hipman's. When appointed as such,
in later days, he came in "with the hay-seed in his hair," and went
out fit for a lieutenant's charge; but from first to last, whatever
his personal progress, he remained, as a midshipman, a handy-billy. He
might be told, as Basil Hall's first captain did his midshipmen, that
they might keep watch or not, as they pleased--that is, that the ship
had no use for them; or he might be sent in charge of a prize, as was
Farragut, when twelve years old, doubtless with an old seaman as
nurse, but still in full command. Anywhere from the bottom of the hold
to the truck--top of the masts--he could be sent, and was sent; every
boat, that went ashore had a midshipman, who must answer for her
safety and see that none got away of a dozen men, whose one thought
was to jump the boat and have a run on shore. Between times he passed
hours at the mast-head in expiation of faults which he had
committed--or ought to have committed, to afford a just scapegoat for
his senior's wrath. As Marryat said, it made little difference: if he
did not think of something he had not been told, he was asked what his
head was for; if he did something off his own bat, the question arose
what business he had to think. In either case he went to the mast-head.
Of course, at a certain age one "turns to mirth all things of earth,
as only boyhood can;" and the contemporary records of the steerage
brim over with unforced jollity, like that notable hero of Marryat's
"who was never quite happy except when he was d----d miserable."

Such undefined standing and employments taught men their business, but
provided no remedy for the miscellaneous social origin of midshipmen.
In the beginning of things they were probably selected from the smart
young men of the crew; often also from the more middle-aged--in any
event, from before the mast. Even in much later days men passed
backward and forward from midshipman to lower ratings; Nelson is an
instance in point. When a man became a lieutenant, he was something
fixed and recognized, professionally and socially. He might fall below
his station, but he had had his chance. In the British navy many most
distinguished officers came from anywhere--through the hawse-holes, as
the expression ran; and a proud boast it should have been at a time
when every Frenchman in his position had to be of noble blood. What
was all very well for captains and lieutenants, once those ranks were
reached, was not so eas