" It is
not my intention to detail the steps of his promotion, or the
services in which he was engaged as a subaltern. I recollect many
particulars indeed, but not the dates, with such distinctness as
would enable me to state them (as it would be necessary to do if I
stated them at all) in the order of time. These dates might perhaps
have been procured from the metropolis; but incidents that are
neither characteristic nor instructive, even such as would be
expected with reason in a regular life, are no part of my plan; while
those which are both interesting and illustrative I have been
precluded from mentioning, some from motives which have been already
explained, and others from still higher considerations. The most
important of these may be deduced from a reflection with which he
himself once concluded a long and affecting narration: namely, that
no body of men can for any length of time be safely treated otherwise
than as rational beings; and that, therefore, the education of the
lower classes was of the utmost consequence to the permanent security
of the empire, even for the sake of our navy.
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