le. To hear him read the Articles of War to us once a month
was, if not improving, most amusing. He dogrogated God's honour with
emphasis, and accused the ministers of the Church of being lethargic. Some
of my messmates declared, although it was perfectly without intention on
his part, that the captain in the last expression was right, for although
the word was liturgy, he was justified in reading it lethargy. Respecting
the other word, "dogrogation," they had all turned over the leaves of
Bailey's ancient dictionary in vain; but they presumed the captain meant
to read "derogation," as it respected God's honour, and they considered it
as a _lapsus linguae_. Two of the officers' names were Bateman and
Slateman. For months after they had been on board our worthy captain did
not appear to know one from the other, and we were sometimes much
diverted, and they were much annoyed, by his sending for one when he meant
the other. Although our cruising ground appeared a profitable one, and we
were considered fortunate in being sent there, for six weeks we only made
prizes of hundreds of the finny tribe by trawling off Quimper and
L'Orient. This amusement, exercising guns, sails and lead, gave us full
employment, and kept us out of mischief.

For nearly two months we had only seen four of our cruisers, and a few of
the enemy's small craft going along shore, and although we frequently
volunteered for boat service, our commander always closed his ears to our
requests. He was no friend to boating, he said; it very seldom turned out
successful, and it only answered, if it did at all, when courage was
doubtful. "And if you are not men of courage," he used to add, "you are
not the men I took you for." At length a cutter brought us orders to
rejoin the Channel fleet under Lord Gardner, as the French fleet had
increased to nineteen sail of the line, besides frigates. After joining,
we were stationed off the Black Rocks, with four other ships, to watch
Brest and the movements of the enemy's fleet. At this time we were
seventeen sail of the line and three frigates, and were very sanguine that
the ships at Brest would favour us with their company, as they had been
practising their firing and sailing in Brest water. We strained our eyes
and imaginations in vain. There they stuck, as the seamen used to say,
like the _Merrydun_, of Dover, which took seven years in veering, and when
she did so the fly of her ensign swept two flocks of sheep off Be