John Spencer Quotes

“Four thousand miles away; a January dusk falling on sodden Northampton fields, January rain failing in sodden Northampton cows. John Spencer, fifteen years old and orphaned just six weeks, locked in stiff mourning clothes, peered through a streaming window but kept a sharp ear cocked to the muffled voices in the next room.”

In England, John Spencer’s parents are dead, and his uncle sends him off to the Royal Navy as a “Gentleman Volunteer” on a ship, the HMS Sentinel, on anti-slavery patrol.

“The black rocks of Ushant far astern, the ragged coast of Spain to port; off Corunna, Sentinel’s bows swinging south, to faraway lands and the sun.”