Responsibility as to character.

For whom writing.

and he will mark you through life, at the place where you now stand. Never, in fact, does so great a responsibility rest upon you, as while a student; because you are now forming your character and habits, and setting your standard; and because, also, your contemporaries will seldom, if ever, alter their judgment concerning you. If you are stupid and inaccurate during this period, though you should hereafter write dictionaries, and edit classics, and dream in foreign languages, I very much doubt whether your friend, now at your elbow, would ever give you credit for any thing higher than dullness.

Doubtless multitudes are now in the process of education, who will never reach any tolerable standard of excellence. Probably some never could; but in most cases they might. The exceptions are few ; and probably most, who read these pages, do feel a desire, more or less strong, of fitting themselves for respectability and usefulness. They are, however, ignorant of the way; they are surrounded by temptations and dangers; they soon forget the encouragements, and thus oscillate between hope and fear, resolution and discouragement. It is for such that I write. And such I earnestly entreat not to lay aside this little book till they have read it, weighed it, and, if they please, called the writer whatever hard names occur to them. My pen will probably sometimes seem dull; but if it should, I hope I may apologize for

Frigate Constitution in a storm at sea.

it as the knight did for his slow-pacing horse :-" Hee is a rite gude creetur, and travels all the ground over most faithfully."

"When I turned in at night, the sea was smooth and bright as a mirror; the vast firmament seemed to descend below us; the ship appeared to be suspended in the centre of an immense sphere, and, if I may say so, one felt, in awe and silence, the majesty of space. The sails hung idly by the mast, and the officers' tread along the deck was the only sound heard. So I left them.

"About midnight, I was awakened by a heavy swing of my cot, succeeded by a sudden dash to the other side the water was pouring into our room, and I could hear its rush across the upper decks, where all was noise and rapid motion. I hurried on my clothes, and ran up the gun-deck was clear; hammocks had already been lashed up and stowed; it was lighted up, and showed it flooded in its whole extent. I ascended to the next: the rain came down in torrents, but I did not feel it, so deeply absorbing was the scene. I wish I could describe it. The sky was in a constant blaze; the sea was not high, but broken, confused and foaming, and taking from the lightning an unnatural hue. Above me were the yards covered with human beings, thrown by each flash into strong outline, struggling hard to secure the canvass and to maintain their precarious footing. The ship rolled

Presence of mind.

tremendously. And now add the wild uproar of the elements, the noise of many waters,' the deep and constant roar of the winds, the cries of the men aloft, the heavy and rapid tread of those below, the reiterated commands of officers, and, rising above all this, the firm and composed orders of the trumpet, and then add to this the heavy-rolling thunder, at times drowning all these sounds. The first lieutenant had the deck: he had sprung to it at the first alarm, and, seizing the trumpet, had called Black, his favorite helmsman. The ship was soon under snug sail, and now dashed onward at a furious rate, giving to the gale a yet wilder character.

from

"All at once a rocky island seemed to start up the water; but the next broad flash showed a good offing, and we were safe; when suddenly came a loud shout from the forecastle- A sail close on the larboard bow, sir.' I trembled then-not for ourselves, for we should have gone over them, and have scarcely felt the shock-but for the poor wretches whom it would have been impossible to save. The helm was put hard down: we shot by, and I again breathed freely, when some one bade me look up to our spars. I did so, and found every upper yard-arm and mast tipped with lightning. Each blaze was twice as large as that of a candle; and thus we flew on, with the elements of destruction playing above our heads."

Can any one read this beautiful description of one

of our own proud ships in a storm, and fail to reflect, that discipline is the life and salvation of such a ship in such a storm? But I have copied it for a different purpose; and that is, to call the attention of the reader a single moment to the "helmsman Black." Can there be a doubt but the sailor who could take the helm in these circumstances, and hold the ship firmly on her course amid the storm, shunning rocks, and just shooting by smaller vessels, must have courage, presence of mind, and great promptness of character? Or can there be a doubt, but, if he had been properly educated when young, he might have stood in the lieutenant's place, and held the trumpet, or even commanded the ship? It is my earnest wish to aid such as have capacity, in seizing the present moment, and, while they have the opportunity, in so laying their plans, and in so forming their habits, as to make the most of all their endowments. There are, doubtless, some who will read these pages without benefit. May I suggest a possible reason? "A mole, having consulted many oculists for the benefit of his sight, was at last provided with a good pair of spectacles; but, upon his endeavoring to make use of them, his mother told him, that, though they might help the eye of a man, they could be of no use to a mole."

You may converse with any man, however distinguished for attainments or habits of application, or power of using what he knows, and he will sigh over

Time and opportunities lost. Savage and cultivated mind compared.

the remembrances of the past, and tell you, that there have been many fragments of time which he has wasted, and many opportunities which he has lost forever. If he had only seized upon the fleeting advantages, and gathered up the fragments of time, he might have pushed his researches out into new fields, and, like the immortal Bacon, have amassed vast stores of knowledge. The mighty minds which have gone before us, have left treasures for our inheritance, and the choicest gold is to be had for the digging. How great the dissimilarity between a naked Indian, dancing with joy over a new feather for his head-dress, and such a mind as that of Newton or of Boyle! And what makes the difference? There is mind enough in the savage; he can almost outdo the instincts of the prey which he hunts; but his soul is like the marble pillar. There is a beautiful statue in it, but the hand of the sculptor has never laid the chisel upon it. That mind of the savage has never been disciplined by study; and it, therefore, in the comparison, appears like the rough bison of the forest, distinguished only for strength and ferocity.

I am not now to discuss the question whether the souls of men are naturally équal. If they are, it is certain that, though the fact were proved, it would be of little practical use, since the organization of bodies is so different, that no training can make them alike. But this, I think, may safely be affirmed, that every