80 



TRINIDAD : THEN AND NOW. 



personal experience, for if I wished to be idle I would 

 not now be writing in an indifferent way the history 

 of an illustrious man dead long before I was born. 

 But to return ; this is an unwarrantable digression. 



Captain Picton found himself at the age of 25 

 doomed to lose all the advantages which his early 

 training had gained for him by his early promotion, 

 as he was now obliged to remain for a considerable 

 time on the half -pay list of captains. Fortunately, 

 however, for the honour of the country in which he 

 was destined in after years to play such a distin- 

 guished part, he never lost heart, but, on the con- 

 trary, determined to prepare himself for any role 

 which the exigencies of his country should call upon 

 him to perform ; or to use the words of his biogra- 

 pher, " It was during this long interval of privacy 

 that he laid the foundation of his after fame, and 

 qualified himself to compete for a place among the 

 heroes of his country." 



When France, in 1793, commenced that momen- 

 tous struggle against the nations of Europe, it in- 

 duced Captain Picton to again seek for employment 

 in the profession he loved so well, but not finding it 

 at home, he embarked for the West Indies where 

 events were then marching fast, having no better 

 prospect than a slight acquaintance with Sir John 

 Vaughan, — from a branch of whose family the cele- 

 brated Father Vaughan of London fame is descended 

 — who at once appointed him to the 17th Foot, 

 making him at the same time his confidential aide-de- 

 camp. 



