Showing how Jack transgresses against his own philosophy.
When Jack Easy had gained the deck, he found the sun shining gaily, a
soft air blowing from the shore, and the whole of the rigging and
every part of the ship loaded with the shirts, trousers, and jackets
of the seamen, which had been wetted during the heavy gale, and were
now hanging up to dry; all the wet sails were also spread on the booms
or triced up in the rigging, and the ship was slowly forging through
the blue water. The captain and first lieutenant were standing on the
gangway in converse, and the majority of the officers were with their
quadrants and sextants ascertaining the latitude at noon. The decks
were white and clean, the sweepers had just laid by their brooms, and
the men were busy coiling down the ropes. It was a scene of
cheerfulness, activity, and order, which tightened his heart after the
four days of suffering, close air, and confinement, from which he had
just emerged.
The captain, who perceived him, beckoned to him, asked him kindly how
he felt: the first lieutenant also smiled upon him, and many of the
officers, as well as his messmates, congratulated him upon his
recovery.
The captain's steward came up to him, touched his hat, and requested
the pleasure of his company to dinner in the cabin. Jack was the
essence of politeness, took off his hat, and accepted the invitation.
Jack was standing on a rope which a seaman was coiling down; the man
touched his hat and requested he would be so kind as to take his foot
off. Jack took his hat off his head in return, and his foot off the
rope. The master touched his hat, and reported twelve o'clock to the
first lieutenant--the first lieutenant touched his hat, and reported
twelve o'clock to the captain--the captain touched his hat, and told
the first lieutenant to make it so. The officer of the watch touched
his hat, and asked the captain whether they should pipe to dinner--
the captain touched his hat, and said--"If you please."
The midshipman received his orders, and touched his hat, which he gave
to the head boatswain's mate, who touched his hat, and then the calls
whistled cheerily.
"Well," thought Jack, "politeness seems to be the order of the day,
and everyone has an equal respect for the other." Jack stayed on deck;
he peeped through the ports, which were open, and looked down into the
deep blue wave; he cast his eyes aloft, and watched the tall spars
sweeping and tracing with their points, as it were, a small portion of
the clear sky, as they acted in obedience to the motion of the vessel;
he looked forward at the range of carronades which lined the sides of
the deck, and then he proceeded to climb one of the carronades, and
lean over the hammocks to gaze on the distant land.
"Young gentleman, get off those hammocks," cried the master, who was
officer of the watch, in a surly tone.
Jack looked round. "Do you hear me, sir? I'm speaking to you," said
the master again. Jack felt very indignant, and he thought that
politeness was not quite so general as he supposed.
It happened that Captain Wilson was upon deck. "Come here, Mr Easy,"
said the captain; "it is a rule in the service, that no one gets on
the hammocks, unless in case of emergency--I never do--nor the first
lieutenant--nor any of the officers or men,--therefore, upon the
principle of equality, you must not do it either."
"Certainly not, sir," replied Jack, "but still I do not see why that
officer in the shining hat should be so angry, and not speak to me as
if I were a gentleman, as well as himself."
"I have already explained that to you, Mr Easy." "O yes, I recollect
now, it's zeal: but this zeal appears to me to be the only unpleasant
thing in the service. It's a pity, as you said, that the service
cannot do without it."
Captain Wilson laughed, and walked away; and shortly afterwards, as he
turned up and down the deck with the master, he hinted to him, that he
should not speak so sharply to a lad who had committed such a trifling
error through ignorance. Now Mr Smallsole, the master, who was a
surly sort of a personage, and did not like even a hint of
disapprobation of his conduct, although very regardless of the feeling
of others, determined to pay this off on Jack, the very first
convenient opportunity. Jack dined in the cabin, and was very much
pleased to find that everyone drank wine with him, and that everybody
at the captain's table appeared to be on an equality. Before the
dessert had been on the table five minutes, Jack became loquacious on
his favourite topic; all the company stared with surprise at such an
unheard-of doctrine being broached on board of a man-of-war; the
captain argued the point, so as to controvert, without too much
offending, Jack's notions, laughing the whole time that the
conversation was carried on.
It will be observed, that this day may be considered as the first in
which Jack really made his appearance on board, and it also was on
this first day that Jack made known, at the captain's table, his very
peculiar notions. If the company at the captain's table, which
consisted of the second lieutenant, purser, Mr Jolliffe, and one of
the midshipmen, were astonished at such heterodox opinions being
stated in the presence of the captain, they were equally astonished at
the cool, good-humoured ridicule with which they were received by
Captain Wilson.
The report of Jack's boldness, and every word and opinion that he had
uttered (of course much magnified) was circulated that evening through
the whole ship; it was canvassed in the gun-room by the officers; it
was descanted upon by the midshipmen as they walked the deck; the
captain's steward held a levee abreast of the ship's funnel, in which
he narrated this new doctrine. The sergeant of marines gave his
opinion in his berth, that it was damnable. The boatswain talked over
the matter with the other warrant officers, till the grog was all
gone, and then dismissed it as too dry a subject: and it was the
general opinion of the ship's company, that as soon as they arrived at
Gibraltar Bay, our hero would bid adieu to the service, either by
being sentenced to death by a court-martial, or by being dismissed,
and towed on shore on a grating. Others, who had more of the wisdom of
the serpent, and who had been informed by Mr Sawbridge that our hero
was a lad who would inherit a large property, argued differently, and
considered that Captain Wilson had very good reason for being so
lenient--and among them was the second lieutenant. There were but
four who were well inclined towards Jack,--to wit, the captain, the
first lieutenant, Mr Jolliffe, the one-eyed master's mate, and
Mephistopheles, the black, who, having heard that Jack had uttered
such sentiments, loved him with all his heart and soul.
We have referred to the second lieutenant, Mr Asper. This young man
had a very high respect for birth, and particularly for money, of
which he had very little. He was the son of an eminent merchant who,
during the time that he was a midshipman, had allowed him a much
larger sum for his expenses than was necessary or proper; and, during
his career, he found that his full pocket procured him consequence,
not only among his own messmates, but also with many of the officers
of the ships that he sailed in. A man who is able and willing to pay
a large tavern bill will always find followers--that is, to the
tavern; and lieutenants did not disdain to dine, walk arm-in-arm, and
be "hail fellow well met" with a midshipman, at whose expense they
lived during the time they were on shore. Mr Asper had just received
his commission and appointment, when his father became a bankrupt, and
the fountain was dried up from which he had drawn such liberal
supplies. Since that, Mr Asper had felt that his consequence was
gone: he could no longer talk about the service being a bore, or that
he should give it up; he could no longer obtain that deference paid to
his purse, and not to himself; and he had contracted very expensive
habits, without having any longer the means of gratifying them.
It was therefore no wonder that he imbibed a great respect for money;
and, as he could no longer find the means himself, he was glad to pick
up anybody else at whose cost he could indulge in that extravagance
and expense to which he had been so long accustomed, and still sighed
for. Now, Mr Asper knew that our hero was well supplied with money,
as he had obtained from the waiter the amount of the bill paid at the
Fountain, and he had been waiting for Jack's appearance on deck to
become his very dearest and most intimate friend. The conversation in
the cabin made him feel assured that Jack would require and be
grateful for support, and he had taken the opportunity of a walk with
Mr Sawbridge, to offer to take Jack in his watch. Whether it was that
Mr Sawbridge saw through the design of Mr Asper, or whether he
imagined that our hero would be better pleased with him than with the
master, considering his harshness of deportment; or with himself, who
could not, as first lieutenant, overlook any remission of duty, the
offer was accepted, and Jack Easy was ordered, as he now entered upon
his duties, to keep watch under Lieutenant Asper.
But not only was this the first day that Jack may be said to have
appeared in the service, but it was the first day in which he had
entered the midshipman's berth, and was made acquainted with his
messmates.
We have already mentioned Mr Jolliffe, the master's mate, but we must
introduce him more particularly. Nature is sometimes extremely
arbitrary, and never did she show herself more so than in insisting
that Mr Jolliffe should have the most sinister expression of
countenance that ever had been looked upon.
He had suffered martyrdom with the small-pox, which probably had
contracted his lineaments: his face was not only deeply pitted, but
scarred with this cruel disorder. One eye had been lost, and all
eyebrows had disappeared--and the contrast between the dull,
sightless, opaque orb on one side of his face, and the brilliant,
piercing little ball on the other, was almost terrifying. His nose
had been eaten away by the disease till it formed a sharp but
irregular point; part of the muscles of the chin were contracted, and
it was drawn in with unnatural seams and puckers. He was tall, gaunt,
and thin, seldom smiled, and when he did, the smile produced a still
further distortion.
Mr Jolliffe was the son of a warrant officer. He did not contract
this disease until he had been sent out to the West Indies, where it
swept away hundreds. He had now been long in the service, with little
or no chance of promotion. He had suffered from indigence, from
reflections upon his humble birth, from sarcasms on his appearance.
Every contumely had been heaped upon him at one time or another, in
the ships in which he served; among a crowd he had found himself
desolate--and now, although no one dared treat him to his face with
disrespect, he was only respected in the service from a knowledge of
his utility and exemplary performance of his duties--he had no friends
or even companions. For many years he had retired within himself, he
had improved by reading and study, had felt all the philanthropy of a
Christian, and extended it towards others. Silent and reserved, he
seldom spoke in the berth, unless his authority, as caterer, was
called for; all respected Mr Jolliffe, but no one liked, as a
companion, one at whose appearance the very dogs would bark. At the
same time every one acknowledged his correct behaviour in every point,
his sense of justice, his forbearance, his kindness, and his good
sense. With him life was indeed a pilgrimage, and he wended his way
in all Christian charity and all Christian zeal.
In all societies, however small they may be, provided that they do but
amount to half-a-dozen, you will invariably meet with a bully. And it
is also generally the case that you will find one of that society who
is more or less the butt. You will discover this even in occasional
meetings, such as a dinner-party, the major part of which have never
met before.
Previous to the removal of the cloth, the bully will have shown
himself by his dictatorial manner, and will also have selected the one
upon whom he imagines that he can best practise. In a midshipman's
berth, this fact has become almost proverbial, although now perhaps it
is not attended with that disagreeable despotism which was permitted
at the time that our hero entered the service.
The bully of the midshipman's berth of H.M. sloop Harpy Was a young
man about seventeen, with light, curly hair, and florid countenance,
the son of the clerk in the dockyard at Plymouth, and his name was
Vigors.
The butt was a pudding-faced Tartar-physiognomied boy of fifteen,
whose intellects, with fostering, if not great, might at least have
been respectable, had he not lost all confidence in his own powers
from the constant jeers and mockeries of those who had a greater
fluency of speech without perhaps so much real power of mind. Although
slow, what he learnt he invariably retained. This lad's name was
Gossett. His father was a wealthy yeoman of Lynn, in Norfolk. There
were at the time but three other midshipmen in the ship, of whom it
can only be said that they were like midshipmen in general, with
little appetite for learning, but good appetites for dinner, hating
everything like work, fond of everything like fun, fighting "a
L'outrance" one minute, and sworn friends the next--with general
principles of honour and justice, but which were occasionally warped
according to circumstances; with all the virtues and vices so
heterogeneously jumbled and heaped together, that it was almost
impossible to ascribe any action to its true motive, and to ascertain
to what point their vice was softened down into almost a virtue, and
their virtues from mere excess degenerated into vice. Their names
were O'Connor, Mills, and Gascoigne. The other shipmates of our hero
it will be better to introduce as they appear on the stage.
After Jack had dined in the cabin, he followed his messmates Jolliffe
and Gascoigne down into the midshipmen's berth.
"I say, Easy," observed Gascoigne, "you are a devilish free and easy
sort of a fellow, to tell the captain that you considered yourself as
great a man as he was."
"I beg your pardon," replied Jack, "I did not argue individually, but
generally, upon the principles of the rights of man."
"Well," replied Gascoigne, "it's the first time I ever heard a middy
do such a bold thing; take care your rights of man don't get you in
the wrong box--there's no arguing on board of a man-of-war. The
captain took it amazingly easy, but you'd better not broach that
subject too often."
"Gascoigne gives you very good advice, Mr Easy," observed Jolliffe;
"allowing that your ideas are correct, which it appears to me they are
not, or at least impossible to be acted upon, there is such a thing as
prudence, and however much this question may be canvassed on shore, in
his Majesty's service it is not only dangerous in itself, but will be
very prejudicial to you."
"Man is a free agent," replied Easy.
"I'll be shot if a midshipman is," replied Gascoigne, laughing, aloud
"that you'll soon find."
"And yet it was in the expectation of finding that equality that I was
induced to come to sea."
"On the first of April, I presume," replied Gascoigne. "But are you
really serious?"
Hereupon Jack entered into a long argument, to which Jolliffe and
Gascoigne listened without interruption, and Mesty with admiration; at
the end of it, Gascoigne laughed heartily, and Jolliffe sighed.
"From whence did you learn all this?" inquired Jolliffe.
"From my father, who is a great philosopher, and has constantly upheld
these opinions."
"And did your father wish you to go to sea?"
"No, he was opposed to it," replied Jack, "but of course he could not
combat my right and free-will."
"Mr Easy, as a friend," replied Jolliffe, "I request that you would as
much as possible keep your opinions to yourself. I shall have an
opportunity of talking to you on the subject and will then explain to
you my reasons."
As soon as Mr Jolliffe had ceased, down came Mr Vigors and O'Connor,
who had heard the news of Jack's heresy.
"You do not know Mr Vigors and Mr O'Connor," said Jolliffe to Easy.
Jack, who was the essence of politeness, rose and bowed, at which the
others took their seats, without returning the salutation. Vigors had,
from what he had heard and now seen of Easy, thought he had somebody
else to play upon, and without ceremony he commenced.
"So, my chap, you are come on board to raise a mutiny here with your
equality--you came off scot free at the captain's table; but it won't
do, I can tell you, even in the midshipman's berth: some must knock
under, and you are one of them."
"If, sir," replied Easy, "you mean by knock under, that I must submit,
I can assure you that you are mistaken. Upon the same principle that
I would never play the tyrant to those weaker than myself, so will I
resent oppression if attempted."
"Damme, but he's a regular sea lawyer already: however, my boy, we'll
soon put your mettle to the proof."
"Am I then to infer that I am not on an equality with my messmates?"
replied Jack, looking at Jolliffe. The latter was about to answer
him, but Vigors interrupted.
"Yes, you are on an equality as far as this, that you have an equal
right to the berth, if you are not knocked out of it for insolence to
your masters; that you have an equal share to pay for the things
purchased for the mess, and an equal right to have your share,
provided you can get it; you have an equal right to talk, provided you
are not told to hold your tongue. The fact is, you have an equal
right with everyone else to do as you can, get what you can, and say
what you can, always provided that you can do it; for here the weakest
goes to the wall, and that is midshipman's berth equality. Now, do
you understand all that; or will you wait for a practical
illustration?"
"I am then to infer that the equality here is as much destroyed as it
even will be among savages, where the strong oppress the weak, and the
only law is club law--in fact, much the same as it is at a public or
large school, on shore?"
"I suspect you are right for once. You were at a public school: how
did they treat you there?"
"As you propose treating people here--the weakest went to the wall."
"Well, then, a nod's as good as a wink to a blind horse, that's all,
my hearty," said Vigors.
But the hands being turned up, "Shorten sail" put an end to the
altercation for the present.
As our hero had not yet received orders to go to his duty, he remained
below with Mesty.
"By de powers, Massa Easy, but I lub you with my hole soul," said
Mesty. "By Jasus, you really tark fine, Massa Easy; dat Mr Vigor--
nebber care for him, wouldn't you help him--and sure you would,"
continued the black, feeling the muscle of Jack's arm. "By the soul
of my fader, I'd bet my week's allowance on you anyhow. Nebber be
'fraid, Massa Easy."
"I am not afraid," replied Jack; "I've thrashed bigger fellows than
he"; and Jack's assertion was true. Mr Bonnycastle never interfered
in a fair fight, and took no notice of black eyes, provided the
lessons there well said. Jack had fought and fought again, until he
was a very good bruiser, and although not so tall as Vigors, he was
much better built for fighting. A knowing Westminster boy would have
bet his half-crown upon Jack had he seen him and his anticipated
adversary.
The constant battles which Jack was obliged to fight at school had
been brought forward by Jack against his father's arguments in favour
of equality, but they had been overruled by Mr Easy's pointing out
that the combats of boys had nothing to do with the rights of man.
As soon as the watch was called, Vigors, O'Connor, Gossett, and
Gascoigne came down into the berth. Vigors, who was the strongest in
the berth, except Jolliffe, had successively had his superiority
acknowledged, and, when on deck, he had talked of Easy's impertinence,
and his intention of bringing him to his senses. The others,
therefore, came down to see the fun.
"Well, Mr Easy," observed Vigors, as he came into the berth, "you take
after your name, at all events; I suppose you intend to eat the king's
provision, and do nothing."
Jack's mettle was already up. "You will oblige me, sir, by minding
your own business," replied Jack.
"You impudent blackguard, if you say another word, I'll give you a
good thrashing, and knock some of your equality out of you."
"Indeed," replied Jack, who almost fancied himself back at Mr
Bonnycastle's; "we'll try that."
Whereupon Jack very coolly divested himself of his upper garments,
neckerchief, and shirt, much to the surprise of Mr Vigors, who little
contemplated such a proof of decision and confidence, and still more
to the delight of the other midshipmen, who would have forfeited a
week's allowance to see Vigors well thrashed. Vigors, however, knew
that he had gone too far to retreat; he therefore prepared for action;
and, when ready, the whole party went out into the steerage to settle
the business.
Vigors had gained his assumed authority more by bullying than
fighting; others had submitted to him without a sufficient trial;
Jack, on the contrary, had won his way up in school by hard and
scientific combat; the result, therefore, may easily be imagined. In
less than a quarter of an hour Vigors, beaten dead, with his eyes
closed, and three teeth out, gave in: while Jack, after a basin of
water, looked as fresh as ever, with the exception of a few trifling
scratches.
The news of this victory was soon through the ship; and before Jack
had resumed his clothes it had been told confidentially by Sawbridge
to the captain.
"So soon!" said Captain Wilson, laughing; "I expected that a
midshipman's berth would do wonders; but I did not expect this yet
awhile. This victory is the first severe blow to Mr Easy's equality,
and will be more valuable than twenty defeats. Let him now go to his
duty, he will soon find his level."