The Sun.
London, England, 1840-08-25 00:00:00

PRICE sd.

MIDSHIPMEN.

(From the Shipping Gazette.)
" Wanted, two or three well-bred youths as midship-
men in a fine East India ship !" So write the good-
natured people who advertise themselves the patrons of
all adventurous young gentlemen, "in town or country,
who have no objection to go on board."
Shipowners complain, and not without reason, of the
accumulated burthens on British navigation. How are
we to reconcile this fact with the announcement in the
advertisement, which informs us that ro many inex-
perienced and nautically-lAlpless boys are in high re-
quest ? They are not wanted as apprentices, but as
" midshipmen"--a rating unknown in a merchant ship.
" Wanted, two or three well• bred youths as midship-
men." Here are all the ingenuity and stratagem of the
recruiting sergeant :—" He'd have none bat gentle-
men ; for every man he enlisted would be made a cor-
poral." Shipmasters covet able seamen ; military
officers smart rank and file! A crew of midshipmen
would not be less ridiculous than a regiment of cor-
porals. The sergeant's policy is understood, but it
only renders the advertiser's the more perplexing—the
results would be dissimilar. We must examine the
matter closer.

The muster-bill of " a fine East India ship," of 1,200
tons, in the service of the Honourable Company, con-
tained the names of 135 persons, including the captain,
officers, six midshipmen (sometimes only three), and the
subordinates. The same ships are now sent to sea with
a crew of less than 100 persons, which is considered a
sufficient manning under the altered equipment.
" A Parent" (who refers us to the advertisement)
would be informed, " whether the lads' services are
' vvantel',' as infeired-; what are their chances of pre-
ferment ; and of the propriety of his giving 601. to send
his son to sea as a midshipman ?" The foregoing state
ments will furnish an answer to the first portion of the
inquiry. If 135 give six, what will 100 give ? The
youth's services may be useful if he be one of the just '
Iproportion thus deduced by " Rule of Three." " A
Parent" will be pleased to be careful in his arithmetic,
for we have heard that the result has been erroneously
fixed at sixteen !—so many lads "in buckram
suits " having. adventured, each paying 50/ or
601., as midshipmen, in one ship ! As to the
chances of promotion : sixteen is an awful provision of
young gentlemen, all expectants of the berths of
four mates. The reversion is very remote, and this '
should certainly be considered in determining " the pro-
priety," &c. Our inquirer must understand, too, that
future employment does not follow as part of the bar-
gain. The 601. purchases one voyage ; the mess-money
and outfit are extras, which will be duly explained upon
application " for further particulars," as per advertise-
ment. Is the advertiser a slopseller ? The hare proba-
bility is sufficient for denouncing this system of prepar-
ing " midshipmen," as exceedingly dishonourable. The
drunken sailor is frequently " shipped" by the crimp pre-
cisely in the same way. The Jew is commissioayd to
pick up a crew, and he selects those who have the larg-
est chest—the crimp's men are all A.B.
Is there any objection to announcing that Captain Such•
a-one, of such a ship, is willing to engage with the parents
of young gentlemen desirous of going to sea ? There can
be none to the induction of " well-bred youths" to the
sailor's occupation. As pupils to acquire the naval art, it
is well they should be placed--whatever their number
—under an experienced master ; but there are some
things to be observed in the manner of doing it. There
is no necessity to call them " Midshipmen," as though
they were borne on the muster-roll as part of the ship's
company ; for, were this the case, and the Act touch-
ing apprentices duly observed, a host of evils would
result. Too many weak and unskilled hands would be
shipped ; greater labour would be unfairly required of
the real mariners ; the insurer would run a greater
risk ; and the shipper and the passenger would be both
placed in a position worse than they should occupy. On
the other hand, if these youths are made to. stand as
apprentices, not being so, then the Act of Parliament is
infringed, and her Majesty, wanting sailors, may find the
number of serviceable blue-jackets somewhat the less
for the " Midshipman" rig. But against this the re-
gistrar at the Custom-house is the proper conservator ;
he had better look to it in time.