MEN OF THE DAY. No. 130.

ADMIRAL THE HONOURABLE SIR HENRY KEPPEL, G.C.B.

THE younger son of a poor but noble family, Harry Keppel went to sea at thirteen, and he has followed his profession as one who loves it, and with so much success that he has seen hard service and gained honour all over the world. When the Crimea was invaded he had already won a name of power, and was appointed to command the Naval Brigade, after which, being made a Companion of the Bath, he was sent out to China, where he led, in 1857, the famous attack at Fatshan Creek, one of the most daring cutting-out expeditions ever brought to a successful issue. For this he was raised to the rank of Knight Commander. Two years later he stood as a Liberal for Portsmouth, and came in at the end of the poll, and at this time he was made a Groom-in-Waiting to the Queen; but resuming now his more congenial naval career he became Commander-in-Chief at Devonport, which post he held till last year. He is only now in retirement because there is no appointment befitting his rank and standing that remains to be given to him; but even at the age of seven-and-sixty, if war should break out, he would be found as alert and capable as ever.

"Little Harry," as he is lovingly termed, is the very type of the ideal sailor. A thorough master of his profession, incredibly daring and careless of danger, yet always cool and collected, and full of resource in the most critical moments; there is not a man in the Service who could either fight or handle a ship better than he. And he is so beloved by sailors that his very name has a magic in it that would man a navy. He revels in all hazardous enterprise, and with a dare-devil spirit which has led him into many incredibly perilous adventures, he has a good fortune which has always carried him happily through them. His hair-breadth escapes and the things he has done are known to every man in the Navy. It is recorded of him that he once drove a gig down an almost perpendicular precipice, which is still a spectacle to all South Africa; he sailed over the Parasol Islands in order to make a straight course from Singapore to Hong-Kong in a race with an American skipper, to whom he had given twenty-four hours' start; in the *Raleigh*, having struck upon a rock and with his ship sinking under him, he called his crew to quarters to salute a French Admiral who happened to appear on the horizon; and there is a story of a turnpike-gate taken off its hinges and carried away in triumph which is still told to the honour of the commander-in-chief. Nothing seems to come amiss to him, and in every situation he makes himself at home. He has always been a favourite with the ladies, and he has written two books.