TWO ADMIRALS.*
FAIRFA_X MORESBY left school, where he had Sir Robert Peel among his junior contemporaries, to join the Volage' as an A.B.—this was a backway for lads who had friends in high places—in 1800; his son, who writes this book, ended his service afloat in 1881, though he continued to do good work in naval matters on shore. Few men, it is clear, have had better opportunities of judging, from first-hand information and from personal experience, of what the Navy was and is. It is eminently satisfactory, therefore, to find him giving an emphatic testimony to a vast improvement. That nepotism is extinct, or, indeed, ever will be, no one would be rash enough to affirm. But it is less audacious. When Fairfax Moresby joined the Amazon ' its Captain, William Parker, was a lad of nineteen! He had the luck to be nearly related to Lord St. Vincent, He turned out well ; but what a chance of disaster ! And there has been a rise all round in manners and morals, and generally in the sense of duty and in professional qualifications. Of interesting details the book is full from beginning to end. The elder Moresby saw much service as a junior officer; but his promotion to post rank did not come till 1814, the beginning of a period during which opportunities of action were few and far between. The son was appointed a volunteer of the First Class when he was twelve (in 1842). His examination was not difficult. "If 50 pounds of salt pork cost 22 10s., what is the price of 1 pound P" That sufficed for arithmetic; the spelling and writing test was the writing of his own name and that of the ship. "I had passed an excellent examination." In 1854 came what should have been a great chance for the young man. He Was First Lieutenant on the 'Driver,' a paddle-wheel sloop of six guns, and the campaign in the Baltic was beginning. Unhappily, the whole affair was a failure. The Commander-in-Chief was irapar sibi, and nothing was accomplished.
* Two Admirats, By Admiral John Moresby. London John Id.urray. [..14s. net.] Generally, Admiral John Moresby's services have been-k in the direction of geographical exploration, especially in the region of New Guinea. This, of course, does not. diminish the interest of the volume. He has much to. tell, and he tells it well.
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