positions in the navy--and that something
has had its use, for the tyrant's hand is by force stayed now, 'for once
and for all.'

With this little I am satisfied.

Now let us briefly look into the question, 'Why are men tyrants when
they have it in _their power to be so_?'

Unfortunately, as a rule, it appears to come natural to them! What
caused the Indian Mutiny? Let Indian officers and those employed in the
Indian civil service answer that question.

However, I have only to do with naval officers. My experience tells me
that a man clothed with brief but supreme authority, such as the command
of a man-of-war, in those days when for months and months he was away
from all control of his superiors and out of reach of public censure, is
more frequently apt to listen to the promptings of the devil, which more
or less attack every man, especially when he is alone.

Away from the softening influence of society and the wholesome fear of
restraint, for a time at least the voice of his better angel is
silenced. Perhaps also the necessarily solitary position of a commander
of a man-of-war, his long, lonely hours, the utter change from the
jovial life he led previous to being afloat, to say nothing of his liver
getting occasionally out of order, may all tend to make him irritable
and despotic.

I have seen a captain order his steward to be flogged, almost to death,
because his pea-soup was not hot. I have seen an officer from twenty to
twenty-five years of age made to stand between two guns with a sentry
over him for hours, because he had neglected to see and salute the
tyrant who had come on deck in the dark. And as a proof, though it seems
scarcely credible, of what such men can do when unchecked by fear of
consequences, I will cite the following:--

On one occasion the captain of whom I have been writing invited a friend
to breakfast with him, and there being, I suppose, a slight monotony in
the conversation, he asked his guest whether he would like, by way of
diversion, to see a man flogged. The amusement was accepted, and a man
_was_ flogged.

It was about the time I write of that the tyranny practised on board Her
Majesty's ships was slowly but surely dawning upon the public, and a
general outcry against injustice began.

This was shown in a very significant manner by the following fact:--

A post-captain of high rank and powerful connections dared, in
contradiction to naval law, to flog a midshipman. This young