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Untitled Article
carry you round to Plymouth , where you will be put on board one of his majesty ' s vessels of war , and there good care will be taken of you . " * l Ay , very good , ' said tiger ; but very unlike a tiger ' s was the voice ; it was a growling squeak , that set your teeth on edge . Said the epaulettes , addressing one of the pigtails , ' Hopkins , give this note to Mr . , ( this was Lieut . , I forget the name . ) Hopkins 1 a sailor named Hopkins I I thought all sailors were Ben ( ilocks , or Bill Hawsers , or Tom Bowlines , or Jack Junks , or Mat Mainmasts , or Joe Mizens , or Ned Halliards , but , Hopkins ; what an unnautical name was that . Ah , me ! * all is not gold that glistens / Hopkins and his pigtail shrunk a foot in my esteem . Hopkins ! oh , Hopkins , how you dwindled before my optics when I heard you so called ! and it was to Hopkins I had given the shilling ! A movement toward the door cut short this silent solo . I looked at the Captain and bowed , and turning to the other , I just caught sight of a row of dirty yellow palisades , and a portcullis of the same texture and colour , at the entrance of a dark and dismal cavern , for such his mouth , guarded
thus , appeared to me ; and those two eyes squeezed together , the whole of their infernality of light concentrated into two diminutive , fiercely burning dots . What an ugly , villainous , diabolical grin ! That was his laugh ; I never saw him or it in my life afterwards , but I can never forget it . The door of the room opened , and through it the light streamed upon , I don ' t know how many , figures standing outside . This caused an ugly misgiving : we descended the stairs ; in the street a various collection of men , women , and some children had gathered near the door , and as we came €
forth there was a murmur , and an exclamation of Poor boys , they have been trapped . ' Something was wrong I felt , but I could not see the trapping . As we proceeded through the streets many of them accompanied us , and I heard a lusty voice cry out , 'The bloody press-gang have grabbed those two lads . ' ' Press-gang !* and I becanoe icy cold . Press-gang ! then I had fallen into the clutches of those horrible monsters of whom I had heard such frightful statements ; whom I dreaded so suffocatingly ! Impossible ; there was nothing in the remotest degree fearful in the character of these men ! They had shown to us nothing which I should not have expected from common kindness or civility : and that gentleman in the epaulettes ; oh , I could find no idea but affection for him . Hah ! there was the green-eyed monster ; that tiger fellow was a sample of what I could easily imagine a pressgang to be composed ; there was nothing fearful or repulsive in any of the others ; and I subdued my fear ; but poor George , after a pause of bewildered stupefaction , burst into tears . I laughed to cheer him ; and presently we arrived at the jetty , where a smart boat , with six smart sailors , lay waiting to receive us . — 4 Shove off , ' waa the word , and one man with a pole having a hook at its end ; did ' shove off / and i splash' the oars of the others fell
Untitled Article
542 Autobiography of Pel . Verjuice .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1833, page 542, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2620/page/30/
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