No two boys, perhaps, out of a dozen, intended for the sea, may require the same training; but still there is no reason why the whole number should not be equally well fitted, by previous education, to advance themselves in the service, according to their respective talents, though some of them, at starting, may be altogether ignorant of those subjects, generally supposed to be of the most indispensable utility at sea. Antecedent, therefore, to the age of thirteen, after which a boy ought never to commence his naval career, it appears to matter extremely little what he learns, provided his mind be kept fully occupied. It will be better, no doubt, if a boy’s taste happen to lie in that direction, that his occupations at school have as direct a reference as possible to his future pursuits. If, for instance, he have a turn for mathematics, or for modern languages, he ought certainly to be indulged in his fancy. But the essential objects to be attended to, at this stage of his education, lie a great deal further from the surface, and consequently make much less show. The formation of character, upon the solid basis of religion, and a due cultivation of manners, especially of those branches which relate to temper and self-denial, are quite within the range of education antecedent to the age of thirteen. If, then, a boy be only well grounded in his principles, and if he be taught to think and feel and act like a gentleman, before he is turned adrift on the wide ocean, and he have also acquired habits of industry and obedience, together with the ordinary elements of knowledge—reading, writing, and so on—it matters little, as I conceive, whether he has acquired much information besides—for all else that is wanting will follow in good time. The consideration of what system of instruction should be pursued afterwards, at the naval college, or on board ship, is a totally different affair, and deserves to be treated by itself. CHAPTER II. FIRST GOING AFLOAT.