you are all too proud,-do not consider that any one in the shape of a foreigner can equal an Englishman. I mean no offence: but in your country a man's respectability is estimated by his dress,-perhaps his watch-chain, and he who is very rich, is the only faultless being amongst you; and, consequently, however meritorious a man may be, however qualified by education and experience for any office of trust and importance, if he be but poor, all his virtues sink into the shade; and whatever his prospects might have been, ere he became poor, the frost of uncharitableness and indifference nips them in their bud, the moment it is known that he is so."

It was a home-thrust which Jack could not parry: a truism that he could not dispute; and therefore bowing assent, and asking the Capellano to drink wine, and the Hidalgo to join them, he managed to turn the conversation to the original subject which had introduced him to the chaplain in the Plaza San Juan de Dios. The Hidalgo was a botanist. "The aubergine, or as we call it, beringera, in the language of Sancho Panza," said he, "that you seem so very partial to, is very common both in the East and West Indies. It is a variety of the egg plant. The vulgar name here is los cojones, but it does not frighten even the ladies to call them so at table. I have been some years at Jamaica," continued the Hidalgo, "but never met with that vegetable at any English table, and I never dined at a Spanish or Jew's table without it. I am surprised that it is never to be found in your London markets; for surely where the tomato and capsicum, which require much greater care, are grown to such perfection, the brinjal would thrive. They are of the same family, the tomato, the solanum sycopersicum, the brinjal, the solanum melongena.

Jack was upon the point of saying that he had been upon the Jamaica station, and asking a few questions about friends at Kingston, when a remark made by a Spanish officer, about four from the Hidalgo on his left, respecting San Domingo, drew the Hidalgo's attention for a few minutes; when again addressing himself to Jack, who was the only Englishman present, in a manner somewhat excited by the mention of that island, he said, "Ah, Senores Yngleses, your government will have much to answer for to humanity, that instead

of siding with even the French and ourselves, you treated with Dessalines, not our conqueror, but an infamous assassin, the chief of a band of brigands!" The Capellano also showed a great degree of excitement at the bare mention of San Domingo and Dessalines ; and was so overcome with emotion, that striking his hand forcibly against his forehead, as if some dreadful remembrance accompanied the mention of that island, he suddenly left the room.

In about ten minutes the Capellano returned, more composed, just as Doctor Gonzales, whose real name was Cerda, was continuing the original subject: "War between two such civilized nations as England and France, is nothing to be compared to a negro insurrection. You should have united with even the republic of France, on such an occasion, and also with ourselves, in humanity's cause, against the ferocious brutes, and thereby at once put a stop to their unparalleled murders and devastations.

"Liberty, the greatest good that man is capable of enjoying, can only be enjoyed when prepared for it by education; and unless he possesses the germ of virtue in his soul, which education only can develop, you but arm him with the torch and poignard, when you talk to him of liberty! Give the slaves the means of understanding the meaning of 'liberty,' by education, and then, if it must be so, (be just, at the same time to those who are their owners by the laws of the country,) grant them manumission; or Jamaica will one day witness similar horrid catastrophes to those which St. Domingo has already experienced.

"Fancy, Sir, more than a hundred thousand savages, accustomed to commit all the barbarities that desolate the countries of Africa, taking advantage of a dark night to rush at once upon the sleeping and unsuspicious planters and their families, like so many hungry and blood-thirsty tigers fastening upon their prey. Such took place at the north end of St. Domingo, in August, 179—, as I have but too much cause to recollect; for it was then,-O gracious God!—it was then my father, my mother, all my brothers, except one, my sisters, my wife, and all my children, fell beneath the poignards of the black assassins !"

Jack immediately recognized the Jamaica recluse, Doctor Gonzales, in the Hidalgo, and the chaplain of the "Flora" his long-lost brother!

But in the midst of the denouement and affectionate greeting of the last of the family of Cerda, which had suspended both the Doctor's recognition of Jack as the young midshipman who had visited him in his studio at Jamaica, and the latter's making himself known, he was called out of the room by an aid-de-camp of the Governor, General Morla, and informed that "His Excellency requested every British officer to repair forthwith on board their respective ships," which was no sooner suggested than executed, with very great reluctance, it may be supposed, by many who were to have been of the Marquess of Santa Cruz's splendid evening party, where almost all the beauty of Cadiz was expected to have been collected in honour of the peace with Great Britain.

At that period Cadiz was in a very unsettled state. The French party still mustered strong, and so continued until the battle of Baylen, which the Spanish newspapers attributed to San Antonio, whose image in the principal church had been seen (such was the newspaper statement as a fact) "to raise its right arm on the day of the victory, and point towards the direction of Baylen," instead of to the misinformation of the French General Dupont, as to the actual strength of the Spanish army under General Castanos, left the privilege of the entrée to the city of Cadiz once again open to visiters from the British squadron.

But Jack was disappointed in his anticipations of renewing his acquaintance with the re-united brothers, and of obtaining a correct account of the origin and progress of the servile war at St. Domingo. Of the result too much is known and inscribed in indelible characters of blood in the records of the French nation. The acquired liberty has been followed by an almost entire stagnation of commerce, the neglect of cultivation, consequent deficiency in the local revenue, and all the bad effects of a despotic and paramount reign of idleness and debauchery.

CHAPTER XLIV.

A MARINE DECAMERON.-THE FIRST LIEUTENANT LEADS OFF.

ALTHOUGH plays continued to be occasionally performed in the squadron, which at that time Vice Admiral Purvis commanded, there was not so much of the theatrical mania existing as during the blockade of the combined fleets of France and Spain, and agreeably to the proposition of the excellent old First Lieutenant, every Saturday night was to be passed in the relation of each other's own histories or adventures, or anecdotes of others, that might tend to instruct or amuse the wardroom mess. Accordingly, after every thing had been made snug for the night, and the wardroom supper finished, and the grog, and wine and water for those who preferred it, set forth upon the King's well-polished oak table, the First Lieutenant, who was to begin with his yarn, was called to the President's chair immediately under the rose, from the centre of which the bell-pull bobbed about with every motion of the creaking ship.

FIRST LIEUTENANT'S STORY.

"Well, messmates," said he, "as I have nothing to boast of, and no borough interest, I'll just give ye an anecdote of an old messmate, for as to myself, as you all know, I have for many years past been quite old enough for a Vice Admiral; you may naturally suppose that I did not come into the world with a silver spoon in my mouth, or that if I had, I should not have been forty years a Lieutenant, after having served in nine general engagements, with the French, Dutch, Spaniards, and Turks.

"When I belonged to the Apollo frigate, many many years ago, we had a rum fish for a master on board, who hailed all the way from Caithness,' and whose extreme good nature made him a general favourite. As we have only one 'fra' the north amang us,' except myself, he will not mind my description of a countryman, making good the auld saying, 'He's a cannie laddie.'

"Whoever has seen Madeira will admit the approach to it to be magnificent; the contrast between the high and dark rocks that presented an insurmountable barrier to old father Neptune and his sea horses, and the dark blue of his native element, the mountain partly enveloped in a dense fog, gradually dispersing before the rays of the rising sun, and, as it cleared, displaying to view the most luxuriant verdure of the vineyards in all their richness, interspersed with the innumerable white villas which were studded in every direction, as the ship passed Machico and Santa Cruz, form what the Frenchmen call a coup d'œil, to which neither my humble description nor the most finished painter can do justice.

6

"As we rounded Brazen head, Funchale the capital, and the insulated Loo rock and its fortifications lay full before us. Our surgeon and marine officer had both a sort of fishing mania, and the anchor had scarcely touched ground, ere, I'll thank you for a boat, Mr. Mollyneux, to go on board the fishing-boats for some fish for dinner,' was addressed to me by the Doctor, and seconded by the marine. Certainly,' said I, glad to get rid of them; and I ordered the first cutter to be lowered and manned.

"The fishing seemed to me very like fly-fishing in England, for the Portuguese used rods with fine lines in the same manner; but the bait was a small piece of a bullock's spine, at the extremity of the line, without any hook; and as fast as they threw their lines the bait was taken, the fish flung into the boat, and shaken off just as easily as eels from a string of lob-worms upon worsted yarn at home. These fish are the gar-fish.-What is the proper name, Doctor, amongst your hard words? said the First Luff, addressing the surgeon. 'Esox belone of Linnæus,' replied the latter, or sea needle.' "Rum sort of a needle, Doctor! However, what, (addressing the Purser,)