mself had to obey
the orders of his superiors, the admiral and the admiralty, _all_ on
board might be said to be _equally_ obliged to obey. Captain Wilson
laid a strong emphasis on the word _equally_, as he cautiously
administered his first dose; indeed, in the whole of his address, he
made use of special pleading, which would have done credit to the Bar;
for at the same time that he was explaining to Jack that he was entering
a service in which _equality_ could never for a moment exist, if the
service was to exist, he contrived to show that all the grades were
levelled, by all being equally bound to do their duty to their country,
and that, in fact, whether a seaman obeyed _his_ orders, or he obeyed
the orders of _his_ superior officer, they were in reality only obeying
the orders of the country, which were administered through their
channels.

Jack did not altogether dislike this view of the subject, and the
captain took care not to dwell too long upon it. He then entered upon
other details, which he was aware would be more agreeable to Jack. He
pointed out that the articles of war were the rules by which the service
was to be guided, and that everybody, from the captain to the least boy
in the ship, was _equally_ bound to adhere to them--that a certain
allowance of provisions and wine was allowed to each person on board,
and that this allowance was the same to all; the same to the captain as
to the boy: the same in quantity as in quality; every one _equally_
entitled to his allowance;--that, although there were, of necessity,
various grades necessary in the service, and the captain's orders were
obliged to be passed and obeyed by all, yet still, whatever was the
grade of the officer, they were _equally_ considered as gentlemen. In
short, Captain Wilson, who told the truth, and nothing but the truth,
without telling the whole truth, actually made Jack fancy that he had at
last found out that equality he had been seeking for in vain on shore,
when, at last, he recollected the language used by Mr Sawbridge the
evening before, and asked the captain why that personage had so
conducted himself. Now, as the language of Mr Sawbridge was very much
at variance with equality, Captain Wilson was not a little puzzled.
However, he first pointed out that the first-lieutenant was, at the time
being, the captain, as he was the senior officer on board, as would Jack
himself be if he were the senior officer on board; and that, as