their conduct, and gave a snuff-box with five guineas in it to the
quarter-master, in admiration of his steady head and iron nerves.

I mention these incidents in my early experience as a sort of apology
for a landsman's presumption, in venturing to write this Preface to a
series of nautical details. In after years, the death of a dear
brother, a lieutenant in the navy, who lost his life in a generous
attempt to save a vessel from shipwreck on the coast of Sussex, moved
me to a still deeper concern for those whose employment is 'in the
great waters.'

My early observation of the hazards of a sailor's career, and my
brother's sudden call to his last account, in the awful perils of a
storm at sea, taught me to reflect with painful solemnity on the many
thousand instances, in which our naval protectors are summoned in a
moment, prepared or unprepared, to stand before the throne of the
Eternal. Often have I asked myself and others, Can nothing be done to
elevate the hopes, and to place the fortitude of these men on a firmer
foundation than that of mere animal courage, or the instinct of
discipline? The present is an opportunity of pleading for the sailor
which I should be sorry to lose, and of suggesting something, which
may establish his good conduct on a basis more durable, and more
certain, than even the well-known courage and discipline of a British
tar.

I shall begin by noticing the extraordinary displays of
self-possession, self-devotion, and endurance, which shed lustre on
our naval service; and I will close my remarks with hints for the
improvement of these noble qualities.