armed ship's chief magistrate. And though judicially unrecognised, and
unacknowledged by the officers themselves, yet this is the principle
that pervades the fleet; this is the principle that is every hour
acted upon, and to sustain which, thousands of seamen have been flogged
at the gangway.

However childish, ignorant, stupid, or idiotic a midshipman, if he but
orders a sailor to perform even the most absurd action, that man is not
only bound to render instant and unanswering obedience, but he would
refuse at his peril. And if, having obeyed, he should then complain to
the Captain, and the Captain, in his own mind, should be thoroughly
convinced of the impropriety, perhaps of the illegality of the order,
yet, in nine cases out of ten, he would not publicly reprimand the
midshipman, nor by the slightest token admit before the complainant
that, in this particular thing, the midshipman had done otherwise
than perfectly right.

Upon a midshipman's complaining of a seaman to Lord Collingwood,
when Captain of a line-of-battle ship, he ordered the man for
punishment; and, in the interval, calling the midshipman aside,
said to him, "In all probability, now, the fault is yours--you
know; therefore, when the man is brought to the mast, you had
better ask for his pardon."

Accordingly, upon the lad's public intercession, Collingwood,
turning to the culprit, said, "This young gentleman has pleaded
so humanely for you, that, in hope you feel a due gratitude to
him for his benevolence, I will, for this time, overlook your
offence." This story is related by the editor of the Admiral's
"Correspondence," to show the Admiral's kindheartedness.