Meanwhile, in the stone building on the west side of White Hall that appeared unimposing yet controlled the lifeblood of the Empire's naval power, an order had already been issued directly to the Portsmouth Naval Base. That same midnight, the Channel Fleet's detachment, led by the steam escort ship "Avenger" and the steam gunboat "Vesuvius," departed secretly from Portsmouth, under the guise of routine training, and sailed at full speed towards the mouth of the Thames River...
If, when they graduated in 1829, they were greeted by a more tolerant and free British society, perhaps everything that followed would have been completely different.
Perhaps Eld Carter, as he initially hoped, would have opened a small bookstore for classical publications on St. James Street, using a quill by day to transcribe the poems of Byron and Shelley, and by night inviting a few literary youths to drink and be merry, talking and discussing various topics.
