volved them in vehement chaos, just as
the rivalry between Disraeli and Gladstone did in later years. They had
some mystified idea that those political gentlemen were ever thirsting
for each others' blood. They had gathered from some gossipy source that
Mr Fox was a hopeless gambler, and that Pitt was exclusively
responsible for the Napoleonic wars, and that Palmerston was a
mischief-maker who set his impudence up to everybody, and his rashness
either ended in war or coming near to do so. It was the latter that was
accused in forecastle circles of bringing on that Crimean War which
caused so much suffering and loss of life both to sailors and soldiers.
I have heard Sir Robert Peel spoken of in words of vituperation for
having introduced "peelers," now known as "bobbies," to interfere, as
they said, with poor people's rights. Many of them were full of wrath
at his having repealed the Corn Laws. They had got some garbled notion,
which was passed down to later generations, that it would tend to spoil
their chances of getting employment and otherwise lower their wages.
This doctrine had been well thumped into them by some agency or other,
and it led to many a quarrel with the minority who held free trade
views. They were opposed to the introduction of Board of Trade
examinations for the purpose of obtaining certificates of competency,
which is another evidence of their undeveloped sense. And I have
actually known instances where exception was taken by common sailors to
the close scrutiny of Board of Trade surveyors into the defects of a
vessel they had long sailed in and had formed a strong regard for. The
Reform Bill did not appeal to them in the same way as it did to other
workmen. They had occasional opportunities of hearing that a great
noise was going on about household suffrage and the extension of the
franchise, but they had a very hazy conception of the meaning of the
terms. It is no exaggeration to say that the former was often spoken of
as having reference to the sufferings of somebody in the houses of the
people, and the latter was talked of as having some French connection!

They adhered to the idea of the nation being governed by the upper
classes, and yet they used to curse them with unrestrained fury for
their indifference to the needs of the common people. Gladstone was
very frequently in disfavour with them: for instance, they did not
altogether approve of the abolition of purchase in the army. It was
consi