One stroke of his Almighty rod
Shall send young sinners quick to hell.
In the sailor’s philosophy all is harmony; but Watts finds discord where other men find none. Jack does not believe that ‘dogs delight to bark and bite,’ nor that ‘God hath made them so.’ A pat on the head from a master’s hand is the supreme delight of the ever-faithful dog. And if ‘bears and lions growl and fight,’ it is not that ‘it is their nature to;’ any more, at least, than it is the nature of man. It was Nelson who told the young midshipman, as part of his duties, to ‘hate a Frenchman like the devil!’ Dibdin only allowed such feeling in the heat and fury of battle:—
’Tis a furious lion in battle, so let it!
But, fury appeased, ’tis in mercy a lamb!
Watts is always readiest with unpleasant figures. Ordinary parents forgive lovingly the faults of children, but Watts tells each little angelic rebel that—
The ravens shall pick out their eyes,
And eagles eat the same!
Moreover, Watts forgets grace, occasionally, for chance, as in the couplet:—