138 King William the Fourth. [Auo. 



The Duke of Clarence was under their stature, but his frame was com- 

 pact, and appeared to be so much fitted for the hardships of a naval 

 life, that it was probably one of the King's inducements to select him 

 for the sea. Various anecdotes are told of his personal hardihood and 

 spirit, and peculiarly of his taking his full share in the common pri- 

 vations and rough work of the midshipman's life, without any reserve 

 on account of his personal rank. The story of his quarrel with his fel- 

 low-midshipman, since Captain Sturt, is one of the instances. From 

 some accident the two boys disagreed on the deck ; when Sturt roundly 

 told the Prince that " but for his being a Prince, he would give him a 

 threshing." The Brunswick blood was up in arms at once : the boy 

 pulled off his jacket, which had some little distinguishing ornament of 

 lace on its collar. " You will give me a threshing ?" said he, flinging 

 the jacket from him. " There goes the Prince ! now try !" The com- 

 batants fell to without delay, and fought, till some of the officers, not 

 altogether approving of this style of affairs of honour, separated them ; 

 some blood being lost on the occasion, but no honour ! and the warriors 

 becoming, of course, greater friends than ever. During his stay in the 

 West Indies his Royal Highness made himself popular by his good 

 humour and absence of the pride of rank. He was learning the business 

 of a Sailor, and no officer in the fleet went through all the points of duty 

 or companionship in more seamanlike style. But he distinguished him- 

 self still more by an act of manly feeling for an unfortunate brother- 

 midshipman, which was thus detailed at the time in a letter from an 

 officer in His Majesty's Ship the Torbay: 



" Port Royal Harbour, April 17, 1783. 



" The last time Lord Hood's fleet was here, a court-martial was held 

 on Mr. Benjamin Lee, midshipman, for disrespect to a superior officer, 

 at which Lord Hood sat as president. The determination of the court 

 was fatal to the prisoner. He was condemned to death. Deeply affected 

 as were the whole body of midshipmen at this dreadful sentence, they 

 knew not how to obtain a remission of it, since Mr. Lee was ordered 

 for execution; while they had not time to make their appeal to the 

 Admiralty, and despaired of success in a petition to Admiral Rowley. 

 However, his Royal Highness generously stepped forth, drew up a 

 petition, to which he was the first to set his name, and solicited the rest 

 of the midshipmen in port to follow his example. He then carried the 

 petition himself to the admiral, and in^ the most pressing and urgent 

 manner, begged the life of an unhappy brother, in which he succeeded, 

 and Mr. Lee is reprieved. We all acknowledge our warmest thanks to 

 our humane and worthy prince, who has so nobly exerted himself in 

 preserving the life of a brother sailor/' 



With the peace the French and Spanish ports were thrown open, and 

 his Royal Highness made the tour of some of the principal islands, 

 where he was received with great attention by the French and Spanish 

 officers. In the course of his visit to the Havannah, another instance 

 was given of his active and sailor-like good-nature. Some of the 

 English prisoners had in some way or other during the war, broken the 

 Spanish regulations relative to prisoners, and had thereby incurred sen- 

 tence of death. The sentence having been delayed, probably by the usual 

 tardiness rather than by the humanity of Spanish law, the Spanish gover- 

 nor of Louisiana, Don Galvez, was applied to instantly by the prince, 



