Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 9.djvu/372

 302 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s.ix. OCT. 15,1021. Guy's, but he would not hear of this, preferring, he said, to die at home. The next spring, how- ever, brought him out again. It was then we discovered that he was an old sailor named John Roome, and that he had served with Nelson at Trafalgar in fact, that he was then signal- man on board the Victory. My father having formerly been acquainted with Captain Pasco, who was signal lieutenant to the Victory at Trafalgar, purposed to write to that excellent officer, requesting his interest in favour of Roome ; but death came upon my veteran parent while his intention was still un- fulfilled, and some months elapsed before I could again direct my attention to the affairs of John Roome. I at length took an opportunity of calling the man in, and then, seating him before me, asked him, *' Who was the signal officer on board the Victory at Trafalgar ? " He replied, " Mr. Pasco, sir." " Did you serve under him ? " ' ' Yes." " Who then hoisted the signal, ' England expects every man to do his duty ? ' ' "I did." I had felt somewhat prepared for this answer ; still, as it was uttered, I could scarcely refrain from a demonstration of reverence towards the old, embarrassed, squalid man, who sat uneasily before me. Upon further inquiry, I found tKat he was 68 years old, and had been a seaman from his youth. He was not more than three or four years alto- gether in the King's service ; but his intelligence j and previously acquired knowledge had doubt- 1 less qualified him for the rating of A.B. soon after he entered the navy. After Trafalgar he de- serted, and the R. [run] against his name had disqualified him for a pension. His life had been one of trial and privation ever since. I inquired of him whether he would like a berth at Greenwich. He replied in the affirmative, but did not appear to pay much attention to the question. It doubtless seemed to him useless to think about a matter so far beyond his reach. I asked him, however, to bring me all his papers in a day or two, and promised to send copies of them, with an account of his present necessities, to Captain Pasco, then commanding his old flag- ship, the Victory, at Portsmouth. Roome assented to this ; but for some time I feared I should not succeed in obtaining another interview with him. One day he called five hours after his appointment ; on another he did not come at all, saying afterwards that he had" over- slept himsalf." Misery and hard usage had evidently made him suspicious, and unused him to kindness ; and certain indefinite terrors with re- gard to the R. against his name in the Admiralty ooks still appeared to haunt him. At length, however, he was caught ; his papers even that with the damnatory note of desertion scrawled across it were copied out, and enclosed with a few lines to Captain Pasco, giving an account of Roome' s alleged service at Trafalgar, and requesting that the Captain would exert his influence in procuring the man a refuge at Green- wich. As quickly as the post would allow I received a letter from Captain Pasco thanking me for the interest I had taken in the cause of " his old shipmate Roome," but referring me to the en- closure as evidence that his intercession had been unsuccessful. The accompanying letter was from a high Government official, to the effect that John Roome could not be admitted to Greenwich, as there were so many other more deserving candidates still unprovided for. Roome was again summoned, and as this dishearten- ing news was read to him the old man's lip quivered, his eyes filled with tears, and his cheek grew ashy white. He could only stammer that he supposed it was no use troubling the gentleman any more ; he had the R. against his name, it was true, but that an act of indemnity for all deserters who might surrender themselves had been issued (I think in 1813) ; he and many others had surrendered accordingly, and he had hoped to be " white- washed," as he termed it. The only course remaining appeared to be to write to Captain Pasco, thanking him for his humane kindness, and mentioning that Roome had anticipated forgiveness under the Govern- ment order in question. This was done, but before my letter could have reached its destina- tion, I received a note from Captain Pasco, saying that if Roome would present himself either at Somerset House or the Admiralty on a certain day he would be admitted to Greenwich. And all this came to pass. A short time after- wards I received a visit from a smartly dressed Greenwich pensioner, who carefully deposited a basket of water-cresses in the passage. I found this edition of John Roome to be a wonderful improvement upon the tattered un- fortuna^e of a few months back. He looked stout and contented, declared that Greenwich was a capital place for a poor man, and certainly presented an unquestionable evidence of the fact in his own person, for his cheeks were ruddy, and the tearing cough was gone. He wished to make me a present of a little frigate which he had built and rigged himself. I told him that I was about to embark for India, and there I feared I could not take his present with me. He then said he had himself been at Calcutta. India was a fine country, and that " if I would write him a ' chit ' before I embarked, he would come and sling my hammock for me in a style that no seaman in Her Majesty's service could beat. It was not every man," he assured me, " as could sling a hammock properly, and there was more in slinging a hammock than gentlemen who had never been to sea would suppose." He then went away, taking his well-laden basket of water-cresses with him. I do not believe that he disgraced his uniform by crying " Water-cress, oh ! " It seemed that he carried the basket j merely as a sign by which his old acquaintances might recognise the lately ragged itinerant in the now well-clothed and substantial looking Green- wich pensioner. I cannot tell whether Roome is living s The snug wards of Greenwich have doubtless not been proof against the chilling gusts of the last four winters ; but should he still survive, few of the readers of this narrative will, I am confident, defer the opportunity of seeking out and aiding, with a few of those comforts which render the down path of life easy, one whose name must hereafter stand beside that of Nelson in the page of history. According to a Record of the Greenwi