Memoir of the life and services of Vice-admiral Sir Jahleel Brenton, baronet, K.C.B.

Front matter

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Chapter I

Settlement of the Brenton family in America, — and descent. — Birth of the subject of the memoir, — Breaking out of the v/ar and removal to England. — Education and introduction to Naval Service, in the Dido. — Passes for Lieutenant, and accepts an invitation to serve in the Swedish Fleet. — Adventures on way to join, and conclusion of service. — Appointed as Lieutenant to the Assurance, — Transferred to the Speedy, and sent in command of the Trepassey to Newfoundland. — Return to England and appointed to the Sybil. — Voyage homewards in the Cleopatra, and in a Spanish man of war from Cadiz 34

Chapter II

Service in the Sybil. — Story of the Corfields. — Severe winter at sea. — Story of John Iceberg. — Invalided and comes ashore. — Applies for employment, and appointed to the Alliance. — Feelings on the subject. — Goes out to the Mediterranean. — Made known to Sir John Jervis, and appointed to the Gibraltar. — Storm and extreme danger of the ship. — Made First Lieutenant of the Aigle. — The Aigle being lost, he remains First Lieutenant to the Barfleur. — Interview with Lord St. Vincent and the subsequent decision 55

Chapter III

Service in the Speedy. — Action with gun boats off Gibraltar. — Sent to Penon de Velez. — Action on the coast, and with gun boats. — His brother's death from wounds received in action in the Peterel. — Letter to his father. — Made Post, and appointed to the temporary command of the Genereux at Port Mahon.— Sails to Genoa 75

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CONTENTS.

Chapter IV

Disappointment of promotion. — Applies to Lord St. Vincent, and through him appointed Captain to the Caesar, under Sir James Saumarez. — Battle at Algesiras. — Exertions of Captain Brenton in refitting the Cassar, and subsequent victory. — Tempting offer of going to England with dispatches declined. — Definitive treaty of peace signed. — Squadron at Gibraltar . . 102

Chapter V

Returns to England. — Recollections on the Caesar and the Chaplain. — Married to Miss Stewart. — Reflections on this event, made after her death.— Hostilities recommenced in 1801, and appointment to the command of the Minerve. — Dangerous accident and injury during the fitting out the frigate. — Sails for the coast of France. — The ship strikes off Cherbourg, and after a gallant defence is surrendered, July 3 123

Chapter VI

Commencement of captivity. — Journey from Cherbourg. — Kindness of M. Dubois. — Arrival at Epinal 151

Chapter VII

Removal from Epinal to Phalsburg, and thence to Verdun. — Sufferings of the people on the march, and efforts made for their relief and improvement. — The Rev. Robert Wolfe offers his services and assistance. — Mrs. Brenton 's arrival at Verdun. — Residence at Charni. — Illness, and permission granted to reside at Tours. — Conduct of the French Government towards the English prisoners of war 172

Chapter VIII

The Rev. Mr. Wolfe one of the detenus — hears of the state of the prisoners at Givet, and resolves on going to reside among them. — Extract from his work entitled the "British Prisoners in France," 218

Chapter IX

.Journey to Tours, incidents on the road and residence there. — Circumstances attending his exchange, and return to England 255

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COINTENTS.

CHAPTEE X.

Arrival in England, and application to the Admiralty. — Kindness of the First Lord of the Admiralty, IMr. Grenville. — Court martial, acquittal and appointment to the Spartan. — Sails to the Mediterranean. — Escape from capture. — Boat action with its unfortunate result, and court of enquiry ordered by Lord Collingwood 289

Chapter XI

Cruize off Toulon. — Refits at Malta. — Storm off Sardinia. — Joins Lord Collingwood's fleet. — Disaster. — Falls in with the French Fleet at sea. — Exertions to convey intelligence and to watch the enemy. — Returns to Toulon. — Service on the coast of Italy in company with Lord Cochrane. — Reflections 319

Chapter XII

Removal from the Toulon station to the Mediterranean. — Cruize off Candia, and in the Adriatic. — Action at Pesaro ; and official letters. — Co-operation with the Austrians in the Adriatic. — Letters from Lord Collingwood expressive of his entire satisfaction 343

Chapter XIII

Return to Malta to refit. — Sudden offer of joining the expedition against the Ionian Islands as suddenly accepted. — Capture of Zante, Cephalonia, and Cerigo. — Approbation of Lord Collingwood. — Cruize on the coast of Italy. — Action off Naples, victory, and severe wound ; carried to Palermo and Malta. — Letters on the subject, and extract from his personal memoranda. — Sails for England 375

Chapter XIV

Joined by his family. — Slow recovery from his wound. — Fresh trials from the failure of his agents, and actions threatened by neutrals detained. — Friendly interference of Mr. Abbott. — Applies to the Admiralty for employment, and appointed to the Stirling Castle, 1812. — Compelled by the state of his wound to resign the command. — IMade Baronet. — Appointed Naval Commissioner at Minorca. — Residence there. — Failure of Lady Brenton's health. — The establishment at Minorca broken up on the conclusion of the war. — Return to England, and appointment to the Dorset Yacht. — Made Naval Commissioner at the Cape 404

CONTENTS.

Chapter XV

Residence at the Cape. — Remarks on the advantages of Simon's Bay as a Naval station. — Plans for the improvement of the liberated Negroes. — Rapid failure of Lady Brenton's health and her death. — Reflections on it extracted from his private journal 430

Chapter XVI

Reflections on the* death of Lady Brenton. — Extracts from the private memoranda. — Sufferings from his wound, and remarks on the subject... 471

Chapter XVII

Narrative of a journey to the Mouth of the Knyzna, and remarks on the advantages of the Cape as a Colony 491

Chapter XVIII

Benevolent exertions in favour of the Negro and Hottentot population. — Captain Edward Brenton's plan for the restoration of juvenile delinquents. — Its connection with the Cape, and failure. — The establishment at Simon's Town broken up at the death of Buonaparte. — Return to England. — Temporary appointment to the Royal Charlotte Yacht. — Marriage. — Made Colonel of Marines. — Appointment to the Donegal. — Appointment as Lieutenant Governor of Greenwich Hospital, — resigns the situation, — residence at Casterton, — at Elford. — Sickness and death 611

MEMOIR

YICE ADMIEAL SIR JAHLEEL BEENTON, K. C. B.

BARONET.

IT may appear presumptuous in one not connected with tlie naval service, to attempt the biography of an officer so distinguished as Sir Jahleel Brenton ; and it may appear a graver, a less excusable offence, that one belonging to another profession, and that a profession, which requires the devotion of the whole mind to its own peculiar objects, should be undertaking an office so foreign from his usual employment and proper duties. I have, therefore, no hesitation in saying, that if Sir Jahleel Brenton had merely been the man, whom the world knew through the medium of gazettes, and the record of public services, and looked up to as a gallant and distinguished officer ; whatever might have been my feelings towards him as a personal friend, whatever my admiration of him as a public character, I never should have undertaken the office, which I am now attempting to discharge.

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I must also add, that under other circumstances I must have shrunk from the duty, as involving enquiries which I had neither leisure nor means to prosecute ; if its labours had not been so far anticipated by documents drawn up by his own hand, and left to his family ; that little more seemed left to his biographer, than to arrange that which was already written ; and to select out of a memorial designed for the benefit and instruction of his own children, those parts which might be offered to the public, without trespassing on the sacredness of a private, a domestic record.

I must again mention, that I was aware that even this portion of my duty was anticipated, and would be performed in my behalf by one, who, with a single exception, might be regarded as most identified in feelings, views, and mind, with the subject of the memoir.

The delicate and difficult task of selecting from a long and confidential memoir, written with all the fulness of a father's heart, and intended to be perused as a sort of sacred record by his children ; oftentimes too minute or too particular for publication ; and still exhibiting in general so much of the character that it was desired to pourtray, that it was difficult to know how to resist insertion ; this task was, 1 say, undertaken by another, who has discharged it with as much fidelity as discretion ; and who left nothing to me, but to peruse and confirm that, which had been thus arranged and prepared for the press.

But even these advantages ; assisted and increased as they are by the aircctionatc recollections of the members of his own family ; while they promised to render the labour of the undertaking easy, would have been insufficient to determine me to attempt a work for which I was so incompetent, if I had proposed to offer to the public a memoir of the professional life, and of the naval achievements of the man whom it was impossible to know without honouring or loving him. But this seemed unnecessary to be done, and certainly was not to be done by me. His public services, both as a seaman and an officer, have been long known and fully appreciated by the public, and thus have had their appropriate record in the naval histories of the last war. His professional character still lives in the recollection of the service. It therefore is not necessary that naval events should be narrated here, which have been better told in other places ; nor that exploits should be dwelt upon, which though they never can be heard without emotion, it may be sufficient for all present purposes to refer to, rather than to repeat.

I would, therefore, beg leave to state at once, that the only aim I venture to propose to myself, is one which differs essentially from that, which has been generally followed by the writers of similar memoirs.

I am not anxious to describe the subject of my narrative, in the form in which he was known and honoured by the world; but in that in which he was known to those who lived with him, and served with him ; to his family and his friends ; to the men who shared his hardships and dangers, as well as his successes and triumphs. I am not attempting to represent him as the man of courage, enterprise and decision, formed for the hour of peril and contest, fitted to lead and direct the energies of his service, and carrying every heart with him, from the enthusiasm which his example inspired ; but T am desirous to shew that those qualities, for which the world would easily give him credit, were united with elements of which the world knew little, and perhaps thought less ; but which had their effect in forming the general character of the man, and made him what he was in the different relations of life. I feel it due to him, and still more to those who may be profited by his example, to trace the peculiar qualities of his character to their source, and to shew the principles from which they flowed ; so that if there be in his life any thing lovely and of good report ; and this there is no one who ever knew him that can doubt ; it may be referred to its proper cause, and be ascribed to that, which he himself knew, and felt to be the origin.

It will be my aim, therefore, in these pages, chiefly to dwell on those features of mind, which though seen by few and observed by few, gave to his whole character its peculiar dignity and grace. I shall endeavour to shew, that the courage and enterprise, the firmness and self-resource which rendered him while he lived the ornament of his profession, were accompanied by qualities, not generally found in combination with these, but which enhanced their value, and contributed to their excellence ; with patience, with meekness, with the tendcrcst consideration for others, and the most unbounded benevolence. T wish to shew, that the brilliancy of his pubKc life was equalled by the purity and correctness of his private life : that he was as amiable in every domestic relation, as he was admirable in all official duties : and still knew how to keep the warmth of his affections, in such subordination, that the call which summoned him from that home, where all his happiness was centered, was obeyed without a question or a doubt, whenever the interests of his country and the service required it. Above all, I wish to shew, that the secret, but the only cause of this unusual combination of qualities, not often found in his profession, and sometimes considered as incompatible with it; was that instinctive subjection of the heart to God, which growing as he grew, and gaining strength and expansion by the trials of his life, raised him from the state of a conscientious and upright man, to that of a mature and confirmed Christian ; which sustained him under the various difficulties and burdens of his lot, by teaching him to look to God in all emergencies, and to cast himself on His mercy under every doubt ; which finally regulated the enquiries which it prompted, and realizing the divine promises, " that the meek shall He guide in judgment,^^ " that God giveth grace to the humble," brought him through all the conflict of religious opinions, to that simple child-like faith, which formed the substance of his happiness in life, as well as of his hope in decay.

The description of a character such as this, together with a narrative of the events under which it was formed and perfected, may, under God's blessing, be made profitable to many ; and as the circumstances of his story are such as must interest every reader, it is

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to be hoped that the memoir of such a man may be offered without presumption to the world at large, as including much that may be generally useful as well as amusing. But there is one class of readers to whose attention it may be more particularly recommended, and to whose improvement and welfare it is specifically dedicated. I mean the young aspirants to honour and distinction in the navy, the rising members of that profession, of which Sir Jahleel was so fine a specimen ; and for whom he always felt and expressed so strong and so paternal an interest. I could wish, that they who are taught to emulate his character as an officer, and who are animated by hearing of the gallantry of his actions, should know more of the man whom they are led to admire, than can be learnt from gazettes or naval histories ; and that they should be made acquainted with the real secret of the excellence which is held up to them as a model for imitation. I \vish that they should know from his example, that the most brilliant courage, the greatest firmness in action, and the most perfect self-possession in the moment of danger, are not only compatible with deep religious impressions, and personal piety ; but that they never can be looked for with so much confidence, nor will ever be found so largely developed, as when combined with these as the habitual principles of the life. And as example is generally more conclusive than theory, it seems expc(Uent that they should above all others be reminded, that the man, who in his day, was the model of all we wish to imagine in a British officer, and a British seaman ; the man whose daring courage made him at one time the chosen associate and friend of Sir Sidney Smith ; who was afterwards selected by that acute and discriminating judge of character, Lord St. Vincent, out of the number of eminent and gallant officers around him ; and appointed to situations which required all the combination of naval skill and firmness ; was, and avowed himself to be, in the full sense of the word, a Christian ; confessed Christ and His words in every situation, and under every circumstance with uncompromising firmness ; and still maintained his profession of religion with such gentleness and dignity, that those who difiered from him never failed to respect and to love him ; and could not help venerating the man, even while they felt that his principles condemned their practice.

In this point, indeed, a memoir of Sir Jahleel Brenton seems an important opportunity for bringing the example of such a man before the younger members of his profession as a model for imitation ; and an office which might have been urged upon me, as due to the memory of a deceased friend ; and might still have been urged in vain, to one so occupied and pledged to other duties; may be viewed in a different way, when it is considered in reference to those who may be benefited by acquaintance with his character, and are not likely to know from other sources what were its peculiar and distinctive qualities.

The name and profession of the editor will, therefore, it is hoped preclude the possibility of disappointment to those, who having been attracted by the title of this memoir, may take up the volume as a subject of mere

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professional interest, a record of naval struggles or naval triumphs. The achievements of Sir Jahleel Brenton have been already appropriately recorded, and may be read elsewhere by those who wish to enquire into his services It is proposed to give to the public now, that which the public has not hitherto known^ but which may be profitable to general readers; and which must be full of value to those of his own profession ; the narrative of a life not unmarked with trial, not devoid of the interest arising from great dangers undergone, and great qualities of mind and heart evinced in meeting them ; but exhibiting in the midst of these, and of other circumstances not less perplexing or less afflicting ; that consistency of moral conduct, that steady persevering patience, that cheerful hope, and child-like submission to the will of God, and above all, that uniform and prevailing benevolence of spirit, which belong to the Christian character, and which flow from the one single principle of Christian faith. That the union of these qualities may be seen in many individuals at present in the royal navy, 1 am thankful to believe and know ; but their occurrence is not so general as to render example useless ; while we also know, that men are more easily led to imitate the practice of one, who has taken his place in the annals of his country, than that of contemporaries; and that no line of conduct can be so safely recommended for adoption, as that which has already won the esteem and admiration of the world. I trust, therefore, tliat the memoir of such an officer as Sir Jahleol Jircnton may be no unacceptable offering to a service, which must ever be regarded with the deepest gratitude and interest, as the instrument of God^s protecting providence to this country, and as the means of enlarging its beneficial influence ; and I hope that the hours, withdrawn from other duties and given to this, have been transferred rather than stolen, and transferred to purposes of wider usefulness and more extensive good, than those which belong to ordinary employment.

In my own profession, the biography of pious and devoted men has long been regarded as one of the most profitable lines of reading. It has been felt that the knowledge of truth is likely to be most effective when combined with its application, and exhibited in practice ; and as example is generally admitted to be more powerM than precept, and men are more easily led to imitate than to obey ; the memorials of those who have been eminent for zeal and holiness in the work of the ministry, have been multiplied largely of late years, and are recommended with confidence as among the most effectual means of raising the tone of feeling and determining the line of practice among the clergy. In this respect, every year adds to the resources of the church. Those who are removed from this field of labour testify to the living. One generation contributes the encouragement of its experience to the other ; and each pious, faithful, and zealous minister, whose labour and self-devotion are commemorated in this way, leaves in the record of his example that which may strengthen the faith, or stimulate the energies of those who are to follow him.

But while the church as a profession, is receiving this increasing advantage, and sees its means of improvement enlarged by the recollections of those who are removed from their field of suffering or of labour ; there is reason to presume that other professions are not equally benefited by the biographies of their distinguished members. They also have their memorials. The world is anxious to learn the particulars of their early life and education, as well as of their subsequent achievements ; and those who are called to imitate their example or to rival their exertions, are naturally desirous to study the secret of their excellence in the causes which conduced to it. But in cases such as these, in the narratives of men who have been distinguished in the naval and military services, or even in the profession of law or medicine, it is natural that professional excellence should form the chief object of attention to those who write, as it is probable it will be the chief object of interest to those who read. The soldier and the sailor, the lawyer and the physician are described, rather than the man ; and the qualities which raised the individual to distinction, are in these cases so separate from those, which formed his value as a man, that it is possible the latter may be wholly lost sight of, while every effort is being made to do justice to the former. There is danger, therefore, in all such memorials, that much that is great and good ill tlie individual, may be merged in the merits of the officer, or in the brilliancy of the career pursued in practice ; and that private excellence, that which constitutes tlic real foundation of the man's value, and makes his life most profitable as an example, may be lost sight of, while justice is being done to that which only made him an ornament to his profession, or an instrument of national advancement.

In a clergyman on the contrary, the chief if not the only claim that he can possess on the recollection of others, the only sense in which his life can be held up as an example to those of his own profession, consists in his personal piety ; in the remembrance of that eminence to which the grace of God had raised him, as a holy, humble-minded, faithful man ; and that is, therefore, told of him, and that is dwelt upon in him, which it is most useful for other men to know, but which is equally and alike useful to all of every profession and of every rank. The world estimates its heroes by a different rule, and looks in consequence to qualities of a different kind. It dwells on that which is professional to the exclusion of that which is personal. It dwells on those things which catch the eye, and fill the ear, and arrest the imagination ; while that which passes within, that which constitutes moral eminence, and which renders a man a model for a Christian to follow, is overlooked in the more exciting narrative of contests for distinction, as irrelevant to the character which is being exhibited ; and thus, the benefit of example, in cases such as these, is lost to men, because men are more interested in results, than in causes : in the things that have been done, than in the principles of those who did them ; and regard the subjects of biography as successful candidates for the world's applause, rather than as models for private imitation.

It has also sometimes happened, that rehgious feelings, when strongly developed, have led a man to withdraw from the active duties of his profession, either in the army or navy ; and have made his example less profitable to others, by making it less peculiar, less specific than it would have been, if he had continued where he was ; and thus, these professions have lost a benefit, which seemed to be their right, by losing those individuals whose moral character would have reflected additional lustre on their public services. It is impossible, indeed, to deny that the first impulse of strong religious conviction, must lead a man to wish to withdraw from every thing that separates him from God ; and to live to Him alone, whom he has now found to be alone worth living for. It is equally certain, that the fear of falling back, the dread of being entangled again in sins, which the soul has learnt to hate, may reasonably lead a man to fly from associations, which he knows from experience to be dangerous ; and to endeavour to secure his own weakness by saving it from exposure. Excellent men are continually found arguing and acting in this manner; and where the grounds are so reasonable, and the object at stake of such incalculable importance, it is not easy to resist or to controvert their plea. But if some feel it necessary to quit the field, and to withdraw from a contest they are unfit to meet, or in which they see reason to distrust their means of standing firm ; the greater must be our gratitude for those who venture to remain, and who dare to be strong in tlic Lord, and in the power of His might.

The testimony that they then bear, is one of pecuKar value ; and we may venture to hope, that where the danger is considered before it is braved, and man only exposes himself from the conviction of duty, and under the confidence of support from heaven, he will not be allowed to fail. As his days are, so shall his strength be ; and we may trust that God, who sees the principle on which the man continues at the post of danger, will not forsake His faithful sentinel, but will make His grace sufficient for his trial, and cause his own strength to be perfected in the weakness of His servant.

On tliis principle we cannot doubt, that the determination to which Colonel Gardiner came, and in which he was encouraged by the excellent Doddridge, to continue in his original calling, and not to quit the army when he came under deep convictions of religion, has rendered him a far greater blessing to the world, than he could have been, had he yielded to his first impressions, and left the service. His memoir would in that case have remained a record of the unspeakable goodness of God. He might have edified the world by the piety of his life, and he might have been named to succeeding generations as a monument of Divine Grace, rescuing man from the bondage of sin, and plucking him Hke a brand out of the fire. But the memoir, as it now stands, is rendered still more valuable by the testimony of his later Hfe, and by the evidence it contains to that faith by which he lived ; and the power of the grace of God is manifested more signally in upholding him amidst the opposition which he at one time thought himself incapable of meeting, than in enabling him to % from it at first. Whatever might have been thought then of Colonel Gardiner's determination at the time, there can be no doubt, that Christ was more nobly confessed in the midst of a sinful and adulterous generation, than He could have been in the retirement of religious life ; and that the doctrine of the gospel was more visibly adorned by the example of one, who lived in the world without belonging to the world, than it could have been by the piety which withdrew its subject from general observation, and led him to seek security by withdrawing from the scene of temptation. But it is obvious that tho value of such memoirs is enhanced by their rarity. Probably from the causes which have been enumerated, the narratives which exhibit the moral and religious character of men belonging to the army or navy are comparatively few ; and those professions in consequence lack the benefit, which example and experience offer in other cases.

But the loss is not confined to them. There are reasons why it may be regarded as a general, a public loss ; and why all may have cause to regret that which seems to be a professional want. Whether it be that the character of these two professions, whether it be that the familiarity with danger, the necessity for energetic action and quick decision, carries into the religion they profess, something of its own nature, and leaves its own particular stamp and impress on its qualities ; it seems admitted, that the men who have been called by tlic gnice of God to a profession of religion, under such circumstances, have been, generally speaking, marked and decided Christians. It was a centurion of the Roman army to whom Christ bore that noble testimony, that " He had not found so great faith, no not in Israel ; and we may reasonably think that that power of grace which sets the soul at liberty in cases such as his, and enables it to break the ties by which it has been bound, may go on and carry it to higher attainments than are accessible to other men. But it may be also confidently asserted, that if the' testimony which is there borne to truth, is not more clear and decided than in common instances, it is more unquestioned and more unquestionable. The statement that comes from one, born and bred under the influence of religion, is always Hable to suspicion. It probably may bear upon its surface some traces of the work of man, in the tone which education has given to the habits of the mind, to the language and opinions ; and in that respect, it may seem to want the simplicity which belongs to the works of God, and which shews the source from which the impressions spring. But let the tone of religion be what it may, it carries a sort of professional stamp upon it, and is less appreciated than it ought to be, whenever men think that it is the effect of circumstances, the result of care, and that it could not have been otherwise. On the other hand, whenever it happens that conviction is effected under difierent circumstances, when religion is found gro wingwhere it was least expected, and where it is obvious that there was nothing to favour or encourage it ;