kkeeping and arithmetic I might
now have been an expert in those things; or I might have had the
dictionary at my fingers' ends; been a practised, and perhaps an able,
writer; a much better printer; or been able to read and write French,
Spanish, or any other modern or ancient language to which I might have
directed my attention; and the mastery of any of these things now would
give me an additional, appreciable power, and means by which to work to
my end, not to speak of that which would have been gained by exercise
and good mental habits.

"These truths are not sudden discoveries; but have been as apparent for
years as at this present time; but always wishing for some chance to
make a sudden leap forward, I have never been able to direct my mind
and concentrate my attention upon those slow processes by which
everything mental (and in most cases material) is acquired.

"Constantly the mind works, and if but a tithe of its attention was
directed to some end, how many matters might it have taken up in
succession, increasing its own stores and power while mastering them?

"To sum up for the present, though this essay has hardly taken the
direction and shape which at the outset I intended, it is evident to me
that I have not employed the time and means at my command faithfully
and advantageously as I might have done, and consequently, that I have
myself to blame for at least a part of my non-success. And this being
true of the past, in the future like results will flow from like
causes. I will, therefore, try (though, as I know from experience, it
is much easier to form good resolutions than to faithfully carry them
out) to employ my mind in acquiring useful information or practice,
when I have nothing leading more directly to my end claiming my
attention. When practicable, or when I cannot decide upon anything
else, I will endeavour to acquire facility and elegance in the
expression of my thought by writing essays or other matters which I
will preserve for future comparison. And in this practice it will be
well to aim at mechanical neatness and grace, as well as at proper and
polished language."

Of the two other pieces of writing spoken of in the diary notes, the
"article about laws relating to sailors," has left no trace, but a copy
of the one for the _Journal of the Trades and Workingmen_ has been
preserved.

[1] Unlike that fish on the Atlantic Coast, sturgeon on the Pacific
Coast, or at any rate in Cali