The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1850-05-02
FLoGGING IN THE NAVY.


FLoGGING IN THE NAVY.
As the barbarous and hca,henish custom
otiloggng seamcn attached to the U. States
navy is at present attracting considerable
attention, from its inconsistency with the
spri, Of kindness which rules in this en-
llghtened age, in which kind Providence
has cas-, our lots, we lend our mite Of iniu.
ence TO swell the wave of condemnation
which is rolling on to overwheIm this with
other analogous evils Of the day. Our
influence we deem better given in the re-
publication Of such an extract as the follow
ing from The new work ol Herman Melville
OF scene 10 which lie was an eye witness,
than any thing we could write upon the
subject .--ED. GAz.
Ii you begin the day with laugh, you
may, nevertheless, end i, with sob aud Il
sigh.
Among the many who were exceedingly
diverted with the scene between the Down
Easter and the Lieutenant, none laughed
more heartily than John, Peter, Mark, and
An,one-tour sailors of the s,arboard
watch. The same evening these four found
themselves prisoners in the '.brig," with
sentry standing over them. They were
charged with violating welI-known law
Of the slip--having been engaged in one
Of those tangled, general fights sometimes
occurring among sailors. They had moth
ing to anticipate but aogging, ht the Cap
tain's pleasure.
Toward evening Of the next day, they
were startled by the dread summons OF the
boaiswain and his mates at the principal
ha,chway-a summons that ever sends q
shuddcr through every manly heart in a
frigate:
"Al hands mitness punishment ahoy!"
The hoarseness of the cry, its unrclent-
ing pro!ongation, its being caught up AZ
different points, and sent through tho lower
most depths Of the ship; all this produces
most dismal effect upon every heart not
caloused by long habitation TO il.
However much you desire TO absent
yourself from the scene that ensues, yet
behold il YOU must; or, AT least, stand near
i, you must; for the regulations cnjoin the
attendance Of the entire ships c"mpanS,
from the corpulen, Captain himself to The
smallest boy who strikes the bell.
"AU hands ritness punishment ahoy."
10 The sensitive seaman that summons
sounds like doom. lie knows that the same
law which impels 1.-THE same law by
which the culpri,s Of the day must suffer;
that by that yer, law he also is liable a'
any time to be judged and condemned
And the inevi,abIeness Of his own presence
al the scene; The strong arm that drags
him in view Of the scnnrge, and holds him
there till all isover; forcing upon his loath-
ing eye and soul the sullerngs and grohns
Of men who have tnmiliarly consorted with
him, eaten with him, bsttled out watches
with him-men ofhis own type and badge
AL this conveys terrible hint Of the ON
nipoieni authority under which he lives.--
Indeed, TO such man the naval summons
to witness punishment carries thrill,
some hat akin 10 what we may inpute ia
the quick and the dead, when they shall
hear tho Last Trump, that is to bid them all
arise in their ranks. and behold the final
penalties inflicted upon the sinners Of our
race.
But il must not be im,gined that to all
men of. war's-men this summons conveys
such poignant emotions; but it is hard to
decide whether one should be glad or sad
that this is not the case; whether i is
grateful 10 know that so mnchp pain ia avoid
ed, or whether j, is far saddcr to think that,
either from constitutional hard heariedness
or the multiplied scarings Of habit, hundreds
Of men -of-war's men have been mnde proof
against the sense Of degradation, pity, and
shame.
As ifin sympathy with the sceno to be
enacted, the sun, which the day previous
h ad merrily flashed upon the tin pan Of the
disconsolate Down Easter, was now setting
over the dreary waters, yelling itself in