[51]. The education of these youths is highly creditable to the officers of engineers. Many similar instances of boys in the corps acquiring distinction by their talents, have subsequently occurred, the honour of which, in great measure, is due to the officers. Assistance and encouragement they never fail to give in cases where their efforts are likely to meet with success, and numbers have thus qualified themselves to fill important situations with efficiency and credit, in their own profession, and afterwards in civil life. Richmond and Brand, however, are the only instances in which commissions have been given from the ranks of the artificers, or sappers and miners, into the corps of engineers.
[52]. Drinkwater says (p. 108), “that one of the works of these young men, while pursuing their studies at Woolwich, was to finish the large model of the rock of Gibraltar.” The historian has certainly been misled here: the model was finished before it left the fortress, and did not reach the Arsenal until after its makers had been commissioned, and left England for the West Indies. The placement and adjustment of its several parts were intrusted to a military artificer named Bethell. He was to have been assisted by another private, who accompanied him for the purpose, from Gibraltar; but having broken his leg at Woolwich, his services were thus lost. Private John McNaughton, a carpenter of the Woolwich company, was put to the model in his place. I knew McNaughton well, and he assured me that the model was not touched by any hands but his own and Bethell’s, and that on no occasion were the modellers present during its fixation. McNaughton seems to have been an excellent artificer, and always an active soldier. During the mutiny of Parker, he was employed in repairing Tilbury Fort, and in erecting temporary defences below Gravesend. He afterwards served under the great Abercrombie in Egypt; next was employed in constructing the towers on the Sussex coast, at the time of the projected invasion of Napoleon; and, lastly, was many years in Newfoundland. He was discharged 24th January, 1815, on 1s. 4d. a-day, and died at Woolwich in April, 1853, aged 84.
[53]. Hague was a tall, intelligent mechanic, a fine modeller, and a smart soldier. On account of these qualities, he was selected to take charge of the models for George III. Having put them together on their tables at Buckingham Palace, His Majesty, the Queen, and royal family, with other illustrious personages of the court, came to see them. Hague was cited before them to explain the model, and to point out the defences which, from their prominence in the late siege, had acquired historic identity. His observations were listened to with attention, and His Majesty awarded him a gratifying proof of his royal approbation. Soon afterwards Hague returned to Gibraltar, and on the 31st March, 1815, was discharged and pensioned at 1s. 8d. a-day. He was subsequently employed as a modeller in the grand store; was married in 1827; and died at the Rock about 1833, upwards of 100 years old.
[54]. ‘Drinkwater.’ Murray’s edit., 1846, p. 108.
[55]. To this the visitor adds a description of the model, which is adjoined here, on account of the model itself having long since been destroyed. “First then,” says the writer, “are the Spanish lines; then the perpendicular rock, rising bold from the neck of the neutral ground, which is not many feet above high-water mark. On the east, or left hand, is the Mediterranean Sea; and on the west, within the mole or pier, is the Bay of Gibraltar, in which the largest ships in the British Navy may ride safe. The garrison, town, and forts, are to the westward, whence the rock rises with a more gradual acclivity to the summit,—the east side of which is also perpendicular, and inhabited by monkeys. On the highest point is the Levant Battery, which is nearly three times and one half the height of St. Paul’s church, or 1375 feet above the level of the sea. The southern extremity of the model of this rock towards Europa Point, being too large for the room, and less important, is cut off. This description ought to fill a volume.”—Gentleman’s Magazine, part 2, 1798, p.648.
[56]. This was on the 22nd May, 1802. The account given at the time of this disgraceful act is as follows:—“A dreadful fire broke out at Woolwich, and from the investigation which has taken place into this calamitous circumstance, there is but too much reason to believe that this disaster was not the mere effect of accident. The fire broke out, at one and the same time, in three different places, besides which a great mass of combustible materials have been discovered. The loss to Government will be immense. The damage done to the Model-room is particularly to be lamented, as several choice works of art have been destroyed, without the power of reparation; however, the injury done to the beautiful model of the rock of Gibraltar is not so great as was at first represented, it having sustained but a slight damage, which can be easily repaired, and the whole restored to its original state.”—Dodsley’s Annual Register, 1802, p. 404. The journalist is wrong in his remarks concerning the state of the model after the fire. It was completely destroyed, and not even the fragments are now in existence. Some persons, indeed, with whom I have conversed, bear out the chronicler in his record, and affirm that the model was repaired, and is now in the Rotunda; but they have given me a fair inference of the mistaken character of their recollections, by uniformly referring to the model of the north front, executed by Richmond and Marques, which, at the very time that the fire occurred, formed one of the curiosities of Buckingham Palace. Drinkwater (p. 108, Murray’s edit.) attests the fact of its destruction; and in this he is borne out by the ‘Repository Detail of Arms,’ &c., printed in 1822. In that catalogue (at p. 9-21) is a list of the arms, models, &c., of the original institution preserved from the fire of 1802, and collected by Sir William Congreve, but no mention is made of the model in question. This, then, is the best attainable evidence of the certainty of its demolition, coupled with the acknowledgment, at page 52 of the same catalogue, that the “North end of Gibraltar,” the model mistaken for the one destroyed in the Arsenal, was presented to the Repository by George IV. Had the large model of the Rock been preserved, Sir William Congreve would most certainly have noted it in the detail.
[57]. This anniversary supper was held by the non-commissioned officers annually, on the date named, at the Three Anchors. After the first year, the tickets of admission were 16s. 6d. each, or 5 dollars and 4 reals, which provided, in the language of one who used to have a seat at the table, “a sumptuous entertainment.” At that time the dollar was 3s., and the real 4½d. Each ticket admitted a married non-commissioned officer and his family, or a single one and his friend. The privates took no part in the celebration. On each occasion, the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, &c., honoured the company with their presence, and made gratifying allusions to their services at the siege. The night of the festival used to be familiarly termed Junk-ship night, both by the inhabitants and the soldiers. The custom was perpetuated till the year 1804, when, from the fearful epidemic that prevailed, it was necessarily omitted, and was never again held. It was a common opinion that the Duke of Kent interdicted these loyal anniversaries, but such was not the case. The last one was held in September, 1803, after his Royal Highness had been recalled from Gibraltar.
[58]. This sum seems to be a sort of standing equivalent, and has existed without alteration, through all the changes of advanced or reduced prices in material and labour, to the present day.
[59]. The regulation with regard to the wives and families of recruits going to Gibraltar, as established by the Duke of Richmond, is sufficiently curious, by comparison with the present very limited system, to be mentioned here. On the 9th September, 1786, the Duke arranged that to every 20 men, 10 women and 10 children should be allowed to accompany them. If there were more than that number with the party, lots were to be drawn, and those who did not gain prizes were to find their own passages; the lots were not to divide families, but were to be drawn by the men until the number allowed was completed. If encouragement had been given to any men to hope that their families would be provided with passages, the bargain was to be faithfully adhered to.
[60]. Of the following strength:—