was staring every man in the face.
Doubtless there are some instances of misbehaviour, and of lack of
firmness: it could not be otherwise. 'When the stormy wind ariseth,
and they are carried up to the heaven and down again to the deep,
their soul melteth because of their trouble. They reel to and fro, and
stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end.' But such
examples are so few in the British navy, that we have little on this
score wherewith to reproach our seamen.

To what, then, are we to attribute the manly bearing of British
seamen, when the planks of their ship tremble under their feet, and
the waves are yawning to swallow them up!

First.--To the early training which almost all our youth receive, in
one way or other. It begins at school. The first principles of
generosity, as of obedience and order, are taught in our schools:
whether in the national and parochial schools, or at Westminster,
Eton, and Harrow, and other schools of a higher order, where in his
very games the boy learns to exercise presence of mind, daring, and
self-command. In our streets and play-grounds, where the humblest or
the proudest are at their sports, the germ of the manly spirit is
discernible in emulous contention as to who shall bear and forbear,
remain at his post, give and take, with most patience and good-humour.

Foreigners have allowed that there is nothing like an English school
to discipline a lad for the high places, or rough places, of
after-life; and that our mixed schools of every grade are the
seminaries, where one learns to lead, and another to follow, in the
path of honour and duty.

Secondly.--To the habit which prevails so universally in this country,
of giving place to those to whom deference is due, and of looking up
to those, who are above us in station, with ungrudging respect and
confidence. This goes with the man into all the walks of life. Some
attribute it to the aristocratic feeling, which is said to be stronger
in England than elsewhere: but it maybe more justly traced to that
good sense, which is at work in all orders of our people, and which
understands when to obey and to hearken. In the seaman it displays
itself in a predisposition to regard his officer as one worthy of his
confidence, and whom it is his safety as well as duty to obey in the
hour of danger. And this confidence is justified by the almost
unfailing manner, in which the officer shows himself deserving of the
trust reposed in hi