rapidity of their movements at the conclusion, rendered it difficult to follow them.
These were succeeded by a dance by two natives of the Naviga- tor's Islands ; the amazing rapidity with which they moved both the hands and feet was truly astonishing. Their heads were decorated by fillets of shells and red feathers, and behind were large tufts of a white kind of dog's hair. This was followed by the New Zealanders belonging to the ship, who entertained the natives with their war- dance, sham fight, &c. Approbation was expressed by shouts and cries of " Mariai, Mariai" (Well done) ; and we quitted the scene highly gratified at thus witnessing the contentment and harmless gaiety of these people.
The large double canoes of the Tongatabuans are united by a plat- form, on which a thatched shed or house is erected ; they appear capa- ble of carrying from 150 to 200 men. One I saw measured 96 feet in length. They are sometimes sculled by two large paddles, placed near the bows. The masts (which have a crescent on their top) are always lowered when in harbour. These canoes are usually built at the Fidji Islands, on account of the scarcity of timber calculated for the purpose at Tongatabu : they sail with rapidity, and excursions are made in them to the Fidji and other neighbouring islands. The canoe is never put about, the sail being always on the same side of the canoe or mast on both tacks. With the double canoes, the largest is always to lee- ward, and the small one to windward. With single canoes, the out- rigger is always to windward, and is balanced by men, according to the wind, to keep it from upsetting. The master of all their canoes attends to the sheet, which is looked upon as the most important station. On the 3rd of August 1830, we sailed from this interesting island.
220
ANECDOTES OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL IN 1817.
IT will be recollected that the battle of Fuentes de Noria, and the retreat of Gen. Brennier from Almeida, formed the closing scenes of the retreat of Massena from the lines of Lisbon. The village itself was the theatre of two sanguinary contests, one on the 3rd, the other on the 5th of May. The latter was a struggle of the fiercest kind, which endured from morn to eve of a long summer's day, and was still undecided when night, as if in pity to suffering humanity, drew her mantle of darkness over the living and the dead. Here fell the gallant young Cameron of the 79th regiment, who commanded the British brigade, with many other brave men who fought and bled to uphold the glory of their respective nations.
It is surprising how soon the love of the marvellous will ingraft fiction on truth in the relations of remarkable events. I visited Almeida and Fuentes de Noria several years after the battle ; they were full of dead men's bones ; and amongst other curiosities exhi- bited by the people of Fuentes were those of the giants, as they termed them ; which were the bones apparently of some tall Swiss or German grenadiers, who had met their fate from the fire of the British troops, and had been interred in the gardens of the lower village, whence they had been recently exhumated by the peasantry, as rarities to be shown to inquisitive travellers passing that way. The body of the brave Cameron was carried from the spot where he fell at Fuentes, across the frontier into Portugal, and interred facing the church door, at a village called Villa Formosa, between Almeida and Fuentes. Although the Portuguese refused him Christian burial, by not suffering his remains to repose within the walls of the church, they have nevertheless respected the monu- ment which records his fall ; it was raised before the church door, and they had already begun to look upon it as identified with their own achievements. If this was the Cameron who led the 92nd* at the expedition to Walcheren, his heart was as kind as it was brave ; I remember seeing him in the church-yard of East Cappel, in South Beveland, as some of his regiment were bearing the first victim of the Walcheren fever to the grave. " Cover him," said he, " with the green sward, for he was a good lad."
EL LOBO 1NGLEZ.
Another curious circumstance connected with the sojourn of the English at Fuentes, fell within my observation in the year 1817, six years after the battle. Some Spanish or Portuguese peasants had found in a wood near the village a wolf's cub, so young that it could not yet walk, and had carried it into Fuentes and sold it to an English officer, who imagined that he could rear and tame it, and for that purpose carried it about on his baggage wherever the regiment that he belonged to marched. The cub, thus feted and attended to, grew apace, and soon arrived at wolfhood, daily displaying more and more of those propensities which have filled the fables of jEsop with the vagaries of his ancestors. At length his foster father found it necessary to curb his frolics by securing his person with a brass collar and iron chain j a restraint which he resented with the spirit
" Colonel Cameron, of the l)2nd, fell at Waterloo.
ANECDOTES OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL IN 1817. 221
of a genuine son of freedom. From this time an estrangement arose between the Englishman and his wolf; daily peccadilloes on the one part and chastisements on the other widened the breach between them, till they, who had begun by being good friends, were become sworn enemies. One day as the officer was about to punish SeTior Lobo for snapping up his last head of poultry, the latter suddenly broke his trammels and regained his liberty. .Rewards were offered for his apprehension, and allurements were held out to entice him home, but he preferred the haunts of his family, and declined all further intercourse with his Anglo protector. I visited Fuentes six years afterwards and the wolf was still in existence, and had become well-known to the peasantry of the surrounding country by the title of El Lobo Inglez (the English wolf). He had grown to an enormous size, and what will appear far more extraordinary, the brass collar was still about his neck, with part of the iron chain attached to it. With instinct not wholly confined to wolves, he often visited in the dead hour of night the scene of his cubhood, and scared the lonely cottagers by the clinking of his chain. His early habits had taught him to be more familiar with the haunts of man than his race in general considered prudent ; yet his visits to the fold, the piggery, and the poultry-yard had been conducted with so much sagacity that no opportunity had been found to shoot him. A man who had occasion to leave my quarters a little after midnight, came running back in a sad fright, exclaiming as he ran, " El Lobo Inglez ! El Lobo Inglez !" He had seen the wolf close upon him in the street, and being unarmed and alone had very properly run away. We sallied out to the number of eight or ten, armed with prongs and pitchforks, determined to teach him better manners at his peril ; but honour was not his object, his was a predatory in- cursion, and we soon found by the squeaking of a farmer's pigs that he had succeeded in carrying off one of them. My family resided at a Quinta a few miles from Fuentes, and often turned their even- ing's promenade towards the road by which I might be expected to come. They usually made to a little fountain at the foot of a rock, where, after taking a few minutes' rest, they would, if I came not up in the time, engrave on the sand the initials of their names and set up a bough, plucked from a neighbouring arbutus, to call my atten- tion to the spot, and then return towards the Quinta. One evening about sunset I came to the fountain, and on finding my family had not been there I passed onward towards the Quinta, and presently saw a handkerchief lying on the road, near which I observed the trace of the footsteps of my wife and children in the sand ; they had evidently been walking towards the fountain, and had returned in a running pace, which, coupled with the finding of the handkerchief, convinced me that something unexpected had alarmed them. I put spurs to my horse and soon overtook them all safe at the Quinta gate. They had seen the wolf descending a precipitous craggy hi]l directly towards them, and not more than thirty yards from the group. A general scamper ensued, Mrs. ••• • covering the retreat of the chil- dren and of an English man servant, who was the first to make off. Sefior Lobo, however, had other prey in view ; immediately below his line of descent was a valley in which the village flock of sheep were pasturing : he descended in an instant into the road, leaped the
222 ANECDOTES OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL IN 1817.
low stone wall, and disappeared for a moment among the rocks below. Presently the outcry of the shepherd indicated his attack ; he had seized a sheep, which he carried off in despite of both shepherd and dogs.
On another occasion, the village was alarmed by the outcries of a woman who was keeping a few sheep in an adjoining field. I ran, amongst others, to know what might be the matter ; and on inquir- ing of the woman, " Senor ! " exclaimed she, with a mixture of terror and indignation in her countenance, " ilmaldito Inglez me ha llevado dos corderitos mios." " The cursed Englishman has carried away two of my lambkins."
FUENTES DE NOKIA.
With regard to the name of this village, it may not be entirely out of place to say a few words on the subject, since it is always of im- portance, in an historical point of view, that the names of remarkable places should be correctly written. Nona in Spanish, and Nora in Portuguese, signify the apparatus to raise water, which is often seen in those countries, and which we call the Persian wheel. Both words are nouns feminine in their respective languages, though the name of the village has found its way into our maps as Fuenles dc Onora, which is the Portuguese noun feminine, with an article mas- culine before it (0 Nora). This appears to have led to numerous mistakes in the manner of writing and pronouncing the name, which, as the village is within the Spanish boundary, should be written Fuentes de Noria, the Fountains of the Noria, or Persian wheel. Had it been within the Portuguese frontier, it would have been called Fuentes de Nora, or Fuentes de A Nora, Fountains of the Persian wheel.
ALMEIDA.
Gen. Stubbs, an English officer in the Portuguese service, com- manded in Almeida when I visited that fortress, after the conclusion of the war. He had converted the site of the citadel and of the ad- joining buildings, which had been blown up at the explosion of the magazine, into a fine level esplanade, decorated with alleys of trees, to serve as a parade-ground, and as a public promenade. He at first intended to restore some of the destroyed edifices, and for that pur- pose caused excavations to be made among the ruins ; but the muti- lated remains of so many of the sufferers were then discovered, and recognised by their friends, and so many were the painful associa- tions which ensued, that the Governor, in pity to the distressed feel- ings of the surviving citizens, kindly discontinued the work, levelled the surface, and clothed the scene of sorrow and desolation with a green sward and a grove of trees. The great curtain of the wall which had been thrown down by the explosion, was but half rebuilt, and the appearance of every thing about the train and arsenal in- dicated that the energies of Britain were no longer upholding the Portuguese Government. The life of a governor in a remote unfre- quented fortress is, at best, a dull monotonous one, and here, from the absolute want of the means of putting the works in a respectable state of defence, there was little to kill his ennui. The Genera], however, contrived to wile away his leisure by laying out a pretty garden in what is called the ditch of the town, in which he blended
OPERATIONS IN MYSORE. 223
with much taste the English with the Portuguese manner of gar- dening, and thereby improved both. It matters not to what clime we go, or what may be the pursuits of our riper years ; the habits arid images acquired in early life, strike their roots too deeply into the mind to be ever eradicated or subverted by those that come afterwards. Even so was it with the General. He had long left his native England, but not his recollections of currant-tart and goose- berry-pie : they were doubtless the delights of his boyhood, and his imagination still fostered the pleasing impressions they had left be- hind. He had sent to England for currant and gooseberry shrubs, and had planted them in his garden with such success, that, in a short time, his patisseree de uvas de Inglaterra (English grapes), as the Portuguese call our gooseberries, put his Lady's doces de Mar- mclo (Marmelade) entirely out of countenance. His gardener, mis- led by the name, very naturally concluded that English grapes were to be treated like Portuguese grapes, and instead of thinning out the gooseberry branches, as we do in England, cut them away to three or four leaders at the top of each stalk, which he staked in the Espalier form. The consequence was, that each leader became, as it were, a rope of gooseberries thickly crowded over the whole branch, appearing like a long slender cluster of grapes. B. FORAGE.
OPERATIONS IN MYSORE.
LETTER FROM THE CORPS UNDER COLONEL EVANS, C.B. MADRAS ARMY.
MYSORE, the country of Tippoo Saib and Hyder Ali, is one of the finest provinces of India. On the destruction of Tippoo's power, during the Viceroyalty of Lord Wellesley, we replaced the ancient dynasty on the Musnud of Seringapatam, engaging, however, to support the government of the restored Prince by a considerable subsidiary force to be stationed. It was from this force that Colonel Evans's corps was detached to quell a formidable and extensive insurrection which broke out in the early part of last year. Bednore, or Nuggur, to which the following letter refers, is a con- siderable fortress, the capital of the insurrectionary district, and the capture of which was therefore indispensable. It is about 300 miles from Bangalore, north-west of Seringapatam, and in the midst of one of the most magnificent and picturesque ranges of mountains in the world, running for about a thousand miles along the western shore of India. The passes through these mountains are few and difficult, the soil exuberant, the scenery beautiful in the highest degree, the forests extensive, and the trees and elephants of the largest growth.
" My last was dated from Mogah ; we were then halting for the junction of two companies of the 62nd regiment, and two twelve- pounders. They reached us on the 28th May 1831. One of the guns, however, had broken down, the carriage of the other was in a precarious state, and every thing tended to show that the means of supply and equipment suitable for such an emergency were not in the readiness to be wished : to our friends the Mysoreans, I believe, may be attributed this deficiency. While waiting this reinforcement at Annantipore, it appears that Colonel Evans procured information of a route by which he could turn the strong lines of Futty Pett, and so get at the Fort of Bednore, or Nuggur, without coining into
224 OPERATIONS IN MYSORE.
contact in front with the works thrown up tof*^**J&* enemy. On discovering this line of march, I understand that he offered the Mysore authorities to advance at once upon it with own battalion and his brigade of six-pounders, if <^™W£"g£ him with provisions for twelve days and the m^>f .^F?1* < $* distance was estimated at six or eight marches). But this t lot comply with. The season therefore became far advanced and "htXfcUmissariat was established belonging to the corps, still it could collect but a very small quantity of grain. These it appears were additional arguments for adopting the route leading into tl demy's rear. Dispatch was also necessary, lest the approaching rains should shut us up between rivers, or overtake us while i HJUs! where they are terribly heavy, and peculiarly destructive to t
he"Oufwh0o°leSforce was collected on the 28th May, consisting of three small battalions, one twelve-pounder two sixes, one £ half inch howitzer, and a few pioneers, in all scarcely 1400 men. We halted on the 29th, to establish an hospital and depot of stores Marched on the 30th. On the previous day, however, the cholei broke out in our little camp, with alarming symptoms; but mar W forward, and a fall of rain, carried it off. The roads if roads thfv may be called, were at first unusually bad, but instead of im- proVing, they became worse as we proceeded. As was anticipated. the twelve-pounder, our only heavy gun, soon broke down ; hov ever by great exertion, it was repaired. For two days we were obliged toconstruct the road by which we proceeded and this c. us no ordinary labour. The line of march for the most part ay over precipices and along forest and mountain tracks, through winch n whe"l carriage had eVer before passed So many obstacles rendered an extended column of march unavoidable, and the baggage and f lowers were, therefore, particularly exposed to attack and this occa- sioned us alarm. But the insurgents were so completely taken by surprise by the line of march we had adopted that they did no molest us. But the unsatisfactory part of the affair was that did not give us an opportunity of having a tussle with them doning every thing as we advanced, so that on arriving at capital, Bednore, which we had so laboriously prepared to attf was found to be evacuated. The monsoon had now commence V and we had to march seventy miles to get out of its influence into the open country. During these proceedings, the British Political Aa-ent to Mysore was with the force.
« The civilians and politicians think this insurrection is now com- pletely put down; but the intelligent natives with whom I have conversed, assure me, that as soon as the rains are over and the re- venues come to be again demanded by the native authorities, the people wn™ again rise8 If so, our force will probably have another
fproof, though on a small scale, of the importance of strategy- By adopting a line of movement which turned the • position, works are carried without the loss of a man, which in being attacked in front, had just previously made a vigorou lesi st- ance Direct movements, in short, are very often what may 1 termed " taking the bull by the horns."]
225
TRAITS AND INCIDENTS, NAVAL AND MILITARY.
WE have alluded elsewhere to the disadvantages under which modest merit labours in advancing its just claims to reward, and have hinted that the quality known as " modest assurance," is too often found to grasp unmerited honours. We are persuaded that numberless in- stances of devoted spirit and distinguished conduct, slighted or unno- ticed amidst the great current of our martial achievements, remain to be recorded with honour to the services and advantage to their individual members. In justice to both, we shall be ever ready to record exam- ples of sterling merit in either service and in every rank, and to recall to the attention of superior authority the claims of men who, from honest pride or want of opportunity, may have shrunk from advancing, or failed in pressing their undoubted pretensions to favour. In point- ing out individual cases, we must be understood to do so in the prose- cution of a public and professional purpose.
The Artillery labours under disadvantages in the above respect not common to the army at large. For instance, Capt. Strangways, as Lieutenant of that corps, commanded the Rocket troop at the battle of Leipsic after Capt. Bogue had fallen, and was thanked on the field of battle by the Crown Prince of Sweden, for his personal intrepidity and the important services of his troop. The effect of the rockets was de- cisive. The above circumstances were stated in Sir Charles Stewart's (Marquess of Londonderry's) account of the events in question. Since that year (1813), and for the above reason, Capt. Strangways has held the rank of Captain in the Swedish service, with a Russian Order, and two medals, — tributes to his gallant conduct on the part of Foreign Powers ; while in his own service he remained till the year 1826 — a subaltern.
If the peculiar constitution of the corps of Artillery presents an obstacle to the acknowledgment of desert in the subordinate ranks out of the slow routine of promotion, it is a defect which demands an early remedy.
SINGULAR ESCAPE OF AN OFFICER AND BOAT'S CREW OF THE MADAGASCAR.
THE following unvarnished account of a remarkable result of pre- sence of mind, is extracted from a letter of Mr. Otter, of the Mada- gascar, the party concerned.
Off Hydra, the Captain (Lyon) ordered me to take out one of the boats, and go round to the south of Hydra to look for the Philomel brig, and join the ship again when I could. After being away all day, about eight o'clock at night I saw a ship eight or nine miles off, which I took to be us, and of course I wished to get on board as soon as pos- sible, but in burning a blue-light the boat unfortunately capsized, eleven men, a midshipman and myself in her. One could not swim a bit, and several others were poor swimmers ; however, by exertions and keeping the men to the boat, we managed to get on shore at the back of Hydra, in a little bay. We burnt our blue-light at 8'40' P.M. by the ship's time, and we did not reach the shore till a little before the moon went down, at 37' past two A.M. in which time we got the boat along about three miles, by means of towing and paddling with
U. S. JOUR*. No. 39. FEB. 1832. o.
226 TRAITS AND INCIDENTS,
the bottom boards. The gunwales of the boat were generally eighteen inches under water, but the stern only four or five. As several men got the cramp, and others became sick from swallowing salt-water, they were allowed to rest on the stern, whilst the others swam and towed. When we got on shore we were all naked, and nothing like a house near, except a deserted barn, which we were very glad to crawl into until daylight, andv never was sun more welcome than it was that morning, though it paid upon our bare backs pretty well about noon. At four A.M. we started, after baling the boat out, with only one oar to steer, and some bottom boards to row with ; but luckily we picked up six or seven oars floating about, and gave way for Spezzia, distance about twenty-one miles. At one, a schooner took us in tow, and we reached Spezzia in the afternoon, where the frigate arrived a little after. We presented rather a curious spectacle, one with a jacket on, that had been floating with the oars ; another with a red flag round his head ; a third with a blue one, and so on.
PRESENCE OF MIND.
DURING Lord Exmouth's attack on the batteries of Algiers, in 1816, the Algerines used a great number of red-hot shot, particularly in the early part of the action. On board His Majesty's bomb Infernal, one of those comfortable articles came in, through Wallis's, the purser's, cabin, in the after cockpit ; and having bundled a shelf, full of books, on the top of the Assistant-Surgeon, Jones, who was lying in the pur- ser's cot, given over with the Gibraltar fever, it rolled across into the opposite cabin, and was there got into a bucket of water, by the gunner and some others stationed near the spot.
This interesting amusement was but just concluded, when the men in the magazine, the door to which was close by, heard a desperate smash among the powder-barrels, and were almost covered with a cloud of loose dust and powder, which was thrown all over them. Knowing the business which had employed the gunner in the cockpit but just the instant before, they naturally enough, in the confusion of the moment, called out to him, " A red-hot shot in the magazine ;" and were rushing out of it to circulate wider the same cry, should their new red-hot acquaintance permit them. The ill consequences of this may be easily conceived ; the only chanc^for any one on such an occasion, being to jump at once overboard. Tne gunner in an instant saw, that if the cry was false, it was folly to spread it ; and if true, it was useless ; for to kingdom come we must inevitably go. He flew to the magazine, shoved the fellows back into it, and turning the key on them, stood there, with his hand on the lock, till he knew all danger must be past — rather a queerish situation, gentle reader !
The chaps were afterwards a little laughed at ; for, strange to say, we could not find this intruder on their equanimity of temper any- where ; and many doubted at last, if any shot had come into the maga- zine at all. To be sure, there were the broken barrels and the spilled powder in favour of the narrators of the story, but this seemed still not fully to convince; for even the worst of dangers generally get laughed at when they are over, by our happy-go-lucky sons of Nep- tune. When, however, she came to return her powder into store, after arriving in the Thames, the mystery was solved ; it was then found
NAVAL AND MILITARY. 227
that the said shot had gone through four barrels of powder, and lodged itself very comfortably in the middle of a fifth.
The gunner's name was Coombs ; and the last time I saw this man, who had shown such an unexampled presence of mind, was in 1824 ; he was then mending shoes, in a solitary room in the back-slums of Deptford, to help out a precarious existence — Sic transit gloria mundi !
X.
PRESENTIMENTS OF DEATH.
INSTANCES of strong presentiment are by no means uncommon, but I have never heard of any more striking than the following two.
Lieut. Stuart had been many years in the service, and had for some time commanded the Seaflower, a beautiful prize brig-of-war, well known on the Lisbon station in 1812, &c. where she was principally employed in convoying Government freights. He was afterwards ap- pointed to the Harlequin, of eighteen guns, on the Newfoundland sta- tion ; this appointment was given him with a view to his promotion — Poor fellow, if he was not promoted, he was at any rate provided for.
He was first Lieutenant of the little vessel, and during the time he held this station, was distinguished by that gentlemanly behaviour and urbanity of manner, so much to be desired in those who possess almost unlimited power. From the time of his first joining her, however, he seemed to think of death, and frequently declared, that he had never yet been in an action of any kind, although so long in the service, and that he felt convinced most fully in his own mind, that, when he did get in one, he should fall.
Many a long hour in the weary night-watches on the banks of New- foundland, has he wiled away by reciting all his former prospects and • his future hopes; but it invariably wound up with his taking a longer stride than usual, and declaring as he finished his yarn, " If ever I go into action, I shall fall — Well, it's all right — Keep a good look-out there, forward :" this was the hint that he wanted no more conversation, and the mate of his watch used to leave him and go ov^er to leeward. Poor Stuart would then pace the deck, in the most perfect mental abstrac- tion. He had indeed a most melancholy foreboding of his fate, but he met it like a hero.
It was in the latter part of 1813, or the beginning of 1814, when the Harlequin, not far from Bermuda, fell in with one of our own packets, and from some mistake in the' signals, the packet took her for an Ame- rican which she had heard was in those seas, and let fly a raking broad- side at her as she was coming up on her quarter ; while the Harlequin was getting into carronade range, the packet continued to fire at her, principally from a long brass gun, which she had mounted abaft, and which was directed by a passenger, an artillery officer.
Poor Stuart was in the act of walking aft, apparently in the highest glee, and cheering the men with the hopes of soon having her along- side, when one of those raking shots came in at the starboard gang- way, walked away with the back part of his head, and his brains lite- rally flew up to the peak of the main-sail : it took another man's shoulder off, and then went out through the poop. There was many a wet eye the next day, when —
" The wave was made his winding-sheet !"
a 2
228 TRAITS AND INCIDENTS,
A still more remarkable instance was that of Lieut. Bissett, of the Royal Marine Artillery, who went out, in 181 6, to Algiers, in His Majesty's bomb Infernal. He over and over again stated, even before the fleet got to Gibraltar, that he well knew he should " be one of the first ;" and after sailing from that place, passed his time principally in devotions, audible outside his cabin. Latterly he said but little to any one, and on the morning of the battle, he several times repeated that he knew he should " be one of the first." With the exception of this, he hardly spoke on that day, unless to give the necessary directions at the mortars. The action began at about two o'clock in the afternoon, and he was in the act of aiming either the fourth or fifth shell, when the fatal shot struck him !
Before this she had been a good deal cut up; she had had her springs shot away, boats swamped, and was severely raked for some time. During all this, he seemed calmly waiting for death with the cool yet determined resolution of a gallant spirit who knows his last hour is come. I never could imagine what sort of a missile it was that ended his mortal career. He was cut in three pieces. One leg went forward on the gangway ; and the other, and part of his body, remained nearly where he had been standing ; and his upper works went overboard — certainly on that day the Algerines threw about some queer articles, such as crow-bars, iron bolts, hand-spikes, glass bottles, bags of nails, &c. &c. ad libitum.
A lance corporal, named Polter, fired all the other shells from the Infernal during that action. Where is he ? What has been done for that man ? They were well thrown, thai every body allowed.
I was told too, that poor Bissett was the only support of his sisters and an aged mother. What has been done for them ? Where was our famed " Patriotic Fund," &c. in 1816 ? Alas ! how true it is, that not even half the horrors of war are confined to the field of battle.
PADDY M'GUIRE.
Some years ago I was escorting a lady across the Place du Carrousel, at Paris : there had been some rain, and the pavement was extremely dirty. As we passed near the triumphal arch, I heard a voice, deeply tinged with a rich Cavan brogue, exclaim, " Dirty weather, your honour, for a lady's coloured shoes." I turned round, and perceived that the observation "had proceeded from one of the cavalry sentries under the arch. The contrast between the Irish brogue and the uni- form of the Second Regiment of Grenadiers a Cheval of the French Royal Guard, struck me forcibly, and excited my curiosity to learn something of this fine-looking Irishman. When I returned to my hotel, I asked my servant, (who had been attending his mistress when Paddy accosted me that morning, and who was an old soldier himself, and well acquainted with the English and Irish men in many of the regiments in the French army,) if he knew anything of the Irish sen- try who was on duty that morning at the triumphal arch. " Oh ! Sir," said he, " that was Paddy M'Guire, a well-known character both in Paris and Versailles. He makes very free with the English gentle- men. I remember when we lived in Versailles, there was an inspec- tion of the Garrison, and Paddy was orderly upon the General. He observed Major Jones and several other English officers on the Place
NAVAL AND MILITARY. 229
d'Armes, and without the least ceremony he asked the Major, ' if he thought the Enniskillen Dragoons would be a match for the Cuirassiers then on parade ?' "
Paddy commenced his military career in the grenadier company of the Cavan Militia, and shortly afterwards volunteered into the llth Foot. He served several campaigns in Portugal and Spain, and de- serted to the French, preferring their service to the severe flogging which he expected to receive for having got drunk upon his post. When he arrived at the French chain of videttes, he was made a pri- soner, and conducted to head-quarters : there Paddy was asked a num- ber of questions, but he could not give much information respecting either the position or strength of the Duke of Wellington's army : he could tell pretty nearly the number of the rank and file of his own regiment, but he knew nothing of the rest of the troops, except that the Spaniards and Portuguese were a dirty, cowardly, beggarly set of spalpeens, who ran away upon the first shot being fired. Paddy was placed in a regiment of Cuirassiers, and on the subsequent formation of the Royal Guard, he was drafted into the Grenadiers a Cheval. It appears that in the early part of his French military service, he was frequently subjected to sneers and ridicule, on account of his Irish accent and love of brandy. This he bore with a good deal of compo- sure, until he had acquired a tolerable proficiency in the use of the small sword, when he retorted with both tongue and foot upon his ad- versaries. A challenge was the immediate consequence, and Paddy was not long in measuring swords with his antagonist ; and being strong, active, and a pretty good fencer, he soon obtained the victory. He was now treated with more respect, but his attachment to brandy led him into frequent quarrels, and as perverse disputes are always de- cided in the French army by the sword, Paddy killed four of his com- rades in single combat, together with an imprudent gendarme, who, not aware of Paddy's skill and prowess with the sword, had met him at a cabaret at Versailles, and ventured a sneer at the boxing system of the soldiers of the English army. Such is the high estimation in which personal courage and prowess are held in the French service, that Paddy became a prime favourite in the regiment. Three times he was made a non-commissioned officer, but the love of brandy con- stantly occasioned his being as often reduced to the ranks.
In the affray which took place about three years ago at a fete at the village of Vereflay, near Versailles, between a party of the Swiss Guard, and some men of the Second Grenadiers a Cheval, of whom Paddy was one, several lives were lost; and when questioned as to his share in the business, he modestly acknowledged that he had only killed and wounded seven of the Swiss soldiers. At that period I was residing at Versailles, and wishing to improve myself in fencing, I de- sired my servant to inquire of Paddy, who was the best teacher of the art in town, when he naively replied, " Sure I killed the fellow about six months ago !" With all poor Paddy's skill and courage, brandy was too strong for him, and ultimately prevailed. About eighteen months ago he got drunk, fell from his horse, and received such a serious injury as occasioned his death ; and his strong, manly, and active form, was committed to the grave in Versailles, lamented by a handsome young woman, who is often observed to visit the place of his interment, and strew it over with laurel and flowers.
230
REVIEWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES.
CAVENDISH ; OR, THE PATRICIAN AT SEA.
"• Te fingente nefas, Pyladen odisset Orestes,
Thesea Piritltoi destituisset amor. Tu Siculos fratres, et majus nomen Atridas, Et Ledae poteras dissociare genus."
Under the title with which we have headed this article, a novel has appeared, which, although destitute of skill, management, or strength, puts forth high pretensions. Yet it forms but a sorry work; as a narrative it is uninteresting, the characters are unnaturally mon- strous, and the adventures utterly deficient of that dramatic effect which assails the passions and lends reality to fiction. Though some of the pages are sprightly, they are absurd; nor are there suffi- cient even of such passages to redeem the general flippancy of the style. That those who are guiltless of having " done the state some service," should inflict their anabases upon the public, is sufficiently provoking j but that such writers should pander to the prurient appetite which exists for literary garbage, deserves the severest re- prehension. Something more than a mere cacoethes must have given birth to this abortion ; from the slander which it broaches, and its intemperate vituperation of public men, it seems to have originated in the two-fold stimulus of political purpose, and the low emotions of private hatred : objects as illiberal as the terms in which they are couched are intemperate. It is true that some cases of personality are not merely defensible, but laudable; men should be told their faults in order to their amendment, as Cicero declaimed against Verres, and as Catullus sang the vices of Caesar. But detraction is base in its nature, and baneful in its effects, — and we would recom- mend Mr. Cavendish, instead of biting the heels of his betters, mag- nifying and aggravating mere failings, and turning motes into beams, to look to the eighteenth verse of the tenth chapter of Proverbs : we would also counsel him to recollect that a " knowledge of vice is not a knowledge of human nature ;" that slander is not argument, nor calumny discussion ; and that personal enmity has been pronounced a motive " fit only for the devil." As to the recital of his amours, we are at a loss to know why they are introduced, being destitute of that wit or novelty which delight those who fatten upon the topic ; but still they are sufficiently disgusting to make us almost wish the writer the fate of Titus Etherius.
The trite but homely proverb of the bird which befouled its nest, does not apply to the author before us, for he nowhere breathes the devotion, patriotism, or feeling of the British sailor. As to who this would-be author is, we know not, and we care not ; it is uncer- tain what the spear of Ithuriel might detect, for though the flippant style savours of the superciliousness of an assistant clerk, or an offi- cer's servant, the strange jumble may possibly have been indited by one of those happy " slips" of nobility, who deign to receive com- missions and pensions, for their four years amusement in the ships »f our country. Yet it is hardly to be presumed, that a gentleman
REVIEWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES. 231
should dabble in so impure a stream, and indulge in imputing im- proper motives to other persons, with a scurrility which is in admir- able unison with the march of wanton liberalism, burkism, incen- diarism, and other cowardly innovations upon British character.
The story of Cavendish opens with just such an undutiful, silly, and heartless interview, between the hero and his father, as we should expect from a cub nourished on the refuse of Modern Phi- losophy. The dialogues would in general be more revolting, but that they are so palpably untrue, and exhibit, like Anaximenes, "an ocean of words to a drop of understanding." In the outre dragging-in of the Duke of Newcastle and Sir C. Wetherell, we discover nothing but virus of hatred prepense. The description of a dinner at Sir T. Maitland's, is given with a gross ignorance of the mind, person, and talents, of that celebrated governor: we can, of our own knowledge, say that he was neither " bloated," nor of "vulgar ideas;" — on the contrary, he possessed a firm and well-stored mind, and even his brusquerie was often merely assumed to ease the moments he was obliged to lose in the company of the numerous " slips" and "sprigs," who pestered him with letters of introduction, or as they are more properly termed, dinner tickets. We can also add, that Sir Thomas was not wont to reside at Floriana, nor could he have been grumbling there when the Naiads arrived, because he had been in his grave some time before that period. As to the alleged foolery of Capt. Spencer picking up rope-yarns to make " watch-strings," we know enough of him to doubt whether his quarterdeck would have furnished the supply, or that a ship which he commanded could exhibit such a scene as, " The lieutenant of the watch was asleep, — the midshipmen were skulking, — the look-outs were drunk, the man at the helm foolish, — and the old quarter-mas- ter blind." In the nonsensical denouement of the tale, the writer clearly shows that he knows nothing of the characters which he asperses, for to impute meanness, cowardice, and fear to the gallant Capt. Corbett, is a monstrous absurdity : a mistaken view of disci- pline was the only drawback upon the character of otherwise one of the ablest naval officers of Great Britain.
The candour of Mr. Cavendish seems to have conquered his cour- tesy, for no Bristol rioter could manifest a more vindictive contempt of public worth. The illustrious Duke of Wellington and his " brummagem coronet," seems a particular object of hatred. A drunken and sentimental midshipman is made to demand, "What made Caesar master of the world ? Napoleon its Emperor ? Alex- ander its bully ? Washington its admiration? W its scorn ?"
Mentioning an officer of the Cambrian, under the thin disguise of the
Hon. Willslay, it is said, " He possessed some goodnature, and
more malice ; moreover, he was an insufferably arrogant, overbear- ing blockhead, in order to account for which I need only say, that he was somewhat connected with the great artful prince of Waterloo, the redoubted and licensed killer of dog's-meat to the government blood-hounds." Speaking of the despotism of the late minister, and deriding his not rushing to war for immaculate Greece, he asks, " Who could expect a dolt to own a kindred sympathy with science ? Who could expect a mere passing nine-days wonder, a man who has
232 REVIEWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES.
outlived his transient reputation, to feel any thing but jealousy for the shades of heroes, whose existence is now and ever ?" And in some mischievous doggrel, the immortal warrior is thus stigma- tized : —
" Come, hither, ye buffers, who sail on the main, Here 's news from Auld Beakie, the lobster of Spain ; The Bermugian-built beggar that fled in Ingee, And then, true dunghill, crowed over Bonapartee."
An arrant reformer, Mr. Cavendish possesses the noted Joseph Hume's antipathy to our gallant army. Napoleon, " the martyr of St. Helena," is the idol of his mind, although there has scarcely ex- isted a greater enemy of humanity than this same product of the French revolution. Can the scribbler, or any other ejusdem generis, deny that his whole energies were employed in selfish views, and the destruction of those gleams of freedom which had brought him to light ? We scruple not to assert, that Napoleon was a man to whom magnanimity was unknown, and of whom it has been truly said, that " he could touch nothing without leaving on it the pol- luting mark of despotism." Under his iron sceptre, the Liberty and Equality which decorated all the documents of the Republic, were obliterated in Force and Espionage ; and the best interests of nations were slavishly sacrificed to vanity by France, — the eternal manufactory of constitutions.
It is difficult to know whether Buonaparte, or the "injured" Byron, occupies the first place in the affections and apostrophes of Cavendish. It appears that the poet was a persecuted man ! and Napoleon's companion in glory ! ! years of whose lives were lied away ! ! ! Now we profess to admire the undoubted genius of Byron, but we cannot disregard his own forcible words, — " Imbecility may be pitied, or at worst laughed at, and forgotten : perverted powers .demand the most decided reprehension." That he smarted under this consciousness, few who have met him, and were heralds enough to blazon his passions, would doubt ; for that scornful lip betrayed the inquietude of the inner man, and accounted for the gloomy aspe- rity of the hero personified through all his poems. One who knew him intimately has summed up his character in a few words — " To the heart of a good hater he united the pen of a most mellifluous execrator," qualities which have gained him a mob of admirers, who are mostly insensible to his poetical powers. This is a point, how- ever, on which we suspect our author plumes himself, as various lines, which jingle at the ends, are scattered through the work. But, in sober truth, the "Patrician" is neither a poet nor even a tolerable artist in words ; he is a mere dealer in turgid pleonasms and tuneless lays, and is always more sensual than sentimental.
The battle of Navarino is the grand episode of the novel ; but, supposing the writer to have been on board the Talbot, he weakens that which he wishes to magnify. A ship, brought up as he de- scribes, must have been sunk in a second had the enemy possessed common sense or common talent. According to his statement, there was a fifty-two gun frigate at four hundred yards distance on the starboard beam, abreast was a corvette, on her quarter a fifty-gun
REVIEWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES. 233
frigate at two hundred yards, and astern a whole line of vessels of the same class : and all these arrayed against a donkey of twenty- eight guns ! Yet in this wretched berth they continued, he says, " one hour in the hottest part of a hot action," before he saw a man killed. It is plain that neither a Sir Howard Douglas nor a Sir Philip Broke was to be found amongst such opponents.
Agreeably to custom, we are bound to exhibit a specimen of the author's style, but we scarcely know where to make the least offensive extract. We have no doubt, that in Mr. Cavendish's own eye, the pearl of the book is the oration of a midshipman who, after maltreating one captain in a cockpit and murdering another, is sentenced to death. The whole of this delectable tragedy is of equal degrees of probability. An officer of twenty-two years of age is about to be flogged at a gun, — pins the captain to a bulkhead with his own sword, — is visited in the guard-ship by a young lady in disguise, — warbles to a guitar through the grated scuttle of his prison — and delivers a set speech on radical reform, revulsion of passions, the mean, despicable, base, cringing world, life-devouring lashes, fiendish oppression, tongueless deeds of dark and deep damnation, and other topics, so movingly as to wring a flood of tears from the listening boatswain. We will not afflict our readers with this absurdity, but in order to show grounds for the disgust we have expressed, we somewhat unwillingly submit the manner in which he paints his shipmates ; it being also one of the best strokes of the humour which is occasionally displayed.
" ' You see that man of six-feet-ten, cadaverous in look, and scant in understanding: nay, laugh not; no allusion to those apologies for panta- loons, reaching up to his knees over his calfless spindles, for you see all the calf is contained in his head, while all his brains lie in his legs. Whatever sort of a dancing-master he might have made, he never was fit for a first- lieutenant, which office he holds here. His name is John Stretcher, a weak fool by nature, a liar and a tyrant by habit and education. He was Captain Tyrennys first-lieutenant, in H.M.S. Teaze ; they were both broken for in- humanly flogging some man, and for other acts of the same stamp, and he now stands there, a living disgrace to those men who dared to reinstate him. The usual denomination that we know him by, is Judas Iscariot, who be- trayed his master. His chief amusement lies in cheating the seamen out of the time the captain allows them for dinner, poisoning the ear of his superior with falsehood, and making himself, by tyranny and abuse, a mark for the scorn and hatred of his inferiors. That active little man, who goes bustling about as though smartness for duty consisted in noise, and a talent for com- mand in aptness for abuse, is Benjamin Cantall. Here, on our right, is Lieut. Straw, as worthless a straw as was ever threshed by a flail or burnt as stubble.
" ' That ass, for man he is not rightly designated, who stands with his sightless eye convulsed, and mouth distended with laughter at some folly of his own, is pandering to the humour of the other — pandering to the humour of a straw ! Fancy what a being ! But I would advise him to be cautious in treading out his corn. That demi-deformity in body and mind, is the schoolmaster : his name is Dencabore, and a confounded bore he is. But, stay, stay ; I like to illustrate descriptive history by poetical verisimilitude; and, therefore, as all those four have, in some respects, the same diabolical points common to each, and as all belong to the reptile order, I will, with your leave, class them together.
" ' First/ counting on the ends of his fingers, ' behold John Stretcher,
234 REVIEWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES.
first-lieutenant; he is the double-tongued and deadly serpent, anguis in herbd, that creeps in the long grass, stealing upon you unawares, and while, in seeming playfulness, licking your hand, instills a venom into your flesh, that stings you to the very soul. Yet should you, unawares, but tread upon his tail, all pretence is thrown aside, and the reptile 'hurls at once his venom and his strength.'
" ' We next come to Robert Straw, the second-lieutenant ; he is the toad, as you may see, ugly, bloated, and poisonous, without even the redeeming quality of ' wearing a precious jewel in his head;' unless a little medullary and cineritious substance may be so called, commonly known under the de- signation of brains, but which in him is too inert to produce any action cor- responding to that organ in others. Like the prototype I have given, his chief occupation is being abroad in his element at nightfall, where in his croaking at the deeds of others, he has been seldom equalled — never surpass- ed. So far the toad is almost as bad as he is, but here the balance of evil lies with the mortal, not with the reptile. Ignorant in the extreme, vulgar beyond conception, presuming beyond forbearance, it requires two faces to wear the numerous and revolting attributes this thing possesses. But Na- ture, in her perfection, has kindly met her extremities even here, and I grieve for my country to say it, there never was yet a more deceitful, double-dealing, false Scot, than Bob Straw.
" ' Deucabore, schoolmaster, is at once, you perceive, the slow-worm ; insidious, artful, and blind — at least of one eye ; monstr' horrend' informe — cut lumen ademptum — which loss, together with his fore-teeth, now absent with- out leave, report kindly rumours to have happened in an Oxford row, where it is supposed, he was one of the menials. 1 see by your expression vou like not the visitation of the man with his infirmities, but in very truth, like the most of us, 1 hate him with a hate as unmixed and undiluted, as ever was borne by one of Samuel Johnson's best haters — why, you shall know here- after. But to proceed with his character. A reclaimed and rectified scape- grace, he pretends to outward religion and morality; a spy upon the unguarded words of the youngsters, which he fails not to aggravate to the captain, he makes no scruple to drink and swear in a public cafe. Emerged from some situation of low obscurity, he lords it unfeelingly over these whom fortune has temporarily placed in his power, and who are in reality as far above him as the stars above the cloud that obscures their brightness. Withal, no character in power is too intellectually low for Deucabore to cringe to, and willingly would he sweep the floor of Pandemonium, for a smile from the arch-fiend's face.
" ' Some degrees less in baseness is Cantall, L.L.B., a title conferred on him I have been told, in a former ship, being the abbreviation of little lying Ben — him I would liken to a cameleon, content to creep in the filth of servility, in order to arrive at the precarious sunshine of favour. His opi- nions, ideas, sentiments, and actions, are equally varied, equally undefined. His foibles, he may tell you, are marked ; what great character's are not ? His imagination is so excessive, that he lives in a world of mist and ideality completely his own, as the French would say, ' il brodie,' which being inter- preted in the nautical vernacular, means, ' he lies like a tooth-drawer,' — forgive my euphuism ; but he is a witty Irishman, and as his power, and con- sequently its ill effects, are chiefly confined to those beneath him, in his particular line of master, we, who never feel it, regard it not, but I dislike the man, and wish not to sell you prejudices second-hand/ "
* * * * # *
" Foremost, nay almost alone in this cursed troop, might be heard the hellish yell and unmeaning chatter of Bob Straw ; and had it not been for his example, nothing of the sort would most likely have been heard. This alone would have proved to me that he was a heartless, uneducated being, no more to be compared with ' the spirit that's gone,' than a drivelling idiot is to a man of the most exalted talent."
REVIEWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES. 235
" ' Stretcher, after being promoted, had died the death of a tyrant : he expired in agony after being speechless for days, and now he lies in a well- merited grave ; and 1 doubt not that his worthy compeer Straw will meet a similar end."
How the officers, whose names are so slightly veiled, may relish being thus shown up, it is not for us to opine ; but we should be deficient in public duty did we not declare that we suspect the libel to arise from the polluted source of private vindictiveness ; a motive which, if suffered to prevail, will infuse itself, like a poison, into the happy confidence of social intercourse ; and many a hero, capable of braving a lion, may fall by the insidious bite of a reptile.
To the novel are appended some ideas on the " reform" of the navy ; these are written rather better than the tale, but they exhibit little that has not been already treated in our pages. Of all the favours which mankind in their Christian charity, goodness, and considera- tion bestow upon each other, there is none they so liberally give as advice. Now, whether it is that we are naturally ungrateful and unwilling to receive an obligation, or whether the gift is entirely unacceptable, we know not ; but certain it is, that no boon ever given to the sons of Adam is so ungraciously accepted, so feebly thanked, so little attended to, or so seldom of any service. On these grounds, therefore, we decline pointing out to Mr. Cavendish how he may remedy the inexcusable ignorance of human nature which he betrays, and from showing him how easy it is to devise plans where the planner has not to put them into execution, and is reck- less of consequences. We do not advocate a straight-laced cramp- ing of ability by an over-fond deference to old authorities, merely because they are old ; — but we bear in mind that many of the cus- toms of antiquity have been well proved by time, and we are un- tinctured with our author's contempt of institutions planted by our ancestors, — or, as he expresses it, because " the immense wisdom of our forefathers has decreed it ;" a dogma borrowed from Tom Paine's " absurdity of the dead legislating for the living." Most of the petty evils complained of are depicted in the extremest sha- dows, much in the style of cannonading caterpillars with thirty-two- pounders. Some of the suggested improvements would go far to make many masters, and divide a ship against herself, in place of the concentrated force hitherto displayed : and, from several allu- sions, we suspect the " Patrician" has founded his hypothesis upon the luminous exposition of human talents in " the walk from Temple Bar to Hyde Park Corner," by Godwin, the " destroyer of ancient prejudices." Professions, like nations, must improve gradually, by cautiously adopting only what their absolute necessities require, anticipating by practice the suggestions of theory. Changes some- times appear vigorous at the commencement because the managers exert their utmost energies to forward their projects ; but those only are skilful and wise who see the ends from the beginning, and guard against all possibilities. No position which is incapable of demonstration should be admitted, unless the plea for its adoption or continuance can be justified, for mischief, imperceptibly effected, may be irreparable in consequences. Only those customs should be corrected where the reform is not more offensive than the abuse
236 REVIEWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES.
itself. Men, like other gregarious animals, are more prone to follow than to lead, and to jump at conclusions without attending to pre- mises ; and, as popular opinion has no ear for reason, injurious measures may be constantly carried in any well-meaning body, for few will deny
That partial fools against the wise prevail, And by the dint of numbers turn the scale.
The " Patrician" advances every item in favour of his reform ; but, as Voltaire says, he forgets, with the best grace in the world, a hundred which would quash it. We agree that the promotion of masters ought not to be hermetically sealed, — and the splendid instances of Cooke, Bowen, and Bligh prove that our governors have also held similar opinions, and therefore did not quite " reverse the first order of nature." Nor did the difficulty originate altogether in the " immense wisdom of our forefathers," since the promotion of masters to commissions was more frequently practised formerly than since the sprigs and slips have issued from their nurseries in shoals to fill up every vacancy. The charge that " success of merit" has, at this moment, no existence in the British Navy is notoriously false, as may be proved by citing the names of Ross, Parry, Franklin, Foster, and the numerous officers of the Polar and other expeditions of dis- covery and survey : we admit these are mere units in comparison to the useless hands thrust forward by mere interest, but every state- ment should be impartial. We cannot foresee that changing the designation of Master, to that of " Lieutenant- Warden" will be ac- companied with wonderful benefit to the nation. The pay and rank of a passed midshipman are both susceptible of improvement, but to effect it there need be no revolution in a service which produced such officers as those which graced the reign of George the Third. We agree that the College at Portsmouth may prove too prolific for the demands of the service ; but some of the conclusions are merely pitting theory against experience, and possibility against fact. As to the female class which attracts the regard of young sailors, the Patrician will find it difficult to prove that any other order of youths is insensible to the fatal chai-m, or that any other profession has boasted a larger number of men of high and sound principle. The Navy List affords- proofs as positive as they are pleasing — and which all the world knows, or ought to know — of seamen fond of domestic virtues, who have shown integrity enough to perform their services faithfully, and independence enough to conduct themselves fearlessly —
While such exist, the world in arms May strive, and strive in vain,
To force from Britain's powerful hands The fasces of the main.
We deem the project of sending young men to sea, instead of boys, as midshipmen, to be the surest mode of sapping the soundest part of naval character. We have ever understood that the object was to train youngsters to the life and exercises necessary for acquiring a sufficient knowledge of the equipment, discipline, and operations of a ship, and thereby truly qualify them for sea command. This, and
REVIEWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES. 237
this only is the true principle of the organized customs of the navy ; the guitar, the foreign tongues, and the foppery in food and dress so strongly recommended, must be left to bent and genius, and such leisure as is, unfortunately, too largely afforded. Much of the ar- dent devotion necessary for the officer can only be gained by early habits ; and there are few who enter at a more advanced age, who do not rather force themselves than enjoy service. Zeal, untempered by experience, is of little moment ; and the true road of glory must ever be too arduous to be trodden by crowds. It is not the finical " gentleman, independent of his commission," that we place much value upon, — we depend upon the hardy men of honour who exe- cute their duties with pleasure, and who, whether afloat or ashore, employed or unemployed, never forget that they are virtually united to the destinies of the flag. It is too well known, and too widely admitted to need the production of farther proof, that the naval sys- tem, hitherto, has produced glorious results to the moral, physical, and intellectual character of the nation. The regulations proposed to make ships more convenient to " Patricians," many of whom, like Jews who sell hams, profess an aversion to their calling — \ve think much more specious than solid —
These may make fops, but never can impart The sailor's hardy frame, or daring heart.
We are too intimately acquainted with the gallant bearing of our navy, to dread that " any cobbler or tinker who has a son too idle to acquire his father's trade is bundled off to sea, certain, if he con- ducts himself with any decency, not below that of a hog, and ability not much inferior to that of a donkey, to be in time promoted." Nor do we faint with agitation at the alarm of " ordaining the sons of the first noblemen in aristocratic England, to be placed at the same table with the offspring of men ranking some degrees below their father's cooks." The latter gentry would probably take pre- cedency of the nobles, if left to the taste of far-famed Ude : — but we dispute the danger of so wonderful a grievance, — and in this, as in fifty other passages, perceive the pride of the innovator through his tissue of liberalism, with as much ease as garlic would be detected, though enveloped in a rose-bud. Although the " sprigs" and " slips" of our peers may not have been so exclusively favoured as of late, the wholesome discipline of the old school did not pre- vent a large proportion of them from embarking ; we can never forget amongst those who served in the late wars — the Duke of Bolton, Lords Howe, Seymour, Ranelagh, Paulet, Cranstoun, Coch- rane, Garlics, Northesk, Stuart, Balgonie, Selsey, and others — to say nothing of Majesty itself. Nor have the sons of the people ranking with the aforesaid " cooks," shown themselves at all unworthy of the noble school they were brought up in, — as is witnessed by enume- rating Lords St. Vincent, Duncan, Nelson, Hood, Bridport, Ex- mouth, Gambier, Rodney, Hotham, Collingwood, Graves, Gardiner, and a host of baronets, grand-crosses and other knights. Yet the reformer, with this galaxy of splendid men of our own day, promises a navy of an infinitely more exalted, patriotic, and heroic nature than that which we have hitherto possessed. Laud we the Gods !
238 REVIEWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES.
The British navy has hitherto displayed in all its honours, and rewards, an admirable union of ranks, and its archives bear testi- mony that ability may gild a coronet, or spring from a cottage. We possess hundreds of officers, of all grades, whose example may sti- mulate, and whose success may encourage the candidate for naval renown, without his resorting to petty acquirements. Earl Howe, and in such a case he is undeniable authority, remarked that half a gentleman and half a sailor made the best officer. Besides, we must not forget that a " sprig" may be well extracted and ill-educated, and though family pride ought to be an additional incentive to rec- titude of conduct, it has not always proved so. We have witnessed, with heartfelt pleasure, the cheerful alacrity with which young no- bles have served, — but we cannot advocate the cause of those " splendid paupers" who have been pensioned on the fleet, with scarcely any experience of the hardships and privations of maritime life, — and who, in the emphatic words of Collingwood, are " living in the navy, and not serving in it." Secure of their promotion, and of employment if they choose, many prove refractory understrap- pers, and tyrannical masters. Nor is this all the evil of the system : of the expensive mischief of these " constant plagues" to the service, in waste of stores, spars, and loss of vessels, the admirable veteran just quoted says, — " Better to give them pensions and let them stay on shore."
We not only admit that every opportunity should be afforded for the improvement of young officers, but have frequently advocated it. The picture of sea-life, however, is very far from being so gloomy as the " Patrician" depicts it. We have seen an attentive and anxious solicitude paid to the comfort and studies of midshipmen ; and the more this is insisted upon, the greater will be the benefit. But this, as we have said, requires no revolution of that which time has de- monstrated to be excellent. All questions which are of moment to the public welfare, should be proposed, not only on comprehensive and philosophical principles, but also with a direct bias to the par- ticular institutions of the nation. Nothing should be changed for the sake of change, nor usages supported simply because they are established: we would neither swell an indiscriminate outcry against innovation, nor brand those as bigots, or fools, who preferred a steady attachment to the customs of their ancestors, to the adoption of speculative principles and desperate expedients. For these rea- sons we will contrast the liberal feeling of Cavendish, by the manly advice given to a midshipman, so far back as 1769, by the celebrated Falconer. After reasoning upon the danger of relaxed discipline, because there was a tide in favour of the " common" sailor to the prejudice of the officer, he forcibly recommends the latter to a timely application to those exercises which can alone protect him from the contempt of the former, and he thus sums up : —
" If the midshipman is not employed in these services, which are un- doubtedly necessary to give him a clear idea of the different parts of his occupation, a variety of other objects present themselves to his attention. Without presuming to dictate the studies which are most essential to his improvement, we could wish to recommend such as are most suitable to the bent of his inclination. Astronomy, geometry, and mechanics, which are in
REVIEWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES. 239
the first rank of science, are the materials which form the skilful pilot and the superior mariner. The theory of navigation is entirely derived from the two former, and all the machinery and movements of a ship are founded on the latter. The action of the wind upon the sails, and the resistance of the water at the stern, naturally dictate an enquiry into the property of solids and fluids : and the state of the ship floating on the water seems to direct his application to the study of hydrostatics and the effects of gravity. A proficiency in these branches of science will equally enlarge his views, with regard to the operations of naval war, as directed by the efforts of powder and the knowledge of projectiles. The most effectual methods to excite his application to those studies is, perhaps, by looking round the navy, to observe the characters of individuals. By this enquiry he will pro- bably discover that the officer who is eminently skilled in the sciences will command universal respect and approbation ; and that whoever is satisfied with the despicable ambition of shining the hero of an assembly, will be the object of universal contempt. The attention of the former will be engaged in those studies which are highly useful to himself in particular and to the service in general. The employment of the latter is to acquire those super- ficial accomplishments that unbend the mind from every useful science, emasculate the judgment, and render the hero infinitely more dexterous at falling into his station in the dance than in the line-of-battle.
"Unless the midshipman has an unconquerable aversion to the acquisition of those qualifications, which are so essential to his improvement, he will very rarely want opportunities of making a progress therein. Every step he advances in those meritorious employments will facilitate his accession to the next in order. If the dunces, who are his officers and messmates, are rattling the dice, roaring bad verses, hissing on the flute, or scraping discord from the fiddle, his attention to more noble studies will sweeten the hours of relaxation."
This is advice worthy of a British sailor, for although an officer's acquirements are frequently made in the face of every disadvantage, studies are prosecuted with vigour by those who do not mistake microscopic ideas on discipline for skill. The great Des Cartes did not neglect his philosophical studies when serving his arduous cam- paigns as a soldier ; Cervantes wrote none the worse for the loss of a hand, nor Camoens for that of an eye. The various duties of a sea-life did not prevent Columbus from becoming, in addition to an elegant scholar, the most accomplished geographer and astronomer of his time. Nelson was skilled as a diplomatist, and Collingwood's literary merits claim equality with his skill as a sailor, and his bene- volence as a man; of him the poet has truly said —
" He who, though thus endued as with a sense And faculty for storm and turbulence, Is yet a soul whose master-bias leans To homefelt pleasures and to gentle scenes.''
The reader will have discovered, by this time, that we are not proselytes to the Cavendish system of REFORM ; and it is because we perceive it to contain only the principal incitements to conceit, fop- pery, and a separation of interest between the sailor and his officer. In the portrait of himself, which we suppose to be in identity with the new school to be produced, we find him constantly attending balls, parties, and scenes of dissipation ashore ; and throughout the work there is not a sentiment in praise of moral or religious obligation, or upon any one object of professional studies. In evincing his horror of Marsala and grog, he carefully blazons his taste for Montefiascone,
240
REVIEWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES.
and Lafitte, which, together with guitar-playing, Princeza snuff, and all the mighty nothingnesses of fashionable life, are compla- cently dwelt upon. This attention to the animal propensities of our nature forms a primary object with the " cold-blooded" school, albeit the daily desire of pabulum, by proving our imperfection, affords but humiliating reflections to the philosopher : " For how much however," says old Guevara, " it is for him to be able to talke in martial feates or chivalry ; so much more dishonour and reproach it is to him to be skilfull in dressing of meates, and all to fill the belly." In other opinions, the hero of the novel holds to the dicta of all true levellers, and therefore every thing that suits not his no- tions, is the " trash of the croaking set," and " abhorrent tyranny ;" the tri-colour is only an emblem of revolt in the eyes of the " silly," and in bitter enmity to tories he is as violent, though not so formid- able, as Carlisle, Cobbett, or O'Connell. We may sum up the cha- racter of Cavendish, — a man at once irritable and irritating, a super- cilious shipmate, a sensual intriguer, a rabid radical, and just the officer who could walk the deck, during an action, " with his hands in his pockets, doing nothing."
STANDARD NOVELS. — The 10th Number of this series contains the con- clusion of Schiller's Ghost Seer, and the Tale of Edgar Huntley, by Brockden Brown. The llth comprises Miss A. M. Porter's Novel, The Hungarian Brothers, complete. We can add no- thing at present to our repeated recom- mendations of this excellent and inte- resting publication, but the advice to our readers to judge for themselves.
THE NEW CHARTER. — Under this title we have received a " cut-and-dry" body of legislation, which may be deem- ed a characteristic specimen of the capa- city for Government which is being so widely assumed by the members of the " March." The principal blessings we are to gain by this new "spic-and-span" system, which was charitably drawn up as a substitute for the late rejected " Bill," are as follows :
Every one shall be authorised to judge whether what he chooses to do, be inju- rious to another.
Every individual shall be educated, and that at the public expense. And there shall be a free intercourse of thought.
The mental capabilities of both sexes being equal, they shall enjoy the same civil rights ; and the " masculine pro- nouns are designed only to except fe- males in that part which relates to the appointment of a civil and military force."
All trade is to be perfectly free : every duty entirely annulled ; and all con-
tracts, whether public or private, to dis- solve at the end of fifty years.
Pure magistrates are to be appointed, and the punishment of death to be no more inflicted, because (by Utopian lo- gic ?) a moral reformation, which is to take place some day, " will produce future respect to the laws."
" It is the duty of Government to protect private property." Yet, in the next paragraph, the Charter-maker tells us it is " the duty of Government to enforce the sacrifice of private property should the community require it.
"It is the duty of Government to provide such laws, especially in regard to inheritance, that the land shall not become the property of the few, to the exclusion of the many."
The principal person in every hamlet shall be called the prcefect. Every ten hamlets shall be called a borough, and its head is to be a mayor. From ten to one hundred boroughs shall constitute a county, which shall be superintended by a lieutenant. Ten counties shall form a state, whose head shall be styled gover- nor ; and the assemblies of the states shall elect a parliament, which parlia- ment is to elect a king !
But enough. The sum of the panacea for the evils of our misgovernment is this : — Whoever governs for the day shall have a boundless right to force his hand into the rich man's pockets, and help himself freely, crying aloud at the same time, " It will be all one fifty years hence !"
241 GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE UNITED SERVICE JOURNAL.
War on the Grand Scale.
MR. EDITOR, — In the Westminster Review, and in one or two other periodical publications which have noticed Colonel Napier's " War in the Peninsula,' I have been struck by an observation which is, to me, totally incomprehensible. I shall take this observation as given in the words of the review: — " In point of systematic knowledge of the military art, he (Colo- nel Napier) is probably inferior to some of the more distinguished writers of the Continent, who, besides the benefit of regular scientific education, have enjoyed the advantage of serving in campaigns, when war had been made upon the grandest scale, and its maxims were sanctioned by the most en- larged experience." Now, Sir, I hope the writer of this article in the Westminster will pardon my presumption, (for he is surely some great Ge- neral who has stepped out of his own ponderous jack-boots into the reviewer's morocco slippers,) if I ask him a few questions.
First, I beg to know what is meant by " systematic knowledge of the military art," in which Colonel Napier is said to be " probably inferior to the writers on the Continent?" I have known Colonel Napier in common with other officers of the famous " light division." Like Napoleon, he be- gan by being in Jthe artillery ; from that corps he passed into the infantry ; he then entered the cavalry, after which he again returned to the infantry, and, as far as my knowledge of his adventures go, he has been some thirty years and upwards in the army. In the engineers he was not j his book, however, indicates a sufficient acquaintance with fortification, as far as 1 am capable of judging.
Now, Sir, if Colonel Napier possesses the extraordinary endowments of mind justly ascribed to him by the writer of the article referred to, it is not much to say, that having been regularly trained in three out of the four branches of service which compose an army, and possessing an evident knowledge of the fourth branch, in which he did not actually serve; and moreover having been at the Military College, and on the staff of the army in the Peninsula, he may surely be said to have been trained to as " syste- matic a knowledge" of the military art as it is possible to be ; and as, added to the theory, he has seen much of the practice of war, I do not comprehend why he should be " probably inferior " to any of the " most distinguished writers of the Continent." Colonel Napier has certainly gone through the " regular course/' " walked the hospitals," and " taken out his diploma." Pope, speaking of a rogue, says —
" Lame of a leg, distorted of an eye,
His hair and beard are of a different dye.
With all these tokens of a knave complete,
If thou 'rt an honest man, thou art a devilish cheat !"
Colonel Napier, who happens to be a very handsome man, will pardon the comparison, but, like Pope's rogue, he must be a " devilish cheat," if he has not a " systematic knowledge of war," having certainly had a systematic education, and by no ordinary masters. Among the dead, he counts Alex- ander, Caesar, Hannibal, Turenne, Marlborough, Frederick the Great ; while the practical part of his apprenticeship has been under, (for enemies teach as well as friends,) Napoleon, Soult, Moore, Wellington, Massena, &c. That he is an apt scholar can scarcely be denied by the reviewer, who says, (with more justice than he is aware of,) that Colonel Napier is " inti- mately conversant" with all the " intricacies of war and politics."
Here then we have a man who has " served his time," been at " all the U. S. JOURN. No. 39. FEB. 1832. R
CORRESPONDENCE.
colleges," possessed of " uncommon natural endowments," yet in point of " systematic knowledge" of his own profession, " he is probably inferior to some of the continental writers." All I can say is, that I congratulate the Continent, with all my heart, on its wonderful crop of military genius ; its miraculous draught of military fishes. False praise and false blame are both offensive to sense ; now the reviewer seems to deal a little in the latter of these qualities. He thought that he could, by praising Napier, get into good company. He reminds me of the dirty old fable of the " Pimlico Trout," which, in floating down the river, associated itself with some apples, exclaiming, " How we apples swim." I beg this very able reviewer ten thousand pardons for the simile, but it really slipped out so naturally, (as such matters will,) that I could not help myself. The fact is, the reviewer thinking it necessary to find some fault, and finding no hold for animadver- sion on what he did understand, fell foul of what he evidently did not understand; and jumping up, cock-a-whoop, on the back of the continental writer, like a monkey on a poodle-dog, fancied himself a great general on a war-horse. " There," quoth he, " probably inferior," " systematic educa- tion," " distinguished continental," " war on the grandest scale." " There, that will do : neither I, nor anybody else, can tell what I mean, and every body will take it on trust, and think me very clever. Lord Chesterfield made a speech on astronomy, without knowing mathematics. Why should not I write on military matters, without knowing war?" Gently, dear mon- key ; softly, dear poodle ; not so fast. Lord Chesterfield was really a very clever fellow, and got a mathematician to prompt him : in that little circum- stance there is all the difference, and the result was, that mathematicians saw Lord Chesterfield spoke sound sense, and that his words would bear analysis ; but soldiers, Mr. Reviewer, see your critique on Napier will not bear analysis, and that it exhibits you as a Charlatan, holding forth upon a subject that you do not understand. The vanity of the reviewer made him forget the proverb " Ne sutor ultra crcpidam," which is better expressed in English by " Let every man mind his own business." Let us proceed. These admirable Crichtons of the Continent, these " distinguished f«- reigners" (that 's the regular cant) — these " distinguished foreigners" have also enjoyed the advantages of, &c. " Oh ! they have, have they ? lucky dogs ! I have heard of a certain Sir Boyle Roach, an Irish Member of Parlia- ment, who said, " By Jasus, Mr. Spaker, I can't be in two places at wonce't, like a bird." Had Sir Boyle's head contained the reviewer's brains, he would have said, " like a continental writer ;" for if these wonderful men were not able to be in " two places at wonce't," their " enjoyment of war on the grandest scale'' could have been of small use to them. As mere soldiers serving on foot, or on horseback, and only at one place at a time, with the ordinary faculties of men, they could only see in battle, what smoke and the accidents of ground allowed them to see ; and that would, probably, not be more, but less, in a great battle than in a small one, because in the former the above-mentioned obstructions are generally greater and more numerous than in the latter ; so that if there be any difference in the knowledge acquired by sight, it is in favour of the small battle ! " Oh ! but I don't mean the mere battle ; I mean the sublime," quoth the reviewer : " I mean the grand movements." That is just what I thought, my friend; but it is good to be precise, to analyse, and to know accurately what we are talking about.
Now, as to actual fighting — a small battle, or a skirmish, is as good as a large battle; because folks come very close: there is more personal aim taken, and shots come equally sharp about one's ears. Now, whether this is better or worse, is a matter of taste, and not " systematic education." My own private opinion of fighting is, that, as the soldiers say of bad soup, "He that gets least is best off." Leaving, then, the simple " skivering" of each other to the privates, let us hasten to the " awful," the " sublime," the marches " from Acton to Baling and Baling to Acton." We have said that
CORRESPONDENCE. 243
for pure " skivering," there is nothing like your " skrimidge ;" next come the manoeuvres of a regiment, a brigade, a division, a wing : now, of all these, the value is as well studied in a small battle as in a great battle, be- cause the power of acquiring such knowledge depends on the eye, and, con- sequently, the small battle may give most instruction, the number and value of the movements being supposed equal, which is a fair supposition, as a small battle may produce more manoeuvring than a large one ; all this is accidental. So far then, Colonel Napier has seen enough for instruction, admitting, (which I only do for the sake of argument,) that Talavera, Busaco, Salamanca, and the battles in the Pyrenees, were small battles, for so the writer of the article in question seems to think them: small, however, as they were, they form the glorious pedestal of Wellington's immortality ! But all this won't do ; we must come to the " grandest scale." " Don't talk to me," says the reviewer, " of your muskets, and pistols, and popguns ; I refer to carronades, cannon, mortars, bombs, combined movements, and simultaneous attacks, on a line of a hundred miles long by a two-foot rule ! !" Very proper, Sir; you are a man of capacious ideas, and very strongly re- mind me of Mrs. Stieed. There was a soldier called Sneed, and Mrs. Sneed was his wife, and his wife had a donkey, and this donkey fell down ; Mrs. Sneed was amiable, but muscular, and carried a heavy cudgel, but neither arm nor cudgel could make the donkey get up — all failed — even her sweet patience; and she exclaimed to Gen. Craufurd, who was near, " Well, Ge- neral, when I gets to the town, d — n my eyes if I '11 he bothered by a donkey any longer ; I '11 get the biggest mule in Almaida." Well, she got a big mule, a mule on the " grandest scale," and the reviewer shall have war on the " grandest scale," as big as Mother Sneed's mule.
To begin then. I presume he will allow the great Russian campaign to be on the grandest scale ? Very well. He will also allow that the Emperor Napoleon saw and knew as much, not more, but as much, as any of the " distinguished continental writers." Yes ; I suppose he will grant me so far. Now for a few questions.
1. Did Napoleon receive reports from his Generals of their various opera- tions ? — Admitted.
2. Were not these reports either written or spoken ? — Yes.
3. Was the object of these reports to make the Emperor understand what had taken place out of his sight ? — Yes.
4. Then is it not past all dispute, that the Emperor's knowledge of the transactions which took place in his own campaigns, beyond the small space which his sight embraced, arose from reports ? — Certainly.
5. Are not these reports all printed and embodied in the shape of " bulle- tins" and " histories' of those various transactions ? — Yes.
6. Have not the " distinguished foreigners'' drawn their knowledge of what passed from these histories, or must they not have been " in two places at wonce't?" many of these operations having taken place simultaneously, at hundreds of miles distance, and nearly all out of reach and sight of each other, in consequence of smoke, distance, intervening objects, and also (though in sight) out of the contemplation of individuals present, owing to the intense occupation of their minds and bodies with the dangerous work before them at particular mwments ? To all this the reviewer must agree. The only difference then between Napoleon and those who have since told the story of his wars, is in his genius, and that he had knowledge of passing events at the moment, whereas their knowledge has been acquired since ; therefore, the whole of the military writers depend for fame on their dili- gence in collecting, and their talent in using information, and not upon the numbers of men which composed the armies in which they respectively served. Napier's account of the various positions, operations, and force, moral and physical, of the French and Spanish armies at the commencement of the war in the Peninsula, is, perhaps, one of the most veracious and able expositions that ever was written. The accounts of the same transactions
R 2
244* CORRESPONDENCE.
given by the English officers sent on purpose to report thereon, arc admitted not to merit commendation. Here then we show the reviewer, how very unimportant it is that men should have been present at the scenes they de- scribe, when we make comparisons of the value of their writings. Again, does Napier describe Albuera the worse for not having been on the spot ? or Busaco the better because he was there ? No ; a good history of war can only be produced by a powerful-minded professional man, diligently collect- ing and studying the records of what took place ; tracing results to their causes, and giving a clear and eloquent account of the whole transactions. Frederick the Great said, " Read of war, and you will know war." Napoleon said, " If you want to be a general, study the campaigns of Turenne and Frederick the Great." Both these great Generals knew war only from books, when, as mere boys, they defeated the Austrian armies. Again then I say, it is genius and diligent reading that makes both great generals and great historians, and not the size of the army in which they served. Then Colonel Napier having drawn his information from the same source as the distin- guished strangers, they have not " enjoyed" any " advantage" over him, and the assertion is nonsense. Colonel Napier and the distinguished continentals stand on the same level, but the Englishman towers above them like a mighty giant, strong and fearless, while they are seen shrinking and lower- ing before political feelings, warped by antipathies, and swayed by national- ities. That there are able men among them I willingly admit, but is not Napier, also, an able man? I refer to the words of the reviewer himself; such a description, (and I think it a just one,) cannot suit many men, even in the continental galaxy ! if it does, the march of intellect is, indeed, " pro- digious ! " Thus far I have supposed the war in the Peninsula not to have been like Mrs. Sneed's mule, but like her poor little donkey. This I merely granted to show the folly of what was said, and that the scale of the war is not essential to the knowledge of war. (Alexander passed the Granicus with only 38,000 men ; Napoleon conquered Italy with the same number ; and Turenne said he never wished for more than 50,000. VVTiat had Caesar at Pharsalia, or Hannibal at Zama ? yet these men knew war, and these battles decided the fate of empires ! ) But now I will assert that the Penin- sular war was a gigantic war, and afforded Napier full scope for his genius to study the art in all its huge dimensions, and all the dreadful energy of its grandest convulsions. In proof of what I assert, let me ask the reviewer the following questions : —
1. Is not war on the grandest scale, when two of the greatest empires in the world struggle against each other for existence ?
2. Did not England and France do this in Spain ?
3. Did not two minor nations, Spain and Portugal, join in this contest ?
4. Did not Germany, Italy, and other nations, pour their auxiliary forces into the arena ?
5. Did not one of the contending armies consist at periods of 300,000 warriors, and the other of nearly equal numbers ?
6. Were not battles fought wherein above 100,000 soldiers were engaged?
7. Did not the sanguinary contest last six years ?
8. Did not war present itself in all its dreadful forms ? Regular war, irregular war, civil war, exterminating war, war with the knife, and from the knife up to marches, sieges, battles ? in short, what shape did war omit to take in Spain and Portugal ?
9. Were not whole nations combatants ?
10. Was not all the military service existing there collected ?
11. Was not the cost in money beyond that of any war recorded in history ?
12. Were not Napoleon and Wellington there ?
13. Were greater commanders in one war ever heard of than these ?
14. If all these questions are answered affirmatively, was not the wnr in the Peninsula made upon the " grandest scale," and its " maxims sane-
CORRESPONDENCE. 245
tioned by the most enlarged experience?" If not, I confess that I am wholly incapable of understanding what the writer means (unless he refers to the wars of the Titans against Jupiter). It is true that we had no Kai- sers and Hausens, Stroganoffs and Phittakoffs, no Davidavitches and Risa- brietches, — all the iches and brietches were absent, — boots, cocked-hats, gold- headed canes, long queues and all ; but we had war between stern Britons and impetuous Gauls, and the contest was long and terrible !
To conclude. I do hope that we shall see the present and future volumes of this great work reviewed by some really able man who understands the subject, and that we shall not be again disgusted by such stuff about " sys- tematic knowledge," " grandest scale," and so forth. Let us have no more sweeping general criticisms without any meaning, which like that deceptive appearance of land, called by sailors " Cape fly-away," will not bear the slightest examination.
As to the reviewer's criticism on Napier's style, which he" calls " cum- brous" and " heavy," it is a matter of taste, and every reader must judge for himself; for my part, I am astonished at the lightness and interest that the author has contrived to throw into his description of those dull matters called " military details." Colonel Napier cannot describe the march of a corporal's guard as he would the great events of his history : one might as well expect to see Taglioni dance on a quagmire, as she does on the spring boards of the Opera; but when opportunity presents a fair occasion, his imagination flashes forth in all the iire of genius ; the monotonous labours of deep historic investigation are relieved by the brilliance of poetic imagery, and the passing scene bursts upon our view, glowing with the warmest colouring of the painter !
Your obedient servant,
A SOLDIER.
A Yarn touching the noble Ship — British Constitution, By One of her Crew.
MR. EDITOR, — All your readers, whose minds are unbiassed by popular clamour, and whose imaginations are not deceived by the flaring gas of the wonderfully-illumined nineteenth century, must be pleased at finding you an uncompromising advocate for the preservation of the noble ship — BRITISH CONSTITUTION, that has performed such wonderful service for the British Isles. When we look at her history, and see what she has achieved in war and in peace, ought it not to raise anxious desires, that no unskilful hands touch that fabric, to repair, that has made the name of Britain sound to the extremities of the globe ; that has made her power as widely known and respected ?
But, Sir, in this age of speculation and change — in this age that fancies itself wiser than all preceding generations — there are those who imagine they can take the sacred and well-tried structure, the work of ages, to pieces, and build out of the same materials a better structure in a few months. They talk of a time when the ship was differently rigged, but cannot tell us when : they say that because her crew has been increased, the Johnny Newcomes must be listened to, and this advice followed, because proceeding from the wonderfully-illumined nineteenth century, before the experience that has braved and overcome all the storms and tempests that have assailed her in her mighty course through the ocean of time.
To enter into remarks on the scheme of every meddler, would be endless, as well as useless ; 1 shall only notice a few. There are the Westminster talkers, who confound the crew, in their different capacities and stations, under the general denomination of people, because it is a word which attracts notice, opens the ear to give entrance to mutinous suggestions, that beget fancied grievances and discontent. Though they have never been more
246 CORRESPONDENCE.
than walsters, they imagine they are equal, if not superior, to those who go aloft in all weather, raef, hand, and strike, when they could not haul out an earing for the life of them, or tie a reef knot, yet are continually telling long yarns to their brother waisters, that if it were not for them, the ship Constitution could not swim, and therefore they ought to be made main and fore-top men. There is in this part of the crew, another like them- selves— the Middlesex clipper; who is always staring about, and peeping from the gangway ladders at the quarterdeck, to spy fardles, that he may have cause for murmuring and complaint. In the midst of a storm, he crouches under the quarterdeck, but when it is over, he looks with an evil eye on those who have braved its fury, who had made all snug aloft while exposed to dangers and death ; and because for this service they had an extra allowance of grog, now that it is fine weather, he would for that put them on half-allowance. He is continually harping about reducing the effective part of the ship's company, who manage and secure her in storms and tempests, and carry her victorious through the thunder of war, in order ,that the waisters may have more grub, as he says : when, if he had his way, the first storm or battle might, nay would, reduce them to less than half- allowance. Then there is the purblind Preston blacker, who, as Jack says, " is all jaw like a sheep's head, ' often mixed with great thumpers. He is always entertaining his mates with long stories about the bread-room ; that it ought not to be supplied from John Bull's granaries, unless he will do it at a losing game, as foreigners would do it at a cheap rate, and take slops in return. If ever there were one error more egregious than another, this is amongst the latter. The agriculturists on the Continent want not John Bull's slops, but his hard cash. Let this haranguer the next time he opens his potato-trap on such a subject, tell his hearers, that, during three years of the French revolutionary war, upwards of forty millions of John Bull's hard cash went out of the country for the purchase of corn. Alas, poor John ! How often is thy good nature imposed upon by the ignorance and duplicity of thy pretended friends? Let thy fair and wide-spread fields be turned into waste, where then would be the arm of thy power and the sinews of thy strength ? The sound of thy hammers would cease, and thy shuttles drop down powerless.
Other speculators there are on board of the renowned ship Constitution, who would open her seams, rip up her decks, unbolt her beams and knees, unsling her lower-yards, unstop her masts, to supply their own inventions, so that she would be metamorphosed into a lump that would not sail, tack, or wear, and the first time she went to sea might founder in a storm.
Even amongst the officers, lately a new set, long complaining of being kept on half-pay, are those, and amongst them the captain, first-lieutenant, and admiral's secretary, who, having got his ear, endeavour to persuade the admiral that all the crew'are seamen, and, therefore, ought to be rated and trusted accordingly, even to hand, reef, and steer. Was there ever so dan- gerous an error ? Jack of the Dust and the Loblolly Boy, are very well in their places, but who would trust them to reeve a clewline or buntline ? The waisters are useful in their place, but what seaman would send them aloft to do the duty of top-man, even in moderate weather, much less when blowing ? JVIore than half of them could not get up the futtock-shrouds, or hardly through lubber's-hole ; and if venturing out on a top-sail-yard, the first deep roll would send half of them to Davy Jones's locker, while others held on like a squalling cat, hanging aloft by a rope-yarn. If sent to steer, not one in six would know which way to turn the wheel, to port or star- board : if running by the wind, if a top-sail lifted a little, they would fancy the ship was coming about ; and what with nearing and luffing, the good ship Constitution, instead of going steadily by the wind, would be yawing, according to the presumptuous ignorance of the self-confident Conner: if scudding in a heavy gale and high sea, the sudden yaws of the ship would confound both conner and steerer ; and if not immediately relieved by more
CORRESPONDENCE. 247
able and experienced hands, would certainly endanger the ship by broach- ing to.
As the renowned British ship Constitution is now in dock to be examined, let this be carefully done by tried and experienced officers who have before served in her, know her qualities, and how to deal with her in all weathers ; to brave the tempest by lying-to ; to scud before its fury on her destined course ; to spread her lofty sails in chace ; turn her majestic side and threat- ening tiers against hostile array ; and to anchor her safely when returned from the toils and perils of war ; or from performing essential service to her country. It will require the experience of all these, as well as those newly commissioned, who have never yet been at sea in her, and when going into dock, have mistaken the shouts of landlubbers for the huzzas of the real and tried sons of the ocean. Instead of being puffed up by this, or proud of being in commission, as their own safety, as well as that of others, de- pends upon impartial examination, and just conclusion derived therefrom ; instead of being biassed by the clamour of ignorance ; they ought patiently to hear opinions founded on experience, nor tenaciously hold to an error, it may be, hastily and inadvertently adopted.
If barnacles and sea-weed have grown on her counters from having been long out of port, let them be scrubbed off. If her sails be not exactly suited to the breeze and gales of the illumined nineteenth century, let them be altered by the discriminating hand of tried experience, but in no manner entrusted to the rash hand of ignorant and presumptuous innovation. Let the crew be mustered and strictly overhauled by officers of experience, that they may have their proper ratings and stations, and an end be put to all claims of preferring ignorance to stations where it would be worse than use- less, being only in the way of others more capable of performing the duty with alertness, and without a murmur, — the usual attendant of presump- tuous ignorance.
" There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness. There is a generation, Oh, how lofty are their eyes ! and their eyelids are lifted up ! " If this be not the present generation in the illumined nineteenth century, when did such a generation exist to whom it can be more justly applied?
I am, Mr. Editor, A ROPE-YARN IN THE NOBLE SHIP.
Plan for the Organization of a Civil Constabulary Force,
MR. EDITOR, — I beg to send you apian for the formation of a Civil Consta- bulary force that was submitted to Lord Lansdowne, by that very meritorious and intelligent officer, Lieut.-Colonel J. H. Mair, K.H. Military Secretary to the Governor of Gibraltar, at the time he was sent down with the Special Commission, by order of Government, to report upon the best means of put- ting a stop to the conflagrations of Swing and his associates. It was highly approved of both by the Judges and Lords Lieutenants of Counties, as too, by the Government; and had it been carried into effect, no Bristol affair would have occurred.
A MAGISTRATE FOR THE COUNTY, AND A CONSTANT READER OF YOUR MOST VALUABLE MISCELLANY.
Reading, Berks, 7th Jan. 1832.
That the county be divided into districts. Each district to be composed of two or more adjoining parishes, bearing the name of the most central. The parishes in the district to be lettered A, B, C, &c.
A general superintendent shall be appointed for each district, also a superintendent for each parish, and a leader, (to act under him,) for every twenty-five special constables.
248 CORRESPONDENCE.
The special constables to be numbered, so that each man will have only to remember his respective letter and number.
A station, for assembling in each parish, to be indicated, and a general rendezvous for the district. In case of alarm, the superintendent and leaders will assemble their special constables, in the first instance, at their separate stations, and then conduct them, if required, to the general ren- dezvous, where they will receive instructions from the district-general- superintendent, acting under the control and directions of the magistracy. In case of riots or tumultuous assemblages, the superintendent is authorized by law to call out his special constables, and proceed to take measures to quell such, without waiting for the authority of a magistrate. Should his numbers be found insufficient to effect this object, he must dispatch a mes- senger (mounted if possible) to require aid from the parish adjoining, or apprise the general-superintendent, who can, if necessary, call out the whole civil force of the district.
The measures recommended to be adopted, are purely precautionary, and their object the preservation of the public peace, by forming a constitutional association for the protection of property.
It should be distinctly understood and fully explained, that although by the form of oath tendered to special constables, they are sworn in for the county generally, they will only be called on to act in their own peculiar districts.
That no night duty will be necessary : nor will they be called upon, ex- cept in cases of riots or tumultuous assemblages.
The staff to be plain white, and marked with the letter and number of the special constable.
A band of white calico, well printed, in large characters, with the words " special constable " and letter and number, to be worn when called out, par- ticularly as a distinguishing mark by night. The same, in addition, may be tied round the left arm.
Without organization and system, confusion will naturally ensue, which may be prevented by attention to a plan simple and comprehensive.
A little determined resolution, acted upon with spirit, will easily put down disposition to riot, and experience proves that it is better to prevent than have to quell an evil that may have arisen ; and it should also be borne in mind, that " the man armed with the law on his side" has ten times the phy- sical force and energy of the one, who acts under the dread of offending and the fear of consequent punishment.
It would be advisable for magistrates to name a fixed day and hour for the purpose of swearing in special constables in each parish, in order to avoid the inconvenience of taking them from their employment.
DISTRICT. — Parishes into district. General superintendent. Parish su- perintendent. Names of leaders. Station. General rendezvous. Nume- rical list of special constables. Number. Names. Residence.
In the present temper of the times, this should be made public, as, if acted on, it would supersede all necessity for political unions or national guards.
Capt. Woodley, in reply lo Strictures on his Divine System of the Universe, contained in our Number for December.
Mn. EDITOR, — I take the liberty of enclosing to you the simple answer that I think it necessary to make to the last article in your Journal, re- marking upon the System of the Universe that is about to be published by Capt. Woodley. If you should be desirous of seeing the engraving of this System, it may be seen at the National Repository. I beg to remain, Sir,
Your most obedient, humble servant, Arthur's Club, 28th Dec. WILLIAM WOODLEY.
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Having answered the former article in the United Service Journal against the System of the Universe about to be published by Capt. Woodley, and there being scarcely anything but about the Solar System in the article published in the last Number of the Journal, it is necessary only to briefly notice it where Mr. Pond's name is introduced, with a calculation wherein a parallax of 8" is placed as a correction, pitted against an assumed one from Capt. \V~oodley, wherein a parallax of 8° 40' 6" is made use of. But the grounds whereby the reviewer or Mr. Pond assumes for this System, a parallax of 8° 40' 6", are as aerial as their mathematics, when applied to the attaining the distances of the heavenly luminaries.
It is plainly erroneous what they say in their demonstration, that " the horizon of the observer is a line drawn from the Earth's surface parallel with a line drawn from the Earth's centre," which they call " the true hori- zon." For, suppose an observer upon the meridian of Greenwich sees the Sun upon the horizon exactly at six o'clock ; then how can a parallel line from the Earth's surface to one from the Earth's centre, be " the horizon of the observer ? "
In this instance surely, when the Sun is 40° above the horizon, it is 40° above the horizon of the observer, as well as the true horizon.
Then, what becomes of the horizontal and the parallax in altitude ? — there is none ; and to assume as much as 8° 40' 6" for this System, reserving eight immaterial seconds only, (which it is probable was introduced into nautical astronomy to give an air of truth only to the Solar Theory,) is doing an in- justice to the public, and to a distinguished nautical astronomer, to place him as opposed to an humble individual, labouring for the honour of truth, — to introduce him with a parallax of 8", by which it is affirmed the Sun's distance is achieved, and which has been hitherto the main prop of the Solar System. It must be doing unfairly by him, for the discovery of the nothingness of the imagined prop must assist in toppling down that bound- less edifice of delusion, that has so long been opposing itself to rational evidence and acknowledged truth, whilst it will simplify navigation.
Mr. Ferguson, whose diagram is quoted to prove the distances of the Sun and Moon, represents the Moon upon the true horizon, and the Sun also upon the true horizon, a long way off from the Moon ; whereas, for aught he could make out by observation, they would be both in the same line,* and he has no ground, (except that he knows the Sun is further off than the Moon,) for assuming a greater angle at that moment for the Moon than for the Sun : and when the Moon is risen to what he calls the sensible horizon, and that the Sun has also risen to the same, they are then in a line with his observer, and the altitude of the one will be the same as the altitude of the other; and he has made nothing more of it. His application in this respect of Trigonometry beyond the horizon, is delusion.
It was said in Capt. Woodley's answer to the former article, that if the Earth went round the Sun, the meridian line through Greenwich would, in six months, be turned the opposite way from the Sun, and it is impossible that this can be justly denied.
Night Signals.
MR. EDITOR, — Finding in the present number of your highly-estimable Journal some animadversions, under the fictitious signature of " Fair Play," on a letter of mine you did me the favour to insert in a former one, I hasten to answer him, lest my silence should be construed into a sense of conviction.
Before proceeding to confute the gentleman, permit me to observe, that I am greatly adverse to that Spanish stiletto kind of writing under false
* What is before stated of an observer's seeing the sun upon the horizon at six o'clock from the meridian of Greenwich.
250 CORRESPONDENCE.
colours, by which an individual may be stabbed by his nearest or dearest friend clandestinely. It is, to say the least of it, an ungenerous mode of at- tack ; but when one boldly attaches his sign manual to his literary produc- tions, he openly thrusts as it were carte over the arm at his adversary, and consequently affords him the opportunity of parrying it, if capable of doing so.
Having said thus much as to the mode, I now come to the attack itself, and here I have the " vantage ground ;" for to give an opinion on any sub- ject the principles of which are not understood, is an act of the greatest absurdity. What would you, Sir, as an able editor, say of that person who wrote a critique on a work he never read ? or what should I, as a follower of Esculapius, think of him who cavilled at the treatment of a medical case, say small-pox for instance, though entirely ignorant of the pathology of the disease ? This is precisely the case with " Fair Play/' (a misnomer I cal- culate,) as he knows nothing whatever of Mr. Allan's plan. Although I am not at liberty to describe my friend's invention, (I say invention, for I am not aware any thing at all analogous has ever yet been proposed to the public,) yet this much I can venture to assure him, that it does NOT f< consist of a number of tubes to be whispered through," as he erroneously supposes. It were useless then to say more in argument on the subject, and I opine that " Fair Play" will in future " audi alteram partem" before he commits himself by pronouncing a verdict.
1 hope you will be able to find a corner for this brief epistle, and remain,
Sir, your obedient servant,
Pembroke Dock, WM. THOMAS, M.R.C.S.
Jan. 7, 1832.
MR. EDITOR, — Your correspondent, in the Number of your Journal for this month, who signs himself " Fair Play," having, as he says, explained the principles of a plan proposed by me, I claim the indulgence of a small space in your pages for a reply.
On the 24th of January last I wrote to the Lords of the Admiralty, laying before them a plan for the transmission of intelligence in a rapid and secret manner ; my only object in doing so was to benefit the public service. Their Lordships did not think fit to adopt my proposal, and here, most probably, the subject would have rested, had not my friend Mr. Thomas (to whom and one other person only have I explained the proposed plan), by his letter in your December Number, given " Fair Play" an opportunity of guessing at what he terms myj" invention," but which is in truth the application of well- known pneumatic principles to a purpose to which, I believe, they have never been applied before, and had nothing in common with Mr. Parsons's speaking-pipe, or that used so many years in eating-houses, excepting that tubes are used in each; but the fact is, "Fair Play" not knowing any means by which tubes could be employed for the purpose but shouting through them, jumped at the conclusion that that must be the method.
I have only time at present to say, that the human voice was not intended to be employed at all by me as a means of communication, but a dumb man might receive and transmit the signals as efficiently as a Stentor; that the code of signals is arbitrary, and 'might, if necessary, be made to vary for every day of the year ; and that a person unfurnished with the key might stand by when the intelligence was received, and know as little of its purport as " Fair Play" does of the plan he has so confidently pretended to describe.
Your correspondent's objections to tubes obtains equally against any mode of signaling, for it does not appear to me to be more difficult to cut down the standard of a Semaphore, or remove the shutters of a telegraph, or even burn a signal station, than to dig up a road and cut off a pipe ; or more easy to repair the damages 1 have mentioned above, than to solder a pipe if so cut off.
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I am gorry that I have not leisure at present to send you a detail of the proposed plan, but if such a communication would be agreeable to you, I should be happy to do so for some future Number.
I am, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
JOHN ALLAN, Naval Architect, Late student of the School of Naval Architecture H. M. Dock-yard, Pembroke, at Portsmouth.
9th January 1832.
Retirement of Old Officers.
MR. EDITOR, — The perusal of an article in your last Number headed " Promotion/' addressed with the view of pointing out the impracticability of recompensing officers of a certain standing in the service, constituted as our army is, with a system of purchase too long and firmly established to be easily got rid of, has suggested to me the propriety, nay, the justice, of granting a retiring allowance to the few, but meritorious class of officers, who, debilitated and worn out in constitution from mere length of services in the various quarters of the globe, are obliged at length to retire, with the alternative of selling out or going upon half-pay. Such an arrangement for the benefit exclusively of the old officer, would be gratefully hailed as a boon, and (from the few whose length of service would render them eligible) en- tail little or no additional expense on the country. By the existing regula- tions of the service, the stripling two or three years from school, when inclined to quit the service, is placed precisely on a par with the veteran who may have served his country for thirty or forty years : that is, the pri- vilege granted to the one of selling his commission, or retiring upon the half-pay of his rank, is equally claimed by and permitted to the other : no distinction being made here between the services of the officer no longer able to serve, from passing, perhaps, forty years of his life in various quar- ters of the globe, (instances of which I can readily point out,) and the youth who may have amused himself for two or three years with his regi- ment, or its reserve, (too frequently the latter,) in Great Britain or Ireland. Laying aside the relative services of the two individuals, which can bear no comparison, the injustice of such a system must appear evident on a prima faeie view of it; but take it in detail, and how much more glaring! We will suppose the one to continue a captain, if he even attains that rank, until debility and old age render him unfit to serve any longer; the other arrives at the same rank in a couple of years, merely from the fortuitous circumstance of having some hundred pounds at his command (without any reference to his comparative claims, still less abilities;) the object of his ambition being gained, namely, rank, and a more than triple interest for his money, he feels no hesitation, still less regret, at quitting a profession he could not have had time to become acquainted with or attached to ; he re- tires on half-pay, and in time qualifies himself for some other pursuit in life : not so with the other, who is compelled by infirmities alone to retire in the vale of years ; who has also but the alternative of accepting half-pay, or the produce of the sale of his commission, still less calculated to support him in his declining years, but neither of which can possibly maintain him, as he had all his life been accustomed to,as a gentleman.
To obviate, in some degree, this too apparent anomaly, and render some adequate remuneration for long services, the application of a few additional thousands annually, appropriated as a " retiring allowance," instead of " half-pay," would conduce to render the latter days of the " old officer" comfortable, and place him on a footing with his predecessors in arms — the few " veterans" of the present day, as well as the military servants of the " East India Company," who are all permitted to retire on full pay after a
252 CORRKSPONDKNCE.
certain number of years of actual services. The following scale I should suggest but as fair and equitable.
All field officers of thirty years actual service on full pay to be permitted (time passed on half-pay not to be included) to retire on the full pay of their rank.
Ditto captains, after thirty ditto, ditto, to retire on ditto.
Ditto, ditto, after twenty-five ditto, ditto, ditto on 9s. per day.
Ditto, ditto, twenty ditto, ditto, ditto on 8s. ditto.
Should you think the foregoing remarks, or any part of them, worthy of insertion in your valuable and widely-circulated Journal, you will oblige,
Mr. Editor, your most obedient servant,
A FULL PAY OFFICER.
Aberdeen, Dec. 23rd, 1831.
Reward of Service.
MR. EDITOR, — Through the medium of your Journal, the following sug- gestions may meet the eye of those who have the power, and I hope will feel the inclination, to adopt something like it. I am led to propose it as a means of affording great satisfaction to persons who, I may venture to say, are deserving of it, and without putting the country to expense.
A long peace has already, from various causes, lessened in a very serious degree the military spirit of Great Britain, at all times a difficult thing to uphold, from a variety of circumstances. Age has weighed down the active energies of some of the best officers of the Navy and Army ; promotion has thrown on the shelf many others, whose places are filled by young and in- experienced persons, in whom to kindle a military flame, is almost as diffi- cult as to nourish it ; and the rear has been brought up by Death ! Many of our brightest stars have set for ever !
Would it not be well by rewarding those who have served, to stimulate those who are to serve ; and to show that long and faithful services are to be recompensed as well as short and brilliant ones. I would establish an Order for Long and Faithful Service —
1st. Admirals and Generals who have served above thirty-five years, of which above twenty on active service or on full pay, to be Grand Crosses, decorated with star and ribband.
2nd. Post-Captains, Commanders, Colonels, Lieutenant-Colonels, and Majors, of thirty years service, twenty of which on full-pay or active service, to be decorated with the star of Commanders.
3rd. Officers of all other ranks in Navy and Army, who have served above twenty-five years, on full-pay or active service, to wear a medal of dis- tinction.
If in the course of their services any of the above Admirals or General- Officers prove their presence in three general actions or sieges, or six minor affairs, the baton and sword upon their star to be gilded. The naval service,Junder similar circumstances, I leave to naval men to arrange. Post Captains, &c. &c. proving two general actions or sieges, or three minor affairs, to have the cross swords upon their stars gilded ; and so with the cross swords upon the medals for such officers as prove their presence in two general actions or sieges, or three minor affairs.
The effect of such a New Order upon both services, I think, would be invaluable ; for it would do away the bitter feeling created in the breast of old officers, who would have been decorated, if military orders had been esta- blished in the time of their early service j and of others who, no doubt, would have deserved to be so, if the opportunity of gaining such distinction had been afforded to them. These officers cannot help feeling regret, when, at His Majesty's levees and in private society, they find themselves surrounded by young men with decorations, justly merited, but who, perhaps, were not
CORRESPONDENCE.
horn when those officers had already served their country in every quarter of the globe.
I beg to add, that a Naval Officer is preparing a scale by which to put the services of the Navy, as to years, on a par with the Army with reference to this suggestion.
If necessary, I am prepared with a sketch of the decoration and the detail of the order.
A VETERAN SOLDIER,
Decorated, and therefore not an interested person. United Service Club, Dec. 15, 1831.
Cavalry Affair of Rio Mayor, 8tk October 1810.
MR. EDITOR, — Having perused an article in your last Number, entitled " The British Cavalry on the Peninsula," by " An Officer of Dragoons," 1 hope I shall be excused in correcting an error into which he has fallen rela- tive to the affair of Rio Mayor, 8th October 1810.
I was engaged in that affair, and kept a journal of every thing that occur- red during our retreat to the lines ; and take the liberty of begging the insertion in your next Number of the " United Service Journal," of the fol- lowing extract from the notes I made on that occasion.
" 7th October. — On the enemy driving in the pickets, (which consisted of the Royals, 14th and 16th Dragoons, and German Hussars,) Major-Gen. Slade went with two squadrons of the Royals to their support, and after waiting from seven o'clock till after twelve, the enemy advanced with three regiments of cavalry, four of infantry, and four pieces of cannon, and fol- lowed us above two leagues on the road to Rio Mayor, at a distance which at no period exceeded five hundred yards. Considering his great superiority in number, it showed a want of spirit and daring very unusual in the French, and wholly at variance with Montbrun's customary bearing, not to have attacked our rear division. We retired upon Rio Mayor, leaving Capt. Murray of the 16th in our front.
" 8th. — Marched to Alcoentre, where we encamped, imagining ourselves so secure from any attack from the enemy, that we began to cook ; and Capt. Bull, who was in Alcoentre with his troop, obtained permission to take his harness to pieces, for the purpose of being cleaned.
" We were bivouacked about a mile in the rear of the town, in full con- fidence of remaining unmolested for the remainder of the day — standing much in need of such repose. We were, however, deceived ; at about three P.M. Gen. Slade came galloping up, and ordered forty men to mount as quickly as possible, without regard to what troop they might belong, and moved off rapidly with them to the town, where, it appeared, some French Hussars had made their way, and entering the square where the guns were parked, had almost got possession of a tumbril."
It is far, very far, from my intention or wish, to detract in the slightest degree from the praise of Capt. Murray, so justly arid gallantly earned on this and many other occasions ; and am foremost to extol the courage and intrepidity of the 16th, whenever opportunity was afforded them : — at the same time I feel assured they, as a corps of officers and men, would be the first to allow a just participation of praise to their comrades in Gen. Slade's brigade, amongst whom were many meritorious officers who distinguished themselves during this retreat. Suffice it to name from among the many, Hulton and Lamotte, of the Royals ; and Brotherton, Townsend, and Bad- cock, of the 14th, bright examples of courage and intelligence: — nor could the British cavalry boast better out-post officers.
AN IMPARTIAL REPORTER OF THE DEEDS OF THE BRITISH CAVALRY IN THE PENINSULA.
21st January 1832.
254 CORRESPONDENCE.
Remarks on the Purveyor's Department.
MR. EDITOR, — Some observations, under the signature of " Spes," appear in the United Service Journal for December, which are in most respects so misapplied, that I am induced to notice them. After admitting that Pur- veyors may virtually be called Hospital Commissaries, and that their duties are important and multifarious, " Spes" goes on to state, that they are to all intents and purposes hospital stewards or storekeepers of the first class. How he can reconcile these two statements, I know not, the duties being totally different, the latter having none of the functions of the former, their duties being confined to the receipt and issue of stores. Now this forms only a small part of the Purveyor's duties, as every one conversant with them can testify. He has to hire or provide hospitals and servants of all classes, from the steward down to the orderly ; to provide the necessary diet for the sick and wounded, frequently amounting to many thousands,* and diet for the servants ; to provide the requisite stores and provisions for invalids in their embarkation ; to receive, in many instances, the pay and allowances, and the rations of the medical staff; to act as executor to deceased officers ; and, if I am rightly informed, the purveyor has done the duties of commis- sary of prisoners of war. His returns, accounts, and cash disbursements, are numerous, and require great labour and assiduity. He has much cor- respondence, and being a public accountant, his responsibility is conse- quently great. Such are a part of the multifarious duties of the purveyor ; and I would ask " Spes," in perfect candour, what similarity there is here with the duties of a mere storekeeper, and whether he ever heard of a store- keeper having three, four, or five duties, and twelve or fifteen clerks attach- ed to him ? The fact is, the purveyor has charge of a department, the duties of which are complex and difficult, and only to be acquired after long experience.
J am at a loss to know where Spes acquired his knowledge of the duties of purveyor, after admitting " how valuable is his aid to the sick and wound- ed soldier, and how essential a thorough knowledge of those multifarious duties t connected with his situation is to the invalid, as well as to the me- dical officer under whom he acts ;" and again he states, " that the purveyor is in constant attendance upon the sick."J Now the purveyor has nothing whatever to do with the medical officers attending the sick, further than complying with their requisitions ; he is not under their orders, neither is he in constant attendance upon the sick. I would ask him, could he act under forty, fifty, or a hundred medical officers ? and if his duties are mul- tifarious, as " Spes" states them to be, how could his whole time be devoted to the latter ? (here is a manifest contradiction ;) and if it were so, the pur- veyor's duties would resemble those of a wardmaster, rather than that of an officer of his rank ; his duties preclude the possibility of such attendance, as being utterly impracticable, with even a thousand men in hospital, much more several thousands, a great portion of his time being required in his office in correspondence, and other important duties, too numerous to men- tion : and when it is considered that he has also the superintendence of and is responsible for the conduct of the deputies, clerks, stewards, and servants, and for the diligent discharge of their several duties, it must be obvious that
* By contract, purchase, or requisition, it matters not which ; for although the commissariat usually supplies the common ration, (which forms only a small por- tion of hospital diet,) and frequently other articles, the purveyor's duties are not lessened thereby. It has happened, however, that purveyors and deputies have had to purchase, not only every article of diet, but even bedding, stores, and medicines, and live stock, in fitting out hospital-ships, &c.
t Here again " Spes" is at issue with himself, if the purveyor is a mere storekeeper.
$ The proper attendants, I should imagine, are the medical assistants and ward- masters.
CORRESPONDENCE. 255
he can have little leisure to visit the hospitals, except in particular cases, when a sense of duty and motives of humanity may prompt him to do so. That the comfort and recovery of the sick and wounded depend much on the purveyor's aid and exertions, I admit, but this depends chiefly in attend- ing to their wants, and administering to their comforts. For the accuracy of those observations, I appeal to those individuals who have had a practical knowledge of the duties here mentioned with an army in the field : and so important were those duties considered at one period, that had the war in the Peninsula lasted six or twelve months longer, if my information be cor- rect, a representation was to have been made to the Lords of the Treasury, for placing the department on a footing more commensurate with the responsibility and onerous duties attached to the office.
With regard to some observations of "M.M.," in your Journal for October, I coincide in many of his remarks, and readily admit that purveyors never can be necessary but with an army in the field ; but when he states that purveyors are never at liberty to purchase or contract for anything which the general commissariat can furnish, I dissent from him, as I have already shown that the purveyor frequently does purchase many articles, and I can assure " M. M. that the purveyors and deputies have frequently furnished the hospitals by purchase and also by contract ; not that the circumstance is of much importance, as the duties in consequence are not the less onerous if supplied by requisition.
As to individuals being appointed incompetent to discharge the duties of purveyor, I would ask " M.M." if he knows a department in the service where this has not occurred? And with respect to the opinion of the Commis- sioners of Military Enquiry, in their fifth report, I very much doubt whe- ther they had under their examination, persons properly qualified to afford the requisite information on which to ground a sound opinion.
CANDIDUS.
London, Dec. 24th, 1331.
A Veteran's Suggestion on Reform.
MR. EDITOR, — Supposing that both Parties in the present political struggle have the public good alone in view, it appears to me highly desir- able that they should mutually concede, and unite in their efforts to tran- quillize the country. I am a mere soldier, and know not how such an union is to be brought about amongst politicians ; I know how soon the same sort of thing would be effected amongst soldiers ; I therefore leave others to make that arrangement. I will confine myself to pointing out the measures to be adopted by the United Party.
1st. liaise a million of money by an income tax, touching very lightly all under 500^. per annum, none under 3001.
2nd. Then vote a grant of 500,000/. for the immediate employment of the poor or working classes for the next three months in public works, but espe- cially in and about London.
3rd. Follow this up by taking off 500. OOOl. of taxes upon the articles which essentially affect the poor, and would therefore really be a relief to them.
4th. Adopt the spirit if not the mode and extent of schedule A.
5th. Give members to the large towns, now unrepresented.
6th. Fix the qualification to vote at 20^. instead of 10/.
7th. THEN present an address to His Majesty, expressing the decided and unanimous determination to rally round the Throne and the Constitution, and to refuse all further concession, unless any points of glaring necessity. Thus bring to a crisis and put an end to that state of things which now exists, and which, if allowed to continue, must bring ruin upon the country from the state of excitement in which every one is kept, the stagnation of trade from want of confidence, and the alarm in which the timid live for
256
CORRESPONDENCE.
want of the certainty of support from the Government, if they were to muster courage enough to give vent to their feelings. The result of what I here pro- pose, I have no doubt would be an immediate union of all loyal men, and the consequent putting down those Republican meetings excited and upheld by a revolutionary press, that are doing such infinite mischief to the community at large, and especially to the poor working classes, whose heads they fill with chimerical ideas, whose minds become too excited and unsettled to allow them to go to their work more than two or three days in a week, and whose pockets they pick of the few pence they earn upon those days.
If you deem this paper worthy of a place in your valuable Journal, by inserting it, you will oblige,
30th November, 1831. A VETERAN SOLDIER.
Trlsection of an Angle.
BY CAPTAIH BURTON, B,. M.
MR. EDITOR, — In my last communication on the subject of a trisecting curve,* I have omitted to'remark that the entire area of that curve, is equal to the Hexagon whose side = ^2.
I now take the liberty of offering you another curve ; differing from the former, but possessing a similar trisecting property. It may be called a demi cardioide ; because, in the cardioide, the constant quantity e d, is equal to the diameter of the generating circle, whereas in this case, it is equal only to the radius.
I have the honour to be. Sir, your most obedient servant,
ALFRED BURTON,
H. M. Ship Alfred, Malta, Captain Royal Marines.
October 1831.
With any radius A C, describe a circle ; and from A draw any number of right lines A d, on which take always a d = radius A C. Then d is a point in the curve Ad/F/-A. And all angles whose sides intersect thereon, r having their vertices at A, and C, are to each other respectively, as 2 to 3. There- fore draw C/|| Ad, and the L dCf, will L dCF
For join Ce and C d. Ce = de .' . L eCd = L edC
e A is a side produced of A deC
.-. /_CeA = LeC-d + L edC = 2 L edC
And L eAC= L CeA = 2 L edC
C F is a side produced of A A d C
L
Ad.'. L dCf=Z. CdA =
L
Q. E. D.
* See our Number for November last, page 394.
289
TACTICS.
NO. II. COMBAT OP CAVALRY AGAINST INFANTRY.
" Der sehr langsame Eingang, welchen Newton's Lehre in den Kb'pfen seiner Zeit faud, kann uns zum Maastabe dienen, wie viel Zeit eforderlish sey, dem Meuschen irgend eine Idee begrieflish zu machen." — Welt und Zeit, vol. iii.
" The time that elapsed before Newton's theory met with belief, serves to show how long it takes to impress any idea on the minds of men."
INSTRUCTIVE, as it always is, to trace the power and growth of human opinion, it becomes a matter of amusing, as well as profitable speculation, and one that throws no small light on the character of men, to follow those of its branches that are so constantly found de- viating from the firm basis of truth, and resting their luxuriant and far-spreading boughs, long after time or circumstance had removed whatever legitimate support they might originally have possessed, on the mere imagination of one class of our species, and on that impa- tience of labour in the search of truth, for which by far the greater portion of the rest are so laudably distinguished. As every depart- ment of knowledge has at times been forced to struggle against the strength of antiquated opinion, that, like ivy, not only hides, but seems to hallow even the mouldering ruin round which its protecting arms are spread, it was not to be expected, that the science of war, the most complicated of all sciences, and giving, from its very nature, the great- est opening to the sway of mere belief, should have escaped its retard- ing influence; and entire volumes might, no doubt, be filled with the effects produced by a mistaken adherence to long-cherished errors. Even our own age has seen dynasties established and empires over- thrown by the event of battles, gained in consequence of the successful resistance made against the cavalry by squares of modern infantry, after opinion had extended to those feeble formations the protection of her mystic shield, whose Gorgon power was destined to arrest, in mid career, the steeds of the brave, and to paralyse the uplifted arms of the strong.
The cause of this ruling opinion must be sought for less in the results of cavalry and infantry actions, which, if duly considered, might perhaps have led to a different belief, than in the tendency of distant fighting, which has, of late, become so prevalent : a timid method of war, fostered not only by such particles of doubt, fear, and indecision, as may be found to harbour in the minds of commanders, but by every element of weakness, mixed up in the formation of the strange com- pound called human nature ; to all of which the feebleness of modern tactics gives ample scope, without ever encouraging or calling into action any of our better and more energetic qualities.
The closing scene of the last war seemed to set the seal on the uni- versally-received opinion, that infantry, when in a state of preparation, could easily resist the onset of the cavalry, even upon level ground. In the first part of the present essay, I attacked, without reserve, this erroneous belief: but as it was impossible, within the narrow limits of one article, to discuss at length the various subjects it necessarily re-
U. S. JOUBN. No. 40. MARCH 1832. v
290 TACTICS.
ferred to, the present paper shall be dedicated exclusively to the consi- deration of this most important point of tactics. I return to it the more willingly, as the opposite opinion has been ably advocated in this Journal by a writer who signs himself " Vindex," and who, bating a few hussar caracolles to be noticed hereafter, argues the point more closely than any of his predecessors. These, indeed, have pretty generally had it all their own way; for Bismark alone of the moderns, sides with me in this matter, but having said that cavalry can succeed, if determined, he immediately edges away from his own assertion, as if afraid of having gone too far.
Let us now see, .therefore, whether events, or the strength of our present infantry, bear out this opinion of modern tacticians, or whether it must rest solely on the weakness of the cavalry, occasioned, perhaps, by the unchivalrous spirit of the age, constantly striving to conceal its augmenting cowardice under the pedantic affectation of achieving by some mighty intellectual combination, what it dares not attempt by well-directed courage and energy.
The military writers of antiquity, invaluable in the general study of the art of war, give us no aid in estimating the relative strength of infantry and cavalry ; for the ancient infantry were strong, owing to their admirable system of tactics, training, and organization, whereas the cavalry were comparatively weak. The Greeks and Romans only skirmished on horseback, or, at the most, pursued a defeated enemy. Their bad horsemanship, together with their wide and open formations, put every thing like " the living tempest'' of a charge at speed entirely out of the question. But, weak as this sort of cavalry necessarily was, it must still be recollected, and the fact is important, that they contributed, in an eminent degree, to the victories of Alexan- der and Hannibal, the two greatest commanders of antiquity. Cannae and Arbela were decided by the skilful use made of the cavalry, and proved how much they could effect, even in that feeble state of infancy, when directed by genius and talent.
Though cavalry formed, in general, the strength of the armies of the middle ages, yet as the genius of chivalry tended more to acts of indivi- dual prowess and exertion than to combined efforts, from which striking results could alone be expected, and as the feebleness of the ill-armed infantry allowed few, except the formidable bow-men of England, to show themselves on open ground, little or nothing is left us to glean from that dark period.
The introduction of fire-arms, that by degrees brought infantry back to the field, diminished even the efficiency that the cavalry derived from the energy of knightly spirit and enterprise, for they not only took to the use of pistols and the arquebuse, instead of the sword, their only arm of strength, but gradually covered themselves with such heavy armour, that a dray-horse alone could carry the weight of a man at arms completely accoutred. Thus mounted, the cuirassier was just able to sport his clumsy and unwieldy figure, as if for show, up and down the ranks of war, to exchange a few miserable pistolet-shots, or, at most, to run a course with lance in rest over a few hundred yards of perfectly level ground. De la Noue, in his Discours Politiques et Militaires, says, that, at thirty-five years of age, a man was already completely lamed by the effect of armour: and James the First justly
TACTICS. 291
and wittily observed, that armour not only protected the wearer, but also prevented him from injuring any one else. From cavalry thus equipped, the infantry had, of course, nothing to dread : and as to the argoulets, or light cavalry of the period, they were, in fact, only mount- ed arquebusiers, intended solely for distant fighting, and consequently just as little to be feared as their weightier comrades.
Gustavus Adolphus, whose lofty genius was something above being cramped by the tactical opinions of his time, was the first to raise the cavalry from the low state of degradation into which they had thus been allowed to fall. He diminished the weight of their armour, taught them to charge sword in hand, and allowed the front rank only to give a single fire with their pistols during the onset. Great as these improvements were, it is still evident, from his having lamed the ac- tion of his cavalry by intermixing them, in the manner of the ancients, with parties of infantry, that Gustavus had not perceived the full force of cavalry : but though this discovery was reserved for another King of Sweden, Gustavus had evidently prepared the way, for we find in the army that he had originally organized, and in which his gallant spirit long survived his fall, the first appearance of a charge in line, " attaque en muraille," as the Theatre Europeen calls it, made by the cavalry against a body of infantry in a perfect state of preparation. This was at the battle of Jankowitz, fought in 1645, where a Major-Gen. Douglas, at the head of three squadrons of Swedish cavalry, overthrew, by a sword-in-hand onset, a large body of imperial infantry, that had resisted every previous effort, and behind which the imperial cavalry had constantly found shelter. I venture, from his name, to claim the gallant leader of this charge as a countryman, and hope that in time of need, the example so bravely set will not lack imitators.
The many and eventful wars of Louis the Fourteenth did nothing for the cavalry — its real action was not congenial to the men of so pom- pous a period ; but whilst the once brilliant sun of that spoiled child of greatness was setting amidst clouds and darkness, a young and heroic king was astonishing the world by the splendour of his exploits in the north. Charles the Twelfth of Sweden, whom it is now so much the fashion to decry, for the simple reason, that we love to ridi- cule and undervalue the qualities we can neither equal nor appreciate, and whose only fault consisted, perhaps, in carrying virtues to ex- tremes, was forced to defend himself against the united powers of Russia, Denmark, Saxony, and Poland, and to make up, by individual exertion, and by the skill and courage of his soldiers, for the dreadful odds so unjustly arrayed against him. What men could do was done, and when the " unconquered lord of pleasure and of pain" fell, at last, Fortune, never more despicable than by her award on thie occasion, am- ply shared with his innumerable foes the honour of his overthrow. The discovery and application of the power of cavalry, seemed natu- rally reserved for a man of such character, placed in such a situation, and to Charles is due the honour of having effected it to its fullest extent. He deprived the cavalry of all defensive armour, forbade all firing, except in skirmishing, and led them, sword in hand, fearlessly and successfully against every accessible enemy. From such assailants, redoubts and entrenchments alone could protect the infantry; and at the very time when the French regiment of Alsace was effecting its
u 2
292 TACTICS.
celebrated retreat, after the battle of Oudenarde, when vainly pursued over ten miles of level country by the whole of the allied cavalry, the Swedish dragoons were cutting down the entire infantry of the Saxon army, formed in squares, at the battle of Frauenstadt ; " D'autres" Gens, " d'aittres soins."
But the career of Charles was too transient, his success too epheme- ral, and ascribed more to his personal qualities than to the admirable system of war that seemed naturally to spring from such a character, to admit of its making much impression on military men, who, as Mar- shal Saxe observes, " are of all men the most tenacious of existing follies and averse to change." We consequently find, from Berenhorst, that on the accession of Frederick the Second, the Prussian cavalry, though Well powdered and booted, mounted on fat sleek horses, and trained, like the infantry, to lire by divisions, subdivisions, and grand divisions, were yet totally unable to ride — a circumstance that rather told against them at the battle of Molewitz, where they were over- thrown by the Austrians, who, owing to the lessons they occasion- ally got from their Turkish neighbours, were somewhat more proficient in cavalry- tactics. So glaring an evil could not escape the penetration of Frederick, who had besides made the campaigns of Charles, of whose fame he even deigned to be a little jealous,* his particular study. He consequently set about remodelling his horsemen immediately after the first Silesian campaign, and having excellent materials to work upon, and being above all aided by Seidlitz, the incomparable, as Be- renhorst calls him, he soon succeeded in forming those admirable corps of cavalry, that actually saved the Prussian monarchy, and whose ac- tions may yet be quoted as unsurpassed examples of cavalry excellence. It is needless to say, that in imitation of Charles the Twelfth, he prohi- bited all firing, except in skirmishing, and ordered the cavalry never to await an attack, but constantly to meet the enemy at full speed and sword in hand. It remained for Napoleon Buonaparte, the military genius, par excellence, of the intellectual school, who, for the benefit of artillery- practice, I suppose, continued infantry formations much deeper than those the ancients or the heroes of the middle ages had ever known, again to introduce into the cavalry those feeble modes of combat that had for more than a century been held up to scorn and derision. The 7th regiment of French dragoons, overthrown at Sahagun by the Mar- quis of Anglesea, at the" head of the 15th hussars, awaited the onset de pied ferine, thus forfeiting all the advantages to be derived from the impetus of their horses. The squadron of chasseurs, defeated and captured by Capt. White's troop in front of Castello Branco, received the charge of the 13th pistol in hand: and shame to tell, a regiment of cuirassiers, ay, heavy armed, drew up in order to receive at the halt the charge of a party of Brunswick hussars, who, having just defeated a body of French light cavalry, rushed, without first reforming their order, right down upon these new enemies, and gave in truth no bad account of them, notwithstanding the disadvantages under which the attack was made. I have before quoted instances of this sort of con- duct on the part of Napoleon's cavalry, and might, were it necessary, show up even cuirassiers receiving at the halt and with carabine pre-
* See Observations sur Charles XII.
TACTICS. 293
sented, the charge of braver foes. One case of this sort happened near Ratisbon, under Napoleon's own eyes, on the 20th of April 1809.
As no history of the Prussian cavalry during the campaigns of Fre- derick the Second can here be attempted, I must content myself with proving, by a few examples, what well-trained horsemen are capable of achieving when ably led, and inspired with a just confidence in their own prowess.
At the battle of Hohenfriedberg, the dragoon regiment of Baireuth drove over twenty-one battalions of infantry, took 4000 prisoners, 66 stands of colours, and five pieces of artillery : — an action, of which Frederick says truly enough, that it deserves to be written in letters of gold. At Zerndorff, Seidlitz decided the fate of the day by hewing down with the cavalry the Russian masses of the right and left wing, before which the Prussian infantry had already lost ground, thus gain- ing one of the most sanguinary and most important victories of the Seven Years' War. At Rosbach, twenty squadrons, under the same heroic leader, headed and crossed the French line of march under cover of the hill that separated the two armies, wheeled up fronting the heads of their enemy's columns, and then
" Like the ocean's mighty swing When heaving to the tempest's wing, They hurled them on the foe,"
driving the whole of Soubise's army, 50,000 strong, in utter confusion from the ground. Though the events of the war were not likely to fur- nish another opportunity for such a feat of arms, yet Seidlitz and the cavalry closed the long contest in a manner worthy of their fame, by overthrowing at Fribourg seven battalions of infantry, and thus decid- ing in his favour, the last of Frederick's fields.
I have in this brief survey, which brings us down to the Revolution war, been forced to leave unnoticed the actions of the Turkish sphahis j for the Austrians and Russians never considered themselves obliged to record the exploits of their enemies ; and the Turkish accounts, those at least contained in Von Deize's translation of Resini Achmet EfFen- di's " History of the War in 1774," are as laconic on the subject of Moslem victories, and as full of lamentations for the losses of the faith- ful, as the most unlucky of their defeated foes could possibly wish.
The only action of Turkish cavalry bearing upon our immediate subject that I can relate from good authority, is recorded by Marshal Saxe, who tells us that he saw two Austrian regiments cut down to a man, near Belgrade, by a charge of Turkish cavalry. Though these battalions were posted on a hill, and gave their fire by word of com- mand, the Marshal afterwards found the bodies of only thirty Turks on the field, — a circumstance, he adds, that had not tended to augment his respect for the fire of the infantry.
The peace of Hiibertsburg, that in 1763 put an end to the Seven Years' War, left the cavalry masters of the field ; it had been amply demonstrated that there was nothing in the tactics or arming of the in- fantry capable of securing them on level ground against the shock of brave and well-commanded horsemen. It remained for the Revolution war, so fertile in military delusions, to give rise to another opinion, not from any greater strength or consistency conferred on the infantry, which, as stated in the first part of this essay, remains exactly where
294 TACTICS.
Frederick left it, but simply because men prefer judging from dazzling results to the trouble of investigating the true causes that brought them about; and the battles of Marengo, Auerstadt, Aspern, and Waterloo, gained by the firmness of the infantry in withstanding the attack of the cavalry, threw not only past experience into the shade, but occasioned contemporaneous events of minor importance, but far more illustrative of professional principles, to be entirely overlooked.
I now proceed to bring forward a few of those events, trifling in their result, but important as to principle, and shall conclude this paper with a few remarks explanatory of the causes, that occasioned the failure of so many cavalry charges during the late war.
COMBAT OF AVESNE LE SEC.
llth Sept. 1793.
A corps of 8000 French, mostly infantry, having marched out of Cambray, in order to make a demonstration in favour of Quesnoy, then hardly pressed by the Allies, were overtaken near the village of Avesne le sec, by Prince Lichtenstein and Count Belgrade, at the head of four Austrian regiments of cavalry. The French, seeing that an action was inevitable, formed two large squares, between which they placed the whole of their artillery, consisting of twenty guns, and firmly awaited the charge. Their patience was not put to a long trial, for something of the spirit of former times still animated the allied cavalry at the commencement of the contest ; laurels enough were then reaped to show how noble a wreath might have been formed, had there been a master's hand to guide the work, but nonj such appeared, and the stray leaves, left unconnected, were soon destined to wither and decay. On this occasion, however, the Austrians realised every thing that could be expected from brave horsemen, for without awaiting the infantry and artillery that were still far behind, they instantly charged, aud though saluted with grape by the French artillery, and received with a volley of musketry, fired at less than fifty yards, they overthrew both the squares at the first onset. Two thousand men were taken and most of the others cut down, for a few hundred stragglers only reached Bouchain and Cambray : the twenty guns, together with five stand of colours also fell into the hands of the victors. This gallant feat of arms, important here, because the infantry were aided by artillery, stood their ground firmly, and gave their fire at a fair distance, cost the Austrians only two officers and seventy-nine men.
ACTION OF VILLIERS-EN-COUCHE.
24>th April 1793.
On the 23rd April 1793, the French, to the number of 15,000 men, advanced in three columns from Bouchain towards the Selle. They were met on the following day by Gen. Otto, at the head of fourteen squadrons, (ten British and four Austrian,) and whilst part of this force dispersed the French cavalry, four of the allied squadrons, two British and two Austrian, attacked the infantry, consisting of six bat- talions, who had formed themselves into an oblong square, broke them, killed and wounded 900 men, captured 400 more, together with five pieces of cannon, the Allies themselves losing only ninety men in killed and wounded. There was no appearance yet of the new light that has
TACTICS. 295
since broken in upon the horses, and made them so conscious of the dan- ger to be apprehended from the fire of musketry, as to induce them, in spite of all efforts, to bear their reluctant riders far away from the bayonets of the infantry, thus forcing cuirassiers and lancers to waste their exuberant valour in merely flouting, with swords and flags, the harmless and unresisting air. This great step of the march of mind was reserved for our own more intellectual period.
BATTLE OF CATEAU CAMBRESI8.
The 26th of April was still more glorious to the cavalry than the 24th had been, for the English and Austrians rivalled on that day the Prussians of Rosbach, and defeated, by their unaided exertions, the entire of Gen. Chappui's army, that to the number of 27,000 men had marched from Cainbray for the purpose of relieving Landrecies. The advanced guard of the Austrians having dispersed the cavalry that marched at the head of the left column of the French army, the infan- try and artillery immediately drew up between the village of Auden- court and the Cense de Tronguay, and commenced firing. They were there charged by Prince Schwartzenberg, at the head of the Austrian cuirassiers of Zeschewitz, aided by nine British squadrons, completely broken and driven from the field, with the loss of 3000 men, killed, wounded, or taken ; twenty-two guns, together with twenty-nine am- munition-waggons, also fell into the hands of the Allies.
Whilst this was passing on the right, another column of the enemy were advancing towards the left of the Duke of York's army, but attempted to retreat as soon as they learned the defeat of their com- rades. Unfortunately for them, however, the laudable and liberal maxim of building a golden bridge for a retiring enemy to enable him to return and renew the action with increased means next day, hap- pened not at the moment to be so fashionable as it soon afterwards became. The retiring column was therefore pursued, and attacked near Ellencourt, by four English and two Austrian squadrons, whcfc, without any aid from either infantry or artillery, defeated them with the loss of 1000 men, ten guns, and twenty-two ammunition- waggons. Still further towards the left, the hussars of Blankenstein also made a gallant charge, and took eight guns. The loss of the allied cavalry on this day, was one general, sixteen officers, and 380 men ; that of the enemy, 5000 men and thirty-two pieces of artillery.
Sir Herbert Taylor and Sir Pvobert Wilson were both present at these affairs, and can easily, if so disposed, contradict any exaggeration contained in this statement.
AFFAIRS OF EDESHEIM AND KAISERSLAUTERN. 28th May, 13th July, and 20th Sept. 1794.
Bliicher's appearance in the field, as commander of a regiment, already gave proof of the spirit that twenty years afterwards obtained for him at the head of an army, the honourable appellation of " Marshal Forward." It was at Edesheim that this great soldier, whose battle of the Katz- bach, passage of the Elbe, and march upon Laon, may alone redeem the strategy of the nineteenth century from the reproach of having trusted every thing to the unaided exertions of the soldier, first drew that sword, destined in the hour of his country's danger to serve not only
296 TACTICS.
as a guide to victory, but as the rallying point of all German energy and patriotism. A party of French having debouched from the village, were attacked by Bliicher, at the head of the hussars of Goltz and the dragoons of Schmettau. The French cavalry were overthrown at the first onset, and the infantry, though they formed a square, met with no better fate. Three hundred were killed and wounded, an equal num- ber, together with six guns and nine ammunition-waggons, were taken. A second affair, almost similar, took place on the same ground a few weeks afterwards, when Blucher, at the head of his cavalry, broke into a column that was again attempting to debouche from the village of Edesheim, dispersed the whole party, took eighty prisoners, and three guns. The following is the account he himself gives, in his journal of the campaigns of 1794, of the affair near Kaiserslautern. We preserve as much as possible his own phraseology, as it seems some- thing characteristic of the man.
" As soon as 1 had assembled about eighty hussars and dragoons, I com- manded March ! at the very time when the enemy's infantry, at least 600 strong, were crossing the plain. The officer, who commanded the enemy's battalion, showed much countenance ; he was on horseback, and kept his men well together. But nothing could intimidate our brave horsemen, we stormed in upon the enemy, and, though he opposed us with the bayonet, and made a most determined resistance, we nevertheless broke in," &c.
The entire of the French party were either killed, wounded, or taken.
To the instances here quoted, I might add the defeat of three French regiments of infantry, belonging to the division of Gen. Montrichard, overthrown by the Austrian cavalry on the retreat of the Imperial army from Ulm to Nordlingen, in the fall of the year 1800; also the dispersion of two French squares, broken by the Russian hulans at the battle of Austerlitz ; and in like manner the destruction of another French square by the Prussian dragoons of Irving at the battle of Auerstadt, together with the successful charge made by the Russian General Koschin, against the right wing of the French at the battle of Pultusk. But 1 pass over these, and other events of a like nature, in order to arrive at a few isolated actions, that, standing alone, show more distinctly, and are better calculated therefore to bring out the principle I am here striving to establish.
THE EXPEDITION OP MAJOR SCHILL.
Major Schill's attempt to call forth and array against the French the patriotism of Germany, during the Austrian war of 1809, is so well known as to render all notice superfluous; but one of the first actions fought during his short and brilliant career, bears too strongly on our present subject to be passed over. On the 5th May, Schill arrived, at the head of 600 hussars, in the neighbourhood of Todtenburg, not far from Magdeburg, and was there encountered by 1800 French, mostly infantry, supported by two pieces of artillery. Part of this force was stationed on open and accessible ground ; the rest were posted behind a ditch, having their Hank protected by some garden hedges. Those on the open ground, though formed in squares, were broken by the hussars at the first charge, notwithsanding the steady conduct of the men, who gave their fire at less than thirty yards ; but those who were protected by the ditch could not be dislodged till part of the cavalry had dismounted, when they were driven with loss into
TACTICS. 297
the village. Schill lost on this occasion nine officers and 100 men, prin- cipally by his having attempted to force the enclosure before any of his men had dismounted — the French detachment was entirely destroyed. Their commander, Gen. Michaud, in an intercepted letter addressed to the Westphalian Minister of War, Eble, thus expresses himself on the subject. — " Ces hussards ne se battent pas comme des soldats ordinaires, mais comme des enrages ; ayant rompu el sabre mes quarres ilsjirent le reste prisonniers. Venez a mon secour," fyc. fyc. Here Gen. Michaud, very unintentionally perhaps, lets us into the real secret of the case. He tells us that these hussars fought, as all men should when the sword is once drawn, like " des enrages," and not according to the conventional style of modern warfare. Against attacks made with mere conventional vigour, the general squares would have been good enough : but they proved lame and impotent obstacles indeed, against men who rushed on with patriot ardour, and who, like the Germans that fought this and the actions yet to be mentioned, struck to avenge their country's wrongs. Such men edged not away from a single volley of wretched musketry ; on the contrary, all those who escaped its effects, naturally gave spur and rein, and easily bore down, by the mere impulse of their horses, the whole crowded mass of helpless infantry ; showing that a knowledge of duty and firmness of will are alone required to enable the cavalry to triumph over these boasted formations.
The French infantry performed on this occasion everything that was to be expected from brave men so trained and situated : they stood their ground firmly, fired their only volley at a fair distance, and then, no doubt, presented their bayonets according to rule ; but as all this tactical display, which looks so formidable at a review, did not frighten away the hussars, and could not well arrest them, the best of the gre- nadiers had nothing left but to stoop his fur-capped head and trust to Fortune, the real goddess of modern war ; who, if she sometimes delights in humbling the mightiest of her votaries, and thwarting the combina- tions of strategists and tacticians, occasionally atones for it by saving from destruction the humble soldier, whom laureled chiefs, in the pride of science, had placed defenceless at her fickle mercy. Minerva's reign is past, her sway was in the " days of other years," when men intended for war were trained to the use of arms and taught to tight, but we have changed all that, and wisdom disowns us.
ACTIONS OF GARCI-HERNANDEZ AND OF THE GOERDE.
The successful charge made on the day after the battle of Salamanca by the heavy brigade of the King's German Legion, under Major-Gen. Bock, against the rear-guard of the French army, consisting, besides cavalry, of four regiments of infantry, near the village of Garci de Hernandez, will be known to most readers. It is only necessary to mention it briefly, therefore, as another instance illustrative of the principle here contended for. The infantry of this rear-guard, when forsaken by their own cavalry, formed three squares, took up a very advantageous position, and, in a state of perfect preparation, awaited the charge ; yet were two of the squares overthrown by the dragoons, with a loss of 1500 men, and nothing but the nature of the ground saved the third square, in which was Gen. Foy himself, from sharing a similar fate. The loss of the cavalry was ninety-five men, occasioned partly by the fire of the third square. " Vindex," speaking of this
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action, truly observes, " that it was one of those few instances of suc- cess on the part of the cavalry that occurred during the war, and which are therefore triumphantly quoted by the parties engaged as signal in- stances of gallantry and good discipline." But why the instances of gallantry and good discipline that could achieve such results were so few, he has neglected to mention.
The gallant action performed near the Goerde by the 3rd hussars of the King's German Legion, soon after the rupture of the armistice in 1813, though less known than the affair of Hernandez, is no less deserving of notice and applause.
A corps of 9000 French, with fifteen pieces of artillery, were over- taken on the banks of the Goerde, near Danneberg, by the cavalry of Gen. Walmoden's army. Part of the enemy's infantry were protected by uneven ground, the rest formed squares on the open heath, and were there attacked by swarms of Cossacks, and by the cavalry of the Russian German Legion. These attacks were all repulsed with ease, and as the evening was closing in fast, and the German infantry still distant, the General yielded to the request of the commanding officer of the hussars to allow that regiment, which as the elite of the army had been kept in reserve, to make another effort. The charge, being made in the manner becoming troops of such character and distinction, was completely successful : the whole of the enemy's infantry, posted on open ground, was overthrown, the guns taken, and night alone saved the rest of the corps from entire destruction. As the success of the Hanoverians placed the previous failures of the other corps in no very brilliant light, it was natural to expect that the less fortunate parties would discover some good cause for such different results, and the device they fell upon, proved, it must be allowed, an ingenious one. It was asserted, namely, that the hussars owed their better success solely to the superiority of their English horses, that leaped fairly over the bayonets of the kneeling ranks, a feat to which the German and Russian horses were avowedly unequal. The story is so far of value, as it shows, what is besides well attested, that the French stood their ground firmly : in other respects, the action is of too gallant a nature to require any aid from the marvellous. ".Vindex," in his last article on the British cavalry, says, " Many good squadrons were no doubt led against infantry during the war :" the manner in which good squadrons behaved on such occasions, is here added in illustration of his remark, if not exactly in support of his argument.
I close this brief and imperfect sketch with the brightest and last of these isolated actions.
AMBUSCADR OF HAYNAW. 26th April 1813.
The allied army, instead of following, on their retreat after the battle of Bautzen, the road leading directly east towards the Oder, turned suddenly to the south, for the purpose of approaching Schweidnitz and the Bohemian frontier. Beyond Haynaw, on the Deichsel, where this conversion to the right was effected, they entered upon a very flat and open country, singularly studded from distance to distance with wood- ed knolls and hillocks, and well adapted, therefore, to conceal an am- bushed foe. Ground and circumstances so favourable for the employ- ment of the numerous, and hitherto neglected, cavalry of the Allies,
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could not escape the all-observing military eye of Bliicher, who com- manded the rear-guard, and who determined at once to make the most of them : Fortune, as usual, favoured the bold.
On the 26th of April, Gen. Zietheri was directed to give way, as usual, on the advance of the French, and to retreat with the last divi- sion of the rear-guard, along the high road leading towards Schweidnitz ; whilst Colonel Dolfs was posted with twenty squadrons and three bri- gades of horse-artillery behind a woody hillock, to the right of the same road, about three miles from MichaelsdorfF, a village situated somewhat in advance of Haynaw. His orders were to fall upon the enemy, as soon as they should have got fairly beyond the reach of the gardens and enclosures. The signal for the attack was to be the firing of a windmill on the height of BandmansdorfF, from whence the low ground is easily discernible.
It was three o'clock in the afternoon before Gen. Maison's division, forming the advanced guard of the French army, crossed the bridge of Haynaw, and it is understood that the General had some scruples about adventuring into the open plain, but that Marshal Ney's positive orders forced him on to his fate. Be that as it may, it must still appear strange, that no patroles were sent out to flank and precede the main body of the division ; a piece of negligence that can be accounted for only by the security with which habitual success, and the general timi- dity of their enemies, had inspired the French army, and for which they here, as at Aroyo-de-Molinos, paid pretty dearly. The main body of the pursuing infantry had no sooner cleared the village of MichaelsdorfF, and advanced about 2000 yards into the plain, than the signal was given, and Colonel Dolfs issued forth at the head of his squadrons, leaving the artillery, who never came into action, to take their chance. As the distance he had to traverse was rather better than a mile and a half, the French infantry had time to form themselves into squares, and though their cavalry fled without striking a blow, the artillery were enabled to unlimber and fire with grape on the advancing Prus- sians ; but nothing could arrest these brave horsemen, for whilst Dolfs, with the leading regiment, threw himself on the main body of the enemy, the East-Prussian cuirassiers turned the village of Michaels- dorfF, and attacked another detachment, that was still in the rear : the whole were literally swept from the plain. A few found shelter in the houses of MichaelsdorfF, whilst the pursuing cavalry were cutting down others in the very streets of the village; many were driven headlong into the Deichsel, whose deep and rapid waters resigned not their prey; all the rest were killed, wounded, or taken. Eight bat- talions, with eighteen pieces of artillery, were present on the ground when the action commenced, and in a quarter of an hour afterwards, not a single infantry soldier remained in a defensible posture, and every gun was in the hands of the victors. This gallant feat of arms, unsurpassed by any cavalry action of modern times, cost the Prussian army only fifty-four men in killed and wounded ; the sixteen officers that must be added to the number, prove how nobly these brave troops were led.
Now, might not the question at issue be rested on this single action? Here was the advanced guard of a victorious army, composed no doubt, as such guards generally are, of the best troops, led by an officer of ex- perience and distinction, and all certainly in a state of preparation, as
300 TACTICS.
they were pursuing an enemy who was in sight. The artillery were enabled to unlimber and to fire, so that there could be no want of time for the infantry to form squares; yet was the whole force, in open day and on level ground, swept away at the first onset, and that with a loss to the assailants of only seventy men killed and wounded ! ! ! When such results shall fail to carry conviction of the insufficiency of tactics, in enabling the infantry soldier to withstand the charge of bold and resolute horsemen, then we may truly say, that like the age of chivalry, the age of cavalry is also past.
It will be remarked, that none of the victories here quoted were gained by the French cavalry, who so long filled the world with noise and wonder : and also that four of these successful charges were made by or under the immediate order of Bliicher, a man whose dauntless energy scorned all conventional grades of fighting, and who, when he struck, always struck home.
Let us now ask, whether there is anything in the brief survey of cavalry-warfare here taken, to justify the opinion at present so gene- rally entertained of the inability of that arm to contend successfully upon open ground against modern infantry, even in a perfect state of preparation ? has it not been proved, on the contrary, that horsemen have invariably succeeded, when properly led and inspired with a just confidence in their own strength and prowess? And can it well be otherwise, when the inefficiency of infantry-tactics and training, as shown in the first part of this essay, are fully considered? The author of the papers signed " Vindex," comes, however, to a very dif- ferent conclusion : he maintains that the cavalry, after galloping over embarrassed ground, suffering besides some loss from the fire of the infantry, and the horses being terrified, will not be in a state of order fit to make the attack, &c. &c. I refer the reader to the passage in the December Number of the Journal, where he will find this particular point fairly and ably argued, zndi fairly, at least, it shall be answered. I pass over the circumstance of his speaking of embarrassed ground only, because if he cannot trust the infantry on perfectly level ground, it is a virtual abandonment of his case, an avowal that they cannot de- pend on their arms and exertions, but must trust to the nature of the ground for safety and success.
I am willing to give the infantry every advantage they may derive from the most perfect . state of preparation, but their fair galloping ground, like the ground at Fuentes d'Onor, Guinaldo, or Waterloo, (I want no bowling-green,) must be granted to the cavalry, and on that proviso I now proceed to try the question.
One single successful charge, instead of fifty, made by the cavalry against infantry, in a state of preparation, and fairly doing their duty, would, of course, be sufficient to establish the important fact, that the failures must not be ascribed to the horses, for what horses have done once, they will, if equally well rode, do again. They are urged by rein and spur, and are not influenced by the hopes, fears, and opinions, that exercise such sway over the actions of men. That the noise, fire, and smoke of musketry does not terrify well-trained horses, was known, and may be considered as proved, by the examples here cited; and that they will not, when boldly rode, occasion any confusion of serious de- triment, may also be established. It is not easy for front-rank horses
TACTICS. 301
at a gallop to perceive, owing to their onward progress, the fall of their companions ; the rear-rank horses, no doubt, will see this, and may even be overthrown by the fall of those in front, but their tendency is to follow their leaders, and all naturally close in, so that their very in- stinct helps to preserve a certain degree of order. It must also be re- collected, that simultaneous action and mutual support, and not parade dressing, are the real objects of order; parade accuracy is sought after, because, with equal qualities, the troops who move best on parade, will move with the greatest precision in the field ;* and no well-trained body of cavalry can lose this sufficient degree of order whilst galloping over the short space of ground intervening between them and the in- fantry, when the latter give their fire. More than one volley is, of course, entirelv out of the question, because the hurry and anxiety of loading, for a second fire, would lead to unsteadiness, certain of pro- ducing defeat : the greater the distance at which the fire is given, the less vvill be its effect : if it is reserved, the shorter will be the distance of danger the cavalry can have to traverse. Suppose the advancing squadrons to receive the fire of their enemies at fifty yards, will any one believe that those of the horsemen who escape the effects, (nine- tenths at least,) can so far out-gallop each other in traversing this short space of ground, as to deprive themselves of the aid and support of their comrades ? and that too in attacking infantry, whose crowded formation renders them all but motionless, unable to assist each other or to avoid the shock of the horses, and totally defenceless after their single fire is once given ? Can this be seriously maintained ? That I am not altogether ignorant of the existence of bayonets, (for who has not heard of them both in prose and verse?) may be seen in the first part of the essay. But arms guiltless as yet of the blood of fighting men, wielded besides by soldiers never taught to use or even to think of using them, and forming, when fixed to the muskets, such clumsy, rickety, and unhandy zig-zags, that they require to be only once seen and poised in order to be fairly appreciated, can never be urged as pre- senting serious obstacles to bold, confident, and skilful horsemen. Had the sailors and infantry soldiers of England blenched for toys like bayonets, where would now have been the fame and independence of their country ?
If the cavalry in charging infantry do their duty, one of three things must, as formerly stated, follow, as a matter of course ; either they must fall by the fire of the musketry, be arrested by the bayonets, or they must overthrow the opposing ranks. Now, without again re- verting to the few musket-shots that tell as shown in the first part of this essay, we know very well that, to the utter astonishment of many officers present, entire volleys were fired at Waterloo and at Fuente- de-Guinaldo, without apparently bringing down a man, however many might have been hit. We also know, that not a single one of the enemy's horsemen perished on the bayonets of the kneeling rank in either of these actions ; and it is, of course, perfectly evident, that a
* This must not be considered as an approval of the Martinet style of drill. The art of teaching soldiers is, like all other teaching, a difficult one : it is no where well explained in our books of regulation, and is very generally, therefore, ill per- formed. In this respect the cavalry have, as far as the observations of the writer go, very much the advantage of the infantry.
TACTICS.
horse at full speed, if killed even by the projecting bayonets, which is possible, though not probable, would still, by his very impulse, over- throw all the files opposed to him, and thus make an opening for all who followed.
As a proof, I beg to quote the following passage from the Edinburgh Weekly Journal of the 26th Oct. last :—
" On Wednesday forenoon, a horse and gig run off at full speed down Forres-street, and instead of turning at the foot of the street, it ran right up to the garden-railing of Moray-place, through which, to the amazement of every one, it made its way in perfect safety, leaving the gig on the out- side. The circumstance is the more remarkable, as the railing appears to be very strong : it consists of stout upright cast-iron rails, firmly bound together by cross-rails, about five feet from the ground, which are strength- ened by dwarf-rails fastened to them, about two feet up. The horse, on making his entree into the garden, snapped through four of the tall rails be- low the upper fastening, leaving entire the ornamental frame-work above, and forming, as it were, a triumphal arch !"
Would a few files of infantry present a more consistent obstacle ? How then, it will be asked, has it happened that the bravest of the continental cavalry have so frequently failed in their attacks against steady and well-prepared infantry ? Simply because opinion, the rise of which I shall not here attempt to trace, was against them, and, as before stated, they had no commander capable of doing justice to their power. Mere courage was not sufficient for this : it required a man capable of estimating the strength of the troops he was to lead, and whose example and precepts should have made them act up to his esti- mate of that strength, one whose single opinion should, with his subor- dinates, have outweighed received opinion, and who, in addition to courage, possessed also a quick and fiery genius, capable of perceiving and seizing the proper opportunity of acting with the lightning speed and strength constituting the real force of the cavalry. Thus com- manded, a few hundred sabres have sometimes achieved in half an hour, that success for which twenty thousand muskets had for a whole day been vainly expending their miserable and ill-directed fire. To perform such deeds, however, the horsemen must be cheered by hope and animated by example ; but against prepared infantry they are now generally hopeless, and led in a hopeless spirit : and little, indeed, can be expected from the feeble heart of man, when its best support in danger and strongest impulse to action are both removed.
It is no doubt a splendid sight, when bugle sound and trumpet clang send onward to the charge a gallant line of horsemen : their plumes wave, their sabres gleam, the very earth is shaken by the thunder of their horses' hoofs, and, like the tornado in its progress, they seem destined to carry every thing resistlessly before them in their way. But the infantry to be attacked is prepared, the close and serried mass bristling with arms, from which the fires of death are every moment expected to flash, is imposing, and the motionless stillness, with which tried soldiers wait the attack, has an air of stern and confident resolve that is chilling to the ordinary assailants. The horsemen, not expecting to succeed, see only death before them, and busy fancy pictures at such times, even to the most wretched, stores of future happiness about to be sacrificed in a hopeless contest. The heart cools, and the speed
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is gradually slackened, instead of augmented as the charge advances. If the dread of dishonour still keeps the men from turning back, the belief in certain destruction also prevents them from going on ; but the middle way, so dear to mediocrity, whether of talent or courage, is at hand, and no sooner does the firing begin than the whole of the plume-crested troop, vanquished before a shot has told, open to the right and left, fly, with brandished sabres, in wild confusion round the square, instead of rushing down upon it, receive the fire of four sides to avoid the fire of one, and, without striking a single blow for victory, resign with loss and disgrace a contest that by courage and confidence might have been successfully terminated at the expense of a few bayonet scratches.
I appeal to the officers who were present in the square at Waterloo, —to those, I mean, whose clearness of mind and tranquillity of imagi- nation allowed them to see what their visual organs actually presented to them, for there are many brave and conscientious men who see only what they are told to see, or what they think they ought to see, — whe- ther this is not an exact history of the best of the charges made by the French cavalry on that memorable day. I say the best charges, for on many occasions the horseman actually halted or turned as soon as the fire began, leaving a few individuals to dash forward and shake their sabres at those with whom they dared not close ; and yet this is called charging, and by such foolery is the power of the cavalry to be esti- mated, and the infantry of England, the gallant and the brave, must still trust for victory only to the chance of similar conduct on the part of future foes, instead of trusting to those high qualities that, backed by an efficient system of tactics, would ensure them success in every species of contest.
There are, I know, many able and enlightened men who uphold ex- isting institutions, less from any great admiration of the institutions themselves, than from habit, and from seeing the evident superiority of established regulations over the generality of those plans and projects so constantly forced upon the attention of the public and of men in power as in the end to dishearten all serious investigation ; but I must beg of those who give way to this sort of apathy, just to take a glance at military history, and they will there see to what consequences a tenacious adherence to error invariably leads, even when mixed up, as in ancient times, with the most perfect military institutions.
The Greek phalanx was perfect in theory and invincible on level ground, but when any inequality broke its close formation, the soldiers were, from their arms and training, unable to cope individually with enemies better prepared for hand to hand combat. Their defeat at Cenocephalea rendered this sufficiently apparent, but the Greeks made no change in their system of tactics ; the battle of Pridna fol- lowed ; the last successor of Alexander was marched in triumph before the chariot of Paulus ^milius, leaving the 2000 years of slavery, en- tailed by his defeat on the land of arts and arms, to serve as a melan- choly illustration of the consequences resulting from a neglect of just tactical principles and military institutions.
The Romans again were, as infantry, invincible in close combat, bnt ignorant of the real action of cavalry, and almost defenceless against enemies possessing powerful means of distant annoyance. The new
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light, as " Vindex" would call it, that flashed from the Parthian arrows, when Marc Antony was defeated, and when the legions of Crassus were destroyed was overlooked, the Romans made no change in a system of tactics sanctified by so many previous victories, and the consequence of all long continued military delusion followed as a matter of course ; Valerian was defeated and taken, and Julian killed.
Even in later times, the deep formations of the Dutch school, com- posed of alternate files of musketeers and heavy-armed pikemen, were deemed invincible, till the more moveable brigades of Gustavus Adol- phus broke the spell ; and it was the superior line-fire only of the Prussians that convinced the world of the weakness of Colonel Marti- net's system, on which the fate of empires and of armies had been so often staked in confidence.
Thus delusions, dispelled only by disasters, have succeeded each other down to our own time, and the firmness of the British infantry threw some very unexpected light on the value of those French columns, that to the tune of " ^a ira," and " Vive 1'Empereur," had all but frightened " the great globe itself," out of its propriety.
There are those, it seems, who would silence every speculation of this kind by appeals to some new science of war, or mode of warfare discovered of late years, and supposed to be far above all present im- provement. I am rather sceptical on this point, and not altogether disposed to take a few fine phrases and new names, applied to old practices, for a new science. I look upon the knowledge we have acquired of the value of our own army, as the only very important military legacy left us by the war. That long contest proved the dauntless courage of our men, their strength and aptitude for war, the great skill of the scientific departments of our army, the high character of our officers, whose sentiments of honour admitted of a system of discipline and organization being founded on their responsibility that insured, on the most distant services, the administration of justice, and the performance of duty, with as much accuracy as on the parade at St. James's; thus giving strength, confidence and consistency to the scattered members of an army, that, though dispersed over every part of the world, are yet bound together by the Herculean sinews of the navy ; the whole constituting a force which may almost be said to hold the globe within its iron grasp. A knowledge of this power we ac- quired by the war ; and if properly used, it has been cheaply purchased. In all other respects, we seem to stand pretty well where we were be- fore, and as to the great military intelligence of an age that sent hun- dreds of thousands of infantry, the strength of armies, to battle, without ever teaching them the use of arms, the less, perhaps, that is said about it the better.
Painful as it may be to mix up any thing like personal matter in a professional discussion, I cannot, in justice to myself, conclude this paper, without a few brief remarks in answer to the charges brought against me in the December Number of the Journal, by the author of the article on the British Cavalry. An anonymous writer must be tenacious of his consistency, having no name to which he can appeal.
I am first very gravely lectured for not knowing that infantry sol- diers when they receive, in squares, the attack of the cavalry, have generally had opinion and confidence on their side. Such a charge
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would not have been made, had " Vindex" read the essay he had deigned to criticise, for my knowledge of this rare fact is there distinctly men- tioned, page 14.*
Further, " This new doctrine," continues my Critic, " once establish- ed, that cavalry can force their horses to gallop over infantry, it will follow that the latter are scarcely of any farther use in modern war- fare, except as garrisons," &c. No — it will only show the neces- sity of a more efficient system of infantry tactics, as advocated in the first part of this Essay. Infantry must always constitute the strength of armies — and can always, when properly trained and armed, contend successfully against cavalry.
Again— "J. M. tells us, in part of his paper, that he had himself purposed defending the cavalry from the aspersions thrown upon their efficiency during the late war, but really if half his theory could be proved, such an attempt would be as inconsistent on his part as vain and impossible on the part of any other person."
Here are two distinct points blended together ; the first relates to the superiority claimed for the French over the English cavalry ; the second to the relative power of infantry and cavalry. I had proposed to up- hold the superiority of the English cavalry questioned by Napier, which superiority has nothing to do with the affair of infantry squares ; for in this respect, the French were not, I believe, supposed to be better than their neighbours. If we say that Dick is a finer fellow than Tom, it does not follow that we must therefore uphold him to be absolute perfection. " Vindex" must learn to be more logical.
" If good-will alone is necessary for breaking infantry squares," pro- ceeds this Hussar Aristarchus, " who shall ever pretend to say a word in favour of our cavalry ? Why were not the French infantry, either driven quite out of the Peninsula, or starved into surrender after seek- ing a temporary refuge in the strongholds of that country ?" " Vindex," the critic here, forgets what "Vindex" the soldier knew perfectly well, first, that the Peninsula is not altogether a level plain ; secondly, that the British cavalry, though superior to the French on fair terms, were never in such strength as to be masters of the field, until the first part of the campaign of 1812 ; and then, if I recollect right, the French infantry cut no such mighty figure either at Salamanca or at Garci- Hernandez. In 1813 and 1814, the ground was not in general well suited for cavalry action. In the October Number of the Journal, other causes are stated which it is here needless to repeat.
After having in the brief letter, which has so particularly excited " Vindex's" displeasure, stated, " that in fair fight, cavalry against cavalry, the British were always victorious," and having further added, that " if not upon the whole so successful as the infantry, the failure of the cavalry was to be sought for in causes over which the men and officers had little or no control," I think I should not have been attacked in this manner upon the mere wording of detached sentences, that, as I have before had occasion to observe in this very Journal, cannot, when taken alone, be always expected to convey the meaning of the writer ; for instance, I never said of the cavalry, that ' ' at the battle of Waterloo, the only occasion on which they were fairly
* United Service Journal, Part II. 1831. U. S. JOURN. No. 40. MARCH 1832. x
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tried, they were not found over efficient in line fighting:" though the words quoted are mine, the meaning attached to them by " Vindex" is not ; he must for the future become more liberal in his constructions and more precise in his accusations — -all charges, whether in writing or in the field, should be distinct to the point, and right onward. Your hussar caracolles are fit only " pour jetter de la poudre aux yeux"
To the accusation brought against me of speaking with contempt of the hussars, I answer only as it gives me an opportunity of expressing my conviction, that the British army holds not in its ranks braver and more nobly officered corps than the hussar regiments. I have myself served for a time on the staff of their most distinguished leader, one
" ' whose fearless part
And gallant bearing won my heart ;"
and can form some estimate of the men, though I may not like their equipment. The Hungarian grenadiers are verily fine fellows, yet we should surely smile to see them stripped of their honest pantaloons, arrayed in kilt and hose, and metamorphosed into Austrian Highlanders ; and are English horsemen, dressed up in the un-British, fantastic, and more showy than elegant costume of Hungary, and named besides after the old Hungarian cavalry levies,* in the least more consistent? If the term "newfangled," applied to the dress and appointments of those corps, has given offence, 1 am on that account sorry for having used it, though it has in itself no offensive meaning, as it only signifies " formed with a love of novelty."
I must now take my leave of " Vindex ;" and as I am confident we have both the same object in view, that of bringing professional opinions and practices to the test of fair investigation, I shall be happy to meet him again, notwithstanding our difference, should he be disposed to raise a pen in defence of modern strategy, which, like tactics, may possibly require some aid ; and when we discuss the field of Waterloo, I shall be able to convince him that I am not so ignorant of the gallant charge made by Sir Hussey Vivian's brigade as he seems to suppose ; but as I am contending for principles alone, and do not attempt the dignity of history, I must content myself, at times, with quoting actions of minor importance, merely because they happen to lend more distinct support to the train of argument I may be pursuing.
Here for the present our contest ends; and though I could have wished that this personal set-to had been spared us, I hope we may yet say, like those who once broke off a combat of more deadly intent,
' H fjL'.t tf&aipvaeiriv ipioo; Zfspi QvptSopeia,
*HS' O.UT iv Ifi^artiTi ^ilTftttyiv ccpfawavri. — Iliad, b. vii. V. 301.
that is, " fiercely, indeed, as we have fought this battle, we yet part as friends."
J. M.
* " The Hungarians call these horsemen hussars, from the word husz, signify- ing twenty ; every twentieth man being by an old Hungarian ordinance of the fifteenth century, liable to take the field." — Bushels History of Inventions, vol. ii. page 287-
307
MILITARY REFORMS OF TURKEY AND EGYPT.
THK victories and successes which, from the first institution of the Janizaries, continued for three centuries to mark the progress of the Ottoman arms, and strike terror and dismay into the remotest corners of Christendom, create little astonishment, when we recollect the description of national force employed by Christian powers during the principal part of that period. Nearly a century was suf- fered to elapse before any European Prince followed the example of Amurath the First, in the establishment of a permanent body of re- gularly exercised troops. Charles the Seventh of France was the first in adopting a system, the advantages of which had been fully proved by the successes of the Turks at Cassovia, at Nicopolis, and at Varna. The year immediately following the one signalized by this last victory, first saw a standing army at the command of a Christian monarch. The good effects of the innovation were so evi- dent, in consolidating the resources of France, and communicating a new energy to all her exertions, that the neighbouring states were soon convinced of the propriety and necessity of making a similar change : and at length, in all the considerable kingdoms of Europe, the old feudal militia, though slowly, was yet gradually superseded by troops kept constantly in pay, and regularly trained to military subordination. Connected, however, with the feudal system, there were circumstances which long continued to prevent even those states which were earliest in adopting the improvement, from acting upon it to any great extent, or reaping its full advantages. No deeper wound could be inflicted on the power of the barons, than by establishing a force immediately dependant on the crown, and which, from its superiority of discipline, was likely, in a short time, to en- gross all important military operations. By their armies of retainers and vassals it was that the nobles were enabled to assume a position at once injurious to the royal prerogative and oppressive to the peo- ple. It is not then surprising, if they used all their endeavours, and to a certain degree succeeded, in opposing the introduction of a sys- tem, which would have the effect of rendering unimportant and of little value, a militia, which was ever more subservient to the will of its immediate and permanent masters, than disposed to obey the orders of the sovereign. To the military improvements of the Ot- toman emperors, however, no such obstructions could be offered. In rank, in privilege, and in power, the distance between them and all classes of their subjects was immense, and only diminished, in particular cases, by the favour and condescension of the Caliphs themselves. The Janizaries, therefore, once instituted, soon rose to that rank and importance to which the will of their sovereign en- titled them, and from their more intimate acquaintance with every branch of military duty were, not long after their first institution, held to be the most valuable part of the Turkish army. The concen- trated despotism of the Ottoman empire, conferring on the Sultan, as it did, the absolute disposal of the whole irregular force spread over his dominions, was another source of military preeminence. There was little danger of a Grand Signior's plans being frustrated,
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or operations defeated, by that mutinous and rebellious spirit in sub- ordinate chiefs, which often rendered the feudal militia entirely use- less in the hands of Christian princes. A succession of able and warlike Sultans, moreover, continued for several generations to turn to the best account the resources left at their disposal. When, therefore, we find Busbequius, who was Ambassador from the Em- peror Ferdinand to Solyman the Great, dwelling largely on the superiority of the Turks in the knowledge and practice of the mili- tary art, — when Guicciardini informs us that from them the Italians learned the science of fortification, — and when other authors of the sixteenth century write in the same strain, we have reason to give credit to their testimony. Something, perhaps, we might attribute to that love of exaggeration, or passion for the marvellous, from which, on such a subject as the power of the Grand Turk — a name connected with so many wonderful associations in the minds of men in the sixteenth century — what writer of the age could be expected to be altogether free ? Some such deduction, we say, we might lawfully make, but that recent discoveries appear fully to vindicate the title of the Turks to all the praise which they received three centuries ago. " It is only," says Jucherau, speaking of the reforms made by Selim the Third ; " it is only since the establishment of the school for engineers at Sulitzi, that they (the Turks) have learned, under French officers, in consulting their military archives and the plans of their ancient engineers, those ways and parallels of trenches of which they were the inventors, and which so distinguished the siege of Candia." It is then evident, that the place which Turkey now occupies is not low merely in relation to other states, which, once her inferiors, have since risen above her : if they have made progress, she has also retrograded : if Christian powers have raised themselves to an immeasurable height above their former attain- ments, it is no less certain that the Ottoman empire has sunk far below what it once was.
But the grand question — and it is one having an intimate connec- tion with the best interests of every state in Europe — the question now is, whether Turkey be susceptible of regeneration, whether the nature of its constitution, and the character of its Mahommedan popu- lation, be such as to permit us to indulge rational hopes of its becom- ing once more important, even as a military power. The simplest and indeed the only sure way of coming to a correct decision on this subject is, by a reference to what has already been done, with the view of making the Turks acquainted with modern improve- ments, as well as by looking to the degree of success wrhich has attended the experiment.
Gen. Aubert Dubayet, who was Ambassador from the French republic to the Porte in the year 1796, was the first who prevailed on a Grand Signior to attempt the adoption of European tactics. At his recommendation, Selim entered warmly into the project, and a body of 12,000 men was raised, to whom the new discipline was to be communicated. The conduct of the Nizam-djedit, or new troops, at the siege of St. Jean d'Acre, where under the directions of the Pacha Djezzar, assisted by Sir Sydney Smith, they contributed to the repulse of Napoleon, gave such satisfaction to the Sultan, that, on their return, he built them a very splendid and spacious barrack.
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Their success, on this occasion, contributed also to gain them gene- ral esteem, and bring them into popularity. Encouraged by the favourable result of these his first innovations, Selim resolved to ex- tend his plan ; and sensible that the Janizaries were the great impe- diment to the progress of his improvements, he undertook the dan- gerous task of gradually setting aside a force now immeasurably distanced by the disciplined armies of Europe. This soldiery, which strict and rigorous discipline had once made so formidable to an enemy, had long ceased to excite terror anywhere but in Constanti- nople. The first Mahmoud, to conciliate their goodwill, conferred on them peculiar commercial privileges, and thus gave rise both to a relaxation of their discipline, and a total change in their composition. All classes of Mahommedans were now anxious for admission into a corps enjoying such immunities, so that, instead of remaining what it originally was, a body having no interests in common with the other subjects of the Porte, it gradually embraced the connexions of nearly the whole population.
But the gentle Selim was ill-fitted for the part he had undertaken ; he had not nerve to go through the bloody operation, in which the present Sultan has succeeded, and the method which his own mild nature suggested for removing the dangerous excrescence, ended in failure. Even the sacrifice of seven of his ministers was not received as a sufficient atonement by the offended Janizaries ; and Selim's deposition was the penalty exacted for an infringement of their privileges. His successor, Mustapha, did not long enjoy his new dignity ; Bairactar, the Pacha of Rudshuk, arrived at Constantinople at the head of 40,000 Albanians, and announced himself the avenger of the deposed monarch. This premature notification occasioned Selim's death; the Janizaries were however obliged to submit, and the caliphate was transferred from Mustapha to his brother, the pre- sent Sultan. Bairactar, now rewarded with the situation of Grand Vizier, was not, by Selim's bad fortune, deterred from pursuing the same object, in a way, however, somewhat different. He did not propose, like his late master, to substitute other troops for the Janizaries, but to reform the body itself. They were to be in- structed in the European discipline, but, instead of the unfortunate appellation " Nizam-djedit," they were to be called " Siemens," a name originally appropriated to one of the four divisions of the Janizaries. Their pretended acquiescence in the new order of things so far imposed upon Bairactar as to make him think the presence of the Albanian troops in the capital unnecessary. He was soon unde- ceived, but too late to retrieve himself. No sooner was Bairactar left at the mercy of his enemies by the departure of his own soldiers, than rebellion once more raised her head, and the Vizier was left no other place of refuge than a tower, attached to a powder magazine, by the explosion of which he was a few days after destroyed. At this period the days of the Sultan himself had also been numbered, had not the execution of his own brother beforehand, become a warrant for his own security. By putting Mustapha to death, Mahmoud had made himself sole heir of the house of Othman, and his person was consequently sacred in the eyes of all true Osman- lees, with whom the opinion is universal, that the fortune and fate of the Turkish empire is bound up with that of the family of the Caliphs.
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• Having now seen the failure, at two different periods, of the attempt to introduce modern tactics among the soldiery of the Porte, let us in the next place turn our attention to a theatre of reform, where the grand actor, though at first unsuccessful, has since discharged his part with equal skill and fortune. Mehemed Ali, when first appointed Pacha of Egypt, found it a scene of re- bellion and anarchy. Though the Mamelukes, who at the time of Buonaparte's invasion were masters of the country, were a very unequal match for European troops, still they were able, on the expulsion of the French and the retirement of the British, to main- tain their ground against the soldiers of the Porte. A war was accordingly carried on, the course of which was marked by blood, and stained with every species of treachery and crime, till at length the superior abilities and perseverance of the Pacha established his ascendancy and left his authority supreme. The Porte showed its high opinion of his talents by next appointing him to conduct the war against the Wahabees, a heretical sect, who had spread their authority throughout the Heedjaz. After spending some time in Arabia, Mehemed Ali returned to Egypt, leaving his son Tousoun Pacha to supply his place, and not long after, in the year 1815, made his first attempt to reform the discipline of his troops. A mutiny ensued, and the Pacha had to fly for refuge to the citadel of Cairo, and leave the city to the mercy of the soldiers. A promise that the new regulations should be abandoned restored tranquillity. But though now convinced of the difficulties opposed to the execu- tion of his plan, Mehemed Ali was still resolved to seize the first favourable moment for putting it in practice, and the means by which he at last succeeded are equally creditable to his firmness and sagacity. Tousoun Pacha having died of the plague, Ibrahim Pacha, another son, was nominated his successor, and at his de- parture from Egypt carried with him the Albanian troops, who had taken a prominent part in the late mutiny. We may state here, that by the end of two years from the time of Ibrahim's appoint- ment to the head of the army in Arabia the Wahabi chief was made prisoner. Mehemed Ali made a second step towards freeing him- self from the dictation of the old untractable army, by despatching a third son, Ismayl Pacha, in the year 1820, with a body of Turks and Arabs for the conquest of Sennaar. The country was brought under subjection, but Ismayl fell a victim to the hatred of the Arabs of Shendy, having incurred their displeasure by inflicting the basti- nado on one of their chiefs. He was succeeded in his government by Defterdar Bey, who took with him the last of the irregular troops.
The most formidable enemies to improvement being now put out of the way, the business of reform was entered upon with ardour and alacrity. Large levies were instantly made, and the instruction of the recruits entrusted to Colonel Seve, formerly aide-de-camp to Marshal Ney ; there were also other French officers to act under him. The zeal and vigour of the Pacha appeared to pervade every department of office, and by the end of the year 1823 there had been completed six regiments on the French model of five battalions each, 800 men being the complement of each battalion. Early in the ensuing year one of those regiments, 4000 strung, -was sent
TURKEY AND EGYPT. 311
against the Wahabees. The enemy were first discovered, to the number of about 12,000, crowning a lofty range of hills : inspired with feelings of contempt by the unostentatious appearance and small numbers of the Egyptian troops, they boldly rushed down to the charge, but having met with a reception very different from what they expected, and having suffered severely from the vollies of Egyptian musketry, they were soon forced to give ground, and made a precipitate retreat to their fastnesses among the hills. The news of this event, the first practical proof of the great advantages to be derived from the changes he had made, produced in Mehemed Ali sensations of the most unbounded joy. But the success of the Egyptian arms in Greece gave cause for still higher exultation.
After all the exertions of the Sultan to quell the Greek insurrec- tion, and though the attempt had been made with an army of 50,000 men, and a fleet to act in co-operation, the result of a second cam- paign was the complete exclusion of the Turks from the Morea. The interference of the Pacha, however, quickly turned the scale ; the fleet, carrying the Egyptian army, anchored in Modon bay in February 1825, and before two years had elapsed the supremacy of the Porte was re-established in the peninsula, and Missolonghi had fallen. It was this distinguished success of troops who had but lately been made acquainted with European discipline, that first convinced Mahmoud of the value of the Pacha's innovations ; and the address and perseverance of Mehemed Ali in triumphing over all difficulties, were at once a precedent and an incentive to the Sultan. A reformation of the Janizaries was determined on, what- ever might be the consequences, and Egyptian officers were chosen to give the instructions. From an idea that merely an old system of Mahommedan tactics was revived, no opposition was made at first to the innovation ; but the moment the real state of the fact was appre- hended, the voice of mutiny sounded loud and fiercely, and the front of rebellion was daringly displayed. We need not go through the details of the bloody tragedy which followed, and in which 20,000 of this obstinate soldiery fell beneath the deadly discharge of cannon and musketry, the edge of the sabre, or the fury of the flames.
This act, by which the dictation of the turbulent and imperious Janizaries was trodden under foot, and seemingly crushed for ever, stamped Mahmoud at once with a character of fearless and intrepid energy, and prepared the public mind for a triumphant progress in the march of reform. The comparison was instituted between the Sultan and Peter the Great, and as the Czar had laid in the sup- pression of the Strelitz the foundations of Russia's strength and pro- sperity, the destruction of a military corporation, certainly not less powerful and formidable, was naturally considered the commence- ment of a new era of Ottoman glory and grandeur. But expectation we need not say has been disappointed, and in vain has it waited for even a second point of resemblance to justify the parallel. Where, we would ask, are proofs to be found, in the late war with Russia, of the benefits to be hoped for from the Sultan's military innova- tions ? It does not satisfy us, to say, that an army, for the forma- tion of which hardly two years were allowed before its services were put in requisition, could not be expected to make a stand against
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the first military power in Europe ; or to remind us how many years elapsed from the abolition of the Strelitz, before victory crowned the exertions of Peter at Pultowa. Though we give both these consi- derations their full weight, we cannot forget that MehemedAli found a space of little more than two years sufficient for the production of a force, well instructed^in European tactics, and of which, within that period, one portion had been victorious in Asia, another in Africa, and a third was ready to embark for Europe, to acquire lau- rels in a more important and perilous enterprise. In the case of Peter also, though it was long before the Russian forces had reached that degree of excellence which enabled them, by a single effort, to put a final stop to the victorious career of the most heroic and ex- perienced general of the age, yet was there an interval of but a few months from the suppression of the Strelitz, till the new-modelled army was ready for the field. Gen. Gordon, a Scotchman, who was a long time in the service of the Czar, says, in his Life of Peter, vol. i. p. 139, " Immediately he raised an army of 40,000 foot to be called soldiers, and 20,000 dragoons : it was surprising to behold how soon this army was made up, for in less than three months time, they were enrolled, clothed, armed, and ready to march." In the following year this very force was twice successful against the Swedish veterans ; and indeed a decided improvement in the military operations of the Russians was the immediate consequence of the in- troduction of the improved tactics. Far different, however, has been the result of the experiment among the soldiers of the Porte. Even the Russian officers, who had taken part in the invasion of Turkey about the commencement of the present Sultan's reign, could not avoid contrasting the feeble efforts of the Ottoman troops, in the last campaigns of 1828 and 1829, with the obstinate resistance and deter- mined stand which they made on the same ground twenty years before.
But allowing that the obstacles were peculiar as well as formi- dable— and such we confess them to be — which stood in the way of all Mahmoud's efforts to organize an efficient army, what shall we say of those omissions, for which, as they are found in departments of office where there has not been even an attempt at improvement, no such excuse can be offered ? The Russians, previous to the pas- sage of the Balkan, had approached its base in four different cam- paigns; it was also ever considered the great natural bulwark of European Turkey against Northern invasion ; and yet the present Sultan had not taken a step to make any of the barriers available, or secure a single pass on this extensive range. Is this to be attri- buted to negligence or sheer ignorance ? Equally unaccountable is the gross remissness of the Ottoman Government with regard to the Navy. No nation in the world, not England herself, possesses the natural facilities for acquiring maritime strength in greater abun- dance than Turkey — but never were such advantages turned to less account. What a contrast does the indefatigable vigilance of Me- hemed Ali present ! Previous to 1827, a Board of Admiralty had been formed at Alexandria, the dock -yard put in order, a naval school established under French officers, and by August of the same year, a force was afloat, which, both in materiel and disci- pline, reflected the highest credit on the Pacha's exertions. The
TURKEY AND KGYPT. 313
greatest merit does not, however, always command success. It was this very fleet which Navarino saw almost annihilated. Compare again with the internal administration of the Porte, the steps taken by the Pacha to improve Egypt, both in agriculture and commerce — the encouragement given to the growth of cotton, the establish- ment of manufactures, the construction of canals, in a word, the resources of the country, made available by every possible means. How little of this is to be seen throughout the Ottoman dominions ! Every traveller who has recently visited them, paints the same me- lancholy scenes — in the towns and villages, houses unoccupied and shops closed ; over the face of the country, lands waste and unculti- vated, and the population every where falling off. These evils will not only remain, but must go on increasing, as long as the present system of government continues. At Constantinople, the taxes are still annually farmed out to the highest bidders, who again retail them at a profit to others, and these last, who, while they regularly remit the amount of tribute contracted for, have no interference or control to fear, make it their sole object to carry to the utmost limit their extortions on the wretched population of their respective districts. The Rayahs, or native Christians, whose industry is almost the exclusive source of the public revenue, are, moreover, perpetu- ally exposed to the insults and attacks of Turkish intolerance, and the Sultan, instead of giving protection to the most useful and pro- ductive part of the community, actually encourages the bigotry which considers his Christian subjects lawful prey for the spoiler and oppressor. Not many years since, he banished from the capital, for some reason never clearly explained, the whole body of Catholic Armenians, the wealthiest and most mercantile people in his do- minions, and disposed of their effects at a tenth of their value among the Turkish inhabitants. For the sake of comparison, we have selected a specimen of the plan of government acted on in Mehemed Ali's dominions. Sennaar, as we have already said, was conquered in 1820, and has been since occupied by troops of the Pacha's, under a military governor. Ruttem Bey, who was sent there in this capa- city in 1826, was furnished with a code of instructions, from which we make the following extract : — " He was to establish hospitals, the same as in Egypt, for the natives as well as the military, to conciliate the inhabitants by every means in his power, to encourage agriculture, to protect caravans and travellers from Abyssinia and other countries of the interior, and form a corps of native infantry." Would not the reader, instead of supposing that instances have been now given of two contemporary systems of administration in differ- ent parts of the same empire, nominally at least, imagine that he had passed from the description of one state of government to that of another adopted in a later or more enlightened age, or in a country farther advanced by centuries in the scale of civilization ?
After the comparison we have made, we can no longer avoid the conclusion, that the Sultan has been greatly overrated. Let us re- collect also, that this very Pacha, who has so immeasurably out- stripped him, had reached the age of fifty before he had even learned to write. This, we consider, should in fairness be set down to the credit of Mehemed Ali, when Mahmoud's admirers draw so largely in his favour on the seclusion of his early days in the sera-
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glio. The Sultan has certainly had more formidable difficulties to struggle with than the Pacha, but at the same time infinitely greater resources were placed at his command. The very name of Caliph and Heir of the house of Othman, was in itself a tower of strength, and, without doubt, the principal cause of his triumph over the Janizaries. We have seen nothing since, which holds out the pro- spect of regeneration for Turkey. The use of a European uniform does not necessarily infuse into the wearers the discipline, or address, or habits of European soldiers ; nor will the circulation of a news- paper, which may sound the Sultan's praises, of itself communicate to the subjects of the Porte that degree of intelligence and informa- tion, without which a periodical press wants the fulcrum necessary to make it an instrument of power. But though Mahmoud has omitted many reforms, which were sufficiently practicable even in his circumstances ; we are, notwithstanding, of the opinion, that there are obstacles in his way, which the most transcendent abilities would be inadequate perfectly to surmount.
A rightly-organised army would be a powerful instrument, and is an indispensable one for a reforming Sultan. No other substitute can be imagined, which might be made the means of checking the rapacity, oppression, and cruelty of the local and subordinate govern- ments, or affording to life and property that protection, without which it is vain to hope for any material improvement in the con- dition of the Turkish empire. But even here, at the very outset, the ignorance, pride, prejudices, and bigotry of the Osmanlees, pre- sent an insuperable barrier. Of what value can Mahmoud's army ever become, as long as the injidels are refused admission into its ranks ? Had not Peter the Great invited into his service foreigners well versed in military affairs, and left to them the training of the newly-raised troops, what would he have gained by the suppression of the Strelitz ? What would our own regiments of sepoys be without British officers? On the same principle, we can never ex- pect to see a Turkish army able to meet a European force on equal terms, while the absurd restriction prevails, which excludes from its ranks the intelligence and skill of other nations. In fact, above all people in the world, the Chinese themselves not excepted, the Os- manlees appear the most incapacitated for improvement. We will relate a circumstance, whence this conclusion seems to follow ine- vitably. Mehemed Ali, at the first organization of his army, gave all the higher posts to Turks exclusively, employing the Copts and Arabs merely as common soldiers, or permitting them to hold no higher rank than that of lieutenant. M. Planat, a Frenchman, who was five years in the Pacha's service, informs us accordingly, that the common men soon made excellent soldiers, and became expert in every branch of their duty, while the superior officers still con- tinued to show a total unfitness for the discharge of their more im- portant functions. The Pacha found a partial remedy for this evil in the abilities and perseverance of his son Ibrahim, the assistance of devoted and able ministers, and, above all, in the services of those Frenchmen who took charge of his infant establishments. But the poison of Turkish bigotry and prejudice was too powerful even for such antidotes ; and Mehemed Ali has ultimately been obliged to banish every Osmanlec from his army.
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But besides the obstacles to reform, arising from the character and habits of the Turkish people, there is another mighty counteracting power, which seems likely to render abortive all the attempts of Mahmoud, or any other Sultan, to introduce any great or permanent improvement — we mean of course the Ulema, including as members, as well the expounders and administrators of law, as the ministers of religion. It has been urged that this body, as deriving all its powers originally from the Caliphs themselves, the only legitimate source of all authority, whether ecclesiastical or civil, and having for its head the grand Mufti, who holds office only during the Sultan's pleasure, cannot in consequence have any great weight in opposition to the will of a sagacious and able monarch. This, though it may hold good in theory, can be of but little avail, when we come to consider practical effects. The feelings of the Turks in the matter of religion, are at this day as strong and enthusiastic, as when they first issued from the wilds of Tartary to conquer and convert. Among them, too, as in all Mahommedah states, the regulations of jurisprudence are supposed to emanate from the same infallible source, as those doctrines which are the object of their faith. Whe- ther then the Koran be considered as the foundation of all their hopes and fears with regard to futurity, or the only unerring standard of right and wrong in pronouncing the decisions of justice, it can- not be otherwise than that the interpreters of it in either sense should be regarded with awe and veneration. The Ulema, comprehending both classes of expositors, must therefore exercise a supreme and paramount influence, even were it only a personal and individual one, over the whole Mahomrnedan population. The peculiar privi- leges attached to this corporation are also attended with a large in- crease of power. Its members are exempt from the penalties either of death or confiscation, and those two mighty ministers of a Sultan's vengeance, which restrain and overpower resistance or rebellion among others of his subjects, have no terrors for the Ulema. This exemption makes them at the same time the only hereditary pro- prietors in the Ottoman empire.
Again, then, do we repeat our inability to find any sure ground on which to rest our hopes of the resuscitation of Turkey. The Ma- hommedaii religion is little suited to the progress of knowledge, or civilization, or industry ; and of all Mahommedans, the Osmanlees seem the least capable of the command of temper, or the mental exertion necessary to attain eminence in the arts of either war or peace. Mehemed Ali has shown his sagacity in the removal of them from his army. Whether the Pacha will support his present hostile attitude by the open declaration of independence, or be content still to forego the name of what he possesses in reality, can little affect the question as to the continuance of the integrity of the Turkish empire. It has long been ready to fall to pieces, and held together more by the feelings with which the nation of the Osmanlees re- gard the family of their founder, than by the political wisdom of the government. Its intrinsic feebleness was exhibited in a new and clear light by the campaign of 1829, when its fate hung on the will or the policy of its conqueror.
316
A WORD UPON "YOUNGSTERS.1'
"Hark to the boatswain's call, the cheering cry ! While through the seaman's hand the tackle glides ; Or school-boy midshipman that, standing by, Strains his shrill pipe as good or ill betides, And well the docile crew that skilful urchin guides."
THE late recommendation by a " Sea Patrician," to send grown gentlemen into the Navy, instead of youngsters, is in itself so absurd, as scarcely to require refutation : but having in our last Number enumerated a few of those individuals whose merits have achieved immortality, we may detail a few of the axioms which were in vogue during their noviciate, as presenting a striking contrast to the proposed reform. The elevation of individuals from subordinate situations to the summit of promotion, forms an epoch in the his- tory of professions, upon which the mind always dwells with in- terest, and we gladly seek, in the actions of the men, the cha- racteristics of those energies by which their elevation was accom- plished. Amongst these will be found not only a different de- votion to the service from that figured by the Reformer, but an entirely opposite course of studies and pursuits ; for, instead of the guitar and the dancing, it will be seen that the eminent and success- ful, not only of naval candidates for fame, but all others, — have had other Jlsh to fry. Frederick the Great congratulated himself that he did not fiddle well enough to be ashamed of the foible : and Marcus Aurelius says, " 'Tis by the blessing of the gods that I made no farther advance in rhetoric, poetry, and such other amusements, which possibly might have engaged my fancy too far, had I found myself a considerable proficient."
An unworthy idea prevails in society, that a child who is consi- dered unfit for an intellectual profession, is quite adequate to be a seaman, — and that those whose dispositions do not display genius, are sufficiently qualified to buffet the waves. " What has poor Ho- ratio done, who is so weak, that he above all the rest, should be sent to rough it out at sea?"* It is probable that a numerous family, with limited means of support, and no prospect of ever seeing them im- proved, may prompt parents to make such selections, or accept such proposals from friends, for the advancement of their children in the world, as their own inclinations might sometimes wish should have been otherwise, — for it is hardly credible that any parent would wantonly add cruelty to a defect of intellect, and doom him to hard- ship and to danger, whose misfortune alone it might be to be slow of comprehension, and a ready acquirement of those instructions which boys of quicker, though possibly less solid capacity, attain without effort. But the signs of future proficiency are often dis- played at an early age, — and although some boys may inadvertently be placed in an ungenial situation, yet it will in general be found that those youths who fix upon a sea-faring life have already given proof of that resolute heart and nobleness of mind, which will even- tually guide their whole career of labour and of glory, inspiring and propelling them daringly " to climb to the very top of the tree."
* Southey's Life of Nelson.
A WORD UPON "YOUNGSTERS." 317
" There are three things, young gentlemen," said Nelson to one of his midshipmen, " which you are constantly to bear in mind, — First, you must always implicitly obey orders, without attempting to form any opinion of your own respecting their propriety ; Se- condly, you must consider every man your enemy who speaks ill of your King ; and, Thirdly, you must hate a Frenchman as you do the devil." This admonition was given when France rancorously threatened to destroy England as a nation, and had manifested a wanton scorn for honour and social order. She was then, it is true, relieved from great regal and ecclesiastical tyranny, and had judg- ment been invited to her councils, she might have been resuscitated from the effects of her violent remedies : but instead of the happy equality — the uncorrupted because unestablished religious faith — the disinterested patriotism — and the salutary moral change in do- mestic life — so loudly predicted by the friends of anarchy, the result, when Nelson spoke, was of a very opposite tenor ; and in the un- principled vanity and boundless rapacity of our continental sister, it is difficult to determine whose mess she would not have interfered in, had not we been ready to bring her up with a " round turn." Instead of the simplicity, truth, and moderation, which are some- what egregiously deemed virtues purely republican, private life displayed an unprecedented debauchery, and contempt of human and divine institutes, — and public life a despotism more galling than that of old, but without its splendour and generosity, — while the reformers surpassed, in corruption, the most profligate courtiers of the sera of Louis XIV. but without their grace and gallantry. It is on these grounds that the charge of Nelson was admirable at the moment it was given ; for amongst the important duties of our sta- tion, the dicta should be constantly enforced, that to obey as well as command, and that to fear God and honour the King, are indis- pensable obligations on the Patriot, the Hero, and the Christian.
There was a singleness of heart, and discrimination of character, in that immortal Hero, which cannot be too strongly inculcated. We are told that in early life, if he perceived that a boy was afraid at first going aloft, he would say to him in a friendly manner, " Well, Sir, I am going a race to the mast-head, and beg that I may meet you there." The poor little fellow instantly began to climb, and got up in the best way he could. Nelson never noticed in what manner, but when they met in the top, spoke cheerfully to him, and would say, how much any person was to be pitied who fancied that getting up was either dangerous or difficult. And whenever he paid a visit of ceremony, some of these youths accompanied him, — -and when he went to dine with the Governor of Barbadoes, he took one of them in his hand, and presented him, saying, " Your Excellency must excuse me for bringing one of my midshipmen ; I make it a rule to introduce them to all the good company I can, as they have few to look up to, besides myself, during the time they are at sea." In short, to his Mids, this incomparable Commander ever showed the most winning kindness, encouraging the diffident, tempering the hasty, counselling and befriending both. " Recollect," he used to say, " that you must be a seaman to be an officer, — and also, that you cannot be a good officer without being a gentleman." Yet the gentleness and benignity of his disposition never made him forget
318 A WORD UPON " YOUNGSTERS."
what was requisite for proper order : thus on a memorable occasion he wrote to Earl St. Vincent, " You and I are on the eve of quitting the theatre of our exploits, but we hold it due to our successors, never, whilst we have a tongue to speak, or a hand to write, to allow the Navy to be, in the smallest degree, impaired in its discipline by our conduct."
The young officer must ever consider it a prominent part of his nautical creed, that his country has the first demand for his services, and that private convenience or happiness must ever give way to the public good. Duty is the great business of a naval officer, — all private considerations must yield to it, however painful. An uni- form course of honour and integrity seldom fails of bringing a man to the goal of fame at last. He must never be staggered with a view of the difficulties which he may have to surmount, or the little in- terest which he may possess ; he must ever discard gloomy reveries, and encourage prophetic enthusiasm. " I will be a hero ! and con- fiding in Providence, I will brave every danger !" exclaimed Nelson.
The advantage of skill and discipline, as well as the firmness which brave men derive from them, are incalculable. When the scope of the plan of attack at the battle of the Nile was compre- hended by a gallant Captain, he exclaimed with transport, " If we succeed, what will the world say !" — " There is no if in the case," replied the Admiral ; " that we shall succeed is certain ; — who may live to tell the story is a very different question." The coolness with which the squadron advanced was, as Southey eloquently ob- serves, a miserable sight for the French, who, with all their skill, and all their courage, and all their advantages of numbers and situa- tion, were upon that element, on which, when the hour of trial comes, a Frenchman has no hope.
The affections of life also have claims upon the gallant officer, as well as intrepidity and skill ; he must remember that generosity and humanity are virtues which all civilized nations expect and ad- mire in brave men, and that the exercise of power is most amiable when tempered with courtesy and mercy. Humanity is always the companion of true valour. It is recorded that many of the crew of the Santissima Trinidada, unable to stand the tremendous fire of the Victory, and not knowing how else to escape it, nor where to betake themselves for protection, leaped overboard, and swam to the Victory, up whose sides they were helped by the English, actually during the action ! When the greatest part of a Spanish squadron, under the command of Juan de Langara, had struck to Admiral Rodney, at the risk of being blamed by his country, or even forfeiting his own life, the conqueror abstained from sending to take possession of the prizes, lest his men should impart the small-pox, which was then raging in the British fleet, to the Spaniards, with whom it proves a most fatal disease ; but informing Langara of his motives, he trusted to his word that he would not withdraw the ships which he had captured. The noble Spaniard kept his promise, — and thus did the humanity and honour of these gallant Christian commanders save from death by a distressing distemper, more human beings than pro- bably had fallen in the heat of battle.
But similar humanity has been fostered and cherished by our government: thus, on occasion of a scarcity in Spain, approaching to
A WORD UPON " YOUNGSTERS." 319
famine, when a British squadron was blockading its ports, our Privy Council forbade the molestation of neutral vessels carrying grain for the relief of its people, although they were foes. When the Loire frigate stormed and got possession of Fort Muros, in Spain, the report of the brave Yeo signified that his seamen and marines vied with one another who should first relieve their wounded enemies, — and that their humanity was rewarded by the greatest gratitude and kindest services from the friends and relations of the prisoners. The Common Council of London voted thanks to him and his crew, not only for their gallantry, but for their mercy and generosity, so honourable to their country's character. And at another period, both the British and Irish Parliament thanked Gen. Elliot for his distinguished clemency in saving the lives of the enemy at Gibraltar. Such magnanimous actions as these form the bright page of modern history, — and no similar instances exist in the histories of the an- cients of whole senates and communities among them having sanc- tioned and recommended such generous behaviour.
Impiety has been imputed to our seamen, — a charge which we repel as firmly as the above-mentioned rock of Gibraltar does the waves of the Atlantic and of the Mediterranean. As soon as the conquest was completed in the bay of Aboukir, Nelson senv orders through the fleet for a general thanksgiving for the victory with which Almighty God had blessed His Majesty's arms. The French at Rosetta, who in miserable fear beheld the engagement, were at a loss to understand the stillness of the fleet during the performance of this solemn duty — but it seemed to affect many of the prisoners very strikingly ; and graceless and godless as the officers were, some of them remarked, that the great order preserved in the British navy was not to be wondered at, when the minds of our men could be impressed with such sentiments, after so great a victory and its consequent confusion. But probably the finest instance which can be adduced of the striking difference, as respects humanity and religion, between the ancients and the moderns, and of the merciful feeling in the heart of the truly pious and brave Christian, is found in the prayer of Nelson, which was composed by him im- mediately before his entering into the battle of Trafalgar. It was in the following terms :—
" May the Great God, whom I worship, grant to my country, and for the benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious victory, and may no mis- conduct in any one tarnish it. And may humanity after victory be the pre- dominant feature in the British Jleet ! For myself, individually, I commit my life to Him that made me, — and may his blessing alight on my endea- vours for serving my country faithfully ! To Him I resign myself, and the just cause which is entrusted to me to defend. Amen, amen, amen."
Political courage and penetration in an officer are as highly neces- sary as military courage and enterprise. They are also as much rarer as they are more valuable, and without them the soldier's bravery is often of little avail. Nelson possessed these in an eminent degree; nay, even amidst his deepest sufferings and exer- tions, he nevertheless thought of all the consequences of his victories ; and that no advantage from them might be lost, he usually dis- patched intelligence to the ambassadors at the neighbouring courts,
320 A WORD UPON "YOUNGSTERS."
to guide their conduct by the exploits which he had achieved. He has left us, not indeed his mantle of inspiration, but a name and an example which are at this hour inspiring thousands of the youth of England : a name which is our pride, and an example which will continue to be our shield and our strength ; whilst his last signal will be remembered as long as our language shall endure — " ENG- LAND EXPECTS EVERY MAN TO DO HIS DUTY!" — a prophetic and now hallowed proverb, which was received throughout the fleet with a, shout of answering acclamation, made sublime by the patriotic spirit which it breathed and the resolute feeling which it expressed.
To impress the necessity of attention to this high tone of senti- ment, let it always be remembered, that the French are able politi- cians, and that by intrigue, in which they have ever been unrivalled, they have too often forereached us. It is part of the policy of France — and a wise policy it is — to impress upon other powers the opinion of its strength by lofty language, and by threatening before it strikes ; a system which, while it keeps up the national spirit, perpetually stimulates hope and tends to dismay the enemy.
But however high and resplendent the achievements of glory may be, the intellect of the young officer must not be allowed to slumber in ignorance of the vessel which bears him to his renown ; he must ponder well those improvements which have been made in naval architecture by his comrades in arms, as he may be assured that the smallest effort to obtain a practical improvement cannot fail of being highly acceptable to his nautical brethren ; and as a stimulus to his exertions, it may not be improper to direct his view, in addition to the honours and promotions of which he is professionally aware, to those distinctions which have been awarded to merit by the Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, and who have at all times shown their forwardness to patronize any thing which might tend to improve or simplify the useful or polite arts.
ANCHOR, 1808. To Capt. H. L. Ball, for an improvement in anchors, to render them more durable and safe for ships; and for his improved mode of fishing anchors — the silver medal.
1823. To Capt. G. G. Burton, for his improved method of letting go the anchor — the large silver medal.
1829. To Lieut. W. Rodger, for his make-shift anchor — large silver medal.
ARM-CHEST, 1823. To Capt. R. S. Wilkinson, R.M. for an arm-chest for the use of the Marines — the large silver medal.
BALLAST, 1818. To Lieut. Molyneux Shuldham, for a new method of ballasting vessels — the silver medal.
CAPSTAN, 1816. To Lieut. Molyneux Shuldham, for improvements in working a capstan — the silver medal.
CASK-PLUG, 1818. To Lieut. William Rodger, for a plug for raising empty casks — the silver medal.
CAT-BLOCK, 1826. To Mr. J. Bothway, for his improved cat-block— Me silver Vulcan medal
DRAWING-BOLTS, 1798. To Capt. William Bolton, for his invention of a machine for drawing bolts in and out of ships — the gold medal.
ENEMY'S TOPS, 1811. To Capt. T. M. Bagnold, for his invention of a gun and carriage, to clear the tops of the enemy's ships from marksmen in close action — the silver medal.
FLOATING-BRIDGE, 1828. To Commander H. W. Hood, for a floating bridge — silver medal.
A WORD UPON " YOUNGSTERS." 321
GUN-CARRIAGE AND RAMROD, 1823. To Lieut. W. Pringle Green, for his gun-carriage and jointed ramrod for naval use — the large silver medal.
HOMOGRAPH, 1808. To Lieut. James Spratt, for his invention of a homo- graph, or method of communication by signals on sea or land— silver medal.
ICE-SAW, 1827. To Lieut. W. J. S. Hood, for an ice-saw — large silver medal.
INVALIDS, 1821. To Mr. J. Bothway, Gunner, for two species of appa- ratus by means of the first of which an invalid or bedridden person may raise himself in bed from a recumbent to a sitting posture ; — and by means of the second, one or two assistants may raise from bed a person completely unable to help himself — the silver Vulcan medal.
IRON BARS, 1803. To Capt. Joseph Brodie, for sundry marine improve- ments, particularly for his method of connecting iron bars, arid coating them with lead, so as to form solid pillars for light-houses, or rocks covered at high water, without being subject to corrosion from the action of sea- water — the gold medal.
JURY MASTS, 1807. To Capt. William Bolton, for his improvement in jury masts — the silver medal.
LIFE-BOAT, 1817. To Capt. Gabriel Bray, for a life-boat — silver medal.
1822. To Capt. Henry Gordon, for his apparatus for converting a ship's boat into a life-boat— the silver Vulcan medal.
LIFE-RAFT, 1819. To Lieut. Thomas Cook, for a life-raft — the gold medal.
1819. To Lieut. William Rodger, for a life-raft— the gold medal.
Loo-rSHiP, 1827. To Mr. James Hookey, Midshipman, for his improved log-ship — the large silver medal.
LOWER-YARDS, 1829. To Mr. J. Bothway, for his improved method of securing lower-yards of ships-of-war — the large silver medal.
MAST, 1792. To Capt. Edward Pakenham, for a method of restoring the masts of ships, when wounded, or otherwise injured, in an easy, cheap, and expeditious manner — the thanks of the Society.
NAVAL CARTOUCH-BOX, 1819. To Capt. T. M. Bagnold, for his improved method of fixing the naval cartouch-box — the silver Isis medal.
NJGHT LIFE-BUOYS, 1818. To Mr. Thomas Cook, Admiralty-midshipman, for a night life-buoy — the gold Isis medal.
OARS, 1828. To Lieut. T. Williams, for his oars to be worked by one hand — the large silver medal.
PERCUSSION-LOCK, 1825. To Capt. Thomas Dickinson, for his mode of applying percussion powder to the discharge of ships guns — gold Vulcan medal.
PROPELLING SHIPS-OF-WAR, 1820. To Capt. James Burton, for a method of propelling ships-of-war — the smaller or Vulcan gold medal.
PULLEYS AND BLOCKS, 1816. To Lieut. Molyneux Shuldham, for im- proved pulleys and blocks — the gold Isis medal.
ROCKET-STAFF, 1830. To Commander W. H. Hood, for his rocket-staff for naval or military purposes — the large silver medal.
RUDDER, 1788. To Capt. Edward Pakenham, of the Merlin, for a method of supplying the loss of a ship's rudder at sea — the gold medal.
1812. To Capt. John Peat, for his invention of a temporary rudder for the preservation of ships from being lost at sea — the gold medal.
1817. To Capt. T. M. Bagnold, for a rudder of his construction, a modifi- cation of Capt. Pakenham's, applicable to the repairs of an old rudder, instead of forming a new one — the thanks of the Society.
SAFETY RODS, 1827. To Lieut. Charles Henry Ackerby, for his safety rods for ships' boats — the large silver medal.
SCREEN-GLASSES, 1824. To Lieut. W. J. T. Hood, for his improved screen-glasses for quadrants and sextants, intended for use on board ship — the gold Vulcan medal.
SHIPWRECKED PERSONS, 1808. To Capt. George William Manby, for a method of preserving the lives of ship-wrecked persons, and forming a com- munication with ships stranded by means of a rope thrown over the vessel from a mortar on shore — the gold medal.
U. S. JOITRN. No. 40. MARCH 1832. Y
322 A WORD UPON " YOUNGSTERS."
STOPPER FOR A CHAIN-CABLE, 1827. To Lieut. Justus B. Kooystra, for his stopper for a chain-cable — the sillier Vulcan medal.
SYPHON, 1829. To Lieut. William Rodger, for his syphon for watering ships — the gold Isis medal.
TELEGRAPH, 1816. To Admiral Sir Home Popham, for his telegraph and marine vocabulary — the gold medal.
TILLER, 1828. To Lieut. W. Pringle Green, for his tiller to a disabled rudder — the silver Isis medal.
All these ingenious contrivances, which have been verified by careful experiment, are accompanied with descriptions and en- gravings ; and models of the respective improvements are preserved in the Society's repository. Many more names of illustrious com- manders, and of those who have contributed to the perfecting of naval architecture, might be adduced to stimulate the resources of the young officer. But the selection of examples which has already been made will probably be thought sufficiently extensive for the present purpose. The lesson which we would fervently endeavour to teach is, that in no situation of life, be the difficulties and perils what they may, is the attainment of eminence impossible to him who sets about it in good earnest ; since what is chiefly required to invigorate the mind to the encounter and the conquest of the most formidable obstacles which any circumstances can oppose to it, is simply the conviction of this gratifying truth, that nothing is invin- cible to perseverance.
Our ships of war are, at all times, the representatives of our country in every quarter of the globe, and it is chiefly by the intelli- gence which officers display, that the national character will be estimated : surely then they should not merely be brave but skilled ; versed not only in theory, but also acquainted with all the expe- dients of practice. The first precept of Wisdom, though the last in which she is obeyed, is the proper economy of time ; a revenue, says Seneca, of which alone it is a virtue to be covetous : but he who sticks to application will find that he may draw largely on it. Study must be directed to every department which can improve nautical science and diminish the dangers of the deep, for there ap- pears to be no limit to the happy effects of human ingenuity and energy. We therefore wish to call the zealous youth of the service to a knowledge of the vast field before them, and to exhort them against the inveterate" trifling to which some contemporary writers wish to allure them. They are incited to study music — but it has been too much cultivated already : some of its votaries have been led to it by dread of the notorious poetical invective of Nature's Bard, albeit it is destitute of physical and moral truth ; some have acquired the accomplishment from considering it an introduction to good company, though the inverse ratio is the more probable conse- quence. And there are few really good officers who have prided themselves on fiddling or piping, but would have achieved still higher deeds, had their minds not been sapped by a pursuit, which, though unquestionably a liberal one, is effeminate, and, as Johnson says, is a " method of employing the mind, without the labour of thinking at all." Too much importance also may be attached to the acquisition of languages, as a qualification for command ; but general knowledge, which insensibly leads up to discriminating judgment,
A WORD UPON " YOUNGSTERS." 323
should constitute the aim of an officer's acquirements ; for instead of a foreign tongue being always an auxiliary to professional talent, the study has, in numerous instances, only produced a discreditable imitation of the thoughts and manners of foreigners.
An investigation of ethical biography will show that, the true basis of popular reputation as well as of fame, of internal happiness as well as the power of imparting it, of avoiding the snares of despera- tion as well as the " Slough of Despond," of husbanding small means without meanness, as well as using large ones without prodigality, is only found in the exercise of a cultivated judgment. This invalu- able quality of the mind, to which learning and attainments are but the pabulum, elevates the wise man above the mere genius, and forms an aegis against the innumerable dangers and follies of human life. And yet the proper cultivation of this providential Mentor is scarcely considered of moment, in comparison with the trifling studies recommended. We can only assure the " cold-blooded " school that we think very differently, — and though highly-gifted judg- ment may be rare, a good substitute is gained by observation and attention, and we deem half a pound of common sense to be worth a ton of accomplishments. We hold all the real elegances of mind and manner in due esteem; but every man who is properly mould- ed, should direct his steady and undivided attention to the mastery of his profession in the first instance, or he will be but little adapted to take a lead in either business or pleasure. Caligula, destitute of the diligence necessary for acquiring a sound education, gave his chief regard to the arts of music, dancing, gymnastics, and public spectacles, a bent to which his cruelty and profligate caprice may be largely attributed, because it was without the ballast of severer studies.
One word more and we have done. Inasmuch as the protection and welfare of our country is so nearly allied to the first law of our being, even so is that officer contemptible and criminal who does not cherish the feelings of pure patriotism. Now this principle is likely to be undermined by the sophisms afloat, as to the perfection of foreigners, and the imbecility and misery of our own nation. A gloomy picture is placed before our view ; but after widely travers- ing this globe, we are sure that it is monstrously overcharged, and we verily believe it to be false. There certainly appears to be much comparatives-distress, and indigence, and privation around us : but throughout Europe such suffering is almost universal, and we look upon the temporary pressure as one of those passing clouds which will ever, from time to time, obscure the political atmosphere. On the contrary, we contemplate the general state of the British Empire with a conscious glow of pride at the thought that we are English ; and that, with all her faults and all her miseries, England is still the most glorious and prosperous country in the universe. Ought we then to risk this gratifying and beneficial conviction by listening servilely to the suggestions of men, whose fond and foolish Uto- pianism displays a deplorable ignorance of human nature in general, and of seamen in particular ? Men of such weak understandings are often powerfully swayed by erroneous or mixed motives, of which they may not be aware, but which are not the less mischiev- ous on that account ; we cannot but despise them for the humi-
Y2
324 SURVEY OF THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA.
liating and false views with which they portray the imaginary pros- tration of their country. That the formidable energies of England are far from being worn out, the four quarters of the world can answer: and it is unquestionable that she now constitutes a happier and more virtuous state than the so much vaunted Greece or Rome, in their proudest days. Let every sailor, therefore, devote himself to the defence of the political and personal advantages, which we so abundantly possess, against every aggression: and may his loyal refrain be, —
" And 'midst the names most loved by thee,
Though mine may never stand ; Heav'n bless thee still, Queen of the Sea, Land of the BRAVE, land of the FREE, My own ! my father's land ! "
SURVEY OF THE WESTERN COAST OF AFRICA IN 1825-6.*
AT daylight on the following morning, we got under way, and stood with a light breeze to the southward towards Cape Formosa, and then continued along shore for the night, having but little wind. We were three days making the Cape, during which time we had constant employment, track-surveying the coast. We passed several large rivers, in one of which we observed three vessels lying at an- chor ; but a fresh breeze getting up from the westward, we did not stop to make inquiries, and were enabled to reach the entrance to the Bonny by the evening, where we found a brig at anchor, and came-to alongside her. Upon sending a boat on board, she proved to be an English vessel, waiting to complete her cargo of palm-oil. On the following morning, we stood along the coast to the eastward, passing several large rivers, most of which had extensive and dan- gerous bars at their entrance ; the coast generally low and woody. Towards noon we began to discern the peak of Fernando Po ; and shortly afterwards, the high land of Cameroons. At night we came- to about ten miles from the shore, off Tom Shot's Point, being the western entrance of the Calabar river ; and at daylight the next morning, despatched the whole of the boats, in order to make an expeditious survey: We were employed, without intermission, for three days at this work. This river, generally styled in maps the Old Calabar, but more properly the Calabar River, is the largest in the Bight of Biaffra or Benin. The entrance is about fifteen miles wide, with an extensive bar, leaving three and a half fathoms at low water, but when inside, six, seven, and eight, are obtained. There are three shoals between the two points, which leave very good channels on each side. The source of this river has not yet been ascertained, but I am led to believe, that most of the rivers on this part of the coast to the westward, are connected with it ; and very probably the whole of the flat sandy country through which they run, is an immense cluster of islands, formed by the different branches which connect them. This cannot, of course, be more than
* Concluded from page 50.
SURVEY OF THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA. 325
conjecture, as my professional duties prevented me from making any efforts to establish it as a fact ; at the same time, it is not a mere assertion without observation, as many concurring circumstances gave rise to the idea in my mind whilst employed on the survey ; and I feel confident, that in the course of discovery, it will be shown that the numerous rivers which empty themselves along this coast, are nearly all indebted to the same mighty source for their existence. To mention the many trifling evidences which, combined, served to impress this upon my imagination, would be no proof to either the man of science or general reader ; but when seen, they carry a living conviction to the mind that their mere mention never can : I shall, therefore, leave it to time and enterprise to establish the truth or fallacy of the assertion.
The short period we could devote to this river, would not admit of our making a very minute survey, but our charts are sufficiently accurate for all the purposes of navigation. We had no intercourse whatever with the natives ; not a boat of any description paid us a visit, much to our disappointment, as we would gladly have received any donations in the shape of yams, pigs, chickens, or any other species of fresh provision. Many vessels from England visit this place for cargoes of palm-oil, which they obtain about twenty miles up the river, at the town of Calabar. Having devoted as much time as possible to this survey, we got under way, and rounded the land of Backasey, about four miles from the shore, and soon after- wards came-to off the Rio del Rey. This land of Backasey is a very extraordinary projection, separating the two rivers from one another, forming a kind of promontory. The boats were employed the whole of one day and part of another, in procuring soundings at the en- trance of the Rio del Rey, which having done, we made sail to the southward, and came-to under the high land of Cameroons, where we obtained the latitude, for the purpose of joining our work done previous to going to Fernando Po. Having now completed the whole of the coast from the Cape of Good Hope to Fernando Po, and the Leven having done that from Fernando Po to Sierra Leone, we weighed from the anchorage to the above island, as the most likely place to obtain some fresh provisions before commencing our passage to Sierra Leone. We were a long time beating towards our destination, and did not reach the land until nearly dark ; we, there- fore, stood off for the night, and had plenty of amusement, (thanks to a slight tornado,) and abundance of rain, thunder, and lightning, which kept the watch pretty well occupied until morning, when the wind having moderated, we passed the north end of the island, and shortly afterwards came to an anchor, about a quarter of a mile from the Goat Rock, in seventeen fathoms.
During our stay here, four or five days, we were employed in the useful and amusing occupations of getting water and stock. The anchor was no sooner down, than the canoes flocked on board whole- sale, and although during our former visit we could get nothing but yams, yet now we found " cocks and their wives," as the Yankees call them, and these in great abundance. All they demanded for the sacrifice of their feathered associates, was the much-prized iron- hoop, and two or three inches of this procured a whole generation of
326 SURVEY OF THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA.
chickens, from the right reverend and tough great grandfather, to the tender and almost unfledged pullet. In fact, as soon as they discovered our propensity for the poultry-yard, a wonderful con- sternation ensued amongst the birds of the air, and many an unhappy maccau and cockatoo had to perform the duty of ducks and geese : their gaudy plumage plucked, pretty lips and tufted head decapi- tated, the discerning taste of Jack swallowed the noisy screamer with all the gout of a well-fed cackler ; and it would have been as easy to persuade him, that the ducks of Fernando Po were not web- footed and had no taste for water, as to convince him that the domestic gobbler on a village pond, was the genuine neb-footed cock- atoo, with a strong propensity for aquatic excursions. But as dead poultry of any description would not last a sea voyage of uncertain duration, they were only in request for present use, chickens being the standing article of barter for stock. Every messman was trying his best before starting, and the market was so well provided, that the race appeared to have a fair chance of becoming extinct, an inch or two of hoop always producing plenty of chickens, for which we made our own bargain, they throwing a quantity of yams into the scale as a kind of embellishment or garnish.
The fate of the three different stocks was rather varied and amusing, and as they shared in our disagreeables, and tried to add to our comforts even at the expense of their own — they deserve a slight mention here to rescue them from that oblivion in which they would otherwise be buried. Before the mast, they had obtained an immense quantity of all sizes and ages, and I verily believe, I saw the aboriginal cock and hen of Fernando Po, performing a spe- cies of dance — quite after the manner of the ancients — before some of the sailors, much to their gratification; this was their last per- formance previous to being pickled. I dare say few of my readers have ever ate "pickled chickens" it does not sound nice ; but twill relate faithfully the manner in which Jack performed this operation. Their caterer had contrived by various means, which history would rather say nothing about, to obtain bipeds enough to fill a thirty gallon cask. Now, it must be understood, that on board our ship eatables were at a high premium, for although every man was per- fectly honest, and would not on any account have taken a feather from the stock of another, yet there were some of our messmates whose gluttony, I regret to say, overcame their notions of honour and honesty, and in fact every proper notion that appertains to gastro- nomy ; who, labouring under all the disadvantages of a healthy, strong digestion, and not at all respecting the doctrines of ineum and luum, devoured everything, living or dead, that came in their way ; I need hardly mention the Bandicote, who unfortunately liked chickens to an amazing extent. Again, eatables in this climate do not improve by keeping ; nay, not even alive ; and these unhappy feathered warblers, soon after coming on board, ventured to betray symptoms of indigestion* and other bodi]y infirmities, which would
* The writer cannot positively say whether this arose from having nothing to digest, or from some defect in the organs necessary for that operation, but is in. clined to think their stomachs in a particularly healthy state.
SURVEY OF THE WEST COAST OP AFRICA. 327
very soon have left them in too unhealthy a state for any stomach but that of the above-mentioned rats. In consequence of this press- ing to be pickled, Jack was rather hard run for time to perform the usual preparatory operations. The brine was therefore got ready, and the poor chickens tumbled in without much ceremony; but here I must draw upon report for my information, and the on dils were, that in the hurry of the moment, and not being very par- ticular, Jack forgot to turn out the inside of the fowls, and fre- quently to take off the out, consequently, many a feathered monster sunk in the briny flood; nay, report said more, and it was whispered forth that these picklers had, it was supposed, upon a few occasions actually neglected to deprive the picklee of existence, and in corro- boration of this it was stated that dreadful screams had been heard jto issue from the tub which contained the " pickled chickens," for some little time after the lid had been fastened down. Be these re- ports true or not I cannot say, but certain I am that the morning after this pickling process, such a dreadful effluvia arose on board, that Styx would have been a pot pourri, compared with it. Every body stared and looked dreadful inquiries ; an investigation was in- stantly commenced, the result of which was, that this mauvaise odeur arose from Jack's pickling-tub, whiph was ordered to be im- mediately put overboard, and it required"all the powers of three of the strongest olfactories to consign this delicious preserve to the " deep, deep sea !" where if it did not give the fish in its neigh- bourhood some pestilential disease, they were not indebted for their escape to " pickled chickens," and thus poor Jack's hopes were at once destroyed.
The Captain and gun-room made an immediate seizure of all the coops, into which were crammed their victims, as close as nature and space would admit ; and when we left the island it was a glo- rious sight to see how comfortable they looked, I mean the officers and the chickens, the former to think what a good stock they had, and the latter with the idea of the pleasant voyage before them ; for rammed in by the force of arms they stood in any position they were fortunate enough to obtain upon their introduction, and there unchanged they hoped, to remain for three weeks or a month ; that is to say, if they happened to be within range of the trough, if not they had no chance, for all the squeezing and pushing in the world would not get the ravenous aspirant a grain of rice, and he would die of starvation by the side of a neighbour, whose straining throat could just grasp at the end of his beak a portion of their daily meal. Feeding poultry on board a ship, is at all times rather a diverting ceremony; I do not exactly know at what periods they are subject to this operation, whether when the boy, whose duty it is, thinks of it, or when he thinks they will die without ; but certain I am that they always eat as if it was not at all a regular or every- day occur- rence. Immediately the trough is filled, they commence swallowing its contents with no discretion but that contained in an empty sto- mach, thrusting their heads and greater part of their throats through the bars ; which position they keep until the provender is exhausted : then comes the " tug of war" — the crop, or as sailors call it, " the hold," is full, and many an unfortunate (ducks especially) have I
328 SURVEY OF THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA.
seen with his head and throat filled to an enormous extent, but, not having been withdrawn since the first attack, no power of the pos- sessor could get it again through the bars, and there they would re- main until black in the face. How long they could thus exist, I know not, but their gentle shepherd comes when he thinks the proper time has elapsed, and with his forefinger and thumb deliberately pokes the head and throat back to the disconsolate but attached corps. But to return to our poultry-yard; the idea of a pleasant voyage entertained by these chickens with the hope of being fed occasion- ally, was a mere vision of happiness doomed to die in its infancy — there was " Something rotten in the state of Denmark." The first morning the poulterer mustered stock, twenty casualties had taken place, nothing but beaks and feathers to return as old stores ; next day the mortality was considerable, with plenty of the above em- blems, and every succeeding morning the return was greater, andf the hopes of the officers less, until not a fowl was left to answer the muster-roll, they had all passed away to the region of .Bandicote ; and nothing but the beaks and feathers remained as evidence of their indigestible nature, and the absence of their late proprietors ; thus perished the hopes of the cabin and gun-room.
" Midshipmen's stock never dies," is a well known adage on board a man-of-war, and certainly our youngsters upon this occasion proved themselves brought up in a good school. Having obtained four or five dozen of the most healthy and happy-looking fowls they could meet with, for their caterer was a right knowing fellow, the next difficulty was where to put them ; with a due fear of Bandicote before their eyes, it was agreed, nem. con. that this was a very diffi- cult question, and it was some time before any one would hazard an idea — but at length an enlightened member of the assembly hit upon the bright thought of putting them into the locker in the berth, a place where no Bandicote ever dared show his savage head, although cockroaches abounded, but this was not considered an objection, as it was justly observed, that the chickens would by eating them make their keep less expensive, besides thinning that branch of de- stroyers. This motion was carried unanimously, and after a little preparation the fowls were committed, with some appropriate struggles, to the lightless, airless dwelling in which they were to live, if they could, until'they were eaten. To accommodate8them with respiration and prospect, half an inch of the lid was kept open by a wedge, so as not to incommode the young gentlemen when sitting. Upon leaving Fernando Po their stock was in a most nourishing condition, and it would have been highly amusing to an uninitiated to hear the cocks crowing all dinner-time, perhaps, stimulated by the savoury smell of some near relative done in currie ; but whatever the exhilarating cause, the effect was strange, as the sound appeared actually to issue from the young gentlemen, and an ignorant specta- tor would have boldly asserted that each of them had a living cock in his stomach. In four or five days, however, slight symptoms of indisposition and despondency were observed amongst these chickens, which some attributed to leaving their native land, others to sea-sick- ness, and a few, with perhaps more propriety, to want of exercise : accordingly a new regimen was introduced, and every' day after dinner they were taken out two at a time, placed on the table, fed
SURVEY OP THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA. 329
with rice, moderately, allowed six turns in the grog-tub, and then again consigned to their steam Pandemonium — to which the Black-hole at. Calcutta must have been an airy paradise. This course of diet and exercise was nevertheless successful, and the ship's company were constantly regaled with the smell of savoury pillatvs from the midshipmen's berth long after the others had ceased to exist.
Having heard at Bonny that the harbour in this island, where we had before been lying, was not the one usually frequented by ships visiting Fernando Po, after completing our water and stock as afore- said, we made sail to the northward, for the purpose of circum- navigating the island, in order to ascertain the situation of the one spoken of; but in consequence of unfavourable winds we did not again reach our starting-place until four days from our departure, having merely seen the anchorage we were in search of, but not having time to come-to. The view of this island is on all sides very picturesque, being covered with wood even to the water's edge ; the Peak, rising bare and brown in the centre, forming an admirable background to the more fertile scene. But as I have before given a description of this place, further mention is unnecessary.
On the 1st May 1826, we left Fernando Po, to make the most expeditious passage to Sierra Leone ; the wind blew constantly from the south-east, with, for some time, a slight tornado every night. On the 13th, whilst in the Gulf of Guinea, latitude 4° 22" north, and longitude 2° 04" east, the wind being south-west, and our course lying west, we tacked and stood to the S. S. E. In the evening we had some rain with lightning, and rather a suspicious calm; but about eleven o'clock a breeze sprang up from the south-east, upon which we shortened sail to fore-sail, and lowering the top-sails on the caps. These and some other precautionary measures had just been taken when a scene burst upon us which never can be for- gotten. The ship was well under way, and bounding over the billows with velocity, or, as beautifully described by Byron, " Walked the waters like a thing of life,"
when in an instant the wind shifted from the south-east to the north-west, and took us right aback. It came with all its violence at once — no sweeping gust to give notice of its rapid approach, but with all its fury fell upon us, overwhelming and terrific ; even now, when I think upon the fearful velocity of that whirlwind, I cannot help wondering how we could have escaped from its destructive power. It is impossible to describe the confusion that it made — a,s the ship received the shock, she seemed to recoil beneath its force, and, sinking deeply at the stern, it appeared that before she could recover from her awful situation the next wave would bury her for ever in its abyss. Every timber groaned and creaked with frightful discord, while the blast played a dismal requiem as it rushed through the strained rigging. It was an awful moment — every thing that the promptitude of decision could effect was done — the cool command was given and quickly executed, but skill could now do but little, and a sensitive anxiety was felt by all as they watched the half-buried and labouring ship trying to recover from her perilous plunge. Many a beating heart at that moment thought of home,
330 SURVEY OF THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA.
with the sadness of eternal separation ; friends, relations, all that were loved rushed upon the mind, and on the silent sigh of despair might have been traced many a sorrowful farewell. But hope again broke upon us, the yielding masts at length relieved the ship, and she rose gracefully from the wave, in which many at that moment feared to find a tomb. To weather during the remainder of this tornado re- quired all the seamanship of our ever-active commander, whose cool- ness upon this occasion was only equalled by his judgment. The rain poured in torrents, and, carried by the hurricane, came upon us with the force of hailstones, while the lightning played in one conti- nued flash, and, as it danced among the rigging, showed the havoc which our masts and sails had undergone ; and it was a providential occurrence, that no part of our ship was struck by the many-forked messengers of destruction that were piercing the water around us. We lay in this situation for nearly an hour, without the tornado abating the least of its fury ; the waves roaring, dashing, and foam- ing against us in every direction, and each succeeding moment appearing destined for our last. But never yet has pen described the terrors and beauties of an ocean storm. It is not the wind, the bursting sky, or bellowing sea, that make it horrible or sublime — for both it is ; we shrink from its wild rage, but admire its grandeur ; and would pause to look, but the rush of thought blinds the percep- tion ; the mind becomes part of the battling elements ; and the de- scription when it is passed, is not what it would be during its exist- ence. Many who read this observation will acknowledge its truth, and feel that there is a something, which no pen has ever touched, wanted to delineate a storm at sea. In these mighty convulsions of nature, the feelings vibrate to the surrounding scene ; the soul is, by turns, throbbing with anxiety or sinking with despair, as the ele- ments seem riving the world with their lawless violence, or are confined by the Great Power who rules them.
" Then stirs the feeling infinite."
Conscience, tender recollections, and religious awe combine, and man feels his boasted courage forsake him ; not his physical cou- rage, but that which makes him commit crime in defiance of his God. Whether I here name it rightly, signifies little ; it will be un- derstood by all. When thus surrounded by the terrific power of that Deity, he feels himself subdued ; this makes him a coward in thought; he loses confidence in himself and his own strength, and turns, with what hope his conscience will allow, to Heaven. But it would be presumption in me to expect to finish that pictui'e which so many abler hands have failed in : I will, therefore, continue my plain unvarnished " Journal."
The morning broke, calm and bright : the hurricane and clouds had passed away as if it were a dream, and such we might have thought it, had we not had destructive evidence of its existence. The main-top and mizen-mast were carried away ; the fore-top-mast sprung, and one of the main lower shrouds snapped in two; the fore-top-mast was in so bad a state, that it became absolutely neces- sary to shift it, and with the stump of the mizen and part of a top- mast, we contrived to make a pretty good jury-mast, answering many of the purposes of the late mizen. But this was not all we
SURVEY OF THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA. 331
had to undergo ; for the tornado came armed with every disagree- able consequence ; and with a malice peculiarly adapted to the unfortunate, left us with the pleasing anticipation of early starva- tion. But it is necessary to understand, that at Fernando Po we procured, with our ill-fated chickens, a large and equally ill-fated stock of very fine yams, which, at that particular time, were highly valuable. These were put into nets, and fastened to the boats' davits, where they constantly regaled our sight with their pleasing countenances : the boat, by the same chain of events, was dependent upon the mizen for its locality ; consequently, with the mast, went boat, davits, yams, and the hopes of the Barracouta. The imme- diate result was, being put upon one-third allowance of meat and no allowance of bread ; for although the full allowance was liberally given out every day, yet the state in which it was, defied all the powers of absolute starvation to feed upon its animated particles. Even the cockroaches and rats, whose appetites overcame their dis- cretion, soon betrayed symptoms of indigestion, and, in many in- stances, fell victims to too fond an attachment for live biscuits. In consequence of these little privations, or whatever else they may be called, we looked forward with some anxiety to our arrival at Sierra Leone ; being rather an apt illustration of comparative happiness ; for every body knows that place to be — not the second worst in this world ; and any gentleman going there from England would only bless the day when he did not arrive, while we, on the contrary, were looking forward with pleasure and impatience for the comforts and luxuries we should there meet with : and what is happiness, what is comfort, but comparison ? If the prince be reduced to a nobleman, he is unhappy ; but if the same individual, instead of being a prince, had been a commoner, and then made a nobleman, he would have been happy. I leave this moral absurdity to be dis- cussed by wiser heads, and only say that our joy was great, when on the 4th of June we arrived at Sierra Leone. Our surprise and gra- tification were considerably enhanced by finding our consort, the Leven, lying at anchor up the river, as well as the Maidstone. Con- gratulations were mutual, and we felt like the remainder of a long separated family meeting at Christmas, when a tear falls trickling, and in silence, as the vacancies are observed which used to be filled by those still dear — but now no more.
I must here be allowed to pay a slight tribute of respect to the abilities and kindness of our very excellent Commodore, W. F. W. Owen. The former my pen could not enhance the merit of; his works speak for themselves, and future generations will benefit by the talents which compiled them. The kindness which he uniform- ly showed to all under his command, must be impressed deeply on their recollections. His duty was an arduous one : the constant ex- posure and exertion was, as I before said, injurious in the extreme to his officers and men. When the melancholy reports were made to him, although no external indications could be observed to damp the spirit of the survivors, yet it was evident that he felt, and that deeply, for the noble fellows who were gone. All that the tenderness of a father could devise to guard the thoughtless seamen against the poisonous climate, he insisted upon their conforming to ;
332 SURVEY OF THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA.
while the officers were stimulated by his example, not to allow de- spondency to prey upon their minds, and thus cherish a powerful ally to disease. Upon our arrival at Sierra Leone, I was personally indebted to him for my restoration to health, and, in fact, life. I had for some time been affected with a disease in the liver, attended with severe pain in the side ; and, within the last two months, had been suffering much from a complaint in the lungs, frequently throwing up large quantities of blood. The doctor said that nothing but great attention to my diet would be of service ; but the state of our provision gave little hopes from that quarter ; and I believe if our voyage had lasted another week, nature would have sunk beneath the increasing ills under which she laboured. In fact, I had made up my mind fully for such a result ; but it was otherwise or- dained, and to a good constitution, and the kindness of Capt. Owen, I am indebted for existence. He immediately had me conveyed on board the Leven, where I had every accommodation and attention that my very precarious situation required. For this, and the numerous other kindnesses which I am indebted to him for, I trust he will allow me to return my deep-felt gratitude : and if I were to express it in the name of all who served and suffered with him in this expedition, I have little hesitation in saying that I should write that only which they feel.*
We found, upon our arrival, that the cruisers under Commodore Bullen's command, had been very successful in their efforts against the slavers ; seven were lying in the harbour, and two came in during our stay ; another was unfortunately lost whilst on her pas- sage to Sierra Leone, being upset in a tornado, when 180 slaves and some sailors found a watery grave. After remaining here for ten days, we got under way, in order to survey the coast from Cape Ann to Cape Mesurado, but after four days passed in fruitless efforts to get to the southward, on the 17th of June 1826 we bore up, to the great delight of every body on board, for the homeward-bound passage. And I will unhesitatingly say, that this was the happiest moment we had enjoyed for four years and a half. As the order was given, a glow ran through the bosoms of all, which few have felt since, and, perhaps, never will feel again ; for
" None are so desolate, but something dear, Dearer than self, possesses or possessed A thought, which claims the homage of a tear."
It was—" For England, home, and beauty !" — All thought our ship felt the magic sound as she bounded with fresh life and vigour over the waves towards her native shore. I would place you, reader, in our situation : on a distant coast for nearly five years, away from the track of ships for months together ; seeing daily our comrades
* A beautiful and appropriate memorial of their sentiments was presented to Capt. Owen, by the officers and crew of His Majesty's ships Leven and Barracouta, on their return from this expedition. It was designed and executed by Messrs. Green and Ward, of Cockspur street ; and represents the emblematical figures of the Earth supporting a globe, with a track of this survey accurately delineated in enamel. The whole composed of silver, standing nearly two feet high, dividing at the equator, and then forming a bowl. Beneath is an inscription, in accordance with the feelings that dictated the offering.
SURVEY OF THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA. 333
fall around us from the too- fatal climate ; subject to every privation and danger, with but little information from those most dear to us, — and then hear the word given for " Home ! " — you would feel the thoughts rush into broken channels of hope and fear, too varied and almost too pleasing for endurance. We might be compared to the survivors at the close of a bloody battle, when the roar and destruc- tion is over ; we felt that we were saved, and thanked Heaven for our miraculous escape. The battle we had fought was not bloody, but it was fatal ; we saw not the foe that made such ravages upon our brave and unfortunate companions, but all felt that we were subject to its deadly influence, without a struggle to be subdued. It was now past ; the order was for " Home !" and then I felt that any spot in this dear isle was home ; to stand upon the barren waste which her happy sons would scorn, will repay the long absent Briton for all he has endured. They say that Englishmen have not a love of country — ask one of her exiled children, whom years and tender ties may have fixed in a foreign land, where is his home ? and he will tell you " England :" that he loves no other country or people, and that it would embitter the last moments of his existence to think that his bones would whiten in any but his native soil. No, it is the well-fed, discontented resident, who, never having been in a foreign land, fancies that England is not the home of his affec- tions ; but from necessity, or as a punishment, compel him to leave it, and then he, like all her children, sighs for his isle, " his native isle," and says, —
" England, with all thy faults, I love thee still ! "
But our ship now bears us, after nearly five years' absence, to our native shore : us ! that little monosyllable is but half filled ! — we leave the many on that deadly coast, and return the few. It was melancholy to think at this moment, as our ship bore us from that land, on the changes that the hand of Death had made. I looked round and saw but two or three who had left England with me, and they were pale and almost dying ; but the hope that they would once more see all that they loved had thrown a ray of cheerfulness over their pallid cheeks. When our companions were falling around us, we felt it not so much as now, — now that we were leaving their re- mains upon a foreign shore who had left England with us, full of hope, youth, and health, little thinking that they would never more return to those so dear, but moulder on that friendless, fatal coast.
Pardon, kind reader, my giving expression to feelings that still live within me in the freshness of that moment, and if I call from you a tear for my departed comrades, I would place it upon the altar which fond remembrance has raised to their memory, for they lie in a land where the elements alone sound their sad requiem, with little to mark their lonely graves, and none to weep over them ! But there are some feelings of the human breast that appear to find language but in verse ; love and tender recollections are amongst them, for poetry is the eloquence of the heart, as prose is that of the head. I make this my excuse for the following attempt, and as they sleep without an epitaph, a mournful heart offers this slight effort — its only merit its sincerity.
334 SURVEY OF THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA.
FRIENDSHIP'S MONODY.
Lonely and sad is the spot where we laid them ;
In the land of the savage they 're mouldering away ; No stone marks their grave, but memory has made them
A tomb in this heart that will never decay. And can ye remember, who loved them so well,
When they left you for ever to visit that shore — No pang or no look as they bade you farewell,
Which whisper'd your heart " you will see them no more ?"
Oh, yes ! you remember, there was in that eye
A look full of sadness that spoke of the grave ; As they rush'd from your arms you felt 'twas to die !
But they died for their country — the young and the brave.
And sorrow still weeps, while affection is beating Her bosom with grief, as she thinks on the dead;
And friendship is yet in remembrance repeating The name of the heroes whose spirits are fled.
Forgotten by fame, no mausoleum is raised
That tells to mankind how they suffer 'd and died ;
They lived not in splendour, in death to be praised On the tablet of marble — that record of pride.
But, comrades, sleep on, though the world should forget you, Though the hearts that have loved should love you no more ;
Still, friends of my youth ! I shall ever regret you, And remember your grave on that desolate shore !
But as I would not conclude these papers in a strain of melancholy, having thus paid my slight tribute to those who are gone, I dry the tear from an eye that is not ashamed of it, and will endeavour to call one smile more from my readers before we part, perhaps, for ever.
We had rather a tedious passage to England, but it was extra- ordinary to see how the pale, emaciated figures on board quickly recovered their wonted hale, hearty appearance as we got into more congenial climes. We only touched at the Western Isles for a sup- ply of water ; then made as direct a course as possible ; and on the 15th of August reached Start Point — the point of our attractions. Having thus got to an anchor at the end of my " Journal of the Western Coast," although but a short part of our expedition, I shall conclude by making a few observations upon the ancient and modern charts of Africa. I am partly induced to do this from having recently had an opportunity of seeing a very curious, and in those days considered accurate, map of Africa, both the coast and interior. This work is called " A prospect of the most famous parts of the world, performed by John Speed in 1627." I believe the copy which came into my hands is almost the only one extant con- taining letter-press descriptions, even that in the British Museum being without any, the triteness and singularity of which afford a vast fund of amusement amongst a very little information.
The map of Africa is most admirably engraved, and affords every information that we have been so long and unsuccessfully trying to obtain ; and our very great grandfathers sat by their fire-sides, and with the assistance of John Speed's compendious map, told the exact situation of every town, village, and hamlet, from Timbuctoo to the
SURVEY OP THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA. 335
Cape of Good Hope. This instructive compilation gives every in- telligence that the curious or learned can possibly desire ; every minute particular is laid down with the greatest nicety. The beasts, birds, and fishes, are all in their proper places ; and the angler would have no difficulty, by reference to this map, in choosing his bait before leaving England. An elephant is depicted standing in Africa, his tail resting in Europe, and his trunk on Asia ! A lion, in a fantastic gambol, is skipping over a kingdom, while two ostriches and one swan occupy twelve degrees of longitude, by about seven and a half of latitude. A monkey is sitting down comfortably in Nubia, picking cocoa-nuts in Abyssinia: and numerous other animals of those days, whose names are not now remembered, and whose persons are, or ought to be extinct, are amusing themselves after their own peculiar fashion, each having his little bit of the world in the same just proportion. The surrounding seas are represented as abounding with fish of most unwieldy dimensions ; and .so deter- mined is that vivacious and able historian and geographer to let man- kind know to what species they belong, that the Island of Madagascar appears more like a mole on the back of a neighbouring dolphin, than the almost continent which its extent implies. A ship is sur- rounded by half-a-dozen flying fish ; but according to relative pro- portion, she is placed in rather a precarious situation ; as nothing is wanting but inclination on the part of its amphibious attendants, to lift it from its briny resting-place, and transport it wherever their malice or desires might dictate. But the most curious part of this map, is the minuteness with which the interior is depicted ; every town has its precise name and situation, while the rivers are at no loss whatever to find an easy source, course, and exit ; and far from any difficulty about the Niger, Mr. Speed lays it down with the greatest precision. Instead of, as in modern charts, seeing nearly forty degrees of latitude, and twenty of longitude, without a mark to indicate the probability of a town, this is covered with populous cities, as thick as that of England. Whether this map, which, doubtless in its day, was considered perfectly accurate, was compiled from the works of others, or was merely one of imagination, I cannot pretend to say ; but I strongly suspect that Mr. John Speed contented him- self with a moderately correct outline, and then filled up the interior at his leisure : at all events, compare it with one of our latest charts of the African continent, and any ignorant observer will say, that geographical knowledge has receded. The immense blank of from 2 to 3000 miles in modern works, is a strong evidence of our ignorance respecting that part of the world, and a convincing proof of the accuracy of the remainder. And far from being unsatisfac- tory, it is a pleasing contemplation that no pretended knowledge is employed to fill up our charts ; that no supposition, however well- founded, will add a mark to express the probable existence of a place ; and that not until the enterprise of man has made it a cer- tainty, will any addition be made. This will bring them to the highest state of perfection, and a work thus compiled by the present age, will convey a far different impression to those to come than Mr. Speed's has brought to us ; for time, in all his changes, has made but little alteration in the formation of the earth. We can now in
336 SURVEY OF THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA.
our library bring before us most of the countries of the globe, with a knowledge that what is there is correct ; that science and truth were united in the delineation ; and in consequence of this accuracy, the charts compiled by British talent, have obtained the first place in the hydrographical department of Europe ! To conclude these ob- servations, I shall again return to the veritable Mr. John Speed, and endeavour to amuse the reader by a few extracts from his very curious description of Africa ; which to enjoy in all the primitive richness of his style, shall be given in his own terse figures of speech. He begins with —
" Terra Nigritarum, the land of negroes; it is full of gold, and silver, and other commodities ; but the inhabitants most barbarous : for the most part they live not as if reason guided their actions. Maginus numbers twentie-five provinces of this country which have had their severall go- vernours ; now it knoweth but foure kings, and those are — first, the King of Tombulum, and he is an infinite rich monarch, hates a Jew to the death of his subject that converseth with him. Second, the King of Bornaum, where the people have no proper names — no wives peculiar — and therefore no children which they call their owne. Third, of Goaga, who hath no estate but from his subjects as he spends it. Fourth, Gualatum, a poore countrey, God wot ; not worth either gentrie, or lawes, or indeed the name of a kingdome.
" Ethiopia Inferior. — The government of this region is under five free kings. First, of Atana, which containes in it two petty kingdomes, of Adel and Adia, and abounds with flesh, honey, wax, gold, ivorie, corne, and very large sheep. Second, Zanguebar ; in this stands Mozambique, the inhabit- ants are practised much in soothsaying, indeed witchcraft. Third, of Monomolopa, in which is reported to be three thousand mines of gold. Here there lives a kinde of Amazons as valiant as men ; their king is served in great pompe, and hath a guard of two hundred mastives. Fourth, Cafraria, whose people live in the woods, without lawes, like brutes : and here stands the Cape of Good Hope, about which the sea is always rough and dangerous : it hath been especially so to the Spaniard ; it is their owne note, insomuch that one was very angry with God that he suffered the English heretickes to passe it so easily over, and not give his Catholickes the like speed. Fifth, Monicongo, whose inhabitants are in some parts Christians, but in other by provinces Anthropophagi, and have shambles of man's flesh, as we have for meate; they kill their owne children in the birth, to avoide the trouble of breeding them, and preserve their nation with stolen bratts from their neighbouring countries."
After thus describing the different kingdoms of Africa, he makes the following draft upon his philosophical attainments ; which is quite a gem to any author about attempting a new system of creation.
" And it hath beene the opinion of some vaine philosophers, that for this cause have made the Africans to be the first people ; for that there the sunne, by his propinquitie, wrought soonest upon the moisture of the ground, and made it fit for mortalitie to sprout in. And we have a report, if you will believe it, that in ground neere the river Nilus, there have been found mice halfe made up, and Nature taken in the very nicke, when she had already wrought life in the fore parts, head and breast ; the hinder joynts yet remaining in the forme of earth ! "
This is the author of whom Tyrrel observed, "he was the first English writer who varied from the style of Geoffry of Monmouth, and engaged himself with objects more solid and important."
H. B. K.
337
SKETCHES OF THE BURMESE WAR. NO. II. — THE VOYAGE.
THERE are, I think, few scenes which can be compared in artificial beauty with the banks of the Hooghly, for some miles below Cal- cutta. They impress the stranger on his arrival in the East with the most favourable idea of the wealth and beauty of the land he is about to visit, and for a while they realize those highly coloured pictures of oriental splendour that the young enthusiast is apt to form, Avhen his imagination has been excited by the perusal of the Arabian Nights, and other oriental tales, which touch upon the mag- nificence and splendour of the East, and draw a veil over the reverse of the picture. I shall never forget the moment when first I beheld Garden Reach. My head was probably more than sufficiently filled with oriental fantasies. My sole study for some days before we made the land, had been those delightful tales, the Arabian Nights ; and when we sailed up the river, and for the first time I beheld the bright green rice fields, the graceful cocoa-nut trees, the neat villages, and curious pagodas, of the strange people whom I saw around me, I felt perfectly transported with delight. This senti- ment was further increased, when, at daybreak in the morning, we rounded an angle of the river, and Garden Reach appeared before us. As we glided along between its verdant banks, palace succeed- ed palace, surrounded with pleasure-grounds, laid out with the greatest taste, and planted with trees and shrubs, which appeared of the greatest rarity, — as with us these are the inmates of the hothouse. The colonnades, the verandahs, the balustrades of the houses, formed a mixed style of architecture, combining the advan- tages of space and airiness with solidity and grandeur ; and I could scarcely persuade myself, that the country which presented itself in so imposing a manner to my sight, should be merely a dependency of the British Crown. Chowringhie, Fort William, and the City of Palaces, with its forest of shipping, next appeared, and I felt my- self fully justified in thinking, that the capital of Bengal excelled the capital of the mother country in the regularity and beauty of its edifices, for I only remembered London as it existed before Regent- street was built, and Roman cement used as a coating to the dingy brick of our houses.
Two years had elapsed from the time when first I beheld Garden Reach and the moment when I again sailed past it on my way to Ava, but it no longer had the same charms for me. The houses, the gardens were the same ; the verdure of the herbage and plantations was undiminished ; and the azure sky was still bright and cloudless: the light canoes and dingies of the natives shot merrily past us ; and the scene was further enlivened by numerous large Indiamen, full of soldiers, and dropping down the stream on the same errand as ourselves. But the novelty of Bengal scenery had worn off. I was now awake to the mere emptiness of oriental show ; I was sated with the extreme luxuriance of vegetation and insipid sameness of the country ; and I sighed for the sight of a mountain, and anxiously
U. S. JOURN. No. 40. MARCH 1832. z
338 SKETCHES OF THE BURMESE WAR.
looked forward to once more inhaling the pure and invigorating breeze of the ocean.
The first day after leaving Calcutta, we anchored opposite to Budge Budge, where a tolerably good hotel on the banks of the river is of great service to the Calcutta Cockneys for their parties of pleasure. A flaming advertisement from the proprietor induced us to go on shore, in order, to use his own words, " that we might assist in destroying the shoals of delicious mangoe-fish that were in- vading his mansion." The mangoe-fish, as every one ought to know, is, in India, pronounced to be the most delicate fish in the world. It is certainly the best of the few good things that are to be had in that country ; it makes its appearance in shoals during three months of the year, when it seeks the rivers to deposit its spawn, and its arrival is hailed with delight by all the gourmands in Calcutta. On reaching the hotel, we found that several gig loads of Calcutta citi- zens had already arrived and taken possession of all the rooms ; we, however, were determined that our first attempt at foraging should not be fruitless, and by dint of manoeuvring, we succeeded in esta- blishing ourselves, much to our satisfaction and that of our new acquaintance. Next day we reached Fultah, where, by the by, there is a village inhabited solely by the female sex ! We made no stay at Diamond Harbour, another station on the river, famed for its insalubrity, but prosecuted our voyage, and finally left the river, and stood out to sea on the 17th April.
The vessel which now had the honour of bearing me and my for- tunes, was of about five hundred tons burthen, and pertaining to that class of free traders called country ships, which, plying between the islands and ports of the eastern seas, collect the various exports of those countries, and dispose of them to the European traders at the great commercial depots of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay. She was built of teak ; her cordage was formed with the fibres of the cocoa-nut, and her crew was likewise oriental, being composed of Lascars (Mohammedan natives). The captain and his mates were the only European sailors on board, and in the event of bad weather, we had little to expect from the services of the crew, for although the Lascars answer very well in clear fine weather, they are perfectly
useless in a gale. Teak ships last for ever. The E had already
floated during a quarter of a century, and she was still considered sea- worthy : but we who had the misfortune to be embarked in her, were of a different opinion, for her timbers were literally alive with insects and reptiles of various kinds, which it would have been im- possible to eradicate, save by the total submersion of the vessel in the ocean. The cockroaches swarmed in countless myriads, and at night our rest was constantly broken by these insects buzzing and flying in our faces. This was a minor evil, for, although disagree- able, they are perfectly harmless companions ; but such was not the case with the centipedes and scorpions, which likewise contributed to animate our bark. The former are disgusting in appearance, and their bite is venomous; and although we were constantly on our guard against them, we found that they made their approaches in spite of our precautions. One day I remember being seated in the cuddy reading, when I felt something crawling on my breast, and
SKETCHES OF THE BURMESE WAR. 339
with an instinctive shudder, I plunged my hand under my waistcoat, and flung the reptile on the table; it was a huge centipede, more than six inches long ! On another occasion I was awoke in the middle of the night by the sensation of something creeping upon me. I threw off the bed-clothes, and, in an agony of fear, roared out for a light. My horror may be conceived, when I ascertained that two centipedes had been the companions of my slumbers ! I cannot bear to think of the hideous reptiles even now ; but on board of the
E , we learned to make a virtue of necessity, and soon ceased to
regard their appearance as a subject of alarm.
The captain of the E was a miserable little wretch, who
seemed to have engaged in the expedition much against his will, for nothing but doleful prognostications issued from his lips ; the cause of this we afterwards discovered to proceed from an instinctive aversion that he had to shots, shells, and gunpowder. His mate was more of an original, and, from what I could gather of his his- tory, I concluded him to be either a ci-devant pirate or one of the Bounty mutineers. He was about sixty years of age, and his tall muscular frame bore evident marks of frequent exposure to the sun and wind ; his features were marked and forbidding, and although there was a spark of daring in his eye, yet it quailed beneath the gaze of a stranger, and he shrank from observation as if conscious that he was deservedly an object of suspicion. It was this apparent disinclination to be noticed that first attracted my attention, and although when at dinner he seldom spoke, except when addressed by the captain, yet I learned from a few words that he accidentally uttered, that the greatest part of his life had been passed at Otaheite and amongst the South Sea Islands. My imagination instantly arranged that he was one of the Bounty's crew, and although from his age he must have been a mere boy at the time, I resolved to sound him. One day, therefore, at dinner, I casually mentioned the name of Capt. Bligh, and closely watched the mate, to see whether it would awaken any past recollections. The name had a talismanic effect — he started, his lip quivered, and for an instant losing the self- possession that usually characterized him, he exclaimed, " What Capt. Bligh ? do you mean Capt. Bligh of the Bounty ?" — " Yes," I answered, " do you know any thing of him ?" He fixed a piercing look upon me, as if to read my thoughts, and then answering gruffly in the negative, he rose from his seat and left the cabin.
" Your mate is an odd kind of person," I observed to the Captain ; " I could almost fancy him to be one of Bligh's mutineers, for he seemed to be much affected when I mentioned his name." — " Yes, he is an odd kind of chap," answered the skipper, " but he is a right-good seaman." Here the subject dropped for the moment, but shortly afterwards, when I was pacing up and down the quarter- deck with the little captain, he called out to the mate, who was leaning against the capstan with folded arms in meditative mood —
" Mr. H , here is this gentleman thinks as how you was one of
Bounty Bligh's men." — " Does he ?" responded the mate, and he raised his head and scowled at me in a manner which I thought far from pleasant, " does he ? then let him think so ! any thing for a quiet life !" From that moment the mate shunned me, and although
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340 SKETCHES OF THE BURMESE WAR.
I would have given any thing to satisfy my curiosity, I never could pierce through the mystery that enveloped him, and is so foreign to the frankness and cheerfulness of a British sailor. I remained, how- ever, firmly convinced that, even if not one of the Bounty's crew, he must in some way have been connected with their crime, and that, at all events, he had shared in some of those wild deeds of criminal daring that were committed with impunity amongst the unfrequented islets of the Eastern seas. Piratical outrages were of every-day occurrence, and that they were not better known, is attributable to the exterminating system of the rovers, whose motto was, that " dead
men tell no tales." The answer made by T (one of Lord
Byron's boon companions), when asked by the noble bard how the pirates of the Eastern seas disposed of their prisoners, illustrates
their motto better than any other description. T , it seems,
had passed some time in a piratical bark, and Byron, who was always glad to have a ruffian hero in his train, did not like him the less for this little escapade. "Well, but how did you dispose of your prisoners?" said his Lordship to him one day. "We never took any," the other coolly replied ; " we always sent our Malays on board the prize, and they used to return and say that there was no one on board !" The Malays are celebrated for their unsparing use of the kriss or dagger.
The wind favoured us, and as our sailing orders directed us to steer direct for the Great Andaman Island, and there to rendezvous in Port Cornwallis, we were not annoyed by the necessity of keep- ing company with the other vessels of our fleet. Sometimes we had calms, and then the skipper would walk up and down the poop with his hands behind him whistling for a wind ; sometimes this charm failed of effect, and one day that he had whistled until his lungs were exhausted, the second-mate finding that whistling was of no use, asked me confidentially whether I could give him an old shoe to fling out of the larboard port-hole in the cuddy. Having ascer- tained that this offering was meant for the purpose of propitiating both Neptune and Eolus, I willingly presented him with a pair of old shoes, which we forthwith hove overboard. There was, indeed, a charm in these ! scarcely had they touched the water when a few cats patvs began to play gently on the surface of the ocean — then there arose a slight ripple, such as barely sufficed to dispel the glassy smoothness of the waves — this gradually increased, and in half an hour our white cotton sails were asleep, and we glided almost imperceptibly along, although the reel assured us we were running six knots an hour ! That my old shoes were the cause of this good fortune, no sensible person can for a moment doubt. The original proposer of the measure assured me that he had never known it to fail, and I can bear witness to its efficacy. I just allude to the circumstance in order that some of our gallant sailors may avail themselves of my experience, as occasion offers, and I hope that my liberality in imparting such valuable knowledge may be re- ceived as a convincing proof that no jealousy now exists between the sister services. For some days the wind continued to favour us, and our voyage was delightful; indeed, I think that a cruize in these latitudes is so pleasant during the prevalence of fine weather and
SKETCHES OF THE BURMESE WAR. 341
the trade-winds, that it is almost worth while taking a trip to the tropics for the purpose of enjoying the sail. The sea and sky are so clear and blue, the sun so bright, the breeze so invigorating, and the moonlight nights so delicious, that the mind and spirits are both enlivened and soothed. And then there is one scene which presents itself occasionally, that affords a great treat to the imagination, and is of such unrivalled beauty that no pen can adequately describe it : it is only between the tropics that the sunsets are worth seeing ; in Italy, in the Mediterranean, I have at times watched the close of day, and I have listened to the admiration expressed by the de- lighted inhabitants of a northern clime when they have gazed upon the sun as it dipped in the Adriatic, but their exclamations have only caused me to smile in pity, for I recollected the first time that I beheld a sunset between the tropics. It was my great delight in the
evenings to lean over the side of the E and watch the setting
sun, and fancy that I beheld another world in the heavens above me ; and when the deep lurid glare of the sun, ere it reached the horizon, had tinted the clouds with its brilliancy, and the fickle vapours had assumed the forms of gorgeous palaces, islands, mountains, nay, of every thing almost that is on earth, then used I to sigh that I could not exchange the dull realities of this world for the bright phantasma before me : then have I wished that faerism and necro- mancy might not be mere creatures of the imagination, and that some benignant sprites would transport me to their blest abode. But scarcely has the fancy time to revel for awhile amidst the scenes it creates for itself, when the pageant vanishes ; a cold gray tint over- spreads the horizon, the last rays of the now invisible sun melt away, and in half an hour all is darkness. In these climes there is no twilight to succeed the light of day, night instantly follows the setting of the sun, and the dawn of day precedes for a very short time the sunrise.
Nine days prosperous sailing brought us within sight of the Great Andaman Islands, and we were truly gratified with the appearance of the land. A lofty mountain rose from the centre of the island, and falling in a succession of smaller hills towards the seas, was ter- minated by a bold rocky shore. A canopy of clouds floated on the summit of the peak, and the whole of the land was covered with rich forests, which reflected all the various hues of green, as the clouds flitted between the island and the solar rays. A bright white streak along the beach marked where the surf was dashing, and many islets at a short distance from the large island, in a small space presented every variety of romantic scenery — here a large mass of rocks bade defiance to the ocean — there magnificent trees bent their venerable branches over the waves. The sun was bright, the heavens clear, and we who were unaccustomed to the beauty of the Eastern isles, fancied that we beheld an earthly paradise. The next morning we had to beat round the northern point of the island, the current having carried us to the westward, and we found our- selves in company with about twenty ships, steering the same course as ourselves, and forming part of our expedition.
On the morning of the 5th of May, our captain informed us, that we were off the entrance to Port Cornwallis, our destined harbour,
342 SKETCHES OF THE BURMESE WAR.
but we looked in vain to the shore in search of an entrance to the Port, we could only observe that all the ships in company were standing towards the shore, and that one by one they disappeared, as if swallowed up by the land. We likewise steered towards the island, and when within a mile of the beach, we perceived a narrow opening, between two wooded hills, but still there were no indica- tions of its being an outlet to a harbour of such celebrity as Port Cornwallis. We, however, followed in the wake of a ship that was a short distance a-head of us ; she made straight for the opening, and soon afterwards we saw her masts and sails intermingled with the trees of the forest, as she rapidly shot past them, and then we lost sight of her. There was something particularly exciting in the ignorance and uncertainty we felt as to our destination — on we sailed, we knew not whither ; and I felt that our situation was like that of some hero in a marvellous tale, who, meeting with a rapid river rushing into a gloomy cavern, seizes the bark that awaits him, and boldly trusts himself on the mysterious stream, when, after incurring every kind of gloomy and horrible adventure, he finds him- self issuing from the cave unhurt, and enters a lovely country such as mortal never yet beheld. Now, something of this kind happened to us, when, after threading the narrow channel for about a mile, we suddenly entered the placid, beautiful basin known as Port Corn- wallis. It was about a mile in width, and at this part nearly twice as much in length (a sharp turn of the land concealed the re- mainder of it from ovir observation). Around it rose hill above hill, the whole covered with wood, the growth of centuries ; and under the protection of these mountains, securely sheltered from every wind, between thirty and forty ships of our fleet were anchored. Never had the solitude of this spot been so invaded before; the forests now rang with the sound of the axe, and of human voices, where our parties were cutting wood and procuring water ; the calm surface of the harbour, which during many years had been undisturbed, save by the occasional visit of a French privateer in the last war, or by the humble canoes of the savage islanders, was now literally alive with human beings ; every boat in the fleet had been lowered, and when we took up our anchorage, their crews were plying about for the ^purpose of acquiring the use of the paddles, which, in order to afford more room for the troops when disembark- ing, had been substituted for the oars.
We had not been long at anchor, ere, with pardonable impatience, we obliged our skipper to give us a boat, and then we pulled to- wards the shore that seemed so delightful ; but the spot where we anchored did not equal our expectations : it was the only place where water had been discovered, and the supply was scanty and bad. But beyond the beach, where our men had cleared away the brushwood, we found it impossible to penetrate ; nothing could pass through the vegetable net-work of those fearful forests. Though bright was their surface when viewed from afar, yet dark and gloomy did they appear on a closer inspection; the enormous stems of the trees sup- ported a canopy of foliage so dense and interwoven, as to be almost impenetrable to the light. Below, the brushwood and brambles were literally impervious, and the various kinds of creepers and parasitical plants peculiar to the climes were here so abundant, that they swung
SKETCHES OF THE BURMESE WAR. 343
like cables from tree to tree, as if for the purpose of binding these vast forests in one impenetrable mass of vegetation. Here, where an eternal summer reigns, the trees are never denuded of their foliage, but the young buds produce leaves and expel their pre- decessors without much change being perceptible in the denseness of the vegetation : thus, the fine breezes of the ocean are effectually excluded from the depths of the forest, and the humid vegetable matter that is created by the fall of the leaf, generates a miasma which imparts the sting of death to those who inhale it.
Our curiosity was soon gratified at the watering-place, and we rowed across the harbour to a spot more inviting in its aspect, and where a small space of ground appeared to be partially cleared from wood. There we landed, and taking our guns with us, strolled about in hopes of seeing something — we cared not what, a bird, a wild beast, or a wild man, would have contented us equally ; but nothing seemed to live within this noxious atmosphere, at least nothing met our eye. At last, when tired and somewhat disgusted with the result of our cruise, we were preparing to re-embark, we discovered amongst the brushwood a ruinous brick building, which must once have been a house ; the roof had disappeared, but in its stead a creeper had thrown its fibres across from wall to wall, and with its roots and leaves formed the most perfect natural covering that can be imagined. We concluded rightly that these ruins must be the remains of a British settlement that had been formed here many years before, and we viewed them as if they were the funeral monument of the unhappy men who had fallen victims to the pesti- lential air of this deceitful land. It was, I believe, in 1795, that the Government of Bengal formed the project of transporting their con- victs to Port Cornwallis ; and in furtherance of this idea, a military detachment was sent there, houses were erected, and the necessary steps taken to supply the settlers with provisions, for the islands afforded nothing, arid the native inhabitants were such perfect savages, as scarcely to be regarded in the light of human beings, and could therefore be of no use to the infant establishment. But it was soon ascertained that no European constitution could resist the fatal influence of the climate ; the officers fell off one by one, the greater part of the soldiers and convicts perished, and scarcely a year had passed ere the Government removed the debilitated survivors to another, and more healthy climate, and for ever abandoned their views of colonization.
It is not surprising that the arrival of our fleet should have scared away the wretched natives who inhabited the neighbourhood of Port Cornwallis. We did not see one of them during our stay, although some of our men were assailed by a flight of arrows when first they landed, and a ship which touched here subsequently had a regular skirmish with them ; but from what I could hear, the admirers of human nature would have been little gratified by the sight of men so nearly allied to brutes. I do not think that Mr. Pope, in his "Essay on Man," has included the Andamanese amongst those beings of human form, that constitute the links betwixt man in his most perfect state, and the brute species ; but, assuredly, if he could have heard the Andamanese accurately described, he would have placed them amongst the lowest on his intellectual scale. They are
344 SKETCHES OF THE BURMESE WAR.
very diminutive, and devoid of muscular strength ; their features are hideous, and their intellects so obtuse, that all attempts to tame them have failed. Two of these savages were caught some years since and taken to India, where every effort was made to civilize them, but nothing would do ; they still retained their disgusting propensi- ties, a good dinner was completely thrown away upon them, and they would pounce with avidity upon an uncooked, unplucked fowl, or on bad stinking fish, as being more congenial to their tastes and habits, than the cleanly food of civilized beings. At last I believe the case was considered hopeless, and they were sent back to their native island.
We were detained during several days in Cornwallis, awaiting the fleet from Madras, and we amused ourselves by visiting our comrades in other ships, and by occasionally landing, and bathing near the shore. The water was so perfectly transparent, that we could not resist the invitation it held out to us ; and in despite of the sharks (whose vo- racious propensities are by no means in non-activity in the eastern seas) we plunged fearlessly into the waves, and were so fortunate as to be unmolested by the monsters of the deep, although our temerity scarcely deserved such good luck. Another source of enjoyment was afforded us by the discovery of a bed of oysters, which being partially exposed at low water, we were enabled to regale ourselves with them. It was only on the evening previous to our departure from the Andamans that we made this discovery, and having armed ourselves with knives and hatchets, and provided an ample allowance of pepper and vinegar, we proceeded to the rocks and commenced a gastronomic attack on the oysters. Many we devoured, and more did we carry on board, but, although, victors we were vanquished. Whe- ther it was that we had eaten too many, or that the oysters were poisonous, it is difficult to say, but next day all those who had par- taken of them were seized with vomiting, pains in the head, and other symptoms which caused great alarm, and made us bitterly re- gret that we should have trespassed on the hospitality of this de- ceitful island. We all recovered, and from the circumstance of even those being taken ill who had eaten sparingly, I should rather think that the fish must have been of an unwholesome kind. Something similar to this occurred to me once off the island of Rodriguez, near the Mauritius. We had touched there for fresh provisions, and whilst we were lying off and on, waiting for our boat, the sailors employed themselves in throwing their fishing-lines overboard ; it was perfectly surprising to see the quantity of fish they caught, they were of all sizes, and of the most beautiful colours. We chanced to have an old account of this island in our possession, and having re- ferred to it, we found that the fish had the reputation of being poi- sonous, and we warned the men to abstain from such pernicious food. It was, however, difficult to persuade Jack, after living for two months on salt junk, that the beautiful fish he beheld could be bad to eat. The fishes were therefore thrown into the coppers, and the men had a rare feast; but next day there was sad grieving amongst them — every man was ill, and three of the sailors were in such a dangerous state that it was long before they recovered.
It was not until the 7th of May that the whole of our fleet had assembled. Next morning we sailed for Rangoon.
345
RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE.*
BY A MIDSHIPMAN OF THE LAST CENTURY.
HAVING finished our cruise off the French coast, I was removed from the ship in which I now served, to one of the North Sea fleet. This desired event was brought about by my friends, who, as soon as they heard of my shipwreck, made application for my being received
by the good old gentleman who commanded His Majesty's ship B .
A place had been kept for me in her, but there were not many mid- shipmen in the P , and I did not obtain my discharge until I had
seen some summer and winter cruising in her. I had lost most of my clothes when my former ship was wrecked, and my funds for supplying this deficiency were somewhat limited. Added to this, I felt that I had been thrown by this accident among strangers, so that I had to learn what is called to stand upon one's own feet. I dare say I was all the better for being made to know that we cannot always walk upon smooth pavement, but I was nevertheless very happy in the pro- spect of removing to His Majesty's ship B , under the kind and
friendly old officer who commanded her.
When I joined this ship at Chatham, she was full of shot-holes, and bore all the marks of having taken an active part in the great battle which had just been fought ; and every day I was reminded of the ill- luck that had prevented my coming in time to be in this engagement, by hearing it fought over and over again.
It was late in the spring of 1798 before His Majesty's ship B again took her station off the Texel, to watch the motions of the re- maining Dutch fleet, which were by this time refitted and ready for sea again ; but not ready, it would appear, for another action with the British fleet. Here I passed a very agreeable summer. I had then nothing to do with the anxieties of a blockade ; my cares were limited to the details within the ship. In these I was taught to believe that I could now be of some use, and was more employed than older hands who had not been roughing it in small ships ; in short, I began to fancy myself a man, and to perceive that I was not treated like a youngster. I was, consequently, very proud and very happy.
The monotony of our blockading duties was much relieved by our frequent communications with England ; to say nothing of the trans- ports which at least twice in every month brought us loads of bullocks and vegetables, and the never-failing supply both of amusement and additional provender furnished by our fishing-nets.
Capt. Hall mentions in his " Fragments," the mistake which the world on shore are under about the sea-life of sailors necessarily sup- plying them with plenty of fish ; and this certainly is a great mistake, speaking generally, but not so as it respects the North Sea Gropers, as the fleet stationed there were called. I have known us catch in one night, enough to allot a pound and a half to every man in the ship, which was altogether about 800 pounds of fish — turbot, brill, soles, skate, and Dutch-plaice — all the bottom-loving, groping varieties ; but it was rarely that the more nimble cod or haddocks were entrapped in our traul.
* Continued from page 167.
346 RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE.
In fine weather our usual routine was, after manoeuvring the fleet, and sailing in various order and points of bearing along the coast, from Camperdown to the Helder Point, to stand in shore to the southward of this point, to a situation from whence the enemy's ships could be seen over the low neck of land which this point terminated. After seeing them all snug, the fleet wore off, and after standing out a little, the Admiral made the signal of permission given to fish ; and shorten- ing sail, and backing his main-top-sail, got his traul out, in which his motions were followed. Our success in fishing was various, depending chiefly upon the ground we were on, but something, too, on the ma- nagement of the ships, to keep them going at a proper rate ; and some- times when the traul was put out during the watch of an awkward officer, and had been dragging along the ground for two or three hours, and a glorious haul was anticipated, it would be found to have been all the time on its back by coming up in that position, and, of course, empty.
For the sake of such as have not been employed on this fishing ser- vice, I may mention that this disaster is likely to happen in two ways. First, if the traul be lowered when the ship in lying-to has come up to the wind and has got stern way. And, again, when she has headway, if the rope be veered out by jerks and starts, so as to pull violently on the traul and to be slack alternately. If we suppose the fleet lying- to, main-top-sails to the mast in open order ; and your traul in its place, ready for being lowered by its hawser, led through a block on the main-yard, with its travelling guy led in through the port abaft the gangway ; the time for lowering it is, when the ship, having fallen off, shows that she has gathered headway by beginning to come to again. If the helm has been a-lee, it should now be put a-mid-ships, and the fore-top-mast stay-sail hoisted, if not already set : veer away the traul- rope freely, but steadily; pull to the guy, and keep the ship going with as equal a rate as possible, consistently with preserving your sta- tion. The best rate of going for the traul is about one knot and three quarters. If the wind be light, the fore-sail, main-top-mast stay-sail, &c. may be set to keep up this rate, as the main-top-sail must remain aback.
I have mentioned that this ship was one of the worst of the muti- nous ships at the Nore. Her state of discipline had not been im- proved since the battle of Camperdown, in which the men, having wiped off the stain of their former misconduct, fancied themselves pri- vileged to commence a new score of credit upon the indulgence of their commander. Some changes in the officers after this battle were also unfavourable to the discipline of the ship. A disposition to licentious- ness and riot was shown on the occasion of her being paid before she left the Nore to resume her station off the Texel.
This disposition to licence and disorder was rather more glaring than usual ; but everybody remembers that pay-day was a day on which all the drunkenness and disorder which could not be prevented, was wisely not seen, if kept within any moderate bounds. The perpetual impri- sonment that was necessary to insure the unlimited compulsory service of seamen, could not by any contrivance be enforced when it became necessary to dock a ship. The unavoidable intercourse with the shore would then have made the attempt futile. Accordingly, when a ship was in want of repairs, it was an object that the men should have as much pay as possible in arrears before she should come into harbour ; and no payment was made until the ship, being ready for sea, had
RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE. 347
\
gone out to a roadstead, and was prepared to start again upon service. Then the men were paid, according to their own phraseology, with the top-sail sheets in one hand, and the money in the other. In the case of their having been on foreign service, they sometimes received five or six years' pay in this manner. If the service to which the ship was destined did not require instant dispatch, it was not usual, however, to sail till the morning after pay-day ; so that, during this interval, Jack had an opportunity of relieving himself from the intolerable evil of going to sea with all this money in his pocket.
The approaching saturnalia of pay-day are indicated soon after day- light by the approach of boats from the shore coming in thick succes- sion towards the happy ship, until they form a fleet, which are kept off, lying on their oars, and cover some acres of water around her. Meantime the customary occupations of the morning go on ; the decks are washed, and the yards squared. At seven bells, the bumboat-* women, who have been in the habit of supplying the ship, are ad- mitted. And if poor old Tracy, or some other favoured Christian slop- seller,t be in the way, he is, perhaps, admitted at the same time. The tribe of Israel now become importunate to get on board, seeing this indulgence, and, probably, bring their boat quietly under the main- chains to get up by stealth, but are warned of their temerity by a vol- ley of rotten eggs about their ears from a host of young midshipmen, while one of this party directs the pipe of the fire-engine to give them a shower-bath. Those young gentlemen are in full commission to keep otf intruders by means of such missiles, and grand fun it is for them.
By the way, about old Tracy. He was a venerable-looking old man, who had proposed to the Admiralty a plan for raising the Royal George. This plan was so feasible and ingenious, that the Board had approved of it, and directed that he should be supplied with the means of executing it from the dock-yard. The attempt failed, and old Tracy distributed through the fleet a pamphlet, in which he attributed the failure to jealousy and want of co-operation in the dock-yard authorities ; and managed to make himself popular as a slopseller. He used to appear among the rest of the loaded boats on the morning of pay-day, seated on the top of his baskets and bales, his hat off, and his gray locks streaming in the wind, having a large board on his breast, suspended from his neck in the manner of a label, with the word " Tracy" on it in letters that might be read at the distance of a cable's length. Eight o'clock arrives. Permission is given for the slopsellers to come on board, and now begins the general scramble. They are only admitted at the gangways, and bales, boxes, and baskets are tum- bled up there with wonderful dispatch. Meantime attempts are made to board at other unauthorised parts ; so the youngsters, who have by this time renewed their supply of rotten eggs from their friends the bumboat-women, are in full operation ; and when the decks are suffi- ciently crowded with these interlopers, their further inroad is necessa- rily opposed by means more effectual than the rotten-eggs and the tire- engine. I do not mean that their persons are assailed by more formid- able weapons, but their property, which Moses values beyond all personal consideration, is in jeopardy. The boxes and cases which he is endeavouring to smuggle on board, are pitched unceremoniously
* Bumboat, a floating huckster's shop. t Slops, ready-made sailors' clothes.
34-8 RECOLLECTIONS OP A SEA LIFE.
down the side, to take their chance of falling in the boat or in the water. Happy are they who have by this time got all their store on board ; and thrice happy those who have been able to secure a stand for its display upi>n the quarter-deck under the eye of the officers, where it is safe from any attack of open robbery.
To do Jack justice I must repeat here, that during the war there were in most ships, mixed with the true-bred sailors, a portion of convicts and of men who could not be kept in order by being flogged at the cart's tail, and were, therefore, sent to us by the civic autho- rities ; this, I trust, we shall not see again. But independent of these conscience-seared fellows, we must admit, that a sailor would not regard the robbing of a Jew in the same light as robbing any one else. Between the sailors and the Jews there exists what is called a natural antipathy : — natural enough when the causes are investigated. Of this indefatigable tribe, who are always on the alert to offer accommodation to those who have money in prospect, a large portion made the antici- pated pay and prize-money of sailors the object of their rapacity ; and as Jack thought that signing his name, or making his mark, was an easy mode of getting the means of having a cruise on shore, he often chewed the cud of bitter disappointment on discovering that all he had obtained for his twenty or thirty pounds of hardly-earned prize-money, was a slop jacket and trowsers, a watch worth a pound sterling, and a few slippery shillings with promises of more. The regulations respect- ing the payment of the navy threw obstacles in the way of Moses and his operations in that branch of his business ; and, indeed, our tar was placed more out of the reach of his machinations in a man-of-war than any where else.
While the sailor persevered in the hopeless endeavour of eluding the press-gangs, for the purpose of sailing in merchant-ships, during the interval between his voyages, he was wholly in the hands of those miscreants. A ship returns from the West Indies, for instance ; such of her crew as are fit for the navy, if they have escaped the search of men-of-war in the Channel, are landed on some retired part of the coast : they have retained some of the pay which they received in the West Indies ; a gold piece, perhaps, in order " to have their friend in their pocket when they return to England." Let us suppose one of them landed on the coast of Essex : he proceeds warily, like an animal conscious of being hunted, he avoids the sea-coast and large towns, and is grievously disappointed to find that "the friend in his pocket," being a foreigner and unknown, is of no use. He calls at one farm-house and tells his tale, and his hunger and thirst are relieved. When he is forced to make a similar appeal to another, he is informed that " there is a poomp in the yard." As he approaches the neighbourhood of Wapping, still greater caution must be exerted to avoid the press- gangs ; but in doing this he is resolved not to trust to the Jews, who have taken him in before. Without any definite notion, however, of a safe course between this Scylla and Charybdis, he goes on until he feels the urgent necessity of getting change for his gold piece. P"or this purpose he may have recourse to a Jew, without trusting him further ; accordingly he is tempted by the inviting advertisement of " highest prices given for gold and silver," to enter a door over which hangs the quaint device of three suspended balls, which means that the chances are two to one against the articles pawned there being ever redeemed.
RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE. 349
The gold piece is exchanged for some silver coin of the realm, con- siderably under its value, but with an appearance of friendliness and fair dealing that induce Jack to believe that this Jew, at least, must be an honest man ; so, with this impression of his integrity, he, with all the simplicity of undisguised confidence, answers the artful interro- gations of Moses, tells him he received the pocket-piece in the West Indies, from whence he has just arrived ; and that twenty pounds were still due to him by the merchants for his voyage ; that, considering himself so rich, he felt the more distressingly the hardships he had endured since he landed on English ground. Our sailor is knowing enough, however, to conceal from his interrogator that he has the note for this sum sewed up in his jacket. He means to take an oppor- tunity of presenting this note himself, by which means he will get pos- session of the money in his own hands, and if he be wanted for another voyage he will have the influence of the merchants to protect him from the press. That is, he will be turned over to their own Jew crimps, who will fleece him less than a stranger, because they are in some degree responsible to the merchants, being in their pay ; and being thus paid, they can afford to manage with a smaller number of hun- dreds per cent, in their dealings with the men. But the road between him and the merchant's counting-house is beset with dangers, and he is glad in the mean time to accept the kind offer of the friendly Jew to conduct him to the house of a civil landlady, where he will be safe from the press-gangs. Jack lives in clover there for a couple of days, during which his friend Moses waits upon him assiduously, providing all he can want or wish. He soon finds his wants to exceed the amount of his ready money ; thus he feels the necessity of cashing his note, but the Jew informs him that the press-gangs are constantly in the way, so that he is glad to entrust his friend with his order on the merchants for his wages. When this note has been duly endorsed by Jack, and accepted by the merchant, Moses is in no hurry to get it cashed, but can let our sailor have any accommodation in the mean time ; and re- commends, first, that he should have a suit of long clothes to enable him to sally forth securely. Jack sees no end to twenty pounds ! But when he has, in fact, received the honest value of Jive, he finds the balance brought against him, and he is again in debt. The land- lady informs him there is no trust — and Moses tells him that he must provide him a ship.
'A West Indiaman?"
'No; a nishe Easht Indyman."
' An East Indiaman ! I would as lief go in a man-of-war."
' Veil ! you can take your choish."
1 Can't you get us a West Indiaman ?"
' No ; I only get Vest Indymen for them as can pay for them ; and, beshidesh, you are in my debt, which must be paid out of the two months advansh." And poor Jack is obliged to submit to that which he would consider the greater evil of the two, were it not that he sees a possible termination to it at the end of the voyage.
I have endeavoured here to draw a picture of the relation in which the Jews and sailors stood to each other. The Jew, although an evil, made himself a necessary evil to the sailor, an incubus that hung over him in all his motions to watch for his unguarded moments; and many were they, to keep the word of promise to his ear, and break it
350 RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE.
to his heart. No wonder, then, that in an ill-regulated man-of-war the property of the Jew, when brought there for sale, should have been liable to attack from the sailor in a manner more direct than the recondite methods in which his own had been assailed by the Jew. Happy then, as I said before, was he who got a stand for his slops, watches, and buckles upon the quarter-deck.
It happened that in His Majesty's ship B , on her pay-day at
the Nore, one of those Jews who was the last to get his goods on board, was puzzled to find a place for their display, until some of the sailors put the gratings on the main hatchway, and thus formed a vacant area, of which Moses greedily took possession for his shop. He was little aware of the insecure foundation on which he stood ; for the sailors had taken care not to place the gratings in their grooves, but to lay them down in such a caper- cornered manner, that a gentle pull upon a rope that was secretly attached to them, would trip up the whole. Accordingly, when the riches of this son of Israel were spread abroad, the rope was pulled upon, and down they went to the regions below. Moses, by some mischance, miraculously escaped his intended fate, and was left on the brink of the precipice with up- lifted hands, and features the picture of despair, bewailing his vanished riches. The combination to rob the Jews seemed on this occasion to have been extensive ; and some articles were plundered even from those who were on the quarter-deck. An investigation into these robberies took place; and though many were implicated by strong presumptive evidence, our Captain considered the proof to be made out clearly against one man only ; a fine-looking fellow, a thorough- bred sailor, who had but a few months before recommended himself to the notice of his Captain and officers, by his spirit and activity in the battle of Camperdown. This consideration induced the Captain to regard his offence rather as a frolic than as a crime, and he was pun- ished with one dozen lashes. In consequence of this lenity, the First Lieutenant, who had joined the ship since the action, reported, in a letter which he afterwards wrote to the Admiral, complaining of the discipline of the ship, that robberies were committed with impunity on the quarter-deck before the face of the officers. Besides the ge- neral complaint of want of discipline, the object of this letter was to request a Court Martial upon a young scoundrel who had often been turned over to the Lieutenant's hands for punishment. This boy, in conjunction with one or two others of the same stamp, by way of being revenged, cut the gun-tackles and breechings on the main-deck, one night off the Texel, when we were_ tumbling about to a strong gale of wind ; and the guns were only prevented from finding their way through the opposite side of the ship, by the vigilance of the gunner's mate, who discovered the mischief before they had quite gone adrift. Our benevolent and conscientious Captain thought the evidence defi- cient against these fellows ; and they were allowed to remain unpun- ished, until this letter of the First Lieutenant brought one of them to a Court Martial.
The Court, after hearing the Captain's statement, delayed sitting until it had been submitted to the Admiralty; but the Admiralty ordered the trial to proceed. Our Captain considered this step as an encouragement held out to those under him to supersede his authority, was very indignant, and resigned his command soon afterwards. Not-
RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE. 351
withstanding the irritating circumstances which thus attended his quitting public life, he retired to the bosom of his family at a good old age, with the laurels of Camperdown fresh on his brow, and in his domestic circle found a better field for exercising the benevolent vir- tues of his nature, than a man-of-war afforded ; for how consistent soever such virtues may have been with the duties of managing his ship, and laying her alongside of an enemy, they were but ill-adapted to the task of keeping in order the turbulent and incongruous elements on board of her. Thus, however, I lost my second patron in the same manner as my first.
Soon after these events, considerable changes were brought about by a new Captain and First Lieutenant, and now also commenced a pro- spect of some real service in the expedition to Holland. This turned out to be one of the ill-fated efforts of the Government of that day, to force our friendship upon our neighbours who were oppressed by the French, the expense of which forms a part of that millstone of eight hundred millions which hangs upon us and paralyses all our efforts.
As usual, we failed to convince our friends, the Hollanders, that they were oppressed ; or, at least, if they were, they chose to remain so; for although, when we entered the town of the Helder, all was gratulation, joy, and orange ribbons, there was no person there to re- ceive us and express that joy, but women, who had been left to take care of the property ; and there was not a man to be seen capable of bearing arms. The progress of this expedition, so far as it depended on the army, was, as usual, marked by that devoted gallantry which insured success at its commencement; and the success continued as long as the enemy bore any reasonable proportion to their number. But it seems to have required no great foresight to perceive, that as our small army marched onward from their resources through the swamps of Holland, their numbers lessening by every success, and still more rapidly by sickness, and as the enemy fell back upon their resources and upon the armies that poured out of France to their suc- cour, a time must come when no devotion or gallantry could avail.
On the 27th of August, the troops under Gen. Abercrombie ap- proached the shore, full of zeal and alacrity. The army of the French and Dutch was drawn up behind a low range of sand hills that formed the upper extremity of the sea-beach. The boats, therefore, as they approached, and the sea-beach on which the men landed, were exposed to a destructive fire from an unseen foe. As the men jumped from the boats, they formed into little parties like magic. These little parties rapidly augmented in bulk, and gallantly charged upon the lurking enemy ; who, driven from their position, suffered in their retreat for the mischief they had done, and our army remained masters of the coast and of the Helder Point, with its town and batteries. I think it was here I first heard the old joke about a guardsman roughing it upon a beef-steak and a bottle of port. An old general-officer in the boat was very facetious on this score with a young guardsman. This was the first campaign of the latter, and since that day the guardsmen have been well practised in roughing it upon less dainty fare than a beef-steak. The general officer was not among the 500 that were killed upon the beach ; I never learned whether this first essay of his young friend was not also his last.
On the 10th of September, our troops were again attacked by an
352 RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEA LIFE.
increased force of the enemy3 and again beat them back. Soon after this, the Duke of York landed to assume the supreme command, and brought also a reinforcement to the army, including 20,000 Russians. The first battle fought under his command was on the 19th of Sept. The Russians were, as yet, our faithful allies and pupils. A Russian army was thus associated with ours. The strong force of the enemy to be attacked on the 19th, was in front of the right of the allied army. The Russians had this post of honour assigned to them, whilst Gen. Abercrombie, with 15,000 British troops, was drawn off to the left. The reason of this arrangement, I know not. The Russians, however, behaved well to begin, and drove the French from their posi- tion ; or, perhaps, the French, knowing their men, and looking to the result which followed, politely withdrew. The Russians piled their arms and began the work of plunder. The French re-attacked them under these circumstances ; and would have destroyed the whole of them, had they not been saved by the prompt assistance of a few British battalions who had been in. reserve. The Russians regained their arms, and the French were again repulsed. The field of battle remained to the allies, but no further progress was made till the 2nd of October. The Duke resolved to advance upon the enemy along the line of the sea-beach. He was deterred from this movement on the 1st, by a strong wind rolling the surge of the sea up the beach, so as to make it impassable. On the 2nd, this obstacle did not present itself; and Sir Ralph Abercrombie, with the British, was now placed in the post of honour, and led the advance. The enemy were attacked and driven from all their posts to a line ten miles from that which they had occupied, and left to our troops the towns of Alkmaer and Egmont-op-Zee.
On Sunday the 6th of October, it does not appear to have been the intention of either the French or English Generals that their armies should be engaged. The French were, probably, disposed to wait for additions to their army, which were now pouring in from the south. They were, however, already strongly reinforced. The main bodies of the armies were at some distance from each other. The generals and some of the field-officers had gone to church at Alkmaer, to return thanks for their success. An impatient disposition, or, perhaps, some mistake, induced the videttes of the opposite armies to fire upon one another. The pickets eame up to support the videttes. Party after party was sent forward to support the pickets, until about three o'clock, a general and sanguinary engagement was the consequence. By this time, the officers had joined their respective brigades ; but it is said, that this was not done without some hurry and scrambling. Night put an end to this battle, which was not attended with any de- cisive result. Each army occupied its former position.
This was the last battle to which the Duke of York deemed it pro- per to expose the army under his command ; thinned and attenuated as it was by sickness more than by the loss which these battles had occasioned, though that was also considerable, while the number of the enemy was augmented hourly by fresh troops. Soon after this action, the information which was brought to the Duke of York respecting the magnitude of the enemy's approaching succours, caused him to resolve upon falling back.
(To he continued.)
353
COLLOQUIES WITH FOLARD. NO. VII.
" Vagliami '1 lungo studio, e '1 grande araore Che m' han fatto cercar lo tuo volume. Tu se' lo mio maestro, e '1 mio autore."
DAVTE.
" HAVING concluded your remarks, at our last sitting, on the armament and composition of the cavalry and infantry during the second half of the sixteenth century, I would now, ' my guide and master,' entreat that you pursue the discourse into a more general view of the organization of armies during the same period."
" It will behove you then to make some explicit enumeration of the course through which you desire that we conduct the discussion : for the field of research is wide, and we are like to wander bewildered in its mazes, unless we proceed upon method."
" Under your favour, I would therefore suggest that we commence with a slight examination of the means by which the command of armies was administered, or, in other terms, of the STAFF establish- ments of the age before us. Next, of the ordnance and other field equipments of armies ; and lastly, of the general state of discipline and tactics."
" In considering the first head of your subject, we may appropriately take up the inquiry from the point where we last broke off: as regard- ing the composition of the infantry ; for to the new array which was now given to bodies of this arm, may be referred the rise, first of a REGIMENTAL, and from thence of a GENERAL STAFF. In the rudeness of the earlier tactics, when the independent bands of foot were merely collected into large masses for the hour of combat, the distinct appoint- ment of officers to regulate their unwieldy array seems to have been altogether unknown. But as soon as the practice obtained of uniting several ensigns or bands under the special command of a colonel, the necessity, or advantage at least, of giving the leader a general assistant was felt ; and hence arose the institution of the office of ser genie-major y as it was termed in our French armies: who, though his title has fallen in your latter times upon a far inferior rank, and into a more humble designation, was then selected for his skill and experience among the most ancient captains of tried service. He stood, in fact, distinct from the captains and lieutenants of bands — or company-officers as you would call them — and was assigned as a general-staff adjunct to the colonel."
" But though the compound title of serjeant-major has now de- scended in our service, Chevalier, upon the chief noncommissioned officer of a battalion, yet, with the omission of the first word, the memory of the original institution is still preserved in the duties of the major of a regiment. Montluc, I think, is the earliest writer who mentions the sergente-major ?"
" The institution of the same office, which, in the Italian nomencla- ture of the Spanish service, was known as the sergente d'un terzo, might, I opine, be traced up to rather an earlier epoch than your example ; and considering that the strength of the original regiments
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354- COLLOQUIES WITH FOLARD.
corresponded to that of brigades or divisions of later service, its func- tions had more analogy to those of your modern brigade-major."
" In that sense, too, it must have been very early used in our English service : for in the pay-roll of the troops serving in the Spanish campaign of St. Quentins in 1557, to which I before referred, though the division of four thousand infantry was not regimented, a ' serjeant-major' appears as the second officer in the train of the ' captain-general of the footmen.' "
" But passing from a question rather of words than things, there can be no doubt that the origin of a regimental staff may in effect be re- ferred to this office. The lieutenant-colonel and serjeant-major were both given as assistants to the colonel, and commanded under him."
" And to the extension of the same appointment and duties, may be farther traced the first germs of a GENERAL, STAFF ?"
" To the serjeant-major-general, at least, were shortly assigned the same functions for the whole army, both in the French and the Spanish services, which the serjeant-major performed in the regiment or terzo. The nature of these duties is clearly denoted by Strada, with his usual accuracy of expression, when he latinizes the title of the latter officer as •' instructor legionis'— the arrayer of a regiment."
" The serjeant-major-general (or afterwards major-general) was therefore the arrayer of the army : or, in our modern British term, the ADJUTANT-GENERAL ? "
" Obviously : and of his office Davila has taken occasion to observe, that it is one ' which for its great importance is never conferred upon any but such persons as have acquired the highest credit and reputa- tion by their long experience and approved behaviour upon remarkable occasions, and consequently both knew, and are known by, every one.' But it is rather in an institution of earlier date that we must seek, to follow your phrase, the germ of a general staff: the appointment of mestres-de-camp, whose special duties were to regulate the marches, positions, quartering, and encamping of the infantry ; as with a slight change of name (in the French service at least, and in Montluc's days) it was the business of the marechal-de-camp to perform the same service for the cavalry ; and of the maistre-d'artillerie for that arm. Montluc requires of these three officers, in common, the qualities of experience, vigilance, and activity : — ( il faut qu'ils ayent le pied, la main, et 1'esprit prompt, et tousjours 1'ceil au guet, car de leur provi- dence desperid le salut de 1'armee ;' and he identifies their functions by insisting on the necessity of a good combination among them : ' ainsi de ces trois personnes, apres le chef de 1'armee, sort le gain ou la perte des battailles.' "
" In fact, then, tnese officers composed what we should call in our British service the QUARTER-MASTER-GENERAL'S department."
" The same : and in the Spanish service you have an example, at the close of Montluc's time, of the union of their functions under one great officer by the title of camp-master-general, or mastro-di-campo-generale, as the Italian version of Strada has it — in the person of Chiappino Vitelli, as already cited. The duties which devolved upon him, in regulating the marches and quartering of Alva's army on its route from Italy into the Low Countries, point him out as the quarter-master- general ; for we are told that Gabriel Serbelloni, the master of the
COLLOQUIES WITH FOLARD. 355
artillery, with other officers, and some companies of soldiers and artificers, were sent on before, with orders from Vitelli, to form depots of provisions, to examine and improve the roads, and to prepare quarters for the army on its march."
" Yet, I observe, that in the contemporary Italian version of Strada the colonels of terzi are called ' mastri di campo,' a designation answer- ing therefore to that of a brigadier, and not an officer of the special staff; and in that sense it must have afterwards passed into use in the French service also before the epoch in which the title was graced by the Chevalier de Folard : as, with a slight variation, the term of marechal-del-campo still corresponds, in the Spanish and Portuguese armies, with the British rank of a brigadier or major-general."
" It is not always easy — and neither is it important — to explain the transmutations of fashion which our titles of command have under- gone at various periods. But, by the few fragments which are extant from the Commentaries of the first Marechal de Biron, you will find that during our civil wars the important staff functions of arraying the divisions, as well of foot as of horse, for the march and the battle were discharged by officers with the general title of marechaux-de-camp ; and you may learn from Puysegur that, before my own time, the mare- chaux and mestres de camp having become the commanders of bri- gades, had been succeeded in their original duties on the special staff as camp-masters-general by the marechal-general-de-logis, or quarter- master-general, and his assistants."
" Yet another difficulty, Chevalier : in the same passage of Strada, he observes, that to the other great field officers, was added a com- missary general of the horse — ' equitatus universi commissarius' — an appointment lately instituted in Italy, which Alva now first brought into the Low Countries. I have nowhere found any explanation of its nature, although in a roll of the army employed by our Charles I. in Scotland in 1639, as printed by Grose, there is included for the horse a ' serjeant-major or commissary-general.' "
" The ' general commissario della cavallaria' was probably the chief of the staff for that arm ; and as such Giorgio Basta, according to Davila, commanded the light cavalry, in the absence of its general, during Parma's French expedition. The office, or designation at least, which originated in the Spanish armies, appears to have been almost confined for some time to their service, from whence, as you may learn from the Commentaries of your distinguished countryman Vere, it was adopted in the Dutch army under Prince Maurice, and more slowly in other services. But the important post of camp or quarter-master- general became common in every army of the age ; and without vainly seeking to explain all minor anomalies, the notices which we have gleaned from these various contemporary sources, may suffice to fix the origin and formation of a staff, under its two most important divi- sions, in all European armies, at this memorable epoch of warfare. In so far the inquiry is surely not without its interest. Those, indeed, there perhaps are, to whom it may sound trivial thus to rescue from oblivion the mere details of service which belonged to a by-gone age : but if you would really trace the history of warfare, it is only from such particulars that you can deduce with precision the rise and pro- gress of the science to modern times."
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" As an auxiliary, or dependant branch of the military staff, there may here, Chevalier, also be noticed, the creation of that important civil department in the service of armies, which is charged with the supply of the most indispensable of all munitions of war : or, as the worthy Sir James Turner doth entitle it, provant."
" The first organization of a regular commissariat may, I agree with you, be referred to the epoch before us. Not that armed hordes in the most barbarous ages, and in the rudest state of the art, could ever have been subsisted without some arrangement for collecting provisions : but I think that, in the annals of modern warfare, it is not before the last half of the sixteenth century that any efforts can be discerned, as a matter of systematic preparation, to constitute and charge a distinct body of civil officers with the subsistence of armies. During our French civil wars, considerable progress had evidently been made in creating this department ; for Biron, in the passage before quoted, speaks familiarly of ' le commissaire-general des vivres et les siens,' and numbers among the duties of marechal-de-camp the issuing of the necessary orders to that chief functionary of the commissariat and his assistants. And to that very able, though unfortunate commander, the Admiral de Coligny, Mezerai expressly attributes the careful establish- ment of a degree of regularity in this branch of service which has been little excelled in your more modern times. Thus Coligny is said to have taken great pains to engage persons of intelligence and probity as commissaries ; notwithstanding the want of money, which often crippled the Huguenot operations, and the reverses which dissipated their levies, he contrived, whenever he showed an army in the field, to have it attended by a regular train of provision-waggons, which were usually filled by contributions levied on the open towns of the Catholic party : besides such carriages he employed horses of burthen for expeditionary service ; and so extensively were these commissariat arrangements diffused through his forces, that when the cavalry were dispersed in quarters a baker was attached to every cornet of horse. On the disastrous defeat of the Admiral's army at Moncountour, you will observe in Davila, that no less than nine hundred waggons laden with provisions fell into the hands of the victors : a corroboration both of the account here cited, which ascribes such arrangements to Coligny for the subsistence of his troops, and also of its unusual extent, since the military historian ~ thought the largeness of the captured train worthy of note. But when the Prince of Parma appeared on the stage of warfare, only a few years later, we find his operations dis- tinguished by the same systematic attention to the provisioning of his troops ; and there is nothing more strikingly observable in the history of his campaigns, as related both by Strada and Davila, than the order with which the collection of supplies preceded and attended every expedition.
" With respect to the warlike materiel of the age before us, of which we are next to speak, it may, I believe, in the first place, be said that less change had been effected since the Italian wars in the composition and equipment of artillery, than in any other branch of service. It has even been observed, that no army in these French or Low Countries wars possessed a train at all comparable, either in the number of pieces or the completeness of their equipage, to those which
COLLOQUIES WITH FOLARD. 357
our Charles VIII. and Francis I. had displayed in Italy, almost a century earlier, and with the elaborate description of which their asto- nished contemporaries have furnished us. It appears at least certain, that the number of guns which armies now brought into the field had rather diminished than otherwise; and writers of my country have endeavoured to account for the fact in the exhaustion both of materiel and money during the Civil Wars. The reduction in the quantity of field artillery, however, was not confined to the French armies, and had equally taken place in cases where the influence of the same causes cannot be imagined. It is therefore probable that the large and cum- brous trains of the last age had been reduced from experience of the impediments which they opposed to celerity of operations. Thus, in the Duke of Parma's first expedition into France, his army, computed at above 3000 horse and 18,000 foot, was attended only by twenty pieces of cannon ; and this appears to have been the ordinary propor- tion of artillery throughout the war in the Netherlands. In the campaign of 1602 in that country, Prince Maurice's army of 23,000 men was attended by a train of only ' twelve demi-cannons and 4hree field peeces ;' and the Spanish army, which rather outnumbered him, is said in general terms to have had no more than 'eighteen peeces of ordnance.' "
" This proportion was probably rather above that of the age in general : for in an estimate for the levying of a ' Royall army of 25,000 foot and 5000 horse,' under our James I., as printed by Grose, twenty pieces of cannon are thought a sufficient train."
" In our native armies, however, in the French civil wars the quantity of artillery was certainly much smaller: for some accounts state the number of guns at the battle of Ivry at six only in the King's army and four in that of the League ; and at Coutras, Sully, who him- self directed Henry's artillery with great effect, and could not mistake its amount, states expressly that it consisted of no more than three pieces. It was Sully, in fact, who, after witnessing this poverty of the royal train, became, on the settlement of the kingdom, the restorer, or rather the true creator, of our French ordnance service. As grand- master of the artillery, only twenty years after the battle of Coutras, he was able to report to Henry IV. that he had filled the royal arsenals with four hundred pieces of cannon, in four different calibres, provided with carriages, caissons, and all other equipments of the train for the whole number."
" Notwithstanding the deficiency of ordnance in your French civil wars, the earliest example of the employment of cannon in conjunction with cavalry is, I apprehend, Chevalier, to be found in the course of these campaigns ; and there is a curious passage in Davila which may be characterised as an anticipation of the use of horse artillery. At the affair of Arques in 1589, ' the encounter,' says the historian, ' was ended by a new, and until that time unheard-of device : for the King (Henry IV.) having sent the Baron de Biron into the middle of the field with a large squadron of horse, and the Duke de Mayenne (who commanded the army of the League), being surprised at their boldness in advancing so far, and thinking they had rashly overshot themselves, sent two considerable bodies of horse to charge them : at the arrival of which the King's forces suddenly opening to the right and left with
358 COLLOQUIES WITH FOLARD.
wonderful dexterity, there appeared two large culverines in the midst of them, which giving fire, and repeating it several times with great quickness and certainty, not only killed many of them and broke their ranks, but obliged the enemy to wheel off and retire at the strange and unusual sight of two snch large pieces of artillery playing from amidst a body of cavalry. This new and expeditious method of working artillery was the invention of one Charles Brice, a Norman bombardier, who having been a long time with the buccaneers in the West Indies, was grown very expert in the art of gunnery, and during the course of the Civil Wars performed so many other signal services, that he was much esteemed for his skill and experience.' "
" You may mark more decidedly the rise of another invention of warlike materiel at this epoch : that of a pontoon train. The first mention of a regular equipage of this kind, with which I am acquainted is in the Spanish armies under Parma ; and whether or not the expe- dient originated with that consummate captain, it is apparent that all the latter operations of his campaigns were attended by a complete train of the kind. Among his preparations for the invasion of Eng- land, in concert with the Armada from Spain, Strada enumerates ' sutiles pontes, quaeque alia, aut trajiciendo amni aut struendo vallo ;' and Davila mentions ( two bridges to be thrown over boats,' as forming part of the materiel of his French expedition. Nothing, indeed, indi- cates more strongly the progress which the science was now making than the increase of such auxiliary means as these for conducting the great operations of strategy ; and to the effect of the advances which which we have described in the organization of a staff and materiel may be referred the superior facility and regularity of movement which began to distinguish the armies of the period before us over those of the preceding age.
" In tracing these improvements to their source, it will be found that much of them undoubtedly originated in the Spanish school, and must be attributed to the Duke of Alva, who, though the lustre of his great military talents was tarnished by execrable cruelty in his political administration, was beyond all question the most consummate com- mander of his day. The conduct of his march from the Milanese into the Low Countries, displays the first example of a masterly arrange- ment of its kind which we meet with in modern warfare. Strada's account of it is too instructive to be passed over : for after describing, in a passage already quoted, the measures taken by means of officers and companies of artificers who preceded the army, to examine and re- pair the roads, and establish depots of provisions, he observes the regularity with which the divisions were successively quartered on the line of route, and declares that no army of his times had ever per- formed so long a march in such excellent discipline. The consequence was, that, after crossing the Alps, and traversing Savoy, Lorraine, and Burgundy, they entered the Low Countries in compact and perfect order. Of the strictness of the discipline enforced by their stern leader, he gives this remarkable account. ' So that from Italy even to the Low Countries, not only no town, but even no single cottage, was forced or injured. But one crime in their entrance into Lorraine was committed by three troopers driving as many wethers from a flock of sheep, who, upon examination of the fact by Alva, were immediately
COLLOQUIES WITH FOLARD. 359
condemned to be hanged, and the sheep were sent back. Upon the in- tercession of a Lorraine captain, sent from his Prince to meet Alva on the borders, two of the offenders' lives were spared in compliment to the Duke of Lorraine: but the three were compelled to cast dice upon the drum-head which should die ; and the lot fell upon him who had enticed the other two to the commission of the violence.' To appre- ciate the effect of Alva's discipline, it is necessary to bear in mind the habitual licentiousness and impunity of rapine which were permitted in the warfare of the times ; and more especially the natural ferocity and insolence of character for which the Spanish veterans were as much dreaded and detested as for their martial prowess."
" It would appear, Chevalier, that in his own age Alva was, with a more general sense than is implied in this enforcement of order, con- sidered as the founder of a new system of discipline ; which, among the English military especially, was held in high estimation. There is a curious letter extant, from Camden to Sir Edward Cecil, in which, while he confesses his inability to satisfy some queries on the subject, as being ' oute of the reache of his profession,' he remembers that, ' after Captain Morgan, in the yeare 1572, had first carried to Flush- ing 300 English, and had procured Sir Humphrey Gilbert to bring over more and to be coronell of the English there, a new militarie dis- cipline was shortly after brought in, and the new marche, by some that had served the Duke of Alva.' He goes on to say, that the innovation was strongly opposed by some ancient leaders, and that these gentle- men of the old school were ' scornfully tearmed by the contrary parte Saincte George's souldados/ And, in fact, among our military writers of Elizabeth's reign, ' Dalva's discipline' is a term of familiar reference : though they have failed to specify, as clearly as might be wished, the nature of the changes which he introduced."
" He certainly was the founder of a school in which the officers most distinguished in the Spanish service, during the long sequel of the Low Country wars, had been formed and exercised ; and it may be concluded that, for the brilliant increase which their ancient reputa- tion acquired in that contest, the Spanish armies were signally indebted to the discipline which he at least was the first to establish or introduce on the same theatre of action. For, at the distance of some years, though not personally his pupil, and without imitating his sanguinary temper, the illustrious Parma, with a kindred and it may be a superior genius, carefully pursued his example, and firmly maintained the same principles of martial command and arrangement. Thus you will find the system of Farnese in the conduct of his army characterized by pre- cisely the same features which are attributed to Alva. In recounting his arrangements for the march into France in 1590, Davila observes, that ' the Duke of Parma's armies had always been very well disci- plined, ready to undergo and inured to hardships, punctual in their obedience to command, and not at all addicted to pillage and plunder in the territories of their friends.' But upon this occasion being about, in friendly guise, to enter a country in which he knew that the Spanish name was very unpopular, he was more circumspect than ever, and took great pains to prevent his troops from committing any violence or outrage, or giving the least cause of complaint to the inhabitants. For this purpose, adds the historian, ' he always encamped as if in im-
360 COLLOQUIES WITH FOLARD.
mediate presence of an enemy's army, kept all his men close together and in good order in their quarters, and suffered them not to straggle from their colours upon any occasion whatever. He reconnoitred the country with great care, and marched without tumult or confusion. He took up his quarters early in the evening, and while they were pro- perly laid out and rendered defensible, caused the greatest part of his army to stand to their arms. He guarded his convoys of provisions, of which he collected large quantities, by strong escorts ; and though he had many officers of great reputation about him, he resolved to trust to no one but himself, and therefore personally heard the reports of the reconnoitring parties, questioned the scouts, saw the guards posted, and attended so closely to every point connected with the discipline and security of his army, that he was accustomed to sit up all night and to devote those few hours only to sleep which passed between the beat of reveille and the march of the troops.'
" It was, indeed, principally as we shall hereafter have occasion to show, in the conduct of his marches as great strategical movements, that the talents of Parma conspicuously shone ; and the details with which Davila will furnish you of the operations of the Spanish army in France, under the Duke himself, and the subsequent commanders of his school, comprehend some of the best efforts of the science in his age. In characterising the merits of Parma's system, it is necessary to distinguish, indeed, between the divisions of the science, which are so often confounded in the two terms of strategy and tactics. In what- ever comes under the first head, as embracing the design or conception of a campaign and its general execution, it may be doubted whether Farnese has been excelled, even by any of the master spirits who have appeared since the restoration of the science. For the great principles of strategy belong exclusively to no single age ; and by their correct appreciation, may the genius of the most accomplished commanders of all times, ancient and modern, be tried in common. But every age and state of regular warfare has its peculiar tactics ; and here, in the adaptation of his plans to the existing system of slow and heavy evo- lution, Farnese did not rise above the spirit of his times. No new for- mation or exercise for troops has been attributed to his invention ; and the recorded array of his marches, which excited the highest admira- tion of his contemporaries, still exhibits the same defects which we have noticed in the earlier tactics of the century. The old formal arrangement of the whole army on a single line of march into three successive bodies — vanguard, main-battle, and rear-guard — was yet observed; the formation of these corps-d'armee in deep phalangic masses was retained ; and no idea of moving them through a country by several parallel and contiguous routes, instead of defiling in one consecutive train, was yet imagined. Take, for example, Davila's de- scription of the march of the Spanish army in order of battle, when reconnoitred by Henry IV. ' The form of their main body in its march through the plain was quadrangular, with an opening in front through which the centre might issue to engage. There were also two intervals in the angles of the rear ; and these three openings were covered by as many large squadrons of heavy horse. The flanks were covered by the common carriages of the army, which kept up with the troops in good order and without straggling, and were defended by
COLLOQUIES WITH FOLARD. 361
bodies of foot. On the outside of, and at some distance from, this great square mass, all the light horse and carbineers, in many squa- drons, tilled and scoured the plain.' This admirable disposition, as Davila calls it, seemed unassailable : but the result betrays the want of all power of rapid motion in so ponderous an array : for though Henri Quatre rashly committed his gallant cavalry, unsupported by any foot, in an impetuous charge on the enemy's light horse, he was able to ex- tricate himself from the consequences of his temerity before the main battle of the Spanish army could close upon him, and owed his escape from certain destruction entirely to their tardiness of movement."
" The expedient you here cite, of covering the flanks of his line of march by the carriages of the army, seems to have been a regular cus- tom under the Duke of Parma. For in another place Davila says, that ' the Spanish divisions marched constantly in order of battle, with their baggage-waggons on each side, flanking them like a breastwork.' And he adds that, from behind the moving barricadoes thus formed, their carbineers and other light cavalry constantly issued to skirmish, and, when pressed, retired within shelter of the carriages again. So also in the expedition for the relief of Amiens, attempted by the Spa- nish army under the Cardinal Archduke Albert of Austria, in the year 1597, we are told that during the march, ' on each flank of the army, the baggage-waggons were ranged and chained together as the Duke of Parma's discipline had taught them.' "
" You may conceive then how unwieldy must have been the system of tactics when the march of an army was conducted within, as it were, such slowly moving chains of fortification. Farther to illustrate the Spanish order of movement, a few particulars may be added from the historian's account of the operations of the Cardinal Archduke. With the cavalry of the vanguard, which also formed the rear in retreat, was posted a body of the elite of the Spanish and Italian infantry, 4000 strong, under the term of the ' flying squadron.' The centre of this corps was composed of a phalanx of pikes, with a large wing of mus- keteers on each flank, ' which made a curve something like a crescent, with its horns towards the enemy, so that they could not approach to charge it, without first receiving a storm of musket-balls, and after that they had in front a firm battalion to encounter, which made a formid- able appearance, brandishing their pikes, and prepared to offer a warm reception.' The wings ,of the musketeers again were covered by the cavalry, and this altogether was, in fact, as we have seen on another occasion, the usual order of the Spanish when attacked on a march.
" In the general array of combat, which was common to all services of the times as well as the Spanish, I find that little change had oc- curred worthy of remarking, since the epoch of Cerizolles. The ordi- nary formation in order of battle appears to have been in a single line, in which divisions of horse and foot were variously intermingled, but with a squadron usually of the former arm at the extremity of each wing. But at Coutras the order was peculiar. Henry IV. drew up his small army of 2500 horse and 4000 infantry in seven divisions, four of cuirassiers, one of light cavalry, and two of foot. The whole line presented the form of a crescent, with its horns advanced. Thus all the heavy horse, with the artillery, were on the concave or centre of the crescent, the light horse somewhat in front, and the two bodies
362 COLLOQUIES WITH FOLARD.
of foot, with their flanks covered by a thick wood and a park wall, re- spectively formed the wings. The enemy's formation was similar: the infantry seem to have been also posted on the wings, with the artillery at one extremity, and their numerous gens-d'armerie of lances and light cavalry in the centre. But at Ivry, the occasion on which Henry IV. gave most evidence of martial science as well as personal heroism, his army — it is particularly noticed by Davila — was extended on a single straight line. Of live divisions of cuirassiers, one closed each flank of the army, with a body of musketeers supporting it ; and in like manner the masses of pikemen were chequered with the other bodies of cuirassiers, of which the largest, under the king in person, formed the centre of the army. The artillery and light-horse were in front of the centre. Here also, in the position of cavalry on the wings, and horse and foot alternately throughout the line, the array of the army of the League resembled that of the King. The circum- stances of this celebrated battle may, however, be reserved for a more special examination. At Nieuport, on which I may also be tempted to render you a separate criticism, after my ancient manner in the flesh, I shall now merely notice that the nature of the ground caused the infantry of both armies to be opposed to each other, still in a single line, on one wing, and the cavalry on the other."
" Among the tactical expedients which were employed in the order of battle of the age before us, you will scarcely, Chevalier, in this plaoe overlook the insertion of small platoons of musketeers among the squa- drons of cavalry. And, under correction, I would here presume to re- mark that the occasion on which this plan was adopted by Henry IV was at Ivry, and not Coutras, as quoted by you in a former Colloquy from your own immortal ' Observations on Cavalry/ "
" I have no pretensions, my friend, to infallibility ; and when you detect so mighty a lapse from precision, bethink you, I pray, of that which a greater critic hath said,
' Sunt delicta tamen quibus ignovisse velimus.'
Be it then, as you correct me, that Ivry, instead of Coutras, was the principal occasion on which our Henri Quatre so intermingled mus- keteers with his horsemen ; this was, as we have already seen, not the first introduction of a practice, which had been tried at Pavia, and which our gallant monarch had borrowed from the master under whom he made his first essays in arms, the great Coligny. This custom, how- ever, until the next age did not obtain suificiently to be regarded as the usual formation of the cavalry. In proceeding to notice the order in which that arm was more generally employed at this period, it is suffi- cient to remind you that, as the use of the long pistol and sword super- seded that of the lance, the cavalry in general was ranged in squadrons ten or twelve deep, instead of the single rank in which the old gens- d'armerie had fought ; and, in the time of Montluc, the new formation was distinguished from the old as the array en host, instead of en haye. He explains at once the cause of the change, and of the disrepute into which the lance was falling, when he says in that passage which we have before cited, ' Aussi avec les pistoles peut-on mieux combattre en host que avec les lances : car, si on ne combat en haye, les lanciers s'embarrassent plus, et le combat en haye n'est pas si asseure qu'en
COLLOQUIES WITH FOLARD. 363
host.' These huge and dense squadrons, which succeeded in absurd contrast to the formation en haye, were gradually reduced, both in numbers and in depth of file, by Alva and Parma, as well as by Henry IV. and Prince Maurice ; and towards the close of the cen- tury, they were usually formed not more than six deep.
" With respect to the infantry, they were still arranged in masses at least ten deep, though the number of men in each, according to the strength of regiments, was undergoing a considerable diminution. In each regular mass of foot, the pikes, who yet composed the greatest proportion, formed the central or firm body ; and the musketeers, who had succeeded the arquebusiers, were posted on the wings of the pikes, and still considered rather as skirmishers than as solid infantry. But any thing like system in the management of arms, either pike or musket, was yet almost unknown ; and Montgomeri, one of our con- temporary military writers, asserts that Prince Maurice of Nassau had alone, in his time, instituted a regular exercise for the infantry."
" The proofs that Maurice at least did introduce such an exercise, have survived in a work, published in 1618, by one Adam Von Breen, and entitled, ' Le Maniement d'Armes de Nassau, avecq rondelles piques, espees et targes, representez par figures selon le nouveau ordre du tres illustre prince, Maurice de Nassau/ &c. His name suggests to me that the examples which you have chosen to illustrate the disci- pline and tactics of the age before us, have hitherto been taken almost exclusively from the Spanish practice. Is not this but a one-sided view of the subject ?"
" Scarcely: for the Spanish discipline was regarded and imitated until nearly the close of the sixteenth century, almost as the universal model of warlike excellence. I meant not, however, to have strained this fact into so absolute a consequence, as to omit a due reference in this place to the rise of that famous school of soldiership of which Maurice of Nassau was the most illustrious master, if not also the original founder. Its pupils formed altogether a different series of command- ers from those trained in the Spanish ranks ; and this distinct forma- tion of two hostile schools of warfare throughout Europe, may be ascribed to the political features of the times. The identity of the religious quarrel which produced the French and Low Country wars, gave a common character and bond of union to the armies of the same party in both countries. The Protestants, especially of France, Ger- many, and the Netherlands, mingled for the support of their cause in the same ranks ; several of the princes of the house of Nassau served long, and fought with various fortune, under the banners of Coligny ; and that great leader of the Huguenots has sometimes been considered as the father of the school of Protestant generals. Whatever lessons, indeed, Maurice may with great probability be supposed to have re- ceived through his father and uncles from the practice of the French civil wars, the bent of his genius, and still more, the peculiarities of the theatre, and the contest on which he was engaged, gave a cha- racter of originality to his operations which marked him for the creator, not the follower, of a system. But our Henri Quatre was confessedly the pupil of Coligny, as in the next generation was the accomplished Rohan, of the royal soldier himself; and the King and the Duke may, in fact, be quoted as the two most renowned captains who sprang from
364 COLLOQUIES WITH FOLARD.
the Protestant school in France. In the Low Countries, I need not remind you that under the Princes of Nassau, its achievements were adorned with the names of the Morrises, the Sidneys, and the Veres of your own land ; and that our Rohan and Turenne were the later pupils of the same system. On the other hand, the Spanish school, besides the great leaders, Alva, Parma, and Spinola, whom it pro- duced on the original theatre of the Low Countries, was continued through the next age in the service of both branches of the House of Austria, and gave birth to the Tillys, the Waldsteins, and the Picco- lominis. Nor were the cumbrous tactics of their predecessors discard- ed either by the Imperial or Spanish armies, until they had entailed the loss of the fatal fields of Lutzen and Rocroi."
" How then, if you maintain that Parma's discipline and tactics formed the model of all soldiership in the period immediately before us, do you at the same time distinguish the characteristics of the rival services, which you have opposed to each other under the term of the Spanish and Protestant schools?"
" The real distinction between them was the later growth of the epoch before us ; and its true author I conceive to have been Maurice of Nassau: whom, for this reason, I formerly designated as the first restorer among the moderns of the true science of antiquity. The ex- tent of the reforms which he introduced in the armament, training, formation, and movement of troops, must be judged rather in the re- sults which his contemporaries have recorded as the fruits of his skill, than by any dry enumeration of details. We gather from his own declarations, and the testimony which the congenial spirit of Rohan has rendered to his memory, that he had deeply studied the enduring principles of ancient art, and laboured to modernize their application. You have seen that he taught a cavalry of inferior physical weight to engage at close encounter, and to overthrow the ponderous masses of gens-d' armerie ; that he first accustomed the infantry to a systematic management of their arms ; and that we owe the uniformity of exer- cise and movement, which have become the simplest elements of mar- tial instruction, to his institutions. To all this may be added that the celerity, as well as good order, of his marches, the excellent arrange- ment by which he husbanded the lives and health of his troops, and the skill with which his encampments were chosen and secured from assault, are the constant subject of contemporary eulogy. Vere, in his relation of the battle of Nieuport, ascribes a superiority to Prince Maurice's army, from 'that skill and dexterity we presumed to excel our enemies in, which was the apt and agile motions of our battalions.' During the operations which preceded that action, Maurice's army had still been formed and moved according to the prevalent custom, in van- guard, battle, and rereward : but two years later, in the campaign of 1602, which the Prince opened with the siege and capture of Grave, in presence of a Spanish army of rather superior numbers, we find the first essay of a better system of tactics. For Maurice dividing his forces, which consisted of five thousand cavalry and eighteen thousand foot, into three bodies, but rejecting their old denomination, conducted his marches and other operations, not in consecutive but simultaneous order. The right wing, composed of the English foot, was commanded by Sir Francis Vere, the centre corps by the Counts William and
THE BEACON LIGHT. 365
Henry, and the left by Count Ernest of Nassau. The cavalry were similarly formed in three bodies, and attached to the infantry ; and the same distribution was made of the commissariat and baggage. And it is expressly stated in the narrative of Maurice's campaigns, which is appended to the Commentaries of Vere, that the three grand divisions of the army ' marched in the foresaid order, not one behind another, but close together, being sometimes separated half an hour's journey from one another, and sometimes less/ In other words, the army moved in three columns, on as many contiguous lines of march ; and this order is perhaps the most striking proof that can be offered of the revolution which Maurice had introduced in the tactical system of the age. By such a disposition, combined with the superior ' agility' — to borrow the phrase of Vere — which his training had imparted to the infantry, Maurice acquired a constant advantage over his adversaries ; and without reaching the freedom of tactical action which Gustavus attained by the farther subdivision of great masses of foot, he, first of the moderns, invested the operations of warfare with a boldness and activity, which were totally unknown to the slow regularity of the Spanish school."
THE BEACON-LIGHT.
BY MISS FARDOE.
Darkness was deep'ning o'er the seas,
And still the hulk drove on; No sail to answer to the breeze,
Her masts and cordage gone : Gloomy and drear her course of fear,
Each look'd but for a grave, When full in sight, the Beacon-light
Came streaming o'er the wave !
Then wildly rose the gladd'ning shout
Of all that hardy crew — Boldly they put the helm about,
And through the surf they flew; Storm was forgot, toil heeded not,
And loud the cheer they gave, As full in sight, the Beacon-light
Came streaming o'er the wave !
And gaily oft the tale they told,
When they were safe on shore, How hearts had sunk, and hope grown cold,
Amid the billows' roar ; That not a star had shone afar,
By its pale beam to save, When full in sight, the Beacon-light,
Came streaming o'er the wave !
366
SERVICE AFLOAT DURING THE LATE WAR.*
BEING THE PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF A NAVAL OFFICER.
WE now approach a subject of much interest as connected with the natural history of these islands. To this we are led by events which occurred in this quarter in 1812, and which were well calculated to illustrate the physical changes which these and other parts of the globe have undergone, and may still be expected to undergo, by the work- ings of Nature, in her grand laboratory, through the medium of earth- quakes, volcanoes, and their immediate cause, subterranean combustion.
As the principal theatre of some very singular phenomena, under the head of the latter, (of which I was an eye-witness,) was the little Island of St. Vincent, I shall say a few words of that island. St. Vincent's lies about twenty miles south of St. Lucia, in latitude 13° 5' North, and longitude 61° West. The whole is a pile of lofty moun- tains, in many parts thickly wooded, and with a profuse vegetation. The intervening valleys are well watered, and extremely fertile, the soil being a fine mould, well adapted for sugar. The principal, and indeed only town, though three or four villages are distinguished by the appel- lation, is Kingston, in the south-west quarter of the island, itself scarcely deserving the name. Kingston is situated on a narrow slip of land, at the foot of a grand amphitheatre of mountains. This island is remarkable as the last of the range in which that devoted race, the aboriginals of the islands (called the Yellow Charaibs), finally took refuge. This remnant of the former lords of the soil, have, since the arrival of Europeans, rapidly decreased, until but a few, if any remain ; they have, however, been replaced by a race called the Black Charaibs, who are inconsiderable in number, (amounting to not more than a few thousand,) and who divide the island at this day with their European invaders. These savages are descended from a body of negroes, who constituted the cargo of a ship from the coast of Guinea, which, in the latter end of the seventeenth century, was wrecked or run on shore on the island: these, augmented from time to time by runaways from Barbadoes, and intermarrying with the aborigines, have adopted their customs, even to the flattening of the foreheads of their infants ; and thus the two races have been confounded together.
I have before alluded to the traces everywhere evident of volcanic action throughout these islands. The greater part, if not the whole of the direct chain, have volcanoes either exhausted or in action. Of the latter still burning, are those of St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Guada- loupe ; and if the emission of vapour and sulphurous gases from various fissures and openings, are any evidence to the same effect, Dominica may also be reckoned among them. Of the former, the greater portion of the remaining larger ones have well defined craters, which show that they were in activity at no very remote period. That of the Solfatara of Mount Missery, a lofty and remarkable craggy peak in the island of St. Christopher, was burning in 1692. To these facts, others more recent and equally interesting, which I am about to subjoin, may, perhaps, tend to throw some light on the causes of the great workings of nature.
Among these, the comparatively recent catastrophe at Caraccas, and
* Continued from page 71-
SERVICE AFLOAT DURING THE LATE WAR 367
the tremendous eruption of the great Souffrier of St. Vincent's in April 1812, with the remarkable phenomena that attended them, are the most prominent.* Of some of them I was an eye-witness ; of others I had ample and immediate means of getting information on the spot. Among other deductions from these, are some interesting proofs, which go far in demonstrating the connection between the causes of earth- quakes and volcanoes, that the whole of the Antilles are but collateral branches of the continental ridges of the New World, broken and sepa- rated by earthquakes, volcanoes, and currents ; that the great basin of the Caribbean 'Sea, also formed part of the neighbouring continent ; and, lastly, that a submarine communication still subsists between all these islands, connected with a vast Souterran, extending to the moun- tains of Caraccas, and probably through the whole chain of the Andes, in one direction, and also in another direction, namely, from the east- ern extremity of the Atlantic to the centre of North America ; at least, if the volcanic birth of Sabrina Island, off St. Michael's, in 1811,t (which literally took place in the presence of the crew of one of our sloops-of-war of that name,) and the repeated shocks of earthquakes experienced on the mountains of the Ohio, are to be considered as linked with them in their respective causes. It will be remarked that the earthquake in Venezuela preceded the eruption of St. Vin- cent's some thirty-five days. A similar coincidence attended the last eruption of the Souffrier at Guadaloupe, which, however, preceded an earthquake that shook the northern shores of South America, and de- stroyed the city of Cumana ; the former occurring on the 4th of Nov. the latter on the 10th Dec. 1797- These shocks were for the most part felt throughout the islands, in a direction from east to west, with an undulating motion, and sometimes accompanied by a noise under ground, like the rumbling of distant thunder ; but the effects of this mighty commotion exhausted itself, as in 1812, on the devoted conti- nent, without injuring the chain of islands.
The volcanoes called the Souffruri, had slept so long, that only vague and traditionary accounts of any eruption existed, the last haing occurred in 1718. The whole island, as seen from the sea, appears one huge mass of lofty rugged mountains, rising, on most sides, abruptly from the sea ; of these the Souffrier is the most majestic of all those bearing volcanic vestiges. Its altitude is 3000 feet above the level of the ocean. The crater, which, previous to the eruption, was about two- thirds up the side of the mountain, exceeded half a mile in diameter, and was about 500 feet deep. In the centre of this rose a conical hill, 200 feet in diameter, and 300 in height, the lower half fringed with brushwood, the upper strewed with virgin sulphur. From the fissures of this exuded a thin white smoke, occasionally tinged with a light bluish flame. At the base of this cone were two small lakes, differing essentially in quality and temperature from each other. Evergreens, flowers, aromatic shrubs, and a variety of indigenous plants, clothed the
* In this great earthquake, which occurred on the 26th of March 1812 (Holy Thursday), at a moment when the churches were crowded, 20,000 persons perished in the city and district of Caraccas alone.
t This phenomenon occurred on the 30th January 1811. An island of sand was seen to emerge from the ocean, which, in a few weeks, acquired an elevation of upwards of 300 feet. This was taken possession of in form by the Captain of the Sabrina, in the name of His Britannic Majesty.
368 SERVICE AFLOAT
steep sides of this gulf, while the exterior of the mountain was covered from its base to its summit by a thick forest. Such was the scene pre- vious to the fatal 27th of April 1812. On that day, about noon, the first unequivocal symptoms of the subsequent convulsion were evinced by a loud explosion from the volcanic mountain, followed by an immense column of thick sulphurous smoke, which suddenly burst near the vicinity of the crater, and, in the course of a minute, discharged vast quantities of volcanic matter, which covered the whole surface. This, and the noise by which it was accompanied, apparently proceeding from the bowels of the mountain, threw the inhabitants into the utmost consternation.
The eruption continuing with increased violence, presented on Thursday night and Friday morning, one of the most awful spec- tacles human imagination can form an idea of. The mountain burst forth in a tremendous blaze, throwing up huge jets of fire and burn- ing stones, accompanied with a terrific thundering noise, at the same time sending down its sides torrents of lava; and showers of volcanic matter continued to fall for several hours all over the island. At times, also, pieces of rock of enormous size were shot forth from the aperture of the mountain.
The brilliancy of the flames which majestically rose from the mouth of the crater, had a most sublime and awful effect. The burning stones which darted in the air, resembled the stars of a rocket. The vivid flashes of lightning which shot forth with a noise far exceeding the heaviest artillery, accompanied with violent shocks of earthquakes, resembled in colour and brightness that which is usually seen in a tempest ; and the curling sheets of smoke so obscured the sky, that the island was, until Friday morning at ten o'clock, nearly involved in nocturnal darkness. These appearances were sufficiently dreadful, but our fears added new horrors to the scene. The terrified people precipitately retreated from their homes to places of shelter. I have not been able to ascertain exactly the extent of damage sustained, or lives lost, but the principal rivers of the island were all dried up. The negro provision grounds and pasture lands were destroyed for miles around, and so covered over with ashes and vitrified pieces of stone, that there was not apparently a spot of ground left for the cattle to feed upon. The range of the mountain on the windward side was split open, and from it issued torrents of burning lava which consumed in its course every tree and shrub that impeded its way. And the surface in that quarter was covered several inches deep with a volcanic matter resembling dross from a forge.
On Thursday evening, the 30th of April, we weighed with a mo- derate breeze and fair weather from Carlisle Bay, on our way to Fort Royal, Martinico, to join the flag-ship which had preceded us thither the day before. Between two and three A.M. the following morning, I was aroused by the person having charge of the deck, who in the hurried accents of surprise, requested me to come on deck, at the same time announcing to me the singular information, that it was " raining sand," and that the watch on deck, already half blinded by it, were obliged to bandage their eyes. At this moment, we were about twelve leagues east by south from the southern extremity of Martinico, or a little more than half way between that island and Bar- badoes. Astonished at a phenomenon so unusual, I hurried upon deck,
DURING THE LATE WAR. 369
which I found covered with a layer of sandy particles to the depth of an inch, and a constant shower of the same material still continuing to descend. The atmosphere, thus loaded, prevented our seeing a foot from the vessel's side ; indeed, the finer particles of the falling matter rendered it extremely inconvenient to use the eyes at all. It blew a light breeze, the usual trade wind, before which we moved at the rate of about two knots an hour. I had heard of sand taken up by the atmosphere, and carried sometimes by the wind to an immense distance ; and I attributed the present appearance to that cause. One thing, however, all felt convinced of, that it was an event of no ordinary occurrence; and under the influence of a high and not unpleasant ex- citement— that mixture of awe, blended with suspense and curiosity, felt when watching the denouement of some extraordinary circum- stance— we all anxiously waited the issue. We more especially looked to daybreak for a little more light on the obscurity, moral and phy- sical, which enveloped us. This at length came, between five and six ; but it was that partial dubious glimmering which was little more than sufficient to render " darkness visible," and to lend additional interest and awe to the scene. The atmosphere in the direction of the sun, had a deep reddish murky brown appearance, something resem- bling— though infinitely more intense— one of those dense November fogs mixed with the smoke, which at that season of the year hover over our metropolis. The effect of all this was increased by our iso- lated situation, and the solemn stillness, undisturbed by aught save the scarcely perceptible ripple under the bows of the vessel, which was now nearly becalmed. This earthy shower, which prevented us from even seeing the water, continued falling until about eleven A.M., at which time the breeze began to freshen, and the atmosphere to clear ; about noon it had altogether ceased, the air was serene, and the sun shone out with comparative brilliancy. When distant objects had become visible, we descried a brig in the north-east standing to the southward. This turned out to be an American, and on nearing her she presented a singular appearance, from the sand adhering to the tar and pitch of the rigging and hull. Glad of an opportunity to glean farther information, we closed with, and spoke this vessel ; but honest Jonathan, apparently much more astonished and confounded than our- selves, could throw no new light on the matter. Amidst our conjec- tures, however, we at length mutually hit upon the same causes— those of volcanic action, — and the imagination once stimulated in this new direction, we looked eagerly out in the quarter of the land, fancy- ing we saw smoke and flame from every peak or mountain. Be this as it may, on passing within two cables' length of the Diamond about an hour after, every one on board was convinced they saw both the one and the other issue from the fissures of this remarkable rock ; and so impressed was I with the fact, that I reported the circumstance to the Commander-in-chief. In consequence of this, a party, of which I made one, was formed the next day to explore it.
It was on this occasion that the attempt to reach the summit placed me in the critical situation alluded to in a former part of my narrative. On its south side, this rock presents a perpendicular face of six hun- dred feet in height, and the others, with the exception of the north- east, are for the most part inaccessible. It was on the latter that I
U. S. JOURK. No. 40. MARCH 1832. 2 B
370 SERVICE AFLOAT
now proceeded to mount, having taken with me a Negro fisherman, well acquained with the localities, to direct me. During the first two hundred feet or so I found little difficulty, but after that it was like climbing the pinnacle of Salisbury Cathedral. With the exception of a resting-place here and there, the ascent was now generally at an angle of seventy or eighty degrees, and many places were nearly per- pendicular. I soon heartily wished myself below. The rays of a cloudless sun, reflected by the rock, were overpowering, and there was scarcely a breath of wind. Following my sable conductor, who, accus- tomed to scale the rock for birds' eggs, scrambled up the precipices like a goat, on I went expecting every instant to be precipitated below by the crumbling of the rock from under my feet ; at length, on reaching a small slope, near the summit, I sank down exhausted with heat and exertion. On consulting my watch, I found my enterprize had taken a greater time than I had anticipated, and that, in order not to detain my party, it was necessary that I should return ; I therefore prepared to descend. I now discovered I had achieved only the easiest part of my task, and that getting down was much more difficult than getting up. On looking below, I shuddered as I contemplated the gulf at my feet, into which one false step would at once precipitate me. The face of the rock taken in profile, one projection hiding another, looked smooth and nearly perpendicular ; however, by the aid of my guide, I at length reached the bottom in safety, but we failed in satisfactorily accomplishing the object of our visit, no positive evidence being ob- tained either for or against the question at issue. The south-western side of the rock, from which the smoke had apparently emanated, was inaccessible ; no signs of volcanic action however were now visible, and whether those of our former visit were the fumes of a volcano, of a fisherman's fire, or those of the imagination, is still doubtful.
We at length learned the cause of the phenomenon we had wit- nessed on our voyage. It was one of the many connected with the eruption of the Grand Souffrier at St. Vincent's. Immediately follow- ing this I made the circuit of the islands, and collected the following particulars. At Barbadoes, notwithstanding the general trade wind was dead to windward, they were visited simultaneously with ourselves with a much heavier shower of similar sand, which continued falling until nearly an hour after noon, and was so profuse as to wrap the whole island in midnight darkness. An appearance so awful and un- accountable, had a corresponding influence on the minds of the less enlightened inhabitants. The mass of the population imagined the last day had arrived, and stricken with terror and compunctious visit- ings, the multitude flocked to the churches to propitiate the offended Deity. These, lighted up for the occasion, were soon filled to suffoca- tion ; crowds were seen groping their way along the streets by the aid of lanthorns, while others fell on their knees in prayer ; never had. Barbadoes before or since exhibited so much devotion.
The crops and the soil were much injured by the quantity of falling matter ; and the latter did not recover for two or three years after. On a subsequent analyzation this matter has been ascertained to con- sist principally of powdered pumice stone, mixed with a considerable quantity of sulphur and some minute portions of other mineral substances.
DURING THE LATE WAR. 371
Leaving Martinico on the second or third day following this event, we made the circuit of the islands as far as St. Thomas's, touching at Nevis, St. Kitt's, Tortola, and some others. At the former, on land- ing, a large concourse of people flocked down to the beach to meet us, with the most anxious curiosity depicted on their countenances, ima- gining we were the bearers of some interesting information. This excitement had its origin in an impression that an enemy's force had arrived in these seas, an impression which originated as follows : — At two A.M. the inhabitants had been aroused from their beds, and the garrison assembled at their posts, by explosions from the seaward, in the immediate vicinity of the island, resembling a heavy and incessant cannonading of two mighty and conflicting fleets. This continued for upwards of an hour, and so forcible was the conviction that the reports proceeded from the above cause, that the greatest bustle and alarm prevailed, and every preparation was made, in case of need, to repel an attack. The moment of these explosions coincided exactly with that of our sandy visitation, when about half way between Barbadoes and Mar- tinico, and several miles from the scene of the eruption, St. Vincent's ; yet though so much nearer than the remote islands where the noise was so vividly heard, nothing of the sort was remarked by us, or, as far as I am aware, by any of those who were afloat at the moment.
The prodigious projectile force with which the volcanic matter was ejected from the mountain, may be judged of by the fact, that some of it fell on board an outward-bound vessel between two and three hun- dred miles to windward of Barbadoes, which, be it remarked, was in the teeth of the regular trade wind, some four hundred from the volcano.
Similar explosions simultaneously took place at the neighbouring island of St. Kitt's, at which we called on leaving Nevis ; and, as far as I had an opportunity of ascertaining, along the whole line, or rather semicircle of islands, as well as along an immense extent of the coast of Caraccas. This island consists of a central range of volcanic moun- tains, extending east and west, and having for their apex the awful craig of Mount Missery, which, rendered broken and ragged by inces- sant convulsions, lifts its bleak and desolate pinnacle over the mouth of an exhausted crater to the height of 3700 feet. The contrast of these rugged rocks, with the verdure of the plain at their feet, is de- lightful. The spacious town of Basse Terre lies to the south east at the foot of the range. Like most of the other English towns, it is a dull, slovenly, ill-built place. Under the government of this island are comprised Nevis, Anguilla, and the Virgin Islands.
Nevis is most beautifully picturesque and striking when seen a few miles from the sea. From the southward it appears a single cone rising with a gradual unbroken slope out of the ocean, covered with the freshest verdure, and studded with neat planters' houses ; the summit is crowned with a thick forest, and sometimes capped with clouds. To the northward and westward it falls off in a long slope towards St. Kitt's, from which it is only divided by a narrow strait. Charles- town is the capital ; it lies on the south side, at the foot of the verdant acclivity just described. Not far from the town are some mineral baths. There are five churches and two chapels on the island.
(To be continued.) 2 B 2
372
MEMOIR OF THE SERVICES OF THE LATE ADMIRAL THE HON. SIR ALEXANDER INGLIS COCHRANE. G.C.B.
ON the 26th January, died at Paris, of apoplexy, the Hon. Sir Alex- ander Inglis Cochrane. This distinguished and able officer was de- scended from an ancient Scottish family, which nourished in the reign of Alexander III. King of Scotland. The subject of this memoir was uncle to the present Earl of Dundonald, and brother to the late Basil Cochrane, and also to Cochrane Johnstone, of Stock Exchange notoriety some few years since. At an early age, he commenced his naval ca- reer, and passing through the stipulated period as Midshipman, was made Lieutenant in 1778, and Master and Commander into the St. Lucia sloop. He then commanded the Avenger, and on 17th Dec. 17&2, was made Captain of the Kangaroo, from which he removed into the Caroline, of 24 guns, on the North American station.
After the peace with that country, Capt. Cochrane was not employed until the expectation of a war with Spain, in consequence of the affair at Nootka Sound, when he was appointed to the Hind frigate, of 28 guns, in which, during 1793, he captured several privateers belonging to the French Republic. Capt. Cochrane was subsequently removed to the Thetis, of 42 guns, and employed on the coast of America.
In May 1795, cruising off the Chesapeake, with the Hussar, Capt. Beresford (now Admiral Sir John P. Beresford) under his orders, he discovered five sail of ships, and instantly gave chase. After some time, the frigates were observed, and the ships directly formed and waited to receive them. The Hussar having been ordered to engage the second ship, the Thetis intending to attack the centre one, when having reached within half-musket shot, the French vessels commenced firing ; and before eleven o'clock, the former frigate compelled the Commodore and his second, a-head, to quit and make sail. The three remaining ships were then closely engaged by both the frigates, and in about an hour afterwards struck their colours, and then attempted to make off after their companions; one, however, only effected this, and both the others were taken possession of. That by the Hussar was called La Raison, of 18 guns, and 125 men ; and that by the Thetis, La Prevoyante, mounting- 24 guns, but able to carry 46. They were all armed en flute, and were from Guadaloupe to America, for naval stores and provisions. The Thetis had seventeen men killed and wounded, and the Hussar two wounded.
In February 1779, Capt. Cochrane was appointed to the Ajax, of 80 guns, and was in the several expeditions against Quiberon, Belleisle, and Ferrol, in the following year. The Ajax was then ordered to join the fleet under the orders of Admiral Lord Keith, in the Mediterra- nean, and Capt. Cochrane's ship formed one of the fleet destined to convey the troops under the orders of Lieut.~Gen. Sir Ralph Aber- cromby, to expel the French from Egypt, where, on the 8th of March, the troops were landed under his superintendence.
When the attack was made upon Alexandria, some armed vessels were placed at the lake Mareotis, under the immediate direction of Capt. Cochrane, to cover the approach of the soldiers. During the
SIR ALEXANDER INGLIS COCHRANE, G.C.B. 373
period of Capt. Cochrane's services in this part of the world, his zeal and ability were repeatedly noticed and approved of, and named in the public despatches both by Lieut.-Gen. Hutchinson, who succeeded the gallant Abercromby, and also by Admiral Lord Keith. The treaty of Amiens taking place, the ships were ordered home, and in February 1802 Capt. Cochrane arrived in the Ajax at Portsmouth. In the same year, he was returned to Parliament for the boroughs of Dumfermline, Stirling, &c.
On the war with France in 1803, Capt. Cochrane was appointed to the Northumberland, of 74 guns. A promotion taking place the following year, Capt. Cochrane, on the 23rd of April, became Rear- Admiral of the Blue, and hoisted his flag on board the Northum- berland, and was sent to observe the movements of the Spanish ships in Ferrol. While in this command, Admiral Cochrane obtained information that French troops were marching through Spain for that port, and also that a considerable Spanish force was collecting there, and an armament in a great degree of forwardness. This important information the Admiral forwarded to Government, owing to which, directions were issued for the interception of, and laying an embargo on, the Spanish treasure ships, that periodically returned about this time from South America.
From this station, Admiral Cochrane was despatched with six sail- of-the-line in quest of a French fleet of five sail-of-the-line, three frigates, two brigs, and a schooner, with 4000 troops on board, which had escaped from Rochefort the latter end of 1804. No tidings were obtained of their destination until Admiral Cochrane arrived at Bar- badoes, from whence, having refitted, he sailed the 5th April for Jamaica. The French had managed their affairs so secretly, that they reached St. Domingo, after having committed every possible mischief, into which they put supplies, &c. and eventually returned to France without having been seen by any of the numerous ships that were upon the look-out for them.
Admiral Cochrane then had the command on the Leeward Island station, and upon Nelson arriving at Barbadoes in quest of the com- bined French and Spanish fleets, joined the squadron under the orders of that hero. The enemy were not, however, to be found, and Lord Nelson returned from that quarter.
In the early part of the year 1806, a squadron escaped from Brest for the relief of San Domingo. Admiral Sir John Thomas Duckworth lost no time in pursuing them, and upon arriving at the Leeward Islands, effected a junction with Admiral Cochrane. The fleet pro- ceeded to San Domingo, and on the 6th February, discovered the enemy's squadron, consisting of five sail-of-the-line, two frigates, and a corvette. No time was lost in commencing action. The weather division consisted of the Superb, 74, Admiral Sir J. Thomas Duck- worth, Capt. Keates ; Northumberland, 74, Admiral Cochrane ; Spen- cer, 74 ; and Agamemnon, 64. Lee division, Conqueror, 74, Admiral Louis ; Donegal and Atlas of 74 guns each ; Acasta and Magicienne frigates ; Epervier and Kingfisher sloops. The action continued with the greatest vigour on both sides, and ended in the Imperiale of 120, and Diomede, 84 guns, being driven on shore, and ultimately set tire
374 SIR ALEXANDER INGLIS COCHRANE, G.C.B.
to and burnt. The other ships, viz. L'Alexandre, 84 ; Jupiter, 74 ; and Le Brave, 74 ; were finally secured and sent to Jamaica ; the frigate and corvette effecting their escape. The Northumberland lost her mainmast, and was so disabled as to render it necessary for the Agamemnon to accompany her into port. The enemy lost 700 men, killed and wounded. The loss in our ships was severe, and consisted of 74 killed and 264 wounded.
For this important service, the thanks of both Houses of Parliament were voted, and also those of the Corporation of the City of London, accompanied by the freedom, and a sword of one hundred guineas value to Admiral Cochrane. The Patriotic Fund at Lloyd's Coffee- house also presented him with a vase of 300/. value, and the honour of a Knight of the Bath was also conferred upon Admiral Cochrane.
Sir Alexander Cochrane hoisted his flag on board the Belleisle, of 74 guns, and in 1806 assisted at the reduction of St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix, islands belonging to Denmark, in conjunction with Gen. Bowyer. In 1808, the islands of Mariegalante and Deseadre surrendered to the Cerberus, Capt. Selby, belonging to the squadron of Sir A. Cochrane.
On the 31st of January 1809, an attack was made upon Martinique, under the orders of Lieut.-Gen. Beckwith and Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane, when, after much severe fighting, the island was finally in possession of the British on the 24th of February. When this import- ant information was received, the thanks of both Houses of Parliament were voted to both the gallant officers under whose directions it had been accomplished, and also to the brave soldiers and seamen under their respective orders.
In the following year, Sir Alexander Cochrane was appointed Go- vernor and Commander-in-chief at Guadaloupe, which he held about three years, and was presented with an address of regret on his de- parture by the French inhabitants of that island. He then proceeded to assume the command at the North American coast, with his flag in the Tonnant, of 80 guns, in which ship, in 1815, he returned home, and remained unemployed until he was appointed 1st Feb. 1821, Com- mander-in-chief at Plymouth, which he held for the usual term of three years.
Sir Alexander Cochrane was promoted to the rank of Vice- Admiral, Oct. 25th 1809; Admiral, August 12th 1819; and upon the Knight- hood of the Bath being extended into three classes in June 1815, be- came a Grand Cross of that Order. He married in 1788, Maria widow of Capt. Sir Jacob Waite, Bart. R.N. by whom he had several children, one, Capt. Sir Thomas Cochrane, Knt. is Governor of Newfoundland ; and a daughter is the wife of Capt. Sir Thomas Troubridge, Bart. R.N. Member of Parliament for Sandwich, and Captain of the Stag frigate.
The remains of this lamented officer have been deposited in the cemetery of Pere la Chaise. His funeral was attended, besides all his immediate relatives on the spot, by all the naval and military officers in Paris, and many private friends he had formed in France, amongst whom were Baron Hyde de Neuville, Viscount de Chabot, M. Du Buc St. Olympe, &c.
375
MEMOIR OF THE SERVICES OF GEN. SIR GEORGE DON, G.C.B. & G.C.H.
THIS veteran officer commenced his military career as an Ensign in the 51st Foot, so far back as the 26th December 1770. He was appointed Lieutenant 3rd June 1774; Major, by brevet, 25th No- vember 1783; Major, 59th foot, 12th April 1784; Lieutenant-Colonel, 9th April 1789; Colonel, 26th February 1795; Major- General, 1st January 1798; Colonel 7th West India Regiment, 22nd November 1799; Lieutenant-General, 1st January 1803; Colonel 96th foot, 10th October 1805; General, 4th June 1814; Colonel 36th foot, 4th April 1818; from which corps he was removed 21st December 1829 to the 3rd foot.
The earliest services of the subject of this memoir were under Generals Johnstone and Murray in the island of Minorca; he was Military Secretary and first Aide-de-camp to the latter, and placed at the head of the staff during the siege of Fort St. Philip's in 1781.
During the peace between the American and French wars he served at Gibraltar, where he commanded the 59th regiment.
In Flanders, Holland, and Germany he served under the Duke of York, Gen. Lord Harcourt, Count Wallmoden, and Gen. Sir David Dundas. In the winter campaign of 1 794 in Holland, he was Deputy Adjutant-General, and acted as Adjutant-General to the British army ; and in that year he was appointed Aide-de-camp to the King. Colonel Don continued to serve in Germany till 1798, and was employed upon various military missions.
On his promotion to the rank of Major-General, he was appointed to the command of the Isle of Wight. In 1799 he was again sent to Germany, and employed in that year with the expedition to the Helder. At the close of the campaign of 1799, when sent out with a flag of truce, he was unjustly made prisoner of war (see our Annals for 1799), and was not exchanged till June 1800, when he was again employed on the staff.
During the short peace Gen. Don was second in command in Scotland, and on the breaking out of the war he was appointed to the command of the King's German Legion.
In 1805 he was sent to the north of Germany, with a corps of 14,000 men; and on this force being withdrawn from the Continent in the following year, he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor in the Island of Jersey. From the latter situation he was removed, in 1809, to the command of Walcheren, which he held until that island was evacuated. He resumed the command of the Island of Jersey in 1810, where he continued till appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Gib- raltar.
Gen. Don was for some years Equerry to the Duke of Cambridge, and at the time of his death was a Knight Grand Cross of the Bath, and of the Hanoverian Guelphic Order ; also Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Military Merit of France, conferred upon him by Louis the Eighteenth ; Governor of Scarborough Castle, and Colonel of the' 3rd foot.
General Sir George Don, having died at Gibraltar on the 1st of
376 MEMOIR OF GEN. SIR GEORGE DON, G.C.B. & G.C.H.
January, his funeral took place in that Garrison on the 4th of that month.
The following General Order relative to the ceremonies observed on this melancholy occasion, was issued by the Lieutenant-Governor, Lieut.-Gen. Sir William Houston, G.C.B." &c.
G. 0.
Head Quarters, Gibraltar, 2nd Jan. 1832.
Order to be observed at the Funeral of the late General Sir George Don, G.C.B., G.C.H. G.C.M.M., &c. &c.
No. 1. — The Garrison will be under arms at half-past ten o'clock, on Wednesday next, the 4th inst. at the following stations, viz. : —
The 94th Regiment, 60th or King's Royal Rifle Corps, and 53rd Regiment, at the King's Bastion, left in front.
The 42nd Royal Highlanders, 23rd Royal Welsh Fusileers, and 12th Regiment, on the Governor's Parade.
The Royal Artillery and Royal Sappers and Miners will form in Church street.
A party of 24 Gunners from the Royal Artillery, with their side-arms only, will parade at the Line Wall House, for the purpose of carrying the corpse.
No. 2. — The Procession will move along the Line Wall, by the Main Guard, and proceed to the New Protestant Church.
PROCESSION.
Four Grenadier Companies, under the command of Lient.-Colonel Turbevill, of the 12th Regiment, will receive the corpse and lead the procession.
Four Field Pieces.
The Bauds of the two senior regiments, 12th and 23rd R. W. F. Horse caparisoned, led by grooms.
Servants, two and two.
Dr. Farrell, Inspector-General of Hospitals, and Dr. Dix, 94lh Regiment. The Rev. J. S. Purring, M.A. Chaplain to the Forces. Colonel Mann, Royal Engineers, second in command.
PALL BEARERS. PALL BEARERS.
Lieut.-Col. Considine, 53rd Regiment, ~) f Lieut-Col. Harrison, 23rd R. W. F.
Lieut.-Col. Rogers, C.B. Royal Artillery, I THE j Lieut.-Col. Harding, Royal Engineers,
Lieut.-Col. Paty, 94th Regiment, j BODY, j Lieut.-Col. Bunbnry, 60th Rifles,
Capt. Shirreff, C.B. Royal Navy, J ^ Lieut.-Col. Hon. SirC. Gordon, 42nd R.H.
CHIEF MOURNERS.
Lieut.-Col. Budgeon, Royal Engineers, and Lieut.-Colonel Falla, Town Major.
SUPPORTERS.
Capt. Prince, Royal Engineers, and Francis Stokes, Esq.
Friends of the deceased.
Staff and Departments.
Officers of Corps and Regiments, by fours.
Officers of the Royal Navy. Personal Staff of His Excellency the Lieutenant- Governor.
His Excellency the Liemenant-Governor.
The Troops will be formed in extended order from their left, facing inwards, and after the procession has passed, will follow in succession by sections from the left.
After the Corpse is in the grave, three rounds, of eleven pieces of artillery, will be fired from the King's Bastion.
The whole will be under the superintendence of Colonel Mann, the second in command. Only one Officer per company will fall in with the troops, all the others will form part of the procession.
The remains of this gallant veteran were consigned to their last mansion, at the hour and in the manner prescribed by the foregoing Order, amidst universal demonstrations of sincere and deep-felt sorrow. Nor was this feeling confined to the British garrison. Minute guns were also fired from the opposite Spanish town of Algeciras during the procession, and a round of eleven pieces of heavy artillery, when the body was understood to be in the grave. The Spanish General Monet, with his two sons and Aides-de-camp, personally attended the funeral, together with a large number of the officers of rank from the neighbourhood.
377
MEMOIR OF THE SERVICES OF THE LATE VICE-ADMIRAL ROBERT BARTON.
THE entry of Mr. Barton into the Royal Navy commenced at an early period. In 1769 he was received into the Princess Augusta, at Deptford, where he remained until removed. In 1775, having com- pleted his period of service, he was made one of the Lieutenants of the Orpheus frigate, on the coast of America ; and in 1782 he was promoted to the rank of Master and Commander, and to command the Bustler, of sixteen guns, employed in the Channel fleet ; at the commencement of the war with France, in 1793, he commanded the Hawke sloop of war, and proceeded with some merchant vessels under convoy to the West Indies.
In April 1794 he was promoted to the rank of Post Captain, and in the following year to command the Lapwing, of thirty-four guns, em- ployed in the North Seas, and soon after sailed for St. Kitt's with a convoy. During the time the Lapwing was lying at St. Kitt's (Nov. 1796) Capt. Barton received information that two French ships of war, with some small vessels and four hundred troops, under Victor Hughes, were making an attack upon Anguilla, and he lost no time in proceeding after them, but, owing to adverse winds, he did not reach the island until the 27th, when he found the enemy had landed the preceding day, and had committed many acts of cruelty, burnt the houses, and destroyed all the property they were able to get hold of. On the Lapwing's appearance the enemy re-embarked, and Capt. Barton prevented their escape by bringing both the French ships to action, which contest lasted two hours, when the largest, Le Decius of twenty-six guns and two brass tield-pieces, with 133 seamen and 200 soldiers on board, struck her colours, having had eighty men killed and forty wounded. The other vessel, La Vaillante, a brig of six guns, thirty-six and forty-two-pounders, with forty-tive seamen and ninety soldiers on board, ran on shore on the island of St. Martin, and was destroyed by the Lapwing's tire. On the following day Capt. Barton discovered two French frigates, and to prevent his prize from being recaptured set her on fire, and was himself chased by them into St. Kitt's, where he soon after received a deputation from the inhabitants expressive of their thanks for his services at Anguilla.
In the following year Capt. Barton was so fortunate as to capture eight privateers ; and was soon after removed from the Lapwing to the Concord, of forty-two guns, and continued to cruise with equal suc- cess, during which time he captured eleven more vessels of various descriptions.
Capt. Barton returned home the latter end of 1799, and was subse- quently employed in the Concord, both on the Coast of Portugal and at Newfoundland. On the 26th Jan. 1801, he fell in with M. Gan- teaume's squadron off Cape Finisterre. At daylight on the following morning, Capt. Barton, having during the night cast off a Swedish ship he had in tow, was enabled to bring one of the enemy's frigates, which had previously chased him, to close action, and after being so engaged for forty minutes completely silenced his opponent's fire, but the
378 THE LATE VICE-ADMIRAL ROBERT BARTON.
French squadron coming up prevented Capt. Barton taking possession of his prize, which was La Bravoure, of forty-two guns and 293 men, ten of whom and a lieutenant were killed, and the captain and twenty- four seamen wounded. In this conflict the Concord sustained such considerable damage in sails and rigging, having also had five men killed and twenty-four wounded, that Capt. Barton deemed it most proper to put into Plymouth, as also to communicate the intelligence of the enemy's fleet being at sea.
In the following autumn Capt. Barton acted for a short period as Governor of Newfoundland, and arrived at Portsmouth on Christmas- day, after a short passage of eleven days from St. John's.
Capt. Barton, upon the renewal of hostilities with Buonaparte, was in 1803 appointed to superintend the equipment of the Sea Fencibles in the Isle of Wight, a new description of force, to act against the enemy should they attempt the then projected invasion of our shores.
About July in the following year Capt. Barton was appointed to command the Raisonable, of sixty-four guns, and was subsequently removed into the Goliath, seventy-four, in which, in Aug. 1805, he captured a French brig and corvette of sixteen and eighteen guns each, on board of which vessels were upwards of seventy English seamen who had been previously wrecked in the Blanche frigate, commanded by Capt. Sir Thomas Lavie. Capt. Barton about the latter end of this year left the Goliath, and in 1807 was appointed to the York, a new seventy-four which had been recently launched, and accompanied the joint expedition under Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood and Major- Gen. Beresford to take possession of the Island of Madeira. This having been accomplished, the York proceeded to the Leeward Islands, and arrived in time to assist at the surrender of Martinique to the forces under Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane and Lieut.-Gen. Beck- with. Capt. Barton, while the operations were carrying on, had the command of a detachment of seamen on shore, under the orders of Commodore (now Vice-Admiral Sir George) Cockburn.
Capt. Barton was subsequently present at the capture of the Isles des Saintes and of the d'Hautpoult, a French seventy-four gun ship. The York continued in the West Indies until 1809, in the summer of which year he returned to England, when Capt. Barton joined the expedition to Walcheren, and afterwards the Mediterranean fleet. The 12th Aug. 1812, a" promotion of flag oflicers taking place, Capt. Barton became a Rear-Adiniral, and on the 12th Aug. 1819 a Vice- Admiral, but never hoisted his flag. He had for some years resided at Exeter, and died there 16th December last.
MEMOIR OP LIEUT.-GEN. SIR GABRIEL MARTINDELL, K.C.B.
THIS distinguished officer, after a service of more than half a cen- tury under the East India Company, died on the 2nd of January 1831. Sir Gabriel served nearly five years in the Select Picket,* without a commission, and was, on the 4th of August 1776, appointed an Ensign on the Bengal Establishment of the East India Company's service ; on the 21st July 177#> he was promoted to Lieutenant; the 1st August 1793, to the rank of Captain; to that of Major the 1st November 1797; of Lieutenant-Colonel, 21st February 1801; of Colonel, 25th July 1810; Major-General, 4th June 1813; and Lieutenant-General 27th May 1825.
With many other Cadets of the year 1772, this officer had the honour to be called :early into the field, and in 1774 he bore a dis- tinguished part in the Rohilla battle of St. George. During several years of his service as Lieutenant he acted as adjutant to the corps of Native Infantry to which he belonged ; and on his succeeding to the command of a battalion, as Lieutenant- Colonel, his corps was con- sidered one of the best in the service.
The province of Bundlecund, and contiguous territories, continued for some years in a state of great anarchy and confusion, consequent to the Mahratta war of 1803, 4 and 5 ; and this officer, then Lieutenant-Colo- nel, was twice selected for the important command of the troops in that province, under circumstances of much embarrassment and difficulty. Hostilities and harrassing warfare prevailed at all seasons of the year, so long as the malcontents held possession of many of the strong holds in that country, and it required both judgment and ability in t^ie com- manding officer to oppose them with success, and to bring that valu- able territory to a complete settlement, and which was eventually accomplished.
In 1809 the strong fortress of Adjygush surrendered to a detach- ment t of troops under Lieut.-Colonel Martindell's command, on which occasion the Governor-General expressed the sentiments of approbation and applause with which his Lordship in Council contem- plated the professional skill and ability displayed by this officer in regulating the operations. His Lordship further recorded his public thanks generally, " to the officers and men employed during the late campaign in Bundlecund, and especially to Lieut.-Colonel Martindell, whose judgment and military skill, seconded by the courage and exer- tions of the gallant detachment which he commanded, happily accom- plished an undertaking, not less arduous in its nature than important in its effects to the interest of the public service."
In 1812 the important fortress of Cellenger, the capital or head- quarters of the province, surrendered to a large force under Colonel Martindell, after an attempt to carry it by storm had been repelled by the garrison. In communicating this event to the Directors of the East India Company, the Governor-General in Council observed,
* A distinguished corps, consisting of a body of Gentlemen Cadets, who were formed into a company and carried arms until vacancies occurred for their receiving commissions. This Picket was always posted on the right of the advanced guard of the army in the field.
•f- The detachment consisted of three regiments of cavalry, His Majesty's 53rd and 54th regiments of sepoys, and field-train of artillery.
380 LIEUT.-GEN. SIR GABRIEL MARTINDELL, K.C.B.
" We participate most cordially in the applause bestowed by his Excel- lency the Commander-in-chief, and by Colonel Martindell, on the exem- plary, gallant, and persevering intrepidity manifested by the officers and men engaged in the assault : an assault which, although it failed in the imme- diate attainment of its object, can scarce be deemed unsuccessful, since to the terror inspired by it must be ascribed the subsequent surrender of this almost impregnable fortress, on terms, and in a manner which have main- tained the credit of our arms, without any sacrifice of dignity, or any con- cessions of material importance to our interest. We concur also entirely in the praise bestowed by the Commander-in-chief, on the distinguished zeal, judgment, and exertions of Colonel Martindell in conducting the arrange- ments and operations of the late service in Bundlecund."
This officer was one of the East India Company's gallant army, first selected for participating in the honours of the Bath, of which dis- tinguished order he was appointed a Knight Commander. He sub- sequently, during the Nepaul war,* held a distinguished command in the mountains ; and more recently was occupied in restoring tranquil- lity to the province of Cuttack, disturbed by the incursions of a nume- rous banditti, connected with the predatory system of the Pindarries.
In April 1820, Sir Gabriel Martindell received the command of this first division of the field army, and the general command of the field army, which appointment ceased in June 1822. The estimation in which the character of this gallant soldier was held by his brother officers of the Indian army, cannot be better shown than by the follow- ing address from the officers of the corps, and of the irregular troops which served under him :
" SIR, — Your active and unremitting attention to the ease and comfort, and discipline of the troops, and your arrangements, by which this detach- ment was kept in a continual state of service, has tended to secure the con- fidence we had under your command. The accurate and extensive know- ledge you have acquired of the position, and relative situation of places, and of the various and complicated interests, parties, and combinations existing in this Province, qualify you, in an eminent degree, for a command where all the local knowledge, together with a great share of energy arid decision, are at present required for opposing, defeating, and counteracting them ; we regret your resignation of this command as a loss to the public service, as the impartial, considerate manner in which you have exercised your au- thority, and your willingness to promote our private wishes, as far as you could consistently with your public duty and responsibility, have justly en- titled you to our private esteem, as well as our public respect. In testi- mony of which, we beg you will permit us to present you with a sword and service of plate, of the value of one thousand guineas, as a token of those sentiments we have now the pleasure to express. Your reputation as an officer, which no doubt occasioned the flattering notice you received in being selected for the command of this detachment, at a time that required an officer of energy, firmness, and decision, has, we presume to think, been confirmed by the able manner in which you have, during so long and im- portant a period, conducted so large and respectable a charge. We, &c."
* The Western army, which stormed Katanga, was commanded by Major-Gen. Sir 11. R. Gillespie, of the King's army. That General directed it to be stormed at all points at the same moment ; unfortunately, some of the divisions did not come up in time, and the others lost many men, and could make no impression. The gallant Gillespie, observing the disastrous state of things, flew to the head of the attacking column, but not being vigorously seconded, he failed and lost his life in the attempt. Major-Gen. Martindell succeeded to the command of this army ; another unsuccessful attempt was made to storm the place ; the brave defenders, however, had suffered so much that they retired from the fort.
381
PERCUSSION SHELLS, STEAMERS OF WAR, HORIZONTAL FIRE OF SHELLS FROM SHIPPING.
A SKETCH of practice with percussion shells is given in our Number for January, (page 112.) The principle of the invention is not entered on; it may, however, be inferred, that by the application of some description of percussion tube, the bursting of the shell is effected on its striking the ob- ject of fire. It is not imagined that an opinion can be hazarded, from the report given in the Journal, of the comparative or superlative merits of this description of shells ; but if the aim of the percussion part of the in- vention be to ignite the bursting powder at the moment the projectile shall impinge on the object, (a desideratum, as applying to shipping, of doubtful tendency,) it has been attained, more than twenty years since, by very sim- ple means, and such as cannot involve any increased liability to accident, which condition is difficult to imagine as Jittaching to the use of shells ignited by percussion. The particulars of this plan are not given, for although it is simple in the extreme, yet we are not aware that it is gene- rally known, and certainly we have never seen any notice of it in any foreign work on artillery, though we have seen many treating in detail of matters of much less importance.
The idea now proposed of making projectiles of other forms than spheri- cal, with a view to increase the weight, and thereby the momentum and range, has for many years been admitted in theory, (since the velocities communicated to shot of different weights are nearly in the inverse ratio of the square roots of their weights ; and, consequently, the momentum of the shot, being in the compound ratio of the masses and velocities, is increased in the ratio of the square root of the weight of the shot ;) in practice, how- ever, after various experiments, the spherical form has been preferred, and that from the supposed greater uniformity of the resistance of the air to a sphere than to a projectile of any other shape. The French have frequently made experiments with shot of an elongated form, some composed of a cylinder terminated at either end by a hemisphere ; others have been made rather like a pear, one end being larger than the other ; some again have been composed of a hemisphere added to a cylinder, and terminated by a concave surface, with a view to receive a part of the charge of powder, it having been imagined that the effect of the elastic fluid would be augmented by this means. The spherical form has notwithstanding invariably prevailed : and in our own service the use of the oblong carcass has been discontinued from the uncertainty of its range.
In the absence of comparative practice, it may be admissible to doubt of the superior accuracy of this new projectile, and the impression gains strength from the detail of their effect, as given by our correspondent. At 500 yards, scarcely a shot from a twenty-four-pounder ought to miss an unloaded boat of fifteen tons, and, on this occasion, we are told that " several shots were fired before it was hit." These experiments are not asserted to have been conducted by artillery officers, and the letter would appear to contain intrinsic evidence that it is not written by one, or the expedient of filling the shell " with gunpowder and port-fire in equal parts," in order to fill an enemy s vessel with fire and smoke instantaneously, would scarcely have been recommended, when Valenciennes, and various other compositions are so much better calculated to produce that effect. Some French officers after the battle of the Nile, and during the blockade of Alexandria, are reported to have asserted, when dining on board Sir Ben- jamin Hallowell's ship, that the French Admiral's ship L'Orient had been set on fire by balls of unextinguishable matter from the Swiftsure ; and it appears that such missiles were used from that ship, having been obtained from the French prize the Spartiate. They consisted of an iron skeleton of a sphere filled with an incendiary composition, and crusted over with a sub- stance, giving them the appearance of perfect shells.
382 PERCUSSION SHELLS, STEAMERS OF WAR,
The subject which the writer of the letter adverted to proposes to discuss, — " The fearful state of declension into which the naval and artillery de- partments in Great Britain has fallen since the peace of 1815, while our neighbours have been indefatigable in improving theirs," is, indeed, replete with interest, and may furnish a text for very ample commentaries on vari- ous topics of the highest importance, but on none more than on the innova- tions in naval warfare, which the application of steam, as the propelling power in navigation, must induce ; and on the inevitable changes which will arise from the introduction of artillery with which to project shells horizon- tally from shipping.
There can be no doubt but that Great Britain, with her commanding navy and her extensive commerce, calculated to create and to nourish a vigorous and skilful race of seamen, ought, from self-evident policy, to endeavour to stifle in its birth any application of artillery which may, in any degree, operate to neutralize the superiority arising from an excess of potential force ; and she is equally interested in attempting to retard (were it feasible) an application of steam to purposes of naval warfare. Such motive may possibly have influenced the Admiralty, and that committee, which a Cor- respondent of this Journal terms " the Antiquated Botheration/' in receiv- ing with chilling indifference each attempt which individuals may at differ- ent times have made, unless, indeed, emanating from one of their infallible number. In support of this remark, the condemnation passed on Capt. Marshall's Gun Carriages may be noticed ; but in defiance of the decision this improvement has forced itself into the service, rather, probably, from the attention paid to it by the French, than from the merits which it is asserted by competent judges to possess.
It has for some time ceased to be a consideration whether, by our exam- ple, our future foes may be induced to adopt the recent novelties in the mode of propelling and arming ships of war. The French (our natural enemies, notwithstanding the anarchical and infidel feeling of the low and turbulent agitators of the present times), have taken the lead in the adop- tion of this new application of artillery, which is calculated to produce asto- nishing effects, and may create as radical a change in the system of naval warfare, as the theorists and revolutionists of the day are bent on producing in our hitherto envied constitution. The French are equally solicitous to cultivate the application of steam to vessels of war, for the alledged reason, that the change must operate to the advantage of France, because it will render less necessary the experience, practical knowledge, and confident daring of British seamen. It has been well observed by Colonel Paixhans, that the great difficulty of France in contending against England, arises far less from inability to construct ships, than from the impossibility, in a population little given to maritime pursuits, of finding a sufficient number of experienced seamen." It must be admitted that steam, to a great extent, and with the exception of a few men to attend to the steering of the ship, places a thorough seaman and an absolute landsman on an equality ; hence, the numerous armies of France must be available for many purposes of naval warfare, and particularly should any successful chieftain of that rest- less and unsettled nation attempt to realise the dreams of Napoleon in his camp at Boulogne in 1805. Are we then to follow up that policy which has recently fawned and flattered France at the expense of our old and natural allies, to the prejudice of our colonists and commercial men, and above all, to the injury of our national character, by yielding to the initiative in these naval innovations ; or, ought we not rather to profit by the facilities and advantages which the superiority of our manufactures at present yield to improve and perfect them ? There is no ground for any apprehension as to the result, where the forces of France and England shall meet in hostile array on any element, where the power employed is at all on an equality ; but the " hucksterian doctrine" of the age, wrought up by finance agitators, has reduced the effective strength of our army, after providing in the same
HORIZONTAL FIRE OF SHELLS FROM SHIPPING. 383
reckless spirit for the defence of our colonies, to an amount which, if the available forces of a state were admitted to indicate its true importance, would place us on the scale of nations below the petty states of Europe. In the event of sudden war with France, (an occurrence not improbable under certain contingencies, some of which are to be desired,) have we such a commanding naval force in the Mediterranean as can justify the present state of our garrisons in that part of the world ? What is to prevent France from embarking at Marseilles and transporting to Malta, under pretence even of relieving her troops at Algiers, such a force as may be fully adequate for the speedy reduction of that important fortress ? Can the Maltese be relied on to assist our skeleton garrison in that island ? if so, why are they not armed and trained to confidence in union ? The people are by nature soldiers, but it is well known that our policy has not satisfied them.
It has hitherto been admitted as a political axiom, that England may be defended by her wooden walls — at all events, against sudden and unexpect- ed contingencies ; but is the fleet at present in commission, or to be manned on an emergency, superior in number to that of other nations pretending to an established navy ? The most elaborate machines, however numerous, are useless till set in motion. Have we the force to produce the velocity, in such limited space of time as may enable France to make a descent on our coasts? Considering the magnitude of our mercantile fleets, have we a number of sailors at any moment in England proportioned to their extent ; or does not the system, by which the merchant is compelled to employ a pri- vileged class of porters for the landing of his cargoes, operate to produce their immediate discharge on arriving from abroad, so that a sailor's first care on coming into port is to seek a ship immediately about to quit our shores, and thence in a condition to accept his services ? Does not the law, therefore, as it stands, tend to drive from England, at all times, the greatest possible number of seamen? If, indeed, all the merchant-vessels in our docks and harbours were manned with two-thirds of their sea-going comple- ment, which, but for this pernicious custom, they would be, we might in a very inconsiderable time, so long, at all events, as a reformed Parliament may tolerate impressment, obtain a sufficiency of seamen ; but their duty at the guns, and, what is even of more consequence, the habit of noiseless exer- tion, so inseparable from order and regularity, has still to be acquired.
Have we the same facility of supplying soldiers that the French have, where seamen are deficient, and disciplined landsmen may for a time supply their place ? Has not the adoption of steam rendered the necessity of con- stant preparation obvious to all ? Are not the difficulties of adverse winds and contrary currents, hitherto so favourable to our insular defence, if not to be struck out of consideration, at all events reduced to a matter of almost certain calculation ? Are the steamers in the British navy superior in num- ber, in construction, and in equipment, to those which the French can put to sea; and are they numerically in a ratio proportioned to our vaunted naval superiority? Are our ships-of-war and steamers furnished with an artillery calculated, at long ranges, to which they will be condemned, to cope with steamers armed to project shells horizontally ? Is the practical knowledge of our naval officers, generally speaking, built on the demon- strated principles of gunnery and mechanics? The dexterous swordsman, or the hardy cudgel-player, engages at fearful odds against an antagonist provided with fire-arms, and habituated to their use, more particularly if obstacles are presented to a close encounter. An eminent naval officer is said to have remarked, on witnessing the effects of the newly-adopted artil- lery, that the result threatened by it, as affecting the relative position of contending ships, no matter what the disparity of force, was precisely that which had arisen from the introduction of pistols, instead of the arme blanche, in duelling ; physical force ceases to influence the combat.
Our navy has hitherto fought in the spirit of the wrestler, who, confident in his strength and personal advantages, closes with his foe ; but it is feared
384 PERCUSSION SHELLS, STEAMERS OF WAR.
that this national mode of settling differences can no longer prevail. Many a hearty curse, no doubt, was bestowed by our forefathers on that " das- tardly invention," gunpowder, but they were compelled to its adoption ; and thus it will be as to the recent innovations in naval warfare. Ariosto has well expressed the feelings of the brave in the era in which he lived, on the introduction of cannon, la macchina infernal, as he was wont to call it.
" Come trovasti, scelerata e brutta Invenzion, mai loco in uman core ? Per te la militar gloria e distrutta ; Per te il mestier dell' armi e senza onore ; Per te e ii valore e la virtti ridutta, Che spesso par del buono il rio migliore : Non piu la gagliardia, non piu 1'ardire Per te pud in campo al paragon venire."
These sentiments will, it may be imagined, easily discover a vibrating chord in the breasts of most naval men, when they reflect on the innovations in their metier to which the recent innovations must inevitably tend.
Where a single shot, without any extraordinary combination of fortuitous circumstances, is calculated to bring in question the safety of a ship, it Avill be difficult, perhaps dangerous, to attempt to lay a " vessel quickly and closely alongside an enemy." This was the constant practice of our navy, and the memorable maxim of the immortal Nelson ; but it is feared that distant cannonading, as well as daring enterprise and nautical skill, must now have weight. As far as the ordinary practice at a target may go, a few practical injunctions may supersede the necessity of previous study ; but to oe prepared for all contingencies, and to derive the greatest possible effect from artillery, it is absolutely necessary that practice should be ingrafted on theory. The employment of steam-engines imperatively dictates the study of mechanics, and of the peculiar properties of steam. An officer must ex- pect frequently to meet occasions when he would no more rely, exclusively, upon the skill of the engineer for the management of the engine, than he would depend on the master for the navigation of his ship. It is a result of the recent naval innovations, and a lamentable one too, that the hard-earned experience of our naval officers ceases, in a great degree, to place them above comparison with the officers of other navies; it subjects them again to the necessity of seeking information. The hardy victor of an hundred battles has yet to learn, under certain conditions, how to thrash the enemy, or overcome his wily foe. This is humiliating to the pride of England, and of her naval veterans, but it is true, too true ; and if we would preserve our naval superiority, the Government must assume the initiative. Instead of a squadron of line-of-battle-ships to countenance the crafty Louis Philippe, to bolster up the kingdom of Braves Beiges, and bully our old allies, the Dutch, a squadron of experimental steamers, armed with the new artillery, may prove less embarrassing to our future rulers, and more befitting under pre- sent circumstances. The pages of this Journal record that such a force was put to sea by the Swedes, under their Crown Prince, in 1829. But in the present enlightened state of England, when every " lean unwashed artificer" thinks that he is competent to weigh the gravest matters of the state, and bellow out reform, such a measure may be deemed prodigal, and somewhat wanting to that goodly confidence which would rely on the forbearance of Citizen King Louis Philippe, who, without subjects, is the most to be relied on of all the anti-christian Kings of Christendom, if such there be to keep him company. It may not either meet the approbation of those renowned congeries, the Unions, who, by their ministers, do condescend to hold grave converse with their friends and correspondents, the Ministers of State. But we are wandering from our subject ; and to prevent a recurrence of such irre- gularity shall, for the present terminate our remarks.
s.
385
GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE.
I
TO THE EDITOR OF THE UNITED SERVICE JOURNAL.
Sam Sprit at a Masquerade.
HONNER'D HEDITUR, — I dozent dout you will be suppriced to have this chit slipped into your flipper by the lobbster-lookin postman, becoz when I up stick for the Strates after my last, I haddent no oppertoonity to lett you know as I was off. Well, so I went amungst the Greeks, and they've sassenated their King & burnt their frigate, and is at all sixes and sevens, and dozent tork English yet. They says they was cheeted in Londun by the Hell-in-it cummitty, & a hell of a cummitty it must have been to be able to manarval the Greeks. Why, Sir, their wines is all pizened with pitch, & their bread with sand ; they lies like toothdrawers, & cuts capers over the wimmen, and they sings instid of prays, and is out-and-out rum chaps.
So then we went to Malta agen, and after currenteen was over, we cruized about, & found as the sine of Nelson's head was taken away from the grog-shop, & the guvvernoor's nevvey's ship put in his berth.* " O temper oh! o moor-is," says our skipper; " and is it already as Nelson is to slipp his cable, & not offer enuff indeucement for sailors to enter ? A-lass ! the great naval hero gits no more notiss nor a midshipman's pig." But they is a flammergastery set at Villetter, and carries on their old stravagint shevos, and then they blames the times and the peece, and all that, though they purtended to pray for peece when it was war, and slued up their noses when sailors said as they dident want peece to cum at all. Why, honnerd Sir, I '11 just tell you how they runs their rigs, and I dare say flops into flemish accounts with their oners, and all for peeple as never cares about em when they is floored.
One arternoon 1 gets leafe to go ashore at Villetter, so I fits ataunto in my first-chops. Wiles I was a climeing the streets, I found the shops was stowed with marsks, & toggery of all cullers & cuts ; and when Stradder Rearle hove in site, it seemed as if all hands was turned up for a lark. There they was, old and young, men and wimmen, devils & angels, all be- marsked & bemuggered like mad ; Sc they was shying broadsides of hard shuggerplums what had fizzik in em to rake the holds of them as was green enuff to eat them. So I jumps slap among the thick of it, when whak comes the sweet bullets from a lady's riduculus into one ear, & then a polthogue in the other : a harlekin gives me a twistur astern, & a clown antickates afore me, — and when I backs to drop alongside the rainbo-cullerd chap, he makes a boxhaul of it, and scuds like a mugian. So I squeezes about, with the sun and against it, to diskivir what all this clatter was about, and they told me it was Karnaval, & the row was kicked up becoz they was all going to eat forty days allowance at once. Howsumever, it was but stupid fun,— making hullabaloo noises, & wearing blusteraceous dresses, seemed all as they thort about ; and every body was a squeeking, & shreeking, & ogling, & chattering about cupit & hymin, & all that kind of jaw.
So wile I was a twigging this Bedlam broke loose, & indulgin my roomy- nashuns, a sort of twice-laid short-togged feller lays me on board, & heaves out his grapplin, which I hooked. At fust I thort he was a ruff-yarn, but while he payed off, I touted his gun-mouthed trowsers, & saw he was nown by some chaps in swaller-taild coats, who dipped their castors to him, while he stood as stiff as though he had swallered a crow-bar. " Ah! my bo," says he, " I know you. Your blew jacket & wite continnivashuns becuma you, & you looks like a rale sailor." " And pray," asks I, " who says I
* It is a fact that this depredation took place. The East India Company, in exercising the privilege of building on the bottom vacated by a lost ship, launched the Marquis of Wellington on the bottom of the Lord Nelson.
U. S. JOURN. No. 40. MARCH 1832. 2 c
386 CORRESPONDENCE.
izzent one ?" " By Jove ! that's capital," says he ; " but you're cumming, arnt you, to the shindy at Muggins's, the Manchester Merchant, to nite ?"
" I aint axed," says I ; " so I havnt no bisnis to be a winding my call there." " Never mind," says he ; " the going into a man's house at these times is not a hinditable offense." I likes sometimes to carry a little more sail nor ballast ; so finding he would pursist as I was a nob in disguise, I hooked his nipper, and stood on several tacks, amung all the noodels, till it was time to bear away for the merchant's house.
Well there we was, in a place what looked more like a Turk's bazaar nor a Christian room, and it was lited with as many candels as would feed a Russhun family for a month. It was jammed chock-full of people of every rig, sweltering & standing off & on in all directions, so nobody took no notis of me, and I soon lorst my pilot. They called it a fancy-ball, but there was no boxing, though plenty of backing & filling, and such a set of gabees as I never saw afore ; and there was a gang of fiddillers scraping away in a cabbin built aloft, as was fitted with a slidin-gunter curtin over their heads. Alltogither it minded me of Krismus-day afloat, when the bossun's-mates turn sweepers, & the petty officers works, and the lop-eard galley-rangers acts as officers, which our chaplain used to sware was a parfet satternellier.
So I soon sees a hiccory-faced lord-mare's-man, with a nose like the snout of a shark, a bringin everybody to, & salamming them. He was dressed in stripes like a cupee flag, & swetted like a purser's pump in an oil-cask. This I found was Muggins, the skipper of the lark, — and he hauled his wind, & altered course every moment, till he dropped right athwart my hawse, & makes me a reglar mandarin bow. " Ah ! my good fellow," says he, " how do ?" — just in as free & easy a way as if we had sailed toggethur for years — " dont you darnce?" " No," says I ; " I sharnt dance," says I. " Why not ?" says he. <e Why," says I, <f becoz you're not up to the toons as sets good heels a spinnin. See how all your wimmen is a dozing and wee- waing with your ' Home sweet Home,' & ( Oh lady fair,' — just see how they'd heave in stays if their catgut-teazers would strike up ' Money musk' or ' Go to the devil ^- shake yourself' " " Them darnces go to anny toon," says he, "and they is called kiddrills." " They're the old one's own drills," I says, says I, " to keep a human man backing an filling in that silly fasshun for ten minnets at a spell, & making him look like an ass." " Well said, mas- ter sailor," cried Muggins, " for I am no hand at kiddrills or cowtillings myself." So, seeing he was inclined to palaver a bit, I axed " Who 's that whopper of a womman with a boat-hook in her fist?" " Oh, she's a shep- perdiss." " The devil she is," says I ; " why I took her for a bumboat craft. — And that ere rolloking consarn next her, with the undertaker-look- ing brume at her mast-head?" " Oh, you knows her, don't you? why that's my wife," says Mr. Muggins. " Well," I says, says I, " I '11 tell you what, old chap, you carnt feather an oar, but it is as clear as mud that your wife knose how to feather her skull." This was a bit of lip he didnt like, so he lookt a little skrummaged, and then stood into the thick of the shevo.
While I was a looking on, as merry as a munkey, every body as passed within hail swore they knew me ; so, as I wasent ashaymid of miself, I told em all they might know away, & be damned. As I sung out this, a queer- looking wumman with a lean harping & full counter, and a face covered all over with curls, came up, & while she ogled me I cort her blink through the hair, like the glarnce of a tiger's eye in a jungle. " Mercy upon us," she squeaks, ''what a suinful bein." Oh, old lady, thinks I to myself, I'm blowde but I owe you one for that. So wile she was a sheering like a junk under a jury-mast, I watches the roll to shy an orange slap at her stern- frame ; but it made no more imprisshun nor a grapeshot agen a bale of cot- ton, so I spose it was purtected by dicker-work. This set some on em a grin- ning,— and one old hag larfed so hartily that I thort she had sprung a butt- end ; — as it was, her thick painted chekes cracked till they was full of holidays.
So at last we all up & went to a freshment room, and every body hailed & cheered me as a good sailor. So I am, honnerd heditur, but why need
CORRESPONDENCE. 387
these longshorers kick up such a fuss about it ? Then at the table there was all sorts of things, enuff to vittle a brig for weeks. There was fouls, & dux, & tungs, & brorne, with slices of ham which was to be piloted by pickels ; and there was plenty of selvagees made of hanchowvis, which is a grub they says as is good for making a feller find the way to his grog without require- ing barnacles. How they did all peg away ! T saw one gal a pulling a turkey's legg between her teeth as if it had been a grass-hopper's; and there was the old craft with the goose-stern a eating blew-mange & jelly, and bombustabels, as fast as a shark with his three decks of grinders could have yaffed. So while I was a eatin a fid of some stuff as I dident know the name of, up comes the wommun with the brume aloft, & whispurs sorftly in my ear — " Pray who are you ?" " No name no pull," says I. " Oh but I knows you," says she. " So do I," says I.
Then I closes with a lubberly swing-swang codjer, with eyes the culler of dead spratts, & hair like twisted foxes ; he was a starting the bung of a bottle, so I axes him for some swizzle to bully the stuff I had just taken in. " A leetel wine & worter," says he, in a voice as soft as wind through a ring- bolt. " No," says I, " none of your wash, — hand here the rum, or summut of that sort." Well, the ladies, & the men as lookt like ladies, who was all closely wedged like a firkin of figs, stared as hard as they coud stare, and thinks I, such varmint sharnt say black's the wite of my eye. So wile they was receivin aboard their worter & winnagur, I brewed a tot for my own cheek. Now, though I genally takes my grog ony harf-and-harf, I was cagged to see such shim-sham work, & detarmind to set em a xampel, re- peteing the cuplit of Cheeks, the marine —
" First to myself I did sarve out, For feare it should not go about."
So I made up a reglar N.W. go-downer, and, being as dry as a red herrin, whips it clean off the reel, afore em all. " Bless my soul,'' squeaks out one of the Spoonees, " why he must be a rale sailor/' " That I just is," cries I, " and what cantankerous mule dare touch the shine of me?" So the skip- per of the feast takes me to leeward, & broaches the bisness, by axing me who I was. " Sam Sprit,'' says I, " second mate of the Moonshine, & a chap as well 'nown as the union-jack.7' " Did any body send you here to amoose us, my frend," he asks, in a voice as soft as if he had skimmed the coppers with his tung. " No," says I, " 1 only dropped in to amuse myself/' " Indeed ! well then, Sam, 1 hopes you have been amoosed, & if you will but
retire to •" " By the powers," roars I, cutting him short, " do you
mean, Mr. Muggins, as I am to up stick?'' " Up stick ! oh, lord no," says he, shivering like a mizen, and his fizhog changing culler as if he expected
toko for yam, " I mean — I ony mean " " You mean I must cut my
painter, praps — so here's off," cries I, taking at the same time a touch-&-go leap over some of the gingerbread work, & bolting. This, howsumever, was to pleese my own fancy, for I didnt value old Muggins no more nor the scale of a gurnet ; tho to be sure I had no more rite to henter his house nor a pig has to go into the captain's cabin.
So when I was out of eye-shot, & pozed upon all the torn-foolery I had seen, — And these is the people, thinks I, as calls sailors thortless silly fellers, without feeling the thunderin large beam what sticks in their own eye.
So no more at present, honner a Mr. Heditur, becoz I am goin down to the Block & Quadrant, to lett all my old quaintence know as I am back agen ; and I hopes to find Squire Hearty in proper trim, because he is a true hart-of-oak tho ony a landsmen, — but then, every boddy carnt be sailors. And pray, honner'd Heditur, do tell us in your next log whether it is trew that our ships & vessels in Cannadur are to be sold off lumpus. If they are, my eye ! what a row there will be by-and-bye.
(With speed.) Your humbel sarvent,
Marline-spike Lane, Feb. 10th, 1832. , SAM SPRIT.
2 c 2
388 CORRESPONDENCE.
Military Law, and the late Courts- Martial.
MR. EDITOR, — With that judicious zeal for the best interests of the service which ever pervades your editorial exertions, you advert in your last Number (Portfolio, leading remark,) to the recent opinion given by Chief Justice Tyndal on the opening of the Special Commission at Bristol. You preface the extract made from it by remarks which are equally apposite and conclusive, but you say, " we have at length an opinion from an authority whose competence cannot be questioned." From this observation, Mr. Editor, many of your readers will infer, that the army has hitherto been without competent and unquestionable authority as to the extent to which soldiers are in duty required, and legally called on, to interfere on an emer- gency, for the suppression of riots, and to prevent the commission of felo- nies, without the intervention of the civil power.* In the 188th page of the General Regulations, the following very lucid opinion of Lord Ellen- borough is inserted for the guidance of the army ; and an opinion equally clear and to the purpose, by Lord Mansfield, is given at page 405 of Capt. Simmons's recent work on Courts-Martial. I extract them both, and submit to your judgment, whether, from their insertion in your widely-circulated Journal, at this particular crisis, benefit to the service may not be antici- pated, Lord Ellenborough says,
" In case of any sudden riot or disturbance (the latter phrase being permitted to imply a breach of the peace by an assembled multitude), any of His Majesty's sub- jects, without the presence of a peace officer of any description, may arm themselves, and of course may use ordinary means of force to suppress such riot and disturbance. This was laid down in my Lord Chief Justice Popham's reports, 121, and Redin^'s, 76, as having been resolved by all the Judges, by the 39th of Queen Elizabeth, to be good law, and has certainly been recognized by Hawkins and other writers on the Crown Law, and by various Judges at different periods since. And what His Majesty's subjects may do, they also ought to do for the suppression of public tumult, when an exigency requires that such means be resorted to. What- ever any other class of His Majesty's subjects may allowably do in this particular, the military may unquestionably do also. By the common law, every description of peace officer may, and ought to do, not only all that in him lies towards the sup- pressing of riots, but may, and ought to command all other persons to assist therein. However, it is by all means advisable to procure a Justice of Peace to attend, and for the military to act under his immediate orders, when such attendance and the sanction of such orders can be obtained, as it not only prevents any disposition to unnecessary violence on the part of those who act in repelling the tumult, but it in- duces also, from the known authority of such magistrates, a more ready submission on the part of the rioters to the measures used for that purpose ; but still, in cases of great and sudden emergency, the military, as well as all other individuals, may act without their presence, or without any other peace officer whatever."
Sir James Mansfield, —
" Since much has been said about soldiers, I will correct a strange mistaken notion which has got abroad, that because men are soldiers they cease to be citizens : a soldier is gifted with all the rights of other citizens, and he is as much bound to prevent a breach of the peace or a felony as any other citizen. In 1780 this mis- take extended to an alarming degree ; soldiers, with arms in their hands, stood by and saw felonies committed, houses burnt and pulled down before their eyes, by persons whom they might lawfully have put to death, if they could not otherwise prevent them, without interfering ; some because they bad not the commanding officer to gtve them the command, and some because there was no Justice of the
* The pressure upon our space compels us to proceed at once to the practical part of our intelligent correspondent's letter. The opinions he cites were familiar to us, and doubtless to the service in general ; but we deemed it sufficient to quote the latest, namely that of Sir Nicholas Tyndal, as a digest of all those which preceded that clear exposition. It may, however, be satisfactory to append the former, as given by our correspondent. — ED.
CORRESPONDENCE. 389
Peace with them. It is the more extraordinary, because formerly the posse comitalus, which was the strength to prevent felonies, must, in a great proportion, have consisted of military tenants who held lands by the tenure of military service. If it is necessary for the purpose of preventing mischief, or for the execution of the laws, it is not only the right of soldiers, but it is their duty, to exert themselves in the assisting the execution of a legal process, or to prevent any crime or mischief being committed. It is, therefore, highly important that the mistake should be corrected, which supposes that an Englishman, by taking upon him the additional character of a soldier, puts off any of the rights or duties of an Englishman."
The points to which I would call your attention on the Court-Martial are these : Capt. Warrington tenders the deposition of Major-Gen. Pearson j it is not admitted, the reporters of the papers make the Judge Advocate to say, because it is not the best evidence in the case, as Gen. Pearson may receive the court to take his evidence on the morrow ; and eventually the deposition is rejected by the President, for the alleged reason, that there are some questions which he deems it necessary to put to Gen. Pearson. The reason given by the President seems to be more sound than that assigned to the- Judge Advocate ; the deposition ought to be rejected as inadmissible in itself, and that whether or not Gen. Pearson was or was not in a state to promise the delivery of testimony at a future day. It is inadmissible for the reason supplied in the remark of the President — that the opportunity of cross-examination had not been afforded to the opposite party. Capt. Simmons, from whom we have before extracted, says —
" There are certain cases in which depositions are admitted as evidence in civil courts, but such are little likely to occur on trials by courts-martial ; indeed never, except in trials under the hundred and second article of war. Depositions, relative to manslaughter or felonies, taken on oath arid in presence of the prisoner, are admitted in evidence, being proved to be the same, without alteration, as those sworn before the magistrate ; it being also proved to the satisfaction of the court at the time of trial, that the informant is dead, incapacitated by illness from travel- ling, or not to be found."
The other point to which I would advert is, the extraordinary assumption by the prosecutor, which does not appear to have been placed in its true light, that because the evidence for the defence tended to impugn the chain of evidence, which he thought unbroken, he should therefore be allowed to open the prosecution by the production of other witnesses. Such a mon- strous doctrine, Mr. Editor, is no less illegal and unmilitary, than it is un- just and impolitic; the custom of all courts, both civil and military, is decidedly opposed to it. And however impartial the prosecutor may be, and no doubt is, and whatever chivalric feelings may tempt him to desire the ac- quittal of a prisoner " belonging to a regiment brigaded with his own, on the occasion when he had the good fortune to draw his sword for the first time against the common enemy of Europe in the field of Talavera, in the pre- sence of the gallant General who presided over the court-martial," yet it bears the appearance of anxious zeal to press the charges home with a degree of that ardour, which no doubt the gallant prosecutor evinced, bride abattue and I'epee dans les reins, when he first met the foe on that eventful day. Mr. Tytler's work, which long formed the authority of the army on such points, is quite clear on the subject in debate, and no less so the recent work by Capt. Simmons : at page 168 he says —
" He (the prosecutor) must be confined to establishing the character of his wit- nesses, impeaching those of the defence, and to rebutting the new matter brought forward by the prisoner. A remark of Lord Ellenborough, adverted to by Mr. Phillips, is much to the purpose. "If (observed his Lordship) any one fact be adduced by the defendant, to which an answer can be given, the plaintiff must have an opportunity given for so doing ; but this must be understood of a specific fact ; he cannot go into general evidence in reply to the defendant's case ; there is no instance in 'which the plaintiff is entitled to go into half his case, and reserve the remainder."
390 CORRESPONDENCE.
This opinion of Lord Ellenborough may be held conclusive ; it is important to the best interests of the army that such high authority can be produced. What an inextricable labyrinth would a court-martial afford, — what a pre- dicament the prisoner would be placed in, — if the prosecutor were permitted to reserve such parts of his prosecution as he thought fit, producing it in succession, as it may tend to the conviction of the prisoner, and in this view best accord with the course of the defence !
Believing, Mr. Editor, that what has been offered is of the utmost conse- quence to the army, whose interest your publication is so admirably calcu- lated to protect, I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your very obedient servant,
AN OLD SOLDIER.
New Rocket Signals.
MR. EDITOR, — I hope I do not mistake the plan and character of your patriotic and truly national publication, in requesting insertion therein of the brief correspondence which follows, upon a subject of some present im- portance to the two services, to whose interests your Journal seems more immediately devoted.
From the Brighton Gazette of the 28th ult. was copied into most, if not all, of the London Journals, a notice of some experiments — which had been made on the Chain-pier the previous evening, in the presence of many dis- tinguished officers — of a new description of rocket signals, invented, it was stated, by Lieut. Hughes, R.N. who, by the way, had just previously experi- mented also in Hyde Park and some other places, before some gentlemen of the Customs, with rockets of my manufacture. Now, Sir, whatever merit belongs to the originator of the idea, belongs to me, and not to Lieut. Hughes. So long ago as August 1828, was my suggestion laid before the Right Honourable the Board of Ordnance, in the following letter, and made public by experiments at Woolwich.
I am most respectfully, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
Lambeth, Jan. 26th, 1832. J. SOUTHBY.
(COPY.)
8, Saville Place, Lambeth Walk, 12th Aug. 1828.
MY LORD, — As the inventor of the Crimson Star Rockets, which I have lately brought into notice at the Royal Vauxhall Gardens, I humbly beg to suggest to
Siur Lordship, that an essential good might arise from their introduction into His ajesty's service, in lieu of those at present made use of for signals. It cannot be disputed, that these Crimson Stars, (which were, I beg to repeat, first adapted and exhibited by me,) present, when in the air, a far more brilliant, unusual, and remarkable appearance, than the white flash of the common Rocket, and are, therefore, I presume, the better adapted for Signals : while another and important peculiarity in favour of them, as far as I have been able to learn, would be, that they could not, if proper steps were taken by His Majesty's Government to prevent it, be imitated by any •other nation ; for the principal ingredient used in the composition of the Crimson Stars, is only to be obtained in this country, where it is indigenous. There are other coloured fires, also of recent invention, which might be usefully applied to the above purpose, but the crimson fire is the most brilliant of any.
Should your Lordship deem my suggestion deserving of the consideration of the Honourable Board, it would give me much pleasure to transmit any number of Rockets, for experiment, which your Lordship may be pleased to order.
1 have the honour, &c. &c.
To the Right Hon, Lord Beresford, (Signed) J. SOUTHBY.
Master- General of the Ordnance, &c. &c.
CORRESPONDENCE. 391
(COPY.)
Office of Ordnance, 7th Nov. 1828.
SIR, — With reference to your letter of the 12th Aug. last, I am directed by the Master- General to acquaint you, that the Select Committee of Artillery Officers appointed to consider in how far the Star Rockets proposed by you might be made available as night signals, have made their report, and stated, that having tried your Rockets in comparison with the common Rockets in the service, they were found to be excellent and very beautiful ; but the light of the common was deemed most vivid. The Committee state, that Rockets of variously coloured stars might readily be made, and if not too numerous, or so diversified as to create confusion, might be of use as night signals : yet no mode of telegraphing by night (and seve- ral have been tried) has hitherto been successful. Under these circumstances, Lord Beresford desires me to acquaint you that your Rockets cannot be adopted in the service.
I am, Sir, &c. &c.
To Mr. Joseph Southby, (Signed) DOWNES.
Artist in Fireworks, Lambeth.
Signals.
MR. EDITOR, — As a constant reader of your interesting Journal, I have been much pleased with the correspondence on the subject of adopting a more efficient and less expensive mode of communication, than that now in use by means of semaphores. In deciding on the merits of any invention, that plan alone which shall appear to competent judges the most efficient and least expensive, ought to have the preference. Now I know, Mr. Editor, " there is nothing new under the sun," yet, will you allow me a corner of your Journal to describe a plan, which / feel assured may be introduced, calculated, as it is, to embrace the objects contemplated ?
Let two pipes be laid down (instead of one, in the manner intended by " Fair Play") ; let both ends of each pipe be turned up in a perpendicular direction, and the four ends cut off, so as to be in the same horizontal plane. Near the ends of each pipe, against the sides, fix a hollow cylinder, having a piston, to be worked therein : to each end of the pipes screw on perpendi- cularly a glass tube, about four feet in length : all the tubes to be of the same diameters. Fill the two pipes with water till it rises in each tube about twenty inches. Move either of the pistons, and the water in each tube, at the ends of the same pipe, will rise or fall according to the action of the piston ; and in the same manner, the water in the other pipe may be acted on by its piston, causing it also to rise or fall in the tubes fixed on its ends. Place on the surface of the water, in each of the four glass tubes, a hollow sphere of the same diameter and weight, so that they may float half im- mersed. Over each glass tube let a miniature mast of a semaphore be fixed, having only one fan. The sphere in each of the tubes is to be considered the power which may be attached to the fans by wires, &c. so as to put them in motion through the whole circle, whenever it may be necessary to do so by working the pistons. The fans must all be connected to the spheres in precisely the same manner, and in whatever position they are placed at London, by the motion of the pistons causing the balls to rise or fall, the very same position will be exhibited at the other ends of the pipes, " how- ever distant the extremes ;" and vice versa.
This being an exact miniature representation of a semaphore, (excepting that the fans are not worked on the same mast,} the present code of signals may be used, a consideration of no trifling importance in these piping times of economy and retrenchment. That such a mode of communication would be both efficient and economical, / think there can be no doubt. By the pipes passing through the table of a board room, the whole may be so fitted as to form a very handsome piece of furniture.
Your humble servant, London, 20th Jan. 1832. SIGNAL HALLYARDS.
392 CORRESPONDENCE. .
A Glance at Affairs, General and Regimental.
MR. EDITOR, — As a constant reader of your excellent Journal, I have been much struck with the good sense and right feeling expressed in the " New Year's Preface" of the Number for the present month ; its applica- tion to the circumstances of the present time, with reference to the situation and prospects of the army and navy, have appeared to me singularly feli- citous. Although politics are not within the pale of military vocation, yet it is not possible for the members of the services to behold the present crisis without taking a deep interest in its result upon the prosperity of that country they have so often saved ; nor can they disguise from themselves the painful truth that the voices that once exalted the conquerors of Wa- terloo, the Peninsula, and Navarino, now loudly unite in the popular cla- mour for disbanding and despoiling of their hardly-earned pittances, those whose exploits, it is to be feared, are, if not forgotten, at best but ungra- ciously acknowledged. The voices of agitators arid demagogues are too suc- cessfully labouring to extinguish the small remains of chivalrous feeling in our island, that feeling that once poured honours and rewards with an un- sparing hand upon the conqueror of Waterloo and his army. I am a plain soldier, Mr. Editor, and wholly unversed in those graces of style and diction which might excuse the presumption I am guilty of in obtruding any opinion or ideas of mine upon you or the public, but a fable that I was in my school- days familiar with, has just struck me as so apposite to what is at present passing before us, that I cannot forbear relating it. A wolf who had long marked a flock of sheep as his prey, baffled by the vigilance and sagacity of the shepherd's dog, saw no chance of entering the fold unless he could render the simple sheep themselves accessory to their own destruction, by prevailing on them to discard the services of their faithful guardian. He skilfully commenced by pointing out what a restraint upon their pleasures the presence of the dog was — " You are unable," says he, " to ramble be- yond the narrow limits of the fold, and are strangers to the happiness of being your own masters; besides, where we are all friends and brethren, why should you submit to so humiliating a durance?" The silly flock lis- tened with ready ears to these insidious representations, rose en masse, ex- pelled their trusty protector, rushed forth from the fold, and were quickly devoured by the artful tempter and his colleagues.
Before concluding this letter, I must beg leave to offer a few remarks upon " Regimental Grievances," as set forth in a letter that appeared in this month's Number of the U. S. Journal. A thirty years' experience of the service leads me to believe that the complaints of the author are rather unfounded ; or should he have been unfortunate enough to have met with one ill-regulated corps, where those abuses were suffered to exist, he would have done well to have looked farther before he formed and expressed his opinions of the army at large. The first cause of complaint is, if I mistake not, " the opening and detaining of the papers, army lists, and periodicals, by the commanding officer, (especially if he be married,) before they reach the mess-room, and quarrelling with the President of the Mess Committee, should his right to do so be questioned by that officer." In every regiment properly commanded, the commanding officer, it is well known, is fully as amenable to the mess rules as any other individual ; nor can he either in- fringe them himself, or suffer them to be infringed with impunity by others, without a violation of a most important part of his duty. The orders of the General commanding-in-chief are most particular in directing the attention of commanding officers to the maintenance of due order and regularity in the affairs of the mess, the comfort and respectability of which is especially committed to their charge. It is not, therefore, to be supposed, that any officer made thus responsible, would so commit himself, as first to violate rules and then quarrel with a junior officer for endeavouring justly to enforce them. With respect to the distribution of quarters, an allotment of rooms
, CORRESPONDENCE. 393
is always made for the commanding officer. In some cases, where quarters have been more than abundant for the whole, the commanding officer has had occasional accommodation ; but where anything like a deficiency has existed, the commanding officer has invariably been restricted to his right as a field officer, therefore no hardship can be experienced by the juniors in his possessing himself of this. Those commanding officers who march " en grand," or never see their " corps except on return days/' must surely esteem themselves special favourites at the Horse Guards ; for otherwise how would they venture to abandon their charge on a march, when, of all other times, soldiers are most exposed to excesses and irregularities, and the restraint which the presence and authority of a commanding officer must impose, are peculiarly requisite ? As to ladies in command displaying their own and their husbands' importance, by depriving officers of their billets after their day's march, such a heavy charge against the fair seems wholly contrary to the usages of modern times, inasmuch as ladies do not usually accompany their lords at present in the style of the Peninsular war, nor are billets or lodgings quite so difficult to be obtained by those whose arbitrary proceedings might have been in some degree palliated by neces- sity. No officer who even consults economy, independent of his own re- spectability, would suffer his wife or family to accompany a regiment on its march ; as by so doing, he would incur an increase of expense from the slow rate of travelling, and many annoyances to them and himself. Should you, Mr. Editor, judge the foregoing remarks worthy of insertion, (and they are solely the result of personal observation,) I trust they will have some effect in placing the station of a commanding officer in somewhat of a better light than has been aimed at by your former Correspondent.
Your most obedient servant, January 22nd, 1832. M. F. O.
Twenty-fifth Regiment.
MR. EDITOR, — Having perused the account of the services of the 25th Regiment, given in your last publication, a corps in which I served nearly forty years, I am happy in having to acquaint you, that there appears to me only one mistake throughout, although the omissions are numerous, no doubt arising from the limits of your publication.
You have stated that Lieut. M'Donald, of the grenadiers of that regi- ment, who was the first man who landed in Holland on the 27th day of August 1799, of the expedition under Sir R. Abercromby, (or something to that effect,) is now a Lieutenant-Colonel.
That gallant officer was killed in the battle of Egmont-op-Zee, on the 2nd of October following, where the regiment, under the command of the gallant Lieut.-Colonel Wright (termed in Grenada the Saviour of that Colony, in the year 1796,) lost, in killed and wounded, one-third of its officers present, and one-fourth of its men.
I beg you will excuse my troubling you on this subject, which I have done merely to gratify the relatives of the late Lieut. M'Donald. I have the honour to be, Mr. Editor,
Your most obedient servant, 9, Park Place, St. James's, J. A. FARQUHARSON, Maj.-Gen.
London, 1st Feb. 1832.
Chatham Dockyard.
MR. EDITOR, — I beg you will be pleased to give the following circum- stance notice in your pages.
Two naval officers came from Sheerness to Chatham on Sunday last, for the purpose of taking to the Marine Hospital a brother officer, who was then
394 CORRESPONDENCE.
raving mad. The Dockyard being quiet, and adjacent to the Infirmary, I thought it extraordinary that they should have made choice of a public landing-place, exposed to the gaze of a crowd, with the chance of hurting the feelings of any one, whose sensibility might have been easily excited on witnessing such a deplorable instance of insanity.
I, therefore, took the liberty to ask them their reasons for such a strange proceeding, and learned, to my utter astonishment, that they had been per- emptorily refused permission to land at the Dockyard stairs, under the plea that the yard was not, on any account, to be rendered a public thoroughfare for sick seamen !
I trust this notice may have the effect of removing so harsh a restriction under the peculiar circumstances I have stated.
AN OLD SUBSCRIBER.
Chatham, Jan. 2Tth, 1832.
Hints to Young Officers.
MR. EDITOR, — Fully aware of the widely extended circulation of your very valuable Journal, and of the good effects that have been produced on the minds and manners of several inexperienced young men from read- ing the strictures on certain abuses therein contained, I would wish to point out some few of the many disagreeabilities that are every day experienced by the " old hands" of a corps, from the "free and easy" system that appears to have obtained so firm a root in the British army, since the period that stern-eyed Bellona, with her brother Mars, retired from the ensanguined fields of Illyria and of Gaul, and that Pax — inglorious and voluptuous Pax — in luckless hour ! first raised her " enervating horn," and shook o'er our devoted heads " the branch effeminate" — the emblems of her sway!
And first, then, I would have the "young gentlemen" bear in mind the old proverb of " trop de familiarite engendre le mepris," and not call either their contemporaries by nick names, or their seniors by their sir ones alone. The answer of a friend of mine, Major M — 1, to an impudent quarter-master who familiarly addressed him, should be impressed on their memories: " Remember, Sir, that I 've a handle to my name/7 Well do I recollect the disgust caused by an impertinent Ensign's addressing some of the seniors most familiarly by name, as " Dickson, will you join Johnston, Girdlestone, and myself, in a glass of wine?" When first I joined the service, no such liberties were allowed, and there were many in the corps that I hardly ever "familiarly saluted," and yet never have I since witnessed so much har- mony and friendly feeling as existed in that more than Spartan regiment.
And next, Sir, I would speak of the mess-room, which, in days of yore, was wont to be held as sacred, classic ground, where no unhallowed (that is, improperly dressed) fool, would dare intrude. Now Sir, however, all is changed, and you see officers (for I cannot call them gentlemen} in dressing- gowns, without braces, in slippers, unshaven and unwashed, reading the papers as coolly and unconcernedly as if they were in their own cham- bers : not to say a word of the untidy manner in which they throw off their swords, belts, &c. about the place. The axiom that a " military mess should be assimilated to a private, gentleman's table and house," seems to have gone quite out of vogue, and in its place one would think a " bordel," or tap- room, had been substituted.
Swearing by strange, uncouth oaths, telling brutal stories, talking inde- cently and improperly before servants, appears to be also the order of the day ; and the disgusting way in which many act, is a source of infinite annoyance. A young man here, otherwise well enough, who is uncommonly conceited, and thinks every thing vulgar and every person plebeian but his own and himself, is constantly talking loud, making unseemly noises with his lips, and eating in such a manner, that you might fancy yourself in a pig-sty with some fifty swine chumping around you.
CORRESPONDENCE. 395
These, Sir, are but a few of the grievances of which I complain, and which, I feel convinced will be corrected by most of your readers who are in the habit of practising them, as I feel assured there are many who thus act from not being aware that " such things should not be.'' And I blame much the senior officers, but more especially the commanding one, for not talking to young gentlemen, to tell when they so misconduct themselves. For my own part, I must confess that I cannot bear to see an officer conduct himself in any way inconsistent with the most gentlemanlike conduct, as it gives occa- sional visitors " ample space and verge enough" whereon to " trace the same hellish characters" for the whole army.
I have a few observations to offer on the system of punishment, &c. at present adopted in the army, and to offer on that head a few hints that I deem not unworthy of notice, but I shall reserve them till a future Number, as I feel that I have already too far trespassed on your time and limits.
Your constant reader,
Plymouth Citadel, 7th Feb. 1832. PRIAM.
Medals for Service.
MR. EDITOR, — So much has been said on the subject of badges of distinc- tion for the United Service, and so universally is the cruelty of withholding them complained of, that perhaps little has been left unurged in favour of that anxiously but vainly-sought boon being conferred on us. But although nothing fresh be advanced, I still hope the subject will be kept alive through your Journal until the object is attained ; and that time, I believe, is not very distant, as I have heard our beloved Sovereign intends something of the kind to celebrate his next birthday. Great, indeed, was the disappoint- ment in the army and navy that his should have been the first " Coronation without a Brevet ;" but, great as it was, I am persuaded that had the oft-ex- pressed hopes of the many who had bravely fought their country's battles then been yielded to, and a half-crown medal bestowed, instead of the pre- sent gloomy desponding feeling which too generally pervades our officers, a " reaction" must have taken place, when zeal and emulation would have superseded discontent and apathy, the natural attendants of neglect ; and the poor half-pay officer, who looks now only with hope to a change of " the existing order of things," would have eaten his crust in content, satisfied that his country, if impoverished and unable to reward, at least knew and acknowledged his services. Then would have been spared the pang of many a wounded veteran, in observing some short time since, that His Majesty had intimated to a justly-celebrated musician his permission to wear a medal on all occasions, whilst he who had periled life and limb, " even in the cannon's mouth," for such honour, had failed to obtain it. I confess my own feelings were those of bitterness as I glanced at my own memberless left sleeve, and thought how much better an account I might have turned my hand to ! ! ! But that feeling is passed, and I now look on it as a prelude to a similar " intimation" to others for'their handy work, and even I may yet hope the graceless becket which suspends that sleeve (to the breast of my old uniform coat on "field days") will be covered, by His Majesty's permission, with a ribbon and bit of metal; the latter to please the economists, may be made of the long-treasured ball so uncourteously re- mitted to me from a French privateer twenty-two years ago. That some distinction may be made between the man who loses a leg or an arm by an eighteen-pounder or an ounce of lead, and he who in a drunken fray loses an eye by a Cyprian's patten, or a nose by something worse, is not only the wish of every man who possesses one grain of I' esprit de corps, but is what they almost look for as a right in common justice at the hands of their King and country. The case cited in your last, by " Amicus," has many parallels in the sister service. I know a Commander, now on the shelf, who dis-
396 CORRESPONDENCE.
tinguished himself greatly in the latter part of the war — did so particularly at Algiers — even in these pTping times of peace has been gazetted for his boat exploits — who attracted the admiration of the three fleets at Navarino, and whose services are acknowledged by the continued friendship of his then Commander-in-chief, by the approbation of all his profession, but by no mark of distinction from his well-served country ; nay, whose conduct would now be unknown to the world but for your Journal, which recorded it on the latter occasion. He still also remains " unmarked," except by his wounds and " plain undecorated uniform," whilst a youngster (true, an Earl's son), who had never seen a shot fired in anger before, but who was one of the " for- tunate commanders" there, sports his C.B. ribbon for the same action, and deservedly enough but that it throws the unrequited too much in the shade. 1 am not writing to " run down/' but to advocate conferring medal distinc- tions ; and, if I dare say so, promotions, without however apprising my Lords Commissioners of the old notion, that
t( Aspettare e non venire Servire e non gradire Sono cose da morire,"
lest they should continue to act on the present principle with the view of sheepshanking the Navy List. But I think I only express the sentiments of all ranks in the army and navy when I say, that as long as one Waterloo medal is left, and no other is given to those who have elsewhere fought and bled by land or sea, so long, and no longer, will the latter entertain the feelings of neglected and deeply-injured men.
That we shall not long hope and hope in vain, I confidently anticipate. His Majesty has not been cooped up in a palace all his life, but knows some- thing practically of the roughs and smooths of men and manners, and, according to Jack's idea of acquiring the latter, in the only orthodox school. He therefore knows, from personal observation, the wishes and feelings of officers and men; and with his benevolent heart are we not justified in hoping he will not long withhold so expenseless and well-earned a gratifica- tion to those who claim not only to rank among the most devoted of his sub- jects, but many of whom have been his brothers in arms, and among the rest,
Your humble servant,
J. U. S. Club-house, A ONE-ARMED COMMANDER?
Jan. 20th, 1832.
Arms of the Cavalry.
MR. EDITOR, — It is, I believe, universally admitted, that no body of cavalry, armed as at present, has the slightest chance of making any im- pression on a body of determined infantry armed with pikes. Permit me, then, to suggest a new mode of arming the cavalry, which, I flatter myself, would render their shock irresistible.
Much has been written in favour of, and more against, the cuirass ; but it appears certain, that its advantages are overbalanced by its cumbrousness, which prevents the horseman from effectually wielding either the lance or broadsword. Besides, it is the horse which is most exposed to the enemy's fire, and it is the horse which must come in contact with the pike or the bayonet.
I therefore propose, that instead of cuirassing the riders, the chests of their horses should be covered with a convex breast-plate of cork, covered with steel chains. A strap on each side should attach it to the pommel of the saddle, and a third passing between the horse's legs, should connect it- self with the saddle girth. The front rank should be furnished with lances, about ten feet long, and loaded at the butt-end ; Mahratta swords, slightly curved ; and girdle pistols very short. The second, whose horses would not require the breast-plate, should, instead of the lance, carry a short rifle made to load at the breech. Their ammunition should be carried in a waist-belt, attached to the braces, as recommended by Colonel Macerone.
CORRESPONDENCE. 397
To each regiment should be attached two twelve-pounder, and four six- pounder rocket-carriages. These might upon occasion be used to convey the dismounted dragoons from place to place. The rockets in that case should be distributed among the troopers.
Should these remarks be deemed worthy of insertion, I shall trouble you with a few other random hints and reflections. Meanwhile I beg leave to subscribe myself, as one of Your numerous readers,
Camberwell, Feb. 10. HENRY IRETON.
The Lament of a Young Moustache-
MR. EDITOR, — It has long been my intention to trouble you with a few lines on the subject of an order of His present Majesty, soon after coming to the throne, which, trivial as it may appear to civilians, is to the military man whom it concerns of no small importance. I allude to the dismissal of the moustache; and the object of my present task is to ask you, as most capable of replying to the question, whether you can look forward to the time when the cavalry may again be allowed that trifling distinction ? I confess I have myself no hopes that it will ever again be allowed ; for when I consider the extreme jealousy with which that practice has always been viewed, by civilians especially, and even by other branches of the service, though in a less degree, I am led to the conclusion that, that which is gone, is gone from us for ever. As I have before stated, trivial as such an order may appear, there never was one yet issued so universally unpopular, or so disliked ; for all asked what good can arise from it ? Will the removal of the hair from upper lips make the country more prosperous ? Will the public expenditure benefit ? Will the National Debt be reduced ? Is there any good arising from it to the service, or to a single individual ? You will surely answer "No." Why then remove it? The only argument I have yet heard for the removal is, that the British were becoming too much like foreign troops in appearance. What if they were ? As long as their uni- form is scarlet, they will easily be distinguished, in the field or out of the field. Were they becoming less soldier-like in appearance ? That I most positively deny ; for, though we are as good soldiers, I contend that the ap- pearance of the French and Prussian troops is, if any thing, more soldier- like than that of our own. I need scarcely say how generally they wear the moustache. But to the point at once ; I only ask any military man to go down the line of a cavalry brigade, and tell me which looks the most im- posing, the most martial, and the most befitting its description of force, the stern frowning of the moustached regiment, or the sheep-faced, methodisti- cal, soap-and-water appearance of the shorn ones? And is appearance nothing ? The military man will not, I am sure, say so ; for he well knows that an intimidating appearance has before now, and is likely often to pre- vent the attack of a superior force. It may not be a fact generally known, but is at the same time true, that the majority of the. privates would gladly have been curtailed of pay for three or four months, if they might have been allowed to retain what, at the worst, was a very harmless ornament. I shall long recollect the receipt of the order in my own regiment. It really pro- duced most doleful countenances. In conclusion, however, I cannot refrain from stating that " Moustache" was acknowledged on all sides to better the appearance of the ugly recruit ; to add to the soldier-like appearance of the handsome one ; that a line of men looked better with it than without ; that it did no harm ; that the soldiers were proud of it, whence, it may be said, that it added to the " morale " of a corps, a feeling not to be despised. But we are shaven, and (though this may seem to have been written with, per- haps, too bitter a feeling of regret) I do most solemnly declare, that if the service has or does benefit by the cashiering of the moustache, I, as a member, am perfectly satisfied with the loss.
I remain your constant reader and subscriber,
MILES JUVENIS.
398 CORRESPONDENCE.
Recollections of a Sea Life.
MR. EDITOR, — In your last Journal is the continuation of " Recollections of a Sea Life, by a Midshipman of the last century," which are highly enter- taining and instructive, but he is in error in asserting, page 136, that " it was known that Lord Howe, who was at this time First Lord of the Admi- ralty, had arrived at Portsmouth," &c. &c. Earl Spencer was First Lord of the Admiralty at the time of the mutiny in 1797, having been appointed to that situation in the room of the Earl of Chatham, who had succeeded Earl Howe in July 1788. Earl Howe was sent by the Admiralty as the nego- ciator, if such term may be allowed, between the Government and the re- fractory seamen, and, as is well known, fully accomplished that desirable object.
Q IN THE CORNER.
February 6th, 1832.
First Meridian.
MR. EDITOR, — In your Number for February, there is an article rela- tive to the First Meridian. It is certainly an object of some importance, and my attention has been frequently directed towards it. The advantages to all the nations of the world of a Common or Universal Meridian are more than I can pretend to point out : but that the advantages are numerous and considerable, will be obvious after the slightest reflection. I may mention one, which is the case by which the situations of places might thus be com- pared, and errors rectified where errors existed. Of all the places in the world, the city of Quito, in South America, appears to me best entitled to this distinguished honour and privilege. In the first place, it is situated almost directly under the Equator ; and, secondly, its position is more ele- vated than that of any city in the world, being 9621 feet, or nearly two miles above the level of the sea.
1 have the honour to be, Sir,
Your most obedient humble servant,
Ness Castle, Inverness, EDWARD FYERS,
13th Feb. 1832. Second Captain Royal Inv. Engineers.
On the Trisection of an Angle by Major Mitchell.
MR. EDITOR,
This projection will show that Major Mitchell's problem for the trisection of an angle is not general, and can only apply when H and h correspond, which is not necessarily the case as assumed in his demonstration.
I am, Mr. Editor,
Your obedient servant,
W. F.
CORRESPONDENCE. 399
MR. EDITOR, — In your Number for January 1832, you have favoured us with a figure, construction, and solution, for the trisection of an angle, by Major W. Mitchell. By referring to the figure and construction it is easily seen that Major Mitchell assumes, that the point H is always in the circum- ference of the circle H M Z B, which a little reflection will show is not the case ; consequently the subsequent solution, which so completely hinges on the measurement of the arcs H M and H Z, can only hold good when the point H is in the circumference of the circle, and is therefore an imperfect demonstration. Any one disposed to make the experiment mechanically, will easily satisfy himself that my view is correct, for in following Major Mitchell's construction in five trials, the point H fell without the circum- ference twice.
Your constant reader and admirer,
A MARLOW CADET.
Naval and Military Library and Museum, February 2nd, 1832.
MR. EDITOR, — I beg to point out the mathematical fallacy which appears in the paper of Major Mitchell on the Trisection of an acute Angle, in your January Number ; it may serve as a lesson never to admit any fact in the demonstration without proof.
Let any one who takes an interest in the question refer to his" figure. It is manifest from the construction, and a very slight consideration, that B H is equal to the diameter of the circle B D E, consequently it cannot be a chord in an equal circle, and therefore the point H cannot be in the circum- ference of the circle B Z M H. Now, as the whole demonstration is founded upon the assumption that the said point, which must ever be outside of the circle, is actually in its circumference, it is evident that it must fall to the ground. Q.
22nd January 1832.
THE following is an extract from a communication on the same subject, by a scientific gentleman. We regret that our limits prevent us from giving the whole.
I need not take up your space by any remarks on the two corollaries ap- pended to the problem, they are of course buried in the ruins of the latter. This I exceedingly regret, because we may be thereby deprived of another interesting discovery, which the gallant major leads us to expect from the following passage of his letter : " I now subjoin a figure with the construc- tion, and a solution founded on the ancient analysis (?) — having also com- bined the most obvious deductions in two corollaries, by means of which I consider it not improbable that the other celebrated problem of antiquity, the quadrature of the circle, may be solved," &c. As to the quadrature of the circle, I agree that it may be done in a manner similar to the above trisec- tion of an angle, and in fact, I recollect perfectly seeing it so effected some six years ago in the public papers in Calcutta. The author of it maintained that a square, equal to the area of the circle, was formed simply by the pro- duction of the alternate sides of the regular octagon inscribed in the circle. I demonstrated to him, in reply, that it was not so, but he would listen to no geometrical demonstration, having as he said ocular proof of the fact. He formed circles, squares, and octagons, &c. out of pieces of sheet lead, weighed them in a balance, and found them agree ! I trust Major Mitchell will prove more reasonable, and indeed the ingenuity displayed in his problem, notwithstanding his oversight, is enough to convince me that his love of science and truth will more than counterbalance any disappointment he may feel for having failed of success where no man has yet succeeded. His pro-
400
CORRESPONDENCE.
blem is a beautiful chain which has one frail link, but in other respects, of excellent metal and most cunning workmanship.
I am, &c. January 25th, 1832. Q. E. F.
*** We have selected the most concise from amongst the numerous de- monstrations on this subject which have reached us. and hope they will satisfy the adversaries of the gallant and far distant Major. — ED.
On the Trisection of an Angle by Capt. Burton.
Acute augle. Right angle. Z. more than 135°.
For L 135°.
For L 180°.
This demi cardioide of Capt. Burton appears to be strictly correct, but for practical application by the young geometrician it is not fully detailed. Perhaps its more formal enunciation may not be unacceptable,
Problem. To trisect any given angle, d C F.
Operation from C as a centre, describe a circle fe A with any convenient radius.
Lay a ruler over A to" cross C d in i, so that i e shall be equal to C A, the radius of the circle ; draw A i and C/ parallel to it. Then /_ d Cf and /_ dCe are each equal to one third the given angle d C F, as required. This problem is very neat and simple in practice.
Observations, when the angle is 135°, A and e coincide, and de = rad. = tang. sup. given angle. When the Z. is 180°, A and i coincide, and Ae = radi = chord of 60° ; evidently one third of 180°.
It is desirable to have a neat geometric formula deduced from demonstra- tion for the relations of the sines, &c. &c. of the given angle and its third, &c. &c.
The curves named by Capt. Burton cardioides, (that in question for ex- ample,) might be designated the curve of trisection; and it is much to be hoped, he will succeed in his apparent search of curves for other definite sections of a given arc or angle, such as the one fifth, the one seventh, and one eleventh, which may be designated by the name of the section to be obtained by their aid.
W. F.
433
CONSIDERATIONS ON MANNING THE NAVY FOR FUTURE WAR.
LOOKING at the system, or rather the total want of system, with which the manning of our Navy was conducted during the war, every one readily sees and admits the injustice to one class of his Majesty's subjects, which was practised in the impressment of seamen; and most men, who are not interested by the application of that hardship to themselves, fancy that they give a conclusive answer to the charge of injustice by urging its necessity. The necessity for British seamen being liable to a peremptory call for service in the time of war, there is no way to avoid ; but I deny that this plea of necessity can be made in justification, while the country that Is to make it remains in a state of apathy upon the question of how this peremptory call may be rendered less vexatious in its operation, either in the manner of calling out the seamen, or towards them during the progress of their term of service. And, as clearly, this plea of necessity cannot be a justification while the country retains in its power the means of mak- ing a compensation for the acknowledged injustice. I believe, how- ever, that the country is not dead to such considerations ; but only requires that they should be clearly placed before it, in order to pro- duce a disposition to give such relief as the case will admit of.
The Government has done much within the last twenty years, to ameliorate the condition of seamen on board a man-of-war ; but the regulations for this purpose have been made applicable to the Navy during a state of peace, when manned with volunteers for a compara- tively short period of service ; and they have not provided for a state of war, for which, if we were called upon again to man a large fleet, nothing that has yet been done would supersede the ruffianly press- gangs, the unlimited service, and to secure this service, the perpetual imprisonment, where the honest mariner is locked up upon equal terms with the convict and the felon. It must be noticed, that these press- gangs followed their vocations under the orders of men who wore the dress, and bore the title of naval officers, as if it was not sufficient to place the naval officer in the odious situation of gaoler, over the men that he was to lead against an enemy ; but even before the sailor was brought into this relation with them, the sight of their uniform was made hateful to him, by decking the bodies of these men- catchers.*
If pressgangs are ever again to be let loose on the shores of Britain, rather by the connivance than by the sanction of the law, at least this augmentation of the evil need not be. Let the leaders of such gangs be called constables, or some name which is not given to any grade of naval officers, however humble. Yet, if the country be called upon to go to war to-morrow, we must again see this, and again
* Pressgangs were under the superintendence of a lieutenant of the Navy, gene- rally an old officer who had got into some scrape, such as getting married, and to whom the pecuniary advantage was an object greater than the distant chance of promotion. The assistants of this officer were catted Midshipmen, and wore that uniform, but their service in this line was not admitted as a part of the six years necessary to qualify for promotion.
U. S. JOUKK. No. 41. APRIL 1832. 2 p
434 CONSIDERATIONS ON MANNING THE NAVY
estrange the British seamen from their officers, by requiring these to enforce the unlimited service of the men through a perpetual imprison- ment.
We have every reason to think, that the present Government is deeply interested in the amendment of such matters : and if it shall do as much in this branch of the subject as the former Government has done towards correcting the system of discipline on board, it will leave nothing for its successors to do in continuing the naval supremacy of Great Britain on a firm foundation. Believing the Government to be truly zealous on this subject, which has long occupied my own mind, it is with much pleasure that I observe other naval officers working in the same field. To a Government desirous to remedy or alleviate these evils, it cannot but be advantageous that they should collect and com- pare the views of naval officers upon the practical operation and bear- ing of the matters complained of, as affording the best means by which a cure for them may be discovered. And if naval officers, in the pro- secution of their subject, shall be led to suggest remedies, their propo- sals will, at least, demand an impartial consideration from those who are better acquainted with the laws already existing. Proposals from such a quarter will be of a practical nature, suggested by experience, and not written to please the taste of those fanciful enthusiasts who pretend that human nature is changed, and that we shall have no more war, in opposition to our every-day observation, and to the history of Great Britain, including that of the last eight years, in which period, we have been two or three times on the brink of it, and should have been actually engaged in war, at least twice, if the popular voice had been followed. Human nature is not changed, but information is more generally diffused among the people of Great Britain. I do not mean to raise the question as to the advantage of this diffusion of knowledge —that question, I presume, has gone to sleep for ever. Let those who doubt the advantage, look for the blessings of ignorance in the present state of Ireland — or in the recent massacres of Hungary. But the fact, that information is more generally diffused, is all that bears upon my subject. From that fact it arises, that no system of injustice can be practised with the same facility as it could be even forty years ago ; and this consideration is not a light one in reference to the ques- tion of impressment.
The first branch of the subject that I shall take up is, how the neces- sary restraints in the naval service may be made as little irksome as possible to the sailor, consistently with the efficient discipline of the ship ? This will lead to the consideration of punishments. On this point I at once state my opinion, that the restrictions on the power of commanding officers, separated as they often are from all reference to higher authority, however useful they may have been so far as they have gone, have been carried far enough. How much soever we may improve the crews of our men-of-war by a more wise selection of men for them, the habits of a large portion of those crews must still be of that desultory and reckless character, that a power to control them with a strong hand, and to punish any act of insubordination promptly, must remain. I speak of the world as it now is. That the exercise of the power to control these men with a strong hand should be placed under an efficient scrutiny, and subjected to a just responsibility, is
FOR FUTURE WAR. 435
quite right ; and the improvements in this respect have already done much good. But the power must remain. I do not make these re- marks in answer to the drivelling trash which one sees in the news- papers, about the degrading nature of corporal punishment. Will the writers of these articles inform us of any pitnishment that is not de- grading ? Would they prefer a month's solitary confinement in the coal-hole on bread and water ? or some vexatious extra work, such as polishing ring-bolts, or belaying pins ? with, of course, some penalty hanging over him for the nonfulfilment of this work ? We can tell them that a sailor would much rather have a couple of dozen and have done with it. But I should not answer those men who make their bread by catering for the diseased appetite for clamour and declama- tion, which prevails, were it not that I have observed one of them to state with an appearance of authority, that Sir Francis Burdett has in view the prevention of this kind of punishment. Any thing that a naval officer could say upon this subject, would, probably, have little weight with Sir Francis Burdett. My address to him would, there- fore, be short, and may be comprised in four words — " Ask the men themselves."
Believing that the object of Sir Francis Burdett has all along been the good of his country, and not the merely selfish object of receiving the praise of the ignorant, I have much pleasure in stating my opinion as a naval officer, that he has already done much good by calling atten- tion to this matter ; but I would also add, that on this particular branch of his subject, he has gone far enough. Let him look practi- cally at the tempers and dispositions of mankind as they are, and not as we would wish them to be. Let him consider that a man of war is constantly in the situation of being before an enemy, in her liability to be attacked by the elements ; and therefore under the necessity of retaining a constant [state of vigilance : that this call for vigilance, sobriety, and alacrity, being constant, has none of that excitement which the sight of an enemy's flag produces. Let him consider the state of six or eight hundred men packed up in a box of boards, and the continued restraint which must thence be required upon each for the cleanliness and order necessary to preserve the lives of the whole, to say nothing of their comfort. Let him further consider the jarring tempers of six or eight hundred men so shut up, and the necessity thence arising for a powerful arm to be stretched over them, in order to protect the weak from the aggressions of the strong ; and he will then understand that which every sailor will tell him, viz. " The power of the Captain to inflict such punishment is indispensable."
I speak with confidence, when I assure any statesman who is inter- ested on this subject, what the answer which he would receive from old seamen would be, if he would ask them this question, " Could flogging be done away with in the naval service ?" The veteran would hang his head, and shaking it with a doubtful smile, would say that it could not — that the willing and hard-working man would have to do all the work of the lazy and the skulking. Some he will find more con- cise in their answer. They would tell him that they (the men on board) would cut each other's throats. These are the answers which I have received from seamen whenever I have put such questions to them. This I have often done — not in the war when I was their officer, but
2 F 2
436 CONSIDERATIONS ON MANNING THE NAVY
since ; sometimes when they knew me to be an officer, sometimes when they did not. But I have never met with one who thought that the power in the hands of the Captain to inflict this punishment could be dispensed with. The advantage of restrictions which lay the Captain under an efficient responsibility for the use of this power, is obvious. They have been the growth of these last twenty years, and I believe are now complete.
Before quitting this subject, I would refer to a very wise order which was added to those restrictions about twelve months ago. I mean the one which requires the name of any officer who makes a complaint that gives rise to a punishment, to accompany other parti- culars in the report of that punishment. This order very properly tends to place the officer under the same responsibility as his Captain. Before it was given out, I have known instances of Captains who were deficient in that firmness and address that are necessary to keep all classes in their proper station on board, to be frequently placed in situ- ations which endangered the good discipline of the ship, between the Admiralty restrictions on the one hand, and the pettish complaints of inconsiderate officers on the other ; particularly when their tempers happened to be ruffled by censure for their own negligence or mis- management.
Having given my opinion on this branch, which coincides with- the present practice of the Navy, I will now state it upon one which appears to require amendment; I mean the punishments to which seamen are liable by the sentence of a general court-martial, and particularly that of flogging round the fleet. There is in every com- munity a set of men, who, thoroughly debased by crime, appear to have no power of rising from the mire in which they are smothered. Every officer who served in the war, must remember to have met with men who, after repeated and increased punishment, became even more reckless in exposing themselves to it, until the superstitious about them were disposed to say that they were infatuated.
That characters of this description should be turned over to the Navy, and placed there on equal terms with honest men, who are called upon, and by the necessity of the case are forced to leave their industrious occupations and to serve in the Navy, is a piece of injustice to them which has already been loudly complained of. The unfairness of this measure, both to the seamen and to the officers who are to lead them, having been made apparent, it is probable that the Government of the country will not again commute the sentence of convicted felons by sending them to the Navy. I will venture to say, that it would be better for the country that the Navy should be reduced to half its nu- merical force, and some of the enemy's fleets thereby left unwatched, than that the crews of its ships should be composed of such motley materials as many of them were at the end of our war with France.
But although we should not have convicted felons sent to us, the evil of having characters of a similar description turned over to the Navy in time of war, is more easily seen than prevented. Although we may reject convicted felons, it would be difficult to prevent magis- trates from giving the alternative of a place in the Navy or a trial to accused culprits. Such characters, therefore, will, in time of war, find their way on board. When the offence of men so sent has been that
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of burthening the parish with a young subject for his Majesty, or shooting a hare, we shall be very glad to see them ; but if, on the con- trary, the worthy magistrates shall present us with such characters as I have described — men whom they have been unable to reform by flogging at the cart's tail, and who are saved from the gallows only to avoid making the revolting spectacle there more odiously familiar than it already is — I say that when such men are thrown among us, I claim, in justice to officers of the Navy, that they shall have a means opened of weeding them out from the crew which it is their duty to lead.
I do not know what the law is upon this subject ; but I never knew a sentence of banishment to the hulks to be given by a naval court- martial ; confinement in the Marshalsea, which I once remember to have been awarded, kept the convict off the public but a short time ; at the end of which he probably found his way back to the Navy. It is not just that officers of the Navy should have imposed upon them the dis- gusting task of increasing the severity of punishment upon such men, in the vain expectation of curing them. But more particularly, I would appeal to the Government and to the country, if " justice," if " the freedom of the British subject " mean anything — I would ask whether it is fitting that such characters, thus degraded, not by severe punishment, but by the notoriety which that punishment gives to their crimes — is it fitting that such men, thus degraded, should return to their place to be mixed and confounded with the honest and indus- trious mariner, who is thus forced to be among them, reduced to their level, and made to feel that the severe punishments inflicted on those men are a warning (a threatening) to him against offences, from the imputation of which his heart rises with as much pride as could be felt by his officer?
Upon these considerations, I would humbly propose to those whose duty it may be to regulate such matters, that banishment from the naval service to the hulks, or to such manner of imprisonment as may be thought proper by the Government, but which shall take the offenders out of the Navy, should be applied by a general court-martial to all cases of atrocious or degrading crime where death is not awarded.
It has been very justly suggested, that after an offence has been, punished it should be forgotten, and the party be made to feel that he has balanced his account, and stands free from debt and on a level with his fellows. The value of the observation is clear ; but of course it is not meant to make it of universal application. It is obvious that it can only be made applicable to offences against discipline ; and that it is impracticable in such cases as I have referred to. No thief, for instance, can ever feel himself raised to the level of an honest man in a society where he is known, whatever may be his resolutions of amendment.
Having above made a provision for such cases, I would now venture to propose that the prolongation of punishment by dragging the culprit from ship to ship round the fleet, should be given up altogether. Those who believe that the means of putting down insubordination may be measured by a simple canon : namely, that if one dozen will prevent a small crime, a greater punishment will prevent a greater, and so on ; — those, I say, who reason in this way, I do not expect to join in my view of the matter. But to officers who have been accustomed
438 CONSIDERATIONS ON MANNING THE NAVY
to study mankind, who are aware of elements in their nature which are not to be measured by this simple rule, I would appeal for the re- collection of what their own feelings have been, and what the feelings of the men under their command must have been, when, after the fleet of boats has dragged some unhappy culprit alongside of their ship, where he has received his twenty or thirty lashes, he has been towed off to others for a repetition of this, until the sound of the drum had been lost in some distant part of the fleet. I would ask such an officer, what his feelings have been, when, engaged with his men in the duties of his ship, and having forgotten what was going on, or being in hopes that it was over, he is reminded by the notes of the drum again becoming audible after a lapse of hours, that the prolonged torture is still in progress.
Stubborn and turbulent characters we must have among us, for whom it may be thought necessary that the dreaded sentence of a court-martial should keep them in awe, although not guilty of the crimes for which I have recommended banishment from the Navy, nor yet of mutiny, in such degree as to call for sentence of death. But I am conscious that I shall be joined in my opinion by many naval officers, when I say, that there is no case in which the indefinite pro- longation to which I have referred, can be added with advantage towards making more impressive a punishment, as it is conducted in the Navy on board or along side of any one ship, with the solemnity of the boats of the fleet attending. I do not venture to give my own opinion of what ought to be the maximum limit of such a punishment ; but in hopes that my view of the propriety of doing away altogether with the undefined prolongation by towing the culprit from ship to ship, will be supported by officers whose name and rank will give weight to that opinion, I would willingly leave in their hands the task of proposing a limit, believing it to be advantageous that a limit should be fixed.
One source of complaint against the Navy, which we shall find in the mouth of all sailors, is, " the number of masters" to which they are subject in it, and the authority of young officers (midshipmen). This is a source of dislike to the naval, as compared to the merchant service, which can never be wholly removed. A line-of-battle-ship with six or eight hundred men on board, and the management of these men, cannot be conducted like a brig with five or six hands. The de- tails of this extended management must be conducted by subordinates, and although it is wonderful to see how well matters go on in a ship whose captain knows how to keep every man in his place, yet we are all aware of the liability of delegated authority to be exercised in an offensive manner, when it happens to be placed in the hands of in- considerate or ill-tempered people, even though they should keep within the letter of their authority ; and the more subordinate autho- rities are multiplied, the greater is the chance of some of them being ill-tempered and inconsiderate.
Now, although, for the reasons I have mentioned, this objection to the naval as compared with the merchant service can never be wholly removed, yet I am conscious that it may be lessened with advantage to the Navy and all parties concerned. Let us ask some old officers the following questions — " Have you served much as a first lieutenant of a line-of-battle-ship? If you have, would the result of that expe-
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rience lead you to choose, in conducting the duties on board that ship, to have the full complement of midshipmen which was allowed during the last war, or only half that number, all other matters remaining the same as before?"
If he would not prefer the smaller number, I can only say that his experience has made a different impression from mine. But such an officer is more likely to tell us, that when some popular commander has been removed to another ship, and taken two thirds of the midship- men with him, besides being relieved from the task of keeping them to their duties, he has found the general business of the ship go on better, with less trouble to himself and with fewer complaints. I feel some confidence in saying, that if old naval officers be consulted on this subject, they will allege that in fact and in practice during the last war, not more than half the number of midshipmen were of any use in large ships that had their full complement ; that the rest were an in- cumbrance, and that the whole complement could not often have been made useful, even had they been so disposed. The consequence was, that after the most active and intelligent had been selected as mates of watches and signal midshipmen, &c. a great portion of the rest re- mained in a state of careless inactivity, unless when their absence from duties in which they ought to have been present, happened to be brought before their superior in such a glaring way that he could not avoid noticing it, and giving them another trip to the mast-head; the practice of which he had left off from being tired of it.
Is it advantageous that such an opportunity for remaining in a state of inertness should be allowed to any portion of youth in this school for future naval officers ? Surely it is not. And since they cannot all be advantageouly employed in any charge, would it not be much better that they should be actively practised in the first step of learning to command — viz. to obey ? Some captains have exercised this principle on a limited scale with young gentlemen in whom they were par- ticularly interested, but I would propose it as a general principle. For this purpose a large portion of the candidates for future promo- tion ought to be employed in the manual duties of a sailor.
How much more popular might this class of young officers become among the men, if, like Hannibal, they were their pupils before they became their commanders ! And how much more beneficial would such employment be, both to themselves and to the service ! Their time would then be occupied between the school-room and the tops ; and they would be relieved from the useless and unpopular office of echoing orders before they knew how such orders ought to be executed, or what was their use or intention.
The other branch of duty in which that portion of the midshipmen I now speak of were employed during the war was, to watch the men in order to prevent desertion. Where there was a real disposition to de- sert, it was generally, indeed almost always, in vain that they were employed on this charge. I trust that more effectual means, which I shall suggest in this paper, may be found practicable to prevent deser- tion, by giving to the seaman a fair encouragement to perform the duties required of him, and by making those whose interest it may be to tempt him from the performance of his engagement, effectually responsible for holding out this temptation.
In reference to the employment of future candidates for promotion,
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I would propose, that a large portion, say the one half of this class, should be occupied in the way I have mentioned, and not be authorised to give or repeat any orders whatever. But that they should, on the contrary, be placed under the charge of men (captains of tops) se- lected for that purpose ; and a small stoppage made from their pay in order to make an extra allowance to those men, expressly as a reward for holding the young lads to their duty. It may be a recommenda- tion of what is here proposed, to add that such was the early education of Lord Nelson.
I think that such an ordeal would not have the effect of keeping back from the Navy one young man who would be an acquisition to it ; and I feel assured, that it would be found more conducive to the hap- piness as well as to the improvement of spirited youths, than the life of scampish idleness in harbour ; or of heartless listlessness at sea, which many of them led. I am satisfied that it would be found ad- vantageous on every account, but I have been led to a consideration of the subject in reference to lessening one of the sources of dislike which men who are accustomed to the merchant service have to the Navy. Do what we will, however, this particular source of disgust, " the number of masters," can never be wholly removed ; nor can the necessity for greater restraint and a longer period of service ever be dispensed with. In vain may we say to the merchant sailor, " You are liable to worse usage in a merchant ship than in a man-of-war" — in vain may we say to him — " Your Captain has no care for you be- yond the voyage, or the month for which you are hired, that his object is to get as much work out of you as he can in that time — whereas, in a man-of-war, you are engaged in a common cause with your Captain, in which your zeal leads you to partake all hazards with him. On that account, as well as from a sense of duty, he studies your comfort. Your hours for meals and for rest are more regular and less broken in upon. All matters concerning your pay are so regulated, that there is no temptation for any body to cheat you ; and those respecting your provisions are such that the purser cannot shorten your allowance— whereas in a merchant ship, you are often cheated in both these matters."
To all this the thorough-bred merchant sailor would reply — " If we are badly used in a merchant-ship, we can leave her at the end of the voyage — and as to the -Captain studying our comfort, that is one of the restraints we complain of — mustering clothes, mustering clean ham- mocks, &c. &c. Now, in a merchant-ship, we never get our hammocks up from one voyage to another, and never put on a clean shirt but when we go ashore."
To men of these habits, the restraints necessary to preserve their own health, as well as to keep the ship in a state of efficiency in the Navy, cannot but be irksome ; and nothing will reconcile them to it but practice in a well regulated man-of-war. If the naval service re- quired at all times the same fixed number of men, it would be an easy matter, by a system of apprenticeship, to rear a succession of seamen for it, who, by being habituated to the regularity and comfort of a man-of-war as compared with a merchant-ship, and endued with an csprit-du-corps which would induce them to look down upon the ob- jects of those engaged in the merchant-service, would form a body of
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men at all times sufficient for the Navy, and of the very best kind that could be trained for it, provided they came into it at an early age.
On this point I speak from experience, for I can recollect many in- stances of men brought up wholly in the Navy, who were the primest of seamen. I once joined the same ship's crew after an interval of eight years ; and had thus an opportunity of seeing the same persons as boys, who in the latter period of that time were the very best men in the ship. I am particular in stating this circumstance, because it has been impudently asserted, and taken for granted without due ob- servation, that a merchant-ship is the only school for training tho- rough-bred seamen. It is true, indeed, that there are duties in a man-of-war which require the strength of numbers; and for a con- siderable portion of those numbers no seamanship is required. The men who are exclusively employed in such duties never can, and, in fact, never do learn to be seamen ; but they ought not to be, and in fact, were not, the youth of the ship who were so employed.
In time of war, these stations were usually filled by middle-aged men, Irish labourers very often, who had come to sea too late in life to learn to be nimble aloft ; but who answered the purpose of adding weight to a rope when it was put into their hands. This weight, how- ever, may as well be given by seamen who can do their duty in any part of the ship. Thus, then, to extend the school for sailors in the Navy itself, I look upon to be the very best means of lessening the amount of the necessary call for them from the merchant service when a war shall break out ; but since this cannot be done to the ex- tent of superseding altogether the necessity for such a call, let us con- sider well the effect of making that requisition, as formerly, a sweep- ing one for all the British seamen engaged in mercantile marine of the country ; and of suffering their place to be supplied by foreigners.
We could hardly find a more apt illustration of the fable concerning the Goose and the Golden Eggs, than such a process affords. After the unsparing hand of the pressgangs was known, to seize upon every Briton that went to sea, of course none embarked in that line of life but such as were driven to it by want.* The few helpless creatures who were in this predicament, although not sailors, were soon taken for the Navy because they wore a blue-jacket. Our merchant-ships were thus left to be manned by foreigners or invalids, and this nursery for British seamen was thus dried up in its source. The Navy re- quired full-grown men. When no more could be had from the mer- chant-service, the full-grown men came, in the shape of Irish la- bourers, convicts, and distressed weavers. There was not added to them a sufficient number of youths to fill up the place of mature seamen, when time had thinned them by death, sickness, and desertion. So that, at the end of the war, the crews of many of our ships, instead of being seamen, as in the early part of it, were made up of the refuse
* In reference to the debasement of seamen by means of impressment and other causes, see an excellent paper in the November Number of the United Service Journal, 1831, which, I observe, is followed by one on the same subject in the Number for February 1832. These papers are highly worth the attention of those in power, who have an interest in this matter, and a subject of deep interest it is to the nation, whether our ships are to be impelled by wind or by steam. I do not know who is the author of those papers. R. C.
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of the land. And, what was worse, there was no prospect of an amend- ment. The goose which laid the golden eggs had been killed.
Plans for enrolling the merchant seamen of Great Britain have often been proposed, and if the Government would provide against a recur- rence of the evils in question, they must enrol seamen of the merchant service. If the freedom of these men, as British subjects, must be interfered with on the commencement of a war, from the necessity which has been shown, it is incumbent on the Government to have them enrolled, in order to take them under its special charge : to take care that no sacrifice be required from them beyond what the necessity of the case demands ; and further, to take care that a remuneration be made to them for this sacrifice, the limits of which must be defined after due consideration. Any plans which I have seen for the enrol- ment of seamen appear to me deficient in this particular (the remune- ration) ; and without due attention to it, I do not see how any plan of enrolment could do away the charge of injustice against the compulsory call for service to which seamen are to be made liable by it. To make any plan of enrolment effectual, it is also evident that the responsibility of giving in the names of the men, must not depend upon themselves ; but that the masters of every ship and vessel must enter and discharge their crews under the surveillance of an officer of the Government, one of whom should be appointed to this charge at every port or district. The busi- ness of this officer should be to make himself acquainted with all the sea- men belonging to his port or district, and, by reference to his books, to be able to give the character and history of every one of them. To enable such an officer to perform this duty efficiently there must be effectual checks upon masters of merchant-vessels and all others, in severe pe- nalties, for entering, discharging, or employing his Majesty's enrolled seamen, (which should include all British seamen,) without due inti- mation being given to the officer of his port or district. This officer should muster the crews of all vessels belonging to his port, before they received their final clearance from the Custom-house to sail on a foreign voyage; and the articles of the men's agreement to sail in the ship should be signed by them in his presence. On the return of the vessel to her port, her master should be required to make a written return, giving an account of the crew he had taken out, and of any changes in it by reason of death or any other cause ; and to lodge this report at the office of the before-named officer. Printed forms of such reports should be supplied to the ship-master. They ought to contain a column for his remarks on the general conduct of the men during his voyage. I have observed, that all vessels upon their clearing out for a foreign voyage from the port to which they belonged, should have their crews mustered by the Government officer ; but it also ought to be his duty to muster frequently the crews of coasters belonging to his district ; and also the crews belonging to ships of any other district which traded to that in which he was stationed, and to correspond with the officer in charge of the district to which such vessel belonged.
In this way, every man and boy who went to sea, should be taught to feel that he enters as a King's man when he enters the mercantile marine of the country, and that he becomes bound by that act to de- vote himself to a certain term of service in the Navy when he shall be called for. In the mean time, such seamen so enrolled, besides being
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entitled to a handsome remuneration for completing his engagement in the Navy, when he shall have done so during war, ought to be paid a small sum annually, in the manner of a retaining fee when he appears to answer his muster.
It is quite true, that by all these regulations the liberty of the Bri- tish subject is still interfered with ; but the necessity for the inter- ference is acknowledged. The object of the regulations is to limit and define what the extent of that interference shall be, and openly and honestly to declare it to be a part of the law of the land ; and thereby to make every one who becomes subject to this defined law, do so by his own act when he enters the mercantile marine. The object of the proposed restrictions is thus also to make the interference of which we avow the necessity, less offensive in its operation.
We now come to consider a very material point of the subject, viz. the remuneration to be made to those men for the sacrifice which the necessity of the case calls for. If the public good requires that a man's house should be pulled down to run a street, or a canal, or a rail-road through its site, nobody ever questions the justice — the necessity which the public are under to make compensation. But suppose a case more in point — suppose that an absolute necessity demanded that the Government of the country should call out the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers for its safety, not to take their chance of being drawn as Militia, with the rest of their countrymen ; but that it should say to them, " The nation demands that you, and all of you, must go forth to meet the enemies of your country in the East or West Indies, the coast of Africa, or wherever they may be found ; and for this purpose, you must submit yourselves to a rigid system of discipline for a number of years. Let us ask if, in such a case, the Worshipful Company of Tailors, and all other Worshipful Companies, would not, or rather, ought not to be ready to come forward and make compensation to the Cordwainers. Do not let us confuse our heads with the absurdity of considering how such a case could arise. But suppose the existence of it in the abstract — it will serve for illustration. It is strictly in point too. For, in calling the able seamen to come from their indus- trious occupation, you do not call upon men of unsettled and desultory habits alone, but upon the expert artificer, who has served his regular apprenticeship, and is a thoroughbred man at his trade, often, too, pro- viding industriously for a family, and paying taxes. But the exigency of the case requires it to support the country in her exalted station. Then, let the country pay for the means of doing it by recognised and defined laws. If she cannot do this, she cannot afford to be great or exalted with justice to her own subjects. But a still stronger argu- ment than the justice, is the necessity of the case. I appeal to any one who will look at the question. Whether it be consistent with the safety of the country again to degrade our seamen to the condition of outlaws by acts of injustice? Let our ships be commanded as they may, they cannot be better commanded than the Java was ; but she was manned with a crew of Luddites, and such like, many of whom had never seen a ship until they were put on board. It is true that the Java, like the other two British frigates which were taken before her, was of an inferior force to her opponent, particularly in carrying lighter guns ; but before the thing happened, the prediction of such
444 CONSIDERATIONS ON MANNING THE NAVY
British frigates being taken by any single-decked ship, would have been scouted by every British officer.
Before this time, however, the fact that the crews of our ships were greatly inferior to those which manned them in the early part of the war, was universally noticed and lamented by officers whose length of service enabled them to make the comparison. In the particular case of the Java, my information is from a naval officer, who was a pas- senger on board of her at the time she was taken. He told me that at the guns at which he was stationed, there was not a man who knew how to prime them ; and that his business was to go round from one to another as they were loaded, to prime them himself, to prevent the deck from being covered with loose powder. These recruits had been exercised on their way out. But to give men the knack of performing the minute, though important parts of their business, even at loading a gun, requires time, and first, that they shall be able to stand on their legs when the ship rolls.
The fact that seamen had become scarce, and that the crews of our men-of-war were made up of inferior materials towards the end of the war, every naval officer will admit, and various are the conjectures which have been made to account for it. I have even heard some assign as a cause, the restrictions that had been put on the power of Captains ; it had previously been unmeasured. What has been said of the goose and golden eggs, carries more conviction to my mind. The nursery for seamen was wholly destroyed in our merchant-service, and no sufficient one was made in our Navy in lieu of it.
Connected with the question of How the merchant-service may be preserved as a nursery for British seamen during another war ? is that of What shall be the length of the term which each man may be re- quired to serve in the Navy ? This must be fixed upon ; but it must be done with careful consideration, for that which is made law on this point must be kept with scrupulous good faith, and no second compul- sory call ever made after the term has been completed. A know- ledge of what the average term of service obtained was, when the term required had no limit, will be a useful piece of information, but by no means a criterion. For, if we can preserve our mercantile marine in such state, that a succession of men may be drawn from it -to relieve those who have served their allotted time, it is clear that we shall not need to exact from each of these successive generations so long a term of service as we were forced to require from one race when there was no nursery to produce another to relieve them.
In an article in the United Service Journal, five years has been pro- posed for the limit of this term. I think it probable that that time may be found sufficient, if the system of enrolment and the supervision of the manning of our mercantile marine were well attended to, and the nursery in the Navy itself increased. If the term of required ser- vice could be made so short, and seven years' protection to apprentices given, it would be a great step towards encouraging respectable per- sons to bring up to the sea their children, who have been educated in habits of industrious exertion, and restoring to us our former race of British seamen. The indispensable process of doing this, however, must be to exclude foreigners, and to make the inducements to enter upon a sea life sufficient to bring this race of people into it. All that
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the Government can do towards this latter condition is, to make the claim for service in the Navy as little to be dreaded as possible ; and to provide a compensation when the service claimed shall have been faithfully performed. The rest will follow ; for, if foreigners be ex- cluded, the merchants will pay such price as they find necessary to raise seamen, whatever it may be ; and they will do so readily, be- cause the public must pay for it in the end by an enhanced value of their merchandize. On this account, the Government never can enter into competition with merchants for the payment of seamen, and must therefore take the management and disposal of sailors into their own hands, if they would avoid the evils which have been referred to. Besides the competition of foreigners, a great bar to youths of the class I have described, entering a sea life in the merchant-service was, that their protection for an apprenticeship extended only to three years.
If we exclude foreigners, it is evident that we must allow some men to our merchant-ships in time of war, and on this account, as well as to encourage the nursery for men who should became available for their term of service in the Navy, I would propose to extend the protection for apprenticeships to seven years, and to twenty three years of age. To the youth whose hopes of advancement lay in the merchant-service, a fair prospect would thus be opened of attaining the responsible situation of mate, or even master, before the end of this time, which would supersede his liability to be called to the Navy. To the youth of humbler prospects, it would remove to a distance the evil day, if he must still consider that to be such which may call him to the Navy, and afford a chance of his escaping it by some fortunate advancement, or by peace being made before it arrived. The crews of our merchant-ships would then be made up partly of those youths and partly of men who had served their term in the Navy ; although many of the latter would return to his Majesty's service, having been re- conciled by practice to its more orderly habits, and having acquired a taste for the greater comfort arising from them.
To many who enter the merchant-service with fair hopes of ad- vancement in it, the call to serve in the Navy would come to frustrate those hopes ; and in considering the means of making this call less oppressive, it appears to me that the naval service could not suffer, if a seven years' apprenticeship faithfully served in the mercantile ma- rine of the country, should be permitted to stand for two of the six years' service necessary to qualify for promotion in the Navy those who, being called into his Majesty's service, should be deemed worthy of the place of midshipmen. I may remark, that many if not all of the objections to such an indulgence which now exist, would be re- moved by the surveillance over the mercantile marine of the country which has been proposed, and a fair opening to- honourable ambition would thereby be given in lieu of the hopes that had been destroyed. This proposal, however, could but provide for special cases ; the great body of the men who would be called to the Navy would not benefit by it. It is for them that I propose the provision of a direct compen- sation. This compensation should not in rny way be looked upon as pay, or mixed up with the consideration of pensions or any other allow- ances that may be granted to put them on a footing with men em- ployed in other branches of his Majesty's service.
446 CONSIDERATIONS ON MANNING THE NAVY
To supply men for all the other branches, the Government come into the market with the terms they can afford, or rather with those terms that they find necessary to induce a sufficient number of volun- teers to enter. Those volunteers are either men who prefer the life of a soldier, or they are persons of careless and idle habits, who do not succeed at their trade, or fail in it from being inexpert at their parti- cular calling ; while to man the Navy, the country requires that the choice and expert men at their trade shall leave their industrious occu- pations ; at a time, too, when the demand for their service more than doubly enhances the value of their work. This is what calls for the compensation I propose ; and this consideration it is which must be kept closely in view to prevent it from appearing invidious to other branches of the military service. I am afraid to say what I think the amount of it ought to be ; but if we assume it at ten pounds a year for the term of required service, and if it is to have any effect, it should not be less ; and let us suppose that fifty thousand of his Majesty's en- rolled seamen should be called out, and that each of these, on the comple- tion of the required service, shall be entitled to seventy pounds. Thus, in making the provision, to assume the terms at seven years, this would amount to three millions and a half; but as there are seven years to raise this sum in, it may be taken as an annual expense of half a mil- lion during war ; that is, if no provision were made for it before a war should commence. But if the necessity for this measure be admitted, the Government would be more provident.
I am no financier, but I think I can perceive the advantage which would follow from raising this fund by some tax laid on expressly for the avowed purpose, and keeping the tax, and the fund arising from it, entirely separate from all other branches of the revenue. If it were levied in an equitable manner upon the importation of all goods into British ports, whether in foreign or in British vessels, it would fall upon the public equally, by an imperceptible increase on the price of the articles imported. The advantage of keeping it unmixed with other branches of the revenue would be, that the avowed object of it would make it popular if it were persevered in with good faith.
In considering the amount of this compensation, we must add that of the retaining fee. This fee should be confined to men who, being eligible to serve in the Navy, were enrolled as being so, and should ex- clude all such as were ineligible through age or otherwise, although enrolled, and should also exclude apprentices during their apprentice- ship. This restriction would limit the number who were to receive this retaining fee very much, probably to two hundred thousand men during the peace. This, however, would incur an expense of that num- ber of guineas to be provided annually, and some small expense would also attend the machinery of enrolment, and the cognizance which it has been proposed to take of the disposal of our merchant-seamen. The whole of these might be provided for by a tax which ought to be popu- lar, if we, as a nation, pretend to retain any veneration for the words "justice " and " rights of British subjects." And such a tax, I have no doubt, would be popular if levied by a House of Commons, whose members were chosen by those who were to pay it, and appropriated by a Government supported by that House of Commons. Fifty thou- sand of his Majesty's enrolled seamen would be a fair proportion of a hundred thousand men for the Navy, exclusive of the marines. The
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FOR FUTURE WAR. 447
compensation I have proposed, should not be paid until the expiration of the engagement. Thus, every man when he had completed his term of service, would have a clear and solid recompense to receive, and thus the few who were not thoughtless and improvident, would have the means of setting up their own fishing-boat, or of purchasing a share in the coasting sloop of which they were to become captains, and boast to their apprentices of what the Navy had done for them.. By far the greater part, however, would soon spend their money, and be ready to enter for another term in the King's service, which ought now to hold out the inducement of being short, say three years.
If this state of things could be set a-going, I should not despair of seeing a simple discharge from the Navy threatened as a punishment ; and a system of expulsion, as a punishment of the last resort, I pre- sume, by the way, is the only foundation on which a Utopia can be built upon, on shore or afloat. One consideration remains ; which is, that if seamen, who learn to be such in the Navy, were excluded from these benefits, they would act as a bounty for young lads who wished to go to sea, to keep out of it and to prefer the merchant-service. But, on the contrary, I would propose that five years' service in the Navy should make them eligible, when recommended by their Captain, to be promoted to the rank of one of his Majesty's enrolled seamen, so that by a service of seven years, or whatever the fixed term might be, reckoned from the time of this promotion, they should have the same advantage as men who had been called from the merchant-service.
The expense attending the execution of these proposals, is a matter of calculation, which will become simple when the number of seamen required on the breaking out of a war is known. If half this number be made to consist of his Majesty's enrolled seamen, and the other half be made up of young men and lads from the shore, the ships will be well manned. These recruits from the land ought to be entered by officers of the Navy, and not again sent to us by magistrates.
To extend a nursery for seamen in the Navy, it would be advan- tageous to increase the complement in each ship beyond what it was in the last war, by adding a number of stout young lads from fourteen to twenty years of age, say ten for each hundred of seamen. If this were done, strict orders should be given that those youths should not be employed as servants ; nor should the boys who already form a part of the complement, be so employed. Improvement is slow. When I was last afloat, the midshipman's boy of Smollett's days had been super- seded by the midshipman's steward ; but the boys were still the valets de chambre of the lieutenants. They would have been much better employed in being stationed in the tops, not from any use they could have been there, but because they would there have been learning their business as seamen. Further, it is not easy to perceive why a lieutenant of the Navy with the rank of a captain in the line, should be allowed for his servant a little dirty boy only, while every ensign, the moment he joins, is allowed to choose a man servant. If these proposals for regulating the employment of our seamen in the mercan- tile marine shall be approved of, it is quite clear that they cannot be brought into effectual operation, without severe penalties being inflict- ed on persons who shall harbour or employ his Majesty's enrolled sea- men without making the required returns to the proper officers. We must not leave upon the shoulders of poor Jack the heavy responsibi-
448 CONSIDERATIONS ON MANNING THE NAVY
lity of serving his term faithfully, and add to that the further respon- sibility of resisting ail the temptation to break it, which may be heaped upon him by the riches of the land.
I am aware of some penal laws against enticing His Majesty's sea- men, and remember their application to a certain nobleman ; but it is not always easy to prove the act of enticing. To make this law effec- tual, the act of harbouring must be sufficient. The plea of ignorance that the man harboured was a King's man, must not be admitted, since all seamen will be King's men ; and even if the party employing him were ignorant whether he were a King's man or not, it would be his business to bring him before the proper officer previous to employ- ing him. If such penalties were made effectual to their purpose, be- sides their bearing upon the points already referred to, they would remove the necessity for the perpetual imprisonment of seamen, which existed during the war, and thus put an end to the invidious relation of prisoner and gaoler, Avhich then existed between the men and officers whose duty it was to lead them ; so that, when the service admitted of it, the sailor might have his run on shore without fear of his deserting.
If it be said, that on the commencement of a war it would be neces- sary to man so large a fleet, that these plafts for preserving a nursery for seamen in the merchant-service must be broken through ; and that the youths, during their seven years' apprenticeship and under twenty- three years of age, must be taken ; or that faith must be broken with men who had already served their term ; — I would say, choose the lesser evil. Send a smaller fleet to sea. Let it consist of choice ships with heavy metal ; but not one more than can be manned with an able crew ; nor one more than can be manned with due regard to preserving a nursery for supplying the place of those who may then be called out.
If nothing be done in these matters until a war shall come upon us, it will not be easy to say then what ought to be done. - But let us be prepared. Let us have our enrolled seamen arranged and ready. We • shall then be able to act with our eyes open ; and if not without the sacrifice of some money in making the preparation, We shall avoid sacrifi- cing the principles of justice to those of our countrymen who are to be its defenders ; and we shall do that which is necessary to avoid sacrifi- cing the national honour, the national power, and, thereby, the national wealth. This last consideration will weigh with that party in the country who, intent on the means of accumulating wealth, wrapped up in the narrow sphere of their present speculations, and willingly blind to all consequences beyond it, have taken a " flattering unction to their souls" that we shall have no more war, by interpreting literally a me- taphor which has been attributed to Mr., now Lord, Brougham, as used in the heat of argument. Information is spreading abroad, and that fact will lessen the power of despots to go to war at their plea- sure. This I presume to have been the sense in which the honourable gentleman used that metaphor ; but war, and the wars of Britain in particular, have almost' always been popular.
A favourite observation of those who fancy that the spread of infor- mation is to put an end to war is, that men know that by going to war, both parties will be losers of a greater value than that which the dis- puted question involves. This is a very good statement in matters of pounds, shillings, and pence ; but is there no reserve ? Yes ; unless
• * FOR FUTURE WAR. 449
that dispute involve national honour. And there falls to the ground the whole of this argument. Even if we hopefully continue to anti- cipate an age when the schoolmaster shall have stalked over the whole world, notwithstanding the light of his primer, mankind will remain prone to selfishness and pride in a degree that must prevent their seeing clearly the merits of a question in which they are interested, and by a perverse estimation of self-importance, to demand more than they would concede if placed in the opposite interest.
If this disposition prevail in the case of individuals, how much greater must it continue to be when the more generous, or more plaus- ible feeling of espousing a party is added to that of mere selfishness. Or, how much more so still, when the ennobling inducement of love for our country shall lend a spur to those dispositions which, when thus cheered on by our social habits and feelings, must blind us yet more to the consideration of what is due to an opposite party. Let us then keep these dispositions in check ourselves, but let us be prepared to resist them in others, when they shall commence inroads upon the rights of Great Britain. And since we cannot destroy the propensity to usurpation in mankind, let not the arm be unnerved that is to resist it, when it shall be directed towards us. This arm is the military and naval power of the country, standing, as it does, upon the proud con- sciousness of the chivalrous devotion with which it 'has served, and is ready to serve her — the proud consciousness that it has preserved Great Britain from becoming the province of an inveterate enemy, and her sons the subjects of a despot, and the slaves of his satellites. •
It is for Great Britain to take care that the spirit for calculation in pounds, shillings, and pence, does not blind her so far as to make an over-estimate of the schoolmaster's power ; so that when she shall have weaned the spirit of the rising age from all generous and chivalrous ambition, by decrying every thing belonging to war, because she is now at peace ; — when a few years shall have brought the heroes of Egypt and of Waterloo, of the Nile and Trafalgar, to graves no longer honoured ; when the sacrifice of Mars has been completed at the shrine of Mammon, and the whole energy of Britons is engaged in heaping up wealth, — it is for them to take care that they and their wealth do not become the prey of some foreign oppressor. It has been said, that the best way of making an honourable peace, is to be pre- pared for a vigorous war. It may be added, that such is also the best mode of preserving an honourable peace ; and it must remain so until human nature shall be changed.
Let us then, while we are at peace, provide the means of manning our Navy effectually, and in a manner that shall be free from that short-sighted injustice which has hitherto been practised in making up its complement for war. To these views and considerations I think it right to add my name ; not from supposition that it will give weight to the opinions here expressed ; but since the subject is an important one, and since the opinions are honestly given, I look upon them as being entitled to an impartial consideration, by having the real name of a naval officer affixed to them, and even this much no anonymous publication could claim. ROBERT CAMPBELL,
13, Howard Place, Commander, R.N.
Edinburgh, 9th Feb. 1832.
U. S. JOURN. No. 41. APRIL 1833. • 2 o
450
TWO DAYS AT ST. HELENA.
BY AN OFFICER.
ABOUT four hours before daylight we were quite close to the south- east point of the Island of St. Helena, where stand the two high mountains called Diana's and Cuckoo Peak. It was not light enough to perceive more than their dark towering heads frowning grandly above us; the sides appeared rugged and precipitous to a degree. Just off the Point, and a little way from the land, are two small rocks, the one called the Pillar, or Isle of Hercules, and the other the Island of St. George. We had soon passed these, and at daylight were under Sugarloaf Hill ; after a communication with a detached battery planted just beneath it, we continued towards the harbour. It would be im- possible to convey by description an idea of the rugged exterior of this island — a cluster of spiral mountains, some running to considerable heights, and all presenting towards the sea a rugged inaccessible front, rising nearly perpendicularly from it, with not the least appearance of verdure, tree, or habitation. As Napoleon must be foremost in the thoughts of all who now visit St. Helena, it would be no great effort of the imagination to fancy it the mighty mausoleum of a mighty hero, erected purposely in the waste of waters — another pyramid in another desert. As the day broke cloudily over it, and its peaks reared their dark heads like gigantic columns, the surf murmuring hoarsely at their bases, I could not view it with any other feelings. As the sun rose, we perceived Ladder Hill, and passing Munden's Point, a projecting part of the rock, having a battery upon it commanding the landing-place, came suddenly in view of James Town, a lively-looking city, situated in a valley, between Mount Rupert and Ladder Hill. The houses are light-coloured and neatly built, ascending from the sea towards the head of the valley, and have the appearance from the roadstead of the fanciful arrangement of a Chinese picture. On the west, about 600 feet above it, stands Ladder Hill ; its summit is covered with houses, and its bosom with lines of extensive fortification, commanding most effectually all the approaches from seaward ; a very excellent winding road leads from the city up to it. On the east side of the town is Rupert's Hill, unadorned and barren. I landed about ten o'clock, and after a walk of ten minutes, through a line of pupul trees, the outward side of the road being planted with cannon, I passed a drawbridge, and entered a gate which opened into a neat square, the church standing nearly opposite, and forming the end of the principal street, which leads directly from the centre of the square. Opposite the church is a very pretty garden, railed in, having for one side the back part of the castle — it runs to the base of Rupert's Hill ; there are many rare and familiar plants in it. On the left hand of the gate, on entering, is the castle, and on the right stands a hotel, the board of which intimates that it was the only one at St. Helena. I took up my abode in it. I set out immediately and visited, in the first place, all the shops in the colony ; I was surprised at their numbers, and confounded at their dearness. Every shopkeeper keeps a miscellaneous dopot, in which may be found the goods of every country, particularly of China. They are so greatly beyond the proportion of buyers in the colony, both in
TWO DAYS AT ST. HELENA. 451
numbers and prices, that were it not for the continual visits of ships homeward bound from India, they could not exist ; and even as it is, they are obliged to add other occupations to their legitimate one of storekeeper. They are usually employed by ships to lay in their pro- visions and stock, which they purchase from the farmers, and calling themselves ship agents, charge a most exorbitant price for every thing. A sheep of the Cape of Good Hope cost 3/. 10*. ; a fowl 5s. ; a duck *Js. ; 5/. was the price asked for a milch goat ; a bag of potatoes, con- taining one cwt. a guinea. The last article is the growth of the island ; it is a thin-skinned, pale, and waxy vegetable, although of very good flavour. When a number of passengers arrive at the same period, these agents entertain them at their houses as boarders, at a charge, I believe, of thirty shillings a-day. Their houses are very good and com- fortable— the servants are generally slaves ; for though considerably ameliorated of late years, the custom is still in force here. I was struck with some advertisements upon that subject. I observed, through the city, for example, — " Wanted, for sale, a girl or woman." •— " Strayed away Mr. Scott's Margaret." I was doubtful whether this last alluded to an animal of the brute or human race ; I was assured, however, it was one of the latter that had strayed from her fold.
If appearance may be considered a criterion of health, St. Helena must be one of the most healthy spots in the world. The male part of the population look hale and florid as English residents, and the soldiers, in looks, dress, and smartness, might vie with any corps in the United Kingdom ; they receive a ration of salt meat, rice, vege- tables, and Cape wine ; spirits have long been discontinued, and, indeed, the duty is so high upon the better quality of spirits that it is never sold on the island, and the inferior description is totally pro- hibited. This conduces amazingly to health. The children of the Europeans are the most rosy and pretty little creatures I have seen for years, and the females appeared to me all beautiful. I know not whether being so long unaccustomed to rosy cheeks, with nearly four months of no fair cheeks at all, may have contributed to throw addi- tional charms over these St. Helena Helens, but I am not willing to deduct one single beauty from them on that account, and must still think them really what they seemed to be. So notoriously healthy, however, is this island, that out of 5000, the present population, the average deaths in the year may be safely rated under fifty, and most of them old people and infants, who die everywhere.
The town is the quietest I have ever seen in my life ; no carriages or bustle of any description ; nothing broke its quiet during my stay but the church bells, and nothing varied its uniformity but the procession of a funeral, an old man who had died in his 75th year, a respectable inhabitant : he was attended by almost everybody in the place, arrang- ed two by two, decently dressed in mourning, the clergyman leading the party all through the town, from the church to the burial-ground, its extreme length. This is the common custom, and befitting the isolated inhabitants of so remote a spot ; every one must be deeply in- terested in the lot of his neighbour ; they should feel but as one family. There was something beyond the common feeling for a departed bro- ther in the mourning followers of the old man ; three days before, he
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452 TWO DAYS AT ST. HELENA.
had a son, a farmer, who had riot been long in the island, and who had succeeded to his father in the charge of the plantation. He went out in the morning to collect the eggs of the sea fowl, who lay them in the most precipitous parts of the rocks ; they are esteemed as food resem- bling very much in flavour the eggs of the plover. He ventured to a spot where he could proceed no farther, it was too narrow to turn — the footing was slight — he made an effort, and was dashed to pieces ; he fell 600 feet without interruption. The accident was told to his old father, who just heard it and died. The son left a widow and three children, for whom a subscription-list was filling up very quickly and liberally.
Towards the upper part the valley becomes much compressed. The houses, although occupied by the lower order, are very neat, and there appears not the least filth about them. Here are the barracks, the hospital, and a new public garden ; a brewery also is established, in which beer is made from imported malt and hops ; it is pretty good, and sold in the canteens. The dark people of the place are Africans, and their offspring by Europeans. A number of Chinese were en- gaged some years ago as labourers and mechanics, for a certain time ; their mode of employment and price of labour was fixed by the govern- ment ; their engagements expired some time ago, and they are now free ; many have returned to their own country — the number now scarcely exceeds 120, it was formerly nearly 600. The garrison con- sists of about 800 men, artillery and infantry ; the officers of the first service are of late years educated at the Company's academy at Addis- combe, and scientific pursuits have been very much encouraged in the island, by the establishment of an observatory, and the introduction to it of many philosophical and scientific works and instruments.
After having explored the town, I set off on horseback to visit Longwood, now become celebrated as the once residence of Buonaparte. It is distant something more than six miles from James Town, to the south-east. The road commences on the left of the upper part of the city, and winds by a gradual ascent round Rupert's Hill, after passing which a very different prospect opens ; no longer rough and barren rocks : the hills are crowned with woods, the slopes verdant with grass, and enlivened with furze in blossom : the valleys are adorned with gardens, and occasionally very pretty houses appear on the summits of ridges, or, protected by their heights, rest midway down the hill. The wooded hills about Plantation House, on the opposite side of a deep dell, appear on the right hand ; while on the left is the long ridge on which stands Longwood House, embosomed in a pretty shrubbery, having a thick plantation of pine-trees, and many others in the rising ground, behind it ; the Alarm House on the bosom of a hill in front ; and the Briars, the first residence of Napoleon, in a picturesque valley below. The connexion of all these spots with the last years of the late illus- trious occupier, cannot fail to leave a deep interest in the minds of their visitors.
I passed insensibly the tomb of Buonaparte, and reached Longwood House before I was aware of it. The building in which the Ex- Emperor lived and died, stands nearly in the centre of an inclosed plain, approached by a very good road through an avenue of trees. The site of it is computed at 1762 feet above the level of the sea. The ocean
TWO DAYS AT ST. HELENA. 453
is visible from the east of it ; and immediately to the north are two very high and rugged hills, one from its shape called the Barn, 2015 feet ; the other the Flagstaff, 2272. The house, no doubt, was very comfortable, but its present sad appearance obliges the spectator to sigh over the fate of him whose " ill-weaved ambition" reduced him to such a change. His billiard-room is a granary. A mill stands in the chamber where he breathed his last ; chaff is kept in his dining- room ; and horses are stalled where once stood his bed. " Just where that manger is, Sir, Bony used to lie," was the laconic description I received from a groom who was cleaning a horse in his bath ! The whole of this part of the building forms the stable to the farm- house, the purpose to which the old house has been devoted. Never- theless, little cause for pity can exist. Longwood, besides being the prettiest, has always been deemed the most healthy spot on the island : there is less damp there than anywhere else, from the adjacent heights breaking the clouds before they can reach it. It is and always has been the ground chosen for experiments in agriculture or planting, — a proof of its fertility and purity.
The peevish complaints of his attendants about " colds, catarrhs," damp floors, and poor provisions, which Napoleon never could have known, for my admiration of his character cannot allow such pitiful weakness to have emanated from him, have tended very much, in the minds of many, to traduce the public character of the Government of that period, and the private qualities of their agents. It is the curse of greatness to be judged by common minds. So Napoleon had all his weakness " set in a note-book, conned, learned by heart," and given to the public.
I know not whether I take a proper estimate of the feelings of a truly high mind, but I cannot imagine they could ever degenerate to murmur, or sink into abuse, under circumstances however adverse and oppressive. Thrown from the highest pinnacle, it would be better surely to plunge at once to the bottom of the abyss, than totter on its verge, to be at last thrust in. " Aut Caesar, aul nihil," Buonaparte had a just claim to assume in his prosperity : it should have still conti- nued his motto in adversity. From nothing he became Caesar; and when he could no longer keep the purple, "nothing" again was better than any grade between that and Caesar ! No place on earth could have been better chosen for that feeling than St. Helena ; — every thing that a noble mind so circumstanced could desire. He was removed from all associations that could obtrude his former splendour on his mind ; any lingering desire to rise once more must have been at once extinguished by its utter impossibility. He was merely removed to another world, possessed of all a private individual could require, to assume the mode of life his father led, and he was born to. Surely this was much bet- ter than a half-retirement in the world he once ruled in chief, to drag through an irksome seclusion in the midst of activity, interrupted by the gaze of the foolish, and maddened by the pity of the wise.
The new house erected near the old one, but never occupied, is in a remarkably pretty spot, and is a most excellent building ; in fact, it is as handsome a single-storied house as could have been devised : the plantations about it are laid out with great taste. A small house in the neighbourhood was the habitation of Count and Countess Bertrand.
454 TWO DAYS AT ST. HELENA.
Here the farmer resides. In one of the wings of the new building are a few silkworms, the mulberry being found to thrive very well in this neighbourhood. I fell upon it by accident, and found an old French woman and her daughter engaged in spinning off the silk : they were from Lyons. The Demoiselle was passablement Jolie ; and the old woman wept like a child when I asked her if she ever heard from Lyons : it was in vain to pacify her ; she continued to sob, " Non, nun, je ne reverrai plus Lyons, je ne reverrai plus Lyons." Her daughter soon caught the infection, and I feared it would be impossible to resist : it was a scene for Sterne : when we were interrupted by some other visitors, they were both in tears. The lower order of French are not a travelling race, and are miserable from their home, even if on the con- tinent, but when they have to traverse the ocean, they are wretched indeed.
After roaming about the neighbourhood of Longwood, I returned towards the road, to seek for the tomb of Napoleon — the grand object of pilgrimage. About a mile from the gate, just where the road turns, I stopped to look about me, when a little boy, in the peculiar twang of St. Helena, asked me if I were looking for the grave — " For Boney," says he, " lies down there in the gutter !" This was too much ; the great Emperor lying in the gutter ! I descended by an abrupt hill to the place so designated, and on a little green spot, beneath the shade of two weeping willows, three plain flat stones, coarse and uninscribed, above him, reposes the man, who, while he lived, made the most sump- tuous palaces of Europe his own. A railing surrounds his grave, and an outer one encloses the area of which it forms the centre, comprising, perhaps, a space of something more than fifty feet square. The grass is green around it, but the willows wave sadly over it : they are the only leafless trees at St. Helena. Madame Bertrand scattered a few seeds of the " Forget-me-not" at his head. The flowers appeared above the ground for a short time, but soon died. The spot where she placed them has been marked, and although the tribute of her affection is for ever gone, the memory of her act will exist, I hope, with the care that has been taken to preserve it, for many a day. A clear spring rises near the head of his tomb, whence Napoleon and his household drew their water. A tumbler stands upon a stone near it, to invite the pilgrim to drink at the fountain where an Emperor quenched his thirst. It is said that Buonaparte chose, in the event of his being buried at St. Helena, the spot in which he now lies : it is retired, as a tomb should be, and very prettily situated. Many beautiful trees grow along the surrounding heights, for it is placed in a valley, en- circled by hills, and sweetly-scented geranium grows plentifully and gaily below it.
So sequestered a spot is not without its interruption, in the shape of an invalid serjeant, a species of Cicerone, as talkative and silly as the generality of the parrot tribe he belongs to. His duty is to take care of the tomb, and prevent the willows from being cut into slips and borne away, as relics of the dead. So perverse is this mode of showing respect, if for such it be meant, that the lovers of Napoleon, if the precaution were not taken to prevent it, would deprive his grave of the only ornaments that induced him to select it. It once was a custom
TWO DAYS AT ST. HELENA.
to bear a tribute to a grave : modern habit has converted us into spoil- ers of the dead. A book is kept in the Serjeant's room, for visitors to enter their names, and several volumes have been formed of these re- cords. Many English have indulged in that lamentable love of folly which too frequently characterises them as travellers, and have polluted the shrines with nonsense and indecency. The French, who visit it in great numbers, have bowed with more devotion, and inscribed the out- pourings of their feelings with frequently much simplicity and pathos. Some to be sure, have " soared in doggrel" to his memory, and others have allowed their warmth to betray them into an awkward dilemma for good Catholics. " Cette sacree Sainte Helene," is not an uncommon expression, forgetting, doubtless, what it entails upon the poor mother of another great Emperor, in bewailing the fate of te Les Heros de la France." In any other situation, I should have been amused with the garrulity of the guardian of the spot. But he was for ever out of tune with my thoughts. He contrived to blend his own history so strangely with observations and anecdotes of all around, that it was scarcely possible to turn away from him. " There, Sir, there lies the great General. He was a man ; a portly noble man as you would wish to see. His was the eye — such an eye ! I can tell a gentleman at once by his eye. Ah ! he was the fine officer : he offered me three pipes of wine on his birthday. A fine man ! ' Give that/ says he, 'to the Red Regiment.' You know, Sir, I then belonged to the 53rd : I am now— but stop, Sir ; I '11 tell you the whole history." Then began a tale that I feared never would conclude. It was interrupted occa- sionally, however, by allusions to the grave. " My aunt Barbara had me on her knee when Squire Wyatt came in. My aunt, Sir, (Bab we used to call her), was just such another as Madame Bertrand. Ah ! that was a good woman, Sir ; here 's where she sowed the Forget-me- not ; and the ground was wet with her tears : the flowers grew, but they soon died. Poor Boney ! So a mark is put up to show the spot, for gentlemen often ask, and I now show them without talking ; not that I mind talking. Did you ever see the lines that the Captain of a ship wrote, Sir ? I '11 repeat them." He then repeated with so much emphasis, but so little discretion, about a dozen lines, that I could not understand a syllable : my old friend, however, was moved to tears by them. " Write your name in the book, Sir. Many gentlemen find their friends' names in it ; I hope you may do the same. A gentleman gave me five shillings, because he saw his wife 's name in it." I un- derstood the hint, and acting at once upon it, was able to throw off my chatting attendant.
A good road ascends from the tomb to the highway, and in about an hour I was^again in James Town.
On Sunday morning I rode up to the summit of Ladder Hill, on the west of the town. The batteries are in very high order, and the artillery are celebrated for their practice. The angle of depression is very great, but their precision is wonderful. From remembrance, I should think the works on this hill are about the same height, and have the same appearance, as those over the town of St. Helier's, in the Island of Jersey. They were not finished when I saw them in 1816, but I was struck with the similarity of the two hills. A road winds
456 TWO DAYS AT ST. HELENA.
very easily round Ladder Hill, and is about three-quarters of an hour's walk. Some inconvenience in the hot weather attends the transport of provision to the barracks on the height. After much rain, I am told it takes nearly three hours for the carts to reach them. The present Governor has nearly completed a ladder up the face of the rock towards the town : the inclination is about 35 feet in 100 : the height of the breach above, where it will finish, is 600 feet perpendicular. A stone way, of perhaps fifteen feet breadth, is laid down ; in the centre are the steps, on each side of which are rail-roads of cast-iron, similar to the rail-ways in mines. The provision is drawn up in carts, worked by a species of windlass at the summit. It will, indeed, merit the name of Ladder Hill now. From it the road continues to Plantation House, the seat of the Governor ; a fine building, entirely surrounded by wood of every possible variety and country. The oak, the pinaster, the yew, and the cypress, is mixed with the pupul, the palm, and the cotton. The guava and blackberry grow together : the tea-plant and the geranium ; the tippara, or Indian gooseberry, joined with some of the indigenous plants of the island ; several species of cabbage-tree, and the red-wood.
The mountains in the interior are far more wooded and fertile than those near the coast, even on their inner sides : these have very much the appearance of having been subject to fire. When the hills in some situations rise from deep valleys without any verdure, and nearly en- circle them, you may almost imagine an extinguished volcano. Their brown, rough, and hard declivities, reminded me much of the appear- ance of the upper part of Vesuvius and Stromboli. The great abun- dance of the prickly pear adds to the resemblance. The composition termed terra puzzolana, is found in great quantities about these spots, and is turned to good use in making cement, or lining aqueducts, and even roofing houses, when mixed with a little lime, about, I think, one-third.
The gardens and fields have a pretty appearance when sloping from the top of a ridge to the vale below. I thought in many instances, however, the inclination much too great. In heavy rain, grounds so situated are very likely to suffer from the descent of loosened matter from above, as well as from the rain itself; and the greater the extent of the sloping ground^ the greater will be the mischief; every thing must give way, and the whole garden may be lost : if, instead, a num- ber of small terraces were made, one above the other, and each well banked up, each having slope sufficient to prevent water lodging, and no more, the comparative injury would be nothing : what might fall upon the upper one could easily be prevented going further. That is the mode used in the Island of Malta, in Japan, Ceylon, and all hilly countries of the east ; and in the highest cultivation of the world, on the face of the most abrupt mountains, where a great abundance of rain falls throughout the year, that method is never attended with loss. I mean the Himalaya Mountains in the north of Hiiidostan.
T. S.
457
THE BRITISH CAVALRY ON THE PENINSULA.*
BY AN OFFICER OF DRAGOONS.
LORD WELLINGTON having taken up the line of the Agueda, turned his attention to Almeida, which was occupied by a small garri- son, very slenderly provisioned ; an attempt was made to lessen their means of support, by employing riflemen to fire at the oxen which were grazing upon the glacis. Little effect appeared to have been pro- duced by this measure, but it was ascertained, from an intercepted let- ter, that most of the cattle had been wounded, and it became necessary to kill and salt them, which, it is well known, is done to great disad- vantage in very hot weather. The place was finally blockaded. Mas- sena retired Avith his army to the plains of Salamanca. The British army was placed in cantonments. Such a portion of the cavalry as was not required for the outpost, was sent behind the Coa, and was allowed a repose of about three weeks, to recover from the effects of the fatigue it had undergone. The young crops of rye, then nearly three feet high, were purchased by the commissariat. The grain which had been hoarded by the inhabitants was now brought out, and the horses began to recover their flesh : time, however, was not afforded to put them into condition, and when they came to work again, they rapidly lost the flesh which had been put on their bones by the green forage. Although twenty years have intervened, the writer of these pages looks back with horror to this period. The village in which he was canton- ed, had suffered severely from the French; more than half of the houses had been destroyed, and those which remained were in the most abject state of dilapidation, and utterly devoid of furniture. The poor inhabitants were returning to their desolated dwellings, and patiently resuming their wonted avocations; suffering, with resigna- tion, the severest penury, and being under great difficulty from the loss of their oxen and rude implements of husbandry, which had been carried off, or wantonly destroyed. The people appeared to suffer all with great patience, but their sad countenances harmonized with the surrounding scene, where melancholy reigned. Without any occupation, save stable duty, this inactive life, immediately succeeding a short but very animated campaign, generated a degree of ennui far beyond any- thing the writer has ever experienced. Still the horses got fat.
Meanwhile Massena, having received reinforcements, was making every exertion to reorganize his army, and soon found himself at the head of about 40,000 infantry and 5000 cavalry, with which he ad- vanced to the relief of Almeida. Lord Wellington took up his posi- tion between the Coa and the Duas Casas, which small river was immediately in front of some part of this position. Sir William Ers- kine's division, with one squadron of dragoons, was placed near the ruins of Fort Conception, to guard the road to Almeida, the investment of which place was committed to Gen. Packe's brigade, of Campbell's division. The village of Fuentes was strongly occupied. Gen. Hous- ton's division was on the right at Posovelho, and the village of Nava- da-ver was held by the guerilla corps of Julian Sanchez. The French were allowed to pass the Agueda without molestation, and on the 3rd
* Continued from page 63.
458 THE BRITISH CAVALRY ON THE PENINSULA.
of May took up their position with their left opposite to Fuentes, and on that day made an attack on the village ; and after varied suc- cess, and the demonstration of the greatest bravery on each side, the largest portion of the village remained in the hands of the British.
The position and prospects of the British army were such as de- manded all the firmness of Lord Wellington. The French army, which was within cannon-shot of our lines, counted a fully equal force of infantry : in cavalry they were superior in the proportion of five to one, while their artillery was superior both in number of pieces and in calibre. The British occupied a position which was probably the best that could be obtained, but which offered no natural obstacle ; while the whole of it, with the exception of the villages, was suited to the employment of cavalry. In the event of disaster, the rugged Coa lay in the rear. The fords on that river are dangerous, and very difficult of access. By the extension of his right, Lord Wellington secured the bridge of Sabugal ; but the operations of the 5th, cut off the army from that line of retreat, when there only remained the bridge of Castel Bom, which was so narrow, that it would have required many days for the passage of the army over it. There can hardly be a doubt but that defeat must have caused the destruction of the British army ; but Lord Wellington felt confident, and communicated his gallant feelings to the whole army. On the afternoon of the 4th, a squadron of dragoons was sent to Nava-da-ver, to support Julian Sanchez. The commanding officer, Capt. Brotherton, found that the guerillas had taken every pre- caution, and the outposts continued in their hands. During the night, the Spaniards sent in several reports that the French army was in mo- tion, and it turned out that Massena had moved his army bodily to its own left.
On the morning of the 5th, Capt. Brotherton, in obedience to pre- vious orders, prepared to rejoin the cavalry, behind Posovelho ; and on its route, this squadron was the first to witness the threatening demon- strations of the French. It was a glorious- sight. The morning was beautiful; the sun was gradually dispelling a thick mist which had prevailed during the night, and which seemed yet in lower grounds to dispute the solar influence. The silence of the morning was scarcely broken by the hum of, the neighbouring armies, when the French ad- vance upon our right was observed at the distance of about half a mile. The nearest columns of cavalry were only seen in parts, the continuity being broken by the partial fogs ; beyond them the valley seemed filled with troops, parts of the columns only becoming visible for a moment as the mist cleared off; farther to the rear, the enemy were on higher ground. The sun had gained the ascendency, and shone upon the accoutrements of the squadrons ; and again the view was impeded by the fog, and the sequel left to the imagination. Enough, however, had been seen to authorise the report sent in, that the French were moving upon the right in great force, as this squadron continued its march when nearly behind Posovelho, and the advance of the French was coming nearly perpendicularly upon its wake. We observed a very fine squadron of French grenadiers a cheval, which advanced to- wards the wood near Posovelho, and charged the infantry skirmishers with which it was filled, but failing to make any impression, the Frenchmen gave up that object, and continuing at the same pace (a canter), by bringing divisions right shoulder forward the squadron
THE BRITISH CAVALRY ON THE PENINSULA. 459
was thrown into a column of divisions to the left, in which order it skirted the wood, descended into the valley of the Duas Casas, and hav- ing cleared that river again, formed squadron on the leading division, and advanced towards the British position ; several other squadrons were seen coming to its support. But this part of the enemy's force does not appear to have done anything more on that day ; at least, no troops of that sort were observed by the writer in the melee, which he was called on to witness and to take part in.
By reference to the plate of the battle of Fuentes, in Colonel Napier's History, which is very good and clear, it will be observed that the rivers Turones and Duas Casas form a long plateau. The French cavalry having closed up on our side of Nava-da-ver, made an impe- tuous charge upon our pickets, and for a time were in possession of two of our guns ; at least they were around the guns ; and if the gal- lant Norman Ramsay had argued scientifically, he might fairly have accounted himself prisoner. Such a thought never entered his noble mind, but heading his gunners, he charged the enemy, and cleared the road for his guns. The French, who, by the by, most fortunately for us, were drunk, came on at a rapid pace, but in bad order, and were checked by different squadrons as they came up. The squadron whose progress has been related, had received orders to join the main body ; and as it came on the plateau, all seemed confusion. Ramsay was still followed by the French chasseurs, and the number of chasseurs and hussar ds of the French appeared to be much greater than that of any- thing opposing them. The British, however, were formed whilst the French seemed to be galloping about in detached parties ; we imme- diately charged those nearest to us, but they gave way, and the ground being boggy, several horses fell, mine among others. When I re- mounted, 1 perceived very near me a German hussar, hammering his pistol-flint, while a French chasseur knelt before him. I asked the German what he was about. " Ah ! I shoot dis fellow, den he do no more mischief." I persuaded him with difficulty to relinquish his quarry and join his squadron. I imagine that the pistol had already missed fire at the Frenchman. As soon as the German was fairly off, the chasseur knelt to me in gratitude, as he had to the hussar in sup- plication, and embracing my knee, saluted me as his generous preserver. I asked the poor fellow for his sword, which he joyfully gave me, and which I continued to use, in preference to my own unwieldy machine. I derived farther advantage from my chasseur friend ; instead of a lea- ther sword-knot, he used a handkerchief, which I found more agree- able, and that it attached the sword more securely to the wrist. This little adventure occupied far less time than it has taken to relate. On joining my squadron, we found that the French were again coming on in force, and we were soon driven back, followed by a large body of the enemy. We were in full retreat, and it seemed doubtful when we should bring up, when we came upon the Chasseurs Brittaniques, a regiment formed of Swiss and French refugees ; we had scarcely time to clear their front, when they opened their fire, and gave a tremen- dous volley. Not many of the French seemed to fall, but their ad- vance was completely checked by the fire of the infantry ; one sol- dier of the Royals was unfortunately killed by the fire : he was gallop- ing along the line when the order to " make ready" was given ; an officer called out to him to halt opposite to him ; the poor fellow thought
460 THE BRITISH CAVALRY ON THE PENINSULA.
he could clear the line in time ; he was mistaken, and received several bullets ; but if I remember aright, his mare, which was a very valu- able one, escaped. Lord Wellington having now determined to con- tract his position by throwing back his right, the infantry retired in squares, and the cavalry was directed to form line, with a view to shelter the squares from the French artillery, of which a heavy battery was now brought into action.
It is strange that this circumstance is not alluded to by either Lord Londonderry or Colonel Napier ; it must have been well known to the former, but probably from the active and most gallant share he took in this part of the action, his Lordship has not detailed the cavalry opera- tions of that morning so minutely as might have been wished. The humble station the writer of this sketch held, relieves him of any such difficulty. It must be very apparent, from the number of horses lost by the cavalry, especially by the Royals, that they must have been ex- posed to cannonade, while, although the French had a battery of ten or twelve pieces, the squares scarcely received a shot. The cavalry truly owed all this, and much more, to the infantry, who had been the means of their preservation. We witnessed some most ludicrous scenes : one we shall give. The British cavalry having formed line, there was a space of half-a-mile between them and the French, when a cloud of skirmishers was observed coming towards us : a brigade of Portuguese artillery, commanded by a German, thinking it was an attack by the French infantry, as indeed it appeared to be, opened upon them with spherical case. The shells appeared to burst over the heads of the skirmishers, when a mounted officer came from the cannonaded party at a gallop, waving a handkerchief. It proved that it was a body of the Brunswick Oe'ls, who were dressed in a peculiar manner, and something like the French. The poor German was in sad distress — " Have I shed the blood of my gallant countrymen !" he exclaimed ; while he paced to and fro in great agitation, another officer now arrived from the Brunswickers (though they were usually called the Owls). He came to console the Captain ; not a man was touched. This only changed the cause of distress, the professional skill of the gunner was called in question, and the gallant German was in still deeper despair.
The cavalry retired behind the infantry, which was formed for the new alignment on some gently-rising ground, between the rivers Duas Casas and Turones ; the position is clearly laid down in Napier's third vol. page 516, plate ii. They had just dismounted, when a squadron of French Hussards charged and broke Colonel Hill's picket of the guards ; a squadron of the Royals was sent to protect the guards, but came too late, Capt. Thompson's artillery having opened with grape upon the Hussards and forced them back. The Royals were now moved down in front of the guards, and posted in a valley, where they were more protected from cannon-shot, and were ready to oppose any in- cursions of the French cavalry. The French pushed forward some horsemen ; skirmishers were thrown out on each side, which con- tinued, and for some time nothing of consequence occurred ; an at- tack was expected every moment, but the French remained inactive, or confined their exertions to a farther attempt upon the village of Fuentes. Towards the afternoon, a squadron, composed of a troop of
THE BRITISH CAVALRY ON THE PENINSULA. 461
the Royals and a troop of the 14th Light Dragoons, was ordered to advance, which they did, till they were exposed to the fire of the French guns, which opened on them with grape, mortally wounded the commanding officer, Capt. Knipe, and killed and wounded a good many men and horses. The writer was with this squadron, and he never has been ahle to make out what was the object of this advance. Capt. Thompson, of the artillery, sent to beg that it might not be repeated, as it drew the fire upon his guns, and at least one of the gunners had been killed by grape-shot, although the distance was about 700 yards. For a considerable time, our attention was occupied in observing the practice of the French artillery and Capt. Thompson's brigade ; it was admirable on both sides. I heard our men express delight when our side fired a howitzer which made a greater volume of smoke than a gun ; at last a tremendous cloud of smoke arose from our battery, and one of the dragoons called out " Hurrah ! there goes a shot that will kill half the French army." It turned out to be one of the tumbrils (fortunately containing only a few rounds), which was exploded by a French shell. It is a well-known fact, that one great use of artillery is to keep up the spirits of soldiers by its noise. The French con- tinued inactive during the three following days, and failed to take advantage of the best opportunity Wellington ever gave them, even if they were afraid to attack the army ; and the reason of their not doing so, given by the French writers, is, the works we had thrown up, which were really nothing, having been made by the soldiers in a few hours ; but had they deemed it inexpedient, what was to prevent their de- taching a corps of 2000 horse and 1000 foot soldiers, without their knapsacks and with some guns, which, crossing the Coa at Sabugal and Secieras, would have come upon our rear and stopped our sup- plies ? The force remaining would have been ample to retain the British, and the detached corps might have returned in perfect safety, as, even had the bridge at Sabugal been occupied by the British in consequence of any change of operation, the French, by retiring south, would have passed the Coa in safety. The cause of their inactivity may have arisen from internal dissensions, as Colonel Napier states ; but we believe that it arose also from an overweening fear of Wel- lington, who had been rated by Regnier as worth 20,000 men to the British army. It is not difficult to point out errors when the results are already known ; we are the last to undervalue British bravery, but we feel convinced that if the two armies could have changed com- manders, cceteris paribus, the war of Portugal would have been termi- nated on that field.
Having risked so much to gain Almeida, Lord Wellington had to suffer a sad blow from the destruction of the place and the escape of the garrison. The precautions used by the French, and the bravery of their conduct, cannot be too highly commended. For several nights previous to the escape of the garrison, there was a tremendous explo- sion, as if all the guns of the place were fired at once ; this occurred about midnight, and was evidently intended to calm our minds as to the occurrence, which we saw take place repeatedly without any result. It was imagined by us, that these explosions were signals to Massena.
Previous to adverting to the unfortunate destruction of Almeida and the escape of the garrison, we must beg to olfer a few remarks on the
462 THE BRITISH CAVALRY ON THE PENINSULA.
battle. As to the conduct of the infantry, nothing could have been more splendid ; the lighting in the village was desperate, but in what did the cavalry fail, or what service did the overwhelming force of French cavalry perform ? We feel that we are liable to the charge of presump- tion in disputing the authority of the Adjutant-General, and we are far from intending any disrespect to Lord Londonderry, when we say that it appears to us, he has overrated the number of British cavalry at Fu- entes. We find by a copy of a return in the appendix to Lord London- derry's book, that on the 15th of February when head-quarters were at Cartaxo, the number of horses effective, with the four regiments of cavalry, which formed the whole British cavalry at Fuentes, is as follows —
Royals . . .425)
14th Light Dragoons . 378 f ,
16th Light Dragoons . 366 f n
1st Hussars . . 361 I
1530
No remounts had been received since that return, and during the intervening time the cavalry had been very hard worked, dreadfully starved, and repeatedly engaged ; indeed, during Massena's retreat, some part of the cavalry was daily under fire ; this must have reduced the strength of the regiments : one squadron of the Royals also was de- tached, and we feel convinced that the number of sabres present at Fuentes, did not exceed 1200 — we doubt whether it was so great ; a remount of forty horses joined the Royals the afternoon of the battle.
Lord Londonderry takes the force of the French cavalry at 4000 ; we have never heard it stated under 5000, and in referring to a French work, "Campagnes en Portugal, 1810, 1811," we find that the French army at Fuentes is stated by the author at 35,000 infantry and 5000 horsemen. This may appear tedious, but we wished to ascertain as precisely as possible the numbers on each side, that we may again ask what did the French do with their 5000 horsemen ? They were in far better condition than we were ; every part of the plateau between the rivers was admirably adapted to cavalry movements. They had Mont- brun at their head, and a numerous artillery; yet they produced no influence on the battle ; and had the cavalry on each side been with- drawn, the French would not have done one iota less than they did do. We took about 100 chasseurs prisoners, and their Colonel, La- motte, who was said to have been taken by Lord Londonderry.
The French having retired beyond the Agueda, the British army was sent into quarters, and steps were taken to secure the capture of Almeida. The cavalry was in great need of repose, as during the six days, while the army was in position at Fuentes, the Dragoons were ready to act from two hours before sunrise till two hours after dark, leaving but a few hours out of the twenty-four to dress the horses, and to allow the men to prepare their own food. The work had not, in- deed, been hard, and all that was required was a good sleep. On the night of the llth a tremendous explosion took place at Almeida, the garrison issuing from the town at the same time. The result has been well described, especially by Lord Londonderry and Colonel Napier. It is unnecessary to enter into the circumstances of the failure on the part of the British to prevent the escape of the garrison ; some blame
THE BRITISH CAVALRY ON THE PENINSULA. 463
was thrown on the 2nd and 4th regiments, whose emblems or crests, on the colours and appointments, are severally the lamb and the lion of England. Through some mistake, the 2nd had been put into quarters. The 4th, which ought to have been at Barba del Puerco, did not receive orders till it was too late. It was said, the Lion slept — the Lamb sought green pastures — the Eagle spread his wings and fled away. A squadron of the Royal Dragoons was in the village of Villa di Yegua, through which the retreat of the French lay, but Gen. Brennier, hearing from a Spaniard that the town was full of English dragoons, diverged to his left and passed through the fields. Had Brennier known the true state of the case, he might have passed through the town, and have taken most part of the heavies with him, for they fancied themselves in complete security. The men were going to stables when a messenger arrived to tell them what was going on.
Some of the dragoons, with a quarter-master, immediately mounted and followed the French, who were now approaching their goal, and took little notice of these few horsemen. The quarter-master, how- ever, saw an opportunity of doing a little business ; observing amongst those who lagged in the rear one man with a ledger in the slings of his knapsack, he naturally concluded that such gear in the French, as in our service, belonged to those who carried the purse, and on the strength of this analogy he by degrees approached him of the ledger, and returning his sword, and advancing at speed, he pounced upon his prey, and seizing him by the collar, shook the musket out of his hands and bore him off. He proved to be paymaster' s-clerk, and carried sixty doubloons, then worth about four guineas each. We give the story as we heard it the same day ; we will not conceal the quarter-master's name, one so appropriate to the exploit, Mr. Kite, while we bear testimony to his gallant conduct on all occasions.
Nothing further occurred ; the cavalry was cantoned in the neigh- bourhood, and remained perfectly quiet for nearly a month ; Lord Wellington went to take charge of the army in the South, leaving the light division at Gallegos, and the cavalry under command of Sir Brent Spencer. It would appear, that the means and situation of the French were not very well known at this time (i. e. about the 4th or 5th of June), when the Light Division was withdrawn from Gallegos, and the Royal Dragoons were ordered to occupy their quarters. The usual quartering party, under a subaltern, was sent to take up the cantonments. As this party entered the town, they observed a patrole of French dragoons descending towards Gallegos from the other side, and some little distance in the rear was the head of a column ; a report of these circumstances was sent to the regiment, which, instead of coming to Gallegos, moved to a height between that town and Nava da ver, where it was formed with a troop of the 14th Light Dragoons (Capt. Tovvnsend's).
Too much time was allowed to elapse before they continued their retreat. It was evident that the French were in great force, and it proved to be a reconnoissance of 2000 horse and a strong battery of artillery, under Gen. Montbrun ; they advanced through the woods, from which they debouched with so much rapidity as to place the British force in considerable jeopardy. The French squadrons were at but a little distance, and had they once engaged with the Royals, time would have been afforded to bring up such a force as would have put
464 THE BRITISH CAVALRY ON THE PENINSULA.
the matter far beyond contention. The Old Royals bundled off with all becoming speed, and retired across the ample plain in line. The French sent out a couple of squadrons in advance, one of which extended as skirmishers; the British, however, had the start, and every prospect of getting off, when it was discovered that a morass crossed the plain. The local knowledge of Capt. Townsend was of good service, that officer pointed out a pass by which this obstacle was cleared. As some time was lost in passing this defile, it became necessary that the rear squadron should charge ; this duty devolved on Capt. Purves, who formed and charged the French, and broke their squadron, and by this means was able to pass the defile; but the French, being well supported, pushed on and soon regained their former position in rear of the Royals. Capt. Purves's charge deserved every commendation ; while in full retreat, and vigorously pressed by the enemy, the squadron halted and charged while their own party was continuing its retreat. To those who have experienced the moral influence of such circumstances, it will be plain that Purves did well to hurry on his men as he did. The writer did not belong to that squadron, and he remembers feeling well pleased that such was the case, and as he is satisfied that he saw the danger and prospect of glory in no worse light than other people, he is anxious to pay any tribute in his power to Capt. Purves and his squadron.
The skirmishers now came within fifty or sixty yards of our squa- drons ; the main body was rapidly advancing ; the town of Nava da ver was above a mile distant, and it appeared that nothing could save the Royals, who returned rapidly, but keeping well together. On a sudden the French halted, at the moment that the crisis seemed at hand ; the leading squadrons cleared off and discovered a battery of ten or twelve guns, which immediately opened and fired two salvoes, not at the re- treating dragoons, but into the wood, along whose margin the royals were retiring. Montbrun was aware that the light division had left Gallegos in the morning, and considered the delayed retreat of the Royals as a ruse to draw him into a snare, and that the infantry was concealed in the wood ; as soon as he discovered his mistake, the pur- suit was resumed, but the moment was lost. Gen. Montbrun's con- duct was anything but daring ; the wood was not thick, and could not have concealed a large body of men ; but even if it had done so, the French had a much larger force than the whole British cavalry, had it all been there, and their retreat was open either by the way they came, or upon Posovelho, into a wooded country, or across the plain towards Fuentes- d'Onore.
The writer of these papers has not chosen to conceal anything which came under his own eye. Lord Londonderry has put a more favourable construction upon the affair. Indeed, his Lordship, whose gallant bearing is acknowledged and fondly dwelt on by all whose opinion is worth having, has throughout his work forborne from animadversions ; while another writer has been most unnecessarily, not to say most un- fairly, severe. The latter is placed in precisely similar circumstances with the writer of this simple narrative, as far as regards services per- formed ; that is to say, no possible statement can give either the least merit, beyond the simple performance of their very humble duties, and so far the public has primd facie cause to look for a fair statement of facts, and for unprejudiced remarks or motives.
465
SEBASTIAN CABOT.
" O, your desert speaks loud ; and I should wrong it, To lock it in the wards of covert bosom, When it deserves with characters of brass A forted residence, 'gainst the tooth of time And razure of oblivion."
THE maritime character of this country is so intimately interwoven with, and of such paramount importance to its national one, that every patriotic effort to exalt the statues of our sea-worthies upon proper bases, cannot but be peculiarly grateful to British feelings. After the contumely and malignity with which Baffin had been stigmatised as a needy impostor, by Pinkerton and others, even to his " Bay" being struck off our charts to make room for an imaginary Polar Basin, we own that we held the expense of our late northern expeditions as partly repaid, in rescuing so intrepid a sailor from unjust aspersion, and in proving the veracity of the calumniated Capt. Middleton. But the memoir of Sebastian Cabot,* which has just been published, possesses a still more important interest, because no other navigator of distinction has been so mystified under a confusion of conflicting statements. In sifting and comparing all former accounts, and gaining access to origi- nal documents, the anonymous writer evinces a delightful earnestness of vocation, as well as patriotism ; and he has incontestably established the claims of his venerable hero to national gratitude. Inspired with that zealous love of truth, which courts the toil of investigation, he has most industriously waded through the interpolations, misconcep- tions, and falsifications, of former " cut-and-dry" compilers, and gain- ing the original sources of information, has disentangled those transac- tions of much of their inconsistency. From these acute researches, several facts materially connected with our early naval history, have been determined beyond dispute ; and the author, whoever he be, must be allowed the precedency of all historians of the " Genoa's son of Bristowe," as poor old Stowe styles him. Amongst the principal points which we think are satisfactorily shown, are these : — that Sebastian Cabot was born at Bristol ; that he was never knighted ; that he did not name his new discovery Prima Vista ; that a Bristol ship, called the Matthew, had the proud distinction under his command of first visiting the American continent ; that he first found ice-bergs to consist of fresh water ; that he was the first close observer of the variation of the magnetic needle ; that he did not write the work at- tributed to him and published at Venice in 1583; and finally, that he created the Archangel commerce. These we hold to be conclusively " proven ;" there are also presumptive evidences that the land first made by the explorers was Labrador instead of Newfoundland, as well as that the Englishmen mentioned as having been seen by Hojeda and Amerigo Vespucci, at Maracaibo, consisted of Cabot and his men, who were thus found on the first arrival of the very individual, whose name was destined to distinguish the new world.
* A Memoir of Sebastian Cabot ; with a Review of the History of Maritime Discovery. Illustrated by Documents from the Rolls, now first published. 8vo. 1831.
U. S. JOURN. No. 41. APRIT. 1832. 2 H
SEBASTIAN CABOT.
But while we pay a tribute of unfeigned respect to the gentleman to whom we are indebted for so much instruction, we are not a little struck by his contempt of method and grace, a slight modicum of which would have rendered his work as amusing as useful. But most of all are we astonished at the reckless intrepidity which a conscious rectitude in research has engendered. Armed at all points, he makes incursions upon every province, — and such is the vigour of his assaults, that Hakluyt is dislodged from several positions, — the prosy puns of poor Purchas are of no avail, — and Harris is utterly demolished : nay more — he not only unhorses all the antagonists arrayed against him, including amongst others, Navarrete, Pinkerton, Barrow, Lardner, the triad of Constable's Miscellany, and the three hundred " Collabora- teurs" of the Biographic Universelle, but he also belabours them after they are down, and floundering in the mud :
" Then to the rest his wrathful hand he bends, Of whom he makes such havocke and such hew, That swarmes of damned soules to hell he sends; The rest, that scape his sword and death eschew, Fly like a flocke of doves before a falcon's view."
While these luckless wights are recovering from the effects of such severe castigation, we will proceed to relate the most authentic events in the career of Cabot, with the hope of furnishing a preliminary to reading the disjointed, though clever, volume under consideration : and where we occasionally cast off the tow, it will be with no want of re- spect to the author's merit, but from weighing, to the best of our ability, the collateral occurrences.
Sebastian Kabotto, or Cabot, the son of an eminent Venetian mer- chant, was born at Bristol, about the year 1477> and appears to have been instructed both in the theory and practice of seamanship and na- vigation. This fact respecting the place of his birth, has, however, been greatly contested ; but we cannot help thinking, that most of the wranglers have dispensed with research, and merely followed the tink- ling of a bell-wether. This, however, is not the failing of our anony- mous friend : on the contrary, with praiseworthy diligence, and at considerable expense, he has raked out documents, hitherto buried in obscurity, and has analysed and compared results with a scrutinizing acuteness, to which none of his predecessors can lay claim. Nor is he like Didymus the Grammarian, or Zachary Grey, a mere ransacker of musty records, but a judicious gleaner of historical facts. Amongst other books and papers which he has consulted, is a black-letter volume, by that " learned and paineful writer" Master Richard Eden, called the " Decades of the New World," a valuable mine from which Hakluyt drew many choice gems. After licking a host of former com- pilers with the rough side of his tongue, the author advances this posi- tive statement from Eden : " Sebastian Cabote TOULD ME that he was borne in Brystowe, and that at iiii. yeare ould he was carried with his father to Venice, and so returned agayne into England with his father after certayne yeares, whereby he was thought to have been born in Venice."
The success of the illustrious Columbus, in the discovery of the West Indies, created an unusual sensation throughout Europe ; and the elder Cabot, being a man of enterprise, obtained a patent from
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Henry VII. allowing him and his three sons, Lewis, Sebastian, and Sancius, their heirs or deputies, to " sail to all parts, countries, and seas, of the East, of the West, and of the North, under our banners and ensigns, with five ships of what burthen or quantity soever they be, and as many mariners or men as they will have with them in the said ships, upon their own proper costs and charges, to seek out, dis- cover, and find whatsoever isles, countries, regions, or provinces, of the heathen or infidels, whatsoever they be, and in what part of the world soever they be, which before this time have been unknown to all Christians." The patentees were moreover authorised to set up the Royal Banner, " in every village, town, castle, isle, or main land, by them newly found," and to subdue, occupy, and possess, all such re- gions, and to exercise jurisdiction over them in the name of the King of England ; for whom was to be reserved one-fifth of the clear profits of the expedition. Thus encouraged by Royal favour, the squadron was equipped, and sailed in the spring of 1497- On the 24th of June —the festival of St. John — the " terra primum visa" was made ; and from its absolute sterility, and the circumstance of its abounding in white bears and large deer, there can be little hesitation in believing that Labrador, and not Newfoundland, was the spot which first met their " seeking eyes." The island, " that lieth before the land," was called after the Saint, though from the shoals of fish which frequent its shores, its native name was Baccalaos, an appellation which soon became general for Newfoundland ; and the term Baccala is still the universal denomination for salt-cod, in those European countries where it is carried for the celebration of Lent. We may conclude that this expedition returned in August of the same year, for on the 10th of that month there appears the following item in the privy purse expenses of Henry VII. : — " To hym that found the New Isle JO/."
In this succinct statement, two important facts are canvassed and settled by the author of the memoir. 1. That the idea of Harris, Pinkerton, and others, of some previous discovery being assigned as the ground of the patent, is erroneous, and negatived by its very terms. 2. That though the father obtained the royal permission, as a specula- tion, there is no conclusive evidence that he embarked in either of the expeditions. On this head it seems that old Hakluyt was led adrift by misconceiving a passage in Fabyan ; and that he has been followed by each successive compiler. Instead of the " reputation and skill as a mariner," " intrepid navigator," " accomplished seamen," &c. &c. which have been applied to John Cabot, we think that an extract from Sir George Peckham will put the saddle on the right horse. " In the time of the Queen's grandfather of worthy memory, King Henry VII., letters patent were by His Majesty granted to John Cabota, an Italian, to Lewis, Sebastian, and Sancius, his three sons, to discover remote, barbarous, and heathen countries ; which discovery was afterwards exe- cuted to the use of the Crown of England, in the said King's time, by Sebastian and Sancius, his sons, mho were born here in England."
By the success attending the first attempt, a new impulse was given to the spirit of adventure ; and we find that the elder Cabot procured a second patent in the 13th year of Henry VII. corresponding with the 3rd of February 1498. The difficulty of assigning the proper dis- tinction and objects of these two voyages, has been a fertile cause of
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SEBASTIAN £ABOT.
obscurity and misconstruction; and it is here that the anonymous author has rendered a singular service to Naval History, for he proves that Hakluyt could not have seen the patent of which he gives a me- morandum, and that consequently Robertson, Lediard, Forster, Camp- bell, and their followers were led astray — while the " wild perversion of Harris and Pinkerton are inflated with so grave a self-complacency, as to render its absurdities almost comic." By the fortunate discovery of the original document, the torch of truth dispels every misconception. This valuable evidence was found amongst the State Records, after an anxious and tedious scrutiny ; and it is of paramount importance, as it mentions the " Lande and Isles of latefounde by the seid John, in oure name and by our commandemente," — in negativing the notion that the English discoveries were posterior to those of Americus Vespucius. As, to use the triumphant tone of our author, this deed " establishes conclusively, and for ever, that the American continent was first dis- covered by an expedition commissioned to set up the banner of Eng- land," we are nearly as much delighted as our nameless friend : and we recommend its careful perusal to all who are earnest in investigating the verity of these hitherto abstruse relations.
On the second expedition it appears that the King, whose avarice was excited, fitted out a ship, and otherwise administered his assist- ance ; and the merchants of London and Bristol also entered warmly into the scheme. It is contended that old Cabot must have been gathered to his fathers before the squadron could have sailed, though, from his possessing a large property, his name was the responsible one in gaining the royal patronage. From the words of the patent, and the fact of there being no fewer than 300 men embarked, it is evident that commercial speculation and colonization were both assumed as objects. In following our guide, and the collaterals, we are led to the conclusion that having landed a party to examine the country, Cabot stood to the north, to find a channel to the regions of Ca- thay, — but being obstructed by " heaps of ise," he returned to his settlers, whom he found nearly all perishing from the diseases brought on by the rigour of the climate. They appear to have been reim- barked, and the whole expedition then stood southward along the coast to the 38th degree of north latitude, where finding their provisions failing, they returned to England. A mistake, which has crept into history, is connected with this voyage : Stowe mentions an exhibition of three salvages at London in 1502, and Hakluyt, errone- ously supposing them to have been brought over by Sebastian, altered the date from the 17th to the 14th year of Henry VII. ; but the inci- dent belongs to the voyage of Warde, Ashehurst, and Thomas, under- taken upon a patent of the 19th of March 1501.
Our intrepid navigator undertook a third voyage in 1499, to pursue his southern explorations ; but it was unattended by any extraordinary preparation, as he " had noe greate or favorable entertainment of the King." But the light which shows this so distinctly, casts a more dubious ray upon the course of his voyage : still — though it may be deemed a weighty conclusion upon rather slender premises — it is more than probable that he was on the shores of Maracaibo, when the Spanish adventurer Hojeda, who was accompanied by Amerigo Ves- pucci, first arrived there ; and that the Englishmen described by them
SEBASTIAN CABOT. 469
to have been met with, could have been no other than Cabot and his crew. " Yet while the name of one overspreads the new world," exclaims the indignant author, " no bay, cape, or headland recalls the memory of the other. While the falsehoods of one have been diffused with trium- phant success, England has suffered to moulder in obscurity, in one of the lanes of the metropolis, the very record which establishes the dis- covery effected by her great seaman fourteen months before Columbus beheld the continent, and two years before the lucky Florentine had been west of the Canaries."
It is trusted that a future rummage of the Record Office may yield a few facts, — the "rari nantes in gurgite vasto,"— • upon these debatable points, — for we are not prone to believe that an enterprise, of which the ocean was the element, Cabot the conductor, and British seamen the instruments of its accomplishment, was unattended with success. And we may here allude to the surprise that has been expressed, and the censure that has been passed, by various writers on Cabot, because, with all his knowledge, he never committed his voyages to writing ; but he little merited such a reproach, and we rejoice to see how our fox again chases all the geese off the common of literature. Hakluyt says — " This much concerning Sebastian Cabote's discovery may suffice for a present taste, but shortly, God willing, shall come out in print ALL HIS OWN MAPPES, and DISCOURSES dratvne and written by himself t which are in the custodie of the worshipful Master William Worthing- ton, one of Her Majesty's Pensioners." We would fain hope that these treasures may be still extant : but Worthington, who was cruelly associated in the pension which Cabot latterly received, seems to have been a snake in the grass ; and our author submits shrewd reasons for inferring that the said manuscripts were sold to Philip of Spain, who was interested in their suppression ! The loss is still more to be regretted, inasmuch as even the failures of such men as our navigator, frequently yield us knowledge as important as that afforded by suc- cess. Owing to this lamentable disappearance of his papers, a chasm of several years now occurs in our hero's career ; but from the penuri- ous disposition of Henry VII. it is very probable that the spirit of dis- covery was dormant, for parsimony was a passion that interfered in the otherwise noble aspiration for maritime greatness in that monarch. Various errors are afloat as to the duration of this blank, but Herrera decidedly states, that in the anxiety of King Ferdinand to assemble all the ablest cosmographers of the age around him, proposals were made, through Milort Ulibi (Lord Willoughby), to draw our bold explorer into his service, — " a traer a su servicio a Sebastian Gaboto, Ingles,"— a fact which the Anonyme thinks has remained undetected because Her- rera is known, in this country, only through the wretched translation of Capt. Stevens. It appears that the navigator was permitted to repair abroad, as an affair of very little moment, and that he received an official appointment on the 13th September, 1512, in Spain. No specific duties are detailed, till we find him in a commission for the general revision of maps and charts ; and in 1515, he was holding the dignified station of a member of the Council of the Indies. An expe- dition under his command also was projected, in search of a north-west passage, but the death of Ferdinand, early in 1516, frustrated the intention. Peter Martyr, who was on terms of intimacy with Cabot, and
470 SEBASTIAN CABOT.
appreciated his value, hints that there existed a jealousy of the stranger among the Spaniards : be this as it may, it seems certain that in the altered state of affairs, finding himself slighted, he returned to Eng- land,— for his character throughout is marked with purity of intention and loftiness of spirit.
It is gratifying to learn that, on arriving in his native country, the daring utility of this true-born sailor was immediately called into action, in being appointed by Henry VIII. to command an expedition fitted out for the discovery of the wished-for north-west passage. Here again Hakluyt, and his followers, are at fault in supposing Cabot to have sailed to the southward ; and the origin of this egregious error is well sifted to the core by the valuable friend to naval worth, who makes Hakluyt pay the penalty of his folly, in quoting a Spanish book from an Italian translation. In a letter written by Sebastian, to the celebrated Ramusio, he mentions his having reached the latitude of 67|° north, when his farther progress was arrested by the timidity of his associates, although he himself was sanguine of success. A careful comparison of this, with other cited evidences, leads our author to fix the date of his having attained that point on the llth of June 1517- Indeed the mention of timid companions, the " malignita del padrone et de' marinari sollevati," by Ramusio, and the clear language of Eden, and of Thome — that worthy promoter of English enterprise — combine to bring us to the same conclusion : and as old stories are always most racy in their own vernacular quaintness, let Master Eden speak,—
" If manly courage,'' saith he, " (like unto that which hath bene seene and proved in your Grace, as well in forreine realmes, as also in this our country) had not bene wanting in others in these our dayes, at such time as our Souereigne Lord of famous memorie, King Henry VIII. about the same yeere of his raigne, furnished and sent out certaine shippes under the governance of Sebastain Cabot, yet living, and one Sir Thomas Perte, who was Vice-Admiral of England, and dweleth in Poplar at Blackwall, whose faynt heart was the cause that the voiage took none effect : If, I say, such manly courage whereof we have spoken, had not at that tyme been wanting, it myghte happelye have come to passe, that that rich treasurye called Peru- laria (which is nowe in Spayne in the citie of Civille, and so named, for that in it is kepte the infinite ryches brought thither from the newfoundland kingdom of Peru) myght long since have bene in the tower of London, to the King's great honoure and the welth of this realme."
In asserting that Cabot penetrated into Hudson's Bay, the author of the memoir enters acutely into the causes of hallucination, upsets them from their bases, and decisively proves the fact. But this result, although it must have added largely to the fame of the commander, did not lead to a renewal of the effort : and one of the consequences of the neglect seems to have been a second departure of Cabot to Spain, where an amende was made to him for former slights, by his ostensible appointment to be Pilot Major, an office of great weight and responsi- bility. It is also asserted that he taught navigation and mathematics, in a college founded by Charles V. But here we think that the anony- mous author nods : for we cannot quite enter into his attempt to rescue the character of Henry VIII. from something like indifference to the cause of maritime discovery, though he may not have been altogether blind to its interests. With all the address and logic which this writer can advance in favour of the opinion, it must remain indisputable, that
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the monarch allowed the greatest sailor of his day to seek patronage in a foreign court, immediately after his return from a royal mission ; and that during his long reign of thirty-eight years, but three expeditions were fitted out, and those, it seems, only upon urgent solicitation.
Of the duties which Cabot had now to perform, one of the most pro- minent was that of reviewing all projects of discovery, which were at that period numerous and important, albeit some of them may have been sufficiently visionary. Amongst the schemes then broached, the rage for the north-west passage had subsided, and public attention was turned to the opposite direction ; — " To the South ! To the South ! They that seek riches must not go to the cold and frozen North." In April 1524, a grand council was convened at Badajos, in order to decide whether — agreeably to the arbitrary meridian of the Papal bull —the Spice Islands belonged to Spain or to Portugal. After a long deli- beration, in which Cabot, and the son of Columbus, bore their parts, it was declared that the Moluccas were situated, by at least twenty degrees, within the Spanish limits. Immediately after this decision, a company of opulent merchants engaged to defray the charge of an ex- pedition to prosecute the advantages offered by it ; and Cabot was solicited to assume the command. The praiseworthy Robert Thome of Bristol, and his partner, were induced to join this association, " principally," says the former, " for that two English friends of mine, which are somewhat learned in cosmographie, should go in the same ships to bring me certain relation of the country, and to be expert in the navigation of those seas." Three ships and a caraval were accord- ingly fitted out, and Cabot, who was known to be competent to the direc- tion and execution of the undertaking, was formally commissioned as Captain- General, an appointment which annoyed some of the Spaniards, and sorely alarmed the Portuguese, even to their King representing that such an invasion of his commerce would be " the utter obstruction of his poor kingdom." The ties of consanguinity between the two courts, and the influence of political relations, led to a virtual abandon- ment of the Moluccan speculation, although matters had not reached that crisis before the sailing of the squadron.
Meanwhile the necessary equipments had been delayed by many vexatious intermeddlings, which are detailed by historians, and the effects of which influenced the whole enterprise. At length, after ap- parently adjusting the several differences, the little fleet departed from Europe, freighted with all the rife elements of discord ; for besides the interferences of the agents appointed by the Spanish merchants, with one whom they disliked as an English adventurer, there is solid ground to conjecture, that some of the principal people embarked were in the interest of Portugal — a state whose jealousy knew no limits, and to which the death of Magellan was attributed. Amongst other absurd arrangements, sealed orders were given to each vessel, in which provi- sion was made for the death of Cabot, and no fewer than eleven persons named on whom, in succession, the command-in-chief was to devolve.
This expedition, taken in its several bearings, is among the most re- markable incidents of Cabot's life, and appears to have called forth all his energies. He sailed from Cadiz the 5th of April 1526, and stood to the Canaries ; from thence he proceeded to the Cape Verde Islands, and afterwards to Patos, on the coast of Brasil. By this .time it
472 SEBASTIAN CABOT.
became evident that a conspiracy was ripe for his destruction ; and this was the more imminent because it was headed by his Lieutenant- General, Mendez, and Miguel de Rodas, who both assumed largely, from having sailed with Magellan : and to these pestilent officers was added Francisco de Rojas, who was Captain of the Trinidad. This was a position demanding all the resolution and bold responsibility of our hero ; ' and although the three leaders of the mutiny were persons highest in authority, he seized at once upon them, and ordered them to be beached forthwith. As usual, on the adoption of determined mea- sures, the murmurs and discord vanished the moment the conspirators were put on shore, and the remainder of a service which lasted five years, and was pregnant with toil and danger, passed over with harmony and fidelity. An attempt was afterwards made, through Portuguese influence, to aggravate this summary severity to the Emperor; but Cabot had deputed Hernando Calderon, and Jorge Barlo, (George Barlow) to Toledo, with a report of the occurrences. As it nowhere appears that any censure was passed on the Captain- General, and as we know that he afterwards resumed his office of Pilot-Major of Spain, it seems unquestionable that his conduct was ap- proved : and this is still farther advanced by the fact, that the Empe- ror yielded to his solicitations for succour and permission to colonize ; and the expedition being no longer a mercantile speculation, he re- leased the merchants from their obligation, and took all the expenses upon the crown.
We must here notice a scandal which most writers have adopted, although it proceeds from a testimony which no jury would admit. It appears that after the departure of Cabot, a ship was hastened away, as if to watch his movements : she was commanded by Diego Garcia, a Portuguese adventurer, who in the result of the voyage proved himself an arrant knave, in the fraud and falsehood of which he was convicted. This man nourished a malignant prejudice against Cabot, and besides ridiculously flouting him with being an indifferent seaman, accused him of having basely carried off some people by whom he had been en- tertained. The polluted source of the charge, the express order of the Council of the Indies, the known character of the Captain-General, and the spirit breathed in his subsequent instructions to Sir Hugh Wil- loughby, all unite to demolish the allegation. Yet Southey, who un- fortunately writes far too fast to write correctly, and who thinks the mutiny just quelled was put down by "an act of cruelty," not only echoes the calumny, but graces it with additional coarseness : — " Ca- bot," saith the Laureate, " touched at an island on the coast, called Ilia dos Patos, or Duck Island, and there took in supplies ; requiting the good will which the natives had manifested, with the usual villainy of an old discoverer, by forcibly carrying away four of them."
The expulsion of three principal officers, and the wreck of one of his ships, together with the coolness which the Emperor had manifested towards the Moluccan scheme, may have induced Cabot to abandon it for the exploration of the Rio de la Plata, an enterprise in which Don Diego de Solis, his predecessor in the office of Pilot-Major, was slain. The squadron ascended this magnificent stream to the distance of 350 leagues, as appeared by one of Sebastian's own " cardes ;" but from carefully examining the country, and opening communications by the
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way, the progress was gradual and circumspect. To a group of isles, near where Buenos Ayres now stands, our navigator gave the name of St. Gabriel, and then stood in for the island of Martin Garcia, so called after the pilot of the unfortunate De Solis : of which he took posses- sion. This, however, was not without opposition, for Gomarra relates, that the natives " killed and carried off two Spaniards, but declared in a spirit of fierce derision, that they would not eat them, as they were soldiers, of whose flesh they had already had a specimen in De Solis and his followers !" Leaving his vessels at this island, he explored the mouths of the Parana in his boats, and erected a fort on the most northern, which he named St. Salvador. Bringing his vessels up to this station, he again set forward in his boats, and explored as far as Zarcarana, where he built another fort, and called it Santus Spiritus. He then advanced twenty-five leagues up the Paraguay, " fyndynge it every where verye fayre and inhabited with infinite people, which with admyration came runnynge dayly to our shyppes."
The region which Sebastian now entered, presented altogether a new aspect, for he found the natives tilling their ground, a circumstance which had not before occurred to him in that part of the world. From thus cultivating their land they felt its full value, and therefore view- ed the strangers with uneasiness. Under such feelings a collision was unavoidable : some of the Spaniards having incautiously straggled amongst their fruit-trees, were seized upon by the natives, and, in the consequent affray, twenty-five of the former and 300 of the latter were slain. Notwithstanding this was rather untoward, it appears from the fact of a fort being built there, that Cabot made good his stand, and came to an amicable understanding with his opponents.
In the mean time Garcia, after disposing of his largest vessel for the purpose of conveying 800 slaves to Portugal, had followed the Spa- niards up the river/ and after vainly attempting to wheedle the officer left at Santus Spiritus, for the surrender of the fort, he proceeded to seek an interview with Cabot. This event took place at Santa Ana, the name given to the last position which the expedition occupied ; but what passed between the rival chiefs is now unknown, except that they descended the river together in seeming amity.
On returning to Santus Spiritus, the Captain-General despatched the two gentlemen to whom we have already alluded, to inform the Empe- ror of the progress which the expedition had made, and to assure his Majesty, that " by friendly intercourse he came to learn many secrets of the country," and that he had procured from the Guaranis, " gold and silver which they had brought from Peru." By the same oppor- tunity, he earnestly solicited a supply of provisions and ammuni- tion, as well as other articles adapted to the purposes of commerce, together with a recruit of seamen and soldiers, to follow up the advan- tages detailed, amongst which it is inferred that a design upon Peru was the most prominent. But the merchants were unwilling to com- ply with further requisitions ; and Charles V. at that moment was ab- solutely deficient of means, — so that, though he resolved to fit out an appropriate expedition, it was impossible for him to effect it. In the interim, the lucky, but infamous, Pizarro offered to reduce Peru at his own expense; and, to the outrage of humanity, that deed was conceded, which has blackened the annals of Spain for ever.
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After waiting in anxious suspense for the necessary supplies, a sus- pense which became the more anxious from the hostility of the fierce Guaranis, Cabot determined to address the Emperor in person. There- fore, quitting the scene of his arduous adventures, he arrived at the Spanish court in the spring of 1531. The authors of the Biographia Britannica, who have almost escaped the lashes of our eagle-eyed critic, represent that his reception was unfavourable, on account of the rigour with which he treated his mutinous officers, and because he had not pursued his voyage to the Moluccas. But so far from there being pro- per evidence to substantiate this assertion, the contrary is demonstrated by his immediate resumption of the important office of Pilot-Major, and the regret with which Charles V. parted with him at last. The me- morable conversation recorded by Ramusio, who " found him a most gentle and courteous person," testifies the public estimation in which he was held; and his services were so freely acknowledged by the govern- ment, that in a protest against the pretension of Portugal to the newly- discovered regions, the Court of Spain made it a leading argument that Cabot erected forts in that country, administered justice there in civil and criminal cases, and reduced all those nations under the obedience of the Emperor. " It is impossible," continues our author, " not to be struck with the reflection which this passage suggests, as to what may be almost termed the ubiquity of this adventurous and indefatigable seaman, in the New World. While England has rested her claim at one extremity of it, and Spain at the other, on the personal agency of the same native of Bristol, we have an assurance that he was found at the intermediate point, with a party of Englishmen, on the first visit of the individual whose name now overspreads the whole."
Nor ought we to quit La Plata without adverting to another libel upon the fair fame of the illustrious navigator, in the accusation of having fraudulently named the scene of his enterprise the River of Sil- ver, with a view to colour his failure, and to engender delusion. A writer in the Quarterly Review seizes the charge in all its odium, and assures us that " many an adventurer was lured to his destruction by this deceptive title." And he who penned Dr. Lardner's history of these affairs, after telling us that Cabot had procured some ornaments of gold and silver from the natives, asserts that " he took advantage of this slender circumstance to represent the country as abounding in those metals ; and in conformity with his description, he gave the river the name of La Plata." Now it seems that Gomara, who dedi- cated his work to the Emperor, expressly says that this designation was given by the original discoverer, De Solis, who " fell in with an immense river, which the natives called Paranaguaca, that is to say, a river like the sea or great water ; he saw in it specimens of silver, and named it from that circumstance."
For reasons with which we are unacquainted, but of which nostalgia may have been the prominent one, Cabot resolved to return to Eng- land, against the wishes of the Emperor, who even made a formal and urgent demand for him, through his Ambassador at our Court. The date of his arrival is fixed as in 1548-9, and he appears to have re- paired to Bristol, not, as hath been reported, at the invitation of Robert Thome, because that worthy gentleman had died sixteen years before ; nor was it " in the latter end of the reign of Henry
SEBASTIAN CABOT. 475
VIII." because young Edward had already replaced him. Introduced by the Protector, Cabot was soon honoured with the especial favour of the youthful and amiable King, who seems to have delighted in the conversation of the first mariner of Europe. It was in such discus- sions that Cabot explained the variation of the magnetic needle, the extent of the deviation, and the fact of its differing in different places ; a secret of nature of which he contends with Columbus for the honour of being the first discoverer ; but he is incontestably the earliest who framed a theory on the subject,* and became the " demonstrator pri- mus." On the 6th of Jan. 1549, a pension was granted him of 250 marks, or 166/. 13s. 4d. a sum equivalent to six times the amount at present. He appears to have exercised the duties of " Cheyffe Pylot" of the realm, although such was not an established appointment until after his death, when, perhaps, its necessity was seen, in the services performed by Sebastian. But notwithstanding his intercourse with the Court, the Anonyme proves, to the confusion of a dozen poor authors who are dragged forth for judgment, that he was never knighted; nor was his father, although Campbell treats us to a life of SIR John Cabot. Where so much obscurity prevails, it is useful to establish even negative points.
About the year 1550, there being a great commercial stagnation, which had partly resulted from the odious monopoly of the Steelyard Company, a new channel was suddenly struck out by the project of reaching the opulent and famous regions of Cathay, and India, by way of a north and north-east navigation. The young Monarch joined the general ardour, and the merchants, among whom were many " men of great wisdom and gravity," showed so eager an interest in the cause of discovery, as to atone for their late supineness. The influence of Cabot in this scheme, as its " chiefest setter-forth," is attested by the fact of his having been named First Governor, for life, of the New Company of Traders ; and also from the royal reward of 200/. to " Sebastian Caboto, the great seaman," for the trouble and charge he took in the business up to March 1551. Moreover, when the patent of incorpora-i tion had been made, he personally inspected the construction and equipment of the three ships which were to perform the first voyage ; and he sheathed them with " thinne sheets of leade," to guard against the worm, " which many times pearceth and eates through the strongest oak." Indeed, the whole preparation was extensive and liberal be- yond precedent ; " the like was never in any realm seen, used, or known." Sir Hugh Willoughby, Richard Chancelor, and Charles Parfoorth, were selected to command the ships, from being known as men of skill and integrity ; and they were accompanied by several gen- tlemen worthy of their fellowship, — some of whom, who had the good fortune to join the Bonadventure, afterwards held high situations in our state. This expedition was formed according to a defined plan, embracing as many objects of public utility as were thought compatible with the pursuits of private enterprise, and the interests of individual wealth. But it was not in inciting, stimulating, and fitting it, that Cabot was chiefly distinguished ; it was in the comprehensive and ex-
* We are not iu possession of the grounds for making Peter Adsiger observe this phenomenon so early as 1269.
476 SEBASTIAN CABOT.
cellent ordinances which he drew up as a code for the governance of the officers, merchants, and crews of the ships. These instructions were made up in the form of a book, and were to be publicly read once in every week, in order that every man might the better remember his oath, duty, and charge. Amongst the leading injunctions, is that of a strict attention to every moral and religious obligation; and that no " blaspheming of God or detestable swearing be used in any ship, nor communication of ribaldrie, filthy tales, or ungoldy talke, to be suffer- ed in the company of any ship, neither dicing, tabling, nor other di- velish games to be frequented, whereby ensueth not only povertie to the players, but also strife, variance, brauling, fighting, and oftentimes murther, to the utter destruction of the parties, and provoking of God's most just wrath, and sworde of vengeance." He prohibits every act which can possibly tend towards the breach of discipline, and wishes all hands to be so "knit and accorded," that no contention can possibly arise. Regularity and cleanliness are strictly recommended ; and the voyagers are exhorted to use the utmost circumspection in their inter- course with the natives of new lands, who are " to be considered advisedly, and treated with gentleness and courtesy, without any dis- dain, laughing, or contempt." " Learn as much as you can without vio- lence or force ; and no woman to be tempted or entreated to incontinence or dishonesty." We have great misgivings as to the propriety of mak- ing people drunk to get at their secrets ; but we cordially join in the charge that seamen should ever be on their guard against surprise, that they should go into strange lands well armed, and by wearing uniforms, " shew themselves in good array, to the advancement and honour of the voyage." The proper employment of the " gromals and pages" is en- joined ; and the wise lawgiver was so strongly impressed with the im- portance of keeping accurate records, that he positively insists upon its necessity. As this, from the mysterious disappearance of his documents, is almost the only occasion on which we can quote Cabot's own style, we gladly submit what may be termed the original warrant for log-writ- ing ; for although the prayer to order public journals to be kept in ships, was not prepared for Parliament till 1706, the practice of taking private notes had been very general.
" 7. Item, that the merchants, and other skilful persons in writing, shall daily write, describe, and put in memorie the navigation of each day and night, with the points, and observations of the lands, tides, elements, altitude of the sunne, course of the moon and starres, and the same so noted by the order of the master and pilot of every ship to be put in writing, the Cap- taine-Generall assembling the masters together once every weeke (if winde and weather shall serve) to conferre all the observations, and notes of the said ships, to the intent it may appeare wherein the notes do agree, and wherein they dissent, and upon good debatement, deliberation, and conclusion deter- mined, to put the same into a common ledger, to remain of record for the company : the like order to be kept in proportioning of the cardes, astro- labes, and other instruments prepared for the voyage, at the charge of the companie."
" 27. Item, the names of the people of every island, are to be taken in writing, with the commodities and incommodities of the same, their natures, qualities, and dispositions, the site of the same, and what things they are most desirous of, and what commodities they will most willingly depart with, and what mettals they have in hils, mountains, streames, or rivers, in or under the earth."
SEBASTIAN CABOT. 477
Early in May 1553, the squadron of Sir Hugh Willoughby dropped down to Greenwich, where the court and an immense concourse of people were assembled — boni ominis causa — to witness its departure ; and salutes and cheers were interchanged so heartily, that " the tops of the hilles sounded therewith, the valleys and waters gave an eccho, and the mariners, they shouted in such sort, that the skie rang againe with the noyse thereof." Contrary winds baffled them on the East Coast, but a fair wind springing up, they gave their last adieu to their native shores. Voyages of discovery were then affairs of much seem- ing desperation, and many of those embarked were — marts ignari, and unaccustomed to distant climes and hardships ; the scene therefore was impressive, and Hakluyt paints the voyagers as greatly affected on the occasion : —
" Some natural tears they dropt, but wip'd them soon ; The world was all before them, where to choose Their place of rest, and Providence their guide."
Chancelor himself was moved. — " His natural and fatherly affection, also, somewhat troubled him, for he left behinde him two little sonnes, which were in the case of orphans if he spedde not well." But he was too deeply imbued with the cestus moriendi for his country to let such ideas discourage him long ; and the flattering visions of hope would return, as
" They spoomed away before the shoving winde, And left retreating towns and cliffs behind."
The story of .the gallant Commander-in-chief is brief and dismal. It seems that he was desirous of touching at the Shetland isles, but was prevented by contrary winds ; and the expedition was afterwards bewildered amongst the Norwegian islets. On reaching the North Cape, Chancelor was separated from his admiral in a stormy night, and they never met again ! Willoughby stood into the Northern Ocean, and unaware of the southerly trending which the coast here takes, was perplexed on finding that " the land lay not as the globe made mention." After beating about these regions of desolate gran- deur, and failing to work to the eastward, it was resolved, in an evil hour, to winter on the coast of Lapland. The journal which was after- wards found, details their entering a haven on the 18th of September, at which early period even they had " very evil weather ;" the land was barren and forbidding, and three exploring parties returned from their several directions without finding either habitations or people : but in the bay were " many great fishes, and upon the main we saw bears, great deer, foxes, with divers strange beasts, as guloines, and such other which were to us unknown, and also wonderful." Over the incidents which ensued, an impenetrable and gloomy veil is thrown ; but the horrible catastrophe of death from the inclement rigour of the season may be conjectured. They all perished : —
" Death came on amain, And exercis'd below his iron reign ; Then upwards to the seat of life he goes : Sense fled before him, what he tbuch'd he froze."
After an anxious suspense, tidings reached London that some Rus- sians, wandering along those dreary shores, were astonished by the discovery of two large ships, with nothing living on board. The jour-
478 SEBASTIAN CABOT.
nal just mentioned was found, and a will, attested by Sir Hugh, showed that the crew were still alive, in January 1554.
Chancelor was more fortunate, having with noble resolution deter- mined to proceed, " or els to die the death." In this spirit he found his way into the White Sea, and landing at Archangel, he proceeded to Moscow to pay his respects to the sovereign of the country. Here he was cordially received, and the foundation was laid of the commercial intercourse which was thenceforward carried on between England and Russia, by the Muscovy Company. After a considerable sojourn, the Czar, Ivan Vasilovitch, despatched Richard Chancelor, accompanied by an ambassador, to England, with four ships deeply laden with Russian commodities. On this homeward passage two of the vessels were wrecked on the coast of Norway, and a third reached the Thames ; but the ill-fated Bonadventure was driven into Pitsligo Bay, and stranded, in a dark and tempestuous night. Chancelor attempted to convey himself and the ambassador ashore; but the boat was soon swamped, and the hapless captain drowned, almost within reach of the " two little sonnes" who had caused his heart to melt at parting. The Russian was saved, and received in London with pompous hospitality.
It is to be feared that, with all his popularity, the latter days of Cabot were not passed without some of the bitterest vexations ; and the untimely death of Edward VI. must have been a sorrowful event for the aged navigator. For more than two years after that period his pension appears to have been ungraciously and unjustly suspended ; it was renewed by Philip and Mary for about eighteen months, and then a new grant was made, under the harsh and illiberal modification of his holding it jointly with one William Worthington, although the entire sum had been solemnly awarded to him for life : and what is worse, this unnatural colleague was the man who obtained the naviga- tor's papers, as already mentioned, and by their suppression has been as much an enemy to the fame, as in life he was to the interests of Cabot. We trust that these insults were partly parried by the esteem in which he was held by the public, but the mode and circumstances of his de- clining years are so unknown, that nothing can be advanced. Yet a good man will not long suffer his spirit to remain sunk in utter listlessness, or his life to be altogether useless to his fellow-men : although few personal ties attach him to existence, — conscious virtue will support him, gene- ral benevolence will animate him, religious hope will forbid him to de- spond. On these grounds we are glad to trace, through the mists of antiquity, an unquestionable instance of our hero's buoyancy of spirits : and that the ruling passion for discovery had not been smothered, was proved on the sailing of the Searchthrift, in 1556, commanded by Master Stephen Burroughs; for it is recorded that "the goode ould gentleman came down to Gravesend with a large party of friends, of both sexes," and having first gone on board, and partaken of refreshments, he invited them to a splendid banquet at the " signe of the Christopher." The guests were in " great cheere," and although an octogenarian, the veteran entered into the dance himself, amongst the rest of the young and lusty company.
After the ungrateful fraud upon his pension, we hear no more of the venerable Pioneer of American civilization, till the characteristic close of his life ; yet even of this event we have neither the date nor tin1
MARITIME POPULATION OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 479
place. Habituated for more than threescore years to naval researches, it is easy to suppose the bent of his mind ; and the faithful Eden who attended his last moments, deplores that he had not, " even in the article of death," shaken off all " worldly vaine glorie ;" and that he spoke fiightily about a method of finding the longitude, which had been divinely revealed to him, but which he was not permitted to disclose to any other mortal. This was a strange assertion for a man of the sound religious feelings he had testified himself to entertain ; but it was only a proof of the strong influence of habit even under a decay of nature, since his earnestness for simplifying the seaman's track over the ocean was undiminished, though his reasoning faculties could no longer connect his desultory ideas. Long may the memory of this intrepid sailor be che- rished ; and although he who gave a continent to England has been consigned to oblivion, as compared with Columbus, yet their names must be for ever associated in the annals of true fame. Under an analogous impression, Budeius, writing from northern regions, expressed himself thus,—
" Hanc tibi jamdudum prinii invenere Britanni Turn cum magnanimus nostra in regione Cabotus Proximus a magno ostendit sua vela Columbo."
We cannot quit the story of Willoughby and Chancelor without a sigh. In the general sympathy for those naval explorers, a feeling worthy of England was manifested : but what have we of the present day to advance in palliation of the callous inattention with which the Government has viewed the fate of poor Capt. Ross ? After the bound- less liberality which was extended to former expeditions to the Polar regions, we cannot but think it matter of reproach, that no express means have been taken to relieve the public anxiety; and the indiffer- ence thus shown to a party of gallant British seamen, is neither in unison with the spirit of the age, nor the humanity of the nation.
ON THE MARITIME POPULATION OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
NO. Ill,
THE peculiar nature of a seaman's pursuits, and the almost amphi- bious manner of his existence, necessarily exclude him from the gene- ral observation of his fellow men, who, judging of a sailor, (as they might be supposed to do of a seal,) by what he appears when on shore, seem not unfrequently to regard him as a separate variety of the human' race; forgetting that the many striking peculiarities in the moral nature of a seaman, arise entirely from that effect which his trade or profession produces upon the moral nature of every man. As the ideas and associations of a seaman are formed upon the wandering habits of a life chequered with peril, privation, and excitement — a life totally different from that which falls to the lot of all other men, his manners and customs can hardly be the same, nor can his habits of thought be expected to flow in the same channels. But it is not be- cause of the peculiar nature of a seaman's occupation, placed far amid the melancholy main, so much as the total indifference to his moral and intellectual improvement, that has fixed a knowledge of his habits and feelings in so much obscurity, and that compels us to hear him descrih-
480 ON THE MARITIME POPULATION
ed in a way so opposite and incongruous, as not unfrequently to leave a doubt upon our mind, whether the subject of description is of that people with whom we have been so long and so intimately acquainted ; nor is it much to the credit of the nation, that the connection which exists between our seamen and the rest of their fellow-subjects, has hitherto been too much limited to objects of mere self-interest or self- defence ; and so long as they defend the colonies and protect the trade of the empire in war, and so long as they supply her commercial wants and luxuries in peace, little concern is displayed, or anxiety expressed, for the moral and religious welfare of a people, who have many and powerful claims upon the gratitude and good feeling of the British public, — a people who have materially contributed to the ascendency we now hold among the nations, and through whose spirit and patriot- ism, we must still expect to maintain our rank in the civilised world.
The interest that the public has taken of late years in the manly and truly national amusement of yacht-sailing, by giving an impulse to nautical science, and encouragement to naval architects and artisans, has greatly improved the art of ship-building, or rather has raised it from a mere art, and placed it in the rank of a mathematical science ; and this, the most elegant and scientific of our amusements, must ulti- mately be of the greatest benefit to our maritime population, as it will be the means of bringing a portion of the wealth and intelligence of the empire into more immediate contact with our seamen ; and on that element, moreover, where their real character can alone be fully known or justly appreciated. And those gentlemen of England, who strive, with a most laudable ambition, to emulate each other in the scientific construction and seamanlike equipment of their respective yachts, will soon discover that Jack afloat is by no means the same sort of person that the careless desolation of Jack's appearance on shore may have led them to suppose : that with all their accumulated faults, failings, and disadvantages, (and they are not few,) the yacht-sailors will find that seamen are by no means so licentious and profligate as our rural, or so demoralised and dissipated as our manufacturing, population.* And while the yacht proprietors become convinced of the absolute necessity of strict discipline in their own vessels, which are usually manned with the very best of seamen, they will feel how impossible it would be for the royal or commercial marine of the country to exist, without good order and due subordination ; and they will accordingly be deterred from joining in what the late Capt. Beaver has well described as " the sentimental hue and cry that mankind are to be governed without reins;" and if they unfortunately have imbibed any of those fine-spun Utopian systems of government, which have the same effect upon the mind of man, as weak tea and novel-reading have on that of woman, we know no more effectual cure than will be found in an ill-regulated vessel on a lee shore and squally weather.
* They who will not this believe without the serviceable and true avouch of their own eyes, are requested to direct them for a moment to the savage ferocity of the agricultural followers of SWING ; or to those acts of brutal depravity and fiend, like cruelty, so constantly practised by the poachers of the midland counties upon their victims. We shall not attempt to describe the disgusting mysteries of the stomach-pump, an instrument which the dissipated courses of our manufacturing population keeps in pretty constant exercise and operation.
OP THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 481
In our admiration of civil liberty, let us not forget that valour is the child of discipline ; or lay the flattering unction to our souls, that a nation of free men can never be conquered. History, the mother of wisdom, shows us that in every age, in every state and condition of the universe, liberal institutions, however powerfully they may have acted upon the moral nature of man, however much they may have tended to his civilization and prosperity, have done absolutely nothing for national independence, unless when united to a vigorous system of military policy. History assures us that the free-born and the slave have, in their turns, become the victor and the vanquished, and proves that well-appointed fleets and armies, with a steady determination to defend our friends and subdue our enemies, to preserve the national faith inviolate, to redress an insult sooner than an injury, are the best, the only means of insuring our national independence, or preserving our civil and religious liberties. Good discipline, and moral habits, and universal education, are the grand desiderata in our fleets and armies. Lay but this foundation in the military science of a country, and it will support a structure of national and civil liberty for the people at large, against which the rain may descend, and the floods come, and the winds blow and beat, and it will not fall, for it will be founded upon a rock.
Other most important results must accrue to our maritime popula- tion, from the impulse which yacht-sailing has given to the public dis- cussion of nautical science, and the consequent knowledge which many of our rulers, by attending to such discussions, and engaging in aquatic amusements, must necessarily acquire of the real character and condition of British seamen; and should another war call us to arms, it is to be hoped that there will not be wanting some patriot se- nator, who, by maturing a system by which the compulsory service of our seamen in the fleet shall be limited, and granting a civic boon as a reward to such as shall have served faithfully, will thus secure the attachment of our seamen to their native country, and prevent that wholesale practice of expatriation, which the unmitigated rigour of the impress system produced in the course of the French revolutionary war, — a system which deprived the navy of our best men, and left nothing but invalids, landsmen, and foreigners, for the merchant service.
By gaining a knowledge of nautical concerns, the discussion of which is by no means a secondary consideration to the natives of Great Bri- tain, our rulers will learn that seamen are too good to be made the associates of thieves and felons ; and should landsmen be required for the fleet, they have only to consider, that when a man has made up his mind to serve, it becomes a matter of little consequence to himself or his country, whether he does his duty in a blue jacket or a red. There will be no want of landsmen for the fleet if you only beat up for them. The marines had spare battalions of picked men serving on shore at the close of the war, when we had a greater number of ships in commission than at any former period of our history. Let the civil authorities, therefore, find some more appropriate mode of punishment for their victims, and not send them on board His Majesty's ships, to the utter contamination of our seamen,— -a people who, revolving in the orbit in which they are confined, by the maxims and usages of
U. S. JOURN. No. 41. APRIL 1832. 2 i
482 ON THE MARITIME POPULATION
their vocation, are, perhaps, more than any other race, the mere chil- dren of habit for good or evil, according to the bias that may be given to them. The sea-crab is not more completely confined and limited by his shell, than is the mind and body of a seaman, by the peculiar na- ture of his calling. There are so few genuine traces of nature in nau- tical life, as to make many suppose that nature never intended to make a sailor ; his profession is, at all events, the highest triumph of art over natural difficulties. The perilous nature of his employment ren- ders him familiar with danger ; hence his fortitude and self-reliance ; hence also his determined firmness of purpose, resolute and patient endurance, under the most trying circumstances. And should our seamen, when on shore, be found, (as they too frequently are,) giving way to many degrading and disgusting excesses, let it be remembered that means are taken to keep them in idleness when on shore, that their better nature has received little or no cultivation, and that phy- sical diseases are not more surely produced by filth and pollution, than moral ones by retaining mankind in idleness and ignorance.
The liberal conduct of the Admiralty, in affording floating-chapels as places of religious instruction for the seamen employed in the com- mercial marine, has been highly praiseworthy, and would, no doubt, be attended with most beneficial effects ; but that actually pernicious sys- tem, the dock monopoly, opposes itself to all improvement in the state and condition of our seamen, (particularly from the port of London,) and renders it impossible to bring about that state of things which moral instruction alone can bestow, and to which Christian principle commands us to press on. " That race of men," (says Mr. Hume, when comparing the seamen of his own time with those in the reign of Charles the First,) " who are at present both careless and ignorant in all matters of religion, were at that time only ignorant." For our own part we believe, that under like circumstances, the sailor and the savage are the same in matters of religion : superstitious, from want of instruction, but never sceptical : they are both associated, as it were, with the elements and the wonders of creation : they are both exposed to greater difficulties and dangers than those which beset the paths of other men : they feel the care, and acknowledge the protecting influ- ence of a Supreme Being ; and however undefined their conceptions of the All Wise may be, we have never known a sailor run into that sys- tem of modern philosophy, which first juggles a man out of his religious belief, that it may afterwards rob him of his moral principle.
The very faults and failings of sailors are frequently to be traced to far different causes from those which produce the like effect upon the conduct and character of other men : improvidence, for instance, in men in the lower ranks of life, most usually arises from the neglect that has been paid to their moral and religious instruction. With a sailor it generally proceeds from the nature and usages of his employ- ment, which places the care of attending to his wants and comforts, whether in sickness or in health, entirely in the hands of his superiors. Food and lodging, moreover, never enter into his calculations; they always form a part of his contract with his employers, and, of course, he never bestows a single thought about them. While men, therefore, in a seaman's rank of life on shore, are struggling against want, they acquire a degree of worldly wisdom, as it is called, which a sailor never
OP THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 483
arrives at, the energies of his inind being directed to contend with the elements, to strive against the storm, and subdue the tempest, rather than to hold conflict with the energies and intellects of his fellow men.
As there is no part of the community over whose moral nature the legislature has a more perfect control, so there is none who have re- ceived so small a portion of legislative consideration as the seamen em- ployed in the commercial marine of the empire. It is true, that there is no want of statutes, or of books, to explain or interpret the maritime law and practice of Great Britain, (from the excellent work of the pre- sent Lord Tenterden downwards,) so far as the merely commercial concerns of hull and cargo are the subject of inquiry ; but there is no code which fully explains to the seamen the connexion which ex- ists between them and their employers ; nor is there any which dis- tinctly states the amount of a power with which the law has invested the shipmaster ; far less is there a court of easy access, (in England, at least,) where an immediate appeal can be made in all cases of difficulty (the Thames Police-court might as well be in Bagdad). Known and written laws are the only safeguard to life and property, the only de- fence against injustice and oppression, and the only means by which tyuanny can be repressed on the one hand, and profligacy duly punished on the other.
It is much to be regretted, that at so favourable a period as the return of peace, some system for the better regulation of our seamen in the commercial marine, had not been adopted ; and some laws de- vised, addressing themselves to the change that had taken place in the manners and opinions of our seamen, and doing their work with the least expense of individual suffering, or abuse of public sympathy. It has been said, " that all laws are bad which are not seconded by the manners of the people. Manners change, therefore laws should not be of positive institution ; and bad laws are as certain a source of crime as human delinquency."
Some special magistrates are wanted for the protection of all who are concerned with the commercial marine, to interpret the law, to de- fine the power of the shipmaster and the duty of the seaman. This would not only be of the utmost advantage to the seamen, but the authority of the officer would be more secure within the provisions which such an arrangement would assign to it.
Though utterly averse to that pitiful system which is ever ready to legislate upon trifles, still we consider some attention to the commis- sariat of the commercial navy, by no means beneath the dignity of Bri- tish lawgivers. Ships' provisions are well known to be a constant and never- failing source of discontent : to grumble about his food, is the undisputed birthright of every Englishman. It would tend to the peace and good government of our merchant ships, if a regular allow- ance of provisions were adopted throughout the whole service (from whence, except in very particular cases, we would recommend the ex- clusion of ardent spirits). Justice and humanity alike demand an arrangement of some kind, which shall check the culpable neglect or abominable avarice of the shipmaster, or his employer, and prevent the constant exhibition of sea-service ulcers, and premature old age, which the scanty allowance, or the unwholesomeness of provisions, too fre- quently produce in our maritime population. N. C.
2 i 2
4-84
ANECDOTES OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.*
Perish these,
The epitome of all the pestilent plagues
That Egypt knew ! who pour their locust swarms
O'er ravaged realms, and bid the brooks run blood.
Fear and destruction go before their path,
And famine dogs their footsteps." SOUTHEY.
A few days of the retreat of the Allied Army and of the people of Portugal, under Lord Wellington, before the French, under Massena, from Busaco to Lisbon.
THE depopulation of a whole country is a fearful thing. It is quite impossible for those who have not witnessed its first and immediate consequences, to form any adequate judgment of the magnitude and variety of the mischiefs which it draws after it. Among its first evils are those by which a smiling land is converted to a lonely desert, and by which property of all kinds is rendered valueless. In the case before us, a few opulent families might find an asylum among their distant friends, or a refuge from want in their private funds ; but the great bulk of the people, who maintained themselves and their fami- lies upon the produce of their little farms, or gained a livelihood by their respective trades and avocations, were bereft at once of employ- ment, and the means of subsistence at home, and left without hope of finding them elsewhere. These, indeed, had no remaining resource from which to draw succour and protection, save in the charity of their allies and fellow-countrymen, and in the benevolence of Providence.
On occasions of this kind, the means of conveyance which a people may possess for the ordinary purposes of life, are so entirely inadequate to meet the extraordinary demand for it, that it hardly suffices to remove those among them, who, from age, sickness, er infirmity, have no other means of escaping from immediate death ; so that not a tithe of the food of the country can be saved, and no part whatever of those comforts which come under the denomination of goods and household furniture ; all of which, in the case I am speaking of, were abandoned to the enemy, with the farms, houses, churches, and convents of the country, to be ransacked and burned at their pleasure.
Gen. Hill's corps, after the battle of Busaco, recrossed the Mondego, and marched by Figueira and Venda da Serra, on Thomar. The French, as they advanced, dislodged Trant, with his partisan force from Sardao, but despising them as entirely ' unworthy of diverting their attention from its main object, " The drawing of the Leopard," they suffered him to establish himself with a daily increasing force be- hind the Vouga, and pushed forward for Coimbra. The people of this rich and beautiful part of Portugal had lingered, notwithstanding the proclamation of Lord Wellington, in the hope that they should not be finally compelled to abandon the land to which they were bound by all the fond associations of life. The position taken up by the army at Busaco was favourable to this hope; and when they discovered the fallacy of it, the season had passed away during which they might have contrived to provide in some way against the crisis which was at hand.
* Continued from page 223.
ANECDOTES OP SPAIN AND PORTUGAL. 485
In the city of Coimbra, the confusion at the approach of the retreating columns was frightful : all the people who could get away, fled in dif- ferent directions, taking with them the least bulky only of their valu- able effects. These, however, were but of trifling worth, compared with what they were obliged to leave behind. The stores of the prin- cipal houses, and of all the convents, were full of corn, wine, fruit, oil, and preserved meats ; and the crops of grain, pulse, and wine, on the ground, had come to maturity, and were fit for carting. Massena had been induced to believe, by the Portuguese officers on his staff, that he should be received by the people of Coimbra with open arms, and that he should find there every thing necessary for the subsistence of his army till Lisbon should be taken. They judged, no doubt, of the senti- ments of the Portuguese people by their own. The latter part, how- ever, of this promise might have been fulfilled, if the citizens of Coim- bra and the people around it, had not been terrified into a "full compli- ance with Lord Wellington's proclamation, by having once already experienced the rapacity and faithlessness of revolutionary Frenchmen. As it was, there were stores and provisions in abundance in and about Coimbra, to have supplied the French army for two months at least, had its commissariat been allowed to collect and secure them in proper magazines. But the French troops, on finding the city abandoned by the people, made that a pretext to break through every restraint that should regulate an army for its preservation. They rushed headlong into it as into a town taken by assault, pillaged it of property to an immense amount, set fire to many of the principal houses, and wasted the contents of the stores in shameful profusion about the streets.
THOMAR.
The corps of Gen. Hill reached Thomar on the 4th of Oct. Most of the people of that town had already fled, and those who had not, were pouring in an uninterrupted stream on the Lisbon road. The religious fraternities, composed of men of all ages, were seen mixing in the crowd, and making the best of their way out of the enemy's reach.
The holv monks
Unwillingly their long accustomed haunts
Abandon ; haunts where every gloomy nook
Called to awakened memory some trace
Of vision seen, or sound miraculous.
Trembling and terrified, their noiseless cells,
For the rude uproar of a world unknown,
The nuns desert ; their abbess more composed,
Collects her maids around, and tells her beads,
And pours the timid prayer of piety." SOUTHEY.
This passage affords but an inadequate portrait of the distress of mind of the nuns from the different convents in Thomar. Many of these poor creatures had passed long lives without having once ventur- ed a step beyond the precincts of their convents, upon the endowments of which they had lived, and where they had hoped to die in peaceful seclusion from the world and its turmoils; and now that they were compelled to launch into its troubled stream, they acted more like people bereft of their senses, than like persons who were called upon to summon every energy to their assistance, the better to enable them
486 ANECDOTES OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
to meet the coming storm. I found an opportunity to be of some ser- vice to them, and take no credit to myself for an act which every man in the army would have performed had he been in my situation ; and which I must have been devoid of the common feelings of humanity to have refused. We were retreating upon the line of our magazines, and every halt added to the quantity of my spare mule transport, upon which I mounted nuns and friars of all ages and of all orders, to the number of fifty or sixty persons, and to the great amusement of some of my friends in the division, who rallied me unmercifully on the grotesque appearance of what they were pleased to call my brigade. Some hundreds of these poor fugitives bivouacked at night round my tent, and gave a kind of patriarchal appearance to my establishment. Happily the weather was delightful, and those among them who had no other food, could always find a simple, but to them a nutritious meal, in the maize fields adjoining the road. I should explain, that when this kind of corn is approaching towards maturity, as it then was, it tastes like sweet coagulated milk ; and the Portuguese nation, high and low, eat it at this season, with that kind of relish which we are all apt to entertain for those articles of food to which we have been accus- tomed in early life. The ear of maize is called Mctfaroca, from its re- semblance to a spindle. This they roast over a clear wood or charcoal fire, as we do our potatoes, and eat, when it is sufficiently parched, with great pleasure.
The most opulent of the unfortunate fugitives brought with them the large ox-wains peculiar to that part of Portugal, bedecked with silk and chintz canopies and hangings, in which they slept by night and travelled by day. These wains, so adorned, had a picturesque and somewhat oriental appearance, as the bright and cloudless sun shone upon the rich colouring of the awnings suspended over them.
TORRES NOVAS. — THE CAMPAIGNER'S POULTRY-YARD.
At Torres Novas the people, on leaving the town, made our men help themselves to what provisions they chose to take away with them, and replenished our poultry -yards at our own price. I should tell my reader, by the way, that in those days the basse-cour of a thorough- going campaigner was always established in that spacious enclosure, in the rear of his tent, over which the tent-lines extended between the canvass and the pegs. There, tethered with a string and a peg, and roosting on the tent-lines, or on some crutched stick, to elevate them an inch or two above the ground, the poultry lived in clover, with the advantage to boot of being so near the homestead, that if a night prowler approached their roosting-ground, one had nothing more to do at the twang of the tent-line, than to raise one's head from under the blanket, lift a foot or so of canvass, and warn him off the premises.
Major . , of the regiment, whose poultry-yard was the object
of envy to the whole division, purchased in this town, for the trifling sum of a thousand reys,* some eighteen or twenty Pintainhos pintados, or little speckled cocks. Not being aware at the time of their pugna- cious disposition, he unwittingly ordered them to be tethered at night, as usual, in his poultry-yard, within fighting distance of each other,
* A dollar and a quarter.
ANECDOTES OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL. 487
and was not a little amazed in the morning to find them all dead, or dying, except one, which, as if conscious that he was " cock of the walk," perched himself upon a tent-peg, and gave him a crow of triumph, as he peeped from under his dew-dropping canvass to count heads.
SANTAREM.
The vineyards around Santarem were now teeming with delicious grapes ready for the wine-press. The " black cluster" and " sweet amber," rich as the honeycomb, hung in tempting bunches by the road side. It is hardly necessary to say, that our soldiers helped themselves without control or reserve, to as many as they chose to take away with them. This was also the season when the orange comes to perfection, and Santarem could boast some of the finest orange groves of any near Lisbon. These, too, were thinned of their golden fruit, lest it should quench the thirst of the invaders.
The troops were in high spirits, and the Portuguese portion of them, who knew no more of the lines of Torres Vedras than the French or the English, amused themselves with stories on the probabilities of their future destiny. Some said they were going a fishing with the English for Bacalhdo (salt-fish) ; some that they were about to em- bark for Mauritania, in quest of Don Sebastiao ; but they all agreed in one thing, and that was, that they would fight the French when and where 0-gratide-Lord * would lead them on.
By far the greater portion of the people of Santarem had gone by water to Lisbon before we arrived, and the few who remained were flocking rapidly out of it as our troops defiled through the streets on the morning of the seventh. I had just descended from the upper town, and had reached a quinta, or gentleman's pavilion, on the Villa Franca road, when three young ladies, of the class of Portuguese gentry, came from the quinta and surrounded my horse. Whether they judged that I was a commissary, or thought they could discover more of the charities of our nature in my countenance than those of other men, is what I do not pretend to determine ; certain it is, that the elder of the ladies gently took my horse by the bridle, while the two younger ones caught hold of the skirts of my coat with one hand, and of my stirrups with the other, and all three implored me, e por amor de Deos, (for the love of God,) not to be deaf to their entreaties. I at first endeavoured to put on the Stoic, and to be as repulsive and uncompromising as the Cynic of Sinope, particularly as we were in public, and there was a good deal of tittering around me ; but if there be a something irresistible in the tears of one pretty woman, what must there have been in the tears of three ? While I was deliberating with myself whether I would listen to their supplication or not, I had somehow resigned my horse to their guidance, and they had conducted us both to the quinta-door ; so that without coming to any resolution as to what I would do, I dismounted, and was led by the three young ladies into the front saloon. There, after craving my forgiveness for having made me their captive, they told me that they were three sisters, that their parents had been dead for some time, and that their
* Literally, " the great Lord," meaning Wellington.
ANECDOTES OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
maternal grandmother, who had been bed-ridden for many years, and had returned with age to second childishness, was then in an adjoining apartment, quite unconscious of the miserable death that awaited her, should they be obliged to leave her behind, and abandon her to the merciless invaders. They had been endeavouring, they said, for seve- ral days past, to prevail on some of their friends to afford her some kind of conveyance to Lisbon, and had even applied to the Juiz-de-Fora for his assistance ; but that every body had been so occupied about their own affairs, and there had been so many cases of a similar nature to provide for, that they had not succeeded in any quarter, and were at length driven to the distressing alternative of leaving her behind to perish alone, or of remaining with her, now that the army was nearly passed, to be insulted and maltreated by the French. They had already, they continued, as a last resource, endeavoured to interest several officers, English and Portuguese, in their situation : some had treated, their supplications with indifference, others with ridicule, all had passed onward, and left them and their aged parent to their fate, till they had seen me, in whom they had placed their last hope.
" Well," thought I, for I saw that apologies would be useless, " here's a pretty scrape I have got into." Wheel transports I had none at com- mand, and the commissariat brigades 'of mules were gone forward in front of the column, and to get one of them back against such a stream of men was no trifling affair. I foresaw, indeed, that it would be one and the same thing in the end to leave the old lady to perish in the quinta, or to send her forty or fifty miles on the back of a mule towards Lisbon, exposed by the way, as she necessarily would be, to the effects of change of air, to the fatigue of sitting up, and to the want of a comfortable bed at night; yet there was so much of self- sacrifice in the conduct of the young ladies — so strong a sense of filial duty and affection, that I could do no less than everything in my power to preserve her life, so I sent for one of the largest machos (he mules) of a brigade, and had it provided with an albarda, or broad seated pack-saddle. The servant of the house, a sturdy fellow, then brought the old lady forth, mounted the macho, and placed her before him so as to support her in his arms. She more resembled a being torn from the mansions of the dead than an inhabitant of this world. She was worn by long suffering almost to a skeleton; her long silvery locks had got loose from the bandage which had confined them, and were flowing in wild disorder over her neck and shoulders. As the troops passed her by in rapid march, she gazed on them fervently, dropping the while the beads of her rosary in unison with the motion of her lips, as she supplicated Nossa Senhora dos Viandantes (our Lady of Travellers) to protect her on the long and perilous journey that lay before her. Alas ! the Virgin was deaf to her supplications. Our soldiers, as they passed, cracked their jokes at the appearance of our group ; but this was a matter of little consequence. To alleviate the weight of a mite of the intolerable load of Portuguese suffering, more than compensated for the passing ridicule of the thoughtless. The young ladies, seeing their aged parent placed beyond the reach of the enemy's cruelty, took each of them a little bundle of necessaries, and after thanking me a thousand times for what I had done, and pro- mising to send the macho, on their arrival at Lisbon, to the address
ANECDOTES OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL. 489
which I had given them, followed the old lady and the servant on foot, and soon disappeared amidst the retiring fugitives.
Here terminated the adventure of the quinta for the present ; I shall have occasion to revert to it, and to conclude it hereafter ; but as the order of time interposes other matter, we will leave the young ladies, their grandmamma, the servant, and the macho, to make the best of their way towards Lisbon, while we continue our retreat towards Villa Franca.
At Villa Franca, Azambuja, and Cartaxo, the vintage was more advanced than in the towns farther in the interior of the country. The wine was already fermenting in the vats when the retreating troops made their appearance in those towns. I had then, for the first time, an opportunity to learn that Virgil, in his Georgics, pointed to a fact and not to a fiction, when, in apostrophising Bacchus, he sung, as Dryden has it, —
" To thee his joys the jolly Autumn owes, When the fermenting juice the vat o'erflows. Come strip with me, my god, come drench all o'er Thy limbs in must of wine, and drink at every pore !"
I observed men employed in the vats to tread out the juice of the grapes, whose bodies and limbs were dyed of a fine rich mahogany tint by frequent immersion in the must of red wine. There exists a something more or less of this practice throughout Portugal; the process may not be entirely to the taste of our fastidious wine-bibbers ; but they may allay the qualms of offended imagination in the consol- ing reflection, that fermentation and filtration are powerful purifiers of wine.
Unfortunately for the people of those towns, they lay without the defensive line which the army was about to occupy, and consequently within the range of the enemy's depredations. Fatigue parties were therefore sent out to draw the taps, and beat in the heads of all the wine tuns they could find. Our men, in the performance of this duty, waded, in some instances, breast high in the sunken adegas (wine stores") to destroy the wine, and the streets were literally deluged with it. Upwards of forty-thousand almudes* were destroyed in this man- ner. At Villa Franca our soldiers could not resist the temptation to drink their fill of the luscious juice, as it flowed in torrents down the streets ; they came in crowds to fill their canteens, and many, very many of them, threw themselves prostrate before the bubbling fountain of Bacchus, and worshipped the drunken god till they were unable to stand, in which state they were in some instances lashed, like wine- skins, upon the backs of mules, and carried forward, lest they should fall into the hands of the enemy.
The wines destroyed in this way composed but a trifling portion of the produce of those districts. The major part of the vintage was kept in the adegas at such distances from the high roads that no time could be allowed to destroy it, and it remained, among a thousand other goodly gifts of providence, to fall into the hands of the spoliators of Lusitania.
* A Portuguese wine-measure, containing in Lisbon thirty-six English wine pints.
ANECDOTES OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
The weather, which had been delightful throughout the retreat, broke up on the evening of the 7th of October, one day only before our corps of the army reached its position in the line of defence. The retiring multitude of fugitives had in general by this time housed themselves, in some way or the other, within the protecting line — in which they were so far fortunate ; had the rains, which were extremely violent, set in ten days sooner, vast numbers of them must have perished of cold, and by the obstacles of the way.
On the 8th of October we had a good view of the then, to us, for the first time discovered, but now celebrated lines of Lisbon, stretching from Alhandra on the Tagus, by Calhandriz, Bucellas, and Sobral to the north west. The portion of these lines that fell to the defence of Hill's corps, extended from Alhandra on the right to Bucellas on the left ; being flanked on the Tagus by British gun-boats, and on the left by the fortified heights of Sobral. In the rear of this line was an easy and direct communication from the Tagus to Bucellas, through the village of Alverca, and between the first and second line of defence. Fort Sobral, on the height to the left of Bucellas, was a formidable work, topping, like a mural crown, the strong ground beneath it, and commanding the Lisbon road everywhere within reach of its artillery.
The sight of these stupendous field works, connecting the line of de- fence from the Tagus to the sea, astounded some of the would-be wise ones in the British army , who had ventured to predict, or at least to persuade themselves and their friends, that they should witness in this retreat a repetition of the closing and disastrous scenes of that of Coruna. The nature of the warfare carried on between the bellige- rents, kept Massena also in the dark as to the existence of those formi- dable bulwarks of Portuguese independence, so that Lord Wellington seems to have thrown a magic veil over them till the day on which his army took possession of the formidable barrier that intervened between Massena and the object which he, the day before, vainly imagined to be within his clutch.
"The defensive power of those lines was never tried," say our pessimists ; granted, — but Massena's respect for them has established their celebrity ; for he knew by the lesson taught him at Busaco, what he had to expect from such works, defended with the united courage of the British and Portuguese nations, and by the skill of their commander.
VKNTURINHO DO PO9O.
On the morning of the 10th of Oct. as I was wending my way between Calhandriz and Alverca, the village which I have already mentioned as being behind Alhandra, I heard at some short distance from the road a plaintive moan, as that of a child in distress. I stopped to listen, the noise seeming to come from a little chapel, or Ermida, standing a few paces from the road side. On looking into the chapel, all therein was silent, and I could discover no traces of anything living. Proceeding a little beyond the chapel, the sound became louder, and seemed to come from the earth. I went on till I came to a well, and on looking over its brink, saw a child at the bottom of it, sitting upon a mass of soft mud. The well was one of that kind
ANECDOTES OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL. 491
which is generally used in Spain and Portugal for the purpose of irri- gating gardens. It was ten or twelve feet in diameter, and about fif- teen feet deep. The child was quite naked, and evidently too young to have climbed over the parapet of the well, from which it was clear that it could not have fallen in by accident, and that some evil-disposed person had cast it in for the purpose of destroying it. Fortunately, the well was entirely free from water, having nothing in the bottom of it but a bed of soft mud to a considerable depth, to which the child owed its preservation. On seeing me and my servant looking over the brim of the well, it raised its little hands towards us, and cried aloud, "Mai! Mai! Mai! Ay, minha Mai!" tantamount to "Mother! Mother ! Mother ! Oh, my Mother !" I made my servant disengage as much as possible of the bell-rope of the chapel, with which, and the chain-halters of our horses, I lowered him down into the well, and drew up the child. It was a boy ; and its skin was incrusted over, as one may readily imagine, with the contents of the well ; it appeared to have bled profusely at the nose, but had no bones broken, nor con- tusion about its person, that I could discover, save a slight bruise on the forehead. It had arrived at an age to be able to toddle about, but could say nothing articulate, more than the words already explained, so that it could afford me no clue whatever to the names of its parents, or how it had come into the well. My servant having chafed, enfolded it in his cloak, and placed it on the pommel of his saddle, in which guise we carried it to Alverca, where I handed it over to the civil jurisdiction of Dame Halbard, the wife of a Serjeant attached to my establishment, who literally stitched the urchin up in a blanket, till she could make him a dress, and provide him with necessaries.
I published the circumstance far and wide, and caused placards to be put up in Lisbon and other large towns, describing the child, and the manner in which I had found it ; but I never could succeed in obtain- ing any tidings of its parents, or any information by which I might be led to form a conjecture upon the mystery of its being in the well. It is hard to believe that a parent, and a mother too, (for the child had evidently been used to the cares of a mother,) could have been pre- vailed upon, under the pressure of any degree of misery and misfor- tune, to act towards it so cruel and unnatural a part ; and yet if it had not been the act of a parent, one would have thought that somebody would have come forward and claimed the child. Be this as it may, the boy throve amazingly, and with the pliability of infantine affection, soon became familiar with his new quarters. In a few weeks he could say many words in English; could ask for bread and butter, and bread and wine ; but if I mentioned the well in his presence, or talked of putting him again into it, he turned pale, and seemed ready to faint with terror. In fine, he was a pretty little creature, with dark brown curly hair, a clear olive complexion, and a pair of large sparkling eyes, black as the feathers in a raven's wing. Every day weakened my hopes of finding any clue to his parents, and strengthened the in- terest which I, and all those about me, took in his well being ; and as he could give no account of his name, the Portuguese about my esta- blishment christened, or rather named him, " Venlurinho do Pofo," and the English " Little Fortunatus of the Well."
492 ANECDOTES OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
The extraordinary circumstances attending the discovery of little Fortunatus, soon became generally known in that part of the army to
which I belonged, and came to attract the attention of Major , of
the regiment. One day as the Major and I were confabulating
upon indifferent subjects, he purposely drew the conversation to that of the little foundling, and inquired with some earnestness how I meant to dispose of him in case his parents or relations should not be eventually discovered. " The question/' said I, "is a poser; I have as yet come to no resolution upon that point ; but if I can do nothing better, I may take him home to England with me, to commemorate my Peninsular campaigns, and give him the run of my house in common with some half-dozen urchins of my own." Hereupon the Major volunteered his services to relieve me from my charge of foster-father, undertaking to provide for the child, and perhaps to adopt him, if he might be allowed to dispose of him as he should think proper. Now the Major was a gentleman of affluent fortune, who, if married, had no children, and the offer seemed to promise so many goodly results in favour of little Ventura, that I did not hesitate a moment to comply with his request. Before we parted, I transferred to him the person of the little stranger, with all my paternal rights and privileges. The Major, as I understand, sent the boy to Ireland to be brought up and educated, whence I heard nothing more of him during the lapse of six or seven years. In the mean time, the boy had been kept at school, and had developed talents which appear to have fixed the Major's attachment for ever, and to have induced him to apply to me for every particular which had attended his discovery in the well, which I rea- dily afforded him, in the manner in which I have herein detailed them. I have not since heard of the Major, or of Ventura, who must by this time have arrived at manhood ; but I hold it as more than probable, that he is now looking forward to a station in society far more elevated than that in which his progenitors moved ; and which he never could have expected to enjoy, but for the disasters which had befallen his country, through which the guiding hand of an Omnipotent Providence brought to him, without any merits of his own, supreme good out of overwhelming evil. The publishing of this anecdote will be the touchstone of his disposition ; if he be of a character open, manly, and generous, he will come forward and acknowledge his obligations to, and cultivate the good opinion of him, to whom, under Heaven, he owes the first and most important step towards his present lot and future expectations ; but if he be of a turn of mind proud and vain- glorious, he will be ashamed of the mystery that hangs over his birth and parentage, and we shall hear nothing more of little Fortunatus of the Well.
B. FORAGE.
Portchester, Hants, 7th Feb. 1832.
493
MEMOIR OF THE SERVICES OF THE LATE ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET, WILLIAM PEERE WILLIAMS FREEMAN.
ADMIRAL WILLIAMS FREEMAN was not only the senior officer in the navy, but probably the oldest both in age and service. He commenced his career during the reign of George the Second, at the age of fifteen years, and in 1757 was entered as midshipman in the Royal Sovereign, and having completed the stipulated period of service in that and some other ships, was appointed in September 1764, acting Lieutenant of the Rainbow, by Commodore, afterwards Rear-Admiral, Lord Colville, Commander-in-chief on the North American station, which appointment was confirmed at the end of that year.
On the 6th May 1768, Lieut. Williams was made Master and Commander ; and in November 1769, appointed to command the Otter sloop-of-war. The 10th Jan. 1771> he was promoted to the rank of Captain ; and in July of that year he was appointed to the Wolf, and subsequently to the Active frigate, stationed in the West Indies, with the fleet under the command of Admiral Mann; he here served with credit during a part of the American war. From the Active, Capt. Williams exchanged into the Lively, and served in this frigate, under Admiral Montague, on the Boston station, till the end of 1773, when he was ordered home. Four years now elapsed before he was again actively employed ; he was then appointed to the command of the Venus frigate, stationed at Rhode Island, un- der the orders of Admiral Lord Howe ; from thence he exchanged into the Brune, and in 1778 was ordered to attend the Commission- ers for negociating with the Americans on their return home.
In April 1780, Capt. Williams was appointed to the Flora frigate, belonging to the Channel fleet, in which, off Ushant, he captured in August, after a most gallant and determined action, La Nymphe, French frigate, carrying 32 guns, but pierced for 40, with a complement of 290 men, sixty-three of whom, with the Cap- tain, the Chevalier du Remain, were killed, and seventy-three wound- ed. Capt. Williams' loss was nine killed, and twenty-seven wounded. The Flora had six eighteen-pounder carronades, in addition to her 36 long guns, and this action is supposed to have been the first in which any ship of war was armed with carronades, a species of ordnance which has since repeatedly proved of such essential service. After the action, a crucifix, encased in silver, and bearing with it the certificate from the Pope, that it was formed of the wood of the holy Cross, was found upon the deck of the Flora, where it had been thrown from La Nymphe, probably by her gallant Commander, to stimulate the men, as a sacred pledge to be redeemed at any sacrifice.
The Nymphe was directly purchased into the Navy and esta- blished as a frigate, and is the identical ship which, early in the war with the French Republic, when commanded by Capt. Pellew, now Viscount Exmouth, engaged and captured the Cleopatra of 40 guns, and three hundred and twenty men.
In 1781, the squadron under the command of Vice- Admiral Darby sailed for the relief of Gibraltar, from whence the Flora, which had
494 ADMIRAL WILLIAM PEERE WILLIAMS FREEMAN.
accompanied them, sailed for Port Mahon. On the 26th May, being off the Barbary Coast in company with the Crescent, Capt. the Hon. Thomas Pakenham, he fell in with two Dutch frigates, the Castor and the Brille. During this time it blew a heavy gale of wind, but Capt. Williams watching a favourable moment, was enabled to bring them to action, when after an engagement which was carried on with the greatest vigour for upwards of two hours, the Castor, of thirty-two guns and 230 men, struck to the Flora, which had nine men killed and thirty-two wounded, while the enemy's loss con- sisted of twenty-two killed and forty-one wounded. Capt. Paken- ham in the Crescent was not so fortunate, for in consequence of re- ceiving very considerable damage, and his main and mizen-masts carried away, by which the ship was completely ungovernable, he was forced to surrender with the loss of eighty-two of her crew to the Brille of 32 guns. Capt. Williams lost no time in placing the Flora in such a situation as to prevent the enemy from taking pos- session of her prize, and forced him to make sail. The Crescent and Castor (the prize to the Flora) were so disabled, that several days elapsed ere they could proceed.
On the 10th June two large frigates were discgvered, which Capt. Williams at first showed a disposition to engage, but from the crip- pled state in which the Flora and the other ships were, it was con- sidered most prudent to avoid, and he therefore made the signal for each ship to take a different course, and about noon the Castor was recaptured, and during the night the Crescent also became the enemy's prize.
Capt. Williams' next appointment was to the Prince George, 98, with the fleet under the orders of Sir Samuel Hood, on the Leeward Island station ; and he was in the several engagements off St. Kitt's, with Comte de Grasse, on the 25th, 26th, and 27th Jan. 1782, the Prince George being one of the ships that formed the van division.
In March following, the fleet arrived at Antigua, and after taking in refreshments, sailed thence to join that under the command of Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney. In the memorable engage- ment which took place on the 12th April, the Prince George formed one of the blue division, and bore a conspicuous part in the ac- tion, in which Capt. Williams had ten men killed and twenty-four wounded.
Capt. Williams returned home, and the general peace taking place, does not appear to have been again employed ; and on a pro- motion of flag officers was, 12th April 1794, advanced to the rank of Rear-Admiral of the Blue, to that of Vice-Admiral 1st June 1795 ; and to that of Admiral, 1st Jan. 1801.
The accession of his present Majesty to the throne, caused the situation of Admiral of the Fleet to become vacant ; and on the 28th June 1830, a few days after that event, the King was graciously pleased to confer that appointment on Admiral Williams, at that time the senior Admiral of the Red. On the 19th Jan. 1822, Admiral Williams, in compliance with the will of Sambrooke Freeman, for- merly of Fawley Court, in the County of Buckingham, Esq. whose will bore date 1st June 1774, took the surname and arms of Freeman, in addition to those of William Peere Williams.
Gifted with an energy of spirit and a physical strength of frame,
ADMIRAL SIR RICHARD HUSSEY BICKERTON. 495
which time seemed scarcely to impair, Admiral Freeman lived in his retirement distinguished by a generous hospitality, employing his ample means in deeds of benevolence known only to those who were its objects.
In August 1830, His Majesty directed Admiral Sir Edward Thornbrough, the first lieutenant of the Flora, to carry to him a splendid baton which had been presented by the late King to his present Majesty as Lord High Admiral of England, — a favour ren- dered more gracious by the manner in which it was conferred, and the distinguished officer who was selected to convey it. Upon the death of Admiral Freeman, application was made by his grandson and representative, to ascertain his Majesty's pleasure respecting the baton, when the following answer was returned through Sir Her- bert Taylor, — a most gratifying testimony of the merits of the dead, and a strong proof of the gracious kindness of the illustrious living.
" SIR, — I am honoured by His Majesty's commands to acquaint you, that it is not his desire that you should return the baton, but that he wishes it to be retained by you, and preserved in your family, as a memorial of the late Admiral Freeman's long services and the high professional rank he had attained, and in proof of the estimation in which he was held by his Sovereign and brother officer. I have the honour to be, Sir, &c.
tf HERBERT TAYLOR."
This veteran had for many years resided at Hoddesdon, in Hert- fordshire, where he expired 10th Feb. last, in the ninety-first year of his age, having been some time in a very infirm and decaying state of health.
MEMOIR OF THE SERVICES OF THE LATE ADMIRAL SIR RICHARD HUSSEY BICKERTON, BART. K.C.B. AND K.C.
THE father of the late Sir Richard H. Bickerton was a distin- guished officer, who lived to attain the rank of Admiral. In June 1773, His Majesty George the Third reviewed the fleet under the command of Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Pye, at Spithead, when Capt. Bickerton, commanding the Princess Augusta yacht, steered the royal barge, and received the honour of knighthood, and on the 19th May 1778 was created a Baronet He died Feb. 18th, 1792, and was succeeded by his son, who, in 1771* began his naval career, under the superintendence of his father, on board the Marlborough, which he then commanded. In this ship Mr. Bickerton remained about two years, then went into the Princess Augusta, and was present at the review abovementioned. In June 177^, he joined the Medway, Capt. Affleck, and Vice-Admiral Man, commanding in the Mediterranean; then belonged to the Enterprize, Capt. Sir Thomas Rich, and afterwards to the Invincible, Capt. Hyde Parker.
Mr. Bickerton returned home from the Invincible in November 1777> and on the 16th of the following month was appointed Lieu- tenant of the Prince George, Capt. Patton, and in March 1778, removed into the Royal Oak. In the latter ship he did not long remain, but went in July into the Jupiter, of 50 guns, with Capt. Charles Middleton, afterwards created a Baronet, and subsequently Lord Barham, who was succeeded in the command by Capt. Rey-
496 MEMOIR OF THE SERVICES OF TUB LATK
uolds, afterwards Lord Ducie. In October 1778, the Jupiter, in company with the Medea frigate, engaged in the Bay of Biscay a French line-of-battle ship. Soon after the action began, the Jupiter received a shot under water, which rendered the continuance of the engagement impossible until the leak was stopped ; this being effected, Capt. Reynolds continued the action for some time, when the French ship made sail and got into Ferrol. In this affair Lieut. Bickerton, who was first of the Jupiter, displayed considerable abilities, and for his services was, on the 20th March 1779, promoted to Master and Commander, and appointed to the Swallow sloop, in which, at the end of that year, he was sent with other ships to inter- cept some Dutch merchant vessels laden with stores for France. In 1780 the Swallow was sent with despatches to the West Indies, and Capt. Bickerton was at the taking of St. Eustatia by the forces under the direction of Gen. Vaughan and Admiral Sir George B. Rodney. On the 8th Feb. 1781, he was promoted to Captain, and commanded the Gibraltar in the various affairs that occurred between the fleets under the respective commands of Admiral Sir Samuel (afterwards Lord) Hood, and Comte de Grasse. Capt. Bickerton commanded the Invincible, and afterwards the Russel and Terrible, and returned to England in the Amazon, which he paid off in 1782. He then was appointed to the Brune, which he did not retain for any length of time, in consequence of the general peace. Capt. Bickerton remained on half-pay until 1787* when in January of that year he was ap- pointed to command the Sibylle, and sailed for Barbadoes, remained for three years on the Leeward Island station, and then returned home.
In 1792 he succeeded to the Baronetage, and in the following year was appointed to the Ruby, and thence to the Ramilies, belonging to the Channel Fleet, under the command of Admiral Lord Howe. In October 1794 the Ramilies was sent to the West Indies with Gen. Sir John Vaughan, and in the following year was ordered to New- foundland, from whence she returned to Portsmouth, having re- mained about four months at St. John's. The Ramilies having been refitted, rejoined the fleet under the orders of Admiral, afterwards Viscount, Duncan in the North Sea.
Sir Richard Bickerton was in 1797 removed from the Ramilies and appointed to the Terrible, attached to the Channel Fleet under the orders of Admiral Lord Bridport, where he remained until he was promoted, on the 14th Feb. 1799, to the Rank of Rear- Admiral of the Blue, in which year he hoisted his flag on board the Cumber- land, 74, as second in command at Portsmouth, under Admiral Milbanke.
In 1800 Sir Richard Bickerton was directed to proceed to the Mediterranean fleet, under the command of Admiral Lord Keith, and on the 13th of May sailed in the Seahorse frigate, Capt. E. J. Foote, with the gallant Gen. Sir Ralph Abercromby and Major- Gen. Hutchinson on board. On the arrival of Sir Richard Bicker- ton he hoisted his flag on board the Swiftsure, Capt. Hallowell (the present Admiral Sir Benjamin Hallowell Carew), and proceeded to Cadiz, with four seventy-fours and two frigates under his orders, to blockade that port. The expedition against the French in Egypt being ready, Sir Richard Bickerton left Cadiz, and proceeded with
ADMIRAL SIR RICHARD HUSSKY BIOKERTON. 497
the fleet and transports, under the command of Admiral Lord Keith, up the Mediterranean, and blockaded Alexandria. Peace taking place, Lord Keith returned home, leaving Sir Richard Bickerton in the command, during which the embarkation of the remnant of the French army, under the command of Gen. Menou, took place.
On the 8th Oct. 1801, Sir Richard Bickerton, by command of the Grand Seignor, was invested with the pelisse, star, and red ribbon, and medal of the Order of the Crescent, in remembrance of the service he had rendered during his command on the Egyptian coast.
Sir Richard Bickerton continued the command in the Mediter- ranean, with his flag in the Kent, 74, and afterwards on board the Royal Sovereign, of 1 10 guns.
On the 9th Nov. 1805, he was advanced to the rank of Vice- Admiral. A change taking place in the administration, Sir Richard Bickerton was, in April 1807, nominated one of the Lords Com- missioners of the Admiralty, and soon afterwards, at the general election, was returned to Parliament as one of the representatives for Poole. While he was at the Board of Admiralty a promotion of flag officers took place, and Sir Richard Bickerton, on the 31st July 1810, was made Admiral of the Blue.
Sir Richard Bickerton retained his seat at the Admiralty until 1812, when he succeeded Admiral Sir Roger Curtis as Commander- in-chief at Portsmouth. While at this port his late Majesty, during the time he was Prince Regent, commanded that a grand naval review should take place at Spithead, for the amusement of the Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia, whom His Royal Highness accompanied. The fleet was under the orders of his present Majesty, and his flag as Admiral of the Fleet was hoisted on board the Impregnable.
After the conclusion the following General Order was circulated through the fleet : —
" His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence cannot quit this anchorage, and resign the command of the distinguished officers, seamen, and royal marines he has had under him, on this particular and very flattering occasion, without expressing his entire approbation of the attention that has been shown by all descriptions of officers and men whilst under his orders.
" If his Royal Highness does not particularize individuals, it is only because he has reason to be most perfectly satisfied with' the conduct of all; but his Royal Highness, nevertheless, must express his thanks to Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton, Bart, and also to Rear-Admiral Sir Henry Blackwood, Captain of the Fleet, for their marked attention and great assistance on this occasion.
"Impregnable, June 25th 1814."
The Order of the Bath being divided into three classes, Sir Richard Bickerton was, in 1815, created a Knight Commander of the same ; and on the death of Admiral Sir Richard Onslow, the father of the present Lady Hyde Parker, in January 1818, was appointed Lieutenant-General of the Royal Marines ; and upon the accession of His present Majesty to the throne, was made General of that meritorious corps, which had been held some years by the King while Duke of Clarence.
U. S. JOURN. No. 41. APRIL 1832. 2 K
498
On the 24th May 1823, in compliance with the will of his maternal uncle, Lieut.-Gen. Vere Warner Hussey, Sir Richard Bickerton took the name of Hussey in addition to his own. He married, Sept. 25th 1788, Ann, daughter of the late Doctor James Athill, of Antigua, who survives him. There being no issue, the Baronetage becomes extinct.
Sir Richard Hussey Bickerton had been for some time in a declining state of health, and expired at Bath, 9th February last, in the seventy-third year of his age.
MEMOIR OF THE SERVICES OF THE LATK VICE-ADMIRAL LORD HTENRY PAULET, K.C.B.
ALTHOUGH a mournful, it is nevertheless a pleasing duty, to rescue from the tide of oblivion, if but for a few fleeting years, the memory of those whose zeal and bravery have graced our naval and military annals : their example, moreover, kindles in the youthful mind an ardent desire for fame, teaches it the glorious practice of self-denial, and to sacrifice the love of luxury and ease at the shrine of patriotism. Nor is it for us a less grateful duty to add, that as long as public devotion shall be considered a virtue, so long will the memory of the subject of this memoir be respected.
Lord Henry Paulet was brother to the present Marquis of Win- chester, and uncle to Lord George Paulet, now commanding the Nautilus, whose almost miraculous escape from drowning in the river Shannon, the public journals have but lately announced. The coincidence is singular of their both having commanded ships of that name, unless the selection was made out of compli- ment to the uncle, — who entered the naval service towards the close of the American war ; and after having served eleven years as midshipman, during which time he was in Lord Rodney's action of the 12th of April, he was sent out to India on his promotion, and appointed a Lieutenant into the Vulcan in 1791 : in the April fol- lowing he was removed into the Assistance. On the 20th of Feb. 1793, his Lordship was promoted to the rank of Master and Com- mander of the Nautilus sloop-of-war, in which ship he was present at the capture of Tobago, Major-Gen. Cuyler commanding the land forces, and Sir John Laforey the naval.
In January 1794, Rear-Admiral Sir John Jervis removed Lord Henry from the Nautilus to the Vengeance, Commodore Thompson, which appointment was confirmed by the Admiralty ; and his Lord- ship was present at the capture of Martinique, under the orders of Gen. Sir George Grey and the above-mentioned Rear-Admiral. While in command of the Astrea, and cruising in the Channel, on the 10th of April 1795, under the orders of Sir John Colpoys, on the clearing away of a thick fog, three frigates were descried ; chase was immediately given to one by the Astrea, which came up with her at ten P.M. The Frenchman put his helm up, with the intention of raking his adversary, but Lord Henry, with a quickness of percep- tion and decision natural to him, and indispensable in the naval offi-
THE LATK- VICE-ADMIRAL LORD HKNRY PAULET. 499
eer, prevented this, by ordering the helm a starboard, which threw the ships within pistol-shot, when his Lordship, turning to the Mas- ter, said, " Mr. , this is our position ; keep it ;" and then
addressed himself to the men on the main-deck as follows : — " Now, my lads, there she is for you, and let me see how soon you can do her up." They did it for him in fine style in a few minutes within the hour. It proved to be La Gloire, of 42 guns, and 275 men : the Captain and 40 of the crew were killed and wounded ; while the Astrea, of 32 guns, and 212 men, had only eight wounded.
From this ship, Lord Henry was appointed to the Thalia, and was in Lord Bridport's action off L'Orient. After the action, the Cap- tain of the Fleet, Capt. Domett, with the Captain of one of the French line-of-battle ships captured, went on board the English fri- gate : they bore up too soon to round Ushant, and in a fog found themselves amongst the rocks, within the black rock ; and here his Lordship's presence of mind, and the confidence it produced, stag- gered the Frenchman, as the ship rounded to, and while working out in a tremendous double-reefed top-sail breeze, tacking every time they discovered the breakers. Had it been the main land, it would doubtless have been to him a subject for rejoicing, but as it was, fear was the predominant passion, and he expressed it to the English commander, whose answer was, " We will amuse ourselves here until the turn of tide, and then adieu to difficulties."
As the Thalia was on her return to the fleet, two large frigates were discovered bearing down upon her. Capt. Domett on the gang- way, with the glass, said he believed they were French. " Never mind, Domett," said her Captain, pointing significantly with his fore-finger to the main-deck guns; "those are eighteen-pounders, and hit hard."
In January 1797, the Thalia was sent with other ships, under Sir William Parker, to reinforce Sir John Jervis' squadron, which they joined a few days prior to the action off Cape St. Vincent. The Thalia was afterwards attached to the Mediterranean fleet, and cap- tured the French corvette L'Espoir, of 16 guns, with several French and Spanish privateers. While in this ship, in a moment of irrita- tion, Lord Henry unfortunately struck Lieut. Forbes, the consequence of which was a court-martial, the sentence of which dismissed his Lordship from the service, but in consideration of the circumstances the court recommended him to His Majesty's most gracious con- sideration. His Majesty was pleased to attend to the recommenda- tion of the court, and he was shortly after reinstated and appointed to the Defence, of 74 guns.
In the peace of 1802 the Defence was paid off, and soon after the recommencement of hostilities Lord Henry was appointed to the Terrible : the discipline of this ship was admirable ; she was in internal organization a perfect timepiece ; and we must instance, that while lying at Spithead, and orders having been given for her immediate equipment, she stepped new fore and main-masts along- side the sheer hulk ; at five P.M. the ground tier was adrift, she hauled off, moored, and in forty-eight hours from the stepping of the lower masts, the ship was ready for sea, complete with provisions and water : with the exception of clearing a lighter of eighty butts
2 K 2
500 THE LATE VICE-ADMIRAL LORD HKNRY PAULET.
of water (which was performed by the watch and idlers) no work was done at night, and the rigging had been set up three times. — Mark this, ye prodigies of the new school !
While in the West Indies, in August 1806, the Terrible in a hur- ricane was totally dismasted, and on this occasion the promptitude, energy, and judgment of her Captain were pre-eminent; his presence inspired his crew with confidence while clearing the wreck, particu- larly that of the bowsprit, a service of much difficulty and danger, nevertheless one essential to effect, as while hanging by the bobstays it was straining the cutwater, besides otherwise endangering the ship. Sailors soon discover the abilities of their commander, and in this instance they were aware that the eye of a seaman overlooked them ; that their exertions were watched by one capable of appreciating them ; and this stimulated them to greater. The jury equipment of the ship was alike creditable to all. Lord Henry Paulet, it may be truly said, was the sailors' friend, and, although a rigid disciplina- rian, studied the comfort of his crew on all occasions ; when refitting in harbour, leave was always granted, a thing by no means common at that period, and after the third day in port the duty was carried on by the watch ; at sea they were allowed a proportion of fresh water to wash their cloaths in, an arrangement most conducive to health. That gunnery was not neglected his frigate action was a convincing proof, and he was most attentive to the education and morals of the young men that were with him. One of our most active officers, now commanding a frigate in the West Indies, was sent on board the Terrible as a punishment, some of the non-disciplinarians of the fleet holding this out as a threat to their midshipmen. — Capt. Walpole is the individual here spoken of, and on being sent for by his former Captain to say he might return to his ship, his request was that he might be allowed to remain.
In August 1811, Lord Henry was appointed a Colonel of Marines, and a Rear- Admiral on the 12th Aug. 1812; in 1813 he succeeded Sir William Hope as one of the Lords of the Admiralty, retiring from ill health in 1816 ; on the division of the Order of the Bath into classes, his Lordship was made a Knight Commander, and a Vice- Admiral in 1819.
Lord Henry Paulet, for some years before his death, laboured under a most painful and trying attack of cancer, occasioned by a blow he received in falling against the slide of a carronade on board the Terrible. This he bore with a degree of patient fortitude bor- dering on magnanimity, never uttering a complaint; the master mind struggling to the last against bodily decline. He died at his seat, West Hill Lodge, Hants, on the 28th of Jan. 1832, and his re- mains were deposited in the family vault at Amport, near Andover, Hants. Peace to the memory of the brave arid good ; to one who served his country faithfully in the day of peril, and who distin- guished himself at a time when her navy could boast of many heroes !
His Lordship has left a widow, Maria, daughter of E. Ravens- croft, Esq. whom he married in October 1813, and by whom he has two sons and two daughters.
501
ROYAL NAVAL SCHOOL.
To the Editor of the United Service Journal.
SIR, — As your influential Journal was the first to give publicity to the plan for establishing the Royal Naval School, for the sons of naval officers whose limited incomes render them unable to educate them in a manner be- fitting the rank their parents hold in society; and as several plans have been circulated for the future conduct of the School, some of which have been noticed by you, I beg leave to inclose that of Professor Laurent for your perusal, and that of your readers ; it being, in my estimation, not only the best, but the only practicable plan that has yet appeared. The funds already subscribed towards this national undertaking, amount to 13,000/., the interest arising from which, together with the annual subscriptions, psodu- cing an income of nearly 1000/. per annum ; and I therefore feel justified in saying, that the school may now be considered as fairly established. The education which it is proposed to give for 25/. per annum, will be fully equal to that to be obtained at schools in general at a cost of not less than from 501. to 80/. A perusal of Professor Laurent's plan will fully convince your readers of both Services as to this fact ; and the accompanying letter from the Rev. Dr. Crombie, whose great attainments arid practical experience enable him to speak unhesitatingly on such a subject, will confirm my state- ment. I would particularly draw the attention of your readers to the sur- prise expressed by the Rev. Doctor at the assertions which are so confidently m;>de, that an education, to be a good one, must be an expensive one. But his letter will speak for itself, and I hope fully satisfy the minds of any of your readers who may yet entertain doubts on this point of the subject. I am, Sir, your very obedient servant,
W. H. DICKSON, Commander.
Naval Club, Bond-street, March 12th, 1832.
LETTER FROM DR. CROMBIE TO COMMANDER DICKSON.
DEAR SIR, — I have examined Mr. Laurent's estimate of the expenditure annually to be incurred in the board and education of 200 boys, at the pro- jected Naval Institution. It appears to me, that he has rated some articles too low and others too high ; but, though I differ from him in some of the particulars, I have no hesitation in assenting to his conclusion.
I am surprised to hear some people arguing as if a cheap education were necessarily a bad one, and a dear education a good one. This appears to me a most extraordinary error. It is doubtless true, that the master of a school who has been well educated, and is a man of talent and industry, will require, as he is entitled to expect, a higher remuneration for his ser- vices than a person of inferior education and inferior industry. It is also true, that where the terms of a school are low, there must be, generally speaking, a deficiency somewhere, either in the domestic economy or in the capacity of the teachers. But to this general rule I have, in course of my experience, known many exceptions. But, whatever the general rule may be, it is wholly inapplicable to your case. You propose salaries quite large enough to ensure to you the services of teachers in every respect competent to the duties they will have to discharge. You, by reason of some particu- lar advantages, which you will possess over private boarding-schools, will be able to give the best education at a lower rate than is charged by the mas- ters of our most reputable seminaries. It appears to me, therefore, quite absurd to conclude, that because the education at your institution is to be comparatively cheap, it must be therefore necessarily bad. I repeat what I have already said, that 25/. a year, the number of boys being 200, will amply cover the board and education of each boy, it being considered that the
503 ROYAL NAVAL SCHOOL.
vacations extend to nearly one quarter of a year. Let the experiment be made on this scale, which I consider to be a safe one, and you may after- wards modify your plan, as circumstances may suggest. I have read some pompous extravagances in the newspaper, recommending an expensive edu- cation. It surely requires no great penetration to perceive, that high terms would exclude from the benefit of your institution the very persons for whom chiefly it is intended. If these gentlemen, who advocate an expensive education, will ensure you for some years sixty or seventy boys at 60/. each, then, indeed, you may easily calculate how many you can receive under 25/. a year. But to exclude the sons of poor officers by requiring high terms for all, would be to add insult to cruelty.
Accept my hearty good wishes and earnest desire that your plan may succeed, believing me to be,
Dear Sir, yours truly,
ALEX. CROMBIE.
DETAILS OF THE EXPENSES OF THE PROPOSED ESTABLISHMENTS FOE THE EDUCATION OF THE SONS OF NAVAL OFFICERS.
The allowance for each student in the establishment now contemplated, may be stated at tenpence halfpenny per day. We suppose the age of the students to be from ten to fourteen years, and propose the following table of diet.*
d. s. d.
Breakfast. 1 pint of milk, lOu. gal. l£ 5^1 oz. bread, Is. 3d. gal. 1|
0 2£
Dinner. 13J oz. meat, 5d. lb. 4
10 oz. potatoes, 3s. cwt. 0^ 1 pint beer, 4d. gal. OJ
3 oz. bread OJ
Pudding ... OJ
0 6
Supper. 5^ oz. bread . . l£
1 oz. butter . . of
0 2
0 10$
Making for the weekly expense of each student 6s. l£d. Supposing the re- sidence at school to comprise forty weeks of the year, the annual expense for one boy will be 12/. 5s. ; and consequently the annual expense for 200 stu- dents will be 2450/.
Instead of beer or milk at supper, it is proposed to vary the diet, by giving the children milk, tea, and sugar. The milk used for the tea will be taken from the allowance at breakfast. Supposing the articles supplied at
* The allowance for able-bodied seamen on board His Majesty's ships in ordinary is as follows : —
5. d.
Bread of Ibs. at 2£d. . . 1 5£
Beer of gals, at 3d. . . 19
Fresh beef of Ibs. at 4d. . .24 Cheese 14oz. at 5d. . 04
Butter lOjoz. . ..04
Oatmeal £ pint, 9d. gal. . 0 OJ
Vinegar ^ pint, Is. gal. . . 0 Of
ROYAL NAVAL SCHOOL. 503
the same rate, and the consumption in the same ratio, as the Royal Naval College, the expense of this article of diet will be : —
£ s. d.
120lbs. Tear 5s. Ib. 30 0 0
500lbs. Sugar, Is. Ib. 25 0 0
£55 0 0
The expenses, therefore, of victualling in every way 200 students, may be stated at 2505/. per year.*
The meat, it is to be observed, must be of the best quality, and from the best party. It should be alternately beef and mutton. The relics of bread and milk from the morning meal will, generally speaking, serve to make the puddings. The allowance to each boy, stated in the table of diet under this head, is to be expended in sugar, eggs, raisins, and the other condiments of such dishes.
Before I dismiss this subject, it is proper I should direct your attention to the very great probability, that the statement just given of the expenses of victualling the establishment, exceed considerably every thing that can be found necessary. In order to be safe from all accusations of misrepresenta- tion, the provisions have for this calculation been assumed at a much higher price than that at which they might be procured for so large an establishment as that in contemplation, I am inclined also to think that the quantity proposed is considerably more than would be actually consumed ; without, therefore, absolutely pledging myself to the fact, I feel convinced that the above statement is carried too high by about ten per cent. ; that is to say, that the expenses of victualling the students will really be no more than 2,255/. every year.f
On this branch of expenditure, the experience of large householders may be consulted with advantage.
I shall now proceed to discuss the second branch of the household expenses, the servants of the establishment. Of these, ten will, it appears from a comparison of large institutions of the kind, be quite enough to attend carefully to the comforts of the children, and to the general cleanli- ness of the house and furniture. The sums paid to each servant are divided into two portions, the yearly wages and the yearly allowance for board.}
* The contracts for the Royal Naval College are at the full prices for which the articles may be procured retail in the shops of Portsmouth. Eighty boys con- sume there 12lbs. of tea a quarter, and SGlbs. of sugar.
•J- I observe also this statement supposes that the relics of the dinner are made no use of for the food of the students. Now I find by Kitchener, a good judge on these affairs, that roast-beef bones, and the liquor in which legs of mutton or rounds of beef have been boiled, form the very best bases for pease-soup. I cannot believe that rational prejudice would go so far as not to permit the students to have three times a week good pease-soup. I propose, for instance, the following weekly bill of fare by which this important item may be greatly curtailed.
Sunday— Roast-beef and plum-pudding.
Monday — Boiled leg of mutton and pudding.
Tuesday — One pint pease-soup, roast leg of mutton (half the quantity of other days).
Wednesday— Round of beef and pudding.
Thursday — One pint pease-soup, roast shoulder of mutton (half the quantity of other days).
Friday — Boiled leg of mutton and pudding.
Saturday — One pint of pease-soup, roast leg of mutton (half the quantity of other days).
J It will perhaps be deemed proper to give the servants their bed furniture. I would advise likewise, for the sake of cleanliness, which cannot be too carefully attended to, that their washing should likewise be paid by the establishment : the additional expense would be about 251,
504 KOYAL NAVAL SCHOOL.
£ s. d.
1 Housekeeper, wages . . 30 0 0
Ditto, keep . . . . 20 0 0
1 Laundry-woman, wages . 10 0 0
Ditto, keep Is. a day ' . . 18 5 0
1 Cook, wages . . . 12 0 0
Ditto, keep Is. a day . . . 18 5 0 1 Kitchen-maid, wages . . 800
Ditto, keep Is. a day . . 18 5 0
3 House-maids, wages Si. per year £4 0 0
Ditto, keep Is. a day . . 54 15 0
3 Men-servants, wages 15/. a year 45 0 0
Ditto, keep Is. 3d. a day . . 67 8 0
£325 18 0
Deserving widows of officers, whose pensions are small, constitute the class from which the housekeeper should be taken. Her duty will be to manage the servants ; to see that the beds of the students are well made ; that the house is kept clean and neat ; that the meals are well prepared, and ready always to the minute appointed ; the cloth properly laid, and every boy as comfortable as the regulations of the establishment will allow. It will like- wise be a part of her duty, with one of the masters and two of the senior boys of the school, to examine all provisions sent into the Establishment, and ascertain whether they correspond with the contract. The housekeeper will be allowed private rooms, coals, and candles ; she will dispose of the relics of the table.*
The duties of the laundry- woman are to account for and air the linen ; to put it up into the wardrobe ; to distribute, three times a week, clean shirts, Sec.* to the students ; to examine all the clothes as soon as they come from the wash, and see which want mending : the rest of her time is to be spent in mending and darning the stockings and linen. She is to wait at table at dinner-time.
The cook is to be skilful in the art of cooking large joints of meat, and making plain puddings; it will be her business to make the tea and weigh the butter for supper: assisted by the kitchen-maid, she will wait upon the students at their evening meal. Her perquisite will be the grease.t
The kitchen-maid is to keep the plates and dishes all clean ; to ascertain and report all breakages, and to assist generally the cook ; she must under- stand the polishing of pewter. Her perquisites will be the wash.J
The house-maids are to scour and sweep the house, to wait at dinner and breakfast, and make themselves generally useful.
* The following suggestion is highly deserving of attention. There might be a person appointed under the name of " Superintendent of the House," who should be a half-pay commissioned officer, and a married man. To him should be entrust- ed the entire management of the establishment out of school : he should likewise keep accounts, and in general do all the duties of clerk. The wife of the Superin- tendent should undertake the duties of the housekeeper. By the care and economy of these two individuals, the board-wages of the servants might be saved by making some small additions to the relics of the dinner-table. The salary proposed for this person would be 200/. and a house. This expense would, I am confident, be more than counterbalanced by the consequent savings.
•f It has been observed to me, that it would be better to increase the wages of the cook two or three pounds yearly, than to adopt this popular plan. Cooks are too apt to attend more to the drippings than to the meat itself. Let the grease be sold by contract, and there is very little doubt that it will supply the expenses of lighting.
$ The economist says, " The kitchen-maid will not fail to make the wash good for her customers : allow her two pounds a year more, and sell the wash yourselves ; or if in the country, why not keep a piggery of your own ?"
ROYAL NAVAL SCHOOL. 505
The men servants are to make the beds, to sweep the school-rooms, to clean the knives and forks, to blacken the shoes, bring up coal for the school, and go on messages. One is always to be especially in attendance on the masters during the school hours. They are to keep alternate watch in the dormitories during the night.*
The .housekeeper, laundry-maid, and three house-maids, are to be oc- cupied in the evening in repairing the linen. The servants are all to bring with them their tea-things.
In an establishment like that in contemplation, the washing will constitute an important item of the expenditure. In the subjoined statement, no articles are reckoned but those belonging to the students individually, or used by them generally, such as table-cloths, blankets, blinds, counterpanes.
Cleanliness is of the highest importance to youth : it is difficult to devise any mode of effectually securing this most necessary object without incurring great expense ; I observe, therefore, that in whatever other branch of ex- penditure greater economy may hereafter be proposed than is assumed in this plan, the list which I now give of the weekly linen of one student must not be touched.
3 shirts, at l^d . . 4>^d.
3 pair stockings . . 2|
3 pocket handkerchiefs 1 pair calico drawers . . 1
1 night shirt . . . 1
2 towels . . . .1
1 pillow-case ... A
1 sheet (i. e. one pair a fortnight) \ 1 flannel waistcoat . . 1
That is say, the whole amount for washing the personal linen of two hun- dred students during their forty weeks stay at the establishment will be 400/.
60 table-cloths . . 15*. Od.
Sundries . . . 50
This, forty weeks, makes 40/. £l 0 0
Therefore the total amount of the washing may be stated at 440/. The counterpanes, blankets, window-blinds, &c. must be all washed in the Mid- summer vacations ; the amount of this is roughly stated at 15/. which raises the yearly estimate to 455/. This estimate, like that for provisions, may probably be reduced 10 per cent, and be assumed at about 410/.f
* Should the funds of the establishment permit it, another servant might be ap- pointed, whose duty it s-hould be to attend the students during play-hours, to be the executor of all corporal punishments, and to share in the dormitory watch. The additional expense of such a person would be 30J. a year.
t It is highly important that the following observation should be borne in mind ; " in a private family the expense of washing at home without employing the ser- vants of the house in any way whatever, is just one half what it costs when put out." Therefore, suppose a laundry at some distance from the school be esta- blished, little doubt can be entertained that the whole washing will be done at an expense of 2201. This sum, it is understood, may be still more considerably dimi- nished by using the washing machine, as I understand it is the general practice at Deal, Dover, and other places.
Suppose the laundry establishment to be as follows : —
£. s. d.
4 Laundry maids at 10J. a year . . 40 0 0
Keep of ditto at Is. per day . . . 9140 16 Chaldron of coals, II. Ws. per chaldron 24 0 0 400 Ib. of soap, 21, 10*. per cwt. . 100 0 0
£255 4 0
ROYAL NAVAL SCHOOL.
In order to avoid the expenses of washing nankeen trowsers, white waist- coats, &c. it will be necessary to make certain regulations as to the dress of the students ; whether the clothing of the students shall be in the hands of the parents or the conductors of the establishment in question.
I do not mean to enter into that now. I merely say that I am decidedly for the latter, and will readily furnish the estimates of the clothing if required.*
As far as the mere boarding of the students is concerned, there remain but few items of expense to mention, I enumerate them thus : —
£ s. d.
Coals and wood (forty chaldrons of the former) 60 0 0
Lighting . . . . 25 0 0
Soap, one cwt. for servants . . 2 10 0
Blacking-brushes . . . 10 0 0
Sundries . . . . . 50 0 0
Infirmaryf . . . . 300 0 0
£447 10 0
Thus we shall now easily obtain the total amount of the boarding of two hundred students.
£ s. d.
Victualling . . . 2505 0 0
Servants and keep . ... . 325 18 0
Washing .... 440 0 0
Infirmary . 447 10 0
,£3718 8 0
That is to say, about 18/. Us. for each boy ; but I hold it would be ex- treme folly to assume that the various articles composing the victualling department cannot be obtained at a much lower rate than I have assumed for the calculations ; I will suppose, for instance, that without introducing any of the expedients proposed in the notes, we merely take the reductions, the amount of those reductions will be full 400/. and the boarding of each
* In order that any parent who shall see this may have an opportunity of know- ing the amount of the outfit of a child for the proposed Establishment, I subjoin a list of the articles which it would be proper to require the student to bring with him.
Two suits of clothes, blue, viz. sailors 6 pocket handkerchiefs, jacket, waistcoat and frowsers, metal 2 pair of gloves, buttons, with a device to be determined 2 pair of sheets, upon. 2 pillow-cases.
2 hats. 8 towels.
1 small trunk. 1 silver table and tea spoon.
8 shirts, without frills. 1 set of clothes' brushes, combs and
8 pair of white stockings. tooth-brushes.
8 pair of coloured worsted stockings. £ ^- °f soap.
3 black silk handkerchiefs. 1 small looking-glass.
3 pair of drawers. 1 bible.
4 pair of shoes, no boots or half boots 1 prayer-book, allowed. 1 candlestick.
Any deficiency of the foregoing articles shall be made good at the return of the student after the half-yearly vacation ; everything to be taken away at the depar- ture of the students, excepting the sheets and pillow-cases, which are to be left to the infirmary.
•f- The expenses of the infirmary are placed at the same rate as in the Royal Naval College, that is to say, at I/. 10*. per boy annually ; this I think maybe reduced 10 per cent, making the sum 290J.
ROYAL NAVAL SCHOOL. 507
student cannot therefore be, with any shadow of reason, carried any higher than 16/. 10*. annually.
But all seem of opinion that great savings would accrue from adopting some of the measures mentioned here and there in the notes ; on the mere article of washing, for instance, nearly 200/. may be saved annually. 1 do not therefore hesitate to declare that it is my firm conviction, that the ex- pense of supporting the establishment may be reduced to 14/. each boy : this I hold to be the minimum; as for the maximum, the most wanton extrava- gance can hardly carry it beyond 171. : taking, therefore, the medium between the minimum and maximum, I state the expense of keeping every student at 15/. 10*. annually.
Before I quit this point, I shall take the liberty of observing, that I have come to this conclusion from a vast number of data furnished me, and after very long enquiries ; should, as I think the case will be, the moderation of the amount become a subject of cavil, the opposers must be bound in honour to demonstrate by facts, and not by conjecture, in what parts I have erred.
INSTRUCTION.
I now proceed to consider the expenses of instructing two hundred stu- dents. The age at which the students will be admitted can hardly be less than ten years, as before that time many children are incapable of washing and keeping themselves clean, while the general principle on which it is pro- posed to establish this institution will not allow of those attentions to the comfort of children generally confined to the nursery. The subjects of in- struction are to be — l,the Latin and Greek languages; 2, the French and German languages ; 3, the elements of mathematics, comprising arithmetic on principle, Euclid, algebra, to the binomial theorems inclusive, and the general principles of conic sections; 4>, writing and cyphering; 5, elements of history and geography.*
The masters are to be liberally paid, and supplied with houses for them- selves, equal in size and fitting up to those which are let in populous towns at 30/. In selecting individuals to fill these highly responsible situations, particular attention must be paid to their temper and patience ; and some means must be devissd of ascertaining that they possess all and more than the acquirements which they propose to impart to their pupils.
* In respect to this system of education, the details of which I shall be happy to explain if required, I observe — 1st, That a good and sound foundation in each of these five branches of knowledge, may be laid in five years. 2ndly, That the knowledge obtained in Latin and Greek languages will be sufficient to enable the student, when he quits the establishment, to carry his researches as deeply as he shall choose into classic literature. Srdly, The acquirements of the elements of the French and German languages, will render the learning of the other European languages exceedingly easy, as experience abundantly demonstrates. 4thly, The knowledge of mathematics will enable the student hereafter to apply, if he chooses, to the higher branches of applied mathematics, mechanics, navigation, astronomy, &c. 4th, Writing and ciphering will be taught sufficiently for the purpose of society. 5th, History and geography will be imparted in the same proportion : to pretend to enter upon the difficulties of those two sciences at an early period of youth would be highly absurd.
If the funds of the Establishment would allow the expense, I should propose a 6th branch of instruction, I mean the art of drawing.
As I have before said, I am willing to give a detail of this system of education ; until that has been required and given, I beg that my opinion, which I have with Locke, Milton, Johnson, and many other great men, may not be exposed to the cavils of those individuals who persist iu the necessity of making boys compose nonsense verses during whole years.
508 JIOYAL NAVAL SCHOOL.
1 Head master . . . . . £400
1 Second master ..... 300
1 Assistant to ditto . . . >- 200
1 Master of languages .... 200
3 Under masters .... 300
£1400*
The head master is to be a graduate of one of the three universities. His duty will be to attend the school every day, Saturday and Sunday excepted, from nine A.M. to twelve, and from two P.M. till four ; while there, he is to be actively engaged in giving instruction to the students who are the most forward in the classics, and perfecting the higher boys in history and geography. Whenever a necessity occurs of inflicting corporeal punish- ment or confinement, the offence is to be reported to him, and he is to award the degree and mode of punishment. He is to give particular attention to the morals and religion of the boys ; on Sundays he is to read the prayers of the liturgy to the whole establishment in his canonical diess.f
The second master is to attend the school six hours daily ; viz. from nine A.M. to twelve, and from two V.M. to five. He is to undertake all the mathematical departments, and likewise to hear the classes moderately advanced in Latin and Greek ; he is to assist generally in the education.
The assistant master is to perfect the boys in Latin grammar, to intro- duce them to some knowledge of the elements of Greek, and assist in the general departments of education.
The master of languages is to devote his whole time to giving instruction in French and German tongues, on grammatical principles ; he and the assist- ant master will attend the school at the same hours as the second master.
The under masters will be expected to be able to teach writing, the four simple operations of arithmetic, the Latin grammar, reading and spelling English. Their hours of attendance as instructors are to be two every day, namely, when the days are long from six A.M. to eight ; at other times from seven A.M. to eight, and from seven P.M. to eight. Two of these under masters will remain at school while the masters are there ; at those times their business will be to walk about from room to room and see that the students are not idling their time. I propose that these three or four under masters should be commissioned officers on half-pay, below the rank of commander. They will be allowed apartments in the establishment. One of them is constantly to be present during the play-hours.
The only thing that now remains to be considered, in order to arrive at an approximated estimate of the expense of boarding and educating the student
* Taking the keep of the students at 151. 10s. the expense of education of each will amount to 22J. 10s. ; but if it is found that the keep may be reduced to 141. I propose to make the following alterations —
1 Head master . . . £450
1 Second master . . . 350
2 Assistants .... 400 4 Under masters . . . 400
£1600
This will produce no alteration in the final result.
The head master, second master, assistant master, and master of languages are to be furnished with houses or lodging money ; if the latter, the expense of that item will be 120/.
-j- These duties are assigned to the head-master, in the supposition that the pro- posal made in a former note is adopted ; I shall put off all further details of the duties of the masters to the time when I am railed upon to draw up the system of education.
SUBMARINE VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS, &C. 509
is, to determine the probable cost of the books and stationery for each boy : this I set at 2/. annually for each — six copy-books a year at 9d. one sheet of scribbling paper every day for the exercises, and a new pen every other day, amount to 16.v. in the year ; the remaining II. 4.?. will be more than sufficient to cover the expenses of the books given to the students.
We are threefore now enabled to estimate the whole expense of boarding and educating the students, independently of the building of the establish- ment, its outfit and annual repairs, that estimate will be for each boy — *
£ *. d.
Victualling, &c. . . . . 15 10 0
Education . . . . .700
Books . 200
£24 10 0
We finally conclude, that the cost of boarding and educating a boy in the establishment, conducted on the most liberal plan, cannot be more than 251. a-year, and may be with proper economy considerably reduced.
P. E. LAURENT, Royal Naval College, H. M. Dockyard, Portsmouth.
MODERN INSTANCES OF SUBMARINE VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS, &C.
THE appearance lately of a volcanic islet on the coast of Sicily, bavin? excited public curiosity, perhaps the following modern instances of ignivo- mous eruptions in the ocean, — appearances supposed to originate from sub- marine fire, — and volcanic rocks rising out of the deep, may not be uninte- resting to some of the readers of the United Service Journal.
Of volcanoes on the land, it appears that 170 have been traced; but it is probable that there are others in the islands of the Pacific, and those pai-ts of the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans, which are still unknown.
Although most of the Polynesian groups owe their origin to the Coralline insect, yet there are some which no doubt have been produced, or thrown up above the surface of the ocean, by the agency of submarine fire ; and in many cases of the former we should not be far wrong, perhaps, in assigning the base or substructure, in the first instance, to the action of submarine fire; the second, or that portion which reaches the surface of the water, to the zoophite ; the coating or soil, primitially, to the aquatic fowl ; and the1 vegetable productions jointly to the birds, and to the adventitious aid of currents, &c. And it is not improbable, that the lofty volcanic peaks in in- sulated lands, such as Teneriffe and Owhyhee, are the remains of the ante- diluvian world, and owe not their elevation to the agency of subterranean or submarine fire.
Our knowledge, however, of the wide expanse of ocean between the Old and the New Continents, not being general over its surface, the line of con- nection between the several igneous points cannot be drawn with the same degree of probable correctness as in those parts of the world more intimately known. We find, in like manner, as in the Northern Atlantic, chains of vol-
* SomjB parents will prefer leaving their children at the establishment during the vacation ; it is proposed that on that account some of the masters should, by turns, continue their instructions in alternate vacations, and that the additional cost to the parents should be 11.
510 MODERN INSTANCES OF SUBMARINE
canic islands occupy the northern parts of the Great Ocean, from the Penin- sula of Alaska to that of Kamschatka, from whence the line diverges south- wardly to the Japan Islands, the Ladrones, &c.
On the north-west coast of America, in Mexico, Darien, the Galapagos Isles, those of St. Ambrose and St. Felix of Chili, the chains of the Andes, down to the southern extreme of the dreary coast of Terra del Fuego, and even among the Antarctic Islands, still more dreary and desolate, the pre- sence of volcanic fire is visible. In the Sandwich, Polynesia, among the Friendly Isles (Toofoa), the Navigators' Islands (Maouna), the Marquesas, Easter Island, and several others in this vast ocean, the traces of internal fire are seen. The Atlantic affords traces of this connexion from far north to the southern polar regions. Submarine phenomena, the most extraordi- nary of any which volcanic eruptions produce, are not infrequent in the Northern Ocean: at least in the tracks occupied by the long volcanic chain that stretches from the fifty-eighth to the seventy-second degree of lati- tude : this chain commences to the north of Scotland ; and the basaltic groups of the Hebrides, of the Orkneys, and of the Shetland Islands, form the first rings of it. Stretching afterwards to the north-west, it appears at the Ferro Isles, then to Iceland, the most extensive theatre of ignivompus eruptions to be found on the surface of the globe. From Iceland, the chain goes on to join Jean Mayen Isle, where it appears to end, (or, more correctly speaking, where our information ends,) after traversing under water a space of more than 260 marine leagues.* Bear Island and Spitzbergen appear, as far as they have been traced, to be calcareous.
The line from Iceland may be carried to the Azores, thence to the Madei- ras, the Canaries, the Cape Verdes, St. Paul, Ascension, St. Helena, the scattered Isles south of the tropic of Capricorn, to the east, by Amsterdam and St. Paul Islands, to the Australasian Sea and the Pacific Ocean, and to the Antarctic Isles.
Of the countries of Europe, Italy, the garden of the world ! appears to be the great central laboratory of volcanic matter; independent of Vesuvius and the Sicily and Lipari Isles, which are frequent in eruptions, there are evident proofs, in the Maremma of Tuscany, of the existence of internal fire. In this region f of Malaria, — this "land of memory, where the traveller finds nothing but ruins," — the soil presents merely a white clay, mixed with sulphur, which forms in great abundance ; sulphureous springs are also seen bubbling up out of the ground, announcing themselves, at a distance, by an odour, and by exhalations which give a gloomy aspect to the face of the whole country. Fetid flames rise amidst whirls of smoke from these solfa terre, or little craters, the sides of which are covered with sulphureous in- crustations, while a livid water boils in the centre. The country is subject to earthquakes, and its surface is undulated like the vast waves of an immense
ocean 4
After this brief preliminary, I shall give the instances of islets rising out of the sea, &c. which have come to my knowledge, but 1 have no doubt that many others have been recorded.
In 1783,§ off Ryke-yse, or Bird Island, Iceland, a singular submarine phenomenon occurred : the sea appeared covered with a light-bluish flame, through an extent of more than a mile ; it lasted several hours, and occa- sioned a very great consternation among the inhabitants of the neighbour-
* Freminville.
t It stretches along the Mediterranean from Leghorn to Terracina, extending' inland as far as the first chain of the Apennines.
£ Chateauvieux.
§ In 175?> a submarine volcano threw up an islet three leagues from Pondi- cherry, on the coast of Coromandel.
VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS, &C. 511
ing coast. When the flame ceased, a small island appeared on the site, the surface of which was covered with pumice-stones and volcanic ashes. This islet has since disappeared. I believe Capt. Scoresby gives an account of a similar appearance near Beeringberg in this sea.
Mr. Krinkoff, attached to the Russo-American Company, states, that in May 1796, a volcanic island rose out of the sea near Umnack, in the northern part of the Great Ocean ; a description of which is given by Capt. Kotzebue in his first voyage of discovery.
In 1806, Capt. Krusenstern, the Russian circumnavigator, observed a phenomenon in latitude 2° 43' S. and longitude 20° 35' W., which, from the description, there is very little doubt was the forerunner of a volcanic island. The particulars are given in that officer's interesting narrative.
In 1811, Capt. Tillard, of His Majesty's ship Sabrina, observed the rise and progress of a volcanic islet off the western point of St. Michael, one of the Azores : the full particulars of which may be found in the Naval Chro- nicle. Some time in 1810, smoke was observed to issue from the sea in the same direction. The isle thus produced has since submerged.
In March 1814, Mr. J. Jones, in the ship Jefferson, off Sunday Island, in the Pacific Ocean, latitude 29° 12' S. and longitude 178° 13' W. where he had previously sounded in forty-five fathoms, found a volcanic islet, which was thrown up by submarine fire. Whilst this phenomenon was in active operation, the reflection of the flame was seen at the distance of eighty miles. In May following, Mr. Jones and others landed on the new-formed islet, which, in the highest part, was found to be 600 feet above the sea level ; its extent about three miles; the body of the islet cone-shaped, and the outline of the margin in the form of a horse-shoe. The smoke, at the time of exa- mination, was extremely dense, and the water so hot that a person's finger could not be borne in it for a second of time : the stones and gravel in some parts appeared as if dropped from a cart. Within the points of the cres- cent, another islet was heaving up at the time the party landed !
1816. Capt. Kotzebue mentions a fourth island in the group Gwozdeff, near Cape Prince of Wales, Behring's Strait, which was not known to Cap- tains Cook and Clerke, who must have seen it had it existed when those navi- gators were there. Capt. Kotzebue is of opinion that it has since risen out of the sea.
In a voyage to the Brazils, in a merchant vessel, commanded by an officer of the navy, May 1824, in the latitude 7° 00' N. and longitude 20° 51' W. a phenomenon was observed, which had every appearance of being the pre- cursor of a volcanic isle. The water appeared at a short distance from the vessel to be in a powerful state of ebullition, bubbling up and breaking into foam, which rested on the surface, and was attended with a hissing noise, such as is produced by steam. It was attentively observed, and presented the same appearance, and occupied the same spot, as long as it was discern- ible ; and in every repect distinct from the agitation produced by a scole of fish, or by current.
Lastly, on the 10th July 1831,* a volcanic island rose out of the sea off the south-west part of Sicily.
VULCAK.
* The present year seems rife in natural phenomena and political convulsions — earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, revolutions, insurrections, constitu- tional reform, and pestilence ; — may Heaven preserve us from the usual conjoint evil — famine !
512
PHENOMENON AT ST. HELENA.
IN the year 1821 I was a midshipman in His Majesty's ship Vigo, guard- ship at St. Helena, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Lambert, and com- manded by Capt. Thomas Brown, during the latter period of Napoleon's exile. I had charge of an excellent establishment on shore, called the stock-yard, for keeping a supply of fat cattle for the squadron after the arrival of the animals from the Cape, lank and lean. My party of men always slept on board, landing the next morning at daylight.
It was in the early part of May, a month rendered remarkable by the death of the Great Chieftain, which took place on the 5th day, that we were pulling in as usual in the launch, with several working-parties on board, l<ut observing that the surf was too violent for the large boat filled with men to attempt a landing, we tried to accomplish it by a few at a time in the jolly-boat. A small number, including myself, got on shore in this manner. Shortly after, I was engaged in conversation with an officer of the Honour- able Company's ship Ganges, surrounded by native women, some children, and Lascars, when I felt myself forcibly pulled by the arm, and heard a person exclaim, — " Look at the horizon, run, save yourself, we shall be all lost !"
I did look, and the sight I shall never cease to remember, it was so frightfully grand. On the horizon, from the north-west, appeared an immense undulation, or swell, resembling a bank of water rolling majesti- cally in, directly in the wind's eye. Whether it was my anxiety for the boats, or that astonishment had paralysed me, I cannot tell, but I felt riveted to the spot alone, and before I could attempt to save myself, as others did by climbing the rocks, I was whirled along with the rapidity of lightning in the midst of this dark wave. Almost in an instant I expe- rienced a violent shock, which stunned me for a 'few moments ; on recover- ing the perfect use of my senses, I found myself in the armourer's cave, with the forge lying across my thigh. To this circumstance I must draw attention, as, by its weight keeping me from going into the sea as the water receded, and from being dashed against the rocks, to it I owe my preserva- tion. Near me were lying two lascars, one was split up the middle, the other's skull was beat to pieces — both were dead. Fearing a return of the surf, as the sea usually rolls in quickly twice, and then comes with redoubled violence, I made the best use of my lungs ; the carpenter fortunately heard my cries and rescued me. My clothes were torn to shreds, my ears, eyes, and nose filled with ashes and blood ; but, with the exception of a few con- tusions, and lacerated hands, I was otherwise unhurt. One woman was drowned, and several men and children were picked up by the boats. This first swell that I have mentioned was the prelude to a gigantic surf, which lasted three days.
This phenomenon (as nothing like it had ever taken place in the memory of the oldest inhabitants) was attributed to an earthquake. We had only telegraphic communication with the ship while it lasted. The fortifications were much injured in front of James Town ; huge rocks were torn up and tossed into our little bathing-place to the left of the landing ; the guard- house was abandoned, the sea reaching the upper windows ; the ships rode with sails aback to keep them astern of their anchors ; and, while it lasted, to see the mass of water burst upon the cliffs, as if to shake the island from its foundation, was the grandest sight I ever beheld.
There may be some who would connect such a singular occurrence with the last days of the expiring Emperor. Croly, if I recollect right, in his finely written history of George the Fourth, speaks of his soul taking its flight amidst the noise of the tempest and roar of the surf, comparing it to the crash of a battle and armies meeting.
High Wycomb, Jan. 20th 1832. NAUTICUS.
513
GREECE.
" Clime of the unforgotten brave, Whose land from plain to mountain cave Was freedom's home or glory's grave. Shrine of the mighty ! Can it be That this is all remains of thee ?"— BYRON.
WHEN the settlement, of the Greek boundary occasioned so much inkshed, about eighteen months ago, we ventured, so far at least to set the disputants right, as to show, that notwithstanding the many excellent and brilliant things said and written in the course of the discussion, both parties seemed yet to remain in pretty equal igno- rance of the real merits of the point at issue. We were rewarded for our exertions, by hearing nothing of the marvellous advantages and disadvantages of the Apropotamos as a military frontier, or of Count Capo d'Istria's new law of nations, according to which, entire provinces could be claimed on the mere strength of the enlistment of a few of their renegado natives. Encouraged by this success, and seeing that the Greek question is now about to be finally arranged, we are once more induced to touch, very briefly, on this most inte- resting subject, less with a view of offering any observations of our own, than for the purpose of calling the attention of the public gene- rally, and of the corps diplomatique in particular, to a work of great merit and research written by Professor Fallmerayer, author of the History of the Empire of Trebisonde, and lately published by Cotta, of Stuttgard, under the title of Essay on the History of the Morea. The object of the Professor in this new work, is to show the neces- sity of revising the history of Greece, at least from the destruction of Corinth, and to prove that the people now called Greeks are in no respects descendants of the ancient Greeks ; and the melancholy facts he adduces in support of this last assertion, seem to place the matter beyond dispute. We do not urge this point at present with any view to cool whatever zeal may still remain in favour of an unfor- tunate people, but simply because we wish to see that zeal based upon truth, and not upon falsehood and delusion : the exertions of the country must no longer be influenced by professional spouters and loan contractors : its policy, both foreign and domestic, should rest on the clear foundation of justice, honour, and expediency; but not on idle theories, engendered in the brains of Utopian philanthropists, paragraph-mongers, and regularly drilled agitators. Last of all, the gentlemen of the corps diplomatique, must learn to moderate not only their liberal, but their classical enthusiasm, and to enlarge their knowledge of history, geography, and statistics, as well as of foreign languages : we must have no more notes like those written on the Greek and Turkish questions ; and the difficulty of construing a simple sentence of the simplest French, must not again lead us to the brink of an unjust war. We willingly make allowance for an enthusiastic admiration of the classical writings of antiquity, but gentlemen should recollect that the world has not stood still since- those immortal works were composed, and though human intellect has not in modern times, despite the march of mind theory, surpass- ed, if it has even equalled the " fire of fancy and the reach of U. S. JOURK. No. 41. APRIL 1832. 2 L
514 G-REBCE.
thought" displayed by such men as Plato, Aristotle, and others, that the bounds of human knowledge have still been widely extended. We would also hint, that classical enthusiasm should, perhaps, be accompanied by some knowledge of those just principles of national policy so frequently to be met with in the pages of the Ancients,* and so often ridiculed in our own time, even by these pretended ad- mirers of the Ancients. Thucydides, Demosthenes (in his oration in favour of the Megalopolitans), and Polybius, advocate principles that, if duly appreciated, and acted upon, would have prevented the signature of the treaty of London ; would have caused Varna to be relieved, and Warsaw to have been defended. The last-mentioned writer particularly says, in praising the conduct of Hiero for aiding the Carthaginians against the revolted mercenaries, that —
" The first aggrandisement of a neighboming state should never be over- looked, nor should such a state ever be allowed to grow to a height capable of preventing us from waging against it a just war with equal forces."
Had we declaimed less about the Ancients, and followed their precepts better, we should not now, perhaps, be paying tribute to Russia.
After these prefatory remarks, we proceed at once to Professor Fallmerayer's book, or rather to the account of it given in the 286th and 287th Numbers of the Leipzig Literary Journal, from which the following is an extract, though our previous assertion, as to the value of the work, rests upon stronger grounds than the simple statement of a professed reviewer.
The author's preface, from which we translate the annexed passage, is sufficiently explanatory of this opinion : —
" The race of the Hellenes is extinct in Europe. Beauty of person, elevation of genius, equality and simplicity of manners, art, circus, town, village, splendour of column, and temple, yea, the very name, has disap- peared from the surface of the Grecian continent. A double layer of earth, composed of the ruins and ashes of two different nations, cover the graves of this ancient people. The immortal productions of mind, that have been preserved to us, and a few architectural fragments still lingering on the paternal soil, are now the only proofs that such a people as the Hellenes once existed ; and unless these very ruins, graves, and mausolea, have awakened the compassion displayed by the Europeans of our day, — if their humane feelings have'not been called forth by the soil and the miserable fate of its inhabitants, then must their sympathy, tenderness, and admira- tion have been excited, and their tears and eloquence been made to flow by an empty phantom, a soul-less image, a being no longer existing in nature ; for not a single drop of pure, unmixed Hellenic blood flows in the veins of the Christian population of Modern Greece. A storm, the like of which has seldom visited our species, poured a new race of people, closely allied to the great Slavonic race, over the whole surface of country, extending from the Ister to the innermost recesses of the Peloponnesiau peninsula ; and a second, perhaps no less important revolution, the entrance of the Albanians into Greece, has completed the vast scene of destruction. Scythians, Slavi,
* The Radicals deride the classical writers of antiquity on principle, because they know nothing about them. A clever German writer, the author of Welt and Zeit, declares, on the other hand, that the Ancients only have thought; and that the Moderns have done little more than dilute the thoughts of the Ancients, iii order to spread them over a wider surface.
GREECE. 515
lllyrians, Arnauts, children of a midnight country, blood relations of the Servians and Bulgarians, of the Dalmatians and Muscovites, are the people whom we now call Hellenes, and whose descent we trace, to their own sur- prise, on the genealogical tables of a Pericles and a Philopremen. The archon and the monk, as well as the husbandman and tradesman of Modern Greece, are strangers, who have, at two different periods of history, descend- ed upon Hellas from the mountains of the north : and the word Greek no longer designates, as formerly, those of the Children of Deucalion settled between the vale of Tempe and the banks of the Eurotas, but all the differ- ent tribes that, in opposition to the doctrine of Mahomet and of the Church of Rome, have adopted the laws and belief emanating from the patriarchal throne of Constantinople. The Arnout of Sully and Argos, the Slave from Kiew and Veligosti in Arcadia, the Bulgarian of Triaditza, and the Chris- tian robber of Montenegro, have, with Scanderbeg and Colocotroni, an equal right to the name and rank of Greek. The tie that binds them toge- ther is stronger than the tie of blood ; it is of a religious nature, and forms the partition wall between the Caaba and the Lateran. The knowledge and avowal of these things is of importance at the present time when the dominion of the human race seems to be passing away from the Latin and German races, and going over to the great Slavonic nation."
The German reviewer prints this last sentence in large letters, and we think it well deserving of our own attention at the very moment we are called upon to pay the first instalment of tribute money to the Slavi. If it is true that we ever paid Danne-Geld, as it was called, it was at least in times of darkness, weakness, and division ; but that the actual survivors of Trafalgar and Waterloo should have seen their country taxed to pay tribute to the fugitives of Austerlitz, Friedland, and Borodino, was what mortal man could hardly have contemplated, till it actually came to pass. The expensive and mis- chievous pare-nail economy constantly adopted towards the Army and Navy, is well enough known, and yet we now find that, in the face of this most wretched and penurious home policy, the Govern- ment paid to the King of Holland 3,000,OOOJ. sterling for the colo- nies already captured by the ill-rewarded gallantry of the United Services ; and at the very moment when, for the paltry sum of 11,0001. the feelings of those services had been wounded, in the severest manner, by withholding from them all marks of Royal favour on the occasion of their Sovereign's Coronation, millions are paid to the hostile government of Russia, every farthing of which might have been saved by simply pointing, if necessary, to the slighted but unforgotten actions of the Navy and Army of Britain. We must not, however, allow our professional feelings to make us forget our German reviewer, and proceed, therefore, with our extract : —
• ''Let us now see," says our critic, " how Professor Fallmerayer expects to establish his opinions. He confiiaes the first part of his inquiry entirely to the Peloponnesus, and only carries it down to the thirteenth century, when the crusade of 1204 led to the conquest of the Morea by the Franks, and to the establishment of the Latin empire of Byzantium. We pass over what may be termed the introduction, as well as the contrast between Sparta and Rome, the first of which deserved to be scourged, the league of the just Achseans, the JEtolians, the most mischievous Malays of Greece, as the author calls them, and proceed at once to show the commencement of the decay of the Hellenes under the Roman Government. The rich emigrated to Rome, and necessity drove away the poor ; the wars also of Mithridates,
2 t 2
516 GREECE.
Sylla, Caesar, and Augustus, together with the Roman system of contribu- tions, created a number of ' urbes dirutas ac psene desertas,' as already de- scribed by a Roman witness. In the most flourishing districts, decay made the most formidable progress, as was particularly the case in Arcadia and Achaia. There were seen only lords and slaves, and with political freedom, civilization also became extinct. The author here appeals to a remarkable passage of Apollonius of Tyana, where it is said, ' I was at Argos, in Phocis, in Locris, at Megara, at Sicyon, and found myself sinking into ignorance and darkness, not because I had been long absent from Hellas, but because I had been so long there.' Still the population of the Peninsula was pure and unmixed: but Pompey already sent Cilician pirates to Dyma; Caesar partly repeopled Corinth, that had been newly rebuilt, with Romans; and, after the battle of Actium, a great part of the victorious army established themselves in the Peloponnesus, mostly in and about Patras. Pestilential maladies produced a double effect, for they not only destroyed the inhabit- ants, but occasioned many to be carried away, in order to fill the vacancies occasioned by death in the Roman population. Between the years 250 to 270 after Christ, came the first waves of the great barbarian inroad, and in- undated all Southern Greece with Goths, Heruli, Carpi, Boranii, and Slavi. These first swarms only murdered, however, without settling, and destroyed without remaining. Christianity also became fatal to the arts and national- ity of the people ; and the new religion, established in 396, on the ruins of Polytheism, brought with it neither internal nor external peace. The Huns, the Goths under Alaric, (afterwards, driven out by Stiiico,) the Vandals under Genseric, and Theodosius's prohibition of the Olympic games, com- pletely destroyed the genius of the nation, except in the few remnants who, accompanied by their ancient deities, took refuge in the mountains."
The third division of the work exhibits the waste committed by the Huns, Slavi and Bulgarians, in the countries south of the Da- nube, as well as the general movement of the northern nations against Greece, the arrival of the dreaded Avari in Europe, the devastation of the Peloponnesus, and its occupation by them and the Slavi. Against these monsters in human shape,. the old inhabitants could find no protection, unless in the erection of new establish- ments, such as old Ragusa, Monembasi, on difficult or inaccessible rocks and islands. In the last-named place, the author thinks that the purest Hellenic blood, and the purest remains of Hellenic man- ners, should be sought. To the sufferings already enumerated, must be added the dreadful earthquakes that in the reign of Justinian destroyed 4000 persons at Patras, and buried nearly the whole po- pulation of Corinth under the ruins of their town, together with the great plague, that between the years 531 and 611 continued for more than half a century to ravage Europe, and which destroyed, for a time, in Constantinople alone, 10,000 persons daily. We give the passage in the words of the author.
" And as if so many evils had not in themselves been sufficient to destroy the old race of men, the old ideas, the old world, and to spread over the earth the darkness of barbarism, no period can be discovered in the annals of mankind, during which earthquakes occasioned such devastation as under the reign of Justinian. Were not entire districts of Syria and Phoenicia turned completely over and buried beneath the earth, with all their towns and teeming population ? And though it may not be true to the letter, as stated by Procopius, that in the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, there perished, in the reign of Justinian alone, upwards of 100 millions of people, by war, hunger, pestilence and earthquake; yet it is certain, that the recollection of these most awful calamities of our race are connected
CREECH.
517
with the name of that emperor, and that he was held up hy the miserable remnant of the civilized population of his time, as the great landmark where the genius of the old Hellenic world perished under the blows of Scythian barbarians, darkness, and superstition. True indeed it is, that Justinian could arrest neither plagues nor earthquakes, but he might have protected his people from the shafts of the barbarians, and, by just and wise conduct, have contributed to their happiness and prosperity."
Very important, in the history of this unfortunate country, is the appearance of the Avari, excited by the Chan about the year 578, and of the Slavi or Slavini, who after devastating every thing with fire and sword, settled in the Peloponnesus. From this period, says the author, a " blood-red cloud" extends over ancient Greece from Thermopylae to Tanarus, the southernmost point of the peninsula, which, on its dispersion, shows us not only the population of these districts completely changed in manners, language, and religion, but towns, villages, mountains, streams, and fountains, bearing entirely new and, till then, unknown names. The Chan of the Avari sum- moned the Slavi from the countries about Moskow, Tula, Smolensk, Wlademir, and even from the shores of the Gulf of Finland ; and from the year 587 to 590, during which period the Hellenic Pelo- ponnesus was completely metamorphosed into a Slavonic Morea, immense hordes of these barbarians must have arrived on the Danube.
Nor were the citizens of Constantinople Hellenes, any more than their emperors, their monks, or their chroniclers ; they were, in fact, only naturalized Anatolians from Lydia, Bythinia, Phrygia, Pontus, and Cappadocia, or converted remnants of some of the barbarian tribes, that, after having overrun the empire about the year 376, had again taken their departure. And even this Christian rabble (we translate verbally) was several times destroyed between the fifth and ninth century, either in consequence of Palace or Circus revo- lutions, or by epidemic diseases, and again renewed from the three different quarters of the globe.
The fourth chapter describes the reconquest of the Peloponnesus and the conversion of its barbarian inhabitants to the religion of Christ: they thenceforth called themselves Christians or Romans, the name of Hellenes had entirely disappeared.
In the fifth chapter is a long inquiry as to the derivation of the word Morea, which is proved to be Slavonic ; another into the origin of the Mainots, who are traced from the mountains of Cur- distan, as well as an account of the situation of the Peloponnesus in the twelfth century.
The last four chapters of the only volume published, at least when our reviewer wrote, picture the fate of the Peloponnesus under the Latin empire of Byzantium ; these chapters are described to be, like their predecessors, of the highest value and interest. At a future time, we may perhaps give some extracts from this part of the book, at present we must content ourselves with joining in the wish ex- pressed by the author, that " the idolatry still carried on before an empty shrine should cease, and that we should love and succour in the Moreots, not the children of the ancient Hellenes, but simply our fellow creatures."
518 GREECE.
The interests of the professions to which our services are par- ticularly dedicated, call for a few remarks of our own before con- cluding, at the present moment, a paper on this subject.
Though Greece has now been officially received as an inde- pendent State into the European Commonwealth, it is fully known that she does not possess the materials from which a regular civi- lized and well-working government can be formed. These she must, like her king, import from abroad ; and as we are called upon, in conjunction with the allies, to contribute a sum towards the main- tenance of her army and navy, we think that the country has a fair right to claim for British officers some of those situations, the emo- luments of which, trifling as they may be, would prove highly ac- ceptable to the unfriended, and of course, neglected half-pay officers ; for as all the money paid on this account will in the end come out of the British exchequer, we see no reason why British officers should not reap some part of the benefit. Such an arrangement would not only give to Greece a corps of experienced officers, but would place at her disposal men whose conduct could be implicitly relied upon, and who, having rank and station to lose, would be responsible not only to Greece, but also their own Sovereign, for the honourable dis- charge of the duties entrusted to them by the country and govern- ment of their new adoption. We should, however, serve under British officers only, as was the case in Portugal, for it becomes not the station we hold in the military world, to serve under mere foreign adventurers. It will of course be said — for what is not said in these times? — that English officers are not well fitted to train foreign troops, and that our manners render us unpopular, &c. In reply to the first objection, we need only refer to the Portuguese, Sepoys, Negroes and Malays, who all became under British officers better soldiers than they ever were under any other. And as to the unpopularity of our manners, gentlemen should learn to ascertain the cause from whence it springs, before it is so confidently urged against us ; they would then know that the very reason that some- times makes us unpopular with the higher ranks of foreigners, is exactly of a nature to make us respected by the lower orders. There are plenty of men abroad who would follow and obey British officers, that would yet disdain even an equality with the mere foreign mercenary adventurer. Besides, in so poor a country as Greece, the possession of a British half-pay would be no slight aid in supporting the dignity of military rank.
In answer to such as, in these liberal times, would call every demand made in favour of England and Englishmen illiberal, we merely point to the French army lately raised, and now organizing, in Belgium, a country that had plenty of experienced officars of its own ; to the retention of Algiers, and the expedition to Ancona ; to the occupation of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia by the Russians, until sums that the Ottoman Government can never raise, shall have been paid ; as well as to the retention, by the same power, of the lately-ceded Asiatic Provinces, in the face of direct promises to keep none of the territories conquered during the war. Under such circumstances, it becomes a duty we owe to ourselves, to have a strong British influence in the Mediterranean ; for the
ZISCA'S RETREAT FROM PRAGUE, 519
time cannot now be distant when the liberty of Europe will have to be contested for on its shores. Five thousand men and a few sail- of-the-line might have prevented the fall of Varna, and would in consequence have preserved Warsaw, but that opportunity having1 been neglected, a different force will be required to turn the fate of battle when the great contest between the Slavonic and the Latin and German nations comes to be decided, as such contests always are, sword in hand.
We should take a warning from the fate of the very country whose misfortunes we have been tracing. The Achaeans, though old friends of the Macedonians, in whose alliance they had prospered, and to whom the people were generally attached, were induced by base fear, to join the Romans, whom they hated ; they aided in the over- throw of Perseus, who, with their assistance, would probably have been victorious, and soon met in their own destruction the reward of their cowardice. England has followed in her eastern policy, exactly the same line of conduct ; we hope she may yet change and repent, before the time for a similar requital shall have arrived.
ZISCA'S RETREAT FROM PRAGUE.
ABLY as J. M. has maintained the superiority of well-led cavalry over infantry, he has omitted to bring forward two of the most pro- minent instances in support of his theory. I allude to the retreat of Zisca from Prague, and to the battle of Dreux.
RETREAT OP ZISCA FROM PRAGUE.
Soon after the battle of Aussig, the best contested of Zisca's fields, the aged chief was requested by the Calixtin nobles, to act as me- diator between them and the townsmen of Prague, who had at- tempted to narrow the privileges of the aristocracy. Aware of the hatred felt by the burghers to his troops, Zisca left his army some miles from Prague, and proceeded thither with his fraternal guard, less than 400 strong. The populace received him with great appa- rent joy.
No sooner, however, had he taken up his quarters in the heart of Prague, than the scene began to change, and the rabble, ungrateful to their deliverer, began to insult him in the streets. With great magnanimity he endured their petulance, and strove to heal the unhappy dissensions which existed between them and the nobility. He succeeded, but the contending parties, in a private article, agreed to cement their reconciliation with the blood of Zisca.
A little after midnight, Zisca was informed by one of his officers, that all Prague was in arms, and about to attack his quarters. The deep sound of the tocsin confirmed his statement. The fraternal guard were immediately summoned to arms. They formed in the centre of the square, placing their father, as they called Zisca, in the midst.
The insurgents soon began to appear, and to skirmish with Zisca's horse. Several times they were driven back with loss, and the aged chief at length ordered a general charge, which completely routed
520 ZISCA'S RETREAT FROM PRAGUE.
the assailants. Early in the morning he began his retreat, but his progress was speedily stopped by a barricade, and at the same time a shower of stones, arrows, and bullets, was poured on him from the windows and battlements of the houses. He immediately ordered his leading squadron to dismount, and hew down the obstacle with their battle-axes, while another party assailed the houses and dis- lodged their occupiers. But while thus engaged, the rear of Zisca was furiously attacked and thrown into confusion by a dense mass of halberdiers. Few of his dismounted troopers were able to regain their chargers.
Having demolished the barricade, Zisca faced about, and in his turn became the assailant. Vain was the fury, and vain the num- bers of his pursuers ; their route was complete. The town-gate still remained to be forced, and from its flanking towers cannon and catapult played with fearful effect on the crowded ranks of Zisca. Here again his dismounted troopers did him good service, sword in hand they scaled the towers, dislodged their defenders, and secured the gate.
But the contest was not yet over, the road of Zisca was barred by the noblesse, who had arrived to assist their friends. At the same time, the inhabitants of Prague sallied forth by thousands and at- tacked his rear; destruction seemed inevitable.
Advisers were not wanting to urge him to abandon his dismounted troopers to their fate ; but he sternly refused the infamous proposal, and chose rather to perish than to leave the meanest of his soldiers to the mercy of the Calixtins. Shouting his war-cry, he spurred impetuously into the midst of the foe, who gave way before his shock. Gallantly was he followed by the Taborites, and he soon succeeded in opening for himself a free passage through the midst of the foe.
Still he was not satisfied, for the enemy, although they shrank from close fight, continued to annoy his rear with their missiles. He again attacked, and threw them into irrecoverable confusion. But in the melee, the orderly of the old chief was killed, and his fiery horse carried its blind rider into a marsh. The Calixtins closed round the chief, to make him prisoner : the Taborites to save him. The latter were successful, and the shattered Calixtins slowly retired to Prague.
Having joined his army, Zisca resolved to let the insurrection grow to a head, and to retire into the mountains. His flight en- couraged the Calixtins, who rose en masse throughout Bohemia, and closely pursued him. As they gazed at the formidable defiles which he quitted, without making an effort to defend, they concluded that he felt himself too weak under any circumstances to risk a battle. Fearfully were they deceived.
Suddenly, Zisca halted, in a position easy of access in front, but unassailable on the flanks. His first line, consisting of archers, was deployed in extended order half way up the hill ; behind them were deep columns of pikemen, and in rear of all, the cavalry. The Calixtins attacked, as Zisca had foreseen, with great impetuosity, and without leaving any reserve. The first line of the Taborites gave way, but while disordered by their own success, the victors
A VETERAN'S VISION. 521
were charged home by Zisca himself, at the head of his cavalry. Their rout was total : the defiles which they had so rashly passed delayed their retreat, and nearly the whole chivalry of Bohemia perished on this fatal day, for the Taborites, incensed at the oft- repeated perfidy of their opponents, gave but little quarter.
The Chevalier de Folard censures the conduct of Zisca, in not leaving a small body of soldiers to seize the pass in rear of the Calixtins. The experience of modern times has shown that the Hussite General was better acquainted with the true principles of war than his critic. I have already trespassed too far, and as time presses, I will for the present defer the account of the battle of Dreux.
H. J.
A VETERAN'S VISION.
THE other day, having been present at a review, I returned to dinner ; after which, " while by the fire I musing sat," my thoughts r naturally reverted to the scenes of the morning ; and while I was following in my mind the compact and easy movements of the infantry, and the rapid and impetuous charges of the cavalry, I was lulled into a pleasing reverie, in which methought there appeared to me the spirit of a departed warrior. He approached my chair in a graceful and military gait, and after requesting him to be seated, I asked to what I was indebted for the honour of his visit ? With apologies for his abrupt appearance he thus addressed me : — " You see before you one who fought and died for his country (that coun- try was not unmindful of his services, nor ungrateful for the blood which he spilt in her. cause). Perceiving that you were employed in musing on a military topic, I have taken the liberty to intrude, in order to hear if that country is still the same grateful country which it was half a century ago ; if it still holds the same high station with respect to its neighbouring nations that it then did ; for even in the peaceful regions of Utopia, I often recall to my recollection the glo- rious fields on which she proved her superiority, and the magnani- mous deeds of her sons, then matchless for their courage, loyalty, and virtue." " My friend," I replied ; "you had better have re- mained where you were, for I can tell you, I am afraid, nothing that will gratify your expectations. Since your days, for, if I am not mis- taken, I can discover, even under the disguise of your ghostly form, the hero who now honours my humble cot with his presence — since the brilliant victories which signalised your name on the American continent, and at one of which, and that one at once the most brilliant and melancholy of them all, Britain was deprived of the valuable services of the brightest of her heroes, her soldiers have fought in many a glorious field; her little island has shone more resplendent than ever, glittering alone, while all around her were dimmed with anarchy and war —
<f At once the wonder, terror, and delight, Of distant nations."
522 A VETERAN'S VISION.
But, alas ! since those days, since the never-to-be-forgotten victory which closed the late war put a stop to the blood that for years had deluged the whole of Europe, and banished to a distant isle the gifted man, for whom nations contended with nations, in order to allow him to be the umpire of their prowess, — since all this, the star of Britain's military fame has set. British supremacy has fallen like a spent thunderbolt, unmindful of the sons who raised her name so high, and who spilt their blood and hazarded their lives in her cause ; she casts them into oblivion ; grants them just sufficient to drag out a miserable existence in some lonely garret in the metropo- lis, or in some humble cot in a retired village, and raises over their heads young, inexperienced boys, who were not born by the time they had grown old in the service of the country."
Overcome with the unpleasant thoughts which this short retro- spect had excited, I paused, and on turning to my guest, I perceived that he too, who but an instant before was all on fire with the recol- lection of his former days, now sat " with downcast look," mute with astonishment and vexation, his eyes fixed on vacancy, and his arms planted across his noble, manly breast, which now heaved with the emotion that was working within :
" Revolving in his altered soul
The various turns of fate below ; And now and then a sigh he stole, And tears began to flow."
After a pause of some minutes, he at last broke silence, and with a voice which betrayed his sorrow, said — " Is it possible ? Can the men who sit at the helm of the British vessel of state, be so lost to shame? It is hard enough to climb the slippery steep of fame, without their increasing the obstacles (already too many) which im- pede the ascent. After such treatment, what can they expect in case of a future war ? Do they imagine that, with the recollection of such ingratitude deep on their minds, the sons of the men who now pine in misery and oblivion, will ever be stimulated to deeds of valour, when they know that their utmost reward will not even be common gratitude ; when they know that they will even be looked down upon by those, 'who, while they were fighting their battles, sat snug by their firesides, and who, in the words of Lord Erskine, ' without virtue, labour, or hazard, grew rich, while the defenders of their country were impoverished; and laughed from their desks at bravery and science, while they added figure to figure, and cypher to cypher.' Such was not the case in my days ; merit was then the only ladder to distinction: the only road to promotion was that which leads to glory. The names of Britain's defenders should be remembered, while Britain has a memory, with gratitude and pride."
" Unfortunately," I replied, " those days are gone, and the remembrance of them lives only by the historian's pen. While every other European army holds out as a reward to merit the hope of promotion, the British aristocracy, who have scraped every place of power into their own hands, demand high birth, wealthy connexions, and relations of interest, as the only recommendations for prefer- ment. They tell you, to be sure, that the road to promotion is open
REVIEWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES. 523
to all, and that those who wish, may attain the end of it. They say you may enter if you can, but they shut the door in your face ; they chain you by the leg, and then tell you to run as much as you like : the road is open, it is true, but it is strewed with thorns. Fortune and interest now are the young military aspirant's best companions : merit is a secondary consideration. Get money, get interest, and you get promotion. Obtain merit by your assiduity, honour by your courage, but forget interest and fortune, and you remain as at your first appointment, ' unknown, unhonoured, and unsung.' There are others more nobly connected, and wealthier than you, their turn of course comes before yours."
My friend, unable any longer to contain himself, rose from his chair, and with clenched fist, and eyes sparkling with anger, ex- claiming with a voice which shook the room, and re-echoed through every corner of the house, " Britain, beware !" vanished.
I awoke, and lo, it was a dream. The awful words, however, sunk deep into my mind. I sat riveted to my chair in " sullen contem- plation." After endeavouring in vain to solve the problem, I leaped up, and exclaiming aloud, " Nonsense ; it was but a dream," darted out into the cool and refreshing air, and soon forgot all thoughts of dream and visitor. .
REVIEWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES
MEMOIR OP THE EARLY OPERATIONS OF THE BURMESE WAR.*
THIS is an unexpected compliment, but we are at some loss for the grounds upon which Lieut. Maw has so pointedly addressed us, for though he does not approve of the style in which our article upon this topic was drawn up, he cannot substantially disprove an item of the facts. Indeed, it would be a difficult task to shake the evidence which is before us, and which leads to much more than we thought proper to advance, because our object was — simply to adhere to what has been so reasonably complained of, and which, we repeat, stands thus : — a united expedition having cordially and successfully acquitted itself of the duties assigned it, rewards were ordered ; but, in the distribution, one of the parties is excluded from a par- ticipation therein. This was an unlooked-for result, and in no way calcu- lated to soothe angry feelings; when, just in the "nick of time," a book appears, written by an officer on the staff, and also, we believe, son-in-law of the general, in which the share borne by the excluded party in every toil and danger, is almost unmentioned. This was, if not ill-judged, at least unfortunate.
In this dilemma Mr. Maw says, " I will endeavour to set matters right upon some points, which may tend to remove those feelings of jealousy that still appear to exist." The intention is good, but the intender has con- demned himself to make bricks without straw ; for he has little to say, ex- cept that of his being the personal friend of the author of the "Narrative." We are merely informed that he was a midshipman on the expedition to Rangoon, in May 1824; was lent upon the general's staff; and was obliged to quit the scene of action, in August of the same year, in consequence of a
* Memoir of the early operations of the Burmese War. Addressed to the Editor of the United Service Journal. By H. Lister Maw, Lieut. R.N.
524 RfcVIKWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES.
very severe wound which he received in the assault of one of the Dalla stockades. Now, as the treaty of peace was signed on the 24th of February 1826, it is clear that his personal " experiences" were in a confined compass ; and so little does his " Memoir" exhibit, which has not already been treated of, that, except for introducing bis own adventures, we see no good reason why he need have troubled himself with the turmoils of the press.
The gallant Lieutenant commences operations by asserting that our sketch is "far from doing justice to the Navy, whilst it is most unjust to Major, now Lieut.-Colonel Snodgrass." The first position in this ch.irge we must regret, as proving our ability to be less than our zeal ; the second we deny point-blank, — because it is a publication that is criticized ; and even where the author's name is unavoidably mentioned, it is always in his voca- tion of compiler of the " Narrative of the Burmese War," and not as an individual. The alleged excuse of Major Snodgrass, that his work is merely a detail of the military operations, palliates nothing ; it is not so expressed in the title, and there must have been more trouble and ingenuity in sepa- rating the two services upon this occasion, than on any expedition we ever heard of. As to excuse the second, that the naval force was very small, we reply, " not so small either, from first to last ;'' but this has nothing whatever to do with the question, or what would become of those merito- rious bodies, the artillery, engineers, and marines, when employed with large armies? The Lieutenant assures us that, in his judgment, the "Narrative" of Major Snodgrasr. is the best that is published : this may be, but it only proves that "bad is the best;" for even as a military narrative, its omissions are rather unfortunate for its impartiality. We suggested that Major Yates might have been named in the affair of Kemmendine ; and we could also have added some of the on dits respecting the neglect shown in the " Narrative" to that gallant corps of cavalry, the " body guard." Appa- rently, Mr. Maw has not seen the Memoir of the campaigns in Ava, by Capt. Havelock, a work of merit and system as a military history, spite of a certain grandiloquence of style.
The Lieutenant has rushed before the public to put us right, and to ex- tinguish any remaining jealousies as to favouritism : but how has he done it? Why, by stamping, as far as his confined evidence can go, the absolute cor- rectness of our statements. He takes umbrage, indeed, at some expressions which fell from us, on studying the most authentic accounts we could pro- cure, and of which we had more than sufficient to warrant our conclusions. In this spirit he takes the trouble to copy HALF of a paragraph, — not of the facts we adduced, but of reflections arising from analysing those facts, which he contrasts with some praise we bestowed upon particular exploits. But an insertion of the whole paragraph would at once have shown, that it was in no way our wish to disparage the operations ; and we anticipate that every unprejudiced reader of the official documents must arrive at our inferences. We stated that, on the whole, the difficulties of this war were rather in the nature of the service, the obstinacy, cunning, and semi-barbarous habits of the enemy, and the wasting tendency of the climate and the country, than in the positive intrepidity, discipline, or military skill of the Burmans. If our estimate of the Burmese tactics was wrong, why are we not shown where ? We observed that they were " abundantly given to flight," and really, from a close examination of all the official documents, we can only say, that if they did not run, they must have sunk into the earth and been run over. Even in the very little that was witnessed by the Lieutenant, he is obliged, although the champion of their military prowess, to admit, page 19, that " the Burmese authorities started off at the third broadside of the Liffey," and also that, before landing at Rangoon, " opposition had been expected here, and had any been made, it might have been effective." In the attack on the Syriam pagoda, page 74, he says, " The position was found to be strong, and had the Burmese stood as they should have done, or did iu some of the first
REVIEWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES. 525
affairs, it would have been difficult to carry ; but they were now losing their confidence, and as the troops advanced to the foot of the numerous steps that led up to the pagoda, the enemy gave way, and retreated from the op- posite side into the jungle." And at page 89 he sums up thus : — " The Burman mode of warfare appears to consist rather in starving their enemies by surrounding them in circular lines of detached stockades, the area of which they gradually diminished so as to cut them off, than in fighting battles in the field."
We are also "twitted" with not having closely followed Lieut. Marshall's account of the same operations, and, as we look upon his work as more worthy than the Major's, though not so imposing, we should be sorry to find our statements differ in essentials. But assuredly, with authentic papers before us, and information on every hand, we should have been highly cul- pable to adopt exclusively the views of any individual. It is from numerous relations, which, though conflicting on trifles, are corroborative on the whole, that our inferences are deduced ; and however ignorant we may have been that " a dinner was a dinner at Rangoon," we really think the view we have taken of the campaign may not be incorrect in the main. If the official documents maybe depended upon as furnishing us with TRUTH, they are, of themselves, sufficient to bear out our speculations : but with these we have compared many facts and statements, which we know to be founded on practical knowledge and the personal experience of our informants ; and we confidently trust that an unprejudiced reader will readily see, what we had hoped could never have been doubted, that our object has not been to under- value the Burmese expedition in any of its ramifications ; but, on the con- trary, to assert, that the two arms of service, having acquired laurels by an union of zeal and ability, are mutually entitled to an equal share of reward. The traits of gallantry personally observed, and now recorded by the writer, serve to aid the objects of our impartial reclamation.*
The Lieutenant reminds us of the good-natured friends alluded to by Sheridan. At page 34 is a curious critique upon an admitted fact which we mentioned, of certain anomalous interferences in the command afloat. This the censor takes up by vindicating the personal character of Capt. Ryves, which has never been questioned, or still more, even alluded to, but in terms of praise ! Whatever may have been the reports " so kindly and so safely circulated," they bear in no respect upon what we have written ; and our mention of a fact, in the order of occurrences, was in accordance with the assertion we started with, viz. that all the operations of the Burmese war ^ were of a combined nature. Indeed, in order to show results rather than ^.details, we purposely avoided anecdotes of the tenor alluded to by the Lieutenant : nor did we mention the injury offered by the Lords of the Treasury in appointing the Directors of the East India Company to be trustees for the squadron employed in the Irrawaddy, although they had been earnestly prayed to appoint Sir George Cockburn. By this harsh mea- sure they have succeeded in establishing a precedent quite at variance with the usage and custom heretofore observed on conjoint expeditions ; and this was the more hurtful, inasmuch as the squadron had already experienced manifest injustice at the hands of the Directors, by their invidious refusal to consider the navy as entitled to the same consideration as the army.
In conclusion : We give Lieut. Maw due credit for the goodness of his in- tention, in explaining away "jealousies," but, at the same time, beg to assure him that he has not said a syllable to the purpose. He wishes to defend the
* Amongst those whose conduct is noticed by the gallant officer with deserved admiration, is the late Capt. Abercrombie Trant, whose recent and premature death we deeply lament, in common with all who had opportunities of appreciating his character and talents — both of no common order. A sketch of the brief but bril- liant career of this accomplished officer will be found in our Obituary. — ED.
526 REVIEWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES.
character of Colonel Snodgrass, — but, except as the " historian," that is not impugned. We are assured that the said " history" is excellent : but the colouring of friendship must of necessity be glowing, for the eye of a friend sees the brighter parts of the object before it, and the hand is prone to trace only what the eye has seen. In such conclusions there is more of amiability than virtue, because it is the offspring of impulse instead of reason, and is often bestowed without inquiry or discrimination. He stickles for the military renown of the Burmese, and the Colonel's representation thereof ; mere words, however, are not enough to convince, and it is of very little consequence to us whether the authority be brought from Calcutta or Kamschatka, if the facts preponderate against the representation. At all events, whether our opinions be founded upon the rock of truth, or whether they be tottering on the unstable basis of circumstantial evidence, our only object is justice. We have placed a public question before the United Ser- vices of Great Britain, in order to show that though men may fail in ob- taining certain partial distinctions, meritorious conduct will ever be duly estimated by cotemporaries. Reputation may be, in the opinion of those who are devoted to a vegetable kind of life, a mere " bubble ;" but it is a bubble which beguiles the hardships of the field and the elements. For this every comfort is relinquished, — for this the Briton nobly dares every danger, and fearlessly braves every clime, —
" For this endures, beneath the Polar star, The cold of Zembla in a sledge-built car ; Or faints with heat, where Ammon's temple stands A lonely ruin 'midst a waste of sands."
The truth is, we suspect, that the gallant Lieutenant, having .appeared in print and with credit on a former occasion, has availed himself, with some tact, of the present opening for giving vent to those " Notes " which, as he informs us, he had been prevented from publishing by an " official personage.'7
ADVENTURES or A YOUNGER SON. STANDARD NOVELS — XII. AND — Wild, libertine, and eccentric, half XIII. — THE CANTERBURY TALES. — • truth, half fiction, revolting yet attract- This admirable collection bids fair to ive, savage yet sentimental, abounding furnish a series of Novels rich in the in contrasts, as if its pictures had been best attributes of that class of works, alternately traced by a Fiend and a and unsurpassed in interest by any Fairy — such are the leading characters- similar publication. The " Canterbury tics of this freebooter's .tale. Its open- Tales," by the Sisters Lee, afforded us, ing chapters half inclined us to cast in our younger days, never-failing en- down the book as a " fiery particle" of tertaiument : nor do we find our early the " Satanic School ;" but so many re- predilections discountenanced by our deeming sketches of the sea, the shore, maturer experience. The " Canterbury and the beings that people them, so Tales" are strictly worthy to be promi- many images marked by novelty, power, nently placed, as they here are, in a or delicate beauty, crowding in quick selection of STANDARD Novels; while succession, charmed our interest and their revised and singularly cheap form, pleaded to our imagination, that we were gives them an additional title to exten- fairly won to relax in the sterner decree sive circulation, of our judgment. CABINET CYCLOPEDIA — VOL.
As the hues and forms of nature XXVI. — PORCELAIN AND GLASS MA- transcend the painter's art, so the inci- NUFACTURE — Gives a clear insight dents of real life equal or surpass the into the mysteries and varieties of the warmest creations of fancy. Romance delicate art it treats of, and may be read can go no farther than the actual " ad- both with profit and amusement, ventures" of the homicidal Renegade and The next Volume of the series con- Corsair— "The Younger Son." tains a compressed HISTORY OF THE
REVIEWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES.
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ITALIAN REPUBLICS, by De Sismondi. Although we do not partake the learned author's enthusiasm for Republics, and should be inclined to draw opposite con- clusions from many of the data on which he founds his favour towards the turbu- lent little communities incorporated in Italy, during the middle ages, for pur- poses of trade, we acknowledge the charm of his style and the instructive character of his details. The work has the merit of being a succinct and able sketch of a multiform and conflicting subject.
The Second Volume of Mr. Gleig's EMINENT BRITISH MILITARY COM- MANDERS (Volume XXVIII. of the above), contains the conclusion of the Memoir of Marlborough, with the Lives of Lord Peterborough and Gen. Wolfe. In the range of British Military Bio- graphy, down to the wars of the French Revolution, there occur not names more illustrious, nor subjects more striking, whether we regard their respective ex- ploits with the attendant results, or the shades and contrasts which mark their several characters.
The Life of Marlborough, the longest and most laboured of these Memoirs, is an admirable epitome of that great Cap- tain's career, in his double capacity of warrior and statesman ; — a combination of qualities common to all eminent mili- tary leaders both of ancient and modern times, from Joshua and David to Napo- leon and Wellington. The sketches of Peterborough and Wolfe are penned in an equally discriminating spirit, and with the clearness and fluency of style ijeculiar to the accomplished writer. We the less regret our inability, within limits so brief, to do critical justice to this volume, persuaded as we are, that the work will find its way into the hands of all military men who study their pro- fession, and regard its author as one who does honour to that service which he has been tempted to exchange for a more peaceful calling.
LIFE AND REIGN OF GEORGE IV. — CONCLUDING VOL — CABINET LI- BRARY VIII. — The party prejudices of the writer mar the utility of this work; in which there even appears a disposi- tion to depreciate the British Troops, their Leaders, and Allies, and exalt or palliate the pretensions, military and national, of their revolutionary antago- nists.
With regard to the series of events, these volumes will be useful as a refer-
THE CABINET ANNUAL REGISTER VOL. I.— FOK 1831 — This is one of the most useful and satisfactory specimens we have seen of the miniature progeny of books. If we estimate the execution of this teeming compendium in the ratio of its difliculty, the compilers are enti- tled to praise for their successful com- pression and arrangement of such a mass of matter. The work deserves, and will doubtless obtain, extensive popularity.
THE GEORGIAN ERA — VOL. I.— Condensation in bookmaking has reached its acme — A prodigious quantity of bio- graphical detail is compressed, with the utmost distinctness, in this dense vo- lume— the first of four, in which are to be comprised the lives of the most emi- nent persons who have flourished in Great Britain from the accession of George I. to the death of George IV. in- cluding the Royal Family. A vast num- ber of medallion portraits, of inferior execution, illustrate the work, which, both in its plan and performance, pro- mises to be a valuable repertory of me- moirs and general information during the brilliant period it is intended to embrace.
A DICTIONARY OF COMMERCE. — A work, to embrace in compressed limits, the various details of Commerce and Commercial Navigation, was an under- taking of no slight labour, though of evident utility if well executed. Judg- ing by the specimens we have seen, Mr. M'Culloch has succeeded in the avowed • objects of this publication. The articles relating to India, especially, are marked by a thorough knowledge of the subject.
HANSARD'S ANALYTICAL PARLIA- MENTARY DIGEST— PART II. (first published} from 1803 to 1830.— A com- pilation demanding great perseverance and a practised judgment to execute it. The difficulty of digesting the matter spread over sixty-six thick volumes of debates into an index comprised in one, will be appreciated by those who may profit by the facilities of attaining Par- liamentary information which will be afforded by the latter. Sir John Philip- part, as compiler of this work, has ren- dered an acceptable service to the public.
ANNUAL BIOGRAPHY AND OBITU- ARY OF 1831 — This volume contains, we regret to say, an unusual number of Naval Memoirs, all of distinguished offi- cers lost to the service. They receive full justice in these pages.
THE CHAMELEON An agreeable
miscellany, in the manner of the An- nuals.
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REVIEWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES.
COLONIAL CRISIS. — In the multi- plied hobbles into which poor Britannia has been thrown by her speculative sons, that of her West Indian relation is nei- ther the last nor the least. The " Re- form Bill," which is to go so far in re- lieving the lower orders of this country from labour and taxes, may, perhaps, ex- tend its all-healing properties across the herring-pond. But, as if in doubt of this, Lieut. Claxton draws his pen upon the emancipating Mr. Buxton, gives him several angry and confounding cuts, and finally submits his own scheme for be- stowing the Pilean gift upon the coal- black population of the West Indies.
The Lieutenant, though not always clear in his deductions, very prudently advises civilizing the slaves before turn- ing them adrift ; and repeats the too well grounded threat of flags inimical to England being likely to find future fa- vour in the eyes of our colonists. The slaves in the West Indies are said to amount to about 750,000 ; and if the emancipation of such a number be ac- tually resolved upon, it must be by very gradual stages, or the end will be de- feated, and the negroes fall into a state of anarchy worse than slavery. On the whole, we recommend every person in- terested in the Trans- Atlantic colonies, as well as the philanthropists, pseudo- philanthropists, saints, and sinners, to read this second letter of Lieut. Claxton.
We had written thus far before the accounts of the formidable outbreak in Jamaica had reached this country. The insurrection of the misguided negroes has been even more general and ruinous than could have been anticipated, and holds out a grave warning to the advo- cates of rash and sweeping legislation.
HANOVERIAN MILITARY JOURNAL —1832. PARTS I. AND II — The Mili- tary Periodical, under the above title, addressed to our comrades of the Hano- verian Army, and conducted by officers of that service, much upon the plan of this Journal, deserves and should receive from us more frequent notice, did our space, crowded as it is with original and pressing matter, permit us to extract from its well-handled subjects. The two parts, for the present year, just published, contain some sterling articles, especially one, by Gen. Julius Hartmann,
of the Royal Hanoverian Artillery, upon the organization and qualities of the British Army, in reply to a " violent sally" against the latter at the close of a laboured essay "On the Modern Organi- zation of Armies" in the Allgemeine Militair-Zeitung. The gallant General defends his old comrades with warmth and success. There is also a very able review of Count Bismark's works, by Capt. Gl Under, of whom we have already had occasion to speak as an author, and who is joint Editor of the Journal with Major Jacobi and Capt. Hanbury. We shall probably revert to these articles. Meantime we wish our cotemporary the continued success it merits.
REEFING TOPSAILS. — This coloured Print, from a Painting by Mr. Huggins, Marine Painter to the King, is full of character and spirit. We suggest, by the way, to this clever artist that he could not more appropriately or popu- larly employ his pencil, than by under- taking a series of views, distinguishing every description of British armed vessel, from a first-rate to a cutter. We think such a design executed by the known accuracy of Mr. Huggins, would be both, welcome to the service and advantageous to the artist.
LANDSCAPE ILLUSTRATIONS OF LORD BYRON'S WORKS, &c. PART II.
— Exquisitely beautiful — Corfu is lovely — Lisbon boldly designed — and Ali Pacha fierce and finished to a hair. Finden's burin was never more successfully em- ployed.
GALLERY OF THE SOCIETY OF PAINTERS IN WATER COLOURS — PART II.— " The Batchelor," painted by Lewis, and engraved by Robinson, has confirmed us in our vows of celibacy. This spirited and accurate drawing pre- sents the beau-ideal of single snuggery and independence. Calais Pier, by Cox, engraved by Cooke, and Llyn Idwal, by Robson, engraved by Smith, offer a fine contrast of rough and smooth.
FRAGMENTS OF VOYAGES AND TRA- VELS— SECOND SERIES. — Our review o» these delightful volumes is unavoid- ably postponed till next month, when we shall endeavour to extend to our readers some portion of the gratification we have derived from their perusal.
529
GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE UNITED SERVICE JOURNAL.
Colonel Brothertoh on a Passage in our January Number respecting the British Cavalry.
MR. EDITOR, — The account given in your last Number, under the head " British Cavalry on the Peninsula," of the charge in which Lieut.-Colonel Talbot, of the 14th Light Dragoons, was killed, is incorrect. He was too good a soldier to feel any doubt or hesitation as to charging a handful of in- fantry, stumbled upon in an open country by eight or ten squadrons of cavalry ; much less to express such feelings at such a moment. I am confi- dent they never crossed his mind, and if they had, there was neither time nor opportunity for such remarks, for the whole affair was instantaneous.
The operation of the day was a surprise of the enemy's cavalry posts on the left bank of the Agtieda. The plan was cleverly arranged by that skil- ful officer, Major-Gen. Robert Craufurd, and executed successfully, with the exception herein alluded to. As cavalry alone was expected to be met with, nothing else was employed on the occasion, and as no artillery accompanied the column, it could never have occurred to Lieut.-Colonel Talbot, to recommend the use of it previously to charging the few infantry surprised in the plain.
The fact was, that the sudden and unexpected appearance of this infantry, which proved to be a detached picquet from a battalion that had crossed over from the right bank of the river during the night, rather disconcerted Gen. Craufurd, who had reckoned on having to do with cavalry only. He came up to the officer commanding the leading half-squadron of the 14th, and in a hasty, and as far as regarded the object of attack, rather indistinct manner, gave a peremptory order to charge, merely pointing to the supposed direc- tion in which the enemy were, without any farther instructions. Though the enemy afterwards proved to be so very close, yet at the moment they were invisible, being hidden in standing corn. The officer who had received Gen. Craufurd s order, immediately changed his direction towards the spot pointed to by the General. At this instant Colonel Talbot came up, and on inquiring the reason of this change of direction, formed half squadrons, and had proceeded but a very few yards, when the gallant little square started up from their hiding-place, when we were almost on the points of their bayonets, and poured in a destructive volley.
You may rely on the general accuracy of this statement, if you think proper to insert it. I happened to be the officer in command of the leading half squadron with which Colonel Talbot fell ; and though I deplored our loss at the time, yet I never considered it as an instance of the misapplication of cavalry, but only as a charge inconsiderately executed.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your most obedient humble servant, P. W. BROTHER-TON, Colonel.
Cavalry Depot, Maidstone, 1st March 1832.
Claims to the capture of Gen. Le Fevre at Benevente.
MR. EDITOR, — In your valuable Journal for November, the capture of Gen. Le Fevre, at Benevente, is claimed by a soldier of the 7th Hussars. Feeling that this gallant regiment, and the individuals who have filled its ranks, have to boast sufficient laurels, without " out-stepping truth," I have no hesitation in correcting the error, and in so doing giving just credit to Troop Serjeant-Major Grisdale of the 10th Hussars.
Private Grisdale, in consequence of making prisoner this French officer, was promoted to the rank of corporal, and by subsequent good conduct rose
U. S. JOURN. No. 41. APRIL 1832. 2 M
530 CORRESPONDENCE.
to he senior non-commissioned officer of a troop. He ever continued to be distinguished for his gallantry, and had his horse killed by a cannon shot at the battle of Toulouse, when coverer to him who now (in allusion to PAST EVKNTS) subscribes himself, as I fear your readers can never consider this hasty note,
" AN ELEGANT EXTRACT."
Steam Vessels of War.
MR. EDITOR, — To render steam-boats fit for war, requires a better combi- nation of construction and arming than our official people seem to be aware of. The Salamander, at Sheerness, and the Dee, at Woolwich, will both be useless as men-of-war ; the former has sufficient depth of hold, but is built so sharp that she will not stow more than ten days fuel, when her stores and guns are on board ; the latter is sufficiently flat, but so shallow that she also will stow little more than the former ; and I understand those at Plymouth and Chatham are in the same predicament. The Navy Board are alone to blame for the Dee, they had abundance of time for consideration, and both public and private letters were written to members of it, pointing out the disadvantages of pursuing the plan they had decided upon ; they also ought to have thought of their former errors in lengthening three ten-gun-bn'gs fifteen feet to hold a hundred tons of machinery, all of which were loaded nearly up to the main shaft when their fuel (without guns or warlike stores) was on board. The other three were left to the builders of the yards, who, 1 have no doubt, will produce boats that will run very fast in the river Thames, but will be unfit for men-of-war in consequence of the small quantity of fuel they will carry.
A steam-vessel of war ought neither to be so fine as a sailing-vessel, nor, on the other hand, have the capacity of an Indiaman ; in the first case she would not stow a sufficient quantity of fuel, and would draw too much water for most purposes — in the latter case she would not go with sufficient rapi- dity. Her floor should not be quite flat, but nearly so ; its length should occupy half the vessel, the form of the bow and run should occupy the other half; the dimensions of the vessels building are thirty feet wide and a hundred and sixty-five feet long ; had they been twenty feet deep, and built in the above form, they would have been efficient vessels. I beg it to be fully understood, that 1 do not propose this as a vessel offering the least resistance in the water, but as one combining the requisites necessary for a steam man-of-war ; such a vessel light would draw little more than four feet water, without including the Ueel, whose depth should be according to cir- cumstances, and quite independent of her construction. Her engines and boilers would immerse .her to between six and seven feet, and with eight hundred tons of coals she would draw about fourteen, having her gun- deck six feet above water at her greatest loading. With a two hundred horse engine she would consume twenty-four tons of coals a-day, and if they were good, with great care, something less. The shaft should be as close to the deck as possible, and the diameter of the wheels about twenty feet — when loaded to fourteen, the paddle boards should shift up, so as to reduce the diameter of the wheel to fifteen feet ; as the coal was expended, the boards should be shifted down till they came to their full extent ; the coal boxes should be fitted in compartments, to receive water, in order that the wheels may remain sufficiently immersed as the coals were expended.
The engine and boilers should be secured against shot, which has not been thought of in any of our vessels, and no man will be found to attend them in action in their present state ; men have long made up their minds on going into action to be killed or wounded, but I have never heard of any who are ready to be boiled. It has been proved that a combination of oak timber, iron plates, bales of linen, leather, or reams of paper, five feet thick, will protect the boiler and engine against an eighteen pound shot, and without
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that protection a steam boat is entirely useless in war. The wheels must of course be exposed, but if the naves, which are at present of cast, were made of wrought iron, and the arms of the wheels connected with plates, it would require many shot to disable them. The main shaft would then be the only vulnerable part, and if the guards which support it are considerably rounded, or, indeed, made like a cuirass and covered with plate iron, they would glance off any shot. With these precautions wheels would be less subject to accidents than either masts or yards.
Experience has proved, beyond a doubt, that the fittest vessels for sea are those constructed with the wheels buried in the side, as the Irish steamers are. I believe the Salamander is built in this manner ; the spencing of the Dee only covers one half the wheels ; they are a great deal to wide. She will certainly go the faster in the river Thames (which is the only thing the engineers and builders think of), but in rough weather such wheels will never be under command of the engines.
I am not aware how it is intended to arm our steam-boats ; I should pro- pose as many heavy guns on pivots as possible on the upper deck, and between decks two bow-chasers : no arrangement of that nature seems to be intended in those now building. They should be rigged as three-masted schooners, with the lower masts in two, having top-sails, top-gallant sails, and royals, and all the necessary sails for common purposes, which, with the exception of the lower part of the lower masts, could be got down when it was necessary to steam against the wind.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
Feb. 19th 1832. A GREAT ADMIRER OF STEAM-BOATS.
On Manning the Navy in the event of a War.
MR. EDITOR, — That the maritime force of Great Britain should be in every respect superior to that of the other nations of the civilized world, is an object of such importance, that I may, perhaps, be pardoned for offering a few remarks on a portion of it on which our national existence may again, as it has ere now, have to depend, and which has been most unaccountably ^neglected. To one branch of the subject, viz. the classes of shipping in our navy, as compared with those of the other maritime powers, I called your attention some months ago. I then endeavoured to show that sufficient at- tention had not been paid since the peace, to keeping the different classes or " rates" on a par with those of the rest of Europe — an error which I am confident will, in the event of a naval war of any importance, be productive of very melancholy results. I now wish to point out what appears to me to have escaped the notice of the. different administrations since the peace, the inadequacy and inefficacy of the means now in use for procuring crews for our ships. This was strikingly exemplified in the difficulty experienced in manniag the small squadron of Sir E. Codrington last summer. Can it be supposed that men will in these days of " the schoolmaster" submit to im- pressment as they did fifty years ago ? Can it he imagined that bounties will answer the purpose ? These means might, indeed, have some effect in the first flush of popular excitement, supposing the war to be popular, but they would soon fail, and then what would be the consequence ? We know the unreasonable reluctance with which men enter on board a King's ship, if employment is to be had in the merchant or privateer service. We know how easily protection and forged certificates are obtained. We know that, without the right of search, all our best men will take refuge on board the American merchantmen, and we also know, that in order to enforce that right, we must be prepared for a contest with America; in other words, that in order to procure men, we must begin by going to war without them. We know all this and much more, which the limits of this communication will not allow me to enumerate, and yet we do not take one single step in
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532 CORRESPONDENCE.
consequence ; so that in fact, whilst every other European power has a re- gularly organized conscription and system of training men for the naval service, we alone, blindly trusting to our good fortune and former successes, should be (in the event of a war) in a condition far worse in this respect than any other power, and for the reasons above alluded to, worse than we ourselves have ever yet been in. To & VUVTIXOV -ri^v^s Ifriv &W«j xeu «A/U n,
xat ovx iii$i%tTui, arav rv^'/t, IK -jfa^i^yau fM^lrZffeu, aXXa /J.U.XX01 fiYiSiv Ixttvu <jea./>i(>ytv
aXXu y'iynff6n4 — was the observation of Pericles more than 2000 years ago. We are at this day a striking instance of its truth — let us not neglect the caution. It is, indeed, high time that something should be done ; systems, whether for collecting, training, and maintaining large bodies of men, or merely for having them so organized as to be at hand when wanted, take years before they can be brought into complete operation. We should seize the opportunity of a long peace to begin a new system. It is impos- sible that we can go on for ever as we have hitherto done. The time is not very remote, perhaps, when it will hardly be believed that Englishmen were seized and bound like slaves in open day, and in the most public places, and compelled to quit their country for years together, to expose their lives at once to every variety of climate, to the elements, the pestilence and the sword, to suffer, too often, all that human nature can endure for less or at most for the same wages as they could earn as fishermen or coasters. Want of room compels me to pause — I cannot now enter upon the inquiry into the best means of providing for sudden emergencies ; — perhaps limited service and a regularly organized conscription of our maritime population, which would oblige every man, even in peace, to serve for a short period, m&y do much. Above all, we must make the most of our actual resources by the most careful ti'aining and the best disposal of the few men retained in the service in peace, and by the closest attention to every method by which the want of human strength and dexterity may be supplied by mechanical power and scientific invention ; from these last we have much to hope at the pre- sent day and in this country. Many experienced officers in the various branches of the naval service will be found to suggest what ought to be done ; it will be sufficient for an humble landsman " who sits at home at ease," should he succeed in calling their attention to a subject which, he is convinced by long reflection, has become one of the most anxious importance to the honour, the interest, and even the security of her sons, " Whose march is on the mountain wave,
Whose home is on the deep." March 1832. H.
Dep6t Staff Appointments.
MR. EDITOR, — At the first formation of the dep6t system, one of the principal objections raised by many experienced officers, was the difficulties which would arise from preventing the abuses, which must occur in giving to every officer his own fair proportion of colonial service, and no more. Experience has shown how difficult it is to manage matters so that men of interest belonging to regiments in the colonies, should not shirk their turn of duty. Before the officers were individually numbered for embarkation, the system was most nefarious, and the recent order relative to those hold- ing the Depot Staff Appointments, cannot fail to have a good effect; but, if the Adjutant-General could but see how these affairs are sometimes managed on the first formation of the reserve companies, some order would, no doubt, appear to give to the old subaltern (whose interest seems to be but little regarded in our service) a fair chance, and to prevent the good of the service being sacrificed to interest.
As the case now stands, the commanding officer of the regiment in the first instance, and the commanding officer of the reserve afterwards, recom-
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mend individuals of their own selection, for the adjutantcy and depot-pay- niastership. Now, if an old subaltern be ever so fit for these situations, he has no chance against a favourite of the major's, and he is sent out to and kept in a bad climate for ever, while an officer who has never served an hour out of England is preferred; this has been the case in more than one instance. The paymasterships have, it is true, fallen to the lot of old sub- alterns generally, but not because they have been selected by their depot commanding officers (often younger in the service than themselves), but because the duties of the situation were too arduous for the young gentle- men. Surely it would only be fair, that on the formation of a depot, the senior subalterns who are fitted for the situations (the good of the service being always the first thing to be kept in view) should, as a matter of right, have the preference in being selected both as depot-paymasters and adju- tants ; and on any subsequent vacancy occurring, the same principle should never be lost sight of, but acted upon strictly where the interests of the service would admit of its adoption. It is bad enough that the commanding officer's caprice should oftentimes deprive an old soldier of a comfortable appointment, but still more objectionable that the colonel of a regiment, who cannot of his own knowledge be a judge of an officer's fitness for his duties, should nominate to these situations — this ought not to be.
Mr. Editor, allow me to ask, through your Journal, whether after a subal- tern has been employed as a depot-paymaster three years, and stands number one for embarkation, the order recently promulgated ever contemplated the same officer being appointed adjutant for two years more — or to the re- cruiting service for the same period ? thus obliging the next on the roster to be sent out long before his turn. Some officers of depots at home put this liberal interpretation on this order because it suits their own ends, but as both the Adjutant-General and Deputy-Adjutant-General can feel for "soldiers of fortune," (men without family interest,) it is to be hoped they may follow up their good intentions, and issue some order to give to every man in his turn his own share of foreign service. The meaning cer- tainly must be, that no man who has been four years at home, should em- bark before another who has been six for instance. Of course, if a man has been abroad, and either from sickness or duty has been sent home, his case is different ; but it can never have been in contemplation that an officer was to get a depot-paymastership for three years, then go recruiting for two more, then perhaps be appointed adjutant for two more.
If these remarks prove worthy of insertion in your valuable publication, perhaps they may catch the eye of the Adjutant-General, which would ensure the hard-working old subaltern from being cast on one side, and treated un- justly, to make room for younger men with no recommendation beyond interest and family connexion.
I am, Sir, your most obedient,
I. U. Service Club, Dublin, FAIR PLAY.
February 29th, 1832.
Life-boats.
MR. EDITOR, — I have been desirous for some time, of addressing a letter to you, on the subject of " Life-boats," but have delayed doing so, with the hope that some abler hand would take the matter up, for the purpose of drawing the attention of the Admiralty, and those individuals who are fond of aquatic trips, to the propriety of converting the common boats in use into safety-boats; I have, however, waited in vain, and the circumstance of a second recent instance,* of the upsetting of a man-of-war's boat, has induced
* The gig of His Majesty's ship Imogene. The first instance was that of a boat belonging to the Undaunted frigate. Mr. Grant, jun. of Portsmouth, was in both instances instrumental in saving the lives of the officers and crews.
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me to send you this, convinced that you will think, with me, the subject one of much importance. The repeated accidents which have occurred of boats upsetting and swamping, whereby some valuable lives have been lost to the naval service and to the country, call imperiously on the legislature to direct its attention to the means for obviating such calamitous circumstances in future.
I need not dwell on the inadequacy of the common boats to sustain the effects either of a sudden and heavy squall of wind, or high and breaking waves, during a gale at sea, without the greatest risk of oversetting, or of being swamped ; for passing through broken water, or over breakers, and for landing on a beach subject to a violent surf, they are perfectly ineffec- tual : and it is surprising that, notwithstanding the many serious accidents which have occurred in them, no plan should have been generally adopted for preventing such, although several modes for constructing life-boats for common uses, as also for converting into safety-boats those which are now used, have been devised and well known.
The late Admiral John Hunter, Capt. H. Gordon, Lieuts. E. Thrackston and Cawley, Mr. Plenty, and others, have proposed plans and built boats on that principle.*
Admiral Hunter's plan for fitting common boats, is by air-tight boxes placed under the thwarts, stern sheets, &c. Capt. Gordon's consists of eight separate pieces of cork, in the shape of a triangle ; each piece a foot longer than that immediately below it: the pieces are connected by strong cord, and otherwise secured by split-cane, tied on tightly. A float or buoy of this description is made fast on each side of a boat.
Capt. Ross,t in his voyage of discovery, speaks in high terms of Lieut. Cawley's and Mr. Plenty's boats. Of the former, he says that, " Although they fortunately never had occasion to use her, the reflection that such a resource was at hand in instances where the ships were exposed to danger, could not fail to produce the best effects." Of the latter, he observes : — " This meritorious invention was in like manner of great service, for it evi- dently possessed the quality of sustaining the shock of striking on a rock, or on ice, without being in any way damaged ; and, therefore, in case of shipwreck, would have easily saved the lives of the crew."
The following testimony of the ability and efficacy of Lieut. Thrackston's life-boat, is given by Mr. Peyton, the commander of the merchant-ship Pilot :— " In latitude 18° 45' N. longitude 36° 54' W. in a strong gale from the north-east, with a very heavy sea, the ship going ten knots, one of the crew fell overboard from the main rigging : fortunately the ship was provid- ed with one of Lieut. Thrackston's boats, which, owing to the confidence the crew had in her qualities, was instantly manned by four hands as soon as it was discovered that a man was overboard. In consequence of ihe falls being foul, they were cut away when the men were in the boat, and she fell fifteen feet from the davits to the surface of the water ; and although she struck aginst the side with great violence, was not the least injured."
Capt. Peyton asserts, that no common boat meeting that sudden resist- ance, and the blow from the mizen channel received by the cork-boat, could have floated : and he is further certain, that none of the boats in ordinary use could have lived in such a sea as was running, but must have swamped. He also adds, that he feels great pleasure in saying he had saved two men's
* Before the year 1789, no attempt had been made to construct a boat for saving the lives of persons from shipwreck. That of Mr. Greatliead, in 1790, took the lead, and has been continued for that purpose ; but it is much too heavy to be carried on shipboard, or for common use.
t I cannot name this officer without expressing a sincere and ardent hope, that himself and companions in the arduous voyage they have undertaken, are safe and well, and that our anxiety for them may soon be relieved by their re-appearance among us.
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lives by the same boat during the voyage ; and that she sails very fast, holds a good wind, and requires no ballast.
The expense of converting the boats, in use at present, into safety-boats, would be comparatively trifling ; but were it otherwise, it ought not to be considered even in this era of state economy, as the life of a seaman is inva- luable, arid should be protected from the casualties incident to his hazardous mode of existence with the utmost imaginable care ; and it would be a wise measure, if some member of the Lower House were to introduce a bill, to make it imperative on the owners of merchant-ships and other vessels, to provide each with at least one life-boat.
Trusting that the subject, ere long, will engage the attention of those in power, 1 have the honour, Mr. Editor, to subscribe myself,
Your obedient servant,
BALSA.
Punishment Drills.
Mu. EDITOR, — The insertion of the following remarks in your much-read Journal, will, J trust, do an act of justice to the correct and zealous soldier. There is a system among young and passionate adjutants of regiments, to send a whole section of a company to drill because one man of that par- ticular section has, by his awkward and clumsy manner, spoilt the regularity of some particular movement. It does not require any observations of mine to expose the injustice done to the rest of the men forming the section, nor its effects in discouraging the zeal and attention of the good soldier, when he finds that punishment does not depend so much upon his exertions to do well, but upon the chance of his being placed near a careless comrade. I should say, the senior officer on parade at the time ought to prevent this : but a regimental order would put an entire stop to it.
I am, Sir, yours,
January 1832. THE RIGHT-HAND-MAN OF A SECTION.
Alleged loss of Life by Shipwreck on the Coast of Cornwall.
MR. EDITOR, — Having seen in your widely-circulated and valuable Journal for December 1831, (under the head of Naval Literature,) a review on an invention for establishing communication between wrecks and the shore, £c. &c. by J. Murray, F.S.A., wherein that gentleman is said to have asserted the following: — " It is an appalling fact for reflection, that of the passengers and crews of twenty-eight vessels wrecked in the dreadful storm of last month (Dec. 1830), between Plymouth and the Land's End, only two men and one boy were saved."
Now, Mr. Editor, allow me to tell you, Mr. Murray., and all the world, that such is not the fact, as the accompanying list of some of the wrecks, derived from the best sources of information, will show.
It must be matter of great astonishment to everybody as well as myself, that no one of my native county (Cornwall) has hitherto replied to this unaccountably erroneous statement, so liable to reflect disgrace on the cha- racter of the people of the coast, and to perpetuate the stigma of West Barbarian, a term so often to be found in the mouths of the prejudiced and ignorant of the other counties. Perhaps it may be apathy on the part of my countrymen, or perhaps they may not have noticed the statement of Mr.
were rendered by the Coast Guard, in the disastrous gale of December 1830, it surely behoved them, in justice to themselves at least, to have set Mr.
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Murray aright, as from their superior means of information, (relative to every thing that occurs on the coast,) they were so very capable of doing.
I have felt considerable reluctance, Mr. Editor, (for particular reasons,) in thus troubling you, having expected that some one more competent to the task would have taken up the subject ; but three numbers of the United Service Journal having come out, and no answer to the " appalling fact " appearing, I have deemed all other considerations of but little consequence, compared with the importance of removing error and establishing the truth.
LlST OF SOME OF THE VESSELS WRECKED DEC. 6'PH, 1830.
At Plymouth — Gomer, brig; Charity, ditto; Emulous, ditto; Experi- ment, ditto : crews all saved.
Between Lizard and Deadman Points — Brothers, schooner ; Le bon Pere, brig; Catherina Margarita, galliot; St. Nicholas, brig; La Mayenne, schooner : crews all saved.
Making in all nine vessels, the entire crews of which were saved.
There were, however, several other vessels wrecked on the coast, and all hands perished, some of whom are supposed to have struck on detached rocks in the night, such as the Gedges, off Helford River, and the Gull Rock, off the Nore Head. In such circumstances, all the means which, scientific men have yet invented, would not have availed. Many other par- ticulars might be mentioned, but it is considered that enough has been advanced to remove the impression made by Mr. Murray's statement, to whom, and to all scientific men, I wish every success in their highly laud- able pursuits. VERITAS.
March 5th, 1832.
Naval Promotion.
MR. EDITOR, — Reform is the order of the day. Why do not the Admi- ralty reform ? How are these boys still made captains ? Did not Sir James Graham say at his election, the patient, hard-working, unassuming officer should be attended to — is it so ? Why are so many admirals' sons to run away with the rank that old officers have earned? If their fathers have done service, the country has rewarded them for it ; they have had com- mands, profitable and honourable; the country does not owe their family anything.
It is heartbreaking for an old Lieutenant to see these gentlemen strut about the Admiralty, and ask each other, by way of a quiz — Well, have you come here with your thirty or forty years' grievances ? Thirty or forty years service they mean. Yes, young fellows, we do apply with our thirty or forty years' grievances as you term it, but in vain. Whigs and Tories, no differ- ence, merit remains as it ever has done without a backer — all astern. Englishmen — countrymen, I hope you will reform the Navy ; promote at one batch those officers who served afloat in the war, or arrange it that their names shall be on a list, and let them know they will have their promotion — not one that obliges them to retire from the service of the country, but a fair promotion. You would not desert them because you consider them worn out in your service — for shame. You would not do so as Britons, I am certain. Insist on medals being given to those who have fought in a junior station, as well as to those who have not fought in a senior station. How can any public man declare on his conscience that merit alone was promoted at the peace in 1814? Why, Sir, I can name dozens who had no claims what- ever, men who never saw a shot fired in their lives, and only delicacy towards their family prevents my giving their names; as Blackee says, " no believe dat man, he publish the service of every officer appointed and pro- moted." I shall, perhaps, give a hint of a few if this is accepted. While writing I may ask, — what did Capt. King, now commanding the packets at
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Falmouth, ever perform ? I ask what actions he has been in, and why he keeps that command to the prejudice of others ? The Astrea is a port-ship, if she must be there, give her some other officer — why is the purser there so many years at an increased salary ?
I am. Sir, yours, &c.
AN OLD LIEUTENANT, WITH VERY NEAR FORTY YEARS' GRIEVANCES.
Formation and Movements in Battalion.
MR. EDITOR, — Having heard that the present system of the four deep formation is about to undergo a change, I beg leave, through the medium of your valuable Journal, to recommend a trial of the following method of forming fours, which, it is presumed, will be deemed an improvement.
By the present system, the right four deep is performed by the right files taking a side step to the right, and a pace to the rear : I propose that the left files take a side step to the right and a pace to the front. The left four deep is done by the left files taking a side step to the left, and a pace to the rear : I suggest that the right files take a side step to the left and a pace to the front, by which it will obviate the confusion and jostling that frequently occur by the present system, particulai'ly when the troops are in heavy marching order.
The recruit may be taught the formation of fours as above in half the time taken for that purpose by the present system, and instead of being tedious, it would give confidence to the men, by having the movement in front instead of the rear ; nor would the instructor find it near so difficult a task as in the present formation.
I shall take the liberty to point out a simple defect in the solid square by the present system of fours. The column being ordered to " form solid square," the colours, &c. move to the centre, and F»ont face,
at the word " outwards form four deep," the rear ranks of the following companies step back one pace with the left feet, numbers 2, 3, 4, and 5 ; and at the word " march," the subdivisions of those companies face outwards, the right files of the right subdivisions taking a side step to the right, and a pace to the rear, the left files of the left subdivisions a side step to the left and a pace to the rear, thereby throwing the right(R) and left (L)faces one pace to the rear, which if not regained immediately, and no correction allowed, the square would be in this figure —
Having shown the disadvantages of the existing system of fours in this movement, I will show the advantage and correctness in the same movement by the alteration I propose. On the Front face,
caution to " form solid squares/7 every indivi- dual acts in the same manner as in the above movement ; and at the word " outwards form four deep," " march," the subdivisions face outwards, the left files of the right subdivi- sions taking a side step to the right and a pace to the front, and the right files of the left subdivisions a side step to the left and a pace to the front, the rear fours closing up after formation, which instead of throwing the flank faces back, will bring them in line with the right and left of the front and rear faces, and will stand as in the figure.
538 CORRESPONDENCE.
In reference to page 109 of the General Principles for the Movements of a Battalion, it states, " when divisions move four deep to the right or left, it must be recollected that in both cases there is a file to form up on the outer flanks, upon the 'halt,' ' front,' when forming on a pivot point, therefore the leaders of companies must leave room for this file ;" consequently if this be not observed to the greatest nicety, the division will either have to open out, to occupy the space which was taken over and above room for the flank file, or it will have to ease off to make room, as the officer must be covered in column. But my suggestions will do away with all these unnecessary recol- lections, for this reason, the pivot files will never have to double, therefore the officer will march his division at once up to the covering serjeant before he gives the word "halt," "front."
All these advantages will arise from the simple alteration of the right and left four deep, which may be made in any of the most effective corps in three or four hours' drill for that purpose, the telling off and words of command being precisely the same as at present, thereby not infringing on the exist- ing regulations.
Respecting the formation of fours to the rear, I will point out the follow- ing method for trial : — At the word " rear form four deep," the rear rank step back in the usual way, but at the word " march," the whole face to the right about, the left files taking a pace to the front and a side step to the left, in this mode the men see where they are going.
If stepping forward with the right feet be an objection, I suggest the right files stepping a pace to the front with the left feet, and a side step to the right, whereby they will stand fours to the rear, the very same as at present ; no matter what file doubles in this case, for they will have the for- mation in view in forming fours, as well as reforming two deep, having always to step forward instead of backward.
I am, Sir,
Your most obedient humble servant, Feb. 14th 1832. A SOLDIER.
Promotion in the Corps of Marines.
MR. EDITOR, — I beg to lay before you a few simple facts relative to a certain class' of officers of the Marine corps, to the end that the same may be inserted in your Journal ; as I feel aware one of the chief objects of that excellent publication is, not only to bring before the country at large, but in an indirect way home to the very Government itself, all such grievances in .the military and naval departments, whether collective or individual, which, from the nature, of the cases, as well as from various other circum- stances, may have escaped the observation, or never come to the knowledge of those in power.
I much regret some senior officer, and one more able than myself, has never entered upon the task of advocating generally the cause of his neg- lected corps ; for neglected I must think it is, until 1 see it put on a similar footing in respect to promotion with other services. But as I intend confin- ing myself solely to an unprecedented case of hardship towards a portion of the officers upon the subaltern list, I shall forbear comment upon the other numerous disadvantages which more especially affect the body corporate.
The case then, Sir, to which I am desirous of calling the attention of your readers is, that of the second-lieutenants of the late war, commencing with Lieut. William Calamy (now on the first-lieutenant's list), down to Lieut. Samuel Hawkins (junior second-lieutenant of 1814).
Upon the termination of that eventful war, I beg to observe a most exten- sive promotion was given to the Royal Navy. But to the poor Marines, who had been equally exposed to the perils and privations for which the Navy were so liberally recompensed, no such boon was granted! On the con- trary, many casualties which had actually occurred previous to the rati-
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fication of peace, were not so much as filled up ! And so completely was the door of promotion subsequently shut against us, that Lieut. Calamy, who was then the senior second-lieutenant, remained at the top of that list for a period of six years, although there were officers killed in action in the interim ! I allude to the battle of Algiers. The vacancies were filled from the half-pay, without giving advancement to the senior serving officers.
These, Mr. Editor, are incontrovertible facts, which I have been under the necessity of bringing forward, to point out the true cause of our present mortifying and hopeless situation ; as I do affirm, it has borne more severely upon our class than any other, the length of servitude in the junior grade having not only excluded us from the benefit of the extra shilling, but deprived us of the advantages of seniority in the next step. I am confident it never could have been contemplated at the time the additional allowance was granted to lieutenants of seven years, that second-lieutenants or ensigns would be nineteen years and upwards in the same rank ; and then upon their promotion, to have seven years longer to serve to entitle them to this increase ; or surely some provision would have also been made for them ! But as it is, we are doubly punished, because even our length of servkurle is not allowed ! For instance, if His Majesty should ever be graciously pleas- ed to grant promotion to lieutenants in the army of a certain standing, by allowing them to take unattached companies, there are many eligible to avail themselves of it, who really have not been in the service so long as ourselves by some years.
Now our peculiar case appears altogether so inconsistently unjust, that I firmly believe it has never been rightly explained, or thoroughly understood; and which induces me to think, if my brother officers were to get up a peti- tion, couched in respectful and loyal terms, pointing out the cruel position in which they stand, and praying their commissions as first-lieutenants might be antedated, so as to allow each officer a servitude of seven, or even ten years, as a second-lieutenant, (without retrospection in regard to pay,) it might have a good effect ; for unless this is done, no promotion either in the corps or otherwise, can afford immediate alleviation to our suffering class. I have the honour to be, Mr. Editor,
Your most obedient servant, A SUBALTERN
At Sea, 5th Jan. 1832. of 22 Years' standing upon 6s. 6d per diem.
Permanent Fortification.
MR. EDITOR, — Nothing can be more preposterous and injurious to the service than the idea that the study of permanent fortification is the pe- culiar and exclusive province of the officers of engineers and artillery. Not to mention the many critical and important duties required from both officers of infantry and dragoons, in the attack or defence of fortified places, in guarding the trenches, assaulting the covered way, the raveline, the bastion, and very often the complicated retrenchments within them : or, on the other hand, of leading sallies or sorties from the garrison, &c. ; it is well known that officers of every description are often, very often, on service, directed to superintend their men in the formation of entrenchments, field- works, &c. Now, it may be asked, how is it possible for them to be able to discharge these duties, with any degree of credit to themselves or advantage to the service, unless they know something at least of the details of fortification ?
By the study of permanent fortification, we are put jn possession o all the elementary principles of field-fortification ; indeed, the one may be said to be a mere modification of the other, but under a less polished garb : its tracings and execution not being so scrupulously exact. There are, besides,
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several other most essential branches of military duty, which are evidently based and dependent on a thorough knowledge of the details of permanent fortification. That most important of almost all its branches, for instance, taking up a position, cannot be done without a most extensive knowledge of the leading principles of fortification. Unless an officer be acquainted with the principles of permanent fortification, it is morally impossible for him, of his own knowledge, to decide on the properties, in a military point of view, of any position or space of ground whatever; for all positions, strictly speak- ing, are merely natural fortresses, requiring more or less the assistance of art to strengthen them by entrenchments, &c. An experienced officer, familiar with the details and principles of fortification, will at one glance recognise in them their irregular-shaped bastions, their connecting curtains, more or less perfect ; their ravelines, somewhat perhaps out of their true bearing ; their advanced ditches, and detached redoubts : he will readily perceive all the advantages of which any given space of ground is capable — both as regards his own position or that of the enemy ; he will know when to be quiet, and also when and where to attack. But an officer, not con- versant with the rules of fortification, will be unable to console himself when he is in a good position, or to adopt the requisite precautions when he is in a bad one — neither will he be able to appreciate that in possession of his enemy. He will, perhaps, be disposed to consider himself safe, or his enemy impregnable if posted on a hill, provided it be high enough, and a wall before him, with a river in his front and an impervious forest in his rear ! He will neither know when to set his men to work, or when to give them repose ; and his own mind will be alternately on the rack of uncertainty or ill-founded confidence. In Scotland, in Ireland, in Wales, and even in many parts of England, a hundred good positions may sometimes be taken up in the space of five or six square miles by an intelligent officer, who knows how to select that which is the most advantageous for his purpose — of attack or defence, of foraging, or observation, or rest.
" Foi-tification," says Frederick the Great, " possesses the rules that are applicable to all situations of an army, and is the basis of that coup-d'ceil which enables an officer to distinguish, at one glance, the advantages or disadvantages of which any given space of ground is capable."
56, Upper Charlotte-street, WM. TAIT, Engineer.
Fitzroy-square.
Training Yeomanry in the Sword Exercise.
MR. EDITOR, — I have read the various observations which have appeared in your valuable Journal., relating to the yeomanry, but I do not conceive enough, or at least an eligible mode, has been suggested in regard to the sword exercise, requisite for such a body of domestic troops.
Two objects are essential — making them effective for the service in which they are likely to be employed, and making them so as quickly as possible, without encroaching too much upon those occupations, in which the gene- rality are more or less professionally employed.
In reference, then, to the use of the sword, I am of opinion, that as the duties of yeomanry will probably never be of the same extensive nature as those for which our regular cavalry is trained, and that it can scarcely be expected they will ever be opposed to horsemen, it would only be a loss of time to attempt the whole of the instructions, as laid down by the army re- gulations for the sword exercise, but that such portions might be selected as would fully answer the purpose, and that being properly, not casually, instructed in them, and the various situations explained to the men, in which the instructions might be applied, they could be made (comparatively speaking as to their respective services) as efficient swordsmen as the regulars.
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It is chiefly against infantry that the yeomanry should be trained, as they would be mostly employed in dispersing a mob ; and if obliged to make use of their swords, it would probably be in pursuit for attack, or for attack and defence, when in the midst of men on foot, armed with bludgeons, poles, &c. or, at the worst, against the pike or bayonet.
They should not, however, be totally unacquainted with two or three cuts and guards, as given in the instructions against cavalry, since in charging along the roads, lanes, or in many other situations, they might be assailed by, or be obliged to attack men who had taken advantage of a wall, tree, bank, or such a spot as would bring them upon a level with the horseman.
These points, if rightly explained to the yeomanry, and they being required to learn no more than the few requisite cuts and guards, under proper inspection to see that the instructors were of sufficient capability, and that the practice was fully adhered to, appear to me worthy of conside- ration, whereas the yeomanry may otherwise be led to consider themselves bound, as cavalry, to attempt every thing required of the regulars ; and probably some or their own horses, or even comrades, might suffer from those cuts which were intended to have effect elsewhere ; and themselves, perhaps, wounded at the moment they had so erred in their attack.
With every wish that they may have no occasion to show their efficiency, but at the same time anxious that they should be prepared, and properly too, if called upon to act.
I remain, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
A SWORDSMAN.
P.S. Since writing the above, I hear that Mr. Angelo, the Superintendent of Sword Exercise to the Army, has formed a system expressly upon the plan above suggested, and I imagine it could not be in better hands.
Mounting the Cavalry.
MR. EDITOR, — As regulations have so often been made avowedly for the purpose of diminishing the expenses that officers are liable to, 1 take the liberty of suggesting the following for mounting the officers of cavalry, as it does not strike me that any objection could be made to them, and the officers would nine times out of ten be better mounted than they now are.
1st. According to the strength of regiments', let a certain number of the best horses be selected and marked down in the description book as fit for officers' chargers.
2nd. Let every officer on joining be mounted from these, on paying the Government contract price for the regiment, and if inexperienced, his charger should be chosen for him by the commanding officer and riding-master, which latter is also to be paid his breaking-in fees on every occasion, the indulgence is granted.
3rd. Whenever an officer loses a charger, under circumstances for which by present regulations he is entitled to pecuniary compensation, let him be remounted from the select horses, free of expense, excepting riding- masters' fees.
4th. When such chargers are worn out, or become unfit for the service through any other casualties, not brought on by neglect or ill treatment, let them be cast by the .general at the half-yearly inspection, and the officer again be permitted to remount himself as at first.
5th. If officers injure or kill their chargers by neglect or ill treatment, or in consequence of being permitted to ride them hunting, the above indul- gence not to be granted, but they must immediately remount themselves from some other quarter, and the charger so purchased, passed and approved of by the officer commanding, and then to be subject to the same regulations as those taken from the select horses.
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6th.. Officers not to be permitted to sell any charger taken from the select horses until cast by the inspecting general, but they might be permitted by the commanding officer to exchange with one another.
A CAVALRY OFFICER.
Massey's Sounding- Machine.
MR. EDITOR, — On reading your interesting periodical of October last, a statement by Capt. Hall, R.N. relative to the great utility of Massey's Patent Sounding-Machine, I feel much pleasure in assuring the Royal Navy, through your Journal, that Capt. Hall has done but a bare act of jus- tice to this truly useful article, and which, if more generally used by the Navy, would verify what he has stated in your October Number, viz. that the cei'tainty of its operation in obtaining the vertical depth of water, without regard to the quantum of line let off the deep-sea-reel, in any sort of weather, and even whilst sailing at the rate of six knots per hour, is a decided proof of its superior utility to most other methods in use. And having once saved a cruising frigate from grounding, whilst blockading during the war in 1812, by using Massey's Patent in blowing weather, in pre- ference to the old method, I speak from positive experience, and would recommend all officers to give it but a fair trial to convince them of its great service : and 1 can further state, that I once tried Massey's Patent, on a fine day, in sight of the Eddystone Light-house, the ship under all sail, going eight knots per hour, and obtained true soundings in forty-five fathoms
Though I have the highest opinion of its great utility, there is one objec- tion which I think it right to state, and which I have no doubt might be ob- viated by the ingenious inventor. I have on more than one occasion tried Massey's Patent in deep water, that is, from sixty fathoms upwards, and found, to my great surprise, that the density of water at so great a depth compressed the cylinder (whose rotatory motion causes the index to denote the depth) into a flat body, thereby rendering the machine useless, and have heard practical officers condemn it from that circumstance ; I have since only used the Patent when the supposed depth of water did not exceed fifty fathoms : but the Patentee I should think might, by increasing the thickness of the copper used in making the cylinder, prevent its compression even in a hundred fathoms.
I submit this for the information of the Patentee, as well as the Navy in general. Your humble servant,
An OLD OFFICER, A strong advocate for Theory as well as Practice.
Plymouth, 1st March~1832.
Dress and Equipment of Riflemen.
MR. EDITOR, — The yellow epaulets of the French voltigeurs have been justly censured ; but are they not less absurd than the bright silver buttons, glittering ramrods, brass sword hilts, and burnished buckles of the rifle brigade ?
Permit me, likewise, to inquire the use of the dirk with which the rifleman is encumbered? Its appearance is far from ornamental, and it can never be useful in the field ; for when fixed on the rifle it barely projects three feet from the arm of the sharpshooter.
I would, therefore, substitute for the dirk a light tomahawk, the lower end made to fix in the ground, and the axe-head hollowed out to serve as a rest for the piece.
The officers I would arm with targets, made of rhinoceros hide, and fur- nished with a projecting spike in the centre. The shields worn by the Mahratta horse, will, I believe, turn off a ball at eighty yards' distance.
CORRESPONDENCE. 543
While on this subject, allow me to observe, that many gentlemen have expressed a wish that the new police were furnished with targets. The celerity of their movements would not be in the least impeded by the weight, and the most violent demagogue could not object to an arm so purely defensive.
Instead of forming the rifle brigade into battalions, I would divide into distinct centuries, each consisting of 144 men, and officered by a centurion, captain, first lieutenant, second lieutenant, and ensign.
To each century should be attached one of the light pieces, called amu- settes. Their range exceeds 3000 yards, they may be loaded six times in a minute, and fired 200 times in an hour. Not wishing to occupy too much of your valuable columns, I here conclude and remain,
Sir, yours, &c. Iwra.
Moustaches.
MR. EDITOR, — I fully concur in the opinion expressed by " Miles Ju- venis," in the last Journal, that the moustache added considerably to the soldier-like appearance of our cavalry, but mark the absurd inconsistency which has attended their abolishment. The moustache was ordered to be discontinued in consequence of his Majesty's dislike to every thing not per- fectly English, and yet strange to say, the only regiments allowed to retain this foreign ornament, are His MAJESTY'S OWN HOUSEHOLD TROOPS, and the Hussars, to the dress of which latter corps (says the General Order on the subject) the moustache belongs, and why ? because hussars are alto- gether foreign. Then why, in the name of all that is English, are such troops retained in the British service ? What a strange nation foreigners must consider us !
I remain, Mr. Editor, your obedient servant,
March 7th, 1832. J. W. G.
Court-Martial on Capt. Warrington.
MR. EDITOR, — In your Journal for the last month (No. 40), " An Old Soldier" offers some observations upon '• Military Law and the late Courts- Martial," amongst which observations, and in reference to the trial of Capt. Warrington, is the following remark : —
" The other point to which I would advert, is the extraordinary assumption by the prosecutor, which does not appear to have been placed in its true light, that because the evidence tended to impugn the chain of evidence which he thought un- broken, he should therefore be allowed to re-open the prosecution by the production of other witnesses. Such" a monstrous doctrine, Mr. Editor, is no less illegal and un-military, than it is unjust and impolitic ; the custom of all courts, civil and military, is decidedly opposed to it."
We are not told, Sir, in what lights other persons than " An Old Soldier" have viewed the assumption of the doctrine here imputed to the prosecutor ; consequently we are without the means of comparing any variety of inter- pretation which may have been put upon such imputed doctrine. It is to be presumed, that the remark of "An Old Soldier" is aimed at what fell from the prosecutor upon the termination of the evidence given by private Denny, when the prosecutor is reported to have observed, that the testimony of that witness went to impugn, or to reflect upon, the evidence which the prosecu- tor had brought forward in support of a particular point, and which he had deemed incontrovertible. The prosecutor therefore submitted the expe- diency of his again examining witnesses : but for what purpose ? For no other than to rebut the testimony of the said witness, which had reflected
544* CORRESPONDENCE.
upon the credibility of his the prosecutor's evidence. Such is reported in the proceedings to have been the prosecutor's object. I have. Sir, atten- tively perused those proceedings, as given in three of our leading journals, and can no where discover an expression of the prosecutor, savouring of the intention or desire imputed to him by " An Old Soldier," to re-open the pro- secution for the purpose of producing in succession, such parts of it as had been held in reserve, in order the better to accord with the course of the de- fence, and to render more certain the conviction of the prisoner. Well might " An Old Soldier" denounce such doctrine as " monstrous" as " ille- gal, unmilitary, unjust, and impolitic," But the reflection thus gratuitously thrown out by " An Old Soldier" is not limited to the impeachment of the prosecutor — it no less impeaches the judgment and impartiality of every member of the court, and of the Deputy Judge- Advocate, all of whom, had such doctrine been in reality advanced by the prosecutor, might justly be accused of having lent their sanction to an unwarrantable course of pro- secution, which it was their bounden duty to deprecate and to reject at the very instant of its being proposed ; for although the prosecutor did finally abstain from further examination of witnesses to rebut the testimony of the defence, which had reflected upon his (the prosecutor's) evidence, it does not appear from the proceedings that he so abstained through any interven- tion of the court, or of the Deputy Judge-Advocate, but from a wish to save the court unnecessary delay.
The remark of "An Old Soldier," which has been cited above, appears the more extraordinary, because he has had recourse to Simmons, whose work may be pronounced the best authority on the practice of courts-martial ; and in the very page of that work, from which he has extracted, as also in the page following, it is distinctly laid down, that further enquiry or further examination of witnesses by the prosecutor, if limited to the object of re- establishing the credibility of his witnesses which had been impeached by evidence in the course of the defence, is strictly admissible. And I may be allowed, Mr. Editor, to observe, (which brings me to one of the principal objects of my troubling you on the present occasion,) that the rule so provid- ed by the Law of Trial appears to be most salutary, for without some such rule provided, scarcely a criminal trial, civil or military, could be carried on without attempts being made by suborned witnesses to upset the evidence, however respectable its character, which may have been brought forward on the part of the prosecution, and the ends of justice would be constantly defeated. I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your humble servant,
OBSERVER.
Ireland.
MR. EDITOR, — If you think the following suggestion worthy of a place in your Journal, I pray you insert it :
The state of Ireland, every one admits, is a most alarming one ; various remedies are talked of. I beg to propose a very simple, but, I think, an efficacious one. Let His Majesty assemble his Parliament in Dublin this next session, and open the House of Lords in person. I need not enter into a detail of the general advantages that would be derived from the particular benefits thus bestowed upon the metropolis, and its immediate neighbour- hood. So many and so palpable are the general happy effects which such a step would produce, that I need not say more than express my conviction that, under the mercy of God, this measure would act with the rapidity of lightning, Ireland would be saved, and England in proportion benefited, — so says
A VETERAN SOLDIER.
U. S. Club, 21st March 1832.
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EDITOR'S PORTFOLIO;
OR
NAVAL AND MILITARY REGISTER.
AFFAIRS AT HOME AND ABROAD.
THE New Reform Bill has passed the House of Commons, and been carried up to the Lords.
In the debate on Wednesday night, the 28th ult., upon the Army Estimates, as brought forward with much fairness and good sense by the Secretary at War, Sir Henry Parnell took occasion to miscarry of a brood of " very rough" notions of economy in that department. For- tunately for the country and the army, the Right Hon. Gentleman's period of gestation has been cut short, notwithstanding the unre- mitting attentions of his profes- sional adviser, Surgeon Joseph Hume, by premature ejectment from the War Office. The moun- tain laboured, but the birth was worse than ridiculous. Nothing more despicable, in point of prin- ciple, justice, or expediency, than the generality of those schemes, was ever uttered within the walls of St. Stephen's. Their reception by the House was commensurate with their merits.
FRANCE has been disturbed by a new sedition at Grenoble, which was only quelled by the interfer- ence of the Troops of the Line, the National Guard of the place having refused to act. Temporary tranquillity has been restored.
A French force of 1500 men, to which we alluded in our last, has forcibly occupied the fortress of ANCONA, and exercises an imperium in imperio in the heart of the Papal States, in defiance of the Pontiff's protests and remonstrances. The object of this expedition remains unexplained : its effect has been to
U. S. JOUHN. No. 41. APRIL 1832.
foment the pre-existing excitement on the Italian Peninsula.
The affairs of HOLLAND and BELGIUM appear as much embroil- ed as ever. Both parties are said to be actively preparing for the probable contingency of war.
NAVAL AND MILITARY LIBRARY AND MUSEUM. — At a General Meeting of Members of the Naval and Military Library and Museum, held at the Thatched House Tavern, St. James's- street, on Saturday the 3rd March 1832, Admiral the Hon. Sir Robert Stopford, Bart. G.C.B. in the Chair,
1st. The report of the Council was read by the Secretary.
2nd. A series of Laws, prepared by the Council for the future government of the Institution, was read.
At the conclusion, a short discussion arose on a passage of the 6th Clause in Section III. which stood as follows: " The Members going out by rotation shall be eligible to be re-elected."
Lieut.-Colonel W. F. O'Reilly, sug- gested that the Members of the Coun- cil going out should not be eligible to be re-elected for one year.
A. H. Holdsworth, Esq. M.P. Colo- nel of Yeomanry Cavalry, and a V ice- President of the Institution, stated the grounds upon which the Commit- tee had decided upon the above Clause.
An amendment was then proposed by Colonel Sir John T. Jones, Bart. R.E. (a Member of the Council,) seconded by Major C. C. Dansey, R.A. and agreed to, that " Three of the Members going out shall be eligible to be re-elected."
The entire series of Laws was then put from the Chair, and carried unani- mously.
3rd. The various officers of the In- stitution were elected for the ensuing year.
4th. It having been announced to the Meeting that the following distin- guished individuals had acceded to the
2 N
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EDITOR'S PORTFOLIO.
request of the Council to become Trus- tees to the Institution, they were pro- posed and duly elected. Admiral the Hon. Sir Robt.'Stopford, Bart. G.C.B.; Gen. the Earl of Rosslyn, G.C.B.; A. H. Holdsworth, Esq. M.P. Colonel of Yeomanry Cavalry.
5th. Auditors of accounts for the current year were appointed. Capt. Edward Lloyd, R.N., F.R.S. ; Major C. J. Fitzgerald, H. P. Portuguese Service ; William Baldock, Esq. late Lieut. Rifle Brigade.
6th. It was proposed by Major Gore Browne, R.A. and seconded by Lieut.- Col. C. R. Fox,Grenadier Guards, M.P. "That the thanks of the Meeting be given to the Hon. Lady Grey, for her very valuable and extensive donation to this Institution, in the collection made by her Ladyship's late husband, the Hon. Sir George Grey, Bart. R.N. Commissioner of Portsmouth Dock- yard." This resolution was unani- mously carried.
7th. It was proposed by Lieut.-Colo- nel O'Reilly, seconded by Major C. C. Dansey, R.A. and unanimously car- ried, " That the thanks of this Meet- ing be given to the Council for bring- ing the Institution into its present prosperous state."
8th. It was proposed by Lieut.-Gen. Sir Charles B. Egerton, K.C.H. se- conded by Capt. Sir T. Troubridge, Bart. M.P., R.N. and carried by accla- mation, " That the thanks of this Meeting be given to Admiral the Hon. Sir Robert Stopford, G.C.B. for the zeal he has always manifested in for- warding the objects of this Institution, and for his kindness in presiding on the present occasion."
The Meeting then separated.
(Signed) R. STOPFORD, Chairman. H. DOWNES, Director. W. S. HALL, Secretary.
After the Meeting, seventy of the Members sat down to an excellent dinner provided for them at the same Tavern.
The Right Hon. Sir John Hobhouse, Secretary-at-War, was in the Chair, supported on the right by Admiral the Hon. Sir Robt. Stopford/Bart. G.C.B. ; and on the left by Lieut.-Gen. Sir John Byng, G.C.B. and by other officers of rank in both services.
Among many excellent speeches de-
livered during the course of the even- ing, we can only give space to a brief outline of the admirable and appro- priate address of the Chairman, in re- turning thanks for his health having been drunk.
He felt that he was not indebted to any personal qualification of his own, but to the station which His Majesty had been pleased to confer upon him, for the distinguished honour of being selected to preside on that occasion. He would, however, take the opportu- nity to say, that no institutions could stand higher in his estimation than those which added lustre to the British arms. For wherever those arms were seen, there also were planted the standards of freedom and civilization, there were sure to be found those blessings which it was our happiness to enjoy at home and our pride to diffuse abroad.
Indeed, this great nation, proudly pre-eminent as she stands among sur- rounding nations, must depend for a continuance in her present exalted station, not only on the Victories gained by her arms in War, but also on her cultivation of the Arts of Peace ; and in this view he considered the establishment of the present Insti- tution as an event of great national importance.
Providence had ordained that this country should enjoy the distinguished privilege of having her influence ac- knowledged, even in the most distant portions of our globe ; every thing therefore which tends to unite man to man in one common bond of amity, and to ameliorate his condition, should be propagated among us with the greatest assiduity. The present Insti- tution then, which, as one of its leading objects, holds out to the officers of the United Service increased means of be- coming more familiar with those Arts and Sciences upon which so much of our happiness depends, must be felt by the country and themselves to be of first-rate importance.
"You, Gentlemen, (continued the Right Honourable Speaker,) are more than Tra- vellers, you go forth into remote and sometimes unexplored regions, in the or- dinary routine of your duties, entrusted with vast and discretionary powers— not unfrequently with diplomatic authority ; and thus enjoy peculiar facilities for add-
NAVAL AND MILITARY REGISTER.
547
ing to the knowledge and resources of your country. But these facilities, and" the power of increasing the happiness of those with whom you are thus brought hito connexion, must, of course, he aug- mented in proportion as you yourselves become more profoundly skilled in science, and practised in those arts which denote and ensure the progress of civilization.
" Of branches of information more im- mediately professional, many Officers pre- sent can speak more appropriately than myself, but this I may venture to assert, that the Institution, the establishment of which we have this day met to commemo- rate, merits every possible encouragement, and has therefore my sincere good wishes for its permanence and prosperity.
" To those amongst you who have been instrumental in the formation of this In- stitution I will say, that a just posterity will tender them its gratitude for the re- sults of their present labours, and in the mean while, their own approving con- sciences will amply repay them for the toil and anxiety of so noble an enterprise. Go on therefore and flourish ; and, after having stood foremost in the ranks of conquest, prove to the world by your bright example, that the best result of the Triumphs of War, is the power and the will to propagate the Arts of Peace."
After Sir J. Hobhouse had quitted the Chair, Lieut.-Colonel Lord George Lennox was called on to preside, and the greatest conviviality and cordiality prevailed till a late hour.
HEPORT OF THE COUNCIL.
The Council of the Naval and Mili- tary Library and Museum have much satisfaction in announcing the com- plete establishment and encouraging prospects of this important Institu- tion.
The number of Members, at pre- sent exceeds Nineteen Hundred ; and the Council congratulate the Members on the prosperity of the Funds, there being in the hands of the Bankers the sum of Twelve Hundred and Seventy- nine Pounds, clear of all demands, ex- clusive of the subscriptions for 1832, now payable, and which are daily in- creasing. The Council farther antici- pate that whenjthe views of the Insti- tution are more widely known, few Officers will remain insensible to the advantages it holds out, both in its various collections, and in the pro-
posed Lectures on professional sub- jects.*
A small house in Whitehall Yard has been granted by His Majesty's Government, for the use of the In- stitution : yet, such is the extent of contributions, that this repository is already overflowing. The Council beg to add, that their efforts are actively employed to obtain a building calcu- lated to meet the increasing wants of the Institution.
A descriptive catalogue of the pre- sents is now in preparation, which will exhibit the disinterestedness and libe- rality of Contributors, many of whom have enriched the stores of the Institu- tion by the accumulated products of long and expensive research and col- lection.
Amongst those contributions are many gifts of great beauty aud value, presented by Ladies. In return for an interest so flattering and advantageous to the Institution, it is recommended, that Ladies may be eligible to become Honorary Members.
COUNCIL FOR THE ENSUING YEAR.
Beaufort, Francis, Capt. R.N. F.R.S. &c. Beechey, F. W. Capt. R.N. F.R.S. &c. Brace, Francis, Capt. R.N. Carlisle, Nicholas, Esq. F.R.S. F.S.A. Clerke, T. H. S. Major, Staff, K.H. F.G.S.
F.R.A.S.
Dickson,SirAlex.Col.R.A.K.C.B.K.C.H. Drummond, T. Lieut. R.E. F.R.S. and
F.R.A.S.
Duncan, Hon. Henry, Capt. R.N. C.B. Ellicombe, C. G. Colonel, R.E. C.B. Fox,C. R. Lieut.-Col.Gren. Guards, M.F. Frazer, Sir Augustus, Colonel,R. A. K.C.B. Freeth, James, Lieut.-Colonel, A.Q.M.G. Garvock, John, Major, Assist. -Adjt. -Gen. Hanmer, Henry, Lieut.-Col. R. H. Gds. Jones, Sir John T. Bart. Colonel,R.E. C.B. Le Blanc, Henry, Lieut.-Colonel, Chelsea
Hospital.
MacGregor, W. G. Colonel, I.F.O. Munster, Rt. Hon. Earl of, Colonel, &c. Murchison, R. I. Esq. Prs.G.S. F.R.S. &c. Owen,W. F.W. Capt. R.N. F.R.A.S. &c.
* The Council lament to add, that on the very day after the remainder of the above-named balance was paid into the bank of Sir George Duckett and Co. that bank suspended payment. Although this may prove a temporary inconvenience, it is lioped it will be found not ultimately to affect the interests of the Institution. 2 N 2
EDITOR'S PORTFOLIO.
Smyth,W.H.Capt.R.N.K.F.M.F.R.S.&c. Straith, Hector, Capt. H.P. Troubridge, Sir T. Bart. M.P. Capt. R.N. Williamson, J. S. Colonel, R.A. C.B. Henry Downes, Com. R.N. F.R.A.S.
and F.L.S. Director. Charles Downes, Treasurer. W. S. Hall, Lieut. H.P. Royal Irish,
F.R.A.S. Secretary. The following Contributions have been received since our last. MUSEUM.
Capt. Mnngo Murray— One Shilling, George II. ; oue Sixpence, ditto.
Colonel C. Napier, C.B. — Two Specimens from the Volcanic Island in the Mediterranean ; one ditto of Fossil Cerigo.
Lieut. John Blythe, 1st West India Regiment — 20 Bottles of Reptiles and Insects; 28 Speci- mens of Wood, from St. Lucia ; 11 ditto Minerals, from Antigua and St. Lucia ; 10 Parcels of Seeds, from St. Lucia.
George Thomas Master, R.N. — 3 Bird-skins, from Shetland Islands; 3 Bird Skeletons, from Greenland ; an article of Dress, from the Labra- dor Const ; a Harpoon, from ditto ; 14 Specimens of Minerals.
Jonathan Green, late Surgeon, R.N. — A Fossil Locust, or Trilobite.
Capt. Hon. J. A. Maude, C.B. R.N.— Part of the Ruins of the Persepolitan Palace, brought by Capt. Maude from Persia, in 1817; a Coat of Mail, from the Province of Cutch, East Indies.
Capt. George Varlo, R.M. — " The New Royal Historical Medals" (two in number) for the years 1758 and 1759.
Capt. Thomas West, R.N.— Twenty-eight Spe- cimens of Sea-weed, from Bognor, 1831.
Colonel Sir Augustus Frazer, R.A. K.C.B. — A Highland Sword, once the property of His late Royal Highness the Duke of York.
Capt. Gibson, 4th Dragoons — A Suit of Chain- Armour, from the Upper Province of India ; a Wagnuck,or" Tiber's Claw;" a Battle-axe, Cutch ^Manufacture ; a Matchlock, from India.
Rear- Admiral Lucius Ferdinand Hardyman, C.B. — A Dollar recovered by a diving-bell off the coast of Portugal, in J824.
Miss Alexander — A Specimen of Net made from Nettles by the Indian Tribes residing on the Banks of the Columbia River.
Capt. the Right Hon. Lord Radstock, R.N. C.B. — A series of Twenty-nine Medals, struck to Commemorate the Remarkable Events of the reign of Queen Anne.
The Hon. Miss Courtenay Boyle — Thirty-two Bird-skins from Australia.
Miss Mary Boyle — Skin of the Clarence Pheasant (Fernand Po) ; ditto of the Curlew.
Lient.-ColonelStory,R.A. — Ten Skins of Birds, from the eastern frontier of the Cape of Good Hope.
Major Austin Neame, late 96th Regiment — A Case of Insects collected at the Cape of Good Hope.
Major W. B. Dundas, R.A.— Forty-one Bird- skins from the Cape of Good Hope.
Major Mitchell, II. P. Unattached, late 79th
Regiment — A brace of single-barreled. Pistols of the 10th century, and one a double-barrel ; a Sword (the Toledo Rapier), and a new Saxon Blade.
John Barrow, Esq. LL.D. F.R.S. &c.— Two Spears from New South Wales.
Capt. Norton, late 31th Regiment — The Bome- rang, or Magic Stick, of New South Wales.
Capt. Brace, R.N. — Three Egyptian Tombstones with hieroglyphics.
LIBRARY.
Rev. George Winnock, Chaplain to Forces — Storia de la Letteratura Italiana, 16 vols. 8vo. ; Opere di Niccolo Machiavelli, 6 vols. 4to.
Lieut. H. Cood, R.N.— Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith.
Colonel Sir Augustus Frazer, R.A. K.C.B. — The History of the World, by Sir Walter Raleigh, 1 vol. folio, 1761 ; the History of Prince Eugene and the Duke of Marlborough, 1 vol. folio, 1736 ; Caesar's Commentaries, with Observations, by Clement Edmunds, 1 vol. folio, 1795 ; Roy's Experiments on Measuring Heights with the Barometer, 1 vol. 4to. 1778 ; Falconer's Marine Dictionary, 1 vol. 4to. 1780 ; Sir John Moore's Campaign in Spain, 1 vol. 4to. 1808; Jeffrey's Description of the Maritime parts of France, 2 vols. folio, 1761 ; Sir William Congreve's Details of the Rocket System, 1 vol. folio, 1814; Le Sage's Historical, Genealogical, and Chronologi- cal Atlas, 1 vol. folio, 1818.
The Council of the Horticultural Society — The Society's Proceedings, 7 vols, 2 parts, quarto.
Admiral Sir W. Sidney Smith — An Engraving of the Equiterrestrial Life Raft, from a Model invented by Himself.
The Master-General of the Ordnance — The Maps of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain.
Reginald Orton, Esq. Surgeon H.P. late 34th Regiment — An Essay on the Epidemic Cholera of India. 1 vol. 8vo.
Edward Downes, Esq. Solicitor — James's Naval History, 4 vols. 8vo.
Major J. Mitchell, H.P. Unattached, late 79th Regiment — Les CEnvres Posthumes de Frederick le Grand, 19 vols. 8vo.
Major-Gen. Lord Greenock, C.B. — King of Prus- sia's Posthumous Works, 13 vols. Svo. ; Vitruvius's Architecture, 1 vol. 4to. ; Traites Theoriqne et Pratique de Part de Batin, par Ronilelet, 5 vols. 4ro. ; Constructions des Fonts, par Wiebe Ring, 1 vol. 4to. ; Plans to Ditto, 1 vol. fol. ; MacAdam on Roads, 1 vol. Svo. ; Mechanics' Magazine, 5 vols. Svo. bound ; Ditto, 4 vols. and 6 Monthly Parts of Tenth volume unbound.
From the Naval and Military Bible Society— 30 Bibles and Testaments in various Languages; the Society's Reports. 2 vols.
Lieut.H. Lister Maw,R.N.the Author— Memoir of the Early Operations of the Burmese War, ad- dressed to the Editor of the United Service Journal.
Commander Charles Rich, R.N. — A Map of the Principal Seat of the Seven Years' War.
MODEL ROOM.
Admiral Sir T. B. Martin, G.C.B.— Model of the Chevaux-de-frise taken up in the Channel of the Sound nearly opposite to Copenhagen, in 1809.
Colonel Sir Augustus Frazer, R.A. K.C.B. — A
NAVAL AND MILITARY REGISTER.
549
brass Thirteen-lnch Mortar in wooden bed, pattern now obsolete, scale two inches to a foot; a brass five and a lialf inch Howitzer, on travelling car- riage, scale two inches to a foot; a brass Twelve- pounder Howitzer, scale two inches to a foot ; a Naval Gun-Carriage, scale one inch to a foot.
Rear Admiral Sir Thomas M. Hardy, Bart. G.C.B. — Model of the merchant ship " Queen Adelaide" of Liverpool, the workmanship of Christopher Hayes, Shipbuilder, of Liverpool ; Model of a Messenger and Life-Bnoy, constructed by W. B. Laugridge, of Lewes, in 1804 ; Timber Models of two long Guns and a Carronade ; Model of a Ship Gun-Carriage.
PRESENTATION OF NEW COLOURS TO THE 28TH INFANTRY, BY THE MARQUIS OF ANGLESEA, ON THE SOTH MARCH, 1832.— The Rev. Chas. Vignoles read a short morning service in the Castle-chapel, and consecrated both colours in the presence of the Marquis and his family, the Grenadier Company, the Major and Flag Officers of the regiment ; after which the Mar- quis, surrounded by his staff, addressed the battalion, drawn up in the Castle- yard, as follows:—
" Twenty-eighth ! — A more pleasing task, a more gratifying duty, or a more interesting office could not devolve on me, than that which I have now to perform in presenting these colours to the regiment of which I was long the Colonel, and to which I have always felt particularly at- tached— the first battalion. This regi- ment was that to which I was first bri- gaded. It was then commanded by my excellent brother, Gen. Lord Cathcart ; but the command soon devolved upon me. It is not necessary for me to enter into a detail of the many glorious services in which this regiment has been engaged, for I trust you have kept up amongst you the good old custom of the old soldiers, relating to the young the gallant deeds which they have taken part in ; but I must touch on a few of the interesting battles in which this regiment acquired such renown. I know not by whom it was first raised, but we find its brave conduct spoken highly of so long back as the wars of Marlborough, between 1704 and 1?09. It is mentioned in the orders, and thanked for its gallant deeds. Next, in the year 17&0, we find it selected as the regiment to be sent under the immediate command of the immortal , Wolfe to America ; and it was at its head that he fell, at the moment of victory, be- fore the walls of Quebec. It was at the moment when the 28th advanced that victory was declared to be certain. The next service on which this regiment was ordered was to reinforce the Duke of York in the Netherlands, in 1794, under the
command of my excellent friend, the Earl of Moira, the late Marquis of Hastings. He hastened with his force from South- ampton to Ostend, and by a skilful, rapid, and successful march, reached the Duke of York, though opposed by the greatest difficulties. I need not follow the glori- ous course of the 28th through that cam- paign, but after distinguishing themselves, particularly at the sortie from Nimeguen, circumstances rendered a general retreat necessary ; and the 28th, throughout the march, bravely defended the rear, and were, though constantly harassed by the enemy, as constantly successful. Though they might suffer by day, they were victors at night ; and there is scarcely an instance in which they did not remain masters of the field. On one remarkable attack, when the 27th were in advance for the defence of an out-post at Gilbert-mai- son, (?) they were very hard pressed, and the 28th, of course, were ordered to advanceand relieve them. They instantly took up a position in front of the 27th, and commenced a heavy, steady, rolling, tre- mendous fire for twenty-five minutes, till the enemy totally abandoned the post, and left the 28th in peaceable possession of it. Lord Cathcart shortly after left head- quarters with some battalions, taking with him the 27th and 28th, to whom he addressed these remarkable words : — ' Wherever difficulty and danger are to be found, there the enemy are sure to find the 27th and 28th, and they are sure to conquer.' The 28th next car- ried the Island of Minorca, under Sir Charles Stuart. From thence it went to Egypt, — one of the scenes of glory that the 28th have ever cause to re- member with pride. Their landing on the 8th of March in company with the 42nd Highlanders, was one of the most imposing military spectacles that I ever beheld. They effected a landing after considerable opposition. The 13th of .March the regiment was desperately en- gaged j the French cavalry made a fierce attack on the British line, the 28th was posted in an old fort open at flanks and rear. The French cavalry rushed on with their usual bravery, attacked the flanks with the greatest fury, and con- siderably harassed us. At that moment of danger, the v/ord was given, ' Rear rank, 28th, right about, fire,' and in an instant their steady well-aimed discharge dissipated the enemy. The next day's action lost to the British army one of the best, and bravest, and most amiable sol- diers that ever lived — the lamented Sir Ralph Abercromby. He died in the pre- sence of this regiment. Soon after the
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28th took possession of Cairo, expelling the French garrison of 1000 men ; and shortly after it saw the French totally expelled from Egypt. The next place of importance it was led to was Copenhagen, and there too, it of course succeeded. It was in Portugal I next met my friends, under the command of General Sir John Moore. (Here the Marquis entered into a detail of the Peninsular operations, ending in the death of his lamented friend Sir John Moore, in the presence of the 28th, whom he eulogized as one of the first commanders that England ever possessed.) At the siege of Walcheren, where the 28th were next ordered, no- thing material occurred to it. It behaved with its usual energy, gallantry, and vi- gour 5 but there is one circumstance that I must lay as much stress on as on its gallantry. It never reduced its ranks. The hospitals and commissariat-depart- ment of that day did not exhibit their present high degree of comfort and disci- pline. It was a by-word then amongst the army, that a soldier might as well be sent to the grave as to an hospital. The 28tb did not like the hospital. Sick or convalescent, the men were always rolling up. They loved to be at home. Though naked almost, for they lost their new clothing, they still were found crawling away from the surgeon in twos and threes, whenever they could muster strength enough ; and what \vas particularly re- markable, let them want what they might in other respects, their looks were always clean, and their bayonets sharp. I can appeal to their present commander here for the truth of what I say. The gallant actions of the 28th are too many for my memory, but here is a list of the various places in which it has gloriously distin- guished itself. (The Marquis then read a long list of the achievements of the regi- ment, concluding with Waterloo.) The story of this battle is too recent, and too well known, for me to repeat it here ; but there was one circumstance I must men- tion. There is little doubt that we were severely pressed that day. I wanted some battalions to relieve an important posi- tion, and looking about, saw a regiment that coolly marched through the conflict to take up its position. I galloped and inquired what regiment it was ? I learn- ed that it was my old friends the 28th. ' The very fellows I want!' I exclaimed. They took up the position I wanted, de- ployed instantly, and every thing was restored."
In conclusion, the Marquis congra- tulated the regiment on the honour-
able fortune it had enjoyed, from first to last, of having been the guard of honour to the most illustrious slain ! and being conquerors from the days of the incomparable Marlborough to those of the invincible Wellington. He con- signed the colours to their hands, with the utmost confidence that whatever might be their destination they would bear them to honour and glory, and would never be found wanting in the day of trial.
We feel peculiar satisfaction in re- cording the foregoing honourable tri- bute to one of the finest corps in the world. Time was, when we had the honour to carry those veteran colours M-hich have been so appropriately re- placed. Their trophies are transfer- red to the New Banners, which will double the list, when again unfurled in England's cause. — ED.
CHANGES IN THE STATIONS OF CORPS SINCE OUR LAST. —
3rd Dragoon Guards from Dor- chester to Brighton.
7th Ditto from Canterbury to Dor- chester.
1st Dragoons from Norwich to Can- terbury.
2nd Ditto from Brighton to Bir- mingham.
7th Hussars from Birmingham to Norwich.
9th Lancers, on route for Ireland.
Royal Waggon Train from Croydon to Hythe.
1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards, from Knightsbridge to the King's Mews.
3rd Ditto, Ditto, from the King's Mews to Portman Street.
1st Ditto, Coldstream Guards, from the Tower to Westminster.
2nd Ditto, Ditto, from Brighton to the Tower.
1st Ditto, 3rd Foot Guards, from Portman Street Barracks to Windsor.
2nd Ditto, Ditto, from Westminster to Knightsbridge.
1st Ditto, 1st Foot, from Trinidad to St. Lucia.
9th Foot from Cork to Gibraltar, to relieve 53rd Foot.
9th Ditto, Reserve Companies, from Limerick to Buttevant.
14th Ditto from Gosport to Ports- mouth.
NAVAL AND MILITARY REGISTER.
551
18th Foot from Corfu to Portsmouth and to Weedon.
19th Ditto from St. Vincent to Tri- nidad.
33rd Ditto Jamaica, on passage to this country.
35th Ditto, Barbadoes, on passage to this country.
37th Ditto from Bermuda to Jamaica.
42nd Ditto from Gibraltar to Malta.
51st Ditto, Corfu, under orders for this country.
53rd Ditto, Gibraltar, under orders for Malta, to replace the 73rd.
53rd Ditto, Reserve Companies, from Nottingham to Stockport.
60th Ditto, 1st Battalion, Reserve Companies, from Dublin to Omagh.
69th Ditto from Barbadoes to St. Vincent.
71st Ditto, Reserve Companies, from Perth to Dundee.
73rd Ditto, Malta, under orders for the Ionian Islands.
80th Ditto, Manchester, under or- ders for Ireland.
81st Ditto from Portsmouth to Hay- dock Lodge, Warrington.
82nd Ditto from Portsmouth to An- gleton and Haydock Lodge.
85th Ditto from Haydock Lodge to Bolton.
88th Ditto from Vido to Corfu.
91st Ditto from Bolton to Man- chester.
93rd Ditto from St. Lucia to Bar- badoes.
93rd Ditto, Reserve Companies, from Hamilton to Ayr.
95th Ditto from Corfu to Vido.
ARRIVALS, SAILINGS, AND, IN- CIDENTS IN THE FLEET.
Portsmouth. — March 2nd. Sailed the Pearl, 20, Com. R. Gordon, for the West India Station, via Teneriife.
March 5th. Arrived the Ganges, 84, Capt. Burdett, with the 18th Regiment on board, from the Mediterranean, last from Corfu, which island she left on the 8th of January.
March 6th. Arrived the Recruit, 10, Lieut. Com. T. Hodges, from a cruize.
Arrived the Leveret, 10, Lieut. Com. W. F. Lapidge, from Plymouth.
March 8th. Sailed the Recruit, for Plymouth.
March 9th. Sailed the Leveret, for Plymouth.
March IGth. Arrived the Onyx, 10, Lieut. Com. A. B. Howe, from Cork.
March 20th. Sailed the Onyx, 10, on a cruize.
March 22nd. Arrived the Talavera, 74, Capt. T. Brown, from the eastward.
At Spithead. — Britannia, Talavera.
In Harbour. — Victory, Royal George, Confiance and Emerald cutters.
Plymouth Feb. 26th. Arrived the
Pantaloon, 10,'Lieut.Dawson, tender to the Royal George Yacht, from Portsmouth.
March 6th. Arrived the Pearl, from Portsmouth.
March 7th. Sailed the Leveret, 10, Lieut. Com. W. F. Lapidge, for Ports- mouth ; also the Pantaloon tender for the same port. The Pike schooner went out of harbour.
March 8th. Sailed the Pearl, 20, Com. R. Gordon, for the West Indies ; and the Savage, 10, Com. Lord Edward Russel, for Cork.
March 9th. Arrived the Recruit, 10, Lieut. Com. T. Hodges, from Portsmouth.
March 10th. Sailed the Pike, 10, Lieut. Com. S. Brooking, for Cork.
March llth. Sailed the Recruit, 10, to the eastward, on a cruize.
March 12th. Arrived the Leveret, 10, from Portsmouth.
March 17th. Arrived the Stag, 46, Capt. Sir Thomas Troubridge, Bart, from Cork.
March 2 1st. Sailed the Harrier, 18, Com. Vassal, for the East Indies.
Remaining in Hamoaze. — San Josef, Romney, and Echo steam-vessel.
At the Island. — Leveret.
In the Sound. — Caledonia and Stag.
Foreign. — The Pallas arrived at Bar- badoes, from Antigua, on 28th January.
The Ranger arrived at Tortola from St. Kitt's, on 15th January, and sailed the following day on a cruize.
The Gannet sailed from Port-au-Prince on a cruize on 10th January.
The Opossum packet had arrived at Halifax previous to 2nd February.
The Plover packet arrived at Mont- serrat, from Falmouth, on 22nd January.
The Challenger arrived at Singapore, from Madras, on 30th November.
The Opossum arrived at Halifax, from Falmouth, on 1st February.
The African steamer arrived at Gib- raltar, from Cadiz, on 16th February, and sailed on the 18th for Malta.
The Tyrian arrived from Falmouth on 24th January.
The North Star arrived at Jamaica, from Carthagena, 9th January.
The Lapwing packet arrived at Ja-
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maica, from Falmouth and Jacmel, on 7th January ; she left the latter place on the 4th, and sailed from Jamaica for Hon- duras on the 10th.
The Ariadne sailed from Bermuda on 24th January, for the West Indies. v The Isis, 52 guns, Capt. Polkinghorne, with Rear-Admiral Warren's flag on board, arrived in the Gambia River, on 18th January.
The Imogene, which sailed on 2Gth November last, has arrived at Rio Ja- neiro, where she found lying the War- spite, Dublin, Druid, and Pylades.
The -<Etna and Raven arrived at Ba- thurst, from Portsmouth, 31st January.
The Cygnet arrived at Halifax, from Portsmouth, 15th February.
The Challenger arrived at Singapore, from Madras, 30th November.
The Pickle arrived at Maranham, from Bermuda, 13th January; and Sapphire sailed thence same day on a cruize.
The Undaunted arrived at the Cape of Good Hope, from Mauritius, 26th Dec.
The Maidstone frigate, Commodore Schomberg, left the Cape of Good Hope on the 5th January for the Brazils, and then to proceed to England.
The Tweed arrived at Bermuda, from England, 5th February.
The Plover arrived at Jamaica, from Falmouth, 29th January.
The Cygnet sailed from Halifax, for Bermuda, 22nd February.
The Sandwich arrived at Lisbon, from Falmouth, 29th February, and the Duke of Marlborough on the 16th.
The Lord Wellington transport arrived at Barbadoes, from the Cove of Cork, 30th January.
The Zebra arrived at Sydney, New South Wales, 2Jst October, from Madras and Swan River, and sailed on the 2nd November for New Zealand.
The Princess Elizabeth packet arrived at Tortola, from Falmouth, 22nd Fe- bruary, and sailed for St. Thomas.
The Melville, 74, Capt. H. Hart, with the flag of Vice-Admiral Sir John Gore, arrived at Teneriffe on the 3rd inst. on her voyage to India, in seven days from Falmouth.
Incidents. — The Nimrod, 18, Com- mander J. Radford, was paid off into ordinary at Plymouth on the 3rd ult.
The Ferret, 10, Commander Edward Wodehouse, was paid off into ordinary at Plymouth on the 10th ult.
The Ganges, 84, Capt. Burdett, was paid off to be laid up in ordinary on the 23rd ult.
ABSTRACT OF PARLIAMENTARY
PROCEEDINGS CONNECTED
WITH THE NAVY AND ARMY.
HOUSE OF COMMONS, FEB. 16.
Corporal Punishment. — Sir John Hob- house. With respect to my absence* in the early part of the evening, I feel that an apology is due to the House, and also to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I had been present all the early part of the evening, and I went away for about three quarters of an hour, not anticipating that the question relative to military flogging would have come on at so early an hour. On the abstract question I have not changed my opinion, and I entertain as strong objections to the practice of flog- ging in the army now I am in office, as I did when I was out of office. Whether in office or out, I do not think my opi- nions will change — the grounds of oppo- sition to the motion of the honourable Member for Preston, had no reference to the abstract question, but only alluded to the particular question he brought forward as to returns.
FEBRUARY 17-
Portugal. — Capt. York called the atten- tion of Ministers to a paragraph in the Times newspaper, announcing the sailing order of Admiral Sartorius, as Comman- der-in-chief of the expedition against the Portuguese Government, set on foot by Don Pedro for the purpose of asserting the pretensions of his daughter, Maria da Gloria, to the throne of Portugal ; and he begged to be confirmed, whether the same Admiral Sartorius at present held a com- mission in His Majesty's service.
Sir James Graham. — Capt. Sartorius does remain on the list of captains liable to serve His Majesty, but, although on the list, he is not to be considered in the em- ployment of the King ; for there is a pro- vision which prohibits any of His Majesty's officers who shall take service under foreign powers from receiving their half -pay while so engaged. Therefore Capt. Sartorius, being engaged under Don Pedro, does not receive the King's pay ; nor, indeed, can he, without making affidavit that he is not in the service of any foreign prince. I may likewise say, that Capt. Sartorius is at the present moment absent without leave.
Colonel Davies was glad to hear that Capt. Sartorius was still on the half-pay list, and hoped that he would long con- tinue so.
* See Debate in our last Number, p. 419.
PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS.
Sir Robert Peel thought that the con- duct of Capt. Sartorius deserved the cog- nizance of His Majesty's Government, hut would not at present press the matter on the House.
Colonel Evans. — It is quite clear that the officer alluded to is amenable if he has violated the law, in which case any one may prosecute him, but I think that at least it is not the business of a gallant officer to interfere to press on the Govern- ment a prosecution of this kind. There seems to be something of the spirit of party in this sort of conduct.
Sir Henry Hardinge. — I must say, that a more unprovoked attack than that which the gallant Colonel has just made, I have seldom witnessed. My gallant friend who asked the question, merely demanded whether Capt. Sartorius was an officer in the British service ; and surely, if, in con- travention of an act of Parliament, a Bri- tish officer holds his commission, when he ought to be tried for a misdemeanour, it is competent for any gentleman to put a question on the subject, without having imputations cast upon him. I can assure the House that I have no party feeling towards Capt. Sartorius ; on the contrary, I have heard a high character of him, and not a word said against him.
Colonel Evans. — I still must repeat my belief that there is something of a spirit of party in the question, for I do not think that when Marshal Beresford was appointed to a command in the Portu- guese army anybody came down to this House to ask whether Marshal Beresford was an officer in the British service.
Mr. Charles W. Wynn explained, that Marshal Beresford had a special licence from this Government. The Government had a right to grant this licence, and the only point at present was, whether they have given the licence to Capt. Sartorius. Sir Robert Peel said, that it was not necessary to remove Capt. Sartorius from the British service ; all that is necessary is to recall him from the service of Don Pedro.
MARCH 19.*
Captain Sartorius. — Colonel Davies, having understood that Capt. Sartorius had been dismissed from His Majesty's service in consequence of accepting a com- mission in the Portuguese navy, wished to learn from his Right Hon. friend (Sir J. Graham) whether, previous to his dis-
* We have transposed this debate, of a subsequent date, as it illustrates the one immediately preceding it.
missal, any intimation of the intention to take this step with regard to him had been made to Capt. Sartorius.
Sir J. Graham said that the name of Capt. Sartorius had certainly been re- moved from the list of post-captains, not, however, on account of his alleged service in the fleet of a foreign prince, but in consequence of a breach of naval discipline, as the Admiralty understood him to be absent without leave. Capt. Sartorius had applied for leave of absence, but there were some suspicious circumstances con- nected with his application, which he had failed, when called upon, to explain satis- factorily. It was now known that he was absent without leave, and until that ab- sence was explained, and the mode of his application, which it appeared had not been properly sustained by facts, his name would remain off the list.
Colonel Davies said that in consequence of the steps taken towards Capt. Sartorius, he should move on Friday for a return of the names of all the officers dismissed ac- cording to the provisions of the act 59 George III.
FEBRUARY 17-
Army Estimates. — Sir John Cam Hob- house rose to propose, according to the arrangement which had been sanctioned by the unanimous approval of the House, the Army Estimates for the quarter of the year ending 31st March. It was not in his power to promise so large an amount of reduction as had been effected in the Navy department, but he was enabled to say that since 1820, a very considerable reduction had taken place in the charges for the Army service. Not- withstanding that the number of forces, and the number of persons employed in the several departments, was not much greater than that at present, and that some new charges were now added, yet, compared with the estimates of 1820, the decrease of expense was no less than 684,000*. The first vote to be submitted to the Committee, was the number of land forces. The House would recollect that in the year 1830, the rank and file amounted to 69,125 men. In the year 1831, however, in consequence of the dis- turbances in England, it was thought ad- visable to complete the full establishment of the army, by adding to the effective force 7261 men. Since that period, it ap. peared that certain battalions had return, ed from abroad, whose effective force amounted to 3256 men, so that upon the whole, an effective force of 10,516 men was made available in consequence of the
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unfortunate state of the country. There was an apparent increase of rank and file of 897 men ; and of 1005 men of all ranks ; but this increase did not exist in point of fact. The whole of the real in- crease amounted to 158 men, and the re- maining apparent increase was occasioned by the return of a regiment from India. This regiment had been maintained by the East India .Company during its pas- sage to this country, and was now a whole year returned from India ; and the in- crease of expense arising upon this head amounted to 18,000*. The Right Hon. Baronet concluded by moving, that the number of men employed in the land forces be 89,047-
Sir H. Hardinge complimented the Right Hon. Baronet on the business-like manner in which he had detailed the esti- mates ; and he had no doubt, from his knowledge of the Right Hon. gentleman's ability, that the public and the Army would be satisfied with the effective man- ner in which he would discharge his duty. The purpose for which he now rose, was to recommend the Ministers to introduce their Army Estimates for the ensuing financial year previous to the 24th of March, as that was the last day beyond which the re-enactment of the Mutiny Act could be delayed.
Sir II . Parnell said, that the present were supplementary estimates, founded on the estimates of last year, and it was not, therefore, to be supposed that the Right Hon. Baronet could propose any reductions ; but he thought the circum- stance of the House being called upon to vote supplies for a quarter, half of which had already passed by, showed the neces- sity for altering the commencement of the financial year. When he was in office, he had offered suggestions for a considerable retrenchment, and he knew that there was room for effecting a consi- derable saving this year in the Army expenditure.
Colonel Trench considered that the ar- rangements made in the Army department by Sir Henry Hardinge, were so admir- able as not to be susceptible of improve- ment. That Right Hon. Gentleman had effected considerable reductions ; and he thought that to carry retrenchment fur- ther, would only injure the effective con- dition of the Army. He, therefore, was no friend to the Right Hon. Baronet's (Sir H. Parnell's) plans of retrenchment.
Sir H. Parnell said it was impossible the gallant officer could be aware of the nature of his plans of retrenchment ; and
it was, therefore, surprising that they had received his condemnation.
Colonel Trench stated that one of the measures which he understood was to be ascribed to the Right Hon. Baronet, was refusing to allow the usual brevet rank on the occasion of the late Coronation.
Lord Althorp said, that he had lately heard many reports respecting the mea- sures of retrenchment which the Right Hon. Baronet (Sir H. Parnell) had in- tended to propose, some of which, he would venture to say, had not the least foundation. With respect to the brevet rank, the ground on which the Govern- ment refused to grant it at the late Coro- nation was, because it had been allowed but a short time before.
Sir J. Byng spoke against reducing the amount of the forces, and expressed his hope that before sanctioning any reduc- tion, the Secretary-at-War would consult practical men. If honourable members knew the fatiguing duties which the Army had to perform as well as he did, they would be of opinion that the esta- blishment was too little instead of too large.
Mr. Hume disapproved of the course pursued by the Right Hon. Baronet (Sir J. Hobhouse) in drawing a comparison between the present -year and the year 1820. Did not the Right Hon. Baronet know that considerable reductions in the amount of the Army had taken place in the years 1822, 1823, and 1824; that the number of men employed now was 20,000 more than in the year 1825 ? He cau- tioned ministers against listening to the advice of military gentlemen with respect to the amount of force to be kept up. They were always disposed to increase the army; but he knew that before the coun- try could experience any real relief, the number of the Army must be greatly re- duced. He considered it would be greatly advantageous if the Secretary at War also performed the duties of Secretary for the Ordnance and the rest of the military establishments, and placed on the tables the estimates relating to the whole of the departments together. At present the Secretary of War was made the mere Clerk of the Commander-in-chief, and promotions were made in the army with- out his knowledge. This ought not to be ; and he remembered that, before the French war, the Commander-in-chief con- fined himself to his proper duty of an exe- cutive officer. But now that officer as- sumed too much authority, and he thought it would be advisable to break down the
PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS.
555
whole establishment at the Horse Guards. Certainly the present Commander-in- chief ought not to be allowed to continue in office any longer. His excellent friend (Sir H. Parnell) had been dismissed by the ministers, because he would not vote on the question of the Russo-Dutch loan ; but the Commander-in-chief was allowed to retain his situation, though he voted directly against them on the question of reform. But, somehow or other, the in- fluence of the Duke of Wellington seemed still to prevail ; and his Secretary retained •his appointment, and held his levees at the Horse Guards. He approved of the conduct of Government in not granting brevet rank on the occasion of the Coro- nation. There were too many generals and high officers already ; and it was quite impossible to attend any assembly without meeting a red coat.
Sir J. Hobhouse observed, that since •he had been in office he had seen quite enough to convince him that he should have a sharp debate with the honourable member for Middlesex on the subject of estimates. He found that it would be impossible to carry reduction as far as the honourable member desired . Allusion having been made to the absence of brevet promotion on account of the Coronation, he felt it necessary to state, that that mea- sure would have saddled the country with an expense of 11,000/. a year, which, un- der present circumstances, it was not thought advisable to incur.
Mr. Robinson urged ministers to make up their minds, between the present1 mo- ment and the period when the annual estimates would be brought forward, to reduce the existing amount of the standing army. In his opinion there were no cir- cumstances in the situation of this country or Ireland which rendered the mainte- nance of so large a military force neces- sary.
Mr. Hunt said, that the Government would never be able to do without a large standing army until every man had a vote for the election of the representatives of the nation. As to Ireland, there really appeared no hope of getting the army out of that country.
Sir H. Hardinge. — The honourable Member for Middlesex is accustomed to take great liberties with persons present or absent ; and he, therefore, ought not to object to my drawing a comparison be- tween him and the honourable Member for Preston. I think the honourable Member for Preston, on ail occasions, .exhibits much more candour and libera-
lity than the honourable Member for Middlesex. The honourable Member for Middlesex stated, that the Commander of the Forces was in the habit of making im- proper or unnecessary promotions. The honourable Member ought to have known, that the Secretary at War controls the ap- pointments of the Commaiider-in-Chief, by having possession of the purse. Iu fact, no promotions could take place without his consent. With respect to the Com- mander-in-Chief 's levees, it is not for his own gratification that he holds them, but because they are found to be beneficial to the service. The honourable Member ob- jects to Lord Hill because he is the friend of the Duke of Wellington. Why does he not object to the Alaster General of the Ordnance, Sir James Kempt, on the same ground ? There is not a distin- guished officer in the service who is not the Duke of Wellington's friend. I have never heard a more illiberal attack upon any public officer than that which has been made upon Lord Hill ; and I never can subscribe to the doctrine, that the Commander of the Forces ought to be merely a political instrument in the hands of the Government. Let me remind his Majesty's ministers of the time they sat on the north or shady side of this House, and when Gen. Sir Ronald Fergusson constantly acted with them, and voted in opposition to the Government of the Duke of Wellington, that that gallant General received a regiment from the Duke of Wellington. I do not say this out of anything like disrespect to the gallant General ; on the contrary, I entertain the highest regard for him, I am well aware that he acted conscientiously, and was well deserving of promotion in his profession. Again, there was Sir George Anson, who also received a regiment, although he con- stantly voted in opposition to the late Government. I say, that political feel- ing had nothing to do with the adminis- tration of the Duke of Wellington in the affairs of the Army. I protest against the doctrine of the honourable Member for Middlesex, that military offices should be bestowed for political services. I was too young to be well acquainted with the political system of promotion in the army in 1792, but I have repeatedly heard what was the state of the British army when under the conduct of Lord Amherst, who, although a meritorious officer, too often consented to make the interests of the army subservient to the political views of the minister of that day. At that time I understand it was not uncommon to
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find a Major or a Lieutenant-Colonel to be a child in the cradle. I say, God for- bid that this system should ever be revived in this country. Referring to the promo- tions made by Lord Hill, I will mention the case of an officer, under whom I served for several years, who has been promoted to the command of a regiment without any application for, or any ex- pectation of it. I allude to Sir William Inglis, who was entirely without political patronage, was personally unknown to Lord Hill, and had nothing but his ser- vices to recommend him. With respect to the expectation of getting brevet rank at the time of the coronation, I never made myself in any way a party to en- courage those expectations, as I was aware of the objections on the score of economy. But is the House aware of the real state of the case ? Shortly after the peace, in consequence of an address from the House, there was an order issued relative to the pay to be bestowed on general officers, and it was then settled that there should be three classes of unattached pay : namely, to the General, Lieutenant-General, and Major-General. This was considered, also, to apply to all officers hereafter to be promoted to this rank. But in the year 1818, his Royal Highness the Duke of York, then Commander-in-chief, and the then Secretary-at-War, agreed that it would be desirable to make a change in this system, as the expense was found to be heavy, and, by the expense incurred, effectually stopped the promotion of the lower officers of the Army. However, as acting on this principle would prevent a brevet, in 1818 it was changed, and the Generals, when not on active service, were only to receive their regimental half-pay. Thus, a Lieutenant-General, or a Major-General, might only receive the half-pay of Lieutenant-Colonel or Major ; and by this change in the mode of paying the general officers of the army, no less a sum than 212,000/. had been taken from them since that time, making a saving, at the expense of the officers of the Army, to the amount of 23,00(W. a year. Under these circumstances, the Army had a right to expect, that when the sacrifice was fairly made on their parts, there would be a more frequent recurrence of brevet promotion, and that the recent withholding of it is not deserv- ing of such high commendation as has been bestowed on it. I must be allowed to express my approbation of the conduct of the Right Hon. Secretary, who acted with so much candour in telling the ho-
nourable Member for Middlesex that he entirely disagreed with him in his views of economy, instead of endeavouring, by an appearance of yielding, to get over the vote to-night ; and I can assure the Right Hon. Gentleman, if he pursues this line of conduct, he will not want supporters in this House. If unhappily, however, he, or the Government should, with a short- sighted economy, adopt the views of the honourable Member for Middlesex, I am sure the inevitable result will be the de- struction of the efficiency of the Army.
Sir J. Byng was sure that His Majes- ty's Government would maintain the pre- sent military establishment, if it were necessary to the welfare of the country. With respect to the office of Commander- in-Chief, he did not hesitate to say, that if it were not filled by the Duke of Wel- lington, it ought to be filled by Lord Hill. The gallant officer deprecated any attempt to mix up political opinions with the duties of military service.
Mr. Hume said, he was not surprised at finding military men averse to reduction in the Army. In his intercourse with officers, they had always shown themselves disinclined to take part against the Go- vernment of the day. He had no personal dislike to Lord Hill, but he thought his Lordship ought to be removed, on the ground of his being a member — an influ- ential and powerful member — of the Go- vernment. He blamed the Government, however, more than his Lordship. On the point of promotion, he would say no- thing more than that certain individuals had somehow or other risen in the Army. His object was to induce Ministers to bring down the next estimate to the esta- blishment of 1822, 1823, and 1824.
Mr. Hunt had no hopes of abolishing the standing Army, since he saw both sides of the House tarred with the same brush.
Sir J. Sebright was not surprised that military officers should object to reduc- tions in the existing force ; but, although himself no officer, he confessed he was as- tonished to see his honourable friend the Member for Middlesex propose any re- duction in the present state of the coun- try. The honourable Member referred to his personal experience under Lord Am- herst, who, though a most impartial offi- cer, had no power, being dictated to by the Minister of the time ; and added, that if ever there was a period in the mi- litary history of the country when politi- cal objects were put out of view — when the utmost fairness was shown between
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officer and soldier — it was during the time that Lord Hill had been Commander-iii- Chief. He honoured his Lordship be- cause he was not a politician.
Sir H. Hardinge referred to his own conduct in Parliament, and to that of other officers who had opposed Ministers on the reform question, as a proof of the independence of military men.
Mr. Leader thought that 100,000/. spent in improving the harbours of Ireland would do more good than five times the sum ex- pended upon a military establishment. As a precautionary measure, however, he con- ceived a strong establishment requisite.
On the question that 8,4241. be granted to defray the charge of His Majesty's garrisons at home and abroad,
Mr. Hume said that half of the persons who received garrison appointments did no duty. He was of opinion that if vete- ran officers were deserving, it would be better to pension them at once.
Sir H. Hardinge. — The noble Lord, the Paymaster of the Forces, when in oppo- sition stated, that he once held the opi- nion of the honourable Member for Mid- dlesex, but that, on inquiry, he found rea- son to change that opinion. He hoped, therefore, the noble Lord would support those garrison appointments.
Lord John Russell. — I shall be pre- pared to support the vote.
On the question that 990J. be granted to the Royal Military College,
Sir J. Hobhouse, in answer to an ob- jection of Mr. Hume's, said, that the number of the higher class of students \vas increased, while that of the lower was diminished, and that a saving would consequently accrue to the public.
On the vote of 16,7 68 J. to the volunteer corps of Great Britain and Ireland,
Sir R. Bateson took occasion to eulogize the services of the Irish yeomanry.
Colonel Torrens disapproved of a sys- tem that placed arms in the hands of a party, for the purpose of coercing the ma- jority of the community.
On the vote of 36,98«. to defray the charge of pensions to widows of officers, to the 31st March 1832, . Sir A. Dalrymple complained of a recent regulation of the War-office. Formerly, officers in the army thought that when they married, a pension was secured as matter of right to their widows. By a racent regulation officers' widows, possess- ing a certain amount of property, would not in future be considered as entitled to a pension. By this decision not only would the widows of many officers be deprived of
that annuity to which they had always considered themselves entitled, but mili- tary men would also be discouraged from ensuring their lives for the benefit of their families, inasmuch as the property, which they secured thereby to their widows on their own demise, would operate as a bar to their receiving the pension, to which they would otherwise be entitled.
Sir J. Hobhouse complained that the ho- nourable and gallant Member had not stated this matter quite correctly. Before the year 1830 the words " proper and deserving" were inserted in the warrants granting these pensions ; since that time, upon the recommendation of the committee which sat upon superannuations, the word " proper" had been erased, and the words " wealthy circumstances" had been substituted in the warrants. The substitution of these words had given rise to a question, whe- ther the Secretary at War had a right to inquire into the amount of any widow's income who desired to be put on the Army pension list. His Right Hon. predecessor in the War-office (Sir H. Parnell) was of opinion that he had a right to institute such inquiry. Still, though such was the case, there were only four instances in. which a refusal to grant the pension had been given. The first was in the case of a widow, who enjoyed a clear income of 1,8561. a-year ; the next was the case of a widow, who had 630/. a-year ; the third was in the case of a widow, who had 400/. a-year ; and the fourth was in the case of a widow who refused to give any account of her income. He thought that it would be very difficult to draw up a scale by which to determine, when a widow having children should, and when she should not, receive a pension. He was of opinion that no general rule could be devised for such cases, and the decision of them must, he thought, rest in all future years with the Secretary at War for the time being.
Sir H. Parnell said, that when he held the office of Secretary at War, he had con- sulted the best-informed persons in his de- partment as to what had been the usual course of proceeding with the application of officers' widows for pensions, and that he had formed his decision upon the infor- mation which he had so received.
Mr. C. Wynii said, that he concurred with his Right Hon. friend in thinking; that it was impossible to lay down any general rule stating when these pensions should be granted, and when they should not. He contended, that the application of an officer's widow for a pension ought not to be considered as a claim of right,
558
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but as an appeal to His Majesty's bounty. Under such circumstances, it appeared to him to be absolutely necessary to inquire into the amount of income enjoyed by each applicant for the King's bounty.
Sir H. Hardinge said, that during the time that he was in office he had acted on the principle laid down by his Right Hon. friend. He could not, however, admit that the distressed circumstances of an officer's widow formed the sole foundation for granting her a pension. It was the services performed by her husband in his life- time that gave her a claim after his death to some remuneration. He was perfectly aware that nothing was more unpopular in the Army than the requisi- tion which compelled every widow to de- clare the amount of her income upon affidavit at the time she made application for a pension. The Secretary at War was generally at war with every one else in the Army fa laugh), in consequence of the numerous applications which he had to examine and to refuse. In answering applications of this kind, it was impossible to lay down any general rule, as each case differed from its fellovr in several circum- stances. Still the Secretary at War ought not to be too strict in deciding upon claims of this nature : on the contrary, he ought to hold the scales fairly, and to decide im- partially between the p\iblic and the un- fortunate applicants for these pensions.
On the vote for 42,047/. for allowances on the compassionate list, royal bounty, and pensions, &c. to officers for wounds,
Sir A. Dalrymple said, that a letter had appeared in The Times paper of Friday last, signed St. G. Lyster, upon this sub- ject. He knew nothing of the case, but wished to ask the Right Hon. Baronet (Sir J. Hobhouse), whether he would make an inquiry into it.
Sir Henry Hardinge would say but a few words on this subject. This was a case of which the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite would find in the War-office a minute, in the handwriting of him (Sir H. Hardinge). In that the whole case of Capt. Lyster would be seen, and as it is competent to him to revise any/le- eision of his (Sir H. Hardinge) or of his predecessors, of course it is open to him to examine and make a fresh decision upon the case.
On the grant for 378,570J. Is. Id. for the charge of Chelsea and Kilmainham Hospitals, and the in and out-pensioners of the same,
Colonel Sibthorp said, that it was a shame to take a shilling in the pound from
poor soldiers, and he hoped an end would be put to the system,
Sir J. Hobhouse said that this, though an apparent, was not a real, deduction from the pensions of these poor men — on the contrary, it afforded some, though a very inadequate, return for the service done to them. Formerly pensioners were allowed to borrow money, which theycould only get on very disadvantageous terms ; whereas now, they were paid the half- year in advance, and saved from the usu- rious interest they had heretofore paid. If it was taken into consideration how many of them died between the com- mencement of the half-year and the day when the pension became due, it would be found that the Government was a loser, and that there was no want of charity in the deduction.
Sir J. Hobhouse observed, that he had pleasure in mentioning to the House that he had heard from the medical gentlemen who had witnessed the course of the cho- lera in the north of England, that not one soldier had been attacked by the dis- ease. He would also state, that a place for which Government had been in treaty was taken for the Guards, in order to secure so valuable a branch of the public service from any danger of this disorder.
Army Extraordinaries. — Mr. Rice then brought forward the Army extraordina- ries. He intended to take a general vote for the three months, and proposed that a sum of 300,OOOJ. be voted for this service. Mr. Hume said, that the form of these accounts rendered them totallv unintelli- gible. He would not ask his Right Hon. Friend for any explanation of them, be- cause he knew it must be out of his power to give it. There was the Colonial-office, and the Admiralty, and why not arrange all these under their proper heads ?
Mr. Rice said, that he always objected to the form of accounts, as there were a great many ofthe most incongruous itemsr introduced under this head ; a Govern- ment ship for Newfoundland, and Indian presents for Canada, appeared strangely in an account like this, and so also did the expenses of the Swan River establish- ment. With respect to these, they form- ed a large and increasing burden. The governor, Capt. Stirling, had been em- powered to draw bills on the Treasury at home for anv stores that might be re- quired. He had done so, but the Govern- ment had now sent out a commissary to superintend the providing of stores, and act as a check with respect to these bills. As a general change was contem-
PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS.
plated in the form of these accounts, it would not be right on one point to im- pede this vote by proposing an alteration.
Colonel Torrens said, that if the proper principle of colonization had been attended to with respect to Swan River, as it had been in regard to the American colonies, this country would not have been put to any expense.
Mr. W. Whitmore asked why this country should be called on to pay money for a colony which seemed to have been established only because a private indivi- dual wished to settle in a part of Aus- tralia.
Mr. Dixon asked how long it was likely that these payments would continue ?
Mr. Rice could not give a definite an- swer. The governor, as he had before stated, was allowed to draw bills on the Government at home, and upon that prin- ciple he had hitherto acted. This would not, however, continue, as a commissary for this especial purpose had been sent out. There was, however, a prospect that these extraordinary supplies would not be longer wanted. He expected a report from Capt. Stirling upon the sub- ject very soon, but at all events it would not be prudent to act hastily on this point, as great interests might be injured by so doing.
Mr. Hume observed, that a pledge had been given at the time the colony was formed, that it should be no expense to this country. Ministers should adhere to their pledges.
Mr. Goulburn declared he had given no such pledge, and a proof of it was, that an estimate of the expense had been laid be- fore Parliament.
Mr. Hume said, that when the large- ness of the grant of 270,000 acres to one individual was adverted to in the House, it had been replied that the grant was made on condition that the country should sustain no expense. The estimate referred to had been brought in afterwards. Such a paltry colony as this to draw 24,OOOJ. !
Sir George Murray concurred in the doctrine that a Minister should adhere to a pledge, but that did not refer to an imaginary pledge. In the present case no pledge could have been given that in founding a colony the mother country should sustain no expense. The colonial establishment at the Swan River was on the smallest scale.
Mr. Hume repeated that a pledge had heen given, as an answer to the remark about the 270,000 acres.
Sir George Murray said, that the pledge alluded to by the honourable Member was, that the country should incur no charge in sending out the emigrants ; it had no- thing to do with the establishment for the colony.
Mr. Labouchere said that this colony had been founded on a wrong principle. He acquitted the Right Hon. gentleman (Sir G. Murray) of any intention to d» what was not right ; but the course pur- sued of giving large grants of land to in- dividuals, was pregnant with mischief. He thought it also a very doubtful policy to people the large continent of Australia with convicts. He had understood that it had not been intended to make the Swan River a convict colony, and he re- gretted to hear that it had become so.
Sir George Murray said, that there never had been an intention to make it a. convict colony, and if it had become so, it was since he was out of office. The prin- ciple laid down at the formation of the settlement was, that it never should be- come a convict colony. With respect to large grants of land to individuals in old colonies, it was no doubt impolitic, but in new colonies, it was only by making large grants that individuals could be induced to carry out emigrants.
Lord Althorp was not aware of the grounds upon which the honourable Mem- ber had stated that the Swan River had become a convict colony.
Mr. Labouchere said he had understood that application had been made to that effect by the settlers, and that the appli- cation had been granted. He spoke only from an impression on his own mind.
Mr. Hume called the attention of the committee to the large sum voted for Ceylon. There was a sum of 95,000/. more than the receipts for the year 183], to be defrayed by this country. This fine colony was capable of supporting itself; but it was the most extravagant colony belonging to the Crown. There should be regular colonial vouchers for the ex- penditure, and a debtor and creditor account.
Mr. Rice said, that the apparent large expenditure was occasioned by the re- demption of debentures of a debt contract- ed in the Candian war. The civil esta- blishment was defrayed by the island, and better arrangements were now made for rendering the revenues more productive.
Colonel Torrens protested, in the name of the people of England, against this country being burdened with the civil expenditure of any colony.
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GENERAL ORDERS, CIRCULARS, &C.
Mr. Rice said that the honourable Member's protest was unnecessary as far as regarded Ceylon, for this country was not called upon to pay any part of the civil establishment of that colony.
Mr. Hunt said, that the protest was useless, for the money would be voted.
Mr. Hume inquired of the noble Under- secretary for the Colonies, whether the statement of colonial expenditure would soon be laid before the House.
Lord Howick said, there were consi- derable difficulties in preparing an account which was perfectly new, and of which great part was to be procured from the colonies. It was his intention soon to present one as complete as possible for this year, and a more complete one next year.
Mr. Burge said, that with respect to each colony paying its own expenses, he begged to say that the West India colo- nies did pay the whole of their civil and ecclesiastical, and part of their military expenses. Jamaica defrayed the whole of its civil and ecclesiastical establishments (except the salary of the bishop), and 140,000/. of its military expenditure.
Colonel Davies said, that there was not one colony which was not a heavy burden to the mother country. In the paper in his hand, he found large items for the service of Jamaica.
Mr. Keith Douglas observed, that it was a mistake to suppose that the mili- tary expenditure of the colonies was for their service ; it was for the general policy of the country.
Lord Althorp said, that the present vote might be considered in the light of a mere vote of credit for the quarter ending the 5th of April J832. It had been his intention to have brought in a bill to pro- vide for the present vote, but the pressure of other more urgent business had hi- therto prevented him. He hoped, how- ever, to do so before the period of the present vote should have expired.
The several resolutions were agreed to.
FEBRUARY 29.
Sir Henry Hardinge took the opportu- nity of observing, that he decidedly ob- jected to the employment of troops to dis- perse public meetings of the people, or to search for arms at night in Ireland, un- less accompanied by a magistrate. There might be urgent cases of exception where the troops must act without a magistrate ; but the rule ought to be the presence of a magistrate under whose authority the troops could legally act.
M ABC TI 19.
Maoao. — Mr. S. Wortley said that ac- counts of disturbances between the British subjects and the authorities at Macao had reached this country, and he wished to be informed whether any information had been received from, or instructions sent to, the Admiral commanding the squadron in the Bay of Bengal, to proceed to the scene of these disturbances with a view of affording protection to the British interests there.
Sir J. Graham stated that he had re- ceived advices from Sir Edward Owen, dated 28th Sept. last, from the Madras roads, in which that gallant officer stated, that in concequence of the information he had received from Canton, he had thought it proper to proceed to the mouth of the Hoogly, in order to communicate with the Supreme Government of Calcutta.
*.* The Debates on the Civil Depart- ments of the Navy, and on the Manchester Affair, are unavoidably postponed till our next Number.
GENERAL ORDERS, CIRCULARS,
&c. ARMY.
CIRCULAR.
War Office, 29th Feb. 1832.
SIR, — With reference to the 31st Arti- cle of the Infantry Clothing Warrant of 22nd July 1 830, by which it is directed that the amount of stoppages for great coats, lost or damaged through neglect, should be remitted quarterly to the Trea- surer of the Ordnance, I have the honour to acquaint you, that payments on this account at foreign stations where there may be an ordnance establishment, are to be made to the storekeeper of that de- partment on the spot : but that the amount of stoppages at foreign stations where there is not an ordnance account- ant, and also in Great Britain and Ire- land, are to be credited in the usual man- ner to the regimental agents, and are to be paid over quarterly by them to the Treasurer of the Ordnance.
You will be pleased to give directions that a quarterly report be made to the Ordnance whether there be any stoppage or not.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your most obedient humble servant,
JOHN HOBHOUSE. Officer Commanding
Regiment of Foot.
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COURTS-MARTIAL.
Horse-Guards, Feb. 16th. At a General Court- Martial, held at Edinburgh Castle, on the 3rd day of Jan- uary 1832, and continued by adjourn- ment to the 6th of the same month, Cornet Alexander Duncan Tait, of the 4th (or Royal Irish) Regiment of Dragoon Guards, was arraigned upon the undermentioned charge, viz : —
" With having on or about the 12th of October 1831, at Hamilton, delivered to Capt. James Shaw, of the same regiment, a certain written order, addressed to the said Captain, the commanding officer there, he, Cornet Tait, well knowing the same to be forged and counterfeit, and which order was, and is, to the effect follow- ing : — ' Glasgow Barracks, October 12th, 1831. Sir, I am directed by Colonel Ross to inform you, that in pursuance of an order from Colonel Tidy, you will forthwith, on receipt of this, send one Cor- net, and eighteen rank and file, to Strath- aven, there to remain till to-morrow af- ternoon, on account x>f the reform proces- sion. I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, Lionel Place, Lieu- tenant and A. Adjutant.'
" In consequence of which forged order a detachment did accordingly march. Such conduct in the said Cornet Tait, being unbecoming the character of an officer and a gentleman, subversive of military discipline, disrespectful to his superior officer, and calculated to injure him in the service."
Upon which charge the Court came to the following decision : —
" The Court having maturely weighed and considered the evidence produced in support of the charge preferred against the prisoner, together with his defence, and the evidence he has brought forward in support thereof, is of opinion, that he is not guilty ; and the Court doth there- fore acquit the prisoner, Cornet Alex- ander Duncan Tait, of the 4th (or Royal Irish) Regiment of Dragoon Guards, of the* charge which has been preferred against him."
His Majesty has been pleased to ap- prove and confirm the finding of the Court.
The General Commanding-in-chief di- rects, that the foregoing charge preferred against Cornet Alexander Duncan Tait, of the 4th (or Royal Irish) Regiment of Dragoon Guards, together with the find-
U. S. JOITRN. No. 41. Arnii. 1331.
ing of the Court, and His Majesty's ap- proval thereof, be entered in the General Order Book, and read at the head of every regiment in His Majesty's service. By command of the Right Hon. the General Commanding-in-chief,
JOHN MACDOJJALD, Adjt.-Gen.
Horse-Guards, Feb. 22nd. At a General Court-Martial, held at Edinburgh Castle on the 27th day of De- cember 1831, and continued by adjourn- ment to the 2nd day of January 1832, Colonel Richard Goodall Elrington, of the 47th Regiment of Foot, was ar- raigned upon the undermentioned charge, viz. —
" For that he, Colonel Elrington, Tiaving, on or about the 5th of October 1831, received from Major Sadleir, of the same regiment, then in command of a detachment of the said regiment, on its march from Edinburgh to Glasgow, a letter, or report, stating (among other things), that on the 4th of the same month and year, at Bathgate, when the men of the said detachment were assem- bled, in order to receive their provisions, on the men of the first billet of the Gre- nadier Company thereof being called upon for that purpose, two privates of that company, who were first so called, pe- remptorily refused to receive their pro- vision of meat ; and, on being ordered to remove or take it away, one of the said two privates in particular loudly voci- ferated that he would not obey the order given to him, personally, by the said Major Sadleir, to receive, or take away his meat, or to that effect ; and the said letter or report further stated, that the said private was thereupon made a pri- soner ; and that some other men then were called in their turn, and took their meat and bread, but that a great many went away in a tumultuous and disor- derly manner without being dismissed, or to that effect ; and the said letter or re- port further stated, that the two before- mentioned privates were both in close confinement. And that the said Colonel Elrington, although he, as aforesaid, re- ceived the said letter or report, reporting to him, as the commanding officer of the said regiment, the aforesaid conduct of the said men, such conduct being highly insubordinate, and of evil example and mutinous tendency, and requiring the immediate care and attention of the com- manding officer of the regiment, in order
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to prevent any recurrence of the same, and to improve and uphold the discipline of the said detachment, yet he, the said Colonel Elrington, did not acknowledge to Major Sadleir the receipt of the said letter or report, nor did he give him any order or direction thereon, nor did he make or send to Major-General the Hon. Patrick Stuart, commanding the forces in North Britain, any report or statement, of or touching the said letter or report of Major Sadleir, or the facts therein set forth ; nor did he for several days after the receipt of such letter or report, take any steps whatever, in order to ascertain the cause which had led to the said im- proper conduct of the said men, or to prevent any recurrence of the same, or to improve and uphold the discipline of the said detachment.
" Such conduct of the said Colonel El- rington being a gross neglect of his duty as the commanding officer of the said re- giment, derogatory to his character as an officer, and prejudicial to good order and military discipline."
Upon which charge the Court came to the following decision : —
" The Court having maturely weighed and considered the evidence produced in support of the charge preferred against the prisoner, together with his defence, and the evidence he has brought forward in support thereof, is of opinion that he is guilty of so much of the charge as fol- lows, viz. — Of not acknowledging the re- ceipt of Major Sadleir's report of the 4th of October 1831, from Bathgate, or send-' ing him any directions respecting it, al- though he received the same on the 5th of the same month ; and of not making or sending any report to Major- General the Hon. Patrick Stuart, commanding the forces in North Britain, touching the said letter or report of Major Sadleir, or the facts therein set forth, and of not taking any steps whatever for several days after the receipt of Major Sadleir's report, to ascertain the cause which had led to the improper conduct of the men at Bathgate. But the Court doth acquit him, the pri- soner, of gross neglect of duty, and of conduct derogatory to his character as an officer."
" The Court, having found the pri- soner guilty of so much of the charge as above set forth, such conduct being in breach of the Articles of War, the Court doth sentence him, the prisoner, Colonel Richard Goodall Elrington, of the 4?th
for the Lancashire) Regiment of Foot, to be admonished.
" But the Court, under all the circum- stances of the case, beg leave most hum- bly to recommend the prisoner to His Majesty's most gracious consideration."
His Majesty has been pleased to ap- prove and confirm the finding and sen- tence of the Court.
In consideration, however, of all the circumstances of the case above alluded to, His Majesty has been further most graciously pleased to accede to the recom- mendation of the Court in the prisoner's favour.
The General Commanding-in-chief has been pleased to direct, that the foregoing charge preferred against Colonel Richard Goodall Elrington, of the 47th Regiment of Foot, together with the finding and sentence of the Court, and His Majesty's pleasure thereon, shall be entered in the General Order Book, and read at the head of every regiment in His Majesty's service.
By command of the Right Hon. the General Commanding-in-chief,
JOHN MACDOXALD, Adjt.-Gen.
Horse Guards, Feb. 24th.
At a General Court-Martial held at Merchants' Hall, Bristol, on Tuesday the 17th day of January 1832, and con- tinued by adjournments to the 3rd day of the following month, Capt. William Honry Warrington, of the 3rd Regiment of Dragoon Guards, was arraigned on the undermentioned charges : —
1st. " For that he, Capt. Warrington, being on the night of Sunday, the 30th of Oct. 1831, in the personal command of a troop of the 3rd regiment of Dragoon Guards, in the city of Bristol, at a time when that city was the scene of most outrageous and alarming riots, insomuch that the said troop had been repeatedly called out by order of the magistrates to quell the rioters, and at a time when se- veral public and other buildings in that city had been fired by the rioters, — some whereof were already consumed, and others were still in flames, — and at a time when, by reason of the circumstances aforesaid, it was peculiarly necessary that the said troop, being then the only military force in Bristol, should act in the most prompt and effectual manner for the protection of the city, and that he, Capt. Warring, ton, as the commander of the same, should use every exertion for that purpose, subject
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563
to the orders of Lieut. -Colonel Brereton, who then held the chief military command in the city; and when it therefore behoved the said Capt. Warrington to forward in- stantly and without delay to the said Lieut.-Colonel Brereton every requisition that might be made, or intelligence that might be conveyed to him, Capt. Warring- ton, or to the quarters of the said troop, calling for the services of the said troop in the city, or showing the same to be neces- sary; nevertheless, he Capt. Warrington being between 11 and 12 o'clock on the said Sunday night applied to, at the said quarters, where he was then in command, by Mr. Thomas Kington, a merchant in Bristol, and informed by him (as the fact was), that the rioters were about to fire the Custom-house of Bristol, and that the presence and services of the troop were urgently and immediately required in Queen-square, where thfe Custom-house then stood, in order to save that building, or to that effect, did not only refuse to order out the said troop, or any part thereof, or to take any step for the pur- pose stated, but used no means of carrying the information so "received by him, or the purport thereof, to the said Lieut.-Colonel Brereton, or of obtaining from the said Lieut.-Colonel Brereton any orders ap- plicable to the occasion ; the said Capt. Warrington thereby (as far as in him lay) leaving the said Custom-house at the mercy of the rioters, by whom, in fact, the same was shortly afterwards set on fire and totally destroyed.
2nd. "For that afterwards, that is, on Monday morning the 31st of Oct. 1831, he Capt. Warrington, being (as before) in the personal command of the said troop of the 3rd Dragoon Guards, then the only military force in Bristol, and when the riots were raging in that city with in- creased and destructive violence, a letter being about half-past three o'clock on the said morning delivered to, and left with, the said Capt. Warrington, at the quarters of the said troop, where he was then in command, which letter was from Charles Pinney, Esq. the Mayor of Bristol, and was addressed to ' Lieut.-Colonel Brere- ton, or to the officer commanding His Ma- jesty's troops, and was to the following effect : —
' Bristol, 3 o'clock Monday morning, Oct. 31, 1831.
' Sir, — I direct you, as commanding officer of His Majesty's troops, to take the most vigorous, effective, and decisive mea- sures in your power to quell the existing
riot, and prevent further destruction of property. I am, &c.
' CHARLES PINNEY.'
"And he, Capt. Warrington, having then read the said letter, and it being there- upon his bo-linden duty either to act on the said letter without delay, or if his order did not allow of his so doing, then and in that case immediately to transmit the said letter, or to communicate the con- tents or purport thereof, to the said Lieut.- Colonel Brereton ; nevertheless he, Capt. Warrington, neither acted on the said let- ter as aforesaid, nor transmitted or com- municated the same, or the contents or the purport thereof, to Lieut.-Colonel Brere- ton : but on the contrary retained such letter in his possession without taking an^ step whatever in reference to or in con- sequence of the same, until some time afterwards, when he was applied to by a magistrate in person ; by reason of which conduct on the part of him, Capt. War- rington, the said troop remained inactive in its quarters for upwards of an hour after his receiving the said letter, during which interval of time the rioters, being left without opposition or control, sacked and fired several houses, and destroyed a great amount of other property.
3rd. " For that during the said 30th and Slst of Oct. 1831, while the said rioters were perpetrating acts of gross and i»- creasing outrage in the city of Bristol, so that the said city, for many successive hours, appeared in imminent danger of destruction, at periods when it was pe- culiarly important that the said troop of the 3rd Dragoon Guards, being then the only military force in the city, should be commanded and directed in the most effi- cient manner for the protection of the city under every emergency that might arise ; and when for that purpose it was necessary that the said Capt. Warrington, he being the only commissioned officer then in Bristol with the said troop, excepting a young Cornet of not more than sixteen months' service in the army, should con- stantly remain at or within immediate call of the quarters of the said troop, while the troop continued there, in order to super- intend and direct any movement required of it ; and, that in case of the troop, or any detachment thereof, being ordered out to meet and put down the rioters, he (Capt. Warrington) should himself accom- pany and command the same ; and that he (Capt. Warrington) should at every mo- ment be ready and on the alert for the 2 o 2
564
COURTS-MARTIAL.
performance of the said services ; never- theless he (Capt. Warrington) greatly neg- lected or violated his duty in the said several respects, and especially in the fol- lowing instances :
" 1 . In that the said Capt. Warrington, at or about four o'clock in the afternoon of the said 30th of October, when a de- tachment of the said troop, consisting of two-thirds, or thereabouts, of the dispos- able part thereof, was ordered out to the city gaol, which was then attacked and threatened with destruction by the rioters, permitted such detachment to march to that service under the sole command of the said Cornet, he, the said Capt. War- rington, meanwhile remaining inactive in quarters.
"2. In that the said Capt. Warrington did afterwards, in the course of the said 30th of Oct. the troop being then in its quarters, altogether absent himself from the said quarters, and from the neigh- bourhood thereof, and remained absent from the same for a very considerable time ; during which time, namely, at or about eight o'clock in the evening, a de- tachment of the troop, consisting of nearly the whole of the disposable part thereof, being called out to protect the palace of the Bishop of Bristol from a violent attack made thereon by the rioters, such detach- ment proceeded to the said palace under the command of one troop-officer only, being the young Cornet before mentioned.
*' 3. In that he, Capt. Warrington, having returned to the said quarters during the absence of the detachment on the said service, he, in place of thereupon proceeding to join the same, or of await- ing its return, did, before the return of the detachment to quarters, which was about ten o'clock the same evening, retire to his bed.
" Lastly, in that he, Capt. Warrington, between four and five o'clock in the morn- ing of the said 31st of Oct. when a de- tachment of the. troop, consisting of about two-thirds of the disposable part thereof, was again called out to stop the progress of the rioters in destroying the buildings in Queen-square, did again permit the said detachment to proceed on such ser- vice under the sole command of the said young Cornet, while he, the said Captain, himself remained in quarters."
OPINION AND SENTENCE.
The Court having maturely and deli- berately weighed and considered the evi- dence which had been adduced in support of the charges which have been preferred against Capt. William Henry Warrington, of the 3rd regiment of Dragoon Guards (the prisoner before the Court), as well as what the said prisoner had offered in his defence, came to the following decision : — With respect to the first charge — that he is guilty thereof.
With respect to the second charge — that he is guilty thereof.
With respect to the third charge — that He is guilty of the first count thereof. He is guilty of the second count thereof. He is guilty of the third count thereof. He is not guilty of the fourth count thereof. And such conduct on the part of the said Capt. Warrington evincing a want of the vigour and activity requisite in the situation in which he was placed, being unbecoming his charcter as an officer, and in breach of the Articles of War, the Court doth, in virtue thereof, sentence him, the said Capt. William Henry Warrington, of the 3rd Regiment of Dragoon Guards, to he cashiered.
H. FANE, Lieut.-Gen. and President. ARNOLD THOMPSON, Dep.-Judge-Adv.
" His Majesty has been pleased to ap- prove and confirm the finding and sen- tence of the Court.
" In consideration, however, of the unanimous and most earnest recommen- dation of the Court, as conveyed in a letter from the President to the Judge- Advocate General, which accompanied the proceedings, His Majesty has been further pleased to extend his most gra- cious clemency to the prisoner, so far as to restore him to the service, for the pur- pose of retiring from it by the sale of a troop."
The General Commanding-in-chief di- rects, that the foregoing charges preferred against Capt. William Henry Warrington, of the 3rd Regiment of Dragoon Guards, together with the finding and sentence of the Court, and His Majesty's commands thereon, be entered in the General Order Book, and read at the head of every regi- ment in His Majesty's service.
By command of the Right Hon. the General Commanding-in-chief,
JOHN MACDONALD, Adjt.-Gen.
565
ANNALS OF THE BRITISH ARMY.
1806.*
War with
France, Holland,
Spain, and
Prussia.
Principal Staff at Head-Qudrters.
Secretary-at- War.— Right Hon. Wil- liam Dundas; Right Hon. Gen. Fitz- patrick, from 7th Feb.
Captain-General and Commander-in- Chief, Field-Marshal H. R. H. the Duke of York, K.G.
Adjutant-General. — Major-Gen. Harry Calvert.
Deputy-Adjutant-General. — Col. Wil liana Wynyard.
Quarter-Master-General. — Major-Gen. Robert Brownrigg.
Deputy-Quarter-Master-General. — Co- lonel Alexander Hope.
Master-General of the Ordnance. — Gen. John Earl of Chatham, K.G. ; Gen, Francis Earl of Moira, from 14th Feb.
Lieut.-General of the Ordnance. — Gen. Sir Thomas Trigge, K.B.
Principal Commandcrs-in-Chief, and Governors abroad.
""it-Gen. Gerard Lord Lake.
F. Bowes, Colone ock, from 25th Sept
East Indies.- \ l
( Colonel B. ida-~~\ Isaac Bro
/Lieut.-General William Gardiner ;t Major-
Nova Sc
Gen. Martin Hunter. Lieut.-Gen. George Nn gent ; % Lieut.-Gen. Sir Eyre Coote, K.B.
f Major-Gen. Beck- Windward and I
Leeward Islands.-
n
Jamaica. — <
Newfoundland. — Major-Gen. John Skerrett rLieut.-Gen. Sir James Henry Craig, K.B.
Mediterranean. — <j Major-Gen. Sir John Stuart ; Gen. the L Hon. H. E. Fox.y Gen. the Hon. H. E. Fox ; Gibraltar.— •< Lieut.-Gen. Sir Hew Dal-
rymple from May. Lieut.-Gen. the Right Hon Thomas Maitland.
fMajor-Gen. David
! Baird ; If Lieut- Cape of Good Hope. ^ Gen Hon Henry
(^ George Grey.
Ceylon. -
DISTRIBUTION OF THE ARMY. Numbers.
Guards, Garrisons, &c 121,529
Plantations 64,273
East Indies (four regiments of Dragoons, and nineteen regiments of Foot) 24,815
Troops and Companies for recruiting ditto Embodied Militia and Fencible Infantry Foreign Corps
Deduct the Troops in the East Indies
Total
ARMY ESTIMATES.
Army, Ordinary
Ditto Extraordinaries
Ditto to make good excess of Extraordinaries beyond Estimates of j the preceding year |
Total
398
. 94,202 . 22,98!)**
328,646 . 24,815
. 303,831 + 1
14,635,000 3,600,000
272,380
£18,507,380
RECRUITS RAISED DURING THIS YEAR, EXCLUSIVE OF FOREIGN AND COLONIAL CORPS,
By the Ordinary Recruiting. Additional Force. Total.
1st half year 4,949 4,834 10,783
2nd half year 6,276 6,276
* For the year 1805, see page 280 of last volume. t Died 15th February.
j Returned to England in that year. $ Arrived and assumed the command in March.
B In July Gen. Fox arrived at Messina, with a commission as Commander in-Chief of the British forces in Italy. These forces, commanded in Ihe first instance by Lient-Gen. Sir James Craig, were now
(For Notes f ** it See next page.)
566 ANNALS OF THE BRITISH ARMY.
COMPARATIVE VIEW OF THK BRITISH ARMY ON 1ST MARCH 1806.*
Gross strength at home and abroad, including Artillery and Militia . 267,554
Regular Army, including Artillery, as distinguished from the Militia . 11)2,372
Regular Army disposable for general service .... 105,790
Present Army more than at any former period . . . 25,114
MILITARY ACHIEVEMENTS AND OCCURRENCES, AND CHRONOLOGICAL EVENTS OF THE ARMY.
Jan. 3rd. A force.t destined for the capture of the Cape of Good Hope, consisting of 5000 men, under Major-Gen. Sir David Baird, with a proportional naval force, commanded by Sir Home Pep- ham, reached Table Bay. It was the intention to disembark the troops without delay, but the surf prevented the landing of the troops: in this emergency it was determined to proceed to Saldanlia Bay. Brig.-Gen. Beresford was accordingly sent with the 20th Dragoons and 38th Foot, the rest of the army being the next day to follow him ; but on the following morning, the surf was so much abated, that the troops were enabled to land at Leopard's Bay, as at first intended ; and on the morning of the 8th, Sir David Baird began his march to Cape Town, with about 4000 men, the whole ot the army, except the portion sent to Saldanha Bay. On reaching the summit of the Blue Mountains, the enemy were observed drawn up in the plain: they were commanded by the Governor of the Colony, Gen. Janssens, and amounted to about 5000 men, chiefly cavalry, with 23 pieces of can- non. The action was begun by Brig.-Gen. Ferguson's brigade, which advanced against the enemy's left, under a heavy, but ill-directed fire of musketry and grape-shot. The Dutch received the British fire without quitting the ground, but at the moment of charging, they gave way, and fled from the field with precipitation. Their loss exceeded 700 killed and wounded, while that of the British amounted to 15 killed and 17 wounded. After this engagement, Sir David Baird marched forward to the Salt River, where he proposed to encamp, but a flag of truce having arrived with offers to capitul.ite, the troops were put in possession of Fort Knocke, and, on the following day, the town surrendered. It was settled by the articles of capitulation, that Gen. Janssens j and his army should be sent bock to Holland, and not considered as prisoners of war, in return for the complete surrender of the colony and its dependencies. The following corps were employed in this expedition: — 20th Dragoons, 24th, 38th, 59th, 71st, 72nd, 83rd, 92nd Regiments of Foot, East India Company's troops. Lient.-Colonel Grant was among the wounded, " but the heroic spirit of the officer was not subdued by his misfor- tune, and he continued to lead his men to glory, as long as an enemy was opposed to His Majesty's 72nd regiment." — DISPATCH. " No united service was ever performed with more true heroism than has uniformly been manifested by both branches of His Majesty's forces."— DISPATCH. " Nothing could surpass or resist the bravery of our troops, headed by their gallant commander, Brig.-Gen. Ferguson,§ and the number of the enemy who swarmed the plain, served only to augment their ardour and confirm their discipline." — DISPATCH.
Feb. 1st. Lord Grenville, appointed to form a new Ministry, having admitted to the King, that certain changes were contemplated in the department of the army under the superintendence of the Duke of York, His Majesty stated, that the army had been kept distinct from the other branches of the Administration since the time of the first Duke of Cumberland, and had been considered as under the immediate control of the King, through the Commander-in-Chief, without any right of interference on the part of the Ministry, except in matters relating to the buying, clothing, and paying of, the troops.— In consequence of the Treaty of Vienna between France and Prussia, dated 15th Dec. 1805, the British forces, under Lord Cathcart, in Hanover, retired to Bremen, and waited there for 'the arrival of transports to convey them to England : they were detained by bad weather till the begin- ning of February, when they embarked, without the smallest molestation from the French.
April 3rd. Bill brought into the House of Commons by the Secrctary-at-War, to repeal the Act
under Major-Gen. Sir John Stuart. Gen. Fox immediately appointed Sir John Stuart to conduct the war he had at this time commenced, with extraordinary success. Sir John Moore afterwards joined with reinforcements from England, and from his seniority became second in command ; and, in con- lequence, Sir John Stuart preferred returning to England, to being third in command.
IT Recalled, together with Sir Home Popham, upon the ground that they did, without orders, and upon their own judgment and responsibility, undertake the expedition to South America.
** Charge £1,001,734 17 8. tf Charge £14,151,774 19 0; but the army being increased in
the course of the year, the charge became £14,635,000.
* Parliamentary Debates, vol. vi. (1806,) page 692.
t The expedition sailed from St. Salvador on 26th Nov. 1805.
J Sir David Baird, in his overture to Gen. Janssens, observed : — " You have discharged your duty to your country as became a brave man at the head of a gallant, though feeble army. I know how to respect the high qualities of such a man ; and do not doubt that the humanity which ever characterises «ii intrepid soldier, will now operate in your breast to check the fatal consequences of a fruitless contest."
i Now Gen. Sir Ronald C. Ferguson, K.C.B.
ANNALS OF THJi BRITISH ARMY. 567
passed in the forty-fourth of His Majesty, called the Additional Force Bill. Lieut. Gen. Sir James Craig, Commander-in-Chief of the British forces* at Naples, in consequence of the departure of the Russians. after the peace of 1'resburg, determined on retiring with his troops to Sicily : he was con- vinced that Naples could not be defended with the forces under his command, and he, therefore, determined not to expose his troops to the consequences of their ardour, nor to sacrifice them to the wild projects of the Court of Naples. Sir James having established his head-quarters at Messina, the station best adapted for protecting Sicily from invasion, was subsequently compelled, from ill health, to resign the command to his second Major General, Sir John Stuart, who was entrusted by His Sicilian Majesty with the defence of the east coast of Sicily, from Melazzo to Cape Passaro, and with the command of the Sicilian troops in that district. (See July.) Towards the end of this month, an armament, under the command of Commodore Sir Home Popham, and a land force, under Major- Gen. Beresford, + sailed from the Cape of Good Hope for St. Helena, where they received a further detachment of troops, and thence proceeded immediately for the River Plate. (See June.) May 30th. Limited Service}, introduced into the army by a clause in the Military Bill. June 25th. The pay of the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates of the army encreased from this date. 28th. — Buenos Ayres§ surrendered to the land and sea forces under Major-Gen. Beres- ford and Commodore Sir Home Popham. The expedition had arrived before Buenos Ayres on the 24th, and on the following day, the troops || disembarked without resistance at the Punta de Quelmes, twelve miles from the city. A body of 2000 Spaniards, drawn up on a height at two miles distance, witnessed the landing without opposing it : and on Major-Gen. Beresford marching against them, they fled with precipitation at the first fire, leaving behind them their artillery. No other difficulty occurred after this success, except the passage of a river, which it was necessary to cross before getting to Buenos Ayres ; but this being effected by the help of rafls and boats, the bridge having been burnt by the enemy, Major-Gen. Beresford entered the city on the 27th, the Viceroyll having previously abandoned it, and fled to Cordova, with the small body of troops under his command. The British sustained scarcely any loss in killed or wounded.** In his dispatch, Major-Gen. Beresford observed : — " After the army had passed the Uio Chnelo, the city of Buenos Ayres remained at our mercy, and, in fact, the only conditions on which I entered, were such as I pleased to offer, and which humanity, and a regard to our national character, would naturally induce me to give under any circumstances." The prize- money t+ received was very considerable. July 1st. Sir John Stuart landed with a British force jj in a bay in the Gulf of St. Eufemia, near
t Now Gen. Viscount Beresford, G.C.B. and G.C.H.
should afterwards enlist, had the right to demand their discha
rge after three years' service, upon givin:
Knotted by the introduction of a clause similar to the present in the Mutiny Hill. j The origin of this expedition has already been recorded in our naval annals of thi
and UctoDer.;
** The only officers wounded were — Capt. Le Blanc, 71st regiment, who waS shot above the knee, and was obliged to have his leg amputated ; and Assistant-Surgeon Halliday, of the Medical Stall.
ANNALS OF THE BRITISH ARMY.
* Advanced Corps — Lieut-Colonel Kempt, with two four- pounders ; light infantry battalion; detachment Royal Corsicau Rangers ; detachment Royal Sicilian Volunteers. 1st Brigade — Brig.- Gen. Cole, with three four-pounders ; grenadier battalion, 27th regiment. 2nd Brigade — Brig.-Gen. Auckland, with three four-pounders; 78th regiment; 81st regiment. 3rd Brigade — Colonel Oswald, with two four-pounders; 58th Regiment, Watleville's Regiment, five companies: 20th regiment, Lieut.-Colonel Ross, landed during the action. Reserve of Artillery, Major Lemoine, four six- pounders, and two howitzers. TOTAL : rank and file, including the Royal Artillery, 4795.
i " Never did a General (Janssens)get so well out of a scrape : the country not joining our standard in sufficient numbers, and the enemy being nearly double what was expected, put us in a situation from which nothing but the bravery of bur troops could rescue us. We have gained as great a battle as ever was contended for; our line was never broken ; and, what perhaps, the annals of military history could never before relate — two regiments were on the full charge against each other, each (I conclude till the moment they turned) determined on each other's destruction to a man. If this does not show the consummate bravery of a British soldier, what can 1 The French made certainly an excellent and fierce charge, and the men were little strong fellows ; but ours were better." — Private Letter from the late Major Nicholas, Royal Engineers.
; Sir John Stuart was struck in the boot and on the saddle, and was once thrown from bis horse, by a shot that fell under his horse's feet.
§ Now Gen. the Hon. Sir G. L. Cole, G.C.B.
|| Now Lieut.-Gen. the Hon. Sir R. W. O'Calhghan, K.C.B.
If Honorary distinctions were granted to the corps engaged, and medals to the principal officers. The thanks of both Houses of Parliament were also voted, and Sir John Stuart received the title of Count of Maida from the King of Sicily, and from the British Government the Order of the Bath, with a pension' of £1000 a year. The Corporation of London voted him its freedom with a valuable •word. It is due to those who so eminently distinguished themselves, to state that the medals were, in General Orders, dated Horse Guards, Feb. 24, 1807, directed to be distributed as follows: — 1 To Major-Gen. Sir John Stuart, K.B. ; 2 Brig.-Gen. Cole, 1st Brigade ; 3 Brig.-Gen. Acland, 2nd Brigade ; 4 Colonel Oswald, 3rd Brigade ; 5 Lieut.-Colonel Moore, 23rd Dragoons ; 6 Lieut.-Colonel Watte,
ANNALS OP THE BRITISH ARMY. 569
4th July, but glorious and successful as the expedition to Calabria had been, it was far from opening to the King of Sicily a prospect of regaining his kingdom of Naples. Sir John Stuart was so sensible of his inability to maintain the ground he had won in Calabria, that he announced from the plain of Maida, his intention of returning, without loss of time, to Sicily. His head-quarters on the 18th July were at Bagnard, near Reggio ; and on the 23rd, the fort of Scylla,* opposite to Messina, a place of great importance for the secure navigation of the straits, surrendered to one of his officers. The whole of the British army was now withdrawn from Calabria, except the garrison of Scylla, and a detach- ment of the 78th regiment, under Colonel M'Leod, which had been sent in the Amphion frigate, Capt. Hoste, to the coast near Catanzaro, in order to countenance and assist the insurgents in that quarter. This service was effectually performed. The French, under Gen. Regnier, were severely harassed in their retreat along the shore from Catanzaro to Cotrone, and the latter place, with all its magazines and stores, fell into the hands of the English. Gen. Acland was also dispatched to the Bay of Naples, with the 58th and 81st regiments, to make demonstrations in that direction, which might alarm the enemy, and deter him from sending reinforcements to Calabria.t
Aug. 12. Buenos Ayres recaptured.^ Colonel Linniers, a clever French officer in the Spanish service, had contrived to cross the river in a fog, on the 4th of this month, unobserved by the English cruisers, and to land at Conchas, above Buenos Ayres, bringing with him above 1000 men from Monte Video and Sacramento. This success encouraged the armed levies from the country, which had been defeated by Major-Gen. Beresford in a sally, to advance again on the 10th, to the city, and summon the castle to surrender. The whole inhabitants of the town were now in arms, and the posture of affairs was such, that the British General had determined to evacuate the place, and retreat to the ships, but being prevented accomplishing his object, owing to the state of the weather, a despe- rate action ensued on the 12th, in the streets and great square of the town, in which the British troops were severely annoyed by a destructive fire from the windows and balconies of. the houses, and eventually compelled to lay down their arms. The terms on which they surrendered, became after- wards a subject of dispute and recrimination between the British General and the French Colonel; •who acted as Commander-in-Chief of the Spaniards ; finally, contrary to the articles of capitula- tion, signed by Colonel Linniers, the English were detained as prisoners of war, and marched up the country. Our loss in the action of this day amounted to 165 killed, wounded, and missing, besides 1300 made prisoners. §~ Towards the end of this month, it appearing the intention on the part of France, with 30,000 men assembled at Bayonne, to invade Portugal, the British Government contem- plated sending a naval and military expedition to Portugal, under Admiral the Earl St. Vincent, Lieut. - Gen. the Earl of Rosslyn, and Lieut.-Gen. Simcoe, for the defence of that kingdom. The whole force destined for the expedition was collected at Plymouth ; but in consequence of a dispatch from the Earl of Rosslyn, (who had proceeded to Lisbon to ascertain the actual state of Portugal and the disposition
ANNALS OF THE BRITISH ARMY.
of the Court,) that there was no immediate menace of attack from Bayonne, the expedition was abandoned.
Oct. Brig.-Gen. Sir Samuel Achmnty* sailed from England with an expedition, destined to reinforce Major-Gen. Beresford in Buenos Ayres. — 12th. After the surrender of the Major-General and his army in August, Commodore Popham proceeded with all the vessels which escaped towards Ensenada, to embark the detachment of Marines there ; afttr which he stood out to the month of the river, and there remained cruising, in expectation of reinforcements. On the 12th, he was joined by Colonel Backhouse, t with the first battalion, 47th Foot, from the Cape; and it was then determined to leize the town of Maldonado, which was accomplished on the 30th. They then suspended all farther operations till the arrival of reinforcements.
OBITUARY.
Field-Marshal John Duke of Argyll, Colonel of the 3rd Foot Guards, aged 83.
Gen. Sir Hector Munro, K.B. Colonel of the 42nd Foot.
Gen. John Campbell, Colonel 57th Foot.
Gen. John Hale, Governor of Londonderry and Calmore.
Gen. James Grant, Colonel llth Foot.
Gen. George Hotham, Colonel 14th Foot.
Lieut.-Gen. William Gardiner, Commander-in-Chief of Nova Scotia, and Colonel-Commandant
60th Foot.
Lieut.-Gen. Harrie Innes, Colonel Royal Marines. Lient.-Gen. Andrew Gordon, Colonel 2(ith Foot. Lieut. Gen. John Graves Simcoe, Colonel 22nd Foot. Lieut.-Gen. C. D. Count de Meuron. Major-Gen. Henry Magan, Lieutenant-Colonel 39th Foot. Colonel W. P. Smith, Royal Artillery. Colonel William Swinburne, 5th Royal Veteran Battalion. Colonel John Blake, Lieut.-Governor Languard Fort.
Colonel Sir Richard Basset, Knt. Lieutenant-Colonel 6th West India Regiment. Colonel John H. Yorke, Royal Artillery. Colonel Hon. George Cranstoun, Lieutenant-Colonel 64th Foot.
* He reached Maldonato on the 25th of Jan. 1807 ; and his subsequent operations will accordingly appear in our Annals of that year.
t Being on his way to the East Indies, in command of the 47th Foot, he was, early in August, detained by Sir David Baird at the Cape of Good Hope, and immediately sent, with the regiment under his command, as part of the reinforcement intended to assist Major-Gen. Beresford in South America. On his arrival at the Rio de la Plate he learned tint that officer and his troops were prisoners of war. By this unlooked-for event he became the senior officer, at the head of a small force, consisting of three squadrons of dismounted dragoons, with the 38th, 47th, and a company of the 54th Regiment, not in the whole exceeding 1900, without artillery and without any specific instruc- tions in a trying situation. In co-operation with Sir Home Popham, an idea was formed of assaulting and carrying the town of Monte Video, on the side bounded by the river; but the ships not being able to come near enough to silence the batteries, so as to permit the troops to enter, the project was given up. For the troops to remain much longer in transports, when many had been several months at sea, and without the opportunity of procuring refreshments, might have been attended with un- healthy and, perhaps, serious consequences ; he therefore formed the resolution of immediately making himself master of some position in the enemy's country, where he might keep a communication open with the shipping, command supplies for his men, endeavour to mount his cavalry, and, if possible, to retain it until he could receive instructions from the Cape, or a reinforcement might chance to arrive from Europe. Maldonado appearing the most eligible position for these purposes, he directly proceeded with Sir Home Popham, in the Diadem, and with such of the troops (a part of the 38th Regiment, the 54th Light Company, and a few of the dismounted dragoons) as could be carried in that ship and a frigate, landed, without loss of time, on the evening of the 29th Oct. crossed the sand hills, and aftrra fruitless opposition from the enemy, in which they lost numbers of their men together with their guns, he made good his position, which he had the fortune to maintain amid many difficulties in the face of an enemy, with whom he had mostly to fight for his supplies, until the arrival of Sir Samuel Achmuty with the troops from England in January following. By this means, in consequence of Colonel Backhouse not having evacuated the country, Sir Samuel's force became strong enough immediately to proceed to the attack and conquest of Monte Video.
571
PROMOTIONS AN]) APPOINTMENTS.
. NAVY. PROMOTIONS.
COMMANDERS — Edward Harris Butterfield; G. Gratrix (retired).
LIEUTENANTS — C.Henry Badoes ; Augustus Murray; W. Houston.
APPOINTMENTS.
CAPTAINS — Manley H. Dixon, to the Ranger; W. Walpole, to the Pallas.
COMMANDERS — Drake, to the Britannia; Fo- ley, to the Asia.
LIEUTENANTS — G. A. Henry, to the Warspite ;
Thomas Richmond, to the Isis ; Clive, to the
St. Vincent; Johnson, to the Conway; Josiah
Thompson, to command the Brisk Brig of War, vice Butterfield, promoted.
MASTERS — Henderson, to the Asia ; A.Thomp- son, late of the Wellesley, to the Talavera.
ASSISTANT-SURGEON — J. Atcheson (sup), to the Victory.
CHAPLAINS — Rev.T. Fervis, to the Asia; Rev. G. Fisher, to the Victory; Rev. C. H.Lethbridge, to the San Josef ; Rev. Mr. Payne, to the Ordinary at Plymouth.
ROYAL MARINES.
PROMOTIONS. C A PT A i N — Webb.
FIRST-LIEUTKNANTS — Barnes ; Collis. SECOND-LI UTEN ANTS — Curry.
APPOINTMENT.
SECOND-LIEUTENANT — F. W. Maltby, to the Victory.
ARMY.
ST. JAMES'S PALACE, FKB. 22.
The King was this day pleased to confer the honour of Knighthood upon David Barry, M.D. Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals, Knight of the Portuguese Order of the Tower and Sword.
DOWNING STREET, MARCH 1. The King has been graciously pleased to nomi- nate and appoint Major-Gen. Waters to be a Knight Commander of the Most Hon. Military Order of the Bath, in the room of Colonel Sir Noel Hill, dec.
WAR-OFFICE, MARCH 2.
2nd Regt. Life Gds. — Lieut. Mortimer Ricardo, to be Capt. by p. vice Cuthbert, who ret.; Cornet and Sub-Lieut. James Ogilvy Fairlie, to be Lieut, by p. vice Ricardo.
Royal Regt. Horse Gds. — George Holland Ackers, gent, to be Cornet, by p. vice Cowper, prom.
1st Regt. Foot. — Capt. Thomas Edmund Camp- bell, from h. p. tj be Capt. vice John Potter Macqueen, who exc. rec. the diff.
19th Ditto. — Lieut. Cadet Thomas Hilton, from Royal Mil. Col. to be Ens. without p. vice Land- man, dec.
31st Ditto. — Lieut. William Henry Armstrong, to be Capt. by p. vice Pentland, who ret. ; Sec- Lieut. Charles Henry Edmondstone, to be First Lieut, by p. vice Armstrong ; Cbai les Frederick Armstrong, gent, to be Sec. Lieut, by p. vice Edmondstone.
52nd Ditto. — Lieut. Richard French, to be Capt. by p. vice Moorsom, who ret. ; Ens. Hon. Kicharcl Le Poer Trench, to be Lieut, by p. vice French ; Ens. Hon. Walter Arbuthnot, from 72nd Foot, to be Ens. vice Trench.
61st Ditto. — William Garden Seton, gent, to be Ens. by p. vice Storks, prom.
70th Ditto. — Lieut. William Taylor, to be Capt. without p. vice Goldfrap, app. Pay-Mast. ; Lieut. John Connor, from the late 5th Rl. Vet. Bat. to be Lieut, vice Taylor; Capt. George Alfred Gold- frap, to be Pay-Mast, vice James Johustone, who ret. upon h. p.
72nd Ditto. — Lieut. James Gowan, to be Capt. without p. vice Markham, dec. ; Ens. James Messman Oliver, to be Lieut, vice Gowan ; Hon. Charles Stuart, to be Ens. by p. vice Arbnthnot, app. to 52nd Foot ; Gent. Cadet William Rattray, from Royal Mil. Col. to be Ens. vice Oliver.
85th Ditto.— Ens. William Todd, to be Lieut, by p. vice Cooke, who ret. ; Oliver Jackson, gent. to be Ens. by p. vice Todd.
2nd West India Regt. — Ens. Francis Brittle- bank, to be Lieut, by p. vice Dalgety, who ret.
Royal African Colonial Corps. — Edw. O'Bryen, gent, to be Ens. by p. vice Hodges, who ret.
Unattached. — Ens. Henry Knight Storks, from 61st Foot, to be Lieut, of Inf. by p.
Memoranda. — Lieut. William Forster, h. p. unatt. has been allowed to retire from the service, by the sale of an unatt. com.
The date of Lieut. Jervis's prom, in C2nd Foot, is " 31st Dec. 1831," and not " 20th Jan. 1832."
The date of Lieut. J. B. Dodd's com. in 54th Foot, is " 31st Oct. 1825," and not " 5tu Jan. 1826."
MARCH 6.
32nd Regt. Foot. — Lieut.-Gen. Sir Samuel Vena- bles Hinde, K.C.B. from 98th Foot, to be Colonel, vice Gen. Campbell, dec.
98th Ditto. — Major-Gen. Hon. Sir Charles John Greville, K.C.B. to be Colonel, vice, Sir S. V. Hinde, app. to the command of 32nd Foot.
Garrisons. — Tower of London. — Rev. Robin- son Rishton Baily to be Chaplain, vice Irvine, resigned.
Memoranda. — His Majesty has been pleased to permit the 15th, or King's Regt. of Light Dragoons, to bear on its standards and appointments, the words " Sahagun"'and " Vittoria," in commemo- ration of the gallant conduct of the Regt. at the action of Sahagun, on the 21st Dec. 1808 ; and at the battle of Vittoria, on the 21st June 1813.
572
PROMOTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.
The half-pay of the undermentioned officers has been cancelled from the 6th instant, inclusive, upon their receiving a commuted allowance for their commissions : —
Ass.-Surg. James Kane, M.D. h. p. 2nd Dr. Gfls. ; Ens. Charles Gordon, h. p. 93rd Foot ; Ens. Daniel Chambers M'Creight, h. p. 14th Foot; Lieut. Patrick Grant, h. p. 3rd Gar. Ball. ; Ens. William Thomas Daunt, h. p. unatt.; Ens. Edward Back, h. p. 23rd Foot ; Lieut. Christian Fedden, h. p. 6th Line Batt. King's German Legion ; Lieut. Frederick Somers, h. p. 34th Foot ; Ens. William Robertson, h. p. 60th Foot.
The undermentioned officers, upon full pay, have been permitted to retire from the service, receiv- ing commuted allowances for their commissions : —
Ass.-Surg. Hugh Caldwell, 15th Foot; Lieut. Tempest William Stroud, 89th Foot.
MARCH 9.
2nd Regt. Life Gds.— To be Cornets and Sub- Lieuts. by purchase. — Hon. Major Henniker, vice Squire, prom. ; Thomas Ogilvy, gent, vice Fairlie, prom.
2nd Regt. Dr. Gds. — Cornet James Charles Kearney, to be Lieut, by p. vice Campbell, prom. ; Richard Duckworth Dunn, gent, to be Cornet by p. vice Kearney.
3rd Dr. Gds. — Cornet John Hopton, to be Lieut, by p. vice Dyson, who ret. ; Francis Garratt, gent, to be Cornet by p. vice Hopton.
6th Regt. Drs. — Mervyn Archdull, gent, to be Cornet by p. vice Hopton.
1st or Gren. Regt. Foot Gds. — Lient.-Col. Ben- jamin Charlewood, from h. p. unatt. to be Capt. and Lieut.-Col. vice Richard Beauchamp, who exc. ; Kns. and Lieut. John Balfour, to be Lieut, and Capt, by p. vice Sir Frederick Harvey Bathurst, who ret. ; John William Montagu, Earl of Sandwich, to be Ens. and Lieut, by p. vice Balfour.
6th Regt. Foot. — Ens. Edward Staunton, from 1st West India Regt. to be Ens. vice Durie, app. to 94th Foot.
18th Ditto.— Hon. Henry Hare, to be Ens. by p. vice Egerton, prom, in 2nd West India Regt.
23rd Ditto. — Richard Jennings, gent, to be Sec.- Lieut. by p. vice Case, who ret:
41st Ditto. — Ens. Robert Harnett, to be Lieut, by p. vice Price, prom. ; Henry Kemble, gent, to be Ens by p. vice Harnett.
42nd Ditto. — Capt. James Edward Alexander, from h. p. unatt. to be Capt. vice Robert Brereton, who exc. rec. the diff.
47th Ditto. — Lieut. Henry William Egerton Warburton, to be Capt. by p. vice James A. Campbell, who ret. ; Ens. James Watson, to be Lieut, by p. vice Warburton ; Gent. Cadet Henry Lister Lister Kaye, from Rl. Mil. Col. to be Ens. by p. vice Watson.
62nd Ditto. — Ens. Henry Robert Moore, to be Lieut, by p. vice Graves, whoso promotion has not taken place.
66th Ditto. — Capt. John Daniel), to be Major by p. vice Patrickson, who ret. ; Lieut. Herbert Charles Jenner, to be Capt. by p. vice Daniell ; Ens. John Johnston, to be Lieut, by p. vice Jen- ner ; George Henry Courtenay, gent, to be Ens. by p. vice Johnston.
72nd Foot. — Ens. Edward John Francis Kelso, to be Lieut, by p. vice Oliver, whose prom, by p. has been cancelled.
76th Ditto. — Lient.-Col. Henry Gillman, from h. p. nnatt. to be Lieut.-Col. vice William Leader Maberly, who exc. rec. the diff.
89th Ditto.— Lieut. Mnntly Pole, from h. p. of the Regt. to be Lieut, vice Stroud, who has com- muted his commission.
94th Ditto.— Ens. William S. Durie, form 6th Foot, to be Ens. without p. rice Culley, cashiered.
Rifle Brigade. — Hon. Henry Coventry, to be Sec.-Lieut. by p. vice Kerr, prom.
1st West India Regt. — Ens. Henry William Hassard, from h. p. 1st Gar. Batt. to be Ens. vice Staunton, app. to 6th Foot.
2nd Ditto. — Ens. Thomas Graham Egerton, from 18th Foot, to be Lieut, by p. vice Hodges, who ret.
Ceylon Regt. — Lieut. William Percy, from h. p. 36th Foot, to be Lieut, vice Hewitt, whose app. has not taken place.
TInattached. — To be Capts. of Inf. by purchase. — Lieut. Richard Price, from 41st Foot; Sec.- Lieut. Charles Fortescue Kerr, from the Rifle Brigade.
Hospital Staff. — Surg. Edward Daun, M.D. from h. p. 89th Foot, to be Surg. ; Snrg. Edward Daun, M.D. to be Deputy Inspector-Gen, of Hospitals.
Memoranda. — The undermentioned officers have been allowed to retire from the service, by the sale of unattached commissions, viz. : —
Capt. William Campbell, h. p. Glengarry Light Inf. Fencibles ; Capt. John Radenhnrst, h. p. 8th Foot.
The Christian names of Lieut. Westropp, of the 65th Foot, are John Thomas, and not John Thornton.
The Christian names of Ens. O'Brien, of the 31st Foot, are Richard Sewell.
The name of the Cornet appointed to the 17th Light Drs. on the 6th of January last, is Feilden, and not Fielden, as stated.
MARCH 13.
Hosp. Staff. — Snrg. Reginald Orton, M.D. from h. p. 1st Rl. Vet. Batt. to be Regimental Surg. upon full pay, for a particular service.
Errata in the Gazette of the 9th instant. — 6th Drs. — The appointment of Mr. Mervyn Archdall to a Cornetcy in this Regt. was vice " Nesbitt," who retires, and not vice " Hopton."
The promotion of Sec.-Lieut. Charles Fortescue Kerr, from the Rifle Brigade, on the 9th March 1832, was to an unatt. Lieutenancy, and not to an unnatt. Company, as stated.
For " Capt. John Radenhurst," h. p. 8th Foot, who has been allowed to retire by sale of an unatt. commission ; read " Lieut. John Radenhurst," &c.
MARCH 16.
3rd Regt. Dr. Gds.— Capt. William Warburton Hnntley, from h. p. of the 9th Light Drs. to be Capt. paying the diff. between the full-pay of Cavalry and Infantry, vice Warrington.
13th Regt. Light Drs. — Cornet George James Walker, to be Lieut, by p. vice Thorold, app. to 03rd Regt. ; James Cox, gent, to be Cornet, by p. vice Walker.
PROMOTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.
573
15th Light Drs. — Lieut.-Colonel James Thomas Lord Brudencll, from h. p. to be Lieut.-Colonel, vice Joseph Thackwell, who exc. rec. the diff.
1st or Gren. Regt. Foot Gds. — Capt. Philip Spencer Stanhope, to be Capt. and Lieut.-Colonel, by p. vice Charlewood, who ret. ; Lieut. Hon. Augustus Frederick Foley, to be Lieut, and Capt. by p. vice Stanhope ; Hon. James Lindsay, to be Ensign and Lieut, by p. vice Foley.
35th Regt. Foot. — Lieut. Henry Darby Griffith, from h. p. to be Lieut, vice Douglas Leitb Cox, who exc. rec. the diff.
41st Ditto. — Ensign Edward Darvall, from h. p. of the 60th Regt. to be Ensign, vice Kemble, app. to 67th Regt.
56th Ditto. — Capt. Thomas Oliver Partridge, from 77th Regt. to be Capt. vice Nelley, who exc.
63rd Ditto. — Lieut. Richard Lane, to be Capt. by p. vice Vicary, who ret. ; Lieut. Frederick Thorold, from 13th Light Drs. to be Lieut, vice Lane.
66th Ditto. — Lieut. John Montgomery Russell, from 89th Regt. to be Lieut, vice Healey, who exc.
67th Ditto. — Ens. George Alfred Currie, to be Lieut, without p. vice Thomson, app. Adjt. of a recruiting district; Ens. Henry Keuible, from 41st Regt. to be Ens. vice Currie.
70th Ditto. — Lieut. Samuel Whyte, to be Capt. without p. vice Samson, dec. ; Ens. John Lucas Wilton, to be Lieut, vice Whyte ; Thomas Charles Timins, gent, to be Ens. by p. vice Wilton ; Lieut. John G. Corry, to be Arijt. vice Whyte.
73rd Ditto. — Gent. Cadet William B. J. O'Con- nell, from Rl. Mil. Coll. to be Ens. without p. vice O'Brien, prom, in 74th Regt.
74th Ditto. — Ens. Arthur O'Brien, from 73rd Regt. to be Lieut, by p. vice Pocock, who ret.
77th Ditto. — Capt. John Peter Nelley, from 56th Regt. to be Capt. vice Partridge, who exc.
79th Ditto. — Ens. Thomas Isham, to be Lieut, by p. vice Fulton, prom. ; Henry Lord Cardross, to be Ens. by p. vice Isham.
81st Ditto. — Major Charles Fitzroy Maclean, to be Lieut.-Colonel by p. vice Creagh, who ret. ; Capt. Robert Henry Willcocks, to be Major by p. vice Maclean ; Lieut. Abraham Splaine, to be Capt. by p. vice Willcocks ; Ens. John Gilby, to be Lieut, by p. vice Splaine ; Edward Bowyer, gent, to be Ens. by p. vice Gilby.
89th Ditto. — Lieut. Robert Thomas Healey, from 66th Regt. to be Lieut, vice Russell, who exc.; Ens. and Adjt. Christopher Lee, to have the rank of Lieut.
96th. Ditto. — Philpotts Wright Taylor, gent, to be Ens. by p. vice Blencowe, prom.
Unatt. — Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Lord Arthur W. M. Hill, from 2nd Drs. to be Lieut.-Colonel with- out p.; Lieut. Robert Fulton, from 79th Regt. to be Capt. by p. ; Ens. Edward Wills Blencowe, from 96th Foot, to be Lieut, of Infantry, by p.
Staff.— Lieut. James Thomson, from 67th Regt. to be Adjutant of a recruiting district, vice Hill, dec.
Garrisons. — Capt. Andrew Halfhide, on h. p. to be Fort Adjutant at Honduras.
Memoranda. — Lieut. Walter M'Kenzie, h. p. Nova Scotia Fencible Infantry, has been allowed to retire from the service, by the sale of an unat- tached commission.
The Christian name of Dr. Daun is Robert, and not Edward, as stated.
MARCH 22.
Memorandum. — His Majesty has been gra- ciously pleased to permit the 25th Regt. of Foot, or " the King's Own Borderers," which, on its formation in the year 1639, was called " the Edin- burgh Regiment," (it having been raised in the short space of a few hours for the purpose of guarding the city of Edinburgh,) to bear on its colours and appointments the arms of Edinburgh, with the motto, " Nisi Dominns frustra ;" also to retain the motto, " In veritate religionis con- ndo," which was authorized by His Majesty King George III. in reference to the badge and motto above specified. This motto to be placed under the crown, surmounted by a lion, in two corners of the regimental colours.
MARCH 23.
1st Regt. Life Gds. — Cornet and Sub-Lieut. Thomas Heron, Viscount Ranelagh, to be Lieut, by p. vice Bayntun, who ret. ; Philip Broke Tumor, gent, to be Cornet and Sub.-Lieut. by p. vice Lord Ranelagh.
2nd Regt. Drs.— Lieut.-Col. Lord Arthur W. M. Hill, from h. p. unatt. to be Lieut.-Col. vice John Grey, who exc. rec. the diff.
2nd Regt. Foot. — James Lighten, gent, to be Ens. by p. vice Hill.
14th Ditto. — Lieut. Thomas Shore, from 84th Foot, to be Lieut, vice Dormer, app. to 24th Foot; Lieut. Henry Knight Storks, from h. p. unatt. to be Lieut, vice William Maxwell, who exc. rec. the diff. ; Lieut. Thomas Shore, to be Adjt. vice Ormsby, who resigns the Adjutancy only.
15th Ditto.— Staff Ass.-Surg. William Wallace, to be Ass.-Surg. vice Caldwell, who has accepted a commutation.
20th Ditto. — Francis Frederick Janvrin, gent, to be Ens. by p. vice Wyndham, whose appoint- ment has not taken place.
24th Ditto. — Lieut. Charles Dormer, from 14th Foot, to be Lieut, vice Langford Heyland, who ret. upon h. p. 101st Foot.
26th Ditto.— Capt. Richard Price, from h. p. nnatt. to be Capt. vice William Hurt Sitwell, who exc. rec. the diff.
27th Ditto.— Capt. Robert Fulton, from h. p. unatt. to be Capt. vice Francis Shea, who exc. rec. the diff.
28th Ditto.— Lieut. Charles B. Carrothers, to be Capt. without p. vice Trant, dec. ; Ens. Frank Adams, to be Lieut, vice Carrothers; George Thomas Conolly Napier, gent, to be Ens. vice Adams.
38th Ditto. — Lieut. John Jackson Lowth, to be Capt. by p. vice Mackay, who ret. ; Ens. Wil- liam Cornwallis Symonds, to be Lieut, by p. vice Lowth ; Gent. Cadet William Ironside, from the Rl. Mil. Col. to be Ens. by p. vice Symonds.
41st Ditto. — Frederick Orme Darvall, gent, to be Ens. by p. vice Edward Darvall, who ret.
79th Ditto. — Major Robert Ferguson, from h. p. unatt. to be Major, vice James Barwick, who exc. rec. the diff.
84th Ditto. — Lieut. Roderick John Hanley,
574
BIRTHS AND MARRIAGES.
from h. p. 101st Foot, to be Lieut, vice Shore, a pp. to the 14th Foot; Richard Walter Lacy, gent, to be Ens. without p. vice James Lacy, who resigns.
•OC'.h Foot.' — Lieut. Robert Biisli, to be Capt. by p. vice Waller, prom. ; Ens. James Clyde, to be Lieut, by p. vice Bush.
97th Ditto. — Ens. Oliver Keating, to be Lieut, by p. vice Barton, who ret.; Thomas Greene, gent, to be Ens. by p. vice Keating.
99th Ditto. — Lieut. Charles Fortescue Kerr, from h. p. unatt. to be Lieut, vice John Henry Greethara, who exc. rec. the diff.
2nd West India Regt. — William Richard Penny, gent, to be Bus. by p. vice Brittlebank, prom.
Unattached. — Capt. James Waller Samo Waller, from 96th Foot, to be Major of Inf. by p.
Hospital Staff. — Ass.-Surg. James Taylor Hurst, M.D. from h. p. 37th Foot, to be Staff Ass.-Surg. vice Edward Hollier, who cxc.
Memoranda. — The name of (he Cornet ap- pointed to the Royal Horse Guards on the 22nd March 1831, is Nethercote, and not Nethercoat.
Major William Logic, h. p. unatt. has been allowed to retire from the service, by the sale of an unatt. commission.
BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS.
BIRTHS.
August 14th, 1831. At Bombay, the Lady of Capt. Sir Charles Malcolm, R.N. and Superin- tendent of the Bombay Marine, of a son.
Dec. 1831. At Bruges, Netherlands, the lady of Thomas Abbott, Esq. 96th Regiment, of a daughter.
Jan. 1832. At Bermuda, the Lady of A. C. Nelson, Esq. Surgeon, R.A. of a daughter.
At Strete Raleigh, the Lady of Capt. Buller, R.N. of a daughter.
Feb. 16th. At Burgie House, near Forres, the Lady of Colonel D. M'Pherson, of the Hon. East India Company's Service, of a daughter.
Feb. 20th. At Gosport, the Lady of Capt. J. Burney, R.N. of a son.
Feb. 21st. At Barton Cottage, near Lichfield, the Lady of Capt. William Proby, R.N. of a son and heir.
Feb. 22nd. At Kinsale, the Lady of Capt. Richards, R.N. of a daughter.
Feb. 24th. At his house, Howard Place, Edin- burgh, the Lady of Capt. R. Campbell, R.N. of a son.
Feb. 29th. At Inverary, North Britain, the Lady of Lieut. Snowey, R.N. of a daughter.
March 1st. At Clifton, the Lady of Lieut. H. M. Denham, R. N. of a daughter.
The Lady of Lieut. Macarthur, R.N. of a dangh- ter.
March 18th. At Bedhampton, the Lady of Commander M. Matthews, R.N. of a sou. MARRIED.
Dec. 6th 1831. At the Cape of Good Hope, Major F. Hammond, T5th Regiment, to Catherine only daughter of the late Lieut.-Colonel Taylor, of the 20th Light Dragoons.
Dec. 29th. At Bahia, at the residence of His Majesty's Consul, Lieut. W. H. Riall, R.N. and of His Majesty's ship Druid, to Elizabeth !•" ranees Parkinson, eldest daughter of John Parkinson, Esq. his Majesty's Consul in that Province.
Jan. 12th 1832. At Smyrna, Andrew Smith, Esq. Surgeon of His Majesty's ship Raleigh, to Eugenia Sophia , second daughter of the late Peter Van Lennep, Esq. niece to the Dutch Consul at Smyrna, and first cousin to Lord Rartstock.
At Florence, Capt. Oakes, R.N. to Caroline, daughter of William Bryan, Esq.
At Clifton, Lieut. A. H. M'Leroth, 38th Regi- ment, to Emily A. Jackson, second daughter of the late James Johnson, Esq. of Kincardine, Perthshire.
March 1st. At Stoke, Capt. Aylmer Dowgall, 89th Regiment, to Augusta Frances Bridget Mo-
March 2nd. At Ballincollig, county of Cork, nica, youngest daughter of Colonel Jennings, of the Lady of Lieut.-Colonel Turner, C.B. Royal Stoke, Devon.
Artillery, of a daughter.
March 4th. At Falmonth, the Lady of Lieut. Griffin, of H. M. brig Eclipse,-of a daughter.
At Chatham, the Lady of Colonel Pasley, R.E. of a son.
March 5th. At Sonthsea, the Lady of Capt. H. Goold, R.N. of a son.
March 6th. At Mitchelstown, County of Cork, the Lady of Lieut. G. A. W. Forneret, h. p. 60th Regiment, of a son.
March 7th. At Kingsand, the Lady of Charles Dickson, Esq. Surg. of H. M. ship Ariadne, of a son.
At Cahirnarry Church, Capt. Burton M'Namara, R.N. brother of Major M'Namara, M.P. for the county of Clare, to Jane, daughter of Daniel Gabbett, Esq. of Limerick.
March 5th. At Hardwicke Church, Lieut.-Col. B. C. Brown, to Mary Anne, daughter of J. F. L. Baker, Esq. of Hardwicke Court, Gloucester.
March 10th. Capt. W. Jull, late of the 61th Regiment, to Elizabeth, widow of the late Rev. J. T. Grant.
March 13th. At North Berwick, Capt. H. Wr. Brace, R.N. second son of the late Sir Hervey, Bruce, Bart, to Mary Minchin, youngest daughter
March 9th. At Plymouth, the Lady of Lieut, of the late Colonel George Dalrymple. J. L. Kingston, 89th Regiment, of a daughter. March 14th. At St. James's, Clerkenwell, Mr.
March 10th. At Plymouth, the Lady of Lieut. Augustus Faber, of St. Benet's-place, Gracechiirch-
Shapcote, R.N. of a daughter
March 13th. At Stoke, the Lady of Capt Edward Hawes, R.N. of a son.
March 14th. At Stoke, the Lady of Capt. J Wilson, R.N. of a daughter.
street, to Mary Ann, youngest daughter of the late Mr. Robert Gillman, of Pentonville.
March 20th. At Cork, Lieut. Henry Augustus West, 12th Foot, third son of Lieut. Colonel West, (late 3rd Guards,) Lieutenant Governor of Land-
March 17th. At Trematon Castle, Cornwall, guard Fort, to Elizabeth Deane, third daughter of the Lady of Capt. John Jcrvis Tucker, R.N. of a James Pitcairn, Esq. M.D. Depuly-Inspector-Ge- daugbter. neral of Hospitals.
DEATHS.
575
DEATHS.
Major. General Murray, late Inspecting Field Officer in Canada.
LIEUTENANT-COLONELS.
Dec. 9th, 1831. Deare, h. p. Unattached. Van Tempsky, h. p. Brunswick Cavalry. Feb. 1st, 1832. At Charleton, Kent, Major Bentham, Royal Artillery.
CAPTAINS.
M'Kay, 42nd Foot.
Nov. 15tb. At Cape of Good Hope, Markham, 72nd Foot.
Dec. 12th, 1831. Herring, 48th Foot.
Dec. 19th. Lloyd, h. p. 110th Foot.
Jan. 24th, 1832. At Melrose, Stedman, h. p. 90lh Foot.
Jan. 25th. At Tralee, Resch, 32nd Foot.
Feb. 1st. Franchini, h. p. Unattached.
Feb. 10th. Nash, h. p. Unattached.
LIEUTENANTS.
Chadwick, Unattached.
Aug. 27th, 1830. M'Bean, h. p. 18th Dragoons.
Nov. 25th, 1831. Dowd, late 1st Royal Ve- teran Battalion.
Dec. 21st. Edwards, h. p. 56ih Foot.
Jan. 15th, 1832. Mittord, h. p. 85th Foot.
Feb. 9th. At Bayswater, Jeffi, h. p. Unat- tached.
ENSIGNS.
Aug. 10th, 1831. Stamford, 20th Foot. Dec. 14th. Gibbon, h. p. 97th Foot. Feb. 2nd, 1832. Cust, h. p. 6th Garrison Bat- talion.
Feb. 16th. At Burnley, Landman, 19th Foot. Jan. 8th. Adjutant Watts, h. p. 121st Foot.
QUARTKR-M ASTERS.
Sept. 22nd, 1831. Gropp, h. p. 2nd Dragoon German Legion.
Dec. 22nd, Howlett, Royal Horse Guards.
Feb. 6lh, 1832. Johnston, Lanark Fencible Cavalry.
SURGEONS.
Dec. 27th, 1831. Griffin, late 5th Foot. Feb. 1832. At Guernsey, Saumarez, Staff. Jan. 2Gth. Assistant-Surgeon Kearney, h. p. 4th West India Regiment.
COMMISSARIAT DEPARTMENT.
Jan. At Quebec, Deputy-Purveyor Keys, h. p.
Jan. llth. At North America, Deputy-Assistant Commissary- General Craig.
At Bermuda, drowned, by the upsetting of his boat, Lieut. Thomas Taplen (1802,), commanding bis Majesty's schooner, Pickle, aged 50, an officer of great merit, and highly esteemed by all his acquaintance.
Commander Henry John Hatton, R.N.
At Fergus Hill House, near Irvine, N. B. Capt. Jos. Pearce, R.N.
At Bristol, Commander Donevan, R.N.
Feb. 15th. At Inverness, Lieut. Alexander Dunbar, late of the 42nd Regiment.
Feb. 18th. At Plainville, in the county of York, aged 19 years, deeply regretted and lamented,
Charles, third son of Charles Smith, Esq. and late midshipman in His Majesty's ships Ocean and Undaunted.
Feb. 20th. At Worthing, Dr. John White, R.N.
At Southampton, Lieut. N. F. Nixon, R.N.
At Monsehole, Air. Joseph Soady, Purser, R.N.
Feb. 21st. At Cork Barracks, Major Thomas Hill, formerly Brigade Major at Waterford, and for the last fifteen years District Adjutant at Cork.
Feb. 22nd. At the Grange, Bannow, County of Wexford, Colonel Boyce, late of the 13th Light Dragoons.
Feb. 24lh. At Leamington, Gen. Alexander Campbell, Colonel of the 32nd Regiment. — A memoir of service will appear next month.
March 2nd. At Inverness, Lieut.-Colonel Ro- bert Gordon, late of the 34th Regiment, aged 64.
March 13th. At the Vicarage, Great Baddow, Chelmsford, Capt. Thomas Abercrombie Trant, 28th Regt. at the early age of twenty seven, only son of Major-Gen. Sir Nicholas Trant, K.C.T.S. In Capt. Trant the service has lost an officer of the highest promise, and one who, though young in years, had already greatly distinguished himself. As a boy he was on the Peninsula with his father, and after the war received a military education in France and England. His first commission was in the 38th Regt. which he joiued at the Cape of Good Hope in 1820. Soon after his arrival his knowledge of surveying brought him under the immediate notice of Sir Rufane Donkin; who employed him to survey an extensive tract of country, seventeen hundred square miles, between the Berg and Oliphant Rivers; this service occu- pied eight months of the sixteenth year of his age. In 1821, he proceeded with his Regt. to Bengal; during the two years' arduous service in Ava, Capt. Trant, with singular zeal and ability, ful- filled the duties of an Assistant Quarter-master- General. In 1826 he was promoted to an un- attached company, and returned to England. In the year following, Capt. Trant was placed on full pay of the 1st West India Regiment at Trinidad, and was upwards of a year in the West Indies. He then obtained the appointment of sub-inspector of Militia in the Ionian Isles, and when the staff in the Mediterranean was reduced, he was transferred to the 28th Regt. in Ireland. Capt. Trant is favourably known to the public as the author of " Two Years in Ava," and the " Narrative of a Journey through Greece," which he performed in the depth of winter, being in trusted wilh despatches from Sir Frederick Adarn. Wherever Capt. Trant happened to be stationed he was deservedly respected and esteemed ; he was a very intelligent and social companion, warm in his friendships, and possessed the highest cou- rage and honourable principles. His constitution shattered by hard service in various climes, he was cut off, after protracted sufferings, in the midst of a career which had most auspiciously commenced. A flattering vista of rank and ho- nour was before him, but he has sunk into a premature grave, amidst the unavailing regrets of his relatives, and a large circle of personal friends.
March 17th. At the Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar, Lieut. Pearce, R.N. aged 34.
At Bodmin, Lieut. J. F. Cook, R.N. (1815).
576
|
METEOROLOGICAL REGISTER, KEPT AT THE OBSERVATORY OF CAPT. W. U. SMYTH, AT BEDFORD. |
||||||||
|
FEB. |
Six's Thermometer |
At 3 P. M. |
Pluvia- |
Evapora |
||||
|
1832. |
Maxim. |
Minim. |
Barom. Tliermo. |
Hygrom |
meter Inches. |
Inches. |
Win,ds at 3 P.M. |
|
|
Degrees. |
Degrees. |
Inches. |
Degrees. |
i'arts. |
||||
|
» I |
42-8 |
37-6 |
29-50 |
42-4 |
807 |
— |
•015 |
W.S.W. light breezes, fine. |
|
If. 2 |
43-6 |
37-2 |
29-22 |
42-9 |
805 |
•010 |
•017 |
S.W. light winds. |
|
9 3 |
43-3 |
36-Q |
29-68 |
40-4 |
652 |
— |
•028 |
S.S.E. light br. beaut, day. |
|
T? 4 |
49-4 |
39-2 |
29-20 |
49-0 |
818 |
— |
•030 |
W. by N. fr. br. beaut, day. |
|
© 5 |
49-2 |
39-4 |
29-18 |
48-7 |
801 |
— |
•028 |
S.W.blowingbard,fine day. |
|
2> 6 |
51-3 |
47-4 |
29-67 |
49-0 |
792 |
— |
•027 |
S.E. fresh br. beautiful day. |
|
$ r |
49-6 |
39'3 |
29-88 |
47-4 |
775 |
•020 |
•040 |
S.S.W. fresh br. beaut, day. |
|
» 8 |
48-0 |
37-2 |
30-28 |
44-8 |
768 |
— |
•047 |
S.S.E. light br. beant. day. |
|
V 9 |
50-6 |
42-8 |
30-33 |
47-0 |
620 |
•090 |
•040 |
W. by N. It. airs, beaut, day. |
|
9 10 |
47-4 |
38-1 |
30-43 |
41-7 |
690 |
— |
frozen. |
N.W. light breeze, fine day. |
|
T? 11 |
46-3 |
37-4 |
30-22 |
41-3 |
697 |
— |
— |
NT.E. fresh breezes and fine. |
|
© 12 |
45-0' |
37-2 |
30-12 |
40-0 |
708 |
— |
•040 |
M.N.E. fresh breezes, fine. |
|
J 13 |
40-4 |
38-4 |
30-09 |
39-9 |
724 |
— |
•030 |
N.E. by E. light breezes, fine. |
|
$ 14 |
40-7 |
37-2 |
30-05 |
396 |
711 |
— |
•015 |
N.W. light airs, beaut, day. |
|
$ 15 |
40-0 |
33'2 |
30-05 |
38-3 |
718 |
— |
frozen. |
S.W. by W. light winds, fine. |
|
It 16 |
37-3 |
326 |
29-71 |
35-0 |
754 |
— |
— |
S.W. light airs, fine day. |
|
9 17 |
44-2 |
32-0 |
29-00 |
40-2 |
69-0 |
— |
•010 |
V. fr. breezes, fine weather. |
|
T? 18 |
45-8 |
32-3 |
30-21 |
44-8 |
583 |
— |
•020 |
V. by E. It. winds, fine day. |
|
© 19 |
44-2 |
37-5 |
30-23 |
40-7 |
684 |
— |
•060 |
V.N.E. It. br. cl. but fine. |
|
2) 20 |
44-0 |
33-8 |
30-28 |
44-0 |
490 |
— |
•030 |
S.S.E.fr.br.magnificentday. |
|
$ 21 |
43-2 |
336 |
30-29 |
42-0 |
634 |
— |
•025 |
3.N.K. fine day, slight fog. |
|
W 22 |
43-6 |
34-4 |
30-27 |
41-5 |
710 |
— |
•025 |
V. by K. It. airs, foggy morn. |
|
If. 23 |
48-0 |
34-3 |
30-27 |
46-2 |
582 |
— |
•035 |
S.W. It. airs, fogxy morning. |
|
9 24 |
47-4 |
34-6 |
30-20 |
42-8 |
595 |
— |
•015 |
W.S.W. light wind and fine. |
|
T? 25 |
47-0 |
34-3 |
30-13 |
39-3 |
677 |
— |
•020 |
N.N.E. light airs, thick fog. |
|
© 26 |
385 |
33-7 |
30-13 |
38-5 |
729 |
•025 |
•015 |
V.N.E. light winds, cloudy. |
|
3) 27 |
39-0 |
36-5 |
30-14 |
38-2 |
748 |
— |
•020 |
V.E. light airs and damp. |
|
$ 28 |
39-2 |
36'0 |
30-45 |
38-7 |
708 |
— |
•022 |
E.N.E. fresh br. very cloudy. |
|
$ 29 |
39-1 |
36-3 |
30-50 |
37-6 |
713 |
•025 |
N.E. light winds and cloudy. |
TO READERS AND CORRESPONDENTS.
" W. W." mistakes. Our Annals of the Fleet and Army are only occasionally suspended (not discontinued), owing to the pressure of other matter — for instance, the Parliamentary Debates, Estimates, &c.
We really cannot at present give "Miles" a specific reply. The anomalies of which he speaks are merely the result of circumstances, not affecting the statutes of The Order. We could explain the matter, but not in these limits.
" Veritas" will find in the course of our arrangements that we have not over- looked the point he refers to. His enquiries shall be answered, if possible.
" T. B's." statement was correct ; but we do not think the illustrious individual in question needs such a vindication, though well intended.
" A Subscriber" will perceive that we have applied his suggestion to the proper quarter.
The enclosure of " I. B." (Bolton,) from whom we shall at all times be happy to hear, is certainly luxuriant ; but if time be not an object, we will try by and by to give it a place.
We shall comply with the request of " A. B." should his communications not be found suitable.
" A Midshipman of the Last Century" is much obliged to "• Q in the corner" for his correction courteous, in the March Number of this Journal.
INDEX
FIRST PART OF 1832.
ACHIEVEMENTS, military, &c. 566 Adair, Capt. his unfortunate plight, 193 Addiscombe, public examination at, 126 Adventures of a Younger Son, 526 .(Era, the Georgian, 527 Affairs at Home and Abroad, 121, 257,
401, 545 Africa, Survey of the West Coast of, in
1825-6, 49, 324; observations on the
charts of, 334
Alexander, his Invasion of India, 29 Alexander, Capt. 21, 22, 53 ; his notes on
Guiana, 263 Alexander's Cave, near Tabriz, described,
264
Algiers in 1816, 118 Alkmaer, battle of, 352 Allan, John, his plan for communicating
signals by tubes, 117, 250 Almeida, fortress of, 222 ; blockaded, 457 ;
destruction of, and escape of the garrison,
461, 462
Alomprah, King of Ava, 173 Alva, Duke of, his military talents, 358 Amherst, Lord, 172 Analytical Parliamentary Digest, 527 Andaman Islands, 341 ; character of the
natives, 343 Anecdotes of Spain and Portugal in 1817,
220, 484 Angle, on the trisection of, 106, 256, 398,
399, 400 Anglesea, Marquis of, presents new colours
to the 28th Infantry, 548 Annual Biography and Obituary, 527 Annual Register, Cabinet, for 1831, 527 Appointments and Promotions, 136, 230,
427, 571
Arabian Sea, shoal in, 265 Arabs, their value and energy, 32 Arms of the cavalry, 396 Army and Navy, Parliamentary proceedings
connected with, 409, 552
, British, annals of, 565
-, its stations onthe 1st of Jan. 1832,
133
-, pay of officers in, 136 Estimates, 424, 553 Extraordinaries, 558
i— , Indian, apology for, 28
., Standing, superior to militia, 152 U. S. JOURN. No. 42. APRIL 1832.
Arques, battle of, 357
Arrivals, Sailings, and Incidents in the Fleet, 128, 267, 408, 551
Artillery, trains of, in the sixteenth and seventeeth century, 356
Aschaffenbourg, forest of, danger of travel- ling in, 202
Astrolabe, fires on the natives atTongatabu, 95
Attack, observations on the, 72
Austrian Frontier Fencibles, 215
Ava, King of, his submission, 26 ; opera- tions of Sir A. Campbell's Army in, 169
Avari, appearance of, 517
Avesne le Sec, action of, 294
Badges of Merit, recommended, 114
Bahamas, situation of, 179
Ball on ship-board, 65
Barbadoes, shower of sand at, 370
Barry, Dr. on Cholera, 271
Barton, Vice-Admiral, memoir of, 377
Basse Terre, town of, described, 67
Battalion, formation and movements in, 537
Baulay, Capt. providential escape of, 523
Beacon Light, the, 365
Belgian cowardice, 2
Benin, river, survey of, 49
Bennett, George, his narrative of a recent visit to several of the Polynesian Islands, 89, 217
Bhurtpore, assault of, 37, 169
Bickerton, Admiral, Sir llichard Hussey, memoir of, 495
Biographical Memoirs of Distinguished Offi- cers— the late Capt. Sir William Bolton, 84 ; Admiral Sir Charles Henry Knowles, 97 ; Colonel Morshead, 142 ; Rear- Ad- miral James Walker, 201 ; Admiral the Hon. Sir Alexander Inglis Cochrane, 372 ; Gen. Sir George Don, 375 ; Vice- Admiral Barton, 377 ; Lieut.-Gen. Sir Gabriel Martindell, 379 ; Admiral Wil- liam Peere Williams Freeman, 493 ; Ad- miral Sir Richard Hussey Bickerton, 495 ; Vice-Admiral Lord Henry Paulet, 498
Biography and Obituary, Annual, 527
Birch, Capt. report of, 12
Births, 141, 283, 430, 574
Blucher, Marshal, early military achieve- ments of, 295
2 P
578
INDEX.
Bolton, Capt. Sir William, biographical account of him, 84
Bonaparte, lays siege to Mantua, 79 ; anec- dote of, 114; his injudicious regulations in regard to cavalry tactics, '292 ; his re- sidence in St. Helena, 453 ; his grave, 454
Bover, Lieut, his critical situation, 45
Bowen, Colonel, failure of an attack made by him, 169
Brereton, Colonel, court-martial on, 130, 257 ; suicide of, ib. ; biographical account of, 286
Brisbane, Sir James, 24
Bristol, riots at, 563
British Cavalry on the Peninsula, 57
Empire, maritime population of,
145, 479
Brooking, Admiral, his letter to Sir Robert Seppings, 105
Brotherton, Colonel, his statement respect- ing Lieut. -Colonel Talbot, 529
Buenos Ayres, surrenders to the British, 567 ; recapitulated, 569
Burmese War, naval operations of, 10, 168, 337, 525
Burney, Dr. William, his death, 431
Burton, Capt. his trisection of an angle, 256 ; remarks on his method, 400
Busaco, battle of, 57
Byron, Lord, Landscape Illustrations of his Works, 528
Cabinet Annual Register for 1831, 104, 527 .1 Cyclopaedia, noticed, 104, 526
Cabot, Sebastian, memoir of, 465 Calabar river, 324
Calcutta, military life at, 175 ; its appear- ance from the river Hooghly, 337 Cameron, killed at Fuentes de Noria, 220 Campbell, Commander Robert, on manning the navy for future war, 433
• , Sir Archibald, force under, 11,
25 ; operations of his army in Ava, 169 Canning, Major, advice of, 172 Canoes of the Tongatabuans, 219 Canterbury Tales, noticed, 526 Carpenter, N. new game invented by, 103 Cateau Cambresis, battle of, 295 Cauchoix, M. extract of a letter from, 263 Cavalry, British, on the Peninsula, 57
, combat of, against infantry, 289 ;
arms of, 396
-, remarks on mounting, 541
Cavendish, or the Patrician at Sea, noticed, 103 ; reviewed, 230
Chads, Capt. II. services of, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 26, 27
Chameleon, the, 527
Charles XII. his improvements in the tac- tics of cavalry, 291
Charter, the new one, 240
Chatham Dock-yard, fact respecting, 394
Chickens, pickled, 326
Cholera Morbus, precautions against, 269 ; observations on its nature and treatment, 271
Ciudad Rodrigo, attacked by the British, 192, 197
Cochrane, Admiral the Hon. Sir Alexander Inglis, memoir of, 372
Coimbra, pillaged by the French, 485
Colborn, Colonel, 197
Coligny, Admiral de, his attention to the provisioning of his troops, 356
Colonial Crisis, 528
Commerce, Dictionary of, 527
Commissariat, first organisation of, 356
Constabulary force, civil, plan for the orga- nisation of, 247
Convent de la Corida, 198
Cooper, Lieut.-Colonel, his death, 143
Corbet, Capt. skill of, 185
Cornwall, shipwrecks on the coast of, 535
Cornwallis, Port, 341-4
Corporal Punishment, 552
Corps, changes in the stations of, 267, 408, 550
Correspondence, general, 385
Country-ship, description of one, 338
Court-martial on Colonel Brereton, 130 ; on Capt. Warrington, 543, 562 ; on Cor- net Alexander Duncan Tail, 561 ; on Colonel Richard Goodall Elrington, 561
Courts-martial, the late 388
Coutras, battle of, 357, 361
Crombie, Dr. his letter to Commander Dick- son, 501
Currents, in the Atlantic Ocean, 266
Dalla Creeks, affairs in, 15
Dance, by torchlight, 219
D'Arcy, Lieut, adventures of, 194, 196
Death, presentiments of, 227
Deaths, 142, 283, 430, 575
Depots, query respecting, 113
Depot Staff Appointments, 532
Diamond Rock, ascent of the, 369
Dickson, Commander W. H. letter of Dr.
Crombie to, 501 Dictionary of Commerce, 527 Diet, pleasure of a change of, 1 83 Discipline in the Army, observations on, 191
1 • Navy, remarks on, 110
Don, Gen. Sir George, memoir of, 375 Douglas, Gen. his gallant conduct, 291 Douville, M. extract from his Journal of
Travels in Africa, 127 Drills, punishment, 535
Early English navigators, noticed, 104 Earthquakes, devastating, in the reign of
Justinian, 516 Edesheim, affair of, 295
INDEX.
579
Edinburgh Cabinet Library, noticed, 104 Edinburgh Castle, courts-martial at, 561 Editor's Portfolio, 121, 257, 401, 545 Egypt, military reforms of, 310 Ellenborough, Lord, his opinion respecting
the interference of the military in riots,
388
El Lobo Inglez, 220
Elrington, Colonel, court-martial on, 561 Epaulettes, improved mode of fastening, 407 Eruptions, submarine volcanic, modern in- stances of, 509 Evans, Colonel, letter from the corps under,
223
Eugene, Prince, at the siege of Turin, 76 Execution, naval, 71 Exmouth, Lord, his attack on the batteries
of Algiers, 226 Extracts from the MS. Journal of a Naval
Officer, serving on the Jamaica station
during the late war, 177
Fairbairn, Henry, his projected land com- munication with Ireland, 209
Fairfield, Mr. anecdotes of, 189
Fallmerayer, Professor, his work on Greece, 514
Familiarity, evils of, 191
Farquharson, Major-Gen, correction of an error by, 393
Fatu, or Palu, a Tongataboo Chief, 218
Fernando Po, island of, 325
Field Movements, on the mathematical principles of, 106
Fire-rafts, Burmese, 19
First Meridian, 176
Fish, pernicious, 344
Fleet, arrivals, sailings, and incidents in, 128, 267, 408, 551
Floating chapels, benefits of, 482
Folard, colloquies with, 323
Formation and movements in battalion, 537
Formosa, Cape, situation of, 49
Fortification and Gunnery, popular view of, 72
Fortification, permanent, remarks on, 539
Fragments of Voyages and Travels, 528
France, disturbed state of, 121, 545
Frederick the Great blockades Prague, 78 ; his improvements in the tactics of cavalry, 292
Freeman, Admiral William Peere Williams, memoir of, 493
French army, effective force of, 407
convention of 1792, 112
Friendship's monody, 334
Fuentes de Nona, battle of, 220, 458 ; re- marks on the name of the village, 222
Fyers, Capt. on a common or universal me- ridian, 398
Gallery of the Society of Painters in Water Colours, 104
Garci-Hernandez, action of, 297
General Correspondence, 105,241, 385, 529
Orders, Circulars, &c. to the Army,
129, 268, 409, 560
George IV. Life and Reign of, 527
Georgian JEra, 527
Glance at affairs, general and regimental, 392
Gleig's British Military Commanders, no- ticed, 104, 527
Gorde, the action of, 297
Granicus, her situation before Algiers in 1816, 118
Grant, Commodore, squadron under, 11
Great Britain, state of affairs in, 121
, maritime population of, 125
Greece, on the affairs of, 513
Greenwood, Mr. his death, 287
Grievances, regimental, 111
Guadaloupe, description of, 67; reduction of the island, 70
Gulf of Florida Stream, 266
Gunnery, popular view of, 72
Gustavus Adolphus, his improvements in cavalry, 291
Halifax, account of a residence at, 65 Hall, Capt. Basil, illustration of his Travels,
103
Hamilton's Gazetteer, extracts from 31, 32 Hanoverian Military Journal, 528 Hansard's Analytical Parliamentary Digest,
527
Harmonicon, noticed, 104 Haynau, ambuscade of, 298 Head, Colonel, gallant charge of, 62 Hebrus, her situation before Algiers in 1816,
118 Helder, the landing of a British army at,
351 Hibernian United Service Club, formation
of, 406 Hill, Colonel Sir T. N. his death, 284 ;
account of his funeral, 285 ; biographical
particulars respecting, 286 Hill, Gen. manoeuvre of, 192 Hindoos, valour of, 29 Hobhouse, Sir J. C. appointed Secretary at
War, 401, 427
Hohenfriedberg, battle of, 293 Holland, affairs of, 545 Honour, inseparable from the gentleman,
157
Hooghly, river, beauty of its banks, 337 Horse-artillery, anticipation of, 357 Hughes, Evan, punishment of, 161 Hume, Mr. questions to, 154 Hussars, British, 306
Impressment, remarks on, 145, 433 India, importance of the British possessions
in, 168 Indian Army, apology for, 28
580
INDEX.
Instruction, expenses of, for 200 students, 507 Ireland, state of, 121 ; projected land-com- munication with, 209 Islands, volcanic, 510 Italy, events in, 401 Ivry, battle of, 362
Jamaica, revolt of the Negroes in, 401
Janizaries, their institution, 307 ; their op- position to Selim III. 309 ; reformed by Mahmoud, 311
Jankowitz, battle of, 291
Java, mutiny at, 35
, Poisoned Valley in, 127
Jervis, Sir John, mutiny in his fleet, 164
Jews, their mode of plundering sailors, 348
Jones's Sieges in Spain, 72, 73
Joyce, his conduct during the mutiny at the Nore, 44, 45, 46, 47, 163
Justinian, earthquakes during his reign, 516
Kaiserslautern, affair of, 295
Kava, or Ava, a beverage, 93 ; ceremony of
drinking it, 94 Kemmendine, storming of, 13 ; attacked by
the Burmese, 18
King's Own Borderers, record of, 137 Knowles, Admiral Sir C. H. biographical
account of, 97 Kokeen, attack on, 20 Krauchenberg, Capt. gallant charge of, 57
Lament of a young Moustache, 397
Landscape Illustrations of Lord Byron's Works, 528
La Place, M. de, suggestions of, 176
Laurent, Mr. estimate of, 501
Le Fevre, Gen. claims to his capture at Benevent£, 529
Leslie, Major, his instructions respecting light drill, noticed, 104
Life, alleged loss of by shipwreck on the coast of Cornwall, 535
Life and Reign of George IV-. 527
Life-boats, remarks on, 533
Light-house at the entrance of the Harbour of Marseilles, 265
Light-houses, rocket-lights used as auxili- aries to, 213
Lisbon, lines of, 490
Loblolly-boy, duties of, 161
Log-book of a Midshipman, noticed, 103
London Dock System, 146
Longwood, visit to, 452
Lyons, recent disturbances at, 149
Macao, disturbances at, 560
Maccaw, King of Boobie, 50; interview
with, 154 M'Donald, Lieut, correction of a mistake
respecting, 393 Macerone, Colonel Francis, on the use of
rocket- lights, 213
M'Guire. Paddy, anecdotes of, 228 Mackinnon, Gen. expressed by, 200 M'Namara, Capt. T. his death, 284 Madagascar, singular escape of an officer
and boat's crew of, 225, 261 Maha Bandoola, a Burmese Chief, 18 ; de- feated, 19 ; his death, 22 ; army of, 174 Mahmoud, reforms the Janizaries, 311 Maitland, Capt. skilful manoeuvre of, 185 Malays, character of, 31 Mangoe-fish, 338 Mansfield, Sir James, his opinion on the
interference of the military in riots, 388 Mansinella Bay, 180 Marines, promotion in the corps of, 538 Maritime population of the British empire,
on the, 145, 479 Marriages, 141, 283, 430, 574 Marshal, Lieut, his " Narrative of the Naval
Operations in Ava during the Burmese
War," 10 Martinde.ll, Lieut. Gen. Sir Gabriel, me-
moir'of, 379 Massey's Sounding-Machine, remarks on,
542
Maurice of Nassau, his military merits, 363 Maw, Lieut, his Memoir of the Early Ope- rations of the Burmese war, 523 Medals, on the grant of them for service,
395 Mehemed All, his military reforms, 310 ;
civil administration of his dominions, 313 Melloone, capture of, 25 Meridian, First, proposal for a common or
universal, 398
Merit, badges of, recommended, 114, 395 Meteorological Register, 144, 288, 432, 576 Midshipman of the last century, recollections
of, 41, 160 Military law and the late courts-martial,
388 Military achievements and occurrences, and
chronological events of the A rmy, 566 Military Journal, the Hanoverian, 528 Militia, inferior to a standing army, 152 Militia of the United States, remarks on, 150 Mitchell, Major, on the Trisection of an
Angle, and the mathematical principles
of field movements, 106 ; remarks on his
trisection of an angle 398, 399 Mondego, passage of the, 58 Monteverdeson's Islands described, 89 Morea, derivation of the word, 517 Morshead, Colonel, biographical account of,
142
Mosa, M. tactical treatise by, -156 Moustache, young, lament of a, 397 Moustachoes, opinion respecting, 543 Munster, Earl of, tribute to his merits, 402 Murray, Mr. statements of, 535 Musquitoes, annoyance of, 182 Mutiny at the Nore, particulars relative to
it, 42
INDEX.
581
Mysore, operations in, 223
Napier, Colonel, his account of the Penin- sular War, 241
National Guard of Paris, conduct of, 149 Naval Estimates, 420 Naval and Military Library and Museum,
opening of, 121 ; liberal contributions to
it, 122, 260, 403, 545 ; meeting of the
members of, 545 Register, 121, 257, 401,
545 Naval Officer, extracts from the MS. Journal
of, 177 ; personal narrative of, 65
- Officers, premiums awarded to them
by the Society of Arts, 320
Operations of the Burmese war, 10
Promotions, 536
Navy, on promotion in, 105 ; on manning
it for future war, 433
regulations and discipline of, 109
-• on manning in the event of a war,
531 Nelson, his instructions to and treatment of
midshipmen, 317 ; anecdotes of, 318, 319 Neville, Capt., snuff-box presented to, 265 Nevis, description of, 371 News from the New World, 101 New Year's Preface, 1 Night-signals, remarks, on 249 Nizam-djedit, the, institution and conduct
of, 308 Nore, particulars relative to the mutiny at,
42, 165 North Sea fleet, service in 345 : fishery of,
346
Obituary, 570
Officers, old, on the retirement of, 251 , young, hints to, 394
Officers, Naval, school for the education of their sons, 501
Operations in Mysore, 223
Orleans, Duke of, and his Army of Obser- vation, 177
Otter, Mr. letter of, 225 ; daring courage of, 261
Otter and Elliott, Messrs, gallant conduct of, 523
Owen, Commodore W. F. W. character of, 331
Oysters, pernicious, 344
Painters in Water Colours Gallery of So- ciety of, 528
Paley, Dr. opinion of, 151
Pamplona, siege of, 73, 79
Pardoe, Miss, the Beacon Light by, 365
Parliamentary proceedings connected with the Army and Navy, 409, 552
paper relative to the expendi- ture of the Army and Navy, 276
Parma, Duke of, his great military talents, 359
Parnell, Sir Henry, removed from the office of Secretary at War, 401
Paulet, Lord Henry, memoir of, 498
Pay-day on board, 347
Pay of Officers, rates of, 136
Pedro, Don, his expedition, 401
Percussion-shell, experiments with, 112, 381
Pericles, just observation of, 532
Perkins, Mr. his improvements in steam- navigation, 262
Peter the Great, his military reform, 311
Phenomenon at St. Helena, 512
Picton, Gen. address of, 201
Pilot, a skilful one, 195
Pinney, Charles, letter of, 563
Pirates, eastern, their cruelty, 340
Pitcairn Islanders, arrive at Tahiti, 99 ; their situation, 100
Poland, by Harro Harring, 104 , state of, 121
Polynesian Islands, narrative of a recent visit to several, 89, 217
Pontoon train, rise of the, 358
Population, maritime, of the British Empire, 145
Port Royal, Jamaica, 184
Portugal, affairs of, 552
Poultry, treatment of, on ship-board, 326
Poultry-yard of a campaigner, 486
Prague, blockade of, 78 ; Zisca's retreat from, 519
Presence of Mind, 226
Prize-money, distribution of, 275
Prome, capture of, 23
Promotion, naval, remarks on, 251, 536
Promotion in the corps of Marines, 538
Promotions and Appointments, 136, 230, 427, 571
• • — ; — in the Navy, suggestions on, 105
Publications, new, reviews and critical no- tices of, 103, 230, 523
Punishment drills, 535
Purser's pound, explanation of it, 43
Purveyor's department, remarks on, 254
Quesnoi, siege of, 78
Rangoon, town of, its situation, 11 ; ca- pitulation of, 12 ; particulars of the expe- dition against, 170
Read, Samuel, his observations on connect- ing top-masts with lower-masts, 80
Reading, military taste for, 4
Recollections of a Sea Life, 41, 160
Record of the 25th regiment, 137
Reefing Topsails, 528
Reform, a veteran's suggestion on, 255
Reform-bill, new progress of, 259, 545
Regimental Agents, 135
• — — Grievances, remarks on, 111,
392
582
INDEX.
Regulars and Trained Bands, 149 Regulations and Discipline of the Navy,
109
Reminiscences of a Subaltern, 188 Reviews and Critical Notices, 103, 230,
523
Rice, Mr. key-fid, invented by him, 82 Riflemen, dress and equipment of, 542 Rio Mayor, cavalry affair of, 253 Rocket-lights, used as auxiliaries to light- houses, 213
Rocket-signals, 267, 390 Rodney, Admiral, humanity of, 318 Rodriguez Island, pernicious quality of the
fish there, 344 Ross, Lieut, his conflict with smugglers,
406 Royal Astronomical Society, proceedings of,
262, 405 Geographical Society, proceedings of,
127, 263, 406
Irish Yacht Club, dinner of, 406
• Marine Artillery, brigade order on
the reduction of, 266
i Naval College, examination at, 265
• School, donations to, 406 ; es-
tablishment of, 501
Navy, distribution of, 277
Russell, Dr. on Cholera, 271
Sailor, his mode of life, 177
Saintes, a group of islands, 70
St. Helena, two days at, 450 ; phenomenon at, 512
St. Kitts, description of, 371
St. Vincent, Island of, described, 366 ; eruption of a volcano in, 367
Sam Sprit at a Masquerade, 385
Sand, shower of, 368
Sandhurst, public examination at the Royal Military College at, 123
Santarem, adventure at, 487
Sartorius, Capt. dismissal of, 552
Schill, Major, his expedition at, 296
Sea Life, recollections of, 41, 160, 345; corrections of an error in, 398
Seamen, remarks on the condition of, 146 ; on the impressment of, 433 ; on the punishments of 434-8 ; on the neces- sity of enrolling the seamen in the mer- chant service, 442 ; proposed remunera- tion to them, 443
Seamen-gunners, formation of, 402
Seidlitz, Gen. 292 ; his conduct at the bat- tle of Zorndorf, 293
Selim III. his improvements in the Turkish Army, 308, 309
Sepoys, charges against, 28 ; their customs and prejudices, 32 ; their insufficiency, 33 ; on the mutinies of, 35 ; smallness of their pay, 36 ; instances of their gallantry, 38
Seppings, Sir Robert, letter of Admiral
Brooking to, 105
Serjeants in the Army, duties of, 188 Service Afloat during the late War, 65, 366
, order for rewarding, 252
Sheerness, on the latitude of, 120 Shells, horizontal fire of, from shipping, 381 Ships, remarks on the manning of, 146 Ships' Water Tanks, improvements in, 64 Shoes, old, their efficacy in producing a
breeze at sea, 340 Sieges, observations on, 72 Signals, communicated by Tubes, 117, 391 Simmons, Capt. on courts-martial, 389 Sketches of the Burmese War, 168 Slade, Major-Gen. 253 Slavery, observations on, 50 Smugglers, conflict with, 406 ; condemned
to serve in the Navy, 406—7 Smyth, Capt. Meteorological Register kept
by him, 144, 288, 432, 576 Snodgrass, Major, statements of, 10, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 24, 169 ; his Narra- tive of the Operations of the Burmese War, 525 Society of Arts, distinctions awarded by it
to Naval Officers, 320 Soldier, the, 156 Soldiers' Services, record of, 129
, work on the enlisting, &c. of, an- nounced, 104
Somerset Yeomanry, utility of, 115 Souffrier, the, a volcano in St. Vincent,
eruption of, 367
Southby, J. on new rocket-signals, 390 Spain and Portugal in 1817, anecdotes of,
220, 484
Speed, John, his curious map of Africa, 334 Spithead, particulars respecting the mutiny
at, 42, 165
Staff establishment, origin of, 353 Standard Novels, noticed, 240, 526 Stanfell, Capt. biographical account of, 287 Steamers of war, on, 381, 530 Steam-navigation, improvements in, 262 Stewart, Lieut, his presentiment of death,
227
Strangways, Capt. his gallant conduct, 225 Strategy, importance of, 224 Stubbs, Gen. 222 Subaltern, Reminiscences of, 188 Sully, the creator of the French ordnance- service, 357 Sunset in the East, 141 Survey of the West Coast of Africa in 1825
-6, 49 Swedish Army, present state and occupation
of, 407 Sword exercise, on training the yeomanry
in, 540
Symes, Colonel, his account of the Burmese, - 173
INDEX.
583
Tactics, 289
Tahiti and Pitcairn Islanders, 98
Tait, William, his remarks on permanent fortification, 539
Tait, Cornet, court-martial on, 561
Talbot, Lieut.- Colonel, statement respecting, 529
Tanks, new shaped, 64
Taynton, Lieut.-Colonel, his death, 284
Terry- A It, War of, 111
Thomar, distress of nuns and friars at, 485
Thomas, William, his remarks on night- signals, 249
Thrackston, Lieut, life-boat of, 534
Timour, his invasion of India, 30
Tindal, Chief- Justice, charge of, 258
Tongatabu, Island of, described, 91 ; ac- count of the natives, H>. ; dress of the females, 92 ; KingTubou, ib. ; luxuriant vegetation, ib. ; fruits, 93 ; habitations, ib- ; ceremonies of drinking, 94 ; visit of the Astrolabe to the island, 95 ; singular customs, 96, 219 ; trees, &c. 217 ; habi- tation of a chief, 218 ; native dance, ib. ; double canoes, ib.
Top-masts, observations on connecting them with lower-masts, 80
Topsails, Reefing of, 528
Tornado at sea, 329
Tracy, old, 347
Trained Bands and Regulars, 149
Traits and Incidents, naval and military, 225
Trant, Capt. his " Two Years in Ava," 169 ; his death, 575
Tubes, communication of signals by, 117
Tubou, King of Tongatabu, 92
Tucopia, or Barwell's Island, a recent visit to, 89
Turenne, his siege of Dunkirk, 75
Turkey, military reforms of, 307 ; internal administration of, 313
Twenty-fifth regiment, correction of a mis- take respecting, 393
Ulema, the, its influence upon the Turk- ish Government, 315 United States, militia of, 153 Valenciennes, siege of, 78
Valour, definition of, 16
Vellore, mutiny of, 35
Venturinho do Pofo, curious history of, 490
Veteran's Suggestion on Reform, 255
Veteran's Vision, 521
Villa Franca, destruction of wine at, 489
Villages in Spain, accommodations to be
found in, 195
Villiers en Couche, action of, 294 Volcanic islet, on the coast of Sicily, 509 Volcanoes in the West- Indies, eruptions of,
367, 371 Volunteers for the Preservation of Social
Order, 115 Voyages and Travels, Fragments of, 528
Walker, Rear-Admiral James, memoir of, 201
War, Burmese, naval operations of, 10
War of Terry Alt, error respecting, 111
War on the grand scale, 241
War, utility of, 8
Warrington, Capt. court-martial on, 275, 543, 562 ; remarks on his case, 389
Wellington, Marquis of, lays siege to Pam- plona, 73, 79 ; his retreat from Busaco to Lisbon, 484
West Indian scenery, 186
West Indies, condition of the negroes in, 53
Whipper monopoly, 148
Willoughby, Sir Hugh, his unfortunate ex- pedition, 477
Wine, destruction of, during the war in Portugal, 489
Wolf, story of a young one, 220
Woodley, Capt. in reply to strictures on his Divine System, 248
Yacht-sailing, good effects of, 480
Yarn touching the noble ship — British Con- stitution, 245
Yeomanry Cavalry, query respecting, 120
Yeomanry, on training them in the sword exercise, 540
Younger Son, Adventures of a,
Youngsters, a word upon, 316
Zisca's retreat from Prague, 519
Zorndorf, battle of, 293
END OF THE FIRST PART OF 1832.
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