is said to have adopted for what is called the recovery of the original
bias of his nephew's mind, was to work on the ambition which, it is on
all hands agreed, he in a supereminent degree possessed, to become a
thorough seaman.
Captain Suckling had recently been appointed to the command of the
Triumph, then lying at Chatham; on board of which ship he placed his
nephew, in July 1772, immediately after the youth's return from the West
Indies, in his old situation on the quarter-deck: and, though he had,
thus, the "aft" situation of "most honour," the uncle contrived that he
should, at the same time, be permitted to enjoy all the advantages of
the "forward," which might be supposed to form "the better man." This he
judiciously effected, by permitting him to go in the cutter and decked
long-boat attached to the commanding officer's ship at Chatham: an
indulgence which afforded him the highest satisfaction; while it tended
so largely to promote his practical knowledge of navigation, that he is
said to have soon actually become an excellent pilot for such vessels as
sail from Chatham to the Tower of London, and down the Swin Channel to
the North Foreland.
It was thus that this young seaman, by being continually engaged in the
successful navigation of difficult passages, or dangerous coasts,
habitually acquired that experimental reliance on his own skill, and
that internal self-possession, which so essentially contribute to
establish the dauntless intrepidity of a truly heroic mind. He felt a
conviction of his growing powers, and panted for opportunities of
bringing them to the proof. His present sphere of action, confined to a
comparatively small spot, for the Triumph never once went out to sea
while he remained on board, made him languish for some new situation,
better suited to his enterprising spirit; and it was not long before an
occurrence took place, which seemed to promise the gratification of his
most sanguine wish.
About the beginning of February 1773, the Earl of Sandwich, then First
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