lent feeling and good sense, pointed out to me that our circumstances did not admit of any expenditure beyond what was absolutely necessary, that we had, in short, nothing for luxuries or boyish fancies, and that she would therefore not make me any fixed allowance, which would go as it came, but would intrust me with a sum which I might use from time to time as I had real occasion for it, relying on my discretion in so doing, and requiring me only to keep an exact account of what I spent. This was the compact between us, and I felt that it was right, and determined to abide by it."1

He goes on to say that he has throughout his life found the very greatest advantage from the practice thus commenced, never discontinued, and confirmed by habit. During the whole of his time at Newton Abbot he worked very hard at his books, and even at his own request stayed at the school during part of the holidays. Before the end of 1796, however, he was summoned to join the ship Earl of Abergavenny, Captain John Wordsworth (uncle of the poet), then fitting out at Gravesend; and on March 18, 1797, at the age of sixteen, he left England in her as midshipman, on his first voyage, bound to Bombay and China.

It would be very interesting to describe in detail the nine voyages, extending over eighteen years, which he made between England and the East. But the story would run to too great a length; and it must suffice to mention only the points bearing upon the development of his character and special aptitudes.

By the wish of his uncle he was consigned on his first voyage to the particular care of the purser, with a view to becoming qualified for that line if he should prefer it, or at anyrate to his entering on the career of an officer with a better knowledge of business than would otherwise have been the case. This did not relieve him from the usual sea duties, and he had thus practically a double share of work.

The training he so obtained included work in 1 Extract from "Autobiographical Memoir."

port as well as on board, bringing him into contact with all kinds of persons engaged in trade, foreign and British, and making him familiar with the disposal of investments and commercial affairs generally; and he made good use of his opportunities, keeping full and accurate notes of weights, measures, coins, numerals, prices, duties, etc., as well as all kinds of information about trade and articles in demand at the various ports. To this habit of making memoranda he adhered in after life whenever it was possible to do so.

It was not long, nevertheless, before he made up his mind to embrace the nautical branch in preference to pursering. He already felt the workings of ambition, and since he saw clearly that as a purser he would always be subordinate, whereas he might hope as an officer to rise high, he threw his whole energy into attaining excellence in seamanship. He evidently took a pride in his craft. Speaking of his second voyage, 1799-1800, when he was senior midshipman of the Hindostan, under his uncle, Captain Millett, he says:

"The officers of the Hindostan were, on the whole, of average quality-the second, Balston, somewhat above an average, Mackintosh, the chief, was a gentlemanly person, of fair intelligence, but no seaman,-and this circumstance gave me much greater sway on the quarterdeck, when working ship, tacking, or wearing, or any other operation,-with the exception of reefing topsails, when I always took the weather earing (the post of honour) on the mizen topsail yard, the mizen mast being under my especial charge as midshipman and coxswain, and the working of its sails being chiefly left to the midshipmen themselves. I well remember the delight we youngsters had in often beating the fore and main topsails in reefing, which is always an exciting operation to a ship's company, the watches being pitted against each other on the occasion, and much rivalry existing as to which should be the first."

That he was successful is clear from the rapidity of his promotion. He was senior midshipman at seventeen and a half, chief mate at twenty-three (though he

had to wait until he attained the minimum age at which he could submit himself to the very severe examination necessary before he could avail himself of the offer of the post), and captain at twenty-seven and a half. No doubt the fact that his uncle, Captain Millett (under whose direct command he served in two voyages), had become a director of the Company, stood him in good stead; but the uncle was not a man to give support where it was not deserved, and the nephew was never a man to lean upon favour. It is indeed characteristic of the latter, that, having at the age of twenty-one experienced some coldness from shipowners upon applying for a post, he formed a kind of determination that he would thenceforward act so that appointments should be offered to him instead of his soliciting them-a determination to which he firmly adhered.

These eighteen years of genuine hard sea work, at a time when sailoring was of the old type, left an ineradicable impress upon Captain Nicholls. The sea has ever been a school productive of fine specimens of Englishmen; and though it may be permissible to half regret that so earnest and high-minded an officer was diverted from a field of action in which our great naval heroes have reaped glory for their country and for themselves, it is impossible not to rejoice that a man whose subsequent battles, if less conspicuous, yet were, no less than theirs, fought and won in a spirit of self-denying patriotism, should have spent the most impressionable years of his life in so fine a service as that of the Hon. East India Company. Even the less famous branches of the merchant service were in those days held in high estimation. Nelson himself, after two years in the navy, was sent to sea in a merchantman for twelve months (Mahan's Life of Nelson, vol. i. p. 10). Many trading vessels carried guns for self-protection, and in 1808 Mr. Nicholls, while serving

as chief mate of the Scaleby Castle, under Captain John Loch, smelt powder on the occasion of a brush with a French frigate.

Nor was it alone in habits of command and readiness of resource in action that this period was fertile. Officers of the Company's ships were entitled to certain privileges in respect of freight which enabled them, if they were skilful, to make substantial profits in trading to and from the East. Of these opportunities Nicholls, especially after he became a captain, was qualified, by his careful business training and observation, to take full advantage, and he soon found himself in independent and even easy circumstances.

Again, there must have been much in these voyages to give width of view and knowledge of the world and of human nature. He is a dull man whose mind is not opened by the mere fact of visiting foreign countries and becoming acquainted with foreign habits and customs. But there was more than this. The Company's ships were much used by officials of all grades of distinction, and other persons going to and returning from the East; and the intercourse with their passengers must, to many captains and senior officers, have been full of interest. It certainly was so with Captain Nicholls, who formed on board ship, with his messmates and with passengers, several friendships which were terminated only by death. Among such friends may be named Mr. (afterwards Sir George) Staunton, Richard Clarke, John Loch, Mr. (afterwards Sir Herbert) Compton, and Joseph Hume.

The result of all these various influences was to strengthen his natural disposition towards self-reliance and application. His force of character showed itself early, and of this the following anecdote is an instance. At Bombay, on his first voyage, he was unlucky enough while on shore to break both bones of his left leg, and dislocate the ankle, in a carriage accident. It was a bad

fracture, and he was pressed, first, to remain at Bombay, and enter the marine service there; and then, when the leg became worse, to submit to amputation. He had the determination to decline both these courses. He remained on his own ship, and sailed with her; his leg was saved, against the prognostications of three surgeons, and remained useful to him down to his dying day. This matter is perhaps a small one, but not every lad under seventeen would have carried his point in the teeth of well-meant advice. It may be worth mentioning that he made good use of the tedious period of inaction, and devoured every book in the ship, a diet which was probably more nutritious in those days than any which would be forthcoming now in the time of yellow-backed novels.

It need not be imagined, however, that the life of the young officer was all duty. This is not the place for a detailed account of the romantic events which led to his marriage, on July 6, 1813, with Harriet, daughter of Brough Maltby, of Southwell. It is enough to say that the story is one which reflects honour upon both parties, and their long married life was full of happiness. A certain habit of writing verses, which probably reached its climax about this time, really dated from earlier still; for he traces it to the intimacy which sprang up during his fourth voyage (1803-1804) with a well-read and interesting passenger named Cotton, who, having, like Joseph Hume, begun life as a surgeon's mate, was proceeding to Madras to take up an appointment as assistant surgeon. Cotton himself, who died soon afterwards, had a considerable turn for poetry ; and although Sir George takes, in his Memoir, a characteristically modest view of his own performances, these are not without true feeling, if couched in somewhat stiff and laboured language. A volume of them in manuscript is still preserved, the latest being lines written to his wife on the occasion of their golden