LORD CHARLES BERESFORD: HIS BOOK

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2350, 5 January 1915, Page 9

LORD CHARLES BERESFORD: HIS BOOK

. ; (BY LIBER.) . By far the most entertaining autobiographical work which has appeared for this'many a long day is "The Mo■mdifrß 'of Lord n Cdiarles. Beresford, Written by Himself" " (Methuen and Co.) - ' One. of five brothers—the Fight ihg Beresfords they,' have often Been called-i-Oharles ' William de la Poer Beresford was born in 1846/ the second Btffl 6f Sir John dfe la Peer Bereiford, ■ fourth Marquess of • Watcrford. His elder brother, John Henty, whd: succeeded to . the family titjes- iii 1861, was an officer in' the Ist Lifo Guards and ,died in 1895. :' Of the otlier three brothers, Lord:. William—"Bill Belrfesford" he .was :ltnowri.' as' on .practically tfbtf racecourse iii the UHited .Kingdom —was . for a time an officer iii the 9th Lancers, aitd was. military secreno fewer thin.- fivo successive Viceroys of India. He died\in 1900. Lord Marousj the fourth soli',' was ah officer in the 7th IJUssarsj and-has for some years had charge of this King's riicellorsesf - The 'ydiiiigest.. 'bfother. Lord Delaval James, took ;up a r4iaSH. in one of tW Western States of America, and was killed iii a Railway accident in 1900.'

Early Days In the Navy. The subject of these Moirioirt entered th§ Navy iii 1859, arid, as we all-know,' rose to./the rank of an admiraL This, book of his not only givcß a most interesting ac&iUnt of the author's own career, out throws many valuable sideli&hta, lljwli BHtiSh riavdl history, frofil the. sixties of the past century up ,td the present day. Wheii ypiitig BerfeSftird enterM (ijicm. that ckrfeef in . 'which he Was destined to gain such distinction the British warship waß a ; very' differs ent .vessel from the present ',triumph pf the. naval constructor's' art: /The idea of sailless vessels was scotited with derisidti- .-'■'."Why" said Admiral/Sir Fitzgerald, "the Sigiiidg'Might break down,, arid then where would you 'be\?'_'::_. : -Much/--hd,weVeri as Lord Charles admires arid - wonders at the marvels of the present-day. battleship,., he has, like .all old sailors, a specially ■ warm corner ■ iii.'. His heart for tie old-time sailing. vessel.

. ""VVlig (jhe.Eays) .that has neve'r had the, luck to ,be a sailor cafe understand his joy in'the noble vessel' 'Sr . the ' uplifting sense of his., control: over li'er iniitfehle^'arid-spigildid Jqteß born. • of.-acknowledge '(if ■ her every rope! and sail' and titohSr,' arid'.of- Sii standing of her behaviour and ability ? For every ship has her ow'ii Spirit, her own personality.' Yon may .build .two ships or twenty upon the- same' design, ■ line.for .line; the.same,. alid. each-will develop, her'owny character.' i .'-..- What mere glorious thing than' a'ship igetting under-way? She quivers lika a sen- , tierit thing amid the whole tumultuous lusty life." ■' . ' ■

In New/ Zealafißi Early ill-his navfel career Lard Chides paid & visit'to New Zealand a$ l}euteHant on board H.JI.S. Galktea, which, W.ihaiLy Of, my readers. miy-ffltaember,' by the.Duke of Edinburgh; ■ WHeii tie' vessel was at Auckland tlie author visited Kawau ("ICanwah'Mie calls it) and shot some wild cattle C'siipjxjMd to ..have been turtted dtiwii there by tlife buccaneers!") and pigs, and afterwards journeyed to Rotorua, whore he greatly admired tlie beaUty of the half-caSto tvdmeti. He tells how ! a ,party of chiefs having comd to pay .a ceremonial Visit- to the Duke) the young lieiitbridht ihiMght'they loot cd hungry. "1. w.ent," he says, "to forage for tliem; ' I took & -huge silver btiwl and filled it' with chicken, whisky, lobster, .beefrchampagnfej biscuits, and everything I"could find,, and presented it to them. - ' You never saw warriors more delighted." . ate the whole, lingers/ -tod. ttfere. greatly ■cheered."

An Artful Celestial. - While tho Galatea was : at Hong Hong the .author picked up, what he', for a time, constdored a perfect treasure in a Chiiiesb.servaut ,named ,Tom Fat. The bdy was entered oil the ship's; books at sb much wages pet. month. .''Not, 1 ' Lord Charles iclis us, "that lie valued his wages/particularly. He had . wider views. He was ah iiivalhable servant; blover, orderly/'indefatigable, afld devdted; I attired iiiiii in gorgeous 6ilks, ho bore my crest ttitli 'perfect unnssuiriiug digiiity. 'Ha,,kejjt'2ay piirse, and expended my inpiiey. with- prudence, even with--generdsitF. l v When: I wihted money Toiti Fat had' plenty of, ready cash.'. I sbmfetinies : -wondered.' how' it .'was'that, he alwiij-s eeeiiibd to be provided margin, for I was not. conscious of practising ecdiidmy; The fact was, I was careiesa.ia those days, ,and kept ho accounts; It was not until lie had'been in. iny service, for sbine years that .-'I discovered the secret, of .his wealth.,,lt,was simple enough. He,was in the habit'of forging'olieqhes. Altogether he forgod cheques , for nearly twelve huMred pounds. How. much of that amount he kejjt for hihiseif I never, knew; but it is certain that a great .deal of it he spent iipon, ine.. Nor d 6 I know why he did not aSk for a cheque instead of forging; it. ; Apparently it was a point of honour with Tom not to ask for money. When I asked him if he wanted a cheque to defray expenses ,he usually replied cheerfully that he had ho need of it Certainly, lie ac-' qtlired a reputation, for economy by these theanSi" 'I'he exact means by which'the innocent-looking _ but wily Celestial swindled, his' employer ;wero subtly ingenious, but need hot be detailed hero.

The "Mdmoirs" ;teem. with ,good stoiries. • Many of them have Irishhien as their heroes. One relates , to'.an old gamekeeper',, whose rule it was in life to agree with atiything and everything that Was said to him. One day, when it was blowing a full gale of wind, the author decided to put this idiosyncrasy to the severest test. "I Baid to myself," he writes, "I'll get to windward of him tb-day, aiiyhow, 'Well, Harvey,' said. I, 'It's a fine calm day today.' 'You may say that Lord Charles', btit What' little wind there is, is terribly, strong,' says Harvey. A lady ohce said tb him, 'How old are you, Harvey?' 'Ah; sure, it's very ould and jaded I ain, it's not iong I'll be for this Wbrrtild)' said he. 'Oh,' said she, ' but I'm old too. How old do you think I am?' 'Sure, how would I know that?' , But whatever age ye are, ye don't look it,' milady.' " Quite in tho approved Marryatt vein are, some of the author's stories of his fellow-midship-men. One young rascal bought some treacle of an itinerant vendor, had it but into his hat, arid, when asked what lie was goilig to do with it, suddenly clapped the hat on the unfortunate man's head. Of another midshipman, with a special penchant for shore leave, ho tells how this enterprising youth' always had toothache off the coast of

Scotland, and.went ashore at every port to have a tooth out. "Tell, me, said the Admiral, "how many teeth you have left; for ad I make it out) you have had forty-six. teetlr extracted Hi ScotHind alone 1" Whether deliberately pulling th& idng-botf and taking his readers for the proverbial "marines Or not. the attthor certainly strains our (lowers of belief when ho tells us .that "in the Navy the cow used to be milked in the middle watch for the benefit of the officer on watch, and that, in order that the Admiral should' get his allowance of milki the cow was then filled, up with water and made t'a trot backwards and forwards across the hatchways"; or that "when the forage for the sheep ran short the, innocent , ariurialii were fitted 'with green spectacles, and thus equipped, they were fed on shavings.' Some Sudan Experiences. . Lord Oharles has naturally much & say of his 'experiences with the Nava.' Brigade in the .Sudani His inextinguishable love of a joke led him to. mite ih A letter from the front that his camels had bo many shot-holes iri their baok£ that he was "obliged to put shot-plugs in w keep.the Witter froth leaking: He now adds: "It was true that I put Shot-plugs in the camels. My official report (and what can be truer than an official report-P) oontaihs,., ' • th® Sole entry 'Employed repairing camels, sides by pluming .them with oakiihi.. Lord Wolse'ey laughed when, ho read it." I. fancy I-ord Charles must knott" and remember 'hiS-jUark .far iff "The. Iririoceiits at Home' Mark tells of a stage-coaiih driver- frhd finally decided to relinquish his iob because, as it was told to Mark, when a "tenderfoot," "the darned Injuns kept the Uraor fellow so full of blillet holes thai* ho. couldn't hold hia vittlea." _ But it was hot a'l joking iti trnrt Sudan expedition, as may be sM By thS WgoroiiSly-wrltten aocount of the ;■ .desperately-fought battle _ of Abu, Kieaj when the losses mstain&l by the Naval Brigade were exceptionallyheaVyj so'heavy indeed that every inari of thd brigade handling the gunS outside the square, except himself, was killed-'by the "Ftizziea." After 'AbU. Elea there 'was,, a serious lack or food, and' water. The . author, howeverj mainly deplores the loss of his tobacco and gratefully records hoW a, wU<rt[ ,! . officer, who had six sisted upon him. taking' thtee pf. tn?m. ,"I would," he adds, "have cheerfully given a year's income for them; as 1 told liim., And"—here; is . a touch which reminds us of rScent stories of, tommy Atkins's anxiety as to the result of certain cricket 'matches— wo agreed tliat it was hard to die without knowing who had 'won the Derby. _ Of the famous Exploit of the-Condor in engaging 'the powerful Marabout fort it Al&taridria i; Lord OhSrleS give? a specially .^teresting and modestlj ivritteii description, taken from private . letter sent- to a .friend at Home. This, however, is too long to quote.

Lord Charles as a Politician. day Lord' Charles has beeii ftpoliticiih ahd ntit A few; of His amtisiilg stories relate, to electioneering ...inci-, dents.' and He was. a 'source.of sore trouble to-his own .sidej "for. he was ever, ,tv- caiichd friend, and lie never, cdttld bring; liimself -to- accept party bondage. He nriitesi- "I 'llaVe .yeiirs in poli-tics,:\ahd"i-have hevet shaken down to political methods. A thiiig is either 'right dr wrong: I hiiVe never scruplStl to" vote agaiilSt lily Own jiitfty when 1 thought they ivere in the wrong ' raeli, he soys, once niiltlty wok hini: to task for. kicking oVer the party' traces. "My boy," said 'the veteran} "d&H't you krio# it's ybtir fifst duty to vdte rnth your party?- jf_ev^rydlie Voted according to his convictions; there would Be no party system. Afld without a party system the Government couid not be carried on." Curiously enough, Isimb Butt, the first Home Rule leader; did his best to pfersuade the young politician to join the Irish Party, arid tlie author adMits he was' so tiiuch InittitH ili So, fat 1 as thfe laiid qiiSstion was that heJiuggSstM to liis. brdthSr (Lord Watorford) tbat "id should form a league of, landlords pledged not to rack-r.ent theft tenants, pointing ojit that If the Irish landlords, failed to take the initiative ih reform it waii certain the, Jjeoplfe ivdUld. eventually prevail •a°;'Sihst" them, sind thdt tho refdrihs which would bS Siiforcod iipyh ■ thehi by law wdtild, Beat hardly, upon the gboa landlords.'- Of. dne, of. Jiis own teriailts, who had bought his holding under theiWyndhani Act,, and whd, was a strong Hofte Itulefj lie tells how he Said to hjiti. "Now you own t-ha farm, are ; you still for Homo Rule?" "FAith, Lord Char-less," said tho nian, "now I have the land behind me, ehllre if it was a choice I-could be given between Home .Rule and . a bullock, I'd take : . tl;e bullocki'' . Upon first taking his seat in Parliament," a wellkiiown member frho had ohanged his opinions pretty frequently , addressfed him in rathor a putronisiiig way: "Well, my deaf Charlie, yoii have, lipt the appearance of a statesman." -"My dear old friend;", replied the youtig member; "you must not judge by a-p----pfearaiicesi You liave riot the appearance of a weatnercjjck; but yoii are one all the same."': Wit seems to rim ; in the Bsresford family, for when Lord Charles - contested York agailist Sir. Christopher Furness, his brothers',' Lord" William and Lord Marcus helped him in the cMlipaigfi. LofdMareiiß was diffident about-speaking) ho did not know what to say.. LoYd Charles said he would be interrupted) no doubt, but boing an Irishman he would certainly find something to say; Events justified the prediction. Oil, rising >' to sjieak, Lord Marcus was greeted ivith "Who are yoliP" That Vvi3 eilriiigh. "Who, are we?" repeated the diffident one. "We are three brothers, arid oiir iiames are Slnidraehj Mfesliachj and Abednego. Aiid we have feonle lierg to pilt out the bufiiing fiery Fiirhfesi;!' 1 . But I miiet jpfrain from further quotations ffota ii book almost every page of., whicih cdiitains sonie good story. Lord Charles has much to 6ay upon naval matters of the present tiMe; indeed, he devotes a whole chapter to . tho special qualifications which he considers should bo pdsSessed, by an adiniral. But, to his credit be it said, lie rilakes ho allusion to, the .once famous dispute he had with Sir John Fisher and Sir Percy Scott. A largo numbea-'of wellillustrations add to the value of an exceptionally interesting volume. (Price 21s.} , .