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Untitled Article
speaking of what has been ; but is the system yet exploded ? Oh no , indeed : but because , just at present , these things are
notto their former extent , perhaps I shall be censured for dwelling on those points which no longer disgrace the British navy : they do not occur—they do not exist now : —well ; I , perhaps , should have been silent , and should have done nothing to prevent these matters from dying in forgetfulness , if I did not know that there yet lives a wish—there is a probability that the system of * necessity , ' forsooth , out of which that monstrous discipline / and those remorseless barbarities grew , will be again resorted to ; and if it be resorted to , the infernal game will be played over again , though , perhaps , there will be less unblushing boldness , and a little more tact , that shall secure the actors from the exposure and punishment to which the increased facilities and proneness to inquiry and communication will now make them liable . That
precious claptrap , loyalty , as it was nicknamed , sealed many a mouth , and blinded many an eye , which true loyalty would have encouraged clearly to see , and promptly to speak . Whoever will not so speak , when he sees , is a foe to humanity ; a disloyal traitor to his country ' s honour ; he is the desecrater of her religion : he panoplies himself in its dogmas , and commends its truths as fetters to his 'inferiors : ' he is the destructive of her constitution ; he appeals to its freedom on his own account , and contorts its laws into coercions for the lower classes .
Yet these bull-headed fellows had a perceptive tact about them , and were quick in discovering the best means by which a blow could be laid well on , and made to tell ; for instance , on occasions of all hands being piped on deck , one fellow would place himself at the foot of the hatchway ladder , with his colt ' twisted round his fist , and dangling in expectation and readiness from his fingers ; another , in like preparation , stationed himself on deck , to receive the herd as they rushed up from below : here
was fine opportunity for exercise and enjoyment of their craft : as the bodies of the ascendants bowed in taking the first step of the ladder , the rounded and well-spread shoulders presented full and fair space for the ready weapon , which fell crack—thwackin all its energy of play and vigour of weight . They commenced with the first venturer , and continued the blows on back after
back , with bewitching rapidity , till the last ; then , woe betide that unfortunate ! he took the residue of the sweating devil ' s strength , till he reached the deck , where a similar order of scourging had welcomed each as he stepped over the coamings . The two fellows had their turns on each , and beat the finale to the music on
the back of the unfortunate last . Some had the good luck to escape in the crush and bustle ; the last was sure of triple allowance . It was a common rule in some of the * well-regulated ships' to ' lay it on well * on him who was last up the hatchway : somebod y must , of necessity , be la&t ; no matter : no matter either what compelled
Untitled Article
£ 22 * Autobiography of Pel . Verjuice .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1833, page 822, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2628/page/18/
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