A MIDDY OF THE OLD SCHOOL.* MR. Lorrus's description of
the naval life of sixty years ago, although written in somewhat garrulous, sailor fashion, has all the interest of a romance, with the added charm of truthfulness. One can fancy the patient, brave old gentleman, with his seventy- nine years, twenty-six of which were passed in total blindness, cheering, as, he says himself, his drooping spirits by telling the old stories, sad and merry, of the occurrences of his early days— those stirring times, from 1809 to 1816, in which his midship- man life was passed—a life upon which, though it involved what would now be considered unendurable hardships, he had every reason to look back with pride and pleasure. Like many other children of noble houses, Charles Loftus was early seized with the desire of going to sea, and this desire was in his case excited and strengthened during the holiday-times which he passed at his father's residence on the coast of Norfolk, when he occasionally went on board the vessels which frequented the little harbour, and often listened to the sailors' tales of romantic adventure, of the beauty of foreign countries, with their strange inhabitants and varieties of language, as also of the glories achieved by Nelson and others of his gallant countrymen. Yet when the time came for the fair, delicate, home-loving, twelve-year-old lad
to leave the side of his mother, and to make an inde- pendent start in life, we find all his ardour vanishing in a moment, and are not surprised at his naive confession, "I felt that I would have given worlds had I never said I wished to be a sailor." Then follows the account, so naturally given, of the little fellow's setting out to join his ship, one of the squadron.
which immediately afterwards effected the destruction of the French fleet in the Basque Roads. Suddenly called one day from his
play at "English and French soldiers" with his younger brothers, to be presented to his future captain, the boy was ordered to get, ready at once for immediate service :— "It took," he says, "but a few short days to prepare my things. When my uniform was made and sent home, and I appeared for the first time with dirk, cocked-hat, &c., my thoughts took for a short time a new turn, and I felt inspired with a little fresh courage. I strutted about in my uniform, but, notwithstanding all my pride in it, I still had a heavy heart, although I said nothing. I had determined to go ; I saw that my father wished it, and I could not bring my mind to disappoint him. I had also a great dislike to be thought afraid of going to sea. At last the day arrived on which I was to take my departure. My brothers and I were assembled in the drawing-room, to be together for the last half-hour, and sad were the feelings of all. It was not like going to 801°01, when we look forward to the holidays as a time when we should meet again at no distant period. I was now entering upon a profession from which I knew not if I should ever return A little after five o'clock the post-chaise which was to take me away drove up to the door, and at the sight of it my dear brothers clustered round me, the tears glistening in their eyes. My own agony was so intense, now that the hour of my departure had actually arrived, that it was with difficulty I concealed my emotion, as I bade farewell to all who loved me. In a few moments I found myself seated in a post- chaise between two naval officers whom I had never seen before,—one the old purser of the ship, the other a young lieutenant who had just obtained his commission."
His first naval experience was that of sailing from Dover to join the fleet in a man-of-war's brig, one of a class of vessels not inaptly termed, as some of those of our own day might also be named, "coffins," from the number of them which had foundered at sea. Of course, this was a matter of which at the time our middy was supremely unconscious, and, indeed, he suffered so severely from sea-sickness, that he was only just aware of being, when the preliminary voyage was accomplished, hoisted over the side of the brig and lowered into a boat, from whence he was again hoisted into the air, carried below into the cock-pit of the large ship, and hung up in his own little cot. At this time, he was deemed to be so frail a little specimen of humanity, that it was not thought advisable to enter his name upon the ship's books, for fear that be might not prove strong enough to enter the Navy ; and this circumstance, which only came to his know- ledge some forty years afterwards, was the cause of his never receiving the medal given to all who had taken part in the memorable affair in the Basque Roads.
But although Mr. Loftus describes himself at this period as
* My Youth by Sea and by Land, from 1809 to 1816. By Charles Loftus, formerly of the Royal Navy, late of the Coldstream Guards. 2 vols. London: Rural awl Blackett. perhaps the very slightest boy of his age to be found anywhere, and afterwards speaks with a little pardonable pride of his small hands and feet, dark blue eyes, and fair ringlets, curling to his shoulders in sailor fashion, he was evidently as little deficient in stamina as he soon proved himself to be in pluck ; for without the least boastfulness on his part, we are allowed to perceive that he was, throughout his six years' service, ever ready for any duty, however arduous, and did not even spare himself for an instant after the frightful accident which was the subsequent cause of many years of suffering, and eventually of his sad loss of sight ; while to the faithful following of the advice of his father never to forget that he was a gentleman by birth and education, and always -to combat incivility with politeness, may be attributed much of the respect and esteem which he seems ever to have received, both fromhis superiors and messmates. It must, however, be remembered that the grandson of the Marquis of Townshend was not one of those friendless middies, of whom he speaks with so much com- passion as "dragging out a weary life on board a man-of-war," some of them being, he says, the illegitimate offspring of the nobility, and, left to shift for themselves, without either of the two most valuable requisites,—money or friends. Even those who possessed both, although tolerably certain that merit would pro- cure advancement, which for the others was by no means always the case, had little care taken of their health, their morals, or their amusements, and the wonder is that so many should have turned -out, in spite of all elements to the contrary, an honour to their -country.
His participation in the unfortunate Walcheren Expedition .seems to have afforded to young Loftua his first realisation of the horrors of war, in the sight of his fever-stricken, dying, and dead fellow-countrymen, huddled together in the dimly-lighted, -vaulted chamber at Middleburgh, a sight which he tells us he long vainly strove to forget ; but except some slight actions with gunboats, he did not at this time see any fighting. On the return to England, soon afterwards, the old craft in which he first served was broken up, awl the young officer appointed to a larger and smarter vessel, with, however, the same captain and first lieu- tenant, his old friend Jewess as third, and the greater part of the old crew ; and this time, after a short cruise in the Channel, the fleet received orders for foreign, service, and were desired to rendezvous in the Tagus. While anchored at Lisbon, our young middy and one of his companions, who, like himself, had a relative -at the head-quarters of the English Army, and an invitation to visit him, having out-manceuvred their formidable captain and -obtained a month's leave, with the courage and want of prudence which are the attributes of most boys, started for Cartage°, a journey of more than sixty miles, with a joint stock consisting -of three:and-six-pence sterling in their pockets.
The history of this expedition is not a little amusing, but it might not have had so satisfactory a termination had not the two -children, for they really were nothing more, been fortunate enough to fall in with a troop of British dragoons, and to be conducted by them to their temporary quarters, where the officers, highly -amused at the reckless daring of the lads, provided them with refreshments and a shake-down, and upon the discovery of their impecuniosity gave them also sufficient of the needful and sent them to their destination, in charge of a Portuguese peasant, who was going to head-quarters with a horse and mule laden with turkeys, ducks, and geese, and other provender, for the con- -sumption of the officers. Mr. Loftus gives a very pleasant ac- count of his six weeks' stay with the army, for his leave was -extended by a fortnight, and tells amusing stories of the escapades, -occasioned by his love of fun and frolic, into which he continually fell. "I was as happy," he says, "as any mortal on earth. I had no cares, no sorrows, no thoughts for the morrow. I was a boy, afraid of no one, in a profession I had cause to be proud of, which I saw was looked up to by all. I was mounted on a famous pony; I had put on my best coat, my cocked-hat, my little dirk, and -away I rode with a group of the officers of my brother's regiment, -from all of whom I received the greatest kindness and courtesy." Indeed he seems to have been a universal favourite. Coursing matches, shooting excursions, dinners, and occasionally the more dangerous amusement of reconnoitring the country, seem to have ,filled up very agreeably the time of his stay, and he was not a little sorry when the time really arrived when it was necessary for him to rejoin his ship. Mr. Loftus tells sundry good anecdotes of what occurred to him at this time, one of which, showing as it does the good-nature of the hero of Waterloo, we shall here insert. An immense number of officers were out after a hare, and tour middy, of course, in the thick of the performance lily object," he says," was to get into the front rank and see the
fun, and my pony carried me through and past the other riders, jumping and flying over the furzo-bushes, to the amusement orthose around me. Presently I came up to a large group of officers, cantering along ; but taking no notice, I dashed through them, scattering the mud and dirt right and left on them and their horses. I was immediately followed by an officer, who, as he rode up to my side, laughingly said, 'My young fellow, don't ride in that way, you have splashed my lord all over." Who ? ' say what lord ? Why, Lord Wellington.' This brought me up, and turning round, I saw the man who had then, and has since that time, astonished all Europe and the world, covered with mud and dirt through my means. I took off my hat, and said, beg your pardon, Sir, but I didn't intend it.'Never mind—oh, never mind, my lad !.—go along,' said he, in the most good-humoured way."
And as this was followed by an invitation to dine with the Com- mander-in-Chief, and some more kind words, which led to future notice, it is easy to imagine that the fortunate delinquent was speedily consoled. A companion story to this is the one in the second volume, where the Duke of Clarence, who, with all his rough- ness, was always thoughtful for those about him, desires his boy " sidesmen " who were holding the ropes for him on a rough day, in the full costume of Cashmere pantaloons, Hessian boots, gold teasels, &c., to get in, or they would spoil their boots !—a command which, it is needless to say, the young gentlemen did not think it necessary to obey.
During his term of naval service, Mr. Loftus also visited the Italian, the American, and the Irish coasts, and of each expedition: he has some spirited performance or some amusing transaction to relate. Obliged by the effects of his accident to leave the Navy, he served for some twenty years in the Coldstream Guards, and after his retirement, on half-pay, at the time of the machine- breaking riots, he commanded Prince Albert's own corps of Norfolk Yeomanry Cavalry, until total blindness rendered even this service impossible. It is, perhaps, matter of regret that Mr. Loftus should have lost by an accident the whole of his logs and papers, but a naturally good memory, sharpened, as he says himself, by his sad loss of eyesight, has enabled him, even without them, to write a lively and truthful record of an eventful early career.
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