Skip to main content

Against Wind and Tide

This passage is from Patrick O'Brian's book, Post Captain, which is book two in the Aubrey - Martin series. You may know it from the movie The Far Side of the World, which is book ten in the series. To set it up, in this scene Captain Aubrey needs more men for a new ship he is shortly to take out against Napoleon's forces. Unable to come up with a satisfactory poster himself, Aubrey remembers that one of his men is skilled in such arts. This is what the crewman produced:
L5,000 a man (or more) WEALTH EASE DISTINCTION YOUR LAST CHANCE OF A FORTUNE!
HMS Polycrest will shortly sail to scour the seas of ALL KING GEORGE'S enemies. She is designed to SAIL AGAINST THE WIND AND TIDE and she will Take, Sink, and Destroy the Tyrant's helpless man-of-war, without Mercy, sweeping the the Ocean of his Trade. There is no time to be lost! Once the Polycrest has gone by there will be no more PRIZES, no more fat French and cowardly Dutch merchatmen, loaded with Treasure, Jewels, Satins, and Costly Delicacies for the immoral and luxurious Usurper's Court. This Amazing New Vessel, built on Scientific Principles, is commanded by the renowned ------- whose Brig Sophie, with a 28lb broadside, captured L100,000's worth of enemy shipping last war. 28lb, and the Polycrest fires 384lb from either side! More than TWELVE TIMES as much! The Enemy must soon be Bankrupt - the End is Nigh. Come and join the Fun before it is too late, and set up your Carriage! Captain Aubrey has been prevailed upon to accept a few more hands. Only exceptionally wide awake, intelligent men will be entertained, capable of lifting a Winchester bushel of Gold; but perhaps YOU ARE THE LUCKY MAN! Hurry, there is no time to be lost. Hurry to the Rendezvous at the -- YOU MAY BE THE LUCKY MAN WHO IS ACCEPTED! No troublesome formalities. The best of provisions at 16oz. to the pound, 4 lb. of tobacco a month. Free beer, wine and grog! Dancing and fiddling aboard. Be healthy and wealthy and wise, and bless the day you came aboard the Polycrest!
God save the King!
On reading it over, Captain Aubrey approves it, gives the writer money to take to the printer's for handbills and posters, and then, just before returning to his preparations, reminds the men, "pray, do not reject anything that can haul a rope." Perhaps Red Ensign recruiting should take note?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reuters joins CNN on the bench

Makes room for CanWest to join the majors Kudos to CanWest for calling a terrorist a terrorist . Many, including The Last Amazon , will be happy to hear it. Reuters is among the worst of the major western news services, where I would also place the BBC and the CBC. Unsurprisingly, Reuters is not happy about the changes CanWest made to Reuters wire stories: Our editorial policy is that we don't use emotive words when labeling someone," said David A. Schlesinger, Reuters' global managing editor. "Any paper can change copy and do whatever they want. But if a paper wants to change our copy that way, we would be more comfortable if they remove the byline." Mr. Schlesinger said he was concerned that changes like those made at CanWest could lead to "confusion" about what Reuters is reporting and possibly endanger its reporters in volatile areas or situations. "My goal is to protect ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Wordpress

My move to Mac has been very happy except for two issues - gaming and blogging. For websurfing and multimedia, a Mac is of course a terrific machine. Games on the Mac platform are often ports of games made for the larger PC market and that means a Mac gamer will have to wait for the port. I'm not a heavy gamer by any means but I am very happy that the Mac port of Civilization 4 is finally here. Well, my copy isn't here quite yet - but it has been ordered and ought to be here soon. The blogging issue is more complicated. I'm not fond of writing my posts in a browser window. This goes back to when I was first blogging and I lost one or two large posts into the ether. After that I moved to w.bloggar - a great little app that let me compose on my desktop and then click send when all was said and done. I have not been able to recreate that experience on my Mac, and not for a lack of trying! I looked at Marsedit , but that forces you to compse while staring at a bunch of HMT...
Post a Comment
Read more

The One and the Many

Plato's Theory of The Good is still relevant Copelston on Plato's Republic : In The Republic it is shown that the true philosopher seeks to know the essential nature of each thing. He is not concerned to know, for example, a multiplicity of beautiful things, but rather to discern the essence of beauty and the essence of goodness, which are embodied in varying degrees in particular beautiful things or particular good things. Non philosophers, who are taken up with the multiplicity of appearances that they do not attend to the essential nature and cannot distinguish, Eg. the essence of beauty from the many beautiful phenomena, are represented as having only opinion and as lacking in scientific knowledge. ... In The Republic ... Good is... compared to the sun, the light of which makes the objects of nature visible to all and so is, in a sense, the source of their worth and value and beauty. This comparison is, of course, but a comparison, and such should not be pressed: we are...
Post a Comment
Read more