METEOROLOGICAL REGISTER,

KEPT AT THE OBSERVATORY OF CAPT. W. H. SMYTH, AT Bedford.

EARL ST. VINCENT AND CAPTAIN BRENTON,

"We love the writer, praise his happy vein,
Graced with the naïveté of the sage Montaigne;
Hence not alone are brighter parts display'd,
But even the specks of character pourtray'd.".

AFFAIRS of some moment have prevented our reading Captain Brenton's new work, the Life of Earl St. Vincent*, till within these few days past; and though we think it, on the whole, but little calculated to exalt his hero's character, or indeed to alter in any degree that estimate of the veteran's disposition and services which we recently gave, the book is too teeming of nautical events to be passed without special notice. Great delay has occurred in its appearance-the first and principal cause of which we find has been, that Lord Brougham was expected to have written the memoir. We are well aware of the versatile power with which the learned and noble ex-Chancellor can indite, write, and review-but the idea of Lord Brougham and Vaux expending his valuable time, and most multifarious knowledge, on Naval Biography! "Let us take any man's horses after that," as Falstaff says.

Captain Brenton certainly possessed greater resources for the undertaking than most men, since he has not only acquired a large experience in the British Navy, and is no tyro in the fields of literature, but he had the additional advantage of confidential intimacy with the Earl in his latter years. The Captain professes to "avoid everything like concealment, extenuation, or flattery," in the course of his narrative; but he instances so many attentions received by himself, and other members of his family, from the old seaman, that rigid impartiality can hardly be expected from a writer who is evidently of a kindly nature, and whose sister appears to have been domesticated, in fact, at Rochetts, his Lordship's seat. As the Earl was made acquainted with the Captain's intention of writing his life, and had freely consented that his letters should be rummaged and his discourse logged for that especial purpose, there' is much that will prove interesting to the Service, and much that demands approbation; but the author, apparently mistaking bustle for business, greatly overrates the value of the Admiral's letters, and has placed so much regard on all that his hero said and did, as to have swamped his. own narrative, and rendered his work heavy and dormific in consequence. But though iteration, reiteration, redundance, and abruptness, are the mazy and leading characteristics of the style, yet so much material for thinking rewards the professional reader, and so striking are the amiable intentions of the writer, that we strongly recommend its perusal. This being our conviction as to the general merits of the book, we shall be somewhat discursive in ranging over its pages, and discussing the naval topics therein broached, as well to furnish Captain Brenton with matter of discussion for another edition, as to lodge assistance for the future naval historian in our volumes.

There is one striking peculiarity arising from a perusal of this work, and one which will be apparent even in the course of our citations from

Life and Correspondence of John Earl of St. Vincent, G.C.B., Admiral of the Fleet, &c. By Edward Pelham Brenton, Captain, R.N. 2 vols. 8vo. Colburn, 1838.

U. S. JOURN. No. 117, Aug. 1838.

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it-which is, that the hero and the author are the veritable marine Johnson and Boswell. This not only appears in the attendance danced by one upon the other for years, the dogmatical gravity of the veteran's communications, and the deference with which they were received-but also in the very persons themselves. We hope to give no offence by this estimate, though the proverb doth declare such practice to be odious; but in defence, or palliation, we may quote the sage advice which Dr. Pozz, according to Chalmers, gave to Bozz-Never be affronted," said he, "at a comparison. I have been compared to many things, but I never was affronted. No, Sir, if they would call me a dog, and you a canister tied to my tail, I would not be affronted." The similitude is too striking to be overlooked. Here the biographer, like Boswell, was happy in the kind regard and unreserved confidence of his venerable friend, who, as we have said, was fully apprized of his recording intention, and manifested no disapprobation of it. There the biographee, like his grand prototype, was ever aut Cæsar aut nullus-the which, in the vulgate, meaneth "cock of the walk;" yet lording it over his companions, male and female, with such method and management as to promote their attachment to him. Even the Captain himself is struck with the force of half of this picture, saying of his hero-" His voice was stentorian, and in his manner and person he often reminded me, in some respects, of Mr. Boswell's description of Johnson: he was not so tall, but stout-made, broad-chested, and had a remarkably commanding appearance." To which he might have added that, like old Sam, the Admiral,

"Though proudly splenetic, yet idly vain,
Accepted flattery, and dealt disdain."

A brief sketch of the career of this naval worthy may be necessary to precurse the remarks we shall have to make, as well to freshen the memory of his cotemporaries, as to give a bird's-eye view of his services to those who may not have made themselves acquainted therewith: and, in making this sketch, we shall not always consider it necessary to be towed along by the work before us.

John Jervis, of a highly respectable stock, was born at Meaford, in Staffordshire, on the 9th of January, 1734, and was intended for the law by his father, who held the situations of Solicitor to the Admiralty, and Treasurer of Greenwich Hospital. But this plan was frustrated by an exhortation from the family coachman," O don't be a lawyer, Master Jackey, for all lawyers are rogues." Thus instigated, the youngster quitted the study of Greek and Latin, in which he had made great proficiency, and became a Midshipman on board the Gloucester, of 50 guns, on the Jamaica station, in 1748. This ship bearing the broad pendant of the Hon. G. Townshend, the boy might have fallen into the remissness which is too frequently a consequence of commencing naval servitude on board the Commander-in-Chief; but he wisely adopted that admirable preventive, the volunteering into small vessels, by which activity and professional knowledge are at once promoted.

Mr. Jervis gave a very early indication of that independent spirit, and strong principle of economy, which stamped his future years. We will submit the anecdote in his own words; yet we cannot but express surprise that a parent, holding lucrative places, should drive a son to extremities which might have wrecked a less provident lad:-" My

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father," said he, "had a very large family, with limited means. gave me 207. at starting, and that was all he ever gave me. After I had been a considerable time at the station, I drew for twenty more, but the bill came back protested. I was mortified at this rebuke, and made a promise, which I have ever kept, that I never would draw another bill without a certainty of its being paid. I immediately changed my mode of living; quitted my mess, lived alone, and took up the ship's allowance, which I found quite sufficient; washed and mended my own clothes; made a pair of trousers out of the ticking of my bed; and, having by these means saved as much money as would redeem my honour, I took up my bill; and from that time to this" [he said this with great energy] "I have taken care to keep within my means." This was highly creditable to his honesty, but rather too coarsely practical for general adoption. However, all good officers ought to steer clear of that Scylla and Charybdis of money-matters, and consequent neglect of duty, the being arrested, and put under an arrest.

On the 19th of February, 1755, Mr. Jervis was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, and served in the Namur, with Sir Charles Saunders, at the siege and capture of Quebec, in 1759. Here he displayed such promptitude of conduct, that Sir Charles raised him to the rank of acting Commander of the Porcupine sloop, and the appointment was confirmed from home. He served also in the Albany, a vessel of the same class; and was acting in the Experiment, of 20 guns, when he had the fortune to signalize himself in action with a Moorish xebec of superior force, which, after a sharp conflict, was beaten off. Having returned to England, he commanded the Unicorn frigate, by order, till October, 1760, when he was posted into the Gosport, 44, which ship he retained till the peace of 1763. From this statement it is clear that, though his Governor declined "forking out" money, he must have' backed him with the whole force of his Board interest, as it is unlikely. that merit alone would have secured such progress and employment.

After passing half-a-dozen years on half-pay, Captain Jervis began to think a home on the deep was very preferable to the want of one ashore, and obtained the Alarm, a frigate of 32 guns, for the Mediterranean station, in 1769. This ship was of some notoriety, both as a wellconstructed one, and as being the first copper-bottomed vessel in the Navy. She moreover bequeathed her name to a reef of rocks in Tangier Bay, upon which she struck and beat heavily; besides which, she narrowly escaped destruction outside the port of Marseilles; but, as these perils might have been avoided by a proper foresight, we do not join in blazoning the escape with the brilliant colours which the several biographers of the commander employ. He himself must have ex-. perienced that the lyric bard was right, in saying

"Scandit cura vitiosa æratas naves.'

Both Charnock and Marshall here relate an anecdote in honour of the state and discipline of the Alarm. In August, 1770, being at Villa Franca, the ship was visited by the Duc de Chablais, brother to the King of Sardinia, who was so gratified at what he witnessed, and the attentions paid him, that he presented Captain Jervis with a valuable diamond ring, enclosed in a gold snuff-box, besides making handsome presents to the rest of the officers, and a sum of money to be distributed among the crew. The Duc was afterwards more habituated to the

hospitality of British men-of-war, and, when he became King, could pay a visit afloat in a less expensive manner, as we happen to know. The Alarm was paid off in 1773; and, after another spell of about a couple of years on shore, Captain Jervis was appointed to the Foudroyant, of 80 guns-the finest two-decker of the day,-another proof of the interest which backed him. In this ship he had the honour of being one of the seconds to Admiral Keppel in the action with Count D'Orvilliers, and manifested as much spirit and resolution as the circumstances of such an encounter permitted. The casualties of the Foudroyant, besides her being much cut up in spars and rigging, amounted to five killed and eighteen wounded-a loss which one of our hero's biographers thinks so small as to demand explanation, and thereupon he thus excogitates:-" His gallantry not only reflected honour on himself, but may be considered as having been in no small degree instrumental to the preservation of many lives from among his people, which must have been lost had the force of his attack been less animated." Great admiration has also been expressed at the testimony which he gave upon the consequent court-martial; but, as the clamorous interest of Keppel's trial was based on the acrimony of party-politics, and as the witness was an out-and-out partisan on the chief's side-malgré our author's delicate doubts on the subject,-much of the unction poured over the commanding Admiral may have been as much owing to feeling as to judgment. The evidence of Jervis was, however, clear, consistent, important, and manly; and one part especially pleases us. In her shattered state, the Foudroyant was not in a condition to chase; but she kept her station next to the Victory, as far to windward as possible:"I was covetous of wind," said the gallant seaman, " because, disabled as I then was, I conceived the advantage of the wind could carry me again into action."

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The month of April, 1782, so lavish of laurels to Rodney, was also the epoch of a brilliant day in the career of Jervis. Being then under the orders of Vice-Admiral Barrington, chase was given to a French convoy, when the Foudroyant, having outsailed her companions, brought the Pegase, a capital ship of 74 guns and 700 men, to a close night action, and compelled her to surrender, after she had suffered a carnage of 80 killed and wounded, while on our side there were only Captain Jervis and four seamen slightly hurt. The brave veteran furnished our author with so characteristic an anecdote respecting this affair, that we cannot but copy it. "On our way into port," said he," the French captain showed me the copy of a letter which he had written to the Minister of the Marine, giving an account of his capture, and asked my opinion of it. I read it, and returned it to him, saying, I had but one objection, namely, that not one word of it was true! Mais comment! pas vrai?' replied the Frenchman. 'No, sir, not one word of it is true,' I

* Burke assisted Keppel on his trial. After his acquittal the freedom of London was presented to him in a box of heart of oak, and on the same day Rodney received the same compliment, in a box of GOLD. The former was thought to have shown too much prudence in presence of the enemy; the latter was known to be a little embarrassed in his affairs. Hence the epigram

"Each favourite's defective part,

Satiric cits, you've told,
For cautious Keppel wanted heart,
And gallaut Rodney, gold.”