At the conclusion of the war in 1783, the young sailor had time to resume his studies on shore, and for that purpose was sent to the maritime school at Chelsea, where, for the space of two years, he successfully pursued those branches of learning more particularly suited to the profession he had chosen. He always retained a grateful recollection of the advantages he had derived from this establishment, where the best education was afforded on the most reasonable terms to the sons of naval officers, who, from their limited income, might have found it impossible to procure the same advantages for their children in any other academy.
In the year 1785 he was removed to France, where his family then resided, as the acquisition of the French language was thought an important point. He has left a remark upon record which will exhibit the state of his mind at this time. “To shew,” he says, “what an important influence the most trifling circumstances may have upon a man’s life, I may mention that, whilst living at St. Omers, in 1786, I was considered to be in very feeble health from the return of an ague, first experienced in the preceding year at St. Vincents; and having at the drawing school evinced a strong inclination for painting, my parents thought of sending me to Italy, with a view of making that my profession, a plan which I eagerly caught at for the moment; but thinking it over in my own room, where my sword was suspended over the chimney, my eye no sooner rested upon it, than old associations and prospects instantly crowded in upon me, and induced me at once to reject the tempting offer of a journey to Rome, and renewed my determination to go to sea.”
In 1787 his father returned with his family to England; and the Dutch armament having taken place, Jahleel set off for Portsmouth to join the Perseverance, commanded by Captain, afterwards Admiral, Sir William Young, a valued friend of his father. This ship was however paid off soon after his arrival, in consequence of the restoration of tranquillity; and Jahleel embarked on board the Dido, Captain Sandys, who constantly employed him in sounding and surveying different bays and harbours on the coast of Nova Scotia. It was at this early age that his affections were bestowed upon one, who was well worthy of them; and of the rise and growth of this attachment, as romantic in its commencement as happy in its results, he has left some touching and affecting records in three manuscript volumes addressed to his children. A few extracts from these, to exhibit the character of the writer, without encroaching on the sacredness belonging to a domestic memorial of such a kind, will be introduced in the present notice.
In the year 1789, the time then allotted for the service of a midshipman having nearly expired, he returned to England, and joined the Bellona, commanded by Captain, afterwards Sir Francis Hartwell. In the month of March, 1790, he passed his examination for a Lieutenant; and foreseeing no chance, either of promotion or active employment during the profound peace, then subsisting between Great Britain and her neighbours, he, with a view of gaining experience in his profession, accepted a Lieutenant’s commission in the Swedish navy, then engaged in active operations against the Russians in the gulf of Finland. Of his later and better thoughts on this subject he has left a valuable record in the manuscript before alluded to. He there says, speaking of the period in question, “In after life, when better acquainted with my religious duties, I have felt and acknowledged the guilt of this step, for such it was; but I was led away by the idea of acquiring distinction and eminence, so natural in youthful minds, and so powerfully excited by the biography of those whom the world holds up to admiration for their conduct in arms, without any reference to the cause which alone can render war justifiable.”
Leaving England for this purpose, he did not reach Carlscrona until the fleet had sailed; and before he could join them in the gulf of Finland, it was already blocked up in the bay of Wyborg, by the Russians. The vessel on board of which he was embarked was lying in the port of Lowisa, when the action took place off its mouth on the 3rd of July, which nearly annihilated the Swedish fleet, by depriving them of seven sail of the line out of twenty-one, while the remainder with difficulty reached Helsingfors. Hither Mr. Brenton proceeded, and undismayed by this mortifying defeat of the power which he came to serve, presented his commission to the Duke of Sudermania, then commander in chief; and was immediately appointed Lieutenant of the Konig Adolf Frederic, bearing the flag of Vice Admiral Modée. He, at the same time, received orders to introduce the British system of discipline among the men, for which purpose he was fully supported by the Vice Admiral and Captain.
Of this period the following record has been left in his own hand, “On arriving at Gottenburg, I found a carriage there waiting for Sir Sidney Smith, who had also volunteered his services in the same cause, and was expected from England. It had been sent there by the Duke of Sudermania; and as Sir Sidney was known to have taken another route, General Toll, the governor of Gottenburg, offered it to me; and he, at the same time, requested me to superintend a convoy of British sailors, provided it would not delay me too much. The number of these men amounted to twenty or thirty; each had a horse and cart for the conveyance of himself, and chest, and hammock; and in each of these was a Swedish driver, in many instances this was a female.
“This cavalcade had, previously to starting, been drawn up in a line in the market-place; and this line the sailors had arranged in three divisions, naming an admiral in each, and hoisting a handkerchief for a flag. The procession was very orderly while passing through the streets; but we had no sooner got upon the broad road than there were evident attempts made to try the respective rates of sailing; and at length the signal was made for a general chase. The Swedes, and particularly the women, soon lost all controul; the most prudent jumped off; and in the course of a short time many of the carts were upset, some in the ditches on each side of the road, and there were but few to which some disaster had not happened.
“But little progress was made in the course of this day; and fearing I might not reach Carlscrona before the fleet should sail, I left my countrymen to the Swedish officers, and proceeded without stopping day and night. I was however too late. The fleet had sailed, and I was obliged to wait for the Hecte, a Swedish frigate then preparing for sea; and at length, with the English sailors who arrived in the course of a week, I embarked in her, and proceeded to Helsingfors. Here I was put on board the Hussar, a two decked brig carrying twenty twelve-pounders on the lower deck, and fourteen four-pounders on the upper; or as Johnny facetiously said, ‘My eye, here is a craft; a two-decked brig, the quarter deck got forward, and the captain’s cabin under the forecastle.’ The fact was, that the upper deck came no further aft than the mainmast, and was rather a prolonged forecastle; the captain’s cabin was under the deck, and next to the galley or cook’s room.”
On the 9th of July the battle of Swinkasund took place between the Swedish and Russian Galley fleets, when the skill and gallantry of the British officers serving in the latter made the fortune of the day for a long time doubtful. That of Sir Sidney Smith and his followers however, on the side of the Swedes, was more successful, by whose exertions a brilliant victory was gained. This circumstance convinced his Majesty Gustavus the Third, that none were so fit to oppose Englishmen as Englishmen; and he accordingly directed that all the British officers should be immediately sent from the grand to the galley fleet. They arrived there a few days after the action, and were distributed amongst the flat bottomed frigates. Mr. Brenton was appointed to the Sturkollen. The following is the record he has left of some circumstances belonging to this period.
“On reaching Swinkasund, the English officers were presented to the king of Sweden, Gustavus the third, on board his yacht, the Amphisis, where his Majesty’s flag was flying. Their reception was most cordial. I was the only officer who spoke French, and therefore became the organ of communication. The bay at this time was covered with the wreck of the late battle. The wrecks of two fine frigates were lying on the beach, besides those of other vessels. Three frigates, a fifty gun praam, and innumerable gallies and gun boats had been sunk. The masts of the larger vessels were out of the water; and many of those of the smaller ones, according to the depth of water where they had sunk. All were abandoned as irretrievably lost; whereas, had the victors been English instead of Swedish, it is not too much to say that nearly all, if not the whole, of these vessels would have been weighed. One frigate in particular had received but little damage. She was on shore, and lying with her starboard gunwale in the water; her masts had been cut away by the Swedes, who never thought of attempting to get her off. The Englishmen regretting to see so beautiful a vessel consigned to destruction, waited upon the king, and volunteered to save her, at which he was greatly pleased, and ordered every assistance and material they required to be given to them. They accordingly set to work with all the ardour and confidence of their profession; cleared the vessel of whatever could be got at, and laid out anchors and purchases in such a manner as to give every hope of success; expecting, on the following day, to have their triumph. In the course of the night however, the gear they had prepared was cut away, and carried off by boats sent from the Swedish ships; the officers alleging that they were ordered to collect whatever blocks or ropes could be found amongst the wrecked vessels; but there was reason to ascribe this conduct to the jealousy of the Swedish officers; a jealousy easier to be accounted for than excused. It must at the same time be allowed that the king was imprudent in the partiality he evinced towards foreign followers; and as those in question were all young and thoughtless, and arrogant, neither concealing their fancied superiority over the Swedes, nor using any endeavours to conciliate them, it is only providential that more serious events did not occur. All hopes of getting off the frigate were now abandoned, and the Englishmen were sent to their respective ships.”