{"id":"01KG8AMDK91H7G777M7GFHXHE9","cid":"bafkreiemag6ih3ohminx6ujbzhandvpq6m26grw3syl4sg4tjzawqvgbv4","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":12461,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.278Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":12397,"text":"chapels, alcoves, niches, and altars, where you lazily lounge—outside\r\nof the ship, though on board. But there are plenty to divide a good\r\nthing with you in this man-of-war world. Often, when snugly seated in\r\none of these little alcoves, gazing off to the horizon, and thinking of\r\nCathay, I have been startled from my repose by some old quarter-gunner,\r\nwho, having newly painted a parcel of match-tubs, wanted to set them to\r\ndry.\r\n\r\nAt other times, one of the tattooing artists would crawl over the\r\nbulwarks, followed by his sitter; and then a bare arm or leg would be\r\nextended, and the disagreeable business of “_pricking_” commence, right\r\nunder my eyes; or an irruption of tars, with ditty-bags or\r\nsea-reticules, and piles of old trowsers to mend, would break in upon\r\nmy seclusion, and, forming a sewing-circle, drive me off with their\r\nchatter.\r\n\r\nBut once—it was a Sunday afternoon—I was pleasantly reclining in a\r\nparticularly shady and secluded little niche between two lanyards, when\r\nI heard a low, supplicating voice. Peeping through the narrow space\r\nbetween the ropes, I perceived an aged seaman on his knees, his face\r\nturned seaward, with closed eyes, buried in prayer. Softly rising, I\r\nstole through a port-hole, and left the venerable worshipper alone.\r\n\r\nHe was a sheet-anchor-man, an earnest Baptist, and was well known, in\r\nhis own part of the ship, to be constant in his solitary devotions in\r\nthe _chains_. He reminded me of St. Anthony going out into the\r\nwilderness to pray.\r\n\r\nThis man was captain of the starboard bow-chaser, one of the two long\r\ntwenty-four-pounders on the forecastle. In time of action, the command\r\nof that iron Thalaba the Destroyer would devolve upon _him_. It would\r\nbe his business to “train” it properly; to see it well loaded; the\r\ngrape and cannister rammed home; also, to “prick the cartridge,” “take\r\nthe sight,” and give the word for the match-man to apply his wand;\r\nbidding a sudden hell to flash forth from the muzzle, in wide\r\ncombustion and death.\r\n\r\nNow, this captain of the bow-chaser was an upright old man, a sincere,\r\nhumble believer, and he but earned his bread in being captain of that\r\ngun; but how, with those hands of his begrimed with powder, could he\r\nbreak that _other_ and most peaceful and penitent bread of the Supper?\r\nthough in that hallowed sacrament, it seemed, he had often partaken\r\nashore. The omission of this rite in a man-of-war—though there is a\r\nchaplain to preside over it, and at least a few communicants to\r\npartake—must be ascribed to a sense of religious propriety, in the last\r\ndegree to be commended.\r\n\r\nAh! the best righteousness of our man-of-war world seems but an\r\nunrealised ideal, after all; and those maxims which, in the hope of\r\nbringing about a Millennium, we busily teach to the heathen, we\r\nChristians ourselves disregard. In view of the whole present social\r\nframe-work of our world, so ill adapted to the practical adoption of\r\nthe meekness of Christianity, there seems almost some ground for the\r\nthought, that although our blessed Saviour was full of the wisdom of\r\nheaven, yet his gospel seems lacking in the practical wisdom of\r\nearth—in a due appreciation of the necessities of nations at times\r\ndemanding bloody massacres and wars; in a proper estimation of the\r\nvalue of rank, title, and money. But all this only the more crowns the\r\ndivine consistency of Jesus; since Burnet and the best theologians\r\ndemonstrate, that his nature was not merely human—was not that of a\r\nmere man of the world.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AKWJQE0XQ0YAFC61CCEGJ","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AMDK93VZ6Q8XACF9GX6V8","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.457Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:54.251Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}