A VICE-ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET.*
• A Life of Richard Badiley, Vice-Admiral of the Fleet. By T. A. Spalding. London : Constable and Co. (iSa) RICHARD BADILEY was a brave man, yet it is more by accident than design that his biography was worth writing. He spent his life in hard work as a thousand other sea- captains have spent it ; he delighted in the opposition of a superior force with the stalwart pluck of the British sailor ; he served the Commonwealth with the simple faith and un- swerving loyalty which also animated his great colleague Blake. But these services would not have marked him off from his fellows] had he not been the hero (and almost the victim) of the battle of Leghorn.
In 1652 a British squadron was shut up in Leghorn Harbour, and Richard Badiley determined that it should fight its way out rather than accept the terms of the Grand Duke. The situation was one after his own heart, as the Dutch not only had three ships to his one ; they had also incomparably the better position. His plan of action de- pended not only upon the wind, but upon the loyalty of his comrade, Appleton; and the one was as doubtful as the other. However, he was forced to take Appleton's loyalty for granted, and perhaps it was not without a full knowledge of that sailor's character that he wrote to him before the 1 battle : "I suppose you and the Dutch vice-admiral will try a pluck for it, and although he is a great Boar, yet he is but a boar, and who knoweth, being the game of this country, he may be hunted as well as others." Now this was in truth a miracle of magnanimity. It was, of course, Badiley's privilege to assault the enemy's Admiral. But he sur- rendered the post of honour to Appleton, that that officer, already discredited, might return home with the greater glory and so redeem his name.
Appleton with his ships lay within the harbour ; Badiley with his lay without, ready to decoy the Dutchman'to an attack, and so make the way clear for Appleton's escape. But Appleton was inactive, and refused to adopt the sug- gested plan, in accordance with which he was to sail out under cover of night, while Badiley made his attack. Wind and weather were favourable, and Appleton still tarried. The battle then was delayed until the morning, and as the sun rose Badiley tacked in towards the Dutch lines, and Appleton made his next mistake. As he had declined to move in the night, so he now moved too soon. Probably he lost his head, but, whatever the cause, the Dutch ships forgot Badiley, and swooped down upon the six unhappy ships hastening to a premature departure. Badiley was miles to leeward of the Dutch fleet, and at the council of war it had been agreed that Appleton should not stir outside the Mole until the enemy had engaged Captain Badiley. But Appleton threw prudence, as he had thrown obedience, to the wind, and sailed out to certain destruction. The harm was inevitable, against which Badiley had provided, but which he was now powerless to avert. In vain he attempted in the teeth of a contrary wind to go to Appleton's aid; in vain he mancenvred his unwieldy ships, built for strength rather than for speed, and foul after many a hard-fought battle. First the Bonadventure ' blew up ; then the flames caught hold of the ' Samp- son ' ; and the other ships under Appleton's command had no resource but to surrender. The victory of the Dutch was complete. Badiley made superhuman efforts to save his recalcitrant comrade. But the merchantmen in his fleet refused their aid, and he was compelled to be a helpless witness of his enemies' triumph. Distracted with passion, he could only retire his ships, and said he, in a, characteristic outburst : "When such vapouring blades are in a gentlewoman's chamber, oh ! then, they are mighty men of valour ! But now here is service to be done, they turn shifters above all any commander-in-chief was humbled withal before me."
So ended the ill-fated battle of Leghorn; but the conse- quences for Badiley were tedious, and might have proved dis- graceful. For Appleton, returned home, had no chance of saving the shreds of a torn reputation than by besmirching the character of his commander. Wherefore be published a "remonstrance," which proved him a Mercier of the seven- teenth century. Not content with committing perjury him- self, he suborned others to tell lies at second hand, and having some literary tact, he served up his falsehood with a fine sauce of sanctimonious fervour. He charged Badiley first with incompetence, and secondly with dishonourable neglect. He even hinted that his commander kept out of the fray because he had certain merchandise stored on his own ship, which he was anxious to save from destruction. For a while the case looked black against Badiley, especially as he under- took his defence like a sailor, and was content to nail down lies without order or explanation. However, at last the truth prevailed; his courage, honour, and efficiency were acknow- ledged on all hands, and while Appleton left the service, Badiley received a well-deserved promotion.
It is pleasant to turn to the battle of Monte Cristo, which, though its result too was marred by the disloyalty of Appleton and the cowardice of the merchantmen, was as plucky a piece of fighting as you may read of in our annals. It was fought off the little island south of Elba, more famous in romance than in history ; and Badiley with four men-of-war, "gallantly armed and manned," and four merchantmen opposed a Dutch fleet of ten. But at the outset one of the four, for an unexplained reason, broke away from the line, and the merchantmen resolutely declined to engage; so that Badiley was left to oppose a fleet more than three times the size of his own. The fight began at sunrise, and hammer and tongs they went at it until night came down upon their shattered ships. Neither side might claim the victory, or both. For long as the battle lasted the three English ships refused to give way. The • Phcenix,' which was separated from the rest, was captured after a thsperate conflict, while the 'Paragon,' Badiley's own ship, was twice boarded, and twice the Dutchmen were driven back with loss. The enemies' ships also were much damaged, and two of them had lost their masts. However, the fine spirit of Badiley was not communicated to his men, who, tired with the encounter, resolutely declined to fight another day. "Have we not done enough ? " said they; "the State has better ships, but we have no more lives." This argument was little to Ba,diley's taste. For he burned to begin the battle again on the morrow, and he spent all his eloquence in the vain endeavour to hearten his men. They still refused to fight, and his remonstrance is a fine piece of nautical oratory,—simple and resolved. "I will not give you such leave as you desire," said he ; "but if you will begin upon your own account, do it. I can fire our ship when the enemy comes within musket shot ; be but patient, and wait upon God a little, and I am persuaded that God will save this part of England's strength and wealth, whether men will or no. And so it fell out through God's mercy, in causing it to fall fiat calm." That is how this bluff, honest, fighting sea-captain spoke to his men, and we wish, for the glory of the British Navy, that his men had caught a breath of his sturdy valiance. But it seems to have been his fate to be ill-served, and his conspicuous good-fortune came late in life. For in the end be got clear of Appleton's dis- loyalty, and shared with the incomparable Blake in the triumph of England.
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