Chapter 2

This period of his royal highness' life has probably arrived, and his appointment to the important office of Lord High Admiral will doubtless accelerate the beneficial effect. The public are perhaps sanguine in their expectations; but from early and subsequent proofs of the duke's devotion and attachment to the service over which he now presides, we have reason to think they will not be disappointed. It has been shown that his royal highness neither wanted zeal nor ability at any stage of his life, and the ardent assurances which have been quoted from one of his most recent declarations, bespeak that he still possesses the vigour of manhood, tempered with experience; and it must be truly gratifying to his royal highness to know that the honour and authority of the office of Lord High Admiral, have been revived, after the sleep of a century, as if to compensate him for past neglect, with their investiture.[4] In truth, the alacrity with which the duke has already entered into the duties of his office, and the lively sense of justice he has manifested in dispensing its honorary rewards, must be gladly hailed by the service, and the country at large.

His royal highness's present emoluments may be stated as follow:--

Income on the Consolidated Fund, previous £. s. d. to the death of the Duke of York: 26,500 0 0 By the death of the Duke of York 3,000 0 0 Additional grant, February, 1827 3,000 0 0 And to the Duchess 6,000 0 0 As Ranger of Bushy Park 187 9 8 Halfpay as Admiral of the Fleet 1,095 0 0 Pay as General of the Marines 1,728 15 0 Salary as Lord High Admiral 5,000 0 0 -------------- [5]Total Annual Income 46,511 4 8

The Duke of York is acknowledged by Mr. Peel, in his speech, Feb. 17, 1827, to have had £50,000. a-year.

We subjoin the following characteristic anecdote from the New Sailor's Magazine for December, 1827, sketched with fidelity and in that rich vein of humour by which stories of the service are usually distinguished. It exhibits the character of his royal highness in all the glowing generosity of buoyant youth, and proves him to possess a warm-hearted sympathy for the sufferings of his fellow-creatures--

THE ROYAL REEFER AND BOB CLEWLINES.

It was on one of those December days, when the wind, blowing from the northward, acts almost like a razor on the surface of the skin, and when, accompanied by small sharp rain, a mixture of damp and cold produce a chilling effect upon the frame and spirits, that a _ci-devant_ midshipman, his hands in his pockets, and

"Whistling as he went for want of thought,"

crossed London-bridge, which at that time was an asylum to the footsore, the pauper, and the weary of heart. The day had fallen, and every thing looked dull and dreary; the foot-path was encumbered by mud, and porters carrying weights, as well as other busy passengers, were jostling each other to obtain a footing on the dirty pavement: a fellow heavy laden came in contact with the _royal reefer_[6] so powerfully, that he took a lee-lurch, and got foul of one of the seats in the arches. "Avast there; luff up, you lubberly rigged son of a gun," cried middy; "couldn't you hail ship before you were aboard of us?" The fellow, however, waddled on; but the middy had to turn about in order to regain his course, when suddenly he beheld a middle-aged figure, perishing with cold, a red night-cap on, an old jacket and trousers, a pair of shoes in rags attached to his legs with a rope's end, no shirt, no stockings, nor any other attire; the face was climate-struck, it had braved the equator and the pole, the battle and the breeze, the scorching heat and the petrifying cold,--it was, as might be expected, thin, and moreover almost lost in a profusion of hair on each cheek, so that it would be difficult for the oldest acquaintance to recognise the features after long absence; nature had made the lips to smile, the eyes to beam in kindness, the fine high forehead to command respect; but time and hardships, disease and disappointment, had quenched the fire of the organ of sight and intelligence, the mirror of the soul,--had prematurely furrowed that front of honest English high spirit and candour, and had taught the lips to fall in dejection and the treasured silence of woe: upon the whole, the figure had something fierce in it, but it was truly manly; the warrior's arms were folded together, and his face, bent towards the ground, was still half up-turned, and seemed to say to rich merchants and venders passing by on foot and in carriages, "There ye are, ye liers upon beds of down, ye feeders upon the poor man's toil; often have you slept secure, and safely enjoyed your wealth, whilst poor Jack rode out the gale, hung on the rigging betwixt life and death, and endured the storm which held him every moment betwixt the chance of clinging to a fragment of the wreck and sinking into eternity: but, now the war is over, smart-money paid for a sharp wound, and neglect and oblivion, are the seaman's portion." The expression of his face and eyes seemed to speak thus; indeed, it spoke volumes; but its mute appeal was lost on the worldlings, who brushed by him, and who, bent on love of gain, scarcely were aware that their fellow-man was starving by their side, too feeble and too much an outcast to work, yet too proud to beg; the middy's heart, however, was of that texture that it leant towards a brother-sailor, meet him where it might, and he naturally looked round at poor Jack on his beam-ends: he had but one penny in his pocket, and that the plaintive voice of a blind woman had drawn, as if by magic, from its deep recess. What was to be done?--for he should have liked to have taken this wreck of _a man of war into tow_. The reflection caused him to examine more closely the shivering seaman, when a small scar, occasioned by a splinter, on the _bridge of the nose_, brought to his remembrance Bob _Clewlines_, who had served in the same ship: the tar recognised him also; but, so far from making himself known to him, he hid his face in his hand: the reefer, however, was resolved to bring him to. "What, Bob Clewlines!" cried he, "do I not hail an old shipmate in you, a quarter-master on board the ----, the bravest heart of oak, the best reefer, and the merriest steersman of the whole ship's crew; and," said he audibly, that every one passing might hear and value fallen courage and fidelity, "and _as prime a seaman as ever trimmed a sail, or served a gun_; why, what has broke up your old hulk this way?" The man could not find utterance; remembrance of _unrequited services_ and other associations checked him. The middy stretched out his hand, which the _broken-hearted sailor_ ventured not to take. "Come, Bob," cried the other, "no subordination now: we are all equals on life's _quarter-deck_, and when my _fellow-man_ suffers, he _rises_ a peg in my estimation. Why?--because _unfeeling lubbers_ slight him. Come tip us your _fin_. Your hand may be dirty, but your soul is as kind as a new sail in a sunny day. I'll show it against any lord's in the land. Come, heave a head; follow me, old tarry breeches; I'll soon set your _timbers_ and _rigging_ to rights; you shall have an entire refit. Come, bear a hand; _set_ all your _canvass_; it's all in _ribbons_, I see, and _shivers_ in the wind; but I'll keep out wind and weather for you."

Thus saying, he walked proudly with the poor tar, astern of him, until he came to a slop-shop, near Wellclose square: it was a Jew's. "Here, Moses," quoth the middy, who detected the Israelite bending looks of disdain and mistrust on the poor man, as if he considered the contents of his shop in danger: "come, Moses, a regular built _outrig_ for this _gentleman_," laying great stress on the word gentleman. This was _pitching_ it strong, but his heart was carrying _royals, sky-scrapers, moon-rakers_, and his _pulse_ was _sailing_ at the rate of _ten knots_ an hour at least; so elate was he to serve a brave man in distress, and above all, a son of the ocean: "come, let us have every thing good, and spic and span new."--"Pray, _Shair_, who's to pay?"--"_Myshelf._"--"O, your honour, that's right." The poor man retired to a back-room, and stepped forward clad from head to foot, and with two changes of linen and a pair of shoes (by the midshipman's order) tied up in a pocket-handkerchief under his arm. BOB CLEWLINES looked with a blush on his old clothes, and at this moment an almost naked boy passed by: the midshipman duly appreciated and truly interpreted one look of the tar. "Bob, I say, heave that overboard, and let the poor boy pick it up: one good turn deserves another." The payment was the next. "Three pounds fifteen.--Is that the lowest?"--"O, yesh: I don't gain five shillings by the whole deal."--"Well, then, do you take the case of my gold watch, and weigh it, and give me the produce of it."--"Let ush see: it's vary pretty, but not vary heavy; it's all fashion you see: indeed, it's a great pity to part, the vatch and the caish; watches are a drug now, or else I'd buy it; but just to oblige you, I'll see what I can give."--"Don't trouble yourself, Mosey; just do as you are bid: you take the outside case, and I'll keep the watch."--"I shall lend you four pounds upon it," resumed the Israelite; "and you may depend upon my honour to return it to you, when you bringsh me de monish."--"No, you won't, Mosey; you'll do just what I bid you."--"It will spoil the watch"--"Not a bit; she must work without her _jacket_, as my friend has often done in all weathers. I shall sell the outside case to serve a shipmate in distress; but the watch was left me by a dear friend, so I shall keep her: a metal case will do as well for a little time, and when fortune's breeze springs up again, _the case will be altered_."--"Vel, shair, you shall be obeyed: five pounds, five shillings is just the price of the weight; there's the money."--"Good morning, Master Moses; but do you, _Clewlines_, set sail again; I want to get you into port: it is only what I owe you. Were you not the kindest creature to me in the world _when I was confined to my berth with the yellow fever, and not expected to live a day?_ Come, come, you must take your cargo in; you must be _victualled_ as well as _refitted_. I have got a chalk at a house near this,--another shipmate who is set up in business in a public line: call for what you want, and here's the loose change to keep your pocket until something turns up." Poor Bob got a _good dinner_, a _good bed_, and a _snug hammock_, that night; and shortly afterwards he obtained a birth in an Indiaman, and is now doing well. The royal reefer's heart bounded with joy at performing this noble action to recover which he put himself for a month on short allowance. But this is only one of many such traits in the character of this heart of oak whose name the writer could scarcely venture to state, but who will here remember this scene.

HARRY HATCHWAY.

_H.M.S. Perseus, off the Tower, Nov._ 1827.

[Footnote 1: "Naval and Military Magazine," No. 3.]

[Footnote 2: Ibid.]

[Footnote 3: Ibid.]

[Footnote 4: Beatson, in his _Political Index_, designates the Lord High Admiral as the _ninth_ great officer of the state; but in ancient times this office was usually given to some of the king's sons, and which, in twelve different instances, has been filled by the king in person.--The present patent to his royal highness the Duke of Clarence was stated by the Lord Chancellor, in parliament, June 15, 1827, to be "similar to that of Prince George of Denmark, with this difference, that the _Droits_ of the Admiralty were reserved from Prince George by an express covenant, while in the present circumstances they are excepted in the commission."]

[Footnote 5: Naval and Military Magazine.]

[Footnote 6: Prince William Henry, the present Duke of Clarence, when a midshipman.]

* * * * *

By way of a _tail-piece_ to this already extended memoir, we present our readers with an accurate engraving of

THE ROYAL CLARENCE CUP,

given by the gentlemen of the Thames Yacht Club, in honour of his royal highness the Lord High Admiral having condescended to become the patron of the club, on Thursday September 27, 1827. A steam packet was engaged, to accompany the match, by the Club for the accommodation of their friends, among whom we had the good fortune to be numbered. It was altogether a most grateful relaxation from our land labours. The distance sailed was from off Blackwall to Gravesend and back, and the muster of the fleet almost unprecedentedly fine. The whole of the vessels were admirably managed throughout, the match, which towards the close, became intensely interesting. At length it was decided by the _Lady Louisa_, (Mr. Thomas Smith, owner) arriving first at Blackwall, distancing eight others, but gaining the victory with only a few minutes to spare. If we recollect "right well," the day was fine for the advanced period of the season, and on board the several vessels packets, and on the banks of the river, there were the usual humours of an aquatic spectacle without any of its vulgarisms. The cup, weighing 85 oz. and standing nearly two feet high, is of silver, elegantly chased, and as our engraving imports, of classical design; and its exhibition, with the customary ceremony of presentation, toasting, &c. appeared to afford much satisfaction to the assembled company, and the victorious claimant of the prize, and equal credit to the taste of the artist, Mr. Hyams.

* * * * *

INDEX.

* * * * *

VOL. X.

* * * * *

ABERNETHY's lectures, 207. Accomplishments, value of, 199. Actors, reminiscences of, 106, 166, 296. African Eloquence, 124. Ali Pacha, palace of, 92. American Travelling, 108. Amulet, the, for 1828, 420. Annuals, Spirit of the, 409. ANECDOTES AND RECOLLECTIONS, 68, 87, 139, 168, 183, 397. Appetites, royal, 458. ARCANA OF SCIENCE, 253, 262, 272, 289, 318, 349, 384, 398, 432, 449. Archery, 41. ARCHITECTURAL ILLUSTRATIONS, 193, 313. Ark of Noah, 48. ARTS AND SCIENCES, 40, 78, 111, 127. Ashby-de-la-Zouch Castle, 49. Assassination, singular, 290. ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES for the Months, 11, 84, 154, 233, 310, 362. Auberge, the, 337. Aurora Borealis, 282. Australian Importunity, 189. Australian Patriotism, 175. Author and his Coat, 12. Authors and Editors, 360.

Bachelor's Portrait of a Maid, 397. Ballad Singer, 374. Bathing, Hints on, 35, 126. Battle Hymn, by Korner, 267 Bernard Barton, 146. Bijou, the, for 1828, 423. Bilderdyk, the poet, 87. BIOGRAPHY, SELECT, 70, 199, 388, 432. Birds, age and incubation of, 64. Black Beard, story of, 101. Blue-bottle, the, 115. Books, ancient, materials of, 61, 123. Books and Bookworms, 380. Books, new, 90. Brain, the, 98. Brambletye House, the editor's visit to, 265. Breakfast in Newgate, 131, 150. Bridget Trot and Tim. Green, 194. Bristol Cathedral, 225. Bristol Institution, 111. Buckingham, duke of, 381. Bull-fights in Spain, 170. Burmese Boats, 205. Burmese Execution, 181. Burmese Thieves, 216. Burns, Gilbert, biography of, 70. Bushy Park, 425. Butcher, the, 82. Byron and other Poets compared, 2.

Calais, account of, 339. Calais, living at, 357. Cambrian Conviviality, 155. Cameleon Sketches, 226, 243. Camelopard, the, 289. Canning, Mr., Death of, 100. Canning, lines to the memory of, 131. Canterbury, St. Thomas's Hospital, at, 97. Canterbury, St. Martin's, at, 304. Carlisle, Sir Anthony, 88. Carriage, grace of, 110. Carrier Pigeons, 119. Cartoons of Raphael, 184. Cavalry School in France, 110. Caucasian Tribes, 190. Caxton's House in Westminster, 377. Celebrated Persons, 83. Charles I. Execution of, 189. Charles I. Trial of, 247. Chinese Almanack, 77. Chiswick, 113. Christmas Customs, 427, 443. Chronicles of the Canongate, 282, 324, 341, 364. Churchyard Scene, 67. Circassian Women, 188. Cleveland, Marquess of, 245. Climates, contrast of, 203. Cloughna Cuddy, 135. Club-houses, London, 370. Coalheavers, 293. Colton, Mr., Anecdotes of, 50. COMMON-PLACE BOOK, 118, 138, 180, 198. Confidence and Credit, 82. Constantinople described, 278, 361. Cooke, the actor, 105. Coral Islands, 102, 279, 389. Craniology, 160. Cromwell, 95. Cross Fell, Westmoreland, 242. Cross Roads, the, 180. Croydon Palace, 65, 100. Curral, the, in Madeira, 93. Cuvier, Mademoiselle, 323.

Damp Beds, 216. Dead Trumpeter, 51. Debtor and Creditor, 226, 243. Devil, buying and selling the, 268. Devonshire, duke of, his villa, 113. Diet, 99. Dirty People, 246. DOMESTIC HINTS, 126, 159, 223, 254. Drama, the, 292. Drinker, Edward, 95. Dublin Post-office, 161. Dumb, hospital for, 159. Dust Cart, the, 405. Dutch Painters, present state of, 134.

Early Rising, 331. Edinburgh, ride through, 387. Elise, by L.E.L., 228. Elizabeth, queen, letter of, 211. England, on leaving, 102. England, past, present, and to come, 267, 395. English Character, 69. English Dress, 309. Englishman's Prayer, 227. Epicurean, the, by T. Moore, 5. Etna, Mount, 56. Expeditions of Parry and Franklin, 263, 272.

Faculty, anecdotes of the, 204. Fancy, 195. Festival of the Moon at Memphis, 60. FINE ARTS, 15, 66, 111, 134, 167, 184, 195, 210, 233, 372, 439. Fire of London, 146. Fireside Engagements, 140. Forget-Me-Not, extracts from, 414. Fortune-telling, 191. Foy, General, 434. France, painting in, 195. French Millennium, 315. French and English compared, 77, 371. Friendship's Offering for 1828, 418. Fruits, English, 231, 295, 300. Fruit-eaters, caution to, 36. Fugitive, a Scotch tale, 426. Funerals, African, 218. Funerals, Roman, 358.

Gallantry, 250. Gaming-houses in France, 305. Garrick's Mulberry Cup, 57. Gas-lighting, history of, 449. GATHERER, the, in each number. Gems of Genius, 181. Geneva, living at, 298. George the Fourth's Phaeton, 1. George the Fourth, letter of, 2. Ghibellines, the, 43. Giddiness, causes of, 126. Glasgow, great bell of, 195. Gloaming, 90. Grecian Sepulchre, 185. Greek City, 409. Greek Song of Victory, 410. Greeks, the, 57. Guillotine, the, 7. Gunpowder Plot, 333.

Haddon Hall, 329. Hadley Church described, 81. Helen, Memoir of, 348. Hamlet's Garden, 281. Hamlet, story of, 299. Hammersmith Suspension Bridge, 169. Hampton Court, 373. Hanger, Colonel George, 228. Hans Holbein, 233. Harvest-home, the, 99. Heir-Presumptive, the, 8. High Cross, Leicestershire, 162. Hop-harvest, 130. Horse Chestnuts, use of, 291, 348. Horse-launching in America, 121. Houses, to warm and ventilate, 173. Household Servants in 1566, 103. Howard, John, 95. Human Credulity, 79. Hydrophobia, the, 98.

IDLER'S ALBUM, 179. India, landing in, 64. Indian Maiden's Song, 427. Insects, 35. Irish Grandees, 355, 374. Irishmen, United, 437. Italian Women, 198. Italy, 228.

Jeu d'esprit in verse, 152. Jew's Harp, the, 123. Jewish Customs, 197. John, King, death of, 379. Journey, preparations for, 186. Judges' Salaries, 3.

Kanemboo Woman, 217. Kangaroo Waggery, 109. Karpians, character of, 197. Kean, Mr., his first appearance, 239. Kew Palace, account of, 209. King's Feet-bearer, 139. Korner, the German poet, 199.

Lady-bird, lines to, 142. Languages, Latin and Greek, 139. Law and Lawyers, 115, 456. Leaves and Flowers, 78.

LECTURER, The, 98, 126, 175, 207. Lee, Capt., Letter of, 366. Letter from Newgate, 366. Leeds Central Market, 236. Leland, the Antiquary, 388. Leopard-hunting, 90. Letter-writer, the, 53. Liberty, picture of, 304. Lilliard Edge, 380. Lilly Bells are wet with dew, 84. Liston, French and English, 435. Literary Pocket-Book for 1828, 424. Literary Souvenir, extracts from, 410. Liverpool Town-hall, 129. Living Authors, No. 1., 146. London Improvements, 236. Love-letter, poetical, 330. Love, origin of, 448, 456. Love's Victim, 15.

Malaria and Fevers, 252, 392. Malt Liquors, 254. Man-eating Society, 277. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS, 57, 70, 181, 197, 217, 297, 357, 368, 430. Maria-Louisa, 31. Marikina, or Silken Monkey, 143. Markets, London, 236. Marvellous, Anecdotes of the, 302, 372, 435. Matches in Teens, 221. Melancholy, 144. Melrose Abbey, 445. Mental Derangement, 175, 240. Midnight Adventure, 190. Mississippi, sailing up, 374. Monge's Mausoleum at Paris, 177. Monsoon in India, 109. Montpellier, 139. MONTHS, THE, 9, 34, 89, 99, 130, 153, 169, 232, 320, 400. Moon, address to, 138. Mosaic, art of, 439. Mountain Story, 269. Mutiny, the, a tale, 212.

Nancy Lewis, 268 Napoleon, Scott's Life of, 4, 17, 47. Napoleon, attempt at suicide, 47. Napoleon's birth, 19. Napoleon's death, 32. Napoleon's divorce, 29, 407. Napoleon's early life, 19. Napoleon's first exploit, 22. Napoleon's first marriage, 23, 30. Napoleon's funeral, 32. Napoleon, personal character of, 59. Napoleon's proposed invasion of England, 24, 25. Napoleon's voyage to St. Helena, 31. Foy's account of, 237. Navarino, Port of, 345. Nautical Phrases, 364. Negro Wit, 224, 255, 328, 343, 344, 456. New South Wales, 156. Newspapers, London, 322. Niagara, Falls of, 6, 391. Night-attack, 37. Nightingale, the, 37. Noche Serena, 14. Norwich New Prison, 145. NOVELIST, THE, 12, 43, 72, 85, 103, 135, 163, 201, 212, 269. Novel writers and novel readers, 118, 202, 277, 437. Nuptial Charm, 210.

Oaths, on, 381. Old Manor House, novel of, 142. ORIGINS AND INVENTIONS, 14, 51, 163.

Painting in England, 66. Palace, the New, in St. James' Park, 257. Parting for the Pole, 367. Peacock, the, 36. Peasant's Lament, 367. Peter's Pence, origin of, 317. Phantom Hand, the, 382. Philosophical Kitchen, 303. Phillips, Sir Richard, his boyhood, 114. Pitt, character of, 125. Plantaganet, Richard, 438. Plants, habits of, 79. Police Reports, 92. Political Economy, advantages of, 251. Porson and Sheridan, 454. Portuguese Ball, 94. Powder-flask, antient, 120.

Quackery, 247. Questions and Answers, 94.

Radiant Boy, the, 179. Rafts and Rhine Scenery, 415. Ramsden, the Optician, 80. Raphael, 210. Reaping in Devonshire, 169. Regent's Park, New Church in, 33. Regent's Hanover Terrace, 313. Review, the, 201. Retrospect, 308. RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS, 103, 148, 182, 211, 247, 310, 333. Robinson Crusoes, 238. Running a Muck, 122. Robespierre and Marat, 17. Robin, stanzas to, 267. Roman's, economy of, 310. Rome, Protestant burial-ground at, 371. Romeo Coates, 338. Rosalie Berton, 72, 85.