168 EARLY CAREER OF MR. NOBBS. 
sanction and authority to minister as a Cler- 
gyman of the Church of England. 
Mr. Nobbs, who was born in Ireland in 
1799, was in his youth a midshipman in the 
British navy, having first gone to sea when 
not much more than eleven years of age. 
He afterwards held a commission in the 
Chilian service under Lord Cochrane, now 
Earl of Dundonald, and became lieutenant in 
consequence of his services. 
Among other important occurrences which 
took place during this period, and in which 
Mr. Nobbs bore a part, was the courageous 
enterprise of cutting out the Spanish frigate 
Esmeralda, of forty guns, which was lying in 
the bay, under the batteries of Callao, in 
Peru. The capture was accomplished late 
at night on the 5th of November, 1820. An 
address from Lord Cochrane had been deli- 
vered to the marines and seamen, which 
concluded with an injunction, that the Chi- 
lenos should act with valour, ' and that the 
English should do as they had always done, 
both in their own country, and elsewhere.' 
An account of this remarkable transaction, 
the success of which surpassed all that could 
