Finally come the raking, good-looking, shore-going, company-hunting,
gallivanting, riff-raff set of reckless youths, who, having got rid of
the entanglement of parents and guardians, and having no great
restraint of principle or anything else to check them, seem to hold
that his Majesty's service is merely a convenience for their especial
use, and his Majesty's ships a sort of packet-boats to carry their
elegant persons from port to port, in search of fresh conquests, and,
as they suppose, fresh laurels to their country.

Few men do anything well which they do not like; for the same reason,
if an officer be capable of performing services really valuable, his
success must arise from turning his chief attention to those branches
of the profession which he feels are the most congenial to his
peculiar tastes, and which experience has shown lie within the range
of his capacity. Some officers deliberately act upon this, while the
greater number, as may be supposed, adopt their line unconsciously.
Still, it is the bounden duty of every well-wisher to the service to
use the influence he possesses to lead the young persons about him to
follow the true bent of their genius, and to select as a principal
object of study the particular branch of the profession in which they
are most likely to benefit themselves permanently.

I well remember, in my own case, the day, and almost the very hour,
when these convictions flashed upon my mind. I then saw, for the first
time, that unless I speedily roused myself, and "took my line"
vigorously, the proper occasion might swiftly pass away. I was quite
astonished how, up to that moment, I had seen so little of what now
appeared so very palpable; every other consideration was instantly
dismissed, and all minor vanities being shaken off like dew-drops to