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 him, and takes the lead in the very front of danger,
and exhibits in moments of doubt and difficulty all the resources of a
cool and collected mind, at the very juncture when life and death
depend upon his composure.

The leadership to which a British tar is accustomed, and which ever
responds to his own confiding spirit, is one of the primary causes of
his endurance and daring. His officer is the first to advance, the
foremost to encounter, the last to hesitate, and the most willing to
take more than his share of danger and of suffering; and this inspires
the men with an emulation to do likewise.

Conduct such as that displayed by the captains and officers of the
Queen Charlotte (pp. 37 and 41), of the Hindostan (p. 71), of the
Athenienne (p. 96), of the Anson (p. 128), of the Dædalus (p. 189),
could not fail of producing a sort of instinctive effect upon a ship's
crew. Under the command of officers who never flinch from their duty,
who share their last biscuit with the lowest cabin-boy, and who will
not move from the vessel when it is sinking under them, until every
other man has taken his seat in the boat, or planted his foot on the
raft that is to carry him from the wreck, where can be the quailing
heart or the unready hand?