ship they brought home with them, furnished a general subject for conversation. This was the first voyage round the world. Since that time many enterprising travellers have completed the circuit of the earth, especially Captain Cook, who made three voyages, and was, at last, unfortunately killed at one of the Sandwich Islands by the natives. A boy may now take up a book of voyages, and sail round the world in safety, without fear of being shipwrecked on the deep, or being slain by the savage natives on the land. This method of going on a voyage is, in some respects, an excellent one; for, as you sit by a snug fire with your book in your hand, and your map on the table, the roaring of the billows, the howling of wild beasts, and the wild war-cry of the savages, cannot alarm you. With your feet on the fender, 196 THE FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD. and your elbow resting on the table, you can without inconvenience catch your sharks, kill your buffaloes, carry on your traffic with the islanders, and load your vessel with gold and silver. Nor will such a voyage be without its advantages; you will learn how others have endured hardships and overcome difficulties, and will feel less disposed to shrink at trifling or imaginary trials. You will perceive what perseverance has accomplished, and be more determined in the prosecution of your designs. You will be convinced of the power and manifold advantages which knowledge bestows, and you will desire to know more, to undertake more, and to achieve more, for the good of your country and of mankind. COURAGE. Wha will be a traitor knave? Wha can fill a coward's grave? Wha sae base as be a slave? Traitor coward! turn and flee? BURNS. A COWARD is a term of reproach to a man and to a boy; therefore, do not be a coward. My object, in saying so much as I have said, has been to call forth the best qualities of the mind and body of a boy. Without wisdom, the mind is imbecile; without courage, the body is weak. By courage, I do not mean that fool-hardiness which would court danger needlessly; but ra ther that steady resolution, which will never shrink from danger when it is imposed by duty. How could I have ventured among the Caffres and the crocodiles, the Turks and the tornadoes, the Chickasaws and the Cherokees, if I had been deficient in courage: when I ascended Mont Blanc; when I explored the cavern of Antiparos, and descended half-way down the crater of Vesuvius, my heart would have failed me; nor should I ever have crossed the Great Desert, or pried into the interior of the Pyramids, if I had been wanting in resolution. Could I have stripped the hide from the lion of South Africa; hunted the tiger in the thick jungles of Bengal; cut my way through the wolves of the Alps and the Apennines, and overcome the bear of Spitzbergen on his own icebergs ?-could I have done these things, and a thousand others, in different parts of this wide world, if I had not possessed as stout a heart as ever was hooped with ribs ? Had I not possessed courage, I should have been frightened out of my senses by the thunder and lightning, the hail-storm, the hurricanes, the waterspouts, the whirlwinds, and the volcanoes with which I have had to contend; but as it is, here I am, unscathed and unmoved, urging you to take every means in your power to increase that courage for which, in your future life, you will find so much occasion. Courage will enable you to undertake, and accomplish, that from which, otherwise, you would shrink. Courage will enable you to defend the helpless, and to overcome the dangers by which you may be surrounded. Courage will protect you from insult, and prevent you from being the butt of a bully. I cannot bear to see |