1829.] Life and Services of Captain Philip Beaver. 29 



every other branch of the national militia, has had a great effect in de- 

 priving them of the loud applause of the vulgar, and has contributed 

 very much to keep them in the shade ; while a certain bluntness of 

 manner — often the mere expedient of shy and proud men to shun obser- 

 vation—and an impatience of the restraints which are necessarily imposed 

 by the rules of ordinary society, have been mistaken for brutality of sen- 

 timent. The very dangers and toils of the service, deter many of the 

 more favoured children of fortune from venturing into it; and that oppor- 

 tunity of promotion which it affords to merit, unassisted by the advan- 

 tages of connexion— its most nol)le characteristic — has given it a less 

 arfstocratic and fashionable tone than the army. The exclusive nature 

 of a sailor's avocations require from him sacrifices which necessarily cast 

 a tinge upon the whole of his conduct ; and that high sense of duty, 

 which is the first principle of his actions— the habit of seeking for, and 

 being satisfied with, no other reward than the conscious pride of having 

 performed it, and of having secured the approbation of the very limited 

 number of persons who are able to appreciate the value of his exertions — 

 place him upon a footing very different from that of almost every other 

 class of persons. Great wealth they very seldom possess. It does 

 occur sometimes, that during a war, very remarkable success in rich cap- 

 tures, may entitle an officer to considerable sums of prize-money ; but 

 this is extremely rare ; and even when it happens, the division of such 

 booty is among a great number of individuals, and the deductions from 

 it so large, that, after commissioners, and agents (if they do not become 

 bankrupts), and attorneys, and such-like cormorants, have taken their 

 several moderate portions out of it, and the distribution can be no longer 

 postponed, it often turns out that the whole has been anticipated. 

 Without money, and without the means and the opportunity of shining 

 in society, it is no wonder that the characters of sailors have been mis- 

 understood. The day, however, has arrived, when a much more cor- 

 rect opinion is entertained of them. 



The "Life of Lord Nelson," by Dr. Southey,firsttaught the public to form 

 a just estimate of that celebrated man, and claimed for him those high in- 

 tellectual qualities which have hardly ever been surpassed in any condition, 

 however much more favourable for their development than that in which 

 he was placed. The " JMemoirs of Lord CoUingwood," a much more 

 recent publication, has also tended to remove the disparaging notions 

 which have been entertained of the service and the heroes it has formed. 

 Every body knew the latter to be in every respect a distinguished 

 officer, highly accomplished in all matters which belonged to his profes- 

 sional duties, inflexible in the performance of them, brave as the bravest 

 in battle; but they had yet to learn that he combined with those noble 

 qualities an intrepid and patient self-denial, an astonishing insensibility 

 to bodily suffering, and a firm and exalted devotion to the duties of his 

 profession ; that the consciousness of being engaged in the performance 

 of those duties, sustained him under privations the hardest to be borne, 

 and consoled griefs which were not felt with less keen agony because 

 the sufferer's pride forbade him to complain. It was not until the book 

 to which we allude made its appeai-ance that the public knew that that 

 nobleman, whom they took to be merely an experienced marine officer, 

 was also an eloquent and graceful writer, a profound and original 

 thinker, and a practised politician. Such works are proud testimonials 

 to that rare and high excellence which, unless some portion of national 



