and the Intrepid, Captain McClintock, were, by order of Admiral Sir Edward Belcher, abandoned in the ice off the shores of Melville Island; and on the 24th August the Pioneer was also abandoned by Commander Sherard Osborne, under Sir Edward's orders, the Admiral himself at the same time abandoning the Assistance. The officers and crews of these ships and of the Investigator reached England before the close of the year in the North Star and in two relief ships which had been sent out under Captain Inglefield. Captain McClure, leaving his ship (the Investigator) behind him, hopelessly locked in among mountains of ice, had spent four years in regions which no civilized man had ever before trodden; walking and sleighing over hundreds of miles of ice to reach other ships which had entered the frozen regions in the opposite direction. He had reached England from Davis's Strait in the autumn of this year, having discovered and traversed the North-West Passage (which, though not a navigable one, was none the less real), and thus solved the problem which for three hundred years had defied the researches of all maritime nations. For this discovery he was knighted, and afterwards (as we shall see) received £5,000; £5,000 being also paid to his officers and crew in connection with the discovery. The Orion, screw line of battle ship, of 91 guns, was launched in 1854 from Chatham. So frequently did this Yard contribute to the defences of the nation! About twelve or fourteen years is the ordinary life of a ship; and it is not desirable, perhaps, that ships should last longer, as the many changes that nowadays occur render them liable in that time to become obsolete. Hence the absolute necessity of constantly building. In 1854 the Admiralty, following up the purchase in 1850 of the land lying between the Dockyard and St. Mary's Creek, bought the whole of St. Mary's Island† (lying between the creek and the river), with a view to the ultimate extension of the Yard to meet the growing requirements of the Navy. * See p. 158. Nothing more, however, seems to have been done at that time, the cost of the war probably precluding further expense in this direction during its continuance. CHAPTER XIII. THE NAVY AND THE WAR WITH RUSSIA-CONTINUED. ΤΗ HE year 1855 opened in gloom. We were still at war with Russia, the sufferings of our soldiers and sailors in the Crimea were great, and our prospects were not encouraging. A Day of Humiliation was appointed by Royal Proclamation of the 28th February, to be observed on the 21st March, that we might "in the most devout and solemn manner send up our prayers and supplications to the Divine Majesty for His blessing and assistance on our arms, for the restoration of peace." on. Meanwhile, our sick and wounded had begun to come in from the war, giving sad evidences of all that had been going Her Majesty the Queen came down to Chatham on Saturday, the 3rd March, to see them, accompanied by her Royal Consort, the Prince of Wales, Prince Alfred, and the Duke of Cambridge, with Viscount Hardinge in attendance. And it was truly a historic picture which was presented to the spectator when her Majesty, after passing through crowded streets and enthusiastic demonstrations of loyalty to the residence of the Colonel Commandant, and thence to Fort Pitt,* went through the hospital. The Queen visited every ward in succession, and approached the bedside of every invalid, to each of whom she addressed some kind remark. In the course of the inspection her Majesty gave directions to Dr. Dartnell, the chief medical officer, to prepare a return of the name of every patient in the hospital at the time of her visit, the nature of his wounds, and * At this time, and until the building of Netley Hospital, Fort Pitt was considered the Headquarters of the Army Medical Department. how and where they were received; and to forward the same to her. The patients who were not confined to their beds were drawn up in one part of the hospital, and inspected by her Majesty, who took great interest in their maimed and mutilated appearance; asking several questions of them, and addressing words of kindness to the brave fellows, who expressed the fulness of their gratitude for the Queen's condescension by cheers, which were hearty, and meant also to be loud. Lord Hardinge accompanied the Queen through the hospital; her Majesty frequently asking questions of his lordship, as particular cases attracted her notice. The Royal party then drove to Brompton Barracks, where an Invalid Hospital had been fitted up for the reception of the wounded. Her Majesty and the Royal party were received by the principal medical officers, and conducted through the several wards, in which there were about three hundred wounded soldiers; the Queen showing the same anxiety to be acquainted with the details of each case as she had shown at Fort Pitt. Prince Albert evinced similar solicitude, and frequently conversed with the sufferers. Altogether the number of invalids visited by her Majesty on this occasion amounted to nearly five hundred. A van one day crossed the drawbridge, entered the fort, and stopped at the hospital door; and a somewhat numerous party—an old man of venerable appearance, with seven or eight grown-up children-alighted and walked in. The veteran was tall, and of commanding aspect; he had reached the age of ninety-nine, and some of his children were well advanced in years. They came to look for one of their family who had gone for a soldier, and had been to the Crimea, whence they had heard he had returned an invalid to Fort Pitt. Having found the long-lost object of their search, the whole family knelt on the floor, and the patriarch gave thanks aloud to God for sparing them all to meet again. The scene was touching and impressive, and will be long remembered in the Fort, whence, having spent some time with their loved and afflicted one, the aged man and his family departed. The Day of Humiliation (the 21st of March) was duly observed. It may be doubted, indeed, whether any day that has ever been set apart by Royal command for such a purpose, within the memory of living man, was better kept. Business generally appears to have been suspended. The Government establishments were of course closed, the Dockyard employés receiving their pay as usual. The Baltic Squadron, which had dispersed after its return to England for the winter, now reassembled, having had its defects made good, the number of its ships augmented, and gunboats, mortar-vessels, and other requirements previously deficient, supplied; and on the 4th April it sailed, under the command of Admiral the Hon. R. Dundas, for the North, preceded, as on the first occasion, by the Queen herself in the Fairy. The estimates for 1855-56 for wages to Chatham Yard amounted to £132,161 for 1,778 established workmen; £1,291 for teams; £3,385 for police; and £57,769 for men employed on new (architectural) works, improvements, and repairs; together with £17,654 in the aggregate for all the Yards for men of the Yard-craft. At the commencement of the new financial year (on the 1st April) I was promoted to a Second Class Clerkship, my salary thus rising at once to £195, and proceeding with an annual increase of £15 to £300 per annum. This was a great encouragement to me in my arduous duties. It will be remembered that at the commencement of 1854 her Majesty, on opening Parliament, announced that a plan would be laid before the House for improving the system of admission to the Civil Service, and thereby increasing its efficiency. Nothing, however, appears to have been done during that year, the attention of the Government having probably been absorbed by the war. But at last — on 21st May (1855)—an Order in Council appointed Civil Service Commissioners to examine and certify* the suitability of * Previous to this, some examinations had been held, but only in a few Departments; and the examiners had been so lenient that in one Department no candidate had been rejected for twelve years, and persons were often appointed who were objectionable on account of age, health, and character. Even under the new regulations heads of Departments might make occasional appointments without the Civil Service Commissioners' Certificate, but only under special circumstances, and for a special kind of service. young men nominated to all junior public appointments, whose age, health, character, and qualifications (according to the requirements of the several Departments concerned) were to be tested. The Civil Service may be said to consist of two classes: a higher class, comprehending clerks and others whose employment demands a good (or at least a fair) education and intelligence; and a lower class, whose occupation is of a less intellectual and more physical character. Under the new Regulation three varieties of examination were eventually introduced for the higher class; the first, a simple test examination (which was all that seems originally to have been contemplated); the second, a system of limited competition, which, several persons being nominated, adjudged the best to be the fittest; and the third a system of open competition, which required no nomination.* On the 19th June the Queen, accompanied by Prince Albert and Viscount Hardinge, Commander-in-Chief, paid another visit to her wounded soldiers at Chatham. Her Majesty first went to Fort Pitt. The whole of the wounded troops who were in a condition to leave their beds were drawn up in two lines on the lawn of the hospital; each man having a card containing the particulars of his name, age, corps, where wounded, and the nature of his wounds. Majesty passed along the front of each line, inspecting every man, and addressing kind observations to those who particularly attracted her notice. Dr. Perry, one of the medical staff of the hospital, drew the Queen's attention to cases of particular interest. The number of patients in Fort Pitt was upwards of two hundred (including those who were unable to leave their beds), the whole of whom her Majesty inspected; frequently stopping to ask questions relative to particular cases of the medical officers, and expressing her general approval to Dr. Dartnell at the conclusion. Her Majesty then proceeded to the Military Hospital at Brompton, in which there were many patients recently returned from the Crimea, some of whom were suffering from frostbite. About 240 were here drawn up for her Majesty's inspection, of some of whom the Queen made inquiries as Her * A candidate failing on a first examination might be allowed to go up a second, or even a third time. |