LITMIR.BIZ

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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-face 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 learned 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 à 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, “and that you’ll soon find.”

      “And yet it was 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 rights 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 every one 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 midshipmen’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 lik 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 were 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

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