"
"What!" said the fair maiden, "this forenoon? Surely you
will allow me to consult my mother?"
"No," said the captain; "that would spoil the romance, and
make it uninteresting. We must be spliced at once." And they
were. The result was a ghastly tragedy. The lady turned out
a termagant. Happily she did not live long, but while she
lived it was terrible. He told me the tale long after, and
the pathos of it, in all its hideous detail, was piteous. It
sank deep into his life, and changed his whole character. He
was a man of culture, and in the affairs of life displayed
unusual common sense. No one could comprehend how he came to
be drawn into this ill-assorted union, that might have
sacrificed two lives.
There is no body of men who should be so careful in choosing
their wives as sailors, no matter what their rank may be. If
they have children, the sailor, or captain, sees little of
them, and can have no part in their training, whereas the
mother has it in her power to fashion their lives either for
good or evil. She is always with them, and the
responsibility of forming their characters must rest almost
entirely with her.
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