Hence it was, perhaps, that, though noble Jack8 had carried the day captive in his audience at the mast, yet more than thirty-six hours elapsed ere anything official was heard of the "liberty" his shipmates so earnestly coveted9. Some of the people began to growl10 and grumble11.
"It's turned out all gammon, Jack," said one.
"Blast the Commodore!" cried another, "he bamboozled12 you, Jack."
"Lay on your oars13 a while," answered Jack, "and we shall see; we've struck for liberty, and liberty we'll have! I'm your tribune, boys; I'm your Rienzi. The Commodore must keep his word."
Next day, about breakfast-time, a mighty14 whistling and piping was heard at the main-hatchway, and presently the boatswain's voice was heard: "D'ye hear there, fore15 and aft! all you starboard-quarter watch! get ready to go ashore16 on liberty!"
In a paroxysm of delight, a young mizzen-top-man, standing17 by at the time, whipped the tarpaulin18 from his head, and smashed it like a pancake on the deck. "Liberty!" he shouted, leaping down into the berth-deck after his bag.
At the appointed hour, the quarter-watch mustered19 round the capstan, at which stood our old First Lord of the Treasury20 and Pay-Master-General, the Purser, with several goodly buck-skin bags of dollars, piled up on the capstan. He helped us all round to half a handful or so, and then the boats were manned, and, like so many Esterhazys, we were pulled ashore by our shipmates. All their lives lords may live in listless state; but give the commoners a holiday, and they outlord the Commodore himself.
The ship's company were divided into four sections or quarter-watches, only one of which were on shore at a time, the rest remaining to garrison21 the frigate22—the term of liberty for each being twenty-four hours.
With Jack Chase and a few other discreet23 and gentlemanly top-men, I went ashore on the first day, with the first quarter-watch. Our own little party had a charming time; we saw many fine sights; fell in—as all sailors must—with dashing adventures. But, though not a few good chapters might be written on this head, I must again forbear; for in this book I have nothing to do with the shore further than to glance at it, now and then, from the water; my man-of-war world alone must supply me with the staple24 of my matter; I have taken an oath to keep afloat to the last letter of my narrative25.
Had they all been as punctual as Jack Chase's party, the whole quarter-watch of liberty-men had been safe on board the frigate at the expiration26 of the twenty-four hours. But this was not the case; and during the entire day succeeding, the midshipmen and others were engaged in ferreting them out of their hiding-places on shore, and bringing them off in scattered27 detachments to the ship.
They came in all imaginable stages of intoxication28; some with blackened eyes and broken heads; some still more severely29 injured, having been stabbed in frays30 with the Portuguese31 soldiers. Others, unharmed, were immediately dropped on the gun-deck, between the guns, where they lay snoring for the rest of the day. As a considerable degree of license32 is invariably permitted to man-of-war's-men just "off liberty," and as man-of-war's-men well know this to be the case, they occasionally avail themselves of the privilege to talk very frankly33 to the officers when they first cross the gangway, taking care, meanwhile, to reel about very industriously34, so that there shall be no doubt about their being seriously intoxicated35, and altogether non compos for the time. And though but few of them have cause to feign36 intoxication, yet some individuals may be suspected of enacting37 a studied part upon these occasions. Indeed—judging by certain symptoms—even when really inebriated38, some of the sailors must have previously39 determined40 upon their conduct; just as some persons who, before taking the exhilarating gas, secretly make up their minds to perform certain mad feats41 while under its influence, which feats consequently come to pass precisely42 as if the actors were not accountable for them.
For several days, while the other quarter-watches were given liberty, the Neversink presented a sad scene. She was more like a madhouse than a frigate; the gun-deck resounded43 with frantic44 fights, shouts, and songs. All visitors from shore were kept at a cable's length.
These scenes, however, are nothing to those which have repeatedly been enacted45 in American men-of-war upon other stations. But the custom of introducing women on board, in harbour, is now pretty much discontinued, both in the English and American Navy, unless a ship, commanded by some dissolute Captain, happens to lie in some far away, outlandish port, in the Pacific or Indian Ocean.
The British line-of-battle ship, Royal George, which in 1782 sunk at her anchors at Spithead, carried down three hundred English women among the one thousand souls that were drowned on that memorable46 morning.
When, at last, after all the mad tumult47 and contention48 of "Liberty," the reaction came, our frigate presented a very different scene. The men looked jaded49 and wan50, lethargic51 and lazy; and many an old mariner52, with hand upon abdomen53, called upon the Flag-staff to witness that there were more hot coppers54 in the Neversink than those in the ship's galley55.
Such are the lamentable56 effects of suddenly and completely releasing "the people" of a man-of-war from arbitrary discipline. It shows that, to such, "liberty," at first, must be administered in small and moderate quantities, increasing with the patient's capacity to make good use of it.
Of course while we lay in Rio, our officers frequently went ashore for pleasure, and, as a general thing, conducted themselves with propriety57. But it is a sad thing to say, that, as for Lieutenant58 Mad Jack, he enjoyed himself so delightfully59 for three consecutive60 days in the town, that, upon returning to the ship, he sent his card to the Surgeon, with his compliments, begging him to drop into his state-room the first time he happened to pass that way in the ward-room.
But one of our Surgeon's mates, a young medico of fine family but slender fortune, must have created by far the strongest impression among the hidalgoes of Rio. He had read Don Quixote, and, instead of curing him of his Quixotism, as it ought to have done, it only made him still more Quixotic. Indeed, there are some natures concerning whose moral maladies the grand maxim61 of Mr. Similia Similibus Curantur Hahneman does not hold true, since, with them, like cures not like, but only aggravates62 like. Though, on the other hand, so incurable63 are the moral maladies of such persons, that the antagonist64 maxim, contraria contrariis curantar, often proves equally false.
Of a warm tropical day, this Surgeon's mate must needs go ashore in his blue cloth boat-cloak, wearing it, with a gallant65 Spanish toss, over his cavalier shoulder. By noon, he perspired66 very freely; but then his cloak attracted all eyes, and that was huge satisfaction. Nevertheless, his being knock-kneed, and spavined of one leg, sorely impaired67 the effect of this hidalgo cloak, which, by-the-way, was some-what rusty68 in front, where his chin rubbed against it, and a good deal bedraggled all over, from his having used it as a counterpane off Cape69 Horn.
As for the midshipmen, there is no knowing what their mammas would have said to their conduct in Rio. Three of them drank a good deal too much; and when they came on board, the Captain ordered them to be sewed up in their hammocks, to cut short their obstreperous70 capers71 till sober.
This shows how unwise it is to allow children yet in their teens to wander so far from home. It more especially illustrates72 the folly73 of giving them long holidays in a foreign land, full of seductive dissipation. Port for men, claret for boys, cried Dr. Johnson. Even so, men only should drink the strong drink of travel; boys should still be kept on milk and water at home. Middies! you may despise your mother's leading-strings, but they are the man-ropes my lads, by which many youngsters have steadied the giddiness of youth, and saved themselves from lamentable falls. And middies! know this, that as infants, being too early put on their feet, grow up bandy-legged, and curtailed74 of their fair proportions, even so, my dear middies, does it morally prove with some of you, who prematurely75 are sent off to sea.
These admonitions are solely76 addressed to the more diminutive77 class of midshipmen—those under five feet high, and under seven stone in weight.
Truly, the records of the steerages of men-of-war are full of most melancholy78 examples of early dissipation, disease, disgrace, and death. Answer, ye shades of fine boys, who in the soils of all climes, the round world over, far away sleep from your homes.
Mothers of men! If your hearts have been cast down when your boys have fallen in the way of temptations ashore, how much more bursting your grief, did you know that those boys were far from your arms, cabined and cribbed in by all manner of iniquities79. But this some of you cannot believe. It is, perhaps, well that it is so.
But hold them fast—all those who have not yet weighed their anchors for the Navy-round and round, hitch80 over hitch, bind81 your leading-strings on them, and clinching82 a ring-bolt into your chimmey-jam, moor83 your boys fast to that best of harbours, the hearth-stone.
But if youth be giddy, old age is staid; even as young saplings, in the litheness84 of their limbs, toss to their roots in the fresh morning air; but, stiff and unyielding with age, mossy trunks never bend. With pride and pleasure be it said, that, as for our old Commodore, though he might treat himself to as many "liberty days" as he pleased, yet throughout our stay in Rio he conducted himself with the utmost discretion85.
But he was an old, old man; physically86, a very small man; his spine87 was as an unloaded musket-barrel—not only attenuated88, but destitute89 of a solitary90 cartridge91, and his ribs92 were as the ribs of a weasel.
Besides, he was Commodore of the fleet, supreme93 lord of the Commons in Blue. It beseemed him, therefore, to erect94 himself into an ensample of virtue95, and show the gun-deck what virtue was. But alas96! when Virtue sits high aloft on a frigate's poop, when Virtue is crowned in the cabin a Commodore, when Virtue rules by compulsion, and domineers over Vice97 as a slave, then Virtue, though her mandates98 be outwardly observed, bears little interior sway. To be efficacious, Virtue must come down from aloft, even as our blessed Redeemer came down to redeem99 our whole man-of-war world; to that end, mixing with its sailors and sinners as equals.
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1
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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2
benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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3
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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politic
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| adj.有智虑的；精明的；v.从政 | |
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dictates
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| n.命令，规定，要求( dictate的名词复数 )v.大声讲或读( dictate的第三人称单数 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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concession
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| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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9
coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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10
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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grumble
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| vi.抱怨；咕哝；n.抱怨，牢骚；咕哝，隆隆声 | |
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12
bamboozled
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| v.欺骗，使迷惑( bamboozle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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tarpaulin
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| n.涂油防水布，防水衣，防水帽 | |
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mustered
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| v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的过去式和过去分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发 | |
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treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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frigate
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| n.护航舰，大型驱逐舰 | |
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discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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staple
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| n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类 | |
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narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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expiration
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| n.终结，期满，呼气，呼出物 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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intoxication
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| n.wild excitement;drunkenness；poisoning | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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frays
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| n.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的名词复数 )v.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的第三人称单数 ) | |
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Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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license
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| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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industriously
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intoxicated
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| 喝醉的，极其兴奋的 | |
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feign
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| vt.假装，佯作 | |
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enacting
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| 制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的现在分词 ) | |
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inebriated
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| adj.酒醉的 | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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feats
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| 功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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43
resounded
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| v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音 | |
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44
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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45
enacted
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| 制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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48
contention
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| n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张 | |
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49
jaded
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| adj.精疲力竭的；厌倦的；（因过饱或过多而）腻烦的；迟钝的 | |
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50
wan
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| (wide area network)广域网 | |
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lethargic
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| adj.昏睡的，懒洋洋的 | |
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52
mariner
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| n.水手号不载人航天探测器，海员，航海者 | |
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53
abdomen
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| n.腹，下腹(胸部到腿部的部分) | |
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54
coppers
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| 铜( copper的名词复数 )； 铜币 | |
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55
galley
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| n.（飞机或船上的）厨房单层甲板大帆船；军舰舰长用的大划艇； | |
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56
lamentable
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| adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的 | |
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propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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delightfully
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| 大喜，欣然 | |
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consecutive
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| adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的 | |
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maxim
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| n.格言，箴言 | |
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62
aggravates
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| 使恶化( aggravate的第三人称单数 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火 | |
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63
incurable
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| adj.不能医治的，不能矫正的，无救的；n.不治的病人，无救的人 | |
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antagonist
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| n.敌人，对抗者，对手 | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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perspired
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| v.出汗，流汗( perspire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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67
impaired
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| adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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obstreperous
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| adj.喧闹的，不守秩序的 | |
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71
capers
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| n.开玩笑( caper的名词复数 )；刺山柑v.跳跃，雀跃( caper的第三人称单数 ) | |
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72
illustrates
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| 给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明 | |
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73
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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74
curtailed
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| v.截断，缩短( curtail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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prematurely
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| adv.过早地，贸然地 | |
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solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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diminutive
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| adj.小巧可爱的，小的 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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iniquities
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| n.邪恶( iniquity的名词复数 )；极不公正 | |
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hitch
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| v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉 | |
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81
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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82
clinching
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| v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的现在分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议） | |
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moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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84
litheness
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85
discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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86
physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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87
spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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88
attenuated
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| v.（使）变细( attenuate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）变薄；（使）变小；减弱 | |
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89
destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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90
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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91
cartridge
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| n.弹壳，弹药筒；(装磁带等的)盒子 | |
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92
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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93
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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94
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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95
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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96
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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97
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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98
mandates
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| 托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式） | |
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99
redeem
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| v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等） | |
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