egged to be taken to
the hotel. The surgeon of the regiment doing duty there attended me,
and I requested him to make my case as bad as possible. The captain
came to see me--I appeared very ill--his compassion was like that of the
inquisitor of the Holy Office, who cures his victim in order to enable
him to go through further torments. His time of sailing arrived, and I
was reported to be too ill to be removed. Determined to have me, he
prolonged his stay. I got better; the surgeon's report was more
favourable; but I was still unwilling to go on board. The captain sent
me an affectionate message, to say that if I did not come, he would send
a file of marines to bring me: he even came himself and threatened me;
when, finding there were no witnesses in the room, I plainly told him
that if he persisted in having me on board, it would be to his own
destruction, for that I was fully determined to bring him to a
court-martial for drunkenness and unofficerlike conduct, the moment we
joined the admiral. I told him of the state in which I had found him.
I recapitulated his blasphemies, and his lubberly conduct in losing the
two men; he stared and endeavoured to explain; I was peremptory, and he
whined and gave in, seeing he was in my power.

"Well then, my dear fellow," said Jacky, "since you are so very ill--
sorry as I shall be to lose you--I must consent to your staying behind.
I shall find it difficult to replace you; but as the comfort and
happiness of my officers is my first object on all occasions, I will
prefer annoying myself to annoying you." So saying, he held out his
hand to me, which I shook with a hearty good-will, sincerely hoping that
we might never meet again, either, in this world or the next.

He was afterwards brought to a court-martial, for repeated acts of
drunkenness and cruelty, and was finally dismissed the service.

In giving this detail of Captain G---'s peculiarities, let it not be
imagined that even at that period such characters were common in the
service. I have already said that he was singular. Impressment and the
want of officers at the early part of the war, gave him an opportunity
of becoming a lieutenant; he took the weak side of the admiral to obtain
his next step, and obtained the command of a sloop, from repeated
solicitation at the Admiralty, and by urging his claims of long
servitude. The service had received serious injury by admitting men on
the quarter-deck from before th