第38章 THE VOYAGE(26)

He was not yet old enough to be past all sense of pleasure,nor so puffed up with the pride of his good fortune as to overlook his old acquaintances the journeymen tailors,from among whom he had been formerly pressed into the sea-service,and,having there laid the foundation of his future success by his shares in prizes,had afterwards become captain of a trading vessel,in which he purchased an interest,and had soon begun to trade in the honorable manner above mentioned.The captain now took up his residence at an ale-house in Drury-lane,where,having all his money by him in a trunk,he spent about five pounds a day among his old friends the gentlemen and ladies of those parts.

The merchant of Liverpool,having luckily had notice from a friend during the blaze of his fortune,did,by the assistance of a justice of peace,without the assistance of the law,recover his whole loss.The captain,however,wisely chose to refund no more;but,perceiving with what hasty strides Envy was pursuing his fortune,he took speedy means to retire out of her reach,and to enjoy the rest of his wealth in an inglorious obscurity;nor could the same justice overtake him time enough to assist a second merchant as he had done the first.

This was a very extraordinary case,and the more so as the ingenious gentleman had steered entirely clear of all crimes in our law.Now,how it comes about that a robbery so very easy to be committed,and to which there is such immediate temptation always before the eyes of these fellows,should receive the encouragement of impunity,is to be accounted for only from the oversight of the legislature,as that oversight can only be,I think,derived from the reasons I have assigned for it.

But I will dwell no longer on this subject.If what I have here said should seem of sufficient consequence to engage the attention of any man in power,and should thus be the means of applying any remedy to the most inveterate evils,at least,Ihave obtained my whole desire,and shall have lain so long wind-bound in the ports of this kingdom to some purpose.I would,indeed,have this work--which,if I should live to finish it,a matter of no great certainty,if indeed of any great hope to me,will be probably the last I shall ever undertake--to produce some better end than the mere diversion of the reader.

Monday.--This day our captain went ashore,to dine with a gentleman who lives in these parts,and who so exactly resembles the character given by Homer of Axylus,that the only difference I can trace between them is,the one,living by the highway,erected his hospitality chiefly in favor of land-travelers;and the other,living by the water-side,gratified his humanity by accommodating the wants of the mariner.

In the evening our commander received a visit from a brother bashaw,who lay wind-bound in the same harbor.This latter captain was a Swiss.He was then master of a vessel bound to Guinea,and had formerly been a privateering,when our own hero was employed in the same laudable service.The honesty and freedom of the Switzer,his vivacity,in which he was in no respect inferior to his near neighbors the French,the awkward and affected politeness,which was likewise of French extraction,mixed with the brutal roughness of the English tar--for he had served under the colors of this nation and his crew had been of the same--made such an odd variety,such a hotch-potch of character,that I should have been much diverted with him,had not his voice,which was as loud as a speaking-trumpet,unfortunately made my head ache.The noise which he conveyed into the deaf ears of his brother captain,who sat on one side of him,the soft addresses with which,mixed with awkward bows,he saluted the ladies on the other,were so agreeably contrasted,that a man must not only have been void of all taste of humor,and insensible of mirth,but duller than Cibber is represented in the Dunciad,who could be unentertained with him a little while;for,I confess,such entertainments should always be very short,as they are very liable to pall.But he suffered not this to happen at present;for,having given us his company a quarter of an hour only,he retired,after many apologies for the shortness of his visit.

Tuesday.--The wind being less boisterous than it had hitherto been since our arrival here,several fishing-boats,which the tempestuous weather yesterday had prevented from working,came on board us with fish.This was so fresh,so good in kind,and so very cheap,that we supplied ourselves in great numbers,among which were very large soles at fourpence a pair,and whitings of almost a preposterous size at ninepence a score.The only fish which bore any price was a john doree,as it is called.I bought one of at least four pounds weight for as many shillings.It resembles a turbot in shape,but exceeds it in firmness and flavor.The price had the appearance of being considerable when opposed to the extraordinary cheapness of others of value,but was,in truth,so very reasonable when estimated by its goodness,that it left me under no other surprise than how the gentlemen of this country,not greatly eminent for the delicacy of their taste,had discovered the preference of the doree to all other fish:but I was informed that Mr.Quin,whose distinguishing tooth hath been so justly celebrated,had lately visited Plymouth,and had done those honors to the doree which are so justly due to it from that sect of modern philosophers who,with Sir Epicure Mammon,or Sir Epicure Quin,their head,seem more to delight in a fish-pond than in a garden,as the old Epicureans are said to have done.