Part 6 (1/2)
It was not long after that another grand feast was held at Brougham Castle in honour of the marriage of its lord, which had been celebrated at Bletso, where the beautiful daughter of Sir John Saint John willingly bestowed her hand on him who, as a simple shepherd, had won a place in her heart.
The only drawback to the happiness of our hero was the consciousness of his neglected education. Unable to read or write, he cared not to mix with the n.o.bles of the court, but preferred living in retirement, and with great simplicity. His grand object was to repair all his castles, which had been much injured daring the wars, and he expended vast sums of money in fitting up some of them with princely magnificence; but his own favourite residence was a quiet retreat called Barden Tower, near Bolton Priory, in Yorks.h.i.+re. He chose this for his chief abode because it afforded him the opportunity of spending much of his time at the Priory with the monks, who a.s.sisted him in the delightful study of astronomy, which he was pa.s.sionately fond of; but he beautified the place, and kept up a n.o.ble establishment there, worthy of his own exulted station, and of the lady he had made his bride.
”Glad were the vales, and every cottage hearth; The shepherd lord was honoured more and more: And ages after he was laid in earth, 'The good Lord Clifford' was the name he bore.”
Wordsworth.
CHAPTER THREE.
THE STORY OF NELSON, BY W.H.G. KINGSTON.
My great ambition as a boy was to be a sailor; the idea of becoming one occupied my thoughts by day and influenced my dreams by night. I delighted in reading naval histories and exploits and tales of the sea, and I looked upon Rodney, Howe, Nelson, and Saint Vincent, as well as Duncan, Collingwood, Exmouth, and Sir Sidney Smith, as far greater men, and more worthy of admiration, than all the heroes of antiquity put together--an opinion which I hold even to the present day, and which, I hope, all my readers will maintain with me.
Once it happened during my summer holidays that, most unwillingly, I was taken up to London. During the time, a naval friend, having compa.s.sion on me, suggested that I might find matter of interest by a trip to Greenwich, and a visit to the Hospital. I jumped at the proposal. I can never forget the feelings with which I entered the wide, smooth s.p.a.ce on which that beautiful collection of buildings stands, forming the Royal Hospital for Seamen, with its broad terrace facing, the river, and found myself surrounded by many hundreds of the gallant veterans who had maintained not only so n.o.bly the honour of Old England on the deep, but had contributed to preserve her from the numberless foes who had threatened her with destruction.
The building is of itself interesting. On this spot once stood the Royal Palace of Placentia, in which no less than four successive sovereigns were born--Henry the Eighth, Edward the Sixth, Mary, and Elizabeth. Charles the Second had intended to rebuild it, but left it unfinished; and it was put into the heart of good Queen Mary, the wife of William of Orange, to establish that n.o.ble inst.i.tution for the reception of the disabled seamen of the Royal Navy, which, much augmented in size, has ever since existed the n.o.blest monument to a sovereign's memory.
I visited the beautiful chapel and the painted hall, where already were hung a number of fine pictures, ill.u.s.trative of England's naval victories; and my friend then took me to see an old s.h.i.+pmate of his, who was one of the officers of the Hospital. When he heard that I wished to go to sea, and was so warm an admirer of Nelson, he exclaimed--
”He'll just suit me. Let him stay here for a few days. We'll fish out some of our men who long served with Nelson, and if he keeps his ears turning right and left he'll hear many a yarn to astonish him. He must have patience though. The old fellows will not open out at once; their memories are like wells, you must throw a little water down at first before you can get them to draw.”
I was delighted with the proposal. My friend, however, began to make excuses, saying that he ought to take me back, and that I had no clothes with me. At this the Greenwich officer, Lieutenant R--, laughed heartily.
”A s.h.i.+rt-collar and a pocket-comb? What does a mids.h.i.+pman want more?”
he exclaimed. ”But I will find him all the luxuries he may require.
Let him stay, and tell his friends that he is in safe keeping.”
So it was arranged, and I found myself an inmate of Greenwich Hospital.
After I had been seen walking up and down the terrace a few times with Lieutenant R--, the pensioners, when I spoke to them, answered me readily, though at first rather shy of talking of themselves or their adventures. At length I fell in with a fine old man, and sitting down on one of the benches facing the river, I began to tell him how much I honoured and loved all sailors, and how I longed myself to become one.
”Ay, boy, there are good and bad at sea as well as on sh.o.r.e; but as to the life, it's good enough; and if I had mine to begin again, I would choose it before all others,” he answered, and once more relapsed into silence.
Just then Lieutenant R-- pa.s.sed; he nodded at me with a smile, saying, as he pa.s.sed on, ”My old friend there will tell you more of Lord Nelson than any man now in the Hospital.”
The old man looked at me with a beaming expression on his countenance.
”Ay, that I can,” he said, ”boy and man I sailed with him all my life, from the day he got his first command till he was struck down in the hour of victory. So to speak, sir, I may say I knew him from the very day he first stepped on board a s.h.i.+p. This is how it was: My father was a seaman, and belonged to the 'Raisonable,' just fitted out by Captain Suckling, and lying in the Medway. One afternoon a little fellow was brought on board by one of the officers, and it was said that he was the captain's nephew; but the captain was on sh.o.r.e, and there was n.o.body to look after him. He walked the deck up and down, looking very miserable, but not crying, as some boys would have done--not he. That wasn't his way at any time. When the captain did come on board, and he saw his nephew, he shrugged his shoulders, as much as to say that he didn't think he was fit for a sea-life. No more he did look fit for it, for he was a sick, weakly-looking little fellow. However, it wasn't long before he showed what a great spirit there was in him.”
”Ay,” said I, ”there is a story I have heard which proved that, when he was merely a child. He and another little fellow had gone away bird's-nesting from his grandmother's house, and he not coming back, the servants were sent to look for him. He was found seated by the side of a brook, which he could not get over. 'I wonder, child,' said the old lady, when she saw him, 'that hunger and fear did not drive you home.'
'Fear, grandmamma!' answered the boy, 'I never saw fear! What is it?'”
”True, true!” exclaimed the old man. ”Fear! I don't think he ever felt it either. Well, as I was going to tell you, my father followed Captain Suckling into the 'Triumph,' and young Nelson went with him; but as she was merely to do duty as guard-s.h.i.+p in the Thames, the captain sent his nephew out in a merchant-vessel to the West Indies, to pick up some knowledge of seamans.h.i.+p. When he came back he soon showed that he had not lost his time, and that he was already a good practical seaman.
Soon after this an expedition was fitted out for a voyage of discovery towards the North Pole, under Captain Phipps and Captain Lutwidge, in the 'Racehorse' and 'Carca.s.s.' My father volunteered, and so did Mr Nelson, who got a berth as captain's c.o.xswain with Captain Lutwidge.
The s.h.i.+ps, after entering the polar seas, were quickly beset with ice.
Mr Nelson, who had command of a boat, soon showed what he was made of.
My father was in another boat, and as they were exploring a channel to try and find a pa.s.sage for the s.h.i.+ps into the open sea, one of the officers fired at a walrus. 'Ah, I've hit him!' he exclaimed, 'not a bad shot!' and he thought no more about the matter. But the brute gave a look up with a face like a human being, as much as to say, 'We'll see if more than one can play at that game,' and down he dived. Presently up again he came, with some twenty or more companions, and with the greatest fury they set on the boat with their tusks, and tried to capsize her. My father and the rest of the crew fought desperately with boat-hook and axes, but they were getting the worst of it, and well-nigh gave themselves up as lost, when another boat was seen coming along the channel towards them. On she dashed; a young officer, a very little fellow, with an axe in his hand, sprang to the bows, and began dealing his blows right and left at the heads of the walruses till several were killed, when the rest dived down and took to flight. That young lad was Nelson. Soon after this, one morning he and another boy were missed from the s.h.i.+p. It was reported that they had gone away in pursuit of a bear which had been seen prowling about. A thick fog had come on, and they did not return. The captain began to think that they were lost, and a party was sent out to look for them. After wandering about for some time, the fog cleared off, and there was Mr Nelson, with a s.h.i.+p's musket in his hand, close up to a big white polar bear, who could have made mincemeat of him in a moment. The party shouted to him to return, but he wouldn't listen to them; and they expected every moment to see the bear turn and crush him. Still on he went, moving sideways with the bear. When they got up, they found that there was a wide chasm which had prevented him from getting closer to the animal. They led him back to the s.h.i.+p, and when the captain asked him why he had gone, he answered, with a pouting lip, that he had set his heart on getting a bear's skin for his father, and that he didn't think he should have a better opportunity.
”The captain reprimanded, but forgave him. There were greater dangers in store both for him and all in the expedition; and for a long time they had little hope of getting the s.h.i.+ps clear of the ice. Mr Nelson exerted himself to cut a channel to let them escape; and at length a favourable wind getting up, they stood clear of it just as it was expected that they would be frozen in. They found themselves free, and reached England in safety. Mr Nelson had nearly been killed by the cold, and now he was to be tried by the scorching climate of the Indian seas. Such are the rapid changes we seamen have to undergo. He was appointed to the 'Seahorse,' and out she went to the Indian station.