Captain Martin

“ Captain Martin only grew wiser by the especial experience of one class of difficulties. His indolent, easy disposition and a taste for expense led him once again into embarrassments from which there was but one issue,—the sale of his property. He has still, however, a handsome subsistence remaining, and lives with Lady Dorothea, notable and somewhat distinguished residents of a city on the Continent.
We cannot persuade ourselves that we have inspired interest for the humbler characters of our piece. ”

“ The loss sustained by the British ships amounted to 9 killed and 53 wounded. For his bravery on this occasion, his Swedish Majesty conferred upon Captain Martin the insignia of a Knight of the Order of the Sword.
In the following year, the Implacable was stationed on the coast of Finland, where the boats of a small squadron under the orders of Captain Martin, performed several brilliant exploits in cutting out the enemy’s armed vessels and transports. ”

“ From the period of the Spanish armament in 1790, to the commencement of hostilities against the French republic in 1793, he commanded the Porcupine, of 24 guns, on Channel service, and from that vessel removed to the Magicienne frigate, in which he proceeded to the West Indies, where he continued about two years.
Soon after his return to England Captain Martin was appointed to the Irresistible, of 74 guns, and was present in that ship at the defeat of the Spanish fleet off Cape St. Vincent, Feb. 14, 1797 [2] , on which occasion she sustained a loss of 5 men killed and 14 wounded. ”

“ From thence, Captain Martin had instructions to proceed into Leghorn Roads, and send a boat on shore for intelligence respecting the affairs of the north of Italy, and the situation of the allied armies: and, should he fall in with Captain Foote, of the Seahorse, to take that officer under his orders; and, proceeding to the Gulph of Genoa, co-operate with Field-Marshal Suwarrow, for the annoyance of the enemy, and the good of the common cause. ”

“ And with this consolatory assurance the Captain hastened away, leaving Martin as much relieved in mind as an indolent nature and an easy conscience were sure to make him. To get anybody “to look to” anything had been his whole object in life; to know that, whatever happened, there was always somebody who misstated this, or neglected that, at whose door all the culpability—where there was such—could be laid and but for whom he had himself performed miracles of energy and devotedness, and endured all the tortures and trials of a martyr. ”

“ When Captain Martin came to muster the shipwrecked men saved by his exertions, he found that upwards of three hundred of the crew of his late antagonist had perished, seventy alone having landed in safety. Leaving a party on the beach to watch lest any more should be washed on shore, he and the magistrate led the way up the cliff. The Frenchmen followed with downcast hearts, fully believing that they were to be treated as prisoners of war. Some of them, aided by the British seamen, carried those who had been too much injured to walk. ”

“ On the 26th April, in the same year, the Irresistible, in company with the Emerald frigate, attacked two Spanish frigates which had anchored in Conil Bay, near Cape Trafalgar, and obliged them to surrender. They proved to be the Elena and Nimfa, of 36 guns and 320 men each. The former, after she had struck, cut her cable and ran ashore; Captain Martin, however, got her off, but so materially damaged that she could not be kept a-float, and was consequently destroyed. The enemy’s vessels were from the Havannah bound to Cadiz. They had about 50 men killed and wounded, the British only two. ”

“ CHAPTER VI. MR. MERL'S DEPARTURE
Worthy reader, you are neither weak of purpose nor undecided in action; as little are you easily moved by soft influences, when aided by long eyelashes. But had you been so, it would have been no difficult effort for you to comprehend the state of mind in which Captain Martin repaired to his room to make preparation for his journey. There was a kind of half chivalry in his present purpose that nerved and supported him. It was like a knight-errant of old setting out to confront a peril at the behest of his lady-love ”

“ Still the ship lay as immovable as before, her masts and spars, her black rigging, her white sails and shining hull reflected on the glass-like surface; at the same time the stranger got closer and closer, and now her topsails appeared, next her courses.
“She’s a big craft, that; twice the size of the Good Hope, I opine,” observed Martin. “If she’s a friend, she may bring us news, but if she’s an enemy we shall have to up stick and run for it.”
“Not until we see how many teeth she carries,” said the captain, who overheard the remark. “Big as she is, the Good Hope may be able to tackle her.” ”

“ Next morning, however, a sail was seen to the northward. Captain Martin immediately bore up to ascertain her character. As the daylight increased, all felt confident that she was a frigate, and probably French. The stranger was seen to be carrying a press of canvas, and apparently steering for Cherbourg. To re-enter that port she must encounter the Thisbe, on board which preparations were made for the expected engagement. The stranger, too, continuing her course, hauled her wind, and stood down Channel, as if anxious to escape. ”

“ Martin was promoted into the Saturn 74, Captain Lord Amelius Beauclerk, then employed on the Mediterranean station, and subsequently exposed to much peril, in consequence of getting on shore near Cadiz light-house, when returning home for the purpose of undergoing repair. ”

“ Captain Martin’s great object was to keep them engaged, and, if possible, to knock away their masts, so as to enable the Diana to escape, for although he might hope to get off himself, he could not expect to capture either of the enemy’s ships.
The Thisbe had been several times hulled, and her sails were already completely riddled, while many more of her crew had fallen.
“It is going hard with us, I fear,” said Jack to Tom, who was seated next him on his powder tub. “There’s well-nigh a score of poor fellows killed or wounded within the last half-hour. ”

“ Captain Martin laughed. "They thought we were going to run them down. They know the sea beggars would be quite content to sink themselves if they could sink an enemy. Follow close in her wake, Peters, and then bear off a little as if you meant to pass them on their starboard side; then when you get close give her the helm sharp and sweep across her stern. We will give her the guns as we pass, then bear off again and pass her on her port side ”

“ As the enemy never conceived themselves free from danger, while there was a bare possibility of the British seamen getting at them, they had used every means in their power to defend and protect these vessels; they were lying within the sands in Bourneuf Bay, moored in a strong position, under the protection of six heavy batteries, besides flanking guns on every projecting point. The boats destined for the attack were formed into three divisions, and the whole plan was arranged with great judgment and skill by Captain Martin ”

“ Of his adventures at sea Martin tells several remarkable incidents; but they are many of them connected with dreams, and if not wilful falsehoods, are most probably misrepresentations. Of such probably is what he relates as occurring whilst he was at Lisbon. He says that whilst in the Tagus the whole crew went on shore except himself, a young negro, and the captain's wife and daughter. The black, knowing the captain had a quantity of gold in his chest, proposed to Martin to murder the ladies, and take a boat and escape with it—to India, Martin says. ”

“ His commission as captain bears date April 28th, 1827, at which period he commanded the Parthian sloop, on the Mediterranean station. His sister, Catherine, is married to her first cousin, the only son of Sir Henry William Martin, Bart. ”

“ After some further colloquy the man was prevailed upon to seek the captain, and Martin felt a cold trickle along his spine when he saw in the fading light the face of Blackbeard looking down from the poop. Instinctively he shrank down on his seat.
“What you want?” demanded the captain, with his foreign accent.
“A gentleman wishes a passage in your vessel, captain,” said Boulter, persuasively. “He must get aboard at once: a foreign gentleman, you understand: can pay well: fifty pounds, say.”
“It is impossible,” said Blackbeard bluntly. “There is not cabin room for passenger. No; impossible.” ”

“ It would be a somewhat tedious, perhaps not a very profitable task, to inquire how two men, so palpably dissimilar, had thus become what the world calls friends. Enough if we say that Captain Martin,—the heir of Cro' Martin,—when returning from India on leave, passed some time at the Cape, where, in the not very select society of the place, he met Mr. Merl. Now Mr. Merl had been at Ceylon, where he had something to do with a coffee plantation ”

“ Mary!” exclaimed the Captain. “And do you tell me that all these things were done at the instigation of a young girl of nineteen or twenty, without any knowledge, or even advice—”
“And who said she was deficient in knowledge?” cried Martin. “Take up the map of the estate; see the lands she has reclaimed; look at the swamps you used to shoot snipe over bearing corn crops; see the thriving village, where once the boatmen were starving, for they dared not venture out to sea without a harbor against bad weather.” ”

“ Notwithstanding the fog, a fresh breeze was blowing. We were steering on our usual course under easy sail, when, as I was on deck, with Martin pacing a short distance from me, he exclaimed—
“There’s a tall ship close to us,” and looking in the direction he pointed, I could dimly see through the fog a dark mass of canvas. The sound of the rattling and creaking of blocks, too, reached our ears.
“She’s an enemy; to your guns, lads!” he shouted. “Go and tell the captain, Master Ben.”
I ran aft to tell the commander, who, followed by the admiral, appeared on deck. ”

“ One only confidant is aware of the secret motive, and that person is our old acquaintance Martin. If then we look within the hull of this small craft, we shall find its interior peopled by some sixty stern-looking and bearded wanderers, high in courage, stern in resolve, the captain and crew who work the vessel, the eccentric and faithful Martin, and one female in disguise, the latter "a count of wealth as well as quality," to all appearance, and who, as proprietor of the vessel and loader of the expedition, seeks ostensibly but to pursue his love of adventure. ”

“ And, crumpling up the card with suppressed passion, he turned and left the room.
“Don't put that odious name on our list, Miss Henderson,” said Lady Dorothea; “we shall never have him again.”
“I 'm rather curious to see him,” said Kate. “All this discussion has imparted a kind of interest to him, not to say that there would seem something like a mystery in Captain Martin's connection with him.”
“I confess to no such curiosity,” said my Lady, haughtily. “The taste to be amused by vulgarity is like the passion some people have to see an hospital ”

“ In this affair 7 officers and 185 men were employed; of these 100 secured their retreat; and 4 officers and 88 men were made prisoners. Captain Martin continued to command the Fisgard during the remainder of the war; and in addition to the above services, either took, or assisted at the capture, of the following French and Spanish armed vessels:– La Venus of 32 guns and 200 men; Dragon corvette, 14 guns; la Gironde privateer, 16 guns, 141 men; l’Alerte, do. 14 guns, 84 men; El Vivo national vessel, 14 guns, 100 men; and three others mounting 18 guns. ”

“ A man seated in one of the chairs which lined the walls, was snoring loudly. “He must be sick,” thought Martin, for no one disturbed him. Martin leaned his bag near the desk and as he did so, a bull-necked sailor, his collar open, ran at him.
“Good God!” said the man. “We’ve grounded. Damn you, Captain! Keep her in the channel.” He held his fist menacingly.
“All right,” said Martin, stopping stock-still. “And now, look to your engines.”
The clerk behind the wire netting regarded them worriedly.
“Go back to your cabin, Danny,” he said. “We’ve taken on the pilot.” ”

“ Martin's big fist smote him heavily in the face, and the blow was followed by the crash of Elisha's belaying-pin on his head. The captain fell, and for a while lay quiet. There were four big, strong men over the rail now, and others coming. Opposing them were a second mate, an engineer, a fireman, coal-passer, watchman, steward, and cook—easy victims to these big-limbed fishermen. The rest of the crew were on duty below decks or at the steering-winch. ”

“ The prize proved to be the Tamise, of 42 guns and 306 men, 32 of whom were killed and 19 wounded, several of them mortally. The Santa Margarita had only 2 men killed and 3 wounded [4] . The other French frigate was taken after an arduous chace and gallant action, by the Unicorn [5] . The corvette effected her escape.
Towards the latter end of October in the same year, Captain Martin captured the French privateers, le Buonaparte of 16 guns and 137 men, and le Vengeur of 18 guns and 110 men. ”

“ On deck, Martin, in company with his fellows, labored under the boatswain's lurid driving to prepare the ship for anchoring. They cockbilled the great hooks, overhauled the cables, and coiled down running braces and halyards; for, said the captain, attending upon their bustle with his abnormally sharp ears:
"It's a wide breach in the reef that makes the cove, and the water is deep right up to the beach. The lass should have no trouble conning us in, for she has a clean view aloft. But just have everything ready for quick work, bosun, in case we get into trouble." ”