Non-Fiction > Books > London, 1887 - Virginibus Puerisque, and other papers

1 84 The English Admirals
noisomeness, and injustice, above all when he
had not come there of his own free will, but
under the cutlasses and bludgeons of the
press-gang. But perhaps a watch on deck
in the sharp sea air put a man on his mettle
again ; a battle must have been a capital
relief ; and prize-money, bloodily earned and
grossly squandered, opened the doors of the
prison for a twinkling. Somehow or other,
at least, this worst of possible lives could not
overlie the spirit and gaiety of our sailors ;
they did their duty as though they had some
interest in the fortune of that country which
so cruelly oppressed them, they served their
guns merrily when it came to fighting, and
they had the readiest ear for a bold, honour-
able sentiment, of any class of men the world
ever produced.
Most men of high destinies have high-
sounding names. Pym and Habakkuk may
do pretty well, but they must not think to
cope with the Cromwells and Isaiahs. And
you could not find a better case in point
than that of the English Admirals. Drake