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THE PILOT
A Tale of the Sea
By J. Fenimore Cooper
TO
WILLIAM BRANFORD SHUBRICK, ESQ.,
U. S. NAVY.
MY DEAR SHUBRICK,
Each year brings some new and melancholy chasm in what is now the brieflist of my naval friends and former associates. War, disease, and thecasualties of a hazardous profession have made fearful inroads in thelimited number; while the places of the dead are supplied by names thatto me are those of strangers. With the consequences of these sad changesbefore me, I cherish the recollection of those with whom I once livedin close familiarity with peculiar interest, and feel a triumph in theirgrowing reputations, that is but little short of their own honest pride.
But neither time nor separation has shaken our intimacy: and I know thatin dedicating to you this volume, I tell you nothing new, when I addthat it is a tribute paid to an enduring friendship, by
Your old Messmate,
THE AUTHOR.
* * * * *
PREFACE.
It is probable a true history of human events would show that a farlarger proportion of our acts are the results of sudden impulses andaccident, than of that reason of which we so much boast. However true,or false, this opinion may be in more important matters, it is certainlyand strictly correct as relates to the conception and execution of thisbook.
The Pilot was published in 1823. This was not long after the appearanceof "The PIRATE," a work which, it is hardly necessary to remind thereader, has a direct connection with the sea. In a conversation with afriend, a man of polished taste and extensive reading, the authorship ofthe Scottish novels came under discussion. The claims of Sir Walter werea little distrusted, on account of the peculiar and minute informationthat the romances were then very generally thought to display. ThePirate was cited as a very marked instance of this universal knowledge,and it was wondered where a man of Scott's habits and associations couldhave become so familiar with the sea. The writer had frequently observedthat there was much looseness in this universal knowledge, and that thesecret of its success was to be traced to the power of creating that_resemblance_, which is so remarkably exhibited in those world-renownedfictions, rather than to any very accurate information on the part oftheir author. It would have been hypercritical to object to the Pirate,that it was not strictly nautical, or true in its details; but, when thereverse was urged as a proof of what, considering the character of otherportions of the work, would have been most extraordinary attainments,it was a sort of provocation to dispute the seamanship of the Pirate, aquality to which the book has certainly very little just pretension. Theresult of this conversation was a sudden determination to produce a workwhich, if it had no other merit, might present truer pictures of theocean and ships than any that are to be found in the Pirate. To thisunpremeditated decision, purely an impulse, is not only the Pilot due,but a tolerably numerous school of nautical romances that have succeededit.
The author had many misgivings concerning the success of theundertaking, after he had made some progress in the work; the opinionsof his different friends being anything but encouraging. One woulddeclare that the sea could not be made interesting; that it was tame,monotonous, and without any other movement than unpleasant storms, andthat, for his part, the less he got of it the better. The women verygenerally protested that such a book would have the odor of bilgewater, and that it would give them the _maladie de mer_. Not a singleindividual among all those who discussed the merits of the project,within the range of the author's knowledge, either spoke, or looked,encouragingly. It is probable that all these persons anticipated asignal failure.
So very discouraging did these ominous opinions get to be that thewriter was, once or twice, tempted to throw his manuscript aside, andturn to something new. A favorable opinion, however, coming from a veryunexpected quarter, put a new face on the matter, and raised newhopes. Among the intimate friends of the writer was an Englishman, whopossessed most of the peculiar qualities of the educated of his country.He was learned even, had a taste that was so just as always to commandrespect, but was prejudiced, and particularly so in all that related tothis country and its literature. He could never be persuaded to admireBryant's Water-Fowl, and this mainly because if it were accepted as goodpoetry, it must be placed at once amongst the finest fugitive pieces ofthe language. Of the Thanatopsis he thought better, though inclinedto suspect it of being a plagiarism. To the tender mercies of thisone-sided critic, who had never affected to compliment the previousworks of the author, the sheets of a volume of the Pilot were committed,with scarce an expectation of his liking them. The reverse proved tobe the case;--he expressed himself highly gratified, and predicted asuccess for the book which it probably never attained.
Thus encouraged, one more experiment was made, a seaman being selectedfor the critic. A kinsman, a namesake, and an old messmate of theauthor, one now in command on a foreign station, was chosen, and aconsiderable portion of the first volume was read to him. There is nowish to conceal the satisfaction with which the effect on this listenerwas observed. He treated the whole matter as fact, and his criticismswere strictly professional, and perfectly just. But the interest hebetrayed could not be mistaken. It gave a perfect and most gratifyingassurance that the work would be more likely to find favor with nauticalmen than with any other class of readers.
The Pilot could scarcely be a favorite with females. The story haslittle interest for them, nor was it much heeded by the author of thebook, in the progress of his labors. His aim was to illustrate vesselsand the ocean, rather than to draw any pictures of sentiment andlove. In this last respect, the book has small claims on the reader'sattention, though it is hoped that the story has sufficient interest torelieve the more strictly nautical features of the work.
It would be affectation to deny that the Pilot met with a mostunlooked-for success. The novelty of the design probably contributed alarge share of this result. Sea-tales came into vogue, as a consequence;and, as every practical part of knowledge has its uses, something hasbeen gained by letting the landsman into the secrets of the seaman'smanner of life. Perhaps, in some small degree, an interest has beenawakened in behalf of a very numerous, and what has hitherto been a sortof proscribed class of men, that may directly tend to a melioration oftheir condition.
It is not easy to make the public comprehend all the necessities of aservice afloat. With several hundred rude beings confined within thenarrow limits of a vessel, men of all nations and of the lowest habits,it would be to the last degree indiscreet to commence their reformationby relaxing the bonds of discipline, under the mistaken impulses ofa false philanthropy. It has a lofty sound, to be sure, to talk aboutAmerican citizens being too good to be brought under the lash, upon thehigh seas; but he must have a very mistaken notion who does not see thattens of thousands of these pretending persons on shore, even, would begreatly benefited by a little judicious flogging. It is the judgmentin administering, and not the mode of punishment, that requires to belooked into; and, in this respect, there has certainly been a greatimprovement of late years. It is seldom, indeed, that any institution,practice, or system, is improved by the blind interference of those whoknow nothing about it. Better would it be to trust to the experienceof those who have long governed turbulent men, than to the impulsiveexperiments of those who rarely regard more than one side of a question,and that the most showy and glittering; having, quite half of the time,some selfish personal end to answer.
There is an uneasy desire among a vast many well-disposed persons to getthe fruits of the
Christian Faith, without troubling themselves aboutthe Faith itself. This is done under the sanction of Peace Societies,Temperance and Moral Reform Societies, in which the end is too oftenmistaken for the means. When the Almighty sent His Son on earth, it wasto point out the way in which all this was to be brought about, bymeans of the Church; but men have so frittered away that body of divineorganization, through their divisions and subdivisions, all arising fromhuman conceit, that it is no longer regarded as the agency it was soobviously intended to be, and various contrivances are to be employed assubstitutes for that which proceeded directly from the Son of God!
Among the efforts of the day, however, there is one connected with themoral improvement of the sailor that commands our profound respect. Cutoff from most of the charities of life for so large a portion of histime, deprived altogether of association with the gentler and betterportions of the other sex, and living a man in a degree proscribed, amidthe many signs of advancement that distinguish the age, it was timethat he should be remembered and singled out, and become the subjectof combined and Christian philanthropy. There is much reason to believethat the effort, now making in the right direction and under properauspices, will be successful; and that it will cause the lash to belaid aside in the best and most rational manner,--by rendering its useunnecessary.
COOPERSTOWN, _August_ 20, 1829.
THE PILOT