I
deny that we are all born alike; and if you force this young man to go
to sea you will make a bad sailor of him when he might have done honour
to his country in another way." "Boys mustn't be allowed to go just any way they like. They must learn
discipline and obedience. I tell you that it is to his interest to go to
sea. He is my heir, and if he conducts himself properly he may hope to
be pushed on in life as long as I live, and inherit my fortune at my
death. If he refuses, I shall cut him off, so he knows what to expect." "I sincerely regret your harsh determination," said the gentleman, "for
I really consider your nephew a young man of great promise. He is
studiously inclined, and in every way shows that the sea is about the
very last calling for which he is destined. Why should you try to waste
his young life in a profession which he is unfit for?" "Unfit for!" exclaimed the admiral. "Unfit for! In my time there was no
talk of a lad's being unfit to serve his country at the bidding of those
in authority over him, unless he was a cripple. Is not my nephew strong
and well built enough for the sea? Why should he be unfit?" "Not physically unfit," said his friend. "I do not doubt for a moment
his physical capabilities, but if he has formed other tastes, and feels
himself called in another direction, why----"

"Nonsense, sir, nonsense! about his feeling himself called in another
direction. He ought to feel himself called where his interest lies, to
say nothing of his duty towards those placed over him," said my uncle. "But you wouldn't make a slave of the boy?" said his friend. "I only wish to call him to his senses, to make him do that which is
best for himself. Am I to yield to a mere boyish whim, for which he
himself would be sorry later in life? And as to his having no taste for
it; he was full of it whilst he lived under my roof, before he went to
school. It is only since he left me that he has got these new-fangled
notions and hoisted the white feather." "I do not see that it is any sign of cowardice to have changed his
opinions since he was under your roof. Since then his mind has become
more enlarged, and he is better able to see what he is fit for than when
he had received no other instruction than your own. Since then he has
made acquaintances----"

"And pretty acquaintances he has made! About the only acquaintance that
he has is the son of a d----d apothecary, who happens to be at the same
school. Do you think I can't see from whom he has picked up his sickly
notions? Should I be doing my duty to my brother's son were I to aid him
in his insane hobby of turning apothecary? To allow one of _my_ family,
one of my own flesh and blood, to make pills and spread plaisters for a
living, when he might be boarding the enemy's fleet and shedding his
blood for the honour and glory of his country? Why damme, sir, it's not
manly, I'll be hanged if it is." "Because he may have formed some acquaintances with this apothecary,
doesn't necessarily show that he intends to turn apothecary himself. He
says that he wishes to devote himself to the study of chemistry. Surely
there is nothing disgraceful in that! Perhaps his determination may not
be quite fixed as yet. He wishes to go to the university, where he will
receive the education of a gentleman, and after a few years of study he
will be enabled to settle down in that walk of life which suits him
best." "In the meantime he is wasting the flower of his youth in moping study,
whilst he might be earning his laurels at sea." "Life, my dear admiral, is a playground on which numbers meet to play at
a vast variety of games. You have won your laurels at sea; let the poor
boy earn his in the game he most delights in. We are not all born
alike." "Bah! Laurels gained at pills and poultices. Much good may his laurels
do him. If he is wise, he will forget at once his low acquaintances,
awaken to his real interest, and take a cruise with me. I have no doubt
that after a time I shall set him to rights again." "And if he refuses to go?" "Oh!--then--then--why, he may as well begin to mix drugs at once, and
the sooner the better." "You mean that you would cut him off." "Ay, that I most decidedly should." "Now, my dear admiral, don't you think it would be kinder, as well as
the best way to save the honour of your family, to try and prevent him
from following the apothecary's business by doing what you can to aid
his studies, that he may choose some other gentlemanly profession
besides the sea, since he seems to have taken such an aversion to it?" "No, no; my determination is fixed. If he does my will I will help him
in what way I can. If he will not, neither will I help him in anything. He knows what he has to expect, either the sea and my portion when I
die, or pills, poultices, and beggary." "I much regret your stern decision, I must say," said the gentleman, and
here the conference ended. I was well aware of the admiral's decision, and that nothing on earth
could move him; and as I was equally determined not to go to sea, I
informed him how I had decided. "Well, then," he said, "from to-day you are no longer nephew of mine. Follow your own silly inclinations, but don't hope for any help from
me." I considered myself turned out of the house, so I quietly packed up my
things, and without taking leave of my uncle, I called upon my uncle's
friend, the gentleman who had shown so much interest in my cause and
explained how I was situated. I told him that I had money left me by my
father, which I could not touch until I came of age. In the meantime I
might die of want, as my uncle had refused positively to call me his
nephew any longer. Therefore I begged him to be kind enough to lend me a
sufficient sum to complete my studies at a foreign university, and I
would repay him when it lay in my power. My uncle's friend was a man of means and of a generous disposition, and
not likely to see me go down thoroughly in the world, granted my
request. I left my native town without letting my uncle know, and
departed for Germany. I found my way to the university of Jena, where I
entered and commenced my studies. My first step was to perfect myself in the German language, to
accomplish which I took lessons, visited the theatre, and went into
society. The romance that seemed to attach itself to the life of a
German student had long inflamed my youthful fancy, and I entered a
"chor," or company of students, who distinguish themselves from others
by their own especial "tricolor," which they wear in a ribbon across
their chests and round their caps, and from ordinary mortals by their
otherwise fantastic way of dressing themselves. The novelty of this life, rather than the life itself, charmed me; for
though I was delighted with the freedom and goodfellowship amongst these
young men, I was not a youth naturally given to excess, and I soon found
that a little of this sort of life went a long way.