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with the flag of Sir Theophilus Blazers at the fore--a splendid ship,
carrying 120 guns, and nearly 120 midshipmen of different calibres. (I
pass over captain, lieutenant, and ship's company, having made mention
of her most valuable qualifications.) Jack was received with a hearty
welcome by his uncle, for he came in pudding-time, and was invited to
dinner; and the Admiral made the important discovery, that if his nephew
was a fool in other points, he was certainly no fool at his knife and
fork. In a short time his messmates found out that he was no fool at his
fists, and his knock-down arguments ended much disputation. Indeed, as
the French would say, Jack was perfection in the _physique_, although so
very deficient in the _morale_.

But if Pandora's box proved a plague to the whole world, Jack had his
individual portion of it, when he was summoned to _box_ the compass by
his worthy uncle Sir Theophilus Blazers; who in the course of six months
discovered that he could not make his nephew box it in the three, which
he had warranted in his letter; every day our hero's ears were boxed,
but the compass never. It required all the cardinal virtues to teach him
the cardinal points during the forenoon, and he made a point of
forgetting them before the sun went down. Whenever they attempted it
(and various were the teachers employed to drive the compass into Jack's
head) his head drove round the compass; and try all he could, Jack never
could compass it. It appeared, as some people are said only to have one
idea, as if Jack could only have one _point_ in his head at a time, and
to that point he would stand like a well-broken pointer. With him the
wind never changed until the next day. His uncle pronounced him to be a
fool, but that did not hurt his nephew's feelings; he had been told so
too often already.

I have said that Jack had a great respect for good eating and drinking,
and, moreover, was blessed with a good appetite: every person has his
peculiar fancies, and if there was anything which more titillated the
palate and olfactory nerves of our hero, it was a roast goose with sage
and onions. Now it so happened, that having been about seven months on
board of the _Mendacious_, Jack had one day received a summons to dine
with the Admiral, for the steward had ordered a roast goose for dinner,
and knew not only that Jack was partial to it, but also that Jack was
the Admiral's nephew, which always goes for something on boa