‘Jack never despairs—see, his bosom ne’er quivers
Though hurricanes cause every timber to start;
The tempest may rend a proud vessel to shivers,
But nothing can conquer a firm British heart.’
“Waves may dash and lightnings flash, but Jack flinches not from his duty. Aloft, below, at the mast-head or in the cockpit, he endures dangers and pain, and stands by his gun in the roar of the battle!”
“A great deal may be said about soldiers and sailors?”
“Yes,—and they have generally a great deal to say about themselves: the one fighting his battles over again, and the other spinning his yarns about cruises and privateering, and cutting out ships, and the winds blowing great guns in the Bay of Biscay. Soldiers are soldiers everywhere, and sailors keep up their character for courage, whether on the sea or in harbour, in a storm or a calm, in a battle or a breeze.”
“What was it that made you list for a soldier?”
“A thoughtless prank, my lads. In my youthful days I was fond of reading of knights armed cap-à-piè, mounted on fiery steeds,—lance in the rest, helmet on the head, vambrace on the arm, cuirass on the breast, cuisses on the thighs, greaves on the legs, and sabatynes on the feet. I loved to read, too, of ancient arms, clubs and slings, bows and arrows, swords, falchions, javelins, maces, battle-axes and battering-rams; and the portable arms when gunpowder came into use,—hand-gun, arquebus, haquebut, wheel-lock, caliver, petronel, dag, dragon and hand-mortar;—and these things led me on to a soldier’s life.”
“Ay, ay! Like us, you wanted to know everything.”