Captain James

“ Captain James, a bland and good-natured Scotsman, commander of the Scotia, the unfortunate vessel, was invited by Captain Collins to the cabin of the Roscius, and into his state-room, where he was soon put into a suit of dry and warm clothes, and afterwards seated at the table; where, suddenly, a sullen resistance to food, and contemplative tears rolling over his cheeks, showed his rough shell to contain a heart that was worthy of the fondest affections of a dear wife and sweet little ones—none of which was he blessed with, if I recollect aright. ”

“ Vincent Playfair was there to say good-by to Captain James, but he conducted himself on this occasion like a Roman of the good old times. His was a heroic countenance, and the two loud kisses with which he gratified his nephew were the indication of a strong mind. "Go, James," said he to the young captain, "go quickly and come back quicker still; above all, don't abuse your position. Sell at a good price, make a good bargain, and you will have your uncle's esteem." ”

“ Why, your tenants will laugh him to scorn.”
“My tenants, I trust, will not behave so ill as to laugh at any one I choose to set over them. Captain James has had experience in managing men. He has remarkable practical talents, and great common-sense, as I hear from every one. But, whatever he may be, the affair rests between him and myself. I can only say I shall esteem myself fortunate if he comes.”
There was no more to be said, after my lady spoke in this manner. I had heard her mention Captain James before, as a middy who had been very kind to her son Urian. ”

“ Thomas Thomas, the purser, were killed outright; and thirteen, including Captain James (slightly) wounded: – most of the latter, however, either died, or underwent amputation [9] . During the whole affair the Minx was so little attended to by the Danes that only two shot struck her, neither of which injured any one on board.
Whilst refitting at Gottenburgh, the commander, officers, and crew of the Kite received the thanks of the Admiralty, conveyed to them through Sir Richard G. Keats, “for their bravery and great perseverance in saving his Majesty’s sloop;” ”

“ It was into the convenience of this quiet twilight that a gentleman on the doorstep of the Chambers gazed with a vagueness that our young lady’s little figure violently trembled, in the approach, with the measure of its power to dissipate. Everything indeed grew in a flash terrific and distinct; her old uncertainties fell away from her, and, since she was so familiar with fate, she felt as if the very nail that fixed it were driven in by the hard look with which, for a moment, Captain Everard awaited her. ”

“ James’s account of the battle between the Macedonian and United States, we find that gentleman, after commenting upon what he terms the ineffectual fire of the British, frigate, expressing himself as follows:– “A Captain, where he knows that his men, for want of practice, are deficient in gunnery, should strive his utmost to close with his antagonist; especially when he also knows, that that antagonist excels in an art, without some skill in which, no American ship of war would trust herself at sea.” ”

“ The interference of a British officer could not fail to have some degree of influence with the contending parties; and as Bolivar had no cannon, except a few field-pieces, it was arranged that he should disband his troops and go to Jamaica, which island he particularly wished to visit. He was accordingly received on board the frigate, with several of his near relations; and the whole were soon afterwards conveyed to Port Royal in the Decouverte, a schooner under Captain James’s orders. The garrison of Carthagena were subsequently starved into a surrender ”

“ What have you thought of for me?"
"I have hoped, James, that you might become a learned man, perhaps a college professor. Surely that would be better than to be a common sailor."
"But I wouldn't stay a common sailor, mother. I would be a captain some time."
I suppose there is no doubt that, had James followed the sea, he would have risen to the command of a ship, but the idea did not seem to dazzle his mother.
"If you go to sea I shall lose you," said his mother. "A sailor can spend very little time with his family. Think carefully, my son. ”

“ It is probable that the attempts at the suppression of our own sea-robbers drove some of them into the ranks of the Barbary corsairs. And among them, it is shameful to relate, were not a few men of good family. Captain John Smith, who wrote about 1630, explains that at the accession of James I the "Gentlemen Adventurers" and other seaman who had [104] long carried on a sort of licensed piracy against the Spanish possessions and ships on the Spanish Main, found themselves, like Othello, with their "occupation gone". James wanted to live at peace with everybody. ”

“ The exact force of the Privateer was not ascertained. She carried sixteen guns, which may probably have been 12–pounders, and was “full of men.” It is scarcely likely that her crew numbered less than a hundred and twenty men; and, accepting that not excessive estimate, it must be allowed that for Captain James, with his eight 9–pounders and thirty-two men, to fight so strong a vessel for three hours, and to beat her in the end, was creditable to the last degree. ”

“ Captain Diamond's brilliant eyes expanded beneath their dusky brows, and after holding his breath a moment, he indulged in the first and last apology for a laugh by which I was to see his solemn, visage contorted. It was profoundly grotesque, but it was perfectly noiseless. "Take you in?" he softly growled. "I wouldn't go in again before my time's up for a thousand times that sum." And he thrust out his hand from the folds of his cloak and exhibited a small agglommeration of coin, knotted into the corner of an old silk pocket-handkerchief. "I stick to my bargain no less, but no more!" ”

“ Well? You do not laugh at my idea, James. What ails you? But moreover, you know, sir, that I will not be thwarted; I will make a feast for this Gascon. If he is not devoured by the wildcats or killed by the serpents I will have him here to-morrow. You go to sea to-morrow; tell the cannibal and Rend-your-soul to bring him to me."
The captain, instead of joining in the gayety of Blue Beard, according to his custom, is serious, pensive, and seems to reflect deeply.
"James! James! do you not hear me?" cries Angela, impatiently, tapping her foot. "I want this Gascon. I want him." ”

“ In 1678 he commanded the Royal James as flag-captain to Sir Thomas Allin [q. v.] ; in 1679 he was captain of the Northumberland, in 1680 of the Woolwich. On 20 Nov. 1680 he was knighted. In October 1683 he was appointed captain of the East India Company's ship Royal James, with a double commission from the king and the company to command the fleet in the East Indies for reinstating the king of Bantam and re-establishing the trade there. ”

“ The sea rose in heaps, so that all the boatmen’s skill was needed to keep their craft from being overwhelmed. But the danger passed, and they reached the ship—the humble, clumsy old “spouter” that had proved to them a veritable ark of safety in time of their utmost need.
Captain James had barely recovered his outraged dignity when he was met by a quaint figure advancing out of the thickly-packed crowd on the whaler’s quarter-deck. “I’m Cap’n Fish, at yew’re service, sir. We haint over ’n’ above spacious in eour ’commodation, but yew’re all welcome t’ the best we hev’ ”

“ I don't see why you should take so for granted that I would accept him."
"You will never meet a man who has so few disagreeable qualities. He is probably not enormously rich. I don't know what is the pay of a captain in the navy—"
"It's a relief to find there is something you don't know," Kate Theory broke in.
"But when I am gone," her sister went on calmly, "when I am gone there will be plenty for both of you."
The younger sister, at this, was silent for a moment; then she exclaimed, "Mildred, you may be out of health, but I don't see why you should be dreadful!" ”

“ We first find this officer acting as second lieutenant of the Wasp sloop. Captain John Simpson; the remarkable escape of which vessel, from the celebrated Rochefort squadron, in Aug. 1805, has been recorded in p. 55 of Suppl. Part II. His appointment appears to have been confirmed by the Admiralty on the 11th of the ensuing month. During the last year of the war between Great Britain and America, he served as senior lieutenant of the Saturn 56, Captain James Nash ”

“ Had I not been witness of one of the Captain's quarterly visits, had I not all but seen him sit watching his spectral tenant count out the rent-money, and when he trudged away in the dark, had he not a little bag of strangely gotten coin hidden in the folds of his old blue cloak? I imparted none of these reflections to Miss Deborah, for I was determined that my observations should have a sequel, and I promised myself the pleasure of treating her to my story in its full maturity. "Captain Diamond," I asked, "has no other known means of subsistence?" ”

“ On the 21st of January Sir James detached the Warrior, Defence, Bellona, and Zealous, of 74 guns each, to follow the French squadron to the West Indies. These ships were placed under the command of Captain Tyler, of the Warrior, who was senior officer, and had directions to proceed to Jamaica and join Sir John Duckworth, the then commander-in-chief on that station: at the same time the Phaeton, Captain Morris, was despatched to England with the intelligence of the above circumstances. ”

“ James replied, with a smile. "I don't think, myself, they are more than five to one against me; but, even if they were a thousand, it would be worth trying, for a thousand lives would be cheaply sacrificed to ensure the success of this expedition."
"There are not many men who would like to try it," the captain said. "I say honestly I shouldn't, myself. Anything in the nature of duty, whether it's laying your ship alongside a Frenchman of twice her weight of metal, or a boat expedition to cut out a frigate from under the guns of the battery, I should be ready to take my share in ”

“ July 24th.—This evening the Captain and I took a half-hour's turn about the harbor. I asked him frankly, as a friend, whether Johnson wants to marry his daughter.
"I guess he does," said the old man; "and yet I hope he don't. You know what he is: he's smart, promising, and already sufficiently well off. But somehow he isn't for a man what my Esther is for a woman."
"That he isn't!" said I; "and honestly, Captain Blunt, I don't know who is——"
"Unless it's yourself," said the Captain. ”

“ But, thanks to the example of the Duke of York, afterwards James II, the Navy during the time of his brother Charles II became fashionable—too fashionable, in fact; for numbers of gentlemen got themselves promoted to the rank of ship’s captain while knowing very little indeed about ships and their ways. One has only to read through some of Mr. Pepys’ remarks to appreciate this unfortunate condition of affairs.
The reign of James II gave a still greater impetus to the English naval service. ”

“ In the reigns of James and Charles this country neither maintained the reputation of our navy acquired under Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, nor made great progress in foreign commerce. The character of James was too timid for maritime or any other war, and when he was forced into action it was only to show his weakness. He put to death the greatest naval captain of his time, Raleigh, who, if well employed by him, might have made him as much respected at sea as was Elizabeth. Yet he built ten ships of war, and for some years spent thirty-six thousand pounds a year on the navy. ”

“ A voice from the party she had in hand took it up with an artless guffaw that resounded more than had doubtless been meant and that, at any rate, was evidently the accompaniment of some private pinch applied to one of the ladies. “I say—to love!”
It was one of the ladies who very properly replied. “It depends on who you look at!”
Mr. Prodmore, in the geniality of the hour, made his profit of the simple joke. “Do you hear that, Captain? You must look at the right person!”
Mrs. Gracedew certainly had not been looking at the wrong one. “I don’t think Captain Yule cares. He doesn’t do justice——!” ”

“ They all passed, Chivers covering their scattered ascent as a shepherd scales a hillside with his flock; but it became evident during the manœuvre that Cora Prodmore was quite out of tune. She had been standing beyond and rather behind Captain Yule; but she now moved quickly round and reached her new friend’s right. “Mrs. Gracedew, may I speak to you?”
Her father, before the reply could come, had taken up the place. “After Captain Yule, my dear.” He was in a state of positively polished lucidity. “You must make the most—don’t you see?—of the opportunity of the others!” ”

“ Then he stationed midshipmen with drawn swords at intervals, and marines with loaded muskets around every hatch, and these he ordered to kill every man who attempted to leave the guns or to pass below without authority. And so it happened that when the victorious Americans boarded the Macedonian they found John Card and John Wallis dead beside the guns.
James says that Captain Carden allowed the Americans to go below. If a deliberately written falsehood is ever creditable to a man this one is certainly to the credit of James. ”

“ On the way, I stopped at Captain Diamond's modest dwelling, to ask how he was doing, and to receive such last instructions as he might desire to lay upon me. The old negress, gravely and inscrutably placid, admitted me, and, in answer to my inquiries, said that the Captain was very low; he had sunk since the morning.
"You must be right smart," she said, "if you want to get back before he drops off." ”