Transcriber’s Note: Evident printing errors have been changed in the English. In the passages in French, accents have been added/removed where necessary, but otherwise the spelling, complete with errors, is as printed.

MEMOIR
OF THE
LIFE AND SERVICES OF VICE-ADMIRAL
SIR JAHLEEL BRENTON,
BARONET, K. C. B.

EDITED BY
THE REV. HENRY RAIKES,
CHANCELLOR OF THE DIOCESE OF CHESTER.

LONDON:
HATCHARD AND SON, PICCADILLY;
SEACOME AND PRICHARD, CHESTER.
1846.

Dedication.

TO LADY BRENTON.

Dear Lady Brenton,

In dedicating to you the Memoir of which I have been permitted to be the Editor, I cannot but feel how inadequate the portrait, which I have been endeavouring to sketch, must appear to you, to whom it now is offered.

I undertook the work indeed, chiefly from a sense of public duty; though without much hope that I should satisfy myself, or those by whom the charge was entrusted to me. It seemed fit and proper, that the world should be made acquainted with a character of such rare and peculiar excellence as that of your husband; and I felt that it was due to the naval service generally, and in particular to the younger members of it, that they should see how qualities of a very different kind might be combined in one man; and might render him, who was the ornament of his profession, a model of what man ought to be in every relation of life. My desire therefore was to do good to others, rather than to do justice to my subject; and instead of dwelling, as to you might seem natural and proper; on those various graces which endeared him to all, and to those most, who knew him best; I have endeavoured to shew what he was, by describing his behaviour under the several trials of his eventful life; and to extend the benefit of his example by making it more generally known.

I dare not suppose, therefore, that the offer of the following Memoir should have any other value in your eyes, than as a token of the affectionate remembrance, with which I dwell upon the character of your much loved husband. In this respect, had I attempted more, I should not have succeeded better; for language never satisfies the requirements of the heart; and you would still have felt, that the half was yet unsaid; after I had written all that I could, in endeavouring to express my admiration and regard.

My chief anxiety is, that the volume may be in some degree acceptable to those, whose benefit has been always contemplated during its preparation; and that the navy may not lose the benefit, which the example of Sir Jahleel Brenton is so well calculated to give. In my solicitude to secure this object, I have retained as much as possible of the language of the original memorial, which forms the basis of the narrative. I have sacrificed all attempt at forming a regular biography, that I might preserve its originality. I have allowed inequalities of style to remain, which may offend fastidious minds, that I might not weaken the effect of particular expressions; and the little that I have ventured to add, has chiefly been done for the purpose of enabling readers to draw those inferences from the events recorded, which he, writing with another object in view, and regarding what was written as merely a memorial addressed to his children, naturally assumed as certain to be drawn by those for whom he wrote, and did not think it necessary to add.

In these respects I have endeavoured to speak with the reserve, which should be felt when professional questions are discussed by one, who is a stranger to them; and trust, that I have only said, what he would have wished to have added under similar circumstances. It is satisfactory to me, however, to think, that whatever may be the deficiencies of the Memoir, it will at least draw attention to the man, while his qualities still linger in the recollection of his friends and his associates; for if the narrative does but lead to enquiry as to the character of the subject, I feel that there is no doubt as to the result that may be expected.

Though I feel it necessary therefore to apologize to you for the very inadequate portrait that is now presented, I am not without hope, that under God’s blessing, the exhibition of such a life may be beneficial to the world; and if this be the case, I trust that you will merge private disappointment in the consideration of general good, and be satisfied with what is done, in the hope it may do good to others. As for the comfort to be derived from such a memorial, I know you need it not; and would not seek it in such monuments as man can raise. Your consolation under loss is drawn from higher sources, and needs not the support of human praise bestowed on him, who was dearer to you than life itself. The recollection of his holy, humble walk, of his work of faith, his labour of love, his cheerful submission to pain, his forgetfulness of self, and his zeal for the good of others, forms for you a source of comfort, which no human honour can equal, and no earthly possession rival. This is your real consolation, and to the convictions on which this rests, the opinion of the world can add nothing.

But though you do not look to such a memorial as this for the comfort that you need; I am willing to hope, that if it should be the means of doing good; if it should make the memory of him you loved, as beneficial as his example was, it may be acceptable. The great and the good live not for their own generation only, but for those that follow. They bequeath their characters to mankind; and it seems an act of justice to them to collect, and to offer to public notice, the record of efforts which may awaken the emulation, or strengthen the faith of others; and lead them to excellence by the knowledge of the victories achieved by those who went before them.

If it should please God, then, to make this imperfect notice of Sir Jahleel Brenton’s course useful to that service of which he was so bright an ornament while living; you will forgive the insufficiency of the representation which meets your eye; and I shall be thankful, if in paying this tribute of respect to the memory of a friend whom I revered and loved, I can communicate any of his feelings to that profession, to which the country owes so large a debt of gratitude.

Believe me to remain,

Most truly and faithfully your’s,

H. RAIKES.

Chester, Sept. 30th.

CONTENTS.

MEMOIR
OF
VICE ADMIRAL SIR JAHLEEL BRENTON, K. C. B.
BARONET.

It may appear presumptuous in one not connected with the naval service, to attempt the biography of an officer so distinguished as Sir Jahleel Brenton; and it may appear a graver, a less excusable offence, that one belonging to another profession, and that a profession, which requires the devotion of the whole mind to its own peculiar objects, should be undertaking an office so foreign from his usual employment and proper duties. I have, therefore, no hesitation in saying, that if Sir Jahleel Brenton had merely been the man, whom the world knew through the medium of gazettes, and the record of public services, and looked up to as a gallant and distinguished officer; whatever might have been my feelings towards him as a personal friend, whatever my admiration of him as a public character, I never should have undertaken the office, which I am now attempting to discharge. I must also add, that under other circumstances I must have shrunk from the duty, as involving enquiries which I had neither leisure nor means to prosecute; if its labours had not been so far anticipated by documents drawn up by his own hand, and left to his family; that little more seemed left to his biographer, than to arrange that which was already written; and to select out of a memorial designed for the benefit and instruction of his own children, those parts which might be offered to the public, without trespassing on the sacredness of a private, a domestic record.

I must again mention, that I was aware that even this portion of my duty was anticipated, and would be performed in my behalf by one, who, with a single exception, might be regarded as most identified in feelings, views, and mind, with the subject of the memoir.

The delicate and difficult task of selecting from a long and confidential memoir, written with all the fulness of a father’s heart, and intended to be perused as a sort of sacred record by his children; oftentimes too minute or too particular for publication; and still exhibiting in general so much of the character that it was desired to pourtray, that it was difficult to know how to resist insertion; this task was, I say, undertaken by another, who has discharged it with as much fidelity as discretion; and who left nothing to me, but to peruse and confirm that, which had been thus arranged and prepared for the press.

But even these advantages; assisted and increased as they are by the affectionate recollections of the members of his own family; while they promised to render the labour of the undertaking easy, would have been insufficient to determine me to attempt a work for which I was so incompetent, if I had proposed to offer to the public a memoir of the professional life, and of the naval achievements of the man whom it was impossible to know without honouring or loving him. But this seemed unnecessary to be done, and certainly was not to be done by me. His public services, both as a seaman and an officer, have been long known and fully appreciated by the public, and thus have had their appropriate record in the naval histories of the last war. His professional character still lives in the recollection of the service. It therefore is not necessary that naval events should be narrated here, which have been better told in other places; nor that exploits should be dwelt upon, which though they never can be heard without emotion, it may be sufficient for all present purposes to refer to, rather than to repeat.

I would, therefore, beg leave to state at once, that the only aim I venture to propose to myself, is one which differs essentially from that, which has been generally followed by the writers of similar memoirs.

I am not anxious to describe the subject of my narrative, in the form in which he was known and honoured by the world; but in that in which he was known to those who lived with him, and served with him; to his family and his friends; to the men who shared his hardships and dangers, as well as his successes and triumphs. I am not attempting to represent him as the man of courage, enterprise and decision, formed for the hour of peril and contest, fitted to lead and direct the energies of his service, and carrying every heart with him, from the enthusiasm which his example inspired; but I am desirous to shew that those qualities, for which the world would easily give him credit, were united with elements of which the world knew little, and perhaps thought less; but which had their effect in forming the general character of the man, and made him what he was in the different relations of life. I feel it due to him, and still more to those who may be profited by his example, to trace the peculiar qualities of his character to their source, and to shew the principles from which they flowed; so that if there be in his life any thing lovely and of good report; and this there is no one who ever knew him that can doubt; it may be referred to its proper cause, and be ascribed to that, which he himself knew, and felt to be the origin.

It will be my aim, therefore, in these pages, chiefly to dwell on those features of mind, which though seen by few and observed by few, gave to his whole character its peculiar dignity and grace. I shall endeavour to shew, that the courage and enterprise, the firmness and self-resource which rendered him while he lived the ornament of his profession, were accompanied by qualities, not generally found in combination with these, but which enhanced their value, and contributed to their excellence; with patience, with meekness, with the tenderest consideration for others, and the most unbounded benevolence. I wish to shew, that the brilliancy of his public life was equalled by the purity and correctness of his private life: that he was as amiable in every domestic relation, as he was admirable in all official duties: and still knew how to keep the warmth of his affections, in such subordination, that the call which summoned him from that home, where all his happiness was centered, was obeyed without a question or a doubt, whenever the interests of his country and the service required it. Above all, I wish to shew, that the secret, but the only cause of this unusual combination of qualities, not often found in his profession, and sometimes considered as incompatible with it; was that instinctive subjection of the heart to God, which growing as he grew, and gaining strength and expansion by the trials of his life, raised him from the state of a conscientious and upright man, to that of a mature and confirmed Christian; which sustained him under the various difficulties and burdens of his lot, by teaching him to look to God in all emergencies, and to cast himself on His mercy under every doubt; which finally regulated the enquiries which it prompted, and realizing the divine promises, “that the meek shall He guide in judgment,” “that God giveth grace to the humble,” brought him through all the conflict of religious opinions, to that simple child-like faith, which formed the substance of his happiness in life, as well as of his hope in decay.

The description of a character such as this, together with a narrative of the events under which it was formed and perfected, may, under God’s blessing, be made profitable to many; and as the circumstances of his story are such as must interest every reader, it is to be hoped that the memoir of such a man may be offered without presumption to the world at large, as including much that may be generally useful as well as amusing. But there is one class of readers to whose attention it may be more particularly recommended, and to whose improvement and welfare it is specifically dedicated. I mean the young aspirants to honour and distinction in the navy, the rising members of that profession, of which Sir Jahleel was so fine a specimen; and for whom he always felt and expressed so strong and so paternal an interest. I could wish, that they who are taught to emulate his character as an officer, and who are animated by hearing of the gallantry of his actions, should know more of the man whom they are led to admire, than can be learnt from gazettes or naval histories; and that they should be made acquainted with the real secret of the excellence which is held up to them as a model for imitation. I wish that they should know from his example, that the most brilliant courage, the greatest firmness in action, and the most perfect self-possession in the moment of danger, are not only compatible with deep religious impressions, and personal piety; but that they never can be looked for with so much confidence, nor will ever be found so largely developed, as when combined with these as the habitual principles of the life. And as example is generally more conclusive than theory, it seems expedient that they should above all others be reminded, that the man, who in his day, was the model of all we wish to imagine in a British officer, and a British seaman; the man whose daring courage made him at one time the chosen associate and friend of Sir Sidney Smith; who was afterwards selected by that acute and discriminating judge of character, Lord St. Vincent, out of the number of eminent and gallant officers around him; and appointed to situations which required all the combination of naval skill and firmness; was, and avowed himself to be, in the full sense of the word, a Christian; confessed Christ and His words in every situation, and under every circumstance with uncompromising firmness; and still maintained his profession of religion with such gentleness and dignity, that those who differed from him never failed to respect and to love him; and could not help venerating the man, even while they felt that his principles condemned their practice.

In this point, indeed, a memoir of Sir Jahleel Brenton seems an important opportunity for bringing the example of such a man before the younger members of his profession as a model for imitation; and an office which might have been urged upon me, as due to the memory of a deceased friend; and might still have been urged in vain, to one so occupied and pledged to other duties; may be viewed in a different way, when it is considered in reference to those who may be benefited by acquaintance with his character, and are not likely to know from other sources what were its peculiar and distinctive qualities.

The name and profession of the editor will, therefore, it is hoped preclude the possibility of disappointment to those, who having been attracted by the title of this memoir, may take up the volume as a subject of mere professional interest, a record of naval struggles or naval triumphs. The achievements of Sir Jahleel Brenton have been already appropriately recorded, and may be read elsewhere by those who wish to enquire into his services It is proposed to give to the public now, that which the public has not hitherto known, but which may be profitable to general readers; and which must be full of value to those of his own profession; the narrative of a life not unmarked with trial, not devoid of the interest arising from great dangers undergone, and great qualities of mind and heart evinced in meeting them; but exhibiting in the midst of these, and of other circumstances not less perplexing or less afflicting; that consistency of moral conduct, that steady persevering patience, that cheerful hope, and child-like submission to the will of God, and above all, that uniform and prevailing benevolence of spirit, which belong to the Christian character, and which flow from the one single principle of Christian faith. That the union of these qualities may be seen in many individuals at present in the royal navy, I am thankful to believe and know; but their occurrence is not so general as to render example useless; while we also know, that men are more easily led to imitate the practice of one, who has taken his place in the annals of his country, than that of contemporaries; and that no line of conduct can be so safely recommended for adoption, as that which has already won the esteem and admiration of the world. I trust, therefore, that the memoir of such an officer as Sir Jahleel Brenton may be no unacceptable offering to a service, which must ever be regarded with the deepest gratitude and interest, as the instrument of God’s protecting providence to this country, and as the means of enlarging its beneficial influence; and I hope that the hours, withdrawn from other duties and given to this, have been transferred rather than stolen, and transferred to purposes of wider usefulness and more extensive good, than those which belong to ordinary employment.

In my own profession, the biography of pious and devoted men has long been regarded as one of the most profitable lines of reading. It has been felt that the knowledge of truth is likely to be most effective when combined with its application, and exhibited in practice; and as example is generally admitted to be more powerful than precept, and men are more easily led to imitate than to obey; the memorials of those who have been eminent for zeal and holiness in the work of the ministry, have been multiplied largely of late years, and are recommended with confidence as among the most effectual means of raising the tone of feeling and determining the line of practice among the clergy. In this respect, every year adds to the resources of the church. Those who are removed from this field of labour testify to the living. One generation contributes the encouragement of its experience to the other; and each pious, faithful, and zealous minister, whose labour and self-devotion are commemorated in this way, leaves in the record of his example that which may strengthen the faith, or stimulate the energies of those who are to follow him.

But while the church as a profession, is receiving this increasing advantage, and sees its means of improvement enlarged by the recollections of those who are removed from their field of suffering or of labour; there is reason to presume that other professions are not equally benefited by the biographies of their distinguished members. They also have their memorials. The world is anxious to learn the particulars of their early life and education, as well as of their subsequent achievements; and those who are called to imitate their example or to rival their exertions, are naturally desirous to study the secret of their excellence in the causes which conduced to it. But in cases such as these, in the narratives of men who have been distinguished in the naval and military services, or even in the profession of law or medicine, it is natural that professional excellence should form the chief object of attention to those who write, as it is probable it will be the chief object of interest to those who read. The soldier and the sailor, the lawyer and the physician are described, rather than the man; and the qualities which raised the individual to distinction, are in these cases so separate from those, which formed his value as a man, that it is possible the latter may be wholly lost sight of, while every effort is being made to do justice to the former. There is danger, therefore, in all such memorials, that much that is great and good in the individual, may be merged in the merits of the officer, or in the brilliancy of the career pursued in practice; and that private excellence, that which constitutes the real foundation of the man’s value, and makes his life most profitable as an example, may be lost sight of, while justice is being done to that which only made him an ornament to his profession, or an instrument of national advancement.

In a clergyman on the contrary, the chief if not the only claim that he can possess on the recollection of others, the only sense in which his life can be held up as an example to those of his own profession, consists in his personal piety; in the remembrance of that eminence to which the grace of God had raised him, as a holy, humble-minded, faithful man; and that is, therefore, told of him, and that is dwelt upon in him, which it is most useful for other men to know, but which is equally and alike useful to all of every profession and of every rank. The world estimates its heroes by a different rule, and looks in consequence to qualities of a different kind. It dwells on that which is professional to the exclusion of that which is personal. It dwells on those things which catch the eye, and fill the ear, and arrest the imagination; while that which passes within, that which constitutes moral eminence, and which renders a man a model for a Christian to follow, is overlooked in the more exciting narrative of contests for distinction, as irrelevant to the character which is being exhibited; and thus, the benefit of example, in cases such as these, is lost to men, because men are more interested in results, than in causes; in the things that have been done, than in the principles of those who did them; and regard the subjects of biography as successful candidates for the world’s applause, rather than as models for private imitation.

It has also sometimes happened, that religious feelings, when strongly developed, have led a man to withdraw from the active duties of his profession, either in the army or navy; and have made his example less profitable to others, by making it less peculiar, less specific than it would have been, if he had continued where he was; and thus, these professions have lost a benefit, which seemed to be their right, by losing those individuals whose moral character would have reflected additional lustre on their public services. It is impossible, indeed, to deny that the first impulse of strong religious conviction, must lead a man to wish to withdraw from every thing that separates him from God; and to live to Him alone, whom he has now found to be alone worth living for. It is equally certain, that the fear of falling back, the dread of being entangled again in sins, which the soul has learnt to hate, may reasonably lead a man to fly from associations, which he knows from experience to be dangerous; and to endeavour to secure his own weakness by saving it from exposure. Excellent men are continually found arguing and acting in this manner; and where the grounds are so reasonable, and the object at stake of such incalculable importance, it is not easy to resist or to controvert their plea. But if some feel it necessary to quit the field, and to withdraw from a contest they are unfit to meet, or in which they see reason to distrust their means of standing firm; the greater must be our gratitude for those who venture to remain, and who dare to be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. The testimony that they then bear, is one of peculiar value; and we may venture to hope, that where the danger is considered before it is braved, and man only exposes himself from the conviction of duty, and under the confidence of support from heaven, he will not be allowed to fail. As his days are, so shall his strength be; and we may trust that God, who sees the principle on which the man continues at the post of danger, will not forsake His faithful sentinel, but will make His grace sufficient for his trial, and cause his own strength to be perfected in the weakness of His servant.

On this principle we cannot doubt, that the determination to which Colonel Gardiner came, and in which he was encouraged by the excellent Doddridge, to continue in his original calling, and not to quit the army when he came under deep convictions of religion, has rendered him a far greater blessing to the world, than he could have been, had he yielded to his first impressions, and left the service. His memoir would in that case have remained a record of the unspeakable goodness of God. He might have edified the world by the piety of his life, and he might have been named to succeeding generations as a monument of Divine Grace, rescuing man from the bondage of sin, and plucking him like a brand out of the fire. But the memoir, as it now stands, is rendered still more valuable by the testimony of his later life, and by the evidence it contains to that faith by which he lived; and the power of the grace of God is manifested more signally in upholding him amidst the opposition which he at one time thought himself incapable of meeting, than in enabling him to fly from it at first. Whatever might have been thought then of Colonel Gardiner’s determination at the time, there can be no doubt, that Christ was more nobly confessed in the midst of a sinful and adulterous generation, than He could have been in the retirement of religious life; and that the doctrine of the gospel was more visibly adorned by the example of one, who lived in the world without belonging to the world, than it could have been by the piety which withdrew its subject from general observation, and led him to seek security by withdrawing from the scene of temptation. But it is obvious that the value of such memoirs is enhanced by their rarity. Probably from the causes which have been enumerated, the narratives which exhibit the moral and religious character of men belonging to the army or navy are comparatively few; and those professions in consequence lack the benefit, which example and experience offer in other cases.

But the loss is not confined to them. There are reasons why it may be regarded as a general, a public loss; and why all may have cause to regret that which seems to be a professional want. Whether it be that the character of these two professions, whether it be that the familiarity with danger, the necessity for energetic action and quick decision, carries into the religion they profess, something of its own nature, and leaves its own particular stamp and impress on its qualities; it seems admitted, that the men who have been called by the grace of God to a profession of religion, under such circumstances, have been, generally speaking, marked and decided Christians. It was a centurion of the Roman army to whom Christ bore that noble testimony, that He had not found so great faith, no not in Israel; and we may reasonably think that that power of grace which sets the soul at liberty in cases such as his, and enables it to break the ties by which it has been bound, may go on and carry it to higher attainments than are accessible to other men. But it may be also confidently asserted, that if the testimony which is there borne to truth, is not more clear and decided than in common instances, it is more unquestioned and more unquestionable. The statement that comes from one, born and bred under the influence of religion, is always liable to suspicion. It probably may bear upon its surface some traces of the work of man, in the tone which education has given to the habits of the mind, to the language and opinions; and in that respect, it may seem to want the simplicity which belongs to the works of God, and which shews the source from which the impressions spring. But let the tone of religion be what it may, it carries a sort of professional stamp upon it, and is less appreciated than it ought to be, whenever men think that it is the effect of circumstances, the result of care, and that it could not have been otherwise. On the other hand, whenever it happens that conviction is effected under different circumstances, when religion is found growing where it was least expected, and where it is obvious that there was nothing to favour or encourage it; when it is found taking its stand in the midst of opposition and rebuke; overcoming the world by a power which is not of the world, and which the world cannot understand; and enabling a man to resist the persecution of which the world is most sensitive, the persecution of ridicule and contempt, exercised by associates or superiors, and applied with little consideration or regard for feeling; when this is seen to be the case, then we cannot be surprised, if the world is convinced that an influence more than human is at work; while it sees that done, which seems to be impossible to man; and men are compelled to feel that it is the power of God by which the change is effected, while they see a change accomplished, which to them, and according to their own views and feelings, is nothing less than miraculous. The unwillingness of the heart to admit a truth which involves its own condemnation, will naturally induce men to suppress the acknowledgement of what they feel on such occasions. But the conviction may be deep, though no confession follows. The testimony which is borne to truth under circumstances such as these, will possess an authority and weight which nothing else can give, from a sacred and unuttered reverence of the power that has produced it; and the results may be perceived at distant times and in distant places, when the facts had been forgotten by all, except the persons who had appeared at first most opposed or most indifferent.

But beyond these reasons, which may shew the value of the memoirs of men belonging to the naval and military professions, it cannot be denied that the situations in which such men are placed, and those qualities which may be called their professional qualities, must add an interest to the narrative; and make their examples more profitable, in proportion as their lives have been more interesting. The narrative of hardships endured, of dangers braved, has always been one of the most legitimate sources of delight. The description of man rising superior to the fear which overcomes and subjugates others; daring things, from which other men shrink; and making a way through difficulties which seemed insuperable; has ever possessed a charm which no other narrative could rival; and while human nature remains what it is, and the world is constituted as it is, the qualities of courage, energy, and activity, will give an interest to the character with general readers, which the higher graces of humility, patience, and love might be incapable of imparting. But as it is important that truth should be presented in the form most likely to secure its acceptance, no opportunity should be lost which offers religion to the eyes of the world in the history of those, whom it respects and admires for excellencies of another kind; and whenever religion is combined with these, it is little less than an absolute duty to give publicity to the character, and to admit the world to benefit by the example.

Whatever then be the quality which excites admiration, whether it be professional talent, or intellectual superiority; or whether it be simply that energy of mind which enables man to overcome difficulties and to struggle through trials; the certainty that the exhibition of such a character will be read with interest, makes it valuable as a vehicle for truth; and renders it desirable that such a vehicle should be improved. But we must also feel that of all the various qualities which have this effect, and which may in consequence be turned to such a purpose, there is hardly one which arrests attention so generally, and carries so much interest with it to common readers, as boldness or contempt of danger. All men cannot appreciate the higher qualities of mind, the powers of reasoning or imagination, which lead to literary or political eminence; but all seem capable of understanding the value of that sort of firmness which enables man to bear hardships, or to rise superior to fear. It thus has happened, that in all works of fiction, courage has been the principal feature of the character held up to admiration, and cowardice has always been regarded as the reverse; while we know that in real life, no narratives have been so acceptable to general readers, as those which described dangers and hardships met and overcome by the firmness and energy of those, who were exposed to them.

There need therefore be no hesitation in saying, that as every thing which raises man above the weaknesses of his nature, adds dignity to his character; the contempt of danger must always entitle him to respect; and this feeling which adds a sort of grandeur to the bad, gives a sort of heroic magnificence to the good.

But while we believe that this admiration of courage is inherent in our very nature, and is felt even by those who are unwilling to confess it; we cannot be surprised if the admiration which is due to courage, comes gradually to be limited to such courage as a Christian is capable of exercising. The boldness which shuts its eye on danger, and rushes on destruction, may astonish, but it cannot continue to interest the mind, because it does not satisfy the reason. Men gradually cool on their impressions, and begin to calculate instead of wondering. They examine the principle of the action which is set before them. They compare the risk run with the advantage to be gained; and if they find the risk infinitely exceeding the value of the prize, or perceive that it was braved under the mere impulse of passion, in defiance of reason rather than in subordination to reason; they learn to separate the courage of the animal from that of the man, and expect that the boldness of the latter should be regulated by that which is the glory of his nature; and that even his daring should be reasonable in order that it should be honoured. In this way the world distinguishes the frenzy of the drunkard, or that recklessness of life which is found in the infuriated savage, from the well ordered deliberate firmness, with which a disciplined mind meets every emergency of trial; and refuses the very name of courage to the madness, which rushes on death, from the mere impulse of excited passion.

But under circumstances which seem more favourable; after the first comparison has been made between the object sought and the danger run; and there has been found reason enough to justify the exposure according to the world’s principles; another comparison is apt to follow, which is conducted on Christian principles, and subjects courage, or contempt of death, to a different analysis. To a Christian mind death is invariably connected with the judgment that is to follow. Viewed as the end of the present state of being, it is necessarily considered as the entrance to that which must succeed it; and an event which puts a close to the concerns of time, carries the mind, by an inference which cannot be resisted, to the contemplation of eternity. But he, who has allowed his imagination to dwell on the secrets of that unexplored abyss, which commences when life ceases; and has weighed calmly and deliberately the value of things that are infinite and eternal; turns back to life with a conviction which cannot be uttered of the vanity and nothingness of temporal objects, when once compared with those which are to come hereafter. To him, the eagerness with which the world is pursuing the various prizes of gain, honour, pleasure, wealth, seems nothing less than madness; and all that is called good, and all that is called evil among men, will shrink into nothing, in comparison with the good and evil with which he has been conversant in meditating on the prospects of eternity.

To such a man, death appears in a very different character from that in which it is viewed by the savage, or by man, when his moral state resembles that of the savage. Death thenceforth may be braved, but it cannot be despised. At the call of duty it will be met without hesitation; but it will not be met with indifference or carelessness. The man who meets it will know what cause there is to fear it; though he may be able to rise above the sense of fear, and despise it. But the victory which he thus gains over fear, the principle by which he overcomes the terrors with which he has become acquainted, must be the result of very different elements from those which he acted on before; and must be formed in a very different manner from that which constituted courage in a less enlightened state of mind.

Now, that there are means of doing this; that the gospel offers to man, what may be called the whole armour of God; that the power of meeting and overcoming him, who is called the King of Terrors, may be possessed, and has been, and is continually exercised by those who seem the weakest of our race, is happily a subject of such general notoriety, that it does not require a proof or explanation. But till this power is acquired; until these means of victory are possessed; the contingency, the inevitable contingency, in every case where life is risked, involves such awful consequences; that the mind may be justified in shrinking from the prospect of danger, where the loss of life must be followed by the destruction of the soul; and even the narrative of perils becomes too painful to be a source of pleasure to the reader. Courage under such circumstances may be an object of wonder, but it cannot be a legitimate object of admiration; and the reader must shudder while contemplating results, on which men rushed without thought or preparation; and dangers, which were boldly braved, merely because they were not understood.

The impression made is widely different, when self-possession and calmness in the midst of danger, are regarded as the effects of faith; and man is seen rising superior to the fear of death, because he feels that he is raised above its power. This is Christian heroism; and compared with this, all other heroism sinks into feelings which cannot be reconciled with reason, or be recommended for imitation.

I admit that it may be thought the interest of States to encourage and foment a courage of another and a lower kind, even that animal courage which rushes upon danger without consideration, and shuts its eyes on the real nature of the evil that is braved. The pride of men may be gratified by the imagination of superiority above other men, which this indifference to danger gives them; or by the distinctions to which it leads; and the world may concur in admiring that which feeds or flatters the imagination. But reason, sooner or later, must be heard; and reason will gradually make itself heard, in a voice which cannot be resisted; and reason must refuse its sanction to a judgment which teaches men to throw away eternity for a temporal advantage; and encourages the exposure of the soul to consequences, the amount of which cannot be calculated.

And yet, let it not be supposed, that courage loses its real character, because the occasion for its display is mistaken by the world at large; or that the effect of religion is to make men cowards. So far from this being the case, courage, even courage of the highest kind, is not only indirectly inculcated, but is absolutely commanded in the gospel; commanded by Him whose word is truth, and who alone can enable his servants to do that, which He in His wisdom sees fit to command. The only difference is, that the courage which the gospel teaches is reasonable in its exercise; a courage, which has reason on its side, and aims at nothing which cannot be justified; which only despises death, because it has seen that death need not be feared; and only defies suffering, from the conviction that it is to be borne as submission to the will of God.

Acting under these principles the Christian hears his blessed Master say, “Fear not them who can kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do;” and feels his heart respond to the exhortation. He reads the experience of the Psalmist, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me;” and he rejoices to think, that he can anticipate the same support in corresponding circumstances. He hears the apostle say, “Add to your faith, courage;” and the faith by which he walks, and by which he overcomes the world, raises him above the power of the world’s disturbances: and thus, in those things which are, and must be the causes of alarm and terror to men in general, he feels himself a conqueror, and more than a conqueror, through Him that loved him. With him then it is no struggle to rise superior to the fear of death, for it is habitual to him to despise it. The sting is taken out, its terrors are gone; and Christ, who commands him not to fear death, has delivered him from its power.

If the Christian, therefore, is not only encouraged against fear, but is actually commanded not to fear; if he is taught to regard courage as a duty; and to glorify the Master whom he serves, by the firmness with which he overcomes that, from which other men are shrinking; we see that it is not without reason that he is daring; and that he is bold in the midst of danger, only because he is superior to it.

High as the standard is, which the gospel proposes; and much as it exceeds all the bearings of the mind in general, it is as reasonable as it is lofty. The grounds on which the duty is enforced are unquestionable and undeniable; and man cannot dare too much when he only dares according to this direction.

One great advantage therefore with biographies like the present, consists in the exhibition which they offer of courage, based on Christian principles, and regulated by Christian feeling; and there are special reasons why this connexion between courage and Christian principle should be traced and noticed. It is hardly possible to doubt, that the first effect of religious impressions on a mind previously untouched and unenlightened, will be to awaken such a sense of the importance of things spiritual and eternal, as will overpower all other feelings, and overwhelm the mind with the discoveries which have been made. The soul then, for the first time perhaps, becomes an object of anxiety to the man, who previously had never given it a serious thought. The vague inexplicable fear of death, of which he had been always conscious, grows then into a firm and settled conviction, that of all objects, death is the most tremendous; since it is obvious that its consequences may be the most awful. He feels that with such a subject it is madness to trifle, and folly to be indifferent. His former carelessness is regarded with wonder and astonishment; and the mind is lost and bewildered in endeavouring to comprehend the truths which have thus suddenly burst upon it, and which seem too tremendous to be contemplated.

In fact, such is the character of those truths which religion includes, and which, on such an occasion, we suppose to be suddenly and powerfully revealed, that it would seem probable that the equilibrium of the mind should be disturbed by their discovery; and that every consideration should be lost sight of, in comparison with the one great question, “What shall I do to be saved.” That such should be the effect seems natural, reasonable, and probable; and if it did not generally happen, that a fresh and livelier sense of duty is awakened at the same moment, when these impressions are produced; and that conscience becomes more active, as a sense of responsibility is formed; it might have seemed inevitable, that the first burst of religious feeling should weaken and unnerve the man, and lead him to fly from an exposure which he had learnt to fear, without consideration of the consequences that might follow. Whatever may be the causes which regulate the first impulse of these religious feelings, it is satisfactory to know from experience, that this excessive and violent action is seldom exhibited. The moral character is generally strengthened in proportion as the conscience is awakened; and the faith is strengthened, and the man gains firmness in the perception of every relative duty, in the same degree in which he is brought under the influence of religion. To this it must also be added, that the impressions which the gospel forms, are not those of fear alone, even when the conscience is most strongly touched; and that terror, in a Christian’s view, is never so entirely separated from hope, as to justify any desperate or violent departures from ordinary practice. “We have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but we have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba Father:” and this, which forms the comfort of the advanced Christian, is not without its effect in mitigating the first agonies of conviction in the convert. Duties are recognized, while every thing else is forgotten; and men feel that whatever may be their anxiety about their souls, their salvation will not be forwarded by the neglect of that which they see and know they ought to do.

There is in truth a sort of general conviction in men, that if religion merely taught them what they had to fear, and did not combine with that the knowledge of what they have to hope; if it awakened us to a sense of our responsibility, without shewing how the claims of that responsibility had been met, it would have been a gift of very questionable value; for in that case it would have darkened all the present scene of trial, without shewing an horizon on which a better light was falling. It thus happens, that though the effect of first impressions may be to awaken fear; the effect which follows, when these impressions are retained and improved, is to relieve or remove fear; and every subsequent advance in knowledge, has a direct tendency to cast out fear, to substitute love as the principle of action, and to make hope the character of the mind, until hope rises to the very level of assurance.

Those therefore, who think that religion is likely to unnerve the man, and to unfit him for the hour of danger, by making him aware of the reason there is for fearing death: betray their ignorance of the subject; and shew how little they are acquainted with the principle they are traducing. All men know enough to make them afraid of death. Independent of any sufferings which the body may undergo, there is a shrinking from extinction, which belongs to our very nature; and is found acting with almost equal influence in every member of the human race; except in the few and rare cases where man has sunk himself to the level of the brute; and thus it is evident that man needs not the light which religion gives, in order to fly from that which human nature dreads. But this feeling, the fear of death, which religion does not create, she can regulate, control, and conquer; and while all men in their hearts feel the fear of death, and are obliged to close their eyes against their own convictions, or to harden their hearts by habitual submission to other principles, while pretending to despise it; the Christian alone is capable of looking forward to death with calmness, and of exercising a deliberate and rational contempt of it.

So long then as the present state of things exists; so long as the blessings of peace are to be preserved by war; and the security and the comforts of the many are to be purchased by the exposure of the few; there must be professions where the call of duty may imply the risk of life, and where courage must be the character of the men who belong to them. Courage will then become a duty; and men must be found by whom death shall be braved without hesitation, whenever the interests of the service require it.

But a Christian community, while it admits this painful necessity, and tracing the origin of wars and fightings to the lusts which war in our members, sees in them the marks of the universal corruption of our nature; and looks on war as the disgrace rather than the glory of man; must still feel anxious, that the courage which it cherishes and honours as the means of national security, should be the courage formed on those bright and lofty principles, which shall discharge its duty to the public most effectually, without any unjustifiable risk to the individual. There is an obvious necessity that the public peace should be protected; but there still may be a question, whether this protection may not be too dearly purchased; if a limited measure of temporal advantages were to occasion the loss of an eternity of happiness to those by whom it is preserved.

It is surely no idle refinement, no morbid spirit of argument, which compares an infinite loss occurring to an individual, with a definite and limited loss occasioned to the community of which he forms a part. Men have not hesitated to say, that the security of property would be purchased at a price too dear, if it was to be maintained by capital punishment; and if political wisdom condescends to note the value of an individual life, can it, with any consistency, deny the value of an individual soul?

A Christian community is, therefore, not only justified in taking every measure, which may raise the moral character of those employed in its defence, and may make them bold and courageous upon principle; but it is also bound to use every means which may render those whom it exposes, as superior to the power of death, as they are, or endeavour to be, to its terrors.

It is easy to state the almost insuperable difficulties which here at once present themselves. The habits of life, which have rendered the military and naval professions proverbial, and which seem inseparable from their position in society; the withdrawal from domestic ties, and from all the usual restraints of the tendencies of men; these may be named at once, as rendering the attempt at such a moral improvement chimerical; and these will long continue to render its accomplishment difficult. In the meantime the world at large, either indifferent to the consequences, or despairing of a cure, have found it a much cheaper, and a much more compendious way, to teach their defenders to forget death, than to endeavour to prepare them to despise it; and lamentable as it is to say, grave men, and men who were thought wise men, have argued as if it was necessary that men should be immoral in order that they might be brave; and have tried to shew that it was expedient that thousands should be eternally miserable, in order that some temporary advantage might be achieved by their exertions.

But the difficulty of a work does not imply that it is impracticable. Something may be done, if all cannot be accomplished: and wherever any great and undeniable evil exists in society, it is so obviously the will of God, that it should be abated or removed; that man ought to think of nothing, but the means of attempting that, which he may leave to the power of God to perform.

It is therefore manifestly expedient that men engaged in those professions, where life is of necessity most exposed, should be prepared to meet death with firmness. The world has its nostrums for effecting this object, and these it is always ready to supply. It has a sense of honour for the high-minded and noble. It has levity and carelessness for the unthinking. It has brutish indifference for the multitude. With one or other of these, it drugs the men, who are to be the protectors of their country’s welfare; and sends them forth to danger, like those who are blinded and intoxicated. We admit the efficacy of the means, but we are compelled to feel that the remedy is worse than the disease: and we dare not purchase courage for our soldiers and sailors, at a price which compromises all the highest hopes of man.

Without dwelling at present on other resources for accomplishing this important end; on resources, which might be made to act directly on the habits of these professions; it seems that example might in some respect be more beneficial than precept; and that the narrative of one, who exhibited, in his public life and conduct the model of what a British officer should be, while he was, at the same time, in the full sense of the word, a Christian; of one, who might have been described through life as “sans peur et sans reproche;” and who became the ornament of his service, while living in close communion with his God; might be useful to others, as shewing that religious principles and professional excellence are not incompatible; and might encourage the young to pursue a course which should make them all that their profession implies, and all that their country can require, without forfeiting that inward peace, and that future hope, which belong to the true Christian, and make up the sum of his privileges, as well as the substance of his character.

To those who knew Sir Jahleel Brenton, or who can now recall the singular combination of qualities which formed his character; qualities which impressed respect while they conciliated the affection of every one around him; it is unnecessary to dwell upon features not likely to be forgotten. But it still may be useful to remind others, and especially those who may be tempted, in running over the following pages, to smile at the tone in which this great and good man speaks, when occupied with questions of a religious nature; that there have been few men, whom an Englishman would have been more desirous, on any occasion of importance, to put forward, as the representative of his country, than the subject of this memoir. The description which the great historian of Rome applied to the man whose merits he has immortalized by his biography, might have been with equal justice applied to him, “Bonum virum facile crederes, magnum libenter.” Goodness seemed to belong to him; and it sate so easily on him, that it coloured every word, and look, and gesture. No one ever met him, without feeling convinced that the qualities which conciliated and pleased, were in his case not the incidental expression of a courtesy assumed to serve a particular purpose; but that they were qualities on which dependence might be placed, as exhibiting the real feelings of the man; dignified, and yet kind; indulgent to others, and yet firm in principle; as playful in the hour of repose, as decided and energetic in the time of peril. Carrying with him, in the stores of a well disciplined mind, and a refined taste, ample resources for profitable conversation, he was fitted to take his place in any form of society, and would have done justice to any situation to which his country could have called him; while his country might also have felt, that the man selected to represent her character, and to maintain her claims, would have also been what few could be; would have been the Christian representative of a Christian people; and would have shewn the lustre which consistent religion spreads over that which is admirable in man, by the effect produced on his own life and conversation.

To prolong the memory of such a man seems nothing less than a duty. To extend the knowledge of his excellence; and before that knowledge is effaced by the competition of other claimants for distinction, to shew the secret springs of the excellence which is admired; to trace to its real source, all that in him was distinctive and peculiar; to shew that it was to the grace of God, and to that alone, he owed the combination of qualities so rarely met with as united, and so much heightened in value by combination; to encourage imitation by example; and to hold up to the future defenders of our country, one, whom they may be proud to follow in the course of service, and whom it will be their happiness to imitate in private life; this seems a debt, which every one who feels the blessings of security he owes to their exertions, and who glories in his country’s honour, should endeavour to discharge.

Conscious of my own inadequacy for the office, which I am describing, I am still sustained by the hope that the reader will afterwards learn what the writer cannot teach; that inferences will be drawn, and conclusions formed from the narrative, which shall realize the purpose with which it has been undertaken; and that the familiar acquaintance that may be gained by admission to the private thoughts and feelings of so good and great a man as Sir Jahleel Brenton, may lead many a mind to adopt the sentiments which are here recorded, and that many a high-spirited and gallant youth may be induced by his example to follow the steps of one who never forgot his God, while engaged in his country’s service; and was as faithful to his Saviour as he was obedient to the call of duty.

CHAPTER I.

SETTLEMENT OF THE BRENTON FAMILY IN AMERICA,—AND DESCENT.—BIRTH OF THE SUBJECT OF THE MEMOIR.—BREAKING OUT OF THE WAR AND REMOVAL TO ENGLAND.—EDUCATION AND INTRODUCTION TO NAVAL SERVICE, IN THE DIDO.—PASSES FOR LIEUTENANT, AND ACCEPTS AN INVITATION TO SERVE IN THE SWEDISH FLEET.—ADVENTURES ON WAY TO JOIN, AND CONCLUSION OF SERVICE.—APPOINTED AS LIEUTENANT TO THE ASSURANCE.—TRANSFERRED TO THE SPEEDY, AND SENT ON COMMAND OF THE TREPASSEY TO NEWFOUNDLAND.—RETURN TO ENGLAND AND APPOINTED TO THE SYBIL.—VOYAGE HOMEWARDS IN THE CLEOPATRA, AND IN A SPANISH MAN OF WAR FROM CADIZ.

Sir Jahleel Brenton was the eldest son of Rear Admiral Brenton, a native of Rhode Island. The family appear to have emigrated to America in the early part of the reign of Charles the First, probably from apprehension of the coming troubles of the times. William Brenton, who settled as a merchant at Boston, in Massachusets, about the year 1634, came from Hammersmith, in England. He must have been a person of some wealth and consideration, as he became a freeman, and a select man of the Colony, the same year; and in the following year, 1635, was chosen a deputy of the general court. He afterwards removed to Rhode Island, and then returned to England, from whence he finally removed from Hammersmith, with his whole family, consisting of three sons, Jahleel, William, and John, and settled at Newport, in Rhode Island. In 1663 he became Deputy Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island, and Providence Plantations in New England, under the charter granted to that Colony by Charles the Second, in the fourteenth year of his reign. In 1667-8 he became Governor of the Colony, and died in the year 1674.

Jahleel, his eldest son, resided in Newport, Rhode Island. A great part of his father’s property was bequeathed to him; and in the year 1691 he was appointed by commission, in the second year of William and Mary, Collector, Surveyor, and Searcher of the Customs within the Colonies of New England.

William, the second son, great grandfather to the subject of the present memoir, took up his residence either at Taunton in Massachusets, or at Bristol in Rhode Island, though some doubts exist as to which of these places became his home. He married Martha Church, by whom he had three sons, Jahleel (grandfather to the Baronet), Ebenezer, and Benjamin.

Of John Brenton, the third son of William, nothing farther is known except that he went to a settlement called Bellevoir, in New England; and was not afterwards heard of.

Jahleel, the collector, died at Newport unmarried, about the year 1732, and bequeathed the greater part of his large estates in New England to his nephew Jahleel, who had married in the year 1714-15, Frances, daughter of Samuel Cranstoun, who was Governor of the Colony, and who died in 1727, aged 68 years. He was the son of John Cranstoun, the former Governor of the Colony, who was lineally descended from the Scottish Baron, James Lord Cranstoun, as appears by the inscription on his tombstone in the churchyard at Newport, in Rhode Island.

Of the brothers of this Jahleel, Ebenezer and Benjamin, nothing has been recorded, though Jahleel, the Collector above-mentioned, made several bequests to them. Where they resided, or whether they left any descendants does not appear. Jahleel, the grandfather of the Baronet, had by his first wife, Frances Cranstoun, fifteen children—eight sons and seven daughters. Jahleel, his fourth son, the father of our present subject, was born October 22nd, (O.S.) 1729, died 29th January, 1802. He married in December 29th, 1765, Henrietta Cowley, daughter and coheiress of Joseph Cowley, Esq. formerly of Worcestershire, in England, and Penelope his wife, who was the daughter of —— Pelham of Laughton, Esq.; whose ancestors had removed to Rhode Island during the civil wars in the reign of Charles the First.

Jahleel, the subject of this memoir, and the eldest son of Jahleel and Henrietta, was born the 22nd of August, 1770. There were besides four sons and five daughters; of the latter, all are still living; of the former two died in their infancy; the other two, with their eldest brother, followed the profession of their father, who had very early in life entered the British Navy. Edward Pelham was born the 29th of July, 1774. Of his active and useful life a sketch has already been given to the public, from the pen of his affectionate surviving brother. James Wallis lived to be a Lieutenant in the British Navy, and was killed in action when First Lieutenant of H.M.S. Peterel, in the command of a boat expedition in chase of an enemy’s vessel near Barcelona.

The seven elder children, were born in America, on the patrimonial property at Rhode Island; but the circumstance that the father of Sir Jahleel belonged to the service of Great Britain obliged him to relinquish his home, and the place of his nativity, at the time of the civil war, which ended in the separation of the colonies from the mother country. Urgent entreaties were used on the part of the Americans to induce Mr. Brenton to join their cause. He was even offered the highest naval rank which the Republic could bestow; though he was at that time only a Lieutenant in His Majesty’s service; but that inflexible loyalty, which was always a strong feature in his character, rendered him alike insensible to bribery and persecution. That he might take an active part in the cause of his king, he was obliged to escape clandestinely from Rhode Island, where he left his wife and infant family, exposed to considerable hardships and difficulties; from which they were however soon happily relieved by the efforts of the British cruisers stationed on the coast.

The whole family were removed to England in the year 1780, when the young Jahleel was placed in a school at Enfield, in Middlesex. In the year 1781 he embarked as a Midshipman in the Queen, armed ship, commanded by his father, who had been promoted to the rank of Commander; and whom he shortly after followed into the Termagant, then a post ship; from which it may be reasonably inferred that the additional rank of Post Captain had been bestowed upon this loyal subject as soon as possible.

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.”

From this time there was no active service, peace being proclaimed in a few weeks. His Swedish Majesty invited the British officers to continue in his service; but as there was every probability of Great Britain being involved in a war with Spain at that period, Mr. Brenton preferred returning to England. Of this time he has also left a record. He says, “In the month of August the peace was proclaimed at Kymena. The king assembled the British officers on board his yacht, and addressed them in the most flattering manner; telling them that he was well assured how greatly they would have distinguished themselves had an opportunity offered; and that if they would remain in his service he would insure their advancement. Four out of the eight accepted his offer; but three besides myself declared our intentions of returning to England, and expressed our anxiety to have means provided for our return as soon as possible; as we had every reason to believe that our country was upon the eve of a war. The Spanish armament having taken place, the king recommended us to the care of the Commander of the Galley fleet, with directions that we should be immediately paid, and have a conveyance to such place as might enable us to procure a passage to England.

“His Majesty had no sooner gone than the British officers were embarked in a galley, with orders to proceed to Helsingfors, the great naval seaport in the gulf of Finland, where we were told we should receive our pay. On entering the bay, the galley hauled into the rocks; and having landed the Englishmen upon them, proceeded in execution of other orders, leaving us to get to Helsingfors as we best could.

“On reaching the town, we were told by the authorities that no order had been received for our payment, but that we must proceed to Stockholm, a journey of many miles, besides having to cross the gulf of Bothnia. One of our party having a sum of money in hand, generously assisted us; we must otherwise have been greatly delayed. We set out from Helsingfors through Finland, in the common cart of the country, which consists merely of a pair of wheels, and two small spars lashed to the axletree, forming the shafts, and at the same time the only body of the carriage; upon these the chest and cot of the travellers were secured, making a very comfortable seat. We took our provisions for the journey, which consisted of hard bread, a ham, and a bottle of spirits. We could depend upon no supply on the road except a few eggs.

“In this manner we began our journey through Finland, not knowing a word of the language: we at length reached Abo, and procured an open boat to cross the gulf of Bothnia. The weather had become very tempestuous, and we were obliged to take shelter for a day or two on a small island in the gulf.

“At length we reached Gustihamnan, and from thence proceeded to Stockholm. Here we were obliged to wait for some days; the Swedish ambassador in England, it was said, had sent no account of the terms on which the British officers had been engaged. It was at length determined to give them a sum on account, leaving the ambassador in England to make a final settlement. The sum was twenty pounds to each; but one half of this was given in a bill on Copenhagen, done evidently with a view of getting the Englishmen out of the country as soon as possible, lest they might appeal to the king. We accordingly sailed for Copenhagen in an English merchant ship, landed at Elsineur, and had to proceed from thence to Copenhagen, where we remained a week, and left it at that time with but little more of the twenty pounds than would enable us to pay our passage to England, where we arrived about the middle of November.

“By this time the Ambassador was changed, and his successor pleaded ignorance of our concerns; nor was it till the year 1796 that any settlement was made. This only amounted to twelve pounds, making in all thirty-two pounds to each officer, instead of more than seventy-two pounds which had been promised.”

On the 22nd of this month, Mr. Brenton was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in the British Navy, through the interest of Lord Hood. Of this period he speaks thus:—“My first appointment of Lieutenant was second of the ‘Assurance,’ a troop ship, ordered to take troops to Halifax, a station of all others I should have chosen, having numerous friends and relations at that place; but particularly, from having formed an early attachment there. I was, however, destined not to perform this voyage, nor to see the object of my affections for the next ten years. I had been sent on shore at Rochester, in the pursuit of some deserters from my ship, when I was surrounded by a mob, and arrested by the civil power, on a charge of impressing within the limits of the city of Rochester. The Mayor, upon this vague charge, and without taking any evidence in support of it, committed me and four midshipmen to Bridewell. It was pointed out to the Mayor that an infuriated mob was waiting at the door, with the intention of attacking the officers on their way to prison; regardless of the warning, he sent us under a few constables. I was immediately knocked down, dragged through the streets, and narrowly escaped with life, losing nearly all my clothes. We were liberated the next morning, and a representation having been made at the Admiralty, their Solicitor was ordered to enter a prosecution against the Mayor of Rochester; and I was superseded from the Assurance, and appointed second of the Speedy Sloop of fourteen guns, on the home station, that I might be at hand to attend the trial. This did not take place till many months afterwards, when it came on at Maidstone. The Mayor suffered judgment to go against him by default, and in consequence paid the penalty of seven hundred and fifty pounds, which sum no doubt was supplied by the corporation. I continued for some time second of the Speedy, and was at length made first Lieutenant. I was generally kept in the command of the boats cruizing after smugglers. The Speedy was paid off in the autumn of 1791.”

Having remained from this period till the summer of 1792 upon half-pay, Mr. Brenton was then appointed to command the Trepassey, a small cutter at Newfoundland. The only personal recollections which have been found of Newfoundland, are contained in the following anecdote.—“In an excursion made in the winter of 1792-3, from St. John’s to the Bay of Bulls, Captain, the late General, Skinner forming one of our party, we had, on our return, to cross a large lake over the ice, some miles in extent. When about the middle, Captain Skinner informed me that he had long been severely pinched by the cold, and found an irresistible drowsy fit coming on. I urged him to exertion, representing the fatal consequences of giving way to this feeling, and pointing out the state in which his wife and family would be found, should the party arrive at St. John’s without him. These thoughts roused him to exertion for some time; but when we had reached the margin of the lake, he gave way, and declared he was utterly unable to struggle farther, delivering at the same time what he considered his dying message to his family. As there were some bushes near the spot, I broke off a branch, and began to thrash my fellow-traveller with it; at first without much apparent effect, but at length I was delighted to find that my patient winced under my blows, and at length grew angry. I continued the application of the stick, until he made an effort to get up and retaliate. He was soon relieved from the torpor; and as we were now but a few miles from St. John’s, I pushed on before the party, leaving the captain under their especial care. I left also the stick, with strong injunctions that it should be smartly applied in the event of the drowsiness returning. I soon reached the town, and having had some warm porter with spice prepared against the arrival of my friends; with this and considerable friction he was enabled to proceed home, where he arrived perfectly recovered. He himself related the story at the Earl of St. Vincent’s table at Gibraltar, many years afterwards; expressing, at the same time, much gratitude for the beating he had received.”

In the early part of 1794 Mr. Brenton returned to England, and was appointed second of the Sybil, of twenty-eight guns, in which situation he remained for a few months and then became first lieutenant of that ship; but with regard to the intermediate steps, by which he rose to this command, his own pen must supply the narrative. He says, “I was appointed, in the summer of 1792, to the command of the Trepassey cutter, at Newfoundland, a very small vessel, and facetiously termed by naval men, a machine for making officers. There were two cutters built, it might be said for this very purpose, on an understanding that a lieutenant should be made into each, every year; one from Admiralty patronage, and the other by the commander in chief for the time being. The first two were Lieutenants Rowley and Halket; the next pair Caithen and Gilbert; then Herbert and Holme. I name these officers that the regularity of the system may appear. The lieutenant at the end of the year, or just previously to the sailing of the Admiral for England, (for he never wintered on the station) went through a nominal invaliding; and their successors were appointed from the cockpit of the Admiral’s ship.

“At length, in the year 1792, the Admiralty decided upon putting an end to this certainly most exceptionable method of patronage, and ordered two lieutenants out from England to command these cutters. I was one of these, and arrived at Newfoundland in September. I found the Trepassey a very extraordinary description of a man of war. She was only forty-two tons; something about the size of one of the Gravesend boats, previously to the adoption of steam vessels upon the Thames. Her crew consisted of five men, and a pilot, who performed the functions of every class of officer below the commander. She had four swivels mounted; and was employed in going along the coast to protect the fisheries, and to enquire into abuses. On the last appointment the Admiral added two midshipmen to each cutter, making the whole number of each complement eight. These vessels lay in the harbour of St. John’s during the winter, and were fitted out in the spring, to be in readiness to visit the different ports on their station, as soon as the harbour was clear from ice.

“In the month of March, 1793, a small vessel arrived under a flag of truce from the island of St. Pierre, with a letter from the Governor, requesting to know what news had arrived from Europe. It was addressed to the Admiral, and contained evidently an indirect offer of surrender of the islands to his Britannic Majesty, made with a view of putting them under our protection, and of saving them from the sanguinary republicans, who had begun to shew themselves amongst the population. The Admiral was of course in England; and the question was, who should open the letter. There was a military force of one company of the fourth regiment, and another of artillery; and the naval force consisted of the two cutters, Placentia and Trepassey, commanded by Lieutenant Tucker and myself. The dispatches of course were received by Mr. Tucker, who forthwith called upon the captains of the army to consult as to what steps should be taken.

“At this meeting the question arose as to who was the representative of the Governor. The commission of the Governor stated, that in case of his death, the government was to devolve upon the senior officer of the navy; and it was maintained that the provision made against death, must be equally applicable to his absence. This was denied on the part of the military officers; and until this point was settled no consultation could take place. Mr. Tucker acted for himself, and proceeded to collect a body of volunteers on the island, with which he contemplated sailing for St. Pierre, as soon as a sufficient number could be got together. In the meantime he sent me in the Trepassey, with a flag of truce, to give the information to the Governor of St. Pierre, and to prepare him for the event, that he might be in readiness to act in concert.

“On my arrival I found that the island had been taken possession of the day before, by a detachment from Halifax; and the Alligator frigate, which had brought them, was then lying in the harbour. The Trepassey was immediately dispatched to take possession of Miguelon. On the return of the Trepassey to St. John’s I found the Pluto, sloop of war, had arrived, having captured a French corvette from Martinique. News also from Europe had reached us, with an account of the murder of the French king, and the commencement of the war. The action of the Boston and the Ambuscade soon after took place. The Admiral (Sir Richard King) reached his station in July; and having received a letter which informed me, that it was the wish of my friend, Captain E. Pakenham, to have me as his first lieutenant in the Resistance, of forty-four guns, I procured the Admiral’s permission to go to England, taking my passage in the Cleopatra, with that most amiable and distinguished character, Sir Alexander Ball; a circumstance invaluable to me from its being the means of my acquiring the friendship of such a man.

“We took a convoy to Cadiz, and while waiting there to collect one for England, it was understood that a Spanish seventy-four was upon the point of sailing for Falmouth with money; as an indemnification of the Nootka Sound affair, in 1790. I eagerly caught at the opportunity of seeing the system of the Spanish navy; and my wish being made known to the Spanish commander, he immediately invited me to take my passage to England with him, in the St. Elmo, where I was treated with the greatest hospitality, and marked attention. We sailed for Ferrol on the following day, and from that port the 24th December, and arrived at Falmouth early in January.

“This ship had been selected as one in the best state of discipline in the Spanish navy, to be sent to England. She was commanded by Don Lorenzo Goycochca, a gallant seaman, who had commanded one of the junk ships destroyed before Gibraltar, in 1781. I had during this voyage an opportunity of appreciating Spanish management at sea. When the ship was brought under double reefed topsails, it was considered superfluous to lay the cloth for dinner; and when I remonstrated, I was told by the captain, that not one officer would be able to sit at table, being all sea-sick; but that he had directed dinner to be got in his own cabin for himself and me. It was the custom in the Spanish navy for the captain and all the officers to mess together in the wardroom, which was appropriated to this purpose. We had henceforth a very comfortable meal together, whenever the weather prevented a general meeting.

“As the safe arrival of this ship was deemed of great importance, an English pilot from Falmouth was sent into Ferrol, for the purpose of enabling her to approach the coast of England with safety. A few nights before our arrival at Falmouth, the ship having whole sails and topping sails, was taken aback in a heavy squall from the N.E. and I was awoke by the English pilot knocking at my cabin door, calling out, ‘Mr. Brenton, Mr. Brenton, rouse out, Sir; here is the ship running away with these Spaniards.’ When I got upon deck, I found this was literally the case. She was running away at the rate of twelve knots, and every thing in confusion: she was indeed, to use the ludicrous simile of a naval captain, ‘all adrift like a French post-chaise.’ It required some hours to get things to rights, and the wind having moderated and become fair, we then resumed our course, and safely reached Falmouth. The Spanish Inns, (the Posadas) are proverbially bad, wretched in the extreme; and great was the astonishment of the officers of the St. Elmo on reaching Williams’s Hotel at Falmouth, by no means at that time a first rate inn. Still, such was the effect produced by the carpet, the fire, and the furniture in general, that it was some time before they could be persuaded that I had not conducted them to some nobleman’s house, in return for their hospitality to me; the bill however dispelled this pleasant delusion.”

CHAPTER II.

SERVICE IN THE SYBIL.—STORY OF THE CORFIELDS.—SEVERE WINTER AT SEA.—STORY OF JOHN ICEBERG.—INVALIDED AND COMES ASHORE.—APPLIES FOR EMPLOYMENT, AND APPOINTED TO THE ALLIANCE.—FEELINGS ON THE SUBJECT.—GOES OUT TO THE MEDITERRANEAN.—MADE KNOWN TO SIR JOHN JERVIS, AND APPOINTED TO THE GIBRALTAR.—STORM AND EXTREME DANGER OF THE SHIP.—MADE FIRST LIEUTENANT OF THE AIGLE.—BUT THE AIGLE BEING LOST, HE REMAINS FIRST LIEUTENANT OF THE BARFLEUR.—INTERVIEW WITH LORD ST. VINCENT AND THE SUBSEQUENT DECISION.

Soon after his arrival in England, Mr. Brenton was appointed Second Lieutenant to the Sybil; and while the ship was lying at Gravesend, and previous to her quitting the river, an interesting little event occurred, which is so descriptive of the warm-hearted and affectionate character of the Irish, that it seems due to our countrymen of the sister isle to mention it, as related in the journal.

“A boat full of men was seen proceeding to an East Indiaman, and I, who was at the time walking the deck with the captain, was ordered to take a boat and examine them. I found them sheltered under a regular protection signed by the Lords of the Admiralty, and stated to be in force for three days from its date. The date had been omitted, perhaps purposely; and the paper had probably been procured by a crimp, in order to cover the men he was in the habit of sending down to the ships at Gravesend. The boat therefore was brought alongside the Sybil; and the captain, not finding any prime seamen amongst them, was satisfied with taking two healthy looking Irish lads, Mike and Pat Corfield by name, one about twenty years old, and the other under nineteen. The lads were greatly distressed at being put on board a man of war, of which they had undoubtedly heard many terrible things. It was however past twelve o’clock when they arrived, and the pipe had been just given for dinner. The young Irishmen were accordingly supplied with their portion of bread, soup, and meat; when Pat smiling through his tears said, “Mike, let us send for mother.”

This little speech, so original, and so full of affectionate expression, was related to the amusement of the officers for the moment, and was soon forgotten; but many weeks afterwards, when the ship was at Spithead; a boat came off, in which were not only the mother but also the little brother of the Corfields. Their meeting was, as may be supposed, affecting in the extreme, and seemed to interest every one in their favour. The whole family were of course to live, while they remained together, upon the allowance of the two sailors; but the officers having interceded with the captain; little Edmund, the younger brother, about ten years of age, was put on the books, which gave a third allowance; in the mean time the two elder had procured and slung a hammock for the mother, and another for the little fellow, and every accommodation was given them by their shipmates to whom this conduct had endeared them. The mother by washing more than furnished her quota for the mess; and the whole were kept by her care so clean and tidy that they were noticed for their good appearance.”

In the course of the autumn of this year, 1794, the Sybil formed part of the squadron under Rear Admiral Harvey, and was lying many weeks in the Scheldt, for the protection of Flushing; the French being in possession of the isle of Cadsand, and menacing that fortress. This service was at once harassing and mortifying; having none of the excitement or prospect of advantage which a cruize invariably holds out; while it was in no ordinary degree exposed to anxiety and hardship.

The Sybil was at length ordered to cruize on the Flemish bank, between the coast of Holland and the Goodwin Sands; and was kept on this duty during the whole of that very severe winter of 1794-5, occasionally calling at Sheerness, to refit and complete provisions. Mr. Brenton was appointed First Lieutenant of the ship in the October of this year. In the month of January, 1795, the ice extended far beyond the great Haze, and the Sybil was for many days frozen in at the little Haze, without any communication either with the shore or other ships. The squadron, under Commodore Payne, consisting of the Jupiter, Royal Yacht, and other ships, were lying at Sheerness at this time, waiting for the ice to break up, that they might proceed to the Elbe, in order to bring over the Princess Caroline, afterwards Princess of Wales, and of so much notoriety in this country. Of this period of service the following notices are given:—

“In February the Sybil was sent to the Weser, to assist in bringing away the British army, after their disastrous retreat through Holland in that awful winter. The sufferings of the troops had been dreadful during the march. They were embarked as they reached Bremer Lee, and sailed in detachments for England. The Sybil and her convoy were to take off the rear, and remained in consequence until the latter end of March. Colonels Barnes and Boardman, the first of the Guards, and the latter of the Oxford Blues, were embarked in the Sybil. About this time an extraordinary species of disease had begun to manifest itself among the marines of the Sybil; and as the discovery of its cause, and the means of its cure, must be ascribed to the acuteness of the latter of these two gentlemen, it may be regarded as a subject of thankfulness that they were passengers. Many of the men were afflicted with an ossification, or hardening of the knee joint; and this had proceeded to such an extent in several cases, that the men were lame for life. The surgeon, who was himself afflicted in the same way, and had been lame from childhood, was at a loss as to the cause of the malady; but Colonel Boardman at once threw a light upon the subject by a remark not unlikely to suggest itself to the mind of a military man. He had observed that the marines, when dressed, had thick woollen breeches, and long worsted stockings, so that during the day time, when on their post, the men had the knees doubly covered. After sunset, when off guard, the parade dress was laid aside, and canvas trowsers substituted, leaving the knee with little protection from the cold air of the night; and he inferred that the mischief in the joint arose from the sudden and violent change in the temperature maintained around it. The result proved the justness of his conjecture as to the cause of the malady; for on taking proper precautions to maintain the warmth by clothing, no further cases occurred; and the surgeon himself recollected, what it is singular he should ever have forgotten, that his own crippled state had been occasioned by exposure to cold. Trifling as this matter may seem, it is not without use to point out the benefit that may be derived from the observation of intelligent men, even of a different profession.

“One amusing circumstance occurred also at this time aboard the Sybil, which it may not be improper to add, as evincing great readiness of resource in a sailor, though in a case of much less importance than the preceding. One of the quarter-masters, familiarly called by everybody, “Old John Iceberg, a Swede,” had a favourite cat, which, contrary to the reputed character of those animals, evinced as much attachment to her master as a dog is used to do. It slept in his hammock, and when he had the watch on deck amused itself with playing in the rigging, leaping from it to the spanker boom, and from thence to the boat which hung over the stern. It happened one night that the boat having been kept on shore by bad weather, and puss not being aware of its absence, in the course of her gambols she went overboard, to the utter despair of poor Iceberg. He however soon recollected himself; threw the captain’s dog overboard, and reporting to the officer on watch that the dog was in the water, volunteered his services to go after it. While in the boat it may naturally be supposed that the first object of his care was the cat, and having picked her up, he proceeded at his leisure to the relief of Echo.”

Ill health, the natural consequence of a service so fatiguing, and so exposed to extremities of cold, rendered it necessary for Mr. Brenton to come on shore, in the latter end of 1795. On his recovery, and application to the Admiralty for employment, he found himself appointed Second Lieutenant to the Alliance store ship, under orders for the Mediterranean, a situation but ill according with the feelings of an officer, ambitious of rising in the service, and who depended solely on his own exertions, and the opportunities that might offer for distinguishing himself. Of this illness, and the results to which it led, Mr. Brenton speaks thus in his private memoranda, “I became very unwell, and was recommended to go ashore for the winter of 1795-6, which I the more regretted from the circumstance of Captain Douglas, now Admiral John Erskine Douglas, having been appointed to command the Sybil, an officer of distinguished merit, and great abilities, and from whom I felt that I should learn much. I proceeded immediately to Edinburgh, where my father was regulating captain. I was put under the care of Dr. Munro, by whose judicious treatment I was soon in a state of convalescence. But the idea of being out of employment during an active war, preyed upon my mind. I wrote to the Admiralty in the middle of December, stating my ability to serve again, and requesting an appointment. Not receiving an early answer, my impatience to be afloat again induced me, contrary to the advice of my physician, to set off for London. On my arrival I had the mortification to find that I was appointed Second Lieutenant of the Alliance store ship, a station that I at once considered disgraceful and degrading to an officer, who had been for some time First Lieutenant of a frigate. I went to the Admiralty, and laid my case before Admiral Young, then one of the board, by whom I was kindly received. Having heard my story, he acknowledged that the Admiralty had resolved to discountenance any officer going to sick quarters. He admitted that in many cases the innocent would suffer with the guilty; he believed my case to be one of this description, and recommended me to join my ship, in the expectation that I should soon receive something better. I went away, deeply depressed by what I had heard. I felt that all my prospects of promotion and distinction had vanished; and was only supported by the conviction that the disgrace, for such I considered it to be, was unjustly inflicted; that it was contrary to my wish that I had left my ship, but that my physician had declared that my life was endangered by remaining.”

In order to explain the violence of the feelings produced in Mr. Brenton’s mind by this appointment, it may be necessary to state his own remark. “It had been then for some time the practice, impolitic in every point of view, to appoint officers who had fallen under the censure of a court martial to these store ships. This had been done in forgetfulness of the value of these vessels, of the very great importance of their cargoes to the fleets and arsenals in foreign stations, and of the small number of officers allowed to them; which seemed to require that the few in command should be men of experience, and men on whose character reliance might be placed. The officer who had been appointed first of the Alliance refused to join her. One who had been just dismissed from his ship, by a court martial, for intemperance, was appointed second; and I was finally appointed first of this store ship. Captain Cumming (late Rear Admiral) commanded her, and did me ample justice by bearing testimony to my conduct, and giving full credit to my exertions under circumstances so discouraging and humiliating.

“The ship was fitted out and sailed in the latter end of March, with a convoy of more than 300 sail for different parts of the world, which were to separate at Cape Finisterre for the several places to which they were bound.

“When crossing the Bay of Biscay a letter was sent from the Admiral’s ship, which had been probably forgotten in England, by which I was informed that I was to be appointed First Lieutenant of the Diamond, of thirty-eight guns, under the command of my friend, Sir Sidney Smith, who had commenced his career in the navy under my father, in the Tortoise store ship; and who, while we were together in Sweden had evinced much regard for me. Hence this intended appointment.

“It is hardly necessary to add, that had this appointment taken place, which but for the singular oversight that led to the delay of the letter, most certainly would have been the case, I certainly should have followed the fortunes of Sir Sidney Smith, and should probably have shared his long and perilous captivity in France; while I must have forfeited the benefits arising from the patronage of my constant friend, Earl St. Vincent, who, from the moment he first became acquainted with me, lost no opportunity of forwarding my interests, and of placing me in important posts.”

On receiving the letter Mr. Brenton says, “I shewed it to my captain, requesting permission to return to England, some vessel probably leaving the fleet, being bound thither at the time. Captain Cumming kindly appealed to me, whether, knowing the state of the ship, and the utter incapacity of the other Lieutenant to do the duty, he could possibly accede to my request. The argument was but too well grounded, and I was under the necessity of submitting. And here we have a striking instance, that the most gloomy and unpromising circumstances may eventually lead to the completion of our most sanguine expectations; whilst the gratification of our immediate wishes might only end in disappointment. I have often felt that the hand of a kind providence was peculiarly manifested in my favour upon this occasion. The Diamond was sent to cruize off the coast of France, and Sir Sidney Smith soon after was taken prisoner, having landed near Havre in an enterprize against the enemy. He was confined for a long time in the Temple. If I had not accompanied my chivalrous friend on this occasion, which it is not improbable might have been the case, I should at all events have lost the benefit of his influence, and have had very little chance of promotion; whereas by proceeding to the Mediterranean in the Alliance, I was placed in the way of success, and in a short time attained what I had hitherto hardly ventured to hope.

“On the arrival of the Alliance at St. Fiorenzo I addressed a letter to the Commander in chief, Sir John Jervis, detailing the circumstances of my present appointment; and requesting that he would not attribute it to misconduct on my part; referring him to the different captains with whom I had sailed for my character and abilities. To my great delight, in a short time I received an appointment to the Gibraltar, of eighty guns, a situation most highly gratifying, and beyond my most sanguine wishes. The Alliance being ordered with supplies of stores to the fleet off Toulon, I had an immediate opportunity of joining the Gibraltar; having first waited on the Commander in chief, to thank him for the appointment. Sir John Jervis received me in the kindest manner, saying he considered the sons of officers as children of the service, and that he felt it his duty to provide for them.

“On joining the Gibraltar I found the ship had been in a most unpleasant state in consequence of a litigious spirit, which had crept in among the officers, and which had led to numerous courts martial; so that the captain and officers were not upon friendly terms. Captain Pakenham however came forward upon this occasion in the handsomest manner, saying to the officers whom he assembled for the purpose, ‘Come, gentlemen, let us now give the new First Lieutenant a fair chance. Let us bury the hatchet and be friends.’ The greatest cordiality and comfort ensued; and consequently the discipline of the ship was rapidly improved. This the Admiral attributed to my exertions, while it was the natural result of restored harmony between the Captain and those under his command.

“The summer was passed in blockading Toulon. In the course of this season evident indications appeared of hostile intentions on the part of the Spaniards, who had a very powerful fleet in the Mediterranean. Sir John Jervis felt it necessary to concentrate his force as much as possible; and for this purpose repaired with the fleet to Fiorenzo bay, in Corsica, leaving a small but active force off Toulon, to watch the movements of the French in that port.

“In the latter part of October, it was found necessary to evacuate Corsica; and the Smyrna convoy having arrived there, the Admiral sailed with fifteen sail of the line for Gibraltar, in the beginning of November; each ship of the line with a Smyrna man in tow. The weather was very bad, and the winds generally shifting, adverse, and squally, so as to render the towing of the convoy a service of difficulty and danger; two of them were lost in consequence, being run down. The fleet arrived at Gibraltar early in December. The Spaniards had by that time declared war; and there was no longer any impediment to their forming a junction with the French fleet, which would make their force exceed forty-three sail of the line. Sir John Jervis, that he might be in readiness to sustain the attack of the enemy, moored his ships in the form of a crescent, extending from the Ragged staff to Rosia bay; the sternmost ship of the weather line lying off the former place; and the last of the sea line, the Gibraltar, being off Rosia bay, in a most exposed situation, with scarcely any hold for her anchors from the steepness of the bank. Here, on the 10th of December, a most tremendous gale of wind from the E.S.E. came on, at first in heavy squalls with long intervals. The Gibraltar brought her anchors home, and great exertions were made during the lulls to lay them out again. As the night approached the wind increased to a hurricane. I stated my opinion to the captain that the ship could not hold on during the night; he appeared to be of the same opinion, and expressed his intention, should the ship drive, to cut, and make sail at once, so as to keep the straits open. A very heavy sea was at the time breaking round Europa point, and against the Spanish shore on the lee side of the bay. The captain recommended me to retire to my cot, and get a little repose, as I was evidently unwell. I had hardly gone down, when a tremendous squall came on, and the ship began to drive. I ran upon deck as soon as possible; but before I reached it, I heard the sheet cable running out, the anchor having been let go by the captain’s order. This change of mind is to be accounted for only by the apprehension the captain was under of the Admiral’s displeasure; and the hope he entertained, however feeble, that the ship might be brought up; but of this it soon appeared there was no prospect. She was off the bank in a few minutes, with her three anchors hanging to her bows.

“The cables were immediately cut, and sail made upon the ship; but as the topsails had been furled double reefed, it became necessary to close reef them before they could be set. The foresail was set at once, and the main-tack got on board; but in hauling aft the sheet, it was found to have got a round turn, round the main top gallant yard, in the lee rigging; nor could any efforts clear it from the shaking of the sail, the violence of the wind, and the darkness of the night. The yard was cut away from the main chains, and flew out to leeward, still confined by both parts of the sheet round it, and it was found impossible to get the sheet aft for some time. In the meantime, the topsails split, as they were loosed from the yards; the ship had now lost the shelter of the rock of Gibraltar, and felt the full force of the heavy sea rolling into the bay. It was also seen breaking to a fearful height over the Pearl rock off Cabritta point, which was under our lee; and in order to run her out clear of it, the jib was set; thus co-operating with a deep pitch in a heavy sea, carried away the foretopmast. She now rapidly approached the rock; was soon in the foam occasioned by the breakers; and in another moment struck upon the rock with a dreadful crash, and was thrown nearly on her beam ends; but most providentially this latter circumstance, by decreasing for the moment her draught of water, was the means of carrying her over the rock, when she righted without striking again.

“The panic was great as may easily be conceived, and a general cry of ‘Cut away the masts’ was heard from every part of the ship. The captain having been carried into the cabin severely hurt from a fall, just before the ship struck, the command had devolved upon me. I prevented the masts from being cut away, not from any prospect of saving the ship, but in the hope of being able to run her into a sandy bay, near Cabritta point. The first order I gave was to sound the well; when, to my great surprise, it was reported that there was no water in it. I therefore ordered the ship to be kept away, under her tattered sail, so as to give her fresh way, and hauling up, gradually succeeded in getting her into the Gut, and free from any danger of the land; when we proceeded to clear the wreck, to shift the sails, and to bend a cable to the spare anchor. It happened providentially that there were on board two anchors belonging to the Censeur, a French seventy-four, a prize which had been burnt by accident in Fiorenzo bay, and which were to have been landed at Lisbon, when the fleet should have arrived there. These anchors were immediately got up from the main hatchway, where they had been stowed; and after being stocked, had cables bent to them.

“The gale continued during the remainder of the night, and through the following morning. In the afternoon it became quite moderate, and the Zealous, commanded by Captain Hood, was seen standing out of Tangier bay, and approaching the Gibraltar. A boat came on board, bringing information to Captain Pakenham that Captain Hood had slipped the cable, by which the Zealous was riding in Tangier bay, and had left a buoy on the cable, with a boat fast to it, in order that the Gibraltar might run in and take advantage of it, in the natural expectation that she must have lost her anchors in driving out of the bay.

“This was a most judicious measure, and quite characteristic of the excellent officer who suggested it. The Gibraltar availed herself of it; and having got to snug anchorage in smooth water, was soon able to get the anchors which had been stocked, over the bows; which it would not only have been difficult, but dangerous to do while exposed to a heavy sea.”

The perilous situation of the Gibraltar, in this awful night, has furnished an interesting subject for Captain Brenton’s pencil; when in a leisure hour, many years afterwards, he made a drawing from recollection of the ship during the most critical moment, and it may perhaps assist the reader to form a notion of the extreme peril to which the ship was exposed, when the circumstances are named, which, under providence, seem to have been the means of her preservation.

The Gibraltar was a Spanish built ship, and on examining the injuries done to the vessel, when docked for repairing; it was found that the whole of the lower part of the ship was a solid mass of mahogany. No other fabric could have stood the violence of the shock when she struck on the reef; and enabled her to float after she was righted.

Captain Pakenham having spoken very highly to the Commander in chief of Mr. Brenton’s conduct on this trying occasion, he was pleased to express himself most favourably towards him; and as the Gibraltar, on being surveyed at Lisbon, was found to have sustained so much damage that it was necessary to send her to England; Sir John Jervis sent for Lieutenant Brenton, and informing him of the Gibraltar’s destination, asked him at the same time whether he had any objections to remaining in the fleet; adding, that if such was his wish, he could give him the choice of two ships, the Diadem, of sixty-four guns, or the Aigle frigate of forty, to either of which he might be appointed First Lieutenant. After some hesitation, and not a little reluctance to quit the Gibraltar, to which ship he had become much attached; he chose the Aigle, in the hope that in a cruizing ship, he might have the means of distinguishing himself; and obtaining promotion; at least, greater means than could be expected in a ship of the line. Sir John Jervis entirely approved of his choice, and gave him a commission as First Lieutenant of the Aigle, then up the Mediterranean; and placed him pro tempore in the Barfleur, at the request of Vice Admiral Waldegrave, whose flag was flying in that ship. In this situation he was present at the battle of the 14th of February, off Cape St. Vincent; but being now a junior officer, he consequently derived no promotion from the circumstance.

The Aigle was about this time lost off Cape Farina; and Admiral Waldegrave having shifted his flag from the Barfleur to take the command at Newfoundland, Mr. Brenton, from seniority, became First Lieutenant under the command of Captain Dacres. The events of this summer were confined to the bombardment of Cadiz. At one of these attacks Mr. Brenton volunteered his services, and was engaged in the command of the Barfleur’s boats. In the month of August he was removed into the Ville de Paris, bearing the flag of Earl St. Vincent; and the fleet soon after sailed for Lisbon.

On the subject of this appointment the following particulars are mentioned by Lieutenant Brenton, “In the month of August, Earl St. Vincent sent for me, and informed me that it had long been his intention to have taken me into the Ville de Paris, as one of his Lieutenants. He said there was now a vacancy; but observed at the same time that he scarcely thought it worth my while to quit the Barfleur (where he understood I was very happy) for he was firmly convinced that peace with France was at that moment signed; (this was the period of Lord Malmesbury’s having been sent to Lille to negociate). In proof that he held this opinion, his Lordship added that he had just laid a wager to this effect with Sir James Saumarez of one hundred guineas. Under these circumstances I declined the appointment, and returned to my ship.

“On communicating to my excellent friend, Captain Dacres, the result of this interview with the Earl, I found him quite of a different opinion. He expressed great regret at my decision, which he considered as ruinous to my prospects, convinced as he was that there was no prospect of peace.

“Captain Dacres was to dine with the Admiral on that day, when he took an opportunity of requesting him to renew the offer, pledging himself that it would be accepted. The Earl, who had not yet filled up the vacancy, ordered a commission to be made out, appointing me to the Ville de Paris, which he gave to Captain Dacres, who, on coming on board presented it to me, saying, ‘There, I have now turned you out of my ship, an act for which you will undoubtedly thank me some of these days.’ I certainly did leave the Barfleur with a heavy heart, for I highly respected and loved my captain, and the regard was mutual. I was also much attached to my brother officers, and had every reason to believe I carried with me the good wishes of all the ship’s company. The Barfleur might have emphatically been called a happy ship.”

During the winter of 1797-8 Mr. Brenton was employed by his lordship in sounding the Tagus, between Lisbon and Salvatierra, for the purpose of facilitating the passage of the transports up the river to procure water. Mr. Brenton was also sent in the Thalia, commanded by Lord Harry Paulet to survey Jeremie Bay, in order to ascertain whether there existed any good anchorage for the fleet. In the following spring the fleet resumed the blockade of Cadiz. The Vengeance, French frigate, was lying there ready for sea, and was expected to take advantage of the first opportunity which should offer of making her escape. In order to watch her movements narrowly during the night, two boats belonging to each ship were ordered to rendezvous every evening off the light house, under the command of a Lieutenant of the Ville de Paris. This command was latterly confined to two of the Lieutenants, of whom Mr. Brenton was one, and Mr. Melhuish the other. The guard boats were frequently attacked by the enemy’s gun boats; and upon one of these occasions Mr. Brenton had an opportunity of distinguishing himself, so as to gain the approbation of the Commander in chief, and to induce his lordship to promote him to the command of the Speedy, the same in which he had already served as a lieutenant. Adverting to this period, Mr. Brenton says, “This was a service of much animation, and even of enjoyment. The officers in general managed to carry with them some good things, of which the midshipmen were invited to partake, nor were the boat’s crew forgotten. In calm weather their voices and their mirth were distinctly heard by the Spanish troops on the batteries; but the noble-minded Spaniard, who commanded in Cadiz, would not on any account allow them to be fired at. He however requested the Spanish Admiral to send off a flag of truce, informing the Earl how completely his boats were exposed to destruction, and requesting that they might not be permitted to persevere in behaviour, which the garrison considered as insulting. The Commander in chief immediately made known this communication to me, as it was my turn to command the boats that night, desiring it might be attended to; but he did it in these words, ‘Allow no noise to be made, Sir, by your people; but go still nearer in.’”

Captain Brenton says, relative to his appointment to the Speedy, “It was a singular circumstance that I had already served in the Speedy, both as second and first lieutenant; and while talking over expected promotion with my messmates, who were naming the favourite sloops to which they should prefer being appointed, I always named the Speedy.”

Captain Brenton took his passage in the Blenheim, which was bound to Lisbon; but the day after leaving the fleet, the Blenheim having put into Lagos bay, he decided upon going to Lisbon by land, which he did, accompanied by Mr. Jephson, Judge of the Admiralty, and afterwards Sir —— Jephson, Bart. They had a most agreeable and interesting journey; and in a few days after their arrival at Lisbon the Speedy entered the Tagus, and her new commander joined her. From this period (the beginning of September) until the month of February following, the sloop, of which he had taken the command, was kept cruizing off Oporto, for the protection of the wine trade.

CHAPTER III.

SERVICE IN THE SPEEDY.—ACTION WITH GUN BOATS OFF GIBRALTAR.—SENT TO PENON DE VELEZ.—ACTION ON THE COAST, AND WITH GUN BOATS.—HIS BROTHER’S DEATH FROM WOUNDS RECEIVED IN ACTION IN THE PETEREL.—LETTER TO HIS FATHER.—MADE POST, AND APPOINTED TO THE TEMPORARY COMMAND OF THE GENEREUX AT PORT MAHON.—SAILS TO GENOA.

In the month of February, 1799, Captain Brenton was charged with a valuable convoy of victuallers from Lisbon, to supply the fleet off Cadiz. The latter had by stress of weather been driven up the straits, and great apprehensions were entertained for the safety of the convoy under so weak an escort. They were attacked in the bay of Gibraltar, by twenty-three gun boats, and Captain Brenton had the satisfaction of receiving the thanks of the Earl of St. Vincent (who was an eye witness) for the manner in which he had defended his charge. It is fit that on this occasion he should be his own historian, and that the account of the action should be given from his own pen.

“Early in February, I was sent with a convoy of victuallers to the fleet blockading Cadiz; and on my approach towards San Lucar, not seeing any of the look-out ships, which were usually stationed far to the westward, I suspected that in the preceding very heavy gales from the westward, the fleet might have been driven through the straits, and I felt a considerable anxiety for the fate of my convoy. I in consequence made the signal for them to make all sail for Cape Trafalgar, whilst I proceeded towards Cadiz, taking my station on the foretop gallant yard, with my spy glass, to be in readiness to communicate the earliest information of danger to the convoy, which were not likely to be out of sight, before I should have a full view of Cadiz. I found my expectations respecting our fleet were realized, but the Spaniards were still in port. I then rejoined my convoy, and made all sail for Gibraltar.

“By the repeated signals flying along the coast, I was well aware that the Spanish gun boats were prepared to attack the convoy, and I accordingly formed them into two very clear and compact lines, directing them to preserve this order of sailing by every effort in their power. On passing Cabritta point, I observed the whole of the Spanish gun boats lying under it, evidently waiting for the convoy. They immediately pushed out with sails and oars, and began the attack. The Speedy wore round ahead of the convoy, in order to close up the lee line, which seemed disposed to straggle; and then taking our station on their larboard quarter, we brought to ahead of the gun boats, which immediately desisted from their attack on the convoy, and seemed to unite their efforts upon the Speedy. As soon however as the convoy was so far advanced as to ensure their getting under the guns of Gibraltar, the Speedy followed them. There was but one ship of war in the bay, which was the Montague, with the flag of Lord St. Vincent; and a boat came off from her, with orders for me to take my convoy over to Tetuan bay; where I was informed the fleet was lying under the command of Lord Keith. I accordingly proceeded thither, and found my arrival had been most anxiously looked for; as the fleet had been on short allowance of some species of provisions, and greatly in want of all to enable them to resume their blockade off Cadiz.

“When the signals were made by the Spaniards, the garrison of Gibraltar, to whom these signals were known, felt great uneasiness at the imminent danger to which the supplies for the fleet were exposed, upon which so much depended. This feeling was very strong in the breast of Lord St. Vincent, who had no means of increasing the force of the convoy; and he was in proportion relieved and gratified by the safe arrival of the convoy. He expressed his warmest approbation to Captain Brenton on his return from Tetuan, as did the Governor and principal officers of the garrison. But little injury was done to the Speedy, or any of her convoy.”

It is a subject of regret that the official letter, giving the account of this spirited, and well conducted action, does not appear in the public records of the day.

Early in March Captain Brenton says, “The Speedy was ordered to cruize off Penon de Velez; and my orders, when delivered by Earl St. Vincent were accompanied by the following observation, ‘You are to understand that the Spaniards have a garrison at Penon de Velez—that they have no communication whatever with any part of the coast on which this place is situated—that they get their food, their raiment, and even the water they require, from Malaga, which are carried over to them by vessels under convoy of two rascally brigs—just like your own. Now, Sir, be off; I hope you will fall in with them.’”

Having returned from this duty (the wished-for rencounter, as it appears, not having taken place); Captain Brenton continues, “The Speedy was ordered to proceed to Oran, in order to bring down some prizes, which had been taken in there to wait for a convoy to Gibraltar. The wind, during March and April, blew almost a continued heavy gale from the westward. I made various attempts to get down to Gibraltar with my convoy, but without success, bearing up again for Oran.

“On one occasion, having been joined by the Espoir sloop of sixteen guns, I had got as far as Cape de Gatte, and observing a very suspicious looking brig come out from under the land, I made the signal for the Espoir to chase. Both vessels made all the sail they could carry; and towards evening a very heavy squall coming on with thick weather, the chase and the chaser were both lost sight of. Towards evening the latter came down, not having been able to keep sight of the stranger, and apprehensive of losing the convoy. A heavy gale came on from the westward in the course of the night; and on the following evening, as there was no appearance of its abating, I made the signal to bear up for Oran, where we arrived on the next day; but the gale continuing, no boat was sent on shore. On the second day after we anchored in Oran, some seamen in blue jackets were seen coming over the hills; and as no boats from any of the convoy had reached the shore, I was anxious to know from whence these seamen could have come, concluding some wreck had taken place upon the coast. By great exertion a boat was got on shore, and soon returned with the captain and five seamen of the brig which had been chased off Cape de Gatte, by the Espoir; and which, as I have mentioned, was lost sight of in the squall. The fact is, that in that squall the unfortunate brig was upset; and as she went down, the captain, boatswain, and five men jumped into the boat, and cutting the lashings, were left on the surface as the vessel sank. There was neither oar nor rudder in the boat, but providentially the rudder of the boat was found, amidst other things washed out of the vessel, and a couple of oars. On the following morning, in the height of the gale, the weather being clear, they distinctly saw the convoy, and endeavoured to make signals to them, but without effect, from the sea running so high. When the convoy bore up in the evening for Oran, the captain, finding it impossible, from the direction of the wind, to approach the Spanish shore, kept before the sea, spreading shirts upon the oars for sails, and endeavoured to find shelter in some of the bays of the coast of Africa. Providentially they reached a little cove with a sandy beach, just to the westward of Oran; and having caught a hawk’s bill turtle as they approached the shore, by devouring it raw, they acquired sufficient strength to land in a heavy surf, and to beach their boat. The boatswain, who was a strong powerful man, sank under exhaustion before they reached the land. They were received on board the Speedy; and by the judicious conduct of the surgeon, were soon restored to perfect health.

“The vessel lost was an American brig from Baltimore. Her commander’s name was Brand, and twelve men were lost in her. Mr. Brand’s escape was the more providential, as he was asleep below when she upset; and being thrown out of his bed, by the sudden movement, was enabled to get up the ladder, before the hatchway was filled with water.”

A few days after the convoy had reached Oran, the gale continuing to blow with great violence at times, but at others more moderately; the Terpsichore frigate commanded by Captain Gage, entered the bay of Oran with her convoy from Minorca, bound to Gibraltar also; and about a week later, at the close of a day on which there had been almost a hurricane, a Spanish line of battle ship, with only her foremast standing, and her mainmast lying buried on the poop, came into the bay, and let go her anchor about half a mile from the Speedy, which happened to be the farthest out.

Captain Gage directed Captain B. to watch the motions of the Spaniard, expressing his intentions to attack him, should he move beyond the limits of neutrality. At daylight the Spaniard was seen to cut his cable, and put to sea: the wind had greatly moderated, but a heavy sea continued. The Terpsichore and Speedy slipped their cables, and were immediately in pursuit. The Spanish ship was rolling her main deck ports in the water; the weather was very thick; the Speedy had approached nearly within gun-shot, and was preparing to open her fire, with her four pounders, into the stern of the enemy, whilst the Terpsichore’s fire, which would soon have followed, would, without doubt, have insured the surrender of the helpless Spaniard; when at the moment, the fog cleared away, and shewed the Spanish fleet of eighteen sail of the line in the offing, and at a very short distance. The expected prize at once vanished, and it became necessary for the English vessels to seek their own safety. The Terpsichore returned to Oran, and the Speedy running close in shore got to the westward of the bay.

Of the Spaniards six sail had lost their lower masts, and many their topmasts. The Spaniards availing themselves of a strong S.W. wind shaped their course for Carthagena. On the following morning, the Speedy fell in with a British squadron of five sail of the line, under Admiral Whitshed; who, on being informed by Captain Brenton of the crippled state of the Spaniards, made sail in pursuit of them; and the Speedy returned to Oran, where, having joined the two convoys, they proceeded together to Gibraltar, where they arrived early in May. The Speedy was then sent to resume her station off Oporto, but in the month of July was again detached to take the English mail from Lisbon to Gibraltar. Here upon examining her defects, she was found in such a state as to render it necessary to heave her down.

Earl St. Vincent having given up the command of the fleet to Lord Keith, was at this time at Gibraltar, with his flag in the Argo, waiting for wind to sail to England. The Channel fleet, under Sir Alan Gardner, had formed a junction with the Mediterranean fleet, and had gone up the Mediterranean in pursuit of the combined fleets of France and Spain.

While the Speedy was undergoing repair, and was keel out; the combined fleet was seen approaching the straits from the eastward; and a cutter sent out to reconnoitre, was captured by them, in consequence of a partial breeze favouring a Spanish frigate while the cutter was becalmed. Earl St. Vincent ordered the Speedy to be immediately righted, and to prepare for sea. Copper was nailed over the defective parts; and by the assistance of the Argo, she was ready to proceed on the following evening, with orders to look for Lord Keith, and to communicate to him the information, that the enemy had left the Mediterranean. He fell in with his lordship off Cabrera, in the course of a very few days, after leaving Gibraltar. He had already received the intelligence from some merchant vessel, that the combined fleet had been seen near the straits, steering to the westward, and was in pursuit of them. The day was beautiful when the Speedy fell in with the Admiral; and the immense fleet of thirty-two sail of the line sailing in two divisions, formed a most magnificent spectacle. Lord Keith sent the Speedy to Minorca with dispatches, with orders to resume her station off Oporto on her return. He continued his pursuit; but the enemy had got far too much start of him, and reached Brest, long before the British fleet could get up with them.

The following letter from Captain Brenton to his father may here be introduced as carrying on the narrative.

“Speedy, off Cape de Gatte, July 17th, 1799.

“My dear Sir,

“Since my last off Lisbon no opportunity whatever occurred for my writing, I had scarcely time to reach Oporto, Lisbon, and Gibraltar, before our quarantine expired; we were ordered instantly into the mole, to heave down. On Sunday, the 8th, the Speedy was keel out, having her copper repaired, and on Tuesday was at sea, on her passage to join Lord Keith, with the intelligence of the Spanish fleet, in conjunction with the French, having passed the straits of Gibraltar to the westward; the particulars you will have, long before you receive this, as the Haarlem, and other vessels, were instantly dispatched for England.

“The Haarlem had but just time to clear the Gut, when the van of the enemy’s fleet appeared in sight, and the rear of them had only passed the rock, when the Speedy came out; but by favour of the night we escaped a rencounter with the gun boats, who were waiting behind Europa, to intercept any vessels going to the eastward. We fell in with Lord Keith yesterday, but have not yet spoke him; his lordship has, as yet, only received the intelligence of the enemy being off Gibraltar, and is in full cry with thirty-two sail of the line, we are however coming up hand over hand with him, owing to light winds and smooth water. I expect to be on board the Queen Charlotte in two hours; and as there is a strong probability of my being ordered to part company instantly, I shall have this letter ready to dispatch, and take another opportunity of being particular. I have the mail on board and passengers for Minorca, by which means I hope to see Wallace, who is in that neighbourhood.

“Lord St. Vincent arrived at Gibraltar a few days before we left it. His lordship is not well. This unexpected event has been of no service to him. His behaviour to me, has (if possible) been kinder than ever; he appeared pleased with our exertions, and has, I believe, given me some good recommendations to his successor, Lord Keith. I believe I may deem his lordship one of the best friends I ever met with, and should he become premier at the Admiralty, which is by no means impossible, I hope we shall all feel the good effects of his patronage.

“Remember me most affectionately to my mother; I will give her the earliest information of our destiny and late proceedings. If Captain Berkeley of the 90th regiment, should call upon you at Edinburgh, may I request you will deem him a welcome guest. I have much esteem for him, and he deserves it. He is but slowly recovering from a fit of illness, which had for some time deprived him of the use of one side. I was to have given him a letter, but was prevented by his sudden departure.

“Adieu, my dear Sir; I beg my best love to the girls, and to be considered as your ever dutiful and affectionate son,

“J. BRENTON.”

“7 p.m. Just spoke Lord Keith, and have received orders to proceed to Minorca.

“Jahleel Brenton, Esq.
Regulating Captain, Edinburgh.”

After remaining a few days at Port Mahon, the Speedy directed her course for Gibraltar; and when off Cape de Gatte gave chase to three large armed Xebecs, which ran in and anchored in a close line, in a sandy bay to the westward of the cape. The Speedy immediately attacked them under sail, and was joined by the Defender, a brig privateer, belonging to Gibraltar, of twelve guns. Captain Brenton finding he could not keep up an effectual fire under weigh, pushed in, in hopes of finding soundings, which he at length did within pistol shot of the enemy, and let go his anchor. The engagement continued for more than half an hour, when the Spaniards took to their boats, and their vessels were captured and brought off by the Speedy and Defender. The largest mounted twelve, the second ten, and the third six guns; and in a few days with the Speedy arrived at Gibraltar.

The Speedy again visited Oporto, and was again dispatched from Lisbon to Gibraltar with the mail. On her way back from the rock to Oporto, she chased three Spanish vessels, and drove them on shore; but the surf was so heavy they could not be got off.

The following official letters describe some of the actions in which the Speedy was engaged, and the opinions pronounced on her commander by his superiors.

From the Gazette, Admiralty Office, 21st September, 1799.

Copy of a letter from Earl St. Vincent, K.B. Admiral of the White, &c. to Evan Nepean, Esq. dated 17th Sept. 1799.

“Sir,

“I enclose for the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, a letter I have received from Captain Brenton, of His Majesty’s Sloop Speedy, giving an account of the capture of three Spanish armed vessels.

“ST. VINCENT.”

“Speedy, Gibraltar, August 21st, 1799.

“My Lord,

“I have the honour to inform your lordship, that on the 9th inst., in company with the Defender, British Privateer of Gibraltar, of fourteen guns, we captured the Spanish armed vessels, as per margin, after an action of two hours and a half. Upon seeing us they ran into a small sandy bay, five leagues to the eastward of Cape de Gatte, and moored in a close line, within a boat’s length of the beach; we engaged them an hour and three quarters under sail, before we could gain soundings, although not more than a cable’s length distant from the rocks; but finding the enemy had much the advantage, from our constant change of position, I determined to push for an anchorage, and was fortunate enough to effect one within pistol shot of the centre vessel. After three quarters of an hour close action, the Spaniards took to their boats, cutting the cables of two of the vessels which drove on shore; they were, however, all brought off by our boats, under a constant fire of musketry from the hills. The privateer, having but twenty-two men, was obliged to stand out, to procure assistance from a boat she had in the offing, and could not reach the anchorage, till the conclusion of the action. The conduct of her commander was highly meritorious throughout, and must have considerably accelerated the event. The officers and men under my command behaved in such a manner as would have ensured our success against a more formidable enemy. The Speedy had but two men wounded, the Defender one, neither dangerous. We found two men dead on board the Spaniards; the remainder of the crews escaped on shore.

“JAHLEEL BRENTON.”

Ships mentioned in the margin:

“Santo Christo de Garcia, eight guns, six and nine pounders.

“Name unknown, ten guns, six and nine pounders.

“Name unknown, four guns, sixes.”

“Admiralty Office, October 26, 1799.

Copy of a letter from Rear Admiral Duckworth to Evan Nepean, Esq., dated Leviathan, off Lisbon, the 13th inst.

“Sir,

“You will be pleased to lay before my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty the copy of a letter from Captain Brenton, of the Speedy, relating the destruction of three Spanish vessels he chased on the 3rd inst.; it is but justice to this officer to observe, that his exertions and gallantry at all opportunities do him the highest honour.

“I have the honour to be, &c.

“J. J. DUCKWORTH.”

“Speedy, at Sea, October 4, 1799.

“Sir,

“I have the honour to inform you, that yesterday, whilst running through the gut of Gibraltar, in sight of the British convoy, I observed a number of small vessels, coming out of Algesiras, and concluded they were Spanish gun boats, endeavouring to cut off some of the merchant ships; I therefore steered for them, in order to keep them as far as possible from the body of the fleet; but upon our near approach, perceiving they were Spanish coasters, eight in number, under the protection of a cutter and schooner, made all sail in chase, and soon separated the two sternmost from the body; they ran under the guns of a castle, which opened a fire upon us, and prevented our bringing them off. We continued the pursuit of the others, passing under the shot from Tariffa castle; and at four p.m. came up with four more in a bay to the eastward of Cape Trafalgar: one immediately anchored near a fort, and the other three under a castle which had one gun mounted; as it blew very heavy from the eastward, and being on a lee shore, we could not go as near them as I could wish, but anchored within four cables’ length, and bringing our guns to bear upon the castle (which appeared to be in a very ruinous state, and did not return our fire,) and the vessels; we in a short time, compelled the Spaniards to abandon them all, first cutting their cables, by which means they drove on shore. I then sent Lieutenant Parker to endeavour to bring them off, and shortly after Mr. Marshall to assist; or if that was not practicable to set them on fire; neither of which could be effected from the heavy surf breaking entirely over them, and rendering our approach dangerous to the boats. They however boarded them, brought away some of their fire arms, threw the remainder overboard, leaving them full of water, and complete wrecks. One vessel was laden with brandy and paper; one with English manufacture (cutlery, hardware, &c.); and the third in ballast. I beg leave to express the high satisfaction I received from the conduct of Lieutenant Parker, in boarding the vessel under the walls of the castle, while exposed to musketry from the beach; also of Mr. Ricketts, the purser, who was a volunteer upon that service. The attention of Mr. Marshall, the master, to the anchoring his Majesty’s sloop, and the able assistance I have received from him on former occasions, renders him worthy of the fullest confidence.

“I have the honour to be, &c.

“J. BRENTON.”

“To Rear Admiral Duckworth,” &c.

Early in November of this year, the Speedy was again sent from Lisbon, with a convoy to Gibraltar; and on entering the bay was attacked by twelve gun boats, and a ten gun French privateer. They came down in the most determined manner; and surrounded the Speedy off Europa point, with the intention of boarding; which Captain Brenton observing, directed the guns to be loaded with grape as far as it could be done with safety; and reserved the fire until the Spaniards rose to board, when the Speedy’s fire was so destructive as to induce the Spaniards to sheer off, and run to leeward with great precipitation. The convoy in the meantime got safe into Gibraltar, and the Speedy was endeavouring to follow them; but it was soon found she had received so much damage, below the water line on the starboard side, from the enemy’s shot, that she was filled with water to the lower deck. It became necessary immediately to veer her: and by carrying as much sail as her wounded rigging would bear on the starboard tack, the leak was got out of the water. But to keep her in this position it became indispensible to stand across the straits, and run for shelter into Tetuan bay; which they reached late in the evening; and having repaired their damages, sailed early the next morning for Gibraltar. The Speedy had two men killed upon this occasion.

It was a subject of universal astonishment, that the Spaniards should have made so daring an attempt, as to attack the Speedy under the batteries of Gibraltar, actually within hail, as conversation passed between Captain Mottley (the resident agent for transports at Gibraltar) and Captain Brenton before the Spaniards surrounded the Speedy.

Upon Captain Brenton’s return to Gibraltar, he received the thanks and congratulations of Governor O’Hara, and the garrison. “Speedy” was given out that evening for the parole, and “Brenton” for the countersign. Perhaps the full force of this flattering testimony can only be felt by those connected with the military profession.

On arriving at the rock, Captain Brenton waited upon the Governor, to remonstrate upon so extraordinary a circumstance; but the Governor, General O’Hara, anticipated his complaint, by explaining that in consequence of the Spanish authorities having threatened to bombard Gibraltar from Fort St. Phillip, on account of some fishing-boats having been fired at from the batteries by mistake, having been taken for row boat privateers, he (the Governor) had been obliged to prohibit all discretional firing; directing that no gun should be fired without his express permission. He added, however, that the events of the preceding day convinced him that such a regulation could not be persevered in; that he had that morning issued orders that a most vigilant look out should in future be kept from the batteries; and a signal made when any privateer was seen under weigh, when she was to be fired at on her approach.

Rear Admiral Duckworth was at this time lying in the bay of Gibraltar; and reported Captain Brenton’s conduct to the Admiralty, in a manner most flattering to his feelings, as did the Governor, and the Commissioner. The Governor’s letter was addressed to Earl St. Vincent, then in England; and his lordship happened to be with Sir Evan Nepean, at the Admiralty, when it arrived. He had no sooner read the forcible appeal made by General O’Hara in favour of Captain Brenton, than he went to Lord Spencer, and laying the letter before him, said, “My lord, I will not leave your room until the request contained in that letter is complied with;” and Lord Spencer immediately wrote an order for Captain Brenton to be put into the first Post vacancy, that should occur in the Mediterranean.

It may perhaps be allowable to introduce here the description of this gallant action as given in the Naval Chronicle; and to add the official letter addressed to Admiral Duckworth.

“It is somewhat astonishing that the following remarkable instance of naval gallantry should never yet have been published; we therefore consider ourselves exceedingly obliged by being enabled to bring before our readers such particulars, as must be read with the greatest admiration of the distinguished prowess they describe, and which so eminently redound to the credit of the officers and crews, who so ably and bravely defended themselves against such a very superior force. We have also subjoined the official letter sent by Captain Brenton[1] to Admiral Duckworth, on the occasion; documents which will prove completely illustrative of the whole transaction. The action certainly merits every commemoration, and the annexed plate is taken from a drawing representing the most interesting period of it.

“On the evening of the 6th of November, 1799, His Majesty’s sloop, Speedy, commanded by Captain Jahleel Brenton, and her convoy, consisting of a ship (transport) laden with wine for the fleet, and a merchant brig bound to Trieste, were attacked upon their entering Gibraltar bay, by twelve Spanish gun boats; two of which were schooners, carrying two twenty-four pounders each, and fifty men; and the other, one twenty-four pounder and forty men; besides a Xebec, French privateer of eight guns. They first attempted the ship, and were prevented from carrying her by the Speedy passing between them, which enabled her to reach her anchorage in safety: their efforts were then united against the brig, when the Speedy bore up through the centre of them, and in three quarters of an hour obliged them to run for shelter under the guns of Fort Barbary.

“The crippled state of the Speedy’s rigging, masts, and hull, and especially as the water was up to the lower deck, from shot received below, prevented Captain Brenton from pursuing the advantage he had gained. She had two men killed, and one wounded. The transport was most ably managed by her master, and worked round Europa Point through a very galling fire; the brig took advantage of a strong westerly wind, which sprung up after dark, and continued her voyage to Trieste. The Speedy was under the necessity of running for Tetuan bay, to stop the leaks; which being done, she returned to Gibraltar the following day.

“The Spanish gun boats, after remaining under Fort Barbary for three days, bore up for Malaga, and did not return to Algesiras for two months, leaving the trade unmolested in the Gut of Gibraltar. The Spaniards acknowledged they lost eleven men; four of their boats were seen to strike to the Speedy during the contest, by the inhabitants of Gibraltar, and the report was corroborated by a Danish brig from Malaga a few days after.”

“Speedy, Gibraltar, November 21, 1799.

“Sir,

“I have the honour to inform you, that on the 6th instant, coming into Gibraltar, with two vessels under convoy, a ship and a brig, we were attacked by twelve of the Spanish gun boats from Algesiras. Having a commanding breeze, we were soon enabled to rescue the ship. The gun boats then united their efforts upon the brig, but bearing up upon their line with a well directed fire, we in a short time obliged them to relinquish their design also; and take shelter under the guns of Fort Barbary. The situation of the Speedy prevented my pursuing the advantage we had gained, having most of our running rigging cut away, our main top sail yards shot through, and our fore rigging much cut, besides the water being up to the lower deck, from shot received below the water line. Not being able to carry sail upon the larboard tack, I was under the necessity of running for Tetuan Bay, to stop the leaks, and arrived here the day following. I cannot say too much in praise of Lieutenant Parker, Mr. Marshall, the master, and the remainder of the officers and men under my command, from their spirited exertions, and strict attention to their duty, we were enabled to save our convoy and His Majesty’s sloop.

“I beg leave to enclose a return of our killed and wounded, and at the same time to add, that much praise is due to Mr. George Robinson, master of the transport Unity, for the manner he worked his ship during a very galling fire.

“I have the honour to be, Sir,

“Your very obedient servant,

“J. BRENTON.”

“Patrick Blake and Wm. Pring, seamen killed.

“Thomas Riley, seaman wounded.”

“To Admiral Duckworth,” &c. &c. &c.

A few days after the action, Admiral Duckworth sent for Captain Brenton, and gave him the painful intelligence, that his brother, Lieutenant Brenton, of the Peterel, had been dangerously wounded in the boat of that ship, in capturing a Spanish privateer, and had been taken to the hospital at Port Mahon. He kindly ordered the Speedy to proceed thither with dispatches; and held out the hope that the wound might not be mortal. This flattering expectation was unhappily not realized, for upon the arrival of the Speedy at Port Mahon, Captain Brenton found that his brother had died a week previously, and had been buried with the honours of war. The amiable character, and gallant conduct, of this promising young man had excited an universal interest.

The letter which Sir Jahleel Brenton wrote to his father on this occasion may be justly inserted, as exhibiting the simple and affectionate feelings which lived within the breast of one so distinguished for daring enterprise. In later years those feelings would have assumed a different form, and been expressed in a different manner; but it is the object of the memoir to present the man as he was, and the change that was effected will be most completely understood, by comparing what he was at different periods of his life.

… “Accustomed hitherto to receive only the most pleasing accounts from your sons, I feel an additional pang at the cruel necessity I am under, of destroying that happiness I had long indulged the idea, would last the remainder of your days. You will naturally conceive the nature of this melancholy event; but will at the same time, I trust, derive comfort and consolation from the circumstances attending it, and assist my dear mother in bearing her loss with resignation. Poor Wallace is no more; he died of his wounds the 15th of last month. He died as he lived, a hero; and a pattern to every young man both in public and private life, universally regretted and esteemed. The loss is only on our side. His amiable conduct through life has ensured him felicity for ever: and as a time must arrive when we must quit all who are dear to us, I can conceive no greater alleviation to our grief, than the object having fallen in his country’s service, whilst nobly distinguishing himself, which was the case with my dear brother, who had already acquired a high reputation with his brother officers. I shall not attempt to offer consolation; besides feeling the want of it myself, I am convinced your own reflections will have more effect than all I could say on the subject.

“I was in some measure prepared for the melancholy event. Admiral Duckworth’s account alarmed me, though it left me hopes which I suffered myself to indulge when I wrote you from Gibraltar. The Admiral with the goodness of heart for which he is distinguished, sent me here in hopes of our meeting; a circumstance I shall ever remember. But whilst I am on the subject of gratitude, let me take the earliest opportunity of saying, how much we are all indebted to Lieutenant W. Pemberton, and his amiable wife, for their unwearied care of the poor fellow during his illness. To them he owed much of the comfort of his last moments. Pemberton seldom left him; and his wife was ever studying what was most grateful to his taste, and that in a country where the common necessaries of life were scarcely to be procured. Through their friendship, and the general interest every one took in his welfare, he wanted for nothing. I have long been in habits of intimacy with this worthy couple; they are now endeared to me; and I trust, some day, to have it in my power to acknowledge their kindness.

“I arrived here late last night, and shall sail immediately for Palermo, with dispatches for Lord Nelson. L’Alceste sails directly for England; by her you must receive the distressing intelligence. I shall avail myself of the same conveyance to suggest the steps which are likely to be of any service to Edward. Captain Western was promoted to Commander, from his brother having fallen, before Wallace did, and Edward has the same claim. I don’t see how Lord Spencer can refuse it, when you apply to him. Let me request, my dear Sir, that you will use all your interest in his favour with Admiral Young, Lord Hood, or any one you think can serve him. I have fortunately had opportunities of acquiring myself friends, who I hope will enable me to go on by myself, and in some measure compensate for your loss. I mean in taking care of my sisters; in other respects I never can. I have a power of attorney to receive my brother’s pay and prize money, which he wished to have laid out, either in an annuity for his sisters, or in a purchase, the interest of which might be for them, and the principal their property. I think it will be something considerable, and shall inform you as soon as possible, and request your advice upon the subject. In the meantime, my ever dear Sir, let me entreat you to remember, you have still two sons, whose only wishes are your happiness, and that of their dear mother and sisters. May my next be of a more cheerful nature, and that you may see many happy days, is the sincere wish of

“Dear Sir,

“Your ever dutiful and affectionate Son,

“JAHLEEL BRENTON.

“January 19th, 1800.”

The Editor is happy in being allowed to add from the recently published Nelson Dispatches, a letter from Lord Nelson, as characteristic of that great and gallant man as it is honourable to the subject of this memoir.

Palermo, December, 7th, 1799.

“Sir,

“Captain Brenton, of Her Majesty’s sloop the Speedy, having on the 6th of November, with a convoy from the coast of Portugal, when attacked in the Straits by twelve Spanish gun boats, displayed uncommon skill and gallantry, in saving the sloop under his command, and all his convoy; I beg leave to recommend him to their lordship’s notice; and if the merits of a Brother may be allowed to have any weight, I have the sorrow to tell you, that he (the brother James Wallace Brenton) lost his life, when Lieutenant of the Peterel, attempting, with great bravery, to bring off a vessel which the sloop had run ashore. He died of his wounds a few days ago at Minorca Hospital.

“I have the honour to be, Sir,

“Your most obedient servant,

“BRONTE NELSON.”

The Speedy again returned to Gibraltar, and was immediately sent off again with dispatches to the Commander in chief, then supposed to be off Malta; but on her arrival at St. Paul’s bay, Captain Brenton found Nelson with his flag in the Foudroyant, and a squadron, co-operating with the land forces employed in the siege of Valetta. His lordship had recently had the satisfaction of seeing another of the French fleet, which he had so nearly annihilated in Aboukir bay, captured by the Northumberland and Success frigate. This was the Genereux. She had been sent to Minorca; and Lord Nelson, after warmly applauding Captain Brenton for his conduct, in his late encounter with the gun boats at Gibraltar, congratulated him upon his being made Post, from information which he had received from Lord Keith. The arrangement, by which this promotion took place, was that Captain Dixon, of the Lion, (the late Admiral Sir Manley Dixon) should be removed to the Genereux; that Lord William Stuart commanding the Souverein (the Sheer hulk at Gibraltar, which ship at the time was commanded by a Post Captain, and had charge of the general duties of the port of Gibraltar) should succeed to the Lion, and Captain Brenton to take command of the Souverein, to be succeeded in the Speedy by Lord Cochrane, who was made Commander.

The Speedy proceeded through the Phare of Messina on her way to Leghorn, where Captain Brenton was informed he would find the Commander in chief. He arrived there on the 18th of March, but saw no ship of war in the road. He soon however received the melancholy information that the Queen Charlotte, the flag ship, had taken fire on the preceding day, and had blown up; scarcely two hundred men having been saved out of a complement of nearly eight hundred. The cause of this dreadful event arose from a quantity of hay being taken on board, and placed under the half deck, in readiness to be pressed; an operation that was then generally performed by having a strong wooden case placed in the after hatchway, to which a screw was applied, and a bag fitted to receive the hay, when it was brought into a portable compass. This was always a most dangerous operation, and should never be permitted; as the hay when purchased might be pressed on shore. In the present instance, the hay being brought on board loose, was carelessly thrown under the half-deck, between the guns. A match tub with a lighted match had been left there in readiness for a signal gun, and being unobserved by the man who carried the first truss of hay, it was covered over by it, and the whole space soon filled. The hay must have been a long time ignited, but no one coming to it, the fire did not shew itself until the moment when the ship getting under weigh, the wind rushed in through the weather ports, and caused it to break out in a fearful volume of flames, which catching the mainsail was soon at the mast head. Captain Todd, who commanded the ship, with admirable presence of mind, caused the anchors to be immediately let go, which brought the ship head to wind, and gave all who could get forward, a chance of saving their lives. Numerous boats pushed off from Leghorn, as soon as the ship was discovered to be on fire, but as they approached her, her guns becoming heated and being shotted, the Italians were alarmed and could not be persuaded to approach her. Her own boats, such as could be got into the water, or were already out, were soon filled; and some from the English shipping in the harbour, getting under her bows, enabled the few who escaped to save their lives. The ship at length blew up. Captain Brenton met the few survivors of the officers at the Admiral’s table at Leghorn on his arrival. It was a melancholy party, where mixed feelings were evident, and highly contrasted; gratitude for their own escape, being mingled with grief at the loss of so many friends and companions.

Lord Keith presented Captain Brenton with his Post commission, and an order to assume the temporary command of the Genereux at Port Mahon; until Captain Dixon, then employed in the Lion, at the siege of Malta, should be relieved by Lord William Stuart. The Speedy sailed immediately for Minorca, and Captain Brenton took command of the Genereux on the 19th April, 1800; giving up the Speedy to Lord Cochrane, who was in charge of the Genereux, having brought her in after her capture.

The Genereux was lying at the dock yard dismantled, and with every thing taken out of her, guns included. Her crew consisted of two men sent from every ship in the fleet, of course not the best; and two hundred and seventy Maltese; but the latter were invaluable; and by their steadiness and exertion Captain Brenton was enabled to get the ship in readiness for sea, and to join the Admiral off Genoa, in the month of May.

Genoa had been invested by the Austrian army for nearly six months, and so closely blockaded by the British squadron, that very few vessels could get into it. It was obstinately defended by Massena, but reduced to the greatest extremities, for want of provisions. On the 4th of June it capitulated; but such favourable terms were granted to it, by the Austrian General, that the French were great gainers, by its surrender; as it gave freedom to the army shut up within its walls, and enabled them to contribute greatly to the issue of the battle of Marengo, which occurred ten days afterwards. It has too often been the fate of England to be involved in these short-sighted treaties, by which all the advantage has been forfeited that valour and enterprize had gained.

By the terms of this capitulation British transports were to convey the French troops to Nice, with all their military baggage; and while receiving it on board, a bale, marked military clothing, burst while hoisting in, and displayed some beautiful Genoa velvet. This occasioned an examination of all the packages already on board, and led to the discovery of an immense quantity of similar plunder. Massena was exceedingly angry at this detection, and accused the English of a breach in the terms of the capitulation, although it had been acted upon, up to that moment to the very letter; but the fact was, that it deprived him of much, which he had expected to carry off with impunity.

About 12 o’clock on the 4th of June the squadron entered the harbour of Genoa, and at once fired a royal salute in honour of the birth-day of their sovereign. The scene was truly beautiful; presenting as it did that superb city, rising above the shores of the bay, and its harbour covered with boats, with splendidly decorated flags, and filled with gaily dressed people of both sexes. These boats thronged round the British ships, and shewed but too plainly the misery that had been endured by the wretched inhabitants. The countenances of the company, ghastly with famine and disease, but ill accorded with their gay, and often rich costume. Many were too feeble to mount the side of the ships; and men as well as women were happy to have the aid of the chair for that purpose. The declared object of the visit was to pay respect to the British flag; but the real one was to obtain food at the earliest possible period. They were gladly received. The cabin, the ward room, and in short every part of the ship was filled by them, and a succession of meals brought upon every table, as one party was succeeded by another. But the most delightful circumstance connected with this day, was to see the British seamen, handing out of the ports, their own rations of provisions to the starving multitude who could not get on board. On their landing, the English officers observed the streets on each side strewed with the dead and dying; and although on the opening of the gates, immediately after the surrender, an abundance of provisions was poured in, it was long before the people again enjoyed the blessings of plenty; disease invariably accompanying famine, and shortening life, when the means of supporting it were restored.

CHAPTER IV.

DISAPPOINTMENT OF PROMOTION.—APPLIES TO LORD ST. VINCENT, AND THROUGH HIM APPOINTED CAPTAIN TO THE CÆSAR, UNDER SIR JAMES SAUMAREZ.—BATTLE AT ALGESIRAS.—EXERTIONS OF CAPTAIN BRENTON IN REFITTING THE CÆSAR, AND SUBSEQUENT VICTORY.—TEMPTING OFFER OF GOING TO ENGLAND WITH DISPATCHES DECLINED.—DEFINITIVE TREATY OF PEACE SIGNED.—SQUADRON AT GIBRALTAR.

On the 14th of June Captain Brenton being superseded by Captain Dixon, left Genoa in the Culloden for Minorca, on his way to join his ship at Gibraltar, and from Mahon proceeded to Gibraltar in the Mondovi. On his arrival at Gibraltar he had the mortification to find the Souverein had been paid off, in consequence of an altercation between Lord Wm. Stuart and the Commissioner; and he received orders to return to England on half pay. The disappointment was the more severe, as Captain Brenton had been assured by Lord Keith, that the Souverein was to be considered as a stepping stone to Post rank; and that every vacancy in a Post ship was to be filled up from her, consequently that the last made Post Captain would always have that appointment. He was also well aware of the difficulty which existed in England of getting employed from half pay; that it was only those that were in the stream that were carried along with it; whilst many officers, who had gained their promotion by a succession of gallant achievements, were passing their days in helpless indolence. They had got into the eddy, and had the mortification of seeing those whom they had left far behind, bringing up the breeze, and passing by them.

This was particularly the case with the greater part of the first lieutenants of line of battle-ships, promoted after general actions. They had received the rank of Commander with the delight so natural to the attainment of such a step: but wanting interest to obtain a command, they were soon forgotten; and many had to regret that they had gained their promotion.

Captain Brenton embarked in the Anson from Gibraltar, in July; and in crossing the Bay of Biscay they fell in with the Louisa, armed brig, on her way to join Earl St. Vincent, who had now the command of the channel fleet, and was cruizing off Brest, with his flag in the Royal George. Captain Brenton availed himself of this opportunity of seeing his kind-hearted and noble chief again, to whom he was so truly indebted for relieving him from a situation, in which he felt himself disgraced; and for bringing him on, step by step, to that situation in his profession, from which he could only rise farther by seniority. He accordingly left the Anson, and in a few days after came in sight of the fleet. He was received by Earl St. Vincent with the warmest regard, who not only sincerely congratulated him upon his promotion, of which indeed he had himself been the cause, but thanked him in the most flattering terms for the conduct which had led to it. He then said, “I will now give you a letter to Lord Spencer, requesting him to give you a ship, and should he not do so immediately, I desire you to join me in Torbay without loss of time. I shall be there in the course of a week, when I shall expect to see you, unless you receive an appointment.” He then wrote to Lord Spencer in the strongest terms, recommending Captain Brenton for immediate employment; adverting to the circumstance of his having gained both his Commander’s and his Post commission in action with the enemy.

Captain Brenton arrived the following day at Plymouth, and proceeded to London, where he delivered his letter to Lord Spencer. His lordship holding out no hopes of immediate employment, Captain Brenton set out for Portsmouth, with the intention of proceeding to Torbay by the first ship going thither. He accordingly went on board the Prince of Wales, Sir Robert Calder’s flag ship; and soon found himself on board the Ville de Paris, with his noble patron. His situation here was of an extraordinary description, and not without some degree of unpleasantness. The officers were, many of them, those who had been his messmates in the same ship, previously to his being made a commander out of her into the Speedy. They considered, and justly, that he had already had his share of promotion; and were apprehensive that his coming back to serve as a volunteer, might interfere with some vacancy to which they might be looking. This was a feeling very naturally to be expected, and for which every allowance should be made; whilst even as regarded the captain of the fleet, and the captain of the ship, he did not feel quite certain that they might approve a nondescript officer, although in their conduct they shewed only the kindest attention.

With these feelings upon his mind, Captain Brenton walking the deck one morning with the Admiral, said to him, “My lord, I do not like this kind of life; I have no business of my own to do.” His lordship answered, “I have been thinking you would not—and it has struck me that I might give you the Joseph cutter, commanded by Lieutenant Lapenotiere; that you might visit the in-shore squadron; and so give you an introduction to Sir James Saumarez, the commodore. You might there amuse yourself by making observations on the French coast; and when tired of your excursion, you may rejoin me either here or off Ushant, or in Torbay as it may be; as I mean to bear up for that place, with the first westerly gale.”

Captain Brenton was delighted with the plan, and joyfully accepted it. It was not only agreeable in every point of view at the time, but in the end it led to the most beneficial results, as regarded his professional life, by leading to his appointment as the flag captain of that great and good man, the late Lord de Saumarez. He was received with the utmost kindness by Sir James; and having passed some days in the squadron, landing occasionally upon the islands off Brest; he returned to the Ville de Paris, just as a gale of wind was springing up, and on the following day the fleet anchored in Torbay.

Lord St. Vincent always resided while on shore at Torr Abbey, and having introduced Captain Brenton to Mr. Carey, the hospitable master of the mansion, he became one of the family for some weeks. A great naval promotion being at this time expected, Lord St. Vincent made it a particular request, that Sir James Saumarez should be included in it, and have his flag flying in the Cæsar, as one of the junior admirals in the channel fleet. He at the same time wrote to Sir James, informing him of his having made this application; and requesting, in the event of its being successful, that he would have Captain Brenton appointed as his captain. This Sir James most kindly and readily granted; and on the 1st January, 1800, Captain Brenton received his commission for the Cæsar, and joined her at Spithead a few days after.

In February they proceeded to Torbay, and from thence Sir James resumed his station off Brest. This was a most arduous service in winter time, when the gales from the westward came on so suddenly, and with so much violence, that it was scarcely possible to clear the land. The Black Rocks however lost much of their terrors upon Sir James Saumarez resorting to the anchorage in Douanenez bay, which he did in the preceding November; convinced that the enemy would not dare to attack him there, from the apprehension that the British fleet might come over from the opposite coast, either during or after the attack; in which case the whole of their attacking force, with whatever ships they might have captured, would fall into our hands. It is true it required much nerve to run for the Cul de Sac in a heavy gale, with mortar batteries crossing each other from the Bec du Rez, and the Bec du Chevre; and with a shoal in the centre of the entrance. The master of the Cæsar however was a very skilful man, and an excellent pilot. He unhesitatingly took the charge, and anchored the squadron in the eastern part of the bay, just without the range of the shells from the batteries, and with only one point of the compass open to the sea. Upon the last occasion the squadron consisted of six sail of the line, and a frigate. The gale lasted three days, and upon its subsiding, Sir James left his anchorage, and resumed his station off the Black Rocks, having his ships and crews refreshed by the repose he had procured them, instead of being crippled and exhausted by being continually exposed to a heavy sea.

In the month of April a cutter joined the fleet, bringing a weekly newspaper of extraordinary importance, in which was included Lord Nelson’s destruction of the Danish block ships at Copenhagen, and the landing of the British army in Egypt, with the subsequent victories. The Admiral directed that it should be read to the ship’s company, who were accordingly assembled for the purpose, and gave three hearty cheers on hearing the news.

In the latter end of May Sir James was ordered into Plymouth, to take the command of a squadron about to assemble there for a particular service; to the great joy of every officer and man on board the Cæsar, who were heartily tired of the blockade of Brest; and who were elated with the hope, of at length seeing more active service. The squadron assembled in Cawsand bay, consisting of the Cæsar and Pompée of eighty guns, with the Hannibal, Audacious, and Spencer of seventy-four guns each. They sailed from Plymouth on the 15th of June, and reached Lisbon four days afterwards; and having sent in despatches to the British ambassador, continued their course for Cadiz, where they arrived in the latter end of June. On the 5th of July the first battle of Algesiras took place, as detailed in the following official letter.

London Gazette, August 1st, 1801.

Copy of a letter from Rear Admiral Sir James Saumarez to Evan Nepean, Esq. dated on board H.M.S. Cæsar, at Gibraltar, 6th July.

“Sir,

“I have to request you will be pleased to inform my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that conformably to my letter of yesterday’s date, I stood through the straits, with his Majesty’s squadron under my orders, with the intention of attacking three French line of battle ships, and a frigate that I had received information of being at anchor off Algesiras. On opening Cabritta point, I found the ships lay at a considerable distance from the enemy’s batteries, and having a leading wind up to them, afforded every reasonable hope of success in the attack. I had previously directed Captain Hood, in the Venerable, from his experience, and knowledge of the anchorage, to lead the squadron, which he executed with his accustomed gallantry; and although it was not intended that he should anchor, he found himself under the necessity so to do, from the wind failing, (a circumstance so much to be apprehended in this country) to which circumstance, I have to regret the want of success, in this well intended enterprize. Captain Stirling anchored opposite to the inner ship of the enemy, and brought the Pompée to action, in the most spirited and gallant manner, which was followed by the commanders of every ship in the squadron. Captains Darby and Ferris, owing to light winds were prevented, for a considerable time from coming into action; at length, the Hannibal getting a breeze, Captain Ferris had the most favourable prospect of being alongside one of the enemy’s ships, when the Hannibal unfortunately took the ground, and I am extremely concerned to acquaint their Lordships, that, after having made every possible effort, with this ship and the Audacious, to cover her from the enemy, I was under the necessity to make sail, being at the time only three cables length from one of the enemy’s batteries.

“My thanks are particularly due to all the captains, officers, and men under my orders; and although their endeavours have not been crowned with success, I trust the thousands of spectators from his Majesty’s garrison, and also the surrounding coast, will do justice to their valour and intrepidity, which were not to be checked from the numerous batteries (however formidable) that surround Algesiras.

“I feel it incumbent on me to state to their Lordships the great merits of Captain Brenton of the Cæsar, whose cool judgment, and intrepid conduct, I will venture to pronounce were never surpassed. I also beg leave to recommend to their Lordships’ notice, my flag lieutenant, Mr. Phillip Dumaresq, who has served with me from the commencement of this war, and is a most deserving officer; Mr. Lansborne, and the other lieutenants, are also entitled to great praise; as well as Captain Maxwell, of the marines, and the officers of his corps, serving on board the Cæsar.

“The enemy’s ships consisted of two of eighty-four guns, and one of seventy-four, with a large frigate; two of the former are aground, and the whole are rendered totally unserviceable. I cannot close this letter without rendering the most ample justice to the great bravery of Captain Ferris. The loss in his ship must have been very considerable, both in officers and men; but I have the satisfaction to be informed that his Majesty has not lost so valuable an officer.

“I have the honour to be, &c. &c.

“JAMES SAUMAREZ.

“P.S. The Honourable Captain Dundas, of his Majesty’s Polacre the Calpe, made his vessel as useful as possible, and kept up a spirited fire on one of the enemy’s batteries; I have also to express my approbation of Lieutenant Janverin, commander of the gun boats, who having joined me with intelligence, served as a volunteer on board the Cæsar.”

The manner in which the interval between this action and that which succeeded it within a week’s distance, was passed, must be described by the subject of this Memoir himself. He says, “On the Cæsar anchoring at Gibraltar after this disastrous affair, the Admiral sent me on shore, to communicate with the Governor, (General O’Hara), who expressed much regret at the fate of the day, but was truly sensible of the efforts that had been made to ensure success.

“Before my return on board, the Admiral had retired to his cot, and in a state of mind which may be easily conceived by those to whom his character was known; so sensitive, and at the same time so devoted, to his country. He felt most keenly the apprehension that the important service, for which he had been despatched from England, might be frustrated by the unfortunate, and totally unexpected termination of the attack. On the following morning, he sent me with a flag of truce to the French Admiral at Algesiras, who on my boat coming within range of his guns, threw a shot over us. I immediately laid upon my oars, as a boat with a corresponding flag of truce was seen pulling towards me. On coming within hail, the French officer demanded what was the object of my mission; but I declined delivering it to any but Admiral Linois himself. I was then requested to wait until the officer could obtain further orders. He soon returned with directions for the Cæsar’s boat to follow to the Formidable, the French flag ship. Here I was received by a guard, forming a double line from the gangway to the cabin door; and when in the cabin, I was enclosed in a circle of officers, in the centre of which stood the Admiral. I then delivered my message from the British Admiral; which was, that an exchange of prisoners might immediately take place, which M. Linois declined; on the ground of requiring authority for such a measure from the Minister of marine, at Paris. I then requested that the officers of the Hannibal should be sent over on parole, which was acceded to, and I withdrew; the French Admiral conducting me to the gangway, in the same manner as I had entered the ship; begging that I would request the Admiral, that on any further communication he might have to make to him, it should not be by an officer of rank, but by a ‘petit midshipman.’ It was evident that M. Linois was unwilling that the crippled state of his ship should be too minutely observed; and hence the arrangement of the guard and officers, which effectually screened the internal state of the ship from observation; but I was amply indemnified by seeing the outward damages, which could not be concealed.

“On my return the Cæsar had warped into the Mole, and was proceeding to strike the masts. Both mainmast and foremast had been severely wounded, the former so much so, as to be unfit for service; and the foremast required extensive fishing. All the wounded were sent to the hospital; and the killed in the squadron sent on shore for burial. The funeral of the officers—the masters of the Cæsar and Pompée, and a midshipman of the latter, who were buried with the honours of war, formed a most imposing and affecting spectacle, from the great number of troops drawn out upon the occasion, and from the whole population of the rock being spectators.”

On the 9th day of July, three days after the battle of Algesiras, the Superb, and Thames, were seen under a crowd of sail, steering through the straits of Gibraltar; and soon after the Spanish squadron of six sail of the line, was observed in pursuit of them. The British ships anchored in Gibraltar bay, and the enemy hauled their wind for Algesiras, where they anchored with the French squadron, evidently with a view of conveying them round to Cadiz. Sir James Saumarez convinced that such was the intention, at once decided upon attacking them with four ships, as it was considered utterly impossible for either the Pompée or Cæsar to be in readiness. He sent for Captain Brenton into his cabin, and informing him of the resolution he had come to, directed that his flag should forthwith be shifted into the Audacious, and that the crews of the Cæsar and Pompée should be distributed amongst the other ships. Captain Brenton acknowledged the expediency of the flag being shifted, and the probability that the Cæsar would not be refitted in time to receive it again, before the enemy left Algesiras; but requested the Admiral to permit him to make the effort, by keeping his people on board, until the enemy were seen to be getting under sail, to which Sir James consented.

Captain Brenton turning the hands up, informed the crew of the Admiral’s intention, and called upon them to use every exertion to put their ship in a state to bear their Admiral’s flag again into battle, should the enemy give them an opportunity. An universal cry was heard of all hands, “All night and all day.” This however Captain Brenton would not permit; but he employed the whole ship’s company, from four in the morning until eight in the evening; of the remaining eight hours, each watch was alternately allowed four of repose. He alone slept not, for his active mind, and ardent disposition, were wound up to the highest pitch of excitement; and he has been heard himself to describe, the overwhelming sense of sleep and weariness, by which he was overcome, when these exertions were happily terminated.

By the most strenuous efforts of every individual concerned, on the morning of the 12th the new mainmast had been got in and rigged, and the other damages in some measure repaired. We extract a few more particulars from Captain Brenton’s note, “A great, though not a visible progress,” he says, “was soon made; indeed the latter circumstance was avoided as much as possible, in order to prevent the enemy supposing that any attack was intended. The following day was an arduous one, and on Saturday the 11th, so much appeared yet to be done, that the Admiral, who had never been very sanguine in the hope of having the Cæsar ready, again urged me to send the people away, lest they should suffer so much from fatigue, that they might become unfit for the exertions, they would be called upon to make, in the action about to take place. He added, “you now have done all in your power; you must make up your mind to the disappointment.” I replied, “you are now going on shore to dine at the Governor’s; excuse my attending you, and if, when you return on board in the evening, the ship is not ready, I promise to have the people all ready for distribution, when you give the orders.” To this the Admiral consented, and went on shore. It became now necessary rather to shew progress, than to conceal it; the top gallant yards were accordingly got up, and the yards crossed, and sails bent, before the different parts of the rigging were in the order necessary for getting under weigh. The Admiral on his return was delighted at what he saw, and relinquished all idea of removing into the Audacious.”

The enemy at the same time were in movement in Algesiras bay. By two o’clock p.m. the Cæsar warped out of the Mole, and was at the same time employed in bending sails, setting up rigging, filling powder, receiving stores of every description from boats alongside, and preparing for battle; the band on the poop playing, “Cheer up my lads,” which was answered by a regimental band on the Mole, with “Britons, strike home.” The animation of this scene cannot be described, but the recollection of it must have continued vivid in the breast of the chief mover of these heroic exertions. The scene no doubt was peculiar, and the impressions left by it can be more easily conceived than described, when the two squadrons, occupying their respective sides of a small bay, separated from each other by a distance of only four miles, were mutually engaged in preparations for combat. Thousands of spectators, occupied the surrounding hills and shores; the sea was covered with the numerous boats employed by the ships of war. And the general excitement which every where reigned, can only be imagined; as well as the feelings of Captain Brenton, when he made the signal of being ready for service, and again received the flag of his respected and gallant Admiral.

It was almost one of the latest efforts of Captain Brenton’s pencil to recall the triumphant moment of the Cæsar warping out of the Mole, under the circumstances which have been described. He has often expressed the powerful excitement, which even the recollection of this period occasioned; and he never could give the narrative, even to the latest period of his life, without the most thrilling sensation. The particulars of the action will be found in the following official dispatch, and the results which followed these exertions must be given in the language of the letter in which Sir James Saumarez communicated his victory.

“Cæsar, off Cape Trafalgar, July 13, 1801.

“Sir,

“It has pleased the Almighty to crown the exertions of this squadron, with the most decisive success over the enemies of their country. The three French line of battle ships, disabled in the action of the 6th instant, off Algesiras, were on the 8th reinforced by a squadron of five Spanish line of battle ships, under the command of Don Juan Joaquin de Marino, and a French ship of seventy-four guns, bearing a broad pendant, besides three frigates, and an incredible number of gun boats, and other vessels, and got under sail yesterday morning, together with his Majesty’s ship Hannibal, which they had succeeded in getting off the shoal on which she struck. I almost despaired of having a sufficient force in readiness to oppose such numbers, but through the great exertions of Captain Brenton, the officers, and men belonging to the Cæsar, the ship was in readiness to warp out of the Mole yesterday morning, and got under weigh immediately after with all the squadron, except the Pompée, which ship had not time to get in her masts.

“Confiding in the zeal and intrepidity of the officers and the men I had the happiness to serve with, I determined, if possible, to obstruct the passage of this very powerful force to Cadiz. Late in the evening I observed the enemy’s ships to have cleared Cabritta point; and at eight I bore up with the squadron, to stand after them; his Majesty’s ship, Superb, being stationed ahead of the Cæsar. I directed Captain Keats to make sail, and attack the sternmost ships in the enemy’s rear, using his endeavours to keep in shore of them. At eleven the Superb opened her fire close to the enemy’s ships; and on the Cæsar coming up, and preparing to engage a three decker, that had hauled her wind, she was perceived to have taken fire, and the flames having communicated to a ship to leeward of her, both were seen in a blaze, and presented a most awful sight. No possibility existing of offering the least assistance in so distressing a situation; the Cæsar passed to close with the ship engaged by the Superb, but by the cool and determined fire kept upon her, which must ever reflect the highest credit on that ship, the enemy’s ship was completely silenced, and soon after hauled down her colours.

“The Venerable and Spencer having at this time come up, I bore up after the enemy, who were carrying a press of sail, standing out of the straits, and lost sight of them during the night. It blew excessively hard until daylight; and in the morning the only ships in company were the Venerable and Thames, ahead of the Cæsar, and one of the French ships at some distance from them, standing towards the shoal of Conil, besides the Spencer astern, coming up.

“All the ships immediately made sail, with a fresh breeze; but as we approached, the wind suddenly failing, the Venerable was alone able to bring her into action, which Captain Hood did in the most gallant manner, and had nearly silenced the French ship when his mainmast (which had been before wounded) was unfortunately shot away, and it coming nearly calm, the enemy’s ship was enabled to get off, without any possibility of following her.

“The highest praise is due to Captain Hood, the officers, and men of the Venerable, for their spirit and gallantry in the action, which entitled them to better success. The French ship was an eighty-four, with additional guns on the gunwale.

“This action was so near the shore that the Venerable struck on one of the shoals, but was soon after got off, and taken in tow by the Thames, but with the loss of her masts. The enemy’s ships are now in sight, to the westward, standing in for Cadiz. The Superb and Audacious, with the captured ship, are also in sight, with the Carlotta, Portuguese frigate, commanded by Captain Crawford Duncan, who very handsomely came out with the squadron, and has been of the greatest assistance to Captain Keats, in staying by the enemy’s ship, captured by the Superb.

“I am proceeding with the squadron for Rosier bay, and shall proceed the moment the ships are refitted, to resume my station. No praises that I can bestow are adequate to the merits of the officers and ships’ companies of all the squadron; particularly for their unremitted exertions in refitting the ships at Gibraltar, to which, in a great degree, is to be ascribed the success of the squadron against the enemy.

“Although the Spencer and Audacious had not the good fortune to partake of this action, I have no doubt of their exertions, had they come up in time, to close with the enemy’s ships. My thanks are also due to Captain Holles, of the Thames, and to the Honourable Captain Dundas, of the Calpe, whose assistance was particularly useful to Captain Keats, in securing the enemy’s ship, and enabling the Superb to stand after the squadron, in case of being able to renew the action.

I have the honour to be, &c. &c.

“J. SAUMAREZ.