RoM - Chapter Two - general, nautical

[esteven]

I have never seen such a piece of seamanship nor such an example of divine intervention. That horrible old tub should never have reached Bridgetown in the first place; and she would certainly have foundered with all hands just now but for the grace of God. Only an uninterrupted series of

Comments

Jesuits

[esteven]

those Fathers were not Jesuits, I suppose? I did not like to ask straight out.'
'Of course not, Jack. They were suppressed long ago. Clement XIV put them down in the seventies, and a very good day's work he did. Sure, they have been trying to creep back on one legalistic pretext or another and I dare say they will soon make a sad nuisance of themselves again, turning out atheists from their schools by the score

It seems that Jesuits are not the favourite flavour of Fathers in our preferred era? How come?

Re: Jesuits

[ylla]

Maybe for the same reason they seem to have been put down - the meddling in political matters?

I'm surprised he's so against atheists, because he's usually fairly unconcerned about other people's beliefs, but maybe he mainly objects to them in that guise...

The court-martial of the Hermiones

[esteven]

Stone, the deputy judgeadvocate,helped by his clerks, directed the game. For a game it was, an odious game; and like most games it had intricate rules, one of which was that the accused should be allowed to have their say, should be allowed to cross-question the witnesses and address the court, so that the performance should have all the appearance of a fair, impartial trial.
There was something very deeply unpleasant in playing a part in this solemn farce, something horribly indecent about being in the judgment seat and watching the others in their hopeless struggle.

Right or wrong, the Navy?

Re: The court-martial of the Hermiones

[esteven]

It's true, courts-martial are one way of maintaining discipline, something that had to be done, esp since not all captains are like Jack and not all ships' companies are like the Surprises
*sighs*

Still, it makes me glad that Jack (and the other captains) do not relish the thought of the outcome.

Re: The court-martial of the Hermiones

[dreamwaffles]

"Jack would say men must be governed." You're quite right, particularly in these sorts of circumstances, where the Navy is also...not very sympathetic to many situations. Performing duty for the love of duty isn't even enacted by all the officers, let alone the crew, and while it would be wonderful to have a ship whose crewmembers all served out of sheer devotion, it's not really ever going to happen.

This being said, the men of Surprise so, so lucky to have Jack; he's a charismatic leader, he doesn't punish lightly, and while he'll work the men hard he's not cruel or mean-spirited. Far from that, actually. I know I'd cheerfully follow him right into hell, and I only READ about him. :P

[ylla]

I love Jack's pride in the idea that the English have a pronunciation all of their own :)

The extent of my knowledge of varieties of Latin is that there was classical and church, and vulgar and... not vulgar. I thought you were our expert :)

[ylla]

tortoises???
Were they very good eating? :)

*looks up hippocausts and blinks confusedly*

Squalor

[ylla]

Jack had seen the strong mutual loyalty of seamen break down before now. He had seen men in overcrowded boats pulling away from a sinking ship thrust their swimming shipmates back and even cut off their fingers as they clung to the gunwale. This was much the same kind of spectacle.

I'm not surprised Jack is so deeply depressed by the whole thing - the mad scramble to save yourself may be understandable, but it's horrible too.

Re: Squalor

[esteven]

Wasn't that an incident in DI when he permitted Grant to sail?

It does Jack honour that he does not enjoy courts-martial.

Fish soup

[ylla]

a fish soup filled the cabin with the scent of saffron, lobster, crab, bonito, mussels, clams, and a wide variety of small coral fishes - fishes, that is to say, from the coral reef.

That soup is wasted on them :)
(And I like the touch about the coral fishes, because I have a pedantic mind...)

Re: Fish soup

[esteven]

How I would love to have a bowl or two of that soup. It sounds delicious. :D

Re: Fish soup

[sidlj]

*wants yummy soup*