giving me 'a character.' Sir Edward sent for me, and was



most kind. He told me I was to go to the Pacific in the

first ship that left for South America, which would probably



be in a week or two; and he gave me a letter to his friend,

Admiral Thomas, who commanded on that station.



About this time, and for a year or two later, the relations

between England and America were severely strained by what



was called 'the Oregon question.' The dispute was concerning

the right of ownership of the mouth of the Columbia river,



and of Vancouver's Island. The President as well as the

American people took the matter up very warmly; and much



discretion was needed to avert the outbreak of hostilities.

In Sir Edward's letter, which he read out and gave to me



open, he requested Admiral Thomas to put me into any ship

'that was likely to see service'; and quoted a word or two



from my dear old captain Sir Thomas, which would probably

have given me a lift.



The prospect before me was brilliant. What could be more

delectable than the chance of a war? My fancy pictured all



sorts of opportunities, turned to the best account, - my

seniors disposed of, and myself, with a pair of epaulets,



commanding the smartest brig in the service.

Alack-a-day! what a climb down from such high flights my life



has been. The ship in which I was to have sailed to the west

was suddenly countermanded to the east. She was to leave for



China the following week, and I was already appointed to her,

not even as a 'super.'



My courage and my ambition were wrecked at a blow. The

notion of returning for another three years to China, where



all was now peaceful and stale to me, the excitement of the

war at an end, every port reminding me of my old comrades,



visions of renewed fevers and horrible food, - were more than

I could stand.



I instantly made up my mind to leave the Navy. It was a

wilful, and perhaps a too hasty, impulse. But I am impulsive



by nature; and now that my father was dead, I fancied myself

to a certain extent my own master. I knew moreover, by my



father's will, that I should not be dependent upon a

profession. Knowledge of such a fact has been the ruin of



many a better man than I. I have no virtuous superstitions

in favour of poverty - quite the reverse - but I am convinced



that the rich man, who has never had to earn his position or

his living, is more to be pitied and less respected than the



poor man whose comforts certainly, if not his bread, have

depended on his own exertions.



My mother had a strong will of her own, and I could not guess

what line she might take. I also apprehended the opposition



of my guardians. On the whole, I opined a woman's heart

would be the most suitable for an appeal AD MISERICORDIAM.



So I pulled out the agony stop, and worked the pedals of

despair with all the anguish at my command.



'It was easy enough for her to REVEL IN LUXURY and consign me

to a life worse than a CONVICT'S. But how would SHE like to



live on SALT JUNK, to keep NIGHT WATCHES, to have to cut up

her blankets for PONCHOS (I knew she had never heard the



word, and that it would tell accordingly), to save her from

being FROZEN TO DEATH? How would SHE like to be mast-headed



when a ship was rolling gunwale under? As to the wishes of

my guardians, were THEIR FEELINGS to be considered before



mine? I should like to see Lord Rosebery or Lord Spencer in

my place! They'd very soon wish they had a mother who &c.



&c.'

When my letter was finished I got leave to go ashore to post



it. Feeling utterly miserable, I had my hair cut; and,

rendered perfectlyreckless by my appearance, I consented to



have what was left of it tightly curled with a pair of tongs.

I cannot say that I shared in any sensible degree the



pleasure which this operation seemed to give to the artist.

• steamer [´sti:mə] n.汽船；轮船；蒸笼 (初中英语单词)


• preparation [,prepə´reiʃən] n.准备；预习(时间) (初中英语单词)


• resistance [ri´zistəns] n.抵抗；抵制；耐力 (初中英语单词)


• extreme [ik´stri:m] a.尽头的 n.极端 (初中英语单词)


• additional [ə´diʃənəl] a.附加的，额外的 (初中英语单词)


• vessel [´vesəl] n.容器；船；脉管 (初中英语单词)


• working [´wə:kiŋ] a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词)


• incident [´insidənt] n.小事件；事变 (初中英语单词)


• rescue [´reskju:] vt.&n.救援；挽救 (初中英语单词)


• desperate [´despərit] a.拼死的；绝望的 (初中英语单词)


• visible [´vizəbəl] a.可见的；明显的 (初中英语单词)


• punishment [´pʌniʃmənt] n.罚，刑罚 (初中英语单词)


• gallant [´gælənt, gə´lænt] a.英勇的；华丽的 (初中英语单词)


• discipline [´disiplin] n.纪律；训练 (初中英语单词)


• maintain [mein´tein] vt.维持；保持；继续 (初中英语单词)


• breath [breθ] n.呼吸；气息 (初中英语单词)


• rarely [´reəli] ad.难得；非凡地 (初中英语单词)


• commit [kə´mit] vt.犯(罪)；把…判处 (初中英语单词)


• criminal [´kriminəl] a.犯罪的 n.罪犯 (初中英语单词)


• sensation [sen´seiʃən] n.感觉；轰动；轰动一时 (初中英语单词)


• parliament [´pɑ:ləmənt] n.议(国)会 (初中英语单词)


• executive [ig´zekjutiv] a.行政的 n.行政官 (初中英语单词)


• nevertheless [,nevəðə´les] conj.&ad.然而；不过 (初中英语单词)


• temper [´tempə] n.韧度 v.锻炼；调和 (初中英语单词)


• severe [si´viə] a.严厉的；苛刻的 (初中英语单词)


• thence [ðens] ad.从那里；因此 (初中英语单词)


• beggar [´begə] n.乞丐 (初中英语单词)


• altogether [,ɔ:ltə´geðə] ad.完全；总而言之 (初中英语单词)


• admiral [´ædmərəl] n.海军上将，舰队司令 (初中英语单词)


• dispute [di´spju:t] v.&n.争论，辩论；争吵 (初中英语单词)


• columbia [kə´lʌmbiə] n.哥伦比亚 (初中英语单词)


• prospect [´prɔspekt, prəs´pekt] n.景色；境界 v.勘察 (初中英语单词)


• brilliant [´briliənt] a.灿烂的；杰出的 (初中英语单词)


• account [ə´kaunt] vi.说明 vt.认为 n.帐目 (初中英语单词)


• ambition [æm´biʃən] n.雄心，野心；企图 (初中英语单词)


• peaceful [´pi:sfəl] a.和平的；平静的 (初中英语单词)


• excitement [ik´saitmənt] n.兴奋；骚动；煽动 (初中英语单词)


• horrible [´hɔrəbəl] a.可怕的；恐怖的 (初中英语单词)


• instantly [´instəntli] ad.立即，立刻 (初中英语单词)


• impulse [´impʌls] n.推动(力)；冲动；刺激 (初中英语单词)


• extent [ik´stent] n.长度；程度；范围 (初中英语单词)


• moreover [mɔ:´rəuvə] ad.再者，此外，而且 (初中英语单词)


• poverty [´pɔvəti] n.贫穷(乏，瘠)；不足 (初中英语单词)


• reverse [ri´və:s] v.颠倒；(使)反向 (初中英语单词)


• suitable [´su:təbəl, ´sju:-] a.合适的，适当的 (初中英语单词)


• luxury [´lʌkʃəri] n.奢侈(品)；享受 (初中英语单词)


• frozen [´frəuzn] freeze 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)


• ashore [ə´ʃɔ:] ad.向岸上 (初中英语单词)


• miserable [´mizərəbəl] a.悲惨的；可怜的 (初中英语单词)


• sensible [´sensəbəl] a.感觉得到的 (初中英语单词)


• tragic [´trædʒik] a.悲剧的；悲惨的 (高中英语单词)


• commission [kə´miʃən] n.委任(状) vt.委任 (高中英语单词)


• extremity [ik´stremiti] n.末端；危机 (高中英语单词)


• injustice [in´dʒʌstis] n.不公正，不公平 (高中英语单词)


• pacific [pə´sifik] a.和平的；温和的 (高中英语单词)


• ridiculous [ri´dikjuləs] a.荒谬的；可笑的 (高中英语单词)


• colonel [´kə:nəl] n.海(陆)军上校 (高中英语单词)


• distinguished [di´stiŋgwiʃt] a.卓越的，著名的 (高中英语单词)


• campaign [kæm´pein] n.战役；行动 vi.从军 (高中英语单词)


• inland [´inlənd, in´lænd] a.&n.内地的 ad.在内地 (高中英语单词)


• oxford [´ɔksfəd] n.牛津 (高中英语单词)


• severely [si´viəli] ad.剧烈地；严格地 (高中英语单词)


• oregon [´ɔrigən] n.俄勒冈 (高中英语单词)


• outbreak [´autbreik] n.(战争等的)爆发 (高中英语单词)


• dependent [di´pendənt] a.依赖的；从属的 (高中英语单词)


• appeal [ə´pi:l] vi.&n.请求；呼吁；上诉 (高中英语单词)


• anguish [´æŋgwiʃ] n.(极度的)痛苦；苦恼 (高中英语单词)


• perfectly [´pə:fiktli] ad.理想地；完美地 (高中英语单词)


• reckless [´rekləs] a.不注意的；鲁莽的 (高中英语单词)


• tightly [´taitli] ad.紧，紧密地 (高中英语单词)


• steamship [´sti:m,ʃip] n.大轮船 (英语四级单词)


• beforehand [bi´fɔ:hænd] ad.事先；提前 (英语四级单词)


• prodigious [prə´didʒəs] a.惊人的；巨大的 (英语四级单词)


• upwards [´ʌpwədz] ad.=upward (英语四级单词)


• corporal [´kɔ:pərəl] a.肉体的，身体的 (英语四级单词)


• severity [si´veriti] n.严厉；严重；苛刻 (英语四级单词)


• verdict [´və:dikt] n.裁决，判决；判定 (英语四级单词)


• scrape [skreip] v.&n.刮，削，擦；搔 (英语四级单词)


• whereupon [,weərə´pɔn] ad.在什么上面；因此 (英语四级单词)


• episode [´episəud] n.插曲；一段情节 (英语四级单词)


• naples [´neiplz] n.那不勒斯 (英语四级单词)


• plymouth [´pliməθ] n.普利茅斯 (英语四级单词)


• ownership [´əunəʃip] n.所有权；所有制 (英语四级单词)


• virtuous [´və:tjuəs] a.道德的；善良的 (英语四级单词)


• consign [kən´sain] v.委托；托运；寄存 (英语四级单词)


• collision [kə´liʒən] n.碰幢；冲突；互撞事件 (英语六级单词)


• holding [´həuldiŋ] n.保持，固定，存储 (英语六级单词)


• splendidly [´splendidli] ad.光彩夺目地；辉煌地 (英语六级单词)


• compassionate [kəm´pæʃənit] a.有同情心的 vt.同情 (英语六级单词)


• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)


• affected [ə´fektid] a.做作的；假装的 (英语六级单词)


• shrilly [´ʃrili] ad.尖声地 (英语六级单词)


• spencer [´spensə] n.(羊毛)短上衣 (英语六级单词)