{"id":"01KG8AME6YF6RQ7S0CNAZ9YY84","cid":"bafkreignjy6c7de3bdskltw7ffufmhvrvesisqhpcwgmo7fva7jfrpbn2q","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":7354,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.274Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 8","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":7319,"text":"stated now that, for the very brief period elapsing between his\r\nrestoration and being paid off in port by the Purser, the\r\nmaster-at-arms conducted himself with infinite discretion, artfully\r\nsteering between any relaxation of discipline—which would have awakened\r\nthe displeasure of the officers—and any unwise severity—which would\r\nhave revived, in tenfold force, all the old grudges of the seamen under\r\nhis command.\r\n\r\nNever did he show so much talent and tact as when vibrating in this his\r\nmost delicate predicament; and plenty of cause was there for the\r\nexercise of his cunningest abilities; for, upon the discharge of our\r\nman-of-war’s-men at home, should he _then_ be held by them as an enemy,\r\nas free and independent citizens they would waylay him in the public\r\nstreets, and take purple vengeance for all his iniquities, past,\r\npresent, and possible in the future. More than once a master-at-arms\r\nashore has been seized by night by an exasperated crew, and served as\r\nOrigen served himself, or as his enemies served Abelard.\r\n\r\nBut though, under extreme provocation, _the people_ of a man-of-war\r\nhave been guilty of the maddest vengeance, yet, at other times, they\r\nare very placable and milky-hearted, even to those who may have\r\noutrageously abused them; many things in point might be related, but I\r\nforbear.\r\n\r\nThis account of the master-at-arms cannot better be concluded than by\r\ndenominating him, in the vivid language of the Captain of the Fore-top,\r\nas “_the two ends and middle of the thrice-laid strand of a bloody\r\nrascal_,” which was intended for a terse, well-knit, and\r\nall-comprehensive assertion, without omission or reservation. It was\r\nalso asserted that, had Tophet itself been raked with a fine-tooth\r\ncomb, such another ineffable villain could not by any possibility have\r\nbeen caught.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 8"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJS32V8KWVR1XVNNS595G","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AME6YQBCBY7PMTGMR9BRT","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:37.086Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:48.644Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}