{"id":"01KG8AMETCYMTSXGVBQ641152F","cid":"bafkreidz6ku4x7jmqsyyj2gc4ukfv4ijhejoaiwh4n3i7ohedcbwnxzrwq","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":8086,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.274Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":8039,"text":"It is no pleasing task, nor a thankful one, to dive into the souls of\r\nsome men; but there are occasions when, to bring up the mud from the\r\nbottom, reveals to us on what soundings we are, on what coast we\r\nadjoin.\r\n\r\nHow were these officers to gain glory? How but by a distinguished\r\nslaughtering of their fellow-men. How were they to be promoted? How but\r\nover the buried heads of killed comrades and mess-mates.\r\n\r\nThis hostile contrast between the feelings with which the common seamen\r\nand the officers of the Neversink looked forward to this more than\r\npossible war, is one of many instances that might be quoted to show the\r\nantagonism of their interests, the incurable antagonism in which they\r\ndwell. But can men, whose interests are diverse, ever hope to live\r\ntogether in a harmony uncoerced? Can the brotherhood of the race of\r\nmankind ever hope to prevail in a man-of-war, where one man’s bane is\r\nalmost another’s blessing? By abolishing the scourge, shall we do away\r\ntyranny; _that_ tyranny which must ever prevail, where of two\r\nessentially antagonistic classes in perpetual contact, one is\r\nimmeasurably the stronger? Surely it seems all but impossible. And as\r\nthe very object of a man-of-war, as its name implies, is to fight the\r\nvery battles so naturally averse to the seamen; so long as a man-of-war\r\nexists, it must ever remain a picture of much that is tyrannical and\r\nrepelling in human nature.\r\n\r\nBeing an establishment much more extensive than the American Navy, the\r\nEnglish armed marine furnishes a yet more striking example of this\r\nthing, especially as the existence of war produces so vast an\r\naugmentation of her naval force compared with what it is in time of\r\npeace. It is well known what joy the news of Bonaparte’s sudden return\r\nfrom Elba created among crowds of British naval officers, who had\r\npreviously been expecting to be sent ashore on half-pay. Thus, when all\r\nthe world wailed, these officers found occasion for thanksgiving. I\r\nurge it not against them as men—their feelings belonged to their\r\nprofession. Had they not been naval officers, they had not been\r\nrejoicers in the midst of despair.\r\n\r\nWhen shall the time come, how much longer will God postpone it, when\r\nthe clouds, which at times gather over the horizons of nations, shall\r\nnot be hailed by any class of humanity, and invoked to burst as a bomb?\r\nStanding navies, as well as standing armies, serve to keep alive the\r\nspirit of war even in the meek heart of peace. In its very embers and\r\nsmoulderings, they nourish that fatal fire, and half-pay officers, as\r\nthe priests of Mars, yet guard the temple, though no god be there.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJS32NFQ1HHTK2EEJVN9E","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AMETCF66J1SW1QF02RHYD","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:37.708Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:49.212Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}