During the period of his office, that excellent establishment, the Naval School, was re-organized; various improvements were introduced in the internal economy of the Hospital; libraries were formed for the amusement of the inmates in their hours of leisure; and much was done for the amelioration of their general habits. But his usefulness was not limited to the precincts of the Hospital. Placed as he was at an easy distance from the metropolis, he was able to obey many calls of benevolence; and to lend his help to many excellent institutions, whether connected with the navy or not. The Sailors’ Home, an establishment which the country owes to the devoted and disinterested labours of Captain Elliot, and the few who laboured with him; and in which the country has incurred a debt which she never will be able to repay; was from its commencement an object of the deepest interest to Sir Jahleel Brenton; and his advice, his interest, his assistance, as far as his means permitted, were always given, and given without reserve to the promoters of the work. At the same time, the condition of the seamen belonging to the port of London, the snares to which they were exposed, the treatment that they met with from their employers, were the subject of his continued thought and exertions.
It was during this period likewise that he was able to lend some help to his brother, Captain Edward Brenton, in his praiseworthy exertions in behalf of that wretched class, the scandal and the plague of our metropolis,—the juvenile delinquents; exertions, to which reference has already been made, and which the world seems now disposed to estimate more justly than it did at first. He attended the last meeting of that association, though in a state of health which rendered the effort very painful; and both he and his brother were attacked by gout the next day. This attack in Captain Brenton’s case terminated fatally, and in Sir Jahleel’s was accompanied with considerable danger and long confinement.
In the year 1833 Sir Jahleel went over to France, and passed a fortnight of great enjoyment with his sister and brother-in-law at St. Omers. He here had the opportunity of retracing the beautiful scenes with which he had been familiar in his boyish days, and enriched his portfolio with many interesting sketches.
The next year he visited the same beloved relatives at Paris, and on that occasion a little circumstance occurred, which it seems right to mention, both as exhibiting the firmness with which he held his own religious principles, and the respect paid to that firmness by an individual who occupies a very important place in the history of our times. As his stay in Paris lasted some weeks, Sir Jahleel felt it his duty to pay his respects to H. M. Louis Philippe, whom, as Duke of Orleans, he had met in the Mediterranean, and with whose mother, the Duchess of Orleans, he had been intimately acquainted while Commissioner at Port Mahon. It was not the season for public presentations, and he therefore communicated his wish in a private note addressed to one of the officers of state, who had the charge of arranging such interviews; and the reply fixed the following Sunday evening for the time of reception. Sir Jahleel returned an answer expressing his deep regret that he could not obey the summons of His Majesty on that day, as it was one which he regarded as sacred, and which he invariably devoted to other objects.
It is gratifying to be able to add the reply which this answer obtained, and as the document is in existence, it is well to repeat the original of a message, as honourable to him who dictated it, as it was to him who received it.
Palais de Neuilly, le 21 Juillet, 1834.
“Aide de Camp de Service pres du Roi,
“L’aide de Camp de Service a l’honneur d’informer Monsieur le Contre Amiral Brenton, que le motif, qui l’a empéché de venir hier a Neuilly a été apprecié par le Roi; et que Sa Majesté l’y recevra demain Mardi 22 Juillet, a 8 heures du Soir.”
At the time thus designated Sir Jahleel presented himself at Neuilly. He was received by the King with his usual condescension and kindness, and was introduced to the Queen and the family circle by which he was surrounded.
This interview was soon followed by an invitation to dine at the Tuilleries, and the King apparently made a point of testifying his respect for the scrupulous firmness, with which the honour of his first invitation had been declined.