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mm ilEffiOiiLJL §M CIE^ilEILIES T„IPS.!^m®SIE,IS.C Jl

'^^Z^^

LIVES OF

VICE-ADMIRAL

SIR CHARLES VINICOMBE PENROSE,

K.C.B.,

AND

CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN,

KNIGHT OF THE RDS3UN ORDERS OF ST. GEORGQ AND ST. VLADIMIR.

BY THEIR NEPHEW,

THE REV. JOHN PENROSE,

FORMERLY OV OORtDS OHKISTI OOLLSaB IN OXFORD.

LONDON :
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE

1850.

■>«k-^ 4i, :i>Ai

LONDON :

OEOROE WOODPALL AND SON,

ANOSL COURT, 8KINNKR 8TRRKT.

^.y.-'^A:^^

REAE-ADMIRAL COODE.

«#

My dear Admiral,

The natural preface to this volume is, I think,
a letter to you. As being not only yourself one
of our uncle's nephews, but also as having mar-
ried one of his daughters, and as the father of
his grandchildren, you and they, although you can
hardly any of you have loved him better than I
did, are his proper representatives, and the fittest
guardians of his memory. My account of Admi-
ral Penrose is also chiefly compiled from materials
with which you have furnished me; and that of
Captain Trevenen from the very detailed manu-
script life of him, which our uncle drew up.

All this you of course already know very well ;
but, as I mean this letter to take the place of
a preface to a published book, I wish to state

here particularly, that the materials which I have

A 2

"Kjyrnfw^^<>\\

.-.. ,r-«

DEDICATION.

used for Admiral Penrose's life consist, first, in a
brief manuscript life of her father, written by his
youngest daughter, the sister of your late wife;
secondly, in the accounts of his and your pro-
fessional life and services which are inserted in
Marshall's and Ralfe's Naval Biographies ; thirdly,
in a very long and particular manuscript relation
by himself of his services in the Adour and the
Gironde, and afterwards in the Mediterranean;
and lastly, in the miscellaneous collection which
you have of various documents written or pre-
served by him, and among the rest two manuscript
volumes, to which he gave the title of the Pilot.
In some few instances I may have to refer also to
ray own personal recollections of him, and to his
conversations with myself.

I bad not at first intended to put this volume
into the hands of a bookseller, but merely to print
a few copies for our own relations and private
friends. Any strangers to us, into whose hands
the book may fall, should, I think, know that this
was my first meaning ; and though a very limited
number of copies will now be printed for sale, my
original object in compiling it remains what it was.

DEDICATION. V

Our own generation, as we both of us know and
feel, is fast slipping away; and I have therefore
wished to put on record, before it be too late
the domestic examples of active virtue and true
religion which these pages contain. If my exe-
cution of this task shall be found useful or grateful
to our own families and connections, and especially
to yourself, and to your descendants and my own,
all the end which I have proposed to myself in
undertaking it will be sufficiently answered. The
task itself) if a task it is to be called, has been
full of pleasure to me, and in nothing more than
in the personal communications respecting it which
I have had with yourself, and in the opportunity
which it gives me of thus subscribing myself your
always faithful and affectionate relation and friend,

JOHN PENROSE.
ExMOtJTH, Jan. 10, 1860.

Ik AH'

CONTENTS.

I '

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

CHAPTER 1.
From his birth to his settling at Ethy, in 1708 . . 8

CHAPTER II.

From his settling at Ethy to his entrance of the
Gironde, in March, 1814 17

CHAPTER III.

Occupation of the Gironde, and stay at Bordeaux.
(March 28~May 19, 1814.) ..... 88

CHAPTER IV.

From leaving Bordeaux to his arrival at Naples,
May 28, 1815 . . . .... 61

CHAPTER V.

From his return to Messina in May, 1815, to his
leaving Tunis, April 28, 1816 . . . .66

! ; CHAPTER VI.

Expedition to Algiers . . . . . . 83

viii

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VII.

pm*

From leaving Algiers, September 1, 1816, to the
conclusion of his visit to AH Pasha, in Feb-
ruary, 1818 Od

CHAPTER VIII.
To his return to England in May, 1810

. lis

CHAPTER IX.

Of Admiral Penrose in his profession, and of his general

character «....*.. 126

CHAPTER X.
Conclusion. (1819—1830.)

. Ui

6 '

NOTES.

A. Rev. John Penrose, Vicar of Gluvias . . .151

B. Rev. John Penrose, Rector of Fled borough . .153

C. Letter from the Captains of the merchant ships

convoyed to Barbadoes ...

D. Observations in the West Indies .

E. Admiral Penrose's nephew, C. V. Pentose

F. Commissariats . . , >
O. Entrance of the Adour in 1814 . .
H. Ferdinand of Naples . . . .

I. Seamanship and signals . . .

K. Letters from the Cleopatra's ship's company in

1797 . . .174

L; Mr. Ritchie and Captain Lyon . ■ . . ; • < 178

*»

155
156
16a
168
165
168
169

CONTENTS.

LIFE OF CAPTAIN TREVENEN.

CHAPTER I.

Pift

From his birth to his return in 1780 from the voyage
round the world with Captain Cook . . .183

CHAPTER II.

From his return to England to his brother Matthew's
death in 1786 908

CHAPTER III.
To his arrival at Petersburgh, October 7, 1787 . . dU4

CHAPTER IV.
To the end of the campaign of 1788 .... 337

CHAPTER V.
From his marriage, February, 1789, to March, 1790 . 854

CHAPTER VI.

From the commencement of naval operations in May,

1790, to his death 969

NOTES.

A. Rev. John Trevenen of Bosewame . . . . S91

B. Matthew Trevenen : and of the two eldest brothers,

John and Thomas 391

<. Unpopularity of Gustavus in Finland . . . 399
D. Wreck of the Rodialaff 399

-- "' . mm . ■ ■i^H u i n P^wi* wwiii rn y^nfr^

^■— ''^-^W*

LIFE

SIR CHARLES VINICOMBE PENROSE,

K.C.B,,

TICE-ADHIRAL OF THE WHITE,

KNIOBX GRAND 0R0S3 OF THE IONIAN ORDER OF SI. MIOHAIL AND

ST. OEOROE, AND OF TFB ROYAL NEAPOLITAN ORDER OF

ST. FERDINAND AND OF MERIT.

LIFE

VICE-ADMIRAL

SIR CHARLES VINICOMBE PENROSE,

K.C.B.

CHAPTER I.

FROM HIS BIHTH TO HIS SETTLING AT ETHY, IN 1798.

Charles Vinicombe Penrose was the youngest
son and child of the Rev. John Penrose*, vicar of
St. Gluvias in Cornwall, and was born at Gluvias,
June 20, 1759. He was a boy of great anima-
tion and alacrity; and the anecdote has been
preserved, that one of his young friends, who had
come to Gluvias at a time when he was absent
from home, exclaimed in a half cry, " My heart
misgave me, as I came up the lane, and heard no
noise." Early in 1772 he was admitted into the
naval academy at Portsmouth, under Mr. Witchell,
at that time the head-master, with whom, and with
whose family, he maintained through life an affec-

* See note A at the end of this Memoir.

B 2

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

tionate intercourse. There were, at this time,
about twenty-five youths in the academy, of from
thirteen to seventeen years of age. Among these
was an elder boy of the name of Macrae, of whom
he used to speak in after-years with grateful
remembrance, for having first introduced him into
the ways of the place. Nor did he ever forget
" the mild and steady friendship " borne him by
Pole, afterwards Sir Charles Pole, both during
the short period of their stay together in the
academy, and all their subsequent, though not
very frequent, intercourse in after life. The
" clever but eccentric " Mr. James Ward was
also at this period one of his closest intimates.
But the coming to the school, in 1773, of James
Trevenen, whose eldest sister he afterwards married,
was the event which, as he has said himself in a
brief retrospect of this period of his life, in one of
his manuscript volumes, " gave him the first know-
ledge of that warm and endearing character of
reciprocal affection, which makes friendship the
true cordial in the cup of life."

In the spring of 1775, young Penrose left the
academy, and was appointed midshipman on board
the Levant frigate, Capt. Murray, under whose
command he passed the whole period of his service
during the next twenty-two years of his life, and
who (with one trifling exception) was the only
captain with whom he ever sailed, either as

THE LEVANT FRIGATE, 177ti-

midshipman or as lieutenant. While in the
Levant he visited the Mediterranean, and in
March, 1776, anchored, for the first time, in the
Bay of Algiers. The object of this visit to Algiers
was to restore to their country five Algerines who
had been in slavery at Malta, but had escaped on
board an English frigate, the Alarm, and so be-
come free. The pleasing office of taking them
ashore was assigned to Penrose, then a midship-
njan, and not seventeen years old. It also fell to
his lot, at the same time, to rescue three Minor-
quins (the natives of Minorca being at that time
Enghsh subjects) from captivity in Algiers. This
adventure, if it may be so called, made a great
impression on him at the time, and he has left a
full account of it in one of his later journals. It
will be seen hereafter that, forty years afterwards
(forty years almost to a day), he again entered
the same bay with the like, though larger, object
of adjusting the treaty for the liberation of
Christian slaves, which Lord Exmouth had begun.
By a remarkable coincidence, } oung Pellew, after-
wards Lord Exmouth, then also a midshipman,
had been at Algiers only a day or two before the
anival of the Levant in 1776.

Admiral Penrose, throughout life, used to speak
of himself as having been treated, while in this
ship, with particular kindness by the first lieu-
tenant, afterwards Sir Erasmus Gu\\er. lie also

I n

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

here acquired the friendship of Mr. W. Browell,
afterwards lieutenant-governor of Greenwich Hos-
pital, of Sir Henry Bayntun, Mr. James Rose,
and Lieutenant Maude. " These form the friend-
ships," he says, in one of his memorandums,
" established at this time among my immediate
companions: but this era gave me also many
other valuable friends, amongst whom Lord Hugh
Seymour was most conspicuous, and our juvenile
friendship never cooled."

The Levant returned to England in 1779, and
in August of that year Penrose was made lieu-
tenant, and, shortly after, appointed to the Cleo-
patra. In 1780 he went, for a few days, from
Plymouth to his elder brother's* at Cardynham,
where he then saw his mother for the last time.
His father had died in 1776.

All the summer, and a part of the winter, of
1780 was passed in cruising off the Flemish
banks. Capt. Murray was then sent with a small
squadron to intercept the trade which the Ameri-
cans were carrying on with Gottenburgh, by
passing to the north of the Shetland Islands. The
biting cold made this a service of extreme hard-
ship, and the young lieutenant, now first-lieutenant,
suffered severely. The illness of his captain, and
the incapacity of some of the other officers, threw
on him almost the whole care of the ship, and
■- See note B at the end of this-^Iemoir.

CLEOPATRA, 1780, 1781.

this under circumstances which required the skill
and caution of the seaman to be ever on the alert.
" I had, however," he says, " no time to nurse
myself, though I had pleurisy, besides my chil-
blains. For these latter I used to have warm
vinegar and sal ammoniac brought frequently on
deck, and, to allay the raging pain, dipped thin
gloves into this mixture, and put them on under
thick worsted mittens. 1 believe that this was
not a very safe experiment, but I found it abso-
lutely necessary to allay the acute pain and to
enable me to do my duty. At one time rheu-
matism had so got hold of me that I was not
able to stand, but lay wrapped up in flannel, &c.,
on an arm-chest on the fore-part of the quarter-
deck, to give my orders.

" On one occasion, in a very severe gale, the ship
covered with frozen snow, the main topmast was
carried away; we were the whole of the day
clearing the wreck; and I was much fatigued,
but obliged to keep the first watch. We were
lying to, under bare poles, and I had sent all the
men under shelter, except one man at the helm,
and the mate of the watch; and I had, with
much difficulty, cleared a place for myself between
two of the guns, where, holding by a rope, I could
move two or three short paces backwards and
forwards. About nine o'clock, my messmates
sent to ask if I would have anything, and I,

8 LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

thoughtlessly, ordered a glass of warm brandy-
and-water, which they as thoughtlessly sent. I
drank about half, and gave the rest to the mate.
In a minute or two I felt a glow of warmth, and
a sensation of exquisite pleasure. Health, anima-
tion, freedom from fatigue, all came in their
climax of comfort. The next minute, I said, ' I
will go to sleep,' and fell, sleeping, on the deck.
Fortunately for me, my comrade was an old sea-
man, and he instantly knew my case, and dragged
me down the ladder. I was put to bed ; was
badly treated, as I was rubbed with spirits ; but,
after excruciating pain, I recovered. Had the
officer of the watch been a young gentleman
without experience, I should never have told my
story." In August, 1781, the Cleopatra was in
the action off the Dogger Bank; and some notes,
relative to this action, which were made by Lieut.
Penrose at the time, are inserted in Admiral
Ekins's account of naval battles.

In 1783 the Cleopatra was paid off. "At this
time," he says, " after having been for eleven years
conversant only with nautical affairs, I really felt
a great puzzle to know how a shore life could be
at all endured. I had entered into my profession
with all my heart, and was at this time as nearly
a fish as a finless animal can become." He had
not lost, however, his love for his family, nor was
without a longing to revisit his native county;

PERRAN UTHNO, 1783.

and after a visit of some weeks to London, he
took up his home with his unmarried sisters at
Perran Uthno, where also his brother tlien resided.
— At this time some of the leading members of
the borough of Penryn, which is in the parish of
Gluvias, offered to exert their influence to procure
him promotion, coupling this offer, however, with
the condition that he should become a voter iu
the borough. There is not a doubt but that the
influence thus offered would have been effectual ;
and the proposition thus made out of respect and
affection for his father's memory could not but
be gratifying, and kindly received. Neither yet
can there have existed in the whole navy a man
more desirous to get forward in his profession, or
more ambitious of the distinctions to which his
advancement in it might open the way. At this
period, also, many of the possessors of the borough
privileges in Cornwall were greatly blinded to the
corruptions of the system under which they lived ;
and it might be harsh to pass a severe judgment
on their too great insensibiUty to its true nature
and character. But this young lieutenant was not
a man who could be either deceived or seduced
into any the least compromise of integrity; and
he replied immediately that he had rather remain
a lieutenant all his life than become a captain by
the means proposed. Consequently, he did not
obtain i)ost rank till 1794.

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

There is never any sacrifice made to principle
which is not at some time, or in some way, fully
rewarded. But Admiral Penrose's friends may bo
allowed here to reflect in passing how much this
sacrifice cost him. If the war, which broke out in
1793, had found him a captain of ten years' stand-
ing, instead of only a lieutenant, there is hardly
any place in his profession which he might not,
and would not, have attained and adorned; and
he would also have obtained his flag at a period
when the naval greatness of England shone with
its highest lustre and renown. It should be added,
that his reprobation of the borough system of re-
presentation never relaxed during his after-life.
— During his residence at Perran his attachment
commenced to Miss Trevenen, the elder sister of
his brother's wife, an attachment which the long
time which elapsed before they could marry served
only to strengthen, and which abated not till the
bond was broken by death. They were married at
Constantine, then his brother's curacy, January 2,
1787, and settled at a cottage called Pellour, in
the village of Breage.

But few memorials are left of Lieutenant Pen-
rose's personal history during the period which in-
tervened between his return to Cornwall and the
date of his marriage. It must not be forgotten,
however, that in 1785 he accompanied his late
commander and constant friend, Captain Murray,

PELLOUR, 1787.

from London into Scotland, and passed tho Christ-
mas at Blair Athol. He also paid other visits in
that neighbourhood, in which he acquired many
friends ; and he always subsequently looked back
on this journey as among tho most agreeable inci-
dents of his life. — One amusing recollection of it
was brought back to his mind, more than twenty-
five years afterwards, in a letter on service which
he received when at Gibraltar, from Sir Thomas
Graham, subsequently Lord Lynedoch, who was off
Tariffa. The acting tho play of the " Critic " had
been among the festivities of the winter which he
passed at Blair ; and both he and Sir Thomas had
taken parts as performers. This dispatch from
Tariffa was expressed by quoting from that play
the following appropriate line : —

" I cannot see the Spanish fleet, because 'tis not in sight."

After his marriage Lieut. Penrose lived at
Pellour between six and seven years. All his
children, three daughters*, were born at this place,
which he scarcely quitted during the whole time,
except on the occasion of the Spanish armament
in 1790, when he accompanied Capt. Murray into

* Elizabeth, who married in 1819, Captain, now Rear-
Admiral Coode, C.B., and died at Plymouth, March 7, 1849.

Charlotte Murray, married in 1817, to Capt. William
Mainwaring, died in 1823.

Jane, died at Ethy, 31st July, 1831.

,f?n-

MBtMi»«a

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

the J)(fence 74. In 1793 he again joined his
former captain in the Duke 98, in which he went
with him to the West Indies, and was present at
the attack of Martinique, by Lord Gardner, in the
month of June in tliat year. After his return to
Enghmd he again followed Capt. Murray into the
Gloiy 98, and the Resolution 74. In April, 1794,
Capt. Murray was made Rear-Admiral, and ap-
pointed to the command on the Halifax station ;
and at the samo time Lieut. Penrose was made
commander into the Lynx sloop, in which he also
sailed for Halifax. He was made post into his
old ship, the Cleopatra, in June, and his post com-
mission bears date October 7 of the same year.
When ready for sea he was sent to Bermuda for
the purpose of examining the harbour and channel,
which had been discovered by Lieut. Hurd, the
late hydrographer to the Admiralty ; and he made
a report on the nature of the anchorage, and the
safety of the passage into it, and suggested several
improvements which have since been carried into
effect*.

* Shortly after the performance of this service, a singular
and inexplicable accident befel his skip while crossing the
Gulf Stream, in its course towards Cape Hatteras. The night
was densely dark, and the ship under a reefed foresail, and
mizen staysail ; when all at once, after very vivid lightning
and a loud explosion, the wind shifted in a heavy squall, so as
to bring the ship up several points, with her head to a very
high and much-agitated hica, giving her at the samo time

CLEOPATRA, 1700.

Capt. Pciiroso aftorwnnls commanded for a time
Admiral Murray's flag sliip, the Um^ntion, during
Capt. Pender's absence ; and, in the latter ond of
1790, again returned to the Clc<tpntras in whicii
ship he had the melancholy satisfaction of convey-
ing to England his friend and admiral, who had
been seized with a paralytic affection, from which
he never recovered. This voyage home was trying
and tempestuous ; but at length, and nearly at its
close, the wind had come right aft, and the Captain,
who, though ill, was on deck, believed himself to
be making rapid way up the channel. On a sudden
a light, which he knew to be the Scilly light, flashed
across him, and he saw that he was between Scilly

fresher way tlirough the water. Capt. Penrose, who was in
his cot, got a severe blow by being dashed violently against
the bourns. The ship, however, rose, throwing a vast body of
water aft, which burst open the cabin bulkhead, breaking
loose everything upon deck but the guns. In this send-aft
the taffrail and after-part of the quarter-deck were far under
water. Luckily, only part of the after hatchway was open,
and no great body of water went below. The foresail was
hauled up, and the damage found to be only the loss of the
jibboom, spritsail yard, and bumpkins; the bowsprit and
foreyard sprung, the spankerboom broke in two, and the
small cutter carried away from tlie davits. There is a view
of this occurrence in the thirty -first volume of the " Naval
Chronicle ;" and Capt. Penrose, on being asked many years
afterwards by a naval friend whether it was not exaggerated
in the drawing, said in answer, " It was a terrific pitch ; I
really think this must be a tolerable representation."

i ^'- ' tt-'.:-"°r^' .'■ ' ii.B- ' Miai B BSH'-'-i'^ v

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

and the Land's End. He instantly stood to the
soutli, but had hardly changed his course when he
saw, close astern in the dark night, a wave break
under the bow of a large ship, steering exactly in
the direction which he had left. " I never felt,"
he said, in describing afterwards his sensations at
this moment, " so sick before. I felt certain that
in an hour'c time she would be on the rocks, the
wind blowing almost a storm. I shouted through
the trumpet ; I threw up lights, and fired guns,
to give the alarm, but with the inward conviction
at the time that it was all in vain — and so it was.
This ship was never heard of again ; and though
fragments of a wreck were found the next morning,
on the coast near the Land's End, nothing was
discovered to indicate what wreck it was. There
was a conjecture, however, that they were the
fragments of a large ship from Quebec, with
many passengers, which was about that time
missed."

The death of Admiral Murray, which took
place not long after his return, was an event of
deep and lasting regret to the friend who was
thus deprived of him. During the whole period of
this close intimacy not a single circumstance ever
occurred to interrupt even for a moment their re-
gard for each other. At the close of this period,
observes Capt. Penrose in one of his memorandums,
" Admiral Murray said to me, after a long pause of

CLEOPATRA, 1797-

thought, ' I do not recollect ever to have felt anger
towards you in my life.' "

With regard to Admiral Murray himself, James
Trevenen, who became acquainted with him on
paying a visit to his friend Penrose, when the
Cleopatra was refitting at Sheerness in 1780,
speaks of him at that time as follows : — " I never
knew," he says, " a more agreeable man than
Capt. Murray. More solicitous to create in his
officers a love of his person than an awe of his
office, he entirely throws aside that affected state
and reserve by which most captains think they
preserve their authority; and though not hail
fellow well met with every one he meets, his
behaviour is such a well-tempered mixture of easy
affability, cheerfulness, and becoming dignity, as
cannot fail of making a prepossession in his favour.
For Charles Penrose's sake I received many civili-
ties from him."

The Cleopatra, on this return to England, was
laid up for some months at Portsmouth, in dock;
and, at no long time after her repairs were com-
pleted, the mutiny broke out at Spithead. No
officer could, at this time, be of tranquil mind ;
but Captain Penrose had this unspeakable satis-
faction, that his own crew, from the beginning
to the end of this anxious period, resisted the
mischievous influences then at work, and thus
rewarded his principle of always dealing with

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

them as with reasonable beings, and, even while
requiring the most absolute obedience, treating
them as friends. But of his conduct on that
occasion, further details will be found in a fiiture
chapter*. The Cleopatra afterwards joined the
fleet of cruisers, in the Channel, under Sir Ed-
ward Pellew. Captain Penrose's health, which
had been previously in a very precarious state,
could not but be much shaken by the events
of this difficult time. Yet he would not quit
his ship till the storm was blown over. Then,
scarcely able to endure the bidding farewell to
his ship's company, and the affectionate regrets
and gratitude which they expressed on his leav-
ing them, he returned to his home. A subse-
quent visit to Bath restored his health; and, in
May, 1798, he left Pellour, and took a lease for
his own life, and the lives of his daughters, of
the house and farm at Ethy, near Lostwithiel.
Here he entered with his characteristic alacrity
of character into agricultural pursuits and im-
provements, by which he was always greatly
attracted, and into the society of the many
family and other friends who surrounded him.

* See Chapter IX.

CHAPTER II.

FROM HIS SETTLING AT ETHY, IN 1798, TO HIS ENTBANCE
OF THE GIRONDE, IN MARCH, 1814.

After some months passed in this charming
residence at Ethy, the re-establishment of Cap-
tain Penrose's health induced, and indeed re-
quired, him to apply again for employment ; and,
early in 1799, he was appointed to the Sans
Pareil, of 80 guns. General Tremenheere, then
Captain of Marines in this fine ship, still lives,
almost the last of his contemporaries, to retrace
the recollection, which these pages will suggest
to him, of having thus served under the com-
mand of his early friend, and of the uninterrupted
regard for each other which they always main-
tained. The Sans Pareil bore, at this time,
the flag of Lord Hugh Seymour, and was
destined for the West Indies. But Lord Hugh
himself went out to his station in the Tamar
frigate, and Captain Penrose, therefore, remained
for some time attached to the Channel fleet.
He was with Sir Charles Pole, when the attempt
was made to destroy the Spanish ships at the Isle

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

d'Aix, and he afterwards proceeded with a large
convoy to the West Indies, where he joined
Lord Hugh. On his arrival at Barbadoes, after
a long and fatiguing passage, he received the
thanks of the captains of the merchantmen con-
voyed, expressed in a manner too honourable,
both to them and to himself, not to be here
preserved in a note. Many of his observations,
also, on the system of agriculture which he then
saw practised in Jamaica, and on the state of
the slaves, will be found to deserve the like
preservation*.

Captain Penrose arrived in the West Indies in
the early part of 1800, and continued on this
station till the death of his friend and admiral,
in 1801, when he removed to the Carnatic, in
which ship he continued till the termination of
hostilities in 1802, and in which he returned to
Plymouth, in the month of July, in that year.
His health was now again broken, partly by
the effects of a coup de soleil, while in the
West Indies, but, perhaps, still more by the men-
tal anxiety brought on by the long illness of his
friend and admiral, and his excellent wife Lady
Horatia, to both of whom he paid the most
anxious and unremitting attention. " While on
that fatal station, I had to receive," he says, " the
last pressure of Lord Hugh's hand, whilst his
* See notes C and D at the end of tliis Memoir.

SANS PAREIL, 1800, 1801.

dying looks were impressively cast on me. Lady
Horatia left us a little before her lord's death,
which she did not survive long enough to hear
of. Husband, wife, and child died within three
months of each other, each ignorant of each
other's death."

Besides this great loss (and no friendship was
ever dearer or closer than that by which he had
long been united to Lord Hugh Seymour*), he
also suffered most severely from the death of his
nephew, Charles Penrose, who was nothing less to
him than an adopted son, and who died in May,
1800, almost immediately after his promotion to
the rank of lieutenantt. On hearing of his ill-
ness, his uncle had him brought immediately on
board the Sans Pareil, and placed him in his own
cot. When all possible care and skill had proved
unavailing, and the body had, as is needful in that
climate, been committed to the deep on the
evening of the death. Captain Penrose imme-
diately took possession of his bed again, and lay
in it the same night. He knew how much fever
is produced by the dread of it, and, consequently,
understood the importance of practically evi-
dencing the belief tliat it is not an infectious
disease.

* Capt. Penrose was the writer of the brief life of Lord
Hugh which was published in the " Naval Chronicle."

f See note E at the end of this Memoir.

c 2

SMfe^^Ji'S'****'''''

sii^

ia^^SaiiJNai

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

1 1

Hi !

Captain Penrose, soon after his return to
England in the Carnaiic, took his family again
to Bath, where both his own health, and that of
his wife, which had always been infirm, were
greatly renovated. From Bath he proceeded on
a long visit to his brother in Nottinghamshire.
On the resumption of hostilities in 1803, though
still feeling the effects of the coup de soleil, he
offered his service for sea, but was surprised by
receiving an appointment to raise and command
the Padstow district of Sea Fencibles, on the
north coast of Cornwall, a district which ex-
tended from the Land's End to Hartland Point.
The state of his health was assigned as the reason
for offering him this home employ. He con-
tinued in this command till the Sea Fencibles
were broken up in 1810, and, during this period,
he divided his time between his residence at
Ethy, and his station at Padstow. His health
and strength now became perfectly re-esta1)lished.
He would frequently walk from Ethy to Pad-
stow, or from Padstow to Ethy. His little farm
was one of the many, but never burdensome,
objects of his diligent care. Always alive to the
interests of his own profession, he contributed, at
this time, many letters to the " Naval Chronicle,"
under the signatures of A. F. Y. and E. F. G.
He spared no exertion to procure the erection of
a lighthouse on Trevose Head. He entered with

PAD8T0W, 1803-1810.

return to
nily again
d that of
irm, were
iceeded on
rhamshire.
)3, though
e soleil, he
rprised by
command
Bs, on the
which ex-
land Point,
the reason
He con-
Fencibles
;his period,
(sidence at
His health
(Stal)lished.
ly to Pad-
little farm
|urdensome,
Jive to the
[tributed, at
Chronicle,"
[1 E. F. G.
erection of
iitered with

■I

his characteristic eagerness into the efforts which
were, at this time, set on foot, to procure a reform
in Parliament, aiding them, as much as he could,
both by his presence at public meetings, and by
his pen. And he also completed, at this time, a
lengthened memoir of his dear friend, James
Trevenen, of which an abridgment will form the
second portion of this volume, and which was as
much a labour of love for the regretted and
admired object of his own youthful attachment,
as of kindliness for their common friends and
relatives, at whose desire he undertook the office
of compiling it.

In 1810 Capt. Penrose was appointed to the
chief command at Gibraltar, with the rank of
Commodore. He hoisted his flag on board the
San Juan sheer hulk in the New Mole, and had
to direct the proceedings of a large flotilla which
proved of great utility in the defence of Cadiz
and Tariffa, and also in other operations against
the French army under Marshal Soult*.

During this period of his stay at Gibraltar, the
governor's house (Governor Campbell's) was to
him almost another home, and here, as every-
where, he acquired the grateful respect and affec-

* Some account of the services of this flotilla will be found
in the memoirs of Capt. Sir Thomas Fellowes, Frederick
Jennings Thomas, and William Henry Smyth, in Ralfe's
" Naval Biography."

■fifmnf^ix.>f^^'' '"

smm

, i:|li:li

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

tion of ver many persons to whom he rendered
services, or to whom he gave useful advice. Also,
both on leaving this station, and in many after
periods of his life, he received most gratifying
testimonials of the sense entertained, by the
English merchants in the place, of his unremitting
care of their interests. Nor were those merchants
with whom his subsequent commands brought
him into communication less sensible of, or less
grateful for, his attentions to them. — While at
Gibraltar he was made Colonel of Marines. He
returned home in January, 1813. Not well when
he left his station*, he caught cold on the voyage,
and returned to his family circle weak and
emaciated. But by degrees, though slowly, he
recovered, and was again able to enjoy the society
of his friends, and re-enter into his home pursuits.

I !

On the 22nd of October, 1813, Sir Thomas
Byam Martin, Capt. Wainwright, and Capt. Pen-
rose were appointed to examine and revise the

* It is stated in the accouat of Sir Charles Penrose, in-
serted in the " United Service Journal," that his spirits had
heen wounded v?hile he was at Gibraltar, by the misconduct of a
near connection. Doubtless the misconduct and unhappy fate of
the ofiBcer who must here be alluded to was painfully felt by
a man than whom none was ever more zealous to promote the
interests, and to rejoice in the prosperity, of every young

I '

PLYMOUTH, 1813.

store department of the dockyard at Plymouth.
This was a branch of the public service to which
Capt. Penrose's attention had long been directed.
He had had, some communications respecting it in
1806, with his friend Sir Charles Pole, then a
Lord of the Admiralty, and he was now engaged
in a correspondence on the subject with the Duke
of Clarence, whom he had known personally when
on the Halifax station in the earlier part of the
war. The defects of the existing system, and the
indulgent spirit frequently manifested towards the
contractors for stores, may be, perhaps, not un-
fairly judged of from the following anecdotes. A
fleet, equipped about this time on the fresh-water
lakes of Canada, was supplied with an apparatus
for distilling saltwater; and, though built on spots
surrounded by innumerable birch trees, with birch
brooms sent out from England in the usual abun-
dance. Canadian spars and Canadian plank were
also despatched from Deptford to Canada, at the
expenditure of more than their original cost in
this double voyage*.

. There cannot be a doubt but that Capt. Pen-
rose's services would have been exceedingly useful

man (and there were many) whom he had befriended. But
the author of this article in the journal is in error in speaking
of this person as a near connection of Sir Charles Penrose.
He was a third or fourth cousin of his wife.
* See note F at the end of the volume.

ismmmmmm

LIFE OF ADMIRAL FENROSE.

in this office, especially as his coadjutors were
men for whom he entertained the highest respect
and regard, and with whom he was in perfect
accordance. But his retention of it was very
soon intercepted by his unexpected promotion to
the rank of Rear-Admiral of the Blue, on the 4th
of December of the same year ; and by his
appointment, shortly afterwards, to superintend
the naval service connected with Lord Wellington's
army, then advanced as far as the Pyrenees. It
was surmised by many, that the recent promotion
of flag officers had been made at this time chiefly
for the purpose of including his own name in the
list, and with a view to his appointment to this
particular service. It was evidently a service
which required a man not only of the ability, but
also of the many conciliatory and acceptable
qualities, which he was well known vn possess,
and which are always of peculiar value in caees in
which the array and navy are called to act con-
jointly with each other. The new admiral was
permitted to select his own captain, and named
his nephew, Capt., now Rear-Admiral, Coode,
who was appointed accordingly. His orders were
to proceed to the small port of Passages, on the
north-east coast of Spain, and there to hoist his flag
on board the Porcupine ; and the Challenger brig,
Capt. Vernon, was fitted out, with the least delay
possible, to take him to his station.

PASSAGES, 1814.

Admiral Penrose arrived at Passages* Jan. 27,
1814. On the 29th he landed at the head of the
harbour, near the convent of Renteria, and rode
with Sir George Collier and Capt. Coode to the
army's head-quarters at St. Jean de Luz. " One of
the scenes," he says, " of deepest interest on this
ride vras, when, arriving at the summit of a very
high hill, we saw the valley of the Bidassoa spread
before us, the old town of Fontarabia on our left;
and on the opposite bank of the river, and near
us, the rising ground on which the British flag
first waved on the land of France in modern
times. We descended from this summit by a
good and admirably-formed road, making the
declivity almost as nothing, and crossed the bridge
which had been built by Napoleon, and which
had been broken down by his generals. It was
now repairing by the order of Lord Wellington.
This bridge was again destroyed in the August
following, by orders of Ferdinand, as soon as the

* On arriviug off this little port, it was found convenient
to transfer a boat, which he had brought from Plymouth in the
Challenger, on board a small schooner which was conveying
his luggage. " The jolly tar, who commanded the schooner,
volunteered with great good humour to take in the boat,
which was in a minute or two safe on his deck, by a simple
process, which made me ashamed of the unwieldy machinery I
should have adopted ; but the good fellow said, ' We as has
been smugglers are forced to be pretty sharpish in these here
matters,'"

LIF£ OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

■ i i

English troops had crossed again to the Spanish
side. The contrast between the smiling aspect of
the French territory, and the sombre character of
the adjacent region of Spain, was, as has been a
thousand times observed, remarkable, and almost
startling. It was, as is well known, a common
observation among the soldiery, that they were
got into Yorkshire. Nor was the contrast less in
the aspect of the inhabitants. Absolutely, the
difference is as great on the two sides of the
Bidassoa, as if the great wall of China had been
there for a thousand generations without allowing
of the slightest intercourse, and then suddenly
thrown down. On one side, cheerful and cleanly
activity ; on the other, drowsy indolence. On one
side, they sit during their miserable cold winters,
which descend in every intolerable shape from the
Pyrenees, over a charcoal brazier, with their lazy
heads nodding together ; whilst, a few yards off,
their French neighbours are reading, singing, or
acting, round the blaze of a cheerful wood fire.
On one side, a century would not produce a civil
expression to a stranger to put on record; whilst
on the other, the first peasants you met would
greet you with manners superior to your own. A
Frenchman would be kinder to a foe than a
Spaniard to a friend. I do not think, however,
that the national character in Andalusia was so
debased as I found it in Biscay."

I'ASSAOES, 1814.

' On the Admirars return to Passages, after a
stay of three days at head-quarters, he was joined
by Sir Henry Bunbury, who had been sent out
from England to e idcavour to check the expense
of the army commissariats, and was now on his
return home. The Due d'Angouleme also, under
the title of Count Pradel, and his friend, the Vis-
count do Damas, landed fipom England: unwel-
come visitors at a time when it might be difficult
to protect their persons, or to prevent some pre-
mature declaration in behalf of the Bourbons*.

The chief business which now devolved on the
naval service was, to make the necessary prepara-

* During Sir Henry Bunbury's stay at Passages, Admiral
Penrose paid, in company with him and Sir George Collier,
his first visit to St. Sebastians. " The fine church," he says,
" of that fortress, was at this time in possession of the British
commissariat. Large quantities of provisions were stored in
it, and mules, asses, and oxen were busily employed in bring-
ing in wheat discharged from the vessels in the port. The
organ was covered with thick dust, with com sacks, butchers'
aprons, and rags; and the butchers were cutting up fresh
slaughtered meat on the high altar — one of the most elaborate
compositions of collected rare marbles I ever saw. I went
into a large repository, which contained a great number of
images, and groups of figures, exhibited in procession on
days of festa. Accident had defaced some of these, but no
wilful injury had been done to any, except to those of Pilate
and the apostate Judas. In no one instance had the image of
the Saviour himself received the slightest injury, although
the most scrupulous attention must have been used to protect
it."

mtmm

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

.ill !

•!

tions for throwing a floating bridge across the
A dour. This bridge was to be composed of
small coasting vessels, decked boats, cables, and
planks. Above the bridge were to be anchored
for its protection as many gun-boats as could
be furnished, and, to guard both these and the
bridge from fire-vessels or rafts, a boom was
also to be laid across the river farther up the
stream. These measures were consequent on
the investment of Bayonne; and Admiral Pen-
rose, for the purpose of concerting preliminaries
with Lord Wellington, removed on the 18th of
February to St. Jean de Luz. A flotilla was
soon got ready, but the weather prevented its
sailing for some time. Great difRculties were
to be expected in passing the bar of the river,
which, at the place where the bridge was to be
built, was 400 yards wide, and where the ebb
tide occasionally ran at the rate of eight miles
an hour. The Admiral determined, therefore, to
superintend the operation in person. On the
afternoon of the 22nd he left the harbour of
Socoa, in the Porcupine, convoying some tran-
sports and several large country boats or coasting
vessels laden with materials. But squally weather
and baffling winds came on during the night,
and Jie was unable to bring up the flotilla off"
the bar till the morning of the 24th.

Mr. Gleig, the author of the " Subaltern," then

THE ADOUR, 1814.

a lieutenant of the 85tli Light Infantry, has
given a lively account of the breathless anxiety
with which the operation of passing it on that
day was viewed from the shore. A more perilous
service was never attempted, nor carried through
with more ardour or perseverance. It was nearly
high water, and the wind fair ; both officei's and
soldiers gathered on the heights around, and
the passage of each vessel was eagerly watched,
from the moment it was immersed among the
foaming breakers until it had fairly threaded
the tremendous ordeal. Some few vessels un-
fortunately broached to, and instantly sunk ; but,
on the whole, the attempt fully succeeded, and
with fewer casualties than could have been
expected. General Sir John Hope, who com-
manded on shore, said, in a letter to the
Admiral, " I have often seen how gallantly the
navy will devote themselves, when serving with
an army, but I never before witnessed so bold
and hazardous a co-operation, and you have my
most grateful thanks. # # * j wrote to
you, in the course of last night, to say how
much we stood in need of boats, seamen, &c. ;
but when I saw the flotilla approach the wall of
heavy surf, I regretted all I had said."*

As soon as the boats had thus entered the
river, no time was lost in running those which
* See note G at the end of this Memoir,

wwag

Warn

«IIHH

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

Ul!

! f,a

; lit

were intended to form the bridge up to their
stations, where the bridge was rapidly formed ;
and, at dawn on the following day, it was de-
clared that infantry might cross it with safety.
On the 27th, Bayonne was closely invested by Sh*
John Hope, and Marshal Soult completely routed,
near Orthes, by the main body of the allies. On
the same day, the Admiral returned to Passages.
A period of very severe weather succeeded, and
his private journal of this period contains much
remark on the danger and inconvenience arising
from the crowded state of the harbour, and on
the fury with which, at this " bottona of the net "
of the Bay of Biscay, and at this period of the
year, the surge beat on the precipitous shore.
On the 18th of March, he received a letter from
the Due d'Angouleme, dated Bourdeaux, March
14, containing intelligence of the acknowledg-
ment of the authority of Louio XVIII. in that
town, and introductory of two officers, who were
bearers of despatches for England with this news.
Both these officers wore the white cockade, and
one of them was in the old French uniform.

On the 22nd, Admiral Penrose received in-
structions from the Duke of Wellington, dated
the 17th, to occupy the Gironde; and this, es-
pecially with a view to the making an attack on
the Fort of Blaye. In expectation that he might
have to enter that difficult river, the Admiral had

ENTRANCE OF THE GIRONDE, 1814.

previously endeavoured to secure the assistance
of persons acquainted with the navigation, but
without success. He therefore sent forward the
Lyra sloop, to gain intelligence on the coast.
On the 23rd, the weather forbade to leave the
port ; but, on the 24th, the Admiral sailed in the
Porcupine, taking with him the Kangaroo, the
Vesuvius bomb-vessel, and the brigs Podargus
and Martial. On the evening of the 25th, he
reached the rendezvous which he had appointed,
off the Corduan Lighthouse ; and had there the
good fortune of being joined, before night closed
in, by the Egmont 74, the Andromache, and his
old acquaintance, the Challenger. On the next
day, the Belle Poule, Captain Harris, was added
to his force, and he removed his flag to the
Egmont. On the 27th, at early dawn, he en-
tered the river, the Andromac/ie taking the lead.
The want of pilots, and the haziness of the at-
mosphere, rendered the navigation difficult and
intricate. The conree taken was within eaay
reach of the shot from the enemy's batteries, on
the right bank of the river. But these passed
clear of the ships, and every considerable danger
was successfully passed, when a clear sun and
cheering glow broke forth, to animate the pro-
gress up the stream. Early in the afternoon, the
whole squadron anchored in safety in the Verdun
Roads. The Belle Poule, only, had grounded for

ji] i 'j

mmmmm

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

a short time, but, though within range of an
enemy's battery, had been got off' without loss.
The skill with which this whole service had been
conducted was very highly estimated by all
naval men ; and it was matter of much surprise
to the French seamen, that a fully-equipped ship
of the line should successfully accomplish such
an adventure. Their own 74, the Jtegtdus, had
recently been sent round to the Gironde, from
her station in the Basque Roads ; but it had been
thought necessary previously to lighten her of
her guns and stores.

This ship and other smaller vessels of war
were, at this time, at anchor off^ Royau ; but on
the entrance of the English, they weighed, and
ran higher up the river, pursued by the Eg-
mont and her consorts, under a crowd of sail.
Having proceeded as high as the shoal of Tal-
mont, the French squadron entered the narrow
channel between it and the main. In the me-
moir of Captain Coode, which is given in Mar-
shall's, and in the account of Sir C. Penrose in
Ralfe's, Biography, the subsequent operations are
stated at length. Neither in forcing the entrance
of the river, nor in the many arduous services
which followed, was either a single life lost, or
the slightest injury sustained by the shipping.

i :m

CHAPTER III.

HIS OCCUPATION OF THE GIRONDE AND STAY AT BOURDEAUX.
MARCH 28 TO MAT 19, 1814.

" A SINGULAR contrast," says Admiral Penrose,
" was, at this time, presented by the two opposite
sides of the Gironde. The whole of the popu-
lation, on the right bank, were hearty friends to
Napoleon ; the population of the left bank were
friends, or pretended friends, of the Bourbons.
On the one side, the batteries were deserted, and
the white flag was displayed on the steeples of
the churches, of which the bells gave peals of
welcome as the squadron advanced. On the
other side, the tricolor still waved, and the bat-
teries were manned. The English seamen talked
habitually among themselves of the French side,
and of our side of the river. It is probable,
however, or rather certain, that there was much
hollowness in this pretence of attachment to the
Bourbons which was thus put forward. Lord
Dalhousie, who, at this time, commanded in
Bourdeaux, was evidently of this opinion. He

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

r^T

(■ ; " IH

had recently been offered several thousand stand
of arms which had been on board the vessel
captured on entering the river, and this in the
belief that he might think that they would be
useful in arming a portion of ^he French ad-
herents to the Bourbon cause. But he declined
the offer, saying, " The people are zealous and
loud to shout Vive le Roy ; but, in all other
respects, are cold in the cause which they have
taken up." In fact, by much the greater portion
of the zeal for the restoration of the Bourbons,
was based on fear of Napoleon; or on the ap-
prehension that he might acquire the power of
taking signal vengeance for the demonstrations
v,'hich had been lately made in their behalf.

At Bayonne, in the following June, Admiral
Penrose remarked to Baron Thevenot, that he
had observed that the imperial eagle was still
worn. Thevenot replied, that it would be as
yet dangerous to order it to be removed ; and
it was ascertained that the soldiers still retained
the tricolor cockades in the inside of their caps,
ready for restoration to their old place. It was to
be observed, also, that the white emblem of the
Bourbons was as small, and as much concealed
as possible. Again, at Passages, in July, a
French naval officer, who sought shelter in the
port, spoke of the general antipathy to the
Bourbons as great and decided, and added that

THE GIRONDE, 1814.

there was no doubt but that they would even
then be again expelled, and the Emperor re-
called, if the love of peace had not taken fast
hold of the minds of the great mass of the people-

The French 74, which had retreated up the
river, had, at this time, taken shelter under the
Talmont battery. On the 29th, Admiral Penrose
dispatched Captain Coode with the Vesuvius,
Podargus, Challenger, and Dwarf, together with
a chasse-maree, which had been taken and fitted
as a gun-boat, directing him to proceed up the
Gironde as far as Medoc, or Pouillac. This
movement had in view a possible attempt on
the Fort of Blave, and on a tower in the Isle
Pate, a rock in the mid channel, without the
possession of which the attempt on Blaye would
be greatly impeded. The fort on the Pate,
however, was too strong, and the shores too
steep and slimy, to think of attacking it ; and
the attempt on Blaye was, consequently, sus-
pended for the time, and finally rendered un-
necessary by the events at Bourdeaux, and the
termination of hostilities.

On the 30th, the Admiral again removed to
the Porcupine, and proceeded, accompanied by
the Andromache, though still without pilots, to
an anchorage off the town and fort of Castillon, a
midway station between the Verdun Roads on the
one side, and the advanced squadron under Cap-

D 2

■*

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

{

tain Coode on the other. An attempt had been
planned on the Regulus, and three brigs of war,
wliich lay near her at anchor ; but the carrying
this attempt into execution was intercepted by
the enemy's setting the ships on fire a very short
time before Captain Bingham was about to make
the attack. The force which had been destined
for this service was then sent, under the com-
mand of Captain Harris, to dismantle the bat-
teries along the right bank nf the river, between
Talmont and the sea.

On the 12th of April, the frigates unmoored,
and advanced two or three leagues farther up the
river to Trompe la loupe, steering their course
close to the left bank, which was studded with
neat villas and farms. " As we proceeded," says
the Admiral, whose words shall here be made use
of as much as possible, " all the inhabitants came
out of their houses, or suspended their avocations,
to gaze at their protectors, as we were esteemed
on this side of the river. White flags were
shown, wherever they could be procured, white
handkerchiefs were waved, and the bells chimed
from all the steeples." On the 8th, the Admiral
landed at Pouillac. " The country," he says,
which I had an opportunity of seeing, on this
occasion, was very singular. Far as the eye
could reach there was a continued undulation,
very much like an Atlantic swell in a calm, and

\ .

BOURDEAUX, 1814.

it looked as if a sea, in such a state, had been
suddenly fixed in shape, and, at the same time,
converted into milk-v.'hite pebbles, for nothing
else could be seen at even a small distance."*

On Sunday, April 10, Admiral Penrose landed
again at Pouillac, and proceeded in a carriage
to Bordeaux, where he arrived at about 4 p.m.
The news of the restoration of the Bourbons
arrived from Paris at almost the same instant of
time ; and it may be worth mentioning, that at
an audience held immediately afterwards by the
Due d'Angouleme, at the Archbishop's, the prelate
turned to the Admiral and Lord Dalhousie, and
ended a handsome compliment to the brave
English, to whom all this consummation was
seen to be due, by saying, in a very serious tone,
" Voila la fin d'ouvrage de M. Pitt." The Admiral

* " The vines," it is here added, " were in lines or ridges
of thin pebbles, and pruned low, and not yet in leaf. The
mayor of Pouillac, who attended me through the vineyards
and his own extensive cellars, informed me that the high
flavour of the wine of this district was supposed to arise from
the powerful reflection from the white pebbles, by which the
lower sides of the clusters of grapes were as thoroughly
ripened as the upper sides by the direct rays of the sun. In
some places the vines were trained high, for the purpose of
saving the fruit for raisins ; and in the district of the Vin de
Grave they are also trained high ; but the flavour of the best
claret is supposed to arise from keeping them close to the
ground."

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

%■

here took up his quarters in the Hotel de Fur-
nel ; and, in the evening, obeyed the Due d'An-
gouleme's command to meet him at the opera.
" The opera-house was at some distance, and our
slow progress through the vast assemblage was
highly interesting. Every soul of the 70,000
inhabitants was out of doors, promenading in
their best clothes, in the midst of as fine a night
as ever was, and as bright an illumination as ever
was lighted up. The gay enthusiasm of this
lively people was really animating, and wherever
we were recognised, the shouts of ' Vive le Roi,'
• Vive I'Anglois,' were redoubled. * God save the
King,' often followed * Vive Henri IV.' The
illuminations were repeated on the following
night ; and with the poor witticism of exhibiting
a portrait of Napoleon, inserted in a far-waned
moon, with the inscription * la lune en quartier.'
This enthusiasm was stimulated by a very acute
sense of the preservation which the recent events
had afforded to this great city from the horrors of
a seven dayii' pillage, which had been promised
to an army assembled under the command of
General de Caen. This General de Caen was
a brutal officer, whom Nap 'eon had lately com-
missioned to take signal vengeance on the Bor-
delais for their real or suspected enmity or in-
difference to him and his cause. One prudent
calculator, in painting over the imperial arms

BOURDEAUX, 1814.

the sign of his hotel, took care to lay on colours
which would easily wash off, and which were
washed off accordingly, when the return from
Elba had changed the Bourbon prospects for a
time.

" There were still, however, some true Bour-
bon reminiscences. Six fine old gentlemen of the
royal navy of France, who had served during the
whole of the revolutionary war of America, called
on me, and said through their spokesman that they
felt it their duty to express their gratitude for the
generosity and humanity which had distinguished
the warfare in the Gironde, and declared their
happiness in seeing a British adnn'ral acting as
their most powerful friend. These were cele-
brated men in the days of Rodney, and gloried
not a little at never having served under the
tricolor flag. In good truth they were such per-
fect specimens of the vielle cour that it might
have been thought that they were dressed and
powdered before the tocsin of revolution was first
sounded." Two frigates were at this time at
Bourdeaux on the stocks, and a small quantity of
naval ? res, which might have been considered as
a fair pri/;c ; but it was judged to be both liberal
and expedient, under the particular circumstances
of the case, to give them up, and the boon seemed
to be very gratefully received. It seemed also
to be very soon forgot. At least a young relative

LIFE OF ADMIRAL TBINROSE.

of Admiral Pcnros. 's, who happened to be in
Bourdcaux in 1837, had his inquiries into the
events of tiiis campaign brought to an immediate
close by assurances, given in the most perfect
good faith, that no English admiral had ever been
at Bourdeaux, and that as for an English squadron
having entered the Gironde, the thing was impos-
sible.

On the 14th arrived from England the news of
the breaking off of the negotiations at Chatillon ;
and about the same time the account of the pro-
position of the charter by the provisional govern-
ment at Paris. This proposition was very unpo-
pular with the Bordelais, who, as having been the
first to hoist the white flag, thought that no steps
should be taken in bringing the king back, without
their concurrence. Hence burst out a great vehe-
mence of declarations for absolute monarchy ; and
*' le Roi seul " became the general cry.

" Under this lively impresssion we were to meet
at the theatre. The scene beggared all description.
I went, as I thought, early, but the house was
closely packed, nor was there space for one indi-
vidual more, except in the box reserved for the
British officers, and that of the Prince (the Due
d'Angouleme), which was opposite to it. I entered
well attended, and for a full half hour was obliged
to bow to 3200 well-dressed persons in the part of
the theatre allotted to the audience, and several

BOURDEAUX, 1814.

liuiulrods on the stage close to me. I had hoard
that I was tremendously popular; and the good
people seemed to seize the occasion thus pre-
sented of making me think so. 'God Save the
King,' and even * Rule Britannia,' were loudly called
for, and played, and the English sailor's hornpipe
was demanded by acclamation. The tune which
bore this denomination at Bourdcaux was the
old college hornpipe, the first country dance I
had learned at the academy at Portsmouth, and
I believe the last I ever danced in Cornwall.
It was a singularly-animated spectacle when all
this assembled multitude either danced, sang, or
beat time to their merry roundabout tune to-
gether, not only with delight but enthusiasm.
And it so happened that in the parquette, the
part of the theatre where there are no seats,
some of our jolly Jack-tars beat the flooring
with heel and toe. A French assemblage only,
animated by such impressions as the passing
time produced, could have offered such a spectacle
to a stranger's eye. There was not a man, or
woman, or child in the theatre, who did not suit
either voice or action to the tune. It was well
that all this took place before the arrival of the
Due d'Angouleme, whose situation, if he had been
present, would have been difficult. I afterwards
stated to the manager that, inasmuch as the
ebullition of the moment would soon pass away,

.^'^

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

he would gratify me by a little less panegyric,
and that though I hoped that ' God save the
King,' and ' Vive Henri IV,' might long con-
tinue to harmonize, I doubted the policy of
bringing in * Rule Britannia ' at the conclusion
of the song. I liked the feast, but feared a
surfeit. ' God save the King ' had the honour
of being exhibited on a subsequent occasion
(May 10), at the Comedie, in the following
dress :

' Dieu, conserve a jamais
Le bon roi des Anglais

A ses sujets.
Touches de ses bienfaits
Amis, d'un coeur Fran9ais,
Ghantez tous avec moi

Vive le Roy.'"

On the 18th, Admiral Penrose mounted the
white cockade, and went to the levee to introduce
his captains to the Prince. " The compliment
was well and gratefully taken ; and the next
day the French wore small black cockades under
their white ones." This good understanding,
however, became clouded not long afterwards by
the jealousy of many of those French officers who
had served under Napoleon, and who notoriously
sought occasions of quarrelling with the English.
These outbreaks might have been as common at
Bourdeaux as elsewhere, but for the prudence of

; ! !

BOURDEAUX, 1814.

the first officer who was insulted. This was a
young man, who was reading in a coffee-room,
when one of the Emperor's old followers sat down
at the table opposite to him. The English officer
had placed on the table his military hat, or cap,
in which was a white cockade. This cockade
greatly offended the Frenchman's eye ; and with
much insolence and contempt of manner, he turned
the hat round, and inquired, rudely, " What business
an English officer had with that emblem ? " The
Englishman, with cool deliberation and without
making a reply, put on his hat, and walked out
of the room, and immediately stated his case to
his colonel, and begged him to say whether it
was a case for public or for pri\ ate notice. The
Frenchman was made to acknowledge himself in
fault, and no repetition took place of this sort
of insult." Napoleon's soldiers appeared to be,
with few exceptions, far better gentlemen than
his officers.

On the 22nd, an official notification was issued
that the port and river were free from naval
blockade ; and at the theatre in the evening, in
true French taste, the first singer came up close
to the Admiral, who was in the side box, and
sang a stave in honour of his humanity, and all
the audience roared for joy. On a subsequent
day Admiral Penrose attended at a drawing-room
held by the Due d'Angouleme, for the purpose of

■M

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

receiving those ladies resident at Bourdeaux, who
had had the ancient honour of being presented at
the Court of Louis XVI. " When I took leave
after coffee, I was invited to adjourn with the
Prince, to the assembled circle, or rather square,
for on entering a large room, we found arranged
these relics of antiquity in most venerable and
special order all around it. These worthy dames
had been living in extreme poverty and close
retirement, and they appeared not only in the
fashion of the olden time, but in the very same
habiliments which Louis and Antoinette might
have seen at Versailles. But few of them had
a jewel left, and their faded silks and gray locks
were a melancholy sight. The poor Duke had
to kiss the cheek, and receive the compliments
of each of these good ladies in turn ; and, as no
one could have acted his part better, no one
could have been happier when the scene was
closed. I was informed that some of these
ladies had scarcely been in the open air through
the whole period of the revolution."

But in truth there seemed to be no end to
what may be called the odd circumstances, and
contrasts, and coincidences which Bourdeaux pre-
sented at this time to an observant eye. It was
among the duties of the naval commander to
forward to England the many prisoners of war
who had long been detained in France, and who

BOURDEAUX, 1814.

now flocked in great numbers to this port as af-
fording them tlie readiest means of obtaining a pas-
sage home. Among the other detenus, many mid-
shipmen, who had been captured when mere lads,
were now returning with French wives, and with
children born during their captivity. On the
11th of May, the Admiral gave a superb French
breakfast on board the Podargus, to the Due
d'Angouleme and his suite. Over the deck the
standards of England and France formed the
ceiling, and the flags of the Allied Powers the
sides of the saloon. Nothing could go off" better.
Loud were the cheers from the floating multitude,
and the?' vere still more loudly answered by greater
multita ^ ^ '.) the shores. The landing-place
was kept oy a detachment of the Black Bruns-
wickers, who were serving with the army, and
whose dark uniforms and fierce whiskers, with
the death's head and crossed bones on their caps,
formed a marked contrast to the crowds of Bor-
delaises in white dresses, who were waving their
white handkerchiefs in honour of the Prince. No
less singular a spectacle was presented the next
day, at a dinner given to a large party at the
palace, at which the whole party, the Prince, and
the Viscount de Damas excepted, were in British
uniform or regimentals. Two of the party were
French, but in British service. " Afterwards,"
says the Admiral, "on the 4th of June, when

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

dining with Sir Charles Colville in the village of
Briaritz, near Bayonne, I found myself seated be-
tween two French generals in the full costume of
Napoleon's legions, and this in a booth built by
Portuguese soldiers, at a dinner given to celebrate
the birth-day of George III."

Enough of these anecdotes, however. The
beauty and tranquillity of the agricultural scenes,
in the neighbourhood of the city, formed a grate-
ful and refreshing alternation with his professional
labours, especially to a man whose favourite en-
joyments were almost all of them rural, and
who viewed everything with most intelligent ob-
servation. Whenever he could, he drove, after
his morning work was over, into the country, ac-
companied by some of his officers, and often dined
at some neat village auberge, making the coach-
man the planner of the route, iiccording to the
distance to which the time allowed him to go.
He expatiates largely, in his journal, on the grati-
fication which these excursions aiforded him ; on
the fertility and the cultivation with which he was
surrounded ; on the extreme neatness of the cot-
tages; on the cheerful welcome with which he
was always received; and on the apparent pros-
perity enjoyed by the peasantry*.

* As an agriculturist be was much impressed hy the ap-
parent advantage derived from the practice of housing the

LA BREDE, 1814.

A visit, in one of these country excursions, to
La Brede, formerly the residence of Montesquieu,
is worth extracting at length. "We found the
old baronial castle exactly," he says, "in the
same state in which it had stood for centuries.
Though time had caused the walls to be moss-
grown, and mellowed the whole appearance of the
fabric, yet its hand had otherwise dealt lightly,
and no symptoms of decay abated the character
of strength and solidity. The moat was deep and
full of water, the drawbridge and portcullis could
have been easily put into good condition, and the
external defence outside the moat, and which
must have been carried before the bridge could
be approached, was in good repair. Here was the
residence of an old feudal chief displayed to the
modern observer, distinct in all its parts, and as
defensible against the warfare of the olden time,
as it ever could have been.

working cattle ; and also, like every traveller in France, by
the remarkable kindness with which the animal races seem to
be, in that country, universally treated. " In many of my
drives," he says, " I saw carts drawn by oxen coming in from
the sandy Landes, the fine animals covered over with light
cloths from head to tail, and reaching to the ground ; and on
these level roads the plan of drawing from a board hung to
the horns across the forehead seemed to answer perfectly, and
required less gear than any other method I ever saw."

'■f-'"'

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSK.

"But how did it escape the ravages of the
modern Goths during the reign of terror? the
moat and drawbridge couhl not have protected
it. But the name of Montesquieu did, and most
effectually. The family arms in full emblazon-
ment surmounted the entrance, and the first things
I observed in the hall were the ancient oak chairs,
and the family crest '•emaining on each. In short,
in such respect was the memory held of the au-
thor of the ' Esprit de Loix,' that, during the
whole reign of revolutionary fury and madness,
the house he lived and wrote in was perfectly
safe from intrusion — a circumstance the more
remarkable, inasmuch as the present proprietor
had been an emigrant, and was, I believe, in
London at the time of my visit to his castle.

" All within was ancient, and if I might guess
from appearances, the old steward and his wife
the most ancient of any. The bed, however,
in which the philosopher slept was preserved,
and therefore, in fact, older than the steward.
Throughout the house I do not remember to
have seen a single piece of modern furniture.

" In the room in which, as we were informed,
Montesquieu studied and wrote, we were shown
a mark in the stone which formed one side of the
open fireplace; and this, the attendant assured
us, was made by the right foot of the philosopher,

LA BREDE, 1814.

• to

who always sat near the fire in the same position,
his left foot on the floor, the right pressed against
the before-mentioned stone. We were shown
every relic of drapery which this great man had
worn, and all his ordinary haunts, both within
doors and without; and abundant particulars of
his life and manners were detailed to us, which
an anecdote hunter might have worked out into a
volume,"

At the auberge at which Admiral Penrose
and his party dined on the day of their visit to
La Brede, a very fine old man with the strongest
marks of age on his countenance, but who had
his mental faculties perfect, came to pay his re-
spects to him. This old man had been in the
battle of Quebec in the year 1769, and was one
of the group who attended Montcalm after his
wounds, and was then a corporal or Serjeant, and
an old soldier. In 1814 he must have been at
least a hundred years old.

To this specimen of Admiral Penrose's visits
in the neighbourhood of Bourdeaux, it is to be
added that he was scarcely less attracted by the
many recollections of older times, and of the
English rule, which were supplied by the city
itself. The name of the Black Prince in par-
ticular was certainly remembered by the inha-
bitants with something of pride, and sometimes

1 1

LIFE OP ADMIRAL PENROSE.

apparently with a little fear intermingled. When
the troops under the command of Marshal Beres-
ford were approaching the city, an English mer-
chant who lived near Bourdeaux was reminded by
his neighbours, " that the English were long mas-
ters of this country, that they were always famous
for clemency and moderation, and only came to
claim their own."

/"hen
eres-
mer-
sd by
mas-
mous
le to

CHAPTER IV.

FROM LEAVING BOURDEAUX, MAY \0, 1814, TO HIS ARRIVAL
AT NAPLES, MAY 23, 1816.

On May 16th the Admiral received orders to
return to Passages, in order to embark the re-
maining troops and stores, and forward them to
England. On the 19th he left Bourdeaux, and
on the 22nd the Gironde, in the Porcupbie, and
arrived at Pcassagcs on the 24th, after a jieriod of
service, as much enlivened, probably, by both en-
tertaining and gratifying accompaniments as j ny
service, of the same duration, which it ever fell
to the lot of any officer to fill. Neither yet was
there ever any English officer whose whole de-
portment was or could be more acceptable to
the lively people, amongst whom he had been
sojourning during this eventful period, and with
whom, and their merchants more particularly, his
line of duty, and his control of the navigation of
their great river, threw him in many instances
into very intimate communication. His great

E 2

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

versatility, and the total absence in his eharncter
of the natural phlegm of his countrymen, were
advantages which the French, of all people in the
world, were both the Lest able and the most dis-
posed to appreciate. He gave free audience to
every one; he mixed freely with all classes, and
was always desirous to see all that could be seen,
and to converse with all who wished to converse
with him.

On the 4th of June Admiral Penrose paid a
visit to Sir Charles Colville at Briaritz, a village a
few miles south of the bar of the Adour, and on
the following day went to the bar, and crossed
the bridge and proceeded to Bayonne. He was
here received by Baron Thevenot, an old soldier
who had served with La Fayette in America, in
the war of 1776, and who had been governor of
this town during the late siege. "He asked
me," says the Admiral, "what was thought of
the sortie which had been made from Bayonne
after the news of the restoration had been re-
ceived. The fact, he assured me, was this. A
sortie on an extensive scale had been previously
planned, and the orders to the general who was
to command were, to carry it into execution either
on a certain night which was named, or on the
first night after on which the weather might be
favourable to the attempt. It is to be recol-

ii;!;:

BRIARITZ, 1811.

lected, that our advanced posts were close and
very annoying to tl\e inhabitants ; and that, in a
military point of view, the motives to dislodge
us were extremely urgent. On the night proposed
the weather did not admit of the sortie taking
place. Thevenot, though he did hear subse-
quently, through the medium of his besiegers,
of the fact of the restoration, yet did not think
himself at liberty to withdraw, on that authority,
the order which he had given. If a ruse de guerre
had been practised, or if Napoleon had regained
his ascendancy, he would have been ruined as a
military man, by making a mistake. After the
information which he had received, I doubt
whether he would have given a fresh order ;
but on that subject he would not speak. Soult,
also, I apprehend, acted on the same principle in
the unfortunate affair at Toulouse: namely, on
that of declining to refrain from hostilities on the
authority of information from the enemy only.

" The Baron told Sir Charles Colville that it had
been his intention, in case the siege had lasted
so long as to threaten a want of provisions to
the inhabitants, to leave a sufficient garrison in
the citadel, and march with the remainder of his
troops to join Marshal Soult. Colville smiled,
and asked him how he could have managed to
break through the line of the besiegers. Thevenot
coolly replied, ' T knew where the Spaniards

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

were posted, unci / should have just walked over
them:"*

From this time to the 29tli of August, which
was the day on which Admiral Penrose finally
left Passages on his return home, his chief busi-
ness lay, of course, in superintending the embark-
ation of the troops and stores. The ditHcuIties
were great. The inadequate sujjply of transjwrts
precluded the aifording, even to the sick and
wounded, the accommodation of which they were
in need; and the known hatred of the Spanish
population to the British troops burst forth
more and more as their strength diminished. It
was, therefore, highly probable that some outrage
would be attempted in the rear of the embarka-
tion. A plan was laid to seize on the military
chest, which was removed on board the Li/ra for
security; and a volley of stones was thrown at
the last boat which left the shore. During
Admiral Penrose's whole stay on the coast, he
never received a visit, or the smallest mark of at-
tention, from a single Spaniard. On the feast of

* •' 'Aa soon as I found myself,' he said, ' closely invested, I
killed all the mules and baggage horses, and oxen, and salted
them down while they were iu good order, and thus I not
only secured a supply of good meat at the end, but saved all
the fodder.* I inquired what use he now made of the salted
horseflesh and mules. ' It is issued,' ho answered, ' to the
Spanish and Portuguese troops in their route homewards, as
rations of beef; and very good it is.'"

PASSAOES, 1814.

St. Ferdinand, the only time at which a Spanish
salute was fired, he, of course, joined in the
ceremony ; but on the Prince Regent's birth-
day, although the English ships were dressed,
and the royal standard displayed, the forts did
not show their colours ; and on his leaving
Passages on the 29th, not a single individual
of the town was seen even to look out at a
window, for the purpose of witnessing the sailinjv
of the fleet.

The Porcupine anchored in Plymouth Sound,
September 6, and the Admiral struck his flag on
the 12th, with but little expectation, now that
peace, after so long an interval, seemed to have
revisited Europe, of being again employed. On
the 16th, however, he received a letter from
Lord Melville, offering him the command in the
Mediterranean, now become vacant by the recall
of Admiral Hallowell. This offer, on finding
that hi8 wife and daughters would lot be averse
to accompany him, he accepted with readiness,
conditioning that he was to be commander-in-
chief. He received his appointment on the 23rd
of the same month, and, on October 3, hou;;eil
his flag at Plymouth, on board the Queen 74,
to which Captain Coode, and other officers for
whom he had applied, were already appointed.
The still unsettled position of Europo rendered
it impossible to give him any very definite in-

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

structions, and he was directed to act as circum-
stances might require. But it was evident, that
the conduct to be pursued towards Napoleon
was the critical and anxious point for attention.
Some intrigue with Murat, however, in
Northern Italy was all which any one seemed
at this time to anticipate. The triumphant
march to Paris was a vision which no optics,
unless those perhaps of the chief actor himself
in that most extraordinary drama, could as yet
contemplate.

The Admiral left Plymouth October 8. The
sail across the Bay of Biscay was most propitious.
He passed Gibraltar, where the yellow fever
was at that time raging, on the night of the
18th. His next object had been Genoa, where
he expected to find Admiral HaHowell. After a
tedious voyage along the coast of Spain, and by
Majorca and Minorca, the information met him
off Calvi, that the Admiral was gone to Palermo.
He then took his course through the Straits of
Bourfacio, and anchored in Palermo Bay, Novem-
ber 11. A few days afterwards, he landed with
his family, and remained on shore several weeks.
Ferdinand of Naples was at this time at Palermo,
and the death of his Queen Caroline, then on her
road to Vienna, took place during Admiral Pen-
rose's residence in this city ; a loss soon repaired
by the King'ssubsequentmarriage, or half-marriagc>,

PALERMO, 1814.

to the Princess Paterna. During this period Murat
sent over on one occasion a frigate, and on other
occasions some smaller vessels, under the pretence
of bringing letters from the Princess of Wales,
who was at that time at his court. His real
object was, to make Ferdinand and his Sicilian
subjects believe that he and the English admiral
were on kindly terms, and that some secret cor-
respondence between them was carrying on.
But this policy was much too shallow to suc-
ceed.

The journal now proceeds as follows : " During
the time we lay at Palrrmo, a severe attack of
fever passed through most of the ship's company,
and, considering change of air the most likely cure,
I left the bay in the latter part of February, and
glided along a glassy sea close to the northern
coast of the island. Our entrance into the Straits
of Messina was marked by one of those sudden
squalls and heavy showers, which are formed
under the high Calabrian coast, and which, in the
early days of navigation, must have rendered
Scylla really a formidable rock to pass by. After
this squall the weather cleared, and we had
a most beautiful evening sail between the mag-
nificent shores on either side, till we arrived in
the middle of the harbour formed by that most
singular curve of sand and shells, which of old pro-

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

cured for it the name of Zancle *. This apparently
loose texture has remained unchanged through all
the ages of history, both in form and substance ;
whilst the mountainous regions on either side the
straits, and the fine city which borders one side
of the harbour, have been rent or destroyed, and
undergone a vast variety of change. It is
evident that the whirlpool of Charybdis is occa-
sioned by the projection of the nearly semicircular
bank which forms the port. Although this
whirlpool is so far from Scylla that they form
separate and entirely distinct dangers, each must
have been a real danger in the early days of navi-
gation, when it was so requisite to keep close to
the land. Then the indraught of the bay, to the
north of Scylla, would render it difficult to clear
the rocks of the point ; and in sweeping near the
mouth of the harbour of Messina, the whirl of
Charybdis would be difiicult to escape. It once
in a light wind got hold of the Queen, and before
we could steer out of the vortex, the length of
the ship did not prevent her turning completely
round more than once. It formed a curiously-
helpless situation to be in such a liquid swing,
so much at its mercy ; and if it had been quite
a calm, we uiight have remained some time the
sport of the pool.

* A scvthe.

MESSINA, 1815.

" When we arri>v(i at Messina, there were
forty-five cases of fever on our sick list, but be-
fore a fortnight had elapsed, the fever had en-
tirely left us. I attribute the recovery to the
fine air which the draught of the straits almost
continually occasions ; and in case of fever I
would sooner go to Messina for renovation of
health, than to any other port in the Mediter-
ranean.

" It was, I think, on the 12th of March that
we here heard of the escape of Napoleon from
Elba, and of his having been seen steering for
the Bay of li'rejus. When I heard of this escape,
I feared, at first, t'lat some neglect of Captain
Adye, in the Partridge sloop, might have facili-
tated it, but, I think, he wholly exculpated him-
self. 1 had never altered the orders given by my
predecessor Hallowell. Napoleon well knew how
to make use of any incident. The captains and
officers of the French cruisers were, almost to a
man, in his interest, and I have not the least
doubt but that the captain of the Fleur de Lys
purposely misled Captain Adye, in order to give
the fugitive more time to effect his designs. The
moment I heard of his departure from Elba, I
sent secret instructions to all the captains, that in
case he should be driven off the coast in any
place where he might attempt to land, and fallen
in with, he should bo taken to Malta, to wait the

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

orders of our government from home. But his
fortune was his friend. A vein of wind accom-
panied him from Gorgona to the coast ; leaving a
dead calm in every other direction. Otherwise,
the Partridge and Fleur de Lys would, at least,
have made the laud with him : and the Aboukir
have had a great chance of cutting him off."

Many messages now arrived from Murat, so
full of assurances that nothing could possibly in-
duce him to take part against England, as to
excite the strong suspicion that he was on the
point of declaring for his former master. The
Admiral, therefore, instead of going on, as he had
intended, to Malta, judged it necessary to return
to Palermo, for the purpose of conferring with
Mr. A'court, in whom he always found a steady
and clear-headed adviser, and with the Count de
Narbonne, the French minister. On the 23rd, he
anchored again in Palermo Bay. " News was
constantly arriving, but from very uncertain
sources ; though we learned with certainty that
Napoleon had landed at Frejus, and made some
advance from the coast. When I asked the
Count de Narbonne what he thought would be
the result, he assured me that he had not the
least fear on the subject, and that he did not
think it possible that the Emperor could move
five miles into the interior. Captain Duranteau
and his oflUccrs dined with me while we were

PALERMO, ISl;"}.

here, more than once ; and appeared to be so
deeply imbued with loyalty to the Bourbons, as
to excite our wonder how he could ever have
condescended to serve under Napoleon. He
could not now keep his seat, or even consent to
stand on the floor, to drink the health of Louis
XVIII., but mounted either on his chair or the
table, to vociferate all manner of good wishes to
his cause."

The opinion of all the foreign ministers agreed
with Mr. A'court's, that the Bourbons were too
well established to fear the irruption from Elba.
But fear rather than hope was, on the whole,
the impression made on Admiral Penrose ; and
he accordingly thought it prudent to proceed to
Malta without delay, that he might deposit his
family there, and put his ship, which had been
damaged by lightning while at Messina, into
proper repair. He left Palermo, April 3, and on
the 10th, arrived at Malta, where he was most
kindly received by Sir Thomas Maitland. He
settled his wife and daughters in the beautiful
little country palazzo of Florian, a spot well known
for its gardens and terraces to every visitor of
this remarkable island, and very convenient for
communication with the ships in port. On tlie
21st he sailed again for Palermo, where he arrived
on the 23rd. On the 24th, he received intelli
gence that Murat had broken the armistice, and

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

consequently issued orders for seizing and detain-
ing all Neapolitan and other vessels engaged in,
or adhering to, the cause of Napoleon.

The Austrians were at this time advancing on
Naples; and Ferdinand himself had been contem-
plating a rising in Calabria, which it was thought
would be furthered by taking him there. It was
therefore determined to receive him and his court on
board the Queen, and also to provide the means of
transporting as many troops as General Macfarlane,
the commanding officer in Sicily, could collect.
While the arrangements were making for this
embarkation, time was given to procure fresh
information from the continent. For the purpose
of gaining this more readily and satisfactorily, the
Admiral again sailed from Palermo on the 25th ;
and on the 2nd of the following month arrived off
Leghorn, after chasing on hip passage a French
frigate, the Nei'eide, under the Napoleon flag, and
commanded by the same Captain Duranteau, who
had made himself so remarkable, only a few weeks
before, by his demonstrations in behalf of Louis
XVIII. Another French frigate, the Melpomene,
had sailed from Toulon in company with the
Nereide, but had separated from her, and had been
taken on the preceding day by the Rivoli, when
entering the Bay of Naples. So unsettled as yet
was the feeling as to the part which England
would take in these events, that Lord Exmouth,

LEO HORN, 181').

who had now been sent out to take the command
on this station, wrote a letter of congratulation to
Admiral Penrose on the escape of the Nereide^
and expressed a satisfaction that he had not taken
French vessels under any colours*.

From Leghorn, Admiral Penrose proceeded to
Genoa, where he had a conference with Lord
William Bentinck on the state of affairs. It had
become evident that the sooner the Anglo-Sicilian
army was put in motion the better. The Admiral
therefore left Genoa, almost without stopping
there, called again on the 5th of May off Leghorn,
whence he forwarded plans of the intended opera-
tions to the Austrian generals, and then went on
with all despatch to Palermo, where he arrived on
the 10th. The preparations for the embarkation
were tolerably forward. Between the 10th and
16th, the transports were despatched to rendezvous
at Melazzo ; it not being yet determined whether
a landing should be attempted in Calabria, or

* On the next clay after the escape of the Nereide, the
Queen chased and captured a market boat, under the flag of
the Emperor of Elba. " This," says the Admiral, " was the
only flag I ever saw of the kind. With the arms in the
centre, the white field was studded with bees, in the same
manner as the drapery round the throne, these insects being
substituted for the old fleur de lys. Of course I suffered the
poor Elban to proceed on his voyage to the Leghorn market,
but I was sorry that I had not purchased his little flag from
him as a curiosity."

LIFE OF ADMIRAL FRNR08E.

whether the king could be roused to push for
Naples itself. On the 16th, he was embarked
with about fifty persons in his suite. On the
18th, information was received that Murat had
made his escape from Naples, and that the ships
of war and arsenals had been surrendered. On
the 19th, Ferdinand landed early at Melazzo,
whence he proceeded to Messina, and the Queen
then sailed for Naples without delay. The other
ships of war and transports had been sent off the
evening before. During the short voyage from
Sicily to Naples, the ship was becalmed nearly
three days under Stromboli, and consequently
did not reach Naples till the 23rd. Lord Ex-
mouth had arrived the day before ; and Fort St.
Elmo had been taken possession of by Captain
Coghlan. On the 24th, the two English Admirals
landed to pay their respects to Prince Leopold,
who had entered with the Austrian troops, and
was now at the palace. " The whole mass," it is
here observed, " of Neapolitan population, through
which we had to pass in our way from the mole,
appeared to be lost in wonder and amaze at the
changes so suddenly effected, and the warlike
array which surrounded them, but did not show
the slightest token either of favour or dislike to
us as we passed. They were in a state of sur-
prise."

CHAPTER V.

FROM HIS RETURN TO MESSINA, IN MAT, 1816, TO HIS
LEAVING TUNIS, APRIL 23, 1810.

After this visit to the palace, Admiral Penrose
again set sail as soon as possible, and hastened to
Melazzo, where he arrived on the 26th, and im-
mediately sent off an express to Ferdinand, at
Messina, in which he urged him to return to the
ship as soon as he could. But the King, although
he afterwards complimented the Admiral by calling
him the Moses who was leading him to the
promised land, could not be prevailed on to follow
his guidance exactly, and preferred to embark at
Messina, where he was not got on board till
the 31st. On June 3, the Queen anchored about
midnight in the Bay of Baia, and, on the following
day, commenced a series of congratulatory visits
to the restored monarch. " It was computed," says
the Admiral, " that, on the 5th, not less than 8000
persons visited the ship, many of them not the
less ardent in their expressions of loyalty because
in their hearts they were earnestly desirous of

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

H'!

Murat's speedy return. The presents brought on
board were also in profusion. Pyramids, temples,
and other devices, composed of the richest fruits
and flowers, and of large size, were brought from
the various towns and villages, many of them
containilig live hares, quails, doves, or other
animals, which were put into positions meant to
exhibit them as quite at their ease. Small birds
in cages were also grouped among the fruits.
Memorials, prayers, and petitions, arrived also in
equal number and variety. Calves also (the veal
of Naples being remarkably fine) were presented
in great number, and these decked out with
festoons of flowers and ribbons. Large baskets of
game of all sorts, venison, wild boar, fowls, fruits,
and vegetable? in abundance and perfection,
covered our decks. These presents to the King
proved, if I may play upon a word, a rich feast to
the Queen, and our crew was accordingly nobly
regaled; while, to enliven the scene, bands of
excellent music, and parties of well-dressed people,
in richly-decorated boats, moved slowly round the
ship from morning till night.

" On May 7, the King was landed at Portici.
The barge in which he was conveyed, and which
bore the royal standard, was surrounded on its
passage to the shore by boats of every description,
and by swimmers and divers who scarcely left
room for the oars to play ; and the applauses with

NAPLES. 1815.

which the King was received on landing were loud
and reiterated. But why were these people,"
the Admiral proceeds, " so delighted at his return ?
To this it may be answered that, independently of
the easy, the too easy, freedom with which he
mixed with the lower orders of his subjects, and
which greatly endeared him to them, the contrast
with Murat was all in his favour. Murat's war-
like and architectural tastes, and hi<i e? i,"emely
vain-glorious display of dress and equipage, had
nearly trebled the taxes, and had introduced a
conscription. It was one of his characteristic
sayings, that there is a great deal in a fine coat ;
and he spoiled much really splendid decoration by
colours and frippery. Also he evinced, in many of
his real improvements in the city and its vicinity,
a downright want of feeling, a contempt of old
prepossessions, and a disregard of property, which
were truly tyrannical. Consequently all the good
of Ferdinand, and all the bad of Murat, united to
draw forth the vivas which now came on the ear
in the indisputable accents of sincerity. — After
being lodged a few days at Portici, the King
made a public entry into Naples on horseback;
and it was seen, at the levee which followed, that
all the glitter of Mui-at's court had not even yet
faded away. Two splendid figures were dressed
in bright yellow pantaloons, richly embroidered in
front and down the sides, and these were met by

F 2

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

red half-boots with ^old binding and tassels. The
coats or jackets were slashed in the old Spanish
fashion, with hat and feathers of the same national
costume — a costume as distinct from any other
fashion in the mixed multitude assembled from
many nations, many British naval officers and
Austrian generals among the rest, as could be
desired. These were two of the gentlemen, both
of them men of very great, real merit, and ability,
and whose names, therefore, shall not be repeated
here, who were at that time members of the
household of the Princess of Wales."

Lord Exmoutli left Naples for Marseilles, and,
as was supposed, on liis return to England, in the
middle of June. The Austrians wore at this time
engaged in the siege of Gaeta, the governor of
which strong fortress still held out, with rather an
unnecessary obstinacy, for the cause of Murat.
With the purpose of rendering all possible aid to
the besiegers, Admiral Penrose left Naples on the
11th July, and anchored in the Bay of Gaeta on
the 12th. In this siege the impunity with which
gun-boats may be brought to the attack of bat-
teries, a point of which there had been good evi-
dence in the memorable siege of Gibraltar, in
1782, was strikingly confirmed. "At Gaeta,"
says the Admiral, "our numerous boats advanced
gallantly far within point blank range, and many
hundred heavy guns were levelled at them ; but in

GAETA, 1815.

their many approaches I believe that only one or
two men were wounded, and not one boat received
material damage. These boats were admirably
directed by Col. Robinson, who had long been
in the Anglo-Sicilian flotilla at Messina — a man
unusually fertile in resources, and clear and cool
in danger." This siege was afterwards converted
into a blockade, and the Admiral, after remaining
in the Bay of Gaeta till the 20th, returned to
Naples, and thence to Malta, where he arrived
on the 28th. It was on this voyage that he was
drawn into the vortex of Charybdis, as mentioned
before.

After another visit, in which his family accom-
panied him, to Messina and Naples, he again re-
turned to Malta, Oct. 18. On the 25th, the
Queen was dispatched to England, and he then
shifted his flag, first to the Trident, and after-
wards to the Bombai/. In January, 1816, he Avas
promoted to the rank of Knight Commander of
the Bath. On the 1st of March he received
letters from Lord Exmouth, who stated himself
to be detained in the Mediterranean by the affair
with the Barbary powers, and appointed a meet-
ing at Port Mahon. The whole squadron, thus
reunited, sailed for Algiers, March 21. The
journal now proceeds as follows: — "On arriving
at this destination, the ships anchored in two
lines out of gun-shot from the batteries, and by

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

signal made all ready for battle ; but all went off
quietly, and the slaves in whose behalf the ex-
pedition was undertaken were ransomed on the
terms which Lord Exmouth proposed. It was
well that matters were not on this occasion car-
ried to extremities, inasmuch as the impression
which could have been made by Lord Exmouth's
present force would have been feeble, and the
greatly superior means which he afterwards had
under his command on the subsequent attack
were not too great."

From Algiers the squadron sailed to Tunis, and
anchored in the bay. Here also the Bey suc-
cumbed to the demand made on him, and the
English Admirals were invited on shore. " Our
ships lay at anchor, I believe out of long range
from the fort, and in only five or six fathom
water; but the bottom was muddy, and, above
the good holding ground in which the anchors
bedded themselves, was a great depth of soft
ouze; so that, when the squadron weighed, the
wakes of all the ships appeared as if they were
sailing through the mud, which in truth they
disturbed with their keels. The bay had never
been well surveyed close to the shore ; we had
therefore, to find out for ourselves how near we
could approach in order to make an attack ; and
I do not think that the Bombay could have been
brought within 1200 yards of the Goletta, even

TUNIS, 1816.

allowing her to be forced a little tbrougli the
mud. This was too great a distance for a ship
to attack a battery with eifect. But there
was no want of assailable points. Between Tunis
and the bay in which we were is a lake, or lagoon,
into which there is entrance only by a very
narrow well-guarded channel, and which is secured
also by floodgates and chains. On the right, as
you enter the channel from the bay, are batteries
with some very enormous brass cannon, and here
also are the custom-house and warehouses where
merchant-vessels load their cargoes; for the
lagoon itself is very shallow, so that in dry seasons
boats can go up to the town only in one narrow
passage cleaned out not many years since.

" On the left of the entrance is the arsenal,
where ships and gun-boats were crowded together
amidst the materials for building, and these
surrounded by a wooden fence, so that I never
saw a place where shells or rockets were likely
to do their duty more surely. This arsenal I
think we could certainly have demolished with
the force with us, but I rather think that the
Goletta, which was at some considerable distance,
and on the opposite side of the channel, would
have puzzled us, if well defended. Battering-guns
must be landed to breach this place, but we could
not get near enough to discover the nature of
the ditch or principal defences. Gun and mortar-

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

I ^ia

I :i

!ii

boats, or rather, in my opinion, 681b.-car-
ronades in boats, and some ships of small draught
of water to cover a landing, would be here re-
quisite. But whoever attacks Tunis by the
Goletta and arsenal must not hold Tunisian
gun-boats cheap. They are the finest vessels of
the sort I e.er saw, many of them with two
82-pounders in the bow, and one in the stern.

" The lake, or lagoon, was one of the ancient
harbours of Carthage, and is fast filling up. In
short, this large sheet of water will ere long
become a plain, but in the intermediate state
will be a swamp, tlie malaria from which is
likely to depopulate Tunis. Such is the state
of its efliuvia at present that, in our merely
passing across in a boat, the buttons and epaulets
of our uniforms became tarnished, and nearly
black. The present channel was, as I under-
stood, marked out, and the fortifications at the
entrance strengthened, by a Dutch renegade en-
gineer. It ought now to be the business of the
Tunisian government to deepen the channel from
the town to the Goletta, and to hasten the for-
mation of sound land. Our party drank tea one
afternoon at the house of the Swedish Consul.
The harp, the piano, and the tea equipages were
as unlike Tunis as possible. The late Swedish
Cbnsul had married the daughter of the then Eng-
lish Consul, and the i)resent English Consul had

fJi'

tunil;, 1816.

married his daughter, and the whole scene was per-
fectly European.

" Our Consul's house was situated just within the
city gates, where there was a large open space,
in which a weekly market was held. I was
roused early in the morning by the sound of a
gi-eat bustle, and with great pleasure I perceived
that the window of my room looked out on this
busy and novel scene. The arrival from the
country of ca nels and asses laden with various
produce was highly interesting ; and in a short
time I saw pyramids of melons, pompions, eggs,
&c., &c., rising up in neat arrangement. There
were also thousands (I am sure I am correct) of
little bottles of otto of roses, piled in cubes or
triangles, which were very soon diminished by
numerous customers. Opposite to me were
several butcher's stalls, very clean and neat ; and
I remarked that I did not see any large joints or
pieces of meat sold, but in general very small
slices. Poultry and game, with fine vegetables
and fruit, were in great abundance ; and I hardly
ever saw a market so well supplied, and never
any where the buyers and sellers were so quiet,
and such good order preserved.

" From this to me interesting window, I had
also the opportunity of witnessing the reality of
what I had often seen represented in pictures —
the conveying a wealthy bride to the house of

h '

iMl

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

the bridegroom, with all the presents from
her friends added to the fortune given by her
parents. It was a long cavalcade of much display
of carpeting and embroidery ; but the lady her-
self was entirely concealed in the close cage,
covered, I think, with muslin, with gold fringes,
tassels, &c., &c. There were also caskets and
boxes, in which I might imagine as many jewels
and as much gold as they could contain. The
camel on which the bride was riding, and some
also of the others were in good order and clean ;
but in general these poor animals were lean and
dirty, and bore evident marks of the little care
taken to prevent them from being cruelly chafed
by their burdens. All those which I saw bring-
ing goods to the town, or which I met afterwards
on the road, were in this miserable condition.

" I had also a full view of the chief minaret,
from whence the faithful were called to prayers ;
and the harmonious, sonorous, and solemn appeal
of the Mussulman who performed this office from
the mosque nearest me, had an imposing and
serious effect. It was vain, however, to preach
temperance, even from the Koran, at Tunis, where
it had become necessary to appoint a police to
traverse the streets at sunset, to remove the
scandal of the sight of drunken men. In walking
through one of the streets, I one evening saw the
Cadi on horseback with several municipal at-

TUNIS, 1816.

tendants on foot, making his progress to see that
all was right. He was mounted on a superb
Arabian, richly caparisoned, and had a prepossess-
ing countenance, and a long beard white as snow ;
and, to make out completely the description
given in the "Arabian Nights," a baker was seized
for using short weights, and was about to receive
punishment. The attendants were well provided
with ligatures and rods for inflicting the
bastinado."

When treaties similar to those which had been
agreed on at Algiers had been duly executed, the
English Admirals, together with the Consul, went
to pay a visit of ceremony to the Bey, at his
palace of Bardo, a short distance from the city.
" This palace contained a great number of inha-
bitants attached to the families of the Bey and
his sons, independent of the guards. The whole
was strongly walled round, with a deep ditch, and
we entered through a well-constructed gateway,
after passing over a draw-bridge. The etiquette
of the Court of Tunis is very respectable, and in
strict iiUi^ation of that of the ' brother of the sun
and moon.' We were received in a large hall,
onr, end of which was open to an iune" court of
the palace, and I do not recollect that there was
any light except from this opening. At the upper
end, on the musnud, sat the fat Bey, superbly ar-
rayed, his two handsome sons a little behind him

r ■

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

on the right, their sabres, daggers, and pistols glit-
tering with jewels, and their turbans magnificent.
All the officers of the government, and guards, and
janissaries, were arranged in order on three or four
successive semicircular stages, rising each a foot
above each other. We were jilaced on a com-
modious divan, on which we sat very comfortably,
on the Bey's right hand ; but though I was not
afraid of treachery, I could not help observing
that the sons of the Bey, and their partisans, who
had almost threatened to murder their father for
thinking of peace, were standing well armed close
at our backs. Coffee, sherbet, and pipes, were
served to us in good style by slaves superbly
(irc&sed, and the coffee was handed round in gold
cups standing in larger ones of china. While we
were enjoying this display of Turkish manners, the
Princess of Wales, who was at this time on a visit
to the Bey, was ushered with two of her attend-
ants through part of the hall, and into a side door,
to take her farewell of the ladies of the harem.
The Princess embarked before our squadron left
Tunis, and it was an odd scene that so considerable
a force of s-fhips of the line and frigates should have
to salutf the royal standard of Britain flying at the
head o/ a little hired Italian polacre.

" Our visit to the Ley ended witl: mutual com-
pliments ; but we were invited to see, before we
departed, any of the male part of the palace which

TUNIS, 1816.

we chose to visit. We saw a den of fire lions, of
which one showed an extraordinary affection to its
negro keeper. This lion put his paws and tongue
out through the bars, and appeared to enjoy great
delight in touching his friend, who, on his side, was
very proud of the honour thus conferred on him,
and there seemed no love lost between them.
The stud of horses was very good, but many had
been just sent into the country for summer keep.
A new hall of justice had been lately erected, and
was not quite finished, but it was very complete :
a throne, or raised musnud, for the Bey; excellent
accommodation for secretaries, counsel, witnesses,
and for a large audience, together with an inclosed
box for the culprit, formed an assize court, in which
an Englishman would miss nothing but the jury
box. The elaborate finish of Moorish architecture
was here minutely displayed.

" The Bey, having complained of being subject
to the gout, begged that the physician of the
fleet might be sent to him. Doctor Denmark
accordingly attended, and I was much amused
when I heard that his advice was ' temperance
and exercise.' The whole delight of the poor
man was gluttony, and he never in his life was
known to show any semblance of exertion, except
one night when he got out of his bed to murder
his brother and usurp the throne. He had, I be-
lieve, some right to the throne, but had been put

L>-e-

I I

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

aside, and bred up a pastrycook, in which profession
he is said to excel.

" The day following was my rich treat, as it gave
me an idea of the interior country. The eldest
son of the Bey had just built a new house, several
miles out of the town ; and we set out on an ex-
pedition to see it, some of us in an old can-iage,
though of what description I cannot say, and others
on horaeback. We travelled on a wide, well-beaten
road, the general approach to the city from the
south. As is usual near populous places, there
was garden ground and cultivation in the im-
mediate environs ; but the first thing which par-
ticularly caught my attention was the summer
encampment of the Bey's stable establishment,
just formed. This was on a grassy plain of great
extent, still verdant, in consequence of the cool
season, but which must, I suppose, be parched up
in summer and autumn. Here were many tents,
of various forms and dimensions, for the officers,
grooms, and guards, and another supported by
poles fixed in rows, and probably twelve feet
in height, for the horses, which were piqueted
under it.

" I do not recollect the number of miles which
we travelled on this road. We met natives of
various dependent tribes, in the true Arabian cos-
tume, journeying towards the city with the pro-
duce of the interior, and passed two most con-

TUNIS, 1810.

venient watering-places, each calculated to sup-
ply the wants of a large caravan in a short time.
A house was attached to each, and the supply was
under regulation, and I suppose some payment
required. Beautiful marble troughs, which must
have been of greater antiquity than the Saracen
or Turkish sway, were kept full of water by a
simple hydraulic machine ; and the appearance of
the whole carried my imagination back to Carthage.
Very little, however, of really Carthaginian relics
remains. Some parts of cisterns are the most
conspicuous, and along the hills portions of an
aqueduct, which conveyed water from a distance
of upwards of seventy miles to that proud city.
There are many Roman remains of great interest,
but these cannot be examined under the present
government. No recommendation from the Bey
would prove a protection, but rather the contrary.
He is only able to collect his own revenue by
means of an army, which he sends annually to
force an unwilling payment, not of fixed taxes
but of arbitrary demands, from the tributary
states.

" The palace of the prince was well worth seeing
as a complete specimen of Saracenic ai'chitecture,
with all its points and minute decorations, all of
which were finished with perfect neatness. There
were no large rooms, but many courts with hand-
some fountains, alcoves fitted for luxurious repose,

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

: -i:

.,^'

and admirably-kept flower gardens, each in sepa-
rate charge of a Roman or Tuscan slave. The
stronger-scented jessamines and other sweet-
smelling flowers seemed to have been selected to
adorn these retreats. This palace was not yet
inhabited, except by Christian slaves, who were
busily engaged in preparing it for their master's
reception, and we therefore saw every part of it.
The great object seemed to be to multiply shady
places of repose, with cooling waters and rich
parterres. There was a noble orange grove, in
which, as at St. Antonio, in Malta, stone troughs
were laid so as to convey water at the will of the
gardener to each tree separately; and everything
wit. in most exact order. The slaves wero well
dressed, apparently well fed, and not one with
whom we conversed seemed to have any strong
desire to returti to Italy; although there were
some who expressed a wish to do so for a \f\u\e,
and then to return to servo their former master as
fi-ee labourers.

" After our teturn to Tunis, Lord Exmouth
and I, hearing that the Neapolitan and Sardinian
slaves, who had been ransomed according to the
terms of the treaty, were colUoted ready for
embarkation, went to see them. They had been
collected at so short a notice thiit there could not
have been time to make any change in their
appearance. Out of several hundreds, there was

TUNIS, 1816.

not one who looked squalid, or poor, or ragged,
and by far the greater number were well dressed,
and wore rings on tlieir fingers, and in their ears,
and had watches. To the shaine of ChristpiiJom
be it spoken, slavery never wore this garb under
a Christian yoke. In my early days, there were
Moorish and Turkish slaves at Lisbon, Cadiz, &c.,
all universally ill treated, badly fed, clothed, and
lodged. Even at Algiers, where Christin slaves
are said to have been worse treated than > w here,
I believe that they were infinitely better used
than the Moorish slaves in Spain, or Portugal, or
Naples, or Tuscany. But, then, I have also the
satisfaction, on the other hand, of believing that
the Christian slaves in Barbary were the better
treated because their Mussulman masters found
that they could repose more confidence in them
than in the followers of their own false religion.
On Christians, therefore, devolved all the domestic
arrangements; and the wealthy had Christian
slaves for their treasurers; and the departure of
those who were now liberated was deeply lamented.
Neither yet did the slaves themselves depart
without testifying, in many instances, their own
gratitude for the kind treatment which they had
received. I know, moreover, that many of them,
and also of the Roman slaves who were liberated
afterwards, returned, as freemen, to end their days
in the service of their old masters. Of course I

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LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

do not mean to say that some individuals may not
have had bad masters, or may not have been
themselves unworthy of confidence.

" On the day after the return of the Admirals to
their ships, the sons and ministers of the Bey paid
a visit of ceremony to Lord Exmouth. As it was
impossible to place wine on the table for the use
of these disciples of the Koran, it was suggested
that rum might not be disagreeable to them ; and
so it turned out. They drank the pure spirit with
much perseverance and apparent satisfaction, and
on some it had apparent effect. We tried to
impress our guests with a full sense of the power
of a three-decker ; but some of them had seen
the Sultan Selim, to which the Boyne, Lord
Exmouth's ship, was in their estimation only a
bauble in comparison. We made also such a
display as we could of congreve rockets ; but the
perverse rockets only showed on this, as they had
before shown me on other occasions, that they are
capable of a very distant flight of very uncertain
direction : and I saw a curl of disdain on the lips
of the young barbarians, the Bey's sons, at this
exhibition."

On the evening of the 23rfl, Admiral Penrose
sailed for Malta, where he arrived on the 28th,
and Lord Exmouth proceeded to Tripoli.

CHAPTER VI.

EXPEDITION TO ALOIEBS.

The period of Lord Es:mouth's second and signal
expedition against Algiers was now fast approach-
ing. His reception, on again calling there on
his return from Tripoli, had led, as is sufficiently
known, to the resumption of hostilities against
that state; and to his coming out again in August
in command of another and far more powerful
armament, and to the memorable triumph which
it achieved. There is not any one of the regrets
of Admiral Penrose's whole life, concerning which
he always expressed so much of the feeling
of disappointment, as in having missed being
a partaker of this great victory. And he re-
gretted this the more because he had anxiously
expected, and knew that he both might and
ought, to have had instructions to join Lord
Exmouth. He had heard, on or about the 12th
of August, by a merchant-vessel from Gibraltar,
that a large force was fitting out at home, for
special service in the Mediterranean, under that
distinguished commander. The newspapers, also,

o 2

LIFE OF ADmRAL PENROSE.

were full of the subject ; but he had himself no
official intelligence respecting it, except in the
following conclusion of a letter, of the date of
July 16, from Lord Melville: —

"As I am not sure of the channel through
which this letter may be conveyed to you, I do
not touch upon other more important matters,
the first intimation of which you will probably
receive by sea."

This sentence of course led him to wait at
Malta as long as he could ; but he at length felt
that it could not be his duty to wait longer, and
on the 19th August he removed his flag into the
Ister, Captain Forrest, and sailed for Algiers.
The wind was directly adverse during the whole
passage; and he did not arrive till the 29th. The
action had been on the 27th, and the first objects
seen on entering the bay were the still smoking
wrecks of the Algerine navy, and then the fleet of
Lord Exmouth engaged in repairing the injuries
which it had sustained. '---'*' '-'• -^ ^^ "

*^ As far as Admiral Penrose's disappointment at
having thus missed, so nearly, the sharing in this
glorious exploit could be compensated by the
friendly and sympathizing reception which he ex-
perienced — both from Lord Exmouth himself, and
every officer who served under him — he had this
compensation in full. Captain Forrest said to
him, on his return in the evening, after dining

ALGIERS, 1816.

with Lord Exmouth, " I should have thought the
whole business of the meeting had been on your
account, more than on that of the victory, and I
envied you more than any of the party." But
still this mortification weighed on his naturally
cheerful and happy mind for a long time.
-: For what reason, while Admiral Penrose was
on this station, another admiral should have
been sent out as second in command^ on this
service, and he himself left or kept in utter
ignorance of the design, it is not now easy to
surmise. This subject may, therefore, be here
concluded, by inserting copies of the following
letters to the Secretary of the Admiralty, of
which the first was written on the day after his
arrival at Algiers. , . -

" Algiers Bay, Aug. 80, 1816.

"SlE,

" I request you to inform their Lord-
ships that, having for a considerable time seen
accounts in the foreign newspapers that a large
armament was coming into these seas, my anxiety
was too great to wait longer for the official
account I eagerly longed for, and, on the 19th
instant, I embarked on board H.M.S. Ister, leav-
ing Captain Spencer, of the Erne, in charge at
Malta; and proceeded in hopes of offering my
services to Lord ExniOuth in good time.

.-* >

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

"I had (I think naturally) concluded, that
some dispatches had been sent for me, and lost ;
for I could never allow myself to believe, that so
heavy and irretrievable a mortification as I now
acutely experience could be intended.

" At the end of forty-five years' faithful service
to my king and country, I could never have ex-
pected, as I am conscious I have never merited,
to have a junior ofiicer from a distant station sent
to second Lord Exmouth, on a service to be per-
formed on that station where I commanded in
chief, and that service never intimated to me in
the smallest degree.

"I have the honour, &c.

"To J. W. Crokbr, Esq."

The answer to this letter from the Admiralty was
dated September 27, and to this answer Admiral
Penrose sent the following reply:

"Sir,

Albion, Malta, Nov. 6, 1816.

"I request you to do me the honour
to express to their Lordships my regret that the
tone of my letter, of August 30, should have dis-
pleased.

" I will not trouble their Lordships on a sub-
ject of personal feeling, even to point out the
early dates of the arrival of private, yet particular.

^sitSM

ALGIERS, 1816.

information respecting Lord Exmouth's arma-
ment. These, however, would make it appear,
that my expectation of being called on to assist
Lord Exmouth in the bay in which I had so
lately served with him was at least natural. f

** My letter, written close to the ship fitted ex-
pressly to bear my flag, and between the victo-
rious squadron and the ruins of Algiers, might
naturally have gone into keenness of feeling,
which their Lordships' candour would excuse;
but I am the last person who would palliate, or
defend, or hesitate to apologize for, any expression
deviating from that respect which is as properly
due in point of subordination as indisputably re-
quisite for the public good.

" I have the honour to remain, &c., &c.

« To J. W. Crokeb, Esq."

Not the least remarkable part of this history
is, that Admiral Penrose was afterwards informed,
on good authority, that this, his " apologetical de-
fence and excuse, gave very great satisfaction to
the Admiralty." — To these letters are subjoined,
in Admiral Penrose's private journal, particular
observations, both on the conduct of the action
itself, and on the method of proceeding with the
greatest advantage, in any future attack on Al-
giers. He was never wanting during his whole
life, and certainly never more ready than on this

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

occasion, and in this record which he has left of
himself, to add his own suffrage to the universal
acknowledgment of Lord Exmouth's high merit
and ability; and he also speaks with particular
animation of the judgment and promptitude dis-
played by his nephew, Capt. Coode, who com-
manded the Albion, and who was severely wounded
in the action. This ship had been assigned, in the
line of battle, a station in the rear of the Impreg-
nable. The Impregnable, through some mistake,
let go her anchor too soon. Considering how
very well she was officered, it would have been
but natural that the commander of the Albion
should follow the example which had been so
set, by dropping hie own anchor also, and so
keeping the place assigned him in the line. But
Capt. Coode, seeing the case to be what it was,
passed on instantly ahead of the Impregnable,
cheering as he passed, and took nearly the berth
which that ship had been intended to fill.

On the 31st August commenced the negotia-
tion with the Dey. If this had failed, the whole
contest would have had to begin again; and, if
not with a doubtful, yet with a not less bloody,
result than before. "Little did I expect," says
Admiral Penrose, " to be employed in any part of
a business with the main struggle of which I had
unfortunately no participation; but Lord Ex-
mouth, calling me to a private audience, with a

ALGIERS, 1816.

considerable degree of embarrassment, asked me,
as a mark of friendship towards him, if I would
undertake to arrange the treaty, and the remain-
ing business with the Dey. Neither private nor
public considerations allowed me to hesitate,
though no proposal could have come more un-
expected; and within an hour or two I was
standing before my old acquaintance the Dey.

" I am not about to enter into the particulars
of the several interviews I had with him, nor the
tedious difficulties of conversing by an interpreter.
Lord Exmouth's public letter, and Salame's book,
have made the subject well known. All our con-
versations were carried on with perfect temper
and composure on both sides, and I may say of
yielding on the side of the Dey, except when
any documents were produced which he thought
would in any way bind him not to make war on
the Spaniards whenever he pleased. After it had
been officially stated that all the Christian slaves
were embarked, we learned that two Spaniards
were stitl in prison; and although these men
were real-y bound for the payment of money due
to the Dey, it was thought that our work would
be imperfect if even one Christian were left in
Algiers in the Dey's power. But justice required
that the sum of money should be paid for which
they were bound, and this settlement did not
come within Lord Exmouth's commission. He

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

had no doubt, however, that he should be able
to get the amount settled with the government
of Spain, and therefore offered his own personal
security for the immediate payment of the sum in
dispute ; and this I tendered to the Dey, telling
him that at all events the men mtist be liberated.
This was the most bitter pill of all to swallow,
and he put it off to the last moment. At last,
when the treaty was translated, and a fair copy
ready for signature and delivery, I again de-
manded the Spaniards, and again tendered Lord
Exmouth's security for payment of the sum he
said was due to him. He would not even touch
the proffered bond, and at last, with evident
grief of heart, he said he would order the men
to be taken down to our boat. I told his High-
ness that it was absolutely requisite that they
should be in my power before I signed or ac-
cepted any document. They were then sent for
from the prison, which, as they were brought in
two or three minutes, must have been in the
palace. When I had given them in charge of
an officer at the foot of the stairs, I concluded
the business; and glad I was when it was con-
cluded. I really thought, at one time, that the
Dey would rather have risked a rupture than
have yielded the point respecting these Spaniards,
who were in fact hostages, not slaves ; and Lord
Exmouth might have been fully justified if he

ALGIERS, 181(j.

had not taken any notice of the matter. So sus-
picious was I of the Dey's intentions towards
these men, that I kept them close to me, as I
went first to our Consul's house, and afterwards
to the boat. The savage thought, that if he had
accepted Lord Exmouth's offer, we might inter-
fere afterwards, if he should declare war against
Spain ; which, as we had tied his hands up from
acting against so many other powers, it wa^. evi-
dent that he very much longed to do.

" On one occasion I was for some time with
the Dey, our interpreter only being with us, the
Consul and all the rest having gone to investigate
a disputed account. I took the opportunity of
advising him to change the system of predatory
warfare into one of commerce, and I pointed out
to him the wealth acquired by improving agri-
culture and encouraging trade, and instanced the
Pacha of Egypt. I reminded him that the terri-
tory of Algiers was in the highest degree fertile,
and produced many valuable articles of trade ;
that he had a fine port admirably situated, and
that these advantages might soon render him
infinitely richer than plunder and piracy ever
could ; and that thus, instead of being considered
as a common enemy, he might become the
respectable friend, of all Christian powers, and to
his own great benefit in every respect. I par-
ticularly urged on him that such a change of

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

system would ensure him the friendly aid of
Britain, and that great part of the treasure which
now went into the coffers of the Pacha of Egypt
would be so brought to flow into his own. This
un])remoditated address of mine was listened to
by this singular chief with evident surprise and
attention; and, as far as I could judge by the
slower or quicker aspirations of his long pipe, and
once by a sort of sigh, with something of a hope
that such a state of things might possibly bo.
After a short pause, he calmly replied that he
thanked me for my advice, and would consider
the matter seriously, but that he had many diffi-
culties to encounter; he had been but a short
time on the musnud, and now our attack had
almost driven him from it.

"This Dey was a man who, not long before,
when general under his predecessor, had caused
the rebellious governor of Oran to be flayed alive in
his presence, and while he was drinking his morn-
ing coffee — of which refreshing beverage he or-
dered a portion to be given to his wretched victim,
in order to recruit him for the more lengthened
agony. His own reign, however, was not destined
to be of long duration. At some period in 1817,
he became plunged in a dispute with his janissaries,
who insisted on permission to plunder the Jews,
on pretence that they had not exerted themselves
during Lord Exmouth's attac'^ Oa the Dey's

ALGIERS, 1816.

resisting this demand, the janissaries surrounded ,
the palace, and at last obliged him to descend
amongst them to be strangled. lie begged hard
to bo allowed to return to his station as janissary ;
but it seems that a man who has once been
honoured by the title of Dey cannot be allowed
to degrade.

" One day," the journal proceeds, " as I was
examining the Consul's house, for the purpose of
noticing the damage which it had sustained in
the siege, T found a carpenter busy in repairing a
partition, and soon saw that he wished to enter
into conversation with me. He told me that he
was a German renegade, heartily wishing that he
had been still a slave, and so have partaken of
the effected redemption. He made many earnest
and sensible inquiries about his own country and
the state of Europe, earnestly longing to return
home, but without any hope of being able to get
away from Algiers. In return I inquired where
he was during the late engagement. He in-
formed me that when the fleet was approaching,
the janissaries drove all the male inhabitants
indiscriminately to the batteries, but that most
of the women and children went for safety out
of the city ; not so far, however, but that some of
those wild fires, Congreve's rockets, which were
intended for the shipping in the Mole, passed
over them. My German informer was stationed,

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

with seventeen others, at one of the very long
guns on the Mole Battery, Nine out of the
seventeen were swept away at once, by the first
discharge. By his account the carnage must have
been very great ; but this was concealed with
the greatest care, and all traces of it removed
by the middle of the next day when Brisbane
landed. Great pains, also, were taken to clear
away the rubbish, and make everything appear
as if the damage was not great ; and, indeed, ex-
cept in the destruction of the shipping, it was not
material. In the lower stories, the houses had
suffered little, and the upper stories were so
slight that the shot had passed through with
little more effect than the round holes they had
made, nor could I perceive that our bombs had
done much execution. Very many of these had
not burst, and were collected in piles near the
palace gate ; but to show that our ships were
close to their work, I found the centre-spill of a
grape-shot in one of the Consul's rooms, which
was in the centre of the city.

" When I landed, there was much more order
than I could have expected. Everything seemed
in its place, as if nothing had happened but to
the shipping, of which the still smoking remains
of some, and the floating wrecks of others, plainly
showed the devastation which had been made.
Early in the action, two or three small vessels

ALGIERS, 1816.

had been sunk to preserve them ; and, very much
to the credit of those concerned, one fine
schooner had been weighed up, and was nearly
equipped for sea, in order to proceed to Constan-
tinople, when I entered the Mole. Two or three
gun-boats had also escaped, and I observed the
guns -and their implements all ready for imme-
diate use. . ^
'* Lord Exmouth once talked of a renewed
assault, but I am glad there was no necessity for
it. Supposing a favourable wind and weather,
his ships would not have been again allowed to
take their stations unmolested; and it is certain
they would have been very seriously damaged in
their approach to the batteries."

Jl i w ii , ii -Hftj,, II .

CHAPTER VII.

FROM LEAVING ALGIERS, SEPT. 7, 1816, TO THE CONCLUSION
OF HIS VISIT TO ALI PASHA, IN FEB., 1818.

On the 7th of September, Admiral Penrose, in
company with Lord Exmouth, who was now re-
turning to England, left the Bay of Algiers for
Gibraltar, where he shifted his flag to the Albion.
He then returned to Malta, where he remained
till April 17, 1817. On that day he sailed,
taking his family with him, to the Ionian Islands,
and on the 21st arrived at Corfu, where Sir
Thomas Maitland had at this time established
himself as Lord High Commissioner. Aftei*
leaving Corfii he visited St. Maura and Ithaca.
At Ithaca he lay in the harbour of Vathi, of
which he says, that he never entered a port
so thoroughly concealed from without, and that
its appearance from the inside was so snug that
it might be compared to a mill-pond, and some
wonderment was raised "how we should get
out." Was this the cave of Phorcys, in which

THE IONIAN ISLANDS, 1817.

the sleeping Ulysses was set on shore by the
Phoenicians ? "

From Ithaca the Admiral went to Zante,
where he visited the pitch-wells, and thence to
Cefalonia, and returned to Malta, May 31. On
the 8th of July he again sailed with his family
for Palermo, where they were present during the
feast of St. Rosalia, and from Palermo to Naples.
At Naples he found, or was soon joined by, an
American squadron under Commodore Chauncy *.

With the exception of a duel with an American
officeri which was provoked by the thoughtlessness
of one of the lieutenants of the Albion^ a perfect
harmony subsisted between the two squadrons —

* " The Albion" it is here added, " was but a pigmy by
the side of the gigantic Washington, yet I never felt that I
should have had any doubt of a good result, if I had met her
as an enemy. Her weight of metal was indeed vastly
superior, as she mounted 32-pounders only, and of these she
could fight, if I recollect right, 52 on a side. My reliance
would have been on the superior activity of my own ship in
manoeuveiing, in consequence of the great length of the Wash-
ington; on our having a poop, which the other had not; and
on the unwieldy size of the lower-deck guns, the carriages
also being made very high, to counteract the nearness of the
lower sills of the ports to the water, so that the guns could
not be elevated sufficiently for effectual service on the lee
side. If, therefore, I had met this great ship as an opponent,
I should have endeavoured to close her to leeward, and on the
lee bow if possible ; and I think that hearts of oak would
have had a fair chance."

'^>r..-j±i!mji-s^:!*

III!

f ?

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

the English and the American — during the period
of their rencontre on this station. " Whenever
an American boat," says the Admiral, " passed my
barge with the flag flying, the same respect was
paid as if one of our own boats had been in the
same situation ; and the officers and men on shore
were equally respectful. Not the smallest dispute
between petty ofiicers and boats' crews ever took
place, though often meeting on shore. We had
such numerous engagements that I could not find
a day on which I could give Commodore Chauncy
and his captains ' a grand dinner,' as it would
have been called in the newspapers ; but I invited
them to a ' dejeuner a la fourchette,' and the party
was pleasant. I asked my ladies how they liked
the Americans, and the reply was, that they were
too much like English captains. This was the
greatest compliment they could have paid them.

" On the night of the anniversary of the battle
of the Nile (August 1), the Americans paid us a
very pretty compliment. Our cabin windows were
all open, and Italy never could boast of a more
perfect serenity of air, or a more clear cerulean
sky ; but the moon had not risen when our ears
were pleasingly attracted by the music of an
excellent band, in a boat, a short distance from
the stern. Here the floating orchestra continued
for an hour or more, gratifying us not only with
the most popular airs of the musical world at the

NAPLES, 1817

time, but with our own loyal and patriotic tunes,
ending with the ' Battle of the Nile.' We were
much puzzled as to who might be the bestowers
of this great treat, and at first felt inclined to give
the credit to our Austrian friends, as we had
been able to show some little attention to some
of their chief officers, and I was well acquainted
with General Nugent, who then held the chief-
command. As for the performers themselves, we
could procure no information. Soon after the first
party retired, another good band took their station,
and continued the harmony. We learned on the
following day, that the first band was from Com-
modore Chauncy's ship, and the second from that
of Captain Shaw, who had been commodore before
Chauncy's arrival."

From Naples, Admiral Penrose proceeded to
Leghorn, where he arrived about the middle of
August. Leghorn was at this time very full of
very august personages; amongst the rest Maria
Louisa, whom he proceeded to visit. " She re-
ceived me," he says, " with an open frankness
which was very pleasing. She asked me if I
thought Napoleon was likely to escape from St.
Helena, and she declared herself, and appeared to
be pleased, when I assured her that I considered
him safe in his cage. She never wished to rejoin
him. Her expression afterwards was, ' He never
used me ill, he never used me well ; he valued, or

H 2

;

100

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

looked on me as his housekeeper and the mother
of his son.' She seemed entirely Austrian. She
spoke of her son with great affection, and became
animated like a mother when she praised him.
She told me that one of his great delights was the
playing with a young lion, which had been brought
from Tunis, by Captain Dundas, in the Tagus^ as a
present for some other person, but which had come
into young Napoleon's possession. It had been
taken quite young, and had been reared by a goat.
Whether the nurse had changed any of its natural
propensities, I do not know. It was a royal
jjlaything."

The Admiral dined with the ex-Empress the
next day, and had afterwards to exhibit the Albion,
both to her and to a large party of royal per-
sonages, by whom she was accompanied. This
party consisted of Maria Louisa, the Grand Duke
of Tuscany, the Princess Leopoldina, who had just
been married by proxy to the Emperor of Brazil,
Prince Metternich, and others. From Leghorn,
Admiral Penrose returned to Malta, about Sep-
tember 20; and the autumn and early winter
passed pleasantly away, without any occurrence of
moment.

On January 24th, 1818, he hoisted his flag in
the Ganymede^ Captain Spencer, and sailed again
for Corfu, for the purpose of accompanying Sir
Thomas Maitland on an intended visit to All

THE IONIAN ISLANDS, 1818.

101

Pacha. He on this occasion left his family behind
him, at Malta. The object of this visit to Ali was
to secure the rights of .the inhabitants of the seven
islands; and also to enter into some discussions
respecting the affair of Parga, which was at this
time exciting great and painful attention. During
his stay in Corfu, the Admiral made several ex-
cursions in that island, and to the opposite shores -
of Epirus. " Thus passed," he adds, " our time
away, till we were ready to start for Prevesa to
meet Ali Pacha, where the General embarked with
the ladies (Lady Ponsonby, Lady Lauderdale, and
her daughters) in the Glasgow, and with the two
ships we proceeded to the anchorage off Prevesa,
at the entrance of the Gulf of Arta, celebrated
for the defeat of Antony, and the flight of
Cleopatra. It was intended that we should laud
at Parga in our way, but calms or foul winds
shortened our time, so that we had none to spare
from the chief object of our voyage. A very
strong and cold north-east wind blew directly
from the land, and our anchorage was at a con-
siderable distance from the shore. On the evening
of our arrival, I dispatched the second-lieutenant
to find at what time on the following day Ali
would receive us, and to examine the landing-
place. His report of the chief himself was wittily
characteristic : ' Ho is exactly like a sugar hogs-
head, dressed in scarlet and gold.' Whoever will

•mrnr*

,,^x^

102

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

look at his picture will see good ground-work for
this comparison.

"A long and heavy pull we had the next
day in the Glasgow's fine barge, against a very
cold wind, but at last reached the land. The
palace of the ferocious chief whom we were come
to visit was built of wood, and on the water's
edge, so that the boats landed at one of the doors,
contrived no doubt to enable the owner to escape
in that direction, if requisite. It was an immense
building, badly finished, not painted, and badly
furnished, but calculated to lodge about three
thousand persons. The chief, with all his heads
of departments, and his son and grandson, re-
ceived us in a small room (small, that is, for
such a purpose), one end of which was occupied
by a comfortable and well-cushioned divan ; and
some chairs were brought, out of compliment to
our mode of sitting. Here we were soon served
with coffee in beautiful china and gold cups and
saucers, and magnificent pipes, the long cherry-
wood stems or tubes of which were of great
value if of a certain length. It is the etiquette
on these diplomatic occasions with the followers
of Mahomet, and I believe with some others also,
who ought to know better, to do nothing like busi-
ness on the first day of meeting, but pay compli-
ments, and try to sound the character of those we
are to try to outwit the next day.

THE IONIAN ISLANDS, 1818.

103

" Sir Thomas introduced me as the naval com-
mander-in-chief, and, when we had been exces-
sively civil to each other, then Sir Frederick
Adam, Captains Maitland and Spencer, and then
those of lower degree on the navy and army
lists. Among these was Capt. Frazer, a fine
tall Highlander of six feet three or four inches,
and well proportioned. Sir Thomas had brought
him on purpose to show, and pointed him out to
Ali, asking (as well as I can recollect) whether
he could furnish such another grenadier from his
own troops. I rather think there was something
either in the matter or manner which piqued the
barbarian, and he replied, very drily, and some-
what sarcastically, 'The tallest are not always
the bravest,' or words to that effect.

" Before we returned to our ships, an excellent
collation was provided on a long table, where we
cut and came again, with much approbation of
Turkish cookery ; but the climate was severe in
this wild mansion ; and after trying many bottles
of execrable light wines, great was my joy in
finding a flask of excellent brandy. There was
an immense fire in one apartment; but open
doors and badly-fitted windows rendered it of
no avail, unless within a roasting distance. The
fireplace was built of stone, and projected, wisely,
several feet into the room. On the hearth were
piled immense logs of wood in unsparing profu-

' '"••'"■''""■•■WW^"'"!*

104

L1*E OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

sion; and I certainly never saw so large a, fire
within doors, even including the kitchens of large
establishments ; but whilst the front was roasting
or boiling, the rear was freezing.

" At one of our visits we were entertained with
a review of a body of troops, trained in imitation
of British ; but, though I doubt not they were a
set of active fellows for mountain warfare, they
looked but a ragged regiment; and when the
band played * God save the King,' marching past
us with an English deserter in a blue jacket and
round hat, leading with a fife, it certainly created a
smile. Sir Thomas had, on this occasion, brought
up with him the fine band of the 10th Regiment,
draperied in their full costume; but I do not
think that their excellent playing had any power-
ful effect on Albanian ears, neither was such a
display of superiority politic, and I thought All
rather piqued. Being asked what sort of music
he liked best, he abruptly answered, "Warlike,
always warlike;" while his attention was chiefly
drawn to a stout negro who played the cymbals
with abundance of attitude and motion. With
the troops were two or three small field-guns,
and these they loaded and fired with a quickness
which struck us all as remarkable.

" A party of cavalry was then introduced into
the large square of the palace, and went through
all the evolutions of battle with tho jcreid, or

THE IONIAN ISLANDS, 1818.

105

blunt spear. This was to me a new and wonder-
ful display of activity. If I might judge by the
sound of the blow, when one of the weapons
struck against and rebounded from the wall, I
should think a full stroke on the head would be
fatal; but the dexterity with which they were
parried, and the adroitness with which they were
avoided, were most extraordinary. Sometimes a
passing spear was caught in the hand, and at
other times taken up from the ground at full
speed. Like the knights of old, the horsemen
had foot attendants, and the whole scene was
highly animated, and unlike anything I had be-
fore seen. A grandson of All's, and a common
negro, were the most conspicuous for their ac-
tivity and dexterity.

*' On the second and third days, as our stay on
shore was prolonged, the fare prepared for us was
proportionally more abundant and choice. When
the time came, we saw a line of at least forty
slaves coming across the square from the kitchens
on the opposite side, each with a covered dish on
bis head, or a tray with several smaller dishes of
good things. These sable cooks' assistants put me
in mind of many of the " Arabian Nights ;" and
the contents of the dishes were what we read of
in these and other Eastern stories : lambs or kids,
roasted whole, and stuffed with pistachio nuts,
geese, turkeys, game, hashes, stews, pillaws, &c.,

tsmmm

106

LIFE OF ADiMIRAL PENROSE.

with an endless variety of sweets and confec-
tionary, whicli London or Paris could not excel.
There was a good d(;al of plate, but rather of a
flimsy sort, more suited to a shabby-genteel hotel
than a palace. But I found nothing fit to drink
but brandy, and that was excellent, and adapted
to the cold north-east wind blowing from the
snow-covered mountains, which bounded our eas-
tern view across the Gulf of Arta*.

One of All's secretaries was a Georgian, who
spoke French so fluently, and with so perfect an
accent, that we for some time supposed him to be

* " One of our days," it is here said, " was agreeably
varied by the presence of' some of the ladies who had come
with us to Prevesa. Two of these ladies were certainly very
handsome in our estimation, but neither the attention nor eyes
of Ali or his courtiers seemed attracted by them. Sir Thomas
pointed out one of them in particular, as having been con-
sidered one of our London beauties, but he only gave a sort
of a grunt. When the ladies and gentlemen visitors were
placed on the divan, and the former declined the long pipes
which were abundantly supplied, Ali produced his snuff-box,
on which were his initials, slightly but neatly inlaid with
diamonds ; and when Lady Lauderdale had taken a pinch,
she gave it to me to return to the chief; but with much neat-
ness he desired that, as her Ladyship had honoured it so far,
he hoped that she would condescend to accept it. Poor Lady
Lauderdale, who all the time seemed terrified at being in the
company of such a savage, asked me what she should do,
when 1 advised a salaam and ready accordance with the
offer."

THE IONIAN ISLANDS, 1818.

107

a Frenchman, or at least to have lived long in
France, where he had never been.

" I liad several good opportunities of watching
the countenance of the extraordinary man who
was nou our host, and I never could observe the
smallest indication without of what was passing in
his breast. Simple benevolence was apparently
beaming from the whole expression of this human
butcher. At one time particularly, when I knew
for a certainty that he was both angry and
mortified at some turn in the investigations, I sat
opposite to him at only a yard's distance, and
could not perceive the smallest outward token of
the storm within. He took a great fancy to Sir
Frederick Adam, and I was once greatly amused
to see him lay his hand on the General's shoulders,
and paw him for a minute or two. I was just
opposite, and we could with difficulty restrain a
hearty laugh. He once questioned me about my
family, whether I was married, &c. ; and when I
told him I had three daughters, * What, no son ?
why have not you then?' and burst forth with
one of his frightful haugh-haugh laughs, which
were quite disgusting, and resembled the grunt of
a wild beast.

'* As a high honour, on the day on which the
ladies were with us, he sat at the head of the
table at dinner. On this memorable occasion, the

108

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

table was laid on the platform of the divan ; and
this platform was elevated above the floor of the
room, like the ends of the old feudal halls.
The dinner was much more profuse than elegant ;
and one of Ali's first operations was to cut off the
fore-quarter of a roasted lamb, and with his hand
tear out the flesh between the shoulder and the
breast, which he devoured with great glee. Lady
Lauderdale sat on his right hand, and I was next
her. Ali, understanding that she chose some
turkey, had one brought before him, and helped
her, with great gallantry, a fore quarter of an
immense bird, which of course puzzled her greatly.
Wherefore, bowing for permission from our host,
I cut off a proper ()ortion from the wing, and
helped myself to the remainder. When Ali saw
what a small portion I had allotted to the lady,
he grunted out his peculiar laugh, but luckily did
not persist in the cramming system. From his
apparent surprise at the moderate eating of Lady
Lauderdale, we must suppose that his wife Fatima,
and his other ladies, had more robust appetites.
Even at this our more distinguished feast, good
wines were not the order of the day, and I had
again recourse to the brandy bottle. I know not
from experience what Ali had in a particular bottle,
placed near himself, as he indulged no one but
Sir Thomas Maitland with a taste of it ; but 1 do

THE IONIAN ISLANDS, 1818.

109

not recollect hearing it praised. The chief took a
good portion of this hottle to himself, heedless of
the Koran or the prophet.

" Immediately after dinner, dancing boys were
introduced, and perfoi'med a great number of
evolutions, showing the most extraordinary flexi-
bility in every part of the body. These poor
creatures must have been Nazarites from their
birth, as their hair was long enough to reach the
floor as they stood ; and great part of their skill
was displayed in throwing about these profuse
locks with their arms. I think these boys must
have been of Indian extraction.

" The ladies having heard that Ali had bought
a diamond of great value from poor Gustavus, the
ex-King of Sweden, expressed a strong desire to
see it ; but how to bring this about without giving
offence, was the question. At last Sir Thomas
privately inquired of one of the secretaries, if Ali
would be displeased at being asked to show the
gem, and being assured that he would not be
unwilling to do so, the wish of the ladies was
made known. He assented graciously, and ordered
a plate (silver, I think,) to be brought to him. He
then searched in the folds of his own fat neck,
and at last untied a string to which was afflxed a
little bag of either oil-cloth or bladder. Out of
this he took a coarse paper parcel, and having
opened this envelope, and three or four interior

110

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

papers, he, with a pretended air of iudifTerence,
threw out on the plate a considerable number of
diamonds, which some of our party, better versed
in these rich articles than I am, valued at 30,000/.
Among these was the diamond of the ex-King,
which had been valued at 12,000/. ; but, owing
partly to his necessities, and, perhaps, partly also
to a change in value, Ali had purchased it, I
think, for 7000/. or 8000/.

"The strangest part of this story was, and is,
in my opinion, that such a man could display such
a treasure, showing that it was usually concealed
about his person, before a considerable number of
his own subjects as well as strangers. There
seemed to be the freest possible ingress and egress
to and from the hall in which we sat ; and besides
his officers of state, there were many menials in
the hall at the time. In what, then, consisted the
confidence which he must have felt ? It could
not have been derived from conscious virtue, or
security of attachment ; and, except at the gate
which led from the great square of the palace
towards the town, I never saw anything like guard
or sentinel.

" Besides this dish of diamonds, Ali kept by his
side a brace of pistols richly set with valuable
jewels, a present from Napoleon ; and in his girdle he
always wore a dagger, the hilt of which must have
been worth 2000/. or 3000/. ; one stone, especially.

THE IONIAN ISLANDS, 1818.

Ill

being very large. In the same apparently commou
ball were sabres and fowling-pieces, which were
also ornamented with the same costly materials.
Probably the reign of terror might operate to
some degree as a safeguard ; but the appearance
of the people immediately about All's person
indicated much more confidence than fear, and I
do not recollect that any of them betrayed his
confidence, when his fall drew near.

" Before we embarked, and after we had taken
leave of the chief, it was hinted to us that a visit
to his favourite grandson would be well taken ;
and Sir Thomas and I accordingly went to the
Prince's apartment, made our bows, drank a cup
of coffee, smoked a few whiffs from the long pipes,
and then rejoining our party, went to the boats.
On the steps we found the chief secretary, who,
remarking on the coldness of the weather, put a
pelisse of little value on Sir Thomas's shoulders,
with a request from Ali that he would accept and
wear it. To Sir Frederick Adam and myself he
presented snuff-boxes, in his chief's name ; and I
was not sorry when I found that the last act of
our curious drama was concluded. My token was
a very pretty Parisian box of gold enamelled, not
very costly, and the jeweller's bill was remaining
in it. His stock of new pretty things was, I
conclude, expended, as Adam's box bore evident
marks of long use, and had probably been borrowed

112

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

from one of his women, as sonie seed pearls were
found in the not very clean interior. Our ladies
had been introduced into the harem, and to the
favourite Fatima, who, as we were told, was the
best scratcher Ali ever had. One of his chief
luxuries was to have his immense coarse carcase
scratched for a considerable time, daily, by his
female friends."

CHAPTER VIII.

TO HIS RETDBN TO ENGLAND IN MAY, 1819.

This curious business being thus ended, the ships
separated. " The Glasgow,'"' continues the Admiral,
" returned to Corfu, with the Lord High Com-
missioner and the ladies; and the Ganymede
bore me once again to the snug little harbour of
Vathi in Ithaca. We had sailed up the deep
Gulf of Molo, and through the long and narrow
passage leading to the harbour, where we cast
anchor, before a single individual knew that a ship
had been in sight. We were within little more
than half a mile from the town, and from the
house of Major Temple, the military commandant,
which was in the nearest part of it ; and yet even
he knew not that we were in the port till we
fired the watch-gun at 8 p.m.

" During our stay at Vathi, it was proposed that
we should make an excursion towards the north
end of the island, and search a very ancient
burying-ground, concluding our day by a dinner at
the country house of the native Regent. Each

114

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

island is by the constitution governed by a native
chief under the title of regent, and a British officer
who has the military command, and to whom, in
certain cases, appeals may be made. We departed
early in our pinnace, and, after a pleasant row,
landed in a bay to the north of Macronia ; where,
after having undergone a close and irregular fire of
blunderbusses, expressive of welcome and honour,
we found asses ready to assist us up the hill. How
our little beasts carried us up the mountain paths
they did, I am at a loss to guess ; but the only
difficulty was in keeping my feet clear of the
stony road.

" We arrived at a ruin which bears the name of
Homer's School, and about which there were un-
deniable evidences of great antiquity ; but though
Homer may have been an itinerant, he could hardly
have taught in all the places which bear the same
name. Near this place we began our researches :
the graves appeared to have been placed parallel
to each other, the headstones at the east end.
We had not time, however, for much indulgence of
our antiquarian zeal ; and after having disinterred
the bones and relics of an ancient doctor, we bent
our steps on foot to the country house of the Regent,
who had very patiently, but without the smallest
appearance of curiosity, attended the excavation.
This house was beautifully situated, the view being
down the deep bay just opposite, with Sappho's leap

ITHACA, 1818.

115

and Leucadia at no great distance. I had again to
march through an avenue of blunderhusses, ready
under the arms of a very wild sort of militia, who
discharged each as near my whiskers as they could
without singeing them. That the nearer you fire
to a man's face the more honour you do him, is a
notion which is very practically shown to pervade
both these islands and many parts of Africa.

" We had a very good dinner showered in suc-
cessive arrivals on the table, at long intervals of
time ; so that I feared that, though we had begun
at a moderately early hour, we should not con-
clude before it was time to rise from a late supper.
I had here an opportunity of seeing several of
the Ithacan squires, as well as the parochial Papa.
This last was a very jovial soul, even amongst a
flock which had no distaste to strong drink ; and,
if I recollect right, it was not unusual to hear that
some of the parishioners had assisted in taking
their minister to his home, at times when he
could not have found it for himself, or have
trusted to the steadiness of his own legs. I fear,
indeed, that the Greek clergy of these islands are
not a very exemplary set of men ; and except the
worthy Papa Papa at Zante, I hardly saw one
who could be ranked as a gentleman. This
Ithacan Papa, nevertheless, gave me a kiss and
blessing at parting ; and, moreover, he had pre-
sented me with three or four coins, and some im-

I 2

116

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

plements which had been taken from a grave
near that which I had excavated. Just at dark
we got leave to depart, and my offer to convey
the Regent in my boat to Vathi was gladly
accepted. When we reached the beach, we had
to pass through another avenue of blunderbusses,
and altogether I was not displeased to be
wrapped in my boat-cloak in the stem-sheets of
the Ganymede's pinnace.

" The night was lovely, and as we rowed close
along under the bold cliffs, and round the rugged
projecting points of this classical island, it was
impossible not to admit a degree of romance
or enthusiasm. In the stern near me was the
Regent, whom I would willingly suppose to have
been in direct descent from some of those
worthies whom Homer's song has made immortal;
and by the side of the coxswain was one of his
chief attendants. In the bow of the boat sat two
Greeks, belonging to the police or militia; and
there was no difficulty in persuading these people
to sing some of their most ancient traditional
songs, which they did, generally alternate, some-
times in chorus. The songs, or tunes, were by no
means void of melody; and this Ithacan vocal
concert, while coasting the shores of the land of
Ulysses, was a treat of not a common sort ; and,
when we entered the bay, at the foot of which
was the mountain on which the hero's castle

ZANTE, 1818.

117

stood, the lay .as chaunted with still added ani-
mation, and I have not often been kept out of
my bed beyond the regular hour with more good-
will.

" After passing a few interesting days at Vatlii,
we sailed for Zante, and had a most friendly and
kind reception from the Capo di Governo, Co-
lonel Stewart. With this gentleman and Captain
Spencer I accomplished the not very easy task of
ascending Monte Scopo, whence we had a most
magnificent prospect. The town, the castle built
on the site of the ancient Zacynthus, the noble
plain where the currant-grape is grown, and the
no less noble range of mountains which bound it,
lay like a distinct map in our near view ; while,
across the channel, of only seven or eight miles
broad, which separates Zante from the continent
of Greece, the eye wandered over an apparently
boundless extent of the Morea, comprising a view
of many places memorable in ancient story, and
which have now again acquired a painful interest
from the late war. The scene was displayed
under the advantage of as clear a sky and as
perfect vision as ever showed the blue Apennines
to an Italian. Besides Colonel Stewart, the
Zantiote chief also gave me and my suite a most
hospitable invitation, and begged me to come to
his box at the opera, which accordingly I did.

" My run among these islands, at this tinie,

\f\

118

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

I 1

being merely to keep up my personal acquaint-
ance with the principal persons, and to show
them that they were not neglected by the navy
of the protecting power, I soon departed from
Zante, and had a pleasant passage to Argostoli
in Cefalonia. In my way I contrived to get a
sight of the grease-well. This is a constant and
rather powerful jet of a substance much re-
sembling ambergris, which runs into the sea
through a cavern a few miles north-west of the
Bay of Zante. Captain Spencer and I coasted in
the gig till we discovered it. It appeared to
issue into the cavern rather below the water's
edge, and thence spread itself over the sea to
some distance. Like the pitch-wells which I had
seen on my former visit into these regions, it has
issued in the same manner and in nearly about the
fame quantities from time immemorial. How long
is Zante to continue above water? The exuded
pitch and grease must have caused, in the lapse of
so many centuries, no small exhaustion of internal
materials.

" All our visits to these islands were remarkably
pleasant. Our arrival made a sort of holiday, and
all joined in their endeavours to show kindness
and respect, and to indulge my propensity of
seeing all that could be seen. The south end of
Cefalonia is formed by the black mountain, the
height of which is such as to enable its summit

CEFALONIA, 1 f* ^#.

119

and that of Etna to be at oi witlim the sphere
of vision — so I have heard. 1 rode, not to the
summit of this mountain, but to the summit of a
mountain which required several hours of zealous
ascent, and from this point the black mountain
seemed still to retain its original height. There
was much which was curious in this ride. We
passed some villages, the inhabitants of which had
never visited the capital from which we came,
and looked into some valleys which seemed to
belong to another region.

" After a very pleasant stay of a few days, we
left Argostoli, with the intention of proceeding
without delay to Sta. Maura." — This was the Ad-
miral's intention ; but, after rounding Cape Nicolo,
he was overtaken by a most furious tempest, from
which he was compelled to take shelter in the
bay to the eastward of Vathi. Here he anchored,
and, after a night of great risk and anxiety, pro-
ceeded the next day to Sta. Maura, where he
anchored near one of Ali's forts, which, on the
chart, bears the name of Fort Giorgio.

" The views, as we passed the fountain of the
Bashaw, and the small islands scattered most pic-
turesquely all around us, were tranquilly beautiful.
As to Ali's Fort Giorgio, the smallest observation
showed that it was not calculated for much resist-
ance ; and the scandal goes that the European (I
believe a British) engineer, Avho planned both this

120

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

I^S!

and other fortresses for the Albanian chiof, laid
them purposely" open to easy capture. This
may be ; and I remember that when I saw our
engineers repairing the breaches at St. Sebas' lan,
I said to my companion, * These people expect
to attack this place again at some future time,
and are making a weak place all ready for them.'

" To the south of the Bashaw's fountain I think
there is an admirable situation for a naval ren-
dezvous, or place of equipment. The beautiful
harbour which will be seen in the chart has in-
deed but shallow water, yet, as the bottom is a
soft alluvial deposit, much may be done to deepen
it if requisite : but all without the entrance is
equally secure ; and the cove on the left at the
entrance of the harbour would allow ships of the
line to lie alongside a wharf almost ready prepared
by nature."

At Sta. Maura, Admiral Penrose landed, and
passed a few agreeable days with Colonel, afterwards
Sir Patrick, Ross. Hence he returned to Corfu,
where his residence at this time was rendered the
more agreeable by his finding Lord Guildford
there. It was impossible to witness the honest
exertions of that excellent man to promote the
welfare of the university of which he was at
the head, without sharing and sympathizing with
his zeal.

In the end of March Admiral Penrose returned

W^i^fk

ROME, 1818.

121

to Malta, and, after staying there about a month,
made an excursion to Syracuse. In May, leaving
his wife and his second daughter at Florian, he
went with his other two daughters to Genoa, and
from Genoa to Elba, where, like every one else
who visited at this period that remarkable island,
he found many proofs of the ascendancy acquired
by Napoleon, during his brief sojourn, over all who
surrounded him. From Elba to Civita Vecchia;
then to the mouth of the Tiber, where he came
to an anchor, landed at Fiumecino, and went
thence to Rome. " Gonsalvi received me," he
says, "with much attentive kindness, and never
let an occasion slip, while we were in Rome, of
causing us to partake in the best possible way of
the pleasures which it could afford." The Ad-
miral was also much impressed by the air of great
sincerity and earnestness about Pius VII. " We
we were in luck," he adds, " not only in the
being present in St. Peter's on the fete of that
saint, but also in witnessing the installation of
the last man who underwent the expensive and
brilliant ceremony of an election as senator of
Rome. It was a showy farce, and I thought it
not the least farcical part of the concern, that the
soldiers of the Pope, proverbially incompetent in
action, were in appearance in procession the finest
troops in the world. One of the cardinals, who
was with me in a window to view the show, was

122

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

even jocose upon this subject; and when the
major domes of the cardinals were about to make
their appearance with the immense scarlet hats of
their masters hung behind their backs, he pre-
pared me by saying, ' Now all the people will
laugh,'" — and well they might. A pontifical din-
ner, at which the Admiral was afterwards present,
bore evident features of the ancient feasts on the
Palatine. The top and bottom dishes were of
wood, and nearly of the breadth of a very wide
table. Each contained an immense sturgeon, and
was almost too heavy a burden for two servants.
In this vx)yage to Genoa, and the subsequent visit
to Rome, Admiral Penrose had again the great
satisfaction of being accompanied by Captain
Spencer of the Ganymede, a man whose life has
proved too short for his country and his friends,
but than whom no man seems ever to have left
behind him the reputation of higher virtues, or
created warmer attachments.

On July 3 the Admiral returned to the
Albion, and then went on a final visit to Na-
ples. He arrived at Malta on the 20th of the
same month.

The time of Admiral Penrose's command in the
Mediterranean, though of course lengthened by a
period equal to that during which he had been
superseded by Lord Exmouth's appointment, was
now drawing fast to its close. He still remained

MALTA, 1819.

123

at Malta, however, till the spring of 1819; and he
did not then leave without great regret a place
in which both he and his family had been uni-
formly treated with the greatest possible attention
and kindness, and in which, though always ener-
getic in command, and always active in the su-
pervision of every department of service which
fell under his care, the utmost harmony had pre-
vailed from beginning to end, between himself
and all the public officers, both civil and military,
with whom he had to communicate. He was
succeeded in his command by Admiral Freemantle.
He left Malta March 27, and reached Gibraltar
April 11, where he was received with the greatest
possible kindness by General Don and his family,
and staid eight days, during which he was lodged,
by the kindness of Mr. Buck, in his most charming
residence at Mount Pleasant. He was strongly
pressed to stay one day more, but he knew too
well the baffling character of the winds which
prevail in the straits, to be tempted to do so." *

* " During my first station," he says, " at Gibraltar, there
was a fine class of ships trading to Turkey, well armed and
manned, such as the Britannia, celebrated in the beautiful
poem, the " Shipwreck," by the unfortunate Falconer. Two of
these were at anchor in Gibraltar Bay, iu 1776 or 7, and the
captain of one was at dinner in the cabin of the other, when
a slight air of wind sprung up from the east. The visiting
captain knew the probable consequence of not hailing the
breeze that blew by an immediate display of his canvas to

: ,;\

124

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

On the 19th, he took instant advantage of a
transient levanter, and sailed from the bay.

May 2, he arrived in Plymouth Sound; he
struck his flag on the 7th, and went for two days
to Ethy. " I must confess," he says, " that as we
mounted the hill above Torpoint, from which my
flag at the Albion mast-head was to be plainly
seen, I felt no small professional pang to think
that, after having toiled so long and so hardly to
reach the rank which I had now attained, I should
never hoist it again. Anxious as my heart at this
time was for my dear partner, whom I was longing
to restore once more to her home, I certainly did
cast many a lingering look behind, and was glad
at last when the Albion, and the red cross at her
mast-head, could be seen no more."

From Ethy, Admiral Penrose went of course to
London, where a very general wish seemed to
be expressed, on the part of the Government, to
confer some new appointment on a man whose
clearness of understanding and fitness for com-
mand, qualities of his character which had long
been well known to his private friends, had been

court it ; and, in spite of the earnest entreaties of his friend,
went to his ship, weighed anchor, and had just got into the
Atlantic clear of the current, when the western vrind returned.
He made a quick passage to England, and returned with an
outward-bound cargo to Gibraltar, before his friend, who had
put off till to-morrow what he should have done to day,
' Had found another eastern breeze to waft him on his way.' "

ETHY, 1819.

125

eminently manifested in the stations which he had
filled at Gibraltar, and still more during the last
five years on the French coast and in the Medi-
terranean.

But there was not any naval appointment for
which he could apply, which would not have
compelled a severance from his family; and to
this, especially as there was now much appre-
hension for his wife's health, which had been long
infirm, he would not consent. He would have
liked, if it had been possible, to have asked for
the succession to the port command at Plymouth,
where his family might have accompanied him;
but his comparatively low place on the list of
admirals did not permit him to do so. He there-
fore returned from London to Ethy, where, with
the exception of a long visit to his brother in
Nottinghamshire, in 1822, and occasional journeys
to Bath, he passed the whole remainder of his
life.

CHAPTER IX.

OF ADMIRAL PENROSE IN HIS PROFESSION, AND OF HIS
GENERAL CHARACTER.

'! '

On this, the final close of what may be called
Admiral Penrose's public life, it will be desirable
to review those parts of his character which could
not be brought conveniently into a brief narrative,
and which yet the readers of these pages — those
readers, especially, for whom they are chiefly in-
tended — will wish to be brought before them some-
what distinctly.

To speak of him first in his profession. — There
probably was never any man who had more of the
science of it. His great quickness of eye and
perception enabled him to take in both rapidly
and correctly all its relations at once; and this
not only in its properly seafaring departments, but
also in the whole economy of dockyards and
equipments. Some of his observations on par-
ticular points of seamanship will be found in-
serted at the end of this Memoir, in note E. But
the character of his mind comes out most appro-

HIS CHARACTER.

127

priately when viewed in the higher rank of friend,
commander, and counsellor. No man was ever
more determined to be obeyed where he had a
right to command; yet no man ever was more
loved by his dependents, or by those whom he
commanded. No ship was ever more sought for
than his, by parents who had " youngsters" to
send to sea, and who knew where to seek. No
*' youngsters " ever retained, all through after-life,
a warmer affection for their captain than they who
had served under him. His not less observant
than affectionate daughter cays of him, on this
point : " Of the numerous midshipmen who joined
the ship he was the active friend and guardian,
inspecting weekly their progress in knowledge,
inquiring into their moral conduct, indefatigable in
bestowing praise or reproof, cherishing or remon-
strating as a parent would have done. But in
every situation," she adds, "he was always the Ad-
miral, ready for whatever occasion. I remember
looking on and admiring, when the news arrived
of Bonaparte's escape from Elba. It changed
everything from an aspect of peace to that of war;
and overset all preconcerted schemes. But if it
had been the most common event it could not
have been met with greater readiness, or with
more ease." Or, to turn to some of those com-
moner events themselves, which are not always
less accurate indications of character than may be

128

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

found in emergencies. — On one occasion when he
was at Portsmouth, one of his lieutenants, or
midshipmen, a singularly gallant young Irishman,
who afterwards sacrificed himself in a most re-
markable manner, in one of the desperate cuttings
out on the French coast, came to him in some
agitation to ask leave to go on shore. " But you
were on shore yesterday." The young officer's
object was to fight a duel in his brother's place.
The captain gave instant leave, and took instant
care also to prevent the duel. — Afterwards, at
Passages, in 1814, he thought himself neglected
by the packet-agent, and wrote to Lord Keith to
complain : sending, at the same time, to the agent,
to say that he had thus written. "This imme-
diately," says the Admiral, " brought the agent
on board the Pm'cupine, where he apologized so
properly, and expressed his readiness to enter into
my views so fully, that I told him I would write
another letter to Lord Keith to recall my com-
plaint." It then appeared that the agent had
kept back the fi rst letter, lest it should do him
an injury. Many a quick-tempered commander
would have flown out in indignation, at such an
instance of unfaithfulness ; but Admiral Penrose
saw that he had a man of useful material to deal
with; and that he would be the more useful if
this fault were overlooked. " Many a time also in
his life," says his amiable daughter, " has he borne

HIS CHARACTER.

129

if
n
le

the office of peacemaker. When kindly inter-
course had been broken off, his advice to the
parties used to be to meet on the broad grounds
of Christian charity, to shake hands as if nothing
had passed, and avoid a word which might excite
recrimination."

But if such was his happiness and ascendancy
in all his dealings with officers, or with official^
or with gentlemen, neither were these qualities
less conspicuous or remarkable in all his practi-
cal dealings with seamen. An acute eye (he was
called Hawk's eye by the seamen at the time of
the mutiny), a full mind, and an intrepid character,
had doubtless their effect in giving to him that
ascendancy over them which he had. But it was
also his principle to deal with all men as with
reasonable beings, as grateful for indulgence, and
as alienated and made disobedient by needless re-
straint. A tract, which he published in 1824*,
and from which long extracts are made in Marshall
and Ralfe, gives his opinion on the treatment
which ought to be adopted towards seamen, at
some length. On this subject he moreover says,
in one of his later journals, that " it was and is my
fixed principle, that men should be induced and
encouraged to perform their duty by a steady and

* Observations on Corporal Punishment and other Mat-
ters relative to the present State of His Majesty's Navy.
Whittakjr, 1824.

1 /

130

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

kind uniformity of manner, rather than compelled
by stern authority. When men do not merit
favour, power is always at hand ; but there ere few
who will not do their duty more efficiently when
actuated by the kindly, than by the contrary feel-
ings of our nature. Above all, I believe the per-
suasion that a chief is desirous to be just to all
under him, forms an attachment of confidence
which is beyond all others conducive to prompt
obedience and cheerful co-operation." There was
more of merit in seeing these truths, incontestible
as they are, at the time when this tract was pub-
lished, than in seeing them now ; and still more
in having seen them no less clearly, and acted on
them most wisely, from the very earliest period
of his professional life. His eminent success in
carrying his own crew, as has been observed in
p. 16, through the anxious period of the mutiny,
unseduced by the mischievous influences which
were then at work, if partly referable to his
great personal address, was yet grounded on these
principles. " Early in 1797," he says in his tract,
" I returned to England in the Cleopatra from the
American station, with about three years' pay due.
The day before the ship went from Spithead into
the harbour, I informed the ship's company that
the necessary repairs would keep us long in port,
and that they would have leave to go on shore
in divisions, as long as they continued to conduct

l|:^

-■.;T^"■-#.>• V--7".V-. • '

HIS CHARACTER.

181

themselves well, or till the ship came out of dock.
We were thirteen weeks in harbour; I had not
one complaint; after about three weeks, there was
seldom a man wished tff go on shore. I left the
port at last, with only two men absent without
leave; and I should add, that during the time
the ship was in dock, many were employed in
the disagreeable service of fitting out other ships..
From a 74-gun ship and a frigate near me, under
the same circumstances of long detention in har-
bour, no leave was granted: boats rowed guard
every night to prevent desertion, and the loss by
desertion was very great.

" More than one circumstance occurred in a
short time, to show that my indulgence had not

been thrown away The payment

(of the three years' pay due) was scarcely over;
and while the ship was crowded with women,
children, and slopsellers, a telegraphic signal an-
nounced an enemy's frigate off Portland; and
never were supernumeraries more quickly dis-
posed of, or a ship more quickly unmoored, and
under sail. We were baulked of our expected
prize, and returned to Spithead just before the
mutiny. Here, by a little good management and
minute attention, I kept my men from cheering
with the others ; and although 1 had daily com-
munication with the Royal George, three days
after the yard ropes had been reeved, I punished

K 2

Ill

!ii

"'111

132

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

two men who had left their duty in tlie dockyard.
When I received orders for sea, not a moment's
lapse of good order occurred ; but having informa-
tion that letters had beeftl received, threatening a
visit from the delegates, if my people did not
join in cheering, &c., I called the ship's company
together, and informed them that I was ordered to
proceed to sea ; but that under the circumstances
I was aware of, I should not do so till the
night tide, when I expected they would show
their sense of the confidence I had in their good
conduct by weighing with the utmost silence and
dispacch. The reply was by three hearty cheers
(which I would then have gladly dispensed with),
and careful obedience to my o'"lers during the
night ; and I have reason to believe tint the good
conduct of my ship's company aided the able
management of the commander* of the western
squadron I immediately joined, in the preserva-
tion of good order at that critical period. I had
the honour of letters of approbation from the
Admiralty, both on account of our long stay in
harbour without desertion, and preventing my
ships' company from taking pr rt in the mutiny ;
and after the ship's company tad also received
their lordships' thanks, they sent nie a letter full
of expressions of gratitude for my having, as they

* Sir Edward Pollew.

HIS CHARACTKit.

133

termed it, ' steered them clear of the troubles so
many of their brethren had been involved in.'"

Thus far from the tract. One passage here
omitted speaks of the suspension, at this time, of
cash payments as constituting an added difficulty
in the case. The account of his treatment of this
case in particular will be best transcribed from a
memorandum among his private pai)ers, from which
it is here subjoined.

"In the memorable year 1797 I was at Bath,
on my return from a visit to my family, when
the news arrived that cash payments were stopped
at the bank, and it was with great difficulty that
I procured change for a ten-pound bill. I saw the
danger of the moment, and set out without delay
to join my ship, the Cleopatra, at Portsmouth.

" On my arrival I found it fully requisite that
I should be at my post. Orders had been given
for the payment of nearly five years' wages due to
the crew, and the first use of one or two pound
bank notes for the payment of the navy was to be
tried in our case. Already had the mischievous or
the alarmists spread a report that the nation was
become bankrupt, and that these new bank issues
would soon be of no more worth than the paper
money of the American or the assignats of the
French revolution. Another and not less formid-
able enemy to the peaceful reception of the new
paper, under the alarming circumstances of the

11^

134

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

momont, was tlio offer of the Jews and slopsellers
to the sailors to take their notes from them at
only ten per cent, less, and this as a great favour.
Such an offer naturally occasioned a greater fear
of loss in tho minds of the seamen than other
causes which they could not so well comprehend,
and alarm and discontent was evidently fast
spreading among them. Mine was, therefore, a
most critical situation, as our example would
evidently guide all who were to follow. I there-
fore lost not a moment in assembling the ship's
crew, and spoke to them nearly as follows : —

* My lads, — to-morrow, if the wind admits, we
are to go out to Spithead, and on the following day
we are to receive our pay. This will, in great part,
consist of small bank notes, instead of guineas,
which, from particular circumstances, cannot now
be issued for that purpose. But the small notes
you will receive are exactly under the same secu-
rity as the large ones you have been always in the
habit of receiving; and a twenty-shilling note is as
exactly worth twenty shillings as you have always
found a ten-pound note to be worth ten pounds
in cash. Therefore we lose nothing by the new
mode of payment; and, at all events, it is the duty
of all good subjects cheerfully to fall in with any
measures the Government is obliged to pursue for
the general advantage. Now, I have been in-
formed that some designing people have offered

HIS CHARACTER.

135

to take your notes at a considerable gain to them-
selves; and their making that offer Is a proof
that they think the notes well worth buying, as
they can have no other end in view but profit.
I positively forbid any of you to part with a note
for less than its assigned value, and whoever does
so is an enemy to his country. If any j)erson
comes again on board, and offers you less, seize
him and bring him to me.' The payment took
place with perfect content, and the system has

continued ever since Now, if

I had acted on the principle of letting the
leaven work, with the design to check its effer-
vescence by violence at whatever degree of work-
ing I thought proper, what would have been the
consequence ? I can have no doubt but that the
small notes would have been refused ; a fearful
struggle would have been the result, and the
mutiny which broke out so soon after from other
causes would have exploded on this, and the ex-
tent of the effects can hardly be fancied

As it was, we were quietly paid, and the next
morning on the telegraphic news of the French
frigate being in the channel, we started at a
minute's warning, and in the midst of all the
bustle of spending the bank notes at full value."

Copies of the letters which he received from
the crew of the Cleopatra, after leaving the ship,
have been preserved, and shall be transcribed in

136

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

a note *. They are expressed throughout with
the greatest and simplest respect, affection, and
gratitude, and with many apologies and excuses,
on the ground that " love will make free," for that
simplicity itself which adds to their value.

Large extracts from the tract referred to, are
published in the third volume of " Ralfe's Naval
Biography." On the subject of corporal punish-
ment Sir Charles Penrose there states himself
to be " fully aware that it has often been inju-
diciously, and sometimes harshly inflicted ; but I
know also," he adds, " that it has been often in-
judiciously and weakly refrained from. I have
maintained, and believe, that the advance made
in the habits of reflection and exertion of the
kindlier feelings in the higher classes, and of im-
proved decency and morality in the lower, are fast
blending in that happy harmony which will render
corporal punishment of rare occurrence under the
strictest discipline; but if there were only one
dozen lashes in a year, inflicted throughout the
navy, I would not withdraw the power of in-
fliction I believe that during the whole

extent of the mutinies in 1797, the seamen never
once thought of petitioning for the disuse of
corporal punishment, but, on the contrary, were
sometimes lavish in their use of it, during their
assumed command ; much more so than their legal
* See note K at the end of this Memoir.

HIS CHARACTER.

137

commanders had ever been. They did, indeed,
complain of some few insulated instances of the
abuse of the power, hereby still more fully allow-
ing the propriety of its use ; nor do I believe that
there is an honest old seaman in tl'e fleet, who
knows the stuff some of his shipmates are ahvays
compounded of, who would not readily declare
that this power is decidedly necessary for the good
of the service. A very worthy old captain
thought proper to introduce a novel style of
discipline into his ship, and when a man com-
mitted a fault, he delegated a jury of his peers
to try and pass sentence upon him ; and, if I am
rightly infornied (as 1 believe 1 am) the captain
has often superintended a much severer punishment
than would have been ordered in the common
mode of proceeding." The internal evidence of
this last extract certainly vouches the accuracy of
the information received.

Character private and professional so mingle
together and influence each other in all things,
that they can scarcely be ever regarded as wholly
distinct. The same promptitude, both of seeing
and acting, which marked Admiral Penrose both
as seaman and as commander, he also carried
with him in every walk through his farms, his
garden, and his grounds ; and he consequently

138

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

ranked amongst the most improving agriculturists
of the highly-intelligent neighbourhood in which
he lived. Several remarks by him are inserted
in the agricultural survey of Cornwall, by Mr.
Worgan, and there is a sort of stamp of his ready
discernment in the plan which is there given by
him of a field gate, exactly on the principle of
the diagonal fastenings afterwards proposed in
ship-building by Sir Robert Seppings. Also in
all matters of higher science, he was not only
zealous to promote them himself, but also to en-
courage and facilitate, by every possible means
within his power, the researches of others. When
he arrived at Palermo in the win<6i of 1814, he
found the now well-known Captain ■ •! Smyth,
then only a lieutenant, engaged in :,.., Biurvey of
the coasts of the Mediterranean, a survey which
he had commenced at his own cost, and in a
borrowed Sicilian gun-boat. The Admiral would
not be satisfied till he had procured him a proper
ship and establishment from home, to which
occurrence it is mainly owing, observes Captain
Smyth, that the study of hydrography has since
been so widely cultivated. When the ship
arrived, the Admiral aided also all he could in
Captain Smyth's farther arrangements, and urged
him while waiting for it to pursue his journey to
Leptis, and his search for Ghizzali. Many letters
and other papers now in the Admiralty bear tes-

HIS CHARACTLIR.

139

timony to the zeal shown by Sir Charles Penrose
to promote both this, and many other objects of
science ; and, amongst the rest, to aid Mr. Ritchie
and Captain Lyon in their mission to Bornou*.
One maxim which, as many of his friends must
remember, he was always earnest to impress on
others, was a maxim which certainly he himself
never forgot : " Duty and difficulty," he used to
say, "should never cross the mind together.
Do what you can, and leave the conquest, if you
are to be conquered, to fate or necessity. But
you will often, if not ordinarily, conquer both."

Such as here described, both professionally and
practically, was Admiral Penrose, in resource,
character, and accomplishments. Neither yet
was any man, probably, ever more domestic. He
was among the tenderest of hisbands, and the
kindest of fathers. His gaiety was exuberant.
No party ever was dull at which he was present.
Perhaps there never was any other man, who
spoke his mind so freely, who gave in the so
doing so little offence. He loved company; he
was eminently hospitable; and though in the
later portion of his life, the infirm state of his
wife's healtli led him on her account almost to ab-
stain from leaving home, and also in a great degree

* See note L at the end of this Memoir.

140

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

from inviting his friends to visit him, he was
not the less the life and happiness of his own
household, and recognised as such by every mem-
ber of it. "I feel," says his amiable daughter,
" that I am not fitted to draw his character. In
writing of him, what we have lost is always at my
heart. All I say is drawing onward to the close
of his life ; while his likeness should be drawn
with a buoyant spirit, for such was his, always
hopeful, sanguine, energetic. His was the quick
resolve which immediately produced action; to-
gether with the ready wit, the playfulness in table
talk, which kept all in liveliness about him. When
in 1807, at Ethy, he had a visit from Mr. Graham
of Fin try, one of the friends of his Scottish sojourn
in 1785, the tears actually ran down his guest's
face, while his host, whose spirits were raised to the
highest pitch by his friend's unexpected arrival,
kept up an exuberant flow of anecdote and gaiety,
and he exclaimed, " He is exactly the same !
exactly the same ! " — Also, amidst all this social
liveliness, there does not seem to have been a
moment to be named in which his inmost mind
was not irradiated as by the special presence of
that Giver of all good, to whom he habitually re-
ferred both his thoughts and his actions; or in
which he was not, to use again his daughter's
words, " inwardly praising Him in the spirit of the
hymn he loved, that his bounteous hand had made

HIS CHARACTER.

141

his cup run o'er ; and gratefiil to Him especially
for the cheerful heart that tasted those gifts with

joy."

And yet it may here be asked, how many might
have been set to drink of what to the outward
eye might be the same cup, and yet have found
in it nothing but bitterness? His friends and
contemporaries had passed him by in the road, to
the higher honours of his profession. They made
fortunes in it — he made none; and in the positions
in which he was placed in his later commands,
found it hard not to trench on the very small
prize moneys which had fallen to his share while
he was only a captain. Formed as he was, above
almost all men, to delight in the happiness of
domestic life, he was taken away from it, during
long periods, by harassing service. In his domes-
tic life itself, he was afflicted by the gradual decay
and death of his beautiful daughter, Mrs. Main-
waring, and by the frequent and severe illnesses
of his wife. His own health was often broken
down by severe and painful disease ; and he lost,
one after another, many of those both private and
professional friends with whom he was most in-
timate, and to whom he was most strongly attached.
And yet he still was doubtless, what he believed
himself to be, an eminently happy man. Such is
the blessing of a boon nature, coupled, as in him,
with a pure conscience and a high integrity,

•'^iMqjltlt.-t'Ku^v

142

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

together with an unceasing confidence in the
goodness of that always present and presiding
Power, whom he, if any man, kept always before
his eyes.

Neither yet was Admiral Penrose's religion
merely that essential religion of the heart (though
that, indeed, in the divine estimate is everything,)
which leads both the knowing and the ignorant to
bow with equal acceptableness before their common
God. His active mind overflowed also into many
of the studies connected with religion. Many of
the writings which he has left behind him are on
doctrinal subjects. When he was at Malta, he
wrote a long and most valuable letter to his
nephew, on the Shipwreck of St. Paul, the matter
of which is incorporated in the work now in course
of publication by Messrs. Conybeare and Howson, on
St. Paul's history. He has left behind him more
than a hundred brief manuscript discourses, which
he read himself, on Sunday evenings, to his family.
And his warm zeal — and it was very warm — for the
emancipation of the Roman Catholics, was a zeal
which had its root not in his politics, but in his
religion itself, or in his Christian solicitude to see
all possible obstacles removed to the union of all
good men in a religious sympathy, which is still
rather to be prayed for than expected.

This subject may here be concluded, and the
character, both of his own religious cheerfulness

HIS CHARACTER.

143

and meditative habits on the subject of religion,
strongly evidenced, by the following extract from
his last letter to his nephew; a letter written
September 17, 1829, on receiving the intelli-
gence of the loss of his brother, and a little more
than three months before his own death. " Happy
are they," it is snid in this letter, " who, in the
performance of tue duty of prayer, can experience
that ready enjoyment of devotional sensation
which makes the duty so feelingly delightful — such
a mental gratification. It is an added pleasurable
religious sense, but is not an acquirable talent,
and differs from that satisfaction which arises
from a consciousness of doing that which is right
from proper motives, and in a proper manner.
Many more there are, I hope and believe, who
could neither collect their ideas in lengthened
prayerj of their own composing, nor even suffi-
ciently fix their attention on the best forms
composed for them, so as to feel the enjoyinent of
prayer ; but who still may keep God in all their
thoughts, and thank God for all the blessings they
enjoy ; and ' God's will be done,' whatever may
befall them, will arise in their hearts with corre-
spondent gratitude and resignation."

CHAPTER X.

CONCLUSION. 1819—1830.

Little now remains except to give some account
of the closing scene of this most active, and
well spent, and, as it has been seen, even happy
life. That scene was at once too impressive and
too consolatory to be here omitted, or very briefly
described. Some of the few events, however,
which had previously taken place in Admiral
Penrose's family, must first be stated, and some
mention made of his chief occupations at Ethy,
after his return there in 1819.

When he left Malta, his second daughter had
remained behind with her husband. Captain Main-
waring, who unhappily fell soon afterwards into a
declining state of health, which ended in consump-
tion. He came back with his wife to England, to
Ethy, where he lingered some time, and after-
wards went to Bath, where he died. Admiral
Penrose then fetched his daughter home ; but the
insidious disease had taken root in her own frame,
and she died November 28, 1823.

CONCLUSION.

145

Lady Penrose became also at this time a great
suff -er from ill health. Little did any one then
surmise that she would survive her husband. Her
last visit to Bath, in June, 1824, failed to revive
her ; and he, therefore, on her account, withdrew
in great measure from society; and never, after
his return from this visit to Bath, slept another
night out of his own house. The health also of
his youngest daughter now began to fail. " And
shall not that child," she says, " record what a
father she found in him ? Whether in sickness or
in health, how full of kind and delicate attentions,
how desirous to animate her to usefulness, yet
how careful of her health !" She adds that her
sister, Mrs. Mainwaring, had been used to ask,
when nearly at her last, " Let him come and talk
to me," thus indicating what that consolation was
which she most greatly prised.

During this period of his last residence at Ethy,
Admiral Penrose's pen was always busy. He
wrote a great number of manuscript essays, from
which fragments have been extracted in the second
chapter, and in other parts of this Memoir. He
printed and published tracts to help the unlearned
in Scripture reading ; and also tracts of advice to
seamen. He published also, in 1824, his pamphlet
mentioned before on naval discipline, and on the
impress service. He was a most efficient member
of the Christian knowledge and church missionary,

,iiai#>ii^»..i.

*'< v.'

146

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

and other religious societies, and a most useful
and active coadjutor to his excellent friend, Mr.
Walker, the Vicar of St. Winnow, in every neigh-
bourly and parochial office which he could fill.
He wrote a series of short lectures on the liturgy
for his own family use, together with another
series on the Bible history, and other discourses.

But the study of the Bible itself was both his
great pleasure and his first care ; " and the
effect," says his most amiable domestic biographer,
" was seen ; for we all felt that he became more
and more gentle, and satisfied, and loving. His
heavenly Father was leading him home, while we
were delighting in his health and cheerfulness,
and little anticipating his end so near."

In September, 1829, he received intelligence,
after some weeks of preparatory warning, of his
brother's death. Though feeling sensibly this
great bereavement, it did not seem to affect his
own health, and he continued well till December.
Three or four weeks before his death, he found
his right hand fail, in writing. He did not mention
this at first, but practised making his signature
with his left hand. " We trll remarked," says his
daughter, " how very much he felt the cold, and
that he was not quite well. But it was a sharp
winter with snow, and we were willing to hope
that the numbness in his arm would pass away
with it. On the contrary, it increased, and we

CONCLUSION.

147

felt alarm, all but my mother, to whom so great
an evil as his being paralytic, never occurred.
His chief fear was that of giving her uneasiness ;
and, when he found that he could not refrain from
rubbing his arm, he would leave the room that he
might not draw her attention. She was more
than usually ill, and still he continued to be her
nurse and support, though fearful that if he put
his hand under her, it might lose its power, and
so betray him."

Unable to go to church, she proposed to him
to desire that the sacrament might be administered
to her at Ethy; and ho embraced the idea so
eagerly, that she fancied he thought that it might
be her last opportunity of receiving it — little
imagining that it might be his own. He was not
able to go to church on Christmas Day ; but he
read aloud a short sermon in the evening, and
afterwards joined his youngest daughter in singing
one of the Christmas carols. The next day he
was better, and called on Captain and Mrs. (_ jode,
at their cottage, and on another neighbour, and
read aloud in the evening. He had, however,
passed much of the day in wallving up and down
the room ; always humming the air of the Thirty-
fourth Psalm, of which the words,

" Through all the changing scenes of life," &c.
were doubtless, as his daughter well observes, pass-
ing through his mind. In the middle of the night

L 2

148

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

following', he was struck with palsy. Reviving from
a strong fit, he folt that the hand of death was on
him, and exclaimed immediately, that he loved his
God and Saviour, and did not fear it, and referred
to the text 1 Tim i. 15, the text of the sermon
which he had read in the evening of Christmas
Day. The few directions still left to be given
with respect to his worldly affairs, were soon com-
pleted; and his only remaining thoughts were
for the charities of this world, and the hopes
of a better. He still lived for some days, and
there seemed to be at first a hope of recovery, for
which he expressed himself thankful. He would
be glad, he said, to live to cheer his wife, and to
resume his daily visits to his daughter and her
husband, and to his grandchildren. But he soon
felt that death was inevitable. That he was
perfectly resigned to the blow scarcely needs, after
what has been already said, to be added. Every
attention paid to him he overpaid by the kindest
expressions of attection and thankfulness. His
countenance remained unchanged to the last, and
his intellect clear. He sent his blessing to his
friends, expressed himself happy in the oppor-
tunities which he had had of conciliating diffe-
rences, and spoke to those around him on the
beauty of the Christian virtue of charity. The
most cheering and consoling texts and hymns con-
tinued to flow into his mind ; and when, at his

CONCLUSION.

141)

desire, his favourite hymn was repeated to him, he
emphatically joined in the lines, —

*' Welcome sleep, or death to me,
I 'm still secure, for still with thee."

He fell into a slumber at about six in the
morning of the 29th; but continued to breathe
till January 1, when he expired at about four in
the morning. Lis remains were deposited in the
c' urchyard at Sr,, Winnow, with every possible
tribute of respect and affection from both rich
and poor ; ard a tablet, with the following inscrip-
tion, was ivi'terwar > j erecled by his widow to his
memory, in St. Wnnow Church:

" In meme ,• o^ Sir C. V. Per .^e, K.C.B., Vice- Admiral of
the Waito, who died at Etliy, Jan. 1, 1830, aged 70.

" The voice at midnight carao,

To meet thy God prepare : —
A mortal arrow pierc'd his frame ;

He died but felt no fear ;
For Jesus, thou art strong to save,
Thou art victorious o 'er the grave."

On the same tablet is subjoined this farther
notice : —

" In memory also of his second daughter, Charlotte Murray
Maiuwaring, who died at Ethy, Nov. 28, 1823." *

Lady Penrose died at Ethy, April 3, 1832.
Mrs. Coode has left three sons and one daughter :
* See note, p. 1 1 .

150

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

111 J

Charles Penrose, born in 1 820, now a Capt. R.M., married in

1845, Charlotte Sophia Frances, only daughter of Capt.

Charles Basden, R.N. (by whom he has one daughter),

born in 1821.
John Penrose, now Capt. 35th Regiment Madras Native In

fantry.
Trevenen Penrose, born in 1822, now First Lieutenant of

H. M. S. Plumper.
Elizabeth Penrose, married, in 1846, William Henry Prance,
Esq., and has two children.

! I

NOTES.

Note A. p. 1.

REV. JOHN PENBOSE, OF CJLUVIAS.

The Rev. John Penrose, vicar of Gluvias, was born September
22, 1713. He was brought up at the High School in Exeter,
under the able tuition of Mr. Reynolds, and afterwards at
Exeter College, in Oxford. On first entering into the
church he became curate of Mailing, in Kent, and afterwards
of Shobrooke, in Devon. In 1737 he was made rector of
Sowton, and in September, 1741, was collated by his friend
and patron, Bishop Weston, to the vicarage of Gluvias. He
married Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. John Vinicombe, of
Exeter, and sister of the Rev. Charles Vinicombe, vicar
of Brixham, by whom he had seven children :

Frances, tnarried the Rev. William Hocker, vicar of St.
Enoder.

Betty, married Edward Coode, Esq., of Penryn.

Margaret, died unmarried.

Mary, married the Rev. Thomas Donnithome.

Dorothy, married Vice-Admiral Pender.

John.

Charles Vinicombe.
He was a man of the greatest and sincefest Christian in*
dustry and zeal, and many of his manuscript sermons and
lectures, which still remain in the hands of his grandson, in-
dicate him to have possessed a high degree both of Intel-

152

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

lectual ability, and of classical and professional learning.
Some few hymns composed for the use of his congregation,
and some few relics of very playful Latin verses, which it was
his amusement to compose during the long period of bodily
weakness and suffering which preceded his death, are written
with very remarkable happiness and delicacy, both of thought
and expression. His health became broken early in life, but
was partially restored by a visit to Bath in 1706. He died June
25, 1776. He was a man of a most kindly and hospitable
nature, attached his friends to him very strongly, and had
great influence in his neiglibourhood, in which the traditional
respect in which his memory was long held is scarcely yet
forgot. His epitaph, which was written by his estimable
friend Mrs. Hannah More, and is still carefully preserved in
the church at Gluvias, is as follows : —

*' If social manners, if the gentlest mind.
If zeal for God, and love for human kind,
If all the charities that life endear
Can claim affection or demand a tear,
Then, Penrose, o'er thy venerable urn.
Domestic love may weep, and friendship mourn.
The path of duty still untir'd he trod ;
He walk'd with safety, for he walk'd with God.
When past the power of precept and of prayer,
Yet still the flock remain 'd the shepherd's care;
Their wants still nobly watchful to supply.
He taught his last, best lesson — how to die."

Though these lines are pleasing and harmonious, they did
not altogether satisfy some who knew Mr. Penrose well, and
who thought that his learning and his ability, his great buoy-
ancy of spirit, and most cheerful resignation during a long
period of often acute suffering, ought not to have been for-
gotten in an inscription to his memory. Sir Charles Penrose,
in describing in 18'40 the portraits of many long lost friends.

NOTES A AND B.

153

and a few other drawings which he had collected around him
in his private apartment at Ethy, speaks of his parents and
of the pleasing scene at Gluvias, in which his early childhood
had been passed, in the following words : *' There is the like-
ness of my venerated father ; there the scene of my birth and
infant years, recalling long past hours to my recollection. I
fancy I still witness my beloved father's paternal fondness
strongly operating upon his hopes and expectations for the
future prospects and well-being of his idle boy ; and feel the
fond and fostering care of a darling mother, combing -the
hair, or guarding the complexion, while with much devotion
she was mentally imploring blessings on her child. These
were happy, thrice happy days, and at this distance of time it
is a truly gratifying sensation to exult in the excellence of
long lost parents, and to glow from the certainty of their
happiness in a better world. There are the trees I first
climbed ; there the tower on whose summit I delighted to
play; and the church in which my good father exerted himself
to secure to his flock a better pasture, and where, with those
of his beloved wife, his mortal remains are deposited."

Note B. p. 6.

KEV, JOHN PENROSE, EECTOR OF FLEDBOROUOII.

The Rev. John Penrose, Sir Charles Penrose's elder
brother, was bom at Gluvias, Aug. 16, 1753. He was edu-
cated at Truro School, of which the excellent Mr. Conon was
then master, and afterwards at Exeter College, Oxford, where
he was elected fellow in 1774. He took a LL.B. degree in
1778. On taking orders he was for a short time curate of
Camborne, and afterwards rector successively of two livings
in Cornwall — Cardynham (which he held till his brother-in-
law, the Rev. Thomas Trevenen, was of age to be instituted
to it) and Perran Uthno. In 1786 he became curate of
Constantine, and resided while he held that curacy at Carwe-

^■U^AL"»f»..

154

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

thenack, a small countiy house about a mile from the church.
In 1801 he removed to Fledborough, in Nottinghamshire, a
small living to which he had been inducted in 1784. He
died of paralysis, Sept. 14, 1829. He married, April 2,
1 778, Jane Trevenen, by whom he had a large family. Mrs.
Penrose died at Fledborough, July 15, 1818.

Their eldest son, the compiler of this Memoir, will not
trust himself to speak here of his father's character. But he
cannot refuse to add that a friend, who knew and appreciated
him, has within the last few months pointed out the following
extract from a recent review, as conveying a no less true than
lively representation, not indeed of his virtues, but of the
manner and physiognomy which were their result. None
who knew him can fail to see and appreciate the very remark-
able likeness of the portraiture.

" If a man walks with a divine spirit, those who know its
effects will be able to trace its presence. It is not that he is
abstracted in his look ; it is not that there is anything sancti-
monious in his tone ; yet insensibly his tone and look shall
be different from the voice of greed or anger, the look of
cunning or selfishness. It is a rare thing to find those who
walk in the spirit ; but those among us who have been privi-
leged to hold intercourse with such persons will remember
that they were affected by them almost unconsciously — a
virtue went out of them : they seemed to have an ever pre-
sent feeling of what was right, and true, and lovely. In
danger they were calm ; in their pleasures they were innocent ;
in their very censures they were lovable. When they were
by, cheerfulness was refined, and the turbulence of grief was
appeased. They did us good, we knew not how; and the
hours when we walked with them are those which our own
spirits prompt us gratefully to retrace."

NOTES C AND D.

155

NoTK C. p. 18.

" TO C. V. PENROSE, ESQ., CAPT. OF H.M.S. SANS PAREIL.

" Barbados, Jan. 11, 1800.
" Stu, — We lament that this return, though of our heartiest
thanks, yet so inadequate to your merits, is the only one
which men in our situation can make for the protecting care
and attention we have uniformly experienced in our passage
to this island. The length of it might perhaps have excited
some anxiety in the minds of those who from friendship or in-
terest were expecting us, hut for ourselves, secured as we were
by your vigilance and good conduct, the time passed unheeded
by us, and we entertained no doubt but that the event would b3,
what it has proved, a fortunate one to those who were imme-
diately interested in our safety, and certainly by its con-
sequences a beneficial one to our country at large. Sailors,
sir, you know, are unused to the language of flattery, and
therefore you will, we are sure, believe we are sincere when
we declare that we never witnessed an instance where a fleet
was conducted with superior skill, and restraints less irksome
to the commanders of the merchant vessels, a declaration
which we hope might be re-echoed in the ears of our gracious
Sovereign, and accelerate the reward which we cannot but
think is preparing for you. With the utmost respect, we
remain, sir, &c., &c."

Signed by the captains of 47 merchant vessels.

Note D. p. 18.

OnsfeKVATIONS IN THE WEST INDIES.

" On one occasion," he says, " I paid a short vi^it to the
proprietor of a large estate in a good part of Jamaica.
Having studied my friend's land a little, at the time when
they were preparing the ground for the culture of Indian
corn, and seen all the gany at work for a day or two, I per-

^(Mb^kiiaaM^.

156

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

suaded the proprietor himself to go with me into the field.
We found there about 200 negroes drawn up in a line, each
armed with a tool something like our light turnip hoes. Part
of the gang consisted of stout able men, part of females of
various ages, many of them large with child, and some who
were nurses, and also many boys and girls. Their employ
was to make holes in the ground to receive the seed. All
were obliged to lift up their hoes, and strike them into or on
the ground at the same moment, and as regularly as the ex-
ercise of a soldier ; else the whip resounded.

" ' My dear sir,' I began, ' is it not clear, in the first place,
that the women with child, those who are nursing, and the
younger ones of either sex, do too much work by performing
the same tasks as the stout men, or else that you lose con-
siderably by allowing the stout men to perform the same task
as is allotted to their feebler companions ? ' This could not
be controverted, and I proceeded as follows : • You have
now,' I said, 'nearly fourfecore oxen and mules idle, fed at
great expense of labour and food ; and I will show you that
two of these animals will perform more of this work than your
two hundred negroes, and also do it very much better.' I
then took a hoe from the hand of a negress, and having made
a small hole in the surface, I put the handle of the hoe into
it, and pushed it before me at a good pace, thus making with
great ease a small trench, deeper than the holes the negroes
were making, and at a rate which would have enabled me to
prepare more opening for the reception of the seed in half an
hour, than all the gang could do in double that time. My
query then was : ' What would not two oxen or mules do here
with a small plough ? ' This all seemed too evident to deny ;
the senses were satisfied, and the feelings gratified, and I had
thanks and praises in abundance from the proprietor, but a
scowl of anger and contempt from the understrappers. That
I may not be thought to mean that all West-Indian lands
could be so easily managed, I must state that the land in

NOTE ■• D.

167

question was light and sandy, and that when such land has
been laid smooth, the warm tropical sun, succeeding heavy
dews, makes a sort of light crust on the surface, strong enough
to make it hard to break by the feeble stroke of slavery,
though an instrument inserted beneath breaks it up with
ease. This may have been an extreme case as to t!ie degree
of ease; but the general principle of what is above stated
holds good in all lands. I feel much satisfaction in believing
that, though unsuccessful here, I have been the means of the
plough being used with success in other islands, particularly
in Antigua.

" An English agriculturist will hardly credit the fact that
this planter kept the large number of animals before men-
tioned for the sole purpose of grinding the sugar-canes in
crop time, a work of only a few weeks' duration, and that at
all other times they were left entirely idle, even the canes
themselves being brought from the field to the mill on the
shoulders of the slaves. I trust that the steam-engine and
other mechanical improvements have at length made some
little progress in doing away with this clumsy system ; but on
inquiring some time after whether any of my lectures had
produced any good effect — alas not ! The manager assured
his master that any change must produce ruin ; that 200
negroes were sometimes wanted on the estate, and that there-
fore everything on the estate must be done by 200 negroes,
and that oxen and mules could not possibly do anything but
grind sugar-canes. My host took to his sofa, drank man-
dram and ate loUypot. And yet this man had been brought
up at Oxford, and had succeeded to his West-Indian property
unexpectedly, after the period of his academical education was
over, and was far from being destitute either of good feeling
or sense. But the produce of his estate could most assuredly
have been doubled with ease, and at one-fourth part of the
actual expense, by any experienced man who could continue in
the use of his English morals and faculties of exertion."

'-iMM'i^^ilM.ljU,.

158

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

i! I

Thus much with regard to this Jamaica plantation. " But
I will resume my narrative," he afterwards adds, " with some
farther statement of had management. At a plantation in
the island of St. Christophers, I one day saw several hundred
negroes go out to their lahours early in the morning, each
with a hoe of rather light weight in his hand. They were
employed, when I afterwards saw them, to hoe between rows of
sugar-cane in a light easy soil, for which their tools were well
adapted. But still a pair of mules, or oxen, with a good
horse hoe, followed by a banking plough, would have done
with ease more work in a day than all this gang would per-
form in a week, and do the work much better.

"The following morning, seeing the same people go out
with the same tools, T naturally concluded they were going to
the same employ as before. But no ! they were now going to
clear a piece of wood ground, as difficult as an old English
oak copse would be to root up, and which besides was thickly
entangled with strong prickly brushwood. The strongest and
heaviest tools with which human beings can labour was requi-
site for this work. Now, do these planters deserve to have
human beings under such misdirection, even if their folly
only be taken into consideration ?

" I have mentioned nurses working at the hoe with the other
negroes ; and it was about this time I first saw one of the most
singular scenes that can possibly meet the eye of a European :
namely, a group of infants in the field in which the gang is
at work. This affecting spectacle came on me by surprise as
I entered an extensive sugar-cane patch, where a very large
gang were at work with their hoes. Close to the part at
which I entered was a large silk cotton tree spreading its
branches at least one hundred feet. Under its shade were
fifty or more infants, some able to crawl lustily about, others
so young as to lie quietly on their backs. It resembled a
great ant's nest magnified — so many black worms crawling or
sprawling about. To guard these from snakes, or from wan-

NOTE D.

169

dering too far, some old negresses, past any other work, were
employed, forming a most singular contrast with their charge ;
for as no form can be more round, glossy, and sleek than that
of the young African, so nothing which you can see of the
most squalid old age in England can give a just idea of an old
negress ; her sable hue, embrowned by exposure, changed to a
dirty tawny hide, and her black wool also become brown,
mixed with white, and her original plump form emaciated to
a skeleton. To complete this haggard and humiliating figure
of a human being, fancy her hands, feet and legs, dry .and
scaly, and you will then have in some degree before your
imagination these sentinels I saw placed over the infant
blacks Such is the field nursery of an Indian planta-
tion. I certainly remarked, both here and elsewhere after-
wards, that all the children who were able tried to crawl out
into the sunshine ; and I will here mention another case or
two to prove the congeniality of this climate to the negro
race. With all the precautions we can take by well-spread
awnings, a European boat's crew sufiFers severely from the
heat of the tropical sun. To save our people I selected a
boat's crew wholly of black men, and provided them with an
awning, the same as in other boats ; but I found that whenever
they got out of sight of the ship, they invariably furled their
covering, in order to enjoy the full comfort of the sun's rays.
I was once riding with a planter under the shade of a large
umbrella, when I noticed in the best situation that could be
found for receiving the full power of the sun's rays, and
shutting out all the breeze, a large grinding stone. Near it
was a large empty shed. ' Why do you not have the grind-
stone put under this shed, that the poor creatures may work
in the shade ?' The stone was placed in the shed accord-
ingly, but in a few hours I found that the negroes, when they
came to use it, had taken it out to the same place again, that
they might enjoy their broil. I took some pains to discover

160

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

whether any trick was played me, but I am assured that it was
the pure voluntary African taste which caused the removal.

" It is a very mistaken notion that all negroes are alike, with
thick lips, flat noses, and clumsy persons. Such is far from
being the case ; and I have seen many forms from which
Canova might be glad to model, even in the centre of Italy,
and features which would be admired in a British court.
Indeed, the features of the natives of different African na-
tions are fully as strongly marked as the distinction between
a Dane and an Italian, a native of France and a citizen of
Amsterdam. Nor are their national character and habits
less strongly defined ; and the result of my observation is, that
the qualities of the minds and bodies of the negroes, as im-
planted by nature, are fully equal to those of their white
brethren."

To these observations Capt. Penrose adds many others
in decisive reprobation of the whole system of slavery, and
on the better and kindlier treatment of slaves in the French
islands than in our own. This whole topic has been discussed
too often to be enlarged on here. " But to proceed," he adds,
" with my account of our own management. Wiien it was
found that no more slaves could be imported after a certain
time, many planters began to talie more and better cai'e of
those they already possessed, and hired what are called jobbing
gangs, which wei'e in consequence increased. These gangs
consisted of a certain number of negroes, mostly males, and
were generally the property of persons living in the great
towns, who had saved some money and speculated in this way,
but possessing no lands from which to procure proper food, or
houses in which to shelter these poor creatures when out of
hire.

"When a planter had any particular heavy work to do, or
what required to be pressed on rapidly, he hired one or more
of these gangs to do the work by the piece, and of course the

NOTE D.

101

owner worked his slaves as hard aa possible, in order to be
ready for another job. Sometinjes applications are made for
one of those gangs while engaged in Home other work, and it
is then sure to have the full severity of its taskmaster en-
forced, for fear of losing a customer, and the very moment a
job is finished at one place, is driven w.th all dispatch to
another. I never saw in any of these gangs any changes of
clothes, or any article of comfort whatever, except a few pots
and kettles to dress their food. It was a melancholy spec-
tacle to see these miserably-used people on the road froin one
job to another. They literally had no abiding place, and were
as much worse off than plantation negroes as the worst-used
hack-horses or asses are, compai'ed with those on a gentleman's
estate."

With regard to the trade in slaves, ho concludes, " Our
present system of capturing vessels of other nations trafficking
in slaves within certain limits, is inoperative as any consider-
able check. We have nfiped the blot from our statute books,
but we have not in the smallest degree benefited the poor
negroes, nor improved the character of the people whom we
have so long stimulated to evil. Neither have we, I fear,
much ameliorated the condition of the slaves in our own
colonies."

To these statements Capt. Penrose subjoins the anecdote,
that at a ball given at this time in Jamaica, by a rich planter,
" one of the lieutenants of marines, who by his grandmother
had some relation to the negro race, was by the ladies found
guilty of a skin, and therefore could not procure a partner.
I told this story," he adds, " to Lord Hugh Seymour, who
was also at the ball with Lady Horatia, and he deputed me as
ambassador to beg her to dance with the rejected swain, if
she danced at all. She complied with great pleasure and ad-
mirable grace, and certainly I enjoyed the deep creole morti-
fication around me." He then adds, " When I was at St.
Vincent's, in 1800, I saw the last families of the aborigines—

. ^mmiiinmu^sj

1C2

Ml'E OF ADMIIIAL PKNROSK.

the poor unfortunj..« lairds — and I brought away a basket of
their making, as a remembrance of the interview. Their in-
tention not to mix with any other race is inflexibly adhered
to, and a small remnant of the same people in the island of
Dominica are equally tenacious of the same principle."

Note E. p. 19.

C. V. PENROSE, JUN.

Charles Vinicombe, second son of the Rev. John Penrose,
was bom at Cardynham, Nov. 13, 1781. He first entered the
navy on board the Glory, at Plymouth, in November, 1793,
and afterwards went with bis uncle into the Lynx, and subse-
quently into the Cleopatra. In March, 1800, he was made
second-lieutenant of the Amphitrite, in the West Indies.
But in the early part of the following May he contracted a
fever from over-heating himself while on shore at St. Pierre,
in Martinique, on the impress service, and after having been
removed on board the Sans Pareil, where he received every
comfort which care, and nursing, and the skill of Dr. Blair,
then the physician to the fleet, could minister, died on the
13th. His last act was to look his uncle full in the face, and
to say distinctly, and with a smile, " I know you." He then
took hold of his uncle's right hand, and placed it on his
breast, and soon after tranquilly breathed his last. " The
only moment of alarm or mental uneasiness," says Capt. Pen-
rose, " which I saw him labour under was when I came into
the cabin one day, and found him apparently asleep. I had
uot slept the night before, and had had a good deal of anxiety
and fatigue, which had made me hot for want of rest. I took
his arm, and felt his pulse as usual, when he started up in his
bed, and exclaimed in alarm, * Why, uncle, you are as hot
as I am.' No purer spirit," adds Captain Penrose, " ever
sought a better world. No human being, whose thread of life
was cut short at so early an age, was ever more, or more ex-

f J ;pj

NOTES E AND F.

1G3

tensively, regretted." By his uncle especmlly he was loved
as a son. " I do not think," he says in a letter to hia wife,
" that his parents loved him better than I did, or thought more,
or more anxiously, for his welfare. When Lord Hugh first
spoke to me to be his captain, Charles's interests were the first
that crossed my mind. When I tliought that ray situation
here gave me interest and influence, it was on his account I
desired it." " I never before," he says again in a subsequent
letter, " saw one so youjig with so much just and serious re-
flection, nor one so old with so much genuine innocence, or
one who had lived amidst the scenes of the busy world with a
heart so thoroughly void of guile. I was delighted with him
as an officer, as he appeared to have happily a marked activity
on duty, with the utmost mildness in command. I never saw
such glowing unaff'ected tenderness as lighted up his inge-
nuous countenance, when home was the subject of our conver-
sation; and I cannot believe that a more dutiful son, or more
fond brother, or more affectionate relative, ever breathed." If
anything is to be added to this portraiture, it must be from
the only letter, as is believed, in which his mother, after re-
ceiving the intelligence of his death, ever trusted herself to
speak of him, and in which she describes him, in words not
less true than tender, as " young, gay, and fortunate, humble
to his Maker, true to his friend, most fondly attached to hia
relatives, pure in the midst of temptation, and kind to every
one in distress."

Note F.

23.

On Admiral Penrose's going out to Passages a few months
afterwards, he made many more observations of the same sort,
respecting the mode in which the commissariat departments
of both the army and navy were at this time managed.
" The cost," he says, " of Lord Wellington's campaign was
not less in the interval between the fall of St. Sebastian, in
August, 1813, and the following February, than a million

M 2

.* W"!!*'^. K/TfiiAk^''

164

LIFE OP ADMIRAL PENROSE.

Ill M

sterling a week. The beef served up at his table at St. Jean
de Luz was partly furnished by a number of beasts (27,000)
bought in Estremadura at a low rate, and brought up gradu-
ally for the supply of the army. So many of these died on
the road, or were condemned on their arrival as unwholesome
food, that the meat, when it came to be consumed, did not
cost less than one pound sterling per pound ; and the live
cattle sent from Ireland to Passages encountered in like
manner so many casualties as to cost a third of that price."
Again, " One day, when I was taxing all my ingenuity to in-
crease my means of providing the boom for the Adour, a vessel
came into the harbour of Passages, laden with spars and
other parts of a wreck which had been picked up at sea. I
landed directly, and told the chief commissary, that part if
not all of this might be very useful in carrying on the intended
operations ; adding, that if he sent immediately, he would pro-
bably procure these articles at a much lower price than if the
owner had time to learn that we were in want of them. ' My
dear sir,' said the commissary, ' do you want them? then I
am ordered to purchase ; the price is not of any consideration.' "
Again, under the date of the following June : " Transports
were at this time hired at the rate of II. is. per ton per
month. One very fine ship had been lying several weeks at
the wharf, because she had one of the army portable hospitals
on board, and the head of the medical staff, not wanting it,
would not have it landed. I remonstrated, of course, at the
extravagant rate thus paid for mere store-room, being not less
than 600?. per month, and the article itself scarce worth 100^
at first cost. But this argument had no avail, — the doctor had
nothing to do with the cost ; and I was therefore obliged to
order the hospital to be put ashore on the wharf, and trust to
the doctor's care of it afterwards." Many other instances oc-
curred of similar and even grosser improvidence. The whole
expenditure of this war in the Peninsula must have been
altogether enormous. It was stated on good authority, that

NOTES F AND G.

165

after all which had been paid, a sum of not less than thirteen
millions sterling still remained due at its close to the inha-
bitants, for the hire of mules, waggons, and other articles of
supply. Many of the bills were of the date of the retreat of
Sir John Moore to Corunna, in 1809. These statements
really appear to be but fair samples of the common case.
During Admiral Penrose's command at Gibraltar, a cargo of
hay was landed from England which did not cost less than
200i. per ton before it was consumed. Lime, moreover, was
sent out there from England at the same time, to be used as
cement of the limestone rock.

Note G. p. 29.

OF THE ENTRANCE OF THE ADOUR, IN 1814.

The casualties on this service consisted in the death of
Capt. Elliott, and Mr. Norman, of the brig Martial, and of four
seamen drowned belonging to the same ship ; a master's mate
and five seamen drowned from the Lyra; two seamen drowned
from the Porcupine ; three transport boats lost, the number of
men unknown ; and one seaman and one artillery-man badly
wounded in the gun-boat No. JiO. This is the return of Capt.
O'Eeilly's despatch ; and to this is to be added the loss of a
Spanish chasse maree, the whole of whose crew perished in an
instant. It was to the great regret of Admiral Penrose, that
much of the detail of this hazardous service which he had
given in his despatch to Lord Keith was omitted in the account
published in the Gazette ; and he particularly regretted that
his tribute to the great exertions of the officers and engineers
who were embarked on board the country-boats were among
the parts omitted. Certainly his despatch itself was very
long, and at thut eventful crisis of the war there may have
been reasons for curtailing it. But it was one of Admiral
Penrose's first and dearest objects, throughout the whole of his
life, to bring forward as much as possible the merits of all the
officers employed under him. Partly in testimony to this his

■IB"

166

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

, lilF

:;1

constant desire, and also to present the more distinctly to the
unprofessional reader such a picture as can here be given of
the passing the bar, the two following extracts, the first from
the Admiral's original despatch, and the second from Capt,
O'Reilly's letter to him, may be here subjoined.

Admiral Penrose says to Lord Keith : " The loss of Capt.
Elliott I very sincerely lament. He was not intended for the
service of this bar, but was near me in his boat, for the pur-
pose of giving every encouragement, and assistance if pos-
sible, to our gallant fellows as they approached the surf. He
incautiously allowed his boat to be drawn within its action,
and was overwhelmed in an instant, not many minutes after
I had expressed to him my approbation of the conduct of the
vessels passing in. One only of his boat's crew was saved by
the judicious and prompt directions of Capt. Hill, of the Rolla,
who ordered one of his boats to push directly to their aid, but
on no account to attempt to return. I observed with much satis-
faction that this well-judged order was not attended with any
loss to the Rolla s boat's crew ; but the boat was in an instant
hove upon the beach. The fate of Mr. Norman, assistant-
surgeon of the Martial, was singularly unfortunate. He had
succeeded on getting on board a gun-boat, but upon her being
thrown on the beach, he was killed by the falling of her
twenty-four pounder."

The extract from Capt. O'Reilly's letter is as follows : —

"Camp, South of the Adour, ii6th Feb., 1814.
" I shall now inform you of the different circumstances of
my landing, which was two miles to the northward of Bayonne.
Tlie pilots lefusing to conduct the boat in such a surf, and
being well aware of the urgency of the case, I determined at
all events tc trj' and laud, for the purpose of procuring pilots,
which with much danger and some loss I effected. As soon
as I was at all recovered, having been some time in the water,
owing to the boat striking me in the back, I got a party of

NOTE G.

167

troops and launched her across the sand into the river, where
she was of the most material service in passing troops, there
being but five small merchantmen's boats for that purpose;
the current running too strong for using the pontoons, and
the enemy having made an attack before with 1 400 men,
which was repulsed by four companies of guards, >nth a
rocket brigade, which did much damage.

" Notwithstanding our losses on the bar, we got boats enough
in for the purpose of the bridge. The whole of the boom
vessels got in ; one run on shore in the harbour, but L do not
think she will be lost. A gun-boat also run on shore, but I
have every reason to think she will be got off, having made a
dock for her.

" I must now beg leave to call your attention to the ex-
emplary conduct of Lieut. Collins, of the Porcupine, who has
had the whole management of moving the bridge-boats, and
to whose skill and energy the army is entii'ely indebted for
the state of forwardness in whicli the bridge is at this moment.
To give you an idea of the difficulties which that officer had
to surmount, it is only necessary to say that he succeeded in
mooring thirty vessels, head and stern, in a river running
seven knots ; and I rest assured that, when you consider the
exertions which such an operation requires, you will not with-
hold your satisfaction at his conduct, but rather join all the
officers here high in rank in commendation of his success and
ability. Lieut. Douglas has had the entire management of
the boom, has succeeded in laying it once across the river,
and I have no doubt but he will finish it this evening ; his
personal exertions on this important service have been un-
ceasing, and well deserve to be crowned with success. Lieut.
Chesshire, who commands the gun-boats, deserves all I can say
of him for his judicious management of them over so danger-
ous a bar, and for the manner in which he anchored them
afterwards for the protection of the boats during the night.

(Signed) " D. O'Reilly."

"KM.,; !«MgJ#;irj^ .

168

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

Further details of this service, together with an account of
the method of constructing the bridge, -will be found in the
memoir of Capt. Coode, inserted in the second volume of the
supplement to Marshall's " Naval Biography."

Baron Thevenot, who was at this time governor of Bayonne,
subsequently told Admiral Penrose that 'vhen he saw the
tihips with the flotilla approach the bar, it never came into his
mind thut there was any intention to build a bridge, but that
it had been planned to operate against the city simultaneously
from the river, and from each bank. Therefore, instead of
taking measures to impede the formation of the bridge, he
began himself the construction of a boom, to prevent gun-boats,
&c., from coming hig.'i up the stream.

ill

Note H. p. 65.

FERDINAND OF NAPLES.

One reason which apparently weighed at this time with
Ferdinand for going to Messina was, that the laudable prac-
tice of making presents to the monarch on his visits in his
dominions still survived in Sicily. This practice was not dis-
continued on tliis occasion.

In the many unreserved communications which Admiral
Penrose had with this good-natured monarch, both at Palermo
and in this double voyage, first to Messina, and afterwards to
Naples, he had full opportunity given him of making obser-
vations on a character of which, though ■■•.■-t high, yet he
thought that too low an opinion seemed to prevail. The king's
circumstances had been against him. He had come to the
throne when about six years old. I< had been the selfish policy
of bad ministers to keep him as ignorant as possible, to surround
him with temptations, and to marry him at an early age to a
woman whose conduct and intrigues debased both him and
herself, and who usually treated and considered him as her
slave.

■fTi .TrY^.J,-::^'/''

NOTES H AND I.

169

*' Thus trained," says the Admiral in his journal, " and thus
united, he never could bear the tedium of business or council,
but flew from it, as is well known, to his gun, and allowed
the queen and her minions to have their own way. And thus
were choked the feelings of what was naturally a good heart,
and of an .'.nderstanding not by any means below par. I^
the state in which I found him at Palermo, when his minister,
Medici, had been sent to England, Circello had become old,
and Lucchesi was at the gaming-table, he was compelled to
exert himself, and showed both assiduity and understanding in
tho transaction of his own business, under this necessity. Our
very able minister, Mr. A'Court, has told me that he never
knew his affairs so well conducted as at this time. Certainly he
looked like a king. A long series of years had made him feel as
well as act as the firat personage in his realm, and he would
have been selected as such from a multitude around him, even
though dressed in the meanest garb, and though he had an
unintelligent eye. I recollect our ambassador standing with
me on the poop, looking down on him and his ministers in a
group, and engaged in earnest conversation on the quarter-
deck, and saying to me, ' How plain it is to see which is the
king.' Both in attitude and manner he often reminded me
of his far superior brother-sovereign, George III. I certainly
performed all my duty to him with all my heart, and with
right good will, and I am sure that he felt trnl} grateful to
me for these services, and perhaps I may add, for the plain
and open manner in which they were rendered."

Note I (referred to as Note E. in text), p. 126.

SEAMANSHIP AND SIGNALS.

Amongst Admiral Penrose's observations on seamanship
are several notices on the desirableness of always anchoring,
when compelled by weather to anchor off a lee shore, as near
the shore at the bottom or inner part of a bay as the depth of
water and other circumstances permit. He had observed that,

•^'t^ac'mmisemifmi .iie*:;

:..mk'mS!m,t»l!t>

170

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

^'^t

1 V,

in the hardest gales, a ship so 8 chored will have but little
strain on the cables; for, in the ' ii place, there is always an
under-tow or offset below the sun 3e ; and secondly, the tides
always sweep round the shores of the bay, and, operating on
the ship's quarters, lighten the strain on the cables. He
adds, that " when in Palermo Bay some of our ships were
caught in a heavy gale, two or more cut away their masts to
save their cables. To the great surprise of the c<ew, the
wreck floated oflf directly to windward. It was the heavy
motion of the ships from the great sea which caused the
alarm, but in reality the cables were in no danger ; and before
the expensive measure of cutting away masts is resorted to, it
would be well that some article should be thrown overboard,
to ascertain whether such a windward current does not exist.
The vast quantity of water brought into a bay in a heavy storm
must in a short time bring on an offset outwards." So also,
elsewhere, "1 am of opinion," he says, "that many of the
transports and other vessels wrecked on the coast of France
might have been saved by letting go their anchors and veer-
ing as great a scope of cable as they could. The nearer the
surf the less the depth of water, which would give more
holding power to the anchors, and the smaller angle made by
the cable would leave the vesael more lively. It is also well
known that, close at the back of a surf breaking on a shore,
there is below the surface an offset or under-tow which greatly
eases the riding of the anchored ship." He had been led, by
a similar acuteness of observation, to take the course which
ho pursued from Plymouth to Passages in the tempestuous
winter of 1813-1814. On that occasion, after rounding
Ushant, he had ordered the course to be steered f'>r Cape
Ferrot, thus keeping close along that long and remarkably-
straight line of the French coast which runs from the entrance
of the Gironde to the Adour. This is a course on which,
under the ordinary dread of the bottom of the Bay of Biscay,
a seaman is naturally unwilling to venture, and in an in-

l.r

NOTE I.

171

clement season particularly. But as the wind blew fresh
from the iiwrth east, and the whole Continent was covered
with snow, the Admiral felt almost certain that the wind would
continue to blow off the land till some change of temperature
should take place; and he concluded also that, on drawing
near the north coast of Spain, the same causes would draw the
direction of the wind more to the south. In this expectation
he was not deceived, and by steering this course made his
passage in three days ; while the Desiree frigate from Ports-
mouth, and a packet from Falmouth, which sailed from those
ports on the same day on which he had left Plymouth, were,
the former seven days, and the lat*,er ten days, later in their
arrival at Passages. These vessels had pursued their course
far to the westward, and made the coast of Spain near St.
Andero, and consequently encountered much bad weather on
their voyage. " I acted in this case," he farther says, " from
the dictates of much experience, and I was confirmed in my
opinion by some judicious observations made by Sir Harry
Neale, when we were serving together under Sir Charles Pole,
in Basque Roads, in 1799. The tendency of his observa-
tions, the truth of which I have proved, was that if, on the
west coast of France, or the west coast of any other land
lying nearly in the direction of north and south, the barometer
keeps high, and the thermometer low, you may expect a con-
tinuance of the wind off the land. If the barometer fall, and
the thermometer continue still low, you may expect liad
weather, but with the wind still blowing fro)n the laud. On
the contrary, if the barometer fall, and the thermometer
rise, you may conclude that bad weather is likely to follow,
with the wind to the west, or south west. In the one case
the navigator will naturally keep near the shore for the sake
of smooth water, and in the other gain an oflSng as soon as
possible, aud while the wind enables him to do so. Long
observation alone can teach the intermediate probable changes ;
but close attention to the barometer and thermometer toge-

--.=a*-.a««w:-,«* -«iw«»l.-'&-^v

172

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

ther (and if assisted by an hygrometer, so much the better),
will inspire a confidence which may at times be eminently
useful."

In Admiral Penrose's account of his voyage to Tunis in
181fi, it is observed, that "it was not the quicker in con-
sequence of my friend carrying as great a press of sail as
the ships would bear — not such a proportion as would enable
them to beat fastest to windward. Many a yard and mast
are sprung needlessly, from a sort of pride in carrying sail,
or from ignorance that the ship is to be thought of as well
as the masts. There was a little schooner in company, which
had been converted from a very indifferent gun-boat into a
sort of tender; and this little vessel, of about 30 feet keel at
the utmost, made better weather than any of the line-of-battle
ships, keeping way easy to windward under trysails, whilst
we were labouring under courses and close-reefed topi^tils.
Now it is clear that if this little vessel had pressed all sail,
she would very soon have been to leeward, and astern of all
the ships.

" One hint more to a brother sailor. A very experienced
mate, who commanded the Wellington, assured me that he
had been several times in such weather that she would in-
evitably have gone to the bottom if it had not been for the
protection afforded by a projecting prow and goose stern,
similar to the polacres and other vessels of the country."

To these notices it may here be added, that the introduc-
tion of an improved code of signals into the navy was an
object which, during all the early portion of his professional
life. Admiral Penrose had greatly at heart. In 1789 he sub-
mitted to the Admiralty a very elaborate volume on this sub-
ject, which he had drawn up. The history, both of the ori-
gin of this volume and of its absorption, shall here be copied
from a memorandum left by the Admiral himself.

NOTE I.

173

" In 1781," he says, " I was on board a Swedish frigate in
a port of Norway, where I first saw the scientific system of
the French signals. Those had been introduced by French
officers into the Swedish marine, and the comprehensive sim-
plicity of this system struck me in a moment. I formed a
code for the government of the little squadron then under
Capt. Murray's command (adopting the numerary system, in-
stead of the tabular plan of superior and inferior flags, which
was at that time in general use). But, strange as it seems,
I could persuade only my own captain, tha*, the simplest
combinations in the world could be ever understood. How-
ever, as soon as I was on half-pay in 1783, I began to arrange
my materials, and formed a code exactly on the same prin-
ciple and practice as that now in use. In 1789 I made a fair
copy, and had it handsomely bound. In the following year,
being led to London by the Spanish armament, I had the
honour of presenting this copy to Lord Chatham, who was
then first Lord of the Admiralty, and who received it
• as a mark of my zeal for the service, and attention to
himself.'" This is all which the author ever heard of the
fate or fortune of his book ; but he had the gratification of
finding some expressions copied from it, in the code of signals
issued from the Admiralty in 1799, and an invention of his
own introduced for public use in the same code.

It is obser\'ed, in the same memorandum, " that the naval
signals in use at the time when the French joined America
against us in 1778, were those compiled by James II., when
Duke of York ; and it is but justice to remark, that they dis-
played a very considerable degree of nautical skill, and must,
at the time when they were first issued, have been a very
superior code of tactics, highly creditable to their royal author,
who was indeed a much better admiral than he proved to be a
monarch. About the period here mentioned, the defects of
this ancient code became evident, and the more so as the
French had already formed a scientific system, which has re-:

:=«».^.««Kt.a«i*fc«..;.«.; -.,

-:^mSl^SmL^''

90"^"^^

174

UFK OF ADMIRAL I'ENnoSK.

quired little alteration to the present day. Each British ad-
miral then made improvements on the old plan, nutted to the
pec-itiar service he was on ; and as all these changes required
new ilugs, and as these at that time were made of a large
size, the expense became so enormous that the late Lord
Barham asserted, when be was comptroller of the navy, that
the flags issued to the fleet were ns expensive as the sails.
Lord Howe first formed a regular code deserving any notice.
I believe," adds the Admiral, " that I possess a nearly com-
plete series of everj' change, from Jameb IL to the present
day, and it is sufficiently curious."

Note K. p. 136.

LETTERS FROM HIS SHIP's COMPANY, IN 1707.

The first of the two following lettei's vms sent to Capt.
Penrose by his ship's company, the day after he had given
up his command ; the second on their receiving, through
their new captain, the thanks of the Lords of the Admiralty
for their steadiness throughout the mutiny.

Letter 1.

" Till the last hour.

" HONODRED CAPTAIN,

" Be pleased, sir, to accept these few lines as a token of our
respect for you, and also of our regret for the loss of such a
captain, who has always proved to us a good friend and coun-
sellor, who has often showed us the good intent of his heart
by the lenity served to many of us whom he might have justly
[punished]. This much of your character we shall never
forget. It is with no small concern that we see the respect
you have for us, and we believe that every man of us has been
very sensibly twitched by it, and inclined to inform you that
the respect you have for us is not lost for want of a return of
the same sort. Especially since wu have experienced such a
continuance of youi regard for us, as we are certain that had
anything particular happened many of us while you had the

f.ifl

NOTE K.

175

honour to command the Resolution, should have been led to
petition your favour and protection. And as to our own good
fortune of late, in remaining quieter than many other ships'
companies, you may in a great measure impute it to your
own good management ; for with us, the ship's company, you
have always used your authority only with prudence and cau-
tion, which we '11 impute as the great means of our being kept
from taking such unguarded steps that many of our brethren,
though unawares, have been shamefully led into, so that
thanks and praise of the ship's company, that you are pleased
to confer upon us, is originally due to you ; and we must say
what we believe, that the want of such good fortune in many
ships in the carriage of their captain and officers has ruined
many. Honoured Captain, we do not intend, as it would be
endless, to mention all your good offices, and every particular
instance of your regard for us, but only that you might be
well assured of our sense of your goodness, and you may well
take the liberty to say that you were much — add if you please,
deservedly — esteemed by the ship's company, which is sorry for
your departure. We only remain with a hearty wish to God,
that you might soon regain your wonted state of health, and
80 bid you a friendly farewell, &c. Honoured Capt. Penrose,
from yours,

" The Cleopatra's Ship's Company.
" By desire of all."

Letter 2.

" Aug. 18.

" CAPT. CHARLES PENROSE.
'• HONOURED SIR,

" Please to forgive the liberties taken in these few lines
more, that are wholly prompted through a grateful sense of
your continued favours to us, the like of which to our know-
ledge has had but few equals. You have not only during your
time with us piloted us clear of the troubles which many have
unthinkingly slipped into, but you have raised in our favour

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LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.]

what is most highly prized by rich and poor, namely, a good!
name and character, and that in such a public and honourable
manner, that none less than the rulers and patrons of our
country, at least of the maritime line, have acknowledged the
approbation of our conduct in a letter sent by them, that was
read for our and others' encouragement ; and we heartily wish
that it may have, namely, we believe your intended, at least
your desired effect, with adding that of our own, &c., that it
might raise a laudable ambition within all of us, and that we
may strive to retain what we have at present got, although we
are not conscious of so much deserving it from any part of
our own conduct, but are wholly inclined to impute it in par-
ticular to your own good management, through your cautious
authority over us, and with that of your, or rather our, officers,
for we have always accounted ourselves very fortunate in that
respect when we have dompared our own with those of many
other ships ; thus far by report, our own by experience.

But we will now, with submission to your judgment, men-
tion one circumstance that may perhaps parily account for
that rash step we had like to have set an unwary foot in,
which your prudence prevented by your reasonable and recon-
ciliatory expressions; which, however, was by a report on
board, which was too freely credited as well as spread, that
there was an intreducive letter of direction and information
sent us by the delegates of the grand fleet, whilst we lay at
St. Helens, which we had not received. This, and other un-
known reasons to most, if not all of us, had like to have
led us aside at that time; but we still hope and trust to
remain in our usual state of unity, and attention to our
officers and duty, &c. ; especially when we consider what ad-
vantages we already have, and what a little care may keep,
that has arose from the good name that you in particular, and
also our other captains during their time with us this war,
have been pleased to confer on us ; and we could heartily
wish that such advantages might be leading motives for our

NOTE K.

177

greater diligence and care, and that no shipmate may think
them but trifling, or unworthy of their endeavours to keep, since
we have had the good fortune to attain them. It would also
show our holding what none of us are ashamed to confess we
profess for you. We might hero say, as far as our own ex-
perience, that we thought the like was not to be seen in the
service, considering the necessary distinctions in it which \t
requires ; and we believe there has been but very few in-
stances of captains' and crews' greater respect for each other
within the navy, or otherwise. And we are rather afraid of
the freedom of our expressions being beyond prudence, con-
sidering the distant line of life that we are severally placed
in. But, if we might use the expression, love will make free;
but we hope not so far but you may stoop to listen to the dis-
interested voice of simple and honest gratitude, which has
sprung from a sense of continued favours, &c. Our well
wishes, sir, in your favour are many, but all we can give you
is a good name, with a feeling sense thereof in our expres-
sions of it. And now, sir, we rest satisfied that you, or any
one of your penetration, will overlook any unbecoming ex-
pressions that may have dropped inadvertently, either from
the want of abilities, or the cultivation of such as they be,
as at best they are only hammered out of a narrow conception
and a faulty memory, whilst we put our wits to the rack, for
want of natural acquirements. You can see, sir, from these
few lines, what is meant, as we thought ourselves wanting had
we neglected to express our reasonable thanks for your late
favours. Whatever our wishes be, we shall say no more at
present, but wish to recommend you in our prayers to God's
favour and protection, and that you may soon acquire a better
state of health, if so be his will. Thus much by the request
of the ship's company, whilst we remain yours, with respect,
honoured sir,

'* The Ship's Company.
" Falmouth."

178

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

[It should be added that though these letters are too va-
luable in themselves, too illustrative of 'what human nature
always is, and too honourable to Capt. Penrose to be here
omitted, he himself was always eager to vindicate for his
brother officers at large a full share of all the merits thus
kindly and gratefully assigned to his own conduct. He took
many and various opportunities of repelling, and even with
indignation, the charges circulated at the time of the mutiny
that it was the fault of the officers ; and, on receiving the Ad-
miralty order of June 3, 1797, which seemed to him to convey
an imputation to that effect, he wrote, though he never sent, a
most keen remonstrance in answer to it. In this remonstrance
he affirms " the entire falsehood of all such surmises, in all
their parts," and even demands a public disavowal of them.]

Note L. p. 139.

MB. BITCHIE AND CAPT. LYON.

" About this time," says Admiral Penrose in his journal,
" I was led to expect Mr. Kitchie, and in August [1818], this
very interesting young man made his appearance. He was
evidently unequal to the task, and he had taken injudicious
means to qualify himself. Knowing that he was likely to un-
dergo great privations, he began to practise such in the midst
of plenty, thus depriving himself of strength, when it was
requisite that he should become strong. He had also been
ill advised respecting the articles which" he was to purchase
with the very poor allowance made him for his outfit and first
year's expenditure, which was so small that I am afraid to say
what my memory seems to state it at. I had much satisfac-
tion in doing all I could to add to his comforts, and to prepare
a friendly reception for him from the Bashaw of Tripoli. I had
had a long correspondence on the subject with our Consul, and
had endeavoured to force it into the head of the Bashaw that we
really esteemed an increase of geographical knowledge an ob-

NOTE L.

179

ject of consequence. Amongst other things I ordered from
London the last and hest map of Africa, with all preceding
journeys laid down, in order to show how little we had yet
learned of the interior of the Continent. The Bashaw was
hugely pleased with my present, hut it is only honest to inform
my reader that the wonders of the spring mounting were the
most powerful attraction. The Consul was obliged to display
the wonders of the sudden roll up without hands, many times
and oft.

" Sir Sydney Smith interested himself greatly about the suc-
cess of this mission, and sent me for Mr. Eitchie many little
articles which he thought would gain him friends among the
Moors ; and, among ethers, several sentences from the Koran,
enjoining kindness towards Christians, which were neatly
written and inclosed in glass. But the most curious part of
this sanguine man's proposals or plans was a method for
crossing or removing from place to place on the Niger, and
on the great lake into which it was thought its waters spread
themselves. Will it be believed that this man of so much
experience should have recommended a raft or floating ma-
chine which would require as much timber and as many
casks as would suffice to build and store a sloop of war ! How
Mr. Ritchie was to convey the materials with him, and form
them out of sand, v e were not instructed.

*' One of the most extraordinary events which arose out of
Mr. Ritchie's coming among us, was the desire implanted in
the somewhat versatile mind of my lieutenant, George Lyon,
to partake his dangers, and share the honours. He had been
charmed by Mr. Ritchie's detail of what he was going to do,
and he longed to cross the burning sands, to chase ostriches,
and ride upon dromedaries. Mr. Ritchie first sounded me on
the subject, and I then told him that Lyon was old enough to
speak for himself; but this he had some difficulty in bringing
himself to do. When he had roused his courage to the proper
height, I questioned him as to his determination, and advised

N 2

180

LIFE OF ADMIRAL PENROSE.

him to weigh the matter well, and at the same time told him
that I would on no account permit him to proceed without
the permission of his father and mother ; and I wrote to the
Admiralty an official letter to be presented by the father him-
self if he approved, or to be cancelled if he did not. I was
resolved not to have the responsibility of sending any man's
son on such an expedition to answer for. To my surprise,
the permission, both domestic and official, was soon given,
and Lyon followed Mr. Ritchie, who had been a short time
at Tripoli when Lyon's leave arrived.

" These young men began unwisely by adopting all the out-
ward appearances and habits of Moors. They should have
gone as British Christians, or not at all. Buoyant spirits and
good temper carried Lyon through the perils and deprivations
under which poor Ritchie sunk, and his natural expressions
of good feeling did him great honour when he told his adven-
turous tale."

LIFE

CAPTAIN JAMES TKEVENEN,

KNIOHT OP THE RtTSSIAN ORDERa OF ST. OEORQE
AND ST. TUDIHIB.

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LIFE

CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

CHAPTER I.

FROM HIS BIHTH TO HIS RETURN IN 1780 FROM THE
VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD WITH CAPTAIN COOK.

James Trevenen was third son and fifth child
of the Rev. John Trevenen*, of Rosewarne, in
Cornwall, and was born at Rosewarne, January
1, 1760. He was placed at an early age at the
Grammar-school at Helston, and was removed to
the Royal Academy at Portsmouth, in 1773. He
was there remarked as a boy of great generosity of
character, eager and active in all plays and exer-
cises, and excelling in most of them. He was a
favourite with the masters, and, though a boy of
high spirit, never incurred any punishment during
his stay in the school. He worked so diligently
C je plan of mathematical and nautical learning
wnich is the formulary of the place, as to finish it

* See Qote A at the end of the volume.

r«j

184 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

several months within the allotted time. It was
also remarked of him that he never became in-
volved in any quarrel with his schoolfellows.
One instance of his presence of mind and alacrity
is recorded as follows by his dear friend, and after-
wards brother-in-law, Charles Penrose, who was
at this time his fellow-student in the academy.
"We were learning to swim together, and after
some greater efforts than usual had retired to dress ;
but feeling a desire of another swim, I pushed for
a large mast employed in confining floating timber;
when, by ceasing my stroke too soon, I missed my
intended grasp, and by the retiring tide was drawn
under the immense mass of wood. Half dressed
as he was, Trevenen, observing me sink, instantly
swam across the pond to my assistance, which he
could only afford me by holding by the extreme
of his fingers, and sinking his head under water,
when his feet just reached my neck. Grasping
me in this manner, he drew me by degrees above
water, almost gone beyond the power of his
friendly efforts by chafings, &c., &c., to recover."
The boyish letters of Trevenen, which have been
preserved, are written with the greatest possible
unreserve, and are highly principled and full of
observation, and show also that he very soon be-
gan to look at his profession as his first object
of life, and as a pursuit from which it was not
in his nature to be diverted. In the year 1775,

■«p".

PORTSMOUTH ACADEMY, 1775.

186

when the Resolution and Discovery were fitting
for Cook's last voyage round the world, his natural
ardour led him to desire to go on this expedition.
His first mention to his family of this desire is in
a letter to one of his brothers, of the date of Sep-
tember 5 of this year, in which he expresses his
wish to have his parents' consent to his so doing.
" It will," he says, " be an excellent breaking-in
for me. I shall experience all climates, hot and
cold, to an extremity, and consequently, shall al-
ways be prepared for any other station whatever."
And again, in a subsequent letter of October 5,
" I have spoken to Mr. Witchell [the then first
master in the academy] about my going out in
the Resolution. He said he had no objection in
the least, but that it was a very hard voyage.
That I knew before."

Accordingly, early in 1776, he was discharged
from the academy, and partly through the kind in-
troductions given him by Mr. Buller, then one of
the Lords of the Admiralty, and by Captain Wallis,
of Falmouth, was appointed to the Resolution as
volunteer. Youths in this station become entitled
only to able seamen's pay, but wear the uniform
and do the duty, and are looked on as the first
to receive the rating, of midshipmen as vacancies
occur. Trevenen's joyous feeling on receiving
this appointment, bursts out strongly in a letter
of the date of June 1776, in which he refers to

/ •

lip.

186 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

Polycrates' distrust of his uninterrupted course
of prosperity and his sacrifice of the ring:
conchiding his letter, however, with saying —
' I shall make no such sacrifice, but hope the best
and be prepared for the worst."

The Resoluticm sailed from Plymouth July 12,
1776, and the young sailor WTites from Teneriffe
the following brief note to his mother : —

"Honoured Mother,
" I have only time to tell you that I am
well and happy. I don't believe I have ano-
ther moment to express what I would tell you,
my dear mother ; only I knew you would be
happy to hear from me. 1 am going ashore :
we sail this afternoon. I am, and ever shall be,

" Your dutiful Son,

" James Trevenen.
" Remember I am happy.

" Love to everybody."

A subsequent letter, dated from the Cape of
Good Hope, was the only communication which
his friends received, or could receive, from their
absent sailor, till he again wrote to them nearly
four years afterwards, also from the Cape.

Of the particular events of the voyage, of which
the whole history has been excellently given by
Cook and King, little if anything remains to be
collected from the subsidiary remarks made by

-'-/

RESOLUTION AND DISCOVERY, 1776-1780. 187

Treveneii. It is, however, somewhat amusing to
meet with the account of a seaman saved from
drowning " by a machine called a life buoy, cut
away as soon as he fell off the deck. After re-
maining an hour in the sea he was picked up,"
it is further said, " by a boat directed to him by
the ringing of a bell on the top of the machine."
This sentence is among the marginal notices made
in a copy of the published work. From these
notices the following passages may also be ex-
tracted : —

In a note on vol. ii. p. 182, it is added to
the account of the method of catching turtle
at Christmas Island that, " besides turning the
turtle when asleep, the common mode of catching
them, we took them another way, which afforded
great sport. On the tide subsiding there remained
about a foot of water (more or less) on the reef,
which extended half a mile from the shore, where
it is bounded by another ridge. But there were
many deep holes, where the turtles used to re-
main till the rising of the water again. The water
was so clear that we could see them in these holes;
and as all our people could swim to perfection,
they could dive down and catch them by the fins,
or pull them out ; and then the chase and sport
began, we, as well as the turtles, dashing through
thick and thin, and very ludicrous scenes occurred.
In deep water they had the advantage ; but when

188

LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

it was not deeper than six inches, we could come
up with them, and catch them by the fins; but
as one had often not strength enough to hold
them, he would be dragged sometimes up, some-
times down, till others came to his assistance.
On meeting with a large pool, into which the
sailor would be di-agged head foremost, perhaps
the turtle would escape; and I have seen some
larger than common thus taken three times, and
at last escape through a passage in the reef to
the open sea. This chase was chequered with all
the vicissitudes of hope and fear that can enliven
any other, and was surely equally interesting — the
more so, perhaps, as our dinner depended on the
success of it. We once caught forty-two in half
an hour."

In vol. ii. p. 306, it is observed of the native
Americans of Nootka Sound, that, " in the im-
portant operation of painting their faces, they
make use of a piece of polished slate, which,
when dipped in water, is a tolerable substitute
for a looking-glass, and serves them in its stead,
I have seen them discontented with the first and
sometimes with the second attempt, and, after
rubbing all their faces, begin again. A ground
of grease and red ochre is first laid on, then the
iron-sand, or glimmer, and the rest of the opera-
tion is perfoi-med by the finger before the wet
slate."

RESOLUTION AND DISCOVERY, 1776-1780. 189

In speaking of the Sandwich islanders, and of
the events which preceded and followed the death
of Cook, everything contained in these notices
confirms the belief that the natural and habitual
disposition of these islanders was friendly and
humane; and that the attack made on our great
navigator may have arisen from some misappre-
hension, of which the cause cannot now, and pro-
bably never could be, explained, or was at the
worst a sudden outbreak. " A constant exchange,"
it is said, " of good offices, and little acts of friend-
ship obtained amongst us. I had once occasion
to experience the good effects of it, where the
assistance received seemed to flow entirely from
a desire to be of service to those who wanted it,
without any view to interest. Having occasion,
with two other midshipmen, to go off to the ship
at night, through a considerable surf, the canoe we
had engaged filled and sunk about twenty yards
from the shore, to which we had to swim, and land
on a rocky beach difficult of access. Some little
children playing near the spot had observed us ;
and whilst one or two ran to the houses close
by for better assistance, the rest came down to
us crying, and, leaning over the rock, reached out
their little hands to endeavour to help us out of it.
They afterwards conducted us to the village, run-
ning by our side, and uttering the most endearing
expressions of pity and concern. We were equally

190

LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

well received at the village : another large canoe
was immediately launched, and we were conveyed
to the ship in safety, without any demand what-
ever for pay or reward."

To the same effect it is stated in a note, p. 76,
with respect to an Indian, who had heen taken
prisoner and brought on board, and who, after
having been well terrified by the thought that he
should be put to death, had been set at liberty:
" When first unbound and set at liberty he put
no trust in it, but sat silent, and totally disregard-
ing everything and every person, till at last, being
repeatedly assured of his safety, he began to raise
his head and look around him ; but the mingled
emotions of hope and fear were strongly depicted
in his countenance. By degrees he crept towards
the gangway, and at last, seeing to a certainty that
nobody stopped him, he returned quick as light-
ning, and threw himself with rapture at the feet
of the officer upon deck, embracing his knees with
the most lively demonstrations of joy and gratitude.
Then flying away again he went on shore, and in a
little time returned with a canoe full of provisions,
and was very useful afterwards.

" The man who stabbed Captain Cook was,
according to the best accounts of such a sudden
and confused transaction, an old chief, whom
Captain Cook himself had kicked out of the ship
the day before, with many expressions of anger,

ji I

RESOLUTION AND DISCOVERY, 1776-1780. 191

for having committed a theft. He was shot dead
immediately by John Perkins, a marine from the
boats."

" The five gentlemen veho were in the boat,"
i.e.i in the small cutter mentioned vol. iii. p. 54,
" were Lanyon, Ward, Taylor, Charlton, Trevenen.
Although we had not seen Captain Cook in the
other boats when they pulled off to the ships,
and now saw the dead bodies lying on the beach,
we did not think of Captain Cook's being killed ;
therefore we also pulled off. The fact is, that I,
as well as the others, had been so used to look up
to him as our good genius, our safe conductor, and
as a kind of superior being, that I could not suffer
myself, I co ild not dare^ to think he could fall by
the hands of the Indians, over whose minds and
bodies he had been used to rule with absolute
sway."

On the mention of the chief brandishing Capt.
Cook's hanger, p. 65, it is said, " I saw this from
one of the boats which was scarce more than ten
yards from the man. The hanger was bloody:
he washed it in the sea, and told us that he had
been cutting up the body of our chief, and that if
we came on shore he would serve us in the same
manner.

" By the light of the fires we could plainly see
the Indians in motion about them ; and this sight,
joined to the stillness of the night, produced the

192 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

most awful solemnity, now and then interrupted
by their hideous cries and yellings, and made great
impression on our already agitated feelings."

Note to p. 75. " The heads had been (before
they were carried on board) stuck on poles, and
waved to the crowd of Indians assembled on the
hills about half a mile oif. A cry of horror and
an involuntary motion or starting back was in-
stantly observed amongst them; and, coupled with
the instances which we had observed of their ex-
posing themselves to carry off the dead bodies of
their friends, served to convince us that they have
some superstitious notions with regard to the de-
pendence of their condition after death on their
being interred with proper ceremonies."

On the death of Captain Gierke, Trevenen
removed with Captain King into the Discovery,
and returned in that ship to England, arriving at
the Nore, after a long detention at Stromness, in
Orkney, on the 4th of October, 1780. At the
conclusion of this long voyage. Captain King, on
the presumption that the midshipmen employed
in it would, on their return home, obtain their
lieutenantcies, invited Trevenen to serve under him
in his next ship. This kind invitation his young
friend gladly accepted ; and it will be seen in the
next chapter, that he became a lieutenant to this
excellent officer in the Resistmice, and subsequently
that they went abroad together after the peace,

RESOLUTION AND DISCOVERY, 1776-1780. 193

and that Trevenen continued with him till his
death at Nice, in 1784. The assistance ren-
dered by Trevenen in the astronomical observa-
tions and calculations, made during the voyage
round the world, is recognised in the volume of
King's continuation.

During that long voyage, the common and try-
ing service in which they were engaged cemented
strongly Trevenen's early friendship with his friend
Ward, who had also been his fellow-student at the
Portsmouth academy, and with whom he kept up
a close intimacy through after-life. Riou, after-
wards so well known for his resolute conduct in
the Guardian^ was another of the midshipmen who
were employed on this expedition. The remark-
able history of the wreck of the Guardian became
afterwards known to Trevenen when in Russia,
in 1790, a very few months only before his death;
and he on this occasion speaks of him as follows,
in one of his letters: "He is one of the finest,
handsomest, best made, strongest, honestest, cle-
verest, and noblest fellows that ever old England
produced ; and the whole of his conduct exhibits
the very man, such as I have known him from a
child." Another was Hergest, a friend who, if the
subsequently-intended expedition to north-west
America had been carried out, would have joined
him in it. Another was Samwell, who was first
surgeon's mate, and afterwards surgeon, the author

194 LIFE OP CAPTAIN JAMES TEEVENEN.

of an account of Captain Cook's death, with which
Trevenen was on the whole well satisfied, and
which he earnestly recommended to all his friends,
and which he requested them to bind up with their
copies of the voyage. Mr. Samwell afterwards
performed a last act of friendship for Trevenen
himself, by drawing up, after his death, a short
notice of his life, which was inserted in the
Gentleman's Magazine for August, 1790. Tre-
venen was accustomed to speak also of Lieut.
Burney, afterwards Capt. James Burney, in most
kindly terms.

To Cook himself, Trevenen in common, it is
believed, with all who ever served under him,
always looked up both with respect and affection.
The power of mind, and the unwearied assiduity
of that great navigator, gave him an ascendancy
which neither his severity of character, nor the
passions into which ho frequently threw himself
on the slightest occasions, could overbear. These
passions were often very vehement. It was a
common saying among both officers and men,
" that the old boy had been tipping a heiva to
such a one." The heiva was the name of one
of the dances of the southern islanders, to which
Cook's violent motions and stampings on deck
in his paroxysms often bore a great resemblance.
But still his real ascendancy of character and
ability was never forgotten. The history of his

RESOLUTION AND DISCOVERY, 1776-1780. 195

last voyage was, down nearly to the period of
his death, written by himself, and comprises the
two first volumes of the complete work. "The
coolness and conciseness," says Trevenen, speak-
ing of these two volumes, " with which he passes
over the relation of the dangers which he encoun-
tered is very remarkable. These imminent dangers
and hairbreadth escapes would, in other hands, have
afforded subject for many laboured and dreadful
descriptions, and would even have justified them.
The want of such may make him lose the credit of
having avoided or surmounted them. But he who
once revolves in his mind the immense extent of
coast that Capt. Cook has in this voyage surveyed;
the earliness of the season when he began it, and
the advanced state of it when he left off — the
badness of the provisions, which had been already
three years from England — the intricacies of the
coast, the islets, rocks, and shoals, that would
make when well known the boldest pilot tremble
to venture on it — the length of time which his
crew remained in, and bore with, the consequent
fetigue of such uncommon and accumulated sub-
jects of distress, passed among rocks and fields of
ice, in thick fogs, with the entire privation of fresh
meat, and such necessary comforts as alone can
render men capable of undergoing extreme hard-
ships, with the allowed hazard of navigating among
ice — must wonder at and admire both his boldness

o 2

196

LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

of daring and skill in executing. But, an his mind
was impressed with the thoughts of duty and the
grand consequence of his undertaking, no danger
or difficulty had the power of turning away his
attention from this object."

A somewhat less grave picture is given in a
note to p. 279. " I, with several other of our
midshipmen, attended Captain Cook in this ex-
pedition, in which we rowed him not less than
thirty miles during the day. We were fond of
such excursions, although the labour of them was
very great, as not only this kind of duty was more
agreeable than the routine on board the ships,
but it was also another very principal considera-
tion, that we were sure of having plenty to eat
and drink, which was not always the case on
board on our usual allowance. Capt. Cook also,
on these occasions, would sometimes relax from
his almost constant severity of disposition, and
even descended now and then to converse
familiarly with us, but it was only for a time."
Trevenen had before said, in one of his private
letters to his family, in which he describes his
cabin in the Crocodile, " Right against me stands
Capt. Cook, like the knight of the woful coun-
tenance, and pointing to a map of the South
Sea." " Aye, aye, old boy, I remember all very
well, especially the many hungry hours I have
experienced while you lived in clover." Again,

RESOLUTION AND DISrOVERY, 1770-1780. 197

ill a book of scrapM which sevim to have been
written as late as 1787 :

O genius superior, in forming whom, nature

Had an eye to the mouhling a great navigator,

And though toward thy mids thou wert not very nice.

Declaring thou'dst have " no more cats than catch mice,"

" Not here do you come to see fashions, or folly, but

" To hold on the nippers, and row in the jolly-boat ; "

And though still thou wouldst send me, when by the wind

steering,
To haul out the weather mizen topsail reef earing,
Yet not now I'll remember thy wholesome severity.
Or remember 'twas meant but to give me dexterity.
No ! rather I'll think on that happier season,
When tum'd into thy boat's crew without rhyme or reason,
But proud of that office, we went a marooning,
And pulling 'gainst tide, or before the wind spooning.
Sometimes we were shooting and sometimes surveying,
With pleasure still watching, with pleasure obeying,
Till pleased with our efforts, thy features relax.
And thou giv'st us thy game to take home on our backs.
O day of hard labour, O day of good living,
When TooTEE was seized with the humour of giving —
When he clothed in good nature his looks of authority.
And shook from his eyebrows their stern superiority.

The two ships, the Resolution and the Discovery^
reached the Cape on their return home in
May, 1780, and had a tedious voyage thence to
England, going round by, and being long detained
in Orkney. They arrived at the Nore, October 4.
Trevenen's letters to his friends, while in suspense

1 1

198 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

as to what the events might have been of the
long period during which he had not heard of
them, are of the most touching tenderness. He
regrets especially that he could not have landed
at Falmouth, where he might have heard of their
welfare : " for otherwise," he adds, " I did not
dare to think;" and expresses an anxiety on
account of his friend Penrose, whose name he had
not found in the list of lieutenants which he had
seen at the Cape. But it will show sufficiently
the unchanged and unchanging affectionateness of
Trevenen's character to place here in juxta-
position the two letters which he wrote to his
mother from the Cape : the one written on his
arrival there in 1776, on the outward voyage; the
second on his return in 1780.

" Table Bay, October 23, 1776.

"My DEAR Mother,

"A letter from James! O my dear crea-
tures, how eager I see you to break the seal!
Be happy then ! for I know that it will make
you so to hear that I am well, and that I
like the sea as well as ever. What a great
pleasure it would be to me to hear from you
whom I so tenderly love ! But I must content
myself my old way at the academy : viz., thinking
of the pleasures of meeting, and I have now more

RESOLUTION AND DI8C0VEBY, 1776-1780. 199

occasion than ever. There I heard from you
every fortnight ; now I am quite in the dark with
regard to your health, and everything concerning
you ; but I will always hope the best.

" While at sea, I often used to hold conversation
with you; and in the dead of night during my
watch upon deck, while others used to be variously
engaged, and trying different ways to amuse them-
selves, I used to seek some comer where I was
least likely to be disturbed ; and, retiring within
myself, was soon at Rosewarne. Often, when
thinking of you, the pearly drop would steal
silently down my cheek, and at last I should
melt into tears ; but they were not the tears of
sorrow, they were tears of gratitude for your
tenderness and love to me ; and I was quite
happy at the time when, had you seen me, you
would have taken me to be the most miserable
person in the world. In general, I have the
greatest spirits, and am remarked for it ; but so
great is the contrariety, that I am most happy
when I appear least so. Indeed I am never
otherwise than happy ; but there are a thousand
pleasures I perceive when I am thinking of you,
which at other times I am a stranger to. How
heartily do I pity those rough sailors, of whom we
have many aboard, who have no notion of sen-r
sibility, and who laugh at those persons who show

./:i

200 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

any tenderness for tbeir relations, or who cannot
drink as much grog as themselves. They are
strangers to those feelings which constitute my
summum hwiumr

" Cape of Good Hope, May, 1780.
" My most REVERED M OTHER,

" An address to a mother after so long an absence,
and entire ignorance of what may have befallen at
home, is a circumstance altogether so new to me
that I find myself at a loss how to behave. The
darkness and uncertainty with regard to events the
most interesting cannot fail to give a serious turn
to my thoughts, and I tremble with apprehension.
On the other hand, when I recollect that I have
once more a dawn of happiness breaking upon me —
that I am once more in a fair way to see and
converse with all I hold dear — the tide of joy is
so tumultuous as to render me equally unfit to
express my sentiments. But I feel myself already
excused by you for not being more full, when I
tell you that at least in a fortnight after your re-
ceipt of this, I hope to be in your embraces.
Good God ! the thought is too much. Far, far
away, my eyes and steps have been directed from
you, but my thoughts never. You still con-

RESOLUTION AND DISCOVERY, 1776-1780. 201

stituted my chief happiness amidst all the bustle
and variety of sea life. I have written many a
long letter to you, though I knew it could never
be delivered; but it relieved my mind after the
variety of business I had been engaged in — was
indeed my most pleasing occupation ; gave me a
gleam of joy that helped to dissipate the gloom
around me, and whenever I was melancholy proved
a never-failing consolation."

In another letter written in the same spirit
during his tedious delay at Stromness, but before
he could have any intelligence from his family,
he says that he fears that his letter exceeds the
bounds of reason and savours of novel writing.
" But I care not," he adds, " for criticism. It is
the warmth of affection dictates my pen and will
be obeyed. I hope you are not tired, but really
I can think of nothing else."

It is even now almost mortifying to reflect that
this suspense was prolonged, though but for a few
days, T)y his very narrowly missing his friend Pen-
rose while on the voyage from Orkney to the
Nore. Penrose had then recently been made
lieutenant of the Cleopatra, and was cruising on
the coast of Scotland ; and in the course of this
cruise had, during a thick fog, boarded a ship
which, not more than an hour before, had been
hailed by the Discovert/, which could not then have

202 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

been more than a mile off. But the thickness of
the weather cruelly prevented the actual meeting
of the two friends, and delayed to Trevenen's
longings the knowledge of that satisfactory report
of family history which his friend could have
given.

CHAPTER II.

FROM HIS RETTTRN TO ENGLAND TO HIS BROTHER MATTHEWS
DEATH IN 1785.

Soon after Trevenen's arrival at the Nore, his
anxiety to renew his intercourse with his much-
loved family was partially satisfied by a visit from
his brother Thomas, then a student at Cambridge.
He himself, in common with the other midship-
men who had been engaged in the arduous ser-
vice of the voyage round the world, was promoted,
apparently as a matter of course, to the rank of
lieutenant, and on or about October 30, was ap-
pointed fourth-lieutenant of the Conquestador^
then guard-ship at the Nore. He was greatly
elated by this change from what he at this time
calls the lowest state of wretchedness to a decent
station in life. This appointment, indeed, to a
guard-ship could not be in itself a gratifying ap-
pointment to an active-minded young officer in
time of war ; but it was intended to insure his
being in the way whenever his friend Captain King

204 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

should obtain a command. It was also an ap-
pointment which allowed him after a time to
obtain leave of absence to go into Cornwall, where
he went in November. In January, 1781, he
returned to the Conquestadm', but soon became
heartily tired of the inactive life to which he was
doomed, and of what was worse than inaction — the
painful duty of pressing seamen from homeward-
bound ships. In a letter of this date, he says,
" I shall by and by exclaim with Cloten, in Lear,
that every Jack-fool can have a belly full of
fighting, while I must look on." In the month
of April following, he had, however, the
pleasure of getting freed from the guard-ship, and
of being appointed to the Crocodile, of 24 guns,
then fitting out, under Captain King. The
Crocodile, on being ready for sea, was in the first
place ordered to the Downs, and afterwards joined
for a time the squadron off the Dutch coast
under Lord Mulgrave. During the remainder of
the summer she was engaged in cruising with the
grand fleet in the Channel, and v/as then ordered
to Ireland. Throughout the winter, and the early
spring of 1782, she was employed in severe ser-
vice in the Channel, and in the Irish Sea, and, in
March, was ordered once more to the Downs.
Captain King here left her. He had been ap-
pointed to the command of the Resistanr-i, . f
44 guns, then on the stocks at Deptford, and

CROCODILE, 1782.

205

was succeeded in the Crocodile by Captain Albe-
marle Bertie.

During Captain Bertie's command of the
Crocodile, an action took place off Dunkirk with
a French privateer of 28 guns, the Prince de
Roberg, Captain Vanstabel, the most daring and
successful of the enemy's cruisers at that time.
The guns of the Crocodile, though of inferior
weight of metal, and though her crew, which con-
sisted of 160 men, was opposed to 220, were so
well served, that in about an hour the fire of the
enemy was nearly silenced. But an unfortunate
explosion on board the Crocodile created a mo-
mentary confusion which obliged Captain Bertie
to back his sails, and his opponent escaped. The
capture of this privateer would have led to Tre-
venen's immediate promotion to a captaincy, and
the whole current of his future life would con-
sequently have been changed. Soon after this
engagement he was appointed first-lieutenant of
the Resistance and he joined this ship in July.

The first orders to the Resistance were to join
a squadron appointed to protect Guernsey and
Jersey from an expected invasion. But the alarm
respecting these islands subsided, and this ship
was then ordered in charge of very valuable
convoy to the West Indies. The ordinary route
is to run at first to the south, and then, on getting
into the trade winds, to steer direct for Barbadoes ;

■I I

I i

206 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAME8 TREVENEN.

but Captain King had too much reason to trust
both to his own skill and that of his lieutenant
in working the lunar observations, a task which was
at this time often regarded as a sort of recondite
science, to feel himself under any need to take
this circuitous line, and therefore steered from the
first the straight course for his port. This straight
course saved in fact the convoy from the enemy,
inasmuch as the French who, with their usual good
intelligence, had obtained accurate knowledge of
its sailing, had dispatched three sail of the line
and two frigates, to intercept it on the usual track.
The surprise and terror of the masters of the
merchant ships on this occasion were, it is said,
extreme. They were soon bewildered, and lost
all kind of tolerable accuracy in their reckoning.
But when at last they found themselves brought
exactly to the desired point, nothing could exceed
their admiration and astonishment.

From Barbadoes the Resistance proceeded to
Jamaica, on which station she continued till the
close of the war. A small French vessel, the
Coquette of 28 guns and 200 men, was captured
in an inconsiderable action near Turk's Island, and
Trevenen took the command of the prize. An
ineffectual attempt was also made by Captain
Nelson of the Albemarle, afterwards Lord Nelson,
to recapture the island itself. The Resistance took
her share in this attempt, but certainly without

RESISTANCE, 1782.

207

any approbation of it on the part of her lieutenant,
who says, in a letter in which he gives an account
of it to his friends, " But the ridiculous expe-
dition against Turk's Island, undertaken by a young
man merely from the hopes of seeing his name in
the papers, ill-digested at first, carried on without
a plan, afterwards attempted to be carried into
execution rashly because without intelligence,
and hastily abandoned at last for the same reason
that it ought not to have been undertaken, spoilt
all." To see Nelson thus thought of, though only
perhaps at a moment of disappointment, in 1782,
by a man who might have lived to be one of his
warmest admirers, is a remarkable example of the
many-sided aspects in which character is often
viewed, and in which it exists.

This expedition against Turk's Island was among
the last acts of the war. On the conclusion of peace
the affectionateness of Trevenen's disposition would
have brought him instantly home; but, on the
other hand, his ardour and activity led him to look
eagerly into the future. In a letter written in
April or May, 1783, he says to his sister, " Had it
been my fate to have sat down during the first
years of my life amidst green lields and shady
jq;roves, I should have been perfectly contented with
my station, nor ever have uttered one sigh for glory."
He then argues " that the mind and disposition
may receive a bent foreign to its nature, and that^

!»:' '

208

LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

he is sure that he could not be contented with
that Icind of life for any moderate time. Whe-
ther my happiness," he adds, " is benefited by the
change I know not, neither do I know that I
ought to care. If I am guided by the Supreme
Disposer of events, I am happy to resign myself to
him." In this state of feeling, and supposing the
peace to be made a little too soon to afford him
any chance of early promotion in his own service,
he appears to have turned his thoughts, even be-
fore he left Jamaica, to a possible seeking of that
employment and distinction in Russia of which the
door now seemed to be closed on him at home.
A war had broken out between that country and
Turkey, and (though with some misgiving about
the having to fight against the poor Turks) he says
in one of his letters of this date, " 1 should not
dislike going into the Russian service if I could
get a command." But this thought, though it
will be seen that it was resumed afterwards, was
merely transient at present. His more immediate
and decided project was to take the opportunity
of being now in the western hemisphere, to make
a tour through the new states — states which he
saw to be clearly destined for eventual great-
ness, and to present great opportunities for obser-
vation. Neither yet did he exclude all thought
of " becoming himself an American, or to come
in himself for a share in raising the structure," or

JAMAICA, 1783.

200

with

Vhe-

y the

lat I

ireine

elf to

ig the

d him

jrvice,

en bc-

if that

ich the
home.

;ry and

I about

he says

uld not
; could
(Ugh it
ds, was
nediate
•rtunity
make
lich he
great-
r obser-
hought
|o come
ire," or

forming the navy of the new empire which was
about tc arise. A tour, however, was everything of
which he thought seriously at this time. " Charles
Penrose," he says in one of his letters, " had bet-
ter meet me in America. I often think how
happy I should be to have him, Ward, and Riou,
along with me." This intention, however, was
overruled by his being seized with a violent fever,
brought on by his having overheated himself while
on shore at Port Royal.

Captain King, who was at this time on shore,
came instantly to see him, and brought with him
an old practitioner in these fevers; but the
patient was already on the recovery. Trevenen
speaks with gratitude of the kindness which he
received on this occasion from his countryman,
Humphry Cole, then a lieutenant in the 79th
Regiment, and encamped in a healthy situation
near Port Royal, and who had pressed him to
come to the camp for change of air. He speaks
also of very kind attentions which had been paid
him, while in Jamaica, by Captain Curgenven, of
the Protee, 64.

He had not long recovered from this illness
when his excellent friend, Captain King, found it
necessary to return to England on account of his
own state of health, which had already for some
time been thought precarious, and took his
passage home in the Diamond, Captain Rowley.,

210 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

! I

Trevenen, whose own recent illness hail probably
abated his zeal for travelling, and who was very
unwilling to forsake this most dear friend, pro-
cured an exchange into the same ship. The
Diamond reached Portsmouth in July, and in the
beginning of August was ordered round to Ply-
mouth, and paid off. Trevenen then returned to
his mother's home at Uosewarne ; and, for a time,
seems to have felt no want of any enjoyment not
to be found in the tranquillity of a country life,
and in the society of his friends.

In November he went to London, and subse-
quently to Oxford, and thence to Woodstock, on a
visit to Captain King, to whom he at this time
gave some assistance in correcting the charts
published in the voyage of discovery. He then
returned in January, 1784, to Rosewarne, vehence
he again set out in April, in company with his
brother Matthew"*, in a tour to Scotland. The
two brothers travelled in a gig, and treasured up
very many recollections of the little events of
their tour, and of the satisfaction which they found
in this method of travelling. They went by
London, where they bought their gig, and their
horse Swan, a bird, as they often called him,
afterwards much petted in the family, and of
which the remembrance long survived in it. From
London they proceeded through Derbyshire to

* See note B at the end of this volume.

TOUR IN ENGLAND, 1784.

211

jbably
s very
1, pro-
, The
in the
to Ply-
rned to
a time,
ent not
itry life,

1 subse-
>ck, on a
h\s time
e charts
He then
, -whence
with his
ad. The
isured up
events of
ley found
went by
and their
lied him,
and of
it. From
)yshire to

le.

York, and thence to Edinburgh and Aberdeen,
and as fir north as Inverness, and returned by
Staifa and Glasgow and the English lakes. From
the lakes they went through Liverpool and Man-
chester into Nottinghamshire, where they paid a
visit to their brother-in-law, the Rev. J. Penrose,
at Fledborough, and again to London. There ex-
ists a long journal of this tour, full of observation,
but without much matter in it worth extracting,
unless it deserve mentioning that the "immense"
silk mills at Derby, were even at that period,
an establishment which excited their attention;
and that they did not miss the opportunity of
admiring Wright's paintings, which were then
exhibited there. At Matlock they met Dean
Jebb, who must at ttiis time have been nearly
ninety years of age, and who had frequented Mat-
lock for his health about sixty years. " I never
saw," says Trevenen," "such advanced age and
such spirits united. His unexpected flow of good
humour delighted, and his excellent understanding
instructed, every one : he was the life of the com-
pany, and evinced manners as agreeable, and an
intellect as keen, as if he had been in meridian.
It was a pleasant thing, and enough to reconcile
the most discontented to life, to hear him assert
that his last twenty years had been the happiest.
Indeed, he seemed to enjoy himself and his com-
pany with the highest relish."

p 2

asm

212

LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

The two Trevenens returned to London at a
time when Captain King was very ill, at Mr.
Burke's at Beaconsfield. James Trevenen went
down there immediately to see him; and found
that in the hope (a vain hope, alas !) that his health
might yet be restored by passing the coming
winter in a warmer climate, he was preparing for
a journey to the south of France. His intimate
friend. Captain Young, afterwards Sir William
Young, had agreed to go with him, and Trevenen
now offered to join them. This offer was gladly
accepted; and the party left London, September
12, and proceeded together to Nice by Paris
and Avignon, and thence by the ordinary route
through Aix and Frejus. Captain King died at
Nice in the middle of November ; and Trevenen
says of him that, " though worn to a shadow by
his disorder, he yet exhibited a noble picture of
the independence of the soul on the body ; every
mental faculty bright and unclouded to the last
minute. He might have said with Addison, ' See
how a Christian can die.* I have no doubt," he
adds, "but that the journey hastened his end.
Ecisy as we made it, the fatigue was too great for
his weak state, and his decline advanced rapidly
from the time of our coming to Nice. He had
all along been sensible of his true situation, and
never flattered himself with false hopes; yet his
cheerfulness scarcely ever left him; and if any-

NICE, 1784.

213

at a
t Mr.
went
found
health
!oming
ing for
Ltimate
V^illiam
evenen
gladly
(tember
y Paris
y route
died at
revenen
,dow by
iture of
every
the last
n, ' See
(ubt," he
lis end.
reat for
rapidly
He had
ion, and
yet his
if any-

thing could alleviate the melancholy of our situa-
tion it was his example." " Dear little man," he
says in a subsequent letter, "I shall never see him
more — he who has been so much to me so long a
time. His gentle spirit is wafted, however, to a
better world." And again, " He is gone, and we
shall no more see that countenance where the
sunshine of innocence, benevolence, and love, was
reflected from the clear calm of a heart at ease."

After Captain King's death, Trevenen went
from Nice to Marseilles and Toulon. He here
hesitated for a short time which way he should
turn. In one of his letters to his friend Ward
he says, "Before I return to England I should
like much to go to Grand Cairo." And again,
" Perhaps the fate of Europe may determine mine.
In case of war, I should much like to engage on
one side or other. But how to do it?" Heat
at length determined to make a tour in Italy.
Mr. Ellison, of Yorkshire, and Captains Vesey
and Macartney, were his companions in this tour.
They went first by sea from Marseilles to Civita
Vecchia, and thence to Romef. Trevenen's memo-
randa of his stay at Rome are full of intelligence
and observation, but do not afford any remarks
which can now be of importance, unless it be of
importance in 1849, to see it remarked by him in
1785, that " Pius VI. is disliked by almost all
ranks, and that they are altogether tired of eccle-

214 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

siastical goveriiraent." He says elsewhere that
" the manner in which we supported the last war
against so many powers is regarded as a prodigy ;
and more than one Italian has assured me that
his countrymen during the whole time were so
many English patriots."

At Rome Trevenen unfortunately fell ill of a
fever; and three days after quitting his hed had
the imprudence to set out for Naples. While at
Naples he made two efforts to ascend Vesuvius:
the first of them by night ; but he was then too
weak to go farther than to the burning lava. A
day or too afterwards, though still very sick and
feverish, he, hy the help of two men, reached the
summit. From Naples he returned to Rome, and
went from Rome to Florence, and thence to
Leghorn. Here his compunions left him and em-
barked for Marseilles. He was himself at this time
seriously ill of a second fever ; of which, though
he got better by slow degrees, he never thoroughly
recovered the effects. He from this time became
subject to pains in the breast, which were often
distressing and even alarming; and a hurrying
journey from Leghorn to Venice was thought to
have rooted this mischief in his frame. He arrived
in Venice in time to witness the ceremony of the
Doge's wedding the sea, and stayed there some
time, and received very particular attentions on
the ground of having been round the world with

I' I

VENICE, 1785.

215

I that
st war
odigy ;
e that
ere so

II of a
ed had
liile at
isuvius :
aen too
Lva. A
ick and
hed the
me, and
ence to
and em-
his time

though
aroughly
hecame
re often
hurrying
aught to
arrived
of the
3re some
itions on
orld with

Cook, and present at his death, and of being
supposed by some to be the only officer who had
survived the expedition. " I was often obliged,"
he says, " to bite my tongue that I might not
laugh in their faces, at being supposed a man of
consequence to the world in general, and at the
strange questions sometimes put to me. One lady
asked me at what time our voyage took place;
for, though older than me, she did not remember
our coming to Italy. However, notwithstanding
the general ignorance with regard to such matters,
which is not to be wondered at, there are many
sensible people in Venice who have read Cook's
voyages, which are eagerly read pad sought after
in Italy with attention, and to such I had real
pleasure in explaining the plates, &c."

To this passage, which is extracted frcm a letter
to his eldest sister, is added a eulogium on the
many excellent and agreeable companions with
whom he had had the good fortune of falling in on
his tour. " I have never yet," he says, " had reason
to repent the confidence I have placed in any of
them, have always parted with them with regret,
and still keep up a correspondence with them.
But still," he adds, " they were not Matthew
Trevenens. How often have I wished for him
on my travels ! How much more so now than ever,
because I am going into Switzerland, that delight-
ful country, where there are so many things to his

sssfiiinaBBBi

MmK

216 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

taste, and especially because at last I shall be left
alone. I shall lose half the pleasure of my journey
in losing the pleasure of participation, and as that
must be augmented in proportion to the love we
bear the person participating, you will agree that
I want Matthew Trevenen."

On leaving Venice, Trevenen travelled by the
route of Mantua and Verona to Milan, and made
afterwards the tour of Switzerland in company
with Mr. Sumner, of Emmanuel College, Cambridge,
whom he had met at Geneva, and with whom he
had previously formed acquaintance in Italy. At
Geneva he formed an intimate friendship with M.
Pictet. At Lausanne he consulted M. Tissot on
the state of his health. M. Tissot satisfied him
that his constitution had not received any perma-
nent injury, but advised him to abstain for the
present from all fatigue either of body or mind,
and to pass the winter months in Italy, or in the
south of France. And this he probably would
have done, but that he felt himself recalled
suddenly home by the death of that dear brother
whom he loved so well, and for whose society
he had so lately expressed his longing desire.
Matthew's illness, a most rapid consumption, must
have been first made known to his brother in the
end of August. There was a momentary thought
that he might possibly be advised to try a foreign
tour for change of air; and James instantly

ROSEWARNE, 1785.

217

be left
ourney
as that
ove we
ee that

by the
id made
ompany
abridge,
horn he
ily. At
with M.
Cissot on
iied him
penna-
for the
|or mind,
>r in the
y would
recalled
brother
society
desire,
[on, must
ter in the
thought
a foreign
instantly

proffered himself as " his brother's nurse and at-
tendant, and to go anywhere with him." Every
hope, however, was soon cut short by the rapid
progress of the disease. Matthew died October
27, and James's next object was to join the
afflicted family circle in Cornwall, and to share its
sorrows. He, therefore, immediately on hearing
of his brother's death, returned to England^ and
reached Rosewarne, December 4.

On this sad subject all that remains to be here
added is, that he wrote at or about this period of
his return to his mother's roof the following verses
— verses which some who have seen them in MS.
would regret not to see inserted here. They are
also verses which will afford proof to every reader
that the language of poetry and that of deep and
real feeling, when expressed in verse, is one and
the same.

MONODY ON THE DEATH OP MATTHEW TREVENBN.

Why beats my heart ? why burst these rending sighs ?

Why seek I more his wonted voice to hear ?
No more that pleasing form shall glad.my eyes ;

No more his accents charm th' attentive ear.

Yet why, if innocent tliy life has pa8t>
If to thee every quality was giv'n
That leads the sure unerring path to heav'n,

Why sorrow we that this day is thy last?

218

LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TBEVENEN.

Not thee vie grieve, but dare to hope
The great Jehovah to a better state,

Reward of virtue, hath thy soul transferr'd,
And though around thy mortal part, interr'd
In earth's cold bosom, to this stroke of fate
We sink subdued, and to our tears give scope.
Let godlike reason for a moment sway —
'Twere selfish envy more to wish thy stay.

Ourselves we mourn, our loss lament,
Who, left in wretchedness below.
Without thy cheering influence go.
And wander in the paths of discontent and woe.

By passion's storm our bosoms rent.
Reason's mild sway no longer own ;
Thy bright example from our eyes withdrawn,
Our guiding star's extinct, our path no longer known.

Whene'er affliction's shafts our peace invade»

Or transient joys the obscur'd prospect clear,
In vain we seek thee for thy wonted aid,

In vain the momentary bliss would share ;
In vain in crowds and noise we seek relief;

The mind, unoccupied, still turns to thee.
Religion's balm alone can heal our grief;

Time's healing hand froto misery set us free.

Yet know'st thou, brother, time can ne'er efface

Thy much lov'd image from our bleeding hearts ;
For, though fell melancholy's train we chase,

And in life's busy scene resume our parts ;
Though on our fronts mild resignation shine.

And cheerfulness relume the clouded scene;

Whene'er a serious thought we entertain,
Thy virtues form our favourite theme divine.

ft :

ROSEWARNE, 1785.

219

Whene'er in evening solitude we stray;
Whene'er rejection lifts our thoughts on high ;

Whene'er assembled round th' accustom 'd hearth,

Which, happier once, now mourns thy parted mirth ;
Then flows the silent tear, the half-check'd sigh,

Convulsive sobs that would not be reveal'd.
Till griefs infectious to each bosom fly,

And burst at once, too great to be conceal'd.

But not do mournful thoughts alone our time employ.

Thy life for other feelings has given place ;
The bursts of passion past ; (prepare to joy;)

And exultation clears each clouded face :
Thy mother dwells with rapture on the theme ;

Thy sister's tears awhile give way to bliss ;
Thy brothers, emulous in praise, exclaim,

" So pass our days, and be our end like his."

ts;

O friend ! brother ! much-lamented youth,

Although thy praise unequal I resign,
The friends of virtue will confirm this truth,

That scarce a failing, not one vice, was thine.
And lo ! already a more skilful muse

Has pour'd her plaintive accents o'er thy urn,
And does thy virtues for her subject choose.

Hers be the lot to praise thee ; mine to mourn.

How many favourite schemes with thee I 've plann'd !

How roU'd my years in pleasing vision on !
How many hopes have form'd, and projects scann'd !

But all those projects, all those hopes, are gone.
Vain wretch ! to build on such aerial toys ;

To let thy wild imagination roam ;
Fond man, to sooth thyself in future joys,

And feast on fancied happiness to come !

220 LIFE OP CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

No more thy sun of innocence shall dart

Its cheerful beam upon th' afflicted mind ;

Thy reason's force, by piety refin'd,
No more shall lift to hope the sinking heart;

But thy example shall with us remain,
Thy cherish'd image in our bosoms last,

And hold its empire amidst joy or pain,
Till life ebb out, and memory be past.

And when that king of t 'Tors, Death,

Shall call me to resign my breath ;

Whether amidst the din of war he come,

Or the more dreadful lingering deathbed's gloom ;

Tell me but I shall see thy face,

And I '11 not shun the fiend's embrace,

But willing spurn this world's vain joys and cares ;

Whilst hope to meet thy love shall dissipate my fears.

Cease we our 'plaint. 'Tis not for mortal man

By constant grief to blame th' eternal plan.

But thou, for whom her tears unceasing flow.

If thou can'st still one earthly passion know,

Sweet angel, hear our prayer,

And on a sister's health bestow thy care.

Teach her this truth, let her no longer grieve ;

And bid her cease to mourn, and learn again to live.

O gracious Heaven ! when thy Providence

Its gracious favours scatters o'er the laud
Shall we receive the good it does dispense,

And scorn the chastening ill from thy dread hand ?
O God of mercy ! hear our humble prayers.

That we such paths of wilful error shun ;
And whether rise our joys, o . flow our tears,

Thy will on earth still, as in Heaven, be done.

ROSEWARNE, 1785.

221

dve.

and?

To this tribute of warm affection, and to the
many other evidences already before the reader of
James Trevenen's unbounded love for his brother
Matthew, may here be added the following ex-
tracts from an early letter written to him while at
college — extracts here given, however, chiefly as
illustrative of the reflective character of the writer.
Matthew, it seems, had written to his brother,
saying that he was tired of a lounger's life. Well
might he be tired of it ! Certainly no man was
ever less intended by nature to lead it to the end.
To this letter, James says in answer : " Do not be
offended at what may bear the semblance of a
lecture, for I am only going to tell you something
about myself. A youngster, on going to sea, has
ten thousand difficulties to encounter ; his accom-
modations on board ship are so bad, and there are
so many difficulties in his way, as, joined perhaps
to a depression of spirits, natural on leaving
friends, &c., incline him to a melancholy despon-
dency, from which it is ten thousand to one if he
rouses himself to any exertion in learning, or in
his duty on board. Unless he has some friend
among the officers, it is most likely he falls into
foolish dissipated company, which pleases him for
a time, because it drives away his melancholy,
but so totally estranges his mind from all thoughts
of improvement that he is certain, in the end, to
turn out a blockhead.

222 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

i 1 1!

"This was a good deal my case at first; but
I gi'ew tired of the life of a lounger, because my
mind had been used to be exercised at school.
However, it was to no purpose that I resolved to
amend ; for the difficulties before mentioned stood
in my way. And, although I every day made
fresh resolutions, yet I was every day sure to
break them; for, truly speaking, my mind had
contracted an indolence that gave me an aversion
to everything that required thought. It seemfiH
a labour such as I could not look on without
pain. But still I had my reason left, which told
me I was going on quite in a wrong ;vay; and
that, if I continued to do so, I should be a block-
head all my life-time, and must be content for
ever to pass unnoticed in the world. But these
reflections served only to augment my misery ; for
it was almost impossible to do anything in a mid-
shipman's berth, and I saw no help for my situa-
tion, which really was a most horrid one. I
lounged about the ship from place to place, any
how, to pass time away ; at the same time that it
was with the greatest regret I saw day after day
go over my head, vithout my having improved
myself in anything, or knowing more than when I
first set out. I knew it, and was so unhappy that
I often retired to a corner and cried like a child.
Thus was my life annihilating, when two friendly
hands were reached out, and saved me from the

ROSEWARNB, 1785.

223

t; but
use my
school.
Ived to
d stood
f made
sure to
ind had
aversion
sfiemPid

without
lich told
ray; and
a block-
itent for
\\xi these
sery; for
n a mid-
ny situa-
one. I
ace, any
le that it
after day
improved
n when I
ippy that
e a child,
friendly
from the

gulf into which I was plunging; and, if over I get
any promotion in the service, which ambition bids
me hope, I shall always gratefully acknowledge
that it is totally owing to Captain King and Mr.
Bligh, our master ; they took notice of me, and
offered me the use of their cabins and advice.
But indolence had already got such hold on me
from habit, that I had many hard battles to
conquer it. I have a hundred times laid down a
plan to proceed upon, made the best resolutions,
and been quite happy for a time in prosecuting it
with vigour, but when the first enthusiasm was
abated, my diligence began to abate also, and I
used to endeavour to form excuses to myself for
it. sometimes I have thought that I was natu-
rally of an indolent disposition, and that therefore
it was in vain to fight against it. But I am con-
vinced that no man is constitutionally so : it comes
at first from idleness; idleness becomes habitual,
and, at last, the mind, from not being exercised,
becomes relaxed, and loses all its vigour." The
letter then goes on into a comment on the several
objects of useful and liberal study, from which the
only sentence which need be extracted is the
following : " I declare to you that if the war was
to finish, I myself would come to Cambridge, enter
myself a gentleman commoner, and make astro-
nomy my chief study; as painting, &c., should be
my amusement."

i/t:

1 I

! I I

' :|1|

t'*

1 !
1 ;■

CHAPTER III.

TO HIS ARRIVAL AT PiTERSBUROH, OCTOBER 7, 1787.

The residue of the winter of 1785-1786 and
almost the whole of the succeeding summer were
passed by James Trevenen amongst his friends
in Cornwall. His habits were studious, but he
enjoyed society. His health seemed to his friends
to be better than they had dared, after so many
illnesses, to expect ; and the summer months
were enlivened to him by a long visit from his
friend Ward, whose eccentricities and argumenta-
tions, and agreeableness, were long remembered
in the hospitable circle into which his friend in-
troduced him. An objectless life, however, sel-
dom lasts long with a man who has once learned
to exert himself. Trevenen in the autumn of this
year began to entertain plans for pursuing dis-
coveries, and of establishing a fur trade, in the
North Pacific, as had been suggested by Captain
King in his volume of the " Continuation of Cook's
Voyages," and also of exploring the Japanese
Islands, and the Bay of China. He proposed

ROSEWARNE, 1786.

225

1787.

r86 and
ler were
} friends
but he
is friends
so many
months
from his
•umenta-
lembered
iend in-
iver, sel-
learned
in of this
ing dis-
, in the
Captain
.f Cook's
apanese
I proposed

to his friend Penrose to engage with him in a
trading voyage for furs to Nootka Sound, and
Cook's River. A merchant of Fahnouth, Mr.
Daubuz, applied to him for information on the
same subject, on the part of a company which
was projecting a similar scheme, and proposed to
him to direct and command an expedition to consist
of two ships, with this object in view. The sum
which it was proposed to devote to the equipment
of this expedition was sufficiently ample, and the
negotiation advanced so far that Trevenen set out
for London in November, in order to arrange the
preliminaries with the Government. A petition
was presented, which was indorsed " promised to
be complied with;" but some apprehension of
interfering with the rights of the South Sea
Company prevented the farther prosecution of
the affair. Thus thrown aback in this project, he
applied for employment in the formation of the
new settlement which was at this time setting on
foot at Botany Bay ; but he was too late. He also
appears at one time to have intended to try the
East India Company's service, but saw too many
difficulties to be surmounted before he could
attain an adequate station in it. Towards the
end of November he wrote a letter on service to
the Admiralty, earnestly requesting employ, either
on the Botany Bay service, or on any other out of
the common routine of sea duty. But to this ap-

< I

LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

plication he only received the usual official answer
to letters on service.

To an ardent mind all these rebuffs could not but
be mortifying. The mortification which they pro-
duced was also increased by a feeling of violent
animosity against the ministry, the Pitt ministry,
which was at this time in power, — an animosity
if not created, yet doubtless exasperated, by the
friendships to which his intimacy with Captain
King had introduced him. He at this time passed
some days at Beaconsfield with Mr. Burke, and
paid a visit at Cliefden to Lord Inchiquin, with
whom he had previously made acquaintance at Cork,
in 1782. Mr. John King also, his friend's brother,
who had been secretary to Lord Rockingham, and
with whom Trevenen was in constant intercourse,
was now in very decided opposition to Government.
This society could not be without its effect on a
man who seemed to himself to be beating his
wings vainly against impassable bars. The Ad-
miralty itself had, perhaps, never been in better
hands under any administration than at present un-
der Lord Howe's. But Trevenen, perhaps, forgot
too much that, though he had been a sharer in
Cook's memorable voyage, his own midshipman's
berth had been much too subordinate a situation
to allow his real abilities to be known and appre-
ciated. He says, in letters of this date to his
mother and one of his brothers, that he cannot

\ '

LONDON, 1786.

227

I answer

I not but
they pro-
,f violent
ministry,
animosity
a, by the
I Captain
nae passed
lurke, and
quin, with
ce at Cork,
I's brother,
igham, and
itercourse,
)vernment.
3ffect on a
)eating his

The Ad-
in better

(resent un-

taps, forgot
sharer in

Idshipman's
situation
ind appre-

late to his
he cannot

bear, and should pine at the idea of inaction, and
that though it takes off much of his enthusiasm
to be employed in the service of any country but
his own, "my conscience, however, is at ease.
If my own country will not employ me, I am
driven to become a citizen of the world, and the
world is my object."

Under this feeling Trevenen drew up and pre-
sented, early in February 1787, to the Russian
ambassador in London, Count Woronzow, a plan
for equipping three stout vessels in Europe, and
sending them round Cape Horn to Kamschatka.
This plan, which is of great length, is on the whole
very similar to that vhich was afterwards very
ably carried into effect by Krusenstem, and ex-
tended to the opening a commerce, not with North
America and China only, but also with the Kurile
Islands and with Japan. It is unnecessary to
enter here into its details. Count Woronzow
eagerly embraced the project, and transmitted it
to the Empress ; and Trevenen returned to Corn-
wall to await her decision. This decision did not
arrive in England till May ; but as the Ambassa-
dor had assured him that there was no doubt but
that the plan would be approved, and his offer of
his own services in carrying it into execution
gladly accepted, he thought himself precluded
from forming any interfering engagement. Other-
wise he would have gladly embraced a proposition

Q 2

228 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

;ii

made to him by Mr. Dalrymple, to take the com-
mand of the Bountyi then fitting out for the
voyage subsequently made memorable by the
gallantry of Bligh, by the very singular for-
tunes of Heywood, and by the formation of
that remarkable colony in Pitcairn's Island
which owes its origin to the mutineers. Thus,
therefore, were prepared all the future events
of that brief career which yet remained to be
run by a man who certainly would not have lived
long in any service without rising in it to high
distinction. His Cornish friends, meanwhile,
and his friend Penrose in particular, argued with
him vainly against the entering into a foreign ser-
vice, even with the pacific and commercial object
which was now proposed. They foresaw that the
entering into any such service, under any circum-
stances, might in some degree pledge him to con-
tinue in it, in case a war, and that a war not against
England, should break out ; and they felt that the
sacredness of a country's cause is indispensable to
consecrate, if not to justify, the profession of arms.
But the die was cast. Trevenen applied to the
Admiralty for leave of absence, which was granted
for a year. He left Rosewarne for London, March
22. The Empress's acceptance of his services was
notified to him about May 10; and on the first
of June he left London for Harvdch, whence he
sailed to Helvoetsluys on the following day. He

HARWICH, 1787.

229

e coni-
br the
by the
lar for-
tion of
Island
Thus,
. events
d to be
ive lived
; to high
Banwhile,
Tied with
reign ser-
iial object
that the
circum-
to con-
lot against
|t that the
snsable to
of arms.
Bd to the
1 granted
|on, March
pvices was
the first
vhence he
[day. He

was accompanied to Harwich by his eldest brother,
and his friend Ward. The following extract from
the last letter which he wrote before his de-
parture will probably be thought to have much
more in it of a foreboding of misfortune than of
cheerful hope : —

" May 2R, 1767.

" My dear Mother,

" Neither you nor any one who knows me,
will, I think, do me the injustice to suppose
that I leave England with a tranquil heart,
or that I do not feel the sacrifice I am making
^f untry and friends (though I hope but for
' jie). Nevertheless, as far as reason, hope, or
conscience, are concerned, I find myself quite
acquitted and encouraged.

" It is ridiculous and burlesque to talk of what
great things one may expect before anything is
done or experienced ; yet man will still be frail
man ; and hope, as Dr. Johnson observes, is
capable of triumphing over repeated experience ;
and without it nothing would be done ever. At
all events, I am sure of employing my time well,
and, with or witliout success, a few years more will
content me; and I shall be ready to embrace
poverty and retirement when I can resolve that
I have done my duty in this world. This is my
old argument, but as I still think it a good one,
it is not mal a propos to repeat it here, especially

230

LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

as it will help to convince and reconcile you to

my going away. I could quote something very

much to the purpose from Akenside's Pleasures

of Imagination ; but it would savour too much of

a caricatured hope, as there is yet no foundation

for a real one. My next will probably be from

Holland. Wherever I may be, I shall always be

your dutiful son,

" J. T."

The voyage was tedious, and the packet did
not reach Helvoetsluys till June 5. Trevenen
made no stay here, but set out immediately for the
Hague, where he remained till the 14th, waiting
for despatches from Count Woronzow, and for a
Russian officer who had been directed to join him
there. He reached Berlin on the 21st, and left
it again on the 22nd. His letters, both from the
Hague and from Berlin, are full of the necessity,
as he calls it, of his undertaking, and almost of
regrets at the having been led to engage in it.
But such is our constitution, that thoughts of the
importance of any end to which we have once
committed ourselves spring up readily in our
minds, and, joined with the pertinacity of all
strong natures, lead us to pursue it with a zeal
or intentness altogether incommensurate with its
real worth.

Trevenen and his companion travelled night
and day from Berlin, till, on descending a hill in

COURLAND, 1787.

231

! you to
ing very
Pleasures

much of
lundation

be from
ilways be

" J. T."

acket did
Trevenen
;ely for the
;h, waiting
, and for a
ho join him
it, and left
1 from the
necessity,
almost of
;age in it.
rhts of the
have once
lily in our
jcity of all
ith a zeal
,e vyith its

[lied night
a hill in

Courland, down which he was leading the horses,
he unfortunately became entangled in his cloak,
and was thrown down. The wheels passed over
his right foot and broke the leg. He was taken
immediately into a house into which he was very
kindly invited and received, and then carried by
some peasants to a little inn in the neighbouring
village of Tadaikin. At this inn he was left for
a time quite alone. The Russian officer, Mr.
Novikoff, who had travelled with him from the
Hague, was obliged to leave him the day after the
accident. The limb, when an ignorant surgeon
was procured to set it, was ill set, and a fever
supervened, which at length increased to a very
violent degree, and was attended by a raging pain
in the breast. These distressing symptoms were
succeeded by a delirium for five days, during which
time he never slept. But in a very few days after,
he writes, "I recover daily, and am in good
spirits : " so happy was the mould in which nature
had formed him. " My only resource," he says
at this time, in a letter to his mother, " was to
sing as long as my breath lasted, and then think
about you, build castles in the air, and then sing
again."

This was not, however, exactly his only resource,
inasmuch as he also wrote, during his long con-
finement, no very small quantity of gay con-
versational verses to his friends — verses eagerly

i!lM

{ (

! ! i

lii

•..'' 1

232 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

read by them at the time, but of which the attrac-
tion cannot be prolonged without the transference
of more of the special circumstances connected
with them, than can survive the lapse of upwards
of sixty years.

Thus lay this ardent being, " in the worst inn's
worst room," from the latter end of June to the
22nd of August. The reader will not suppose
that his good spirits and his castle-building re-
sources did not sometimes flag in this long in-
terval. " In vain," he says in a letter of the 16th
of August — " in vain do I try to amuse myself by
swinging backwards and forwards a rope that
hangs from the roof for me to raise myself by ;
in vain do I practise myself in endeavouring to
hit with it the knots in the beams and plauks above
my head ; in vain do I, my humanity lulled asleep,
and urged by ray impatience, dart it with un-
erring hand at the miserable flies who fall martyrs
to my ennui." His situation, nevertheless, bad
as it was, had improved gradually. The Russian
commandant at Mittau, who had been informed
by M. Novikoff of his misfortune, had sent an
Italian sculptor, a M. Verdel, to visit him; and
this M. Verdel procured for him from Lybau a
small supply of books, and also a Swedish servant,
who spoke German, Russian, and French, and was
very useful to him. The books were soon, as he
says, eaten up. " I own," he says, after making

I >

COURLAND, 1787-

233

e attrac-

isfereiice

onnected

upwards

orst inn's
tne to the
t suppose
ilding re-
} long in-
f the 16th
myself by
rope that
nyself by ;
vouring to
auks above
led asleep,
with un-
til martyrs
leless, bad
lie Russian
informed
,d sent an
him; and
Lybau a
ish servant,
•h, and was
soon, as he
Ler making

this complaint, " that I have still Dr. Johnson's
resource — a book of arithmetic ; and I can verify
what he says of it that it is never exhausted, and
always affords something new ; but it is too deep
for the present state of my brain : application sets
it a whirling. Story, story, story, is what I want."
Of M. Verdel, he says that " he was an agreeable
young man, and his company some relief to me
from the silence I had been condemned to before.
He being a sculptor, we talked of course of the
fine arts, or rather I gave him the opportunity of
talking of them. He complained that the Russian
nobility were poor patrons, that they had in reality
no taste for the arts, and only showed any regard
to them from ostentation. He made a remark,
which I doubt not is a good one, on the court and
nobility of Russia, that if a man did not soon rise
and make his fortune there, he should quit it as
hopeless. In despotic courts and among capricious
nobility I think this must hold good. He had
resided two years in Petersburgh, and was now
come to Courland only on the occasion of the
erection of some monument."

" In the meantime," proceeds the journal, " I
began to be visited by the people, i.e., by the
lords of the country; and first, M. de Sass, the
proprietor of these parts, came here one day with
his whole family, i.e., wife, several sons, tutor, and
servants, all on horseback. His wife was dressed

■'■III'

:l !

I r

234 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TAEVENEN.

in men's clothes, and at first I supposed her to be
his eldest son, but was soon undeceived by her
voice and manner. She talked French, and
was exceedingly civil, as well as her husband.
Their eldest son, also a youth of about sixteen,
offered me the use of his books. He had several in
the English language, which he was learning, and
accordingly he sent me Pope's Works, and the Per-
sian Tales, a very great comfort to me, for I had al-
ready read out my Lybau books." Trevenen had,
also, at this time several brief but very refreshing
visits from persons of various nations travelling to
and from Petersburgh — English merchants, Ger-
mans and Poles, some of whom offered him both
money and credit ; and one of them, Mr. Parker
of Fleet Street, offered to stay with him till his
recovery should be more confirmed. M. and
Madame de Sass came and stayed some days at
Tadaikin, and furnished him with many of the
little comforts of which he was in want. Neither
yet did the especial kindness shown to him by
this amiable family stop here. As soon as he
could be removed, they invited him to their seat
at Ilmagen, about ten miles distant ; and here
he accordingly went about August 22, and stayed
three weeks, receiving and enjoying a most kind
hospitality, for which he never ceased to be grate-
ful to the amiable friends by whom it was be-
stowed. Nor did he less endear himself to his

! i ' ,

« k

COURLAND, 1787.

236

er to be
by her
ich, and
lusband.
sixteen,
everal iu
ling, and
the Per-
I had al-
3nen had,
■efreshing
veiling to
mts, Ger-
him both
r. Parker
m till his

M. and
le days at
ly of the

Neither

him by

ion as he

their seat

and here
ind stayed

Lost kind

be grate-
was be-

slf to his

hosts, who, when they heard throe years afterwards
the tidings of his death, mourned for him six
months, erected a monument to his memory, and
called an island and a lake by his name. One of
the sons of this amiable family came a few years
afterwards to England, and it was a great regret
to the eldest Mr. Trevenen that he could not
accept an invitation to Cornwall, where a visit
from him would have been received with the
greatest and truest warmth of regard.

On leaving Ilmagen, Trevenen p'-'^cccded to
Mittau. He had not travelled above five miles
when he met a Russian officer from Petersburgh,
who informed him that four ships, which he had
before heard were fitting out at Cronstadt for the
voyage of discovery, had already sailed for England,
where they were to pass the winter. He had ex-
pected to have gone out in these ships ; and, not-
withstanding the receipt of this intelligence, still
supposed that he should be sent after them, and
that he might arrive at Petersburgh in time to sail
for England in some English vessel. At Mittau
he was received with great kindness by the Russian
ambassador. Indeed the Russian authorities seem
always to have treated him with every attention
which he could possibly expect or desire. From
Mittau he went to Riga, where he first heard
that the Turks had declared war against Russia.
He hero purchased a carriage and hired horses to

mw^

:l M

236 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

take him to Petersburgh. But the carriage broke
down rt the distance of fifteen versts from the end
of his journey ; and he was then obliged to put
himself into a sort of hay-cart, the only vehicle he
could procure. In this rude voiture he entered
Petersburgh, October 7, at two a.m.; and he re-
marks in a letter to his mother: — "So you see
nothing but misfortunes have happened to me,
from my first entering the dominions of the great
Autocratix. Whether they are to last, time will
determine." In another place he says, " An entry
by no means triumphal: what will be the sortie?"

EN.

iage broke
»m the end
red to put
vehicle he
he entered
and he re-
3o you see
tied to me,
►f the great
it, time will
, « An entry
the sortie?"

CHAPTER IV.

TO THE END OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1788.

It had now become apparent that the expedition
round the world must be delayed, in consequence
of the sudden and unexpected outbreak of the
war against Turkey. Trevenen — who called as
soon as possible on Count Besborodka, to whom
he had been recommended most particularly by
Count Woronzow, and who received and always
treated him wHh friendship and regard — had,
of course, this decision communicated to him
without delay. He was also told that it was
now expected that he would agree to serve with
the rank of second captain in the Turkish war,
and that there did not exist any precedent for
giving him a higher rank at present. He was
promised double pay ; and though this double pay
did not amount to more than 150/. sterling a year,
a sum very inadequate to keep up the position
in which he would be placed, his English friends
thought this a liberal offer. Indeed, he does not
seem to have had, at any time, reason to complain

; '111 •III.

I i

Mil

, « ■

238

LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

of any want of considerntenesB, on the part of either
the Empress herself or her ministers, in their pecu-
niary dealings with him. Special allowances and
remittances were made to him on various occasions
while in Russia, which, though not equal to his
wants, wore yet generously intended and given.
There is no need, however, here to say more on
this subject than that the expense of his journey
from England had been already paid, and that
thus another link was added to that chain which
his friends in Cornwall had forewarned him that
he would put on by entering into a foreign service.
Under these circumstances, and doubtless, also,
under the stimulating desire of active employ, he
agreed without difficulty to the proposition made
to him, though with the stipulation that he must
wait for the consent of the English Admiralty be-
fore he accepted it finally. That this consent
would be given, he supposed would be little else
than matter of course, and he wrote immediately
to London to make application for it through
Count Woronzow. On the 2nd of November
he went to Cronstadt, where he had much con-
versation with Admiral Greig and other officers,
with whom he was destined to serve after-
wards, and returned to Petersburgh on the 4th.
Admiral Greig, on coming himself a short time
afterwards to the capital, informed him that
Count Besborodka had forgotten the stipulation of

PETERSBURG, 178?.

239

of either
t)ir pecu-
ices and
occasions
al to his
id given,
more on
9 journey
and that
ain which
him that
jn service,
tless, also,
5mploy, he
tion made
,t he must
niralty be-
is consent
little else
imediately
It through
iNovember
Luch con-
ir officers,
•ve after-
the 4th.
ihort time
him that
lulation of

waiting for the consent of the English Admiralty,
and that the order for his admission into tho
Russian service was already signed ; that the
Russian Admiralty would of course send for him,
and that it would now therefore be scarcely
possible for him to avoid taking the appointment
which he would receive. Accordingly he was
appointed to the command of the Ya ilaff in
the second division of the fleet, under Admiral
Tchitchagoff. On the 26th of November ho was
presented by Admiral Siniavin to the Grand Duke,
and by the Duke to the Empress. His journal of
this date is full of anxiety and apparent regret
at having placed himself in the position in whicl
he now stood, and which he was yet unwilling to
leave; full of afTectionateness to his mother and
family, of expressions of resignation to God's will,
and of agitated reflections on the moral and intel-
lectual happiness and unhapplness of human life.
A few days after his presentation at court he re-
ceived a refusal from the English Admiralty to al-
low of his entering into a foreign service, a refusal
which was grounded on the affair of the Scheldt,
and the possibility that England might become in-
volved in the disputes to which that question gave
birth.

On receiving this most unexpected answer to
his application, it appeared to him that he had
now no other alternative but either to renounce

mmHmmmmm

r-^

240

LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

I !

' I !

the service of Russia, or to resign his English
lieutenancy. He moreover argued with himself
that the breaking out of the war with Turkey
rather pledged his honour not to leave the Russian
service at this time ; that he had but very little
expectation of advancement at home, where pro-
motion was now almost exclusively given to bo-
rough interest, or to that of powerful families;
that many of the captains under whom he had
served, and by whom, it they had lived, he might
still have been brought forward, were already dead;
and again he argued on the other hand, that a
peace would in all probability be soon concluded
with the Turks, and that the opportunity would
then revive of his proceeding in the projected ex-
pedition of northern discovery. In this view of
the case, he inclosed his lieutenant's commission
to the Secretary of the Admiralty, with a letter
of resignation, and transmitted it to his friends
in London for delivery. But it was their feeling
that a resignation under such circumstances would
rather have the appearance of being dictated by
irritation than by .the sense of propriety, and there-
fore withheld it.

The remaining part of this winter of 1787-1788,
Captain Trevenen passed at Cronstadt, and while
here devoted himself to the study of the Russian
language, in which he made himself a very toler-
able proficient. But he had worse difficulties to

CRONSTADT, 1787-1788.

241

English
1 himself
1 Turkey
e Russian
very little
(There pro-
ren to bo-
l families;
m he had
1, he might
ready dead;
md, that a
I concluded
inity would
■ojected ex-
his view of
commission
ith a letter
his friends
leir feeling
nces would
[ictated by
', and there-

L787-1788,
and while

Ithe Russian
very toler-

Ifficulties to

surmount than those of language. The officers,
over whose heads he had been promoted, bore him
an ill-will which could not be removed from minds
not far enough advanced in professional education
to appreciate their need of further improvement.
Of such in the Russian naval service at this time
there were but few; and of the difficulties imposed
on a commander, who has thus all or almost all
his subordinates in a sort of league against him,
it must be needless to speak. "A captain of a
man-of-war," Captain Trevenen says in a subse-
quent letter, " is a very different being here and
in England. Here he can do nothing whilst
within reach of the Admiralty. There a man
may rely on his officers in all cases, of whatever
moment or danger. Here he has no one to rely
on but himself, no capable lieutenants, no such
comfortable person as the master to attend to his
anchors and cables, and nobody above a boatswain's
mate to attend to his rigging. He must be all in
all himself. He must be answerable for everything,
and for every officer, even for their morals, of which
they have none ; and if any misfortune happen to
him, he has the comfortable reflection that not
only all his brother officers among the natives will
rejoice in his fall and will not fail to verify the
fable of the sick lion, but that even his own ship-
mates will join in the cry, and accuse him for
what probably only happened from their own un-

242

LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

conquerable ignorance and supineness. For my
own part I am as well off with regard to my of-
ficers as almost anybody, and my captain-lieutenant
is very much of a gentleman, having served in
England for some time, where the seeds of prin-
ciple and honour seem to have taken strong root in
his mind. He is, however, fastidious and peevish,
somewhat like myself, and does not agree with
the other officers. If I could descend to the little
policy of dividing the two parties, I might always
have one on my side ; but it is a policy I despise ;
and if I cannot carry all through the strong hand
of policy and rectitude of intention, why let all
run riot."

Again, however, on the other side, he adds that,,
" With all these disagreeable circumstances, there
are sweets in authority which I taste with gust :
there is exultation in command, and even in com-
mand in danger, that repays one's anxiety ; and in
command one may enjoy the pleasure of doing
good, and of being actively useful; in keeping
peace amongst officers, and making them know
their own true interests ; in endeavouring to dis-
tribute impartial and inflexible justice ; and in
lifting up the desponding heads of the poor mi-
serable Russian i ^cruits, who come upon a new
element from their peaceful habitations in the
depth of the wilderness to what they imagine a
certainty of death, and of living in misery till they

Ciir.NSTADT, 1787-1788.

243

For my
to my of-
iieutenant
served in
is of prin-
)ng root in
id peevish,

igree

with

o the little
ight always
I despise ;
itrong hand
why let all

adds that,,
inces, there
with gust:
|ven in com-
lety ; and in
■e of doing
in keeping
[them know
[ring to dis-
-e; and in
u poor mi-
pon a new
ions in the
imagine a
sry till they

are relieved by it. The lives of men are beyond
imagination valueless here, and deaths so common
as to excite no observation. In the sea hospitals
in the smyJl town of Cronstadt hardly less than
twenty have died in any day since the beginning
of spring ; and the rest are so dispirited that they
die from no other cause : like the Swiss soldiers,
who sing melancholily of the charms of their na-
tive mountains, and die in regretting them."

A further difficulty was also brought on Treve-
nen during his stay at Cronstadt, by the admission
of Paul Jones into the Russian navy. The action
fought by thiu doubtless gallant pirate with Capt.
Pearson, of the Seraph, during the American war,
had gained him throughout all Europe a very great
notoriety ; and Russia, glad to gain proselytes to
her navy from any quarter, caught at him eagerly.
All the English officers in the service united in
making an indignant remonstrance on this subject,
and in a declaration that they would quit the ser-
vice if he were admitted into it. Admiral Greig
appears to have promised to concur in this remon-
strance. He, however, declined to present it in
opposition to the wishes of the Grand Duke and
the Empress, and finally Trevenen seems to have
been left to act in this matter for himself. He
therefore called on the Grand Duke, with a written
declaration in his own name against the intended
appointment. This declaration he was, however,

R 2

'ii

lljlllllllli

i1 !

I:.|!

244

LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

prevailed on to withdraw, by a nearly positive assur-
ance that this adventurer should never serve either
over him or with him. For a time this affair had
seemed to him so likely to put a final stop to his
continuance in the Empress's service, that he de-
layed for some weeks the writing to his friends
in Cornwall, in expectation of having to say in
his next letter that he should be soon at home.
And he, indeed, appears to have felt a degree of
disappointment that the issue of his conference
with the Grand Duke left him a choice on the
subject. Another plea which he might have had
for leaving the Russian service at this time was
the issuing of a proclamation in England, in which
all British officers who were abroad were ordered
to return home, in expectation of a war with
France. But neither this proclamation, nor the
urgent advice of many of his English friends, his
friend Penrose in particular, that he would avail
himself of it, could induce him to forsake the
path to which he had rashly committed himself.
He was at this time in command of the Rodidaff,
of 64 guns.

The fleet sailed from Cronstadt, June 23.
There was a prevailing distrust that the war
which had broken out with Sweden would put a
sudden stop to the expedition against the Turks.
Yet still the fleet retained on board the troops,
and flat-bottomed boats, and other preparations,

BALTIC SEA, 1788.

245

for a campaign in the Mediterranean. After
leaving Cronstadt it encountered a foul wind for
ten days, and an opportunity was thus afforded
of exercising the very unpractised crews at the
great guns. On the morning of the 6th of July
the Swedish fleet was seen to leeward formed in
a good line of battle, and about 5 p.m. Admiral
Greig made the signal to bear down and engage.
Without entering into the details of the action
which followed, it may be here subjoined from
Captain Trevenen's journal, that " the first fire of
the Swedes was so brisk and effectual that the
poor boors of Siberia, who now for the first time
heard the whistling of a shot, and saw their com-
rades fall dead by their side, were quite confounded.
But being encouraged to do their duty for the
glory of Russia, and the love of the Virgin Mary,
they fell to with a continued spirit and alacrity
worthy of British veterans. Nothing could be
better, their want of knowledge excepted, and
even the most poor miserable stupid creatures
amongst them became for the time intelligent,
strong, and healthy men." The Russian fire gra-
dually improved, and that of the Swedes gradually
slackened. The loss sustained in this action was
on both sides considerable. That of the Swedes
was allowed to be 700 killed, and that of the
Russians from 400 to 500: a carnage partly
to be accounted for on the known maxim that

246 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

naval warfare is ordinarily far more deadly in the
smooth water of the Baltic than in the ocean.
The weight of the engagement, which lasted
nearly six hours, appears to have fallen on about
seven ships, of which the Rodislaff" was one, and
Trevenen himself had a narrow escape. One of
the first shots from the enemy broke his sword,
and the spying-glass which he held in his hands,
and mortally wounded a young prince Dolgorouki,
who was serving on board his ship as a volunteer,
and who, in falling, fell into his arms. After the
battle the Swedes drew off in good order, and
only four of the Russian ships then kept their
heads towards the enemy. Of these Admiral
Greig's ship was one, and the other three were
the ships commanded by Captains Dennison and
Trevenen, and Captain Molofski, whom it had
been intended to join with him in the voyage
of discovery. Captain Elphinstone's ship would
not have been behind any one of these if it had
not been disabled in the preceding engagement.
Capt. Trevenen adds further, that his crew made
frequent inquiries during the course of this action
respecting his own safety ; and, if they did not see
him for some time, would run to the quarter-deck
to ask if he was well. Finding that he was well,
they would cry — " Then all is well, fight away."
He had made the men thus his friends by treating
them with liberality, and not putting into his own

I ! I

BALTIC SEA, 1788.

247

pocket the profits which a purser may sometimes
make for himself. The captain in a Russian ship
of war is, or at that time was, the purser also.

Some days after this battle the Russian fleet re-
turned nearer to Cronstadt to meet reinforcements,
and anchored off Sackar, in the Gulf of Finland,
where it remained till July 28. It afterwards
returned to cruise off Helsingfors, and thence to
Revel, where the insignia of various orders of
merit were transmitted to seven officers who had
distinguished themselves on this occasion. Of this
number Trevenen was one, although his name and
Captain Dennison's were not included in the list
till after a spirited remonstrance by Trevenen on
being left out.

On August 13, Trevenen received orders to
proceed to Hanghoud, a port in Swedish Finland,
and to take possession of and maintain it as a
post. The object of this service was to intercept
the communications from Stockholm and the
country round the Gulf of Bothnia, particularly ;
also with the ports in Finland adjoining the seat
of war; and to block up a number of Swedish
frigates which lay at Zweermunde, and were in-
tended for the protection of the coasting trade.
By his taking this position, these frigates remained
blocked up and useless during the remainder of
the season. During this service, in which he had
three ships of the line, and several smaller vessels

! i

248

LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

!< I

I !

placed under his command, Trevenen was exceed-
ingly distressed by the brutal conduct of his un-
civilized officers and men towards the Finnish
peasantry and fishermen. No orders could be
more express or more humane than those which
had been issued by Admiral Greig, for the cultiva-
tion of a good understanding with the natives, as
he calls them, of the neighbourhood ; and this he
adds, " as it is quite agreeable to our present plan
to make them dissatisfied with the conduct and
person of their king, and give them all possible
encouragement to restore their ancient limited
form of government."* But no orders were ever
issued which appear to have been more disobeyed.
On Trevenen's first arrival on the Finland coast
he found the inhabitants well disposed towards
the Russians ; and the magistrates for forty versts
round sent to claim his protection. Even some
of the Swedish noblesse sent their peasants with
provisions for sale. But the irrepressible mis-
behaviour of the Russians soon put an end to this
sort of intercourse. Two villages were set on fire,
and Trevenen found that all his captains had
taken part in this outrage. " The savageness," he
says in a journal of this date, "of the Russian
officers and men had delighted in doing all the
mischief possible." And again : " The breaking the
windows and destroying the furniture in a larger
* See note C at the end of this volume.

COAST OF FINLAND, 1788.

249

village, about three miles off, where were some tole-
rable houses, afforded great delight, not only to the
miserable men, but also to the officers. These
were not," he concludes, " amongst those who had
behaved best in our action." By savageness is
here meant the savageness of savages, or of un-
reclaimed childishness, not national or charac-
teristic ferocity. It should be, however, added,
that he had some relief to these painful circum-
stances in having several foreign officers under
his command, Germans, English, and Dutch, with
whom he appears to have been fully satisfied.

During the course of this blockade. Captain
Trevenen made several attempts to draw the
enemy into action, or to find means of attacking
them in their ports ; but these proved unavailing.
He also made a chart of this part of the coast of
Finland ; which, though in sight of all the trade to
and from Petersburgh, had been before unsurveyed.
On August 2Q he received from a French officer
in the Swedish service a very complimentary
request that, inasmuch as a truce was about to
take place, parties from the hostile squadrons
might meet in an amicable way to dine together
on a neighbouring island. The answer sent by
Trevenen to this request makes it worth the
recording, and is as follows : —

" Permit me, Sir, to say that the expressions
you have used in my favour give me sincere

I !

iif

! lit:

! ■!

I il'i

250

LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

pleasure, as the marks of esteem from a bravo and
respectable enemy ought always to do. Dut, in the
meantime, I must add that I cannot suffer so near
me an enemy so strong as you appear to be ; and,
therefore, I must beg you to retire. I need not
make any excuse for this conduct, as all military
men understand it well.

"As soon as I hear of the truce being made, I
shall not fail to give you notice ; and it is then
that I shall have great pleasure in making your
acquaintance, and to assure you of all the esteem
and consideration with which I have the honour
to be very sincerely, &c., &c.,

A Mons. le Baron de Steydino,
'• Gapitaine de Haut Bord,
" Chevalier des Ordres," &c.

J. TREVENEN.

The concluding operations of this blockade con-
sisted in the intercepting a number of vessels
laden with provisions for Zweermunde and Helsing-
fors ; a service which, though of an obscure nature,
was conducted with great ability and success.
Soon afterwards, Trevenen was recalled by orders
from the Russian Admiral Koslinoff. He sailed,
October 14, with his squadron from Hanghoud,
and was two days on his voyage to Revel. On
the night of his arrival he heard of the death of
Admiral Greig, who, indeed, had been on his

REVEL, 1788.

251

e and
in tho
near
; and,
ad not
lilitary

aade, I
is then
ig your
esteem
honour

iNEN.

ide con-
vessels
[elsing-
nature,
[success,
orders
sailed,
ighoud,
^1. On
ieath of
on his

death-bed at the time of his recall. He probably
would not have been recalled if Greig had lived.
The instructions previously given were to retain
the station at Hanghoud to as late a period of the
season as possible ; and his recall was attributed to
the feeling of mortification in the native officers,
at seeing the command of a force which had
previously been given only to u:T"';als conferred
on a captain who was a foreigner. Greig's own
confidence in Trevenen was unbounded ; and it
appears to have been his clear intention to make
him commander of the advanced guard of his fleet.
Trevenen on his part felt an extreme and mourn-
ful regret at Admiral Greig's death, was one of
the bearers at his funeral, and, in a letter to his
friend Riou, written apparently at Petersburgh
some weeks afterwards, but which it is believed
was never sent, speaks of him in the highest terms
of eulogy ; and also speaks with great indignation
of the charges which had been made against him
as an abettor of the horrible treachery which had
been practised in 1770 at Leghorn against the
unfortunate Princess Tarrakanolf.

Captain Trevenen had not been long at Revel
when he received a letter from Count Chernichew,
minister of marines, announcing to him his promo-
tion to the rank of first captain, in consideration
of his conduct in the battle of July, and his
perseverance in guarding his post at Hanghoud.

252 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

I I

i"'!

ii'ij

This lotte'* seems to have been written before the
receipt of one which had been previously written
by Trevenen to Cliernichew, giving an account of
all the occurrences at that station, together with
his remarks on the place, its means of defence,
and other particulars. Chernichew's answer to
this letter contained an immediate summons to
Petersburgh, for the sake of conferring with him on
the subjects on which he had written. Trevenen
had also a letter at this time from London from
Count Woronzow, referring to the high estimation
in which he was held at Petersburgh ; and thus
giving him a gleam of hope of future distinction
and success, which lasted for a time. But this
hope was coupled, as he says in one of his letters,
with " the melancholy reflection that it removes
me farther from my own service, by putting within
my prospect rank and command that I could
never hope to acquire at home."

The reception which Captain Trevenen met
with at Petersburgh was highly flattering. Ho
received from the Empress jiersonally many marks
of courtesy, and was called by her her own captain,
and her gallant Englishman, and was directed to
form a plan for the naval campaign of the next
year. The plan which he consequently drew up
is chiefly occupied with suggesting measures for
fortifying Revel, which was but a weak post, and
for concentrating the Russian fleet, which was at

PETERSDURGII, 1788.

263

oro the
written
ount of
ler with
ilefence,
swcr to
mons to
li him on
^revenen
Ion from
itimation
and thus
istinction
But this
lis letters,

removes
Ing within

1 could

this time imprudently divided among the ports
of Revel, Cronstadt, and Copenhagen. The plan
then proceeds to urge the importance of blockading
the Swedes at Carlscrona, as soon as the Baltic
should be open, and of transferring the seat
of war from the Gulf of Finland to that of
Bothnia. If this could be done, the superiority of
the Russians to the Swedes in number of ships
would admit of the sending some to cruise in the
entrance of the British Channel, and of thus
intercepting the numerous and valuable foreign
merchant-ships of Sweden, wherever bound.
During a part of this winter, Trevenen had apart-
ments in the house of Count Chernichew, who
appeared to be his warm admirer and zealous
friend.

men met
ling. He
Iny marks
li captain,
rected to
I the next
drew up
isures for
post, and
\\\ was at

CHAPTER V.

FROM HT3 MARRIAGE, FEBRUARY, 1789, TO MARCH, 1790

On the 9th of February, 1789, Captain Trevenen
married Elizabeth Farquharson, daughter of John
Farquharson, Esq., of the ^rnily of the Farqu-
harsons of Invercauld in Scotland. He had seen
much of Miss Farquharson at Cronstadt the pre-
ceding winter, at the house of her brother-in-law,
Captain Dennison, and had been strongly attracted
by her. But the struggle with himself, as he says
in a subsequent letter to his mother, was very
great and long, before he could bring himself to
relinquish all the prospects with which he had
hitherto fed himself, and all the projects which
had employed his past, and were still marked out
for the occupation of his future life. Accordingly
he had left Cronstadt in the preceding June, and,
as he then supposed, for the distant station of the
Mediterranean, without disclosing his passion.
His detention in the Baltic brought him back, as
has been seen, the following winter to Petersburg!!,
and he then declared himself, and was accepted.
The happiness of this union appears to have been

PETERSBURGH, 1789.

255

as perfect during its brief continuance as anything
intense can possibly be ; and there are still some
few persons living who recognise the justice of a
delineation drawn long afterwards by Sir Charles
Penrose, of both husband and wife : " They appear
to have been the masculine and feminine repre-
sentations of the same moral character, actuated
by the same sense of dignified propriety, spuming
with the same detestation every abasement of
thought or action, and glowing with the same
emulation of excellence." *

This happy marriage altered, as must naturally
be anticipated, all Captain Trevenen's views of the
future. Both he himself, apparently, and certainly
his friends, now hoped that as soon as the Russian
war should be over, he would settle with his wife
in some quiet retirement in England, probably in
Cornwall. " It seems to me," he says of him-

* Mrs. James Trevenen, with her daughter, came to Eng-
land soon after her husband's death, and lived for many
years almost entirely amongst his nearest relations : first
at Helston, with his mother. She afterwards lived at Con-
stantine, in the immediate neighbourhood of Carwethenack,
where the Rev. John Penrose (See note B, p. 153) then re-
sided ; and she afterwards removed to a cottage at Fenton,
near Gainsborough, not far from Fledborough. Her daughter,
Elizabeth Farquharson, died unmarried at Exeter in 1823.
Mrs. James Trevenen married secondly, Thomas Bowdler,
Esq., whom she survived, and died at Bath at an advanced
age, December 10, 1845.

256 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

Ill i

r I

self at this time in one of his letters, "that the
hodge-podge of my life is now about to take some
sort of consistence. On being married," he adds,
*' I began immediately to sigh after old England.
For myself it was of little consequence where I
lived. But for a family, whatever may be the
case with the first English mastiff transported into
a foreign country, his descendants at least are sure
of dwindling into curs ; and there are instances
enough of it here to make me dread the pros-
pect."

But to return to the narrative. The first move-
ment of the Russian navy in 1789 was the sailing
of a detachment under Captain Trevenen, April
28, to reconnoitre his former post at Hanghoud.
It was found that the Swedes had become sensible
of its importance, and that during the winter they
had erected five batteries for its defence*. He

* While on this service Captain Trevenen received the
subjoined letter from the wife of a Lieutenant Crown, an
Englishman in the Russian service : — " We were sent from
the fleet on the 28th of April to reconnoitre Carlscrona.
With much difficulty in getting through the ice we arrived
on our station, the 8th instant, and observed in Carlscrona
fifteen sail of pendants. The 14th we were chased by two
frigates and a cutter; and, indeed, so we have been ever
since ; but, from foggy weather, have lost sight of them for
a day or two. Yesterday, in endeavouring to regain our sta-
tion, we met them again, and were obliged to put in here.
On the 11th we captured a cutter, mounting twelve guns;
and were so fortunate as to receive no damage but having

REVEL, 1789.

257

, the
some
adds,
;laiid.
ere I
e the
d into
e sure
tances
! pros-

move-
sailing
, April
ighoud.
sensible
|er they
He

lived the
•own, an
lent from
irlscrona.
arrived
rlscrona
by two
|een ever
em for
our sta-
in here,
e guns;
it having

returned to Revel May 15. He was now under the
command of Admiral Tchitchagoff, and in one of
his letters of this date he expresses with his usual
energy his low opinion of this most incompetent
commander. In another letter he speaks as follows
of the manning of the fleet: — "The Cronstadt fleet
arrived here on the 26th of last month, happily;
but in such distress for the want of good sailors,
that it is found necessary to make a division of
those we had the trouble of teaching last year.
My only reason for keeping my old ship, or rather
for not asking for another, which I had a great
right to do, arose from my desire to keep the
people whom I knew and who knew me, and
who had been already in action. So that when
they take my people, I shall beg them to take
my ship too ; for the promotions among the sea-
men last year, and the battle, have already taken
away most of the old and good seamen I had.
Heaven send us fine weather."

On the 22nd of April, in this year. Count
Woronzow writes to Capt. Trevenen as follows: —

****** " It is with a true satisfaction
that I hear from all my friends and relations

some of our rigging shot away. I am of opinion that some
very heavy blows will be struck this campaign. God pre-
serve you, and all our friends in this service.

" I am, your most obedient humble Servant,

" Maktha Ckuwn."

258 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

that your merit becomes more and more known,
that lier Imperial Majesty knows it, and surely
will employ and recompense it. There remains
nothing on your part, permit me to say, but a
little patience to overcome certain unpleasant
circumstances inseparable from all situations, but
particularly in a foreign service, where envy gene-
rally attaches itself where emulation should arise ;
but with perseverance you will triumph over these
obstacles. It is not to flatter you, sir, that I as-
sure you that a brilliant career is open to you,
which you may pursue almost without a rival.
Your merit assur*^s you the situation of Admiral
Greig, of that man who will be immortalized in
Russia. You will one day replace him, and you
will replace him worthily, and will partake of his
glory. Think, sir, when you feel any disgusts,
what great things you may do, being sure of
the support of all which is estimable among us.
I sincerely wish you a brilliant fortune, and it
would be with pain that I should see it in
danger.

" Without criticising the British navy, you will
observe, upon reflection, that it is not without
its unpleasant circumstances. A change of ad-
ministration often confounds the most favourable
hopes, and suffers the most eminent merit to re-
main in perfect inactivity.

" When you did me the honour to write to me.

REVEL, 1789.

259

nown,

surely

smains
but a

leasant

ns, but

f gene-

l arise ;

jr these

at I as-

to you,

a rival.

Admiral

lized in

and you

:e of his
[isgusts,
sure of
cng us.
and it
le it in

^ou will

I without

of ad-

iTOurable

It to re-

to me,

you were full of ideas which promised you an un-
pleasant campaign. Now (and I am in earnest in
congratulating you) that you are become a happy
husband, probably you will see matters through a
less unfavourable medium. I heard of your mar-
riage with the daughter of one of my oldest friends,
for whom I have a great esteem, with sincere plea-
sure, and I wish you all imaginable happiness.
I will not conclude without recalling to your re-
collection my brother-in-law, Siniavin, and r- -com-
mending him to your friendship. You will oblige
me on your part by furnishing me with occasions
to prove my attachment, &c., &c.

" J. C. WORONZOW."

Something of a reverse of this hopeful pic-
ture may be contemplated in the following letter
from Trevenen himself to his mother, of the date
apparently of June 26 : —

" My dear Mother,

" These new prospects of a family bring always
with them new cares, as well as new pleasures,
and oblige me to think very seriousl;y on economy.
Unluckily in this country there is very little money,
and officers are obliged to be contented for their
services with rank and honour. What little we
receive is paid in paper, which bears a discount of
20 per cent, against specie, and even that is debased.

s 2

260 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

U*:

■I

Owing to this debasement everytliing is excessively
dear, much more so than in England (except, in-
deed, meat); so that I have never been able to
save any money in this country, although last year
the profits of my ship, with my pay, amounted to
about 400/. * * * As a single man I cared
not for money ; and having last year a command
above my rank, my expenses also were above it.
Now, I shall be more economical : and it will be
more necessary, as my gains will not be like those
of last year; for our present commander, having
no military merit, is resolved to make up for it by
the civil one of economy, and his chief care is to
cut off from his captains all the advantages they
enjoyed under Admiral Greig ; so that at the
instant my expenses increase my gains diminish.
My mother, I will not stay in this country to
ruin myself. I am likely to tell the same story
as Gil Bias to his patron : ' Whilst I am over-
whelmed with goodness, I have nothing to eat.' "
[.Aiid to the same effect afterwards, in October,
on tl>e loss of the Rodishff. " As to money
matters, my command, so far from being ad-
vantageous, puts me, on the contrary, to a great
expense f r my table, without a farthing's gain,
which, joined to the lo^s of my ship's furniture,
has almost ruined me, as we are not this year,
as last, pursers of our ships. My pay will now
scarce amount to 200/. For this I have com-

REVEL, 1789.

261

J »

manded a squadron of twenty-five vessels and
land troops, and rendered mickle service, I have
been commodore and captain of my own ship,
and pilot in a new and dangerous navigation,
without any one of the aids which usually ac-
company commanders. I am a stranger, and yet
imperfect in the language, and I have had my
equals in rank to command, natives of the coun-
try, particularly jealous of foreigners. But whe-
ther rewarded or not, whilst I have my health,
my limbs, and my wife, I care for nothing."
This passage is not either a bad or an unfair
exemplification of the rule, that the public ser-
vice is ordinarily a very expensive luxury in which
to indulge.] It should, however, be added, that
Capt. Trevenen mentions in his journal, that many
very considerate presents were made him by the
Empress on various occasions.

The fleet sailed either on the last day of June
or early in July, and with the view of forming a
junction with the squadron under the command
of Koslinoff, which had wintered at Copenhagen.
On the 14th of July, before the intended junction
could take place, the Swedish fleet made its ap-
pearance to windward, and preparations were made
for battle on both sides. A series of manoeuvres,
and something of a partial action, followed, in
which the crew of the Rodislaff discharged some
vain broadsides before their captain could check

f ff'll I ■

J ,

262 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

them, and while the enemy was yet at too great
a distance to be reached by the shot. The two
fleets continued in sight of each other nearly a
week, and engaged at times, but without any de-
cisive result, though Captain Molofski was killed.
Admiral TchitchagofF, after forming a junction
with the Copenhagen squadron, remained off
Carlscrona some days, and then returned to Revel.
August 16, orders arrived to put seven ships of
the line and three frigates under the command of
Captain Trevenen for detached service, together
with instructions to attack and possess himself of
his former station at Hanghoud, and to proceed
thence to Barasound, where he was directed to
take and destroy the Swedish gun-boats in that
port, and on other services. Four ships of the
line and a number of smaller vessels, amounting in
all to twenty-five, were eventually put under his
command for this service, but many difficulties
occurred in the fitting them out. Of these dif-
ficulties the greater part were occasioned, as
was supposed, by the errors or clumsiness of
Tchitchagoff, who seems to have been possessed
by the faculty of doing everything wrong, and
whose dislike of foreigners amounted to antipathy.
At length, when the preparations seem to have
been nearly complete, news arrived that an at-
tack was meditated by the Swedes on the port
of Portkala-lidd, where a small Russian squadron

COAST OF FINLAND, 1789.

2G3

"was stationed. Tchitchagoff, on receiving this
intelligence, detached Trevenen to support or re-
lieve it, which he accordiu^iy did. He was at
no time, perhaps, engaged in a service of greater
difficulty. All the operations were necessarily
carried on inside those innumerable little rocks
and islets which are scattered along the broken
coast of Finland. Descents were to be made on
the Swedish coast, and yet there was not in the
squadron a Swedish interpreter. Signals were to
be made and orders issued, and yet the commander
had neither secretary nor signal officer who could
speak either English or French ; and though all
these things had been represented to Tchitchagoff,
it was without effect.

Capt. Trevenen remained in the neighbourhood
of Portkala-hdd till the beginning of September.
On the 5th of that month he proceeded to the at-
tack of Barasound, a place which was the key of
the Skerries, small islands and rocks, on the inside
of which the Swedes could navigate in safety from
the enemy's cruisers, but through channels which
here converged to one point and were commanded
by it. Off this place Captain Trevenen anchored
the same evening at about three versts from the
batteries. The attack was at first intended for
the night of September 6 ; but this intention
was frustrated by a strong gale at S.E.,
which brought on so heavy a sea that it was

264 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

.'■1 I

judged unadvisable to disembark the troops on
an unknown and rocky coast in such a '^ight.
On the next day the attack was made with great
vigour ; and, after an action of an hour and a half,
proved completely successful, though with the loss
of one of the line-of-battle ships, the Savernoi Orel,
of 6Q gnns, which struck on a sharp sunken rock,
and could not be got off. It was a good fortune
which could scarcely have been expected, that
more mischief of this kind was not done. There
were no surveys, and many more rocks were after-
wards found, which had escaped the most diligent
search. The rocks on this coast rise to a sharp
and steep point, and this in the midst of the best
anchorages, so that the lead may search for them
in vain.

The news of this success was received at
Petersburg!! with great satisfaction ; and Count
Besborodka, in his acknowledgment of the com-
modore's despatches, intimates that it was the
Empress's intention to add three more ships of
the line, besides frigates and other vessels, to his
force in the next season.

After another very gallant and obstinately-
contested attack on a neighbouring island, the
lateness of the season at length compelled Capt.
Trevenen to withdraw his squadron, and to pro-
ceed to Revel with the first favourable wind.
He passed with safety the thirty leagues of intri-

\ >

REVEL, 1789.

265

roops on
a ''•sght.
^ith great
ad a half,
ti the loss
rnoi Orel,
ken rock,
d fortune
3ted, that
a. There
i^ere after-
st diligent
;o a sharp
if the best
a for them

iceived at

ind Count

the com-

was the

ships of

lels, to his

astinately-
Wand, the
lied Capt.
[d to pro-
Die wind,
of intri-

cate navigation wliich lay between the dangerous
channels in which he had been employed, and
the open gulf, and thought himself returning tri-
umphant. But in the very entrance of the port of
Revel, on October 16, his pilot mistook his marks,
and ran the ship on a bank. Several other ships
of the squadron also stuck fast. All these were
got off, but the Modiilaff' remained edifice ; the
wind increased, and she quickly filit d and broke.
" The weather," says Trevenen, " was very cold,
and the wind blew hard, and we were nearly in
the open sea ; yet we worked hard four days, and
got out all her guns and nearly all her stores;
but the wind afterwards increased to a storm,
and knocked her to pieces."* He then ex-
presses his feelings of disappointment on this
occasion, in a letter to his mother, as follows: —
" You must know, my dear mother, that in this
country it is a terrible thing to lose a ship,
and one cannot justify one's self as in England.
No man is here permitted to be unfortunate, so
that I do not know how this may be taken in
Petersburgh. This I know, that if they offer me
the least affront, I quit instantly their service ;
and in so doing shall, I fancy, comply with the
wishes of my mother and my wife, as well as all
my friends. It is true that the idea of having

* See note D at the end of the volume.

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266

LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

raised myself to the rank of rear-admiral, which
I might almost have expected before the age of
thirty, and without the assistance of any soul on
earth, now and then flattered my ambition a little.
But I have always kept such a strict rein on my
imagination, that I never permitted myself to
build on such a sandy foundation any loftier ideas
than those proper to an English lieutenant."

In the subsequent court-martial, held for the
loss of the ship, an attempt was made by the first
lieutenant and pilots to throw the blame on the
captain. The following sample (and it is a very
fair and characteristic sample) of Trevenen's de-
fence, both shows sufficiently the futility of this
charge, and adds another to the illustrations al-
ready given of the wretched state of the Russian
navy at this time. " If I have the charge of the
ship, why have steersmen ? If I have to depend
on their knowledge, how am / answerable for the
consequences? or if I am not to depend on their
knowledge, why have I them? Whatever their
use, I never conceived myself to have the charge of
the ship in pilot water ; nor can I, or shall I, ever
conceive it consistent that, having two steersmen
—officers whose duty it is to know the place and
its appearances — the ship can be supposed to
depend upon one who has never seen the place.
Had I had no pilots, the ship had been safe."

These contemptuous observations, made by

t »

CRONSTADT, 1790.

267

for the

their

irge of

[, ever

jrsmen

;e and

sed to

place.

le by

Trevenen in 1790, must certainly not be inter-
preted into any reflection on the later state and
conduct of the Russian marine. There is pro-
bably no service in which, since the time here
spoken of, greater or more rapid improvement has
taken place. During the last war with France,
many very good English seamen spoke of the
Russian ships in the Mediterranean as extremely
well managed ; and many of their officers served
in the British navy as volunteers, with high cha-
racter and ability. The result of the court-martial
was entirely to acquit the captain and captain-
lieutenant, and to adjudge the pilots to lose rank,
and the first-lieutenant to lose promotion, for a
year.

This court-martial was held at Cronstadt in
the middle of January, 1790 ; but it appears that
the sentence could not have been issued till the
end of March. Captain Trevenen had been in
the meantime appointed to the command of the
Natron Menea, a ship, it is believed, of the same
force with the Rodislaff. In an interview with
Count Chernichew, March 21, Trevenen told him
that he could not think of fitting out another ship
while the court-martial was sitting; and in this
interview he moreover avowed a total indifference
for the Russian service, in which he said that he
saw nothing but toil, misery, and envy, and added
that lie only wished to quit the service in peace.

268 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TEEVENEN.

A feeling of disappointment at not having been
promoted, at the end of the preceding campaign,
to a higher rank, was doubtless at the root of all
this poignant expression. Both he himself, and
the personal friends whom he had made in Russia,
thought that both the services which he had al-
ready rendered on the Swedish coast — which, if
not brilliant, were very arduous — and the mag-
nitude of the force which had been destined for
him in the ensuing campaign, had fiilly entitled
him to the advancement to which he had looked.
If the voyage of discovery, in contemplation of
which he had come to Russia, had been carried
into effect, the command so intrusted to him
would have given him a charge equal to that
usually given to a rear-admiral ; and they
thought that this consideration also would have
tended to reconcile every candid mind to his
promotion. But the present of a gold sword
from the Empress was the only recompense of
his past services which he obtained. On the
announcement of the result of the court-martial,
he assumed the command of the Natron Menea;
and he appears to have supposed for a time that,
as soon as the season for naval operations in the
Baltic should begin, he would be put at the head
of the squadron which had been promised to him.

':!'•• f- r \— - '--, ::'■!••' i J ^- ,

CHAPTER VI.

FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF NAVAL OPERATIONS IN
MAY, 1790, TO HIS DEATH.

The Russian fleet was at this time divided
into two parts, of which the one part, under
Tchitchagoff, was laid up at Revel, and the other
part, under Admiral Kruze, at Cronstadt. The
Natron Menea was in this second division, which
consisted of eighteen or twenty ships of the line.
The Swedes had the power of commencing
operations, and the campaign opened by a daring
though irregular attack made by them on the
Revel squadron, in the hope or expectation of
destroying it before a junction could be effected
with the Cronstadt portion of the fleet. One con-
sequence of this unexpected attack was to put
aside all thoughts of the separate command which
it had been intended to confer on Captain Tre-
venen. He had anticipated the probability of
such an attack being made, and had pointed out
the importance of guarding against it; but
Tchitchagoff had taken his measures so ill, that

270 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

if the Duke of Sudermania, who commanded the
Swedes, had possessed a tolerable degree of nau-
tical skill, he might have made a serious im-
pression. The Duke, however, on his part, was
precipitate, and consequently received a check,
and retreated with the loss of one line-of-battle
ship. He then sailed with all expedition up the
Gulf of Finland, and appeared off Cronstadt be-
fore the fleet under Admiral Kruze was well
under weigh.

Trevenen was at this moment at Petersburgh.
He had suffered severely from a return of the
pain in his breast, and was compelled to nurse
himself carefully. Before he could reach Cron-
stadt his ship seems to have left the port, but he
quickly followed in a yacht, and joined in good
time.

On May 23, the fleet of the enemy was seen at
no great distance. Kruze, who had served seven
years iii the British navy, and was an officer of
great merit and high character, gallantly re-
solved on an immediate attack, although the
Swedes had twenty-two ships of the line and eight
large frigates, whilst his own force amounted to
only sixteen sail of the line and nine frigates. An
action followed, in which the Swedes were totally
defeated, but, through the backwardness or un-
skilfulness of some of the Russian captains, the
blow was not followed up. This ignorance or

COAST OF FINLAND, 1790.

271

i the
nau-
I im-
■j, was
ibeck,
battle
ip the
it be-
} well

burgh.

of the
nurse
Cron-

but he

1 good

seen at
I seven
icer of
;ly re-
;h the
|d eight
ited to
An
totally

ir un-
[ns, the

ice or

hesitation gave confidence to the beaten enemy,
who, taking advantage of a change of wind, made
an indecisive attack on the Russians in the after-
noon of the same day, and another on the day
following, but with no better success. Tchiteha-
gofF and the Revel fleet were now near at hand.
The Swedes, therefore, to avoid the risk of being
placed between the two fleets, rashly took shelter
in Wyburgh Bay, in Russian Finland, although
this bay was on a coast wholly in possession of
Russian troops, where no supplies could be ob-
tained, and whence escape was impossible, if the
Russian commander, after the junction of the
whole force, had acted with common prudence or
spirit. " Thus the Swedes," says Trevenen, in a
letter to Mr. Farquharson, " by favour of a fog
and calm which succeeded, and the assistance of
their flotilla, were permitted to retire towards
Wyburg, where we followed them as slowly as
you please, but with so little other necessary pre-
caution, that, in the finest weather in the world,
two of our ships grounded, and it required six
hours of the same fine weather to get them off
again. Thank God, the fine weather did last
long enough.

" Were I to dwell upon every folly we have
committed, or rather every necessary thing we
have left undone, since we came here, I should
never have done. It is much more agreeable to

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272 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

praise than to blame. Admiral Knize showed
much resolution, coolness, and intrepidity, in the
conduct of his fleet, which was rendered the more
difficult to him by his having been unprepared
with the necessary signals, and therefore obliged
to deliver out many of his orders by sending boats.
Were he to command a fleet again, I should much
like to be his signal captain, in which place I
think I could be more useful than as commander
of a single ship, that department having been ex-
ceedingly defective with him.

" I have written to both Counts (Besborodka,
and Chernichew), but much more particularly
to Besborodka, and have told him everything
we have to do ; I have asserted the certainty of
our destroying the Swedes by a proper mode of
attack, which I have offered to project and carry
into execution, as soon as we are brought near
enough to reconnoitre the enemy's situation more
particularly. I should be quite sure of succeed-
ing if I were seconded. But it cannot be. They
cannot give me the command, nor would old
Tchitchagoff consent to be taught what he does
not know. Because he beat the Swedes at anchor,
he imagines every fleet at anchor to be invincible;
whereas, unless both wings are so secured as not
to be attacked separately, such a position is good
for nothing. Now, I only require the assistance
of our galley fleet to keep theirs employed, and a

COAST OF FINLAND, 1790.

273

battery upon the land to keep that wing of the
Swedes which extends to it at a distance, and then,
besides sending different machines to carry fire and
confusion amongst them, I would fall upon that
wing with a much superior force, and should have
no doubt of beating it ; after which the rest
would fall of course. Of the certainty of this
plan I am fiilly convinced, and that it would be
attended with little loss."

It is almost needless to add that all this plan
came to nothing. It was Tchitchagoff's calcu-
lation that want of supplies would soon compel
the Swedes to attempt to force their way out of
the bay, and that he would then be able to act
with more advantage than by attacking them in
their station ; and indeed all the Russian officers
appear at this time to have thought themselves
sure of their prey. The fleet therefore anchored,
but occasionally got under sail, and approached
the enemy, as proper passages could be found
among the rocks and shoals. In the meantime
Captain Trevenen's services in the engagement of
May 23, and on the following days, had obtained
for him from the Empress the knighthood of the
3rd order of St. Vladimir, and he had also the satis-
faction of seeing his captain — Lieutenant Aikin,
advanced to the rank of second captain. All these
actions were fought so near Cronstadt that the
guns were distinctly heard at that place, and even

274 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

at Petersburgh. During almost the whole, how-
ever, of this period, and to the very day of the
fatal engagement of June 22, Trevenen himself
had been very ill. He says in his private journal
of the date of May 24, '* This is a cruel situation,
so ill and weak as I am, to be obliged night and
day to attend to the duty of my ship, and in such
an anxious moment as the present, when we are
before the enemy, who now seem bearing down to
attack us. My head aches and my blood is hot, and
it seems to me that it is only by absolute starva-
tion that I preserve myself from a fever and sore
throat. At another time I might trust to my
officers. In the present I must see everything
with my own eyes." On May 26, he was obliged,
by a sore throat and fever, to take to his bed.
June 7, he writes as follows : " My sore throat
attacked me again immediately after 6ur junction
with the Revel fleet, a natural consequence of the
fatigues I had undergone, never having taken off
my clothes from Petersburgh till we came to an
anchor off Galley. I had a great mind to return
to Petersburgh to get cured, but the desire of
seeing this affair brought to an end detained me
here from day to day. At last I got better again."
He then enters in his journal into a detail of the
great incapacity shown in the management of
both fleets, and adds, speaking of the Swedes,
" Surely they can never escape from us." He

COAST OF FINLAND, 1790.

275

how-

F the

mself

urnal

ation,

it and

I such

re are

»wn to

)t, and

starva-

id sore

to my

rything

)bliged,

lis bed.
throat

unction
of the

iken otf
to an
return
esire of
ned me
again."
of the
ent of
[Swedes,
He

says afterwards that his ship was jjlaced under
Admiral Pouliskin who had been ordered to block
up the north-west passage into the bay, and was to
be the leading ship. On the 13th, ho writes as fol-
lows : " Pouliskin made the signal for all captains:
Not being able to go myself, I sent my second
captain, Aikin, who assisted at a council called to
consider the propriety of attacking the enemy on
this side. The council decided that the measure
was unadvisable in itself, and impracticable in the
manner which Admiral Tchitchagoff' had proposed.
I could not be of the council, but, as soon as I
understood the purport of it, I sent my opinion in
writing, agreeing with the opinions of the council,
with my reasons for so doing, recommending and
offering to lead an attack on the other side, i. e.,
in the large passage, where the enemy could be
attacked with greater advantage, as we might
fall with a great force upon a small part of his,
only taking the necessary measures. Admiral
Pouliskin sent me back his thanks for my com-
munication, saying, he looked upon it to be so
right, and of so much consequence, that he should
send it immediately to Admiral Tchitchagoff."
Afterwards, in an interview with Pouliskin on the
16th, Trevenen recommended strongly the forti-
fying Rond Island and Kriescrost, which appears
to have been one of the measures before alluded
to ; but nothing was done. The last entry in his

T 2

270 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

( (

jonnml is of the date of a quarter past seven on
the morning of the 2l9t, and is as follows : ** The
Swedes, after a night battle with our galley fleet,
all getting under weigh, with an apparent intention
to force their way out. Indeed, pressed as they
are for provisions, they have now nothing else to
do, and I have no doubt of their taking the
present opportunity. It will be now seen that
my advice should have been taken of fortifying
the island Rond."

But to proceed with the relation. On June
22, about six in the morning, the Swedes began
to show a determination to force a passage out of
the bay, the Duke of Sudermania being at length
driven by necessity to take this vigorous measure.
Admiral Pouliskin, with a division of five ships, had
the charge of defending the passage, which is
rendered very narrow by a bank which lay be-
tween the two fleets. The Natron Menea was
the advanced ship of this division, which appears
to have been judiciously placed. The wind was
north-east, right out of the bay. As the Swedish
ships got under weigh, they formed a line of
battle. They were led in the most gallant manner
by Admiral Modee, and received with steadiness
the fire of the Russians, each ship pressing sail
as soon as she had passed the advanced squadron.
The Natron Menea had of course, from her situa-
tion, to bear the first and hottest fire of the whole

COAST OF FINLAND, 170O.

277

Swedish lino, niul liad returned it with vigour;
when about ten o'clock, the wind freshening and
coming more to the eastward, the second-captain,
Aikin, who commanded the guns below, found a
change of position necessary, and came on deck
to speak to Captain Trovenen on the subject.
The change was made, and almost immediately
afterwards Trevenen, still accompanied by Aikin,
advanced to the forepart of the quarter-deck to
give other orders. At this instant, a fatal shot,
which from its descending direction was ap-
parently almost spent, first took off the head of
one of the quarter-masters, then stripped the flesh
of Trevenen's thigh from the hip bone half way
down, and afterwards struck off Capt. Aikin's foot.
The confusion which followed amongst the crew
can scarcely be described. The men perceiving
the fall of their commander, whom they loved for
his goodness to them as much as they admired
him for his gallantry, made a general exclamation
of grief, and were crowding round him. He as-
sured them that the wound was of no consequence,
reassumed his sword, which he had let fall, and
causing himself to be covered with his cloak,
where he lay upon deck, encouraged his men,
and said that he would continue to command
them. The loss of blood, however, soon obliged
him to be taken below. Unfortunately there was
no surgeon on board, the surgeon of this ship

278 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

being now, in his turn of duty, in charge of the
sick who were lodged in some tents which had
been pitched on shore. Consequently both Tre-
venen and Capt. Aikin remained, as it appears,
for some time without assistance. There is no
reason, however, to think that any assistance could
have been effectual. He had a large key in a side
breeches pocket which was struck by the shot,
and considerably extended the wound and mangled
the flesh, and Capt. Aikin says in a letter to Sir
Charles Penrose, that " from every report of the
faculty, the cavity was too large for any human
means to save his life." The surgeon seems to
have come on board about two or three hours
after the wound was received ; and is supposed to
have evinced by his manner that he dreaded the
consequences ; and Trevenen then wrote a few
lines to his wife, which he intrusted to the care
of M. Otto de Sass, who was among the friends
who attended on him. This young man was the
son of the Baron de Sass to whose friendly atten-
tions Trevenen had been so much indebted during
his long detention in Courland three years before.
On the following day Capt. Dennison had an
opportunity of visiting his friend, and left with
him his own surgeon, Mr. Macdougall. On this
day Admiral Pouliskiii also called on him, and
promised that the ship should be immediately
ordered for Cronstadt, where he might receive

*«

COAST OF FINLAND, 1790.

279

receive

every aid, if aid were possible, to his recovery, and
where he might at the least die in the midst of
his friends, and perhaps be able to take a last
farewell of his wife and child. But this promise
was not kept, though there was not the least ex-
cuse to be made for not keeping it. His friends
and attendants who saw how much he was
chagrined, and indeed at times irritated, at the
delay of the order, endeavoured at last to per-
suade him that it had arrived, and that the ship
was under sail for the desired port. He then
ordered a compass to be brought to him, and
found that he was deceived. From almost the
moment at which he received his wound he did
not flatter himself with the hope of recovery, and
often assured his attendants that he had none.

Great, however, as this disappointment was, it
only clouded his mind at transient intervals.
The bystanders declared that nothing could ex-
ceed the general serenity and magnanimity with
which he supported his sufferings and the im-
minent approach of his last hour. During this
trying period, he frequently begged the most
affectionate farewell to be conveyed to his wife ;
and urged his young friends De Sass and Zeddle-
man (this Mr. Zeddleman was a nephew of Mr.
Farquharson) to pursue through life a steady
course of virtue and religion, as the way to meet
its end with composure.

280

LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

In this state Capt. Trevenen lingered, not in
very severe pain, but gradually becoming weaker,
till June 28, when he expired at 6 a.m., in the
presence of De Sass, Zeddleman, and Macdougall.
His senses continued perfect to the last, and his
last words, spoken about five minutes before his
death, were, " my dear, my dear."

Thus ended the short though active life of
James Trevenen. Immediately after his death
his body was embalmed, and a few days after-
wards the Topaslowe frigate was ordered to take
the corpse, together with Capt. Aikin, M. de Sass,
and Mr. Zeddleman, to Cronstadt. On the 4th
of July, the body was interred with all military
honours in the British bur^mg-ground at Cronstadt.
The solemn ceremony was attended by several
admirals, and all the military of high rank, by his
father-in-law, Mr. Farquharson — who, by a rare
instance of misfortune, had to lament at this time
the death of his other son-in-law, Brigadier Denni-
son, who, in a desperate action with the Swedish
frigates and galleys, had been shot through the
head on the very day of Trevenen's death-^and
by many other sorrowing friends.

Sir Charles Penrose, in concluding the memoir
of his dear friend from which the preceding sum-
mary of his life has been extracted, says, " that

CONCLUSION.

281

though the lapse of years has smoothed over the
traces of the various events, time cannot abate
the warmth of a friendship which began in
earliest youth, and which will not fade till the last
solemn hour shall arrive, which shall again restore
him to his friend." He then adds that he cannot
lay down his pen without expressing it as his
opinion that few men ever possessed more entirely
those various talents and dispositions which are
calculated both to render a man beloved in private
life, and esteemed and admired by the world.
" He was firm and resolute in his actions, clear
and perspicuous in his ideas and expressions ; his
mind was of the finest texture, but his heart the
most affectionate and kind, and his feelings ten-
derly alive to the gentlest impressions." " Wolfe
and Nelson," he concludes, " have frequently oc-
curred to me in writing of him. Like them he
not only was wise and brave, but like them also
was ardently beloved and admired by those under
his command. What Cowper beautifully says of
Wolfe, we may justly apply to the other two.

'Wolfe, whene'er he fought,
Put so much of his heart into his act,
That all were swift to follow whom all loved.' "

lemoir
|ig sum-
that

That this very same impression of Capt. Tre-
venen's character was the impression made by it

282 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

in Russia was strikingly evidenced to his sister,
Lady Penrose, even so lately as the year 1818.

She says, in a letter to her sister of that date
from Malta, " We had an evening visit from Mr.
and Mrs. Morewood. He (Mr. Morewood) left
Petersburgh in 1790, under impressions vv^hich he
should never lose. He said that our poor brother's
character inspired every one with enthusiasm, and
that if he had lived, he must have been the first
man of his age — -generally grave, but when he
smiled no one could forget it."

The following letter from Trevenen himself
to his wife has in it tones which are almost too
sacred for the press. But it was written almost
immediately before the engagement in which he
was killed, and, though by what means is not
known, found its way into one of the newspapers
of the time.

" June 21, 1790, on the Swedish Coast.

" My DEAR Wife,
" If ever you receive this, most probably I shall
be no more. To-morrow it is likely we shall
again meet the enemy, and as the event of every-
thing here is uncertain, I dispose of an hour to
this purpose rather than that of rest, though that
is, from the want of it, become a very necessary
thing. In affairs of so important a nature we

CONCLUSION.

283

must despise all inferior considerations. I shud-
der, my beloved, when I reflect on your situation,
should anything befall me. God of heaven guard
thee ! I have thought that in such a ease, a
posthumous letter of mine would be of more
effect to assuage the tempest of your mind thaii
anything else in the world. Therefore, no less
as a duty of humanity than as a friend of your
peace, I beg you to hear me a few moments with
calmness.

" I figure to myself the thousand various ideas
that have crowded in confusion on your mind, on
hearing of my fate. You have represented to
yourself the happiness we might have enjoyed if
we had retired to live happily in the country in
poverty. You have imagined that if you had
pressed me you might have prevailed, and that
from the want only of a little perseverance you
have lost all your earthly happiness. No such
thing, my love. God has ordained it otherwise,
and it was not possible for you to alter his decrees ;
therefore upbraid not yourself; let my words be
engraven on your memory, let them make a deep
impression on your heart, for they are those of
reason cited at the tribunal of death, to declare
the truth of nature and God's providence.

" I have often, since our marriage, reflected on
the happiness of my situation, and that it was in
my power, by quitting the service, to make it

/ ^

284 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

durable and secure, but found it otherwise. Pomp
and honours I could easily have despised, but the
opinion of the world I could not so easily waive ;
and that made me recollect that God has given
us evil and good, and He having mixed them
together in the cup, it is in vain for us to pretend
to separate the one from the other, and enjoy in
this world a state He has only destined for another.
It is there I shall await for it with you.

" It is in vain for us to speculate too much on
possible cases. Heaven only knows whether, if
we had adopted our plan of retirement, the evil
genius that hangs over this world might not have
spoiled those pleasures we had fancied, by dis-
contents arising from speculations on what we
had possibly given up. It is infinitely too much
to pretend that we should positively have been
happy. It is foolish and presumptuous. It is
enough for man to know that ' Virtue alone is
happinesss below,' and that • Whatever is, is
right.' Say so with me, my love, and you may
yet bring your mind to an enviable state of com-
posure and resignation to the will of God, and
still think of your husband with patience, and
even pleasure. Regard yourself as an inhabitant
of another world, sojourning awhile in this. Be
serious, solid, meditating, and reasonable, and you
will be comforted, you will rely on Him as your
friend and your hope. my beloved ! you are

CONCLUSION.

285

i, IS

may

com-

and

)itant

|d you

your

lu are

my all in all here, and I trust we shall meet in
another world to separate no more : fill yourself
with this idea ; converse with God in meditation,
but to the world resume a decent appearance of
comfort and resignation.

" I think always that being already in the ser-
vice, it was absolutely impossible for me to quit
it till the war was over, and that it thus became
necessary for me to take this bitter pill, although
the road to happiness seemed open to me with
you. Everything here is illusive; God alone is
stable, never-failing, and eternal. My dear angel,
whom I am already thinking of as in another
world, adieu ! I am not well, from cold and
pain in the breast, and fatigue drives me to rest.
The Almighty keep you. —
— " My beloved, — to open a new source of comfort
to your despairing soul is my design in writing this ;
therefore I resume it as soon as possible. And im I
vain in thinking that for me you have been in
despair, and could not be comforted ? No, I am
not ; for I know the peculiarity of your disposition,
the vivacity of your feelings, the tenderness and
delicacy of your soul, and all the force of impres-
sion that my death will make on your quickness
and sensibility. I tremble to think of it, but I
know, too, that I alone cannot comfort you, and I
hope that after this you will be comforted.

"When the tempest that shakes your nature

286 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

shall be finishod, then call with a determined reso-
lution (because it is right) — call your mind to a
strict examination of itself, of its situation in
this world, and its hope in the next. You were
placed here, like any other mortal, to undergo your
share of pain and pleasure, and from the delicacy
of your frame, and polish of your understanding,
to feel the extreme of each. Do not, therefore,
repine at the cup of bitterness, and adore in
humility the supreme wisdom that ordains it.

" • The Lord gives, and the Lord taketh away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.' I cannot
flatter myself that we shall ever enjoy ourselves
in peaceful tranquillity, for that would be too
great a happiness to fall to the lot of any one in
this world. Exactly so, my beloved. Our minds,
loving and affectionate by nature, were also so
much exercised by reflection, and so much tem-
pered by religion, that there hardly seems any-
thing which could very much have disturbed
our happiness, except the momentary shocks of
accident. We were not inclined to hide our faults
from ourselves ; each sought not to dissemble the
faults of the other, but to extenuate and pardon
them, to account for, and excuse them, not with
an idea of self-superiority, but in the mental hu-
mility that taught us we were each frail, and that
it is natural for man to err. We were inclined
to bear and forbear.

CONCLUSION.

287

" My love, this was too great a happiness to last
long. It was not of this world ; and I am first
called into the next. Grieve not then, my love,
but say to yourself * God has done this, and shall
I repine at his dispensation ? Shall I, presump-
tuous, pretend to murmur, because I am not allowed
my own mode of happiness in a world which He
has not made fit for it, but which He has meant
only to prepare us for an hereafter?' This is
not, my dear, the only way the Almighty had to
call his ordinance into effect. And this I now
say, because there seems something more par-
ticularly terrible in the manner of a violent death
(a death which might have been avoided as it seems)
than in that of a natural and lingering one, where
the mind of the afflicted has long been preparing
by degrees for the stroke it suffers. And you, too,
will perhaps reproach yourself for not having con-
tinued with more perseverance your entreaties for
my quitting the service. But, my love, everything is
in the hand of God, and even if you will think that
this might have been otherwise, yet you must
think at the same time that as his providence has
so ordained it, it might have been brought to pass
in a thousand ways, in peace as well as in war, as
easily in the midst of the soundest health and
greatest security as in sickness or danger.
Therefore add not to your distress by needless

288 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

reproaches, for, my love, you could not have

altered one jot from the dispensations of the Most

High.

" JAMES TREVENEN."

Here, then, closes the scene. Or if any more or
other last words respecting this short-lived but
noble being can be desirable or desired, they may
be looked for in the brief accounts of him which
were published soon after his death in journals
and newspapers. His friend Mr. Samwell drew
up a short notice of his life and character, which
was inserted in the " Gentleman's Magazine" for
August, 1790.

The following passages are extracted from a
letter inserted by his friend M. Pictet, in the
journal of Geneva, of the date of October in the
same year. " Several persons must have known
at Geneva, a few years ago, a young Englishman
whose name was Trevenen. He had performed
the last voyage round the world with Captain
Cook, and united the most distinguished talents
in his profession as a seaman, the most striking
modesty, the greatest sweetness of manner, and
the keenest sensibility, clothed with a reserved
and calm exterior. The valuable qualities of M.
Trevenen gained him in a short time many friends
in Geneva. I was of the number; and among

CONCLUSION.

289

other advantages which I derived from his friend-
ship is that of having learned from him an infinite
number of circumstances respecting the voyage,
which have not been published." This letter then
goes on to detail briefly the account of his journey
to Russia and of his death.

The following letter from Sir Sydney Smith,
then serving as a volunteer in the Swedish fleet,
may also be transcribed. It appears to have been
written to a friend in London, and to have been
inserted in one of the English newspapers.

" Swenksund, July 18, 1790.
" You have doubtless heard of our defeat on
the 3rd and 4th instant, and subsequent victory
on the 9th and 10th. We, however, consider the
former as more than equivalent to the latter, as in
that engagement our old Portsmouth contemporary
Trevenen, the very soul of the Russian fleet, re-
ceived a wound, which in a few days, at the age
of about thirty, put a period to as bright a career of
glory as ever adorned the annals of naval history.
Poor fellow ! I ever admired his character, and re-
vered his abilities, although my junior in age and
naval rank. He had formed himself on the charac-
ter of old Saunders, and it is here generally al-
lowed that his intrepidity in attack, his coolness in
action, and activity in pursuit, have been the great
bulwark to Russia, through which we could never

i'u

290

LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

penetrate. Nor could the King [of Sweden], whose
character and conduct are here adored, have
thought of attacking the enemy again so soon,
but for Trevenen's wound, as ho had been heard
to say that there was no eluding his vigilance.
On the 3rd instant, we should have escaped with
very little loss, had he not concluded what we
were about, and slipped his cable, in which he
was followed by four or five others, your old friend
Dennison among them, whilst the remainder
coldly stayed to weigh their anchors, whereas, had
he been properly supported, we should none of us
have escaped. We are told here that he received
his wound from the last shot fired from our ships *.
It was in his thigh, and not at first thought dan-
gerous, but his weak state of body brought on a
fever which carried him off. Thank God the shot
came not from my ship."

* It will be observed that iu this letter, as indeed in many
other accounts of this action and campaign, the dates are
given according to the old style, not the new. It is to be
observed, also, that the details as here stated are not strictly
accurate. It waa not absolutely the last shot fired by which
the wound was inflicted, and it also appears that the Natron
Menea'a position was changed before the action, during which
she only veered her cable and did not slip it.

NOTES.

Note A. p. 183.

REV. JOHN TREVENEN OF RO^EWARNE.

The Rev. John Trevenen was for many yeare curate of the
populous parish of Oamborne, in which Rosewarne is situate.
He died suddenly, December 4, 1776. His widow Elizabeth,
survived him many years, and died at Carwethenack, March
25, 1799. They liad six children :

Elizabeth, married Sir Charles Penrose.

Jane, married the Rev. John Penrose.

John, of Helston and Bony then, who married first Lydia
Johns, and afterwards Mary Sandys.

Thomas, who became rector of Cardynham, and afterwards
of Mawgan in Kirrier. He married Cordelia Grylls.

James.

Matthew.

Note B. p. 310.

MATTHEW TREVENEN : AND OF THE TWO ELDEST BROTHERS,
JOHN AND THOMAS.

Matthew Trevenen was two years younger than James.
He had been educated at Westminster School, and afterwards
at Trinity College, Cambridge, where his two elder brothers
had also been educated. John and Thomas were Westminster
scholars, and John had been captain of the school. John was
elected to Trinity in 1776, and Thomas in 1776. John took

292 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

no degree. Thomas took his B,A. degree in 1780, and his
M.A. in 1786. Matthew his B.A. in 1783. Matthew had
been intended for the church ; and no young man ever looked
forward to that sacred profession with either a purer or a more
reasonable hope of making himself acceptable in it both to God
and man. But it has been seen in the preceding pages that he
was carried off, at an early age, by a most rapid consumption,
of which the first symptoms appear to have shown themselves
in the middle of 1785. In the September of that year he went
to Bristol hot wells, accompanied by his mother and eldest
sister ; but was there recommended to return to Cornwall,
before the cold weather should set in. He could, however,
get no farther than Oakhampton, where, after lingering nearly
three weeks, he died at the inn, October 27. He passed the
last fortnight in a state of the greatest exhaustion and debility,
but in perfect serenity of mind. To the comfort which he
derived from the affectionate attendance of his mother and
sister, was also here added that of being joined first by his
eldest brother's wife and Mr. Penrose, and afterwards by his
two eldest brothers.

Every member of that now long vanished society from
which this most amiable young man was thus suddenly taken
away appears to have retained a most lively and lasting im-
pression of his great agreeableness and varied accomplishments.
His felicity is said to have been almost universal. He had
wit and humour always ready, and at the same time always
kind, was always cheerful, never difiSdent, yet never assuming;
and had a most gay and gentle play of character, which at once
amused the imaginations of his friends, and attracted their re-
gard. One of his songs, which shall be here subjoined, is a
very sufificient evidence that these qualities were not unjustly
ascribed to him.

NOTE B.

293

THE LADIES OF ANCIENT TIMES, AND THE
MODERN FINE LADIES.

A New Song. By M. T.

{To the Tune of the " Old and New Courtier.")

With an old song made by an old ancient pate,
Of old ancient customs long since out of date.
Of ancient times, when women did not scold nor prate,
For the ladies of our time are grown very impudent of
late :

Unlike the ladies of old times,
And the old ancient ladies.

II.

With an old fashion for ladies to stay abroad at school,
At least long enough to learn not to play the fool ;
With an old governess who had absolute dominion and

rule,
And looked as grave and demure as an old swan in a

pool;

Like the ladies of old times.
And the old ancient ladies.

III.

With an old sampler, whereon was work'd the Lord's

Prayer,
And the Ten Commandments, done in small space, with

neatness and care.

!;* '

294

LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

And mark'd in the corner wth a lock of the lady's own

hair,
And many little stags and hounds taking the air,
Like the ladies, &c.

IV.

With a healthy complexion and colour unfaded.
Which needed not a calash or umbrella to shade it,
With a head no higher than nature made it,
With a plain gown for workdays, and a Sunday's one
brocaded,

Like the ladies, &c.

With an old custom of getting up at five o'clock every

day,
And of coming down stairs without the least delay.
With a long walk before breakfast, be it December or

May.
— Wherefore the ladies of those times were healthy and

gay.

Like the ladies, &c.

VI.

With an old receipt-book very well wrote.
How to make a codlin tart ; how to cure a sore throat ;
How to preserve either cold or hot ;
And how to cure the bite of a mad dog ; which no family
should be without :

Like the ladies, &c.

VII.

With modesty and patience, and tolerably resign 'd,
Till their gallants should think proper to declare their
mind.

NOTE B.

295"

own

But the ladies of our days are not so inclin'd,
As by the ensuing ditty you shall quickly find :

Like the ladies of modem times,
And the modem fine ladies.

one

svery

3r or

and

VIII.

Who talk a great deal of nonsense, and think it very

pat,
Which is called by the young gallants very agreeable

chit-chat ;
Who, if question'd in their catechism, look very flat,
And declare with an air of surprise we know nothing of

that:

Like the ladies, &c.

IX.

With a new fashion of going to school to learn outlandish

dances,
Ballance, Rigadoon, Pas Grave, and other prances.
With a new governess, who writes plays and romances.
Legendary tales, elegies, sonnets, and such like idle

fancies :

Like the ladies, &c.

it;
imily

their

With a new muslin gown, never work'd on for more than

a minute.
With a wonder how we ever had courage to begin it,
With a purse declared very pretty bv all who have

seen it.
Though, perhaps, when 'tis finished, there is nothing to

put in it :

Like the ladies, cy^c.

ii.%

296 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TBEVENEN.

With the best French rouge, and pearl powder for the

face,
With a tete de mouton, poudre d'Artois, and pommade

de Grasse,
With new flashy gowns and souffle gauze to look like

lace,
Balloon hats, and steel collars to keep the head in its

place :

Like the ladies, &c.

XII.

With a new custom of sitting up all night at quadrille,
And coming down stairs next day in dishabille.
— No wonder the ladies now-a-days look so very ill.
And that they have fainting fits and hysterics whenever
they will.

Like the ladies, &c.

XIIL

With new scribble-scrabble letters, full of sentiment and

stuff.
Of which, when you have read two lines, you've read

enough :
" My dearest creature, I have got the sweetest new muff:
"Apropos! There's an old fashion new reviv'd: 'tis

Queen Elizabeth's ruff."

Like the ladies, &c.

XIV.

With a thousand more knick-knackeries all so modish

and rare.
Would have made our sober grandfathers to wonder,

scold, or Bwear;

NOTE B.

297

But now-a-days the men methinks are still madder than

the fjEiir;
Else these gay ladies would lead apes — I can't in

decency say where :

Like the ladies of modem times,
And the modem fine ladies*.

In the sort of biography which this volume is meant to
be, it would be most unfair to the memory of the two elder
brothers of this most affectionate family to conclude this note
without some, though brief, yet particular mention of them.

John, the eldest (see note A, p. 291), was bom October 26,
1754. Soon after he left Cambridge he settled at Helston, and
afterwards removed to Bonython. He was of no profession;
but few men can have ever discharged better, or with more
real dignity, the various offices and duties of a country gentle-
man's life ; and no children have ever treasured the recol-
lection of their father with greater or more reverential love
than his have ever felt, and feel towards him. He was very
remarkable, as there must be many who still remember, both
for the benignity of his aspect and the nobleness of his car-
riage.

After 'having lived many years at Bonython, he returned
to Helston, where he died Febmary 10, 1825. A letter still

* This last stanza was added by the late most lamented
Mr. J. J. Conybeare, the elder brother of the present Dean
of Llandaff. Matthew Trevenen had not only the power of
humorous composition which these lines indicate, but was
also a more than ordinarily skilful musician, and excelled in
drawing. It is said of him, also, that he had the talent of
caricature in a high degree, but that he would not indulge
himself in it.

298 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

preserved, which was written a few days after his death to
one of his near relations, gives an impressive account both of
the patience with which he bore the acute sufferings of a long
illness, and of the many testimonies of grateful respect
for a lost friend which were paid at his funeral.

Thomas, the second brother, was bom February 15, 1756.
He was instituted to the living of Cardynham, in 1782, and
continued to reside there till 1803, when he removed to
Mawgan in Kirrier, where he died September 30, 1816, ex-
hausted by a long series of paralytic attacks. He had been
deprived of speech by this disease for a period of three years
and a half, and for a considerable portion of that time had
been in a state of helplessness; but his intellect, and certainly
his affections, had been left unimpaired, and nothing could
exceed the equanimity and resignation of his truly Christian
character. Admiral Penrose, among the recollections of his
most intimate friends, speaks of him as one of his dearest, and
as distinguished by " the most gentle yielding in all matters in
which the wants and wishes of others were concerned, coupled
with the most inflexible adherence to right, he ever met witn.
So intimately blended in him," he adds, " were all the thou-
sands of little charities and benevolences that sweeten and
adorn domestic and social life that there is no prominent point
to seize on." The compiler of these memoirs can never forget
the union always visible in him of the most quiet playfulness
and of extreme meekness, a meekness which, by persons who
had not knoAvn him long and intimately, might have been
almost attributed to tameness or insensibility. But it was
the meekness of self command. It had been the unceasing
struggle of his boyhood and his youth to subdue a great and
even passionate quickness of nature ; and in this religious
struggle he gained the victory. His affectionate daughter,
the untiring nurse of his long and trying illness, is able to
testify that, though she has seen him strongly moved and
keenly pained, she nerer saw his temper overcome.

NOTES C AND D.

299

Note C. p. 348.

UNPOPULARITY OF GU8TAVUS IN FINLAND.

In the letter of Admiral Greig, from which this sentence is
extracted, the subjoined details are also given of the unpopu-
larity of the King of Sweden at this time. " On Thursday
the 17th, the King left Helsingfors, and set out for Abo on his.
return to Stockholm, where the defection that began among
the Finland regiments has already spread, and by all accounts
become very serious. As the King's presence alone in Stock-
holm, without the support of the military, and the principal
officers attached to his person, will, I am apt to think, mther
irritate than appease the tumults of the people, dissatisfied
with a war begun by the King's caprice, and prosecuted with-
out the success he had made them expect, and which in all
probability may end in limiting his power to the old constitu-
tion, it is, therefore, of the utmost importance to prevent as
much as possible the return of the troops to Stockholm.

" There is no cessation of arms, but only with the Finland
regiments, who have absolutely refused the King to serve
against Russia, and demanded of him to assemble a diet of
the states, which he absolutely refused, before he went away.
They then sent a deputation to the Swedish army at Hogsfors,
inviting them to accede to the confederacy, and oblige the
King to assemble the states ; but T have not yet heard if they
have agreed to it. But at any rate they seem not willing to
fight, and I imagine that the general defection has reached
the fleet also."

Note D. p. 265.

WEECK OF THE R0DISI.AFF.

A not uninstructive account of the assistance, or rather the
no assistance, rendered on this occasion from Revel towards
the saving this ship, will be found in the following letter from
Trevenen to Admiral Tchitchagoff, written before the en-
deavour to save her had been given up.

800

LIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES TREVENEN.

h\ ,

" Sir, — My last report I sent by the Slava frigate. It was
delayed some time by contrary winds. In it I have answered
to what you ask me in your despatch ; and as to the chance
of saving the ship, I have told you that it depends on your
sending us pumps from the shore, as I tried in vain to
get them from Brigadier MacaroiF. I have before said that
I believe the ship to be broke, but, as that is not absolutely
certain, it is necessary that I should make an effort to deter-
mine it. If we can diminish the water, there is yet a possi-
bility of bringing her into Revel ; but for this purpose I must
tell your Excellency that expedition is absolutely necessary ;
for if there comes a strong breeze from the north the ship
will certainly be altogether lost. I cannot help expressing
my surprise that being near such a port as Revel, where there
is an established admiralty, I have yet received no assistance
from thence. I have not a single warp in the ship, and if we
lighten her, I must have warps. Our lower deck-ports are
partly under water, and although caulked, yet the water has
washed out the oakum, and my few carpenters and caulkers
are insufficient to stop them, nor have we here planks, nails,
or oakum. A shipbuilder can better judge of the state of the
ship than my carpenter, or myself, and if she be floated can
judge better of her leaks and deficiencies. And in all cases
like this which I have ever seen before, no time was lost in
sending from the nearest port all sorts of officers, men, and
stores that might in any way assist in saving the ship, or
getting out her stores if she was lost. Yet I have not received
the least possible assistance, and whosever fault it may be
getting the ship ashore, there is yet another fault will lie
elsewhere — I mean the want of proper assistance to save her.

" By the time you will have sent us the pumps, everything
will be got out of the ship that can be without cutting up the
decks. If we find the ship entirely lost, it remains with your
Excellency how long the people shall remain fishing up the
things in her hold, principally the 25 guns that are there, find

NOTE D.

301

how many men you will send. For my own part, neither will
my health permit a much longer attendance, nor do I think
it at all decent that, after having for so long a time commanded
a considerable squadron with the approbation of her Mt^esty,
I at once, through the fault of my steersman, find myself
degraded to the employment of fishing up two or three casks
of salt beef from the hold of a sunken wreck.

" I must further tell your Excellency that the season of the
year renders it highly dangerous to keep vessels in this
riding much longer. My people also are constantly exposed
to imminent danger. The frigates do not lie within three
versts of the ship, so that I cannot send them backwards and
forwards every day, as half the time would be lost by that
means. Therefore I am obliged to keep them on board the
small vessels that lie near the ship, and there they are huddled
together to the detriment of their health ; and as these are
changed every day they cannot have their bedding or clothes
with them. Add to this that our boats, having served the
whole campaign, and having been exposed here to much rough
weather, are all leaky, and there is no safety in them when it
blows any wind. Now, am I to risk my people in them in
such an uncovered place, or my officers or myself? &c., &c.

"JAMES TREVENEN."

Captain Dennison says in a letter to Mr. Farquharson of
the same date, *' It is Providence only that saves ships in
this country. The whole squadron escaped by good fortune."

G, Woodfalland Son, Printers, Angel Cuurt, Skinner Street, London.

00, Amigmarlb Strbet, London.

April, 1850.

MR. MURRAY'S LIST.

WORKS IN PREPARATION;

LIFE OF ROBERT PLUMER WARD,

(Author of "Trcmalne.")
WITH HIS rOLlTICAL AND LITERARY CORRESPONDENCE, DIARIES, AND REMAINS.

By the Hon. Edmund Phipps.

2 Vols. 8vo.

FOUR YEARS' ADVENTURES OP

A HUNTER IN THE WILDERNESS OF SOUTH AFRICA.

WITH NOTICES OF THE NATIVE TRIBES, AND ANECDOTES OF THE CHASE OF THE
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By Ronaleyn Gordon Gumming, Esq., of Altire.

With Illustrations. 2 Yuls. Post 8to.

An Extract fi-om Lieut. Napier's Jtecent WorJc on South Africa.

" Of all the adventurous, sporting, exploring, or trading travellers (whether Dutch or
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the pow celebrated Mr. Gumming.* * *

" I remarked, as we walked along, I had heard so many marvellous stories put down to his
account, that unless confirmed by himself, they were certainly beyond my powers of belief.

"'What an interesting work your journal would make,' observed I, 'why do you not
publish itP'

" ' I may do so,' replied he, ' some of these days, when I get tired of my wandering mode
of existence ; * and no doubt, from the fluency of his conversntional powers, Mr. Gumming
could handle the pen with as great facility and effect as he has hitherto wielded the rifle. * * •

" In this journey, it is said, he has penetrated many hundred miles beyond the highest point
reached by any white man. He shot forty-three elephants, three of which only were females,
(many of the males carried tusks of enormous size, nicas\iring seven feet in length, and
sometimes weighing one hundred pounds each), sixty hippopotami, the finest of the troops to
which they belonged having been singled out for slaughter."

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\ i
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LIVES OF THE SUCCESSORS OF MAHOMET.

FBOM lUE DEATH OF MAHOMET A.D. OH TO TUB INVAHION OF 6FAU< A.D. 710.

By Washington Irving, Esq.

Fonnlnii t Companion volume to IrvinK's •• Life of Mabomet."
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LIFE OF GENERAL WASHINGTON.
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AN ENGLISHMAN DOMESTICATED IN ABYSSINIA.
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Knight of the Russian Orders of " St. George," and "St. Vladimir."

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Atvl the betl litiet <tf Route/or leeivg theie objects to advantage, uUth least expenditure of

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SALMONIA; OR, DAYS OF FLY-FISHING.
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Kevi FAilion, beaHtifuUy printed. With Many lUuatratlons. Feap. 8vo.

CONSOLATIONS IN TRAVEL;

OR, THE LAST DAYS OF A PHILOSOPHER.

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Neio Edition, beautifully printed. With Illustrations. Fcap. 8vo.

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INCIDENTS OP

TRAVEL IN CENTRAL AMERICA AND YUCATAN.
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New and Cheap Edition, With Woodcuts. One Vol. PostSvo.

PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY,

OR THE MODERN CHANGES OF THE EARTH AND ITS INHABITANTS.

By Sir Charles Lyell, F.R.S., P.G.S.

Eiijhth and C.rtfully reviled Edition. With Wuodcats. 8to.

A NEW CLASSICAL DICTIONARY

OF GREEK AND ROMAN BIOGRAPHY, MYTHOLOGY, AND GEOGRAPHY.

By William Smith, LL.D.

Editor of the " Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities."
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THE QUARTERLY REVIEW. VOL. LXXX.

BEING AN INDEX TO THE PRECEDING NINETEEN VOLUMES,

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A NEW EDITION OP THE

WORKS OF ALEXANDER POPE.

^VIT^ NOTES, AN ORIGINAL LIFE, AND ONE HUNDRED UNPUBLISHED LETTERS.

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LAYENGRO, AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
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3 Vols. Post 8to.

YOYAGES OF DISCOYERY AND RESEARCH WITHIN
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Two Sermons.

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UNDESIGNED COINCIDENCES IN THE

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Life of Mahomet and his Successors.

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handled ; and the view of Islamism, with which the volume closes, is a particularly useful
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History of Greece.

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acquainted any one is with Crecian history and with the manner in which that history has
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. JK'

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THE CAUSES OP THE SUCCESS OP

The English Revolution, 1640-1688.

By MONSIEUR GUIZOT.
Translated with a Prcfiice. By 5Ira. AUSTIN. 8vo, (!».; or Cheap Edition, Post 8vo, 1/.

" The most eminent and most accomplished of al) the political philosophers who, unrecog-
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and over-repaid any hospitality wo could re.idcr them by contributions to our national literature,
has selected for examination and for illustration that period of our history upon which the
sentiments of such a man must be most especially interesting. The style of M. Guizotis most
happy. He avoids alike the effort at pcipctual antithesis and epigram, whicii is the besetting
vice of French composition, and the elephantine march whicii many English historians consider
an essential of dignity. But he always writes pointedly, and frequently leads you up, by
gentle but irresistible logical process, to a profound aphorism, in which he embalms a deceased
age and its wisdom. We will simply append an expression of our unaffected gratification, that
England should receive at tlie hands of M. Guizot so valuable and graceful a token that his
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extent of giving it a direction so agreeable to Englislimcn." Morning Chronicle.

Travels through Hungary & Transylvania.

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BY JOHN PAGET, ESQ.

Second Edition. Maps and Woodcuts. 2 Vols. 8vo. ?'j.

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and traditions of the country, but with its whole history and institutions, which present so
many points of analogy to those of England, as really to invest the subject with a new and
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Life of John Calvin.

DERIVED FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES, WITH EXTRACTS FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE,

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digressions as to the state of religion in various countries, and his biographical notices of the
different persons who are continually introduced in connexion with Calvin, somewhat impede
the narrative, and sometimes encumber it. The views of the state of religion are, however,
necessary; the notices are informing; and perhaps both are in harmony with the scheme of
the bool.. Tlie whole story of the life and death of Servetus is minutely and clearly told by
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A thenwum.

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By SIR CHARLES LYELL, F.R.S., P.U.S.
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CONOMICAL.

The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria,

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great part a compilation from personal Narratives, left in MS. by Lindsays of the two last
generations — and the older history of the race is largely interspersed with letters iiiid docu-
ments now first disinterred, with quotations from the monastic and chivalric chronicles of
Scotland, and with details extracted from the richly picturesque records of her criminal
jurisprudence." Quarterly Revieto.

Gothic Architecture in France.

BEING AN ENQUIRY INTO THE CHHONOLOOICAI. SUCCESSION OF THE ROMANESQUE AND

POINTED STYLES ; WITH NOTICES OF SOME OP THE PRINCIPAL BUILDINGS

ON WHICH IT IS FOUNDED.

BY THOMAS INKERSLEY, ESQ.

With an Index. 8vo. 12*.

" The work embraces an introduction ; extracts from old chronicles, &c., sho'ving by direct
mention or allusion the dates of building certain structures ; and then a fuller description of
the edifices by Mr. Inkersley. The whole will enable the student to view the practical
history of the architecture of which it treats in a connected manner, and thus to form a clearer
idea of the growth, transition, and decadence of the pointed style. The work is executed with
great diligence and scholarly candour." Spectator.

Nineveh and its Remains:

WITH AN ACOOCNT OF THE CHALDEAN CHRISTIANS ; THB TEZIDIS, OR DEVIL-
WORSHIPPERS ; AND AN ENQUIRY INTO THB MANNERS AND ARTS Of TUB
ANCIENT ASSYRIANS.

BY AUSTEN H. LA YARD, ESQ., D.C.L.

Fourth Edition. With Numerous Plates. 2 Vols. 8to. 36t.

" The most extraordinary work of the present age, whether with reference to the wonderful
discoveries it describes, its remarkable verification of our early biblical history, or of the talent,
courage, and perseverance of its author. We have had our Bruces and Mungo Parks, as well
as our Parrys, Franklins, Backs, and Rosses, but we question whether a more enlightened or a
more enterprising traveller than Mr. Layard is to bo met with in the annals of our modem
English history. In these days when the fulfilment of prophecy is engaging so much attention,
we cannot but consider that this work will be found to afford many extraordinary proofs of
the truth of biblical history, and of the extreme nccurocy of the denunciations of the prophets
Isaiah and Ezekiel against the Kings of Assyria, and of the destruction of Nineveh in
particular." Times.

The Monuments of Nineveh,

ILLUSTRATED FROM NCMER0U8 DRAWINGS MADE ON THE SPOT.

BY AUSTEN H. LAYARD, ESQ., D.C.L.

ICO Plates. FoUo. £10 10«.

" In this magnificent collection of outline engravings of the most interesting discovery of
modern time, we have the means of forming something like an estimate of the full amount
of the debt due to the enterprise and genius of Mr. Layard. Figures of Assyrian monorchs
and rulers ; pictures of their usages and customs, of their buildings, arms, and arts ; repre-
sentations of their audiences, sieges, battles, and lion-hunts ; shapes of their deities and idols,
colossal, monstrous, incongruous, yet not without sublimity and grandeur, are here presented
to us fresh from the chisel and the pencil of Assyrian Titians and Angelos, after having lain
buried under mountains of earth and rubbisli for at least twenty-five centuries. We have had
no discovery in art that presents so many interesting features of observation and inquiry."

Examiner,

Anthologia Polyglotta;

A SELECTION OF VERSIONS IN VARIOUS LANGUAGES. CHIEFLY FROM THE GREEK.

BY REV. HENRY WELLESLEY, D.D. .

8vo. 15».

The Versions are by authors of all countries and of all periods, down to the present day;
many of them inediled, and of these the greater number by living writers. The Greek
Origin.ils are prefixed throughout, with a view to contrast the genius of the classical and
modern languages, to illustrate the principles of translation, and exhibit the influence of Greek
poetry upon literature in general.

1? f^

PEVIL-
HH

tbe wonderful
r of the talent,
Parks, ai well
ilightened or a
of our modem
luch attention,
inary proofs of
)f the prophets
f Nineveh in
Times.

OT.

g discovery of
le full amount
rian monarchs
arts; repre-
ities and idols,
here presented
er having lain

We have had

inquiry."
Examiner.

rHE GREEK.

present day;

The Greek

classical and

lence of Greek

Mr. Murray's List of Works now Ready.

Lives of the Chief Justices of England,

FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST TO THE DEATH OF LORD MANSFIELD.

BY LORD CHIEF JUSTICE CAMPBELL.
2 Vols. 8to. 30».
" Although the period of history embraced by these volumes had been previously traversed
by the recent work of the noble and learned autlior, and a great portion of its most exciting
incidents, especially those of a constitutional nature, there narrated, yet in " The Lives of the
Chief Justices " there is a fund both of interesting information and valuable matter, which
renders the book well worthy of perusal by every one wiio desires to obtain an acquaintance
with the constitutional history of his country, or aspires to the rank of either a statesman or a
lawyer. Few lawyers of Ijord Campbell's eminence could have produced such a vork its ho
has put forth. Nune but lawyers of his experience and acquirements could have compiled a
work combining the same interest as a narration, to the public generally, with the same
amount of practical information, for professional aspirants more particularly."

Britannia.

A Lecture on Arctic Expeditions,

DELIVERED AT THE LONDON INSTITUTION,

BY C. R. WELD, ESQ.

Seoond Edition. Map. Post 8vo. Is.
" An intelligent general view of the subject of Arctic Discovery from early times, a rapid
but well-informed sketch of its heroes and its vicissitudes in modem days, a hopeful view of
the chances of Franklin's return, and an account of the circumstances of tlio original expedition
and of the voyages in search, which will be read witli considerable interest just now."

Eocaviiner.

Aunt Ida's Walks and Talks;

A STORY BOOK FOR YOUNG PERSONS.

BY A LADY.

with Four Illustrations. 16mo. 5».

** One of the most pleasing little books of stories for children that it lias been our

lot lately to meet with. The tales are chiefly translations from the German or Swedish :

the framework is supplied by walks in the neighbourhood of Heidelberg, by aunt Ida and five

little English nieces." Ouardian.

The Heiress in Her Minority,

OR, THE PROGRESS OF CHARACTER.

BY THE AUTHOR OF "BERTHA'S JOURNAL."

2 Vols. 12mo. 18*.

" In this work there is a due admixture of religious instruction of a higher class — more
practical, and evincing a greater degree of learning than in most works of the same stamp.
On the whole, the book is a small, readable, compressed cyclopaedia, with a copious index
and distinct chapter headings — a very mine for youth, and a liappy anodyne for the restless
hours of a wet day in a country house, when ' bat and ball ' are forbidden, the skipping-rope
is laid aside, and les graces, battledore and shuttlecock, archery, and other amusements of
the same genus, are impossible. Then take up these green covered volumes, ye restless
imps, and sit down in the broad bow-window to revel in tlie beauties of the insects, and
the birds, and the glorious flowers, wiiich the * Heircsa ' brings before yc."

Morning Chronicle.

Mr. Murray's List of Works novj Ready.

The Monasteries of the Levant.

BY THE HON. RODEUT CURZON, JUN.

TMiii Edition, Numerous WoodcutH. Poet 8to. Mi.

"T)ii8 work ia a most welcomu addition to tlie stock of Tinvcls in the Enst,' and chiefly
because it diflTcra esseiitiully from any which have ever before fallen under our notice, whulhcr
the auhjcct-mattcr or the mode of handling it be considered. It treats of thoroughly out-of-
the-way and almost untrodden spots and scenes, and in detailing the adventures which befel
him in his ramblca in the east in quest of ancient manuscri|>t8 the author has contrired to
present to the reader some eight ond twenty chaptera of most agreeable writing, replete
with information on most interesting points. Tlie result is this delectable book, a bright
and lively emanation from a happy and a cheerful mind — the unpretending yet highly intereating
and amusing ' jottings down ' of an educated traveller while roaming through those lands
endeared to all as the cradle of a pure faith or the early abode of the arts and poetry. We
may, indeed, say, with perfect justice, that there is an easy gcntlcman-like style about him — a
fund of humour combined with correct judgment in the art uf story-telling, which renders him
a most acceptable companion even to those who may bo indifferent to the value set upon
ancient uncial MSS. and early editions of the fathers." Times.

Handbook for London;

BY PETER CUNNINGHAM, F.8.A.

Ileviied and Enlarged Edition. Compressed tut not Abridged. In One Volume. Post 8vo. 16*.

" Mr. Cunningham has brought to bear upon this subject .in immense amount of reading,
especially of the poets and essayists of the two last centuries, showing industry and powers of
research in the examination of parish papers and other MSS., and discrimination and skill in
the use made of the matter collected." Builder.

" The ' Handbook ' is so studded with quotations from the old poets and essayists, and with
illustrations of bygone manners and historical events, that it may be taken up at any time for
amusement as well as information. It is a sort of distillation from English history, anecdote,
and biography, with a sj)rinkling of ancient gossip and scandal !" Jnvernesi Courier.

An Eskimaux and English Vocabulary.

A HANDBOOK FOR TRAVELLERS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS,
Oblong 16mo. 3<. 6(1.

A Physicia* 's Holiday ;

OR A MONTH IN SWITZERLAND DURING THE YEAR 1848,

BY JOHN FORBES, M.D.

Second Edition, With Illustrations. Post 8vo. 8jr. Sd.
" Those who contciiiplatc a tlioiougli or a partial tour through Switzerland will find A
Pkyaician^s Holiday very useful. Dr. Forbes gives some good general advice to the tourist,
economical, hygienic, viatorial; he carries him through good ways, by good modes of locomotion,
to good inns ! he shows him the best out-ot'-door sights, and takes him out of the high road to
places less known, while he will stimulate the lazy or sauntering tiuvellcr by precept and
example." Spectator.

Mr. Murray's List of Works now Ready.

nt.

i8t,' and chiefly
notice, whether
roughly out-of-
rcB which hcfel
as cotitriTed to
writing, replete
hnolc, a hright
ghly interesting
l\\ thoae landi
d poetry. We
! about him — a
rh renders him
ralue act upon
Timta.

'09t 8vo. 16».
int of reading,

and powers of

in and skill in

Builder.

lyists, and with

U any time for

tory, anecdote,
ernesa Courier.

Dulary.

The History of Columbus ;

WITH AN ACCOUNT OF HIS VOYAGES, AND THOSK OF HIS COMPANIONS.
BY WASHINGTON IKVING, ESQ.

Third JiiWion, revlBcd. Miipn. 3 Vols. 8vo. 31*. (Irf.

" Mr. Murray's very hnndsonio edition of the Life imd Voyages of Columbus ond his
Companions, now '■ompresscd into three volumes luid combined in one work." Spectator,

The Hurricane Guide :

BEING AN ATTEMPT TO CONNECT THE ROTATORY GALE, OR REVOLVING 8T0RSI,
WITH ATMOSPHERIC WAVE.S.

INCLUDINO INSTRUCTIONS FOR GtlSERVINO THE PIIGNOMENA OF THE WAVES AND STORMS;
WITH PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS FOR AVOIDING THE CENTRES OF THE LATIBR.

BY WILLIA.AI RADCLIFFE BIRT, ESQ.

With Circle." of Ciirdboarcl, &c. Post 8vo. 3s.

" This work is one which demands the nttcntion of all who arc interested in the well-being
of that large portion of our fellow countrymen engaged in * business on the deep wateis.' Wo
would urge all who are in any way connected with those mighty steamers to procure a copy,
•tudy it well and follow the autlior's advice. He is well known in scientific circles as having
devoted close attention for many years to the subject of atmospheric waves, and from his
position, his oj. 'ions aio worthy of the most attentive regard." JIumpshirc Independent.

SKETCHES OF

Travels in Egypt and the Holy Land.

By Key. J. E. SPENCER.

With lUustrations. 8vo. 2U.

1848.

d will find A
to the tourist,
of locomotion,
le high road to
)y precept and
Spectator.

NOTICES OF

China and Our Chinese Commerce.

WITH RE.WARKS ON THE TEA DUTIES, OUR NEW SETTLEMENT AT HONG KONG,

AND THE OPIUM TRADE.

BY SIR GEORGE THOMAS STAUNTON, BART, 5I.P.

A Kew Edition. 8vo. 10^. I'd.

" We commend this volume to the attention of the public. The old portions, as well as the
new, are eminently deserving of it, anil, independently of its guidance to trade, its illustrations
of Cliinesc customs, laws, and literature, are of notable and lasting interest. In respect to
the former, the statements relative to the opium trade are of a similar cliaracter, and altogether
the volume is a standard for our libraries." Literary Gazette.

.-jitf

Mr. Murray' 8 Lht of Works now Ready.

COMMENTARIES ON THE

War in Russia and Germany, 1812-13.

BY THE HON. COLONEL GEORGE CATHCART.

with 28 coloured UUgnina and Plaiii. 8vo. U:

" Tliia huinblo but nuthcntir contribution to tho general atork of matcriala from which
hialorical knowledge is to bo derived, is olTcred as tlie teatimony of an ryc-witnrsa of much ho
haa recorded, and one who had peculiar opportunitiea of correct i|iforii)alion respecting the rest."

Author' I Preface.

Travels in Turkey during 1847-8,

MADE FOR THE PUKPOSE OF EXAMINING INTO THE KEAt, STATE OF THAT

COUNTRY.

BY CHARLES MAC FARLANE, ESQ.

3Y0la. 8to. 28«.

"Mr. MacFarlane waa altogether eleven months in Turkey during thia last visit; re-
maining first for a brief period at Constantinuple, then performing a country excursion
principally to the great Pashnlik of Druea, and, after another residence in Constantinople,
visiting Nicomcdia and Adrianople. His accounts of the provincial pashalika appear to ua to
possess the greatest interest, and his occasional notices of agricultural or manufacturing
operations in places removed from tho capital are well worth reding. These he varies by
cleverly-drawn portraits of people with whom his travel brought him in contact, by remarkable
statistical details not seldom telling ngninst his own views, and by notices of the public
departments of state, and of the leading Ministers, 4hich we are not at all disposed to think
inaccurate or overcharged. The abuses of the Harem are described generally as in no respect
reformed, melancholy descriptions are given of the manners and morals of women of station,
and Mr. MacFarlane speaks with ill-disguincd contempt and sarcasm of the private character
and pursuits of the Sultan." Examiner.

History of Spanish Literature.

By GEORGE TICKNOR, Esq.

3 Vols. 8vo, 42*.

" A history of Spanish literature is a desideratum to England, apart from the general utility
of such works when well executed ; and Mr. Ticknor's history is as well executed as we are
entitled to expect such a book to be. It is a labour of love and of time ; Mr. Ticknor's first
studies in Spanish literature were commenced upwards of thirty years ago, at Madrid, and have
been continued with increasing zest to the present day. In the pursuit of his studies, and the
formation of his collection, he has enjoyed the assistance of many Spaniards of literary
eminence, as well as of his countrymen Irving and Prescott. These external aids, however,
are of little consequence without natural aptitude, and Mr. Ticknor is in himself «ell qualified
for his task. His critical taste and acumen arc good, witli a leaning to the favourable side : he
is not only well rend in Spanish literature, but in the collateral lines of French and English
critica and German acholars." Spectator.

liriuibury & Kvana, Printers, Wliitcfrlani.

812-13.

nit from which
i-as of much he
jcting the rest."
thor't Preface.

7-8,

; OF THAT

last visit; re-
nfry excuraion
Constantinople,
appear to us to

manufacturing
ise ho vorics by

by rcmarl(abIo

of the public
sposed to think
18 in no respect
>men of station,
rivate character
£xatniner.

general utility
uted as we are

Ticknor's first
adrid,and have
itudies, and the
irds of literary

aids, however,

if well qualified

uvable side : he

ch and English

Spectator.