Presently it was decided that here was the stuff of a fine sailor;
and at an early period the name of Charles Jenkin was entered on a
ship's books.
From Northiam he was sent to another school at Boonshill, near Rye,
where the master took 'infinite delight' in strapping him. 'It
keeps me warm and makes you grow,' he used to say. And the stripes
were not altogether wasted, for the dunce, though still very 'raw,'
made progress with his studies. It was known, moreover, that he
was going to sea, always a ground of pre-eminence with schoolboys;
and in his case the glory was not altogether future, it wore a
present form when he came driving to Rye behind four horses in the
same carriage with an admiral. 'I was not a little proud, you may
believe,' says he.
In 1814, when he was thirteen years of age, he was carried by his
father to Chichester to the Bishop's Palace. The Bishop had heard
from his brother the Admiral that Charles was likely to do well,
and had an order from Lord Melville for the lad's admission to the
Royal Naval College at Portsmouth.
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