The Editor is happy to add that the First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Haddington, testified his sense of the services he had rendered to his country by promoting his son-in-law, Mr. Brenton Stewart, at the earliest opportunity. If the life then which is now submitted to the public is not one of unmixed success or prosperity; if it is chequered by adverse circumstances and occasional disappointments of just and reasonable hope, it is not the less instructive on that account; while the general result is still such as to encourage imitation. The man who serves the world, unquestionably, serves a hard master; and if he looks to the world’s gratitude for his reward, he will most probably be grievously disappointed. But the man who serves God, while doing his duty in the world, may still expect to meet the blessing of his master even in the things of the world. These indeed are not the reward he seeks, nor are they the real objects of his pursuit; but in God’s overruling providence they are generally given to those whose ways please Him; and they may be thankfully received as tokens of his favour, though they do not form the portion of His children.
Under other circumstances Sir Jahleel might have risen higher in his profession; his name might have occupied a place among the great naval leaders of the country; he might have been called to share in the counsels of his sovereign; and his family might have been left in affluence and distinction. But for one who rises so high, hundreds fail; and thousands fall below the mark of notice, and live and die unknown. The measure of success which Sir Jahleel met with in his profession, was perhaps as much as it was safe for man to have; and those who saw the veneration with which he was regarded in public, and the love and the affection with which he was surrounded at home; the sense entertained of his value by those who could appreciate his character as an officer, and the regard and esteem which his manners and conversation conciliated from all; must have felt that the world had not much to add where God had given so largely.
At all events, death, the great test of what is good for man and evil, has now settled the question beyond a doubt. If there were disappointments in his course, they are forgotten, or only regarded as trials sent in mercy, to prove the power of that grace by which they were surmounted. If there were sufferings, sorrows, afflictions, they are now seen to be means, by which a Heavenly Father’s love subdued the wandering affections of his child, and drew to Himself that heart which was not to be given to the creature.
The very things that seemed to be against him are doubtless now felt to have been for him; and the saint in light recognizes the wisdom and the mercy which directed the discipline of the saint on earth. As such, his narrative is offered with the more confidence to those, who may with reason be urged to take his character as their model for imitation; and the young man who enters his profession with the spirit and the mind of Sir Jahleel Brenton, may be well content to look forward to an old age, cheered as his was, by the recollection of past services, and rich in the enjoyment of a peace which the world could neither give nor take away.
FOOTNOTES
[1] “This gallant officer has had his bravery rewarded by being promoted to the rank of Post Captain, and now commands the Cæsar of eighty-four guns, which at present bears the flag of Admiral Sir J. Saumarez.”
[2] Afterwards the Honourable William Walpole, a Post Captain.
[3] “I think it was on this occasion, that, one morning, as I was going in, as usual, to early prayers, one of the men who had liberty to come into the town, came to me, and advised me not to go into the prison; for the men were ready to make an attempt upon my life, except I would promise to send in the money, which he knew I would not do. I, however, went in. The men crowded in a very tumultuous manner, in my way. There was a great buzz and murmur, but no one spoke; and I passed through them, and found my people as devout, and totally unaffected, with the storm that was going forward around them, as if they had been in another atmosphere. As I returned through the passage, still crowded with the perturbators, a man came up to me, and I then made up my mind, that the scene was going to begin. He was, however, only come, as was usual every time I went in, to ask me to do something for him; and I then passed through the crowd more dense and tumultuous than before, without however being accosted by any one. This sort of ebullition, fomented by the Commandant and his people, while I durst not explain myself even to those in whom I had the greatest confidence, occurred two or three times, during my residence at Givet.”