The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 1Whymper, Frederick
History
The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 1
Whymper, Frederick
Adventure and adventurers; Arctic regions; Ocean; Voyages around the world
The seamen of all nations, it has, in effect, been said, resemble each the
other more than do the nations to which they belong. “As,” says a
well-known writer, “the sea receives and amalgamates the waters of all the
rivers which pour into it, so it tends to amalgamate the men who make its
waves their home.... The seaman from the United States is said to carry to
the forecastle a large stock of ‘equality and the rights of man,’ and to
be unpleasantly distinguished by the inbred disrespect for authority which
cleaves, perhaps inseparably, to a democrat who believes that he has
whipped mankind, and that it is his mission, at due intervals, to whip
them again. But, on board, he, too, tones down to the colour of blue
water, and is more a seaman than anything else.” The French sailor is
painted, by Landelle, as the embodiment of the same frolicsome
lightheartedness, carelessness of the future, abandonment to impulse, and
devotion to his captain, comrades, and ship, with which we are familiar in
the English sailor, on the stage. But although depicted as much more
polished than, it is to be feared, the average sailor could be in truth,
he finishes by saying: “Il est toujours prêt à céder le haut du pavé _à
tout autre qu’à un soldat_.” It would seem, then, that the French sailor
revenges the treatment of society on the soldiers of his country. Is there
not a similar feeling existing, perhaps to a more limited extent, between
the sailors and soldiers of our own country? It hardly, however, extends
to the officers of the “United Service.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account