Didactic fiction; Domestic fiction; England -- Fiction; Married women -- Fiction
"The captain, ensign, and myself, were received with many
congratulations by our officers on board the man of war.--The sea-
officers too, all except the captain, paid us their compliments,
though these were of the rougher kind, and not without several jokes
on our escape. As for the captain himself, we scarce saw him during
many hours; and, when he appeared, he presented a view of majesty
beyond any that I had ever seen. The dignity which he preserved did
indeed give me rather the idea of a Mogul, or a Turkish emperor, than
of any of the monarchs of Christendom. To say the truth, I could
resemble his walk on the deck to nothing but the image of Captain
Gulliver strutting among the Lilliputians; he seemed to think himself
a being of an order superior to all around him, and more especially to
us of the land service. Nay, such was the behaviour of all the sea-
officers and sailors to us and our soldiers, that, instead of
appearing to be subjects of the same prince, engaged in one quarrel,
and joined to support one cause, we land-men rather seemed to be
captives on board an enemy's vessel. This is a grievous misfortune,
and often proves so fatal to the service, that it is great pity some
means could not be found of curing it."
Here Mr. Booth stopt a while to take breath. We will therefore give
the same refreshment to the reader.
Chapter v.
_The arrival of Booth at Gibraltar, with what there befel him._
"The adventures," continued Booth, "which I happened to me from this
day till my arrival at Gibraltar are not worth recounting to you.
After a voyage the remainder of which was tolerably prosperous, we
arrived in that garrison, the natural strength of which is so well
known to the whole world.
"About a week after my arrival it was my fortune to be ordered on a
sally party, in which my left leg was broke with a musket-ball; and I
should most certainly have either perished miserably, or must have
owed my preservation to some of the enemy, had not my faithful servant
carried me off on his shoulders, and afterwards, with the assistance
of one of his comrades, brought me back into the garrison.
"The agony of my wound was so great, that it threw me into a fever,
from whence my surgeon apprehended much danger. I now began again to
feel for my Amelia, and for myself on her account; and the disorder of
my mind, occasioned by such melancholy contemplations, very highly
aggravated the distemper of my body; insomuch that it would probably
have proved fatal, had it not been for the friendship of one Captain
James, an officer of our regiment, and an old acquaintance, who is
undoubtedly one of the pleasantest companions and one of the best-
natured men in the world. This worthy man, who had a head and a heart
perfectly adequate to every office of friendship, stayed with me
almost day and night during my illness; and by strengthening my hopes,
raising my spirits, and cheering my thoughts, preserved me from
destruction.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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