respectfully reminded by Cochrane of a rule he had himself laid down, that “Matters connected with the service were not there to be spoken of.” Another retort was followed by the sensible enough reply, “Lieutenant Beaver, we will, if you please, talk of this in another place.” Cochrane was immediately reported to the captain by Beaver, as having challenged him: the lieutenant actually demanded a court-martial! And the court-martial was held, the decision being that Cochrane should be admonished to be “more careful in future.” Lord Cochrane was soon after given a command. The vessel to which he was appointed was, even eighty years ago, a mere burlesque of a ship-of-war. She was about the size of an average coasting brig, her burden being 158 tons. She was crowded rather than manned, with a crew of eighty-four men and six officers. Her armament consisted of fourteen _4-pounders_! a species of gun little larger than a blunderbuss, and formerly known in the service as “minion,” an appellation quite appropriate. The cabin had not so much as room for a chair, the floor being entirely occupied by a small table surrounded with lockers, answering the double purpose of store-chests and seats. The difficulty was to get seated, the ceiling being only five feet high, so that the object could only be accomplished by rolling on the lockers: a movement sometimes attended with unpleasant failure. Cochrane’s only practicable way of shaving consisted in removing the skylight, and putting his head through to make a toilet-table of the quarter-deck!