A Good Man
Mathews had spent a long time in service to the Britannic Navy and an even longer time at sea. He'd had many officers over him and felt he knew their type with regular familiarity. Officers in general he approached with a neutral and vaguely cautious opinion. Most of them were young, younger than Mathews, at least, and a good percentage were inexperienced. Quite a few of them were arrogant, too sure of their position on the ship. It didn't help that many officers came from decent families, or families decent enough to purchase a commission and most enlisted men were from the poorest of society. It was easy overall, to tell which officers to avoid and the ones safe enough to spend time around but a majority cared little for the men under their command beyond the necessities of maintaining the ship.
Some officers were like Simpson, Mathew's last supervising officer, greedy for power, ambivalent to vice unless it crossed him, and mean spirited all around. The good thing about Simpson was he didn't care what the men of his division did so long as they didn't bring trouble onto him. The bad thing was Simpson would glad throw others into danger to protect himself.
Some officers focused on glory and the worst of those might attempt to attain it with the lives of their men. Other officers concerned themselves with regulation, not wanting to get in trouble themselves. Then there were always a few officers who were just trying to get by without anyone discovering how cowardly or weak they truly were. Then there were the minority of decent officers trying to simply do their duty.
Initially, Mathews didn't know what to make of Mr. Midshipman Hornblower. The first real interaction he'd had with Mr. Hornblower, besides roll call, had been the rats and that encounter could go several ways. The young man could be all bluster and bluff, levying empty threats he would never carry out to keep control of the men. However, Mr. Hornblower did not strike Mathews as weak or a coward, nor did he seem to be foolish. A coward simply did not confront four men and threaten them alone and a fool would not have understood the position he was in, while Mr. Hornblower clearly did.
The young officer also did not seem to follow regulations blindly, either. After all, Mr. Hornblower did not report their misdeeds, as would be required. Then, there was the possibility the information would be used against them at some other time. Certainly, Simpson had never been above blackmail, even if just to assert his authority. Yet the incident was never spoken of again.
It wasn't really until Davy's death that Mathews felt he had a firm understanding of Mr. Hornblower's character. The young officer helped bring Davy down to the surgeon, forgoing any chance at glory in battle. After the action, Stiles came back from helping with Davy and told them how Hornblower had insisted on treatment for the man, even over a fellow officer and Mathews knew.
After all, men insisted on glory did not pass up the chance to board a ship to look after a wounded man much less a subordinate, nor did men driven by greed or power. No, Mr. Hornblower did not chase any of those things. Mr. Hornblower, it turned out, was the best possible officer a sailor could get or hope for in their career.
Mr. Hornblower was first and foremost a good man.