“Yes, uncle! yes! And you said there was no fixed uniform in old times for the navy.”
“De Ruyter and Van Tromp were brave admirals, in the service of Holland. Van Tromp was the very first of Dutch Admirals, the Nelson of his country, having been in fifty naval engagements, winning thirty-three victories; he was considered the most intrepid and the ablest seaman of his day. You will not find a Dutchman who does not know all about Van Tromp. It has been said, that he carried a besom at his mast-head to sweep the seas of British ships, but since then British admirals have turned sweepers themselves.”
“Indeed they have, and Admiral Von Tromp, if he were alive would not be able to hinder them.”
“I might say something of Christopher Columbus, admiral of Spain, discoverer of the continent of America; of Vasquez da Gama, admiral of Portugal, discoverer of the passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope; and of Villeneuve, the French Admiral; but I must pass them all by to speak a word of British admirals. And first, let me tell you, that Thomas Smith, admiral of the blue, was known among seamen as Tom of Ten Thousand.”
“What a comical name! No doubt he was a very famous man?”
“Leaving the older admirals, Hawkins, Drake, and Blake, let us come at once to Admiral Hawke. He has the reputation of being not only brave but also circumspect; to the most consummate courage and active spirit he added a temper cool and deliberate; accident ruffled him not; sudden misfortune seemed not to take him by surprise. I will give you one instance of his coolness and steady self-possession. When his flag was on board the Royal George, the ship once took fire, owing to a collection of soot in the funnel of the stove of the great cabin. A man of less presence of mind would have given an alarm instantly to the whole ship; but instead of this, Sir Edward, who was at the time dressing himself, went on deck without manifesting any emotion, and taking aside the first-lieutenant, said to him in a low tone, ‘Sir, the ship is on fire in my cabin; give the necessary directions for putting it out.’”
“Capital! capital! Why, we should have cried out fire! as loud as we could scream.”
“And by that means have gathered round you those who would have only been in each other’s way. I have given you an instance of coolness in Admiral Hawke; I will now give you an example of fidelity and integrity in Admiral Rodney.”
“Ay! we have heard of Admiral Rodney; he was a very brave commander.”
“After many instances of bravery and skill, he unfortunately engaged in election contests, and became so poor that he was obliged to retire to France to escape from the pursuit of his creditors. When in this forlorn situation, the Duke de Biron invited him to his house, treated him very hospitably, and then hinted, that if he would enter the French navy it would be greatly to his advantage. But the blue-jacket that would fight against his country, even to be made lord-high-admiral of an enemy’s navy, would deserve to be tarred and feathered. Rodney began to think that the duke was a little deranged in his intellects, but what was his surprise when the duke told him, that he was commissioned by his royal master, the king, to offer him the command of a French squadron, with unbounded advantages, should he accept the appointment. What do you think was Rodney’s answer?”