The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-25 00:00:00

THE SUN,

THE LATE MASTER _ROBERTS, R.N.

(From the Daily News.)
In the seaman's burial ground of Plymouth are
three rude stones from the walls of Sebastopol.
Above them rises a simple cross, with this inscrip-
tion :—" Robert Wilson Roberts, RN. ob. 10th
December, 1857. iEtat 38." These few words,
and the device of compasses and and square, are
all the public records of that man's history. And
yet he has a history—well authenticated and worthy
to be remembered.
It was the autumn of 1854. Peremptory orders
had arrived from England to make a descent on the
Crimean coast. If the descent was to be made the
troops would have to be landed, and that rapidly, in
the face of the enemy. The thing at first sight seemed
impossible. The shipwrights at Constantinople
considered three months to be the very shortest
time within which the flat-bottomed boats neces-
sary for landing the English force could be con-
structed. What was to be done ? Was the enterprise
to be delayed for months or altogether abandoned,
whilst our men lay " eating their hearts in idleness
till they sickened and died in the swamps of Varna?"
Amongst the admirals and generals all was per-
plexity. But there was one man who had foreseen
the problem and had already solved it. That man
was one Robert Wilson Roberts, a master in the
Navy, then of her Majesty's steamer Cyclops. Ru-
mours of his existence soon reached the com-
manders. They sent for him, and he at once told
them that if he might have his own way the requi-
site number of flat-bottomed landing boats should
be ready as soon as the other general equipments
were completed. The idea seemed preposterous
enough—without materials to accomplish in seven
days what with materials would occupy the ship-
wrights of Constantinople' for three months. But
Mr. Roberts was no red-tapist—he was a genuine
English seaman with a practical genius. True he
had neither timber wherewith to construct the
boats, nor time to pat the pieces together. But
the long caiques of the country were to be had in
any number. They wouldsupply sufficient fl wage.
"Put them together," said he, " cover them with
wooden platforms sufficiently wide, and you will
have a collection of landing rafts safe and capacious
—not only more manageable than flats, but con-
structed at an infinitely smaller cost, and within a
much shorter time." Such was the theory. " But,"
said the great men in command, "is this practi-
cable ?—will these rafts do !" " Here is one ?" said
the seaman, "as an experiment.'' " Then have
you the materials for the planking 1" they con-
tinued. " I foresaw the emergency," said Ro-
berts " and I have already got deals of the pro-
per length and thickness for that purpose." The
sagacious man, had, in short, provided every-
thing—purchased everything; all this, however,
be it remembered, he had done at bis own per-
sonal risk, by bribes and earnest money, after in
vain urging Admiral Boxer and others to aid high.
" On:y ";give me," he said, "hands, money and
au-honty, and I shall be ready in a week."
" If you do it," said Sir George Brown, " you de-
serve the thinks of the whole army." He did do
it ; but how ? Working night end day, with head
and hand—heart and soul in the ( ffort—here, there,
and everywhere—with his shirt sleeves up to his
shoulders—marking tinfoer, sawiug plank, driving
bolts—with a motley crew of ship carpenters, com-
mm soldiers, Turks, Greeks, and Armenians—

stimulating this man by praise, that man by bribes,
another by threats—all by his example—thus did
this remarkable man accomplish that, to attempt
which seemed to others madness. In the words of
Nlr. George John Cayley, whose eLquent narrative
we follow throughout : "He had declared war with
impossibility ; and how he wrestled with his in-
cubus enemy, drenched in sweat and choked in
dust, under a broiling sun in the arsenal on the
Golden Horn—made the men who saw him mar-
vel." Lord Lyons came down to see. It wrs the
third day of the gig4ntie task, and not one ponto:n

was finished. Tfi3Admiral shook his head. But
Mr. h oberts replied : If I attempted to finish one
at a time 1 should certainly fail. lam getting the
several parts ready for the whole, and that done
shall put them together all at once." On the fifth
day Lord Lyons said, " Well, Roberts, I am quite
satisfied now, I t-ee you know what you are about,
and will get through it. now join the Admiral."
Within the seven days the last nail was in. But
the struggle had been deadly. Several of the men
died of the exertion, and Roberts himself was car-
ried on board his ship insensible, and remained so
for some hours. His constitution had indeed re-
ceived a shock from which it never really recovered;
but for tte time he got better. Be superintended
the landing of the troops, and his pontoons an-
swered to perfection. So ended the first act.
On the 17th of October, 1854, in the sea at-
tack on Sebastopol, Robe: is towed the Belle-
rophon into the thickest cf the action. His
ship, the Cyclops, was the only towing vess,l
that fought her own guns. He was the first
in and the last out of the fray. " Too much
praise," said Admiral Lyons to Robert', "cannot
be given to you for your management of the Cycl'ps
in this attack." It was indeed a gallant business,
however unsuccessful. Ttie officers deserved t ro-
motion, and they got it. All lieutenants engaged
became commanders, all commanders of steamers
became post-captains and C.B.'s. But what of
Roberts ? He was only a master. True, by an
order in council of the 19th May, 1846, it had been
declared that "in the event of any particularly,
distinguished service," the Admiralty might pro-
mote masters of two years' service to the rank of
commander without the ordinary two years as lieu-
tenant. True, Lord Lyons wrote to him, "I rt ally
don't know what we should have done without
you." Nove:theless—incredible as it may seem—
this Master, who had literally male the C:imsan
expedition posiiible, got—nothing. Sir C. Wood
and Sir Maurice Berkeley—the brother-in-law of
Admiral Grey and the persecutor of the naval sur-
geons—would rather kill a master than consent to
place hitn among the commanders. Happily this vas
not the feeliog of the Generals and Admirals in the
Black Sea. They knew the merits of poor Robe its
better than a jobbing Whig or au insolent and selfish
aristocrat. "How is it," asked the gallant Lord
Raglan, " among all the promotions that have come
out there is no mention of Roberts, who really did
more for us than anybody ?" "I am quite dis-
tressed," wrote Admiral Lyons, " not to se i
Roberts's name in the late list of Black Ssa promo-
tions. Lord Raglan, Sir G. Brown, and I wrote as
s rongly as possible in his favour, and I do so again
this very post." It was all in rain. Coma what
might Sir C. Wood and Sr Maurice BerkA,y,
would have no Master a Commander. What mit-
teied it to them that a man of practical genius
like Roberts had spent his own hard-earned say-

ings, had toiled hin7iself to death in the public ser-
vice, and was then breaking his heart under their
neglect and official tyranny ? But human endur-
ance has its limits. The Cyclops broke down, and
was sent to Malta. So was her gallant Master.
Writing to his wife on Jan. 7, 1855, Roberts says :
—"I was completely knocked up from over fa- '
tigue. On the 7th December, I wrote to Sir E.
Lyons, telling him, in very plain terms, that I felt
myself an ill-used man, and asked him point blank
to gat me made a Commander." He is appointed
Master-Attendant at Malta ; but it will not do. In
March he is in hospital. In May he writes, " I
cannot write mach ; a leaning posiiiou is so rain-
ful. My disease, which was not undeistood at
first, turns out to be dropsy in the chest. I hope
soon for news from England about my promotion.
Vain dream ! His name, indeed, had been men-
tioned in the House of Commons. Admiral Ber-
keley had been asked whether Roberts bad received
promotion for his distinguished services. The
Admiral replied that " he had been promoted."
The house cheered. The Admiral and other officers
at Malta congratulated Roberts on bis promotion.
But it was all a mistake. He had, indeed, Leen
promoted to the rank of Master, eight years before,
and Sir James Graham had appointed him Master
of the Cyclops, and as such Roberts had dune that
for which the House of Commons wished to reward
him. But Sir Manrice Berkeley would not have it
With something like a lie on his lips he took hiA
stand Letween this poor Master and the gratitude
of his c:)untry. Months pass ; no promotion
comes. Over exertion • I blasted hopes are doing
their work. At length he reaches Haslar Hospital
wit, hurlien to Ilne,
hsheeArstblyroskizinaaonmtie mons.
\
on the oral. of .Tt 1855, in a dying state. His
altsdble. bedside. She finds her hu:band
" sometimes better,'
the treatment he -ilea v‘"afa
•
In Noveral-er, 1855reV„Zitf° ja4seirwvitell „lip, un
pital a confirmed inval,d. •PC leaves, Ili a' Jar. 11. 11-
' irespliption," says the doctor, i, ;Gt -1.11a'1,k5:.01.(3
i
_oomiiiatidet's - commission and pelf, ct re --
' '' i
for at least a year." The thing is
est ~,,d.
tranquillity
j impossible. Sir Charles Wood with his own hand
writes to Roberts, B.:lying that tie is obviously a

broken down man, and therefore cannot be put
on the active list of commanders. First bring an
officer to death's door by neglect, and then refuse
promotion because he is unfit for serviv. Ad-
mirably ingenious—exquisitely cruel! But a motion
on the subject of Mr. Roberts is among the Parlia-
mentary notices. The Admiralty are in a mess, and
something must be done. At once all about his un-
fitness for active employment is ignored. He is ap-
pointed in succession to two arduous situations, as
Master Attendant of Haulbowline and Portsmouth
Victualling-yard. But the work is too much for
him : nevertheless, with his old indomitable spirit,
even after he can no longer walk, he is wheeled
about in a chair. At length the end approaches.
He has got neither promotion nor money's worth.
His wife will have nothing. He writes to the Ad-
miralty for some compensation for all the money he
spent on his famous pontoons. The Admiralty
demand vouchers and proofs. Vouchers and
proofs, indeed, from the man who had landed
25,000 men on an enemy's coast, and had got
nothing ! Si mon,umentum quceris, circumspice.
Once more, from his deathbed, he makes a last ap-
peal. That appeal is forwarded by his widow, for
the same day on which he wrote it he died. The
Admiralty are inexorable she is entitled to no
compensation, and an annuity of 501. as a master's
widow is all th it the wife of Robert Wilson Roberts
has received from a grateful country.
Such is the history, as related by Mr. Cayley in
these column), of this humble but neglected hero.
We have waited some days to see if it would elicit
contradiction or reply. None has reached us. We
may assume, therefore, that the statement is sub-
stantially true. Assuredly, "no words of sorrow or
of anger need be added to awaken the regret and
indignation" of every Englishman who hears the
tale. The press has now done its duty by proclaim-
ing 10 the world that gross injustice which the
responsible Ministers of the Crown have dared to
perpetrate in the name of the country. But it re-
mains for the House of Commons to grant fitting
redress.