Charles Philip Yorke, Fourth Earl of Hardwicke, Vice-Admiral R.N. Part 3

H.M.S. 'LEANDER,' HALIFAX HARBOUR:

Aug. 8, 1817.

'MY DEAR FATHER,

'I have received your letter by this packet, and am very sorry to find you disapprove of my commanding the Admiral's tender, and am also astonished to find that you can imagine I have so little command of myself that I cannot keep from what you term "low company." This is a thing which since I have been at sea I have never kept, and especially at a time when I had charge of a vessel and the safety of men's lives. I am happy to say I took care of myself and of the vessel, and pleased the Admiral as much as I could wish. I have not got the large tender, as I expected, on account of a prior application having been made, which I am now glad of, as you disapprove of the sort of thing, and it certainly will deter me from accepting any offer of the kind made to me, though at the same time I consider myself perfectly capable in every sense of the word.

'I am very glad to hear Grantham has so well got over the measles.

'We have had a very pleasant trip along sh.o.r.e to Shelburne, Liverpool and Mirligash(?), all of which ports you knew well in their former state. Shelburne now is miserably fallen off, not above 200 inhabitants in that once populous town, and more than half the houses falling to the ground, having no owners. I asked the price of a good house and about 40 acres of land, and they said the most they could ask for it would be 30, a cheap place to settle, for provisions also are cheaper than anywhere I have been. Liverpool is a very flouris.h.i.+ng little town, and on the contrary with Shelburne, a rising place with a vast deal of commerce and trade which keep the place quite alive. At these two places I had capital fis.h.i.+ng both salmon and trout. I caught one day at Liverpool three very fine salmon and two or three dozen trout. In this country they take most with the fly, and it does not matter of what description. I am now become a very expert fly fisherman, make my own flies, &c. Pray next season send me out a good a.s.sortment of fly gear which is rather difficult to get here and not good.

'I am going to-morrow to Salmon River, a very fine river about seven miles inland on the Dartmouth side. I was there last week with two of our officers, and between the three of us we caught eleven dozen salmon trout. Fine sport, and all with the fly. Do not forget to send me a flute as soon as possible and some music; let it be new. Give my kindest love to Lady C., Urania, and all hands. How delightful the Lodge must look. I suppose the Urania is by this time ready for sea, and Henry fighting captain. I must say I envy your circle, but Adieu!

'I remain, my dear Father,

'Your most affectionate son,

'C. P. YORKE.'

Aug. 14.

'I imagined that the packet was just going to sail, but I am happy to say I am disappointed because I have a little news to tell you. I am just returned from a cruise of rather a curious sort. I have been sent along the coast with a party of armed men to take some smugglers who ran from the _Leander_. I landed at Chester, and marched and rode just as I could to Lunenburg, but without success, and then back, and so about twenty miles to the eastward. It gave me a good opportunity of seeing the country, and made it very pleasant, from the kindness and hospitality of the inhabitants. I have no doubt I shall have many of these trips from being in the admiral's and captain's notice. This letter I send by Moorsom, whom you may recollect when I was at college.

Now I shall conclude with love and best wishes to all.'

H.M.S. 'LEANDER,' HALIFAX: Novr. 12, 1817.

'MY DEAREST FATHER,

'I received both your most kind letters by the _Forth_ and packet, which as you may suppose, gave me great pleasure and satisfaction. I return you my most grateful thanks for your great kindness in attending to my little wishes, and hope the things will arrive quite safe. I have written as you wished to Lady St. G. and told her all the news I could think of, which I shall now relate to you.

'We have not been out of harbour since the cruise to the east, so I got leave of absence and accepted the invitation of Judge Wilkins (Lumley's friend) to go and spend some time with him at Windsor, a small town about forty-five miles N.E. of Halifax, where I a.s.sure you, I pa.s.sed my time very pleasantly in shooting, fis.h.i.+ng, &c. In that part of Nova Scotia the country is beautiful, completely cleared of wood, very well cultivated, and yields to its owners immense crops of grain. I am now returned to the s.h.i.+p, and we sail for Bermuda in about a fortnight or three weeks. This I am rather sorry for, for Halifax is very pleasant during the winter, and Bermuda always very much otherwise. But Sir David Milne dreads the cold, so we go.

'I am remarkably well in every point, and find the climate agrees with me very well indeed. I am glad to hear Urania made her _debut_ with so much _eclat_ in the _beau monde_ at Winchester, pray let me also hear of her in town. I am glad to hear all the boys are well and getting on so fast in their respective schools. Agneta [Footnote: Agneta, afterwards Lady _Agneta Bevan_.] by this time must be a very fine little girl; does she ever talk of me? I really have no news to tell you worth mention, but the service is very stale for want of war, every day the same story. Adieu, my dear Father.

'Your most affectionate son,

'C. P. YORKE.

'Tell my uncle Mr. Yorke I will write to thank him for his present as soon as I have it in my possession.'

H.M.S. SLOOP 'JANE,' BERMUDA:

Jan. 23, 1818.

'MY DEAREST FATHER,

'I sit down to write to you after rather a long silence, but I have been quite well and by no means ill employed. I did not hear from you by the last packet, so by your silence I consider all is well and right in England.

'I have the satisfaction to communicate to you I am honoured by the command of the _Jane_ Sloop on this station, which command I shall in all probability keep till my return to England. The young man who commanded her before and whom I superseded, was obliged to invalid from her after he brought her from Halifax. She sailed in company with us and we experienced a heavy gale of wind, and the poor _Jane_ was nearly lost, but escaped with the loss of her bulwarks. She really is a beautiful vessel; was a Yankee clipper in the war; 80 tons and 12 men. I am remarkably happy in her, as you may suppose. I antic.i.p.ate much pleasure going up the St. Lawrence in her next summer. I am sure you will be happy to hear of my good luck, but pray do not have any more dreads of my inability to command. I positively would not accept it if I thought myself in the least inadequate to undertake it. I have now again fitted her at the dockyard at Ireland where I saw much of your friend Commissioner Lewis, who really is to me a very kind and affectionate friend; I like him exceedingly.

'The packet is just arrived, and I have received your letter of the 26th ult, and likewise one from Lady St. G. You may believe your letter gave me sincere gratification to find that I am giving you all satisfaction; it is the first wish of my heart to be a credit to my friends and an honour to my country. It is not my wish to be expensive in the least beyond what it is necessary for a gentleman to be, to pay my debts, have a good coat on my back, and sufficient in my pocket never to be made look foolish. Now that I keep house for myself I shall, I fear, be a little more expensive, for reasons which you must well know, and the first fit out is the worst and greatest, after that all is regular, and I am sure you do not wish me to live on His Majesty's own altogether.

Bermuda is a terrible dear place.

'This vessel you may know something of by hearsay, Mr. Brett, the 1st Lieut. of the _Wye_ had her up the Bay of Fundy.

'You may rely on it I will express your grat.i.tude to Lord Dalhousie for his attentions to me the very first time I have an opportunity. I need not express to you how much I regret the loss of your departed friend Mrs. Rattray, but her great sufferings in this world made it rather a blessing than otherwise, especially to one I believe to have been so truly good. Your advice of the prudence of keeping a s.h.i.+p's head off sh.o.r.e when near the land at night is a point of my profession I have long seen the absolute necessity of, especially on the coast of Nova Scotia where the fogs are so intense, and the sh.o.r.e so dangerous. But if ever there was in my humble opinion a lubberly series of accidents from the time she got on sh.o.r.e to the time she was on her beam ends alongside the wharf, it was on board H.M.S. _Faith_. The first thing she did after getting on sh.o.r.e was to anchor in Halifax harbour with her B.B.

anchor without a buoy on it, slipped her cable and never buoyed it, took in moorings, uns.h.i.+pped her rudder and let it go to the bottom; slipped her anchors without a buoy on them, and to cap the whole, let three of her guns fall overboard in getting them out alongside the wharf. Sir D.

Milne was furious, no wonder. I am sure I can with pleasure meet you halfway in your wishes to establish a free intercourse of sentiment between us, for I am perfectly sure, my dearest Father, I can nowhere find a better friend and adviser.

'I am exceedingly happy to hear so favourable accounts of the youngsters, and of Lady Clanricarde and her fair daughter.

'Bermuda is a dull place. I am perfectly at my ease and my own master, and the only things which annoy me are the tremendous gales of wind which blow here, and which I, of course, feel much in the _Jane._ The admiral did think of sending me to the West Indies for a cruise, but I believe that is dropped, as he now and then uses me to sail him about for his health. I am a very good pilot for Bermuda, what with the schooner and sloop _Jane_.

'Remember me most kindly to all; I shall answer Lady St. G. immediately.

'Adieu, my dear Father,

'Your affectionate son,

'C. P. YORKE.'

'JANE,' HALIFAX: June 16, 1818.

'MY DEAREST FATHER,

'... I am still in the _Jane,_ and continue in every way to give satisfaction. I brought her from Bermuda, parted company from the squadron in a fog, and got in before the admiral; you may suppose I was not a little pleased with my navigation. I have pretty often the honour of presiding at my own table, as Sir David often takes trips with me along sh.o.r.e, on fis.h.i.+ng excursions, &c. &c., which makes it exceedingly pleasant.

'... I have been somewhat uneasy about some drafts upon you--heavier than usual--and I fear you will be led to think I am getting into an extravagant turn, but it is not so, I a.s.sure you. In this vessel I am obliged to find everything, and Bermuda charges are so extravagant that nothing can equal them. At any time you please to call for my bills and receipts they are at your service, but mark, I have no debts. I never leave a port that I do not pay every s.h.i.+lling. Pray let me know what you wish; if Sir D. Milne goes home, shall I return with him or not? I have not quite a year more to serve; or shall I remain with Ld. --- who I understand will supersede him?...

'C. P. YORKE'

'JANE,' HALIFAX:

Aug. 19, 1818.

'MY DEAREST FATHER,

'It is with the greatest pleasure I received your most kind and affectionate letter from St. James's St. I am delighted to see by your letter you are recovering your spirits and that you have been elected for Reigate, for I should have been very sorry for both you and my uncle to give up.