HOME AGAIN
The _Pearl_ arrived at Spithead early in June, and was immediately paid
off. Our Lieutenants were all promoted, and the midshipmen were to have
their Lieutenants’ commissions when duly qualified after examination.
Besides, we received the great honour of being voted the thanks of both
Houses of Parliament for our services during the mutiny.
After two months’ leave I was appointed to the _Algiers_, then in the
Channel Fleet. I had to wait until the following spring to complete my
six years as a mid and to attain the age of nineteen.
I now had to set to work and get up my navigation and gunnery, so long
neglected, in order to qualify in February.
While I was in the Channel Fleet there was the usual cruising--to Vigo,
Lisbon, and so forth;--but we spent most of the winter of 1859 lying
in Portland Roads. How dull that service was to me after years of
excitement and constant change!
I pass it over, and come to March 1860, when I went up to be examined
for my Lieutenantcy. The first ordeal was a Seamanship examination
on board the _Victory_. Three old salts sat on me--two of them brig
Commanders, the other a Post Captain. The ball was opened by one of
these setting me questions, which I was expected to answer _vivâ voce_.
I was to take command of his old brig, to find her alongside the jetty
in Portsmouth Harbour, dismantled; to fit her out, get my guns in, and
stores, and take her out to Spithead, mooring her at that anchorage;
I was to let them know when I was ready to begin the ordeal. In the
meantime they left the cabin and disappeared--I suppose in the hope
that I should be better able to make out my programme and so save their
time. This question was a hot one. I gave myself a clear ten minutes
over it. I made some pencil notes to assist me in my answers. These
notes I consistently followed, and at the end of my ten minutes’ grace
I sent a message by the sentry to say that I was ready. It always
struck me on such occasions that there was a chuckle of delight dimly
visible in your examiner’s countenance at the thought that he had got
you dead-beat. When all three reappeared smiling and joking I wondered
whether their merriment was levelled at me. For a moment it put my
back up, and I felt inclined to sulk. However, “Go on, my boy,” put me
straight again, and I thought there was a wee bit of solicitude in the
tone of the speaker’s voice. I went steadily on for some time: until
first one began to yawn, another got up and walked about, and the third
looked out of a port. Evidently bored, thought I to myself, and my
story getting prosy. Reader, I never got to Spithead in my brig. I had
stowed my hold so nicely--the peas placed carefully in one corner, the
biscuit in another, and the rum properly stowed “bung up” in the spirit
room--that the examiners had had quite enough of my capabilities,
and (beyond shifting a topsail in a gale of wind and some other such
detail) I was asked no more. “That will do, sir,” I was told, though
for the life of me I could not tell the extent of my knowledge: until
the Post Captain, on walking out quietly, whispered into my ear, “You
are all right! But say nothing about it.--Sentry, tell them to make a
signal for our galleys.”
“Thank God,” said I to myself; and down below I went to refresh the
inner man, my lips parched with thirst.
“Well, old chap,” says one, “how did you get on?”
“Pretty well, I think,” said I; “but, of course, I don’t know.” Soon
appeared my sheet of foolscap duly signed, and I was a free man, as
having passed my Seamanship examination.
The next step was the Gunnery examination, on board the _Excellent_;
and finally I had to be put through my facings at the Royal Naval
College examination in the Dockyard.
There were just six weeks before the Vacations, and there was to
be one day for each exam. The Gunnery day gave me only a clear
fortnight--short notice, certainly; but I thought I would have a try
for it, so as to be able to get clear away before the Vacation of July,
and not have to begin again later in the year.
I was allowed a room at the Naval College, and went daily to the
_Excellent_ to work, besides having a crammer at lodgings in Portsea,
to whom I repaired at 5 P.M., working with him until seven or eight.
Sometimes I began again after dining at the College mess. Things looked
bad when I went to the _Excellent_. The instructors told me I had no
chance of getting through in a bare fortnight, and that I was evidently
below the ordinary standard of knowledge. (No wonder, after so long a
period of war and active service.)
However, the eventful day arrived. I began at 10, and by 4 P.M. had got
my fifteen crosses (mistakes), sixteen turning you back. Therefore,
there was half a cross left; and the subject to be got through was
Drilling Quarters--that is, a battery of guns.
My poor crammer was very anxious: I had promised him an extra fiver if
I got through. “Sir,” said he, “you have but one chance left, which is
that you must give your orders as loud as possible and show all the
confidence you can. You must chance your mistakes. Only, sing out, for
God’s sake, sir, for all you are worth!” Whether my examiner (I can see
him now pacing up and down the deck) was becoming tired of his day’s
work, or whether he had a pity on me, considering the brink he knew I
was standing on, I don’t know; but he seemed to keep some distance off.
Once or twice the men at the guns helped me (when his back was turned)
by giving me a hint or otherwise, as they knew whither they ought to
go, if I had forgotten some detail in my order. At any rate, I yelled
myself hoarse, pretending I knew all about it; and when this exercise
was over and the retreat sounded, my crammer said to me, “I think it’s
all right, sir.” Within an hour I was told I had just squeezed through:
with fifteen crosses and a half out of a possible sixteen. Good enough
for me: all I had wanted was to pass.
I had now a month to get through the remaining ordeal--Navigation,
Algebra, Trigonometry and Other Sciences. During that time I rather
enjoyed my stay at the College: there were some good fellows there, as
well as one or two very eccentric ones. One in particular touched my
fancy. He was a poor chap trying to pass, and had been so for months.
He had no hope on the eve of the dreaded day. His only chance was that
he might be allowed to stay on at college by getting on the sick list
somehow or other. The first time he actually let himself drop some
feet down the stairs, and contrived to hurt himself; and the doctors
put him on the sick list immediately. Having recovered shortly before
the next dreaded day, and finding himself still in the unfortunate fix
of not being able to go up for examination with the slightest chance
of passing, he took a razor and chopped his shin bone in two or three
places so badly that he was enforced to lie up. This always struck
me as showing the good stuff he was made of: it was a pity that so
courageous a man should be lost to the Service. Unfortunately, his
little ruses were detected, and he had to quit.
At the end of my month, I went up not feeling over confident; yet if
the sheet happened to be a moderate one it would, I thought, be 6 to 4
on. So it came about: I won in a canter.
On 18th of July 1860, the following letter, written by the Duke of
Somerset to my father, followed, shortly after I had passed for
Lieutenant.--
The Duke of Somerset presents his compliments to Lord Sandwich,
and begs to inform him that he deferred replying to his letter
of the 13th until the report of Mr. Montagu’s having passed his
examination at the Royal Naval College had been received and his
case had been laid before the Board of the Admiralty.
The Duke of Somerset has now much pleasure in enclosing a
Lieutenant’s Commission for Mr. Montagu, dated this day, which has
been given him on account of the special services rendered by him
in India with the _Pearl’s_ Naval Brigade.
I should like, before closing this narrative, to offer a few words of
advice to youngsters on joining the Navy. The first need is strict
compliance with discipline, which at first perhaps is not easy.
Discipline has always been, and must continue to be, the mainstay of
any public service. With this fact always before him, an officer not
only carries out the orders of his superiors, but also acquires the
power of enforcing his own orders when he is placed in a position
of responsibility. There have been great changes since I joined the
Service. Officers and men are much more highly educated. The discipline
is no longer the same, and the methods of enforcing it are changed.
This only means that influence and character play a more important part
than force does. This, again, means that a more delicate and arduous
task falls on a youngster who joins the Navy. His tact and his example
are more important than ever; and, with a higher education and another
class of men to deal with, his character tells for more every day.
He must never forget that he has to set before himself the highest
standard of efficiency and conduct at home and abroad, at sea, and on
shore. Let him never forget that he is an officer serving under the
flag of the Realm which is Mistress of the Seas.
I have written about my midshipman life as being by far the most
interesting part of my naval career. The rest ran over a good many
years; but, though I had some interesting times, I have no more war
service to account for. During my midshipman years fortune favoured me
more than is usual in the lot of a naval officer. My only regret (if I
may so call it) is that I was not of riper years during the stirring
period. Thereby I should have gained more experience for the good of
the Service. I remained on in the Navy until 1886; but my deafness
(contracted by jungle fever during the Mutiny) increased considerably;
and, what with that and other personal affairs, I thought it best,
after mature consideration, to retire from the noble profession I could
no longer follow with satisfaction to my country or to myself.
THE END
_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_
Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a
predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not
changed.
Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced
quotation marks retained.
Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.
Text refers to ships named “St. Jean D’Acre” and “St. Jean D’Arc”. As
they may be distinct, both names have been retained here.