Tracks Of A Rolling Stone by Henry J. Coke (top ten books of all time .TXT) 📕

Arm,  And At The Extremity Of Lash And Handle,  Was Very Severe

Punishment.  Each Knot Brought Blood,  And The Shock Of The

Blow Knocked The Breath Out Of A Man With An Involuntary

'Ugh!' However Stoically He Bore The Pain.

I Have Seen Many A Bad Man Flogged For Unpardonable Conduct, 

And Many A Good Man For A Glass Of Grog Too Much.  My Firm

Conviction Is That The Bad Man Was Very Little The Better;

The Good Man Very Much The Worse.  The Good Man Felt The

Disgrace,  And Was Branded For Life.  His Self-Esteem Was

Permanently Maimed,  And He Rarely Held Up His Head Or Did His

Best Again.  Besides Which,  - And This Is True Of All

Punishment - Any Sense Of Injustice Destroys Respect For The

Punisher.  Still I Am No Sentimentalist; I Have A Contempt

For,  And Even A Dread Of,  Sentimentalism.  For Boy

Housebreakers,  And For Ruffians Who Commit Criminal Assaults, 

The Rod Or The Lash Is The Only Treatment.

A Comic Piece Of Insubordination On My Part Recurs To Me In

Connection With Flogging.  About The Year 1840 Or 1841,  A

Midshipman On The Pacific Station Was Flogged.  I Think The

Ship Was The 'Peak.'  The Event Created Some Sensation,  And

Was Brought Before Parliament.  Two Frigates Were Sent Out To

Furnish A Quorum Of Post-Captains To Try The Responsible

Commander.  The Verdict Of The Court-Martial Was A Severe

Reprimand.  This Was,  Of Course,  Nuts To Every Midshipman In

The Service.

Shortly After It Became Known I Got Into A Scrape For

Laughing At,  And Disobeying The Orders Of,  Our First-

Lieutenant,  - The Head Of The Executive On Board A Frigate. 

As A Matter Of Fact,  The Orders Were Ridiculous,  For The Said

Officer Was Tipsy.  Nevertheless,  I Was Reported,  And Had Up

Before The Captain.  'Old Tommy' Was,  Or Affected To Be,  Very

Angry.  I Am Afraid I Was Very 'Cheeky.'  Whereupon Sir

Thomas Did Lose His Temper,  And Threatened To Send For The

Boatswain To Tie Me Up And Give Me A Dozen,  - Not On The

Back,  But Where The Back Leaves Off.  Undismayed By The

Threat,  And Mindful Of The Episode Of The 'Peak' (?) I Looked

The Old Gentleman In The Face,  And Shrilly Piped Out,  'It's

As Much As Your Commission Is Worth,  Sir.'  In Spite Of His

Previous Wrath,  He Was So Taken Aback By My Impudence That He

Burst Out Laughing,  And,  To Hide It,  Kicked Me Out Of The

Cabin.

After Another Severe Attack Of Fever,  And During A Long

Convalescence,  I Was Laid Up At Macao,  Where I Enjoyed The

Hospitality Of Messrs. Dent And Of Messrs. Jardine And

Matheson.  Thence I Was Invalided Home,  And Took My Passage

To Bombay In One Of The Big East India Tea-Ships.  As I Was

Being Carried Up The Side In The Arms Of One Of The Boatmen, 

I Overheard Another Exclaim:  'Poor Little Beggar.  He'll

Never See Land Again!'

The Only Other Passenger Was Colonel Frederick Cotton,  Of The

Madras Engineers,  One Of A Distinguished Family.  He,  Too, 

Had Been Through The China Campaign,  And Had Also Broken

Down.  We Touched At Manila,  Batavia,  Singapore,  And Several

Other Ports In The Malay Archipelago,  To Take In Cargo. 

While That Was Going On,  Cotton,  The Captain,  And I Made

Excursions Inland.  Altogether I Had A Most Pleasant Time Of

It Till We Reached Bombay.

My Health Was Now Re-Established; And After A Couple Of Weeks

At Bombay,  Where I Lived In A Merchant's House,  Cotton Took

Me To Poonah And Ahmadnagar; In Both Of Which Places I Stayed

With His Friends,  And Messed With The Regiments.  Here A Copy

Of The 'Times' Was Put Into My Hands; And I Saw A Notice Of

The Death Of My Father.

After A Fortnight's Quarantine At La Valetta,  Where Two Young

Englishmen - One An Oxford Man - Shared The Same Rooms In The

Fort With Me,  We Three Returned To England; And (I Suppose

Few Living People Can Say The Same) Travelled From Naples To

Calais Before There Was A Single Railway On The Continent.

At The End Of Two Months' Leave In England I Was Appointed To

The 'Caledonia,' Flagship At Plymouth.  Sir Thomas Bouchier

Had Written To The Admiral,  Sir Edward Codrington,  Of

Navarino Fame (Whose Daughter Sir Thomas Afterwards Married), 

Giving Me 'A Character.'  Sir Edward Sent For Me,  And Was

Most Kind.  He Told Me I Was To Go To The Pacific In The

First Ship That Left For South America,  Which Would Probably

Be In A Week Or Two; And He Gave Me A Letter To His Friend, 

Admiral Thomas,  Who Commanded On That Station.

About This Time,  And For A Year Or Two Later,  The Relations

Between England And America Were Severely Strained By What

Was Called 'The Oregon Question.'  The Dispute Was Concerning

The Right Of Ownership Of The Mouth Of The Columbia River, 

And Of Vancouver's Island.  The President As Well As The

American People Took The Matter Up Very Warmly; And Much

Discretion Was Needed To Avert The Outbreak Of Hostilities.

In Sir Edward's Letter,  Which He Read Out And Gave To Me

Open,  He Requested Admiral Thomas To Put Me Into Any Ship

'That Was Likely To See Service'; And Quoted A Word Or Two

From My Dear Old Captain Sir Thomas,  Which Would Probably

Have Given Me A Lift.

The Prospect Before Me Was Brilliant.  What Could Be More

Delectable Than The Chance Of A War?  My Fancy Pictured All

Sorts Of Opportunities,  Turned To The Best Account,  - My

Seniors Disposed Of,  And Myself,  With A Pair Of Epaulets, 

Commanding The Smartest Brig In The Service.

Alack-A-Day! What A Climb Down From Such High Flights My Life

Has Been.  The Ship In Which I Was To Have Sailed To The West 

Was Suddenly Countermanded To The East.  She Was To Leave For

China The Following Week,  And I Was Already Appointed To Her, 

Not Even As A 'Super.'

My Courage And My Ambition Were Wrecked At A Blow.  The

Notion Of Returning For Another Three Years To China,  Where

All Was Now Peaceful And Stale To Me,  The Excitement Of The

War At An End,  Every Port Reminding Me Of My Old Comrades, 

Visions Of Renewed Fevers And Horrible Food,  - Were More Than

I Could Stand.

I Instantly Made Up My Mind To Leave The Navy.  It Was A

Wilful,  And Perhaps A Too Hasty,  Impulse.  But I Am Impulsive

By Nature; And Now That My Father Was Dead,  I Fancied Myself

To A Certain Extent My Own Master.  I Knew Moreover,  By My

Father's Will,  That I Should Not Be Dependent Upon A

Profession.  Knowledge Of Such A Fact Has Been The Ruin Of

Many A Better Man Than I.  I Have No Virtuous Superstitions

In Favour Of Poverty - Quite The Reverse - But I Am Convinced

That The Rich Man,  Who Has Never Had To Earn His Position Or

His Living,  Is More To Be Pitied And Less Respected Than The

Poor Man Whose Comforts Certainly,  If Not His Bread,  Have

Depended On His Own Exertions.

My Mother Had A Strong Will Of Her Own,  And I Could Not Guess

What Line She Might Take.  I Also Apprehended The Opposition

Of My Guardians.  On The Whole,  I Opined A Woman's Heart

Would Be The Most Suitable For An Appeal Ad Misericordiam. 

So I Pulled Out The Agony Stop,  And Worked The Pedals Of

Despair With All The Anguish At My Command.

'It Was Easy Enough For Her To Revel In Luxury And Consign Me

To A Life Worse Than A Convict's.  But How Would She Like To

Live On Salt Junk,  To Keep Night Watches,  To Have To Cut Up

Her Blankets For Ponchos (I Knew She Had Never Heard The

Word,  And That It Would Tell Accordingly),  To Save Her From

Being Frozen To Death?  How Would She Like To Be Mast-Headed

When A Ship Was Rolling Gunwale Under?  As To The Wishes Of

My Guardians,  Were Their Feelings To Be Considered Before

Mine?  I Should Like To See Lord Rosebery Or Lord Spencer In

My Place!  They'd Very Soon Wish They Had A Mother Who &C.

&C.'

When My Letter Was Finished I Got Leave To Go Ashore To Post

It.  Feeling Utterly Miserable,  I Had My Hair Cut; And, 

Rendered Perfectly Reckless By My Appearance,  I Consented To

Have What Was Left Of It Tightly Curled With A Pair Of Tongs. 

I Cannot Say That I Shared In Any Sensible Degree The

Pleasure Which This Operation Seemed To Give To The Artist. 

But When I Got Back To The Ship The Sight Of My Adornment

Kept My Messmates In An Uproar For The Rest Of The Afternoon.

Whether The Touching Appeal To My Mother Produced Tears,  Or

Of What Kind,  Matters Little; It Effectually Determined My 

Career.  Before My New Ship Sailed For China,  I Was Home

Again,  And In Full Possession Of My Coveted Freedom As A

Civilian.