Excerpt from A Naval Career During the Old War: Being a Narrative of the Life of Admiral John Markham, M. P. For Portsmouth for Twenty-Three Years (Lord of the Admiralty, 1801-4, and 1806-7) The story of a good and useful life, which worked out its destined course three generations ago, when it can be pieced together in satisfying detail, is generally worth the telling. There is instruction to be derived from realizing the kind of work men had to do, and how they did it; and from contemplating the aspirations and hopes, the thoughts and wishes, the homes and home feelings of those who were here a hundred years ago, and whom we have succeeded. It is not often that we can do this. The great grand sires of most of us, and even many historical personages of those days, are mere shadows now - names marking dates, and nothing more. It is a welcome thing when one such can be brought before us, again acting his daily life, thinking and working, and becoming a reality. It is interesting and useful, even when he whom we thus learn to know does not bear a great name, and was not a foremost man in his generation. It is only when the papers of one who has long passed away have been preserved with some completeness, that we can obtain this insight into the lives of those who were at work in our places a hundred years ago. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.