Memoir of the Life and Services of Vice-Admiral Sir Jahleel Brenton, Baronet, K.C.B.

by Unknown

“When the news of the death of Buonaparte, which took place at St. Helena, on the 5th of May, 1821, reached England, orders were dispatched to the Cape of Good Hope for reducing the establishment of the dockyard at Simon’s Bay, and leaving the stores in the charge of a clerk and a foreman of the shipwrights, to assist in the repair of such ships as might occasionally arrive. On the 6th of November, 1821, I embarked with my family on board the Vigo, bearing the flag of Rear Admiral Lambert. We arrived at St. Helena on the 21st, and after staying there a week, we proceeded on our way to England. Having got to the northward of the Tropic, we experienced very bad weather, a continuance of heavy gales from the Westward. In one of these gales, an event occurred, which should be recorded, as it shews from what very slight causes the most serious accidents may arise. In the evening of the 26th December, the wind having moderated, a reef was let out of the main topsail, and the top gallant mast and yard were got up. It continued however to freshen again in the night, and before morning it was found necessary to close reef the main topsail again, to get down the yard and to shape the top gallant mast. While employed in the latter operation, the ship took a very heavy lurch, (she was then scudding) and the people who had hold of the mast rope were violently thrown to leeward. The force this circumstance gave to the mast rope, lifted the heel of the top gallant mast above the cross trees, and rendered all further efforts to strike the mast unavailing. Before any fresh efforts could be made, the topmast springstay gave way, and the topmast stay soon followed, when the mast went, a few feet above the cap, and falling upon the lee topsail yard-arm, carried that away; and the accumulated wreck coming down upon the main yard, carried away the lee lift, by which the weather quarter of the main yard, coming in contact with the top, gave way, carrying with it the weather side of the top crosstrees; thus rendering the mainmast completely disabled, as far as its sails were concerned. At this moment the ship broached too, against a tremendous sea, but providentially without any serious damage. From this circumstance may be seen the importance of not delaying to get down a top gallant mast in time, when a gale is evidently increasing. We arrived at Spithead on the 1st of January, 1822, and it was a singular coincidence that we had left England precisely on that day seven years before.”

With his return to England the more active part of Sir Jahleel Brenton’s professional life was closed. In one sense it might have been said to have ended, when he fell wounded on the deck of the Spartan; for from that time he was incapable of supporting the fatigues inseparable from active service, and nothing but zeal for his profession, combined with a more than ordinary measure of firmness of mind, could have carried him through the duties of the situations which he subsequently filled. The manner in which the duties of the Commissioner’s office at the Cape, and those of situations still more important which he filled at home were afterwards discharged, may serve to shew that man’s powers of usefulness are not limited by the powers of the body; and the supremacy of mind is exhibited most distinctly, where the corporeal part only hinders the exertions which are required from the man.

His first object in returning to England was to seek for the children committed to his charge the shelter and advantages of home; and the affection which bound all the members of his large family together, soon secured to him and them every human consolation and support.

The length of the war which was at last closed, and the general pacification of the world that followed on the death of Napoleon, precluded all idea of active service; and though the feeling which had animated his professional life still existed, and a hope that he might yet have to hoist his own flag, and be again entrusted with command, never was entirely lost, he prepared himself for pursuits of a different kind, and endeavoured to improve the leisure which he had so gloriously won.

Shortly after his return home he received a gratifying proof of the opinion entertained of the services he had rendered to his country, by his appointment to the temporary command of the Royal Charlotte Yacht, at the request of His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence, when the yacht was employed to convey the Duke and the Duchess to Antwerp, in the summer of 1822.

Shortly after his return from Antwerp he married Miss Harriet Brenton, his cousin, fourth daughter of the late James Brenton, Esq. one of the Judges of Halifax, in Nova Scotia; and though still incapable of active service, and suffering at intervals extreme pain from his wound, which shewed a continual tendency to inflammation, he was much occupied in attending Committees in London on professional subjects, to which he was called by the Lords of the Admiralty. During the same period he had the happiness of making the personal acquaintance of Mr. Wilberforce, whom he had previously only known by correspondence, or as a public character; and he shared with every one who had the privilege of knowing that excellent man, the feelings of fascination which belonged to the warmth of his heart and the powers of his conversation.

The state of his health at the close of 1823 rendered it desirable that he should remove to Bath, where, in the commencement of the following year, his youngest daughter, Harriet Mary, was born. During this period his correspondence with Mr. Wilberforce, and with his respected friend at the Cape, Dr. Philip, offer many interesting specimens of the zeal with which he laboured, under circumstances that would have chilled the spirit of most men, to promote the welfare both temporal and eternal of all who had ever been placed beneath his care. But it seems unnecessary to extend the Memoir of such a life by extracts that only repeat the exhibition of a character more effectually pourtrayed by actions; and enough has been already said to enable the reader to understand and appreciate the mind by which that character was formed.

In the year 1825 Sir Jahleel received the appointment of Colonel of Marines, and removed to a cottage in Hampshire, where he had opportunity for indulging his taste for country pursuits, which, next to those of his profession, were the objects of his preference and his favourite resource. In this retirement he regained in a considerable degree both health and strength, and with returning powers he felt himself justified in applying for employment on active service. In consequence of his application he was appointed in November, 1829, to the command of H.M.S. Donegal, at that time stationed as the Guard Ship at Sheerness. He retained this command however only till the summer of 1830, when he was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral of the Blue. This increase of rank was however accompanied by a very serious diminution of income; and on leaving the Donegal he thought it expedient to take a small house at Stoke, near Plymouth, which for the time became his home; and here, though occasionally suffering severely from his wound and from gout, he found in his home circle, and the resources which his pencil and his books supplied, the materials of a very happy existence.

In the following year a situation of a very different kind was proposed to him, in the appointment of Lieut. Governor to Greenwich Hospital; and as the circumstances under which the offer was made, and finally accepted, are honourable to all the parties engaged in the transaction, and serve to reflect light on the character of our subject; the Editor feels that on this occasion he may introduce some portions of a correspondence which in its original form might have been considered private. The proposal was made by Sir James Graham, then First Lord of the Admiralty, in the following letter.