The master is a person of an excellent disposition, and is
remarkable in the ship for his [gentleness,]
<gentleness> and the mildness of his discipline.
[He is, indeed, of so amiable a nature, that he will not hunt
(a favourite, and almost the only amusement here), because he
cannot endure to spill blood. He is, moreover, heroically
generous.] <This circumstance, added to his well known
integrity and dauntless courage, made me very desirous to engage
him. A youth passed in solitude, my best years spent under your
gentle and feminine fosterage, has so refined the groundwork of
my character, that I cannot overcome an intense distaste to the
usual brutality exercised on board ship: I have never believed it
to be necessary; and when I heard of a mariner equally noted for
his kindliness of heart, and the respect and obedience paid to
him by his crew, I felt myself peculiarly fortunate in being able
to secure his services. I heard of him first in rather a romantic
manner, from a lady who owes to him the happiness of her life.
This, briefly, is his story.> Some years ago he loved a
young Russian lady, of moderate fortune; and having amassed a
considerable sum in prize-money, the father of the girl consented
to the match. He saw his mistress once before the destined
ceremony; but she was bathed in tears, and, throwing herself at
his feet, entreated him to spare her, confessing at the same time
that she loved another, but that he was poor, and that her father
would never consent to the union. My generous friend reassured
the suppliant, and on being informed of the name of her
[lover] <lover,> instantly abandoned his
pursuit. He had already bought a farm with his money, on which
he had designed to pass the remainder of his life; but he
bestowed the whole on his rival, together with the remains of his
prize-money to purchase stock, and then himself solicited the
young woman's father to consent to her marriage with her lover.
But the old man decidedly refused, thinking himself bound in
honour to my friend; who, when he found the father inexorable,
quitted his country, nor returned until he heard that his former
mistress was married according to her inclinations. "What a noble
fellow!" you will exclaim. He is so; but then he [has passed
all his life on board a vessel, and has scarcely an idea beyond
the rope and the shroud.] <is wholly uneducated: he is
as silent as a Turk, and a kind of ignorant carelessness attends
him, which, while it renders his conduct the more astonishing,
detracts from the interest and sympathy which otherwise he would
command.>