A SAILOR'S FORTUNE - ESSAY III

Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit

by Samuel T. Coleridge

A SAILOR'S FORTUNE - ESSAY III, CONFESSIONS OF AN INQUIRING SPIRIT by Samuel T. Coleridge
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Si partem tacuisse velim, quodeumque relinquam,
Majus erit. Veteres actus, primamque juventam
Prosequar? Ad sese mentem praesentia ducunt.
Narrem justitiam? Resplendet gloria Martis.
Armati referam vires? Plus egit inermis.
CLAUDIAN DE LAUD. STIL.

(Translations.)--If I desire to pass over a part in silence, whatever
I omit will seem the most worthy to have been recorded. Shall I
pursue his old exploits and early youth? His recent merits recall
the mind to themselves. Shall I dwelt on his justice? The glory of
the warrior rises before me resplendent. Shall I relate his strength
in arms? He performed yet greater things unarmed.

"There is something," says Harrington, in the Preliminaries to the
Oceana, "first in the making of a commonwealth, then in the governing
of it, and last of all in the leading of its armies, which though
there be great divines, great lawyers, great men in all ranks of
life, seems to be peculiar only to the genius of a gentleman. For so
it is in the universal series of history, that if any man has founded
a commonwealth, he was first a gentleman." Such also, he adds, as
have got any fame as civil governors, have been gentlemen, or persons
of known descents. Sir Alexander Ball was a gentleman by birth; a
younger brother of an old and respectable family in Gloucestershire.
He went into the navy at an early age from his own choice, and, as he
himself told me, in consequence of the deep impression and vivid
images left on his mind by the perusal of "Robinson Crusoe." It is
not my intention to detail the steps of his promotion, or the
services in which he was engaged as a subaltern. I recollect many
particulars indeed, but not the dates, with such distinctness as
would enable me to state them (as it would be necessary to do if I
stated them at all) in the order of time. These dates might perhaps
have been procured from the metropolis; but incidents that are
neither characteristic nor instructive, even such as would be
expected with reason in a regular life, are no part of my plan; while
those which are both interesting and illustrative I have been
precluded from mentioning, some from motives which have been already
explained, and others from still higher considerations. The most
important of these may be deduced from a reflection with which he
himself once concluded a long and affecting narration: namely, that
no body of men can for any length of time be safely treated otherwise
than as rational beings; and that, therefore, the education of the
lower classes was of the utmost consequence to the permanent security
of the empire, even for the sake of our navy. The dangers,
apprehended from the education of the lower classes, arose (he said)
entirely from its not being universal, and from the unusualness in
the lowest classes of those accomplishments which he, like Dr. Bell,
regarded as one of the means of education, and not as education
itself. If, he observed, the lower classes in general possessed but
one eye or one arm, the few who were so fortunate as to possess two
would naturally become vain and restless, and consider themselves as
entitled to a higher situation. He illustrated this by the faults
attributed to learned women, and that the same objections were
formerly made to educating women at all; namely, that their knowledge
made them vain, affected, and neglectful of their proper duties. Now
that all women of condition are well educated, we hear no more of
these apprehensions, or observe any instances to justify them. Yet
if a lady understood the Greek one-tenth part as well as the whole
circle of her acquaintances understood the French language, it would
not surprise us to find her less pleasing from the consciousness of
her superiority in the possession of an unusual advantage. Sir
Alexander Ball quoted the speech of an old admiral, one of whose two
great wishes was to have a ship's crew composed altogether of serious
Scotchmen. He spoke with great reprobation of the vulgar notion, the
worse man the better sailor. Courage, he said, was the natural
product of familiarity with danger, which thoughtlessness would
oftentimes turn into fool-hardiness; and that he always found the
most usefully brave sailors the gravest and most rational of his
crew. The best sailor he had ever had, first attracted his notice by
the anxiety which he expressed concerning the means of remitting some
money, which he had received in the West Indies, to his sister in
England; and this man, without any tinge of Methodism, was never
heard to swear an oath, and was remarkable for the firmness with
which he devoted a part of every Sunday to the reading of his Bible.
I record this with satisfaction as a testimony of great weight, and
in all respects unexceptionable; for Sir Alexander Ball's opinions
throughout life remained unwarped by zealotry, and were those of a
mind seeking after truth, in calmness and complete self-possession.
He was much pleased with an unsuspicious testimony furnished by
Dampier (vol. ii. part 2, page 89): "I have particularly observed,"
writes this famous old navigator, "there and in other places, that
such as had been well-bred were generally most careful to improve
their time, and would be very industrious and frugal where there was
any probability of considerable gain; but on the contrary, such as
had been bred up in ignorance and hard labour, when they came to have
plenty would extravagantly squander away their time and money in
drinking and making a bluster." Indeed it is a melancholy proof how
strangely power warps the minds of ordinary men, that there can be a
doubt on this subject among persons who have been themselves
educated. It tempts a suspicion that, unknown to themselves, they
find a comfort in the thought, that their inferiors are something
less than men; or that they have an uneasy half-consciousness that,
if this were not the case, they would themselves have no claim to be
their superiors. For a sober education naturally inspires self-
respect. But he who respects himself will respect others; and he who
respects both himself and others, must of necessity be a brave man.
The great importance of this subject, and the increasing interest
which good men of all denominations feel in the bringing about of a
national education, must be my excuse for having entered so minutely
into Sir Alexander Ball's opinions on this head, in which, however, I
am the more excusable, being now on that part of his life which I am
obliged to leave almost a blank.

During his lieutenancy, and after he had perfected himself in the
knowledge and duties of a practical sailor, he was compelled by the
state of his health to remain in England for a considerable length of
time. Of this he industriously availed himself to the acquirement of
substantial knowledge from books; and during his whole life
afterwards, he considered those as his happiest hours, which, without
any neglect of official or professional duty, he could devote to
reading. He preferred, indeed he almost confined himself to,
history, political economy, voyages and travels, natural history, and
latterly agricultural works; in short, to such books as contain
specific facts or practical principles capable of specific
application. His active life, and the particular objects of
immediate utility, some one of which he had always in his view,
precluded a taste for works of pure speculation and abstract science,
though he highly honoured those who were eminent in these respects,
and considered them as the benefactors of mankind, no less than those
who afterwards discovered the mode of applying their principles, or
who realised them in practice. Works of amusement, as novels, plays,
etc., did not appear even to amuse him; and the only poetical
composition of which I have ever heard him speak, was a manuscript
poem written by one of my friends, which I read to his lady in his
presence. To my surprise he afterwards spoke of this with warm
interest; but it was evident to me that it was not so much the poetic
merit of the composition that had interested him, as the truth and
psychological insight with which it represented the practicability of
reforming the most hardened minds, and the various accidents which
may awaken the most brutalised person to a recognition of his nobler
being. I will add one remark of his own knowledge acquired from
books, which appears to me both just and valuable. The prejudice
against such knowledge, he said, and the custom of opposing it to
that which is learnt by practice, originated in those times when
books were almost confined to theology, and to logical and
metaphysical subtleties; but that at present there is scarcely any
practical knowledge which is not to be found in books. The press is
the means by which intelligent men now converse with each other, and
persons of all classes and all pursuits convey each the contribution
of his individual experience. It was, therefore, he said, as absurd
to hold book-knowledge at present in contempt, as it would be for a
man to avail himself only of his own eyes and ears, and to aim at
nothing which could not be performed exclusively by his own arms.
The use and necessity of personal experience consisted in the power
of choosing and applying what had been read, and of discriminating by
the light of analogy the practicable from the impracticable, and
probability from mere plausibility. Without a judgment matured and
steadied by actual experience, a man would read to little or perhaps
to bad purpose; but yet that experience, which in exclusion of all
other knowledge has been derived from one man's life, is in the
present day scarcely worthy of the name--at least for those who are
to act in the higher and wider spheres of duty. An ignorant general,
he said, inspired him with terror; for if he were too proud to take
advice he would ruin himself by his own blunders, and if he--were
not, by adopting the worst that was offered. A great genius may
indeed form an exception, but we do not lay down rules in expectation
of wonders. A similar remark I remember to have heard from a gallant
officer, who to eminence in professional science and the gallantry of
a tried soldier, adds all the accomplishments of a sound scholar and
the powers of a man of genius.

One incident, which happened at this period of Sir Alexander's life,
is so illustrative of his character, and furnishes so strong a
presumption, that the thoughtful humanity by which he was
distinguished was not wholly the growth of his latter years, that,
though it may appear to some trifling in itself, I will insert it in
this place with the occasion on which it was communicated to me. In
a large party at the Grand Master's palace, I had observed a naval
officer of distinguished merit listening to Sir Alexander Ball,
whenever he joined in the conversation, with so marked a pleasure
that it seemed as if his very voice, independent of what he said, had
been delightful to him; and once, as he fixed his eyes on Sir
Alexander Ball, I could not but notice the mixed expressions of awe
and affection, which gave a more than common interest to so manly a
countenance. During his stay in the island, this officer honoured me
not unfrequently with his visits; and at the conclusion of my last
conversation with him, in which I had dwelt on the wisdom of the
Governor's conduct in a recent and difficult emergency, he told me
that he considered himself as indebted to the same excellent person
for that which was dearer to him than his life. "Sir Alexander
Ball," said he, "has, I dare say, forgotten the circumstance; but
when he was Lieutenant Ball, he was the officer whom I accompanied in
my first boat expedition, being then a midshipman and only in my
fourteenth year. As we were rowing up to the vessel which we were to
attack, amid a discharge of musketry, I was overpowered by fear, my
knees trembled under me, and I seemed on the point of fainting away.
Lieutenant Ball, who saw the condition I was in, placed himself close
beside me, and still keeping his countenance directed toward the
enemy, took hold of my hand, and pressing it in the most friendly
manner, said in a low voice, 'Courage, my dear boy! don't be afraid
of yourself! you will recover in a minute or so. I was just the same
when I first went out in this way.' Sir," added the officer to me,
"it was as if an angel had put a new soul into me. With the feeling
that I was not yet dishonoured, the whole burden of agony was
removed, and from that moment I was as fearless and forward as the
oldest of the boat's crew, and on our return the lieutenant spoke
highly of me to our captain. I am scarcely less convinced of my own
being than that I should have been what I tremble to think of, if,
instead of his humane encouragement, he had at that moment scoffed,
threatened, or reviled me. And this was the more kind in him,
because, as I afterwards understood, his own conduct in his first
trial had evinced to all appearances the greatest fearlessness, and
that he said this, therefore, only to give me heart and restore me to
my own good opinion."

This anecdote, I trust, will have some weight with those who may have
lent an ear to any of those vague calumnies from which no naval
commander can secure his good name, who knowing the paramount
necessity of regularity and strict discipline in a ship of war,
adopts an appropriate plan for the attainment of these objects, and
remains constant and immutable in the execution. To an Athenian,
who, in praising a public functionary, had said, that every one
either applauded him or left him without censure, a philosopher
replied, "How seldom then must he have done his duty!"

Of Sir Alexander Ball's character, as Captain Ball, of his measures
as a disciplinarian, and of the wise and dignified principle on which
he grounded those measures, I have already spoken in a former part of
this work, and must content myself therefore with entreating the
reader to re-peruse that passage as belonging to this place, and as a
part of the present narration. Ah! little did I expect at the time I
wrote that account, that the motives of delicacy, which then impelled
me to withhold the name, would so soon be exchanged for the higher
duty which now justifies me in adding it! At the thought of such
events the language of a tender superstition is the voice of nature
itself, and those facts alone presenting themselves to our memory
which had left an impression on our hearts, we assent to, and adopt
the poet's pathetic complaint:-


O sir! the good die first,
And those whose hearts are dry as summer dust
Burn to the socket.
WORDSWORTH.


Thus the humane plan described in the pages now referred to, that a
system in pursuance of which the captain of a man-of-war uniformly
regarded his sentences not as dependent on his own will, or to be
affected by the state of his feelings at the moment, but as the pre-
established determinations of known laws, and himself as the voice of
the law in pronouncing the sentence, and its delegate in enforcing
the execution, could not but furnish occasional food to the spirit of
detraction, must be evident to every reflecting mind. It is indeed
little less than impossible, that he, who in order to be effectively
humane determines to be inflexibly just, and who is inexorable to his
own feelings when they would interrupt the course of justice; who
looks at each particular act by the light of all its consequences,
and as the representative of ultimate good or evil; should not
sometimes be charged with tyranny by weak minds. And it is too
certain that the calumny will be willingly believed and eagerly
propagated by all those who would shun the presence of an eye keen in
the detection of imposture, incapacity, and misconduct, and of a
resolution as steady in their exposure. We soon hate the man whose
qualities we dread, and thus have a double interest, an interest of
passion as well as of policy, in decrying and defaming him. But good
men will rest satisfied with the promise made to them by the Divine
Comforter, that by her children shall Wisdom be justified.