392 
Hints on the Larressmrnt and Treat- 
MENT. of SEAMEN. 
(Continued from p. 211.) 
T cannot be either the fear of winds, 
or of waves, nor yet of the enemy; for 
the dangers of the former are still more 
imminent and threatening in the mer- 
chant ships—and it is hardly necessary 
to say, that the latter is unthought of: 
—hbesides, the marines have no diffi- 
culty in recruiting, and are even pre- 
ferred to the Line. Neither is it alto- 
gether the discipline ; for that applies 
equally to the marines ; and its severity, 
if impartially considered, is perhaps 
greater in that corps and in the regulars 
than the navy; but it is there carried 
on with infinitely more form, with a 
more visible appearance of justice, if 
not with more real equity than in the 
latter service: because, however re- 
volting corporal punishment may be to 
the natural disposition and feelings of 
a captain of a man-of-war; however 
anxious he may be to dispense strict 
and impartial justice; let him be ever 
so much convinced of the rectitude of 
his intentions, of the purity of his mo- 
tives, or the necessity of his acts; he is 
still a human being, subject to error, 
passion and partialities, and, conse- 
quently, in his weaker moments, liable 
to let the warmth of his own feelings 
warp and bias his cooler judgment—and 
the more so if he feels his motives to 
be good and his ends useful. It requires 
no common exertion of mind to bear 
contradiction and crossing; to see 
plans, undertaken with the purest in- 
tentions, and leading to the best re- 
sults, thwarted; to find orders, issued 
for the general good, unheeded, or lan- 
guidly obeyed; to observe a favourite 
scheme, the object of much labour and 
anxiety, confused and disordered by 
some unpardonable neglect: and all 
this when power is in his hands, and 
punishment follows his nod. 
Experience dictates what is here said; 
and an appeal is made to any and every 
officer, who has commanded a man-of- 
war, candidly to declare whether, on a 
cool review of his own conduct, he has 
not been sometimes forced to acknow- 
ledge that the feelings of the moment 
have, at times, materially influenced his 
decisionin the infliction of punishment— 
unconsciously, perhaps, at the moment, 
but even on that account the more dan- 
gerous; and though many officers lay 
it down as a rule never to punish until 
twenty-four hours after a crime has been 
committed ; still so salutary a regulation 
On the Impressment of Seamen. 
(Dec. 1, 
does not always protect a man from the 
effects of his own passions and weak- 
nesses. 
In the army, an investigation on oath 
invariably takes place previous to sen- 
tence being passed on an_ offender. 
Whether it really diminishesthe amount 
of punishment is not here of conse- 
quence: it is sufficient that the mind is 
soothed by the forms and appearance 
of justice—for let a man feel himself 
ever so guilty, he still likes to give his 
officers the trouble of proving him so; 
the crime, moreover, is made apparent 
to his companions, and the murmurs of 
secret discontent are dispersed by the 
publicity of the inquiry and clearness 
of the proof. 
The natural desire of bettering our 
condition by honest industry, is the in- 
ducement to a seafaring life in common 
with all other professions: and this is, 
of course, equally applicable to the king’s 
andthe merchant-service. In time of war, 
the flattering, but often delusive hope 
of prize money,—the natural desire of 
glory,—the personal spirit of enterprize, 
so conspicuous throughout our mari- 
time districts,—together with the pro- 
spect of a pension, after a fixed period 
of service, are additional incentives to 
enter the royal navy: in peace most of 
these lose their force, or, indeed, no 
longer exist, and, consequently, the two 
services are more nearly on a par, while 
the prospective advantages are rather in 
favour of that of the merchant. There 
a man may, with well-grounded hope, 
look forward to be mate, master, and, 
eventually, even part-owner of the ves- 
sel in which he embarks; but except- 
ing this, he has nothing to which he 
may look forward beyond his present 
contract; these, however, are no trifling 
inducements, and naturally attach the 
steadiest and best seamen to that ser- 
vice in which their fair and honest ex- 
pectations have the best and earliest 
chance of consummation, unless pre- 
maturely blighted by their own mis- 
conduct. 
Let us now take a comparative view 
of the advantages and disadvantages 
accompanying the two services, di- 
vested of those fears and prejudices 
that may be supposed likely to obscure 
the judgment of persons exclusively 
attached to either, and, by this exami- 
nation, endeavour to ascertain which 
holds forth the most rational and se- 
cure prospects of ease, independence, 
and ultimate wealth ; in short, to which 
of them belong the most probable 
means 
