s, sir."

Captain Bland shook his head.

"Better be a farmer, a physician, or a merchant."

"Why so, captain?" asked Harry;

"All these are engaged in the doing of things directly useful to society."

"But I am sure, captain, that those who defend us against our enemies, and
protect all who are engaged in commerce from wicked pirates, are doing what
is useful to society."

"Their use, my lad," replied Captain Bland, "is certainly a most important
one; but we may call it rather negative than positive. The civilian is
engaged in building up and sustaining society in doing good, through his
active employment, to his fellow-man. But military and naval officers do
not produce any thing; they only protect and defend."

"But if they did not protect and defend, captain, evil men would destroy
society. It would be of no use for the civilian to endeavor to build up, if
there were none to fight against the enemies of the state."

"Very true, my lad. The brave defender of his country cannot be dispensed
with, and we give him all honor. Still, the use of defence and protection
is not so high as the use of building up and sustaining. The thorn that
wounds the hand stretched forth to pluck the flower, is not so much
esteemed, nor of so much worth, as the blossom it was meant to guard.
Still, the thorn performs a great use. Precisely a similar use does the
soldier or naval officer perform to society; and it will be for you, my
lad, to decide as to which position you would rather fill."

"I never thought of that, captain," said one of the lads. "But I can see
clearly how it is. And yet I think those men who risk their lives for us in
war, deserve great honor. They leave their homes, and remain away,
sometimes for years, deprived of all the comforts and blessings that
civilians enjoy, suffering frequently great hardships, and risking their
lives to defend their country from her enemies."

"It is all as you say," replied Captain Bland; "and they do, indeed,
deserve great honor. Their calling is one that exposes them to imminent
peril, and requires them to make many sacrifices; and they encounter not
this peril and sacrifice for their own good, but for the good of others.
Their lives do not pass so evenly as do the lives of men who spend their
days in the peaceful pursuits of business, art, or literature; and we could
hardly wonder if they lost some of the gentler attributes of the human
heart. In some cases, this is so; but in v