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 14U 

 
 THE 
 
 KING'S OWN. 
 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF « THE NAVAL OFFICER." 
 
 O you Gods ! 
 Why do you make us love your goodly gifts 
 And snatch them straight away ? 
 
 Shakspeare's Pericles. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 ■ - • . . - • . ■ . 
 
 LONDON: 
 HENRY COLBURN AND RICHARD BENTLEY, 
 
 NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 
 
 1830. 
 
 117051
 
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " However boldly their warm blood was spilt, 
 Their life was shame, their epitaph was guilt ; 
 And this they knew and felt, at least the one, 
 The leader of the band he had undone, — 
 Who, born for better things, had madly set 
 His life upon a cad, which lingered yet." 
 
 Byron. 
 
 There is perhaps no event in the annals of our 
 history, which excited more alarm at the time of 
 its occurrence, or has since been the subject of 
 more general interest, than the Mutiny at the 
 Nore, in the year 1 797. Forty thousand men, 
 
 VOL. I. JJ
 
 Z THE KING S OWN. 
 
 to whom the nation looked for defence from 
 its surrounding enemies, and in stedfast reliance 
 upon whose bravery it lay down every night 
 in tranquillity, — men who had dared every- 
 thing for their King and country, and in whose 
 breasts, patriotism, although suppressed for the 
 time, could never be extinguished, — irritated 
 by ungrateful neglect on the one hand, and 
 by seditious advisers on the other, turned the 
 guns which they had so often manned in 
 defence of the English flag, against their own 
 countrymen and their own home, and, with all 
 the acrimony of feeling ever attending family 
 quarrels, seemed determined to sacrifice the 
 nation and themselves, rather than listen to the 
 dictates of reason and of conscience. 
 
 Doubtless there is a point at which endur- 
 ance of oppression ceases to be a virtue, and 
 rebellion can no longer be considered as a 
 crime : but it is a dangerous and intricate prob- 
 lem, the solution of which had better not be 
 attempted. It must, however, be acknowledged,
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 that the seamen, on the occasion of the first 
 mutiny, had just grounds of complaint, and 
 that they did not proceed to acts of violence, 
 until repeated and humble remonstrance had 
 been made in vain. 
 
 Whether we act in a body or individually, 
 such is the infirmity and selfishness of human 
 nature, that we often surrender to importunity 
 that which we refuse to the dictates of grati- 
 tude, — yielding for our own comfort, to the 
 demands of turbulence, while quiet, unpretend- 
 ing merit is overlooked, and oppressed, until, 
 roused by neglect, it demands, as a right, what 
 policy alone should have granted as a favour. 
 
 Such was the behaviour, on the part of 
 government, which produced the mutiny at 
 the Nore. 
 
 What mechanism is more complex than the 
 mind of man ? And as, in all machinery, there 
 are wheels and springs of action, not apparent 
 without close examination of the interior, so 
 pride, ambition, avarice, love, play alternately 
 
 b 2
 
 THE KIXG's OWX. 
 
 or conjointly upon the human mind, which, 
 under their influences, is whirled round like the 
 weathercock in the hurricane, only pointing for 
 a short time in one direction, but for that time 
 stedfastly. How difficult, then, to analyze the 
 motives and inducements which actuated the 
 several ring-leaders in this dreadful crisis ! 
 
 Let us, therefore, confine ourselves to what we 
 do I'eally know to have been the origin of dis- 
 content in one of these men, whose unfortunate 
 career is intimately connected with this history. 
 
 Edward Peters was a man of talent and edu- 
 cation. He had entered on board the in a 
 
 fit of desperation, to obtain the bounty for a 
 present support, and his pay as a future pro- 
 vision, for his wife, and an only child, the fruit 
 of a hasty and unfortunate marriage. He was 
 soon distinguished as a person of superior at- 
 tainments ; and instead of being employed, as 
 a landsman usually is, in the afterguard, or 
 waist, of the ship, he was placed under the 
 orders of the purser and captain's clerk as
 
 THE KING S OWN. O 
 
 an amanuensis. In this capacity he remained 
 two or three years, approved of and treated with 
 unusual respect by the officers, for his gen- 
 tleman-like appearance and behaviour: but, 
 unfortunately a theft had been committed, — a 
 watch, of trifling value, had been purloined from 
 the purser's cabin ; and, as he was the only per- 
 son, with the exception of the servant, who had 
 free ingress and egress, suspicion fell upon him 
 — the more so as, after every search that could 
 be made had proved ineffectual, it was sup- 
 posed that the purloined property had been 
 sent on shore to be disposed of by his wife, who, 
 with his child, had frequently been permitted to 
 visit him on board. 
 
 Summoned on the quarter-deck — cross-ex- 
 amined, and harshly interrogated — called a 
 scoundrel by the captain before conviction, — the 
 proud blood mantled in the cheeks of one who, 
 at that period, was incapable of crime. The 
 blush of virtuous indignation was construed 
 into presumptive evidence of guilt. The cap-
 
 THE KJNG's OWN. 
 
 tain, — a superficial, presuming, pompous, yet 
 cowardly creature, whose conduct assisted in no 
 small degree to excite the mutiny on board of 
 his own ship, — declared himself quite convinced 
 of Peters' s guilt, because he blushed at the bare 
 idea of being suspected ; and punishment en- 
 sued, with all the degradation allotted to an 
 offence which is never forgiven on board of a 
 man-of-war. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no crime that is attended 
 with such serious consequences on board a ship 
 as theft. A succession of thefts undiscovered 
 will disintegrate a ship's company, break up 
 the messes, destroy all confidence and harmony, 
 and occasion those who have been the dearest 
 friends to become the greatest enemies : for 
 whom can a person suspect, when he has lost 
 his property, in so confined a space, but those 
 who were acquainted with its being in his 
 possession, and with the place in which it was 
 deposited ? — and who are these but his own 
 messmates, or those in whom he most con-
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 7 
 
 ii Jed ? After positive conviction, no punishment 
 can be too severe for a crime that produces such 
 mischief; but to degrade a man by corporal 
 punishment, to ruin his character and render him 
 an object of abhorrence and contempt, in the 
 absence of even bare presumptive evidence, was 
 an act of cruelty and injustice, which could excite 
 but one feeling : and, from that day, the man 
 who would have gloried in dying for his coun- 
 try, became a discontented, gloomy, and dan- 
 gerous subject. 
 
 The above effect would have been produced 
 in any man ; but to Peters, whose previous his- 
 tory we have yet to narrate, death itself would 
 have been preferable. His heart did not break, 
 but it swelled with contending passions, till it 
 was burst and riven with wounds never to be 
 cicatrized. Suffering under the most painful 
 burthen that can oppress a man who values 
 reputation, writhing with the injustice of accu- 
 sation when innocent, of conviction without 
 proof, and of punishment unmerited, it is not
 
 8 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 to be wondered at that Peters took the earliest 
 opportunity of deserting from the ship. 
 
 There is a particular feeling pervading animal 
 nature, from which man himself is not exempt. 
 Indeed, with all his boasted reason, man still 
 inherits too many of the propensities of the brute 
 creation. I refer to that disposition which not 
 only inclines us to feel satisfaction at finding 
 we have companions in misfortune, but too often 
 stimulates us to increase the number by our own 
 exertions. From the stupendous elephant, down 
 to the smallest of the feathered tribe, all will act 
 as a decoy to their own species, when in cap- 
 tivity themselves ; and, in all compulsory service, 
 which may be considered a species of captivity, 
 man proves that he is embued with the same 
 propensity. Seamen that have been pressed 
 themselves into the navy, are invariably the 
 most active in pressing others ; and both soldiers 
 and sailors have a secret pleasure in recapturing 
 a deserter, even at the very time when they are 
 watching an opportunity to desert themselves.
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 9 
 
 The bonds of friendship seem destroyed when 
 this powerful and brutal feeling is called into 
 action ; and, as has frequently occurred in the 
 service, before and since, the man who was 
 selected by Peters as his most intimate friend, 
 the man with whom he had consulted, and to 
 whom he had confided his plans for desertion, 
 gave information of the retreat of his wife and 
 child, from which place Peters was not likely to 
 be very distant ; and thus, with the assistance of 
 this, his dearest friend, the master-at-arms and 
 party in quest of him succeeded in his cap- 
 ture. 
 
 It so happened, that on the very day on which 
 Peters was brought on board and put into irons, 
 the purser's servant was discovered to have in 
 his possession the watch that had been lost. 
 Thus far the character of Peters was reinstated ; 
 and, as he had declared at the time of his cap- 
 ture, that the unjust punishment which he had 
 received had been the motive of his desertion, 
 the captain was strongly urged by the officers 
 
 b 3
 
 10 
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 to overlook an offence which had every thing to 
 be offered in its extenuation. But Captain 
 
 A was fond of courts-martial ; he imagined 
 
 that they added to his consequence, which cer- 
 tainly required to be upheld by adventitious aid. 
 Moreover, the feeling too often pervading little 
 minds, that of a dislike taken to a person because 
 you have injured him, and the preferring to 
 accumulate injustice, rather than to acknowledge 
 error, had more than due weight with this weak 
 man. A court-martial was held, and Peters was 
 sentenced to death ; but, in consideration of cir- 
 cumstances, the sentence was mitigated to that 
 of being " flogged round the fleet.'" 
 
 Mitigated ! Strange vanity in men, that 
 they should imagine their own feelings to be 
 more sensible and acute than those of others ; 
 that they should consider that a mitigation in 
 favour of the prisoner, which, had they been 
 placed in his situation, they would have declared 
 an accumulation of the punishment. Not a cap- 
 tain who sat upon that court-martial but would
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 11 
 
 have considered, as Peters did, that death was by 
 far the more lenient sentence of the two. Yet 
 they meant well — they felt kindly towards him, 
 and acknowledged his provocations; but they 
 fell into the too common error of supposing that 
 the finer feelings, which induce a man to prefer 
 death to dishonour, are only to be recognised 
 among the higher classes ; and that, because 
 circumstances may have placed a man before the 
 mast, he will undergo punishment, however 
 severe, however degrading, — in short, every " ill 
 that flesh is heir to," — in preference to death. 
 
 As the reader may not perhaps be acquainted 
 with the nature of the punishment to which 
 Peters was sentenced, and the ceremonies by 
 which it is attended, I shall enter into a short 
 description of it. 
 
 A man sentenced to be flogged round the 
 fleet, receives an equal part of the whole number 
 of lashes awarded alongside each ship composing 
 that fleet. For instance, if sentenced to three
 
 12 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 hundred lashes, in a fleet composed of ten sail, 
 he will receive thirty alongside of each ship. 
 
 A launch is fitted up with a platform and 
 shears. It is occupied by the unfortunate indi- 
 vidual, the provost-martial, the boatswain, and 
 his mates, with their implements of office, and 
 armed marines stationed at the bow and stern. 
 When the signal is made for punishment, all the 
 ships in the fleet send one or two boats each, with 
 crews cleanly dressed, the officers in full uni- 
 form, and marines under arms. These boats 
 collect at the side of the ship, where the launch 
 is lying, the hands are turned up, and the ship's 
 company are ordered to mount the rigging, to 
 witness that portion of the whole punishment 
 which, after the sentence has been read, is in- 
 flicted upon the prisoner. When he has received 
 the allotted number of lashes, he is, for the time, 
 released, and permitted to sit down, with a 
 blanket over his shoulders, while the boats, which 
 attend the execution of the sentence, make fast
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 13 
 
 to the launch, and tow it to the next ship in 
 the fleet, where the same number of lashes are 
 inflicted with corresponding ceremonies ; — and 
 thus he is towed from one ship to the other 
 until he has received the whole of his punish- 
 ment. 
 
 The severity of this punishment consists not 
 only in the number of lashes, but in the peculiar 
 manner in which they are inflicted ; as, after the 
 unfortunate wretch has received the first part of 
 his sentence alongside of one ship, the blood is 
 allowed to congeal, and the wounds partially to 
 close, during the interval which takes place 
 previously to his arrival alongside of the next, 
 when the cat again subjects him to renewed and 
 increased torture. During the latter part of the 
 punishment, the suffering is dreadful ; and a man 
 who has undergone this sentence is generally 
 broken down in constitution, if not in spirits, 
 for the remainder of his life. 
 
 Such was the punishment inflicted upon the 
 unfortunate Peters; and it would be difficult to
 
 14 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 decide, at the moment when it was completed, 
 and the blanket thrown over his shoulders, 
 whether the heart or the back of the fainting 
 man were the more lacerated of the two. 
 
 Time can heal the wounds of the body, over 
 which it holds its empire; but those of the 
 soul, like the soul itself, spurn his transitory 
 sway. 
 
 Peters, from that moment, was a desperate 
 man. A short time after he had undergone his 
 sentence, the news of the mutiny at Spithead was 
 communicated ; and the vacillation and appre- 
 hensions of the Admiralty, and of the nation at 
 large, were not to be concealed. This mutiny 
 was apparently quelled by conciliation ; but 
 conciliation is but a half-measure, and inef- 
 fectual when offered from superiors to inferiors. 
 
 In this world, I know not why, there seems to 
 be but one seal binding in all contracts of magni- 
 tude — and that seal is blood. Without referring 
 to the Jewish types, proclaiming that " all things 
 were purified by blood, and without shedding of
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 15 
 
 blood there was no remission," — without refer- 
 ring to that sublime mystery by which these 
 types have been fulfilled, — it appears as if, in all 
 ages and all countries, blood had been the only 
 seal of security. 
 
 Examine the records of history, the revolution 
 of opinion, the public tumults, the warfare for 
 religious ascendancy — it will be found that, 
 without this seal, these were only lulled for the 
 moment, and invariably recommenced until blood 
 had made its appearance as witness to " the act 
 and deed. 1 '
 
 16 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 " This is a long description, but applies 
 To scarce five minutes past before the eyes ; 
 But yet ivhat minutes ! Moments like to these 
 Rend men's lives into immortalities." 
 
 Byuon. 
 
 The mutiny at Spithead was soon followed up 
 by that at the Nore ; and the ringleader, Parker, 
 like a meteor darting through the firmament, 
 sprung from nothing, corruscated, dazzled, and 
 disappeared. The Texel fleet joined, except a 
 few ships, which the courage and conduct of the 
 gallant old Admiral Duncan preserved from the 
 contagion. Let me here digress a little, to intro-
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 17 
 
 duce to my readers the speech made by this 
 officer to his ship's company on the first symp- 
 toms of disaffection. It is supposed that sailors 
 are not eloquent. I assert that, with the excep- 
 tion of the North American Indians, who have, 
 to perfection, the art of saying much in few 
 words, there are few people more eloquent than 
 sailors. The general object looked for, in this 
 world, is to obtain the greatest possible effect 
 with the smallest power ; if so, the more simple 
 the language, the more matter is condensed, the 
 nearer we approach to perfection. Flourishes 
 and flowers of rhetoric may be compared to extra 
 wheels applied to a carriage, increasing the 
 rattling and complexity of the machine, without 
 adding to either the strength of its fabric or the 
 rapidity of its course. 
 
 It was on the 6th of June that the fleet at the 
 Nore was joined by the Agamemnon, Leopard, 
 Ardent, and other ships, which had separated 
 from Admiral Duncan's fleet. When the ad- 
 miral found himself deserted by part of his own
 
 18 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 fleet, he called his own ship's crew together, and 
 addressed them in the following speech : — 
 
 " My lads ! I once more call you together with 
 a sorrowful heart, owing to what I have lately 
 seen, the disaffection of the fleets ; I call it dis- 
 affection, for the crews have no grievances. To 
 be deserted by my fleet, in the face of the 
 enemy, is a disgrace which, I believe, never 
 before happened to a British admiral ; nor could 
 I have supposed it possible. My greatest com- 
 fort under God is, that I have been supported 
 by the officers, seamen, and marines of this 
 ship, for which, with a heart overflowing with 
 gratitude, I request you to accept my sincere 
 thanks. I flatter myself much good may result 
 from your example, by bringing those deluded 
 people to a sense of the duty which they owe, not 
 only to their King and country, but to themselves. 
 
 " The British Navy has ever been the sup- 
 port of that liberty which has been handed 
 down to us bv our ancestors, and which I trust
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 19 
 
 we shall maintain to the latest posterity — and 
 that can only be done by unanimity and obe- 
 dience. This ship's company, and others, who 
 have distinguished themselves by loyalty and 
 good order, deserve to be, and doubtless will be, 
 the favourites of a grateful nation. They will 
 also have, from their inward feelings, a comfort 
 which will be lasting, and not like the floating 
 and false confidence of those who have swerved 
 from their duty. 
 
 " It has often been my pride with you to 
 look into the Texel, and see a foe which dreaded 
 coming out to meet us. My pride is now hum- 
 bled indeed ! Our cup has overflown, and made 
 us wanton — the Allwise Providence has given 
 us this check as a warning, and I hope we shall 
 improve by it. On Him then let us trust where 
 our only security is to be found. I find there 
 are many good men among us ; for my own 
 part, I have had full confidence of all in this 
 ship ; and once more I beg to express my ap- 
 probation of your conduct.
 
 20 THE KINO'S OWN. 
 
 " May God, who has thus far conducted you, 
 continue to do so ; and may the British Navy, 
 the glory and support of our country, be re- 
 stored to its wonted splendour, and be not only 
 the bulwark of Britain, but the terror of the 
 world. 
 
 " But this can only be effected by a strict 
 adherence to our duty and obedience ; and let 
 us pray that the Almighty God may keep us 
 in the right way of thinking. 
 
 " God bless you all." 
 
 At an address so unassuming, and so calcu- 
 lated, from its simplicity and truth, to touch the 
 human heart, the whole ship's crew were melted 
 into tears, and declared their resolution to ad- 
 here to their admiral in life or death. Had all 
 the ships in the fleet been commanded by such 
 men as Admiral Duncan, the mutiny at Spit- 
 head would not have been succeeded by that 
 at the Nore ; but the seamen had no confidence, 
 either in their officers, or in those who presided
 
 THE KING S OWN. 
 
 21 
 
 at the Board of Admiralty : and distrust of their 
 promises, which were considered to be given 
 merely to gain time, was the occasion of the 
 second and more alarming rebellion of the two. 
 
 The irritated mind of Peters was stimulated 
 to join the disaffected parties. His pride, his 
 superior education, and the acknowledgment 
 among his shipmates that he was an injured 
 man, all conspired to place him in the danger- 
 ous situation of ringleader on board of his own 
 ship, the crew of which, although it had not 
 actually joined in the mutiny, now shewed open 
 signs of discontent. 
 
 But the mine was soon exploded by the be- 
 haviour of the captain. Alarmed at the mu- 
 tinous condition of the other ships which were 
 anchored near to him, and the symptoms of 
 dissatisfaction in his own, he proceeded to an 
 act of unjustifiable severity, evidently impelled 
 by fear, and not by resolution. He ordered 
 several of the petty officers and leading men 
 of the ship to be thrown into irons, because
 
 22 the king's own. 
 
 they were seen to be earnestly talking together 
 on the forecastle, — and, recollecting that his con- 
 duct towards Peters had been such as to war- 
 rant disaffection, he added him to the ntrriVber. 
 The effect of this injudicious step was imme- 
 diate. The men came aft in a body on the 
 quarter-deck, and requested to know the 
 grounds upon which Peters and the other men 
 had been placed in confinement ; and, perceiving 
 alarm in the countenance of the captain, not- 
 withstanding the resolute bearing of the officers, 
 they insisted upon the immediate release of their 
 shipmates. Thus the first overt act of mutiny 
 was brought on by the misconduct of the captain. 
 The officers expostulated and threatened in 
 vain. Three cheers were called for by a voice 
 in the crowd, and three cheers were imme- 
 diately given. The marines, who still remained 
 true to their allegiance, had been ordered under 
 arms ; the first lieutenant of the ship — for the 
 captain, trembling and confused, stood a mere 
 cypher — gave the order for the ship's company
 
 the king's own. 23 
 
 to go down below, threatening to fire upon them 
 if the order were not instantaneously obeyed. 
 The captain of marines brought his men to the 
 " make ready," and they were about to present, 
 when the first lieutenant waved his hand to stop 
 the decided measure, until he had first ascer- 
 tained how far the mutiny was general. He 
 stepped a few paces forward, and requested that 
 every " blue jacket" who was inclined to re- 
 main faithful to his King and country, would 
 walk over from that side of the quarter-deck 
 upon which the ship's company were assembled, 
 to the one which was occupied by the officers 
 and marines. 
 
 A pause and silence ensued — when, after some 
 pushing and elbowing through the crowd, 
 William Adams, an elderly quarter-master, 
 made hi.s appearance in the front, and passed 
 over to the side where the officers stood, while 
 the hisses of the rest of the ship's company ex- 
 pressed their disapprobation of his conduct. 
 The old man had just reached the other side
 
 21 the king's own. 
 
 of the deck, when, turning round like a lion at 
 bay, with one foot on the comings of the hatch- 
 way, and his arm raised in the air to command 
 attention, he addressed them in these few words : 
 
 " My lads, I have fought for my King five 
 and thirty years, and have been too long in his 
 service to turn a rebel in my old age. 1 ' 
 
 Would it be credited that, after the mutiny had 
 been quelled, no representation of this conduct 
 was made to government by his captain ? Yet 
 such was the case, and such was the gratitude 
 of Captain A — — . 
 
 The example shewn by Adams was not fol- 
 lowed : — the ship's crew again cheered, and ran 
 down the hatchways, leaving the officers and 
 marines on deck. They first disarmed the sen- 
 try under the half deck, and released the pri- 
 soners, and then went forward to consult upon 
 further operations. 
 
 They were not long in deciding. A boat- 
 swain's mate, who was one of the ringleaders, 
 piped, " Stand by hammocks !" The men ran
 
 the king's own. 25 
 
 on deck, each seizing a hammock, and jumping 
 with it down below on the main deck. The ob- 
 ject of this manoeuvre not being comprehended, 
 they were suffered to execute it without inter- 
 ruption. In a few minutes they sent up the 
 marine, whom they had disarmed when sentry 
 over the prisoners, to state that they wished to 
 speak with the captain and officers, who, after 
 some discussion, agreed that they would descend 
 and hear the proposals which the ship's com- 
 pany should make. Indeed, even with the aid of 
 the marines, many of whom were wavering, re- 
 sistance would now have been useless, and could 
 only have cost them their lives : for they were 
 surrounded by other ships who had hoisted the 
 flag of insubordination, and whose guns were 
 trained ready to pour in a destructive fire on 
 the least sign of an attempt to purchase their 
 anchor. To the main deck they consequently 
 repaired. 
 
 The scene which here presented itself was 
 as striking as it was novel. The after part of 
 
 vol. x. c
 
 26 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 the main deck was occupied by the captain and 
 officers, who had come down with the few ma- 
 rines who still continued stedfast to their duty, 
 and one sailor only, Adams, who had so nobly 
 stated his determination on the quarter-deck. 
 The foremost part of the deck was tenanted by 
 a noisy and tumultuous throng of seamen, whose 
 heads only appeared above a barricade of ham- 
 mocks, which they had formed across the deck, 
 and out of which at two embrasures, admirably 
 constructed, two long twenty-four pounders, 
 loaded up to the muzzle with grape and ca- 
 nister shot, were pointed aft in the direction 
 where the officers and marines were standing — 
 a man at the breech of each gun, with a match 
 in his hand, (which he occasionally blew, that 
 the priming powder might be more rapidly 
 ignited,) stood ready for the signal to fire. 
 
 The captain, aghast at the sight, would have 
 retreated, but the officers, formed of sterner 
 materials, persuaded him to stay, although he 
 shewed such evident signs of fear and perturba-
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 27 
 
 tion, as seriously to injure a cause, in which re- 
 solution and presence of mind alone could avail. 
 The mutineers, at the suggestion of Peters, had 
 already sent aft their preliminary proposals, 
 which were that the officers and marines should 
 surrender up their arms, and consider them- 
 selves under an arrest, — intimating, at the same 
 time, that the first step in advance made by any 
 one of their party would be the signal for ap- 
 plying the match to the touchholes of the guns. 
 There was a pause and dead silence as if it 
 were a calm, although every passion was roused 
 and on the alert, every bosom heaved tu- 
 multuously, and every pulse was trebled in its 
 action. The same feeling which so powerfully 
 affects the truant schoolboy, — who, aware of his 
 offence, and dreading the punishment in per- 
 spective, can scarce enjoy the rapture of momen- 
 tary emancipation, — acted upon the mutineers, 
 in an increased ratio., proportioned to the mag- 
 nitude of their stake. Some hearts beat with 
 remembrance of injuries and hopes of vengeance 
 
 c 2
 
 28 the king's own. 
 
 and retaliation ; others with ambition, long dor- 
 mant, bursting from its concealed recess ; and 
 many were actuated by that restlessness which 
 induced them to consider any change to be pre- 
 ferable to the monotony of existence in com- 
 pulsory servitude. 
 
 Among the officers, some were oppressed 
 with anxious forebodings of evil, — those pecu- 
 liar sensations which, when death approaches 
 nearly to the outward senses, alarm the heart ; 
 others experienced no feeling but that of manly 
 fortitude and determination to die, if necessary, 
 like men ; in others, alas ! — in which party, 
 small as it was, the captain was pre-eminent — 
 fear and trepidation amounted almost to the loss 
 of reason . 
 
 Such was the state of the main-deck of the 
 ship, at the moment in which we are now de- 
 scribing it to the reader. 
 
 And yet, in the very centre of all this tumult, 
 there was one who, although not indifferent to 
 the scene around him, felt interested without
 
 the king's own. 29 
 
 being anxious; astonished without being alarmed. 
 Between the contending and divided parties, 
 stood a little boy, about six years old. He was 
 the perfection of childish beauty ; chestnut hair 
 waved in curls on his forehead, health glowed 
 in his rosy cheeks, dimples sported over his 
 face as he altered the expression of his counte- 
 nance, and his large dark eyes flashed with 
 intelligence and animation. He was dressed in 
 mimic imitation of a man-of-warVman, — loose 
 trousers, tightened at the hips, to preclude the 
 necessity of suspenders, — and a white duck frock, 
 with long sleeves and blue collar, — while a 
 knife, attached to a lanyard, was suspended round 
 his neck : a light and narrow-brimmed straw hat 
 on his head, completed his attire. At times he 
 looked aft at the officers and marines ; at others 
 he turned his eyes forward to the hammocks 
 behind which the ship's company were assem- 
 bled. The sight was new to him, but he was 
 already accustomed to reflect much, and to ask 
 few questions. Go to the officers he did not,
 
 30 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 for the presence of the captain restrained him. 
 Go to the ship's company he could not, for the 
 barricade of hammocks prevented him. There 
 he stood, in wonderment, but not in fear. 
 
 There was something beautiful and aifecting 
 in the situation of the boy ; calm, when all 
 around him was anxious tumult ; thoughtless, 
 when the brains of others were oppressed with 
 the accumulation of ideas ; contented, where 
 all was discontent ; peaceful, where each party 
 that he stood between was thirsting for each 
 other's blood : — there he stood, the only happy, 
 the only innocent one, amongst hundreds swayed 
 by jarring interests and contending passions. 
 
 And yet he was in keeping, although in such 
 strong contrast, with the rest of the picture ; for 
 where is the instance of the human mind being 
 so thoroughly depraved, as not to have one 
 good feeling left ? Nothing exists so base and 
 vile, as not to have one redeeming quality. 
 There is no poison without some antidote — no 
 precipice, however barren, without some trace
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 31 
 
 of verdure — no desert, however vast, without 
 some spring to refresh the parched traveller, 
 some Oasis, some green spot, which, from its 
 situation, in comparison with surrounding 
 objects, appears almost heavenly ; — and thus 
 did the boy look almost angelic, standing as 
 he did between the angry exasperated parties 
 on the main-deck of the disorganised ship. 
 
 After some little time, he walked forward, 
 and leant against one of the twenty-four 
 pounders that was pointed out of the embra- 
 sure, the muzzle of which was on a level with, 
 and intercepted by, his little head. 
 
 Adams, the quarter-master, observing the 
 dangerous situation of the child, stepped for- 
 ward. This was against the stipulations laid 
 down by the mutineers, and Peters cried out to 
 him — " Heave-to, Adams, or we fire !" Adams 
 waved his hand in expostulation, and continued 
 to advance. " Keep back," again cried Peters, 
 " or by , we fire !" 
 
 "Not upon one old man, Peters, and he
 
 32 the king's own. 
 
 unarmed," replied Adams ; " I'm not worth so 
 much powder and shot." The man at the gun 
 blew his match. " For God's sake, for your own 
 sake, as you value your happiness and peace 
 of mind, do not fire, Peters !" cried Adams, 
 with energy, " or you'll never forgive yourself." 
 
 " Hold fast the match,' 1 said Peters ; " we need 
 not fear one man ;" and as he said this, Adams 
 had come up to the muzzle of the gun, and 
 seized the boy, whom he snatched up in his 
 arms. 
 
 "I only came forward, Peters, to save your 
 own boy, whose head would have been blown 
 to atoms if you had chanced to have fired the 
 gun," said Adams, turning short round, and 
 walking aft with the boy in his arms. 
 
 " God in Heaven bless you, Adams," cried 
 Peters, with a faltering voice, and casting a 
 look of fond affection at the child. The heart 
 of the mutineer was at that moment softened 
 by parental feelings, and he blew the priming 
 off the touchhole of the gun, lest an accidental
 
 the king's own. 33 
 
 spark should risk the life of his child, who was 
 now aft with the officers and their party. 
 
 Reader, this little boy will be the hero of 
 our tale. 
 
 c 3
 
 34 the king's own. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 " Roused discipline alone proclaims their cause, 
 And injured navies urge their broken laws. 
 Pursue we in his track the mutineer." 
 
 Byuon. 
 
 Man, like all other animals of a gregarious 
 nature, is more inclined to follow than to lead. 
 There are few who are endued with that impetus 
 of soul, which prompts them to stand foremost 
 as leaders in the storming of the breach, whether 
 it be of a fortress of stone, or the more dan- 
 gerous one of public opinion, when failure in 
 the one case may precipitate them on the sword, 
 and in the other consign them to the scaffold.
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 35 
 
 In this mutiny there were but few of the rare 
 class referred to above: — :n the ship whose move- 
 ments we have been describing, not one, per- 
 haps, except Peters. There were many boister- 
 ous, many threatening, but no one, except him, 
 who was equal to the command, or to whom 
 the command could have been confided. He 
 was, on board of his own ship, the very life 
 and soul of the mutiny. At the moment de- 
 scribed at the end of the first chapter, all the 
 better feelings of his still virtuous heart were 
 in action ; and, by a captain possessing reso- 
 lution and a knowledge of human nature, the 
 mutiny might have been suppressed ; but Cap- 
 tain A., who perceived the anxiety of Peters, 
 thought the child a prize of no small value, 
 and as Adams brought him aft, snatched the 
 boy from his arms, and desired two of the party 
 of marines to turn their loaded musquets at his 
 young heart, — thus intimating to the mutineers 
 that he would shoot the child at the first sign 
 of hostility on their part.
 
 36 the king's own. 
 
 The two marines who had received this order, 
 looked at each other in silence, and did not 
 obey. It was repeated by the captain, who 
 considered that he had hit upon a masterpiece 
 of diplomacy. The officers expostulated ; the 
 officer commanding the party of marines turned 
 away in disgust; but in vain : the brutal order 
 was reiterated with threats. The whole party 
 of marines now murmured, and consulted to- 
 gether in a low tone. 
 
 Willy Peters was the idol and plaything of 
 the whole crew. He had always been accus- 
 tomed to remain on board with his father, and 
 there was not a man in the ship who would not 
 have risked his life to have saved that of the 
 child. The effect of this impolitic and cruel 
 order was decisive. The Marines, with the 
 serjeant at their head, and little Willy placed 
 in security in the centre, their bayonets directed 
 on the defensive, towards the captain and officers, 
 retreated to the mutineers, whom they joined 
 with three cheers, as the child was lifted over
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 37 
 
 the barricade of hammocks, and received into 
 his father's arms. 
 
 " We must not submit to their terms, Sir," 
 said the first-lieutenant. 
 
 " Any terms, any terms," answered the ter- 
 rified captain : " tell them so, for God's sake, 
 or they will fire. Adams, go forward, and tell 
 them we submit." 
 
 This order was, however, unnecessary, for the 
 mutineers, aware of the impossibility of any 
 further resistance, had thrown down the bar- 
 ricade of hammocks, and, with Peters at their 
 head, were coming aft. 
 
 " You consent, gentlemen, to consider your- 
 selves under an arrest?" inquired Peters of 
 the first-lieutenant and officers, without paying 
 any attention to the captain. 
 
 " We do, we do," cried Captain A. "I hope 
 you will not stain your hands with blood. Mr. 
 Peters, I meant the child no harm." 
 
 " If you had murdered him, Captain A., you 
 could not have injured him so much as you 
 
 vol. 1. 
 
 117 51 
 
 .1 uoi
 
 38 THE KING S OWN. 
 
 have injured his father," retorted Peters ; " but 
 fear not for your life, Sir ; that is safe ; and 
 you will meet all the respect and attention to 
 your wants that circumstances will permit. 
 We war not with individuals.' 1 
 
 It was a proud moment for Peters to see 
 this man cringing before him, and receiving 
 with thanks the promise of his life from one 
 whom he had so cruelly treated. There was 
 a glorious revenge in it, the full force of which 
 could only be felt by the granting, not the 
 receiving party : for it could only be appre- 
 ciated by one who possessed those fine and 
 honourable feelings, of which Captain A. was 
 wholly destitute. 
 
 If the reader will consult the various records 
 of the times which we are now describing, he 
 will find that every respect was personally paid 
 to the officers, although they were deprived 
 of their arms. Some of the most obnoxious 
 were sent on shore, and the intemperate con- 
 duct of others produced effects for which they
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 39 
 
 had only to thank themselves; but, on the 
 whole, the remark made by Peters was strictly 
 correct : " They warred not with individuals" 
 — they demanded justice from an ungrateful 
 country. 
 
 It is true that the demands in this mutiny 
 were not so reasonable as in the preceding ; but 
 where is the man who can confine himself to 
 the exact balance of justice when his own feel- 
 ings are unwittingly thrown into the scale ? 
 
 As I before stated, it is not my intention to 
 follow up the details of this national disgrace, 
 but merely to confine myself to that part which 
 is connected with the present history. Peters, as 
 delegate from his ship, met the others, who were 
 daily assembled, by Parker's directions, on board 
 of the Queen Charlotte, and took a leading and 
 decided part in the arrangements of the disaf- 
 fected fleet. 
 
 But Parker, the ringleader, although a man 
 of talent, was not equal to the task he had 
 undertaken. He lost sight of several important
 
 40 THE KING 1 S OWN. 
 
 features, necessary to insure success in all civil 
 commotions ; such as rapidity and decision of 
 action, constant employment being found, and 
 continual excitement being kept up, amongst 
 his followers, to afford no time for reflection. 
 Those who serve under an established govern- 
 ment, know exactly their present weight in 
 the scale of worldly rank, and the extent of 
 their future expectations ; they have accus- 
 tomed themselves to bound their ambition ac- 
 cordingly : and feeling conscious that passive 
 obedience is the surest road to advancement, 
 are led quietly, here or there, to be slaugh- 
 tered at the will and caprice of their superiors. 
 But the leader of the disaffected against an 
 established government has a difficult task. 
 He has nothing to offer to his followers but 
 promises. There is nothing on hand — all is 
 expectation. If allowed time for reflection, 
 they soon perceive that they are acting an 
 humble part in a dangerous game ; and that 
 even though it be attended with success, in
 
 THE KIXG's OWN. 41 
 
 all probability they will receive no share of 
 the advantages, although certain of incurring 
 a large proportion of the risk. The leader 
 of a connected force of the above description 
 rises to a dangerous height when borne up by 
 the excitement of the time ; but let it once be 
 permitted to subside, and, like the aeronaut 
 in his balloon from which the gas escapes 
 while it is soaring in the clouds, he is preci- 
 pitated from his lofty station, and gravitates 
 to his own destruction. 
 
 He must be a wonderful man who can collect 
 all the resources of a popular commotion, 
 and bring it to a successful issue. The reason 
 is obvious — everything depends upon the leader 
 alone. His followers are but as the stones com- 
 posing the arch of the bridge by which the 
 o-ulf is to be crossed between them and their 
 nominal superiors ; he is the keystone, upon 
 which the whole depends, — if completely fitted, 
 rendering the arch durable and capable of 
 bearing any pressure ; but if too small in di-
 
 42 the king's own. 
 
 mensions, or imperfect in conformation, ren- 
 dering the whole labour futile, and occasioning 
 all the fabric previously raised to be precipi- 
 tated by its own weight, and dispersed in ruin 
 and confusion. 
 
 This latter was the fate of the Mutiny at the 
 Nore. The insurrection was quelled, and the 
 ringleaders were doomed to undergo the utmost 
 penalty of martial law. Among the rest, Peters 
 was sentenced to death. 
 
 In the foremost part of the main-deck of a 
 line of battle ship, in a square room, strongly 
 bulkheaded, and receiving light from one of 
 the ports, as firmly secured with an iron grating, 
 — with no other furniture than a long wooden 
 form — his legs in shackles, that ran upon a 
 heavy iron bar lying on the deck — sat the 
 unfortunate prisoner, in company with three 
 other individuals, his wife, his child, and old 
 Adams, the quarter-master. Peters was seated 
 on the deck, supporting himself by leaning 
 against the bulkhead. His wife was lying
 
 the king's own. 43 
 
 beside him, with her face hidden in his lap. 
 Adams occupied the form, and the child stood 
 between his knees. All were silent, and the eyes 
 of the three were directed towards one of the 
 sad company, who appeared more wretched and 
 disconsolate than the rest. 
 
 " My dear, dear Ellen!" said Peters, mourn- 
 fully, as a fresh burst of grief convulsed her 
 attenuated frame. 
 
 " Why, then, refuse my solicitations, Edward ? 
 If not for yourself, listen to me for the sake of 
 your wife and child. Irritated as your father 
 still may be, his dormant affection will be awak- 
 ened, when he is acquainted with the dreadful 
 situation of his only son ; nay, his family pride 
 will never permit that you should perish by so 
 ignominious a death ; and your assumed name 
 will enable him, without blushing, to exert his 
 interest, and obtain your reprieve." 
 
 " Do not put me to the pain of again refus- 
 ing you, my dearest Ellen. I desire to die, and 
 my fate must be a warning to others. When I
 
 44 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 reflect what dreadful consequences might have 
 ensued to the country from our rebellious pro- 
 ceedings, I am thankful, truly thankful, to God, 
 that we did not succeed. I know what you 
 would urge — my wrongs, my undeserved stripes. 
 I, too, would urge them; and when my con- 
 science has pressed me hard, have urged them 
 in palliation ; but I feel that it is only in palli- 
 ation, not in justification, that they can be 
 brought forward. They are no more in com- 
 parison with my crime than the happiness of 
 one individual is to that of the nation which I 
 assisted to endanger, because one constituting 
 a part of it had, unauthorized, oppressed me. 
 No, no, Ellen, I should not be happy if I were 
 not to atone for my faults ; and this wretched 
 life is the only atonement I can offer. But for 
 you, and that poor child, my dearest and kind- 
 est, I should go to the scaffold rejoicing ; but the 
 thoughts — O God, strengthen and support me !" 
 cried the unhappy man, hiding his face in his 
 hands.
 
 the king's OWN. 4)5 
 
 " Fear not for me, Edward. I feel here," 
 said Ellen, laying her hand on her heart, " a 
 conviction that we shall soon meet again. I 
 will urge you no more, love. But the boy — the 
 boy — Oh, Edward, what will become of that 
 dear boy, when we are both gone ?" 
 
 " Please God to spare my life, he'll never 
 want a father," said old Adams, as the tears 
 found a devious passage down the furrows of 
 his weather-beaten face. 
 
 " What will become of him ?" cried Peters, 
 with energy. " Why, he shall retrieve his fa- 
 ther's fault, wash out the stains in his father's 
 character. He shall prove as liege a subject as 
 I have been a rebellious one. He shall as faith- 
 fully serve his country as I have shamefully de- 
 serted it. He shall be as honest as I have been 
 false ; and oh, may he be as prosperous as I have 
 been unfortunate — as happy as I have been mi- 
 serable. Come hither, boy. By the fond hopes 
 I entertain of pardon and peace above — by the 
 Almighty, in whose presence I must shortly
 
 46 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 tremble, I here devote thee to thy country — 
 serve her bravely and faithfully. Tell me, 
 Willy, do you understand me, and will you pro- 
 mise me this ?" 
 
 The boy laid his head upon his father's shoul- 
 der, and answered in a low tone — " I will ;" 
 and then, after a short pause, added, " but 
 what are they going to do with you, father? 1 ' 
 
 " I am going to die for my country's good, 
 my child. If God wills it, may you do the same, 
 but in a more honourable manner." 
 
 The boy seemed lost in thought, and, after a 
 short time, quitted his father's side, and sat down 
 on the deck by his mother, without speaking. 
 
 Adams rose, and taking him up, said, " May- 
 hap you have that to talk of which wants no 
 listeners. I will take Willy with me, and give 
 him a little air before I put him in his ham- 
 mock. It's but a close hole, this. Good night 
 to you both, though I'm afeard that's but a 
 wish." 
 
 But a wish indeed, — and it was the last that
 
 the king's own. 47 
 
 was ever to close upon the unhappy Peters. 
 The next morning was appointed for his execu- 
 tion. There are scenes of such consummate 
 misery, that they cannot be pourtrayed without 
 harrowing up the feelings of the reader, — and of 
 these the climax may be found in a fond wife, 
 lying at the feet of her husband during the last 
 twelve hours of his mortal career. We must 
 draw the curtain. 
 
 And now, reader, the title of this work, which 
 may have puzzled you, will be explained ; for, 
 intelligible as it may be to our profession, it may 
 be a mystery to those who are not in his Majes- 
 ty's service. The broad-headed arrow was a 
 mark assumed at the time of the Edwards 
 (when it was considered the most powerful wea- 
 pon of attack), as distinguishing the property 
 of the King; and this mark has been continued 
 down to the present day. Every article sup- 
 plied to his Majesty's service from the arsenals 
 and dock-yards is thickly studded with this
 
 48 the king's own. 
 
 mark ; and to be found in possession of any pro- 
 perty so marked, is a capital offence, as it de- 
 signates that property to be the King's own. 
 
 When Adams left the condemned cell with 
 Willy, he thought upon what had passed, and 
 as Peters had devoted the boy to his King and 
 country, he felt an irresistible desire to mark 
 him. The practice of tattooing is very com- 
 mon in the navy ; and you will see a sailor's arm 
 covered with emblems from the shoulder to the 
 wrist ; his own initials, that of his sweetheart, 
 the crucifix, Neptune, and mermaids being hud- 
 dled together, as if mythology and scripture 
 were one and the same thing. Adams was not 
 long in deciding, and telling our little hero that 
 his father wished it— he easily persuaded him to 
 undergo the pain of the operation, which was 
 performed on the forecastle, by pricking the 
 shape of the figure required with the points of 
 needles, and rubbing the bleeding parts with 
 wet gunpowder and ink. By these simple
 
 the king's own. 49 
 
 means the form of a broad-headed arrow, or 
 the King's mark, was, in the course of an hour, 
 indelibly engraved upon the left shoulder of 
 little Willy, who was then consigned to his 
 hammock. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 50 th*. king's own. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 " The strife was o'er, the vanquish'd had their doom ; 
 The mutineers were crushed, dispersed, or ta'en, 
 Or lived to deem the happiest were the slain." 
 
 Byron. 
 
 The day broke serenely but brightly, and 
 poured in a stream of light through the iron 
 grating of the cell where Peters and his wife lay 
 clasped in each other's arms, not asleep, but 
 torpid, and worn out with extreme suffering. 
 Peters was the first to break the silence, and 
 gently moved Ellen, as he called her by her 
 name. She had not for some time lifted up her
 
 THE KING S OWN. 51 
 
 head, which was buried in his bosom ; and she 
 was not aware that the darkness had been dis- 
 pelled. She raised her head at his summons, 
 and, as the dazzling light burst upon her sunken 
 eyes, so did the recollection that this was the 
 fatal morning flash upon her memory. 
 
 With a shriek, she again buried her face in 
 the bosom of her husband. " Ellen, as you 
 love me; 1 said Peters, " do not distress me in my 
 last hour. I have yet much to do before I die, 
 and require your assistance and support. Rise, 
 my love, and let me write to my father ; I must 
 not neglect the interest of our child." 
 
 She rose tremblingly, and, turning back from 
 her face her beautiful hair, which had been for 
 so many days neglected, and was now moistened 
 with her tears, reached the materials required by 
 her husband, who, drawing towards him the 
 wooden form to serve him as a table, wrote the 
 following letter, while his wife sat by him with a 
 countenance of idiotic apathy and despair: — 
 
 d 2
 
 32 the king's own. 
 
 " Dear Father, 
 " Yes, still dear father, — Before you cast your 
 eyes upon these characters, you will be childless. 
 — Your eldest boy perished nobly in the field of 
 honour : your youngest, and last, will this morn- 
 ing meet an ignominious, but deserved death on 
 the scaffold. Thus v/ill you be childless ; but 
 if your son does meet the fate of a traitor, still 
 the secret is confined to you alone, and none 
 will imagine that the unhappy Peters, ring- 
 leader of a mutinous ship, was the scion of a 
 race who have so long preserved an unblemished 
 name. Fain would I have spared you this shock 
 to your feelings, and have allowed you to remain 
 in ignorance of my disgrace ; but I have an act of 
 duty to perform to you and to my child — towards 
 you, that your estates may not be claimed, and 
 pass away to distant and collateral branches ; — 
 towards my child, that he may eventually reclaim 
 his rights. Father, I forgive you, I might say 
 - — but no — let all now be buried in oblivion ; 
 and, as you peruse these lines, and think on my
 
 the king's own. 53 
 
 unhappy fate, shed a tear in memory of the once 
 happy child you fondled on your knee, and say 
 to your heart, ' I forgive him.' 
 
 " I have dedicated my boy to his king and 
 country. If you forgive me, and mean to pro- 
 tect your grandchild, do not change the career 
 in life marked out for him : — it is a solemn com- 
 pact between my God and me ; and you must 
 fulfil this last earnest request of a dying man, 
 as you hope for future pardon and bliss. 
 
 " His distracted mother sits by me ; I would 
 intreat you to extend your kindness towards her, 
 but I fear she will soon require no earthly aid. 
 Still, soothe her last moments with a promise to 
 protect the orphan, and may God bless you for 
 your kindness. 
 
 " Your affectionate son, 
 
 " Edward." 
 
 Peters had scarcely finished this letter when 
 Adams, with the boy in his arms, was admitted. 
 " I come for final orders, Peters, and to tell you
 
 54 the ktng's own. 
 
 what I did last night to this boy. He is real 
 stuff, — never winced. You said he was to be the 
 King's, and I thought you would like that he 
 should be marked as such. There is no mis- 
 taking this mark, Peters," continued Adams, 
 baring the boy's shoulder, and shewing the im- 
 pression of the broad-headed arrow, which now 
 appeared angry and inflamed, as it always is for 
 some days after the operation. " I did not 
 mention that I was going to do it, because Ellen 
 then might not have liked it: but I hope you do.'' , 
 
 " Many, many thanks," answered Peters ; and 
 opening his letter which was folded, but not 
 sealed, he added a postscript, pointing out the 
 mark by which the boy would be identified. 
 " You could not have done me a greater favour, 
 Adams ; and now you must promise me one 
 more, which is to look after my poor Ellen, 
 when — " 
 
 " I understand, my good fellow, and I will," 
 replied Adams. " There is the Chaplain out- 
 side, who is all ready for service if you would
 
 the king's own. 55 
 
 like to see him," continued the old man, passing 
 his hands over his humid eyes. 
 
 " Ask him to come in, Adams ; he is a good 
 man, and an honour to his profession. I shall 
 be glad to see him. 1 ' 
 
 Adams went to the door, and soon returned 
 with the chaplain. He saluted Peters, who 
 respectfully bowed to him, and said : " I have 
 long made my peace with God and man, Sir, 
 and am as well prepared to die, as sinful mortal 
 can be — in faith and charity with all men. 
 Many thanks to you, Sir, for your kindness ; 
 but, Sir, you may be of use here yet. Can 
 you" — and his voice faltered, — " can you, Sir, 
 help that poor young woman ? Cannot you rea- 
 son her into some kind of tranquillity, some 
 degree of submission to God's will? Oh, do 
 that, Sir, and you will confer a favour on me 
 indeed.'" 
 
 The chaplain approached Ellen, who lay 
 on the deck in a state of mental stupefaction, 
 and, addressing her in mild accents, persuaded
 
 56 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 her to rise and take a seat on the form ; he 
 kindly contrived to bring it forward to the 
 iron-grated port, so that she could not witness 
 the motions of Peters, and, with a low, yet 
 energetic and persuasive voice, attempted to 
 reason her into patience and resignation. His 
 efforts were in vain. She occasionally looked 
 upon him with a vacant stare, but her thoughts 
 Mere elsewhere. During the period, Peters had 
 time to shave himself, and dress in clean attire, 
 preparatory to being summoned to his fate. 
 
 The time was approaching fast ; one bell after 
 eight o'clock, designating the half hour, had 
 struck ; at two bells (nine o'clock) he was to be 
 summoned to his doom. The clergyman rose 
 from his useless endeavours — "Let us pray," 
 said he, and sank upon his knees. — Peters, 
 Adams, and the child, followed his example ; 
 and,l asx of all, poor Ellen, who seemed to recover 
 her recollection, sank on her knees, but, unable 
 to keep her position, fell towards the clergyman, 
 who, as he supported her in his arms, poured
 
 THE KING^ OWN. 57 
 
 forth a fervent and eloquent appeal in behalf 
 of the one who was about to appear in the pre- 
 sence of his Maker, and of those who were left 
 in tribulation behind. It was scarcely over 
 when the door opened, and the provost-martial 
 claimed his prisoner. 
 
 The prayer of the chaplain seemed to ring in 
 Ellen's ears, and she remained supported by 
 the worthy man, muttering parts of it at inter- 
 vals, during which time the limbs of her husband 
 were freed from the shackles. All was ready ; 
 and Peters, straining the child to his bosom in 
 silence, and casting one look at his dear Ellen, 
 who still remained in a state of stupefaction, 
 denied himself a last embrace (though the effort 
 wrung his heart), rather than awaken her to her 
 misery. He quitted the cell, and the chaplain, 
 quietly placing Ellen in the arms of Adams, 
 followed, that he might attend and support 
 Peters in his last moments. 
 
 The prisoner was conducted on the quarter- 
 deck previously to being sent forward to execu- 
 
 d 3
 
 58 the king's own. 
 
 tion. His sentence was read by Captain A ; 
 
 and the remark may perhaps be considered 
 uncharitable, but there certainly appeared to 
 be an ill-concealed satisfaction in his counte- 
 nance as he came to that part where it stated 
 that the prisoner was to li suffer death."" Peters 
 heard it read with firmness, and asked permis- 
 sion to address the ship's company. This was at 
 first refused by the captain, but, at the request 
 of the officers, and the assurance of the chaplain 
 that he would vouch for the language of Peters 
 being such as would have a proper tendency to 
 future subordination on the part of the ship's 
 company, it was assented to. Bowing first to 
 the captain and officers, Peters turned to the 
 ship's company, who were assembled on the 
 booms and gangway, and addressed them as 
 follows : — 
 
 '* Shipmates, the time may come when our 
 country shall be at peace, and your services no 
 longer be required. Then, when you narrate 
 to your children the events of this unhappy
 
 the king's own. 59 
 
 mutiny, do not forget to add instruction to 
 amusement, by pointing out to them that it 
 ended in the disgrace and death of the ring- 
 leaders. Tell them that, in your presence, one 
 of them acknowledged on the quarter-deck the 
 justice of his sentence, and returned thanks to 
 his Majesty for his kindness in pardoning 
 others who had been led into the same error. 
 Tell them to do their duty, to fight nobly for 
 their King and country, and warn them by our 
 example — " 
 
 At this moment Willy, who had eluded the 
 vigilance of old Adams, who was occupied in 
 supporting the inanimate Ellen, pushed his way 
 between the legs of the marines, who were 
 drawn up in ranks on the quarter-deck, and, 
 running to his father, laid hold of the loose 
 sailor's trousers in which he was attired, and 
 looked anxiously and inquisitively in his face. 
 Peters's voice faltered ; he attempted to con- 
 tinue his address to the men, but could not ; 
 and waving his hand, and pointing to the child,
 
 60 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 in mute explanation of the cause, after strug- 
 gling in vain against the overflowings of a 
 
 son o 
 
 father's heart, he bent over the boy and burst 
 into tears. 
 
 The effect was electrical. The shock was 
 communicated to all ; not an eye but was 
 dimmed ; sobs were heard in the crowd ; the 
 oldest officers turned away to conceal their emo- 
 tions ; the younger, and more fresh in heart, 
 covered their faces, and leant against the bul- 
 warks ; the marines forgot their discipline, and 
 raised their hands from their sides to wipe their 
 eyes. Many a source, long supposed to be her- 
 metically sealed, was re-opened, — many a spring 
 long dry reflowed rapidly ; even Captain A— — 
 was moved. 
 
 By a singular coincidence, the grouping of 
 the parties at this moment was nearly the same 
 as when we first introduced our little hero to 
 the reader — the officers and marines on the 
 after part of the deck, the ship's company for- 
 ward, and little Willy standing between the
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 61 
 
 two. Again he appears in the same position ; — 
 but what a change of feeling had taken place ! 
 As if he had been a little spirit of good, waving 
 his fairy talisman, evil passions, which, in the 
 former scene were let loose, had retired to their 
 darkest recesses, and all the better feelings of 
 humanity were called forth, and displayed in 
 one universal, spontaneous, and unfeigned tri- 
 bute to the melancholy and affecting scene. 
 
 The silence was first broken by Willy — 
 " Where are you going, father ; and why do 
 you wear that night-cap ?" 
 
 " I am going to sleep, child,— to an eternal 
 sleep ! God bless and protect you," said Peters, 
 taking him up, and kissing him. " And now 
 Sir, I am ready," continued Peters, who had 
 
 recovered his self-possesion ; " Captain A 
 
 I forgive you, as I trust to be forgiven my- 
 self. Mr. — ," said he, addressing the first- 
 lieutenant, "take this child by the hand, and do 
 not permit him to come forward — remember he 
 is the " King's Own." Then, bowing to the
 
 62 the ring's own. 
 
 chaplain, who had scarcely recovered from the 
 effects that the scene had produced upon him, 
 and looking significantly at the provost-martial, 
 Peters bent his steps forward by the gangway — 
 the noose was fastened — the gun fired, and, in 
 a moment, all was over. 
 
 Loud as was the report of the gun, those 
 who were appointed to the unpleasant duty of 
 running aft with the rope on the main-deck, 
 which swung Peters to the yard-arm, heard a 
 shriek that even that deafening noise could not 
 overpower. It was the soul of Ellen joining 
 that of her husband — and, before the day 
 closed, their bodies were consigned to the same 
 grave — 
 
 " Where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are 
 at rest."
 
 the king's own. 63 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 " Lord of himself, that heritage of woe." 
 
 Bykon. 
 
 Our novel may, to a certain degree, be com- 
 pared to one of the pantomimes which rival 
 theatres annually bring forth for the amuse- 
 ment of the holiday children. We open with 
 dark and solemn scenes, introducing occasion- 
 ally a bright image, which appears with the 
 greater lustre from the contrast around it : and 
 thus we proceed, until Harlequin is fairly pro-
 
 64 the king's own. 
 
 vided with his wand, and despatched to seek his 
 adventures by land and by sea. To complete 
 the parallel, the whole should wind up with a 
 blaze of light and beauty, till our dazzled eyes 
 are relieved, and the illusion disappears, at the 
 fall of the green curtain, which, like the 
 " Finis" at the end of the third volume, tells 
 us that all is over. 
 
 We must, however, be allowed to recapitu- 
 late a little in this chapter, previously to launch- 
 ing our hero upon the uncertain and boisterous 
 sea of human life. It will be necessary for the 
 correct developement of the piece, that the 
 attention of the reader should be called to the 
 history of the grandfather of our hero. 
 
 Admiral De Courcy was the lineal descendant 
 of an antient and wealthy family, of high aristo- 
 cratic connection. He had the misfortune, at 
 an early age, to lose his father, to be an only child, 
 and to have a very weak and doting mother. 
 Add to all these, that he was the heir to a large 
 entailed property, and the reader will acknow-
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 65 
 
 ledge that even the best disposed child stood a 
 fair chance of being spoiled. 
 
 But young De Courcy was not a well-dis^ 
 posed child : he was of a violent, headstrong, 
 and selfish disposition, and was not easily to 
 be checked by the firmest hand. He advanced 
 to man's estate, the cruel tyrant of a fond and 
 foolish mother, and the dislike of all around 
 him. His restless disposition, backed by the 
 persuasions of his mother to the contrary, in- 
 duced him to enter into the naval service. At 
 the time we are now describing, the name of 
 the boy often appeared on the books of a man- 
 of-war, when the boy himself was at school or 
 at home with his friends : if there were any 
 regulations to the contrary, they were easily 
 surmounted by interest. The consequence was, 
 that, — without any knowledge of his profession, 
 without having commenced his career by learn- 
 ing to obey before he was permitted to com- 
 mand, — at the early age of eighteen years,
 
 66 
 
 THE KING S OWN. 
 
 young De Courcy was appointed captain of a 
 fine frigate ; and, as the power of a captain of a 
 man-of-war was at that time almost without 
 limit, and his conduct without scrutiny, he 
 had but too favourable an opportunity of in- 
 dulging his tyrannical propensities. His caprice 
 and violence were unbounded, his cruelty 
 odious, and his ship was designated by the 
 sobriquet of " The Hell Afloat." 
 
 There are, however, limits to the longest 
 tether ; and as no officer would remain in the 
 ship, and the desertion of the men became so 
 extensive, that a fine frigate lay useless and 
 unmanned, the government at last perceived 
 the absolute necessity of depriving of command 
 one who could not command himself. The 
 ship was paid off and even the interest of Cap- 
 tain De Courcy, powerful as it was, could not 
 obtain further employment for him. Having 
 for some time been in possession of his large 
 property, Captain De Courcy retired to the
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 67 
 
 hall of his ancestors, with feelings of anger 
 against the government, which his vindictive 
 temper prompted him to indulge by the annoy- 
 ance of all around him : and, instead of diffu- 
 sing joy and comfort by the expenditure of his 
 wealth, he rendered himself odious by avarice, 
 — a vice the more contemptible, as it was unex- 
 pected at so early an age. 
 
 But, much as he was an object of abhorrence, 
 he was more an object of pity. With a hand- 
 some exterior, and with fascinating manners, 
 of high birth and connections, with a splendid 
 fortune, — in short, with every supposed advan- 
 tage that the world could give, — he was, through 
 the injudicious conduct of a fond mother, whose 
 heart he had broken, the most miserable of 
 beings. He was without society, for he was 
 shunned by the resident gentlemen in the neigh- 
 bourhood. Even match-making mothers, with 
 hearts indurated by interest, and with a string 
 of tall daughters to provide for, thought the 
 sacrifice too great, and shuddered at an alliance
 
 68 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 with Captain De Courcy. Avoided by the 
 tenants of his large estates, whose misfortunes 
 met with no compassion, and whose inability 
 to answer the demands of the rent-day were 
 followed up with immediate distress and seizure, 
 — abhorred by his own household, who, if their 
 services were not required, vanished at his ap- 
 proach, or, if summoned, entered the door of 
 his room trembling, — he was an isolated and 
 unhappy being, a torment to himself and to 
 others. Wise, indeed, was Solomon, when he 
 wrote, that " he Avho spared the rod, spoiled the 
 child." 
 
 The monotony of a life whose sole negative 
 enjoyment consisted in the persecution of others, 
 induced Captain De Courcy to make occasional 
 excursions to the different watering-places ; and 
 whether that, to a certain degree, he was schooled 
 by banishment from society at home, or that he 
 had no opportunity of displaying his diabolical 
 temper, his prepossessing appearance and well 
 known riches made him a great favourite in
 
 the king's own. 69 
 
 these marts for beauty. An amiable girl was 
 unfortunate enough to fix his attention ; and a 
 hasty proposal was as hastily accepted by her 
 friends, and quietly acquiesced in by herself. 
 She married, and was miserable, until released 
 from her heedless engagement by death. 
 
 There are those who excuse a violent tem- 
 per in a man, and consider it no obstacle to 
 happiness in the marriage life. Alas, may they 
 never discover the fatal error in their own 
 union ! Even with the best hearted and most 
 fondly attached, with those who will lavish 
 every endearment, acknowledge their fault, and 
 make every subsequent effort to compensate for 
 the irritation of the moment, violence of temper 
 must prove the bane of marriage bliss. Bitter 
 and insulting expressions have escaped, un- 
 heeded at the time, and forgotten by the of- 
 fending party ; but, although forgiven, never 
 to be forgotten by the other. Like barbed 
 arrows, they have entered into the heart of her 
 whom he had promised before God to love and to
 
 70 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 cherish ; and remain there they must, for they 
 cannot be extracted. Affection may pour balm 
 into the wounds, and soothe them for the time ; 
 and, while love fans them with his soft wings, 
 the heat and pain may be unperceived; but 
 passion again asserts his empire, and upon his 
 rude attack these ministering angels are forced 
 from their office of charity, and woman, kind, 
 devoted woman, looks inwardly with despair 
 upon her wounded and festering heart. 
 
 Hurried as she was to an early tomb, the 
 unfortunate wife of Captain De Courcy had still 
 time to present him with two fine boys, whose 
 infantine endearments soothed his violence, and, 
 as long as they shewed no spirit of resistance, they 
 were alternately fondled and frightened. But 
 children are not blind ; and the scenes which 
 continually occurred between their parents, — 
 the tears of their mother, and the remarks made 
 in their presence by the domestics, — soon taught 
 them to view their father with dread. Captain 
 De Courcy perceived that he was shunned by
 
 THE KING^ OWN. 71 
 
 his children, the only beings whom he had 
 endeavoured (as far as his temper would permit) 
 to attach to him. They were dismissed to 
 school at a very early age, and were soon treated 
 by their father in the same harsh manner as all 
 those who had the misfortune to be under his 
 baneful protection. They returned home at 
 holiday time with regret ; and the recommence- 
 ment of their scholastic duties was a source 
 of delight. The mother died, and all at home 
 was desolate. The violence of their father 
 seemed to increase from indulgence; and the 
 youths, who were verging into manhood, 
 proved that no small portion of the parent's fiery 
 disposition had been transmitted to them, and 
 shewed a spirit of resistance which ended in 
 their ruin. 
 
 William, the eldest of the boys, -was, as it 
 were, by birthright, the first to fall a victim to 
 his father's temper. Struck senseless and bleed- 
 ing to the ground for some trifling indiscretion, 
 as he lay confined to his bed for many sub-
 
 (n 
 
 THE KING S OWN. 
 
 sequent days, he formed the resolution of seek- 
 ing his own fortune, rather than submit to 
 hourly degradation. At the period at which 
 this occurred, many years previously to the one 
 of which we are now writing, the East- India 
 Company had but a short time received its 
 charter, and its directors were not the proud 
 rulers which they have since become. It 
 never was calculated that a company, originally 
 consisting of a few enterprising merchants, could 
 ever have established themselves (even by the 
 most successful of mischievous arts) the control- 
 lers of an immense empire, independent of, and 
 anomalous to, the constitution of England ; or 
 that privileges, granted to stimulate the enter- 
 prise of individuals, would have been the ground 
 of a monopoly, which, like an enormous Incubus, 
 should oppress the nation from the throne to the 
 cottage. They gladly accepted the offers of all 
 adventurers ; and, at that period, there was as 
 much eagerness on their part to secure the 
 services of individuals, as there now is on the
 
 THE KING'S OWN. ^3 
 
 part of applicants to be enrolled on the books 
 of the company. 
 
 William, without acquainting his father, en- 
 tered into an engagement with the company, 
 signed it, and was shipped oft", with many others, 
 who, less fortunate, had been nefariously kid- 
 napped for the same destination. He arrived in 
 India, rose to the rank of captain, and fell in one 
 of the actions that were fought at this time. 
 The letter which William left on the table, 
 directed to his father, informing him of the step 
 he had been induced to take, was torn to atoms, 
 and stamped upon with rage; and the bitter 
 malediction of the parent was launched with 
 dreadful vehemence upon the truant son, in the 
 presence of the one who remained. 
 
 And yet there was one man, before whom this 
 haughty and vindictive spirit quailed, and who 
 had the power to soften, although not wholly to 
 curb, his impetuosity, — one, who dared to tell 
 him the truth, expose to him the folly and wick- 
 edness of his conduct, and meet the angry flash 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 74 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 of his eye with composure, — one whose character 
 and office secured him from insult, and who was 
 neither to be frightened nor diverted from his 
 purpose of doing good. It was the vicar of the 
 parish, who, much as he disliked the admiral, 
 (for Captain De Courcy had latterly obtained 
 that rank by seniority on the list), continued his 
 visits to the hall, that he might appeal for the 
 unfortunate. The admiral would willingly have 
 shaken him off, but his attempts were in vain. 
 The vicar was firm at his post, and often suc- 
 cessfully pleaded the cause of his parishioners, 
 who were most of them tenants of the admiral. 
 He was unassisted in his parochial duties by the 
 curate, a worthy, but infirm and elderly man, 
 fast sinking into his grave, and whom, out of 
 Christian charity, he would not remove from his 
 situation, as it would have deprived him of the 
 means of support. 
 
 Edward, the younger brother, naturally 
 sought that happiness abroad which was denied 
 him at home. The house of the curate was one
 
 the king's own. 75 
 
 of his most favourite resorts, for the old man 
 had a beautiful and only daughter, — poor Ellen, 
 whose fate we have just recorded. It is suffi- 
 cient for the present narrative to state, that these 
 two young people loved, and plighted their 
 troth ; that for two years they met with joy, and 
 parted with regret, until the approaching disso- 
 lution of the old curate opened their eyes to the 
 dangerous position in which they were placed. 
 He died ; and Edward, who beheld her whom 
 he loved thrown unprotected and pennyless on 
 the world, mustered up the courage of despera- 
 tion, to state to his father the wishes of his 
 heart. 
 
 A peremptory order to leave the house, or 
 abandon Ellen, was the immediate result; and 
 the indignant young man quitted the roof, and 
 persuaded the unhappy and fond girl to unite 
 herself to him by indissoluble ties, in a neigh- 
 bouring parish, before the vicar had possession 
 of the facts, or the opportunity to dissuade him 
 from so imprudent a step. He immediately 
 
 e 2
 
 76 THE KIN&'s OWN. 
 
 proceeded to the hall, with a faint hope of 
 appeasing the irritated parent ; but his endea- 
 vours were fruitless, and the admiral poured 
 forth his anathema against his only child. 
 
 Edward now took his wife to a village some 
 miles distant ; where, by their mutual exertions, 
 they contrived for some time to live upon their 
 earnings ; but the birth of their first child, the 
 hero of this tale, and the expenses attending 
 her sickness, forced him at last (when all ap- 
 peals to his father proved in vain) to accept 
 the high bounty that was offered for men to 
 enter into his Majesty's service, — which he did 
 under the assumed name of Edward Peters.
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 77 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 I disclaim all my paternal care, 
 
 Propinquity and property of blood. 
 
 The barbarous Scythian, 
 
 Or he that makes his generation messes 
 
 To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom 
 
 Be as well neighbour'd, pitied, and relieved, 
 
 As him. 
 
 Shakspeaiie. 
 
 In a lofty room, the wainseotting of which 
 was of dark oak, with a high mantel-piece, ela- 
 borately carved in the same wood, with groups 
 of dead game and flowers, and a few choice 
 pictures let into the pannels, — upon an easy 
 chair, that once had been splendid with morocco 
 and gold, sat a man of about fifty years of age ; 
 but his hair was grey, and his face was indented
 
 78 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 with deep lines and furrows. He was listening 
 with impatience to the expostulations of one 
 who stood before him, and shifted his position 
 from time to time, when more than usually an- 
 noyed with the subject. It was Admiral De 
 Courcy, and the vicar of the parish, who was 
 persuading him to be merciful. 
 
 The subject of this discourse was, however, 
 dismissed by the entrance of a servant, who pre- 
 sented to the admiral, upon a large and massive 
 salver, a letter, brought as he stated by a sea- 
 faring man. The admiral lifted up his glasses 
 to examine the superscription — " From my 
 worthless vagabond of a son !" exclaimed he, 
 and he jerked the letter into the fire without 
 breaking the seal. 
 
 " Surely, Sir," rejoined the vicar, " it would 
 be but justice to hear what he has to offer in 
 extenuation of a fault, too severely punished 
 already. He is your only son, Sir, and why 
 not forgive one rash act ? Recollect, Sir, that
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 7^ 
 
 he is the heir to this property, which, being en- 
 tailed, must of necessity devolve upon him.'" 
 
 " Curses on the bare thought," answered the 
 admiral with vehemence. " I hope to starve him 
 first." 
 
 " May the Almighty shew more mercy to 
 you, Sir, when you are called to your ac- 
 count, than you have shewn to an imprudent 
 and hasty child. We are told that we are to 
 forgive, if we hope to be forgiven. Admiral 
 De Courcy, it is my duty to ask you, do you 
 expect (and if so, upon what grounds,) to be 
 forgiven yourself? 1 ' 
 
 The admiral looked towards the window, and 
 made no reply. 
 
 The letter, which had been thrown into the 
 grate, was not yet consumed. It had lit upon 
 a mass of not yet ignited coal, and lay there 
 blackening in the smoke. The vicar perceived 
 it, and, walking to the fire-place, recovered the 
 letter from its perilous situation. 
 
 " If you do not choose to read it yourself, 
 admiral ; if you refuse to listen to the solicitations
 
 80 the kino's owr?. 
 
 of an only child, have you any objection that I 
 should open the letter, and be acquainted with 
 the present condition of a young man, who, as 
 you know, was always dear to me?" 
 
 " None, none," replied the admiral, sarcas- 
 tically. " You may read it, and keep it too, if 
 you please. 1 '' 
 
 The vicar, without any answer to this re- 
 mark, opened the letter, which, as the reader 
 may probably imagine, was the one written by 
 Edward Peters on the morning of his exe- 
 cution. 
 
 " Merciful Heaven !" exclaimed the man of 
 religion, as he sat down to recover from the 
 shock he had received — " Unfortunate boy !" 
 
 The admiral turned round, astonished at the 
 demeanua of the clergyman, and, (it would ap- 
 pear,) as f Hie conscience had pressed him hard, 
 and that he was fearful that his cruel wish, ex- 
 pressed but a few minutes before, had been 
 realized. He turned pale, but asked no ques- 
 tions. After a short time, the vicar rose, and, 
 with a countenance of more indignation than
 
 THE KIXG's OWN. 81 
 
 the admiral or others had ever seen, thus ad- 
 dressed him : — 
 
 " The time may come, Sir, nay, I prophesy 
 that it will come, when the contents of this let- 
 ter will cause you bitterly to repent your cruel 
 and unnatural conduct to your son. The let- 
 ter itself, Sir, I cannot intrust you with. In 
 justice to others, it must not be put into your 
 hands ; and, after your attempt to commit it to 
 the flames, and vour observation that I might 
 read and keep it too, I feel justified in retaining 
 it. A copy of it, if you please, I will send 
 you, Sir." 
 
 " I want neither copy nor original, nor shall 
 I read them if you send them, good Sir/' 
 answered the admiral, pale with anger. 
 
 " Fare you well, then, Sir. May God turn 
 your heart !*" 
 
 So saying, the vicar left the room with a de- 
 termination not to enter it again. His first 
 inquiry was for the person who had brought the 
 letter, and he was informed that he still waited 
 
 e 3
 
 82 the king's own. 
 
 in the hall. It was old Adams, who had ob- 
 tained leave of absence for a few days, that 
 he might fulfil the last request of Peters. The 
 clergyman here received a second shock, from 
 the news of the death of poor Ellen, and lis- 
 tened with the deepest interest to Adams's 
 straight-forward account of the whole catas- 
 trophe. 
 
 The first plan that occurred to the vicar was 
 to send for the child, and take charge of him 
 himself; but this was negatived not only by 
 Peters's letter, but also by old Adams, who 
 stated his determination to retain the child 
 until claimed by legal authority. After mature 
 deliberation, he considered that the child would 
 be as much under an All-seeing Eye on the 
 water, as on the land, and that at so early an 
 age, he was probably as well under the charge 
 of a trustworthy old man, like Adams, as he 
 would be elsewhere. He, therefore, requested 
 Adams to let him have constant accounts of the 
 boy's welfare, and to apply to him for any
 
 the king's own. 83 
 
 funds that he might require for his mainte- 
 nance ; and, wishing the old man farewell, he set 
 off for the vicarage, communing with himself 
 as to the propriety of keeping the circumstance 
 of the boy's birth a secret, or divulging it to 
 his grandfather, in the hopes of eventually in- 
 ducing him to acknowledge and to protect him.
 
 84 the king's own. 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 To the seas presentlye went our lord admiral, 
 
 With knights couragious, and captains full good ; 
 
 The brave Earl of Essex, a prosperous general, 
 With him prepared to pass the salt flood. 
 
 At Plymouth speedilye took they ship valiantlye, 
 
 Braver ships never were seen under sayle, 
 With their fair colours spread, and streamers o'er their head. 
 
 Now, bragging foemen, take heed of your tayle. 
 
 Old Ballad, 1596. 
 
 Many and various were the questions that 
 were put by our little hero to Adams and 
 others, relative to the fate of his parents. That 
 they were both dead was all the information 
 that he could obtain, for, to the honour of 
 human nature, there was not one man, in a 
 ship's company composed of several hundred, 
 who had the cruelty to tell the child that his
 
 the king's own. 8-5 
 
 father had been hanged. It may, at first, 
 appear strange to the reader, that the child 
 himself was not aware of the fact, from what he 
 had witnessed on the morning of execution ; but 
 it must be recollected that he had never seen 
 an execution before, and had therefore nothing 
 from which to draw such an inference. All he 
 knew was, that his father was on the quarter- 
 deck, with a night-cap on, and that he told him 
 that he was going to sleep. The death of his 
 mother, whose body he was not permitted to 
 see, was quite as unintelligible, and the mystery 
 which enveloped the whole transaction added 
 no little to the bereavement of the child, who, as 
 I have before stated, from his natural talent 
 and peculiar education, was far more reflective 
 and advanced than children usually are. 
 
 Adams returned to his little charge with 
 pleasure: he had now a right to adopt the child, 
 and consider him as his own. In the ship the 
 boy was such an object of general sympathy, 
 that not only many of the men, but some of the
 
 86 the king's own. 
 
 officers would gladly have taken him, and have 
 brought him up. The name of his father was, 
 by general consent, never mentioned, especially 
 as Adams informed the officers and men that 
 Peters had been a "purser's name" adopted 
 by the child's father, and that although the 
 clergyman had stated this, he had not entrusted 
 him with the real name that the child was enti- 
 tled to bear. As, therefore, our little hero was 
 not only without parents, but without name, 
 he was rechristened by Adams, by the cogno- 
 men of the " King's Own," and by that title, or 
 his christian name, Willy, was ever afterwards 
 addressed, both by officers and men. 
 
 There is an elasticity supplied to the human 
 mind by unerring wisdom, that enables us, how- 
 ever broken down by the pressure of misfortune, 
 to recover our cheerfulness after a while, and 
 resign ourselves to the decrees of Heaven. It 
 consoles the widow — it supports the bereaved 
 lover, who had long dwelt upon anticipated
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 87 
 
 bliss — it almost reconciles to her lot the fond 
 and forsaken girl, whose heart is breaking. 
 
 Unusually oppressed, as Willy was, with the 
 loss of those to whom he had so fondly clung 
 from his birth, in a few months he recovered his 
 wonted spirits, and his cheeks again played 
 with dimples, as his flashing eye beamed from 
 under his long eye-lashes. He attached himself 
 to the old quarter-master, and seldom quitted 
 him — he slept in his hammock, he stood by his 
 side when he was on deck, at his duty, steering 
 the ship, and he listened to the stories of the 
 good old man, who soon taught him to read 
 and write. For three years, thus passed his 
 life, at the end of which period he had arrived 
 at the age of nine years. 
 
 After a long monotony of blockade service, 
 the ship was ordered to hoist the flag of a 
 commodore, who was appointed to the command 
 of an expedition against the western coast of 
 France, to create a diversion in favour of the 
 Vendean Chiefs. Captain A , whether it
 
 88 the king's own. 
 
 was that he did not like to receive a superior 
 officer on board of his ship, or that he did not 
 admire the service upon which she was to be 
 employed, obtained permission to leave his ship 
 for a few months, for the restoration of his 
 health, to the great joy of the officers and crew ; 
 and an acting captain, of well known merit, was 
 appointed in his stead. 
 
 The squadron of men-of-war and transports 
 was collected, the commodore's flag hoisted, 
 and the expedition sailed with most secret 
 orders, which, as usual, were as well known to 
 the enemy, and every body in England, as they 
 were to those by whom they were given. It is 
 the characteristic of our nation, that we scorn to 
 take any unfair advantage, or reap any benefit, 
 by keeping our intentions a secret. We imitate 
 the conduct of that English tar, who, having 
 entered a fort, and meeting a Spanish officer 
 without his sword, being providently supplied 
 with two cutlasses himself, immediately offered 
 him one. that they might engage on fair terms.
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 89 
 
 The idea is generous, but not wise. But I 
 rather imagine that this want of secrecy arises 
 from all matters of importance being arranged 
 by cabinet councils. In the multitude of coun- 
 sellors there may be wisdom, but there certainly 
 is not secrecy. Twenty men have probably 
 twenty wives, and it is therefore twenty to one 
 but the secret transpires through that channel. 
 Further, twenty men have twenty tongues, and 
 much as we complain of women not keeping 
 secrets, I suspect that men deserve the odium 
 of the charge quite as much, if not more, than 
 women do. On the whole, it is forty to one 
 against secrec} 7 , which, it must be acknowledged, 
 are lony odds. 
 
 On the arrival of the squadron at the point of 
 attack, a few more davs were thrown away, — 
 probably upon the same generous principle of 
 allowing the enemy sufficient time for prepara- 
 tion. Troops had been embarked, with the 
 intention of landing them, to make a simulta- 
 neous attack with the shipping, Combined
 
 90 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 expeditions are invariably attended with delay, 
 if not with disagreement. An officer, command- 
 ing troops, who, if once landed, would be as 
 decided in his movements as Lord Wellington 
 himself, does not display the same decision when 
 out of his own element. From his peculiar 
 situation on board, — his officers and men distri- 
 buted in different ships, — the apparent difficulties 
 of debarkation, easily remedied and despised by 
 sailors, but magnified by landsmen, — from the 
 great responsibility naturally felt in a situation 
 where he must trust to the resources of others, 
 and where his own, however great, cannot be 
 called into action, — he will not decide without 
 much demur upon the steps to be taken : 
 although it generally happens, that the advice 
 originally offered by the naval commandant has 
 been acceded to. Unless the military force 
 required is very large, marines should invariably 
 be employed, and placed under the direction of 
 the naval commander. 
 
 After three or four days of pros and cons,
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 91 
 
 the enemy had completed his last battery, and 
 as there was then no rational excuse left for 
 longer delay, the debarkation took place, without 
 any serious loss on our side, except that of one 
 launch, full of the — regiment, which was cut 
 in halves by the enemy's shot. The soldiers, as 
 they sank in the water, obeyed the orders of the 
 sergeant, and held up their cartouch-boxes, that 
 they might not be wetted two seconds sooner 
 than necessary, — held fast their musquets, — and, 
 without stirring from the gunnels of the boat, 
 round which they had been stationed, went 
 down in as good order as could be expected, 
 each man at his post, with his bayonet fixed. 
 The sailors, not being either so heavily capa- 
 risoned, or so well drilled, were guilty of a 
 sauve qui pent, and were picked up by other 
 boats. The officer of the regiment stuck to his 
 men, and it is to be hoped that he marched the 
 whole of his brave detachment to Heaven, as he 
 often had before to church. But we must leave 
 the troops to form on the beach as well as they
 
 92 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 can, and the enemy's shot will permit, and retire 
 on board. 
 
 The commodore's arrangement had been 
 punctually complied with. The ships that were 
 directed to cover the landing of the troops, 
 knocked down many of the enemy, and not a 
 great many more of our own men. The stations 
 of the other ships were taken with a precision 
 deserving of the highest encomiums ; and there 
 is no doubt, that, had not the enemy had the 
 advantage of stone walls, they must have 
 had the worst of it, and would have been well 
 beaten. 
 
 The commodore himself, of course, took the 
 post of honour. Anchored with springs on his 
 cables, he alternately engaged a heavy battery 
 on his starboard bows, a much heavier, backed 
 by a citadel, throwing shells on his beam, and 
 a masqued battery on his quarter, which he had 
 not reckoned upon. The latter was rather 
 annoying, and the citadel threw shells with most 
 disagreeable precision. He had almost as much
 
 THE KING'S OWX. 93 
 
 to do as Lord Exmouth at Algiers, although 
 the result was not so fortunate. 
 
 A ship engaging at anchor, with very little 
 wind, and that wind lulled by the percussion 
 of the air from the report of the guns, as it 
 always is, has the disadvantage of not being 
 able to disengage herself of the smoke, which 
 rapidly accumulates and stagnates as it were 
 between the decks. Under these circumstances 
 you repeatedly hear the order passed upon the 
 main and lower deck of a line-of-battle ship, 
 to point the guns two points abaft the beam, 
 point-blank, and so on. In fact, they are as 
 much in the dark as to external objects, as if 
 they were blind-folded ; and the only comfort 
 to be derived from this serious inconvenience, 
 is, that every man is so isolated from his neigh- 
 bour that he is not put in mind of his own 
 danger by witnessing the death of those 
 around him, for they may fall three or four 
 feet from him without his perceiving it: — so 
 they continue to fire as directed, until they are
 
 94 THE KING S OWN. 
 
 either sent down to the cock-pit themselves, or 
 have a momentary respite from their exertions, 
 when, choaked with smoke and gunpowder, 
 they go aft to the scuttle-butt, to remove their 
 parching thirst. So much for the lower and 
 main-deck. We will now ascend to the quarter- 
 deck, where we shall find old Adams at the 
 conn, and little Willy standing behind him. 
 
 The smoke is not so thick here, but that you 
 may perceive the commodore on the poop, 
 walking a step or two to starboard, and then 
 turning short round to port. He is looking 
 anxiously through his glass at the position of 
 the troops, who are ashore to storm the bat- 
 teries, hoping to see a diversion in our favour 
 made by them, as the affair becomes serious. 
 By a singular coincidence, the commandant of 
 the troops on shore is, with his telescope, looking 
 anxiously at the shipping, hoping the same 
 thing from the exertions of the navy. The 
 captain of marines lies dead upon the poop ; 
 both his legs have been shot off by a spent
 
 THE KING S OWN. 05 
 
 shot— -he is left there as no surgeon can help 
 him ; and there are two signal men lying dead 
 alongside him. 
 
 On the hammock-nettings of the quarter- 
 deck stands the acting captain of the ship, 
 erect, and proud in bearing, with an eye of 
 defiance and scorn as he turns towards the 
 enemy. His advice was disregarded ; but he 
 does his duty proudly and cheerfully. He is 
 as cool and unconcerned, as if he were watching 
 the flying-fish as they rise from the bows of 
 the ship, when running down the tropics, 
 instead of the enemy's shot, as they splash in 
 the water alongside, or tear open the timbers 
 of the vessel, and the bodies of his crew. The 
 men still ply their half-manned guns ; but they 
 are exhausted with fatigue, and the bloody 
 deck proves that many have been dismissed from 
 their duty. The first-lieutenant is missing: 
 you will find him in the cock-pit — they have 
 just finished taking up the arteries of his right 
 arm, which has been amputated ; and the
 
 96 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 Scotch surgeon's assistant, who for many 
 months bewailed the want of practice, and who, 
 for having openly expressed his wishes on that 
 subject, had received a sound thrashing from the 
 exasperated midshipmen, is now complimenting 
 the fainting man upon the excellent stump that 
 they have made for him : while fifty others, 
 dying or wounded, with as much variety as 
 Homer's heroes, whose blood, trickling from 
 them in several rivulets, pours into one general 
 lake at the lowest level of the deck, are anx- 
 iously waiting their turn, and distract the 
 purser's steward by their loud calls, in every 
 direction at the same time, for the tin-pot of 
 water, with which he is relieving their agon- 
 ising thirst. 
 
 A large shark is under the counter ; he is so 
 gorged with human flesh, that he can scarcely 
 move his tail in the tinged water ; and he now 
 hears the sullen plunges of the bodies, as they 
 are launched through the lower-deck port, with
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 97 
 
 perfect indifference. " Oh ! what a glorious 
 thing's a battle." 
 
 But to return to our particular narrative. As 
 we mentioned before, the citadel threw shells with 
 remarkable precision, and every man who had 
 been killed on the quarter-deck of the commo- 
 dore's ship, towards which the attention of the 
 enemy was particularly directed, had been laid 
 low by these horrible engines of modern war- 
 fare. The action still continued, although the 
 fire on both sides had evidently slackened, and 
 the commodore's glass had at several intervals 
 been fruitlessly directed towards the troops on 
 shore, when accident brought about a change in 
 favour of our countrymen. Through some un- 
 known cause, the magazine of the enemy's largest 
 battery exploded, and buried the fabric with its 
 tenants in one mass of ruin. The enemy were 
 panic-struck with their misfortune— our troops 
 and sailors inspired with fresh courage — and the 
 fire was recommenced with three cheers and 
 redoubled vigour. The troops pushed on, and 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 98 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 succeeded in taking possession of the masked 
 battery, which had so long and so effectually 
 raked the commodore. 
 
 A few minutes after this had occurred, the 
 citadel recommenced its fire, and a shell, de- 
 scending with that terrific hissing peculiar to 
 itself alone, struck the main-bitts on the 
 quarter-deck, and, rolling aft, exploded. Its 
 fragments scattered death around, and one 
 piece took the hat off the head of little Willy, 
 who was standing before Adams, and then 
 buried itself in the old man's side. He stag- 
 gered forward, and fell on the coils of rope, 
 near the companion-hatch, and when the men 
 came to assist him below, the pain of moving 
 was so intense, that he requested to be left 
 where he was, that he might quietly breathe his 
 last. 
 
 Willy sat down beside his old friend, holding 
 his hand. — " A little water, boy — quick, quick !" 
 It was soon procured by the active and affec- 
 tionate child ; who, indifferent to the scene
 
 THE KINr/s OWN. 99 
 
 around him, thought only of administering to 
 the wants, and alleviating the misfortune, of his 
 dearest friend. Adams, after he had drunk, 
 turned his head round, apparently revived, and 
 said, in a low and catching voice, as if his 
 powers were fast escaping, " Willy, your 
 father's name was not Peters — I do not know 
 what it was ; but there is a person who does, 
 and who takes an interest in your welfare — he 
 lives in — " 
 
 At this moment another shell bounded 
 through the rigging, and fell within a few feet 
 of the spot where Willy and old Adams were 
 speaking. Willy, who was seated on a coil of 
 rope, supporting the head of his benefactor, 
 no sooner perceived the shell as it rolled towards 
 the side, with its fuse pouring out a volume of 
 smoke, than, recollecting the effects of the 
 former explosion, rather than the danger of the 
 attempt, he ran towards it, and not being able to 
 lift it, sank down on his knees, and, with 
 astonishing agility, succeeded in rolling it over- 
 
 f 2
 
 100 the king's own. 
 
 board, out of the larboard entering-port, to 
 which it was near. The shell plunged in the 
 water, and, before it had descended many 
 feet, exploded with a concussion that was com- 
 municated to the ship fore and aft. Our hero 
 then resumed his station by the side of Adams, 
 who had witnessed what had taken place. 
 
 " You have begun well, my boy," said the 
 old man, faintly. " There's ne'er a man in the 
 ship would have done it. Kiss me, boy.'' 1 
 
 The child leaned over the old man, and kissed 
 his cheek, clammy with the dews of death. 
 Adams turned a little on one side, uttered a 
 low groan, and expired.
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 101 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Now dash'd upon the billow, 
 
 Our opening timber's creak, 
 Each fears a watery pillow. 
 • * * * 
 
 To cling to slippery shrouds 
 Each breathless seaman crowds, 
 
 As she lay 
 
 Till the day 
 In the Bay of Biscay O. 
 
 Sea Song. 
 
 As it will only detain the narrative, without 
 being at all necessary for its dev elopement, I 
 shall not dwell upon the results of the engage- 
 ment, which was soon after decided, with very 
 indifferent success on our side. The soldiers 
 were re-embarked, the ships hauled out of reach 
 of the enemy's guns, and a council of war sum- 
 moned—on which it was agreed, nem. con., that 
 no more was to be done. The despatches were
 
 102 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 sent home— they certainly differed a little, but 
 that was of no consequence. The sum total of 
 killed and wounded was excessively gratifying 
 to the nation, as it proved that there had been 
 hard fighting. By the by, John Bull is rather 
 annoying in this respect : he imagines that no 
 action can be well fought unless there is a con- 
 siderable loss. Having no other method of judg- 
 ing of the merits of an action, he appreciates it 
 according to the list of killed and wounded. A 
 merchant in toto, he computes the value of an 
 object by what it has cost him, and imagines 
 that what is easily and cheaply obtained cannot 
 be of much value. The knowledge of this 
 peculiar mode of reasoning on his part, has very 
 often induced officers to put down very trifling 
 contusions, such as a prize-fighter would 
 despise, to swell up the sum total of the loss 
 to the aggregate of the honest man's expec- 
 tations. 
 
 To proceed. As usual in cases of defeat, a 
 small degree of accusation and recrimination
 
 THE KING'S OWN'. 103 
 
 took place. The army thought that the navy 
 might have beaten down stone ramparts, ten feet 
 thick; and the navy wondered why the army 
 had not walked up the same ramparts, which 
 were thirty feet perpendicular. Some of the 
 ships accused others of not having had a suffi- 
 cient number of men killed and wounded ; and 
 the boats' 1 crews, whenever they met on shore, 
 fought each other desperately, as if it were 
 absolutely necessary, for the honour of the 
 country, that more blood should be spilt. But 
 this only lasted three weeks, when a more suc- 
 cessful attempt made them all shake hands, and 
 wonder what they had been squabbling about. 
 
 There was, however, one circumstance, which 
 occurred during the action, that had not been 
 forgotten. It had been witnessed by the acting 
 captain of the ship, and had been the theme of 
 much comment and admiration among the officers 
 and men. This was the daring feat of our little 
 hero, in rolling the shell over the side. Captain 
 M , (the new commander) as soon as his
 
 104 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 more important avocations would permit, made 
 inquiries among the officers (being himself a 
 stranger in the ship), relative to Willy. His short 
 but melancholy history was soon told ; and the 
 disconsolate boy was summoned from under the 
 half-deck, where he sat by the body of Adams, 
 which, with many more, lay sewed up in its 
 hammock, and covered over with the union- 
 jack, waiting for the evening, to receive the 
 rites of Christian burial, before being committed 
 to the deep. 
 
 Knowing that Adams had been his only pro- 
 tector, a feeling of compassion for the bereaved 
 and orphan boy, and admiration of his earlv 
 
 tokens of bravery, induced Captain M , 
 
 who never formed a resolution in haste, or 
 abandoned it if once formed, to take the boy 
 under his own protection, and to place him as 
 an officer on that quarter-deck upon which he 
 had so distinguished himself. Willy, in obe- 
 dience to orders received, stood by the captain, 
 with his hat in his hand.
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 105 
 
 " What is your name, my boy r" said the 
 captain, passing a scrutinizing glance over his 
 upright and well-proportioned figure. 
 
 " Willy, Sir." 
 
 " And what's your other name ?" 
 
 " King's Own, Sir." 
 
 This part of the boy's history was now ex- 
 plained by the second-lieutenant, who was in 
 command, in consequence of the first-lieutenant 
 being wounded. 
 
 " He must have a name," replied the captain. 
 " William King's Own will not do. Is he on 
 the books V 
 
 u No, Sir, he is not ; shall I put him down as 
 William Jones, or William Smith ?" 
 
 " No, no, those are too common. The boy 
 has neither father, mother, nor name, that we 
 know of: as we may, therefore, have a choice 
 of the latter for him, let it be a good one. I 
 have known a good name make a man's fortune 
 with a novel-reading girl. There is a romance 
 
 r 3
 
 106 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 in the boy's history ; let him have a name some- 
 what romantic also."" 
 
 " Ay, ay, Sir," replied the lieutenant — 
 " here, marine, tell my boy to bring up one of 
 the volumes of the novel in my cabin." 
 
 The book made its appearance on the quarter- 
 deck. " Perhaps, Sir, we may find one here," 
 said the lieutenant, presenting the book to the 
 captain. 
 
 The captain smiled as he took the book. 
 il Let us see, - " said he, turning over the leaves — 
 " ' Delamere !' that's too puppyish. ' Fortescue!' 
 don't like that. ' Seymour V Yes, that will do. 
 It's not too fine, yet aristocratic and pretty. 
 Desire Mr. Hinchen, the clerk, to enter him on 
 the books as Mr. William Seymour, midship- 
 man. And now, youngster, I will pay for your 
 outfit, and first year's mess : after which I hope 
 your pay and prize-money will be sufficient to 
 enable you to support yourself. Be that as it 
 may, as long as you do credit to my patronage, I 
 shall not forget you."
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 107 
 
 Willy, with his straw hat in one hand, and a 
 supererogatory touch of his curly hair with the 
 other, made a scrape with his left leg, after the 
 manner and custom of seafaring people — in short, 
 he made the best bow that he could, observing 
 the receipt that had been given him by his 
 departed friend Adams. D'Egville might have 
 
 turned up his nose at 4; but Captain was 
 
 perfectly satisfied : for, if not an elegant, it cer- 
 tainly was a grateful bow. 
 
 Our young officer was not sent down to mess 
 in the berth of the midshipmen. His kind and 
 considerate captain was aware, that a lad who 
 creeps in at the hawse-holes, i. e., is promoted 
 from before the mast, was not likely to be 
 favourably received in the midshipmen's mess, 
 especially by that part of the community who, 
 from their obscure parentage, would have had 
 least reason to complain. He was, therefore, 
 consigned to the charge of the gunner. 
 
 Sincere as were the congratulations of the 
 officers and men, Willy was so much affected 
 with the loss of his fond guardian, that he re-
 
 108 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 ceived them with apathy, and listened to the 
 applause bestowed upon his courage with tears 
 that flowed from the remembrance of the cause 
 which had stimulated him to the deed. At the 
 close of the day, he saw the body of his old 
 friend committed to the deep, with quivering 
 lips and aching brow, — and, as it plunged into 
 the clear wave, felt as if he was left alone 
 in the world, and had no one to love and to 
 cling to. 
 
 We do not give children credit for the feel- 
 ings which they possess, because they have not, 
 at their early age, acquired the power of lan- 
 guage to express them correctly. Treat a child 
 as you would an equal, and, in a few months, 
 you will find that the reason of his having 
 until then remained childish, was because he 
 had heretofore been treated as a being of 
 inferior capacity and feelings. True it is, 
 that at an early age the feelings of children 
 are called forth by what we consider as trifles ; 
 but we must recollect, in humility, that our 
 own pursuits are as vain, as trifling, and as
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 109 
 
 selfish — li We are but children of a larger 
 growth." 
 
 The squadron continued to hover on the 
 French coast, with a view of alarming the enemy, 
 and of making a more fortunate attempt, if 
 opportunity occurred. Early in the morning of 
 the fourth day after Willy had been promoted 
 to the quarter-deck, a large convoy of chasse- 
 marees (small coasting vessels, lugger-rigged) 
 were discovered rounding a low point, not three 
 miles from the squadron. A general signal to 
 chase was immediately thrown out, and in half 
 an hour the English men-of-war were in the 
 midst of them, pouring broadside after broadside 
 upon the devoted vessels, whose sails were lowered 
 in every direction, in token of submission. The 
 English men-of-war reminded you of so many 
 hawks, pouncing upon a flight of small birds ; 
 and the vessels, with their lowered sails just flap- 
 ping with the breeze, seemed like so many victims 
 of their rapacity, who lay fluttering on the 
 ground, disabled, or paralysed with terror.
 
 110 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 Many escaped into shoal water, others ran 
 ashore, some were sunk, and about twenty taken 
 possession of by the ships of the squadron. They 
 proved to be part of a convoy, laden with wine, 
 and bound to the Garonne. 
 
 One of the chasse-marees being a larger 
 vessel than the rest, and laden with wine of 
 a better quality, was directed by the commo- 
 dore to be sent to England ; the casks of wine 
 on board of the others were hoisted into the 
 different ships, and distributed occasionally to 
 
 the crews. Captain M thought that the 
 
 departure of the prize to England would be 
 a favourable opportunity to send our hero to 
 receive his outfit, as he could not well appear 
 on the quarter-deck as an officer without his 
 uniform. He therefore directed the master's 
 mate, to whose charge the prize was about to 
 be confided, to take William with him, and 
 wrote to his friends at Portsmouth, whither the 
 vessel was directed to proceed, to fit him out 
 with the requisite articles, and send him back
 
 THE KIN'O's OWN*. "Ill 
 
 by the first ship that was directed to join the 
 squadron. The prize was victualled, the officer 
 received his written orders, was put on board 
 with our hero and three men, and parted com- 
 pany with the squadron. 
 
 The master's-mate who was directed to take 
 the vessel to Portsmouth, was the spurious pro- 
 geny of the first-lieutenant of a line-of-battle 
 ship, and a young woman who attended the 
 bumboat, which supplied the ship's company 
 with necessaries, and luxuries, if they could 
 afford to pay for them. The class of people 
 who obtain their livelihood by these means, 
 and who are entirely dependent upon the navy 
 for their subsistence, are naturally anxious to 
 secure the goodwill of the commanding officers 
 of the ships, and usually contrive to have on 
 their establishment a pretty-looking girl, who, 
 although very reserved to the junior officers of 
 the ship, is all smiles to the first-lieutenant, 
 and will not stand upon trifles for the benefit 
 of her employer. Beauty for men — gold for
 
 112 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 women ! Such are the glittering baits employed, 
 in this world, to entice either sex from the 
 paths of duty or discretion. 
 
 The service was indebted to this species of 
 bribery for the officer in question. The interest 
 of his supposed father was sufficient to put him 
 on the quarter-deck ; and the profits of his 
 mother, who, having duly served her apprentice- 
 ship, had arrived to the dignity of bumboat 
 woman herself, and was a fat, comely matron, 
 of about forty years of age, were more than 
 sufficient to support him in his inferior rank. 
 His education and natural abilitieswere not, how- 
 ever, of that class to procure him either friends 
 or advancement ; and he remained in the capa- 
 city of masterVmate, and was likely long to con- 
 tinue so, unless some such event as a general 
 action should include him in a promotion which 
 would be regulated by seniority. He was a 
 mean looking, vulgar little man, with a sharp 
 face and nose — the latter very red, from the con- 
 stant potations of not only his own allowance, but
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 113 
 
 of that of every youngster in the ship whom he 
 could bully or cajole. 
 
 His greatest pride and his constant study 
 was " slang," in which he was no mean pro- 
 ficient. He always carried in his pocket a 
 colt (i. e., a foot and a half of rope, knotted at 
 one end, and whipped at the other), for the be- 
 nefit of the youngsters, to whom he was a 
 most inordinate tyrant He could fudge a day's 
 work, which he sent in with the rest of the 
 midshipmen, and which proofs of theoretical 
 knowledge of their profession were in those days 
 little attended to ; but he was very ignorant, 
 and quite unfit to take charge of any vessel. 
 Captain M— , who, as we before stated, had 
 joined the ship as acting captain, and had 
 not had time to ascertain the merits or demerits 
 of the officers, had given the prize to his charge 
 because he was the senior mate of the ship. 
 
 The prize had scarcely trimmed her sails and 
 shaped her course, when Mr. Bullock, the mas-
 
 114 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 ter's-mate, called our hero to him, and addressed 
 him in the following elegant phraseology : — 
 
 " Now, you rebellious spawn — touch your 
 hat, you young whelp" — (knocking off poor 
 Willy's only hat, which flew to leeward, and went 
 overboard) — " Mind what I say, for I mean to 
 be as good as a father to you. You're not an 
 officer yet — and if you were, it would be all the 
 same — so no capers, no airs. You see I've only 
 three men in the vessel besides myself; they are 
 in three watches : so your duty will be to attend 
 upon me in the cabin. You'll mull my claret — 
 I always drinks a noggin every half hour to keep 
 the wind out, and if it an't ready and an't good, 
 — do you see this ?" — (taking the colt out of his 
 pocket.) — " Stop, you'd better feel it at once, 
 and then, when you knows what the taste of it 
 is, you'll take care how you're slack in stays." 
 So saying, he administered three or four hearty 
 cuts on the back and shoulders of our hero, 
 who had been sufficiently drilled into the manners
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 115 
 
 and customs of a man-of-war, to know the 
 value of the proverb, " The least said, the soonest 
 mended. 11 
 
 A spigot had been already inserted into one 
 of the casks of claret which were lashed on deck ; 
 and, as the small vessel was very uneasy in the 
 heavy swell of the Bay of Biscay, our hero had 
 sufficient employment in watching the pot of 
 claret, and preventing it from being upset by 
 the motion of the vessel, as it was constantly 
 heating on the stove in the cabin. This pota- 
 tion was regularly presented by Willy every 
 half hour, as directed, to his commanding officer, 
 who, if it was too sweet, or not sweet enough, or 
 if he could not drink the whole, invariably, and 
 much to the annoyance of our hero, threw the 
 remainder into his face, telling him that that 
 was his share of it. 
 
 This arrangement continued in full force for 
 three days and three nights — for Willy was 
 roused up five or six times every night to 
 administer the doses of mulled claret, which
 
 116 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 Mr. Bullock had prescribed for himself, who 
 seemed, thin and meagre as he was, to be 
 somewhat like a bamboo in his structure, (i. e. 
 hollow from top to bottom), as if to enable 
 him to carry the quantity of fluid that he 
 poured down his throat during the twenty-four 
 hours. As for intoxicating him, that appeared 
 to be impossible: from long habit, he seemed 
 to be like a stiff ship that careened to her bear- 
 ings, and would sooner part company with her 
 masts than heel any further. 
 
 On the fourth day, a strong gale sprang up 
 from the north-west, and the sea ran very high. 
 The cliasse maree, never intended to encounter 
 the huge waves of the Bay of Biscay, but to 
 crawl along the coast and seek protection from 
 them on the first indication of their fury, — la- 
 bouring with a heavy cargo, not only stowed 
 below, but on the decks, — was not sufficiently 
 buoyant to rise on the summits of the waves, 
 which made a clean breach over her, and the 
 men became exhausted with the wet and the
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 117 
 
 inclemency of the season. On the third day 
 of the gale, and seventh since they had parted 
 company with the fleet, a squall brought the 
 mainmast by the board ; the foresail was lowered 
 to close reef, when a heavy sea struck the 
 vessel, and pouring a torrent over her decks, 
 swept overboard the three men who were for- 
 ward reefing the sail. Mr. Bullock, the master' s- 
 mate, was at the helm — Willy, as usual, down 
 below, attending the mulled claret, which had 
 been more than ever in request since the bad 
 weather had come on. 
 
 The mate quitted the helm, and ran forward 
 to throw a rope to the seamen, who were strug- 
 gling in the water with the wreck to leeward. 
 He threw one, which was seized by two of them, 
 (the other had sunk) ; and as soon as they had 
 hold of it, and it became taught from their hold- 
 ing on, he perceived to his dismay that he had 
 stood in the remaining part of the coil, and that 
 it had encircled itself several times round his 
 body, so that the men were hauling him over-
 
 118 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 board. " Let go, let go, or I'm overboard P 
 was a useless exclamation to drowning men ; 
 they held on, and the mate too held on by the 
 rigging for his life, — the efforts of the drowning 
 men dragging him at last from off his legs, and 
 keeping his body in a horizontal position, as they 
 hauled at his feet, and he clung in desperation 
 to the lee-shrouds. " Willy, Willy, a knife — 
 quick, quick !" roared the mate in his agony. 
 Willv, who, hearing his name called, and 
 followed up by the " quick, quick," had no 
 idea that anything but the mulled claret could 
 demand such unusual haste, stopped a few 
 seconds to throw in the sugar and stir it 
 round before he answered the summons. He 
 then started up the hatchway with the pot in 
 his hand. 
 
 But these few seconds had decided the fate of 
 Mr. Bullock, and as Willy's head appeared up 
 the hatchway, so did that of Mr. Bullock dis- 
 appear as he sank into a grave so dissonant to 
 his habits. He had been unable to resist any
 
 THE KIXG'S OWN. 119 
 
 longer the united force of the drowning men, 
 and Willy was just in time to witness his sub- 
 mersion, and find himself more destitute than 
 ever. Holding on by the shroud with one hand, 
 with the pot of mulled claret in the other, 
 Willy long fixed his eyes on the spot where his 
 tyrannical shipmate had disappeared from his 
 sight, and, forgetting his persecution, felt nothing 
 but sorrow for his loss. Another sea, which 
 poured over the decks of the unguided vessel, 
 roused him from his melancholy reverie, and he 
 let go the pot, to cling with both hands to the 
 rigging as the water washed over his knees, — 
 then, seizing a favourable opportunity, he suc- 
 ceeded in regaining the cabin of the vessel, where 
 he sat down and wept bitterly — bitterly for the 
 loss of the master's mate and men, for he had an 
 affectionate and kind heart — bitterly for his 
 own forlorn and destitute situation. Old Adams 
 had not forgotten to teach him to say his prayers, 
 and Willy had been accustomed to read the 
 bible, which the old man explained to the best
 
 120 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 of his ability. The vessel laboured and groaned 
 as she was buffetted by the waves — the wind 
 howled, and the sea struck her trembling sides 
 and poured over her decks. In the midst of 
 this wild discord of the elements, the small voice 
 of the kneeling child, isolated from the rest of 
 the world, and threatened soon to be removed 
 from it, was not unheard or unheeded by an 
 omniscient and omnipotent God, who has said 
 that not a sparrow should fall to the ground 
 without his knowledge, and has pointed out of 
 how much more value are we than many spar- 
 rows. 
 
 Willy ended his devotions and his tears ; and, 
 feeling wet and cold, recollected that what would 
 warm his departed friend the mate, would pro- 
 bably have the same effect upon him. He 
 crawled up the companion-hatch with another 
 tin pot, and having succeeded in obtaining some 
 wine from the cask, returned to the cabin. 
 Having warmed it over the fire, and sugared 
 it according to the well-practised receipt of
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 121 
 
 Mr. Bullock, he drank more of it than, perhaps, 
 in any other situation, he would have done, and, 
 lying down in the standing bed-place at the 
 side of the cabin, soon fell into a sound 
 sleep. 
 
 vol. i
 
 122 the king's own. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 And there he went ashore without delay, 
 Having no custom-house nor quarantine 
 
 To ask him awkward questions on the way, 
 About the time and place where he had been : 
 
 He left his ship to be hove down next day. 
 
 Don Juan. 
 
 The prize vessel, at the time when she car- 
 ried away her masts, had gained considerably 
 to the northward of Ushant, although the mas- 
 ter's mate, from his ignorance of his profession, 
 was not aware of the fact. The wind, which 
 now blew strongly from the N. W. drove the 
 shattered bark up the Channel, at the same time 
 gradually nearing her to the French coast. After 
 twenty-four hours 1 driving before the storm,
 
 THE king's own. 123 
 
 during which Willy never once awoke from his 
 torpor, the vessel was not many leagues from the 
 port of Cherbourg. It was broad daylight when 
 our hero awoke ; and, after some little time ne- 
 cessary to chase away the vivid effects of a 
 dream, in which he fancied himself to be on 
 shore, walking in the fields with his dear mother, 
 he recollected where he was, and how he was 
 situated. He ascended the companion-ladder, 
 and looked around him. The wind had nearly 
 spent its fury, and was subsiding fast, but the 
 prospect was cheerless — a dark wintry sky and 
 rolling sea, and nothing living in view except the 
 sea-bird that screamed as it skimmed over the 
 white tops of the waves. The mizen of the 
 vessel was still hoisted up, but the sheet had dis- 
 engaged itself from the belaying-pin, and the 
 sail had been rent from the bolt-rope by the 
 storm. Part of it was blown away, and the rest, 
 jagged and tattered at its extremities, from con- 
 stant buffetting, flapped " mournfully to and 
 fro" with the heavy rolling of the vessel. 
 
 o 2
 
 124 the king's own. 
 
 Willy, holding only the companion-hatch, 
 scanned the horizon in every point of the com- 
 pass, in hopes of succour, but for a long while in 
 vain. At last his keen eye detected a small ves- 
 sel, under a single close- reefed sail, now rising on 
 the tops of the waves, now disappearing in the 
 deep trough of the sea. She was sloop-rigged, 
 and running down towards him. 
 
 In a quarter of an hour she had neared to 
 within a mile, and Willy perceived, with de- 
 light, that the people were on deck, and occasion- 
 ally pointing towards him. He ran down below, 
 and opening the chest of Mr. Bullock, which 
 was not locked, took a liberty which he would 
 never have dared to contemplate during that wor- 
 thy officer's lifetime, viz. that of puttingforth one 
 of his two best white shirts, reserved for special 
 occasions. This he took on deck, made it fast 
 to a boat-hook staff, and hoisted as a signal of 
 distress. He did also mechanically lift his hand 
 to his head with the intention of waving his hat, 
 but he was reminded, by not finding it there,
 
 the king's own. 125 
 
 that it had been the first votive offering which 
 had been made to appease the implacable deities 
 presiding over the winds and waves. The vessel 
 closed with him, hove to, to windward, and, 
 after some demur, a small boat, capable of 
 holding three persons, was hoisted over the gun- 
 nel, and two hands jumping into her, rowed 
 under the stern of the wreck. 
 
 " You must jump, my lad — there's no going 
 along side a craft, without any sail to steady her, 
 in such a sea as this. Don't be afraid. We'll 
 pick you up." 
 
 Willy, who had little fear in his composition, 
 although he could not swim, leaped from the 
 taffrail of the vessel into the boiling surge, and 
 immediately that he rose to the surface was res- 
 cued by the men, who, seizing him by the waist- 
 band of the trowsers, hauled him into theboat, and 
 threw him down in the bottom under the thwarts. 
 Then, without speaking, they resumed their 
 oars, and pulled to the other vessel, on board of 
 which they succeeded in establishing our hero
 
 126 the king's own. 
 
 and themselves, although the boat was stove in 
 the attempt, and cast adrift as useless. 
 
 Willy's teeth chattered, and his whole frame 
 trembled with the cold, as he went aft to the 
 captain of the sloop, who was sitting on deck 
 wrapped up in a rough white great coat, with his 
 pipe in his mouth. The captain was a middle- 
 sized, slightly made young man, apparently not 
 more than twenty-five years old. His face was 
 oval, with a remarkably pleasing expression ; his 
 eyes small and brilliant : and, notwithstanding 
 the roughness of his outward attire, there was 
 a degree of precision in the arrangement of his 
 hair and whiskers, which proved that with him 
 neatness was habitual. He had a worsted 
 mitten on his left hand ; the right, which held 
 his pipe, was bare, and remarkably white and 
 small. Perceiving the situation of the boy, he 
 called to one of the men — " Here, Phillips, take 
 this poor devil down, and put something dry on 
 him, and give him a glass of brandy ; when he's 
 all right again, we'll find out from him how he
 
 THE KING S OWN. ] 27 
 
 happened to be adrift all by himself, like a bear 
 in a washing-tub. There, go along with Phil- 
 lips, boy." 
 
 " He's of the right sort," said one of the men, 
 who had brought him on board, casting his eyes 
 in the direction of our hero, who was descend- 
 ing the companion — " I thought so when I 
 see'd him have his wits about him to hoist the 
 signal. He made no more of jumping over- 
 board than a Newfoundland dog — never stopped 
 two seconds to think on't." 
 
 "We shall soon see what he is made of," 
 replied the captain, re-lighting his pipe, which 
 had been allowed to go out during the time 
 that they were rescuing Willy and the men 
 from the boat when she returned. 
 
 Willy was soon provided with more comfort- 
 able clothing ; and, whether it was or was not, 
 from a whim of Phillips's, who had been com- 
 missioned to rig him out, he appeared on deck 
 the very picture of the animal which he had been 
 compared to by the captain. Thick woollen
 
 128 the king's own. 
 
 stockings, which were longer than both his legs 
 and thighs, a pair of fisherman's well greased 
 boots, a dark Guernsey frock, that reached below 
 his knees, and a rough pea jacket, that descended 
 to his heels, made him appear much broader than 
 he was high. A red woollen night-cap completed 
 his attire, which, although anything but elegant, 
 was admirably calculated to assist the brandy 
 in restoring the circulation. 
 
 " Here he is, captain, all a-taunto, but not 
 very neat," said Phillips, shoving Willy up the 
 hatchway, for he was so encumbered with the 
 weight of his new apparel that he never could 
 have ascended without assistance — " I have 
 stowed away some spirits in his hold, and he 
 no longer beats the devil's tattoo with his 
 grinders." 
 
 " Now, my lad," said the captain, taking his 
 pipe out of his mouth, " tell me what's your 
 name, what you are, and how you came to be 
 adrift in that barky ? Tell me the truth— be 
 honest, always be honest, it's the best policy. 1 '
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 129 
 
 Now, it rather unfortunately happened for 
 Willy, that these first two questions were rather 
 difficult for him to answer. He told his story 
 with considerable hesitation, — believed his name 
 was Seymour — believed he was a midshipman. 
 He was listened to without interruption by the 
 captain and crew of the vessel, who had ga- 
 thered round to hear him " spin his yarn." When 
 he had finished, the captain, looking Willy very 
 hard in the face, thus addressed him — " My 
 little friend, excuse me, but I have had some 
 slight knowledge of the world, and I therefore 
 wish that you had not forgotten the little advice 
 I gave you, as a caution, before you commenced 
 your narrative. Did not I say, * be honest V 
 You believe you are an officer, believe your 
 name to be Seymour. I tell you, my lad, in 
 return, that I don't believe a word that you 
 say ; but, however, that's of no consequence. 
 It requires reflection to tell a lie, aud I have 
 no objection to a little invention, or a little 
 caution with strangers. All that about the 
 
 n 3
 
 13) THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 battle was very clever — but still, depend upon 
 it, honesty's the best policy. When we are bet- 
 ter acquainted, I suppose we shall have the 
 truth from you. I see the land on the lee- 
 bow — we shall be into Cherbourg in an hour, 
 when I expect we shall come to a better un- 
 derstanding." 
 
 The " Sainte Vierge, 11 for such was the 
 name of the vessel, which smelt most insuffe- 
 rably of gin, and, as our readers may probably 
 have anticipated, was a smuggler, running be- 
 tween Cherbourg and the English coast, soon 
 entered the port, and, having been boarded by 
 the officers of the Douane, (who made a very 
 proper distinction between smuggling from and 
 to their own territories,) came to an anchor 
 close to the mole. As soon as the vessel was 
 secured, the captain went below, and in a few 
 minutes re-appearing, dressed in much better 
 taste than one-half of the saunterers in Bond 
 Street, went on shore to the cabaret, where he 
 usually took up his quarters, taking with him
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 131 
 
 our hero, whose strange attire, so peculiarly 
 contrasted with that of the captain's, was a 
 source of great amusement to the sailors and 
 other people, who were assembled on the quay. 
 
 " Ah, mo?i capitaine, char me de vous revoir. 
 Buvons un coup, riest-ce pas ?" said the pro- 
 prietor of the cabaret, presenting a bottle of 
 prime French brandy, and a liquor glass, to the 
 captain, as he entered. 
 
 " Heureux voyage, rfest-ce pas, Monsieur ?" 
 
 " Ca va bien? replied the captain, throwing 
 the glass of liquor down his throat. " My 
 apartments, if you please, and a bed for this 
 lad. Tell Mr. Beaujou, the slopseller, to come 
 here directly with some clothes for him. Is 
 Captain Debriseau here?" 
 
 " He is, Sir, — lost all his last cargo— obliged 
 to throw over in deep water." 
 
 " Never mind : he ran the two before — he 
 can afford it." 
 
 " Ah, but Captain Debriseau is in a very bad
 
 132 the king's own. 
 
 humour, nevertheless. He called me an old 
 cheat this morning — c'est incroyable? 
 
 " Well, present my compliments to him, and 
 say that I request the honour of his com- 
 pany, if he is not otherwise engaged. Come, 
 youngster." 
 
 The landlord of the cabaret ushered the 
 captain of the sloop and our hero, with many 
 profound bows, into a low dark room, with only 
 one window, the light from which was inter- 
 cepted by a high wall, not four feet distant. 
 The floor was paved with tiles, the table was 
 deal, not very clean, and the whitewashed walls 
 were hung around with stiff drawings of several 
 smuggling vessels, whose superior sailings and 
 consequent good fortune had rendered them 
 celebrated in the port of Cherbourg. The straw 
 had been lighted under some logs of wood on 
 the hearth, which as yet emitted more smoke 
 than flame ; a few chairs, an old battered sofa, 
 and an upright press, completed the furniture.
 
 the king's own. 133 
 
 " I knew your beautiful sloop long before 
 she came in — there's no mistaking her ; and I 
 ordered the apartment de Monsieur to be pre- 
 pared. (Test unjoli appartement, n'est-ce pas, 
 Monsieur 9 so retired !" With some forbearance, 
 but with great judgment, the beauty of the 
 prospect was not expatiated upon by the obse- 
 quious landlord. 
 
 " It will do to smoke and eat in, Mons. Pi- 
 cardon, and that is all that I require. Now 
 bring pipes and tobacco, and take my message 
 to Captain Debriseau. 1 ' 
 
 The latter gentleman and the pipes were 
 ushered in at the same moment. 
 
 " M c Elvina, my dear fellow, I am glad to 
 see that you have had better luck than I have 
 had this last trip. Curses on the cutter. Sa- 
 cristieT continued Captain Debriseau, who was 
 a native of Guernsey, " the wind favoured her 
 three points after we were about, or I should 
 have doubled him — av, and have doubled the
 
 134 thk king's own. 
 
 weight of the leathern bag too. Sucre nom de 
 Dieu" continued he, grinding his teeth, and 
 pulling a handful of hair out of his rough head, 
 which could have spared as much as Absalom 
 used to poll — " Que ca me fait bisquer.'''' 
 
 "Bah ! — laissez aller, mon ami — sit down and 
 take a pipe," rejoined our captain. " This is but 
 pettifogging work at the best: it won't pay for the 
 means of resistance. My lugger will be ready in 
 May, and then Til see what a revenue cutter is 
 made of. I was at Ostend last Christmas, and 
 saw her. By Jove, she's a beauty ! She was 
 planked above the watermark then, and must be 
 nearly ready for launching by this time. I'll pass 
 through the Race but once more ; then adieu to 
 dark nights and south-west gales — and huzza 
 for a row of teeth, with the will, as well as the 
 power, to bite. Sixteen long nines, my boy !" 
 
 " Quick returns though, quick returns, mess- 
 mate, 11 answered Debriseau, referring to the 
 Cherbourg system of smuggling, which being
 
 the king's own. 135 
 
 his own means of livelihood, he did not like to 
 hear disparaged. 
 
 For the benefit of those who have no objec- 
 tion to unite a little information with amuse- 
 ment, I shall here enter into a few remarks re- 
 lative to the smuggling carried on between the 
 
 DO O 
 
 port of Cherbourg and our own coast, — pre- 
 mising that my readers have my entire appro- 
 bation to skip over a page or two, if they are 
 not anxious to know anything about these ne- 
 farious transactions. 
 
 The port of Cherbourg, from its central si- 
 tuation, is better adapted than any other in 
 France, for carrying on this trade with the 
 southern coast of England. The nearest port 
 to it, and at which, therefore, the smuggling is 
 principally carried on, is the Bill of Portland, 
 near to the fashionable watering-place of Wey- 
 mouth. 
 
 The vessels employed in this contraband 
 trade, of which gin is the staple commodity, 
 are generally small luggers or sloops, from
 
 13G the king's own. 
 
 forty to sixty tons burthen. In fine summer 
 weather, row-boats are occasionally employed ; 
 but, as the run is only of twenty-four hours 1 
 duration, the dark nights and south-west gales 
 are what are chiefly depended upon. 
 
 These vessels are not armed with an intention 
 to resist ; if they are perceived by the cruisers 
 or revenue vessels, before they arrive on the 
 English coast, and are pursued, they are 
 obliged (if not able to escape, from superior 
 sailing) to throw over their cargo in " deep 
 water," and it is lost. The cargo is thrown 
 overboard, to avoid the penalty and imprison- 
 ment to which it would subject the crew, as 
 well as the confiscation of the vessel and cargo. 
 If they reach the English coast, and are chased 
 by the revenue vessels, or have notice, by sig- 
 nals from their agents on shore, that they are 
 discovered, and cannot land their cargoes, they 
 take the exact bearings and distances of several 
 points of land, and with heavy stones sink their 
 tubs of spirits, which are always strung upon
 
 THE KIND'S OWN. 137 
 
 a hawser like a row of beads. There the cargo 
 is left, until they have an opportunity of going 
 off in boats to creep for it, which is by drag- 
 ging large hooks at the bottom, until they 
 catch the hawsers, and regain possession of 
 their tubs. Such is the precision with which 
 their marks are taken, and their dexterity from 
 continual practice, that they seldom fail to 
 recover their cargo. The profits of this con- 
 traband trade are so great, that if two cargoes 
 are lost, a third safely landed will indemnify 
 the owners. 
 
 I must observe, much to the discredit 
 of the parties who are concerned, that 
 this contraband trade is not carried on by 
 individuals, but by a company ; one hundred 
 pound shares are taken of " a speculation" 
 the profits of which are divided yearly ; and 
 many individuals residing on the coast who 
 would be thought incapable of lending them- 
 selves to such transactions, are known to be 
 deeply interested.
 
 138 the king's own. 
 
 The smuggling from Havre and Ostend, &c, 
 is confined to the coast of Ireland and the 
 northern shores of England ; the cargoes are 
 assorted and of great value: and as the voyage 
 and risk are greater, they are generally fast 
 sailing vessels, well manned and armed, to 
 enable them to offer resistance, when the dis- 
 parity of force is not too great on their side. 
 
 Captain M c Elvina had taken up the smug- 
 gling trade between Cherbourg and Portland, 
 to keep himself employed until a fine lugger of 
 sixteen guns, the command of which had been 
 promised him, and which was intended to run 
 between Havre and the coast of Ireland, 
 should be ready ; whereas Captain Debriseau 
 had been all his life employed in the Cher- 
 bourg trade, and had no intention of quitting 
 it. 
 
 " But what have you got there, Mac?" 
 said Debriseau, pointing with his pipe to our 
 hero, who sat on the leathern sofa, rolled up 
 in his uncouth attire ; " is it a bear, or a boy ?"
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 139 
 
 " A boy, that 1 picked up from a wreck. I 
 am thinking- what I shall do with him — he is a 
 smart, bold lad. 11 
 
 " By Jupiter," rejoined Debriseau, " Til 
 make him my Ganymede, till he grows older. 11 
 
 Had Willy been as learned in mythology as 
 Captain Debriseau, he might have informed 
 him, that he had served in that capacity in his 
 last situation under Mr. Bullock ; but although 
 the names, as appertaining to a ship, were not 
 unknown to him, yet the attributes of the 
 respective parties were a part of his education 
 that old Adams had omitted. 
 
 " He will be fit for anything," rejoined our 
 captain, " if he will only be honest." 
 
 " M^Elvina,' 1 said Debriseau, " you always 
 have these words in your mouth, ' be honest. 1 
 Now, as, between ourselves, I do not think that 
 either you or I are leading very honest lives, 
 allow me to ask you why you continually harp 
 upon honesty when we are alone ? I can easily
 
 140 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 understand the propriety of shamming a little 
 before the world." 
 
 " Debriseau, had any other man said half 
 as much, I would have started my grog in his 
 face. It's no humbug on my part. I mean 
 it sincerely ; and, to prove it, I will now give 
 you a short sketch of my life ; and after you 
 have heard it, I have no doubt but that you 
 will acknowledge, with me, the truth of the old 
 adage, that ' Honesty is the best policy."' 
 
 But Captain M c Elvina must have a chapter 
 to himself.
 
 THE KING'S OWX. 141 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 He hath as fine a hand at picking a pocket as a woman, and 
 is as nimble-fingered as a juggler. If an unlucky session does 
 not cut the rope of his life, I pronounce he will be a great 
 man in history. 
 
 Beggars' Opera. 
 
 " It is an old proverb that ' one half the 
 world do not know Iww the other half live.' 
 Add to it, nor where they live, and it will be 
 as true. There is a class of people, of whose 
 existence the public are too well aware ; but of 
 whose resorts, and manners, and customs, 
 among their own fraternity, they are quite as ig- 
 norant now, as they were one hundred years back. 
 Like the Chinese and the castes of the east,
 
 142 the king's own. 
 
 they never change their profession, but be- 
 queath it from father to son, as an entailed 
 estate from which they are to derive their sub- 
 sistence. The class to which I refer consists 
 of those members of the community at large, 
 who gain their livelihood by inserting their hands 
 into the pockets of other people,' — not but 
 that all the world are doing the same thing, and 
 have, since the creation ; but then it is only as 
 amateurs ; — the class I refer to do it profes- 
 sionally, which, you must observe, makes a wide 
 difference. From this class I am lineally de- 
 scended ; and, at an early age, was duly 
 initiated into all the mysteries of my profession. 
 I could filch a handkerchief as soon as I was 
 high enough to reach a pocket, and was de- 
 clared to be a most promising child. 
 
 " I must do my father and mother the jus- 
 tice to acknowledge, that while they initiated 
 me in the mysteries of my future profession, 
 they did not attempt to conceal that there were 
 certain disagreeable penalties attached to ' great-
 
 the king's own. 143 
 
 ness; 1 but, when prepared from our earliest years, 
 we look forward to our fate with resignation : 
 and as I was invariably told, after my return 
 from some daring feat, that my life would be 
 a short and a merry one, I was not dismayed 
 at the words of my prophetic mother, who ob- 
 served, ' Patrick, my boy, if you don't wish to 
 bring my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave, 
 promise me to confine yourself to picking- 
 pockets ; you will then only be transported : 
 but if you try your hand at higher work, you'll 
 be hung before you're twenty.' My father, 
 when I returned with a full assorted cargo, and 
 emptied my pockets into his hands, with as 
 much rapidity as I had transferred the contents 
 of others into my own, used to look at me 
 with a smile of pride and satisfaction, and, 
 shaking his head, would exclaim — * Pat you'll 
 certainly be hung.'' 
 
 " Accustomed, therefore, from my infancy, to 
 consider twenty summers, instead of threescore 
 years and ten, as the allotted space of my exist-
 
 144 the king's own. 
 
 ence, I looked forward to my exit from this 
 world, by the new drop, with the same placidity 
 as the nobleman awaits the time appointed for 
 the entrance of his body into the vault contain- 
 ing the dust of his ancestors. At the age of 
 eleven years, I considered myself a full-grown 
 man, dared all that man could do, and was a 
 constant, but unwilling, attendant upon the 
 police office, where my youth, and the promises 
 of my mother that I should be reformed, assist- 
 ed by showers of tears on her part, and by 
 apparent ingenuousness on mine, frequently 
 pleaded in my favour with the prosecutors. 
 
 " I often lamented, when at that early age, 
 that my want of education prevented me from 
 attempting the higher walks of our profession ; 
 but this object of my ambition was gained at 
 last. I had taken a pocket-book from a worthy 
 Quaker, and, unfortunately, was perceived by a 
 man at a shop window, who came out, collared, 
 and delivered me into the hands of the prim 
 gentleman. Having first secured his property,
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 145 
 
 he then walked with me and a police officer to 
 Bow Street. My innocent face, and my tears, 
 induced the old gentleman, who was a member 
 of the Philanthropic Society, not only not to 
 prefer the charge against me, but to send me 
 to the institution at Blackfriars-road. 
 
 ' I made rapid progress under their tuition, 
 and after three years 1 close application on my 
 part, and continual inculcation, on the part of my 
 instructors, of the distinction between meum 
 and tuum, I was considered not only a very 
 clever boy, but a reformed character. The 
 Quaker gentleman, who had placed me in the 
 institution, and who was delighted with the suc- 
 cessful results of his own penetration, selected 
 me as his servant, and took me home." 
 
 1 Well, I'm glad you were so soon reformed," 
 said Debriseau. " Where the devil's my hand- 
 kerchief?" 
 
 " Oh, I've not got it," answered M c Elvina, 
 laughing. » But you are as much mistaken 
 now as the Quaker was at that time. A wild 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 146 the king's own. 
 
 beast may be tamed, and will remain so, pro- 
 vided he be not permitted again to taste blood. 
 Then all his ferocious propensities will reappear, 
 and prove that his education has been thrown 
 away. So it was with me. At first, I felt no 
 desire to return to my old employment ; and had 
 not my master trusted me too much, I might 
 have remained honest. You often hear masters 
 exclaiming against the dishonesty of servants. 
 I know it to be a fact, that most of them have 
 been made dishonest by the carelessness of their 
 employers, in having allowed temptations to lie 
 in their way, which were too strong to be resist- 
 ed. My master used to send me up to his 
 bureau, for small sums which he required, out 
 of a yellow canvas bag, full of gold and silver. 
 I am convinced that he frequently used to give 
 me the key, when in company with his friends, 
 in order that, after I had left the room, he might 
 tell my history, and prove the beneficial effects 
 of the society. One day the yellow bag and I 
 both disappeared.
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 147 
 
 iC I threw off the modest grey coat, in which 
 I was equipped, and soon procured more fash- 
 ionable attire. I looked in the glass, and 
 scarcely knew myself; I had, therefore, no fear 
 of being recognised by my former master. Not 
 wishing to be idle, I hired myself out as tiger 
 and valet to a young nobleman, who was spend- 
 ing ten thousand pounds a year upon an allow- 
 ance of seven hundred. He was a complete 
 roue, and I must gratefully own, that I learnt 
 a great deal from him, independently of the 
 secret of tying my neckcloth correctly ; — but we 
 soon parted. ,, 
 
 " How was that ?"" said Debriseau, knocking 
 the ashes out of his pipe. 
 
 " Why, he had several diamond rings, and as 
 he only w T ore two or three at a time, I sported 
 the others at our parties. A malicious fellow, 
 who was envious of the dash I cut, observed, 
 in my hearing, that it was impossible to tell real 
 stones from good paste. I took the hint, and, 
 one by one, the diamonds vanished, and paste 
 
 ii 2
 
 148 the king's own. 
 
 usurped their places. Shortly after, the cre- 
 ditors, not being able to touch my master's 
 money, or his person, seized his effects, and the 
 diamond rings were almost the only articles 
 which escaped. My master, who always looked 
 out for a rainy day, had collected these rings as 
 a sort of stand-by, to " raise the wind" when 
 required. By ill luck, he took them to the same 
 jeweller who had been employed by me to sub- 
 stitute the paste, and to whom I had sold the 
 real stones. He came home in a great rage, 
 accused me of dishonesty, and sent for a con- 
 stable. I told him, that I did not consider his 
 conduct to be that of a gentleman, and wished 
 him good morning. I had indeed intended to 
 quit him, as he was done up> and only waited 
 his return to tell him so. I had moved my 
 trunks, accordingly, before he was out of bed. 
 I believe a few of his suits, and some of his linen, 
 were put in with mine, in my extreme haste j but 
 then he owed me wages, 
 
 " When I wished his lordship good morning,
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 149 
 
 I certainly imagined that I had little more to 
 learn ; but I must acknowledge that I was mis- 
 taken. I knew that there was a club established 
 for servants out of place, and had been a sub- 
 scriber for two years, — as there were many 
 advantages arising from it, independently of 
 economy. I was now a member by right, 
 which, as long as I was in place, I was not. To 
 this club I repaired, and I soon found that I, 
 who fancied myself perfect, was but a tyro in 
 the profession. It was a grand school certainly, 
 and well organized. We had our president, 
 vice-president, auditors of accounts, corres- 
 ponding members, and our secretary. Our 
 seal was a bunch of green poplar rods, witli 
 ' Service is no inheritance' as a motto. 
 
 " But not to weary you with a life of adven- 
 tures which would fill volumes, I shall merely 
 state, that I was in place, out of place, follow- 
 ing up my profession in every way, with great 
 credit among our fraternity, until, one day, I 
 found myself, after a tedious confinement in
 
 150 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 Newgate, decorated with a yellow jacket, and 
 pair of fetters, on board of a vessel of three hun- 
 dred tons burthen, bound to New South Wales. 
 We sailed for Sydney, where I had been recom- 
 mended, by the gentleman in a large wig, to 
 remain seven years for change of air. The 
 same night that the vessel came into the cove, 
 having more liberty than the rest of my ship- 
 mates, (from my good behaviour during the pas- 
 sage,) I evaded the sentry, and slipping down 
 by the cable into the water, swam to a ship 
 lying near, which, I had been informed, was to 
 sail on the ensuing day for India. 
 
 " The captain being very short of hands, 
 headed me up in a cask ; and, although the 
 vessel was not permitted to sail until very strict 
 search had been made for me, I was not dis- 
 covered, and it was supposed that I had been 
 drowned in making the attempt. Aware that it 
 would not be good for my health to return pre- 
 viously to the expiration of the seven years, I 
 determined to learn a new profession — that of a
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 151 
 
 sailor, for which I always had a predilection ; 
 besides, it quieted my conscience as to the im- 
 propriety of not submitting to the just punish- 
 ment of the law, as you will acknowledge that 
 seven years at sea, and seven years' transporta- 
 tion, are one and the same thing. From Batavia, 
 I went to Calcutta, and worked before the mast 
 in the country vessels to Bombay and the Per- 
 sian Gulf, for four years, when I thought 
 myself capable of taking higher rank in the ser- 
 vice, if I could get it ; especially as I had picked 
 up sufficient navigation to be able to work the 
 ship's reckoning. 
 
 " At Calcutta I obtained a situation as second- 
 mate of a fast-sailing schooner, employed in 
 the smuggling of opium into China, and, after 
 three voyages, rose to the office of chief mate. 
 Had I remained another voyage, I should have 
 been captain of the vessel ; but my seven years 
 were out, and I was anxious to return to Eng- 
 land, and look the Robin Red Breasts boldly 
 in the face. I had saved enough money to
 
 152 the king's own. 
 
 pay my passage, and was determined to go 
 home like a gentleman, if I had not exactly 
 gone out in that character. What little cash 
 remained after my passage was paid, I lost at 
 play to an army officer, who was returning in 
 the same ship. 
 
 " When I landed at Portsmouth, I retained 
 a suit of ' long togs,' as we call them, and, 
 disposing of all the rest of my stock to the Jews, 
 I started for London. On my arrival I found 
 that my father and mother were both dead, and 
 I was meditating upon my future course of 
 life, when an accident determined me. I 
 picked up a pocket-book" — (here Captain De- 
 briseau eyed him hard) — " I know what you 
 mean," continued M c Elvina, " but it was on the 
 pavement, and not in a pocket, as you would 
 imply by your looks. It was full of slips and 
 scraps of paper of all sorts, which I did not 
 take the trouble to read. The only available 
 articles it contained, were three one- pound notes. 
 The owner's name and address were written
 
 THE KINGS OWN. 153 
 
 on the first blank leaf. I cannot tell what pos- 
 sessed me, but I had an irresistible desire to 
 be honest, once in my life, and the temptation 
 to be otherwise not being very great, I took 
 the pocket-book to the address, and arrived 
 at the house just as the old gentleman to whom 
 it belonged was giving directions to have it 
 advertised. He was in evident perturbation at 
 his loss — and I came just at the fortunate mo- 
 ment. He seized his book with rapture, ex- 
 amined all the papers, and counted over the 
 bills and notes. 
 
 " ' Honesty is a scarce commodity, young 
 man,'' said he, as he passed the leathern tongue 
 of the book through the strap. * You have 
 brought me my book, without waiting till a 
 reward was offered. I desired my clerk to 
 offer twenty guineas in the advertisement— I 
 will now give you a larger sum.' He sat down, 
 opened a checque-book, and wrote me a draft 
 on his banker. It was for one hundred pounds ! 
 I was profuse in my acknowledgments, while 
 
 h 3
 
 154 the king's own, 
 
 he replaced his book in his inside pocket, and 
 buttoned up his coat. * Honesty is a scarce 
 commodity, young man, 1 repeated he ; ' call 
 here to-morrow at one o'clock, and I will see 
 if I can be of any further service to you.' 
 
 " I returned to my lodgings in a very thought- 
 ful mood. I was astonished at the old man's 
 generosity, and still more at my having honestly 
 obtained so large a sum. I went to bed, and 
 reflected on what had passed. The words of 
 the old gentleman still rang in my ears — ' Ho- 
 nesty is a scarce commodity.' I communed with 
 myself. Here have I been, nearly all my life, 
 exercising all my talents, exerting all my ener- 
 gies in dishonest practices, and when did I, 
 even at the most successful hit, obtain as much 
 money as I have by an honest act ? I recalled 
 the many days of anxious waiting that I had 
 found necessary to accomplish a scheme of 
 fraud — the doubtful success — the necessity of 
 satisfying my associates — the inability of turning 
 into ready money the articles purloined until
 
 the king's own. 155 
 
 the hue and cry was over — the trifling sum 
 which I was obliged to take from the purchasers 
 of stolen articles, who knew that I was at their 
 mercy — the destitute condition I occasionally was 
 in — and the life of constant anxiety that I had 
 led. These reflections forced the truth upon my 
 mind, that there was more, in the end, to be 
 gained by honesty than by roguery. 
 
 " Once convinced, I determined to lead a new 
 life, and from that moment I assumed as my 
 motto, ' Honesty is the best policy.' Do you 
 hear, youngster ? — ' always be honest.' '
 
 156 the king's own. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Through tattered clothos small vices do appear ; 
 Robes and furred gowns hide all. 
 
 Leah. 
 
 Willy, who was tired out with the extreme 
 mental and bodily exertion that he had under- 
 gone, gave no answer to M c Elvina's injunction, 
 except a loud snore, which satisfied the captain 
 that his caution in this instance was not heard. 
 
 " Well," said Debriseau, after a short pause, 
 " how long did this honest fit last ?" 
 
 " What do you mean ? — How long did it last ? 
 Why, it has lasted, — Captain Debriseau, — it has
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 157 
 
 lasted until now ; and shall last, too, as long as 
 this frame of mine shall hold together. But to 
 proceed. The next morning I called upon the 
 old gentleman, according to his request. He 
 again told me ' honesty was a scarce commo- 
 dity. 1 I could have informed him that it had 
 always been so with me, but I kept my own 
 counsel. He then asked me, what were my pro- 
 fession and pursuits ? Now, as I had two pro- 
 fessions to choose between, and as my last was 
 considered to be just as abundant in the com- 
 modity he prized so much, as my former one 
 was known to be deficient, I replied, that I was 
 a sea-faring man. ' Then I may find some 
 employment for you,' replied the old gentleman ; 
 and having put several questions to me as to the 
 nature of the service I had seen, he desired me 
 to take a walk till three o'clock, when he would 
 be happy to see me at dinner : — ' We'll then be 
 able to have a little conversation together, with- 
 out being overheard.' 
 
 " I was exact to my appointment, and my
 
 158 the king's own. 
 
 old friend, who was punctuality itself, did not 
 allow me to remain in the parlour two minutes 
 before dinner was on the table. As soon as it 
 was over, he dismissed the servant girl who 
 attended, and turned, the key in the door. 
 After sounding me on many points, during a 
 rapid discussion of the first bottle of port, he 
 proceeded to inform me, that a friend of his 
 wanted a smart fellow as captain of a vessel, if 
 I would like the employment. This suited me ; 
 and he then observed, that I must have some 
 notion of how officers were managed, as I had 
 been in the China trade, and that he thought 
 that the vessel was to be employed in the contra- 
 band trade on the English coast. 
 
 " This startled me a little, for I was afraid 
 that the old gentleman was laying a trap for my 
 newly acquired commodity ; and I was about to 
 refuse with some slight show of indignation, 
 when I perceived a change in his countenance, in- 
 dicative of disappointment — so I only demurred 
 until he had sufficient time to prove that there was
 
 the king's own. 159 
 
 no dishonesty in the transaction, when, being con- 
 vinced that he was in earnest, I consented. 
 Before the second bottle was finished, I found 
 out that it was not for a friend, but for himself, 
 and for one of his own vessels, that he was 
 anxious to procure a smart captain ; and that he 
 had a large capital embarked in the concern, 
 which was very profitable. The pocket-book, 
 which I had returned, was of no little importance; 
 had it fallen into other hands, it might have told 
 tales. 
 
 " I have now been three years in the old 
 gentleman's employ, and a generous good master 
 he has been ; and his daughter is a sweet pretty 
 girl. I lost my last vessel, but not until she 
 had cleared him c£?10,000 ; and now the old 
 gentleman is building me another at Havre. 
 Not to be quite idle, I have in the mean time 
 taken command of one of their sloops ; for the 
 old gentleman has a good many shares in the 
 speculation* and his recommendations are always 
 attended to."
 
 160 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 u 
 
 Void Monsieur Beaujou^ avec les habits,' 1 ' 
 said the maitre d'auberge, opening the door, and 
 ushering in the marchand des modes maritimes, 
 with a huge bundle. 
 
 " Now, then, boy, rouse out,''' said M c 
 Elvina, shaking our hero for a long while, with- 
 out any symptoms of recovering him from his 
 lethargy. 
 
 " Try him on the other tack," said the cap- 
 tain, lifting him off the sofa, and placing him 
 upright on his legs. 
 
 " There's no sugar in it yet," said Willy, who 
 was dreaming that he was supplying the mulled 
 claret to the old master's-mate. 
 
 " Ah," said Debriseau, laughing, " he thinks 
 his mamma is giving him his tea. ,, 
 
 ** The lying little rascal told me this morning 
 he had no mother. Come, Mr. William Sey- 
 mour, / believe" — (mimicking) "officer,/ believe 
 — Oh, you're a nice honest boy. Have you a 
 mother, or do you tell fibs in your sleep as well 
 as awake ? * Be honest.' "
 
 THE KING S OWN. 
 
 161 
 
 The last words, that Willy had heard re- 
 peated so often during the day, not only un- 
 sealed his eyes, but recalled to his recollection 
 where he was. 
 
 " Now, my youngster, let us rig you out ; you 
 recollect you stated that you were going home 
 for your outfit, and now I'll give you one, that 
 you may have one fib less on your conscience." 
 
 By the generosity of M c Elvina, Willy was 
 soon fitted with two suits of clothes, requiring 
 little alteration, and Mr. Beaujou, having re- 
 ceived a further order for a supply of shirts, and 
 other articles necessary to complete, made his 
 bow and disappeared. 
 
 The two captains resumed their chairs, and 
 our hero again coiled himself on the sofa, and 
 in one minute was as sound asleep as before. 
 
 " And now, M c Elvina," resumed Debri- 
 seau, " I should like to know by what arguments 
 your employer contrived to reconcile your pre- 
 sent vocation with your punctilious regard for 
 honesty ? For I must confess, for my own part,
 
 162 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 that although I have followed smuggling as a 
 livelihood, I have never defended it as an honest 
 ealling, and have looked forward with occasional 
 impatience to the time when I should be able to 
 leave it off." 
 
 " Defend it ! Why 111 just repeat to you the 
 arguments used by the old gentleman. They 
 convinced me. As I said before, I am always 
 open to conviction. Captain Debriseau, you 
 will acknowledge, I trust, that laws are made for 
 the benefit of all parties, high and low, rich and 
 poor ?" 
 
 " Granted." 
 
 " You'll allow, also, that law-makers should 
 not be law-breakers ; and that if they are so, they 
 cannot expect that others will regard what they 
 disregard themselves." 
 
 " Granted also." 
 
 " Once more — by the laws of our country, 
 the receiver is as bad as the thief, and they who 
 instigate others to commit an offence, are equally 
 guilty with the offending party."
 
 THE KING S OWN. 
 
 163 
 
 " It cannot be denied, 1 '' replied Debriseau. 
 
 " Then you have acceded to all the proposi- 
 tions that I wish, and we shall come to an unde- 
 niable and mathematical conclusion. Observe, 
 law-makers should not be law-breakers. Who 
 enacted these laws ? — the aristocracy of the na- 
 tion, seated in their respective houses, the Lords 
 and the Commons. Go, any night you please, to 
 the Opera, or any other place of public resort, 
 in which you can have a view of their wives 
 and daughters. I'll stake my existence that 
 every female there shall be dizened out in some 
 contraband article of dress — not one but shall 
 prove to be a receiver of smuggled goods, and, 
 therefore, as bad as those whom they have 
 instigated to infringe the laws of their country. 
 If there were no demand, there would be no 
 supply." 
 
 " Surely they don't all drink gin?" replied 
 Debriseau. 
 
 " Drink gin ! You're thinking of your d — d 
 Cherbourg trade — your ideas are confined. Is
 
 104 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 there nothing smuggled besides gin? Now, 
 if the husbands and fathers of these ladies, — 
 those who have themselves enacted the laws, — 
 wink at their infringement, why should not 
 others do so ? The only distinction between the 
 equally offending parties is, that those who are 
 in power, — who possess all the comforts and 
 luxuries which this world can afford, — who 
 offend the laws from vanity and caprice, and 
 entice the needy to administer to their love of 
 display, are protected and unpunished; while 
 the adventurous seaman, whose means of sup- 
 porting his family depend upon his administer- 
 ing to their wishes, or the poor devil who is 
 unfortunately detected with a gallon of spirits, 
 is thrown into gaol as if he were a felon. There 
 cannot be one law for the rich, and another 
 for the poor, Debriseau. When I hear that the 
 wives of the aristocracy have been seized by the 
 revenue officers, that the contraband articles 
 which they wear have been taken off their 
 backs, and that they have been sentenced to
 
 the king's own. 165 
 
 twelve months 1 imprisonment by a committal 
 from the magistrate, then — and not till then 
 — will I acknowledge our profession to be dis- 
 honest.'''' 
 
 « Very true," said Debriseau ; " it shews the 
 folly of men attempting to make laws for their 
 masters."" 
 
 " Is it not shocking," continued M c Elvina, 
 " to reflect upon the conduct of the magistrate, 
 who has just sentenced perhaps four or five 
 unhappy wretches to a dungeon for an offence 
 against these laws ? He leaves the seat of Jus- 
 tice, and returns to the bosom of his family. 
 Hear his wife," (mimicking) — " ' Well, my dear, 
 you're come at last — dinner has been put back 
 this half hour. I thought you would never 
 have finished with those odious smugglers.' — 
 ' Why, my love, it was a very difficult case 
 to prove ; but we managed it at last, and I have 
 signed the warrant for their committal to the 
 county gaol. They're sad troublesome fellows, 
 these smugglers. 1 — Now look at the lady : ' What
 
 166 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 dress is that you put on to greet your hus- 
 band T * Gros de Naples de Lyons.'—* The 
 lace it is trimmed with ?' * Valenciennes. 1 — 
 ' Your gloves, Madam P 1 * Fabrique de Paris.'' 
 — ' Your ribbons, your shoes, your handker- 
 chief P 1 — All, all contraband.— Worthy magis- 
 trate, if you would hold the scales of Justice 
 with an even hand, make out one more mitti- 
 mus before you sit down to table. Send your 
 wife to languish a twelvemonth in company 
 with the poor smugglers, and then ' to dinner 
 with what appetite you may. 1 And now, 
 Debriseau, have I convinced you that I may 
 follow my present calling, and still say ' he 
 lionest V " 
 
 " Why, yes, I think we both may ; but would 
 not this evil be removed by free-trade ?" 
 
 " Heaven forbid f 1 replied M c Elvina, laugh- 
 ing ; " then there would be no smuggling."
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 167 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Love me, love my dog. 
 
 Proverb. 
 
 It is the misfortune of those who have been 
 in constant habits of deceit, that they always 
 imagine others are attempting the same dis- 
 honest practices. For some time, M c Elvina felt 
 convinced that our little hero had swerved from 
 truth in the account which he gave of himself; 
 and it was not until after repeated catechisings, 
 in which he found that, strange and improbable 
 as the narrative appeared, Willy never altered
 
 168 THE king's own. 
 
 from or contradicted his original statement, 
 that he believed the boy to be as honest and 
 ingenuous as might have been inferred from 
 his prepossessing countenance. 
 
 To this conviction, however, did he arrive at 
 last; and our hero — who seemed no sooner to 
 have lost one protector, than to have the good 
 fortune to find another — became the favourite 
 and companion of his new captain, instead of 
 his domestic, as had been originally contem- 
 plated. A lad of Willy's age, who is treat- 
 ed with kindness and consideration, is soon at- 
 tached, and becomes reconciled to any change of 
 circumstances. It was a matter of indifference 
 to our hero, whether he was on the quarter- 
 deck of a man-of-war, or in the cabin of a smug- 
 gling sloop. Contented with his present lot, — 
 with the happy thoughtlessness of youth, he 
 never permitted the future to disturb his repose, 
 or affect his digestion. 
 
 Willy had been nearly a month at Cherbourg 
 when M^Elvina's sloop took in another cargo.
 
 the king's own. 1G9 
 
 "" Willy," said M c Elvina, one evening as they 
 sat together in the apartment at the cabaret, 
 " to-morrow I shall, in all probability, sail for 
 the English coast. I have been thinking what I 
 shall do with you. I do not much like parting 
 with you ; but, on reflection, I think it will be 
 better that I should leave you behind. You can 
 be of no use, and may be in the way if we 
 should be obliged to take to our boat." 
 
 Willy pleaded hard against this arrangement. 
 " I never have a friend but I lose him di- 
 rectly,'''' said the boy, and the tears started into 
 his eyes. 
 
 " I trust you will not lose me, my dear fel- 
 low, 1 '' replied M c Elvina, moved at this proof of 
 affection ; " but I must explain to you why I 
 leave you. Tn the first place," added he s 
 laughing, ; ' with that mark on your shoulder, it 
 would be felony, without benefit of clergy, for 
 you to be found in my possession ; but of that I 
 would run the risk. My serious reasons are as 
 follow : — If this trip proves fortunate, I shall 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 170 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 not return to Cherbourg. I have business of 
 importance in London, which may require my 
 presence for some weeks in that metropolis and 
 its vicinity. I told you before, that I am about 
 to take the command of a very different vessel 
 from this paltry sloop, and upon a more dan- 
 gerous service. In four or five months she will 
 be ready to sail, and during that time I shall 
 be constantly on the move, and shall hardly 
 know what to do with you. Now, Willy, you 
 are not aware of the advantages of education — 
 I am : and as mine was given to me by strangers, 
 so will I in return bestow as much upon you 
 as I can afford. You must, therefore, go to 
 school until my return. You will at least ac- 
 quire the French language, and you will find 
 that of no little use to you hereafter." 
 
 Willy, accustomed to discipline and to 
 breathe the air of passive obedience, submitted 
 without raising any more objections, Debriseau 
 joined, and they all three sallied forth to make 
 arrangements for placing our hero " en pension,
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 171 
 
 where they had been recommended. Having 
 effected this, they agreed to lounge on the Place 
 d 'Amies till sunset, when they took possession 
 of one of the benches. M c Elvina and De- 
 briseau lighted their cigars, and puffed away in 
 silence, while Willy amused himself with watch- 
 ing the promenaders as they passed in review 
 before him. 
 
 They had not remained there many minutes 
 when a poodle-dog, Men tondu, and white as a 
 sheep from the river before the day of shear- 
 ing, walked up to them with an air of sagacious 
 curiosity, and looked M c Elvina stedfastly in 
 the face. M c Elvina, taking his cigar from his 
 mouth, held it to the dog, who ran up to it, as 
 if to smell it ; the lighted end coming in con- 
 tact with his cold nose, induced the animal to 
 set up a loud yell, and retreat to his master 
 much faster than he came, passing first ofie 
 fore-paw and then the other over his nose, to 
 wipe away the pain, in such a ridiculous man- 
 ner as to excite loud merriment, not only from 
 
 1 2
 
 172 THE KING'S OWN, 
 
 our party on the bench, but also from others 
 who had witnessed the scene. 
 
 •'So much for curiosity. 1 ' said M c Elvina, 
 continuing his mirth. The proprietor of the 
 dog, a young Frenchman, dressed very much 
 " en calicot^ did not, however, seem quite so 
 much amused with this practical joke ; he 
 cocked his hat fiercely on one side, raised his 
 figure to the utmost of its height, and walking 
 up, en grand mUHaire, addressed M c Elvina 
 with, u Comment, Monsieur, vous avezfait une 
 grande Mtise-Id — vous m 'insult ez — " 
 
 " I think I had better not understand 
 French," said M c Elvina, aside to Debriseau ; 
 then turning to the Frenchman, with a grave 
 face, and air of incomprehension, — " What did 
 you say, Sir ?"" 
 
 " Ah ! you are Inglisman. You not speak 
 French ?"— M c Elvina shook his head, and 
 began to puff away his cigar. 
 
 " Den, Sare, if you not speak de French 
 langage, I speak de Englis, like von natif, and
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 173 
 
 I tell you, Sare, que vous m'avez insulte. Got 
 for dam! — you burn my dog nose; vat you 
 mean, Sare P' 1 
 
 " The dog burnt his own nose," answered 
 M c Elvina, mildly. 
 
 " Vat you mean ? de dog burn his own nose ! 
 How is a dog cap-able to burn his own nose ? 
 Sare, you put de cigar to my dog nose. I must 
 have de satisfaction, or de apology, tout de 
 suite!" 
 
 "But, Sir, I have not insulted z/ow." 
 
 " Sare, you insult my dog — he is von and de 
 same ting — mon chien est un chien de senti- 
 ment. He feel de affront all de same vid me — 
 I feel de affront all de same vid him. Votis 
 n'avez qu'd clwisir, Monsieur — " 
 
 " Between you and your dog," answered 
 M c Elvina— " Well, then, I'd rather fight the 
 dog." 
 
 "Bah! fight de dog — de dog cannot fight, 
 Sare : niais je suis son nuiitrc et son ami, and 
 I vill fight for him."
 
 174 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 "Well, then, Monsieur, I did insult your 
 dog, I must acknowledge, and I will give him 
 the satisfaction which you require." 
 
 " And how vill you give de satisfaction to de 
 dog?" 
 
 " Why, Sir, you said just now, that he wasun 
 chien de beaucoup de sentiment ; — if he is so, he 
 will accept and properly appreciate my apology." 
 
 " Ah, Sare," replied the Frenchman, relax- 
 ing the stern wrinkles of his brow, " c'est bien 
 dit ; you will make de apology to de dog. Sans 
 doute, he is de principal, I am only de second. 
 Cest une affaire arrangee. Moustache, viens 
 ici, Moustache.'" (the dog came up to his master.) 
 " Monsieur est tres-fdche de £ avoir bride le 
 
 nez." 
 
 " Monsieur Moustache," said M c Elvina, tak- 
 ing off his hat, with mock gravity, to the dog, 
 who seemed determined to keep at a respectful 
 distance, u je vous demande mille excuses.'''' 
 
 " Ah ! que test charmant /" cried some of the 
 fair sex, who, as well as the men, had been
 
 THE KING S OWN. 175 
 
 attracted by, and were listening to the dispute. 
 " Que Monsieur VAnglois est drole ; et voyez 
 Moustache, comme il a Tair content — vraiment 
 c'est un chien aVesprit. Allez, Moustache,'''' said 
 his master, who was now all smiles, " donnez la 
 patte a Monsieur — donnez done. Ah, Sare, he 
 forgive you, I am very sure— il rCa pas de 
 malice ; but he is afraid of de cigar. De burnt 
 shild dred de voter, as your great Shakspeare say ." 
 
 ' i Cest un chien de talent : il a beaucoup de 
 sentiment. Je suis Men fdche de V avoir blesse, 
 Monsieur.'" 
 
 u Et Monsieur parle Francois P" 
 
 " I should esteem myself fortunate, if I spoke 
 your language as well as you do mine,' 1 replied 
 M c Elvina, in French. 
 
 This compliment, before so many bystanders, 
 completely won the heart of the vain and cho- 
 leric Frenchman. 
 
 "Ah, Sare, you are too complaisant. I hope 
 I shall have de pleasure to make your acquaint- 
 ance. Je nCappelle Monsieur Auguste de
 
 176 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 Poivre. fai llumneur de vous presenter une carte 
 (Tadresse. I live on de top of my mother's,- — 
 sur V entresol. My mother live on de ground — 
 rez de chaussee. Madame ma mere will be 
 delighted to receive a Monsieur of so much vit 
 and adresse. 11 So saying, away went Monsieur 
 Auguste de Poivre, followed by Moustache, 
 who was " all von and de same ting." 
 
 " Well, we live and learn,' 1 said M c Elvina, 
 laughing, as soon as the Frenchman was at a 
 little distance ; " I never thought that I should 
 have made an apology to a dog.'" 
 
 " Oh, but, 1 ' replied Debriseau, "you forget 
 that he was un chien de sentiment." 
 
 w You may imagine, from my behaviour, that 
 I consider him a wiser puppy than his master, 
 for he ran away from fire, whereas hrs master 
 tried all he could to get into it. Some of our 
 countrymen would have humoured him, and 
 turned a comedy into a tragedy — I set a proper 
 value on my life, and do not choose to risk it 
 about trifles.' 1
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 177 
 
 " There has been more than one valuable life 
 thrown away about a dog, in my remembrance,' 1 
 said Debriseau. " I think you behaved in a 
 sensible manner to get rid of the affair as you 
 did ; but you would have done better not to 
 have burnt the dog's nose." 
 
 "Granted," replied M c Elvina; "the more 
 so, as I have often remarked, that there is 
 no object in the world, except your children or 
 your own self, in which the meum is so power- 
 ful, and the tuum so weak. You caress your 
 own dog, and kick a strange one ; you are 
 pleased with the clamorous barking of your own 
 cur, and you curse the same noise from another. 
 The feeling is as powerful, almost, as that of a 
 mother who thinks her own ugly cub a cherub 
 compared to others, and its squallings the music 
 of the spheres. It is because there is no being 
 that administers so much to the self-love of his 
 master. He submits, with humility, to the 
 blows inflicted in the moment of irritation, and 
 
 i 3
 
 178 THE KIN^S OWN. 
 
 licks the hand that corrects. He bears no re- 
 vengeful feelings, and is ready to fondle and 
 caress you the moment that your good humour 
 returns. He is, what man looks in vain for 
 among his kind, a faithful friend, without con- 
 tradiction, — the very perfection of a slave. 
 The abject submission on his part, which would 
 induce you to despise him, becomes a merit, 
 when you consider his courage, his fidelity, and 
 his gratitude. I cannot think what Mahomet 
 was about when he pronounced his flat against 
 them, as unclean.'''' 
 
 " Well, 1 ' said Debriseau, " I agree with Ma- 
 homet that they are not clean, especially puppies. 
 There's that little beast at Monsieur Picardou's. 
 I declare — " 
 
 " Pooh," interrupted M c Elvina, laughing, 
 " I don't mean it in that sense — I mean that, 
 in a despotic country, the conduct of a dog 
 towards his master should be held up as an 
 example for imitation ; and I think that the 
 banner of the Moslem should have borne the
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 179 
 
 dog, instead of the crescent, as an emblem of 
 blind fidelity and tacit submission. ri 
 
 " That's very true," said Debriseau ; " but, 
 nevertheless, I wish Mademoiselle's puppy were 
 either taught manners or thrown over the quay."" 
 
 1 f Ce n'est pas un chien de sentiment" replied 
 M c Elvina, laughing. — " But it is nearly dark. 
 Allons au cabaret."" 
 
 They returned to the inn ; and the wind, on 
 the ensuing morning, blowing strong from a 
 favourable quarter, Willy and Debriseau ac- 
 companied M c Elvina down to the mole, from 
 whence he embarked on board of the sloop, which 
 was already under weigh, and in the course of 
 an hour was out of sight. 
 
 On the following day, Captain Debriseau ac- 
 companied Willy to the pension, where our hero 
 remained nearly five months, occasionally visited 
 by the Guernsey Captain, when he returned 
 from his smuggling trips, and, more rarely, 
 receiving a letter from M c Elvina, who had 
 safely landed his cargo, and was latterly at
 
 180 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 Havre, superintending the fitting out of his 
 new vessel. Our hero made good progress 
 during the few months that he remained at the 
 pension, and when M c Elvina returned to take 
 him away, not only could speak the French 
 language with fluency, but had also made con- 
 siderable progress in what Sir W. C. used 
 to designate in his toast, as " the three R's," — 
 tiz., t( Reading, 'Riting, and , Rithmetic. , ' 
 
 The lugger which had been built for M C E1- 
 vina by his employer was now ready, and, bid- 
 ding farewell to Debriseau, who continued in 
 the Cherbourg trade, our hero and his pro- 
 tector journeyed en diligence to Havre,
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 181 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Through the haze of the night a bright flash now appearing, 
 " Oh, ho !" cries Will Watch, " the Philistines bear down ; 
 Bear a hand, my tight lads, ere we think about sheering, 
 One broadside pour in. should we swim, boys, or drown." 
 
 Sea Song. 
 
 " Now, Willy, what do you think of La Belle 
 Susanne?" said M c Elvina, as they stood on 
 the pier about a stone's throw from the vessel, 
 which lay with her broadside towards them. 
 Not that M c Elvina had any opinion of Willy's 
 judgment, but, from the affectionate feeling 
 which every sailor imbibes for his own 
 ship, he expected gratification even in the admi- 
 ration of a child. The lugger was certainly
 
 182 the king's own. 
 
 as beautiful a model of that description of 
 vessel as had ever been launched from a slip. 
 At the distance of a mile, with the sea running, 
 it was but occasionally that you could perceive 
 her long black hull, — so low was she in the water, 
 and so completely were her bulwarks pared 
 down ; yet her breadth of beam was very great, 
 and her tonnage considerable, as may be in- 
 ferred when it is stated that she mounted sixteen 
 long brass nine-pounders, and was manned 
 with one hundred and thirty men. But now 
 that she was lying at anchor in smooth 
 water, you had an opportunity of examining 
 with the severest scrutiny, the beautiful run 
 of the vessel, as she sat graceful as a diver, and • 
 appeared, like that aquatic bird, ready to plunge 
 in a moment, and disappear under the wave 
 cleft by her sharp forefoot, and rippling under 
 her bows. 
 
 " When shall we sail ?" inquired Willy, after 
 bestowing more judicious encomiums upon the 
 vessel than might have been expected.
 
 the king's own. ]83 
 
 " To-morrow night, if the wind holds to the 
 southward. We took in our powder this morn- 
 ing. Where were you stationed at quarters on 
 board the ?" 
 
 " Nowhere. I was not on the ship's books 
 until a day or two before I left her. r 
 
 " Then you must be a powder-monkey with 
 me ; you can hand powder up, if you can do 
 nothing else." 
 
 " I can do more," replied Willy, proudly; 
 " I can roll shells overboard." 
 
 " Ay, ay, so you can ; I forgot that. I 
 suppose I must put you on the quarter-deck, 
 
 and make an officer of you, as Captain M 
 
 intended to do.' 1 
 
 " I mean to stand by you when we fight,"'' 
 said Willy, taking M c Elvina's hand. 
 
 " Thank you — that may not be so lucky. I'm 
 rather superstitious ; and, if I recollect right, 
 your old friend Adams had that honour when 
 he was killed." 
 
 The name of old Adams being mentioned
 
 ]84 the king's own. 
 
 made Willy silent and unhappy. M c Elvina 
 perceived it ; the conversation was dropped; and 
 they returned home. 
 
 A few days afterwards, La Belle Susannne 
 sailed, amidst the shouts and vivas of the mul- 
 titude collected on the pier, and a thousand 
 wishes for " siicces," and " bon voyage 1 '' — the 
 builder clapping, his hands, and skipping with 
 all the simial ecstasy of a Frenchman, at the 
 encomiums lavished upon his vessel, as she 
 cleaved through the water with the undeviating 
 rapidity of a Barra Couta. But the vivas, and 
 the shouts, and the builder, and the pier that 
 he capered on, were soon out of sight ; and our 
 hero was once more confiding in the trackless 
 and treacherous ocean. 
 
 " Well, she does walk/' said Phillips, who 
 had followed the fortunes of his captain, and 
 was now looking over the quarter of the vessel. 
 " She must be a clipper as catches us with the 
 tacks on board ! Right in the wind's eye too ; 
 clean full. By the powers, I believe if you
 
 the king's own. 185 
 
 were to lift her, she would lay a point on the 
 other side of the wind." 
 
 " Get another pull of the fore-haulyards, my 
 lads," cried M c Elvina. " These new ropes 
 stretch most confoundedly. There, belay all 
 that ; take a severe turn, and don't come up an 
 inch." 
 
 The breeze freshened, and the lugger flew 
 through the water, dashing the white spray 
 from her bows into the air, where it formed 
 little rainbows, as it was pierced by the beams 
 of the setting sun. 
 
 " We shall have a fine night, and light 
 weather towards the morning, I think," said 
 the first-mate, addressing M c Elvina. 
 
 " I think so too. Turn the hands up to 
 muster by the quarter-bill. We'll load the guns 
 as soon as the lights are out ; let the gunner 
 fill forty rounds, and desire the carpenter to 
 nail up the hatchway-screens. Let them be 
 rolled up and stopped. We'll keep them up 
 for a full due, till we return to Havre."
 
 186 the king's own. 
 
 The crew of the lugger were now summoned 
 on deck by the call of the boatswain, and 
 having been addressed by Captain M c Elvina 
 upon the absolute necessity of activity and pre- 
 paration, in a service of such peculiar risk, 
 they loaded the guns, and secured them for the 
 night. 
 
 The crew consisted of about eighty or ninety 
 Englishmen, out of the full complement of one 
 hundred and thirty men ; the remainder was 
 composed of Frenchmen, and other continental 
 adventurers. Although the respective countries 
 were at variance, the subjects of each had shaken 
 hands, that they might assist each other in 
 violating the laws. The quiet and subordina- 
 tion of a king's ship were not to be expected 
 here : — loud and obstreperous mirth, occasional 
 quarrelling, as one party, by accident or inten- 
 tion, wounded the national pride of the other ; 
 French, English, and Irish, spoken alternately, 
 or at the same moment — created a degree of 
 confusion, which proved that the reins of
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 187 
 
 government were held lightly by the captain in 
 matters of small importance; but, although 
 there was a general freedom of manner, and 
 independence of address, still his authority was 
 acknowledged, and his orders implicitly obeyed. 
 It was a ship's company which pulled every- 
 way, as the saying is, when there was nothing 
 to demand union ; but, let difficulty or danger 
 appear, and all their squabbling was forgotten, 
 or reserved for a more seasonable opportunity : 
 then they all pulled together, those of each 
 nation vying in taking the lead and setting an 
 example to the other. 
 
 Such was the crew of the lugger which 
 M c Elvina commanded, all of whom were 
 picked men, remarkable for their strength and 
 activity. 
 
 As the first-mate had predicted, the wind fell 
 light after midnight, and at dawn of day the 
 lugger was gliding through the smooth water, 
 at the rate of three or four miles an hour, 
 shrouded in a thick fog. The sun rose, and
 
 188 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 had gained about twenty degrees of altitude 
 when M°Elvina beat to quarters, that he might 
 accustom his men to the exercise of the guns. 
 The rays of the sun had not power to pierce 
 through the fog ; and, shorn of his beams, 
 he had more the appearance of an overgrown 
 moon, or was, as Phillips quaintly observed, 
 " like a man disguised in woman's attire." 
 
 The exercise of the guns had not long con- 
 tinued, when the breeze freshened up, and the 
 fog began partially to disperse. Willy, who 
 was perched on the round-house abaft, ob- 
 served a dark mass, looming through the mist 
 on the weather beam. " Is that a vessel?" said 
 Willy, pointing it out to the first-mate, who was 
 standing near M c Elvina. 
 
 " Indeed it is, my boy,' 1 replied the mate ; 
 " you've a sharp eye of your own." 
 
 M c Elvina's glass was already on the object. "A 
 cutter, right before the wind, coming down to us ; 
 a government vessel, of some sort or another, 
 I'll swear. I trust she's a revenue cruiser — I
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 189 
 
 have an account to settle with those gentlemen. 
 Stay at your quarters, my lads — hand up 
 shot, and open the magazine !" 
 
 The powerful rays of the sun, assisted by 
 the increasing wind, now rolled away the fog 
 from around the vessels, which had a perfect view 
 of each other. They were distant about two 
 miles, and the blue water was strongly rippled 
 by the breeze which had sprung up. The 
 lugger continued her course on a wind, while 
 the cutter bore down towards her, with all the 
 sail that she could throw out. The fog con- 
 tinued to clear away, until there was an open 
 space of about three or four miles in diameter. 
 But it still remained folded up in deep masses, 
 forming a wall on every side, which obscured 
 the horizon from their sight. It appeared as if 
 nature had gratuitously cleared away a suffi- 
 cient portion of the mist, and had thus ar- 
 ranged a little amphitheatre for the approach- 
 ing combat between the two vessels.
 
 190 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 " His colours are up, Sir. Revenue stripes, 
 by the Lord!" cried Phillips. 
 
 " Then all's right," replied M c Elvina. 
 
 The cutter had now run down within half a 
 mile of the lugger, who had continued her course 
 with the most perfect nonchalance — when she 
 rounded to. The commander of the vessel, 
 aware, at the first discovery of the lugger, that 
 she could be no other than an enemy, who 
 would most probably give him some trouble, 
 had made every preparation for the engage- 
 ment. 
 
 " Shall we hoist any colours, Sir?" said the 
 first-mate to M c Elvina. 
 
 " No — if we hoist English, he will not com- 
 mence action until he has made the private 
 signal, and all manner of parleying, which is 
 quite unnecessary. He knows what we are, 
 well enough." 
 
 " Shall we hoist a French ensign, Sir?" 
 
 " No; I'll fight under no other colours than
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 191 
 
 those of old England, even when I resist her 
 authority." 
 
 A long column of white smoke now rolled 
 along the surface of the water, as the cutter, 
 who had waited in vain for the colours being 
 hoisted, fired the first gun at her antagonist. 
 The shot whizzed between the masts of the lug- 
 ger, and plunged into the water a quarter of a 
 mile to leeward. 
 
 " A vous, Monsieur .'*" roared out a French 
 quarter-master on board of the lugger, in 
 imitation of the compliments which take place 
 previously to an assant d'arnies, at the same 
 time taking off his hat, and bowing to the 
 cutter. 
 
 " Too high, too high, good Mr. Searcher,'" 
 said JVTElvina, laughing ; " depress your guns 
 to her water-line, my lads, and do not fire until 
 I order you." 
 
 The remainder of the cutter's broadside was 
 now discharged at the lugger, but the elevation 
 being too great, the shot whizzed over, without
 
 192 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 any injury to her crew; the main-haulyards 
 were, however, shot away, and the yard and 
 sail fell thundering down on the deck. 
 
 " Be smart, my lads, and bend on again ; it's 
 quite long enough. Up with the sail, and we'll 
 return the compliment." 
 
 In less than a minute, the tie of the haul- 
 yards, which had been divided close to the 
 yard, was hitched round it, and the sail 
 again expanded to the breeze. " Now, my lads, 
 remember, don't throw a shot away — fire when 
 you're ready." 
 
 The broadside of the lugger was poured into 
 the cutter, with what effect upon the crew could 
 not be ascertained ; but the main-boom was cut 
 in half, and the outer part of it fell over the cut- 
 ter's quarter, and was dragged astern by the clew 
 of the sail. 
 
 " It's all over with her already," said the 
 first-mate to M c EIvina ; and, as the cutter paid 
 off before the wind, another broadside from her 
 well manned antagonist raked her fore and aft.
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 193 
 
 The cutter hauled down her jib, eased off her 
 fore- sheet, and succeeded in again bringing her 
 broadside to bear. The action was now main- 
 tained with spirit, but much to the disadvantage 
 of the cutter, who was not only inferior in force, 
 but completely disabled, from the loss of her 
 main-boom. 
 
 After an exchange of a dozen broadsides, 
 M c Elvina shot the lugger ahead, and, tacking 
 under his adversary's bows, raked him a second 
 time. The commander of the revenue vessel, to 
 avoid a repetition of a similar disaster, payed 
 his vessel off before the wind, and returned the 
 fire as they came abreast of each other ; but in 
 these manoeuvres, the lugger obtained the 
 weather gage. It was, however, a point of 
 little consequence as matters then stood. In a 
 few more broadsides the cutter was a complete 
 wreck, and unable to return the fire of her 
 opponent. Her fore-stay and haulyards had 
 been cut away, her fore-sail was down on 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 194 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 deck, and her jib lying overboard, under her 
 bows. 
 
 " I think that will do," said M c Elvina, to the 
 first-mate. " We had better be off now, for our 
 guns will be sure to bring down some of the 
 cruisers ; and, if she surrendered, I could not 
 take possession of her. Let's give her a parting 
 broadside, and three cheers." 
 
 M c Elvina's orders were obeyed ; but not one 
 gun was returned by the cutter — " Starboard 
 a little ; keep her away now, and we'll close and 
 stand ahead of her, that she may read our name 
 on the stern. It's a pity they should not know 
 to whom they are indebted. They'll not forget 
 La Belle Susanne." 
 
 The cutter had not been left a mile astern 
 before the breeze freshened, and the fog began 
 rapidly to disperse ; and Phillips, who continued 
 at the conn, perceived, through the haze, a large 
 vessel bearing down towards them. 
 
 " High time that we were off, indeed, captain :
 
 THE KING'S OWN'. 195 
 
 for there's a cruiser, if I mistake not. A gun 
 here is the same to the cruiser, as a splash in the 
 water is to the ground sharks at Antigua ; — up 
 they all come, to see what's to be had. We 
 shall have a dozen of them above the horizon 
 before two hours are over our heads. 1 ' 
 
 M c Elvina, who had his glass fixed upon the 
 vessel, soon made her out to be a frigate, 
 coming down under a press of sail, attracted, as 
 Phillips had remarked, by the reports of the 
 guns. What made the affair more serious was, 
 that she was evidently bringing down a strong 
 breeze, which the lugger, although steering 
 large, had not yet obtained. Moreover, the fog 
 had dispersed in all directions, and the frigate 
 neared them fast. 
 
 " B 1 the cutter !" said the first-mate ; 
 
 " we shall pay dearly for our ' lark.' ,; 
 
 " This is confoundedly unlucky," replied 
 M c Elvina ; " she brings the wind down with 
 her, and won't part with a breath of it. How- 
 ever, i faint heart never won fair lady.' Keep 
 
 k 2
 
 196 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 her away two points more. Clap every thing 
 on her. Well weather her yet." 
 
 The breeze that ran along the water in ad- 
 vance of the frigate, now began to be felt by the 
 lugger, who again dashed the foaming water 
 from her bows, as she darted through the wave: 
 but it was a point of sailing at which a frigate 
 has always an advantage over a small vessel ; 
 and M c Elvina having gradually edged away so 
 as to bring the three masts of his pursuer appa- 
 rently into one, perceived that the frigate was 
 rapidly closing with him. 
 
 The crew of the lugger, who had been all 
 merriment at the successful termination of the 
 late combat, (for not one man had been killed or 
 severely wounded,) now paced the deck, or look- 
 ed over the bulwark with serious and foreboding 
 aspects ; the foreigners particularly began to 
 curse their fate, and considered their voyage 
 and anticipated profits at an end. M c Elvina, 
 perceiving their discontent, ordered the men aft, 
 and addressed them : —
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 1<J7 
 
 " My lads, I have often been in a worse 
 scrape, and have weathered it ; nor do I know 
 but what we may yet manage to get out of this, 
 if you will pay strict attention to my orders, and 
 behave in that cool and brave manner which I 
 have reason to expect from you. Much, if not 
 all, depends upon whether the captain of that 
 frigate is a ' new hand" or not : — if he is an old 
 Channel groper, we shall have some difficulty; 
 but, however, we will try for it, and if we do 
 not succeed, at least we shall have the satisfac- 
 tion of knowing that we did our best both for 
 ourselves and our employers." 
 
 M c Elvina then proceeded to explain to his 
 crew the manoeuvre that he intended to prac- 
 tise, to obtain the weather gage of the frigate, 
 upon which their only chance of escape would 
 depend, and the men returned to their stations, if 
 not contented, at least with increased confidence 
 in their captain, and strong hopes of success. 
 
 As the day closed, the frigate was within a 
 mile of the lugger, and coming up with him 
 
 .'
 
 198 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 hand over hand. The breeze was strong, and 
 the water was no longer in ripples, but curled 
 over in short waves to the influence of the blast. 
 The frigate yawed a little — the smoke from her 
 bow-chaser was followed by an instantaneous 
 report, and the shot dashed into the water close 
 under the stern of the lugger. " Sit down un- 
 der the bulwarks ; sit down, my lads, and keep 
 all fast," said M c Elvina. " He'll soon be tired 
 of that ; he has lost more than a cable's length 
 already." M c Elvina was correct in his supposi- 
 tion ; the commander of the frigate perceived 
 that he had lost too much ground by deviating 
 from his course, and the evening was closing in. 
 He fired no more. Both vessels continued their 
 course, — the smuggler particularly attentive in 
 keeping the three masts of her pursuer in one, 
 to prevent her from firing into her, or to oblige 
 her to drop astern if she did. 
 
 Half an hour more, and as the sun's lower 
 limb touched the horizon, the frigate was with- 
 in musket shot of the lugger, and the marines,
 
 THE KING'S OWN, 199 
 
 who had been ordered forward, commenced a 
 heavy fire upon her, to induce her to lower her 
 sails and surrender ; — but in vain ; by the direc- 
 tions of their captain, the men sheltered them- 
 selves under the bulwarks, and the vessel conti- 
 nued her course, with all her sails expanded to 
 the breeze. 
 
 A few minutes more and she was right under 
 the bows of the frigate, who now prepared to 
 round to, and pour a broadside into her for her 
 temerity. M c Elvina watched their motions at- 
 tentively, and as the frigate yawed to with all 
 her sails set, he gave the order to lower away ; 
 and the sails of the lugger were in an instant 
 down on the deck, in token of submission. 
 
 '•' Helm hard a-lee, now — keep a little bit of 
 the mizen up, Phillips — they won't observe it." 
 
 " Marines, cease firing, — hands, shorten sail, 
 and clear away the first cutter,'' were the orders 
 given on board the frigate, and distinctly heard 
 by the smugglers ; but the heavy press of sail 
 that the frigate was obliged to carry to come up
 
 200 the king's own. 
 
 with the chase, was not so soon to be reduced as 
 that of a small vessel — and, as she rounded to 
 with studding-sails below and aloft, she shot 
 past the lugger, and left her on her quarter. 
 
 " Now's your time, my men. Hoist away 
 the jib-sheet to windward." — The lugger paid 
 off as the wind caught the sail. — " All's right. 
 Up with the lugs." 
 
 The order was obeyed as an order generally 
 is by men working for their escape from what 
 they most dreaded, poverty and imprisonment ; 
 and, before the frigate could reduce her sails, 
 which were more than she could carry on a 
 wind, the lugger had shot away on her weather 
 quarter, and was a quarter of a mile in advance. 
 The frigate tacked after her, firing gun after 
 gun, but without success. Fortune favoured 
 M c Elvina ; and the shades of night soon hid the 
 lugger from the sight of her irritated and dis- 
 appointed pursuers. A longer career was before 
 La Belle Susanne : she was not to be taken that 
 time.
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 201 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A fisherman he had been in his youth ; 
 But other speculations were, in sooth, 
 Added to his connexion with the sea, 
 
 Perhaps not so respectable, in truth, 
 
 # » * * # 
 
 He had an only Daughter. 
 
 Don Juan. 
 
 Not possessing a prompter's whistle, we 
 must use, as a substitute, the boatswain's call, 
 and, at his shrill pipe, we change the scene to 
 a back parlour in one of the most confined 
 streets at the east end of England's proud and 
 wealthy metropolis. The dramatis persona are 
 an elderly and corpulent personage, with as 
 little of fashion in his appearance as in his 
 residence ; and a young female of about twenty 
 
 k 3
 
 202 the king's own. 
 
 - 
 
 years of age, with expressive and beautiful fea- 
 tures, but wanting " the damask on the 
 cheek," the true value of which the fair sex so 
 well appreciate, that, if not indebted for it to 
 nature, they are too apt to resort to art for an 
 unworthy imitation. 
 
 The first mentioned of these two personages 
 was busy examining, through his spectacles, 
 some papers which lay on the table before him, 
 — occasionally diverted from his task by the per- 
 tinacity of some flies, which seemed to have 
 taken a particular fancy to his bald forehead and 
 scalp, which, in spite of his constant brushing off, 
 they thought proper to consider as a pleasant 
 and smooth sort of coursing-plain, placed there 
 (probably in their ideas) solely for their amuse- 
 ment. Part of a decanter of wine, and the 
 remains of a dessert, crowded the small table 
 at which he sat, and added to the general air 
 of confinement which pervaded the whole. 
 
 " It's very hot, my dear. Open the window, 
 and let us have a little air."
 
 THE KING S OWN. 203 
 
 " Oh, father," replied the young woman, 
 who rose to throw up the sash, " you don't 
 know how I pine for fresh air. How long do 
 you intend to continue this life of constant toil 
 and privation ?" 
 
 "How long, my dear? Why, I presume 
 you do not wish to starve — you would not be 
 very well pleased if, when you applied for 
 money, as you do every week, at least, I were 
 to tell you that the bag was empty." 
 
 " Oh, nonsense, I know better, father — don't 
 think so poorly of me as to attempt to deceive 
 me in that way." 
 
 " And pray, Miss Susan, what do you 
 know ?" said the old gentleman, looking up at 
 her through his spectacles, as she stood by the 
 side of his chair. 
 
 " I know what you have taught me, Sir. 
 Do you recollect explaining to me the nature 
 of the funds, — what was the meaning of the 
 national debt, — all the varieties of stock, and 
 what interest they all bore ?"
 
 204 the king's own. 
 
 « Well, and what then ?" 
 
 " Why, then, father, I have often seen the 
 amount of the dividends which you have re- 
 ceived every half year, and have heard your 
 orders to Wilmott, to re-invest in the funds. 
 Now your last half-year's dividend in the three 
 per cents was — let me see, — oh, i?841 14s. 6cL, 
 which, you know, doubled, makes itself an in- 
 come of — " 
 
 " And pray, Miss Susan, what business have 
 you with all this ?" retorted her father, half 
 pleased, half angry. 
 
 " Why, father, you taught me yourself, and 
 thought me very stupid because I did not com- 
 prehend it as soon as you expected," answered 
 Susan, leaning over and kissing him ; " and now 
 you ask me what business I have to know it." 
 
 " Well, well, girl, it's very true," said the 
 old man, smiling ; " but allowing that you are 
 correct, what then ?" 
 
 " Why then, father, don't be angry if I say 
 that it appears to me that you have more money
 
 THE KING S OWN. 205 
 
 now than you can spend while you live, or 
 know to whom to leave when yoa die. What, 
 then, is the use of confining yourself in a dirty 
 narrow street, and toiling all day for no earthly 
 advantage ?" 
 
 " But how do you know that I have nobody 
 to leave my money to, Susan ?" 
 
 " Have you not repeatedly said that you 
 have no relations or kin, that you are aware of, 
 except me ; that you were once a sailor before the 
 mast — an orphan, bound apprentice by the parish? 
 Whom, then, have you except me? — and if you 
 continue here much longer, father, I feel con- 
 vinced that you will not have me — you will have 
 no one. If you knew how tired I am of looking 
 out at this horrid brick wall, — how I long for 
 the country, to be running among the violets 
 and primroses, — how I pine for relief from this 
 little dungeon. Oh ! what would I give to be 
 flying before the breeze in the lugger with 
 M c Elvina." 
 
 "Indeed, Miss !" replied old Hornblow, whom
 
 206 the king's own. 
 
 the reader may recognise as the patron of our 
 smuggling captain. 
 
 " Well, father, there is no harm in saying 
 so. I want freedom, I feel as if I could not 
 be too free — I should like to be blown about 
 in a balloon. Oh, why don't you give up busi- 
 ness, go down to the sea-side, take a pretty 
 little cottage, and make yourself and me happy 
 I fancy the sea-breeze is blowing in my face, 
 and all my ringlets out of curl. I shall die if 
 I stay here much longer — I shall, indeed, 
 father." 
 
 Repeated attacks of this nature had already 
 sapped the foundation ; and a lovely and only 
 daughter had the influence over her father's 
 heart, to which she was entitled. 
 
 " Well, well, Susan — let M c Elvina wind up 
 the accounts of this vessel, and then I will do as 
 you wish ; but I cannot turn him adrift, you 
 know." 
 
 " Turn Captain M c Elvina adrift ! No— if 
 you did, father — "
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 207 
 
 " I presume that you would be very much 
 inclined to take him in tow — Eh, miss ?" 
 
 " I shall never act without attending to your 
 advice, and consulting your wishes, my dear 
 father," answered Susan, the suffusion of her 
 unusually pale cheeks proving that she required 
 but colour to be perfectly beautiful. 
 
 And here the conversation dropped. Old 
 Hornblow had long perceived the growing at- 
 tachment between his daughter and M c Elvina ; 
 and the faithful and valuable services of the 
 latter, added to the high opinion which the old 
 man had of his honesty, which— to do M e Elvina 
 justice — had been most scrupulous — had deter- 
 mined him to let things take their own course. 
 Indeed there was no one with whom old Horn- 
 blow was acquainted, to whom he would have 
 intrusted his daughter's happiness with so much 
 confidence as to our reformed captain. 
 
 A sharp double tap at the street door an- 
 nounced the post, and in a few minutes after 
 this conversation, the clerk appeared with a letter
 
 208 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 for old Hornblow, who, pursuant to the pru- 
 dent custom of those days, had his counting- 
 house on the ground-floor of his own residence, 
 which enabled him to go to his dinner, and re- 
 turn to his business in the evening. Now-a- 
 days we are all above our business, and live 
 above our means (which is in itself sufficient to 
 account for the general distress that is com- 
 plained of), and the counting-house is deserted 
 before dusk, that we may arrive at our resi- 
 dences in Russel Square, or the Regent's Park, 
 in time to dress for a turtle dinner at six o'clock, 
 instead of a mutton chop, or single joint, en fa- 
 miile, at two. 
 
 But to return. Old Hornblow put on his 
 spectacles, (which were on the table since they 
 had been removed from his nose by Susan, when 
 she kissed him,) and examined the post mark, 
 seal, and superscription, as if he wished to tax 
 his ingenuity with a guess previously to opening 
 the letter, which would have saved him all that
 
 the king's own. 209 
 
 trouble, and have decided the point of scrutiny, 
 viz. from whom it came ? 
 
 " M c Elvina, I rather think," said he, musing ; 
 " but the post-mark is Plymouth. How the 
 deuce! — " The two first lines of the letter were 
 read, and the old man's countenance fell. Susan, 
 who had been all alive at the mention of M° 
 Elvina's name, perceived the alteration in her 
 father's looks. 
 
 *•' No bad news, I hope, my dear father ?" 
 
 " Bad enough," replied the old man, with a 
 deep sigh ; " the lugger is taken by a frigate, 
 and sent into Plymouth." 
 
 " And Captain M £ Eivina— he's not hurt, I 
 hope?" 
 
 " No, I presume not, as he has written the 
 letter, and says nothing about it." 
 
 Satisfied upon this point, Susan, who recol- 
 lected her father's promise, was undutiful 
 enough, we are sorry to say, to allow her 
 heart to bound with joy at the circumstance. 
 All her fond hopes were about to be realized,
 
 210 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 and she could hardly refrain from carolling the 
 words of Ariel, " Where the bee sucks, there 
 lurk I ;" but fortunately she remembered that 
 other parties might not exactly participate in 
 her delight. Out of respect for her father's 
 feelings, she therefore put on a grave counte- 
 nance, in sad contrast with her eyes, which joy 
 had brilliantly lighted up. 
 
 k< Well, it's a bad business, 11 continued old 
 Hornblow. " Wilmott H (The clerk heard his 
 master's voice, and came in.) " Bring me the 
 ledger. Let me see — Belle Susanne — I wonder 
 why the fool called her by that name, as if I had 
 not one already to take money out of my pocket. 
 Oh ! here it is — folio 59 continued, folio 10D, 
 129, 147, — not balanced since April last year. 
 Be quick, and strike me out a rough balance- 
 sheet of the J no; o'er. 11 
 
 " But what does Captain M c Elvina say, fa- 
 ther ?" 
 
 " What does he say? Why, that he is taken.
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 211 
 
 Haven't I told you so already, girl," replied 
 old Hornblow, in evident ill humour. 
 
 " Yes, but the particulars, my dear father?" 
 
 "Oh, there's only the fact, without particu- 
 lars — says he will write more fully in a day or 
 two." 
 
 " I'll answer for him, that it was not his 
 fault, father — he has always done you justice." 
 
 " I did not say that he had not ; I'm only 
 afraid that success has made him careless — it's 
 always the case." 
 
 "Yes," replied Susan, taking up the right 
 clue; "as you say, father, he has been very 
 successful. 11 
 
 " He has," replied the old man, recovering 
 his serenity a little, "very successful indeed. I 
 dare say it was not his fault." 
 
 The clerk soon made his appearance with the 
 rough balance-sheet required. It did more to 
 restore the good humour of the old man, than 
 even the soothing of his daughter. 
 
 "Oh! here we are— La Belle Susanne —
 
 212 the king's own. 
 
 Dr. to . Total, £14,864 14s. 3d. Contra— 
 
 Cr. 27,986 16s. 8d. Balance to profit and loss, 
 £13,122 2s. 5d. Well, that's not so very bad 
 in less than three years. I think I may afford 
 to lose her." 
 
 " Why, father," replied Susan, leaning over 
 his shoulder, and looking archly at him, "'tis 
 a fortune in itself, to a contented person." 
 
 But as, independently of M c Elvina's letter not 
 being sufficiently explicit, there are other cir- 
 cumstances connected with his capture that are 
 important to our history, we shall ourselves 
 narrate the particulars. 
 
 For more than two years, M c Elvina, by his 
 dexterity and courage, and the fast sailing of 
 his vessel, had escaped all his pursuers, and 
 regularly landed his cargoes. During this time, 
 Willy had made rapid progress under his 
 instruction, not only in his general education, 
 but also in that of his profession. One morning 
 the lugger was off Cape Clear, on the coast of 
 Ireland, when she discovered a frigate to wind- 
 ward, — the wind, weather, and relative situa-
 
 the king's own, 213 
 
 tions of the two vessels being much the same as 
 on the former occasion, when M c Elvina, by his 
 daring and judicious manoeuvre, had effected 
 his escape. The frigate chased, and soon closed 
 to within a quarter-of-a-mile of the lugger, 
 when she rounded-to, and poured in a broad- 
 side of grape, which brought her fore-yard 
 down on deck. From that moment such an 
 incessant fire of musquetry was poured in from 
 the frigate, that everv man on board of 
 IVTElvina's vessel, who endeavoured to repair 
 the mischief, was immediately struck down. 
 Any attempt at escape was now hopeless. 
 When within two cables' 1 lengths, the frigate 
 hove to the wind, keeping the lugger under 
 her lee, and continued a fire of grape and mus- 
 quetry into her, until the rest of her sails were 
 lowered down. 
 
 The crew of the smuggler, perceiving all 
 chance in their favour to be over, ran down 
 below to avoid the fire, and secure their own 
 effects. The boats of the frigate were soon on
 
 214 the king's own. 
 
 board of the lugger, and despatched back to 
 her with M'Elvina and the chief officers. 
 Willy jumped into the boat, and was taken 
 on board with his patron. 
 
 The captain of the frigate was on the quarter- 
 deck ; and as he turned round, it occurred to 
 Willy, that he had seen his face before, but 
 when or where, he could not exactly call to 
 mind : and he continued to scrutinize him, as 
 he paced up and down the quarter-deck, revolv- 
 ing in his mind where it was that he had 
 encountered that peculiar countenance. 
 
 His eye, so fixed upon the captain that it 
 followed him up and down as he moved, at last 
 was met by that of the latter, who, surprised 
 at finding so small a lad among the prisoners, 
 walked over to the lee-side of the quarter-deck, 
 and addressed him with — st You're but a young 
 smuggler, my lad ; are you the captain's son ?" 
 
 The voice immediately recalled to Willy's 
 recollection every circumstance attending their 
 last meeting, and who the captain was. He 
 answered in the negative, with a smile.
 
 the king's own. 215 
 
 " You've a light heart, youngster. Pray, 
 what's your name? 11 
 
 " You said that my name was to be Seymour, 
 Sir," replied Willy, touching his hat. 
 
 " Said his name was to be Seymour ! What 
 does the boy mean ? — Good Heavens ! I recol- 
 lect," observed Captain M , for it was 
 
 he. "Are you the boy that I sent home in 
 the chasse maree, to be fitted out for the 
 quarter-deck ?" 
 "Yes, Sir. 11 
 
 " And how long have you been on this praise- 
 worthy service ?" 
 
 '* Ever since, Sir," replied our hero, who had 
 little idea of its impropriety. 
 
 La Belle Susanne was as renowned for her fast 
 sailing, and repeated escapes from the cruisers, as 
 Captain M c Elvina and his crew were for their 
 courage and success. The capture of the vessel 
 had long been a desideratum of the English 
 government; and Captain M , although
 
 216 the king's own. 
 
 gratified at her falling into his hands, was not 
 very well pleased to find that a lad, whom he 
 had intended to bring forward in the service, 
 should, as he supposed, have voluntarily joined 
 a party, who had so long bid defiance to the 
 laws and naval force of the country. His 
 countenance assumed an air of displeasure, and 
 he was about to turn away, without any further 
 remarks, when M c Elvina, who perceived how 
 matters stood, and felt aware that Willy's 
 future prospects were at stake, stepped forward, 
 and respectfully addressing the captain, nar- 
 rated, in few words, the rescue of Willy from 
 the wreck, and added, that the boy had been 
 detained by him, and had had no opportunity of 
 leaving the vessel, which had never anchored 
 but in the French port of Havre. He also 
 stated, what was indeed true, that he had 
 always evaded explaining to the boy the real 
 nature of the service upon which the lugger was 
 employed ; from which it may be inferred that 
 notwithstanding M^Elvina's defence of smug-
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 217 
 
 gling in our former chapters, he was not quite 
 so well convinced, in his own mind, of its pro- 
 priety as he would have induced Debriseau to 
 suppose. 
 
 The assertions of M c Elvina turned the scale 
 again in Willy's favour ; and, after he had 
 answered the interrogatories of the captain, rela- 
 tive to the fate of Mr. Bullock, and the rest of 
 
 the men in the prize, Captain M , who, 
 
 although severe, was not only just, but kind- 
 hearted, determined that his former good inten- 
 tions relative to our hero should still remain in 
 force. 
 
 " Well, Mr. Seymour, you have seen a little 
 service, and your captain gives you a high cha- 
 racter, as an active and clever lad. As you have 
 been detained against your will, I think we may 
 recover your time and pay. I trust, however, 
 that you will, in future, be employed in a more 
 honourable manner. We shall, in all proba- 
 bility, be soon in port, and till then you must 
 vol. I. L 
 
 V
 
 218 the king's own. 
 
 remain as you are, for I cannot trust you again 
 in a prize." 
 
 As our hero was in a new ship, the officers 
 and ship's company of which were not acquainted 
 with his history, except that he had been pro- 
 moted, for an act of gallantry, by Captain 
 M , he was favourably received by his mess- 
 mates. The crew of the lugger were detained 
 as prisoners on board of the frigate, and the 
 vessel, in charge of one of the officers, was order- 
 ed to keep company, Captain M having 
 
 determined to return into port, and not wishing 
 to lose sight of his valuable prize. 
 
 " You have a very fine ship's company, 
 
 Captain M c Elvina," observed Captain M . 
 
 " How many of them are English ?" 
 
 " About eighty ; and as good seamen as ever 
 walked a plank." 
 
 Captain M— — ordered the crew of the lug- 
 ger aft on the quarter-deck, and put the question 
 to them whether they would not prefer entering
 
 the king's own. 219 
 
 into his Majesty's service to the confinement of 
 a prison ; but, at the moment, they felt too in- 
 dignant at having been captured by the frigate 
 to listen to the proposal, and refused to a man. 
 Captain M turned away disappointed, sur- 
 veying the fine body of men with a covetous 
 eye, as they were ranged in a line on his quarter- 
 deck. He felt what a prize they would be to 
 him, if he could have added them to his own 
 ship's company ; for, at that time, it was 
 almost impossible to man the number of 
 ships which were employed, in an effective 
 manner. 
 
 " Will you allow me to try what I can do for 
 you, Sir ?" said M c Elvina, as the men disap- 
 peared from the quarter-deck, to their former 
 station, as prisoners. Having received the nod 
 
 of assent, on the part of Captain M , 
 
 M c Elvina went down to the men, who gathered 
 round him. He forcibly pointed out to them 
 the advantages of the proposal, and the good 
 chance they had of enriching themselves, by the 
 
 l 2
 
 220 the king's own. 
 
 prize-money they would make in a frigate which 
 could capture such a fast-sailing vessel as the 
 lugger. He also dwelt upon the misery of the 
 prison which awaited them : but what decided 
 them was the observation that, in all proba- 
 bility, they would not be permitted (now that 
 seamen were in such request) to remain in prison, 
 but would be drafted into several ships, and be 
 separated ; whereas, by now entering for Cap- 
 tain M , they would all remain shipmates as 
 
 before. 
 
 Having obtained their unanimous consent, 
 M c Elvina, with a pleased countenance, came 
 aft, followed by his men, and informed Captain 
 
 M that they had agreed to enter for his 
 
 ship. " Allow me to congratulate you, Sir, on 
 your good fortune, as you will yourself acknow- 
 ledge it to be, when you find out what an addi- 
 tion they will be to your ship's company." 
 
 " I am indebted to you for your interference, 
 
 Sir,"" replied Captain M , " and shall 
 
 not prove ungrateful. Your conduct in this
 
 the king's own. 221 
 
 affair makes me inclined to ask another favour. 
 I believe you can give me some valuable infor- 
 mation, if you choose. Whether you are inclin- 
 ed to do so, I am not yet sure ; but I now think 
 that you will." 
 
 " You will find me an Englishman, body and 
 soul, Sir; and although I have, in defence of 
 my profession, been occasionally necessitated to 
 choose between capture and resistance, I can 
 most conscientiously say, that every shot I have 
 fired against my own countrymen has smitten me 
 to the heart;" (and this assertion was true 
 although we have no time to analyse M c Elvina's 
 feelings at present). " I am not bound by 
 honour, nor have I the least inclination, to con- 
 ceal any information I may have obtained, when 
 in the French ports. I went there to serve my 
 purposes, and they allowed me to do so, to serve 
 their own. I never would (although repeatedly 
 offered bribes) bring them any information 
 relative to the proceedings of our own co untry 
 and I shall most cheerfully answer your ques-
 
 222 the king's own. 
 
 tions ; indeed, I have information which I would 
 have given you before now, had I not felt 
 that it might be supposed I was actuated more 
 by a view of serving myself than my country. 
 
 I only wish, Captain M , that you may fall 
 
 in with a French frigate before I leave your 
 ship, that I may prove to you that I can fight 
 as well for old England as I have done in 
 defence of property entrusted to my charge." 
 
 (i Then do me the favour to step down into 
 the cabin," said Captain M . 
 
 Captain M and M c Elvina were shut 
 
 up in the after-cabin for some time ; and the in- 
 formation received by Captain M was so 
 
 important, that he determined not to anchor. 
 He put all the French prisoners on board of the 
 lugger at the entrance of the Sound, and, send- 
 ing in a boat to take out the major part of the men 
 who had charge of her, he retained M c Elvina on 
 board of the frigate, and made all sail for the 
 French coast.
 
 the king's own. 223 
 
 CPIAPTER XV. 
 
 That which should accompany old age, 
 
 As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, 
 
 I must not look to have ! 
 
 Shakspeare. 
 
 Bur we must return on shore, that we may 
 not lose sight of the grandfather of our hero, 
 who had no idea that there was a being in ex- 
 istence who was so nearly connected with him. 
 
 The time had come when that information 
 was to be given ; for, about six weeks previously 
 to the action we have described, in which 
 Adams the quarter-master was killed, Admiral
 
 224 the king's own. 
 
 De Courcy was attacked by a painful and mor- 
 tal disease. As long as he was able to move 
 about, his irritability of temper, increased by 
 suffering, rendered him more insupportable 
 than ever ; but he was soon confined to his 
 room, and the progress of the disease became 
 so rapid, that the medical attendants considered 
 it their duty to apprise him that all hopes of 
 recovery must now be abandoned, and that he 
 must prepare himself for the worst. 
 
 The admiral received the intelligence with 
 apparent composure, and bowed his head to 
 the physicians as they quitted his room. He 
 was alone, and left to his own reflections, which 
 were not of the most enviable nature. He was 
 seated, propped up in an easy chair, opposite 
 the large French window, which commanded a 
 view of the park. The sun was setting, and 
 the long extended shadows of the magnificent 
 trees which adorned his extensive domain 
 were in beautiful contrast with the gleams of
 
 the king's own. 225 
 
 radiant light, darting in long streaks between 
 them on the luxuriant herbage. The cattle, 
 quietly standing in the lake, were refreshing 
 themselves after the heat of the day, and the 
 deer lay in groups under the shade, or 
 crouched in their lairs, partly concealed by the 
 underwood and fern. All was in repose and 
 beauty, and the dying man watched the sun, 
 as it fast descended to the horizon, as emble- 
 matical of his race, so shortly to be sped. He 
 surveyed the groups before him — he envied even 
 the beasts of the field, and the reclaimed 
 tenants of the forest, for they at least had of 
 their kind, with whom they could associate ; 
 but he, their lord and master, was alone — alone, 
 in the world, without one who loved or cared 
 for him, without one to sympathise in his suf- 
 ferings and administer to his wants, except 
 from interested motives — without one to soothe 
 his anguish, and soften the pillow of affliction 
 and disease — without one to close his eyes, or 
 shed a tear, now that he was dying. 
 
 l 3
 
 226 the king's own. 
 
 His thoughts naturally reverted to his wife 
 and children. He knew that two of these 
 individuals, out of three, were in the cold 
 grave — and where was the other ? The certain 
 approach of death had already humanized and 
 softened his flinty heart. The veil, that had 
 been drawn by passion between his conscience 
 and his guilt, was torn away. The past rushed 
 upon his memory with dreadful rapidity and 
 truth, and horrible conviction flashed upon his 
 soul, as he unwillingly acknowledged himself to 
 be the murderer of his wife and child. Remorse, 
 as usual, followed, treading upon the heels 
 of conviction — such remorse that, in a short 
 space, the agony became insupportable. 
 
 After an ineffectual struggle of pride, he 
 seized the line which was attached to the bell- 
 rope, and, when his summons was obeyed, de- 
 sired that the vicar might be immediately re- 
 quested to come to him. 
 
 Acquainted with the admiral's situation, the 
 vicar had anxiously waited the summons which
 
 the king's own. 227 
 
 he was but too well aware would come, for he 
 knew the human heart and the cry for aid which 
 the sinner in his fear sends forth. He Avas 
 soon in the presence of the admiral, for the first 
 time since the day that he quitted the house 
 with the letter of the unfortunate Peters in his 
 possession. The conversation which ensued, be- 
 tween the agitated man, who had existed only 
 for this world, and the placid teacher, who had 
 considered it (as he inculcated) as only a pre- 
 paration for a better, was too long to be here 
 inserted. It will be sufficient to say, that the 
 humbled and terrified wretch, the sufferer from 
 disease, and greater sufferer from remorse, never 
 could have been identified with the once proud 
 and overbearing mortal, who had so long spurned 
 at the precepts of religion, and turned a deaf 
 ear to the mild persuasions of its apostle. 
 
 " But that letter !" continued the admiral, in a 
 faltering voice — l< what was it ? I have yet one 
 child alive — Oh, send immediately for him, and 
 let me implore his forgiveness for my cruelty . ,-1
 
 228 the king's own. 
 
 " That letter, Sir, was written but one hour 
 previously to his death." 
 
 " His death !" cried the admiral, turning his 
 eyes up to the ceiling. " God have mercy on 
 me ! then I have murdered him also. And how 
 did he die ? Did he starve, as I expressed in 
 my horrid — horrid wish ?" 
 
 " No, Sir: his life was forfeited to the offended 
 laws of his country." 
 
 " Good God, Sir !" hastily replied the ad- 
 miral, whose ruling passion, pride, returned for 
 the moment ; " you do not mean to say that 
 he was hanged ?" 
 
 "Even so; but here is the letter which he 
 wrote — read it." 
 
 The admiral seized the letter in his tremulous 
 hand, and devoured every word as he perused 
 it. He let it fall on his knees, and said, in a 
 subdued voice — (t My God — my God ! — and he 
 asked forgiveness, and forgives me !" Then, 
 with frantic exclamation, he continued, " Wretch 
 that I am ,, — would that I had died for thee, my
 
 the king's own. 229 
 
 son — my son !" and clasping his hands over his 
 head, he fell back in a state of insensibility. 
 
 The vicar, much affected with the scene, rang 
 the bell for assistance, which was obtained ; but 
 the wretched man had received a shock which 
 hastened his dissolution. He was too much 
 exhausted to sit upright, and they were obliged 
 to carry him to the bed, from which he never 
 rose again. As soon as he was sufficiently re- 
 covered to be able to converse, he waved the 
 servants from the room, and resumed, in a fal- 
 tering voice — 
 
 '* But, Sir, he mentions his child — my grand- 
 child. Where is he ? Can I see him ?" 
 
 "I am afraid not, Sir," replied the vicar, who 
 then entered into a recital of the arrangements 
 which had taken place, and the name of the 
 ship on board of which our hero had been per- 
 mitted to remain, under the charge of Adams, 
 the quarter-master. 
 
 The admiral listened to the recital of the 
 vicar without interruption ; and, as soon as it
 
 230 the king's own. 
 
 was finished, to the great joy of the worthy 
 pastor, expressed the most anxious wish to 
 make every reparation in his power. Aware 
 that difficulties might arise from the circum- 
 stance of our hero's existence not being suspect- 
 ed by his collateral heirs, who had for some time 
 considered as certain their ultimate possession of 
 his large entailed property, he directed a will to 
 be immediately drawn up, acknowledging his 
 grandchild, and leaving to him all his personal 
 property, which was very considerable ; and 
 praying the vicar to take upon himself the office 
 of guardian to the boy, — a request which was 
 cheerfully complied with. The admiral would 
 not listen to the repeated requests of the vicar, 
 to take the repose which his excited and sink- 
 ing frame required, until the necessary docu- 
 ment had been drawn out, signed, and duly 
 witnessed. When all was complete, he fell back 
 on the pillow, in such a state of exhaustion as 
 threatened immediately to terminate his career. 
 It was late when the vicar took his leave, after
 
 the king's own. 231 
 
 having administered some little consolation to 
 the repentant and dying man, and promised to 
 call upon him early on the ensuing morning. 
 
 But the vicar had other duties to perform, 
 which induced him to defer his visit until the 
 following noon. Others were sick, others were 
 dying, and needed spiritual consolation ; and he 
 made no distinction between the rich and the 
 poor. The physicians had expressed their 
 opinion that the admiral might linger for many 
 days, and the vicar thought that advantage 
 might be derived from his being left for a short 
 time to his own reflections, and to recover from 
 the state of exhaustion arising from the com- 
 munications of the preceding evening. When 
 he arrived at the hall, the windows were closed 
 — Admiral De Courcy was no more. 
 
 Reader, you shall hear how he died. It was 
 about two o'clock in the morning that he awoke 
 from an uneasy slumber, and felt his end ap- 
 proaching. The old crone who had been hired 
 as a nurse to watch at night, was fast asleep in
 
 232 the king's own. 
 
 her chair. The rushlight had burned low down 
 in the socket, and, through the interstices of its 
 pierced shade, threw a feeble and alternate light 
 and shadow over the room. The mouth of the 
 dying man was glued together from internal 
 heat, and he suffered from agonising thirst. 
 He murmured for relief, but no one answered. 
 Again and again he attempted to make his care- 
 less attendant acquainted with his wants, but in 
 vain. He stretched out his arm and moved the 
 curtains of the bed, that the noise of the cur- 
 tain-rings upon the iron rods might have the 
 effect, and then fell back with exhaustion, aris- 
 ing from the effort which he had made. 
 
 The old beldame, who, for money, was wil- 
 ling to undertake the most revolting offices, and 
 who, without remuneration, was so hardened, 
 by her constant familiarity with disease and 
 death, that she was callous and insensible to the 
 most earnest supplication, woke up at the noise 
 which the curtain-rings had made, and opened 
 the curtain, to ascertain what was required.
 
 the king's own. 233 
 
 Long experience told her at once that all would 
 soon be over, and she was convinced that her 
 charge would never rise or speak again. 
 
 This was true ; but the suffering man (his 
 arm lying outside of the bed-clothes, and his 
 elbow bent upwards) still pointed with his 
 finger to his parched mouth, with a look of 
 entreaty from his sinking eyes. The old fiend 
 shut the curtains, and the admiral waited with 
 impatience for them to reopen with the drop 
 of water " to cool his parched tongue" — but in 
 vain. Leaving him to his fate, she hobbled about 
 the room to secure a golden harvest, before 
 others should make their appearance, and share 
 it with her. His purse was on the table ; 
 she removed the gold which it contained, and 
 left the silver ; she chose that which she ima- 
 gined to be the most valuable of the three rings 
 on the dressing table; she detached one seal 
 from the chain of his watch. She then repaired 
 to the wardrobe, and examined its contents. 
 One of her capacious pockets was soon filled
 
 234 the king's own. 
 
 with the finest cambric handkerchiefs, all of 
 which she first took the precaution to open, 
 and hold up to the light, rejecting those which 
 were not of the finest texture. The silk stock- 
 ings were the next articles that were coveted ; 
 they were unfolded one by one, and her skinny 
 arm passed up, that the feet might be extended 
 by her shrivelled hands, to ascertain whether 
 they were darned or not — if so, they were re- 
 jected. 
 
 The wardrobe was on the opposite side of 
 the bed ; and on that side the curtains had not 
 been closed. The dying man had still enough 
 sight left to perceive the employment of his 
 attendant. What must have been his feelings ! 
 He uttered a deep groan, which startled the 
 old hag, and she repaired to the bed-side, to 
 examine the state of her charge. 
 
 Again he pointed with his finger to his 
 mouth — and again she returned to her employ- 
 ment, without having rendered the assistance 
 which he required. His eyes followed — and
 
 THE KINGS OWN. 235 
 
 his finger still pointed. Having ransacked every 
 drawer, and secured all that she dared take, 
 or that her pockets could contain, she rang the 
 bell for the servants of the house ; then pulling 
 out her handkerchief, ready to put to her eyes 
 in token of sympathy, she sat down on her 
 easy chair, to await their coming. 
 
 In the mean while, the eyes of the unfortu- 
 nate man gradually turned upward ; his vision 
 was gone, but his agonising thirst continued to 
 the last : and when the retainers of the family 
 came in, he was found dead, with his finger 
 still pointing in the same direction. 
 
 AVith ordinary minds, there is something so 
 terrible in death, something so awful in the dis- 
 solution of the elements of our frame, something 
 so horrible in the leap into the dark abyss, that 
 it requires all the powers of a fortified spirit, 
 all the encouragement of a good conscience, 
 and all the consolations of religion and of faith, 
 to enable us to muster any degree of resolution 
 for the awful change. But if aught can smooth
 
 236 the king's oavn. 
 
 the pillow, can chase away from the terrified 
 spirit the doubt and depression by which it is 
 overwhelmed, it is the being surrounded and at- 
 tended by those who are devoted and endeared 
 to us. When love, and duty, and charity, and 
 sympathy hover round the couch of the depart- 
 ing, fainting hope is supported by their pre- 
 sence, and the fleeting spirit, directed by them, 
 looks upward to the realms from which these 
 heaven-born passions have been permitted to 
 descend on earth, to cheer us through our 
 weary pilgrimage. 
 
 What then had Admiral De Courcy to sup- 
 port him in his last moments ? — A good con- 
 science ? — faith ? — hope ? — love ? — duty ? — or 
 even sympathy ? Wanting all, he breathed his 
 last. But, let us 
 
 " Forbear to judge, for we are sinners all. 
 Close up his eyes, and draw the curtains close, 
 And let us all to meditation." 
 
 The vicar affixed seals upon the drawers, to
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 237 
 
 secure the remainder of the property, (for the 
 example of the old nurse had been followed by 
 many others), and, having given directions for 
 the funeral, returned to his own home. 
 
 The second day after the admiral's death, a 
 carriage and four drove furiously up the avenue, 
 and stopped at the entrance door. The occu- 
 pants descended, and rang the bells with an air 
 of authority ; the summons was answered by 
 several of the male domestics, who were anxious- 
 ly looking out for the new proprietor of the 
 domain. A tall man, of very gentleman-like ap- 
 pearance, followed by a mean looking personage 
 in black, walked in, the latter, as he followed, 
 proclaiming the other to the servants as the heir 
 at law, and present owner of the property. By 
 this time the whole household were assembled, 
 lining the hall for the visitors to pass, and bow- 
 ing and curtseying to the ground. The vicar, 
 whohad expected the appearance of these parties, 
 had left directions that he might be immediately
 
 238 the king's own. 
 
 acquainted with their arrival. On receipt of 
 the information, he proceeded to the hall, and 
 Avas ushered into the library, where he found 
 them anxiously awaiting his arrival, that the 
 seals might be withdrawn which had been 
 placed upon the drawers. 
 
 " Whom have I the honour of addressing, 
 Sir ?" said the vicar to the taller of the two, 
 whom he presumed, by his appearance, to be the 
 superior. 
 
 " Sir," replied the little man, in a pompous 
 manner, " you are speaking to Mr. Rainscourt, 
 the heir at law of this entailed property. - " 
 
 " I am sorry, truly sorry, Sir," replied the 
 vicar, " that from not having been well inform- 
 ed, you should be subjected to such severe dis- 
 appointment. I am afraid, Sir, that the grand- 
 child of Admiral De Courcy will have a prior 
 claim." 
 
 The two parties started from their chairs, and 
 looked at each other in amazement.
 
 the king's own. 239 
 
 " The grandchild I' 1 replied the little man — 
 " never even heard that there was such a per- 
 son:' 
 
 « Very probably. Sir ; but I have long known 
 it, and so did Admiral De Courcy, as you will 
 perceive when you read his will, which is in my 
 possession, as guardian to the child — and upon 
 the strength of which office I have put seals 
 upon the property. 11 
 
 The parties looked aghast. 
 
 " We must inquire into this," replied the 
 legal adviser, for such he was. 
 
 " I am ready to give you any information 
 you may require," replied the vicar. " I have 
 here copies of the marriage certificate of the pa- 
 rents, and the register of baptism of the child, 
 the originals of which you will find in the pa- 
 rish church of , not five miles distant; and 
 
 I can most satisfactorily prove his identity, 
 should that be necessary " 
 
 " And where is the grandchild ?"
 
 240 the king's own. 
 
 " At sea, on board a man-of-war, at the dy- 
 ing request of his father, who determined that 
 he should be brought up for the service. Would 
 you like to see the late admiral's will?" 
 
 The tall gentleman bowed assent, and it was 
 read. Having been carefully examined by the 
 lawyer, as well as the other documents in the 
 vicar's possession, all appeared so clear and con- 
 clusive, that he unwillingly acknowledged to his 
 employer, in a whisper, that there was no chance 
 of setting the will aside. Pallid with the revul- 
 sion of feelings from hope to despair, the pre- 
 tender to the estates ordered the horses to be 
 brought out, and, on their being announced, 
 with a slight bow to the vicar, retired from the 
 library. 
 
 But outside, the state of affairs was altered, 
 by the servants having overheard the conversa- 
 tion. No one was attentive enough to open the 
 door to let out those whom they had so obsequi- 
 ously admitted ; and one of the postilions was
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 241 
 
 obliged to dismount, to shut up the chaise after 
 they had entered it. Such is the deference 
 shewn respectively to those who are. or are not, 
 the real heirs at law. 
 
 VOL. T. M
 
 242 the king's own. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 On deck five hundred men did dance, 
 The stoutest they could find in France, 
 We with two hundred did advance, 
 
 On board of the Arethusa. 
 Our captain hailed the Frenchman " ho !" 
 The Frenchman then cried out " hallo !" 
 
 " Bear down, d'ye see, 
 
 To our Admiral's lee ;" 
 " No, no," says the Frenchman, " that can't be ;" 
 " Then I must lug you along with me." 
 
 Says the saucy Arethusa. 
 
 "~~^ 7 Sea Song. 
 The information received from M e Elvina, 
 
 which induced Captain M not to anchor, 
 
 was relative to a French frigate of the largest 
 class, that he had great hopes of falling in with. 
 She was lying in the harbour of Brest, waiting 
 for a detachment of troops which had been or- 
 dered to be embarked, when she was to sail for
 
 the king's own. 243 
 
 Rochefort, to join a squadron intended to make 
 a descent upon some of our colonies. Previously 
 to IVTElvina's sailing from the port of Havre, 
 the prefect of that arrondissement had issued 
 directions for certain detachments to march on a 
 stated day to complete the number of troops 
 ordered on board. 
 
 M c Elvina had sure data from which to cal- 
 culate as to the exact period of embarkation, 
 and was also aware that the frigate had orders 
 to sail to the port of rendezvous the first favour- 
 able wind after the embarkation had taken place. 
 In two days the Aspasia, for that was the name 
 
 of the frigate, commanded by Captain M , 
 
 was off' Ushant, and the Captain taking the 
 precaution to keep well off the land during the 
 day-time, only running in to make the lights 
 after dark, retained his position off that island 
 until the wind shifted to the northward ; he then 
 shaped a course so as to fall in with the French 
 coast about thirty miles to the southward of the 
 harbour of Brest. It was still dark when Cap- 
 
 m 2
 
 244 the king's own. 
 
 tain M— — , having run his distance, shortened 
 sail, and hove to in the cruising ground which 
 M c Elvina had recommended ; and so correct 
 was the calculation, as well as the information 
 of the captain of the smugglers, that at day- 
 break, as the frigate lay with her head in-shore, 
 with the wind at N.N.W., a large vessel was de- 
 scried under the land, a little on her weather- 
 bow. After severely scrutinising the stranger 
 for some minutes with his glass, which he now 
 handed to M°Elvina — 
 
 " That's she, indeed, I believe," said Captain 
 M . 
 
 " A large frigate, with studding-sails set, 
 standing across our bows," cried out the first- 
 lieutenant, from the mast-head. 
 
 " She'll try for the Passage du Raz ; we 
 must cut her off', if we can. Hands, make sail." 
 
 The hands were summoned up by the shrill 
 pipe of the boatswain and his mates ; but it was 
 quite unnecessary, as the men had already 
 crowded on deck upon the first report which
 
 the king's own. 245 
 
 had been communicated below, and were in 
 clusters on the forecastle and gangways. 
 
 " Topmen, aloft ! loose top-gallant sails and 
 royals — clear away the flying-jib," were orders 
 that werehardly out of the mouth of the first-lieu- 
 tenant, breathless with his rapid descent from aloft, 
 when the gaskets were off, and the sails hung 
 fluttering from the yards. In another minute the 
 sheets were home, the sails hoisted and trimmed, 
 and the Aspasia darted through the yielding 
 waves, as if the eagerness of pursuit which 
 quickened the pulses of her crew had been com- 
 municated from them like an electric shock to 
 her own frames, and she were conscious that her 
 country demanded her best exertions. 
 
 " Pipe the hammocks up, Mr. Hardy," said 
 
 Captain M to the first-lieutenant; " when 
 
 they are stowed we will beat to quarters. 1 ' 
 
 " Ay, ay, Sir. Shall we order the fire out 
 in the galley P 11 
 
 " When the cocoa is ready, not before — there 
 will be plenty of time for the people to get their
 
 24G the king's own. 
 
 breakfasts. How does the land bear, Mr. 
 Bowling ?" 
 
 ** Saint Island about S.E. by S. eight or nine 
 miles, Sir," replied the master. 
 
 " If so, I think we shall cut him off, and then 
 ' fight he must.' " 
 
 Both frigates had hoisted their colours in de- 
 fiance, and as they were steering for the same 
 point, they neared each other fast. The French 
 vessel, with his starboard studding sails, running 
 for the entrance of the narrow passage, which 
 he hoped to gain, and the Aspasia close-hauled 
 to intercept him, and at the same time to avoid 
 the dangerous rocks to leeward, far extending 
 from Saint Island, whose name they bore. 
 
 " Have the men had their breakfasts, Mr. 
 Hardy ?" said the captain. 
 
 " The cocoa was in the tub, Sir," answered the 
 first-lieutenant, " ready for serving out ; but they 
 started it all in the lee-scuppers. They wanted 
 the tub to fill it with shot." 
 
 Captain M smiled at the enthusiasm of
 
 the king's own. 247 
 
 his crew; but the smile was suddenly checked, 
 as he reflected that probably many of the fine 
 fellows would never breakfast again. 
 
 * If not contrary to your regulations, Captain 
 
 M ," said M c Elvina, " as the crew of the 
 
 Susanne have not yet been incorporated with 
 your ship's company, may I request that they 
 may be stationed together, and that I may be 
 permitted to be with them? 11 
 
 " Your suggestion is good, 11 replied the cap- 
 tain, " and I am obliged to you for the offer. 
 They shall assist to work the quarter-deck 
 carronades, and act as boarders and sail-trim- 
 mers. Mr. Hardy, let the new men be pro- 
 vided with cutlasses, and fill up any vacancies 
 in the main-deck quarters, from some of our 
 own men who are at present stationed at the 
 quarter-deck guns." 
 
 The frigates were now within gun-shot of 
 each other, and it was impossible to say which 
 vessel would first attain the desired goal. The 
 foremost guns of the respective ships which
 
 248 the king's own. 
 
 had been trained forward, were reported to 
 bear upon the enemy, and both commanders 
 were aware that " knocking away a stick," i. e., 
 the shot striking the masts or yards of her 
 opponent, so as to occasion them to fall, would 
 decide the point. At the very time that Cap- 
 tain M was giving directions to fire the 
 main-deck guns as they would bear, the first 
 shot from his antagonist whizzed over his head, 
 and the action commenced, each party attempt- 
 ing to cripple his opponent by firing high at 
 his masts and rigging. The frigates continued 
 to engage, until they had closed to within half- 
 amile of each other, when the main-top-mast 
 of the Frenchman fell over the side. 
 
 This decided the point as to his escape 
 through the passage, which he had made his 
 utmost exertions to effect, in pursuance of the 
 peremptory orders which he had received. He 
 now hauled his wind on the same tack as the 
 Aspasia, pouring in his starboard broadside as 
 he rounded-to. The manoeuvre was good, as he
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 249 
 
 thereby retained his weather-guage — and the 
 wreck of his top-mast having fallen over his 
 larboard side, he had his starboard broadside, 
 which was all clear, directed towards his oppo- 
 nent ; moreover, he forced the Aspasia to follow 
 him into the bay formed between the Bee du 
 Raz and the Bee du Chevre, where she would 
 in all probability receive considerable damage 
 from the batteries which lined the coast. 
 
 Captain M was aware of all this ; but his 
 
 only fear was, that his enemy should run on shore, 
 and prevent his carrying him into port. The 
 Aspasia was soon abreast of her opponent, and 
 their broadsides were exchanged, when Captain 
 
 M , who wished to bring the action to a 
 
 speedy conclusion, shot his vessel ahead, which 
 he was enabled to do, from his superiority of 
 sailing, after the main-top-mast of the French 
 frigate had been shot away. It was his intention 
 not to have tacked until he could have fetched 
 his antagonist, but the galling fire of the bat- 
 teries, which now hulled him every time, induced 
 
 m 3
 
 250 the king's own. 
 
 him to go about, and, as he was in stays, a raking 
 shot entered the cabin windows, and in its 
 passage along the main-deck, added ten men 
 to his list of killed and wounded. 
 
 Again the frigates, on opposite tacks, poured 
 in their broadsides — the fore-yard of the French- 
 man was divided in the slings, and fell, hanging 
 by the topsail-sheets and lifts, and tearing the 
 sail, which fell over the forecastle guns, and 
 caught fire as they were discharged at the same 
 moment. Nor did the Aspasia suffer less, for her 
 mizen-top-mast was shot through, and her star- 
 board anchor, cut from her bows, fell under her 
 bottom and tore away the cable, (a short range 
 of which Captain M had had the precau- 
 tion to have on deck, as they fought so close in 
 shore). This threw the men at the guns into 
 confusion, and brought the ship up in the wind. 
 The cable was at last separated, and flew out 
 of the hawse-hole after the anchor, which 
 plunged to the bottom ; but this was not ef- 
 fected, until, like an enormous serpent, it had 
 enfolded in its embraces three or four hapless
 
 the king's own. 251 
 
 men, who were carried with dreadful velocity to 
 the hawse-hole, where their crushed bodies for 
 a time stopped it from running out, and gave 
 their shipmates an opportunity of dividing it 
 with their axes. 
 
 Order was eventually restored, and the 
 Aspasia, who had been raked by her active 
 opponent during the time that she was thrown 
 up in the wind, continued her course, and as 
 she passed the stern of the French frigate* 
 luffed up and returned the compliment. The 
 latter, anxious in his crippled state for the sup- 
 port of the batteries, which had already seri- 
 ously injured his opponent, continued to forge 
 in shore. 
 
 " We shall weather her now ; 'bout ship, Mr. 
 Bowling. Recollect, my lads," said Captain 
 M , when the ship was about, * 'you'll re- 
 serve your fire till we touch her sides ; then 
 all hands to board." 
 
 The Aspasia ranged up on the weather- 
 quarter of her antagonist— Bowling, the master,
 
 252 the king's own. 
 
 conning her by the captain's directions, so that 
 the fore-chains of the French vessel should be 
 hooked by the spare anchor of the Aspasia. 
 The enemy, who, in his disabled state, was not 
 in a situation to choose whether he would be 
 boarded or not, poured in a double-shotted and 
 destructive broadside, and it was well for Cap- 
 tain M — — that his ship's company had re- 
 ceived the reinforcement which they had from 
 the Susanne, for the French frigate was 
 crowded with men, and being now within 
 pistol-shot, the troops who were so thick on 
 deck as to impede the motions of each other, 
 kept up an incessant fire of musquetry, cutting 
 the Aspasia's running rigging, riddling her 
 sails, and disabling her men. 
 
 {t Hard-a-port now !*" cried Bowling, and the 
 vessels came in collision, the spare anchor in 
 the Aspasia's fore-chains catching and tearing 
 away the back-stays and laniards of the ene- 
 my's fore-rigging, and, with a violent jerk, bring- 
 ing down the fore-top-mast to windward. At
 
 the king's own. 253 
 
 this moment the reserved broadside of the Aspa- 
 sia was discharged, and the two frigates heeled 
 over opposite ways, from the violent concussion 
 of the air in the confined space between them. 
 While yet enveloped in the smoke, the men 
 flew up on deck, as they had been previously 
 directed by Captain M — —, who leaped upon 
 the quarter-deck hammocks of his own frigate, 
 and, holding with one hand by the mizen-top- 
 mast back-stay, with his sword in the other, 
 waving to encourage his men, waited a second 
 or two for the closing of the after-parts of the 
 vessels, before he led on his boarders. 
 
 The smoke rolled away through the masts of 
 the French frigate, and discovered her captain, 
 with equal disregard to his safety, in nearly a 
 similar position on the hammock rails of his 
 own vessel. The rival commanders were not 
 six feet apart, when the main- chains of the two 
 vessels crashed as they came in collision. The 
 French captain drew a pistol from his belt and 
 levelled it at Captain M , whose fate ap-
 
 254 the king's own. 
 
 peared to be certain ; when, at the critical mo- 
 ment, a hat, thrown from the quarter-deck of 
 the Aspasia, right into the face of the French- 
 man, blinded him for the moment, and his pistol 
 went off without taking effect. 
 
 " Capital shot, that, Willy !" cried M e 
 Elvina, as he sprang from the hammocks with 
 his sword, ** giving point" in advance, and, while 
 still darting through the air with the impetus of 
 his spring, passing it through the body of the 
 French captain, who fell back on his own quarter- 
 deck, while M c Elvina, fortunately for himself, 
 dropped into the chains, for had he a hundred 
 lives, they would have fallen a sacrifice to the 
 exasperated Frenchmen ; but the smugglers had 
 
 followed M c Elvina, and Captain M , with 
 
 the rest of his ship's company, were thronging, 
 like bees, in the rigging, hammocks, and chains 
 of their opponent. From the destructive fire of 
 the French troops, many an English seaman fell 
 dead, or, severely wounded, was reserved for a 
 worse fate,— that of falling overboard between
 
 the king's own. 255 
 
 the ships, and, at the heave of the sea, being 
 crushed between their sides. Many a gallant 
 spirit was separated from its body by this horrid 
 death, as the strife continued. 
 
 Possession was at length gained of the quarter- 
 deck ; but the carnage was not to cease. The 
 French troops stationed in the boats on the 
 booms, formed a sort of pyramid, vomiting in- 
 cessant fire ; and the commandant had had the 
 sagacity to draw up three lines of his men, with 
 their bayonets fixed, from one side of the vessel 
 to the other, abreast of the gangways, form- 
 ing a barrier, behind which the crew of the 
 French frigate had retreated, and which was 
 impenetrable to the gallant crew of the Aspasia, 
 who were only provided with short cutlasses. 
 
 Captain M , as he saw his men falling on 
 
 every side, and every attempt to force a passage 
 unsuccessful, although accompanied with heavy 
 loss of lives, found himself, as it were, in a trap. 
 To force his way through appeared impossible — 
 to retreat was against his nature. M c Elvina,
 
 256 the king's own. 
 
 who had been fighting by his side, perceived 
 the awkward and dangerous predicament they 
 were in, and his ready talent suggested a remedy. 
 Calling out loudly, " Susanne's ! away there ! — 
 follow me !" an order instantly obeyed by his 
 men, he disappeared with them over the ham- 
 mocks, leaping back upon the quarter-deck of 
 the Aspasia. 
 
 " Curses on the smuggler, he has run for 
 it. At them again, my Britons, never mind," 
 cried the first-lieutenant, leading on the men 
 against the phalanx of bayonets. But it was not 
 as the first-lieutenant had supposed ; for before 
 the cutlasses of the seamen had time again to 
 strike fire upon the steel points which opposed 
 their passage, M'Elvina reappeared in the 
 fore-rigging of the French vessel, followed by 
 his smugglers, who attacked the French troops 
 in the rear, with a loud yell, and an impetuosity 
 that was irresistible. The diversion was an- 
 nounced by a cheer from Captain M and 
 
 his party abaft, who, rushing upon the bayonets
 
 the king's own. 257 
 
 of the Frenchmen, already in confusion from 
 the attack of M c Elvina, forced them down on 
 the main-deck, and in a few minutes the hatches 
 were secured over the remainder of the crew, 
 and the tricolored ensign disappeared from 
 the gaff, and announced to the spectators in the 
 batteries on shore that " Britannia ruled the 
 waves."
 
 258 the king's own. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Brave hearts ! to Britain's pride 
 Once so faithful and so true, 
 
 On the deck of fame that died 
 With the gallant, good Riou, 
 
 Soft sigh the winds of Heaven o'er their grave, 
 While the billow mournful rolls, 
 And the mermaid's song condoles, 
 Singing glory to the souls 
 
 Of the brave ! 
 
 Campbell. 
 
 Hasty congratulations between the survivors 
 of the victorious party were exchanged as they 
 proceeded to obey the orders which were issued 
 
 by Captain M , who directed their attention 
 
 to the relief of the wounded, lying in heaps 
 upon the deck, in many instances nearly smo- 
 thered with the dead bodies which had fallen 
 upon them, and which their own exhausted
 
 the king's owx. 259 
 
 powers would not permit them to remove. 
 The task of separation of those who were past 
 all mortal aid from those who might still derive 
 benefit from surgical assistance, was as tedious 
 as it was afflicting. No distinction was made 
 between the rival sufferers, but, as they came to 
 hand, English or French, they were carefully 
 conveyed to the half-decks of the respective 
 ships, the surgeons of which were in readiness 
 to receive them, their shirt-sleeves turned up 
 to the elbows, and hands and arms stained with 
 blood, proving that they had already been ac- 
 tively employed in the duties of their profession. 
 On the foremost part of the larboard-side 
 of the French frigate's quarter-deck, where 
 Captain M— — — and his crew had boarded, the 
 dead and dying lay in a heap, the summit of 
 which was level with the tops of the carronades 
 that they were between ; and an occasional low 
 groan from under the mass, intimated that some 
 were there who were dying more from the pres-
 
 260 the king's own. 
 
 sure of the other bodies, than from the extent 
 of their own wounds. 
 
 Captain M , although he had lost much 
 
 blood and was still bleeding profusely, would 
 not leave the deck until he had collected a party 
 to separate the pile ; and many were relieved, 
 who, in a few minutes more, would have been 
 suffocated. 
 
 At the bottom of the heap was the body of 
 
 the gallant French captain ; and Captain M 
 
 was giving directions to the first-lieutenant to 
 have it carried below, when Willy, who was 
 earnestly looking about the deck, brushed up 
 against the latter, who said to him — 
 
 " Come, youngster, out of the way, you're 
 no use here." 
 
 " Has any one seen my hat ?■' interrogated 
 the boy, as he obeyed the order, and removed 
 to a short distance. 
 
 " Here it is, my Bantam," said one of the 
 boatswainVmates, who had discovered it as 
 they removed the body of the French cap-
 
 the king's own. 261 
 
 tain, under which it had lain, jammed as flat as 
 a pancake. 
 
 " Then it was to you that I was indebted for 
 
 that well-timed assistance, 11 said Captain M , 
 
 taking the hat from the boatswainVmate, and 
 restoring it as well as he could to its former 
 shape before he put it on Willy's head. 
 
 Willy looked up in the captain's face and 
 smiled assent, as he walked away. 
 
 " A good turn is never lost, 11 observed Cap- 
 tain M ; " and the old fable of the mouse 
 
 and the lion is constantly recurring to make us 
 humble. If I had not put that boy on the 
 quarter-deck, I should in all probability have 
 made a vacancy. It was remarkable presence 
 of mind on his part. 1 ' 
 
 We have not broken in upon our narrative to 
 state, that, during the scene we have described, 
 Mr. Bowling, the master, had succeeded in put- 
 ting both vessels before the wind, although they 
 still were hugged in each other's embraces, as 
 if they had always been the best friends in the
 
 262 the king's own. 
 
 world, and they were now out of the reach of 
 the enemy's batteries, which, (as soon as they 
 perceived the unfavourable results of the ac- 
 tion,) had commenced firing with red hot balls, 
 emblematical of their wrath. 
 
 When the wounded had been carried below, 
 and placed in comparative comfort on board of 
 their respective ships, the dead bodies were 
 next examined. Those of the French (with the 
 exception of that of the captain) were launched 
 overboard ; while those of the English were 
 carried to their own frigate, the only instance 
 in which any difference was shewn between the 
 rival sufferers. The hatches were then removed, 
 and the French officers, having delivered up 
 their swords, were permitted to remain on deck 
 upon parole, while the men were secured down 
 below in the fore and main holds of the Aspasia, 
 the hatchways being covered over with a strong 
 splinter-netting, that they might not be deprived 
 of fresh air in their crowded situation. The 
 charge of the prize having been confided to the
 
 the king's own. 263 
 
 first-lieutenant and fifty men, the two ships 
 were separated, and laid to, to repair the da- 
 mages sustained in the conflict. 
 
 Captain M , whose wounds were not se- 
 rious, had descended for a short time to have 
 them washed and dressed. His anxiety to put 
 his ship in an efficient state, and get clear of the 
 bay, previously to bad weather coming on, had 
 induced him to return on deck as soon as he 
 had taken a little refreshment. 
 
 M c Elvina had also cleansed himself from 
 the gore with which he had been begrimed, 
 and, having applied to the surgeon to assuage 
 the pain of a severe cut which he had received 
 on his shoulder, came upon the quarter-deck 
 with his arm in a sling, dressed with his usual 
 precision and neatness. He touched his hat to 
 Captain M , with whom he had not com- 
 municated since he had quitted him on the 
 quarter-deck of the French frigate, to create the 
 fortunate diversion in favour of the boarders. 
 
 " Captain M'Elvina," said Captain M ,
 
 26-t the king's own. 
 
 taking his hand and shaking it warmly, " I can 
 hardly express how much I am obliged to you 
 for your conduct this day. You may be assured 
 that, upon my return, I shall not fail to make 
 a proper representation of it to government. I 
 only wish that there was any situation in my 
 ship that could induce you to remain." 
 
 " Thank you, Captain M ," replied 
 
 M c Elvina, smiling ; " but, although on a smaller 
 scale, I have long been accustomed to com- 
 mand ; and I should be very sorry that a vacancy 
 should occur in the only situation that I would 
 accept." 
 
 " I expected an answer to that effect," replied 
 
 Captain M . " However, you have this day 
 
 nobly redeemed yonr character, and silenced 
 any imputations of hostility to your country 
 that might be thrown upon you in consequence 
 of your late employment ; and I sincerely con- 
 gratulate you." 
 
 " Captain M , as you are kind enough to 
 
 express friendly feelings towards me, may I
 
 the king's own. 265 
 
 request they may be shewn by the interest you 
 take in young Seymour ? I cannot but approve 
 his following the honourable career marked out 
 for him, and my regret at parting with one who 
 has so entwined himself round my heart, will 
 be considerably lessened by the assurance that 
 you will be his friend and protector. Any 
 expenses — " 
 
 " Not one word upon that score," replied 
 
 Captain M : " the boy saved my life this 
 
 day by his unusual presence of mind, and I shall 
 watch over him as if he were my own child." 
 
 " His education ?" 
 
 " Shall be attended to. I pledge you my 
 honour to do him every justice.'" 
 
 M c Elvina bowed, and walked away to the 
 other side of the quarter-deck ; the idea of 
 parting with Willy was always painful to him, 
 and, weak with the loss of blood, he was afraid 
 that the emotion would be perceived, which he 
 now felt less able to control. 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 260 the king's own. 
 
 Thus it is with proud man. He struggles to 
 conceal effects arising from feelings which do 
 honour to his nature ; but feels no shame when 
 he disgraces himself by allowing his passions to 
 get the better of his reason — and all because he 
 would not be thought womanish ! I'm particu- 
 larly fond of crying myself. 
 
 The list of killed and wounded was brought 
 up by the second-lieutenant, (the duty of the 
 first, who was in charge of the prize, having de- 
 volved upon him) — the former having been 
 ascertained by mustering the ship's company, 
 the latter from the report of the surgeon. 
 
 A deep sigh escaped from the breast of the 
 captain as he looked down at the total. " Forty- 
 four killed — sixty-seven wounded ! This is 
 heavy indeed ! Poor Stevenson, I thought he 
 was only wounded." 
 
 " Since dead, Sir," replied the second-lieu- 
 tenant ; " we have lost a pleasant messmate." 
 
 " And his Majesty a valuable officer," re-
 
 the king's own. 26*7 
 
 plied the captain. " I am afraid his mother 
 will feel it in more ways than one — he supported 
 her, I think." 
 
 " He did, Sir ; will you not give an acting 
 order to one of the young gentlemen ?" (It was 
 the third lieutenant over whom they were la- 
 menting.) 
 
 " Yes, make it out for Mr. Robertson."" 
 
 " He's in the list, Sir." 
 
 " What ! killed ? So he is, poor fellow ! Well, 
 then, — Mr. Wheatley— let it be made out for 
 him." 
 
 " Ay, ay, Sir." 
 
 It was not until the ensuing day that the 
 loss of the enemy could be ascertained. Crowded 
 as were her decks with troops, it was enormous. 
 Not only the first and second-captains, second- 
 lieutenant, and seven junior officers of the frigate 
 had fallen, but eleven officers of the detach- 
 ment of soldiers sent on board of her. The total 
 loss appeared to be one hundred and forty-seven 
 killed, and one hundred and eighty-four 
 
 n 2
 
 268 the king's owx. 
 
 wounded, out of an aggregate of nearly nine 
 hundred men. 
 
 In a few days the Aspasia and her prize ar- 
 rived at Plymouth, the English colours proudly 
 waving over the tricolored flag of her late 
 opponent, and both vessels ran into Hamoaze, 
 amidst the cheers of thousands of spectators, as- 
 sembled upon Mount Wise and Mount Edgecomb 
 to greet their gallant and successful defenders. 
 Captain M immediately proceeded to Lon- 
 don, where the representation which he made of 
 M'Elvina's conduct was followed by an order 
 for his immediate release, and M c Elvina, taking 
 an affectionate leave of Willy, with a parting 
 injunction to " be Jwnest" set off to report 
 to old Hornblow, and his daughter Susan, all 
 the circumstances attending the capture of his 
 lugger, and the events which had subsequently 
 ensued.
 
 the king's own. 269 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 So : poverty at home, and debts abroad ! 
 My present fortune bad ; my hopes yet worse ! 
 What will become of me ? 
 
 Southeron's Isabel/a. 
 
 The gentleman who had supposed himself the 
 next heir to the entailed property, vacant by the 
 demise of Admiral De Courcy, and whose hasty 
 
 visit and departure from Hall we have 
 
 mentioned in a previous chapter, was a third 
 cousin of the deceased. His history is short. 
 He had squandered away the personal -property 
 left him by his father ; and his family estate,
 
 270 THE KING^ OWN. 
 
 which was of greater extent than value, was 
 mortgaged for even more than it was worth. 
 He had latterly subsisted by borrowing large 
 sums of money, at exorbitant interest, upon the 
 expectancy of succeeding to the property of 
 Admiral De Courcy. The result of his visit to 
 the hall was, therefore, unsatisfactory in more 
 ways than one ; and before he had arrived at his 
 own residence, his obsequious little friend in 
 black had reminded him of certain bonds which 
 were in his possession, and assumed a tone and 
 demeanour towards his client very different from 
 that in which he had addressed the supposed 
 inheritor of the large property of D ; inti- 
 mating, in very plain terms, that some speedy 
 arrangement must be made. 
 
 Rainscourt, who had nothing left except the 
 old castle on his property at Galway, his mano- 
 rial rights, and the unbounded attachment and 
 devotion of the wild tenants, who looked upon 
 him as their feudal chieftain, felt convinced that 
 he had no resource but to escape from his nume-
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 271 
 
 rous creditors, who would not hesitate to put 
 him in durance, and whose impatience had been 
 with difficulty restrained until the death of the 
 admiral. The speedy arrangement upon which 
 he determined was, to set off immediately for 
 Ireland, and, by regaining his castle, defy legal 
 authority, — if there could be found any that 
 would be rash enough to attempt his person, 
 when encircled by his lawless retainers. 
 
 As he descended from the chaise, at the hand- 
 somely furnished lodgings, in the wes tend of the 
 metropolis, which he had engaged, his com- 
 panion informed him, with a haughty air, that 
 he would have the honour of paying his respects 
 on the ensuing noon ; while Rainscourt, with his 
 usual indifference to money, dismissed the post- 
 boys with a handsome gratuity, although there 
 were not many guineas left in his purse ; and 
 then proceeded up to the drawing-room, on the 
 first floor, where his wife and only daughter 
 were anxiously awaiting his arrival. 
 
 Mrs. Rainscourt, still a fine and elegant
 
 %J2 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 woman, had, in her youth, been remarkable for 
 her great personal attractions ; and, for two 
 seasons, had been considered as the belle of the 
 Irish metropolis. She was, at that period, a 
 high spirited, and generous minded girl, easily 
 provoked, and as easily appeased, — proud of her 
 beauty and her accomplishments, which her 
 worldly-minded parents were in hopes would be 
 bartered for a coronet. Rainscourt was also, at 
 that time, one of the handsomest, if not the 
 handsomest man in Ireland, with the advantage 
 of polished manners, talent, and ancient birth. 
 Received and courted in every society, he was 
 as indefatigable in squandering away his pro- 
 perty, as the parents of Mrs. Rainscourt were in 
 trying to obtain an advantageous establishment 
 for their daughter. Rainscourt was proud and 
 overbearing in disposition : vain, to excess, of 
 his personal advantages, he considered himself 
 to be irresistible with the other sex. He had 
 seen and admired his future spouse; but still, 
 as he required an alliance which would enable
 
 THE KIXG^ OWN. 273 
 
 him to indulge in his extravagance, and as her 
 parents were aware that Rainscourt was, or 
 would soon be, a ruined man, in all proba- 
 bility they would never have come in contact, 
 but have rolled in different orbits, more conso- 
 nant to their views and their happiness, had it 
 not occurred that, at a large and convivial party, 
 Rainscourt's vanity had been piqued by his com- 
 panions, who told him that he never could obtain 
 
 the hand of Miss , whose parents aspired to 
 
 a higher connexion. Piqued at the remark, and 
 flushed with the wine that had been freely cir • 
 culated, he offered to stake a considerable sum 
 that he would succeed before a certain allotted 
 time. The wager was accepted. Rainscourt 
 courted without affection ; and, by his assidu- 
 ities and feigned attachment, ultimately succeed- 
 ed in persuading the fond girl to destroy all 
 the golden visions of her parents, and resign 
 herself to his arms, where he assured her 
 that competence and love would be found 
 
 N 3
 
 274 THE KING^S OWN. 
 
 more than commensurate to a coronet and 
 neglect. 
 
 They eloped ; — all Dublin was in an uproar 
 for three days. Rainscourt received the amount 
 of his bet, and the congratulations of his friends, 
 and for a short time he and his wife lived together 
 without any serious fracas. The first that oc- 
 curred proceeded from an anonymous letter, evi- 
 dently written by some envious and disappointed 
 female, acquainting Mrs. Rainscourt with all the 
 circumstances attending the bet, to which she 
 had been sacrificed. This mortifying news was 
 received with showers of tears, and some up- 
 braiding : for Mrs. Rainscourt really loved her 
 husband ; and although patched up by Rains- 
 court's protestations, as to the falsehood of 
 the accusation, it sunk deep into her heart, 
 and was but the forerunner of future misery. 
 
 Rainscourt soon became tired of a woman 
 whom he had never loved; cursed his own 
 vanity, that had induced him to saddle himself
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 275 
 
 with such an incumbrance as a wife ; and, by 
 alternate violence and moroseness, irritated her 
 feelings, and roused her spirit. Neglect on his 
 part produced indifference on her side; and 
 as the means of gaiety and expense melted 
 away, so did all respect and esteem for each 
 other. 
 
 An extravagant man seldom makes a good 
 husband : he becomes embarrassed, and his cir- 
 cumstances prey upon his mind, and sour his 
 temper. A woman who has, before marriage, 
 been the admiration of the metropolis, is not 
 very likely to prove a good wife. She still sighs 
 for the adulation that she received, and which, 
 from habit, has become necessary to her, and 
 would exact from the man for whom she has 
 given up the world, all the attention that she has 
 lost by the sacrifice. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Rainscourt were joined — but 
 they were not one. Like many others in this 
 world of error, their marriage might be typifietl 
 by a vial, of which one half has been filled with
 
 276 the king's own. 
 
 oil, and the other with water, having a cork in 
 its mouth, which confined them, and forced 
 them to remain in contact, although they 
 refused to unite. The fruit of this marriage 
 was one daughter, now about six years old. 
 
 " Well, Mr. Rainscourt, all is well, I hope ; 
 and may I not kiss my daughter, and congratu- 
 late her upon being one of the largest heiresses 
 
 in the kingdom ?" 
 
 " You may, if you please, Madam." 
 
 " May, if I please? Why, is it not so, Mr. 
 Rainscourt ?" replied the lady, startled at the 
 moody brow of her husband, as he threw himself 
 on the sofa. 
 
 Now Rainscourt would not have so imme- 
 diately answered the question, but he was 
 determined that his spouse should participate in 
 those pangs of disappointment which swelled his 
 own breast ; as partner of all his joys, she was, 
 of course, fully entitled to an equal proportion 
 of his cares. 
 
 " No, Madam — it is not so. 1 '
 
 THE KING 3 OWN. 2// 
 
 " Surely you are trifling with me, Mr. Rains- 
 court ; is not the admiral dead ?V 
 
 " Yes, Madam ; and his grandchild is alive." 
 
 " His grandchild !" cried the lady, in alto, 
 pallid with vexation and disappointment. 
 " Well, Mr. Rainscourt, this is another speci- 
 men of your usual prudence and foresight. 
 What man, in his senses, would not have ascer- 
 tained such a fact, previous to squandering 
 away his whole property, and leaving his 
 daughter a beggar P 11 
 
 " I think, Madam, if the property has been 
 squandered, as you term it, that you have 
 assisted me in so doing; at all events, the pro- 
 perty was my own : for I cannot exactly recol- 
 lect that you increased it one shilling when I 
 married vou." 
 
 " Certainly, not much, Mr. Rainscourt, ex- 
 cept, indeed, the amount of the bet. I consider 
 that as my marriage portion," replied the lady, 
 with a sneer.
 
 '2^$ THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 " Never made a worse bet in my life," replied 
 the gentleman, throwing his legs upon the 
 sofa. 
 
 " Perhaps not," replied his wife, with offend- 
 ed seriousness ; " but recollect, Mr. Rainscourt, 
 that you have no one to blame but yourself — 
 you were not deceived. I might have been 
 happy — might have met with sincerity and 
 reciprocal affection. Your conduct towards me 
 was an act of cruelty, which would have called 
 forth some compunction in the breast of my 
 bitterest enemy ; and yet, unoffending, I was 
 heartlessly sacrificed to your vanity.*" 
 
 *' Say, rather to your own, which blinded you, 
 or you would have been able to discriminate 
 better." 
 
 Mrs. Rainscourt burst into tears. Before her 
 emotion could be controlled, her husband, who 
 was hardened to these scenes of alternate anger 
 and grief, either was, or pretended to be, in a 
 sound sleep.
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 279 
 
 The little girl had nestled close to her mother 
 at the ebullition of her feelings, and waited in 
 silence until it was exhausted. 
 
 " Why, mamma, I thought you said we 
 should be so happy now. - " 
 
 im Did I, my dear ?" replied Mrs. Rains- 
 court, mournfully. 
 
 " Yes, you did, and told me that we should 
 have a fine house in London, and that we should 
 not go back to the old castle again. I was sorry 
 for that, though. Where shall we go now, 
 mamma ?" 
 
 '•'God knows, my child; you must ask your 
 father." 
 
 " Papa's asleep, and I must not wake him. 
 I do hope we shall go back to the castle." 
 
 st Then you'll have your wish, my love,"' 
 replied Mr. Rainscourt, rousing up, *' for I start 
 this very evening." 
 
 "Are we to go with you, Mr. Rainscourt ?" 
 asked Mrs. Rainscourt, calmly, " or are we to 
 be left here ?"
 
 280 THE KING^S OWN. 
 
 " As you please ; but I must be off, for that 
 
 little scoundrel, T , threatened me with a 
 
 visit to-morrow morning, as I got out of the 
 chaise, and I am aware that he will not come 
 without a companion or two." 
 
 " T ! What, T ? your friend T ! 
 
 that you brought from Dublin with you, and 
 who professes so much admiration and esteem — 
 your own factotum ?" 
 
 " Yes, my own factotum — snivelling little 
 scoundrel. But, however, there's no time to be 
 lost. You have some jewels, my dear, and 
 other articles of value ; you had better pack 
 them up, and consign them to me as soon as pos- 
 sible. You may then take your choice, — go with 
 me now, or follow me in a day or two. They 
 cannot arrest you:'' 
 
 " I am aware of that, Mr. Rainscourt," re- 
 plied the lady ; " but as I may not have the 
 means of following, my daughter and I will, if 
 you please, become a part of your travelling
 
 the king's own. 281 
 
 encumbrance, as well as the jewels and other 
 articles of value." 
 
 " Be it so/' replied the gentleman, who per- 
 fectly understood her sarcastic meaning, but did 
 not think it advisable to retort at the moment ; 
 "one post-chaise will carry us all; but we must 
 leave town at twelve o'clock this night. If I 
 recollect right, we are asked to a rout at Lady 
 G 's?" 
 
 "We are ; but pray, Mr. Rainscourt, how am 
 I to get ready so soon ? The servants must be 
 paid — all the bills must be called in." 
 
 " If you wait until I can pay all the bills, 
 you must wait till eternity, perhaps. Pack up 
 every thing of value that is portable, without 
 the knowledge of the servants ; your jewels you 
 can have upon your own person, or in a pocket, 
 if you ever wear one. Order the carriage — 
 dress, and we will both go to the rout. I shall 
 leave word with Roberts to bring me any letters 
 which may be sent, telling him that the admiral
 
 282 the king's own. 
 
 is not dead yet, although hourly expected — 
 nothing has transpired to the contrary. I can 
 slip away from the rout, and write the letter 
 myself, which I will send by a porter. When 
 I go home, and the chaise, which I shall order, 
 is at the door, I will put Emily in it, and call 
 
 for you at Lady G '& The servants may 
 
 suspect something, but it will then be too 
 late." 
 
 Danger will unite those who are at variance. 
 
 Mrs. R entered readily into the proposed 
 
 arrangements, which necessity imposed upon 
 them, and in a few hours, father, mother, and 
 daughter were on their way to Ireland, leaving 
 the house-rent, butchers, bakers, chandlers, and 
 all other bills, of no trifling sum total, to be paid 
 at some more favourable opportunity. The 
 servants indemnified themselves as well as they 
 could, by seizing what was left, and cursing the 
 elopers ; and the obsequious little gentleman in 
 black vowed vengeance as he quitted the de-
 
 the king's own. 283 
 
 serted mansion, to which he had paid his pro- 
 mised visit in the morning, with a particular 
 friend or two, to enforce his arguments with 
 Mr. Rainscourt.
 
 284 the king's own. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Fal. Have you provided me here half a dozen sufficient men ? 
 
 Shal. Marry have we, Sir. 
 
 Fal. Let me see them, I beseech you. 
 
 Shal. Where's the roll ? where's the roll ? 
 
 ■ Let them appear as I call. 
 
 Shakspeare. 
 
 As the reader will have a more intimate ac- 
 quaintance with them hereafter, I must now 
 enter into some description of the characters 
 of the captain and officers, with whom our 
 hero was fated to be a shipmate. To begin 
 with the captain, who has already made his 
 appearance in the course of these pages : — 
 
 Captain M was the son of a north
 
 the king's own. 285 
 
 country gentleman — one of the numerous class 
 still existing in this world, who have inherited 
 large ideas and small fortunes. As usual, 
 the latter were got rid of much sooner than 
 the former. The consequence was, that although 
 young M was an only son, it was consi- 
 dered advisable that he should be brought up 
 to some profession. The naval service was 
 selected by himself, and approved of by his 
 father, who, although he had no money, had some 
 interest, — that is to say, he had powerful and 
 wealthy connexions, who, for their own sakes, 
 rather than have to support their young relation, 
 would exert themselves to make him independent. 
 
 M rose to the rank of post-captain 
 
 as fast as his friends could wish, and did cre- 
 dit to their patronage. Having once obtained 
 for him the highest rank that the profession 
 could offer, until he became an admiral from 
 seniority, they thought they had done enough ; 
 
 and had it not been that Captain M , by his 
 
 zeal and abilities, had secured a personal interest
 
 286 the king's own. 
 
 at the Board, he might have languished on 
 half pay ; but his services were appreciated, 
 and he was too good an officer not to be em- 
 ployed. His father was dead, and the pay- 
 ment of debts which he had contracted, and 
 the purchase of an annuity for his mother, had 
 swallowed up almost all the prize money, which 
 
 Captain M , who had been very successful, 
 
 had realised ; but he was single from choice, 
 and frugal from habit. His pay, and the in- 
 terest of the small remains of prize money in 
 the funds, were more than adequate to his 
 wants. He was enthusiastic in his profession, 
 and had the bad taste to prefer a fine ship 
 to a fine lady. 
 
 Having entered the service at a later period 
 than was usual, he had the advantage of an 
 excellent education, which, being naturally of 
 a serious disposition, and fond of reading, he 
 had very much improved by study. As an 
 officer he was a perfect master of his profession, 
 both in theory and practice, and was what is
 
 the king's own. 287 
 
 termed afloat, " all for the service." Indeed this 
 feeling was so powerful in him, that, like Aaron's 
 rod, it swallowed up all the rest. If there was 
 any blemish in his character, it was in this 
 point. Correct himself, he made no allowance 
 for indiscretion ; inflexibly severe, but always 
 just, he in no instance ever spared himself, 
 nor would he ever be persuaded to spare others. 
 The rules and regulations of the service, as 
 laid down by the Board of Admiralty, and the 
 articles of war, were as rigidly observed by him, 
 and exacted from others, as if they had been 
 added to the Decalogue ; and any deviation or 
 neglect was sure to bring down reprimand or 
 punishment upon the offender, whether it hap- 
 pened to be the senior lieutenant, or the smallest 
 boy in the ship's company, 
 
 But, with all his severity, so determined was 
 
 Captain M to be just, that he never would 
 
 exercise the power without due reflection. On 
 one occasion in which the conduct of a sailor 
 had been very offensive, the first-lieutenant
 
 288 the king's own. 
 
 observed, that summary punishment would 
 have a. very beneficial effect upon the ship's 
 company in general. " Perhaps it might, Mr. 
 
 H ," replied he; " but it is against a rule 
 
 which I have laid down, and from which I 
 never deviate. Irritated as I am at this moment 
 with the man's conduct, I may perhaps consider 
 it in a more heinous light than it deserves, and 
 be guilty of too great severity. I am liable 
 to error, — subject, as others, to be led away by 
 the feeling's of the moment — and have therefore 
 made a compact with myself never to punish 
 until twenty-four hours after the offence has 
 been committed; and so repeatedly, when at 
 the time I have settled in my mind the quantum 
 of punishment that the offender should receive, 
 have I found, upon reflection, which delay has 
 given time for, reasons to mitigate the severity, 
 that I wish, for the benefit of the service, that 
 the Admiralty would give a standing order to 
 that effect." 
 
 Such was the character of Captain M .
 
 the king's own. 289 
 
 It hardly need be added, after the events 
 already narrated of this history, that he was a 
 man of undaunted bravery. In his person, he 
 was tall, and rather slight in figure. His fea- 
 tures were regular ; but there was a sternness 
 in his countenance, and lines of deep thought 
 on his brow, which rendered the expression un- 
 pleasing. It was only when he smiled that you 
 would have pronounced him handsome : then he 
 was more than handsome, — he was fascinating. 
 
 Mr. Bully, the first-lieutenant (who was 
 the second-lieutenant in the ship, in the action 
 with the French frigate), was an officer who 
 well understood his duty. He had the merit 
 of implicitly obeying all orders ; and, consider- 
 ing the well known fact, that a first-lieutenant 
 has always sufficient cause to be put out of 
 temper at least twenty times during the twelve 
 hours, he was as good tempered as a first-lieu- 
 tenant could possibly be. He had entered the 
 service when very young, and being of humble 
 extraction, had not had any advantage of cdu- 
 
 vol. i. o
 
 290 the king's own. 
 
 cation. In person, he was short and thick-set, 
 and having suffered severely from the small-pox 
 during his infancy, was by no means pre- 
 possessing in his outward appearance. 
 
 The second-lieutenant, whose name was 
 Price, was a good looking young man, who 
 kept his watch and read Shakspeare. He was 
 constantly attempting to quote his favourite 
 author ; but, fortunately for those who were 
 not fond of quotations, his memory was very 
 defective. 
 
 Mr. Courtenay, the third -lieu tenant, was a 
 little bilious looking personage, who, to use 
 the master's phraseology, was never quite 
 happy unless he was d — d miserable. He was 
 full of misfortunes and grievances, and always 
 complaining or laughing, at his real or imagi- 
 nary disasters ; but his complaint would often 
 end in a laugh, or his mirth terminate in a 
 whine. You never could exactly say, whether 
 he was in joke or in earnest. There was such a 
 serio-comic humour about him, that one side of
 
 THE KING'S OAVN. 291 
 
 his countenance would express pleasure, while 
 the other indicated vexation. There seemed 
 to be a perpetual war, in his composition, of 
 good humour versus bile, both of which were 
 most unaccountably blended in the same tem- 
 perament. 
 
 According to seniority, Mr. Pierce, the mas- 
 ter, is the next to be introduced to the reader ; 
 in external appearance, a rough, hard-headed 
 north-countryman ; but, with an unpromising 
 exterior, he was a man of sense and feeling. 
 He had every requisite for his situation : his 
 nerves were like a chain-cable ; he was correct 
 and zealous in his duty ; and a great favourite 
 of the captain's, who was his countryman. He 
 was about fifty years of age, a married man, 
 with a large family. 
 
 The surgeon, whose name was Macallan, 
 was also most deservedly a great favourite with 
 
 Captain M ; indeed there was a friendship 
 
 between them, grown out of long acquaintance 
 with each other's worthj inconsistent with, and 
 
 o 2
 
 292 the king's own. 
 
 unusual, in a service where the almost des- 
 potic power of the superior renders the inti- 
 macy of the inferior similar to the smoothing 
 with your hand the paw of the lion, whose 
 fangs, in a moment of caprice, may be darted 
 into your flesh. He was a slight made, spare 
 man, of about thirty-five years of age, and 
 had graduated and received his diploma at 
 Edinburgh, — an unusual circumstance at that 
 period, although the education in the service 
 was so defective, that the medical officers were 
 generally the best informed in the ship. But 
 he was more than the above ; he was a na- 
 turalist, a man of profound research, and well 
 informed upon most points — of an amiable and 
 gentle disposition, and a sincere christian. 
 
 It would naturally be inferred, that those 
 whose profession it is to investigate the human 
 frame, and constantly have before their eyes 
 the truth that we are fearfully and wonder- 
 fully made, would be more inclined than others 
 to acknowledge the infinite wisdom and power.
 
 the king's own. 293 
 
 But this is too often found not to be the case, 
 and it would appear as if the old scholium, 
 that * too much familiarity breeds contempt,'* 
 maybe found to act upon the human mind, 
 even when in communion with the Deity. 
 With what awe does the first acquaintance with 
 death impress us ! What a thrill passes 
 through the living, as it bends over the inani- 
 mate body, from which the spirit has departed ! 
 The clay that returns to the dust from which it 
 sprung,— the tenement that was lately endued 
 with volition and life,— the frame, that exhibited 
 a perfection of mechanism, deriding all human 
 power, and confounding all human imagination, 
 now an inanimate mass, rapidly decomposing, 
 and soon to become a heap of corruption. 
 
 Strong as the feeling is, how evanescent it be- 
 comes, when once familiarized ! It has no longer 
 power over the senses, and the soldier and sailor 
 pillow themselves on the corpse, with perfect in- 
 difference, if not with a jest. So it is with those 
 who are accustomed to post-mortem arrange-
 
 294 the king's own. 
 
 ments, who wash and lay out the body previous 
 to interment. 
 
 Yet, although we acknowledge that habit 
 will remove the first impressions of awe, 
 how is it that the minute investigation 
 upon which conviction ought to be founded, 
 should too often have the contrary effect from 
 that which it should produce ? Is it because 
 mystery, the parent of awe, is in a certain 
 degree removed ? 
 
 Faith, says the apostle, is the evidence of 
 things not seen. There would be no merit 
 in believing what is perfectly evident to the 
 senses. Yet some would argue, that the evi- 
 dence ought to be more clear and palpable. If 
 so, would not the awe be also removed, and 
 would religion gain by it ? We have enough 
 imparted to convince us that all is right ; and 
 is not that which is hidden or secret, purposely 
 intended to produce that awe, without which 
 the proud mind of man would spurn at infinite 
 wisdom ?
 
 the king's own. 295 
 
 The above digression had nearly caused me 
 to omit, that Macallan had one peculiar failing. 
 His language, from long study, had been bor- 
 rowed from books, more than from men; and 
 when he entered upon his favourite science of 
 natural history, his enthusiasm made him more 
 pedantic in his style and pompous in his phra- 
 seology than ever. But who is perfect ? 
 
 The purser, O'Keefe, was an elderly man, very 
 careful of the pounds, shillings, and pence. He 
 was affected with an incurable deafness, which 
 he never thought proper to acknowledge — but, 
 catching at a word or two in the sentence, would 
 frame his answer accordingly, occasioning fre- 
 quent mirth to his messmates, whom he ima- 
 gined were laughing with, and not at him. For 
 the present, I shall pass over the rest of the 
 officers, with the exception of the boatswain, 
 whose character was of a \ very peculiar nature. 
 
 He was a man who had long been considered 
 as one of the best boatswains in the service, and 
 had been applied for by Captain M« . He
 
 296 the king's own. 
 
 used his cane with severity, but had always 
 some jest at hand to soften down the smart of 
 the blow, and was very active in his own person, 
 setting an example to the men. It had, how- 
 ever, happened, that about a year before he join- 
 ed, Mr. Hardsett had been induced by his wife 
 to go with her to a conventicle, which the rising 
 sect of methodists had established at the port 
 where she resided ; and whether it was that his 
 former life smote his conscience, or that the 
 preacher was unusually powerful, he soon be- 
 came one of the most zealous of his converts. 
 He read nothing but his bible, which employed 
 all his leisure hours, and he was continually 
 quoting it in his conversation. But he was not 
 exactly a methodist, taking the cognomen in the 
 worst or the best interpretation ; he was an en- 
 thusiast and a fanatic — notwithstanding which, 
 he contrived that his duty towards his Maker 
 should not interfere with that of boatswain of 
 
 the ship. Captain M regretted the man's 
 
 bigotry ; but as he never tried to make any
 
 THE KING^ OWN. 29/ 
 
 converts, and did his duty in his situation, the 
 captain did not attempt to interfere with his 
 religious opinion, — the more so, as he was con- 
 vinced that Hardsett was sincere. 
 
 The Aspasia was but a short time in harbour, 
 for the captain was anxious to add to the laurels 
 which he had already won, and having reported 
 the ship ready for sea, received an order to pro- 
 ceed to the West India station. The frigate 
 was unmoored, the Blue Peter hoisted, and the 
 fore-top-sail loosened as the signal for depar- 
 ture : and after lying a short time with her 
 
 anchor " shot stay apeak," Captain M 
 
 came on board,— the anchor was run up to 
 the bows, and once more the frigate started, 
 like an armed knight, in search of battle and 
 adventure. 
 
 It was two o'clock in the afternoon, and the 
 tenants of the gun-room had assembled to their 
 repast. " Now all my misery is about to com- 
 mence, 1 ' cried Courtenay, as he took his seat at 
 the gun-room table, on which the dinner was 
 
 o 3
 
 298 the king's own. 
 
 smoking in all the variety of pea-soup, Irish 
 stew, and boiled mutton with caper sauce. 
 
 st Indeed !" said the master. " Pray, then, 
 what is it that you have been grumbling about, 
 ever since you have joined the ship ?" 
 
 " Pshaw, they were only petty vexations, but 
 now we are at sea. I shall be sea-sick. I am 
 always obliged to throw off the accumulation of 
 bile whenever I go out of harbour." 
 
 " I say, Doctor," replied Pearce, " can you 
 stop up the leak in that little gentleman's liver ? 
 He's not content to keep a hand-pump going to 
 get rid of his bile when in harbour, but it seems 
 that he requires the chain-pumps to be manned 
 when he goes to sea." 
 
 " Chain-pumps !" exclaimed Courtenay, shud- 
 dering, and drawing back his head with a gri- 
 mace at the idea of such a forcible discharge, 
 and then looking round at his messmates with 
 one of his serio-comic faces. 
 
 " Pumps ! ay," said Price ; " you remember 
 Shakspeare, in the Tempest — he says — dear me, 
 — I— •'
 
 the king's own. 299 
 
 " Come, Price, 1 ' said Courtenay, " don't 
 make me sick before my time, — it's unkind. You 
 don't know what an analogy there is between 
 spouting and sea-sickness. In both cases you 
 throw up what is nauseous, because your head 
 or your stomach is too weak to retain it. Spare 
 me, then, a quotation, my dear fellow, till you 
 see me in the agony of Nature ' aback,' and then 
 one will be of service in assisting her efforts to 
 < box off.' I say, Billy Pitts, did you stow 
 away the two jars of pickled cabbage in my 
 cabin?" 
 
 We must here break off the conversation to 
 introduce this personage to the reader. He was 
 a black, who ran away, when quite a lad, from 
 his master at Barbadoes, and entered on board 
 of a man-of-war. Macallan, the surgeon, had 
 taken a fancy to him, and he had been his 
 servant for some years, following him into dif- 
 ferent ships. He was a very intelligent and 
 singular character. Macallan had taught him 
 to read and write, and he was not a little proud
 
 300 the king's own. 
 
 of his acquirements. He was excessively good 
 humoured, and a general favourite of the offi- 
 cers and ship's company, who used to amuse 
 themselves with his peculiarities, and allow 
 him a greater freedom than usual. But Billy's 
 grand fort, in his own opinion, was as a lexi- 
 cographer. He had a small Entick's dictionary, 
 which he always carried in his jacket pocket, 
 and nothing gave him so much pleasure as any 
 one referring to him for the meaning of a hard 
 word, which, although he could not always ex- 
 plain correctly, he certainly did most readily. 
 Moreover, he was, as may be supposed, very 
 fond of interlarding his conversation with high- 
 sounding phraseology, without much regard as 
 to the context. 
 
 Although Billy Pitt was the doctor's servant, 
 Courtenay, who had taken a great fancy to him, 
 used to employ him as his own, to which, as the 
 doctor was not a man who required much at- 
 tendance himself, and was very good-natured, 
 no objection had been raised.
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 301 
 
 We must repeat the question — 
 
 " I say, Billy Pitt, did you stow away the 
 two jars of pickled cabbage in my cabin ?" 
 
 " No, Sar, I no hab'em to stow. Woman 
 say, that Mr. Kartney not pay for the pickled 
 onun — say quite incongrous send any more.'" 
 
 " Not pay for the onions ? No, to be sure I 
 didn't, but I gave her a fresh order, which is 
 the same thing." (Price laid down the potato 
 which he was in the act of peeling, and stared at 
 Courtenay with astonishment.) " Well, to a 
 London tradesman, it is, I can assure you." 
 
 " It may be, but I cannot conceive how. If 
 you owe me ten shillings, I can't consider bor- 
 rowing ten more the same thing as paying the 
 first." 
 
 " Pooh, you do not understand these things." 
 
 " I do not, most certainly,' 1 replied the mas- 
 ter, resuming his potato. 
 
 ** And so you haven't got them ?" resumed 
 Courtenay to the servant. 
 
 " No, Sar. She say Massa Kartney owe
 
 302 the king's own. 
 
 nine shillings for onuns, and say I owe farteen 
 for 'baccy, and not trust us any more. I tell 
 just as she say, Sir. Gentlemen never pay for 
 
 any thing. She call me d d nigger, and say, 
 
 like massa like man. I tell her not give any 
 more rhoromantade, and walk out of shop." 
 
 " Well, how cursed annoying ! Now I never 
 set my mind upon anything but I'm disap- 
 pointed. One might as well be Sancho in the 
 Isle of Barataria. I think I'll go up to the 
 captain, and ask him to heave-to, while I send 
 for them. Do you think he would, master, 
 eh ?" said Courtenay, in affected simplicity of 
 interrogation. 
 
 " You had better try him," replied Pearce, 
 laughing. 
 
 " Well, it would be very considerate of him, 
 and pickled cabbage is the only thing that cures 
 my sea-sickness." — (Perceiving Price about to 
 speak) — " Stop now— it's no use — there's not a 
 word about pickled-cabbage in Shakspeare."
 
 the king's own. 303 
 
 (C 
 
 I did not say that there was," retorted 
 Price; "but there's 'beef without mustard,' 
 and that will be your case now." 
 
 " And there's ' Write me down an ass,' " re- 
 replied Courtenay, who was not a little vexed 
 at the loss of his favourite condiment. 
 
 " Did you hear what Courtenay said of you, 
 O'Keefe ?" continued Price, turning to the 
 purser. 
 
 " Yes — yes — I know — hand him over a glass ; 
 but this is not a clane one. Steward, will you 
 bring a clane wine-glass ?" 
 
 The rest laughed, while Courtenay proceeded. 
 " Why, O'Keefe, you hear better than ever. 
 I say, doctor, you must put me in the sick 
 list — I'm not fit to take charge of a watch." 
 
 " If you'll prove that to me," replied Mac- 
 allan, " I certainly will report } T ou." 
 
 " Well, I'll prove it to you in five seconds. 
 I'm just in that state, that if every thing in the 
 ship was to go overboard to the devil, I 
 should'nt care. Now with such a feeling of in-
 
 304 the king's own. 
 
 difference, a person is not fit to be trusted with 
 the charge of a watch.'" 
 
 " That you're not fit to be trusted with the 
 charge of a watch, as you state it yourself, I 
 shall not deny," replied Macallan ; " but I con- 
 sider that to be a complaint for which you ought 
 rather to be put off the list than on it. 11 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! ha ! I say, Courtenay, you 
 know what Shakspeare says, < 'tis the curse of 
 service,' that — that — " 
 
 " All hands, 'bout, ship !" now resounded 
 through the ship, as it was repeated in the 
 variety of bases of the boatswain and his mates 
 at either hatchway — one of the youngsters of 
 the watch running down at the same time to 
 acquaint the officers, in his shrill falsetto, with 
 that which had been roared out loud enough 
 to startle even the deaf purser. The first-lieu- 
 tenant, followed by the master, brushed by him, 
 and was up the ladder before his supererogatory 
 communication could be delivered. 
 
 " How cursed annoying !" cried Courtenay.
 
 the king's own. 305 
 
 " I was just feeling a little better, and now I 
 shall be worse than ever. 1 ' 
 
 " You recollect, in the Tempest, 11 said Price, 
 " where Shakspeare says — " 
 
 "Forecastle there! 1 ' roared out Captain 
 
 M , from the quarter-deck, in a voice that 
 
 was distinctly heard below. 
 
 "By Jove you'd better skip for it, or youll 
 
 have what Captain M says. He's hailing 
 
 your station," said Courtenay, laughing — a piece 
 of advice immediately acted upon by Price, 
 who was up the ladder and on the forecastle in 
 
 a few seconds " And I must go up too. How 
 
 cursed annoying to be stationed in the waste ! 
 Nothing to do, except to stop my ears against 
 the infernal stamp-and-go of the marines and 
 after-guards, over my head ; sweet music to a 
 first-lieutenant, but to me discord most horrible. 
 1 could stamp with vexation." 
 
 "Had you not better go first, and stamp 
 afterwards ?'' observed the surgeon, drily.
 
 306 the king's own. . 
 
 " I think I had, indeed," replied Courtenay, 
 
 as he bolted out of the gun-room-door « Cursed 
 
 annoying ; but the captain's such a bilious sub- 
 ject."
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 307 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 This chair shall be my state, this dagger my sceptre, and 
 this cushion my crown. 
 
 Henry IV. Part I. 
 
 We must now descend to the steerage, where 
 our hero is seated in the berth, in company with 
 a dozen more (as they designated themselves, 
 from the extreme heat of their domicile) per- 
 spiring young heroes, who were amusing them- 
 selves with crunching hard biscuits, and at the 
 same time a due proportion of those little 
 animals of the scaribee tribe, denominated
 
 308 the king's own. 
 
 weevils, who had located themselves in the un- 
 leavened bread, and which the midshipmen 
 declared to be the only fresh meat which they 
 had tasted for some time. 
 
 Captain M 's character stood so high at 
 
 the Admiralty, that the major part of the young 
 aspirants who had been committed to his 
 charge, were of good family and connexions. 
 At that time few of the aristocracy or gentry 
 ventured to send their sons into the navy ; 
 whereas, at present, none but those classes can 
 obtain admission. 
 
 A better school for training young officers 
 could not have been selected ; and the midship- 
 men's berth of the Aspasia was as superior to 
 
 those in other ships, as Captain M was 
 
 himself to the generality of his contempo 
 rary captains in the service. But I cannot pay 
 these young men the compliment to introduce 
 them one by one, as I did the gun-room officers. 
 It would be an anomaly unheard of. I shall, 
 therefore, with every respect for them, describe
 
 the king's own. 309 
 
 them just as I want them. It was one bell after 
 eight o'clock— a bottle of ship's rum, a black 
 jack of putrid water, and a tin bread-basket, 
 are on the table, which is lighted with a tallow 
 candle of about thirteen to the pound. 
 
 " I say, Mr. Jerry Sneak, what are you after 
 there — what are you foraging for in that locker ? w 
 said one of the oldsters of the berth, to a half- 
 starved, weak-looking object of a youngster, 
 whose friends had sent him to sea with the 
 hopes of improving his stamina. 
 
 " What for ? — why, for my supper, if you 
 must know. D'ye think I look too fat? I 
 stowed it away before I went on deck, that it 
 might not fall into your ravenous maw. 11 
 
 " Mind your stops, my Jack of the Bone- 
 house, or I shall shy a biscuit at your head. 11 
 
 " Do, and prove your bravery ; it will be so 
 very courageous. I suppose you'll expect to be 
 gazetted for it.'"' 
 
 The youngster who had been dignified with 
 the above sobriquet, and who made these
 
 310 THE KING'S OWN. 
 
 replies, was certainly a most miserable looking 
 object, and looked as if a top-gallant breeze 
 would have blown him to atoms. But if his 
 body was weak, his tongue was most powerful. 
 He resorted to no other weapon, and used that 
 skilfully. He was a species of Thersites, and 
 no dread of punishment could control his 
 railing. He offered no resistance, but bent 
 down like the reed, and resumed his former 
 position as soon as the storm was over. His 
 keen and sarcastic remarks, although they occa- 
 sionally subjected him to chastisement, to a 
 certain degree served him as a defence, for he 
 could always raise a laugh at the expense of the 
 individual whom he attacked, with the formid- 
 able weapon which he had inherited direct from 
 his mother. 
 
 The oldster before mentioned put his hand 
 into the bread-basket, and seized a handful of 
 the biscuit. Ci Now I'll bet you a glass of grog 
 that you don't throw a biscuit at my head, 11 
 cried Jerry, with a sneer.
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 311 
 
 "Done,' 1 replied the oldster, throwing the 
 contents of his hand at Jerry with all his 
 force. 
 
 " Til just trouble you for that glass of grog, 
 for you've lost," said the youngster, taking it 
 up from the table where it stood before the 
 oldster; " you've only thrown some pieces, and 
 not a biscuit ;" and following up his words with 
 deeds, he swallowed down the whole contents of 
 the tumbler, which he replaced very coolly be- 
 fore his opponent. 
 
 " Fair bet, and fairly lost," cried the rest of 
 the berth, laughing. 
 
 "You scarecrow ! you're not worth thrashing, 1 ' 
 said the oldster, angrily. 
 
 " Why, that's exactly what I have been try- 
 ing to impress upon your memory ever since I 
 have joined the ship. There's no credit to be 
 gained by licking a half-starved wretch like I 
 am ; but there's Bruce, now," (pointing to one 
 of the oldsters, between whom and his opponent 
 a jealousy subsisted), " why don't you lick him ?
 
 312 the king's own. 
 
 There would be some credit in that. But you 
 know better than to try it." 
 
 " Do I ?" retorted the oldster, forgetting 
 himself in the heat of the moment. 
 
 "Yes, you do," replied Bruce, jumping up in 
 defiance, and there was every appearance of a 
 disturbance, much to the delight of Jerry, who, 
 provided that they fought, was quite indifferent 
 which party was the victor. But a fortunate 
 interruption took place, by the appearance of 
 the master-at-arms. 
 
 " Nine o'clock, gentlemen, if you please — the 
 lights must be put out." 
 
 " Very well, master-at-arms, 1 ' replied one of 
 the oldsters. 
 
 The master-at-arms took his seat on a chest 
 close to the door of the berth, aware that a 
 second summons, if not a third, would be requi- 
 site, before his object was obtained. In a few 
 minutes he again put his head into the berth. 
 " Nine o'clock, gentlemen, if you please. I 
 must report you to the first-lieutenant."
 
 THK king's own. 313 
 
 a 
 
 Very well, Byfield — it shall be out in a 
 minute.'" 
 
 The master-at-arms resumed his station on 
 the chest outside. 
 
 " Why, it's Saturday night," cried Bruce. 
 " Sweethearts and wives, my boys, though I 
 believe none of us are troubled with the latter. 
 Forster, pass the rum.'" 
 
 " HI pass the bottle, and you may make a 
 bull of it, if you choose." 
 
 " Confound it, no more grog — and Saturday 
 night. I must drink auld lang syne, by Hea- 
 
 vens." 
 
 The master-at- arms again made his appear- 
 ance. " Gentlemen, you must put the light out." 
 
 " Stop one minute, Byfield. Let us see 
 whether we can get any more rum." 
 
 The excuse appeared reasonable to the jack 
 in office, and he disappeared. 
 
 " Boy, tell Billy Pitt I want him." 
 
 Billy Pitt had turned in, but was soon roused 
 out of his hammock, and made his appearance 
 
 VOL. i. p
 
 314 the king's own. 
 
 at the berth door, with only his shirt on that 
 he was sleeping in. 
 
 " You want me, Massa Bruce ?" 
 
 " Billy, my beau, you know everything. 
 We sent for you to tell us what's the meaning 
 of a repartee ?" 
 
 " Repartee, Sir — Repartee ! — stop a bit — 
 Eh — I tell you, Sir. Suppose you call me 
 dam nigger — then I call you one dam dirty 
 white-livered son of ajb — ; dat a repartee, Sir.'" 
 
 " Capital, Billy — you shall be a bishop. But 
 Billy, has your master got any rum in his cabin ?" 
 
 " Which massa, Sir ? Massa Courtenay, or 
 Massa Doctor ?" 
 
 " Oh ! Courtenay, to be sure. The surgeon 
 never has any."" 
 
 " Yes, Sar, I tink he have a little." 
 
 " Be quick, Billy, and fetch it. I will give it 
 you back at the tub to-morrow." 
 
 " Suppose you forget, Sir, you put me in 
 very fine predical-ament. Massa Courtenay 
 look dam blue — no, he not look blue, but he
 
 the king's own. 315 
 
 look dam yellow," replied Billy, shewing his 
 Avhite teeth as he grinned. 
 
 " But I won't forget, Billy, upon my honour."'' 
 
 " Well, honour quite enough between two 
 gentlemen. I go fetch the bottle." 
 
 Billy soon reappeared with a quart bottle of 
 rum, just as three bells were struck. " By gad, 
 I rattle the bottle as I take him out — wake Mr. 
 Courtenay — he say, dam black fellow he make 
 everything adrift — cursed annoying, he say, and 
 go to sleep again." 
 
 "Really, gentlemen, I cannot wait any longer," 
 resumed the master-at-arms ; " the lights must 
 be reported, or I shall be in disgrace." 
 
 " Very true, By field; you are only doing your 
 duty. Will you take a glass of grog ?" 
 
 " If you please," replied Mr. Byfield, taking 
 off his hat. " Your health, gentlemen." 
 
 " Thank you," replied the midshipmen. 
 " Tank you, Sir," replied also Billy Pitt. 
 
 " Well, Billy. What's the last word you 
 read in your dictionary ?" 
 
 v 2
 
 316 the king's own. 
 
 " Last word ? Let me see. — Oh ! commission, 
 Sar. You know dat word ?" 
 
 " Commission ! We all know what that is, 
 Billy, and shall be glad to get it too, by and 
 
 by." 
 
 " Yes, Sar; but there are two kind of commis- 
 sion. One you want, obliged to wait for ; one 
 I want, always have at once, — commission as 
 agent, Sar." 
 
 " Oh, I understand," replied Bruce ; " five 
 per cent, on the bottle, eh ?" 
 
 " Five per cent, not make a tiff glass of grog, 
 Massa Bruce." 
 
 " Well then, Billy, you shall have ten per 
 cent.," replied the midshipman, pouring him out 
 a north-wester. " Will that do?" 
 
 The black had the politeness to drink the 
 health of all the gentlemen of the berth sepa- 
 rately, before he poured the liquor down his 
 throat. " Massa Bruce, I tink doctor got a 
 little rum in his cabin."
 
 THE KING'S OWN. 317 
 
 " Go and fetch it, Billy ; you shall have it 
 back to-morrow." 
 
 " Honour, Mr. Bruce. 
 
 " Honour, Mr. Pitt." 
 
 " Ten per cent., Massa Bruce," continued 
 Billy, grinning. 
 
 " Ten per cent, is the bargain." 
 
 " I go see." 
 
 Another quart bottle made its appearance ; 
 and the agent, having received his commis- 
 sion, made his bow, and returned to his 
 hammock. 
 
 " I do— really — think — upon — my — word — 
 that — that — black — scoundrel — would — sell — 
 his — own — mother — for — a — stiff' — glass — of — 
 grog," observed a youngster, of the name of 
 Prose, a cockney, who drawled out his words, 
 which, " like a wounded snake, dragged their 
 slow length along." 
 
 " The lights, gentlemen, if you please,'"' re- 
 sumed the master-at-arms, putting his head 
 again into the door.
 
 318 the king's own. 
 
 " Another commission," said Jerry: "a tax 
 upon light. Billy Pitt has the best right 
 to it." 
 
 A second glass of grog was poured out, and 
 the bribe disappeared down Mr. Byfield's 
 gullet. 
 
 ci Now we'll put the light out," said one 
 of the oldsters, covering the candlestick with a 
 hat. 
 
 " If you will put your candle into my 
 lanthorn," observed the obsequious master- 
 at-arms, " I can then report the lights out. 
 Of course you will allow it to remain there?" 
 
 The suggestion was adopted ; and the light 
 was reported out, to the first-lieutenant, at the 
 very moment that it was taken out of the lan- 
 thorn again, and replaced in the candlestick. 
 The duplicate supply began to have its effect 
 upon our incipient heroes, who commenced 
 talking of their friends. Bruce, a fine, manly, 
 honourable Scotchman, had the peculiarity of 
 always allying himself, when half drunk, to the
 
 the king's own. 319 
 
 royal house who formerly sat upon the throne of 
 England : but, when quite intoxicated, he was 
 so treasonable as to declare himself the lawful 
 King of Great Britain. Glass after glass 
 increased his propinquity to the throne, till 
 at last he seated himself on it, and the 
 uproar of the whole party rose to that height, 
 that the first-lieutenant sent out, desiring the 
 midshipmen immediately to retire to their 
 hammocks. 
 
 " Send me to bed ! ' Proud man, dressed in a 
 little brief authority.'' If the Lord's anointed 
 had been respected, he, with millions, would be 
 now bending the knee to me. Well, if I can't 
 be king of all England, at least I'll be king 
 in this berth. Tell me, 1 ' cried Bruce, seizing 
 the unfortunate Prose by the collar, " am I not 
 king r 
 
 ' • Why — according — to — the — best — of — my 
 — belief," said Prose, " I — should — rather — 
 be — inclined — to — think — that — you — are — not 
 — the — king."
 
 320 the king's own. 
 
 " Am not, base slave !" cried Bruce, throw- 
 ing him on the deck, and putting his foot on 
 his chest. 
 
 " No — if — I die for it — I don't care — but if 
 you are — not king — I must own — that — you — 
 are one of — my thirty tyrants, 11 drawled out 
 Prose, half suffocated with the pressure. 
 
 " I — do — declare, 11 cried Jerry, imitating 
 Prose's drawl, " that — he — has — squeezed — a 
 pun — out — of — you." 
 
 "Am not I king?" resumed Bruce, seizing 
 Jerry, who had advanced within reach, to laugh 
 at Prose. 
 
 " I feel that you ought to be, 11 replied 
 Jerry ; " and I don't doubt your lineal descent : 
 for you have all the dispositions of the race 
 from which you claim descent. A boon, your 
 gracious majesty," continued Jerry, bending on 
 one knee. 
 
 " Thou shalt have it, my loyal subject," re- 
 plied Bruce, who was delighted with the homage,
 
 the king's o«x. 321 
 
 " even (as Ahasuerus said to Esther) to the 
 half of my kingdom." 
 
 " God forbid that I should deprive your 
 majesty of that," replied Jerry, smiling at the 
 idea of halving nothing. " It is only to request 
 that I may not keep the middle watch to- 
 night." 
 
 " Rise, Jerry, you shall not keep a night- 
 watch for a fortnight." 
 
 <: I humbly thank your most gracious majes- 
 ty,' 1 replied the astute boy, who was a young- 
 ster of the watch of which Bruce was mate. 
 
 As the reader may be amused with the result 
 of this promise, he must know, that Bruce, who 
 did not recollect what had passed, when he per- 
 ceived Jerry not to be on deck, sent down for 
 him. The youngster, on his appearance, claim- 
 ed his promise ; and his claim was allowed by 
 Bruce, rather than he would acknowledge himself 
 to have been intoxicated. Jerry, upon the 
 strength of the agreement, continued, foi more 
 than the prescribed time, to bleep in every night
 
 322 the king's own. 
 
 watch, until, aware that he was no longer safe, he 
 thought of an expedient which would probably 
 ensure him one night longer, and prevent a dis- 
 agreeable interruption of his dreams. Prose, 
 whose hammock was hung up next the hatch- 
 way, had a bad cold, and Jerry thought it pru- 
 dent to shift his berth, that he might not be 
 found. 
 
 " It's the draught from the hatchway that 
 makes your cold so bad, Prose; you'll never 
 get well while you sleep there. I will give you 
 my inside berth until it is better — 'tis really 
 quite distressing to hear you cough." 
 
 " Well now, Jerry, that's what I call very 
 good-natured of you. I have not had such a 
 friendly act done towards me since I joined 
 the ship, and I do assure you, Jerry, that I 
 shall not be ungrateful, — I shall not forget it." 
 
 It happened that, on the very night that 
 Prose exchanged berths with Jerry, Bruce 
 made his calculation that the fortnight had 
 elapsed three days back : and although he felt
 
 the king's own. 323 
 
 himself bound in honour to keep his promise, 
 yet feeling rather sore at being over-reached, he 
 now ordered the quarter-master to cut Jerry's 
 hammock down by the head. This was sup- 
 posed to be done, and poor Prose, who had 
 just fallen asleep after keeping the previous 
 watch, awoke with a stunning sensation, and 
 found his feet up at the beams and his head on 
 the deck ; while Jerry who had been awakened 
 by the noise, was obliged to cram the sheets 
 into his mouth, that his laughter might be un- 
 perceived. 
 
 " Well now, I do declare, this is too bad — 
 I most certainly will complain to the captain, 
 to-morrow morning — as sure as my name is 
 Prose. Sentry, bring me a light, and assist mc 
 to get my hammock up again — I will not put 
 up with this treatment, — I do declare ;" and so 
 saying, Prose once more resumed his position 
 in his precarious dormitory. 
 
 But, during our digression, the berth has be- 
 come empty, — some walking, and others, parti-
 
 324 the king's own. 
 
 cularly his majesty, reeling to bed. So we shall 
 close this chapter, from which the reader may 
 perceive, that, even in the best regulated ships, 
 there is more going on in a midshipman's berth 
 than a captain is acquainted with, or that comes 
 between Heaven and his philosophy. 
 
 end or VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 SHACKELL AN BAYLIS, JOHNSON*S COURT.
 
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