{"id":"01KG8AKYJD18NPCQFDTZV3N75S","cid":"bafkreicfj263rl5oi4sfkp52t2hh5q6lqdrde73gifvht3wgrrz7stjygi","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":5397,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:14.838Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J1GP71YDJ60P8SRH97MF","start_line":5338,"text":"We had no watches to stand, a ship-keeper, hired from shore, relieving\r\nus from that; and all the while the men’s wages ran on, as at sea.\r\nSundays we had to ourselves.\r\n\r\nThus, it will be seen, that the life led by sailors of American ships\r\nin Liverpool, is an exceedingly easy one, and abounding in leisure.\r\nThey live ashore on the fat of the land; and after a little wholesome\r\nexercise in the morning, have the rest of the day to themselves.\r\n\r\nNevertheless, these Liverpool voyages, likewise those to London and\r\nHavre, are the least profitable that an improvident seaman can take.\r\nBecause, in New York he receives his month’s advance; in Liverpool,\r\nanother; both of which, in most cases, quickly disappear; so that by\r\nthe time his voyage terminates, he generally has but little coming to\r\nhim; sometimes not a cent. Whereas, upon a long voyage, say to India or\r\nChina, his wages accumulate; he has more inducements to economize, and\r\nfar fewer motives to extravagance; and when he is paid off at last, he\r\ngoes away jingling a quart measure of dollars.\r\n\r\nBesides, of all sea-ports in the world, Liverpool, perhaps, most\r\nabounds in all the variety of land-sharks, land-rats, and other vermin,\r\nwhich make the hapless mariner their prey. In the shape of landlords,\r\nbar-keepers, clothiers, crimps, and boarding-house loungers, the\r\nland-sharks devour him, limb by limb; while the land-rats and mice\r\nconstantly nibble at his purse.\r\n\r\nOther perils he runs, also, far worse; from the denizens of notorious\r\nCorinthian haunts in the vicinity of the docks, which in depravity are\r\nnot to be matched by any thing this side of the pit that is bottomless.\r\n\r\nAnd yet, sailors love this Liverpool; and upon long voyages to distant\r\nparts of the globe, will be continually dilating upon its charms and\r\nattractions, and extolling it above all other seaports in the world.\r\nFor in Liverpool they find their Paradise—not the well known street of\r\nthat name—and one of them told me he would be content to lie in\r\nPrince’s Dock till _he hove up anchor_ for the world to come.\r\n\r\nMuch is said of ameliorating the condition of sailors; but it must ever\r\nprove a most difficult endeavor, so long as the antidote is given\r\nbefore the bane is removed.\r\n\r\nConsider, that, with the majority of them, the very fact of their being\r\nsailors, argues a certain recklessness and sensualism of character,\r\nignorance, and depravity; consider that they are generally friendless\r\nand alone in the world; or if they have friends and relatives, they are\r\nalmost constantly beyond the reach of their good influences; consider\r\nthat after the rigorous discipline, hardships, dangers, and privations\r\nof a voyage, they are set adrift in a foreign port, and exposed to a\r\nthousand enticements, which, under the circumstances, would be hard\r\neven for virtue itself to withstand, unless virtue went about on\r\ncrutches; consider that by their very vocation they are shunned by the\r\nbetter classes of people, and cut off from all access to respectable\r\nand improving society; consider all this, and the reflecting mind must\r\nvery soon perceive that the case of sailors, as a class, is not a very\r\npromising one.\r\n\r\nIndeed, the bad things of their condition come under the head of those\r\nchronic evils which can only be ameliorated, it would seem, by\r\nameliorating the moral organization of all civilization.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJRM0AKT1HBDD19XJYXXB","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1GP71YDJ60P8SRH97MF","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKYJNBVP8GPJK2ATGJ16X","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AKYJNTS4YP2XXYPXSVN87","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:21.069Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:29.419Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}