the whole world, he qualifies the admiration by reference to some early failure of the great man. In short, when we find ourselves in such a person’s company, we feel certain that the bad side of every thing will inevitably be exposed to us. And what is the result? Do we not shun him? And if we should have the means of introducing him to others, or of putting him into a situation to benefit himself and the public, are we not shy of trusting him with a degree of power which he appears determined shall not be productive of good? The truth is, that by an involuntary process of the mind, we come to judge of others, not nearly so much by direct examination as by means of the reflected light which is sent back from the objects surrounding them. If we observe, therefore, that a man’s general taste is to find fault rather than to be pleased, we inevitably form the conclusion that he is really not worth pleasing; and as he is not likely to gratify others, we keep him, as much as we can, out of the way of those we esteem. In very many cases, however, probably in most cases, this temper is merely a habit, and may, at bottom, often be quite unsuitable to the real character. So much so, that if the opposite practice, from whatever motive, be adopted by the same person, even where the disposition may fundamentally not be good, the result will often be a thousand times more amiable and useful, not only to the party himself, but to all those with whom he has any dealings; and his companionship will then be courted, instead of being shunned, as it had been before. In the free and open world of busy life, men are generally made so fully sensible, sooner or later, of the truth of these maxims, that few of the growling tribe are ever known to advance far in life. But on board ship, where the distinctions of rank are strongly marked, and the measure of each man’s authority exactly determined by established laws and usages, officers are frequently much too slow to discover that the principles above adverted to are applicable to their own case; and thus they sometimes fling away advantages of the highest price, which lie easily within their reach, and adopt instead the cold, stern, and often inefficient operations of mere technical discipline. This very technical discipline, indeed, like any other machinery, is admirable if well worked, but useless if its powers are misapplied. It is not the mere elastic force of the steam that gives impulse to the engine, but a due regulation of that elasticity. So it is with the use of that mysterious, I had almost said magical sort of power, by which the operations of moral discipline are carried on, especially at sea, where the different component parts of the machine are so closely fitted to one another, and made to act in such uniform order, that no one part can go far wrong without deranging the whole.