Thirdly.--The blockading service has had much to do in training our
seamen for passive heroism and enduring fortitude. During the long war
with France, it was a service wherein all those qualities were called
into action, which are of most value in sudden emergencies. Vigilance,
promptitude, patience, and endurance, were tried to the utmost in the
course of those wintry months, and tempestuous seasons, when single
ships, squadrons, and fleets were cruising off the enemy's coast, and
every man on board was perpetually exposed to something that put his
temper or his nerves to the test. Then was the time to learn when to
keep a sharp look-out, to be on the alert in handling the gear of a
vessel, to respond to the word of command at the instant, to do things
at the right point of time, to hold life at a moment's purchase, and
to stare death in the face without flinching. It was a hard and
rigorous school; but if proficiency in readiness and fortitude was to
be attained anywhere, it was in the blockading service, and there the
heart of oak was tried, and the seaman was trained for the exercise of
that discipline, of which this Record of Naval Shipwrecks presents so
complete a picture.

But we will hope that the principal cause, to which we may ascribe the
good conduct of our sailors in the trying hour, when there seems to be
a span only between life and death, is the religious feeling which
they bring with them to their ship from their homes, whether from the
cabin on the sea-shore, or the cottage on the hill-side. The scene
described in page 115, and the anecdote of the poor boy, in whose hand
was found an open Bible when his corpse was cast on shore, show the
power of religious feeling in the soul of the sailor. It may be a very
imperfect feeling, but the sailor has it; and even in its
imperfection it has a strong hold on his mind. From the first outbreak
of the Revolution; the French sailor entered the service of his