The Adventures of Roderick Random

First Mate Morgan’s Argument with a Sailor

Before Mr. Thompson finishes explaining his situation, a heated dispute erupts on the cockpit ladder. A sailor, speaking in a broad dialect, declares he will not visit the sick until he has eaten something in his belly, regardless of how sick his messmate may be. Someone retorts that the dying man must “part his cable” for want of assistance, and that the doctor ordered the sailor to tend to him. The defiant sailor protests that he has “birth, and education, and… abilities” equal to any gentleman, and refuses to be treated like a horse or goat at the doctor’s “will and pleasure.” He demands the doctor examine the “tying man” and provide medicine, but insists on satisfying his own “craving stomach” first.

Introduction to First Mate Morgan

Mr. Thompson reveals the argumentative sailor is Mr. Morgan, the first mate, who has just returned from accompanying sick patients to the hospital. When Morgan enters the berth, he is described as a short, thick man with a face full of pimples, a snub nose turned upward, an excessively wide mouth, and small fiery eyes surrounded by countless wrinkles. Thompson immediately informs Morgan of the narrator’s situation.

Resolution of the Mess Membership Dispute

Morgan regards the narrator with a “lofty look” and discovers, to his great passion, that all the pork in the locker has been consumed. Thompson explains he shared the provisions with the narrator, who arrived half famished, and that he had properly entered him in the mess as Morgan had instructed. Morgan complains that Thompson failed to consult him about this decision, claiming he has been “a man of some weight, and substance, and consideration” who maintained a household, paid taxes, and supported a family. He declares himself Thompson’s senior and “petter.” Thompson hotly replies that while Morgan may be his elder, he is not his better. The narrator interposes to offer leaving the mess rather than cause discord, but Thompson insists he stay, citing the narrator’s birth and talents. This appeals to Morgan’s generosity, who explains he loves “a sheltenman in distress” as he loves his own soul, having suffered his own vexations. He shakes the narrator’s hand and accepts him into the mess.