{"id":"01KG8AMFZ3RWW7KBJ2D87M9B44","cid":"bafkreifcmthkevvqasnl5lgfxhnosainwgxiegpmiuib4qdworkui6o4vm","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":14661,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.278Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 6","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":14619,"text":"to have a sufficiency of mortals at hand to “sink, burn and destroy;” a\r\nman-of-war, through her vices, hopelessly depraving the volunteer\r\nlandsmen and ordinary seamen of good habits, who occasionally\r\nenlist—must feed at the public cost a multitude of persons, who, if\r\nthey did not find a home in the Navy, would probably fall on the\r\nparish, or linger out their days in a prison.\r\n\r\nAmong others, these are the men into whose mouths Dibdin puts his\r\npatriotic verses, full of sea-chivalry and romance. With an exception\r\nin the last line, they might be sung with equal propriety by both\r\nEnglish and American man-of-war’s-men.\r\n\r\n     “As for me, in all weathers, all times, tides, and ends,\r\n          Naught’s a trouble from duty that springs;\r\n      For my heart is my Poll’s, and my rhino’s my friends,\r\n          And as for my life, it’s the king’s.\r\n\r\n\r\n      To rancour unknown, to no passion a slave,\r\n          Nor unmanly, nor mean, nor a railer,” etc.\r\n\r\n\r\nI do not unite with a high critical authority in considering Dibdin’s\r\nditties as “slang songs,” for most of them breathe the very poetry of\r\nthe ocean. But it is remarkable that those songs—which would lead one\r\nto think that man-of-war’s-men are the most care-free, contented,\r\nvirtuous, and patriotic of mankind—were composed at a time when the\r\nEnglish Navy was principally manned by felons and paupers, as mentioned\r\nin a former chapter. Still more, these songs are pervaded by a true\r\nMohammedan sensualism; a reckless acquiescence in fate, and an\r\nimplicit, unquestioning, dog-like devotion to whoever may be lord and\r\nmaster. Dibdin was a man of genius; but no wonder Dibdin was a\r\ngovernment pensioner at £200 per annum.\r\n\r\nBut notwithstanding the iniquities of a man-of-war, men are to be found\r\nin them, at times, so used to a hard life; so drilled and disciplined\r\nto servitude, that, with an incomprehensible philosophy, they seem\r\ncheerfully to resign themselves to their fate. They have plenty to eat;\r\nspirits to drink; clothing to keep them warm; a hammock to sleep in;\r\ntobacco to chew; a doctor to medicine them; a parson to pray for them;\r\nand, to a penniless castaway, must not all this seem as a luxurious\r\nBill of Fare?\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 6"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJVX0EHKR6PT0YQ81325T","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AMFYYBP1BMTEX4WA20S04","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AMFZ39X3W4GW5JER1HWTV","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:38.883Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:56.650Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}