{"id":"01KG8AMH2QHGG1A0XYQR3X7SC5","cid":"bafkreiacz2szj2tkn3ykdcbno4qe6ujd2tggjeqvhk3tbr3tofhtl3s6ra","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":4415,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.270Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":4363,"text":"constantly demanding a cool head and steady nerves, and the misfortune\r\nof filling a post that does _not_ at all times demand these qualities.\r\nSo exact and methodical in most things was the discipline of the\r\nfrigate, that, to a certain extent, Captain Claret was exempted from\r\npersonal interposition in many of its current events, and thereby,\r\nperhaps, was he lulled into security, under the enticing lee of his\r\ndecanter.\r\n\r\nBut as for Mad Jack, he must stand his regular watches, and pace the\r\nquarter-deck at night, and keep a sharp eye to windward. Hence, at sea,\r\nMad Jack tried to make a point of keeping sober, though in very fine\r\nweather he was sometimes betrayed into a glass too many. But with Cape\r\nHorn before him, he took the temperance pledge outright, till that\r\nperilous promontory should be far astern.\r\n\r\nThe leading incident of the gale irresistibly invites the question, Are\r\nthere incompetent officers in the American navy?—that is, incompetent\r\nto the due performance of whatever duties may devolve upon them. But in\r\nthat gallant marine, which, during the late war, gained so much of what\r\nis called _glory_, can there possibly be to-day incompetent officers?\r\n\r\nAs in the camp ashore, so on the quarter-deck at sea—the trumpets of\r\none victory drown the muffled drums of a thousand defeats. And, in\r\ndegree, this holds true of those events of war which are neuter in\r\ntheir character, neither making renown nor disgrace. Besides, as a long\r\narray of ciphers, led by but one solitary numeral, swell, by mere force\r\nof aggregation, into an immense arithmetical sum, even so, in some\r\nbrilliant actions, do a crowd of officers, each inefficient in himself,\r\naggregate renown when banded together, and led by a numeral Nelson or a\r\nWellington. And the renown of such heroes, by outliving themselves,\r\ndescends as a heritage to their subordinate survivors. One large brain\r\nand one large heart have virtue sufficient to magnetise a whole fleet\r\nor an army. And if all the men who, since the beginning of the world,\r\nhave mainly contributed to the warlike successes or reverses of\r\nnations, were now mustered together, we should be amazed to behold but\r\na handful of heroes. For there is no heroism in merely running in and\r\nout a gun at a port-hole, enveloped in smoke or vapour, or in firing\r\noff muskets in platoons at the word of command. This kind of merely\r\nmanual valour is often born of trepidation at the heart. There may be\r\nmen, individually craven, who, united, may display even temerity. Yet\r\nit would be false to deny that, in some in-stances, the lowest privates\r\nhave acquitted themselves with even more gallantry than their\r\ncommodores. True heroism is not in the hand, but in the heart and the\r\nhead.\r\n\r\nBut are there incompetent officers in the gallant American navy? For an\r\nAmerican, the question is of no grateful cast. White Jacket must again\r\nevade it, by referring to an historical fact in the history of a\r\nkindred marine, which, from its long standing and magnitude, furnishes\r\nmany more examples of all kinds than our own. And this is the only\r\nreason why it is ever referred to in this narrative. I thank God I am\r\nfree from all national invidiousness.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJQSQFERRZ4XYJRVBK8C4","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AMH2QYS7JXHY1625DGC58","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AMH35E2TCNSWZGFT9XBMG","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:40.023Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:46.093Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}