The book has never been reprinted before since its original appearance (1843.)
Editor.
—The late Rear Admiral S. R. Franklin (Memories of a Rear Admiral, 1898), who was midshipman on the United States when Herman Melville was of the crew, says Captain Claret was Captain James Armstrong, and the Commodore Thomas Ap Catesby Jones. He adds: “Melville’s White Jacket had more influence in abolishing corporal punishment in the Navy than anything else. A copy of it was placed on the desk of every member of Congress, and was a most eloquent appeal to the humane sentiment of the country.”
A VOICE FROM THE MAIN DECK
CHAPTER I
Were it not that the most common of all inquiries, respecting every man who comes before the public, is, “who is he? whence did he proceed? who were his parents?” &c., I would not detain the reader with any account of my humble ancestors and their circumstances. But, since men naturally expect this information, and would hence consider my narrative imperfect without it, I shall take the liberty to introduce them.
My father’s occupation was that of valet de chambre to Lord William Fitzroy, son of the Duke of Grafton. My recollections concerning him are few and indistinct, as he died while I was yet scarcely three years old. One little incident alone reminds me of wearing a mourning dress as a memento of sorrow for his death. Returning from the parish church in Walthamstow, I observed the larger boys amusing themselves by swinging across the rails of the fences; endeavoring to join in their amusement, my hands slipped, and falling into a muddy ditch, I nearly finished my course, ere it was well begun, by a violent death. A benevolent stranger, however, rescued me, and once safe, my grief for the sad condition of my little black frock was excessive and inconsolable. A trifling cause for sorrow, to be sure, yet men and women often grieve for causes equally contemptible.
Although my personal remembrances of my father’s death are so indistinct, yet the frequent mention made of him by my mother, has left the pleasing impression on my mind that he died a Christian. “I have thought of my numerous sins, but God has forgiven them all. Be not troubled, for the Lord will provide for you and your children. You need not fear to leave me, for I am not alone; God is with me, though you are out of the room,” were among his dying expressions; when, after fourteen months endurance of the pains which accompany a slow consumption, he approached “that bourne from which no traveller returns.” I expect to find my honored father in heaven.