THREE ESSENTIALS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 21 November 1924, Page 6

THREE ESSENTIALS.

IN THE CONDUCT OF LIFE,

GOVERNOR’S ADVICE TO BOYS AND GIRLS.

Paying a very high tribute to the guard of honour by the Wellington College Cadets, which had received him on his arrival, and congratulating the colleges on the high standard of the entertainment submitted, His Excellency the Governor-General, at the Navy League farewell to him and Lady Jellicoe in the Wellington Town Hall last week, took the opportunity of giving the younger generation present some words of sound advice.

“We in the Navy,” he said, “are taught three things : Respect to. authority, Duty, and Discipline. Respect to authority is one of the things which I wpuld like to impress upon the young people of. New Zealand. Respect also to age—not because I am old myself—(laughter)—but because' respect to age instinctively brings respect "for authority.

. “Duty, the nobility of duty, is another thing which I would like to impress upon the children in front of me to-night, and, above all things, whatever the difficulties or dangers’, I ask you to do your duty, what you conceive to be your duty, and, lastly, never, forget the value of discipline- . . . Discipline, properly understood, makes everybody work for the good of the community as a whole, ’ neglectful of se lL It leads to that astounding spirit de corps which carries a body of men through any difficulty or any danger so long as they can feel that they are doing a deed which will reflect credit upon the body to which they belong. ' • •

“It is the spirit which animated the crew of a destroyer, no doubt many of them, but one particularly in the Battle of Jutland, the destroyer Ardent, which was sunk by gunfire, and the whole crew, or such of them as survived the gunfire in the water, held on to anything that floated, and throughout the night of 31st,May and Ist J une, 1916, the one thought that crew of that ship was, Thank heaven, the Ardent has done i + j ‘ by one, as the captain reated when h e was rescued some seven hours later, the only sqrvivor one bv one they dropped off into the water dying. Not one single word of complaint was heard throughout the night the one topic among the crew of the Ardent "’as We have done out hit.’ (Loud applause.)

That girls and boys,” concluded Lord Jelhcoe, “is esprit de corps, born pf the spirit of discipline. That is what recommend to. the schools and to vou all tp cultivate. The honour of your Scliop], the honour of your town ’the honour pf .your Empire.” (Loud’ and prolonged applause.)